Spike listened with fascinated interest as Princess Celestia recounted the story of when Tirek had attempted to take over Equestria for the first time. Apparently Tirek had his younger brother Scorpan come to Equestria from a distant land, intent on stealing Equestrian magic. However, Scorpan had come to appreciate Equestria's lifestyle and even going so far as to befriend a young unicorn wizard.

Spike decided not to mention that he and Scorpan had become friends during the dragon migration. It had turned out that the two had a lot in common and had even begun to spend time together when time allowed for it.

Getting back to the main story, Tirek, despite his younger brother's pleas to get him to reconsider his plans, was vehement on stealing Equestrian magic. So Scorpan, in an attempt to preempt what would more than likely be a magical massacre, he went to the princesses to warn them about Tirek's intentions before returning to his own home in his distant land.

Thanks to Scorpan's warning, the princesses had been able to imprison the centaur in Tartarus before he could steal any Equestrian magic.

"But it seems it seems that he has found a way to escape..." Princess Celestia told all the ponies present. Namely, during the time when Cerberus left his post at the gates of Tartarus.

"But that was a long time ago," Spike pointed out inquisitively. "Why is he just now starting to steal magic?"

"His time in Tartarus left him very weak," Princess Luna pointed out. "He was most likely building up strength until he could start stealing magic again and with each passing moment, he grows stronger still."

Princess Cadence had then stated that she knew the perfect candidates to take Tirek down. Twilight and Spike had perked up in interest as Cadence wrapped her hooves around the pair. Twilight and Spike had eagerly started to come up with a plan. Unfortunately, Princess Celestia had nipped that idea in the bud before it could take root. She had then proposed that Discord gets sent in to capture Tirek before the centaur steal any more magic.

Twilight Sparkle, Princess Cadence, and Princess Luna gasped at Princess Celestia's suggestion to let Discord handle the crisis that was Tirek's escape. She had explained that Discord could detect the most minute magical imbalances and the next time Tirek tried to steal magic, Discord could track him down and stop him.

Spike, for his part, being a young dragon, was more rebellious than his alicorn caretaker so naturally he'd done a couple of things. The first being that he sent a letter to Scorpan, telling him about how his brother had escaped and was determined to try to take over Equestria. The second was that he asked Discord to take him along when he went on his mission. To his surprise, Discord had agreed to take him if only to spite Twilight Sparkle.

* * *

Scorpan had met Spike and Discord outside of a small pony settlement in eastern Equestria where Discord had predicted where Tirek would strike next. He had given them an abridged version of Tirek's life story: apparently it had started with a childlike curiosity of exploring the Nether Lands. Their father's warnings against exploring such a place had only intensified their curiosity and in the end, they had decided to check it out. During their exploration, they had stumbled upon a cave housing a hermit named Sendak who had recently returned from a trip from Equestria and had kidnapped a unicorn stallion so that he would absorb his magic and become all powerful. Tirek had been fascinated by the ability and wanted to learn it for himself.

"However, Sendak deemed Tirek to be too young and undisciplined," Scorpan told them. "And before anything else could happen, we heard the bell calling for our return home so we departed."

"While this is quite the fascinating story," Discord interrupted. "How does this tie into the problem that we have now?"

"I'm only explaining how Tirek's thirst for power came about," Scorpan stated. "He continued to visit Sendak and one night he had tried to absorb the unicorn's magic." He grimaced. "The spell went horribly wrong and Tirek fled the cave, leaving Sendak to dig himself out. From there, Tirek was kept in his chambers while mother and father sent an envoy with the unicorn back to Equestria with an apology to Princess Celestia."

"This guy sounds like a real monster," Spike frowned. "Doesn't he realize how many lives he'd ruin by doing this?"

"That's the thing with bad guys who crave power, Spike," Discord told him, his features uncharacteristically grim. "They only care about getting the power that they're after and never think of the consequences or how their actions can have consequences on others. Why should they? Since they are only seen as obstacles to his end goal."

"It also didn't help that Tirek has never acted like a prince like Father had expected of him," Scorpan pointed out. "He'd always been a curious centaur and loved exploring and that's not even considering his gift with magic. It's normally quite a rare gift for a centaur to possess as far as I can tell."

"But there had to be more to it that Tirek would sneak off to continually seek out Sendak like the way you said," Spike pointed out with a thoughtful frown. Scorpan had conceded that his father had also sensed Tirek's thirst for power and had feared that he would turn that power on him.

"That certainly explains why the King had tried to do everything he could to prevent Tirek from learning too much magic," Discord mused. "If I had a son, I certainly wouldn't want him turning against me to usurp my kingdom."

Spike frowned as he contemplated the situation. Apparently, Tirek craved power as a result of his status as a prince as well as his gift for magic. He had intended to rule the kingdom one day but couldn't help but want more power sooner despite his parents' reluctance to grant him any such powers. Which had then led to the search for alternate means to achieve the power needed to conquer and rule the kingdom. Learning from Sendak had only made Tirek more ambitious which, in part, led to their present situation.

"He's only after magic power," Spike realized. Discord and Scorpan stared at him, waiting for an explanation. Spike had explained that Tirek had sought all the magic in Equestria so that he could be all-powerful. "But what he doesn't realize that there are other powers outside of magic that he can't harness." He grinned as Discord came to a revelation.

"He's only interested in super power or power that can be gained through force," Discord realized. "He either doesn't realize or care that there are other powers at work that could stop him at a given turn."

"Like us!" Scorpan chimed in enthusiastically. Spike and Discord nodded their agreement.

"I'm more grateful that Tirek's only interested in super power," Discord sighed in relief. "If only because I'd actually have competition if he tried to breach my monopoly on secret power and hidden power.”

Spike snorted back his laughter while Scorpan watched on, utterly bewildered. Noticing his friend’s confusion, Spike had explained how Discord had come to an epiphany after his “escape” and subsequent pardoning after seeing how efficient he was at forcing rivaling business to compete with each other which could naturally only serve to help boost the Equestrian economy.

And that wasn’t even taking into account all the new creations Discord had developed on his own time. Once Pinkie had gotten involved, then things really off. Heck, according to the Manehatten Times had stated that Discord had become the go-to for all things business. It really wasn’t surprising given how chaotic the field of business tended to be just by nature and Discord thrived on chaos and made it work for him.

Leaving that aside, Discord felt a tingle on his spine and pulled out his patented magic thief goggles before catching sight of their target. It had been decided that Discord would perform damage control while Spike and Scorpan would attempt to talk to Tirek about why he was doing the things he was doing.

* * *

“Brother?” Tirek blinked before his eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Pray tell, what are you doing here? I would have thought that you would be back home… parading around your title of prince back home.”

Scorpan blinked before frowning. “I had heard about your release and had come to see you and take you back home. I’m certain they would be most delighted to see you again.”

Tirek snorted back a bout of laughter. Given how his father, in particular, had been blatantly ignoring his talent for magic along with his own actions as well as his subsequent imprisonment in Tartarus, Tirek very much doubted that his mother and father wouldn’t be pleased to see his return.

“Nice try brother,” Tirek rolled his eyes. “Mother, Father, and I didn’t exactly part on the best of terms if you recall.”

Scorpan sighed as his brother moved away from them and had made to scour the town in search of ponies for whom he could feast on their magic to restore his own power. He had soon frowned when he’d noticed that the town had been either abandoned or more likely, evacuated. He narrowed his eyes. His return was supposed to have remained a secret. He had been certain that he’d been able to sneak out without rousing any detection.

Eyes narrowed, he turned back to his brother and blinked when he noticed the small reptile standing next to him.

“How long have you been standing there?” he asked warily.

“I’ve been here the whole time,” Spike replied easily. “You just never noticed.”

Tirek had balked at the thought of some outsider having been privy to his family’s past history. He’d been so sure that he’d buried those memories and was certain that no one else had been listening in. Then again, he hadn’t thought to check to make sure that they were alone.

That’s what I get for spending a thousand years locked in a cage in Tartarus with only Cerberus as company. Tirek couldn’t help but grumble to himself. He then rounded on the dragon, demanding to know where the townsponies were hiding.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Spike shrugged while Scorpan snorted back his laughter. “The only one who knows for sure is Discord and he’s not around right now.” He paused. “At least not that I know anyway.” Tirek blinked at Discord’s name and made a mental note to congratulate him on his escape. At least, he’d been able to move around but spending a thousand years as a statue in the palace garden was not how he’d want to spend his time imprisoned.

Then again, with the way the royal guard was being trained, maybe that would have been better. It would have given him more magic to work with at any rate.

Spike and Scorpan couldn’t quite hide their disgust at the sight of Tirek’s slimy saliva, trailing down his cheeks. Scorpan had silently handed his brother a spare handkerchief to which the centaur had snatched and wiped up his face, silently sulking in embarrassment.

“Well,” Tirek grumbled. “Seeing as there are no ponies whose magic I can take, I may as well take my leave.”

Tirek had taken all of three steps when he found himself unable to move. Not because of a spell that would have rendered him utterly powerless. Although in retrospect, Tirek might have preferred that because, if nothing else, he would have been able to consume that power and more than likely would have been able to escape. But no, that would have been too simple.

It was because the ground beneath his hooves had been transfigured into a puddle of glue. Tirek would have faceplanted in surprise at the sudden change in surroundings but because of the glue, that was simply not possible. Nonetheless, the centaur’s eyes did narrow marginally. There was only one character that he could think of that would pull a stunt like this and get away with it.

Discord.

True to form, the draconequus had materialized out of thin air, a smug grin on his face as he watched Tirek continue to struggle in vain to escape while simultaneously reveling in the praise that was Spike’s laughter and Scorpan’s suppressed snorts of amusement.

Once the laughter had died down, Discord had dispelled the puddle of glue and Tirek glared at them mutinously. It was clear that he would have loved nothing more than to steal their magic and then blast with the biggest burst of magic that he could produce. Unfortunately for him, that wasn’t possible.

“Aww, what’s wrong?” Discord asked, dressing up the disgruntled Tirek in a bonnet and diaper and simultaneously shrinking him down to the size of a child. Scorpan couldn’t help beam at how adorable his older brother looked as a small toddler.

“Discord you should probably stop,” Spike pointed out, “It looks like he’s about to throw a tantrum… or that baby rattle; whichever happens first.”

Discord, not wanting to deal with a cranky baby centaur or the prospect of a rattle being thrown as it head, dispelled the magic, leaving Tirek as the tall albeit weak centaur that they had first encountered. Tirek then decided that he had enough and started to walk away when he found himself staring into the pleading eyes of his younger brother.

Unbeknownst, to everyone save himself, Scorpan had felt terrible about betraying his own brother to the Equestrian princesses and felt that they needed to talk through this together. He wanted the brother that he had spent all his time exploring and playing all sorts mindless games with when they had been newborns. Unfortunately, Scorpan’s life had become much more dull and depressing after Tirek’s imprisonment. As a result, their parents had naturally decided to start grooming him when the time came to take up the throne.

Wanting to reconnect their family into the happy unit that it was supposed to be, Scorpan had resorted to his secret weapon. It had, after all, worked to make Tirek at least listen to what he had to say. While he wasn’t sure if it work now that they were, for all intents and purposes, fully grown, he knew that it was either going to be either this or nothing.

Which leads us to just what exactly this so called “secret weapon” happened to be.

The puppy dog eyes, naturally!

Oh no… Realization dawned on his face as he realized just what his younger brother was attempting to do. Not that face! Anything but that face! Tirek was silently pleading to whatever higher power existed. How he can still pull off that look after all these years, I’ll never know. Scorpan, not getting the desired reaction that he was aiming for, had decided to step it up a notch. Tirek felt his defenses crumble at the sight of the small tears and the quivering lip.

Contrary to popular belief, Tirek actually loved his brother very much. He had been his closest confident and even after his younger brother had betrayed him by selling him out to the princesses, Tirek still couldn’t squash the brotherly affection that he felt for Scorpan. He’d been the only thing keeping Tirek sane while the family dynamic had started to unravel and go up in flames.

Besides, he’d missed his brother. Being imprisoned in Tartarus could do that to a centaur no matter how tough an exterior or how many defenses they may put up to protect themselves.

The fact that there was a powerful draconequus nearby that had just turned him into a baby had nothing to do with his agreement.

Really it didn’t!

Now if only he could convince himself that much was true.

“Fine,” he conceded as he allowed his brother to grab him in what he felt was the biggest hug he’d gotten in a long time.

“But before we let you and your brother catch up,” Spike spoke up as Tirek turned to him. “I still want to talk to you.”

Tirek raised an eyebrow. What could this dragon possible have to say to him of all creatures?

I guess we’ll get to find out. Tirek mused as he and his brother sat down on newly materialized plush couches courtesy of Chaotic Parties Inc. Spike and Discord had sat across from the two brothers with only a table holding a pot of tea and several biscuits or gems in Spike’s case.

It was after a long pause while the four ate in relative silence. Tirek, himself, didn’t mind all that much as he reacquainted himself with just how tasty the spread was. Naturally, he’d come to realize how much tastier everything seemed now that he was free. It was a nice feeling in retrospect, especially now that he was spending time with who was, in his opinion, the most important member of his family.

Spike cleared his throat, prompting all eyes to turn to him. Remembering Cadence’s breathing technique, Spike took a deep breath and then started. “So how do you feel?” That was a good start. It was a fairly safe question to ask now that the tension had been broken.

Tirek, recalling half-processed memories of his etiquette lessons, took a polite sip of tea before setting the cup daintily on the table as he pondered his answer. In truth, his lust for power had come from multiple places, partly from watching his father rule the kingdom and partly from watching Sendak absorb that nameless unicorn’s magic. Seeing that had only served to amplify the power that he craved from watching his father rule the kingdom, this time, he was craving a different type of power.

“I suppose it started with my father letting me sit in during his court,” Tirek explained. “I’d come to realize just how much power he wielded being the king and I couldn’t wait until I could come to wield that power.”

“But my brother here, was impatient,” Scorpan jumped in. “He’d found the etiquette and politics lessons that father taught him to be too dull and boring.” That had earned him a glare from the centaur.

“So going back to what I was saying,” Tirek continued. “I had heard rumors about a centaur who could use magic. So being a magic user myself, I had decided to go see him. Unfortunately for me, I actually had no idea where he lived.”

“And you know the rest of the story,” Scorpan finished.

Spike and Discord took a moment to take a sip of tea as they let the revelation of what Tirek had just told them, sink in. A few moments later and the words sunk into the brains and had been processed.

“So basically this boils down to that you had a taste of power and liked it and now you want more of it,” Discord surmised. He had then materialized a bottle with the label that read ‘Power’ on it and ingested some of it. “I can see why you like it. It does taste quite good.”

Spike snorted back his laughter as he turned back to Tirek. “Even still, this sounds like a sort of addiction that you’ve got going on here except that instead of craving something like candy, apples, or gems in my case, you want power.”

“That much is true,” Tirek had to give him points for creativity. It would have never occurred to him to make that kind of comparison. Then again, it’s not like he had any friends outside of his brother. But he still wondered what point he was trying to make.

“So going off that, you start with a little bit of power and that’s all well and good, but you become dissatisfied with the power you have and want more,” Spike explained. “And it’s that hunger, no, that greed that drives you to get more and more power, doing whatever it takes to get it no matter what the cost.”

“What Spike is trying to say,” Discord jumped in, “is that you are walking a really dangerous path. One, dare I say it, more dangerous than chaos.”

“Right,” Spike nodded, “because you can fight chaos with harmony but greed is a much harder enemy to fight if only because it’s an internal fight that you have to face.” He paused, wondering if he ought to relay the next bit. “Trust me when I say this, I’ve been where you are right now and I’ve made that mistake before. It doesn’t lead to anywhere good.”

Tirek was fascinated. “How did you come to that conclusion?”

Spike sighed. “It was on my birthday. I had gotten presents from my friends and I liked them all but... as I opened and delighted what they’d given me, I could hear this small voice in my head that said want more…” He shrugged helplessly, “I hadn’t given it much thought at the time and had ended up asking the ponies in town for presents and naturally, they gave them to me.”

“What does this have to do with the power crave?” Tirek interrupted.

“I was getting to that,” Spike replied, “So as I got more and more stuff, I had begun to grow bigger and stronger.” The gears clicked in Tirek’s head as he came to realize what Spike was hinting at. Spike had noticed Tirek’s realization. “Did you connect the dots? It also ended up changing my personality as I ended up getting meaner and had even started stealing things from ponies.” He grimaced, “and I ended up abducting a friend before climbing up a mountain and fighting back against the Wonderbolts who’d come to stop me.”

“So how did you manage to fight your way out?” Scorpan asked, genuinely interested.

“My friend Rarity. I saw her wearing the Fire Ruby necklace that I gave her a week before and then it all started coming back to me: who I was and what I was doing and why it was wrong since I hurt a lot of ponies and I had to live with that guilt,” Spike grimaced. Definitely not one of his prouder moments.

“And you’re telling me that this same thing could happen to me?” asked Tirek skeptically. Spike shrugged.

“I don’t know enough about centaurs to say if by acquiring more magical power that they will actually get bigger but that was certainly true of dragons,” Spike explained. “It’s in our blood after all.”

“So greed is an inherent part of a dragon’s lifestyle: getting a hoard, at least, that’s what it sounds like you were doing,” Tirek stated. Spike nodded. “So how do you know the same thing could happen to me?”

“No one is immune to greed Tirek. Trust me on that,” Spike told him grimly. Discord had chimed in his agreement too. The business world was filled with greedy people after all and it was these kinds of ponies that he enjoyed toying with the most.

“Prove it,” Tirek challenged. Spike had rebutted by naming the first nobles that had come to mind that wasn’t Fancy Pants or Twilight’s parents. Tirek had wisely decided not to challenge Discord if his previous experience had taught him anything.

“Also,” Spike spoke up after a length of silence had passed. “Even if you had all that power, what would you even do?”

“I would rule Equestria like I had originally planned, taking as much magic as I could to become all powerful,” Tirek replied. “I had figured that if I had all the magic in the world then no one would be in any position to try to stop me.”

“Yes, but would you be able to use it as effectively as they could?” Spike asked. “Look, you are a single centaur. I have a hard time believing that your single mind could match those of potentially hundreds of thousands of ponies who’ve been using that magic for all their lives.”

“When you put it like that,” Tirek considered, “I would imagine that magic could very well overwhelm my senses.” Spike had been worried that Tirek might have tried to turn on them and attempt to escape.

“Plus,” Discord jumped in. “Even if you had all that magic, you would still be alone. These ponies rely on their passive magic abilities to help sustain themselves and to live the way they do. Without that magic, they wouldn’t be able to grow food, change the weather, or transition between day or night.”

Tirek held up a hand to interject but Discord pointedly ignored him. He knew for a fact that no matter how powerful a centaur was, there was no way they’d be able to do the things that the ponies did if only because they have no means of channeling that magic to manipulate it to do what he wanted it to do.

“Really, if what I’ve heard about you is true, the main use you have for your magic is that you are able to absorb it to increase your strength and resistances and you can use it to produce large bursts of energy that could very easily level mountains,” said Discord pointedly.

“So going off of that,” Spike jumped in. “What kind of subjects would you have if you had all the magic in the world. Ponies wouldn’t be able to do anything for you; Griffons would most likely try to rebel against you to which you would more than likely crush them along with any others that try to fight against you. Ultimately, even if you had all the power in the world, you would ultimately end up all alone.”

“Alone? But my,” Tirek protested. Spike cut him off, pointing out that in his lust for power, nothing else would matter and his morals would have long since been thrown out the window. The more Tirek thought about it, the less attractive the prospect of having power seemed to be. Yes, he would be able to rule the world but even if that goal did come to pass and he had come to wield all the power in the world, he would have most likely have crushed anyone and everyone to get to it so there would be nothing to wield.

Where would that leave him then? With nothing to fight for, Tirek’s life would have no purpose whatsoever.

He would be... alone.

Tirek didn’t like the prospect of being alone especially given how recently he discovered just how sweet freedom was.

“You’ve made some very interesting points dragon,” Tirek finally conceded. “But even if I come out, I will be arrested and thrown back in Tartarus.”

“Actually,” Spike and Discord spoke up. Spike gestured for Discord to go first. “Since you only stole one unicorn’s magic and not all of Equestria’s, I’m sure that as long as you return that magic, Spike and I can persuade the princesses to pardon you.”

“If you can persuade them to pardon me, I’ll do it,” Tirek conceded. Having learned what he’d learned today, Tirek wanted nothing more than to go home with his brother and sleep the day away.

* * *

So long as he returned to the magic he stole, the princesses agreed to pardon Tirek for his actions. So now stood the centaur as the crowd of ponies watched on, Tirek pointedly ignored the whispers in his head that told him how easy it would be to steal all the ponies’ magic. He’d caught sight of his gargoyle brother smiling and waving animatedly at him next to his parents who had surprised him with their presence as well as their overall more positive demeanor upon seeing him. That had certainly helped him ignore the voices that had demanded to be obeyed.

They had explained that Scorpan had told them of his imprisonment and realized that it was as much their fault that they didn’t guide Tirek down a better path. It was also Tirek’s own fault for acting the way he had. They had also realized that their family was in shambles after he’d been imprisoned in Tartarus. His father, in particular, had been especially emotional as he continued to blame himself for not seeing Tirek’s struggles sooner.

Shaking his head of the memories, Tirek turned to the unicorn stallion who’s magic he’d stolen and lit up his hands. The ponies had cowered in fear at the sight while Tirek closed his eyes, directing the less familiar magic that was clearly not his own down his palm. A yelp had ended up breaking his concentration when he saw the unicorn smiling, his coat brighter and his cutie mark having returned upon his magic being returned to him.

Tirek then turned to the audience that had assembled for this occasion and said, “I’m sorry for the fear that I had instilled in all of you from my past actions.” With that, Tirek stepped off the stage where his family, Spike and Discord were waiting for him.

What happened next blindsided the centaur.

Namely, his parents had grabbed him into the tightest hug that they could manage and had refused to let him go. Reveling in the warmth of their embrace, Tirek had leaned in and hugged them back. Not long after, he’d felt something moist on his shoulder. He had reared back and stared in surprise when he’d found his father, the most stoic and strict centaur he’d ever known, practically break down. Admittedly, his mother had not been much better, but still! Tirek had always known his parents to be quite stoic as they went about their day to day duties so seeing this change had caught him off guard.

He looked to his brother who had opted to grin at him. He’d get his hug in due time.

This must have been one of those changes that Scorpan had hinted to Tirek thought as he leaned back into his parents’ embrace.

Unfortunately, all good things had to end so Tirek was escorted, not in chains, but with his head held high, back to his parents’ carriage as it soon departed and Tirek found himself tired because of everything that had happened.

He was looking forward to being home.

* * *

“So is that really what happened?” Twilight asked as she and her friends along with the rest of the princesses sat at their grand dining table in Canterlot Castle. It was the evening after Tirek had returned the magic back to its respective owner before departing for parts unknown. The day after had been arguably one of the biggest parties that Canterlot had seen since Princess Cadence and Shining Armor’s wedding. Well, it was half a party and half a parade to celebrate the saviors that had managed to prevent Tirek’s rampage altogether.

Spike and Discord had, of course, enjoyed the attention. The latter especially had managed to get some great PR for his next start-up although he was still searching for a name.

“Yes,” Spike and Discord nodded in tandem. “We both thought that he shouldn’t need to be imprisoned for the same crime. The only thing that does is making them want revenge all the more so instead, we decided to talk to him and share our reasons why we think that he should, at least, redirect his ambition for powerful into some more useful to him.”

“His story was a lot sadder than I had expected from him,” Discord remarked as he dove into his ice cream.

“As was Sombra’s,” Spike agreed.

“Well, in any case,” Princess Celestia cut in. “I’m pleased to hear that the Tirek situation had been resolved without anybody getting hurt.” She smiled broadly at all of them as she stood up from her place at the table before declaring that she was going to retire for the evening.

The others were of a similar opinion given the scope of the festivities that were provided. They were even enough for Discord and Luna to feel tired.

Spike had smiled sleepily as he and Twilight reached their shared room in the castle and stepped inside. Being as exhausted as they were, neither had bothered with any sort of pre-bed hygiene, simply opting to faceplant onto their respective beds.

Or that’s what Twilight would have done had she not kissed Spike on the cheek much like Rarity had done earlier that day. Multiple times.

“Good night my little hero,” Twilight let out a tired giggle as she wrapped Spike in his covers before doing the same for herself and allowing sleep to overtake her.

All was well.

Author's Note

I'd like to preface by saying that all pre-reading and editing was done by The Pony Spartan and NyxKnight.

So given that the show has given me so little to work with in terms of understanding Tirek's character, I had naturally turned to the 'Fiendship is Magic' comics to help me get a feel for Tirek's character. Granted, I may have written him to be more affectionate than he may have been portrayed in the the comics and in the show. However, I'm still inclined to believe that despite his brother's betrayal, Tirek still held some measure of love for his brother. It's how brothers work after all.

The puppy dog eyes certainly didn't hurt Scorpan's cause either.

As for Spike and Scorpan's friendship, I worked it into the show by stating that they had met during the events of 'Dragon Quest' and had been meeting up on and off during main series. Plus, I had come up with this friendship to help facilitate the dialogue between Spike, Discord, and Tirek. The fact that they had been friends in G1 had brought this to light as well.

Discord's main purpose was to help with the comedic that I always strive for. Plus, like he said, it makes for great PR!

Thanks for reading!