Disclaimer: I do not own "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" or its characters. They are property of Hasbro Studios and DHX Media.

Author's Note: This is a continuation of "Emergency Meeting" and "Unwanted Guests."

"Lord Tirek Gets Punished"

By TwilightSparkle3562

Princess Celestia sat in her private quarters looking down at an order that she would be sending to Tartarus. It was an order for Lord Tirek, a creature that almost drained all the magic in Equestria that had recently escaped, to be punished for his recent crimes. This was something that Celestia did not enjoy but needed to be done, especially after all that Tirek had done aside from stealing magic.

He had done other unspeakable crimes such as sending Celestia, Luna and Cadence to rot in Tartarus and destroying Twilight's library where she had been living since her move to Ponyville along with capturing her friends and only releasing them in exchange for the alicorn magic that belonged to her, Luna and Cadence that Twilight was guarding from Tirek.

Now, the time had come to send a message to all enemies of Equestria that such despicable actions that they would cause would not be tolerated in any way.

"You've left us with no choice, Tirek," thought Celestia as she carefully looked over the order. "I offer you a second chance and you turn it away in the most deplorable manner. Yes, I've made a few mistakes in trying to stop you, but thanks to Twilight and her friends, you are back where you belong. Now, you will face the consequences of your actions."

Taking a quill with her magic, Celestia signed her name on the order and then sent it to Tartarus. Now, all she could do was wait while the order was carried out.

"Sister, has the order been sent for Tirek's punishment?" said a voice and Celestia turned to see her sister, Princess Luna, walk into her quarters.

"Yes, little sister," replied Celestia as Luna sat down next to her. "The order has been sent and very soon, Tirek will be punished for his actions. I have ordered for him to be whipped 10 times for escaping, 20 times for stealing magic and 10 times for imprisoning us in Tartarus and attacking Twilight."

Luna took in all that her sister had said and then let out a deep sigh. It also made Luna wonder why she was never punished as a result of her actions as Nightmare Moon. As Nightmare Moon, Luna had done evil things, but not on the level of Tirek or even King Sombra himself for that matter. What they did was for pure evil along with Chrysalis of the Changelings.

"Furthermore," continued Celestia. "Tirek will be branded with the letters 'E' for escaping from Tartarus in the first place and the letter 'M' as a monster."

"Indeed," remarked Luna. "After the way he mocked us when we visited him, there is no question that he should suffer a certain form of punishment."

As a matter of fact, Celestia could still remember the way Tirek reacted to the prescense of her and the other princesses. The way he disrespectfully refused to answer her questions were still very fresh in her mind and Celestia could even remember every single word she screamed at him in her royal Canterlot voice:

"LOOK AT ME WHEN I AM TALKING TO YOU!" she bellowed, glaring at him while using her royal Canterlot voice. "WHEN I ASK YOU A QUESTION, I EXPECT YOU TO ANSWER!"

"Oh, dear Celestia," he snickered, looking at her. "Do you think words will get you anywhere? Why you are still the pathetic and weak pony you were when I sent you and your sister and niece to Tartarus. Had I not lost my magic, I would have done it to you again."

A slight scowl came onto her face when those memories came racing through her mind. Tirek was not just a prisoner, he was indeed a monster and it showed.

"Sister, are you all right?" asked Luna, noticing Celestia's scowl. "You look angry."

"I am angry, Luna," replied Celestia, her voice filled with anger and sadness at the same time. "I am angry at Tirek for turning Discord against us, I am angry at myself for sending Discord after Tirek in the first place. Yes, I am angry about many things that have transpired, but I have tried hard to do everything I can to make things right again."

"I can tell that you want to have Tirek killed, big sister," guessed Luna. "But, the only way we can lawfully kill him is if he killed anypony and he did not, so we have to settle for him to be punished."

It was at this point that Luna had come to the conclusion that Celestia wanted to see Tirek suffer. Whenever that a criminal was punished, none of the princesses had to be there. But, this was personal to Celestia. After all, Tirek was the one that Celestia, Luna and Cadence came face to face with. He was the one who sent them to rot in revenge for his own imprisonment all those years ago. Now, deep down, Celestia wanted to get even

"I have to go to Tartarus," said Celestia, getting up to her feet. "I want to see Tirek punished, Luna. I will not sleep until I see him dealt with according to Equestrian law. Killing him would be too easy. Sombra was much worse, Luna, he deserved to die, Tirek deserves to watch his life rot away in the mirror of a prison cell for what he did to us."

Luna couldn't help but feel slightly scared at her older sister's demeanor. From her point of view, Celestia was displaying an anger that she had never seen before. Yes, Luna had seen Celestia angry before, but not like this.

"Sister, don't you think you are taking this personally?" remarked Luna, but Celestia was not going to listen as she trotted out into the courtyard. "Tirek is just another criminal."

This caused Celestia to turn around sharply and give her little sister an ice cold glare, causing Luna to jump and spread her wings out in surprise.

"He is not just another criminal, little sister," she said, bitterly. "He is a monster that needs to be taught a lesson for what he did and I want to see him being taught that lesson."

Now, Luna was really beginning to wonder if she was out for revenge against Tirek by going to witness his punishment. This was nothing like Celestia at all and she knew it very well. Nevertheless, Luna did not want to escalate the situation even further and followed Celestia into the air as the two sisters once again flew back towards Tartarus. It felt like a long flight for both sisters, but they eventually arrived at Equestria's basement where they were met by Cerberus, the three headed guard dog.

"At ease, Cerberus," said Celestia, raising her wing out to calm the beast down. "Where is Tirek's punishment taking place?"

Just like an obedient foal, Cerberus obeyed and pointed its front paw in the right direction and Celestia and Luna made their way down to a large room where several royal guardsponies were present. Of course, none of them knew that the royal sisters would be present and they were all startled in surprise.

"Your highnesses," said a royal guardspony with black armor, almost identical to the ones worn by Luna's night guards. "We were not expecting you to come tonight for Tirek's punishment."

"I was insisting on attending, Hades," replied Celestia. "Has everything been prepared as I have requested it?"

"Yes, your highness," said Hades. "The whips have been prepared and the branders are being heated. I have already sent two guards to retrieve Tirek now. By the way, are you feeling all right?"

"I am fine, Hades," replied Celestia as the doors opened and two guards brought forth a shackled centaur into the room. "Commence with the punishment."

Doing as he was told, Hades beckoned for the two guards to bring Tirek forward as Celestia and Luna watched while Tirek growled at the two sisters that were standing before.

"You have some nerve to come back and face me again," remarked Tirek as his arms were extended and his wrists were tied down. "I thought you wanted me to rot in my cell forever as I recall."

"Shut up, Tirek," snapped Hades. "You are in the presence of Princesses Celestia and Luna and you will show them respect, do I make myself clear?"

Tirek merely rolled his eyes at this order made by the warden. Hades was aware of what happened to the princesses and was just as angry about Tirek's actions as they were. At that moment, a pony wearing armor and a mask over his face came forward holding a long whip that was capable of causing considerable amount of damage.

"By order of our most divine sovereigns," said Hades as he stood next to the two sisters. "You are to be whipped 50 times for escaping, draining magic from other ponies, imprisoning three of our divine sovereigns against their will and for attacking her highness, Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends. Is there anything you wish to say before punishment is carried out?"

Tirek said nothing and Hades motioned for the guard with the black mask to start the punishment, levitating the whip with his magic and with a good WHACK, the sounds of the whip pierced the silence of Tartarus.

"Damn you, mares," hissed Tirek quietly as the blood trickled down Tirek's back while the sounds of the whip continued. Seeing the sight of Tirek being whipped satisfied Celestia, but the sight of his blood coming out of his back made both her and Luna feel very uncomfortable.

Furthermore, both sisters noticed a young guardspony standing next to the fires that were warming the branders that would be used to mark Tirek as an escapee and as a monster. Once the 50th lashing had been administered, Tirek collapsed in pain as Hades came forward.

"Tirek," said Hades, pulling his head up with his magic. "Didn't you hear me, Tirek? By order of the princesses, in addition to the lashings, you are to be branded with the letter 'E' for escaping and the letter 'M' to classify you as a monster, near the eyes but not impairing the sight."

Then Hades turned to the young guardspony nervously holding onto the branders.

"Commence," ordered the warden of Tartarus as the young guardspony stepped forward nervously holding onto the brander. Celestia's stern focus on the captive centaur turned for a second on the young guard, who was scared to even carry out such a task. Hades was starting to grow impatient with the young colt's demeanor as he approached Tirek. "Do it!"

Doing as he was told, the young guardspony placed the scorching hot brander with the letter "E" on Tirek's left cheek, causing the once might centaur to roar out in pain. Once the "E" had been administered on the left cheek, the brander with the letter "M" was taken and placed on Tirek's right cheek. But, the guardspony was so scared that he had failed to turn the brander over.

"You idiot!" snarled Hades, looking at the failed work that shimmered before him. "It's upside down! Do it right!"

Both Celestia and Luna were shocked at what had transpired and the angry warden snatched the brander away from the young colt and motioned for another guardspony to hold Tirek's head up straight.

"Hold him," he said to the guardspony. "I'll keep branding him until I get one good plan 'M'."

With Hade placing the brander on his cheek, Tirek screamed even more louder than before as the letter "M" was branded into his cheek while the two royal sisters watched and it was at this point that Celestia couldn't take her own methods anymore and began to feel sick to her stomach. More importantly, she began to feel sorrier for the young guardspony who failed to properly brand Tirek.

"Sister, are you all right?" asked Luna, as Celestia struggled to maintain her composure. "Shall I stop Hades?"

But before anything more could be said, Hades pulled the brander away and Tirek collapsed in pain to the floor. Seeing what transpired before her made Celestia wondered if maybe perhaps she went too far. Yes, she did fulfill her desire to see Tirek punished, but Celestia wondered if maybe she indeed went too far in having Tirek whipped and branded.

"Take Tirek away to his cell," she ordered to Hades, but directed her attention towards the colt. "But leave the brander with me."

Hades thought that Celestia was going to admonish him for his failure to properly brand Tirek and smiled at this as a weakened Tirek was dragged back to his cell, but not before giving a low growl to the princesses one last time. Once Tirek was taken away, Celestia and Luna walked over to the young pony who felt his legs start to lose their strength as he nervously looked up to the two princesses.

"Your highnesses," he whimpered, taking off his helmet. "I ask for your forgiveness in my error. I…"

"No," interrupted Celestia, raising her hoof to silence the soldier. "You tried your best. But, I feel as if maybe I went too far with the branding."

The young guardspony was surprised at this confession made by his superior. In his view, he was merely carrying out orders and nothing more. But to Celestia, the events that transpired were a wakeup call to her.

"Your highness?" he cried. "What are you saying? Is this because of me?"

"No, I was filled with anger, young colt," replied Celestia. "Tirek had caused so much damage to Equestria and I felt as if he deserved to be punished to the full extent of the law. I wanted Tirek to be punished, but I had no idea of the consequences it would effect on you. I ask you for your forgiveness in this matter, my soldier."

To this end, Celestia turned away, trying to hide her emotions that had been building up inside of her for some time. Yes, she did see Tirek punished, but the energy and time devoted to this since she and the other princesses visited Tirek was now worthless.

"Then, what should I do?" asked the guardspony. "Should I return to my post?"

"Yes," replied Luna. "You may return to your post, young colt."

After saluting Luna, the guardspony left the punishment room and returned to his duty while Luna and a teary eyed Celestia looked down at the red blood stained floor that shimmered before them, the blood of their most hated enemy, Lord Tirek. At this point, Celestia emotions were released and she broke down sobbing

"I went too far, sister," sobbed Celestia, as she lowered her head in sadness. "I went too far in seeing Tirek punished and a young pony suffered the consequences of my failures."

However, Luna was sympathetic and raised a wing to comfort her sister. There were indeed plenty of times that Celestia comforted Luna and now was a time for Luna to comfort Celestia.

"You did what needed to be done, sister," said Luna, looking into her older sister's tear filled eyes. "You did what needed to be done. Tirek needed to be punished severely for his actions and it is over and done now. We've got to move on, big sister and focus on the future."

Celestia knew that Luna was right. It was over, Tirek was punished and now he would live out the rest of his life alone in a cage guarded by a three headed dog. They needed to move on and as time went on, Celestia would eventually resume her life before Tirek came into the picture.

It took a few minutes for Celestia to let her feelings out and after crying for a good long while, the two sisters made their way back to Canterlot, leaving Tartarus behind and hoping for a bright future that laid ahead for them. However, the scars and memories of Tirek's reign of terror on Equestria and its aftermath would remain forever for years to come.