//------------------------------//
// Awakening of the Ink Demon 
// Story: Help from the depths of hell 
// by Igris 
//------------------------------//

“Princess! Where are we going?” Exclaimed Twilight who was following her mentor through an unknown part of the Castle.

Twilight’s entire life shattered. Everything went wrong so fast she couldn’t even register what the actual threat was.

Just yesterday, they were all celebrating the Summer Sun celebration with everpony, but then everything turned upside down.

Nightmare Moon came out of nowhere and managed to steal the Elements of Harmony from her and her friends. Not even Luna was aware that Nightmare Moon was still alive.

Not only that but Daybreaker too appeared at the celebration and both her and Nightmare Moon allied against all of Equestria.

Luna and all of Twilight’s friends were captured, Discord was sealed of into his dimension, unable to even help and the Crystal Empire had to deal with the unexpected return of King Sombra.

Twilight’s hope were about to break, if not for her mentor to save her from the living hell that was once known as Ponyville. Fire burned everywhere and total darkness covered the skies, unabling the ponies to find their way out of the prison of fire.

The two evil monarch were on their way to the Castle now and Twilight and Celestia didn’t have much time before they too end up captured, officially sealing the fate of Equestria.

“Princess! Where are we going?!” Exclaimed Twilight again, her mentor only continued trotting with haste towards wherever they were going, which became darker and darker as they went deeper into the unknown area of the Castle.

“We are going to get the last and only help we can have, a help that I will hopefully not regret later.” Finally answered Celestia.

Twilight was left perplexed, there weren’t many times when Celestia would regret something, besides her regret from a thousand years ago, but these regrets were already swept away. So what could still be haunting her at this time of age?

Twilight was about to ask another question until she noticed that the atmosphere around them changed. Not only that but the darkness slowly faded away and light could be seen, yet the light coming from up ahead felt… old.

The walls too changed drastically, from the once marvelous walls of the Royal Castle to… old planks of woods that didn’t even seem to have much time left before breaking apart. She also noticed some ink on the walls, dripping from the small cracks that were in the old wood.

The lamps hanging on the roof barely emitted any light and the little light that was emitted did not even felt like it belonged here.

The presence of ink only increased as they walked forward, the some parts of the walls didn’t even have planks and only holes could be seen in them. And in these holes, Twilight saw glimpse of… pipes?

Pipes that seemed to pump ink started to be more exposed, some were even in their way.

Then Twilight finally saw something up ahead, it was a closed door, a door that looked to be even older than the ruined Castle of the Two Sisters.

Now this broke through her shut mouth and she couldn’t help but ask.

“Where are we?”

Celestia didn’t immediately replied, until she suddenly stopped in front of the closed door. On the top of the door, Twilight could see something written, but it was in a language she has never seen before. The letters were too otherworldly for her to even find a reference to help her understand them. Then Celestia finally spoke.

“Somewhere I wished I would forget forever…” She stated before opening the door.

What she saw in there wasn’t like anything she has seen in her entire life. There was a single large room, there was in the middle of the room a throne like chair elevated by the pyramid looking stairs. Lanterns could be seen in the walls, seemingly shining until the end of time.

But this was not what surprised her the most, what surprised her was the… Thing sitting on the throne. It was a being entirely made of Ink, it emitted an aura that was so powerful it turned the room inky and moisty, she could even see the shadowy ink travelling on the ground and the walls.

She could hear the monster’s breathing, the way it breath sounded like it was suffocating but when she looked at it, it was looking perfectly fine, even though it looked like it was constantly melting.

She couldn’t see its face as it was looking down like it was asleep but she could see it had two little horns springing on its head. Not only that but she could see on its left hand that there was a huge glove covering its hand, she could also make the form of a bow tie attached to its neck? She couldn’t really see with the constantly dripping ink. She could also hear its heartbeat, the heartbeat sounded so loud it even made her own heart bump harder.

Then, she heard the most terrifying and most disturbing voice she ever heard in her life.

“iT’s BeEn a lOnG tIme liTtle pRiNcesS” It said. She couldn’t even see any trace of movement on its body or face when it talked.

But the moment it lifted up its head to look at her and Celestia, she was more petrified than what the cockatrices could ever do. Its face had a smile, a smile that was disturbingly wide. Not only that but she couldn’t see its eyes as it was covered by a layer of ink.

“Quiet Ink Demon!” Celestia exclaimed which only got a chuckle from the newly named Ink Demon. Twilight was definitely terrified when she heard that the thing in front of her was a Demon.

Demons were fairy tales to her, at least more so than the other fairy tales she read. Demons were said to be an extremely ancient species of Spirits, more ancient than even the Alicorns. They are said to wield more power than the Marquis-Class of Spirits, like Discord who earned the title of Lord of Chaos thanks to its powers.

Wendigo's themselves were in fact a rank lower than Lords and Ladies in the spirit Class, they were some kind of Knights or in some really rare cases, Baron-Class.

But demons were so powerful they were considered to be Royalty even. Royal-class spirits could bend the very fabric of reality and were the most powerful beings to be known to ponies. But they all disappeared for some unknown reason.

Only one demon remained of their disappearances. It was the Ink Demon, the one who controls the very creations made by imaginations. He brings characters from the fantasies of ponies to life, but he can also trap anything he wanted into his own reality, his own world with his own rules.

That is what makes the Ink Demon so terrifying, in fact, he is the only demon known to have a name. Having a name in the spirit world is considered highly honourable and it shows that you are unique and unlike the other spirits. It also shows your power as only spirits with power would be remembered by the world.

The demon in front of Twilight and Celestia though was erased from all books or mentions anywhere in the world. The only thing related to him were old relics that without text or guidance would only be considered like any other relics found in nature.

But it was not erased from the mind of the only one who still remembers its existence, Celestia herself.

“You will come and aid us in these dire times.” Stated Celestia as Twilight only looked at her like she was crazy.

“As rUde aS AlwaYs. YoU nEveR kNew hOw to aSk heLp AftEr aLl.” Said the Ink demon before standing up from its throne. Twilight stood on guard ready to fight even if she knew she could not win against a being like this.

Then, the aura that pressured the atmosphere inside the room was… sucked up by the Ink Demon. Not only that but the ink that seemed to drip forever on his body began to be absorbed by what Twilight assumed to be his real body.

The real body itself showed a bipedal creature wearing clothes that would be wore by the high-class ponies in Canterlot. His face was now cleaned of the dripping ink and she could finally see his face.

She was surprised to see that the previously grim and disturbing smile on his face actually fitted his expression. His pupils were of pure black, not even letting light reflect on them and yet it suited him even more now with the warming smile on his face, a smile that would seem to never wear off. His skin was as white as Rarity’s fur.

He wore a top hat that hid his demonic little horns, he also wore a white shirt with a black vest covering it with a white bow tie attached to it. He also wore white gloves on both of his hands and he carried a long cane with sophisticated artwork carved into it. In short, he exactly looked like the many nobles in Canterlot, expect that he was bipedal and had a tail ending with an arrow.

“Well? Won’t you introduce me to your new prodigee little princess?” He said with a surprisingly normal and even comforting voice. This comfort Twilight was feeling disturbed her to her very core.

Celestia didn’t reply and only glare at the Ink Demon. Then he suddenly turned to Twilight and extended his hand.

“Hello. Nice to meet you Twilight Sparkle. I am Bendy the Ink Demon, a pleasure to meet you.” He introduced himself while doing a little respectful bow, something you would do to show respect to another individual in the noble society, something she saw too many time while going around the Royal Capital of Equestria.

The sudden mention of her name even though she didn’t even say anything shocked her and her jaw suddenly dropped and her eyes opened wide.

‘How did he know?!’ She exclaimed in her mind.

“Well you are in my domain so of course I would know.” He said while showing his surroundings before turning back to Twilight.

“W-what?” Questioned Twilight who could not even register what was happening in front of her.

“Ah and do not worry little princess, I’ll gladly help you with your little situation but I will expect a little compensation of course.” Bendy explained. At this, Twilight’s eyes widen even more as she knew what he was implying.

Demons were known to form contracts with the living beings of the ancient times but in return for their services, they would always demand something ridiculous in return, something that was most of the time unreachable for the client. And when the client can’t compensate, it would be their souls that would compensate.

“I…..accept.” Celestia replied and even hesitated in the middle of her sentence. To Twilight, this meant the end of the world to her, her own mentor sold her soul for the sake of saving Equestria. And when she looked back at the demon, in her eyes, his smile grew wider even though it didn’t.

“Well, let’s not waste time little princess, let’s go. It’s been a while since I left this place after all.” He said before walking towards the exit door that somehow grew bigger to fit the tall demon.

Twilight was now on her way to save Equestria once again, but with the help of the most dangerous being to ever exists.