Twilight Sparkle was sitting in her throne room studying as she often did. Spike was nearby polishing a gem that Rarity had given him. Their evening was abruptly interrupted by a familiar fiery belch from Spike that meant a message from Princess Celestia. Twilight grabbed the message mid air with her magic and unrolled it to read it.
Spike asked nonchalantly, “what does it say?”
Twilight looked up from the scroll wide eyed with fear, “Get the others there is s threat to Equestria. Celestia, Luna, and Cadence are coming to us.”
About an hour later, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, & Pinkie Pie all entered the Castle with Spike. Discord and Starlight Glimmer arrived just after them with Twilight. Celestia, Luna, and Cadence were already waiting for them in the throne room.
Celestia started, “Thank you all for coming on such short notice. Tirek has escaped once again from Tartarus and has begun to steal magic. He was last spotted outside of Appleoosa. We need the bearers of the elements to once again confront him.”
“No” said Twilight.
Celestia was stunned for a moment. “No?”
“No, that is not what we should do.” Said Twilight.
Celestia was taken aback. She was not used to be contradicted like this by anypony certainly not from her most faithful student. “Wa..well why not?” She found herself asking.
“For one we have no way of knowing if we can use our connection to the elements in that way again. For another I have a better option.” Twilight replied.
Everypony else in the room looked stunned at Twilight's brashness. All except for Discord who appeared fascinated by it.
“Go on then.” Said Celestia using a testy tone with Twilight, perhaps for the first time ever.
“We should send Discord, Starlight and Luna.” Said Twilight confidently.
“But sending Discord was a mistake last time” said Cadence.
“Discord learned the value of Friendship the hard way last time because of Tirek, I am confident he won't make the same mistake again.”
“Why send Luna and I?” Asked Starlight.
“You three have been helping each other in your support group meetings. I think if anyone can reach Tirek its the three ponies in Equestra who can honestly say they have been in his shoes once.” Clarified Twilight.
“So your plan is that we are going to make friends with Tirek? I spent some time with him, and I think that will be harder than you believe. He despises the idea.” Said Discord.
“Yes but since his last defeat he has no choice but to consider its merits since it was your demonstration of your readiness to take friendship seriously that let us reconnect with our elements. But beyond that I trust you three to be able to relate to him enough to bring him around.” Answered Twilight.
“Should we try to find his Brother Scorpan? He may aid us in reaching him.” Asked Luna.
“I don't think that is wise.” Said Twilight. “From what I heard and what Discord described, he holds a lot of resentment towards his brother. Scorpan may only make things harder.” Twilight added.
“Won't he resent me as well since my sister and I bested him the first time?” Asked Luna.
“That is why Discord must make the approach. If Starlight did we run the risk of her magic being stolen. Tirek will either flee at the sight of Discord, or he will arrogantly think he can best him again. In either case Discord can engage Tirek.” Explained Twilight. “Worst case scenario, the three of them have to forcefully overpower him, which they should be able to do if they act soon.” Said Twilight.
Celestia had to admit it was a superior plan of action. One with plenty of failsafes if things went wrong. Once again her pupil exeeds her expectations. “Alright, that is a good plan. You three get to it. The bearers, prepare to use the elements just in case.” Ordered Celestia with resignation.
As everyone went about their tasks, Twilight approached Princess Celestia. “I'm sorry if I embarrassed you just now.” Twilight apologized.
“My dear Twilight, it was only a matter of time before you had a better grasp on a situation than I. You have learned so much. You have been through so much. I clearly didn't get it right the last time Tirek attacked. I was overcompensating. You had a clearer view of our assets in this situation. And in the true spirit of the Princess of Friendship you crafted a solution that may result in reconciliation. I couldn't be more proud of this pony I once called student.” Said Celestia hugging Twilight.
Twilight gave Celestia a big smile as they broke their hug and Twilight joined her friends in seeing about using the power of harmony once again.
Celestia strode to Luna who was looking apprehensive.
“Twilight’s plan is a good one sister, but I am not at all sure I can help.” Said Luna softly as Celestia came close.
“You can and you will.” Said Celestia reassuringly. “Twilight is right. Just remember the things that brought your support group together. Focus on why each of you changed and why you endevor to stay. Listen to Tirek and his pain and let him know he is not alone and he will not be. Do those things and you will succeed.” Reassured Celestia with a sisterly nuzzle.
With that Luna joined Discord and Starlight Glimmer as they left to intercept Tirek.
As they left, Starlight expressed her own doubts. Luna smiled and repeated what Celstia said to her. Both Starlight and Discord found the Advice helpful.
“Well shall we take a train or shal I teleport us there?” Asked Discord.
“I suppose we should teleport. Time is of the essence in thActionter.” Luna said reluctantly.
Starlight and Luna catered close to Discord. Discord wrapped his arms around them and then snapped with a third as the three disappeared in a flash.
The trio arrived near Appleoosa with a flash. Discord brought the other two into a tight huddle where Discord began while wearing Football gear “All right team, here is the plan. As Twilight said we should be able to overpower him. The worst thing that can happen is he get away from us without us being able to talk to him. So I say our first priority should be to make sure he's cornered before we approach him so he can't escape.”
“What about Starlight, surely she can't stand up to Tirek?” Asked Luna.
“Sure I can, I fought Princess Twilight to a draw remember? And she’s an alicorn.” Defended Starlight.
“We'll have to be careful, but all in all I say Starlight can take care of herself.” Agreed Discord with some concern.
“So we do our best to surround him and cut of escape routes before you approach him, anything else?” Asked Luna.
“Take care if our conversation seems too easy. Tirek is a treacherous one. He may see through what we are trying to do and lull us into a false sense of security.” Suggested Discord.
“I suppose we have to look for him now.” Said Starlight.
“Can you sense him?” Luna asked Discord.
“Yes, he’s close.” Said Discord. “I don't think he's very strong yet.” He added.
Discord sat on a mat dressed in Tibetan robes meditating for a few moments. “There” he suddenly pointed.
They went as quietly as they could. They all saw Tirek after they rounded a Bush. Luna and Starlight both cast invisibility spells on themselves to sneak around him.
Tirek could sense something but was thrown off by the sight of Discord approaching. “ Discord, don't tell me Celestia was so foolish as to give you the task of collecting me again. Or is this a test your ‘friends’ gave you to prove your loyalty. “ sneered Tirek.
“Quite the opposite actually. We are here to give you a chance to come peacefully.” Discord said.
“We?” Tirek asked as he whirled around to find a light purple pony he didn't recognize and Princess Luna behind him forming a triangle with Discord around him. Tirek sent a small blast of magic in Starlight’s direction and tried to flee between her and Luna.
Starlight easily deflected the blast. With a point of her horn she froze Tirek in the same purplish crystal she used on Twilight once. Luna sealed the four of them under a magical forcefield dome.
“You have nowhere to go, Tirek. You might as well chat with us.” Said Discord shattering Starlight’s crystaline encashment with a tap.
Tirek immediately tried to ram the barrier Luna conjured. He gave a weak roar of frustration when it made no dent. He refocused on Luna and attempted to steal her magic. Discord just popped her away elsewhere in the enclosure created by Luna's spell.
“What do you think you can accomplish here?” Discord reasoned. “ even if you somehow get the better of us here and continue to steal pony magic you will just be ultimately defeated and sent back to Tartarus like you were last time.”
“I could ask you the same question.” Replied Tirek. “If you have all the cards here, why try and reason with me?”
“Because everypony deserves a chance change for the better.” Replied Luna.
“Blegh, sentimental nonsense” dismissed Tirek.
“Maybe to you, but not to us.” Said Starlight.
“So the ponies got their hooks in you, huh, Discord? I suppose I have some blame to share in that after our last encounter.” Taunted Tirek.
“My friends care about me and trust me.” Discord said looking at a framed picture of his Ponyville friends he took from a nonexistent pocket behind him. “Two of them are here with us now.” He smiled at Starlight and Luna.
“They don't care about you. They just want to get what they want from you and throw you away.” Dismissed Tirek. “They just want to control you, Discord.”
“I used to think like that.” Interjected Starlight. “As a young Filly I was very attached to my friend Sunburst. After he moved away I felt used and abandoned. I let those feelings of rejection control me and I negatively affected ponies around me.”said Starlight.
“Everypony does whatever it takes to get what they want. You three are no different.” Tirek said dismissively.
“Really, then why am I free?” Posited Discord. “What could my friends possibly be getting from me that could be worth the risk they take letting me roam instead of leaving me in stone? All any of them have ever really asked is a little restraint on my part. The only time more was asked of me I betrayed them, I'm ashamed to say.” Discord said.
Starlight and Luna were a bit taken aback by the show of self awareness from Discord just then. It was one of the most selfless things they’d ever heard him say, even in their sessions.
Tirek clearly had no comeback for this as he stood there seething from being verbally and fiscally cornered.
“Many ponies, including my friends wonder why I changed,why I choose to cooperate rather than be my chaotic self. Truthfully, I wonder myself sometimes, as evidenced by our last encounter. But the answer is simple. It is not easy to be my friend. The same can be said for Starlight and Luna after a fashion.” Declared Discord.
“Trust me, It wasn't easy for Twilight to get through to me either.” Began Starlight. “She made me to stare into the very destruction of all of Equestria. Everything and everypony I might have ever cared about gone because of what I was doing. My pain and resentment were so great I still didn’t care. Twilight could have continued fighting, found a way to beat me eventually. Instead she persisted in reaching out to me and help me heal.”
Tirek once again sneered, “Sentimental drivel.”
“Tell me, Tirek, if we are just trying to control you, why are we still here talking? Why wouldn't we just take you back to Tartarus or some other prison? What do we gain by putting in this effort?” asked Luna.
“You could make me do things like this to others the way you are to me.” Replied Tirek.
“We three are here to offer you the same chance each of us were given, to choose a better way. No one forced, tricked, or manipulated us into doing so. We came because we've each been where you are. On a path of destruction, and were shown another way. We wanted to be the ones to give you that chance.” Luna said.
“and If I refuse your better way?”Tirek asked.
“We will do what we must to protect innocent ponies.” Answered Luna honestly.
“So my choices are your way of a cudgel? Not much of a choice” said Tirek feeling he had caught them in a lie.
“I thought much the same at first.” Said Discord. “Fluttershy refused to use her element of harmony on me to prove her sincerity. But honestly, looking back, if I hadn't chosen the right path, I would have been stopped eventually even without the elements. Maybe not then maybe not for another 1000 years but eventually I would have been thwarted and would be back in the same place I was with nopony to help or share my pain.” Said Discord.
“We could set you free now and let you do as you wish, but Twilight and the others will put you back in Tartarus if you keep harming ponies. That is not a fight you can win.” Said Starlight.
“What harm? I only Take that which is mine.” Said Tirek dismissively.
“What makes you think that magic is yours?” Asked Discord and Luna at once.
Luna continued, “Equestrian magic never belonged to you. Nopony ever took it from you. It is inherent in everypony born. My sister and I were ruling when you first arrived in Equestria. Ponies had lived with magic millennia before that.”
“You stole my magic as well and that certainly was never yours.” Discord added.
“Stealing magic from ponies is certainly harmful. Our way of life depends upon Pegasi being able to control the weather, earth ponies having the strength to work the land, and the Princesses being able to cycle the sun and moon.” Starlight said.
“What is any of that to me?” Tirek scoffed.
“Come now, Tirek, you may be cynical, but you are not heartless.” Luna replied.
“What could possibly give you that impression?” Asked Tirek skeptically.
“The way you speak of Scorpan.” Said Discord with a look that signaled the others to trust him.
Tirek lashed out. “What would you know about my Brother?” Tirek said angrily.
“Everything.” Said Luna. “I was there when Scorpan came to my sister and I with your plans.”
“You couldn't possibly understand the depths of his betrayal.” Said Tirek scornfully.
“Can't I? I too have been so consumed by my own selfish desires that I lost sight of the suffering I was causing. And my sibling also decided to turn against me to protect other ponies.” Luna said indignantly.
“How could he choose strangers over his own Brother?” Asked Tirek.
“He didn't, what he and Celestia did to us was just as much to protect us from doing something horrible as it was to protect the ones we may have harmed.” Said Luna getting choked up.
Tirek roared with all his strength from the painful emotions, “WHY SHOULD I CARE ABOUT ANY OF THIS? WHY SHOULD I CARE WHAT HAPPENS TO ANYPONY ELSE?”
“What is left to care for?” Asked Starlight meekly. “Say you got your way and once again took every last drop of magic in Equestria. Then what? You’d have all the magic you could want and no pony to stop you. There is no pony to share it with, no pony to lord it over. How do you enjoy all that power when there is nothing to do and no one to share it with?”
Tirek growled at the point.
“You know I was once like you. I had never experienced the value of Friendship until Fluttershy and the others gave me a chance. You were right about one thing Tirek, I can't exactly be my chaotic self and keep my friends. But the one thing I hadn't quite grasped then, that I certainly understand now, is that friends are worth the effort.”
“And here we are, Tirek, three ponies who have been where you are, making an effort and giving you a chance to choose a better life, one that you can share with others again instead of destructively take.” Said Starlight.
“Will you be our friend and stop this selfish destruction?” Asked Luna.
Tirek, realizing he is beaten, relents. “Alright.” He said.
“We need you to give the magic you’ve taken back as a sign of good faith.” Said Luna.
Tirek opened his mouth wide and streams of magic escaped his mouth and left the magical bubble held up by Luna through a hole Luna allowed.
As Luna dropped the force field Tirek asked, “What now?”
“We go back to Twilight's Castle in Ponyville.” Said Discord
Tirek was not exactly a stranger to Equestrian society, but he still found the upbeat atmosphere repulsive. Discord probably felt similarly, once, Tirek thought. Maybe he will come to appreciate it more too, eventually. Tirek wasn't sure he wanted to. In fact, Tirek wasn't sure he really wanted any of this. But he couldn't deny that Discord, and the other’s had made their case. Tirek still didn't trust this concept of Friendship but what choice did he have? The purple unicorn, he now understood to be called Starlight Glimmer, was right. What is the point of all that power Tirek wanted when all that is left is ash? Despite his ever present desire to gain more magic and his aversion to companionship, the thought of that pointlessness disturbed him to the core. He had never bothered to think about what would come after he’s achieved his goals. Not even when he very nearly had everything he wanted did he really stop to think about what it meant. So, he chose to play their game. He knew they were also right about him having little chance of prevailing anyway. Either way, he may end up back in Tartarus. But at least this way he has a chance of avoiding that fate. So, here he is, trying to accept love and friendship, something he’d once swore never to do. Tirek had no idea what to expect from these ponies.
“Here we are.” Said Starlight as they came to stop in front of a enormous crystalline structure that vaguely resembles a tree.
“This is Princess Twilight’s Castle? It wasn't here last time.” Tirek observed.
“No, it sprang from the tree of harmony after they defeated you.” Discord said casually.
Tirek frowned. “So she was rewarded with all of this for sending me back to Tartarus? And you want me to trust you that you won't try to seek such a reward again?”
“Rest easy, Tirek. It does not work that way.” Luna reassured.
“How do you know?” Tirek challenged.
“You should know better than most how long my sister and I have been protecting Equestria and using the forces of harmony.” Replied Luna.
Tirek accepted this. He indeed knows the depths of Celestia and Luna’s experience. Still Tirek was, not one to trust easily, if ever. He remained skeptical of everypony's motives.
The group entered the Castle. They navigated their way to the Throne room. There they were met by Twilight and the other bearers of the Elements of Harmony, Cadence, Celestia, and Spike. Tirek shrank back in fear of the amount of powerful ponies in the room he still somewhat regarded as enemies.
Twilight spoke first saying, “Tirek, I am glad you chose to join us.”
Tirek replied asking, “Oh you are, are you?”
“Of course, why wouldn't I be?” Twilight asked a bit confused.
“You might have relished the chance to come to blows again.” Suggested Tirek.
“Conflict is not something I relish.” Twilight replied flatly.
Tirek smirked. Twilight was much as he remembered, perhaps a little more self assured than before.
“So, Celestia, was all of this your plan? Much better than your last one I must say.” Tirek said.
“It was all Princess Twilight’s idea in fact.” Confessed Celestia.
“Well, I suppose you ought to be careful with that one lest you be usurped.” jeered Tirek to Celestia.
“She is a Princess now because I would trust her and her friends with protecting Equestria.” Celestia said letting the swipe at her roll off her.
“Look, we know you must feel like you were forced into this. How can we make you feel more comfortable with this?” Asked Twilight earnestly.
Tirek, a bit taken aback by the consideration, didn't know how to reply, “I uh...I am not sure.”
“Luna and I have discussed it and we would each be willing to devote time to spending it with you, if you want some familiar faces around.” Suggested Discord.
“I suppose... I don't really know how any of this is supposed to work.” said Tirek.
“Would you like to try to find your Brother Scorpan?” Asked Applejack.
“I don't think that is a good idea just yet.” Said Twilight. “Tirek probably needs some time to adjust and learn for a while.”
Tirek was at first incensed that Twilight would presume to know what is good for him. But Twilight's thoughts seemed prudent. After all in his current state he was still as likely to scream at Scorpan as to talk to him, and that is not necessarily what he wanted. “I agree, I am not ready for that.” Said Tirek.
“If you wish for Luna to spend what time she can with you, we suggest you come with us to Canterlot. Travel between here and There means little to Discord.” Said Celestia.
“Alright.” Said Tirek and he left with Celestia and Luna.
Upon arrival, Tirek was given a comfortable room in the palace. Celestia assured that whatever adjustments to his accommodations he needed would be made as soon as could be managed.
Luna managed to spend several hours a day with Tirek. She treated him with kindness and understanding. Discord also popped by for a few hours every day. He enjoyed Discord more than he expected.
One day he and Discord went to a market in Canterlot together. Tirek slowly grew agitated by the crowed. He felt them all staring at him, wondering if he is going to lash out at any moment. As he and Discord spotted some delicious looking oranges, a light brown pony with light blue mane took the last three. It was the last straw for Tirek. He roared with frustration and anger. He began to thrash about and cast beams of magic into the air.
Discord acted quickly to diffuse the situation. He snapped and Tirek froze solid where he stood. “My sincerest apologies for my friend here, he is going through a difficult transition of a sort.” Discord apologized to everypony as he repaired all the damage caused with a sweep of his claw. He then teleported himself and Tirek to Tirek’s room. Discord popped his head out the door and spotted a nearby guard. “Do fetch Princess Luna at her earliest convenience, there has been an incident. Thank you.” Discord requested of the guard.
About a half hour later Luna arrived. Discord said, “Sorry, we were out in the market and he just lost his temper.”
“You’ve done the right thing, Discord. Defrost him now, please.” Luna said.
Discord snapped again and Tirek instantly continued the fit of rage he had started in the market. Luna and Discord let him cool down on his own.
When he had finally calmed down Luna asked. “May I ask what brought this on?”
“I’m afraid the market scene was too much for him.” Speculated Discord.
Tirek had mixture of shame and resentment about him as he simmered down in the corner.
“It's all right Tirek. We know incidents like this will happen. You have a hard time dealing with other ponies.” Said Luna reassuringly.
“It's my fault I pushed him too hard today. The market with all those ponies about was too ambitious.” Said Discord.
“I...I’m sorry. It was the eyes. I could feel everypony watching me, fearing me. I couldn't take it.” Tirek finally managed to say.
“Don’t you worry about it. Just concentrate on recovering and doing better next time.” Said Luna
“Why did you come? Why do you both keep trying to help me?” Asked Tirek.
“Because sometimes people need friends even...no especially if they don't think they do. Fluttershy taught me that.” Said Discord.
“I have never given either of you a reason to want to be my friend.” said Tirek.
“If we needed a reason, we wouldn't really be your friends.” Said Luna.
Time went on and Luna and Discord managed to help Tirek. After a good long while, Discord and Tirek did eventually leave to track down Scorpan. But that is another tale.