//------------------------------// // Tirek, the Shadow Looms // Story: Knights of the Realm // by Kinni //------------------------------// There was a massive number of ponies gathered in the field. The mood was joyous and festive, since that was quite a rare situation in history, not many times would anypony have the opportunity to see two Knights receiving titles at the same time. Trixie had been quite embarrassed to be receiving such an honor after she had acted in a manner she herself described as shameful, but she had been convinced to accept it mostly for the sake of reassuring the larger pony population. After all, news of Tirek had already spread, and some ponies had already been attacked and were currently empty of magic. The pony population as a whole placed great trust in the idea of the Knights, and as such the appearance of two new Titled Knights would certainly go a long way towards prevent any panic from ocurring. And according to Celestia, both Trixie and Twilight had definitely reached the level where they were worthy of receiving titles. The place where the ceremony would be held was a field near Canterlot. Such an open area was needed because otherwise space would be a problem. Even though the whole thing was done on very short notice, there were still so many ponies in attendance that none of the facilities for large-scale ceremonies in Canterlot were spacious enough. A lot of ponies had even spent quite a lot of money on special transportation to be able to get there in time. In the open air of the field, there were some temporary installations for that ceremony, mostly the essentials: Places to sit, to eat and drink, and so on and so forth. But there really wasn't much of it, given that the whole ceremony would be even shorter than usual due to the current circumstances discouraging time waste. In fact, Celestia was taking care of a lot of it, using her magic to create screens for the most distant ponies to be able to see, as well as hear what was being said. As such, when she turned to speak with Trixie, the whole area fell into a deep silence that was filled with anticipation. "Some would say that only things that are real have any value in this world." Celestia spoke in tones of recitation "They would be wrong. Hope, love, justice... All are things that can't be considered real in the traditional sense, but they are all powerful concepts that one should never underestimate." Her tone changed in a way that made it clear she was addressing Trixie "And you went even beyond that. You took the notion of Illusions, of the Unreal and made it your own. As one whose realm belongs to the illusory, you have become a ruler in your own right. "And so, as one who has achieved a mastery of the art of the Immaterial, I ask of you this: Are you willing to proceed forth in your dangerous path without giving up, using your power for the sake of Equestria?" "Yes." Trixie answered solemnly. "Then I proclaim you, Knight Trixie Lulamoon, the Ruler of the Unreal." There was an ovation so large it could have been heard while inside one's house in Canterlot. The field of the ceremony briefly became its own world as the crowd expressed their joy. It didn't last for long, but that was simply because there was still another part of the ceremony left, and nopony wanted to delay it any more than was necessary. Once the crowd quieted back down, Celestia turned to Twilight and spoke again: "The path of Chaos is not one that should be travelled lightly. It is a dangerous path that risks one's very mind. However, one who can persist in their path while also keeping to the side of Justice earns power that is worthy of the challenge. "And in the path of Chaos, you have found the will and the power to face back whatever challenge, to turn Evil's own power back at it. "As one who achieved the concept of retribution, I ask of you this: Are you willing to proceed forth in your just path without giving up, using your power for the sake of Equestria?" "Yes!" Twilight answered effusively. "Then I proclaim you, Knight Twilight Sparkle, the Chaotic Retribution." There was a single instant of silence after that, and then the world was once again buried in noise. It didn't seem like it would emerge any time soon. +0+ Some time later, the Knights were in a meeting with both Celestia and Luna, except for Spike and the Crusaders, who were in another mission at the time. The topic of the meeting was, of course, Tirek. "Can I presume that all of you are familiar with the intel on Tirek?" Celestia opened up the meeting. She received a chorus of affirmative answers, and nodded in response. "Though it's not like it was that helpful to read it, anyway." Rainbow Dash piped up "Since we know basically nothing about the types of magic he uses." Sunset shook her head "I understand what you mean, but it is still helpful to be aware of what we do know." She sighed "So just Magic Drain and Forsaken Magic." "Magic Drain is kinda like the destiny stealing magic we've seen before, except it works in a more primal way, stealing the very energy one uses to perform magic" Trixie spoke "Forsaken Magic is the real issue here." "Forsaken Magic: A style of magic unique to Tirek." Twilight recited from memory "It doesn't have any spells of its own, but it has the effect of increasing the power of any other magic the user knows in inverse proportion to the number of users of that same magic. As well as making the user aware of them." "And he learned all sorts of magic all around, and then powered it up by killing everyone else who knew it." Applejack spoke with a frown "He even extinguished his own species fer that." "And that is why we have no idea what he can do, barring the thing that he always does." Dash spoke again. "Indeed." Luna said, her voice showing slight disgust "Magic Drain was one of the spells he stole, and eventually he discovered that ponies were the best targets for it, which brings us to our whole history with him." "And trying to decypher his magic doesn't work, because he can use Forsaken Magic to track down anyone who's starting to figure him out and kill them." Twilight said, unhappily. "But didn't Knight Thistle Down learn his magic?" Pinkie asked, having remembered something "Couldn't she have made records of it so others could take a look when it became necessary?" "Sadly, no." Celestia replied "While she did beat him in detail, Tirek managed to lay a curse on her." "A curse?" Fluttershy asked, cringing. "It wasn't anything that severe." Celestia said "Essentially the curse stated 'Knight Thistle Down will be unable to transmit any information about Tirek's magic for as long as he stays in Tartarus'. And he made sure to remain there for a few generations, just to be sure." "But wait, there's something else weird about that." Rarity piped up "Didn't Knight Dark Realm become Tirek's disciple before she was a Knight? What about the things he taught her? Did he put a curse on her too?" "No." Luna replied simply "He actually didn't teach her any of his own magic, only broad magical concepts." "I see." Rarity said. There were a few seconds of silence as they waited to see if anypony had something else to contribute, then Celestia spoke: "Okay, now that we're all on the same page regarding Tirek, it is time to talk about actual plans for dealing with him." "I guess the simplest option would be the banishment spell?" Sunset proposed. "Yes, that is probably the most realistic option." Luna said "He has been sent to Tartarus so many times that even the simplest banishment spell would trap him there again." Then she sighed "But none of you are experts in banishment, so you'll need to render him unable to fight so he doesn't cancel the magic in someway." "So it would more or less be a straight up fight, huh?" Rainbow Dash noted, not looking very enthused. "Wait, I understand the idea that an expert in banishment could weave a spell Tirek couldn't counter, even though I imagine it would take quite a bit of effort and support." Rarity spoke "But what if we used magical formations, artefacts and other preparations to achieve the same effect?" There was an instant of silence as Luna cringed and looked at her sister. "It's been tried." Celestia said, her eyes seeming to look far away. -0- The azure pegasus took in the whole situation as she had been trained to do. The remnants of the formation were scattered all around, her companions were all lying down drained of magic, and Tirek stood before her, his power far beyond any other she had seen, even Discord. "Did you really think I wouldn't notice?" He spoke in a mocking tone. The azure pegasus grit her teeth, and then looked up at her enemy in defiance. She knew there was only one option left. "Final... Overdrive!" She shouted, and then a massive torrent of power erupted from her. Tirek's expression changed, but she didn't see it as she focused and launched herself at him. -0- It only took one minute and a half for everything to be over. Tirek's form became misty and faint and he was dragged back into Tartarus. The azure pegasus let herself fall to the ground. Looking around she could see that her companions were already stirring, and that Princess Celestia was approaching in flight. With a smile, she closed her eyes for the last time. -0- "Those kinds of external aids can be destroyed or disrupted much more easily than the magic of an actual Knight." Celestia spoke calmly "And we don't know enough about Tirek's capabilities and methods to be able to avoid such things." Silence covered the room for several seconds before Applejack broke it. "So if it's a simple spell, Ah guess all of us should learn the banishment magic ta be able to use it in case none of the others are available." "Yes." Luna said "I know that some of you can already use the spell, but for the others it will take only a few minutes to learn, at most." "But, 'using every method we have ta beat Tirek so that someone can banish him' seems like a very vague and unreliable plan." Applejack spoke again "Ah don't think you would have called us here just ta learn this magic and hear if we had any specific plans." She paused "So, what is the real reason we're here?" Trixie nodded, both in agreement and as praise to her apprentice for having noticed that. Celestia was the one who answered: "In fact, we had a lot of our researchers look into the whole information about Tirek, and cross-reference it with our magic knowledge and reports of your skills in order to figure out plans for dealing with him. "And there was one plan that was proposed that had a great sucess rate, one which none of the other plans came even close to." She paused "And we are going to prepare to use it, but..." "It will be our last resort in case everything else fails." Luna continued "It would be much better if the vague plan worked and we didn't have to use it, but Tirek is dangerous enough that we can't take that option off the table." "What is this plan?" Fluttershy asked. The two princesses told them. And the Knights were in agreement with the sisters. It would be much better if they didn't need to resort to that.