Kalfu finished his walk through the Everfree forest, coming out of the tunnel that connected to his home before coming to the outskirts of Ponyville. He lifted his hand slightly to block the bright light of the sun that was beaming more than usual. Spring was indeed fading fast it seemed as the summer weather was making its way to Equestria. He looked himself over, making sure that he wasn’t sizzling or getting ready to burst into ash…nope, all was still intact “Okay…definitely not a vampire…whew.” he said in relief before he continued to float along the path that lead toward the town.

As he drifted along, a sudden surge of pain hit his body which made him stumble forward and fall on his hands and knees. The green fire began to flare up all over his body as the old familiar feeling of growing pains hit him for a minute before it subsided. It would seem that someone had found another one of his books or added another follower. However, Kalfu wouldn’t know this was the actual cause for a good while now. He just simply thought that his abilities were finally maturing after getting used to this world “Gah..I hope this doesn’t happen each time..” he said before he lifted himself back up, grabbing his cane before continuing to make his way towards town. As he floated along, he wondered how the ponies in town would react to his sudden physical change. He was still the same person, just older now.

“Can you believe it, guys? This book just fell out of the sky the other night in my bedroom window while I was sleepin’! It's soooooo cool!” Applbloom said as she walked along with her two friends, sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. “I dunno about this, Applebloom. I am getting some bad vibes from that book, I mean… look at the design on it. Doesn’t that look spooky as all get out?” asked Scootaloo as she eyed the bok suspiciously. Sweetie on the other hand couldn’t take her eyes off of it herself. She was rather fascinated by its design and was curious to see its contents “You know, for some reason that book makes me think of somepony. A new friend of Rarity’s…” she said as she lightly tapped her chin in thought.

As if on cue, the three little fillies suddenly bump into Kalfu who drifts back a bit, watching the three of them squeal in surprise as they fall back on their rears and look up at him with slight fear in their eyes as they gaze upon the tall ghostly man. Kalfu blinked a few times before extending a pale hand out to the three of them, splitting himself off into three copies so that he could help them all up at once before returning to just one “Pardon me, little ones. I tried to scoot to the side of you all but it looks like I was a little too late.” he said with a light chuckle.

Hesitantly, the three of them took his hand before being carefully pulled up to their hooves. Sweetie was the first to notice who this stranger was as she remembered the description of who her sister was swooning over day in and day out “Wait….are you the one called Kalfu…?” she asked as she looked him up and down, wide-eyed and mouth slightly agape. Kalfu nodded before tipping his hat to the three of them “That is me, little missy. Kaalfu, the Voodoo King at your service.” he said as he flashed them his signature toothy grin.

As he looked between the three of them, he noticed what Applebloom had held in her arms, his eyes widening for a moment before going back to a neutral expression. “My my my…seems that you young ladies have found something rather interesting haven’t you?” he said as he started circling them with his hands behind his back a few times before coming to stand back in front of them once more, his eyes not leaving the book. The three of them watched Kalfu cautiously as he circled them. But once they saw that his attention was on the book rather than them, they relaxed slightly. “Y-Yeah, it landed in my bedroom a few nights ago. Thankfully I was sleepin’ with the window open so nothin’ got broken.” said Applebloom as she took notice of the same book that dangled on a chain just behind his coat. “Hang on now…is that..?” she asked as she pointed to the book that hung on Kalfu’s hip.

Kalfu chuckled softly before lifting his coat to the side a bit, revealing that it was indeed the same book “You’d be correct, my dear. This is the original book itself. You are speaking to its creator.” he said as he released his coat from his grip before asking “Have you read any of its content yet?” he asked with a tilt of his head. Depending upon their answer, it may already be too late to warn them of what is inside. Not many children would be able to handle the way of voodoo and hoodoo.

They all shook their heads at once, making Kalfu feel a little bit of relief as he wasn’t too late. “I should warn you three about it then. You are free to read it to your heart’s content. But it may include some things that you will find rather…unsettling. While voodoo can bring about good things, it can also bring about chaos and misfortune. So, I urge you three to please…PLEASE be very careful with that. Understand?”. They all looked up at him, seeing the seriousness on his face and in his voice. While his concern wasn’t shown directly, they could hear it in his tone.

“Well..could you maybe teach us then? Show us the things that we would be able to handle in the book?” asked Sweetie as she and her friends looked up at him with hopeful gazes. Kalfu blinked a few times before narrowing his eyes, focusing inward on their souls. His gaze fell upon Applebloom first, since she was the one in possession of the book. Her soul was a multi-colored mixture of peach and yellow. Strong-willed and stubborn, but also very eager and willing to learn. He then shifts his gaze to Scootaloo, her soul a dark orange with a fiery aura around it. Independent and reliable, even if a little defiant. And finally, his eyes fell upon Sweetie, her soul was as white as the driven snow which glowed softly like a guiding light in the darkness. Sweet, compassionate but naive as well.

All three of them shuddered slightly as if they knew what he was looking at. He could see their souls wiggling and bouncing around in their bodies before he stopped focusing in on them while rubbing his chin in thought. ”Perhaps…these three would make for excellent voodoo practitioners if I guide them the right way. I will teach them what is suitable for their age as they get older…” he thought to himself before responding to them “Very well, I will teach you three. But you need to promise me something first. I want you all to promise me that you will follow my teachings the way I teach them to you until you are old enough to start branching out on your own. Is that understood?”.

All three of them gasped in excitement before nodding their heads enthusiastically while bouncing on their hives. Finally, something fun they could learn that didn’t involve school. “Yes yes yes yes! We promise!” they shouted excitedly as they jumped and pranced around him. Kalfu couldn’t help but smile at their excitement. While he never really showed this much enthusiasm to his own teacher, it was surely there on the inside when they took him in under their wing. It was certainly a warm and fuzzy feeling for sure. A former student now has his very own.

“Very well then. Shall we go and find somewhere to get started then? I know there is a nice stone table in the town park we could go to. Your first lesson begins immediately.” he said as he began to drift off down the road, the three fillies close behind him whispers and giggling excitedly as they couldn’t wait to begin learning something so outlandish and different from what they knew. Little did Kalfu and the fillies know that this was the start of an altering path of what these three were destined for. Kalfu was changing the flow of history forever and ever at this point.

Kalfu lazily levitated around the table that the fillies sat at as they focused hard on the open book, Kalfu holding open his own book with one hand behind his back as he started the in-depth lecture on the origins of voodoo. “What is the true definition of the voodoo religion you might ask? Voodoo is defined as a type of religious witchcraft. It is a syncretic religion that is a combination of West African vodun and Catholicism. The basic beliefs of voodoo involve spirits that are said to exist throughout the natural world, among the living. These spirits, or ‘Loa’, act as intermediaries between humans and the supreme god.”.

The three of them followed along in the book as he continued to go over the basics with them. Never before had they ever been so hooked on something that they were learning from someone like this. They were enjoying themselves quite a bit as they bombarded him with eager questions which he was more than happy to answer. After all, he was just as excited about learning this stuff when he was younger, so he had no trouble answering them. He was all too happy to do so.

“Sweetie Belle! Where are you, darling?!” shouted Rarity as she seemed to have made her way to the park in search of her little sister with Applejack in tow as well. It wasn’t until they saw the three of them sitting with Kalfu that Rarity gasped, making her way quickly toward them as she made sure her mane was pretty nice while Applejack just rolled her eyes with a smirk. “W-well hello there, Kal~. Good to see..you..again..” she said as she stood in front of him, gazing up at him now that he had a good solid foot on her in height. “Ooooh myyyy…” she said as she blushed hard as his matured features brought plenty of heat to her body, her tail twitching a bit.

“Really Rares? Come on girl, pick up yer jaw up off the ground.” said Applejack as she teased her friend. “Though, it is a curious thing. Last time I saw ya, both she and Ah were taller than you. That was quite the growth spurt yah hit there.” she said as she gazed up at Kalfu with her arms crossed and an arched brow. Kalfu simply shrugged as he didn’t know what to say about it “Eh, I slept for a few days then woke up like this. That’s all I know. I am just glad that I finally physically reflect my mental age now. Being an adult trapped in a child’s body is rather….restricting.”.

Kalfu turns his attention to Rarity who is still staring at him rather hard. She really, really liked how he looked even more now. His physical features were more sharp and defined like a dark and mysterious gentleman, as she had a weakness for males like that. “I-It's good to see you again, darling~!. I was starting to worry if something happened to you after the incident at the gala the other night. I am glad to see you are doing alright.” She said as she slowly scooted in closer to him.

Kalfu nodded and tipped his hat to both eh and Applejack before looking back toward the fillies who were still glued to the book “Well, if you are here for these three, I suppose the lesson is over for now.” All three of them look up with a synced “Aaaawwwww!” as they hesitantly close the book. Applebloom was quick to pick it up and hug it close to her chest, the other two folding their arms grumpily before Kalfu chuckled “Don’t you two worry, I got a copy for each of you.” he said as he held out his hands with a copy appearing in each one before Sweetie and Scootaloo squeal in excitement after taking it from him.

Rarity and Applejack lean out from behind Kalfu curiously as they wonder what exactly has their sisters so excited. Once they focus in on the book that Kalfu had given them, they blink a few times “And just what in the hay has them so excited about in those books ah just gave them?” Applejack asked as her sister skipped up next to her, still squeezing the book close to her chest. “Oh, just a little bit of history from where I am from is all. Don’t worry, I am teaching them responsibly. I have all the stuff for older ages magically restricted from their eyes until they are of age.” he said as he smiled and narrowed his eyes playfully at the three of them “That’s right you three, I knew you would be curious enough to do some reading on the sly. So I took precautions.” he said with a knowing smile.

While they were a little disappointed about that, they were still excited to learn what was allowed to them, Applejack and Rarity noddin in approval at his explanation before they sa their godbyes and headher off with their sisters to go about their business. As he got ready to go, he felt someone grab at the helm of his coat. He looked down to see Scootaloo hugging her own book while looking up at him “Hey uh…thank you for taking the time to teach us. This is some pretty cool stuff. Never in my life did I think I’d ever be so excited to learn something out of a book.”.

Kalfu smiled gently to the filly, placing a hand atop her head and gently ruffling her mane “Hey, it's no trouble, little missy. I remember when my teacher first taught me. I was absolutely hooked. So seeing you and your friends get so excited about learning the ways of Voodoo makes me feel rather good. I promise to be an excellent teacher to all three of you. But, perhaps you should head home yourself, huh? I am sure your mother and father are wondering where you might be.”. Scootaloo went quiet for a moment before looking down…then back up at him “I…don’t have a mother or father…”.

Kalfu blinked a few times as he felt his heart drop. He had probably just stepped on a landmine now “I am sorry…I didn’t know. Are they..gone?”. Scootaloo shook her head as she hugged her book close “No, they are alive. They aren’t around though. It's like they had me, then just up and left me without even saying goodbye.”. They both stood there for a good minute or two silently before Scootaloo looked up at him “Hey uh….could we hang out for a little longer? I’d normally go and see Rainbow. But she is out of town for a week and I don’t wanna go home right now. Please…?”

Kalfu looked into Scootaloo's pleading eyes. He could easily see that she was just wanting someone to keep her company and understood her predicament as he too grew up without his parents. He placed a hand upon her shoulder and crouched down to be at eye level with her “Hey, wanna go grab some ice cream? My treat. You can tell me all about your adventures with your friends. And I will tell you all about mine when I was your age. Sounds good?”.

Scootaloo didn’t say a word, she flapped her wings happily before leaning into him and throwing her arms around his shoulders, hugging him as tightly as she could as her tail swayed happily behind her. Kalfu was a bit taken aback by the sudden hug, his arms held out to his side before he hesitantly wrapped them around the filly. This was a side of her he never would have guessed she had. But, it would seem this rough-and-tumble little tomboy was just a little girl who needed a fatherly figure in her life. Little did Kalfu know that their bond would grow the more time they spent with each other.

Thanks to Darth_Krayt for the idea of beginning a bond between Kalfu and Scoots. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed perfect.

Also, I have seen some of you talking about Kalfu singing "Friends On The Other Side". Well, the perfect version for him if he did sing it, all the way down to how his voice would sound.
https://youtu.be/l5FAlWbN61s?si=-cTHIcPS8noFEHym