The snow now fell softly throughout Ponyville and the surrounding lands. A few months have passed as the holidays celebrated in this world came and gone. Kalfu spent those days with those he loved dearly. Eventually, the holidays would come to an end along with this winter weather in about a month or so. After celebrating Hearth’s Warming with Scootaloo, Rarity, and even Zecora, things were back to business as usual. The voodoo man returns to run his little shop.

After the day was over, Kalfu decided to walk home for the evening rather than just use one of his portals. It was rather nice to do just that every once in a while. After all, he may be a god, but he still possesses the everyday wants of his former human self. And a nice walk along the outer roads of the small town on the way to his home in the forest in the moonlight was something to definitely be enjoyed..

On his way there, however, Kalfu stopped in the middle of the road before sensing something approaching at a rather alarming speed. He looked up to see a shimmering in the sky before it came into view. “KALFUUUUUU!” shouted a rather angry looking Celestia with her royal voice. And she wasn’t unarmed either it seemed. She was coming at him full force with a halberd in hand! Kalfu was quick to take to the skies himself, nearly getting impaled with the polearm as Celestia dove for him, but missed.

“What the hell is your problem, lady?! You come and attack me out of nowhere?!” Kalfu shouted in shock and anger. What in the world could he have done now?! He has been on his best behavior during the holidays. She had no reason to attack him…right? “Where’s my sister?! She has been missing for days now and the evidence all points to you!!!” she shouted as she came at him again. Kalfu blinked a few times before knocking the tip of the halberd away with his cane. “I have no idea what you are talking about, so get the fuck off me, bitch!” he said as he brought a boot to her midsection to kick her away from him.

Celestia flew back about fifteen feet away from him from the kick, even sending her into a couple of flips before she stabilized herself. Kalfu slowly drew his sword from his cane’s sheath before tossing it to the ground and twirling it around a few times, the metal gleaming in the moonlight as he did so “I have no idea where your sister is or what her well being is! You better make sure you have all the facts straight before you go just up and attacking me, little girl.” he said as a calm anger started to form over his facial features, his eyes glowing that dark purple they did when he was starting to get angry “You don’t want this….” he warned.

They floated in the air for a moment, the large moon illuminating them both, only casting Celestia’s shadow down to the ground below as Kalfu no longer possessed one, a symbol of his godhood. She then charged forward, swinging her halberd at him once more before he suddenly became ethereal for a moment, letting her fly through his body before he became solid and kicked her in the back and carved a few shallow cuts into her side with his sword, all while remaining calm on the outside, but inside, he was fuming. The man had just been minding his own damn business after all.

“Celestia lets out a yelp of pain as one of her hands clasped at her now bleeding side. “I went to go check on her tonight…I saw the things she had in her room! She has your damned book and various other odd trinkets laid out in such reverence! And you are telling me that you have nothing to do with her disappearance?! You think I don’t know who you really are?!” she shouted before coming at him once more, the halberd connecting with his blade a few times as their weapons clashed at breakneck speeds.

Kalfu drifters in between her strokes, landing a solid headbutt right to her nose, a gush of blood spewing forth as she staggers back in the air while holding her now bleeding snout. “So what? Do you know who I am now? Not like you can really do much about it now, princess. With the amount of followers I have in this world, my godhood is rather engraved and a part of this universe now. Perhaps your sister was tired of living in a faithless existence in a world where its god decided to just simply abandon her creation to do as they will to each other…leaving the souls of the innocent to wander the land without a place to rest or call home for their eternal rest…how very cruel.” he growled in disgust.

Celestia glared at him as she clenched her teeth a bit. He was not only bad-mouthing the creator of their world but also her own mother “Don’t you dare speak a word against Faust..she loves every single one of us. And she will make sure that someone like you will not surpass her in strength and…keep you in check…!: she said before charging forward again. Kalfu however, was getting tired of this. He just wanted to go home after a long day away from his beloved daughter. The man decided it was time to end this. For a good while anyway. He had better things to do than deal with a child in a princess’s body.

Celestia continued to charge forward until she was suddenly stopped in mid air. She looked down to see a rather large skeletal arm had shot out of the ground like a beanstalk and the hand wrapping around her lower half, squeezing her firmly in place to the point where it was really starting to hurt her. Kalfu slowly drifted towards her, hand outstretched menacingly with the same look of calm anger on his face. Her horn began to glow brightly as she began to desperately fling spells at him, which he simply knocked away with his sword. She would have taken a swing at him with her halberd, but it had appeared she had dropped it when the skeletal arm grabbed her.

Kalfu grabbed her face, squeezing around her head firmly as he growled lowly in fury “I could rip you apart and toss you at the feet of your subjects if I so desired, my dear. But, that would only cause my followers to possibly hate me. You see, I’d rather be loved than feared. But, if you cause me to snap? Well, I suppose being feared is just as fun as being loved. But for the sake of those I care for, I recommend you make sure the former is the choice. So no, I am not going to hurt you. But I am going to punish you. One thousand years in limbo. Perhaps you will understand the pain and loneliness of how your younger sister felt all those years you had locked her up in the moon.”

Celestia’s eyes widened behind the hand that was squeezing her head before he let go, she let out a scream of terror as the arm began to pull her into the hole it had sp[rung out of to grab her, her arms flailing before she cried out, only to be silenced once she was pulled below the earth. He slowly drifted toward the ground before grabbing the sheath of his sword cane, wiping the blood from its blade with a cloth he pulled from his coat pocket and sheathing it back with a satisfying ‘click’. While she’d be gone for a full millennium, in this world, she’d only be gone for twenty-four hours. So nothing for the whole land of Equestria to freak out over. She was simply in a timeout, was all. A VERY long timeout.

Kalfu sighed heavily as he closed his eyes before his usual smile came to his face and his eyes went back to their usual green glow. He’d return her by this time tomorrow evening. But for now, he resumed his pleasant walk back home. The man lightly tapped his cane along the way as he couldn’t wait to get home to see Scotaloo and have her tell him about her day. He loved hearing all about her and her friends’ silly misadventures, so long as they stayed safe of course.

After having dinner with and spending a bit of time with Scootaloo, they both went to their rooms and fell asleep for the evening. Kalfu lay in his bed as he closed his eyes and began to dream, slumber taking him quickly. He reopened his eyes as he was now sitting in a swamp boat, flying through the narrow rivers that opened up into large pieces of swamp. The giant caged fan pushed the boat along as he zoomed around. He was reliving one of his young adult memories in his dream state and was having a blast doing it as well.

It took him a moment to realize that he wasn’t alone, however. In the passenger seat next to him was a certain dream invading pony who was having a good time with him, the dark blue mare holding her hands up as she cried out in joy at how fast they were flying through the waters “This is so much fun! I can’t believe you used to do this all the time back where you come from, my lord!”

Kalfu smiled over at the alicorn who seemed to really be having a good time as they zoomed through the swamps of Louisiana’s rural lands. They did this for what felt like hours until they were now sitting on a dock that was attached to Kalfu’s home, a modest two story wooden shack that he had lived in for many, many years, the water flowing past them calmly as Kalfu looked over at Luna who seemed rather mesmerized by this kind of simple living. He had to tell her about what happened that night in the real world. Luna deserved his honesty. She had become one of his most loyal followers after all. And in such a short time. Seems that one of Faust’s daughters decided it was time for her to start thinking for herself. A smart mare, indeed.

“My dear Luna. I am afraid your sister believes that some ill fate has fallen upon you. Seems she has discovered your newfound worship of the voodoo faith. And believes that your disappearance is my doing. You have been gone for two days now. I am assuming that you are doing just fine if you are hanging out here with me?” he asked as he took notice of his symbol atop Luna’s right hand which all of his followers had once they began the faith.

Luna looked over at Kalfu as she was lightly kicking her legs over the dock they sat on, her gazes then falling back to the water as she sighed in worry and annoyance for her elder sister “I…can assume that she outright attacked you after accusing you of such a crime? I am sorry my lord…please don’t be too angry with her. You didn’t rough her up too badly…did you?” she asked in hesitation.

Kalfu shifted his gaze toward her “Well, she has a few cuts and a bloody nose. But that is the extent of her physical harm. I can’t say the same for her mental well being when she returns tomorrow evening. I’d say by now she is at the five-hundred year mark in her limbo timeout. Not to worry, she won’t age while in limbo. She will be the same just as she went in this evening. I just needed to teach her a lesson that will stick, is all. I told her she’d experience the same amount of pain and loneliness you did when she locked you away on the moon. That ought to humble her a bit.”.

Luna let out another sigh and shook her head “Oh sister…what have you gotten yourself into? I left you a letter stating I was going away for a conference. I am sorry you had to deal with that, my lord. And thank you for showing at least a shred of mercy by not killing her. I really do appreciate it…” she said as she still worried for her elder sister’s well being. Kalfu shook his head and leaned back, looking up at the sun rays that flowed in from above “She can’t learn her lesson if she is dead, my dear. Simple as that. Just like how I know that not everyone will accept and welcome the voodoo faith. But, my faith does not require them to.” he said as he stood up and dusted off his pants and coat before walking onto the dirt path that led from his home, Luna getting up and trailing after him.

They walked along the dirt road, a few light posts lighting the way every little bit of the path as it was early evening, the fireflies adding a bit more of a rather eerie, but beautiful glow to the setting. Kalfu walked along with his hands in his coat pockets while Luna walked next to him with her hands behind her back. They’d go minutes without saying a word to each other, just silently enjoying each other’s company as if they were old friends who had known each other for years and years as they strolled.

“I guess…I just got tired of living a life without believing in something, is all. At first, I thought your…religion, you call it? Was a sham. Something that could be used for evil or along those lines. But it is so much more. It can bring good just as much as evil.”. Kalfu responded to her with a chuckle “Just like everything else can do just that, my dear Lulu. Nothing is ever truly all black and white, though. More often than not, it's those grey areas that can really getcha. Just like how all hexes and curses aren’t necessarily bad. They are just associated as such because of the ominous sounding name. Just like there is a spell called ‘Hex Of The Unholy’. Sounds spooky right? When in fact, it is a hex FOR the unholy to keep them at bay from your home and your soul. A way to protect yourself and your loved ones.” he said as he explained just how voodoo magic worked.

Luna held onto every word like a child enraptured in an exciting learning experience. She truly loved the voodoo religion more than any other thing she had obtained knowledge about. And she was getting a private lesson from the voodoo king himself. She was having the best time ever right now, spending it with her god in a dream that he had allowed her to share with him. Before she became a follower, she was barred from his dream realm. But now that she has been marked as faithful, he welcomed her happily.

The feeling in her chest she got from him wasn’t a romantic feeling, but one of great admiration and sisterly love. Like a big brother. The more she learned about the faith he was trying to spread, the more she respected and appreciated him. And she would do all she could to support her new god, no matter what it was she had to do.

Author's Note

Here ya go, guys. Have another one. Been busy with RL stuffs. But I will try and post more when I can.

May the darkness grant you peace.