The night was a cool and crisp autumn one for sure, it seemed that the holiday that resembled halloween fell within the same time of year as Kalfu noticed all the pretty fallen leaves had changed to the fall colors he was used to. He walked the streets with his now half filled bag of candy as he had stopped by a few houses. He had placed a half skull mask over his face to guide the lower half, and his hat appeared to work in the fact that it was hiding his non-existent ears. Then again, it was Nightmare Night in this world. To them, he was just another kid dressed up for the festivities.

Kalfu did take notice that in his reflection back in the forest, he looked to be at the age of sixteen from what he could remember of his childhood. Which he didn’t mind terribly. Being given back his youth was a rather nice surprise all things considered. But, now wasn’t the time to focus on such things. He needed to test the limits of his powers and what he could do with them. In fact, he had the perfect idea on how to do just that and make some money as well…

After about an hour of scouting out the surrounding town and outskirts, Kalfu set up shop in what seemed to be one of the busiest spots. He had set up a rather spooky looking black and white tent and created a pathway lit with blue and green torches and a few skeletons in hoods that pointed in the direction that was to be followed. The question is…were these skeletons real or fake…?

Kalfu sat in his tent with his head lowered before lifting it up slowly. Someone was already coming to visit; it seems as a wisp circled around him and began whispering in his ear that his setup had indeed gathered the attention of a few curious souls. Kalfu made sure that everything he needed was on his table, the usual crystal ball, tarot cards, charms, the whole set up to make some good money. Spooky and mysterious sells big, even when it isn’t during the holiday.

Kalfu arched his brow as he noticed his first potential customer was actually a little colt dressed up in a pirate outfit. He knew immediately that this wasn’t going to end in money. But, he had a separate bowl set aside for children who’d rather pay in a few pieces of candy if that worked for them instead. Monetary value wasn’t all that he’d accepted after all. Given the service, he would even take the customer’s souls or what they value most as fair compensation

“Greetings young one. Seems my humble little shop has caught your interest. Might I interest you in a charm or a tarot reading? Or perhaps there is someone who has passed on whom you wish to speak to once more?” he asked as he began shuffling and breaking the cards up in the most flashy ways he knew, really trying to sell his presentation to the little guy “You….you can really bring someone back from the dead..?” he asked in awe as he slowly approached the table, taking a seat across from Kalfu.

Kalfu raised his hand and gently wagged his finger at the foal “Make no mistake, little one. The dead can never ever come back to life. Even through necromancy, you are simply shoving a random soul into a vessel that has been disturbed from its rest. Something that isn’t meant for innocent eyes such as yourself. However… I can bring spirits of loved ones who have passed on forward for a brief time so that they may speak with their living family or friends. Is there somebody that you wish to see one more time..?” This was the perfect time to test his abilities now. And he first wanted to see if he could conjure up the spirits of those passed to him.And this was the perfect time to do it.

The foal understood where Kalfu was coming from, but it didn’t deter him from what he wanted in the end “I wanna see my grandma! She passed away when I was five years old and I never got the chance to say goodbye and that I loved her…please.”. Kalfu smiled under his mask at this child’s love for his grandmother. It made him think of his own. He placed his hands upon the table, motioning for the foal to give him his. Once he gripped the young one’s hands, he closed his eyes and was about to start chanting before a light breeze started swirling about. Blue and green wispy lights began to swirl around inside the tent as the spirit of the foal’s grandmother began to take form in front of them.

”What’s going on? I haven’t even begun the proper spell yeti..how in the world am I just…making this happen?” he thought to himself as he maintained his concentration, but was still in awe at his own new abilities. After the summoning was complete, the foal opened his eyes and gasped in joy as the floating visage of his grandmother was smiling at him and waving. He sat there with ehr for a good ten minutes asking all kinds of questions and such that a child would ask of someone who has been away for so long on a trip. But, soon enough, it was time for her to return to the realm of the dead, wherever that was for this world.

The young colt turned to Kalfu before leaping out of his chair and wrapping his arms around his waist as tightly as he could “Thank you so so much, mister…you have no idea how happy this has made me tonight.” he said before grabbing his nearly overflowing bag and pouring half of his candies he had acquired throughout the night into the bowl. Kalfu would have been happy with just a handful though. “You don’t have to give me so much of your haul there, little guy. Just a handful will do.”. The colt shook his head multiple times at “No…I am more than happy to share my candy with you after what you have done for me tonight..in fact I am going to tell everyone I see tonight about your amazing services! Thanks again, mister!” he said before hugging Kalfu once more and rushed out the tent. Kalfu smiled under his mask before sending a wisp to help guide the foal back to the main path safely.

And tell others he did. Soon enough, a line started forming outside of Kalfu’s little tent. Adults and children alike come in for readings, spirit visitations, fortunes and even selling a few of his little trinkets. By the time the line had died down, Kalfu was sitting on an overflowing cauldron of bits and plenty of candies for him to indulge in. He was in the middle of unwrapping a full sized chocolate bar with almonds in it before a rather tall and slender pony who had wings and a horn peeked her head curiously. Kalfu’s green eyes studied her for a moment, looking her up and down as she slowly made her way in, having to duck slightly to do so “Excuse me, are you this…’seer’ that my subjects have been gossiping about?” she asked in a polite but authoritative manner.

Kalfu placed the candy bar down before picking up his cards again, beginning to shuffle and perform his flashy tricks once more. Subjects? That must mean she is a form of royalty. Kalfu did notice that she did have a sense of regalness and royalty to ehr appearance, almost divine even. Kalfu smiled under his mask and simply nodded as he flared his cards over his head and had them roll and tumble from one arm, down his shoulders and into the other hand “You could say that I am a ‘seer’ in a way. Though let me be clear, the things I see are merely one path that is possible. No one’s future is truly set in stone on a fixed path.”. He wasn’t lying to his customer. The things he saw for them could come true, but it was up to them in the long term.

The towering mare watched his sleight of hand tricks with awe and amusement. She got closer and closer before Kalfu suddenly noticed the amount of magic that was swirling within the alicorn which made him lift his eyebrows slightly”My goodness. Your power is quite sizable, madam. I can’t believe my humble little tent has brought someone like you here.” he said as he watched her sit down in front of him at the other side of the table now. He watched her eyes roam across his table, looking at all his curious items before finally resting her eyes upon him.

“Let’s cut straight to the facts then, young one. Your kind of magic is rather…foreign to me. Never in my life have I sensed such…what’s the word I am looking for for your type of magic? Hmmm ... .gray? Neutral…? It has a mixture of both dark and light.”. Kalfu chuckled softly before spreading his cards out onto the table as smoothly as one would spread butter on toast before speaking “While my main practice is voodoo and hoodoo, I am branching out and discovering new abilities I have recently acquired in my…reincarnation? Resurrection? I don’t know what to call it really.”

“So in other words, you are not of our world then. You are a foreign being who has come to make a home here, I assume?” she asked as she continued to watch him idly toy around with his cards. “You could say that, yes.I want to make known that I don’t intend to cause you or anyone else here trouble. Unless trouble is made for me. Balance is essential after all.” he said before placing his hands out to the side of the cards “Pick three if you’d please, madam. And no peeking.” he said as he watched her pick up three cards before handing them over to him.

He places the three cards face down in front of himself before flipping over the first one which shows him a rather artful image of her and her sister fighting a great magical battle “Aaah, sibling rivalry. You felt that your subjects loved her far more than you. So you took to becoming the villain and filled your heart with darkness…” he then flipped over the middle card, a smile forming on his lips “...But, you have recently returned from your banishment after a millennium, which has brought great delight to both your subjects and your sister. Congratulations to you indeed…” he then flipped over the last card, his face going back to a more serious one. “...Your future is filled with both happy and sad times…trials of great foes that you, your sister and your subjects will face. However, if you keep to your newly reformed ways and learn from those who will teach you, things will indeed work out in the end and this land will be safe from those who seek to harm or take control of it. Stay the course, and all will be well, madam.” he said before swiping the cards back into his deck.

The alicorn’s face said it all. Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened to the size of saucers as he accurately read out both ehr past and present when he didn’t know a single thing about her. Which made ehr think even harder about the last card her read for her, the future “By the moon…how is it that you can know these things without missing a beat..? I haven’t even given you my name yet..”. Kalfu lowered his mask before flashing her the biggest sharp toothy grin his face could manage “It is a simple mixture of both observation and magic. The way you presented yourself to me and your mannerisms told me that you were of royalty. That filled in a few blanks for me. Then the spirits searched through your heart and soul to tell me the rest. As for the future, well that is one of the many paths I spoke of that was revealed to me. It is more of a give and take situations when it comes to reading the future.”.

She continued to stare at him with great adoration as he explained how he did what he did “And you have been doing this all night long with other ponies? You are truly a wonder, young one. Might5 I ask who you are..?” Kalfu nodded before standing up, he grabbed his hat and swung it over his head in a flared gesture before placing it over his chest and bowing slightly to her “I am known as the Voodoo King. But you may call me Kalfu if it pleases you, madam.”. The Voodoo king? Was he royalty as well then? Did she need to show him the same kind of respect that those of importance showed one another? She quickly rose to ehr hooves before returning a polite bow herself.

“Ah so you are a king? Forgive my manners! Had I known, I would have presented myself accordingly..” she said in a slightly nervous tone!” she said before rising up from her bow. Kalfu shook his head with a look of amusement “Well, I am in title only. I have no actual kingdom to speak of. But the title was bestowed upon me of someone of…very high authority I should say. But, it seems that the festivities are dying down for the night. The spirits have told me that your subjects are returning home to slumber. Thus, I must go and find a place of my own to rest my bones. It was a pleasure to meet you…Princess Luna.” he said with a wide smile before placing his index finger to his lips and gave a slight blow as if he was blowing out a candle. Suddenly, everything went dark, leaving only a vision of his glowing green eyes before those to disappeared, leaving Luna standing in an empty opening turning in every direction looking for any sign of the new being she had been speaking with for the past couple hours. But, there was no trace of him or anything he may have left behind.

“ How in the world did he know my name...? What a strange yet compelling colt…I do hope to meet him again someday soon and introduce him to Tia. I bet she’d want to learn about him as well…” she said as she opened her wings and took to the skies to return home for the evening herself. And thus, things were set in motion for Kalfu’s new life in this world. And it was going to be far more interesting that his former life, no doubt about that.

I think I am really enjoying creating this story so far. Always wanted to bring stuff like this into the world of MLP.

May the darkness grant you peace.