The Night Mare’s declaration of her anger was no mere pronouncement.
Even as the words passed her lips, Lex felt a sudden pressure settle over him. It was as though the very air had thickened into a heavy weight, and it almost made his knees buckle. Even worse was how the strain went beyond mere physical stress, filling his mind with the force of her wrath.
It was enough to nearly make him collapse, and Lex felt an abrupt urge to prostrate himself and beg for the Night Mare’s forgiveness. But the thought was so alien, so utterly unacceptable, that he immediately rebelled against it. Banishing the impulse, he forced his legs to remain straight, his head held high as he looked at her directly.
The goddess was far larger than himself, larger than even Princess Celestia. Her dark blue form was armored, her back and sides covered in a thick metal coat that, though it was unmarred, did not gleam in the slightest. She wore a helmet that left her face open, and her horn was so sharply pointed that there could be no doubt that it could be used as a weapon. Most notable, however, were her wings. Unlike the feathery limbs that were characteristic of every alicorn Lex had ever seen, the Night Mare’s wings were leathery, like a bat’s.
At his refusal to cower before her, the Night Mare’s eyes narrowed just slightly, and Lex heard her grunt. A moment later the pressure vanished, allowing him to move freely again. The next move, he knew, was his.
“Our last meeting ended with our relationship being dissolved. I was hoping that my gifts were sufficient to open a new dialogue between us.”
Lex had first performed this ritual shortly after his arrival in Everglow. It had been a desperate attempt to locate Princess Luna, since he’d had reason to believe that dreams occupied their own plane equidistant to all others, and use her as a beacon to figure out a way back to Equestria. The ritual had failed, and instead created the phantom that still haunted his nightmares to this day.
But shortly afterwards, Lex had found himself in possession of a small trickle of sarcerdotal thaumaturgy – divine spellcasting, the magic of those ponies who bowed and scraped and prayed to the gods for power. That he was suddenly receiving such magic without formally petitioning the gods for it, even if it was just a small hooffull compared to those who called themselves clerics, was unusual. He had eventually decided that it was because one of them was judging him on an orthopraxic scale; that it was rewarding him for living in a manner that they approved of. He had, over time, guessed who it was, but had never bothered to confirm it.
Eventually, however, events had resulted in his patron’s identity being made explicitly clear.
It was barely more than a week ago that he, Sonata, and several others had blindly stumbled into the realm of Kara, the goddess of love and shapeshifters, while trying to quit Everglow in favor of Equestria. With no way to leave the goddess’s realm without her permission, Lex had desperately summoned the Night Mare, the source of the magic he’d been given, as a last resort. The gamble had paid off, but the Night Mare had been displeased by his reliance on her, and had revoked her gifts to him, making it clear that she was done aiding him…and yet now he had called on her again.
“‘Gifts’? You mean a petty idol to another goddess and the carcass of one half-grown dragon?” she sneered.
“The statuette was an object of great value, given to you so that you could eclipse one of your rivals, even if only in effigy, by making something of hers your own.” The Sun Queen, who Lex was mostly sure had been the subject of that carving, was the nominal leader of Everglow’s pantheon of gods, including the Night Mare, a situation which he was certain she chafed at. “As for the dragon, it wasn’t just its body that I was offering you. Rather, I slew that creature personally, in single combat. I offered it to you in dedication of that feat. Surely that’s sufficient to earn a little of your goodwill.”
“Very little. Sufficient only that if you terminate this summons immediately, I might not drag you with me as I depart and make you the newest slave in my realm.” Her voice had changed to a growl as she uttered her threat, and the sound of it was almost cacophonous, paining Lex’s ears.
He had no reason to disbelieve her intentions, nor did he have any reason to doubt that she was capable of making good on her threat. As a goddess, every indication was that she was more powerful than a thousand dragons. But Lex wasn’t ready to let negotiations end before they had even formally begun.
“No. Not until we’ve parleyed.”
“Then you will suffer!” the Night Mare snarled, baring her teeth as her patience came to an end. The terrible pressure had already returned, stronger than before, and Lex again had to struggle to keep from collapsing. “The beginning of your eternity of suffering!” She reared up on her hind legs, and he knew she was about to unleash her fury upon him.
In the instant before she struck, Lex spoke, unleashing his own counterattack. He had prepared this just in case things had gone this way, and it was his last hope to make the Night Mare back down. It wasn’t a spell – he had no illusions that any magic of his could possibly affect her – but rather a single sentence.
“Then you’ll never be worshipped in Equestria.”
The Night Mare paused, freezing in place, and Lex grinned internally, knowing that his gamble had paid off. On Everglow it was considered axiomatic that gods desired mortal worship, though the exact reason why was unclear; the reason Lex had heard the most was that worship empowered the gods somehow, or gave them some other sort of advantage in their jockeying for position and influence amongst each other, but even that was just a rumor.
Still, there was no doubt in his mind that the adulation of mortals was extremely important to deities. The reason he had ended up in Kara’s realm before was because she had wanted them to lead her to Equestria, which Lex and his companions had been wholly unwilling to do. It was obvious, at least to Lex, why she would have wanted that. Equestria was a realm where religion was unknown, and so presented a vast new swath of potential worshippers for Everglow’s deities. It was a desire that he fully intended to leverage.
“What do you mean, upstart?” Slowly, the Night Mare returned to all fours, the massless weight on Lex’s body receding as she did so. Her expression of anger was now replaced with one of gelid consideration.
Now, Lex knew, was the time to make his pitch, while he had her interest. “Equestria’s ruling princesses have granted me authority over Vanhoover, one of its major cities. Just now, I’ve also assumed power over Tall Tale, another major metropolitan center. With both of them, I have control over a considerable portion of northwestern Equestria. More than that, I’m now in a favorable position to spread my influence south, along the coast. Once I’ve done that, I’ll have enough territory to formally break from Equestria and found my own kingdom.”
“Get to the point.”
Lex took a single step towards her as he spoke, making a show of his resolve. “I am prepared to make you the patron goddess of my dominion. Your church will be part of my state, its clerics part of my institutions, its holy days celebrated by my government. No other god will be formally sponsored by me or my vassals in any area that I control.”
“And in exchange you ask for what?”
“Several things. First, I want you to restore the divine spells you were granting me before.”
The Night Mare snorted. “And you have no desire to receive greater spellcasting from me?”
Lex shook his head. “I don’t. I’ve seen what happens to those who receive sacerdotal thaumaturgy without first conditioning themselves via rites and prayers. The sudden influx of energy warps their bodies.” Hearing how that disgusting hybrid that called itself Soft Mane had been blinded by the power Lashtada had forced on her, Lex had no desire to strain his body further with more magic than it could easily hold.
“What else, then?”
“I require a magical artifact, one of unsurpassed power, so that I can easily replenish my own magic. I don’t care what it is or what it does, so long as it’s easily portable and not debilitating to me. And that’s not all.”
The Night Mare’s eyes narrowed again, but she didn’t respond, so Lex continued.
“I have no doubt that I can manage the affairs of my realm more than adequately, but I have no intention of nurturing your faith only for it to turn against me later. Since I don’t know your gospel and can use only a few of your spells, I’m going to need an inarguable sign of your favor.”
“You doubt your ability to control those under you?” Her lips pulled back in a sardonic grin, but there was a dangerous tone in her voice, and Lex chose his next words carefully.
“No. But I will not allow religious zealotry to foment dissent against me. If I am the head of the government that your church is a part of, then I must have a sign of your benediction. One that will leave no mistake as to my possessing your favor.”
Her grin fell away, to be replaced with her usual scowl. Lex hoped that meant that she was mollified. Still, her voice when she next spoke was scornful. “So in exchange for your promise to spread my worship, despite your admission that you know nothing of it, you would have me grant you all of these extravagant favors up front? I suppose you want me to give you an army of monsters, too?”
Lex shook his head. “That’s everything. I can do the rest on my own.”
“Hm. I thought that you would at least ask for me to lift the tantabus curse that I placed on you.” She raised a hoof, and Lex’s shadow immediately arced up behind him, visible against the blue flames.
It was unexpected enough to make him gape, forgetting himself momentarily. “You did that? I thought…” he trailed off as he reined in his surprise, trying to recover his poise. He had been sure that that thing had been psychic backlash from the first time he’d tried this ritual. That the Night Mare had deliberately inflicted it upon him wasn’t something he’d ever considered.
“I did, both as punishment for your temerity in contacting me directly without an ounce of faith in your heart, and to see if you could overcome this crucible. I have to say that I’m disappointed. You’ve barely gained any control over this fragment of yourself.”
Again, Lex had to struggle to contain his surprise. That thing could be controlled? Gritting his teeth, he tried to deal with this new development. “I’ve had more pressing concerns occupying my time. That…thing is one that I fully intend to deal with, at a time of my choosing.” Her dark chuckle told him how unconvincing he’d been, but she lowered her hoof, and his shadow fell back, lost amidst the murkiness surrounding them.
Eager to get past this derailment, Lex quickly pressed his original point. “Do we have a bargain, then?”
The Night Mare’s face tightened. “I don’t need you in order to gain access to this world, you know. I have several other potentials that I’m evaluating even now.”
“And do any of them have a fraction of my ability or my ambition? Or are they mere malcontents, unable to accomplish even a portion of what I can?” Lex made a dismissive gesture, confident that she’d know that it was with regards to those other “potentials” and not herself. “I ask you again, do we have a bargain?”
After a long moment of silence, the Night Mare answered. “Very well, then. But there’s one additional stipulation that I will have from you, and it is not negotiable.”
Lex tensed, wary. “And that would be?”
Her cruel grin returned as she answered. “Your soul.”