> TiM: A Tyrant's Words
>  by Twidashforever
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> A grim Truth
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


South of Canterlot


Shimmering Night flew through the air with her wings spread wide. She loved moments like this. Night did not lie to Luna; she desperately needed to stretch her wings. With the air flowing under her feathers, she felt amazing. The wind beneath her wings was the greatest feeling in the world. As the daughter of Rainbow Dash, she was fully trained in some of the most technical aerial maneuvers possible. Yet for Night, it was all about this feeling. The physical enjoyment of flight was what she flew for. It was what she wanted and enjoyed the absolute most about it.

Night closed her eyes, allowing her to focus on all the other sensations. She listened to the wind flowing past her. She felt the air pockets above and beneath her. The cool air felt amazing after all this time. Ever since the rogue God was finally dealt with, too much of her time was spent dealing with the problems of others. She spent her time ruling Equestria with Princess Luna. While it was a role they were grooming her for since her birth, it allowed for none of the freedom she now felt. Truly, she did not feel this way since she last flew with her former husband Bright Dawn.

Her mood soured when his name came to her mind. Shimmering Night still could not believe that he said what he said. Even after three months, it still haunted her dreams. His words, she would remember them for the rest of her life. They were so hurtful, so spiteful, and what's worse, he believed that he was doing it for her. He called her mom, Twilight Sparkle, a monster. He said it was for the good of her and Equestria that she had died… She could never forgive that; Night could never forgive him, not after that. Still, she would be lying if she said she it still didn't sting. The loss of companionship also hurt. That was part of the reason why she wanted to go on this hunt.

When someone you love betrays you like that, at that level, it always leaves a mark.

"Night, hey Night!!" Ataxia's yelling got her attention.

Night looked up from her flight, she was off course. The Wonderbolt squad was fifty degrees to the left, heading on a direct course for Appleloosa. She was not. Night mentally facehoofed; she could not believe that she allowed her thoughts to distract her so. The foe they faced was dangerous to the extreme and she was letting memories of her ex-husband distract her like this.

“Sorry, sorry.”

“What’s going on? You seem a little distracted.”

“A little.”

Shimmering Night looked at the dragacorn. If you asked her a year ago what she thought about Ataxia, she would not have given a favorable opinion. The two used to be best friends growing up, however that all seemed to change over the years. Now, to put it kindly. It was only after prodding by both her parents that Ataxia was even invited to her wedding. Before, she never understood why Twilight and Rainbow excused every action the mare made. Regardless what trouble she would cause, or how much destruction, the two would simply fix it all and then talk to her. 

She now knew that Ataxia was the Avatar of Chaos; it was little wonder that she always got into trouble. After all, it was her birthright.

Looking at her, she admired the sheer power of Ataxia’s new form. Everything about it was impressive to the alicorn. It seemed every time she transformed, Ataxia’s dragacorn form was growing. She was the length of three earth ponies now and easily taller than any alicorn with scales that shone in the light of Luna’s sun. While her face was that of a dragon’s, nopony could look upon it without seeing Ataxia’s features in it. She was also the only dragon that Night knew of with a unicorn’s horn. The Dragon Steel Armor Rarity made for them all became part of Ataxia’s scales, it acted as a form-fitting glove that appeared and disappeared with her transformation. It was as much a part of the mare as the blue scales that ran down her back.

If her looks were impressive, then Ataxia’s abilities were even more so. Ataxia’s full power was still unknown. She was always impressive with magic, yet her current abilities put all of that to shame. It seemed as if there was no limit to what she could accomplish now. With Twilight’s memories gone, Ataxia was the strongest magic user in Equestria. Not that she just needed her magic. Ataxia’s front claws could slice right through the strongest stone. Her flame burned hot and long enough to hurt other dragons, which is something Night swore was impossible before she saw it first hoof.

Ataxia stopped the group and made them wait for Shimmering Night to catch up. Technically, she was the lowest ranking pony here. However, she has operational command of all hunts, a task appointed to her by Princess Rainbow, Luna, and Night. While all hunts were two pony teams, she was the de facto leader of each one.

When Night caught up with the group, she was stopped by Ataxia’s claw on her chest. Ataxia looked at her with judging eyes. “Can you do this?”

“What?”

“Look, I know it's been awhile since your last hunt, but I need you here, now. Therefore, I need to know before we go any farther if you can be here with me. Otherwise we will turn around and get Luna.”

“I can do this.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Night stared Ataxia in the eyes. She met the dragacorn’s gaze with no hesitation in her. Ataxia simply smiled at that.

“Ok then, but no more getting distracted, ok?”

“Ok.”

As the group continued on, Ataxia could not help but steal glances at the purple alicorn. Shimmering Night went through so much in the past six months. She lost both of her moms at different points. Her husband ran for and won the title of King Asshole. To make matters worse, her mom, Twilight Sparkle, has no memory of who she really is. Ataxia could not imagine a worse set of circumstances.

Although, she did admit Shimmering Night rose to meet each one head on. The mare was amazing. Where most would have simply cried in the corner, Night fought back against what life forced upon her. Shimmering Night took over as co-ruler of Equestria after Celestia’s death. She even participated in these hunts with her every now and again. It was impressive if Ataxia said so herself.

“Hey Night?”

“Yeah?”

“How much longer do you think it’s going to be until Twilight is back to normal?”

“Can we not?”

“C’mon, there's not much else to talk about.”

“How about the weather?”

“Seriously?”

“It hurts less.”

“Oh, sorry.” Ataxia did not consider that. She mentally berated herself. ‘How would I feel if something happened to my mom?’ Although, a thought did occur to her. “You'll feel better if you talk to someone you know.”

“What if I don’t want too?”

“Then we got a three hour flight of really uncomfortable silence.”

“I know, it’s... It's just hard having to lie to her like this.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t even tell her she is my mom…”

“What? Why?”

“Rainbow asked me not too, she said that according to Cadance, it would not be wise to force Twilight back into her old life like that, that the time would come to tell her everything, but not all at once.”

“Buck that!”

“She made me pinkie promise.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah…”

“Well don’t think of it as lying, think of it as not telling the whole truth.”

“A lie of omission is still a lie.”

“Omwhatten?”

“Omission: it means to leave something out or exclude something.”

“Why didn’t you just say that?”

“I did.”

“No, you said omission.”

She could not help but crack a grin at that remark, Ataxia ‘dropped’ out of school at a very young age. Sometimes she would forget that and talk over Ataxia’s head. At times like this, it was best to simply nod and agree. “You’re right, I’m sorry.”

“Now you’re being condescending, aren’t you?”

“Hey that’s a big word for you.” Night laughed at that; unfortunately, it was exactly what would make the situation worse. Ataxia launched a flame attack right in front of Night's flight path. She avoided it at the last second by diving down underneath it. There was no real intent to hurt the alicorn, but Ataxia did want to send a message.

“Ok, message received, sorry.”

“Thought so.”

Ataxia looked back just to make sure Night was not hurt in some way. She pulled her punch on that. Still, it was hard for her to gauge exactly how much power to put into things like that. She did not want to injure her friend, not in any real way anyway.  

Ataxia cringed when she saw that some of Night’s rainbow mane was a little singed. Extending her wings, she allowed the alicorn to pass her before coming up from behind to do what she could for her friend. 

“What are you doing?”

“Fixing something.”

"What?" Night asked.

Deflecting, Ataxia quickly changed the subject. “For what it’s worth, Bright Dawn was a fool.”

“Thanks.”

Looking over the damage her stunt caused, Ataxia quickly cast a spell and regrew the burnt strands. In a flash of white, Night’s mane was back to its rainbow beauty.  Despite herself, Ataxia’s hooves stayed on Shimmering Night’s mane a little too long. She almost lost herself in the feel of it before Night commented.

“Are you done?” Night asked her friend, unsure what was going on.

“Oh… Yeah.” Ataxia sped off, quickly passing all three members of the Wonderbolt squad leading them. She needed to put some distance between whatever ‘that’ was and the blush on her face.

A very confused Shimmering Night followed.

…………….


Appleloosa


“Knock, Knock.”

A black energy beam shot out of the darkness to meet this intruder. He expertly dodged it with a roll to his right. Six shadow hands quickly followed it up trying to reach for his limbs. Each one would pull him apart in their grasp if they caught him. He laughed at these tricks. With a dive through the air, the black pegasus took wing. Flying around the hands, he forced them to tie themselves up in knots.

Several more energy beams shot out, after dodging the first three, he positioned himself between his attacker and the knot of hands. When the fourth shot came, he dodged to the left and laughed as his attacker’s magic was forced upon itself.

“We can keep playing these games if you want to, you'll just lose though.”

He heard a growl in the distance. “Ahh, did I make you mad? You know you can’t catch me, regardless of how much power you have.”

“You’re not as fast as you think you are.”

“Yes, I am. No one is as fast as me.” The black pegasus cocked a grin and beat his hoof to his chest.

“Correction, none was as fast as you. You've been dethroned.”

“Bullshit!”

The lights came up around the cave, for the first time since entering he gazed upon his attacker. On the other side of the cave a unicorn stood, a brown cloak covering his form. “Dear brother,” he spoke. “You've been gone for far too long. A lot has changed in that time.”

“Well, it’s not my fault that they took the target to Canterlot. You just got lucky, if they took her to Manehattan it would have been me.”

“Jealous?”

“After you got your ass kicked? No, not really.”

“Keep it up Blood; see what happens when you really piss me off.”

“What and watch you miss more, Night?”

“You might be surprised what I'm capable of with this body.”

“You could never fully control the power of your host, you do it wrong. You rely on deception and lies to take over, sharing their power and relying on them to lend their strength. I break them fully before consuming their very essence.”

“We can’t all wait months before fully taking over like you do, besides this host won’t complain about anything like that.”

“Oh, why's that?”

The unicorn pulled back his hood. Revealing a face that decayed from too much time spent rotting in the river. The shock of it caused his brother to fall to the ground. He immediately wrapped the errant pegasus in a magic cocoon that threatened to squash him entirely.

“But, the dead cannot support us! They don’t have enough magic….”

“This one did and what I've learned… it would fill a library brother. He knew just about every dark spell in existence. How he stayed on their side for so long is a mystery to me.”

The pegasus attempted to free himself, only to find that it was impossible. He was caught, and that was the end of his story. Still, it was a waste not to find out what information he could. “So, what name do you go by now?”

“Grim Night.”

“Unoriginal, but fitting. You can call me Blood Dawn.”

“Then good bye, Blood Dawn.”

Before Grim Night could start to squeeze his brother to death, both of their heads snapped to the north. Two powers were on their way and getting closer as they spoke.

“It’s not supposed to be her!”

“Ahh, did your plans not go the way you wanted? I’m so sorry.” Blood Dawn sarcastically replied to his brother’s outburst.

“Was this your doing?!”

“Yes brother, somehow I knew exactly what you were planning and took steps to ruin it. Came here and let myself be trapped. Only to laugh at you as you killed me. This was exactly my plan.”

Grim Night dropped his arrogant brother. “This changes everything. I planned for Princess Luna.”

“Really, it’s the ‘other’ one that ruins your plans. Not the powerhouse that's on its way?”

“I already have something in store for that one.”

“Really? What?”

“Lord Tirek.”

“Tirek? Are you sure about that brother? At best he’s unstable. At worst he'd gain enough power to kill us both.”

“Don’t worry, in this body I'm more than match for him if he gets out of line. Not that it will come to that of course.”

“Of course, well if the other one is the issue, I think I might be able to help you with her.”

“You’re offering to help me?” Why do I feel like there is a price for this assistance?”

“Of course there's a price. I don’t know what you are planning but I want in. You have a way with plans that either succeeds spectacularly, or blows up in your face. I’m not blind to everything around me brother. I know how powerful these ponies have become. I wouldn’t last long on my own. Therefore, for this once, I will place my bets on you, and whatever you are cooking up. Besides, I want a shot at whomever you said is faster than me.”

“Hmm. Forced to work with you… It almost seems not worth it. Very well, I will accept your help. But tell me, how will you distract the other one?”

“That’s the easy part.” The black energy recalled from around his face revealing the features of Bright Dawn. “I am her husband after all.” He said in Bright Dawn’s voice.

The two brothers started laughing together. The sound of it echoed out of the cave.

.………


Fifty miles east of the Crystal Empire


“Twi… Twi…”

“Five more minutes…”

“Twi, you got to get up.”

“Why?’

“Because you should have been at your next study session at nine.”

“And?”

“It’s past noon.”

Twilight shot up, she could not believe that she overslept for her next lesson, “No, no, no, no, no. My professor is going to be so mad at meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” Unfortunately for the panicking alicorn; she forgot that she did not fall asleep on a bed. Her screams trailed off as she fell from the cloud she and Rainbow slept on.

“I gotcha!” Rainbow yelled as she swooped down and caught the alicorn in her hooves. In Twilight’s panicked state, she clung tightly to the cyan pegasus that saved her life. Twilight’s heart felt like a jackhammer pressed against Rainbow's chest.

“You know you can fly, right?”

Twilight began a series of deep breathing exercises to catch her breath. After a few inhales, she replied to Rainbow’s comment. “Actually, can you carry me the rest of the way? It would take me too long to fly back on my own." Rainbow’s heartbeat caught up to Twilight’s on that suggestion, a fact that did not go unnoticed by the alicorn.

“Sure Twi, hold on tight, ok?”

“Ok.”

Rainbow broke the sound barrier, treating Twilight to the first sonic rainboom she could remember.

…

Two minutes later, they arrived at the base of the Crystal Palace. Rainbow gingerly set Twilight down on the ground. Not fully letting her stand on her own until she regained the use of her legs. “That was amazing, Rainbow!”

“I know I am.” The cocky mare replied.

Twilight began walking up the stairs to the palace before looking back at the pegasus. “Thanks, by the way.”

“For what?”

“For everything…” Twilight blushed a little while making that comment. “You've shown me so much in these past months. You have been so patient with me despite everything. For that I wanted to thank you.”

“You haven’t seen anything yet!” Rainbow took off into the sky, treating Twilight and the entire Crystal Empire to the sight of two sonic rainbooms going off back to back. Twilight watched in awe until the display was over. She smiled again before heading up the stars to get yelled at for missing her lecture.

Up the steps, she ran into the last pony she expected to see but the one she wanted to talk to the most. “Cadance, may I ask you a few questions?”

Princess Cadance smiled at the mare; she already knew what was on Twilight’s mind. She could feel it growing from all this distance away; her plan was working. “You can ask me anything Twilight. You know that.”

Twilight sheepishly looked down at her hooves. “I know, it’s just that with everything that's happened, I wasn’t sure but…”

“But what?”

Twilight’s resolve strengthened, after that last flight lesson, she couldn’t help but see Rainbow Dash in a different light. “Let me ask, what do you think of Rainbow Dash?"

……………………………………..


Appleloosa


The first thing Ataxia noticed about the town of Appleloosa was its complete desertion. She could not spot a pony anywhere in the town. There was no sign of this Lord Tirek, the Wonderbolts that should have been keeping an eye on him, the ponies that lived here, or the buffalo that were native to this land.

Ataxia set down in the center of town, and a look back at the others caused her to feel slightly guilty. She did not intend to leave them so far behind. Not like this anyway. Night and the three Wonderbolts were still a few minutes out. “Slowpokes,” she said under her breath.

…...

As soon as Appleloosa came into view, Shimmering Night put on an extra burst of speed. While Ataxia was more than capable of fending for herself, Night did not believe that she fully appreciated the threat Lord Tirek represented. He was sly, conniving, and deceitful. In his last attempt, he managed to convince Discord to betray his friends in a false promise of freedom.

Her training with Rainbow paid off. The mare arrived a full minute ahead of the Wonderbolts that were leading them. Landing next to a sarcastically napping Ataxia, she hit her friend in the gut with her hoof.

“Ugh, what was that for?”

“You should know better than to leave your backup on a hunt.”

“Wow, you read the book on this didn’t you?”

“I wrote the book actually, wait you didn’t read it?”

“You’re kidding right? Me, read a book?”

“Tell me at least Luna read it.”

Ataxia laughed even louder at that.

“So neither of you read it? All that time wasted…” Night sunk down on her haunches.

Ataxia wrapped a leg around the purple alicorn and helped her stand up. “Just think, if you didn’t give me a copy of the book, I wouldn’t have anything to keep my door open.”

“My book is not a doorstop!”

“Really? 'Cause that’s what it’s doing.”

“Ataxia!”

“Hey now, remember rule three, no giving away our position unnecessarily.”

“Wait… I thought you said you didn’t read it?”

“I may have skimmed it.”

The three arriving Wonderbolts interrupted any further conversation the two might have had.

“Sergeant, where are your squad mates?”

“I don’t know, ma’am. They should have kept their distance; this is ominous to say the least.”

“It means an impression that something bad is going to happen.” Night spoke to Ataxia.

Ataxia looked at Night. “Thank you for that, now if you don’t mind I'm going to begin the hunt for the creature that is responsible for all of this. Sergeant, fly above and see if you can find what happened to the other two Wonderbolts that should have been on guard.”

Ataxia left the group and began walking around town, a loud “Humph” following in her wake. The three Wonderbolts saluted Princess Shimmering Night and took off into the air. Night turned in the direction of her friend, she was about to follow her when a flash of black appeared in her peripheral vision. It went by so quickly that she could not even see what left it.

She dismissed it as a shadow playing tricks, at first. The third time it occurred Night knew something was up. She tried to feel it out with her magic. Nothing came back, and while she was not as skilled at sensing others as some other ponies, Night knew that should not have been the case. Something was definitely wrong here. Something bad happened here.

“Night.”

The noise came quickly in the distance. She did not imagine it, worse she recognized that voice. ‘It couldn’t be…’ A large part of her wanted to go find Ataxia, to tell her something is seriously wrong with this place and they needed to regroup. However, logic was not ruling her thoughts right this moment. Night chased after the noise. If he is here, she wanted to know.

……

Ataxia turned another corner, she wanted to put as much distance between her and miss know-it-all as she could. She still could not believe how awkward the flight down here was. She was definitely not feeling like her normal self and she had no idea why. Unfortunately, she was not paying attention to where she was walking and ran face first into the back of a buffalo lying on the ground.

That snapped her out of her funk as she took in the sight of the carnage all around her. Dead ponies and buffalo lay everywhere. In the center of it all was a massive form hidden under a cloak. Lord Tirek was holding one of the Wonderbolts in his hand as the other two lay dead at his feet.

Ataxia watched in horror as he finished draining the magic from the Wonderbolt and snapped its neck. The body of the dead pegasus fell to the ground with a thud.

“So, they sent out their monster hunter to stop me?” Tirek said as he turned to face the dragacorn.

“You… You killed them?”

“Yes, you see I've learned a lot from my last visit up here, the mistake I made was leaving my victims alive. If they’re dead, I have no fear of losing the magic that I take from them. Although, I do have to say; I don’t particularly care for the taste of buffalo.”

“You're… you’re a monster.”

“Have you looked in a mirror lately?”

“I know what I am.”

“Do you? Do you honestly know what you are?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You my dear, you are the biggest monster of all.”

“Liar! I know what I am; I was told the prophecy.”

Tirek took a step forward, walking towards the dragacorn. Ataxia responded by setting the ground in front of him on fire. He lifted his leg in shock before turning his gaze back to the dragacorn. “You know nothing, young one. I was there the day the prophecy was foretold. Would you like to hear what did not make it into the books?”

………………………………

Shimmering Night followed the whisper out of the town. Every rational thought told her that this was a trap; that something wanted to separate them and she was playing right into their hooves. She did not care about rational thought right this second. She needed to know if he was here, why he was here, and if he had any part in what was going on.

The black blur seemed to be stalking her; always out of the corner of her eye. She would never see it directly as it darted from shadow to shadow. It was never in the same place for any amount of time and never when she looked in its direction.

The whisper led her into a cave out on the outskirt of town. Night readied herself, whatever it was, when the trap finally sprang, she would be ready for it. Casting the strongest shields she could, Shimmering Night walked with her head up into the cave.

After casting a light spell, her jaw dropped at what she saw. At the back of the cave was Bright Dawn, he smiled at her with that cocksure grin she swore he stole from Rainbow.

“Hey Night.”

“Dawn…” So many emotions ran through her at that moment that she could not process them all. It had been three months since she last saw him and the rumors she heard were not good. Yet here he stood, as if it were only yesterday that they were still married. “What… What are you doing here?”

“What? I can’t see my wife anymore?”

“We are not married Dawn, not anymore.”

“Funny I seem to remember a wedding, a ceremony, and reciting my vows. While I will admit, our honeymoon was slightly delayed, we still had one. You are quite the screamer you know.” He winked at her.

Shimmering Night wanted to yell at him, buck him in the teeth, banish him to the moon, and kiss him all at once. She was not sure which emotion would win in the end either. “That may well be, but you know it’s over after what happened three months ago.”

“Ahh, yes… when you threw away our marriage vows to defend your mom. Shame, I thought they meant more to you than that. How did yours go again? Oh wait I remember:  You are my best friend. I give myself to you. I will love you in good times or in bad. When life seems easy and when it is hard. I will hold you in the highest regard. I pinkie promise all this to you.” He started laughing at her. “Unless you don’t like my mom, then I'll call it off in the blink of an eye. Oh, no, my fault; that last bit was implied wasn’t it? You know you’re lucky Pinkie Pie is not alive anymore, otherwise she would be rightly cross at you for breaking a pinkie promise.”

Anger began coming off Night in waves. “What’s your point?”

“Oh dear, I made you mad didn’t I. Well a good husband always puts his wife first doesn’t he? C’mon, let’s kiss and make up.”

Night met his puckered lips with a small blast from her horn. It was not enough to do any real damage; she just wanted him to shut up. The beam went right though him like he was not even there. Night ran up and waved a hoof through his form. “An illusion!”

“You always were a smart one, Night.”

She spun around, directly in the entrance to the cave was a black pegasus. The stallion grinned a wicked grin at the alicorn.

“Who are you?”

“Oh, I’m hurt, you don’t recognize me. I guess I can’t blame you, I do look a little different after all.” The black magic around the pegasus started melting away, revealing the form of her ex-husband. “No dear wife, it’s not a trick. This is really me, the me that you helped create.”

Night looked on, speechless. The illusion knew too much, too many personal details. This was her husband, or what remained of him anyway. “Bright Dawn, what happened to you?”

“Oh, so close. However, I'm no longer the one you loved. You can call me Blood Dawn. Want to guess how I earned that name? I do have to thank you though; it's so much easier to destroy the will of mortals when they have so much to lose. Bright Dawn’s will, well that took me a while. He still held out hope that you would take him back you know.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Hmm, maybe you aren’t that bright after all. Well I'll spell it out for you then, I'm the reason why your husband turned against Twilight. Yes, that’s right; when the Shadowbeings captured him instead of you, they implanted me into him. It was so easy, a simple suggestion here and there, about who was responsible for all the heartbreak in Equestria. Simple little tricks and he became utterly convinced that the only way to save the mare he so loved was by getting rid of Twilight Sparkle. It was utterly devastating hearing you all turn against him like that. Wait? Did I say devastating? I meant hilarious. Because I never altered his thoughts, I merely implanted suggestions; none of you even suspected that he was acting different for a reason. Well, timing it with Tartarus's master plan helped too. Without that, the process could have taken years to come to fruition.”

“You lie!” Tears begun coming from Shimmering Nights eyes as she processed all this creature told her.

“Come now princess, does this look like the face of a liar to you?” Blood Dawn grinned at the stricken alicorn. “You know it’s true, just look into your heart. A decade with the same stallion chasing after you, you know him far too well for it not to be the truth. All the pieces fit together nicely.”

“Give him back,” she cried out.

“Oh, you want him back? How about no. Don’t feel bad though, I couldn’t even if I wanted to. I will say this; his soul was delicious. He suffered every day after he left you. The poor dear even tried killing himself almost every single night. I wouldn’t let him though.” He walked closer to the devastated alicorn, his every word like daggers plunged into her heart. “I'll tell you this, in the end I showed him the truth of it all. I showed him what I did. His screams were like music in my ears.”  Blood Dawn laughed as the princess wept tears into the ground.


	
> Harsh Reality
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Crystal Empire


Ever since Commander Firestar’s injury at the hands of the Titan three months ago, she had been staying in the Crystal Empire. In order to improve the combat effectiveness of both sets of troops, the Crystal Empire and Cloudsdale held joint training drills, much to the enjoyment of Prince Radiant Star, his commanders, and the Cloudsdale instructors. Of course, the front line troops hated every single minute of it. Commander Firestar’s training was the hardest in all of Equestria.

As the former Captain of the Wonderbolts promoted to the Commander of Cloudsdale, Firestar tended to forget that not all of the troops were the best of the best. Not that she cared. Firestar held all of her troops to the same standard regardless of where they started. If you were weak in flight, she would make you strong. If you could not bench-press her standards, she would change that. Her training regimen caused everypony to improve. It was unique in that it adapted to the pony, not trying to force any into groups that they would not fit in. Of course they would hate it at the start, but after a month of training, nopony could deny its effectiveness.

Of course, as the Crystal Empire’s forces did not have a large number of pegasi in it, the training had to be changed. That did not stop a smile from crossing Radiant's face as he inspected the soldier’s training. They put every single one of his troops through their paces. The pegasi instructors from Cloudsdale were enjoying this moment to torture their fellow comrades in arms. 

As the two commanders watched the troop’s drilling, Radiant smiled as he saw squad three end up in the mud once more after failing to cross the log in the appropriate amount of time. Unfortunately, the pegasus he was currently pushing in a wheelchair in front of him, Commander Firestar, did not share in his enjoyment of this. “Your training has been too soft, Radiant.”

He grinned at her as he continued to push the commander across the observation point. “Well, these are not elite soldiers Firestar. They're basic front line troops.”

“That’s no excuse for getting sloppy, in a few months these ponies will be as fit as mine are.”

“I look forward to that day.” Radiant said with a smile on his face. He knew his troops were good already, but with Firestar’s help, they would be even better. The thought pleased the prince. 

Firestar looked up at Prince Radiant; she smiled a wicked grin at him. “By the way, how long has it been since you did any training?” Suddenly, the training regiment took on a different light to the prince. Their actions, which moments before caused a sense of pride in their commander; suddenly seemed a lot harder, almost like they were asking too much of their troops.

“Radiant… I'm waiting.” She added when his reply was not forthcoming.

Radiant gulped, “A few…”

“Days or weeks?” Firestar grinned, she already knew the answer but she wanted to hear it directly from the pony’s mouth.

“Months.” His reply came, Radiant was never the sort of commander that would not do what he asked his troops to do. However, he had to admit that ever since he started taking care of Firestar full time, his training was ‘lacking’ to say the least. He used to train every single day; now, not so much. He honestly did not know if he would be able to keep up with his troops at this moment. 

“Now Radiant, what sort of example are you setting if your troops are training without their commander?” Her grin turned slightly evil at that comment.

“Why are you doing this to me?” He pleaded with her. 

Firestar reached a hoof up and wrapped it around his head; bringing him in slowly she kissed him on the lips. After they broke apart, she forced his head down so she could whisper something into his ear. “Enjoy your ‘fuck-ton’ of training.”

He gulped at that. He should have known that she would, eventually, get her revenge over that. There was no way out of this now.

Prince Radiant Star, Commander of the Crystal Empire’s military forces: counted the next two hours as the hardest in his life. Commander Firestar watched it all, a smile never leaving her face as her stallion, eventually, completed every single obstacle her instructors put him through. She did have to give him credit though. While there was no doubt Radiant was out of practice, he was not out of shape. Prince Radiant even managed to finish a respectable third in the long distance run, although he never stopped glaring at her between the different drills.

‘I’ll make it up to him tonight.’ Firestar promised herself, ‘After he takes a few showers.’ She quickly added, as he ended up in the mud for the second time that day.

Princess Cadance walked up next to the mare. After a quick glance into the training area, she saw what held Firestar’s attention. “So what did he do to deserve this?”

“I’ll tell you another time,” Firestar said as she watched Radiant fall into the mud for a third time. To her surprise, she heard a giggle come from the princess as well.

“You seem happy.”

“Let’s just say. I had a very interesting conversation a little while ago.”

“Care to share?”

“I’ll tell you another time.” Cadance smirked.

…………


Ponyville


Spike finished rearranging the upstairs bedroom for the twelfth time that day. After the eleventh, he made Rarity mark exactly where every piece of furniture should go. He loved his wife to death, but it was quite taxing at times to put up with her more ‘eccentric’ nature.

“Rarity, it’s ready for your inspection,” he called out, having to bite his tongue not to add ‘again’ to the end of the sentence. 

No response came from his wife. “Rarity?” he asked again.

“Rarity?”

Walking down the stairs, Spike saw the reason for her lack of reply. Rarity, the mare he loved more than life itself, lay passed out on the couch. A smile crossed Spike’s face as he simply watched her sleep. He knew not what she dreamed, but he could see from the expression on her sleeping form that it was at least a happy dream. 

For the past few weeks, Rarity was unable to go a whole day without at least one nap. While it was nothing of any significance yet, Spike knew she was getting up there in age. Someponies could live for a hundred years or more; however, Rarity was an element bearer. By their nature, they were all protectors and guardians of others. As such, they would not enjoy such a long life. They engaged in activities that took years off their lives. 

Thinking back to that day some forty odd years ago, Spike recalled the warning Rarity gave him. He would outlive her. Of that, there was no doubt. However, even with that awful thought in his head, Spike would not trade a minute of their time together to spare himself any amount of pain. His reply came back as clear today as when he said it back then. “Better a life spent in mourning of what was, than a life spent in regret at what could have been.”

“Spike?”

Spike gulped, he did not mean to wake her up. “I’m here Rarity, let’s get you to bed.”

“That sounds wonderful.” She smiled as her eyelids closed again.

He simply smiled as he ran a hoof through her mane. Gingerly, he picked up Rarity and placed her on his back. As he walked home from Twilight’s house, he spoke aloud to nopony in particular. “Thank you for all the time we had together, thank you for giving me a wonderful daughter, but mostly, thank you for being with me all these years. They mean more to me then you could ever know.”

He swore he imagined the last part.

“You’re welcome.”

………………………………………………..


Appleloosa


“Ah, is the little pony upset? Are you crying because your love was taken from you, or because you gave up on him so easily?”

Blood Dawn walked up to the mare crying on the ground. The lavender alicorn looked pathetic to the revenant, but he did not care. What mattered was victory; the easiest war to win was the one your enemy was unable to fight. Honor is a concept for a being that cannot do what it takes to ensure victory. 

“Would you like to know what his last thoughts were? I’ll tell you if you ask… Well, I’ll tell you if you beg.”

Her sobbing intensified. 

“C’mon little pony, just say 'please mister Blood Dawn, tell me what my husband’s last thoughts were before you ate his soul'.” 

He took another step forward. Lifting his right hoof off the ground, the shadows changed shape to a blade. The Blood Revenant earned his title by showering the world in oceans of blood. It was his favorite method of killing: numerous small cuts that would slowly bleed his victim to death while ensuring that they felt every agonizingly painful moment of it. His natural speed and agility made him a deadly fighter in his own right. It fit his killing style perfectly. 

As he made the final few steps closer, each step accompanied by another insult to the mare’s honor. Another jab at how her husband suffered under his care. He raised his right hoof to begin the fun part of this task.

“Just think, when I'm done here, I get the joy of hunting down Rainbow Dash and sending her to meet you.”

At that, the mood in the cavern changed ever so slightly. Blood Dawn noticed it as soon as Night raised her face to look at him. There were tears still her eyes, but they shone with an intensity that wasn't there before. Her eye's shot daggers through him with a look that could kill. 

"You're a monster that feeds upon the souls of others. You're nothing more then a parasite in my ex-husband's body." With a drive that she did not possess before, Night got to her hooves. Each step was certain as she found her resolve. "To give the devil his due, I'll credit you with tricking me once but once is more than enough. I won't let you get anywhere near my parents."

Blood Dawn's smile faded as he watched the alicorn call forth her magic power. 

………

“What the buck did you just say to me?”

“I asked if you want to hear what did not make it into the books, there's a lot more to you than you know.”

Ataxia began pacing back and forth. For the first time since she could remember, Ataxia actually wished her partner were here. Having a second opinion would be useful right now. Alas, after she stormed off from Night’s condescending nature, the ‘princess’ had yet to catch up.

This was her decision, one that she had to decide on her own. Fortunately, that was easy enough.

Ataxia reared up on her back legs and launched a fireball at Tirek.

He managed to dodge, but only just. His back legs suffered third degree burns from the proximity to the heat alone.

“You'd really give up your only chance to know what I know? Are you willing to live with yourself after?” Tirek added, as he tried to stand again, only to fall on his flank.

“How dumb do you think I am? I've been on every single hunt since you all got out of Tartarus. Creatures like you promised me everything under the sun. There is nothing you have that I would trade your life for.”

“That may be, but I don’t want anything for this information.”

“What?”

“I'll be more than happy to share this with you, no price, no cost, not even for your promise to let me live after. I give it to you for free.”

“Bullshit.”

Tirek smiled at the dragacorn. “It’s not, I do this willingly.”

Ataxia began pacing back and forth, yet again. She really, really, really wished Night was here right now. This was a new one; she never encountered this sort of deal before. While there was not a doubt in her mind that she could kill Tirek, she could not help but think, 'What if this was something that I really need to know?' However, could she even trust what he would say?

“So you want me to listen to your lies? I don’t bucking think so.”

“You won’t hear a peep from me; I will show you what I saw. You will see it first hoof, dragacorn. You will hear it as if you were actually there. Then you can kill me if you want.”

‘Damn… That is exactly what I did not want to hear,’ Ataxia thought. She was never big on book smarts, street smarts sure. However, as she had no experience with anything like this before, she was out of her depth to say the least. “This had better be worth it.”

Tirek smiled at her, “Of course, there is one slight catch.”

“I bucking knew it!” Ataxia reared up again, ready to create a bonfire where Tirek now stood.

“You misunderstand. It takes a lot of magic to do this, even with all I've gained. I can only show you part of what there is to show. You can decide for yourself if you want to give me the energy to see the rest after.”

Ataxia swallowed her flame. “So I can try it out before I buy it?”

“More or less.” He grinned at her.

“Fine, let’s see what you have to show me.”

“Close your eyes.”

Ataxia simply glared at him, the meaning of her look obvious to Tirek. It read clear as day: ‘I don’t bucking think so.’

“Very well, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Tirek raised his hands and clasped them together. With a blast of magic Ataxia’s vision left her with only an afterimage of blinding white light.

…………………


A thousand years before the coming of Celestia and Luna


“Damn Tyran, you look like you just got your ass kicked.”

The huge black dragon stumbled into the cave, his feet unsteady on the rocky crevices. The cause of his inability to walk was obvious to all who lay eyes on him. Several long gashes made by magical attacks raked up and down his side. A lucky, or perhaps unlucky, shot pierced both his back legs, causing him immense pain every time he put his weight on them. However, he had to walk as he was unable to fly any farther. His torn wings barely got him here in the first place.

“Another loss,” Tyran spoke to no dragon in particular. In truth, he need not have said anything. Every dragon in the cave could instantly tell that he had lost. None of them could claim victory over the two upstarts.

“What happened to all the bragging? ‘I’m the strongest of all you wimps; I can ensure victory over two simple ponies. You all call yourself dragons?'" The green dragon began taunting Tyran.

“Keep it up Cyrall. When these wounds heal you will find out what I'm capable off.”

“If you don’t keel over first.”

Tyran roared his defiance at that. Cyrall readied himself. If he did not start the fight, no dragon could blame him for finishing it.

“ENOUGH!”

They both turned and looked at the one who spoke. When it became obvious who that was, there was no longer any thought of continuing with the pissing match. They both bowed their heads in a submissive gesture to the newcomer. After all, one did not piss off the King of Dragons without signing his own death warrant.

The ancient dragon landed between the two, his large frame easily taking up most of the cavern. His purple scales told the world of his rule for all who saw it. His was a title that he earned in every definition of the word. Several scars and dried blood ran down his sides. In a mark of a more recent battle, he held his left eye held closed. The Dragon King would never open it again, for he no longer had the eye.

“Tyran.” The black dragon flinched as the King called his name. “I advised you not to go, not to seek out battle with the two. Yet you insisted. Tell me, have you learned your lesson yet?”

“Yes king, I'm sorry I disobeyed.”

The purple dragon held out a claw and lifted up Tyran’s face. “Some lessons cannot be taught by others. Some you must learn by yourself. As I have learned mine.” He gestured his other claw to his missing eye. “Now you have learned yours.”

Tyran growled his displeasure at the situation. “I just can’t believe this is happening. They are just two... two ponies at that. How are we the ones losing ground? How are they this strong?”

The old dragon pulled his claw back, allowing his subject to look away from his presence. He always hated how they all viewed him. He was ‘king’ but only because no dragon had ever defeated him in battle. It was never his intention to hold sway over the others. He never ruled them. Now, now they all expected him to know what to do. They expected him to lead, but he was in the same boat that they were. Never before had he known ponies that held this sort of power. Until now, they were nothing more then an easy food source. Now, these two were driving them out of their lands. If nothing changed, they would have no choice but to leave. That or die.

“I don’t know…” it was the only answer he had and while it disappointed everyone who heard it. He would not lie, not now.

“I might know a little about it.” A sudden, unexpected voice sounded from the back of the room. In a flash of white light, a being appeared that none of them had ever seen before. It had the body of a lizard, the head of a goat and all sorts of other limbs from different creatures all around the world.

The large dragon reared up, prepared to face down this new foe that dared teleport into a cave directly in the middle of a horde of dragons.

“Now, now, no need for that, I come in peace after all.”

“You will leave in pieces, creature.” Cyrall threatened it.

“I can do that too.” Suddenly, all the different pieces that made up this creature fell apart and started bouncing around the cave. Yet the head just kept grinning at the Dragon King at the edge of the cave.

“Enough, I want to hear what this creature has to say.”

With a snap of the creature’s claw, a flash of white light once more overtook the cave. The creature stood once more in the center of the dragons, a condescending smile plastered over his face. “Well, looks like one of you is more than simple emotion. What a shock, I owe me a drink for losing that bet.” Suddenly a second one of the creature appeared to collect on the debt. “After,” the creature spoke to his twin, who pouted before walking away and disappearing in a flash of light.

“What are you?” The Dragon King asked.

“Oh, yes. Introductions, where are my manners?” The being pulled a sack from behind his back and started rummaging through it. Even though the bag was only the size of his head, he somehow managed to fit half his body in it while seeking to find whatever he was looking for. A loud “Ah, ha!” soon came from the sack. The creature pulled his body free and held a shining light that read, ‘Manners’ out in his left hand. “On second thought, when have I ever wanted manners?” he tossed the light back in the sack and held it closed as a loud ‘Boom’ echoed throughout the cave. The sack expanded several times its normal size when the sound vibrated out.

“The name is Discord, Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony, and as I said, I might know a little about your, well, let’s say ‘problem’.”

“You know about these two ponies?”

“Ponies.” The creature started laughing, “I assure you, Dragon King,” he gave a very sarcastic bow, “they are as far removed from a normal pony as you and I are.”

“Then what are they?” Tyran asked, no longer able to hold his tongue.

“Ah, now that is the right question to ask. You see, they will soon come to be known as alicorns, to make matters worse; well for you, they are the first alicorns. I can assure you that they are more than capable of killing every dragon here if they wish.”

The old dragon rubbed at a wound on his torso, it was a testament to the truth of what this ‘Discord’ said... “What can we do about it?”

“You? Nothing.”

“Is that a challenge?” Cyrall growled, unable to believe that this creature could do what they could not.

“Feel free to prove me wrong, after you get your butt kicked all over the map I’ll be here waiting.”

Cyrall backed off; he knew the odds were not in his favor on that particular confrontation.

“Like I said, there is nothing any of you can do about them right now and as much as I hate to admit it, there is nothing I can do right now either.”

“If you’re as worthless as us, then why are you here?”

“Ah, great ‘King,’ you know as well as I do, the future holds all sorts of opportunities. You see, these two will not be around forever; they will pass their power to others. Ones that will not be quite as powerful as them; those I will defeat.”

“Why?”

“Come again? I don’t think I understood that question.”

“Why are you doing this? I doubt it’s to help us.”

“Oh, that… Yes, I don’t personally give a damn about any of you actually. However, dragons are sooo much fun. The fear and chaos you spread in all the creatures of this world is like a fine aged wine. It just goes down so smooth. Besides,” his tone went from playful to serious in the snap of a finger. “They are trying to bring harmony to this land. Something I have NO desire to see happen.”

“The enemy of my enemy then?”

“Exactly.”

“What are we to do?”

“Lead your horde south, past the Griffin Empire and into the badlands. It’s nice and warm there, plenty of gems to be found.”

“So we're to run?” Tyran shouted, unwilling and unable to stay quite any longer.

“Well, that or die when they get tired of simply spanking you all over the place.”

“He makes a point, Discord. You want me to lead all of us away from our homelands on the promise that you will, one day in the future, defeat these alicorn’s kin. Then we're supposed to believe that you will simply, what? Give back all the land we used to own? It’s a lot of trust to place on a being that I've never seen before.”

Discord thought about this for a while. “What, don’t I have a trusting face?” He transformed his face into that of a kitten. Judging by the look on the old dragon’s face, he was not impressed. 

“What do you think?”

“Fine, I guess I'll give you some insurance. I know!” Discord held a claw to his head and pulled out a strand of raw magic from his temple. “As I said, there is nothing I can do about these two, but if I should fail against their kin, then this will ensure your victory.”

……………………………

Ataxia’s eyes blinked several times as she tried to focus her vision again. 

“Wait, what?”

“That's all I can manage right now…” Tirek said as he leaned on the ground, the magic drain sapped his ability to stand. 

“I don’t understand, what was that? What did Discord do? Who were the alicorns attacking the dragons? I thought you said you were there?”

“So many questions, but I'm out of energy.”

Ataxia now faced the unusual situation of wanting to know more. She knew of Discord, the God lived inside of her after all. However, this prophecy was new, this was knowledge that she did not possess. There were still a lot of questions that went unanswered on how this related to her and their situation. However, to learn more she would have to give this Tirek some power… 

“How much do you need?”

“What?”

“I said; how much power do you need to show me the rest?”

“Ah, so you do want to hear what I have to say, I tell you what, I'll take only what I need to finish and then you can hear the rest.”

Ataxia glared at him, she would not let this creature simply take what he wanted, she was not that dumb. “You really do think I’m stupid, don’t you?”

“Well, if you won’t do that, I will leave it to you to judge how much power I need to finish.”

Thoughts began playing in Ataxia’s head. Things would be so much simpler if someone else was here, she was not a decision maker dammit! That was left to smarter ponies. Every instinct she had simply told her to roast this creature and move on, yet she found herself torn between instinct and thought. It was an unusual situation for her to be in to say the least. While she wanted to be done with this, she could not help but think that not knowing would haunt her forever if she did simply kill him.

“Fine…”

“Sorry, my hearing isn't what is use to be, can you repeat that?”

As in way of answer, Ataxia began channeling her magic into the tip of her horn. The grin on Tirek’s face told the story of his thoughts, he was clearly happy about this. That alone told Ataxia that this was a bad idea. Yet she committed herself to this and would not back down now. “Is this enough?”

“I’m afraid not.”

She channeled more power into the ball that grew in size. “Now?”

“Still no.”

She channeled more. “Now?”

“Nope.”

One final burst of magic entered the energy. “NOW?!”

“Yes, that should do it.”

Tirek absorbed the magic energy, enjoying himself as he almost doubled in size, his form growing to almost the size of Ataxia. She glared angrily as her gut once more told her to stop wasting time with this creature. 

“Now where were we? Oh yes, I remember. We left off with Discord about to give a little gift to the Dragon King.” As he raised his hands again, Ataxia shut her eyes.

…………………

“Fine, I guess I'll give you some insurance. I know!” Discord held a claw to his head and pulled out a strand of raw magic from his temple. “As I said, there's nothing I can do about these two, but if I should fail, then this will ensure your victory.”

Discord teleported onto the top of the Dragon King's back and stuck the magic into him. The dragon roared in pain as it seeped into him. “What did you do to me?!” 

“You? Nothing, like I said, we can’t do anything now, this is one of those... Kin of your kin of your kin, things.”

Tyran launched a fireball at the draconequus. For his part, Discord simply split himself down to and let it harmlessly hit the back wall. “You missed by the way.”

“You need to explain that Discord.” The Dragon King said.

“Fine, I forget sometimes that mortals like things in black and white. You see, there is no way to defeat these two alicorns, not with the power in this room anyway. However, in the future there will come a time where the species will... let's say intermingle and a crossbreed will be born… Lets call it a dragacorn. This creature will possess all the power of an alicorn, with the strength and raw might of a dragon.”

“No dragon would ever breed with a pony!” Cyrall yelled.

“Oh, you can see the future can you? My bad, I thought I was the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony. I guess I was wrong about that.”

“Enough.” The Dragon King did not yell, as he did not have too. His voice reverberated off every wall and ceiling in the cave; demanding the obedience of every dragon that heard it.

“So you say this ‘dragacorn’ will have enough power to destroy these alicorns and take back our homelands?”

Discord held a claw to his beard, “Yes, I think that’s what I said… Do you want to check the instant reply?”

“No, that is enough.” He did not know what this instant reply was, but the Dragon King had more than enough of this creature’s antics for one lifetime.

“By the way, you might want to keep that part our little secret. If the worst should happen, the other races might come to enjoy the rule of the alicorns. They might be opposed to a hostile takeover, if you will.” Discord winked at the King. 

“Understood.” With a gesture of his tail, the Dragon King directed the entire horde of dragons out of the cave. He spread his giant wings and took flight behind them. 

Discord waved them all goodbye, when he turned around he was not surprised when a cloaked figure stepped out of the shadows. The figure approached the draconequus. “Hello Discord.”

“Tirek, why am I not surprised to find you lurking around here?”

“Tisk, tisk, and here I thought we were friends.”

“Friends? Blech… never had any use for them.”

“Indeed. Tell me, is it true?”

“What?”

“What you told that dragon, is it true? Are these alicorns really that powerful?”

“Ahh… that. Yes, it’s all true. Even I cannot defeat them. To answer your next question, yes the dragacorn will be powerful enough to get the job done. It will be its destiny to kill all the alicorns. That creature will be my instrument to restore chaos to a world overrun with harmony. Assuming I fail of course.”

“I've never known you to fail at anything.”

Discord pulled out a large wheel with symbols all over it. Lines that ended in spokes at the edges separated each symbol. There was an arrow pointing down at the top of the wheel. Tirek noticed that every single symbol had a picture of Discord giving an obscene gesture of sorts. Save one, one picture that looked like an odd tree.

“You see Tirek, when you play the game of chance; there is always the possibility you can fail.” He spun the wheel, as it went around and around it made a tick, tick, tick sound. Discord suddenly slammed a claw against the center. The wheel ended with the tree on top of the wheel, directly below the arrow. 

“After all, what’s the point of playing a game if you already know the outcome?”

“And this dragacorn?” Tirek asked.

“That, well that's my trump card.” With a snap of his fingers all the pictures on the wheel fell off, showing nothing but a picture of a half dragon, half pony, one that looked just like Ataxia. “That, my dear Tirek, is if I get tired of the game. It will be its destiny  to end the life of every alicorn on this planet.”

Tirek simply smiled, “What if I beat you to them?”

“Oh, by all means, take your best shot at it. However, you will want to wait for the next generation before doing so. Also, you might need a little help before trying.”

Tirek’s smile became a frown. “You’re referring to Scorpan, aren’t you?”

“Tell him I said hi.” Discord snapped his fingers, teleporting Tirek to the other side of the world.

……………………………

Ataxia stared in shock. It was her destiny to kill…

“No…”

Tirek smiled at the dragacorn. “Well, now to get onto the gruesome part of the task. I believe you were going to kill me.”

Ataxia jumped onto Tirek, grabbing him with her claws. “That was a lie! That is not my destiny! There must be a mistake! There must be some other way!”

Her thoughts turned to Princess Luna, Princess Twilight, and then to Princess Night. Night… she would hurt; she would kill, her… Ataxia wanted to throw up at that thought. She could never bring herself to hurt them, especially not Night…

“I’m sorry, this is simply what I saw. I have no more control over it than you do. As long as you have this power, this is your destiny. You cannot escape it, you cannot change it, and you cannot run from it.”

Ataxia was desperate for a way out, her mind played that event around her head a hundred times. There was one thing that he said that she took note of, one thing that she latched on to. ”What if I didn’t have this power anymore?”

“Then, I suppose there wouldn’t be any way for you to fulfill your destiny.”

“Take it!”

“Come again?”

“Take my power, all of it.”

Ataxia watched as Tirek grinned at her, he then proceeded to drain every scrap of her magic, causing the mare to transform back into a unicorn and fall on her side from exhaustion.
> Lies Overcome?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Warclaw


“I told you we need to expand the irrigation channels to water the crops. I don’t understand why you feel that the livestock should have the greater priority. They'll all starve if we can’t grow anything.”

“What’s the point of growing crops if we all die from starvation when we don’t have enough to eat? The livestock has to come first!”

Icarus rubbed his temples as the argument carried on in the griffin court. On and on it went, a useless parade of griffins coming in here and wanting him to use his authority to deal with whatever petty problems they could not solve for themselves. No griffin seemed to take into account that they were still rebuilding from a bucking war. No griffin seemed to care that as emperor, Icarus might have slightly more important things to do with his time. The greatest sin was that none of them seemed to notice that right this second was the WORST time to bother him.

These two griffins were in here every single day making the same damn argument every time they came in. They were both right and wrong at the exact same time. The worst part is they solved this argument before. Aurora came up with the plan to ensure that both the food and livestock would get the water they needed, and while it was not as much as these two wanted, it was ‘equitable’ as she put it. These two were simply here trying to take advantage of the other now that she was gone. The stress was really getting to him today. Today there was not a set of hooves rubbing his shoulders and whispering that he should not bite their heads off. Icarus was missing that kind smile. He was missing all of that she was, and needless to say, he was NOT happy about missing her.

Sadly, for these two idiots, they did not seem to notice that her absence was not a good thing for any griffin.

“Branthor! Shiden! Both of you need to get the buck out of here before I order the guards to cut your bucking heads off.” He growled beneath his breath. Icarus did not shout, but the message got across all the same.

“Emperor,” Branthor bowed, “We cannot simply ignore this problem! Without more water we will not have any crops for next year.”

“I believe I have made it perfectly clear that I want you two gone. Now get the buck out.”

Neither of them turned to leave. They were testing him. Over the past few months, Icarus’s reputation softened with his subjects. They found that the griffin emperor was actually approachable. However, that newfound reputation did not seem to take into account that it was because of a certain pegasus by his side. Now? Now they would find out exactly what it meant when she was not there.

“Emperor, be reasonable! You know the livestock has to come first!” Shiden said to him.

“Reasonable huh? You want me to be reasonable?”

‘Now they not only disobey, they also back talk? I don’t think so.’ Icarus thought to himself.

He glanced around at the guard to his left. They would carry out his order without question. That was too easy; he needed to set an example. He was never the sort of ruler that refused to get his own claws dirty, or bloody as the case may be.

Icarus flew to the side of the council chamber and grabbed a spear from the guard there. He turned around and pointed it at the two griffins that now, began slowly backing away. Fear was evident in their eyes. They each turned to the other, their earlier fight all but forgotten in the face of a pissed-off emperor.

“Oh, no… It’s much too late to back away now. The penalty for disobeying a direct order is death. I think both your heads will look great on pikes.”

“ICARUS!”

‘Crap…’

That one voice instantly extinguished his rage. Looking at the situation he was in, he knew that he was in the wrong. Icarus did not intend to take it this far, not at first anyway; however, these two idiots pushed all the wrong buttons today. Icarus could only watch as Siros flew down from up high. 

His dad always commanded the respect of every griffin when he spoke. In truth, Icarus believed that it was only Siros’s force-of-will that gave his rule any credibility. If it was his dad’s wish, there was no doubt in Icarus's mind that he would still be in charge. If Icarus were being honest with himself, he would gladly give it back to him. Being emperor was way more trouble than it was worth.

The old griffin turned to the two in court. “Maybe tensions are running a little hot today? How about you two come back another day and we can deal with this in a more civilized manner?”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Me too.”

They both bowed to the former ruler and turned to leave. Siros thought for a second before adding one more detail to the two as they left the chamber. “Make it about a week.”

‘Aurora should be back by then.’ He remembered.

As he watched the two leave, each grateful to simply be alive; Siros turned to the ‘other’ problem in the room, his son.

“What was that about?”

Icarus suddenly found the carpet very fascinating as he dropped the spear on it. He was never shy about fighting with his old man before… before her, but now? Now it seemed shameful. He could see that his actions were wrong. He knew that she would not be happy about what he almost did.

He actually did not want to have this conversation in public, even if the only griffins around were just the guards.

“Can we talk about it in private?” he asked his father. A note of pleading resonated in his voice.

“Sure, let’s go to your chambers.”

As they made their way to his chambers, Siros could not help but notice a look of defeatism in his son. It seemed that something weighed heavily on his mind. Even on his best days, Icarus was always rash and impulsive, but lately he had been getting better, until today that is. Something was bugging him in more ways than one. Siros could only hope that Icarus would talk to him about it.

...

As Icarus shut the door behind them, Siros glared at his son. “And what was that about?”

“Those two are simply a waste of space, dad. Trust me; I'd be doing us a favor.”

“A favor? Really? Never mind that between those two ‘wastes of space’, as you so elegantly put it, those two feed all of Warclaw. Tell me, when their heads are on spikes, just who would take over?”

Again, Icarus found the carpet very fascinating.

“Now tell me… what was that really about?”

“I miss her.”

“Come again? I'm getting old son, I can’t hear that well anymore.”

“I said I miss her.” Icarus raised his head to meet his father’s gaze with his own. “Ok, I miss her. I miss her being around. I miss her calling me an ass. I miss… I miss everything about her.  I… I never thought it would feel like this.”

Siros smiled at his son. In truth, he had felt the same in his day, it was love. He saw that clear as day. Siros felt the same way every time he looked at Rainbow Dash. Her brazen nature, and take life by the balls way of living never failed to inspire him. Sadly, his was a love that would never happen, Rainbow found her soul mate in Twilight Sparkle. While Siros did move on, that spark he felt for Rainbow never went away. She would always be his one, his one that got away. He was happy that his son would never know what ‘that’ felt like.

“Icarus… son, I understand. However, she is a Princess of Equestria. She has duties to fulfill over in her own land, duties that will pull you two apart at times. We cannot have a ruler who threatens to cut his subject’s heads off every time his marefriend has to go home. Besides, she's only been gone two days.”

Icarus laughed at that. “Two days, might as well be two years.” He smirked. “You’re right… It’s just hard, ya know?”

Siros laughed a little at that last comment. “Trust me, I know all too well.”

“I mean, I don’t even know if she'll be able to come back.”

Siros grinned at his son; it seemed Aurora had yet to tell him her little secret. However, it was not his place to break ‘that’ news to him. “I promise you son, she'll be back.”

“How do you know?”

“Call it, a random twist of fate.” Siros smiled warmly towards his son. “Let’s you and me spend the rest of the day together. I’ll tell the guards to cancel the rest of the meetings.”

“Really?”

“Really, what can I say, you’re right. They’re largely a waste of time anyway.”

Siros watched the smile light up his son’s face. It reminded the wise old griffin of happier times, times before his wife passed on. It seemed as if there was still some of his son in there, a part of that carefree boy that he loved did still exist. It was something else he owed to Aurora, revealing the truth that his son was still buried somewhere beneath his bravado. Siros resolved to spend the rest of his days getting to know that part of his son again. After all, now that he had a grandchild on the way. Siros could not think of anything more important than family.

…………………………………………………………….


Appleloosa


Blood Dawn struck out to end this before Night could cast anything. He shot out with a blade-hoof directly at her head.

Shimmering Night grabbed Blood Dawn’s blade before it reached her. As he struggled to pull it free from her grip, the blade cut into her hoof, causing blood to drip down her hoof and pool beneath her. The pain only served to strengthen her resolve. The hatred in her eyes told the story as clear as day. Yes, this creature injured her. Yes, it was her fault that he was like this; had she bothered to look into it more, maybe, just maybe, she might have prevented this. None of that mattered right this moment. Whatever he was, whoever he was, he made the mistake of threatening her mom, Rainbow Dash. Night resolved to make him pay a thousand times over for that alone.

As he struggled to pull free, the blade cut deeper into her hoof. She did not care. Night lowered her horn and channeled all the pain and rage she felt into it. She aimed it directly for his chest and let the magic go. With a force of a thousand earth ponies kicking out at once, the magic energy beam slammed Blood Dawn through the ceiling of the cave, causing the black pegasus to scream in pain as he rode the magic energy out into the atmosphere, trailing drops of blood along the way. Shimmering Night took wing, her intent to finish off this creature evident in the determination on her face. The blood lining the walls indicated that she hurt it. However, such beings did not die easily. She would chase him down and end him herself.

Her heart told her that Bright Dawn was gone. She could not save him for there was nothing left to save. Looking back on it now, Blood Dawn’s play was obvious. She knew the creature had not lied when he spoke; it was too painful to be a lie. He was gone; there was no way she could get him back. The best she could do for him is to stop this creature from using his body for its purposes. It was the only way to honor his memory and apologize for failing to save him, for failing to be there for him.

Night closed her eyes as she left the cave. The bright light of the sun would have blinded her otherwise. As soon as she shut her eyes, Night felt the presence of a strong magical force coming from Appleloosa. Even with her limited ability to sense magic, she could tell it was not Ataxia’s power, which meant trouble with a capital T.

Squinting, Shimmering Night looked in the direction of Appleloosa. What she saw horrified her to no end; Lord Tirek was growing to twice the size of the largest building in the town.

“Ataxia!”

Worry and panic forced their way into Night’s chest. Her thoughts about Blood Dawn left her immediately. She would deal with him later. For now, her friend needed her help. Night mentally cursed herself for leaving Ataxia to deal with Tirek herself. Ataxia did not know what he was; she did not study up.  This was Night’s fault and she would make it right, regardless of the cost.

……………………………………………

Ataxia smiled as she lay on the ground. She did it; she found a way to beat her destiny. Even as Lord Tirek started walking to her, she still found the energy to laugh about it.

“What’s so funny, little pony?”

“I did it; I won’t be the one to kill my friends, to kill the alicorns.”

“Yes you did, congratulations, you managed to escape your fate. Too bad theirs remains the same.”

Even though she was completely exhausted, Ataxia questioned his comment, she did not understand what he meant. “What… What do you mean? I won’t kill them now.”

“You’re right, you won’t kill them. ‘YOU’ will not, but with the power you so willingly gave me, I will. I must thank you, the last time I felt anywhere near this powerful was when I drained all the alicorn magic from  Princess Twilight Sparkle. However, even your little gift won’t stop me from killing you.”

Ataxia laughed a little.

“What’s so funny?”

“You are. You still think alicorn magic is a big deal.”

Tirek paused at that. “The only magic stronger than alicorn magic was yours, and you gave that to me.”

Ataxia laughed a little louder. “Oh my, and ponies say I’m not that bright.”

“Enough of this little pony, you will die here and now!”

She smirked, while there was nothing she could do about it, it did not change the fact Rainbow could make mincemeat out of this demon when she was called in. “You will be joining me soon enough.” Ataxia spoke her last words.

Tirek raised his left hoof to slam it down on the arrogant unicorn with all his might. That was the plan anyway. Just before it made contact, a purple energy beam slammed into Tirek while he was off balance, causing the giant to fall onto his side. A searing pain lanced down his right flank.

Shimmering Night landed next to Ataxia. She was not sure what in the name of Hades just happened, but it was a safe bet that it was somehow Ataxia’s fault; history taught her that much. While she wanted answers, she would not take her eyes off the demon.

“Hey Night…”

“What did you do?”

“I did it, I beat my destiny.”

“Ok, you need to explain that right now, cause from where I’m sitting, we’re both going to die.”

“He showed me, it’s my destiny to kill the alicorns, to eliminate harmony from this word. I… I couldn’t let that happen, so I let him have my power.”

Night’s eyes went wide; she turned from Tirek and faced her friend.

“You did what?!”

“I beat my destiny.”

“Ataxia,” Night facehoofed. “How do you know he wasn’t lying to you?”

“He… He showed it to me; he showed me what Discord said.”

“Sweet Luna… Ataxia, using magic I can show you anything. You can use it to make anything happen. Why did you believe him?”

“You don’t understand…”

“What I understand is that Tirek now has all your power. If we do not stop him here he will proceed to drain the magic from every pony left in Equestria until Rainbow and Twilight are all that’s left to stop him.”

“But this way I won’t kill everyone.”

“Even if that is somehow your ‘destiny’, what does it matter? He will kill everyone. Death is death, all we can do is put it off as long as possible.”

“But…”

“No buts Ataxia. I can’t bel--”

Night did not get to finish that sentence. A powerful beam of magic caught the alicorn on the flank and sent her flying into the distance. Tracing the beam to its source, Ataxia saw Lord Tirek standing up.

“How many alicorns are there now?” He asked as he readied another magic blast and ran forward in the direction he sent Shimmering Night.

Ataxia thought about Night’s words. ‘Was she right? Was it all just a lie?’ She could not believe that, it felt real, she knew it was real. It hurt too much to be anything else.

‘But what about what she said, if they die here and now… what difference will it make?’ Her thoughts began to betray her actions. Ataxia was never a thinker, never a pony who considered the long-term consequences, but she could not help but wonder what the consequences were this time, and who would end up paying the price for her rash decision.

‘Did I just screw up? What if it was a lie after all?’

…

Shimmering Night rolled off the magic energy. She extended her wings and caught herself in an updraft after falling more than a couple of hooves towards the ground.

‘That bucking hurt,’ she thought.

Wincing in pain as the bruise on her right side reminded her that this was still a battle; albeit, one she knew she could not win. Tirek was stronger than she was. However, that did not matter. Her parents had fought plenty of battles with far stronger opponents in their time. The key was to find their weakness and use it against them. Even the strongest opponents had weaknesses; all she had to do was find Tirek’s.

She could not think about it much longer. Her rampaging foe jumped with all his might and sought to impale her on his horns. A quick teleportation spared Night that fate, but Tirek was quick; he spun around and sent another magical blast right at her.

Night ducked under it, but only just. The magic energy came dangerously close to causing her to lose her tail. Night took advantage of her ability to fly in order to out-maneuver the larger target. She fired back. The blast struck true, causing the monster to crash into the dirt.

Her smile faded as Tirek dusted himself off. He was shaken but unfazed by the attack.

“Your magic feels familiar to me, Tell me alicorn, who are you?”

“Why should I tell you anything?!”

“It is a mark of honor to know your foes name before you kill them.”

“So in your mind you already won? Getting a little ahead of yourself, aren’t you?”

“Well, I need something to write on your tombstone. When I place it next to Twilight Sparkle’s”

“No one hurts my mom!” She flew directly at him, the thought of this creature getting anywhere near Twilight filled her with an all-consuming rage.

Tirek smiled as she took the bait. ‘I knew it.’ He thought. The magic this alicorn had, it possessed an all too familiar feel to it. While it was nowhere near the level of Twilight’s all those years ago, he would never forget what that felt like. How much those shots had hurt.

As she got in range, Tirek backhanded the alicorn,

For Night’s part, she realized her mistake all too late. That was the second time today that a foe threatened her parents. The second time someone talked about killing one of them. After the event with Blood Dawn in the cave, she would not stand for it anymore. She flew at Tirek only to have his fist collide with her side seconds before impact.

Night felt several bones give when she took that hit. She crashed, hard, in the center of Appleloosa. A trail of dirt formed from where she impacted on the ground and skid to a stop. She could barely raise her head as she watched the demon began his trek over to her. Testing herself, she looked back, relieved that both wings survived the hit. Only her back left leg was broken.

“You are the daughter of Princess Twilight Sparkle.” Tirek stated, it was not a question. “The one who used the magic of friendship to defeat me last time I was here. I will take great pleasure in presenting your head to her when we next meet.”

The ground shook with his footsteps.

“To think, one such as I could ever have been defeated by her. When I have your power combined with the dragacorn’s, I shall be more powerful than ever before.”

Night could feel the vibrations grow as he got closer. Every one of his steps caused her teeth to rattle in her skull.

“This time, there will be no 'rainbow power' to foil my plans. For you are alone, little alicorn, and I shall enjoy myself before ending your life.”

Tirek stopped walking forward and readied his magic. Shimmering Night tried to stand but her leg would not support her weight. She was too tired to fly. There was nothing she could do to stop him; Tirek picked her up in his magic. “Alicorn magic, it goes down so smooth…”

“EAT THIS!”

Ataxia jumped from a nearby roof onto her foe and stabbed the demon in his back with her horn. The pain of it caused Tirek to lose his magical grip on the alicorn. Seeing Ataxia risk her life like that while completely drained of magical power caused Night to find her resolve. She teleported directly over Ataxia and reached out to grab her friend with her hooves. A magical shock from Ataxia caused her to pull back suddenly. She retreated to a safe position, readying to help her friend as soon as she could.

Tirek swung his arms wide in an attempt to dislodge the unicorn from his back. Ataxia grabbed onto him with all her might, unwilling to let the demon go. Unfortunately for Ataxia, it was not a bull she could ride for long. After one nasty hit, Tirek sent Ataxia flying into the air. Shimmering Night caught her friend and blasted the injured Tirek away; the blow sent the wounded demon to the other side of Appleloosa. She knew it was just temporary; he would not be down for long.

She placed her friend on the top of a nearby building, relieved that there did not seem to be any lasting damage to Ataxia. Her concern immediately went to frustration and then anger.

“What do you think you're doing?!”

“Helping.” Ataxia looked confused; she did not seem to understand what could have happened there.

“You don’t have any…” Night could not finish that sentence. She could feel a magical pressure from the mare.

“I know, I don’t have magic, but I couldn’t just let him do that to you.”

“Ataxia… you do still have magic…”

“No, I let him take it.” She stared at Night, confusion written on her face.

“Ataxia, I can sense it in you, and when I tried to reach you before, something... something stopped me…”

That alone spoke volumes to Ataxia. Of all the things Night was good at (and there was quite a lot on that list), sensing magic was never one of them. If Night could still sense some magic in her… “What are you saying, Night?”

“I don’t know how, but he didn’t take everything you have.”

“But… But he caused me to transform back…”

Night just stared on, shock written on her face. ‘How's it possible that Tirek did not take everything? Was this just power she did not have access to until now? If so, how strong is she?’ The greater ramifications would have to wait for another day. They still had Tirek to deal with after all.

“Try and transform again.”

Ataxia stood up and backed away from Night. She concentrated hard on her transformation. Attempting to access whatever it was that Night sensed in her. As to punctuate the urgency of the situation, in the distance Night could see Tirek standing up.

Nothing happened.

“Ataxia, you’ve got to try harder.” Desperation rang out in Night’s voice. She saw Tirek ready a magic blast at their direction, it seemed the demon no longer cared about getting Night’s power. He simply wanted to end the life of the two mares that injured him.

Ataxia struggled with all her might, her concentration evident by the sweat purring down her face.

Night saw that she was not going to make it, and stood up on her three good legs and raised the strongest shield she could. The blast hit seconds later. Magic energy washed over the shield. It held, but barely. She could not stop it a second time.

Tirek noticed it too. The demon readied another blast.

Ataxia poured everything she had into it. “How are we doing…” She grunted through her concentration. Whatever Night sensed, she could not find it.

“Fine…” Night lied. She could not stop Tirek; her shield would not save them again. There were no options left. Their only hope of victory lay with Ataxia pulling off a miracle. With no options remaining, she put herself directly in front of her friend and the demon. Whatever happened here, she knew that she could not stop Tirek. Only Ataxia had that sort of power, she just needed time to find it. Sadly time was the one thing they did not have.

Tirek fired off the next blast. Night strengthened the shield as much as she could, it was not enough; it was not anywhere near enough to stop this.

Ataxia opened her eyes just in time to see the blast approaching, Shimmering Night, her lifelong friend, was standing between her and certain death.

“NIGHT!” Ataxia screamed.

……………………………………………………………

A smile crossed Tirek’s face as he watched the shield collapse and a cloud of dust cover the building. “Shame to waste all that power.” He said.

His smile turned to ash as the dust settled in the distance. The building stood. On top of it, the dragacorn wrapped its tail protectively around the alicorn.

“Impossible.” Tirek could not believe what his eyes saw. Somehow, the dragacorn found enough power to transform again.

Night opened her eyes and stared at her friend. “You... you did it.”

Ataxia looked at herself. “I… I don’t know how. When you were going to take the hit for me, I… I found it.”

She smiled at the dragacorn. “It doesn’t matter; you did it in the end. Now let’s finish this together.”

Ataxia smiled back. “Together.”

The two friends took wing. Tirek launched several more blasts at the two, but Ataxia was easily able to brush them aside. As soon as the demon was in range, she readied her flame and shot out with all her might.

Shimmering Night concentrated all the magic that she had left on the area right in front of Ataxia’s mouth. She cast an enhancement spell and focused on doubling, then tripling, the magic energy Ataxia was about to unleash. Ever since the incident with the Titan, she had been learning quite a lot about her special talent. Night put that knowledge to use now.

As Ataxia’s energy passed though the portal Night created, it increased in power exponentially from Night’s special talent. Ataxia’s aim was true. Her flame impacted against the strongest shield Tirek was able to create.

The shield held. 

For a few seconds anyway. It collapsed shortly after impact. The demon cried out in agony as he roasted alive from the dragacorn’s flame. His flesh went first, boiling off in the magical heat, followed closely by his muscles and internal organs. During it all, he never stopped screaming.

When it was over and the flames exhausted themselves, all that was left of Tirek was dust in the wind. Not even his bones survived the magical dragon fire he was doused in. The magical energy the demon stole coalesced above him. In a flash, it was gone. A large portion of it returned to Ataxia, back to its rightful owner. The rest seemed to disperse in the air.

Ataxia turned to Night. “I’m sorry.” For the first time in her life, Ponyville’s biggest troublemaker actually meant it.

“No, I’m sorry; I shouldn’t have left you alone like that.” Night laughed a little at that. “I... I almost lost you. Hunts are two pony teams for a reason.”

“Where did you go anyway?”

“I’ll tell you on the way home.” Night fell a few hooves in the sky, she did not have Ataxia’s reserve of power to draw from, and was quickly feeling the effects of fatigue, the day’s events were coming back to haunt her. Ataxia swooped down and caught her in her claws.

“Alright, but I’m flying.”

“Sounds good to me.” Night replied. “I told you it was just a lie.”

“As you say.” Ataxia sped off back to Celestia’s Palace in Canterlot. While the hunt was definitely unconventional, they could at least report that it was successful, even if the two of them were too late to save the town.

A final thought crossed her mind as they left Appleloosa. ‘Was it just a lie?’

………………………………………………

Grim Night smiled as he watched the two fly off. He still could not believe how close a call it had been. If they were unsuccessful in killing Tirek, he would have had to step in and finish the job himself. Still, the dragacorn did not disappoint, and the other, Shimmering Night, had an ability of great interest to him. He had to admit, despite a few hiccups, everything still went just as he planned.

“That sucked!”

Well, almost everything… Blood Dawn was still alive.

Blood Dawn landed next to his brother. His wings torn and frayed from the impromptu ride he took on his wife’s energy blast. Though they were quickly healing, it was obvious that they were still hurting him.

“Grim Night, that is the last time I take a dive. Got it?”

Grim Night smiled. “Understood, Blood Dawn.”

“Tell me it at least worked.”

“I’m putting the finishing touches on it now.” Grim Night dug into his repertoire of black magic. Finding the spell he was looking for, the revenant drew upon the excess magical energy released from Tirek’s death. The demon had been useful, very useful. Tirek was one of a few beings that could draw the magic energy from others. It was a simple task to feed the demon just enough energy to begin the process and then let him loose. Grim Dawn armed him with the knowledge that if he killed his victims after taking their magical power, he would never lose it. The silver tongue Tirek then preceded to do what he did best.

Grim Night did not exactly lie about that last part. It was true, if the magic had nowhere to go, it would stay with him. Unless he died that is. Then, without a host, it would simply disperse over the land. It made for prime pickings for someone to come along and take it.

As Grim finished his spell, the energy coalesced around him. Empowering the revenant with all the magic the demon just lost. Every cell in his body felt energized. His body began rebuilding; his cells were regenerating from their decayed flesh to the looks of a stallion in his prime, one that easily looked no older then twenty-five.

“So, what’s next on the agenda, brother?” Blood Dawn asked his companion.

“What’s next you ask?” Grim Night laughed at that. The next part of his plan easily began taking shape in his mind. “The next step is to pay my mom a visit.” His smile grew wicked at that thought.

Three months later