Tirek seeks his revenge, but he can't do it alone. An unlikely ally appears, and a long and arduous trial awaits Princess Twilight Sparkle. One she has never encountered before. Is she up to the task?
Princess Twilight Sparkle has overcome nearly every obstacle thrown her way, and those she didn't stop, she at least helped. Changelings, Trixie, Shimmer, Nightmare Moon, Discord, Sombra, and the list goes on.
But no one she was ever faced was like Tirek. In all the times Equestria was in danger, only Tirek made her do the one thing nopony ever has else before. This centaur not only destroyed her home, turned her friend against her, capture her mentor- Tirek was the only one to actually attack each and every single city of Equestria. And also surrender her power. Now Tirek has a new plan to defeat her, and making her magic useless once again.
But before Tirek can enact his plan, he needs an ally to get his plan into action. And Twilight will have no choice but fall into Tirek's trap. Will she be able to stand up to this centaur once again?
The train, being pulled by ponies, came to a stop at the station with a loud hiss as steam was released into the air. After a moment, the doors on the side cards started to open and ponies started to emerge. The sounds of hooves hitting wood started to fill the area, along with the sounds of voices, hugs, and greetings. Ponies of various colors hugged each other, while many simply smiled and moved away to head into the actual town.
Once all of the initial commotion was finished, a final passenger moved out into the platform and looked around.
“Well, at least the weather is nice…”
Conductor smiled as the doors closed, glad the last passenger had stepped out. “Oh, you’ll find the weather in Ponyville is rarely awful mister. While not the most popular tourist spot, this little town has had a lot of news for the last year or so.” The blue earth pony moved a hoof up to push his blue hat in a greeting, leaving a smile to the stranger that faced him. “Plenty of green grass and vegetation, and most of the pony folk and downright neighborly and friendly. If you need any help, you’ll find it.”
“You don’t say. Which way is it to Princess Twilight’s castle?”
“Oh, head for the center of the town. It’s the only crystal building in the whole town, not to mention it pretty big. Can’t miss it.” Conductor smiled as he got on the train. “Good luck to you stranger.”
“You have my thanks.”
The train started once again, and Conductor watched as the stranger walked off. “Hope that centaur makes it ok.” he mused out loud. He turned to look down at the passenger list to read his name. “Tirek? Now where have I heard that name before. I know his red and black colors I’ve seen before...”
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“Now that we have a new library for Ponyville set up, we need to get a new name,” Princess Twilight spoke. She was gathered around the throne room, around the Crystal Map room. She only had two other people with her though. Spike, her loyal dragon assistant, was on his own seat. At her other side though, sat Mayor Mare.
“I agree, though wouldn’t it be simple just to call it the “Twilight Library?” Mayor Mare asked, a hoof at her muzzle to push her glasses on her eyes. “I know that this is now your castle, so it seems like a good name.” She smiled, since in all honesty, the new library was much more larger, had a larger selection than the old one, and was sponsored by Princess Celestia, Luna. and Candance. “Or maybe the Trinity Library? You know, after all the Princesses?”
“I was kinda hoping to name it Golden Oaks Memorial Library myself,” Spike spoke up, holding a quill and feather in both claws. The purple dragon whelped closed both eyes a bit, missing his old home a bit. His spines fell a bit from his normal cheerful state.
“Indeed, I will miss my town Library. I had it here for years,” Mayor Mare lowered her own head in thoughts.
“Those are all wonderful names,” Twilight sighed, also struck by a sudden pang of loss. “And Golden Oaks will always be in my heart.” She closed both eyes a moment to push back her feelings to sit straight again. “But I can’t be vain, nor do I want to be selfish. This new library needs to start from somewhere, and I want it to start right. I don’t feel picking a name myself. Golden Oaks belonged to Ponyville. This new library must belong to Ponyville as well. That is why I can’t pick a royal name.” She stopped a second to look at Spike. “And while it would be nice to honor the old one, I don’t want it to be like the old one either. We had rarely any visitors or ponies. And those that did visit, almost never borrowed a book. Even now, I don’t want Ponyville to think their new library is unapproachable that it’s part of my castle.”
Both Mayor Mare and Spike nodded, understanding her words.
“What about it we had the ponies vote on a name?” Spike volunteered.
“Oh, I tried to setup a campaign for that,” Mayor spoke up. “But too many wanted it to leave it to Twilight since she is a new princess and it is part of her castle. They would feel it an honor to name picked out by her.”
“Back to square one then,” Twilight sighed. “What if I selected three names, and then we have the town vote on the best one? I still want them to feel this is their library.”
“That’s not a bad idea Princess Twilight,” Mayor Mare squeed in a smile. “We should pick the names then.”
“Alright. I will pick three names then. But I would like to sleep on them first.” Twilight smiled, glad she could come up with a compromise. “I want them to be great names.” Spike nodded as he wrote things down quickly on his scroll. “One of them will be definitely Golden Oaks Memorial. If the ponies want their same name for their library, I will not take that away from them.”
“Of course Princess, I will come by tomo-”
“Twilight Twilight Twilight!”
The three gathered picked up their heads and quickly turned to look at the front doors being slammed opened by an over excited Pinkie Pie. The pink pony quickly rushed to the surprised ponies and place both of her front hooves on the map table top. Her chest heaved up and down quickly as her eyes darted back and forth.
“Pinkie Pie!” Twilight blurted out, quickly moving to get off her throne to stand. She knew that look, and that was not a good one. While Twilight had been a witness to Pinkie Pie’s outbursts, she had rarely seen that panicked look. Something was wrong. “What is it? Danger? Changelings? Discord made every pony wear socks again? The Twicepter appeared again?”
“No! It’s Tirek!” Pinkie shouted, her small chest heaving up and down. “But-”
“Tirek?!” Spike, Mayor Mare, and Twilight immediately shouted that name out loud. Twilight immediately charged her horn with magic power and made a snarl. The talks about Golden Oaks had made her even more made as she flew out to confront the centaur.
“But Twilight!” Pinkie Pie raised her hoof out to try and stop her friend as the alicorn flew off. “Stop! It’s not what…” Too late, Twilight was well out of shouting range.
“Pinkie?” Spike hopped on the map and walked to her. “If it is Tirek-”
“No no no!” Pinkie sighed. “Tirek is so so so…” Mayor Mare and Spike raised eyebrows as Pinkie had moved her front hooves up in front of herself to spin in circles and think of words to explain it. “You have to see it for yourselves!”
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Twilight flew out of her castle as fast as she could, angry look on her face as she gathered a spell into her horn. She saw a huge crowd of ponies making a herd at the center of town. She spotted the centaur at the center of the herd, and a wide circle formed around him. She spotted the familiar red, black, and white colors of the centaur so easily. At least he was not super huge. Why were her little ponies not running away to safety?! “Tirek! I am going to make sure that this time, nopony will ever see you again!”
Immediately all of the ponies turned to look at the princess and give a cheer. The centaur also picked up his head, and finally turned around to face her.
“You know my name?” Tirek spoke, left eyebrow raised in question.
Twilight’s eyes immediately opened wide, her expression changing from anger to confused. The magic power stored for the spell was unraveled, and she landed into the ground. Well, crashed into it, leaving a trail of split earth as her momentum pushed her forward along the ground. All of the ponies rushed to her side, sounds of gasps, questions, and concern filling the area.
“My word!” Tirek quickly rushed to her side, his upper body bending down to scoop up the Princess to look at her face. “Are you alright?” One hand held her up in the air as the other hand moved to wipe the dirt off her form. His face showed concern, eyes narrowed to study her form for any damage.
“Uh I could have sworn I just saw Tirek,” Twilight muttered, both eyes closed as she winced in pain.
“But you did…” Tirek spoke, placing her on her feet. “Can you stand? That was a nasty fall.”
“But you’re not Tirek!”
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Meanwhile, in Tartarus
Tirek picked up his head from the cell floor, eyes narrowed as he stood up. The old centaur moved both hands to grasp the cell bars and hold them in a tight grip. As snarl formed on his face.
“It begins. And this time Twilight Sparkle, I will have my revenge!”
Tirek grinned, taking a moment to savor the incoming events. Over and over in his mind, Tirek went over his plan. Step one was finally achieved. He was glad that his new ally had finally arrived. All that was left now was to meet who was this new ally. Scorpan’s descendant? Maybe the official ambassador to the Equestrian kingdom? All he could do now was muse and think, for he all the time in the world. The harrowing place known as Tartarus could get awfully boring. Gray walls, the occasional screams and wails of the damned, never looking at the sun or moon, or be able to breathe fresh air. Home sweet home.
But how did Tirek know that his new ally arrived?
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At Fluttershy’s cottage
“Tirek? Why must you bring up such an awful conversation at this time?” Discord frowned, hold a cup of tea in his left paw. The normally jovial face was now scrunched up in unpleasant memories. Just the mention of his name was enough to remember the sting of betrayal. Both of Tirek, and of his own betrayal over Fluttershy.
“Well,” Fluttershy placed her teacup down to look up at her friend, “I realize that I love our tea time… We simply do not do any fun activities together.” The pegasus raised a hoof out to point at the pictures along the wall. Most of the were of her animal friends, but many were with her pony friends. “You remember the diary we shared? And those pictures?”
“Yes, yes, I read the book, and I have seen those pictures many a times,” Discord scoffed as he calmed down. “Where are you going with this?”
“The photos, the entries, well- They are all from events. Activities. Things we have done together as friends.” Fluttershy flew up to one of the pictures. “One of those pictures is of Rainbow Dash winning the Young Fliers. And this one here.” She smiled as he pointed at another. “Is all of us at the coronation of Twilight. And in the diary entries, many were about traveling, learning of about each other, and making new friends.”
Discord took a moment, his left bushy eyebrow raised in question. Now that he thought about it, he was not in any of these pictures. Or in the diary entries. Upon reflection, many times they did learn about each other. Pinkie might be an Apple, Rarity was showing others how to be generous in the city... “Are you saying that you want us all to do more activities together for more memories?”
“Well, something like that,” Fluttershy said as she flew back down to the couch. “The reason I mentioned Tirek-” she had to stop there, noticing Discord flinch again. “While he was evil and you did bad things together- you had genuine fun and created a window pane of both you and him.”
“Was that the one where I was holding a loaf of bread?”
“Um, I never saw it, but you mentioned it once,” Fluttershy smiled. “While there are lots of things I can suggest we can do together, I would like to do things that you find fun. Tea is nice, but I realized that all this time, we have only done things I like. At least with Tirek, you actually created art.”
“Really?” Discord set his cup down, taking a second to actually remember things. Both eyebrows furrowed in thought as he set his cup down to start singing “Be Our Guest.” It was true. Even for Fluttershy, he never created art. And as far as activities go, he’s done more variety with Twilight. “Hm. I think you are right there. But I don’t think that you can handle what I find dear Fluttershy.”
“Well, there is another reason I bring up Tirek,” Fluttershy meekly raised a hoof out to rub Discord’s paw. “In less than a day, you learned more about him than it took you weeks to learn about us. At least, the friendly things.”
“Are you jealous?” Discord asked. This was a first. He’s seen Twilight jealous- but Fluttershy didn’t have a single selfish feather in her.
“I…” Fluttershy turned her head away. “I’m not sure. I do know one thing. I’m sorry for not being a better friend.”
Discord’s head and horns were blown off his head in a show of fireworks. Big colorful ones, those that blow up and then exploded into many more. His mind was literally blown. “Come again?”
“I realize that with Twilight making other ponies take friendship lessons, I neglected your needs. While we have a lot from each other from talking, I have no idea what else you like to do.” Fluttershy turned her head up to look at him, with a small sigh. “You have so little friends, and often I’ve see you having to entertain yourself. I’ve never seen you doing any sports, going to social functions, competitions, or even something less stressful like a class on dancing. I think that is because I never invited you to any. Or anypony thought to invite you to one.”
“Now Fluttershy, that’s hardly your fault-”
“But it is!”
That sudden outburst made Discord’s neck straighten up. Fluttershy herself realized that came out like Rainbow Dash, and raised both hooves up to her mouth and blush. “Fluttershy?” Discord’s eyes darted back and forth, not sure what had come over his dear friend.
“Sorry, let me say that a different way. I realize that you have tried to forge bonds of friendship with the others, but even now, they rarely do anything to strengthen loyalty. They do not send you invitations to things, nor do they seek you out for your opinions on matters. Things friends are supposed to do together.” Fluttershy lowered her hooves and sighed. “I’m guilty of that too. If we did things more often and made stronger bonds of kindness and loyalty, you would not have betrayed us.”
Discord was stunned by this. Both horns grew back from what was left of his head as he calmed down. Did… Was Fluttershy blaming herself for his betrayal? He was not sure what he was feeling in his chest. “But-”
“Would you have betrayed us if we had all been better friends?” Fluttershy raised her large eyes to gauge Discord’s reaction. His face turned away, eyes closed a bit. “So it was true.” Fluttershy shut both eyes, knowing she had failed her friend. No wonder Discord had betrayed them all.
“I- well I don’t honestly know. At the time- I only liked you. You were the one pony that made me hesitate from turning sides.” Discord turned his head to look back at her. “But that doesn’t mean it’s all on your shoulders. I wasn’t exactly the easiest creature to get along with, well at the time. While it is true that I had to force ponies to do what I wanted, I didn’t do it out of loneliness.” There was that Cadence and Twilight escapade that came to his mind. Lots of manipulation to earn the attention or sympathy of the other mane six, yet none bothered to come to his aid or offer hospitality. “And it's not like mail ponies can reach my home. That time for the Gala? It took forever for a ,mail pony to make it to my door. I’m sure I received invitations, they just got lost.”.
“Really?” Fluttershy picked up her head, wiping the tears from her eyes. “Now that I think about it, I’ve never been to your home.”
“Oh, one of these days I should invite you all!” Discord brought his eagle claw up in a eureka moment. “But I’m still confused as to why you would bring up that awful Tirek.”
“Oh well,” Fluttershy calmed down a bit, feeling better now that she got things off her chest. And that Discord was being such a sweetheart. “Well, I realized you did honestly had fun with him. True you were doing evil…” Fluttershy muttered in a low voice. “But while you were having fun and you did learn a lot from him.”
“Well, that’s true. Did you know Tirek is actually as smart, if not smarter than Twilight?”
“I- wait what?” It was Fluttershy’s turn to be confused. “No pony can be smarter than Twilight… well when it comes to magic at least.”
“Oh yes, it's true. Every single pony he took power from, including me- Tirek was able to duplicate their powers.” Discord sat back down and cross both limbs on his chest. “A snap of my fingers, and I can teleport and conjure up things. After he took my power, he did easily.”
“So are you saying Tirek can escape from his jail?!” Fluttershy suddenly looked around in fear.
“Oh, yes Tirek can copy powers, and he can even retain the knowledge he learned. But he lacks the power to do so,” Discord answered as his face turned away. “After he was drained, he can hardly even create a rubber ball.”
“But wouldn’t that mean,” Fluttershy closed both eyes in thought a bit, “that if Tirek got loose again and got more magic power, he will be more dangerous?”
“I doubt it. This time I sense him even try to use his magic drain, he will end up in jail again!” Discord snapped his fingers, and was dressed in his policeman’s uniform.
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Back in Tartarus, Tirek closed both of his eyes, meditating. Ever since he used magic drain on all of the ponies, he had been going through all the knowledge in his mind. One of them, was chaotic magic sensing. Whoever or whatever had come from his homeland- they had brought a powerful chaotic magical item. One that was inert, yes, but it was laced with the power of his homeland. A small smile crossed on his lips. “I see they got my letter.”
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Back at the center of Ponyville…
“You’re not Tirek!” Twilight screamed out, lifting her hoof up at the centaur.
“Uh, yes, I am,” Tirek replied, raising his right eyebrow in question. “Actually, my full name is Prince Tirek the IV, crown prince to the kingdom of the Netherrealm.” At the title of “prince”, many of the ponies started to chatter, mostly of gossip as they watched Twilight and the centaur study each other.
“I mean, you look a little- actually a lot like Lord Tirek,” Twilight said, coming back to her senses. This new Tirek was a centaur, with the same colors at the old Tirek. Red body, black for his animal half, the same bull horns, and even the yellow eyes. “But you are not bald, and look a lot younger.”
“Wait wait wait…” Prince Tirek looked left and right for a moment. “Lord Tirek,” the prince muttered in a low voice to think. The younger centaur moved his left hand to a blue pouch hanging around his neck. From the inside, he pulled out a rolled up scroll and unraveled it to start reading it to himself. “Lord Tirek the First sent this? My ancestor is still lives?”
A few seconds ago, the assistant dragon jumped up to land on Pinkie Pie’s back. Pinkie Pie and the mayor took off, making their way to the door. “So it's not any sign of danger?” Spike asked. All of his limbs hanging on for dear life.
“No! I don't get it either!” Pinkie exclaimed.
“Are you sure?” Mayor Mare asked, face scrunching up. It was the only reason she tagged along, otherwise the Mayor couldn’t afford to get herself in danger. Of course, she would never run around screaming “save yourselves.” or anything like that.
“Just look!” Pinkie Pie came to a stop, coming up to the herd of ponies gathered around Twilight and Prince Tirek. All of them had to raise their heads to look at the young centaur.
“Woah…” Spike whispered, not sure what to make of it. While his own experiences with Tirek were anything but nice, he would never forget the centaur.
“May ancestor lives?” Prince Tirek spoke up, turning to look back at Twilight. “Can it be? I must see him!” The centaur’s eyes perked up, finally display emotions of… Spike couldn’t tell. His hand was formed into a fist, clutching the scroll tight enough to make his knuckles turn white. The way teeth and lips were curled in a snarl, reminded him so much of the older Tirek. Yellow eyes were narrowed in… Rage? But-
“No! Now way will Lord Tirek have any visitors!” Twilight suddenly exclaimed, flying at eye level with Prince Tirek. Her eyes were narrowed now, though more as an act of standing behind her decision, than of anger. “He is under-”
“I know he is incarcerated! That’s why I came to investigate this myself!” The prince’s outburst made all of the ponies cower in fear. Even the alicorn princess had to land back onto the ground. “I have to see if this is true!” Both of his nostrils flared out. His hot, white breath was visibly seen spewing out of his nose as his muscles flexed.
While all of the ponies were trying to gather their thoughts, Spike looked around to see if there was anypony brave enough to stand with Twilight. If he was evil, and had the same powers as Lord Tirek, none of them stood a chance. So far, only Pinkie Pie was the only other element of Harmony present. But the poor pink pony was just as startled as the others. But… why was Twilight not fighting back? The tiny dragon also moved a claw to his chest, also confused by his own lack of- Fear?
No. It was not fear that filled his chest or made his heart pound. But why? Spike narrowed his own green eyes, not sure what was going on. Why was he not afraid? If he wasn’t afraid, what was he feeling?
“I… Investigate?”
The words made all the ponies turn to look back at Twilight, as she picked herself back up to stand and look up at the prince. She seemed peeved, but Spike lived with the alicorn long enough to recognize that look. Twilight had one eyebrow raised, her mouth relaxed a bit as her neck was stretched up to keep her head in focus. The alicorn was confused, but was still paying careful attention. Her own fear and concern for all the ponies was being overwritten by her curiosity.
For his part, the centaur closed both eyes, and raised his left hand to his face and rub both eyes. He took slow breaths, trying to calm down and relax his frame. “Forgive my outburst. Yes. I,” Prince Tirek held out his hand to show the scroll in his hand, “received this scroll.”
Princess Twilight studied the scroll for a moment. As she did, Spike hopped off Pinkie and slowly walked between the legs of ponies and head towards his boss. They both, however, easily recognized the scroll material. It was from Canterlot castle, no doubt about it. Each one knew the smell, material, and the ribbon used to seal it. High quality, and only the Princesses used it. “May I-”
“No!” The prince took back his scroll and hastily opened his eyes, clutching the scroll to his chest. “Not until I see this Tirek!” Both hands moved to his chest, fumbling a bit to place the scroll back into his pouch. “A dragon whelp?” He stopped moving when he spotted Spike hop on Twilight’s back.
“Spike?” Twilight took a second to recognize her assistant land on her. “You shouldn’t-”
“Hello there,” the prince smiled a bit, bowing down at his waist to look at Spike’s face. “I’ve never seen such a young dragon before. “My name’s Prince Tirek.” His snarl and apprehension was gone, now replaced with a toothy smile and a relaxed gaze.
“Uh, hi. I’m Spike?” This was all too confusing. Just a second ago the “prince” was filled with rage, and now he was so- polite. “Um... “
“Oh, please excuse my outburst.” The prince stood up straight and moved a hand out to his mane and clear his head. “Not mane, hair,” Spike had to think to himself. “I was, not myself there. It just fills me with rage when I see injustice and cruelty.”
“Cruelty?” Spike asked, now his own eyebrow raised. All the ponies now were slowly snapping out of it, confused and curious as well.
“Oh yes. You see, my scroll was filled with details about cruelty, injustice, foul play, and mistreatment caused to one of Nether Realm’s citizens. As a Prince, it is my duty to see if this is true.”
Twilight turned her head to look over at Spike, now also more confused than ever. “Forgive me Prince Tirek. What do you mean?” Twilight asked, turning to look back at the centaur.
“Ah. Well, I cannot show you the letter, for I fear my investigation may be tampered with.” Prince Tirek stood straight, now moving both hands behind his back. “But..”
“As a Princess of Equestria, I give you my word that your investigation will not be tampered or changed,” Twilight said, as Spike nodded.
“Young Spike, is her word worth listening to?” Tirek crossed both arms over his chest, and completely ignored the the other ponies. Well, it seemed this Tirek had something else in common with the locked up Tirek. They both had bad impressions of ponies.
Finding himself on the spot, Spike shrugged both shoulders anxiously. The last time he was confronted like this, it had been at the Friendship Summit. So many weird things were happening. A royal centaur. An investigation. The confusing emotion. Twilight’s word in question? This was the alicorn that would not interfere or step in when Fluttershy was going to work for six months in a trade! “I… Well why would you not believe her?” Spike moved a claw to his head, trying to clear his head.
“I…” The centaur raised his own right hand to his chin in thought. “Well, Princess Twilight was not mentioned in the letter, true…” The prince released a sigh. “Very well. I suppose if I want to do this without any problems, I must also comply as a sign of goodwill. Do you swear upon your honor that I shall receive your help, Princess?”
“You are a prince, and although our two kingdoms haven’t had much contact, we are still in a treaty. As a princess myself, I realize how serious royal duties can be. I swear that I will do anything in my power to make sure that this is all cleared up.” Twilight bowed her head once out of respect. Whatever her problems or reservations were with Lord Tirek, she wouldn’t let him impede on her judgement of the rest of the Nether Realm citizens. “You could even give the scroll to Spike to read if it will make you feel better.”
The prince took a moment to ponder this, then gave a nod. The young were innocent and ignorant, but the dragon child showed no signs of being mistreated. He reached into his pouch and pulled out the scroll again. It was almost like magic, Spike noticed. The scroll was so small and tiny as it came out of the pouch, but gradually became larger as it was pulled out and presented.
“Spike, please read it out loud.”
“A moment,” Prince Tirek spoke out. “Maybe this should not be done in the streets.”
“That’s right everypony!”
All the head turned, looking back at Mayor Mare. “This is a royal matter now, so we should all get back on with our lives. All is safe, and the prince presents no threat… Right?” The prince blinked once, turning to look at the new pony. He nodded once, finally understanding what was being expected of him. Such an outburst towards a princess was very unsightly.
Princess Twilight nodded with a smile, and the other ponies understood. This was a royal matter now. The ponies started chatter among themselves and leave and go back to their daily business. “Pinkie, not you please.”
“Yeah Twi?”
Spike, Prince Tirek, and Twilight all had to turn their heads to spot Pinkie was now at the left side of the purple alicorn. The young centaur was the one most in shock, raising an arm to his face as he stepped back in surprise. Pinkie was now smiling, glad that the whole nasty scene was over. For her own part, Twilight shook it off as her friend was being Pinkie.
“I need you to get the rest of our friends. Meet us in the castle, but not until after I finish off with our new guest.” Twilight smiled as Pinkie sat on her hindquarters to salute. “The kitchen should be fine, you can all eat a snack while you wait.”
“Let’s give the prince a welcome party!” Pinkie then took off, eyes opened wide in excitement. Young Tirek relaxed and watched the pink pony take off like a rocket.
“I don’t want a party?” Prince Tirek called out in a low voice, clearly confused by the turn of events.
“Come with me into my castle. Forgive me for my earlier misunderstanding,” Twilight sighed. Pinkie was clearly getting the wrong idea and was getting ahead of herself. “Would you mind sharing the details about this letter?”
“I suppose so.” The prince turned back to look down at the princess and the young dragon. It seems they were the only ones heading to the crystal palace. “A few months ago, we received this letter at my home. But the odd thing? It arrived with no courier, in a magic teleportation spell.”
“No mailpony either? Spike asked.
“Uh…” Prince Tirek looked left and right, not sure what to make of the term. “No mail creature of any kind, unless they were further away to drop off the spell. Usually an attendant brings in the mail.”
“A few months ago…” Twilight muttered, thinking and collecting data. “Anything else?”
“My father read it, and immediately fell into shock. He went pale, and upon the disarray it left my father, my mother took the letter to read.” The prince winced, one eye closed as he looked away a bit. “My mother’s reaction was filled with righteous fury. When I read it, my own mood took a foul turn.”
“That bad huh?” Spike asked. He looked down at the crumpled-up scroll in his claws and wondered what it could possibly mean. The centaur also mentioned “injustice”. This was serious enough to send the prince instead of an embassador.
“Oh yes, young dragon. You will see once you read. While my father wished to send the embassador, my mother felt that it was about time that our two nations start communicating again. I was sent to both investigate the matter, and we should still be in friendly terms with Equestria.” The prince came to a stop, now looking over at the entrance. “Although my mother was angry enough to almost declare war.”
“Great,” Twilight sighed under her breath. “Another incident that can lead to war…”
“Another?” Prince Tirek raised his left eyebrow. “Interesting.”
“Another time. We are here,” Twilight raised her head to open the doors. “I’m afraid I have no attendants or guards in my castle.”
“I- Princess Celestia would send her daughter to live alone by herself?” Prince Tirek walked in, looking around the palace. Swanky.
“No no no no,” Twilight immediately blushed, looking away. “I am, uhm- not Princess Celestia’s daughter.” She had to clear the misunderstanding right away. “And I live alone by choice.” She added. It was not the prince’s fault for taking a reasonable guess.
“So you are a princess from another royal family? Say no more,” Prince Tirek nodded. It brought him a bit of relief actually. “I feel I can trust you more than the other royalty of Equestria.”
“I see.” Twilight came to a stop at the map room. It had enough space for the young centaur to stand straight. Best to leave things alone so they could get to business. She was not the one in issue, it seems. “Please, sit if you wish.”
“I’m fine standing. I have been traveling a while to get here.” Still, the prince walked over to stand behind one of the thrones. It had three diamonds on it. How odd. Each hand moved to hold the throne and study the structure. “You may read anytime, Spike.” Twilight reminded the dragon with a smile.
“Oh, right…” Spike cleared his throat and jumped down on the map table. He waited until Twilight sat down then opened up the scroll to read out loud. He then turned to the prince, and he nodded as well. “To The Rulers of the Nether Realm. Ponies have committed a grave mistake and a great injustice. One of its citizens was treated with indescribable cruelty. This citizen was thrown into a cage like an animal, without even a notice of when the citizen was to be released. No sun, no moon, no windows of any kind.”
Twilight raised her head. Equestria had no prisoners! Or even a dungeon the only one that even- Her eyes widened as she realized that the letter was really talking about Lord Tirek.
“There is absolutely no food or water given. No company given, other than a foul three-headed beast. No recreational time, not even with good behavior. No chance of release or parole. There’s not even a pillow, blanket, or even straw for a bed. Each night, your citizen must spend a night on a cold, hard metal cage. Not a day goes by without the sounds of demons filling the stale air. No trial was given. This citizen has been detained for far longer than any creature alive. Now your citizen did commit a crime, true- but this has gone on for over 1,000 years, back to the time when Princess Celestia and Princess Luna overthrew the handsome, witty, and clever King Discord.”
“Discord…” Twilight sighed, placing a hoof to her face. Now she knew who wrote this. The prince turned to student the princess, waiting for any clues to be given. Discord? No mention of such a name back home.
“Please. Put an end to this injustice. Please, free your citizen.” Spike picked his head up from the scroll, rolling it back up. “That’s all there is.”
“I see. And because this scroll is from the royal palace of Equestria, your family had no choice but to believe it.” Twilight sat back down and sighed. Discord was the only one who could have delivered the letter using magic. Only he knew how Lord Tirek could possibly feel, being in stone for 1,000 years as well. “And all the contents in that letter sound so wrong.”
The centaur nodded. “This is why I came here in person and investigate.”
“I’m afraid…” Twilight sighed. Oh, all this sounded so bad. Another war was going to happen and it was going to be all her fault. She moved to sit straight, and then stand up. She had to stand up to deliver the bad news. “I need you to understand that Lord Tirek committed many heinous crimes against the ponies of Equestria.”
“The letter does state that the citizen in question was guilty of such crimes,” Prince Tirek spoke in a very, very low voice. “But is the rest of that letter true? Do you have one of my citizens in a jail with not a single blanket or even some straw?” He stopped there, moving away from the throne and walking over to the alicorn. Each hand moved behind his back, each yellow eye closing a bit to gauge her reaction. “Is there absolutely no chance of parole? Was there even a chance for a fair trial?” Each time he spoke, his voice became deeper and deeper, slowly filling with anger that began to bubble forth. “No food or water, not even fresh air?”
Twilight turned her head, eyes closed. After a moment of arduous silence, she responded back in a strained tone. “It’s all true.”
