//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4 
// Story: Flurry Heart's Story: Villains Anonymous 
// by AleximusPrime 
//------------------------------//

Tirek stomped through the woods.  He had already strayed off the path between Fluttershy’s house and the road to Ponyville, but he wasn’t worried about getting lost with Discord’s shield surrounding the perimeter.  At this point, he couldn’t go much further before bumping into the shield, but he had already made himself comfortable in a small clearing.
“Fools.” he grumbled to himself.  “Do they not understand personal space?”
He stopped walking and sighed deeply.  For about a minute he stood still, thinking about all the events that lead to this moment.  His eyebrows and forehead began to relax as he calmed himself down and closed his eyes.
Not too far away, Flurry and Spike were sneaking behind a tree. Tirek could not hear them because Flurry had cast a temporary spell around them that would cancel out any noise they made.
“Flurry, I told you we should have left him alone!” Spike said, worriedly.
“It’s okay, Spike.” Flurry replied, ducking down behind a fallen tree trunk.  “I’m good at this spell.  He won’t hear us, but we best whisper just in case.  Just make sure he doesn’t see us.  I can’t use an invisibility spell at the same time.”
“Alright, alright.  I just don’t see anything happening though.”
“Shhhh!”
Spike and Flurry both stopped talking and looked at Tirek.  He remained still for a few moments, and then finally opened his eyes to look around a bit.
“This is much better than being in Tartarus.” he said.
A small bird perched itself on a nearby low-hanging branch. It looked at Tirek and began to chirp. Flurry and Spike could not see the slight smile that began to form on his face, but what they saw next surprised them.
“Hello there, little one.” Tirek said, putting out his finger as the bird flew over and landed on it.  “Must be wonderful for you to not have to worry about the things I’m dealing with…to be so free.”
A few other birds landed on some branches and some squirrels and chipmunks came out to watch.  Tirek looked around at them all and his smile began to grow.  He let the bird leave his finger to join its friends back on the branch.
“I wish it could have been this easy for me back in the Midnight Kingdom.” he said.  “We were so much better off when it was peaceful and all I wanted was for that peace to remain.  If I didn’t know any better, I’d say areas like this in Equestria are far more hospitable. At least the wildlife can thrive.”



Flurry and Spike watched closely.  Spike had his mouth hanging open and Flurry had a huge grin on her face and couldn’t contain her zeal.
“Spike, are you seeing what I’m seeing?!” she squealed.
“I see it…but I can’t believe it!” Spike said, rubbing his eyes.  “Tirek actually likes animals?!”
“Not only that, but he’s talking about peace…like he wants peace!  Plus, didn’t he say he and Scorpan had good intentions when they first came?”
“Yeah, they were going to stop Discord in order to find favor with Celestia and Luna’s parents.  Tirek just went a little mad afterwards according to what Scorpan told me. I guess he just really wanted to…OH! GET DOWN!”
They both ducked behind the log Flurry was behind right as Tirek turned himself around.  He walked past them over into another area to find other woodland creatures to spend time around.  A few birds seemed to be following him to show him where to go.  After he had walked on far enough, Flurry and Spike continued to watch.
“Spike, we have to go tell the others!” Flurry said, excitedly.
“You’re right.  They gotta know.  Let’s leave Tirek to himself here.  We don’t wanna make him mad if he finds out we’ve been snooping on him.” Spike replied.
They both ran back to Fluttershy’s cottage, while Tirek continued to walk around with some of the wildlife.



Back in the cottage, Flutershy, Discord and all the present members of Villains Anonymous sat down to drink some tea while discussing the situation with Tirek.
“Maybe we should just send him back to the Midnight Kingdom.” Trixie said, gloomily.
“No can do.  He’s been banished.” Starlight replied.  “King Vorak made that decision rather reluctantly after tons of the citizens complained once Tirek betrayed them.  To my knowledge, Scorpan has yet to lift the ban and I’m afraid doing so would make him seem like a weak leader.”
“Great, so he’s just stuck with us then.  I see he’s not too thrilled about that.”
“He’ll come around.  We just need to find a way to get to him.”  Sunset added.
“Any ideas, Discord.” Iron Will asked Discord.
“I’m thinking.” Discord said as he paced about, stroking his chin.  “I just don’t get it.  Why would he say sorry to Twilight yet refuse to listen to us?” 
Fluttershy flew in with a plate full of tiny egg-salad sandwiches for them.
“It’s okay, everyone.” she told them as she set the plate down on a nearby table.  “We’re doing the right thing by leaving him to himself.  Hopefully Flurry and Spike have something to report on.”
Just as she spoke, the front door swung open and Flurry flew in as Spike followed after her, huffing and puffing.
“TIREK LIKES ANIMALS!” Flurry shouted.  “We saw him interacting with them in the woods!”
Everyone in the room made a collective gasp.
“WHAT?!  HE LIKES ANIMALS?!?” Fluttershy said, smiling.
“You guys won’t believe it!” Spike added.  “He let a bird perch on his own finger and he talked nicely to it!”
“He even said how he wished the Midnight Kingdom could be that peaceful or something!  He actually seems to like the idea of peace!”
“DISCORD, DID YOU HEAR THAT!” Fluttershy said to her draconequus friend.
Discord’s mouth had dropped and was hanging all the way down to the ground.  He stretched his arm down and tugged on his beard.  His jaw flew back up to his head and spun around like a rolled up curtain until it stopped.
“Well now…color me surprised!” he said. “I never knew Tirek had a fondness for animals.  That part about wishing for peace in his homeland doesn’t really surprise me.  His country was having a rough time and that’s why he and Scorpan first came to Equestria to begin with.”
“Well what are we all waiting for?!” Iron Will said, getting up from the sofa he was sitting on.  “Let’s go take him to the animal sanctuary!”
“Now now, Iron Will.” Fluttershy said. “He’s probably still a bit mad at us.  We don’t want to rush anything.  If we can use the animals to get him to show his more sensitive side, then maybe he’ll start listening.  Let’s take baby steps.  You guys can watch, but I’d stay far away so he can’t see you while this happens.  Meanwhile, I’ll handle Tirek.”
With a confident smile on her face, Fluttershy marched over to the door as everyone watched her leave to go find the centaur.



Fluttershy flew around the woods, calling for Tirek.  She saw some blue jays flying nearby and stopped one of them to ask for help.
“Excuse me, Eleanor, have you seen a centaur roaming around out here by any chance?  That’s Lord Tirek.  He means no harm.  Me and my friends are trying to reform him right now.”
Eleanor replied to her through a series of chirps and squawks and then Fluttershy’s eyes widened.
“Oh my goodness!  Really?!  Show me!”
Fluttershy quietly landed on the ground and continued on hoof. Eleanor led her to a nearby clearing. Tirek was sitting on top of a bed of grass in the center with his head bowed down and his hands together.  Crepuscular rays shone down through the branches with the largest one shining down on him.  Birds, squirrels, raccoons, chipmunks and other wildlife could be seen perched in branches or on the ground, watching him.  The sound of birds chirping could be heard in the distance, though the ones around Tirek were silent.  Tirek spoke not a word but just sat there, meditating.  Fluttershy had her hooves over her mouth and could not believe what she was seeing.  She was as quiet as she could be, hoping he would not hear her.  Tirek continued to sit, motionless and silent.  She wondered what he was thinking, but she could not see his face to tell for sure.  Finally Tirek spoke up.
“Did the animals tell you I was here?” he asked.
“Oh!  Tirek! I’m…uh…I’m so sorry if I interrupted you.” she said.  “Do you want me to leave?  I just wanted to see how you were doing.”
“It’s no use.  I’m guessing you wanted to see if I was behaving.  Let it be known I can be at ease when the time is right.  I did have to sit around like this in Tartarus for over a thousand years after all.”
“I…hadn’t thought of that.” Fluttershy said as she cautiously began to walk towards Tirek.  “I’m glad my animals are all keeping you company.  Have you always been this friendly towards them?”
“No one really hates woodland creatures like these in the Midnight Kingdom.  We were having so many issues there before I first came to Equestria; anyone would have been happy to see a sight like this.  I don’t dislike animals.  They aren’t the ones who put me in Tartarus or turned me to stone.”
As Tirek spoke, his voice was very flat and calm, but he still appeared a bit upset and couldn’t bring himself to smile.  Fluttershy stood still and let her eyes wander a bit as she thought of what to say to him next.  She was so surprised at how well behaved he now was, she wasn’t sure how to respond.
“Well, if you’d like to see more animals, I also have a sanctuary over on the other side of my cottage.”
“What sort of animals?”
“Oh, well there are ones like these, but there’s also plenty of exotic ones from all around that have found their homes here.”
“Will the others be there?”
“No, it will just be you.  I’ll be there to tend to some of them and show you around in case you need me.”
Tirek turned his head and stared into space for a few moments. He finally stood up, stretched his arms, and then turned back to Fluttershy.
“I suppose it’s worth a try.”
“Really?  Oh, well that’s great!  Follow me then, I’ll show you the way.”
Fluttershy smiled jubilantly and flew off towards her cottage to take the path that lead to her sanctuary.  Tirek followed her with his arms behind his back.  There was still no emotion in his face, but a trip to the sanctuary might be just the thing to make him feel at home.



By the time they made it to the sanctuary, some of the animals were already out, playing and eating food.  They already knew Tirek was around and didn’t seem to mind having a visitor.  Fluttershy hovered a few feet above the ground as Tirek followed behind her on the path.
“Here it is!” she said.  “I have all sorts of animals here.  We’ve got birds, there are otters, flamingos, an elephant, a giraffe, a bear, snakes, koalas, raccoons, capybaras the list goes on.”
“I’ve never seen this many predators and prey in the same place. Do they ever attack one another?”
“Oh no, they’re trained not to do that.”
“Trained?  By who?”
“Well, me of course.  That’s part of my special talent.  I have a really deep connection with animals and I can get them to listen to anything I say.”
“Interesting.”
Tirek looked around and saw some birds fly past him to a nearby birdbath while some raccoons ran around in the grass to his right.  He wasn’t sure he was ready to visit the large animals like the bear or the elephant just yet, but he felt safe being around the smaller woodland creatures.  He continued to walk and started to smile a little as he observed them. Fluttershy saw him smiling, but she knew he probably would be too shy to show any positivity around her, so she kept a fair distance between them.  She left him to his business and flew off to tend to some of the creatures that needed feeding. Tirek stopped walking and watched the squirrels and chipmunks in the trees nearby.  He continued to smile and chuckle a bit at some of the antics of the squirrels chasing each other around a tree.  After a while he turned around to see Fluttershy on the other side of the stream, feeding some large rodents with a giant watermelon.  He used the rocks in the middle of the stream to carefully cross.
“These are the capybaras, Tirek.” Fluttershy said as she flew over next to him.  “They’re the world’s largest rodents.  They’re pretty cute, aren’t they?”
“I’ve heard of these creatures before.” Tirek said. “The Midnight Kingdom is a bit too inhospitable for them.”
“They live in more temperate climates where there’s lots of water, but they make great pets as long as they can be shielded from the cold and have a place to swim.  These ones come here every summer from their owners down south to stay for a few months.”
“They are something else.”
Tirek reached down to pet one of the capybaras by his leg. It was a calm animal and didn’t flinch at all when he touched it.  It actually seemed to really enjoy being petted.
Over on a nearby hill, Flurry, Spike and the others were all watching Tirek in the sanctuary.  Discord had transformed himself into a giant telescope so they could see him from a distance.
“What’s he doing now?” asked Spike.
“He’s petting one of the capybaras!” Flurry said, looking through the scope.
“Let me see!” Trixie said as Flurry gave her a turn. “Oh my goodness, she’s right!  Starlight, take a look at this!”
As Starlight took her turn with the Discord telescope, Iron Will watched through some binoculars.
“Well I’ll be!” Iron Will exclaimed.  “He’s actually starting to warm up!  This was a good idea after all!  Here Sunset, take a look!”
Sunset looked through the binoculars and saw Tirek petting the capybara as Fluttershy continued to talk to him.
“Those little ones over there are still growing up.” said Fluttershy.  “They stay around their mothers a lot.  Most of these animals are very close to their family.  They depend a lot on togetherness”
“Uh…yes.”
Tirek’s expression changed as soon as Fluttershy said this. He stopped petting the animal and put his arms behind his back again as his smile turned into a frown. Fluttershy was too busy petting one of the capybaras to notice him walking away.
“If you pet one enough, they might roll over for you.  Uh…Tirek?” Fluttershy said, looking back to see he was no longer there.
“Uh oh…what’s he doing now?” Flurry asked.
“Oh dear.  He doesn’t look so happy.” Starlight added.
Discord suddenly transformed back into his regular form once he noticed Tirek walking away.
“That can’t be right…” he said, stroking his beard.
“What happened?” asked Sunset.
“He doesn’t look happy anymore.  Was it something Fluttershy said?”
Meanwhile, Tirek had moved away to another spot.  Fluttershy watched curiously, not realizing how sullen he was.  He stopped and looked off to the side to see a mother bird flying to her nest to feed a worm to her babies.  He turned his head away immediately.  He walked a little faster until he reached an area where there were no animals and sat down. Fluttershy flew over to talk to him.
“Tirek, is everything okay?” she asked.
“Everything is fine.” he said.
“Um…well, if you’d rather, I can just leave you to yourself. Feel free to visit any of the other animals.”
Tirek sat still for a few moments without saying a word. A duck came out of the stream nearby with her young behind her.  She quacked to them so they would follow.  They walked by Tirek a few feet away.  He took a quick glimpse at them and then gritted his teeth.  He stood up quickly and turned away, rubbing his forehead as if he had a headache.
“What’s wrong with him?” Flurry asked, nervously.
“Hold on, everyone.  I’m going to go check it out.” Discord said.
“But we’re supposed to leave him by himself, Discord.” Spike reminded, but Discord had already snapped his fingers and disappeared in a flash.
In the sanctuary, Tirek was still standing by himself, refusing to watch any of the animals.  Fluttershy was watching behind a tree.  She looked very worried.  Suddenly, Discord walked out of nowhere accompanied by several families of various wildlife.  He had transformed his arms into tree branches with nests.  Each nest had baby birds in them with both their parents watching over them.  The left arm had eagles, the right arm had barn owls, and his deer antler had lovebirds. Behind him were beavers, gibbon monkeys, grey foxes, Vanhoover geese, and swans: all of which were also raising their young.  Tirek heard him walking by and turned around to see what was happening.
“Hey, Tirek, don’t mind me.” Discord said, cautiously.
“Um…what are you doing?” Tirek asked.
“I’m just helping out with some of these animals.”
Tirek looked surprised at first.  He looked around at each of the animals until he noticed what was going on and he began to frown again.
“Fluttershy has me take special care of them sometimes. They all have one big thing in common: family.  That’s right, these are all animals that mate for life and raise their young together. Some of them are so devoted; they protect their mate and their young and will only seek out another if one of them passes away.  They take very good care of the children so they can all grow up to become strong independent creatures and then carry on the legacy.”
Tirek was covering his head with his hands until finally he snapped and just stomped off.  The capybaras scattered as he walked through.  He crossed the stream and left the sanctuary.
“Tirek!  Where are you going?” Fluttershy called to him.
“Far away from here!” he hollered back.
All the birds attached to Discord picked up their nests to carry them away while he transformed his arms back.  The other animals left to go back to their homes.
“Discord, what was that?” Fluttershy asked, angrily. “Everything was going so well!”
“I’m sorry Fluttershy, I was just testing him.” Discord replied.
“Testing him?  What do you mean?”
“I think I might know what’s wrong with him.”
“You do?  Oh, wait. Do you think it has to do with his…um…”
“Yup.  I think that’s it.”