//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6 
// Story: Flurry Heart's Story: Tirek vs Scorpan 
// by AleximusPrime 
//------------------------------//

An hour had passed since Scorpan’s departure.  The storm clouds were gone, and the sun was already near the western horizon.  Everyone was still waiting for the king of the Midnight Kingdom to return with his brother, but some were getting very worried.  The townsfolk had come out of the gates of the castle town and waited around the entrance to see what would happen.  Many had already grown impatient and were starting to take bets on whether Tirek would be convinced or not.
Flurry waited next to Twilight.  She kept looking to the sky where Scorpan had disappeared.  She sighed and bowed her head.  Twilight put her wing around her.
“He’ll be back, Flurry,” she said.
“I wish I could help up there,” Flurry replied.
“You think Tirek will listen, Discord?” Sandbar asked.
“I don’t know,” Discord answered. “I sensed Scorpan using a very powerful spell earlier.  Could be a memory spell.  I hope they’re okay.  They haven’t had a chance to talk like this since Tirek was first sent to Tartarus.”
“Wait… guys, look!” Spike called as he pointed to a flying object in the sky.
“He’s coming back!” Ocellus cheered.
Everyone’s ears perked up at the sound of this news. Nearby villagers got up and looked to see a large winged object entering the atmosphere with a fireball in front of it. Scorpan was using his magic to keep the shield up to protect himself and Tirek from the reentry.  With his huge wings still flapping, he descended until his feet touched the ground.  Everyone waited for him to speak.  His face appeared to be more relaxed than when he was last seen.  He smiled and nodded his head.  The multitude before him instantly knew what this meant.
“I…I think it worked,” Flurry whispered to her aunt.
The villagers murmured to one another as Scorpan knelt down and opened his left hand in front of a nearby rock that had been overturned during the battle. Tirek could be seen wearing the Pendant of Restoration. The crowd let out a collective gasp. He stood for a moment and looked at everyone and then walked off of Scorpan’s fingers onto the rock.  He took several steps forward, just a few yards away from Twilight and Flurry.  He closed his eyes and sighed deeply.  Without saying a word, he cupped his hands around the pendant.  It glowed brightly and filled his body with a greenish aura. Several streams of magic emitted from his hands and touched many spots across the land.  The pendant’s magic was being put to use for the very first time.
Large craters and carvings in the ground began to fill in with the unearthed rocks and dirt around them.  Fallen trees stood up and returned to the holes where they were once rooted. Broken trees instantly came back together.  Rocks and other debris floated around until they were placed back where they belonged. The spire to the palace and some nearby mountains were mended.  Much of the crowed had already started cheering for what was happening.  Scorpan smiled warmly and then opened his mouth to return the magic.  Tons of colorful orbs flew to their rightful places.  The guards and other palace subjects that had their magic stolen were reenergized once the orbs flew back into them.  Their eyes opened and had regained their color.  On the balcony where Tirek was speaking earlier, the Absorption Stone had its magic returned.  The only magic that was not returned to anyone was the magic Tirek had stolen from Sendak.  A nearby guard picked it up to return it to the vault.
As Tirek had just finished using the pendant, he looked back to see Scorpan shrinking down to his regular size as all of the magic was being expelled.  One last orb flew out and went into Tirek.  Tirek felt a slight shock of electricity and stumbled a bit as he grew taller.  His muscles instantly bulked up, his white hair grew back, and his horns took on their fully-grown length.  He appeared as he did in his fourth form, but he stood as tall as his second form.  Tirek’s body had been set back to normal and had his base magic restored: the same magic he had before he first attacked Equestria and was defeated by Celestia and Luna.  It was as if he had never stolen any magic or went to Tartarus.





For a moment, the crowd went silent as Tirek examined his body. Scorpan sighed contently and open his eyes.  Tirek and Scorpan glanced at one another deeply.  Tears formed in both of their eyes.  They rushed forward to hug as the crowd erupted in applause.
“YES!  HE DID IT!” Flurry said as she pumped her hoof in the air.
Sandbar and Ocellus danced together, while Spike fainted into Discord’s arms.  Flurry walked over to Twilight and hugged her tightly.  Twilight already had tears rolling down her cheeks.
“I knew he could do it, Twilight!” Flurry exclaimed.
“All thanks to you, little one,” Twilight told her niece.
The crowed continued to cheer as Tirek and Scorpan kept hugging.  After they parted, Tirek wiped away his tears and then turned around to face Twilight. Twilight smiled and walked towards him, as he knelt down to speak to her.
“Princess, can you forgive me for everything I’ve done?” he asked.
“Of course I will,” Twilight said as she bowed politely.
“Oh, and Princess Flurry Heart,” Tirek said, turning to Flurry.
“Scorpan told me you found the pendant.  I guess all he and I needed was to talk.  Thank you.”
Flurry smiled and bowed.  Scorpan walked up behind Tirek and put his hand on his shoulder.
“It’s time, Brother,” he told him.
“You mean for Father and Mother?” Tirek asked.
“Yes.  There’s a cave not too far from here where they were petrified.”
“Good.  Take me to them.”



Later that night as the sun began to set, Scorpan took Tirek with him to the cave in the mountains where Vorak and Haydon’s statues resided.  Twilight, Flurry, Discord, Spike, Sandbar and Ocellus followed them close behind.  Inside the cave were pillars along the corridor and an altar near the back with two statues in the center.  Vorak was standing there with his eyes closed and his hands folded together.  Haydon had her right hand on her husband’s shoulder while her left hand was over her heart.  She too had her eyes closed.  Scorpan walked towards them and undid a spider web between his father’s antlers and brushed off some small leaves and dust that had gathered on top of the statues over the years.  He then stood still and took a deep breath.  He placed his hand on his mother’s shoulder and used his gargoyle magic to communicate with her.
“Mother, it’s time,” he told her through telepathy.
Tirek swallowed hard and watched as the stone around Haydon vanished.  She began to move as the stone disappeared from Vorak’s body.  They both appeared as he remembered, though Haydon’s hair was now greying and her face had more wrinkles.  Vorak’s beard had grown and he was no longer wearing his crown or robe since they had been passed on to Scorpan.  He now wore a smaller crest and a different robe that resembled the outfits some of the court members had.  They took a moment to allow their eyes to adjust to seeing again and then froze as soon as Tirek was in view.  Scorpan smiled and stepped aside to allow his brother to meet them.  Haydon put both her hands to her mouth and Vorak stared. He almost did not recognize his son at first.  They hadn’t seen him in several hundred years, but Vorak knew immediately who this was. Tirek was wearing the Pendant of Restoration and no longer appeared angry, but somber: a clear sign of his redemption.  Vorak walked forward slowly and put his hand against Tirek’s face.  They locked eyes for a moment until Tirek spoke.
“I’m sorry.”
Vorak was so overcome with joy; he could not find the words to say.  Tears began to stream down his face and his mouth shuddered.  Haydon watched with a smile on her face as father and son embraced one another.  After nearly one minute, Vorak let go and Tirek hugged his mother as she joined him in crying.  Scorpan joined in and the royal family was reunited at last.
Near the entrance, Twilight watched while holding Flurry.
“So what did you learn today, Flurry Heart?” she asked her niece.
Flurry thought for a moment and then looked to the royals as they talked amongst each other.  She found her answer and began to recite a friendship report.
“I learned that turning your back on your family can bring you to a very dark place.  Refusing to talk to and understand them can cause you to do foolish things, but if you admit to your wrongdoings and know that deep down they care about you, you will find happiness.  Even a villain like Tirek can change, and it’s all because he remembered that.”
As she finished, Scorpan turned around and smiled to Flurry. He bowed his head to her and thanked her while Flurry did the same.  She looked up to see her bow blink one more time and then finally fade out.  Her mission was complete.
Behind them, Spike started to cry.  Discord made a box of tissues appear and lent them to him. The blubbering dragon thanked him and blew his nose into one of the tissues as Ocellus and Sandbar giggled.
“I knew not everyone was beyond redemption,” Discord said.


	Epilogue


The next day, everyone returned to Ponyville.  News had already gotten out of Tirek’s reformation. Newspapers on the doorsteps had headlines that read “Lord Tirek Redeemed?!  Promises to ‘Fix’ Everything!”
“Look at this!” said a male unicorn as he held up the newspaper to one of his friends.
“Oh there’s no way that can be true!  A villain like Tirek?  You’ve got to be joking if you think he’s reformed!” said a female earth pony in disbelief.
“Wait…THERE HE IS!” shouted another pony as others started to run back into their homes.  Twilight was walking through the town with Tirek next to her, still wearing the pendant. He appeared rather timid and unsure of being in a place like Ponyville after everything he had done.
“This is going to take some time,” Tirek sighed.
“After what you plan to do today, I think they’ll start warming up to you,” Twilight assured him.  “Here we are.”
Twilight pointed to a random empty lot in the middle of Ponyville.  Off to the side was a plaque that had an image of the Golden Oaks Library tree that Tirek had destroyed during his battle with Twilight years ago.  Tirek walked out into the middle of the lot.
“Is this a good spot?” he asked.
“That’s perfect,” she answered.
“I had no idea I destroyed a tree that grew from one of our seeds.  Our palace grew from the same plant.”
“Scorpan told me that he gave Starswirl one of those seeds as a parting gift before leaving Equestria.  I guess that seed grew to be the tree that would later be known as Golden Oaks Library.”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to use the pendant to bring back the original tree?”
“That won’t be necessary.  My friends took the roots of that tree and made a chandelier out of it for me.  I think we’ll be fine with a new tree to replace it.”
“That makes sense.  I guess I won’t be able to fix every single thing with the pendant, but this is a start.”
Tirek knelt down on his horse legs and used his fingers to dig a spot in the ground.  He took out a small green seed from a satchel he was carrying and carefully placed it upright in the hole.  He then covered the hole and firmly pressed down.  After the seed was buried, he stepped back and concentrated his magic into an orb of green energy between his horns.
“I hope this works.  Grandfather Oltok taught me this spell long ago,” he said.
He put his hands together and concentrated his magic as the orb grew bigger.  The orb finally zapped the pile of dirt and beams of light shone from it.  The light faded out and a green plant started to grow out of the dirt while rumbling could be heard underneath the ground.  Twilight and Tirek stepped back a few yards.  The plant grew faster and faster as it branched out in several spots and grew leaves.  The base grew much thicker than a normal tree.  In just under a minute, a new tree had grown about the height of Golden Oak’s Library.  It was not the same exact shape of the old library, but it was just as big and had a hollow center just like the trees of the Midnight Kingdom that creatures could live inside of.  There was plenty of space inside and even some of the branches had hollow bases for extra room.  These trees were so strong; they could have some of their wood chiseled to make more room inside and it would not hurt them.  With the right preparation, this tree could have some carving done to give it an interior like the library.
Nearby ponies opened their windows and started to come outside to see what had just happened.  Tirek smiled and sighed contently.
“I hope it suffices,” he told Twilight.
“It looks beautiful, Tirek,” Twilight replied.
Flurry flew in and happily examined the tree.  She then flew down to where Spike had been watching on the other side of it.  Next to Spike were Pound, Pumpkin, Chip, Annie, and Stormy, all with their mouths hanging open and their eyes wide.  Flurry proudly landed next to Pound and closed his jaw.





“Yup.  That’s Tirek. Good as new,” she said.
“Did…did he just…” Chip replied while pointing his hoof.
“He just brought back the old library tree Mom told me about!” Pumpkin exclaimed.
“But that's not the same tree, is it?” Annie asked Flurry.
“It’s not the same tree, but it’ll be a great replacement for it,” Flurry answered.
“Flurry, what are we gonna do with it?” Pound asked. “We already have a new library.”
“Well, I dunno about you guys, but I think it would make a nice clubhouse.  What do you say, Stormy?”
“Oh man…that would be awesome!” Stormy said.


	THE END