//------------------------------//
// Evil Has Its Standards 
// Story: Evil Has Its Standards 
// by twilightsparkle3562 
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One moment, the Storm King was on the verge of conquering Equestria. He had the magic of four alicorn princesses at his command and would have succeeded had it not been for the intervention of the pony he had lied to, Tempest Shadow, who switched sides after Twilight Sparkle had managed to open her eyes to the magic of friendship.

Now, he was nothing more than a wandering spirit, condemned to the basement of Equestria known as Tartarus, locked in a cage similar to what he put his victims in.

"Man, this place is boring," he groaned. "Wish that things didn't go the way I wanted them to go. When I get out of here, I'll…"

"You won't get out of here."

The sounds of a weakened and gravelly voice caused the Storm King to turn around and frantically try to search for the source of the voice. He then looked towards what appeared to be another cage in the center of the three tallest collumns. Inside the cage was a red bull like creature, old and ragged with age.

"Says who?" asked the Storm King.

"Lord Tirek," answered the creature, looking up at the Storm King's floating spirit. "Forever destined to remain here in the confines of Tartarus. You must be the one called the Storm King."

"Yeah, I mean, I was on the verge of a rebrand and then…I ran…into some…how shall I say it? SETBACKS!"

"Hmm, I know how you feel. I was just like you, wanting all the magic of Equestria and then when I had Equestria in my grasp, Princess Twilight and her friends took it all away from me. But, even if I wanted to have that chance again, I can't."

"Why?"

To prove his point, Tirek turned around and showed the Storm King's spirit the scars on his back that he had sustained from being whipped after his re-imprisonment.

"Ouch," winced the Storm King's spirit. "That's got to hurt."

"And that's not all they did," continued Tirek. "Look at my face."

"What about your face?"

"Do you see this mark they placed on it?" remarked Tirek, showing off the branded "M" on his face. "They branded me as a monster to Equestria and they warned me that if I escaped from here again, they would kill me."

"Who? Those four ladies with the powerful magic? How could they scare someone like you into submission?"

Tirek laughed at the Storm King's remark.

"They don't scare me," he replied, chuckling. "In fact, they don't even have the guts to deal with their most dangerous criminals, such as me. Why, they even offered me friendship at one point."

"You're joking right?" muttered the Storm King's spirit, placing his right paw to his face and running it down. "They…honestly…offered…friendship to you?"

"They did. But, in your case, you are nothing more than a wandering spirit. Which means that you are already dead to Equestria."

Of course, the Storm King refused to believe such a thing.

"But, spirits live, don't they? I mean, I can break out of here and take over any wandering creature I want."

"I wouldn't take that chance," Tirek advised, folding his arms in disbelief. "Spirits can be killed too, you know."

"What makes you so sure, you old geezer?"

"The princesses have ways that not even you could comprehend," Tirek answered. "You don't believe that I didn't hear of what you did in Equestria? I've heard about what you and your forces did to Equestria, Storm King and I, for one, am not impressed."

"What? Why are you not impressed with me? Did I do something wrong?"

"You see, when I tried to conquer Equestria," explained Tirek. "I never tried to torture my victims. My intention was to make the stealing of their magic as painful and as quick as possible and then move on to the next victim. I never enslaved anypony, but I wanted to watch them look up to me as their lord and savior."

The Storm King's spirit could not believe what he was hearing and began to grow cross. For he knew that Tirek was trying to put him down.

"Are you calling me a monster, pal?"

"Not a monster, but a loose cannon," Tirek answered. "Evil has its standards, Storm King and well, my standards in a sense saved my life after I was defeated and re-imprisoned. Your methods of dealing with your victims has caused you to end up in the state you are in now."

"What are you really trying to say, Tirek?" demanded the Storm King's spirit. "That I should have been more tender towards my victims? I need slaves to run things they way I wanted to run."

He then realized what Tirek was trying to call him.

"Are you calling me a coward?"

"No, but you are a monster, Storm King. Because you killed where I didn't. You harmed where I didn't."

"Oh come on, really pal? Don't tell me that you think you're jealous of me."

"No, I'm telling you that you are just a simple amateur compared to what I and several other enemies of Equestria have done. As a matter of fact, you shouldn't even be here next to me. They should have put you further down where my friend King Sombra is."

No sooner did Tirek say that did several pony guards walk up to the cage containing the Storm King's spirit.

"What…what's going on here?" cried the Storm King as the pony guards lifted the cage up. "Where are they taking me?"

"To where monsters like you really belong," replied Tirek. "You killed for your own amusement, Storm King and you paid the price with your life."

Panicked, the Storm King's spirit tried to talk himself out of the situation he was in.

"Look," he laughed nervously. "I'm not really the monster I was in Equestria. Don't put further down, I'll be good, honestly. Hey, hey, stop! I don't want to be placed with the monsters!"

The Storm King's spirit continued to cry out loudly as he was being led away. Tirek then sighed and returned to his own solitude, while chuckling softly.

"It's like I said," he thought to himself. "Evil has its standards and the Storm King…well, he was not up to mine."

…

THE END