Like he had for longer than most anypony can remember, Cerberus stood guard at his post and for the most part, with the exception of the time he left his post over ten millennia ago, he had done a good job. The number of villains he kept contained to Tartarus are many. Many were ones who caused problems in Ponyland along with the biggest enemy that Equestria had ever known.
In Tartarus conditions were dark and dreary. The worst villains in the history of Eqqus 1 were held captive in cages, cages that kept them from interacting with the other villains but every now and then villains do manage to escape their cages but are normally captured by Cerberus and returned to their cages before they can cause much trouble.
Another day had arrived and like it always was, it was dark and dreary in Tartarus. Every villain was locked up in their cages and most were drained both physically and psychologically. They all knew that barring Cerberus leaving his post, even if they could break out of their cages, there would be no escaping to freedom.
Despite being drained physically, there was one villain who was not in a state of psychological despair, Tirek. Out of all of them, he was the only one who had ever escaped and had been biding his time, waiting for the right moment, waiting for Cerberus to either abandon his post again or perhaps simply not be paying attention. After doing some thinking he realized that it would have to be the latter of the two since Cerberus had not left his post in a very long time.
On a daily basis Tirek would watch the gate but it seemed like Cerberus was always guarding the gate and was very alert and wasn't just going to abandon his post. He also knew that if he wanted to be able to take over Equestria and enslave the ponies, that he would have to have a secret weapon. He knew that merely draining them of their magic would not work in the event that he was captured before had been able to steal a lot of it. He began to look around at the other villains and saw one that may have something he could use as a weapon, a villain somewhat like him, the fellow centaur named *Tirac.
Tirek's face developed a slight smile on his face but that quickly vanished when he realized that simply escaping from his cage would be hard enough without Cerberus noticing. He also knew that getting Tirac to let him use the Rainbow of Darkness to aid him in his quest would likely be impossible. He then whispered to himself, "I've got it! I will simply tell him that once I have enslaved all the ponies that I will free him!"
Tirek continued to keep his eye on Cerberus and then much to his delight, he turned his back on those who he was keeping captive and headed right up to the entrance of Tartarus. Tirek knew this was his chance so he was able to squeeze out of his cage, walk up the stairs that led away from the platform he was imprisoned on and headed to another stairway, the one that led to Tirac's cage.
When he approached his fellow centaur's cage, he was greeted by a slight glare. He was unsure as to whether Tirac knew his name so he greeted him, "Hello, my name is Tirek."
Tirac was not to thrilled about having a visitor. He asked, "Tirek huh? I want to know something, how did you get out of your cage without being noticed?"
Tirek pointed his hand up towards the exit and said, "Cerberus is not watching us and I think this might be our chance of escaping and getting revenge on those ponies."
When Tirek brought up getting revenge on the ponies, Tirac looked up a bit but not out of excitement, but out of curiosity, "Revenge against Dream Valley and Megan Williams? I like that idea."
Tirek had no clue as to what his counterpart was even talking about. He asked, "Megan Williams, Dream Valley? What are you talking about?"
Tirac replied, "You know, those ponies in Ponyland and that human friend of theirs."
Tirek wanted to laugh but knew that if he wanted to have a chance of using the Rainbow of Darkness on Equestria, that he would have to be respectful. He said, "That place and that Megan Williams no longer exist. The lands beyond the exit are known as Equestria and are ruled by two powerful pony princesses."
Tirac gave him a look of disapproval and grunted, "I see but how is it you wound up in here?"
Tirek was not thrilled over the question but again knew he had to be respectful if he were to get his fellow centaur to allow him to use his weapon. He replied, "My tyrant brother began to befriend the ponies and he even notified their pony princesses to confront me. Before I could steal enough magic, they caught me and threw me in here."
Tirac had a feeling that Tirek was going to ask to use the Rainbow of Darkness. He gave him a glare and objected, "No, I will not just let you use this. This is tied to MY magic and MY magic alone." He saw Tirek begin to try to say something and continued, "If you wish to do this, we shall do it together." He then pointed his hand towards the other villains and finished, "And we WILL NOT free the others, we will not free anyone who would dare challenge us for power."
Tirek realized that he would have to trust the other centaur if he was to do what he wanted to do. He replied, "Very well." He looked towards the gate and continued, "It looks like that mutt is still away from the gates, let's go."
Tirac managed to squeeze his way out of his cage and the two centaurs began to head towards the exit. When they arrived at the gate they were shocked to see that Cerberus was nowhere to be seen. Tirek laughed, "Heh, heh, heh, now let's do this!"
As they exited the gate and headed out into the open, Tirac asked, "You've been out here more recently than I have, where is a good place to take cover until we act on our plan."
Tirek pointed off in the direction of the Everfree Forest and replied, "We shall go to the forest. There we can lay low until my powers return to their full strength."
Tirac asked, "Lay low until your powers return to their full strength?" He glared at Tirek and continued, "You mean to tell me that your magic draining powers are not at full strength?"
Tirek gave him a disgusted look, "No! I have been locked away for a very long time and this place drains villains of their powers."
Tirac gave him a scowl and asked, "So how long is it even going to be until you will be able to steal pony magic again?"
This was something that he was not sure of given how long he had been locked away. He replied, "I am not sure but it could take a couple of years if not longer."
This angered Tirac greatly. He grabbed Tirek by the throat and yelled, "You mean to tell me that we are going to have to wait years to do this?"
Tirac had made quite a bit of noise and given that they were still within eyesight of Tartarus, Tirek was concerned that he may alert Cerberus to their whereabouts and if they were to get caught, a much worse punishment than banishment could await them, especially him since he was in his small, scrawny form. He snapped back, "Be quiet! Cerberus might hear us." He pointed his hand off to the left and continued, "Now come on, let's just get in the forest and we can discuss things in more detail."
Tirac knew he was right so he followed him towards the forest. He was not thrilled that his companion would take so long to have his full powers restored but realized that having to wait and take cover in the forest before exacting revenge on the ponies would be preferable to remaining locked up in Tartarus.