“T-Tirek?”
The named centaur froze in his stride. Anger and fear boiling inside him, he slowly turned to find him hovering there, wide-eyed, inquisitive, scared. Scorpan was always like this, but he had been avoiding Tirek since the destruction of his master Sendak’s cave. Tirek had been punished by his father, King Vorak, but Scorpan hadn’t even tried to show any affection to him in those dark times. But he was paying enough attention to his comings and goings to follow him out into the wilderness like this?!
They were still within view of their father’s black tower, which made Tirek feel like his accursed father’s eye was upon him. Especially since Scorpan was there as well, looking scared for him. Like he needed protection.
“Y-you don’t have anywhere to go if you escape, Tirek. Besides, you were confined to your quarters. You shouldn’t be out here-”
“Quiet, Scorpan,” Tirek snapped, and the hovering brown gargoyle gulped and shut his trap. Tirek huffed. “This doesn’t concern you, brother. Go back to mommy and tell her I’m missing again. That’s what you’re best at, isn’t it?”
As he started to walk away again, he heard Scorpan take a deep breath and quiver out, “No.”
Tirek paused again and looked back at his younger brother. He looked firm this time, doing his best to keep up a facade of strength. And that incensed Tirek to no end. His face turned even redder than it usually was. Only now does he think of offering any resistance to him?! All this time, when he dogged his trail to Sendak’s cave every week, Scorpan had done nothing.
“Sorry, dear brother mine. I must have had some sand in my ear. What did you say?!”
“I… said… no.”
Tirek bared his teeth. “Go away! This isn’t some excursion to the Nether Lands that you can tail me all the way to. I’m...”
Tirek looked to the distance. His master had been on the verge of a great advancement. And Tirek wasn’t a part of it. But now… he would claim it all. He didn't care if Scorpan heard. There was nothing he could do.
“...I’m going to Equestria.”
“What? Tirek, you can’t! Ambition like this will lead you to your doom! You can’t overtake all of Equestria on your own like this!”
“Oh, so you think I’m not capable of doing that?”
“I don’t want to see you fail, Tirek. You already lost the kingdom. Vorak counseled me in private and told me I was to inherit the land instead of you. You’ve been reckless for a while now. You’ve fallen so low, Tirek! I don’t want you to lose even more.”
“I have nothing to lose,” Tirek growled. “And I don’t care about the kingdom! My dear father rules a barren wasteland. Take the kingdom, for all I care.”
“I don’t care about the kingdom either,” Scorpan whispered, tapping his fingers together. “I care about you.”
Tirek, temporarily stunned, lifted an eyebrow.
“You… mean everything to me, Tirek. You’re the only brother I have. No matter how many times you got into trouble for visiting the Nether Lands, I still loved you. You’re my hero.”
Tirek shook his head. “Go back to the castle.”
“You kept your head up at all times. You were everything I needed. Confidence. Power. Independence. You sought out your own path. Even if it was wrong! You could forge your destiny, even if it ruins you! And that’s why I wanted to keep you from danger! I love-!”
“Because you thought I was wrong?” Tirek snapped, jabbing a finger in his younger brother’s face. “Who are you to decide what’s right for me?!”
“Don’t you get it?” Scorpan pleaded. “I wanted to be just like you!”
“You could never be like me.”
“I don’t care!”
Tirek growled and lunged, and with a heavy punch Scorpan was knocked to the dusty earth. Tirek loomed over Scorpan, who was immediately struggling to rise. “You won’t ever become like me!”
“I… know that!” Scorpan coughed, flapping his wings weakly to flap up into the air. “But I won’t stay down forever, either! You taught me that as well!”
“I never wanted you hovering over my shoulder!” Tirek bellowed, swatting Scorpan aside, and Scorpan went tumbling again. “You were always there, trying to dissuade me, when you could have been up in the castle feasting and ruling to your little heart’s content! I didn’t need you!”
As Tirek turned away from his brother’s body in the dust, he heard him whisper, “But I… needed you.”
Tirek flicked his ear curiously. “You were always weak.”
He heard Scorpan rise again from the dust once again. “I don’t want to see you die... “
“Because it means you’ll be left helpless?” Tirek assumed.
“Yes.”
Tirek groaned. “Nothing’s going to stop you from following me all the way to ponyland, is it?”
“I’ll do anything if it means you’ll be okay. I’ll help you out, if you really want me to.”
“What can you do?”
“I…” Scorpan thought for a moment before he stammered out, “I-I-I could find victims. Lure unicorns to a remote place, and you take their magic.”
Tirek nodded. That could work, if Scorpan wasn’t a failure about it. “Why do I need you specifically?”
“Because if not, I’ll alert the princesses to your activities.”
Tirek felt something freeze inside him. His parents were one thing, but the alicorn princesses were another entirely. The princesses of Equestria were renowned for their mythical, magical powers. Even Tirek was unsure if he would be able to take their magic. “You wouldn’t.”
Scorpan looked nervous and fiddled with his thumbs as he looked at the ground. Tirek could see through his ruse. He knew he wouldn’t betray him. Scorpan was too much of a follower for that. On the other hand, Scorpan was also too much of a suckup to authority. He’d be split apart if it came to that. And… for some odd reason… Tirek couldn’t stand the thought of him broken like that.
Nevertheless, Tirek still held defiant. “Am I really supposed to believe that brotherly love is the only motivation at play here, dear brother?”
“Weren’t you listening? I don’t care about power. You’re the one that wants it. I care about you. As long as you get a happy ending, that’ll… make me happy, too.”
Scorpan was no liar. His heart was too pure for that. Tirek could see he was as sincere as ever, just like when he wanted to keep Tirek safe.
Tirek wanted to change that. He didn’t want Scorpan near him anymore. So he would do something counterintuitive--take him in under his wing, but teach him how to be selfish and narcissistic. Then, finally, he would be rid of the burden called Scorpan.
“Oh, brother. What was I thinking?”
Scorpan looked up. “Huh?”
“All this time, you were looking up to me. I must have been blind not to see that. You could indeed be a great brother to me.” He gave a wave over his shoulder, into the sunset. “Come with me. I’ll tell you all of Sendak’s teachings. Let’s give you something to be proud of on our way to Equestria.”
“B-but I don’t want power-”
“Oh, come on, didn’t you want to follow in my hoofsteps?” Tirek slung an arm around Scorpan’s shoulders. “You need power for that.”
“I… suppose…”
“Then off to Equestria we go, brother,” Tirek said enthusiastically. As they began to walk on the path, though, something smoldered in his twisted heart. Disgust of Scorpan was part of it, but most of it was ambition. He had been denied of his father’s love, and his master’s magic, and his rightful kingdom. All because he wanted more and more power to influence his own path. And now he would prove them all wrong.
A blazing sapphire hole appeared in the middle of the dead, black air. Out stepped Scorpan slowly, and his flat feet hit the crumbly, hardened igneous earth of Tartarus.
“I’ll be back in ten minutes,” Scorpan called over his shoulder. “I should be fine until then, Celestia.”
The portal swirled shut with a distorted warp, and Scorpan was left alone at the summit of the mountain.
In the center of the dead volcano lay his brother. Barred in a cage and sucked of life until he was little more than skin stretched over bones, Tirek caught a glimpse of Scorpan and, after a weak growl, got to his hooves as Scorpan approached.
“What more do you have to take away from me?” Tirek croaked, clinging to the cold bars of his cage for strength.
Scorpan’s heart ached. “Your pain,” the gargoyle whispered. “If you’ll allow it.”
Tirek chuckled in bursts of gasps. “O...of course you can. You gave me my pain. You can take it away, as well!” He descended into a coughing fit.
“Brother,” Scorpan said. He was taller than the cage now; tall enough that he could look down on Tirek now for once. It made Scorpan feel sick to his stomach. This was wrong. He was supposed to look up to him! But instead… “Please.”
“You think… I’ll listen to you?!” Tirek’s voice was weak and raspy, but still carried that unyielding defiance Scorpan always admired. “We almost had it all! And then you… you-!”
“You were the one that made us lose everything!” Scorpan replied, his emotion rising. “With the power of friendship, we could have had anything we ever wanted!”
“We would have been reliant on them!” Tirek wheezed. “I would rather rot in this underworld forever than live in a world where others are the source of my strength!”
Scorpan knelt so he was on the same level as Tirek. “And where is your strength now?”
Tirek heaved for breath as his anger rose. Sparks ignited between his horns as he grit his teeth, but that simple action made him pale and lean on the bars of his cell, gasping just to stay conscious. Scorpan waited as he tried to speak.
“You… were always like this…”
“I know,” Scorpan said.
“Mooching off others… trying to be strong… because you had no strength inside yourself! You’re… scum! You… you…”
Scorpan reached for his cell bars and grazed his hand with his fingers. “I once thought so too.”
Tirek scoffed and withdrew his hand from the bars, making him wobble. “Don’t touch me!”
“Your hand… it was cold,” Scorpan observed, concern creeping into his words.
“What does it matter?!” Tirek spat, rubbing his palms together.
Scorpan paused. He closed his eyes while clenching his fist. “I once thought the same as you did. That I’m nothing without you. But… I was blinded by my admiration. And it was only recently when I found out that’s not my path to go on.” He opened his eyes again, full of honesty and compassion for his brother. “I do have my own will. I have my strength. And I don’t have to rely on you.”
Tirek, after listening, grimaced. “That explains why you had no problem turning me over to the princesses.”
“You’re wrong,” Scorpan insisted. “It was the hardest thing I had ever done. Even as a monster, you mean so much to me."
"Monster?" Tirek croaked, incredulous. "I'll gladly take on that role the ponies give me. You sided with those sheep. You betrayed me!"
"I loved you, Tirek!" Scorpan exclaimed. "Who's the real traitor? No matter how much I admire you, I can't follow you on the path of self-destruction."
"You're nothing without me!" Tirek hissed, gripping the cold bars of his cage so hard his thin veins bulged against his tight skin. "You'll be forgotten! Ruined! It's what you deserve!"
Scorpan clasped Tirek's biting-cold hand with his own to keep it warm. "I'm fine with that."
Tirek's hand thrashed under Scorpan's, doing his best to tug it out. Scorpan felt pity for the monster. Regret, loss, and unattained dreams. He couldn't just leave him alone.
"Tirek," Scorpan whispered. "I'm… sorry. Not for what I had to do, but… for not seeing who you became."
"Don't use that tone for me!" Tirek wheezed, ripping his arm free and balling his fists. "I didn't ask for your pity! I didn't ask for your forgiveness!"
Scorpan couldn't look him in the eye. "You don't deserve it, either."
He took off the amulet of his father's kingdom from his neck. "I want you to have this. Remember me, and why I had to leave you."
"I don't want anything you have to offer me!" Tirek spat. "Especially anything my father gave you!"
"I don't care if you want it or not," Scorpan refuted. "Your pride has cut you off from accepting anything. Love. Help. Respect. And defeat. Try to think about why I did this, not the fact that it happened. Then I might think about telling Celestia to let you go."
Tirek snarled and shook the bars, looking feral. "You dare to think you're more righteous than me?! I won't live in a world where you're greater than I am!"
Scorpan finally gave him a cold, hard look. "Then die."
He tossed the amulet into his cage. "That'll keep you warm. I hope you understand someday."
"I HATE YOU!" Tirek roared gutturally all of a sudden, squirming like a worm and pounding on the bars, growling and crying like a tortured animal. "I WILL RUIN YOU!"
Scorpan, who had turned around and was beginning to walk away, spared one final glance over his shoulder at the wreck of a creature trapped in iron.
"You were my brother, Tirek." His eyes were dry, but they were empty of any joy. "I loved you. But I could not save you."
A blue portal swirled out of nowhere, and Scorpan faced forward and didn't look back as he exited Tartarus.
He heard Tirek's cry. But it was a cry of rage.
Author's Note
I wrote this for the Horse Word Extravaganza contest. I hope it stands enough well on its own. This is not related in any way to my other Tirek and Scorpan story, Brotherhood and Betrayal.
