They say that once someone reaches a position of supreme authority over a city, they always have to answer to someone higher. But what if that person is the one who is the highest on the ladder? It is said that they walk a razor’s edge when it comes to their morals. With so much responsibility and power. It could even drive one mad. And with this fateful encounter of Aku and Tirek, Aku unknowingly begins his ascent to power of his own. And so, this part of the story shall begin with something that was always destined to happen. And will be part of his test to maintain the balance within his mind, heart and soul.

–Canterlot Streets, secluded alleyway–

Aku stood there for a moment before tilting his head at what Tirek had just told him. “I mean, other than having similar abilities. What could you have in common with me?” Aku asked as he crossed his arms and leaned to the side a bit as he waited for an answer. Tirek smiled knowingly and answered right away. “It is your hatred for the damned equines that I also share. It is because of them that I was imprisoned in Tartarus for wanting all their magic for myself. And so I vowed to myself that I’d take my revenge on them all and rule Equestria ruthlessly once all it’s magic is mine.”.

Aku arches a brow and shrugs his shoulders indifferently to Tirek’s plan. “Well, you hate them for a totally different reason than I. You see, I am simply disputed by most ponies because I am different from any other race in this world. And with the ability to eat their magic, it only makes my case even worse in their eyes. Your fight is with them on a whole different subject. And while I do hate ponies in this country. I don’t hate all of them. So what would I stand to gain by helping you?”.

Tirek tilted his head at Aku’s response. Something he didn’t expect the man to say for sure. “Why, you would rule at my side and make every pony who wronged you pay for what they did. You could do whatever you wanted and when you wanted. It is an offer that you simply can’t refuse. Or rather, it would be foolish to do so.”. Aku, still rather indifferent about the whole ordeal between the centaur and the ponies, simply shook his head. “I have no desire to rule this country whatsoever. I have a whole other nation to look after not only ponies, but other races to protect. That is where I truly belong in this world and I will not abandon it because of some old grudge you have.’. Aku turned and started to walk away from Tirek before looking over his shoulder.

“You want my advice? Hold onto your hatred as much as you desire. But move forward. Because your hatred is useless if you are stuck in the past. Because you will never grow mentally and physically. I suggest leaving this place and finding a new path in life.”. Tirek growled slowly in his chest and suddenly charged forward at Aku. Aku turned around before he was lifted off his feet and held up in the air by the throat by Tirek who smiled evilly and began to squeeze as hard as he could. “Fine then, if you are not with me, then I shall simply dispose of you. After all, I can’t have you going around and spilling my plan to anyone.”.

The moment that Tirek touched Aku, something inside the man stirred and began to wake. The sound of his own heartbeat getting louder and faster was all Aku could hear right now as images of the onii he had met in his dream and had given him that cursed arm flashed before his eyes. Aku slowly lifted his hand up as a fiery, dark purple aura began to flash around his body before becoming fully solid. The harder Tirek squeezed, the more intense the aura became. Aku’s eyes suddenly snapped open as his pupils now glowed brightly with the same color of the aura surrounding him.

“Get your filthy, fuckiong hands off me.”.

He said as he simply slapped the hand away with his wrist before dropping to the ground and began to punch rapidly all over the centaur’s torso before leaping into the air and coming down with a spinning overhead kick to the top of his head. As Tirek staggered back, Aku delivered a dual open palm hit to Tireks chest and sent him flying into the wall of the alleyway.The voice in which he spoke was a mix of his own and a more foreboding, growling mixture. It would seem that when Tirek had touched him, the evil that exists within the centaur had awakened the onii spirit that had been trying to become one with Aku had finally done so.

However, this wasn’t another presence now controlling Aku. This was Aku himself. “You think that I need YOU to get what I want? And you think I would ever side with someone who only instills fear with violence?” he said as he slowly started approaching Tirek with the ogre walking behind him, now in actual view. Aku squatted down while resting his arms on his thighs in front of Tirek who stared at Aku with a glare of both hatred and annoyance. “Granted, fear is part of the engine to keep one’s subjects in line…” he said before firmly grabbing at the centaur’s jaw so that his eyes remained locked with Aku’s. “...But a ruler who instills fear through means of violence is nothing more than a tyrannical brute. And I do not work with brutes.”.

“What the hell is that thing?! H-How can you be this strong without any magic..?! It is impossible!” Tirek shouted as Aku got up and walked away again, the onii still following close behind. Aku chose not to even respond with a glance back at Tirek who was shakily getting back up to his hooves. Aku emerged from the alleyway just as the ogre disappeared along with the aura around his body and began to make his way back to the castle. Aku was fully aware of what had just happened. One would think that it would have shaken him up, but the man had been expecting this for quite some time. All that was needed was the proper catalyst.

When Aku made it to his room, he undressed down into his boxer and flopped on the bed as the adrenaline from earlier had finally caught up to him and he was asleep within seconds. At first, it was nothing but darkness. But soon enough he opens his eyes as sounds and visuals of a busy arcade form. He looked down at his hands and then at his reflection in a nearby mirror. It appeared he was having another dream of being his high school self once again. And any moment now, he expected to see that familiar blue haired girl.

As he walked through the arcade, he found his way over to one of the dancing machines that almost everyone enjoyed playing on. “Hah, Dance Dance Revolution, this takes me back. My friend and I would come here every Friday after school and play this game to the point of nearly breaking the arrows on the pads.”. He placed a hand on one of the hand rails before looking around at all the people playing other games before stepping up to the left dance pad and reaching into his pocket, pulling out a couple of coins. He inserts enough of them for one song. “Dance Dance Revolution!” The guy on the game exclaims. Aku scrolls down a few times before the game speaks again “Heavy Mode!”.

As the crowd slowly starts to gather behind Aku, he hits the button again to scroll through the music before finding his favorite song to dance to, ‘Healing Vision’ by 2MB. As Aku waited out the timer, he stretched and limbered up before the announcer spoke, "Are you ready? Okay, let’s start!". Aku took a hold of the hand rail with one hand and used his other for balance. He was good, but there was no way he could do it without a little bit of balance assistance on heavy mode.

As the music started he began to move his legs at a rather speedy pace, his feet clapping against the arrows and landing nothing lower than ‘good!’ steps. He had to make sure that bar stayed full at the top left of the screen and get as many combos as he could. Little did he know that behind him in that crowd, both Luna AND Celestia were watching him. The crowd started to cheer Aku on as the song seemed to never slow down until the two final arrows at the end. Once the song is over, he stomps on the last two arrows with heavy breathing, his chest rising and falling as a smile forms on his face and opens his arms up before facing the crowd. They all cheered and clapped for him before he stepped down to let someone else play.

Aku made his way over to one of the vending machines and bought himself a green tea soda. His absolute favorite beverage. WIth the sound of the can hitting the bottle of the opening, he reaches down and grabs his drink before opening in taking a rather large swig from the can before letting out a satisfied sigh of delight. As he turns to walk away, both Luna and Celestia stand before him in their human forms to better fit in his dreamscape. Aku stands there for a moment before narrowing his eyes in annoyance to the pair of sisters before growling slowly “I told you to stay the hell out of my dreams. Not only did you not listen, you brought your sister in here as well?”.

Both of them could hear the venom in his voice, as if the death glare he was giving them didn’t send chills down their spines already. “We have come to talk to you about your little display of power you put on when you came here. What exactly do you hope to gain by doing such a thing?” Asked Celestia as she recovered from her slight fear of the man. Aku sipped on his tea before answering “it is simple. I brought a small portion of my army and the technologies we have created in order to make sure that we don’t get invaded by anyone. Not that I plan on invading anyone myself. Simple deterrents of war.”.

As Luna was about to ask Aku a question, he put his hand up in front of her face to stop her from speaking “And no, I will never, ever share our technologies and advancements with you or any other country. You all ruined that for yourselves with how poorly your citizens treated me and the other refugees that became part of our nation. And I see no mutual benefits from doing so. However…” he said as he lowered his hand and narrowed his eyes seriously again. “..I will not show mercy for any country who choses to invade mine. We WILL take control and expand on those who make the first move. Just keep that in mind.”

Aku tossed the now empty soda can into the trash can next to the vending machine before speaking again “Also, I went on a little stroll tonight before I went to sleep. I think you should know, someone by the name of Tirek is planning on absorbing all the magic from every pony in your country. Whatever you did to the guy, he is royally pissed off.” Both of the sisters’ eyes went wide with shock when Aku told them “T-Tirek is back..? This is not good at all, Celestia. We need to stop him at all costs before he finally gets what he wants.” Said Luna as she was already starting to think of plans A through Z.

Aku shrugged slightly and turned away from the pair as he started walking away “You two have fun with that. If things are going to go down here within the next couple of days, I am leaving with my soldiers for home tomorrow. This Tirek guy is your problem, not mine.”. Before he could walk away, His hand was grabbed by Celestia. Aku turned his head to Celestia and saw the look of desperation on her face. It was a look that he had never seen on any of the ponies in this country, let alone their ruler. And he knew that she was about to ask him for a favor “Please Aku.I will do anything you ask of me. Please help us defeat Tirek so we can send him back to Tartarus where he belongs. I want my subjects safe and free from this tyrant..please.” she begged.

Aku pulled his hand away from hers before forming a wicked smile across his lips slowly, the onii appearing behind him once again in full view for the sisters to finally see. They both back away in fear as Celestia stands in front of her younger sister to protect her. But Aku wasn’t going to attack them, he had a far better plan. He lifts a hand up slightly and extends his index finger before firmly pointing to the ground in front of him “Kneel, both of you.” he said as the onii behind him did the same exact movement as he did. “W-what do you think-.” Luna tried to speak but Aku cut her off. “You see, where I come from, when someone wants something badly enough to beg, they get on their hands and knees and bow their head to the floor while actually begging. And if you want my help, then you will do exactly that. Right here, right now.”.

Celestia looked at him with disappointment in her eyes. She wasn’t angry with him. After all, she had no right to be after what had happened to him when he first came into this world. Luna however, glared daggers at Aku before the both of them came in front of him and dropped to their hands and knees before bowing low enough for their foreheads to touch the ground. “Please, Aku. Please help us defeat Tirek. I am begging you from the bottom of my heart. For all of our citizens in Equestria..” Aku chuckled lowly in his chest before lifting his foot up and placing it on the back of her head to hold her down as that dark purple aura swelled around his body. “That’s right. Beg for your country’s life and soul. Beg to the one you humiliated and tortured because they were different and your kind couldn’t understand.” he said before removing his foot from ehr head and turned away again. “You and your citizens will experience hardships beyond your understanding. And I won’t be there to help you after this one time until you pay up what is owed for the way you treated me AND the refugees your fat, corrupted nobles wronged that helped me form a small, but great nation. Welcome to the corner of pay and back, princesses.”

Author's Note

Here you go, a little taste of what is to come. Figured I had made you all wait long enough.

May the darkness grant you peace.