He is here, brat.
To my increasing pool of nervousness, and to support Desim's claim, the castle began to shake as some sort of beast approached the throne rooms double doors.
I glanced over to the three princesses only to see them assume rebellious stances in response. This served to let me know in full that the thing that has arrived is the Tirek in question. Butterflies began to roam every crevice of my stomach, and my knees felt slightly weak.
But it was just a minor hindrance, I had to fight. I had to protect them. My gaze was intent on the double doors as they smashed open to reveal my foe.
He definitely did not fall short when it came to intimidating appearances, his body breaming with muscles that seemed to be as hard as steel. He had a deadly set of tall, thick horns, its edges glistening with a profound sharpness. My eyes then widened a tiny bit at the size of his biceps, one solid punch seeming like it could impale me.
His torso was set ontop of a lower body which resembled that of an equine, his musculature legs bulging with hardened flesh. I also noticed how tough his skin seemed to be as it was stretched by his bulging anotomy.
And his eyes also glowed a piercing yellow, just like the glow of a swamp panther as it slithers towards its prey, lusting to feel its jaws sink into into the soft flesh of a boars windpipe.. oddly enough, I was feeling a strange affiliation to the boar.
Butterflies again. However, this was still a simple minor hindrance, its not like warriors were entitled to fear their opponents.. yea. That would be taboo..
My eyes remained fixated on the macho monstrosity as it continued to rattle the castle under its mighty stomps. A shiver then going down my back as it fails to notice me and stomps right past my sitting body.
It seemed to have been too deeply into a focused trance to care about its surroundings, only focusing on the princesses in front of him. Good. I had the element of surprise. Now i just need to.. huh?
I attempted to get up, but it was to no avail for my legs would not listen to me. They wobbled and trembled with the effort I applied to them but the stimulation of movement was weakly subsided.
I stared at my legs in deep panicked confusion. Was it possible that the enemy had already iniated some sort of attack to the sensory nerves below my waist?
Impossible. No matter what sorcery or magic he had, he couldn't immobilize me by simply walking past me. That just wouldn't be fair!
I frantically continued to try and move my legs, a deep turmoil seeming to grip my consciousness as I watched Tirek get closer and closer to the princesses.
Move.. Move.. Move dammit!!
My knees rapidly shook and wobbled as I emitted more and more effort into bending them to my will, sweat also beggining to shroud my exposed torso for reasons which I simply couldn't comprehend.
Soon, my entire body was trembling with some sort of feeling, a feeling that gripped me as if I was a weak doll being flailed around by the jaws of a beardog.. I seemed to have been immobilized by some sort of magic spell! I needed to find a way to break out of it immediatl-
Cease this farce brat. I can feel it radiating off your essence like a forest fire.. Hmm yes, its been so long since I was last bathed in this sweet aroma. Hehe, oh how I love the thrilling and savory delight that is emitted from the tendrils of deep, putrid fear.
I immediately froze upon hearing his statement. My mouth slightly opened as my breath began to shake, the slimy feeling of sweat droplets sliding down my back also becoming much more vivid to me.
I slowly brought my palms up to my face. I did not have to inspect them for long due to the gravity in which they were shaking, my eyes widening at the irregular sight, my breath falling deeper and deeper into disarray. I wanted to speak, I wanted to scold my palms even though I knew full well that they weren't at fault.
But.. my lips were also tranquilized with the influence of this strange sensation.
Fear..? Impossible. I've felt fear before, and this horrible feeling that gripped my mind could not compare to it. Not even close, this sensation must have been something completely different.
In my long reign of existence, I have learned that fear itself is more of a category of many exotic feelings rather than a single feeling. The type of fear which you are currently experiencing is one of my favorites, the fear of unanimous failure. The fear that you will fail and lose everything.
W-what?
As soon as you felt his presence, your instincts wasted no time in conveying to you the difference in power. You know that you cannot win, and because of that you unconsciously chose to sit back and let the princesses meet their end. A smart choice for a fool like you, I must say.
N-no! Thats not.. I.. I said I was going to protect them!
I would not object if you ultimately decide on suicide by fighting him. But if I am to be freed of you I'd rather your death be long and painful instead of quick and painless.
But I can take him! Firebending isn't magic! It should have some sort of effect on him since all his power is magic based. If I just-
Whether or not your ability is magic is not the issue here. If you truly call yourself a warrior you should know that what it comes down to is offense against defense. You cannot penetrate his hard leather skin with your puny level of flames. Tirek is a completely different lifeform from you, his species has evolved way beyond what a silly human could in terms of naturalborne power.
T-then how am I supposed to beat him? I have to fight and win!
You have two options. One is to run with your tail between your legs, effectively making your little villainous act a pitiful excuse for a strategy and leaving those weakling alicorns to perish. Or you could fight, making you valiant and heroic, but you will meet the ultimate dead end to your insignificant existence, death. Even a fool like you should know which choice will better preserve you and your idiotic ideals, although I would not mind to consequently be rid of you if you decide to keep playing the utter fool.
I.. I will fight..
And here I was under the impression that humans were highly intellectual creatures. Comical.
Shut up! I.. have to!
Because you promised yourself? Don't make me laugh, all that a promise amounts to is an obscure assurance of groundless expectations. It is only a means to try and manipulate the future in accordance to your transparent ideals.
W-why do you even care? You'd jump at the chance to get rid of me right?
Gladly, but my very essence cannot stand the idiotic contradictions and loopholes to these repulsing philosophies of yours. In the end, the reason behind kindness and good will always tends to root back to the self.
The.. self?
Yes, the reason you help others is to satisfy yourself. Whenever you make someone else happy, you are struck by a sense of self satisfaction which drives you to do it again. You want to be happy about yourself and who you are, so you constantly seek this satisfaction which stems from good deeds. You are ultimately benefitting yourself, are you not?
Benefitting.. myself?
That's right, benifitting yourself. No matter which angle in which you view it, the force that drives all living creatures to survive is self benefit. Thus, what is the aim in putting an end to yourself to satisfy yourself? This meaningless contradiction will only end the ideal self which you are striving so gallantly to protect. As a living creature, your first priority has always been yourself, even when you have helped others. Never has it been for any other reason but your own ideal gain. Stop this foolishness, you know what you must do to keep on protecting the self that belongs to you. There is only one way to benefit at this moment, and that is a simple thing. You must retreat, so that you'll live to satisfy yourself another day. And to the least, you will be alive to mourn the princesses, it is the kindest act you can give to them.
I struggled.. I struggled with every miniscule pixel of effort I could muster to forcibly contemplate something, anything that could disprove what he told me.
His words resounded through my head as if they were the final verdict of a supreme relayer of primordial law. It made sense, I could find no flaw in his judgement. He was thousands upon thousands of years wiser than me, he must have been speaking undisputed fact. It seems he nailed it all right in the money.
I never thought about it until now.. but I really do help others to satisfy myself. And I was simply human, theres no way I could take on that thing! It was hopeless, I had to get out of there! Its not like the princesses will think worst of me for it.. they shouldn't expect anything from their enemy.
Relief surged through my body as the realization hit me.
T-thats right! They already think of me as a villain.. surely they dont have the right to complain if I left! Celestia was practically screaming for me to leave anyway, haha!
I was already sneaking towards the exit, my mind refusing to think any further in shameful fear that my mental quote could be debunked.
My eyes viewed the double doors hungrily, as if they were food and I hadn't eaten in weeks. My pace quickened and my tippy toes slightly trembled in grim anticipation of being spotted.
With an overly cautious final leap, I finally found myself upon reach level to the doors.
My arm quickly extended out to open it as more and more relief expanded throughout my stiff body, my hand soon encasing the glittering doorknob.
(the music for this scene. You guys know the drill, dont play it too loud and either stop when you see the signal or let it play if there is no signal)
I began to discreetly turn the knob. My action however, was brought to a sudden halt as a piercing voice echoed through the throne room.
"WHERE IS YOUR MAGIC!!!" echoed the dominant broad voice of Tirek. I slowly inched my gaze behind me, my eyes widening as my blurry vision made out what seemed to be Celestia. Her slender neck being in the firm grasp of Tireks mighty hands. She tried her best to keep a defiant gaze but the pain she was in was obvious to any who could see her facial muscles contort.
Images of my times in the castle flashed through my mind, the good times, the bad times. Times when i've had the most fun and joy, times when i've been the most angry.. before I knew it I was already dashing in her direction.
I was not thinking, I was not feeling, I was simply acting.
I engulfed both my hands in flames and burst forward to close the distance between me and the white alicorn that desperately needed my help. I then came to a flaming halt at Tirek's side, my action startling both him and the princesses.
"HRRRNGG!!" I grunted as I put all my might into an outburst of flames using both my hands, all directed towards the dumbfounded Tirek. The force of the jetting fire violently recoiled me back, my body smashing into the the throne room walls. However, my foe received the full brunt of the force, his body smashing through straight through the wall, gravity beggining to pull him down the arduous length of the castles height.
"AAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaah," he yelled on his trip to meet the hard ground down below.
I struggled to breathe as I unburied myself out of the wall and walked over to the gaping hole which Tirek created. My eyes were devoid of emotion when they made contact with Celestia's eyes, her face having a clear expression of worried shock. I soon diverted my gaze upon reaching the hole and prepared to jump after him.
"KURAMA, DONT GO!" Yelled Luna, but her plea was ignored as I leaped out without thinking.
Wind rushed past my face, my cape being brought upwards by the speed in which I fell. My eyes locked on a spacious crater which was happily occupied by Tirek, my body's descent picking up even more speed.
Once I was a considerable way down, I jetted flames downward with nothing less than every fiber of my strength, the dangerously potent fire smashing into Tirek while the recoil cushioned my landing.
Smoke arose in quantities from the crater as I landed a few meters away, the shock of falling from the castle being silenced by my technique.
Hmm, by force of will you managed to shut off your emotions to escape my brainwashing and now you're acting based on your instincts.. which genuinely tell you to protect the princesses. Utterly foolish.. so foolish that it actually proved me wrong. You really are the biggest fool i've ever met, brat.
I continued to gaze into the smoking crater in high alert. I knew full well that that was not enough to defeat him, but while he was down I could brainstorm a way to put him down for good.
Should I use flare blitz..? No, that is too exhausting and wont do the job. Should I chip away at his defenses with numerous consecutive attacks? No, that would make evasion from any possible counter attacks very difficult. Should I lure him away from the castle? No, his main goal is the princesses, so he'll catch on quick if he was being lured away..
I nodded in acknowledgement as I realized that I could not conceive a competent plan to combat my foe. Since that was the case, I was going to have to simply fight and look for opportunities or weaknesses.
I took to my desert tiger stance as I continued to intently ogle the smoking crater. Soon, I witnessed as two piercing yellow orbs rose up and began to shine brightly through the smoke.
The ground once again began to shake as Tirek proceeded to stomp out of the blackened crater, his expression being one of profound rage as his gleaming eyes locked onto me.
"IM GOING TO PULVERIZE YOU!!" he roared as he began to charge his vermillion colored attack.
(Ya know the drill)
I began to run towards Canterlot as he charged his attack. However, he kept his established aim locked onto me while I ran around in an effort to make him miss. Then, with a powerful step, Tirek unleashed his attack in my direction.
I jetted flames out of my palms to swiftly evade it, but to my surprise the beam detonated into a massive explosion that violently flung me towards a tree. I shifted myself in midair to blast fire towards the tree, my efforts allowing me to kick through the charred lumber as to not smash into it.
My body then hit the ground with a loud thud, air being beaten out of my lungs. While I tried desperately to breathe, that was when I was fully certain.. that Tirek was by far the strongest opponent I have ever faced.. that his power was simply too incredible.
I struggled to get up as I witnessed the huge crater that his colossal explosion produced. This was going to be my final day in the realm of the living.. but I wasn't going down without a fight.
I burst into a flurry of rapid steps towards Tirek who stared intently in my direction. He began to charge another attack but was interrupted by surprise as I punched forward and unleashed a fireball in his direction.
He put up some sort of vermillion shield up against my attack. The fireball splashed onto his shield which must have also blocked his line of sight. I took this opportunity to run towards him as quickly as I could, my fist rushing to be engulfed in a flare blitz.
As the shield dissipated I saw that Tirek was already charging his fatal beam attack. My eyes widened, the proximity between us making it impossible to dodge.
I gushed flames out with my left hand to jet myself towards him faster and with gritted teeth, I punched forward into his hardened belly and detonated my attack. The explosive force threw my opponents aim off, the beam landing several meters from me.
Another colossal explosion ensued and the force flailed me dozens of yards towards the castle as my flare blitz expanded into a ball of heat, Tireks towering body being engulfed.
I smashed into the the palace, a crunching sound emanating from my left wrist which took the brunt of the impact.
"Aagh!!" I gasped as I cupped my wrist into my right hand, agonizing amounts of pain gushing from the shattered area. I breathed rapidly as sweat poured down my body.
I then grunted and stood to my two feet while letting my pained left hand slump to my side. The battle was not over yet.. I had to ignore it to the best of my abilities.
I then glanced at the ball of heat which was already dissipating, my foe being revealed from the heated grips of my attack. There was not a single scratch or ounce of pain visible on him except for a trickle of white smoke which arose from his body.
He laughed loudly as he dusted his shoulders.
"Is that it?" he taunted while charging yet another monstrous beam.
I forcibly summoned unrestricted amounts of fire onto my right hand, then screamed with effort as I jetted flames for an imminent burst of speed. Thanks to this, I managed to draw the beam away from the castle as well as evade most of its explosive force.
However, the remaining force threw my sense of balance off and I was back to flailing on the ground again, sharp pain coming in quantities from not only my wrist, but now the rest of my body as well.
From the ground, I gazed over at Tirek who was zooming towards me at alarming speeds. My body quickly jolted in surprise and the forced reflex managed to maneuver my body out of Tireks way.
He punched down at the ground where I used to be, the absurd power of his physical attack completely decimating the hard area as I struggled to jump back and gain some distance.
I then involuntarily took to one knee while panting profusely.
Tirek was already mad dashing in my direction, the intimidating sight forcing me to persevere onto my two feet despite the pain. My foe leaped high into the air and swooped down with the assistance of gravity.
I jumped out of the way and landed clumsily on my right shoulder, Tireks incoming mass smashing deeply into the hard rock, a whiplash of compressed air from his attack smashing into me.
"Gah!!" I screamed as my body rattled and my eardrums ached with tremendous pain. Blood escaped my left ear and both my nostrils, my wobbling legs struggling hard to lift my disoriented body.
Luckily, via crazed effort I succeeded in standing and unleashing a wave of flames towards Tirek's eyes, all in one motion. The high temperature flames smashed into his open eye sockets.
He yelled angrily in pain as he cupped both his smoking sockets into his palms, grunting and swinging at the air in mild distress. My eyes widened as the opportunity presented itself to me. With the pinnacle of my flaming might, I unleashed a furious flurry of fire combos towards my blinded opponent.
"WRAAAAH!!" I yelled as I punched and kicked and kicked and punched, over and over and over as fast as I could. Every single one of my attacks unleashing raging fire onto the ball of black smoke which was Tirek.
Then, with a sturdy fist, I prolonged a single stream of fire towards my opponent, my eyes clentching shut in a pained battle of fatigue against willpower. The stream only intensified as I surged all my being into this one heated attack.
Soon, my right arm limped to my side, my body also immediately slumping over. I gasped for air, my entire body feeling numb with exhaustion. I gazed at the black pillar of smoke before me, a crimson, yet severely burnt arm extending from it. With a simple swatting motion, Tirek dispersed the smoke with a gust of wind, his fists soon clentching tightly.
"GRRRAAAAAAAAARHHH!!!" he roared as he began to envelope his singed arm in a mysterious vermillion aura. My mouth slightly opened, my eyes also widening a great length whilst his wound healed almost instantaneously.
Once he administered the same treatment to his blackened eyes, he grabbed me with his magical essense. Then with completely absurd force, he hurled me towards the castle once again.
I frantically attempted to jet fire in the direction in which I was flying with a hundred and twenty percent of effort to cushion my landing, Despite my hard attempt, my body still smashed through several pillars, cuts and gashes making themselves at home all over my anotomy.
(Pause music)
My left elbow was bent a weird direction and blood surged down my body in large quantities, my body taking a rest on a pile of rubble. The remaining pillars also seemed to rattle with the volume of my voice as I shrieked in agony.
The tremendous pain originating from nothing short of my entire anotomy itself, my chest heaving up and down rapidly.
My eyesight blurred and my eyes became extremely heavy, my wits currently being in a crazed battle against mind shattering pain. Cramps also began to riddle my body which only added to the extremely arduous ordeal.
Without a doubt, I was in the highest agony of my life.
Hmm that really hurts. Hehe, yes. This was the pain that you deserved, now I can finally be freed of you in good conscious.
With those words, my mind once again allowed for my flow of emotions to run as they please, a strong distress being the first one to grip my mind.
Amidst a pain that was simply maddening was my fear of death, yet this fear did not consume me as it did before. I managed to glare defiantly at Tirek who was now standing before me, a vermillion power surging from in between his horns.
"Any last words, creature!?" he pressured, an aura of dominance being vibrantly emitted from his triumphant form over my defeated and broken self.
I released a deep breath and pushed my fear aside even if momentarily, a mocking smile then slightly spreading across my face.
"Is that all..?" I hoarsely choked.
Rage was plastered all over Tirek's hideous face as he began to take careful aim at my head, his vermillion aura gleaming venemously over me.
I decided not to close my eyes, but to face death head on. I was tired of fearing and tired of running.. I was also growing weary of this pain, I just wanted to be silenced from it once and for all.
But.. I atleast hoped that the princesses managed to get away.. and they better appreciate this too. The great Kurama did not give up his life for nothing after all.
I weakly gazed into the blinding vermillion light, the attack now being fully charged and ready to put an end to my suffering.
"CEASE THIS!!" abruptly interrupted a very familiar thundering voice, however.
In between me and Tirek swiftly landed Celestia, Luna and Cadence landing at her sides. Their faces raged with burning determination as they glared towards my harbinger of pain.
"Cease this senseless bloodbath, Tirek!" barked the white alicorn.
"Out of my way!" threatened the angered menace. ".. or do you want to be disintegrated along with it?" he venemously suggested.
Celestia, Luna, and Cadence did not even flinch as his threat sunk in, their resolve standing firm. Tirek and Celestia locked gazes and stared at each other intensely, her determination being conveyed to him in full. He frowned as it was made evident that they were not moving, but grinned devilishly after an idea seemed to pop into his head.
"If thats the case, I propose a trade.." he began.
".. in exchange for your magic I will not only spare the creature, but all of you as well." he finished.
"I'm afraid that is no longer possible, Tirek. When we learned of your incoming arrival, we took immediate action in discarding our magic so that it would never fall into your evil grasp." defiantly stated Celestia.
Tirek's facial muscles hardened at her reply.
"Discard your magic so that I cannot steal it from you? That was your plan?" he sneered.
The three alicorns stood their ground as Tirek proceeded to laugh in their faces, his bad breath reaching even me who couldn't do much but look on.
"Well no matter. The four of you will atleast be useful in sending my solemn regards to Cerberus!" he hissed while charging a beam of mysterious aura.
".. but do not fret, for all of Equestria will be in my.. capable hands." finished Tirek.
He shot the beam into the air and opened a portal, rocky ruins resembling an altar being clearly visible from the other side. Tirek then levitated us off the ground and roughly banished us into the portal.
Me and the princesses flowed through the space and landed onto the altar, the portal soon closing behind us which left us completely stranded.
I layed there panting quietly, blood and sweat pouring down my body quickly. Pain still making itself largely known upon my beaten self, my left elbow still bent awkwardly.
What is this place.. so full of negative energy.. was this "Tartarus"? More importantly, what were we supposed to do now that we were stranded here in this place?
Just.. what were we supposed to do..? I gritted my teeth as the aftershock of my complete and utter failure rained predominantly over my consciousness.
"Curses...."