“Did you know, Scorpan, that condemnation and punishment have many forms. The greatest of the two being death and the other, incarceration. But it's not the punishment itself that gives it form or meaning. It is how a punishment is carried out that makes it memorable.” The hoarse and gruff voice of a centaur stated. His expression was impassive, his tone unnaturally calm, and his posture placid.
It seems like losing not once, but twice, really had done a number this time. Hadn’t it, Tirek?
The one questioning the centaur, gangly as he was draped in raiments fit for a king, was not dignified with a response. It seemed even after all these years, Tirek still wouldn’t be compliant in sharing a conversation. Two weeks had passed since his brother’s tyranny had been put to an end. Over a thousand years had went by since his initial imprisonment. And if Scorpan were to be exact on the time- it had been approximately one thousand and twenty-three years, eight moons, three days, two hours and fifty-seven minutes counting since word travelled to their kingdom on the day his sibling escaped his prison.
And now two weeks later after meeting with the recently acclaimed Princess Twilight along with the diarchy and ruler of the Crystal Empire, here he was meeting his brother by Celestia’s authorization. Not for the first, but second time in all these years. The question that begged to be asked though, was: “Why?”
A moment of silence went by. A moment that gave way to the other sounds that filled Tartarus. Your typical noises; the thousands of groans, rattling of chains, and the occasional laughter of Cerberus’ many servants.
Tired of the excess noise, the sphinx pulled out a wand from within his robes and waved it in arc formation above his head. A light green glow flashed and the already dim sounds that could be heard from far below, died out entirely.
Silence was their company now. For a good time Scorpan’s question still hung in the air, unanswered and unrecognized. Finally Tirek responded; by slightly lifting his hood and looking his former brother dead in the eyes.
Tirek did not verbally respond. So again, Scorpan did not push his older brother to answer. Again they sat and stood respectively, in silence. Eyeing each other. A thousand years later, and his brother still hadn’t changed. He was still the arrogant, stubborn, prideful, selfish-- ...centaur who fought for what he believed in, no matter what it cost. No matter who he hurt. And what had it earned him? A unknown period of imprisonment leading up to over a thousand years going by with him, Scorpan as King to the throne. In that duration of time things changed for the both of them. Tirek grew weaker as Scorpan followed the path of a true prince.
They hadn’t talked in centuries but had met at one point in time. A time that went so far back it felt ancient to the younger of the two. A time shortly after Tirek had been sent to Tartarus. A time where Scorpan could vividly remember the day their haggard father had found out the truth, and then publicly announced to his most trusted advisers and the rest of the royal family with as much vehemence as possible that Tirek, was dead to him and he had only one son. Even now, if he tried, Scorpan could still hear their mother holding back sobs the day he’d returned alone with Starswirl by his side only for his unicorn ally to deliver the news to his their concerned parents. It was something he’d put long behind him all those many many many years ago, but now came flooding back in torrents now that he was before the cause of a lot of unwanted attention to an unprepared kingdom.
Scorpan could still recall the events back then even now. He had tried so hard to get his brother to conform. To concede and stop his madness all those years ago. That they were the ones in the wrong. He’d even begged Celestia months later, to give him permission to go to Tartarus to get his brother to ask for forgiveness and she’d allowed him. All of which he’d hidden from his father and mother. He had such high hopes for his brother. The one who he used to look up to.
Truth was, he should have known better. Maybe he had. After all...they were brothers.
Tirek had been so full of scorn. Anger. Hatred. Reasoning had been beyond him that day over a millenia ago. He’d went on and on about how the ponies were so blessed yet didn’t deserve such tidings. How they allowed their strong bonds and ties with harmonious magic- all their past transgressions defeated, to blind them to other forms of reality and how if one nation was to live in luxury it was only fair others do as well.
Power had blinded his brother. The desire for power and the reason as to why he wanted so much, still remained a mystery to Scorpan. And even now as they stood face to face, Scorpan could still (sadly) see that his brother hadn’t changed that much in all these years. Instead he grew far worse.
Some could let go. Others chose not to acknowledge certain things. And then there were those that chose not to let go. Scorpan had long learnt his brother was of the latter, rather than the former.
The gamekeeper known as silence was doing his best. But apparently his best may not have been good enough. Learning magic with Starswirl, had proven to be quite helpful to the king as time went on. But despite covering the entirety of the hill’s surrounding with a Mute spell, anything that hadn’t been affected allowed sound to bleed through.
Heat radiated from nearby geysers with a hiss and there was a musky scent that radiated through the air. Urine and death being the weakest, but not the farthest. "Tartarus truly was a terrible place", Scorpan found himself thinking, for the second time he had been here. It’d been so long ago since he’d last came that he’d nearly forgotten just how awful this realm of existence really was.
It was a world meant for the worst of the worst. The ultimate prison for the convicted. A prison that meant no escape once those of power had decreed an individual was to be sent here. Those that had been cast into this realm, are never meant to be heard from again so long as Cerberus stood guard of those gates. No decree from any being, save the one that put you there, could change that. Otherwise you’d have to face Cerberus himself to get out, and the creature was unkillable.
Being sent here meant one thing and one thing only all over the world.
You were dead to it, or better put: an outlaw. Plain and simple. That’s why normally trials were held. Hearings were made, but in the case of the Elements which were considered to be the ultimate form of Harmony Magic itself none of those things mattered. Yet somehow by some means his brother had escaped, only to wound up right back where he started. Incarcerated. Just like the first time. And just as before, no amounts of clemency could free him. Not that Tirek would want it that way. Scorpan knew it. And so did his brother. They both knew that he wouldn’t admit that his cause had been wrong. A cause for power. One that to this day still boggled and befuddled Scorpan’s mind.
The king stood there, watching his brother. Frail, scrawny, a shadow of his former self that was full of nothing but anger and rage because he, Tirek, couldn’t smarten up and realize that perhaps these Equestrians had a point. Perhaps, not everything needed to be solved with violence.
So again, Scorpan asked his brother the question he’d been asking since the moment he arrived over half an hour ago: “Why?”
Tirek shuffled, readjusted himself but he made no reply. His shackles clanged and rustled as he moved about. The chains pulled back, magically activated to restrain him in case he tried to do something he would regret, and his manacles tightened forebodingly to inform him that this time there would be no escape from his eternal capture.
Finally after a second passed, he coughed. A dry cough, and spoke. “You know I still don’t understand them. Harmony? Friendship?" he said with hints of disgust. "They believe through amity they can shape the world. That not everything needs to start or end in violence. But they don’t entirely seem to realize how to carry out proper punishment, when the time is right.” He chuckled then hacked before spitting out phlegm. “Wishful thinking” the older centaur muttered.
A rise in anger drove Scorpan to speak. He’d changed over the years. Over the centuries. He was no longer the diffident child that followed his big brother around everywhere. He was different and the narrowed glare he gave his senior proved it.“You attacked their subjects” Scorpan bluntly stated.”Yet, you still--” Tirek raised a hand and surprisingly enough his brother’s growing voice was silenced. To an extent a part of Scorpan hated that side of him.
That side that still respected and cared for a brother who had not only cast a dark shadow on their kingdom but caused their father to be sick with guilt in the years and centuries that followed till his ascension.
Whatever the case was Scorpan understood. Tirek would talk. He would listen.
“King Scorpan, what does our law state for the act of treason? Or has that changed since my prisoning?” Tirek asked in scrutiny, sprinkles of hate carefully laid all over the frozen desert of injustice.
Scorpan in reply, felt his jaw tighten. Muscles growing taut before they relaxed and the king let out a sigh of exasperation. “The act of treason given in the degree be it of information being leaked to foreign nations, attack” he emphasized, “of another nation without wage of war being declared by the head of state, or betrayal of a leading officials to an enemy results in possible death or life imprisonment if found guilty, only by order of the king.”
Tirek offered a wry smile. “Yes. And the act of treason by Equestria’s standards, results in what? Nothing. Nothing but exoneration and acquitment of one’s crimes.” There was another pause, before Tirek spoke. He let those words hang in the air for a while, as he obnoxiously lapped his tongue around in his dry mouth, eyeing the king’s reaction. Then he coughed.
“Father once said: ‘It is a prince or princess’ duty, to see to it that the nation and its subjects are safe from all forms of harm.’ Wasn’t that what father always taught us when we were young?”
Scorpan said nothing. He had nothing to say. Because frankly there was nothing to say. Not only was Tirek being hypocritical in his own right, but he'd never talked about their family once. Not on their first meeting did he even bother to ask how mother and father did, nor did he ever once ask of what the denizens of their kingdom thought. Yet here he was, quoting their deceased father. Just like when they were children. Only this time it wasn’t in mock...he was being genuine.
For a second his former brother lost his voice. Then time went on and he soon found it. Scorpan cleared his throat and replied: “He also said: ‘From the day he was born Tirek has never once acted like a prince.’ “ Scorpan took a cautious step back as his brother took a slow step forward.
“Do you know why I hold such aversion towards the ponies of Equestria, King Scorpan?”
“No. I don’t believe I ever will.”
To that the centaur laughed and then he cackled before coughing and hacking as his dry throat fought for something to ease the pain that had been growing since he had returned to his insipid dungeon of perpetual agony.
When Tirek was done, he shifted himself. Again the shackles hummed to life in a portent manner. “Well then listen. Because I’m going to give you an example in case you can’t wrap your head around what I’m trying to say.
“King Sombra of the Crystal Empire. You remember him don’t you.He usurped the position of king after the last ruler proved to lack the qualities that make a necessary leader. Barely thought of the hundreds that died from hypothermia or the dreaded Cold Touch. Spent most of his time bartering with other nations illegally and starting petty wars that the country was clearly not ready to handle. So what did he do? The scholar turned into a soldier.
“Climbed to the rank of sergeant after two years of working in the Arctic Force, before he was recognized by Emperor Nitrus himself, after a good word had been put in by his own personal guard turning Sombra into one of his ‘goons’. It was during the petty bouts between the emperor and neighboring ruler of Cervidaena that the soldier took his chance, formed a rebellion and eventually came to kill the lout in a radical power struggle. Not long after that, both..princesses” he grumbled, “vouched for his ascension as King. But even with their support you and I both know how the empire once was. Because of it’s abnormal climate, storms, and winds, the new king struggled, so he took to empowering his magic and finding different ways of fixing the issue since he himself could not activate the Crystal Heart. And so what did he do, Scorpan?”
Scorpan did not reply. He frowned at his brother. And after a second of silence his brother’s mock smile turned into a look of distaste. Tirek’s hooves clipped against the dusty cracked ground as he moved. Every step sent a sharp pain through his legs despite the ground he walked on being barren. Tartarus was a realm of enchantment. And it made sure to remind every single prisoner, that they were here for a reason.
“What. Did. He. Do, Scorpan?” The voice asked in growing anger.
For a second Scorpan thought maybe it was time he’d left. Nearly an hour had passed, and they’d done nothing but been in silence. It’d been that way the last time too. Tirek hadn’t said a word. This, though. This time was different.
So the king humored him. “He took to forcing-- my apologies. He took to 'suggesting' his own into harvesting the mines of the Crystal Empire. Those that didn’t comply, he forced. He changed laws and rules that demanded the strong and able-bodied were to take up arms and work in the mines if they wanted their families and themselves to survive.”
“And why was that?” Tirek asked, he demanded.
“Because he believed it was the best way to save the empire. By forming trade with the crystals they harvested, in exchange for food they could attain off the well being of other nations, they could survive. Manehattan and Canterlot had been its main support for years till the Griffons waged war against the capital almost a decade after Sombra took the mantle as king” Scorpan answered.
With that answer, grimace turned to grin.“Excellent.” Tirek replied, “still as smart as ever I see.” His smirk grew when he saw the king flinch. There’d been nothing short of ice in those eyes since his former brother had entered. The comment however sweet, was short lived.
“Father always was against me and my admiration for the powerful and ruthless.” A flicker of light flashed in his eyes. “But he, like everyone else never understood why.” Tirek’s voice commented, souring. “Sombra did what he could for his kind. He even went a step further by aiding the princesses in their battle against the Griffon kingdom, when his own empire was struggling as it was. All while trying to provide for his own. Which only resulted in him desiring more power, for the things he lacked. Well, that’s exactly what he got. It proved fruitful near the end of the Griffon War, further so as the empire gained more enemies, but not so much later.” Tirek stated with a humorous smile forming on his lips. “In the end he was punished.”
“I suppose to an extent, what remained of him could be subject to argue. Inducing slavery and going mad for crystals due to their trade wouldn’t have been my route had the Dark Arts corrupted me, but let’s take a different outlook on this. Was it really discipline he received for his actions? Learning the Dark Arts and letting it corrupt him years after the Griffon War ended, sure you could say he asked for it. But who stopped him? Celestia and Luna warmed him yes, I recall that vividly. They didn't outright stop him. Then again, given his situation, who could blame him? Having to face off against blizzards all while keeping his subjects alive, not to mention forming enemies just because you allied yourself with a neighboring nation would put stress on anyone, don’t you think?”
“I. Well yes, but-- Tirek, you are not making--”
“SOMBRA!” Tirek interjected, his voice echoed off the walls and his chains followed in suit. “Was sentenced to 1000 years in an icy prison. For doing what he believed was right. It always amazed me, how quick Equestrians are to judge, their princesses excluded. A king that once did good, turned evil and instead of trying to aid him more than once or twice he was punished in a different way. Instead of the elements stripping him of the knowledge of his Dark Magic or taking away his powers like they did for me, what did they do? Or better yet, what did the princesses do?”
Again Scorpan was silent. Again Tirek, waited patiently for a full minute. When time was up he slammed his forehoof on the ground sending a jolt of pain throughout his entire leg leaving the crack that bore itself on the shattered ground to get his point across.
“WHAT! DID THEY DO, SCORPAN?” Tirek demanded.
Scorpan hesitated. “They-- They sent him to prison for a thousand years.”
“Yes.” Tirek replied. His expression calmed and so did his posture. They were left in silence once more. It had been repetitive. Something that was on and off. Tirek would speak, then Scorpan, then silence. Only for it to repeat or slightly change in format before they continued.
Seconds went by, Tirek smirked. It was one of those smirks. A smirk he hadn’t seen in years.
“Let’s go back further in history, shall we? To the point in which those princesses and their Elements,judged someone not on just their actions, but on their magic. Discord.
“Discord, the chaotic ‘god’. Let’s look at when he was in his prime, not some sycophantic servant, bound by delusions of friendship and incompetence. The Chaos Era. During this time period, what happened?” A rhetorical statement.
“Discord ruled all nations.” Scorpan stated regardless. Tirek chuckled.
“Simple and sweet as always, King Scorpan. Yes, he ruled a majority of nations. Including our own. Yet regardless, he was no Sombra. Not as savage. He did pull pranks, he did mess with our systems and toy around with our agriculture. He did terrorize the minotaurs, the griffons, dragons, the unicorns and so on, but he did not leave us to starve or suffer too much. If anything, he did everything out of his own enjoyment and simply for the purpose of his entertainment and that alone.
“That does not mean I fully agree with what he did. His joke on our land cost us bitterly in the years that preceded our ancestors, even if he wasn’t the direct cause. I simply respect the power he held is all.” Tirek explained and then continued.
“Bread became butter, rain became chocolate, bark became wheat, water became root beer. It was a time of insanity, a time of complexity yet a time that we still managed to survive. And when the time for his punishment came what happened? Who decided it? Was it the rulers or was it the Elements they rely so heavily on?” Tirek probbed.
“Where are you--” Tirek raised a bony finger and wagged it in defiance. “Do not answer if you do not intend to answer my question, King.” He stated with a weary smile.
Scorpan snorted. His brother looked on. “Answer the question.” Tirek ordered, still holding a facade even as he took another step forward and another pang of pain struck his entire leg.
Scorpan did not answer the question. Not immediately. He stood there. Watching. Waiting. And then after a cold chill that only Tartarus could produce swept through every muscle in his body, did the sphinx speak.
“The princesses imprisoned him in stone.”
“Yes. The elements and by extension the princesses” he corrected. “For nearly the same amount of time as me. He was trapped in stone. During our time together, do you know what he informed me? That he was constantly aware of everything that transpired. He could hear everything. All of it. Of course he still had his powers to an extent, considering he could slither away into nearby passengers dreams unnoticed. But, that’s not the same as being able to feel or move is it?
“Tell me, Scorpan. When does discipline. Punishment. Retribution. Condemnation, whatever you want to call it, when does judgement change from being about breaking laws and rules. To turning into torture?”
For a good while, Scorpan thought he’d heard wrong. His mind reared, with the statement that had just been made. And then, all those confusing jumbles of emotions he’d been feeling after all these years yielded to one; Anger.
“I...I-I’m sorry, brother...what did you say?” Scorpan asked taking a bold step forward. Tirek’s plastered smile, slightly faltered.
The two stared at each other. Glared really, anger flashing in eyes. One couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The other, wanted to have his question answered. Finally the older of the two, took the mature route and spoke up. “You heard me, brother.” The word was said with such disgust, such distaste and hatred, that Scorpan was sure he’d just been stabbed in the back.
Licking dry lips, Scorpan spoke through clenched teeth. “No, I don’t believe I did.”
The hiss of several geysers erupted into the drama and through that hiss, there was no exchange in words. Then silently, there was laughter. Laughter mixed with dry coughing.
Scorpan watched his brother laugh. He felt himself seething with as much fury as his brother was seething with mirth in between laughs. “Are you saying, that you regret your actions Tirek? Or are you trying to imply that your punishment was undeserved?” Scorpan asked, in a surprisingly controlled voice through the mock-cackles of his senior.
Pregnant silence never slapped Discord so hard in the face. Till now.
Chains rustled as Tirek rose from the ground he’d found himself on during his fit of laughter and dying anger only returned in surges of heat when those words left Scorpan’s mouth. The centaur approached the bars that separated him from his brother then stopped short of the inscribed marks that decorated both exterior and interior of his cell.
Neither moved their eyes from each other. Tirek stared at his former brother in honest surprise, that would’ve been hard to discern from his face. Scorpan gave his brother a critical look, waiting for a reply.
“No.” Tirek answered only after a very long second. “I don’t regret what I did. I fully understand the ramifications of my actions that doesn’t mean I regret trying to get vengeance.”
In all his years of being King, Scorpan had never felt this frustrated since he was a young cub. He never felt so close to his father till now. Rubbing both temples and letting out a groan he spoke “Tirek. For all of--” a lump formed in Scorpan’s throat as he began to pace.
Several seconds went by, then pent up frustration bursted out. “WHY?! What is-- for the love of-- Why are you so-- NGRH! What in Harmony’s name is wrong with you?! A thousand years plus of punishment still, isn’t good enough to get it through your head!?” Scorpan yelled as his brother retraced his steps.
“Punishment?” Tirek called innocently, as he retreated so his manacles no longer tightened or drained him of what little energy he had. “Is that what you call it?”
Bemused, Scorpan rubbed his left temple and let out a long breath of air. He took a second, to reflect. He never changes, the king griped. “Alright, what would you call this then?”
When no reply came, Scorpan sighed loudly and stopped rubbing his temple to look up. The grim and dour expression on his brother’s face caught him off guard. Not once had he seen that look since he’d entered this unpleasant dimension. Now it made him feel...strange.
“Tell me Scorpan. Do you ever wonder, why the most powerful weapon in. The. World chose the Equestrians and why in all the centuries that have passed no other species has been capable of using it?” Tirek inquired calmly.
The king meant to respond...then found he couldn’t. So Tirek spoke for him.
“I always wondered. What would happen if I, had been the one to discover the elements. What would happen if we had discovered the elements and it wasn’t the princesses or their nation. If it had been the griffons or the dragons. Would their kingdoms be better off? Would ours have back then?
“If I had the power and rightfully ripped it away from the ones that didn’t use it or took away some when they already had enough, would it matter to them if I used it for my own cause? Sure, I’ll admit to you. I wanted power, and magic was my gateway. The very fact that our kind had such complex rules in our magic never made sense to me. The very fact that I struggled on my own, even with Sendak’s help at the time in utilizing stronger spells and incantations always irked me.
“So yes, I craved power. Who doesn’t at one point or another? Power, skill, artifice, these are one of the keys to achieving one’s goals. You don’t get through life by sitting back and expecting things to come to you. You work for it. So that’s what I did. I worked for it.”
Scorpan’s silence was all the beneficiary he needed. “Discord turned the world upside down, but what happened to him? He was turned to stone. The second time he did it, apparently he was imprisoned again. Sombra, did many good things before being completely corrupted but from the few things I heard when I began my raid starting in Batterram, no one cares. Nightmare Moon, was a knight before she became a monster banished to the moon, no one remembers. Thimeu, a botanist that caused Everfree’s expansion, before that he and his team discovered what the Poison Joke could do. I could go on and on, but in the long run, do those ponies-- does anyone now ever think to ask when those punishments were carried out, what happened afterwards?”
Scorpan remained silent. He wasn’t sure what to say. Tirek was just staring at him, completely calm but his eyes still seething with rage.
“So let me ask you again, Scorpan. When does a punishment become torture? Better yet, let me ask you this. Given this” -a shackled hand waved over the desolate hill they stood on- “weren’t you surprised to find I was still alive? Everyone knows what it means to be sent down here. So you must’ve been shocked.”
Scorpan motioned to speak but again not a word came out. Finally after a minute of internal debate, he calmed and spoke up. Despite the slight shaking, Tirek could see, the King really had grown after all these years.
“I...Yes. Yes, I was... A year after you were sent to Tartarus, I talked to Starswirl. I was worried, for you. Father was furious. Your name itself became outlawed on the castle grounds. Mother and Father rarely talked about you, and overtime it bothered me. How long you’d be in here. All those years and Celestia never said a word about you in my letters. What it meant. I, wondered if you’d--”
“Died in here?” Tirek finished, his voice impersonal, cold and indifferent.
Scorpan nodded slowly. “Yeah...” he looked behind them, down the path where he’d came and where the guards stood waiting for him upon his return below. “In here. But Starswirl told me not to worry. That well...with all the magic you had consumed before you were sent to Tartarus, you’d go on to live a lot longer than we normally do. So...I wasn’t too surprised to find out you were still alive. But I had hopes Tirek. I had hoped that-- knowing that when you escaped--”
“You assumed I’d escape” His brother asked with a witty grin.
“I know you. There was no doubt. I’d hoped however” Scorpan frowned,” that you’d have come to your senses sooner and snapped out of your ill gotten beliefs. I mean, brother it’s been--”
Again Tirek raised his hand, for silence, Scorpan had lost the right to call him that eons ago. Again Scorpan silenced himself out of habit. Then he pursed his lips, grimaced and continued speaking. “Why are you like this?” Scorpan asked, the smallest signs of strain hinted in his voice.
Tirek’s battered left ear flicked and both his brows furrowed at the question. “Like what?”
“You know what I mean” the younger scolded. “This. You studied history, you knew what you were doing could lead to something like this if not worse, so why did you--” Scorpan paused. He watched as his brother quickly slide away into the shadows of his prison. The silhouette of Tirek’s shoulders shook as an inaudible sound could barely be heard, due to the hissing of geysers.
When that hiss passed, the echo of Tirek’s dry, cold laughter sent a shiver through Scorpan’s spine. A full minute went by where Scorpan dared to try and speak, but deferred when his brother bursted into snorting, before eventually a strong cough cut his merriment abruptly.
“You think-- pffft-- you think, this, isn’t worse?” Tirek asked. No sign of merriment in his voice despite his dark chuckles. “ Scorpan, I was trapped in here for over a millennia with nothing but my own thoughts for centuries. During all that time, I was in complete isolation, save for the few moments the guards would come to check on me. The Elements, weakened me just as you see now. And because of Tartarus’ dominant rule, we are preserved by magic and so do not need rest or sleep. Imagine that, one thousand and twenty-three years before I found my chance when a riot started, and prisoners began escaping. One thousand years and more, of this.” He said waving his hand in the air. The echo of his chain filled the silence.
“Can you imagine it? Can you?”
Scorpan’s lips pursed tightly in a line. “You got what you wanted.”
“Did I?” A hoof moved forward.”Did I get all the magic I wanted to change the sorry path father couldn’t take us out of? Did I, become known as the greatest Centaur to ever surpass the struggles we couldn't overcome with our magic, did I really get what I wanted?” Tirek asked, his eyes now aligned with his former brother’s.
“Well Scorpan, did I? Or did I get punished for trying to follow my inspiration and make a difference that even our political ties with other nations couldn’t do? Tell me, Scorpan. Did the Equestrians ever try to actually aid us during our kind’s struggles. And how did they receive us when we ventured to their land? Did any of our friendly bonds help or offer kind words when it was known I was going to succeed the throne? Go on. Tell me.”
Scorpan strangely enough, found himself three steps away every time Tirek took a step forward. It took him time to realize, he’d done it on his own. Tirek would never hurt him. Not even when he’d betrayed him. Not even when he betrayed their family.
Scorpan swallowed. Fixed his stance, then levelled his brother’s stare. Both golden eyes met, and Scorpan didn’t respond till he’d found a concrete response to make. “You did get something.” He finally replied after three minutes of silence flittered by.
“Oh?”
“You got renown as the first centaur to ever betray his country.”
A stunned silence scooted its way into the scene. Tirek gave his former brother the most incoherent expressions he’d ever seen on the centaur’s face in his life. It was torn between anger, rage, hatred, and for a brief second what looked to be disgust. Scorpan wasn’t sure which of those emotions was directed at him or what he’d said. Nor did he realize his hand began moving for his wand as Tirek’s hands struggled in trembling control against anger.
A fierce debate raged within the centaur. Tirek’s nostrils flared as he wondered if he could use that comment as a way to cause a distraction and escape this prison. A hand crossed the inscription that decorated the interior circumference of his cell, grabbing hold of the bars as if he wanted to rip them apart and then in a sudden action that surprised the king, the prisoner bit his lip fiercely and squinted heavily as jolts of invisible static hit his arms with severe volume, powered by the inscribed marks below.
Scorpan wasn’t sure what had just transpired. But he certainly was surprised to see his brother painfully release his bars and hide within his cloak before increasing their distance.
No one said a word for some time.
“You know, Scorpan.” Tirek started after minutes of silence and the smell of burnt hair filled the air. “You may call this punishment well deserved, but from the few things you see that those guards have no control over, I’m sure you understand well enough that a lot of beings sent here are clearly unhappy. Just as well, considering what being sent here means. Some are called back above, others spend the rest of their lives trying to escape.
“I, suppose I do not count. Considering, my very existence and relation to our kingdom was erased and the very fact that J've been put on a higher mountain means security has doubled, no doubt?”
The king’s lack of response gave the centaur the answer he’d expected. With that, Tirek smiled bitterly under the cover of his hood.
“Did you know, Scorpan. That because Cerberus refuses us leave or freedom to roam about unless the powers that put us here deem we are absolved punishment, ponies, basilisks, creatures sent here be it from here or other worlds like the one your friend Starswirl banished those Sirens to, are always trying to escape?”
“If you punish someone for something and they keep breaking the rules what do you do? You punish them right? That, or you try talking. We both know the latter didn’t work the first time around, but I still say if they wanted me to listen they shouldn’t have brought guards with them. Anyway” Tirek continued, his tail flicking lazily to the side, “that still leaves the unanswered question, when does condemnation take the form of ill-use? I heard when Sombra returned--” he paused. “Or whatever was left of King Sombra that came back, it tried killing the first alicorn it saw, before going straight for the Crystal Heart.
“How did that end? His apparent death, right? And did anyone- I’m sorry anypony think about his death?”
Scorpan made an attempt to reply but his brother beat him to it. “Of course not. He was a criminal. A tyrant. With what he did, had I been in Celestia’s horseshoes I wouldn’t have hesitated to smite him immediately either. But then again, who’s to say his years in imprisonment wasn’t the final thing that pushed him over the edge and allowed him to give way completely to whatever it was that was controlling him?”
“During my period in hiding after I found freedom, I heard rumors about some unicorn that found the alicorn amulet. Apparently she laid siege to an entire town, and her punishment was just. She was stripped of her power, apologized and then banned from the town for months.
“What happened to Elirisk the Alchemist when he tried taking over a district in Germanie? He was sentenced to life imprisonment. So, you’ll excuse me, brother. If I find ponies and their constant shifting belief in friendship, to be nothing but hypocritical or a lie. They believe in amity, but their punishments and constant lack of care in forgiveness on certain occasions show otherwise.
“In truth I stopped caring. I stopped caring years ago after what happened. Time does that. And look at me now? Right where I started. Did either princess come to me personally to try and stop me? No. They sent an errand boy, to do it for them. The blithering fool informed me, quite plainly that they didn’t intend to let me go free and were sending me right back to Tartarus. Even after I was dissuaded from killing a single pony, even though I would have, had the joker, not made me see some sense if I'd gone through with it. But despite me being the catalyst I wouldn’t have gotten so far if he’d stayed true to his initial duty.
“But do you see the last draconequus here anywhere? I don’t:” Tirek stated before slowly easing himself down to the ground. “I guess with Equestrians and their princesses, you can never tell who their faith lies in, unless you've formed close bonds since my imprisonment. So again I ask you one more time, when does one’s punishment turn to pain? I thought there’d never be a day where I’d see something like this, because I once had someone I thought I could count on,” his ears splayed and his eyes faintly glared in the king’s direction.
“But I was wrong...wasn’t I? King Scorpan.”
Scorpan did not reply. He found he couldn’t. And as the seconds ticked away, he found himself seeing that perhaps this whole idea, may not have been a good one in the first place.
“Now if you’ll excuse me.” Tirek stated in finality. “I’d like to spend the next few hours, years, alone.”
Author's Note
I've been doing a lot of thinking and reading. Some stories I found interesting weren't what caused me to write this but definitely gave me an idea on how I wanted to approach a topic like this, especially since this was something a close friend of mine nearly wrote his thesis on in high school. Anyway, I know I've written a lot of different stories with tons of different viewpoints on but I'd like to say that this is how I'd go about viewing Tirek and Scorpan if they were to ever have a meeting.
Tirek in my opinion when I thought about how his character is based and how he behaved in the ending of season 4 i think, I'd say he'd done a lot of thinking about what he wanted to do. You don't just escape out of solitary confinement and then just waltz around after being gone for a thousand years, completely out of touch with the world. You go into hiding, some sneaking, and then some learning. And to me, that's just the kind of person he seems to be.
Tartarus has also been a place that I found I wanted to go into deeper depth. Twilight went there and came back in like, what a day? And when Cerberus came out of nowhere they were all pretty surprised to I decided to expand that. I'd like to think only those close to Celestia or Luna and other dignitaries could do something like that considering its lore and mythos.
Anyway, comments and discussion is welcomed.
Enjoy.
