//------------------------------//
// Canterlot 
// Story: Better Lairs and Landscaping 
// by Titanium Dragon 
//------------------------------//

	 Lord Tirek sat on a parapet of stone, staring out across the countryside of Equestria. "Now this is more like it," he growled, grinning down at the land far below.

"Enjoying the view?"

Lord Tirek chuckled. "One of the perks of power."

"I never took you for the type who enjoyed such things. Enslaving all the little ponies just so you can sit out here and watch the sun set."

"Is that a hint of mockery I detect, Discord?"

"Oh, no, not at all!" Discord smiled as he snaked through the air, floating overhead. "We all have our hobbies."

"Indeed we do." He rose to his hooves, lifting an arm to point towards the horizon, grinning at the powerful muscles rippling underneath the skin. "And I think the first thing I shall do when I claim what belongs to me is to remove that blight."

Discord blinked, floating around behind him to sight along his arm. "The Everfree Forest?"

Lord Tirek laughed. "Of course! It is unsightly and breaks up the horizon." Grinning, he concentrated, his power flowing out from between his horns, a shimmering golden image forming in front of them. "Once the forest is gone, then I can set the ponies to work, planting my garden. As you can see, I have carefully chosen a tasteful mixture of flowers to be planted; from this distance, it will be a glorious sea of colors, red and white and gold. There will be lanes, here and here, lined by trees, and a great gazebo, here, so that I can read outside in the sun." He snorted. "It is unfortunate ponies lack vision; they have made blue roses, but not a single black flower. I will have to set them to work on that as well."

"Really? Isn't that a bit... boring?"

"Boring?" Lord Tirek dismissed the image with a snap of his fingers, the golden light shattering into a thousand shards. "Did you have any better ideas?"

"Well, I was thinking that those ponies are dreadfully boring in their color choices. I think it would look nice in plaid; maybe teal and burgundy. I hear they're in this year."

"Teal and burgundy? Have you lost your mind?" He waved his hand out at the landscape, his fingers outstretched. "Those colors don't complement each other at all! Not to mention that the lines would be unsightly. You spent that much time with the ponies without learning aesthetics?"

"Well, you don't have to get snappy over it." Discord snapped his fingers, vanishing and reappearing behind him with his arms crossed. "For someone who looks down on those ponies so much, you certainly seem to enjoy their gardens." He laughed. "They're alright, I suppose, for someone who hasn't spent the last thousand years in one. I don't know how Celestia stands it; I would have changed things long ago. But she always was boring." He leaned back. "I was just hoping you would understand."

Lord Tirek narrowed his eyes. "Where did you say this Ponyville was?"

"Oh-ho, that is the best part!" Discord sprung up into the air and with a snap of his claws, a small, folded pamphlet appearing in his hand as he held it up in front of the village off in the distance, the outline of the village and hills matching the paper, the words 'Welcome to Ponyville' emblazoned over the image.

Lord Tirek smiled. "We don't have far to go, then, friend."

Discord giggled. "Ooh, I like that."

"And you're sure she'll be there?"

"Oh, yes," Discord said, smirking and rolling his fingers together. "She would do anything for her friends."

"Meet me downstairs," Lord Tirek said. "We'll leave once I've taken care of a few things."

"Oh goodie. Just enough time to give Shining Armor a pink mane. I've always felt it looked so dull in blue." With a snap of his fingers, he was gone.

Lord Tirek scoffed. "It's worse than I thought. He has no sense of color coordination at all." He looked back down to his magazine, frowning. "Plaid?" He shook his head.

Maybe it was time to end their partnership. With Discord's power, combined with the alicorns'...

Lord Tirek pulled out a marker, and began to draw.