//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 
// Story: Flurry Heart's Story: Villains Anonymous 
// by AleximusPrime 
//------------------------------//

Just outside of Ponyville was Fluttershy’s cottage, with her animal sanctuary just a short walk away.  Just near the cottage, the sound of laughter could be heard.  There was a rather colorful tree in the ground with random objects growing from its branches.  On top was a table with a tea set and snacks and next to it were two seats where Fluttershy was sitting along with her friend, Discord, the Lord of Chaos.
Fluttershy was a yellow pegasus pony with pink hair done up in a ponytail and three butterflies for her cutie mark.  She had talent with understanding and taking care of animals and was known for her kindness.  Contrasting to his pegasus friend, Discord’s entire body was very muddled in appearance. His head resembled a long-faced stallion, but he was made out of random animal body parts in the shape of a snake-like dragon.  Discord was a master with chaos magic and had high levels of cosmic powers, enabling him to bend reality.  He was once a major villain in Equestria after attempting to take over and spread his chaos, but he was tamed by Fluttershy and spent his days visiting her and trying to befriend others.  Not many ponies out there would give him a chance after the things he had done in the past, but he found Ponyville to be most accepting and would frequently visit. He was in the middle of telling her a funny story as his dishes and food floated around in front of him.
“So then I thought I’d spruce it up a bit by turning all the tree’s leaves blue.” Discord told her. “I never had thought that blue leaves would clash so well with everything else on that little island in my dimension! Not that there’s anything wrong with regular trees, but, you know, green gets a little boring after a while until autumn comes around.”
“Oh my.  What sorts of fruits grow from them?” she asked him before taking a sip of her tea.
“Fruits?  Oh heavens no.  Not in Discord’s world.  How about sticks of dynamite that explode into… wait for it… marshmallows!”
“Hehehe!  Oh Discord, your random flora are so delightful sometimes!”
“Would you like one?” he said, offering her a roasted marshmallow on the end of a twig with blue leaves.
“Oooh, they look delicious!” Fluttershy said, nibbling away at the marshmallow. “Well Discord, whenever you’re ready to come by the sanctuary again, we could use more giant watermelons for the capybaras.  They were really grateful the last time you-”
“WHOA!!” Discord shouted as his body began to twitch about, violently.
“OH!  Discord, what’s happening?!”
“That power…I haven’t felt that strange type of magic since…”
“What is it?  What do you sense?” Fluttershy asked Discord as his eyes widened.
“It’s him!  He’s here!”
Fluttershy gasped loudly and put her hooves to her mouth in fright.  Discord snapped his fingers and the tree disappeared.  Fluttershy flew over to her animal sanctuary and called out to all the creatures living there.
“TIREK IS HERE, EVERYONE!” she called to them as they all began to retreat to their homes to hide.
Fluttershy zoomed around locking doors to storage sheds and checked each animal’s domain to make sure they were safe.  Meanwhile, Discord could be seen wearing a camouflaged army uniform as duplicates of himself parachuted down from the sky.  Instead of carrying actual weapons, they had long objects like brooms, candy canes, and fishing poles in their arms.  Discord blew a whistle and they all stood straight in formation.
“A-TEN-HUT!!” Discord shouted to them. “We’ve got an enemy detected, troops!  Get ready! Sergeant Fluttershy, do you see anything?”
Fluttershy flew in front of Discord and put her hoof over her forehead to get a clear view of things.  Tirek was nowhere in sight, but she finally spotted a chariot being pulled by two powerful pegasus guards coming down from the sky.  Princess Twilight could be seen in the front seat with Flurry Heart and Spike flying next to the chariot.
“Oh, Discord, we have visitors.  I think it was just Twilight’s power you felt.”
“What?!  Oh, well of course it was Twilight!  Hehe…silly me.” Discord laughed nervously as his duplicates angrily tore off their uniforms and stormed off.
“Flurry, Spike, Twilight!  It’s great to see you!” Fluttershy said, rushing over to meet her friends.
“Hey Fluttershy!” Flurry said as they both hugged.
“Hey Spike!  Great to see you too!”  Fluttershy said, hugging Spike.  “We thought maybe you two would come to visit at some point.  It’s great to hear Flurry’s been having a good stay in Ponyville so far.”
“My apologies for calling in the cavalry back there, Flurry.” Discord said as he made his uniform disappear.  “For a minute I thought I sensed Tirek around here somewhere.”
“You did sense Tirek, Discord.” Twilight said as she got down from her chariot to meet the others.  She looked back as another chariot could be seen landing.  Inside were several guards and Tirek in the center, still in chains.  They lead him out with their spears drawn.
“You may release him, Sirs.” She said to the guards as they reluctantly undid the chains and put their weapons down.
As Fluttershy and Discord looked in shock, Tirek walked over slowly next to Twilight with his hands behind his back.
“We found Tirek in Canterlot earlier and I’m having him brought to you both for a reforming session.” Twilight explained to them.
“Oh my.  You…you want us to reform him already?” Fluttershy said.
“Well, we all knew this day was coming at some point.” Discord said. “It just came a little earlier than I…expected.”
“Alright, can we just get this over with?” Tirek asked, crossly. “I already said I was sorry, so I don’t see what the point is of a reformation class.”
“YOU SAID YOU WERE SORRY?!” Fluttershy squealed as she rushed forward and grabbed Tirek by his cheeks. “OH MY GOODNESS!!  Tirek, that’s great news!  You’ve already got the first step done!  At this rate, we should have you reformed in no time!”
“Now now, Fluttershy.” Discord said, safely pulling her back. “Tirek clearly isn’t sorry yet.  We’ve all got a lot of work to do.”
Discord moved his head in close to Tirek and gave him a very suspicious look.  Tirek reared back in surprise, but eventually scowled back at him.
“Spike, would it be alright if we tagged along with them?” Flurry asked her dragon protector.
“What?!  Absolutely not, Flurry!” Spike said, firmly.  “This is Tirek we’re talking about!”
“Oh, well would you look at that, Princess Twilight. They already hate me.  It’s almost like this reformation thing really doesn’t work and no one’s opinion of me is ever going to change.” Tirek said, crossing his arms.
“Spike, let’s not forget that Tirek has barely any power now and he can’t hurt anyone.” Twilight said, walking over next to Flurry and Spike. “Even Flurry has a higher level of magic than he currently does.  Tirek may be a villain but he’s still smart.  I think he’d know better than to act in anger around Discord.”
“That’s right, Spike.  He wouldn’t hurt a fly.  I’ve got my eyes on him.” Discord said as his eyeballs popped out of their sockets and floated around Tirek.

Tirek swatted away at the eyeballs as if they were pesky flies until they returned back to Discord’s head.
“Well everyone, I should be heading back to Canterlot.” Twilight said as she returned to her chariot.  “Let me know if there’s any trouble.  Behave while I’m gone, Tirek.”
“Yes, yes…” Tirek said, rolling his eyes.
Everyone else waved goodbye to Twilight and then finally turned to Tirek.
“Alright Tirek.  I know you’re not looking forward to this, but I promise we’ll all go easy on you and make you as comfortable as possible.” Fluttershy told the grouchy centaur.
“This is actually quite exciting, Fluttershy.  You once reformed me, and now I get the chance to do the same with you at my side!” Discord said, pulling her in next to him. “I’ve got just the thing for him to get started with.”
Discord snapped his fingers and a pink shirt appeared on Tirek with a rainbow graphic and message written below.  He looked down in surprise at the shirt as Discord turned the letters upside down for him to read it.
“Be patient…I’m re…reforming?” he said, reading the message.
“Welcome to Villains Anonymous, Tirek!  The not-for-profit organization meant to turn the biggest of scoundrels into law-abiding citizens who wish for nothing but rainbows, friendship and puppies!  In all seriousness though, it’s a little club I created for me and other former villains and ne’er-do-wells to get together and talk things out when we can.”

Flurry and Spike couldn’t help but snicker at the sight, which only made Tirek angrier.
“Grrrr!  I apologized to Princess Twilight, and all I got was this stupid shirt?!  I AM NOT WEARING THIS!!!” Tirek said as he tore the shirt off with both of his sharp claws.
Discord snapped his fingers again and the shirt reappeared on Tirek’s body, completely mended.
“Oh, yes you are!” Discord laughed.
“Now Discord, like I said, we need to make him comfortable.” Fluttershy reminded him.  “Tirek, first of all, would you like any refreshments?”
“I could actually use some, yes.” he said.
“Excellent!  Discord, how about we have some tea and snacks over by the meadow with him.  I’ll bring in Angelica to help me out with everything.”
“Sounds like a plan, Fluttershy.” Discord said, as he snickered at Tirek.  He then snapped his fingers and disappeared in a flash.
Tirek grumbled and just turned around so he wouldn’t have to face anyone.  Spike and Flurry both exchanged nervous glances.
“Don’t worry, Spike.” Flurry said. “I’m sure he’ll come around.”



A few minutes later, they were all sitting around a large, flat mushroom out in a clearing just by the cottage.  On top was a tea set and a small, white rabbit with a pink bow in her hair.  She was Angelica Bunny, the daughter of Fluttershy’s old pet rabbit, Angel.  Angelica was hopping around on top of the mushroom, helping to set things for Fluttershy.  Tirek sipped some of his tea.  He still appeared rather peeved, but didn’t seem to dislike the tea.  He clearly had not had a proper meal in some time and was content enough to have anything that tasted good.
“How’s the tea?” Fluttershy asked, politely.
“It’s fine.” Tirek said, flatly as he took another sip.
“This here’s Angelica Bunny.  I used to have a pet rabbit named Angel.  He’s not with us anymore, but he left behind an adorable little daughter. Say hi, Angelica.”

Angelica hopped near Tirek’s side and waved to him while smiling.  Tirek just gave her a bothered look and continued with his tea.  Angelica looked hurt.
“It’s okay.  He’s still getting used to this.” Fluttershy told her rabbit. “Tirek, there’s also some buttered toast here if you’d like some.”
“That would be nice.”
Angelica hopped off the mushroom and helped Fluttershy with some food over at a serving cart nearby.  Spike, Flurry and Discord all remained seated, continuously watching Tirek. Spike still had a hard time trusting Tirek so he sat between him and Flurry.  He would take a sip of his tea every now and then while still looking on cautiously at the centaur.  Flurry continued to watch Tirek, hoping to see him show any signs of change. Discord had his arms crossed and looked suspiciously at Tirek as he kept drinking.  Tirek eventually began to stare back at him.  Flurry noticed tension rising between the two of them so she decided to say anything to get their minds off of each other.
“So, Tirek, Cozy Glow and Chrysalis both left after you guys were free from stone?” she asked.
“The queen left with a changeling soldier and I left the child behind.  I figured the smartest thing to do was to turn myself in.” he said as he set his tea cup down.
“Yeah, Flurry and I met that changeling a few days ago and some teachers from the School of Friendship took him down with the Elements.” Spike said.
“So that explains that green column of light we saw.” Tirek replied.
“You three were out there in the Everfree Forest when it happened?” Flurry asked.
“We were just sitting around a campfire, arguing and we saw something from a distance.  I had no idea a battle was going on while we were talking.  Then again, we were in a pretty heated argument.”
Discord’s teacup hovered around in front of his face as they spoke.  He shot his tongue out like a frog’s and pulled in his teacup to chew it up like food, leaving behind the tea as it floated around like liquids in outer space.
“Well it’s good to know you thought surrendering was a better option.” he said to Tirek.
“I never asked for this class, though.” Tirek said, sounding a little angrier.
“Better than Tartarus or being turned to stone.”
“Anyway…” Flurry said, trying to change the subject. “Were Queen Chrysalis and Cozy Glow alright when you were with them?”
“They were fine.  They both want revenge.  Chrysalis wants to invade Equestria again.  She’s crazy.  As for Cozy: I can’t remember what she said she wanted to do.”
Discord made a notepad appear in front of him and began to write on it with a pen.
“Discord, what are you doing?” Flurry asked.
“Taking notes.” he said.  “We’ll need to keep tabs on what those two are doing and how we can prepare for facing them.  So anyway, Tirek, did Chrysalis say how she planned on coming back to attack one day?”
“No, she didn’t.  I’m not concerning myself with her anymore.”
“And this other changeling, Scutellum, did he spill any beans?”
“How should I know?  Why am I even being asked these questions?  I thought I was in a reforming class, not an interrogation!”
“Oh, just wondering.  Cozy and Chrysalis don’t sound like they want to take your route and apologize.  We should be ready for anything.”
“Well that’s all I have.  I don’t care to talk about those two anymore if you don’t mind.  Can I drink my tea in peace?  And can you please turn the gravity back to normal?!”
Tirek suddenly noticed that everything began to levitate. Flurry and Spike just remained still in midair, not knowing how to react as the two of them continued to argue. Angelica began to flail around in front of them, helplessly trying to find something to anchor onto until Spike caught her and held on to her.  Flurry used her magic to send them back down to earth along with the mushroom table and everything on top of it.
“Sorry.  Sometimes my powers go a little haywire when I argue like this.” Discord told Tirek. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.  Gravity is so overrated sometimes.”
“GRRRR!  FLUTTERSHY, WHERE’S MY TOAST?!?” Tirek screamed.
“Right here, Tirek.” Fluttershy said, flying up to him and handing him a plate with two pieces of toast.  “Discord, maybe we should take it down a notch?”
“Ah, fine.”
Discord snapped his fingers and Tirek fell back down to the earth, landing on his face with a grunt while Discord just floated down gracefully and landed on his legs.  Tirek got up and brushed himself off, completely forgetting about his toast.
“Confound this ‘reformation’ class!  It’s getting me nowhere!”
“Shhhh, it’s okay, Tirek.  Discord, maybe it’s time we move on to Plan B?”
“Plan B?”
“Oh that’s right!  I almost forgot I invited a few Villains Anonymous buddies over to help out with reforming Tirek!” Discord said as a light bulb appeared over his head.
“Greeeeat, more annoying creatures of Equestria.  This is sure to be a forgettable experience!”
“Oh don’t worry, Tirek.” Fluttershy said, putting her hoof on his shoulder.  “You’ll like these three.  They might have a lot in common with you.  They’ve had their fair share of past mistakes too.”
“Well at least there’s something we have in common.” Tirek grumbled.