Over eight hundred years ago
Scorpan stood before the gates of Tartarus, he stared at the blood red runes that decorated the entrance to the ancient prison. The door was an intimidating sight, created by Star-Swirl the Bearded himself and some say that he used the forbidden rune magic of the creature known as the 'Engineer' to do so, although that was just a rumour.
The gates of Tartarus groaned as they swung open before him, as they had many times before, and he stepped forth into the prison. As Scorpan walked into the cavernous interior of Tartarus, he tried to prepare himself for the conversation that was to come.
Scorpan ascended the stair case, giving the guard dog a pat on all three of his heads as he walked by, leading to the sole occupant of Tartarus, locked in his cage, the prisoner stirred as he heard the approach of a visitor. A pair of golden eyes glared at Scorpan as he approached the cage, "What? Another year already?" a voice dryly croaked out from the cage.
Scorpan sat down in front of the cage, getting comfortable before speaking "Hello, brother" he said "how have you been?"
Tirek scoffed from inside his cage "How do you think I've been? It's bad enough that I have to be locked up in here, but I have to put up with your annoying yearly visit."
"So the same as usual?" Scorpan asked.
"Basically" Tirek answered "It turns out that being imprisoned, for who knows how long, can get quite boring."
"It doesn't have to be" Scorpan said "just say the word and-"
"Not this crap again" Tirek scoffed.
"I'm serious!" Scorpan continued "I could talk to Celestia, and as long as there are some assurances, we could have you moved to better conditions and then eventually have you released."
"You still think that?" Tirek asked "Even if you could, do you really think that I'm going to subject myself to those ponies? Those weaklings?"
"They kicked your ass, didn't they" Scorpan said.
"With your help, remember?" Tirek shook his head "The only reason that Starswirl and his friends were able to beat me was because of you, you're the reason I'm here. But where are your friends now?" Tirek cackled as he continued "Gone, all gone, you're alone here, Luna's gone too, banished by Celestia, the 'Magic of Friendship' worked out great for her didn't it? And you can't go back home, what would our father say if he knew that you sold me out to a bunch of weak ponies?"
"He'd understand!" Scorpan retorted. "He warned you, he warned us both, he told us what would happen if we pursued power recklessly."
"He was only interested in keeping us weak" Tirek said. "All his rules, his lectures, they were just ways of controlling us, he never cared, he just saw us as assets, pawns in his game."
"That's a load of crap and you know it!" Scorpan yelled back standing up. "You always made fun of me for being childish, but look at yourself, you're still just a kid rebelling against his parents!" Scorpan collapsed back down, his eyes refused to meet his brothers. "Do you remember when we were kids and I started getting fat, dad put us both on a diet to make it fair, so we started to sneak down to the kitchens at night to eat food then, but he got wise to that and had the staff lock up the food." Scorpan smiled as he reminisced "But not the ingredients so we decided to try to make a cake ourselves, if I remember your exact words 'It can't be too hard."
"We started a fire" Tirek chuckled "burned down the whole kitchen."
"I was so scared that dad would be furious" Scorpan continued. "But the first thing he did when he saw us was hug us and only after making sure we were okay did we get the lecture. Everything he did to us, he did for us."
"Is there a point to all of this, or are you just enjoying your trip down memory lane?" Tirek asked.
"I'm going home Tirek, I've tried and tried to reach you but nothing has worked." Scorpan said "This is your last chance, either come home with me now or rot here for the rest of eternity."
Tirek sat stunned for a moment, before bursting out laughing "Wow" he said "Thats a new one, very creative, however it's not very effective. The whole 'I'm leaving thing would only work if I wanted you to stay which I don't, and I know you would never leave Equestria because you've been so adamant about showing me the 'magic of friendship,' so why would you change now?"
"I've had enough Tirek, all my friends are gone, I'm all alone just like you. I want to go home, I want to see our parents again, and I don't want to torture myself every year because of your mistakes. So, what will it be brother?"
Tirek sneered back "you're really going all in with this aren't you? Bye Scorpan, I'll see you next year, for the first time I'll actually be looking forward to it just so I can laugh in your face!"
Scorpan threw something into Tireks cage before storming off, Tirek watched him leave saw as the doors to Tartarus swung open, the sun light illuminating the object on the ground next to him. It was the medallion that he had given to Scorpan when they were still children. The doors of Tartarus swung open once again plunging the prison into darkness.
Tirek was once again left with his thoughts, Scorpan would be back, this was just an attempt to scare him, he'd be back. Tirek picked up the amulet, it was still warm from being worn by Scorpan. Scorpan would be back, he had to be.
present day
Tirek yawned as he prepared breakfast, Engineer was supposed to cook today but due to her 'illness' he had been saddled with the job. He sensed the time was right and flipped the batch, he grinned as he saw the other side was the perfect shade of golden brown.
"Come on Tirek" Cozy whined "I'm hungry, what's taking so long?"
"Good things come to those who are patient" Chrysalis said "like me, right now." She and Cozy had been having morning chess matches for the past couple of days, and she was on the verge of getting her first victory, she took another of Cozys pieces with her Queen just to emphasise the point.
"Crap!" Cozy shouted as she nervously moved her Rook to counter Chrysalises move.
Chrysalis was grinning maniacally, on the verge of victory "In a few moves this will all be over" she declared as she made her move.
Cozys demeanour changed in an instant as she gave Chrysalis her best innocent smile "nope, it's over now, Checkmate. See how I positioned my knight to-"
Chrysalis gripped the board with her magic and threw in across the kitchen sending the pieces flying through the air. "How the hell did I lose again!"
Tirek had finished cooking breakfast, and brought over a plate overflowing with pancakes. "It seems your new wing hasn't changed your personality." Chrysalis grumbled as she levitated a pancake off the pile, adding blueberries and a generous scoop of vanilla ice-cream on top.
"Its all about misdirection" Cozy grinned as she poured chocolate sauce onto her pancakes "I make you think you've won, and then boom, out of nowhere checkmate. I beat Starlight so many times with that tactic, it was so fun watching her hold in her competitive side. A few more wins and she would have snapped worse than you." Cozys grin turned to a scowl as Chrysalis took her sauce bottle away, Cozys breakfast was more chocolate sauce than pancake at this point, Cozy shrugged and dug into her meal.
"You all enjoy your meal" Tirek said "I've got bring our patient her food, wish me luck that I don't get, what did she call it?"
"Moon sickness" Chrysalis replied "She said that it's not contagious, the only thing you need to worry about is bringing the right toppings. I brought her poached eggs instead of scrambled yesterday and she threatened to pull my head off."
"I'll keep that in mind" Tirek said "If I remember correctly she wants lemon, sugar, and maple syrup?" Chrysalis nodded before returning to her meal. Tirek loaded up a tray with a plate of pancakes as well as the prerequisite toppings and headed for Engineers room.
He made his way up the staircase to her room and knocked on the door. "Breakfast!" he announced, a reply in the form of a sleepy groan was heard, he took it as an invitation and headed inside.
Engineer was still lying in bed, she sat up in her bed, yawning as she did so. "I could really go for bacon, you don't happen to have any do you?" she asked as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.
"Afraid not, just pancakes" Tirek replied as he set the tray down on a desk in Engineers room.
"Right, you're all vegetarians, damn I miss meat." Engineer said as she rose out of bed, stretching as she did so "Thanks for breakfast Tirek." She made her way over to the desk, she didn't bother changing out of her navy blue pyjamas.
"Well we can't let you starve" Tirek replied "You need to eat to beat this is illness, whatever it is."
"It's not really an illness, it showed up a couple of years ago, or at least a couple years before I was petrified." Engineer explained as she poured sugar and lemon over her pancakes "It comes around every few weeks, sometimes are worse than others, but this one has been particularly bad." She tore into her breakfast, dunking cut pieces into the maple syrup before devouring it.
"Do we need to kidnap a doctor or something?" Tirek asked.
Engineer scoffed "No thanks, the last doctor I saw about it came at me with a box of leaches, It sucks but I can live with it, besides it should finish up today. In the end It's just another thing to remind me how different I am to everyone else."
"Not too different" Tirek smirked "I heard that you literally jumped on the first boy who talked to you."
A Engineer coughed as a piece of her breakfast got caught in her throat, "I didn't jump on him!" Tirek raised an eyebrow in response "ok maybe I did, but it's more complicated than that, he's was the first guy to talk to me as a person you know, he could have turned us over to the ponies but he didn't. He's funny, he's nice, he's got this cute voice thats both gruff and a bit dorky and-"
"Listen to yourself" Tirek laughed "You're infatuated, you try to act all tough but here you are obsessing over a boy."
"Shut up" Engineer blushed "I'm not going to love advice from a lonely old centaur!"
"And how do you think I became like this?" Tirek said "I trusted one person and they betrayed me, do you think that Pharynx would have stayed quiet if you told him what we're really planning?" Tirek didn't give her time to answer "No, he'd turn you over in a second, he's been corrupted by the 'magic of friendship', by the Princesses, you can't trust him."
"Are you saying I can't trust anyone? Not even you?" Engineer asked.
"Nope not even me, that fool Discord trusted me once and I almost took over Equestria thanks to him." Tirek said "Ever since Discords been reformed he's become such an idiot, in the state he's in now I bet I could kick his ass blindfolded."
A voice interrupted their conversation "Are you sure about that?" Grogar was standing at the doorway "I wouldn't downplay Discord so much if I were you Tirek, he's one of the ponies greatest assets. One of the reasons that I've been away so much is ensuring that the Lord of Chaos doesn't interfere with us while we get our revenge."
Engineer scoffed "From what I've heard all we would need to do is threaten to hurt, whats her name? Buttershy?"
"It's Fluttershy!" Grogar stamped his hoof "And you will do nothing of the sort, If you do it will only make Discord mad! It's important for you to remember, whatever you do, don't hurt Fluttershy!" Engineer raised her hand to ask a question "The yellow one with pink hair!"
"Good to know" Engineer said. "Now do you mind explaining why you're here?"
"Tirek tells me that you've had issues with the quality of your materials" Grogar said.
Engineer frowned, glancing at Tirek who gave her a subtle wink "Yes, I have been having problems with my materials, why do you ask?"
"I can answer that" Tirek said "remember when you mentioned that you wished you had some of your old tools?"
"Yeah, but they've all been destroyed. Celestia and Luna saw to that" Engineer replied.
"Not quiet" Tirek said. "There are rumours that some of those have found their way into the hands of a private collector, and believe me, if anyone has them it would be him. He's a bit obsessed with anything to do with you, which is why I asked Grogar for help."
"Is Grogar going to help us break in to this guys house?" Engineer asked.
Grogar cackled "Even as powerful as I am, breaking into Torgovor's home would be suicide, just ask Tirek he's buddies with him."
"We're not buddies" Tirek spat out.
"Acquaintances?" Engineer asked.
"He's a squatter" Tirek snarled "The snake stole my castle after I was sent to Tartarus and has lived there ever since. He's also beefed up security, he has built an army of autonomous sets of armor using your runic magic."
"Impressive" Engineer said "I tried autonomous armor out in a few designs, but it was always inferior to an actual creature controlling it. But if we could get past that then this Torgovor would be no problem."
"It would be" Tirek said "If Torgovor wasn't a dragon, an old one at that, hence his proclivity for hoarding. So theft would end with us being incinerated."
"So what is the plan?" Engineer asked.
Grogar dropped a pile of books onto the floor "A trade, Tirek tells me that Torgovor is open to trading, it's how he got most of his collection."
Engineer scoffed "Do you think that he would trade my tools for some random books?"
Grogar sighed "Yes, because these are the personal notes of the legendary star swirl the bearded, written after his return."
Engineer picked up one of the books and flicked through it, the notes talked about a portal of some kind and something about three sirens that he banished a thousand years ago. Engineer shrugged "I'm not sure they're that valuable, but we'll just have to see if he goes for it. So, what is the plan?"
"Chrysalis teleports you and me near the castle" Tirek explained "Chrysalis remains behind and us two go in, he knows me so there won't be too many questions. I'll need you to come with to make sure that what he gives us is genuine."
"Didn't you say he was obsessed with me?" Engineer asked "Don't you think that he might react strangely if the Engineer comes visiting?"
"You won't be going as the Engineer" Tirek answered "you're going to be a deformed minotaur that is too disfigured to show her face, we'll put you in a hooded cloak and say that you're an expert on the Engineer that I've coerced into helping."
"I just hope that you can pull it off" Grogar growled "You've failed once before, don't fail me again." Grogar teleported away leaving the pair alone once again.
Tirek broke the silence first "You know that Fluttershy has a pet rabbit."
Engineer grinned "Sounds like once we take over Equestria, meat will be back on the menu."
Tireks castle a terrifying sight, located on a peninsula that jutted off the coast of Equestria, the years had not eroded its brutal appearance. The structure was hundreds of feet high, a massive black column that had thorn like towers jutting out seemingly at random. The constant, howling wind coming in from the ocean added to the oppressive atmosphere, the waves smashed against the cliffside, spraying saltwater high.
Tirek and Engineer observed the structure from a line of trees that gave them some protection from the wind. Engineer set down a pair of binoculars and turned to Tirek "Wow, this dragon has great taste." Tirek gave her an angry look "I know, its your place and all but still Torgovor has chosen a great evil lair, I'm surprised no one has tried to take it off him."
"Many have tried" Tirek said "But the place is a fortress, I should know. He is quiet paranoid though, he never leaves, he has other go out and collect things for him, It's also how he avoids the wrath of the Princesses."
Cozy Glow plopped down between them "Enough chit-chat, I want to meet the dragon."
"You're not coming Cozy" Engineer said.
"Oh come on!" Cozy whined "I've never seen a fully grown dragon before, can I please, please, please come too?"
"No! it's too dangerous." Engineer snapped "Now go back and see if Chrysalis needs any help setting up camp." Cozy trudged away, grumbling as she did so. Engineer sighed, "Cozy's right, no need to wait around any longer, let's go."
Tirek and Engineer headed towards the castle, the wind battered against the pair as they left the cover of the tree line. Engineer was thankful for the black hooded cloak that she wore, that kept her face hidden, and protected her from the elements. She had another kind of protection hidden on her as well, her crossbow, if things started to go wrong then at least she wouldn't be totally helpless.
Tirek ignored the weather as they got nearer and nearer, focused intensely on the task at hand. He carried the books in a pack, protecting them from the elements. They reached a large wooden door that served as the entrance to the castle, it swung open as they approached, letting them inside the castle.
The entrance led into a hallway blocked by a peculiar sight, two sets of Diamond Dog armor, which Engineer recognised as replicas of her own work, were posed as in a fight to the death. One of them was stabbing a long spear through the visor of the other, while the other was recoiling back in mock pain. The doors slammed shut behind them, as it did so the armored Dogs stood at attention, and turned towards the visitors.
"We're here to trade" Tirek said, the suits of armor stood aside and pointed further down the hallway. They passed many more armored figures, ponies, gryphons and others, all of them frozen in battle against each other. Engineer noticed a mace that was just about to smash into the face of a pegasus was one of her own, she tried to get a closer look but when she got too close the head of the gryphon armor holding the mace spun towards her, making her jump back in surprise.
"Careful" Tirek said "Torgovor is very protective of his stuff, if you don't want to lose your head, I suggest that we keep going." They reached the end of the hallway and stepped inside a strange room, a metal door closed behind them and they felt the room go up, they were going up the tower.
"His stuff" Engineer scoffed "A lot of this stuff is mine."
"We're literally in my old home" Tirek said "If anyone should be complaining about things being stolen its me. Although this strange room is a new addition, much more efficient than stairs."
"Those suits of armor were quite cool too" Engineer added "Although I do prefer having someone actually wear them, it's better that way."
"How so?" Tirek asked.
"For armor to function on its own it has to be enchanted in some way" Engineer explained "But depending on the material, the armor can only have so much magic flowing through it at one time. So if its self propelled it will be weaker in other areas compared to if some one is operating it."
"So thats we've been collecting all that stuff?" Tirek asked.
"Yep" Engineer replied "Better material means that I can run more magic through it, and I use runes because they tend to be the most efficient. Runes don't function like most enchantments because they absorb the magic that all living things passively create."
"Almost all" Tirek corrected.
"What do you mean?" Engineer asked "Everything in Equestria produces magic, even plants."
"You don't" Tirek said, Engineer looked at him with suspicion, she was about to ask him to explain further but she felt the room come to a stop. The door opened up in front of them, signalling them to exit.
The room in front of them was too dark to see into, Tirek walked in confidently while Engineer nervously followed behind him, the grate slammed shut behind them and she heard the strange contraption rumble back down the tower, leaving them trapped in the dark.
"Ah, Tirek" A deep rumbling voice said "It seems the ponies couldn't keep you locked up for long." Part of the room lit up in an instant, blazing torches revealing the speakers head. It was massive, large enough to eat her whole, with glistening white scales, Its two solid black eyes studied them with contempt. Its neck stretched off into the darkness, its body hidden from sight. "You've brought a friend?"
"This minotour is here to ensure that I get what I've come here for" Tirek said. He held up a list of items, a massive claw darted out of the darkness to grab it, bringing it close to the dragons eye.
"I hope you've brought something of value to trade" Torgovor said, looking up from the list at Tirek "I wouldn't trade away the Engineers own tools for some mere trinkets."
"Of course" Tirek opened his bag, pulling out the books "Notes from Starswirl the bearded should be more than enough."
Torgovor tapped the floor with a talon, summoning a set of gryphon armor which flew in and clanked down before scooping up the books to present to its master. The dragon looked over the books carefully, its servant flicking through the pages for him "Lets see if theirs anything worthwhile here" he said "Lets see sirens, banishment, something about a por-" The dragon looked closer at a particular page "Interesting, quite interesting." Torgovor smirked, exposing his teeth to his visitors "Well Tirek, it appears you've found something quite valuable." Torgovor tapped the floor again, a set of pony armor marched out carrying a large box, it set it down in front of Engineer for inspection. "I'll make the trade" he said "while I hate to lose anything to do with the Engineer, it usually finds its way back, one way or another."
Engineer opened the box, and inspected its contents. It was all there, so she gave a nod to Tirek it indicate as such. He picked up the box and stuffed into his pack. They heard the strange room beginning to climb back up for them to leave.
"Thank you for your time Torgovor" Tirek said with a forced smile "We'll be going now." They turned around to leave, only to find a large white tail blocking the way.
"Not just yet old friend" the dragon said, something about his voice sent chills down Engineers spine "I thought I knew all the experts on the Engineer, and here you go bringing this minotaur along that you've taken great pains to hide under that hood." The dragons eyes focused in on Engineer, trying to make out her features under the hood.
"She's nobo-" A claw darted forwards, stoping inches from Tireks throat.
"I wasn't speaking to you Tirek" the dragon said calmly, before withdrawing his claw back into the shadows. His black eyes turned back to Engineer. "So, why don't you lower that hood so I can get a good look at you."
"I'm sorry, but I can't" Engineer said, she went with the first thing that came to mind "I've got a horrible disfigurement, if you saw my face it would make you sick."
Torgovor scoffed "It would take more than a disfigurement to make me sick, in fact, I'm more curious than ever." The dragons lips pealed back in a toothy grin "You have two options, either you lower the hood yourself, or I take your head and look at it then."
Engineer took a deep breath, there seemed to be no way out other than to comply. It had been a thousand years, this dragon would have no way of knowing what she looked like. She flipped down her hood, revealing her face, and hoped that he wouldn't hear her heart trying to beat its way out of her ribcage.
The room was silent for a moment, the dragon studying her face with interest. "Well you certainly look different than I expected" Torgovor said "But there's nothing that I would call sickening." Engineer resisted the urge to smile, her plan had worked. The dragon turned its head towards Tirek "So where did you find her? I'm guessing the castle in the Everfree, that damned forrest kept even my best scavengers away. Well done Tirek, you've brought me the Engineer."
"W-WHAT!" She shouted "I'm not the Engineer!"
"Yes you are" The dragon said gleefully "You don't know how long I've waited, dreamed of getting my claws on you. I can't wait to put you to work for me!"
Tirek stepped between them "Do you think I would just hand her over? She's mine!"
"It really isn't up to you" Torgovor replied "But to make things fair." He tapped his claws, bringing out another armoured servant, carrying a large chest "Gold, and lots of it, trust me Tirek it's for the best, I'd get more use out of her anyway."
Tirek groaned "Fine" he spat "At least I'm getting something out of this."
"TIREK?!" Engineer shouted "What the hell are you doing!?"
"Doing whats best for me" Tirek replied. "Goodbye Engineer." Tirek turned for the exit, leaving Engineer to her fate.
"You bastard!" She charged at the Centaur, only for a set of gryphon armor to swoop down blocking her path. "Tirek, come back here!" she shouted, tears coming to her eyes "No, not again! I don't want it to happen again!."
"Enough of that Engineer" the dragon scolded "You've got a lot of work ahead of you."
"Why the hell would I work for you, you overgrown lizard!" Engineer spat. Her eyes went wide as a claw came close to her face, stroking her cheek carefully to avoid a cut.
"Oh, my dear, because I require it." On the next pass the claw nicked her, causing her to yelp in pain. "And if thats not enough I will compel it."
"Hey!" Tirek shouted from the door to the lifting room "Do you want her tools back?"
"Why thank you Tirek" the dragon replied, not taking his eyes off Engineer "I certainly would."
Engineer looked over at Tirek just in time to see it, time seemed too slow as she saw the chest fly through the air towards the dragon, and behind it and closing fast a fire spell. The two objects collided in mid air, the wood burned away, leaving gold, now molten and shaped like a dart, flying into Torgovors eye.
The dragon roared in agony as his eye melted within his skull, he clawed at the wound frantically trying to get the burning spear out of the socket. The armor guarding her was blown to pieces by a blast of Tireks magic, as he grabbed her and threw her onto his back. They charged for the door, but as it opened, a squadron of armored opponents lunged forth to attack them.
"Crap!" Tirek shouted spinning around and charging away from the door, Engineer pulled out her crossbow and let fly with a volley of shots. The bolts were designed to temporarily disrupt the enchantments on the armor, the enemy clattered into heaps on the ground, Engineer loaded and fired as quickly as possible as hoards of the dragons creations swarmed after them.
"Where are we going?!" Engineer shouted, she shot a pegasus armor out of the sky.
"We're getting out of here!" Tirek shouted, he smashed through a wall leading into a hallway and charged down it, he made turn after turn seemingly at random, before blasting a door to splinters. The room they were in was unremarkable, it was once a bedroom but the ages had turned all of its contents to rot, Tirek tore down a bookshelf revealing a hole in the wall, within the hole was a ramp that slid down out of sight "Can you swim?" He asked.
"What? No!" she replied, jumping off of Tireks back.
"Well, you're going to have to trust me, Jump!" Tirek shouted, pushing her towards the slide, Engineer hesitated for a moment but the clatter of approaching armor pushed her to make a decision.
"Screw it!" She jumped down into the shaft. Her mind was racing, what was at the bottom? Was it the ocean? If so she would end up being smashed up against the rocks by the waves. The only choice she had was to trust that somehow Tirek would save her. She would have to trust Tirek.
She didn't know how long she was sliding for, but eventually it started to level out, she slid into a new room, but before she could get her bearings, the slide disappeared under and for a moment she was suspended in midair, she gasped as she came crashing down into a pool, she lost her grip on her crossbow, it sank to the bottom of the pool. Her mouth filled with water, some of it finding its way into her lungs as she thrashed under the water, trying to reach the surface, a hand grabbed her by the collar of her coat and yanked her out of the pool.
She collapsed onto the floor, coughing up water, trying to get her breath back. She tried to get up, those suits of armor were right behind them, but she just fell back down onto her rear.
"Hey, take it easy" Tirek said "I sealed the chute up behind you, just take a moment to breath." Engineer nodded and sprawled out on the floor. Tirek looked over the tools that they had come for, as far as he could tell none of them were broken "That didn't go as planned" he said "But luckily we improvised our way out of there, I didn't know that you could act."
"I can't" Engineer said as she sat up "I really thought you were betraying me." She winced as a tear mixed with the blood from her cut cheek, she wiped it away and stared at the blood on her hand.
Tirek walked over, placing a hand on her shoulder "I'm sorry about that, I know how you feel." Tirek smiled "It's actually because of Scorpan that we're alive right now. He insisted on having an escape route from his bedroom, if I remember correctly there should be a tunnel that will get us out of here." Tirek offered his other hand to Engineer, she smiled and took it as he helped her to her feet.
They found the tunnel easily enough, soon they would be home free. While they walked through the tunnel the conversation turned back to Scorpan. "It was his idea to have a pool at the end, honest" Tirek said. "Besides, I didn't know you couldn't swim."
Engineer rolled her eyes "I lived underground most of my life, not many chances to go swimming."
Tirek laughed "I suppose not. But we're both alive, thanks to my brother, which is actually the second time he's indirectly helped escape certain doom."
"What was the first?" Engineer asked.
"Well Scorpan gave me this gold amulet before he left" Tirek explained "Turns out the amulet was strong enough to force open the lock on my cage, after that I just had to wait for the right time and when that stupid three headed dog escaped, I was able to escape and start absorbing magic across Equestria"
"Nice one" Engineer said "But speaking of magic, there's something that's been bothering me, you said I don't have any magic, what exactly did you mean by that?"
Tirek smiled nervously "Well, I may have tried to absorb magic from you when we were on mt. Everhoof" Engineer punched Tirek in the arm, "Hey!" Tirek complained "I was just trying to get enough magic to take down that barrier, but I couldn't get anything from you, it was weird."
Engineer groaned "Just another weird thing about me. I can't wait to get back home, this day has just been awful."
They finally made their way to the surface, Tirek moved some brush out of the way and they found themselves somewhere in the forrest, Tireks old castle was visible through a gap in the trees. Before they could celebrate, the top of Tireks castle exploded, it was Torgovor, he roared from the top of the castle "YOU CAN"T ESCAPE FROM ME, I WILL HAVE HER!" He swooped down from the castle, trying to locate his prey.
The dragon patrolled over head as Engineer and Tirek hid from the beast, they moved slowly trying to avoid his wrath. They were relieved when they found Cozy and Chrysalis, hidden under a fallen tree.
"I'm guessing the trade didn't go well" Chrysalis said.
"Golly, this is so cool" Cozy grinned as she watched the pale white dragon soar overhead "He's so big and scary."
"Their's other words I'd call him" Engineer muttered "Chrysalis, get us the hell out of here." Chrysalises horn glowed, but the group remained where they were. The shadow of the dragon passed over them, emphasising that they were still in danger.
"Damn" Tirek grumbled. "He must have something on him that's suppressing teleportation magic, and I think he's healed his eye. Anyone got any ideas?"
"Wait him out?" Chrysalis proposed "We hide here until he moves away, then once we're out of range of whatever he's got we teleport away." That plan was scrapped after they saw Torgovor torch some trees a few hundred feet away. "Well there goes that plan, any other options?"
Engineer snarled as she watch the dragon soar over them again "Just one."
Torgovor was furious, the Engineer herself was right in front of him, and she'd slipped right through his claws. He looked over at a section of the forrest that was burning thanks to him, he chastised himself for being so stupid, he might have killed her with that.
His eye still hurt, that fool Tirek had driven a molten spear of gold through it, it had taken buckets of healing potions to restore it. If he couldn't find the Engineer, he hoped to at least track down that centaur and get some revenge, his thought were interrupted as he saw something that filled him with joy.
He crashed down into a clearing, drawing himself to his full hight as he looked down at the sight before him. Tirek had waved him down, the Engineer was bound and on her knees before him. "What do we have here?" he chuckled, "You're begging for your life Tirek?"
Tirek bowed down before him "I'm sorry Torgovor, I wanted her for my own plans, please forgive me, take her and spare my life."
Torgovor ignored Tirek, focusing entirely on the Engineer, watching as she struggled against her bonds "Calm yourself little creature, I may have to take a foot if you don't settle down, Its not like you need it to wo-" A light pink blur shot towards the dragon, and before he could react, it hit him in his bad eye. He screamed clutching at his injury, his one good eye searching for the culprit, he found it, a little pegasus filly was hovering in front of him with a smug look on her face.
"Take that you big asshole!" The pegasus shouted "Thats what you get for messing with the Legion of Doom!" She dodged a wild swing of the dragons claws, his single eye gave him no depth perception. He decided to just burn the pony with his breath, but another figure in the distance stoped him in his tracks. It was another dragon, and it was heading for his castle.
Torgovor wheeled around, he needed to get back to his castle. He knocked down trees in his path as he leapt back into the sky, beating his wings hard he slammed into the side of the castle and used his claws to scramble up the side. He called forth all of his enchanted armors to his side, they deployed ballista, catapults and other forms of artillery and waited for their foe to appear.
Chyraslis landed in the clearing, still in the form of a dragon, much smaller than Torgovor "It's a good thing that worked" she said as she returned to her original form "He could have torn me to shreds."
"He couldn't tell how big you were." Engineer said, she was still bound, Tirek and Cozy were trying to untie her with little success "Little help?" Chrysalis smirked and pulled a single rope with her magic, untying Engineer instantly "I'm not gonna ask why you know how to tie people up so well." Engineer said, rubbing her wrists "This day has been just awful."
"What do you mean Engy!" Cozy exclaimed. "I got to kick a dragon in the eye, golly, this day has been just perfect."
"Deja vu" Chrysalis said under her breath.
"Was the profanity necessary?" Tirek asked Cozy. "You already kicked him in the eye, I think that was enough."
"Of course it was necessary Tirek" Cozy said. "You don't kick a dragon in the eye without swearing, In fact I should have called him a dic-"
"Language!" Chrysalis yelled "Any more of that and it will be no more ice-cream for a week." Cozy mumbled something that Chrysalis chose to ignore as she prepared the spell to bring them all home.
After they got back, they brought their haul up to Engineers workshop and stashed it. Engineer wanted to take a nap afterwards but Tirek insisted that the cut on her cheek needed to be attended to, so she found herself sat in on a bench in the kitchen as Tirek fished through their medical supplies.
"Who knows what that dragon had on his claws" Tirek said, as he cleaned her cut with a cotton swab, "We don't want you to get an infection."
"We went toe to toe with a dragon and lived, and you're worried about a little cut?" Engineer teased.
"You're no use to us dead" Tirek replied as he applied some antiseptic to a second swab. "Now hold still, this might sting a little." Engineer winced as the swab was applied to the cut, Tirek then applied a band-aid "There all done."
"Thanks Tirek" Engineer said, hopping off the bench "You didn't have to do all that." Engineer turned to leave before she realised something "Hey Tirek."
"Need something?" Tirek asked.
"I've decided to ignore some of your advice" Engineer said. "Your whole 'trust no one' speech was a load of crap."
"What are you talking about?" Tirek said "You and I both were both betrayed by our own brothers."
"And unlike you, my brother didn't indirectly save me." Engineer said "But I don't care, because I trust you Tirek, you could have betrayed me, and I know you trust me. I don't care about what happened in the past, I want to trust people, Chrysalis, Cozy, Pharynx, and you."
"This is all about your little crush isn't it" Tirek teased. "You're just saying this because you're smitten over bug boy."
"So what if I am Tirek, I don't want to go through my life not being able to trust anyone." Engineer said "And I know you don't want to either." Engineer held out her hand "Come on Tirek, after we get our revenge we get to live."
Tirek sighed and took her hand and shook it "Fine, you win, I do trust you Engineer. So what do you want to do now?"
Engineer smirked "Now, I'm going to my room to have a nice long nap."