"So, the wight was defeated?"
Lady Midnight Black had always felt uncomfortable in the presence of Lord Scorpion. Since this was Lady Midnight Black, who routinely played games with the revived corpses of her enemies, and some of those games were of the 'Tickle Me' and 'Pick The Cherry Out Of My Mouth With Your Tongue' variety, it should speak volumes about how terrifiying Lord Scorpion could be. The pony was a massive brute, and enjoyed nothing more than bashing ponies to death with his bare hooves. When she stood in his presence, and he was making no effort to hide his bloodlust, Midnight Black felt closer to death than she ever did amongst her 'pets'.
And the fact that he could turn that terrifying bloodlust on and off like a switch made him all the more unnerving to those who knew his true identity...
The two were holding a brief conversation in the royal wine cellars. Since Lord Scorpion spent a considerable amount of his day here, and few, if any, ever came down here on anything other than business, it was the best place to hold a conversation undisturbed. The fact that the cellar was connected to a maze of hidden passages throughout the city was an added bonus.
Nodding, she admitted, "If by defeated, you mean that it was destroyed, then yes. But if you mean that, prior to its destruction, it failed in completing its true objective, you would be wrong. The creature was defeated in the presence of Princess Luna, and the blade it carried struck the emperor before the wight was vanquished."
Nodding solemnly, the leader of the Circle said, "Then the true objectives were achieved. Good. With any luck, two pieces on the opposing side will be removed. What of Lord Cockroach?"
Midnight Black sniffed dismissively, then said, "He's been given his test, and Lady Wasp will be in position to remove him, should he try to disobey us. If there was more time, I would have mobilized a squad of wights to infiltrate his manor to purge the staff, but I've arranged for it to be watched for now to make certain nopony leaves. Honestly, I expect he will rebel: The younger generation has proven time and again to be a disappointment. He might share our appetites, but he lacks the killer instinct to make him truly one of us." With a shrug, she added, "It is one thing to order a killing done, and another to do the deed yourself."
A slow smile spreading across his face, Lord Scorpion said, "Oh yes, I know that all too well." With a shrug that set his enormous muscles dancing, he continued, stating, "And the others have been told to make ready. I doubt that most of them will be able to contribute much to the war itself, asides from money for the war chest, but they will be necessary for the aftermath: When this is over, our faction will hold a voting majority amongst the nobility, and we can place whoever we please upon the throne... and Celestia will be unable to do anything to stop us, unless she wishes for the Crystal Empire to officially secede from Equestria."
The mare asked, more out of idle curiosity than anything else, "Any candidates in mind?"
With a snort, he said, "Were he to pass the test, Scarlet Wake would be a viable candidate: He might not truly be one of us, but he has proven skillful in keeping his true self hidden from those around him, and given guidance, he would make a formidable shepard for the masses. However, his ties to the last remaining member of his family makes him a liability. If he proves able to kill Golden Grace, he may have a future in our organization. If he fails... well, he knows far too much to be allowed to live."
"Understood." After a moment, Midnight Black asked, "Have you made all of the preparations necessary to relocate, milord?"
"Not quite," Lord Scorpion admitted, "but I expect to be done within the day. As useful as the royal wine cellars have proven to be, I doubt my identity will remain hidden much longer. Still, it has been quite pleasant, using the royal coffers to fund our... indulgences."
With a small laugh, Lady Spider admitted, "The irony was quite delicious. Still, all good things must come to an end."
With a rumbling laugh, Lord Scorpion said, "While the wicked live forever."
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Few truly understand the nature of evil curses, the undead, and other works of dark magic, primarily due to the fact that the creation of such things has been illegal for time out of mind. While this means that it is very rare for one to actually come across a master of the black arts, it also means that, save for those with direct experience with such things, anyone who encounters these dark works will be caught completely off-guard.
Take wights, for example: The creation of a wight requires a sizable amount of dark magic to be injected into a corpse. Since energy can neither be created or destroyed, that means that, once slain, a wight's body will radiate dark magical energy for hours, or even days. For most individuals, this means that if you hang around a wight's corpse for too long, you'll start getting ill. There are documented cases where a warrior, too exhausted to move from slaying several wights, sat down to take a quick rest, and dropped dead within five minutes afterwards... then rose from the dead as a wight himself a short time later. More problematic is the fact that a wight can hold a monumentally large amount of dark magic, on top of what is used for animation, and with the right enchantments, that energy can be set to be channeled into a specific individual upon release. If one is in a state that makes them especially susceptible to dark magic, things will get much, much worse.
Curses are another interesting subject: While it is possible to cast a spell that will lay a curse directly upon an individual, such a spell creates a direct link between curser and cursee. This means that it is possible to track the caster, and if the caster is killed, the curse ends. However, there are ways of implanting a curse into a physical medium, a self-contained curse that will be both untraceable to its source, and extremely potent, provided you provide it with sufficient energy to be effective. If you're especially clever (And Lady Midnight Black is clever indeed), you can rig the curse to power itself off of the life energy of the victim, which will cause it to be effective until the cursed victim is dead... which is perfect if you intend to curse someone to death. Of course, once the curse finds its intended target, it will result in the destruction of the physical medium, but that's a small price to pay... if you're as fantastically wealthy as a noblepony, and don't mind losing a magical sword in the process of destroying an enemy.
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Celestia, her expression one of great concern, asked, "Are you alright, Pan? You look a little... off." She, her sister, and Luna were standing guard over the wight's corpse while a a squad of guards were summoned to collect the wight's remains and take them away for examination. The would-be assassins had been dismissed, taken off to the guard's barracks to have official testimonies taken. It was important that things like that be done properly, after all.
Likewise, Straight Arrow and Wild Wing had left for the armory, in order to collect a bow and arrows worthy of the Emperor's new bodyguard. While the young pegasus' presence wasn't really needed, Celestia was not about to keep them apart: Few things were as powerful as teenage hormones, after all...
Rubbing at an upper foreleg absently, Pan admitted, "I'm a bit sore: It's been a while since I've gone full 'battle mode', and burning love that hard takes its toll. I'll be alright in a little bit." He'd mentioned before that, while no spell caster, he could use love to empower himself, but it was not something he did often. Still...
Raising an eyebrow, Celestia asked, "You, ah, glow green when you're burning love, right?"
Nodding absently, he said, "Right. Normally, it's blue, because my blood is that color, but when I'm using my powers, I glow green."
Her expression concerned, Celestia asked the bright green changeling, "Then why are you burning love right now?"
Looking down at his limbs in shock, taking in the green glow. Pan said, almost to himself, "Not good." His eyes had a faraway look to them for a moment, then he scowled angrily, stating, "Definitely not good: Something's trying to eat my life force, but my body is automatically replacing it by converting love energy: That's why I'm green right now. I think somepony just put a curse on me..."
Luna, surprised, asked, "You have experience with curses?"
With a snort, Pan admitted, "I've spent years living under Winter's curse. I've done some reading on the subject, hoping I could find a way to break it that didn't involve fighting him. Didn't work, but I learned a few things..."
"But when did you get cursed?" Celestia's expression of shock turned to one of anger as she realized, "The wight's blade!"
"Exactly," Pan agreed, growing concerned, "I should have realized when it broke like that: Enchanted blades don't break that easily unless they're meant to. Those twenty ponies weren't the wight's real target. I was..."
Luna, her expression growing increasingly concerned as the two were talking, said, "But you said that your body is using love energy to replace what is lost automatically, and you've been absorbing love non-stop since the day you arrived. So, this curse can't really hurt you... can it?"
Pan's expression grew distant again, then, his tone echoing the worry etched upon his face, said, "Normally, no, but... it seems like, the more it absorbs, the stronger the curse is getting, and the stronger it gets, the more energy it absorbs. It's a vicious cycle: The only way to keep the curse from killing me outright is to keep feeding it, but that's only serving to make the problem worse..." His tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth, he seemed to do some mental calculations. "Since we've been sitting here talking, it's consuming... ten percent, maybe eleven percent more per second? I can't say for sure, it's happening so fast. But to increase that much in only two minutes is bad. Given enough time... sooner or later, it'll exceed the amount of love I absorb, and then..." The catch the Celestia heard in the changeling's voice spoke volumes regarding the fear he was feeling. He might be putting up a calm front, although that may simply have been because the true terror of what he was facing had not yet fully set in, but he understood that his life was in very real danger...
Celestia, her expression stern, stated, "I won't let that happen. Let Luna and I take a look, and we'll see what we can do to shut it down."
Luna nodded, then said, "Right. I've got a bit of experience on this subject. As nasty as this one sounds, there's a number of ways to defeat a curse. I'll just need a moment to narrow down the right method." Luna's horn began to glow as she prepared to cast a spell, and then...
...And then suddenly she began screaming.
Celestia looked around, trying to see what was harming her sister. Pan, however, was the one who saw it first. Pointing at the ground with a hoof, the changeling drew the elder sister's attention to the source of Luna's distress: A black mist, previously unnoticed, was flowing out of the wight's body... and into Luna's.
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In the space between one heartbeat and the next...
'Luna...'
The voice that sounded in Luna's head was both soft and sweet, yet also deep and dark, like chocolate and honey mixed together as one. It was the kind of voice that one might be willing to spend hours listening to. The kind of voice you'd imagine your ideal lover would have. And yet...
'Luna, your sister is holding you back...'
And yet there was just the slightest hint of an undercurrent to that voice...
'She's envious of you. She knows that, given the chance, you would surpass her in all ways...'
The most subtle of impressions...
'You could fly so much higher...'
That beneath that sweet, delicious flavor...
'If she were gone, you could have everything you've ever wanted...'
...there was a razorblade, hidden beneath the surface, ready to cut the tongue of the unwary.
'Kill her, Luna.'
"I refuse. Begone."
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The darkness within Luna was struck mute by the princess' response. It had taken so long for it to get the chance to be heard, and she had refused without hesitation. But the darkness was so strong now, such a thing should not have been possible, and yet she had essentially given it a mareslap, one hard enough (metaphysically) that it had stung the darkness' metaphorical cheek.
It was all a matter of timing: If the darkness had struck just three days ago, when Luna was still weak, weary, and feeling horribly unappreciated, it would have had the princess hanging on her every word. It would have been over in seconds. But now...
...Instead of the easily molded clay of just a few days prior, Luna's will was now solid stone.
'But we could do so much better than her. If we were to just take down the sun, blanket the world in eternal night...'
"Then all life would end. The world needs the sun."
The voice hesitated at that. It was a supernatural embodiment of Luna's resentment, anger, and jealousy towards Celestia: Logic was not something that it was equipped to handle.
'But we could raise and lower the sun ourselves if need be...'
"Why should I have to? It's far easier when two can share the burden. Besides... I feel content in my current role."
Blast it, she was not making this easy. All of the little cracks in her resolve had been repaired, thanks to that blasted changeling and his interfering. Instead of feeling inferior to her sister, feeling unloved and unappreciated, Luna was now... complete. Whole. There was no longer an easy way in for the darkness to infect her completely. Forget a stone wall, Luna's mind was now sporting a barricade of solid adamantine. That was covered in razor wire. And was on fire. And was being guarded by angry tigers. That were also on fire.
A different tactic was going to be needed. If Celestia was no longer a useful target, then perhaps the changeling...
'Luna, Pan doesn't really love you.'
"He's never claimed to."
'And yet, you desire him.'
"Because of the..."
'No, you've desired him since the moment you first saw him. The potion is just an excuse.'
"...Maybe."
Jackpot.
'I could easily make him ours. He would never be able to resist our combined charms.'
"Maybe..."
'Just let me in.'
"No."
'Don't you want him, Luna?'
"I do..."
'Then why do you refuse me?'
"Because if he's going to be mine, I want it to be because of who I am, not because of whatever you are."
Drat. Well then, Plan C. If victory was not possible, then it was time to negotiate...
'You won't be able to help him as long as I'm here, and I'm already too strong for you to banish me.'
"I know. But I'm too strong for you to control me, else you wouldn't bother with trying to manipulate me."
'True. We are at an impasse. If we were to fight, we'd end up destroying one another. I certainly wouldn't want that to happen. After all, I am you, and you are me. So, I propose... a compromise.'
"...I'm listening."
'We'll each take what's most important to us: I'll leave your body, but I'll take the lion's share of your power with me. In exchange, you can keep your physical body, and I'll leave you just enough of your power that, in a few days, you'll recover to your full strength on your own. I'll find myself a new vessel elsewhere. Somepony who would truly appreciate what I have to offer...'
"...Very well, on one condition."
'Name it.'
"You leave Pan and my sister alone."
'...Deal.'
---------------------------
...Time continues.
Suddenly, an enormous mass of darkness erupted out of Luna with a roar fit to shake the heavens. The mass blocked the view of Luna for a split second, and when the the younger princess was visible again, Luna... had changed.
Where before her coat was a deep, dark blue, it was now a noticably lighter shade, and where her mane seemed to have contained a piece of the night sky within, it was now a normal looking shade of light blue. Strangely enough, she also seemed noticeably smaller and younger than before. With a gasp, Luna collapsed upon the floor, unconscious... or worse.
All of this was noticed in Pan's peripheral vision, as his attention was focused on the massive cloud of darkness that was filling the throne room. With a triumphant laugh, the mass proclaimed, "I AM FREE!"
That voice. No, it couldn't be...
The cloud escaped out the window, cackling triumphantly. Celestia looking in concern between the window the dark force had escaped from, and her fainted sister.
Pan shouted, "I'll see to Luna. You catch that thing before it can harm somepony!"
Nodding, Celestia sprang out the window without another word.
May future generations forgive me, Pan thought to himself as he took up Luna in his forelegs, breathing a sigh of relief as he felt a pulse at Luna's throat. I succeeded in preventing Luna from becoming Nightmare Moon... but I may have unleashed something much, much worse... with no means of stopping it.