//------------------------------//
// The Present Presentiment 
// Story: One Wish For Nothing 
// by BlackRoseRaven 
//------------------------------//

Chapter One: The Present Presentiment
~BlackRoseRaven

The two ponies walked side-by-side along the wide battlements of the fortress, fearless of the darkness and the grim shapes that moved in the shadows around them. The larger of the two had his head tilted back, a warm smile on his glossy black features, his gorgeous, curly silver locks floating silently in the wind as he remarked pleasantly: “This is a wonderful night, don't you think?”
The other figure sighed tiredly: he was wrapped tightly in a cloak, but it hung loose around a thin frame. Then he scowled as a sharp wind blew back his cowl, revealing that it was no normal pony... but rather, little more than a bleached skeleton, unholy crimson light shining out of his sockets and thin veins of what looked almost like crimson string pulsing eerily over his bones and along his rust-red horn. “It's a night. It's a night like any other. It's nothing special.”
“Do you always have to be so cynical?” The pony halted, looking down at him with amusement as his silver eyes opened, tilting his head as his smile became teasing. “You know, Antecedes, you could try and smile just once. Look, look at the full moon! It's beautiful! This world is beautiful!”
“Come back to me after you've been dead for a few centuries, and then we'll talk about how the night's so pretty.” Antecedes grumbled, and then he scowled over at the pony as he laughed and flexed his raven-colored wings almost eagerly... and his black horn rose high, gleaming in the moonlight. “Besides, I thought you were going to destroy all of it.”
“Well, yes, I am, Antecedes. But that's all the more reason to enjoy it while it's here.” the winged unicorn reasoned, smiling pleasantly as he looked out over the vast stretch of twisted, evil wood and dark swampland that surrounded his beautiful fortress for miles and miles around. And while it was a rare, clear night... normally the skies would be full of thunderheads and stormclouds and freezing winds that would help keep any spies at bay. Not that there weren't plenty of defenses in place as it was, after all.
Antecedes sighed and half-flopped over the narrow wall that fenced in the walkway, looking grouchily out through the darkness before he asked finally: “So what did you want to talk to me about? You said you wanted to talk to me privately.”
“I did.” The pony sat himself by his skeletal companion, leaning out over the battlements and smiling a little as he crossed his forelegs over the wall. “I think I've solved our little problem, regarding the Elements of Harmony. We're not going to go to them. We're going to lure them to us.”
The skeleton looked over at him dryly, then he said sourly: “That's a really, incredibly stupid idea. You're doing it again.”
“I am not.” The winged unicorn scowled at the skeleton, then he shook his head quickly before calmly brushing his coiffed locks back, saying pointedly: “It will save us time, Antecedes, think about it. And furthermore, we have the advantage here in our own territory, do we not? So it just makes sense.  I'll lure them here, we'll capture them, and then we'll move right to Canterlot to strike.”
Antecedes rubbed at his face slowly, and then he gestured at him and asked grumpily: “And what about Princess Celestia? And Princess Luna has returned, in case you forgot that important piece of information, and furthermore there's now a Princess Cadence as well. Also, I heard that Discord is actually helping the Princesses out these days. What if you invite them in, and we get a bunch of extra guests for the party? Hell, pretend your plan does go perfectly, we get the Elements, we head to Canterlot... how the hell do we pound our way through them, the Royal Guard, and everyone else?”
The stallion only looked at the unicorn for a few moments, and then he reached up and pointed at himself, asking mildly: “I'm sorry, I forget: am I not the Prince of All Evil? Am I not the most powerful pony in Equestria? Am I not the unchallenged master of strategy?”
Antecedes glowered at him, retorting: “Okay, first: stop changing your title, Prince of Everything That Sounds Bad. Second, your plans are not that great. And no matter how many steps you plan ahead, none of that matters if something goes wrong and all your plans go completely out the window. Plans and reality don't mix.”
The stallion scowled at the skeleton, but then he looked ahead and said dryly: “Well, I'm still more powerful than all of them. And it's not like we're going in alone.”
“Uh, I'm not leaving the castle. I don't like it outside. It's either cold and wet or it's dry and hot, and you're not dead like me so... don't give me that 'I understand' garbage.'” Antecedes grumbled moodily, shaking his head vehemently. “And power alone won't get you anywhere. Besides, I don't know if you really are stronger than Celestia. For another, say you are. There's still four or five of them and one of you. One does not equal five, kid. Do some math.”
“I am not a kid. I am more than six hundred years old.” said the winged unicorn pettishly, scowling over at the skeleton before he rose his head arrogantly, adding flatly: “And Celestia has grown weak, and we all know that everyone depends on her. But I can deal with her easily and the others will be no match for my powers. Especially some... puny little Princess of the Night. I can't imagine she's very strong, after all.”
The skeleton gave a short laugh, then he looked over at him and said pointedly: “Of course, I hate to point this out, but you do remember how Celestia beat the snot out of you and threw you into Tartarus, right? Because I do.”
“No, no, no. I am not having this conversation again.” The winged unicorn groaned, shoving himself away and storming as he strode quickly down the walkway, his expression childish and grumpy. Then he halted and glared over his shoulder when Antecedes didn't move, the skeleton only continuing to lean over the short wall as he gazed up towards the night sky.
Eventually, the winged unicorn sighed tiredly before tromping back to the skeleton, looking down at him sourly as Antecedes said calmly: “About, oh... five hundred years ago, give or take a decade, there was a pony who went by the name of-”
“I went by my title at the time. Master of All Darkness.” interrupted the winged unicorn loudly, glowering at the skeleton. “And Celestia, if I recall correctly... and I do... knew me by the name Black Shadow. Prince Black Shadow, Master of All Darkness, King of Evil.”
“Not to nitpick, Your Redundancy, but you can't be a King and a Prince at once. Unless you're your own son.” Antecedes remarked, and the stallion scowled at him horribly before the skeleton added meditatively: “Or I guess your mother was the queen and you married her...”
“Thank you, Antecedes. And I will not point out it is possible to have a different title in two different kingdoms.” said the winged unicorn irritably, glowering down at his companion. “Now, if we could skip the history lesson, considering it's my own history...”
“No, we're having this history lesson for a reason.” Antecedes retorted, shaking his head briskly. “Now, as I recall, Dim Dunn-”
“I am not Dim Dunn and he is not based on me! That is a foal's play!” snapped the winged unicorn, a faint blush tingeing his cheeks, but the skeleton only favored him with a look of ironic amusement... which just made him scowl all the more. “Just get this over with. Besides, I have taken on a new name-”
“I should point out that you can't keep changing your name every time you make a new plan, to try and pretend you've never failed before, or whatever it is you think you're doing. You act like when you change your name, you get to keep all the positives and drop all the negatives.” Antecedes said dryly, gesturing widely with one hoof before he pointed at himself. “I can call myself Mockingbird the Magnificent, but that doesn't make me either a mare or a comedian. I'm still a pile of bones. Just like how you hid your cutie mark doesn't mean you've also hidden your strengths and weaknesses.”
The stallion only looked at his companion grouchily before he said crankily: “You really think that low of me, do you? I am hurt, Antecedes. You of all ponies should know that I change my name merely to... to keep my legend dynamic. Alive. And to confuse the weak-minded.”
“You confuse yourself. Also, every time you change your name, we have to change all the embroidery and the tags and the property deeds, and we have enough to deal with without excessive paperwork. So please stop it.” Antecedes argued, sighing and gesturing at him almost pleadingly, and the stallion grumbled before the skeleton added in an empathetic voice: “And you could go back to using your real name-”
Immediately, the stallion glared at him, and the skeleton sighed and rolled his eyes before saying drolly: “It doesn't say much about your confidence as the ultimate evil if you think your name alone makes you a laughingstock.”
“My name is... is not important. Besides, you just told me that I shouldn't change it all the time. So let us simply stick to my current name and title.” said the winged unicorn stiffly, and the skeleton shrugged before the pony added quickly: “And the story goes that I fought her, underestimated her trickery, and she got in one cheap shot before throwing me into the evil darkness beneath the Pit of Tartarus, but I survived and escaped and here I am now the end.”
“Next time try pausing for breath before you tell the story. And you skipped over some rather important information. Like how you attempted to attack head on, how you were so sure that you were stronger than her, that very childish mistake you made-”
“And I have learned from my mistakes.” interrupted the stallion, as he glared at his skeletal companion. “I have a good idea of what these ponies are capable of, and I know that of all of them, only Celestia will have any inking of my true power. But there's no way she can have any conception of how I've grown and evolved over the time I spent in purgatory.”
The skeleton sighed and shook his head slowly, looking dryly towards the stallion and saying tiredly: “And there you go, doing it again. You spend so much time assuming that you're the greatest, and the most powerful, and prepared for every situation, that you're just... not thinking. You need to consider that maybe, just maybe, not everything is going to go to plan. That maybe, just maybe, you aren't the be-all and end-all.”
The stallion only grumbled under his breath, reaching up and flicking his curly mane back as he retorted: “Actually, Antecedes, I'll have you know that I have considered the slim possibility that I will lose, and my plans will not work out. And I am very well aware, thank you, that I can't do this alone. That is why you are here, and why I have that muscleheaded moron, and an entire army at my beck and call. I do not plan on doing all of this alone, and I have faith that, should something happen, at least one of you will come to my aid.”
The skeleton turned slowly towards him, cocking his head. “So you expect us to somehow know when to run in and help you after you manage to get yourself blown up?”
The winged unicorn rolled his eyes, saying sourly: “Oh, stop it. I know what you're doing, you're just... trying to annoy me now, that's all. Look, Antecedes, if you didn't have faith in me you wouldn't be here. So stop lecturing me like I'm a foal or I'll lock you back up in that mausoleum where I found you, and you can fester away there for all eternity.”
“That doesn't frighten me. As a matter of fact, I might even welcome it.” Antecedes muttered, and then the skeleton shifted slowly before saying finally, looking up towards the night sky: “And I wouldn't say that I'm here because I believe in you, precisely. It's more that... I don't have much of an alternative. And it's a fun ride. Especially if you do destroy Equestria and reduce everything to nothingness. I'll be very happy then.”
The pony smiled wryly over at his companion, then he shook his head and said softly: “You know, my friend... you may complain so often about your 'desolate unlife,' but that doesn't seem to stop you from trying to live it all the same. What will you do when everything's gone?”
“I suppose the same thing everyone else will. Nothing. But a whole lot of nothing would be desirable over this existence.” The skeleton absently picked at his cloak, sighing grouchily again. “I guess a long time ago I used to think like you do, kid. I'll rule the world, or I'll destroy it, or... I don't know, my magic will let me live forever. Well, the last part came true, but it turns out when you live forever, it tends not to be a very happy sort of existence.”
“I will live forever, and I am very happy with my existence.” replied the stallion mildly, winking over at the skeleton. “But I, my friend, am blessed with a great mind, great power, and a great body. Perhaps you should have invested a little more in... preservation.”
The skeleton looked sourly at the winged unicorn for a few moments, and then he said irritably: “You know, it wouldn't hurt you to learn just a little bit of humility. That's what I was getting at before, by the way, since that lesson has apparently gone completely over your lordship's big head.”
“Antecedes, please. You and I usually get along so well. There's no need to ruin that by acting so pedantic. Who am I going to replace you with, Neato Burrito?” the stallion said pointedly, leaning over and nudging the skeleton a few times. “Now come on, that's enough... history and lectures. Have faith in me, my friend. And why not have a bit of fun for now? Let's head downstairs and wait for our spies to report on Celestia's next move.”
The skeleton grumbled under his breath, scowling over at the stallion before he asked almost abruptly: “What about that piece of business you wanted to talk about, that was so important?”
“Maybe it's not that important after all, Antecedes. Maybe I just wanted to get away from everyone else and spend a little time with an old friend.” the stallion replied mildly, shrugging easily before he glanced out over the dark forest, smiling slightly. “Besides. We've already discussed enough, haven't we? We're going to lure the Elements to us.”
“And that's it? No thought, no plan, no additional information? Just... we're going to lure the Elements to us?” asked the skeleton waspishly, but all the same Antecedes fell in at the pony's side as the winged unicorn turned to stride calmly along the battlements. “Or are you keeping this entire plan to yourself again, because apparently-”
“Haven't you spent enough time lecturing me today? Come on, try and just enjoy yourself for a little while. And don't tell me that you can't, I know that you can at least manage to be a little fun at least. Stop being so... boring.” the stallion almost whined as they headed towards an open archway that led back down inside.
The skeleton turned his bony, permanent grin on the stallion with a little sound of disgust, and the stallion simply shrugged a bit before he added plainly: “It's a fair point, Antecedes. You really could... oh, what's the vernacular? 'Lighten up?'”
“Yes, your all-knowing lordship.” Antecedes grumbled, rolling his glowing red eyes before he said grouchily: “I have a better idea, though. How about instead of 'lightening up,' you instead 'buck off' and mind your own business?”
The stallion only laughed at this, shaking his head slowly before he said in an innocent voice: “Now you don't have to be so rude, old friend. I'm just trying to get you to be a bit more positive. And you should be! We're on our way, after all, to destroying everything that hurts us, that... that drives us down, that holds us back!”
The stallion scowled a little as they strode through the open arch, heading back into the fortress and down a spiraling set of steps as he continued in a moodier voice: “Yes, we have a lot to be proud of. We're going to conquer them, Antecedes, we're going to make them sorry for saying 'no' to us... they wouldn't let us help, or even share the blocks with us? They're so proud of their... their sandcastles, their houses of cards? Well, we'll just knock them all down, rip them up, take all the toys away! Then we'll see who laughs last! I never had any toys to begin with, after all, I won't cry when they lose theirs!”
Antecedes looked at the fuming winged unicorn for a few moments, and then he said dryly: “Yes. I'm the one here who needs to lighten up.”
“I... I'm fine. I'm perfectly fine.” grumbled the stallion, who shook his head briefly before he stopped at the bottom of the steps to calmly adjust his curly, coiffed mane, then rub at his face briskly for a moment before he gave a brief smile. “Your bad mood is rubbing off on me, Antecedes, that's all.”
Antecedes gave the stallion a dour look, and then he said finally: “You do realize that part of the reason you inspired Dim Dunn is because-”
“I did not inspire that... that idiot, that oaf! My plans are perfect, his are... his are stupid and silly! Stealing the sun's light to sell, that doesn't make any sense at all.” complained the winged unicorn even as he looked awkwardly away, flicking one wing in a nervous gesture before he suddenly turned a glare back on Antecedes. “And I thought I told you not to bring that up anymore, anyway.”
“I have no ears. That makes listening difficult.” Antecedes said acerbically, pointing at his own bare skull, and the stallion gave the skeleton a dour look.
“You also have no physical brain, and yet you're the smartest pony I know, Antecedes. And you're always complaining about being itchy.” the stallion replied grumpily, and then he smiled suddenly before striding over to the edge of the walkway they had stepped out onto, saying easily: “You need to relax more. So go and relax. I'll deal with business from here.”
“Yes, of course you will.” Antecedes sighed, looking exasperated as the winged unicorn hopped up onto the stone railing that went around the walkway, the skeleton pausing for a moment before saying finally: “Not to question you, sire, but I would like to ask if you've ever considered the fact you can fly down from this walkway to almost anywhere in the fortress... to be a defensive flaw.”
“Now, now. You know as well as I do, this fortress is really nothing more than a beacon for the forces of darkness we've been able to scrounge up so far, a... big sign. All the important chambers are down below.” replied the stallion mildly, winking over at the skeleton. “And it's not like I ever plan to run away from anyone who might be foolish enough to attack me, Antecedes. In fact, I'll be inviting our enemies right in shortly. They won't bother ambushing from above when they can use the front door.”
With that, the black stallion leapt off the rails and dove out over the labyrinth of disconnected walls that made up the various 'rooms' of the fortress, smiling calmly as he turned and flew sharply towards the end of what was really one massive room separated only by free-standing stone walls. And Antecedes sighed again as he leaned over the rails and watched the stallion fly off, the skeleton muttering: “You're underestimating tactical advantage again. And a few dozen goblins is by no means an 'army of darkness.'”
But by now, the stallion had already flown his way to the wide, open 'throne room' at the rear of the fortress, steering straight towards the immense, platinum and bone throne that sat on a raised dais on the far side of the chamber. And with only a flick of his wings, he spun around and landed neatly in the throne, front hooves behind his head and a grin on his features as he called easily: “Assemble! Assemble, my minions!”
Without looking, the stallion's horn glowed, and a small bell mounted on an iron rack beside him began to chime quietly away. It was a faint, pleasant sound, and the winged unicorn closed his eyes, his smile growing wider as similar bells began to chime all throughout the fortress.
Strange creatures looked up at these little golden bells almost fearfully, before the entirety of the fortress began to rush towards the throne room, beast-like creatures scampering over the walls and down the empty corridors.
The bell continued to chime, and the stallion closed his eyes, giving a pleased sigh before he reached up: his hoof hovered for a moment beside the golden bell beside him, and then he reached out and almost gently touched it, silencing it.
The moment it stilled, the rest of the bells went silence, and the stallion opened an eye before smiling pleasedly and clapping his hooves together as he exclaimed: “Excellent! Look at all of you, gathered here today, so promptly and so...”
The stallion stopped, his eyes flicking upwards to one unlucky creature that was clinging to the wall with three limbs, looking as if he had frozen just in preparation to leap. The little green creature was slowly toppling forwards, and the stallion scowled, his entire mood going from cheerful to irritated as he craned his neck towards the beast, glaring at him balefully as the rest of the army of wretched little creatures trembled fearfully.
And then the goblin finally lost the fight against gravity, falling off the wall with a squeak to hit the ground hard on its face... but to the little green creature's credit, it managed to stay surprisingly stiff, half-rolling awkwardly onto one side but otherwise keeping still.
The stallion gave a long, tired sigh, and then he reached up and flicked his curly locks back, remarking wryly: “You know, I have very few expectations of all of you. Very few. One is that when I ring the bell, you all come to me. And when the bell stops, you stop. It's that simple.”
The stallion took a slow breath, and then he reached up and flicked his curly mane back, saying in a more-amiable voice: “But today, I will have mercy. No, my little ones, come here. Come closer, sit, sit! All of you ran so fast and so hard to get here, didn't you, yes?”
The goblins all shifted uneasily, but then hesitantly began to nod as they looked back and forth at each other. Their warty, green faces twisted into smiles as the little beasts carefully made their way forwards and gazed with awe up at their master: a figure made unnecessarily enormous by his throne on the raised dais, considering the fact that none of the goblins were more than a foot high.
They looked up at him fawningly as he smiled and gestured down over them all, nodding a few times before he chuckled and dropped his hooves in his lap. “Yes, yes. I can be generous even to you little ruffians. I have good news, after all! My minions, today is a great day... the first day that we truly begin to move forwards to eradicating all who would stand in our way!”
The goblins looked back and forth, and the stallion glowered at them before one of the few diamond dogs suddenly brightened and hurriedly started to clap. Several goblins looked up in terror, but when the winged unicorn smiled, they quickly began to applaud wildly as well.
The stallion laughed loudly at this, almost bowing out of his seat as he looked back and forth over his army of yelling and cheering minions. He gestured at them with a wide grin, and they applauded harder and louder, some of the goblins whistling and diamond dogs howling, and the stallion drank all of it up, basking in all the attention...
And then the applause suddenly cut off as a newcomer smashed his way through the group, knocking beasts and creatures flying in all directions before the stocky earth pony skidded to a halt in front of the dais. And the winged unicorn was left staring blankly at the mustached earth pony, who looked up with what could almost be described as a snarl, his beady little black eyes gleaming before he glared over his shoulder and shouted: “Cheer! Cheer, amigos! Cheer for the boss!”
“Uh... thank you, Neato Burrito. That's... very helpful.” the winged unicorn said carefully as he dropped back in his throne, looking moodily down at the sand-colored earth pony, with his stuffed soft taco cutie mark... but he didn't quite dare to say anything as he rubbed slowly at his face, before adding pointedly: “Have we not discussed-”
“Yes!” Neato spun around, his eyes blazing, looking up almost fiercely at the winged unicorn and making him wince back in his throne. “But I cannot suppress my passion! My passion is limitless, my passion grows with every moment, my passion-”
“Okay, Neato Burrito. That's. That's very nice, thank you.” the winged unicorn interrupted testily, holding up his hooves and sighing tiredly. He hated that of all the ponies integral to his plans, one of the most important ones happened to be this... very peculiar... earth pony. But for now, he had other things to deal with rather than trying to make sense of his personal bodyguard.
Neato Burrito looked up at him with loyalty and adoration, and the winged unicorn cleared his throat before he awkwardly shooed him away with one hoof. Neato saluted him sharply in return, but thankfully took the hint and leapt to the side, almost squashing a goblin: he was actually rather short compared to your average pony, but he had a distinct bulk and weight about him that let him quite easily knock around most of the other ragtag army of darkness that had formed here.
The winged unicorn tented his hooves, looking meditative before he rose his head and said calmly: “My friends. I have called you all here because I wish to announce the name I will take, the name by which I will lead you. Oh, yes, I've been through a few different titles, but none have ever captured the essence of... well, me, as well as the name I have chosen to lead you by.
“You shall all know me as Morpheus, the God of Darkness and the Master of All Evil, and...” the winged unicorn stopped, then scowled at a goblin near the front of the group that awkwardly rose a little green hand. “Yes? What is it?”
“Uh... well, boss, technically Morpheus is the God of Dreams, and even though he's been misappropriated as an evil figure because of his relationship to the night, he actually is much more pleasant than his brothers Phobetor and Phantasos, and he is often described in old Equestrian literature as possessing a 'smiling face' and 'beckoning welcomingly' to those he brings dreams to. You know, dreams. Not nightmares.” said the goblin awkwardly.
There was a long, uncomfortable silence as several goblins looked with horror at their compatriot, and one of the winged unicorn's eyes twitched a few times before he suddenly smiled pleasantly. The goblin looked relieved by this as the stallion leaned forwards, saying kindly: “I appreciate your knowledge and candor on the subject.”
Then the stallion almost leapt out of his seat, his horn glowing as he bared his teeth and pointed sharply at the goblin, and the little creature gave a squeal of terror as green lightning zapped over his body before there was a burst of emerald static and smoke.
It cleared, and the creatures of darkness flung themselves away from what had been left behind, squealing and whimpering in horror: now, instead of a goblin, a green, ugly garden gnome sat, frozen in porcelain, an eternal expression of terror scrawled across its molded features.
Morpheus sat back, looking more irritated than anything else as he waved a hoof sharply through the air, snapping: “Have him sent to the gift shop with the other rejects! Perhaps he can do some good sitting on some pony's lawn instead of interrupting me and wasting our time with made-up nonsense he clearly knows nothing about!”
Two goblins hurriedly grabbed the statuette, dragging it quickly off through the crowd, and Neato Burrito nodded violently several times before he spun around and roared: “Yeah! You all keep that in mind! You don't ever forget who has the biggest cojones here, yeah!”
Morpheus slowly pushed his hoof against his face, dragging it slowly across his features before he said tiredly: “Thank you, Neato Burrito. Now, will you please... go away? Maybe you could go ahead and bring the next load of detainees to our little gift shop. That would be very helpful.”
“You got it, boss!” Neato Burrito turned and saluted sharply, nodding rapidly again before he spun back around and stormed after the goblins that were dragging away their transmogrified comrade.
The winged unicorn waited until these three had left, and then he sighed and rubbed slowly at his temples with his hooves, slumping back in his throne and muttering: “Where was I...”
Slowly, he took a breath and composed himself before raising his head and saying as calmly and pleasantly as possible: “Now. Let us try this again, shall we? My name is Morpheus, and I am the Master of All Evil and the God of Nightmares. Does anyone have a problem with this?”
Awkward silence greeted him as the goblins looked nervously between each other, and the stallion gave a thin smile before he dropped his forelegs along the throne and said grumpily: “Good. Excellent. I'm glad we're all agreed then. Morpheus: it is a proud name, suiting for a proud deity like myself. A name written in the stars, where I was always destined to be...”
Slowly, the winged unicorn looked up, falling silent for a moment before he shook his head briefly and murmured: “Yes. But that was all taken away from me... so now, my brethren, who have all had the light stolen from their lives, we shall take away from them, what they took away from us.”
Morpheus slammed one hoof down against the arm of his throne, smiling almost coldly before he shook himself out. His demeanor lightened little by little even as the goblins and diamond dogs all looked up at him nervously, until the stallion rose his head and said in a more-pleasant voice: “You should all be excited, though! Soon, all this hard work we've put in will be paying off. Soon, this whole nation shall fall...”
The stallion rubbed his front hooves together, grinning slightly before he sat up and looked slowly over the mass of minions crammed into the wide throne hall. The thronging goblins looked nervously back at him as diamond dogs shifted uneasily, none of them daring to look up at their master for more than a few moments before looking away.
Then, suddenly, Morpheus became serious again, pointing at a goblin and making the poor creature squeak in terror and drop to cover his head. But the stallion seemed to ignore this reaction completely, asking instead: “What is the status of our fortress? How have the construction efforts for my dungeons been going?”
“Uh...” The goblin looked up with terror before he swallowed thickly, carefully straightening as Morpheus narrowed his eyes at him, before the little green creature said nervously: “It's been going... as well as ever, my lord!”
Morpheus looked thoughtful for a few moments... and then he gave a brief nod before smiling and saying pleasantly: “Good. I am very glad to hear that. Not that we are not already a proud, powerful force to be reckoned with... but it never hurts to have a bit of extra security, does it? That was a lesson I learned a long time ago...”
The stallion chuckled, sitting back in his throne and stroking his chin thoughtfully as the goblins looked worriedly between each other, and one of the diamond dogs dropped his head and pawed anxiously at his face, eyes flicking back and forth fearfully. The only saving grace was that, no matter how powerful or intelligent or anything else their master was, newly-self-titled Morpheus also refused to 'belittle himself' by involving himself in the affairs of his minions. He would tell them to do something, then expect them to complete his plans... and only really notice that something was incomplete or broken when it was too late to do anything about it, such as when he was trying to put aforementioned plans into play.
Morpheus tapped his hooves meditatively together, then he drew his eyes slowly over the crowd before him before he frowned ever so slightly, like he had maybe detected that something wasn't quite right, like perhaps things weren't working out precisely as planned. But after only a few moments, he simply shrugged, disregarding this as he smiled briefly and reached up to adjust his coiffed, perfect mane, saying calmly: “Very well. I just wanted to inform you all of my new chosen title... and oh, yes. Very soon, we will be having some 'guests' arrive. Please ensure that they are treated according to their status as heroes... we all know how to treat heroes, don't we?”
Morpheus threw his head back and laughed, and the goblins and diamond dogs simply stared up at him with confusion, not a single one of the poor beasts understanding what the stallion was talking about. But when he looked suddenly down and glared at them, the entire army erupted into cheers and wild, terrified applause, and Morpheus smiled.
He was determined to get his way, no matter what: he believed, honestly, that he was entitled to having things work out precisely as he imagined. And when he looked over the scared, little-more-than-animals calling their praises up to him, he saw only the humble beginnings of what he so rightly deserved. And he smiled at them, opening his forelegs as he failed to imagine they applauded with anything but the absolute truth: that they loved him, admired him, believed in him.
His army of darkness cheered in fear of what their master could do to them, and he smiled over them almost mockingly, delighting in their praises and feeling almost a sadistic sort of sympathy for how gullible they all were. After all, it wasn't like Equestria was ever going to belong to the darkness, like he had promised.
You couldn't own something if it had ceased to exist, after all.