The Domain of Midnight (light spoilers)

Now, at last, we see the TRUE heart of all evil in the story of "The Light of Harmonys Hope".

Lord Tirek's throne room within the demonic skull of Midnight Mountain.

A combination of the throne rooms of Shao Kahn, The Skeksis, and Darth Sidious aka Emperor Palpatine of Exegol. The chamber itself is large enough to be a colosseum, and fit over forty in there, despite the Heartstone's presence. Speaking of which, The Heartstone of Apophis' location is a DIRECT reference to The Dark Crystal. But the only heart this crystal belongs to is Tirek, now that he is one with the being formed from the unification of Tirac and Apophis.

The Original Tirathos.

One day, he ran away from home after he nearly killed Scorpan in a rage caused by his father, and his own growing resentment - followed by the reveal that he is descended from the tyrannical Dark Lord of Midnight, Tirac. I won't go into the full details, but let's just say Tirek realized what he nearly did, and the guilt made him run away, almost similar to what MelSpyRose did with him. Except his circumstances ended up being darker than what that Tirek endured. His chaotic emotions were a magnet to darker forces. Forces who are drawn to suffering, hatred, sorrow and guilt. Those who would use such things for their own ends. And it seems the Dark Lord of the first Generation was not as dead as all thought.

Thanks to his magic crystals, he survived. Not just thanks to the Heartstone, but also thanks to the Magical Crystals he stole from the Celestial Dragons, who if you recall, are the Megablox Dragons. In other words, he found the most useful crystals in the possession of these dragons, and slaughtered them for himself. Thanks to his bond with Apophis, whose soul he consumed and his consciousness became one with him to grant him knowledge beyond his worlds understanding. And these crystals gave him great power, control over others, the ability to corrupt and control others, the power to spy on others unobserved, and commune with them at his leisure, and bestowed an endless bounty of soul essence to preserve his life in its eternal prime. With all this power, he harnessed the power of Darkness itself, and created the Dark Crucible to rule Equus itself. But in the end, their power wasn't enough, and his connection to them was severed when The Rainbow of Light destroyed the majority of his power.

Even so, Tirac held enough of a connection to have the crystals hide deep within the ruin that was his mountain fortress, where only he or another of his choosing may find them. Once that was done, he crawled into the wilderness, broken and weak, until he found a cave that was a Nexus between darkness and light: separate from the mortal realm in a manner similar to the chaotic dimension of Discord, but where time moves slower. The very place reeked of powerful magic, which he used to call upon the last connection he held with his Crystals, to seek out and find a successor to carry out his legacy. Unfortunately, he found it in the form of a hurting centaur prince who had almost killed his brother. It was in him, Tirac not only saw his own bloodline continued: he also saw in Tirek's heart one who held the mightiest affinity for Darkness and Anarchy even he could not reach himself. Thus did he use his power to bring Tirek into the Dark Nexus, and filled his heart and mind with deception, and manipulation. Though he was dying, as any could see by his now aged but still imposing form, his work remained unfinished. The legacy of Harmony and Light, and their source in this universe survives. And it must be Tirek now, who sees their reign ended, and the world return to Anarchy and Darkness.

In return for becoming his successor, The Dark One who give him ALL of his power.

In the end, the confused boy who was no longer sure of himself, could do nothing but accept the deal. At that moment, the Dark Lord of the first generation would perform the final union: casting his heart out of the old, and brittle form he had been reduced to, and join with a new, stronger form. If Tirek was willing, he would not simply be the arc that sustains the two made one: he would take the very essence of the demonic Tirathos, and one day would reignite the spark that would give him all of the powers, and tools Tirathos used before they were broken away from him. Absorb the Dark One's heart, and everything that was both Tirac and Apophis would be his to command, and control. The prince accepted, and much like Tirac before him, opened his heart to this dark core, and transform into a beastly form befitting the darkness he now was one with. With his heart now joined with Tirek, Tirac resigned himself to the form of undeath: though his body would die, his soul would remain, and serve as a guide in Tirek's hour of need.

And after secretly killing both his mother, and father, and then blaming it on his old mentor, Sendak, saying it was an act of revenge that sadly succeeded - and Tirek himself had been cursed by the old wizard when he tried to stop him. Granted, he DID have the old centaur killed by his own hand, but it was his power to consume the Essence of others that allowed him to punish those two who had tried to stunt him for so long. Now, they would remain forever a part of him as he did the same to others. After that, he used an ancient dark magic and the murder of his parents to break a fragment of his heart, and give life to a monstrous Wraith known as Dismay, who was his most faithful servant, and a vital part of him - and the one he entrusted to burn his old home to the ground when he convinced Scorpan to leave with him, seeing as how there was nothing for them there anymore. The last reminders of his hated life now gone, he could now begin his quest to claim the powers lost to Tirac/Tirathos, under the pretense of only coming to Equestria for its magic: he needed to find The Heartstone of Apophis to awaken the dark powers bestowed unto Tirac by the Outer God upon their fiendish union. Only then, when he bonded to the Heartstone, would he be able to reignite the spark of life in the other seven crystals once he somehow restores the Midnight Mountain. From there, he would pick up where his master left off, and seek to end Harmony and Light forever - along with those who would protect, and serve the aspects.

I'd say the rest is history, but that's only partly true, given how his imprisonment in Tartarus was a result in a clash of Light and Darkness between Tirek, and Scorpan. Finding his brother on the ponies side, and turned against him, Tirek's rage, hatred, and desire for vengeance awakened the power buried deep within him, and made him A Dark Lord. But following the clash that ensued, Scorpan awakened a hidden power of his own: the power of The Light. Thanks to this power, Scorpan was not only able to bring down Tirek, but with the aid of The Elements of Harmony, he diminished him.......and even erased his memory of his connections with Tirac and Apophis and Tirathos, and even his true objective. The only thing he knew were his base desires, and his hatred for the brother who betrayed him. It wouldn't be until his second defeat eight thousand years later that someone would light the kindle of Tirek's old memories. A mysterious shadow being who gifted him with his mighty armor, and allowed his more cunning, brutal, and wicked aspects to resurface. But once he found Sombra's horn, The Heartstone hidden in the Frozen North, and united the two he fulfilled his original objective. His reward was the restoration of his memories, and all the skills, craft, quile, and evil gifted to him by his master. Now, he has relearned all that he knows of the Dark Arts, and used his knowledge to restore the Kingdom of Darkness, and reignite the spark of life into the hidden crystals. Now, he is one with the eight of them, Heartstone included, and his predecessor once was.

Now it's only a matter of time before he creates the ultimate plan which will see Equus itself, and even The Great Tree, Lignum Harmonia, brought low before his power as he becomes Outer God, and rules all of his multiverse's creation.

IMAGE DETAILS