The Price of Freedom
Chancellor Neighsay sighed with relief as he said, "I'm glad you're back in charge of the school, princess." His horn lit up, and opened the doors to one of their inventory stores. Just a check-up to ensure nothing else was stolen by Cozy Glow for some hidden back-up agenda. Once it was clear all was in place, Neighsay spoke with hints of regret in his tone and expression, "It's clear to me now that there is no pony better suited for the job." Both princesses smiled at the genuine meaning of such a statement, and were happy the Chancellor would no longer be in opposition to The School of Friendship. What the trio were not expecting was to see the young student six, heroes of the school and presently of equestria, standing single-filed in graduation gowns as Spike puffed out a graduate's degree to each of them. "What's going on?" Twilight asked as she approached the group.
"Hi, Headmare Twilight!" Silverstream waved to the alicorn. "We're just practicing for graduation!" All the while, Spike continued his magical belching, and handing out degrees to the other students. "Graduation?"
"Now that we've saved Equestria, we figure we're done with school." Gallus said with a strong hint of pride in his voice. However, to the surprise, and confusion of the six young students, Gallus' evident viewpoint on recent matters amused both Twilight, and Chancellor Neighsay as the two laughed together. "Saving Equestria is nice, but I'm afraid it'll take more than one semester to learn all there is to know about friendship."
"Told ya." Said Spike, as he let out another belch, while the students, now armed with the knowledge that their school time has yet to fully end, gave a simultaneous "Aaaaaaw!" of disappointment. The kind only children could give when they learn their semester has yet to end.
"Your headmare is right." Neighsay said, his expression turning to one of remorse, and understanding. "I thought friendship was something only ponies should share with each other. But you all taught me how wrong I was." He smiled at the students with gratitude, and said, "I suppose true friendship can take a lifetime to understand."
"If it were easy to learn, we wouldn't need a school." Twilight said, good naturedly.
CRASH!
Suddenly, the Cutie Mark Crusaders broke out of the broom closet they had all spent the majority of the day locked up in. All three of them were quite frantic, after the amount of time they had to be in there. "We held her off as long as we could!" Applebloom yelped.
"But she locked us in this closet!" Scootaloo exclaimed, getting a small broom out of her mane.
And once she got the bucket off of her head, Sweetie Bloom frantically asked, "What happened?! Is everything all right?! Where's Cozy Glow?!"
A moment later, everyone except the CMC began laughing together. It was almost an inside joke to the group, given only they in the room were aware of what actually happened. The three fillies were even more confused at this point. But Twilight was willing to alleviate their worries. "Everything worked out just fine."
"As for Cozy Glow, I can assure you — where she's going, she won't be causing any more trouble." Princess Celestia said in good faith, and with confidence. But while the others might have been reassured, Twilight couldn't help but get this.... ominous feeling. That maybe putting Cozy Glow in her new holding place wasn't such a good idea, and could lead to something bad happening. She couldn't be sure, but for now she would savor their victory.
Even if his presence in Equestria might have made it a hollow victory.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Down in the dimly lit depths of Tartarus, Cerberus sat all alone, sulking next to the malformed remained of a humongous cage that had once housed an evil force too dangerous to ever be released. And yet through craft, and intimidation, that evil force had garnered the previous pony visitors to release him in exchange for helping them escape. The plan worked all too well, and now Cerberus' most dangerous charge was gone. All three heads worried at how badly they might end up being punished for what happened. The same inmate who had escaped two years ago had once again escaped his confinement - and on the three-headed hounds watch this time. Worse was that he had been reduced to a diminutive state, and couldn't stop him from escaping. He shouldn't have even been able to escape in the first place. But now he was free again, and Cerberus was left alone with the other imprisoned creatures of magic.
And needless to say, he began to see just how boring things were going to be.
But then the 3 headed hound received a surprise in the form of Princess Luna, emerging from the ever familiar blue portal generated by Chancellor Neighsay, with an escort of pegasus guards. The heads couldn't see at first, but could hear the sound of a cage being locked, before the adult ponies moved out of the way, and into the portal. To the hounds shock, Tartarus had just been delivered a prisoner. Only it wasn't the one who had escaped previously.
It was a pegasus filly with bright pink fur, aqua blue curly hair, with adorable freckles on her face to compliment the little bow in her mane.
"Hey there, doggy!" Cozy Glow said in her insincere, syrupy sweet-laced voice she always used as she grabbed the bars of her cage to face the gigantic beast. "Wanna be friends?" she asked, with an undertone of sinister intent, as her own expression turned to that of a scheming villain already plotting something. The dog/s had absolutely no idea if they should be alarmed, or not, but it wasn't as if they could do anything about it. If this was who they were to guard now, then that's all there is to it. No reason to change that, as far as Cerberus was concerned.
And yet, it appeared that change was about to arrive sooner than imagined when a new portal emerged. This one, opposite of the one that gave Luna passage, was fiery red. A ring of demonic flame that appeared right in front of Cozy Glow's cage. The filly, for a moment, grew nervous at this unexpected development. But she also felt curiosity at what this was that she was being witness to. When she saw the figure who emerged, she now wished that she didn't feel that was. Even Cerberus grew on edge at the familiar visage of the familiar-looking centaur who had just appeared. Dark fur on the horse-half of the body, bright red skin of muscular distinction, an onyx suit of armor with a cloak split triangular up the middle, and the devilishly horned head of a white-haired, yellow eyed centaur was all the proof either needed.
Lord Tirek had just returned to Tartarus.
Cerberus didn't care how he got here, or why he was here. All three heads growled, and snarled in agreement over one fact: he was an escaped prisoner, and needed to be brought down for punishment. With a roar, the giant beast jumped at the smaller centaur, fully intent on crushing, and then eviscerating him. Yet before he could even reach him, Cerberus felt an aura of magic envelop his body, and make him lighter than a feather. With a vicious smirk, Tirek was holding the 3 headed dog in his grasp. And with a grunt of maximum effort, he spun in a full circle with Cerberus in his grasp, and then hurled him into the stone wall overlooking the chasm behind the humongous pillar the centaur, and pony stood on. The hound was temporarily stuck in the impression his massive body made, and even stunned from the force of the blow. But as soon as his sense returned, all heads yelped in panic as they jolted.
A big mistake.
With that single motion, the guardian of Tartarus howled in fear as he plummeted into the dark, and mysterious depths of the immense prison realm. No living being actually knew what was down in that frightening abyss of Darkness for sure. Some believed it was a direct route to the bowels of the planet, itself. Others even thought it was an actual realm where evil forces beyond imagination dwelt. A den of demonic entities ready to rip asunder the souls of any, and all who came into their dominion. Noone could ever know for sure. Well.....none except Cerberus, who was now taking a deep dive into the abyss. A boisterous laugh escaped from Tirek as he listened to the fading howls of his captor. Much to the disturbance of his filly audience, who was stunned by the swift brutality of what her 'mentor' had just done. But finally, Tirek caught his breath, and triumphantly said, "Ah, how i dreamed of doing that to the overgrown fleabag! After eons of his endless, threatening growls, intentional shedding of fur into my cage, and.....things i am in no mood to recall, revenge goes sweetly with irony, don't you agree, my little pony?"
"Uh......i-irony?"
"Since this domain was first created, Cerberus had been entrusted to be its dominant, permanent resident. Yet despite his long track-record of holding others prisoner here, the overgrown mutt failed in his duty - twice!" Tirek then grinned in amusement. "The irony here is that the one, true resident of this domain, whose reign as warden has run its course, is now more suitable to be a prisoner himself - in the Abyss of Charybdis, where no soul ever escapes. A fitting end for a witless beast." Suddenly, TIrek's horns ignited his magic in the center, and Cozy's cage was elevated until the two were at eye level. His features now stern, and expressionless as the two met face to face. "Now that the ingrate is out of the picture.......let's get down to business."
Cozy was now shaking with absolute fright as she took in the situation she was in. Completely at the mercy of the wicked demon who only used her as a means of obtaining revenge against Equestria, and with no way to protect herself. Tirek's huge hands began reaching up to her, and her eyes completely shut in fear. Little wings shielding her from the inevitability of whatever horrible fate the centaur wanted to inflict upon her now. She hear, and felt the cage bars bending like foil, and knew her time was up. Or so she thought, until she could feel old strength returning to her that she had not felt in hours. Her wings felt renewed strength, her coat brightened, and to her surprise, her chest-piece cutie mark returned to her. All the while, her entire cage melted in her mentor's hands, just as she took to the air. The feeling of her abilities returning - her own flight, and her cunning intellect - were reclaimed, and she was giggling, and laughing in excitement as she flew around in circles around the smiling centaur, whose arms were held behind his back. After a minute of her moving, he called out, "How are you feeling?"
"Oh, golly-gee!" Cozy exclaimed happily. "I feel a million times better than all the bits in the world! I'm never taking my smarts, OR my wings for granted after this!" But then, her excitement turned to confusion as she lowered to match Tirek's eye-level. "But.......I don't get it: why did you give me my magical life force back? Don't get me wrong, cause i'm really grateful you did make me my cute, and lovable self again. But you're the one who put me in that state," he tone then turned to one of restrained anger, "and who said I contributed nothing to you. So what's you angle, TIrek?"
Tirek's expression turned to annoyance as he said, "It is LORD Tirek to you, filly. And it appears you have yet to learn the finer details of manipulation." When Cozy demanded to know what he meant, he explained in full detail. "Alright. Allow me to explain in simple detail: all that has happened ever since I contacted you had occurred according to MY design. Our continued communication only ensure all turned to the exact results I desired."
"What do you mean?" Cozy asked. "Wasn't the idea to actually leave Equestria weakened? And weren't you angry about my plans for getting rid of Equestria's magic?"
"And I am a small bit miffed about your treacherous change of plans." TIrek briefly glared, before he smirked while stroking his beard. "But I will admit myself impressed at your ability to improvise - and your desire to ensure no competition could stand in opposition of you. Even your own mentor, who taught you all the means of casting the Mystical Conjunction spell." Cozy chuckled nervously, with a bit of appreciation, before Tirek continued. "But the thing is, Cozy Glow: heroes always arise to defend all that is good in this world. And even with Twilight and her friends imprisoned with me, I knew it was only a matter of time before someone else prevented your plan from succeeding. In a world where good always seems to triumph over evil, no matter how strong and clever it is, I already anticipated your plan to fail."
Cozy huffed, and pouted in indignation as her front hooves crossed together. "Aren't teacher's supposed to have faith in their student's, or something?"
"Ah, but you misunderstand, my dear pupil: you performed your role most excellently!" Tirek said with pride, with his hands clapping together. Cozy, however, was even more confused than before. "What in the hay does THAT mean?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Tirek's brow raised. "The plan was never to trap Twilight, and her friends in Tartarus, nor crippled Equestria permanently." His eyes narrowed, and made Cozy draw back in fright. "You forgot that the magic of this world is MINE! And MINE, alone! Hence my genuine anger towards your ridiculous plan." COzy smiled nervously while she sweat profusely. Only making Tirek sigh in annoyance, before continuing. "The end goal was the simplest of all: to ensure I escaped from this accursed domain once again. After your update on your 'project', and your plan to send the princess and her friends here, I knew I could use it to my advantage. Thanks to your little 'gift'" Tirek indicated to his armor, " any attempts on their end to intimidate me into simply aiding them were made utterly useless." A malicious grin appeared. "And allowed me to force her majesty into making the Unbreakable Oath with me in order to gain my help. I even added a secret spell that would compel her to free me, in case she intended to break her word. Of course, to make things more convincing, I added the conditions that I would both aid in the ponies escape, and thwarting you - in exchange for my freedom."
Cozy hovered in the air, impressed by the complexity of her mentor's plan. "And they just agreed to it? They couldn't actually be that dumb, could they?"
Tirek chuckled in amusement, "No......not entirely, anyway. One added term was that of a sort of truce: so long as I do not harm a single hair on the head of any pony for a certain period of time, they cannot make any attempts to confront, and imprison me. I just never fully stipulated the exact time limit for the contract's conditions."
"Really? So how long do you have to go without hurting anypony?"
Tirek's grin grew impossibly larger as his eyes shimmered. "A week."
Cozy Glow was left in hysterics after hearing that. So much so, she was actually coming into tears, and nearly fell down. Even got into a brief coughing fit in the midst of her laughter, before she finally got a hold of herself, and began wiping the tears from her eyes. "THAT is priceless! Does Twilight even know about it?"
"She was in too great a panic from the magical deadline concerning Equestria's magic to even bother reading the fine print." Tirek chuckled in villainous delight. "Not that she could understand the writing, given it's in an older Netherland dialect undoubtedly older than the Kingdom itself is now. Either way, it all came down to my ultimate victory: my freedom."
"Which I guess Twilight and her nimby friends could consider the price for their freedom." Cozy pointed out. She then grew nervous as she thought about asking something she wasn't sure about. With Tirek's confession, her opinion of him changed immensely, and now she wanted to learn everything she could from the ancient centaur. "So......a-am I still your friend, Tirek?" A glare, and growl were her only answer, until she caught onto her mistake. "Sorry, sorry! LORD Tirek!"
Tirek huffed, "You are still my little protege', Cozy. That is all there is to it." Then, Tirek's features hardened in deep thought. "But it IS now clear that individually, we are no match for the ponies, and their allies. Perhaps you had the right idea in gaining favor from others, Cozy. If we are to overcome Princess Twilight, and those closest to her......we must begin searching for others who are of a like-minded persuasion, and also wish to see her strung by her wings in humiliation, and defeat."
"Oh, goody!" Cozy exclaimed, laughing with equal parts joy, and equal parts malice. "That means we get to look for more friends to join us! You can trust me when I say friendship IS power, Lord Tirek! And once we make the majority of equestria into our friends, we can make ourselves the undisputed Rulers of Friendship, and surpass Princess Twilight! Then use our growing army of friends to overthrow the Princesses, and make us the true rulers of Equestria!" Amidst Cozy's cheerful laughter, Tirek's eyes began glowing with his rising anger, until it finally burst.
"SILENCE!" he roared, smashing one of the stone spikes surrounding the summit, and making Cozy draw back in fear. Tirek then began forcing her back down the stairwell by walking towards her in a threatening manner. All while he said, "I didn't recruit you for such entry-level wickedness. You truly have so much to learn, my dear."
🎵Now I know you've been malicious
Spiteful and a trifle vicious
It's no secret that you cheated and you've lied
And you've done some double dealing
Scheming, swindling, and stealing
You're an amateur, but heaven knows, you've tried🎵
"I answered your call, didn't I? Money, power, stature?
Only an idiot would ignore such a sweet deal."
"Good foal. And very soon you're efforts will be rewarded." Tirek said, looming above her, while his body peeked out of a new portal. One which he proceeded to drag Cozy through, into an underground, cavernous network that seemed to resemble the crystal-like caves beneath Canterlot. As he went on, Cozy found herself more afraid of Tirek than she thought, and almost began second guessing joining him. Keyword being almost.
🎵You'll develop so much faster
Now you're working with a master
Who will help you cultivate your darker side
You'll discover wicked ways you've never known before
And you'll find that when you're really rotten to the core...
It feels so good to be bad
So delicious to be a despicable cad
It's just so thrilling and so fulfilling
To give somebody the worst time they've ever had
It feels so good to be bad🎵
"Case in point:" Tirek says, showing a bubbled projection of Twilight, reeling in agony as a dark force threatens to throttle her dead. Much to TIrek's cruel delight.
🎵Twilight doesn't know it, but she's in my power!
She's gonna wish that she was never born!
I promise you that in her final hour
All she knows, shall be what she mourns!🎵
"Say, uh.....why can't I try and get rid of her, again?" Cozy asked, earning a brief, dead-panned look from her mentor.
🎵Cause you had your chance and you blew it
I entrusted you to do it
But you BUNGLED it, and threw your chance away
It's a problem you created
If my plans end up mitigated
I'm not naming names, BUT SOMEONE HAS TO PAY!🎵
"Aaaaagh! I really could try again, boss! Honest I could!" Cozy screamed. Terrified of Tirek's unrelenting fury, and demonic killing intent. Tirek, however, rolled his eyes at her insistence, and said, "You'll never get the chance. Now, at this point, Cozy Glow is another in a long line of villainous foes."
"But I'm just a filly!" Cozy hastily said, with a not-so-convincing smile, which only made Tirek grin with glee. "Not anymore! You work for me, now!"
🎵Though you gave me cause to doubt you
There's a loathsomeness about you
That attracts me to you as a protégé
And when you've learned every creepy crummy thing I know
You'll taste the joy that comes when you're the lowest of the low!
He then began turning the entire cavern they soon entered into a raging inferno. With every stomp of his hooves, and wave of his hands, pillars of rock uprooted, and spires of flames erupted. All the while, he engaged little Cozy Glow in a devilish tango amidst the dark chaos that made the scene like something out of Tartarus, itself.
It feels so good to be bad
So delightful to be a deplorable cad
It's so appealing to have the feeling
That what you're doing gets trouble brewing
And drives everybody mad!
At one point, he dropped her on the ground. The impact dazed her for a moment, and only for a moment. She was quickly able to lean back up to face Lord Tirek. Just in time for him to dramatically swing his arms upwards, and then bend towards her. Predatory teeth flashing, and his towering form looming over her like a monolith of evil as flames flared from out of his eyes. He quickly picked her up again to finish the self-made tango.
You've got my guarantee
It feels so good to be bad🎵
Cozy kept exclaiming in Tirek's grasp, as he little body wasn't used to being moved around so roughly. Yet she found it somewhat entertaining after a few moments. Like she was on some kind of ride in an epic amusement park. WIth Tirek, all the while, laughing in sheer delight as he took such enjoyment in his theatrical moment. "So exciting!" He delightfully shouted, tossing Cozy once again, but in a more rehearsed manner that allowed her to flip into the air, and land on her own hooves in a stylized manner. "Olé, so inviting!"
🎵So good to be bad!🎵
The pair began to reach their climax, as they both danced to the invisible rhythm, back out through the portal leading into the outside world of Equestria. The ponies of Equestria will now need to beware. For on this day, the beginning of the end of their reign of friendship was ending. Evil will unite, stand together, and bring an end to the era of Harmony. Lord Tirek, and his apprentice would see it done!
"Ah-ha!"
The end.
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Great song for the ending and love that song when I was a kid.
9843827
I thought it would be a fitting way to end this short-story.:)
I'm actually rather surprised you made Tirek come back for Cozy Glow. This story certainly stepped up his character when it came to his intelligence, strength and deviousness. Still, I have to wonder how this version of Tirek would interact with Chrysalis. Something tells me there'd be a lot of bickering between the two. Good story, nice take on the characters and you described their actions and expressions perfectly!
There are a lot of ways to bring down the era of Harmony. Power, treachery, chaos, fear. I'd actually like to see who would be willing to join these two in there conquest for power.
9844178
Though I won't say it outright, I might imply there being a platonic "sexual tension" between the two. Both are proud, ruthless, determined individuals who view themselves as undisputed rulers. And alot of it will involve the two actually quarreling like two leaders trying to seize control, and butt heads for it at every turn. Let's just say when I do Season 9, Tirek will NOT be as simplified as he was in the show. He always demonstrated he thought things a little more through than Chrysalis did, and didn't make mistakes like she did. Kind of like Jafar, he's a chess player who improvises his strategies as he goes along. Twilight's Kingdom proved that when he was a credible threat.
I always figured HE could be the true main villain of the series if handled correctly, and I intend to see it through. The S9 tirek role will be going to Storm King, while Tirek will act more as the Starscream of the team - even when going along with the eventual mutinous scheme against Grogar. He doesn't play second best to anyone, and will act far more mature than his cohorts. In fact...........you could say I might end up initiating an even better twist than "The Ending of the End" did (which I will not go into detail about).
As for Lord Tirek's partners in crime......let's just say Grogar will handle that for him. However, I intend for things to go slightly differently than originally. It won't just be tirek, cozy, chrissy, and Sombra we'll see in this. I've got two others in mind for filling in the deserved fifth and sixth slots to oppose the mane six. So many idea in my head right now! I am swimming in inspiration!!!:D:D:D
If Tirek was really that angry at his brother, then why did he act like he really didn't care that Scorpan betrayed him in Twilight's Kingdom Part 2?
9851258
Peg it to him merely being focused on the matter at hand. Plus, I also think he's VERY good at hiding his emotions when he wants to. This Tirek, however, can allow others to feel his emotions on an insane degree that rage comes out as killing intent. Besides, it's not Scorpan turning on him that has him so angry: it's who he believes turned him against TIrek with honeyed words, and false promises. They had a clear set goal 4 thousand years ago (I dub the time each villain is banished based on the seasons they debut), and TIrek believed Scorpan was truly loyal to him to see it through.
Imprisonment changed that, and thus gave him something to hate. As I said, in THIS continuity, he knows how to hide his emotions to better use them to influence others. In THIS instance, however, when talking about his brother, and the only living family he had left, he saw no reason to restrain himself, and wanted to make the useless poniies understand WHY he hates them: they ultimately made Scorpan like them, as they, in his mind, always seem to do with races different to them. And because of this, especially, he hates both ponies......and his own brother, who is officially dead to him for siding with their enemies. For betraying his own flesh-and-blood, to whom family was the most important thing.
He hates them........because they took all he cared for and left him alone while changing his perspective on reality. Like Syndrome, such a betrayal tore him apart, and taught him you can't count on anyone - especially your own family. The only thing he CAN count on is his hate. THAT is something that will never abandon him.
(Also, regarding the show, I kinda have to correct you on that statement, because Tirek DID care about what Scorpan did. He referred to him as weak-minded, and when he betrayed Discord, and the latter brought up the topic of his amulet, TIrek makes it very clear that while his anger is contained, Scorpan was also considered worthless - just like Discord, and the 'gift' he received. He was simply focused on the task at hand to care, and think about someone who is obviously dead to him. You get what I mean?:?)
I just noticed something while I was rereading this lovely story.
Chess piece.