//------------------------------// // 10 - Pandemonium // Story: Hell Yeah // by sunnypack //------------------------------// Chapter 10: Pandemonium Demons don’t necessarily like each other. Like mortals, we have demons that we get along with more than others. I, for example, have many demon ‘friends’. At least they claim to be my friends. They help me out, when they can, because I was their ticket to freedom. They’re friends, I’m sure. When the time comes, we were all demons that shared the same goal. Demons could trust each other that much… The next day we stumbled into the kitchen, probably looking like death from the way Velvet and Night Light were staring at us. “Goodness!” Velvet exclaimed as she came around the dinner table to greet us. “What happened to you two?” “Late night studying,” Twilight replied automatically. She plunked herself down at the end of the table and shovelled food into her mouth, not really chewing, just sort of trying to get food down as fast as possible. Even though demons didn’t need sleep, we could get tired and fatigue affected us as much as they did to mortals. Especially with the mental strain that came with learning a completely new subject, I was on the brink of face-planting into the food as well. I ate to keep up appearances through sheer force of will. Night Light evidently wanted to say something, but he teetered, looking like he was torn between wanting to help his daughter out, or leave for something incredibly important. From the way he danced on his hooves with his tie sitting askew on his chest, Night Light was clearly in a hurry to get somewhere. It was kind of funny seeing the stallion dress with a sort of half-shirt and necktie. It didn’t seem to follow any particular purpose than to look aesthetically pleasing. I guess that was the point of fashion, right? It’s form over function. That kind of thing. Night Light eventually ducked out, his face painted with regret. I wondered what was going on. Judging from his expression, it seemed linked to the death I had seen on his face the last time I met him. Under my breath, I whispered to Twilight, “Hey, your father has seen something.” “Bwuh?” Twilight chewed a couple of times, hastily swallowing her dandelion sandwich before attempting another reply. She almost choked and then downed a glass of milk before she went red. I almost chuckled but then remembered what I was about to tell her. She turned to me, saw my expression, and asked in a low voice, “What do you mean he saw something?” “He’s seen somepony die recently.” “Huh?” Twilight stopped eating entirely. “How do you even know that?” I shrugged. “When you’re around that kind of stuff long enough, you learn to pick it up.” Twilight played with her food a bit before formulating a response. “So, what do we do?” I shrugged. “I don’t know, I just thought you should know. It looks like there’s something happening with the Board or wherever your father works.” Twilight looked worried, but she seemed to come to a decision. “We can’t do anything about it, I think Dad… I think he can take care of himself.” I blinked at her. “Are you sure? I could go check on him.” Twilight stared at me. “You’d do that for me?” “Of course.” I found something interesting to look at on the opposite wall. “It’s a small matter, really.” Twilight gently nudged me with her muzzle. “Thanks, Morpheus, but we should concentrate on helping Alma.” “… Yeah” ————————— School was heinously normal. Time crept by at an excruciating pace while we whittled away the mandatory attendance and counted the seconds until we could freely pursue our goal. I ‘slept’ whilst Twilight secretly studied, utilising a double-focus that was impressive enough to disturb me as well as her peers. The teachers left her alone, except that greying stallion that had nothing but praise for Twilight. Every little question he sent her way was annoying in of itself. It bred the antipathy of her classmates and delayed Twilight from reaching an answer to our problem with Alma. Amethyst, surprisingly, left us both alone the whole time. Since I couldn’t study with Twilight, and being bored as I was, I listened in to what Amethyst was talking about with her friends. It was eavesdropping… like I said, I had excellent hearing. “What? You’re not going to bother the bookworm, Ammy?” “I don’t need to, Glitter. She’s not worth my time.” “What’s up with you? I thought you didn’t like her.” “I don’t. I can’t stand her stupid little face.” “Then why—” “Because I’ve got other things to do, Glitter.” “Hey, don’t let me stop you, I just thought we’d have some fun.” “This was never about fun. You of all ponies should know that.” There was a pregnant pause. “… Yeah, sorry, Ammy.” “Whatever, just drop it. Don’t look at me like that, Cream.” “Uhm… sorry…” “Look, Cream, if you want to move up in the world, you have to start looking out for yourself. If you want to make a difference, you have to start with yourself.” “Gosh, Ammy, no need to be so hard on Cream. But she’s right, you know. If you keep dragging your hooves, you’re not going to get anywhere. You’re part of one of the richest families in Canterlot, right? Act like it.” “Okay…” “That’s what I mean, you should tell us to mind our own business, or ignore me, or act like you don’t care, or something. Don’t just nod and agree. Ammy, say something.” “I’ve said whatever I needed to say. Now stop talking, the teacher’s looking this way.” “Hey, how come that Morpheus colt can just ignore the teachers, and we can’t?” “It’s because he’s probably got a huge backing, that’s why.” “Why’s he with Twilight, then?” “I don’t know. All I know is that her father’s somewhere in the government.” “Is that why you’ve stopped bothering her?” “No… well… that’s part of the reason.” “What’s the other?” “None of your business.” “See, Cream? That’s how you should handle somepony pushy.” “You’re freaking pushy, alright.” “That’s my Ammy. Oh, snap, look sharp!” The teacher interrupted their little get-together with a well-timed question. Amethyst was able to answer the question, but the teacher didn’t look satisfied with her answer, so he asked Twilight to follow up. Twilight reluctantly and succinctly provided an answer, which made Amethyst harrumph with an irritated flick of her head. But shockingly, even during the break, she didn’t bother Twilight, electing to ignore her completely. All in all, this day could not get more uneventful. “Hey,” Twilight said as we walked towards the library, “don’t you have a meeting with Amethyst?” I stopped in my tracks. “Oh, right, I promised her, didn’t I?” I turned to Twilight. “Hey, order me to stay, or something, then I don’t have to go.” Twilight frowned at me. “What would that accomplish?” “Can’t disobey an order, can I?” “You know my True Name, you know, you can disobey any order you like.” “Don’t you need my help with magic?” I asked, trying to keep the desperation out of my speech. Twilight’s raised eyebrow was enough of a reply. Cocky little brat. “Yeah, like you need any of my help with magic.” I moaned pitifully. “Come on, get me out of my promise, mistress?” “Morpheus, stop trying to use me as an excuse and go!” “I’m not getting out of this one, aren’t I?” “No.” “Aren’t you afraid I might become good friends with Amethyst?” “We had this discussion before, and we’re better friends, so there.” “… Right.” “… We are better friends, right?” I sighed. ————————— I saw Amethyst outside the gate. I was a little late because I spent a couple of minutes telling Twilight that we were better friends than I was with Amethyst. In fact Amethyst wasn’t my friend. For flip’s sake this was just a promise on the fly! I felt that the role had reversed and feeling thoroughly defeated, I went off to fulfil my word. Of course, on the way, I had morphed back into the form of a guard. I must admit, underneath that prickly disposition was a filly that looked like she could use some company. I mean by the Other, you should have seen her lonely expression just because I was a few minutes late. “You finally came!” She coughed lightly. “I mean, you came. Good.” She’s a bundle of problems, this one was. “So, what do you want to do?” I asked nonchalantly. “Don’t you have friends you can do this with? I’m not free all the time, you know.” “I know that!” Amethyst blew out a forlorn breath, kicking the ground with a drooping hoof. “I know that. It’s just that… I don’t really like going home and it’s not like anypony would be there even if I was. My friends only stick around me because of my family. I only stick around them because of theirs. It’s different. They’re not really my friends.” “Huh.” I leaned back onto the wall next to the school gate. “So, what, you’re just going to talk to some random guard and hope to be friends with him?” “No!” Amethyst bit her lip. “Yes! I mean, I don’t know! It was just the spur of the moment!” I held up my hooves as I rolled my eyes. “Hey, come with me.” I nudged her away from the school with my head, making her stumble as she yelped in surprise. “What? Where are we going?” “We’re going to get ice cream.” “What?” “Ice cream.” “What?” “Are you deaf? I said we’re going to get ice cream.” “I get that!” Amethyst snapped, rounding on me. “I want to know why?” I blinked at her. “Ice cream solves everything.” ———————— At the parlour, Amethyst was wide-eye as she observed me downing ice cream like water. “Woah, slow down, what are you doing?” I stopped midway, ignoring the various looks of bemusement and shock from the other patrons as I answered her. “I’m eating ice cream, isn’t that obvious?” “Are you serious right now?” “Yes.” I swallowed the ice cream and licked my lips. “I’m always serious about ice cream.” “You’re so strange, who the heck are you?” “I think you should be asking that question to yourself.” Amethyst sat back with a huff, annoyed by the evasive banter. “So?” “So?” “So what now?” I raised an eyebrow. “What are you asking me for? You’re the one who dragged me out.” Amethyst hesitated briefly, her muzzle twitching as she thought about her response. “Can’t you give me some advice?” I sighed, shovelling another spoonful of ice cream into my mouth as I savoured it thoughtfully. “I don’t know, maybe you should make some real friends?” Amethyst tapped her hoof on the table impatiently. “It’s not that simple.” “What do you mean?” I blinked at her. “You just go up to somepony and introduce yourself and then you talk about stuff.” “That’s not it. I have a reputation to uphold. My family wants me to choose the friends that will yield the most benefits.” “Friends you can’t trust aren’t friends; they’re just incidental partners. Besides, you seem to care about your current friends, right?” Amethyst sighed. “Yeah, but, well, it’s not like I dislike Glitter and Cream, they’re just so… they’re just not really girls I can confide in. I have to act tough all the time around them. Aloof. That’s what they expect.” “So… what you’re saying is that you want to make a friend that you can let loose around, right?” “Yeah.” “So why not this Twilight character, then?” See that, I can help you make friends. Two birds with one stone. “What? No. No way! How do you even know her name?” “You told me back at the library. Also, she’s better than you at school, right?” “No she isn’t!” I stared at her. “At least… not for long!” Amethyst tossed her head. “She’s such a loser, though. She’s even more of a heads down, do-what-you-say-rule-following-softie than Cream is!” I raised an eyebrow. She snuck into the Library through an interdimensional portal. She also summoned a demon. I was pretty sure both of those were severely against the rules. Twilight is the opposite of rule-following. “Who knows? Maybe you have more in common than you realise.” “You’re absolutely crazy. This isn’t going to work.” “Your ice cream is melting,” I commented. “It’s fine, I don’t feel like it.” “Suit yourself.” I reached for her ice cream, but she slapped away my hoof. “I didn’t say you could eat mine!” “Oh? Then maybe you should spend more time eating and less time talking.” “You—” I reached over again. She snatched it back and shovelled a spoonful into her mouth. “Youf beffer payf for thith!” I shrugged. “A guard’s salary doesn’t make much, but just this once, I’ll cover this.” I threw a sack of bits on the bill. Money is never really a problem for a demon that can conjure up simple clothes and armour. Just that they’ll disappear after I am sent back to the Other. If your money has ever disappeared from time to time, it could be demon-summoned money. Just saying. You have to be careful who you accept your cash from. The waitress came around and stared at the sack of bits. “Erm, sir, the bill is only eight bits.” I pulled the sack towards me and pulled out a few gold coins. “Is that enough?” “That’s a thousand bits, sir. I’m afraid I don’t have that much change on me.” “Is this enough?” “That’s two bits, sir. From two centuries ago.” “How about this?” The waitress pursed her lips. “Sir, that’s a brid—” I waved my hooves in a placating gesture. “Hey, hey, let me have one more try.” The waitress eyed me warily. “That’s not a bit. Is that Zebrican? And that’s a rare dragon gem. I’m pretty sure that’s at least a thousand bits in value too.” “Oh by Celestia! Here, take this!” Amethyst shoved the required bits into the waitress’ hooves as she walked away, confused. “What kind of guard has Zebrican coinage and a large diamond with him?” I shrugged. Just as I was about to reply, there was a scream on the streets. “Help! Guards!” Everypony was staring at me. Oh right, I’m a ‘guard’. After shifting myself out of the confines of the booth, I half-trotted-half-walked to the scene of the crime where a distraught stallion was pointing to a curious figure lying stricken on the cobblestone road. The somewhat picturesque scene of a city built into the mountains was somewhat spoiled by the grotesque withered form of a once-living pony. There wasn’t any blood, but I knew that stallion was dead. The clue was in the fact that there wasn’t a drop of blood left in his body. Also, he was about half the volume of a regular stallion. I’m rather proud of my observations, if I do say so myself. “What’s going on?” Amethyst asked. “Don’t look, kid.” “I’m old enough to see!” “Right, don’t say I didn’t warn you.” I stepped aside as Amethyst swallowed back a gasp. She trailed behind me, scrambling to get close to me as I examined the corpse more closely. “Definitely not her handiwork,” I muttered. There weren’t any claw marks and Alma wouldn’t be this meticulous. I reached out and touched the flesh. There was a residual aura on it. I could tell. This was a demon. “‘Her’, who’s ‘her’?” I glanced back at Amethyst who was staring at me. “Forget about this, kid. You have to go home now.” “Not until you tell me what’s going on!” “Can’t you see?” Amethyst glanced at the corpse and then back at me. She swallowed thickly. “You need to report this to the Princess, right?” I swept around, noting the gathering ponies. “No,” I replied quickly, “someone else will.” Amethyst gave me a funny look, but then nodded warily. “Okay, so where should we go?” Just as I was about to answer by leaving, I heard a voice behind me. “Ah, a guard is already here. Oh well. Sir, can you leave it to me?” I turned around and gaped at the stallion in surprise. Night Light blinked at me. “Sir?” I cleared my throat. “I’ll have to know on who’s authority—” Night Light seemed to be expecting the question because he immediately hoofed me a couple of documents nonchalantly as he examined the corpse, not even waiting for my reply. I couldn’t really leave, so I started playing the part instead. “I asked, who’s—” “Her Highness herself,” he added shortly, not even bothering to look in my direction as he all but ignored me. I glanced at the documents, but didn’t really take note of them. The seals and signatures held no meaning to me anyway. I gave them back dismissively. “That’s fine, I’ll stay out of your way.” That got his attention. “What?” He seemed to lose interest in the corpse for a brief moment as he looked my way. “Aren’t you guards always trying to stick your nose in our business?” I shrugged. “This is way outside of my payroll.” And I have to report this to Twilight. Night Light seemed to frown, but then spotted Amethyst and his expression cleared up. “Ah, alright, don’t let me hold you and your daughter up.” “My…” I swallowed down my reply as I turned around to Amethyst, nudging her away from the scene. “Who was that? Where are we going? Why are you letting him do what he likes?” “There’s no ‘we’,” I hissed, “but I need to go somewhere.” “Tell me what’s going on! You clearly know something!” “I don’t know anything, drop it.” I started walking briskly. Twilight needed an update ASAP. “Why are you going back to school?” I sighed. “Why are you asking me so many questions?” “Why’re you hiding something?” Amethyst shot back. I rolled my eyes at her. “What makes you think I’m—” Something was staring at me. “Hey, what’s—” “Shh!” Ignoring Amethyst’s fuming blown out cheeks and sulky look, I swept my gaze down the streets trying to pinpoint the strange feeling of something watching me. Something was there. “You feel it too?” Night Light asked me curiously, approaching from the side. I was surprised he was here, considering the corpse was some distance away. Did he follow me? “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Well that wasn’t a lie. I don’t know anything about the thing that was monitoring us. “You know, I could use—” Night Light’s words were cut off as I sped away in a dead gallop. I spotted a shadowy figure that slipped into the shadows as I sought it. Cursing, I redoubled my efforts, just catching a glimpse as it flittered on the rooftop and swung into an alleyway. “You’re not going to get away from me.” I growled under my breath as the figure disappeared around a corner. I was pretty fast, considering my mortal container, but this one was even faster. It felt like this thing had help, probably magical help. Leaping into the dead-end, I yelled bestially as I pounced forward and pinned it underneath my hooves. The thing squirmed underneath my hooves, growling curses and spitting at me in fury. It was a sprite. I didn’t bother trying to communicate with it, it would only speak to its owner anyway. What I was considering was whether or not I should get rid of it. The sprite bit into my fetlock, but I ignored the pain and just pressed the weight of my body forward in warning. It whined a little, but didn’t try anything else, going limp when it realised that struggle was futile. I should bring this to Twilight. As I was debating the logistics of trying to haul the pesky fellow, Night Light finally caught up to me, complicating matters further. I clicked my tongue, frustrated that I hadn’t lost him in the winding turns of the chase. “Ha, you’re fast!” Night Light huffed. “What’s that?” Reluctantly, I leaned slightly away to let Night Light have a look at the creature. “A sprite!” Night Light beamed. “Good work, guard.” With that, his horn lit a deep blue, enveloping the sprite in a field of magic as the sprite renewed its efforts to escape. I tugged away my arm as it tried desperately to hold onto me. What was it so afraid of? My suspicions were confirmed when Night Light drew out an Astral Pendant. How many of these did ponies have? They’re not exactly easy to make. The sprite was consumed by the Pendant. It glowed with malevolent actinic radiance as strands of voluminous luminescence coalesced around the ephemeral form of the sprite. It screamed something unrepeatable in the language of the Other with its final breath. Night Light blinked as he tucked away the Pendant. “I wondered what it said?” I considered this, then shrugged. “I don’t know.” Well, I wasn’t fluent in the Aeticulation… but I knew what it said. I could feel my lips draw down. If she was here, then this mortal plane got a lot more dangerous. Night Light looked at me with a strange expression before shrugging. “Alright, then, I’m off.” He paused. “You seem like the type that can handle yourself in these sort of strange situations; why don’t you head down to the Board if you ever have the time? Call out for me.” I cocked my head at him, but I really wasn’t paying much attention, my mind on what the sprite had just blurted out. “The Board…” Night Light blinked and turned back, just as he was about to leave. “Oh, uh, the regular populace doesn’t know too much of the Board of Containment.” This time I focused on him. “The Board of Containment.” He hoofed me a card. Night Light Head Executor of the Board of Containment I had a sudden premonition. “Head Executor of the Board Containment.” Night Light smiled. “You must be shocked to see that sprite. Don’t worry, I only capture creatures not of this world.” He gave me a serious expression. “You’re of this world, aren’t you?” I stiffened. “Yes, sir.” Night Light nudged me with his foreleg as he chuckled. “Just a joke, guard, no need to get scared. I may carry the Princess’ authority but I don’t abuse it. Anyway, if you’re interested there is this detector I carry… funny, why is it glowing like that?” I was just about to flee the scene, when Night Light simply shrugged and put it away. “Must be the dang crystal pendant. I swear Ibis keeps pawning off the faulty ones to me…” He shoved the sprite-infused crystal and the ‘detector’ into his saddlebags as he turned to me. By then, I had fixed my expression from ‘petrified’ to ‘mildly amused’. Night Light cleared his throat. “Anyway, gotta drop this off.” He rattled his saddlebags. “Make sure you drop by.” “Alright, sir.” I made sure to make my tone dubious. Like hell I would be anywhere near the Board, now that I know what it is. “Excellent, guard.” Night Light made to head off, but at the last minute turned back. “By the way, what’s your name…” By then, I had already left. ———————— I leaned back against the wall, sure that I had put enough space between Night Light and myself. I had travelled fast, but Night Light somehow caught up to me before. Clearly, the stallion had some trick up his proverbial sleeve to catch up. I shivered at his capabilities. If he carried another Astral Pendant, I might be stuck here on the mortal plane, and Celestia might even prefer it that way… better get to Twilight. “That sprite, though, why did she mention the Other. It’s a race against time, she said… what’s she in such a rush for?” Whilst mumbling to myself, I collided with a small, but soft, object. “Oh,” I said automatically, “excuse me.” The small pony I collided with glared at me. “I saw everything.” Amethyst took a deep breath, before declaring, “You’re not a guard, are you?” I narrowed my eyes. “What are you talking about?” Amethyst glanced back the way I came. “Let’s see… you didn’t react when someone called for the guard. You carry weird coins with you that are waaaay outside the pay grade of any guard. You were in the restricted section of the library at night. You also said ‘anyone’ instead of ‘anypony’ and I saw you with that stallion and how you reacted when he told you he was from the Board.” She stomped her hoof. “You’re not a guard!” I shrugged more in surprise than anything, impressed with her deduction. “Never said I was.” “You’re dressed as one!” “Just because I look like one, doesn’t mean I’m one.” “You lied to me!” “Correction, I just didn’t tell you the whole truth. You made the assumption on your own.” “Don’t play words with me.” Amethyst glared at me. “What are you, really?” I shrugged and remained silent. “If you don’t tell me, I’ll tell somepony about you masquerading as a guard!” I snorted. “Who’s going to believe you?” “S-Somepony will, I have a very powerful family.” “Uhuh and what are you going to tell them?” “That you’re a fake!” “And so this ‘fake guard’ who, by the way, looks exactly like a guard, took you to ice cream and told you he was fake on his own accord?” Amethyst pursed her lips. “You were in the restricted section of the library at night!” I raised an eyebrow. “So let me get this straight. You’re going to tell them you’ve seen this guard in the restricted section of the library. A restricted section for fillies like you, right?” Amethyst dropped her shoulders as the logic came crashing down. I pressed my advantage. “Yeah, don’t forget this was all contingent on you being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Also, I never said I was a guard, so technically, I haven’t done anything wrong.” Amethyst was still following me as I continued along. After a while, I turned back around. “Go back, kid.” Amethyst stomped a hoof. “I’ve decided that I want to know exactly who you are.” I rolled my eyes and started walking away. Amethyst called back out to me. “My dad’s on the Board! I could tell him!” That stopped me in my tracks. I turned around slowly. “So what? He isn’t going to find me.” “W-Well you can’t come to the school because he’ll post guards there that specialise in detecting whatever you are!” She grinned triumphantly as my brows drew close together in annoyance. She knew she had me. I wiped a hoof across my face. “Hmm. So you really want to know who I am?” Amethyst nodded. “Really?” I leaned in, showing a bestial expression. “You might not like what you see.” Amethyst took a step back, but her expression hardened. “I want to know.” “You’ve barely known me for a day, what do you think will happen? I’ll say ‘yes’, you find out, then you’ll live happily ever after? Are you daft?” “You’re the only pony that’s understood me. The only one that’s even bothered to listen to me.” “Oh come on, I’m just your emotional vent. Wrong place, wrong time, stop digging into this and trying to find meaning in it.” “Then why did you come and meet me?” “Because I made a promise to you, and I always keep my promises.” “I think a friend should keep their promises.” “We’re not friends,” I snapped, stopping Amethyst in her tracks. I stared at her with an intense gaze. “If you found out who I was—who I really am—you wouldn’t want to be friends with me anymore.” “That’s not true…” Amethyst bit her lip. “How bad could it be?” She squared her shoulders. “I promise it won’t change anything. My promises are as good as gold. I would never break them too!” I considered her statement for a brief period before snatching her up and whisking her into a side-alley. I stared deeply into her eyes, making sure she understood the depth of what she was asking. “Are you absolutely sure you want to be doing this?” I pressed down on her shoulders as she squirmed uncomfortably under the pressure. “Once you know, there’s no going back.” Frightened, but also carrying a hint of steely determination, Amethyst nodded. Making sure no one was around, I morphed right in front of her, showing her my ‘true’ form. “I’m a demon, surprise!” Amethyst took one look at me and then fainted. ———————— When I made my way to the library, I found Twilight in the restricted Level 4 section. “Not going to Level 6?” I asked in a casual tone. “No,” Twilight mumbled, finishing off a passage as she looked up. “I was planning to wait for yoooo—what in the hay is going on?!” Amethyst hung limp in my half-piggyback ride as I unceremoniously dumped her on the thick library carpet. “Oh, well, Amethyst fainted.” “What?!” “I couldn’t just leave her out on the street, I’m not heartless, you know.” “What?!” “Oh, I might have also mentioned I was a demon and that might have been what caused her to faint.” “WHAT?!” “She paid for the ice cream, so that’s why I didn’t leave her there, we’re not friends, if that’s what you’re thinking.” “That’s not what I’m asking, Morpheus!” Twilight stomped her hoof as she scowled at me. “Why did you tell her you were a demon?!” “I didn’t tell her, I showed her.” “Morpheus!” “Alright, alright, it was just in the spirit of the moment. She was practically begging me for it.” Twilight rolled her eyes up to the ceiling as she moaned. “Morpheus, what are we going to do?” “Hey why does everyone ask me that? It’s not like I know exactly what to do all the time.” “Morpheus, you’re not helping!” “Alright, alright, maybe I should drop her off at her house in her bed and then pretend nothing ever happened, good enough?” Twilight flicked her tail anxiously, her brows furrowing as she considered the idea. “Uhm… do you know where she lives?” “… I’ll figure it out.” Twilight ground her teeth as she frowned in disapproval. Her tail flicked in annoyance as she came to the realisation that there wasn’t another plan she could come up with. She sighed in resignation. “Don’t take too long, I want to get some of this research done at Level 6.” “Hey,” I called out to her, making sure I had her attention. “Don’t go down there without me, okay?” Twilight shivered. “Yeah, I don’t want to get caught up in any of that again.” Just as I was about to turn around, we had the misfortune of Amethyst coming to. “What happened…?” “Oh snap, Twilight, hit her with a sleep spell!” “What? There’s a sleep spell?!” Amethyst’s eyes shot open and she scrabbled to her hooves, scowling at either one of us in lip-biting terror. “Don’t come near me! I know how to—Twilight?” Twilight stumbled back and stared at me. “Morpheus, what do we do?” I winced. I was still in my demon-form, mind you, and Amethyst was now connecting all the dots. “Morpheus… the colt…?” Her eyes widened. “You mean it was real… and you’re with… Twilight?” I smacked my forehead. “Now look at what you’ve done!” “I-I panicked!” Amethyst was staring at me with an intense gaze. “So… you’re not a guard. You’re not a pony. You’re a shapeshifting… demon.” “Bah!” I threw my claws up in mock resignation. “You got me! Now what’re you going to do about it?” Amethyst stiffened initially and then sighed plaintively. “Nothing.” I blinked back at her. “What? Really?” Amethyst shot me a scathing look as she settled on her haunches and went about primly tidying her mane. “Yeah, like, who’s going to believe a foal that talks about shapeshifting demons?” Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh good, I thought we were in trouble for a second there.” “But… I could make it difficult for you two to stay together.” I stiffened. “What do you mean?” Amethyst sniffed. “You know, I never really bothered you two when you went off to study. That could change. You never know.” I narrowed my eyes at the precocious filly. “There’s something else, isn’t there?” Amethyst gave me a knowing smile. “Whatever you two are mixed up in, I want in.” “What’s to stop me from making this problem go away?” I flexed a claw. “Permanently.” “Morpheus!” I ignored Twilight, as I stared at Amethyst with sharp eyes. Amethyst didn’t budge. I caught myself being impressed when Amethyst simply tossed her head in derision. “If you could do that, you would’ve already.” She smiled at me. “But you brought me here instead.” “When did I become such an unthreatening pushover?” I muttered. “To be fair, you’re not as scary as you think, Morpheus,” Twilight added unhelpfully. Her weak smile wilted as I glared at her. Amethyst kept her eye on the ball. “I want in!” she repeated. “What?” I huffed. “No.” I turned to Twilight. “You don’t want her here either, right?” Twilight put her hooves together and nodded. “Actually, Morpheus, it might not be a bad idea to bring Amethyst along.” “What?!” I threw a claw in her direction. “Don’t you both hate each other?” “I don’t want to work with Amethyst, but the more help we get for Alma, the better, right?” I didn’t have much to say to that. Well, perhaps one more thing. “And you think Princess Celestia will be happy with this little arrangement? There are only two tokens, remember? It’s not going to work out.” Amethyst licked her lips. “Princess Celestia is involved? Now I have to be a part of this!” I swung around to Amethyst. “We can’t trust you.” Amethyst shrugged. “That makes two of us.” I rolled my eyes as I threw up my arms. “Alright, fine, but don’t blame me if something happens.” I glared at Amethyst. “Before you go about trying to make things work with us, you have to know everything about us first.” Amethyst snorted. “I already know you’re a demon, how much worse can it be?” “What you don’t know is that demons are summoned. We’re not some kind of creature that walks around Equestria. Also, Twilight was my summoner, that makes me her demon.” Amethyst glanced between us, taking her conceited attitude down a notch. “Okay… but what does that have to do with me?” “That means if there was any danger, I would put my mistress’ life before yours,” I stated bluntly. “Don’t think you’re more important than Twilight is. As it stands, she’s my best bet to getting out of here. You are an unwanted extra.” “Morpheus!” Twilight gasped. I flexed my claws. “Apart from you, Twilight, I’ve never seen a magus that cared whether a demon would live or die. You obviously do, but that doesn’t guarantee it for others. Just because Amethyst hasn’t done anything yet, doesn’t mean she won’t in the future. She’s typical of most magi: manipulative, cunning and believes in power.” I stared at either one of them, daring them to make a counterpoint. “Everything I’ve said was the truth and practical to boot. If she wants to risk her life, I say let her. But don’t expect me to save her if she can’t handle herself.” As my words sunk in, I could see Amethyst wavering. Her experience of me has gone from pleasant to outright hostile. It would be natural for her to have second thoughts. That suited me fine. “Morpheus, can I speak with you?” I shrugged and then let Twilight lead me into one of the many unused ‘study rooms’. Inside, Twilight closed the door and rounded on me. “Why do you have to be so mean to Amethyst?” “Why do you care?” Twilight snorted at my poor deflection. “Why do you care?” “I don’t want her here.” “You were nice enough to her at the library before.” “That was different, we needed a distraction.” “She likes you, Morpheus,” Twilight whispered to herself. Most beings wouldn’t catch that. I didn’t reply, despite that. Twilight sighed, trying to make eye contact with me, while I evaded her judgemental stare. “Why are you trying to get Amethyst to dislike you?” I hunched my shoulders and looked away. “It’s none of your business. I just want her gone.” “That’s the third time you’ve said that… but you never told me you dislike her or that you would rather she be hurt. Morpheus, are you…” Twilight’s eyes widened. “Are you trying to protect Amethyst?” I didn’t answer that, but the silence was incriminating. I couldn’t lie, but I didn’t know what to say to make it seem so. Still, I dredged up the last of my wits. “She’s going to be a liability for us, my first priority is you,” I ground out. “I know what you’re doing, anyway,” she continued in a stronger tone. “And what am I doing?” “You’re pushing her away. You want her away from the danger, right?” “A little danger can be good for you, I’m not her nanny.” “See, there! You’re telling these half-truths but I can see through it. You actually care, Morpheus!” “So what if I care!” I slammed a claw onto the table. “That’s right, I care! You have no idea what it means for a demon to care!” Twilight was grinning, despite my outburst. “But that means you can trust us, right? Caring means that we can help each other.” “Not everything has a happy ending, Twilight.” “What do you mean?” “Nothing.” “It’s not nothing, Morpheus. You always say it like you believe it, but you’re not being honest with me.” “I’m not lying.” “Honest doesn’t necessarily mean truthful. It means without deception.” I didn’t reply to that. Twilight came around the table and gave me an encouraging smile. “You can tell me, Morpheus.” There was a long pause between us before I answered her. “It means that when I start caring, when I develop sentimental attachments to the mortal plane, I can’t go back.” Twilight choked back her reply, her triumphant smile frozen on her hilariously blithe face. I couldn’t even work up the cathartic pleasure from that. I couldn’t take pleasure in her misfortune, because I had grown attached to her. Not only her, I had grown attached to her values towards life. And that was the very problem. The root cause of everything. “What do you mean?” she whispered. “It means that the very act of me caring means that I’m stuck here. I can’t go back to the Other no matter what. Sentimentality anchors me to this plane. There’s something about emotions that make it hard for me to release my essence and go back to the Other. The more I stick around you stupid ponies, the more I develop feelings. These feelings mean that it’s already… it might be too late.” Twilight took in my miserable tone and glanced at herself. “Oh.” I shifted my feet as I slumped into a chair, shrugging it off nonchalantly. I felt bad for telling her the truth, even though that was one of my highest values. I wanted to laugh in self derision. I was too far gone. “It’s not your fault, Twilight, but at the very least we can’t have more ponies joining in on this. This is not a game. I don’t want to lose you and I don’t want to lose anyone else. I just… I just want it to stop. I want to go back to the Other, but just when I found a magus that could help, I end up liking her so much that I couldn’t go back anyway!” I could feel faint prickling in my eyes as I raised my head to find Twilight hanging her head. “Do you realise the utter tragic irony of that?” Twilight was silent for a long time. When she finally spoke, it was barely above a whisper. “I’ll… talk to Amethyst about it.” I think the willingness for Twilight to face Amethyst alone for me was what made me realise the depth of my feelings. I had committed the ultimate sin. I had become attached to my mistress. I was probably no longer fully demon. —————————— It took me a while to piece myself together. I’m not usually like this… I told myself this. It was a cold hard fact that feeling sorry for myself wasn’t going to help anyone. I had to concentrate on what was in front of me first and then worry about the consequences later. Despite that, taking the first steps out of the study room seemed inordinately hard. I doubt Twilight had ever seen me in this state before. Angry, emotional, forgiving, scheming, all emotions that put me in a position I wanted to be in. Being vulnerable was never an option. It was never on the table. But. In a moment of weakness, with everything culminating into this moment, the barriers I held up for so long broke down. I was weak, and I despised myself for it, but even more humiliating was this sensation of relief. It was relief from lying. It was relief from lying to myself. And that’s what made me hate myself more. Amethyst was silent when I came to the table. We each sat down and stared at each other for a long awkward moment. She was the one to speak first. “Morpheus, I didn’t know, sorry.” I smiled thinly at her, but couldn’t work up the motivation to give her a response. Her hurt expression twisted in my gut, but I set it aside as I toughened up with a cough. “Sorry kiddo, it’s not like I wanted to become a bowl of tears and regret.” Amethyst chuckled drily. Then she turned to Twilight. “I don’t like you.” Twilight froze stiffly, evidently not expecting to be attacked in the midst of our sappy conversation. “I’m s-sorry.” Amethyst rolled her eyes. “That’s exactly what I don’t like about you. You’re smarter than me, you’ve got a better grasp of magic and you’ve got such a powerful friend! Yet… yet you’re like this! You’re a dumb pushover! You don’t deserve any of this!” “Sorry!” “Don’t apologise!” “So—okay!” Amethyst abruptly got up as Twilight hastily followed suit. She glared at Twilight, then turned around and gave me a weird smile. “Twilight can’t hold you forever. Come look for me.” With that, she abruptly turned around, flicking Twilight on the nose with her tail as we both watched her leave with gobsmacked expressions. Together we stood like dumb statues even when the door slammed shut and we could no longer hear anyone else. In the encroaching silence, Twilight spoke. “… She likes you.” “Shut up.”