The Forsaken

Chapter 19 – Dark Proposal

Midnight

Deploying my army had been the easy part. I knew how to lead an army. I had a millennium of experience and nothing about the process had changed much over the years.

Saying goodbye to Anon had been harder. All the years I had spent with Luna as a special somepony felt different… because she was also a warrior and shared the same dangers that I did. Having a civilian marefriend… no, wife, did nothing to sooth my nerves as I knew she would heartbroken if I didn’t return. My traditional death lord parting almost seemed to make it worse.

Knowing that Anon was pregnant with my foal made this impossible. I wasn’t sure how the other Death Lords had been able to do it. Going into the fire time after time leaving their loved-ones behind… possibly for good. If I had possessed even the barest hint that Anon could get pregnant from our rutting, I would have used a contraceptive spell… or at least would have asked her if she needed me to pull out or do something else for her but it was too late to worry about that now.

I had one task. Stop Nightmare Moon or pave the way for the Elements of Harmony to do so. And I knew just where to start…

Having a darkness of my own and having had one for a long time gave me a clue as to where I needed to go and what I needed to do. Luckily, a lot of the groundwork had already been laid into place on the off chance that everything was going to happen as predicted. I had spent the last month preparing for this eventuality…

I had long come to the conclusion that the great villains of Equestria were largely able to be defeated because they were arrogant. They liked to prove how strong they were by letting the hero make a move, which played into their ego but also seemed to lead to their downfall. Nightmare Moon would be no different, but I also really didn’t want to actually fight her if I didn’t have to. I still loved Luna even if I couldn’t admit it to Anon.

As a matter of fact… that premise was part of how I had controlled Calamity for as long as I had without a permanent complete take-over. While I didn’t like doing so, when I couldn’t bleed off enough darkness to prevent it, I did allow Calamity some control of me in exchange for certain… conditions and rules of conduct that he followed, although, I could never admit to anypony that I did so. There were times that I did lose complete control, temporarily, but I always managed to regain control sooner or later. The real loss of control that led to the raping of Anon had been pushing the established rules of our agreement. But even I had to concede that she did trigger that specific incident and she did seem to have enjoyed the rut… regardless of how dangerous it had actually been for her. The fact that it moved our relationship forward into a deeper courtship had been unexpected. I had never been so lucky in the past with other lovers, of any race.

A teleport later… and I was in the ruins of the throne room of the Castle of the Pony Sisters. It was abandoned for the moment, but I knew that Nightmare Moon would come here… this was where it had all started and ended all those years ago and so this was where the new showdown would have to occur. It was painfully predictable.

I double checked my preparations and then started to sing… “Hello Darkness, my old friend…”

My inner mind seemed to awaken, and I could hear Calamity groan.

For buck sake Stalker… what do you want?

I spoke to my own mind. “I need you to take over and handle Nightmare Moon. Darkness versus Darkness sounds fun, no?”

And how should I handle her? I thought you didn’t want to kill her.

I gritted my teeth. “I don’t want her dead, but I do need her weakened. I need for either Luna to break Nightmare’s control or for Nightmare to be so weak that she can’t fight the Elements of Harmony when they appear. I think that Nightmare Moon would steel her control over Luna if she knew that Midnight Stalker was still alive… but a rival darkness ‘Calamity’ might could present an interesting challenge for her. Lie to her for all I care. Weave a story that sounds true but is a great lie… I don’t care. I’ll let you take whatever liberties you need to win, and I’ll reward you for your efforts after the fact, if we live.”

Hmm. Reward you say? Can I have that sweet little Sweetie Belle?

I shook my head. “You know the rules. No fillies. Mares of consenting age only. With me being a ‘Prince’ officially now… you might could have Rarity… which is very close to Sweetie Belle, given that she is the older sister… I’d just have to explain the ‘role play’ before you take over to enjoy her.”

Hmm. Rarity is good enough… but I want more. Maybe a threesome? Rarity and Applejack? All that teasing you did with her has to have an endgame.

I sighed. “I’m sure I can convince Rarity. Applejack owes me a lot of money and she would buck me under the right circumstances but I’m not sure I can convince her to do a threesome with another pony. Applejack is rather… traditional. We could probably arrange to make love to each of them, but separately, and I don’t want foals with either of them. And before you ask… now that Anon is my wife, I’d request that you leave her alone. Will you do it regardless, Calamity?”

I don’t like your limited conditions, but yes… I’ll do it.

I took in a deep breath and exhaled. “Then do it…”

Three Hours Later

Nightmare Moon

I teleported to my old home, the Castle of the Pony Sisters, and enjoyed the empty throne room. The prima donna was locked inside her own Sun, and I was going to enjoy the challenge from the hated one’s personal student. The castle was in worse shape than I expected but then it had been a thousand years since those events of the past and it was painfully apparent that the castle had been abandoned since that time.

So much the better. I’ll rebuild the castle better than it ever was before and I’ll rule from here just as I was meant to.

Her ears turned to a sound approaching her.

Who would be so bold… or so foolish… to openly approach me?

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

That sounds familiar but from where?

I held my breath when I finally saw a familiar armored pony approaching me without any hint of fear.

That armor… it cannot be!

I stood firm in the face of fear and called out. “Identify yourself!”

I heard the pony chuckle. “My name is Midnight Calamity… and I have been waiting for you for a very long time, Nightmare Moon.”

I felt myself relax some as it wasn’t Midnight Stalker. My hold upon Luna would be broken for certain if her fiancé was still alive… but that armor… surly two sets of it could not exist?

My tone was sharp and accusing. “Where did you get that armor?”

Calamity snorted. “Ah… that’s a grand story to tell… but do we have time for such a story? Surly you have more important things to do than to entertain me as if I was an honored guest?”

My eyes narrowed. “That armor once belonged to Lord Midnight Stalker… I am sure of it. He would have been buried in that armor… as was his request. I won’t condone grave robbing. I would like to know how you got it.”

Calamity let loose a laugh that echoed along the walls. “I assure you… he wasn’t buried with it.”

The number of questions rose within my mind but most of them were coming from Princess Luna’s subconscious within my mind. I couldn’t afford to entertain them, so I did the next best thing by making my own demand.

“I would like to hear your story. All villains certainly have one to tell…”

Calamity nodded. “Very well. You already know part of the story… given that you are in it, but the rest might shock you. The story starts a thousand years ago. Midnight Stalker was to marry Princess Luna. And then… on the eve of the wedding… something happened. Whether it was an assassination attempt, a Death Lord experiment gone wrong or something else… no pony knows. But he did end up in a coma deep enough to be mistaken for death. Midnight Stalker’s ‘death’ drove Princess Luna over the edge and allowed you to take hold. Princess Celestia broke the Elements of Harmony to defeat you… sending you to your lunar prison. And then… the next morning… Midnight Stalker woke up as if nothing had happened. He was distraught to have lost his beloved princess but swore loyalty to Celestia and continued to serve her in a loose fashion even in retirement. They rutted so many times that I’m shocked they never had foals together… though those details were kept mostly secret. Anyways… he survived whatever happened until I came along. You see… he was in a bar one night and talked a pretty young mare into his bed. While he was enjoying her… I robbed him blind and then killed him with his own weapons. I killed the mare too… it wouldn’t do to leave a witness, after all. Even now… I live in his home and I pretend to be him for the public. Nopony seems to question why or how he’s not dead but no matter, it works, and I’m happy with the lifestyle he provided me. The End.”

I convulsed as Luna tried to assert control. I could feel her desire to kill this stallion for having killed her love, but I couldn’t allow her to have control back.

Calamity chortled darkly. “Having problems there?”

I gritted my teeth and beat Luna back into the after thoughts of my mind. “No problems… it is simply… orgasmic, how you handled what would have been my biggest rival. You claim to have been waiting for me… what do you want?”

Calamity nodded. “I have a proposal for you.”

That… wasn’t what I was expecting. “And what is this proposal, Calamity?”

She couldn’t see his eyes under that helmet and yet knew that he was looking directly into her soul. She both seemed to know where this was going and yet… still wanted to be told.

Calamity sounded smug. “I am the greatest villain Equestria has known since the defeat of you, 1,000 years ago. I’m so powerful that Celestia herself was forced to work with me since she couldn’t destroy me. Celestia might be the only pony alive that knows that I’m not Midnight Stalker. My power has not been surpassed by anypony but might be equaled by you. Marry me… and we’ll rule Equestria together as husband and wife. Nopony will be able to challenge us if we work together.”

I was tempted by such an offer. I knew I couldn’t rule Equestria alone… I would need a right hoof pony… somepony that understood the current state of Equestria. I also knew I couldn’t take the offer. Sadly.

“I’m afraid that I cannot accept. Luna is still in love with Midnight Stalker… and allowing myself to let you take me, given that you killed her love… might give her enough power to seize control from me.”

Calamity nodded. “I suspected as much. My own host lives within my head and he can be a pain to deal with. However… I get by. So there is no room to compromise here?”

I shook my head. “I’m afraid not.”

Calamity sighed. “Well then. The die is cast. There isn’t enough room for two villains in Equestria at the same time so I’m afraid I’m going to have to kill you. No hard feelings.”

I sneered. “Do you really think you can kill me?”

Calamity chuckled lightly, as if not concerned at all. “I am a Calamity. How does that compare to a Nightmare? You can wake up from a Nightmare… you can’t escape Calamity.”

With that… he took a combat stance and was ready to fight.