Tirek stood up as his cage, vanished. Wha..is this some trick? Hmmm... Tirek's mind raced. Looking up he shook a bony, gaunt, malnourished finger at the ceiling crying out in anguish. "If it is it isn't a very subtle one!"
When no guards came running after what felt like hours, Tirek made his move. Slowly, he crept off the slab of stone where his cell had stood upon. Every now and then he looked around, half expecting the guards to come running Fascinating... Tirek wasn't sure what to do, when a hallway appeared before him and a strange voice seemed to echo down it. "I freed you, follow the passage, I am waiting."
The voice sounded ominous, almost dripping with malice, not that Tirek was concerned. After all he was Lord Tirek and he feared nothing. The mere thought of his name caused ponies in Equestria to have anxieties, causing flashbacks to his destruction of their entire society. After all, he went hoof to hoof with Twilight Sparkle, imbued with power from Celestia, the embodiment of the sun, herself. Surely nothing could possibly subdue him as she had, right? After all, if her rotten pony friends hadn't helped her, I would have won. Tirek told himself, as he had every moment for the past century or so. His denial intact, he started down the mysterious hallway to see where it might lead.
The hallway went on for a while, with candles glowering in nooks carved into the wall going out one by one as he passed them. Finally Tirek emerged into a dimly lit room and his eyes opened in surprise. Before him already seated at a stone table were two other creatures. He asked in annoyance at one particular one, "What are you doing here?"
The small filly, who was somehow drinking apple cider from a juicebox, rolled her eyes and said in a sickly sweet voice. "We were summoned here, same as you. How have you been? Anything I can get you, friend?"
"Cozy Glow, leave him be. That washed up centaur is scared."
Tirek yelled. "Who said that; I'll gut you! I am Lord Tirek."
The voice of a feminine creature could be heard as she stepped from the shadows. Queen Crysalis sneered at him and slowly approached. Stopping before him the once changling ruler raised two blackened hooves over her nose, as if stopping a bad smell. "Ugh, the scent of fear on you is enough to make me want to die of starvation, you repugnant waste of space. Lord Tirek? Don't make me laugh, your 'highness' You are lord of nothing."
Slowly spreading his arms in a disarming fashion, Tirek grinned. "So I am, and what of you, your majesty? Where is your hive now? Why have they left you, to rot in here with the likes of me? Oh, that's right, didn't your own son betray you and usurp your throne? Truly you are a Queen of far greater power than myself."
Chrysalis glared at Tirek about to respond when a new, gravely voice chimed in from the hallway entrance. "I do love the taste of hatred, though..."
Looking at Chrysalis, the speaker; a black pony with green eyes and an aura of darkness grinned wickedly. "He has you pegged hasn't he, bug queen?"
Chrysalis slowly walked over to the speaker and shaking with rage, smacked him across the muzzle with her hoof. "Stay out of this Sombra."
Cozy glow had been happily drinking her apple cider in silence. It continued that way until an outburst from her signaled it was gone. "Why is the cider always gone?!"
Turning her head, she vented her anger at Sombra, in a rather snarky manner. "YOU you think you are so great don't you Mr. Darkness Edgy Shadow pon-"
Cozy Glow stopped for just a moment. Something is off She thought. Sombra was about to retaliate when her voice took on a calmer yet somehow nervous tone. "Wait a minute; why are you still here? I read all about you in Twilight's classes. Your powers come from shadows, why do you stick around when you can just shadow-walk out of here now that the cages are gone?"
His answer caused the entire room to completely feel more chilling in atmosphere. "My shadows have been suppressed by something or somecreature far stronger than me, child."
Every creature stared in silence at each other, before the creature next to Cozy Glow handed her another juice box and said in an almost goofy tone,"I wonder who that could be."
The tone grew deadly serious as he narrowed his eyes. "For that matter, why were we summoned and by whom I wonder?"
***
Sitting on the bed in the throne room and watching the scene with an almost icy smile sat Starshine, her newly acquired dragon wings flared wide. She laughed and turned to look at Hazel, with whom she had spent the past few hours. "Mmmmm...What do you think? Is my plan perfect?"
Hazel sat up in the bed and gently began nibbling the tip of Starshine's ear in thought. She opened her muzzle and responded in a soft tone. "That idea is horrible."
Starshine frowned and felt a hoof press against her open muzzle to keep her quiet, as Hazel continued. "It is despicable, truly devoid of morality, chaotic, atrocious and...I love it, sweetie."
Starshine laughed in a way that gave even Hazel shivers. "I guess it is time to get to work then."
With those words and a warm hug to Hazel, her horn glowed red. Before the eyes of the former Warden, her appearance changed from thestral to her original alicorn form once more. She then vanished with a wink at the thestral on her bed.
Hazel stared longingly at the scene still on display as she re-appeared within that room. "Please hurry back."
With a blast of purple light, Starshine appeared before the five creatures. "Hello, all you lovely creatures, today I thought we would try something new. Behind you are five separate hallways. Please choose one, any will do, but one creature per hallway please. Once at the end of the hallway, the evaluation will begin."
The five creatures groaned and grumbled; this again. When would she learn? They did not wish to be reformed. They knew better than to argue, lest the warden (to their knowledge still Hazel), find out. Shuffling to do as they were bid, each of them chose a hallway and started down it. Starshine watched them go with predatory eyes and gave a rather sinister grin. Her eyes shifted to their new red once more before changing once more to the amethyst she had in the past. The game had begun.
Tirek arrived at a unassuming wooden door at the end of the hallway. Sighing, he opened the door. With that cage no longer suppressing my magic draining that foolish princess of her magic and escaping here will be a moments work. He thought to himself. He then stepped through the doorway.
At a cozy looking table she sat, her purple feathery wings gently flaring open to greet him as she gestured with her hoof. "Sit down, let us begin."
Tirek glared at her and sat down, as he had many times before with the annoying alicorn. I'll bide my time and strike when her guard is down. He told himself as Starshine sat there smiling cheerfully. "What is it this time, princess, more foolish attempts to make me seek forgiveness? Perhaps a picnic where we can discuss our feelings?"
Starshine slowly spread her hooves wide and shook her head, still sporting a very cheerful smile. "Oh my, no. I thought you might like to play a little game with me, Tirek."
His eyes opened wide. Did he just detect malice in her voice as she said the word game? Starshine continued, still speaking in a gentle voice. "You see, the Queen, Faust herself has told me to give up on trying to make you see the error of your ways. That is, after one final attempt. This will be my last attempt to reunite your soul, with Faust."
Tirek sat there dumbfounded. "Surely, you are joking, princess."
"Not at all, the rules of this game are extremely simple, pay attention so you don't get confused. I am going to set a timer with the equivalence of a few hundred years in Equestria. In front of you is a card saying the words, 'forgive me'. To win all you have to do is manage to get to that door you just entered and exit. Should you read or even think the words on that card before the time is up, with remorse in your heart you will lose. Simple right? Surely even you can understand these rules, Tommy."
Tirek stood up enraged at his name being mocked and said softly. "That's it princess, you are a fool to trifle with me, eating your power will be so satisfying!"
Starshine's amethyst eyes opened wide with surprise and she gave a gasp. Tirek had opened his mouth to absorb her magic. However, that gasp soon turned to a giggle, which began to grow louder. Tirek's mind raced. Why isn't it working? He stared at the alicorn before him as giggling, she stood up slowly clapping her hooves. "My my, well-done Tirek"
This isn't right! She should be kneeling before me, drained of all her strength! What is going on? Tirek thought desperately. Starshine stopped her amused laughing. With a rather malicious tone in her voice, as she looked at the centaur, she spoke the words that made his blood run cold. "No, my dear Tirek, you are the foolish one here."
The words had been silky, seductive and carried just a hint of a sadistic tone. As she had spoken these words, the illusion of her previous alicorn form fell away. First her eyes had flashed to crimson. Her fur changed from lilac to silver as her cutiemark blazed with a bloody crimson and her wings slowly unfolded, revealing the shiny scales and the inlays of dragons. Her cheerful smile had been replaced by one of sheer coldness. She spoke in that silky voice, calmly yet clearly capable of raising it at a moments notice. "You shouldn't bother trying to absorb MY magic you insignificant centaur. Now then I forgot just one little detail. You will be made to relieve your greatest and most dastardly conquests. All 268,000 of them. Just remember all you have to do is exit this room without begging for forgiveness, in order to win. Enjoy!"
With those words, from her glowing red horn a swirling darkness came forth and Tirek's vision went black. For hundreds of years to come, the legends in the realm of Equestria would speak of terrified screams of a male echoing up through the very floorboards and the sounds of a very sadistic feminine laughter accompanying them.