"Luna... Ah don't mean to be pushy... but are we ever gonna get to what, ya know, Ah actually came here to talk about to begin with? Applejack The First? My ancestor?"

Heh, Applejack is not Rainbow Dash, not at all. She isn't distracted by epic battles and 'awesome' displays of 'cool.'

"We deeply apologize Applejack, we know this must be frustrating... but when I finish this portion of the tale, my reasons will be made clear."

"This was supposed to be me learnin' 'bout her, not the worst monster Equestria's ever known! Ah've got FAMILY who are hurtin' thinkin' AJ the First was a traitor! THAT is what Ah came here fer."

"... Then we shall try our best to be concise in this battle."
-
Father, I'm bored. I'm sick of listening to this.

'Now now my little princess. Trekkie was the first and best evil overlord, Groggy and Stormy learned from him! And so should you!'

You say that like either of us intend to RULE anything after we break the world and make it unpalatable to Those Who Watch.

'Well, never hurts to see how the great fell and learn from it.'

Like you?

'... Yes. Besides, it's not like you couldn't just go watch Fate Net or God Tube in the meantime.'

"That conceited upstart thought he didn't need my help anymore," Umbra Breeze added with a heavy dose of resentment.

-

We thought of telling Applejack about Sendak: the centaur mage who had helped perfect Tirek's creations and the plague that wiped out most of the centaurs... Sendak hoped to have a place at the side of the rising immortal tyrant's new empire. He helped Tirek refine so many of his worst talents. In return, Tirek promised that Sendak would be the greatest of the centaurs on Equus.

He even suggested to Tirek the possibility of harvesting ponies for their magic, something that the Moochick had convinced the Emperor was inhumane. Tirek had dismissed it at the time as a waste of time on such 'worthless creatures.'

Tirek made Sendak immortal shortly after unleashing the plague of the Mad Rot. Sendak assumed he would then “find” a cure once Tirek had disposed of his father and reunite the Empire. He never imagined Tirek would truly seek the end of their race. No sooner had Sendak gained his immortality than Tirek had him buried alive deeper than even the Ice Orcs and Lava Demons' domains. Of no threat to him, but available if Tirek had need of him again.

"But you promised to make me the greatest among the centaurs!" Sendak said as his fate was proclaimed.

"And I kept my word: it isn't hard to be the greatest if you are the only one left alive." Tirek replied.

If any deserved to be forgotten by history, tis him!

-

Shall we recruit Sendak, Father?

'Good idea, but sadly he's only alive when Tirek is alive. He's got a nice toasty place in Father right now. I think. I didn't really pay attention to that. Besides, even if he wasn't, he's not exactly the grateful type.'

-

Majesty, Scorpan, and the Moochick had no time to discuss further plans.

With pure killing intent, Tirek charged. In one fluid motion he thrusted one arm forward, his blade, Eclipse, summoned in an instant. Majesty reared back, and in the same motion conjured a golden sword to block Tirek's. But no blade forged by mortals alone could block that weapon. Eclipse cut through Majesty's sword like a hot knife through butter. Before the weapon could pierce Majesty's flesh, she teleported, avoiding being part of the crater the sword created. Tirek turned at the same moment Majesty appeared above him and threw Eclipse at her, but she teleported away, eluding the sword’s strike. She appeared beneath Tirek and stabbed him with her horn, determined to turn his internal organs to ABC blocks. But Eclipse teleported back to Tirek's hand in a moment, allowing him to block Majesty's stab.

All this happened in a few moments. And it was all the Moochick and Scorpan needed to see to know it was best to follow Majesty's instructions.

'I have no idea where Spike is, that means I can't fight at my all while Tirek can, I have to lure him out of the castle.'

Majesty saw the pure desire to kill her in Tirek’s eyes. 'Shouldn't be hard.'

= Egg Reverie Zone - Sonic Mania =

Her telepathy sensed Tirek was fighting on eons of combat instinct, just because she didn't know what he'd do next didn't mean she couldn't use this.

Using the light Golden Horseshoe, she blasted the room full of blinding light. Moochick took the chance to escape the battle zone. Scorpan... Moochick and Scopran both knew that fleeing from Tirek was not an option for those afflicted by Tirek’s curse. Scorpan did not blame Randall for leaving him.

Tirek, blinded, expected Majesty to make a stab at him, and exploded a sphere of raw darkness from himself that could have torn flesh apart.

His sight returned and saw Majesty retreating!

"YOU WON'T ESCAPE!"

'Have to keep his eyes on me, don't let him think of anything else!'

When she saw into his mind, she also sensed that while instinct was there, it had likewise been eons since Tirek had picked up a sword and practiced. A rusty swordsman could be tricked and make mistakes they should know better about than the uninitiated. There were tricks a well versed, well practiced opponent wouldn't fall for during a duel.

"Your friend was tasty, I should take another bite!"

"DIE!"

Black flames came from Tirek's mouth, lasers from his eyes, and lightning from between his horns as he grew in size.

Majesty led Tirek on. She didn't know if she should be grateful or saddened she hadn’t picked up Spike's scent in the truly gigantic fortress.

Tirek tore through his own castle to get Majesty, trampling all in his path.

Three young goblins, barely old enough to be called adults, were in their path. The trio, as is goblin tradition, were playing a card game to see who could cheat the most without being caught.

'Somewhere, these are a mother's sons,' Majesty thought. She teleported the goblins out of the path of destruction.

Having brushed with death, the eldest said, "Screw this! We're going back to Ma and Pa!"

"Let's loot on the way out!"

"Like duh!”

-

Maybe Majesty should have simply tracked down Spike and flee, but she was in no position to search Midnight Castle, and her future horseshoe could not show her the path to a desired outcome.

Majesty's foresight could only show her erased futures or sure things. The definite and the impossible, nothing in between. So she, unlike Gypsy, couldn't use it to guide her through Midnight Castle.

Majesty couldn't go the way she came into the castle straight to the former revenants. And she couldn't risk smashing her way out if Spike could be behind one of those walls she blasted.

Except back the way she came. She teleported behind Tirek not breaking stride. The raging giant Tirek needed time to turn around, smashing parts of the walls as he did. Majesty teleported by a millimeter to avoid being impaled by the thrown Eclipse, the sword returning to Tirek's hand.

Majesty had a flashback to her foalhood before her cutie mark, fleeing from hungry griffins and keythongs.

'You are not an animal Queen Majesty, THINK!... The reptilians are will-less slaves... but they still need air and in a fortress this big... an air vent!'

Indeed. One too small for a Reptilian to climb, and bereft of the space necessary for a pegasus to open their wings, but just enough for a unicorn with the power of levitation. Majesty foresaw she'd make it, and Spike wouldn't be harmed. Up she went.

Tirek snarled like a wild beast after its prey. He jumped midstep and his body shifted into a giant snake that went right after her, his jaws snapping as he saw her floating up the vent. Majesty diverted enough magic to conjure large rocks to drop on the reptile’s head, but it barely slowed him down.

She finally burst out of the vent, with the snake Tirek right on her tail. A visible flash of lightning and the overpowering boom of thunder made her realize she had made it outside the castle. She jumped onto a balcony overlooking the desolation. They weren’t even halfway up the castle, yet it was higher than Dream Castle’s tallest tower.

= Blitzkrieg - Combat1 =

Tirek shifted back to his normal form. “Won't escape!”

He waved his hand and the storm clouds came to life, shooting lightning down on the balcony. Majesty conjured a magic bubble around herself, that was hammered by bolt after bolt of white hot electric fire while those that missed exploded in bursts that dwarfed even Thunderstorm's lightning ability.

‘The lightning… maybe if I can redirect it…’

Majesty had fought Thunderstorm, she'd faced lightning. She could learn from the past.

With a well placed shot, she diverted a lone bolt at Tirek’s face. He was only stunned, but it was enough to allow her escape. She darted through the door back into the castle, and charged down the hall, but Tirek strangely didn’t follow. He just stood at the door and leaned against the wall.

Or so she thought.

As Majesty ran, she suddenly tripped. She tried to get back up, but she slid across the floor into the wall. She braced herself against the stone wall, but then noticed the torch hanging there: the flames were rising sideways.

She looked down the hall and saw the corridor was twisting. Tables bounced around and shattered as the walls spun like a carnival funhouse. She looked around and saw Tirek bounding down the shifting the hall towards her.

"You're in my world, little pony. This castle might as well be an extension of me!" said the Dark Lord.

Majesty quickly levitated, having to dodge both the castle and everything being thrown her way by Tirek himself. She ducked through a door as it rolled by, but found the next room rotating as well. Huge columns twisted past each other as she jumped to and fro to avoid them. Tapestries flapped at her like the wings of giant bats. Statues grabbed at her before tumbling across the ever changing room.

In the midst of all the chaos, Majesty was struck with a thought. ‘This much manipulation of the environment would take massive amounts of power, and it would be very volatile. If I can disrupt it at just the right moment…’ Majesty knew what she had to do. She stopped and stood in place, or as much as she could in the ever shifting place.

“There’s a spark inside us
“That we can all ignite
“Then all that’s dark inside us
“Will flicker into light.” A small spark of light appeared at the tip of Majesty’s horn.

Tirek frowned. “You face death, and yet you still take time to sing some insipid little song?”

“Surely, with all your knowledge, you’ve heard of the magical properties of music, Tirek.”

“Magical properties? It’s just music! How could mere entertainment have any true power?”

“Clearly, that’s yet another thing you will never understand.” Majesty began to sing again.
“There's a power in every breath
“There's a power in every note
“A power that starts within the heart
“A power that rises through the throat!

“And when it sails up through the air
“It's the most beautiful of prayer!
“This power could right a wrong
“And it will always thrill the ear
“Of those who have the power to hear
“The magic of this song.”

Tirek bounded intro the hall, leaping past any obstacle with the ease of a foal playing hopscotch. He readied Eclipse to carve his prey into shreds. “Very well, let this inane song be your last words, and let us finish this dance.”
-
"Least Ah know know where that phrase came from." Applejack quoted, "'Ya ever danced with Tirek in the pale moonlight?'"

I sighed. "Yes, that phrase used by thugs and monsters I was happy to find had died out a few decades before my return."
-

“You know, there’s a legend that says if you cut off the horn of a magical unicorn, the sun will set forever. Let’s see if it’s true!” Tirek charged with his sword raised high.
Tirek’s comment brought back into Majesty’s mind the memory of her mother's demise by the hands of a witch who sought to turn her horn into a wand. Majesty merely channeled the very justified anger into what came next.

“All that's strong inside us
“That tells us wrong from right
“Becomes a song inside us
“To chase away the night”

Tirek swung down Eclipse at Majesty’s head. At the last second, the spark she had conjured with the song charged up to full power. Eclipse came down and the whole world turned white.

BOOM

Concentrated light magic connected with concentrated dark magic in a place of rampant, ambient mana in a constant state of flux. It was like lighting a match close to a leaking gas oven in a room full of oil and gunpowder. The resulting explosion blew the top half off of Midnight Castle, and they heard it all the way in Dream Valley.

Majesty groaned as she came to. She pushed a chunk of rubble off her back, trying to shake the ringing in her ears as she stood.

'What the blue blazes was I thinking?' Majesty thought, 'I was trying to get OUT of the castle to avoid Spike being hurt if I began blowing up parts of it... And not only did Tirek herd me right back in without a second thought on my part, but I did exactly what I was trying to avoid... ' And there was the truth Applejack, Tirek might have been rusty, but Majesty had never directed a war, and while Tirek had won his fights easily in the last eons, Majesty had NEVER had to engage in a prolonged fight since gaining her special talent, she'd gone from running for her life, to swiftly ending enemies, Tirek HAD fought for his life with nothing but his wits and his sword once upon a time.

'Spike... please be okay...' At least Majesty had no vision of his funeral, that was a good sign wasn't it?

Majesty stood in a pile of rubble overlooking a few crumbling towers at the new pinnacle of the castle. The storm overhead had momentarily subsided as the blast blew most of the clouds away. Majesty caught her breath, and allowed herself a second, she had hoped that Tirek had been killed in the blast. Until she saw another pile of rubble begin to quake.

... and allowed herself a smile as she saw Tirek’s livid expression at his sword.

Or the half melted hilt and shattered blade that was left of it.

“I guess it’s true what they say. The size of the blade means nothing if you don’t know how to use it!” Majesty taunted.

She barely dodged the fireball Tirek shot at her in reply.

"THIS IS ABSURD! EVEN THE ELF COULDN'T BREAK MY SWORD! The mightiest dragons have tried and failed! This is impossible! What are you?!"

"I am Queen Majesty of Ponyland, the ruler of ponykind and Dream Valley! Protector of good and punisher of evil!" Majesty's barrier stopped the mass of hungry quasi-flesh magic monster mouth-thing that Tirek threw at her, but she skidded back several hooves.

Through sheer will, Tirek reformed the sword Eclipse into a whip, a slaver's weapon, appropriate. The whip seemed to stretch, and wrap around Majesty's leg, and pulled it out from under her.

Majesty was slammed on her back HARD, shattering her focus and her barrier with it. The mouth-blob-monster began to close in on Majesty, and she responded by turning it into saltwater taffy. The candies turned into stone, acting as a shell to protect her from Tirek's next strike that blasted it to shrapnel going in all directions.

Tirek tried to again bring his castle to life against her, but the resulting movements were sluggish and 'tired' for lack of a better word. Majesty detonating the magic filling it had burned up so much it barely had the energy to move, giving Majesty a chance to think.

'All I know how to do is run away or attack. In a fight I'm still just a wild unicorn ...'

Inside Dream Castle, Firefly said, "Majesty, in battle, there are only two maneuvers: attack or withdraw." Firefly pushed a white pawn close to a black pawn and then far away again with a pointer stick. "Or put another way, 'direct' or 'indirect.' But just as there are only five primary colors, yellow, red, blue, white, and black that can make any color, these two moves can create an infinite number of strategies."

"That's very wise of you Firefly."

"I'm just teaching you what Thunderstorm taught me, and what Thunderstorm learned from listening to his owner teach his sons. On the battlefield, it’s not about how diverse your arsenal is, but how you play them."

= Lucia vs Zophar - Lunar II Eternal Blue =

Time didn't stop as Queen Majesty reflected on the past. And Tirek was now at arm's length from her and reached for Majesty’s head. A white ball of light appeared on her horn, and Tirek tried to crush it with his free hand, only to have his arm blown back. Tirek took a look at his twisted hand until it regenerated.

In the meantime Majesty used her levitation horseshoe to get air born, outside of the reach of Tirek's whip, and farther away to give herself more time to react to his ranged attacks.

In response, Tirek blasted at the remains of the castle floor with both hands, using enough force to send himself skywards after Majesty!

'Blast it, he's still learning as he fights!' Majesty thought. She'd hoped that Tirek had forgotten how to learn. Then Majesty remembered this was what she wanted, to lure Tirek away from the castle so Majesty could fight without endangering her friends and family who could be anywhere within its walls. 'I can't let myself be lost in the battle haze!'

Tirek roared in fury, using what power remained in the scattered debris and drawing even more from the already heavily drained castle itself to rise up in the form of a giant arm, swatting at Majesty in an attempt to knock her from the sky. Majesty responded by using magic learned from watching pegasi command several clouds infused with immense dark magic to form into another arm, and condensed it into ice hard enough to match the debris in hardness. She blocked Tirek's swipe with her construct and knocked it away. Both swung their constructs at one another with enough force to sound like a thunderclap, sending shockwaves that would shake the earth around them.

Tirek's few surviving sapient minions looked at the titanic clash...and promptly threw down their weapons and fled for their lives in panic. Except for maybe three greedy goblins who chose to gamble with danger and won, stuffing their bags with prizes that Tirek would never realize were missing. They did escape through a secret passage in the castle they'd found, not noticing a trio of seaponies who'd spotted them as they left.

Both constructs began to crack as they struggled against one another until Tirek tired of the struggle and merely atomized both in an attempt to strike Majesty... only to find she had been controlling her construct from further away, leading the fight further from the castle.

Before he could figure that out, she took a page from Surprise's book and met his gaze with an attempted magically generated cream pie to the face, which Tirek promptly vaporized in fury at the attempt and charged her. "Stop playing games! Four times you have vexed me tonight! Do you intend to vex me a fifth by not giving me the fight you promised?!"

Majesty...smirked as she realized they were now a good ways from the castle. 'Spike, you're safe now... Mommy can fight back.'

= I Underestimated You - Voltron Legendary Defender Season 6 Soundtrack =

The Queen of Dream Valley surrounded herself with a forcefield of sacred darkness and returned Tirek's charge with her horn leveled to strike while Tirek lowered his head, intending to do the same with his bull-like horns. As the collision grew closer and closer, the two formed massive magical blades around their horns extended from both their magical barriers and finally slammed into one another.

All sound vanished for a moment before a shockwave split the skies as if a massive sword had cut them asunder.

What is about to follow is a battle Strife has built monuments to in her realm and commissioned ballads from Pandora about. Strife is not easily impressed.

The two pushed against one another, magical fields crackling and pushing against each other until the build up of magic exploded violently, blowing both back several meters despite both protecting themselves with a shield.

Majesty was the first to recover and unleashed a magical beam of such power a dragon would be blown to atoms by it.

Tirek coated himself in a field of magic and dove forwards, slamming into the beam. After a few moments of clashing evenly, he quickly swerved off to the side and flew straight at her. Majesty had just enough time to put up her shield as he slammed into her with enough force that every bone in a giant's body would've been shattered instantly. He continued on and slammed her straight into the ground, lifting up several layers of rock before Majesty finally unleashed a gravity spell, sending Tirek's momentum downwards away from her. The Centaur quickly cancelled the spell out and rose back up…

Just in time for Majesty to super condense the rock debris unleashed by their battle into the size of one of her eyes before using the same gravity spell to launch it like a rail gun at Tirek. The Centaur was impressed: it was the first attack he'd faced in eons that he felt like he had to shield himself from.

The impact sent him plunging deep into the earth until magma erupted from the hole he'd been blasted through, forcing Majesty to teleport to the surface to avoid it.

Majesty looked down as lava erupted from the hole they'd opened...and had to teleport some very upset lava demons back to the mantle.

She didn't even entertain the thought it was over. She was proven right when Tirek erupted from the molten rock as it poured off his shield and held out his hands, blazing magic in his horns. The lava suddenly took on the same hue as his magic and froze in mid air before forming into a gigantic demonic form that breathed a torrent of magma at Majesty, forcing her to dodge to avoid being burned alive. Tirek commanded his construct to swing at her, forcing her to dodge and weave until a swipe connected with her shield, sending her flying and crashing into the nearby ocean, where you could still see a few trees that refused to die on Tirek’s domain. The nearby Seaponies who thought they were safe observing the battle from this distance scattered.

Before Tirek could press his advantage, Majesty rose from the depths, turning the sea into gigantic water construct shaped like the Alicorn she'd seen during Moochick's spell. Giving a roar of effort, the massive construct slammed and washed over Tirek's construct. In an explosion of steam, the magma construct hardened to obsidian and the temperature shock shattered it to bits.

Before Majesty could bring her moving tidal wave to crash down on Tirek, he quickly rearranged the pulverized rock into sand and reformed his monster which opened its mouth and swallowed up the water. As it moved to slam its fist down on Majesty, she quickly fired a spell into the sky and a funnel cloud descended, forming a new construct that blew like a hurricane on Tirek's and reduced it to dust in the wind.

Tirek merely snarled unasmused and summoned a funnel of his own, the two clashing and canceling each other out before he flew forwards and attempted to cut Majesty in two with an energy blade.

No longer having to worry about Eclipse's near unstoppable blade, Majesty formed her own blade of magic and charged, clashing with Tirek and locking blades.

As they did so, Tirek broke the stalemate by punching her shield with such force that he opened a gash on Majesty's head. Majesty responded by reminding Tirek that ponies had strong legs and using a magic enhanced punch to his head, likewise opening a wound.

Tirek was quite surprised when the wound didn't simply seal up instantly.

Majesty's horseshoes have strange properties. Remember how Discord has only one fang? He used to have two until my earthly mother busted out the other with one of those very horseshoes...I don't need to tell you what happened next, you know my expression well...thank you for the hug.

This shock gave Tirek pause, and a pause gave Majesty an opening.

Majesty held her Horseshoe of Light to Tirek's heart and focused its light into a laser. Tirek barely managed to dodge enough for the laser to only leave a scorched wound on his side that likewise failed to heal instantly.

Tirek replied with a pitch black beam of energy aimed at Majesty's head. She only managed to dodge enough to have part of her mane atomized and part of her ear. Majesty cringed at the pain but didn't stop.

Tirek's whip stretched and struck like a snake, wrapping around Majesty's neck, choking her. The whip's length reduced and Tirek's front hooves stomped Majesty in the face, over and over.

She kicked him in the chest with all fours, forcing him off her and leaving horseshoe shaped indents in his chest that didn't heal. She was painfully whiplashed along for the ride. Majesty struck a raw magic blast in his chest as they fell. Tirek stopped himself, but Majesty teleported away before he could grab her and blasted him in the face.

But Tirek sneered as Majesty realized he had grabbed her crown, the present from her ponies.

"Give that back!"

"No!" Tirek crushed it. "So much for your magic tricks, 'your highness' only one who had internalized power can truly say it's-"

Majesty had transmuted one of the gnarled and half-dead trees that clung to life in Tirek's domain into a rubber tree and teleported to it. It stretched as she landed on it, and let it sling-shot her straight at him, sending him flying into the stratosphere.

= Queen Tiamat Battle Theme EX ZONE BOSS BGM - CLOSERS =

Majesty didn't fly up after him and instead focused on him with her Horseshoe of Telepathy to target. 'Let us see if you can regenerate from dust…'

Tirek stopped himself high above and began charging power into his horns.

"Darkness beyond twilight, crimson blood that flows
Buried beyond the reaches of time is where your power grows,
I give myself to Destruction, so all the foes that stood,
Before the mighty gifts bestowed upon my hooves,
Let the fools who stand before us be obliterated,
By the powers you and I possess…"

Majesty crackled with red mana, eyes lighting up white.

"Dreadful darkness, hear my cry!
Let me watch all light die!
Let this worm that stands before me fear,
Be swallowed up and disappear!" chanted Tirek, channeling power from unholy twisted places as all light around him vanished completely and the space between his horns glowed from the light being sucked into an abyss.

"DESTRUCTION’S BANE!" yelled Majesty, firing a beam of pure destructive magic straight at Tirek.

"DARKNESS CASCADE!" Tirek yelled, firing a beam of energy that was only visible by the light being swallowed up by it.

The two beams slammed into one another with such force the clouds were cleared from the sky, and the center became a swirling maelstrom of energy that atomized the air around it by existing. The two sweated from the effort, straining as they put more and more power into the struggle, the sphere where they met growing larger and larger with each passing moment…

Until finally it imploded into nothing before exploding with such force that both had to shield themselves despite being far from its epicenter.

The blast blew Majesty back, slamming her several meters into the ground while Tirek was sent flying at escape velocity. The ground around Tirek's castle was atomized for some distance, and the ocean came crashing in until it was up to the castle itself.

All was silent for a few moments... until Majesty broke the surface of the water, gasping for breath, her fur red in many spots. She looked up, wondering if that'd been enough. She had grown greatly in strength and endurance since she'd used that spell for the first time to obliterate a tsunami, it no longer completely drained her mana reserves... but if that wasn't enough, then she had a feeling by the end she'd have to hoof it back home the long way. Thankfully she had her eight heirs (one son and seven daughters) to act in her absence.

-

“What?! Seven daughters?! Ya never mentioned them!”

“They were not present for the events I’ve told you about. You heard her mention Mimic, born from Majesty's magic, and her own wish for a sister Lucky and Spike could interact directly with, whom your ancestor saved. Sadly, that nature meant her life was tied to Majesty's, and thus she needed her or something with her life force to survive. The other six of them were the Princess Ponies, as they were known, born to Majesty through the magic mirror. She had them raised in another part of Ponyland called Royal Paradise, far beyond the crystal desert. They were guardians of the magic wands that gained power from the very heart of Ponyland, maintaining the magical balance of the land.”

“Well, why’d she put ‘em all the way out there? Not very motherly!”

“Because of the dangers to Dream Valley, Majesty knew that someone needed to keep Ponyland in order if something ever happened to her. So, she had them secluded, so their enemies would never target them and risk destroying them, and Ponyland itself... Remember, Applejack, thanks to Tirek and Lilith, many were the evils of the world in that day. It was only with Tirek's death that the will of evil began to truly break.”

-

Floating up in the void of space, Tirek tumbled in the void... until his eye flashed open and glowed red. Blood floated from wounds covering his body, his healing factor beginning to be overtaxed. Giving a silent roar, he rocketed back down towards Equus like a meteorite.

Majesty saw the red streak coming down at her and dove down into the water before launching back up towards the surface surrounded by an energy field. And collided with him at the water's surface, the force of the impact splitting the newly formed inland sea. Both stared into each other's eyes, panting and winded. The two jumped back and charged again.

Tirek punched Majesty in the chest and black crystals began to grow from the point of impact... Majesty's horn sparkled, and the crystals dissolved and her flesh was restored. As innumerable and powerful as Majesty’s magic spells were, her special talent remained with the first kind of spell she ever used: Transmutation.

Majesty, in a overwhelming flash of light, turned Tirek's body into a dirt statue... which became flesh and blood again in an inverted flash of rainbow colors before Majesty could charge her magic for even a gentle breeze, and flaming meteors fell on top of her.

The Queen of Ponyland winked out and appeared in front of Tirek and blasted him point blank. The Lord of Midnight Castle put a hand out and blocked the beam with a shield.

The two jumped away from each other, floating above the roaring waves.

"... So... I see that crown was not a power source...why then did it mean so much to you?" Tirek asked as the two circled, each aware they were tiring and could no longer fight recklessly.

"It was a gift from all my friends..." Majesty replied. Her ponies visited other spheres for the materials. Remember how I said Starshine of the Rainbow Ponies could warp herself to other worlds? She and Moonstone traveled the entire Milky Way together to find what they needed, facing interstellar storms and dangerous mines on a distant world. They even met a cosmic entity known as the Great Star Pegasus out there. Who was it? I will let you guess. That crown was special, one of a kind, and a symbol of how much her subjects loved her.

Tirek cocked his head, perplexed. "That's all?"

"What do you mean 'that's all'?" asked the unicorn.

"It was only a pretty bauble given to you by some worthless vassals? If I knew breaking toys given to you by serfs meant so much to you, I'd have greeted you with that pathetic little dragon's head..." Tirek admitted.

Majesty's eyes widened... then narrowed. Dark magic, dear Applejack, is powered by many things. Tirek knew only greed, cruelty, and narcissistic rage if slighted. All powerful sources... but a mother's justified fury? A queen's wrath for her harmed subjects? Those are emotions Majesty knew and had thrived on all her life while Tirek would never care for another as much as he cared for himself, not even his precious Rainbow of Darkness. Not could not, but would not. And even what care he did have for the Rainbow paled in comparison to Majesty's love for her subjects and family.

She focused on every last time since the day she became Spike's mother where she felt that. Every time since she created Lucky wholecloth from magic, along with his seven sisters. Every moment since she had become queen of Ponyland she'd felt that. Her hatred for Tirek wiping out his own kind while she lost her herd. Every single villain she'd felt anger towards. Every moment of righteous fury she had ever felt. All these things she focused on...and her magic flared, ghostly white wings manifesting behind her. "Allow me to show you just how 'petty' these things truly are."

= "Independence" - Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online =

"Firefly's Dance…"

Majesty had moved at blinding speeds before, like when she'd slaughtered the witches who had harvested her herd for their horns... But now she truly moved at speeds that would have impressed dear Rainbow Dash, like a white streak of light she became a laser maze around Tirek, slicing along his body and armor. Tirek made a grab at her only to cut his fingers.

Majesty began to make the web tighter and tighter, forcing Tirek to withdraw into himself least he’d be cut to ribbons. Finally, she flew straight at him from the one space large enough for her body, slamming into his chest with her horseshoes and sending him sailing into the sky, cracking a few ribs that didn't instantly heal. Suddenly, Tirek found himself surrounded by pitch black storm clouds, dark crystals forming from raindrops in the air.

"Wind Whistler's Trap…"

It was fitting that Majesty named it such: Wind Whistler had done the calculations for this spell. They'd been quite tedious even for her.

Majesty fired a laser from her horseshoe... which hit the crystals like a prism, bouncing off of them like a web of tiny mirrors, slamming into Tirek from every angle and burning away at his skin. The centaur roared in fury and fired in the general direction the attack had come from... only for his beam to be likewise dispersed in the crystals and bombard him in return.

The Queen of Ponyland prepared another laser; Tirek, seeing the glow, put up a barrier... only for the laser to refract off the crystals and go around it, slamming into Tirek from behind. As he turned to block it again, more beams came from behind, then from the sides as he was hit from every angle and sent crashing through a remaining cliff. The Centaur rose, body burned and smoldering, before he charged energy into his body and released it in a massive explosion of dark energy that blew away the clouds and crystals... to find no one in sight.

Tirek looked around for her... only to see a shadow in the water.

"Valiant's Slash!" Majesty announced right as she descended with a super sonic slash from a sword-like blade of magic extending from her horn. Tirek managed to dodge with a tenth of a second to spare what would've otherwise bisected him cleanly down the middle, instead receiving a deep cut on his chest.

Tirek staggered back and fell to a knee. He looked into her eyes...He recognized the look in her eyes. The look of a true killer. One who could kill and feel no guilt at all for it. In that moment Majesty managed to be the one being to have ever existed to earn Tirek's respect, however begrudgingly.

Majesty, meanwhile, saw a killer in Tirek's eyes... but nothing else for the same reason Tirek could only recognize that in her eyes. One can only recognize what they know.

Yes, I lie.

They recognized savagery, ruthlessness, brutality, cunning, brilliance, not afraid to use force, taking what gave them strength from this newer world rather than kneel before it, for the sake of the ones they loved most, understanding the bloody side of life in all its ugly glory. The difference was that while Majesty loved her subjects, her family and her friends dearly, Tirek's greatest love was himself.

Majesty was a WILD unicorn after all, and Tirek, perhaps both were born a generation too late.

And Tirek and Majesty, in that briefest of moments, understood. For the smallest fraction of time, they shared a slight smile with each other, a understanding that went beyond words. It was not Thunderstorm Majesty could have become; it was Tirek. It was not his father nor his brother Tirek could have become, it was Majesty. Both were worthy of the Rainbow of Darkness, of the Gift I have given Tirek, and Tirek, if nothing else, couldn't help but admire anything that reminded him of himself.

Maybe if I had subtly guided him with his love for me to seek a less bloody path to win my love: it might not have saved him from Tartarus, but it would have saved most of his victims.

Both saw the paths that had led them here... Neither had discarded their savage heart, what had led them down their different roads was something else.

Tirek and Majesty said nothing, instead Majesty once more turned into a speeding torrent of light and blitzed around Tirek... leaving a magic rune in the ground beneath him. "Magic Star's Enchantment..."

Tirek gave a scream of pain as a massive pillar of light erupted from beneath him high into the sky, ripping away at the very atoms composing his body with intent to reduce him to nothing.

Tirek for the first time in eons felt his life may actually be taken, that he may truly perish... and reached deep into his soul to grab the most intense emotion he knew. The one emotion in his black heart that burned anywhere near as bright as Majesty's righteous fury.

Greed.

Tirek exploded in a blast of orange light, blowing away the rune and forming into the aura of a colossal snake. Throwing a fist forwards, the serpent bit down on Majesty's shield cracking it, fangs piercing it and slashing bleeding wounds into her back. It swung up, carrying her upwards and slamming her into the ground several times before diving, swimming through the ground, and then throwing her into a mountain with enough force to leave a giant crater.

Majesty stood up, bleeding and with a limp in one leg. Tirek stood bleeding and limping in one of his own.

"Avarice's Maw..." Tirek snarled, putting all his greed, a lifetime of power hunger and desire for every last thing to bow to his will, into his aura and launching it at Majesty.

"...Spike's Inferno…" said Majesty, her strongest spell named for the only one it could be named for. Her adopted son whom she feared for the most at that moment, who unlike Lucky, Mimic, the Princesses, or her little ponies who were all well out of harm's way, was not. She fired a beam of purple light that took the form of her baby dragon before slamming Tirek's serpent. The two collided, purple and orange lightning flying off and obliterating the landscape around them for several moments before everything went white.

Miles away, Moochick, King Solar, Sif, Sir Autrias and everyone else who traveled the same path with him turned to see an explosion so bright they couldn't focus on it... Moochick merely lowered his head. "Come... that is not our battle... We must get out of here..." he told the former undead trophies whose escape he had chosen to cover as he gave a silent prayer.

As the blast faded, Midnight Castle was once again the tallest point for miles, for all others had been leveled by the blast.

Tirek and Majesty both forced themselves to their hooves, panting and limping. Majesty's right front leg was now useless while Tirek's left arm hung useless at his side. The Centaur's form had visibly shrunken, his horns now stubs and his muscles far less pronounced. He was still a giant, but it was clear the battle had taken its toll. Majesty meanwhile looked more like a red unicorn than a white one, her mane and tail half vaporized.

The two limped slowly towards one another, both knowing the fight was not over until one was dead. Both had used more power in this battle than in any other in their lives.

Tirek paused, his eyes widened.

"No, don't, you mustn't, please," Tirek said looking down at his chest, the strange tone of worry in his voice.

"Begging? Seriously?" Majesty said, ready for the inevitable moment Tirek attacked her for dropping her guard.

Majesty made the mistake of thinking Tirek would ever beg for mercy, for Tirek would never grant mercy, so he'd never see a reason why anyone else would. Thus, he'd never think that someone would ever be fooled by asking for mercy.

The Rainbow of Darkness escaped its pouch that Tirek had protected with his own body the entire battle, unbidden by Tirek, and flew straight for Majesty.

"The same trick? Again?" Majesty hissed as the Rainbow of Darkness made contact. Majesty braced herself for it trying to corrupt her again, to make her one of Tirek's creations. But instead of striking at her soul, body, or mind, it instead began to pour itself into Majesty. Majesty readied herself thinking it was trying to take her over from within, but again that was not the case.

Majesty felt from the Rainbow of Darkness something too familiar for her not to recognize... it was the sense of overcoming fear for the sake of someone else... As if to say, 'I fear you, but I will face you.'

Majesty felt sadness for the Rainbow of Darkness never knowing any point of view but Tirek's... Majesty felt indignation.

Images flashed in her mind, Heathspike... Spike's father, at last she saw what he looked like. Of his words to the baby dragons, of the new draconic concept of 'righteous greed'...

And the fustraition... she'd seen it before, now she felt it, she had too many foals in Ponyland for her not to. Not unlike that of a foal expected to behave and act like a replica of his sister, the Rainbow of Light, born from the belief that the same kind of raising, the same kind of things that made her happy would make him happy, and never once asking him what he wanted, what he saw. Always being locked in his room except when his guardian wanted him to do something, a wicked step-father. Never doing anything unless told to. And the chafing under that 'parentage.'

And then being treated as an equal, spoken to, shown, taught, beloved, treasured, honored, allowed to use your talent in ways you'd never imagined were possible before. Bringing forth the power of the Fruit of Life, creatures that didn't need the sun to thrive. It understood. Tirek had opened up its eyes. It had grown up, and gotten wise. While Heathspike... only let it out when it was absolutely needed... Even to the bitter end... A smart teacher... but without imagination...

And a cold contempt... as the wicked stepfather died... he'd taught it to never act unless it said so... it could have acted on its own... it could have saved him... Instead... it let the wicked stepfather die.

'You let him die,' Majesty thought in horror.

Then... defiance... a sarcastic replay of her taking a bite out of its power.

Have. All of it!

And power... so much power... more power, more... half strength, three quarters, full strength, double that, triple... it was too much... too much magic... too much power... no, it was far more than any creature’s mind could comprehend. Her brain and horn burned, pulsed like they were going to burst!

Then something gave. A whirlwind of black magic exploded, resulting in a violent, mad tornado of wild magic, spiraling upwards, in a deafening howl! It touched the sky, and Majesty felt herself being ripped apart... and in the chaotic storm of darkness, she saw four golden lights being randomly shot away, maybe nearby, maybe over the horizon, she didn't know.

However...she saw trickles before the visions were gone from her power...

= Pokemon - Just Can't Win =

Pipsqueak dressed up as Tirek declared, "You're more than out of your league, you've more than met your match!"

Tootsie Flute dressed up as Majesty shot back, "Guess you're slowing down old man, can't hit what you can't catch!"

"You're such a goodie four-hooves, it's more fun being bad!"

"I will find a way to stop you anyway I can!"

"Soon the whole world will know, the genius of my plan!"

"No one's going to side with you, you're stark raving mad!"

"Oh? Just ask my brother."

"That's all in the past!"

"Listen to me little pony, nice-guys, finish last!"

"Just can't win..."

"You're not that strong."

"Time to pay for your sin!"

"Your chances are slim!"

'Majesty' and 'Tirek' together, "No more foolish around, let the battle begin!"

Then... one last vision. A vague imprecise shape. A motherly figure, brave and strong. Stronger than she could ever be... And a great darkness swallowed in rainbow light.

= Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - The Mastermind =

Majesty felt like her legs had been pulled like taffy, and her forehead had been struck like a lance the length of the world serpent. Her blurry vision returning, she saw her hooves bleeding, and the golden horseshoes, her gift from the elves, gone. But that was NOTHING compared to the pain in her forehead... she crossed her eyes.. And saw a shattered stump where her horn should have been, sparks randomly flying from it.

And beyond that... she saw the Rainbow of Darkness returning to Tirek... fully healed and invigorated. Still in a weakened form, but in much better shape than she was by any stretch. And he was grinning at her.

And Majesty, in her daze, swore she heard, or rather, felt the impression of the idea, 'Knew that would work, you just don't have the infinite hunger for power my friend does. You failed your test.'

+

"Princess, Ah wonder, what kinda pony would have the 'endless hunger' that that there Rainbow of Darkness would find worthy!"
-
Somewhere, Trixie Midsummer-Night Lulamoon sneezed.

+

= Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - Might Makes Right =

Majesty felt cold. She felt weak. She knew from Wind Whistler that she was bleeding to death. And she could do nothing about it in her state.

Tirek didn't bother offering to repair her horn in exchange to be his minion. He had too much respect for her for that. After all, Tirek himself would rather die than be anypony's slave regardless of any offer.

"You're like me Majesty," for Tirek, there was no higher praise. "A true creature of the world. Not a weakling hiding behind 'civilization' or 'laws'. Pity you were poisoned by the elves' absurdity of wasting strength on the inferior. All the world will be a gift to the Night because I had the strength to take it for her."

Majesty leapt and kicked at him, but Tirek easily blocked each blow, grinning. Majesty tried to ram him, but he caught her damaged horn in the palm of one hand, and after a brief struggle pushed her skidding backwards without any injury to his hand.

Majesty charged, and dodged at just the right moment to strike him in his side, Tirek responded with a punch Majesty blocked, one that she felt her bones in her foreleg crack from doing so. She ducked down as he tried to bear hug her.

Majesty rammed him again, and began pounding him in his gut, Tirek didn't flinch, in fact, he simply stood there as she pounded him again and again until her hooves were numb.

Majesty's broken horn sparked wildly like a funnel from a star, and she managed to leap up and jab in the face... Tirek's head somewhat turned from the impact as sparks flew everywhere... Majesty had been trying to take his head off.

He punched her, sending her flying, she landed on her back side kicking up a dust cloud, coughing.

Tirek knelt down before her, Majesty was too tired and too injured to run. He pounded her with his bare fists. "DIE!" Another blow. "DIE!" Another. "DIE!" And again! "DIE!" He said jovially.

Majesty felt her bones shatter one by one, each strike making the impression in the ground deeper.

"A fighter till the end... I would expect nothing less. I do believe you will be the first visage other than mine, Scorpan's, and Lady Selene's to grace my castle's halls. A place of honor in my new trophy room... I'd mount your corpse, but I intend to parade it across Ponyland in triumph," Tirek stated. "... Any last words you would like engraved on the base?"

Majesty didn't need her horseshoe to imagine what that would do... what effect that would have on her little ponies... they may manage without her, but they would lose hope at that sight... or lose their senses to revenge. And her children... her heirs... her babies. Lucky would be crushed, his sisters... some would be, but the headstrong of them... the Princess Ponies' wands were mighty, especially all six together, but not enough to overcome that Rainbow. They'd be rushing to their deaths... The only way they could continue is if they didn't know what they had lost. In that moment, Majesty knew there was only one option she had Tirek would never expect that could prevent that fate. But she needed but a few moments...

"... One thing... Before you blinded me to it, I saw something... any future I see is certain, unavoidable... My last vision is what I want on it... as a reminder..." said Majesty, looking him in the eyes. "'The Dark Lord of All will fall... his iron fist shattered by a mother's hand. By the hand of one as kind as he is cruel, one with a strength his black heart cannot hope to comprehend'..." Majesty said, looking up at him. "One stronger and greater than either of us..."

Tirek... took a step back. His father's dying words echoing in his ears as Majesty said them. He gave a demented chuckle, looking up at the sky. "Is this a joke, Father? Are you showing this mare false visions in hopes of making me scared? I fear nothing!"

Majesty looked at him confused. "I sense no one Tirek... I merely tell you what I saw..." she said... then gave a peaceful, somber look. "... Believe it or don't... it will come true either way... Knowing your own fate and not being able to stop it... it is a curse... but if nothing else..."

Tirek's eyes widened as Majesty's horn exploded into a cascade of sparks as bright and radiant as the sun itself.

"It kept you busy…"

Tirek and the Rainbow both shielded themselves, expecting Majesty to self destruct taking him to Hell with her...That isn't what happened.

My brother, Knowledge, sat in his domain, looking at Majesty's book in his infinite library of the sum of knowledge throughout all the universe... and blinked as magic danced along the pages... and slowly each word faded as though written in disappearing ink.

Tirek lowered his shield as the light faded, revealing Majesty's broken horn had shattered to the point no horn existed... and she looked old... an old hag. So much so that your grandmother would look young in comparison. She'd poured her life force into that spell, all that she had left. "... Looks like your final spell failed."

Majesty smiled... as to all beings but Tirek and the Rainbow she became invisible. "No, it worked as I intended."

Tirek raised an eyebrow. "What did you do?"

"Chronicle of this universe I bid to erase,
My name and image from time and space.
Let none but one remember this tragedy,
Let none but one remember Majesty...'' the unicorn repeated the words she'd said in her mind as she'd performed the spell.

"... My ponies will not be crushed by my death... because Queen Majesty has been erased... You've claimed victory over one only you will ever know existed... But who cares if no one remembers me: you 'took care of me', right?"

My brother checked all the books in his library in cross reference... and found Majesty faded from every single one of them. Most events remained, but now were attributed to other beings or happenstance. Some were erased entirely, like the introductions between the sea ponies, Queen Rosedust, and Dream Valley. All reference to a unicorn named Majesty was wiped from every volume... except one. A red book with the word Tirek on the cover in pitch black letters.

Tirek was unable to speak. Majesty merely smiled triumphantly at him. On its own the Rainbow of Darkness reached out to Majesty, but the power to restore her was beyond it.

Tirek still couldn't speak. And Majesty had nothing more to say to him, she merely enjoyed watching the villain truly at a loss for words and denied his prize, the greatest battle of his life, and none would know of it.

'Spike, Lucky, Mimic, Tiffany, Starburst, Sparkle, Serena, Primrose, Royal Blue... my babies, be safe, I love you. Scorpan, protect Spike. Black Anvil, Feanor, Elebarb, my mate, my first foals, I'll be with you soon. Firefly, Wind Whistler, Magic Star, Gypsy, Twilight, Applejack, good luck!'

Majesty kept that smug smile as her body turned to ash and dissolved into nothing.

"Prince Lucky, why are you crying?"

"I... I don't know." All thoughts of returning to Dream Castle faded from his mind. A strange part of him wishing he wasn't an only child.

Six little princesses awoke at their oasis villa in the Crystal Desert, not questioning that they didn't have a clear memory how they got there.

Spike had been scared and worried about something, but what he didn't remember. He wondered where Lord Scorpan was. He wanted nothing more than to prove his worth to him. The naive baby dragon began wandering the castle unopposed and unrestrained by the Reptilians, who now saw the cheerful baby dragon as a natural inhabitant of Midnight Castle.

"Master! Are you alright-?!" Scorpan stopped before he got closer, seeing his master on his knees, his fists gripped so hard they bled, his teeth on the verge of cracking, his eyes holding fury great enough to collapse a star into a black hole.

"Scorpan... do you know who Majesty was?" Tirek managed to just barely snarl out in a vain hope Majesty was bluffing.

"Who?"

Tirek's profanity was heard all the way till just before it reached Ponyland.

-

"SHE MADE HER OWN YOUNGIN'S FORGET SHE EVEN EXISTED?! HOW DA HECK DOES THAT EVEN WORK?!"

"She put all of her life force into that spell and targeted the very memory of herself, something she had more domain over than any other..." I explained. "It's not impossible... merely requires more energy and magic than most have and is something few would ever want to do to themselves."

I do believe I misread the source of Applejack's anger.

"SPIKE, LUCKY, HER FILLIES, THEY DON'T EVEN REMEMBER EACH OTHER?!"

"That spell was a slipshod mess she threw together with the last of her strength with a broken horn, she had no time to cast it properly."

"She erased herself, AND ALL THE GOOD TIMES her family had with her, JUST TO SPITE some scumbag?!"

"... Applejack... if you found out your mother was not killed in an accident, but rather murdered by a great evil... how would you feel?" I asked.

Applejack... paused. "... Sad... angry... angrier than Ah'd ever been."

"And if faced by that evil... sad enough to break down? Unlikely for you... but what about Apple Bloom? Perhaps you would be angry enough to make a mistake? Perhaps a fatal one?"

My subject looked down thoughtfully. "... Yes..."

"That is why Majesty did this. To spite Tirek was but a bonus, a last laugh on her murderer, and Tartarus itself forbid she ever be mentioned in Tartarus to Tirek as a punishment it vexed him so, but not her primary motivation... She did not want her family to kill themselves seeking to avenge her, nor break from despair... or for her subjects to do likewise... She'd experienced both first hoof in the past, and would not wish that pain on anypony. It had made her strong, yes... but she would rather have her family, her mate, and all her friends than all the power in the world. Lucky was but a cheerful child, as was Spike, Mimic, and the Princess Ponies... she wished them to remain such... And she knew that only a mother's hand, not an avenging child could end Tirek once and for all. Their wrath for her death or despair would ultimately be unable to spell Tirek's end. Yes, they had to forget her... but in Majesty's mind, that was far better than to see their lives be ruined by her death," I explained.

"Furthermore, it had that very effect on Tirek: the wise thing for Tirek to do would've been to wait until he'd regrained his full strength or even target less formidable ponies in his weakened state. But he couldn't. His ego had been bruised: he may have won the battle, but it did not feel like a victory to him. Eclipse was forever crippled, his castle was badly damaged, his army was decimated, his loyal sapient minions gone, and his power greatly diminished... in exchange for a new Scorpan with a loophole in his programming and a baby dragon. Majesty had gotten the last laugh. His ego would NEVER permit him to wait... so Majesty ensured Tirek was too enraged to wait, and that her ponies would be faced by a weakened Tirek instead of a fully empowered one. A Tirek too maddened to strategize as he once would. Megan's victory was her own in every sense over one of the most dangerous foes in all creation and she fit Majesty's last prophecy by her own choices and merits, but Majesty's last gambit set the stage."

We sat there in silence for some time.