Chapter Text
Cozy Glow had been unusually quiet for the past few days. Ever since she had come to Tartarus - Roughly four months ago - she had been non-stop chittering, groaning, thrashing and.. snoring. Perhaps she actually wasn't as loud as Tirek had made her out to be, all those years of ear-ringing silence would make a pin drop sound like an explosion. But still, the fact remained that the young filly remained uncharacteristically quiet.
The filly suddenly shifted from her position. She stood up and pressed herself against the side of her cage.
“Can I ask you some questions?”
Alas, his moment of peace was over.
Tirek sighs, “What is it?”
“I just want to see if I understand the nature of Tartarus to the fullest. You stated in the first few weeks of me being here that the main thing keeping us here is Cerberus, correct?”
Tirek's ears lowered in concern, “Right…”
“But what about the door? I read that it could only be opened with unicorn magic, or a magical object that is specifically made to open doors..” Cozy drifted off.
“It's magic wielding beings, not just specifically unicorns. They just say ‘unicorns’ since they're the only magic wielding beings in Equestria.” he states.
“Right, good, alright… And Cerberus, is it literally just a dog?” Cozy questions.
“A three-headed, giant and aggressive dog, but a dog none the less.” Now Tirek started to get annoyed.
“Okay one last question, how fast can you run?”
“What are you planning?” Tirek finally questioned.
“I’m getting us out of here,” Cozy announced.
Tirek laughed, "Oh you naive child, you still have that little spark of hope that you'll ever get out of here. I had that when I first came here but then one week became six months, and then six months became a year, and then a year became ten and suddenly you've been in tartarus for a thousand years! Unless another miracle happens and that wretched dog runs away, we’re stuck here.”
Cozy pouted, “But I really do have a plan. C’mon Tirek, I know how much you hate it here, you literally tell me every other every second. That or stealing ponies magic. You can't give up now! Even if it doesn't work, wouldn't it be worth it to try? Maybe the mighty Lord Tirek can walk the streets of Equestria once more, within the course of five years!”
Tirek let Cozy's pep talk hang in the air for a moment, considering what she said.
Tirek relents, “what is it?”
Cozy Glow immediately perked up.
“Right so, it's actually relatively simple, you see, for the past week or so I have been using this rock to carve into the bars at the top. I’m going to, when the times right, push out and fly around distracting Cerberus. Which leaves you to run for it and open the door, where we’ll, hopefully, escape.” Cozy explained as if this was a feasible thing.
Tirek blinked, “Right… Ofcourse, because that will work,” he remarks, sarcastically.
Cozy's eyebrows, breaking character, furrowed in annoyance. She shook it off and looked back at Tirek with a smug expression.
“Well, it sucks that you don't seem to believe in me, but I can't let others drag me down. So how about I just go ahead with it and you can decide if you want to do your part”
Before the bewildered centaur could respond, Cozy picked up her stone and rested it in her hoof.
“HEY CEREBUS!”
Tirek stood up, “What?! No, what are you doing?”
The three-headed dog stomped over towards the filly. She flipped the rock in her hoof a few times.
“Hey there boy- erm, boys. You wanna play fetch, huh, huh?” Cozy taunts.
The head on the left appeared to take control and panted excitedly at Cozy Glow's question.
“Oh you do? Well then- Fetch!”
She threw the stone as far as she could, which was luckily elevated as it skipped off the steps. The dog ran madly after it. Cozy quickly jumped up to push out the bars she had weakened. That beast of a dog will obviously catch up towards the stone in seconds, but Cozy needed a head start.
Cozy stands, shakily, on the top of her cage. She stretches her wings preparing for flight.
“No, stop- It's not going to work!” Tirek calls out, both equally annoyed and stunned.
“Whoops, it's too late now. Plus there's no way I'm staying stuck in that puny cage for the rest of my life.”
Cerberus had run half-way down the steps before the stone had fallen off the ledge into the abyss. The hulk had growled before turning around and locking its eyes onto Cozy.
“Eek! It's time to go”
The dog sprinted full force, barking at the escaped filly. Cozy quickly leapt off and caught herself mid-air. She shot up, narrowly avoiding the teeth of Cerberus.
“Hah! You missed!” She mocked, before it jumped up and almost ripped her tail off.
Cozy was suddenly more alert of the danger she was in and flew higher.
There the filly continued to taunt the dog, much to the horror of Tirek. Swooping down, just near enough to give Cerberus the hope it could catch her, but just high enough out of reach. After another narrow escape, she looked over and signalled towards the dumbfounded centaur to get a move on. Tirek, knocking himself out of the trance, squeezed himself through the frail bars of his cage. He almost fell over when he stepped out but quickly caught himself.
Tirek made haste running down the stairs, periodically skipping over one or two. Tirek came to a halt at the point where Cerberus was busy napping at Cozy’s hooves. The filly took notice of Tirek and quickly flew over Cerebus’ head, causing him to change direction. Luckily it did not see Tirek, but the sudden trample of the dog caused Tirek to lose his balance and fall over the edge of the stairs. Tirek managed to catcg himself before falling into the abyss.
Cozy gasps, “Tirek!” she quickly covered her mouth realizing what she had done.
Cerberus’ ears perk up. It spun around and locked eyes with the dangling centaur. It growled and paced towards him.
“Hey Cerberus! Come here boy! Don’t cha’ wanna come get me?! Please!” Cozy Glow pleaded uselessly, but Cerberus was more interested in pursuing his life long rival.
“This was YOUR stupid plan yet I’M the one in mortal danger,” Tirek
furiously yelled.
“I’m sorry, okay! Just pull yourself up before you become dog food!”
Tirek rolled his eyes, ‘as if I wasn’t already planning that.’
Tirek trembled as he lifted himself up. It was truly embarrassing to see how weak he was in this form. Just as he was halfway up, Tirek heard a menacing growl. Looming over him was the three-headed beast.
“Heh heh, Cerberus, this… isn't what it looks like?” Tirek laughed nervously.
There was no point in conversing with the unintelligent brute.
Suddenly, Cozy Glow swooped in, and kicked the side of the dog. From the impact of it she fell a bit but then managed to lift herself once more. Cerberus let out a whine and instantly changed its attention towards her.
“Hah! How do you like that you stupid dog!”
Clearly it did not like it, as it lunged full force towards the filly, biting and snapping at her, at a fury not seen before. The filly screamed in terror as she continuously dodged its attacks.
Tirek seized the opportunity to finally hoist himself up. He groaned a bit once he fully landed on the hard stone of the steps as his body shook, then groaned once more at the realization that he struggled at lifting his own body weight. Ignoring the thought he quickly began running down the steps once more while he continued to hear the horrified shrieks of Cozy Glow behind. He stepped onto the large pathway leading to the exit, and locked eyes onto the door that was finally within his grasp.
As he sprinted, he could hear the sounds of the other creatures in Tartarus, supposedly gossiping about his escape once again, atleast that's what Tirek thought. He came to a halt, in front was the large, intimidating door - marked by its prominent red symbols. Tirek wasted no time, he quickly sparked the little magic he had left after being re-sentenced. A fiery orb kindled between his horns, and the door in front of him lit up. Tirek concentrated on the door, prompting the door to split in two, revealing the world outside.
Tirek bolted out the door as soon as it was wide enough. He looked around, hardly believing that he was even out. He spun around to look back at his associate flying round in circles desperately avoiding Cerberus. She hadn't even noticed the door was opened.
“Eh, Cozy Glow..?!” He wasn't even sure if he cared enough to properly call out.
The filly was now sitting on top of a cage, Cerberus clawed at her as he barked. The doors started closing on their own, she’d be stuck there if she didn't get out in time. ‘Suppose it's the least I could do considering she is the reason I escaped in the first place,’ Tirek thought.
He waved up his hand and called out, “Cozy Glow! The DOOR!!!”
Her head snapped in the direction of the closing pair of doors, and jerked as she saw it. She sprung up and caught herself mid air - fumbled a bit avoiding the dog - before promptly shooting up.
There was a few seconds before he saw the filly dive down, essentially falling, towards the door. Behind her Tirek could see Cerberus madly chasing after her, almost nipping at her tail. It was hard to tell if she’d make it through, the doors we’re over halfway closed at this point. If she didn't make it - then Tirek had no fault in it - he did everything he could.
Just as the doors were about to shut, Cozy Glow bolted through them, tumbling on the ground as she crashed into the nearby rocky-terrain. The filly laid on the ground for a minute or two, breathing heavily, attempting to catch her breath.
Cerberus could be heard whining and clawing at the door, upset that it had lost its prey.
Suddenly the filly jolted up and raised her front hooves,
“WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” She turned to look at Tirek, “Did you see that Tirek!? It worked! I told you it'd work!”
As much as Tirek would’ve loved to try and deny Cozy Glow's involvement - so that he could avoid all annoying bragging that would come after - he knew that there was no way he could.
“Uh, sure, you did good kid. Well done.” Tirek tried not to sound as amazed as he actually was.
After a few moments of waiting for Cozy Glow to recover properly, the two paired up and set hoof towards Ponyville. Unfortunately for Tirek, it appears that he might be stuck with the filly for the foreseeable future, whatever that might entail..