> Honouring the vow
>  by Denchik
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: Different choices yield different results.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Equestria, Ponyville

After warning the final citizen of small village, which was located to the South-West of Canterlot, Applejack began  making her way towards the spot where the Mane 6 (minus Twilight) and Spike agreed to meet after they had finished their task.

After the orange earth pony arrived at the destined place, she noticed that her friends have also finished their task of warning Ponyville’s ponies of Tirek’s return.

“Alright, y'all. I think we've warned everypony to stay inside.“ Said Applejack while looking at Rarity, Pinkie pie and Fluttershy.

‘‘I'm sure Discord will catch Tirek and this will all be over soon!“ declared the yellow pegasus, confident in the draconequus‘ abilities.

‘‘I'll bet he takes his sweet time.‘‘ scoffed Rainbow Dash, not as confident in Discord‘s abilities as her friend Fluttershy.

‘‘Or perhaps these things just take time.“ Said a familiar voice that was pretty close to the ponies and the baby dragon. They turned their heads to see the draconequus smiling at them. Fluttershy smiled and began flying towards Discord.

‘‘You're back! Did you bring the cucumber sandwiches?“ asked the yellow pegasus while hugging her friend. Fluttershy then let go of the draconequus and began looking into his eyes.

‘‘I did.” Said Discord, making a plate with multiple cucumber sandwiches appear on his hands.

“I imagine they'll be your last decent meal for quite some time.“ Stated the draconequus, dropping the sandwiches near the ponies and Spike. He then snapped his fingers, which made a pretty big cage appear and trap the citizens that were in front of him.

This caused the captives to be really surprised. They began to objectify Discord’s decision, but to no avail. Meanwhile, Lord Tirek began to get closer and closer to the cage. Eventually, he made it to the spot and was greeted by the draconequus.

“Ta-da!” exclaimed Discord happily, proud of himself for successfully trapping the ponies and Twilight’s number one assistant.

“Have you gathered up all of them?” asked the centaur, placing his arms on the cage.

“And her little dragon too!” replied the draconequus, pointing at the baby dragon. Spike tried to bite Discords finger, but the spirit of disharmony managed to get his paw out of the way just in time.

“Why are you doing this? I thought we were friends!” choked out Fluttershy. She was hugging and crying into Applejack’s belly, distraught from Discord’s betrayal.

‘‘Oh, we were. But Tirek offered me so much more than just tea parties. Surely you saw this coming.“  Admitted the draconequus, not showing any sign of regret for his actions.

‘‘I didn't. I really didn't!‘‘ said Fluttershy, still weeping. After taking her eyes off the yellow pegasus, the orange earth pony began to glare daggers at Discord.

Tirek then began to use his magic to bring the cage with its captives closer to him. The centaur then began to absorb their magic, increasing his humongous power even further. After he was done absorbing the magic, Lord Tirek then dropped the cage near the draconequus. Thanks to the newly added powers, the centaur began to grow bigger in size and has managed to grow a mass of white hair, that matches his beard and tail.

‘‘You really think she'd do anything for them?‘‘ wondered Tirek, unsure if Twilight Sparkle would attempt to save her friends and number one assistant.

‘‘If Twilight has magic to give, it will be yours. Soon there won't be a pegasus, earth pony or unicorn who will be able to stand up against us!“ happily exclaimed Discord, which made Tirek grin maliciously.

‘I could steal all of his magic right now... No, he can still be pretty useful. I could make him my puppet and exploit him for my own cause when I take over Equestria...‘ thought the centaur, deciding whether or not to betray his ‘friend‘.

‘‘Yes, no creature will be able to stand up against us after I absorb Twilights magic!“ boasted Lord Tirek, grinning maliciously.

-Equestria-

While the centaur was absorbing the magic from Twilight Sparkle‘s friends, the purple alicorn was sitting on top of a cliff, trying to get the teleportation spell right. To the purple alicorn it seemed like a rather difficult task, thanks to all of the magic she had acquired.

“I can do this.”  Said Twilight Sparkle with a great deal of determination in her voice. She closed her eyes and began focusing really hard on performing a teleportation spell. Her horn was coated in a strawberry red and violent aura, signalling that she began to use her magic.

When suddenly, she disappeared from her previous place of location and appeared on a different cliff. After teleporting, she looked behind her and smiled, knowing that she has finally got the teleportation spell down.

“See? Ha! Perfectly controlled teleportatio-“ began Twilight Sparkle, but was cut off by her teleportation spell going a bit bonkers. She began teleporting around Equestria, much to her annoyance. She suddenly teleported into a tight crevice of rock that has been split in two. As a result of the last teleportation, the purple alicorn began groaning in frustration.

“PRINCESS TWILIGHT!” howled a very rough voice with the intent of calling out the young princess. Twilight Sparkle gasped when she realised who that voice belonged to.

“Lord Tirek…” said Twilight with a hint of fear in her voice. She was a bit unconfident in facing the magic absorbing centaur due to her limited control over the tremendous power that she received from Princess Luna, Celestia and Cadance. Her horn was enveloped in a strawberry red aura once again, which meant that she was about to cast another spell.

“You have something that belongs to me!” declared Lord Tirek impatiently. The centaur was yelling from a rather short cliff that was to the opposite side of the crevice which the new princess resided in. When suddenly, the centaur saw a split rock exploding with Twilight Sparkle flying out of it.

She flew past Lord Tirek and began searching for a place that may give her an advantage in the upcoming bout. She tried to land, but her newfound speed made her landing very difficult. The alicorn only came to a complete stop when she bumped into the centaur’s front hoof. Upon realising what she bumped into, Twilight Sparkle began backing away from the towering villain in front of her.

“You’re going to give me what I want!” stated Lord Tirek. He began gathering magical energy between his horns, with the intent of sending a magical blast at the purple alicorn. She dodged it by teleporting to the Golden Oak Library, much to Tirek’s surprise. He stopped charging the blast after he realised that Twilight Sparkle left him.

When the princess appeared on the top of the library, she began to use her telescope to look at the centaur from a distance. Lord Tirek saw what Twilight Sparkle was up to and sent a pretty powerful blast towards her. She saw it and quickly teleported inside of her home to save Owlowiscious. She grabbed her assistant and began to head out of The Golden Oak Library. But before the purple alicorn could get out of it, the blast managed to connect with the tree, resulting in a huge explosion.

Twilight Sparkle barely managed to teleport out of the explosion, shielding the owl with her body. She landed near it, hugging Owlowiscious. When she looked at the damaged library, the purple alicorn was horrified to see that it had been destroyed by the blast. She let go of her assistant, which resulted in Owlowiscious flying off.

Twilight Sparkle stood up, infuriated with the centaur’s actions. She cast a teleportation spell and appeared behind Lord Tirek. Whilst gritting her teeth, the purple alicorn began to charge up an extremely powerful blast. While gritting her teeth, she launched a giant wave of destructive magic at the centaur. Lord Tirek noticed this and put up a barrier to defend himself from it.

Little did he know, however, that the barrier would not be able to defend him from the upcoming attack. When the blast connected with the barrier, it broke and engulfed the centaur. After the shield had been broken by the raw force of the blast, Twilight Sparkle poured much more magic into it, increasing its destructive power significantly.

When the magic wave connected with a hard surface, it resulted in a colossal explosion and a giant mushroom cloud. The purple alicorn landed on the pathway that the massive magic blast had produced and began taking a closer look at the damage she has inflicted. Tirek’s body had multiple burns on it, coupled with a few cuts and bruises.

“Now I understand what the princesses had done…” said Lord Tirek, now realising why the alicorn in front of him managed to inflict so much damage to him. The centaur also began to realise that he was fighting a losing battle against Twilight Sparkle. The young princess began to power up, which caused the ground to shake a bit.

She then began to fly up high into the sky. After the purple alicorn was high enough, she began to fly towards Lord Tirek. The villain saw this and sent a blast towards Twilight Sparkle. The purple alicorn saw the upcoming attack just in time and teleported out of the way. She appeared near Lord Tirek and sent a powerful energy blast at him. It connected with his shoulder and went right through it, leaving a huge hole in it.

The centaur’s cries echoed throughout Equestria. The wound began to bleed heavily on both sides, which greatly complicated things for the villain. His horns began glowing , this time he managed to engulf his opponent in an orange aura. The centaur then sent the princess at a nearby mountain. Twilight Sparkle barely managed to get out of his spell, which resulted with her escaping the crash. She saw Lord Tirek flying towards her, with the intent of headbutting her through said mountain.

The purple alicorn dashed out the way, making the centaur crash through the mountain. Lord Tirek stopped flying after he noticed that his plan had failed to work. He then began looking for Twilight Sparkle, but to no avail.

“Where in Tartarus is she…” thought the villain, scanning his surroundings. No matter where he looked, Lord Tirek had no luck in finding his opponent!

“Right here!” said a voice behind the centaur. He looked behind and was greeted by a very powerful kick from the purple alicorn. The force from the attack sent him flying towards the ground. Eventually, he crashed into hard dirt, which resulted in a pretty big crater and a broken nose. Twilight Sparkle landed near him and began walking up to him.

“What have you done with the princesses?” inquired the purple alicorn with a hint of venom in her voice. Lord Tirek got up and began grinning.

“I have banished those pathetic princesses to Tartarus, the only place where they belong!” spat the centaur, looking Twilight Sparkle straight in the eyes. This infuriated and shocked the purple alicorn. She furrowed her eyebrows and sighed, which calmed Twilight Sparkle down a bit.

“What about my friends? What happened to them?” wondered the young princess, hoping that her friends were safe and unharmed.

“They are imprisoned by Discord. I would imagine that they are in a pretty big cage that is located in the middle of Ponyville.” Blankly stated the centaur. This calmed the angry alicorn further, but it also increased her resentfulness towards her opponent.

“Well, I guess I just have to beat you and free them. Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it?” said the purple alicorn, scaring Lord Tirek. He began backing away, but not before throwing another blast at Twilight Sparkle. She casually deflected it by creating a small barrier and began walking towards the centaur, intimidating her opponent even further. She then teleported near him and sent a mighty punch at the villain.

“This is for the princesses!” shouted Twilight Sparkle. The punch connected, which managed to send Lord Tirek rocketing into the sky. She then caught up with the villain and sent a kick towards him with her back hooves.

“This is for my friends and family!” yelled the purple alicorn. The kick connected with the centaur’s ribcage, breaking it upon contact. Lord Tirek began flying towards a pretty big mountain at a big speed. He crashed into it and groaned.

“Damn you, Twilight Sparkle!” shouted the centaur, his voice harbouring frustration and pain. He knew that death was knocking at his front door and Lord Tirek did not like it one bit. The villain saw that his opponent began charging up a very powerful attack, which made him really nervous.

“AND THIS IS FOR ALL OF EQUESTRIA!” screeched Twilight Sparkle upon releasing the massive energy wave. It was heading towards the centaur at a very tremendous speed. Lord Tirek braced himself and closed his eyes, expecting a very painful death.

When suddenly, the covering villain felt someone grab him. He opened his eyes and found himself far away from the mountain. He looked at it and saw it come in contact with the magical blast. This resulted in a huge explosion, which completely erased the mountain. Lord Tirek saw Discord looking at him with a rather disappointed look.

“I told you that you won’t be able to take her on alone! But noooo, you didn’t listen to me and went to face her by yourself.” Scolded Discord while enveloping his friend in a green aura. The centaur felt his wounds disappear completely. The draconequus was healing him! The centaur smiled that his ‘friend’ had saved him from a rather horrible death.

“Yes… I may have underestimated her a little bit…” admitted Lord Tirek. He got up on his hooves and began to stretch his healed shoulder. He then looked at the general direction where the remaining princess may be…



“I did it…” bitterly smiled Twilight Sparkle. She then began teleporting to Ponyville with the intent of liberating her friends. She appeared not too far away from the cage in which her friends were trapped.

“Girls, look! It’s Twilight!” exclaimed Spike. The mares turned around and saw their friend mostly unharmed. All of them smiled and began cheering.

“Did you give Tirek the good old one two?” grinned Rainbow Dash, to which the purple alicorn smiled and nodded. She then used her magic to teleport her friends out of the cage, which made them a little bit dizzy. They recovered rather quickly and began making their way towards Twilight Sparkle for a group hug. The Mane 6 and Spike began hugging each other quite affectionately.

After a few moments, the group hug was broken up. Twilight Sparkle began to wear a serious expression. She began to look around and didn’t see anyone but her friends.

“Uhm, Twilight, Whatr’ya lookin’ around for?” inquired Applejack, confused as to why the purple alicorn began to scan her surroundings.

“Do any of you girls know where Discord went?” asked Twilight Sparkle, addressing the chaotic elephant in the room.

“I know! I know! He took off after saying ‘Wait here, I have some business to take care of.’!” Said Pinkie Pie, trying to imitate the dragonequus’ voice. The purple alicorn nodded and put her hoof on her chin.

“Darling, how were you able to beat that Tirek brute?” wondered Rarity, amazed at her friend’s previous display of power. Twilight Sparkle knew that this question was going to eventually come up.

“Well, girls, you see, the princesses gave me their magic. Thanks to it, I grew extremely powerful and was able to beat him.” Said the purple alicorn, earning pretty surprising gasps from her friends.

“So THAT’s why you were teleporting everywhere and acting strange!” concluded Spike, to which Twilight Sparkle nodded once again.

“Man, no wonder Discord ran away! He’s too scared to fight you!” said the cyan pegasus, placing her hoof on the purple alicorn. At first Twilight Sparkle grinned for a second, but then her expression became serious once more.

“There is one problem though, the princesses were banished to Tartarus by Tirek and I have no idea how to reverse that…” frowned the purple alicorn. Her friends were shocked to hear what the centaur had done with their beloved rulers.

“That’s… very horrible…” whispered Fluttershy, shocked that Lord Tirek would so something like that.

“But Twilight, don’t you have a spell to upon up a portal to Tartarus?” asked Spike, with lots of curiosity behind his voice, to which the princess just shook her head.

“No… I don’t… Tirek also blew up The Golden Oak Library… So I can’t read up on it there…” answered Twilight Sparkle, which greatly shocked Spike. The baby dragon frowned and hung his head, to which the purple alicorn wrapped her hoof against her number one assistant to hug him.

“Don’t worry Spike, it’s all going to be better… I just need to get Celestia, Cadance and Luna out of Tartarus… they will know what to do!” cooed the princess, successfully calming down Spike. When suddenly, she felt the baby dragon disappear. She, along with her friends, was extremely confused by this new development. Twilight Sparkle then noticed her friends disappear one by one. First was Applejack, then Rarity, then Rainbow Dash, then Fluttershy and finally, Pinkie Pie.

“Trust me, Sparkle Butt… It won’t get better.” Stated a voice behind her. She quickly turned around and was greeted by the sight of a grinning draconequus, which made her scowl.

“Discord… What did you do to them?!” aggressively inquired the purple alicorn, to which Discord let out a laugh.

“Jeez, calm down! I just sent them do a dungeon, chained them up and gave them an orb which will showcase our little skirmish.” Truthfully answered the draconequus. Twilight Sparkle furrowed her eyebrows and began glaring at the traitor. When suddenly, Lord Tirek landed near Discord and began glaring at the purple alicorn with enough strength to burn a hole right through her.

“But… how? I saw him go down!” anxiously uttered Twilight Sparkle, bewildered by the sight before her. She thought that the blast had finished off the evil centaur, but here he was, virtually unharmed.

“I saved him before he could get hit by that little blast of yours. I also healed him a little bit.” Admitted the draconequus, which made Twilight Sparkle even more anxious. She had her doubts about taking on Discord, but she is completely unsure now if she could beat both of them at once.

“It’s time for round two, Sparkle…” chuckled Lord Tirek, punching his own palm…
> Chapter 2: Twilight's last stand
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Equestria, Ponyville

After Lord Tirek punched his empty palm with his clenched fist, Princess Twilight Sparkle gulped fearfully. She was not exactly expecting to take on two extraordinarily powerful villains today. While the duo was standing menacingly in front of the purple alicorn, Twilight Sparkle began forging a plan to defeat her opponents.

"Could we do this in a slightly different place?" asked Princess Twilight Sparkle, wanting to move away the upcoming battle from her beloved village, Ponyville. The centaur's smile disappeared and was replaced by a rather curious expression.

"Why can't we just do it right here?" questioned Lord Tirek, confused as to why the purple alicorn wanted to fight in a different spot. The evil centaur couldn't really care less where the upcoming battle would take place.

"It seems that she doesn't want to damage any buildings here, or injure anypony." concluded Discord whilst stroking his beard, to which the centaur just snorted. Lord Tirek knew that his opponent was a goodie two shoes, but he didn't know that she cared that much. It made the evil centaur a bit sick to his stomach, but the more he thought about it, the more sense it made. The evil centaur now saw the benefits from moving the skirmish that was about to ensure.

"Well, I don't really care about the inhabitants... But I also don't want to rebuild this dump after Discord and I take over Equestria. Lead the way, Sparkle." said Lord Tirek, accepting the proposal. The remaining princess was rather annoyed by the remark, but hid it and nodded. She began flying away from Ponyville with a moderate speed.The centaur and the draconequus took off after the purple alicorn and began following her closely

'Okay... I just have to take Tirek out of the picture and quickly deal with Discord. After i beat Discord, I should be able to win against Tirek.' thought Twilight Sparkle, smiling to herself after forming the plan in her head. She lead the villains to the place where she had previously fought Lord Tirek. The centaur noticed that the place looked rather familiar , to which he scoffed.

After a couple of minutes, the purple alicorn landed on the ground. The duo caught up with Twilight Sparkle and landed not too far away from her.The princess of friendship locked eyes with her two opponents, attempting to put on a brave expression. However, her hopes of winning were rather low...

Equestria, Canterlot dungeon

"Well girls, it looks like the battle is going to begin soon..." sighed the orange earth pony, saddened by the upcoming event. She was, however, rather satisfied that her friend had thought of moving the bout further away from the farm.

"Why are you girls acting so dramatic? Twilight will easily win this!" cheered Rainbow Dash, not loosing any hope in her friend. The rainbow-maned pegasus knew that no matter the odds that were stacked against them, they always came out on top and defeated any evildoer that had the audacity to threaten Equestria or Ponyville.

"Yeah, and when she wins, I'm going to throw her a big party!" said an optimistic Pinkie Pie, sharing Rainbow Dash's faith in her friend.

"I don't know darling... Discord , from what I've heard, is pretty powerful..." disagreed Rarity, worried for the safety of her friend. The white unicorn knew that her friend acquired magic from the princesses, but is it enough to face Discord and Lord Tirek at the same time?

"I just hope that *sniff* she doesn't get hurt too bad..." said a sad Fluttershy, dismayed by today's events. First, Lord Tirek came back to Equestria, then her friend betrayed her and now she's trapped in a dungeon with no way to help the princess of friendship.

"Please win this, Twilight..." whispered a hopeful Spike...

Equestria, near Ponyville

"Ladies first, Sparkle butt." sheepishly taunted Discord, hoping to get a reaction from his opponent. The purple alicorn composed herself by inhaling deeply and exhaling a large amount of air. She narrowed her eyes and began looking at the centaur before her.

"With pleasure." said Princess Twilight Sparkle in a serious tone. She teleported behind Lord Tirek and began to quickly charge a powerful spell. Before the duo could react, she sent an extraordinarily powerful gust of wind at the centaur, which sent the magic-absorbing villain flying at great speeds into the sky. Discord saw this and began to charge a powerful magic blast that he planned to send from his paw, with the intent of knocking out his opponent. Fortunately, the draconequus' plan was interrupted by a mighty magic blast from the purple alicorn. After making contact, the attack managed to melt through Discord's head, effectively destroying most of it

However, Twilight Sparkle did not her assault stop there. She began to send a large amount of magical blasts from her horn towards Discord. The draconequus had difficulty dodging most of the attacks due to his opponent's speed. The attacks, upon collision, pierced the spirit's body, leaving huge holes in it. As a result of this, Discord began falling to the ground, seemingly dead. The purple alicorn looked as the draconequus' limp body began descending to the ground. 

The centaur caught himself and was no longer getting sent back by Twilight Sparkle's spell. He began making his way to the battlegrounds, annoyed by the stunt that his opponent pulled on him earlier. Upon his arrival, Lord Tirek discovered that his friend, Discord, had already been killed. To this new development, he began glaring daggers at the princess of friendship. Princess Twilight Sparkle noticed Lord Tirek and began to go on the offensive once more. She flew at great speeds at her opponent whilst charging a potent blast, with the intent of taking down the remaining opponent.

But before she could come close to the malicious centaur, Twilight saw the 'dead' body of the spirit of chaos appear before her very eyes. Before the princess of friendship could comprehend what she was seeing, Discord's dear body appeared in her way, unexpectedly slashing her with his sharp claw. She stumbled back, now with clawmarks on her cheeks. The wound was deep enough to make some blood trickle down from it. Much to the purple alicorn's surprise, the draconequus began to regenerate the wounds that she had inflicted a couple of moments ago.

"Oh my Celestia..." whispered Princess Twilight Sparkle, shocked by this new development. Lord Tirek was just as surprised as his opponent by his 'friend's' superb regeneration. After the draconequus finished patching up his body holes and the  missing part of his head, he began to glare at the alicorn princess.

"That wasn't very nice..." spat Discord. He opened up two portals : one to the left of him and one close to Twilight, masking it so that his opponent could not see it. The princess of friendship saw  what her opponent was doing, to which she tensed up and began preparing for the worst. The draconequus quickly formed a magic blast and threw it into the nearby portal. It went out of the other one and connected with the alicorn princess, burning her side as a result. Twilight Sparkle let out a painful yell and teleported away from the duo.

"You can run, but you can't hide..." said Discord, creating another portal and closing the two old ones. He put one of his arms into it and grabbed onto something. He quickly removed his arm from the portal and the object that he grabbed is revealed to the none other than the alicorn princess herself. He began looking her straight in the eyes with the intent of hypnotizing her. 

The colour of the draconequus' eyes changed, it was no longer red and yellow. He now had a black pupil with stripes of random colours on his iris and sclera. Soon enough, the princess of friendship's eyes had the same colours and colour patterns on them

"Now, be a good girl and give Tirek here all of your magic..." smiled Discord, to which Twilight Sparkle nodded. The evil centaur smiled and began to use his telekinesis on the purple alicorn to get her closer to him...

Equestria, Canterlot dungeon

"No! Twilight!" shouted most of the dungeon's captives, thinking that the draconequus has got their friend under his control

"Discord's cheating! It's not fair!" protested the cerulean pegasus, angered by the cheap tactics that the spirit of chaos is using

"She had one chance to win this fight, but now Twi is going to loose her magic..." sadly stated Applejack while hanging her head.

"She will pull through this! Just watch!" bluntly exclaimed Rainbow Dash, not loosing any hope in her friend.

Equestria, near Ponyville

After Lord Tirek brought Twilight Sparkle close enough, the centaur opened his mouth and was ready to collect her magic. When suddenly, the purple alicorn sent a magic blast towards Lord Tirek, forcing him to stop the process. It went straight through his abdomen, which resulted in the centaur letting out a mighty wail. He quickly retaliated by sending his own blast towards Twilight Sparkle, which she avoided by the skin of her teeth.

Discord saw this and began quickly healing the wound. After the draconequus healed the hole in his friend's abdomen, he teleported near the purple alicorn and sent a powerful blast at her within point blank range. It connected and exploded upon contact, which sent the princess of friendship spiraling towards the ground. She crashed into the hard surface, coughing up saliva and some blood after landing.

The princess of friendship turned her body around and began laying on her stomach. The purple alicorn attempted to get stand up, one hoof at a time, but found it rather difficult to do so. After Twilight Sparkle began standing on all of her hooves, she glared at the grinning opponents in front of her.

"Just give up, Sparkle. I promise that I won't be too rough with you after I absorb your magic." proposed Lord Tirek, hoping that this charade will end quicker than it will

"Never! My family, friends, the princesses and all of Equestria are counting on me to take you two down!" declared the princess of friendship, her spirits still high. After hearing the speech, Tirek just burst into laughter.

"No, Sparkle. I'm pretty sure that your friends, princesses, family and all of Equestria are thinking that you're an incompetent failure." stated the centaur, hoping to bring down his opponent's morale and to confuse her.

"W-What do you mean?" asked Twilight Sparkle, confused and baffled by Tirek's sudden statement.

"Think about it. Why did Celestia send my buddy instead of you to deal with me?" asked the centaur, confident that the purple alicorn won't have a response for this one. While Twilight was trying to find an answer to Lord Tirek's question, Discord enveloped the princess of friendship in a yellow aura. He then lifted the purple alicorn and crashed her into the ground with a huge amount of force. After doing so, the spirit of chaos began dragging Princess Twilight Sparkle across the ground, inflicting some nasty wounds from grinding her on the uneven surface.

While Discord was wearing down the princess, the centaur began to charge the strongest blast that his current magic level would allow. After he was finished, Lord sent the attack flying at a colossal speed towards his opponent. The powerful blast connected with the alicorn, sending huge shockwaves across all of Equus and creating a big explosion. After the mushroom cloud settled, the princess of friendship was found laying in a huge crater, nearly unconscious.

The duo landed near the crater, with the magic-absorbing villain smiling like a filly, who had just received candy. Lord Tirek picked up Twilight Sparkle and brought the pony closer to his face. The centaur then coated the alicorn in an orange aura and opened his mouth with the intent of absorbing her magic. The princess of magic slowly felt magic leaving her broken and battered body, The process itself hurt a lot, but Twilight Sparkle was too weak to fight it

After Lord Tirek finished acquiring the purple alicorn's magic, he dropped her to the ground and began laughing like a madman. Thanks to the newly added power, the centaur's  mass, height and power began to increase substantially. 

"N-no..." weakly protested Twilight Sparkle, unable to fight back any longer.The princess of friendship was laying on the ground, watching helplessly as her opponent became stronger than ever. She perfectly knew that Lord Tirek had won and was about to rule Equestria with an iron fist. After the centaur finished 'transforming', he looked down on the purple alicorn with a rather malicious smile...

Equestria, Canterlot dungeon

After Twilight Sparkle's defeat a great silence made itself known in the dungeon cell. The captives were saddened by the events that have unfolded before them.  Knowing that Lord Tirek is going to become the leader of their beloved motherland was a lot to take in. The worst part is that their dear friend will get banished to Tartarus forever...

"it's over..." whispered Applejack, being the first being to break the silence.  The orange earth pony was rather sad that she will probably never see her friend again.

Spike, Fluttershy, Rarity hung their head, knowing that things went from bad to worse. Even the cheerful pink earth pony looked rather grim, while the baby dragon and the yellow pegasus were on the verge of tears.

The cerulean pegasus looked at the orb with a shocked, angry and disappointed expression. She was shocked because Rainbow Dash thought that her friend was unbeatable with all of the magic she received from the princesses. The rainbow-maned pegasus was experiencing anger because of the cheap tactics that the duo had used to win against the purple alicorn. But most importantly, she was disappointed that  she, the cerulean pegasus, and her friends could do nothing to help the princess of friendship...

Equestria, near Ponyville

"Discord... could you be a buddy and heal her up?" asked the centaur impatiently. The draconequus and the princess of friendship were rather confused and baffled by this request.

"But why?" asked a puzzled Discord. Lord Tirek turned around to face his 'friend' and frowned a little bit due to the draconequus questioning his request. The spirit of chaos nodded and began using his magic with the intent of healing Twilight Sparkle. After a few moments, all of the purple alicorn's wounds were gone. The princess of friendship tried to stand up but was blasted by the centaur.

The magic blast connected and sent Twilight Sparkle flying and grunting from the pain. After a while, she landed on the ground with a very loud thud. The purple alicorn surveyed the area where the blast had connected and saw that it managed to burn her fur and skin. When suddenly, Twilight Sparkle felt a huge weight on her body and looked up to see the centaur's hoof stomping her body.

"Honestly, Sparkle, I was correct. You are rather pathetic... The only reason you were even able to ascend to an alicorn was because you gained enough cookie points from your beloved teacher." monologued Lord Tirek, applying more pressure onto his opponent's body afterwards. Twilight Sparkle let out a blood curdling scream from the increased force. The power of the centaur's hoof was almost big enough to shatter her bones. 

After a few moments Lord removed his huge hoof from the princess of friendship's body. He used his telekinesis to lift her from the ground and chuck Twilight Sparkle into a mountain. After the purple alicorn collided with the hard surface, the centaur began to violently beat her up with a flurry of punches. Each attack that made contact with the princess of friendship's body forced saliva and blood come out of the purple alicorn's mouth.

"This is what you get, Sparkle, for nearly beating me!" spat the centaur in between punches. He threw one final punch, whose power overshadowed any physical attack that he had thrown beforehand. Lord Tirek heard a crack, that was followed by the mountain collapsing. He turned around and saw his buddy, Discord, looking rather disapprovingly towards him. The centaur's eyes shifted from the draconequus to his opponent and vice versa.

Discord understood what the centaur had wanted and, after sighing, he lifted the limp body of his ex friend with his magic from under the rubble and began healing her once more. After treating his opponent, the draconequus gently put her down on the mountain's rubble. Twilight Sparkle locked eyes with her opponent and began giving Lord Tirek a pleading look

"Please... Just stop... You've won already..." pleaded the princess of friendship, hoping that her opponent would finally cease torturing her. The centaur locked eyes with the miserable princess and raised his eyebrow at the request before him.

"Figures, though, it should come as no surprise that a waste of space like you would be pleading for mercy..." grinned Lord Tirek. He walked up to Twilight Sparkle and sent an earth - shattering kick towards her. The purple alicorn was in no position to dodge the upcoming attack, which allowed it to connect with her head. As a result, Twilight Sparkle got sent back and landed face first into the cold, hard ground. The evil centaur began walking menacingly towards the princess of friendship whilst charging a powerful blast.

He sent the attack at the purple alicorn once again, which resulted in a colossal explosion and a mushroom cloud that surpassed the clouds in it's height. Before Lord Tirek, his opponent lays there - broken, bloody and bruised. The centaur grabbed the princess of friendship by the collar and used his magic to open a portal to Tartarus. He grinned and casually threw the princess towards the pillar's roof, where the other princesses resided. After Twilight Sparkle landed near Celestia, Cadance and Luna with a loud thud, Tirek closed the portal. The evil centaur turned around and was met by a rather displeased Discord.

"Was that really necessary?" asked the spirit of chaos with one of his eyebrows raised and arms crossed. He was rather disgusted with his new friend's actions and could not help but feel sorry for his ex opponent. Tirek walked up to Discord and began laughing, which threw the spirit of chaos a bit off guard. The centaur patted Discord on the back multiple times and ceased his small outburst.

"Of course it was, dear friend. I get quite a bit of satisfaction in crushing my opponent mentally and physically after the battle." replied Lord Tirek, looking straight into the draconequus' eyes. The spirit of chaos locked eyes with his friend and sighed, knowing that it's useless to reason with the power-hungry centaur. Lord Tirek stopped looking at his friend and began stroking his white beard, thinking on what his next action would be...

???

Somewhere in space, far away from Equus there was a planet. The floating rock was at a perfect distance from it's sun - not too far and not too close, near enough to house life. The celestial object's surface was mostly composed of land with huge amounts of water in between. The land is inhabited by beings of numerous species, with the dominant one being Zubriks - short, green-skinned, three eyed, bipedal aliens. Technologically, this world is far superior to Equus, having space ships that can travel incomprehensible distances in a second, teleportation, robots, portals to parallel universes and much more.

The planet itself only had one country - Astria. Unlike Equestria, the country was not a diarchy. It has one ruler that is elected every 5 years. Though, for the last 900 or so years the country has been run by one being - an alicorn. The leader, Alexander, has a ruby-red coat, harlequin green eyes and spiky, navy blue hair. He is taller than princess Luna but his height is below that of Celestia. Currently, Alexander was surveying the observable universe on his computer when suddenly, it detected a huge amount of power coming off from one being. 

'What's this power spike in the neighbouring galaxy supercluster?' thought the male alicorn, noticing a spot his computer screen. Curiously, he zoomed in on the the location of the source. To the stallion's surprise,  he found a planet that was covered in land and water. The red alicorn blinked a few times and began zooming in on the planet itself to see the being that had been emitting so much power. What Alexander saw shocked him immensely.

He saw his homeland, Equestria, for the first time in a thousand years. Alexander dropped his neutral demeanor and began grinning like a cheshire cat . The red alicorn also saw a tall, black and red centaur and a familiar spirit of chaos. He blinked a few times once again and began cackling  , which caught the attention of the other alien beings who were present in the room. Most of them turned around to face the red alicorn, surprised to see him change his mood unexpectedly.

"Uhm, Alexander..." said a short, green-skinned , three-eyed bipedal alien. He was wearing some armour and had an insignia that was plastered on said outfit, showing that he had a rather high rank. The red alicorn turned around and locked eyes with the creature who called his name.

"Kolsol... Where do we keep our fastest ship? I need to go on a trip to this new planet." smiled Alexander, looking away from his companion. Kolsol was rather surprised to see how much zeal his comrade expressed or rather, him expressing any at all. The alien grinned and began to search for the fastest space ship that they have.

'Finally... after a millennium i will have my revenge on Discord...'  thought Alexander, smirking to himself...
> Chapter 3: Aftermath
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Astria

The little alien, Kolsol and the alicorn, Alexander, were enthusiastically strolling down one of the many hallways that were located inside the capital building, their feet hitting the hard, metallic floor. The duo was heading towards the spacecraft hangar, going past aliens of multiple races along the way. Each and every one of the beings greeted the red alicorn and the zubrik, earning nods and waves from the two colleagues. Alexander was looking forward to visiting his homeland once again, for it has been over one thousand years since he has last been there.

"So, Alexander, which planet are you going to save this time?" joked Kolsol, poking fun and looking at the happy red alicorn. Alexander turned his head to face the green alien, his grin widening ever so slightly. The red alicorn slowed down and, eventually, came to a complete stop, making the programmer follow suit and end his path as well.

"You won't believe this, but I finally get to visit my homeland, Equestria!" exclaimed Alexander, turning his whole body to face his companion, surprising the short alien immensely. The red alicorn told Kolsol multiple times that he was banished from his native country and, by extension, the planet by some god of chaos who bared the name Discord.

The programmer smiled, feeling immensely happy for his companion. Kolsol can't even begin to imagine how much pain the thousand-year-old being has felt due to getting unfairly torn away from his home, family, and life. But nevertheless, the zubrik was a bit worried about his companion's well being and, in a way, for the alicorn's life.

"I'm glad that you are going to visit your planet, but is this 'Discord' the whole reason behind your trip?"inquired Kolsol, asking a seemingly harmless question. However, much to the programmer's surprise, Alexander dropped his broad grin and turned around, restarting his initial trajectory after flicking his tail. The green alien blinked twice and began sprinting towards his friend, catching up with him in a timespan of a few seconds. The zubrik was afraid that he had accidentally hurt Alexander's feelings.

"The whole reason behind my trip, Kolsol, is that Equestria is under attack by that bastard and some other villain. Could you also ask the workers to bring some capsules that contain food, water, and supplies? Something tells me that they may do some unspeakable damage to the planet and it's inhabitants." asked the red alicorn, making his companion nod. The thousand - year - old being did not want to see his motherland get destroyed by those two villains, but alas, the stallion knew that he would have to help rebuild Equestria after his battle with Discord and Lord Tirek.

"We need supply capsules containing food, water, medicine and building robots to be brought to the 'Blue Kraken'." asked Kolsol, activating the small microphone that was sitting on his ear. The green alien received a response instantaneously, which made him grin. Kolsol was glad that they are going to load up the ship with the capsules and use them to help another civilization, but most importantly, the programmer was happy that he didn't hurt his friend's feelings.

"Are you sure that you can beat both of them at once?" inquired the short alien, worried for Alexander's safety. The crimson alicorn told Kolsol multiple stories about his adventures and the powerful opponents he had faced and beat, but the programmer had this feeling in his gut that the trip to Equestria could be the final one for the 1000-year-old being.

"I'm positive. I'd like to think of it as facing... A childhood bully, if you will. I've been preparing to battle the god of chaos for a millennium, Kolsol, I think that I am about as ready as I can be."grinned Alexander, attempting to reassure his friend. The duo eventually made it to the door that leads towards the space ship hangar. When the red alicorn and Kolsol made it to the door, a camera popped out of a hatch and began scanning the two beings, shining a green light over them.

'ACCESS GRANTED.' announced the machine in a robotic voice, allowing the duo to make it past the obstacle. The door slid upwards, allowing Alexander and the programmer to enter the hangar. Kolsol began leading the way now, with the alicorn following behind, eager to see this ship himself. Both of them passed through some guards, receiving a salute from the wardens. The duo returned the gesture and, after a few moments, the green alien and Alexander made it to the specified means of transport. The male alicorn circled around the vessel, examining it's exterior profoundly.

In front of Alexander stood a round spacecraft that was supported by insectoid - like legs. The male alicorn noticed that the ship was noticeably smaller than the other space craft that has been residing in the hangar. Judging by the ship's design, Alexander deducted that the vessel was meant for bringing materials and additional aid to some civilizations. The red alicorn was quite satisfied with the vessel already, making him look at Kolsol and smile. Alexander noticed that it also had state of the art twin-barrel turrets built on it's sides, allowing the vessel to.

The red alicorn decided to enter the navy-blue ship by climbing the stairs that lead to the open door. Upon entering the ship itself, Alexander was greeted by a window that showed what was in front of the vessel. Below it and above the ship, there was a control panel with multiple buttons, switches, and levers. There were also a few screens that showed the spacecraft's condition, it's location in the universe and a screen that would show the face of the being that the red alicorn would communicate with while being on the ship.

Alexander turned around and saw a couple of beds, a refrigerator, a room that lead to the shower and the toilet, a small wardrobe that's used for storing clothing and weapons and a storage room. The red alicorn grinned and turned around, his gaze being focused on his companion once more. Kolsol‘s eyes met with Alexander's, making the zubrik return the warm grin.

"Alright, we just need to get the supplies, food and water, set the coordinates and that would be all!" commented the alicorn, bearing an ecstatic demeanor. But suddenly, Alexander remembered to grab one important thing, just in case if things go South. The red alicorn closed his eyes and began concentrating his magic. After a few seconds, Alexander disappeared out of the programmer's sight, surprising Kolsol...





Our hero appeared on the other side of the planet and, by extension, in a different building. The 1000-year-old being began walking down the corridor and, eventually, Alexander turned left. He was greeted by zubriks that were guarding the door which Alexander wanted to go through. Above the door, there was a yellow sign that said 'DANGEROUS WEAPONS AND ARTIFACTS, KEEP OUT!' .The two guards saw him and smiled, letting the red alicorn through without hesitation. Alexander smiled back and nodded, walking towards the heavily secured obstacle. Once again, a camera popped up from a hatch and began identifying the being that was in front of it.

'ACCESS GRANTED' announced a robotic voice, making the door open. The red alicorn barged into the room with the object closing behind him. He began walking past multiple items, eventually finding the item that he wanted. Alexander's horn got enveloped in a brilliant, crimson aura, with the box following suit. He began using his magic to bring the object closer to him. After doing so, the red alicorn grabbed the box with his hoof and teleported back to his ship.

"Had to grab this thing." announced Alexander, catching Kolsol's attention. The short alien turned around and saw his companion with some sort of box that was levitating near him. The red alicorn walked up to the wardrobe and opened it with his magic, putting the box into it and closing the piece of furniture's door.

"Alexander, what did you just grab?" asked the programmer, walking up to his companion. Alexander turned around and gave Kolsol a sly smile, making the programmer feel a bit uneasy.

"Oh, nothing... It's just... Insurance. Oh lookie there, the crates have arrived." said the red alicorn, pointing at the robots that were carrying crates full of capsules by air with his hoof, hoping to change the topic. The bots began descending and gently putting the boxes on the floor, not wanting to damage them. After the crates landed on the metallic surface, the robots began flying out of the ship. Alexander used his telekinesis to move the crates into the storage room, gently closing it afterwards.

"Alright, we just need to put the coordinates in and that is going to be it..." said the red alicorn, with a smile forming on his face afterwards...

-Tartarus-

The princess of friendship landed near Princess Luna, Cadance and Celestia with a loud thud, causing the other alicorns to look at her. Upon noticing what just happened, the princess had rather similar reactions. The pink alicorn began sobbing quietly, burying her face in her hooves. The dark blue mare hung her head in silence, tears forming in her eyes. The princess of the sun put her hoof on her mouth and began wailing, her foot muffling most of the generated noise.

"Twilight... what has he done to you?..." asked a heartbroken Princess Celestia, mortified at the sight before her. The princess of the sun wanted to help the purple alicorn - hug her, comfort her, heal her, soothe Twilight's pain, but she is unable to do anything! The white alicorn had no magic, her hooves were chained up and she could feel her strength slowly leave her body.

"I-I'm... Sorry.. *wheeze* Cel... estia... I ha...ve fai...led you...*cough* It's... all my fault..." spoke the princess of friendship, having major difficulties doing so. After hearing those words, Princess Celestia was overcome with even more misery than before and, in a sense, snapped. She began to move her hooves violently in an attempt to get closer to her former student and break the chains, but to no avail... The solar princess stopped trying to destroy the metallic cuffs thanks to calming down ever so slightly.

"No, Twilight, It's okay... It's me who has failed you... I've failed all of my little ponies that I've sworn to protect... I'm just a royal failure.." said a melancholy Princess Celestia, her voice filled with anguish. When suddenly, two equine creatures landed on the platform, making the alicorns worried. Both of them had pegasi wings, red, glowing eyes, fangs, a mane and a tail that resembled a fire and a grey coat. Both of the creatures began making their way towards Twilight Sparkle, making the other mares give the duo a pleading look.

"No... Please... Don't..." begged the princess of the sun, her pleading gaze focused on these Tartarus workers. The beings, however, paid no attention to the white alicorn and continued walking towards the semi-conscious princess. Upon making it closer to the purple alicorn, the duo materialized chains that were meant for the princess of friendship. They began to slowly apply them, meeting next to no resistance from the once determined Twilight Sparkle. When suddenly, much to everyponies' surprise, the two beings began to heal the purple alicorn, removing some of her wounds and giving the purple alicorn a bit of energy.

After finishing applying the chains and throwing the princess of friendship a bone, one of the demonponies created a magic orb that showed the current state of Equestria. The demonponies turned around and spread their wings, taking off from the cold, stone floor and flying towards the neighbouring platform. Princess Cadance, Luna and Celestia were relieved that Twilight Sparkle is going to survive and not die from her wounds. The mares began looking at the orb in front of them, seeing Lord Tirek discuss something with Discord. The princesses became even more upset at the thought of loosing their beloved countries and ponies to the two villains.

"What do we do now, Tia?" asked the princess of the night, glancing at her big sister. Princess Luna was disturbed by the white alicorn's hollow gaze, being the first time the blue mare has seen her like this. Princess Celestia began to slowly turn her head and eventually, her eyes met with blue alicorn's. The princess of the sun was rather close to breaking down mentally, after all of these years...

"Nothing, Luna, Nothing... Only a miracle can save Equus now..." replied the immortal mare, her sullen gaze leaving her little sister. Princess Luna frowned in sadness and turned to face the princess of love, who was still crying her eyes out, but not with the same intensity as before. She was really devasted due to losing her husband, Flurry Heart, and her kingdom. The princess of the night sighed and turned around to look at Twilight Sparkle, who was laying on the ground, passed out from exhaustion.

'At least I still have you girls with me...' though Princess Luna, closing her watery eyes. The princess of the night sat on the ground and gently placed her head on the cold floor, slowly drifting off to sleep...

*Equestria, Ponyville*

"So, first thing's first, we need to announce that I-Er... I mean we rule Equestria..." said Lord Tirek, attempting to make a sound course of actions. The centaur was flying towards Canterlot's royal castle at a great speed with his 'friend', Discord, right beside him. The draconequus was rather silent after witnessing the brutality that Lord Tirek had displayed earlier.

"I also need you to create some... slave drivers, guards, police ponies and executioners, just for keeping the inhabitants of our kingdom under control... When will you create them?" asked the centaur, hoping that Discord would go through with his plan soon. The draconequus looked up and glanced at Lord Tirek, looking rather annoyed with his companion.

"I can create them at any moment..." responded the spirit of chaos nonchalantly, earning a nod from the evil centaur. The duo eventually made it to the capital of Equestria, landing near the magnificent building in which the princesses used to reside. Lord Tirek noticed a couple of Celestia's and Luna's Royal Guards laying on the hard pavement, still trying to recover from the magical drain. The evil centaur grinned and looked directly at Discord, his malicious gaze meeting the spirit of chaos' yellow eyes.

"Change of plans. I think it may be time to... create these beings, don't you agree dear friend?" asked the evil centaur, causing the draconequus to sigh in regret. Discord snapped his fingers, creating a couple of chaos ponies as a result. The creations wore brown peaked hats, which had an emblem in the middle of said headgear. The badge was a metallic cut out of Lord Tirek's face, horns and beard. The police ponies were comprised of multiple pony species - unicorns, earth ponies and pegasi. Upon noticing the Royal Guard members, the black sunglasses and brown shirt wearing ponies began making their way towards the Night and Day guard.

Eventually, the group of guards managed to partially recover and get up on all four hooves.. The stallions' and mares' eyes were now fixated on the upcoming chaos ponies. The captain of the royal guard, Shining armor, began glaring at these new opponents. The stallions and mares entered fighting positions, preparing for the worst outcome...

"Don't create anymore... Let's see just how good these things are." said the evil centaur, monitoring the police ponies with a curious demeanor. The new earth ponies lunged at the royal guardsmen, surprising everypony with their speed. Most of the soldiers barely had any time to react, resulting in them getting pinned to the ground. After which, the police ponies began their relentless assault on the downed stallions and mares - throwing a powerful barrage of punches with their front hooves, with every thrown attack connecting.

The pale brown pegasi spread their wings and took off, flying towards the stallions and mares, hoping to knock them off the bridge. The batponies and royal pegasi noticed what was going on and took action immediately - blasting off at a great speed towards their opponents. The group managed to intercept almost all of these creations, much to Lord Tirek's annoyance. The unicorns began shooting magic blasts that were aimed towards the combatants in an attempt to take down the batponies and pegasi.

The white stallion fought valiantly, successfully fighting on par with one of the earth ponies. The creation threw a powerful punch that connected with Shining Armor's cheek. The captain recovered quickly and grinned after witnessing an opening in his opponent's fighting style. The white unicorn went on an offensive - throwing two quick attacks with his hooves that managed to connect, catching the opponent off balance.

After the initial success, captain Shining Armor quickly turned around and kicked his opponent with his back hooves, nailing the chaos pony straight in it's sunglasses, breaking the object immediately and blowing off most of the creation's top head.

After supposedly taking down the chaos pony, Shining Armor looked around and noticed that the royal guard was fairing very poorly. Angered by this, the white unicorn lunged towards one of the creations that was beating down one of the pinned royal guards. Shining Armor head-butted the chaos pony, sending it flying off the bridge.

"T-thank you..." said the earth pony, having difficulties giving up. The captain gave Flash Sentry a nod and turned around, noticing the pony who's head he partially blew off with his kick. He stared at the captain with glowing, orange eyes, regenerating the missing piece. After witnessing the self-healing police pony, the white unicorn began getting nervous about the whole ordeal. This scene made Lord Tirek and Discord grind in delight, knowing that these creations are capable of regeneration.

The chaos pony that captain Shining Armor knocked off the bridge jumped climbed back up and jumped at the unsuspecting captain, catching him off guard. The white unicorn got pinned by the pale brown earth pony, allowing the attacker to assault the prince. Though, fortunately for the captain, a tangelo pegasus rammed himself into the police pony, sending the creature rolling down the bridge. Upon realizing who his savior was, Shining Armor grinned. Spearhead's gaze met the white unicorn's, making the airborne pegasus return the grin.

When suddenly, one of Spearhead's wings got blasted with a dark purple beam of magic. The stallion cried out in agony and began falling towards the ground with a great speed, making the captain uneasy. Shining Armor tried to run up to his wounded friend, but got jumped by two earth ponies that knocked him down and began chaining him up. The police ponies knocked out the captain of the Royal Guard with a hard blow to the back of the head. Shining Armor fell hard to the ground, his unconscious body laying there peacefully.

"They seem to be rather weak, could you make them more dangerous?" inquired the evil centaur, earning a glance from the spirit of chaos. Discord nodded in annoyance and snapped his fingers, coating all of his creations in a yellow aura. After the changes were done, the creatures became stronger, faster, more intelligent, fiercer and more proficient with using their magic. Lord Tirek noticed this change and smirked maliciously, rubbing his hands together.

After the police ponies knocked out and chained up the remaining royal guard members, the evil centaur ordered them to bring the unconscious ponies to the dungeon for imprisonment and torture. The chaos ponies began following through with their order quite religiously, much to the evil centaur's delight. Lord Tirek patted Discord on the back and chuckled.

"Good job.“ Commented the evil centaur, changing the spirit of chaos‘ mood a little bit. The draconequus grinned and began creating even more ponies for their personal use...
> Chapter 4: New Equestrian Order
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Astria

"It's gonna take me... One year to get there, huh?" asked the red alicorn to no one in particular. Alexander has put the coordinates of Equus into their UPS (Universal Positioning System), with it showing the distance and how long it's going to take to get to the planet. The 1000-year-old being was rather surprised to find out that the fastest ship that they have could cover this gap in only one year. Then again, if he were to teleport there non stop, it would take him 2, maybe even 3years to do the deed. And even so, the alicorn wasn't sure if he could teleport from the edge of one galaxy to another, thanks to the tremendous distance between the gravitationally bound systems of stars.

"Well... It is going to try to cover a distance of over 100 million light years..." commented Kolsol, earning a sheepish grin from his companion. The zubrik chuckled and began looking at his friend, with Alexander returning the stare.

"Do you remember the day, Alex, when we first met?" inquired the green alien, forcing a smile to appear on the red alicorn's face.

"Oh yes, I do quite well..."

*Flashback, Astria, 25 years ago*

Alexander was walking down one of the many streets of the planet he has been living on for multiple centuries, doing a yearly check up on the stores, pharmacies, hospitals - anything he could really get his hooves on. The red alicorn stumbled upon an orphanage and decided to enter it, with the intent of surveying the building. He saw some unfortunate children on the playground, having fun and playing tag. After noticing the approaching entity, the young zubriks stopped and swarmed Alexander, making the latter chuckle.

"Hello there!" exclaimed the red alicorn, exciting the kids to no end. The almost 1000-year-old being used his magic to create paw like, transparent magical shapes, surprising the little tykes. He carefully placed his creations on their heads and made the appendages ruffle the children's hair, making the younglings happier

"Alexander! Alexander! Is it true that you're the strongest and coolest being in the whole universe?" inquired one of the kids, who was enjoying himself far too much. The stallion did not quite expect this question to be asked by a child, but none the less, he had to come up with some answer.

"Well, I don't know that, little one. The universe is a very big place, which means that there is possibly someone even cooler and stronger than me. But, if he decides to be a meanie and try to bully everyone, I'll try to stop him." admitted the red alicorn in a low laugh, making the kids open their mouth in shock and smile. Alexander looked around and noticed a different zubrik that was sitting in the shade and reading some holographic book.

"Who's that kid and why is he alone?" asked the red alicorn, his gaze fixated on the lonely zubrik. The green alien was admiring the pictures and, quite possibly, the story. Alexander got rather curious and decided to get closer to the kid with the intent of finding out more about him. The red alicorn sat near the child and began to look at the story itself, with the kid still being oblivious of the alicorn's presence.

"So, whatcha reading?" asked Alexander, slightly startling the unsuspecting kid. The young zubrik quickly darted his eyes towards the sheepish alicorn, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Oh, just an old story, mister." replied the kid while chuckling lightly. The red alicorn grinned and put his hoof on the child's head, gently petting the body part with it

"Please, just call me Alex. What's your name?" inquired Alexander earning a small gasp from the little munchkin. The alicorn guessed that the child probably didn't know how the ruler of Astria looked like, which would explain his reaction.

"K-Kolsol..." shyly responded the zubrik, earning a small grin from the hero. Alexander confidently extended his hoof, wishing to partake in a hoofshake. A young Kolsol, slowly, but surely, extended his hand and wrapped his fingers around the body part, shaking it slowly.

"Nice to meet you, Kolsol. Why are you all alone?" asked the smiling red alicorn, hoping to find out some information without reading the zubrik's mind. Kolsol looked at Alexander curiously and smiled back, slightly confused as to why the alicorn would even show any interest in him.

"Oh... Well, I just like sitting in this place during recess." admitted the Zubrik, earning a nod from his companion. When suddenly, the bell rang, causing the child to get up and close his holographic book. He began running towards the orphanage, looking back and waving at his new acquaintance.

"I have to go to class now! See you later! It was nice meeting you, Alex!" shouted Kolsol, turning his head back, his gaze now fixated on the building in front of him. Alexander chuckled in amusement and began walking towards the orphanage himself, wanting to check out the interior of the building...

*Flashback end*

"I do quite well indeed..." grinned the alicorn, recalling the blissful memory in his head, with his friend doing the same. The red alicorn wrapped one hoof around his buddy, causing the zubrik to smile and hug Alexander's leg affectionately.

"To be fair, I was also quite surprised to find out that you graduated from one of the most prestigious programming universities on our planet by yourself..." noted the red alicorn, earning a small chuckle from the short alien. Alexander was, in a way, quite proud of Kolsol's achievements, considering how much of a handicap life had given him.

"I'm gonna miss you..." stated Kolsol, feeling rather sad that Alexander was going to leave for a year. The red alicorn felt that the upcoming 365 daysshall be very boring and difficult, considering that he harbored similar feelings for his companion. The only difference would be that the zubrik viewed the stallion as a father figure of sorts, while the pony thought of Kolsol as a genuine friend.

"So shall I... Friend..." admitted Alexander, with a small smile appearing on his face. The duo eventually broke the hug, considering that the ship was about to take off pretty soon. Kolsol turned around and began walking towards the vessel's exit, turning his head around one last time and waving his hand at the red alicorn, with Alexander returning the gesture as best as he could. The zubrik left the ship and after climbing down the stairs, the stairwell retracted and made a door, with the newly created object closing the space vessel‘s entrance.

"Here goes nothing..." whispered Alexander, putting his hoof on the control screen, selecting the 'Take Off' option. The navy-blue metallic ball began leaving the floor slowly, with its insectoid-like legs retracting into itself. Kolsol and a few other workers began waving at the flying ship, bidding farewell to the red alicorn.

"Alriighty... I believe it's time to do this." mumbled the alicorn, pulling one of the switches that had been located on the control panel. As a result, the ship took off into space with a speed that Alexander could never match with any amount of preparation. The red alicorn decided to send the vice-ruler a message, explaining the whole situation.

'I'm going on a mission that may take a year or even more... Take over for now and keep me updated on everything.' read the message, with Alexander pressing the 'Send' option. After warning the zubrik, the 1000-year-old being grinned and began trotting towards the center of the room. After getting there, the red alicorn began sitting on the spot and meditating, hoping that it would help pass the time...

-Equestria, Ponyville-

After imprisoning the royal guards, Lord Tirek and Discord decided to announce their ascension to the throne in each and every village, town and city of Equestria. Though, to be fair, the spirit of chaos will be the one announcing everything, while the centaur will sit on the sidelines and change up the laws a bit.

"I think Ponyville would be a good place to begin, don't you agree?" inquired Lord Tirek, his citrine eyes meeting the draconequus' gaze. Discord had no other option but to nod and teleport to the small town, with the intent of subduing it. The spirit of chaos' paws were suddenly enveloped in a dark purple aura, allowing the draconequus to create more of these immortal chaos ponies. After forging a couple of police ponies, Discord mentally gave them an order to rally each and every citizen into the center of this small town.

The spirit of chaos' creations began going to every building and forcing out the ponies, with most of them trembling. Most of the time, the citizens came out peacefully and no physical violence occurred. Though, at times, the police ponies had to forcefully drag out and assault the ponies that thrashed and resisted them, leaving minor bruises and wounds. Though, unfortunately, every pony was too afraid to help the citizens that were being assaulted. Eventually, the chaos ponies have forced all of Ponyville's current residents to the location of where the Golden Oak Library used to be.

The spirit of chaos grinned and created a small stage and podium for himself, which Discord got behind. The draconequus materialized a pair of glasses, which, upon appearing, plopped onto his nose and a small piece of paper with some text on it. The spirit of chaos adjusted his new pair of glasses and cleared his throat, preparing to give a speech to the scared and unhappy crowd.

"Citizens of Ponyville, from this day forth, your sweet princesses shall no longer be leading Equestria!" began Discord, earning gasps from multiple audience members. They were quite shocked to find out that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have been removed from power for some unknown reason.

"Do not fret, ponies. Tirek and I shall be leading this marvelous country from now on to greatness!" announced the spirit of chaos in a very ecstatic voice. Discord was, however, met with booing and mass unrest from the citizens, which surprised the new leader. The draconequus rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers, creating metal chains for each and every pony that was present. He grinned and put the piece of paper down, raising both of his paws that were coated in a brilliant-red aura.

Discord began creating more ponies once again, but this time, his creations greatly differed from the police ponies. Unlike those average stallions, these new ponies were a bit taller than Big Mac and were much more muscular than said red earth pony. They wore black hoods that covered their face completely, with the exception of their glowing, yellow eyes. The mass of ponies was rather... intimidated my these new hulking creations.

Alongside these new beasts, the draconequus created one special chaos pony that wore a black tuxedo, a red tie, and a white shirt. He, like all of the other creations, had glowing yellow eyes and a pale brown coat. The stallion began walking onto the stage with the spirit of chaos moving a little bit so that said pony could go past his creator without bumping into him.

"This stallion right over here shall be your new mayor." announced Discord, pointing at the stallion that was standing on the podium. One pale amber mare hung hear head, feeling hurt that she was replaced by this... thing! The chaos pony began looking at the fearful crowd and grinned. He mentally commanded the slave drivers to start whipping the crowd, leading them to their homes. The draconequus smiled in glee after witnessing his creations do their job rather proficiently.

"We've got a lot to do." stated the spirit of chaos, rubbing his two paws together in a rather malicious manner. The new mayor's glowing eyes met with the spirit of chaos' gaze, making both of them smile and nod. Discord's new creations suddenly stopped torturing the mares, stallions, fillies and colts, confusing the whole crowd greatly.

"Emperor Discord has ordered us to force you to tear down most of Ponyville's buildings and collect every piece of food that there is." sternly said the police ponies and slave drivers in unison, sending a huge chill down the ponies‘ spines. The inhabitants of this poor town did not expect today to be so... horrible. Everypony hoped that the Princesses, Mane 6, or even the guards would be able to save them from this new threat, but alas, tis' was not the case.

"Who do you think you..." began Night Watch, only to get whipped by one of the burly stallions. The attack was strong enough to break the fabric of his shirt and pierce through the earth pony's skin, forcing the chained guard to let out a mighty wail of pain. The slave driver, however, did not stop there. He began to use his weapon repeatedly, creating even more wounds on his back. Gushes of blood began dripping from the freshly damaged openings, staining Night Watch's pale blue shirt in a crimson-red colour. Some bystanders that were witnessing this punishment turned around, closed their eyes and a couple of them fainted.

"Now... this was a just a little example. If anypony steps out of line, I shall be forced to command my faithful minions to do even worse things..." smiled the new mayor, intimidating the poor ponies greatly. This suppressed any sort of possible resistance that would have come otherwise from the townsponies, considering that they're even more afraid now than they ever were before. The mares, stallions and their children, albeit grudgingly, began tearing down their homes and collecting food, much to the spirit of chaos' delight. At times, the burly stallions used their weapons to whip the citizens so that the ponies would work quicker...

-Tartarus-

"How could he do this..." whispered Princess Cadence, gritting her teeth in disgust while tears rolled down her eyes. She knew that the spirit of chaos was not one of the friendliest creatures that the princess of love had the unfortunate luck of meeting, but the pink mare did not expect this traitor to be this... brutal. The second youngest alicorn was very distraught after witnessing what these new police ponies had done to her dear husband, Captain Shining Armor.

"It seems that... Tirek is influencing Discord to commit all of these heinous acts..." said a weak voice that came from the left of the pink alicorn. Princess Cadence turned around to look at the white alicorn and saw her aunt's seemingly empty gaze fixated on her.

"What do you mean, auntie Celestia?"

"From what I've seen... Tirek is using Discord for his own needs and is manipulating him, trying to make him think that what he is doing is normal..." explained the white alicorn with a small tear rolling down her face. The pink princess now understood the severity of the situation. Princess Cadance looked into the crystal ball once more and saw the spirit of chaos now being in the Crystal Empire. Like with Ponyville, Discord created police ponies, slave drivers and a new ruler for the city.

"No! Not my crystal ponies!" desperately exclaimed the princess of love, saddened by the scene in front of her. She hung her head and began weeping once again, waking up the princess of the night from her little nap. Princess Luna got as close to the pink alicorn as she could and wrapped her wing around her, trying to calm her down.

"Calm down Cady, everything's going to be fine..." said the princess of the night in a motherly tone, attempting to calm down the weeping mare. The white alicorn glanced towards her sister for a brief moment, giving her a 'Are you crazy?' look, before lowering her head slowly and darting her eyes towards the sphere.

'I hope...' thought Princess Luna, genuinely believing that Equestria can still be saved by something...

-Equestria, Crystal Empire-

After turning the inhabitants of the Crystal Empire into slaves and forcing them to tear down their homes and raid all of the food, the draconequus began exploring the location itself, with the intent of finding some artifacts that the spirit of chaos and his friend could use. Discord eventually made it to the center of the empire and noticed a floating heart that exhibited multiple shades of cyan. The object was floating in the center of a space between the crystal stalactite and stalagmite. Curiously, the spirit of chaos grabbed the heart and removed it from its previous location.

After taking a closer look at it, Discord noticed multiple clouds of snow that were approaching the Crystal Empire. Discord suddenly realized what this crystal creation did and grinned. The draconequus created a blue magical sphere and put it in the heart's place, making the clouds go away even quicker than they had come. Suddenly, the spirit of chaos got an interesting idea. He teleported to the royal castle, where he saw his friend looking through the current rules of Equestria.

"So, I take it that you subdued Ponyville?" inquired the centaur, shifting his gaze from the paper in front of him towards the spirit of chaos. Tirek noticed his companion hiding something behind his back and to this, the centaur raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, I have also managed to do the same to the Crystal Empire. Speaking of which, I got you this!" exclaimed the spirit of chaos, revealing the item that he had been hiding from the centaur. Tirek grinned and began walking towards Discord, his curiosity increasing ever so slightly. The centaur used his magic to grab the item from the draconequus' paws, gently lifting it and bringing it closer to his eyes.

"What is this?..." inquired the new ruler, examining the thing that his 'friend' had brought before him.

"It's the crystal heart! The ponies used it to defeat King Sombra." answered the spirit of chaos, peaking the centaur's interest. Lord Tirek opened his mouth and attempted to drain any form of magic from the item, but to no avail. The centaur snorted and tried to consume the heart's magic once more, but had absolutely no luck in doing so once more.

"It isn't working!" announced an annoyed Lord Tirek, his frustration showing. The spirit of chaos was as confused as his friend and teleported himself back to the Crystal Empire. Discord flew towards the closest pony and grabbed him, placing one of his paws on his head and reading his mind. After a couple of moments, the spirit of chaos let go the unfortunate citizen and reappeared near the confused centaur, who was still trying to figure out how the heart worked.

"It seems that... The crystal heart only works if the crystal ponies decide to power it..."stated the spirit of chaos, making the evil centaur snort. Lord Tirek was rather annoyed by the fact that this object wouldn't work as of right now, but didn't pay too much mind to it.

"Well, let's go to the crystal empire and activate this thing then." said the centaur, bearing a malicious smile. Discord nodded and teleported both of them to the place where the heart itself used to reside. The spirit of chaos removed the floating magical blue orb from the space and replaced it with the crystal object once more. While the draconequus was putting the heart into it's place, the centaur could not help but notice Discord's creations whipping the crystal ponies and forcing them to get closer to the center of the location.

"You did good, friend, you did good..." smiled Lord Tirek, his happiness showing. He was very delighted that his 'friend's' creations actually do their job. After hearing the centaur's praise, Discord smiled and nodded, feeling rather proud of himself. The draconequus finished putting the crystal heart into its place, which made every citizen of the Crystal Empire regain their crystal-like look. They began hesitantly bowing, with the intent of fueling the crystal object with power.

Lord Tirek and Discord waited patiently for this item to do something, but, much to their disappointment, nothing happened at all. The spirit of chaos was surprised to see that the snowflake pattern that was drawn around the stalagmite wasn't covered in a light blue light like he saw in that one stallion‘s memory. The draconequus scratched the behind of his head and was just as confused as the tall centaur.

"It isn't working... Oh, to Tartarus with this!" cursed an irate Lord Tirek, grabbing the crystal heart and throwing it to the ground, smashing it into many small pieces. The crystal ponies and, by extension, Discord were shocked by the centaur's action. Said villain took off from the ground and began flying back to Canterlot, leaving a frowning spirit of chaos standing in one place. The draconequus created a light blue orb once more and placed it in the same spot where the last one used to reside, allowing this location not to be covered in multiple snow clouds...
> Chapter 5: Changes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Equestria, Canterlot-



The five mares and the baby dragon were still being held captive in one huge dungeon cell, with the only two sources of light being a small open window that had a dim sunray coming out of it and the glowing magical orb that has been showcasing the same mountainous scenery for the past half an hour or so. Most of the room's inhabitants didn't quite pay any attention to the picture, considering the fact that they've been hanging their head low and staring at the cold, hard floor.

When suddenly, the doors to said cell opened. The ponies and Spike began looking at these creatures that have entered the room, their expressions still being rather motionless. They were, however, now aware of what their new overseers looked like. These police ponies began walking up to the Mane 5 and the baby dragon, slowly undoing their chains.

"By orders of emperor Discord we are here to move each and every one of you to separate cells. We can do this the hard way, or the easy way..." smiled the police pony, his glowing orange eyes illuminating his sunglasses. The captives' eyes went wide from the shock that appeared when they heard about their former friend deciding to become an emperor. Nonetheless, the imprisoned beings gave the stallions bitter looks but decided to go with the group of chaosponies rather than resist them in vain. After a couple of moments, the inhabitants of the cell were free and left the guarded area, being guided by the immortal ponies.

After walking down the treacherous corridor, the group of ponies and Spike made it to a different sector of the dungeon that had a smaller room for each and every prisoner. The mares were at first gently forced into their new living quarters, with most of them complying. However, the cerulean pegasus spread her wings open and took off, flying down the corridor as fast as she could, showcasing her amazing speed. Rainbow Dash was smirking but suddenly, the mare felt herself stop in mid-air. She began looking around and noticed a purple aura surrounding her, making the tricky pegasus gulp.

"Uh oh..." whispered the mare, knowing what's coming next. The unicorn policepony threw Rainbow Dash against the floor, earning a groan from the cerulean pegasus and an imprint on the floor. Unfortunately for the element of loyalty, the magic-wielding chaos pony created a strap on her wings that did not allow Rainbow Dash to use her appendages anymore. Two stallions walked up to the mare and wrapped their hooves around her front legs and began dragging the mare back to her cell. She tried to thrash and flair her hooves but was unable due to the fact that the unicorn never stopped casting her spell.

"Let go of me! And take this thing off!" demanded the element of loyalty, earning absolutely no response from the stoic policeponies. The duo eventually made it to her cell and dropped the pony there, closing Rainbow Dash behind bars. The cerulean pegasus glared at the two stallions and the pale brown unicorn, angry that they have trapped her friends and her in this place. She was also bitter about the contraption that they put on her wings, considering that the mare may never fly again. "This is so uncool..."

"Sugarcube... What did yah even want ta accomplish?"

"Well, I just wanted to get somepony to help us break out and save Equestria..." admitted the rainbow-maned mare, replying to her friend's question. When suddenly, one of the draconequus' creations began to lead the baby dragon out of the dungeon, much to the confusion of the Mane 5. "Where are yah taking Spike?!"

"To a boarding school Also, Emperor Discord has subdued Ponyville and the Crystal Empire, taking its inhabitants into slavery. Nopony will help you escape." responded the policepony, earning gasps from Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Applejack.

"But, what about..."

"Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo shall also be taken to the same boarding school." sternly replied the stallion, telling the Rarity and, by extension, the mares what has happened to their siblings. The ponies calmed down ever so slightly after finding out their loved ones' fate. Though, Applejack and Fluttershy still had a very terrible feeling in their gut

"Are my animals going to be okay?" inquired the timid pegasus, looking hopefully at thechaospony with tearful eyes.

"I have no idea. Your little cottage, like most of the buildings in Equestria, shall be torn down and in its place something else shall be built. The animals most likely be sent to the Everfree forest." truthfully answered the neutral pony, his gaze being fixated on a brick wall. Suddenly, Fluttershy jumped towards the metal bars and grabbed them, breaking into tears. Her friends also felt destroyed by the fact that their homes would be taken down

"Please don't! They can't take care of themselves!" begged the timid mare, hoping that Discord would be kind enough not to destroy her home. As expected, the mare did not receive any reaction from the police pony, causing Fluttershy to remove her hooves from the bars and go to a different spot of her cell room, specifically the piece of wood that was placed in a horizontal position against the wall. It was supported by two rusty metal chains that looked like they could break at any moment. The pale yellow pegasus decided to lay on said piece of wood and weep there, burying her face in her hooves...

-Canterlot, the Crystal Empire-

The spirit of chaos continued standing in the same spot, looking at the shattered Crystal Heart with his yellow eyes. He furrowed his white, bushy eyebrows, feeling rather confused as to why his friend decided to break this artifact rather than to abuse its powers. Discord decided to confront Lord Tirek about it, teleporting to the flying centaur, appearing not too far away from his side. The new emperor noticed the co-ruler appear but decided not to pay any attention to him, thinking that he wouldn't have to explain his actions.

"Why did you break the Crystal Heart?" patiently inquired the draconequus, making the evil centaur roll his eyes and lock them with Discord's yellow and red orbs.

"Well, for starters, dear friend, I got rather impatient." admitted Lord Tirek, earning a rather surprised look from Discord. The spirit of chaos was baffled after finding out the evil centaur's reasoning behind destroying the object. The draconequus sped up and was now flying in front of Lord Tirek, making his friend move his head forward so that the centaur could continue staring at him.

"Just because you were impatient?" asked the spirit of chaos once again, uttering the final word in total disbelief. The magic absorbing villain nodded and grinned, continuing his trajectory.

"Yes. The other reason would be that these ponies could have used that Crystal Heart of yours against us, possibly defeating you and me." replied the villain, thinking of an excuse right on the spot. Discord's expression became ever so slightly less intense, considering that the spirit of chaos now understood as to why his colleague smashed the artifact. The draconequus was still rather annoyed at his friend but, this time, he decided to drop it.

"If you say so... I'm going to go after Cloudsdale now. Bubye!" announced the spirit of chaos, waving his cockatrice claw at his friend. The magic absorbing villain nodded and noticed his friend completely disappear out of his sight. The evil centaur made it to Canterlot and entered the royal palace, picking up his quill and piece of paper once more.

"Let's see here, where was I... Ah yes..." grinned Lord Tirek, reading through the constitution. First and foremost, the evil centaur made it so that slavery would be legal. The villain thought for a moment and wrote down that each and every serf belonged to him and Discord, with the chaosponies looking after the slaves. After which, the evil centaur crossed out the paragraph about being able to start a family and marry any being, no matter their race, religion origin or status.

"Mares and stallions, without the limitation of race, origin, religion and status can only marry and start a family if the government would allow both parties to perform such an event. Perfect..." smirked Lord Tirek, satisfied with his idea. Now, the bloodline of the Mane 6 would die out, making it less possible for somepony to overthrow him and his 'buddy'. The emperor began to skim through the constitution, looking for other things that he could change.

"Time to bring back the death penalty." smirked the evil centaur, changing up the laws of Equestria once again. Lord Tirek looked through another set of rules that he began to change so that it could benefit him and Discord. Now that the evil centaur thought about it, he would have to talk about the new constitution with his 'buddy'. Lord Tirek had to pretend to be the draconequus's friend, after all. For now, the new emperor put down the piece of paper and decided to go and get himself something to eat. He entered the royal kitchen and saw the police ponies detaining a couple of chefs.

"Stop!" roared the evil centaur, making the chaosponies focus their attention on him. Discord's creations gently let go of the scared and bruised mortals, allowing them to stand freely without any force holding them down. They noticed the towering creature and gulped, taking a couple of steps back from Lord Tirek. The new emperor held back a small smirk and eyed the ponies intently, making the poor mortals feel even more uneasy.

"Make me a royal feast that includes meat, preferably cow. That will be all." ordered the evil centaur, staring down the small group of chefs. They quickly nodded and began to do their job while simultaneously being afraid for their lives. The emperor turned away and began making his way towards the throne room with the intent of redecorating it. After opening the door with his magic, Lord Tirek began surveying the area. Using his powers, the evil centaur created two chairs out of the one that stood proudly upon the throne.

The bigger stone chair that had high handles and a covered lower front area that was situated between the legs belonged to the magic absorbing villain, while the similar, yet smaller one belonged to the draconequus. The evil centaur also split the red carpet, with its center breaking off into two ways that lead to the two chairs of royalty. Lord Tirek smirked and began to warp the windows, changing their appearance completely. Every window now had the centaur and the spirit of chaos depicted on them rather than the princesses. Both of them were either shown ruling Equestria, destroying their enemies or just posing for the picture.

The magic absorbing villain then used his powers to change the colour of the floor, walls and ceiling. Each and every surface now had a spruce blue appearance, similar to the one that Tirek's castle had a thousand years ago. The new emperor grinned and materialized curtains that hung behind the two chairs. The fabric had a similar colour like the surface of the room, with the only difference it being darker. The evil centaur walked up to his throne and sat on it, feeling overjoyed at his victory.

"Perfect..." whispered the villain, happy with how things are going so far.Now, he just has to redecorate the entire castle and change the constitution with his 'friend'. After which, the evil centaur will conquer all of Equis for himself and gather even more magic!

These thoughts brought a smile to the emperor's face. However, he quickly left his comfortable throne and left the room, changing the royal castle's interior and exterior slowly but surely...

-Astria-

Charco, the vice-ruler of Astria woke up in his comfortable bed a couple of moments ago.He was quite excited to start off the second week of his first term as an elected vice-leader. The zubrik got up and began to make his way towards the kitchen with the intent of having the energy pill for breakfast. The vice-ruler got one out of the cupboard and consumed it, feeling his hunger and fatigue dissipating.

After having his breakfast, Charco began making his way towards the shower. After entering his bathroom, the vice-ruler took off his underwear and entered the cabin, where he pressed one button. The shower drain let out a gas that destroyed all of the bacteria, removed the odor from his body, replacing it with something synthetic. The zubrik took a whiff of his healthy skin and smiled, realizing that it now smelled like strawberries.

Charco left the shower and began to get dressed, putting on a shirt, a red tie, a black suit, black pants and two shoes. He returned to his bedroom to check his phone to see if it has any new messages or notifications. A reminder appeared that today would be the day of his first major meeting with a race of aliens that are known as the Dulmiks. The conference's main topic is to discuss trade and overall relations between the two countries.

The zubrik was looking forward to his very first major conference. He was also excited to spend time with the current leader of Astria, Alexander. Being slightly nervous about the whole thing isn't the best course of action, but the vice-ruler couldn't help it.

Charcho also noticed a message from the pony, which greatly surprised the vice-ruler. He opened it and began to read it carefully. After viewing the text, the zubrik decided to re-read it if he understood everything correctly. He realized that his mind wasn't playing tricks on him and began to lightly panic, feeling rather unnerved by this whole situation. The very first conference that he would attend was going to be rather... interesting.

"Alex, why..." huffed the vice-ruler, slightly annoyed at the fact that the red alicorn left at such a crucial time. The zubrik partially collected himself and decided to find out more information on Alexander's mission. He decided to call the 1000-year-old pony, hoping that he would answer him...

-A couple of hundred light years away from Astria-

The 1000-year-old alicorn was playing chess against a high-level A.I on one of the control panel screens. He was in a rather difficult situation, considering that Alexander and the computer so far had an equal amount of pieces on the board. Suddenly, the crimson pony received a notification of his partner calling him. The ruler of Astria gently tapped the screen with his hoof, accepting the incoming call.

"Hi!" exclaimed Alexander, greeting the zubrik in a rather cheerful manner. Judging by Charco's expression, Alex assumed that he wasn't too happy about the sudden departure.

"Alex, what kind of mission are you going on?" calmly inquired the short alien in a serious tone

"Weeelll... I just wanna save this planet and beat up a bad guy that I've already fought once and lost against." truthfully answered the red alicorn, making Charco raise his eyebrow. The vice-ruler began to go through a mental list of opponents that have defeated Alexander. He then gulped after realizing which villain the pony was referring to.

"You don't possibly mean..."

"Oh no! Not him! I'm actually talking about the one that sent me to Astria in the first place one thousand years ago." responded the red alicorn, feeling the nervousness in the zubrik's voice. Charco sighed in relief after Alexander gave him a reassuring answer. Then, something clicked in the green alien's mind.

"You're not going to Equestria, are you?" inquired the vice-ruler, earning a nod and a grin from the immortal alicorn. To that, a small smile appeared on the zubrik's face, knowing that Alexander was going to finally see his homeland after a thousand years.

"That's great... but what about the meeting? You know... the one that we have been planning with the Dulmiks?..." inquired Charcho, making the pony lean back on the chair and tap his chin with his hoof, trying to remember the important conference... Eventually, Alexander remembered it and opened his mouth slightly, realizing that he has completely forgotten about it.

"Oh... that one... Well, good luck with it?..." awkwardly replied the ruler, rubbing the back of his head with his hoof and giving him a sheepish grin. The vice-ruler's eyes went wide and he began to panic, rubbing his eyelids with his hand-like appendages.

"What do you mean good luck?! What if I make a fool of myself and our country? What if..." ranted Charco, thinking of every possible thing that could go wrong with him leading the meeting. The red alicorn patiently waited for the zubrik to finish his tantrum, thinking of how to calm him down...

"Deep breaths Charco, take deep breaths..." suggested Alexander, not really wanting to see his partner in such a state. The green alien took up the ruler's advice and began to do as he was advised to, calming down ever so slightly as a result of this action. The 1000-year-old pony gave Charco a small smile, being somewhat glad that his plan is working so far.

"Thank you..." calmly said the zubrik, giving Alexander a small smile of his own.

"You know... You weren't the only one who turned into a nervous wreck before delivering a speech..." commented the immortal stallion, making the vice-ruler confused and a bit surprised. The red alicorn couldn't possibly mean himself, can he?...

"Are you talking about yourself by any chance?" curiously inquired Charco, staring at Alexander with a suspicious expression.

"Yeah, it was me when I was first elected... Do you want to hear how it all went?" responded the immortal pony, looking at his partner intently. The zubrik thought about it for a moment and nodded, curious to find out more about the alicorn and, if possible, to figure out how to suppress the anxiety.

"Well, you see..."

Flashback



-Astria, 980 years ago-

"Come on! You need to give the victory speech!" deadpanned one of the zubriks, trying to pull the crimson pony from his place. Alexander, however, did not want to move at all, outright refusing to even budge!

"I've never done this before! I didn't even want to become the ruler!" argued back the red alicorn, hiding the fact that he was too nervous to give the monologue. The zubrik that tried to pull the pony out of one place stopped and sighed, taking a few steps back. The older green alien furrowed his eyebrows and lightly huffed, looking at the stallion with disappointment.

"Listen, R-Alexander, the zubriks just want to hear their savior, the former resistance leader to give a speech after winning the election and liberating us from the emperor." reasoned Fossur, trying to talk the new ruler into giving the speech. Alexander, however, still did no want to go out to the podium that was a few rooms away from him.

"I can't! What if I embarrass myself? Then the zubriks that have chose to elect me will realize that they chose an idiot and..." began the young alicorn, only to get cut off by the older green alien who, at the time, was slowly losing his patience.

"Alex, each and every future important decision in your life is going to be scary and nerve-wracking. If you don't learn to cope with it now then the future is going to be rather grim and difficult for you..." explained the elder, trying to reach out to the afraid stallion. The words rang in the alicorn's head, making him consider Fossur's advice. A smile began to form on the older zubrik's face after he noticed that Alexander began to think about what he said.

"As a leader, you need to set an example for each and every one of us what we should strive for. You wouldn't want your people striving for cowardliness and selfishness now, would you?" asked the green alien, making the crimson alicorn realize his horrid mistake. The immortal pony shook his head, realizing how much of a wuss he was being.

"Thank you, Fossur... I really needed that." said a smiling Alexander, complimenting the elder. Fossur smiled and nodded, giving the now confident alicorn a thumbs up. The pony nodded back and began making his way towards the exit, giving the older zubrik one last glance before going past the door. The group of green aliens looked at Fossur with admiration. He was leaving the room himself to join the crowd, with the other aliens following him...

Flashback end



"And that's about it..." finished the ruler of Astria, his gaze focused on Charco. The vice-ruler was listening intently to Alexander, trying to make some mental notes on how to be a more confident and overall better leader.

"That's quite the story..." admitted the younger being, earning a nod from the alicorn.

"Indeed... Fossur was a very, very wise zubrik. I find it very sad how most leaders don't really care about their people and abuse their power..." sighed the pony, remembering the countless planets he has been on. Before Charco could attempt to comfort Alexander, the stallion hid and suppressed his sadness.

"Everything is gonna be alright Charco, I believe in your abilities. I mean, you were elected as a vice-ruler after all, which means that you are fit for the position!" beamed the red alicorn, trying to unexpectedly pump up the short creature. Charco understood that the ruler wanted to switch the topic, to which the zubrik played along. He smiled widely, accepting Alexander's compliment and being rather flattered that he had thought so highly of him.

"I'm glad that you think so... Are you busy right now?"

"Well, I wasn't exactly doing anything important. Why?"

"I wanted to talk with you until the meeting happens..." Admitted the zubrik, earning a nod and a chuckle from the ruler of Astria.

"Of course! I will be here for you until the whole conference thing happens so that I could keep you prepped up!" responded the red alicorn, accepting the green alien's proposal. After hearing the pony's response, Charco grinned...