The Vagaries of Fate

by Sparky Brony


Chapter 1

"Together," Twilight looks to her friends, "I think we have to do this together."

The six ponies turn the six keys--as one. The box responds with a rainbow of light, rays of magic shooting out to the Tree of Harmony, sending power to the individual elements embedded within. Within seconds, the power overloads, bathing all six ponies in its aura. Twilight Sparkle feels great strength fill her body. She peers over to her friends; all of them are being affected in the same manner. Her mane grows, new symbols appearing on her body, her cutie mark returns. She senses her friends going through the same transformation. The magic coruscates through the six, forming a globe of power. Twilight smiles, now knowing what to do.

Up, from the cave where the Tree of Harmony resides, the sphere encompassing the friends arises to confront the supercharged Tirek. He stumbles back in shock, then sends a furious beam of energy at the assembled ponies. The force from the overgrown centaur is shrugged off, the beam’s magic absorbed by their gleaming aura. His strength is nothing when compared to the power of their friendship.

"How is this possible?" he bellows, "You have no magic."

"You're wrong, Tirek," Twilight replies, her determination reverberating through her voice. "I may have given you my alicorn magic, but I carry within me the most powerful magic of all." With the last syllable still echoing off the surrounding hills, threads of their combined magic reach out, striking the centaur. The threads combine into a rainbow, stripping Tirek of his stolen magic. A rift opens before the centaur, one that looks into the depths of Tartarus itself. The would-be despot is deposited into a cage of his own, to be watched over by Cerberus in the depths of hell.

The magic of all the ponies of Equestria flows within their bodies. The six do what is necessary; dividing their task, they streak across the four corners of Equestria. They restore the magic to the Earth ponies, to the Pegasi, and to the Unicorns. Finally, they break the shackles created by Tirek in Tartarus, freeing the trapped princesses. In moments, they have returned to the cave containing the Tree of Harmony; where they witness the box break free of the tree itself, crashing up through the ceiling of the cave, arcing over the Everfree Forest, and ending up in Ponyville. The box sinks into the ground, causing the earth to shake. A massive crystal castle erupts forth. The ponies wind up there, not knowing that a small shard of Tirek was left behind within the forest itself. The power fades from their bodies, but is ready to be called upon again at need.

***A few days later***

My head throbs. My body aches. Oh dear, everything hurts. I put a hand to my head, what happened? I feel the nubs that are my horns, I feel my face, and run my hands down my body, feeling all four of my legs. I'm uninjured, I think. I get to my hooves, and look around. Where am I? All I see are trees, as far as I can see in every direction. I am finally able to walk, but my body is so weak. However did I wind up here?

I close my eyes, trying to search my memory, but nothing comes. No matter how hard I concentrate, I am only able to get small glimpses, some colors. That's all there is. I walk on, stumbling a bit climbing over the root of a large tree. I look around, what is that ahead? A few more stumbling steps. I squint, trying to see more clearly. It's a hut, someone's home. Maybe they can help.

Several minutes of stumbling and fumbling, and I'm able to get close to the door. My body hurts so much. My head is pounding with pain. It takes all the strength I have left, but I'm finally able to slap a hand on the door; the pain flares, consuming me, and I fall into the darkness.

***

I regain consciousness slowly. I'm lying on something comfortable, and I can feel something lying on top of me. I feel it with a hand; it's soft, a blanket. Somehow, I seem to be okay. What is going on?

My mouth is dry, but I try to speak anyway, "Hello?" I'm barely able to croak.

I hear hoofsteps on the wooden floor. A cup is placed to my lips, water pours down my throat. I keep listening, I hear others whispering. Concentrating, I can make out what they're saying.

"We defeated him so recently."

"I know, but this is a child."

"He was sent to Tartarus, we all saw it happen."

"She's the same species as him. Could she be related?"

"I don't know, but the timing of her appearance is suspicious; as is her arriving at Zecora's home, here in the Everfree. It's all very coincidental."

The cup is empty, I'm starting to feel a bit better. I'm able to open my mouth, "Who are they talking about?" I whisper.

My eyes peel slowly open. In front of me is a pony. She--at least I think it's a she--has a yellow face, a pink mane, and big, beautiful, sea-blue eyes. I'm able to smile slightly at her. My head still hurts, but my body is feeling a bit stronger. I shift my hooves under the blanket, relishing its warmth.

"Don't you worry there, sweetie. You look a bit like someone we had a very hard time with recently, but you can't be him. Do you remember anything?"

I put a hand to my head, shaking it hard, "No, all I remember is colors; a rainbow."

The pony's breathing stops for a long second. When it resumes, it's a lot faster, "A rainbow, you say?"

I nod, then look at the yellow pony, "That scared you," I blurt out.

She hides behind her mane, and whispers "Yes."

Another pony comes forward, peering at me intently, "Does the name Tirek mean anything to you?"

Searching through what few memories I have, I shake my head. The pony steps forward, shoving her face right into mine, "Do you know who Tirek is?"

The yellow pony puts a hoof on the other pony's withers, "Twilight, it's obvious she doesn't know Tirek."

The now named Twilight scowls at the yellow pony, then at me. Scorn is evident on her face, "It's just all too convenient. We only defeated Tirek a matter of days ago, and she appears here. Just look at her. She has the same coloring as him, she's a centaur like he was." She looks at the other ponies in the room, "I don't trust her."

The yellow pony moves off the bed and over to Twilight, "Twilight, she's just a child. She isn't Tirek."

A white pony, with a long indigo mane, moves forward, "Twilight, darling, look at her. Like Fluttershy pointed out, she's a child. Even with all of his power stripped away, Tirek didn't look like a child. He looked wizened, he looked old." She shudders at the memory, then smiles at me, "She is young, and she apparently has no memories of what happened to her."

Twilight huffs a bit as she looks at the white pony, "Rarity, how can you be taking her side?" A bit of plaintiveness enters her voice.

Rarity comes closer, and inspects me. I feel as though this pony is looking into my very soul. In time, she turns to her friend, "Twilight, I won't pretend I know all that you went through. We were merely captives, while you had to give everything you had to fight that monster. But, that…" her forehoof is raised, pointed at me, "that centaur is not Tirek."

"Now hold on a minute, Rarity," another pony interject. Just how many ponies does this small hut hold? The new speaker has an orange coat, a blonde mane, and some kind of hat on her head. She puts her hooves on the bed, looking at me severely, "This may not be Tirek, but Tirek had himself some pretty strong magic of his own." She scowls at Rarity, "This creature could easily be a danger to all of us." I risk a glance at Twilight, she nods her head slightly. Fluttershy tenses up. She climbs back onto the bed, and cradles my form.

Twilight finally turns to glare at me, "Applejack is right, can she do what he can? Can she take a pony's magic?" She looks at the pony protecting me, "Fluttershy, can she steal my magic? Can she steal yours? Tirek could, and did. Your cutie mark faded from your flank, mine disappeared as well. They were all gone, until we used the strength of our friendship to bring our magic back. We can't trust her, we can't trust any magic-stealer."

A blue pegasus with a shocking multicolored mane steps forward, her wings spread, "Twilight, if this child can steal our magic, all we have to do is turn those keys again, we will be able to kick her plot all the way back to Tartarus."

Twilight scoffs, "What if it doesn't work, Rainbow?" She turns, stalking slowly in my direction, her wings extending in anger, "What if this one can do worse than Tirek did?"

Fluttershy moves between Twilight and me, "Twilight, you need to go outside and cool down! Look at her," she points at me, "she's scared! She has no idea what you are talking about." I am indeed scared. I can feel my entire body trembling, as the purple pony looks like she wants to hurt me, and I have no idea why. I don't know who this Tirek is, though I have to admit my memory is so fragmented and broken that I can't remember anything at all.

Twilight looks at me very hard, then whirls away, "Fine, but I still think she's connected." She gallops through the door in a huff.

I look at the yellow pegasus, "Who is Tirek?"

Fluttershy smiles gently, then comes up and cradles me. She's quite a bit bigger than I am, "A very, very bad centaur. He stole our magic, and we were barely able to stop him. He and Twilight fought; it was a terribly nasty fight."

I watch Rarity and Applejack step outside, following Twilight. I turn back to Fluttershy, cocking my head to the side, "How bad?"

She shudders, "I was in a cage while they fought. But I could see the sky light up. I could hear the massive explosions. I saw the horrible mushroom clouds from their fight. He was able to convince a dear friend of ours to help him. To betray us. Then Tirek betrayed him, in turn."

"Why would he do that?"

"So he could steal pony magic."

"Why?"

"He wanted the magic, it made him more powerful."

"Why?"

She hugs me tightly, "Oh sweetie, you don't need to worry about why. He was defeated. We sent him to Tartarus, and he's still there."

I furrow my brow, "If he's still there, then why is Twilight so angry?"

"He hurt a lot of ponies. Twilight is worried about them getting hurt again. She's a princess, all ponies are her responsibility."

I feel tears starting to leak down my cheeks, "But I wouldn't steal magic. I don't even know how to."

She nuzzles me, "I know sweetie, I know."

I can hear arguing outside, voices are raised. I slip away from Fluttershy, and evade her attempt to grab me and bring me close to her. I scramble off the bed and run to the door. Sticking my head out, I see Twilight and Rarity talking to one another, both faces are flushed. I run as fast as I'm able to, grabbing onto one of the purple pony's forelegs.

"Twilight, I don’t know what's going on, but I'm not Tirek. Please, you have to believe me."

She looks down at me in shock, then back at Fluttershy, framed in the doorway of the shack, then back down at me, "I don't know if I can trust you."

"I can't steal magic, I don't know how. I don't want to!" I wail as I push my face into the soft fur of her chest, sobs wracking my body.

Twilight's voice is suddenly soft, "What is your name little one?"

I pull back and look at her through the veil of my tears, "I don't know. I don't remember anything."

To my great surprise, I'm nuzzled by the purple pony, "I believe you."

I sniffle, "Can you help me?"

She looks at Rarity, I glance back at the white pony, she's smiling tenderly at me. I look back at Twilight, there is a softening around her eyes. I know her answer. I hug her tightly.

"We will try, little one."