Errant Finale

by Doug Graves

61 Forbidden Power

March 30th, 1001 Domina Solaria

“Urgh,” Celestia moans as she staggers out of bed, the unignorable alarm bells of one of her many detection spells ringing in her head. Chaos magic. Again. She stumbles to the window of her room in Canterlot Castle. Still hours until midnight. Blergh. Her horn glows, a pale golden light streaming outside. The alarm silences, leaving a peaceful serenity that will last for an unknown - and far too few - number of hours before it rings again. She turns, slumping back into bed and closing her eyes.

While Discord’s two… apprentices… rapidly progress through the ‘theory’ component of chaos magic - at least according to Discord himself, the few times she teleported to the scene on instinct - their ability to use said magic has not. And she isn’t quite sure if this is a good thing or not; after all, how many Pinkie Pies does one actually want rampaging frolicking through a town?

So the draconequus imbues items with a small portion of his magic, generally allowing a single ‘perturbation’ of reality, such as changing mane color. And the resulting scavenger hunts or ‘games’ could be quite challenging, like the one where you had to find mares with two tone manes that share one color, change the shared color of the first to the non-shared color of the second, and then repeat the process with the second mare and a third mare until any of them notice.

The fact that they started this game at night, and with the fillies having a near perfect recall of every single pony in Ponyville thanks to a present Doug gave Pinkie Pie years earlier, meant that they had a very long chain of mane shifted mares in the morning to sift through.

This invariably trips up Celestia’s alarms. And since there is no way she is whitelisting the draconequus himself, at least not until she is absolutely sure of his reformation, she shall deal with the loss of sleep and adding one item after another to a temporary ‘safe’ list.

A knock comes, the balcony door to her room opening soon after. A cobalt alicorn sticks her head through, frowning as she gazes upon her Sister’s partially hidden form. “Again? How many times is it now, and thou still have yet to figure it out?”

Celestia shakes her head glumly. “Every time I modify my detection spell, he teaches them some trick that trips it up again.” She sighs, exhausted. “I hope I have the rest of the night until they learn the next one.”

Luna nods, offering a sympathetic smile, though it quickly turns to worry as Celestia moans, holding her head in her hooves as her eyes unfocus.

*

In an unremarkable alleyway, barely lit in the late night, Rare Find slips through the shortcut between two buildings. He pauses at the fog rolling around his hooves, a nervous glance at the trash surrounding him as his basket of oranges levitates next to him. A lone can clatters as it rolls in the wind, the brown unicorn breathing a sigh of relief.

Until a hooded figure steps out of the shadows.

His lean body is covered in a soot gray cloak, and while his backside is equinish his front lifts higher than a normal pony. A mass of vapor escapes into the chill air as a raspy voice intones, "Is he friend or is he foe? the pony wonders. I can assure you, I am no friend. I am Lord Tirek. And I will take what should have been mine long ago!"

A blue beam comes from the haggard creature's mouth, encircling the unicorn's horn. Tirek cackles as he stands straighter, a bit of color returning to his pallid skin as the light fades from the unicorn's eyes, his cutie mark disappearing.

*

The blankets fall to the bed in the rough shape of a pony as Celestia blinks to her desk, pulling out maps of Equestria. Her spell merely gave her a rough distance and direction, a necessity to cover such a wide area. She double checks the location even though she knows it to be true. Manehattan.

Luna thunders next to her, perhaps not for the first time, "Tia, my Sister, art thou all right?"

"I am afraid not, Sister," Princess Celestia says, her voice full of steel. She glances over at her still blinking alarm. Her muzzle tightens as she realizes just who could have tripped her alarm. “I fear the terrible creature known as Tirek is on the loose, and somepony must stop him!”

Luna gasps, staring at the map as Celestia indicates the farthest city on the northeast seaboard. “We shall go immediately! And put an end to this menace!”

“No, Sister, we-” Celestia moans, clutching her head again, though she recovers quicker this time. “We do not know where in Manehattan he is. And we cannot allow the possibility of an ambush, and him gaining Alicorn powers.”

“We could-” Luna starts, her wings flaring as her eyes shine with power.

“No.” Celestia sighs. As she speaks, a quill levitates, scrawling out a message. “If I thought lethal force was the solution, I would have executed him in Tartarus myself. Go first to the Crystal Empire; gather Cadance and-” Celestia’s hoof returns to her head, her eyes closing as she draws in a quick breath. “Shining Armor. Have our Captain of the Guard begin evacuating the city. Tirek is not to be engaged.”

Princess Luna stands a bit higher, her words laced with urgency. “Every second we delay he grows more powerful!”

“I understand you have your objections,” Celestia says evenly, her horn lighting and the parchment disappearing in a burst of green flame. “But this is not a decision to be made lightly. Go.” Princess Luna takes a deep breath, then her horn flares and she disappears.

Celestia steps to her balcony, her horn crafting a ring of gold outside. She closes her eyes in concentration, and moments later an alert Twilight Sparkle, five sleepy mares, and Doug appear inside. “Come,” she ushers them, her hoof again going to her horn.

“Celestia!” Twilight exclaims worriedly, her eyes widening. “Are you-”

“I am fine,” Celestia says as Luna and Cadance appear inside the ring. “Inside.”

“What,” Applejack says with a yawn, pawing at her hat and scratching her mane as she disentangles herself from Doug. “What’s going on?”

Celestia moves to her desk, withdrawing a heavy tome. She flips through the pages, showing a picture of a stylized demon with red wings and a heavy brown torso. Then, a slate gray centaur with beady yellow eyes and a metal nose ring. “This, is Lord Tirek.”

“Ooh, scary!” says Pinkie Pie, grinning.

“He is no laughing matter,” Celestia says gravely. Pinkie Pie makes an ‘oh’ sound, body slumping slightly. “He and his brother Scorpan arrived in Equestria over a thousand years ago, intent on stealing Equestrian magic, using our power to bolster his own. However, his brother befriended a young unicorn wizard, and came to appreciate our ways.” Her gaze turns to Cadance, then Twilight Sparkle. “Much, to my great delight, as Queen Chrysalis.”

Cadance grumbles, but accedes with a heavy nod.

Twilight cocks her head slightly. “So, you believe this Lord Tirek can be persuaded as well?”

“His brother Scorpan tried and failed to do so, but I hope that you will have more luck with him.” Celestia’s gaze travels over each of the six Elements of Harmony, all wearing their necklaces. She glances tellingly at Luna. “Tirek was stopped, and imprisoned for his crimes. But he has since escaped, and is again stealing Equestrian magic.”

“Wait, how old is this guy?” Doug asks nopony in particular.

“How did this happen?” Twilight asks over Doug.

“It is possible he escaped when Discord returned,” Luna states, glancing towards Ponyville.

“Like, days ago?” Rainbow Dash exclaims loudly, taking to the air. “Why that two faced-”

“No, earlier; when Cerberus left his post.” Celestia sighs. “I thought nothing of it at the time, as the seal of the prison was intact when our magic returned. Perhaps he managed to escape at that time?”

“A security flaw we will be sure to look in to. Perhaps by making the doors seal shut instead of open when their power is lost.” Luna turns as a letter appears in a puff of smoke next to Celestia.

“Preliminary report from Manehattan,” Celestia reads, skimming through quickly and reading sections. “Half a dozen ponies initially found missing their cutie marks and ninety five percent of their magic, barely clinging to life, subsequently referred to as ‘drained’. Others in active zone unable to be assessed, appear alive and stable, if barely. Attempt was made to-” Celestia’s eyes narrow “-capture Tirek. By this point he was able to create shields against physical projectiles. Magic within an initial three yard range, including ponies themselves, was absorbed, though directed attacks had to be consciously blocked and absorbed. The range expands with every pony's magic he steals, at the time of this writing approaching approximately seven yards. If he drains a portion of a pony’s magic, from an assault or otherwise, he can drain the rest by focusing on that pony. Otherwise, he merely needs to close within range, and automatically drains them.”

Everypony’s eyes are wide, nervously glancing at each other.

Celestia takes a deep breath before she continues. “Cover, magical or physical, proves useless against the drain. After a sustained physical assault, Tirek retreated to the sewers. Casualties approaching fifty, no deaths as of yet. Shining Armor then appeared on the scene, and wide scale retreat and evacuation has been ordered. Tirek’s location is currently unknown. No magical items were reported affected.”

Celestia sets the letter down, grimly looking at the others.

Twilight Sparkle steps forward, resolutely proclaiming, “Time is of the essence. As the Princess of Friendship, and leader of the Elements of Harmony, it is my duty to stop threats like this. I will find him, and-”

“No, Twilight,” Celestia states, her voice hard enough to subdue the lavender alicorn. “We must call on another.”

“Who, Discord?” Twilight asks, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Discord pops in behind Celestia accompanied by a loud gong ringing. The draconequus is sporting a dirty blond haircut, spilling over his face. He intones in a deep voice as he shambles forward, "You rang?"

Celestia considers for a moment before shaking her head, "I was thinking about you, Discord, but for the same reason that I am not stepping in, we must reconsider. Tirek has the power to steal magic. We cannot take the chance of him absorbing your or our magic; therefore, we will need to send in a creature that does not rely on magic.”

All eyes in the room turn on Doug.

“Really?” Doug says, pointing a finger at himself. “Me?!”

“Yes,” Celestia says with a nod of her head. Discord looks appalled at the suggestion, his mouth gaping open and hitting the floor. “I am hoping you will be able to persuade him to stop his aggression.”

“Seriously?” Doug says incredulously. “With what? Kind words and hugs?”

“I like hugs!” Pinkie Pie pronks around. “You can persuade me to do just about anything with hugs!”

Doug sighs loudly as Celestia nods again. “Could I at least get, like, a crash course in hostage negotiating or something?”

“In what now?” Applejack asks, glancing around. “What’s a ‘hostage’?”

“Oh, jeez,” Doug mutters to himself. “I probably am the best suited for this.”

Celestia nods grimly. “You must find his demands, as best you can. Listen. Stall him, keep him talking, but do not make him angry. He has not yet killed anypony, and if you do not obstruct him I hope he will not see you as a threat. Do not insult him, show him the respect he thinks he deserves.”

“Okay, so,” Doug pauses, shaking his head. “We’re doing this. We’re really doing this.” He looks up at Celestia. “How am I going to find him? You have some way of detecting him?”

“Not from this distance, and not in the time frame we are talking.”

Doug sighs. “Wandering through the sewers it is.”

Comments

[katarjin]

Celestia you fool, kill the fucker and be done with it.

[chibilink]

“We do not know where in Manehatten he is.

“Preliminary report from Canterlot,” Celestia reads, skimming through quickly and reading sections.

Man Tirek moves quick.

[DarkPhoenixx]

Doug sighs. “Wandering through the sewers it is.”

Am I the only one thinking about TMNT right now lol

[Jack-Pony]

Imma just leave this here.
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