Derrick’s exhausted groans of pain had faded in the cavern, but purged from his shivering form were the impurities that were desperately forced out, his eyes still shut tight as Nightmare Moon remained at his side with her wing around him.

It eased her mind a little to finally have him out of the water and next to a roaring fire after hours of watching him suffer. She did not permit Lilith or Zelda to comfort her human, not even come within ten feet, as it was certain in her heart that his pain started with those new companions of theirs.

Strangely though, on the other side of the campfire, Lilith was working hard at studying the one impurity that gave her dark lord a struggle for air during his torturous ascension. This mysterious unicorn examined what appeared to be a disfigured ball of flesh that was still steaming after being expelled from Derrick. It twitched and oozed a sickly blackness that bubbled in the bile and blood, as if it were alive but slowly dying at the same.

“This is not normal,” Lilith said to herself while compressing her aura into a blade.

She attempted to cut the flesh in half and succeeded, that is until the results were very minimum with the inside looking the same as it was on the outer layer.

NIghtmare Moon looked past the burning flames and glared at the unicorn. “Which part of this situation would you call normal?” She asked angrily, getting the mare’s attention. “Ever since Derrick and I were brought here, it has been nothing but confusion and pain for him. Nothing about this makes sense, and it started with that thing over there.”

Nightmare Moon shot a nasty look at the Omni-Drake, watching the beast sit on her haunches and stare at the man still. She was ignored however, as Zelda cared for nothing but for her master to be alright—that much could be understood of the creature with her constant staring and whimpering.

Zelda would pace around the couple from time-to-time, but whenever she got too close to Derrick she was met with the Dark Moon Queen’s threatening snarls and promises of turning her into a feast that would feed her subjects for a month. It was truly heartbreaking for Zelda to remain distant when all she wanted was to help in any way she could.

The next sound that escaped the man alarmed Nightmare Moon. She broke her gaze from Zelda and looked down to Derrick with worry and desperation. Quickly, she lowered her ear to the man’s mouth and concentrated on what he was trying to say as it repeated over and over.

“Not. . . Fault. . . I. . .tried. . .”

Nightmare Moon could barely make out what he was saying and cursed under her breath after the muttering stopped, her hopes diminishing once more while the touch of his hand scared her.

“He’s going cold,” she spat at Lilith, who was unfazed by those words. It angered the alicorn. “Why is he suddenly going cold!?”

“Metamorphosis is a fragile process, young alicorn.” Lilth responded, confusing the pony.

The next couples of minutes were left in silence until she decided Nightmare Moon with words of encouragement and wisdom. She stood up and approached the two whilst maintaining a safe distance, trying to observe the boy as he began to cough harshly and spit out more the black ooze. She could swear that her brother knew exactly what he was talking about—how magic can can affect creatures in different ways. But for him to be on the spot about dark magic, the thought of him being right made her smile.

“He will be fine now that he’s out of the danger zone. This is the most dangerous step in metamorphosis, but now all we have to do is wait and see how he changes.”

“Changes?” NIghtmare Moon cocked an eyebrow at the unicorn who was nodding slowly at her.

“Mentally, sometimes emotionally, and right now—physically like his hand is showing,” Lilith said as she took notice of the second step already taking hold in a similar state she went through. “I suppose it was bound to happen after you two were brought here. That seal was making it difficult for his body to transform.”

“What are you talking about?” Nightmare Moon asked after watching Derrick’s fingers shift into the same slender blades, then into a single dagger, and finally his entire arm becoming what appeared to be a gauntlet before returning to normal.

A sigh of relief escaped the pony’s lips and she nuzzled her mate lovingly, but all too soon, the return of his hand became a bubbling of the skin, the hairs falling off and shriveling as it glowed with the symbols from before.

“It’s getting worse!” Nightmare Moon barked, smashing a rock with her hoof. “BUCKING DO SOMETHING TO HELP HIM!”

Lilth giggled into her hoof and enraged the queen, enjoying how ignorant this pony could be.

“It is not something I can help him with, it is a process that he must suffer through.” She replied in a sweet voice while getting comfortable, loving the feeling of cold rock touching her belly. God, she missed being in the real world.

“If something goes wrong, it will be your head!” Nightmare Moon threatened before nuzzling his cheek again.

Lilith put her attention on Derrick and sighed, before turning back to the worrisome mare.

“He will be fine,” she reassured, but the look in Nightmare Moon’s eyes was not very convincing. “The seal that Faust used to bind his magic has finally been broken.”

Nightmare Moon gave her a bemused look and scoffed.

“You must be delusional or stupid,” she insulted weakly. “Nothing, no seal, not even a jinx, was put on Derrick. That was the first thing I had the doctors check when I brought him home.”

“You had them search for a magic seal, but I can see it clearly and tell you that she used a reality seal.” Lilith pointed out. “She’s clever, but not that clever.” With that, the mare levitated a sharp rock and began drawing on the flattest surface next to her to teach the confused alicorn. “Here, look at this.”

Nightmare Moon was reluctant of taking her eyes off Lilith, but the drawing in front of her was too interesting for her to ignore. She grudged for letting it get to her, but something told her that whatever Lilith was trying to tell her would make a little more sense if she listened.

“Seals are the same with jinxes, they are made with magic.” Lilth started, drawing a few symbols here and there. “However, with a little twisting and turning, one can create a seal or a jinx outside of reality and use it to affect another.”

“These are the same symbols on his skin,” Nightmare Moon said as she stared at them closely. “But. . . They seem a little different.”

“That’s because these are the symbols of Faust’s magic,” Lilth answered. “What you see is an exact opposite of Raven’s, and Derrick has them etched into his skin to help destroy the seal that was placed upon him before his banishment.”

“But why seal his magic before banishing him?” Nightmare Moon asked, shaking her head at the unicorn. “Why go through all that trouble just to rob Derrick of his power? What’s the point of doing that to him?”

“Because she is jealous of her sister,” Lilith said in a cold tone, scaring her fellow mare a little with her neutral gaze. “She is jealous that Raven had the joy of giving birth to a human child.”

“Jealous over that!?” Nightmare Moon mocked, laughing from the deepest parts of her lungs and shedding tears. She had to wipe her eyes to see that Lilith was not joking at all.

Suddenly, the laughter was killed with coldness of Lilith’s eyes turning into a chill on her face. The bemused look now a deadly stare that made the alicorn ruffle her wings a little.

“You fail to understand the depth’s that mare will go;” Lilith added. “Think about it; has Derrick shown any symptoms to his magic wanting control?”

Nightmare Moon shook her head and clarified:

“Magic that tries to control the host is known to be parasitic, but thank the stars his is symbiotic.”

“Very well,” Lilith nodded, her face still as cold as ever. “But what has it done since then?”

“It’s done nothing but grow and willingly serve him, acting as a defense mechanism.” Nightmare Moon answered, wondering where this conversation was going. “It even heals his injuries and expands his abilities.”

“And do you know anypony beside him having such a gift?”

Nightmare Moon took a breath and went to answer her, but she was at a standstill of words and blank in her thoughts. Eventually she pondered the possibility of another pony having those capabilities, maybe herself, but all recollection of her powers left her at a dead end, which made Lilith grin menacingly.

“No, you don’t,” Lilith said to her. “And that makes him deadly.”

Nightmare Moon took that as an insult for Derrick and scowled at the unicorn. She noticed though that Lilith was grinning at her mate.

“You’re a lucky mare to have been accepted,” Lilith insinuated. “Any mare, even myself, would kill to have a mate so powerful.”

“I did not fall in love with Derrick for what he can do.” Nightmare Moon said proudly, smiling down at her human. “I fell for him for who he is and what he did for me.”

“Oh?” Lilith mused. “I didn’t know he was chivalrous as well?”

“It wasn’t chivalry. . . It was a dream he had,” Nightmare Moon sighed, deepening her hold on the man. “You might find this pathetic, but when I could enter his dreams I watched him treat his version of myself with such kindness and care.”

The unicorn tilted her head, before a thought crossed her mind. A thought that almost made her disgusted of the queen. “You invaded his dreams?”

“Every night,” Nightmare Moon admitted. “But that one dream he had was so meaningful to me. At first I was just going to bring him home for Raven, but he stole my heart with that dream.”

“What was this dream about?”

“About how much he wished he could have met me,” Nightmare Moon told her, her voice warm and soothing as she nuzzled Derrick’s lips. “He made a fake version of myself and talked for hours about how beautiful and misunderstood I was, and how he wished he could’ve had the chance to help me.”

She looked up to Lilith. “But he saved me that night. I learned to love, and now I am loved in return.”

Lilith wanted to continue with their talk, but couldn’t help feel a little melted inside at how much this pony loved Derrick, a smile always on her face with every glance she takes at him. And here I thought magic was the greatest force. . . She thought while seeing how Nightmare Moon kiss him so lovingly. I guess Raven is right. It’s about what you will do for others, not what you can do.

Derrick groaned again, and Nightmare Moon laughed with Lilith as it died out. But this was particularly louder than before—not that it mattered anyway, as it happened again and he began to shift beneath Nightmare Moon’s wing before fluttering his eyes open. Despite this, neither mare noticed him slowly waking up until he realized that the itchy feeling on his face was feathers and he reached to push said wing off of him. His touch stunned Nightmare Moon, making her gasp, which caused the same for Lilith.

”Oh my god. . .” He whined in his head, sitting up very slowly with both hands rubbing the temples of his head. ”And I thought the last doctor visit was bad enough.”

Both ponies were not sure what he mean but guffawed nonetheless, startling the man out of his stupor to see that his favorite alicorn was lying next to him with the same wing firmly grasping his torso.

”Moon?”

“How are you feeling?” Nightmare Moon asked, rubbing his torso gently.

Derrick had to shake his head a few times before realizing that he was awake. The smile on his mare was comforting, as was it to be relaxed by her touch after seeing that she was holding him.

He made the effort to respond by taking a deep breath at first, but his throat burned worse than anything he’d imagined and tightly grabbed it with both hands. His pain made Nightmare Moon worry during the agony of having no ability to speak. It was like a hot knife had been driven through the middle and twisted endlessly before having someone rip it out and repeat the process.

Nightmare Moon, as she had when she doctored him the first time, had taken it upon herself to turn her lover over and forcefully remove his hands from his throats. She grit her teeth and stuck a hoof into his mouth before gently pulling the lower jaw down, her eyes brim with tears from the whimpering of her human.

“Let me see the inside of your mouth.” She ordered grimly as she took off a slipper and levitated it into the water, filling it with as much as she could.

Derrick did not respond with words but with his harsh coughing, blood landing on the alicorn’s fur as he shut his eyes and fought the urge to kick her off. But that did not mean he could stay still and endure the searing hotness that was tearing at his throat.

Nightmare Moon ran her hoof across his head, pushing the damp strands from his forehead. “It’s okay, baby. I’m not going to hurt you.”

She poured the water down his throat without warning, watching as he gulped the fluid and settle down a little, her wings resting under his back and head. She felt the anguish of his body burning through her own, but there was nothing she could do to take it away, rather feel with him how bad it was. She watched the effect of the water do as predicted and gasped before helping him sit up.

“He’s very swollen and red,” she said to Lilith.

“The bile must have been like stomach acid,” Lilith responded, pondering the theory. She tapped a hoof to her chin repeatedly. “This never happened with the king when Raven made him a child of the dark.”

Nightmare Moon turned back to Derrick and pressed her lips together. She shook her head and didn’t say another word, but ran her hoof across his chest, keeping him up right while doing her best to comfort him.

“We are not staying here any longer,” she helped Derrick to his feet but was caught in his hands and almost pulled to the ground.

She looked down to see that his legs were shaking, and felt her heart sink.

What is your magic doing to you?

“Can he walk?” Lilith asked, although it was pointless after seeing how difficult it was for him.

“He’s just got the urge to dance,” Nightmare Moon replied sarcastically, scowling at the pony before taking a deep breath and roaring: “LOOK AT HOW WEAK HE IS. DO YOU THINK HE WILL WALK AFTER VOMITING FOR HOURS!?”

“Right,” Lilith smiled sheepishly. “Dumb question.”

“Why is this happening to him!?” Nightmare Moon had enough of the unicorn playing her with small details and did what she was best at. She had never been so inclined as to destroying this mare, but wasn’t the time to show her true colors, especially in front of Derrick. She knew that something was very wrong here and Lilith wasn’t telling her. Why, she had no idea. But she was going to find out, even if it meant ripping the information out of her memory through the use of dreamscape.

When she was sure of having a good grip on the man she quickly wrapped a ring of her magic around Lilith’s neck and lifted her in the air. She had just lost all sense of kindness and she wasn’t going to let this mystery drag-out any longer, not while her mate was suffering.

Lilith could only struggle and gasp for air as the ring constricted, blocking most of her breath. She remembered through her desperation that she had magic to get out of this, but she didn’t have the time nor the concentration to use a spell that would free her from the alicorn’s wrath.

“A pony will change with dark powers—take me for example when Luna became me!” Nightmare Moon snapped, growling dangerously as she made the ring tighten even more. “But it does not cause pain or agony.” With that said, she pulled the struggling Lilith towards her until they were face to face. “You know something and you’re not telling me. Well you better, because Raven will not compare to what I am about to do to you.”

“Please. . .” Lilith wheezed, her ears red and teary.

Nightmare Moon’s rage was pounding for freedom and her tolerance of this mare was about to break. She was going to snap this pony’s neck and she would do it just to help get rid of her ugly mood. She Lilith violently, hearing the bones in her neck pop and crack. She’d had enough.

“TELL ME OR I WILL BREAK YOUR FUCKING NECK!”

Even Derrick had to look at his queen in surprise for that one. He’d never heard the f-word slip off her tongue and was worried that Lilith may very well die should she not say something to calm the dark mare.

“Okay. . . I will. . . Tell . . . You. . .” Lilith managed to gasp out, finding herself no longer thrown around like a doll and dangling in front of the pair. “Just put me down. . . Please.”

Nightmare Moon felt a small surge of triumph and dropped the pony on her butt. She was so certain in their talk Lilith would not dare oppose or lie to her. Still, a small victory did not mean it was alright to smile. She had an image to keep as the goddess that her subjects fear, and she was not going to be easy, not even with this new companion they have.

“So I was right.”

Her voice alone made Lilith shiver, those cold eyes, like death, drilling through her soul, ready to expunge the life out of her while she licked her lips hungrily.

“His magic is not just purging his body, it’s fighting that seal I spoke of— the one that Faust placed on him,” she breathed fearfully, stunning the two lovers. “It’s a deadly reality seal that activates when the host starts their ascension. It’s meant to erase their existence.”

“ERASE!” Derrick yelled, forgetting how damaged his throat was. The pain worsened as he looked to his mare for answers but was given silence.

Said triumph melted into fear for Derrick. Nightmare Moon fell to her haunches. Her mouth went dry as she became aware of the severity to their journey. Despair overcame the queen with an intense coldness in the pit of her chest.

How can somepony be so cruel?

“But it is not working,” Lilith added quickly, which gave the two some newfound hope. “The seal is still there and fighting, but it is losing to your magic. You have your mother to thank for that.”

“Bitch.” Derrick wheezed, glaring at the unicorn hatefully. A sigh escaped him afterward, but he was physically a lump of jello against his mare.

“How do we know he will be alright?” Nightmare Moon asked crucially. Her eyes bore into the mare after that same ridiculous yet infuriating smile was on her lips.

“If it worked, he would no longer exist and all your memories of him would be gone.” Lilith replied sweetly, making the two cringe at how joyful she could answer that.

Nightmare Moon had many other questions to ask, but her mind was taken from them by the hand that held onto her now gripping her flesh tightly. She looked down to Derrick and saw him on his knees and pressing his head against her side. The blood began to seep through his teeth and lips, dripping into her fur.

“Hurts. . .” Derrick groaned, holding his throat again. “It hurts. . .”

“I know baby,” Nightmare Moon cooed, leaning down and nuzzling the tears off his cheek. “I know it hurts, but we’re going to get you out of here.”

“Hurts. . .”

“I know, I know.” She shushed the man, kissing his neck before lowering herself. “Here, get on my back.”

Derrick made no disagreement. He nodded and positioned himself to hop on, moving slow, carefully lifting one leg over the mare’s back. Beside him, Zelda lowered her head as leverage to help him push up and fully ride the alicorn before she stood up. As it always was, his touch blocked all magic within the mare and left her with just sheer strength to carry him throughout the rest of their journey.

“There we go,” the alicorn sighed, getting a test of his weight by lifting him up and down in place.

“You are heavier than before.” She giggled.

Derrick could only lean over and stretch his arm out to give her the bird. But like every moment they had of her teasing the hell out of him, Nightmare Moon gave the dirty impression of wanting to get in his pants by sucking on his finger and looking back at him with lidded eyes.

She took her mouth off the finger after a good minute of watching him blush and said with a saucy moan.

“When this is all over, I am going to be your nurse.”

“If we want this to stop, we need to exit this forsaken castle and reach the empress.” Lilith interrupted, ruining the moment and trekking to a nearby corridor that Zelda approached.

Silence continued on after Nightmare Moon made sure Derrick was not going to fall off from so much embarrassment. Derrick himself had little to go about on refusing Lilith’s help after feeling as though he had been turned inside out, but still he wanted to be cautious and distant of her throughout the end of their journey in that damnable cave.

Lilith left her thoughts of escape and stopped next to Zelda. She listened as the great beast slowly lifted her cowls and proceeded to snarl at the darkness. They had a wide enough path to enter together, but the air wreaked with a foul odor that filled the unicorn’s nostrils as she lit her horn with a small orb of light. She sent a small, quick glare to Nightmare Moon and shook her head. She mouthed the word stop.

“What’s g—”Derrick’s weak voice was muffled by Nightmare Moon’s wing curling around his mouth.

Lilith slowly turned back to the darkness to frown at it.

“I was afraid of this,” she said very quietly. “Something has been stalking us the entire time.”

A terrible, gurgling roar struck their ears. They jumped back and stood behind Zelda, defending the frightened man as the source of this fear thrust its wrinkling form into the light and roared once again.

“IT’S A GORGER!” Nightmare Moon screeched, leaping as hard as she could from the beast as it rushed towards her. She had no time to respond when it passed Zelda and Lilith and lunged at her. Of course she tried to use magic to stop it, but the speed of this beast surprised her before it tackled her to the ground.

Her head hit the ground hard. She was in a daze as the muffling of her human became screams of pain and fright that echoed across the cave. She was forced to pause long enough to get her bearings whilst listening to Derrick screech at the top his lungs while Lilith screamed at her to get up.

“GET IT OFF ME. GET IT OFF!”

Blood seeped into the ground in front of the alicorn in a long trail. She sat up and shook herself to rid herself of the dizziness, and saw that the monster had its teeth in Derrick’s shoulder and was dragging him into the corridor.

“MOON!”

She was up and running in one smooth move, chasing Derrick into the darkness until her head hit what felt like a break wall. She quickly lit the corridor and found that there was nothing but layers of brick and rock blocking her way. Derrick’s voice however, could be heard past it and she became frantic as Lilith ran up behind her.

“DERRICK!” She turned and bucked the wall, but it was no good. It was too solid for even her to break down.

“Oh no,” Lilith said fearfully, knowing what just happened. “It took him there. . .”

“There?” Nightmare Moon questioned, spinning around to hold the pony by her throat. “Where did it take him!?”

Lilith could barely muster the courage to say the words that brought chills to her spine. Dread filled her. “It took him to the outer realm.”

“What? Why?” The alicorn snapped, slamming Lilith against a wall. “Why did it take Derrick!?”

Lilith breathed the words into her ear.

“To feed. . .”

Nightmare Moon dropped her, but she was given no time to despair or even think what it would do to her mate. She was immediately dragged out of the darkness and guided by Lilith to another corridor. It took a moment to realize that she was running, following the unicorn through the blackness to reach another room.

“We have to reach Raven,” Lilith told her in a panic. “Only she can enter that realm.”

Time was not on their side.

Author's Notes:

Well, I just did that. Prepare for some intense monster-fest and a riveting battle between creatures of the night and Derrick's massive family of crazy but lovable ponies.

Oh yeah, and expect a very pissed off momma-alicorn when she finds out.

Anyway, sorry for the delay. Intense safety incidents occurred and I have been spending these last two weeks playing the asshole g.m. to get things back in order, and to clean the place up of stupid people.

I can't go into full detail, but I did fire a few people for this incident. Thankfully the victim is going to be alright, but this should have never happened.

Anyway, time for a little rest.

Remember to leave a like if you favorite this story.

Oh yeah, here's an idea of this so-called "Gorger"