//------------------------------//
// The End 
// Story: Up to Fate 
// by Onomonopia 
//------------------------------//

"It is not a long story. I will start with the end. Because when Maestro showed up, it was the end."

"I was a statue at the time. Frozen alongside my allies, if you want to call them that. But I saw it all. The sky opened over Canterlot castle. A being made of metal descended from on high. And he proceeded to lay waste to everything. This was my first introduction to the Maestro."

"Made of metal? He was made of light when I fought him."

"Maybe he change outfits. Don't interrupt. Right. Twilight was the first to stand against him. Using her full alicorn might, she tore apart the castle in the battle with him. At first I thought she was evenly matched with him, but slowly I realized the truth. He was testing her. Seeing if she was...entertaining. And she wasn't. So, before my eyes, he erased her."

"He loitered around after that. Messed with some ponies. Tested others. For a while I wondered what he was doing, but now looking back I realize he was waiting for the other Ambassadors and their allies to arrive. And arrive they did. All five of the other Ambassadors. Celestia, Luna, Discord and Cadence. Their armies. Their allies. Star-Swirl. Starlight and her school. The original Elements of Harmony. They all arrived to fight him."

"It was a slaughter."

Tirek stared off into the distance for a few moments after he said this, his eyes telling Pinkie he was reliving it. "I had no love for any of them. They were my enemies. I would have destroyed them had they not bested me. But the way they died...it was not a warriors death. It is not how I wanted my enemies to go. On the field of battle, triumphing over your foes. That is a battle. What he did was..."

"I will not go into details. All you need to know is that even with all of the strongest magic in Equestria, the ponies and their allies stood no chance. The Rainbow Power was a joke. The Elements were as useless. Celestia and Luna failed as they always have. Maestro allowed them to attack him. Allowed them to use all of their power against him. He tested them as he did Twilight. To see if they were entertaining. And then he erased them as well."

"Discord freed Chrysalis, Cozy Glow and me from the stone. He then ordered me to consume the magic of everypony in the world, using his power to open vortexes so that I could. I didn't ask why. I absorb my whole worlds magic. I was a god. On par with Discord. The four of us, the only ones left, attacked. You can guess how we did." 

"So you lost your friends against him. I'm sorry," Pinkie said.

"Friends? I hated all of them. I laughed when Chrysalis was decimated. I felt...a twinge of sorrow when Cozy was killed. Discord was next to go. Much like as you saw in the castle, his power chaos meant nothing to Maestro. He erased him without much effort. Which left only me. Me against a being who...doesn't abide by our rules. Our story. A being above us in every sense of the word."

"So how did you manage to stand up against him? How did you get him to agree to...remake reality?" Pinkie asked.

"Simple. I begged," Tirek replied. "I got down on my knees and begged for him to spare my life, to not erase me. He laughed at me, saying that he had seen me perform this action thousands of times. Different worlds, same Tirek. He said that I bored him. That this whole reality bored him. It had nothing new to offer. It was so alike all the others. It was better off not existing. That...was when I realized how to save myself."

"I told him what if he started everything over, but with me ruling the world? A world ruled by Tirek. That would be different, that would be something new. And he considered it. He considered what I had said. I then said that I would create bizarre and strange henchmen, I would take all magic from the land, I would imprison the sun and moon and keep Cadence trapped in crystal. I rambled for nearly an hour, telling him everything that I would do. Finally, he lowered his hand and chuckled."

"He said that he had heard enough. And he liked the idea. He would create a new world for me to rule. A whole new universe. But it would not be the same as I had remembered. Maestro promised that he would leave a few surprises for me. And then he said how much he was looking forward to seeing how I would rule the world. From what he said back at the castle, he saw me as a joke. But to him, I guess we all are."

"So there you go, Pinkie. That's how I became ruler of this world. Of course, Maestro gave me a few instructions after placing me on this world. He wanted me to wait until after you and your friends...or former friends had gotten their cutie marks before I conquered the world. Wanted it to be fair for them. He also only let me rule for just over two decades. He never said why and I wasn't going to ask why. He's so far beyond insane that I'm sure he thinks on another level. But that's the story. The story of my failings."

Pinkie lowered her head, processing everything that Tirek had told her. About the other world. The fall of her and the champions of Equestria...and how Tirek had made the deal to save reality...or at least, give it a second chance.

"So you saved us?" Pinkie asked. Tirek turned to look at her with an expression telling Pinkie that he now considered her crazy also. "Where all the magic and friendship and armies failed...you were the only one who found a way to stop the Maestro. Or at least, prevent him from completely erasing this reality. You gave us a chance to survive."

"So what if I did? Doesn't matter now. Maestro's here and it's only a matter of time before he get's bored once more. Then we're all dead. Wave of his hand, snap of his fingers...it will all be over," Tirek grunted. "I managed to keep our reality around for two more decades, doing everything in my power to make sure nothing on our world drew his attention. And then that helmet showed up and ruined everything."

"Maybe it didn't work. But that doesn't change the fact that you tried to help us. Or at the very least, you gave us a chance to survive," Pinkie pointed out. Tirek grunted in reply. "And don't say you only did it to save yourself. You saved a section of your old home. You saved me. You might have been evil, but you clearly have good-"

"Evil. I'm not evil. Compared to Maestro, my acts were of a child throwing a tantrum," Tirek scowled. "He is true evil. He sees everything there is, was, or to be as objects solely to entertain him. To add to his knowledge. He wipes out and recreates an uncountable number of lives, watch as they dance to his will, and then does it all again. Infinitely. Never ending. A hell from which none of us can escape. He will erase us...until he decides he wants to see us dance for him again. He cares for nothing. That Pinkie...is true evil."

"You're right...so what are we going to do about it?" Pinkie asked.

"Now I know you are insane. He crushed the princesses. He crushed Discord. He crushed you and that helmet, a literal god of order. We can't beat him. We can only dance to his whims."

"Maybe. Maybe not. But we have to try."

"We did try. And we failed."

"No, I failed to beat him. But you stalled him. By taking advantage of his weakness," Pinkie said.

"Weakness? What weakness?" Tirek dared to ask.

"His desire to learn. His desire to know what happens next," Pinkie said. "You said all he talked about was how he was bored, how none of those he faced were able to do anything...different for him. But you did. You appealed to his desire to know more. Yeah, he said you were a failure and a joke. But he still had to know how it would turn out."

"...you have a point. He does seem to have an...addiction...to seeing how things happen. Maybe we can...you gleaned all this from just one encounter with him?" Tirek asked.

"Every since I first got my cutie mark, I've been an expert in learning about somepony just by meeting them once," Pinkie smiled. "Their favorite food, colors and shapes, activities and hobbies...and when I saw Maestro, his desire to see different outcomes screamed out at me in a way no other pony has. It was about all I could glean from him. It will have to be enough."

"I always thought he was some omnipotent, all powerful being. But if he has a weakness, even one as bizarre as that..." Tirek began to mutter. The centaur placed a hand under his chin and narrowed his eyes, plans and strategy's flashing across his mind. Then he shook his head with a sigh. "It will not work. Even with a weakness, he is too far above us. We lack that power to even stand before him. He's not only in a different ball park, he's playing a different game."

"Your right. You and I lack the power to face him. But he doesn't." Tirek glanced over to see Pinkie holding the helmet. 

"The helmet? Maestro crushed that helmet, Pinkie. The being within it used all of his power to fight the Maestro and he lost. Even if you somehow could bring him back, it would not matter. Maestro would beat him again."

"...Nabu didn't use all of his power. He held back, for my sake," Pinkie whispered. Tirek raised an eyebrow and motioned for her to continue. "Nabu said his true power would shatter my mind and erase my body, so he allowed me to use what I could handle. And even when he took control...he held back. I could feel it. But the fact that he was able to fight the Maestro so closely even when holding back..."

"Means that if he went all out, he might be able to best him," Tirek muttered. Once again plans flashed across his eyes before he glanced at the crumpled helm. "But this Nabu is gone and the helm's magic is lost. We are talking about what ifs, not what is. And that is that the helm has lost it's magical power."

"He's still in there," Pinkie replied. "I can feel it. After wearing the helm...I can feel the faintest traces of Nabu within this helm. I believe that it needs to be repaired before Nabu can return. It needs to be...made as it was. Restored...returned to order."

"You would need an unfathomable amount of magic to repair and artifact such as that," Tirek pointed out. Pinkie bit her lip, her face saying that she hadn't thought about that. Tirek gazed at her for a moment before he aimed a hand at the structure behind them, using his magic to open a door way inside. "This was the home of me and my brother Scorpan. Inside there are magical artifacts that my brother and I gathered together over the long years. Maybe one of them could bring Nabu back."

"Oh. Thank you. Are you sure you and your brother won't mind?" Pinkie asked.

"My brother betrayed me to protect the ponies a long time ago. He always cherished them over me. When Maestro attacked Canterlot in the world that was supposed to be...he came to their aid. And he died with them," Tirek revealed.

"Oh."

"Meh, he had it coming. But still..." Tirek whispered. He then shook his head and waved Pinkie away. "Go. Search through it all. Of course, there are a good number of traps and secrets that I have placed within the place, but consider them a test of your willingness to do this. If you succeed, I will help you. If not, I sit here drinking cactus juice and enjoying the night until Maestro decides to kill us all."

"Okay. I'll be back soon," Pinkie said. She stood up and walked towards the entrance, but when she reached the stairs that led down she stopped and turned to look back at Tirek. "And Tirek? Thank you for helping us. When this is over, I Pinkie promise that I'm going to throw you the greatest party that this world has ever seen. I'll invite everypony and they'll get to hear about how you helped to save them. And remember how I said I learn about somepony after one meeting? Well you're going to get all the Rocky Road ice cream you can eat."

Pinkie then hopped down into the ancient temple, leaving Tirek to sit down and stare at the side. He picked up a cactus, sliced it in half, took a sip and then tried to imagine a party where all the inhabitants of Equestria cheered him for saving them. A silly idea. So silly that for a moment he softly laughed to himself.

"You foolish, naive pony. As if they would ever forgive me, let alone celebrate me after what I've done. And that's if we manage to beat the Maestro. Which is impossible," Tirek said. He took another sip before sighing, another idea crossing his mind on how they could possibly beat the Maestro. He smiled bitterly and took another sip.

"Hope. What a dangerous emotion indeed."