Tirek's enormous foot crashed into the desert landscape, dust and rubble being kicked up by his massive weight. Riding in on what appeared to be a huge chocolate monkey, Discord zoomed around, cackling maniacally, like a fly next to Tirek. Despite the draconequus being in his large state, Tirek was just that large.

"DO YA SEE!? BIGGER IS BETTER!" Discord boasted, flying low across the ground so that everyone could hear him. Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo stood in front of Tirek, their fusion avatar crackling.

"That thing is too big for us" Sweetie Belle gawked, gulping down a lump in her throat.

Scootaloo merely chuckled. "This 'oughta be good". She examined the massive centaur, eyes looking up and down his body. "Ever since I left Ponyville, I haven't seen anything that big. I'm going to take him down!" Scootaloo declared, making the head of her avatar jolt with energy.

"THAT'S STUPID!" Sweetie squeaked from within the head, eyes wide. Tirek let out a deep chuckle, sounding like the rumbling of a storm. Brimstone colored magic exploded from the skies, slamming into Scootabelle with a loud crack. The explosion warped the air and land, making a huge mushroom cloud towards the sky.

"Tee-hee! Scootabelle is nothing before our might!" Discord giggled, perching on one of Tirek's shoulders. His yellow eyes tracked a small, mauve object falling from the sky. "NO WAY! KILL THEM!" Discord shrieked, wildly firing yellow energy beams from his hands at the mauve object now jetting towards them. He didn't know Scootabelle could fly! Tirek himself fired a few energy bolts as well. Scootabelle dodged and weaved, making Discord squeal in helpless anger. "If it's come to this...EPIC DISCORDIAN BL-!" Discord started before a hoof made of energy slammed into his skull, cutting the spirit off and knocking him onto Tirek's back. Scootabelle rolled to its feet and turned, looking up at the huge, horned head above her.

"So, you're the big guy that ate people's magic? Nice seeing ya" Scootaloo yelled out, struggling to be heard. Tirek's upper shoulders shifted, turning his torso so he could look at the avatar on his back.

"Indeed! I am Lord Tirek, one of the Solar Queen's generals!" Tirek boasted, his voice nearly a hurricane.

"Yeah, whatever, listen up! She's the mare who holds the Sun in her hand and laughs off the heat! She lives off of willpower! When you hear of her, they mean me, Scootaloo!" Scootaloo bragged, rocketing their avatar upward, only to be slapped away by a huge, red hand. Another hand blocked Scootabell's flight, knocking them into the other hand, almost like they were the ball in tennis. Needless to say, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were fighting the urge to vomit.

"You're too tiny!" Tirek rumbled as he smacked them around. Finally, he grabbed the legs of the avatar and began pulling. "I'll rip that bravado from you!" he snarled, preparing to tear them apart. Sweetie and Scootaloo screamed, feeling the pain as if it were their own limbs. They could feel themselves beginning to shatter, the laughter of Tirek in the background. Then an explosion rocked Tirek's hands, letting Scootabelle drop from his grasp and fall on his back.

"Who goes there?!" he bellowed, enraged at whoever had dared to do that. A quick glance revealed another energy avatar, standing on top of a mountain, a horn glowing on it.

"GET CLEAR WHILE WE KEEP EM' BUSY!" the avatar commanded, obviously referring to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.

"I know that voice..Shining Armor?!" Sweetie gasped, a dopey smile crossing her face.

"Aye! Some of us have figured out how to harness friendship power to make our own avatars!" Shining Armor informed, the magenta construct flaring. It was clearly not as stable as that created by the Elements, but still surprisingly powerful. Three blue avatars flew through the air, landing right next to Shining Armor's.

"Don't forget the Wonderbolts!" they added in unison, stomping the ground. Scootabelle got up, the mauve energy restabilizing.

"How did they do that?" Scootaloo asked, keeping a careful eye on Tirek, noticing how the centaur was too busy surveying the land to attack.

"Because of you! You made a friendship avatar, now everybody's copying you!" Babs called out, thanking the speech amplifying spell mentally for letting her speak out. Spitfire grumbled something under her breath about not copying anybody before Scootaloo had a revelation.

"Everybody?" the pegasus asked, cocking her head.

"Yup! I hear plenty of our friends are coming over!" Babs replied, smiling widely.

Meanwhile, Tirek hissed as he heard their conversations "Damn dirty friendship, giving power freely!". "DIE!" he roared, firing off a barrage of small beams from his horns, spreading craters across the land. On Tirek's back, Discord woke up from his faint and rallied his own troops.

"TEACH THESE PONIES WHAT'S WHAT!" he screeched, calling on several dozen giant vampire fruit bats to descend from the sky, surrounding Scootabelle.

"Geez, nothing but cannon fodder again" Scootaloo lamented, looking around at the drooling beasts.

"GET HER!" Discord commanded, leaping against Scootabelle, followed by the savage beasts. From the ground, Babs winced as she saw the clear advantage Discord held.

"Pull back, Scootaloo, we need to regroup!" Babs pleaded, hoping Scootaloo would listen to reason. She got the exact response she hoped she wouldn't.

"No! We'll never get anywhere by running away!" Scootaloo countered, clearly taking honor before reason. Rather ironically, as soon as she said that, a bat, courtesy of Discord slammed into Scootabelle's face, sending them flying off of Tirek's back and landing them face first in the dirt. "We can't run, if we do, they'll stop respecting us. If they stop respecting us, they'll start attacking towns again" Scootaloo groaned, finally revealing her reasons. Sweetie pursed her lips at the dillemia. They couldn't keep fighting, but they had to make it look like a retreat.

"I've got an idea!" Sweetie declared, the horn of their avatar suddenly glowing as she ran way from Tirek, who was heading towards them.

"You won't escape!" Tirek roared, strafing the ground, just barely missing them.

"What are you doing?!" Scootaloo snapped, wondering if Sweetie had heard her reasons.

"Trust me!" Sweetie snapped right back, looking at the cliff they were heading towards.

"...Okay" Scootaloo smirked, letting Sweetie fully control their avatar. Sweetie smiled at the admittance and fired off a green bolt of magic into the sky. The magic ball shattered in the air, sending separate bits of it in all directions, hitting the ground in many areas.  Scootabelle stopped running as it reached the edge of the cliff, skidding to a halt, Tirek stomping right behind them.

"Hehehe, looks like you failed to realize you how weak you were" Discord gloated, holding position on Tirek's equine shoulders.

"Wrong" Sweetie grinned, her horn glowing once and making large pillars of green magic shoot out of the places the energy balls had hit the ground.

"No!" Discord wailed as the ground beneath Tirek collapsed, sending him and the centaur into the rubble. "YOU LITTLE BASTARDS! DON'T GET COCKY! YOU MAY HAVE WON TODAY, BUT YOU'VE MADE ENEMIES OF THE SOLAR QUEEN!" he ranted, his voice trailing off as rubble covered him. "We'll be back tomorrow!" he swore as he was fully buried under tons of rock.

"That's our Sweetie Belle! Way to go!" Scootaloo grinned, proud of her friend Next Chapter: Calm Before the Storm Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 40 Minutes