The centaur stood in the cage with his scraggly beard and black eyes with their distinct yellow pupils as he stared at me, pointed with his claw, and asked, “Who is this other pony? And…” his eyes widen when he sees the grinning pink pegasus filly on my right… “Oh no! YOU! NOT YOU!”
Cozy widens her eyes, “Oh yes, Tirek! You got me!”
His eyes narrow as his claw lowers, “I refuse to talk to you!”
Cozy’s eyes normalize, “I don’t know if you noticed Tirek, but you don’t really get a choice here. I’m here, and you can’t get away!”
“And if I refuse?”
Cozy widens her eyes again, “That wouldn’t be very smart Tirek, cause then I get to annoy you!”
Twilight smiles from my left, “And I’d let her too!”
He sighs, “Fine! Let me guess! You’ve reformed the demon filly and now, you want her to convince me to be reformed too, right?” he glances to the left, “Chrysalis’s whereabouts are still a mystery,” he turns back to us and raises his gaze. “but that isn’t important now!”
I smile, “Oh Tirek, I think it’s a lot more important than you realize…”
He glares back at me, “What do you mean? Just who are you, anyway? Why are you here?”
I lower my gaze, “You really don’t recognize me, do you?”
He frowns, “Not really, no!”
Cozy finally pipes up, “You know, she used to be Chrysalis!”
His eyes widen at me, “WHAT?”
I giggle slightly under my breath, “It’s true! But I’d much rather just be an earth mare now… “
His enormous eyes gaze at me as I am now something he no longer comprehends, “And give up power?”
“Power isn’t necessary to live a rich full life Tirek! In the end, I came to understand that it was more of a liability… That’s why I don’t want it anymore…“
“You’re insane!”
“Really Tirek? Cause think about it! What did all that power really get me? A miserable life with you and the brat in the dilapidated house where we were hiding out in? Hiding the bell from Grogar and hoping to Tartarus that he doesn’t find it? Running around always wanting and needing to expand my empire in order to keep the love flowing? No Tirek, that’s no kind of life and definitely not the way I wish to live anymore…” I smile at the miserable old centaur. “I’m happy as an earth mare now… My new name is Crystal Heart…”
He adjusts his gaze left towards the filly and he points at her with his left claw, “And you Cozy! Just how did they reform you, anyway?”
Cozy stares up at him, “Well golly gee, I’m a pony you know, and so I kinda already have friendship in me!” she smiles wider, “All they really had to do is to convince me that it was there and worth exploring!” her eyes go skyward as her smile lowers, “Well, that and learning how to forgive myself,” her eyes go back down to him, “but these things take time!” she smiles again. “Oh, golly gee Tirek! Won’t you just try being reformed? It sure is swell!”
“I’d sooner die!”
Cozy turns her neck left to me, “Is that an option? Can we kill him?”
Both me and Twilight stare down at her and say in unison, “NO!”
Cozy turns her neck forward and stares blankly, “Oh, golly!”
I stare at the centaur, “Tirek, look! Just try it out, okay? I mean, consider your other option is being frozen back in stone?”
He looks at me with those unnerving black eyes of his, “Actually, that’s my preference! And do me a favor and smash my statue to rubble this time, please! Heh, I’d much rather not return!”
Cozy stares at him with her enormous eyes, “Golly! That’s bleak!”
I turn my head left to the purple alicorn, “Twilight, he’s clearly not ready! I don’t think there’s much we can do now?”
She turns her neck back towards me and huffs through her nostrils, “I think you’re right? Well, we captured him when he broke the statue, and now we have him here.”
I nod, “Obviously! So at least he’s no longer a threat at this stage!”
She smiles at me, “Right!”
Tirek bellows, “Oh, why even bother? Just kill me like I keep telling you to and be done with it! I’d rather not be alive anyway and it would save you so much trouble!”
Cozy stares forward blankly, “Uh, I don’t know if I should comment on this?”
I turn my head back right towards the pink filly and crane down to her, “Don’t Cozy! Tell Tirek what you came to say!”
Cozy stares up at the centaur, “Tirek! I needed to say something to you, but you’re probably not gonna like it!”
He stares down at the filly, “Oh, what is it now? Are you going to call me out for using you to get revenge on these ponies?” he throws his arms to the sides. “I’m evil! It’s what I do! Bad things!”
She smiles up at him, “You know, I thought you might say something like that! And so, I thought I should just thank you!”
His eyes widen in astonishment, “Thank me? What on earth for?”
She giggles, “Well, gee! Before you, I had lost my parents and my cottage and I was a homeless orphan! And now, in part thanks to your bumbling stupidity, I got a family now and a wonderful home with two mommies!”
He frowns, “Lesbian mommies! Did not see that one coming!”
Cozy continues to grin at him, “Well gee, it sure beats life in a cage!”
I smile at my foal, “So I take it you’ve accepted me and Starlight as your new parents?”
Cozy smiles up at me, “I think I have, mom?”
Tirek’s eyes go skyward, “Ugh! That’s fine! Great! Chrysalis is an earth pony now and Cozy Glow is still a little twit! I don’t care! Just get out of here and leave me be!”
Cozy giggles and smiles widely, “Sure thing Tirek old buddy! I just wanted to say goodbye!”
“Yes, finally!” The centaur replies with obvious relief in his voice.
Twilight cranes her neck right to look past me at the foal standing on the floor, “What are you saying Cozy?”
Cozy stares at the alicorn, “I’m saying that I’m done with Tirek… I’m saying that that time of my life is over now and I’m, “she blinks, “I’m ready to start all over now…” she smiles. “I’m ready Twilight… I want to be a good filly…”
<*****>
“So wait! What exactly happened back there?” The magenta unicorn asks me with her right eyebrow raised.
I smile at her from my side of the table, “Cozy rebuked Tirek and now she’s free! By doing that, she will begin to unravel his dogma from her mind. It’s a psychological thing!”
She frowns, “I didn’t think an evil changeling queen would know so much about psychology?”
I giggle, “You’ve obviously never been royalty! It’s essential with things like political manipulation and coercion. Before I became absolute ruler of my hive, there were some discrepancies with the existing changeling monarchy there…” I look to her and smile. “And as an added bonus, Princess Twilight was there and witnessed what Cozy Glow did! In so doing, Cozy’s standing will undoubtedly improve!”
“You really thought this through!”
I chuckle again, “That’s just the icing on the cake baby! The important thing now is that we have our foal all to ourselves!”
Suddenly, Cozy Glow appears in the doorway 12 feet behind me as it opens to the left. I adjust my gaze to her over my right shoulder while Starlight glances over her way, “Oh, golly gee! We gotta do something to cheer up Tirek now!”
“What?” I ask with a confused frown on my muzzle.
She smiles, “Yeah! He’s all sad and depressed and we gotta snap him out of it!”
“What in Equestria for?”
She adjusts her gaze to me, “Don’t you think we at least owe him that much?”
I sigh when after thinking about it in my mind, I realize that she’s right! “Very well then, Cozy! What did you have in mind?”
<*****>
Outside the cage room, I stared at the two wooden double-doors there with their brass knobs before staring back down at the pink filly, currently with a cardboard box on her back, “Cozy, why are you doing this for Tirek?”
“Because” Cozy said to me as she glanced off to the left slightly. “I’m a good filly and I won’t leave anypony behind…”
I stare down at her intently, “But he’s evil!”
She glances back towards me and smiles, “You know, he hasn’t really done anything bad in about four years, right?”
“Oh, you are good!”
She grins up at me, “I know!” before turning her neck back right towards the door and reaching up to turn the knob with her lips and then, release her body from it so the door glides right and opens for us two ponies…
We see the lonely old red centaur standing there and staring back at us as he says sarcastically, “Oh, wow! The brat and former changeling! How delightful!”
Cozy begins trotting in as she says, “First off, it was really rotten of you to trick me into doing your bidding like that!” and begins to make her way into the room…
His black ovals widen, “Oh, yes! But, you already told me this! Do you have anything new to add?”
Cozy smiles at Tirek, “As a matter of fact, I do! I just wanted to cheer you up and so I brought you a care package!”
“A what?”
Cozy’s body shakes slightly as she responds, “A care package! It’s got cookies and some chocolate and fun things to read and do and…”
“I don’t want it!”
Cozy stares at Tirek with her big eyes, “But Tirek! I-I made it just for you!”
“I don’t care!”
Cozy’s bottom lip begins to quiver, “B-but you’re really sad and I want you to know that we care about you!”
“That means nothing to me!”
I finally can’t take anymore and stare at the wretched old monster, “Tirek! You listen and you listen good! Cozy Glow is a good filly now and she made you something! You will accept it graciously this instant!”
“Or what? You’ll get mad at me again? I don’t care! I just want out! I want to die and you ponies won’t even grant me that!”
My eyes narrow, “Cozy! Leave the room!”
She turns her head left to look at me curiously, “Mom?”
“Now Cozy! Wait for me outside! I’ll be there in a few minutes!”
She blinks and gulps, “Y-yes mommy!” before turning around with the box still on her back as she trots out the room and quietly shuts the door…
Tirek widens his eyes, “Oh, what now Chrysalis? Or uh, Crystal as you’re calling yourself! Are you going to get upset at me?”
I smile at him, “Tirek, tell me something… What do you really want?”
His eyes widen, “What do you mean? Have I not already made that abundantly clear? I want you to kill me! I want to die!”
I nod, “So you say! But lets just say that death was not an option. Lets just say that you had to live! What would you really want to do?”
“Why are you asking me this?”
“Because Cozy’s goal was to make you happy and so, I just want to know what that’d take?”
“Why?”
“Because that’s what Cozy wanted!”
His eyes widen, “H-happy? Nobody has ever actually cared about my happiness! Why are you suddenly doing this?”
I widen my smile, “Well, it all began when I met this yellow pegasus pony…”
(To be continued…)