The Forsaken

Chapter 1: Strike at Midnight

Midnight Stalker

Midnight Stalker was sitting down in the grass not far from a less-than-often used road near Ponyville. His gaze was pointed at the road, waiting patiently for his target. His thoughts were mingled with reflections of the past, as they often were while waiting silently before a mission.

His unfortunate name, like so many others, was granted to him by the mysterious magical inspiration that momentarily takes over all parents once the foal can be fully seen after birth, which is also sometimes seen as a hint for the pony’s destiny. His fate was further compounded by the colors of his coat and mane. His coat was as black as a starless night and his mane was a dull slate grey while his eyes were a piercing silver. Even worse for a unicorn, his magical aura was a dreary and ominous black, normally reserved for great and powerful villains of the kingdom. Even his parents had been wary of what they had brought into the world.

As a young colt with very few friends, he loved to sneak up on other ponies and scare the daylights out of them. After discovering an affinity for illusion and shadow teleportation magic, his sneaking and pranking skills got better, until one day, his cutie mark appeared.

Oh… what a day that was.

His cutie mark was as ominous as his magic… displaying a lone pony standing in the shadow of the moonlight, holding two crossed swords. Most of the other foals stopped playing with him after that… which only fueled his desire to prank and scare them.

As an adult stallion, Midnight was as big as an Alicorn, given his powerful magical abilities, and was considered to have a very intimating presence when he was projecting himself to have one. He had no real friends… very few ponies even wanted to admit having known him, and now at this stage in his life… he also had no family, which left him feeling a little empty at times.

He had never married and had no foals of his own… to the best of his knowledge anyways. Any lover he had ever taken over the years seemed somewhat shy to admit who the father of any foals they eventually had belonged to… and Midnight had the grace not to push for answers. His own parents had died years ago, and he was an only foal, which was something he had always silently mourned. It hurt not having the kinship of a brother or sister… not that it mattered anymore.

A few ponies once whispered that his parents had been afraid to have more foals, given the dark tendencies of the first one. A simple glare was enough to silence such talk when he had the privilege of hearing it and addressing it in his own subtle way.

It was a clear summer night, the stars beautiful in the sky… warm enough but still chilly when the wind blew, as if understanding the nature of his mission. He took in a deep breath through his nose and exhaled a whisper.

“It’s a perfect night for a murder at Midnight…”

He smiled at the thought.

Anon

The night was pretty, but she wasn’t looking at the stars. As she looked around herself, she seemed to know just how fucked she was. She mused to herself bitterly.

It must be hard being human on a planet that clearly isn’t Earth.

Anon was sitting in a metal cage, being carted down the road on a pull cart. The cart was being pulled by and escorted by a total of four griffons. She still couldn’t believe her luck. She woke up in the middle of nowhere after having the strangest nightmare ever. She had wondered around aimlessly towards a road only to discover talking birds the size of a lion, creatures that she now knew were griffons, and not only would they not help her, but they tossed her in the cage like some grand prize.

She had been stuck in that cage for two days now and all they given her so far was water and a lot of attitude. The cage had been clean with fresh hay when she was first thrown into it, but the griffons refused to let her out of the cage to answer nature’s call, so like an animal, she had to choose a corner to do her business in. She was extremely self-conscious about the griffons watching her closely whenever she had to drop her pants to answer nature’s call… and so she found that she finally understood why monkeys liked to throw their poop at people watching them at the Zoo. She managed to nail at least one of them in the face with a hand-full of poop and she hoped he got pink eye from it. They seemed to respect her privacy after that.

The griffons were careful to be quiet while discussing plans but the parts of conversation that she was able to overhear suggested that they were making good time and was almost there, although she didn’t know where ‘there’ was. The closer they came to their goal, the more apprehensive she had become.

She was 21, stood at an average height at 5 foot, 6 inches and had short length blonde hair in what some people would call a ‘Karen Haircut’. The perceptions people had of her was funny to her because while she was shy in private, she had a happy-go-lucky personality in public. She was fair skinned, had deep blue eyes, and could be considered to be somewhat flirty but was not normally an easy lay and she generally knew what she wanted. Her current situation wasn’t something that she wanted… nor could she have ever imagined it happening previously.

Anon cleared her throat. “It’s been two days… I’m hungry… when are you going to feed me?”

The leader of the griffons looked at her. “You will get your fill once we get back to base. If you want something in the meantime… you’re going to have to earn it.”

The carnal look he gave her, eyeing her up and down, left nothing to the imagination of how she was going to ‘earn’ her meals. She had a sinking suspicion that ‘getting her fill’ at the base referred to a lot more than just food. She laid down on the floor of the cage and curled up into a ball to try to keep herself warm. She wasn’t crying… but she was close. She whispered a plea so soft that she could barely hear it herself.

God… send someone to save me… I’ll do anything. Anything!

After a while, she forced herself into a fitful sleep.

Midnight Stalker

I had closed my eyes and was feeling the area around myself with a subtle magic. I frowned. A silent plea could be felt on the wind. Focusing my horn, I used ‘reconnaissance magic’ and was able to hear the plea itself, as if it had been whispered directly into my ear.

‘Send someone to save me… I’ll do anything. Anything!’

I opened my eyes, and my gaze took on a murderous intent.

“Mission… accepted.”

Midnight edged closer to the road, looking both ways. His coat and mane allowed him to blur and blend into the shadows of the night even without magic, and from years of personal training, he knew that. His personal armor and weapons added to that natural effect, which had been planned by somepony that knew what she was doing long ago.

The armor was a pure, dull, matte black… which absorbed light rather than reflected it. True to his cutie mark, he carried twin swords. They were both black and razor thin, but strong. The great thing about a thin sword, was that if you swung it fast enough, it become invisible to the naked eye… and you can’t block what you can’t see. He snorted, settling his thoughts.

My ability to master illusion magic while wearing light absorbing armor and wielding practically invisible swords… I am nearly unstoppable by ordinary means… and I know it. Most of my enemies know it too… which is why they stopped messing around in my territory.

Midnight could hear it now… the sound of a heavy cart and four sets of padded claws. Wait… padded? And claws?

Griffons. I should have known. Did Moon Watcher say they were griffons? I don’t remember…

He grimaced and used his carefully honed magic to make himself completely invisible and stepped out onto the road. And he waited.

He saw the cart come into view and still he waited.

He waited until the lead griffon was right beside him and then… Slash.

The griffon’s head fell off his shoulders and his body fell like dead weight in front of the cart. The cart rolled to a stop, partly since no pony was pulling it now and partly because the dead griffon was now blocking the front wheels of the cart, not allowing the other three griffons to flee with the cart, at least, not without backing up and going around the dead griffon first.

Not that they were going to get away…

I dropped my concealment magic and stabbed another griffon that had come around to investigate why the cart had stopped. His death was both quick and silent. Using magic again, I teleported behind the rear-most griffon, stabbing him in the neck. The griffon’s only response was a silent gurgling, unable to speak with the sword in his neck. The griffon fell, dead.

Not as exciting as I normally would like it to be. Oh well. Maybe next time.

I sighed to myself as I walked towards the last griffon, the leader, it would seem… and he turned and actually saw me. His eyes widened as he seemed to know who I was as well.

“PLEASE, Midnight Stalker. I mean you no harm! I just want to get home with my loot. I’ll even give you half! Just let me go!”

I smiled a sinister smile. I walked up to him casually and jammed both of my blades into his chest.

“Maybe… I’ll just take everything.”

The look of betrayal on the griffon’s face was hard to accept, given that we had no kinship, but it also struck a chord with me.

I guess I am an outcast too… forsaken… in my own way.

I looked over the cart… I was cautious of any traps that the griffons might have left to deter thieves on the off chance that it was ever left unguarded.

The first thing I saw was a large chest of bits… at least 10,000 copper bits, which I quickly moved into a magical storage portal where I stored my money. There was also a ‘beer barrel’ of Hard Apple Cider Ale, which I teleported to the basement in my home. Getting roughly 475 free servings of ale would make the next few months enjoyable. Free ale is the best ale, after all.

A few other sets of clearly stolen items were present that I could sell on consignment at Barnyard Bargains. Filthy Rich never seemed to mind where the product came from so long as his shelves were full, and he got his cut. It was rare to have a business pony ask no questions.

Most ponies would call it immoral, but the extra coin never hurt.

I looked at the cage. Inside was a… mare? Well, a female of some kind, although I don’t recall ever having met one of her kind. Regardless… She was quite attractive…

Was this the source of the plea? She had to be…

I cleared my throat. “Miss? Are you okay?”

She awoke with a start and looked around. “I’m okay… I guess. Where are the griffons?”

I grimaced but told her the truth. I looked her straight in the eyes while speaking to her.

“I killed them. Filthy slavers… Give me a moment and I’ll get you out of that cage.”

She nodded timidly but didn’t move as my magic opened the lock and the cage door swung open.

Part of me expected her to bolt the second the door was open but she slowly, timidly, climbed out. She seemed very passive for somepony that hadn’t been abused. Her behavior confused me.

I felt like I needed to introduce myself. “My name is Midnight Stalker. What’s yours?”

She winced at my name, as so many other ponies do, and cleared her own throat. “My name is Anon. It’s nice to meet you…”

I cleared my throat. “If you are okay with it… I’ll use magic to teleport us to my house and clean you up, treat your injuries and feed you.”

There was a mix of fear, apprehension, hunger, and a sense of loss in her eyes. Her wide blue eyes told a story that words could never fully do justice to… and she swallowed heavily.

“And… what will the price for such help be?”

I blinked. It was a fair question… but it also boiled my blood.

What did those griffons do to her? She is so nervous… I need to try to ease her tension… but how? A joke? Maybe… By Celestia… I’m not good at making jokes. Practical jokes yes… but not joke jokes… For her sake I guess I need to try.

In a passive, almost innocent tone, I replied. “I haven’t given thought to a payment. But to be fair… you begged to be saved and said you would do anything for it. Was that false?”

The look on her face betrayed every logical thought. I could practically read her mind.

He heard my whispered plea? How? It must be magic… he did use magic to open the lock…

Anon shook her head. “No… you are right… I said I would do anything… and I shall. You saved me… and I trust you, mostly. Do what you will.”

I nodded and placed a hoof on her hip. “Close your eyes. I will use my magic to teleport us to my home. Teleporting can be disorienting for ponies not used to it.”

I waited until she closed her eyes and teleported us to my small house.

A final thought nagged at me.

Am I doing the right thing? Whatever… I hope she likes it.