//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4: The Equestria Party 
// Story: Disgaea: A Promise Mared 
// by Tyrant Chaos 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 4: The Equestria Party



Carousel Boutique was a mishmash of light blues and purples, along with yellow curtains in some frilly pattern or another. From the diamond patterned roof to the striped poles circling the building, everything on the outside was designed to look sophisticated or complex, perhaps too much so in the demon's opinion.

And yet despite their hopes that was the building Twilight was leading them to "well, here we are," being the first to reach the door(by a rather large margin) Twilight used her hoof to hold open the door while the other two caught up "after you."

In a quick scan the demons noticed the many curtains partitioning off parts of the building, the elevated stand with three full-body mirrors surrounding it, most likely used for VIP guests and their orders, as well as stairs leading up to the next floor. And everything mentioned had some sort high-society flourish to it, from frills to embroidery, everything had something to make it look more 'classy' to the patrons. And while the interior still looked to be designed with sophistication in mind, the fact that this place was supposed to be a business could still be seen with complex dresses on display near the front, intending to impress new clients.

"So, this is Carousel Boutique hm," Valvatorez mused as he took in the scenery "not a fan of the purple everywhere."

"My Lord, I think there is a bigger problem here than the décor." Fenrich said, noting the pony shaped mannequins dotted around the shop, some of which being bare while others had incomplete dresses on them.

There attention shifted when they heard hoofsteps coming down from the stairs as a snow white unicorn with a deep violet mane came trotting down the stairs "welcome to Carousel Boutique, where everything is chic, unique, and magnif-WAAAH!" the white unicorn said in a refined tone, at least until that last part.

"Hey Rarity"

Rarity just stood there dismayed at what she saw, her compulsion as a fashionista trying to make sense of what was before her. After a few long moments she shook herself out of her stupor and cautiously walked over to the only pony here she considered a friend, as well as the only other pony in the room! Thankfully she was able regain some her composure before speaking "T-Twilight, care to introduce me to your...um...friends?" asked in a hushed tone.

"Sure," Twilight lightheartedly replied, hoping it would pit her friend more at ease "Rarity, this is Valvatorez and Fenrich, they're demons from another world" she said as she motioned towards each of them respectively before turning her hoof back towards her still unnerved friend "Valvatorez, Fenrich, this is my dear friend Rarity. She's the fashion designer I talked about." the demons and Rarity exchanged glances , Valvatorez and Fenrich staring at her with angered looks (even if one of them wasn't intentional) and Rarity staring back with a sheepish grin and beads of sweat trickling down her face "I was hoping that you'd be able to repair Valvatorez's...suit?" Twilight was distracted when she heard a high-pitched sound and a thud come from right beside her.

When she looked at what made the sound she found Rarity lying on the floor with a hoof pressed against her forehead passed out. Returning her attention back towards the demons she noticed they both were wearing the same surprised look...which quickly changed to a deadpan stare towards her "well...that could've gone better."

Rarity awoke to the smell of tea and found herself on her couch upstairs "huh?" she muttered, her senses still fuzzy from the lack of sleep she felt she needed. Eventually she noticed that she wasn't alone when a teacup floated in a lavender aura while it's caster stood nearby, smiling gently "Oh, hello Twilight I had just the most horrifying nightmare," Rarity said as she used her own magic to take the teacup from Twilight as she began to recount her dream. Unbeknownst to Rarity, Twilight was beginning to sweat and her smile was starting to look more unnatural "you came by with two guests you referred to as demons, one wearing ensemble that looks like it had been through a battlefield and the other" she gagged at the sudden mental image but was thankfully able to keep what ever was coming up from staying up "I don't even WANT to think about what his clothes are made of." 

All Twilight could do at first was smile and laugh sheepishly "Actually, that wasn't a dream, they're waiting downstairs." she was eventually able to say. Those few words were enough to make Rarity nearly pass out again but before she had the chance Twilight grabbed her, and the teacup, with her magic "Please Rarity, princess Celestia will be here by tomorrow and she's going to want the girls opinion on them," Twilight asked desperately "repairing his suit will give you a chance to get to know him, so...please?"

Rarity sighed "alright Twilight, I will see what I can do."

After hearing this Twilight finally let out the breath she'd been holding and smiled, earnestly this time "thanks Rarity." 

After finishing the tea Twilight had brought her, the two mares eventually made their way to the front of the boutique where Valvatorez and Fenrich were passing the time examining the display dresses while having some sort of conversation. While neither of the mares could hear everything being said, from the context they appeared to be considering a gift for someone in the hospital. Still it wasn't long before the demons noticed the other's presence and turned to meet them, with the same piercing gaze as before. 

This time however Rarity was undaunted.  "I'm sorry for that little episode earlier, as a lady it was not very becoming of me to act that way."

"It's quite alright miss...Rarity was it?" the mare in question nodded "If I took offense every time someone fainted in my presence then I wouldn't be much of a demon would I." Valvatorez said with a hint of pride in his voice

"Yes well..." Rarity trailed off by clearing her throat "Twilight mentioned  that you wanted your suit repaired is that correct?"

"Can you do it?"

"I won't know until I take a closer look, but first..." she said before shifting her attention towards Fenrich "there is...something I must ask you." Rarity took a deep breath preparing herself both physically and mentally for whatever answer she was about to get "Your clothes...what are they made of? Specifically."

"Why, leather of course." Fenrich answered evenly with a wry smile, watching as both mares grew much paler, which didn't seem entirely possible with the white one, still it was fun to watch. Now that he was finished getting his kicks from their reaction he decided it was time to elaborate "More specifically, leather made from the hide of garm, a type of mystic beast from our world and sewn together with enchanted thread to resist wind based attacks used against the wearer. In other words: it's made from demon skin, not pony skin. Got a problem with that?" he noticed the ponies complexion had slightly improved even if they still looked wearily towards him.

Rarity clearing her throat "right then, about your suit Mr. Valvatorez, may I see your left arm?"

"Of course." he answered as he extended his arm as per the designers request "And please, you don't need to call me Mr. Valvatorez, there's no need for such titles between a retailer and their customer. Valvatorez will do just fine."

"Very well Valvatorez, if you insist," Rarity commented as she put on her glasses and looked closely at the frayed edges of the sleeve "alright and now the legs," again Valvatorez complied, allowing Rarity to compare the two legs with each other "oh my" was all she could say as she finished her examinations.

To say the damage was bad would be an understatement. There were blood stains, a myriad of splinters, and a myriad of blood-stained splinters around the tears on top of what was left of the sleve, the stiching had been torn out of the leg and left more splinters and stains. With a somber look she faced her client "I'm afraid I have some bad news, I don't think I will be able to restore you suit Valvatorez-"

"Then it appears we've wasted more of our time My Lord." Fenrich interjected, clearly annoyed this wild goose chase has deterred them from catching Sombra but also from hearing more praise that couldn't be met.

"Now hold on, I wasn't finished yet." She interjected "As I was saying; I don't think I can restore your suit to it's former glory, any blemish on such a well crafted and well cared for tuxedo would be an insult to both what I am capable of and what you deserve. Instead I will simply have to remake the entire ensemble, it shouldn't take more than a day or two if I have the original here with me."

Fenrich was shocked at what he just heard "the original? As in My Lord's suit?"

"Why of course dear."

That did it. The audacity of this pony thinking that he would allow such a thing "you obviously don't know your place," barely able to contain his fury, he bent down to eye-level with the arrogant beast, his face radiating nothing but malice "There is no way in hell that I'd allow a marshmallow colored beast of burden handle My Lord's garbage, let alone his formal attire!" he seethed "Furthermore, you can be damn sure that My Lord wouldn't be caught dead wandering around in public without clothes."

"Mr. Fenrich watch your language!" she scolded, returning Fenrich's glare with one of her own "If my little sister had heard that I would have thrown you out on the spot! Thankfully she is out with her friends right now." while Rarity had more she could have said, instead her expression as well as her tone calmed down "However, I can understand your plight to not see you master in such an undignified state," She eyed Valvatorez top to bottom. He wasn't bigger than a minotaur so something she had should fit him "as such, I believe I can put something together that should suffice until I am finished." she walked over to one of the empty fitting rooms and pulled back the curtain "Valvatorez if I could have you step in here."

"Alright Rarity," Valvatorez complied, still using his cape to try and shield his exposed skin "now what?"

"Now we go about getting those clothes off you," Rarity said walking in after him levitating measuring tape, scissors, a pencil and notepad, as well as her glasses in her magic "and take some measurements while we're at it." once Rarity and her tools were inside, she closed the curtain behind her and set to work. "Oh, and be sure to hold still dearie, it will make taking your clothes off much easier."

Twilight and Fenrich watched and listened to the rustle and sounds coming from behind the curtain, neither of them brave enough to look past it and see what was happening on the other side. Twilight didn't want to interrupt her friend while she worked, she'd learned that lesson already and Fenrich did not wish to see his lord without his clothes on, it would scar him for eternity by seeing something he was unworthy of. From the sound of it though, Rarity had levitated Valvatorez in order to take off the ripped pants, while Valvatorez struggled to find his balance mid-air after unwillingly being raised into the air. The end result was various noises coming from Valvatorez while Rarity kept telling him, in one form or another to "hold still" with her voice losing more patience each time she repeated herself. Eventually the voices stopped giving Twilight and Fenrich the impression that the worst of it was over.

"There, that wasn't so bad was it?" Rarity said  "now on to the upper body."

"The cape. Stays."

"Well then how do you expect me to get your shir-oh, well, that works too I suppose."

Another moment later Rarity came through the curtain with folded black clothes along with all of her tools in the grasp of her magic and headed straight towards the back room "alright, just wait there Valvatorez and I'll be back with some new clothes for you."

"Sure, take your time," the demon replied from behind the curtain "it's not like I'm going anywhere."

Once Rarity reached her design table, she began reviewing the measurements of Valvatorez she had taken and comparing it with how much fabric she remembered having in storage the previous day 'let's see...with my latest order from Canterlot finished I should have at least three bolts of black silk left in storage, more than enough for Valvatorez's clothes.' reaching out with her magic Rarity brought out the three bolts of black cloth as well as one red bolt. 'now remember Rarity; function over form.' she reminded herself as she went to work deftly cutting out the dimensions for the replacement pants 'still, having an all black outfit wouldn't really be functional this time of year, nor is it in right now anyway, perhaps if I had some lighter colored dress shirts I could use...' she gasped at what she just thought "ideaaa!" following her bolt of inspiration Rarity once again used her magic to pull out a white long-sleeved shirt and a brown, button-up dress shirt from her storage room 'well, since he canceled his order anyway I don't think this client will mind if I use these now, instead of letting them just collect dust'. After checking their size and general design to make sure they would be compatible and taking care of any adjustments she hade to make, Rarity then moved onto cutting the cloth that would be used to make the new coat and then finally cutting a large strip out of the red bolt. Once all of the pieces were cut out the next thing she did was begin sewing together the three separate articles of clothing starting with the pants and working her way up. With a final exhale Rarity folded the finished products into a neat pile and turned towards her audience of two, absolutely beaming from the aesthetics of the end product and tired from all of the magic she used to get the suit completed.

With the clothes finished Rarity returned to the group and approached the curtain which still held Valvatorez on the other side. Levitating the clothes through to Valvatorez "here you go, try these on." Rarity gave Valvatorez a moment to put on the new clothes before opening the curtain to reveal the end result to Twilight and Fenrich "Well what do you think? I know it was a bit rushed but I really do hope that it's to your liking."

Valvatorez was eying his new clothes, making sure his movement wouldn't be too hindered while wearing them. The new clothes were the same color as his old suit. the pants fit loosely around his waist, being held in place by the red sash, and came together to a more form-fitting shape near his ankles, having crimson laces at the end in case he wanted to adjust the length. The brown dress shirt was worn over the white shirt while the black coat was worn over everything else, and with the addition to his gloves no piece of skin under his neck was left exposed. "It is a bit large..." he said as he rolled his shoulders "but I can see that Twilight was not exaggerating about your talent, speaking of..." now turning towards Twilight who was looking at him expectantly and smiling "Twilight, our deal was that your friend Rarity could repair my suit, but as you heard, she cannot. As such Fenrich and I are under no obligation to meet the rest of your friends." 

At this her smile vanished, being replaced with a despondent look as she turned her attention down towards the floor 'so...that's it then...'

"However!" Valvatorez added "You also promised that I would not be disappointed and in that regard you were right! With what she's provided as a replacement Miss Rarity has proven herself more than capable of recreating my clothes AND has even piqued my interest in the rest of your friends. That being said, I want to meet them NOT because of some obligation but instead of my own will, to see if they are as talented as she is."

Shock and awe, that's what Twilight's expression was once again, because once again the vampire had done something she didn't expect. Letting out a breath she didn't know she had been holding Twilight looked up to the demon "Valvatorez...thank you."

"You're welcome Twilight." Valvatorez replied before being interrupted by a low growling coming from nearby "But first, do you know anywhere we can get something to eat?"

Twilight couldn't help but laugh. just a moment ago she had been worried about failing Celestia, now she had been asked where to go for lunch by a demon. How could anyone be this intimidating one moment and so casual the next. "I know just the place, in fact one of my friends live there." Twilight was finally able to say after suppressing her laughter.









Things were going so well when Twilight left Carousel Boutique. Valvatorez wanted to meet her friends, Fenrich seemed to be playing along, and they were on their way to visit Applejack and hopefully have some lunch.

That all changed when a familiar pink blur pulling a cart passed by, knocked Valvatorez into the air and onto said cart, and left taking the vampire with it.

There was no time to react. Fenrich, who punched a timberwolf mid-jump, did not seem to comprehend what just happened to his lord until he was long gone. Twilight on the other hoof knew exactly what, or more specifically who, just passed by and absconded with quite possibly their exact opposite.

Suffice to say, Twilight was panicking and Fenrich was irate.

By now the two were rushing to Sugarcube Corner, the most likely place to find both culprit and victim. Twilight was praying to Celestia that Valvatorez was alright and that Fenrich wouldn't go berserk when they got there. Fenrich on the other hand was swearing to God that if something happened to his Lord the town would be significantly more red and wet. Once they reached the bakery Twilight was the first to make it inside, sparring the door from being ripped from it's hinges by Fenrich, to see the black-caped demon facing the counter...

"Valvatorez!"

"Lord Val!"

...Eating a slice of chocolate cake 'of course...' Twilight thought 'what else would she have him do.', feeling relieved that nothing bad had happened. The last thing she needed was whatever Fenrich had in mind coming to fruition. But there was still somepony who was unaccounted for.

"Pinkie!"

"Hey Twilight!" came a cheery voice directly behind her.

Somehow the pink pony in question was able to appear directly behind Twilight without making a sound, when there was nowhere to hide. So it made sense that she jumped a little when Pinkie surprised her like that, right? Deciding it was best to leave it at that, she turned around to face the smiling pony with a face that was anything but "Pinkie, what were you thinking kidnapping Valvatorez like that?"

"Oh! Umm...I was thinking 'if all of our pets could play a game of poker who would win?'"

All Twilight could do is Facehoof, she did  just ask what Pinkie Pie of all ponies was thinking after all "ok, let's try that again; WHY did you kidnap Valvatorez over there?" 

"Well I was stocking up on supplies around town when I suddenly had a leg twitch followed by a itchy neck and a sneeze, A SNEEZE Twilight! Do you know what that means?!" Pinkie shouted as she shook Twilights shoulders. Twilight on the other hoof looked at her in a way that obviously said 'no' "It means that there was not somepony but something new in Ponyville and it was HUNGRY. So I left all my supplies with Gummy and brought Valzy here-"

"Valzy!? ugh, not again..." Fenrich groaned. Two annoyances calling him that was bad enough, now there was a third.

"-to Sugarcube Corner to get him something to eat but when I got here I realized that I had no idea what he liked or didn't like so I decided to make something made out of stuff everypony likes, chocolate, cake, and frosting..." for a moment Pinkie's eyes glazed over and she started drooling profusely but quickly shook herself out if it "but it turns out Mr. and Mrs. Cake HAD a recipe that already had chocolate, cake, and frosting in it called 'devils food cake' so I pulled out the recipe, made a test cake, ate it cuz it was too dry, made a second test cake, ate it cuz it was too sweet, made a THIRD test cake, ate IT cuz it was...just...too good to pass up," she said sheepishly, embarrassed at her own little mistake. After a moment of shaking off her embarrassment, she redoubled her efforts and as enthusiastically as possible finished her story "and so I made a FOURTH cake and gave a slice of that one to Valzy."

With her story finished, Pinkie waited for her friends response, smiling innocently the whole time. The part she failed to mention was that the time between when she abducted Valvatorez and when Twilight burst into Sugarcube Corner was only five minutes and forty-one seconds according to Fenrich "I may have to watch out for this one." he muttered. Making a mental note to keep an eye on this pink pony and to keep her as far away from Valvatorez as possible, Fenrich turned to Twilight, who still seemed to be trying to logically explain her friend's actions (and failing if the slack-jawed expression was anything to go by.) "alright princess, who is she." 

Twilight snapped out of her trance and turned to Fenrich, smiling "Fenrich, Valvatorez, I'd like to introduce you to one of my closest friends, Pinkie Pie: pa-"

"Shhh..." Pinkie whispered to Twilight, preventing her from saying any more by covering her mouth with a hoof "you'll ruin the surprise Twilight." with a small nod from Twilight, Pinkie slowly removed her hoof from Twilight's mouth and receded towards the ground. She appeared a moment later next to Fenrich with a plate and a slice of cake she pulled out of her mane. 

Fenrich eyed the dessert, and the pink pony through association, venomously "what is this?"

"it's a piece of cake silly!" Pinkie giggled, oblivious to Fenrich's contempt "Try it!"

Fenrich was apprehensive about taking the cake from Pinkie, that much Valvatorez could tell. Having just finished his piece of cake, Valvatorez knew what his servant would think of it "go on Fenrich," he said as he wiped off any crumbs left on his face using a napkin "it's actually quite good. I'm sure even you are a little hungry after the day we've had."

Fenrich was taken aback at his lord's remark 'as expected of My Lord, he can tell when I am not at my full potential even when I cannot.' he considered. Reluctantly, Fenrich took the offered piece of cake, waging a war with himself to determine what was the lesser of two evils, refusing his lord or eating something made by quite possibly the most garish creature here. With the choice clear he gave in and accepted his fate "very well, but only to see if it is worthy of being considered your food." With a fork provided, Fenrich cut off a piece of the cake and begrudgingly put it into his mouth. The sweetness of the cake was not overpowering despite appearing to have chocolate in every part. And for what it was worth, this was better then anything the chefs at Hades could make. But this wasn't for anyone at Hades nor was it for him. This was for Valvatorez, and he would only get the best if Fenrich could have his way, still... "...it will do," he surmised "but I suspect you are craving something more nutritious aren't you My Lord?" he asked in hope that it would take them away from this place. 

Valvatorez contemplated that for a moment "yes, Fenrich you're quite right. As good as this cake is, eating too much of it would affect my job as a Prinny Instructor, so I must decline anymore for the time being."

"Aww..." Pinkie moaned as her mane deflated slightly and she looked at Valvatorez with big watery eyes.

"Well I guess we should get going then," Twilight said as she opened the door for the two demons allowing them to leave "bye Pinkie, see you later?"

"Of course Twilight!" she replied, returning to normal. She then dashed next to her friend's ear while watching the two demons to make sure they didn't over hear her and whispered "The surprise is at sunset". Through with being 'sneaky' Pinkie Pie waved to her newest friends returning once again to her normal demeanor "Bye Valzy, bye Fenfen!"

Fenrich watched as Twilight lingered a moment longer with the pink pony, whom he had decided to somehow forcefully erase every part of from his memory "so, shall we get back on track, princess?" 

"Right..." Twilight responded half-heartedly. Right now she was staring in the direction of the sun, determining how long until Pinkie's surprise party started "we'd better hurry, there's not much time left."

"'Time left'?" Valvatorez caught "Time left before what?"

"N-nothing! c'mon let's go."










After their departure from Surgarcube Corner Twilight had led the group out of town and on to a dirt road lined on both sides with numerous apple trees and divided by a white picket fence. In the distance Valvatorez could see a large red barn with apple themed wind vane at the end of the main path with a road leading to an orange building with a carrot theme in the background.  

While Valvatorez was examining the surroundings, Fenrich was focused solely on their guide leading the two down the road "so princess, where are you taking us now?"

"Sweet Apple Acres." Twilight answered curtly. While she was slowly warming up to Valvatorez thanks to his straightforward and light-hearted demeanor, Fenrich was a different story. One example being right now with him glaring at her and an expression which seethed 'why...' "Applejack, one of my friends, runs the farm with her family. in fact, I think she's somepony that you would get along with Fenrich."

"Oh?" Fenrich mocked "And what makes you say that?"

"Well for one she's vey hard working and she's devoted to her apple farm, much like you are to Valvatorez." Twilight proudly explained, whereas Fenrich merely scoffed at the claim "She's also the most level-headed of all my friends here in Ponyville."

*crack**rumble**THUD*

"Rainbow Dash! That ain't how ah showed ya to buck an apple tree!"

"Hey! Your way wasn't working AJ! At least this way all the apples fell to the ground!"

"Yeah! an' so did the tree they were attached to!"

"I take it that was your level-headed friend you mentioned just now?" Fenrich smugly asked.

"That's her..." Twilight huffed. As she looked in the direction of her still audible friends her features relaxed and her tone evened out "and another one of my friends, Rainbow Dash." suddenly coming to Sweet Apple Acres was starting to seem like a bad idea. Still if those two were arguing again then somepony should step in as a mediary "Let's go see if there's anything we can do to help." with this Twilight flew over the fence towards her friends with the demons following suit.

When the group reached the edge of the clearing, the relatively new clearing considering the number of toppled trees there were, they saw five ponies crowding around a fallen tree, three fillies and two mares. While Twilight smiled as she recognized the five instantly, Valvatorez and Fenrich could only make out an orange 'normal' pony with a blond mane and a stetson in the face of a cyan colored pegasus hovering off the ground with literally a rainbow colored mane. A few feet away was an orange pegasus filly with a purple mane, a white unicorn filly with light purple/borderline pink hair, and a tan normal pony with a red mane and a large bow. Each of the fillies had a bucket next to them that was either overflowing with or devoid of apples. Before any more detailed observations could be made Fenrich noticed the alicorn mare nearly flying past the treeline. Acting quickly, he grabbed her tail and pulled her behind one of the nearby trees with Valvatorez waiting beside another. While Twilight was about to object Fenrich put his other hand over her mouth and went "shhh..." before returning his attention to the arguing mares who were now in hearing range without them shouting at each other. 

"Ah can't believe how ah let you talk me into this..." the stetson-wearing pony sighed. 

"Does this mean the competition's off?" the bow-wearing filly asked the two older mares.

"Of course it's not!" the rainbow maned pegasus nonchalantly replied.

"Of course it is! Do ya know how many other apple trees ya knocked down today!?"

"I dunno, two or three?"

"Try thirteen!"

As he suspected, the two were still fighting and simply running up to them would have most likely resulted in a fight breaking out. Two foreign creatures chasing their princess who was headed towards them wouldn't exactly give the best first impression 'regardless of the outcome, it would only end poorly for us diplomatically.' Fenrich noted. A low growl reminded him of his surroundings as he looked down to see the princess eying him angrily with her horn glowing. While not convinced she would fly off to her friends, it was probably better than whatever spell she was currently weaving. With his observation time cut short, Fenrich slowly released Twilight from his grip "well then, shall we introduce your friends to lord Valvatorez, princess?"

"Right..." Twilight snapped "let's hurry before things get worse." she said, once again making her way to the clearing and her friends, this time with Fenrich shadowing her. She looked back when she realized not everyone was following her "Valvatorez? Are you coming?"

Valvatorez was motionless, eyes closed and his hand covering his face in quiet contemplation as he so often did while he leaned back on his apple tree "Fenrich." he called in an even tone.

"Yes My Lord?"

"You do it."

Fenrich was unsure what his lord had meant with what he said, there were a lot of thing he wanted to do after all. It took a moment for the three words to sink in and in that moment the confusion he was feeling turned to shock, and then into pure horror "L-lord Val, please tell me you're not serious." he said, the desperation evident in his voice despite his best efforts to remain calm.

"Do what?" Twilight asked nervously.

"To put it simply Twilight;" Valvatorez started "I'd like to see if you're right about your presumption, as well as test you, Fenrich." now turning his attention to his servant "I want you to show me how much you've evolved since we first met all those years ago as well as see if you can trust others," it was no secret Fenrich put little faith in the abilities of the other Hades Party members, even after everything they've been through. Perhaps this will open him up a little "plus...you're more experienced with delicate negotiations than I am."

'That's because I usually have leverage against them!' Fenrich screamed in his head "but what happened to 'meeting all of Twilight's friends personally'?" he asked, trying to use his lord's words against him. Fenrich really didn't want to do this.

"Just because I'm not talking to them now doesn't mean I won't talk to them later Fenrich." Valvatorez answered dismissively "Besides I've already met two of her friends through coincidence, I'd say now is a perfect opportunity to make a first impression." he explained, thinking how they would've eventually met Rarity trying to fix his suit and Pinkie Pie literally ran into him "Also, I want you to go alone as there are some things I want to ask Twilight."

If Twilight had any doubts about Valvatorez's command they had just been doubled. Fenrich had caught on to Twilight's outer panic which actually reminded him of when he first met Valvatorez. As such Fenrich knew what she was going to do next "I know you're going to object, princess. Don't bother, his mind's made up and nothing will change it now." he sighed "...All right, if you insist..." he finally relented, he knew better than to argue with his lord. The best thing to do would be to simply go along with it "all is for My Lord..." he sighed before turning towards the five ponies.

Fenrich watched the group from a safe distance away being careful not to attract attention to himself too soon, he was thankful the two arguing ponies were holding the attention of the three fillies, it made getting close easier 'let's see...what are my options...' he thought 'I could beat the two of them up, then at least they'd be quiet...no, Lord Val wouldn't approve of an unprovoked attack,' Fenrich shook his head, removing 'the demon way' of settling an argument from his mind. Next he looked back at Twilight and Valvatorez who were watching him with concerned and expectant eyes respectively 'I could say the princess is our hostage...no that won't work either, plus then we'd be facing two fronts in this world' while that trick would have worked with the corrupternment, it would most likely backfire here thanks to the obvious hothead present 'I could try praising them-' he instantly disregarded that idea, anything even remotely close to something he would do was out of the question. 'There has to be some way I can make them revere me and My Lord without dragging my dignity through the mud...or disgracing Lord Val,' he thought as he continued observing them. As he considered his options the group had moved on to another tree a distance away from both him and the previous tree. Fenrich even watched as the stetson-wearing pony bucked the tree knocking most of the apples out of it. With this, the mental dots started connecting together in Fenrich's head 'and I think I just found it.' he thought, now moving towards the felled tree to double-check something before putting his scheme in motion. He crouched down, running his hand over the bark finding a large indent in the tree, the initial blow that toppled it. Smiling he stood up and made his way towards the still arguing group. 

"You hit the tree too low!" he said catching the attention of the group of ponies, still he was focused on the stetson-wearing mare "Your kick lost it's strength before it could reach the apples on the higher branches and dissipated into the ground too soon." this seemed to cause the cyan pegasus to burst out laughing in the air "And you! you weren't even close." Fenrich chided instantly quieting the mare "In fact I bet all you did was plow through the tree at full speed, aimed at some random point, and hoped for the best. The end result being too much speed, not nearly enough precision, and one felled tree."

The cyan pegasus took exception to that remark "oh yeah! let's see you do better Mr. know-it-all!"

"Hmhmhm...alright then." he answered. With the challenge issued, Fenrich took one of the buckets from one of the fillies earning a "hey" from one of them, he didn't know which one nor did he care, and walked towards the nearest tree that had apples in it. He knocked on the tree at seemingly random points around the trunk gauging the reaction of the branches and listening to the sound of the wood. After a few more knocks he found the sweet spot he had been looking for, marking it with a small scratch. With the bucket in his left hand Fenrich pulled back his right and punched the spot he had marked. Every fiber of the tree shook as every apple was dislodged one-by-one and fell towards the ground. Not one touched the ground though as Fenrich deftly danced around the tree catching each one in the borrowed bucket. When the last apple fell into Fenrich's hand he set the filled bucket down and smirked at the struck-dumb group of ponies "Satisfied?" he said rhetorically as he rejoined the group.

"Woah, yer strong, who are ya?" the stetson pony asked, being the first out of their stupor.

"Isn't it polite to introduce yourself first before asking others for their name?" he arrogantly countered. 

"Ah suppose it is." the stetson pony replied "The name's Applejack," she said, gesturing to herself with a hoof and shifting it to each pony in sequence "that there's Rainbow Dash, and my sister Apple Bloom, along with her friends Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. Now then, ah believe it's your turn."

"Of course..." Fenrich straightened his pose moving the apple from his right hand to his left. he then moved his left hand behind his back and his right over his chest "my name is Fenrich, loyal servant to Lord Valvatorez," he proudly proclaimed "and currently I am acting as a...diplomat of sorts for both him and the Netherworld."

"Ah ain't ever heard of the Netherworld before. What brings yer lord out here to Equestria?"

"That you will have to ask your precious princess over there," Fenrich pointed towards the spot in the treeline that his lord and Twilight were. The two in question were still talking but from his current distance Fenrich couldn't make out what. Regardless, now that his initial task was done he had no reason to stay with these ponies anymore "I'll be keeping this apple as compensation, should I need to work it off at a later date, simply tell me when and where the next time we meet." Fenrich said as he started walking back towards his lord 'not that I'd actually show up.'

"Hey hold on!" the cyan pegasus, 'Rainbow Dash' if Fenrich remembered correctly called out "I challenge you to a race; one lap around Ponyville."

"I refuse."

"What! why!?" the pegasus introduced as Scootaloo pressed "Afraid you'll lose to the fastest flyer in Equestria?" 

"And who would that be?" Fenrich replied, feigning ignorance. That didn't go over well as both pegasi present pointed to Rainbow Dash 'did she really have to point at herself?' Fenrich thought while the two gave him heated glares "Unless you can move faster than mach five then I couldn't care less about a race with you."

"Fine! But when I do go faster than mach five, you owe me a race!" Rainbow Dash declared.

"I'll look forward to that day." he said smiling wryly before continuing his walk back to his lord 'it'll be the day the sky burns green'. 

Fenrich returned to Valvatorez successful from his mission, presenting him with the apple he took during his endeavors "all finished My Lord, and perhaps this will hold you over."

"Good work Fenrich," Valvatorez complimented "and I see you brought me some food, how very considerate of you." he added before taking a bite out of the fruit.

"Of course, all is for My Lord." 

Twilight tentatively approached the two, her inquisitive eyes focused solely on Fenrich "so...what do you think of my friends?" she innocently asked, hope rising inside her. 

"I'm going to have get back to you regarding Rainbow Dash," Fenrich began 'nothing I have right now can accurately describe her lack of intelligence, haughty ego, and how much she annoys the hell out of me'"regarding Applejack however, she's too trusting, I could have easily lied to her face and she would have been none the wiser. As for her devotion to her farm; I'll know that by tomorrow, but considering how easy it was to obtain an apple from the apple farmer, my expectations are not high."

And just like that the hope vanished "oh...so you don't like her."

"Don't let it get to you Twilight," Valvatorez interjected between mouthfuls of apple "Fenrich warms up to people slowly, give it time and I'm sure you will see his opinions change...probably." he said as he finished eating the apple, including the core, and tossed the stem away before letting out a sigh "It's no use...no matter how many I eat, these apples won't satisfy my hunger." he noted dejectedly.

Twilight turned in shock towards Valvatorez as if he had just denounced Celestia as a tyrant "huh! But these are the best apples in all of Equestria, everypony likes these apples."

"Have you've forgotten that we're not from Equestria," Fenrich chastised "any preconceived notions you have won't apply to us."

"Oh no..." Twilight was starting to panic 'if there's nothing that will satisfy Valvatorez, then he'll go back to the Netherworld. If he does that, then that black prinny could destroy Equestria. And if that happens, Celestia will blame me for being a poor princess because I couldn't find anything he would eat!' she spiraled, completely unaware of the strange looks she was getting from the demons. Eventually the tangent reached it's peak as she flew up to Fenrich's face, violating any personal space bubbles there may have been as the two exchanged wide-eyed stares "there has to be something that will satisfy Valvatorez!"

"There is..." Fenrich venomously replied, pushing the distraught mare out of his face before his tone turned more sinister "and it's quite abundant here," he replied as he regained his composure while Twilight waited with bated breath.

"Blood."

"B-B-BLOOD!?" Twilight wasn't sure if all of Equestria heard her but right now that was the least of her concerns.

"That's right." Fenrich calmly acknowledged with his wry smile and piercing stare "Being a vampire, Lord Valvatorez can drink the blood of the living for sustenance and power, and it just so happens that you, as well as the town's inhabitance, qualify in that regard."

Suddenly every doubt, every concern, every fear she had since meeting these two came back in force. Twilight had gone pale, her legs were shaking, and she was having difficulty breathing. Valvatorez, who was so outgoing and carefree, was literally a blood-sucking monster! And she didn't even want to consider what Fenrich has done, something told her that it would mentally scar her if she asked. All she could feel right now was the cold ground on her flanks as her vision became blurry and she could feel her heart beating. What could she do! She couldn't have Valvatorez go around drinking all of the blood in Ponyville! Even if it was just her own blood, it wouldn't be long before she started suffering from anemia. But if it had to be anypony then it might as well be her-

"That isn't an option either Fenrich," Valvatorez sighed "drinking Twilight's blood would mean breaking my promise." 

"My Lord, these ponies don't qualify as humans so you won't be breaking your promise."

"Oh not that one, Fenrich," Valvatorez clarified "if I were to drink her...or any of the ponies in town's blood for that matter, it would undoubtedly cause harm to them."

Twilight was...well she wasn't sure anymore, she'd past her wit's end a long time ago dealing with these two and, once again, Valvatorez simply debunked her worst fears because of what she thought was a promise that no longer applied. But there was still a problem, in fact the original problem "then is there anything else you could eat, anything at all?" she asked desperately.

"Hmhmhm...there is one thing." Valvatorez smirked before flourishing his cape and extending his hands towards the air.

"Sardines!"

"Sar...dines?"

"That's right." he said matter-of-factly "Sardines are highly nutritious and can be preserved almost indefinitely with the right method." his mouth was already drooling at the thought of fresh sardines "Tell me Twilight, where is the closest place that's known to have sardines, in the wild or for sale?"

With her sanity slowly being restored, for the umpteenth time today, Twilight got back up onto her hooves and closed her eyes, thinking about the question "I believe...that would be Fluttersy's house, she keeps sardines to feed some of her animals..." in fact the more she talked her friend the more she felt like she forgot something... 

"FLUTTERSHY! with everything going on I completely forgot to let her know!"

"Let her know about what?" Valvatorez asked.

"Fluttershy takes care of a lot of different animals, earlier today she told me that they were really scared of something in the Everfree forest, that's why me and Spike were in there in the first place."

"Then there isn't a moment to waste, off to Fluttershy's house!" Valvatorez declared, striking a pose as he pointed toward the horizon in front of the group"...Where is it anyway?"

Twilight smiled sheepishly as her cheeks turned red and one of her forehooves found it's way to the back of her neck "it's...near the Everfree forest actually".

...

"YOU MEAN WE PASSED IT ON THE WAY HERE!?"

"Th-there were more important things going on, we were supposed to meet someone at the castle remember." Twilight defended, fighting off two irate glares pining for the grey matter behind her eyes and horn "let's just hurry." she said as she flew off towards Fluttershy's home and to stay a safe distance away from the grounded demons while said demons closely followed her on foot.

All three were unaware of the eyes monitoring them from the canopy of a nearby tree.









Twilight landed next to the bridge leading to Fluttershy's home "well...here we are." she said to Valvatorez and Fenrich who were catching their breath under a nearby tree. The two had managed to keep up with her despite having to run through the thick forest and cross over the rivers between here and Sweet Apple Acres while Twilight just flew over said obstacles. She found it odd that the two could move faster than her eyes could see but were winded just from trying to keep up with her. Perhaps they used some form of magic to augment their physical capabilities, or perhaps they were more used to 'sprinting' than 'running a marathon'. Seeing that neither of them were in any condition to speak to anypony, let alone Fluttershy, without terrifying them Twilight decided to try a delicate approach "You might want to let me talk to her first, Fluttershy is...very timid around new ponies," she suggested "I can only imagine how she would react if she just suddenly met you." when neither of them gave any objections, Twilight started across the bridge.

Fluttershy's cottage was silent, in fact it looked like nopony was even living there. All of the curtains that decorated the windows were closed and wherever wasn't covered, there was no light inside to see anything. None of her animals were out in the open, not even the bear that lived with her or any of the birds could be seen. What made the silence worse was that she was so close to the Everfree and yet the only thing she could hear was the occasional breeze and the two demons behind her.  

As Twilight approached the front door, she could see the shadow of something darting through one of the rays of light coming in through the window. She knew Fluttershy was home but whatever she saw was too small to be her and moved too fast. Steeling herself, Twilight knocked "Fluttershy, it's me, are you there?"

It took a minute but the door cracked open enough for a butter-colored pony to stick her head out "oh, hello Twilight ..." Fluttershy said with a look of relief "um...I'm sorry but...did you find anything in the Everfree?"

"Well kind of..." Twilight admitted, suddenly becoming very interested in the yellowing sky "but first, do you have some sardines I could have...as food?"

Fluttershy looked at her as if Twilight had just admitted to being a changeling, that look changed instead to if she had said she bucked a puppy "Twilight! How could you!" In her fury, Fluttershy stared down her friend, even flaring her wings, knocking the front door slightly more open in the process.

"What! no no no, it's not for me," she hastily clarified, trying to avoid eye contact with Fluttershy while she was using the stare. Her wandering eyes led her to the inside of her house, where numerous eyes were focused in her, all of them panicked "is...everything alright in there?"

This snapped Fluttershy out of her stare only to have her expression turn somber "everyone's scared..." she whispered trembling "they said the scary...thing...is spreading, and it even feels really close..." she looked behind her to the panicked eyes watching her and Twilight, the panicked eyes of all of her birds, rabbits, squirrels, and even the bear huddled together in large groups all around the inside "they're so scared they don't even want to go outside right now..."

'Maybe this has something to do with Valvatorez and Fenrich being outside. Perhaps their otherworldly magic is what's scaring the animals, and if that's the case... ' Twilight pondered, trying to make sense out of what was happening. Still, no matter how she thought about it, her best source of information right now was sitting behind her hungry "I think I have a lead on what's scaring your animals, but that's why I need some sardines; it's for someone I met in the forest, I think sardines are one of the only things he eats."

"Oh, um...I do have more than enough to feed my animal friends but...well...how many does he need?"

"Huh, I'm... not exactly sure," come to think of it, Valvatorez never did specify how many sardines he wanted. But that was a relatively simple fix, with Valvatorez behind her under a tree resting "why don't I introduce you to him, in fact he's right over...there?" 

He wasn't there, and neither was Fenrich.

"Oh no..."

Fortunately Twilight didn't have to worry long about where they were as a familiar squeaky voice was heard screaming it's lungs out near the chicken coop. With the demons most likely found, Twilight flew off towards the scream with Fluttershy reluctantly following, more to make sure her friend would be ok than anything. What they found was Valvatorez with his arms crossed and his head shaking and Fenrich standing in front of him holding a prinny up to eye-level by the skull. The prinny was flailing around helplessly in Fenrich's grip.

"I'll ask again: what do you think you were doing here?" Fenrich inquired, clenching his fist tighter around the prinny's cranium.

"I-I was just l-looking around town dood, a-and you just happened to find me when I just happened to fall over," the prinny blubbered trying to say anything that could make Fenrich believe him and thus spare his life. The cold unflinching glare Fenrich wore and the tightening of his grip suggested that he didn't believe him "I-I was c-certainly not taking a break at this pegasus' house dood." nope, still didn't believe him...

Fluttershy flew toward the werewolf with speed that was rarely ever seen from her stopping inches from his face, staring him down with equal ferocity "excuse me! Just who do you think you are tormenting that poor penguin!" this actually made both demons eyes widen, struck dumb at what was happening "You should be ashamed of yourself for picking on such a defenseless creature like that!"

Recovering from the initial surprise, Fenrich turned his glare to the pegasus "and who are you to talk about matters that don't concern you, horse, especially when this prinny is neither a penguin nor harmless."

Twilight watched as not only was Fluttershy using the stare on Fenrich but Fenrich was returning with his own, darker, more malicious version. While she never saw anything resist the stare before, if she let this continue anymore then things were probably going to get violent. As she approached the two, she used her magic to break them up "please calm down you two," Twilight said, snapping Fluttershy out of her stare while drawing the attention of Fenrich's "Fluttershy, I know it kind of looks like a cute harmless penguin but trust me, it's not as innocent as it looks," she said, recalling the Valvatorez statue in the Everfree forest "and Fenrich, I know the prinnies are yours and Valvatorez's responsibility but do you really have to punish him after he's been working so hard?" Fenrich only intensified his glare towards Twilight, obviously not wanting to back down "Especially to the pony Valvatorez wanted to talk to about 'you-know-what'?"

At this, Fenrich took a deep breath and relented "I suppose there are more important things to address right now..." he said as he carefully set the prinny down and released him from his grip "I'll decide on a more fitting punishment later, but for now make yourself useful around here; if Fluttershy-" Fenrich could feel his pride eroding away at the mention of her name "-needs something, you get it for her, if there is something she must do, you do it instead understand?"

"Y-yes sir, Fenrich dood." the prinny hastily said in salute, he just stared death in the face and lived, he was not about to mess this up.

Now that the situation was defused Twilight along with Fluttershy landed away from the demons "ok, lets try this again; Valvatorez, Fenrich, this is my good friend Fluttershy," she said as she motioned toward her friend. Fluttershy shrunk back, trying to hide herself behind her Twilight as the demons focused on her "as you can see she takes care of a lot of different animals, from mice an rabbits to bats, vultures, and even a bear."

Fenrich arched an eyebrow at the last part "and what's stopping the bear from eating her?"

"She's friends with it."

'Of course...'

"Anyway Valvatorez, Fluttershy does have sardines but, how many do you need anyway?"

"Ten sardines, one for each of the prinnies and six for myself." Valvatorez answered immediately "Also if she happens to know where I can catch more, that would be greatly appreciated as well."

"Oh um...I guess I can give you ten..." Fluttershy said behind her friend. She then pointed her hoof downstream "and the lake nearby has plenty of sardine schools in it, if you don't mind fishing I mean..."

Valvatorez walked over to Fluttershy smiling and merrily shook her hoof "Excellent! With a sustainable food supply found, we will be able to focus on our mission, you have my thanks Fluttershy."

"O-oh...um...you're welcome." Fluttershy smiled sheepishly, perturbed by the sudden attention she was getting from the vampire. Fluttershy kept smiling as she withdrew her hoof, with Valvatorez losing his own cheer in the process, and trotted off to collect his fish with the prinny following close by.

After Fluttershy had gone out of sight Fenrich shifted his attention towards Twilight "well then, now that My Lord's food is taken care of, who are we going to meet next, princess?" he asked, almost as if he cared what her answer would be.

Twilight smiled and laughed sheepishly "um...that's it actually."

That was something Fenrich was not expecting, in fact he actually cared about that answer, going so far as to let out a sigh of relief "oh finally! Once we have the sardines we're heading back to the castle. I've had enough of these distractions and would like to begin our search."

Before Twilight could retort on what Fenrich had said, Fluttershy returned with the prinny carrying a saddlebag filled to the brim with sardines. She and the prinny approached Valvatorez cautiously taking off the bag and presenting them to the demon. Valvatorez graciously accepted the bag and pulled out one of the sardines, eating it in two quick bites.

Thoroughly mortified at watching something she'd been talking to nonchalantly eat another living thing for the first time in her life, Twilight figured Fenrich's idea was not as bad as she thought "well, to the castle then."

Fenrich merely smirked as he and Twilight started to walk towards the path leading to town with Fluttershy waving the three good-bye, the prinny staying by her side staring blankly at the group.

Valvatorez on the other hand hadn't moved an inch "Hold on Twilight, there's something I want to check," he then marched over towards the object that caught his interest and in a calm but still very authorative tone gave a simple order.

"Fluttershy, open your mouth."

"H-huh?" Fluttershy had her mouth agape at the sudden question, but not nearly enough to satisfy the Valvatorez as he bent down and pried her mouth open. In retaliation, a violet aura surrounded him as Twilight was preparing to launch him into the nearest tree.

The imminent danger didn't bother him though as he was able to confirm his suspicions 'I thought so,' Valvatorez thought "hmhmhm...well I wasn't expecting this," he chuckled, relaxing his body to show he meant no harm to Twilight's friends and thus be released from Twilight's magical grip. Once the aura dissipated Valvatorez moved himself aside to show Fluttershy still with her mouth being held open "Twilight, did you know your friend is part vampire?"

"Huh?" Twilight wasn't sure what he was talking about until she took a closer look at Fluttershy's mouth, and that was when the realization hit her like an anvil "Huh!" Fluttershy had fangs "But I thought my spell got rid of all of the vampire fruit bat influence!"

"Being a vampire myself Twilight, I can tell what the signs are." Valvatorez retorted, finally letting go of Fluttershy's mouth. The pony in question looked terrified and was actively trying to make herself look as small as possible.

Fenrich on the other hand merely chuckled "magic spells you're involved with seem to cause mutations princess." he chided "Remind me to never let you cast anything on My Lord or I."

Twilight's eyes widened, completely oblivious to Fenrich's insult "oh no, does that man she'll turn back into Flutterbat? I have to get back to the castle and find a way to remove any traces left of the influence."

"Oh don't worry too much," Valvatorez said, waving his hand dismissively "I can easily teach her to control her latent vampirism. The only thing I need to know is what she hunted during her latest episode."

"Um...she sucked the juices out of the apples at Sweet Apple Acres."

"Well then! This'll be quite simple," Valvatorez said, clapping his hands together before turning his attention back to Fluttershy "once I have some time I'll drop by and teach you how to temper that other side of yours Fluttershy," she nodded emptily, still scared at what was being discussed around her. "until then, take care." he said, satisfied with her response. He turned to go rejoin the group waiting on the bridge when one more concern crossed his mind "And try not to eat too many apples until I visit next!"

Once again the trio found themselves on the path to Ponyville from the Everfree, and once again there was this awkward silence between the three. The only real differences this time were that there was nothing else to do that could distract the demons from their search and that the sky was now an orange hue. All Twilight could do to stall the demons now was drag her hooves as they headed towards the castle. At the very least she was convinced that Valvatorez wasn't going to disappear without saying a word, there was still so much she wanted to ask him about anyway, about demons, their magic, the Netherworld, and even Hades but...would she even get the chance?

Her thoughts were interrupted when the vampire in question walked up beside her with a serious look on his face "so, you said we were done meeting your friends?"

"Yeah..."

"Well then let's hurry up already! I'm rather curious to see what my accommodations are going to be tonight."

Twilight blinked at his response "does that mean you're actually staying?"

"Well I can't just leave until my new clothes are finished now can I," Valvatrez stated matter-of-factly "and I'm rather interested in that vampire friend of yours who desperately needs my guidance. Perhaps I should've said vampony..." he quizzically mentioned before shrugging off the tangent.

"Well it is getting late." Twilight noticed, seeing how close the sun was to fully setting "By the way, do demons even sleep? And if they do, would it be during the day or night?" 

Her response came as a scoff from behind the two of them "of course demons sleep, and we couldn't exactly scare humans if we slept during the night either."

"So...during the day?"

"Not quite," Valvatorez corrected "a demon can live for an exceptionally long time, say thousands of years, to a demon, sleeping for one or two years is the equivalent of an afternoon nap," Twilight fell into a slump at hearing this, and Valvatorez had a good idea why "still we can rest on a day-to-day basis just to conserve energy." he reassured.

"Oh good..." Twilight said, breathing a sigh of relief "I was kind of worried Spikes effort would be wasted." after a moment of thinking Twilight stopped, causing the others to do the same "Valvatorez?"

"Yes? What is it?"

"Thank you." Twilight said smiling, catching the demons off-guard before taking flight toward Ponyville "Come on, let's hurry back!" 









Twilight and the group made it outside the castle much quicker this time, partially due to the fact that there was hardly nopony on the streets but more because she actually wanted to go there and was no longer dragging her hooves in dread of what will happen next. In fact, thanks to that they managed to make it back before dark. Twilight took a moment to take in the sunset as Valvatorez and Fenrich opted to ignore it in favor of heading inside.

'Wait...sunset?'

"SURPRISE!"

With the peaceful moment all but shattered by the sudden yell, Twilight turned towards the castle doors to see Valvatorez and Fenrich holding the doors open covered in pieces of confetti. Beyond them was the castle foyer which had streamers and balloons everywhere as well as a large banner with the words WELCOME TO PONYVILLE written on it. Half of the town was circled around the decorated foyer all smiling towards the two demons and Twilight, a rather small turnout considering who planned this. Speaking of which, Pinkie, Spike, the prinnies and all of her friends were at the forefront of the group.

"Well? Did we get ya" Pinkie asked, appearing between the two demons.

Valvatorez was struck dumb "how did you put all of this together? How did you get Fluttershy here before us!?"

Pinkie merely giggled as Valvatorez tried to comprehend what was before him "oh that's easy, I'm Pinkie Pie: party-thrower extraordinaire!" she proudly proclaimed with confetti bursting out behind her from not-even-god-knows-where "As for Fluttershy, I just dropped by her house to pick her up a minute ago. We barely made it in time too!"  

Again, what Pinkie failed to mention was that it took seven minutes running just to reach town and another three to reach the castle. That and there was no other entrances other than the front doors which the demons were standing in front of and the windows at the top of the 'canopy'. "I definitely have to watch out for her." Fenrich muttered "so what is all this?"

"It's your 'welcome to Ponyville' party isn't it, Pinkie." Twilight interjected

"Yep that's right!" Pinkie replied as she pushed the guests of honor inside "so without further ado, LET'S PARTY!"

On cue the music started playing and the ponies dispersed to either one of the many games Pinkie set up or the refreshment table to mingle or to the dance floor to cut loose with friends. 

Pinkie Pie chose to drag away Valvatorez (again) towards a group playing pin the tail on the pony "c'mon c'mon! you've gotta try this!"

"Alright Pinkie! I'll play!" Valvatorez exasperated. After being released from pinkie's grip he was handed a blindfold and found himself surrounded by expectent partygoers. Taking a glance at the pinup he would be aiming for, Valvatorez memorized as much as he could before putting on the blindfold "alright I'm ready,"

Pinkie grinned as she pulled out a long scarf and wrapped it around Valvatorez's waist. Once Pinkie was satisfied with her wrapping she clutched the cloth with both of her forehooves and gave a strong yank. She watched as Valvatorez spun around faster than most ponies could manage without losing their lunch.

As Valvatorez stopped spinning, he was handed the tail and straightened up to align with the pinup but strangely he didn't move an inch but instead started chuckling, much to the confusion of the onlookers, Pinkie Pie included. Slowly he raised his hand currently holding the pin and using the needle as a point pointed towards the pinup "you'll need to try much harder than that to throw me off!" Valvatorez challenged. An observant partygoer would notice that the tip of the pin perfectly aligned with the flank of the pin-up.

Pinkie was shocked, nopony could stand after a thorough spinning from her. The surprise turned to determination as she realized that, not since Cheese Sandwich came by last, she had to step up her game "ookay you asked for it Valzy!" once again Pinkie wrapped Valvatorez in the sash only this time it was from neck to toe. before she grabbed the cloth this time she whistled to her audience motioning with a free hoof towards her "anypony wanna help!?"

"YEAH!" one of the pegasi in the crowd screamed, grabbing the cloth behind Pinkie as another two earth ponies joined them shortly after that, followed by a unicorn and earth pony pair taking a place at the rear.

"All right, LET'ER RIP!" Pinkie Pie yelled to her compatriots. Together, the six pulled with all of their might spinning Valvatorez so fast that he generated a small tornado inside the foyer. 

By the time the wind had died down Valvatorez had stopped spinning but was definitely staggering from the pull "well...alright...that's better..." he managed to say between dizziness spells. Carefully he stepped towards the pinup with the tail shakily pointed in the general direction it was supposed to. Eventually he felt the pin sink into the poster, and after noting the laughs he was getting he removed his blindfold to see where he hit. 

The pony was now sporting a rather long beard.

Valvatorez chuckled at his attempt.

Twilight wandered around, mingling with the town and getting their opinion of the demons. She even talked with one of the prinnies who had volunteered to provide snacks to the guests in exchange for free sweets from Pinkie Pie. Her meandering brought her to the punch bowl where she saw Fluttershy staring at it lost in thought. 'What Valvatorez did must still be bothering her.' Twilight thought, looking at her anguished friend.

After another moment she couldn't take anymore of seeing her like this Twilight started making her way towards her friend "hey Fluttershy."

Fluttershy jumped at the sudden sound of Twilight's voice, and when she landed she turned towards her with a terrified expression "T-T-Twilight! I-I-I didn't mean to-"

"It's ok Fluttershy, I'm not mad," Twilight comforted putting her friend more at ease. While she would have preferred to know that she still had fangs, it was hardly the most pressing issue as of late "I take it what Valvatorez said is still bothering you?"

Fluttershy meekly nodded "I think I'm...if it's ok with you I mean but-"

"Hey Fluttershy, hey Twi!"

"Hi Applejack" Twilight welcomed to her friend holding a mug of cider in her hoof and another mug balanced on her hat. She wasn't alone either as Rainbow Dash was walking beside her staring at the ground "Rainbow Dash? what's wrong?"

"Huh? Oh! N-nothing." Rainbow Dash quickly responded putting on a quick smile to prove her point.

"Uhhuh, sure," Applejack deadpanned "ya turned down a mug of cider ah offered."

"I told you I wasn't thirsty! I had a lot to drink before we got here!"

"We we're together all afternoon Rainbow, an ah didn't see you drink a drop. Speakin of..." Applejack paused, turning her attention to Twilight "did Rainbow ever ask you that question she had?"

"Question? What question?"

"Somethin' about how fast five macs are."

"What! No! That wasn't it!" Rainbow Dash interjected. She then shifted around uncomfortably and her cheeks were turning red "it was...er...how fast is mach five?"

Twilight chuckled at the strange question "Rainbow Dash, I always thought 'full-speed' was the only speed that mattered to you."

"It is! but this is for...somepony else." Rainbow answered, looking away as she said the last part.

"Ya mean Mr. Fenrich right."

"Yeah...him." Rainbow answered, giving the floor a dirty look.

"Well...to answer your question Rainbow," Twilight said considering how to put it a way Rainbow would understand "you go faster than that whenever you do a Sonic Rainboom."

"Oh, that's it? alright, thanks Twi." Rainbow Dash replied giving a half-hearted grin. Seeing that none of them were buying it she opted to do the only logical thing "I'm...gonna go enjoy the party, se ya later girls." and flew off.

Applejack sighed "well, whatever's botherin her, she won't keep quiet about it for long, anyway here," She set down her mug of cider on the table and grabbed the one on her head, offering it to Fluttershy "ya look like you could use this."

Fluttershy reached for the mug only to stop and pull her hoof away at the last moment "I'm sorry Applejack, but I already filled up on punch..."

Applejack sighed "and what about you Twi?" 

"I'll take it." Twilight replied eagerly using her magic to bring the offered beverage to her lips and downed half of it in a few gulps "Thanks Applejack I needed this."

"Sure thing Sugarcube, now if ya'll excuse me ah'm gonna go find Mr. Valvatorez and talk ta him about some things." Applejack said picking up her mug of cider and adjusting her stetson "See ya later Twi." and with one last wave, she turned and disappeared into the crowd of ponies.

Once Applejack was out of sight, Twilight turned back to Fluttershy with a sincere smile on her face "you were going to say you want to take up Valvatorez's offer earlier weren't  you."

Fluttershy turned beat red as the floor became very interesting to her "well...it would be good in case I change into Flutterbat again..."

"I see," Twilight mused. She then levitated her cider towards Fluttershy "well Valvatorez said to not eat any apples until he visits next." Fluttershy smiled and took the cider with her hoof as the two enjoyed the party.

The party went on long into the night, with everyone enjoying the games, refreshments, and camaraderie the party pony had planned. Eventually the party did wind down and slowly everypony bid their farewells and left for home, with Fluttershy and Rarity leaving early and Lyra and Rainbow Dash being some of the last. Surprisingly even Valvatorez was feeling tired after the party and though he would never admit it so was Fenrich. After tracking down Spike and having him escort them to their rooms, which were across the hall from each other, and for the first time in centuries they slept during the night.