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// The Real Threat/ Redemption 
// Story: Am I Alone? 
// by Silver Inkwell 
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Chapter Five: Redemption/ The Real Threat

Twilight did not approve of him killing Drago, even if he was a threat to her safety and life. And afterwards she even dared to lecture him about it.

However he reminded her that he saved an entire race of dragons and talking ponies too, and that he also could breathe fire to her books if he so pleased it to be. And with that said Twilight decided to remain silent instead.

Years afterwards he slowly grew a very tight bond with Twilight Sparkle and grew ever more protective of her and very soon enough ponies came to accept him as her new protector and as a dragon, and they were very kind and nice to him and her, but he always did have his guard up. For example he defended her against the Everfree forest when it started to attack Ponyville one time.

But plants weren’t the worst that he faced since he was a dragon, but the worst was still yet to come, for now he would finally face a real dangerous threat.
It started when Princess Celestia came to Twilight with dire news.

She told her that an enemy from their past named Tirek had escaped Tartarus when Cerberus abandoned his guard, and now he was starting to steal magic from ponies. But when she tried to volunteer to stop him she said that she had already sent Discord to do that. But Axel tried to comfort her by saying that he would always be by her side to protect her, and he would keep that promise.

Soon enough Discord betrayed all of them and joined Tirek and then the princesses gave their power to 

Twilight making her a ‘goddess’ according to Axel who still grinned and smiled at his very stupid joke that he had made.

Twilight sighed knowing that he would never stop with the old joke.

And with that they went out to face Tirek now.

“Has the Princess sent you here to stop me?” he said very mockingly.

“Yes, she has, and I will not allow you to cause harm to any pony else!”

“We,” Axel said to her, “You mean we will not allow harm to come to others.”

“Well yes, of course, you know that I meant that,” she said.

Axel wasn’t so sure of that fact, but then Tirek continued on now.

“Well you will not be able to defeat me,” he said with a very devious smile.

“We’ll just have to see about that!” Twilight said flying up and using her alicorn magic to fend him off, and 
while she fought very well as she crashed into the landscape around her, it was still no equal match against him either now, he was just too powerful, and she was just too inexperienced right now too.

“So, it seems like we have come to a standstill,” he said very calmly now.

“Not unless I can help it,” Axel said, “Twilight, use you magic and I’ll use my powers of fire breath, it might just work to take him down and defeat him.”

“Your plan sounds very stupid and crazy, but I’ll do it,” she said.

And with that said they attacked Tirek together with their magic.

Together they slowly gained on him and somehow they gained the advantage as their magic very slowly pushed him back, but that was when Axel did his surprise move by stopping his breath for a moment, running forward very fast and then tackling Tirek to the ground. And despite his size and strength he could not get up against Axel, for he held him down very well. Tirek then tried to take the magic from Axel, but nothing came out and he smiled then.

“Silly Tirek, dragons and humans don’t have magic, and if they do it is very rare, but I don’t have magic so you have nothing to take at all, you lose.”

And with that said he went on to more serious matters.

“Now then, give the ponies back their magic or else you will suffer.”

Tirek smiled, “Foolish dragon, there is nothing you or any pony can do to me that could ever persuade or force me to give up all the powers that I have.”

“We’ll see about that,” Axel said using his claws to tear at his chest.

But Tirek did not react, and then he suddenly had a brilliant genius idea.

He started to light up his mouth with fire and aimed directly at Tirek’s horns.

Suddenly the magic started to drain from Tirek in a very violent explosion.

And then it was over, he was drained of magic and now stood weak.

And then using her powers Twilight quickly sent him to Tartarus and then returned the princesses from the cages they had been locked away in.

And then all was quite well for now, after all, he had done very well to protect her these last years, especially against the threat of the changeling empire.

But soon enough he would face yet another much different task.

One that would require him to travel to a new world, one that he wasn’t quite familiar with, but one that he knew since he had gone with Twilight to it the last time that she went. And that world was the human version of Equestria of course, for when he heard the news of Sunset Shimmer he automatically assumed that this new world might be dangerous, and he wasn’t completely wrong since Sunset did turn into a demon, but that’s another story for later…