//------------------------------//
// Chapter 12: Restore Point 
// Story: Mechaniquus 
// by DougtheLoremaster 
//------------------------------//

Cozy Glow narrowed her eyes in rage, glaring down at Chrysalis. Through gritted teeth she uttered.
“What. Did. You. Just. Say?”
“I’m done.”
The words weren’t spoken with the usual rash and aggressive tone Chrysalis used towards Cozy. They were spoken with a tired and pained expression painted across the Changeling Queen’s face. Even in her powered-up form she looked saddened, hurt. Whispering wearily to the other two, Chrysalis just repeated her words.
“I’m done. I don’t want to fight anymore, I can’t do this anymore.”
Cozy Glow’s eyes softened having never seen Chrysalis this vulnerable. She didn’t like this side of her at all. Sure, they were villains, but their time together kind of made Cozy enjoy their spiteful back and forths. Seeing her normally vile friend in such a torn state, hurt her. Tirek, however, angrily shouted at Chrysalis.
“Have you lost your mind, Bug Queen? What do you mean you’re done? We’re about to crush those goody-four-hooves! We will finally have our reven-”
“No, we won’t!”
Chrysalis slammed her hoof down, interrupting Tirek, but her words conveyed none of the rage her movements did. Chrysalis sounded worn-out, and Tirek took notice.
“Don’t you get it, you oaf? Revenge? We never win. Even now, we are preparing for a final stand. And then what? If we win, we turn on each other, it’s only natural for us. And if we lose? We are left to lick our wounds and plot once more… Tell me, aren’t you as tired as I am; looking for a revenge that is always out of reach?”
Tirek’s face fell, he could see her point. And Cozy Glow just felt like hugging Chrysalis, if only to feel Chrysalis angrily shove her off; she hated seeing her so destroyed.
“Look at them!”
Turning the other two looked towards the hill, where Twilight was giving her loathsome friendship speeches to dragons, ponies, yaks, griffons. Every creature that was able to defend Equestria stood there, inspired by her words of unity, of Harmony. Chrysalis spat on the ground in self-loathing.
“We did everything we could, to turn them against each other, and yet somehow they stand there united against us. Even managed to destroy the Wendigos. Tell me, what have we done? Taken out, Celestia and Luna? So what? That hasn’t stopped them at all. When this is over, we’ll be sent away again; I’ve lost my crown, my hive, and my pride trying to get back at them; I’m so tired of losing. I’m tired of being alone. You two do what you want, I, just don’t feel like fighting anymore.”
Tirek watched as Chrysalis took a few steps away from them, closed her wings, and sat on her haunches. This movement, however, did not escape the notice of Twilight Sparkle, who paused for a moment to watch the scene.
Turning to Cozy Glow, Tirek asked the Alicorn.
“What do you want to do?”
Sighing, Cozy Glow’s horn, which had been channeling magic to prepare for a final blast, stopped glowing. She folded her wings and sat down as well, lamenting to the Centaur.
“Somepony finally said it. She’s right. This game has really gotten out of hoof. I never wanted to hurt ponies, Tirek, I’m just a filly for Grogar’s sake! I just wanted to be a princess, to be in charge, and now look at me. An overblown fantasy has made me Equestria’s Most Wanted. Maybe we should call it quits. 
Over on the hill, they all get along, wouldn’t that be nice? If we could also have that kind of fun in the sun, instead of slinking in the shadows? Chrysalis is right, it’s brought us nothing but pain. I don’t want to go to Tartarus again. I say we stop fighting. I vote we surrender. This game just isn’t fun anymore and I want to go home.”
Tirek clenched his fists at this reply. He angrily shouted at them.
“I will not surrender to those ponies! They stole thousands of years from me as I rot in the depths of that infernal prison. I will have my-”
“So what?”
Cozy Glow’s words completely halted Tirek’s rant. She sounded nothing like the crazed pegasus she had been. Instead, a single tear rolled down her face. Tirek’s heart broke looking at the sight; that wasn’t her normal crocodile tears. Those were real. And for some reason, it twisted his insides, tearing him up inside. She spoke again.
“So what? We both know due to your ritual, you can’t die of old age. And if it’s your youth you wish to reclaim, why not just ask? Surely Discord could do such a thing without any effort. Even Celestia and Luna could, probably. For all we know, Twilight would eagerly make it happen, in her never-ending quest to be friends with every creature. I mean, you never asked them, did you?”
Tirek froze. He didn’t know what to say, they made great points, but all those years of torture; how could he just-
“Come on, Mr. Muscles. Let’s play a new game.”
Those words; spoken sincerely by the filly-turned Alicorn, decided the matter for him. He gave an annoyed sigh, before looking over at Chrysalis.
“Fine, you win, Bug Queen. But how do we even announce our unwillingness to fight? Our surrender? Anything we say at this point would be met with skepticism at best, and declarations of deception at worst. They won’t believe us.”
Silence fell on the three, as two ponies, an Alicorn and a Unicorn, now sat side by side on the hill. Ignoring the cries of “we got this”, they watched the three villains, curious to see what would happen next. 
Chrysalis wasn’t sure what to do; Tirek was absolutely right, there was no way a cry of surrender would be taken realistically after everything that had happened. They had literally blown up Canterlot Castle and declared war. So what could they do? Time was running out and an attack was imminent. Her mind drew a blank.
That’s when Cozy Glow took Grogar’s Bell off of the cord around her neck, holding it up and saying softly.
“So, what if we say nothing at all, and instead, let this do the talking for us?”
Chrysalis and Tirek shared a look. Tirek spoke to Cozy.
“Are you serious? We would be left completely defenseless if they decided to retaliate.”
Nodding, Cozy Glow agreed.
“Exactly. We would be completely helpless. Can you think of a better way to prove our desire to end this?”
Chrysalis didn’t like the idea. At all. Her instincts screamed at her that giving up her magic, her Changeling powers, was likely to end up with her dead. Still, this was it. This was the answer, and this was the only way to prevent the soon-to-come onslaught. Stiffened in fear, she couldn’t speak and instead just forced herself to nod in reluctant consent. Tirek closed his eyes and spoke just two words.
“Do it.”
With a deep breath, Cozy Glow let her horn glow with her stolen magic, causing the legendary bell to rise into the air. The commotion on the hill grew as more and more noticed the display and whispers abound.  What was going on? Were they attacking first?
Starlight and Twilight sat silently, watching the display as they had been, with great interest. Neither had a clue as to what was happening, but both would later reveal that they had grown curiously excited as the display unfolded before them; leaving them both mesmerized.
The bell had been pointed towards the hill, but as all present watched, it slowly turned to point the hollowed end at the three villains. The world fell silent as the knell of the bell rang out across the pasture.
With the loud clanging sound still echoing, the three were engulfed in a dark magical vortex. Chrysalis felt herself revert to her normal state and her body felt weaker, more hollowed than usual; collapsing onto the ground as her hooves gave out beneath her.
Tirek seeing this reached out his hands to help her back up, but though he tried with all his might, his muscles were gone; the magic that was infused within, sucked into the depths of the accursed bell. He couldn’t budge her in his withered, decrepit form.
Cozy Glow’s horn sank into her skull before vanishing and her body shrank back to her true identity; that of a filly Pegasus, her stolen magic now locked within the bell. Powerless and meek once more, she could barely fly. Yet, the only thing she seemed focused on was helping Tirek with lifting Chrysalis back onto her hooves.
As the three worked together, Chrysalis slowly rose to her hooves, just as Twilight and Starlight, having seen enough to make up their minds, approached them. Sharing a glance, the two stood before Tirek, Cozy Glow, and Chrysalis; the three now completely at their mercy. Starlight, standing before Chrysalis, held out her hoof in complete silence.
Chrysalis’s eyes went wide with surprise; this was the exact motion Starlight had made before. The same motion Chrysalis had scoffed at. Starlight stared silently into her eyes as if waiting for an answer. Twilight spoke softly to the three, her wings flared to emphasize her point.
“We don’t want to fight, and it looks like you don’t either. This is your chance, your moment to make your choice, to decide your fate. If you let this go, this opportunity won’t arise again. Let us help you, let us be at peace. Take our hooves and let’s bury our pasts and move forward; as friends.”
With her mind spoken, Twilight folded her wings and like Starlight, held out her hoof. The three villains looked at each other, before nodding their heads in a unanimous decision. All three lifted their hooves, and hands, and placed them on the two pony’s outstretched hooves.
Chrysalis, though still weakened from the magical drain, whispered hoarsely; speaking for the group.
“We would like that…friends.”

***

The LEDs of Twilight flickered until the bright Amethyst once more shined brightly. She played a low whistle track, in a display of her amazement.
“That’s quite the tale, Chrysi. You were a villain in your world?”
Her words weren’t ones of accusation, just ones of surprise. Chrysi chuckled at the memory.
“Originally, yes. Though that was decades ago. What about this world’s Chrysalis? Wasn’t she a villain too?”
Twilight couldn’t help it. She began to giggle at the thought. The idea of Chrysalis being a villain before the Smooze, was utterly hilarious to her.
“Actually, no. Not really. You see, many years ago, we met Chrysalis when she impersonated my brother and had been dating my foalsitter for about six years. My brother meanwhile, was unaware of this, having shipped out to guard training with the dream of being Captain of the Canterlot Guard, one day. 
That’s when I got an invite to attend my, ahem *brother’s* wedding-”

***

“Flurry! Flurry!”
Stepping outside a rather large tent, a Pegasus adolescent with the appearance of being just a year or two from marehood, looked to see who was calling her name. 
Her metallic body was a shimmering pink, the spitting image of her Alicorn mother. Her ocular receptors had LEDs that glowed with an envious jade green, her natural eye color; a gift from her other mother. Her muzzle had a singular metal fang showing, and on her flank was the image of a faded crystal heart. Her holographic mane and tail were translucent teal and seemed to have a few holes here and there, scattered throughout.
“Flurry Heart!”
Standing under a massive sign forged of an unknown metal and emblazoned with the words, “Changing Love”, Flurry Heart watched a rapidly approaching creature galloping towards her. The Changing Love was a place for romance to abound in the form of dating simulators; various machines couples could jack into, allowing them to visit various romantic locales, that once existed, for their dates.
Residents called it “Charging Love”, the rust on the aged sign obscuring some of the letterings. Still, Flurry never corrected them. Having opened the theater in memory of her late Alicorn mother, Flurry Heart hated being reminded she was Half-Changeling; especially after what her other mother did. 
Still, though she hated it, she could not deny her heritage. Determined to put the past behind her, she had named it “Changing Love”; a combination of each of her mother’s traits. And there was one creature who knew this full well, and that creature was currently galloping towards her.
“Flurry!”
Smiling, Flurry Heart giggled as she was knocked over by Autumn Blaze as the Kirin tackled her; both grinning at each other. Autumn hugged her fiercely and said.
“Honey, we’re home!”
Flurry chuckled and gently nuzzled the Kirin; her partner of three years now, and her best friend since she was a filly and got lost in the woods. Looking at Autumn’s back, Flurry noticed the shaking form of their pet snake hissing in protest at the sudden movement. Gesturing to it, Flurry smiled as the snake swiftly crawled over to and up her foreleg.
“And did you both have a good day, sweetie?”
As hyperactive as ever, Autumn excitedly told her about running into Fluttershy and Kindness, about how she found a neat little lava stone on her walk, and also how she swore Feyfyre was happily hissing along to her singing earlier. 
Listening to her tales always made Flurry Heart feel light-hearted; like the weight of her past, those horrible memories had vanished into the Aether. Chuckling, she gingerly ran her metal hoof along the snake’s back, listening to it hiss contentedly as Autumn told her all about her day.
 It still amazed her, how she had started the little theater, with Autumn suggesting the two of them run it together; back when they first got serious with their relationship in the aftermath of the “metalling” as it came to be known.
 She often wondered what her two mothers would think of her partner if they were still around. Though she could be a bit eccentric at times, with Autumn by her side, Flurry Heart felt, perhaps, eternal life in this world wasn’t so bad after all. 
Getting up off the scorched ground, Flurry Heart started back into the tent calling out to her wife.
“Come on, Autumn, we've got customers waiting on us.”