How long had it been since their enemies had been brought here? Tirek had lost count of just how much time had passed, and at this point he didn't even care all that much. All he cared for were that they were here, and they were prisoners. All of these ponies were captives now, helpless and incapable of getting out. He and his allies had made sure of that, and the thought of them being defenceless was indeed pleasing to him. But among all the thoughts of triumphs yet-to-come he had in his mind, one thought above all dominated Tirek's thinking. His eyes narrowed at the elderly stallion before him, one separated from all of his own colleagues. This pony, Starswirl, was famed as one of the truly great mages of Equestria, yet here he was, utterly at Tirek's mercy. The imposing centaur stepped closer and closer to the ageing pony, and the latter too looked back to him. Neither said a word, yet there was an unmistakable air of bitterness between them. True, they were enemies, but there was something else there, beneath all the usual dislike that those on opposite sides felt for one another. Starswirl said nothing for a time, but in the end, he let out a deep sigh. "So...are you going to say what's on your mind? Or will you simply try to stare me into submission?"
Tirek glared. "Oh, trust me, I want to do far more than that, old pony!"
Starswirl glanced to the side, seeing all of his friends in their separate cells. "We will not yield to you. We may be your prisoners, but we have no intention of simply bowing to your will."
A loud snort from Tirek. "The great Starswirl. So proud. So defiant." Tirek stepped forward, his strong fist punching into the wall just beside the front of Starswirl's cell. "But that's how you've always been, hasn't it? Thinking yourself so much better than others? Always thinking you're there to help. There to make things better." Fury rose in him. "Not once did you ever think of what you were doing with your ridiculous notions of friendship!"
Slowly, Starswirl looked back to his captor, his face never once betraying an ounce of emotion. "...This is about your brother, isn't it?"
At the mention of his long-unseen sibling, Tirek fumed. "You...are the reason he and I no longer call each other that. Whatever family we might have been long ago...you brought to an end."
Starswirl shook his head. "No...your kinship with Scorpan ended because of your choices, Tirek. I did not go to him to seek to end the love between the two of you, but to open your eyes to the wonders of friendship."
Tirek rolled his eyes, but maintained his irritated tone with the stallion. "Oh yes, friendship. And what a wonderful concept that was. Scorpan learning of it was what turned everything sour between us. As soon as he began to think on it, he tried all he could to convince me we should both reach out to you ponies." His eyes narrowed again. "When I refused, he began to see me as the problem! My own brother, looking to me as though I were a monster!"
Starswirl frowned. "You were a danger to many, Tirek. Your brother spoke true when he told you that your path should not be walked."
A low growl from the centaur. "Had it not been for you, my brother would still be beside me today. We could have ruled together, he and I. Instead..." There was a pause, and for just the tiniest of moments, Starswirl could've sworn he saw sadness in the ever-enraged Tirek. "Instead...I am without him. Century upon century upon century...and I was alone." He gritted his teeth as he again looked to his prisoner. "If it were not for you...Scorpan would be my brother still. Instead...he betrayed me." He moved closer, his face barely an inch away from where the stallion's cell was. "You...destroyed the one connection that truly mattered to me...and all because you wished to forge bonds of friendship between my family and your people."
Starswirl, for just this one moment at least, felt a pang of sympathy for the beast that had captured him. "I am sorry, but only because that a bond was broken." But then his resolve returned. "I am not sorry for allowing your brother to realise that your goals of conquest and domination were misguided." He pointed straight to Tirek. "And make no mistake, Tirek, those things you seek? Power. Control. Strength. They are misguided goals. Sooner or later, you and your allies shall fall in this blind pursuit of power."
In spite of everything, Tirek afforded himself a chuckle. "You delude yourself, old one. Look where you are now. Powerless, helpless, at my mercy. Your allies are removed from the picture, and soon enough our alliance shall take over Equestria and show you ponies that friendship is nothing compared to the might that WE now wield!"
Starswirl sighed, shaking his head yet again. "No...you are wrong. It will do you no good in the end. You may triumph now, but eventually...all that you have will be lost, just as it was before." He closed his eyes for a time, thinking hard on his situation and everything that had happened. But then, when he opened them again, he looked to his jailer with greater determination. "You have nobody in your life, Tirek. Those who work with you? They care not for you. Given the chance, they would look out only for themselves, and leave you to whatever fate awaits you. There is no love between you, no bonds that could bring you together through the hard times. And when your power is gone, as it one day will be...you will see the value in that which you have so long looked down upon."
Tirek didn't know how to feel in this moment, but that moment soon passed, and he eventually defaulted to his typical rage and annoyance at the pony's words. "You should mind your tongue, little pony. You speak to a Lord." A wicked grin crept onto his lips. "If I wanted...I could snuff you out like it was nothing. And trust me...I would take great pleasure in doing so."
Starswirl didn't respond, at least at first, instead looking to his foe for a long while. Then, after exhaling deeply, he gave a single nod. "You know, for what it's worth...I understand."
Tirek, taken aback, arched an eyebrow. "You...understand?"
Another nod from the stallion. "Thinking...believing that you're in the right. That someone else is the problem. To want so desperately for the truth to be that it is others who did wrong." Regret flashed in his eyes. "I know the feeling all too well." He turned away from Tirek. "Like you, I too thought I was doing what was right and fair...and because I was so blind to the possibility that I had erred...I ended up hurting one who once mattered a great deal to me to me." He grimaced. "That mistake led to wasted centuries that needn't have been." Slowly, he looked Tirek right in the eye. "Had I been willing to step back then, to consider, just for a moment, that it was I who could have done things differently...who knows how much better things might have been." He stretched out his hoof, pointing to his powerful enemy. "Has there never been a moment, Tirek, just one moment...when you felt that you made a mistake all those years ago? That maybe, just maybe...things could have been different between your and your brother...had you only been different?"
Tirek didn't know what to say, and instead just changed his expressions with every passing moment. Confusion, indignation, rage, guilt. He ran the full spectrum of feelings in just a few short seconds. But in the end, as always, he fell back to his most common sensation of anger. "Whatever you may think...you do not know me...and you never will." He pointed to him. "You have lost, old one...and I have won. That...is all that matters." He took a step backwards, glancing over his shoulder to Chrysalis and Cozy, who had finally ceased their conversation. "Now, if you'll excuse me...I have plans to make."
Starswirl didn't say another word to him, instead watching him go, and as soon as he was out of earshot, the elderly stallion closed his eyes, shaking his head and whispering to himself. "I'm sorry, Scorpan...I tried."
