Dark Star watches his wife, White Rose, move around in the kitchen. Her red mane and tail stand out against her white coat. She was putting together a lunch for the two of them. Her blue eyes lock onto him and she smiles. He smiles back and then glances outside. The sun was out and the flower basket White Rose hung up was in full bloom. A group of foals were playing at the park across from their house.
"Can you help me, dear?" Rose's light voice reaches Dark Star's ears and he glances back at his wife. She was trying to reach the picnic basket on top of the fridge but her hooves could barely not reach. Dark Star jumps up and walks over to her. He plants a quick kiss on her cheek before grabbing the basket off of the fridge.
"What will you do with out me?" He says sadly and looks her in the eye. Her blue eyes turn sad and she hugs him.
"Everything will be ok, Star. I will get a stool. Plus, who knows! You might get over this, its happened before." Star holds his wife close and sighs. "Your illness can be cured."
"Rose, the doctor gave me a year left. We don't even have kids to help you when you need it." His voice quivers some. Rose shakes a little, barely holding in the tears.
"My sister is having children, they will visit a lot. I will be ok! I will! Now, lets get out minds off of this and onto some delicious food that I made for us!" White Star walks over to the basket and starts packing the food into it.
"I love you, White Rose." Dark Star kisses his wife again and helps pack the food in the basket. "I will do anything for you."
The night was a cold, cloudless one. Dark Star makes his was towards the lake just outside of the Empire. There was a small dock leading out into the lake and he shivers as he makes his way to the end it. A gust of wind blows and chills him to the core. Dark Star pushes his white mane out of his eyes and squints them as he looks out towards the center of the lake. The sound of bells reaches his ears. He looks of the side of the dock and sees a small row boat with a bell at the front. Looking around, he jumps into the boat making it rock and a drop of water lands on his harm, making his dark grey coat even darker. He shakes it off and sits in the center.
A dark purple cloud surrounds the boat as it lurches into motion. Within seconds the boat reaches a little island and comes to a stop at another dock. Dark Star jumps out of the boat and looks back over towards the direction he came from. The main land was no where to be seen.
"Hello." Dark Star jumps and looks towards the sound. A black and purple unicorn is standing right in front of him on the dock. "Did I startle you?" The unicorn asks, a wide smile stretches across his face and he cocks his head to the side just a bit. Dark Star takes a step back and clears his throat.
"Urm, hello. My name is Dark Star, I can here to talk to-"
"No no no stop. I already know why you came here!" The unicorn cuts him off. "You have come to see the Dark Prince! That is me." The unicorn takes a bow and stays bent over. Dark Star fidgets and looks behind the unicorn at the dark forest behind him.
"Uh, yes. I have come to see Prince Royal. I have something to ask him." The unicorn stands up and smiles at Dark Star again.
"Follow me." Prince turns and starts to walk into the forest behind him. Star looks around him as he follows and watches as the trees around him seem to be growing at a fast pace. There were purple glowing spots left in Prince's hoof steps.
"And here we are!" Prince turns around to face Star and smiles again. "Welcome to my humble abode!" Dark Star looks around at the trees around him and scuffs his hoof in the dirt.
"Um, there is not house here, just trees." Princes smile fades as he looks around.
"Oh yeah I forgot." His horn glows and all around them the trees start moving, forming walls, leaving spots for windows. Stars jaw drops as he watches Prince form a castle out of the trees around him. "There we are! Welcome to my humble abode! Now lets make our way to my throne room!" Prince spins on his hooves and walks towards the huge double doors the trees had made on the other side of the room. Dark Star follows slowly, still taking in the surroundings. As they reach the doors they open with a flick of Prince's hoof revealing a huge room with a huge throne on the other end. Prince trots up to the throne and takes a seat, his golden eyes watching Dark Star closely.
"So, Dark Star, tell me what it is you came here for?" Star shuffles under the stare of Prince, his eyes looking as if they could see into his very soul.
"I came here to ask your help. I am-" Prince starts laughing hysterically. "Urm.. What is so funny?" Dark Star feels a tinge of anger and impatience with Prince. Prince wipes the tears from his eyes as he regains control over himself. He stands up and walks over to Star, no expression on his face. He starts to walk circles around Dark Star, eyeing him up and down.
"Am I making you mad?" Star stiffens and feels his heart start to race. Prince stops in front of him, his face just inches from Stars. Dark Star swallows and tries to steady his shaking legs. Prince smiles again and drops to the floor laughing. Star takes a deep breath and steps back a step away from Prince.
"I already know why you are, is what is so funny!" Prince stands back up and sits on his throne again. "You want a son, but you are terminal so you can not have one. You did not come here to ask me if I can heal you though." He smiles his wide smile again and cocks his head to the side, "You came to ask for the man power to make a son for your wife."
"Yes, that is true. How did you know-"
"Aha no questions. You wont like the answers!" Prince wiggles his hoof at Star. "Carry on."
"Uh, well anyways, I did come here to ask for the, uh, for a son. I want to be able to have a son with my wife before I die." Dark star lifts his head higher. "I want to have our name passed on." His voice quivers slightly. The wide smile returns to Princes face.
"Well, you do know that in order to construct a life, I will need one in return." An uneasy feeling washes over Star. "It would have to be signed over." His horn glows and a scroll appears in front of him. Prince lets if fall to the floor and it unravels before Star. Small writing covered the scroll from top to bottom, leaving a small space for him to sign it at the bottom.
"Let me just look this over real quick." He says as he lifts the scroll up with his hoof. Prince jumps down from his throne and snatches the scroll out of Star's hoof.
"This is a life contract. Pretty much,signing it you are saying that you are ok with giving your life for his. You are already a dead stallion, so nothing changes. Oh, and it says some stuff about how I am not liable for anything that happens as a result of the dark magic that I will be using to make this son of yours happen." He drops the contract back onto the floor with a pen and slides his arm around Dark Stars shoulders. "Just give it a quick sign, and you can be on your way!" Dark Star sighs and leans down, picking the pen up in his mouth and signing the paper.
"Ok, so what now?" He asks as Prince's horn glows and the scroll disappears. Prince's whole composure seams to have changed. Even his eyes had gotten darker. He climes back onto his throne and smirks at Dark Star.
"Now?" A quiet, dark chuckle escapes his lips. "You are a father. Your son will be born out of dark magic, but sadly, you will never meet him." The room around them started to move and tree branches slide and grab Dark Stars hooves, holding him in place. A dark purple mist fills the room and Princes eyes glow.
"For you die here."