Author's Notes:
Thanks to Deadinlight for beta-reading and helping me edit
Common Era Chapter Twenty-Four/MLP Season Four Chapter Four: Twilight’s Kingdom Part Two/Masao’s Fall
“…your magic which will be in the hooves of Twilight…”
“WHAT!? Why would we—” started Luna
“I am just telling you what has to happen” said Masao urgently and Celestia looked on thoughtfully before speaking up for the first time since Masao started talking.
“And then what happens?” it was this that quieted down the two other Alicorns.
“Then I will kill Tirek, or at least try to—”
- - -
“I came as quickly as I could! Is something wrong? Is it Tirek?” asked Twilight as she ran into the room Masao and the princesses standing there looking grim
- - - Flashback - - -
“We have to tell her!” said Cadence and Masao stood up and drew his revolver before slamming it to the table, the sudden slam causing it to click harmlessly without the hammer pulled back.
“No”
“But she—”
“This is a lesson she must learn, if I fail to defeat Tirek, she will need to ‘finish the episode’ as it were”
“STOP IT! This isn’t a show to be watched, this is OUR LIVES”
“Mi Amore Cadenza, calm yourself, Masao is correct, whether we like it or not, if he fails Twilight must learn more about the element she embodies”
- - - Flashback End - - -
“I'm afraid I put too much trust in Discord and the effect that friendship would have upon him.” said Celestia calmly, a soldier, who was as greyed out as they come after a run in with Tirek, managed to make it here and report to Celestia about Discord’s defection making Masao’s story ring all the truer.
“Discord has betrayed the ponies of Equestria and joined forces with Tirek.” commented Luna and Masao gave a silent sigh, that thankfully went unnoticed by Twilight.
“How could he do this?! I thought our friendship meant something to him! I thought he had changed.”
“He did, it did, and he has. There is a reason alcoholics don’t go to bars, too much temptation.” said Masao and Celestia flinched at the indirect admonishment.
“Tirek has stolen enough magic that he now has the strength to steal flight as well. Without Pegasi to control the weather, there will be no rain in Equestria. There is word he has gone after Earth ponies as well. Without their strength, they will not be able to tend the land.”
“Ponies will no longer be in control of their world. That power will belong solely to Tirek.”said Luna in response to her sister’s comment.
“There is no doubt that Tirek is after Alicorn magic. With Discord by his side, we will not be able to stop him from taking it.”
“Once it is in his possession, his power will know no bounds, and all hope will be lost.”
“But there is one solution. It is only by making this sacrifice that Equestria and the lands beyond it might be saved. We must rid ourselves of our magic before Tirek has the chance to steal it from us.” said Celestia and Twilight gasped in response. It was then that Luna spoke up once more.
“Tirek is set on possessing Alicorn magic. When he comes for us, we cannot have what he is looking for.”
“I'm more than willing to do my part and give up my magic.” Masao silently chuckled at Twilight’s eagerness to do whatever was necessary to protect Equestria, but Luna spoke again this time in slight admonishment for Twilight’s slip up on the basic rule about energy, it can not be destroyed.
“”You misunderstand. Our magic cannot just disappear into thin air. Somepony must keep it safe.”
“That somepony is you, Twilight” said Cadence, playing her part well even though she hated it.
- - -
Twilight had just left the castle, all three of the elder alicorns were exhausted which made Masao clench his teeth, there was nothing he could do to prevent what had already happened from happening in the first place, but that did not mean he could not be upset at his inability to protect his student.
“Ý̘͂́ͦͪͤ͗͜ou͚̰̞͇̣͙ͦ̃ ̙̫͓͢ç̅o̥̤̤͖̯̓̎̀ų̩̤̙ͧ̈̊̔ͩ̆l̖̦̯ͪ̕ḍ̣ͨ̿͂̊̌̐ ̢̹̣͔̓s̙̲͚̮̙͚͖ͣ͋͝a̷̬̹̖̩̪̘v̖͇̣̥̭͆̓̄ͩe̻̥̝̐ͧͣ͘ ̙̜̗ͦ́h̯̺ͤ͋̐̚ͅeͥ͊ͯͨ̾̎̚͝r͇̜̱͕͕ͥ̑̿ͣ͆̊͌ ̼̙̬̜͂̈̚ͅy̞̳̘̿ͨo̶̤͖̳͌̒̂͛͛u̮̳͙̳͖̬̖̓ ҉͉̥̬͓͙̖k̶̟̙̻͓ͨ͂n̬͓͉ͅo̬̫̻͔̟͕͂̉̋̅͐w̙̬̝͇ͪ͋̓̓,ͪ͋͛ ̰̩͇͈̎ͦ̑͒ͮ͞ȧ̧̻̱́l͉̗̰̞ͅl̹̲͓̗̲͚̆͐̃ ̮͇͙͔̦͈͂̆̆͌ͭͧ͋y̗̿̀̔͐ͮ̑o̮͔͐̏ͮ͊̀̚̕ù̻̪̖͑̀͗̎͗̓ ̞̺̉̏͗͊̔̄h͓̱̝̹̫̳̻̾ͦ̀͐̎͌̚͜ą̣͒ͫ̓̓̎v̺̬̦̤͈̩͠e̶̼̼̺͍̘͕̓̽͊̉̃͗ ̡̫̟̱̯̬̭̔͋̀t̶̻̭̩͚̲͙̬͑̄̽ͥô̥̟̫̥͕̜͌ ̖͉̭̺͎̰͞d̞̜̰̔̃ͣ̿̚ȯ̳̈́̅̐̉ͯ̚͠ ͕̫͍̩̟̹̏̕î͉͇̺̹̭̌ͭ͛̿ͮ̄̕s͎̬̭̻̼ͧͤ̎͂͐ ̠̘̜̫̩̮f̷̳͔̯̪͓͚͖ͪ̅̅̔ͪ̑̿a̬̍ͥͩ͟l̫͇͋ͯ̐ͬ̚l̠̱͕̮̥̿̊͜”
Masao shook his head to clear it of the stray thought, he couldn’t afford to fail, not now.
- - -
Masao stood in the shadows, it was the plan that they had come up with, Sharp Sword already was being cared for by the few ponies that had managed to get away from Tirek, though it was not looking good. Even after Tirek had absorbed her magic, she insisted on fighting him still, having not listened to neither Luna nor Masao when they told her to stay hidden, now, no matter if she survived she would be crippled for the rest of her life. Something that enraged Masao all the more.
“T͉͐̅͐̎̈́̋̚͠h̡͉̊͒ͯ̈́ͨͣa̠̪̿̅͌͗͊̈̚t̶͇̺̘̞̅̈ͪ͋̅̊̂’͇̗͖̪̯́ͩ̾̐s̢̅ͬ̎̈ ̫͙͓̩͙̬̌́̇̏ͬ̐i̞̩͂̇̈͌̑̚t̎͐̃̅̊ͣͯ,̡̜̮̹͙̾ͤ͌ ͙ͫ̾ͤ̃̉̕M͉̣͈͕̭̼̠̆ͤ͛a̙̦̠̙̝̼̥͂ͩ͗s̗̥̫͎ͥ̊ͯ̈a̯̭̝̋ͬͨ̕o̖̭̖ͨ̿̄͡,̳ͯͭ͒̄ ͬ̊c̢̥͓̋̿ǫ́ͪm̴͚̥̳̣̅̉̍̍͛̑e̹͕̙͞ ̧͉̬̟̘͙̞̗̾̊̃ͧ̔̚c̵ͪ̅̅͒̚l̻̖͉̹͖̱͉ͣ̏ͧ͗̍̂̌ö̲͕̤͕̪́ͭ̓š̸̹̼̦͛e̪̼͍͚̙̭̋̊r̬̬̠ ͉̺̱̜̲̮̌̔́̂̍t̼̯̂͂͆͒ọ̷̪̙͎̝̤̈̽̾̂̎ͭͅ ̢͕͔ͫ͛͆ͧ̈́̽m̧̟̲͉̜̙̐̃ͤͥ͊̽́e͌ͯ̄ͮͫ̑͗҉͙̹̞̯,̮̼̲̮̬̦̗̊̽ͭ͗ ̈́͗͆̒͑ͦ̽҉̩̘l̹͍̙̱̬͔eͥ͑ͥt̴̤̹̤̰̭͓̞̓̌̆ ̬̠̫̫͇̻̘̿̅̐̽̊ͬ́m̳̗̺̣͙̹ͫ̿̎̆̑ͮ͒ͅe̕ ͙̤̲̭͒͗̑͘i̖͋ͤ̕n̬̭̪̹”
Tirek slammed the doors open, breaking them off the hinges, Masao drew his sword quietly and readied himself.
“What have you done?!” asked the centaur after trying and failing to steal the princesses’ magic, “Where is your magic?!” yelled the angry centaur and that was Masao’s que as he walked out into the open.
“Somewhere where you can not get it, you have failed Tirek, surrender, and return the magic you have stolen”
“Now I can’t have that now can I?” asked Discord as he floated in and snapped his fingers…
- - -
“Tirek may still be a threat. I need you all to stay here and encourage everypony to remain inside.” said Twilight as she tried to convince them to stay put while she kept them safe by hiding away from them…
- - -
Masao stood there grinning as nothing happened.
“Now, did you really think you could mess with a creature that is both harmonious and chaotic?” at that Masao launched himself at Tirek, flat out ignoring Discord’s presence as he took aim and fired his revolver while in the air, the centaur attempted to put Luna in the way when Masao’s eyes glowed green as he forced the bullet to phase through Luna and then hit Tirek in the chest, but due to the centaur’s size the damage was negligible.
“Is that all you got?” asked the Centaur and Masao swung his sword as he got into range of the centaur. the sword managed to cut into Tirek’s flesh making the centaur cry out as he grabbed Masao by the sword and threw him back into a pillar nearly snapping the human’s back in two. Getting up groaning Masao barely had a chance to block Tirek as the centaur charged him, slamming him back into the pillar. “Where is that boastful spirit now, creature!” Tirek shouted in Masao’s face and Masao grimaced as he attempted to push the centaur off of him.
“By Darkness done, by Light undone, by Darkness undone, by Light done, Yin and Yang, Yang and Yin. Push and pull. Pull and push, GRAVITY!” Masao struggled to get out, and suddenly the Centaur was pulled away from the human by something... Masao crashed to the ground coughing before looking up and glared at the Centaur, “Darkness and light. Light and darkness. Water and Fire, Fire and water. BURN!” said Masao and a light blue and black fire flew at Tirek slamming into the centaur. “I am not finished yet, Tirek, I am not going to let you harm another soul!”
Just then a pony ran into the room stopping short seeing the battle, but when he saw Masao fighting he snuck around the fight and whispered into Princess Luna’s ear causing the mare to cry out in shock and emotional pain as she fought to stand up and move to Masao. The cry had gotten both Tirek’s and Masao’s attentions, the former grabbing the earth pony and held him in the air.
“Why don’t you tell us exactly why you have intruded on my victory?” asked Tirek as he held the pony in a magical aura.
“Th-the Lunar C-captain!”
“What? What about Sharp Sword?” asked Masao suddenly paying full attention to the earth pony.
“My love, Sh-Sharp Sword is dead!” cried Luna and the room’s tempature fell sharply and Masao’s very demeanor changed.
“So… The one mare with whom I have loved through two lifetimes is dead, is that it?” asked Masao calmly, and Luna nodded fearfully, something told her this was not going to be good…
- - -
The wall outside the throne room exploded outwards with a burst of black, outlined by green, aura covering Tirek as he was slammed through wall after wall.
“It would seem that you are stronger than you appear” said Tirek as he stood up seemingly unfazed even with several holes in his chest from where Masao had let loose on the magic he now had access to, the whites of his now green, and the irises of his eyes were now red.
“You are not worth the air you breath, Tirek, and you will suffer for your part in killing Sharp Sword” said Masao the dark magic that he used now coursing through him at a frantic pace.
“Your magic will make a nice addition to my collection, creature.” said Tirek and Masao sneered at the centaur.
“You are a disgusting fusion of man and goat, you are nothing to me!” yelled Masao before he was suddenly slammed against the ceiling and floor so many times it began to crack and shatter under the strain until he was unconscious. While the human was unconscious, the centaur attempted to absorb the human’s magic but found it to be woven into his very being and so opened a portal to Tartarus and threw the four immortals through.
“Give my regards to Cerberus.”