Equestria is to all who see it a beautiful land; if one were to visit the jewel that is Canterlot or the ever-growing city of Manehattan, one could hardly imagine there being any suffering or darkness. However, if one were to travel to the northern mountains and set hoof to the land between Yakyakistan and the Crystal Empire, one would find a large cave. As with any kingdom, Equestria has crime, and there are those creatures so evil, vile, destructive, and powerful they need to be locked away far from ponies where they cannot harm anypony, for Equestria this place is known as Tartarus. Located right in the hollowed-out mountain and guarded by the ferocious (yet gentle-natured) Cerberus. Tartarus is a place where the vilest creatures and beings to threaten Equestria are imprisoned; our story concerns one such creature.
Having been given the right to pass Cerberus, the gargoyle known as Scorpan allowed his wings to take him over the forsaken land; he ignored the screams, roars, and growls from the various creatures below. Finally, he arrived at his intended destination. Scorpan allowed his weight to shift to the ground, his golden amulet swaying slightly, the giant stalagmite on which he now stood held only a single large cage within which lay a single figure. The figure within moved standing on its four legs and rose to eye level with Scorpan. The centaur chuckled from within his prison, “I knew you’d come for me, Scorpan.”
Scorpan grunted, “did you now, Tirek?”
“Your soft heart is your greatest weakness, my dear brother.” Tirek grabbed one of the bars, “now hurry up and release me. I can already feel this accursed prison draining my power.”
Scorpan took a deep breath and began to fiddle with his pendant before speaking once more, “Not yet Tirek. Believe me when I say I do wish to take you away from this place, but first, we need to talk.”
Tirek seemed skeptical, “talk?”
“Yes, Tirek, there are some things we both need to know. Truth be told Tirek you and I should’ve done this a long time ago and perhaps if we had neither of us would be here right now.”
Tirek growled, “this is no time for a chat brother. We came to this land to steal Equestrian magic, not master the art of conversation!”
Scorpan took another breath and stopped fiddling with his pendant as he looked his brother in the eye, “Tirek unless you think you can break yourself out you need me. Now for once in your life, listen.”
Tirek glared at his brother as though trying to intimidate Scorpan, but it didn't seem to work, “okay.”
“First of all, Tirek, we didn't come here to steal Equestrian magic, you did. I came here to see if you could finally be satisfied and that’s something I always seem to be hoping for you.”
Tirek’s glare seemed to worsen, “Meaning what exactly?”
Scorpan shook his head sadly, “Tirek, I can't count the number of times I wished I was you. Growing up, you were always the best at magic; you were mastering spells that even our teachers couldn’t do.”
“What’s your point Scorpan?”
“I just wish you could’ve seen yourself as I saw you, the most powerful being in our family, maybe even the whole kingdom but that wasn't enough, was it?” Tirek growled, “when father ran out of teachers, you started looking for your own, and that is when you found Sendak. A mighty centaur that even father feared, Sendak taught you a whole new variety of magic. Tirek, I knew Sendak would lead you down a dark path, but I chose to say nothing. You were finally challenged with his lessons, and I thought maybe you’d be satisfied at last. One day, Sendak returned after a long journey to Equestria, and you went to see him, I remember you told me to stand guard. I couldn’t hear what you two were talking about, but that night you went to bed early. The next morning, Father called us into his throne room; I remember telling you that there had been a disturbance of lights by Sendak’s lair. Father was furious, Sendak had taken a pony from Equestria kept him prisoner with the intent of stealing his magic. Father said he would lead the unicorn back to Equestria himself and beg Celestia’s forgiveness then he had Sendak sent to the mines for life. Father looked at us and asked if we’d been out of our rooms, I hadn't, but you said you’d been with me all night!”
“Is there a point to all this Scorpan?” Tirek inquired.
Scorpan looked at his brother as though judging his very soul, “I covered for you, at the time I thought you had nothing to do with any of what happened and just wanted to stay out of trouble. Tirek, look me in the eye and tell me what transpired that night.”
“Sendak showed me the unicorn when I went to see him, he told of his plan to steal the unicorn’s magic, he knew I wanted to try the spell, but he told me I was too young and it would come in time.”
Scorpan grimaced, “so you knew, you knew there was a pony in danger and said nothing? Tirek, that night before you went to bed you talked bout how father saw a ‘thirst for power’ in you, and you told me you were going to show him how much there was of that desire. Brother, tell me you didn’t see Sendak after you visited him that afternoon.”
Tirek refused to look Scorpan in the eyes, “he underestimated me Scorpan, I wanted to prove him wrong! I went to his home and placed him in a magical barrier before turning to the pony.”
“But it didn't work. Sendak was right, wasn't he? That’s why there were those lights.”
“Sendak was indeed correct, I was too inexperienced,” Tirek recalled angrily before grinning, “though thankfully that old fool was never able to tell a soul.”
Scorpan shook his head, “you let an innocent centaur take the blame, lied to our father, put yourself and others in danger, and I helped you!”
“Yes, Scorpan,” Tirek smiled, “that was the moment I knew I could always trust you, little brother.”
“Tirek, Father never fully trusted you after that, did you have anything to do with his demise?” Scorpan asked not at all sure he’d like the answer.
Tirek scowled at his brother, “that old fool was too stubborn to pass the throne to me brother, he wasn't fit to rule anything, so I decided to take what was rightfully mine! Speaking of what is rightfully mine, I believe it is time to take what belongs to us!”
Scorpan took several breaths before returning to face Tirek, “how did it come to this brother? How did you become so power-hungry and angry? How did I let it come to this? Tirek, when we came to this land, what did you see?”
Tirek chuckled wickedly, “I saw all the magic these ponies possess, just right for the plucking.”
Scorpan looked to his pendant, “I saw something amazing, I saw all different kinds of ponies with all different kinds of talents working together for a better future, and the more I learned, the more they fascinated me. Brother, we shouldn’t be stealing magic from these ponies, we should be helping them, helping all the neighboring kingdoms to grow so that we may grow ourselves.”
Tirek looked at his brother as though he had suggested they introduce themselves to the plague, “Scorpan, you fool, can you not see your falling into a trap? These ponies want us away from their land, so they offer help in return, but once we have their magic, we won’t need their help. All we’ll need is power!”
“Brother, this is power. The power of friendship!” Scorpan argued.
“Friendship is nothing more than a fairy tale for the weak-minded, the only ones we should care about is each other, friendship makes no progress power does,” Tirek’s eyes seemed to glow at his last statement.
Scorpan cleared his throat, “Tirek, why do we need more power? We have magic of our own; you are the most magical center in a kingdom we rule. Tirek, we have magic, a kingdom, and each other is that not enough?”
“No!” Tirek growled.
Scorpan shook his head, “how much Tirek? How much power do you need? If you steal all the ponies magic will that be enough or will you attempt to take other species magic as well? Will you not rest until all the magic in the world is yours? In the universe? In this reality? When is it enough?”
Tirek slammed his fists on the bars, “it’s never enough! Now open this cage and let’s get to work! That is an order Scorpan!”
Scorpan looked flabbergasted, “you give an order to your brother?”
“That seems to be all your good for, brother. Now, open this cage, and I want no more talk of this foolish friendship!”
Suddenly, Scorpan began to look upon his brother with something he never had before; pity, “Tirek, my dear brother, I see what you’ve become. You’re so obsessed with power that you’ve devoted your whole life to it. I blame myself, I knew you were going down the wrong path when you started learning from Sendak, but I said nothing. I knew it was wrong to lie to father; again, my response was silence. Now here we are intent on stealing magic from these ponies this time I’ve broken my habit.”
“What does that mean?”
Scorpan took a big breath before speaking, “Tirek, I’m the one who reported you to Celestia and Luna.”
Tirek slammed on the walls of his cage as hard as he could, “you treachours snake! Scorpan, how could you?”
Scorpan sighed, “Tirek when we came here; I slowly realized that there’s a better way than power. I came here hoping you had learned the same. That we could leave this land and rule together back home but alas your heart is still filled with anger and a lust for power.”
“You did this for the throne!” Tirek accused, “I will get out of here!”
“Oh, I do not doubt that brother. I know someday you will escape and it is my heart's desire that by then you’ve learned to settle.” Scorpan removed the pendant from his neck, “this, as you know, is the symbol of our kingdom.” Scorpan placed the necklace on Tirek, “Tirek, I’m going home to rule our people; may this pendant remind you that no matter what you will always be my brother and you can always return to rule with me.”
As Scorpan took flight once more, he could hear Tirek call after him, “you are worthless, and you always will be.”
Scorpan let tears fall from his eyes, “I hope you can find your way home, brother.”
"There are two things that can drive a living being to near madness. Cause the most unbridled of actions. One of those things is love. The other... is power."