Apple Bloom Defeats Tirek

by km

Banishment

Discord sadly approached the now magically drained Twilight, as her friends quickly surrounded her.

“Tirek tricked me into believing that he could offer me something more valuable than friendship. But there is nothing worth more. I see that now,” Discord said with much regret, before glancing down at the medallion that Tirek had given him.

“He lied when he said that this medallion was given as a sign of gratitude and loyalty. But when I say that it IS a sign of our true friendship,” Discord continued as he then placed the medallion around Twilight’s neck, “I am telling the truth,” he finished somberly.

As a glimmer of light flashed across the medallion, Twilight gasped as her eyes quickly cleared up.

“You think that might be the last one we need?” Applejack asked.

Twilight looked down at her newly acquired medallion.

“We have to get to the chest,” Twilight said with determination as they all quickly headed for the Harmony Chest.

Tirek reveled in his newfound power as he continued to blast away at the surrounding landscape. He was truly unstoppable now! No creature could hope to stand against him! He pumped his fists with exhilaration, relishing both his newfound magical and physical strength, only to wince at an unexpected stinging sensation on his right arm.

Glancing down at the arm in confusion, he was surprised to see a large gash going down the length of said arm. It seemed that Princess Twilight had managed to land a decent attack upon him during their brief battle. The damage was quickly healing, but the fact that it hadn’t healed immediately upon his stealing her magic suggested that the wound had to have been particularly severe when she had inflicted it.

Snorting in disgust, he looked away from his arm to see Princess Twilight and her friends fleeing in the distance.

Twilight and her friends continued to rush toward the Harmony Chest. They only hoped that there would be something within the chest that could actually help them.

Twilight gasped as she suddenly found herself caught within a magical grasp as she found herself quickly pulled skyward.

“Twilight!” Her friends called out in shock.

Twilight soon found herself floating in front of Tirek’s face as he glared at her. The glare then turning into a smirk.

Hearing something behind her, Twilight turned her head around to find that a magical portal had opened. She then quickly looked back to Tirek in panic.

“Give my regards to your fellow princesses, in Tartarus!”

“No!” Twilight and her friends cried out as Twilight found herself being thrust through the portal.

Celestia, Luna, and Cadance looked up as a portal opened in front of them. Though before any thoughts of potential escape, or salvation, could even enter their minds, worry quickly gripped them as Twilight was flung through the portal, crashing into the ground beside them.

“Twilight!” The princesses cried as they quickly approached her to see if she was all right, only to stop abruptly as they stared forlornly at her flank. Her cutie mark was gone!

“Twilight,” Celestia asked with trepidation, “Tirek… did he…?”

“I’m sorry,” Twilight replied softly, “I failed. Tirek… he… he took my magic.”

“Then Tirek, has truly won?” Luna asked nopony in particular.

“It’s really over?” Cadance asked despondently. She thought she had felt despair when she was held captive by Chrysalis, but that now seemed like nothing compared to this.

The others watched as Twilight lifted the medallion that she was wearing up upon her hoof to look down at it ruefully. She felt that she had been so close.

A glimmer of light flashed across the medallion causing Twilight to let out a small gasp as her eyes lit up ever so briefly.

“It’s not over,” Twilight mumbled to herself in mild astonishment.

“Twilight?” Cadance said in concern and confusion.

Twilight looked back up at her fellow princesses with a dawning look of realization.

“It’s not over!” Twilight exclaimed quietly, “My friends, they’re going to think of something!”

“How can you be certain of this?” Luna asked.

“I don’t know,” Twilight replied as she gazed back down at her medallion, “I just know,” she finished quietly.

She then looked back up at the others again with determination alight in her eyes.

“We can’t lose hope! We have to give my friends time.”

She once more glanced back down at her medallion.

“Even if it takes a while,” she finished softly.