//------------------------------// // New Perspective - Sole Chapter // Story: Princess Twilight vs. Tirek // by AppleCider120 //------------------------------// Twilight let out a grunt as she slammed into the dirt path in front of her home; Tirek's massive blast went much faster than she had anticipated, and she found herself being propelled by the shockwave. She had tried to escape with Owliscious before it made contact, but the second she made it back out the front, the fireball had reached the home. This sent out a shaking explosion, the shock wave. of which threw the mare to the ground as she tried to keep hold of her avian friend. "Owliscious," she said, a bit frantically, "are you alright?" To her relief, the owl was just fine and flew off on its own. Twilight hoped it was somewhere reasonable, as she hoped to find the little one after this all blew over. As she considered this, she took a glance back to her home, only to be greeted by a disemboweled tree; books, burning scrolls, and some of her prized possessions were now engulfed in smoke as the cored tree was gradually burning. "My... My library," she said, glaring at the destruction. Twilight had known anger. Twilight had felt the rage boiling up inside to a bursting point many times in her past; none more clear in her mind than her pent-up frustration over "The Doozy". She had discovered something about herself that day, and it was that her anger had a cap; but, not only a cap, it had a ceiling. And her brain had stories to spare. This anger was starting to come back, though less in frustration. This monstrous son-of-goat wench had just destroyed her home; a princess of Equestria was now homeless due to this imbecile! And all because of his quest for their enslavement, she was going to let him feel her anger. Twilight let out an almost un-pony-like growl, starting to stand back up. "You overgrown abomination," she said lowly, stamping the ground. The dirt path beneath her had minor cracks forming with each bout of pressure she put down to lift herself to a standing position. The alicorn's gaze turned to Tirek, who stood quite smugly off in the distance. To her surprise, and begrudgingly, to his credit, he was accurate. He didn't just launch a massive ball to destroy the village, to wipe the town off the face of the map. He was intent on her alone, and he even had the stage set outside of the town. "Hmph," she grunted, speaking to herself. "Guess you're not totally unreasonable. But, who are you, to come against our wonderful land, and just destroy the lives of all those surrounding you? She decided she would entertain him, then. Charging up her magic, Twilight vanished from her spot, leaving four symmetrical dents in the ground from where she had risen. The vanishing mare got Tirek's attention, for a split second; he now did not have any line of sight on the bright purple mass that he wanted. That distraction was brief, as another bright flash just above his line of sight drew his attention. Twilight was there, staring at the massive beast, her horn glowing as she reared her head back, charging what seemed to be a massive magic blast. "Tirek!" she shouted. "You want my magic, come get it, you bucking lamb-chop!" Tirek threw a strong shield around himself as the blast came swiftly. Princess Twilight's aim was true, as it rammed into the barrier, starting to push the mass back. Tirek wanted to watch, but the beam was like staring into the sun; so, he resigned to simply trying to hold back the blast. To a bit of his surprise, the new Alicorn's magic did not stop after a few seconds; instead, the bean emanating from the ball on her horn started to grow larger, actually pushing his barrier back. "What hay are they feeding you?" Tirek said, finally getting time to look up, only to see a wall of mostly white around his barrier. BUCK! Twilight said, to herself. Our magic should not be NEAR the same level! Why is this not breaking through!? Then her eyes widened as she realized it; she had been a bit too late in confronting him. Tirek, at this moment, had nearly all the magic of Equestria in his big red hands. The realization that she was now practically fighting against the citizens of Equestria-- in a pretty literal sense-- made her even more peeved. She pushed a bit more into her beam, which now grew enough to completely envelop Tirek's barrier, and throw it at full force. As he felt his barrier picking up speed, Tirek did the only reasonable thing he could do and temporarily displaced himself as the end of the beam flew past where he once stood. He ducked down as it passed by, as the powerful beam was boring half a cylinder in the ground beneath him, and he would need to use every inch at the bottom to avoid the blast. As he did, he let out a light chuckle. Perhaps this will be a bit more fun, than the other princesses, Tirek said, smirking. But, wait... They got rid of their magic! Tirek stayed on this train of thought, losing it once the beam stopped, and a quake-causing explosion erupted behind him. He looked behind from his prone position as the mushroom cloud from the massive blast was rising into the air. He knew his eyes were wide as saucers, but less from the power of the literal shortest alicorn; but, rather in the realization of where the other alicorns' magic had gone. Tirek turned back to the princess, standing with a smug grin on his muzzle. "Oh, Princess Twilight," he said, as the alicorn landed some distance away; there was a deadly glare in her eyes, and her face was contorted from anger. "Now, I truly see what your fellow alicorns have done. Giving you all their magic, just to rival the power that their own nation harbored." "And you're going to feel every ounce as I pound your unsightly goat skull into the bucking dirt, Tirek," Twilight said, unwavering, as some stones began to rise around her, without the influence of any magic. "It will be fun to have you try," he said, staring back at her. "But, Princess, I am not very well known for my deception-- unless I have a right-hand man do it for me. So, you are facing off against the magic of all the other Equestrians; even the Spirit of Chaos wasn't able to escape my grasp!" Twilight's eyes widened a bit, getting a snort from Tirek; with barely even a visible step, the massive centaur was now standing in front of her. With a jolt of surprise, she stepped back as he tried again to drain her of her magic. In retaliation, the princess fired several bolts at Tirek, who remained unaffected. She stomped the ground again in frustration, causing a rumble beneath her as the ground began to splinter. "What is this? Why can't I hit you!" she said, staring up at the giant. "Oh, Princess," Tirek said, in a sort of mocking, soothing tone, "you are hitting me, so don't downplay your abilities. But, at this point, Twilight Sparkle, there is nothing you can do to hurt me. And this next part might surprise you." Before she could question what he meant, she felt herself being lifted into the air; she started flailing her legs before her body was spun in a wide circle. At the end of the first spin, her body was sent careening over a large expanse of land and slammed back-first into a large mountain in the distance. Simply out of anger, she had her shield propped up in case a follow-up would commence from his previous attack; which was a good idea. As the rocks, dust, and snow faded from her view, the centaur could be seen swiftly closing the distance between them, and his head was down. She braced herself quickly, as his head slammed into her, and she felt the solid stone give way beneath the impact, sending the combatants flying back into the mountain. It did not stop at just a few feet like she thought it would; instead, his massive weight sent the two through the large mountain, and with still enough force for them to continue soaring through the air behind it. And, as he said, this part did surprise her. It didn't hurt, at all; and she was swiftly able to recover. Teleporting above the moving mass, she fired a beam into his back, sending him to the ground. Twilight hovered in her position, unable to see clearly where he had gone. The ground below seemed untouched, and his body was gone. She took this moment of reprieve to land, scanning quickly. "Where did you go!?" she shouted. The answer was instant, as a bright beam fired up from the ground in front of her, starting to turn in a circular motion. In less than 2 seconds, the mare found the ground beneath raising, and being forcefully thrown a great distance. Fighting the wind from the travel, and the weight of the buck-ball field-sized patch of ground proved difficult; but, her new strength enabled her to finally push away, and fly above the flying island, sending it crashing behind her. She landed on the ground, once more, staring in shock. "What was that!?" Tirek chuckled softly. "Don't you see, Princess? I can tell you are a smart mare, but I'll give you a very blunt hint. You can't hurt me, and I can't seem to hurt you. Our little exchange there should have crushed you down to the size of a piece of parchment paper, at least. Yet, you shrugged it off, and were even able to evade a multi-ton rock that was pressing against you." Twilight nodded, thinking to herself. "So, would this technically be an impasse?" Tirek smirked. "There you go; but, the difference between this, and a usual impasse, is that I am not going to back down. You're not going to move aside and let me go. So, Princess Twilight; how will you prevail, this time? Judging by the stained glass panels in Canterlot, you have fought many battles, and overcome many obstacles." Twilight took this reprieve to think to herself. It was true; she had spearheaded many bouts of resistance against opposing monsters and forces. But, there was always a constant. Her literal crutch, that she needed to defeat these odds and oddities. She had them. "So," Tirek continued. "How will you overcome this, and avenge everypony? Your friends, with their magic no longer their own; your precious library, to whatever level of significance that for you. How will you avenge your brother? And how, oh how, will you avenge those prissy princesses in Tartarus." Twilight's eyes snapped wide open, pupils dilating to little pricks. "What did you just say?" Tirek grinned, realizing he had the princess now. "What, your brother? Or do you care so little about your own family that the thought of me sealing those alicorns in Tartarus got your attention?" At this moment, Princess Twilight's expression went from almost neutral, to pure hatred in a blink. As she stared at the centaur, the ground around them began to shake slightly rocks and debris rising around her. "Shining Armor," she started, voice low, but still audible to the centaur, "Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadence, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Spike." Tirek looked on, only curious as to why the princess was chanting the names of her friends; maybe she thought she could conjure up some extra magic. But, before he could ponder too long, the shaking grew slightly more intense, and something began emitting from the princess. Is that smoke? he asked himself. As if to answer his question, the dark substances began to thicken, and the smell-- indeed, that of smoke-- began to fill the air. He stepped back as the ground beneath the alicorn broke further, and she let out a scream; the ground around her began to flicker with light before a massive fireball engulfed her. "What, in the name of Tartarus, are you doing?" he shouted, staring in surprise at this surge of energy. In another answer to what was likely a rhetorical question, the ball of fire turned into a spire, firing into the sky. It stayed this way for a few seconds before the bottom fell out, and the massive column of fire dissipated into smoke. Tirek could only stare in disbelief at what stood in front of him now. The purple alicorn had traded her coat for something more akin to that of a tanned hide, while her tri-colored mane was a literal torch. And her eyes were the most stark change; from their pretty purple to a burning red. Tirek could not believe what he was seeing. What was important, is that she did not waver in her expression. She was angry, and there did not seem to be anything that would change that. Tirek, unaware that she wasn't quite in the mood to talk, anymore, could not get out his next question; he was met with a hoof to the jaw before he could even open his muzzle, sending him to the ground in an instant. What was that!? he said to himself. What kind of speed!? She was easily twenty yards or more away, and there was no way to counter it! As he finished this thought, he was returning to his feet, when another shot landed in his side, sending him back into the mountain he had sent her through. Huh, turnabout's fair pl-- Another derailed train of thought, and another series of blows; Twilight was now sending Tirek back into the mountain, nearly five yards with subsequent mule-kicks. It didn't seem like much, but with her speed, he was sent back through, a bigger hole, in under five seconds. Tirek was not able to keep up with this sudden burst in speed; he was not able to count how many hits she was landing, nor was he reliably able to study it enough to try and formulate a counter for her attacks. Twilight took this moment of shock to go underneath him when he came out the other side of the mountain; she sent him skyward with another kick and followed him upward. She finished her combo by firing another blast similar to the one she opened with; sending him through the mountain, once again, and to the ground where he had been previously standing. Another ground rocking explosion, with a matching mushroom cloud, followed the flurry of attacks; and it was enough to cause the remaining structural integrity of the mountain-- which now had three Tirek-sized holes-- to fail, collapsing in around the areas that the centaur had torn through. Tirek lay there for a moment, just staring up at the princess. So, this is the power of an alicorn, he said to himself. But, I feel like she's forgetting something, even with this speed boost. Without really caring about his current position, Twilight came down with one more flurry of attacks; she stole his previous attack, teleporting herself underneath the ground. She carved a massive hole around him, and sent him up with a solid kick; as he reached the apex of his artificial flight, she met him at the top with another shot. This time, instead of a kick, Twilight gave a spin, and slammed him with her flaming tail, sending the centaur through the flying island, and down to the ground below. With this new vantage point, Twilight continued her spinning flurry; each shot of her tail sending a segment of the island firing down at Tirek like a meteor. The centaur had to practice his speed, trying his best to roll out of the way, successfully. After about thirteen stones had hit the ground, Twilight decided to try and finish it off, bolting down towards the rising goat. Tirek did take notice of one thing; she was slowing down a bit. A bit of cathartic relief, he said, as a grin started to come over his face. As she came within reach, he grabbed her with his magic, and threw her a firm distance away from him, catching the princess by surprise. But pointless, in the end, he finished. Twilight's impact caused a minor cloud of dust, and a few bits of rubble to cover her on the ground. As before, it did not hurt the princess, but she was no longer in her previous form; smoke signaling the end of her surprising development. While she wanted to try and figure this out, she knew she didn't have time to rest. She fired back up out of the ground, as Tirek slammed his hands down on the land, causing spires of stone to rise in sync, trying to throw the princess's flight pattern off. To his annoyance, her speed at casting spells was unaffected, as she would vaporize the stone pylons when they became visible. At this moment, he started to charge up his massive blast, and was on the verge of firing as Twilight made it past the last stone spire; but her speed was still there, and she charged her magic, firing it mere milliseconds after Tirek shot his towards her. Both parties figured their blast would win, but neither could see the after-effect; instead of one ball overpowering the other, it began to swirl into a singular mass, growing in size until it ruptured, sending both combatants to the ground. The dust and smoke from the ensuing explosion-- this time lacking a mushroom cloud-- revealed the two parties both inside some rubble, though neither seemed exhausted, or in pain. Tirek growled, slamming his fist over one stone beside him, shattering it. I have all the power in Equestria, how is their magic more powerful than that? It's four verses likely millions! He sighed, getting up, as Twilight once more was up, and ready to go. He still had one trick up his sleeve, and he had saved it for a moment like this. Before Twilight could get up to her terminal velocity, and charge another attack, Tirek spoke out. "ENOUGH!" he shouted, shaking the surrounding land, and causing the battle to come to a screeching halt.