Sins of the Mother

Four Days Later

“Vera, a moment please?” I requested, standing just inside the doorway into the Arcanaeum. The room used to be my mothers in the blueprints, but since she wasn’t here it was turned into the room that the Dragons now used to harness the magic i’d rely on.

“Of course sire, just a moment.” Vera nodded in reply before turning back to shout at one of her underlings. I stepped back out into the hallway to wait as Vera finished up her own duties.

“Yes, sire? What can I help you with?” Vera ducked under the doorway that really wasn’t made for her height. That being said, she lowered herself onto all fours in order to look at me at head level.

“I’ve become aware that there’s no black magic being charged… I’m only able to restore a third of my magic right now.” I noted, sitting back despite figuring that this would be a short conversation. “Dark Eclipse wants me to be at my very best right?” Vera nodded in reply, looking worried. “I can’t be at my best if i’m missing two thirds of my magical power, can I?”

“No, sire. I suppose not. I will speak to my own and see what we can do to restore black magical functions for you.” Vera bowed with a flourish before backing herself into the room again.

“Awesome, thanks.” I offered a kindly smile as the doors shut, but as soon as the latch was set the smile disappeared and I took off down the hallway with Georgia right on my hooves.

“Why do you need black magic now? You haven’t seemed to have worried abut it up until now…” Georgia inquired, keeping pace with me even in her medium armour.

“Yeah but up until now i’ve only been using light magic. The lack of ability to restore my dark and black magic is becoming a hazard to my health.” I explained, looking up and over my shoulder at the griffon watching over me. “If I can’t start regenerating those affinities then I fear what would happen to me.”

“What’s the worst that could happen? It’s not like you’d die, is it?” Georgia asked skeptically. The look I shot her had her eyes go wide, however. “Wait, you could die?”

“Not in the typical sense. If I don’t restore the flow in those magical circuits then they’ll essentially dry up and disappear. Meaning I’d only be stuck with a third of the magical power i’d need to complete my goals.” I remarked, continuing on down towards the kitchen.

“And you wouldn’t be able to restore them? Then we need to get you some dark and black magics soon!” Georgia decided, pounding a fist on the nearest wall.

“No, that’s wrong. We can’t get dark magics because dark magic is the blending of light and black magics. It’ll come when Vera starts loading me up with blacks.” I informed, holding a hoof up pointedly.

Stepping into the kitchen, I set forth to creating myself a sandwich with the kitchen staff arguing that I shouldn’t have to do anything.

“No, i’m bored and I’m getting lazy. I’ll make my own damn sandwich!” I barked as I pulled a loaf of whole wheat bread from the fridge with the ingredients I planned to throw into it following in a dark red shimmer and set everything down on the counter with all tools i’d need at the ready; the kitchen staff watching me intently and curiously instead of doing whatever it was they needed to be doing.

Slathering a slice of bread with a bit of butter, I layered on the following: a couple healthy leaves of lettuce, followed by red, green, orange and yellow pepper slices, tomato slices, cucumber, pickles, onions and a clawful of potato fries from last night’s dinner.

“Oi,” I turned from my sandwich before me to a nearby bartender. “Make me something good with whisky.” I had soon discovered good alcohols from beyond Equestria: Whisky from the North, Rum from the South and a couple different ales from the East and West that I didn't mind during my stay so far.

“Of course sir, right away.” The griffon bartender remarked before pulling bottles down from a shelf behind her and poured everything together. Soon a tall glass of cold alcohol mixed in with some kind of soda appeared on a silver tray with a wedge of lime sitting on the rim.

Taking it in my magic, as well as the sandwich, I took a swig and tested the alcohol content. “Awesome.” I smirked once I'd swallowed and made to exit the kitchen. “Thanks!” I raised the glass to the kitchen staff as I turned the corner into the hallway and the sandwich in my mouth mid-bite.

“Where-to next?” Georgia inquired as she wiped her mouth of something she’d hastily ate while I was prepping my own sustenance.

“I’ unno…” I shrugged with a mouthful. “I’ve become so bored in recent days that all I seem to do is walk around the castle in laps.” I remarked once I'd cleared my mouth out with a drink. “I really kinda wanna go back to Equestria… Once I've got the stones, I mean…”

“Lord Eclissi!” Camber’s voice echoed down the hallway from behind me. Both Georgia and I halted in our tracks and turned to face the newcomer. “A word if I may?”

“‘Kay.” I remarked and bite down on my sandwich again.

“Sir, my scouts have returned with news that they’ve found five of the stones you’re looking for.” Camber grinned, though was panting heavily.

“Seriously?” I asked with astonishment, my mouthful nearly dropping out in the process though I quickly caught it and finished it. “Awesome! Where are they?” I demanded eagerly.

“They’re currently spread out across the world. I believe one of the stones was up in the mountains of Yakyakistan and another was south of Equestria in the Saddle Arabian Deserts.” Camber replied, producing a world map to point out a couple very large circles with his hoof.

“Tho- those circles are huge! They cover an area larger than these mountain ranges!” I exclaimed in disappointment. “Is there anyway to narrow those down? Maybe to at least a kilometer radius?” I asked hopefully, my eyebrows raising up in expectation.

“Well…” Camber drifted off, rubbing his chin. “Not really. These are the best results we could get with the resources we have available to us.” Camber sighed, still looking at the map with Equestria just off to the right of the center of the map.

“So, if we had more resources you could do it?” I could feel an idea coming on, but whether it was good or bad… Nah, it was a good idea. I needed those stones and damn the consequences. “There are towns and mines nearby, right?”

“Yes, sire. There are various towns all along the base of the mountains each producing their own resources that they sell to their governments and beyond.” Georgia replied, pointing out general locations along the mountain ranges where we lived. “It’s how they’ve managed to remain active towns for centuries.”

“Yeah, don’t care. Have Gerald go down with some of his fighters and ‘acquisition’ as much of their resources as you need to narrow those search areas down.” I grinned, rubbing my hooves together as a gentle pulsing echoed in my ears.

“Sir? Are you sure-” Camber began, but the glare I shot him tightened up his lips and had him saluting me before trotting off down the hall; foregoing the recollection of his map.

“Sir, if I may speak freely?” Georgia requested in a respectable tone of voice.

“What?” I snapped and took a drink before returning to my sandwich.

“Those towns require those resources in order to flourish. If we were to acquire those materials, through any means except through monetary payments, those towns won’t be able to sustain themselves and the mines will be shut down.” Georgia replied, sounding worried for the well-being of others.

“Georgia, Georgia Georgia Georgia.” I shook my head in disappointment. “You’re job isn’t to worry about the well-being of others. You’re sole purpose in life is to ensure my well-being so that I can claim the throne in Canterlot, correct?” I demanded, attempting to sound somewhat helpful. The pulsing in my ears began to grow louder, sounding more and more like a heartbeat.

“Ye- Yes, my lord.” Georgia bowed her head in sad response as she followed after me down the hall, once again aiming for nowhere in specific.

“Good. Let me worry about other towns and do your job.” I ordered and finished off my sandwich. I needed more alcohol, and for this pulsing in my head to stop.

~~~

“Georgia, any word on the collection of resources?” I requested, looking up from a spell book that I'd almost completely forgotten was in my personal collection.

“Yes, sire. Gerald has deployed a battalion of griffon warriors to escort Camber and his own forces to retrieve the necessary materials.” Georgia replied dutifully, standing guard at the door to my room as I sat at my desk.

“Good, good.” I grinned and went back to my reading. The heartbeat in my head had grown progressively louder over the last three hours and the five alcoholic drinks I've had in that time have done nothing to quell it’s incessant beating. “Ehh, have word sent to Camber to just clear out all the acquired materials in… two of the towns. I’ll leave it up to you which towns those are.” I sighed in boredom and sat back in my chair, my hooves crossed behind my head.

“Ye- yes. Sire.” Georgia’s face became downcast as she saluted her exit from the room to follow through on her orders.

“Ugh… I’d love it if this fucking pulsing in my head would quit!” I exclaimed to no pony in particular. “Georgia!” I shouted, rolling off my chair to stick my head out the doorway, holding up the griffon.

“Yes, sire?” She halted and turned to face me, already arming herself with her weapons.

“Take it all! All the towns, I want everything they’ve got!” I demanded before pulling my head back into the room to press my hooves against my head and squeezed. “Stop it! Stop it!” I shouted as the heartbeat turned from just sound to an actual, second heartbeat in my head. “What more do you want from me!”

Everything.

Suddenly, my horn was fired up without my consent and a dull yellow liquid began to drip from the tip. This liquid began to flow more and more rapidly and I could feel the back pressure in my mind begin to ebb away until finally, just as the liquid stopped dripping to the floor, the pulsing was gone.

“What… What is this?” I murmured out loud, feeling drained as I stared at the viscous pool before me. “What just happened?”

[i]You called? A sinister voice replied, sounding like it was grinning with razor sharp teeth.

“What? Who said that?” I demanded, looking around the room for my potential intruder.

I did. Did you not call for me? Have you not been looking for me and my kin? The voice asked again, sounding like it was insulted. You said you wanted everything, right? The resources, the crown, the world! Well, I want the same things!

“You,” I looked down at the yellow fluid before me. “What are you?”

Who, little ol’ me? the fluid began to ripple and flow into a shape. A shape I recognized. Well, I have my own name, but… The shape suddenly looked into my fiery red eyes with it’s own, similarly fiery red eyes. My eyes. With my face, but in dull yellow. I’m you.

“Oh.” I sighed in relief, actually chuckling lightly to myself. “Good, I thought you were Discord for a second there.”

Wait, what? My yellowed face looked up at me in surprise. Aren’t you horrified at me because I look like you? Are you not quaking in your shoes at the realization that I am you in your purest form?

“Nope.” I shook my head once and sat down before my misshapen mirrored image. “The wrath stone within me was enough of a shock as it was. I figure you’re probably another one of the stones, right?”

Wow, I was not expecting that. The fluid admitted, looking disappointed in itself. Okay, then who am I specifically?

“No idea.” I admitted firmly.

Then let me make my introduction. You may call me, Greed.

“Pleasure.” I smiled and stuck my hoof next to the liquid. “Now then, I suppose you’ll be wanting to be absorbed into my body like Wrath, right? So, let’s get it over with.” I announced, sliding my hoof across the floor until it touched the surprisingly warm fluid.

You… You’re willingly letting me take over your body? Really?

“Take over?” I grinned. “Hah! No. I’m letting you ride along with your kin!” I chuckled as Greed began to flow up and seep into my flesh, just above the walls of my hoof. “I want everything this world has to offer, and you’re going to help me get it!” I grinned.

Greed seemed pleased with this and with a grin of his own, plus the brightening of his colour to a more pleasant yellow, injected himself into my leg entirely to settle in at the back of my mind.

“Get comfortable in there Greed, this is going to be a bumpy ride.” I grinned as I exited from my room to head to the library with my guitar shimmering onto my back.

~~~

Entering into the materials processing room quite some time later, I was quite pleased with the innumerable boxes of unprocessed supplies being loaded into the place with equine labour. On the left sat the large trailers being unloaded of huge crates and on the right sat the currently unpacked boxes, sitting at least thirty stacks high and at least five or six stacks out from the wall.

“Sire, as you can see we’ve returned with the requested materials. We will be able to decrease the search areas significantly with these supplies and I've already tasked a legion of workers to get them into workable states.” Camber announced happily with a clipboard held in his grasp.

“Excellent. Use as much as you need and get me those locations as soon as equinely possible. Spare no expense and if you have to, get more from further out regions.” I ordered and turned from the room and back into the hallway.

All of a sudden a wave of black magic surged from the depths of the castle, beginning to restore my dark and black magics.

“Oh, fuck yes!” I shouted in immeasurable pleasure as my horn drank up the radiating magics. “Ohhh, fuck me, yes! That’s good shit!” I grinned and threw my head backwards, allowing in impulse of magic overwhelm me and turn me Nightmare.

With a deep, guttural laugh I let my teeth sharpen and my eyes change as my mane and tail exploded outwards. The change hadn’t gone unnoticed by the workers and everyone nearby lowered themselves into a deep bow at my arrival; some of them grinning along with me.

“Holy fuck that feel so fucking good to have black magic at my beck and call once again!” I exclaimed with a grin, turning to address the troops. “Hey! Get back to work you lazy fuckers!” I screamed, scaring the ponies back to work at twice their original speed.

To warm myself up again and get the black magic flowing through my circuits again, I took hold of one of the random, nameless workers by the throat and lifted them up into the air towards me.

“Sorry you had to go this way, it’s nothing personal.” I grinned malevolently at the terrified stallion and began to squeeze harder with my magic. “I’ll make sure your family works hard in your absence.”

“Please…” the stallion wheezed pleadingly, his eyes looking ready to explode. “Don’t…”

“Like I said, nothing personal.” I smirked and wrung his neck completely, snapping the spine and severing the brain connections to the rest of his body. Tossing the body aside, I stared out at the ponies working four times harder now, aiming to not be my next victim.

“Clean this up.” I ordered calmly, stepping out of the room as a pair of ponies dragged the corpse away to be disposed of. “And get his family working for me!” I shouted back as I launched into the air on my wings, Georgia staring open-beaked as she followed behind me.

“Oh, damn. It’s been too long!” I chuckled to myself as I glided through the hallways towards the Arcanaeum to congratulate Vera and her staff on their accomplishments.

“Sire, it’s good to see you in such high spirits.” Georgia announced, turning my head back towards her for a quick smile. “It’s a pleasure to finally see you in all your Nightmare glory.”

“It is, isn’t it.” I chuckled and landed at the Arcanaeum doors and flung it open with my magic. “Vera!” I shouted into the room, all the dragons flying about stopping what they were doing to bow at my entrance.

“Coming!” Vera shouted from somewhere beyond the shadows. “What can I do for you…” Vera skidded to a halt as she caught sight of my appearance. “Your highness?” she bowed lower than before. “I am pleased to see the Royal form, my lord.”

“As am I. Great job on getting some black magic flowing through the castle.” I remarked and lifted Vera’s head with my wing. “Well done.”

“Th- thank you, my king.” Vera beamed before turning to scowl at her staff. “Get back to work!” She barked, her voice switching from sweet and melodic to rough and almost as sinister as my own. A dragon after my own heart, as it were. Hmm… She was quite attractive, now that I thought about it.

“Vera, would you meet me in my chambers in a little while? Finish up whatever you’re doing and then come see me for some… special tasks.” I requested with a smirk as her eyes went wide in surprise, as did Georgia’s.

“Ye- Yes sire! It would be my honour!” Vera beamed again, fluffing herself up - if that was even possible with scales- before excusing herself to prepare.

“Georgia, go station yourself outside my room.” I ordered as the pair of us left the Arcanaeum and returned to our destination. “No one bothers me while I'm busy.” I demanded.

“Of course sire. Under no reason will I allow any interruptions to your… activities.” Georgia nodded and saluted as she slid to a halt outside my door to take up position. I, on the other hand, let myself in and set about getting the room itself ready for a bout of heated sex.

“Lord Eclipse,” Vera’s melodic voice announced herself as I cast a spell to make my entire body a bit bigger; just smaller than Georgia but large enough to make this upcoming adventure worth the effort. “It is I.”

“Come in.” I growled with a grin and the door swung open. Vera ducked under the door and entered into the room looking ready to enter Nirvana, a huge smile on her face and her scales neatly washed and polished to the point of glimmering.

“My lord, I love what you’ve done to the place.” Vera noted, looking at all the crackling flames I'd set upon candles and in the fireplace. “If it were molten lava I'd feel right at home.”

“Glad to hear it.” I replied and let Vera come to me before the pair of us fell onto my bed, a magical barrier preventing sound from escaping into the hallway.

~~~

“My king, if you’ll permit me to say so,” Vera panted heavily, clutching at the blankets that covered us with a huge grin on her scaled face. “That was amazing!”

“Thank you, thank you!” I smirked back, also breathing heavily as I could feel myself getting ready for another round, the eleventh round in four hours. “Wanna go again?” I looked over to the dragon with a grin, she grinned back and I pounced. Here’s to number twelve!

~~~

“Ahh, I can’t move any longer.” Vera groaned in bliss as I stepped out of the bathroom, having taken a shower to cleanse my dark self. I had enough light magic in me to let me change back if I wanted to, but I was enjoying being Nightmare Eclipse too much.

“Well, you still have plenty of work in the Arcanaeum; don’t you? Best get a move on before your staff starts worrying.” I remarked, having gotten over the exuberance in the shower. I was now left with feeling bored again.

“Of course, sire. May I clean up in your shower? Prevent leaving a mess in the hallways?” Vera requested, sitting up looking hopeful.

“No. There’s another one just down the hallway. You’ll have to do your best not to leave a trail.” I remarked sternly as I lowered the sound proofing to step out into the hallway.

“Evening, my lord.” Georgia saluted to my exit, the heat in the room escaping en force. “Had a pleasant ride?”

“Indeed I did.” I smirked and let Georgia follow after me as Vera took off down the other direction. “I don’t see myself doing her again for a while.”

“I see.” Georgia mumbled to herself. “Sire, I’d gotten news that Camber’s forces have not only narrowed down the search areas, but they’ve also found all the stones already.”

“Excellent.” I grinned and looked over to Georgia. Our comparable sizes had me remember that I was still under the effects of the size enhancement spell, but I left it alone for the time being. It was interesting being this tall. “Something else?”

“Yes sire. Camber’s scouts reported that the stones looked…” Georgia paused to consider her words. “Unassuming. They looked like regular gemstones.”

“So how do they know those are the Chaos Elements?” I inquired, raising an eyebrow with grit sharp teeth.

“They were only found in the darkest or more deserted of places, protected by ancient magics.” Georgia recounted, pulling a scroll from somewhere to look it over. “They uhm…”

“Spit it out before I extract it myself.” I ordered with a glare, stopping with Georgia to stand before her threateningly.

“They had to move the stones from their resting places in order to properly secure them.” Georgia replied, looking fearful for her safety.

“They moved them?” I demanded, my mane and tail exploding outwards. The added fury had the effect of actually bending the light around me, making the hallway light flicker quite noticeably.

“Y-yes, sire. They were forced to… bring… them here…” Georgia cowered back at my display of furious power but looked ready to give her life up if I so desired it.

“They brought them here?” I demanded in a terrifying calm tone of voice. “They brought them here!” I screamed, my hair flaring out yet again as I cracked a tile beneath my stamped hoof. “Somebody is going to die!” I declared and took off down the hallway with Georgia hot on my ornately decorated hooves.