Outskirts of the Everfree Forest
To put it simply, Tirek was pissed. He underestimates this creature. Whatever this Escanor was, he's able to hold his own. The unharmed Tirek pushed himself from the ground. Walking back to the clearing, the red giant narrowed his eyes at the male. 'He may be more trouble than I initially thought.' Tirek stood across from Escanor once more.
The Mane six and friends' pupils shrank as Tirek's figure once again towered over them.
The Lion Sin of Pride lazily crossed his arms. "Do you wish to end the game now? I wouldn't blame you if you did." Escanor gave a loud chuckle.
From behind, the gang was still shocked by the display. Rainbow Dash had just awakened Fluttershy a minute earlier. "Please, say yes," the yellow Pegasus begged.
"I did not expect this at all," Twilight staring at the two giants.
Spike laughed nervously, trying to break the tension. "On the bright side, we're not crushed like pancakes under a rock. It was pretty awesome."
The centaur glared immensely. "Don't get too high on yourself. The game isn't over yet. After all," Tirek grew a cruel smile. "It's my turn."
The sin of pride smiled. "By all means, take your turn, but first..." Escanor turned to the princess. "Twilight, take the others as far from here as possible."
The purple unicorn stared widely at him. "What?! Why would hmpf."
A panicked Fluttershy cut her off with a hoof to her mouth. "Please, just do what he says so we can get out of here."
Tirek rolled his eyes. "Aren't you a nice guy."
"Of course, I am," Escanor replied without missing a beat.
Tirek gave Fluttershy a hateful glare, and she instantly hid behind Applejack. He dismissed the ponies. "It makes no difference to me whether the whelps run and hide. All of Equestria will be next."
Rainbow Dash shook her head in disbelief. "Escanor, how can you ask us to leave you alone after what just happened!"
Escanor stood tall over the Princess of Friendship.
She grew a bit intimidated by the gesture.
"I wasn't asking..." His face grew soft, calming her down. "I don't want any of my new friends to be hurt. Don't you trust me?"
Twilight took a deep breath and turned her friends. "Do you guys agree with him?"
"I say we get out of here while we have the chance," answered Spike.
Applejack sighed. "Considering everything that's happened today, we really shouldn't expect anything less of you."
Rarity cleared her throat. "If those two are really going to come to blows, then we really must give them space. I felt the years shave off my life just a minute ago."
Rainbow hovered with an inquisitive expression on Escanor. "I mean, I don't want to leave you alone with Tirek, but I do want to see you lay down the law on the jerk."
Pinkie got into a mock fighting stance. "Yeah, we can cheer him on from the sidelines with signs and everything!" She somehow pulled out a sign with a lion head out of her mane.
Escanor raised a brow at the magic.
Fluttershy tried to say something only to mumble when she saw Tirek's eyes.
Discord patted her mane to stop and placed a claw on Twilight's shoulder. "Let's do as he says, Twilight." Discord shivered a bit. "I have seen what happens when he gets serious. Things will definitely get hotter around here."
Escanor's eyes widened with realization. "Ah, Discord. I knew I remembered you from before. It's been a while hasn't it." He gave a hearty laugh before giving the Draconequus stern look. "We will be having a chat once this is all over."
Discord glanced at the Tirek before letting off a tired sigh. "You are the least of my worries at this point."
Twilight lit up her horn. "I suppose we better get going." She turned to the Sin of Pride.
Applejack gave him a sincere look. "You best show that Tirek fellow what for."
Rainbow made a sly grin. "Yeah, make him sorry for even trying to mess with the world!"
Rarity moved a strand of hair away from her face. "When this is all over, I can't wait to make a dashing new suite for you."
"You get him, Escy!" cheered Pinkie.
"I wish you luck, Escanor. Thank you, for everything." With that, Twilight teleported all of them away from the battlefield.
Distant Cliff-side
The group appeared and saw the two titans down below.
Spike hopped onto Twilight's back. "What do you think of this?"
Discord answered. "Trust me. The real battle is about to begin."
"What do you mean?" asked Fluttershy.
Pinkie chimed in. "Yeah, you never got to tell us how you know Escy."
Rarity nodded. "Apparently you two have some sort of history."
"Well, we know that he can obviously kick butt," added Rainbow.
"Anything you can tell us?" asked Applejack.
The drained Discord gave a short laugh. "I'll just say that him being the one who stands above all isn't really a lie."
They all looked at Discord and then to Escanor in surprise. "Woah."
Twilight looked to the sky and the sun continued to shine brightly. "I hope Equestria is still standing afterward."
Meanwhile
Escanor looked back at Tirek. "Now, where were we?"
"I was about to destroy you!" Rearing head back, Tirek quickly charged an orange sphere of energy between his horns before unleashing a massive beam of energy straight to Escanor.
The Sin of Pride crosses his arms over his chest taking the impact in full force, pushing him many meters back. The attack scorched a massive wound in the Earth. The excess energy that passed by detonated in the distance, explosions dotting the landscape.
Tirek laughed, believing in his victory. However, as he focused on his line of attack, he could see the silhouette of his enemy getting closer.
To everyone watching, Escanor did not falter. While still inside the beam, Escanor dropped his arms and began marching through the attack. Energy washed over him like a rock in a river.
Seeing the man relatively unfazed in the attack infuriated the Tyrant. He poured more and more power into a beam. The intensity and potency skyrocketed. The attack was continuing far longer than Tirek was comfortable. By the time he stopped his attack to recover, the Orange haired man was already in front of him.
While his clothes were lightly scorched, there was nary a wound on his body. In fact, Escanor started to stretch his arms. "I must say, that was underwhelming."
Twilight's jaw dropped. "Dear, Celestia. He took it like it was nothing!"
A spark of fear and a torrent of anger flowed through Tirek. A menacing red aura started to roll off his skin.
"Now," Escanor cracked his knuckles. "Allow me to show you a real-"
"Don't think that you can treat me so lightly!" Tirek launched an enhance uppercut straight to his chin. A small amount of blood spewed from Escanor's mouth.
The gang in the distance stared in shock.
"That cheater-cheater pumpkin eater!" Pinkie screamed.
Applejack huffed. "I knew that rat would show himself."
Discord stroked his chin. "I'll be honest, I was kind of expecting that." He glared at his former associate.
The centaur didn't give Escanor the change to retaliate. In a flash, Tirek struck Escanor's skull. The man's body slammed against the floor and went through it faster than lightning. Debris flew everywhere as the laughing crimson villain flew after him. When the dust cleared, Escanor was at the bottom of the hundred-foot crater, a shadow covered his eyes as he was facing down.
Wasting no time, Tirek jumped down to meet him. With channeled magic, he telekinetically grabbed the human and launched him upward. Escanor flew out the crater and through the air. Tirek blitzed to the highest point of Escanor's arc and laid a hay-maker, crashing Escanor against the ground. It seemed as if there was no way for Escanor to keep up with him. Landing, Tirek strolled toward the fallen enemy.
Fear crept upon the ponies and Spike. Was Tirek too strong?
Just as Tirek was a meter away from Escanor's downed form, an imposing presence like the sun bore down on him. Tirek had no time to block.
The audience in the distance didn't even understand what had happened. Escanor seemed to teleport himself right next to Tirek, slamming him with a left hook. Tirek's head spun around like a tornado.
'I see that the Chaos magic is having some effect.' thought Discord.
Before Tirek could recover, Escanor once again vanished from sight and appeared above, bashing down at Tirek with a power that, despite Tirek's attempt at blocking, exploded the area around them and sent shockwaves everywhere.
The dust cleared, revealing Tirek on his knees.
Escanor looked at him. "Oh, what's wrong? Did you drop a coin or something?"
Tirek's body flared with magic. 'Impossible.' "This can't be happening!" he yelled.
Escanor raised a brow. "Really? You skipped my turn. That wasn't very nice. What happened to our game?"
"Forget the game!" Tirek's eyes flashed a sickly yellow for a moment. "It's time that I stop holding back!" The former red aura flared. Bursts of energy erupted all around him. The ground exploded. Dirt and rocks flew everywhere. Not wasting any second, the centaur flashed closer, his fists slammed against the ground. A seismic wave of stone pillars erupted toward the man.
With casual impacts of Escanor's fists, the pillars crumbled into rubble.
Tirek shot forward, engulfed in flaming energy, ready to ram against the prideful man.
The world seemed slow as Escanor moved in an impossible angle and at an impossible speed to dodge his simple attack.
Quickly turning around, Tirek grabbed him with magic and sent him flying over the tree line.
The small sense of accomplishment was soon shattered when an object impacted near him. Escanor had jumped back into the fray without hesitation. Enraged even further, Tirek shifted tactics. With both fists, a barrage of punches flew at Escanor.
What happened next stupefied everyone. With fluid yet strong movements, Escanor deflected each and every blow with his palms.
'Faster.' Tirek internally screamed. 'Faster!' With each passing consecutive punch, shock waves tore the area apart.
However, Escanor simply moved faster. Seeing an opening, the Lion Sin of Pride extended a mighty kick to Tirek's gut.
The tyrant gagged as he was forced a couple of meters back. Shock waves of air blew down several trees in the background. Recovering his bearings and not wanting to waste a single instant, Tirek desperately reared back his other fist and let it shot forward again, intent on smashing it against the man's chest, only for it to be caught. Wide-eyed, Tirek stared from his fist to Escanor's radiating form, almost 'feeling' the man's inner power.
The clearing they battled had gone through the butcher. It was entirely unrecognizable from before. Numerous patches of the Everfree forest were gone.
Escanor opened his arms dramatically to the sides. The man seemed to be welcoming the sunlight into his embrace. "Are you really the one who took away the beloved princesses?" he bellowed. "You haven't even shown me half of what Lady Celestia is capable of."
The audience's eyes shrunk to pinpoints "What?"
"Is Tirek still holding back?" asked Twilight. "How is that possible? I was fighting with everything I had with him."
Back on the battlefield, Tirek shook his head. "You are not wrong. I have yet to adjust myself to my newfound energies. Even with my previous battle with the purple one, we only had a taste of its true potential."
"Are you telling me I wasn't even using the princesses magic properly?!" exclaimed Twilight.
"No offense Twilight, Celestia and Luna have had the magic for centuries. You and Tirek had it for less than a week," answered Applejack.
Escanor shook his head. "It is no surprise that you would never be a match for me as you are now."
"I will bend this power to my will." The tyrant clenched both of his fists. "With someone like you in my way, there's no time like the present."
Escanor scoffed. "We shall see."
Taking a breath, Tirek yelled at the top of his lungs. "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Every moment, Tirek reached deep within himself. The power was there, but it was unfocused, untamed. This would not stand. He would bend it to his will. Unlocking the potential of Discord's chaotic magic would have to wait. He wasn't strong enough to handle it, not yet. As soon as his soul wrapped itself around the alicorn energies, his power spiked exponentially. The ground began to quake. The magnitude of pressure coming off him blew away anything not held down. Numerous trees fell, and any clouds nearby dissipated.
The power was unreal. Even at a distance, it was overwhelming.
"Oh, Buck!" cried Rainbow Dash. She latched onto a tree just to stay still.
"My hair!"
Applejack tried to keep her hat from flying off. "What in tarnation!"
Fluttershy covered her eyes. "I want to go home!"
Pinkie held several sun-shaped pinwheels spinning rapidly."Woohoo!"
Discord wrapped himself around the others in an attempt to ground them. "This is just the beginning!"
"Now would be a good time to do something, Twilight!" screamed Spike.
"Hold on to something!" declared Twilight. She put up a shield as they all gathered together. Slowly crack started to form, but Twilight would not let up, feeding more magic to protect them.
Escanor stood firmly through the raging energy output.
Black and white tendrils crept around Tirek's limbs. His skin started to blend with it. With a final scream, his body was engulfed in an explosion of light. As it faded and the dust settled, Tirek's new form appeared.
He was smaller than before. The energy that he gave off was reduced, but it seemed as if his body was denser in magical energies. Arcs of lightning traveled along his form. Surprisingly enough, he grew dark wings with white fringes. His hair flowed mystically much like the princesses, but the flames of destruction burned within. While his left arm grew armor whitest of day, his left arm grew ones the blackest of night. On his flanks was a twisted amalgamation of the lunar and solar cutie marks. "Ah..." Tirek breathed in relief. "Much better."
Escanor crossed his arms, narrowed eyes at the transformation. 'Such a bastardization of such innocent beauty.'
Tirek reached out with his right hand, a portal appears. With Telekinetic magic, an object flies through and lands firmly into his grasp. "Behold, the Zenith Blade." It was a brilliant sight to the audience. The weapon was a long golden double-edged sword. From it's hilt, several spokes protruded, giving an impression of the sun. "Forged by the masters of old, Celestia wielded her to defend the homeland." In his left hand, he summoned it's complementary tower shield. It too had decorations resembling the sun.
The Mane Six and Spike were amazed at such a magnificent weapon Celestia had owned.
Discord's eyes widened as the last time he saw it was a millennia ago and cutting off his tail for the third time.
"And now she is in the hands of a monster," Escanor finished. That immediately crushed the positive feelings the others held for the blade. "If you must abuse the extensions of others, then I will discipline you with an extension of my own. Escanor raised his hand upward. "Heed my will! Come to me, Divine Axe Rhitta!"
At the Tree of Harmony, the silent cavern was soon filled with the booming voice of Pride. In turn, each of the gemstones on the stone tree shimmered. Just like before, the magic began to swirl, and another portal was made.
Outside the battlefield, the spectators were confused. "What's he doing?" asked Rainbow Dash.
Rarity tilted her head in confusion. "I could have sworn he was calling for someone named Rita?"
"Hold on, guys. My Pinkie sense it telling me that something's coming here super duper fast."
When they looked to the sky. it seemed as if a flaming meteor was headed right for them.
"Escanor watch out!" Spike yelled.
Escanor pain no mind as the flaming ball of energy landed directly into his palm unfazed. Slowly, the flames began to dissipate from his hand upward. It was revealed to be a giant ornamental axe with a blade shaped like a crescent moon. The axe also features two golden protrusions, one larger than the other, with the white tips of a spear, the longer one is in the middle at the top of the axe and the smaller one is on the opposite of the blade of the axe. The handle is dark blue and it features a golden semicircular guard with four golden spikes on it.
"Hmmm, what a magnificent battle axe! I will gladly pry it from your cold dead hands." Taking a closer look, Tirek raised a brow. "Although, it looks too short for a two-handed ax."
"Of course. This is a one-handed axe. Divine Axe Rhitta. A battle axe bearing the name of a lady beloved by the sun. It is not something to be touched by some lowly beings that crawl in the darkness. But you are truly foolish and unfortunate." Escanor raised his blade against the Lord. "Now, come Centaur. Retribution for your sins shall be severe!"
The two dashed toward each other like blurs. The sounds of blades crossing filled the area. With each strike, a crater formed, growing deeper with each blow. The pattern was only stopped when Tirek bashed with his tower shield. Escanor flew over the horizon. Not wanting a repeat of last time, Tirek followed suit.
Twilight started pulling at her mane in panic. "What in Tartarus just happened!"
Rainbow and Spike shook her back to normal. "What are you waiting for Twi? We have to follow them!"
The real battle had begun, and all of Equis would be their battlefield.