Chapter 15
A Decade Earlier
Princess Twilight Sparkle stood before the door leading into the sanatorium interview room for several minutes, gathering herself. She felt ridiculous doing so. She was the Princess of Friendship, and the leader of the Elements of Harmony – she’d dealt with everything the villain had thrown at her before, including being made powerless. Unlike those instances, she was also in complete control – magical runes protected the interview room, and there were guards that could come to her aid if she so much as raised her voice.
She still didn’t like it, though.
Twilight again wondered why she was entertaining Starlight Glimmer’s mad ambition to reform the last of Equestria’s major villains. She had personal tried to oversee all of their rehabilitation – all except Cozy Glow, whom Starlight and Sunburst had taken a disturbing interest in, in Twilight’s professional opinion – but the rehabilitations had largely fallen apart. She’d had to hand King Sombra and Queen Chrysalis off to Princess Cadance, which felt like tossing a flaming buckball to someone afraid of fire. Cadance had suffered the most from both of those villains; it seemed cruel to task her with rehabilitating her two greatest adversaries, especially while dealing with the rough patch in her marriage with Shining Armor.
Then again, thought Twilight, maybe it’s precisely because of the rough patch with my brother she needs the distraction…
With Cadance looking after Sombra and Chrysalis, and Starlight and Sunburst working with Cozy Glow, that left only one unredeemed villain for Twilight. He was, quite possibly, the single greatest threat to Equestria and the world, if she were being completely honest, and the only villain that posed a great personal threat to her. She was walking into a room with him – alone.
Bracing herself, she followed through with the mad plan and entered the room.
Tirek was there, an emaciated centaur that looked as old as he actually was. Miserable, gaunt, and pale, the creature looked up from the tabletop he’d been passively tapping with his fingers while he waited. His frown deepened, but other than that his expression was almost unreadable. There was something like boredom there, but other things Twilight hadn’t seen before.
“Good afternoon, Tirek,” she greeted in a tone that was supposed to be polite, but came out standoffish. The centaur grimaced and Twilight felt embarrassed as she took her seat opposite of him. “How have you been?”
“Bored,” the centaur stated flatly, with the same dry sarcasm he usually used these days. Through Twilight’s initial fear, she slowly came to a realization that Tirek was very different from when the villains had first been detained and held in the sanatorium. Not in appearance, but in demeanor.
“Are you feeling alright?” she asked.
“I told you how I’ve been, already,” Tirek allowed some annoyance to slip into his tone. “Aren’t you supposed to move onto the next pointless question, not repeat the same one? Isn’t that how these ‘conversations’ work?”
“I remember when you first came here, you and the others had to spend a long time in your cells because you’d break into rages and try to attack the orderlies or each other,” Twilight continued, deciding to ignore his rudeness. “I worked very hard with several other magical experts to have the sanatorium shielded so you wouldn’t just suck the magic from every living thing.”
“Thank you for reminding me.”
“I don’t understand how you’re so… dejected,” the princess confessed. “In Tartarus, you were brooding, but malicious and plotting. Conniving, really. Here, you seem miserable, and I don’t get it. You have a room with a bed-”
“A cell.”
“-a cafeteria where you can eat fresh food and talk to others-”
“Oh yes, enjoying gruel while dealing with lunatics.”
“-and you have access to a library, too!” Twilight finished, all but scowling at Tirek’s snide remarks punctuating her points.
“A library?” he sneered, demonstrating some of his old personality, which was actually preferable to his sulking. “Don’t belittle the word. That paltry collection of bit-store novellas and third-rate histories and technical manuals isn’t a library; it’s a glorified bargain bin at a book store!”
“I admit the selection is a little… poor,” Twilight confessed, sheepishly.
“Poor?” Tirek stood up, anger on his face. “Poor?! I honestly preferred having no entertainment to Tartarus than this sorry excuse of ‘literature’ the hospital provides! It’s insulting!”
“W-well, they have some Daring Doo novels!” Twilight tried to console the centaur before she realized this was one of her archenemies, not a friend.
“Bah!” Tirek scoffed. “As if Daring Doo can compare to the sagas of Equus, or the Epic of Bucephalus!” After a moment, he added with a grimace, “Besides, they only have three books from the series, and they’re all over the place! Books 3, 5, and 9. What kind of a sick joke is that?!”
But Twilight was still stunned by what the centaur had said.
“You’ve read Equus’ sagas?” she asked. “All of them?”
“Yes,” the centaur raised an eyebrow, “all of them.”
“And the Epic of Bucephalus?!” the princess grinned.
“Yes?”
“Oh my gosh!” Twilight let her royal demeanor slip as she fangirled. “I’ve only been able to read snippets of the sagas, and the version of the Epic in the Canterlot Royal Library is incomplete! You’ve actually read them both, in their entirety?!”
“And the poetry of Ma Shiren,” Tirek allowed himself a smug smile, “in its entirety.”
“H-how did you come across such timeless masterpieces from across the world, and read them to completion?” Twilight asked. “Those works have been lost and only partially recovered, sometimes in languages no one alive can read!”
“Really?” the villain sat back down, genuinely surprised. “I don’t understand; they were incredibly popular a thousand years ago. Surely the princesses had learned the tales. Couldn’t they have filled in the gaps?”
Twilight blushed as she remembered a few years ago asking Celestia and Luna that very question, only to discover from the retired royalty that the ancient tales had bored them and they’d largely ignored or forgotten the texts.
“Um, well… a thousand years is such a long time,” Twilight giggled nervously. “I’m sure anyone would forget.”
“I haven’t,” Tirek grunted, allowing a small smile of pride on his face, “I have them memorized.”
“That’s amazing!” the princess struggled to maintain what little composure she was hanging onto. “Would you… would you mind writing them down?”
“I might be able to clear my busy schedule,” the centaur looked disinterested, “if you could make it worth my while, of course.”
“…Of course,” Twilight repeated, dryly. She sighed. She’d forgotten she was dealing with a villain with a penchant for bargaining. “What is it you want?”
“I want out of this sanatorium!” the centaur almost pleaded, startling the princess. “It’s insufferable here, especially with the others leaving!”
“Cozy Glow is still a resident here,” Twilight corrected, “and Chrysalis and Sombra were only transferred to the Crystal Empire.”
“Oh, please!” Tirek snapped. “Cozy Glow gets to leave the hospital grounds daily with her new parents, and Chrysalis and Sombra are under the personal care of Princess Cadance, living in a castle!”
“Parents?” Twilight repeated, shocked.
“Oh yes, the little twerp has been quite vocal about it,” the centaur muttered, crossing his arms. “Lucky filly, I’ll give her that. And Sombra looked almost sane after he started talking to Cadance; practically floated out of here when he transferred. Chrysalis was just as sunny as ever, though.”
“Wait, you’ve been… talking to the other villains?” Twilight felt a smile tug at her lips. “Are you guys… friends?”
“We’re acquaintances,” Tirek countered, a blush forming on his cheeks, “nothing more! Quit looking at me with those bright eyes!”
“I’m sorry, it’s just exciting to see that you finally got along with them!” Twilight giggled.
“We almost got along before we were defeated,” Tirek confessed, opting for open-faced admission rather than trying to deny it. He was tired of putting up the façade anyway; his former conspirators had been the only companions he’d had since their capture aside from Twilight, and honestly he’d come to look forward to having others to talk to. Even Twilight.
Especially Twilight, if he were being honest. She was an intellectual who had frequently beaten impossible odds with her friends. After so many defeats, even Tirek’s twisted ego relented and had to admit he’d been bested. The bitterness of defeat had initially turned into schemes for escape and regaining lost glory, planning with the other villains, but those dreams died as their time being patients dragged on. A month. A year. 3 years had passed and they’d gone through cycles of defeat before simply relaxing and finding enjoyment out of small things.
“But now you get along all the time, I take it?” Twilight seemed genuinely interested in his development, and a part of the centaur’s ego enjoyed the attention.
“More or less,” he grunted. “Cozy Glow cracked first. First she felt powerless, like all of us, but as it became obvious we weren’t getting out until you finished brainwashing us, finished changing who we are… well, then she began to despair. We scolded her a lot, becoming more agitated as we, too, lost hope. Finally, I guess she couldn’t handle it anymore. Broke down crying. At first, the rest of us enjoyed having a weakling to push around, but…”
Tirek’s face twisted in displeasure at the memories. How superior and cunning the three adult villains had felt mocking and torturing Cozy Glow for being a broken, abandoned child. Looking back, the centaur was astounded he’d ever thought that was a good thing. Reeducation under Twilight or not, it was just plain cruel and petty – hardly befitting a warlord or a reformed citizen. And yet, it was his wanton desire to be evil that had inspired him to be so pointlessly cruel instead of acknowledging his failings.
“Eventually, all of us broke, in some way,” Tirek continued, not really looking at anything in particular. “It was Sombra who took the longest to actually settle down, but believe it or not it was Sombra who apologized first. I think it had something to do with that visit from Cadance and her husband. The two of them spent some time talking, more than she spent with any of the rest of us. That meathead of a husband of hers also had words with Chrysalis.”
“That meathead is my brother,” Twilight scowled. Tirek spared her a look before returning to staring at nothing as if she hadn’t spoken.
“After their visit, Chrysalis was more reserved, and Sombra… well, he was still a snarling, twitchy mess, but he seemed to be practicing more restraint,” the centaur shook his head in mild disbelief, “and then he apologized to Cozy Glow. Took us all by surprise. Suddenly, Chrysalis mumbled some sort of apology, and I refused. Then they started hanging out with each other and avoiding me. Can you believe that?! How do you avoid someone in a place this small!”
Tirek cleared his throat and continued.
“Anyway, I apologized eventually because I was sick of dealing with this place alone.”
“And now you’re all friends?”
“As I said, we’re acquaintances,” Tirek corrected. He frowned. “Still, it’s going to be lonely around here without them.”
“I suppose I could put you up in the castle for the time being,” Twilight ventured, tempering her excitement with caution. “There are a lot of magical wards around the castle now, and the Royal Guard would be on full alert, but… I don’t think you’d be any more of a threat there than here.”
Tirek had accepted the offer with an air of casual dismissal, though in reality he was pretty excited to be going somewhere – anywhere – other than the sanatorium. The Castle of Canterlot was spacious and comfortable, and as a former despot he felt right at home in its walls. Freer now than he’d been in ages, he had half-expected the desire for power to return to him, but instead there was an almost disinterested melancholy. He was genuinely more interested in studying and transcribing history and other activities with Twilight. She’d even taken him through the town with a pitifully small escort – the perfect chance for escape – and he just… didn’t care to escape.
Why am I like this? he frequently wondered. He had always hungered for power in the most literal sense, but here in the capital of Equestria, with the most magical being in the world at his side, he no longer cared for such things. Perhaps it was her lessons, that he’d come to view her as a friend; or maybe it was his old age catching up with him. More than likely, however, he had thought about world conquest for so long and the destruction of all magic, that he now had no idea what life would be like if he accomplished such a goal. He’d gotten so close more than once and each time had been a blunder, and yet… what was there at the end? What was he supposed to do with all the magic in the world?
No, he was content to play the historian. He even recounted his own conquests in an autobiographical saga that only Twilight truly enjoyed, though Sombra – now married to the recently-divorced Cadance – had enjoyed them enough to patron a theatrical version. Twilight excitedly took Tirek all the way to the Crystal Empire just so they could see, much to Tirek’s embarrassment. Still, halfway through watching two stallions in a centaur costume act as an overdramatic Tirek, the centaur realized that, at some point, he’d quit being a prisoner. He was given free leave. It had happened silently, without him noticing.
Once back in Canterlot, he tested his freedom, seeing how far he could go and for how long, and surprisingly all the Princess of Friendship would ask was where he was going and for how long. There was no escort or spies sent to follow him. He’d spent an entire month in Saddle Arabia, sightseeing.
The biggest sign of trust had come when the princess had shared her magic with him.
“You’re serious?” the centaur asked, red eyes flicking warily between the alicorn’s face and horn. It had been nearly a year since she’d taken him into the castle.
“I was unfamiliar with centaurs,” the princess confessed. “I had hoped you would have undergone a metamorphosis of some kind, like the changelings, but you’re still…”
“Dried up?” Tirek offered with a sardonic smile.
“I didn’t want to be rude,” Twilight’s cheeks colored slightly. Her wings twitched a moment as she waited. “I am serious, though. You can take some of my magic.”
“I could steal it all from you, you know,” the centaur narrowed his eyes, “I might not be able to control myself.”
“You’re too much of a gentle-stallion to let something as base as hunger overcome you,” the princess smirked.
She had become increasingly coy with him over the months they’d bonded. Part of the centaur wondered if it had something to do with the fact her mediocre attempts to catch the eye of the dense Royal Guard-pony with the blue mane had failed countless times. Or perhaps the Princess of Friendship had picked up a taste for flirting after she’d acquired power.
“Sarcasm aside, how can you trust me?” he chose to ignore the flirtation this time.
“As you’ve said,” Twilight was serious and sincere again, “you’ve had plenty of opportunities to steal my magic. It’s become clear you’re not really interested in it.”
“Then what makes you think I need it at all?” Tirek crossed his arms.
“Your form,” the princess’ voice took on that edge that let him know she was about to explain theory. “When you are without magic, your body is emaciated and frail, but when you steal a lot of magic, your body becomes swollen and overly-buff. Neither form is particularly natural in any other species. Well, except minotaurs… But it just doesn’t look natural on you.”
“I suppose it never really felt natural,” Tirek confessed. In all honesty, being deprived of magic entirely made him miserable – he lusted after the stuff – but whenever he absorbed a lot of magic, he was high on power, overstimulated. There was sound logic behind the princess’ theory… “So you’re saying if I take just a little, I should reach a natural balance?”
“That’s the theory, anyway,” Twilight nodded. “Since you feed on magic, I’m not sure if you can recharge your energies like unicorns can or not.”
“I do not have a natural reservoir of magic like some creatures, except in regards to siphoning power,” Tirek explained, “but when I do have some magic to work with, I do have some bit of a natural recharge. I imagine it is the recharging related to my siphoning magic. The trouble is, I can’t recharge very quickly, hence why I resorted to stealing so much magic in order to perform powerful spells.”
“I see,” Twilight drew a visual representation with her magic in the air. “So, you’re like this windmill with a soft breeze; it can only every generate this much flour a day because it’s limited by the breeze. Therefore, in order to have enough ‘flour’ to make lots of ‘bread’, you steal tons of it from the farms with much faster windmills.”
“Yes, except I consume the flour I produce at a near constant rate,” Tirek explained, using his minor magical abilities to doodle with Twilight’s hologram. “Even if I wanted to save up my ‘flour’, as you put it, I can’t. I can only use the small reserve I have in order to steal from others.”
“Therefore, if you had a larger reserve, you could potentially do regular magic,” Twilight rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “I imagine it might even be possible to increase your magical recharge rate.”
“This all sounds promising, but I’m not sure…”
“I trust you, Tirek,” Twilight gave her friendliest smile and the centaur sighed, giving in.
He siphoned a bit of her power, feeling exhilaration surge through him as his power grew. He felt his body grow, his horns lengthen. His hunger whetted, Tirek continued to absorb, almost losing sight of his goal and draining her dry. He cut himself off, however, not wishing to betray the princess’ trust for some temporary power. Cutting off early, the centaur blinked in surprise at the fact there was no further hunger, but also no bitterness. He felt… almost complete, balanced. Looking down at himself, he saw his body was evenly toned and proportioned, his fur lustrous and healthy, and his skin a bright red. The horns on his head were long and straight, like a gazelle’s.
“How do you feel?” Twilight asked. If the borrowed power had weakened her any, it didn’t show.
“I feel…” Tirek felt a sincere smile come to his face for the first time in centuries, “…good.”
…
5 Years Later
“Oh come on, you!” the annoying voice of the draconequues grated on Tirek’s nerves more than any noise he’d ever heard in his unnaturally long life. “You and the princess are very close… Tell me everything! Gush!”
“Twilight and I are friends, Discord,” Tirek bit out, still unused to the word, “nothing more. Not everyone falls in love with their reformer!”
“Except for Chrysalis, Sombra, myself,” he added with a small smile, “and Cozy Glow, after a fashion. Look, I understand – it’s not cool and villainy to fall in love. I was a skeptic, too, once upon a time.”
“And now you can’t shut up about your wife,” the centaur muttered. “Why are you bothering me, again?”
“Because, you old fuddy duddy,” the Spirit of Chaos grinned, “now that you’re a good guy, and all, we should try and rekindle our old friendship.”
“I seem to recall that our ‘friendship’,” Tirek put air quotes around the word, “was merely the two of us delighting over torturing ponies as we tried to conquer Equestria, and it culminated in me getting you betray your only friend to the point of tears.”
“Wow,” Discord’s amusement died. “Honestly, did you have to bring that up? It still keeps me up at night to know I made Fluttershy cry.”
“More than once, I can imagine,” the centaur added with a grunt as he returned to the books he had dragged from the Canterlot Royal Library into his room within the castle. He could feel Discord watching him with an almost physical curiosity, aggravating the former conqueror. “What will it take to get you to leave me alone?”
“Is that any way to talk to your old friend?”
“Discord, we were never friends,” Tirek scowled, “and as it stands, I doubt we ever will be.”
“Ouch,” Discord looked genuinely hurt. “What did I ever do to you?”
“How about suggesting the princesses turn me and the others into stone, for starters?” the centaur’s scowl deepened. “I don’t think any of us have forgotten – or forgiven – you for that.”
“Yes, well…” the draconequues tugged at the fur of his collar, which comically began to behave like the collar of a shirt. “I-it was only a suggestion, intended to help preserve you until you could reform.”
“Really now?” Tirek raised an eyebrow. “That’s funny, considering you were also the one who freed us and united us, intent on encouraging us to do evil just so we could be defeated. Sombra nearly died!”
“In my defense, he rushed off on his own-”
“Which was very likely your plan from the start, Grogar,” the centaur cut Discord off. “I suspect you wanted Sombra to run off alone and be killed, partly so the Elements of Harmony could have their confidence-building victory, but also to permanently vanquish a recurring thorn in their side. What was the ultimate plan for the rest of us, Discord? How would we all have died if we hadn’t betrayed you?”
The draconequues stayed silent, looking disturbed and ashamed in equal measure. There was more to it than simple shame, though. Tirek wished he imagined it, but he could see the clear guilt and even regret in Discord’s expression. The Spirit of Chaos had changed greatly in the short span of time since he’d been redeemed by the Elements of Harmony, more so than in the millennia preceding his imprisonment – which was really saying something, considering spontaneous change was part of his aspect. Tirek felt himself looking at the floor, suddenly, looking inward at himself. He, too, had changed immensely in so short a time, and all due to the patience and kindness of one of the Elements of Harmony.
And I will very likely continue to change, he thought to himself. He looked again at Discord again, this time out of curiosity. Perhaps I may even grow to forgive him. Maybe, even to call him friend.
…
Present Day
They had been combining their talents to try and seek out the missing Alicorn Amulet from within the castle, even visiting the Canterlot Vaults with Twilight to assess the escape, when they felt it. All three of them, powerful in magic, could feel the waves of magic. Judging by the sudden discomfiture of the guards attending the princess, it seemed every creature could feel it.
“What was that?” Gallus asked, shifting his grip on his spear as he tried to maintain his calm. To the griffon it had felt as if a sudden chill had descended on him, dragging his heart with it.
To Twilight, the most potent magic user in the world, it had been a blatant sign for her to go and check out, as clear and direct as a shouted invitation. To Discord, it was like a distant explosion – something so powerful and obvious, he could easily pick it out. To Tirek, however, it was a familiar magic. The centaur had experience with all types of magic, exposed to them as he was over the course of his long life. He could recognize the ancient evil, and that recognition filled him with as much dread as it did confusion. All three of them felt the same chilling despair as Gallus and the other guards, of course, but only Tirek recognized it.
“Impossible…” he murmured under his breath.
“What is it, Tirek?” Twilight asked, sensing his mounting tension.
“I must be mistaken,” the centaur forced calm into his voice. “Nevertheless, we should probably investigate… that.”
“Agreed,” Twilight nodded, firmly. She turned to her guards. “Gallus, muster a platoon of Royal Guards in the courtyard on the double, and send word to the other Elements of Harmony to meet me in Ponyville.”
“As you command, Your Highness,” the griffon saluted quickly before flying off with the other guards. Twilight turned her attention to Discord.
“Do you think you could do a little recon for us, old friend?” she asked, a tenuous smirk on her lips.
“Oh, I don’t know…” Discord feigned disinterest, fixing a pair of glasses on his face as he checked a small ledger. “I’m awfully busy, you know. Tea time with the missus; scrapbooking with the missus; window shopping for new doilies; O&O with the guys…”
“Discord,” the princess giggled, pleased that the Spirit of Chaos could break the tension of the moment with his usual wit.
“Oh, alright,” the draconequues sighed, his items poofing away. “Whatever is in Ponyville must be awfully powerful, though. Are you really alright with sending your oldest and dearest friend to certain death?”
“I’m pretty sure you can’t die,” Twilight smirked in earnest now, “and oldest? Dearest?”
“Well, I’m certainly the oldest in age, at any rate,” Discord crossed his arms. “I’ll be in and out in a jiffy, then. Back in time for tea time.”
The draconequues teleported away, leaving Twilight and Tirek to canter to the courtyard as quick as they could without inciting a panic. There hadn’t been any major threat to Equestria – or even the world – in over a decade; creatures had become accustomed to a life of peace. To feel the unnatural dread in the air was bad enough, but to see the Princess of Friendship galloping to deal with the problem? It might incite a panic.
“Perhaps we should wait for the other Elements, my dear?” Tirek cautioned, using some of his old snake-like charm. Twilight raised an eyebrow at the title and his poor hand at charisma.
“Feeling awfully chivalric all of a sudden, aren’t we?” she gave a dry laugh. “Now’s not the time for our usual games, Tirek – we need to figure out what’s happening in Ponyville.” She stopped and turned to face the following centaur, narrowing her eyes. “Unless you already know…?”
“I have a suspicion, but it’s better kept to myself,” Tirek grunted, avoiding eye contact. “The magic is… familiar to me.”
Twilight eyed him a moment longer before continuing.
“We’ll wait for Discord to return before doing anything,” Twilight decided. “His report will let us know if time or caution is the bigger necessity.”
Tirek gave a quiet agreement as he followed the princess, but he couldn’t help the icy ball of dread in his gut that nothing short of the Elements of Harmony would be enough to deal with what was ahead of them.
And even then, perhaps they weren’t enough, either.
…
Discord came into existence outside Ponyville, scanning the town to try and pinpoint the cause of the magical disturbance. He didn’t have to scan long. A large portion of the town, from a residential neighborhood, through the town square, and the castle tree in its center, had been warped into a palace of purple-veined obsidian. The castle had grown into a citadel, the once impressively-large tree now swollen with additional turrets and walls, its roots gnarled and spreading through surrounding houses. The businesses and homes were little more than glassy black bastions wrapped in the crystalline roots of the citadel. Atop the highest tower of the structure, a false sun of dirty, golden light burned, and all the darkness and evil that could be felt came from there.
Discord shielded his eyes and squinted at the artificial sun. It almost looked like there was a figure just beneath it, standing in the balcony of the tower. With no other lead, Discord disguised himself as a small, innocuous creature – a butterfly – and tried to get closer to the castle. He flew past abandoned homes, the deserted state of Ponyville leaving him chilled. He had to fight the urge to rush to the cabin and check on Fluttershy, hoping she’d stayed home today instead of going into town. It seemed all the creatures had fled, though.
He reached the tree and began the flight up, only realizing how much taller the tree was once he’d reached it. It was truly massive, now, the trunk easily taking up the entire town square. The draconequues’ breathing became strained as he finally reached the top, and he struggled to calm himself; a panting butterfly wasn’t much of a disguise. He leaned over the balustrade of the balcony and looked at the figure. So close to the bright light, much of the detail was washed out until Discord summoned a pair of sunglasses to cover his eyes.
Immediately, the figure came into focus: an alicorn mare, in appearance, but like some evil version of the others. More sinister in aura and appearance, even, than he’d ever imagined Nightmare Moon to be, certainly. Nightmare Moon could terrify ponies, sure, but there was something about this dark alicorn that truly evoked terror – a genuine, primeval kind of terror.
Unfortunately, as soon as he’d summoned the sunglasses, the terrifying mare turned her head to look directly at him. Discord cursed himself for being dumb enough to use magic so close to an obviously powerful magic-user.
“Come on out of hiding, Discord,” the mare’s voice was somewhat familiar, laced with a malicious amusement. “I sensed your arrival some time ago. I’m pleased you could be here to see my great works.”
Discord teleported closer to the mare, in his true form, applying a coat of sunscreen for comical effect. The amusement in the mare’s face died a little at his antics.
“Try and take this seriously,” she sighed. “Honestly, I never understood how some creatures found you so charismatic.”
“You’re one to talk about charisma,” Discord put his hands on his hips. “Incidentally: who are you?”
“Don’t you recognize me, Discord?” the mare looked hurt, then shifted her voice an octave. “Or should I say, Professor?”
Now that the voice sounded younger, Discord’s eyes widened in recognition and he gasped, taking a step backwards.
“Luster Dawn?” he asked. “So, it was you who stole the Alicorn Amulet!”
“Well, well, well,” the alicorn turned to face him fully, a begrudgingly impressed look on her face. “I’m surprised you deduced that so quickly.”
“Well, you are an alicorn now,” Discord crossed his arms, slightly offended, “and you stink of dark magic. How else would this have happened?”
“I threw the amulet away,” Luster grinned, “I don’t need it anymore.”
“But… I-”
“Still sense the dark magic on me?” the mare was too amused with the situation, too proud. “That’s because I used the amulet to summon my greatest mentor, and together we are more powerful than any magical bauble.”
“Mentor…?” Discord felt a chill run up his spine. He looked around briefly, but could only see Luster Dawn. An older, infinitely more powerful, darker Luster Dawn. The polluting influence of the Alicorn Amulet, and the memory of Nightmare Moon still fresh on his mind, Discord felt a suspicion that something similar was happening here. He wondered what he should do. “I should get going.”
“Going so soon?” Luster raised an eyebrow, suspicious. “I’m actually curious… why are you here? Shouldn’t you be in your little love shack?”
“Twilight had me come and-” the draconequues shut his mouth, unsure how the alicorn would respond. The dangerous narrowing of her eyes told him he’d said too much. “Anyway, I’ll let her know it was nothing to worry about; just her student.”
He felt his powers silenced by a powerful weaving of spells, so thorough and sudden that he almost didn’t believe it. He was one of the most powerful magical creatures in the world; to be made powerless so swiftly was an indication that whatever Luster had become, she was far more powerful than the Spirit of Chaos now.
“No, I don’t think you will,” she said softly. “I think you should wait in one of the guest rooms.”
“Oh, but I live so close,” Discord laughed nervously. “There’s really no reason to go out of your way like this.”
“It wasn’t a request,” Luster’s eyes glowed with the dirty bronze of her corrupt magic as the floor opened up beneath Discord and he fell impossibly through the balcony and into the heart of the corrupted castle, straight into a room of dark walls and dirty candlelight. “I’m sorry if that wasn’t made clear enough.”
The hole he’d fallen into closed shut before he could escape, leaving him in the semi-darkness of the glassy room, staring at warped reflections of himself in every surface. Discord tried his magic again but the silencing spell extended throughout the castle. It was like being in the changeling hive again, only this time he was the prisoner.
Nothing to do but wait around and hope Fluttershy can rescue me, this time, he thought as he sat on the ephemeral cloud-stuff that made up the bedding. It was cold and unpleasant, but still beat standing.
And so he waited, hoping Twilight and Tirek wouldn’t try and do anything foolish without the information he had for them.
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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
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I thought Sombra was destroyed, not turned to stone.
10873573
This is an alternate universe story, to be fair. And the author already explained that issue in the first chapter I do believe (I could be wrong, though; but it was at least mentioned that that was one of the AU details in one of the early chapters).
Very little I can say other than, well, I appreciate you continuing this story. The chapter took a while, but was quite well worth the wait. The exchanges, characterizations, action and future chapter set-up are all rather well done. Really appreciate the flashback scenes explaining why Twilight sent Sombra and Chrysalis to the Crystal Empire for their reforms as well as the start of Twilight and Tirek actually starting to bond (though only as friends, despite what Discord teased). And, yeah, admittedly, concerning you are going the AU route anyway, I kind of think it might have made more sense to use the real Grogar rather than keeping the "Discord in disguise" stuff (I kept quiet about that this long because I thought you had plans for the real Grogar later in this story) even though I'm mature enough to respect your right to write the story the way you want to and also not let little things stop me from enjoying the story. But I digress. Anyway, also understood the reason for sending Discord in for recon before jumping to conclusions and also have to grudgingly respect how Luster/Shadow did such a good job against Discord.
Anyway, quite certainly looking forward to more of this.
10873573
This is an alternate timeline where Sombra managed to escape and return to the villains. It's the only point of divergence from the show up until the decision not to turn them into stone. I wanted all 4 unredeemed villains to be present in the fic.
10873643
While it is an AU, the only points of divergence from the show I wanted were Sombra surviving and the villains being spared. I don't think I'll add a real Grogar. I was under the impression Discord made him up or he was defeated so long ago everyone forgot about it.
10874190
Yeah. That's fair enough.
I really liked seeing more of Tirek and how he changed. It felt really natural. I also liked the part where he called out Discord for his actions. That needs to happen more often. Hopefully they'll be able to deal with Nightmare Luster soon with perhaps some information on how she became so powerful.
Must be some crazy nightmare amplification thing. Now its doubly clear that Cozy made the right choice to get out of there.
Funny how Twilight gave Tirek a chance and maybe seeks something more from him, but to Cozy she was skeptical and wary despite getting constant reassurances from Starlight.
Still, this chapter was fun. The flashbacks did enough to show us all about Tirek despite this being the only chapter that focuses on him.
*mandatory poke*