“Augh, we are getting nowhere slowly.” Pear Butter groaned, her enormous head thumping into the meeting table.
From across the round table, a familiar pride demon drummed his fingers on the table, his face an impassive mask of annoyance and arrogance. Behind him were his two bodyguards, both of whom were a mountain of meat and metal. They stood easily over nine feet tall and each had what would be a two-handed sword belted to each hip. Their bodies were covered with spiked black plates, leaving only a narrow slit for their glowing red eyes to see out of.
Across the room, Pear Butter’s guards stood in a similar state of impassive apathy. One was a tall, lizard-like demon that wore thin plates across his already naturally plated hide. A pair of slim daggers was belted on either side of his body and a simple open-faced helm of burnished silver rested on his head. He yawned long and slow, his jaw dislocating large enough to swallow a creature roughly half his size before slamming shut.
Beside him a thin waspish insectoid demonette stood silently, her compound eyes staring off into the distance. Her form was covered in a tight-fitting purple, black, and red set of robes, her only visible weapon being a thin dagger belted to one hip. Her two lower arms gripped an enormous red tome with midnight black pages to her midsection, which was rendered redundant by the fact that thick chains wrapped around the book, up one of her upper limbs and coiled under her robes, quickly disappearing. Her wings buzzed at her sides, displaying the annoyance she felt as she watched the events unfold.
“Are you quite done?” the pride demon asked simply.
Pear Butter peeled her face off the table and sighed.
“Yes," Pear Butter muttered.
“Good. So where do you stand on putting the midnight compendium on the proverbial table?” The pride demon inquired.
The wrath demon sighed and ran a hoof down her face.
“That's not possible, as I’ve told you a thousand times now. We want the Equestrian, you want this mystery thing the master has. I’m here to trade those two things, and that's all I’m authorized to give up," Pear Butter retorted.
The pride demon scowled.
“And like I’ve told you, this isn't how demons negotiate, I need more than a simple one-to-one trade. Give me something, dammit," he complained.
Pear Butter gritted her teeth, her body growing an extra inch as she felt rage course through her. “And I told you that I can't do that. What part of can't don't you understand?” She growled back.
The pride demon pushed himself back and ran a hand down his elegant deep blue and black robes, making the outfit ring softly as the many bells tinkled an unsettling tune. “I see,” he muttered, before slowly standing. “Tirek obviously sent you to waste my time.”
“The master did no such thing, just give us what we want and we will give you what you want!” she yelled, slamming her now enormous hoof down with enough force to cause a spiderweb of cracks to form on the stone table.
The pride demon scowled at the crack, then back up to the wrath demon.
“Well, now you must give me something more. That was quite an expensive table, you know,” He remarked with a smirk, running a finger across its surface. “Made by dwarven artificers, then infused with their own souls after its completion. It cost me quite the pretty penny, you know.”
Pear Butter scowled before glancing back at the insectoid demon she had brought with her. The four-armed demon simply shook her head, causing Pear to turn and scowl right back.
“Bullshit! If this was dwarven it wouldn't break like the dime store crap that it is,” Pear Butter declared.
Then to accentuate her point she slammed her hoof down onto the table, breaking off a small section.
The pride demon sighed, pressing his fingers against his temples.
“Fine, the table doesn't really matter, but you have slighted me in my home and I expect something. Surely you understand at least that much," the pride demon declared.
Pear huffed, small embers shooting out of her mouth and bouncing across the table. Slowly the wrath demon relaxed, shrinking in size until she finally fit back into her chair. She turned to the lizard demon, who nodded and grabbed a bag of something from a hidden pocket before tossing it at the demonic pony.
Pear Butter caught the bag and tossed it halfway across the table.
“Fine, here's payment for your worthless fucking table. Now can we, please, just get this done? There is no reason this has taken over three fucking hours!” Pear Butter exclaimed.
The pride demon waved a hand towards the bag, his bluish magical aura reaching out and pulling it to him. Once in his grip, he loosened the string and looked inside, he gave the bag a quick bounce, counting its contents before tossing it over his shoulder. The guard to his left grabbed the bag out of the air and tucked it away in one swift movement.
“The table is settled...” He exclaimed with yet another smirk. “I still expect something more, but!”
He held up a finger, interrupting the angry tirade Pear Butter was milliseconds from launching into.
“It doesn't have to be a thing, per se," he concluded.
“What do you mean?” Pear Butter asked hesitantly, prompting her guards to share a confused and wary glance.
“You may not be authorized to offer me anything, but that doesn't mean you can't offer me certain… services,” he remarked cryptically, running his finger across the table in a slow, deliberate motion as if petting something.
Pear Butter’s eyes narrowed.
“What exactly do you mean?” She pressed.
“Well…” He began, dragging his finger back across the table before smirking. “I have heard many rather overblown legends of just how enjoyable an Equestrian wrath demon is and I would be more than happy to make the trade provided you accompanied me for an evening.”
Pear Butter’s entire body trembled, her horns sparking with power as her rage boiled over.
“You want me to what?” she growled, her body growing nearly three feet in the span of a second.
Her guards shared another wary look, with the insectoid demon already flipping through her book while the lizard demon gripped a dagger and eyed the exits. Across from them the pride demon merely smirked, leaning on the table while his guards both had their hands on their blades, eying the wrath demon cautiously.
“I just want a bit of company for a night of revelry,” the pride demon stated, splaying his fingers. “Nothing more, nothing less.”
The wrath demon’s chest pumped like the bellows of an enormous forge, causing the room to rapidly heat as embers poured out of her mouth and bounced across the table. Her eyes which had grown completely red twitched as she seemed on the verge of agreeing, yet couldn't seem to be able to convince herself. Going anywhere near the creep was anathema to everything Pear Butter stood for, but she had been sent here to make a deal, and this seemed to be the only way said deal was going to happen.
Slowly her body shrunk until after several tense moments she returned to her normal size, her eyes returning to their familiar gold.
“I w-”
Whatever she was about to say was cut off when the door suddenly slammed open to reveal a thin bony imp wearing nothing more than a simple loin cloth. The wretch scrambled over to the pride demon’s side and began whispering to the larger demon in a low tone, his eyes glancing towards Pear Butter and her guards occasionally.
After another tense few moments the pride demon nodded and the imp scampered away, the door remaining open behind him. The blue and black demon smirked, and stood suddenly, dipping into a slight bow.
“My apologies, but it seems as though something more important has come up. Let us take a moment to break from the negotiations, I greatly look forward to your response, Miss Pear Butter,” the pride demon exclaimed.
He then turned and left, leaving behind his two guards who stood impassively next to the door, watching the remaining delegation closely.
Pear Butter sighed and ran a hoof over the scales on the back of her head.
The lizard demon raised an eyebrow at his boss.
“Were you about to…”
The wrath demon shrunk, staring down at the floor.
“I don't know what I was about to say,” Pear Butter admitted.
She got up and turned to the door behind her.
“Let's find some refreshments and come back to this in a minute. I need to cool down," Pear Butter concluded.
The guards shared another glance before nodding, with the lizard demon taking point and opening the door, together the trio stepped out into the hall beyond.
Doors lined the hall, and the trio made their way to one near the end on their left seemingly at random. Pushing it open, they were greeted by a rather opulent lounge furnished with several lavish couches, piles of pillows, and a central table stacked high with food and drink. The guards took position on either side of the door while Pear Butter collapsed into a pile of pillows and grabbed a jug of something that looked like water before throwing the entire thing back in a single mighty gulp.
The wrath demon winced and ran a hoof down her throat.
“Doing that always gives me wicked heartburn," she muttered to herself. “Go figure.”
The guards both chuckled before the insectoid demon’s pocket suddenly lit up, unearthly red light pouring out of her robes. Reacting quickly, she pulled out a familiar-looking crystal and after a simple flick of her thumb the crystal stopped blinking. Instantly the face of their master appeared above her outstretched hand. He looked haggard, and weak, and stared off into space with a haunted expression on his face.
“Pear Butter, I have terrible news,” he began.
The image shifted to a distorted and hazy image of a room lined with hundreds of cages, in the corner a large armored demon walked towards them, a small purple bundle tucked under his arm.
“Dog has been captured. They are either going to kill her or sell her at which point she may as well be dead. My men won't be able to get there in time and it doesn't look good," Tirek concluded.
The image showed the demon throwing the bundle into a cage and slamming it shut before walking away and laughing.
Pear Butter gritted her teeth, barely holding back a growl of rage, her body having already grown to the point that she towered over her subordinates, flames crackling just behind her lips. She looked down at the insectoid demon and pointed a hoof at her.
“IS THIS RECORDING REAL?” Pear Butter demanded to know.
The insectoid demon waved a glowing hand over the crystal and nodded, causing the wrath demon’s fury to surge once more, thankfully Tirek cut in before she was able to say anything.
The centaur shook his head slowly, suddenly appearing much, much older.
“Avenge her, Pear Butter. I know you are angry with me as well and frankly… I can't blame you,” Tirek muttered.
He looked off to the left as if he was unable to meet Pear Butter’s gaze.
“WHAT HAPPENED?” she yelled, her voice shaking the very stone walls.
“She was supposed to be training with Sisyphus under his direct supervision while holding a teleporter crystal and being under my watch,” Tirek exclaimed, shaking his head. “I don't know how this happened, but clearly we have been betrayed.”
At the utterance of the word betrayed, Pear Butter’s body surged to new heights, her head crashing into the ceiling and long spires of bone burst out of the center of her spine and cascaded in both directions, from the base of her tail to the brow of her forehead. Both guards exchanged one last glance before ducking out the door, eying the ceiling nervously, the insectoid demon leaving the crystal on a table before beating her retreat. Somewhere in the distance, the sound of a booming crack was heard, accompanied by the rain of a thousand thousand pieces of glass.
Pear Butter paid her fleeing minions no mind, her gaze focused on the small Tirek head still floating above the table.
“You can trust me, Master, I will avenge her!” Pear Butter boomed, her body growing until her head pressed against the ceiling, causing it to crack. “This sniveling weakling will be crushed along with the worthless hovel he calls a home! I will dash his body against-”
The centaur looked up at her suddenly with a steely gaze.
“Give him hell, Pear Butter," he ordered.
Then the transmission ended, leaving the wrath demon alone with her rage. She quickly brushed aside the strangeness of the sudden ending, figuring that the centaur merely needed to get back to other plans.
Images of all the time spent with the purple filly came unbidden to the demon’s mind, further fueling her anger. The spines on her back grew until the ones on her head pierced the thin wooden ceiling. Flames poured out of her mouth and nose, her eyes became a sea of magma and her horns sparked, glowing with an intense golden light. Memories of teaching the foal how to fight, of when she was able to sneak away and help the filly with her homework, which had usually ended with the filly instead teaching her about whatever she was learning, filled her mind. Pear Butter's already thick scales grew thicker still, glowing with a cruel and twisted yellow illumination.
The demon threw back her head and collapsed what was left of the wooden ceiling, allowing her to surge several feet taller, the stone beneath her hooves cracking under the strain of her titanic weight. Her breath grew quick, the flames bursting from her mouth burning so hot that they turned blue. The couches erupted in flames, along with the pillows, and a second later, the entire rest of the room save the stonework.
The now eighteen-foot-tall demon breathed deep, her form continuing to grow with each passing second. The memories had slowly begun to fade, leaving her with the smiling face of the purple imp resting in her mind, only for that image to be replaced by a sudden flash of a similar-sized foal with butter-yellow fur and red mane. This filly did not smile, her eyes were closed, her features slack and her body still.
Pear Butter did not know who this filly was, but the sight of her sent a surge of such potent rage that her form doubled in size in the span of mere moments. Stone cracked and shattered, wood splintered and exploded, and all around her, the world burned.
The demon threw her head back, channeling every last bit of rage and confusion into an exhalation of fire that burned straight through the ceiling, erupting from the roof of the palace and shooting hundreds of meters into the sky. Her rage-filled voice screamed a single word.
“Nebuchadnezzar!”
Nebuchadnezzar ran a hand over his blue and black robes, strutting silently to the other side of the building, following the nervous-looking imp. They had just left the meeting room, and the pride demon was eager to witness for himself what he had heard. At his brisk pace, it didn't take long for them to reach their destination, which was a small nondescript room flanked by a pair of burly armored demons.
Stepping inside, the pride demon glanced around the room, noting the shape of his bulbous leather-clad master of torture standing nearby. The bloated demoness wore tight leather stretched over her obscenely fat body, barely containing the creature’s immense weight and making it spill out through the cracks. In her bulging hand was a large orb roughly the size of the demon’s head. At the sight of her master, she bowed slightly, her large lips spreading into a wide grin.
“Ahh, is this our little invader?” he asked, leaning towards the orb and peering within.
The demoness laughed cruelly.
“Yes, my master. This little wretch fell for your decoy crystal," she exclaimed with a smirk. “The simple fool.”
Nebuchadnezzar smiled, watching as the purple imp slowly roused from unconsciousness and began talking to the rainbow-maned imp in the cage next to her.
“Interesting," he exclaimed. "This will be a most powerful bargaining tool for Tirek. Either that or one hell of a gift for my favorite superiority demon.”
He took a step back and chuckled, only for his laugh to be interrupted once more by the same imp crashing through the door. The demon turned on his heel and scowled at the pitiful creature, rage boiling through his veins.
“What is it now?!” The pride demon demanded.
The quivering imp extended a hand that held a blue blinking crystal.
“It-t-t’s that crystal, boss! The one you said was for emergencies," he replied.
“Give me that,” The pride demon snapped, ripping the crystal out of his underling's hand. “Ahh, it looks like our old friend Tirek wants to call.”
The demon rolled the crystal around in his hand.
“I wonder what I could get in return for that miserable imp he's been dragging around these past few months," the pride demon mused.
The demon lifted the crystal and channeled a bit of his power into it, causing it to light up and display a three-inch tall visual representation of Tirek’s head. The hologram turned until its eyes met Nebuchadnezzar’s.
“Come to beg for the release of your pet horse?” The pride demon taunted. “Because I doubt you have anything our mutual friend wouldn't beat.”
Tirek shrugged, a small smile growing across his lips.
“Oh no, I’m not here to beg at all. In fact, I was hoping to hear you say just that," Tirek replied.
The pride demon’s smirk vanished.
“What in the hells are you rambling about?” Demanded the pride demon, bringing the crystal closer to his face and snarling at it. “I hold all the cards now, you fool!”
“Really now? Tell me, do you have an impenetrable shield protecting your fortress?” Tirek asked, the smirk never leaving his face.
“I...” The pride demon began only to stop.
The pride demon turned expectantly to the enormous demoness who waved a hand over the crystal ball, revealing a view of the entire castle from high in the air, complete with shield.
“The shield is fine, what are you getting at?” The pride demon demanded.
"Wait for it," Tirek teased.
“Wait for wha-” The demon’s sentence was cut off by the sound of a massive crack filling the room, accompanied by the rain of a thousand thousand pieces of glass.
Nebuchadnezzar spun to the torturer, his eyes blazing with fury.
“It-it's gone,” she muttered.
Sure enough, the orb revealed that the shield had indeed been broken, fragmented pieces of magic tumbling all over the castle grounds and breaking into smaller and smaller chunks before vanishing entirely. The pride demon spun back to the smirking face of his centaur enemy.
“What did you do?” The pride demon snarled, ignoring a distant rumble that shook the castle walls.
“First, you must answer a simple question,” Tirek began.
The image leaned a little closer as if Tirek was about to share a secret with the raging demon.
“Do you know what the scariest part of an Equestrian wrath demon is?” Tirek asked in a low tone.
“What does that have to do-” Nebuchadnezzar stuttered.
“They have access to nearly limitless rage and are actually able to sense the location of their target even across the very planes,” Tirek explained, opening his hands, palms up. “Did you know that?”
The pride demon blinked.
“No, but what-”
“M-m-master, look!” the torturer stuttered, pointing to the crystal ball.
Nebuchadnezzar spun back to the crystal ball, his eyes going wide as he saw a great pillar of fire shooting up into the sky.
“What the fuck is that?” He demanded.
A second later a wave of heat exploded all around them, lighting the tapestries that hung from the walls on fire.
Tirek cackled, his head thrown back as he laughed long and hard.
“Did you really think this wasn't part of my plan, that I would honestly make a wrath demon my negotiator? Your schemes and plots have always been small, but even I didn't think you were stupid enough to betray me," Tirek mocked. "Though I suppose you are an ant after all, and now, you will be crushed like one.”
The pride demon spun on his heel, throwing open the door and grabbing the nearest guard.
“Summon everyone, I need-”
The pride demon’s sentence was cut off by a booming voice that was so loud that it made his very bones rattle, and what it said made his blood turn to ice.
“Nebuchadnezzar!”
“Oh, gods above,” the pride demon whispered, only now realizing what the distant crashing had meant.
He could hear the shout of orders and the screams of the dying, his entire castle shaking with each titanic step of some enormous creature.
The demon sprinted back into the room and grabbed the crystal that had fallen from his grasp, Tirek’s head still in the throws of laughter.
“How does she know my name? TELL ME!” he screamed, gripping the crystal in both hands.
“Equestrian wrath demons are rare, Pear Butter is the first in over eight hundred years in fact. This means that their abilities have not even been thoroughly cataloged. It seems as though a significantly angry one can even know the true name of its target,” Tirek mused idly. “Curious, but in the end, you are nothing more than a pride demon after all, a creature with such an easy, blatant weakness that I almost feel bad for exploiting it… almost.”
Another crash was followed by a tremor that shook dust from the stone walls and made the ceiling rattle. The demoness across from him slipped out of the room, tossing aside the crystal ball and sprinting as fast as her enormous legs could carry her. Nebuchadnezzar didn't even notice, too stunned to look away from Tirek’s face.
The centaur sighed.
“Though I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, you lacked the necessary intellect to serve as anything less than a test for my pets after all,” Tirek exclaimed.
“Bullshit!” the pride demon cried desperately. “I captured your pet, I played your general like a fool and you just lucked out or got help or, or something!”
Tirek rolled his eyes and tsked.
“You may have been playing her, but I was playing you and just about everyone who works for you no less. I mean, honestly, the two things I want were placed in adjacent cages and you didn't even question it,” Tirek declared, chuckling darkly. “Though I suppose if anything, I was overestimating you. In the grand scheme of things you were playing checkers while I was playing chess.”
“Call her off!” Nebuchadnezzar yelled, shaking the crystal in both hands. “Call her off or I’ll kill both of the horses!”
Tirek only shook his head.
“Do you really think I haven't accounted for this reaction?” Tirek asked.
Another rumble, this time much, much closer shook the entire room, the slowly growing heat now becoming hot enough that the demon began to sweat, the carpet beneath his feet beginning to smoke.
“CALL HER OFF!” The pride demon screeched, shaking the crystal.
“Goodbye, Nebuchadnezzar, I hope you enjoy oblivion,” Tirek remarked, before vanishing.
The pride demon gripped the crystal tightly, pouring more and more power into it, only for the now lifeless crystal to remain just as lifeless. “Answer me, dammit!” he screamed.
Splintering boards and exploding stonework drew the pride demon’s gaze upwards where an enormous gold face stared down at him.
The wrath demon’s mouth was easily larger than the hall the pride demon now stood in, her breath so hot that everything save for his magically reinforced robes erupted in flames after a single exhalation. Nebuchadnezzar slowly looked up, his gaze lingering on the numerous teeth each as large or larger than he was. Despite his trepidation, he couldn't help but feel his eyes drawn further up, towards twin pools of liquid hatred. Those same portals to a realm of contempt glared down at the demon, betraying no emotion besides unbridled rage beyond even the pride demon’s comprehension.
His mouth opened, a lie already on his lips, but the wrath demon was faster.
Her jaw surged forward, clamping down over the entire section of the hall he stood in.
His enchantments popped instantly, unable to resist the immense heat that pressed down all around him. His spells fizzled before they could even finish casting and all his preparation and backup plans were rendered useless as they simply melted. Within moments his flesh began to liquify and slide off his body, his cry of pain lost in the roar of the inferno.
The last thing he felt was his very soul being torn asunder, his essence being pulled apart and swallowed by the burning demon.
Until his every sense was negated and his very soul was obliterated.