Kalfu was posted up in one of the luxury hotels for the duration of his stay to continue to watch over Dusk for however long he felt he should. Of course, he hoped back and forth to check on Scootaloo to make sure she was doing alright and had everything she needed. He reassured her that he’d be returning home as soon as he could and things would go back to normal once he felt like that young mare was safe enough on her own.

As the days rolled by, he had gotten to know the girl rather well. She seemed like a second daughter to him as they grew closer and closer. Kalfu came to visit her at the cafe every single day to not only keep her safe but to keep her company as well. In fact, he was becoming a real regular, and he was enjoying himself, not to mention the teas and hard drinks she’d make for him, too. She’d insist he’d not pay, given that he was watching over her, the very god she worshiped was looking after her well being. In her eyes, she could ask for more than that.

“So, you holding up alright, my dear?” Kalfu asked as he sat at the bar across from Dusk Beam, who seemed to be lost in thought as she idly wiped down one of the glasses that she had been cleaning for a good ten minutes now. Like father, like daughter, it seemed. She lifted her gaze to Kalfu and gave a weak smile but nodded in response, “Yeah…just… miss him. You know? He was the best father one could ask for. You would have never guessed that he was a ruthless gang leader when he was younger, who then turned out to be the sweetest dad in the whole world…”.

Kalfu placed a hand upon the mare’s arm, gently patting it “The way a father’s love changes a stallion is incredible. Isn’t it? I could feel his unconditional love for you all the way up until his soul left his body. That stallion loved you more than anyone in this whole world. In fact, you were his whole world. There was nothing he wouldn’t have done for you and your happiness.” he said as he offered a warm smile to her. Dusk couldn’t help but give another smile to his words. She knew her father loved her. But hearing it from Kalfu definitely made her feel just a little bit better.

“Thank you for watching over me this past month, Kalfu. Having you doing so has…been a real honor and privilege. To have the Voodoo King personally protect me. I never thought I would experience it.” she said as she grabbed his hand with both of hers and gazed upon him with reverence. Kalfu averted his eyes for a moment before looking back at her. Normally, she’d be referring to him as ‘Lord,’ but ever since they have been spending more time with each other, they have gotten to first name basis.

Kalfu looked up towards the clock that was ticking away before looking out the window, seeing that it was starting to get light out. He then looked back to her and nodded “Quitting time it seems, sweetie. I will help you lock up and walk you home this morning. SOund god?” he asked as he got up from the bar stool and grabbed a broom and began sweeping up around the areas were customers hung out the most. She nodded and began to count the evening’s profits before helping with the clean up herself.

Soon enough, Kalfu and Dusk walked out of the cafe and locked the place up before Kalfu offered his arm to Dusk, escorting her like a true gentlestallion should. As they walked along, she hugged close to his arm, just enjoying the company of Kalfu until she was walked to her apartment. Once there, Kalfu leaned down and gave her a warm hug, the mare returning the embrace before nuzzling into his chest “Thank you, Kalfu. Thank you so much.” she whispered.

What started as a deal from one of his followers had turned into something rather precious. Even when he decided to head back home, he would definitely have to pop in on her more to make sure she was doing alright and living life to the fullest. This girl had become quite special to him, in the sense of a family member, anyway. The last thing he needed was another romantic interest. “Anytime, my dear. Get gone on and scoot. Get in those jammies and sleep well.” he said as he gently pushed her inside her door once she opened it.

This was the routine for a few more weeks until he felt it was safe for Dusk to go on in life by herself. He was about to get ready to return home but decided to go and check up on her one last time. It wouldn’t hurt to do so and tell her goodbye for now anyway. As he made his way to the cafe that evening, he noticed that the sign hadn’t been switched to open and the lights were off on the inside. Thinking she hadn’t opened up yet, he phases his way in and goes to the back room to see if she is there. But, not a soul was to be found. “Hmm, perhaps she was home?” he said to himself before opening a portal to her apartment and stepping through.

Once he stood in front of her door, he knocked on it gently. But when he did, the door opened up a bit. He blinked a few times before slowly opening the door. What he found made his heart drop in his chest. The place was a complete wreck, just like it was in that cafe all those nights ago. The stallion moved inside quickly, looking for any signs of blood or worse. He came into her bedroom to find the new charm he had given her, which was tossed onto the floor and stomped on. This must have been why he didn’t sense anything because she didn’t get to the charm in time.

Kalfu growled lowly in anger before taking flight and, phasing through the building and taking to the sky. He scanned over the horizon as he tried to zone in on Dusk from over the thousands of voices that were praying to him. He’d get to those later. “Kalfu…please…help me..” he heard the voice in his head, heading in that direction as he zeroed in on her soul. Whoever had her in their possession was about to meet one very angry god…

Dusk knelt in front of the leader of the Manehattan Maifa, who had her by her hair with a blade pressed into the back of her neck. And just as he expected, whoever was coming to save her had come. They were in a warehouse in the same district that Kalfu had brought the low level grunts to torutre for information. The living ghost walked in from the shadows before glaring at the sight before him. His blood was boiling beyond calming down at this point before the group of mobsters noticed him approaching.

“Well, well, so you are the one who roughed up my boys, huh? You don’t look like much. But apparently, they said you pulled some kind of wicked hocus pocus shit and gave them a real fright. You don’t look so scary to me.” he said mockingly. As Kalfu stepped closer, the leader pressed the blade more into Dusk’s neck “If you want this bitch to live, you won’t take another step…” he said as he was ready to plunge the blade into her at a moment's notice. Kalfu stopped in his tracks before simply remaining quiet, all while trying to come up with a plan to save Dusk without causing any harm to come to her. But with how many eyes were on him, he could even summon his skeleton hands without being called out on it before it was too late.

“You come into my town, rough up my boys, and think you can get away with it? I run the fucking underworld in this country. And an upstart like you thinks they can come here and get in my way? That piece of shit had it coming, you know. I took him in when he was just a kid. And how does that bastard repay me? By splitting and becoming a competitor for power in this town!” he yelled as his anger started to grow, jerking Dusk around by her mane, which caused her to cry out in pain “Shut the fuck up, bitch!” he shouted again as he kicked her in the back before yanking her back on her knees by her mane again.

Kalfu’s eyes started to burn in anger as he watched the treatment of Dusk before him “Kalfu..please…I am scared…” she said between whimpers. Her begging and pleading were pulling at his heart as he continued to try and find a way to get in close without risking her safety. He stood there and waited, and waited, all while he had a skeletal arm slowly rising behind a stack of wooden crates before knocking them down, causing the mobsters to turn and look at the spilled boxes. This was his chance, and it was now or never…

However, just as he charged forward, the ghost fell to his knees as pain racked through his body. A magic circle appeared both under and below him before his hand was lifted to his side as if he was bound by something, burning, searing pain flowing through his body as he let out a scream of anguish. “GAAAAHHH!!!” he shouted as he looked up at the mob boss, who was looking at him with a shit eating grin “See, I know who you are, mister. A good buddy of mine had access to a similar circle, but it wasn’t enough to keep you down for long. This one, however, is double layered and improved. So, you won’t be getting out of this one…now then…” he said as he brought the blade around to Dusk’s throat.

Kalfu struggled and struggled, as he didn’t have the use of his hands, he couldn’t place a counter hex to begin breaking the circle as he had done beforehand “I fucking swear to god, if you spill one drop of her blood, I will tear your soul asunder!” he roared as he continued to jerk violently in his restraints. The mob leader laughed and spat at Kalfu before pressing the blade firmly to her throat.

“Say goodbye to your hero, bitch. You won’t be seeing him again…” he said with that wicked grin still on his muzzle. Dusk gave one last look at Kalfu, giving him a weak smile and shaking her head as she spoke, “This…isn’t your fault, Kalfu…please, don’t blame yourself for this-..” was all she could get out before her neck was slit to the point were a torrent of blood spilled in front of her, the girl falling to her side as she twitched for a few moments before going fully limp. Kalfu’s eyes went wide as he gazed upon the sight before him, the only sound he could hear was the ringing in his ears along with the pumping of his blood, which was flowing in over time.

Kalfu’s body began to shake violently as his breathing got progressively faster before he let out a wail of anger and rage, his eyes going from green directly to black as the room suddenly darkened and black whispy tendrils appeared around him and out of his back. He continued to scream out as the mobsters watched what was happening before the tendrils wrapped around each and every one of them before lifting them into the air, the tendrils pulling at the flailing limbs before ripping them apart as they hung in the air.

The leader was watching this as he was making his way out the door. In his mind, he needed to get out of there now if he was planning on living. And he had to get far away in a short amount of time. After a little while, Kalfu was able to break the circle and finally free himself from its hold. Surrounded by the blood and gore of the ponies he had slaughtered, he slowly makes his way over to Dusk, who had long since passed on, as her soul has been taken to the eternal paradise that was promised to her.

Kalfu fell to his knees as he gazed down at her, his heart aching as tears fell from his dark eyes and his teeth clenched to the point where his lips were bleeding slightly. Not only had he failed to keep the deal up on his end, but he had lost a soul that he had lost someone he had become very attached to. And even though she said not to blame himself for her tragic end, the blame and guilt were washing over and drowning him mercilessly.

He kneeled there silently for a moment before throwing his head back and letting out a roar of anger and sadness, rage swirling in his eyes as he cradled her lifeless body close to his chest. Not only did he have to witness the death of her father, but he also witnessed the cruel death of someone who had absolutely nothing to do with this ridiculous beef between the organizations. “She…she didn’t have anything to do with this bullshit!” he screamed out to no one in particular as he shook with rage.

Kalfu made sure that her body was taken care of, bringing her to the coroner and leaving behind a note and plenty of money for them to give her a proper burial next to her father. However, he would visit her grave after he was done doing what needed to be done. He was going to hunt down every grunt under boss and then the leader himself. The Manehattan Mafia gang’s days were numbered in this city, Kalfu was going to make sure of that…

As he started out with the lowest grunt, he worked his way up the chain of command, leaving behind him a trail of death and blood as he tore every single one of their souls apart with his bare hands for the past few nights now. All without hesitation as he took vengeance for both Dusk and her father at this point. It got to the point where the citizens of the city feared for their lives as they found dead mobsters with limbs missing and hung from streetlamps or speared into the wall by a random metal pipe sign.

Along with his anger, the city experienced heavy storms while Kalfu rampaged throughout the night. The wrath of a god certainly had the power to alter many things, weather included. Soon enough, the god now stood in front of where the mob boss and his top lackeys were. Kalfu stood there with his eyes fixated on these very souls that he was absolutely going to rip apart. They didn’t even deserve damnation for what they had done. The stallion balled his fists up before growling lowly “I am going to enjoy this…” he said as those shadowy tendrils flailed behind him as he stepped forward.

Author's Note

I do believe that Kalfu has had enough being taken from him/ When Celestia finds out about this massacre, she is going to have a lot on her plate...

May the darkness grant you peace.