“This all feels so… overwhelming. How could all this be happening right under my nose? How could I have not suspected this? How is it that you were able to operate in such secrecy that you had everypony in Equestria fooled? How is this possible?” Celestia asked desperately.
“Because I had been planning all of this for an incredibly long amount of time. It’s clear that you fail to see how much effort I had put into my persona, not to mention the others’. It’s… ridiculous, honestly,” Twilight explained.
“Now, to the last main piece of the puzzle. Tirek. He was crucial for my early stages, as were you, Luna. He possessed a magic that could not be found in any of tomes I read. It was… a dark and ancient magic, not unlike the magic that Nightmare Moon possessed in that sense. In a more literal sense, it was similar to the magic found in the ‘elements’, but more specialized and and far more evil. It could rip the magic away from another being, something which I have burned from my and all those who-knew-how-to-wield-its memory. It is something that still haunts my nightmares today, and I look back on it with disgust and anguish. It is from that magic that I…” Twilight paused, closed her eyes, and bit her lip. “I do not wish to speak about this now… it troubles me too deeply.”
“I think I can understand,” Luna offered.
“I’m sure you can, Luna.” Twilight made a sour face.

It was I who freed Tirek. It is unforgivable. He may be the doer, but I was the medium for which he did. Mere knowledge of his existence and his evil would be confined to the two of you if it were not for me.

When I let him out of Tartarus, I unleashed the memory of a magic so dark and evil that it’s creators wanted it destroyed. And so it stayed that way, until he was brought back.

Before I let him escape, he was stuck in a loop of madness. His mind was confused and subdued, and I, using dream magic Luna showed me, went into his mind, and unchained his psyche. This is why he did not tell you. He simply does not remember his liberator.

He did not escape, he was freed—by me.

There is no excusing what I did, and I take blame for it

When I scoured his mind, what I saw was… despair. He walked around a desert, constantly looking for his brother. His hooves bled, and the sun would not stop beating down upon his face. He screamed in sadness, though, not agony; he had one goal, and it was to find his brother.

It’s truly disgusting. I enjoyed watching him suffer. To know that he and his magic were beneath me and would even be mine soon was… bliss. To know I would soon achieve omniscience was… euphoric.

Every once in a while, he would trip on rock. Other stones would stab his face, and he would bleed out, covering the dried blood already there.

He was dry and wrinkly, and his eyes were devoid of life. He was a madman, walking in circles, in the desert, searching for his lost brother, suffering.

Some small part—the part that you see in front of you now—pitied him. His suffering was delicious but… oddly revolting. At the time, I blamed it on his bloody face, but I know better now.

Freeing him was almost trivial; I ended his loop; I gave a solution to his problem. I gave him his brother.

He laid on the ground, and wanted to wallow in misery, but his mind would not let him. His brother needed to be found, and he would find him, even if it took another eternity.

And so, using our link, I showed him what he wanted most. I gave him the most vivid image of his brother possible. And, when he lifted his head, he saw it. Through the mirage the desert sand created, was his brother, standing in front of him. Tirek got to his hooves, took a deep breath, and looked at his brother.

The loop had been broken, and soon he would diverge.

The dream shattered, and his mind was clear. His brother was gone. He was alone, and he would get revenge on all of those who dwelled in the devil nation Equestria for forsaking him.

That day, he roared. Tartarus shook under his anger. The titan had been let loose.

“Twilight, we must give you our magic. You will keep it safe,” said Celestia.

All three of their magics condensed above me, it’s density probably creating fusion no different than a star.

I willed it to channel into me, and I felt the raw magic mesh with my being. I felt as though I were being ripped apart and put back together again, but I remained stoic. There was no way I could let my plan fall flat then. The princesses were weak and defenseless, Tirek was on the loose, and now Discord was plotting with him as well.

The ball was rolling, and it could not be stopped. If I had messed up, not only everything that I had worked for would have been for nothing, but the world as we knew it would have fundamentally changed, and we would have probably died powerless. That was truly my biggest fear: being powerless.

I knew then what I needed to do with the magic. I needed to confront Tirek and learn his magic. I needed to learn how he stole magic. His imprisoned mind offered little information, so there was only one thing I could do. I needed to wait for him to come to me.

I knew I could not rely on Discord, so it didn’t matter much if he went to confront him. It helped, somewhat, too. Discord’s magic was unruly. If Tirek absorbed it, then that would slightly weaken him in the long run.

So, I went back to Ponyville and told my friends of what the princesses had given me. Rarity had created duplicates of the gems that were stuck to the vien. I placed my own gem in my leg, so I would never be without magic, even if I only had some negligible amount.

It took some time for Tirek to reach Ponyville. When he did, he absorbed all of my companion’s and Discord’s magics. And found me near the Castle of the Two Sisters.

He was huge, and very powerful, but I was far more cunning. He was after petty revenge; I was after the world.

We confronted each other and clashed magic. He had far more than I, and I was almost worried for a moment. But I realized I had something he did not: a plan. He knew not what he wanted, and it made him weak. He was sour at the turning of his brother, and this was the only motivation he had. And that’s all he had, really, was motivation. But he did not know what for. He only knew why, and that was his downfall.

I gave a good fight, and he eventually beat me after I was unable to discern his technique. I knew I was all but defeated. He had the others in his grasp, and the deeply buried part of me did not want to see them all dead. Of course, saving them just so happened to go with my last resort plan. “Give me your magic, or your friends will suffer.”

I can’t remember who called out to me, but someone said, “No! We’re not worth it, Twilight!”

But it didn’t matter. Sure, I had three alicorn magics, but that did not complete the puzzle by far.

Giving up all that power did feel awful, and I hesitated to do so willingly. I guess it wouldn’t really have mattered, he would have just taken it by force eventually.

I reluctantly gave in and let him passively suck my power away, but it was the last mistake Tirek ever made. He took the bait.

I felt him doing it, and probed his mind for a quick second. And then it clicked.

I knew then, the most disturbing and darkest magic of all; the magic of stealing power.

And I used it.

He finished sucking my energy, and latched back onto him. His mind was weak; he had no resolve. He tried so hard to stop the energy flowing from him, but it was in vain. He could not help what was happening. His magic was being taken by force.

“How are you doing this?! I took your power! How is this possible?!” he yelled in rage and confusion. I grinned.

“How does it feel to be a pawn? How does it feel to know that you are no more than an insect?” I asked smugly.

“What?! What is this?! I won! What are you doing?! I had the power!”

“And now, I do. We may just show you mercy for giving us the final piece.”

“What?!”

“Yes, we have all the pieces. It is time to put the puzzle together. Thank you, Tirek.”

At the time, his magic was too much for me. I tried desperately to contain it, but I heard a voice in my head. Let us take the burden as well, it said. So I did; I let the magic flow from Tirek, through me and my freinds bonds and into them. I know Rarity was just showing off when she used the excess magic to make us look like terrible superheroes.

And then, the strangest thing happened. The crystal box at the base of the vein reacted. It shot up into the air, flew over Ponyville, and up sprouted a crystal castle. None of us could explain what happened, and we still can’t today. I suppose it’s just another oddity of Equestria.

“But Tirek…. He…. He warned me of you…. He said that there was something wrong with you… and I didn’t believe him…” Celestia swallowed.
“I know. I was… evil. I was evil, but now I wish to correct it. I do not want this fate to befall another Twilight.”
“I must ask… you had not only our magic but a great deal of magic from other ponies, including discord.
“Why is it that you did not use it then? Why is that you waited almost eight years, if I am not mistaken before you actually carried out your plan? You said yourself that you had all the pieces of the puzzle, and that you simply needed to put the puzzle together, so why not put it together then?” inquired Luna.
“This is because the puzzle was not a trivial thing to put together. Even and puzzle with only three pieces takes time to put together, especially if said pieces are incredibly huge.
“There was still much extra plotting to be done,” explained Twilight.
“I… see.”

Author's Note

I added onto the previous chapter, so go and reread it.