“It appears we are at an impasse. How about a trade, Princess Twilight..?”
Tirek snapped his claw, and seven bubbles appeared. Each one of them contained one of Twilight’s friends, whom she loved and cared for. This was going to be a hard decision. If she said yes, it could possibly doom all of Equestria. If she said no, she’d be dooming her friends to eternal damanation and torture. Or, at least until Tirek killed them. This was a really hard choice... If only she had somepony to persuade her. Twilight’s head thumped, and she could hear muffled voices in the background. Slowly but surely, her hearing returned.
“Don’t do it, Twilight..!” She heard her friends repeat. Twilight stood, shaking her head to ease her drowsiness. Some part of Twilight had the urge to just hide away until this was all over, but she knew she couldn't. If she had any say in the matter, Twilight would just beat Tirek. But...
She couldn't.
It was settled, then. Twilight wouldn’t give Tirek her magic. She just hoped she’d be making the right decision..
Without warning, Tirek teleported away. When he reappeared, he was behind her. Twilight’s horn lit up, and she attempted to strike Tirek in the back. However, before she could, he spun around. Tirek grabbed Twilight, attempting to crush her with his colossal hand. Before he could, she teleported away. Twilight whipped her head backwards, getting a good look at the centaur.
She then charged a ball of energy in her horn, aiming it directly at Tirek. Tirek grunted when it hit him, stumbling around momentarily before getting back up. The centaur swatted Twilight, making her collide with the charred dirt and grass. Twilight, still not satisfied, struck Tirek in the backside once more. He growled fiercely, pounding the ground with his fists.
All of a sudden, the trees came alive. They reached for her, their branches clawing for a Princess they’d be unlikely to obtain. Twilight released a jet of dark magic, a spell to stun the merciless creature. He dodged, and Twilight looked at him.
The trees danced and jittered, making Twilight want to vomit. She couldn't though, as she was in the middle of a colossal battle. The more she thought about it, the more Twilight's head hurt. Eventually, Twilight made a decision on just not thinking about it. It didn't completely resolve the problem, but it helped. A little.
All of a sudden, Twilight saw a boulder being hurled at her. She dove, slamming right into one of the plants. It’s palm snapped closed, and Twilight could just make out a blurry figure walking towards her.
“It’s no wonder you lost... Even with all that power, you’re just a stupid, worthless pony..”
Tirek poked Twilight in the stomach, scowling slightly.
“Even the ponies in our land are more powerful than that. I suspect you don’t even know where Celestia and Luna are from. Some mentors they are...”
Twilight grit her teeth, and Tirek continued.
"I suppose I'll have to figure out what to do with the Princesses once I'm done with you. After all, there's only so much space in Tartarus." Tirek began to ponder the various, methods of torture, torture tools, etcetera he could use on them. Maybe he should ask Twilight for her input.
“Oh well.. After all, I guess I can put them to better use when I eat them.. Say hello in Tartarus to them for me, Twilight. ”
“How dare you insult the ponies I care about..! I’ll have you know-“ Twilight started, but was cut off by Tirek.
“That’s amusing.. The ponies you care about..? You’ve never cared about anypony. You’re just like me, Twilight.” He retorted, seeming to get a laugh out of the young Alicorn's rage. To be honest, he just wanted to see how she'd react. Tirek always loved to play with the minds of others, even when he was young. Of course, now the author will have to write out a backstory, which he's particularly bad at. Tirek thanked him for his time and patience.
Ugh.
Discord's magic must've had some effect on him. Damn.
Anyways, Tirek smirked. His teeth glistened, even though they've probably had thousands of years to rot. Twilight thought; Why wasn't she just casting a spell..? She mentally facehooved, holding back a sigh of exasperation. That didn't stop Tirek from hearing it, though.
"What's wrong, Princess..? Am I making you uncomfortable..?" Tirek jested. Tirek scoffed at the lack of response, rolling his eyes. His eye twitched, and he blinked.
"Well, I guess now would be a good time to drain you of your magic, seeing as how I've got nothing else in my life to-" He started, but before he had the chance to insult the Princess further, she had teleported away.
Before Twilight could get a grasp on what was happening, her eyes glowed white. Swirling bits of magenta magic swirled around her, and Twilight’s horn crackled with magic. Bolts of lightning shot out from around her, and Tirek attempted to shoot her down.
Before he could, A bullet of energy shot outwards from Twilight’s horn and burnt a hole in his back.
Twilight’s magic quintupled, and a ray of magic exploded outwards. Tirek was slammed into a mountain, the shockwave hitting the tree of harmony. The tree of harmony glowed, pulsing with vibrant colors. A castle shot out of the ground, the soil shattering beneath it. Nothing was left of her energy, and the area around Twilight was reduced to a field of burning cinder. As her magic went manic, her horn flickered, before fading out entirely
Tirek clenched his fists, walking up to the haggard Princess. He threw her down, then picked her up repeatedly. When he was finally done torturing the newfound Princess, Twilight's vision had blurred and hearing deafened to the point that she couldn't hear or see anything. Tirek grinned, not wanting to kill the Princess because she still held his magic. Twilight fell to the ground, passing out.
Twilight groaned. It felt like a pounding drum beating inside her head. Worse still, she hadn’t figured out what had happened in the last hour or two. Shakily, she got up on all fours. Looking around, Twilight’s vision slowly came into focus. Her head thumped with pain, and it was a struggle to keep her eyes open.
Looking around, Twilight saw that the room was some sort of cell. The walls were rusted with chains and moss, and Twilight swore she could see a tiny bit of blood on the walls.
She hoped her suspicions weren’t true.
As her vision cleared further, Twilight could see that the crusty stains on the walls were indeed blood. Dead carcasses littered some of the corners, almost completely covered in mold and maggots. They were all chained up, seemingly grinning at her unsettlingly. That’s when Twilight noticed something.
The bodily remains were moving. MOVING.
As if that weren’t enough, they looked like they were attempting to get to her. Their chains prevented them from doing this, but that didn’t make it any less disturbing. Twilight looked at herself, seeing that she was chained up. Unlike the other occupants’ chains, Twilight’s chains looked like they had been installed sometime recently. Twilight was about to fire up a spell when she noticed the magic inhibitor wrapped around her horn. There were several, actually. All with the same purpose; to take her magic from her.
Twilight attempted to get it off with her hoof, but stopped when she heard a loud sound of metal on concrete, Looking in front of her, she saw one of the disfigured ponies walking up to her. Then another chain broke. Then another. Twilight, not being able to to take it anymore, curled up into a ball. All of a sudden, the zombies dissipated.
“Glad to see you’re awake, Twilight.” Echoed a familiar voice, and Twilight looked up to see Tirek in the doorway. Twilight jumped, shuffling into the corners. Upon realizing who it was, she growled.
"Why didn't you remove my magic..!?" She blurted out, and Tirek chuckled. To be honest, Twilight didn't know why Tirek hadn't removed her magic. Looking around, Twilight's eyes once again landed on Tirek. After coughing, he spoke up.
"That is none of your business, Twilight." Tirek stated, sounding a bit hesitant. And to be honest, he was. Tirek didn't want Twilight to know that he couldn't remove her magic entirely. He had been draining her for more than an hour straight, and the magic didn't stop flowing. Twilight looked at him, as if she knew everything he had just thought. Sighing, he stared at her before yanking her chains off the wall. Well that was a change of plans.
Ignoring Twilight's screams of protest, he set her down on a heavily decorated stool. Keeping her in place with his magic, Tirek thought for a moment. The young alicorn was certainly going to be a roadblock in his path. If he did not get rid of this roadblock, then it could cause other potential problems. Scratching his chin, Tirek thought for a moment.
Twilight wasn't very smart when it came to social situations, but she wasn't stupid, either. Even with her trust, Tirek didn't know if he could trust her in return. Too much of a risk. If only there was a way to keep her under control. A way to control, without taking over her entire mind. Sweating, the cenutar thought deeper. Twilight was going to defeat him, and there was nothing he could do about it.
Sighing, Tirek levitated a random book off the shelf.
A Beginner's Guide to Potions
He stared at the cover, before turning to a random page. On that page, read;
Potions for Hypnosis
Tirek grinned, formulating a plan in his head.
This day is going to be just perfect.
