I sat on a lone stool within the castle’s infirmary, while my three injured friends lay unconscious. Celestia and Luna each occupied their own beds, while Scorpan took up a few of them for himself. I had cast heal on the three of them. Now I was just waiting for them to wake up. In the meantime, it gave me time to reflect.
The fight is finally over. At least, this one is. It seems that things in this world are following the main canonical storyline as the show. These events are happening the same as they did in the show. Except, well, for me. Though I’m here in Equestria, it seems that while I’m changing history, the general events aren’t any different. Discord is still trapped in stone, and Tirek is still imprisoned in Tartarus. That made me think, what about the other main events in the story? Sombra, Chrysalis, everything! Was I powerless to stop it all? Would my presence somehow lead to those things happening, just in a different way?
Then…I thought of Nightmare Moon. Oh god…would that happen, regardless of what I did? Would I somehow be the reason that it happens? I don’t think I could live with that. Celestia and Luna were my friends; I couldn’t allow them to go through the pain of a thousand years of separation. I had to be able to do something, right?
I mean, with Discord, the decision to turn him to stone was already made. I just helped achieve the end result. And Tirek’s a megalomaniac, there’s probably nothing I could have done for him. Besides, Scorpan is still safe. He’s free. For all I know, I may have been the only reason he was spared the same fate. But still, what have I changed by being here?
The sound of the other people in the room rousing from being unconscious brought me out of my thoughts. I put them aside for now. I’ll do the best that I can; to make sure the future is the best one possible. That’s all I can really do for now.
Celestia slowly opened her eyes. She let out a groan as she hoisted herself up. I got up from my seat and made my way over to her. She put a hoof to her head, looking around, her eyes unfocused. After a moment they concentrated on me.
“Roxas?”
“Yeah, it’s me.”
“What…what happened? Where’s Luna?”
“She’s right there,” I said, pointing to the adjacent bed. Celestia worriedly got up from her bed and made her way over to Luna.
“Don’t worry, she’s going to be fine. You’re all going to be fine,” I said, trying to comfort her.
Celestia lowered herself to her sister, and embraced her.
“What happened? Where’s Tirek?”
“Don’t worry, I…. I took care of him,” I said, with a slightly regretful tone in my voice.
“You beat him?” questioned Celestia, looking at me with disbelief.
“Yeah.”
“You killed him?”
“No, but don’t worry, he won’t be back anytime soon.”
“W-what did you do to him?”
“I locked him away in Tartarus.”
“Tartarus? The mythical prison for the worlds most malevolent beings?” she questioned incredulously.
“Yep.”
“It’s real?”
“Apparently.”
Celestia just stood there, clearly shocked quite a bit. She stared at the floor for a few moments, before she looked back at her sister.
“Good. He deserves it.”
I didn’t respond, and even if I had given her a look, she wouldn’t have seen it, as she was focused on her sister.”
“You’re going to have to tell me how you accomplished such a task,” she said with a more upbeat tone. “I’m sure it’s quite the story.”
“Oh don’t worry, I will. But not until everyone is awake.”
“Everyone?” questioned Celestia, confused. I nodded and pointed behind her. She looked over her shoulder to see Scorpan lying unconscious. The moment her eyes saw his brown fur, she jolted up, and took a defensive position in front of Luna, lighting her horn, prepared to attack or defend.
“Whoa whoa, easy!” I said, getting in front of Celestia with my hands raised in front of me.
“Roxas, stand aside! That beast must pay!”
“Whoa, calm down Celestia, don’t you remember? He turned against Tirek right before the three of you got knocked out, remember?”
Celestia seemed to wrack her brain for a few moments, trying to remember the last moments of the fight that she was conscious for. After a few moments, she seemed to recall the events.
“He’s not gonna hurt anyone, I promise,” I assured.
Celestia took in what I was saying, before taking a more relaxed stance and stopping the flow of magic to her horn.
“Very well Roxas. I trust you.”
About ten minutes passed before both Luna and Scorpan both regained consciousness. Luna was of course alarmed at the sight of Scorpan, but with my assurance, as well as Celestia’s, she calmed down. Once the three were ready, I told them what happened with Tirek. The moment I mentioned Tartarus, Scorpan went rigid. I did my best to console him.
“I’m sorry Scorpan. I tried to get him to abandon his conquest before it was too late, but he…he just wouldn’t listen to me.”
“It’s…it’s ok…I know how Tirek can be. He’s been this way since we were young. You did the best you could.”
The three of us just sat there in silence for a few moments, before Scorpan decided to speak again.
“I…I am at least thankful that I was spared his fate. If you hadn’t spoken to me in the forest, I might have ended up the same as him, or worse. You saw good in me. I’m just curious as to how.”
“Wait, you spoke to him in the forest? You told us you couldn’t find them?” questioned Luna. My back went rigid as I could feel everyone’s eyes on me.
“…. wellllllll….” I said while drumming my fingers against each other.
“Oh, oh dear, I’ve gotten you into trouble haven’t I? I’m so sorry!” apologized Scorpan.
“Roxas? Did you lie to us?”
“Well, I…” I took a moment to ponder my situation, before relaxing and closing my eyes. “Yeah, yeah I did.”
“Roxas, I…hmm…I honestly didn’t think you had it in you,” said Luna. She let out a quick chuckle.
“I’m sorry guys. I just…when I went out to find them, I was actually looking for Scorpan. I needed to talk to him, I just…I knew in my heart that he wasn’t bad like his brother. I just thought if I could convince him to stop this quest, then maybe he could get Tirek to stop, and then maybe…a lot of this wouldn’t have happened.”
There was silence for a bit. I was worried the sisters were going to be mad at me. But when they spoke, they sounded almost relieved.
“Well, I suppose you had a well enough reason. We aren’t happy that you lied to us, but…you’ve been a loyal friend for many years, and I guess we owe you at least this once,” said Celestia. At that moment, I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.
“Thanks guys.”
“Forgive me, but I am a bit curious,” said Scorpan, chiming in on the conversation. “How DID you know that I could be turned?”
“I was wondering that as well,” said Luna. That put me in an awful spot. I didn’t want to lie to them a second time, but…to tell them that I knew the future…well; I had no idea how they would react. I also had no idea how that would affect the future. Would we make successful preparation for the future? Would knowing what is to come only ensure that the things we were trying to prevent would happen? What…what would happen? I didn’t know. I didn’t want to make the wrong choice here. I thought about it as quickly as possible, and I decided…I decided that, at least for now, I shouldn’t tell them. Not yet.
“I just…I could tell. I saw it in his body language, and in his eyes. He just didn’t seem the same as his brother,” I explained.
I waited for them to respond. After a few moments, Celestia spoke up.
“Well, it seems you have good intuition Roxas.”
“Roxas…thank you. I owe my freedom to you. I just wish something could have been done for my brother,” said Scorpan, regretfully, yet with a bit of happiness.
“I do too,” I replied.
“I wish I could see him…just to say goodbye.”
“Who says you can’t?” I replied. Everyone looked at me with wide eyes.
“I…I can see him? But you said you put him in Tartarus?”
I took a moment to respond.
“Let me show you guys something.”
I used my map to lead the three through the Everfree forest, to the gates of Tartarus. We all marveled at the sight of it. Within a large cavern’s entrance was a humongous stone door. On it we could see a large and intricate lock system, with a single keyhole in the center.
“So, this is Tartarus?” questioned Celestia.
“Yep,” I replied.
“Impressive,” said Luna.
“So, Tirek’s in there huh…how do we get in?” asked Scorpan.
“Like this,” I said, materializing my Keyblade, and pointing it right at the lock. A white stream of light shot out of the tip, and went into the lock. It caused the mechanism to turn, and soon the double door opened. It was dark inside, the only light on the inside coming from torches that lined the walls, spouting blue flames.
I looked to Scorpan, and he looked to me.
“You ready?”
He gulped, and then nodded. Then, the four of us entered the prison. When we entered, we stood upon a high floor. Down below us were stairs, leading to a variety of cells, with several other high platforms with cages in the distance. Though it was a bit far, I could see Tirek, now powerless, sitting in his cell. I tapped Scorpan on the shoulder, and pointed in Tirek’s direction. Scorpan saw, and nodded, and then began making his way to his brother’s cell.
“We’ll wait here,” I said. The two sisters stood next to me, watching.
“Are you sure you want him to go alone? He might have second thoughts, and try to free his brother,” questioned Luna.
“No, he won’t do that. He’s got a good heart and he knows what would happen,” I replied. We stood there silent for a while. In the distance, I could see Scorpan talking to Tirek.
“I…feel bad for Scorpan. To be separated from his brother for so long…that is a fate I wouldn’t wish on anypony,” said Celestia. We stood there in silence for a few moments, before Luna spoke up.
“Roxas…why are you staring at us?” I blinked a few times, before noticing that both the sisters were looking at me, with questioning eyes.
“Oh, sorry, I uh…just spaced out a bit,” I said, rubbing the back of my head with my hand. I didn’t realize, but I had subconsciously focused on them, thinking about the possible future.
We didn’t speak for the rest of the time we were there. Scorpan eventually rejoined us, having made his peace with his brother.
“So…how’d it go?” questioned Luna.
“He was…resentful, but I gave him something to remember me by.”
“What did you give him?” asked Celestia.
“I gave my medallion…it was a family heirloom given to me by our father.”
We just sat there, our wishes going out to Scorpan. After a few moments, I spoke up.
“Are you ready?” I asked. Scorpan took one regretful look back to the cell that would house his brother for the next thousand years. He nodded, and looked back to us.
“I am,” he said. I nodded. Then, the three of us exited Tartarus, leaving it behind us. I used my Keyblade to seal the doors, shutting Tirek and his fellow prisoners in eternal darkness.