Relationships are Evil

by TheTimeSword


Chapter 3: The Meeting

“Are you loco in the coco, Twilight?” the pink party pony asked from across the table.

The Elements of Harmony and the sister alicorns had been brought together for a very difficult meeting. Twilight had asked for the release of Tirek into her custody so that she may attempt to reform the evil centaur. She was unsure if the task was in the realm of possibility, but she had to try.

“I’ve made it abundantly clear to Starlight that anyone can be redeemed. I’m glad I left her out of this meeting so that I can honestly say this,” she paused before continuing, “I’m not sure I can handle reforming him alone.”

“So, this Starlight Glimmer, she believes you can redeem him, but you do not. Do you believe he cannot be saved?” asked Princess Celestia, curious as to how she felt about the villain.

She shook her head. “I do believe everyone deserves a second chance, even a monster like Tirek.” Twilight placed her forelegs on the oak table they sat around. “I will fight to try and reform him, make him see how kind and noble he can be. I believe it can be done, but I'm unsure how to do so. He's not like Discord.”

“I get that you want to do this for Starlight, but can’t you just lie to her or something? Like, only ponies can be saved?” Rainbow Dash’s question brought a round of gasps from the other ponies.

“Rainbow Dash! What of Discord? He is not a pony. And Gilda, she was given a second chance. Would you deny her redemption to Starlight?” The yellow pegasus was usually timid and non-vocal in meetings, but even she could not be part of Rainbow Dash’s proposal.

The blue pegasus rolled her eyes. “Hey, hey! I’m not saying I believe it! I just think that, maybe if we told Starlight this one little lie, then she wouldn’t press Twilight for these sort of things. And don’t make me sound like the bad guy here, I know some of you were thinking the same thing. I’m the only one that had the bal-“

“Enough!” Princess Luna yelled with reminiscences of the royal Canterlot voice. “May I remind you that you are sitting in the presence of somepony who is technically reformed? Do not take reformation so lightly!”

Rainbow quickly slumped into her seat, hiding beneath the top of the table. “Sorry,” she whispered out.

Princess Celestia stood up from her seat. She spoke in a soft, sweet tone. “I have already decided. Since we know for a fact that the Elements of Harmony embody you six, then you should have no problems with Tirek if he resorts to his old ways. Just like turning Discord to stone if he ever returned to his old habits, I believe you six can overpower him should he absorb magic once more.”

“You’re actually on board for this? Really? I’m actually a little surprised,” said Twilight, a nervous chuckle echoing from her throat.

The white alicorn walked around the table to where Twilight sat. “I am truly proud of you, my most faithful student. Not only are you leading by example, but you’re taking it upon yourself to do this task. I understand your fear in doing this alone.”

“Thank you, Princess Celestia, I won’t let you-“ Before she could finish, Celestia interrupted her.

“However, I will not let you have this task alone. Tirek is very dangerous.” She looked around the table at the other five elements. “You all will help Twilight in whatever way you can. It will take all of you to tame this mighty beast. He is far more devious than Discord, you must watch out for yourself and each other. I believe in all of you.”

All six of them nodded in agreement, including Rainbow Dash who still slightly opposed the notion.

Celestia returned to her seat next to her sister. When she was finally seated, Luna spoke up, “You six have handled many things that seemed impossible, and for that we believe you can do this.” Her smile turned to a smirk. ”Now that it’s settled, tell us more about the bet!” The room's tension shifted away with the alicorn's mention.

“I’ve been dying to hear more about it. You have two gentlecolts vying for your heart. I am truly envious!” Rarity clapped her hooves together.

Twilight couldn’t help but let out a sigh. “Well, Tirek is more or less just part of it to be reformed. I haven’t seen Discord since the bet was made days ago. I can’t help but feel he’s plotting something, and that worries me.”

“Well, why don’t we ask Discord’s closest friend if they’ve seen him?” Applejack asked from across the table before shifting her eyes to the yellow pegasus that sat next to her.

Fluttershy covered her mouth. She spoke through her hooves, “You mean me? Oh dear. Uhm, n-no. I h-have not seen him.”

“You were pretty quick to deny that, especially for you.” The rainbow colored mane swayed as her body shifted to face Fluttershy. "Something you've got hidden, eh?"

“I-I’m not allowed to-” Fluttershy lowered her voice until all that came out was a squeak.

“Is he getting you to lie to us?” Rainbow snarled as she glided over to Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus wrapped herself in her pink mane in an attempt to hide.

Applejack threw a rope up and around Rainbow’s legs, pulling her down to the floor and away from Fluttershy. “Yah gonna settle down now or what?” she mumbled as she held the rope in her teeth.

“Yes Rainbow Dash, Discord is not a threat to us,” said Rarity.

“Rarity is correct. Though I do fear what he might say once he finds out about Tirek's release, Discord has not corrupted Twilight’s mind for an easy win,” added Luna.

“He has already helped by getting us to talk about releasing and reforming Tirek. Even agreeing to the bet in the first place shows how much he’s changed. If you would, Twilight, send me updates from time to time just about Discord.” Princess Celestia gave a wink to her young student.

“You can count on it. I do hope he shows up soon, the anticipation is killing me,” replied Twilight.

“Sounds to me like yah already have a soft spot for the big lug.” A resounding gasp came from the other ponies at the table, all caused from Applejack’s statement. Celestia and Luna couldn’t help but giggle from all the gossip, a rare thing for the noble alicorns.

Twilight began to blush from everypony staring at her, waiting for her to release the juicy details. “Well, like I said, I haven’t seen him for a few days. I’m sure once he comes around I’ll be more annoyed with him than ever.”

“Don’t be so sure,” said Luna. “Discord can be quite the charmer when he wants to be.”

The six ponies looked at Luna, shock and awe filled their faces. They all remained silent, unsure of what to say. She couldn’t help but giggle at their reactions. With a wink, she nudged her head in the direction of the elder sister.

Celestia raised an eyebrow as she looked at the grinning Luna. “And with that this meeting is adjourned.” She rose from her seat and began to walk around the table. “Tirek will be released into your custody, Twilight, please keep us updated on how it is going periodically.”

Twilight noticed the small red shade across the eldest sister's muzzle. “Oh, okay. Will do, princess,” said Twilight, a bit surprised by the sudden departure. I wonder what flustered her all of a sudden, she thought.

With the meeting finished, the alicorn sisters exited the room first. Starlight bowed as they passed by. She had been waiting for the meeting to end so that she and Twilight could return to Ponyville, possibly with Tirek. The rest of the Elements exited the room, greeting Starlight, and then continuing on. Twilight stayed behind to inform her of the good news.

“So? How’d it go?” Starlight looked at her mentor, curious if she had convinced the others.

“Well, your job of keeping an eye on Tirek and Discord got a little bit easier. Princess Celestia has asked the others to help in keeping control of Tirek, in case of emergencies and what not,” Twilight replied. "Hopefully that means Tirek will be more docile than Discord was."

“I can’t believe you got them to agree. Do you really think you can reform him?”

“You can’t redeem everybody, Starlight.” Twilight placed a hoof on her student’s forehead, brushing her bangs. “That doesn’t mean I won’t try.”

Starlight let out a sheepish smile before replying, “Careful, it almost sounded like you practiced that one.”

With a giggle in her voice, Twilight said, “When you believe something so much, I suppose it would sound a little rehearsed.”

“So, if Tirek gets reformed, which of the lucky guys are you going to pick?” Starlight asked, nudging her teacher’s shoulder.

Twilight groaned at the idea of picking one of them to be her special somepony. “Honestly, I hope neither of them. Who knows, maybe they’ll end up putting aside their differences and dating each other.”

“I’d pay to see that!” squealed Starlight.

With a chuckle, Twilight nodded in agreement. “Alright, enough goofing around,” she said as she began walking down the hall. “We’ve got work to do and a centaur to reform.”