//------------------------------// // Prelude // Story: Scorpan the Betrayer // by Captain Hurricane //------------------------------// “To friendship.” “To friendship.” Scorpan sipped slowly at the extravagant and luxuriously priced alcoholic beverage. Twilight did likewise, enveloping her glass in a magenta aura before tilting it back, savoring the sweet, pleasant burn of the high proof cider. Outside, the Midnight River’s waters rushed swiftly through the narrow chasm separating the castle from the rest of Minova. The noble chimera cocked his head toward the window, as if listening to the river’s dull roar would ease some long forgotten burdens. Though his body was relaxed, his mind was restless. Something was eating at the chimera’s mind. Scorpan had to know. “Before I begin, tell me how you and your friends subdued my brother.” Twilight spoke briefly as Scorpan listened. Beginning with Cerberus’ escape from Tartarus, she detailed the events of how Tirek came to power, glossing over the particulars of how he was defeated. The princess of friendship emphasized how Tirek used her friends as bait and destroyed the Golden Oaks Library, her home in Ponyville for the last three years. Occasionally Twilight's eyes darted toward the painting of Kletos and the medallion that he wore; she wasn’t quite sure how Scorpan might react when she told him what happened to it. “I’ve talked a lot about my troubles, though. I think I've become much better for the experience; like they say, you can't forge a horseshoe without a little fire. But, really, I’m here to hear from you.” Princess Twilight levitated an inked quill, and motioned for the king to begin telling his story. --------------- “Let us pass by the early years of my youth; they are unimportant, and to be honest, my memories of that time are…sparse. I think the best place to start would be the passing of the king, my father. Time had been kind to my father, who was older than I could truly comprehend. I think he felt the time was right, and with my brother and I as heirs to his kingdom, he believed he could leave it in our capable paws. He summoned Tirek and I into his chambers, and beckoned the both of us to come closer. I stopped near the dying chimera’s bed, where he struggled to maintain his breathing and his consciousness. My father grabbed me, his sharpened claws digging into my shoulder as I leaned over him. He struggled for breath, his chest slightly rising with each labored gasp. I didn’t know where this strength was coming from…Father had been bedridden for weeks. As I looked into his eyes, a fire burned there…a flame I had not seen in all the days of my youth. Tirek stood on the other side of the bed from me, and shrugged as he saw rivulets of blood trickling down my pierced shoulder. With his left claw, my father tugged at his royal pendant, snapping the clasps that held the golden symbol securely around his neck. He pulled me close, and released his death grip on my shoulder only to grab my wrist. “Take it.” Using the right claw this time, he slowly moved his pendant towards my grappled limb, and repeated himself, even louder than previously. “Take it!” I snatched the necklace from his claws, holding the amulet in my paw and feeling the strong magic imbued within. “Scorpan…this necklace will strike fear into the hearts of your enemies. It will make you a fierce warrior and leader. Guard it well.” As Kletos the Mighty released me, he rolled over and faced my brother. It was Tirek’s turn to feel my father’s daggered claws grip him tightly. “Tirek…my son…my flesh and blood…my castle and kingdom shall be yours when I have journeyed to the Realm Beyond. With you as…” Racked with a coughing fit, my father forced himself to continue. His faces pale and scales dim, he continued after what felt like forever. “With you as king, and your brother as general of your armies, the nations of Equus will bow before you both in time. Now leave us, both of you.” Tirek and I paused to look at each other, unsure of our father’s intentions. If we didn’t understand our father’s meaning then, we truly did after three monstrous heads roared in unison. “LEAVE US!” Kletos the Mighty passed to the Realm Beyond that evening. As was the custom, the minotaurs sung their funeral dirge for three days and nights. Many ambassadors and heads of state came to share in the time of mourning from both near and far. I can recall a few of their names and faces…Ambassador Sombra from the Crystal Empire, Syzzyth of the Flameclaw Clan, and the Diarchy of Equestria. Several months after our father’s death, Tirek came to me with his plans and schemes, laying them out in clear, concise terms that I couldn’t say no to. He asked if I ever heard of the Midnight Satchel. That was the key, he said, to defending our kingdom with little to no bloodshed. As Minova’s general, I couldn’t argue with the merits my brother proposed about this strange device that could keep the borders of our kingdom safe into perpetuity. For six laborious years, we hunted and searched for the mysterious artifact that my brother insisted was more than myth. Hundreds of minotaurs joined him on the expedition, and I was tasked with keeping them all in line and under control. We were on the verge of defeat until we began investigating a lead that sent us westward. The mountains to the west of here, known as the Spikepeak Range, were ancient gathering halls for the old dragon clans. Following the information we gleaned from an ancient copper scroll, we eventually found the Midnight Satchel in a Spikepeak cavern that only recently had fallen into disuse, as evidenced by the dragon hatchling which I brought back home after it started following me around like a lost child. After we brought the Midnight Satchel back from its resting place deep underground, Tirek changed. At first, I dismissed his odd behavior. When he started carrying around that purple bag everywhere he went, I could no longer ignore how my brother was acting. I found that the satchel was a powerful item forged in secret by a dark cabal of leonin wizards whose ultimate goal was to unleash Discord, the god of Chaos, upon Equus and strike terror into the hearts of their enemies. They had succeeded, but their success ultimately proved to be their downfall. Discord punished the cabal for their temerity, turning them all into twisted abominations. One tribe’s features became birdlike, giving rise to the griffons, our neighbors to the east. One group became more bestial and feral; their descendants are the manticore. And of course, my lineage comes from the final group, the chimera, whose form most closely matches that of our progenitor, the great and feared Discord himself. Believing the Midnight Satchel harmless, the powers that be left it alone and it fell into obscurity for millennia. Until Tirek started using it. I had always been close to my brother. We shared thoughts, talked politics, even had the same taste in liquor and spirits. So when my brother insisted I kneel before him, and address him as “my master”, I knew he was no longer the one I had grown up with, but rather a creature of darkness, with a soul twisted and misshapen by the very artifact that I helped him find. So in a way, I am responsible for my brother’s downfall. I bear responsibility for the madness and lust for power bestowed by that infernal purple bag. It’s my fault Tirek became the monster that besieged the kingdom of Equestria, and it’s my fault he destroyed your library. Please forgive me, Twilight.