> Pony POV Gaiden: History of Tirek
>  by Alex Warlorn
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

>  Dark Secret
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------



My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic
Pony POV Series Gaiden
Rise Of Tirek
Part 1 "Dark Secret"
By Wolfram-and-hart

After all the craziness of the Royal Weddin', you'd think we'd be able to relax for a while. It was a little less than a month ago, and things are finally settlin' down. Sure, there's still some rebuildin' to do from the battle, and integratin' the Changelings is takin' a lot of work, but it's nowhere near as bad as the aftermath of Discord's Day. And, yet here Ah am back in Canterlot. 

Oh, there's no big threat to Equestria or anythin' like that goin' on. Just somethin' Ah need help with. Ah'm not one to get upset easy, but when somethin' happens and it's about my family... Well, y'all get the picture.

It was just this mornin' Ah went over to Twilight's and asked for a favor. 

"Spike, this copy of Presto's Prestidigitations should be in the magical educational section, why is it in non-fiction?"

"I thought you said it was a biography, so I stuck it in with the others."

"No, this isn't his biography. You're thinking of Presto Chango: A Personal Transformation. This is a spell instruction."

"Uh, Twi, am Ah interruptin' anything?" Ah interjected as Spike took the book.

"Oh, hi, Applejack." Twilight smiled. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, um..." Ah look over to where Spike is rearrangin' books and pull Twilight closer so he can't hear. "Twi, you remember how you said that you and Pinkie talked with the Princesses about some... stuff that happened way before our time?" 

Her eyes widened. "Yeah..." 

"Well..." Ah straightened my hat to collect my thoughts. "Ah think Ah need to have a talk with 'em about somethin' like that now."

"WHAT?!" I clap a hoof over her mouth, but it still got Spike's attention.

"What, did AJ mention something on a checklist?" Spike asked without turning around.

"No! Everything's good." Twilight tried to cover. She turned to me and whispered urgently, "What happened, Applejack?"

"Ah found something that might hurt the Apple Family's name." Ah sighed. "If the princesses know so much about history and how things were back before there even was an Equestria, they might be my only chance for answers."

"Applejack, your family's been a pillar of Equestria for generations, there's nothing that could make anypony forget that!" Twi tried to tell me.

"Ah'm not so sure. Look, Ah just need you to give the princesses a call and ask if Ah can come talk with 'em about this."

"Of course. I'll ask Spike to send a letter and we'll catch the next train to-"

"No."

"Huh?"

"Ah said no. Ah don't want anypony else involved."

"But, Applejack, it's a friend's duty to be there when your friends need help."

"Ah know, but this time, Ah'd rather handle this by myself." She looked at me like Ah was nuts.

"Uh, Applejack, that might not be a good idea. When I first talked to Princess Celestia about stuff like this, it really freaked me out. And when Pinkie and I talked about something else with Princess Luna, Pinkie almost had a major meltdown. I think you could use some support with whatever this is about." She put a comforting hoof on my shoulder.

"Twi... Ah love ya like a sister, but this is real personal, and it's somethin' Ah gotta do for myself." Ah think it still hurt 'er feelin's, but she seemed to understand. 

"All right, if you're sure." She nodded, and turned to Spike, who was perched on top of a ladder tryin' to shove a book onto a shelf.

"Come on, come on! Fit, darn ya!" Spike grunted as he tried to mash the book into place.

"Spike!"

"Just a second, Twilight, I gotta show this book who's boss!" He grunted pounded the book into place with his fist. "Ah, there we GO!"

The book popped out and nailed the poor kid right in the face, knockin' him off the ladder. Ah jumped just in time to catch him on my back.

"Thanks, Applejack." He smiled before glaring at the offending book. "I hope somepony dog-ears all your pages and spills coffee on you!"

"SPIKE!" Twilight gasped in horror. "Don't you ever say such a horrible thing again!"

"Sorry." Ah don't think he was all that sorry, but Ah wouldn't be too forgiving after a tumble like that either. "So, what did you need, Twi?"

"I need you to send a letter to the Princesses saying Applejack needs to see them as soon as possible," Twilight explained. 

"On it." He ran and got a quill, scribbled out a quick letter and sent it off.

It took about an hour to get a response. Ah suppose it's understandable. With the state of Canterlot after the invasion, they must be runnin' themselves ragged.

"They say that they have some time later today." Twilight said as she read the letter. "If you get to the train station now, you can be there this afternoon."

"Great!" Ah headed out, but stopped at the door. "Uh, could you guys tell my family where Ah'm goin' so they don't worry?" 

"Of course." Twilight smiled. "Spike, can you hold things down here while I run over to Sweet Apple Acres?"

"You got it." Spike saluted.

Ah said goodbye to 'em and went to the station. Got here in Canterlot on the train late this afternoon. Ah grabbed my saddlebags and just as Ah'm about to start trottin' to the castle, Ah notice a couple guards standin' next to a chariot and holdin' up a sign with my name on it.

"Uh, you fellers lookin' for me?" 

"Yes, Ma'am." One of them nodded. "I'm Roadblock, and this is Beachhead. The Princess sent us to escort you to the castle. If you'll just climb aboard, we can be on our way."

"Well, thank ya kindly." Ah said as Ah climbed aboard. "But, uh, can we hurry? Ah really wanna get this over with."

"Skip the scenic route, right." The guard on my left, Roadblock, nodded. "Let's go, Beachhead."

They took off and we rushed through the streets. The city looked a might better than it had before, but there were still signs of the war everywhere. Nopony died, but Canterlot had its fair share of scars. Most of the bigger buildings were taking longer to fix, because the construction crews were spread thin all over the city. 

As we went, lookin' around just put me on edge even more. There were Changelings everywhere helpin' rebuild things. Now, don't go thinkin' Ah'm a bigot or anythin' like that! It's just a little hard dealin' with the memories of Chrysalis in my head, and seein' them around just brings some of the bad stuff back up. Ah'm sure Ah'll get over it sooner or later... just now ain't the best time to have another problem to deal with.

We were only a few blocks from the castle when the sky started getting dark. Ah hope the meetin' doesn't last too long. Ah didn't exactly plan to stay the night.

...The Night That Never Ends...

... And now Ah wish Ah'd caught an earlier train or just waited 'til the mornin'.

By the time the chariot got to the castle gates, Luna's moon was risin' in the sky. Ah thanked the stallions and they sped off. Ah turned to walk up the steps...

"WHOA!" 

"OW!"

"ACK!" 

"AH!"

And nearly broke my neck trippin' over somethin'. Or, somepony.

Ah stood up from the tumble and dusted myself off, then noticed the unicorn Ah landed on.

"Landsakes! Ah'm so sorry, Ah didn't even see ya there!"

"It's all right." She coughed as she stood up. 

"No, it ain't. It was plumb silly to just walk into somepony like that and-Wait, Moon Dancer?!" Ah recognized the white unicorn with a red mane right away. "Landsakes girl, I haven't seen ya since the weddin'!"

"Oh, hi, Applejack!" She smiled back at me and shook my hoof. "Yeah, uh... sorry we had to meet again like...." 

Then Ah noticed somethin' rollin' down the stairs. It was a bottle of apple cider, and not the kind we give out back home in the summer. This was the hard stuff.

"Ah, darn it!" Moon Dancer grabbed the bottle off the ground, but most of the contents already poured out. "Oh well. I have more at home."

And judgin' by the smell on her breath, she's had more before this one.

"Yeah..."

She tosses the bottle into a trashcan and looks back at me. "So, what brings you back here, Applejack?" 

"Just, uh, need to talk to the princesses about somethin'. Nothin' too important, of course, just a little family matter." 

"Yeah... family." She smiles in a sad kind of way Granny does when she gets nostalgic about family members we lost.

"You okay there, Sugarcube?"

"Oh no, I'm fine! Better than fine! Great even!" She waved it off. 

"You sure 'bout that?" It didn't take an Element of Honesty to see she was lyin' through her teeth.

"I..." She sighed in frustration. "The last month after everything that happened with that no-good, rotten, disgusting, HEARTLESS, EVIL BUCKING WITCH WHO DESERVES TO ROT IN TARTARUS... Uh, sorry. It's... it's has just been really hard getting over." 

I tried not to react to her outburst, but my eyes still flickered to the trashcan. "So hard that you've needed a little pick me up?" 

"Hey!" She gets right up in my face. "I can drink and not drink whenever I want!"

"Ah never meant to imply you couldn't." 

"I...No, I'm sorry, Applejack." She backs up and wipes her blurry eyes. "This last week has just been... well, I read something that kinda made things a little harder."

"What?" Ah can't help feelin' an angry knot in my chest. "Have someponies been hasslin' you? Sendin' you notes about the weddin'? Cause if they did, I'll buck their sorry rumps clear to-" 

"No, it's not that." She shook her head. "Just... you ever heard of Stan Auburn?" 

"Stan Auburn... Stan Auburn..." Ah tried to think, but the name didn't ring a bell. "Can't say as Ah have." 

"Well, he wrote this book about pre-Equestrian history and mythology," Moon Dancer looked like she's about to break down cryin'. "It even went back to the story of Dream Valley and the Battle of Midnight Castle."

Oh, horseapples.

"It... made me wonder about things. About what it means to be a pony... about what a pony might be capable of if... if... I'm sorry, I need to go!" She turned and galloped off as fast as her legs could take her. 

Ah took a step to go after her, but... Ah couldn't. What could Ah have said? If she was talkin' about what I thought she was, Ah was just as lost as her. So, Ah just trotted up the steps and into the castle. 

The sun was settin' and the last few rays shown through the huge windows as Ah made my way to the throne room. Even with the guards at every door, the place looked so big and empty. And dark. 

Ah picked up my pace as Ah went. Ah didn't want to think about it until Ah had to. And Ah had visions of my nightmares from last night again. Ah never been that bothered by the dark before, least since Ah was a filly, but now... Ah was practically runnin' when Ah finally got to the throne room. 

"A'm here to see the Princesses." Ah tried like heck to seem like Ah wasn't afraid some monster was chasin' me.

"ANNOUNCING, ABIGAIL JACQUELINE V, ELEMENT OF HONESTY!"

The guards opened the doors and Ah almost sprinted into the well-lit room. The Princesses were sittin' on their thrones, surrounded by ponies in fancy suits and guards on either side of 'em. Ah'd never say a bad thing about the Princesses, but they looked like Tartarus warmed over. Their manes seemed to flow a little slower and had a few less sparkles. Their regalia seemed dulled out. They both looked exhausted. Though, Princess Luna looked a might worse than her sister. Celestia had that look Ah'd seen on Big Mac's face or my own mirror after a long day of buckin' trees; but the way Luna looked brought me back to that Applebuck Season when Ah tried doin' all the harvestin' myself and got so dead-on-my hooves tired Ah almost wrecked half of Ponyville. 

"Hello, Applejack." Princess Celestia smiled sweetly at me. "Forgive us; we're just finishing up here. Was there anything else, Mr. Bricklayer?"

"Now, Your Majesties," The unicorn in the black suit and hardhat went on, holding up a map with his magic. "Most of 3rd Street has been rebuilt, all that's left is to repave the road. So, I'd like permission to move the majority of Construction Team 6 to Lilac Blvd. to finish the school repairs."

"My guys just finished over on Duncan Street," another unicorn added. "We could join up with Bricklayer's team and help out too."

"That sounds good to me." Celestia smiled.

"Agreed. Thy workers shalt be reassigned to the school repairs." Luna nodded appreciatively before failing to stifle a yawn. 

"And now, if you gentlecolts will excuse us, we have another engagement." Celestia stood from her throne.

"Yes, Your Highness." The ponies bowed and trotted out of the throne room.  

"Now then, good evening, Applejack." Celestia descended from her throne with her sister by her side. "Twilight said you had an urgent matter you wished to speak to us about." 

"We saw that your dreams have been in a state of unrest recently. Whatever it is must weigh heavily on thou." Luna nodded. "We hope we can be of assistance, Dame Applejack."

Ah had about a million different ways to ask what was on my mind, but now that Ah tried, Ah just couldn't spit it out. So, I did the next best thing.

"Do you two know what this is?" Ah practically tear open my saddlebags and pull it out. 

"A book?" 

Yeah, Ah caught a train to come all the way here for a book. It was an old one, and Ah mean old. The paper's all yellow, the ink's faded, and the cover is worn out and cracked. The stained red leather looked like an apple ripened past its prime, which seems pretty fitting. Ah was surprised as heck when Ah found out what it was and that it wasn't locked up in one of those fancy achieve places Twilight talks about. 

The Princesses shared a confused look and magiced the book out of my mouth so they could get a better look. "Well, the cover certainly seems old but..."

Their eyes widened, and the magic aura around the book flickered, almost droppin' it.

Celestia turned to her guards and said in the kind of calm voice that ponies only use when they're a hair away from hysteria, "Guards. You are excused. We wish to speak with Miss Applejack in private." 

The guards hesitated. 

"I promise this is nothing serious or threatening to Equestria. It's just a very personal matter and we wish for privacy." Celestia looked at each stallion, leaving no room for argument.


The guards saluted and left, leavin' me alone with the princesses and that book.

"Where did you get this book?!" Princess Celestia breathlessly asked.

"Indeed!" Luna gasped as she stared at it. "If this is what we think it is, you've brought a priceless piece of pony history."

"Well... Ah guess it all started a few months back. One night, Granny Smith woke us all up with her bangin' and clangin' about the timber wolves howlin' and the Zap Apples comin' soon..."

---

Ah'll be the first to say that they're about the tastiest thing that ever had the word 'apple'attached to it, but danged if they ain't a bushel of trouble. Only getting one day to harvest is difficult enough, but then there's all the crazy things Granny Smith has to do to get the right flavor out of them. Between needing to yell at the jars and painting polka dots all over the kitchen, Ah'm startin' to wonder if Discord had a hoof in Zap Apple baking at some point.

Anyway, Granny asked me to run over to Golden Delicious' cabin. Seems some moths got into her best bunny suit, and she needs to be in her best cotton tail when she hops over the watering cans while singin' the alphabet... Yeah, Ah know.

Goldie's one of the few ponies in the family that knows more about the Apple history than Granny. Heck, she's once claimed to be older than Granny... but please don't tell nether of them Ah said that. It caused hooves to fly last time. She could probably tell if some pony she's never met was actually my fourth cousin twice removed by a fifth cousin. Too bad she lives out in the middle of nowhere, it makes for a heck of a long haul gettin' there. 

When Ah finally got to her cabin, there was a note on the door sayin' she was runnin' an errand, so Ah just hunkered down on the porch. The place seemed mighty peaceful, but a bit too far out in the boonies for me. Ah took a good look at the cabin itself and it looked like it was falin' apart. If Ah didn't need to get back and prepare for the Zap Apples, Ah might've offered to help spruce it up a bit.

"Oh, hello there, dear." Goldie Delicious looked like she was just getting' home when Ah got there. "Can I help you with somethin'?"

"Hey, Goldie Delicious. It's me, Applejack. Granny Smith's granddaughter?" Ah know most relatives personally, but when dealin' with the old timers who don't see their younger kin much, Ah try to introduce myself. 

"Oh, mercy me!" Goldie gave me a hug, which Ah had to be careful returnin' so Ah didn't squish the cats in her saddlebags. "Sorry Ah wasn't here to meet ya, but Scamp, Scarlet, Sheba, and Butternut had to go to the vet. Poor things needed a tick bath." 

"Ah'm... sorry to hear that." A bit too much info there.

"Well, what brings ya here, young'un?" 

"Oh, well, you see, Goldie Delicious, it's Zap Apple Season over at Sweet Apple Acres."

"Ooh-whee! Zap Apple Season! Can't wait to taste a batch of your Granny's Zap Apple jam! Mmm-mmm!" She looked almost as excited as Ah was.

"Yeah, but, uh she says you have a bunny suit and she needs it to..."

"Sing to the water," Goldie finished. "O' course, Ah got it in here somewhere... At least Ah think Ah do."

"Do ya need some help findin' it?" 

"Well, that might be helpful, sure. Come on in!" She went to the door, and the second it opened, we were almost buried by an avalanche of junk and cats. "Oh, Ah am sorry 'bout this. Eh-heh. I wasn't exactly expectin' company. Sorry 'bout the mess."

Yeah, guess livin' by herself and never getting' visitors made her feel cleanin' wasn't a priority. Either that, or all her cats keep messin' things up. Ah think she had more cats in that cabin than the Flutters have critters in their cottage, and that's really sayin' something.

Ah followed her inside, making darn sure Ah looked where Ah was steppin' with all the cats around.

"Lemme see... Ah think it might be over here somewhere." She pushed a big stack of books out of the way and opened a beat up old wardrobe. "Applejack, be a dear and check the dresser over there."

"Sure thing, Goldie." 

Ah pulled out the dresser drawers, but all Ah found was some sweaters and balls of yarn. When Ah finished, Ah tried the desk on the other side of the room. Didn't look like a place to store clothes, but you never know till you check. 

Ah pulled open the top two drawers, but only found some papers and stuff. Then Ah tried the third drawer down and that book was inside it. Ah thought it might be some old family history book, and figured Ah'd ask about it.

"Dagnabbit! Ah know that bunny suit's here someplace! Ah just saw it last month while Ah was lookin' for my Sunday dress."

"Say, Goldie," Ah interrupted as Ah flipped the book open. "What's this here book? It looks awful old, even by our family's-" 

"PUT THAT DOWN!" Before Ah could react, Goldie Delicious yanked the book out of my hooves and stuffed it back in the drawer. "That book ain't nothin' but a bunch of horseapples!"

Ah stared in shock, as she glared at me and pressed herself against the desk. She was shakin' like a leaf, but she looked madder than a rattlesnake. Ah was kinda worried she was about to have a stroke. 

"Uh... sorry 'bout that. Ah was just..."

"NO!" She barked at me. "You need to leave now! Go on, get!"

"But-but, but Ah need to get that suit to..."

"GET THE BUCK OUT!" 

Ah staggered back at how angry she was. And her dozens of cats hissin' and givin' me the stink eye for upsettin' their mama didn't help either. Ah left without any more argument. The second Ah got outside, the door slammed shut and Ah heard a bunch of locks bein' set. 

Granny wasn't happy that Ah came back without the bunny suit, but when Ah explained, she came back with me the next day. Ah stayed back, hopin' if Goldie hadn't calmed down, maybe might be more obliged to talk if she saw Granny first.

She went ahead and knocked and we got answered by a yell through the door.

"Who's there?! What d'ya want?!"

So much for calmin' down.

"Hello, in there! Cousin Goldie! It's Granny Smith!" Granny yelled back. "My granddaughter came by yesterday to get my bunny suit, but she didn't bring it home with her! Ah'm just checkin' if she forgot it!"

It was quiet for a full minute, but the sound of the door unlocking came through. The door opened a crack. Ah hid behind Granny, and the door opened further.

"Come in." Goldie sounded like she really didn't want company, but she's the same ol' fashioned gal as Granny, she won't turn 'em away either.

Granny trotted in, me close behind.

"Been a dog's age since we met up, Cousin Goldie! How ya been?" Granny smiled.

"Fine. Fine. Ah'm fine." She sure as sugar didn't sound it. When she caught sight of me, she started shakin' like a leaf. "Look, Ah'm awful sorry 'bout yesterday, but Ah really need y'all to just find the dad gum bunny suit and go on home."

"O' course." Granny nodded, walkin' over to a closet. "Though, Ah gotta wonder what mah granddaughter did that got a bee in your bonnet."

"NONE OF YOUR DANG BUSINESS!"

Granny didn't even flinch. In fact, she got right up to Goldie, muzzle to muzzle.

"Now simmer down, Cousin Goldie! Ah know AJ wouldn't do nothin' to upset somepony on purpose! And you're not helpin' your case by yellin' like that!" She backed up and put a hoof on Goldie's shoulder. "So, hows about Ah put a pot of coffee on and let's talk 'bout this like family's supposed to?" 

Granny's cousin just shook, her eyes getting' shinier as the seconds ticked by. She finally sighed and sat in a chair. "Ah don't have any coffee, but there's some tea in the right cupboard."

Granny put the kettle on and sent me to check the closet for the bunny suit. The darn thing was hung up with a sweater over it, probably why Goldie didn't see it before. When Ah got back, the ol' gals were sippin' tea and Granny's cousin looked a little better.

"Now then, why don't you tell us what's wrong?" Granny set her cup down and passed Goldie the sugar bowl.

"Ah've been keepin' the history of our family for as long as Ah can remember. We've had our run of bad Apples once in a while, but all in all, our family name's always been one of the oldest and most trusted in Equestria." She took a big swig of her tea. "Then, Ah found that danged journal."

"Journal?" Ah couldn't stop mahself from sayin'.

"Yeah..." Goldie sighed. "It's the journal of one of our oldest ancestors; Applejack I."

You coulda knocked me over with a leaf. Mah namesake's journal. If Ah wasn't so shocked, Ah'd have been jumpin' for joy at the idea of seein' the kind of mare she was.

"But, why's that so bad?" Granny asked. "Heavens to Bettsy, you gotta have close to a hundred ol' books like that here."

"Cause... cause this one showed me somethin' Ah never wanted to see." Goldie sounded like she was fixin' to cry. "Ah found a secret 'bout Applejack I, a secret that might destroy our whole family."

"Well, what was it?" Ah leaned forward. 

"Ah can't say." She rested her head in her forlegs. "It's too awful. Ah just wanted to keep the secret safe. Ah wanted keep the truth from comin' out and preserve our family name."

"Now hold on a minute!" What she said hit me like a slap to the face "You can't just hide from the truth like that!"

"Ah can sure as heck try!" 

"No, you can't." Ah grabbed her shoulders and turned her to face me. "Ah know, Ah tried! The day Discord got out, he made me embrace lyin' because he tricked me into thinkin' the truth was too awful to face. Ah needed a good friend to remind me how important honesty is, and how much friendship and family depend on it."

Goldie started shiverin' somethin' fierce. "Ah remember that day. That thing made me think Ah was a dog and Ah chased my babies all over the house. Took days to round 'em all up, and weeks before they trusted me enough to get near 'em again."

A couple of the cats padded up to her and nuzzled and purred at her legs. Ah guess they wanted to remind her they'd forgiven her.

"This isn't some little thing, child!" Goldie had lost any hint of control and began sobbin' like a foal. "It's the worst thing Ah could imagine! It's somethin' Ah never woulda believed anypony, especially an Apple, could be capable of! It'll ruin our family if it gets out!"

"You don't know that!"

"Yes, Ah do! For generations, the Apple Family's had a legacy of integrity and loyalty, all the way back to Applejack I! An Apple is supposed to be honest, trustworthy, and love family and friends above anythin' else! Ah was raised to believe that! Ah've grown old and grey believin' that! And... and... then Ah found that book, and Ah found out, it might all be based on a lie. That means that we've been a family of liars since the beginnin', and if we expose the lie, we become the descendants of a pony who disgraced what it means to be a pony."

Goldie looked me in the eye, almost like she was darin' me to say somethin'. 

"So, you tell me, what the buck's the right thing to do when there ain't no choice but to destroy everything we love?"

Ah'm not ashamed to admit, Ah didn't know what to say. Ever since Discord's Day, Ah've tried to be true to my element. Heck, Ah almost went Nightmare tryin' to stay true to my Element. But this... Ah didn't know what to say.

Ah looked over to Granny for some hint of how to deal with this. She just stared back, like she was waitin' to see how Ah'd deal with it. Goldie Delicious sat back down, and Granny pulled her chair closer to comfort her. Ah was on my own. 

Ah looked over to the desk. It suddenly seemed like a trap of Discord set up, and if Ah got to close, it'd turn me into a jackelope or somethin'. Ah trotted over and reached for the drawer. Ah yanked it open quick like pullin' off a bandage.

There it was. Ah picked up the book like Ah was handlin' a rotten Apple. Ah ran through my options, and, Ah'm ashamed to admit, Ah thought about just puttin' it back and forgettin' about it. If it really was my namesake's journal, it was ancient history. Why bring it up now? Then, Ah remembered what Ah promised myself a long time ago. A lie's a lie, and tryin' to deny it won't ever make it true. The truth can be cruel, but everypony has to face it. 

"All this is assumin' whatever's in this book is the truth. A pony's thoughts ain't always shown from the clearest perspective. Could be taken outta context, could be we ain't seein' the whole picture, could be we got it all wrong. And... and if there is some awful truth in here..." Ah turned to my kin, the book still in my hooves. "Then our family needs to own up to it. If we're gonna be damned... then let's be damned for who we really are."

Granny gave me a proud smile, but Goldie Delicious just hung her head in defeat. 

"Child... whatever you decide, Ah'll abide by it. But, if there's any chance Ah got it wrong, you'll let me know, won't ya?" 

"Of course." 

We hugged it out and eventually left with the journal after a few more hours. Ah set it aside to read later. The Zap Apples had sprouted, which didn't leave much time before they ripened and got their colors to harvest. I ended up settin' it aside on a shelf and forgot about it. 

I didn't end up readin' it until a couple days after we got back from the Weddin'. Ah couldn't sleep one night, so Ah went for a book to read and found it again. Ah kinda wish Ah hadn't read it at night.

---

"Ah had a hard time the last few days, tryin' to make sense of it." Ah shivered. "Then, Ah remembered Twilight said she talked to y'all about how things ended up the way they were when you became princesses. She even said you knew my ancestor, so Ah thought maybe you could help me."

"Of course, Applejack." Celestia gave me a sympathetic look. "What is it in this journal that troubles you?"

"Well, the first part's no big deal, just the usual life story, but, towards the second part, she starts talkin' about Dream Valley bein' attacked by a buncha flyin' monsters."

The Princesses' eyes widened; they know what was comin'.

"It talks about ponies getting' swept up and taken to their boss... Tirek. That's where things get a little harder to understand. There's a lot of water damage and pages missin', and the only page that's still in good enough shape to read... Well, check page 414."

They turned to it and read aloud.

"They took me to the throne room, and then, I saw him. 

The way he grinned at me still gives me the shivers even thinking about it. 

'So kind of you to join us, my dear. I was nearly ready to give up hope of finding a fourth steed to pull my chariot, and you showed up and volunteered. Well, fear not. Lord Tirek rewards his faithful servants. When this is over and the world is reborn in the divine darkness, you and your three fellows will be remembered for all time to come for helping usher in the new age.'

His speech was cut short by the arrival of my friends. He merely laughed and unleashed his power source: The Rainbow of Darkness. I was engulfed by a writhing maelstrom of darkness. It's hard to describe what the experience feels like, except that there's a burning and an icy cold running through you at the same time. And then... then I started to like it. 

All my life, I tried to be easy going, never held grudges and never had much reason to; but in that moment, I never felt so angry. 

No, not just angry, furious! 

I thought about my friends back in Dream Valley, and I hated them! I hated the bright, blinding sun! I hated the heat of the summer day under that unyielding ball of fire! I hated the screeching birds who sang the suns praises. I hated all the creatures that played and frolicked in the light. I thought back to my friends racing and laughing in the sun that very afternoon, and every hint of laughter was mocking me. I hated those ponies with a fire I didn't know possible. I hated everything! 

But, deep under that hate, I felt a stronger instinct. I felt a presence of my master, and I needed, no I wanted to obey him. I can't say I loved him, but I felt as much devotion as someone like that could feel. And now I had the power to get rid of the things I hated. I was strong! I was powerful! I could serve my master! 

I wanted to see Dream Valley in flames. I wanted Dream Castle reduced to rubble. I wanted to rip ponies to pieces. I wanted my master to bring darkness down on everything I had ever known... and I loved every minute of it." 

Ah can't help shudderin' at hearin' it again.

"Ah'm hopin' against hope y'all can make sense of this. Twilight says you knew her. So, you'd know, right? Is it a mistake? Am Ah takin' it outta context?"

"Applejack, what the journal describes is a very complicated matter." Celestia explained. Luna just gazed at me with a blank look on her face. "It's a rather long story..."

"Ah don't care if it's a long story!" Maybe interruptin' a princess ain't the smartest thing to do, but Ah couldn't leave without answers. "Ah want to hear the story, the whole story. Ah'll stay as long a Ah need to, Ah'll take any oath of secrecy Ah need to, but Ah ain't leavin' until Ah know whether or not Ah'm named after a traitor!"

"Applejack..." Celestia starts to say somethin', but Luna puts a hoof on her shoulder. 

"Sister, let me handle this." Ah was a little surprised that Luna had dropped her old timey way of talkin'.

"But Luna..."

"Tia." She spoke in a stern tone Ah'd never imagined bein' used to Celestia. "I wielded the Element of Honesty, the same as she. And if there is anyone who can talk about... about him, it's me. I think even you have to admit, between the two of us, I'm the one more qualified to tell this story."

"But, Luna, you're in no shape to deal with this by yourself! I know for a fact that there are parts of that history that I know are very painful to you." Celestia draped a wing on her sister. "I can't let you go through this alone, especially in your condition."

"It is not a matter of you letting me do anything. This is my burden to bear and share, just as yours were yours to share with Twilight Sparkle. I'm not asking, Celestia. Big sister or not, I do not need your permission to do this. I'm telling you that I will tell Applejack what she wants to know. By. Myself."

Boy howdy if there's any time Ah've ever felt like Ah really shouldn't be around, it was right then. If those guards hadn't been excused, Ah think even they'd skedaddle from seein' the royal sisters in a stare down. The reasonable part of my mind knew that nothing bad was gonna happen, but the crazy filly in me wanted to hightail it before somepony got sent to the moon. 

Celestia bowed. "If that's your decision, I'll stand by it. But I'll be there if you need me later."

"And I'm eternally thankful for that." Luna hugged her sister fiercely.

"I'll announce that your court is canceled for the evening. You two go ahead." Celestia turned and made her way back to her throne.

"Follow me." Luna led me out the main door. 

She took me down some long halls at a pretty slow pace. If she was half as tired as she looked, Ah can't rightly blame 'er for not movin' so fast. We climbed one of those spiral stairs until we finally got to a big door. She stuck her horn into the lock and it glowed blue until Ah heard a click. She pushed the door open and motioned for me to go inside.

"This is your room?"

"Indeed." The princess nods and yawns again. "Forgive me if it's in delight disarray. Normally, I sleep much of the day, but the recent attack has needed more of my attention than usual and I haven't had time to keep things neat."

"Couldn't you just have a maid or somethin' do it?"

"I could, but I like my room kept a certain way and I don't want somepony to come in and mess up the feng shui."

"Well, uh, after you, Princess."

"No, Applejack, after you. I insist." There was something funny about the way she said it and I couldn't help feelin' the hair on my neck stand up as I walked past her. 

Ah also couldn't help jumpin' when she shut and locked the door after us. Ah know that Princess Luna ain't Nightmare Moon no more, and she wouldn't hurt anypony, but the way she was actin' had me really on edge. The fact that the room was pitch black wasn't helpin' either.

"OH! One moment, Applejack." I heard the princess' voice in the dark. "I don't usually have guests here, so I don't usually need lights."

The princess' horn glowed and a bunch of candles lit. The room weren't as grand as the throne room, but it had the same grand feeling you'd expect from the castle. There was one really tall window, and pretty cold breeze sent the half drawn curtains flappin'. There's a big bed in the corner with a huge canopy and thick blue curtains. Guess it makes sense if she sleeps durin' the day to want the light really blocked out from her bed. Ah'd rather not talk about the Princess of the Night's taste in decoratin'. Ah was already havin' bad dreams about Midnight Castle since Ah read the journal, and now Ah felt like Ah was in one of 'em. The place looked like it would give Dracula-Pony nightmares. Ah dunno what it was, but it was like Princess Luna was almost recharged a bit by the darkness. 

She used her magic to shut and lock the window, and pulled the curtains closed, blocking out starry sky. Then she trotted to the middle of the room and raised her head. I flinched as a bolt of magic shot from her horn into the ceiling. A blue glow ran down the walls like water, and then across the floor until it met in the center and faded away, leavin' only a faint trace of sparkles.

"Soundproof enchantment, and see-through-vision proof," She explains. "The story I am about to divulge is confidential and deeply personal. I cannot let certan things said leave this room, even by accident." 

"Ah understand." 

"Applejack... what do you know of the story that ponies remember as the rescue at Midnight Castle?"

Ah gulp, tryin' to remember the story.

"Well, the story goes that once there was a group of ponies livin' in a place called Dream Valley. They lived in peace and harmony, until an evil monster called Tirek sent his servant, Scorpan to attack the ponies. Firefly, the bravest Pegasus in Dream Valley, went for help and found a human called um... Mag? No, Meg. No, wait, Megan, that's it.

"With Megan's help, the ponies got ahold of the powerful, magic Rainbow of Light and set off to defeat Tirek. When they arrived at his evil lair, Midnight Castle, Megan released the Rainbow of Light, it destroyed Tirek, and they all lived happily ever after."
"A bit abridged, but accurate. However, that was not the first time ponykind encountered the Master of Midnight Castle, and sadly it wasn't the last."

"Wha..."

"I know that you have seen much suffering and pain. I know that your experience with the Truth has given you a more broad understanding of the darker parts of Equestria. And after the harrowing events of the wedding, you've seen the horrors of war. However, before we begin I must stress one thing to you: you are asking to delve into brutality the world hasn't seen since the First Age..."

Princess Luna whirled around and stared into my eyes. Ah backed up at the haunted look in her eyes. 

"There's a very long list of reasons that even millennia later, Tirek is still remembered as the face of evil in pony history. Even with everything that has occurred the past few years, we have been lucky. The Changeling Invasion, the Day of Chaos, and even my return as Nightmare Moon were met with minimal casualties. If Tirek had been involved, within days there could be thousands dead, or worse. I thank my Mother and Father, and even ahem, the Parents of others, for every day that passes that he remains imprisoned in Tartarus. I shudder to even think what he could do with Equestria today. And the worst part... The worst part is knowing the part I played in his exploits."

"Wha... Princess, you're a little stand offish at times, but you'd never..."

"I was not always as you know me now, Applejack." Luna interrupted, turning away so her mane hid her face. "My out of date manners at the Nightmare Night celebration are far from the worst aspect of the pony I used to be. Long before the words 'Nightmare Moon' were even conceived, I was everything that ponies feared and loathed about the night. I was dark, cold, distant, and gave little care to the fates of mortal beings unless they were part of my realm of the night. I was unfeeling, and in my arrogant indifference, I almost allowed that monster to destroy this world."

"W-Why are ya tellin' me this?"

"To let you know what to expect, and give you the option to walk away." She sighed. "You were correct in the throne room, Celestia and I did know your ancestor. If you simply wish me to say that Applejack I was no traitor and was always a faithful friend, I shall say she was, and we can be done with this right now. However, you said you wanted the whole story, and if that is what you still desire, I shall deliver. 

"But by the time this story is done, I imagine you will lose a great deal of respect for me; and I do not wish to lose your friendship. And there is a much more dire reason: this is no campfire story where the frightened feeling goes away a cheap scare and a laugh. The pain, the suffering, the death, and the one who caused it were very much real. Knowing that it happened is painful enough without knowing the story in detail." 

Can't say that Ah wasn't havin' second thoughts after hearin' that. The story Ah'd related may have been the cleaned up version that they tell foals, but it still gave me nightmares as a filly. Now here Ah was about to hear the truth behind the legend, and Ah was really tryin' not to just thank Luna for her time and go home. 

But Ah couldn't. This was about my family, and Ah couldn't walk away from makin' sure the Apple name was cleared. Ah promised myself that I wouldn't be scared to face the truth, and it was time to really put it to the test. 

"Ah appreciate it, Princess... but I gotta know."

She just looked at me for a long time and sighed. Ah think she dreaded telling me this story even more than Ah was scared to hear it.

"Then, I suggest we get comfortable." She led me over to a table in the corner. She sat in one of the big armchairs and pulled the other out for me with her magic.

"Heh. It's funny. Simple country gal spendin' the night with a princess. Bet that Sunny Days gal'll have a field day." Ah tried to joke and lighten the mood.

"Hmmm, I suppose she might at that." Luna smirked a little. 

"So... where do we start, Princess?"

"The beginning of course, Abigail Jacqueline V. Not the reign of the Royal Sisters, not the age of Discord, not the first Hearth's Warming, not even when the three tribes split. We're going back to the true beginning."

End Of Part 1
> The Emperor's Son
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

You know that the world is old, but civilization is much older than most ponies realize. Elves, Humans, Raptorians, Grundles, Centaurs, Troggles, and countless others lived and prospered long before ponies. However, while some creatures had numbers to be a nation, they were disorganized and too spread out to form a cohesive civilization. The creatures went either living in isolation from other creatures or leading a nomadic life in search of a better place to find food and prosper.

The only constant was fear of dragons. I know you and your friends had a difficult time with that one red dragon outside of Ponyville, but at least Fluttershy was able to convince him to leave. The ancient ones were beyond reason. With few exceptions, they were beasts to their core. They had no written language, no sense of society, no history, no interest beyond feeding, mating and acquiring hordes. They attacked settlements, ate anyone or anything in their path, and stole anything of value for themselves. Had things remained thus, they might have become the dominant species of the world by sheer strength alone.

The beginning of true civilization came from the centaurs. In the face of the harsh world they inhabited, they thrived and advanced. Among their accomplishments, they found the best ways to farm land, made the first irrigation system, and they made the first steel, and used it to craft better tools and weapons. Unfortunately, these advances attracted the attention of dragons.

Things changed when a centaur named Orion became king of the largest centaur tribe. Orion was faster, stronger and cleverer than any other centaur in the tribe. He could go off alone with just his sword and bow, and be back by nightfall with enough game to last the tribe weeks. Even the most vicious predators were no match for him. From wolves to hydras, all fell to Orion.

However, Orion's greatest feat came just after he became king. He went up into the mountains and found a dragon feeding on a herd of wild cattle. Orion knew that it was close enough that it would spot the village from the sky, and attack it. Using his wits and cunning, he lured the dragon into a long, narrow tunnel in the mountains, where the giant creature couldn't easily move, then stayed to its side and got in dozens of small cuts into the dragon's hide. The dragon couldn't stop him because the tunnel was too thin to turn to breathe fire or even see where to strike at him until it finally succumbed to blood loss. The first non-dragon in history to slay one.

Orion returned with the dragon's head as proof of his deed, and was hailed as a hero like no other before him, and the legend spread across the land until there was no centaur alive who had not heard of Orion the Hunter. He united the factions of the centaurs together into one nation.

The unified centaurs began building a great city, a testament to their new strength. All this got the attention of another dragon. But, when it came, the centaurs were ready. Orion taught them the weaknesses he'd seen in the dragon he had killed. They constructed great projectile weapons to launch into the air, cutting through scales, breaking bones, and tearing flesh. The battle raged for hours, but finally ended with the centaurs victorious.

Drac'thanos, 'Dragon's Death' was the first of many cities that they built. The centaurs' might grew until they began to seek out the dragons instead of waiting for attacks. Whether the highest mountains, or the murkiest swamps they destroyed any dragon they found.  This wasn't revenge, it was ending a threat that gave them no quarter.

Their advances in technology, society and reputation as dragon slayers made them the envy of the known world. So much so that a decade into Orion's reign, an ogre kingdom attacked the centaurs. The ensuing conflict was brutal and costly, but the centaurs again won. However, Orion was not overly merciful. Once victory was claimed, he also claimed the ogres' lands as property of the centaurs, and all that lived there would henceforth owe allegiance to him and his people. thus the Great Centaur Empire was born.

For centuries the Empire steadily grew. The centaurs felt it was their duty to bring civilization to the rest of the world. Dozens of kingdoms were annexed into the Empire ,whether by force or by choice, and colonies were founded in lands beyond.

=

"Um, sorry to interrupt, Princess, but where were the ponies in all this?" Applejack asked.

I anticipated this question. Didn't make it kinder.

"Applejack, You'll want to brace yourself for a shock.  Ponies of that era, were in no position to affect the world. They were naught but dumb animals. They had no sapience, no conscience, no ego, no free will, no personal identities, and no cutie marks. Cutie marks only appear when ponies find and embrace their destinies and discover who they are. The ancient ponies did not have the capacity for such thought, and remained blank flanks from birth to death."

Applejack's eyes became wider and wider. "But...then how did they live?"

"Wildly. They knew nothing beyond the instincts of eat, breed and stay alive, and did what they had to in order to follow them."

"...What do ya mean 'did what they had to?'" I hear her dread, she's already guessed.

"As the Flutters attest, nature can be cruel, Applejack. Wild animals have neither the capacity nor the luxury of moral. Most of the world was still wild and savage, and those who were neither did not survive. If food was scarce, ponies fought over it, and the losers starved to death. Stallions would kill each other over the choice of mates, and mares had no interest which won, never batting an eye even while mating with the victor as the other lay dead. If a predator came, they would run, not caring if their fellow ponies were eaten. Death was constant, and those that died went unmourned and forgotten."

"But...what about family?" Applejack's coat looked greenish. 

"Ponies stayed together out of necessity than familial bond or friendship. There is an instinct to defend one's young, but if they died the parents could have another." 

Applejack looked like she might faint or be sick.

"Would you like a break?"

"N-no. No, Ah'll be fine." She cleared her throat.

"Very well. The tribes were separated and rarely intermingled. Earth ponies stayed to the plains, Unicorns and Flutterponies in the forests, Seaponies beneath the sea, and Pegasi amongst the clouds. If they ever did engage each other, it was over food or territory, and usually ended with one of them dead.	

"Flutterponies stayed in hidden valleys. Sea Ponies hide beneath the waves, though one or two were seen by land creatures, often mistaken for merpeople. The remaining equine races weren't as reclusive. Their great strength and endurance made them targets targets of more advanced life. If not hunted for food they were used as beasts of burden. Many found you disturbing, having only a head where a centaur's body should be. Their myths had you as centaurs who had been punished by the gods.

"Earth ponies were used the most as simple labor, pulling carts, plows, heavy machinery and of course, as steeds. Unicorns were hunted, but never domesticated, there was no way to keep them from teleporting away or attacking with their magic. So instead they were often hunted as trophies. Their horns prized as status symbols and ingredients for mages and alchemist.

The Pegasi, were the favored of the centaurs. Their strength and flight made them ideal war horses. And were bred for war. Having pegasi pulling their chariots created the world's first air force. It allowed them to fly over city walls that would have held back ground troops, and taking away the dragons' advantage of flight in battle. Pegasi unconscious mimicked the centaurs in the three tribes era. 

"No. Slavery is the forced labor or service of a sentient being. Ponies of that time had no sense of self, let alone a desire to do anything with their lives beyond living. Mostly, ponies that were owned by centaurs lived longer and more comfortably than their wild brethren. They were fed on a more regular basis, they were groomed and taken care of, and they were housed and kept safe from predators. What they had was not slavery. It was like the relationship you and your friends have with your pets."

"Ah...Ah guess Ah understand. Still don't like it."

=

You asked for the whole story, and it begins on an unseasonably cold summer night in Orionopolis, the Empire's capital.

The child of the reigning emperor, Chiron the Strong, had long been anticipated. Assuring the legacy going all the way back to Orion himself was so dire, that the emperors were allowed, and expected, to take at least four wives to improve the odds of siring a male child. Why male? Their society was patriarchal. Your matriarchal culture would have seemed just as strange. But theirs was incomparably extreme.

After years of trying, one of his wives became pregnant. However, when the day came for Lady Myrrha, the emperor's second eldest wife, to give birth, it wasn't a happy occasion. The baby wasn't due for two more months; and if you know the difficulties that can occur in premature birth, imagine them before medical science and magic were advanced enough to truly help.

Emperor Chiron was at his wits end. Lady Myrrha had been in labor for almost two days. The doctors had tried, but as time passed the odds of saving mother or child diminished. It was just before midnight when a nurse came to inform the emperor. The emperor's son was born, but they were unsure he would live through the night. Lady Myrrha's body had endured too much and lost too much blood.

The nurse advised him to spend the time she had left together. Chiron galloped full tilt into the chamber. Most of the doctors and nurses huddled around a table, inspecting the baby. Lady Myrrha lay on the bed, panting and drenched in sweat and blood, still breathing.

"Myrrha...can you hear me?" Chiron begged.

"Our...our son is here," she said breathlessly.

"Oh yes, he's here." He smiled. "You did wonderfully."

"Wha...what is his name?"

"I...why don't you decide?"

"But...it's the father's duty to name him."

"What's tradition if you don't break it occasionally?" He forced a laugh.

She thought over the possibilities, and even in her exhausted haze, she remembered a name she loved. A name that meant 'strong and great' for a prince who would become strong and great.

"Tirek. His name is Tirek." She smiled over at where the doctors worked over him. "He'll make it. I have faith in him. He fought his way into the world early, that's how much of a fighter he is."

"So, take his example and fight!" Chiron demanded. "He'll need his mother."

"He'll have Helena, Hermia, and Arachne as his mothers...and...he'll have...his father." She scarcely spoke the last word before she left this world.

Chiron was ready to cry, but he didn't. A centaur man wasn't supposed to cry. So he bottled his grief and simply turned to the doctors looking over his son.

"What can be done for my son?" The Emperor cleared his throat.

"He's breathing, and he's moving his arms and legs Your Highness, but he's still very small and weak. I've administered the right herbs and we're trying to get spells to strengthen his heartbeat, but I honestly don't know if he will-"

The doctor's words drowned out as the child looked up at his father. The boy's skin was a rich brown, and his fur was a deep grey, just like his father. However, it was his eyes that grabbed Chiron's attention. His eyes were a striking blue, just like his mother's. Part of her still lived in him.

"Let me be clear, doctor, my son will live!" Chiron snapped at them. "I have lost my wife, I will not lose him! You have permission to use whatever resources of the Empire to do whatever is necessary to keep him alive. If he dies, you all die!"

His sentiments were no different from any parent worthy of being called such.

Tirrek lived.

Two years later, Chiron's second son was born by his youngest wife, Arachne. But he could not be heir. Unlike his other wives, Lady Arachne was not a centaur but a gargoyle princess married for an alliance. Despite being of royal blood, her son was also a gargoyle, and only centaurs could take the throne. However, Scorpan, as he was named, grew up with all the other rights and privileges due to a prince of the Empire alongside his brother.

Spoiled? Heh. From the time they learned to crawl, they were taught that nothing in life is given. Anything worth having must be earned, fought for, taken, won. Thus, everyone, from the richest to the poorest had to be ready to fight for what they wanted. Shielding the young from the harder aspects of life just wasn't done, especially among the nobility and royalty.

Still, even in ancient times, children were children. Tirek and Scorpan were rambunctious, energetic, and hell on hooves given half the chance. However, Tirek had a certain habit that set him apart from most, especially at his age; he was a night owl.

One night as Emperor Chiron was on his way to his chambers, he spotted Tirek sitting by an open window, Scorpan dozing in a chair.

"Tirek, Scorpan what are you doing out of bed?"

The princes jumped at his voice.

"Uh, I'm just keeping Tirry company." Scorpan yawned.

"And what are you doing, Tirek?" Chiron turned to his oldest son.

"Lookin' at the sky."

Chiron looked out the window at the night sky. "Looking at something in particular?"

"Nope, I just like night time. The stars and the moon are pretty, and it's quiet, and cool, and nice."

"It is." Chiron smiled. "Those stars that form a centaur holding a sword and a bow? That's your forefather, Orion. The gods set his spirit there so he could watch over us."

"Neat!" Tirek waved to his ancestor. The moonlight spilled out over the city, illuminating it almost as bright as the sun.

"I love the way the Empire looks at night." Tirek said gazing on the massive buildings, rolling fields, and mountain ranges off in the distance under the stars.

"Oh, this isn't the whole Empire, this is just the capital. The Empire is much larger. It is so large that most of the known world is part of it."

"So, you're king of the whole world?" Tirek asked in amazement.

"I am not a king, I am Emperor. That is higher than king. And I am not actually ruler of the entire world. There are still lands yet to be explored, and other kingdoms outside the Empire."

"Well, why don't you go and tell them you're Em...emer...empor...Bigger-than-king?" Tirek asked in confusion.

"It's not that easy, son. Some do not yet know the Empire exists. Others do not want to become part of it. Of course, we change those kingdoms' minds in many ways. The great Orion himself said, it's our duty spread civilization to those who are wise enough to accept it, and persuade those who are too stubborn to. Maybe the Empire will include the whole world someday, but until then, I must be the leader the Empire needs, just as you will," Chiron explained.

"You mean Tirry and me are gonna be king-I mean uh, emerors when we grow up, Daddy?" Scorpan clapped excitedly.

Chiron shook his head. "I'm afraid only Tirek will take the throne, Scorpan. However, you will have a very important position helping your brother."

"You mean, all this will be mine?" Tirek smiled in amazement.

"No, you will be Emperor. That does not mean that you own everything. There's much you need to understand before you are ready to be emperor." Chiron chuckled. "Now then...um, Tirek, why do you have blood on your hoof?"

"Huh? Oh, there was a rat. It was running around and squeaking and I stomped on it so it wouldn't bother us anymore."

"And where is it now?"

"Over there." The young prince pointed near the edge of a table.

The emperor turned and looked. He wouldn't have known it was a rat if Tirek had not told him. He assumed that Tirek had stamped on it and kicked it away, but judging by the red on the floor, and the state of the carcass, it was apparent that the boy had stomped on it until the rodent's body was completely crushed.

"Well, it's late, go wash up then both of you back to bed. It's an early day tomorrow."	

"Oh, Daddy..." The princes whined.

"No, you need your rest. So, you better go on or the Reptilians might get you."

The Reptilians were the boogiemares of their day, imaginary lizardmen who rode on fictional dragon-like 'Stratodons' to snatch unruly children.

Yes, good Fluttershy best not hear about the rat.

The princes' lives were structured to make sure they learned all needed for a head of state: math, writing, geography, economics, history, as well as royal protocol, but the lessons were twice as advanced and difficult than the standard of the time.

Historical bias however, painted history with the Empire always in the right, any negative was politics at work, or the worst of the worst. The lesson taken was the Empire and Emperor could do no wrong, the future Emperor would remember that. 

"Emperor Orion the Hunter proved that strength makes one just. Our people earned everything we have through the sweat on our brow and the blood in our veins. We were stronger than any who fought against us, and we defeated all who dared. The strong survive and the weak perish; that is nature. And we must ensure the survival of our people and our ways through that strength."

The boys' other education was handled by teachers, but for heritage, religion, and royal duties, their father held class.

"Sunrise is a testament to strength. Sun god Lord Helios, Orion's patron, fights his way across the sky every day against his sister. The goddess of darkness, Lady Selene, hates her brother, and all mortals who shun the night and rejoice in the day. After sunset, Lady Selene battles him in the underworld and moves the moon into the sky as a declaration of victory over her brother. Yet, Lord Helios always defeats her and raises the sun."

"Uh, Father?" Tirek raised his hand in confusion. "If Helios-"	

"Lord Helios. Gods deserve to be properly addressed," his father corrected.

"Why hasn't Lord Helios defeated Lady Selene for good and made it forever day?"

"That is one of the great mysteries, my son."

"Is he only strong enough to fight her to a draw, but not end her? Maybe she's stronger than him?" Tirek was answered with the smack of a rod on his wrist.

"Blasphemy is not tolerated, even from royalty, Tirek," Chiron sternly uttered. "As Emperor, you will be an instrument of the gods and their ultimate power."	

"But, you said the Empire is the greatest nation anywhere, aren't we the ultimate power? And since the Emperor is the ruler, doesn't that make him the-" He was given another swing of the rod on his wrist.

"For all our power, we are not the ultimate power. Being a leader makes none so superior to others, much less the gods themselves. You have much to learn of respect and humility, Tirek! Learn your place, or I may consider if Scorpan might be best for the throne!"

The Emperor didn't notice the look on his oldest son's face. All his life, being Emperor was all Tirek had ever thought to be, all his father ever told him he could be. The suggestion that this might be taken from him, even as an empty threat of a father trying to rattle his child, hit Tirek harder than Chiron ever imagined.

Scorpan attempted to lighten the situation. "So, can we get back to the lesson? I bet Tirek wants to hear more about his girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" Chiron looked at Scorpan confused, while Tirek glared at him.

"Yeah, Lady Seline. Tirek thinks she's cuuuuuuute!"	

"DO NOT!" Tirek yelled, trying to cover a blush.

"Then why do you get that funny look whenever we walk past her statue?" Scorpan barely suppressed a laugh.

"Shut up!"

"It's all right, Tirek." The tangent brought a smirk to his father's face. "You aren't the first to fall in love with one of the gods, and you won't be the last. But, choose your affections carefully. The Night Queen is as cold as she is lovely, and can drive even those she favors mad. Perhaps it would be best to wait until you've had your first taste of mortal women before setting your sights on her."

"Yes, Father." Tirek grumbled.

"Let us move onto the legend of the long platinum drake in the east and the five headed dragoness in the west…"

Tirek did not pay attention after that jarring exchange. When the lesson ended, it left Tirek and Scorpan with little to do but wander the palace halls. They found themselves in the west wing, where Scorpan's mother, Arachne and Chiron's other two wives, Helena and Hermia had set up a table for tea.

"Hello, boys, would you care to join us?" Helena motioned for a servant to bring two more couches.

"Thank you, Mother Helena." Scorpan pulled up a seat.

Tirek sat but didn't speak.

"What's wrong, son?" Hermia asked.

"I'm not your son!" Tirek snapped.

"Now, dear, I know I'm not your real mother, but we still care for you." Hermia put a hand on his shoulder.

"Well, Father clearly he doesn't," Tirek groused.

"Oh that's not true. He's only getting you ready to be Emperor."

"Then why did he say he might decide Scorpan should be emperor instead of me?"

"Oh, that's just him trying to motivate you," Helena explained. "The easiest way to get someone to obey is playing on what's important to them. Being Emperor and following in your father's hoof prints is what's important to you, so he used it to get your attention."

"Don't let Father get to you, Tirry." Scorpan gave him a good natured punch in the arm.

He would never forget the lesson he learned; find what's most important to someone and you can make them do what you want. One of the few times he'd admit to listening to women.

Along with their general education, Tirek and Scorpan were put through rigorous exercise programs that intensified as they grew older. They started training with practice weapons to build hand-to-eye coordination and fighting techniques. When old enough, they trained with actual weapons and battle each other under the instruction of their father.

"Today, you two will be sparring with your cousins, Nessus and Pholus." Chiron motioned to a pair of teenage centaurs as they entered the practice field. "They've completed their training, so you will be facing battle ready opponents and will need to use all you've learned this session."	

"Don't worry boys, we'll go easy on you." Nessus shared a laugh with his brother as they paired off with Tirek and Scorpan.	

"Don't do us any favors." Tirek gave a determined smirk.	

"BEGIN!" Chiron called as he rang the bell.

The four duelists faced off and raised their swords in salute. The contest was swift and fierce. Scorpan was disarmed after ten minutes, Tirek was disarmed after twice that.	

"CONTEST OVER!" The bell rang again.	

"Nice, Tirek." Nessus grinned as he pulled Tirek to his hooves "Almost got me."	

"Excellent display," Their father said as he took the swords. "But there is still room for improvement. Scorpan, you defend so much you don't take any openings!"

"Yes, Father." The younger prince bowed.

"Tirek, you have the opposite problem. You're too aggressive."

"This is readying for battle, how is aggression a bad thing?"

"Because you keep letting your temper get the best of you and just start hacking blindly at your opponent. It leaves you vulnerable to attack from a more disciplined enemy. Anger may motivate you, but left unchecked, it can cost you."

"Yes, Father." Tirek growled.	

"And that temper again. Learn to control it." Chiron turned and marched off the practice field. "Both of you are dismissed. Be ready in fifteen minutes for hand-to-hand sparing."

"Thanks for not taking my head off, cousin." Scorpan smiled as he shook Pholus' hand.

"It's not like you use it that much anyway." Pholus chuckled.

"Yeah, but I'm gonna be at the orgy at Lord Bacchus' temple tonight."

"We'll be there too! We'll try and find you a few good girls," Nessus threw in.

"Oh for...really, another orgy, Scorpan? Didn't you already take three conquests since the weekend?" Tirek scoffed.

"Exactly, I'm falling behind." Scorpan shared a laugh with his cousins.

"Fine, but at least avoid any poxy ones."

"There's no need to worry. There's going to be more than just harlots, there's going to be a whole slew of virgins." 

Tirek stared speechless at his sibling. "...And you believed that? Sometimes, Scorpan, I wonder if the gods gave you the brains of a dung beetle."

=

"Um, Princess, Ah don't mean to interrupt, but what's an 'orgy', and why is it so important that there would be virgins or 'harlots'? Is it a party or somethin'?"

"In a way."

I nearly laughed. I prayed I never saw how Pinkie Pie would plan such a party.

I was hesitant to explain the...ahem, sexual habits of the centaurs to Applejack. Their approach was very different than that of even most wanton modern ponies. My sister tried to hide the uglier aspects of the past to avoid corrupting our ponies, and there are things in this story that I will not discuss with Applejack, but she asked for truth. She is level headed and tougher than she realizes. As my fellow Element of Honesty, I decided to give her the cold hard truth, and did not skimp details.

The wide eyed, slack jawed look on Applejack's now paler face makes me realize I may have miscalculated.

"Applejack? ...Applejack? Applejack, can you hear me?"

"WELL ALL RIGHTY THEN! I LEARNED SOMETHING NEW TODAY! WELL, THANKS PRINCESS, BUT HOWS ABOUT WE GET MOVIN' ALONG AND NEVER EVER, EVER, EVER SPEAK OF THIS AGAIN? THAT OK? GREAT!"

"Um...very well... you do an impressive Royal Canterlot Voice."

"MUCH OBLIGED! LET'S TALK ABOUT ANYTHING EXCEPT BANANAS!"

Definitely miscalculated. 

=

"Tirek? What time is it?" Scorpan asked.

"Midday."	

"Then why is it getting dark?" Scorpan pointed out the doorway.	

The group saw that the sky was rapidly filling with massive dark clouds. The rainy season was months away. It became even stranger when it seemed to start snowing. Nessus reached out the window and caught one of the 'snowflakes' and found it was ash.	

"We need to find Uncle Chiron!" Nessus urgently commanded his family. "This isn't a storm, it's smoke, and there's one only thing that could cause this much at once."	

The Emperor convened the high council and all agreed that the massive smoke clouds must have been caused by a dragon. The clouds were blowing in on an east wind, so the first step was to send an excursion east.

"I will lead this mission. I will take two thousand men, along with thirty members of the Praetorian Guard," Chiron addressed the council.	

"Tirek, Scorpan, you two shall join the hunt. The time has come to truly test your mettle. Nessus, Pholus, as the next in the royal line, you two will stay here to defend the city."

Tirek shot a quick glance at his cousins. It had never occurred to him that they might be in line for the throne. He was already suspicious of his brother, and now he would keep an eye on them too. He silently vowed to return with the dragon's head to show them up.

The centaur contingent departed eastwards in search of the source of the smoke. They marched for two days, and found not a hint of dragon. On the third day, however, they did find something that would play a large roll in future events.

"Your Majesties," Captain Lector announced as he and several guards entered the camp. The guards pushed a little man with a large green hat forward. "We discovered this elf by the river. We think he was following us."	

"Oh my, was I following you? Oh, dear, my mistake. I was meant to be following the smoke, I don't know how I got turned around." The elf chattered confusedly. "Maybe I should have taken a left at the home of fifty flying fireflies, or was it a right at the sanctum of the seven sacred snakes?"	

"Hold." Chiron raised a hand to stop him. "We are also trying to find the source of the smoke. You will come with us elf." Chiron had no reason to belief he was a spy, dragons were everycreature's enemy.

"Oh, very well then. Shall we start making our way to the East Mountains then?" 

"The East Mountains?"

"Of course! It's the only place for miles that is high enough that where the wind would spread the smoke as fast as it has and first sighted. Not to mention the natural cave formations are perfect for a dragon to take residence in, and I'm convinced it has to be a dragon causing this, because I've already cleared my brother's special garden and I'm almost certain it isn't the same type of smoke."

The centaurs stared in shock at the elf's reasoning. The emperor gave the elf a shrewd glare. 

"What's your name, elf?" 

"My name is Randall, I'm a Moochick of the Western Forest Elven Kingdom." 

"Moochick?" Scorpan raised an eyebrow in confusion. 

"Elf title for a great healer, teacher and magician." Randall explained. 

Yes, Applejack, this was the Moochick, the same who was the first keeper of the Rainbow of Light and served as mentor to the ponies of Dream Valley. Long before those days, he was one of many elves who held the title of Moochick. However, by crossing paths with the centaurs, he was put on a path to becoming the most infamous elf to hold the title.

"So your people sent you to stop the smoke?" Scorpan asked. 

"Yes, stop the smoke! Good idea, we should probably do that. Well, we better be on our way south to East Mountains."

"Um, the East Mountains are in the east, Mr. ‘Moochick'" The emperor corrected.

"Oh...of course, my mistake." Randall smiled as he picked up his walking stick. "Well, let's be off then!"

"Father, do you think it is wise to bring this addlebrained elf with us?" Whispered Tirek. 

"Another set of hands against a dragon is always useful, even an elf's," Chiron replied. 

Tirek sighed in exasperation. He was never overly fond of elves. He was never overly fond of anyone outside his family, but he was especially found non-centaurs distasteful. Elves' 'help the weak' attitude turned his stomach.  

The expedition arrived at the East Mountains, the billowing clouds of smoke emanating from the second highest peak, accompanied by loud roars. Most of their forces remained at the base of the mountain, with only the Praetorian Guard and the elf Moochick accompanying the emperor and princes on the journey to the cave. It took several hours, but they reached to the cave entrance, and the danger it housed. A dull roar shook the mountainside.	

"Oh, my! Is a dragon in there?" Randall peeked out from behind their hiding place.	

"No, that was just my stomach growling," Tirek sarcastically replied.	

"Oh, well then, perhaps you should have grabbed an apple or something before we climbed the mountain."

Chiron quietly ordered, "All right, I need volunteers to try and reconnoiter and assess the dragon." 	

Tirek was about to raise his hand when- "I volunteer."

The centaurs gawked in amazement as Randall raised his hand.

"Something wrong?"	

"I think one of us or our soldiers would be better suited." Tirek rolled his eyes.	

"Oh, so you don't think that a spy who is smaller, quieter, and can do magic wouldn't be a better choice to approach a dragon?" Randall asked.	

The Emperor and his men shared a glance.	

"Very well, but at least take a sword with you," Chiron said.

"Oh, that won't be necessary." Randall slipped towards the smoke cloud. To the centaurs' horror, he shouted into the cave, "HELLO THERE! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?"	

The centaurs prepared for the inevitable attack by the dragon.

"No! Feel bad!"

The centaurs nearly dropped their weapons; the voice was massive and had a guttural growl that they recognized as a dragon, and yet it had formed words. In all the years that the Empire had fought dragons, never did a dragon speak.

"Oh my! Well, here, let me clear this away so we can talk." A blast of wind blew through the cave and cleared away the smoke over ducking centaurs.

When the Emperor stood he saw the elf standing barely twenty feet away from a large purple dragon.	

"MEN, PREPARE FOR GLORY!" Chiron shouted, raising his sword.

"DEATH TO DRAGONS!" Tirek and Scorpan cheered.

"WAIT!" Randall ran out and stood in their way. "Please, wait, there's no need for that!"

"Have you gone mad, elf?! A dragon threatens the land and must be stopped!"

"He's not threatening anything, Your Highness! In fact, he's in more danger than we are! Just look at him!"

The dragon was lay on the ground, with a pained look on its face, and despite seeing centaurs, it made no move to attack or flee. Its eyes were bloodshot, green splotches were among the purple scales, and smoke seeped out of its mouth regardless if it breathed in or out.

"What...what's wrong with it?" Chiron asked. 

"He's ill, and judging by the cave's rocks, it's easy to see why," Randall explained. He pointed his walking stick to a large green gem embedded in the cave wall. "These gems that grow here are filled with volatile magic, and you've eaten some haven't you, Mr. Dragon?" 

"Ugggghh...yes." The dragon gurgled. 

"These gems become bombs in extreme heat, so imagine several of them inside the blazing inferno of a dragon's insides. They started bursting in his stomach and creating the smoke." 

"Ohhh...feel bad." The dragon groaned. 

"I expect so. But no problem, I'm here now and I can make some medicine to help you." Randall pulled his hat from his head and reached into it. "Now, were did I put the Athelas plants?" 

"Uh, 'Moochick', I fail to see why we can't just slay the beast." Tirek's sword pointed.

"Well, for starters, he's so sick he can barely move. I admit, I only have a passing knowledge of your people, Your Highness, but what I have always heard is your honor. This dragon is not intentionally threatening your people, and he has no hope of fighting you. That's not glorious battle, it's hardly a hunt. Where is the honor in killing a defenseless creature that may die anyway?"

The emperor himself had no answer. He motioned for the rest to stand down. 

"Now then, this sickness will be easily remedied. I have the herbs needed, I just need one more thing. Um, Mr. Dragon...Er, I'm sorry, where are my manners? I forgot to ask your name." 

The dragon wheezed. "Heath...spike." 

Chiron himself stumbled. Dragons had names?!

"Well, Mr. Heathspike, may I be allowed to procure a few rubies from your horde to finish your medicine?" 

The dragon and the centaurs stared at the elf's audacity. Asking a dragon to take from its horde? Asking a dragon for anything?! He was either more insane or more clever than any of them imagined. 

The dragon trying to breath deep was met by a hacking cough.

"Take." The dragon nodded.

The Moochick ran into the cave and came back out with an armful of rubies. He add the gems to a bowl and began crushing them and mixing them with the herbs. When he had mixed it into a red and green mush, he poured it into the dragon's mouth.

"It should start counteracting the toxic crystals once it reaches your stomach, which should be right...about..."

Heathspike hiccuped and the smoke billowing from his mouth turned bright pink before it stopped all together. With a relieved sigh, the dragon smiled at the elf. 

"Thank. Friend." The dragon looked over to the centaurs. "You friends."

The emperor stared uncertainly as the dragon stood and stalked back into the cave. It returned with its front claws filled with treasure. He deposited the gold and gems on the ground before them and smiled. 

"For helping." 

"Oh, my gracious! Thank you my friend." Randall smiled gratefully. 

"Yes, um...thank you." Chiron echoed uncertainly. 

Heathspike lifted his right foreleg, causing the party to notice a black bag tied around the dragon's wrist. He pulled it open and turned to face the remainder of his horde. He unleashed bright green flames onto the treasure. The flames consumed the treasure in seconds, leaving nothing but a small cloud of green smoke that flew into the sack. Heathspike pulled the draw string and closed the bag, which looked heavier.

"Amazing!" Randall gushed. "Where did you learn that magic?"	

"Me teach me." Heathspike smiled proudly. "Now, find new cave. No more bad gems. Bye, friends."	

"Uh, Your Highness, sh-shouldn't we attempt to take the beast down?" Asked the captain of the guard.	

"I agree, Father," Tirek added. "It's not helpless now, it's fair game. We should kill it while we have the chance."	

The emperor just stared after the dragon, thinking of the positive sum gain of Randall's diplomacy.

"No. The dragon is no threat now. If he returns to stirs up trouble we shall deal with it then. The crisis is over and we shall return with all hands to our homes, with our reward," Chiron looked at Randall with a newfound respect. "And, a new ally."

"Oh, you made a new ally? That's nice. Can I meet him before we part company?" Randall asked, earning a laugh from the emperor.

The party returned to Orionopolis, Moochick in tow. When they arrived, a festival was held for the end of the dragon smoke. At the end, the Moochick was honored.

"We are in your debt, Randall, Moochick of the Western Forest Elven Kingdom," Chiron intoned.

"Oh, it was my pleasure to help, Your Highness."

"Never the less, you have done a great service for the Empire, and you will be rewarded. I understand that you are eager to return home, but I would ask you to consider becoming part of my court, as ambassador to the Western Forest Elf Kingdom and an advisor."

"Oh my gracious! Well, you do me a great honor, Your Highness! How can I refuse?"

The crowd cheered to welcome their new honored guest and hero.

Tirek stayed quiet most of that night, which Scorpan took note of.

"Uh, Tirry? Are you alright?"

"Don't call me that, Scorpan."

"Tell me what's wrong, then. None of us died, the smoke's gone, and we got treasure. Sounds like a happy ending to me."

"Yes, except that Father let an elf handle the dragon, who is still alive!"

"Relax, by tomorrow, the elf will be on his way back in his little tree house and...I don't know, make flowers grow or whatever."

"Don't trust him."

"Why?"

"He's up to something. I wouldn't be surprised if he was planning against us."

"You think an elf who asked if a halberd was a duck, is scheming? He's too dimwitted to worry about."

"A dimwit that's now an advisor. Keep an eye on him, brother."

Moochick Randall made frequent trips back to his home in the West Forest, but he became a familiar sight around the palace in the following two years. Especially to Tirek's eyes. However, it turned out that appointing him as an advisor was a wise decision. He had helped Chiron resolve an economic crisis, found a cure for a plague the broke out in the southern colonies, and began to teach Tirek and Scorpan some magic.

However, peace never stayed with the Empire for long. In the summer of the third year following the excursion to Heathspike's cave, an assassin attacked Tirek and Scorpan's cousins. While practicing their swordsmanship, a stealthy satyr opened fire with a bow and arrow. The guards killed the assassin, but not before Nessus was shot in one of his forelegs, giving him a permanent limp.

The assassin's armor was Pancadia's royal guard, the satyr kingdom. The centaurs and satyrs had been uneasy allies held by the most tenuous of peace treaties, and this broke it in days.

Pancadia was a small nation, but satyrs were proud and clever. They used guerilla tactics that the larger and more regimented centaur forces were not adept to. For two years, the Empire was kept at bay. Tirek was put in command of the war, with Scorpan as his lieutenant. Tirek found a taste for glory that battle brought, but also a taste for bloodshed. With his strategies, the imperial army was able to turn the tide and conquer the satyr lands. The celebration that awaited Tirek and Scorpan upon their return was the biggest the Empire had seen in decades.

On the last night of the celebrations, and the royal family in their chambers celebrated on their own late at night with bottles of vintage wine.

"Another toast to our sons!" Arachne raised her glass. 

"To our sons!" The emperor and his wives raised their glasses. 

"Yes, weren't we quite impressive?" Scorpan chuckled. 

"Especially on the war's last day." Tirek elbowed Scorpan knowingly. 

"I wish you all could have seen the goats' faces!"

"Yes, I had been meaning to ask how you were finally able to capture Capra City," Helena asked.

"Oh, that was easy once Tirek's plan went through! We spent months in summer and fall attacking the smaller cities, but always retreating. I thought he'd gone crazy!"

"Crazy like a fox." Tirek grinned. "The attacks were never meant to take those worthless cities.  But the surrounding farmlands were devastated in battle."

"Which meant the harvest would be destroyed with winter on the way." Scorpan grinned.

"And when winter came, I sent the 44th Legion on a full assault on Bezoar City, where the satyrs second largest emergency food stores were housed. The damn goats sent more troops to protect it when we attacked, but the only place close enough to help before it's too late was Capra City." 

"The city guard was weakened from sending reinforcements and wide open for invasion. We took their food source and their chief city in one fell swoop." 

"Say it, Scorpan." Tirek smiled smugly. "Come on, say it. Saaaay iiiiit." 

"You're a genius, Tirek." Scorpan shrugged. 

"Yes, I am!" 

"Well done, my boys." Chiron smiled. He put his hands on his eldest's shoulders. "I have missed you both, and you return to me as true men, worthy Princes of the Empire."

"It's not fair." Hermia wiped her eyes. "We only just got you both back and now we must say goodbye to one of you." 

"What?" The princes looked to their stepmother in confusion.

"Yes, sadly, Hermia is right. There is a secret rite of passage for the crown prince when he comes of age." Chiron explained. "It's easy to forget the people outside the palace, yet the Emperor's decisions affect all centaurs, from the greatest to least. Thus, it was decreed by Emperor Codrus, heirs to the throne live half a year secretly as commoners." 

"WHAT?!" Tirek bellowed in shock. "I return triumphant in service to the Empire and my reward is to be banished?!"

"Not at all, son! It's an essential rite, just as your training in matters of state and sword. It will build your character and give you a better understanding of the people you will rule over. It's only six months."

"But Father, this is insane! All know Tirek and what he looks like. If he goes alone, it would be easy for assassins or for ambitious criminals to ransom him!"

"That will not happen. There is a spell passed down that will change your appearance and voice. None will recognize you. You'll be given a loaf of bread, a bag of gold, and a sword, but all other needs you must manage through your own wits and labor."

Tirek hated the very idea of degrading himself to a lower-class. But overshadowing even his unending pride: was his desire for the throne. He would rather die than give up the promised power of the throne. If he had to crawl through the dirt for power's sake, he would.

"Very well, Father. I shall miss you, and our mothers and Scorpan."

"Yes, well, then it's best to savor this night. Care to regale us with more from your conquest?"

"Oh, yes, Father, you still haven't heard the best part! When we launched the invasion, we stormed the city, killing all in our path until we got to the palace. King Tumnus surrendered quickly. He was bawling like a baby! It was pathetic. It's probably why I killed him right there."

"Yes, we...You did what?!"

"That's right! The old goat begged and pleaded on his knees and..." He motioned his arm across his throat. "Ha! His head bounced down the steps and landed face down on the floor!"

"It was glorious, Father." Scorpan grinned, raising his own glass. "The queen feared Tirek might take a swing at her as well so much that she signed the surrender treaty right then and there!"

"But, I wanted to squash any potential uprising, so after that, I sent some men to kill the rest of the court, all the soldiers in the city, and any other wealthy satyrs. All they have is their queen, and nobody is going to rally around some needy woman for a revolution."

"Tirry even put the king's head on a stake outside the palace as an example! HAHA! The satyrs will learn to fly before they dare rise up against us!"

The brother's clinked their glasses, and only just realized their parents were staring at them in shock and outrage.

"What's the matter?" Tirek asked obliviously.

Their father stood and glared at his eldest son. "Tirek...you dishonor your family."

"Dishonor-what?!"

"You killed an unarmed man in front of his wife and ordered hundreds more killed after they had already surrendered!"

"...And?"

"'And?' To kill in the heat of battle is one thing, but this is another!"

"They were enemies, they deserved to die." Tirek stated it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Yes, they were enemies, but they had also surrendered! Surrender means the conflict is ended and any further act of aggression is dishonorable!"

"I conquered our enemies! Thanks to me, the satyr lands are now subjugated and the Empire is richer for them! I call that honorable!"

"So now it was all your doing? Never mind your brother or any of the other soldiers who fought, bled and died for the Empire?"

"You think I stayed behind the lines while the battle raged? I was on the front lines, cleaving my enemies to pieces right amongst the soldiers!"

"Yet you dismiss their efforts in favor of your own?!"

"I am their prince, they are my soldiers! They and all the other lower classes live and die to make great people richer and greater! Those oafs on the battlefield and the satyr fools are no different than chess pieces; they move at the command of a greater mind that may make use of them to win. It's their purpose!"

"'Their purpose?' Their...Dear gods in Elysium, have you so little respect for life?"

"Father, do you know what I found out in the last two years on the battlefield? Honor, respect and rules do not win wars. To the victor go the spoils and the dead stay dead. What does it matter what methods we used as long as we win?"

"Honor is all that separates us from animals, Tirek! We are civilized! We are not common beasts who kill without thought or consequence!"

"You taught me that I needed to be a warrior! Warriors kill!"

"WARRIORS FIGHT TO PROTECT WHAT THEY LOVE!" Chiron thundered, making Tirek step back. "A warrior fights to protect his home, his friends, his family and his way of life! A warrior knows the value of life and the seriousness of taking it! A warrior does not seek war for its own sake, nor kill without cause! We stopped such barbarism when Orion brought the tribes together!"

"It matters not, Father. The deed is done and cannot be undone, unless you are ready to restore Pancadia's sovereignty and deprive the Empire a conquest to spite me."

"Watch your tongue, boy! I will not be addressed with such disrespect as your Emperor or your father!"

Tirek knew enough about battle and enough of these disagreements with his father to know to pick his battles. He backed off and played the dutiful son, thinking his father would eventually see his actions as just.

"You're right, Father. I spoke out of turn. However, there is nothing I can do, so may we please move on to other matters? Such as when this exercise of posing as a commoner is complete, when shall I prepare for my first dragon hunt?"

The emperor and his wives were silent for a moment.

"Tirek, there will be no more hunts. I have made peace with the dragons."

Tirek and Scorpan were stunned silent. Chiron might as well have told them that the sky was made of stone.

"...You what?"

"I did not mumble, my boy. I agreed to a peace with them."

"Why in the gods' names would you do that? Dragons have been our enemies since before the Empire was founded! And now, you want to go back to the days when they stole our treasure, ate our animals, burned our homes and spilled our blood?! Have you lost your mind?!"

"I am in full control of my mind, Tirek." Chiron replied sternly.

"Then why?!"

"Putting aside that we must now recover from the war you two just returned from, if we continue our war with the dragons, we would almost certainly lose and the Empire would fall."

"What war? It's pest control! Why would we fall to the dragons after all this time?!"

"Because they have followed our example!"

"What?"

"Remember the stories of the platinum and the five headed dragons? They were not stories. They exist. And they are no mere beasts. They are as smart as we are, and can be reasoned with. But that is not all; they have a strange thrall over the rest of their kind. The dragons obey them without question. They've declared themselves king and queen of all dragons. Heathspike calls them gods.

"They made a show of strength at the negotiations. They brought an army of two hundred dragons to Dictys."

"Impossible!"

"I saw it! Two hundred titanic monsters flew over the city, circling, diving, spinning through the air, but never touching the city. Then, at their queen's command, they flew out over the water and began circling that ring of rocks where the waves break. They let loose their fire breath on it, all at once. The rocks were melted within seconds, and the massive steam cloud from the boiling sea rose miles into the air."

"By the gods..." Scorpan stared in awe.	

"Against a small band of dragons, we can prevail, but not against them all. So, with Moochick Randall's assistance, we were able to forge a peace." Chiron shrugged as he filled his glass. "It is probably no loss anyway. No dragon has crossed our borders in decades, and as long as their...'parents' can keep them from interfering in our affairs, there is no need to provoke them."

"Have you gone mad?!" Tirek swept the glass out of his father's hand, sending it shattering on the floor. "Do you even hear yourself, Father?! Letting dragons dictate terms to us!"

"There's no alternative, Tirek." Chiron sighed as he wiped a splatter of wine from his hand.

"Uh, Father, surely there must be a way to deal with this." Scorpan interjected. "It sounds like the threat is from the silver dragon and its five headed mate, why not get rid of them? Without them, the dragons aren't united, so why don't we send our forces to kill them? It can't be impossible for our best slayers to kill two dragons."

"Precisely what he says!" Tirek pointed to his brother.

"These aren't normal dragons. I sent a thousand of our best assassins from the Order of Nemesis to deal with them the moment I became aware of their existence." Chiron sighed. "At the negotiations, the dragon queen presented me with a wagon containing their armor and their skulls."

"You speak so highly of 'honor', yet you would avenge their deaths by yielding to their murderers' demands?!" Tirek roared.

"Not at the cost of the Empire!"

"Since when does Chiron the Strong fear battle?!" Tirek demanded.

"Do you think I have not given this thought?! That I have not weighed every alternative, politically and militarily before I made this decision?!" Chiron yelled back in his son's face. "If we went to war against united dragons, with the combined strength and resources of the Empire and all our allies, that war would destroy everything in its wake. Both sides would take such losses and cause such damage, that even if we by a miracle were victorious, all we would rule over is a world of ash!"

"So be it! I would take on the whole world if it insulted us so brazenly!" Tirek declared.

"There is no honor in destroying the world, and victory at such a price is no victory at all!" Chiron yelled, staring down his son with every bit of royal dignity he possessed. "But with the knowledge of your actions in Pancadia, you obviously have much to learn about honor! Perhaps if you cannot learn it on the battlefield, you can learn it amongst your people, though you give me little reason to have faith in that!"

Scorpan gulped as his brother and father stared each other down. Before he could even attempt to speak, Tirek just stormed out of the chambers with a slam of the door. Chiron sighed in exasperation as he dropped heavily onto the sofa next to Arachne and Helena.

"Father?" Scorpan ventured.	

"Scorpan...what happened to Tirek during the war?" Chiron poured himself another glass of wine.	

"Uh, he got hit by a couple arrows, a couple satyrs got lucky with swords... I got snipped while trying to negotiate a city's surrender."

"No, I mean what happened to him that he cannot recognize such dishonor and seems ready to embrace mad suicide than even consider an alternative?"	

"He's always been a fighter father." Scorpan answered. "And at heart, he's doing it all for the Empire, and for you. All he's ever wanted was your approval."	

"Then why does he so steadfastly refuse to listen when I try to impart wisdom?"	

"He makes mistakes some times, that's all," Scorpan defended.	


"These are mistakes he cannot afford to make, Scorpan. You can't understand the burden that awaits him. One day, he will be Emperor, and he needs to understand what will be required of him."	

"But, Father, he just won a war for the Empire! All right, he killed the satyr king and some others, but he also increased our territory and resources, and he avenged the attempt on Nessus' life! Doesn't that count for something?"	

"In the grand scheme, perhaps, but what troubles me is that he did not even consider whether it was the honorable course of action when he committed the act. Being Emperor does not give him license to work his will without thought or responsibility! The last Emperor who believed that was killed by the Praetorian Guard."	

"Oh, come now, Father, Tirek won't go down that path!"

"Damn right he won't! I will not let him destroy the Empire...or himself."

The following morning, Tirek was given the potion that changed his appearance. His build, fur, skin and eye color were all altered. No one would ever recognize him. The emperor announced that Tirek had gone to a retreat in the North Mountains to hunt dire wolves to cover his absence.

And so, Tirek, Crown Prince of the Great Centaur Empire went to live among the commoners under the name 'Bane.' He spent three days in the local inn before finding a job as a blacksmiths apprentice. It was tiring work, but even a prince like Tirek was no stranger to labor.	

"Be quick about it, Bane! The city garrison needs this armor by the end of the week! If we're late, I'll take it out of your pay!"	

"Yes, Mr. Hephest," Tirek grunted as he hammered away on a breastplate.	

"Ah, you're lucky I hired you at all! With the war over, the demand for armor and swords went down. I don't know why the Emperor or the generals or whatever moron was in charge of our troops couldn't have dragged the fight out a little longer!"	

"Speak for yourself, Heph." They looked up from their work and saw a guard in the doorway.	

"Alcon, my old friend!" The blacksmith shook the guard's hand. "If you're here for your armor, I'm afraid you'll have to wait until the end of the week for my lazy apprentice to finish it."	

"No, no, I was just going to drop off my sword. It was bent in the siege of Capra City."	

"You should handle your weapon more carefully," Tirek commented as he took the blade to the anvil.	

"Stow that talk and show some respect, Bane! You're talking to a soldier of the Empire!" Hephest shouted.	

"No, he's right, I should have," The guard defended. "Of course, if I'm counting things I should have done, I also should have gone into farming like my mother said."	

"Listening to women, Alcon? Ohohoho, I knew you were always different."	

"No, I'm just tired. Two years of war with those goats was long enough. It probably would have gone quicker if the prince could have pulled his head out of his backside."	

"The prince?" The blacksmith asked.	

"Yeah, that blasted Tirek and his insane plans. We could have finished the war sooner if we attacked the right places, but no! He kept sending us to attack and retreat for months, and yeah, it worked, but I think he was more interested in making himself look good than winning the war."	

"You shouldn't talk about the prince that way," Tirek said as he pounded the sword. "If he ever found out, you'd be in trouble."	

"Perhaps, but he never will." Alcon shrugged. "Besides, if he did, maybe he might learn something from it so I wouldn't be so leery of him becoming Emperor."	

"Here is your sword." Tirek shortly handed the newly straightened blade back to its owner.	

"Oh, well now, this is well done indeed! You should hold onto this young man, Heph."	

"I might just, Al. Well, nice seeing you. Bane, get back to work!"	

When he wasn't at work, he went about town, taking in all the sights and sounds of common life.	

"You seen grapes' price?"	

"Tia, where are the fish?"	

"Excuse me!"	

"Did you see Obelia? You think I have a chance with her?"

"Jason, stop crying or I'm taking you home!"

"Hey, I was here first!"

"Tunics for sale!"

He proceeded to the grocer, trying to block out the noise.

"All right, one pound of grapes and one pound of dates. That will be five gold coins for each." Tirek tossed the money down and went to leave, but the grocer called after him. "Hey, you look new around here, did you hear about the new laws?"

"New laws?" It was the first thing the man said that got Tirek's interest.

"The emperor just made a law that's going to make things much easier for my cousins and my aunty. There's going to be a new treasury set up that will be used to support the poor, the elderly and the sick."

"What?"

"Yes, isn't it wonderful? The new treasury will be able to help those who can't afford housing, doctors or food. And there's even talk that they are preparing a way for young centaurs to learn an occupation."

"We already have that, it's called the Imperial Army!"

"No, this is a new type of school that'll teach youth to get all manner of different trades that will be offered as a substitute military training."

"This is madness! Next you'll be telling me they're giving centauresses the right to join the army or ponies can have jobs!"

"Hmmm...You know, that first part about the ladies might not be a bad idea, sonny. Let'em carry some of their own weight."

"I must go now." Tirek stormed off, not putting even a slight damper on the grocer's mood.	

"Well, come back soon!"

Tirek went weeks with this routine, but instead of empathizing with the common centaurs, he began to loathe them. The news of the reforms his father was enacting just made him angrier. He viewed these laws as coddling the already weak masses and showing the throne as weak itself.

Still, he took comfort in the night. He found a kinship with owls, bats and other creatures of the night, watching them prowl the night and hunt rodents, insects and other prey. They were clever, they were strong, and they were of the night, as he saw himself.

His frustration at the changes in the law and the pettiness of commoners grew and grew until he could not stand it. He needed a release, and the best relief he ever had was swinging a sword into a foe on the battle field. Here, he had no battlefield, so he made do. He began to emulate the strength of nocturnal predators. He began hunting.	

His frustration at the changes in the law and the pettiness of commoners grew and grew until he could not stand it. He needed a release, and the best relief he ever had was swinging a sword into a foe on the battlefield. So he began to emulate the strength of nocturnal predators. He began hunting.

"Hello there, sir." As any hunter of the night, he found his prey among any who were out alone in the dark.

"Greetings, fair lady."

"Oh my! Normally, gentlemen are a bit, uh, more informal when they approach me."	

"Well, all that separates a man from a boy is how he speaks to a lady. Especially one of such beauty."	

"Well, I do have a man amongst boys in my presence. I am honored."	

"Indeed. Shall we go somewhere more private?"

Tirek led the centauress to the temple of Venus, which had no shortage of nightly rendezvous. Poor Venus.

"Are you ready, good sir?"	

"More than ready."	

"Ooh! Oh my!"	

"You have been with many others have you not?"	

"Oh, sure. Men, women, sometimes both..."	

"And how do you find them?"	

"Depends on what they like."	

"I have been amongst the people for some time now."	

"You don't sound happy about that do you?"	

"It's torture."	

"Ooh, you're in a crowd, but so alone..."	

"Completely."

"Ooh, yes...oh...Ow! Hey, watch what you're doing there, big boy! Heheha!"

"I am utterly, completely alone."

"Ooh, I'll be yo-Ouch! Hey, be careful!"

"Because I am surrounded by brainless, bloodsucking parasites and pathetic, worthless worms."

"Ow! Wait! All right, now stop it!"

"Stop me."

"What?!"

"Prove your strength, and stop me."

"That's enough! Stop it!"	

"No."

"Please, stop it!"	

"That is always the way of your kind. Begging, pleading for the strong to allow them something because they are weak. That is not the way the world works."	

"Please, you're hurting me!"	

"Yes, I am. The strong can do what they like because the weak cannot stop us, as it has always been. And yet, this is what I was born into? This is my destiny? This is why I have endured all the pain and preparation? I was born to rule a nation of ants bound by some antiquated, naive sense of honor, while it rots from within by allowing the weak minded to drag the strong down?"

"Stop, I can't breathe!"

"No. I will not stand by and be made a fool, not by my father, not by that elf, not by my subjects, and not even by the gods themselves. I will not suffer the weak to live."

"Please...ugh...please I...I can't..."	

"I am the strongest, I am the smartest, I am the bravest, and the most powerful. I will make the Empire...no, I will make the world as it should be."	

"Uhhhh...hhhh...rrkkk..."	

"I shall build a world where I am the law. I will make a world that shall become more harsh and ruthless as I perfect it. Weakness shall receive its just reward, and the strong shall rule, with me as master of all. How does that sound to you?	

"Miss? I asked you a question.	

"Nothing to say? How very unlike a woman. Then I think it's time that we part ways."	

The guards found her mutilated body the following day. They found her head the day after.	

There were more murders in the following months. A grocer, two merchants, a seamstress, and a blacksmith were found murdered and beheaded in the same fashion. The guards tracked the clues to a the guard named Alcon who was found with his wrists slit and a note claiming he couldn't live with the guilt over what he had done. The guard was buried in the wastelands among the dishonored dead for his apparent crimes, and none discovered who truly committed the murders.

=

"Landsake's!" Applejack paled. She had thankfully shaken off the horror of my last reveal, but was now fully immersed in Tirek's atrocity. "I know growin' up in some hoity-toity life might make ya see the world different, Orangejack did, but…What the hay was he thinking?! J-Just why?!"	

"Vanity, greed, fear, hate, and apathy to others. The same vices that turn so many into monsters. And as loathe as I am to admit it, the same led me to become Nightmare Moon. I remember those feelings he had all too well. To have done so much only to be struck down for it. Believing that you are so much more than the tiny creatures around you, yet be so vexed by their strange lack of adoration. Paranoia that your peers and those you love are plotting against you. Resentment that festers until every face seems to laugh at you and every voice seems to screams the foulest insult. To see yourself as the only sane one, and think all others are the reason you are not heeded without question.

"I fell into that mania, as Tirek did. As did another of my family, which leads to our story's next part."
> Pandora's Box
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------



Celly and I speak seldom of our brother, tis painful. Morning Star was born to be perfection and beauty. He was so wonderful, glorious, perfect, you would find it hard not to fall down and worship him in his true form.

We loved him dearly, which made it more painful when he became what he is. He was always a little full of himself, but we were never too worried. We should have seen the warning signs earlier. I remember our last chat before his first trot towards Tartarus.

"Sisters, I have been thinking. I should take a more active and direct part in the universe's affairs."

"Morning, we already do," Cadenza assured him. "We are everywhere if mortals see us or not."

Yes, Applejack. Before she was born here and split into Cadence and Chrysalis, she was like Celly and I. She is the Concept of Harmony and Music. While she loved our brother, she frequently found herself trying to dissuade him from his aim to silence mortal will.

Why did I not know of Chrysalis? I...well... was in my crib before the universe started.

"Not enough. I try bringing perfection to mortals, and they never come close. I cannot understand why Our Parents allowed them to be so flawed."

"It's the nature of free will. They must have the capacity to fail and make the wrong choices," Cadenza tried to explain.

"Well, Sister, I must disagree."

"I fail to see why thou dost insist on obsessing over this frivolous endeavor." I rolled my eyes, having little interest in anything that wasn't my night.

"They're imperfect creatures, and need to be made perfect."

"So, they're imperfect, what does it matter? In the end, they amount to billions of insignificant microbes running their futile errands until their inevitable end. They live their brief lives, another generation replaces them, and the cycle repeats ad infinitum. An ant, whether it has the purest and most righteous spirit or the most inept and corrupt mind, is still only an ant. Why dost thou care for their decisions?"

"That is the question I have asked Our Parents repeatedly. If They'd only remove that flaw from mortals, I could shape them into true magnificence."

"Free will is essential to life, Morning Star!" Cadenza replied forcefully. "Mother and Father will never let you remove it. Even the Draconequi and their Parents won't forcibly change it."

"I know, those lunatics would rather let all fall into chaos than do anything useful. One day, whether deliberately or by their own incompetence, those fools will do something that will turn the mortals' so-called free will into their ruin. Mark my words, I know that then Mother and Father will wish they had listened to me and let me fix the problem with them."

"...You believe you know better than Our Parents?" Cadenza asked. She knew where that path lead.

"Well, there is no point in thinking like that." I scoffed. "Until some disaster doth occur, I doubt Mother and Father will send thee to 'fix' a thing. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a meteor shower to plan."

I wonder to this day if it might have turned out differently had I not been so careless. I had unknowingly planted an idea in my brother that would shake of this world's foundation.

I discovered soon enough that Morning Star ventured to the Draconequi's realm not long after our chat.

No, he didn't visit Discord. Morning Star hates chaos as much as free will. His eye was on one of Discord's sisters.

"Oh, hi! Wow, it's been a while the last time we had an Alicorn visit!" Her name is Pandora, Concept of Imagination.

"Maybe that should change. Maintaining the universe is our shared responsibility. Our families should not be so distant because yours is Nature's Wrath and mine is Nature's Law."

"That would be nice." Pandora smiled pleasantly. "Venus and I write each other all the time, but having actual visits is better. How is she, by the way?"

"Venus? Oh, she's doing well. She's with foal. She's thinking of naming it Cupid."

"Oooh! I love babies! All those potential stories and possibilities beginning! Eeee! I can't wait to see her and meet the little tike!"

"Yes, it's wonderful, isn't it? Speaking of new creations, I was interested in learning more of your family's work, and why not start with the boundless gift of imagination?"

"Oh! We-well, sure! I'll show you my studio!"

She led him to her domain where she works to create inspiration for all creation and keeps her vast collection of ideas. All the stories that have or will ever be told come from bottles and boxes filled with abstract thoughts and feelings that Pandora works with.

"This is the Case of Eros that Venus gave me. I've already used it for hundreds of love stories! Ooh, and this is the Flask of Rebellion that Anarchy gave me."

"Oh my, what is this one?" He pointed to a dark metal box, covered in unholy sigils.

"Ooh, that one's from my cousin, Nyarlathotrot! It's called dark magic. It's something that's supposed to be introduced to the mortals when 'they're ready', whatever that means. He said it would come in handy when I make up villains!"

"Fascinating! Villains, eh? And heroes?"

"They can be made from almost anything, that's one of the best bits about them."

"Have you made a perfect hero?"

"Perfect hero?"

"Yes, one who is all mortals should strive to be and more! One who is loved and adored by all and deservedly so! Without flaws or failures or any of the mortal deficiencies!"

"...I dunno, that might be boring, but there's never been a story like that before so I guess I'll have to try. There's this Sue girl I could inspire to do a test run."

"Is this guy bothering you, Sis?"

Pandora and Morning Star turned to see her oldest brother. "Hey, D___t! He's but visiting. I was showing him my inspiration room."

Don't be alarmed Applejack. The reason D___t's name cannot be spoken is because he and his concept no longer exist. Discord's eldest brother thought the only way for mortals to have true freedom was to destroy all nature's law in creation, in other words, exterminate my family. His Mother . . . made sure he did not.

"Wow, one of the great Alicorns descended to visit?" D___t was never fond of our family. He and Morning Star were...opposite extremes.

"I was interested in dear Pandora's work," Morning Star explained reasonably. "She does so many amazements, she deserves recognition."

"Uh huh, I bet. Watch your step, Mr. Perfect."

"Wanna stick around? I was going to show off new story ideas!" Pandora suggested.

"Sorry, but Destruction is going to make a couple supernovas and, well-"

"Yes, someone should go with 'em. Make sure he doesn't blow up a galaxy again." Pandora nodded.

"Maybe we'll stop by later." D___t grinned at his sister, and gave a warning glare to Morning Star. "You could use some decent company."

The oldest son of Fear and Nothing departed, leaving Perfection and Imagination alone. "Don't pay him attention, he's...well, being a big brother."

"I suppose." Morning Star shrugged. "I'd do the same. It lets you know he cares."

"Well, yeah, that's what family does."

"True. What would we be without family? Well, best leave that to imagination...which would be you."

"Hahaha! I guess it would."

"I know you'd be up to that task. You have the ability to take all these possibilities out of thin air and create stories. You make whole universes all on your own."

"Oh, well...thank you." Pandora blushed.

"It baffles me how you manage here."

"Well, everyone has bad days, but I muddle through."

"You've managed to rise so above your limitations."

"Thank-Wait, what?"

"I mean to be constantly surrounded by such childish beings and create such beauty."

"'Childish beings'? Do you mean my family?"

"Well, your family certainly isn't conductive to creating, even their Concepts go against it."

"Wha-No they aren't!"

"You must see it; they create disorder, chaos, and ruin, where you try to create and add to the universe. Given your talents compared to theirs, I wonder if there was a mix up and you were adopted by Havoc and Entropy and they changed you into a Draconeq-"

"Shut up!" Pandora roared. "How dare you talk about my brothers and sister like that! How dare you insinuate my Parents aren't my Parents! And how dare you look down on them for what they- what WE give the universe!"

"You would have made a wonderful Alicorn. Compared to such base, vulgar deities, you almost are one."

"Don't you dare try to sweet talk out of this! Don't you dare try to spin this into something besides the fact you think you're better than me and my family!"

"Well, I AM Perfection," Morning Star sneered.

"Oh wow." Pandora laughed ruefully. "It must have killed you to say 'we can get along despite being Nature's Law and Nature's Fury.' All right, if you're perfection, then how about you make a PERFECT exit, and don't come back!"

"Farewell." Morning Star bowed and left with a glare.

Pandora did not discover until much later that Morning Star had taken a souvenir with him; the box of dark magic.

In the Imperial Palace, Tirek had just returned after his six months amongst commoners, and went looking for his brother. He first checked the wine cellar, but found him in the stables.

"Hello, Scorpan."

"Tirek!" The gargoyle leapt and hugged his brother. "Glad you're in one piece. With that killer on the loose, we've been worried for you."

"You have so little faith in me that some random fool could kill me? I'm hurt." Tirek smirked.

"Well, it's nice to have you back," Scorpan went back to the stall and sat beside a dark blue Pegasus.

"Yes, well, I need to speak with...you...about...are you brushing a pony's hair?"

"What? Lightning Strike here's my new warhorse; I need to keep him groomed."

"With a bright pink brush covered in hearts?"

"I couldn't find his regular brushes, it's one of the mares'. A brush is a brush, right boy?" Scorpan said as he scratched behind Lightning Strike's ear.

"Never mind. Come, we must speak to Father."

"About what?" Scorpan asked as he followed.

"That blasted elf! I should have foreseen this! Letting that dragon go all those years ago was only the beginning! And while I was away, Father has implemented changes thought up by that meddler!"

"Well-" Scorpan tried to interject, but his brother was on a roll.

"At this rate, he'll convince Father to abandon conquest all together and have us all become like those spineless, soft headed elves, living in trees and singing dreary songs to animals!"

"I don't think it would go that far. Father wouldn't do anything that wasn't for the Empire's good."

"Even Father can make mistakes, and this is a big one!"

The princes burst into their father's study, where Chiron and the Moochick were going over more new laws.

"Father, we must have words," Tirek glowered at the older men.

"Tirek, I am so glad to see you home! Please, let me finish here and-"

"Father, I've seen these new laws you've decreed. What are you thinking? How is the next generation going to grow strong if you let the state coddle them?"

"The new laws do not coddle any, it's allowing changes that will help the Empire ultimately," Chiron responded. "And the people support the changes."

"Who cares what the shopkeepers and stable boys think? We have power, not them!"

Chiron sighed defeated. Clearly, living among the commoners had not worked as hoped.

"Can we PLEASE enjoy having you back tonight, Tirek?" Scorpan asked, getting between his sibling and father. "We can talk about the new laws tomorrow and-"

What Scorpan would have said was cut off by the ground shaking. At first a slight tremor, but growing until it knocked over statues and furniture.

"What's happening?!" Tirek cried as he braced himself against a column.

"My goodness! Look!" The Moochick pointed out the window into the night sky.

They all stared in awe as what seemed to be a shooting star flew overhead. Except it was no shooting star, the trail of smoke and fire behind it made clear that it was within the atmosphere. The sonic boom as it flew past shattered every piece of glass for miles around.

"What in Helios' name is that?!" Scorpan shouted as he covered his ears.

"I honestly don't know!" Chiron shouted back, staring as the fire ball passed the city. 
-
"It was Pandora's Box of dark magic. My brother had sent it through the veil to create the problem that only he could solve."

"But, he musta figured he'd be in trouble! Your Folks musta known he caused the mess to fix it! Why would anypony be crazy enough to make a problem...to...solve it...Oh, no. Oh, mah stars!"

"Yes. The incident with Twilight and that Smarty Pants doll brought anything but good memories for my sister."
-
The box fell through the atmosphere with unimaginable speed. Orionopolis' inhabitants were lucky, if it had struck there, only a crater would remain. Instead, it headed several hundred miles to the west, towards a valley miles outside the Empire's edge. When it did land, the sound could be heard for miles, the impact tremor felt even farther. The great impact awoke a long dormant volcano and shattered an entire mountain range, tripling the valley's size. The smoke and dust was also seen for miles. The landing opened the box, allowing the magic within to begin seeping out and saturating the land. The valley became infamous as a source of dark magic for generations afterwards.

The worst was to come. Power ultimately attracts attention of those who want to use and misuse it. One such being found the valley the day after the impact and began experimenting with that power, worsening an already volatile situation. The dark magic became more aggravated, causing more mutations and the new stimulation caused a magical blight to spread beyond the valley. The more aggressive creatures slowly succumbed to the magic and were corrupted by it, mentally and physically. The plant life died off or mutated. Within days, the valley and surrounding area had become a dark wasteland.

The morning after the box flew over Orionopolis, Emperor Chiron met with his generals, officials, his family, and the Moochick. He ultimately decided they needed more information, and ordered a squad of their best air-charioteers to reconnoiter.

Only one returned. He reported that they only made it twenty miles out of the border city of Bacchans before being attacked. He spoke of monsters and a dark sickness growing across the land before succumbing to his wounds. There was little doubt that this sudden attack soon after the falling star was a  not coincidence, something deadly had come.

"Father, I ask to lead this expedition. If the Empire needs protecting, it should look to me sooner than later."

"Granted. You and Scorpan will lead."

"Your Highness? I'd like to request to be sent on this mission as well." The Moochick raised his walking stick.

"Thank you, Moochick, but I doubt you'll be able to make friends with a fallen star the way you did with that dragon." Tirek gave a condescending smile to the elf.

"Actually, Your Highness, I was thinking I might be able to help if magic is behind this."

"Verily, Moochick Randall will accompany Tirek and Scorpan." The Emperor nodded. "The expedition will begin at dawn."

The meeting let out and the younger royals went off together.

"Scorpan, Tirek!" They started as Scorpan's mother, Lady Arachne ran down the hall and hugged the princes. "I just heard that you  are going off in the morning! Be careful, you hear me! Don't you dare do anything stupid!"

"Mother...not in front of our cousins," Scorpan groaned, as Nessus and Pholus chuckled.

"You watch it, Scorpy. You're not too big to put across my knee, you know," Arachne jokingly scolded.

"Relax, Mother. We'll be fine."

"Yeah." Nessus added as he leaned in his cane. "Scor-Board and Tirry here will beat whatever's out there and be back for a bacchanal."

"Sorry we can't come with you on this one," Pholus added. "But we have duties here."

"Of course, leave us with all the hard work." Tirek scoffed sarcastically.

"Don't be like that, Cousin!" Nessus gave him a slap on the back. "You know we keep you around for a reason!"

"Indeed, too bad you can't come with us. If you were at our side, whatever enemy we might face wouldn't have a leg to stand on." Tirek smiled.

Nessus' smile drooped slightly at the choice of words, and the pain in his foreleg.

"Tirek!" Arachne admonished her stepson.

"Sorry, poor choice of words." Tirek smiled sheepishly.

"It's fine, Cuz." Nessus waved away.

"Eh, it's too bad. After all our sparring, I'd hoped we'd see battle together." Tirek sighed. "I wish I had gotten my hands on that assassin before he robbed you of the warrior's right to face enemies on the field."

"So do I. Damn that satyr coward." Nessus seethed. "I wish I could raise the dead, so I could kill him myself."

"Don't waste time thinking about that goat-legged fife-blower." Pholus patted his shoulder. "Limp or no, you can carve up a body as easily as any."

"True." Nessus smirked.

"Well, we better get ready for tomorrow. See you all later, Scorpan, Nessus, Pholus, Mother Arachne. I have to go do something." Tirek turned and walked off alone.

"Wait, his room's on the palace's other side. Where's he going?" Nessus asked.

Scorpan knew his brother well enough to know where he would go alone at this time of night. "He's going to visit his mother's grave."

"Poor boy." Arachne sighed, hugging Scorpan closer.

The next day, the princes and the assembled legion stood before the Emperor for the traditional send off. Thousands of centaurs stood at attention at the city's entrance, ready to be sent off to find the danger's source.

Alongside them were another thousand non-combatant centaurs serving as medics, thousands of ponies pulling chariots and supply wagons, a full set of dragon defense ballistae, and one elf wearing armor that looked made for a child.

They marched west, until they reached the Empire's border. The last stop near the border was the city of Bacchans, where they planned to stop before they ventured into the wilderness.

"Whoa there, Lightning Strike!" Scorpan ordered as his Pegasus slowed to a trot. "What do you wanna do once at Bacchans, Tirry?"

"Get supplies and get out before the smell becomes too much."

"Oh, come on, Tirek, it's Bacchans for crying out loud! Gambling, feasts, the best wine for miles and don't even get me started on the ladies!"

"Does nothing matter to you besides wine and women?"

"Song?"

"Ugh, forgive me if I don't find much enjoyment in such distractions."

"I know we're on a mission, but there is such a thing as being too serious. You need to start having some fun once in a while."

"I plan to have fun when we are hip deep in monsters, swords swinging into anything that moves." Tirek smiled serenely.

"All right, that is exhilarating, but seriously, you need to unwind before we...Uh, Tirek? I think we have a problem!"

"What? ...Oh!"

Bacchans stood not half a mile before them, but there was no sign of life and any buildings still standing were in purple tinted ruins.

"Good heavens!" The Moochick gulped in horror.

"We'll investigate. Salvage any provisions," Tirek ordered.

Their investigation made clear the city died violently. The streets were littered with junk and dead bodies. A few seemed as if they but dropped dead, but most obviously met gruesome ends, and more than a few were in pieces. An attack, a riot, either looked likely. Worse, it was clear they had been dead for over a week.

The soldiers searched through the wreckage for anything worth salvaging, but bizarrely, everything was covered by strange purple ooze. It seemed to have grown over anything left open to the elements; furniture, buildings, food, tools and the myriad of bodies. Many of the slime covered corpses looked horribly deformed. Several centaurs were found with swollen body parts, or even extra parts.

For generations, the Great Centaur Empire had been called impregnable, the definition of strength and power. Now, thousands of Empire's citzens lay dead at their hooves. Everyone was on edge at the sight. Almost everyone. Tirek merely surveyed the ruins without a hint of horror or grief.

After hours of searching, a scream rang through the empty city. One of the centaurs littering the ground had not been dead. The centaur writhed in agony, scratching at his skin covered in the purple muck.

"HOLD HIM DOWN!" The Moochick ordered as he charged forward.

The centaurs held the screaming figure as the elf ran forward and whipped his hat off his head. He pulled out his mortar and pestle and began frantically mixing medicines. He tried to force the every remedy and tonic he knew down the plague ridden centaur's throat, but to no effect.

"This should be working! The only reason it wouldn't is...Oh no. There's no other way. Hold him tight, this is going to be difficult!"

"What are you going to do?" Tirek demanded.

The Moochick closed his eyes and concentrated. Within seconds, a small golden light appeared over his head, and when he opened his eyes, they were glowing gold. The centaurs flinched in surprise as the elf held the sides of the victim's head and both of their mouths opened. A surge of black energy billowed from the centaur's mouth into the Moochick's. As the energy drained, the purple slime slowly dried up and turned brown. The centaur went limp, as the dried remains of the plague fell away.

"Is...is he all right?" Scorpan asked.

"Probably not, but we need to try." The Moochick sadly tilted a flask to the victim's lips.

"Ooooh, it's coming." The half dead centaur moaned.

"That's rarely a good sentence to hear. What's coming?" The Moochick asked as he prepared more medicine.

"The darkness!" He shrieked. "The darkness from the depths of chaos! The dark lady spreads her shadows and makes horrors in the gloom! It will never stop...All will die...All is lost...All...is-" The centaur gasped his last.

The Moochick sighed. "I'm sorry. I had hoped that would work."

"What did you do?" Tirek demanded.

"It's called Mana Transfer." The Moochick bowed to the dead centaur with his hat in his hands.

"Manna?" Scorpan was flabbergasted. "Um, Moochick, I've eaten manna, and that wasn't what I saw."

"No, no, no, mana in this case is the elf term for raw magical energy. Whenever magic is used, it's this energy being manipulated. It's everywhere, and in everything to one degree or another. It sustains life, keeps the world moving, and some have even theorized it keeps the soul in place until death."

"Wait, you sucked out his soul?!" Demanded one of the soldiers.

"No! I would never do something so unnaturally despicable! The spell allows me to transfer an amount of that magic from one source to another, or disperse it into the ether. The energy I pulled out was in the purple goop on him. It's like no magic I've known before. It's powerful, but it's also...for lack of a better word, dark. It's filled with bad feelings. It's soaked in aggression, fear, and hatred and I think it passed those feelings onto those it touched."

"The whole city is infested with it." Tirek looked around at how much of the area was covered, intrigued by the idea of this plague. "It drove these people mad, like this man."

"But where did it-" The Moochick stopped as he remembered. "Wait, I recognize this. This is smoss; a fungus that grows in dark and dank areas. I've seen it plenty of times in forests. It grows so fast that, if left unchecked, it can choke out all other plants in an area and take over large sections of forests or swamps. And if this new magic has infected it..."

"How far can it spread?" Scorpan asked in dawning horror.

"Miles and miles from wherever it started. And fast! It could spread across miles in a matter of weeks or days…Oh no."

"The fallen star," Tirek observed.

"We have to find that 'star' as soon as possible!" The Moochick gulped. "Or it could spread until it devours all the lands."

"We need to stymie the spread." Tirek turned to the captain. "Burn the city."

"What?!" The Moochick gasped. "Your Highness, don't you think that's a little excessive?"

"The magic in this fungus or algae or whatever brought this city to its knees, we can't allow it to spread further! We need to sterilize the area!" He turned back to the captain. "Burn the buildings, the plants, the animals, the bodies, everything! Burn it down and salt the earth!"

"Yes, Your Highness!"

"Well, I suppose. It's too bad there aren't any Flutterpony colonies around here."

"Flutter...ponies?" Tirek raised an eyebrow.

"They're a very reclusive type of pony my people discovered. Similar to pegasi, but their wings are instead akin to butterflies."

Scorpan stared. "Butterflies."

"Yes, and amazingly, when they beat their wings together, producing smoss killing antibodies whenever it invades their territory...did I missed a joke?"

Tirek, Scorpan and the surrounding centaurs shared a laugh at the Moochick's description of the Flutterponies.

"Ponies with butterfly wings, like little fairies!" Tirek chuckled.

"That's too silly even for a child's toy!" Scorpan snickered.

The soldiers did as Tirek commanded. That night they camped in the light of Bacchens burning.

"Such a waste." Scorpan muttered watching a burning temple collapse.

"Oh, don't get upset, Scorpan." Tirek sighed. "I'm sure you can find another place to debauch when we return."

"I meant the loss of people." Scorpan growled.

"If you say so."

"Tirek, I'm serious! This...this is bad. Even at the war's worst, we never saw anything like this."

"It's the way things are, Scorpan, and it's how it'll be until we change them."

"What?"

"Scorpan, walk with me." Tirek motioned for his brother and began walking away from the camp.

My night was bright with a full moon and array of stars. In the desert, there are few distractions and much untouched land to reflect the light, I am particularly beautiful.

"Beautiful night." Tirek appreciated me immensely.

"Tirry, what did you mean that things will be this way until we change them?"

"Brother, do you know what I learned among commoners?" Tirek droned as he stared up at my stars.

"I don't know. Um...that we're not so different from them? That they need help?"

"No, I learned that the great and invincible empire that we were raised to believe in does not exist."

"...What?!"

"It's a fantasy, Scorpan, made by centuries of misinformation and weakness."

"Hoo boy." Scorpan sighed. "Tirry, I know that time must have been hard, but you're probably overreacting-"

"I am not overreacting!" Tirek growled "And my name is Tirek, Scorpan! We may be brothers, but I've had it with that infantile nickname!"

"Whoa, all right, sorry, don't get upset." Scorpan raised his talons to calm the situation.

"I already am, brother. I doubt you've seen what I have. I went to see what my subjects would be like, and what did I find? A population of whiners, slackers, traitors, drunks, sluts, morons, thieves, weaklings, and mindless sheep!"

"It...it can't be that bad."

"I saw it, Scorpan. I saw so many of them, talked with them, and even tried to connect with them. It always ended with an endless stream of petty yammering. They had no regard, no concept of being warriors, or the pride that comes with being a citizen of the Empire. Want to know truly why Bacchens' people died? They died because they weren't strong enough to fight what descended on them."

"Maybe they could have been more vigilant, but they were citizens of the Empire. They were our people, even if they didn't fully appreciate what an honor that is."

"And now, they're dead. Don't fool yourself, Scorpan. Intentions do not change outcomes, morals do not keep anyone alive, and honor will never bring back the dead."

"Tirek, just because some don't spend every day training for battle doesn't mean they're weak. Nessus and Pholus and I have fun all the time, but we know there's a time and place for it."

"I would agree if the lower classes at least gave that much attention to their duties. They've grown lazy and passive, and as we've seen, an emergency occurred and they were easily crushed. And don't even get me started on how they disrespected us and our family."

"Wait, what?"

"Oh, they loved to talk about how Father was a fool and I was a worthy successor because I was more a fool. And you...oh, I almost killed so many of them for what they said about you."

"W-what did they say?"

Tirek looked right in Scorpan's eyes, his face a mask of rage and shame. "They had the gall to say that you weren't truly my brother. That you could never be our father's son because you're a gargoyle."

"Now, wait a minute! I accepted a long time ago that the Great CENTAUR Empire had to be run by a centaur, but I'll be damned to Tartarus before I let anyone tell me my family isn't my family!"

"I had the same reaction, and I may have been in a couple brawls with the ones who pressed the matter."

"Oh, I wish I had been there with you! We'd have shown them!"

"We WILL show them. When I ascend to the throne, you and I will make sure no one ever questions the lineage or right to rule of a prince of the Empire ever again!"

"Oh gracious, where is that blasted thing?" The princes jumped at the voice and found the Moochick wandering away from the camp. "It must be around here someplace! It didn't get up and walk away! ...Unless I dropped it in that hexed smoss and it gained the ability to walk. Can it do that? I sure hope not."

"Moochick, what are you doing?" Tirek rolled his eyes.

"Oh, I've misplaced my watch."

"Watching who?"

"My watch. It's my own invention. It's a small clock that I keep in my pocket on a chain."

"Oh, is THAT what this is?" Scorpan pulled out a small golden disk on a chain. "Found it near the mess at dinner."

"Oh, that's it! Thank you, Your Highness!"

"Any time."

"Well, better get back. Need sort out my mushrooms."

"Preparing a spell?"

"No, I'm thinking of remodeling my house. Right now I have a Chanterelle house, but I'm thinking of changing it, maybe making it a nice little Portobello. Well, good night, Your Highnesses."

"Uh, yeah, good night." Scorpan chuckled as the elf walked off. "How can he be so clever and so loopy?"

"I wonder if it's all an act to lull us into a false sense of security before he supplants Father."

"Nah, I don't think he's that devious."

"Appearances can be deceiving. And when the time comes, and it will, choose carefully whose side you want to be on; the loopy elf, or your brother who defended you." Tirek gave his brother a pointed look. "Well, you better head off and get some rest."

"Aren't you going to turn in too?"

"No, I think I'll watch the moon for a little while longer."

"Hey, sure." Scorpan smirked. "I'll, uh, give you and Lady Selene some private time."

"Shut up." Tirek gave his brother a halfhearted shove.

Scorpan returned to camp, casting a few glances back at Tirek, who stood and stared up at my night sky. He happened to walk by the Moochick, sitting near the horses and going through his case of mushrooms as he said.

"Hello, Prince Scorpan." The Moochick smiled.

"Hey there. Find the right house model yet?"

"Mmm, to tell the truth, now I'm thinking of keeping my house as is. My sister always tells me that I need to trust my gut. She's right, naturally, since it's usually so loud, especially near suppertime."

"You have a sister?"

"Oh yes, my older sister, Bonnie! She's always looked out for me, even after we grew up."

"What's she like?"

"Oh, a bit too serious, a bit too confident, and we've had our share of fights, but at heart, I know she and I will always be there for each other."

"I feel the same way with my brother." Scorpan smiled at that.

"Yes, but at least you have military training for when you two disagree. I end up in an arm lock or with my face in the dirt whenever my sister thinks I'm getting too big for my britches."

"Wait, your...your sister beats you up?"

"No! She only reminds me that she COULD beat me up if she wanted to. She's the one with the army training."

"What? So, your people already let women in your army? Your sister is a soldier?!"

"She's captain of the King and Queen's personal guard."

Scorpan could have been knocked over by a falling leaf. "...I...You...What?!"

"Oh yes, she's the best they've had for years." The Moochick chuckled proudly.

"A...a WOMAN was tough enough to be c-captain of your royal guard?!"

"Oh yes!"

"But...how could...how strong could she be?!"

"If she wanted to, she could probably take down six of your men by herself, unarmed." The Moochick smiled nostalgically. "And watch out if she ever did get her hands on a weapon! Ooh, she can cut through boulders like butter!"

"You're joking, right?"

"Oh dear, no. Though, now that you mention it, one of your men told me a rather good joke about a gnome, a satyr and a dryad who walk into a tavern." The Moochick's train of thought was brought to a halt by a loud neighing. "Oh my, what a noisy fellow!"

"Lightning Strike! Settle down!" Scorpan called to his Pegasus, who stamped and neighed restlessly.

"Oh my, he must be hungry." The Moochick reached into his hat and pulled out a bag of apples. "Here, let him have one of these. They'll cheer him right up."

Scorpan gave the apples to his pony, who nuzzled him affectionately in return.

"That's a good boy." Scorpan patted his steed on the muzzle.

"You have a fine Pegasus there, Your Highness." The Moochick smiled. "Though, I do wonder why you'd need a pegasus when you have your wings of your own."

"Why do you need an earth pony when you have legs?" Scorpan smirked in reply.

"Hehehe. Got me there!" The Moochick chuckled. "Still, he is a very nice specimen."

"Lightning Strike's got plenty of spirit. He fears nothing. But he's not stupid. And quite the stud." Scorpan patted his pony on the side.

The Moochick smiled. He turned to the camp's outskirts and saw Tirek out in the dark, watching my night. "Hmmm. If you'll excuse me, Prince Scorpan, I think I'll go see your brother."

"Uh...you might want to wait until later."

"Why?"

"He's enjoying the night. He HATES being interrupted when he's enjoying the night."

"Well, I enjoy the night myself, he might like having someone to enjoy it with."

"Your funeral." Scorpan chuckled.

The Moochick strolled to where Tirek stood, mesmerized by the stars overhead.

"Prince Tirek?" The elf barely got the words out before he found a sword aimed right between his eyes.

"Oh, it's you." Tirek sighed as he returned his sword to its sheath. "What do you want?"

"Your Highness, I was hoping we could talk." The Moochick smiled, as if he HADN'T had a sword shoved in his face by a centaur three times his size.

"I'd rather watch the stars in peace, thank you."

"Which are your favorite? I'm partial to the Great and Little Bear, myself."

"...You know the Ursa Major and Minor?" Tirek stared in mild surprise.

"Of course, I love astronomy." The Moochick smiled. "And, as I understand it, you are fond of nighttime."

"Fond? No, I'm not FOND of the night. tis LOVE." Tirek uttered seriously, his eyes never leaving my stars. "I always have. It's cool, enticing, and...mysterious."

"Why, Your Highness, you DO sound like you're in love. You may as well have described a LADY." The Moochick smiled.

"Not any lady, MY Lady. Night Goddess, Lady Selene. Oh, if she were here in the flesh, I would pledge the whole Empire to her if she would be mine."

"That's interesting. I thought your people put your faith in the male deities."

"I would, if the other gods were of any use to me. Helios and his sweltering sun, Poseidon and his empty seas, Bacchus and his wasteful merriment, Venus and her weak sentimentality; I find nothing in them worthy of praise."

"But, I have seen you with your family in the temples plenty of times."

"Keeping up appearances. It's expected for the royal family to follow the gods' will. Once I'm crowned Emperor, I'll be free of that."

"I see."

"What? You aren't going to tell me that I'll incur the gods' wrath? That I'm a blasphemer who will rot in Tartarus?"

"Who am I to judge your religious beliefs?"

"That didn't stop you from trying to change my people's way of life."

"...Prince Tirek, are you so upset with me for advising your father?" The Moochick asked concernedly.

"Yes! Do you think I can't see what you're doing?"

"I think you must be seeing something I'm not, because I don't know your meaning."

"You're trying to change our society and make us weaklings like your kind!"

If the Moochick was offended by the implication of his people being weaklings, he didn't show it. "That's not so, Your Highness. I'm trying to help you and your people prepare."

That got the prince's attention. "Prepare for what?"

"Despite what you may have heard, my people aren't so connected to nature that we get notes from the powers that be telling us everything. But, for a few years now, I've had this...this feeling, call it what you will, instinct, prophecy, whatever...that SOMETHING is coming."

"What is coming?"

"Change."

Tirek scoffed. "Change? All you have is some vague idea that things will change?"

"No, not change as in my milk will be delivered on different days. This is change as in...well, as in the dragons uniting under their parent gods."

Tirek stared, intrigued.

"Before you ask, Prince Tirek, no, I did not know that was going to happen. Something will cause a change, not only for your people and mine, but possibly for the entire world. I've been trying to help your people prepare for that change, because I believe your people, and you especially, Prince Tirek, will play a large part in it."

"Then...then, why these new laws that encourage weakness?"

"It's not meant to create weakness; it's to make your people stronger and more unified. I am not trying to turn you into a copy of my people. I know we are very different cultures, and the world needs those differences, as it needs BOTH lions and lambs. And, as much as I know you and your people value strength and power, there's something that I fear you've overlooked."

"And what, pray tell, is that?"

"Strength and intelligence, while important, will only take you so far. What truly decides survival is how one adapts to change. And I want you to survive."
-
"So, the Moochick wanted ta help the centaurs 'cause he thought they were gettin' outdated?"

"Not only outdated, Applejack, but unprepared for what awaited. The Moochick was correct that a great change was coming; I know because my family was planning the change."

"So, what was gonna happen?"

"We'll get to that."
-
Tirek realized that the Moochick genuinely cared, which meant that he had a way to manipulate him.

"Moochick, would you mind explaining that spell you used on that madman in Bacchans?"

"Oh, Mana Transfer?"

"Yes, how were you able to draw that power out of him?"

"It's a medical spell. The caster can transfer mana from some surrounding sources into a dying creature. It can bring them back to health, even if they're on the brink of death."

"But, you didn't draw magic from another source, you sucked it out of him."

"Yes, I...I've never had to do it that way before. I assumed that if the spell could transfer good magic, I might be able to draw the dark magic away like poison from a wound."

"Moochick, this...power, threat, or whatever we are about to face will likely have much more of that 'dark magic'. We need to be able to combat it, so I want you to teach me this spell."

"Oh, oh my. I suppose I could teach you, but it's a daunting, powerful spell and it can be a disaster if not used correctly."

"Then I had best learn to use it correctly then."

The legion went west with the dawn. For three days, they marched and found more of the fungus, spreading until it covered miles worth of fields. They burned and salted the earth as they went to try and contain it, but that would only last so long. To stop it completely, they needed to cut off the source of its power.

At Tirek's request, the Moochick did begin training him to use the Mana Transfer spell. They spent several nights going over it. The Moochick set a magic glowing crystal before Tirek as his test subject. As the nights wore on, he was able to pull more energy out of the crystal each time.

"Focus the energy in your body above your head. Make it the center of your being. Then...inhale."

Tirek did, and the glow inside the crystal slowly faded. A stream of energy flew through the air into Tirek's mouth.

"And, release."

Tirek sighed and expelled the magic back into the crystal.

"Very good! Yes, you've gotten the hang of this."

"Of course. I love the power running through my veins."

"Well, yes, it can be energizing, but it's best to release the power."

"It's a potent spell."

"Oh yes! In fact, that spell was what put me on my path to become a Moochick. When I was young, I went out fishing in a brook outside my village, and on the way home, I found a wounded rabbit dying on the ground. I was able to use the mana transfer to gather strength from the grass, the trees, the water, the sunlight, and even the animals. With all of it giving a tiny bit, it was enough to revive the poor thing."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why waste magic on some animal that would probably end up as some wolf's supper anyway?"

"...Oh Tirek. If you have to ask that, I'm not sure I could explain it to you. And funny, because a wolf did showed up after I revived her."

"Did it attack you?" Tirek didn't even try to hide his amusement.

"No, I tossed it the fish I caught and that seemed to satisfy it."

"Hmm, I half expected you to say you turned it into a fuzzy-wuzzy puppy that poops flowers and rainbows."

"Hohohahaha! Oh dear me! What a sight that would be! No, I went my way with the rabbit and the wolf went his after finishing his meal."

"And gone off to kill more rabbits."

"Reasonably."

"You're being casual. I thought you were all for respect for life and living in 'peace and harmony' with nature."

"Oh, I am!"

"Yet, you don't seem to mind letting a creature that kills others live. Why didn't you destroy this threat to the precious life you treasure so much?"

"A wolf is what it is and a rabbit is what it is. There isn't any malice or evil intent in its actions, it needs to do what it needs to do to survive."

"Then why save the rabbit?"

"Because it needed help."

"And the thousands of rabbits or deer or any other creature that died since that occurred? You can't save them all, so how can you possibly make a difference?"

The Moochick gazed defiantly at the prince. "That rabbit lived a full life and passed on surrounded by generations of her children. It made a difference to that one."

Tirek rolled his eyes. He still didn't understand, and he was quickly losing patience with the subject.

"Moochik, what would happen if you kept taken mana?"

"What?"

"Well, what if say, you drew mana from that tree, absorbed it and didn't release it again?"

"Well...I suppose it would add to my own personal mana, and increase my magical abilities."

"And how much could you draw?"

"It's best not to think of such thing, but, I supposed one could only draw a small amount, to be sure."

"Why only small amounts?"

"Because when you take mana from a living thing, it saps them of its life. If you take too much at once, they might die, or worse!"

"What could be worse than-"

"TIREK!"

They whirled around and saw Scorpan streaking down from the sky on Lightning Strike. He pulled the pegasus to a halt, but stayed on his mount. The young gargoyle was sweating bullets, and not from heat.

"Tirek, get your chariot! I went to scout ahead and I found something you need to see!"

"We'll continue this, later, Moochick." Tirek dismissed the elf and ran off to his pegasus drawn chariot.

Within seconds, both princes were flying in the darkness over the camp. Tirek followed Scorpan higher and higher, until Scorpan called for them to stop.

"There!" Scorpan pointed off in the distance.

Tirek saw it and his eyes widened in shock. Only a few miles away stood the valley in all its horrific glory. A massive cloud cover hovered unmoving above the valley, pulsing with near constant lightning strikes. In the brief flashes of lightning, the prince could see the mountain stained purple with the mutated smoss.

"Congratulations, Scorpan, you've found our destination." Tirek smiled.

"You sure that scary place isn't a decoy, and the smoss' real source isn't near a nice beach somewhere?" Scorpan half-joked.

"I doubt it."

"Well, can't blame a gargoyle for hoping."

"We'll begin approach in the morning."

The approach to the valley was an uncomfortable experience for the entire legion. The charioteers flew over the trails and spread oil to burn away the smoss so the grounded could march in. When they reached the mountains' peak, they could see the whole valley. A dark forest filled most of the valley, but near the other end of the basin was a massive crater. 'Smoke' plumed up from the crater's center and into the constant storm. Lightning struck around crater's radius at least once a minute, except it was striking upwards from the ground and into the clouds instead of vice versa.

"I think we've found the magic's source." Tirek squinted determinedly at the view.

"Your Highness." The Moochick gulped. "Be on your guard. The dark magic I felt in Bacchans was a shadow compared to what I feel is down there."

They marched down into the valley. A few of them noticed a strange human woman stalking up the trail a few miles away, but they paid her no mind. They assumed she was some random human who happened on the purple plague and was driven mad by it. The Moochick wished to help her but was overruled. Had they known who she was and confronted her, the course of history would have been very different.

They made their way through the forest, but it was narrow and difficult to move that many and equipment through. The trees were black and misshapen, and seemed half rotted. They tried to stop by a stream for fresh water, but the water was filled with smoss. The clouds overhead stayed in their tight formation over the valley, keeping my sister out as the magic fed it more and more. Even the Everfree's darkest corners would be a sunny dale compared to that evil place.

After the sun set, it was darker a night any of them had ever known. No moon or stars could shine through the clouds, and without the sun the gloom became pitch darkness. They camped in the woods, but none slept well in this place.

Except Tirek. He loved the moon and stars, but he also found that utter darkness as pleasing. I sometimes wonder if the cloud cover helped inspire him with the idea of magically blocking out the sun.

The following day, they made it to the forest's edge, and things got even worse.

Once beyond the trees, they saw the crater. From their vantage, they could see the box. Dimensions in the eternal world are not the same in the mortal realm. For Pandora and Morning Star it was barely bigger than a shoebox. Here, it stood 15 feet tall. Clouds of dark magic gushed from an open lid on the box's top, and Tirek noticed that the smoss was growing on the box's side seemingly feeding on or coming from magic escaping the opening.

"All right, get ready. Moochick, can you find a way to seal that thing?" Tirek, asked.

"It will be hard, but I hope-I believe I can." The Moochick gulped.

"Then let's get to it. MOVE OUT!" Scorpan called to the troops.

The first hundred soldiers barely made it out of the forest before the screaming started.

"WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Tirek bellowed.

"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" The nearest man yelled back, raising his bow.

The troops' movement had finally attracted the valley's inhabitants' attention. Vicious beasts rampaged through the legion, maiming all in their way. Today, we know them commonly as manticores and chimeras, but these were their kind's genesis, created using the magic of Pandora's box, and every last one was covered by the smoss.

"Archers, fire!" A soldier ordered, and the arrows flew into one of the manticores. It went down, but three more took its place.

"We can't fight in the woods! The monsters know it too well!" The Moochick gasped as he raised his walking stick and a light shown through the forest. "FOLLOW THE LIGHT! GET OUT OF THE FOREST!"

The archers covered the rest of the legion as they moved towards the open field. They ran, swinging their swords and spears as they went. The monsters became more aggressive as they neared forest's edge. Then, a massive stampede of the creatures flanked the soldiers as they got to the clearing.

The chimeras took down the ponies pulling the dragon fighting weapons and the manticores leapt onto the weapons themselves and began ripping them apart.

"Why are they attacking the weapons?" Yelled a soldier.

"This isn't some animal attack. They're trying to stop us from reaching the box." The Moochick gulped as he motioned for more of them to follow.

A manticore roared and lunged at the Moochick. "No, no, no!"

The elf whacked the creature in the face with his walking stick. The creature fell to the ground with a thud. A few centaurs froze in astonishment at the sight.

"You...you killed it?!" One gasped.

"No, of course not! Only a sleeping charm. He'll be up and around tomorrow." The Moochick replied, blasting another manticore to sleep.

"Charioteers, let's give them more cover!" Scorpan ordered.

Scorpan rode Lightning Strike into the air, leading the few centaur charioteers whose pegasi hadn't been maimed by the monsters. They began raining arrows into the trees at the chimeras and manticores. Soon, the rest of the legion was out of the forest, but more of the monsters started coming.

"Scorpan, you and your men keep the creatures pinned while we take care of their power source!" Tirek ordered.

"You can count on it, Tirek!" Scorpan yelled back. "Come on, men, let 'em fly!"

"Yes, Your Highness!" The men replied as they sent another volley of arrows into the forest.

"Forward!" Tirek commanded his regiment.

The centaurs charged down the crater's edge as the sky rumbled overhead.

"Faster!" Tirek yelled.

"Oh dear! Oh dear!" The Moochick muttered as he fell behind the centaurs' pace.

They had made it half way to the box when the thunder itself was drowned out by a rapid, deep rumbling. The centaurs prepared for a stampede of some kind, but were met with the arrival of only one horrific creature rising out of the forest at the crater's other side.

The creature towered over them on eight hairy legs and gazed down at them with one wide, blood red eye. Her name was Lahb. The first and most vicious of the Polyphemus Gargantula, or as they were more commonly known, the Giant Cyclops Spiders. At her full height, she stood forty feet tall. She stalked down the crater and squatted over the box as if it were her own egg sack, daring them to come and take it from her.

"Gracious!" The Moochick gawked. "I've seen a few strange creatures before, but that...that's new."

"No matter how big, it's only a spider." Tirek sneered. "And we'll crush it like all the rest. Archers!"

A volley of arrows flew at Lahb, but she reared back and spat a wave of venom into the air. The arrows were melted before they ever reached her. She roared and charged at the centaurs. They scrambled to avoid her tree-trunk sized legs, but several were crushed beneath her. They shot arrows upwards into the spider's torso, attacked her legs with swords and spears, but she hardly noticed. She lunged downwards, impaling many centaurs with her venomous fangs, or swallowing them whole.

"Your Highness, we're getting, slaughtered! We need to retreat!" One commander cried.

"Agreed!" Tirek replied. "Moochick, do you have anything that might hurt this thing?"

"Well, there might be one thing, but it's dangerous!" The elf replied, trying not to be stepped on by the spider OR his centaur allies.

"Try it!" Tirek shouted as he thrust his sword into the arachnid's leg.

"Alright!"

The Moochick raised his walking stick, which glowed a bright blue. For an instant, the valley grew silent, and...BOOM! The blast of magic that erupted from his cane sent the spider flying hundreds of feet into the air. Lahb sailed past Tirek's contingent, past Scorpan's troops, before crashing into the forest, leveling dozens of trees and scattering the other monsters in panic.

The centaurs gaped in awe. Tirek was the first to turn back to the Moochick, who stared after the spider. "We better hurry. It's stunned, but it will be back and angry! We need to get to that box!"

The charge towards the crater's center resumed. The troops surrounded the box and formed ranks to fend off any attack while they tried to close it. The Moochick ran to the box's edge examining it.

"These symbols...I don't recognize them, but they're powerful. The magic's radiating off the box like heat! It's going to take a fair bit of magic to close it. Don't try to push it closed on it'll burn your hands off."

The Moochick waved his walking stick and teleported to the box's top. He touched his cane to the surface and closed his eyes. He focused all his magic into reaching out to the box with his mind, the opening began to inch shut.

A loud crashing caught all's attention as Lahb rose, snapping trees as she climbed to her long legs. She roared and charged towards Scorpan's ranks.

"Ground forces, retreat to Tirek's position! Charioteers, ascend and fire!" Scorpan ordered.

The charioteers flew higher above the spider and began raining arrows down on her.

"We can't penetrate its hide!" A charioteer yelled.

"Go for the eye, blind it!" Scorpan yelled back.

They regrouped ahead of Lahb and shot volley after volley towards her face. Unfortunately, that only enraged the spider more. She leapt into the air and tried swatting at charioteers. She caught one in her jaws on her first lunge.

"Retreat! Retreat! Fall back to Tirek's position and-"

Scorpan's order was cut short by Lahb coming right at him and Lightning Strike. He pulled the reigns to fly away, but the spider was quicker. Lightning Strike neighed in anguish as the spider's fangs impaled him right above his forleg and where his wing met his back. Scorpan was thrown off the pegasus' back at the impact and watched in horror as his beloved steed writhed in agony before the spider tossed it aside and went for the rest of the charioteers.

"LIGHTNING STRIKE!" Scorpan flew after the pegasus.

He flew as fast as he could, but he was only quick enough to see the pony crash into the ground. He landed next to Lightning Strike and inspected him. The bite wounds were deep and already swelling with venom, and the fall had broken his remaining wing and two more of his legs. The poor creature thrashed and neighed in absolute pain. He ran his claws down the pony's head to try and offer some small comfort.

"Lightning Strike, you were a magnificent steed, and a loyal friend. I'd hoped we'd have more adventures together, but it seems that won't work out." He unsheathed his sword. "Don't worry, boy. It won't hurt much longer."

He raised his sword above his head and aimed at the poor Pegasus's neck. And Lightning Strike's pain ended.
-
Applejack bowed her head, pulling her hat to cover her face.

"I know hearing of a pony being killed is hard to hear. If it helps, it was over in a second. Please don't judge Scorpan too harshly. He loved Lightning Strike as much as any true friend, and doing so hurt him much. It would have taken so long for him to succumb to his injuries or the spider bite, and in pain the whole time. He only-"

"-wanted to spare the poor creature the pain." Applejack looked at me, and I could see the haunted understanding in her eyes that only comes from those who've seen such things first-hoof. "Ah've worked a farm all mah life. Ah've raised loads of critters, even the ones who can't talk or think like we can. And Ah know how hard it is when the time comes to put 'em down. Pigs that get bought by griffins for meat, or chickens that get hurt by foxes. Heck, Granny told me her folks had a dog that went rabid and she had to put him out of his misery. Ah don't blame what that Scorpan fella did, Ah wish he didn't have to go through the pain of givin' out THAT kinda mercy."

I stood and wrapped her in my wings, hoping to help share her burden. I stayed that way for several minutes before resuming the tale.
-
Scorpan shuddered as he turned from the body of his faithful friend. The spider was still rampaging through his troops towards the box. He raised his sword and flew into the air with a snarl. Avoiding the barrage of arrows from his comrades, he dived beneath the spider and thrust his sword up into its abdomen as he flew. He cut down the beast's center, but not deep enough to do damage, only enough to anger it more.

Lahb roared and Scorpan but roared back. "COME ON, YOU OVERGROWN GARDEN PEST! SEE WHAT A PRINCE OF THE EMPIRE IS MADE OF!"

Scorpan flew past her biting mouth and swung his sword into her nearest leg. He landed on her back and began stabbing downwards into her carapace. She shrieked, but couldn't reach her attacker. She made to jump again, but Scorpan took a running leap right over her head. With a warcry, he jumped right past her face and brought his sword down towards her chelicera. Lahb roared in pain as the blade shattered her left fang.

"SCORPAN GET OUT OF THERE!" Tirek yelled, alarmed at how close he was to the spider's open mouth.

"DON'T WORRY, TIREK! I'LL BE FI-" His cry came too soon, unfortunately. In her blind pain, Lahb swung forward and Scorpan was hit full force. He was sent hurtling into the ground at such speed and force, his back, wings and half of his ribs shattered on impact.

"SCORPAN!" Tirek cried. He surged forward to get through the crowd of soldiers to get to his brother.

The nearby centaurs ran to check on their prince, but Lahb swept them away with her legs. She glared at the broken gargoyle. Scorpan was barely conscious, and had lost most of the feeling below his neck. He was helpless and Lahb knew it.

She lunged at him, forgetting the rest of her enemies in the face of revenge on the one who took her fang. Tirek watched in horror as the giant black form obscured his brother from view. The air was filled with terrible crunching sounds. When she stood, her mouth was dripping red, and all that remained on the ground was a pool of blood and fur.

"No. No! NO! FIRE AT WILL!" Tirek howled in a rage that scared even his own men.

He turned and ran back to the box where the Moochick still worked to close the box.

"Only...a few...more...feet!" The Moochick grunted.

"MOOCHICK!" Tirek yelled as he came to the box. He grabbed a spear and used it to pole-vault up to the box's top. "Did you see that?"

"Did I see what?" The Moochick had been too engrossed to notice anything besides trying to shut the box.

Tirek grabbed the elf by the collar of his shirt and lifted him to his eye level. "MY BROTHER'S DEATH! OR WAS THAT NOT IMPORTANT TO YOU?!"

"What?!" The Moochick gasped and looked back at the spider. He saw the fresh blood on its face. "Oh no...oh no! Oh, I'm so sorry, Your High-"

"I don't want you to say 'sorry!' I want you to fix it!" Tirek growled.

"What?" The Moochick asked confused.

"I said, 'fix it!' Bring him back!" Tirek yelled, growing angrier by the second.

"Prince Tirek, I...I can't!"

Tirek slammed the Moochick down on the box.

"Don't give me that! You were powerful enough to send that creature flying, you have enough power to bring him back! I am the Prince of the Centaur Empire and I command you to bring my brother back!"

"I can't, Your Highness!"

"LIAR!" Tirek pulled out his sword and put it to the Moochick's neck.

"I swear, I can't! My magic's powerful, but I'm not a god. Even the greatest spells I know of can't bring back the dead!"

Loss of family is terrible for any, but can be much worse when that family member was all one had. Tirek had his father and stepmothers, but you can plainly see he cared for them little. Scorpan was the only other being Tirek valued. It was a manipulative, dishonest, self-serving relationship, but in his own way, he loved his brother. He had been on the edge of insanity for so long, I honestly believe Scorpan's love and friendship was the only thing that had kept him relatively whole.

Then Scorpan died in his full view, and whatever hopes there were for Tirek died with him.

Tirek stared at the Moochick in disbelief, until a crash turned his attention back to the arachnid abomination. His men still tried to battle Lahb, but they still had little effect. Then he stared at the box's opening, still billowing magic into the air.

"Then, I shall have my revenge!" He threw the Moochick aside and strode to the opening.

"Prince Tirek, what are you doing?!" The elf cried in a panic.

"That beasts of this valley are fed by this power," Tirek grinned as the spider charged. "Well, now I shall have a taste!"

"Tirek, NO!"

He stooped over the opening and began the mana drain spell, gulping the magic down like a pony dying of thirst finding a stream. The Moochick backed away from the prince in alarm as Tirek's body grew a few inches and his coat became darker. The prince stood, his eyes glowing with the dark magic he'd taken. I imagine he found the rush of power intoxicating. Tirek roared as it built inside him.

Lahb stared at the roar that could be heard even over the din of battle. Tirek grinned maniacally back at her, and even in her twisted mind, she felt a twinge of fear at the sight of him.

"OH YES! OH, NOW YOU WILL TASTE MY WRAAAAAAAAAAAAAATH!"

He roared and blasted Lahb with every ounce of magic he took from the box. The spider never had a chance. Her entire left side was blasted away, leaving the remaining half a smoking husk. The Moochick watched in horror as the creature toppled to the ground with a horrid squishing crunch.

And Tirek laughed. He laughed loud and long as he stared at the corpse of the monster that killed his brother. Everyone within range felt a chill at the sound. It was a mirthless savage, triumphant cackle that sounded was eerily similar to a roar. He shook so hard from the laughter that he fell off the box and landed hard in the dirt, and his laughter never faltered or stopped for a moment.

The Moochick turned back to the opening, still spouting magic. He resumed his task of closing it up before any other creatures came to defend it from them. But there was a deeper fear growing in his mind; Tirek had tasted the dark magic. Stricken with grief as he was, he was still able to use it to destroy a nearly indestructible enemy. It would be best to seal that power away before it could be used by anyone else.

Once it had closed, the cloud cover seemed to disperse a little, and even began to let some sunlight in. He saw that the smoss began to lose its purple color and dried into dust, ending that threat. He then turned his mind back to Tirek. He ran to the box's edge, and saw Tirek had begun to move. His laughter continued, but it began devolving into a pained moan as he crawled across the ground towards the red stain of blood that remained of Scorpan.

"Your Highness!"

"Let us help!"

The centaurs moved towards their prince, but he shoved them away. He slowly picked up a piece of debris and gazed at it, his laughter now reduced a mix of frantic giggling and sobbing. It was Scorpan's royal amulet. He sat there, gazing at the only piece of evidence his brother was ever there, falling silent.

After the rest of the soldiers recovered from the battle, the captain came up to check on the prince. The Moochick ran up as well, to try and keep things calm if Tirek became violent in his grief.

"I'm so sorry for the loss of Prince Scorpan, Your Highness."

Tirek looked up and both the captain and the Moochick backed away a step at the sight of him. His face was blank, his eyes vacant, as if all life inside had vanished. But they both saw a rage burning in the void behind those eyes that they had never seen even in the prince's worst furies.

When Tirek spoke, his voice could have frozen a dragon's fire. "I have no use for your condolences. Gather all the able-bodied men and set them to work. We need to build a wagon. Make it twice as big and twice as strong."

"But, Your Highness, the wagons we have are more than capable of carrying the wounded home."

"The new wagon isn't to carry the wounded home." Tirek pointed to the now silent cube in the devastation's center. "It's to carry that box home."

The Captain was stunned. "What? But, Your Highness, it's evil! It's what caused all this havoc!"

"Yes it did. It caused a plague that destroyed one of our cities, it created monsters as fierce as dragons, and you saw what I did to that spider with its power. It was the strongest abomination in this valley, and I killed it." He gave a smile that made the captain and the Moochick gulp. "With that power, the entire world will bow to the Emperor's strength. And I shall see it done."

The Moochick gasped at the implications of what Tirek wanted. "Prince Tirek, please, I beg you-"

"Silence." The Moochick froze at Tirek's glare. "You're my father's adviser, but he is NOT here. We're here to serve the Empire, and here and now, as Prince, I'M the Empire. Prepare to move spoils of war."
> Dusk of the Centaurs
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The journey back to Orionopolis was slow and grim. The creatures of the valley had killed nearly half of the legion. Their supplies mostly destroyed and now needed severe rationing. The wagons were filled with the injured and dying. Most succumbed to their wounds, which were so bad that the medics never noticed a few had new stab wounds.

Pandora's Box was pulled on the newly built wagon. It was heavily guarded, but they gave it a wide berth. The horror it had caused fresh in their minds, and just being close to it gave them feelings dread that even the bloodiest battle couldn't inspire.

Tirek had been stoic and silent as a statue. No one dared approach him after the loss of Scorpan, for fear his grief would turn to rage. When they camped one night, the Moochick took a chance. He found the prince near the edge of the camp just before sunset.

"Prince Tirek?" The elf hesitantly spoke up.

"What do you want now?" Tirek didn't even turn to face him.

"Nothing, Your Highness. I just thought you could use someone to talk to."

"Why would I?"

"I know that you want to keep a stiff upper lip, but...I figured you might need to talk about what happened to your brother."

Tirek finally turned to the elf, but his expression was unreadable. "He's dead. That is all there is to say."

"Your Highness, it's alright to be angry or sad or confused or anything else you might be feeling."

"I feel nothing."

"Oh, I see. You're still in shock from the experience. Well, when it does hit-"

"No, Moochick, I feel nothing because I don't care."

"Your Highness, I think we both know that isn't true."

"Scorpan is dead. He was a weak, stupid fool who got himself killed and left me alone to deal with worthless creatures like you. Why should I shed tears for that?"

"Your High- Tirek, that's the grief talking. It's all right to feel angry, but you know you loved him. I know it hurts, but-GAH!" The Moochick gasped as Tirek grabbed him by the throat.

"Don't you EVER! Presume you know what I feel," Tirek hissed as he shoved the elf off his feet.

"I'm sorry." The Moochick coughed. "I can't imagine the pain you must be in, but please, do not let yourself be consumed by it. Just look around you."

They had camped near a field that they had burned earlier in the journey to quell the spread of the smoss. The plants were charred and blackened, and the air was still thick with the smell of smoke.

"This land was consumed by the mystical plague and then by fire. It would seem there is no coming back from it. But there is still hope. It will take time, but it will heal, just as you will."

As if on cue, a loud neighing was heard. A herd of Earth Ponies trotted out into the field. They had been driven out by the smoss infestation destroying all the edible plants and now finally came back to see that it had been destroyed, sadly along with all the plant life.

They began galloping in circles around the scorched earth, and slowly, their Earth Pony magic began turning the ashen dirt rich and brown, and seedlings sprouted amidst the blackened grass. Before long, they had caused a large patch of grass to grow.

"You see? Hope springs eternal, especially with the right help." The Moochick smiled. "If you need a friend."

No sooner than the Earth Ponies had created the grass then a pair of Unicorns appeared. They had been using their magic to dispel the remnants of the dark magic from the area. It wasn't enough to bring back food, but it was enough to drive out the atmosphere of dread.

They teleported into the midst of the grass and were immediately set upon by the Earth Ponies. The herd crowded around the unicorns, bucking and kicking the intruding ponies. The Unicorn stallion took the worst of the beating. He stabbed another stallion with his horn and both fell to the ground, stuck together and were both trampled. The unicorn mare teleported out of the circle of ponies and began firing bursts of magic, killing five of the Earth Ponies, but sheer numbers caught up with her and she was forced to teleport away severely injured.

"Hope spring eternal, indeed!" Tirek laughed. "Perhaps I should send out a few Pegasi to make it even more interesting."

"Tirek."

"I don't need your help, Moochick. I don't need anyone." Tirek went back to his tent, leaving the Moochick sighing in defeat.
-
"Amazin' he hasn't knocked that jerk's head off!" Applejack grunted.

"Indeed, Randall had amazing patience, and patience is key for his ilk. His future hopes rested on reaching Tirek."

"Why? Tirek wasn't the boss, his pa was."

"Chiron was important, but even with the changes he'd made, old age would take him. The Moochick knew that Tirek would succeed his father, every teacher knows that the future depends on his students."

"Uh, no offense, but couldn't he see Tirek didn't give a darn?"

"He hoped he could help the prince could overcome those faults. He saw some potential in him, same as my sister saw in Twilight Sparkle." I didn't mention the more apt Sunset Shimmer. That is for Celly to tell.

"Well, yeah, Ah suppose he might'a seen somethin', but it ain't really the same." 

"Like how Trixie and myself 'weren't really the same?' But still overcame our demons?"

She tripped over her words as she looked into my eyes.

"It isn't as farfetched as it seems. I imagine at your first meeting, you never imagined Trixie would be a Magic Bearer. All depends on whether one acts on their potential, some never do."
-
The army's survivors were welcomed back with cheers and accolades. Pandora's Box was pulled through the streets as a trophy of conquest, and received a raucous ovation despite none knowing what it was or why it made them uneasy. Chiron himself met with Tirek, the Moochick and the officers on the steps of the royal palace and threw a feast in their honor.

"You've done well, sons of the Empire!" Chiron smiled. "Where is Scorpan? I would see both my sons celebrate their victory!"

Tirek was silent, and the Moochick bowed his head.

"I'm sorry, Your Highness..." The Moochick solemnly removed his cap. "But I'm afraid Scorpan fell in battle."

"We battled a giant spider and he got himself eaten," Tirek added, emotionlessly.

"He was amazing, Your Highness," The Moochick offered a sad smile. "He died fighting, as any warrior of the Empire would."

Chiron couldn't speak. He closed his eyes and breathed deep. He repeated to himself that a warrior never cries.

"Then he shall be enshrined in the Hall of Heroes," Chiron announced when he collected himself. He pointed to the Box in the city square. "Take this trophy to the vaults. Tonight, we feast to victory and memory of our fallen!"

"Father, we must speak about this trophy," Tirek began.

"We shall speak after the festivities," Chiron shortly replied.

Tirek hated every moment of the feast. Seeing all the people happy and celebrating the end of the crisis turned his stomach. And worse was what he viewed as the people's insincere grief to his brother's death, not that he gave a care to who also gave their lives.

That night, he was finally able to speak with his father privately in his study.

"Father, we need to speak about that box we returned with." Tirek sat at his father's desk.

"There will be no need to do that." Chiron replied tiredly. "Moochick Randall has already explained what it is and how it caused this disaster. We will keep it in the vaults until we can find a way to dispose of it."

"Dispose of it?! Father, the power it unleashed is greater than anything we've ever seen! We must harness that power!"

"Harness it? Are you mad?! The plague, the creatures, and all the devastation it caused clearly show that such a thing cannot be controlled!"

"No, Father, it can! I know, I already have!"

"What do you mean you already have?"

"Oh, the Moochick didn't tell you? Well, let me tell you what he left out." Tirek smirked as he relayed the story of how he used dark magic to kill Lahb.

"So, you see why we need to harness the box's magic! The undirected power altered the laws of nature! When under control, it was more powerful than any weapon ever conceived! And we haven't even begun to explore the its uses! We could create weapons that could conquer nations in seconds! We could build armies created by magic! We could take command of the weather or the land itself! The possibilities are endless! We must begin at once to study the-"

"NO!" Chiron snapped Tirek from his rant and gave him a stern glare. "We will do no such thing!"

"Why not?!"

"It is too dangerous!"

"Since when has danger ever stopped centaurs?! We became the greatest nation ever by killing dragons! This is no different!"

"We have killed dragons, but we knew we could not tame them!"

"This is not an animal to tame! It's a force to be controlled! We use fire to warm ourselves, cook our food, forge our steel and destroy what we need it to, this is no different!"

"And how many ages past from the time our ancestors discovered fire to when we were finally able to use it? How many died attempting to control it? How many died when it went out of control?" 

"You'd have us huddle in caves instead?!"

"This is infinitely more dangerous and unstable!" 

"You let Scorpan's death cloud your thinking!" 

"We could destroy the world in our attempt to conquer it!"

"Then we'll rule over the ashes and rebuild it better than before!"

"Tirek, a plague born of this magic killed our people! Its creatures killed our men, including your brother!"

"What better revenge than to bend their destroyer to our will?"

"There is no honor in allowing it further opportunity to cause destruction!"

"Destruction is inevitable, the difference is only in how and where it's focused! With it I destroyed Scorpan's killer!"

"That's another thing! Do you even realize that drinking in that power might have killed you?!"

"It didn't!"

"And for that you should fall to your knees and thank Lord Helios!"

"I was in no danger!"

"You don't know that, Tirek! Even the Moochick does not understand this magic and he taught you everything! You've no idea what that power could've done! It might've changed you into something monstrous!"

"That didn't happen!"

"Being lucky does not justify it! I would not congratulate you if you jumped off a mountain and survived!"

"I survived because I can control that power! I survived because I'm strong! I will not stand here and be called a fool for thinking of the Empire and being the centaur I was born to be!"

"I call you a fool because you're acting like one! Your reckless disregard for your life and your willingness to endanger yourself and others are not the markings of a strong Emperor! Scorpan is dead because of the power you wish to make your toy! You dishonor your brother's memory with your arrogance, and any who would do such a thing is no son of mine!"

The room went deadly silent. Tirek stumbled back staring wide eyed at his father, too stunned to speak. Chiron stared in dawning horror as he realized what he had said to his son. The loss of Scorpan was too raw for the both of them, and grief has the habit of making us say things that we'd never otherwise say.

Chiron took a step forward and tried desperately to form some words of apology. "Tirek, please, I didn't-"

"No. It is done and I will hear no apology. If you were not Emperor, I would kill you where you stand." Tirek didn't look or sound angry. It would've been comforting to Chiron if he did.

Tirek turned and walked out of the room, without even emotion enough to slam the door. Chiron tried to go after him, to say something, anything to apologize, but he just couldn't move. He sank into his arm-couch and put his face in his hands.

Tirek's temper slowly burned as he stalked through the palace. He needed to kill something, his only release, but he was smart enough not to kill another centaur within the palace walls. Instead, he went to the gardens, found a few pigeons, and made red smudges. Finally, he went to the one place left where he could speak his thoughts: his mother's tomb. Lady Myrrha was laid to rest in the royal tombs adjacent to the palace. The prince would always command the guards to leave, shut the doors and address her.

"Hello, Mother. Still here, eh? You should get out more. Heh."

To the centaurs, a mother dying in child birth was as glorious and honorable a death as any soldier on the battlefield. A plaque above the tomb signified her sacrifice with the words engraved:

"'Died in glory.' Ha. You know, Mother, I've...I've never understood that belief. A mother is a hero for dying and abandoning her child the moment I'm born? I fail to see how that is heroic.

"You weren't there to raise me alongside Father, like Scorpan's mother. And she's a gargoyle! Women are the weaker gender, but how could a lowly gargoyle prevail where a centaur couldn't?

"And now...Scorpan has left me too. Heh, I guess I should have seen it coming. He was a lazy, frivolous, sentimental idiot. I trusted him, and he got himself killed! And for what? To protect the Empire? A nation of parasites who deserve to die like the insects they are! Why...why is everyone around me so damn weak?! What is wrong with m-YOU?!"

The tomb remained silent as ever.

"Well, no more! Things are going to change! I'll make everyone see what you and Scorpan were too weak to be here to see: that I'm the only worthy son in the gods-forsaken Empire!"

As Tirek left the tomb, on the other side of the palace, Chiron had been looking for him.

"Good evening, Your Highness." The Moochick smiled.

"I'm afraid it isn't, Moochick. Tirek and I had another fight, and...I said something in the heat of the moment that I shouldn't've. I need to find him."

"Then I'll help you find him. I'm sure we can smooth things over."

"I don't think it'll be so easy. Scorpan came up and...and..." Chiron punched a wall.

"I know, Your Highness. It's all right to be sad."

"A centaur does not let pain show. A centaur is stronger than that."

"It's not weakness to mourn," The Moochick replied as he gave the Emperor's free hand a squeeze.

"I shouldn't have sent them," Chiron whispered brokenly. "I should have let one of the generals or someone with more experience. I should have...My little boy is gone. I can't lose Tirek too."

"You won't. We'll find a way to-" The Moochick gasped and fell backwards against the wall.

"Moochick! Are you all right?" The Emperor stooped and helped the elf to his feet.

"Ooh, this is not good." The Moochick looked around panicked. "I felt a disturbance in the palace! It was the same power as in the valley. But...Where did you have that box locked up?!"

"In the deep vaults."

"We have to get down there now!" The two of them sprinted down a corridor towards the lower halls of the palace.

The royal vaults were hidden unguarded deep under the palace, seven enchanted locks on each door so they could not be forced open. Their keys held only by members of the royal family. When the Emperor and Moochick got to the vaults, one door was wide open, which led to only one conclusion.

They raced inside and heard the sound of metal hitting metal. The Moochick shuddered as dark energy stirred with each clang. The Moochick raised his walking stick and lit up the chamber. They both gasped as the light revealed Tirek standing atop the Box, trying to pry it open.

"Tirek, what in the name of the gods are you doing?!" Chiron yelled in alarm.

"Proving a point." Tirek grunted as he wedged his sword into the box's opening.

"Tirek, don't!" The Moochick cried. "If that thing opens and the magic is released-"

"I'll control it!" Tirek finished.

"Tirek, even if this magic can be mastered, it can't be mastered as is!" The Moochick warned. "It's too raw and concentrated! Even my magic would too dangerous in this state!"

"And yet I used it to destroy that spider! I controlled it! I will control it!"

"Tirek, stop! You aren't thinking clearly!" Chiron stepped in. "You don't have to do this!"

"Yes, I do!" Tirek ranted. "All my life you drove me past my limits, preparing me to be Emperor, but it was never enough! You only ever saw failure in me! You enjoyed belittling me, tormenting me, refusing to acknowledge I am a worthy son! You were just waiting to find an excuse to replace me as your heir! And now you use my brother's death as an excuse and have the nerve to call me dishonorable!"

"Replace...Tirek, you can't honestly believe that!"

"Why shouldn't I? When have I ever been shown the contrary?!" Tirek roared as the metal groaned beneath his hooves.

"TIREK, I'M SORRY!" Chiron yelled urgently. "I wanted to be strong for you after we lost your mother! I thought I was doing what was best and I was wrong! Tirek, please come down from there. Myrrha and Scorpan are gone, and I can't lose you too!"

Tirek just stared in confusion at his father, but his gaze hardened. "Oh...I see. You can't lose me. You think I'll fail. You think I'll die if I do this. Despite your claims, you still think I'm too weak!"

"Tirek, just come down from there."

"I will, once I show you exactly the kind of power you're throwing away."

"Tirek, get down from there, now!"

"No!"

"I AM YOUR Emperor AND FATHER!"

"AND I AM NOT WEAK!" Tirek slammed the sword into the surface of the Box and it burst open.

A plume of dark magic rose out of the box, but Tirek merely lunged into the opening. He fell into the abyss and in the darkness, he saw a vision of a golden centaur bathed in light. To him, it was glory and power incarnate, and vaguely reminded him of himself. The vision smiled in approval at Tirek. The figure whispered, but it sounded as loud as a thunderclap in the darkness. The voice he heard was his own, and it told him exactly what he wanted to hear.

"Do as thou wilt."

Tirek obeyed. He used the Mana Transfer and began absorbing the dark magic. The box began to shake, causing the floor to crack.

"GET HIM OUT OF THERE!" Chiron ordered the Moochick as they rushed to the box.

The Moochick grabbed the side of the box, but leapt backwards from the heat. The box glowed red and sparked with lightning from the dark magic cloud gathering over it.

"Oh, no, no! Tirek what have you done?" The elf gulped.

The released black magic was sucked back into the Box. The Box groaned and began buckling and bending. They watched in horror as the box collapsed in on itself. The room shuddered as the accursed cube imploded until it finally dissolved into a pile of dust with a deathly still centaur buried among it.

The Moochick and the Emperor ran forward and pulled Tirek free. They gasped at the sight of the prince. The magic of the Box had changed him. His rich brown skin had become a blistered red, his dark grey fur had changed to a deep greenish black, and his head was crowned by a pair of horns that would make a minotaur envious.

"Oh gracious! The magic's mutated him!" The Moochick gasped.

"No...Please, dear gods who rule all things, please don't take BOTH my sons!"

The Moochick leaned over the prince's chest. "Oh thank goodness, he's still breathing!"

The elf whipped his hat off and fumbled for his medicines and potions. He was about to raise a bottle to Tirek's lips, when the prince bolted up with a gasp. The centaur looked around in blind panic at his surroundings. In the dim light, they could see that his eyes had gone from a deep blue to a bright yellow. He tried to speak, but he just bent over wretched on the floor.

"Tirek, it's all right!" Chiron urgently patted his son as he lost the contents of his stomach.

Tirek panted as he finally seemed to get his bearings, "F...Father? Moochick Randall? W-where are we? H-how did we get here?"

"You don't remember?" The Moochick asked.

"I...I remember we were in the valley and there was the box of magic and the giant spider and SCORPAN!" Tirek tripped over himself trying to stand. "Scorpan! That spider killed him and I...I...I don't remember anything else."

"You killed the spider, Tirek." The Moochick put a hand on his shoulder. 

"Scorpan is avenged."

"But, then how did we get here? Where are we? And..." Tirek's eyes widened as he looked at his newly red hand. He stared down at his darkened fur and reached up to feel the horns sprouted from his head. "What happened to me?!"

"Well-" The Moochick began, but Chiron cut him off.

"We are in the vaults. You captured the box of magic and it was brought to the vault as a trophy. But it began to open and you came here to destroy it. You were able to stop it, but you were changed in the process. You saved us, my son. You saved the Empire again."

"I...I did?"

"Yes, you did." Chiron pulled his son into a hug, and did not see the look the Moochick gave him.

They brought him to the healers, the Emperor still telling the story that Tirek had tried to save them all from the box opening. The palace healers and the Moochick helped to check him over for injury. He was under their care for days, but they found nothing wrong with him.

"Well, he's healthy as ever. The color change don't seem to be any danger. The horns don't seem to have damaged his head." The healer informed the Emperor, his wives, and the Moochick.

"Can we see him?" Hermia hoped.

"Oh, of course, he's..." The healer didn't even finish before the centaurettes and gargoyle rushed past him and into the ward.

"Tirek, are you all right?"

"What were you thinking, going down there and facing that evil thing by yourself?!" Helena practically screamed.

"Don't you ever  scare us like that again, young man!" Arachne cried hugging him.

"I think Tirek would rather be back on the battlefield right now," Chiron joked, getting a light chuckle from the healer.

"I'll mix a few medicines to help him sleep." The healer excused himself, leaving Chiron and Randall alone.

The Moochick turned to the Emperor. "He may seem fine, but his short term memory loss worries me. His body is soaked in that magic. I tried to perform the Mana transfer to withdraw it, but it won't work. Even when I had Tirek try to expel it, nothing happened. It's almost as if the magic itself were resisting, or Tirek is somehow keeping the magic from being extracted. I honestly don't know which worries me more."

"Well, he seems fine, so we shall thank the gods and put it behind us." Chiron nodded.

"Why did you lie to him?"

Chiron stared warily at the elf. "Randall, my son is lucky to be alive. If word spread that he nearly freed the evil that ravaged the countryside, they would call for his head. I cannot allow the honor of my son and heir to be questioned."

"I see. And what is the other reason you lied?"

He gave the elf a hard look. "I am Emperor Chiron the Strong. I do not need to explain myself to anyone, much less a foreign elf." 

"No, you don't, but this 'foreign elf' is your friend. and friendship means telling a friends if they make a bad choice, even if they are royalty. Because they care enough to risk their friend's wrath to protect them."

Chiron had no answer. The truth was that Chiron did fear losing his remaining son, but not only to the backlash over what had almost happened in the vaults. If Tirek didn't remember anything since the battle with Lahb, then he did't remember the argument from earlier that night. He did not remember his harsh words against him, and his son would not be lost to him in heart.

"Please, Your Highness, we need to discuss this. Who knows what effects that magic may have on him!"

"Thank you for your opinion, Moochick Randall, but I believe I have this well in hand. I also believe that the Western Forest Elven Kingdom needs you more than I do, so you are hereby free to return home."

"Your Highness?"

"I wish you well, even though your business will likely not bring you back to the Empire." Chiron gave him a look that made it clear this was not up for discussion.

"I see," The Moochick replied, miffed at being dismissed. "Very well then, Your Highness. I shall leave in the morning."

"I will have a chest of gold prepared for you, as well as a medal of thanks for all your service to the Empire."

"Thank you, Your Highness. I pray for your family's happiness, and my condolences for the loss of Scorpan."

The Moochick left the following day, and he indeed never returned to Orionopolis. Life went on, but the loss of Scorpan left the palace a much quieter place. However, the royal family had little time to grieve.

Six months after the debacle with Pandora's Box, a plague started in the South. They'd it 'the Mad Rot'. It would seem like just a common cold, but within days, the skin would be covered in open soars and gangrene would set in. The fever would drive them into violent madness and attack anything in their path, which spread the disease even further. Most of the afflicted died from others acting in self-defense than actually succumbing to the sickness. Strangely, it only seemed to spread to centaurs.

Despite the efforts of the Empire's best healers, they could not find a cure for the Mad Rot. By the year's end, one in five centaurs in the southern Empire had died from the plague. All they could hope for was containing the disease. The Emperor had to build a great wall across the land to keep anyone from the plague ridden areas out. The wall was patrolled by archers under orders to turn back centaurs trying to flee the plague, and kill those who tried to climb the wall. It was not Sunnytown Applejack, their actions were indeed a last resort.

Thirteen kingdoms seceded from the Empire in or around plague infected areas and they had no choice but to let them. This caused further devastation to the economy, and spread their resources thin. Chiron never forgave himself for ordering troops to fire on citizens of the Empire. He had never been much of a drinker, but after this, he almost always had a glass of wine in his hand.

The next three years were disasters. A fires destroyed several cities, killing hundreds of people. Then came the worst summer they ever had, as monstrous storms blew through the land that destroyed a full third of all crops and a ruthless winter. Ships with precious cargo were lost at sea, water supplies were contaminated by floods, two island cities were totally destroyed by a hurricane, and more calamities just kept coming.

And desperate centaurs did increasingly desperate things. 

Life in the Empire had never been so chaotic, and the Emperor was at his wits' end trying to fix the problems. Tirek had personally gone all over the Empire to deal with most of these disasters first hand. The war council meetings were increasingly grim.

"The satyrs only managed to give us a 10% tribute this harvest. Their queen says they'll starve if they give us anymore."

"Wonderful." Chiron groaned. "What about the-"

The meeting was silenced by the doors being flung open. Tirek trudged in, accompanied by two haggard centurions.

"Father, the Southern Wall has been breached!" The prince desperately informed the Emperor.

"Plague carriers have made it past the wall?" Chiron stood in alarm.

"No, Your Highness, it's something else!" One of the centurions panted.

"Your Highness, I know this will sound like madness, but I saw them with my own eyes. We were attacked by Reptilians," The second soldier added.

"You ran all the way here to tell us the Empire is under attack by the monsters under children's beds?" One of the councilors pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I saw them myself!" Tirek growled at the councilman. "We even brought proof."

The centurion placed a burlap sack on the council table and opened it. The other centaurs gasped as the bag fell and they saw its contents. It was a severed head, covered in hardened scales fitting of a crocodile. A pair of long yellow tusks jutted from its huge mouth, streaked with blood. For the centaurs, it was seeing a scary picture from a storybook brought to life.

"They climbed the wall and attack our camp!" The second centurion recounted. "I thought I was seeing things myself, but there they were."

"They came by the thousands. In all my years, I have never seen such a host in battle," The first centurion went on. "We were hopelessly outnumbered and we were losing. We were forced to retreat here to warn of the attack when it was clear there was no hope of victory."

"How many of them were there?" Chiron inquired.

"Their hordes seemed to stretch from one horizon to another, and more kept coming." Tirek gave his father a haunted look. "It had to be 60 or 70,000 strong...at the very least."

For a moment, all in the room were struck breathless.

"We must mobilize immediately." Chiron proclaimed. "Call up troops and prepare for attack."

The ensuing conflict was the bloodiest in Empire's history. The centaurs sent five legions against the Reptilian force from the South, but it barely slowed them down. Before they could even recover or send more troops, another Reptilian army attacked in the East, then another in the North. The centaurs fought harder than they ever had before, but they were overwhelmed by the seemingly limitless numbers of the Reptilians. The war council was never as grim.

"Our spies can't make sense of the Reptilians' command structure. They all look alike and wear no sign of rank. There have only been whispers that they worship some 'Dark Lord of All' and are waging the war at his command," General Memnon read the reports to the assembled generals, the Prince, and the Emperor.

"Wonderful, our nightmares have found religion," Tirek scoffed. "Any word from General Posiecles and his men at Furietti?"

"Furietti has fallen." General Achilles slammed his fist on the table. "Twenty centurions made it back to our lines."
"Twenty centurions out of 5,000?" Tirek demanded.

"What about Drac'thanos?" Asked Pholus, who like his brother Nessus, had risen to the rank of general.

"Everyone from there is missing or presumed dead," Talos answered.

"What about our allies? The Elves, the Penma, the Raptorians; some of them must be able to spare some help!" Nessus offered.

"And we received word from the Elf Kingdoms this morning. They're under attack from the Reptilians as well. And we can't get word to the Penmas or the Raptorians without breaking through the Reptilians' lines. We are on our own," Pholus answered.

"Alright, what about the other nations in the Empire? Humans, ogres, satyrs, gnomes? Are they under attack too?" Nessus asked, growing more agitated.

"Reports differ." Memnon answered. "A few of their cities have been sacked, but most surrendered. Some are being used as slave labor to power their war machine with their children as hostages. Spared only if every centaur in their lands was handed over."

"There's also accounts of the Mad Rot breaking out in places near the Reptilians. I guess they brought it with them."

"HELIOS' FLAMING BEARD!" Nessus shouted in indignation. "We can't keep taking these losses if we expect to win this war!"

"Well, what do we do, Nessus?! Look!" Tirek demanded, gesturing to the map of the Empire and how much of it was covered by Reptilians. "They've taken over half of the Empire, they have superior numbers, and we are running out of territory, resources, and manpower! If you have a plan, I'd love to hear it!"

"It's about to get worse. Our spies have confirmed that the enemy is starting to marshal an army near the mouth of the Celadon River," General Talos grimly announced.

"Less than sixty miles west of us," General Memnon realized. "They're going to attack Orionopolis."

Never once had an enemy breached Orionopolis' walls, if it fell, the empire fell with it. 

"So, the Reptilians march to our doorstep. Then we will be ready for them." The Emperor stood and addressed his war council with a fire they had not seen in the old centaur for years.

"Send word to every corner of the Empire that still stands free to mobilize! Soldiers, civilians, men, women, children and even non-centaurs! I want every last citizen of the Empire to reach the city within a week! Leave only ashes for the enemy. Call up every man able to lift a weapon, whether they've been trained or not! We will make our stand here! This city has stood since the days of Orion the Hunter, and by the gods, I will not see it fall to the monsters of children's nightmares! Let them come, and shatter on our swords and shields!"

The next few days were spent making all the preparations for a siege. Centaurs came by the thousands to Orionopolis, all prepared for the battle. The fortifications were set. The river now circled the city. Every weapon was set and manned. Every strategy planned, checked and rechecked. The Emperor and his generals would oversee the battle from the roof of the palace, where they could see everything and send orders and warnings of enemy movement. They had set up a system of flags and horns to relay commands to the troops, allowing maximum communication and control of the city defenses.

"Everything's ready, Father." Tirek nodded as he donned his armor. Chiron did not respond. "Father?"

"Tirek, before this battle begins, I need to show you something." Chiron motioned for his son to follow.

They walked through the palace, now stuffed with the city's women and children. Chiron's wives had taken charge, keeping them all calm.

"It's all right, dear," Arachne comforted the crying boy. "Our husband and son will defeat these scary monsters and we'll all get back to normal."

"You really think so, Ladyship?" The boy asked.

"Yeah, really?" Asked the boy's little sister.

"Of course, sweethearts," Hermia said, hugging her. "Nobody is stronger than our boys. They'll save us."

Helena stopped Chiron and Tirek as they walked past. "We're trying our best to keep them hopeful, but...Chiron, tell me the truth, what are our chances?"

"On my life, I will not let them hurt you, or anyone else here," Chiron answered.

"And I promise that when this is over, we'll be knee deep in dead enemies and our family will be together until the end," Tirek added determinedly.

Helena smiled, seemingly encouraged. Chiron and Tirek went down into the lower levels of the palace, even deeper than the vaults. Chiron stopped at a dead end hall.

"This is the last secret of the palace, son." Chiron pulled out a key and stuck it in a crack on the wall. He turned it and the wall opened to reveal a long tunnel.

"Where does it go?" Tirek asked, stunned.

"It leads through the mountains and into a secluded valley that lies under a protective enchantment and isn't on any maps. It was meant to be an escape for the royal family if the city ever fell," Chiron explained.

"And you think the city will fall?"

"Any other time, I would say no, but this is not like any war we have ever fought. They seek to murder, not conquer. If the city falls, it spells the end of our people. If it comes to that, I need you to take the palace guards and take your mothers and the other women and children out through this tunnel. There are a series of devices further down that will collapse it behind you."

"What about you?"

"I'm old, Tirek. My time is past. Your time has come to be the Emperor, and ensure that our people survive. You and the guards will raise the next generation and teach them our ways. Be the kind of father to our people that Orion was. The kind of Emperor that I've always known you could be."

Chiron handed him the key. Tirek and Chiron shared an understanding look. One way or another, this siege would be the end of the reign of Chiron the Strong.

Night fell without sign of the moon or stars. The only light was the distant torches of the approaching Reptilian host. Storm clouds rolled across the sky, roaring with thunder like a great beast. It was as if nature itself knew a much worse storm was coming. The city's defenses were manned, their weapons readied, and every able-bodied centaur ready for a fight to the death.

The centaur forces sounded the alarm as the reptilian army arrived near midnight. Rank after rank of cold blooded killers, moving in such perfect synchronization, they seemed almost machinelike. In the dark, their numbers seemed countless.

The Emperor himself came out to address the city, in full armor and trappings as any soldier of the Empire.

"This night, we face an enemy with the face of children's fears! We have fought and conquered in countless battles for generations, and we will not be cowed by an appeal to childhood nightmares! The Centaur Empire will stand against this storm and when the sun shines again, it will find us bloody, tired, but victorious! This battle will be remembered by our people forever more! We are the centaurs! For the Empire!"

The centaurs cheered and raised their weapons in united pledge of victory. The Reptilians roared in response and charged.

The first wave was downed by pitfall traps. Hundreds fell to their deaths on wooden spikes buried in the dirt. Many more were caught in snare traps and trip wires, leaving them crushed underneath their comrades.

The archers along the city wall fired into the invading horde as they waded across the moat. The Reptilians' hide was tough, it took two, even three arrows to put one of them down. A few made it across, but the hail of arrows still came down upon them. However, soon the moat filled to the top with dead Reptilians, allowing their comrades to run across on their bodies.

The invaders made it to the wall and began raising ladders or climbing the wall itself.

"Give these overgrown geckos a bath!" Nessus roared as the boiling oil was poured over the Reptilians.

"Don't forget their bath toys!" Pholus shouted, as his men rained huge rocks down on them.

The Reptilians that made it to the top of the wall were met with swords and spears. The centaurs fought hard, their enemies' hides denting their weapons if they did not hit the right places. To their shock, the Reptilians fought as well as their own soldiers, and the battle was surprisingly even. For hours the wall held and no Reptilian made it past the wall guards.

As the sun began to rise, the Reptilians finally got their battering rams to the main gate. Four huge tree trunks, each crowned with a carved dragon head smashed into the gate. As strong as the doors were, they would not hold out for long.

In the first rays of the sun, the centaurs finally saw the extent of their enemies' forces. Many flinched in alarm at the sight. Even with the night's casualties, the Reptilian ranks numbered at least 200,000.

"We are outnumbered, Your Highness." General Memnon observed. "Should we start Phase Two?"

"Not yet. Signal the Commander Hur and Bensala; Hold until they breach the gates. Then, take them!"

The catapults fired stones deep into the enemy ranks. Dozens of the creatures were crushed beneath the boulders that rained down on them. The centaurs on the wall cheered, until Nessus saw the enemy ranks parted and revealed catapults of their own. The Reptilians sent several huge rock sailing right back over the wall.

By midmorning, the Reptilians finally broke the gate, and the trap was sprung. The gates opened and the enemy force was met by a full chariot charge.

"Welcome to Orionopolis!" Commander Hur roared as he rode his chariot over the first Reptilians through the gate.

10,000 armored chariots pulled by their biggest and strongest Earth Ponies charged the Reptilian ranks and broke them. The charioteers drove wildly, scattering the enemy formations, while the archers riding with them sent flurries of arrows at the retreating foes.

The Reptilians hurriedly attempted to reorganize and attack, but then came the sound of trumpets signaling the second charge. Over 20,000 Pegasi pulled chariots across the enemy's left flank, closing the pincer around the Reptilians and destroying their formation. Half went on ground and continued to mow down enemy soldiers, while the other half took to the sky and began shooting at the ranks further ahead. The fields outside Orionopolis soaked red as the battle turned into a massive, wild melee.

The Reptilians closest to the city charged the gate, but the troops inside had formed a strong shield wall and beat back the Reptilians who tried to advance past the gate. The mounting bodies of the lizard men around the gate were practically serving as a second shield against their living comrades.

Hours passed, and it seemed that the centaurs would win if they continued to whittle down the enemy army. Hope turned to ash as Reptilian reinforcements arrived, numbering well over 500,000. Their air support had arrived. The stories told that Reptilians rode dragon-like creatures called Stratodons, and they had finally shown themselves in droves of thousands.

They swooped through the air and engaged the centaurs' air chariots. Panicking pegasi. Reptilians jumped from the backs of the flying horrors right into the chariots, killing the riders or cutting the Pegasi loose so they'd fall to their doom. A mere swipe of the Stratodons' claws or their tails enough to shatter chariots.

With the chariots out in the field in chaos, half the Stratodond attacked the city. They picked men up and dropped them from the sky. They smashed the catapults and dragon weapons as they flew. Many just threw themselves into buildings to bring them crashing down on the centaurs with no regard for their own lives.

Bellerophon, one centaur among many, once a dragon slayer, rod his two-pegasi chariot, pulled by his beloved mares Medley and Firefly. Firefly sired by Lightning Strike himself. Yes Applejack, these were the first pegasi to bear those names.

He slew several Stratodons, and many Reptilians who tried to board his chariot. They rained from the sky around him. When his chariot was cut, he rode on the two pegasi themselves, until he was tackled by a Reptilians off the saddleless ponies. His ponies were unable to save him, though he managed to kill his enemy before he hit the ground and moved no more.

The enemy ignored Firefly and Medley like they were nothing as the panicked animals blindly fled the battle.

The centaurs tried to rally, but the fresh wave of enemy troops and their new air force had taken the wind out of them.

"There are too many of them, and our defenses are gutted," General Achilles sighed. "We may hold them off for a while, but the capital will fall."

Chiron bowed his head in defeat. "So be it. We may not be victorious, but we can face death with honor."

"I always hoped I'd die fighting." General Memnon unsheathed his sword.

"Tirek, go to the palace. Get your mothers and the rest of the women and children out through the escape tunnel. Take them out the mountain pass and head to the safe haven. It may take decades, but you will be able to lead next generation in rebuilding our way of life and-"

"No, Father. I will not leave."

"Tirek, you are the Empire's only hope! You need to survive!"

"I will not leave!" Tirek turned towards the edge of the roof. "This has gone on long enough. I will see this day end in victory. I will see my enemies destroyed to the very last man!"

"My Prince, there is no way!" General Achilles protested.

"On the contrary, General" Tirek smirked. "There is one way."

He raised his hands and a monstrous flash of dark magic erupted from his horns towards the city wall. It hit above the main gate with all the force of a tornado, blasting a hole in the wall a hundred hooves across. Then the dark magic surged along the rest of the wall, collapsing it as it went. The centaurs watched in horror as the wall fell and the Reptilians surged into the city like a flood over a broken dam.

"No," Chiron gasped as the invading army breached the city.

"Prince Tirek, what have you done?!" General Memnon demanded in righteous fury.

"I have claimed victory." Tirek grinned back. "My army will now be victorious, and my enemies shall die...like the pigs you are."

"TRAITOR!" General Memnon charged the prince with his sword drawn.

Tirek swung his own sword with such force that it broke the general's blade. He punched Memnon with such force that he went flying over the wall.

"No. By all the gods, please say my eyes deceive me." Chiron muttered in disbelief.

"How like you to deny reality, Father."

"The...that box! The dark magic! It turned you into this-"

"If you'll excuse me, Father, I'm going to join the battle, so let's talk later."

Tirek unleashed a dark magic blast that engulfed the generals and Chiron.

When Chiron awoke, he was bound in chains held by Reptilians. He saw he was in his own throne room, filled with Reptilians guarding every entrance. Arachne, Hermia, Helena, Nessus and Pholus were chained to the wall not far from. An altar stood before the throne with a sheet covering something on it. To his horror, he saw Tirek sitting in his throne, presiding over the horrific scene.

"So glad you've come around, Father." Tirek smiled cruelly. "I was just about to hand down my first decree."

"Tirek, what have you done?! Please! The box's magic has possessed you! For our family please fight it!" 

"The farce is over father. I told you I could control it, remember? I've always been in control." And he was, as much as I, Chrysalis, and now Sweetie Belle control this magic and does not control us. No surprise? Oh yes, you were there as she was taught. 

Chiron's blood was ice. "You . . . remember? When?"

"Since always."

"Why have you joined these creatures?!" Chiron demanded.

"Join them, Father? I created them!" Tirek answered. "I brought their entire race into existence. They were once mere lizards, rats, birds, snakes, squirrels, insects, and I made them warriors that have no will but to serve me." 

"Hail Lord Tirek!" The Reptilians chanted. Know this Applejack, because they were created with the minds of machines doesn't make them unliving. Being a threat needing to be put down does not mean they felt no pain. Because they were mass produced does not mean they were not victims of Tirek as well. Even witches have more empathy for their creations.

"You're the Dark Lord," Pholus said.

"LORD Tirek. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? So much more fitting than Emperor."

"I always knew you had a swelled head, Cuz, but having them call you 'Lord' like you're Helios Come To Earth? That's nuts."

"No, Nessus, it's entirely appropriate. With the powers I now possess, the world is mine for the taking. I can command the skies, the seas, the land, and the creatures in the dirt or in the air. And I have just brought down the greatest nation in the world. The throne of the Emperor would be a step down, and what crown could be more majestic than this?" Tirek gestured to his horns. "I am the ultimate power in the world now. So, I feel the need to rid myself of the vestiges of my former life."

The evil prince stood and ripped the sheet from the altar. The remains of a centaurette lay on the altar, one who had been dead for decades. Chiron nearly fainted as he recognized the burial gown and jewelry on the corpse.

"Ah, Mother dear! I'm tempted to call this a very happy family reunion, but I must admit, you don't look so well." Tirek addressed the corpse. "I always was a little angry with you for dying moments after I was born. I've thought many times that it was somehow my fault you died. And then the truth struck me like a bolt of lightning. OF COURSE, I killed you! You were weak, just like all the supposedly strong centaur people. I've been ridding the world of weakness all my life, and now I realize I started at the very beginning. I can't blame you for your nature. Though, I suppose I should thank you. After all, you fulfilled your purpose in bringing me into the world. So, thank you for doing one thing right, Mother. And don't fret, because you will soon have plenty of company. Goodbye."

The space between Tirek's horns glowed and the altar burst into flames, burning the remains to ash.

While the rest of his family glared at his son, Chiron tried to find the strength to speak. "Tell me, son, exactly how long have you been planning this?"

"Oh, I'd say it truly began back when you sent me amongst the commoners." Tirek shrugged. "When I saw the kind of feeble minded, weak willed cretins that populate the Empire, I knew things had to change."

"So...you planned to kill most of our citizens and start over?" Lady Arachne tried to understand.

"Oh yes indeed, but now that plan has changed. Now all of them will die." Tirek smiled.

"Tirek, please. You are the victor, this is pointless." Chiron pleaded, but Tirek just went on as if he never heard him.

"I originally planned to kill only those who were unworthy of living under my rule; the weak, the sick, the stupid, the deformed, those who wouldn't abandon the old gods, those too old to be of use, and those who would defy me. However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that my list of undesirables merely listed the entire population. In my heart, I always knew there was only one way this would end: kill them all."

"You gelded bastard!" Nessus spat at his cousin.

"Oh, Nessus, I can always trust you to open your fat mouth." Tirek smirked.

"Call off your pals here and I'll show you what else you can trust me to do!"

"Oh, so brave, so defiant in the face of death! It's so...irritating. You still think you are meant to be Emperor, don't you?"

"I never wanted to be Emperor! All I have wanted was to serve our family and the Empire!"

"And yet you just couldn't do it when the moment came. When my assassin came for you, you just couldn't roll over and die like the martyr I needed to start the war with the satyrs."

The room was speechless, except for Nessus who sputtered, "You...your assassin?! You sent...YOU!"

Nessus burst from the guards' grip and grabbed a sword. He swung and lopped the heads off three of the Reptilians and charged at his cousin, who made no move to stop him.

"TRAITOR!" Nessus roared and plunged the sword into Tirek's chest.

The room gasped, Nessus glared at his cousin, waiting for him to spit blood and fall over dead. And as the seconds past, the more Tirek's smile grew.

"Oh, cousin," Tirek laughed, looking down at the sword in his torso. "You aren't dealing with a mere centaur anymore."

Nessus was flung across the room and imbedded in a wall. Tirek walked towards him, pulling the sword out of his chest as he went, not even a wound.

"Your weapons cannot harm me any longer. I am beyond such things. You on the other hand are sadly still very..." He thrust the sword into Nessus' chest and twisted until his head lolled lifelessly to the side. "Mortal."

"NO!" Pholus broke from his own captors and ran for his brother.

"Oh Pholus." Tirek grinned and turned to his other cousin. He caught Pholus by the throat and lifted him off the ground, his hind legs kicking and trying to get traction on the floor.

"Tirek, please-" Chiron attempted to speak.

"Silence, Father. I need to teach my cousin a lesson in power." Tirek tossed Pholus to the floor.

His horns glowed and manacles shot from the floor and attached to Pholus' arms and legs. "Argh! You coward! Can't stand up for yourself without parlor tricks?!"

"It is you who can't stand up, Pholus. And why? Because I will it to be so. That is true power, cousin. Power is making the world fit your rules, not making rules to fit what others think the world should be. I say that you shall be down at my hooves and so you are. And this power did not come easy. I've been training, growing stronger as I refined it."

"Oh, I'm so impressed."

"You should be. After all. It isn't just anyone who could bring on storms that destroy cities, droughts that ruin harvests, or a plague like the Mad Rot. I think you should experience it firsthand."

Tirek grabbed Pholus' forearm, and his skin began turning a sickly green. Pholus gasped in horror as his arm broke out in lesions and open soars. He doubled over in pain, as the sickness spread. He fell to the floor screaming in agony as he felt his muscles and organs shriveling. The plague ravaged him, doing weeks' worth of damage in seconds. He mercifully succumbed after a full minute of the torturous sickness.

"NO! Tirek, you're sick and you need help! Just let us send a message to the Moochick and-" Arachne was cut off by Tirek punching her in the face.

"You will not speak in the presence of your better, gargoyle. With luck, that stunted fool elf is dead now."

"Tirek, plea-" Arachne started again, but was struck again.

"SILENCE! Why is it so hard for women to follow simple instruction?" 

"Tirek, stop it!" Chiron bellowed in indignation.

Arachne sniffled at the pain spreading across her face.

"And here come the tears. If you think that will get your way, you are sadly mistaken."

"Tirek, please, you don't have to do this. Just stop and think for a minute!" Hermia begged.

"Oh, is this where you offer to do whatever I want if I'll just spare you? Sorry, but my tastes are nothing like Great Uncle Oedipus, so you can shut your mouth."

"So...not only are you behind these monsters, but you plotted to kill your cousins to start an unjust war, caused all the disasters in recent years, and unleashed the plague that has killed tens of thousands." Chiron coldly addressed his son.

"Indeed, it was one of my first great achievements. It made you cut off half the Empire's lands so I could have space to build my army. And if, by chance my troops missed a few stray centaurs, the plague will get rid of them."

"So, what now?" Chiron asked rhetorically. "Kill us and start building your own empire out of the ashes of the one you just burned down?"

"Not yet. There is one thing left before that." Tirek grinned savagely at his father. "Guards, take them to the royal box in the Colosseum."

The Reptilians marched the royal family to the Colosseum, letting them see the invasion's aftermath. Orionopolis ruined. Buildings were burning, the streets were filled with garbage and debris, and dead bodies were everywhere. The jewel of the Empire shattered.

Centaur prisoners marched in chains under the whips of Reptilian slave drivers. The wounded and maimed were dragged away screaming, dead centaurs were hauled off in wagons. The royal family grimaced at their people's fate, but the worst was yet to come.

Tirek had his parents chained in their seats in the royal box in the Colosseum, the arena now filled with hundreds of tables. Reptilians entered the arena with the centaur prisoners and dead bodies in tow.

"And what sort of 'show' are you planning for us, son?" Chiron asked furiously.

"Well, my army performed so well in battle that they've earned a good meal. An army marches on its stomach, and now we have a ready supply of meat."

"You wouldn't!" Chiron gasped in horror.

"Tirek, you can't!" Hermia screamed as she saw the Reptilians begin strapping centaurs to the tables.

"Oh gods above." Helena vomited at the first sounds of screams and bones breaking.

"I'm only god that will hear your prayer, and it pleases me that you should watch the end of your vermin race," spoke the half-fiend centaur. 

For days, centaurs were brought into the Colosseum to be butchered and eaten by Tirek's army endlessly. As soon as they finished with one group, they brought in another. Arachne, Hermia, Helena and Chiron endured the sight of every last centaur, from the oldest to the youngest, being apart and devoured. They begged Tirek to at least kill the people before they started cutting them up, but he would not even give that mercy. The only ones spared that agony were those already killed in the battle, and they were butchered alongside the living.

"Waste not, want not." Tirek laughed.

At long last, when the last of the prisoners was slaughtered, then he turned to his parents.

"Bring my father's sluts, I want the pleasure of their deaths myself." Tirek grinned as the Reptilians dragged the ladies away.

"Tirek, please!" Chiron pleaded.

"This is whining getting tiresome, Father. Gag him," Tirek ordered.

Chiron screamed in rage as the lizards stuffed a gag in his mouth. He watched helplessly as his wives were marched onto the arena floor and strapped to the butcher tables.

"Any last words, 'Mothers'?" Tirek mocked.

Helena, Hermia and Arachne looked between each other, tears dried on their faces.

"Being cruel doesn't make you strong, it means you're weak," Helena defiantly told him.

"I feel sorry for you, Tirek. Now you'll always be alone." Arachne looked on her stepson with pity.

"I'm glad Myrrha is dead, because seeing what you have become would have killed her. May the gods have mercy on your soul, Tirek." Hermia turned her face from him in shame.

"Typical insipid girlish sentiments," Tirek scoffed.

I will give no details of what Tirek did to them. All I will say is that Arachne, Hermia and Helena were braver and stronger than any realized. Despite the agony inflicted, they never made a sound. They could not stop the tears, but they denied him the satisfaction of screams or pleas for mercy. Even when finished and the Reptilians took away the pieces, they'd never screamed.

Tirek frowned annoyed, but cracked a smile at his father's horror. Chiron slumped in his seat with his head down and his shoulders shaking. Tirek ordered Reptilians to bring fallen Emperor to him. The old centaur was tossed in the red dirt at Tirek's hooves, and glared up at his son.

"Humbling, isn't it? The Great Centaur Empire. The beacon of civilization, the bastion of life, centuries of history. All to be forgotten, I'll leave no trace. Orion's name will be erased, and mine worshipped forever."

"How did it come to this, can you at least tell me that? How could I have prevented it? Did I forget to say I loved you once too often? Did my efforts to prepare you for the throne only make you hate me, your family and your people all the more? What could I have done to keep this evil from devouring you? From failing you?"

"Tears from Chiron the Strong? The great hero and leader of his noble people is weeping like a woman? That's just sad."

"What do you want from me, Tirek?! You've destroyed the Empire, killed our people, and slaughtered our family! What else could you want?!"

"Take heart, this'll soon be over. Give him his sword."

The Reptilians bowed and unchained Chiron. The old centaur gawked in surprise then rose, watching the Reptilians for any sudden moves. One stepped forward and offered back his ancestral sword.

"What is going on, Tirek?"

A Reptilian brought out a sword like Chiron had never seen, forged from the melted shavings of Pandora's Box. Tirek named it Eclipse, signifying he had eclipsed all opposing powers, even the gods themselves.

"The Empire is dust, the Centaur race is no more, your family is dead, all you have left is vengeance." Tirek grandly raised his sword. "Now, we battle."

"Battle?" Chiron gazed at the sword in his hand.

"It's was all building to this, Father. I always knew you wanted to deny my destiny. We shall finally see who is the better man! Father vs. son, an Emperor against a god, the last two centaur warriors facing each other for honor and glory in the ruins of the Great Centaur Empire! Our duel will be remembered forever as the end of an age and beginning of my-"

"No."

Tirek stopped and turned to his father. Chiron starred him down and threw the sword clear to the other side of the stadium.

"'No'?"

"I won't fight you." Chiron crossed his arms.

Tirek raised an eyebrow. "You won't fight me? Chiron the Strong, Emperor of the Great Centaur Empire, refuses to defend his pride? What about your precious honor?"

"There's no honor here. I've nothing to fight for. I cannot save the Empire, my people, my nephews, my wives, nor my sons. If anything was at stake beyond empty pride, this battle is over before it begins."

"So, you choose to surrender? To die without defending yourself?" Tirek smirked. "You truly are a coward."

"You're a coward. You'd only face me now that you are immortal, have magic tricks, and an army at your back. You want me to pick up that sword and put up a struggle to feed your ego. So you can pretend that you are the better man. Well, I will not be a puppet for your amusement. I will die, but I will not give you that satisfaction. And despite all you've done, I'll not kill my son."

"I am not your son!"

Tirek had wanted his father's approval all his life. When that was no longer an option, he chose to prove that he was superior to his father in combat. Now denied that he settled with making his father's end even more excruciating than his wives' deaths. By the end Chiron no longer looked like a centaur, but a mass of mangled, bleeding flesh. He never made a move to fight back or defend himself. He held the tortured husk that was his father by the neck and raised his sword.

"I'm going to kill you now, and never give you a moment's thought again. You'll be forgotten with the rest of your feeble race."	

Chiron spoke his last words, gasping through unspeakable pain. "One day, someone will rise against you. One stronger and greater than either of us. We'll meet again in Tartarus, my son, and serve our just punishment toge-"

Eclipse cleaved him in two, and Tirek set both halves aflame.

"Victory is mine! I've cleansed the world of a weak degraded people! The world was mine from the moment I clawed out of the darkness, and now its ignorant inhabitants will know! All shall be united under the Lord of Darkness! The Day of the Centaur is ended, and night has come. MY night has come, and it shall be the longest, darkest night the world will ever know!"

-

I magically held Applejack's hair as she bent over my waste basket and lost the contents of her stomach. When she finally stopped, she was still shaking. I cannot blame her.

"How? How-how-how could he?! They were his people! They were his family! They raised him, they loved him! They..."

I pulled her into my embrace and wrapped her in my wings. She shuddered as I held her, and I knew this would not be the last time this story would distressed her so deeply.

"Why?" She asked again in the same voice I used as a child when I sought comfort from my Parents.

"What would you like me to say? Because I can give you any number of reasons why he did it. From his bad relationship with his father to his sense of paranoia to his hatred of his own weakness to his lust for power, they all played a part. There is no answer that would make it anything other than a wanton act of savagery, or any way to explain why he did it that any decent or sane being could accept."

"All those centaurs...all of 'em dead 'cause he didn't want 'em around no more." Applejack raggedy muttered. "He didn't even see 'em as people with their own thoughts and feelin's."

"I know, it's horrible. My sister and I have hoped that ponies never again have to see such things."

"Ah've already seen it, Princess."

"I beg your pardon?" I jolted at her revelation.

"Ah...Ah looked into myself after meetin' The General, wonderin' if the world he wanted WOULD BE that awful. Ah saw Equestria in a full out war with the Changelings. And...we destroyed who we were. Rainbow treated killin' changelings like she was playin' a game scorin' points. Rarity tried her darndest to feel nothin' while she sniped changelings and was scared that she was gettin' better at it as she watched us become monsters. Pinkie was loaded up with so many drugs that she became a happy-go-lucky war machine who killed with a smile. Fluttershy was only a medic, but she'd seen so much bloodshed and pain that she couldn't sleep from the nightmares and barely make it through her days from everything she witnessed. Twilight tried to kill herself a bunch of times because she convinced the rest of us to join the guard and go to war. And...Ah, Ah just didn't CARE. It was all duty to me. Responsibility. Ah was part of a mortar team. Ah didn't care if it was changelings or rocks Ah was blowin' up. Why should Ah? It was for my squad mates. My friends. My family. For Equestria! And Ah wasn't the only one. My cousins were there. Thousands of ponies were there, killin' Changelings, gettin' killed by Changelings, dyin' in ditches, gettin' burned to death, gettin' buried alive, thousands...hundreds of thousands. So Ah thought about the lovin' and kind Equestria we have here instead." 

She didn't use Truth when she looked at me, but I still staggered at the shame and horror in her eyes.	

"Ah need ya to promise me that we won't ever be like that. Ah need to know that ya and yer sister won't let ponies end up that way. Ah can't...Ah can't let myself become that. Ah can't let Applebloom become like...Please promise me ya won't let us end up like that."

I held her tighter in our embrace.

"My sister and I cannot see every possible future, but we do what we can. However, there is something that I believe there is something else that will prevent such a world from coming to be." I looked into her eyes so she knows that I speak the truth. "I believe in you. Ponykind has seen its share of horrors and its share of ponies that would fit better in that sort of world, but you have overcome them every turn. If Celestia and I, despite our efforts can't prevent such an outcome, I know that ponies like you will."

It took a few moments for Applejack to recover. The story of Tirek's rise was enough to unsettle the most hardy of ponies, and the story was not even half over. Least now I could share with my little moonflower how her ancestors had bloomed from the ashes.
> Dawn Of The Ponies
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------



Are you ready to continue, Applejack?

Very well.

Mayhaps I overstepped the details. Yes you asked for the whole truth. 

While the majority of Tirek's army struck the Great Centaur Empire, his secondary forces attacked neighboring lands, especially the Western Forest Elven Kingdom. Tirek wanted the Moochick dead because he was the only one who might be a threat to him magically, as well as simple spite.

No, he had no means of feeding the army the size he'd made, most he knew would die anyway or eat the dead. 

His hordes laid siege to elves' forests, burning trees, poisoning rivers and slaughtering animals. The elves fought back, everything in the forest was their ally or weapon, but soon their sacred forest was half destroyed as Tirek knew to poison literally their strength's roots. They were forced to flee their kingdom and find a safe haven. Their army stayed behind at their capital to delay the Reptilians to cover the people's escape.

The siege was held at bay by a massive magic shield, not so different from the one you saw of Shining Armor's. The Moochick himself sustained the shield since the siege began, going days without rest. But Tirek had anticipated magical resistance from the elves. He'd sent the Reptilians with a fleet of centaur dragon slaying weapons charged with dark magic. The wall wouldn't come down with one hit, but the Moochick's lack of sleep and a constant barrage over time would build up. To give him worthy credit, he lasted far longer than most could. He was accompanied by the city garrison led by Moochick Randall's sister, Bonnie.

"Are the people safe yet?" The elf wiped his brow.

"The ships have mostly left, but it's going to take time to get the rest loaded," responded the Guard's Captain looking over his shoulder. Their King had given orders that his own ship would sail last.

"Then you best tell your men to get moving, Bonnie." The Moochick nodded.

"Best idea I've heard all day, Randall. EVERYONE, FALL BACK! WE'RE GETTING-"

Bonnie's order was cut off by thunderous blasts against the magic shield. The Reptilians had fired their giant ballistae at a single point in the shield, enough to create a weak point. The Moochick fell to one knee; the blast was pure dark magic and he felt it.

"RANDALL!" Bonnie cried.

"Rrrrr, I'm...I'm all right, Bonnie." The Moochick groaned, trying to concentrate on keeping the shield up. "Though, an ice pack would be nice."

"Just hold on a little while longer, little brother!"

Ironically, if effort had been taken to understand black magic rather than destroy Pandora's Box, Randall would have been able to sense Tirek's magical signature he made no effort to hide within the invasive magic. 

The shield took another hit by the ballistae and the magic began to crack.

"RRRRRrrr! Bonnie, I don't know how much longer I can hold it!" Randall groaned.

"Just focus, Randy, I'll handle the rest," Bonnie chided. "NOCK ARROWS! WE'RE ABOUT TO HAVE COMPANY!" Bonnie yelled to her soldiers.

A third blast proved her right. The Reptilians finally punched a hole in the shield; it was not very large, but enough for them to start streaming in, while the rest tried to enlarge the breech.

"I'm...I'm sorry, Bonnie." The Moochick nearly fainted. "I let you down."

"Don't say that, Randall." Bonnie drew her sword. "Just get some rest while I teach these monsters manners!"

The Reptilians mob charged towards the city wall as the magic shield weakened and crumbled. Elf archers thinned the first wave, but when the ladders came, it would turn into a hand-to-hand battle.

Recall the Moochick mentioning his sister's fighting prowess to Scorpan? Well, I assure you that he exaggerated not. Elven warriors move with unbridled grace, speed and power. If the elves had any conquest ambitions, they would have been great rivals to the Centaurs. And Randall's sister was the best of her generation. 

The Reptilians barely even saw her move, only noticing their mortal wounds seconds before hitting the ground. Every punch, jab, or swing of a weapon aimed at her only hit empty air.

"You need to watch your step! This ladder looks rickety!" She roared as she kicked a ladder off the wall, sending dozens of Reptilians falling back into the crowd below. Unfortunately for them, their comrades below had their spears waiting.

However, their resolve could not go on forever. They were being worn down.

"There's too many!" One of the other elves yelled as he sent a Reptilian flying off the wall. "We need to retreat! We can't hold the line!"

"Yes, we can!" Bonnie roared, sending three Reptilians splaying on the ground. "The people need to get out! AND BY ZACHRELE THE BLESSED, WE WILL HOLD THE LINE!"

The Moochick groaned as he stood. "Oh, if ever I'd ask for a miracle it would be for this moment."

A hot wind suddenly blew through the battle with the force of a hurricane. A sound like a thunderbolt rumbled across the sky, but when it sounded again, they realized it wasn't thunder. It was a roar.

A shadow fell over the Reptilian army, followed by a blinding flash that engulfed their vanguard in flames. The elves stared up in wonder as a massive dragon swooped over the battle and let loose another blast of fire on the invaders.

"I...I...Hahaha! I don't believe it!" Bonnie laughed in disbelief.

"I do!" The Moochick smiled. "A friend in need is a friend indeed."

"HEATHSPIKE CRUSH BAD LIZARDS! HEATHSPIKE SAVE FRIENDS!" The furious purple drake roared as he took another pass at Tirek's minions.

The Reptilians signaled for their Stratodon reserves to join the fight. Over a hundred of the beasts took to the air and charged Heathspike...which might have been more of a problem if they weren't only a tenth Heathspike's size and did not even have the advantage of breathing fire. 

The Stratodons flew at the dragon from his side and began biting at his hide and wings. Heathspike was not amused nor impressed.

"GGGRRRRRR! PUNY FAKE DRAGONS SEE WHAT REAL DRAGON DO!"

Heathspike took off with the Stratodons clinging to his side, only to be swept off by the wind as he went faster and faster. He made a loop and charged the smaller creatures, gaining momentum as he sped up until he broke through their flock with enough force to create a shockwave and shatter the bones of every Stratodon in his path. The few not killed on impact fell from the air, clutching their heads in agony from the sonic boom. But, Heathspike wasn't done with them. Without slowing in the slightest, he let loose a fireball that consumed the fallen monsters in midair and blazed down into the Reptilian ranks with a blast that shook the ground for miles.

They did attempt to use their dragon-slayer weapons...but Heathspike was quite the clever dragon, and the Reptilians were no centaurs. He breathed his green fire on one of the war machines, turning it into green smoke that reformed above another weapon. Yes, Applejack, Spike too will be capable of that when fully grown.

The battle ended within minutes. The elves were easily able to defeat their opponents' remnants while Heathspike's fireballs incinerated the rest of the invading army. 

+

"Uh, Princess, how did Heathspike know the elves needed help?"

"Oh, I was actually about to explain."

+

After Queen Tiamat and Bahamut forged the peace between the dragons and the Centaur Empire, they established a large nest in an inert volcano on a far off island. They gathered nearly all of their dragon 'children' with them to guard them and ensure they had time to breed and repopulate since their kind had been pushed to the brink of extinction by the centaurs. Usually, traditional dragons are solitary, and ill-suited to function as a flight. But Tiamat and Bahamut could pacify their aggression with their thrall as Ryujin. At her call, all dragons' yield to their most basic instincts, and Tiamat is the embodiment of those instincts. She would never allow their aggressive nature to overshadow and ruin her whelps' need to live and multiply. So, there the dragons stayed in relative peace, until their numbers were strong enough to live on their own again without threatening the species' existence.

However, they were not so isolated that outside news went unheard.

Bahamut shook the rain from his scales as he entered the massive cave. Bahamut could circumnavigate the planet at speeds even modern airships are incapable of. As such, he is Tiamat's prime source of information.

"Well, that was eventful."

"Did you find any more of our children?" Tiamat's farthest right head inquired.

"No. I thought I'd found a new species, but they weren't dragons at all. They were some magical mutation. They're beasts of burden for a race of lizard men that's declared war on the centaurs."

Amongst the hundreds of dragons going about their business in the nest, having carved out their own niches for their hordes, one suddenly stopped dead. He urgently flew up to his gods and asked, "Centaurs in trouble God Father?"

"It seems so, Young Heathspike. These lizard creatures have killed over half of them and taken their land and treasures. But they've also attacked other creatures as well. Ogres, satyrs, elves."

Heathspike blanched and scrambled towards the cave entrance.

"Where are you going, hatchling?" Tiamat's most-right head asked in the way any mother who saw their child running off would.

"Elves and centaurs friends! Bad lizard men hurt friends!" Heathspike cried. "Me help!"

"That is not your concern." Tiamat's middle-left head scolded. "A dragon does not lift a claw or a wing except for his hoard."

"Heathspike need to help friends! Friends save Heathspike! Me owe friends life debt! Is dragon code!"

"There is no such code."

"Is now!" Heathspike stubbornly replied.

"You do not need to do anything for anyone, child. Your duty is to survive and protect what's yours. The centaurs almost destroyed us. They killed more of your forefathers, brothers and sisters than you can imagine. You do not know how many were kill but just for the sport of it! If they are slaughtered as they so thoroughly slaughtered our kind, I call it karma. If any are crafty and strong enough to survive, so be it, but if their kind is wiped from the world, more room for dragons."

"But bad lizards not stop with centaurs! They hurt others we no fight with! Maybe even come for dragons!"

"Whether they attack any other creatures is no concern of ours. If they come for us, we will deal with them when the time comes. Now, rest, my child, and tend to your treasures."

Heathspike squirmed in distress. He didn't want to disobey his goddess, but he didn't want to let his friends die.

"No! Can't stay! Friends need Heathspike! Me no hide here and leave friends to die! Me go to help!"

Tiamat glared at the drake as he turned and stalked toward the cave's mouth. In her younger years, Tiamat was not a patient goddess, and did not tolerate backtalk, especially from dragons. To her, dragonkind is her hoard, so a dragon defying her would be as unheard of as if one of your apple trees in your orchard sassed you. In fact, it was so unheard of, the entire nest could only stare in shock.

"You will stay." Tiamat growled.

"Me go help friends!" Heathspike roared and spread his wings.

"NO."

From Bahumet and Tiamat comes the one force in the world that all dragons bow to. The Ryujin's call will instantly override even the most stubborn dragon's will. Harsh? Yes, but such measures are needed with dragons.

" YOU WILL THINK NO MORE OF THIS ADHARMA AND YOU WILL RETURN TO YOUR NEST TO GUARD YOUR HOARD."

Heathspike began to turn and obey, but then froze in his tracks. Tiamat frowned and repeated her order.

"GO BACK TO YOUR NEST."

The younger dragon shook in place from the force, but stood still.

"WE HAVE SPOKEN!"

"N-no!"

All five of her heads gasped in shock and anger. She used this call to keep the whole of dragonkind in line, and yet Heathspike resisted.

"YOU WILL OBEY!"

"NO!"

As I said, Tiamat views all dragons as her hoard, as much hatchlings as treasure, she would not suffer disobediece, and she is not an overly lenient parent.

She let loose a blast of fire that would have made sure the defiant drake stayed in his nest for well over a century nursing burns. Heathspike was saved only by the intervention of Bahamut. The Father of Dragons stepped in the fireball's way, which fizzled as it touched his scales. As massive as he was, Heathspike hadn't even seen him move.

"Bahamut! How dare you interrupt?!" Tiamat's center head demanded.

"Sorry, my dear mate, but I think incinerating our cleverest hatchling may be uncalled for."

Bahamut and Tiamat, no matter what the reality, counterbalance one another, as many couples do.

"He may be the cleverest, but he has defied us, and in so doing, defied his draconic nature!"

"Is it not a dragon's nature to challenge obstacles? Is it not dragonic to pursue and protect what we value?"

"Exactly! He seeks to abandon his well-earned hoard and the call of righteous greed!"

"...To help creatures he cares for."

"No dragon would do such a thing!"

"Except us. After all, are our children not our hoard?"

Tiamat had no answer, and in her silence, Heathspike was able to partially break through the thrall.

"FRIENDS IN TROUBLE! BAD LIZARDS TRY TAKE AWAY FRIENDS! NO ONE TAKES FRIENDS! FRIENDS MINE! MINE! NO ONE TAKE WHAT MINE!" Heathspike spat flames as he roared against Tiamat's thrall. 

"Hmmm, wanting to protect what is his from interlopers who would take it from him. That sounds like a dragon's instinct to me," Bahamut smirked. "He may not be like the rest of our children, but we have seen his heart and it is draconic, through and through. It is our Dharma. He wants friends, and by your own words, greed will not be denied. How can one who throws away something they desire call themselves greedy?"

Tiamat silently contemplated this. She glared at her mate, but released Heathspike from the thrall. The purple drake flew away as fast as his wings could carry him. 

+

"But Princess, if that happened before the attack on the Moochick's people, why'd you wait ‘til now to explain?"

I shrugged. "Twas more meaningful, this way."

+

After the Reptilians were defeated, the Elves finished their evacuation in peace under the guard of Heathspike.

"Friends safe?" the dragon asked.

"Heh, yes, Heathspike. Friends safe." The Moochick smiled and patted his talon.

"Thank you again, Master Heathspike." Bonnie smiled at the dragon. "We're ready to ship out. Come along, Randall."

"Of course, Bonnie."

"Bye friends. Me go help other friends now!" Heathspike declared.

"Wait, what do you mean, help your other friends?" The Moochick asked.

"God Father say bad lizards attack centaurs! Me help!"

"Wait, you're helping the centaurs?" Bonnie asked in bewilderment. "But you're a dragon!"

"Centaurs and Moo-Chick help Heathspike! Me help friends! Is what friends for! And no dragon let's themselves lose something that's theirs!"

Bonnie turned to her brother. "You have a strange way with people baby brother."

"Thank you. Heathspike, wait a moment! You're right, that is what friends are for and I'm coming with you to help!"

His sister was not pleased. "Wait, Randall, you can't go! We have to meet up with the rest of our people before the King and Queen open the bridge!"

"It'll be fine, Bonnie. I'm a Moochick, remember. If worse comes to worse and I don't make it to the meeting place, I can open the bridge myself if need be."

"Sure, you could open the bridge, but what if you get the coordinates wrong?! Who knows where you might end up if you open it yourself?"

"Bonnie, I'll be alright. You need to protect the rest of our people. Your baby brother's all grown up and can take care of himself now, plus I have a big strong dragon to help if I mess up. I promise I'll be along after I take care of this."

"Oh...fine! But take this." She handed him a small heart shaped pendant.

"Your locket?" He opened it and the magic projected an old memory of the pair as children.

"For luck. It's got more protection charms on it than I can even remember, plus...you'll have a little bit of your big sister looking out for you."

"Oh, sis!" The Moochick hugged his sister.

Bonnie grudgingly hugged her brother back. "Be safe, because if you die, I'll kill you!"

"Acceptable terms. Come along, Heathspike, we best hurry!" The elf broke into a run, but was suddenly scooped up and plunked onto the dragon's head.

"This faster. Hold on, friend!" Heathspike took off into the sky, with the Moochick holding onto his scales for dear life.

The trip was only a few hours as the dragon flies. "We'll be there within minutes! Be ready, Heathspike. Orionopolis is much bigger than my people's capital city. There will probably be many more Reptilians there."

"HA! Me no scared. Me have smart friend! Me REAL dragon! We crush bad lizards! We...Uh, Moo-chick? Where city?"

"What? Well, it's right down...there?"

To the elf's astonishment, the city where he had spent the better part of a decade was nowhere in sight. The land beneath them was a barren, grey desert. They were too late. The wind howled through the empty valley, but no birds or insects or any other sound of life could be heard.

"It...it was here! I'd bet my beard it was here! How could the Reptilians have done this?!"

Heathspike sniffed the air and suddenly looked very nervous.

"Smell blood. Smell fire. Smell...bad things. Bad m-magic. E-e-everything bad here. Not like! Want go!"

"Could a dragon have done this?" The Moochick speculated. "Maybe the Reptilians had one on their side?"

"No. No dragons do this. Not smell like dragon fire. Me not like this! Go now!"

The Moochick gulped. "But, what else could have caused this?"

A crack of thunder sounded and the clouds above grew dark. Thunder rumbled and the clouds filled with an unholy red light. Before they could react, a fireball shot from the sky and exploded into the ground far below them. The dirt began to glow red hot and flames spread across the wasteland. The sky rumbled and more red lights appeared in the clouds.

"Heathspike, you were right! We need to leave!"

"Good idea!"

Heathspike turned and flew as fast as his wings could carry him. They were just in time. The clouds rained fireballs hot as any dragon's down on the land. They flew away with heavy hearts as the rain of fire continued until the entire desert was aflame. A vile curse to burn all trace of the Great Centaur Empire to dust in the wind.

The Moochick was silent for much of the trip, and Heathspike had no idea what to say. The flight was long and unbearably silent, lasting well after my night had fallen. By the time they reached the coast, it was not long until dawn. The dragon finally landed near some cliffs overlooking the ocean.

The Moochick clambered off Heathspike back as the dragon flopped on the ground with an exhausted sigh. "Ugh. Heathspike tired. We go on when sun come up."

"You just rest, my friend. You've more than earned it." The elf patted his friend's snout and walked off towards the cliff.

Moochick Randall silently stared out over the water while Heathspike slept. It took much longer for the elf to follow his friend into dreamland. The day's events weighed heavily on him. He had witnessed the aftermath of the centaur genocide, and the attempted annihilation of his own people was prevented only by Heathspike's intervention. Even though they survived, his people were going into hiding and his home lay abandoned, likely to be destroyed by the next wave of Reptilians. He could only imagine what could be next. And the worst was, knew was a power was loose on the world, but not who.

"Things will never be the same. Is this the change I felt coming? Is this how it ends? Oh, my, my, my...Heavenly Zachrele, hear your servant's prayer. Help us in this hour of need. Send us some sign that there is hope."

There was no great rumble of thunder or light from on high in answer to his prayers. He hadn't truly expected any, but he took small comfort in the cool sea breeze before sitting beside Heathspike and drifting off to sleep.

Moochick Randall! Master Kenbroath Gilspotten Heathspike!

The unlikely duo awoke with a start just before the sun was set to rise.

"Wha-what just...?" The Moochick gasped.

The dragon looked around in alarm. "Moo-Chick...did you hear? Sound like..."

"...Someone was calling our names?" The Moochick gulped.

"What going on? Who call us?" Heathspike looked around in a defensive stance, baring his claws and teeth. "WHO THERE?! COME OUT! FIGHT!"

"Normally, I would welcome a battle, spawn of Tiamat, but now is not the time."

The two friends rounded on the voice and found themselves face to face with a rabbit and a wolf. To their amazement, the animals spoke to them.

"It has been a long time since we met you two in these forms." The rabbit began.

The Moochick's eyes widen in recognition. "It...it can't be."

"It is, Randall. I was the rabbit that you rescued that day."

"And I was the wolf you placated to do so." The wolf turned to Heathspike. "Do you remember, dragon?"

"When...when me was wyrmling, me went into woods. Me hunt. Caught boar. Then, found hurt rabbit. Me would eat, but...felt bad for rabbit. Took it back to nest, kept brothers and sisters from eating it, helped it get strong. Then, let go. Wolf found it. Me scare wolf away. But...me see wolf had pups. Pups hungry. So...me give boar me caught to wolf. Pups eat."

"You understand that the world needs strife as well as harmony." The wolf smiled. "You two were always interesting."

"You found compassion in your hearts for the weak and the strong. You see the need for balance." The rabbit nodded. "It's why you were chosen."

"Chosen? Oh-oh, my. Wh-chosen for what?" The Moochick asked.

"To be here this night, and witness the dawn of the new age," they said in unison.

Before their eyes, the rabbit and the wolf changed. When Concepts manifest before mortals in our spiritual shapes, we are perceived differently based on the mortal. The Moochick saw two elves; one a fair maiden clothed in music itself, and the other was as tall and hardened a warrior as his sister had ever been. Heathspike saw dragons; one sleek and shining with bright crystal, and the other strongly built with hardened scales and chipped horns. They each held a glowing seed, imbued with all the power of Nature's Law and Nature's Fury.

The stunned pair watched as my sister and sister-in-law went to the cliff's edge. They planted the seeds in the ground and vanished from sight. The ground began to shake so violently that it created new waves down where the cliff met the sea. Even Heathspike was bounced as he grabbed the Moochick in fear.

Where the seeds had been planted, a bright crystal sprouted from the earth, and began to grow. As it became larger, it looked less and less like a piece of stone and more like a young tree. The Moochick and Heathspike felt immense power radiating from it, pulsing like a heart. More than that, they felt the tree looking at them, into them.

The earth began to rupture as the tree took root, making the pulse of life and magic even stronger. The tree was now fully connected to the Earth, holding it in an embrace like a mother and her newborn. It grew faster and stronger, branching out to the heavens.

The elf and dragon backed away to give the tree room, but could not turn away from the display. They felt so small before the tree, even though Heathspike easily dwarfed it. On its trunk were emblazoned symbols of a mushroom, a flame, and at its heart was a great ying-yang sun. Among the tree's branches, six mighty limbs stood out, each sprouting a bright gemstone, each glowing with one bright light and one darker light. This tree was the powers of the universe's vessel; a tree of change, a tree of life, the Tree of Harmony.

Each branch began to glow, and in the silence, the Moochick and Heathspike could almost make out voices.

= 'Burn-Armor's Power TV version' - Ronin Warriors = 

Honesty...Fantasy...Kindness...Empathy...Laughter...Courage...Generosity...Desire...Loyalty...Free Will...Trust...Hope...MAGIC

High above the sky seemed to split down the middle. One with gray clouds and rain, fierce, but life giving. The other half clear and open, letting the celestial lights above shine down.

The light flowed down the tree's side. The Moochick and Heathspike watched as two flower buds sprouted from one of the tree's roots. They grew until they were taller than the Moochick. The elf shared a confused glance with the dragon. Heathspike hesitantly gave one of the strange plants a light tap with the very tip of his little claw, before jumping back away for fear he'd hurt it. As if in answer, the buds opened and bloomed.

They shielded their eyes from the radiant light that came from the flowers as they opened. As the light faded, they saw two massive gem-like boxes. These were the Tree of Harmony's Fruits, one of Knowledge and one of Life.

The unlikely witnesses thought they might have a moment to breathe and process what they had seen, but then the boxes opened. Out of the first box came a rainbow unlike any the world had ever seen. The colors were brighter, richer and more alive than any before or since. Out of the second box came another rainbow, but this one made of thousands of shades of darkness from the far reaches of space and time all the way back to the beginning. All that is, was, and ever shall be sacred in the night lived in the dark rainbow.

The Rainbows rose into the air, circling one another, contrast but untied. The stunned dragon and elf watched as they ascended high above them. Higher and higher into the atmosphere until they burst!

With a flash of light bright enough to make my night seem like midday, the Rainbows enveloped the sky, blowing away the clouds and leaving the sky clear. The deep blue of the pre-dawn became alive with every color imaginable. An aurora mixing reds, yellows, greens, blues, pinks, purples and thousands of other colors danced across the sky. Along with the light, there were patches of darkness filled with stars never seen on this world. The Moochick and Heathspike gazed up at comets, nebulas, galaxies spanning across the vastness of creation, and they were not alone.

The Rainbows spread across the sky until they blanketed the planet with their glory. Creatures all over the world paused and looked up in awe as the day and night sky turned to a sea of colors. It lasted less than a few minutes, but it was more enough. The seeds had been planted. Every living thing was immersed by Rainbows and a new age had begun.

When the Rainbows work was done, the sky returned above the Moochick and Heathspike returned to its predawn state. The Rainbows descended from the sky and slowly circled above their heads in an endless helix pattern. And still, this was not the end.

The Tree shifted in the ground, and slowly began to shrink. Before their eyes, the crystalline appearance of the tree gave way to flesh. Amethyst, topaz and diamond were replaced by muscle, skin and fur. Yet, the base of the trunk began to glow with a brilliance usually seen only in my sister's sun. The Moochick and Heathspike backed away, blinded by its radiance; but they could hear the air split like a thunderclap and the ground shake beneath their feet as roots ripped from the ground.

The light faded, and when they finally were able to look, they stood dumbstruck in confusion. A doe lay on the ground amidst the disturbed soil where the Tree of Harmony had stood, curled up as if she were only just born; for she was, in fact. Her head was crowned by antlers made of crystal and shaped like the tree's branches in her former glory; but it lasted an instant before they faded away to reveal two tiny nubs atop her head. She opened her eyes and looked at her two witnesses, who saw nature itself in her eyes. She smiled serenely at them and gingerly climbed to her hooves.

"So...this is life. I like it very much," she said to nopony in particular as she examined her body. She turned her attention to the elf and dragon and gave a slight bow. "I thank you both for attending my birthday."	

"Oh...um, well, yes...I uh...you-you're quite welcome," the Moochick stumbled in awe.

"What he say." Heathspike was too astounded to say anything more.

The doe took a few steps forward, causing flowers to sprout wherever her hoof touched the earth.

"If it isn't too forward to ask, who exactly are you?" The Moochick nervously ventured.

The doe cocked her head, as if she had just become aware of that herself (which in fact she had). This was not like when a Concept was born in mortal form, Applejack. This was indeed the moment of her birth. "I am the doorway through which enlightenment has entered. I am a mother come to guide her children. And, I am a steward, here to preside over my aunt's domain until she arrives to take her rightful place as mother to life on this world."

"So...you are Mother Nature?" Heathspike asked, before gasping. "You are a goddess! Like Goddess Mother Tiamat and God Father Bahamut!"

"Indeed, my good dragon," she replied. "However, before I begin, I must attend to one more duty." 	

She looked up at the Rainbows circling them overhead.

"As I was delivered unto this world, so were these miracles. They were forged by Nature's Law and Nature's Fury, pieced together from elements of harmony and chaos, and imbued with the essence of life itself. All for this purpose: progress and enlightenment.

"Life, in all its form and splendor, has grown and advanced so much since this world began. And it has been made clear that you are ready for the next step. It is time to expand the abilities of the creatures that walk this Earth. It is time to step into the new tomorrow, and see what can be made of it. The Rainbows have met your world, shared their essence, and now it is up to the world what to do with their gifts.

"Yet, much of their strength has been spent, if you could understand what they've done you would wonder how they have any strength left. They must be cared for now, so their power may replenish. They have much work ahead. And so, they must be watched over by proper guardians."

The doe looked between her dumbfounded audience of two. "Moochick Randall of the Western Forest Elf Kingdom and Heathspike of the Gillspotten brood, you have been chosen to be guardians of the Rainbows."

The Moochick and Heathspike blanched at this.

"But...but...Goddess deer, uh, what was it we're being asked to do?" Heathspike gulped.

"You are asked to protect these Rainbows. The wisdom and power they hold can save this world if it is taught wisely. The old days are ending, and night has fallen. This night is long and perilous, more so than any before it. An evil unlike anything this world has seen moves through the dark, a darkness that was never supposed to exist, and it will take careful thought and stout heart to make it to morning. You two have been chosen to teach the world what it needs to overcome this darkness, and climb to the new dawn's light."

"But, but, but Your...um...Majesty-ship, how can we teach the whole world? Elves may live longer than some, and dragons even longer than that, but how will we teach...the whole world?" The Moochick asked timidly. "Such an endeavor could take..."

"As long as you wish it to take." The doe smiled. "The Rainbows are life. As their guardians, they will gift you with life. As long as you watch over them, death shall not come for you. Age and sickness shall have little to no effect on you. They shall guard you as you guard them."

Yes, Applejack, the Moochick had been offered a piece of creation itself, a power that had never before existed on Earth...and questioned whether or not he was worthy. Thus is the kind of man Randell was.

"Oh my! We-we-well-well, Your Honor-I-I mean Your Grace-Duh, I mean...Surely, there must be others more worthy of being asked to..."

"There are none better than you two. You see the need for Nature's Law and Fury. You are kind, but not soft. You have the wisdom to see value and potential in the new and old. And you are both cleverer by half than most of your own peoples. You have knowledge and wisdom that cannot be taught. You've lived by it, regardless of your differences in race and culture. The Rainbows themselves chose each of you, because the concepts that they were made from reside within you more than any other. They know you. Out of every living thing in the world, they chose you because they have always dwelled within you. I think you ought to have faith in them, as they have shown it in you."

The Moochick and Heathspike stared at each other, unable to answer this.

"If you wish not to follow this duty, however, I will not stop you. Even in this, we ask for a decision of your own free will. But, understand this before you make your choice. The next stage of life has begun and eventually it is hoped that life will progress and take the next steps to become beings who will shape the course of history, not only in this world, but everywhere. If no other creatures take this next step, if the children are not properly taught to crawl and walk, then the course of this world's history will be determined by whoever is currently in the best position to do so, by right of strength or mind. And right now, with the centaur race dead their subject peoples and allies scattered, and the dragons recovering in hiding, the most likely candidate to decide what this world will become...is the dark power that has risen. Slayer of the centaur race. The self-proclaimed Lord Tirek."

"Tirek?! Tirek is behind all that death and destruction?!" The Moochick screamed. He had dreaded the possibilities of Tirek absorbing the dark magic, but Tirek murdering his own people went was beyond Randall's worst nightmares. He fell to his knees in shock. All he taught Tirek, for naught. The candy seller a block away from the palace, the men Randall fought alongside, his friends, Chiron, his wives, gone? "You must be mistaken, the centaurs can't be all..."

"I'm sorry, they are extinct, Tirek is a thing no longer a centaur, he slew them all, everywhere. And he does the same to any stone placed on top of another his people built." 

Tears fell from Randall's eyes. 

"Centaur would be the centaur prince make those lizard men kill his own kind?" Heathspike was confused. "Why?"

"He has gone down a path of pride and greed that leads to madness and violence. And, I am afraid it matters not what his intentions are. All it takes for someone like him to triumph is for no one to stand in his way. But, as strong as he is, he is not all powerful."

"I'll eat him," Heathspike said darkly.

"He has made himself unkillable, and the power of the Rainbows is to meant to create, not destroy. It is not the way to overcome him. It may take years, even centuries, but, if guided right, even the birds of the air or the ponies of the field could move mountains. What you can teach is a power Tirek knows not. I ask you both, will you be the Rainbows' guardians?"

It surely was a heavy burden. They say that teachers shape the future, but rarely has that been so literal. A scatterbrained elf and an old dragon who could barely speak were hardly the stuff of legend, even in those days.

"To show the world the light..." The Moochick's voice trembled as he spoke. "Is a great honor. And...if I can protect that light...I will."

The doe smiled and turned to Heathspike, who was shaking like a leaf.

"I...I am not as strong as many of my brothers and sisters, and I am not as smart as my friend. Even Goddess Mother thinks...thinks I do not act like a good dragon. But...when I decide to protect what is mine, I will never EVER stop! If you still think I can do it...I will do it."

"Then it is done. Moochick Randall, I hereby decree that you are the guardian of the Fruit of Knowledge, the Rainbow of Light."

The first Rainbow flew down towards its new keeper and circled over his head.

"Heathspike of the Gilspotten brood, I hereby decree that you are the guardian of the Fruit of Life, the Rainbow of Darkness."

The dark rainbow glided to the dragon and circled his horns.

"You shall care for these miracles until you shuffle off this mortal coil or find one who is worthy to succeed you. Now, they must be hidden for a time, so that they may rest until needed. Do you have something to carry them? They can dwell even in something as small as a head of a pin."

"I believe I have just the thing." The Moochick smiled fondly.

He took out his sister's locket and opened it. The Rainbow of Light swooped down and into the small locket. The Moochick clicked the tiny ornament it shut, not expecting it to suddenly feel heavier.

"I have no nice thing fit to hold a miracle." Heathspike hung his head in embarrassment before lifting his arm, showing the sack he had tied around his wrist. "All I have is the sack I've carried my hoard."

The Rainbow of Darkness entered the sack before the dragon even finished speaking.

"They like their new homes." The doe smiled. "Now, you both had better be on your way. You have much to do."

"Um...if I may ask...what will become of you? Are you coming with us?" Heathspike asked.

The doe shook her head. "As much as I would enjoy the company of two fine fellows, I cannot. As you two have your missions, so have I. My children need me, and I must go to them."

"Will we ever see you again?" The Moochick asked.

"Perhaps. Until then, I will mark this meeting."

The doe trotted to a nearby tree and picked up a fallen acorn. She took the tiny nut and dropped it into the hole where she stood as the Tree of Harmony. "Let the tree that grows here mark the miracles that happened here."

She moved her hoof to cover it with dirt when the Moochick stopped her. "Wait! Er, I mean...please, wait, Your Honor...if...if you don't mind."

The elf took up an acorn of his own and set it in the dirt alongside the doe's. "A promise of new life shouldn't need to rest on just one. Hope springs eternal, with a little help from a friend."

"Not just one friend." Heathspike held up an acorn, almost comically held between his massive claws, and dropped it in as well. "It is everyone's job. It is...everyone's promise. No matter who or what they are. All together."

The doe smiled. They all covered the seeds, and backed away. The magic of the Tree of Harmony, the elements of the Rainbows of Darkness and Light, and the touch of Nature itself imbued the seeds and they sprouted into a massive tree. It was not made of crystal or blooming with bright gems, but it was filled with life. A new life as a promise for the future of all life.

"Farewell, Guardians of the Rainbows. And remember, when hope seems past recall, a piece of rainbow always can be found." The doe galloped off into the forest and out of sight.

"Well, my friend. I suppose we better be off, too," the Moochick said, clutching the locket tight.

"Do you think we can do this?" Heathspike asked. "I am not smart like you, friend. I cannot even speak right. How will I teach others?"

"My friend, you are much wiser than you know. Besides, haven't you noticed that your speech has improved since the Rainbows arrived?"

"What do you mean, Moochick? I have not been speaking any differ..." Heathspike's eyes widened.

"I think you may be up for the task."

The dragon flew away with his elf friend just as the sun peaked over the horizon. An early morning breeze shook the new leaves on the covenant tree's branches. A new day had dawned.

+

Deep in a forest not too far from the Rainbows' birthplace, a small herd of Earth Ponies began to awake after a night of very unusual sleep. The entire herd had strange dreams that they could not comprehend. Usually their dreams consisted of running, or frolicking, but this was much different. Their minds were suddenly bombarded with new feelings. They were scared, but could not understand why. Their instinct was to run, but they had no idea what direction.

The herd alpha was a mare whose name one day would be "Blossom." She felt a sense of unease, as if the dreams were some instinct to warn of danger. Her beta, a younger filly whose name would be Minty, after for her preference in food, was especially scared. Blossom did her best to comfort her, but it did little good. 

Before today, it was scents and actions that defined each other, it was 'this pony who smelled this way that was eaten'. Oh stallions were there, but had little to say and barely thought of when not killing each other for mares. 

One of the herd's older mares had gone off alone. She her name would one day be Blue Belle, and had previously been the alpha before Blossom took her place. The new thoughts felt like they were crashing inside her head. She could not be around the other ponies until her mind settled. Feelings and thought that clashed with the instincts that had protected her kind for so long.

She lay in the shadow of an oak tree, enjoying the grass' scent. She was so focused on the smell and the silence that she almost missed the sound of something moving through the brush. She got to her hooves and looked around in alarm. She listened closely for sounds of movement. She suddenly heard a rush of noise; grass swished, twigs snapped, and leaves crunched in a manner too clumsy for a predator out hunting.

Blue Belle jumped in shock as two young Earth Ponies burst through the brush and tripped into the dirt. They were tangled in vines as they violently thrashed to get up. The older mare watched stupefied as the fillies wrestled in blind panic and only got themselves even more entangled.

Blue Belle snorted in annoyance and cantered up to the frightened ponies. She brought a hoof down on the vines, momentarily stopping the struggle. She gave a loud neigh in their faces to get their attention and stop their panicking. They stared up at her with fear as she glared at them.

She slowly leaned down and began chewing through the vines that bound the two. They stopped struggling seeing what she was doing. It took nearly half an hour, but she finally did it. The young ponies slowly stood up, letting Blue Belle get a good look at them. Their coats and manes looked different from the ponies in the herd. The younger one even had a ribbon tied in her tail. They were also covered in leaves, twigs, stickers and mud.

It hit Blue Belle like a thunderclap, WHY had she just saved the two fillies? They weren't part of her herd, and she'd left herself open to predators by helping them! Why?!...Because they needed her help, and there was no one else to give it.

It would be quite some time before these two fillies could share their story, vague like early foalhood memories. For the communication ponies had was ill suited for story telling, let alone abstract ideas. Sounds most modern ponies only make when frightened or without intending, pheromones, and other such animalistic forms.

+

"Can yah try tah show meh how that is like?” Applejack asked.

I chuckle. I 'tell' her 'Like this' in the 'language' of those primitive ponies. One only myself and our family still know how to speak. She looks at me like I'm the strangest sight she's ever seen.

"As I said, Applejack, it was not quite yet a language. Now, back to the story.”

+

The older filly's name was Butterscotch, and her friend's was Cotton Candy. Even if they'd been able to communicate such things, it would have been alien as wild ponies had no idea of what cotton candy or butterscotch was. It was in fact these domesticated ponies who BROUGHT the idea of names to the herd. 

A long time later, Cotton Candy would tell her that their masters gave them names. This would've confused Blue Belle even more. Ponies didn't have masters. Ponies ran free with the herd.

Cotton Candy would explain. They belonged to a family of centaurs. Father, Mother, Older Son, Younger Son, and Daughter. The children would ride them until they were old enough to ride bigger ponies. They lived with their masters for years on their farm.

Then the lizards came. While it wasn't possible to describe them, description had yet to exist. But one thing they could describe was something all beings instinctively know to fear: the lizards smelled of death. They came and started hurting the masters. Father put Younger Son and Daughter on the ponies' back and made them run. Lizards chased them. Younger Son fell off of Butterscotch, but she didn't stop running. The lizards stopped chasing them after Younger Son fell, but they kept running. They ran and ran until they couldn't run anymore.

Cotton Candy caught her breath, and Daughter was crying. Butterscotch tried to nuzzle Daughter, but she still didn't feel good. Cotton Candy and Butterscotch slept next to Daughter that night. Daughter sang as she fell asleep. They didn't understand most of the words, but they remembered the melody, and your species still does. The only words they grasped were 'My Little Pony.'...She didn't wake up the next day.

They got lost in the forest and got tangled up. They had never been in the wild before and found everything they could do wrong. They were the most pitiful sight anypony had ever seen.

Instinct told Blue Belle that such ponies were not fit to live in the wild. They needed to learn things most ponies were taught when they started walking. They'd need too much help to survive and would attract predators. They would be a danger to the herd and should be left to die.

She had foaled her share of fillies and colts however, and seeing two young ponies like this made her maternal instinct kick in full force. She nuzzled the two ponies, who gratefully returned the gesture. She turned to walk back towards the herd and motioned for them to follow.

Blue Belle returned to the herd with the domesticated fillies in tow. The other ponies were angry at the newcomers and Blossom was most upset. As alpha, she needed to ensure the herd was strong and safe. Bringing these two new ponies might endanger them.

Blue Belle whinnied in their defense. The herd was all anypony had, and these two needed it more than any other.

Minty, who was still riding out the after effects of the strange new thoughts was afraid. The ponies were different, even more so than other ponies they'd seen before. They smelled like centaurs and other weird things.

She'd who have the name Snuzzle, Blossom's sister, trotted forward. She stared at the two new comers and Blue Belle. She snorted and stood next to them. There was a time Blossom and Snuzzle were liabilities. They were injured when they reached near adulthood, and should have been left to die. Their mother protected them, and they survived. It cost their mother her life. Before she gave it no thought, but now...

Blossom looked at the newcomers and at the rest of the herd.

Minty shook at her side.

Then, Butterscotch moved. She trotted up to Minty and cuddled her. The beta mare froze at the touch of unfamiliar pony, but slowly relaxed. Butterscotch and Minty held each other's sight, and the bond was sealed between them.

That was all the convincing Blossom needed. Butterscotch and Cotton Candy were of the herd.

Later that day, the herd went to their normal watering spot. The lake was cool and clear as crystal; they had defended it from rival herds and predators for many moons.

However, when they converged on the lake, a loud whinny broke the morning air. Two pegasi and a white unicorn stood by the lake, stamping their hooves and neighing angrily at each other. They had each found the lake and claimed it for their own, despite the scent of the herd. 

Blossom neighed and caught the attention of the intruding ponies.

These were not just any pegasi. They were the same pegasi who pulled Bellerophon's chariot: Medley and Firefly. They were hardened war horses and could likely kill any pony of the herd. The unicorn was no small matter either. A wild unicorn was just as dangerous. Even without much capacity for its uses, magic can be a dangerous thing when used forcefully. Imagine if your dog got angry and suddenly had the means to kill with its mind.

The three sets of ponies stood off furiously at each other, ready to fight to the death.

Then, to everypony's surprise, Cotton Candy cantered out into the standoff's center. She looked up at the two pegasi. She looked at the unicorn. Finally, she looked at her herd. She felt something inside that she did not understand. They were about to fight, like ponies had always done when faced by an enemy. Yet, she felt this was wrong.

She trotted up to the lake and looked down into the water. The lake had always been there; it was very big and would not go dry even if the herd drank all day for moons. Cotton Candy could not understand why they needed to fight for the lake when there was enough for them all.

Then, she noticed something else about the water. She saw a pony looking back at her. When she moved, so did the pony in the water. She'd never seen a mirror at the farm, and the experience of seeing her own reflection for the first time made her very giddy.

The unicorn, pegasi and the rest of her new herd just looked at her like she was crazy. Why was she so interested in the water?

Then, to the shock of all, Cotton Candy turned to the pegasi and whinnied at the lake. Firefly was curious. What had the Earth pony seen? She bent down to look and saw her reflection. She had seen it before, so she did not understand the attraction for the filly.

Curiosity got the better of Medley, and she too looked into the water. Then, the unicorn became interested and joined them. Slowly, the entire herd looked down into the lake, the earlier hostility forgotten. They all looked at their mirror images in the water for a long time, but did not see what held Cotton Candy's interest.

Then, Cotton Candy wagged her tongue and crossed her eyes at her reflection. She gave a wicker of amusement at the silly pony in the water. The other ponies watched in confusion. Though, they did find it a little funny as the young filly made faces. Then, Butterscotch joined in. And, surprisingly enough, Firefly raised her hoof to her snout and scrunched up her face. The whole herd whinnied in hilarity.

They stood there making faces in the water for hours, forgetting their hostility. Nay did it crossing their minds that yesterday did they even grasped what humor even was! And, as the sun climbed to midday, Blossom noticed something. She was standing next to Medley the Pegasus, and saw their reflections. She wondered why the silly ponies in the water suddenly looked so alike. Blossom was an earth pony, the Pegasus was not. That meant they were different, and therefore enemies. A lifetime of struggle told her so. Yet, when she looked into the water, the other pony did not seem so different. Even the unicorn with its huge horn seemed more like her than before.

Blossom bumped Minty and motioned towards the other ponies. Minty looked and saw it too. Those two had wings. That one had a horn. The rest of the herd had neither, but had bigger muscles than them. Those two were not even native to the herd. However, they had ears, noses, eyes, coats, manes, hooves, and tails. They weren't some alien thing, they were just...ponies.

They were the same. They were all ponies. Why had she been so sure they were so different?

She watched as Medley patted Butterscotch's head with her wing, and Cotton Candy playfully splashed the unicorn, who returned the gesture. The little ponies seemed to have made more friends.

Things had changed in the herd, and none of the ponies had any idea just how much they had changed.

+

Years passed and the world moved on.

Having been charged with guardianship of the Rainbow of Light, the Moochick did not open the Rainbow Bridge and go into hiding with his family. He made his home deep in a forest far from the Elf Kingdom and the former Empire's lands. He settled amongst the giant magic mushrooms that warded off evil magic. With the mushrooms' magic and his own array of warding spells, Tirek would never find his new home. He christened it the Mushromp, after a mythic place where elves were supposedly first gifted with magic. He journeyed forth from this safe haven, looking for anyone who would listen to his teachings.

Randall adopted a rabbit he'd name Habbit, who, unwittingly granted long life like the Moochick, over aeons of second-hoof exposure to the Light Rainbow would gain sapience, a trait that appear time and again in his line to this day. 

Heathspike returned to the Tiamat's nest and began granting the dragons the gifts he had been given from the Rainbow of Darkness. It was a slow process, since most dragons had no interest in anything beyond eating and sleeping on their hoards. Tiamat and Bahamut did not interfere with his attempts at teaching, since they wanted dragonkind to be all it could be. I won't say Tiamat was not envious of her son's boon, but Tiamat was a Goddess, and the Rainbows came to enlighten the world, not the Gods who were already enlightened.

Despite their mission and the distance between them, the guardians remained close friends, often visiting each other.

One of their most memorable visits came on a spring day many years after the Rainbows' birth.

The Moochick sat in his favorite chair, enjoying tea when he heard a thundering thud outside that shook his house. He knew the sound well; it was the sound of his favorite dragon stopping by to visit. He opened the door and smiled up at the dragon.

"Hello, Heathspike! Just give me a moment to gather my tea set and I'll join you out here!"

"That won't be necessary old friend!" Heathspike grinned.

Heathspike was engulfed by a puff of smoke, and when he emerged, the dragon stood less than an inch taller than the Moochick.

"Oh my stars! Oh my, oh me, oh me, oh my!" The Moochick laughed in disbelief.

"I've been working on a few tricks. I thought this one might be useful for our visits." Heathspike smiled as he came inside the Moochick's house.

"May I offer you some tea?"

"Sure." The dragon accepted the cup.

"Cream or sugar?"

"No thank you, but if you have any sulfur, that might be nice."

"Way ahead of you, my friend." The elf passed a dish filled with sulfur powder across the table.

"Ah, I knew I liked you for a reason!" the dragon smiled as he mixed the brimstone in his tea.

"By the way, are you alright? You look like you've had some trouble." He pointed to a scar and a few chipped scales on Heathspike's shoulder.

"Oh, relax. Usual rough housing, nothing I can't handle."

"How are you fairing getting your message across?"

"Slowly, but it's sinking in. There's a wyrmling who's been very interested in what I've said. He's learning fast. In fact, I've caught him trying to speak like me once or twice."

"Well! That is quite an achievement!" The Moochick smiled.

"I have high hopes for him." Heathspike nodded. "And how are you doing?"

"I'm not doing well, my friend." The Moochick set his cup aside. "I've tried. I've tried so hard to impart the wisdom I've been given. Not many have been quite as...well, receptive as I'd hoped. And, then there's...him."

"Tirek."

"He's still looking for me. I've been attacked by more than a few scoundrels trying to catch me for a boon and been run out of even towns because they don't want to be involved and bring him into their lives. I haven't been able to leave the Mushromp in months."

"Ugh. If my brothers and sisters were ready and get God Mother and God Father to agree, I'd lead them all and burn those puny copies and their puffed up tyrant to ashes." The dragon growled. 

The Moochick still looked sad. "I'm just not sure what good I can do right now."

"Hey, chin up. You were chosen because you are worthy, same as I was. You are the smartest creature I've ever known and you have a heart bigger than my hoard. So, don't think I'm going to let you mope and raise ponies when you..."

"Wait, raise ponies? What on earth do you mean? I don't have any ponies."

"Yes you do, I saw three near your garden when I flew in."

"What?" The Moochick went to the window and saw that the gate to his garden was open.

The elf rushed out the door open and into his garden, followed by his dragon friend. He was surprised to see that he was missing a good deal of carrots, parsnips, tomatoes and lettuce had been picked. His tree was also missing quite a few apples. But none laying bitten into on the ground or signs of such.

There were hoof prints all around the garden. He frowned in confusion; had someone rode in and taken his vegetables? Then, he found a very strange clue. In the corner stood ten baskets filled with flowers and mushrooms.

On one of the baskets was a card. The Moochick flipped it open and found a crudely drawn picture of a pony taking the vegetables and giving a stick figure elf flowers, both looking very happy.

The guardians exchanged a confused look.

"Heathspike, do you think you can track the scent?"

"Is God Mother's left head near sighted?"

The dragon took a few sniffs of the ground and found the scent of ponies.

"I got it! Let me just go back to my regular size and we'll go."

"Wait! I think it would be best if you stayed this way for now. It might attract their attention if you were full-sized."

"Oh...good point. See? Told you that you were smart one."

They trudged through the forest for just about an hour, tracking the scent and hoof prints.

"Who takes food and leaves flowers and a picture of ponies?" The Moochick wondered aloud.

"Um...apologetic thieves?" Heathspike shrugged. The dragon suddenly grabbed his friend and ducked behind a tree. "Wait! I smell ponies."

"All right, all right, just...be ready for anything."

"Right, I'm ready for anything!"

They slowly peered out from behind the tree into a wide open field. They were not sure what to expect, but it certainly was not what they were seeing. There were ponies everywhere. Even more surprising, they were not all just one type of pony. There were Earth Ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns all intermingling. Several were running, grazing or just frolicking, but the rest were acting very differently.

A few Earth Ponies were dragging sticks along the ground, each followed by another pony holding a sack and dropping something into the ground. It looked almost as if they were trying to farm. A Pegasus flew into the clouds, which began to turn gray and let out a little rain onto the apparent crops. Not a downpour or a drizzle, but an actual measured amount. A group of Earth Ponies bucked a few pear trees nearby and shook loose the fruit. A unicorn went among them and magically collected the fruit in baskets.

The three ponies that had been to the Moochick's garden, they each carried baskets of food over to where the younger foals played. They gave a very pregnant mare a whole basket of tomatoes, and passed out the rest among the young ponies.

The real shock came when they saw the houses. Actually saying they were 'houses' may be exaggerating. They were more rickety shacks, but were still big enough to house at least a dozen ponies. An amazing achievement for creatures who had just begun to evolve and had no access to advanced tools. Or thumbs. I meant no disrespect Applejack, just understand from their view this was all utterly shocking. 

"But...they're ponies." Heathspike whispered in amazement. He sniffed the air. "There's no humans, elves, dwarfs or anything...just ponies.”

"It seems the Rainbows changed that. I wonder-OOF!"

The Moochick tripped over a root and fell from behind the tree. Heathspike reacted without thinking and went to help him up. When they stood up, they realized the ponies could see them now.

The ponies froze in fear at the sight of the elf and the dragon. The three who had taken the vegetables were shaking. They had brought the wrath of this creature down on them, and now they'd brought a dragon to them as well. The Moochick stood up, making the ponies flinch.

"No, no, no. Don't be frightened. We won't hurt you. You're safe. We're friends."
The ponies just stared.

The pregnant mare nickered, catching the attention of everycreature in the glade. She made to stand, but she couldn't quite make the effort under the weight of her unborn foal.

The Moochick decided to test the waters and took a step forward. The ponies flinched again, and a few of the larger ones stood between the elf and the mare. He slowly raised his hands, trying his best to seem nonthreatening. The mare whinnied and the other ponies reluctantly stood back.

Heathspike watched intently as his friend slowly marched up to the mare. As a dragon, he recognized the sway the mare had. If the ponies thought the Moochick was a danger to their alpha, they would kill him. He waited, but was ready to leap in and save his friend if needed, and take care of the ponies who tried to hurt his friend, if necessary.

The Moochick knelt in the grass near the alpha mare. The foals ran to their parents or hid behind her, for fear of this unfamiliar creature. The Moochick looked into the pony's eyes. Nopony he had ever seen had eyes like this. He could see just the faintest glimmer of rainbow light behind her pupils. They had been blessed. But what shocked him more, was that the eyes were trying to figure him out. To comprehend him, not just recognize him.

The Moochick cleared his throat, trying to think of how to communicate. He touched his chest and smiled as he told her, "Friend. Moochick, friend."

The mare tilted her head at the words. Her eyes then flitted to the dragon. Seemingly harmless or not, any creature knew to treat dragons with caution.

"Heathspike." The Moochick pointed to his friend. "Heathspike, friend. Moochick, friend."

The dragon offered a friendly smile, or as much as he could without showing off his sharp teeth. "Yes! Friends! We friends! Heathspike, friend! Moochick, friend!"

The alpha mare thought this over, looking between the odd elf and the strange dragon. After seemingly an eternity, she raised a hoof and touched the Moochick's chest. She opened her mouth and neighed. She frowned and neighed again.

"Neeeeiiiigh! Neeeiiggggh! Neeeeiinnnggg!" The mare brayed.

The mare snorted in frustration and neighed again and again. The Moochick stared in confusion, as did Heathspike. What was the pony doing?

Nothing could have prepared the two guardians for what happened next.

The alpha kept whinnying in an increasingly frustrated tone, but each time, something about the sound changed. "Neeeeiighhh! Pfffft! Nyeeegh...nehhhh...fhhhhh fuhhhruhhh...Ffffrrrr... Ffffurrrr...Furrrreeeeenddduuuuuh! Friiiiieeeeeenhhhhh! Frieeeenduh! F-f-frieeeeeeeeeeend!"

The Moochick nearly fainted, and Heathspike actually did. Even the rest of the ponies were stunned that their leader had spoken in another creature's tongue.

"Friend." The pony tapped the Moochick with her hoof.

"Yes...yes! Friend!" He couldn't stop from laughing in joy as he put his hand on her hoof. The other ponies whinnied in celebration. "Friends! Ponies friends!"

"Friends!" The alpha smiled back.

+

"The Rainbows blessed ponykind with magic, Applejack. The most pure and powerful of all magic. It is so ingrained in your minds, hearts and souls that it was your first word."

Applejack just gawked at me with her mouth hanging open. I gently reached over and shut it for her, which seemed to snap her out of her reverie.

"Wow..." She still seems stunned by this. I should have realized it would take time to sink in. She had just been told the origin of her species being granted self-awareness after all.

"So...when the other dragons besides Heathspike started talkin', what was their first word?"

"Mine."

"Ah...yeah, guess that'd make sense Princess, if everythin' was touched by the magic that made us, well, us, why ain't everythin' smart as us?" 

"As a farmer, you know that not all seeds planted take root Abigail. And your gift of self-awareness, family, free-will, conscience, empathy, love, they found a place on your hearts. Same as the zebra. And one day the griffins. Your people are blessed Applejack, never forget that." 

"Ah won't... Ah gotta know, if the magic went away... would we... stop thinking?" 

"We promise, no. The souls granted to you by the Rainbows are now your own, they can't be lost." 

"...Princess..."

"Yes, Applejack?"

She put a hoof to her eye. "The Elements...they're really...the thing that changed ponies tah what we are now?"

I smiled and nodded. "Yes, Applejack. They are the Fruit of Knowledge. And they chose you and your friends."

She gave a stunned look, as expected of one who realized in her hooves was a key to Ponykind's genesis...then got some tears in her eyes. "Ah...it's a big honor, ain't it?"

"Indeed."

I let her enjoy the moment to enjoy this revelation.

"Now you know how ponykind began its journey to what it is today. Though, I am afraid the other half of this story is not as up-lifting."

"Oh yeah...Tirek."

"Yes. He had not been idle while your ancestors took their first steps into the light. And his dark day had also just begun."
> Rainbow of Darkness
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------



The advent of the Tree of Harmony and the Rainbows of Light and Darkness was momentous. We had planned it for eons later, after more mortal advancements. But, Morning Star's stunt and Tirek's reign of terror forced events ahead. What was meant to be the start of a golden age became the world's spark of hope. It's why our Family often calls Tirek the 'Unnatural Darkness.'

The night the Rainbows were born, he was overseeing the razing of one of the last centaur cities. Once the buildings were destroyed, the Reptilians built a bonfire out of every last book and parchment. Any text that referred to me was magically removed. History, religious, medical texts, family histories, and even children's stories were lost to the ages. 

As Tirek and the Heart of Dark Magic were one, he felt the Tree of Harmony's influx of power. He gazed in wonder as the Rainbows spread across the sky. He ignored the light, but found the dark unspeakably beautiful. He coveted the Rainbow of Darkness even before knowing its name. When the sky cleared, the power radiating from where the Tree stood beckoned him like a moth to flame.

Tirek took an escort and flew his chariot until well after sunrise. They landed in the clearing where the Tree was born, but Mother Deer, the Rainbows and their guardians were long gone.

"I can taste it!" Tirek dismounted his chariot and looked around. "Whatever made the sky come alive, this was its birthplace."

Tirek followed the magic in the air to its source: the great tree that the guardians of the Rainbow had planted the previous night. He felt the magic left from the Rainbows' as well as our cousin's birth and his mouth watered.

"I've never felt such power. Not even the valley of the Box." He rested a hand on the trunk, and the tree itself seemed to flinch at his touch. "Yes... This tree is soaked in it... I bent the powers of the Box to my will, and this power will be mine as well!"

Tirek dug his claws into the tree trunk and let his dark power flow. The tree's spirit screamed trying to fight, but its newborn magic was unprepared to defend itself. Life was drained out of the land; plants turned to dust, animals fell dead, the bay filled with violent waves and dead fish.

The tree devoured by Tirek's will, began to change. It grew until it towered over the now raging sea. Branches and bark twisted into rock and steel. When Tirek finished, a massive, twisted castle of black stone stood, higher than the Royal Palace. Tirek laughed as the marker of the covenant between mortals and gods was turned into his citadel.

"I name you, Midnight Castle." Tirek threw the gates open and walked inside, using his black magic to begin decorating it in a manner befitting his ego. "I suppose I'll make myself at home. Send out hunters for dinner. I have a sudden craving for venison."

+

Applejack... ponies remember the final battle at Midnight Castle because that ended his terror, but before that... Historians and propagandists throw around the term 'history's greatest monster', but for Tirek, it was not naive. I am not good and evil's final judge, I cannot say none was worse. But I can say he was the world's most feared for generations and caused untold harm, not just for ponies.

Tirek kept his promise of erasing all traces of the Centaurs and their works. He ran a systematic campaign of destroying evidence, murdering witnesses, and altering memories. A thousand plus years of history turned to legend then rumor, then nothing. The Empire's communities were replaced by Reptilians fortresses, making way for the next of Tirek's plans.

After the fall of the Great Centaur Empire, a Dark Age began. Since Tirek destroyed all traces of the Empire, it left a large gap in history. Knowledge was lost that might have let the world progress. Instead, the world was lost in a malaise of turmoil. The power gap was all Tirek could have asked for.

The self-styled 'Dark Lord of All' turned his sights to the rest of the world, and none could stop him. His army was effectively limitless since he could make Reptilians and Stratadons out of any animals he came across. With his dark powers and military, he crushed every nation he set his eyes on. And he made examples with every conquest.

The way he dealt with the satyr king and his court was lenient by comparison. He restructured societies into horrific systems that groomed generations of broken shells or psychopaths. Public execution, torture, decimation, heads on spikes, children taken as hostages, brainwashing, and even mass murder were routine anywhere he ruled. Any hint of what he considered weakness, which is to say basic decency, was extinguished. Tirek failed to realize forcing ANY belief on others will always inspired resistance. And the fear of him, created many alliances. 

Almost all the leaders he established shared his loyalties: to ambition. Yet they rarely dared plot against Tirek himself. He was well aware of their conspiracies and played them against each other like chess pieces. He enjoyed seeing them backstab each other, especially when he was pulling their strings. He'd spread strife among the elite and common folk alike. He liked this 'game' so much that he started conquering kingdoms simply by manipulating them to destroy themselves from within. This game, ironically, kept a semblance of society going among his victims, for Tirek wished nothing more than to be the only ruler in a empire of nothing but slaves and trophies, and his 'game' slowly distracted him from ever building a fleet of ships to conquer past the sea. He and Discord were alike like that.

In his early days he loved leading the charge into battle so the last thing his victims saw was him swinging his blade. He enjoyed hunting animals and sentient beings alike, almost as much as he liked having them duel him. Their futile attempts to escape or fight were wine to him. His thirst to prove himself stronger, smarter and better than others was insatiable.

Torture was another of his pastimes, once. He had a shade of Discord's twisted idea of fun, but none of his childish whimsy. He invented horrors such that I dare not detail them to you, the agony pear, the brazen bull, the red cage, the blood eagle, the breathless kiss, and the thousand cuts. I think even he forgot his inventions, after he grew bored with it. He found more satisfying ways to destroy his victims. 

Tirek began acquiring new minions in his conquest. Like any tyrant, he attracted the ambitious who served him for their own gain, bloodlust filled sadists, cowards who feared opposing him, and madmen who found his horrors worthy of devotion. 

Lavan, the tyrant king of the Lava Demons nominally allied with Tirek hoping to gain power ( then betray him). Tirek accepted because conquering the inside of the planet could wait until he ruled the outside, but he praised Lavan's greed...praise as far Tirek is capable for another.

Grogar, the ruler of the city state of Tambelon, allied with him for a time, hoping total conquest would bring order to the world. Even if, to Tirek, Grogar was nothing more than a dumb beast and had little interest in the city's rudimentary mechanical devices. Making the city not worth conquering. 

Even witches and warlocks of Lilith's brood honored and served him for his great evil, despite their matron's hatred of him.

Using his dark magic, he created new creatures to serve him. He conjured a wraith called the King of Shadows, who turned a land ruled by seven human children gifted by the Rainbow of Light into a dark, monster infested wasteland. He made the Red Cloud that would attack and destroy any place where it saw things as red as itself. And, he created revenants. What is a revenant? You shall see.

As so often happens, evil begets evil. Evils both created and inspired by Tirek would ravage the land during and AFTER his reign.

There was even unintended damage. Tirek burned whole forests searching for the Moochick, destroying plants with medicinal properties that could have saved millions. Creating his army was a mass extinction event onto itself.

Still, even at the height of his megalomania, he took pains to pay tribute to the night. He was determined to build a world that would earn him the favor of his Lady, that is to say, me. He supplanted religions with mandatory lip-service to me. Don't call it a cult, cults love their leaders. Don't call it a faith, faith gives strength. Don't call it a religion, religions create a sense of family.

He created a perpetual storm over Midnight Castle, so the light of day never touched his stronghold. He cursed sun worshippers, made minions magically renounce the sun, and even tried to blot out the sun on several occasions. The sun blocking spells only affected a few small areas and never lasted longer than a full day. He was obsessed with creating a world of darkness, and becoming my consort.

Between the wars, plagues, politics, dark magic, his subordinates' evils, his own amusement, and unintentional results from his actions, he was personally responsible for more deaths than any for millennia. Even Discord may not have surpassed him. And his empire of slaves held together by him and him alone.

And despite it all, ponies thrived. Ponies had been mere animals to the centaurs, and thus beneath contempt to Tirek. His ignorance was a blessing. Ponies evolved right under his arrogant nose for ages.

Even other species took generations to see the ponies as anything other than animals sans the elves. They had their own society, but none recognized it. Even faced with evidence that ponies could now think, they found other explanations. Ponies working farms were seen as roaming livestock on abandoned land. A pony who could talk was brushed off as a parlor trick as a parrot can mimic speech. Even something as obvious as a pony wearing clothes, using tools or dancing was waved away as trained circus horse. It is amazing how much one can miss if one doesn't know what to look for.

Time passed and the power of the Rainbows helped ponies and many other creatures take their first steps towards enlightenment. Besides ponies, many animal species began evolving. Zebra, camels, giraffes, lions, moose, llamas, elephants, pandas, kangaroos, sheep, apes, and many types of birds all began developing consciousness. There were also species who had developed on their own to sentience, and the Rainbow gave them a last little shove towards becoming a civilization.

Different tribes progressed in their own ways. The earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns stuck to the forests and fields, where they observed other creatures. They mimicked practices and ideas from the already civilized beings they came into contact with, mostly the humans, who themselves had begun to come into their own. Ironically, Tirek considered both so unworthy of extermination, that they would be the Centaur's legacy despite his efforts.

Sadly, not all of the creatures touched by the Rainbows developed enough that sentience became a dominant trait. Due to many factors, ranging from genetic defects to environmental stimuli, some creatures eventually regressed back into animals. Thankfully, ponies were not among them.

The Moochick was there to help as well, imparting wisdom from elf culture. He was the oldest friend of ponykind, and they bestowed the title of 'the Wonderful Wizard' upon him. Heathspike also took every chance to visit his non-dragon friends. The ponies knew him, though not as well as the Moochick. And dragons dared not harm them for fear of his wrath.

They put their innate magic to use and learned farming, and they also branched into fishing and hunting.

+

"Whoa there! Hunting? Ya don't mean..."

"Yes, Applejack. The ancient ponies were omnivores. Admittedly, it was mostly an acquired taste for their species, but they did imbibe meat. They even raised livestock as the griffins do."

"But... Land's sakes!" Applejack had begun looking green again. 

"I know it sounds terrible to your sensibilities, but it was thousands of years ago. It was a different time, a different world, and ponies were very, very different than they are today. They did NOT eat creatures that were uplifted by the Rainbows. They were not that savage.

"You know the difficulty in running a farm in the best of times and with great knowledge, and the best tools, Applejack, which they were lacking. Grazing simply wasn't enough to support a larger brain."

"But... it wasn't always like that. They made their own society eventually. Why didn't they stop then?"

"Tradition, something you ALSO know well. It was NORMAL for them. The reason pony society reverted to total vegetarians is because of a great disaster that ended the Age of Wonders. After that, hunting was too dangerous and keeping livestock just wasn't practical. And by then, more creatures evolved into sentient beings which made the prospect of eating them repulsive."

"Ah guess, but still... yuck." I chose not to mention I preferred hamburgers over hayburgers. 

+

The flutter ponies were more isolated. Due to being physically weaker and thus at the bottom of the pecking order they avoided other pony tribes, and other species were seen as predators or threats. When they evolved, the only beings who could approach them were the fae that made their homes in deep forests and hidden valleys, who taught them magic, eventually leading them to hold the magic to control the seasons in their land.

Sea ponies were even more isolated, never setting hoof on land. However, they had the advantage of being the oldest pony tribe.

Oh yes, Applejack. All life came from the ocean, and many of the ones who stayed there are much older than the ones who left.

The sea ponies' frame of reference for civilization was the merpeople. They occasionally saw passing ships and visited islands, but these experiences were not always pleasant and encouraged staying under the sea. Our cousin, King Leo, guided them to enlightenment the same way Mother Deer guided the deer. They learned the mechanics of the ocean and soon, the sea ponies worked the magic to keep the tides rolling.

As for the three tribes, the descendants of that first herd were of great importance in history. It took many years, but eventually, ponies learned speech. With speech came the concept of names and ideas of personal identity, which led to another change. 

It started when the herd of Blossom, Blue Belle, Minty, Snuzzle, Cotton Candy, and Butterscotch started having foals after the Rainbows. Cotton Candy's youngest foal was simply named "Baby Cotton Candy", since names were still a new concept and lacked much depth and creativity. It led to the tradition of ponies naming their children after their parents.

One day, the Moochick was visiting and brought some sugar for the herd, and when Baby Cotton Candy tasted it, a swirl of white and pink dots appeared on her flank. The Moochick inspected it, thinking it was a reaction to the sugar, but the foal seemed healthy. He had no explanation.

Then, it happened again, when Baby Minty's flank suddenly bore a ring of green leaves. And then, Baby Blossom suddenly had flowers decorating her flank. The phenomenon kept happening to all the foals born after the night of Rainbows. The ponies ended up asking for the Moochick's help to find out why it happened. He even called in Heathspike for help, since he witnessed changes in his own kind.

"Well, the marks don't come off. I tried washing one off, but that only made Baby Cotton Candy hate baths. I tried trimming the fur where they showed up, but the mark seems to be both on the hair and the skin," Heathspike pondered.

"Hmmm...perhaps it's a side effect of the Rainbows. Maybe the magic is becoming more active," The Moochick speculated as he went over his books. "Has anything like this happened among dragons?"

"Sort of. I've noticed our scale colors have become brighter over time. Maybe you're right about the Rainbow connection."

"Me scared," Baby Cotton Candy whimpered.

"Don't be scared." A young colt nuzzled her. "Mr. Moochick? Mr. Spike? You will make OK, right?"

"Oh, I'm sure she'll be fine, young colt." The Moochick patted the young pony on the head.

"Hope so. This scare Mama."

"Oh, so Cotton Candy is your mother too?" Heathspike asked.

"Yes. Name Berry." The young colt smiled.

"Well, glad to see you concerned about your sister like a good big brother." The Moochick smiled.

"Sister? Big brother?" The confused foals asked.

"Oh, dear me yes, I haven't quite introduced you to those words yet, have I? Well, you see, when two or more children are born to one parent, they're siblings. The brothers are the male siblings and the sisters are female siblings. Big brother or sister means the older sibling, and little brother or sister means the younger sibling."

"So, Berry is big brother?" Baby Cotton Candy asked. "And me, little sister?"

"Yes," Heathspike smiled. "And good big brothers and little sisters look after each other."

"Big brother pony. Me like that." Berry smiled. "Me be best big brother ever! Always be good to little sister!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a light flickered on the colt's flank. The Moochick and Heathspike gasped as an image of two ponies hugging appeared.

"Well... seems we've successfully tested that theory." The Moochick grinned awkwardly.

They observed the herd for days, and finally noticed a pattern.

"It seems a mark appears on a pony's flank whenever he or she finds something that they love, or something that they're good at," Heathspike observed. "So kinda like how finding things dragons want makes them grow...only, you know, without the growing."

"Maybe when they've found what their life's purpose should be, the magic sends them a signal in the form of those little, um, beauty marks."

Baby Cotton Candy didn't hear the last word, but tried her best to repeat it. "Uh... c-c-cutie m-marks? Is that what it called Mr. Moochick?"

"Well, I... I suppose it's as good a name as any." The elf smiled at the young pony.

As ponykind evolved, the symbols became more complex and more specific, until the marks appeared when ponies found their true destiny. And it continued through to the modern day.

The herd was often on the move, seeking a place to call their own. They settled for a time, grew crops, had children, but eventually, they always left. Predators would appear, the land would be farmed out, or some blight of Tirek came too close. 

The herd went to the west and found the most inhospitable looking place they had ever seen. After passing over a dark, rocky mountain range which included an active volcano, they found a valley of nightmares. They had stumbled upon the valley where Pandora's Box had landed.

The monsters and smoss were long gone, but the ground was so teaming with dark magic that nothing grew except horrific mutations. The forest was a maze of rotting trees that fell over if a pony brushed up against them. The only normal living things for miles were witches who saw it as sacred. The valley was dead, and if they had gone on their way, it would have stayed dead.

By all logic, they should have moved on and found somewhere else to settle, but instead driven by a need they didn't understand, they cleared the dead plants and set to healing the land. Earth ponies used their magic to drive the poisonous taint out of the soil and restore the richness of the earth. Unicorns cleaned the water and dispersed the ambient dark magic. Pegasi broke apart the dark clouds, clearing away the constant darkness over the valley. It took years, but the herd's combined efforts transformed the deathtrap into the legendary Dream Valley.

Moochick was hesitant at first...but realized that it was a perfect hiding place. After all, why would Tirek look for anything worth conquering in a place long ruined? It made the old elf laugh at the irony.

The herd built a small settlement in the valley, but it soon became clear they needed a sturdier home than the simple huts they had until that point. Besides natural predators, witches eventually came their way up as well. They preyed on the ponies for all manner of reasons ranging from labor, to magic research, to revenge for cleansing the birthplace of dark magic, to just plain spite. Yet, the ponies of Dream Valley were stronger than they expected, and they defended their home from all invaders.

These encounters led to the creation the greatest structure of ancient ponykind. If they lived in a valley of dreams, then they would defend it in a Dream Castle. They based it on an old book they found depicting a centaur outpost, one of the few that escaped Tirek's bonfires. They mined the material from a quarry packed with granite infused with a special rose quartz. It was a similar strain to the magical green crystal that nearly killed Heathspike, though much less volatile. This bright pink stone could magnify the ponies' magic, which made the valley vibrant and alive, and help them defeat many enemies.

The castle was forever remembered as a wonder of the ancient world. Dream Valley became a haven for ponies. Ponies from countless herds journeyed there over the years. Some came to stay, others left to spread the words of wisdom and hope that the Valley held.

Generations passed in Dream Valley, until the herd became the group of ponies remembered as the Paradise Ponies. 

+

"However, even after Dream Castle was built, pony society still had many changes to make. There was no nuclear family unit, for example."

"What?"

"Oh indeed. Monogamy was unheard of, and stallions still fought over mares (though now with consent and without death). Foals belonged to the whole herd, not to any single mother or father. It took much more interaction with other species before ponies adopted such practices. The Paradise Pony known as Heartthrob was one of the earliest advocates for romantic relationships."

Applejack looked so lost at the idea. For a pony whose family is so ingrained in her being, the idea of not having that dynamic must be truly alien.

"The ancient ponies were fighters. You and your friends may fight off threats to Equestria, but you are temperate with your use of force, often trying to find a peaceful route, a nonviolent solution, compromise, appealing to the enemy's better nature, reasoning with the parties involved, and offering friendship and forgiveness. Ancient ponies were less forgiving. They did not question the enemy's motives, or if there was a way to deal with the conflict without violence, because they often couldn't afford to.

"Wizards, witches, trolls, or any random beast were met with swift force. They were not overly cruel, but they had little empathy for enemies. And, in those times, in the world that Tirek had built, that mentality was needed to survive."

"Well, there's one thing Ah don't get. How in tarnation did Tirek get the Rainbow of Darkness when Heathspike was guardin' it?"

-

Heathspike spent most of his time on Tiamat's island, teaching his kind the wisdom of the Rainbows. Dragon parents taught their hatchlings the basics of flight, breathing fire, and the like, while Heathspike taught them to think beyond their basic needs. He taught them to speak, and how to think for themselves. Eventually, even the least intelligent dragon alive could still think and communicate better than Heathspike did before the coming of the Rainbows.

Heathspike had set up an advanced class of sorts on the beach. Among the flight were the forefathers of 'Dragon Town.' A blue dragon named Smokey, Prickles was green, Spiny was purple, Fiery was red and yellow, Sparks was pink, and Flash was orange. And they were still rowdy youth. 

"SILENCE!" Heathspike roared.

The young dragons were immediately quiet at their teacher's might.

"Now, who would like to open this session by reciting the noble dragon's oath?"

"I will!

"With fang and claw taking flight, I'll stand for what I know is right! What I have stored beside my heart, from me it shall never part! I defend my treasures I love so dire, who tries to take them will taste my fire! Beware to evil at my door, I'm a noble dragon, HEAR ME ROAR!"

The assembled young dragons let out a roar as was tradition for closing the oath.

"Excellent, Sparks! Now, I have a riddle! Let's see who can answer it, eh? My oldest sister both does and does not exist, my older sister feels sorry for you, my older brother says you should fight, every dragon must know my twin, I decide because you decide, my younger sister is something no one can do without, and our baby sister is all of us. Who are we?" Heathspike grinned at his class.

A little red dragon raised a claw, "Um... the Elements of Chaos?"

"Well done, Fiery!" Heathspike clapped his talons. "Youngest in the class and still sharp as Godmother's fangs! I love when you lot show your old teacher that you're as clever as I think you are."

This is the way to speak with dragons. They love riddles. When a dragon's curiosity is roused, they could theoretically talk forever. If they do not know a riddle's answer, it means there is something they don't have, and their greed will not abide it. And appeal to their egos. Dragons don't respond well to threats, but flattery will make them move mountains. Heathspike had been riddling and flattering dragonkind into self-improvement for centuries. Tiamat was forced to admit her children had grown much stronger.

"Thank you, Mr. Heathspike." Fiery blushed. "But... can I ask a question?"

"Always." Heathspike nodded.

"Well... my mom and dad say when we're grown up, we'll end up fighting each other, and other creatures for our treasure. I mean, sure, we fight all the time anyway-"

"We do not!" Yelled a blue drake named Smokey.

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

The young dragons began shoving each other until Heathspike's massive paws pushed them apart.

"NO FIGHTING DURING LESSONS!" Heathspike gave them both a stern look. "Now, please finish your question, Fiery."

"Sorry. But... if we're just going to fight each other, why are you teaching us friendship? In fact, why is it one of the Elements?"

"A good question." Heathspike gave the dragons a piercing look. "It's true; our kind aren't very social. Which is exactly why friendship is so important. Conflict breeds life, but conflict with no reason stifles it. A dragon has a duty to himself and his species to pursue and protect what is his and what he desires. That includes other dragons. Your parents, siblings, and some day, your own mates and hatchlings are treasures. Someone you treasure and who treasures you, is worth ten times their weight in gold. They are as much your treasures as the hoard you sleep on, and must be treated as such. Does a dragon throw away his hoard?"

"No!" The younger dragons cringed at the thought.

"Then, a dragon does not throw away living beings he loves any more than he would cast his hoard into the sea."

"Lovely sentiment."

Heathspike froze at the voice. He and his students saw a large red dragon land behind them. He was Ancalagrond Glaauratha Smaugoth, which was shortened to 'Smaug.' He was one of the strongest dragons of the age, and took greed too far the way a pony who robs a family and tosses their bits out for all takes generosity too far. 

Smaug had been among the first to learn from Heathspike, but his greed was wild, even by dragon standards. He was consumed with gaining more, rejecting Spike's new code to do so. He was determined to keep his spoils with him, unwilling to part with a single coin for even a moment. He forced all of his gold and jewels into his scales, until his body was covered by a twinkling skin of treasure that he called his 'diamond waistcoat.' At first glance, you might almost mistake his scales as golden.

"So, Heathspike, how goes the quest to pass on wisdom to the next generation?" The dragon grinned, giving the younger wyrms a good look at his fangs. "Taught them how to breath fire? Let me show you how it's done."

He turned to some nearby bushes and shot them with a bright blue flame. Smaug had experimented with his fire breath the way Heathspike had. He never mastered the green teleportation flame, but he'e invented a petrifying blue flame. When the fire cleared, the bushes were stone.

"Very impressive," Heathspike answered, his wing between the younger dragons and Smaug. "Now go away. You're not welcome here."

He turned and knelt on the ground, his diamond waistcoat giving a metallic scrape as he did. "Yes, Mother was rather vocal, wasn't she? Still, she overreacted a bit, don't you think?"

"You killed two dragons in their sleep and smashed their eggs!"

"I got their hoards, who cares? It's called greed!"

"You took the coward's way when you couldn't get what you wanted in a challenge, then you murdered defenseless eggs for spite!" Heathspike snorted smoke in anger. "You're not greedy, you're a bully!"

"Maybe you forgot, 'teacher', we're predators! We're born to kill!"

"Predators kill to eat and defend themselves, not for the sake of it!"

"You think Godmother never had a dragon kill to prove themselves? Have you never felt that thrill of breathing flames on puny creatures and the air fills with screams? The rush as they try to run from your closing jaws? The joy of taking their treasures from their ashes?"

Heathspike kept a straight face. "Oh, went on another treasure hunt? Finally gotten enough yet? Or at least that you can't carry it all with you?"

"There is no 'enough' for a dragon! I would think one who claims to be our greatest teacher, who once defied the Goddess Herself in pursuit of what he wanted, would know that greed drives a dragon."

"Your greed is a mockery! Your hoard is worthless to you, you are never happy unless you seek more fool!"

"I'm no fool, spiked worm, you are! You treasure creatures that age and die, my treasure will never leave me." 

Heathspike smirked. "And how will you take it with you to Tartarus?" 

Smaug's eyes briefly rose before he quelled it. "I did not come here to argue philosophy. You have something I want."

"You want my hoard? Godmother banished you, you can't challenge me."

Yes, Applejack, you heard right. Smaug holds the 'honor' of being the one piece of her hoard Tiamat has ever parted with.

"I don't care. Godmother and Godfather will understand after the world is mine."

"And how do you intend to do that?"

"With that." Smaug pointed a talon to the dark bag around Heathspike's wrist.

"You will never have this. Never!"

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Heathspike.The Rainbow of Darkness should have been mine from the start! I am more of a dragon than you will ever be! With its power, the world will be my hoard! Through me, dragons will rule again! FOREVER!"

"You sound like Tirek," Heathspike growled, the young dragons whimpered in fear at the name.

"So? He's a survivor, he takes what he wants, and never bothers with those he steps on to get it! His kind almost wiped out ours and he destroyed them! Now he's on his way to conquering the world! He's certainly more dragon than you!"

Heathspike rose up and spread his wings. "I was chosen as the guardian of the Rainbow of Darkness by divine providence! It will never be yours!"

"If that is how it is..." Smaug turned away, but then grinned. "By the way, Heathspike, thought you'd like to know, I saw your mate earlier. She was very protective, what with your brood just about to hatch. I counted ten when I left. Sadly, they're all gone now."

Heathspike froze. "What."

"Oh yes. See, I was the LAST one to see your mate. Oh, she fought bravely, but she died at my claws trying to save her eggs. And the eggs? They're gone as well. She tried to flee with them, and I made sure they dropped from a mile up." The drake unfurled his wing, revealing a large dragon egg. "Except one."


"Smaug, what do you think you're doing?" Heathspike tried vainly to sound calm, but it was pointless. He was confronted by every parent's worst fear; some heartless monster had killed his wife and children and now held the last one hostage. The Rainbow of Darkness in his bag pulsed, giving off a dark blue glow.

The young flight were speechless. The egg in Smaug's claws were the only thing keeping Heathspike from eating him alive. 

"I'm following my nature! If you won't accept my challenge, I'll make you!" He picked the egg up in his claws and raised it high.

"DON'T! The Rainbow's yours, just put her egg down!" Heathspike desperately roared.

"Oh, Heathspike, we both know a dragon NEVER willingly gives away what's his unless beaten for it. So, I guess I'll have to properly motivate you." Smaug grinned and unleashed a flame on the egg.

"NO!" Heathspike cried in horror and sorrow. Heathspike flew right for his unhatched child, but it was over in a moment and only a stone egg remained. 

"If you had just accepted a duel for the Rainbow, this conflict would have been over easy, but I guess you'll have to settle for hard boiled," Smaug threw the petrified egg into Heathspike's face, it hit the ground with a thug.

The dragon shook with rage as he glared down at the stone remains of his unborn spawn. That egg sadly remains stone to this day. Queen Tiamat has left a standing request to know if the transformation is ever undone, assuming the egg is not simply dead.

Heathspike growled. "Hatchlings, all of you leave now."

"But, Mr. Heathspike..." Spiny began to say. 	

"GO NOW!" The elder dragon shook the island with his roar.

The hatchlings scampered off, leaving Heathspike and Smaug out for blood.

I presume Tiamat heard as well. A part of me imagines she was curious if Smaug could remove Tirek from power, and let dragons become lords of Equus once again where Heathspike had not, where she could not without ruining the prize. Of course, I also imagine she fully intended to rend Smaug limb from limb if Heathspike won and did not do so himself. She is complicated. 

"Well, well... is old Heathspike rattled?" Smaug smiled at his enemy's flaming nostrils. "Now do you see the folly of valuing other creatures over wealth? Life is fleeting, but things never leave you. Now, are you going to-AH!"

Smaug was abruptly cut off by the older dragon's tail slamming into his face. Smaug hit the sand hard, and Heathspike tore into his enemy with a vengeance. Smaug raised his claws to fend off the barrage of talons and fists, and let loose a burst of fire.

Heathspike jumped back as the flames blinded him. Smaug lunged forward and knocked Heathspike into a patch of boulders. The red dragon slashed and bit at the older drake, who returned the strikes in kind. Hot blood colored the rocks around them. 

"HERE, HAVE ANOTHER PRETTY STONE TO STICK IN YOUR CHEST!" Heathspike broke a boulder from the ground and smashed it into Smaug's side.

The greedy dragon groaned as the boulder hit a weak spot in his left breast. Smaug rolled away and took to the air, Heathspike hot on his tail. The dragons dived and looped through the air, Smaug staying ahead by a slim margin. The Rainbow of Darkness had greatly extended Heathspike's life, and his experience and prime with it, but Smaug had been in battle almost constantly in his shorter life, challenging anything alive he came across, including other dragons. 

"Let's see how well you chase me now!"

Smaug turned mid-flight and shot fire at Heathspike's wings. The older dragon roared in pain as the fire sliced through the thin membranes. His wings ripped as he lost altitude. He tried to steady his wings and glide, but slammed into the beach. Smaug laughed in triumph as Heathspike crashed into the sand.

"Your time is over, old lizard! You wasted the Rainbow's power to spread 'friendship' when you could have owned the world! Now, I'll be master of both! You never LEARNED how to use it as a weapon! I'll have everything I want! EVERYTHING! And death will never steal it! And why? Because I'm stronger than you!"

Smaug flew over the fallen dragon and shot another fireball into his back. "Because I'm better than you!"

He flew past again, dropping threw boulders on Heathspike.

"And you can't fight me!"

He landed on top of Heathspike and clawed his throat.

"You're right," Heathspike croaked as blood seeped from his mouth.

Smaug frowned at the older dragon's admission.

"You're younger and stronger than me. Even with all that treasure weighing you down, you were faster than me. And you are truly the greediest dragon alive."

Smaug smiled at the flattery. "You have nice manners for a weakling and a liar."

"But there is something you forgot."

"What is that?"

"This!"

Heathspike roared and spat a column of green flames at Smaug. It hit the other dragon right in the chest, but when it dissipated, Smaug stood unharmed.

"What? You think I forgot dragons breathe fire?"

"No, what my green flame does."

The greedy brute looked down at his chest and gasped. His scaly underbelly was exposed. The section of gold and jewels that covered his chest was gone.

Smaug was frothing at the mouth. "MY TREASURE! WHERE IS IT?!"

Heathspike just grinned and pointed towards the edge of the beach. Smaug turned and saw a green cloud flying over the water. It burst into a puff of fiery smoke and a ton and a half of gold and gems fell out of the sky towards the ocean.

"NO!" Smaug flew off towards his treasures.

Heathspike rolled onto his back and reached for the sack tied around his wrist.

"Rainbow of Darkness... I need your help. I'm dying, you'll end up with that disgrace of a dragon and everything we've built... it'll all be gone. And... and a dragon defends what's his!"

He opened the sack and the Rainbow of Darkness flew out. It bonded with its guardian, returning his strength enough to finish the battle.

Smaug watched in horror as part of his hoard disappeared in a splash. He dove into the sea after them, grasping at tiny bits of treasure that were nearly impossible to see in the dark blue water.

Heathspike struck as Smaug tried to catch his treasure. He dove into the water, wrapped his limbs around the evil dragon. Under water, both dragons movements were inhibited, but Heathspike had an advantage. The tons of metal and stones stuck to Smaug's body weighed him down; every move and attack took more effort than it should have, and they still came too slow. Wings devoted to keeping himself afloat.

Heathspike slashed at Smaug's exposed chest, going for the greedy drake's black heart. Smaug clawed back. He tried to use his fire breath, but underwater, it only unleashed a scalding blast of bubbles. Heathspike leaped away, and Smaug lunged at him. His jaws snapped shut around the Rainbow Guardian's neck and thrashed about.

Heathspike gasped as Smaug's teeth cut into his neck. They were both sinking under the weight of Smaug's hoard, and they both knew that every dragon must be willing to die to guard what is theirs. Heathspike knew he would die fighting for what was his, but even if that day had come, he wouldn't lose to the dragon who murdered his family.

Heathspike sank his claws so deep into Smaug's chest wound that he scraped rib bone. Smaug released his hold on Heathspike's neck and silently howled. The purple dragon locked his forelegs around his opponent's head and dragged him upwards, his tail wrapping around Smaug's torso like a boa constrictor. Smaug lashed out, but couldn't break the hold. Heathspike needed to get back above the water. He had to finish this.

The raging dragons burst out of the ocean with a chorus of roars as Smaug fought to escape Heathspike's headlock.

"You think you're so strong!" Heathspike seethed. "But inside, you're empty!"

Smaug was reduced to a raving beast. He clawed and scratched and bit in a blind rage, but Heathspike just held him tighter as they flew higher.

"You can't get enough to fill the hole inside you, can you?! It must be torture!"

He grabbed Smaug's jaws and wrenched the dragon's mouth open. Heathspike's throat began emitting a dark rainbow colored light.

"I'm going to end your pain! I'M GOING TO END YOU!"

With a piercing roar, Heathspike breathed a blazing inferno stoked by the Rainbow of Darkness itself right down Smaug's throat. The greedy dragon's insides ignited from the dark magic fire. Smaug knew fear, death had come and he could take nothing with him.

Before Heathspike could react, Smaug exploded with the force of a volcanic eruption. The Chiefest and Greatest of Calamities reduced to a black cloud rising out of the ocean and a rain of ash and scorched gold. 

The blast flung Heathspike two miles into the sky. He rolled over and over in the air, the wind whipping his broken body as he launched into the stratosphere. His magically charged wings opened and weakly flapped. He was able to right himself in the air, but it wouldn't last for long without the Rainbow.

"Thank you, my friend," Heathspike groaned to the Rainbow of Darkness. It hurt so much to talk.

Heathspike glided on the wind for a few moments, taking in the sunset. He smiled up at the stars peeking out from the darkened sky. He saw the forests, rivers and cities stretching out across the horizon. He saw Dream Castle illuminate as Dream Valley welcomed the night. He saw the red glow of lava on Tiamat's island lighting up the dark sea. He couldn't be more proud as he saw the world that he and his friends had made.

"We...we did it, Moochick... It took... so long... but it was worth it. We made a better world. Look how far we've come since those first days of Ponyland. All the creatures we've helped, all the great things we did, and all the friends we made.... No dragon could ask for a greater hoard. I only hope... those who come after us... protect this treasure like a true, noble dragon."

The Rainbow of Darkness left his body and returned to the sack. Without the Rainbow, his strength fell away and his body quickly succumbed to his injuries. He was covered in second and third degree burns, his legs were broken, hundreds of gems and gold coins riddled his flesh from the explosion, his wings were in tatters, and he had lost too much blood.

He fell out of the sky, smiling despite the pain. He plunged from three miles up, his eyes on my night sky, content with it being his last sight. As he fell, my brother Mortis was already coming to his side, having cast Smaug into Havoc's waiting maw as the wind blows away dust. The near presence of death let him peer through the Veil, and he saw me. He saw me as the Night, and offered up his broken forelimb, bearing the sack of the Rainbow of Darkness.

"Please...take it... find a new guardian... find someone worthy."

There was no precedent for this. It was assumed the Rainbows would be passed on by the Guardians, not be given back to one of us. However, I was more than willing to accept it. The Rainbow of Darkness was comprised of the Elements of Chaos, but the Darkness was mine. I was there when it was forged, giving it the power of the Night, just as Celestia imbued its twin with Light to give them both form and power to exist as living energy and not intangible ideas. 

I took the bag from him just as Mortis took hold of his soul. Heathspike's spirit was ferried off to his just reward, while his body fell and disappeared beneath the waves. Tiamat wept for the loss of such a crown jewel of her hoard. The first Guardian of the Rainbow of Darkness was gone, and I had the chance to find someone worthy of guarding it.

I failed. Spectacularly.

Mere hours after Heathspike died, Tirek was holding a meeting with his lieutenants in Midnight Castle. He had countless creatures in his service, but he kept a small inner circle to run his empire's infrastructure, and coordinate his campaign of conquest. They never numbered more than five and he took steps to ensure their loyalty; he believed fewer direct subordinates meant fewer traitors. Or rather left little room for incompetent traitors who he couldn't stand the sight of.

His second in command was away leading a campaign on this night, leaving four lieutenants at their master's command. There was O'Brien, a ruthless elderly human who ran Tirek's spy network, Lancaster, a lecherous dwarf who enforced the laws of the land, and Ranahtu, a cunning warlock who advised on all things mystical and magical. His last lieutenant, a large black wolf, lay curled up in the corner of the room, watching the meeting with passing interest.

"Your second-in-command has assisted the gnome king's brother in taking the throne. However, the crown prince has escaped." O'Brien reported.

"Sloppy work. Send word that the boy must be killed."

"Permission to speak freely, Master?" O'Brien asked with much trepidation.

Tirek gave the old man a shrewd look. "Granted."

"Your second-in-command is a fool. This isn't his first blunder and won't be the last. He has no respect for his position or his title. Lord, he must be replaced."

Tirek chuckled. "Bold words, especially from a lowly human. However, if you think him unworthy, you are free to do something about it."

"Yes, Master." O'Brien bowed.

"Master, we've received more tributes." Lancaster said. "We've received gifts from Wizard Wantall, Baron Badblood, King Nolaf, King Renvick, and the Duke of Zill. Also, Lavan crushed the head of my messenger and demanded I come claim his tribute personally, saying 'I will not give treasure to a slave'." 

Tirke chuckled. "If the messenger was weak enough to die, Lavan had the right. O'Brien had best be quick, or Lavan may claim the position he covets for himself at my side." O'Brien said nothing, but looked indignant.

"Oh, and we received letters proposing an alliance by marriage from Princess Mombie, Queen Ravenna, and Lady Creedence Leonore Gielgud.'"

"No, no, and YE GODS, NO!" Tirek snapped his fingers and the letters burst into flames. "Scheming wenches. As if they were worthy of my majesty. My only lady is the night, and I will have no other."

"Well said, Lord." Lancaster nodded, brushing the ashes off his hands.

"Ranahtu, what was this news on Tambelon?"

His master magician bowed. "Well, Master, while it has been 488 years since it disappeared, I have concluded that the spell trapping it in the Realm of Darkness is weakening. Judging by the magical signature, the doorway between realms is getting stronger, and Tambelon will eventually return to this dimension."

"How long will it take?"

"Another decade, perhaps two. If Grogar's powers have increased in his absence, he may speed it up."

"Then, we shall welcome waiting for the traitorous old goat. There is one last matter. An assassination plot against me in my own castle."

The others at the table gasped.

"I found this hidden under the base of one of the gargoyles." Tirek pulled out an ornate dagger. "Impressive little weapon. Pure mithril. Not often used to forge weapons. And the blade is decorated with runes, obviously some spell to ensure extra magical effects. Whoever did this thought that magical measures might make the weapon affect me."

"Perhaps one of the witches?" O'Brien speculated.

"No, this is light magic, which they would see as against their 'evil worshipping' code. No, this was made with magic to counteract my own powers. It must be a powerful weapon."

Tirek raised the dagger and thrust it into his shoulder. The blade shattered against his skin. With a scoff, he crushed the hilt and let it bounce across the table.

"Glorified butterknife."

"Well, whoever plotted such a cowardly attack, it would have failed anyway." Lancaster shrugged.

"Indeed. You must feel stupid for wasting time on that useless thing, eh Lancaster?"

The dwarf frowned in confusion. "I don't know what you mean, Master."

"That was your dagger. Mithril is chiefly used by dwarves, and the runes were clearly ancient dwarf spells. Not only did you make a weapon that would fail, you were stupid enough to hide it in an obvious spot! Seize him."

Lancaster leapt from his seat to run, but was tackled to the floor. He looked up in horror at the giant wolf standing over him, its massive fangs glinting in the candlelight. He winced in pain as the wolf sank its claws into his arms.

"Say the word and I'll tear out his throat, Master." The wolf growled.

"No, Gmork," Tirek said. "I'll deal with him myself."

The Dark Lord stood and trotted calmly to the pinned dwarf. Gmork growled in Lancaster's face, daring him to move as his master approached.

"I admit, I suspected an ulterior motive to joining my council, seeing as most dwarf clans have declared themselves my enemies for generations. I assumed ambition. After all, you wouldn't be the first creature to forsake family and country for wealth and power. You were effective in your duty, but there was always something off about you. I'll give you credit, you hid your secrets longer than most, but, none can hide forever from the eyes of Midnight Castle."

To Lancaster's horror, the guards burst back into the room with a beautiful dark haired woman. She stared vacantly ahead and stood stiffly between the guards, her body covered in scars.

"Sibel?! You tortured her?!" Lancaster glared at O'Brien.

"I prefer to think of it as I helped her overcome her delusions." O'Brien shrugged as he turned to the girl. "Did I not, dear?"

"I was insane. I denied the power of the true master of the world," Sibel droned in a monotone voice. "I have been cured of my madness. I humbly ask to be allowed to serve Lord Tirek."

"Then the Dark Lord of All shall grant your request," Tirek said magnanimously. He walked to the broken girl and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. He turned to Lancaster and smiled cruelly. "Remember this, Lancaster. All this is on your head. Now watch as I make a revenant out of your little slut!"

"NO!"

Do you recall the centaurs' fear that the Moochick had used the mana transfer to suck out the dying man's soul? Tirek made that fear real. The dwarf cried in horror as Tirek started the mana transfer on the woman he loved. The dark centaur sucked every drop of magic from her and kept going. Her eyes turned milky white, as the very life was sucked dry and her soul was ripped from her body and was absorbed by the Dark Lord.

Then, Tirek dug his claws into the lifeless woman's chest, and sent a dark magic pulse straight to her nervous system. Her heart started beating, the brain started back up, and the lungs filled. The woman's now milky white eyes opened, staring mindlessly at Tirek. Sibel's soul was gone, but her body was now driven by dark magic and still functioned like a puppet on strings.

That is a revenant, Applejack. A being neither alive nor dead. After Tirek tore the soul from the body, there was no way to restore it to life, but the spell kept the body from being technically dead, so the soul was unable move on to the afterlife. The victims' mindless bodies served Tirek like machines, never stopping, resting, or dying. Their trapped spirits were forced to watch their earthly bodies serve their killer. He saved this fate for those that truly enraged him, and still he made countless revenants during his reign. Sometimes he wondered if devouring his family's souls and making them revenants, forced to be the lowest of his slaves forever would have been more satisfying.

"YOU BASTARD!" Lancaster would have lunged at him, if the wolf were not holding him down.

"Silence! Get him up." Gmork backed off Lancaster and the Reptilians tied him his council seat.

"You worked your way to my inner circle to kill me. Your woman told us this was a revenge plot. So, tell me, Lancaster, what did I do to earn this little vendetta?"

"Twenty years ago, you invaded the city of Crystal Port! My brother was king; he went to fight, and you killed him! I evacuated, but I could still hear the screams as you flayed him alive! For last decade, I've worked my way up the ladder until I got a seat at your council table! All I had to do was wait for the right moment to kill you, just as you killed my brother!"

"Hmm..." Tirek stroked his beard. "I don't recall that, but if you say so."

"You don't remember?!"

"Do you remember every ant you step on? Still, you had the courage to try and kill me, despite being little more than an ant yourself. So, I won't kill you."

"W-What?"

"Though, it makes me wonder what your plan was. Attacking me with that letter opener in the heart of Midnight Castle? Tell me, what was your plan beyond stabbing me? Did you intend to escape? Were you planning on taking over my empire? Perhaps you would pull a Pegasus from under your shirt and fly away?"

"I... I..."

"I also find it interesting that you've been on my council for years. Why haven't you tried to kill me before?"

"I... I had to pick the right moment!"

"Oh? And this is it? Why?"

"It... it's my brother's birthday. It seemed like a perfect time for justice."

Tirek's laughter echoed off the walls as everyone else stood frozen by the sound.

"You still think you have the so-called moral high ground, eh? Well, isn't it interesting then that you came all this way for 'justice' by doing everything required to be in my inner circle. Tell me, how many executions have you ordered? How much blood did you spill to maintain your cover? How many did you kill for your chance to kill me and make your brother proud?"

"I HAD TO! YOU KILLED MY BROTHER! HE HAD TO GO FACE THE WAR YOU BROUGHT TO OUR HOME!"

"Oh, I see... Your brother abandoned you. He went to fight and left you alone. He loved you, but not enough to live, eh? Not enough to choose his own brother over insipid platitudes of honor and duty. He wasn't strong enough. And you hate him for it. Well, I can certainly understand that. My own brother was a fool who died and left me to deal with worthless insects like you."

The dwarf gave no answer, which made Tirek grin all the more. 

"Be honest, this wasn't about trying to kill me, this was about you wanting to die trying. So you could be comforted in dying like a 'hero' against the big bad Lord Tirek. As if you owe it to your precious brother to die fighting. I may have killed him, but you let him die, isn't that right? Isn't that what you've told yourself a thousand times in the dark?"

Tirek clutched the dwarf's throat and lifted him off his chair until they were face to face.

"So, you plan this pitiful 'assassination attempt' to pretend you aren't just taking the coward's way out, as I'm sure you've thought of doing for years. Well, Lord Tirek is no one's tool. You do not have my permission to die. You will never see your corpse of a sibling or beg his forgiveness in the hereafter. Instead, you will share your little harlot's fate and serve me forever!"

Lancaster screamed as he joined Sibel in her fate. The dwarf revenant marched and stood by the woman, both awaiting orders.

"Tomorrow, send these two husks to the Marquis de Libertine as a token for his loyal service. No doubt he'll find use for them in his 120 day revels." Tirek commanded a reptilian, as he took the undead dwarf and woman away. Tirek gave one last disgusted look. "Justice. Fool. Only the powerful decide what justice is." 

"He waited all these years to avenge his brother and lost home, only to fail and damn himself and the woman he loved." Ranahtu chuckled. “I love days like this."

"I would have liked to rip his worthless neck out. It's been too long since I've tasted blood of the unworthy." Gmork growled.

"Fear not, Gmork, you'll have your fill soon enough. Ranahtu, O'Brien; you two will oversee the laws until I find Lancaster's replacement."

"Yes, Master."

"Now, unless there is any new business, I adjourn this meeting." Tirek's minions left him alone, allowing him to sigh in relief. "Finally! Now I can attend to what is truly important."

He retired to his private chambers and went out to the balcony of the tallest tower. The perpetual storm raged above his head, lighting up the sky with lightning. He smiled at the view; all he surveyed was his, and all was in darkness. With a snap of his fingers, the storm subsided and the clouds parted.

The moon and stars shone down on Midnight Castle, and Tirek smiled contentedly. My night was the only thing in his life he loved besides power.

"Oh, glorious Lady Night. You've won another battle, and driven the sun away again as I've driven my own enemies into the grave. At last, the moon can gaze down upon my work again. The Night wins. Darkness wins. Why won't the insects out there accept that? They shun your glory and rejoice under the cursed sun, the fools. But things shall change. I will show this world where the true power lies. Even if it takes until the end of all things, I will MAKE this world embrace the night and forsake the day. The glory of the night will never end. I've offered you this rose countless times, yet you still never answer. Why, Lady? Come to me, and let me prove I am worthy of your love!"

I had heard this line from him for ages but I never bothered to answer. That night however... perhaps it was the Rainbow weighing on me, or perhaps I was just in the mood to be adored, because I appeared before him as a pure spirit. In his eyes, a dark blue centaurette with stars in my black hair and the moon over my heart. A great owl perched on my shoulder and a large bat hung from my wrist.

My animal companions spoke. "Our Lady, Her Nightjesty of Dreams and Nightmares, Eighteenth Luna Nyx Selene, Concept of the Night, has heard your words and has seen fit to grace you with her presence."

Tirek stood frozen, eyes wide and jaw agape, dumbstruck at the sight of me. He not only saw my manifestation, but he saw me as I truly am. He witnessed my concept in all its beauty, power, and grandeur. He fell on the ground, and, for the first time in his life, he bowed to another in humble reverence and respect to someone else. He had been infatuated with the goddess the centaurs depicted me as, but he had fallen in love all over again at the sight of me.

"My Lady... you are even more beautiful than I ever imagined. The statues, the paintings, the songs, they didn't do you justice."

The bat gazed down at Tirek and spoke. "Her Nightjesty acknowledges your praise."

"Why do you appear now, my Lady? I've loved you from the moment I knew what the night was! I called out to the stars, sang to the face of the moon and pledged my heart to the darkness since I was a child! I have called to you for countless nights and never had an answer!"

The owl hooted. "Her Nightjesty is not a dog who comes when called. She has seen fit to appear to you this night of her own accord of her own design."

"Her Nightjesty has heard your claims that you will make all creatures love the night and reject the day. Did you not say these things?"

"I did indeed! And I will do all I have said!"

The owl hooted. "Yet, if you are able to do this, why have you not done it yet?"

Tirek glared at the owl. "I will not have my vows to my Lady questioned by a mere bird."

My owl flew down before him. "We speak for Her Nightjesty. The Concept of the Night does not speak to the unworthy mortal-"

Tirek crushed my owl's head. "I. AM. WORTHY!"

"Her Nightjesty is not sure," the bat replied, untroubled by his companion's sudden death, I merely absorbed his essence.

"I shall do it! All I ask for is your love, my Lady! Lord Tirek the Conqueror, Slayer of the Unworthy, Master of Midnight Castle, Ruler of the World, Dealer of Life and Death, Prince of Darkness, King of the Living, Emperor of the Dead, and Dark Lord of All, swears this to you! I will give you the entire world if you say you will be mine!"

I nearly laughed at him. 'The entire world,' he had said. He may as well have offered one grain of sand in the desert.

"Most of this world already bows to me, but I will make them all bow to you! Every creature beneath the moon will worship you and deny your sibling, the day!"

"If you have the power to make the world love the night, why have you not done so before? You have held untold power for centuries and you still have not even taken the entire world for yourself."

"I am all powerful and immortal, and therefore have all the time in the world to play a game I will inevitably win. I did not wish to end the game so soon, but now I have a prize to win that is worth more than dominion over these pathetic mortals. To win your heart, Lady Luna Nyx Selene, I will conquer all in your name! I will make every living soul rejoice in the night! Your darkness will rule over all things! Even if I have to kill the sun itself to do it!"

I stared at him in contemplation. For all his arrogance, I knew that his love for my concept was earnest and very real. I had no intention of being his queen or whatever fantasy he was entertaining, but I was flattered. I had never heard such devotion from a mortal being before. And then, I made a mistake that has haunted me and the ponies of the world for millennia.

"Her Nightjesty has seen fit to offer thee a test of your devotion."

I reached forth my hand and held out Heathspike's magic sack. I pulled the cord loose and the Rainbow of Darkness rushed out at my summons. It danced through the air around Midnight Castle, showing us in its beauty. Tirek gazed up in awe, presumably recognizing it from the night it was born. I ordered the Rainbow back to the bag and tied it off. I levitated the bag down before the awestruck centaur.

"This is the Rainbow of Darkness, the Fruit of Life, composed of the Elements of Chaos and imbued with all that the Night is, was, and ever shall be. Her Nightjesty bestows this gift upon you with a single command: use it to do something great to prove your love of the night."

Tirek seized the Rainbow of Darkness and held it like it was the most precious treasure he'd ever laid eyes on. "I shall, my Lady. I swear it! I shall bring the glory to the Night That Never Ends!"

+

I couldn't bring myself to look at Applejack in the silence that followed. I knew all too well that this moment was coming. I tried to prepare myself for it.

Imagine having a colt who declared his love for you, even if you did not return his feelings. It's flattering.

"Ya gave it to him."

The stunned horror in her voice made an ice block form in my stomach.

"Ya... just gave the Rainbow of Darkness to him?! After everythin' he did?! After killin' his own people?! His own FAMILY? After tryin' ta kill the guys who guarded the Rainbows to in the first place?! After hundreds of years of evil, YOU GAVE IT TO HIM?! Wha... WHAT THE BUCK WERE YOU THINKING?!"

Applejack didn't speak for a few minutes after that, but I could hear her breathing hard. She must have been furious and trying to calm down enough to decide what to say next.

"Princess Luna... turn around."

I am not used to being given orders, but I felt compelled to obey. I turned to face Applejack and was met with two hooves to my face. I rolled with the momentum of the kicks, otherwise, Applejack's hooves would have broken on impact. I looked back at her and saw the Truth shining in her eyes.

"Are. You. Sorry?" She couldn't hide the rage and disgust in her voice. 

I felt like I was a foal again, facing my Parents after getting into trouble...in a sense, I was. The Truth hit me and I couldn't stop the stream of words.

"Yes. I told you when we started, Applejack, I would tell you the truth, warts and all. This is the truth: I was not the same as I am now. I was an adult in body, but a child in mind and spirit. Children can be selfish, cruel, stupid, petty creatures. Especially when they have the power I had. I was a goddess, and I believed that meant I could do no wrong. I was the night, so I presumed to hold sole authority over the Rainbow of Darkness. I took it and decided to give it to someone without even asking my Family or the Draconequi if a new Guardian was chosen. I had no frame of reference, and acted on my own impulse.

"And why? Because... I was a vain, self-centered foal who couldn't see the forest for the trees. I knew he was evil, and I didn't care. He loved my night. He loved me. After so long having living beings fear or spurn the dark, here was someone who wanted and desired me. I saw him as an ant, but at least he wanted to be my ant...I believed he truly understood me, as my other sister's lover truly understood her...but he truly understood her in a way Tirek could never understand anything else except himself... I was flattered, and I thought perhaps with the Rainbow he might honestly accomplish something that would make the Night be revered! I had no idea how he would use it!

"I dishonored my family, and my own night! My carelessness brought about the death of the Rainbow of Darkness, and nearly brought on the undoing of the world! And I've had to live with it longer than you can imagine!"

She stared at me for endless seconds, weighing on every word, even if they were true.

"Fine." She turned away, and the Truth went out. "But Ah'm still a might peeved." 

"You have a right to be. I gave him a piece of Creation Itself, a piece of myself, meant to enlighten the world, and he used it in ways that I never dreamed. Before, he was a threat to all life in the world. After I gave him the Rainbow of Darkness... he became a threat to Creation Itself."



> BONUS CHAPTER! EQUESTRIA GIRLS HISTORY BY PERSONA22
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The small pack of giant meat eating tyrannosaurs were smelling the air for prey, the alpha dinosaur of the pack, Tiamat, lead the way. Her kind was normally solitary or only hunted in small groups, but Tiamat had a special sway over the others to make them work as a unit. Finally, they came across a big lake were a herd of duck billed dinosaurs were quietly eating. Tiamat charged at the duck billed dinosaurs, and the rest of the hunting pack followed her. Hunting for prey was the one way Tiamat's pack would survive in the harsh world.

---

The big herd of duck billed dinosaurs were quietly eating plants, the adults surrounding the smaller ones to keep them safe. The duck billed dinosaur leading the herd was Tiamat, she ate and raised her head constantly, looking out for danger. Suddenly, she saw a hunting pack of tyrannosaurs. Sounding the alarm, she and the rest of the duck billed dinos ran away as fast as they could. Tiamat knew that there were safety in numbers, only by staying together they would survive in the harsh world.

---

At the other side of the lake, a herd of triceratops looked up as the herd of duck billed dinosaurs ran away from a hunting pack of tyrannosaurs. The alpha of the triceratops herd, Tiamat, kept a watchful eye in case any of the tyrannosaurs got any ideas and try to hunt her herd of triceratops. She wasn't too worried, however, if any of the meat eating dinosaurs tried to attack, they would all defend themselves with their sharp horns. It was kill or be killed, and Tiamat knew that it was the way to survive in the harsh world.

---

The herd of armored ankylosaurs looked from a distance as the duck billed dinosaurs ran away from the hunting pack of tyrannosaurs. They weren't worried at all. Their mighty armored skin and shell like skeleton would keep them safe from any predators, and if that didn't do the trick, they had the thagomizer on the end of their tail that would teach the creatures not to mess with them. The alpha of the pack, Tiamat, didn't even give the tyrannosaurs a second look. They didn't need to attack the carnivores, they just need to keep a good defense and they would be left alone. Tiamat knew that this was the way to survive in the harsh world.

---

The giant long necks of the apatosaur herd was completely oblivious to their surroundings as they ate the leaves of the branches from the tallest trees. Tiamat, the alpha of the herd, could hear some other dinosaurs running in the distance, as others were chasing them. She didn't really care, their giant size made for an excellent deterrent for any predator to hunt them, and they were far from defenseless, as much of that bulk was pure muscle and their multiton tail could break the sound barrier in a tail whip. Nobody dared to cross the herd of apatosaurs. Tiamat knew that being big enough that everyone respected you was the way to survive in the harsh world.

---

Suddenly, every dinosaur stopped what they were doing and looked up, what seemed like a giant rock made out of fire! The fireball was approaching the ground at a distance. Five heads of the five Tiamats rose up and looked up at the skies in confusing, as they didn't know what to make of it.

The giant fireball finally hit the ground, and a blinding explosion brighter than a hundred suns blinded the dinosaurs, and that was the last thing they saw. The sound of the explosion wave reached the dinosaurs, and that was the last thing they heard, the sound deafening them. Finally, the shockwave of the impact, stronger than a thousand tornadoes, swept them away... and that was the last thing they felt.

+++

"What in Dad's name was THAT!?" exclaimed the concept of Evolution, as she grabbed her head with her two regular, non-stoned, hands/claws, as she saw the destruction all over Earth. The giant asteroid's impact had killed everything around it, and the impact was so hard that it made pieces of Earth fly up and then fall down, the skies were darkened for days, causing the temperature to drop drastically and most plants to die from lack of sunlight.

There was no way to avoid it, after over 165 million years the dinosaurs, the most successful species ever to populate the world, were going extinct.

"Hey, Strife, don't look at me," said the concept of Destruction defensively, "I wasn't going to do anything, but Chance asked me to."

The concept of Luck got closer to Strife and placed a reassuring hand on her sister's shoulder, "I'm sorry sis, the odds of the asteroid hitting the Earth was one in 300 thousand... pretty fair odds if I say so myself, but if they stay long enough, if I flip the coin enough times, then one is bound to land in the asteroids favor. It had to happen, I can't go against the coin."

"They were so perfectly adaptable... a masterpiece," said Strife as she could do nothing but watch helplessly as the dinosaurs died from cold and starvation, "They were adapting to everything! Cold weather, hot weather, volcanoes, earthquakes, floods, fires, an increase in the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere, a decrease in the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere... over a million years... all gone in an instant."

"It's... it's not so bad, I mean, look, all the roaches are fine," said Chance.

"The roaches are ALWAYS fine!" snapped Strife, "that's not the point!"

Pandora teleported there as well in a flash. "The Water Bears survived too," pointed out the concept of Imagination.

"Yes... I think I overdid it with those," replied Strife, the impact of the asteroid had hurled some of them into space, and they were still alive.

Strife sighed, "No, you're right. The dinosaurs were fine to adapt to anything that nature could throw at them... but I didn't account for any external factor. Well, it's time to start over... again," said Strife, remembering that big extinction event at the end of the Permian period, she was sure that the dinosaurs that emerged at the Triassic were going to be able to survive anything, but the meteor just proved her wrong. She took out a notepad and began to take notes, "Now, it's not enough for them to survive things that come from Earth itself, like fires, changes in the weather and atmosphere, earthquakes and volcanoes... whatever comes next needs to be able to survive things from outside the Earth. So... they would need to develop sapience, become smart, be able to manipulate their environment, and eventually be able to either stop celestial bodies from killing them, or travel to other planets. So better if they start putting emphasis on the size of their brains... now, let's take a look." Strife scribbled some things on her notepad and looked back at the world.

"Let's see what we have to work with here... well, the dinosaurs are out of the question, of course, just a few birds there, and while they're smart they don't have hands. The giant flying reptiles and giant sea reptiles are out too. Land reptiles are fine, but I already gave those an opportunity... hmm... those mammals, they emerged right at the same time as dinosaurs, small, easy to hide, warm blooded, not much to look at... but they were ALSO able to survive as long as the dinosaurs did... they are good at climbing things... hmmm, Pandora, got any ideas?"

"Oh, certainly," said the concept of Imagination happily as she joined her two sisters, and Destruction. Pandora snapped her fingers and a big file cabinet appeared, she opened one and took out a piece of paper. She handed it over to Strife, "I call it an ‘opposable thumb' I think it's going to be big!"

"Opposable thumbs, yes, this could work out," said Strife.

---

A few million years later...

"Well, these mammals are quite adaptable to this new environment, I must say," stated Strife. "They are covering basically all the niches that the dinosaur's extinction left open."



"Wow, look at the primates go!" stated Pandora, "See? What did I tell you? Opposable thumbs."

"I must say that the primates are the best candidates to develop into a sentient species and develop a society and such. Well, maybe the dolphins too, but they don't have the right anatomy... And the elephants, but their developing is simply taking too long..."

---

"Well, the humans are coming along nicely," stated Chance.

"Yes, I'm pretty sure that Anarchy is going to be quite busy with them," said Strife.

"If he ever gets around to it," stated Chance, rolling her eyes. "But Dizzy is getting quite excited about them as well."

"That's nice to hear... I just hope he doesn't overdo it," replied Strife.

"Oh, don't worry about Discord," said Chance, "As his dear twin sister, I make sure he takes his medicine. He wants to cause Chaos, not destroy everything. No point in there causing so much that there are no more sentient species, what would be the point of causing chaos if nobody is around to be affected by it?"

"Well, I see there are quite a lot of these humans," said Pandora.

"Yes, there are about four different kinds of them, wanted to keep it interesting. Kind of boring when there is just one sapient species in a planet," said Strife.

"Yeah, personally I think it's better that we and the Alicorns all agreed that this was going to be a technologically focus world," said Chance, "No magic. Which means no elves, no unicorns, no pegasi, no dragons..."

"It will be interesting to see how far they can progress with just technology," said Pandora, "How far will their creativity and inventiveness take them?"

Chance noticed a volcano on some islands in Asia, she flipped her coin, and snapped her fingers when she saw it land.

Suddenly, a volcano erupted on one of the many islands on the Pacific near Asia. The eruption was so big that it killed off all the Homo Florensis.

"What!?" said Strife.

"Ooops... well, make that just three of these humans," said Pandora, she then saw how the Denisovans were also dying out, "Wait, make that two."

"Why did you do that for!?" said Strife to Chance.

"Hey, I'm just doing my job here!" stated Chance, "The volcano was going to erupt no matter what! I just flipped the coin to see if anyone near it would survive. Turns out, nobody did. If you have a problem then take it to Destruction, he's the one in charge of the volcanoes!"

"Well, that's okay, we still have the Homo Sapiens and the Neanderthals, I'm sure it'll be fine," said Strife.

"... the Homo Sapiens are all killing the Neanderthals..." said Destruction.

Pandora sighed, "Why do those have to be such JERKS!"

"Well not all directly...they're just kinda outcompeting them in a lot of places... And the rest will just intermarry with the homo sapiens and be bred out."

"Well...thus is me..." Strife looked at the world and saw that now only one species of humans remained. "Well, okay, new plan. We have a world with just one sentient species."

"Well... I could start introducing metalwork ideas to them, have them stop using stones for everything," said Pandora.

"You do that," said Strife.

---

The small tribe of hunter-gatherers were making their way towards the stone pillar circles of Gobekli Tepe. Like they did once all the cycle of the seasons was over and the days were longer and warmer, signaling that the cold days were over and the hunting could begin again.

The leader of the tribe was a woman named Majesty. She had been the leader of the tribe since her parents passed away, unless someone else would challenge her for the position of leader, which she doubted, her skills as a hunter and tracker were better than everyone else's.

Finally, they reached their destination. The stone circles of Gobelki Tepe were waiting for them, as were several other tribes of hunter gatherers. All of them greeted them warmly. Tribes from all over came to Gobelki Tepe to have the Sun bless their future hunts, so their tribes could prosper. Some of those tribes would even go and trade some of their goods with one of the walled cities. Majesty had been to Jericho once, when she was younger, the people there seemed to actually be able to grow their own fruits and vegetables, instead of gathering them in the wild like Majesty and her tribe did. They even had tools and weapons made of a strange hard material which they called "copper" instead of the stones and sticks Majesty and the other hunting tribes used. She still didn't understand how they made these, and she really didn't care. The wild provided her with everything she and her kin needed.

Majesty was making small talk with some of the other tribal chiefs, exchanging stories and useful information, when they saw a large group approaching in the horizon. It wasn't any tribe Majesty or any of the other chiefs had ever seen before. In fact, it wasn't a tribe at all!

The incoming group was big, over a thousand men strong. And they were all men, no women or children. They wore bright colored clothes made of handmade fabric, instead of the tanned skins Majesty and the other tribesmen wore. Their chests and heads were protected by copper armor, they were all holding a spear which also ended on a copper tip, and a round shield made of wicker and leather. The protection on their head was painted with the symbol of the moon: and these men's faces were just as cold and barren. 

Behind the men was a massive throne set on wheels, needing a dozen men to pull it along. A horn moon symbol painted upon it.The dozen men were clearly slaves, dressed in rags, and near dead from exhaustion, but they continued to pull on out of pure fear.

On the throne sat an imposing looking man. He wore the finest clothes Majesty had ever seen, not even the wealthiest people in a city would wear something like that. His face, arms and legs were painted in red (the same color as his eyes) and his head was adorned with a crown made of copper with two large bull horns protruding from each side, and a red jewel decorating the front. He was holding a leather whip which he used on the men pulling the throne if they slowed down. Next to the throne walked a man in the same uniform and armor as the other men, but his looked more decorated.

The man on the throne looked at Majesty and the other tribesmen in contempt as he and his men got closer and closer. "Well, it seems that these so called 'sacred grounds' were exactly where we were told. And just look at these savages! They still even use stone tools! They are no better than the animals they hunt. And they even have the gall of worshiping the Sun! Well, today we put an end to these heathens once and for all. These lands now belong to me! And where I rule, only the Moon will be worshiped!"

Majesty's tribe knew talk of war when they heard it, and gathered their weapons and began a war chant. They yelled and ganged their weapons trying to intimidate the intruders, but Lord Tirek was unimpressed.

He turned to look at the man walking alongside the throne. "General Scorpan, have the men kill half of them, the rest will be made slaves."

"As you wish, Lord," replied General Scorpan.

Scorpan took out a hollowed ram's horn and blew into it, giving a signal to the soldiers marching in front of them to attack.

The tribesmen were outnumbered, their stone weapons were no match for the copper weapons and armors of the charging soldiers either. The battle, if it could be called a battle, a massacre would be more accurate, was short lived. In the end, half of the people laid dead on the ground, the rest were tied with strong ropes. Majesty was one of the ones left alive.

"Lord Tirek, your men have carried out your orders," said Scorpan to Tirek as the throne finally reached the battlefield.

"I didn't expect any less," said Lord Tirek as he climbed down from his throne and looked at the prisoners.

"Today is your lucky day," said Lord Tirek to the prisoners, "I am Lord Tirek, and from this day forward you will no longer have to live like the savage beasts that you are. I have come here bringing civilization and enlightenment, you will have the honor of being my slaves, and you will stop worshipping the Sun like heathens and instead worship the Moon. The Moon Goddess has spoken to me, and given me this task to exterminate the cult of the Sun so only the Moon will reign."

One of the seemingly dead tribesmen laying on the ground suddenly sprung from the ground and rushed Tirek with a spear, aiming to run him through while his attention was elsewhere. The conqueror simply raised his hand and the tribesman froze, as if some invisible arms held him in place. The spear flew from his grasp and snapped in midair. Tales were told of magic in the world, but none of the tribe had ever seen it until now. Tirek gave an amused smirk and lifted the man off the ground by the throat. 

"Such heroic nonsense..." he muttered, before crushing the man's neck with a sickening snap and throwing him dismissively to the ground. "Anyone else wish to see what becomes of those who defy Lord Tirek?"

"I am Majesty of the Tribe of the Dark Forest, and if this is what civilization has to offer, I would rather die than be a part of it!" yelled Majesty defiantly from the side.

Lord Tirek turned angrily to look at the woman who had dared address him.

"You worthless beast of burden, how dare you speak to me with such insolence!" he walked over to Majesty and looked her in the eyes. Majesty looked back defiantly without flinching.

"I am Majesty, and I dare all!"

Tirek smiled evilly, "You have strong eyes, it is always good to break a slave like you. It makes the rest fall in line much quicker."

Tirek ordered two of his men to tie Majesty to a big tree, then proceeded to use his whip on her over and over. Majesty bit her lips until she drew blood, but never gave Tirek the satisfaction to hear her scream.

Tirek continued until his arm got too tired, he angrily walked over to Majesty who still looked at him definitely, even if her body was covered with scars from the whip. "You are strong, but everyone breaks eventually. Just surrender, and you'll live. Even a savage like yourself can understand that life as a slave is better than no life at all."

In response, Majesty spit Tirek right on his face.

Lord Tirek angrily wiped his face clean, leaving the red paint he used all smudged and revealing his very pale skin beneath that like his hair under the crown, was as pale as the moon. "So be it. I will leave you to my men, and when they finish having their fun, your body will be left here to rot and be eaten by the animals!"

---

"And it's another busy day for Mortis," commented Destruction.

"Again that Tirek guy... he was already a power hungry maniac, but Morning Star's stupid stunt made him a POWERFUL maniac," said Strife.

"I should have been more careful... didn't even notice that he released that to the mortals before it was too late," said Pandora.

---

Majesty's body laid still in the small clearing, surrounded by the dead bodies of her fellow tribesmen. She was covered in scars and bruises, her clothes in tatters. Crows and other scavenger birds descended over the dead bodies. Pretty soon bigger animals would arrive.

One of the crows approached Majesty's body, it was beginning to peck at her when suddenly something scared it away, a small wolf, a little cub, who approached Majesty's still body. The little wolf was completely alone.

The wolf cub sniffed Majesty's face, then began to lick her wounds over her face. Suddenly, Majesty took a deep breath, and opened her eyes. This scared away all the crows that still remained in the clearing. But the little wolf stayed put, just looking at Majesty curiously.

"I'm... I'm still alive..." she said as she painfully stood up, she immediately noticed the small wolf cub, "Did... did you wake me before the crows began to eat me, little wolf?" she said out loud, the wolf just looked at her curiously.

She clumsily walked to a small cache of food and water her tribe had brought with them, and began to eat and drink hungrily. She saw the wolf approaching and just looking at her food. Majesty looked back at the wolf, and threw some of the dried meat she still had. "Here you go, little one, I owe you after all." The wolf approached the food and began to eat as well.

After Majesty and the wolf cub finished eating, Majesty stood up and looked at all the dead surrounding her. Determined, she began to dig holes on the ground and began to bury the dead one by one.

Hours later, she finally finished. She noticed that the wolf cub had stayed with her the whole time. She realized that no other wolves had come for the cub, "Why are you still here, little wolf? Where is your pack? Are you alone? Is there something else you need me for?"

As if in answer, the little wolf gave a small bark, and walked away, then turned around to look at Majesty, barked again and walked away again. The message was clear to Majesty, the wolf wanted for her to follow him. She did so, and a few minutes later, the wolf led Majesty to a big rock shaped like a spire, next to it laid the bodies of two adult wolves, and several little cubs. All of them dead.

The small wolf that had lead Majesty there approached the dead wolves and nuzzled them, then it began to whimper and cry.

"I see... this is your family," said Majesty, she noticed the teeth marks on all the wolves, and the footprints leading away from them. Her skills as a hunter told her everything that happened. They were attacked by another wolf, a big one. The adults tried to defend the young, but were killed, and the little ones were killed too. It was incredible that this little cub had survived, just like it was incredible that Majesty herself had survived. "You are all alone now, just like I am, aren't you, little wolf."

Majesty picked up the wolf cub, it began to lick her face, Majesty smiled, "Why don't you come with me, little wolf. I'll track down your family's killers, and you can come with me... in my quest to take revenge on the man that killed my family."

The wolf barked happily in reply, "I believe you need a name," said Majesty, she looked at the spire like rock where the remains of the wolves laid, "How about I call you... Spike?"

Again, the wolf barked happily.

---

"Amazing... against all odds, Majesty is still alive," said Chance.

Strife smiled. "She is quite something, isn't she. Her will to live is outstanding, she just doesn't give up."

"She could be the one we need," commented Anarchy, "she might be able to overthrow mean old Tirek. Help us clean up Morning Star's mess."

"Agreed, I have to admit that at first Tirek seemed like fun, his whole powergrab move to get to power caused so much nice chaos in the world. But then it turned into the WORST kind of chaos. The one that eventually leads to ORDER, yuck!" commented Discord.

"She desires revenge, but Tirek made quite a lot of enemies so her drive might be for justice too," commented Rancor, "I'll talk to Justita and Justina... see what we can work out here."

"You do that," commented Chance, "I'll go talk to Rota and see what paths of fate and luck can be ahead of her, we have to work together to get this to work. This world might survive after all."

"Oh it'll survive under Tirek, and possible become an empire. Under an immortal emperor. Doomed to never evolve or change. Bringing death across the galaxy. Mother I hate immortals!" Strife hissed.


---

The cooperation of the concepts was the direct result with interference of Morning Star on the whole plane of reality.

It was agreed by all the concepts, both the Draconnqui and the Alicorns, that magic was not going to be part of this world. The humans would develop only using their wits and intellect, and their skills to innovate and create new things.

So Magic was the only thing that Pandora would keep in her box, never to release it.

All Alicorns had agreed to this, except for Morning Star. To him humans were just imperfect abominations, a waste of sentience, mistakes that had to be destroyed. They dared to control the perfect harmony of the universe, daring to try not only to understand it but to control it, by changing their environment they were able to survive in regions where they weren't supposed to. They found ways to carry water and have shade in hot deserts, and create fire to keep warm in cold areas.

He had to destroy them, but Destruction wouldn't be swayed, and Chance would not force her coin to give an outcome different than what it had landed on.

So, he would have to do it himself, and to do it he was going to give the humans knowledge that they were not only not ready for, but could not fully understand. He was going to release magic into the world. He stole Pandora's Box, and released the rainbow of darkness into the world, in the form of a jewel.

By the time the other concepts had noticed it was just too late, the jewel had been found by the humans.

Morning Star had been put on trial by the concepts and found guilty, and imprisoned by Havoc. But the damage had been done, and now they had to find a way to fix it,  otherwise the humans were on a downward spiral to their own demise at worst. At best, Tirek would become an immortal emperor of a galaxy spanning empire in a mere 7000 to 10,000 years. 

So it was that an emergency meeting was called for all the concepts to try and find a solution to this mess that would not end in a disaster. A plan was made and a course of action decided upon. One of such was that there would be no more direct interference with reality. Concepts would not manifest to humans, and would not interact with them directly except for being born mortal to live a mortal lifetime without any knowledge of them being a concept. Which the Alicorns usually did.

---

A few days after Tirek's massacre of her tribe, Majesty walked out of the forests with her new wolf friend in tow. Wearing a brand new wolf skin, and carrying a new spear and stone ax she had made herself. Which had replaced the tattered remains of what she had worn before and her broken tools and weapons. The wolf skin came from the killer of Spike's parents, a rather large and smug wolf male. As Majesty had used her hunting skills and accurate mental map of the forest to track the wolf down, kill it and skin it. Little Spike had become even closer to her after that.

Majesty's bruises had began to heal by then, and so do her scars, although some of them were clearly leaving a multiple flower like pattern on her face, on her right and left cheek.

She now had a goal. She was going to kill Tirek, and avenge her fallen kin. But she knew she couldn't do this alone. She needed not just another tribe, she needed to raise an army. And to do that, she would need allies. To find these allies, she would have to go to places she really didn't consider before... cities.

---

Chance, concept of Luck and random events, walked through the road of time, looking for the other concept besides herself in charge of looking over it, Rota Fortuna, concept of Fate and choices.

"Hello Rota, how's it going?" asked Chance.

Rota Fortuna turned to look at Chance, smiling. The two concepts had started their work relationship disliking each other. But eventually, and after seeing what Morning Star had done (which also included that he tried to kill Rota Fortuna, and Chance actually had to step in to help save the Alicorn of Fate), they were now one of the best duos of all the concepts. Rota Fortuna gave Chance a more leveled headed confidant than her twin brother (they WERE born from the same concept egg) Discord, while Chance gave Rota Fortuna something that she really lacked before: The opportunity to feel surprised at the unexpected.

"Well, Chance, I've been following Majesty's quest. She has arrived to a city, one of the few in the region not in control of Tirek... 
yet... and is looking for allies," said Alicorn, looking back at the time stream.

"Well," said Chance, taking out her bag of infinite coins, and taking out one coin from the back, "Let's see if she'll get lucky and find one." Chance flipped the coin.

---

In the city, Majesty got distracted and bumped into another person by accident.

---

Chance dusted off her hands, "And that's how the story goes."

Rota Fortuna smiled, "Pretty good, that's Wind Whistler. A scholar and probably the smartest person of that time period. And not a big fan of Tirek as well. She would be the perfect guide for Majesty to find more allies, and everything else, she will need to defeat Tirek."

"Yeah, she was lucky to just bump into her." smiled Chance. "But I do admit she did have good odds."

Rota and Chance looked back at the timestream following Majesty and Wind Whistler for the next days, "Well, they seem to be getting along well," commented Chance.

"Yes, their objective to take down Tirek is what drives them," said Rota Fortuna, "They are now going to look for Magic Star."

"Magic Star... isn't she the woman that my sister Pandora said she was going to give the idea of mixing tin with copper to make Bronze?" said Chance.

"That's the one," replied Rota Fortuna, "And with Bronze weapons, Majesty will have a clear advantage over Tirek."

"Well, Magic Star is a recluse that lives far away from any city and settlement." Chance took out another coin from her bag, "Let's see if they have any luck finding her," and the concept of Luck flipped the coin.

---

Majesty and Wind Whistler were walking across the mountain path.

"And you believe this Magic Star person will help us?" asked Majesty.

"Yes," replied Wind Whistler, "She hates Tirek with a passion, and from what I heard from travelers that have met her, she is quite a skilled inventor. Nobody seems to know exactly where she lives, but it is somewhere in this mountains."

Suddenly, Wind Whistler steps on a twig which triggers a weight which pulls up a hidden net on the ground beneath them. A second later, Majesty and Wind Whistler are hanging several feet from the ground, from a branch, inside a net.

"Hm... fascinating," said Wind Whistler.

"What is this trap doing here!?" asked a surprised Majesty.

As if to answer the question, a woman stepped out from a hiding place behind some large rocks, "Aha! So, Tirek sent someone to get me, huh? Well, it will take more than a few spies to capture Magic Star! The greatest of inventors!"

"Well, Majesty, it seems like we found Magic Star after all," said Wind Whistler calmly.

"Look, we're not spies of Tirek! I'm looking for people to raise an army and take him down once and for all. I came here looking for your help," said Majesty to Magic Star.

"A likely story!" said Magic Star walking over to Majesty and Wind Whistler hanging inside the net, "That's exactly what spies from Tirek would say!"

"I'm impressed that she was able to design a trap like this, quite a remarkable accomplishment of design and functionality, I must say," said Wind Whistler.

"Yes, and if it were up to you, Tirek would use my inventions for war!" said Magic Star, "But he's never going to get his hands on them, because you two are never getting down from there!"

"Well, I wouldn't count on that," said Majesty, "You captured me and Wind Whistler, but you didn't capture all of us."

"Ha, nice try," said Magic Star, "You were the only two persons walking up this path the whole time I've been watching."

Majesty smiled, "Well, Spike isn't a person."

"Spike? Who's Spike?" said a confused Magic Star.

As in reply, a growl could be heard behind her. Magic Star turned around to see a big grown wolf standing there, teeth bared, looking at her growling and snarling.

"Spike, pounce!" said Majesty.

Obeying her, Spike jumped on Magic Star who was unable to react at all, the wolf pinned Magic Star to the ground with his weight, showing her his sharp teeth.

"Good work Spike, just hold her there, don't hurt her," said Majesty, taking out a copper knife and starting to cut the vines on the net. A moment later, she and Wind Whistler were free and with their feet on the ground once again.

"You and your wild beast might have bested me," said Magic Star, "But I'll never have my knowledge be at the service of Tirek! I'll die first!"

"I said it before, WE ARE NOT AGENTS OF TIREK!" said Majesty, as she walked over to Spike. "Spike, heel." she commanded.

Spike obeyed immediately, getting off Magic Star and sitting besides Majesty, waving his tail.

Majesty reached down with one hand to help Magic Star stand up.

"She speaks the truth," said Wind Whistler, walking over too, "In fact, I'm sure you will find Majesty's sheer determination and resourcefulness quite remarkable. I know I have."

Magic Star got up with Majesty's help, she looked at Majesty and Wind Whistler, then at Spike, then back at Majesty. "Yes... it looks like I can trust you."

---

"Well, that worked better than expected," said Chance, "What are they doing now?"

"It seems Magic Star is taking them to see her secret laboratory in one of the caves of the mountain," explained Rota Fortuna.

"Ah, yes! I love that place. It is FILLED with so many great new ideas," said Pandora.

"Pandora? How did you get here?" asked Chance.

Pandora took out a small key, "You forgot your key at Discord's again."

Chance took the key looking embarrassed, "Oh. Heh, heh... oops."

---

Majesty and Wind Whistler looked both in awe and confusión on everything that Magic Star had in her laboratory.

"Impressive, huh?" said Magic Star proudly.

"I don't even know where to start... what is all this?" asked Majesty.

"Quite a lot, I know. There's plenty of things to see, but I believe THIS is what you were most interested in," said Magic Star as she pointed at a wooden table filled with tools made of different metals. They weren't copper tools.

Majesty looked at the tools, there were axes, hoes, plows, knives... and a sword. Majesty grabbed it, "Is this...?"

"Bronze. Yes. I found a way to mix copper with tin, a rare metal from far lands in the west, to make it. Stronger than copper in every way, just watch," said Magic Star, she grabbed a copper bar and placed it on the table. "Strike at this solid bar of copper with that sword."

Majesty did, and the copper bar was cut in half, Majesty looked astonished. "Amazing... with such a strong metal, a warrior wielding this sword would equal ten warriors using copper swords."

"Exactly, which is why the technology should never fall on the hands of people like Tirek," said Magic Star.

"Magic Star, what are this strange drawings?" asked Wind Whistler, looking at said drawings on wooden tablets on an even bigger table.

"Ah! That's my best idea yet. Those aren't drawings, I call those symbols an 'alphabet'. By combining them, and understanding each meaning individually, one can interpret full words, and then sentences. It will change forever how we exchange knowledge, by using this system, which I call 'writing', people will be able to transmit knowledge with this instead of just talking with each other," explained Magic Star.

Wind Whistler didn't look impressed, "Sounds awful. This 'writing' will create forgetfulness in the learners' souls, because they will not use their memories; they will trust to the external written characters and not remember of themselves. The specific which you have discovered is an aid not to memory, but to reminiscence, and you give your disciples not truth, but only the semblance of truth; they will be hearers of many things and will have learned nothing; they will appear to be omniscient and will generally know nothing; they will be tiresome company, having the show of wisdom without the reality."

"Oh, really? That's what you think?" said Magic Star "Well, I guess only time will tell."

---

Rota Fortuna and Chance kept watch as Majesty and her new allies were now traveling northwards to find more allies.

"Well, everything seems to be coming along," said Rota Fortuna, "She now has the weapons she will need to fight Tirek."

"Yes, but as my sister Strife usually says, 'a sword is nothing when compared to the hand that wields it'," commented Chance.

"Yes, that's why Majesty is now looking for warriors to join her," replied Rota Fortuna, "Which is why she's traveling northwards."

"Yes, the steppes where those people that Pandora decided should get the knowledge to tame and use wild horses." added Chance.

The two concepts kept watching as Majesty along with Spike, Magic Star and Wind Whistler found the nomadic group they were searching for, and Majesty was able to arrange a meeting with their leader, a fierce woman named Firefly.

---

Majesty and Firefly were sitting inside Firefly's tent. Outside Majesty could see Firefly's tribe taking care of their horses, and the small chariots they used. She was also impressed by the "bows and arrows" their hunters used. While smaller than a spear, the "arrows" could certainly fly faster and further away, giving any hunter a clear advantage over others.

"So, you want to recruit me and my people in your campaign to fight Tirek," said Firefly.

Majesty turned again to look at Firefly. "Yes, with your people I'm sure he can be defeated."

"I've heard of this Tirek, they say his armies are so vast, that the ground shakes when it charges towards their enemies," replied Firefly, "How do you think we could beat him?"

"You saw Magic Star's bronze weapons," said Majesty, "You have seen what they can do. A warrior clad in bronze armor and wielding bronze weapons will be vastly superior to anything Tirek has at his disposal."

"Maybe. But even if a single warrior can kill ten enemies, there is always the enemy number eleven that gets him," replied Firefly, "Why would I risk myself and the lives of my people to help you?"

"Tirek is a menace, not just to the people living in his territories, but to everyone else as well. He might not be a threat to you now, but give him a few years, and he will eventually come here...He will not stop until he has no more worlds to conquer..." Majesty started to untie the top of her clothes, "... and when he does, you can be sure that he will slaughter you all, take your horses, and use them for more conquest in farther lands..." Majesty turned her back towards Firefly, "... and those unlucky enough to survive will have THIS to look forward to." Majesty lowered her vest, showing her bare back to Firefly, horrible scars decorated Majesty's back.

Majesty placed her vest back on, and looked at Firefly again, "You have a choice, fight him now when you might have a chance to beat him, or wait and be destroyed by him anyway, and everything you ever loved or cared about will go out in flames."

"I must admit, Majesty, you are quite blunt," replied Firefly, "But you speak the truth. Very well, me and my warriors, and my horses, and my archers, will fight alongside you."

---

The concepts all looked as Majesty and her followers marched towards Tirek's capital. Along the way, more people fed up with Tirek's tyranny began following them as well. As the days passed, Majesty's army increased in size more and more. Finally, they reached Tirek's capital.

Tirek's general, Scorpan, suggested that they waited inside the safety of the city's walls and call for reinforcements, since they had enough food and supplies to last for months. Tirek killed him on the spot for suggesting such a cowardly tactic, then decided to take his army out of the walls and defeat Majesty's army in a single blow, since he still outnumbered her. His plan was to simply overrun her with superior numbers.

The battle was a horrible ordeal as both sides suffered several casualties. Finally, Tirek decided to step into the battle himself. He put on his best armor, took his best battle sword and looked for Majesty in the battlefield.

He finally found her, as Majesty's armor and sword was covered in the blood of many fallen soldiers, Tirek singled her out and challenged her to battle. Which she accepted. Majesty knew that the battle was still not decided for either side, and she knew that if she could take out Tirek, then it would all be over. His army would be broken.

"Well, here we go, now we will finally see all our work come into fruition," said Rota Fortuna as she watched the events unfold.

"Let's just hope it works, and humans civilization can survive," said Chance.

"It'll survive either way, it's just a question of what form it shall take," Anarchy said with a grin.

"We can't do more than what we did, it would be directly involvement and we all agreed that was not going to be how things would be done," commented Pandora.

"Yes, this is something that humans have to grow past themselves. It is a test. A ‘life filter' event. Or they will become the extinction level event for many worlds," added Strife.

"Yeah, yeah, now quiet, I wanna see how it goes!" said Rancor.

---

"You worthless mortal, you dare challenge me? The great Lord Tirek! Who are you!?" asked Tirek.

"It has been many years, Tirek, but ever since I first saw you, and saw what you did to my people, I swore that I would kill you!" replied Majesty.

"Saw me? Have we met?" said Tirek.

"I am Majesty, of the Dark Forest! Leader of a dead tribe! Mother of dead children! And the one that will end your wretched life!" replied Majesty. "And I will not fall until you lay dead at my feet!"

"Oh, yes, now I remember. You are that worthless woman that dared defy me," said Tirek smugly, "I am amazed that you are still among the living. But that is easily fixed."

Majesty and Tirek clashed in combat, Tirek was clearly more skilled, but Majesty would simply not give up. Tirek was surprised that she could match his strength, as none ever had. She finally landed a fatal blow and pierced Tirek's chest. She pulled out her sword covered in Tirek's blood. But to her amazement, Tirek just laughed.

"Ha ha ha ha! You fool! You really think you can kill me?" he gloated, "I am the chosen one! The darkness made me immortal! My rule shall last for millennia!"

Majesty saw how the red jewel on Tirek' crown was shining brightly as his wound healed. She didn't understand how and why it did it, but she knew she needed to take that away from him if she wanted to beat him.

Again they clashed in combat, by now Majesty was getting tired and Tirek was winning, as the jewel also kept him from getting tired, Majesty knew that if she didn't do something fast, then it would all have been for nothing. And Tirek will now have access to bronze, horses and bow and arrows. She wouldn't have helped defeat him, she would have made him invincible! She had to stop him now, no matter what the price!

Majesty took out a small knife and moved closer to Tirek, Tirek took the chance and stabbed her in the stomach, as the tip of his sword protruded from Majesty's back. Majesty had managed to stab him right in the middle of his chest, through his heart.

"Ha ha ha. You fool! You should know a simple stab like that could not finish me as long as the darkness protects me! You will now die!" said Tirek.

Majesty smiled and showed him something laying down on the ground next to them. Tirek's eyes opened wide in fear when he saw it. He didn't know how, but Majesty had managed to take off his crown while he was stabbing her! "Who's a 'worthless mortal' now?"

"No..." Tirek's eyes rolled back into his head as the stab through his heart killed him, and he fell down in a puddle of his own blood.

As Tirek's men saw him die, they began to run away in fear. Majesty's followers began to cheer. But Wind Whistler saw how badly wounded Majesty was, and understood that she will die soon as well. Wind Whistler knelt down next to Majesty, as she saw more and more blood seeping out of her wound.

"He is dead... we... we did it," said Majesty. Spike curled next to her and tried to clean her wound.

"No, Majesty, you did it," said Wind Whistler, "Everything here, all this people, all of this, it happened because your determination, your spirit that can simply not be broken."

"I'm... I'm going to die, but it is worth it knowing that the world I leave behind will be one without Tirek," said Majesty.

"You will not be forgotten, Majesty," said Wind Whistler, "I will tell your story. I will pass it on. You will be remembered as the hero you are."

"Don't lie when you tell my story. Tell all of it, and let history be my judge," replied Majesty. And with that, she closed her eyes as she gave out her last breath.

---

The draconnequi and alicorns smiled at a job well done. Majesty had died too, that was too bad, but Tirek and the menace he presented on reality by wielding magic in a world that was never supposed to have any, was finally averted.

Sane Reality, Father of Alicorns, gladly took Majesty to rejoin her family in eternity, while Tirek ...

"But does morality exist in such a society yet? In their world? Can Tirek be judge by a morality if none exists? Remember it was only yesterday that slavery was considered a step-up for them in actually valuing the lives of other tribes," Asked Judicium, the concept of reality that was judgement. 

"And he did bring order and unifying many warring tribes, reducing the killing in the longer run," Currus added.

Justitia however said, "Tirek murdered his own father for a position he'd have gained anyway, then his step-mothers, who were no threat to his position. Before the last battle, he even murdered his general, his own brother, for suggesting a strategy he disagreed with. These things were against the values and laws of his own tribe, kinslaying most of all. He tortured for no reason other than his own satisfaction. Torture for torture's sake was again against the values of his own tribe. And he cared not for the prosperity of his people, only his own power, again in violation of his own tribe's values."

Currus said as Morning Star's advocate, "In the context of this stage of development, he was hardly the first to offer living sacrifices. Observe the humans on the other continent offering beating hearts to Celestia."  

Luna slammed her fists together. "Those are the winners of their games, who know what the 'prize' for winning is, and fight their hardest to win that 'honor' because they love their god. Tirek offered slaves and prisoners. He offered me losers with no love for the deity their lives are given to. That is not a sacrifice. That is putting on a show thinking I would not notice." 

So Tirek was judged, and found only the gaping maul of Havoc waiting for him.

"But, what if someone takes Tirek's stone and tries to use it as well?" asked Luna. "Look, that Magic Star woman seems to be working on it in the future. Trying to see what it is and what it does."

"Maybe, but don't worry about it," said Pandora, "the only reason Tirek understood how the jewel containing the Rainbow of Darkness worked was because of Morning Star's meddling on mortal affairs. If nobody explains it to them, then nobody will understand the nature of the Rainbow of Darkness, and since we all agreed that none of us was going to intervene, I'd say that's good enough. We might not be able to remove magic from the world, but we have succeeded in mortals seeing it as nothing more than a myth, a legend, and nothing more," explained the concept of Imagination.

"Yes. We can finally rest easily and let mortals find their path in the universe, forge their future through their choices," said Rota Fortuna.

"We sure can," said Chance.

Suddenly, the concept of Fate and the concept of Luck looked astonished, they felt a great disturbance in the time flow.

"Something isn't right!" said Chance.

"What? What's going on?" asked Pandora.

"The time flow... it is being contaminated!" exclaimed Rota Fortuna.

"What? By who?" asked Celestia, "We're all here, and none of us is doing anything to interfere with the affairs of the mortals. And Morning Star is still imprisoned by Havoc."

"The interference is not from within... it's from without," said Rota Fortuna.

"ANOTHER timeline is interfering with THIS timeline," said Chance.

"Everyone, take a look," said Rota Fortuna as she zoomed in on the meddling of the timeline.

The concepts saw a portal of sorts opening, as three beings fell from it, and then the portal immediately closed again.

The three beings WEREN'T human... but their appearance was human. It would fool any human that laid eyes upon them, but the concepts clearly saw that they were...

"Sirens..." exclaimed Pandora.

"But... Sirens aren't supposed to be REAL in this world. We all agreed on that!" said Strife.

"It's like Rota Fortuna and Chance said, they aren't from our world," said Pandora, "Look, those necklaces they are wearing... they seem to be copies of the Rainbow of Darkness... but its not a copy from OUR Rainbow of Darkness."

"Are they some sort of invasion?" asked Strife.

"No... it looks like they are as confused in being here as we are," commented Rota Fortuna, "from the looks of it, it seems that they were dumped here... they were a menace in their home world, so they were banished to this world."

"Wait, what are those Sirens doing now?" asked Celestia.

"They seem to be able to feed of conflict," said Pandora.

"They are singing, causing all those sea peoples to attack bigger civilizations," said Strife.

"Well... there goes the Bronze Age," commented Anarchy.

---

The Sirens were the first meddling of the timeline, and they were also the ones that had the most lasting effect. They were immortal, those copies of the Rainbow of Darkness they had allowed them to basically live forever. And since they fed off conflict, they were drawn to it like moths to a flame. Sometimes they simply watched and fed, other times they would spark up the flames of war.

They weren't the first, however. All the concepts were worried when this... unicorn... that also looked like a human while in this world, hid a piece of LADY ENTROPY herself in the middle of a small stone formation, apparently with instructions written in the native language of the other world on how dangerous the "Memory Stone" was. Afterwards the unicorn went back to the other world.

Chance flipped her coin a few times, but luckily, nobody would find the stone in eons. Which was a relief for everyone involved.

She also flipped her coin to see if the Sirens would ever find the Rainbow of Darkness of this world, and again, to everyone's relief, they never found it, even after they were in the same continent.

This meddling, however, made the concepts having to rethink their entire plan. Having magic be nothing but a myth and legend in the world wasn't going to be enough anymore. If the Sirens ever regained their true strength or if the Memory Stone were discovered, the Earth would be helpless before either without knowing just what it was. The plan now was to have humans "discover" magic, but only after they were technologically advanced. That way, magic will be discovered scientifically. It will be studied scientifically. Humans would see magic not as a supernatural force, but as a new form of energy, something to be studied and understood with machines and formulas, like Gravity, Electromagnetism, Strong and Weak Nuclear Forces...

Magic will simply become another part of science, scientific thinking will be predominant, it was as close as the original plan of a non-magical world as it was going to get. Now, the question was HOW the concepts are going to help humans achieve this without direct meddling.

"Humans are meant to be technologically inclined," explained Strife, "That's how they evolved to become."

"I told you, opposable thumbs," said Pandora.

"So, while the magic introduced by Morning Star remains dormant, humans will have some millennia to advance their technology. Pandora will introduce new ideas to them faster than what we agreed on, but still very slowly," explained Strife.

"Yes, too many new ideas too fast and humans will simply fight each other over them," said Pandora.

"But, those Sirens are causing half of the wars," said Rancor, "They might be weakened, but the right people in the wrong places are easily moved. Every once in a while they destroy each other and some technological advances get lost."

"Yes, that is unfortunate, but the Sirens will not downright kill all humans, they aren't as powerful here as they were in their home world, and even if they were, they NEED others to feed from," said Strife.

"Wait, what about that piece of Lady Entropy, what that Clover unicorn called a 'Memory Stone'?" asked Celestia.

"Our Father already spoke with Our Mother," said Pandora, "If anyone ever finds it by accident, then Our Mother will simply erase their memories of the event and leave the 'stone' right where it was. For all intents and purposes, that 'stone' does not exists for humans."

It didn't take long to have Entropy help with that. After all, SHE was the one that decided when things Ended. Not anyone else, but SHE and SHE alone.

"Okay, so humans advance their technology a few thousand years, even with the Sirens causing conflict between them. Then what happens?" asked Luna.

"Not so easy, actually, we need still to have some 'inside' work done in their progress. Making sure that they are nudged in the right direction so they don't end up killing each other with nuclear explosions over whatever political system or economic system is better or something equally stupid," said Chance.

"It's not stupid to me," Anarchy huffed.

"Yeah, I HATE it when that happens," said Discord, "Chaos is meant to cause random change, not cause random explosions."

"Hey!" Destruction said.

"Oh, brother, you know I didn't mean it like that." Discord rolled his eyes.

"Can't we let them cause a nuclear explosion or two?" said Destruction.

"Okay, fine, at least so they come to see that they should never take that kind of power lightly and make them pursue other goals than weapons of mass destruction," said Strife.

"But, what do you mean with some 'inside' work? I believe we all agreed that there would be NO meddling from us to the humans," asked Cadance.

"And that is true," said Rota Fortuna, "However, it is also true that the members of the Alicorn clan must spend a single lifetime as mortals."

"Yes, but we don't actually KNOW we are Alicorns while we do it, Rota, you should know that," said Luna.

"True. But we CAN choose at which point in time and where we will get to live. AND we do keep a CORE desire within us, what we ARE is still deep inside us when we live as mortals," said Rota Fortuna, "If every one of us lives a mortal life in a specific point in time, in a specific place, then he or she will be able to stir humans along. All we have to make sure is to make the right choice, and with a little bit of luck," explained Rota as she looked at Chance, "then the world will get its desired outcome. One where humans thrive instead of one where they all die."

Strife was okay with this, of course, since this wasn't really interfering with the natural course of a species, this was damage control.

"Okay, now what about the Rainbow of Light and the Rainbow of Darkness?" asked Celestia.

"When Morning Star introduced magic, those two spawned in two different continents in two different sides of the world. The Rainbow of Light manifested as separate colored geodes, inside a cave surrounded by a forest. It will help the plants around them grow and humans will leave it be, or consider it some sacred place at the most," explained Pandora. They didn't yet know why the Rainbow of Light manifested in 7 geodes representing its 7 core elements of Harmony, while the Rainbow of Darkness remained whole, but it most likely had something to do with Morning Star's meddling. "The Rainbow of Light will likely be buried underground over time, but given what it is, it will resurface when it's reawakened."

"As for the Rainbow of Darkness," Pandora continued, "Tirek used it, but didn't really understand its full power, because the thing doesn't come with an instruction manual and none in the Draconnequi clan told him how to use it properly or what to do with it. Majesty took him down, and while his desire for power might have tainted and rubbed off onto the Rainbow of Darkness a little, the damage is basically minimal. Magic Star kept it for a few years, tried to study it but came out blank too. The Rainbow of Darkness DID get imprinted on her life force, and will most likely call on her descendants, tempt them with power and such, but as long as they stay away from it it will be too weak to do so. Besides, she seems to have rubbed off on it too, so it'll be more 'dangerous but potentially helpful in the right hands' than 'evil artifact of doom'. The Rainbow of Darkness has manifested as a red jewel and it will simply be seen like that. It might cause some conflict over itself. But Humans will think its cursed at the most."

"Like the Hope Diamond!" said Discord.

"Both the Rainbow of Light and the Rainbow of Darkness will remain as nothing but a myth, until humans are advanced enough to discover magic, and understand it under THEIR terms," said Strife.

"Well, it sounds difficult," said Celestia, "But it is something worth struggling for. Let's do it."

"Once humans reach the desired point of progress, there comes the final part of the plan..." said Pandora, as she proceeded to explain it to everyone.

---

The plan was going along nicely, and while the Siren's meddling did cause more wars than what would have naturally occurred, human technology progressed. The Alicorns and Draconnequi all did their part, while Rota Fortuna and Chance kept their watch on the timeline, looking for a perfect candidate for the final stage of the plan.

Finally they found her, or better said, they found THEM. Her name was Twilight Sparkle, a shy girl but with a big heart and desire for knowledge that rivaled only Starswirl when he invented the telescope to look at the stars.

Rota knew that, if the paths of life took her there, Twilight Sparkle will grow up into a smart young woman with a thirst for knowledge and a desire to understand the mysteries of the world, but always through a scientific approach. Cadence already was living her mortal life and, while being her babysitter, help her stir her along the right road without human Cadence ever knowing that she was really an Alicorn, of course. (And having a bit of a crush on Twilight's older brother, apparently.)

Eventually she will attend a school where the other six candidates would go as well; Canterlot High. Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Fluttershy would already be friends when attending the school for the first time, but something will cause them to meet Twilight Sparkle, and the seventh candidate: Sunset Shimmer.

Twilight Sparkle will be the bearer of the Geode of Magic, Fluttershy will be the bearer of Kindness, Pinkie Pie will have Laughter, Rarity Generosity, Applejack Honesty, Rainbow Dash loyalty and Sunset Shimmer Trust.

An event will cause them all to first meet each other and become friends. Sunset Shimmer will try and run away from home in her teenage years, while they never met her, the other five girls will try and find her, and during that time they will run into Twilight Sparkle (Chance would have tossed her coin for that random encounter), and Twilight will use a new invention to find her. Twilight will use this event to choose to go to Canterlot High, so will Sunset Shimmer. The mortal lives of Celestia and Luna were already well underway of becoming the Principal and Vice Principal of that School.

The seven girls will become friends. Eventually they will go to Camp Everfree, a camp built right next to the forest and lake where the Geodes that form the Elements of Harmony as the Rainbow of Light just happened to be (again, a coin toss from Chance for them to run into them). Twilight will invent a machine to read the "strange energy" coming from them, and will take the first steps of humanity to understand and control magic. Afterwards, Trixie Lulamoon, one of the descendants of Magic Star, will stumble upon the jewel that is the Rainbow of Darkness, although it would be more on the lines of being drawn to it, now being used as a book ornament. A book about 'magic' of all things (all of the Draconnequi and Alicorns didn't fail to see the irony). Rota Fortuna will oversee her choices and Trixie will eventually take up the "book" on its offer, the other seven girls will face off against her, use the Elements of Harmony to remove Tirek's influence from the Rainbow of Darkness, and Trixie will be its bearer. All 8 girls will become friends, and the first foundations to have humans understand the complete magical spectrum will be well in its way, ensuring a future were humans will survive from magic instead of it being the source of their destruction like Morning Star had intended. Also, their magic will draw in the Sirens and all girls will combine their powers and finally defeat them.

The final stages of the plan was commencing when suddenly, it happened. Another inhabitant from this other world came through a portal in a statue at Canterlot High. She was a unicorn... and she was Sunset Shimmer. She was the Sunset Shimmer of this other world. And she basically tossed a giant wrench into the whole plan.

She took the place of the native Sunset Shimmer when she ran away from home, taking over her life since she basically IS Sunset Shimmer, just not the one native to this world. That was bad enough, but this foreign Sunset Shimmer knew things and she wasn't here just for sightseeing.

Being a unicorn she was well aware of Magic. But she also seemed to know about ALICORNS. She had recognized Celestia's mortal form by name. Apparently the Celestia of her native world was an actual Alicorn, not one living a mortal life, but an Alicorn living among Mortals! What line of events would have driven an Alicorn to actually have to do that!?

This foreign Sunset Shimmer "returned" home before the other girls went to look for "her". Twilight Sparkle never attended Canterlot High, instead she went where her former babysitter worked as the dean, a school called Crystal Prep. A private school who's principal Abacus Cinch, simply ran in a way that caused all students to see each other as rivals. Twilight sank deeper into her studies, but never socialized or tried to make friends. She was so reclusive that her eyesight began to suffer from it and soon she had to start using glasses. She still loved science and discovering new unknown things, but it just wasn't the same.

Even worse, the foreign Sunset Shimmer apparently had some grand scheme to take over her home world. And it involved bringing in magic from her home world, which she called "Equestria", into THIS world.

They watch her brining the Element of Magic through the portal (which meant that the Rainbow of Light ALSO got divided into its core elements in the native world of these unicorns), losing it, the native Fluttershy finding it... then the Twilight Sparkle of that world came, and it caused even more problems. The Twilight Sparkle of that other world was ALSO an Alicorn. The Alicorn of Magic (fitting, since several of the Alicorns were thinking about making the native Twilight Sparkle be reborn as the Alicorn of Magic once she finished doing all her research and awakening magic for the humans with her scientific research).

Having the Alicorn of Magic of a FOREIGN world caused a lot of problems, not because she intended to, just for BEING HERE. Being foreign magic from another world, it caused the magic native to the world to go haywire and becoming more difficult to understand and research, but it also caused it to "awaken" before the girls intended to find them found them at Camp Everfree! But it DID awaken the Rainbow Light and cause it to resurface... which now caused Gloriosa Daisy, one of the owners of the Camp, to find them herself and now she would wield a power she not only didn't fully understand, but was never intended to find in the first place.

The birth of a Nightmare of the alien Sunset Shimmer caused the Pantheon to briefly hold their breath, but thankfully she was vanquished.

At least the foreign Twilight left, after beating the foreign Sunset. But the damage had been done, plus the foreign Sunset actually STAYED in the world. At least these foreign entities finally were able to get rid of the Sirens, drawn to the Equestrian magic that was introduced to this world, and then to the girls who's native magic was beginning to awaken prematurely because of all the meddling. Which in turn caused the foreign Sunset Shimmer to awaken Trust and become its bearer, like native Sunset had been intended. And calling forth The Father of All Alicorns in the process, who proceeded to blast the Siren's powers away. (It didn't count as meddling since he was simply responding to the call of the Elements being used by their bearers... even if two of them were foreign to this world at the time). But it was just a speck of good news in an ocean of bad ones.

Rota Fortuna did a desperate attempt to find fitting girls in Crystal Prep to become friends with the native Twilight Sparkle and find the Geodes. But it was hopeless, the mentality of every kid going to that school was eat or be eaten thanks to their Principal, so the best the girls were to Twilight were acquaintances, and while under the right guidance they could have become worthy, Abacus Cinch was most definitely not that, and Dean Cadence was kept in the dark about Cinch's worst traits. They became perversions of their virtues, for instance Sugarcoat was Honest, but like her classmates her sense of empathy was smothered out of her. And not a single girl in Crystal Prep could take the place of native Sunset Shimmer and Trust... the students were simply too untrustworthy with one another.

And then came the Friendship Games, the first ones since foreign Sunset Shimmer had stepped over this world... and it was a disaster, the end of days was barely averted. Native Twilight FINALLY came to Canterlot High, but was more interested in finding out what the "strange anomalies" were than on making friends. She started to collect the magic of the native bearers, even managing to disable the portal on the statue by absorbing its magic as well. But then she basically got consumed by it... and became a NIGHTMARE.

No native Alicorn had ever become a Nightmare in this world! (Vice Principle Luna's teenage heavy metal goth phase didn't count). The Nightmare form of Twilight was about to tear apart both this world and Equestria. Amazingly the foreign Sunset Shimmer was able to ascend into Alicornhood just in time to fight her, and after a small stay inside Fauna Luster, native Twilight was turned back to normal. She didn't become an Alicorn... she simply wasn't at that point yet. It was agreed that Sunset Shimmer would not be greeted by the other Alicorns. She was technically an Alicorn for HER world, not this one. Let the Alicorns of her world welcome her into the pantheon. 

The native Twilight finally transferred to Canterlot High. However, Venus called it a sad waste with the Shadowbolt 5 finally in a position to be opened up to true harmony and friendship and the native Twilight would have been perfect to help them see the truth and form a new circle of friends. But Venus was overruled. Leaving the Shadowbolt 5 under Dean Cadence's care to learn friendship's true meaning bit by bit the hard way still surrounded by ruthless classmates the five of them now with a bond they didn't yet understand. 

They reached Camp Everfree, stopped Gloriosa Daisy from misusing the Elements of Harmony and finally claiming them as their own. The damage was done however, the plan was too torn up by now to work properly.

Rota Fortuna and Chance saw how reality was splitting, then merging and splitting again... and all split parts were all true at once!

Sunset Shimmer had to take a driving test... Rarity/Applejack/Fluttershy helped her pass... all three possibilities couldn't be true at once, and yet they were. Rota Fortuna basically saw how Sunset made three separate different choices at the same time, and all three choices were suddenly true.

Even Chance's coin toss was affected. The tire of the car Sunset was supposed to use to take the driving test got a flat tire, but at the same time it didn't! Both side of the coin toss couldn't be true at once for the random event of a flat tire!

Rarity decided to inspire the next fashion statement on Pinkie Pie/Twilight/Rainbow Dash.

Fluttershy asked Vinyl Scratch/Rainbow Dash/Applejack for help to overcome her stage fright for the school play.

It simply wouldn't stop... the timeline was going to collapse. Even if the girls were now in the right path of finding out more about magic and native Twilight analyzing it to see how it worked, the meddling had caused too much damage, the timeline was going to collapse on itself.

Then there was the icing on the cake, Discord had incarnated as he was supposed to. But in preparation to help Trixie understand the magic she'd one day find, he'd had long talks with Morning Star... Morning Star words proved more deadly and corruptive than any of them imagined... Thankfully Discord was now under house arrest and likely to spend the rest of his mortal life cause no more harm to anyone, but Trixie was left with no one to help prepare her for her meeting with the Rainbow of Darkness. 

Drastic measures had to be taken if this world was to be saved.

First someone new was introduced into the world. For this Entropy had to do something nobody ever though she would do... she MADE something EXISTS. Something so foreign to her that one might as well ask Fauna Luster to unmake something. This new entity would come the closest to being a child of Entropy without actually being a Draconnequi herself. Some wondered if calling her a Yokai was accurate, but the Yokai of an Elder? It felt strange.

Wallflower Blush came to be, and since the Elders were eternal in the sense that they existed in all points in time and reality at the same 'time', Wallflower was born almost two decades earlier, grew up, and came to Canterlot High, seeing so many magical events like a ghost, slipping along not disrupting anything. 

The Draconnequi called her "cousin". She would be guided to the "Memory Stone", something that was NEVER supposed to be found or used. But the concepts were getting desperate. And desperate times called for desperate measures.

There was talking of using Entropy's unawakened avatar Maud Pie, created by some cosmic level splintering that even the concepts of this world had no clue of, but Entropy simply refused, Maud Pie simply didn't have the right motives or goals to do such a thing, let alone to her own sister and she was not in the quite right time or place. 


Wallflower Blush will be the only "mortal" able to use the piece of Entropy safely. She will erase all the memories of the foreign Sunset and Twilight. And then the foreign Sunset Shimmer will be removed from this world and the wounds to the timeflow can finally heal.

But Wallflower can't really do it alone, that part will have to be done by something else. Something MEANT to remove foreign contaminations to timelines.

---

"You are SURE about this?" asked Chance to her friend, Rota Fortuna.

"Yes, this is the only way. I have to do this. We have to save this timeline. The foreign Sunset Shimmer must be removed from it," said the Alicorn of Fate.

"Rota, you are my friend, I don't want to hurt you," said the Draconequus of Luck.

"Please, Chance, this is the only way. I need you to do this," replied Rota Fortuna.

Chance sighed and nodded, "Very well, I'm sorry Rota, this is going to hurt." Chance grabbed one of Rota's wings.

"I know," said Rota Fortuna as she braced herself for what was about to come.

Chance ripped out Rota's wing. The Alicorn screamed in pain as the Blank Wolf was born.

***

"... and that was basically the Epic of Majesty and Tirek," said Miss Cheerilee to the class, "One of the oldest known texts, considered to be as old as the Epic of Gilgamesh or the Iliad."

"Your homework for the weekend is to write a book report about the Epic of Majesty and Tirek, and what influences one can find on it on modern literature," said the teacher as the bell rang signaling the end of the school day.

Sunset Shimmer knew she had to write the book report fast. The portal was going to open this night and she needed to do more experiments before her grand plan to take over Equestria could be set in motion.

She was still surprised that some ponies she had seen in Equestria still existed in the world as humans. Even their myths were somewhat similar. They had this "ancient evil" Tirek as well... which now was the main bad guy in a video game "Rise of Tirek", which Sunset happened to own. A sequel was even announced. It wasn't all similar, of course, Sunset Shimmer had never heard of this "Majesty" person or a pony equivalent from Equestria's legends.