There's More to Magic Than Friendship

by Haoryu Changer

Lord Tirek

Everywhere was silent.

Appleloosa, Somnambula and Dodge Junction. These desert lands only had the sounds of winds and tumbleweeds passing by, while looking like ghost towns, with no pony or any other creatures aside from tiny rodents or bugs crawling around.

Manehattan, Baltimare, Vanhoover, Applewood, and Fillydelphia. All of these cities' windy and cracked streets were empty instead of the normal hundreds of ponies wandering around. Newspapers flew around with the heading, "Dangerous Centaur on the loose." Their many buildings were also heavily damaged; Glass broken, structures toppled and lights off. There wasn't a pony in sight or any creature for that matter.

Rainbow Falls, Sire's Hollow, and Our Town; Unlike Ponyville which was ruled by an alicorn filly, these villages and towns were quieter than they ever have been since they were created. No one was at their stands now filled with spoiled food and accessories, outside was untidy, the grass was not conditioned in a long time and there was garbage here and there.

Even in the sky, Cloudsdale and other homes were brought down to Equestrian ground when the clouds holding the buildings were blasted away.

Hippogriffia and Mount Aris, Yakyakistan, Griffonstone, Klugetown, the homes to creatures other than ponies, they were all mostly empty as well. But there was a little hint of life when a creature came out of hiding every now and then.

Even the Crystal Empire, once bright, was now a shade darker, with its, smoking buildings, destroyed castle, and shattered Crystal Heart that failed to protect them.

One should not be fooled though. These cities, towns, villages and most importantly homes were not empty. All the residents, visitors, and tourists were all in hiding. In fear of the same Centaur in the newspapers or even his friends if they were so unlucky for them to visit instead.

In every shelter, basement, of every building, there were creatures in hiding for survival. Even if they knew he was long gone, not finding what he was searching for in their homelands, the strength, power, and tenacity of that one ancient being were frightening enough to scar the helpless. They wouldn't come out of hiding any time soon unless there was a light of hope that would guide them. Young or old, strong or weak, it didn't matter. Against Lord Tirek, there wasn't a thing anyone could do.

---

In the middle of the Celestial Sea, the ground shook every second.

Other than the ocean, and the shaking steps this ancient being took, the only other sound was the rattling of an old powerful bell hung from a string around his neck.

Lord Tirek had the ocean split and pushed aside, creating a path that he was currently walking through, each of his hooves rumbling the ground with every step. If there was any part of the ocean floor that was too deep for him to walk through, he would create his own floor using his magic.

It was a boring journey throughout the years. Heading to each civilization in search of the last threats that posed him. Sure, he had a blast hunting down the last of the ponies to snack on their magic, but other than that, all it was, was walking. He was surprised his legs weren't tired yet. It was severely boring.

The last piece of land to search on his mental list was the dragon lands. There were multiple reasons he was coming here last, but the biggest one wasn't that he was worried that the dragons could defeat him. Instead, he thought it was going to be a waste of time. The dragons were never on friendly terms with the ponies, and as far as Tirek knew, they wouldn't want to protect the ponies risking themselves. They were greedy and selfish beasts.

As far as he knew, anyway.

The thought of the ponies allying with different species made him think back to his own.

King Vorak. The last time Tirek heard his father's name was when Discord was mocking him. The Lord of Chaos's voice was the only way he could hear his father's name now, essentially ringing in his head. His father wasn't the kindest soul on the planet, not in a long shot. But he surely cared about Tirek, didn't he? When he thought about it, his good old dad didn't even attempt to rescue him. Just like his brother, there were no letters in the hundreds of years he was locked up in Tartarus. Even when he escaped, twice, not even a hint of him nor his brother was present.

His mother was different though. Queen Haydon was very kind to everyone, of any race, species, and age. If she didn't reach out to her son, she surely had a good reason. Perhaps King Vorak wouldn't let her, or maybe she was unable to visit Equestria. Princess Celestia and Luna probably prohibited her, maybe scared she would attempt to release Tirek herself and escape. The princesses didn't know how powerful she was, they didn't want to take the risk. Perhaps she thought he was deceased, she probably has been mourning for years, begging to see him again. Or maybe she didn't care after all. It's been hundreds of years, she's either already passed away, or long forgotten Lord Tirek, her son.

Then there was his brother. The one who betrayed him. He snarled at the thought of his brother. He thought of him as a weakling, making friends with Starswirl, who he defeated with the pillars by his side as if it was nothing. He made friends with a weak, old, pony.

At that word, one filly flashed in Tirek's mind.

He shook his head, nearly bringing the ocean down upon him by accident.

Cozy Glow. Out of the hundreds of years he was locked up in Tartarus for, he only had one companion, and only for a month or two. She should be more forgettable. She was so annoying, such a brat, and certainly manipulating. She was a pony, his enemy. Sure, they had the same goals. Sure, they were working together at one point. And sure, he didn't mind the company she gave. It made him feel like he had an annoying sibling again, only this time, she wasn't Scorpan trying to persuade him not to conquer Equestria. This time, she was urging him to continue and succeed. Like a friend would. Like a proper sibling would. Like...

Family.

The centaur almost started to regret wasting his time hunting Princess Cadance and Shining Armor all this time. He could've been home by now, possibly finding his parents, and maybe brother once again. Possibly forgiving him if he found it in himself, probably not. Maybe have his family back. But he remembered he came to Equestria to prove himself. Prove that he was the strongest being even the real Grogar would fear.

And that was what he was going to do. Even if it took him all this time, he will prove to his dad that he is worthy to be next in line for the throne. Even if he took a thousand years.

And even if he had to betray some past comrades.

---

"Ah, finally." Tirek released his magic when he was finally out of the ocean, letting the water settle back in place. He stared at the volcanic island with a greedy look on his face. "The Dragon Lair. It's been too long."

He started to trek forward, and after minutes of walking, he spotted some dragon, flying about. He stood in a gorge and looked around, particularly for any ponies.

It took a couple of seconds for any of the dragons to notice him, before a few of them perched on the edge of some rocky cliffs to stare down at him from above. Tirek didn't notice some of the other dragons retreating.

The centaur smiled. "I am Lord Tirek!" He shouted. "I come from a distant land, seeking for the magic that belongs to me. The magic of the Ponies of Equestria! If there are any hiding in your lair, it would be best if you handed them over to me."

"Or what?" A voice yelled back.

Garble flew, coming in from a direction Tirek wasn't looking at and landed in front of the red lord.

Tirek laughed and charged his horn in his red glowing magic. "Things could get very ugly. You dragons wouldn't want to hurt yourselves over some measly weak ponies, would you? Dragons don't have any magic to take. Just give me any ponies that are hiding in your lands, and we can part ways."

"What are you going to do once you take them?" The red dragon asked.

"Take their magic, of course! Then take them back to Queen Chrysalis's hive in the changeling kingdom so they won't be any more trouble." He said with a smirk.

"Is that so?"

Tirek nodded.

"Dragons have the upper claw on you, don't they? Against ponies and other powerful creatures, you have the advantage of taking their powers and turning them into your own. But you're unable to do that to a strong species like dragons."

"I might not be able to take anything from you, but I have more than enough power within me to take you down."

"Even hundreds of other dragons?"

"If I must."

"Is that a threat?"

"Depending on the circumstances."

The two paused the conversation. Tirek turned his head and looked at his surroundings, noticing more dragons perched up above him, most of them looking angry.

He knew they must have been preparing for his arrival. But it didn't matter, he was far too strong for them to handle him. He simply had to keep his distance, watch out for lava and their fire breath, find who he was looking for and get out.

There were mostly adult dragons in different colors, with some teenage dragons like Garble in the mix. They weren't much taller than Tirek himself. With his magic, they couldn't hurt him. Even if they were strong. The only thing he couldn't deal with properly was their flight, having no way to do so himself. But he could manage.

"They told us, you know?" Garble said, carrying Tirek's attention back to the small red dragon. "A small pony, about the size of Spike the Dragon, a Changeling Queen, more vicious than any dragon I have ever met, and you."

Tirek grinned.

"More greedy than any dragon ever conceived. Who only cares about himself and no one else. You three were the first villains who were finally able to take over Equestria. Trapping everyone, including my sister who I haven't seen in two whole years because you have her captive somewhere!" He yelled.

Tirek laughed, "Yes, I do believe there were a couple of drago-"

"And my daughter!" A voice boomed.

The centaur snapped his head up to see an enormous dark scaled dragon flying in circles above, before coming down and landing in front of a shocked and slightly scared Tirek and behind the smug Garble.

The largest dragon Tirek has ever seen, so heavy it must have been impossible to stand on two legs like the smaller dragons. He wore black armor around his chest, with holes that allowed his orange wings to stretch out. He wore a crown made out of red crystal sitting on his head with two long protruding orange horns pointing down and outwards, above his slit angry orange eyes.

"D-dragon lord Torch..." Tirek said in shock. He started sweating, he completely forgot about Torch. "H-how long has it been, my friend." He said, gaining back his composure quickly after calming down.

"Enough!" Torch yelled. "Where is my daughter, Tirek? I will not ask again."

Tirek secretly put his hand behind his back and charged some magic in it. "I don't know what you're talking about. The only dragon I've seen in Equestria was one of the princess's friends!" He said.

Torch glared at Tirek. "That brave dragon, named Spike, is very close to Ember and Smolder. Who were both headed to Equestria when they had suddenly disappeared without notice according to my fellow dragons."

The other dragons agreed, asking Tirek all at once where their Dragon Lord was.

Torch bent down to glare at Tirek even closer, who was beginning to frown. "If you do not tell me where she is, I will have you for lunch and find her myself."

Tirek stared back at him with a frown, before smiling and saying, "You wanted me to come here, didn't you. Otherwise, you would have come to find your sweet little daughter two years ago. You're scared, I can see it. Deep inside you know that not only I but the other two currently ruling Equestria are too powerful for even you to handle. That's why you waited for me to come to you, so you could use your numbers against me." Tirek closed his eyes. "The dragons were once a respected species, now you're all friends with a bunch of colorful ponies."

"Don't get it wrong, it's not friendship," Garble said. "It's because Ember equally respects the ponies as they respect us. So it isn't weakness to help one another. A certain drake taught us that. We have been stronger than ever." Garble said. "

"Friendship. It's pathetic. You're all pathetic."

"The only one who's pathetic here is you." Torch said with a growl. "I've had enough of this, I'll send your regards to King Vorak myself!"

Torch attempted to reach forward with a claw to grab Tirek, but the red tyrant threw a magic beam at Garble, which sent the red dragon hurling into the larger dragon's claw. To his surprise, Garble pushed him back with a huge force.

The other dragons, teenage and adult, roared to the skies which forced Tirek to cover his ears with scrunching eyes. The horde of mighty dragons then inhaled before blow mass flames towards the centaur from all directions.

Casting a magic sphere barrier, he blocked the flames with a bit of struggle. Grunting, he pushed back the flames with a burst of magic.

The group of dragons shielded their faces from his magic with their wings, before descending on him trying to swipe him with their claws.

Tirek dodged a few claws, then blocked a couple more. Then, before any more dragons could attack him, he jumped up with his powerful hooves to one of the higher levels of the gorge. With his mighty magic, he fired at the dragons from above.

He hit a few, sending them crashing down. After missing some shots, he felt the ground shake behind him. Turning around he barely had enough time to shield himself from Torch's fire breath, on a completely different level than the other dragons, his breath expanding into the size of the interior of Canterlot's throne room. Pushing the fire to the side with his a swing of his arms and his magic, he began charging more magic in his curved horns.

He and Torch both shot magic and fire, the two clashing in the middle, however, Tirek's magic was overpowering the flames of the ex-lord. Dragons began circling the two, before most, including Garble and Fizzle, helped Torch by adding their own fire or taking a chance to get Tirek from behind. The efforts from the ones behind the centaur proved futile when they noticed he was simply blocking their fire with his magic, so they went to help with the beam struggle in the middle.

The dragons were winning the quick projectile fight but soon began to be pushed back when they started to lose their breaths.

Tirek chuckled before giving it one last push and winning the clash, blasting the group of dragons opposing him and blowing them away like a group of bowling pins. He gave a quick laugh and said, "The dragons are certainly a worthy foe, but they're still no match for me." He began charging more magic and aimed at the area with a pile of dragons. "From one Lord to another I will commend you. It was an honor fighting and defeating you. I'll find the rest of the ponies without your help."

Then he fired the massive magic beam at them.

But before it hit the out-of-breath dragons, Torch stepped in front of them and faced his back against the beam, tanking it.

He roared in pain, the beam beginning to break his armor around his back and wings.

"Dragon Lord Torch! What are you doing?" One of the dragons asked him in complete shock.

Torch grunted, giving everything he had to keep standing and shielding the dragons. "She needs... a kingdom to come back to." He said, as more of his armor continued to break.

He kept protecting the smaller dragons, blocking the powerful magic beam and roaring through the sheer intense pain from the attack to his back.

Tirek chuckled. "I guess dragons aren't so greedy after all. I'll make sure to tell all the dragons I see about your selflessness, Torch." He was about to release more magic, but then a blue shield projected around the giant dragon, amazingly blocking the magic beam.

Then pink magic appeared around Torch, and his wounds disappeared slowly. The large dragon sighed in bliss.

Stunned for a second, Tirek barely noticed a small pink form jump on top of the dragon before magic came from it, knocking him backward and stopping his magic for the moment.

"Are you alright, Dragon Lord Torch?" The pink alicorn in front of his face asked.

He looked at Princess Cadence and smiled. "Thanks to you, princess."

Cadence smiled, and Shining trotted next to her. "Sorry, we got here so late, we were on the other side of the Dragon Lands."

"It's nothing to worry about. We held him off long enough for you to arrive. Now we can finally end this." Torch said.

The two nodded before a filly came down from on top of Torch's back and landed in front of them. "I got him in the face!" Flurry Heart said. "No one hurts, Uncle Torch!"

Cadence and Shining giggled, before getting serious once again.

"Remember the plan, and what we're after," Cadence said. "If our plan works, it'll be a huge step in taking back Equestria."

"We have to watch out too though," Shining put in. "If Tirek uses the bell or his powers on us our chances of victory severely drop."

"Leave that to me. That bell doesn't do a thing to a dragon." Torch put in.

Cadence put on a look of concern. "He's more powerful than when he entered Canterlot Castle all those years ago when he teamed up with Discord. Yet he's not as big as he was... It's frightening."

"It's the bell." Shining Armor said. "Remember the plan, that's all we have to focus on right now."

"Right," Cadence said with a smile.

"What if it doesn't work mommy?" Flurry Heart said. "What happens to us if we lose?"

The taller pink alicorn put on a sad smile and bent down to her daughter, pecking her on the forehead. "We won't. I promise."

"But if we do, we'll be sent to Queen Chrysalis's hive to be fed upon," Shining said before Cadence slapped him on the head.

"We're not going to lose." She said. "We can't. We do this for aunt Twilight, Celestia, and Luna. For everypony." Then she looked up at Torch and coughed. "And dragon."

Torch chuckled, before turning to Garble, flying next to his ear. "Go and take everydrake and the eggs east!"

"What?" Garble said dumbfounded. "But we have to help!"

The large dragon shook his head. "If we fail here, Tirek will endanger everything in the dragon lands. You must go and keep the next generation of dragons safe."

"But what about you?"

Torch laughed. "What does this old dragon have left to do? Go! Now!"

The smaller red dragon looked conflicted, staring at the other adults with a look that was trying to ask if they should disobey his orders, then looking back at Torch that was now turned and staring towards where Tirek was. Gritting his teeth, he flew to the other dragons and told them to trust the wise and strong ex-dragon lord.

"Princess Cadance! Prince Shining Armor! Princess Flurry Heart! After all this time I have finally found you! And I will finally have your magic!"

"Here he comes..." Cadence said, staring at Tirek stalking towards them from afar. "It's been two years. We've been preparing for this moment."

Shining grabbed his wife, before plunging her in a deep kiss.

Flurry Heart giggled and hopped in place at the sight.

The older pink alicorn smiled and stared at her husband questionably.

"For if we do fail." He answered. "One final kiss."

"Keep talking like that and we just might." Cadence trolled, before flying forward.

Tirek stopped walking when he noticed the Crystal Empire Princess approaching. She landed not too far away from him, on a high rock so she was standing at half his height.

"Princess," Tirek greeted with a sinister smirk.

"Lord Tirek," Cadence said back with a frown.

"We've never had any personal quarrels have we, Cadence? When I was first imprisoned, you were never in power."

"Is that all you care about? Power?" She asked with a glare. "When will you be satisfied? Once you've taken every piece of magic of every being on the planet?"

"Who knows?" He shrugged.

"Does that include Queen Chrysalis and Cozy Glow, like how you betrayed Discord?"

Tirek started to chuckle... before it turned into a full hysterical laugh. "You've read my mind! Once I'm done here, I'll be on my way to taking their magic as well."

"Of course you would," Cadence said. "You're a fool."

"Fool, am I?" He asked with a laugh as Shining with small Flurry Heart hiding behind him entered the scene. "Perhaps I'll let them keep a little of it. At least Chrysalis, that way she can make sure none of you ever get the chance to make some epic comeback."

"Then what?" Shining asked. "You have all the power in the world, what would you do then? Who do you think you're impressing with your greed?"

Tirek frowned, cutting off his laughter. But before he could retort, Cadence cut in.

"If you want to know something, Princess Celestia told me that King Vorak wanted you to be freed all those years ago, but she refused to."

King Vorak. Her saying that name made Tirek grunt in anger.

"He's the only one I could see you wanting to impress. But it seems he gave up on you." She said. "He hasn't tried to get you back ever since."

Tirek glared at Cadence with more hate than Chrysalis could ever muster towards Starlight. "Stop. Speaking."

"So I'll ask again, what do you want with so much power?" Shining asked.

"None of your business!" Tirek yelled before firing a beam at the three.

Shining lit up his horn and blocked the attack.

Tirek raised a brow before stopping his attack. "A shield stronger than even Princess Twilight. Impressive."

Cadence stepped up. "Who do you think taught their little sister?" She then sprinted forward, firing a quick beam to Tirek's chest, which knocked him back a bit but didn't do much damage.

Flurry Heart flew up above her dad and fired a beam as well, but this time Tirek smirked and activated Grogar's bell with his magic. The bell magically chimed, entering everyone's eardrums and pointing towards Flurry's beam. Before the bell could do anything else however, a fireball appeared from above and Tirek was forced to dodge it by jumping back. He looked up and snarled at Torch. Flurry's beam was still traveling forward and hit him in the shoulder. Shining followed suit, with another beam, this one did little damage, but everything mattered.

The filly flew forward firing a couple of beams while dodging a few easily. With the size difference, it was easy to hit her target while avoiding his blasts.

Cadence circled to his right and fired from that direction, hitting him in the side a few times.

With him distracted, Shining ran up and hit him in the chin with another beam.

Growling, Tirek stomped a hoof on the ground, cracking it slightly, and with great force pushed the three away with winds alone.

Flurry had it the worst. Now spinning, she was being flown higher in the air and losing control. The centaur saw her as an easy target and fired at her.

While spinning she could see the beam coming towards her every time she rotated. Bracing for impact, she was barely saved when Cadence flew up and snatched her away just in time.

"Thanks, mom!" She said, taking flight after a quick hug.

Tirek glared at the two floating in the air and was about to fire again when Shining shot from below, hitting his chin once again.

Stunned briefly, Torch had the chance to grab the red centaur with a claw and slam him into the ground, holding him against the surface. While restrained, Tirek blew the dragon's claw away with his magic, but with quick thinking, Torch used his other claw to pick him up and throw him into a nearby mountain.

Flurry teleported her dad and mom onto Torch's back and the great dragon flew after Tirek, who was back on his hooves quickly.

On both sides of the fight, they threw magic and fire respectively, resulting in another clash. They were even, but Tirek's tenacity was much stronger due to all the magic he absorbed. Combine that with the fact that Torch was running out of breath, and it was the reason why Tirek was beginning to win in the struggle.

But before he did, the clash exploded in the middle, throwing everyone away from each other and creating a massive dust cloud.

Tirek coughed and fanned the dust with a hand. He looked down to see none other than Flurry Heart. He grinned and said, "'So small and still couldn't speak.' Chrysalis told me."

"Now look at you, all grown up and stronger just for me to take your magic. How tragic."

"Mommy and daddy told me all about you." Flurry said frowning. "They said you were really evil. All the stuff they told me, it almost sounded like a fairy tale."

"It's the sad truth, young one," Tirek explained. "Not everything is just a story."

"I don't understand, though. Why even do all of this? Just for magic, you're hurting everyone!"

"It's hard to understand when you're this young." He said with a smirk. "I don't blame you."

"Well, I don't like it!" The filly yelled before firing at Tirek, who caught the magic beam and tossed it into his mouth to eat it.

"Just a waste of time." He said.

But then for a split second, he caught Cadence trying to swoop in from the side. He stepped back and barely managed to evade her.

The pink princess skidded to a halt after landing, looking very frustrated.

Tirek simply raised a brow, wondering what she was attempting to do by slamming into him. Although, he looked down and widened his eyes at the sight of his bell.

"That's what you're after?!" He said in worry, before dissolving that emotion into calmness. "You can't use it, so what's the point? We've already taken the only book about the bell in Canterlot Castle's library." He said as he walked towards Cadence, Shining Armor and their daughter landing next to her. "You might as well surrender now before you regret it, you cannot defeat me."

"Not a chance," Cadence said.

"We'll never let you get away with this!" Shining said.

"Yeah!" Flurry said.

Torch tripped Tirek over with his tail from behind, and the three royal ponies ran up with a warcry, but before anything else happened, Tirek waited for them to get closer before taking Flurry in his magic and bringing her to him quickly, then blasting Torch away.

Cadence and Shining gasped but their daughter was saved when Tirek let go of her after a fireball hit him from the opposite direction of which he sent Torch flying.

Garble flew through the smoke his fire made and grabbed the bell! Then swiftly turned to Flurry Heart's direction.

Tirek was enraged and yelled before firing a beam at the teenage dragon, but Flurry teleported herself and her dad in front of Garble and Shining procured a shield, blocking the magic attack. "Give that back!" He screamed.

Before Tirek, or anyone for that matter could react, Crystal Empire pony guards and dragons came rushing in towards Tirek from all directions, and even as he tried pushing them all away, the sheer amount of them allowed them to slowly pile up on him and pin him down momentarily.

Garble gave Cadence the bell. "Hurry! Go back to Equestria and save my sister, we'll hold him off!"

Cadence looked unsure, but when she looked at Garble's determined eyes she nodded with the same amount. "Right. Shining! Flurry! Come on let's go!"

"Here's your supplies, my Prince!" A Crystal pony with three saddle bags said, giving one each to the three royals.

"Let's go already!" Flurry said, flying in the air without patience, and they immediately started running and flying in a certain direction.

Under all the Crystal Ponies and dragons, Tirek could see through a claw and hindleg, the three running off. He was about to mentally call them cowards, but then a realization came in. The direction they were running towards was very clear to him.

They were running right to Ponyville. Straight towards Cozy Glow.

Comments

[GamePlayer64]

Ooooo... a rebellion! Now things are getting exciting!!

[Bunny CarrotHunter]

Tirek was going to betray Cozy and Chrysalis anyways, oh, Tirek you d-!
He’s the only one tho that didn’t think anything about missing them. Except Cozy I guess. Hm, I wonder what revelation will happen now.

[GlitchyFox]

9938847
saying and doing are two diffrent things while he might say he will betray them we cant know he would