//------------------------------// // The Accident // Story: The Origins of Lord Tirek // by WriteAboutHorses //------------------------------// "Tirek, could you please pass me that vial over there?" Star Swirl the Bearded called to his assistant, Tirek. "Right away, sir." Tirek squeaked as he levitated said vial over to his boss. Star Swirl was working on an extremely important potion. As most legends you find may say, Tirek is known to be a centaur. A centaur who towers over anything and anypony that challenges him. A centaur with enough magical powers to demolish Canterlot Mountain with a simple flash of his horns. At this point in time, this is not the case. Tirek was once a kind, friendly, somewhat timid young unicorn and assistant to the legendary Star Swirl the Bearded. "Thank you, Tirek. Honestly, I have no clue what I'd do without you." The elderly wizard thanked his assistant. "It's my pleasure to help and serve you, sir." Tirek replied respectfully. "Tell me, Tirek. How is that brother of yours, what's his name again? Scorpian?" Star Swirl asked the younger unicorn while still concentrating on his concoction. "Scorpan, sir." Tirek corrected Star Swirl. "Ah yes, Scorpan. My memory isn't as it used to be, my boy. How is he doing these days anyway? I mustn't have seen the lad since you two were but foals." "He's doing just fine, sir." Tirek began. "He's working on becoming a master magician, though his magic still needs work." "I'm sure I could give him some advice some day." Star Swirl said as he poured another potion into his mixture. "That's all I should need you for today, Tirek. Feel free to head home when you're ready." "It's been a pleasure working with you, sir." Tirek nodded his head respectfully as he picked up his saddlebag. "Oh, Tirek. I've told you before, we're close. There's no need to go around calling me 'sir' every time you address me. Star Swirl is fine." The wizard smiled. "Of course, Star Swirl. I'll be off now." Tirek said as he turned to the door and left the wizard's tower. "Scorpan? I'm home!" Tirek cried as he entered the small house shared by himself and his younger brother, Scorpan in Everfree City. "Welcome home, brother." Scorpan waved to his brother without looking up from his spell book. The two unicorn twins were near identical. They both had charcoal black coats, sparkling white manes and tails, only Scorpan's were more tidy. They both had bright yellow eyes too. The biggest difference besides their manes was their cutie marks. Scorpan's cutie mark depicted a white scorpian while Tirek was a quill and potion vial. Tirek brushed his messy mane away from his eyes as he sat himself down beside his brother. "Star Swirl was asking about you today. I told him about how you're studying magic." Tirek told Scorpan. "Really?" Scorpan looked up from his book. "What did he say?" "He said he'd be happy to give you some advice on magic, since I told him it could use some work." Tirek laughed. "Oh come on!" Scorpan playfully punched his brother in the foreleg. "I only turned 3 frogs into oranges this week! I'm getting better." "Mmmhmm." Tirek nodded sarcastically as he looked through his brother's spellbook. Tirek's horn began to glow brighter as a scroll was produced beside it with the seal of Star Swirl the Bearded on the ribbon that wrapped it. "A letter from Star Swirl? You only just got home." Scorpan said. "What does it say?" Tirek opened the letter and began reading. Tirek, I can't seem to find the spellbook we were using earlier. I'm sure you were the least one to use it. Would you mind checking your saddlebags to see if you have it? If so, please return it to me at once, the book is important -Starswirl Tirek checked his saddlebag and produced the very book he was looking for. "I better give this to Star Swirl." Tirek said. "Hey can I come? I've been wanting to meet Star Swirl for a while." Scorpan asked. "Of course, Scorp. Come on." The two unicorns took off out of the house and towards the castle, where Star Swirl's castle sat. "Star Swirl, I have the book." Tirek opened the door into the room Star Swirl was working on his potion. "Oh, Tirek, thank goodness you found it." Star Swirl took the book in his magical grasp and brought it over to himself. "If it's not too much to ask, would you like to help me test the potion?" "Sure." Tirek agreed. "What does it do again?" "It turns a pony's magic supply into a bottomless pit. All unicorns have a different capacity of magic, but one sip of this potion and you can use as much as you want, it even allows you to take magic from other ponies." The wizard explained. "Take magic?" Scorpan asked. "Wouldn't that be wrong?" "Not if the pony who's magic you're taking gives you their consent." Star Swirl replied. "This is a powerful potion, if it ever did fall into the wrong hooves, who knows what catastrophic outcome it could lead to." "I'm willing to be a test subject." Tirek offered. "I've always wanted to go over my limits." "If you're sure." Star Swirl said. He opened the spell book he had been brought and found the page he was looking for. "This spell will activate the potion's effects. A little strange if you ask me, but it's what the recipe called for." Tirek took the potion in his magical grasp and took a few sips out of it. Star Swirl began chanting the gibberish spell the book had given him. As he turned the page to continue the spell, Tirek began to feel a little funny. "...na kubadilisha katika kiumbe kutisha na mwili juu ya mtu!" Star Swirl finished the spell and observed his student. Tirek's eyes began to glow as a black orb of light appeared around his horn. The orb got bigger until it had completely enveloped the unicorn. "This shouldn't be happening." Star Swirl said as he looked back at the spell. As he turned the page back he came to a horrible realization. He had missed a page! Two of them were stuck together and Star Swirl had just released the unpredictable force of two powerful spells on his apprentice. "Tirek!" Scorpan cried as he tried to pull his brother out of the orb, but nothing was working. As the dark orb disappeared, Scorpan and Star Swirl gasped at what stood before them. Tirek was now not just a pony, but his torso had become that of a humanoid. He was a centaur! "Scorpan, Star Swirl? What are you looking at?" Tirek's voice was raspy and weak. He didn't look too good either. His pony body had become skinny and frail, his upper body was alike to that of an extremely elderly monkey. He had a grey beard, a nose ring and two small stumps at each side of his head, obviously they were supposed to be horns. "Umm..." Scorpan levitated a mirror over to his brother. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"