I was honestly unsure how good my guess will be, there were precedents that I could count on one hand where something like this worked. The fact that all the successes in the past were made in Movies was only as valid as the fact that Magical Talking Ponies weren't real, I was one so there really wasn't all that much that I could claim was impossible here. It was a good thing that Canterlot was the Capital of Equestria and therefore some of the most accurate paperwork was here and safely stored inside the Royal Archive. The building was part of the Castle, but it was far less guarded and only had one member of the staff was present at a time, even at night and I was counting my blessings that it was a rather old man that pushing his fifties in this position. Straight Count was the Royal Archivarius since he was thirty and never failed on his job, apparently, Celestia had a soft spot for the old strict man that was a dedicated pedant and took only night shifts now.

'Damn it, when will you fall asleep you old fart?!' I cursed as I quietly sat on top of the very tall bookcase that contained the records of the Canterlot's denied requests for construction approval. Straight Count was taking his third walk around and with his slow speed and a borderline unhealthy habit of going everything with fine-toothed comb I was feeling like I would be here for an long time. I still wasn't sure how I will be going to go about opening the cases where the files that I needed were located, the heavy metal lock wasn't actually much of an obstacle as I could tear it off with bare hands. The problems came when I actually had to figure out how to not leave any traces of my visit, and breaking the lock would certainly leave the local staff aware of the break-in and just what the intruder interested in.

I looked at the man that stopped in front of one of the shelves, checking one of the locked compartments for any traces of someone trying to get in. He was a bald short man with more wrinkles than a face, his tail was gray from age and he was really short for an Earth Pony. He wore small rounded glasses and a permanent frown on his face. His wardrobe made me want to cringe, the old ratty sweater that at one time maybe was red in color but now looked more pale-brown than anything, gray pants and old squeaky shoes that I was pretty sure came right from the fifties.

"Damn that Scroll!" Grumbled the antique Archivarius. "That youth doesn't know how to keep things in order to save his life! Leaving these locks unattended, will he? Next time I see him he'll get what is coming to him! So what if his father is some flimsy Noble? The brat needs to learn how to walk on his own two feet instead of riding on his daddy's tail like a young colt! Bah!"

I resisted to urge to facepalm, this was so cliche that I was honestly wanted to make the dinging sound of a CinemaSin being assigned. I didn't need to sleep so a visit at night was the most rational decision, but I never considered the fact that there would be something like this positioned in the way. And the problem was that I couldn't even simply knock him out, the old far will tell everyone about it and then will put on his tinfoil hat while thinking that someone was out to get him fired. By this point, I was convinced that he was put here simply so he wouldn't disturb the peace in the Castle and, for some reason, they couldn't fire the walking relict. I could feel Royal Guards doing their patrols, the fact that their training obviously not including Sensing Magic was a blessing, in my range I could feel at least ten of said guys following the establish routine and damn they were impressive. I could probably take them on, but, at the same time, it would be me just brute-forcing my way through the lot of them without much of problem while in terms of Skill they would wipe the floor with me.

'Sucks to be them.' I remembered how they were simply swiped aside by Nightmare Moon, they honestly needed more firepower if they even hoped to be of some use when it counted. Discord took them out like nothing, the same was with Tirek, and I was pretty sure Starlight won't be taken down by these guys no matter how many they will wail on her. Shining Armor? Maybe, he was just that good and powerful. Normal cannon-fodder? Nope.

I looked at the old man and noticed that while I was thinking about Starlight kicking Royal Guards' asses he moved to the end of the bookshelf and was about to head away. I barely suppressed the desire to cheer, it would give me about half an hour of free time and some more if he'll find something wrong with other sections of the Archive. As soon as he was out of sight I used [Telekinesis] to lower myself down, [Teleportation] was too flashy and my wings were too loud so it was the only way. I looked at the padlock, it was an old large thing that opened with a really antique key, I was pretty sure that my sword will cut through it like nothing but it would leave the evidence of my presence and alert Celestia... I grimaced, I wasn't any good at picking locks and there wasn't much of a choice I had right now with how it was also Enchanted against me simply teleporting it from the place. Well, I'm pretty sure nobody knew how to protect it from sudden shifts in Dimensions.

I carefully grabbed the lock and deployed the Illusion Barrier, making sure to take only the lock with me. I dismissed the message that my Skill grew in Level and manifested my sword, with a swift cut I removed the holding ring of the case and then dropped the Illusion Barrier while also dispelling the sword. The padlock was in my hand, but the hinders were intact and the safe box with the documents I needed was open. Without a moment's hesitation, I pulled it open while making sure that nobody would hear me started listing through the folders that lay inside. There was something very wrong with feeling so excited about being able to perform something that you only saw in 'Burn Notice', I made sure to use as little Mana as I could while levitating several of the papers around me.

'It will take forever to get through these!' I grimaced. This was going to be a pain in the ass, the whole thing was nothing but partially approved plans along with the ones that were going to be employed very soon. I didn't know how to make copies, but, at the same time, I had no clue if they would be missed if I was to take them home to study the whole thing more thoughtfully. This was one of the things that I had to cope with here, the lack of technological progress and therefore I had no smartphone to use to take pictures.

I decided that it wasn't worth it to worry and pulled out all the folders from the box, the stack was huge and I was pretty sure that it weighed at least several time more than me. I closed the box and used the Illusion Barrier to put the padlock but into its place, and then used the same Skill to vanish from the Archives and to nob be noticed as I used [Teleportation] to get home. This will take me a lot of time and I was pretty sure that there were things that I would need to repeatedly check before something will start making sense to me. What I borrowed right now were the plans for the future constructions all over Equestria, the whole thing wasn't just yet put into motions plans but mostly the ones that were approved by Celestia as the ones which could potentially be used in the future. Ponies liked to be prepared and I'm not sure how accurate these ones were, but at the same time this was all I had and therefore I would need to make due with what I could.

The plan was pretty simple, to make the plans layer one over another and figure out the one and only spot in Equestria that will never be approved for any construction's works. Ponies that had their Special Talent in architecture or similar things were numerous and I was pretty sure that there were at least several hundreds of these plans for the space around Canterlot alone! It all depended on how tight they were going to fit with one another, they weren't made on see-through plastic sheets so I had no way to just put them all together and instantly see the bigger picture. What was going to follow was me sitting with the biggest map of Equestria with the highest resolution and methodically crossing off the parts one after another. It was like I was back in school and my Geography teacher asked as to demonstrate where rats didn't leave on our portable maps by making us put colors on all the places that they were actually inhabiting! A mind-numbing task of infinite repetition and I didn't even have a way to shorten it with Magic!

'Fuck you, Harry Potter, Magic can't make writing things easier!' I grimaced as I looked over another chart for the restaurant on the road, this will be the most boring several hours I would ever know.

"I'll be back before you'll know it, I can guarantee you." I said as I dressed into a white shirt over a sports bra that left my stomach bare due to it being a bit too small for me now and a pair of now skin-tight jeans over my newly purchased boxers. If I was going to grow more then at least I needed to take it into consideration and adjust appropriately. "This trip won't be as dangerous as the one where I had to confront Starry."

Starlight groaned from under the book that was covering her face, she was still not used to being called that but couldn't actually refuse when Twinkleshine was asking with her doe-eyes that literally twinkled. There was something really amusing to see the one person here who could literally crush all three girls in one go surrendering to the one who actually was the most peaceful and kind one. Damn, Shine was literally one big fluffy bunny that liked to be petted and hugged! Well, in this case, she was more into hugging me as she clung to my waist and refused to budge, apparently telling them that I was going to investigate Tartarus wasn't my brightest idea.

"But what about Cerberus?!" She sniffed and looked at me.

"It won't even see me, this isn't like he can break into my Illusion Barrier." I answered.

"I'm more interested in the reason for you going there." Lemon said from her position on the couch. "This is the prison where the things that made-up the nightmares of foals are held, all those old tales about monsters that will never leave their final destination... Moony, if you're planning on something crazy please tell us so we can prepare for the oncoming disaster and get away from the blast zone."

"Nothing so major, just making sure that one of the prisoners won't escape." I said as I walked towards the table and took the map, putting it into my Inventory. "There literally won't be any more danger for me, it will be a quick visit and nothing more."

"So, who's the big scary monster that you need to keep in check?" Minuette asked as she stood near the door and chewed on a banana. "And how do you even know about him in the first place?"

"He's..." I grimaced, it would be really hard to explain Tirek to them. "He's a very complicated being that puts all the Equestria in danger with his sole presence, the only thing that I want to do is to make sure he won't have any means to escape no matter what will happen. He already did an insane amount of damage upon his first rampage and there will be no way I will let him go on a second one, not when you all are going to be endangered by his madness."

"He sounds like such a pleasant company." Sarcasm dripping from each of Starlight's words. "I understand that it's important for you to go there, but why are you going there alone?"

"Magic won't work on him, or, at least, not correctly." I answered. "I would be able to resist his attempts to assault me, you're all Unicorns and therefore won't stand a chance in a direct confrontation. You coming will only put you at risk here, and if you actually could fight back then I would've agreed, but against him... No."

"Just who is he?!" Lemon asked as she looked at me. "And tell me again why won't we just anonymously inform Princess Celestia of this breach?"

"He's the beast know as Lord Tirek." I couldn't actually hide the truth from them, they were friends and it felt wrong to do so. "A Centaurus from the faraway Kingdome that studied the dark art of draining Magic from the living beings and Equestria was his next target. Long ago he tried to take away all the Magic in Equestria, his brother Scorpan that came with him was mostly on the whole thing but was then swayed and persuaded by Star Swirl to betrays Tirek and therefore save Equestria. The exact details are scarce and I'm not sure about the exact fate of Scorpan or what actually were the terms of their agreement with Star Swirl, but the malice that is in Tirek's heart knows no forgiveness and he won't make the same mistake twice."

"What will he do?" Lemon asked.

"He will leave us all to die, there won't be much left after he will drain us all and the Ponykind will go extinct." I said bluntly. "At least in Equestria, and I know that it won't be enough for him."

"And you're going to go visit that monster?!" Minuette asked with wide eyes. "What will happen if he will try to drain you?!"

"He won't, he's too weak to do anything to an Alicorn." I grimaced, this wasn't technically a lie. "But a Unicorn won't stand a chance against him."

"... How bad it can be?" Starlight asked from her position on the couch.

"With the Magic of Celestia, Luna, and Cadenza?" I shrugged. "He will be strong enough to wipe Equestria from the maps."

"You didn't answer, how do you even know about him?" Minuette asked.

"Books, the old books that I couldn't take with me." I faked a grimace. "Notes on the old coot's little disadvantages, I know a couple more of his fuck-ups that would be in need of correction."

"Star Swirl?" Everyone blinked. "You had his notes?"

"... Okay, it's really creepy how you all said it at the same time." I deadpanned. "And no, I had more like the summary of his notes. And even then I had no actual ability to take them with me, but I memorized as much as I could. The old Unicorn made a ton of fuck-ups in the past, like the creation of Changelings and him banishing the Sirens..."

"Who?" All four asked.

"... Still creepy, stop it." I glared at them. "And it will be a discussion for the next time, right now I'm in a serious need of some calm and monotonic flight to clear my head and prepare myself for the meeting with the tyrannical monster that almost wiped out this place in the past."

"Alright." Lemon sighed. "But don't make a habit of it, we're your friends and we won't let you leave us behind no matter what."

"No chance." Minuette added.

"Na-ah." Shine just hugged my waist tighter.

"Yep, you took me in so I'm pretty sure that makes you responsible for me." Starlight added her two bits.

"Alright, I got it." I waved my hand in mock surrender. "I won't be going on any more dangerous missions without you, I promise!" The I looked down at the mop of pink hair firmly attached to me. "And Shine? Please let me go, this is getting really weird."

Speed was the essence and therefore I pushed myself as hard as I could, even with my speed it would take me some time to get to the place I suspected was the entrance to Tartarus. With how much I studied the maps it was the only place where it could be, and literally no other place in Equestria had the same persistence to stay untouched bar the Everfree Forest. I was even using [Murciélago] to push myself even harder, speed was the essence here and I needed to make sure that will cover as much ground as possible today, I didn't know how long it will take for Cerberus to wander off so I couldn't waste any minute when I had my objective in reach.

'Famous last words.' I chuckled drily, this was going to be a mess and I knew it no matter how hard I pushed that thought to the back of my mind. The main reason why I didn't take anyone with me because of what I was going to do, Tirek wasn't going to as cooperative as Discord pretended to be so there literally was no another way. I was going to kill him, using [Gamer's Mind] I could suppress any hesitation or mercy I may feel and do it without a pause or any risk of him having the time to react. Ponies abhorred murder, they simply were too peaceful and too naive for such an act to take root in their conscious and I wasn't going to expose them to something they were no ready for no matter what. Minuette, Twinkleshine, Lemon Heart and even Starlight Glimmer, they were still innocent in their belief about how the World actually worked. I was human, we went through Wars, genocide, Fascism, Russia survived Stalin's Regime while Germany Hitler's, we had nothing on this peace-loving World that made even Disney seem rather dark and cruel.

I was Human, not a Pony, the fact that I was killing not a Human or another Pony actually made it easier to stomach. Tirek was a monster, his parents were right that he was unfit for anything but failure with his lust for Power. Sendak got what was coming for him, the old fart earned all the shit that happened to him and how Tirek backstabbed him in the end. Vorak and Haydon? They cared for a viper and got bitten, that pretty much sums it up nicely.

With a beat of my black bat-like wings, I pushed myself even faster, there was no point in simply thinking about it when actions awaited me in the near future. Getting in would be easy, getting out wouldn't be a problem, but doing what I was intending to do could potentially spell a whole bucket of complications in the process. I had no clue just how weakened was Tirek, I knew that it took him a lot of time to recover enough to harvest Magic from others, more than a Season actually, but it didn't mean that he was weak now. For all I knew, he could be simply too weak to use the Spell, but still strong enough to crush my head like a grape in his hand without a problem. I would need to as careful as I can while also being fast and precise, I wasn't aware of his anatomy enough to perform a decent stab right into the heart so it only left me with severing his head from his body.

I waved away the message that told me that my DEX grew from the strain I put and the speed I made my body perform at. It was a gamble and I fully intended in putting everything I had in one strike, it worked as my times as it didn't in the history of slaying Monsters so I had a coin toss of a chance here. There were complications of course that would follow, if Tirek was alive then that would mean that Scorpan could be alive too and I was pretty sure that taking him on would require more than I could potentially deliver no matter what. I wasn't sure if his parents will bother, but there was always hope and then there was always loyalty that Tirek's brother held for him and for them. Which will win out? It all depended on how they will receive the news of one member of their family passing on, I wasn't going to leave any pieces around for them to bury.

I looked down and saw as the land was passing under me, the White Tail Woods were actually rather big and it took some time to get over it even with my speed. I blinked as I saw the railroad below, I knew that soon it will turn to the left and will lead directly to Los Pegasus and at that moment I would need to keep going forward. Celestia apparently wasn't taking any risks, the entrance to Tartarus was actually near the border of the known territory and right before the Undiscovered West in the mountain range. She had plans on actually putting down to construction there as soon as it was required, plans were already drawn and the budget calculated, all that was required was a small spark to get the whole machine running. I'm not sure if Luna was aware of the whole thing or not, I knew that she was more than aware of Tartarus and its location but at the same time she wasn't all that informed about her sister's plans on colonizing the nearby territory.

Of course, the area near Tartarus was strictly off limits, but, apparently, the threat of literal Hell breaking loose wasn't enough to stop the Monarch from laying plans on using the free space that wasn't too close to be a concern in her mind. I couldn't honestly tell, there were things that I could tell I didn't understand and this was one of them. My personal opinion was that she should just ward the whole place and forget that it was there until it would be required, Twilight making her way here alone with Cerberus on a metaphorical leash was enough proof for me that there literally wasn't' enough protection on the place to work properly.

The forest ended and I was now flying over the plains that stretched further than the eye could see, the mountains were on bothe sides, a lot less on the right but details. I took a slight turn to the left, adjusting my course so I would now head directly towards my destination. I couldn't feel it, but the idea alone that I was near the place the contained beasts that were equal to Greek Titans made my skin crawl but I suppressed it with [Gamer's Mind] and pushed myself further. There was no turning back here, not second chance and no way to retry it later, this was me either doing it or being the reason for Equestria's fall onto the path of extinction. In theory Tirek won't be able to do shit, [Gamer's Body] should be able to counter whatever he had in store for anyone stupid enough to come close to his cage, but I would prefer not to test this theory.

With another flat of my wings I adjusted my course again and took a dive towards the base of the closest mountain, I couldn't anything inside the Illusion Barrier as I won't be able to sense Magic from the Real World here. I accelerated and twisted in the last moment, my feet impacted the ground with a tremendous crash and I bent my knees to absorb the impact, the crater that I created was probably about five meters in radius and that told me that I overdid it. I lifted myself again and hovered about a meter above the ground, with steeled determination I dropped the Illusion Barrier and instantly made sure that nobody was around with my [Magical Sense]. Magic was present almost in everything in this World, most of it was in sentient beings but the background Mana also settled over the animals and such so they became much more than simple beasts ruled by instinct and grew sort of smarter here. That was the reason Fluttershy could actually communicate with them and not get some gibberish in response, these critters could hold an actual dialogue and it made me feel kind of crept out by the fact that they understood most of what was happening around them.

'Like in the Simpsons' Movie, it was funny only when it wasn't you in that situation.' I snorted and landed on the ground, no damage translated from my landing into the Real World. I couldn't simply run around the whole thing, it would be pointless as I honestly didn't know if I even could sense the entrance to Tartarus or not. My bare feet didn't feel a thing as I walked over the rocks and small patches of dirt in the mostly grassy field that I landed upon. Right in front of me was the mountain that started the whole chain, and the place where I had a good hunch Tartarus was located, or at least the entrance into it. There was confidence in my step, it was supported by [Gamer's Mind], but at least, for an unaware person, I would appear to be aware just where I was going, and that suited me just well.

The problem was that I couldn't sense anything out of place, there wasn't any actual place that was within my reach that gave off anything other than background Mana and that was pretty much it. I could feel something close by, it was underground and didn't move but at the same time gave off a moderately strong signature that I couldn't quite place. Well, if it was underground then I could only think of it either being a Tatzlwurm or a rather weak Dragon that started hoarding his riches in the cave beneath the ground. Either way, it won't disturb me one bit, Illusion Barrier would hide me without fail.

I kept going forward, nothing obscured my way as which each step I was getting close and closer to the mountain, or at least to its base. It was really tall and I could see the snow on its top, probably would be a long way down for anyone brave enough to find their way up there. Well, I had wings, so it won't be a problem for me, but at the same time it was kind of cheating with them when it came to such an old and respected sport as alpinism, I saw too many movies about it to be able to disrespect it like that. And my mind was again wandering strange places so not to think about an upcoming venture into the most secured and dangerous prison in Equestria, there was a limit on how much I could take and the damned suspension was killing me with how slow it stretched. I couldn't risk flying there, either I would risk missing the whole thing altogether or I would risk triggering the defenses of the place that were put there to defend it against flyers, a good prison should be able to withstand a siege without the risk of collapsing on itself.

This was ridiculous, I was probably walking for an hour and there literally was no way I wasn't going to detect at least somehting here! I could feel the background Mana, but that was it and there literally was nothing anywhere near here as I finally managed to get to the base of the mountain, the only way forward would also include up and that wasn't what I had in mind right now. The entrance should be at the ground level, or it would've been absolutely impossible for Twilight to led Cerberus back without needing someone else to lift the huge mutt's ass up. She was good, but I don't think she was that good!

I was literally ready to start cursing when something caught my attention, it was very subtle but I could feel as if something was not exactly right with the picture around me. My sword instantly materialized into my hand, my senses stretched to their limits as I tried to determine the strange presence that I could detect but not pinpoint, there was something really weird about it and I was honestly not sure if it was even alive or not. [Gamer's Mind] came to full capacity as I felt something slamming into it with a rather heavy blow, there was something trying to get into my mind and that was what I felt here as I moved towards the mountain. I tried to classify the strange thing, but the only property of it I could detect was that it was trying to intimidate me and force fear and despair to cloud my mind.

'... Cute trick.' I snorted as suddenly everything came to me and pieces clicked into place, I missed the most obvious thing about my surroundings that any actual novice would've already noticed. There was no noise, no sounds of nature or anything else even remotely similar to it, I was literally walking on the land that appeared to be dead and desolated by anything that was even remotely capable of thinking. Well, this was apparently the reason for the lack of any population and if not for the [Gamer's Mind] I would've never been able to actually notice this particular field that I could only guess was the first line of defense against intruders. I turned around several times, trying to figure out the direction from which the oppressing aura was coming and failed due to it covering the whole area. Apparently, at least some measures were taken to prevent an easier location of the entrance, it was kind of annoying and impressive at the same time.

I mentally flipped a coin and started walking to the left, at least now I had a somewhat defined area to search through. This will take awhile, but the reward will be totally worth it, in the end, the place where they contained the vilest and most undesirable criminals that any normal prison won't be able to hold could also serve other purposes if the need arise. I had a couple of ideas about the people that should be thrown there, they weren't at the stage where they should be thrown there but, by this point, they would be approaching that edge pretty fucking soon if I wouldn't do anything to prevent them from falling. Some could be saved, but some of them were notoriously malicious or downright murderous in their little pursuits of their goals.

'Nobody mourns the wicked.' A truer statement cannot be said about the circumstances I found myself in, Tirek was the exception to it as I was sure that Scorpan would actually shed a tear for his passing. Discord? Nobody would miss him, nobody would care and nobody would actually see is as anything other than the World around them becoming a safer and much more stable than before. The most appropriate course of action would actually be taking away Discord's Magic and leaving him as nothing but a husk, the misery he would feel due to him losing his Godhood would last an eternity and be an appropriate punishment.

Suddenly I felt a small spike of the same pressure that was trying to get through my [Gamer's Mind], it became stronger and noticeably so. This could only mean that I was getting closer, the entrance to the pit was right ahead of me and it both worried and excited me. I honestly couldn't even imagine how it would look like, there literally wasn't any kind of description in the book and only a very vague statement that sounded more like a footnote than anything else. This was going to be interesting...

'This is kind of both a letdown and a very elaborate reward.' I stared blankly at what I could only assume was the entrance to Tartarus. There was no actual gates, no doorway or anything even remotely similar to an actual entrance as far as I could tell. The whole thing was a very tall and wide crack in the otherwise spotless side of the mountain, it was wide enough that eighteen-wheels could park here from one side to another and there still be enough space left for a person to squeeze through. There was no actual light, just a dark chasm that bore no signs of life or actually being inhabited, and the problem was that I couldn't sense literally anyhting coming from it as if it didn't exist at all. There was just a blank spot in my [Magical Sense] and I had no clue if it was just me or it was designed like that from the start. Dried off ground cracked under my feet, a perfectly circular field with no vegetation was right in front of the damn thing as if life itself didn't want to get near it.

Well, at least they kept it relatively true to its theme, I was pretty sure there will be either some cartoonish warnings or some attempt to make it kids-friendly. It was a good thing in my mind, that meant that the whole thing was a serious attempt at containment and wouldn't have of the stupidity going on here that would make the prisoner's life any easier. Without any hesitation I stepped inside the chasm and darkness instantly covered me, there was no light and I could tell that the one coming from the outside could not bypass the threshold of the gateway. As I made several steps forward I could finally see my surrounding as a very dim light appeared around me, it was coming from nowhere and everywhere at once and I honestly didn't care about it one bit because I was right in front of my prize.

I instantly deployed an Illusion Barrier and flew forward, this was going to be the hardest part as far as I could think of. Locating the bastard would take almost no effort, his plateau was right behind the Cerberus and therefore it will only take locating the dog itself to find Tirek. The tunnel I was in finally ended I flew into probably the biggest cave I have ever seen and will ever see, the damn place could probably house Canterlot and there still will be plenty of room left. I couldn't even see the ceiling, just an infinite darkness where it should've been. The save was true for the floor as the only way to move around here were rather narrow paths of stone with stairs on them in some cases. There were several crossroads as they all were connected to each other in some way or form, and each of the paths led to a tall pike with a plateau carved in it with right and left sides of each had the still rising spikes of stone. It was damn impressive and I couldn't care less about the fact that it was basically Hell for the living, this place was awesome and I had to actually restrain myself from simply flying around to see just how deep the floor was or how high the ceiling.

I landed on the rather small cliff that sprouted from the wall near the entrance and dropped the Illusion Barrier, it didn't take me long to find Cerberus with my eyes but it did take me long to actually stop looking at the beast.

<The Warden of the Damned>
LV? Cerberus

The beast was massive, about sixteen or so meters tall with three bulldog's heads each having a collar with metal spikes on it. Its eyes glowed with Power, the red irises with yellow sclera were constantly shifting around as if searching for something and never actually finding it. I could feel the sheer might of the creature that was charged with guarding this place, the Magic that was rolling from it in wave dwarfed me like a mountain looming over a sand grain and my [Magical Sense] was all but screaming at me that there was far more from where this came from. Its fur was solid black in color with only its three muzzles being gray, the muscles that I could see all over its body were pretty much rock-solid and a rather short and looked more like it belonged to a bastard child of a squirrel and a german shepherd than a mighty beast like him.

Suddenly, as if by some invisible cue, all three head were turned towards me, three pairs of eyes looking directly at my hiding place and I couldn't turn away from the piercing gaze of Cerberus. There was something off about it, like it was judging me but without actually doing it intellectually. I could feel the air suddenly thickening to the point that I almost choked on it, but it was only for a moment and then the feeling was gone as the dog huffed and just dismissed me altogether. My [Observe] wasn't high enough in Level to gain much information on it, but, apparently, Cerberus instinctively knew who was Evil and who wasn't and was smart enough to see the difference between a prisoner and an intruder. I wasn't Evil from its point of view and therefore I was of no concern for it, an interesting fact was that the tusk-like fangs that came from the lower jaw and could be seen from here were also able to render any Magical Defense null and void so any Barrier Spell would be useless against it.

I gulped and released the breath that I was unknowingly holding, this was the scariest moment in my life period. Without the [Gamer's Mind] I would've probably pissed and shit myself from a single glance from the Warden of Tartarus, thank God I had it and the only result was that I had to use it to suppress the terror that was almost strong enough to stop someone's heart. It shrugged off the effects, I didn't have the time for it and I don't think Cerberus would approve of me taking away one of its prisoners. With just once glance I saw it, the cage that was containing Lord Tirek, the path to it was connected to the summit where the dog was roaming free and I was pretty sure it was done intentionally so it would have the easiest access to the centaur if he was to try anything.

<The Lord Devourer of Magic>
LV? Tirek

It wasn't like I expected anything else, he was one of the most powerful and destructive forces that ever came to Equestria and was sure that if not for Scorpan there wouldn't have been anything left of this land. His Stats were hidden from me, but I could see that he was weakened and therefore vulnerable to whatever I could throw at him right now. Magic wasn't the best idea, he would just eat it and regain some of his might, but the more physical approach was mostly unhindered because in his current state he was actually quite fragile. All it would take was one swing of my sword, and nothing else would matter as I would simply be done with one of the threats to the place that I at the moment called home, and therefore to me.

I tried to memorize his position to the best of my abilities, his was slouched over and lying right at the center of his cage. It wasn't as if he would be able to see me coming, but, on the safe side, I waited if there will be any actual reaction to my presence or not. He wasn't even moving, just simply being there like a husk instead of a living body. Well, he was in a terrible condition and as far as I could tell there literally wasn't much that could be done to weaken him any further, his body was thin and I could even see the bones of his ribcage through the skin of his chest. His arms were no better, no muscles were seen and I swear that the skin he had was simply stretched over his skeleton by this point. The most important par was that his eyes were closed and he obviously wasn't paying attention to anything that was happening around him, that was good as I had no desire to risk him reacting to my intrusion.

I deployed an Illusion Barrier and instantly materialized my sword into existence in my right hand, this was going to be a tough call. [Murciélago] was still active and I had more than enough Mana to sustain it for some time, it wasn't as draining as before due to me becoming stronger and the Skill gaining several Levels that lessened the drain considerably. Without even blinking I used [Teleportation] to appear right in front of the place where Tirek was, my arm raised to the side and prepared to cut no matter what was going to stand in my way. [Gamer's Mind] became active and on my command suppressed everything that I felt, there was no mercy or hesitation in me right now and there certainly was now pity for the monster that was going to die today.

I'm not sure if it was just me, but the moment my hand started moving was like the whole World just stopped around me. I could hear only the deafening silence surrounding me and the calm rhythmic beating of my own heart, it was really strange and alien feeling that made me almost miss the moment when it came. I dropped the Illusion Barrier and I saw as reality rewritten itself and right in front of me there was now laying Tirek, from his perspective I probably just appeared out of nowhere and without even an ounce of Mana used. He didn't move, probably wasn't yet aware of the fact that death was approaching him, and it was alright with me as I didn't want to give him even the honor of having his last words spoken. My sword moved with agonizingly slow pace as it crawled closer and closer to his neck, there was literally no actual way he would be able to dodge it anymore and that was good as I wasn't sure that I could take him on even now.

And then the moment was broken as the edge of my blade touched his flesh, the blade's capabilities were based on my Magical Power and at the moment it was at its highest. I was pretty sure that if I was any weaker than now I would've failed, but I wasn't and therefore I now could see how the sharp blade tore through the skin and then muscles of the monster that didn't deserve to live. I saw everything, and I felt each and every millimeter of my sword's progress being made as it carved through flesh and then through bone with some resistance that was countered by my Strength. Lord Tirek didn't even have the time to open his eyes or acknowledge his own demise as it happened, this was beheading and I left nothing to a chance here.

Sooner rather than later the blade came out from the other side and I could see as it easily slid out of Centaur's neck. There was nothing else to do as I watched his head being separated from his body and blood starting to flow from both stumps, but, apparently, my Power decided that it was the perfect time to take charge and his body suddenly disintegrated into black mist and a burst and left behind only two books and a glowing orb of Magic that lay on the floor of the cage. I just saw one of the most dangerous monsters in Equestria's history die, not with a scream but in silence and without even perceiving his own death.

Gained 200,000 EXP.

Your Level has Increased by 1.

Your Level has Increased by 1.

Your Level has Increased by 1.

Your Level has Increased by 1.

Your Level has Increased by 1.

Your Level has Increased by 1.

Your Level has Increased by 1.

Your Level has Increased by 1.

Your Level has Increased by 1.

Your Level has Increased by 1.

I didn't bother checking my Stats or even distributing my Points, all that mattered was that I succeeded and now I needed to leave as fast as possible. Without even bothering the read the appearing Windows I grabbed the books and hastily shoved them into my Inventory, the glowing ord refused to enter it so I simply held it in hand and deployed the Illusion Barrier. The cage around me vanished and I used [Teleportation] to vanish and appear outside of the Tartarus, without bothering to wait I instantly took flight and didn't dare to look back. My speed was higher than before, I knew that [Alicorn] gave me some serious boosts so it was probably the consequences of my growth. I pushed myself as hard as I could, the land under me blurred as I gain altitude and flew towards the familiar lands of Equestria, where I will be safe and nothing will be able to harm me.

I didn't stop flying until I reached White Tail Woods, there was nothing that got in my way as I finally landed and just crumbled onto the ground. I couldn't feel anything just yet, [Gamer's Mind] was preventing me from actually doing so until I would release my hold on it. I knew that I should feel guilty, but at the same time I couldn't care less about Tirek and his fate, there was no actual reason for me to feel remorse after his death as all I did was ridding the World from one of the Monsters that still draw breath. I just lay there, unmoving as I slowly but surely was coming to terms with what I have just done, with what I have just accomplished while still being on the incredibly low Level of Power by the actual measures of this World. There was a small sense of being slightly wrong in my judgment here, the whole question of me being in the right or in the wrong by decided who will live or who will die...

'Fuck it!' I drew a deep breath and then exhaled, there was no point in my little moral dilemma as there literally wasn't much of anything I could do about it now. The bullshit about letting them live, not lowering myself down on their level, this was bullshit and nothing more as I honestly had no actual feeling about it being wrong. Batman? He could've killed Joker and ended the whole circle of pain and misery that that demented clown always started, but instead he decided to be morally right about it and let the maniac go without punishment. I looked at the shiny sphere that I dropped when I fell, it was glowing with vivid vermillion energy and with black spark running over it. I stood up and used [Observe] on it, this came out of Tirek and I really hoped that it was that I thought it was.

[Living Essence of Tirek - Level: Legendary]
The Living Essence of Tirek, it doesn't possess any actual capability to perform any actions other than existing. Tirek's Quasi-Immortal Nature doesn't let his Essence to pass on the Afterlife and therefore will forever remain in the World of the Living until it would be either destroyed or regain enough Power to restore its Physical Form.

'This is... new?' I blinked, this was actually kind like this thing being Tirek's Soul or something like that? I knew that Nightmare Moon wasn't actually a living being and therefore it wouldn't be able to recover after losing its host. Tirek's? Well, this was going to be an interesting development... I picked it up and a new Window popped up.

This is the Essence of [Tirek].
Would you like to Drain it?

I blinked again, this was also new. There was literally no actual precedent here and I had no idea how this was going to work out, I knew that 'The Gamer' won't let me actually get hurt while using anything that I would try, or at least will warn me when I would try to shoot myself in the foot, but here I was kind of feeling a bit cautious. It was literally a Soul of someone, or at least the closest thing that I could think of that resembled the actual inner manifestation of a person or a monster in this case. I knew that it wasn't an actual Soul, Tirek could've survived without this thing, but he wouldn't have been able to use Magic of any kind and nothing would've been able to restore this Ability to him.

It was like Unicorn's horn, not the Soul but the Manifestation of Everything they were, bar their actual self. Nightmare Moon, if she was to survive and was an actual being, would've probably been able to just float around as an Essence and collect Power for herself to restore her own Physical Form over time. Tirek Stole Magic from Ponies, but he also stole not only Mana, that they could've recover over time, but their actual Essences that were the equivalent of a Powerplant and the Railgun for a Magical Being when it came to actual Magic. That was why his Power Grew and not just temporary Increased due to him being so full of Mana at that moment, it was the theory I actually picked by pieces and assembled into something even remotely plausible while basing it all on Mon Dancer's knowledge and things I read in books that I had in my Inventory. It was probably ironic that Tirek's own Essence was going to be used for the good of Ponies, or at least a small group of them. I smirked at the thought as I pressed the button.

Through the Absorption of the Essence of [Tirek] your STR has Increased by 50.

Since your STR passed 100, you will Gain a Random Ability related to you Bodily Function.

New Skill [Pink Fibers] Created.

Since your STR passed 100, you Gained the Passive Skill [Giant's Strength].

Since your STR passed 100, you Gained the Passive Skill [Giant's Body].

Through the Absorption of the Essence of [Tirek] your VIT has Increased by 50.

Since your VIT passed 100, you will Gain a Random Ability related to you Bodily Function.

New Skill [Battle Continuation] Created.

Since your VIT passed 100, you Gained the Passive Skill [Robust Health].

Since your VIT passed 100, you Gained the Passive Skill [Grace of God].

Through the Absorption of the Essence of [Tirek] your DEX has Increased by 25.

The Skill [Nible Build] has been Created through the DEX rising above 50.

Through the Absorption of the Essence of [Tirek] your INT has Increased by 25.

Through the Absorption of the Essence of [Tirek] your WIS has Increased by 15.

I grunted as my clothes were torn apart by my body gaining new height and build, the Skills that appeared in Windows floating around me were telling me one important thing. Even, if by some miracle I would be able to hide my wings there was no chance in hell I would be able to actually hide myself or mix with the crowd and right now I was freakishly tell and unplasuably busty amazon that possessed a six-pack and muscles hard enough to stop swords. This was like the world was screwing with me, it was like whoever made this whole thing and put me in here wanted me to be as noticeable as possible for the sole reason of screwing any plans I may have of ever going out in public.

I groaned as I reached and tore away the remainings of my jeans and shirt, they were nothing but tatters now and would serve no purpose at the moment. I threw them into Inventory and then looked over myself, even pulling out a mirror just to check if something changed in my face. What I saw made me want to bang my head against the nearest tree, the only reason I didn't was because I knew that the tree will give in first and I won't gain any satisfaction from the act. It was like all little imperfections I ever had in this body were literally washed away, everything out of order was now in a such a perfect composition and form that made me too perfect to look actually natural. But at the same time nothing was there that would blemish my perfect image and body, my skin became smooth, clean and perfectly fit to cover my body, my face went through some serious but very precise and delicate reconstruction that left me with my own face but without anything that could be said negatively about it. This was inhuman to the point that I was pretty sure that I would be turning heads no matter where I would go, it would be such a pain to explain to girls and probably also a very painful procedure of trying to actually cover this whole thing up for me to go outside. I sighed and opened my Stats, the gain was great as I put all my newly gained Points into INT and prepared for another boost.

The Skill [Magic Control] has been Created through the INT rising above 200.

As the Skill appeared I actually smiled, this was what I was waiting for! So many new possibilities and so many new Skills that I could potentially Create with this, [Magic Control] gave me enough control over my Mana that I would be able to finish my repertoire of Skills that I wanted to create and then some! Fuck, this was probably the second best thing happening to me today! I pulled out the two Skill Books I gained from Tirek and used them without even reading them with [Observe], I wanted it to be a surprise!

This is a Skill Book [Might of Magic].
Would you like to Learn this Skill?

I pressed 'Yes'.

This is a Skill Book [Magical Drain].
Would you like to Learn this Skill?

I pressed 'Yes'.

This is the Pure Essence of [Tirek].
Would you like to Rejuvenate it?

I pressed 'Yes'.

'... Wait, what?!' I blinked as the orb, that I was still holding in my other hand suddenly glowed like a miniature sun and I reflexively released it. Suddenly it was like a punch in the guts as a huge chunk of my Mana was drained out of me and transported into the orb that now was on the ground and the glow from it was growing stronger and stronger. I stepped away from it and manifested my sword, whatever the fuck was happening wasn't good in any sense of the word and I was ready for a fight as I still didn't drop [Murciélago] and had enough Mana to level this place if I will need to. It was also good that I didn't step out of the Illusion Barrier as it would be able to contain whatever was coming from this little second fucking sun!

Suddenly, with a huge surge of Mana and a flash the glow vanished and I rapidly blinked away the spots in my vision. As soon as I saw just what came out of that whole thing my heart stopped and my mind suffered a malfunction and went rebooting somewhere far away from it. My face was blank as I simply stared at something that shouldn't be possible, at something that my [Observe] must be lying to me about, at something that shouldn't even exist in the first place! I was prepared for anything and everything, I was even ready to fight Tirek until his second trip six feet under from my blade, there was literally a ton of possibilities running through my head and not once did I considered what actually happened. Using [Observe] on everything was kind of a habit now, and I instantly used it upon the result of my loss of Mana and terrible lapse in attention.

My Golden-Yellow eyes with Black sclera met with solid Black eyes with Light Brilliant Yellow pupils.

My mind finally processed what was written.

I expected many things, some of them were so terrifying that I even didn't want to think about them in the first place, but I would have never expected to be tackled to the ground by a blur of red, black, gray and white. The small missile that came upon my bypassed my defense with ease, managed to overpower me in an instant and lock my neck in a death grip that would've probably snapped the spine of anyone else. I expected many things but being glomped by a child was not one of them, and the battlecry that made me want to just go and free Discord so the World would start making sense again was the final nail in my mind's coffin.

"Mama!" One single word made all my Power worthless as I simply stood there in pure shock as [Gamer's Mind] struggled to keep me conscious.

<The Lady Devourer of Magic>
LV1 Teria

Author's Notes:

A//N: Well, I dropped the bomb here. All your suggestions, questions or criticism please leave in your Reviews.
Also, Jess is still at the bottom of the pecking order in terms of power, but she made a small progress in this Chapter!