Disaster Anon #7: Disaster 1; Tirek, Part Two

Disaster #2: Tirek, Part Two

>Well, now that everyone’s had lunch it’s about time you finish up your story.
Anyone need to go to the bathroom? No? Okay then.

>As you spent hours venturing through the fields and forest with these ponies, you actually got the opportunity to learn a bit vocally about your new peers, Dream Valley, and most importantly, Centaurus.
>Centaurus is about 200 miles west of Dream Valley, has a 97% centaur population, and are known as the rivals of the pony species.
>Many citizens of Centaurus have an ideology that they are the natural step in the species pyramid, and are notoriously smug because of this. Firefly however, thinks that they're just jelly mad because they don't have the magic of a unicorn, flight of a pegasus, or earthly connection of the earth ponies. Tirek apparently was an extremist when it came to this though, and you already know well enough what that led to. The new guy who stole the Rainbow of Darkness was probably idolizes the guy.
>Eventually your group arrives, and the area's appearance is very surprising.
>If Dream Valley really is a land without testosterone, it must’ve all gone into this place. It appears cold, brown with wood, gray with stone, foggy, and there's an almost hostile feeling that floats through the air.
>Time to issue your plan.
>Walking into Centaurus, you and the others seem naturally worried, especially since Tirek probably has a bounty on Megan (you), but it’d be pointless for a civilian to attack you, especially since you’re already tied up.
>Firefly pulls you along with the end of your rope in her mouth. Ember and Brights follow behind as her backup.
>A male centaur tries blocking them and ask, “What do you think you’re doing here, pony?”
>Firefly just shoves him out of the way and tells him, "Out of my way before I break your jaw."
>The centaur backs away without another word.
>You all arrive at the gate of Tirek’s castle only to be stopped by a pair of bipedal pig-faced lizards in armor and with very interesting weapons.
>The weapons they're sporting are two-ended with one end being a large spear for piercing, and the other end being shorter and curved to work like an axe. With its thick structure, you doubt it can cut clean through something, or even pierce through a person since it's two ended, but that doesn't mean it couldn't break through bones, hack of a limb, or leave you bleeding to death.
>The guard on the left points it’s weapon at Firefly and tells her, “State your business.”
>“I’m here to turn in Megan to Tirek", she says unintimated.
>The guards take a hard look at you. They’re looking for a human, and clearly, you fit the bill.
>“Charc, cover the gate for a bit. Come with me ponies”, says the guard.
>The guard guides you four through a series of halls and stairways. The place is so dim and gloomy, it almost seems uninhabitable.
>Eventually you all arrive at the entrance of the throne room.
>The guard tells the right of the two door guards, "Could you tell Tirek he has company?"
>The guard sticks his head between the gigantic doors and says to Tirek, “Your lord, we have a group of ponies here."
>Tirek’s voice boomingly tells him, “Put them in the dungeon like the others.”
>“Um, they say they have Megan.”
>Without formal invitation Firefly shoves her way in and pulls the rope causing you to fall in front of him.
Whoa.
>The man face is bright red, his fur is so dark it’s practically black, and despite sitting in a thrown, it’s obvious he’s at least ten feet tall. Around his neck is the sack containing the rainbow of darkness, by his thrown is a giant whip on a table, and in a crystal ball on his giant scepter is a small red heart. From Ember's description, it's safe to assume that's the Rainbow of Light.
>“I have the human you’re after", says Firefly.
>“Oh really”, asks Tirek.
> “It’s who you’re after, the one who stopped you last time. I’ll give her to you, but in return, I want my mother back.”
Please, let me go! I’m not Megan!
>Bright’s hoof drives itself into your back.
>“Quiet human!"
>Firefly continues. “Give me back my mother, and we’ll give you Megan. No trouble, and everypony's happy.”
>Tirek points to a guard and tells him, “Pick up the human and untie it.”
>Ember stops the guard.
>“No! Don’t untie her. She’s a wily one.”
>He lifts you up, but accordingly doesn’t untie you.
>Tirek begins to examine your face until finally coming to a conclusion.
>“This is not Megan. She does not wear goggles. This is a scapegoat!”
Please. I just wanna go home.
>Firefly lashes out telling him, “Your lying! Give me back my mother!”
>“Silence”, says Tirek, “You’ve obviously failed to bring me who I’m looking for. Tomin, Cranbrich, lock the human in the dungeon, and while you're at it, lock these ponies as well.
>Cranbrich, a blue minotaur, and Tomin, a lavender minotaur walk into view and point their weapons to you.
>As you all are forced away Firefly yells in protest with Tomin's blade poking her forward.
>“No, it’s not fair! GIMME BACK MY MOM!”
>The doors slams shut behind her, and she continues moving in defeated silence.
>The guards take you four into a dark hall, and once the doors open the bursting of cries are heard from a room full of cells and ponies begging to be let go. You four are quickly thrown into a cell to join them.
>Cranbrich tells you all, “Best get use to your new home”, and with a laugh closes and locks the cell.
>Bright’s tries blasting him with what apparently is considered “magic”, but the bars absorb it like it’s nothing.
>As the guards walk away, you realize there’s actually sobbing in the background of your cell. It was simply drowned out by the others in the area. You turn still in your lasso, and see curled in the corner a blue mare with a pink mane, and mints branded on her flank. Who knows how long that mare’s been stuck in here.
>With the guards gone and the cell door closed, Brights helps you up and begins untying you with her magic.
>“Sorry for stomping you Anon", she says.
No, I liked that; it was very convincing.
>Firefly asks, “Did I do a good job. I’m not exactly the aggressive type.”
You did great Firefly.
>As the ropes release themselves, the butane torch you hid falls to the ground.
>A tool like this can melt metal easily, and seeing as this dungeon uses classic metal bars, it’s just a matter of time before you guys can break out.
You give the torch to Ember and tell her, “Cut through the middle bar so we can squeeze through.”
>As those words leave your mouth, everyone in the hall begins yelling for you to help them.
Quiet! We’ll do what we can.
>The crying mare behind you finally speaks.
>“You’re breaking us out.”
>You squat down getting to her level.
You bet. We’ll get as many ponies out as we can, and then take a full on assault to Tirek.
>“But what if someone gets hurt.”
Some of us will get hurt, we may even die, but I'd rather go out fighting than rot in a cell.
>She sniffles a little, still trying to regain herself.
>“That unicorn said you were Anon, right?”
Yup. What’s your name?
>“Spearmint. But my friends call me Minty...If I had any.”
That's ridiculous, everyone has at least one friend.
>"I had two and lost them both."
What happened?
>“I don’t wanna talk about it. Let’s just say I’m a little...too friendly.”
>You've never been the comforting sincere type, but to make her feel better, you tell her the only thing you can think of;
 I’ll be your friend.
>Her eyes widen.
>“Really!”
Sure. If—we make it out of here alive.
>She wipes the tears from her eyes and a smile soon replaces it.
>“Deal!”
>The bar falls to the ground giving you all an opening.
>"It's opened boss", says Ember.
The begging to be freed next once again rises, and you once again tell them, “Quiet! I’ve got this. Firefly, head to the ceiling, Brights, do that ‘magic’ thing like we planned."
>You grab the broken bar, walk to the door, and clank it with the metal.
>Soon the door begins to open, and you hide behind it as the two guards walk in. If they turned they’d probably notice you, but they’re distracted by Brights who’s at the end of the hall.
> Tomin raises his weapon ready to fight.
>“How did you get out of your cell", he yells.
>Brights gets into a fighting stance but her knees are shaking in fear. It’s okay though, she’s just supposed to be a distraction.
>You slowly move behind Cranbrich, poke his shoulder, and once he turns around, you strike his face with your bar. He falls to the ground and you begin bashing his skull in. Before his partner can even react, Firefly dives into him from the ceiling sending his face to the floor. With the two of them down, you take Cranb’s cell keys.
>This whole plan worked better than expected.
>With the keys, Firefly opens the remaining nine cells letting out 37 new ponies of all shapes and sizes. Despite this, Firefly's not completely satisfied.
>“My mom isn’t anywhere in this hall", she tells you.
There are surly more halls to go through, but we don’t have the time or stealth to find them.
>Firefly gives a saddened humph, but she knows that I’m right.
Okay listen everyone, if any of you want to back out I’d understand. No matter what I’m charging Tirek’s thrown room to get that Rainbow of Darkness. We’ll need all the help we can get though.
>After a long pause, Minty raises a hoof and tells you, “I’ll help.”
>With her, more and more ponies offer to assist until you have twenty six willing to help. You don’t expect them to fight, you just need a huge distraction to keep the guards busy.
Okay everyone, on the count of three we charge through the halls. If you think you can help take on Tirek, join my group; if not, scatter and keep the other guards busy. Also, don't fight the guards if you don't think you will win. I doubt most were planning on killing, so try to keep it that way. One...two...THREE!
>You all charge the halls and things quickly start to escalate. Guards begin tackling runaways, fights start breaking out, and there’s nothing but noise from behind you. You’re only focus though is to keep running until you make it to the throne room.
>Before you even make it to the door, a green unicorn mare, and a blue and grey colt have already gotten to the guards at the front and are keeping them busy. Thanks to them, your able to work your way in without dealing with the men on front.
>Inside the throne room, you see Tirek in his throne, and four guards in front of your path.
>The only ponies that make it in with you are Ember, Brights, Minty, a white unicorn mare with a wavy, blue mane that obscured her face, a scrappy pink colt that seemed very skinny compared to the males you've seen, and a strong looking brown pegasus colt with a short, green mane. Firefly is nowhere to be found.
>Tirek sits there, completely jaded.
>One of his guards raises his spear and yells to you, “This is all your fault, isn’t it!”
>He tries rushing you, but the white mare freezes his face in a chunk of ice with her magic and he falls to the ground.
>Coincidentally, you later learned that her name was Frostbite, and she also works in the ice cream parlor.
>The remaining three charge ready to fight.
>One tries impaling you, but you swerve out of the way and club his face. The brown colt is not so lucky though as a huge gash is made across his brand; ironically enough, a shield. He gives out a wail as his opened flesh is exposed to the air but the pink colt pounces the guard’s face before he can do anything worse.

>Bab’ breaks your tale and asks, “Was that guy okay.”
Uh, sure. Frostbite froze his wound into a bunch of blood shards. It looked pretty hardcore.

>The colts leg is in stinging pain, but with his wings he propels himself into the guard pink colt is fighting. They tumble through the dirt and he begins pounding the guard's face with his hooves.
>Meanwhile Minty's jumping up and down on the frost faced guard trying to keep him from getting back up.
>As for Brights and Ember; Brights uses her incredibly passive magic to form a blinding light against the last guard and with Ember behind him, she pushes him over.
>Like a nerd in middle school, he clunks his head to the ground and Ember chucks his weapon as far as she can with her mouth. The guard however retaliates grabbing Ember's leg and slamming her into Brights. They'll definitely have their work cut out for them.
>With the other guards occupied, you decide to take on Tirek.
>This is the part where you have no plan, you’re just going to need to wing it.
Come at me you ugly spawn of Satan.
>He finally rises. D@mn it, he’s taller than you thought.
>“You’re a fool trying to fight me.”
>He stomp a hoof to the ground and that alone is enough to cause a small tremor.
>“You clearly don’t know the power of darkness!”
>He opens up a small bag around his neck, and a dark substance begins rushing towards you.
>You barely roll out of the way, but then the unexpected happens.
>As Minty continued hopping on the guard, the guard you clubbed had recovered and rushed into her with his blade. He pierced her side with his spear and in two much pain to move, became the new target.
>The bleeding mare begins screaming in agony as her body is enveloped in darkness only to suddenly burst into flames.

Scootaloo says, "That's pretty hardcore."

Minty!
>You try to run to her aid, but the guards gets in your way, leading to you having to dodge his wild swings once again.
>He cuts a deep wound into your left shoulder, but you eventually manage to grab the staff end of his weapon with your left, and through pure adrenaline somehow break it with your right. You then clock the guard with your bar and run to Minty once more. It's far too late however.
>From the swirling darkness and flames, a figure slowly begins to grow. It's dark blue, and at first seems to be a rising blob. Suddenly razor sharp tusk sprout from the front and she begins to reform into a large monstrosity of a quadruped. Covered in sharp scales with massive claws and eyes of a piercing yellow, what was once Minty gives a horrifying shriek to the sky. Unbelievably, she's even larger than Tirek now.
> Destroy the human", command Tirek.
>After another shriek, Minty raises her forelegs and lunges forward to crush you.
>You sidestep her, but the force alone brings you to the ground. As you recover, fire begins to gather in her mouth, and you sprint off as a stream erupts towards you.
>The able bodied guards and ponies  start rushing out of the room as Minty begins her assault.
Minty, calm down. I'm not going to hurt you.
>She lunges her head towards you, wanting to pierce your body with her tusk.
>You try to hop out of the way, but in a moment of panic you move left instead of right and get slammed by her skull.
>You're lucky her mouth wasn't open, but the force is like a train as you're sent grinding through the stone floor. As you slowly force yourself back up, you feel a sharp pain knowing that one of your ribs have just been cracked. You need to keep moving though, or else you'll surely die.
>A stream of fire rushes at you, but you manage to run behind a pillar. The flames are so strong through, that you can feel the heat grilling the sides of your body.
Please Minty, don't do this!
>You take a risk and throw your bar as far right as possible. Once it clanks into the background, the stream follows in its direction and you run opposite charging straight for Minty's backside.
>By the time she realizes you've tricked her, you're already scaling her tail with a guard's weapon in your hand. In one swing of the tail though, you're thrown off and tumble through the ground once more until slamming into a wall.
>You begin coughing up blood, sure that you're bleeding internally.
>You try to get up, but you simply can't.
>The adrenalins fading, and Minty begins slowly walking towards your body, ready to end you. Tears are visibly pouring across her cheeks the entire time.
>"Finish her", says Tirek still in his thrown.
>With each step, you feel yourself getting closer and closer to death.
Minty, I know you're still in there.
>Her claw brings itself to your back pinning, and slowly crushing you beneath her weight.
You don't want to do this.
>Her mouth opens and her tongue begins stretching towards you.
Please. If you kill me...THEN I SWEAR I WON'T BE YOUR FRIEND!
>Suddenly she pauses.
>It feels like time has stopped, but it's broken by a sudden deafening wail that Minty gives to the sky.
>Tirek slams his fist furiously.
>"What are you doing you stupid beast? Kill her now!"
>Minty removes herself from you and continues wailing and swinging her neck wildly.
>Still holding the scepter, Tirek rises from his thrown and gives her a merciless whipping.
>"If you don't kill that human, than I swear that I'll-"
>Without warning, his chest is pierced by Minty's tusk.
>The scepter falls from his hand clanking onto the ground.
>For a moment, you think he's dead, but sadly he begins pushing her off.
>"It will take more than that...if you want to stop me!"
>He finally removes her, and with a stern punch sends her to the ground. He then continues to whip her causing her to scream and wail until he's satisfied.
>After the most painful sounding twenty seconds you've had to listen to, he finally opens his sac.
>"I made you, and I can easily turn you back."
>The rainbow of darkness once again envelops her form, and she quickly shrinks back into her small, weak, bruised and bleeding pony form.
>"Say goodbye fool."
>He brings his hoof up and drives it down to crush her but before the moment can happen, a blur of pink and blue lightning appears and grabs her.
Thank you chosen deity.
>Firefly's managed to save her.
>"Man, I was at least three miles away, and I could still hear that screaming", she says.
"Where were you", you yell still lying on the ground.
>"Sorry, I thought you could use an extra hoof."
>Before anyone sees it coming, a second streak of lightning appears and socks Tirek clean in the jaw sending him falling back.
>Once the figure stops, you see a second pegasus that you're certain is the original Firefly.
>She's more peach than pure pink, and her mane is puffy with a darker tone, but aside from that, the resemblance is uncanny.
>"You must be that Anon guy", she says looking to you with a smirk.
>Tirek quickly rises and tries to smack her, but she evades his giant hands and flies towards you.
>"Give me a minute, let me just handle this guy."
>The Firefly's begin circling Tirek and speeds so ludicrous, neither you nor him can keep up. They begin bucking and kicking, with him swatting at them like flies, but you can tell they're not strong enough to stop him. That's when it hits you.
>The scepter is still on the ground.
>This is the only chance you've got. Despite the pain, you force yourself to your feet, and begin slowly walking across the dozen feet that separate you and the scepter. Each step feels like a mile, but you keep walking. Tirek's stomps however bring you to the ground twice. At first you managed to get up, but by the second time, you're in too much pain to do so. You begin crawling though, hoping that you won't be spotted.
>You hear a loud yelp as Firefly II is knocked out of the air and crashes into a wall. Her mother turns to her daughter, but distracted gets swatted to the ground.
>Its then that Tirek finally spots you, and at that point you've only managed to pull the crystal from its base.
>"I will not fail again!"
>You begin franticly begin beating the crystal against the ground as he gallops over.
>He leaps towards you ready to crush you under his hooves, and only then does the structure break.
>The moment that happens, the gem bursts with light and color that fills the entire room and miraculously pushes Tirek away from you.
>The colors soon combine into a complete rainbow, and it forms a stream that surrounds Tirek.
>"No. Not again! This can't be happening!"
>He tries crushing you in once again, but the power of the gem is protecting you, almost like a force field.
>Tirek struggles to crush you, until finally he is consumed in what seems like a tornado of color. As the tornado ensues, pieces of the castle begin to break apart and disintegrate. The guards begin turning to ash before finally disappearing. Literally everything begins falling apart until there's absolutely nothing but the whirling colors and the tens of dozens of trapped ponies. The ponies however begin to slowly descend back to the ground rather than simply fall.
>With a roar of defeat, the colors soon disperse revealing a normal sized centaur, unconscious on the ground, and the Rainbow of Darkness beside him.
>You can barely believe that you just won.
It's so hard to believe that you literally ask Firefly senior, "Are we done here?"
>She nods.
>"I guess we are.

And that was my first disaster.
>Babs gives an amazed "Wow" before asking, "Did anypony die?"
What's wrong with you? What matters is that the new Tirek was defeated.
>Apple Bloom tells you, "Tell her what happened after that."
Really? I guess, if you want.

>After everything was over, you were given the Rainbow of Light with the hopes of you being able to keep it safe. Firefly the first however took the Rainbow of Darkness, to ensure that it would be re-encased, and put into an actually secret location. All that was left was to be patched up and carried home.
>To your surprise Centaurus, despite having its fair share of bigots and hateful citizens, still had citizens that wanted to help. It was thanks to them that most everyone injured actually received medical aid.
>You spent the night resting in one of their hospitals with the other three plus Minty and Firefly senior, being treated by a green nurse lady.
>As Minty gets bandaged she continues yelping and twitching in pain.
>The nurse tells her, "Try not to move so much. You're only making my job harder."
>"Sorry Miss Hearthstrong."
>As she continues getting patched up, she begins staring at you before finally saying, "Anon, I'm really sorry for almost killing you."
It's okay, accidents happen.
>"So, now that you saved Dream Valley, are you going to go home?"
Probably.
>There's a roar of disapproval from the others.
>Brights tells you, "There's no way you can go back to that farm. You're the hero Dreamland deserves."
But not the one it needs. I'm not a miracle worker, or even a soldier, I'm just an unemployed scientist.
>Ember puts her hoof to your hand.
>"You are so much more than that. You already know that Dream Valley's a wonderful place. Molly told you right; about all the fun and adventures we had?"
Well, yeah but-
>"Then stay here. Just let them know about today and then come back."
But I don't even have a place to live.
>Firefly tells you, "You can stay at my place anytime."
>Brights scoffs.
>"You live on a cloud. Unless Anon's going to sprout wings any time soon, I doubt he'll want to live at your place."
>Minty breaks in saying, "You can stay with me!"
With you?
>"Uh huh. I wouldn't mind having some company...We're still friends right?"
>You smile a bit.
Yes, we're still friends.

So, fillies. I began a new life in Dream Valley living under the roof of 'Minty's Professional Knitting Service.'
>"How was it", asks Babs.
That's...t-that's not important.