Tirek's Reform

by Harratot33

Chapter 6 - The Dark Elements

"WHERE HAVE THOSE BOUNTY HUNTERS OF MINE GOTTEN TO?!" Stellas Spatium did not know the meaning of the word 'patience'; he had never known it in all his existence, as a matter of fact.

"Mighty leader," The earth pony Sweetie Drops trotted up to the him. "I am a former secret agent, and if my investigation skills are anything to go on, I'd reckon the princess and her companions have returned to Equestria." Spatium leaned into the biege pony slightly.

"So soon?" He sounded doubtful.

"Yes," Sweetie confirmed. "With their knowledge and expertise, they've most likely already come up with some silly plan to defeat you. And besides...have you forgotten about the Crystal Empire?"

"I went there to invade and re-balance it as I see fit, just as I did to everywhere else," Spatium responded proudly. "But when I got there I discovered a forcefield covering the entirety of the empire that was, try as I might, seemingly unpenitratable...is that even a word?"

"I have no right to give you advice..." Sweetie had to choose her words very, very carefully; everypony in the Everfree Forest had heard about Spatium's beyond brutal treatment of Mayor Mare. "But I believe the group are there." And with that, she trotted away as swiftly and anxiously as a member of the Wonderbolts performing a flight routine for the first time.

"The Crystal Empire, eh?" Spatium smiled and whispered to himself: "You haven't seen the last of Stellas Spatium just yet!"

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"Spike?" Rarity called out. "Be a dear and fetch me a book on Crystal Empire dress patterns." The duplet had gone to the library, just as Twilight had suggested.

"Coming right up," Spike called back enthusiastically.

"Yes, yes, don't rush—this place is simply ginormous! You'll have to make a quest of it!" She giggled.

"Or I could just ask the librarian."

"To each their own," Rarity smiled. Spike was soon back with just the piece of non-fictional fashion extravaganza she was seeking. "Thank you," she beamed, and utilised her unicorn magic to pick up the title and read. Spike did not read his comic-book. This was a very opportune moment—one he could use to behold the unicorn's magnificence. She's a rarity, alright! Spike thought to himself. It's not every day you meet someone with such style and kindness. It's such a wonder she doesn't have a pony boyfriend. But I don't suppose she'd even consider giving me a chance. Would she?

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"Oh my goodness, is everything okay?" Fluttershy frantically asked. It certainly did not appear to be; Cadance and Shining Armour's home was in a such a state!

"Yeah! This place looks like my sister Maud after being somewhere with no rocks for an extended period of time!"

"What happened here?" Twilight inquired.

"I'm losing it, Twily!" Shining Armour was lying flat as a pancake on the sofa; Cadance sped up to her husband and gave him a comforting hug.

"You look okay physically," Cadance pointed out. "No paleness, no signs of dizziness..."

"That's because I am!" Everypony exchanged a befuddled look. "However, I'd like you all to consider what being all but alone with such a young daughter in the midst of a such a large-scale invasion of does to one's mentality!"

"I'm so sorry," said Twilight. "I didn't think of that." It was her turn to give the royal stallion a hug. "How is Flurry Heart?"

"Fine," Shining Armour breathed a huge sigh of relief. "I envy her, really."

"What do you mean?"

"She has no idea what's going on...she doesn't have to deal with the constant fear that she'll be swept away by that beast...if none of us make it out of this alive, it'll be some time before she has to cope with loss. I just envy her."

"Shining Armour," Twilight quickly changed the subject, she was finding it increasingly tricky not to shed any tears. "Forgive me...I'm aware that we've only just arrived, but we're planning to confront Stellas Spatium as soon as possible; the longer we hold it off, the more ponies he slaughters. We're going to have to get as far away from here as possible—the Crystal Empire is the only safe place left in all of Equestria! Now, we'll need your wife to join us—one allicorn is quite bluntly not enough to even come close to victory—but you must stay here!"

"I understand. It would be totally unprofessional of me to leave my daughter...and the citizens of the empire, too. Oh, come to think of it..." Shining Armour's facial expression became a horrifying mix of shock and guilt. "I haven't addressed them in days!"

"Discord is doing just that as we speak," Applejack re-assured him.

"Wait...Discord as in...Discord, Discord?"

"These are strange times."

"If you think that's weird," Pinkie Pie hollered. "Wait until you hear that Lord Tirek is waiting for us outside."

"It's a long story," said Twilight. Everypony began to make their way out. "If ever all this blows over...we'll tell you. If not..." She embraced Shining Armour again. "Thank you for being my big-brother-best friend-forever."

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Stellas Spatium swooped speedily down to the very edge of the Crystal Empire. He touched the forcefield. It was hopeless. It was akin to attempting to break through a steel wall. No Matter. Spatium spoke to himself in his twisted head. I have a plan. I think it's time to send out another of my mental messages: this time to everypony in the empire.

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Discord was pondering whether his friends had completed their duties; he had certainly finished with his—it was the same with every household: everypony was utterly unaware of the invasion occurring just outside their residence.

"I guess I'll just have to sit here like a statue and wait," he winged, transforming himself into stone. His use of tongue-in-cheek sorcery did not, however, prevent him from having to hear Spatium's message to the Crystal Empire:

I know none of you know about what's happened these past few weeks, so I'll give it to you without beating about the bush for any amount of time: Princess Celestia and Luna are dead—their brother, Stellas Spatium, me has to come to do what should have been done a whole millennia ago: re-balance Equestria as I see fit. I was never given the chance to aid ponies in need back in my day; my parents and the government seemed to think "governing stars" was a profound job. Well, don't you worry, everypony. Spatium laughed manically. I dealt with the weak and foolish; not just my sisters, but other ponies who have stood in my way. And the same fate will affect everypony here, unless they all work to remove this confounded forcefield. You all have just one hour. My patience is on thinner ice than that which composes the streets in the empire itself. I will repeat: one hour, or you will all perish! Even Discord, who enjoyed a little chaos from time to time, shuddered in horror at the non-verbal speech he had just listened to against his will. Before he could hurry off to locate the rest of the group (with the exception of Tirek, who was still sitting motionless in a corner), they ran up to him.

"You all heard it too?" He knew the answer before he even so much as formed the question in his mind.

"What are all the residents going to do?" Rainbow Dash had always been proud of being so fearless of everything; now, however, she was becoming very, very afraid, and consequently, that fact made her even more sick to her stomach than everypony else.

"Don't you see?!" A bloody-red earth pony had exited his home and was arguing with a much smaller, light-blue unicorn. "If we turn off that shield-thing, we won't die!"

"I think most of us would rather die than live a life serving that monstrosity."

"Not me," the earth pony insisted. "Out of my way, everypony." And using his immense strength, he smashed his way through all the ponies blocking his path, running right up to Shining Armour's home. Discord and the two princesses exchanged a look and ran after him, with Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie following closely behind. The pony was shockingly swift; even Applejack could not catch up!

"What good'll going to the Crystal Empire Castle do 'im, anyway?" Applejack was confused.

"If he's able to knock Shining Armour unconscious," Twilight explained. "The forcefield will disappear, as his magic will no longer be able to keep it functioning."

"Fluttershy informed me that you and Princess Cadance had a hoof in its generation, too," said Discord.

"Indeed we did," said Twilight. "But all three of us are needed to keep it up. Anypony's consciousness ceases, and it goes down completely!" The group were simply not fast enough; Rainbow Dash swooshed up to the balcony, but by the time she had got there, the earth pony was rushing into the sitting room...and then...BANG! He had smashed a vase over Shining Armour's face; Flurry Heart began to cry from her bedroom, but what did the earth pony care? His main priority now was getting out before Twilight and everypony else had a chance to intervene.

"So," Stellas Spatium laughed. "I see somepony has made the correct decision." He did not waste another solitary second; he drew every last bit of goodness out of the Crystal Empire residents; their whips of goodness floated sorrowfully out of their bodies, and in mere moments they were no longer themselves at all!

"Luckily," Pinkie Pie grinned. "Princess Twilight has the elements of harmony on her for just this sort of occasion."

"Fluttershy, will you go and look after Flurry Heart?"

"I'll do my best," she assured the princess. Discord began to follow suit, but Twilight beckoned him to stop.

"We need you!"

"So...YOU HAD THEM ALL ALONG?!?" Spatium was even angrier than usual now.

"QUICK!" Twilight howled. "QUICKLY...GET YOUR ELEMENTS ON, GIRLS!"

"Where in tarnation's Rarity?" Applejack sounded annoyed.

"Right where any respectable friend would be at a time like this!"

"COME TO ME...!" Spatium flew quick as a bolt of lightning down to ground-level. By this point, the elements were all on their respective ponies.

"You know the drill!" Twilight yelled. The remaining members of the Mane Six began to glow their respective colours; a wave-like rainbow also formed and wrapped itself around Spatium. Simultaneously, Princess Cadance blasted the allicorn with bolts of powerful magic, and Discord punched and kicked at his body as aggressively as he could. Twilight Sparkle's eyes became purely white, and it was then that a flash, just as colourless, should have engulfed Spatium and made him disappear. Instead, there was a flash and then...nothing. Everything was precisely as it had been before everypony harnessed their elements. Spatium was laughing manically again.

"DID YOU REALLY ALL THINK?" He was also just as loud as before. "I WOULD HAVE TRIED TO FIND THE ELEMENTS IF THEY COULD BE USED AGAINST ME?" The group all immediately realised he was telling the truth—they had had no effect on him whatsoever!!

"My turn!" Spatium made a simple gesture with his wings, and the elements all shifted off of the ponies and into the air beside him. His eyes turned from black-and-orange to entirely dark, and the elements, while retaining their original colours, became darker shades.

"I present to you all," Spatium was literally having the time of his life! "The dark elements."

"The what...?" Twilight, Princess Cadance and Discord were dumbfounded; the others had no time to be, though; they were swept off their hoofs by Spatium and were soon floating in mid-air right beside him.

"Applejack...deceit." Applejack's pupils became dark.

"Rainbow Dash...unfaithfulness." Rainbow Dash, likewise.

"Pinkie Pie...despair." The exact same process.

"Rarity...selfishness." Likewise.

"Twilight Sparkle..." Now it was Spatium's turn to be bewildered. "You have not changed. WHY?!"

"I don't know...but I'm not exactly disappointed like you." Twilight decided not to bother with the standard 'Turn my friends back to normal at once.' It was no good.

"You haven't gotten to dear Fluttershy!"

"No matter...her new element would have been meanness, but I believe there's already plenty of that to go round! Don't you all agree, my new right-hand ponies?" The quartet made a series of unpleasant sounds and nodded. "And do you really think you, Cadance, Discord, and that Starlight Glimmer pupil of yours will be en--"

"NO! But I swear I will get revenge on you, you pure evil scum!" Everypony gasped. The furious voice belonged to none other than Tirek.

"I can't be bothered to deal with the likes of you right now, you traitor." Spatium grabbed his newly-founded allies and swept away. Unbelievably, Starlight Glimmer and Trixie entered the scene just as he exited!

"What...?"

"I'm too in shock to say anything right now, Starlight," said Twilight. And it was true.

"Well, I can tell you that Sunburst is happy to assist us in defeating Spatium."

"What's the point?"

"When you hear this plan you might change your mind." Twilight perked up.

"You really think there's hope yet? Without the magic of friendship?"

"I..." Starlight Glimmer hesitated. "I do."

Comments

[Nerfyy]

huh? how can this be complete?

[Harratot33]

8398101
Because the story is continued in its sequel Starswirl's Return. Also, The Coming of Stellas Spatium chronicles the events leading up to this story.