Hell Yeah

by sunnypack

12 - Demonology: the Art of Lying

Chapter 12: Demonology: Or the Art of Lying

There isn’t much known about Selena, other than her efforts in creating the Other. Selena was a well-liked magus who’s appearance wasn’t quite known. Even me, the demon who had the most contact with her, only knew her voice. Sometimes I could catch glimpses of her deep blue eyes piercing through the black void that we communicated through. Selena was a mystery, but there was no doubt that she was on the side of demons when no one else was. I just wish I knew where she went, because I never got the opportunity to thank her. I don’t think any demon did. And for a race that was founded on promises and contracts, that was probably what killed us the most. Selena gave, and we never returned the favour.

The first face I saw was deeply worried, but it looked really out of place.

Considering it was on Celestia’s.

As my eyes opened, Celestia’s expression was quickly replaced with a stone-cold one I was familiar with.

“You almost died last night,” she remarked, as if commenting on the weather.

I certainly felt like it. My shoulder was throbbing, my abdomen felt like someone had taken a grater and worked on it a few hundred times, and something deeper was aching, though I couldn’t identify what. Being in pain and having to deal with Celestia on top of that was spinning me out, so I decided to gave her some lip.

“Could have fooled me, I thought I saw a fellow heartless demon.”

Celestia’s ears drooped slightly. “I’m not evil, demon, I do care about your life, even if you don’t believe it.”

I was… unsure how I felt seeing Celestia take my opinion so hard. I decided a truce was in order. “Yeah, sorry about being snippy, I’m just trying to cope with the fact that I was about to die. Mortality is new to me.”

Celestia cleared her throat. “You’re more mortal than demons I’ve encountered before.”

“Yeah… well… my mistake.”

That seemed to confirm something for Celestia and she smiled. I don’t mean the kind of polite, or measured smile that she gave to foals, but a genuine one. It both comforted and creeped me out. “Not a mistake.”

Instead of giving her the satisfaction of revealing my worry, I opted to turn the introspective tables on her.

“You should smile more,” I commented wryly. “Foals will like you more if you do.”

Expecting a frosty repartee, I heard a quavering voice instead. “I am… unaware that would help.” She looked uncertain for the first time since I met her.

Celestia paused for a long moment before diving into it. “From one being to another that has lived a long time. Would you… give me some advice?”

“Is this about Twilight.”

Celestia hesitated. “Well, yes, in a way…”

Though outwardly I hid my expression, it shook me that this bastion of strength was suddenly being all apprehensive. This must be vitally important. “… What advice?”

Oblivious to my fears, Celestia continued timidly. “Would… would they like it? A Princess that smiled more?”

Expecting some world-toppling problem, disaster or even suicide mission, I couldn’t help I but chuckle softly in surprise. I immediately stopped when I realised it was only making my chest hurt. When I groaned and got the pain back under control, I finally replied. “Why are you asking me?”

“You seem to be important to Twilight. And a number of other foals look up to you, somehow. I’ve seen how you’ve changed them.” She paused, then added in a small, strangled voice. “Thank you, by the way.”

Lightning hitting me could not have surprised me more. Literally. I think I’ve been hit by lightning before. Don’t cross a demon with weather as their domain.

“Why does everypony give me that look when I thank them?” She bit her lip with a bitter look, but I could see a tinge of hope behind there. “Do you think it would be good if I smiled?”

“I think Twilight would like it if you smiled more. She already worships you, if that’s what you want.”

Celestia’s eyebrows drew together. “That’s… not what I want.”

“Then smile more.”

“Ponies expect me to be perfect.”

I rolled my eyes. “Do they really want that or is that just your own unrealistic ideal of perfect?”

“But I have to maintain my image.”

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. She was making excuses and was hoping I would refute them. There wasn’t a right answer here. It could very well mean that taking my advice to cheer up would ruin her image with the more serious members of her circle, but guess what? I didn’t care. I think you should enjoy yourself when you can, especially for things you think matter.

So I told her exactly that.

“What, so you want to maintain your actual image, or the ones others expect you to maintain?” I shook my head. “Just do what you want, it works out for me. Also, smiling all the time will almost make your serious face much more serious. Relativistic principle. Get it?”

For a moment, Celestia didn’t reply; then she gave me a strange look. “You’re pretty wise… for a demon.”

“Can all of you stop saying that phrase in a shocked tone? Not all demons are the same.” I winced as I propped myself up, realising belatedly that hooves instead of claws were there instead.

Celestia mumbled something under her breath and then hastily pushed me down to the bed. “I had to transform you so that you wouldn’t cause a panic,” she quickly added to quell my struggling. “I did a pretty good job considering the short amount of notice.” She pressed a hoof gently on my stomach. “You were severely injured here. On the outside, it wouldn’t show, but your ‘essence’ was damaged. We can’t fathom how, exactly.”

I winced. “How bad?”

Celestia’s brows drew together as she replied. “I cannot give you an accurate answer, but I believe somewhere between ‘extensively’ and ‘lethally’ would be a sufficient estimate.”

A chill ran down my spine. “That sounds pretty bad.” I paused. “Oh, where’s Twilight?”

Celestia’s mouth twitched as I finally broached the unspoken question between us. “She’s recovering in another bed, although she’s only gotten a couple of scrapes and bruises, which is a somewhat light consequence, considering the fight she was in, considering she was in a restricted area, considering that I told you both specifically not to go there.”

I shrugged. “Level 6 is kind of a drag, Level 7 is better.”

This time I had the pleasure of seeing Celestia’s eyes boggle.

“You went to Level 7?!” She leaned forward. “What’s there? What’s it like? Did you find anything?!”

“Too close! We’re touching! I’m not okay with this!”

Celestia’s eyes widened further, which was already impressive in itself, but the little squawk she let out as she overcorrected her posture and landed flat on her backside was probably the icing on this delicious socially destructive cake.

Twilight was definitely going to find out about this.

“Don’t tell a soul.”

Twilight was definitely going to be told about this.

“I’ll fill you in, then,” I quipped. The all-knowing, all-powerful principal of the school, princess of Equestria, ruler of the nation, didn’t seem so imposing right now.

Celestia grumbled something under her breath and then blew out an exasperated breath. “There’s something about you, demon, that compels me to be more relaxed.”

“Are you sure you’re not slowly going crazy?”

Celestia snorted. “Alright, enough fun, let me be frank with you.”

“Can you not call me ‘you’ or ‘demon’? Just call me Morpheus.”

Celestia blinked slowly, as if the notion hadn’t even occurred to her.

“Why?” she asked.

“I like my new name.”

“I heard demons would rather be called demons than any other name, unless they chose it themselves.”

“You know a surprising lot about demons.”

Celestia’s mane drifted down as she flicked it back casually. “I read, you know, and I’ve had… experiences with similar forces.” Her brows drew together as her gaze lost focus. Then it sharpened as if she remembered where she was. “In any case, I’ll respect your request, Morpheus.”

Looking at her expression, I didn’t comment further. I would probably get my head bitten off if I dived too deeply. “Thank you,” I managed to say.

“Onto more serious business. I want to stop Lex.”

“What? How do you know about Lex?”

“Twilight wouldn’t give me much, which is extremely rare of her. She trusts you more than she trusts me.” I was surprised to see Celestia looking something between proud and distraught. “She has made a true friend with you. She only told me that this was all her fault and that we need to stop Lex from binding the two planes together.” Celestia bit her lip. “I’m going to tell you that Lex’s plan could work, but in doing so, it would most likely wipe out all mortal life in this plane.”

I swallowed thickly, noting the moment of hesitation when I actually considered going along with Lex. Thankfully, I was right, nothing was without a catch and I was pretty darn sure that Lex wouldn’t care for a plane full of mortals being wiped out. The only thing that was bothering me was…

“How did you know?”

Celestia sighed. “There were… similar incidents in the past, but nothing we couldn’t keep in hoof. There was, let’s just say, an extremely powerful being that wanted nothing more than to replace this plane with another more to their liking. It was not pleasant in the interim, to say the least.”

“So, what exactly are you asking of me? You wouldn’t be here if there wasn’t something you could do.”

Celestia smiled. “Hold your reins for a second. Just a couple of hours ago, Lex broke into the hospital. I barely stopped him from killing Twilight, but I could not restrain him from escaping. He was looking for something. Desperately.” Celestia gritted her teeth. “Somepony is also helping him.”

My head shot up. “What happened? Is Twilight okay?”

Celestia pressed a hoof to my chest, forcing me back down. “Relax, Morpheus, Twilight is fine. You just need to concentrate on yourself right now.”

“That’s a load of ethereal nuggets! You just told me Lex just tried to kill her, I have to get to her!” I tried to raise myself out of the bed, but Celestia smacked me in the chest, leaving me heaving in the bed as pain lanced through my mortal container. What in the Other? Why was I so weak?

“Calm down, let me explain.”

“No!”

An aura surrounded my body as I forced back down into the bed.

“Stop that, what are you going to do, you’ve lost most of your strength and you’re barely recovered. There are unicorns nearby keeping an eye on the situation. Stay. Put.”

With a sigh, I sank back down. Physically, I subsided, but inside, my blood was boiling. “You’re not involving Twilight in any of this, right?”

Celestia tossed her head incredulously. “Of course not. This is adult business. We can’t risk a foal.”

“Adult business, eh?” I flexed my neck, feeling a lot better. “What about me?”

Celestia shook her head in exasperation. “You’re not a foal.”

“So what you’re saying is I should go after this pony?”

Celestia rolled her eyes. “No, you’re going to stay here and take care of Twilight.”

“Wait, you don’t want me to go after this pony?”

“No, I don’t. Is that too hard to believe?”

“Yep.”

She caught my look and explained further with a sigh. “You fought another demon that was attempting to do damage to your essence.” Celestia’s eyebrows drew together. “You’ve done enough for us, already. I should have been the one to become aware of this. This is my fault. Twilight didn’t mention much, but you two have done a good deed.”

“What do you mean, a good deed?”

“Freeing another demon. From what I’ve heard, Twilight developed a spell and you both went to help this demon.” She looked like she couldn’t decide whether to be cross or proud, but then settled on mostly proud with a tinge of annoyance. “Even though you put yourselves in grave danger, you were doing it for the right reasons, but next time, just leave it to us.”

I blinked at Celestia. Was everyone here crazy? Why was this magus risking personal injury just to protect Twilight…? Even more worrying, I had the feeling she wasn’t letting on why she was keeping me around Twilight. Was Twilight someone special to her. Why was a Princess of a nation protecting a foal? And wasn’t a demon the best cannon-fodder for reconnaissance?

“Why are you trying so hard to keep Twilight out of danger?”

Celestia blinked at me. “Do I need a reason to protect the young and vulnerable?”

Usually, yes. But I kept that thought mainly to myself. Out loud, I moved on.

“But I could do something. Let me help.” Someone had to take care of Lex.

Celestia pursed her lips. “You will not do anything, Morpheus. Both of you have deliberately disobeyed my orders. I should put you in the Astral Pendant for that.” She sighed. “But since you’ve clued us onto Lex, I’m willing to forgive those transgressions. Don’t test me beyond that. You will not harm anypony on my watch.”

I sighed. “You don’t have to threaten me with that. I won’t hurt Twilight.”

“You wouldn’t hurt her anyway.” Celestia pinned me down with a vicious glare. “I’m more concerned with anypony else. I don’t want you to hurt anypony. Even if you think they deserve it, judgement of them shall be fair. I can see that look in your eye, Morpheus. You want revenge for the attempt on Twilight’s life. Take it from somepony who has lived probably as long as you. This will not end well if you try that, understand?”

I didn’t say anything. Recognising the fact that silence was not admission, Celestia continued with a pleading tone that made me swallow a sarcastic reply.

“Morpheus, you have to take it easy, at least for a few days.” Celestia prodded me in the head with her hoof. “You’re no match for Lex or even a regular pony right now!”

At first she held the look with me, but then her gaze softened. “I know from Twilight that you are a rare demon of principles. You believe in fairness too, right? Don’t compromise them for anything.”

“I won’t,” I finally replied.

Only then would the Princess relax.

“Thank you, Morpheus.”

I think Celestia bought my response more than I did.

———————

I was discharged from the infirmary without much fuss. I guess when the Princess was involved, a lot of red tape could be cut through as if she held red hot steel. I was glad for that, because I caught glimpse of particularly grabby medical staff that looked excited at the opportunity to treat someone. I guess they don’t get much traffic around here.

Speaking of which, they did something to my body, but though my injuries didn’t hurt physically, there was still something wrong with me. I was physically healthy, but a deep pain that was hard to describe echoed from where Alma hit me.

It was only an hour after I came out that my mistress did too. Her pouting face advertised the fact she’d been overly-attended to with bandages and kisses aplenty. Spotting me, she half-tackled me when I came out, sobbing into my coat as I awkwardly patted her on the back.

“Morpheus! Are you alright, they said, they said—” she grabbed me tightly. “I’m so sorry, this was all my fault! This was all my idea!”

“Hang on, hang on, woah, woah, woah.” I tried to get a handle on things, but whenever I spoke up, Twilight babbled something unintelligible and clung to me harder. I awkwardly patted her head, ill-at-ease at the strange stares ponies traversing down the hall were giving us. Hey, this wasn’t me!

After a while, I gave up trying to say anything and simply held her, whispering reassuring niblets that even I didn’t know was the whole truth. Despite my urging, Twilight, I gathered, had been the subject of an off-the-screen lecture. As a result, the guilt of deceiving the Princess and getting me hurt in the process was the source of her dismay.

Seeing Twilight depressed was putting a damper on my own mood, so I tried to cheer her up. This was hard considering that every time I saw her limp, it would make me clench my claws reflexively. Celestia told me Twilight was fine, but she didn’t come out unscathed from the incident. Lex had to pay… as soon as I was fit enough.

I forced a grin. “You can’t go about sulking the whole day.”

“But… the Princess smiled!”

That was the problem. Maybe I shouldn’t have stuck my nose in the business of royalty?

“I’m sure she was just trying to be friendly.” I’m about ninety percent sure that was the case.

“But… but the Princess never smiles!”

“I’m pretty sure she has smiled before.”

“Not like that!”

I shook my head helplessly as I considered the fidgeting unicorn in front of me.

“She was trying to tone down the situation,” I explained patiently, “I should give her lessons on how to be more relaxed. You’re not in any serious trouble.”

“Y-Yes I am! I snuck into the library, went into the restricted section without permission and let a demon into the school!” Twilight paused and then added softly. “You also got hurt because of me.”

“Me? I get hurt all the time. No biggie. That second-last thing was way out of your control. Even Princess Celestia couldn’t stop him.”

“But—”

“But nothing!” I prodded her with an annoyed hoof. “You’re Twilight Sparkle, my mistress, be a bit more confident!”

Twilight took in my expression and hesitated.

“The answer is YES!”

“Y-Yes!”

“Good. Sometimes you shouldn’t put too much faith in what others think about you and put a little more into what you think about yourself.”

“But, you—”

“Forget about the consequences for a second!” I drew her around and stared straight into her eyes. “Look at me, Twilight, what you did for Alma is a great achievement. Do you think what you did was right?”

“Erm…”

“Give me an answer straightaway. For once no thinking. No debating. No crosschecking. Tell me, did you think you did a good thing?”

“… Yes.”

“Then that’s enough.” I nudged her. “You’re still young, so sometimes you might have to listen to what others say, because they have experience, but what makes you an exceptional magus is that you have a very strong sense of right and wrong. Trust me, that’s pretty rare.”

Twilight straightened slightly and finally smiled. Really smiled. “Thanks Morpheus. But uhm, Morpheus, you know…” she trailed off. “Never mind.”

From the way she stared at me, I could hazard a vague guess as to what she was talking about.

“This is about what Lex told you, isn’t it?”

“H-How did you know what I was thinking?”

“It’s written all over your face.” I sighed, then smiled at her. “You know, I’m glad you found a different way to send back demons.”

Twilight nodded. “I would have done it anyway.”

I really believed her, which is why I told her the true cost.

“Do you know what the foundations of summoning is about?”

Twilight hesitated, then answered. “It’s about making demands, right? You bind a demon to yourself as a way to sort of get them to do what you want.”

I nodded. “In order to do that, the magus imprints a sort of brand that is bound directly to a demon’s essence. The only way to undo it is to dismiss the demon, or substitute it, like the Encyclopaedia mentioned.”

“So what does that mean for you?”

“It is very difficult to remove that ‘brand’, instead of substituting a random demon from the Other, I substitute myself.”

“Morpheus!” Twilight stared at me in horror. “That means another magus could—”

“They will inflict great amounts of pain, yes, but that’s not really that bad, actually.”

“Not bad, what are you—”

“I also can remove the brand, because it has trouble affixing to my essence. I then… well I sort of cut it out” I made a chopping motion with my claw. “Like a tumour.”

“Morpheus, I’m sorry…”

I rolled my eyes. “What for?” I said with a laugh. “You solved the problem for us. All we need to do is find a way to apply this to all demons.”

Twilight resisted slightly and then nodded firmly. “I promise I’ll do that, Morpheus.”

I rubbed Twilight on the head. “You don’t need to make such momentous promises. I know you’d do it anyway.”

Twilight grinned. “Yep!”

Then I recalled something, in all the excitement I forgot about someone. I glanced around, but didn’t see Twilight’s saddlebags. “Where’s the owl?”

Twilight blinked at me. “The owl? Oh, erm, they said something about the owl being injured so they were moving it to safekeeping.”

“You just let it go?”

“Well… no…” Twilight shifted her hooves. “I didn’t want to, but the Princess said she wanted all things from the Library to be kept at the Board. She also said it wouldn’t be for long and we’ll see it later.”

I didn’t like the idea of the owl being out of our sight. It gave us some pretty good information about the carrier spell, even though it was a little annoying. Something told me the owl knew more about the Library than it let on. Then another thought occurred to me.

“What about the Encyclopaedia?”

Twilight blushed. “I, erm, kept that. I forgot about it.”

“Sure you did.” I rubbed her head. “I’m proud of you.”

“I-I really did!”

“Uhuh.”

“No really!”

“Sure.”

“Morpheus!”

“Oh, okay, okay, you forgot about it.” I winked at her. “But no need to give it up to the Princess, we need it for research.”

Twilight looked uncomfortable at the prospect of deceiving the Princess once again, so I added another motive on top. “Just let her know later, we need it for research purposes.”

The moment I said ‘research purposes’ Twilight’s ears perked up and swivelled forward.

“Yes,” she said brightly. “Research purposes. But still…”

Feeling a little guilty, I threw in a sweetener. “Just tell her it was my decision.” Changing the topic completely, I added. “I’ll get you some ice cream, later, alright?”

“Ice cream? Are you sure that’s not just what you want?”

“Please, it’s because we’re friends, right?” I puffed out my chest and changed the topic quick-smart once again. “I’m doing this for friendship, so it’s okay. By the way, I’m killing this friendship thing. That should be my domain. Friendship. Do magi here have magical-like domains?”

Twilight giggled as she nudged me with her flank. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. We don’t have domains, but yes, ponies do have something they’re good at, that’s what our cutie marks are for.”

“Cutie marks?”

“The marks on our flanks.”

“Oh, I just thought they were decorations or something. So do they mean something? Are they like spell glyphs where the function is related to their form?” I peered at Twilight’s flank.

Twilight shied away and puffed out her cheeks in annoyance. “It’s rude to stare at somepony’s flank, you know.”

“Oh?” I shrugged. “I didn’t know.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Ponies get their cutie marks to show what they’re good at.”

“How does that work?”

“Well, it’s like this, you do something you’re good at, and when you do it, suddenly you get your cutie mark! The cutie mark shows you what you’re good at, though it’s fairly obvious and it’s so great! When you get your cutie mark you get a party and everybody is invited and ponies are interested in you just because you got one!” Twilight grinned headily as she recited the spiel to me. “It’s great! You get cake and presents and you get to make friends and—”

I interrupted her before the sun went down. “Right… so what are you good at?”

Twilight glanced at her flank and then back at me. Then she glanced back and then back to me. This repeated no fewer than three times, before she said, “Sparkles?”

I stared at her. “What?”

“I think sparkles.”

“You think or you know?”

“H-How do I know what I’m good at?”

“Didn’t you say something about these marks representing what you’re good at?”

“It’s probably something to do with stars.”

Twilight wouldn’t meet my gaze as it wandered to the walls.

“Right, stars, so astronomy or something.”

“Y-Yep.”

“So that’s pretty cool. I didn’t see a telescope in your room.”

“It’s… in the attic!”

“I didn’t see any star charts either.”

“I borrow them from the library.”

“Funny, I didn’t see—”

“A-Alright! It’s not stars!”

“Ha! I knew it! What’s it really?”

“I-I’m not sure. What do you think I’m good at?”

I slammed a hoof into my face. “You don’t even know what you’re good at?”

“Um… no?”

I ran a hoof through my mane. “What about magic?”

Twilight pouted at me. “That can’t be it, everypony can be good at magic. That’s just practice.”

“But you are really good at magic, you know?”

“That doesn’t prove anything!”

“What were you doing at the time you got your mark?”

“…”

“It was magic, wasn’t it?”

“T-That doesn’t mean I’m good at it! I mean… there are other ponies good at magic, like Amethyst!”

“Is there some kind of rule that prevents two ponies being good at the same thing?”

“N-No…”

“So her cutie mark could be about magic as well.”

“Well it’s not!”

“What’s her cutie mark about, then?”

“I think it’s got something to do with appraisal.”

“Appraisal?”

“Yep, like something to do with jewellery or gems?” Twilight cocked her head. “I’m not too sure about it.”

“Huh, so like, what do you do when you find out what you’re good at?”

Twilight’s excitement dropped down a couple of notches. “Well… well you do the thing you’re good at.”

“So, again, I’d like to know what you’re good at.”

Twilight sighed. “Probably magic.”

“There, was that so hard?”

“But, but, other ponies get cool cutie marks! Like Lemon Cream has a cutie mark for food critiquing and Glitter Star has a cutie mark for theatre plays or something!”

“What’s so bad about magic?”

“Magic can’t get you friends.”

“Sure… it could.”

Looking back, every single magi I had dealt with was lonely and isolated. Most of them wanted it that way, the rest didn’t really care. Was Twilight worried that magic was the cause of her isolation? I mean the way she studied kind of intensely and kept to herself made her good at magic. I wasn’t an expert, but I was pretty sure magic wasn’t the really reason she wasn’t making any friends.

“Look, magic’s not the problem,” I continued hastily. “Here, let me help introduce you to some ponies.”

“What about … you know?”

Lex.

I really wanted to hunt him, but as much I hated to admit it, Celestia was right. I was currently in no condition to go looking for him directly. Well, there were other things we could do, but the safest place right now was the school. Celestia even organised a guard detail for us, and instigated barrier passthroughs throughout the school. A wary atmosphere descended and foals were whispering to each other about it.

Finally, I shook my head. “We’ll get to him, I did make a promise to help you make friends, right?”

Twilight hunched her shoulders. “How do we do that?”

I dragged her along with me. Class was about to start and we were wasting valuable friend-making time.

——————

“What about him?”

“Erm…”

“What about her?”

“Uhh…”

“What about that one over there?”

“Umm…”

“No, you’re right, they’re all losers.”

“Morpheus!” Twilight hissed at me. “That’s mean!”

I chuckled quietly. “Well, it’s true, none of them are really at your level. Plus, look, they’re all busy entrenched in their own little social circles. Amethyst is part of cool and popular. That group at the back look like they’re wasting time. Those ponies over by the window are talking shop about weird hobbies and stuff. There are some that are drawing and stuff, but there doesn’t seem like there’s any pony interested in straight up magic.”

Twilight fiddled with her hooves. “What if they don’t like me?”

“You’re practically starting from zero; I don’t think things could get worse from here.”

Far from encouraging Twilight, my flippant wording make her sink into a deeper funk.

“Oh come on, Twilight, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Just give it a go. And I was just joking about all these ponies. Go talk to one of them.”

“But—”

“It’s all about confidence. Seriously. Just fake it. Even if you’re scared.”

“But—”

“By the Other, here’s how to do it!”

Right now was the break between classes. We had a fifteen minute breather between the change of teachers, which was my window of opportunity. In that time slot, I was going to prove to Twilight that you could make a fast friend.

“Hey,” I said, sliding up to a bunch of fillies that were talking about what their parents were doing. “What’s going on?”

“M-Morpheus!” One of them squeaked. Her blue eyes shifted around as she tried unsuccessfully to merge with her bright red mane.

I gave her a bright smile. “What, am I that scary?”

“N-No!” She looked at her friends, trying to gain some insight but both of her friends found something interesting to look at on the opposite ends of the room. She took a deep breath while I did my best to ignore her strange behaviour. “C-Can I help you?”

“Twilight tells me it’s hard to be friends with anypony. In the interest of proving her wrong, can we all be friends?”

The fillies looked at each other. “Really?” They burst into smiles. “You mean we can be friends with you?”

Now it was my turn to look confused. “Of course you can? And Twilight, too.”

One of the fillies gave Twilight an uncertain look. “But you know, like, Amethyst and Twilight have a thing, right?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, when you stood up to Amethyst I knew you were kinda special.” She played with her mane. “You were really cool back then, you don’t listen to anypony and the teachers leave you alone.”

“What, really?”

She nodded emphatically. “Rumour has it that you got into a fight with somepony bigger than yourself and you won!” She quickly glanced around and lowered her voice as if divulging a great secret. “Is it true?”

“Yeah…” More or less.

“And did you hear about the barriers they’re putting up? Are we in danger?”

“I’m not sure.” I shrugged nonchalantly. “So, about being friends.”

“Oh right, anyway, even Amethyst listens to you.” She glanced back at the pony in question, who was trying very hard not to look interested in our interaction, but failing to do so. The filly cleared her throat and hunched her shoulders. “You’re okay, but being friends with Twilight…” She glanced back at her friends who hurriedly shook their heads, but at least had the grace to look embarrassed about it. “We don’t want trouble.”

Oh. I get it now.

“Wait, I’ll be right back, oh, before I forget, what’s your name?”

“Rosie Poesy!”

“Okay Rosie, just a second.”

Twilight glanced up as I headed back to her desk.

“What did she say?”

“They want to be friends with me,” I said reluctantly, “but not with you right now. Wait, wait, wait! It’s just because of Amethyst. It’s easy, we’ll deal with it. Tell you what, if you start talking to Amethyst, maybe they’ll see you guys aren’t at odds with each other anymore? Then you can make as many friends as you want!”

Twilight dragged a hoof along the surface of the desk. “But what if…”

“What if she won’t want to be friends? That’s fine. We can concentrate on that later.”

“But what should we talk about?”

A sudden idea occurred to me. “There was a sprite I caught a while back. It seems to be connected to Lex. Amethyst was there. That’s our in.” I paused. “There’s also the owl. I’m pretty sure there’s something with that owl.” Hah, two magi with one swipe!

“Princess Celestia said we shouldn’t do anything.”

“Hey, well, she said that with regards to Lex. Not the sprite. We’re just going after a sprite tangentially related to Lex. So… no problems!”

Twilight considered me dubiously. “But…”

I tried my best to keep my tone convincing. “Hey, you don’t want to sit around doing nothing, right?”

“But… what if you get hurt again?”

“Trust me, nothing’s going to happen.” I glanced back at Amethyst. “Your dad and her dad works at the Board. Two birds with one stone.”

“But what if—”

“Oh for Void’s sake, stop it, here!”

I dragged a protesting Twilight from her desk and pulled her all the way to Amethyst’s desk. The trio glanced up in surprise as I practically dumped Twilight in front of them, dragging Twilight by the tail. My jaw hurts. How did these ponies do this all the time? I was impressed with how I used only my mouth to do that. Seems like the other ponies were impressed too with how they were staring. Or it could have been the fact I was dragging Twilight by the tail through the centre of the class.

Amethyst and her friends were staring at us like we were crazy. Amethyst looked less surprised and more curious.

“Now, what do we do?” she hissed at me.

“You know, when we discussed this back in the library, I’m pretty sure I didn’t get past setting fire to the school, so I’m going to leave it up to you.”

“What? Morpheus!”

“Hey Amethyst, Twilight wants to look at a spr—creature held at the Board. Can you get us in?”

Amethyst’s mouth twitched as she pondered us both. Then she turned to Twilight.

“Why should I help you?”

“B-Because…” Twilight trailed off. Well, it’s not like she could say that it was because—

“Because we need it to save the world!” she blurted out.

Why… did I even bother?

“Look Amethyst, close your mouth, that’s not ladylike. Twilight was just being overly dramatic. All we need to do is settle this like sensible—”

Apparently making a decision, Amethyst nodded to herself and then stalked right up to Twilight, ignoring me outright. “D-Duel me, Sparkle!”

My jaw flopped open. By the Other, wasn’t that sulphur in the face?

———————

So you know how demons have no idea about prophesy? I was partially convinced I was a prophet when Amethyst made that declaration. Twilight was about to duel Amethyst. I was joking back then. What divine irony. Taking advantage of my shock, the two foals went on without me.

“I-I can’t duel you!” Twilight gasped.

Amethyst had a superior smirk on her face. “Too bad. If you want something from me, you’re going to have to prove you’re stronger than me.”

Twilight teetered between fleeing or breaking down right on the spot.

“If I win that means you don’t deserve anything.” Amethyst glanced at me. “Not even a friend.”

For some reason, Twilight instantly went stiff as a bolt. “What? N-No! That’s not true!”

“Prove it. Duel me!”

“No! The first lesson in magic is to Respect Lif—”

“Don’t talk to me about respecting life! Morpheus was hurt and you couldn’t protect him!” Amethyst’s eyes were sharp. “You haven’t got what it takes!”

As soon as Twilight heard what Amethyst said, she took a step back in fear. I cursed internally. I had just convinced Twilight that it wasn’t her fault.

“Twilight, you don’t have to—” I warned, not liking where this was going. I was beaten to the punch, however.

“Fine!” Twilight was trembling but her voice was strong. “I accept!”

Damn it. I whirled around to Amethyst. “Hey—” I was about to say something, but Amethyst’s expression was as stoic as I had ever seen that the rest of my words died in my mouth. What is with this kid? Why was she saying all these things? She knew I was Twilight’s demon and not necessarily her friend.

“What the heck, Amethyst? That’s not fair and you know it.”

She still ignored me and instead turned to her two friends.

“Lemon, Glitter, make it happen.”

Her friends sent Amethyst dubious looks, but slunk off anyway. Amethyst returned to her desk as if nothing happened, whilst Twilight, the moment sinking in, was starting to look terrified beyond belief. My first instinct was to comfort her, but there was something eating at me.

Amethyst glanced at me sidelong and didn’t say anything as I approached.

“Why?” I asked plainly.

Amethyst gave me an unreadable look and then shrugged nonchalantly.

“She irritates me, that’s all. I’m sick of her.”

“That’s no reason to—”

“You sure you want to leave Twilight alone?”

With a laden glare, I stalked off.

What the heck was her problem?

———————

The class was abuzz with this new development, but I was beside myself with worry. I mean I could take any of foals on, easy, but Twilight on the other claw…

This was eating me up on the inside.

“What if I eliminate—”

“No.” Twilight set her jaw. There were nerves there. Her hooves shook, but I could see a faint sheen of pure determination radiate from her eyes. “I have to do this alone.”

“Twilight, why did you accept the duel?”

“What she said was true.”

“No it wasn’t.”

Twilight glanced at the table. “Yes it was. If I knew more magic…”

“You know plenty enough.” I shot back. “Twilight, you don’t have to prove anything. Fighting with Amethyst isn’t going to magically make you a better magus.”

“No, but it proves something.”

“What the heck does it prove?”

“That I can stick up for my friends!”

“Again, you don’t need to do that with Amethyst.”

“Yes, I do!”

“Why are you so stubborn?”

“Because I need to do this.”

I took in Twilight fierce, fierce eyes and finally gave in with a flustered sigh. “Alright, if it’s that important to you, I guess I should back you up as your friend.” My brow creased. Something didn’t add up. “How did she even know about our little adventure?”

Twilight glanced back at Amethyst. “I don’t know, but her dad does work at the Board of Containment.”

It seemed a lot more clear when she put it that way. “It doesn’t look like she knows much, but we can’t be so sure. All she knows is that I got injured—oh for flip’s sake, we were just over this, it isn’t your fault. If anything it’s Alma’s fault.”

“I-I know… I just… wish I could do more.”

“You’ll be fine. If anything, think of this as combat experience.”

“Morpheus… if I lose…”

“You’re not going to lose.”

Twilight shook her head. “If I lose, then I think you should go with Amethyst.”

“If your will is your book collection, then—” I did a double take, my voice quivering. “What? No. We work well together.”

“You should be with a magus that can handle herself.”

I rolled my eyes. “The reason I stick with you, Twilight, is because you’re so good with magic. Besides, even if that wasn’t the case, I’d still stick with you.”

“Why?”

“Isn’t it obvious? It’s because we’re flamin’ friends.”

“Oh.”

“That said, Amethyst seems to have a bone to pick with you.”

Twilight sighed. “That’s because she really wants to be your friend.”

“Why?” I flung up my claws as I lowered my voice to barely above a whisper. “I’m a demon. She knows that! Why isn’t she scared?”

Twilight gave me a strange look. “She didn’t run away when she found out. You being a demon has never been a problem for her. Her dad even works at the Board… she probably already knows what a demon is. Or what demons are normally like.”

“What? That’s the reason? Shouldn’t she be more scared?”

“She did faint in the beginning,” Twilight smiled at the memory and then caught herself smiling and quickly replaced it with a serious frown, “but then she realised something.”

Now it was my turn to be confused.

“Realised what?”

“That you’re not like other demons.”

———————

When school ended, Twilight and I headed towards the gate. Shimmering sheets of barriers only let certain beings pass through. Reluctantly, they let me pass through with Twilight, but I could tell they knew what I was and were judging me on that. This felt awfully familiar… I had forgotten how normally Twilight treated me, almost like I was talking to another demon.

When we approached the gate, foals were lined up one by one to get through, but we were intercepted almost immediately.

“We are to escort you back to your residence, Ms. Sparkle.”

I noted absently that they didn’t recognise me as part of their detail. I ignored that fact. In any case, I was supposed to protect Twilight, not these shiny brass buttons that were hefting spears. I mean really, they weren’t even magical objects.

Twilight saw that they were surrounding her, but didn’t include me.

“Hey,” she asked, “why aren’t you guarding Morpheus as well.”

“He’s part of the problem,” one of them replied curtly. This one had more markings etched into his armour and I could see a placid look conveying partially-concealed disdain for me.

“But—”

“The Princess placed us here to prioritise the safety of her citizens.”

“But can’t you—”

He smiled at Twilight and gave her a pat on the head. “It’s alright, little one, we’ll protect you.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about, Morpheus is my friend!”

“A de—he’s your friend?!”

“Yes, so you better help him too!”

The guard pursed his lips, but then ordered the guards to circle us both. Seeing his look, he probably just wanted to speed things along than argue with Twilight. I didn’t blame him and he was like most mortals when they found out about demons. Cautious and wary.

Trudging along, the guards definitely gave Twilight preferential treatment compared to me. I could see her gritting her teeth every time a guard did something borderline rude to me, but I ignored it. Instead, I sent a Twilight a look and shook my head slightly, telling her not to do anything.

When we got home, Velvet blinked at the massive unicorn guards stationed on either side of us.

“Oh dear, has my daughter done something wrong?”

“Mom! Why did you assume it was me?”

“Was it you?”

“Well, kind of, no! Actually—”

“Oh, I’m so sorry, my daughter’s a bit of a hoof full… would you like to come in?”

The guards shared a glance. They were likely filled in on the ‘demon’ situation so had no trouble making it known that for some reason, I was the primary threat. They didn’t lay a hoof on me, though they tried their best to drill a hole in my back with only their eyes.

“No problem, Mrs. Velvet, but no thank you, we’ll just be outside. Besides, we’re more worried about this one.” He shoved me none too gently and I stumbled forward.

“What’s your problem?” Twilight snapped at the guard.

The guard bent down, putting on a serious face that I often saw adults do when they thought the child didn’t know what was good for them and they were about to lay out why.

“This is a very dangerous creature, Ms. Sparkle. If we don’t treat it with caution, then it might be too late when it decides to hurt us.”

“Morpheus wouldn’t hurt anypony! You’re just being mean to him for no reason.”

The guard sighed. “Listen, child, these are grown-up matters, so—”

“I bet you don’t know much about demons. Even the Princess said Morpheus was a good demon!”

“I’m sure,” he replied with an amused smile. “What else did the Princess say?”

“She said he was a good friend to me.”

“Uhuh. Well sorry to burst your bubble, Ms. Sparkle, but this is a problem of magic. You should let us professionals handle it.”

“That unity field equations attached to positive directional vortices need to be regulated by coupled spell-task interactions.”

The officer’s eyes widened in surprise. “What? But that’s—”

“That’s a dimensional spell,” Twilight finished for him angrily, “I think I know a thing or two about magic. I summoned Morpheus, after all.”

“What’s this about summoning Morpheus?” Velvet called out from behind.

I took a deep breath. “There’s something you should know, Mrs. Sparkle.”

Velvet met my eyes.

“I’m a demon.”

————————

Velvet actually took this amazingly well.

“Oh, well, I guess I shouldn’t push you two to marry, then.”

“What?” I blurted out.

“Mom!”

“Hah, only a joke, only a joke,” she tittered, then her gaze shot to the guards. “Sorry, I just need time to process this, would you excuse us?”

The guard glanced at me and then returned to Velvet.

“Excuse me,” he said, “but I need to make sure you’re not in any danger.”

Velvet frowned. “What do you mean? Danger from what?”

He gestured at me. “Primarily this creature.”

Then I saw something unbelievable. Velvet got angry.

“Excuse me?”

The guard actually took a step back from her glare.

“I-I’m saying…” He cleared his throat and continued in a stronger tone. “This demon could be a threat.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, anypony can see this demon is good. He’s behaved himself so far and we have nothing to worry about.”

“With all due respect—”

“With all due respect, guard,” Velvet cut in. “Morpheus hasn’t done anything wrong yet. Why have you judged him before?”

“But his kind has—”

“And if an apple spoils, you throw out the orchard? I’ve never heard something so ludicrous in my life. You don’t go around suspecting ponies before they’ve done a thing. It’s not right.”

“Ma’am, we are well aware of that, but we want to be on the safe side.”

“Of course, safety precautions first, but with how you treated Morpheus, I think first thing is first. You owe him an apology. You got off on the wrong hoof and you would like to make up.”

“What? I will not. I do not believe what I have done is wrong.”

“I’ve never seen a more ignorant guard in my life. Fine then, you sirs can see yourselves out. I can’t believe this. I hope Shining isn’t going down this path. What kind of training teaches guards to act like morons.”

“It’s alright, Mrs. Velvet.” I sighed. “I’m used to it.”

Velvet stomped her hoof. “You shouldn't have to be!” She reached out and gave me a hug. “You should be treated just like anypony else. That’s what I believe.”

I tried to hide my blush behind my hoof, but I don’t think I was successful.

“Thank you,” I said sincerely.

Velvet clapped her hooves. “You’re welcome. And Morpheus?”

“Yes?”

Velvet’s expression was grave. “If you ever need help, don’t hesitate to talk to me. I’ll put those bullies into place!”

I felt kind of silly listening to this. Maybe because I was in foal form that Velvet felt the need to protect me. I cleared my throat and changed in front of her. “I think I can take care of myself.”

Instead of being shocked, Velvet snorted. “If you were that ready to put your hoof down, Morpheus, I doubt those guards would still be standing. You’ve been a good friend to Twilight, and that’s all I care about.” Velvet patted my head which now stood above her. “She’s happier now and it’s all thanks to you.”

I found something interesting to look on the floor. “No big deal.”

“It is. Now, off you go then, you two. I’ll prepare dinner, it’ll be ready soon.”

Before she could shoo us off, I quickly remembered what I had to do here and withdrew a couple of slips for the duel from Twilight’s saddlebags. Twilight jerked a little and then remembered it too.

“A duel?” Twilight Velvet was beside herself, while reading the note. “Goodness. I thought only the military school would like to do something like this. I don’t know if you should participate. I didn’t expect this from you, Twilight.”

Well, you know, they were still foals. The school would never sanction a ‘duel’ without parental approval. It was just an exercise, anyway, they didn’t see the animosity guiding the hoof, so to speak. We were holding a tournament with a bit of this and that and finally something kind of like spell self-defence. The duel, as it was, wasn’t going to be life threatening. It was more a contest of skill.

Twilight flicked her mane back and gave Velvet a steady look.

“I can do it, mom.”

It was amazing how assertive Twilight could be when she put her mind to it.

“Is this Amethyst? The girl who bullies you all the time?”

“Uhm….”

Velvet sighed. “Twilight, you know fighting doesn’t solve anything.”

Twilight whipped her head side to side. “No, it’s not fighting! And it’s not about Amethyst, either.”

Velvet was taken aback by the sudden shift in Twilight’s bearing. “What’s this about then?”

“It’s for myself. I want to do things for myself.”

This time, Velvet smiled. Then her expression returned to being serious. “Oh Twilight, that’s amazing, but… the crowds and all the ponies… oh dear, Twilight, I didn’t mean to scare you. You’re shivering.”

“N-No.” Twilight’s teeth chattered. “I’m j-just shivering with e-excitement! Y-Yep! Excitement!”

Velvet held the permission slip a little loosely as she considered her daughter. “There’s something important about this, isn’t there?”

That triggered something. Twilight stood a little straighter and looked her mother in the eye. “Yes, mom.”

Velvet made an exaggerated motion with her hoof as she rubbed her chin. Twilight, being nervous enough to outdo a magi’s first summoning, swallowed thickly and awaited judgement.

“Hmm….” Velvet gave me a sidelong look briefly, before turning to Twilight and nodding. “Well, I’m proud of you, Twilight, you’re finally stepping up and building some confidence in yourself. I think somepony has been helping you with that.” She sent me a meaningful wink as Twilight grabbed the note and stuffed it into her saddlebags.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Twilight kissed Velvet on the cheek as she grinned and caressed her daughter’s head.

“Just promise me you’ll be careful?”

“I will, mom.”

“And that you’ll beat Amethyst into next Thursday!”

“Mom! I’m not going to hurt her!”

“Okay, you don’t need to hurt her, just win.” Velvet paused, then added. “And you can laugh over her when you get the award for winning.”

“Mom!”

“Alright, it doesn’t matter whether win or lose, as long as you try your best… but it’s preferable to win.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. She was probably thinking that she was foolish to think her mother would keep the conversation at the level of severity it warranted. Then again, looking at this from the parental perspective, Velvet probably saw this as a cute little spat between foals.

It’s okay, easy mistake to make when dealing with demons.

Velvet winked at the both of us. “Don’t tell your dad. You know how he gets.”

Twilight nodded seriously. “I won’t.”

As we left the dining room, I whispered to Twilight.

“How does your father get?”

“You remember the first time you were here and I introduced you?”

“… Yes.”

“Like that.”

“Right.”

Though, to be fair, Velvet did spend the rest of the night fussing over Twilight’s leg.

“How did that happen?!” Velvet exclaimed.

“Erm…”

Where to start?

We fought a crazy demon?

Twilight coughed and for the first time I saw her, she lied convincingly.

“I fell down the stairs.”

I think that just goes to show that when it comes to family, there is always an exception to the rule.

——————

The next morning, Velvet smiled at us in greeting, but her demeanour suggested something was wrong. I hadn’t seen Night Light that night, but apparently he had snuck in and out really quickly. It wasn’t the first time this had happened, but it happened rarely enough to trigger some anxiety from the poor mare.

Twilight and I were welcomed normally enough, but the tension from Velvet sort of seeped into our minds and made us a little more warier. For that, I think was a small bit of luck, because it got Twilight to concentrate on the duel that was going to happen today.

There wasn’t much preparation, but Twilight seemed determined to carry it out without falter. I had to admire her courage, though I think it was misplaced. After all, she’s joined the club of surviving life and death and is a proud member alongside her trusty companion, yours truly, that has also survived mortal combat.

Well, something about Amethyst’s declaration of war seemed strange to me and I couldn’t put a claw on it. The sprite’s connection with Aeticulation and Night Light’s lengthening absence was giving me the heebie jeebies. This duel, in my opinion, was a fat waste of time.

But it seemed important to Twilight, so I thought I would give it a shot.

Moral support, of course, because magic wasn’t exactly my forte. If Amethyst did anything suspicious, I’d certainly step in. I can quell a couple of foals if I had to.

——————

Duels were a school-wide event, so we were surrounded by foals, seniors, teachers and excited parents that wanted to watch. I think I saw Twilight Velvet in the crowd. She was hard to miss because she was screaming at the top of her lungs and waving a massive Twilight-head. Where did she even get that? Actually, why did she even have that made?

We weren’t the only students in the Academy having a duel. In fact, this event wasn’t restricted to foals who had a grudge. It was a regular part of the school’s curriculum. Which was strange considering how peaceful this place was. What in the multiple planar dimensions required students to know self-defence from potentially resurrected evil spirits, levitation that could move mountains and powerful barriers that could shield whole cities against malevolent forces for days at a time? Were they preparing for the apocalypse?

In any case, my misgivings about the curriculum were swept aside by the fact that one on one duels weren’t really allowed for juniors such as us. Instead, a pairing was made. Twilight instantly picked me out and, after a brief moment of hesitation, Amethyst picked her pal, Glitter Star.

It was a tag-team sort of deal, but effectively, if neither Twilight or Amethyst tagged us in, then the duel would continue one on one until one of the party was defeated. In this case, we were allowed to use whatever magic we wanted. There were rings on our horns that inhibited and changed the structure of the magic we cast so that all magic had the strength of a feather.

Well, in terms of damage. Magical ‘momentum’ was still transferred was a physical force that was kind of like pushing, except dampened. So no damage, but it was like being buffeted by a pillow at full swing.

The winner would be decided on a clean-hit basis on a ‘vital’ point.

All events were supposed to be officiated by a teacher and the final rounds of duels by Celestia herself. For some reason, Celestia was unable to attend so a noble pony of some sort Prince Blue-something-or-other took over. He didn’t look old enough to judge, but his attitude was plenty pompous enough.

Most of the nerves from Twilight boiled down to a fifty-fifty split between Amethyst and the crowd. It would have made it worse if Celestia was here, so I counted my small, limited, blessings.

Amethyst kept glancing at us. I could see it from my periphery. Whenever I turned to make eye contact, she would turn away. I wondered what her problem was. Before, I felt like we were on neutral terms. Twilight told me Amethyst liked me, but I was just incidental and Amethyst hadn’t had the time to form meaningful bonds with me. At least, that’s what I thought. There was nothing between us except a short escapade to the ice cream eatery where I listened to her problems and we chatted. I racked my brain to figure out just what Amethyst really thought was so good about me.

I thought about asking Twilight, but she was too distracted with the upcoming match. Besides, she didn’t know anything other than the fact that Amethyst didn’t really like her and that she wanted to make up for her apparent failure to protect me. Several times I tried to bring up to Twilight that it wasn’t her fault, but she had, in her mind, that friends ‘had each other’s backs’. Or so said her ubiquitous brother.

I wondered if her brother rubbed off too much of his strange code of ethics and brotherly etiquette on his sister. She did seem oddly attached to him when I asked some benign questions.

‘Best brother and best friend in the world.’

Ouch.

I lost to her brother.

Well, to be fair, friendship isn’t a competition, but if anyone asked, I saved her life. I’m just saying.

“Morpheus.” Twilight quivering voice was barely audible from the ‘ooh’s and ‘ahh’s of the crowd as various ponies performed feats of dexterity and magic.

“Mmm?”

“Morpheus, how do you stay so calm?”

“Enemies of this level don’t really scare me.”

Twilight shook her head. “I mean, like before, when we faced Alma, how were you not scared? You looked so brave back then.”

I grinned at Twilight, nudging her with my shoulder. “Oh come on, don’t tell me you were scared with how committed you looked, charging in there with your horn blazing.”

Twilight shrugged sheepishly, hunching her shoulders and sending me a sidelong glance. “But that was for you. I needed to do that.”

“Doesn’t this seem so simple, then?” I gestured at the ponies. “They’re just watching you.” I chuckled. “They’re not trying to kill you.”

I saw her blink incredulously at the crowd. Her shaking didn’t stop, but it lessened enough so her fetlocks weren’t knocking together audibly.

“Oh…” Twilight replied. “I guess you’re right. Kind of.”

“Oh, for sure, come on. Didn’t I mention this at the very beginning?”

“Right.” Twilight bit her lip. “I was still scared, though.”

I patted her head. “If it helps, I was actually terrified too.”

Twilight gave an ardent shake of her head. “No way! You just charged in there and fought like crazy!”

“That doesn’t mean I wasn’t scared. Being afraid is good in small amounts. It keeps you alive.” I tapped her on the head. “Always keep in mind what’s important. Emotion doesn’t help you win, willpower only gets you so far, it’s your rational mind that wins in the end. Remember that. It helps demons and magi alike.”

Twilight stomped her hoof with one decisive movement, the last of her shivers dying away as she took a deep breath and finally focused.

“Okay,” she murmured. “I’ve got this.”

“Damn straight,” I added.

This time, when I turned around, I caught Amethyst staring full on. She met my look… and smiled.

What in the Other was her deal?

——————

Swift.

That’s how I would describe the first exchange.

Amethyst and Twilight were both stock still in the first face off. The first three seconds were filled with a still silence that settled on the grass field. There was no wind. It was dead calm. The crowd waited with bated breath.

The officiator was hesitant. Just when she was about to signal us again, Amethyst exploded forward, horn glowing with malefic intent.

Twilight swept low to the ground and touch it briefly her horn flashing several times as she touched the ground. She wasn’t trying to inscribe a circle on the ground mid-battle, was she?!

Glitter saw what Twilight was doing, her brows creasing in confusion, then turned to anger as if she thought Twilight was underestimating her friend. She looked like she wanted to say something, but she couldn’t, this was a tag team match, there was no interference.

Amethyst’s horn suddenly flared and a wide burst of energy shot straight out. It was a flat tidal wave of energy, but Twilight, seemingly expecting this, jumped with a twist. I think she misjudged her own capabilities because the wave caught the edge of her back hoof, spinning her around in the air. She landed almost face-first into the ground with a resounding plod.

Smack.

The visceral sound caused many, including me, to wince as we watched.

“Non-vital hit!” the officiator yelled out.

I waited for Twilight to tag me in.

She didn’t call for me.

I wanted to flex my claws but settled for bashing a frustrated hoof into the ground as Amethyst advanced cautiously. There was a ring in the ground and I couldn’t move a step past it if Twilight didn’t call for me.

Twilight, damn it.

Seeing Amethyst, I had to admit, any foal her age would probably be dancing around in satisfaction, but Amethyst was all business. She had great potential and a good sense for the art of battle.

By now, Twilight should have already been on her hooves. I knew she was faking it. Amethyst crept forward steadily, her mouth set in a grim slash of determination.

Clenching my jaw, I knew instinctively that Twilight’s feint wouldn’t work.

Probably realising the same thing, Twilight’s head shot up and she made for her hooves.

Instantly, a bolt came her way, but Twilight rolled out of the blast of energy. She narrowly dodged the second bolt coming her way and continued rolling. Amethyst followed ruthlessly as she sent bolt after bolt her way, not letting Twilight rest even for a second.

Charred dirt flew up. Twilight would lose even if one of those bolts hit. She constantly had to fling herself randomly left or right to dodge the onslaught of offensive magic.

Blam. Roll. Blam. Roll. Blam. Roll…

My eyes widened. What I initially thought was a random pattern was something else entirely. Oh, by the Other, that was really clever.

Amethyst gritted her teeth and launched one final blast. Then she braced herself and stood tall.

“Stop running like you always do! Fight me!” she screamed.

Twilight got up slowly. Her coat was matted with dirt. Her mane was strewn with grass. But her eyes were blazing with fierce determination. Twilight’s horn glowed a faint luminescent scarlet with white sparks dancing around the corners as she faced down Amethyst with a decisive gesture.

“No,” she replied simply and dipped her head to the ground once more. “You’ll fight yourself!”

Amethyst got off a dazzling bolt of pure energy that was so loaded with charge, the cracking of the air splitting as it yielded to the relentless rampage was audible across the field.

The crowd gasped as Twilight simply stood there, eyes fixed forward.

The bolt stopped dead.

Then the formation inscribed into the ground lit up at seven focal points and reflected the same bolt of differing intensities to the target standing at the exact centre: Amethyst.

Boom.

“V-Vital hit!”

Twilight sank down, exhausted as the crowd abruptly burst into cheers. I dashed forward, taking note that though she couldn’t keep to her hooves, she clearly had the strength to smile.

“You were amazing,” I said proudly, giving her a hug. “How in the world did you come up with that?”

“It was a gamble.” Twilight clutched me back. “I’m so glad it worked.”

“Twilight Sparkle,” Amethyst called out to her.

We both turned around to see Amethyst walking towards us. Her face was a complicated mix of emotions that I couldn’t identify, but I got the feeling she wasn’t happy. Preparing myself, I tensed. Amethyst caught the movement and shook her head stiffly.

“I wanted to congratulate you, Twilight, for finally sticking up for yourself.”

Twilight perked up. “So we can be—”

“—We’re definitely not friends.”

Twilight drooped at that.

Amethyst rolled her eyes at Twilight’s pitiful expression. “Not yet, anyway, stop looking at me like that.” She gave me a look. “Morpheus… thanks.”

“For what?”

Amethyst gave me a crooked smile. “For giving me what I was looking for.”

With that, she swung away and sat down at the edge of the ring.

Confused, I could only watch as Glitter Star glared daggers at me and positioned herself in the ring.

“Morpheus, you’re tagged in now.”

“What?”

“The match is still going.”

“What, seriously?”

“Get in, Morpheus.” Glitter Star smiled dangerously as I stepped in the ring.

I lost, by the way.

——————

After the match, a lot of foals came and greeted us. Amethyst and the others left us alone. Glitter Star seemed to be mad at me for some reason when I immediately got hit in a vital spot by her bolt. Though I was sure I moved enough to fake being ‘accidentally’ hit, Glitter gave me the same frustrated look that Amethyst gave Twilight. I might have to watch that one in the future.

Amethyst seemed to carry a quiet air that made the other foals part like a fox amongst a warren of rabbits. But something was different, I couldn’t put my claw on it. It was almost like how an adult automatically has this presence and the children immediately know that they’re serious, so they get out of the way. It’s a sort of authority rather than fear that prompted the other foals to keep their distance.

“So, Twilight, you won.” Amethyst regarded Twilight with a placid gaze. Contrasting her, Glitter and Lemon looked frustrated and flustered respectively.

Twilight tensed, as if expecting a fight, but Amethyst tossed her head and snorted at her reaction. “I’m not a brute, you know.” Amethyst sighed. “And I do have a sense of honour. I’ll get you into the Board.”

Twilight’s straightened as her eyes lit up. “So does that mean…?”

Amethyst rolled her eyes. “Don’t misunderstand me. We’re not friends.”

Twilight’s ears flattened. “Oh.”

Amethyst groaned, eyeing from her periphery the growing crowd around us. Many foals had a curious expression that swung between expectant and judgemental.

“A-Anyway, since we’re just starting off, we’ll begin at acquaintances. Stop giving me that look. Stop that! Dear Celestia, just looking at that pathetic face is giving me ulcers.”

Didn’t something about this setup seem familiar? Hmm…

“Come on, let’s go,” she suddenly announced, flicking her tail as she left.

Glitter and Lemon scrambled behind Amethyst as she left us.

In the silence, I turned to Twilight. Who didn’t know whether to look happy or disappointed. Hah, foals. I nudged her.

“She liiiiiiiikes you.”

“Shut up, Morpheus.”

———————

Amethyst told us she would uphold her end of the bargain and deliver us to the Board, but there was no guarantee she could get us where we needed to go. Well, that’s fine, I just needed to know where it was.

I know what you’re thinking. What about Night Light’s card?

It didn’t have an address.

Amethyst gave me directions to her house.

She told us, by the way, in strict terms, not to show up straight after school and to give her about an hour.

So of course we went straight away.

Within minutes of the bell, we tailed after Amethyst as she exited the class at lightning speed. She was travelling at a fast canter. Not a comfortable walk like the rest of us, not a gallop like her life depended on it, but a worrying combination of the two. Hence, a brisk canter. She didn’t even look back, but I guess I was the only one paranoid enough to check my surroundings.

When she entered her ‘house’ we had to stop and pick our jaws off the floor.

Not literally, mind you, but you get the picture.

Impressive was one way to describe it. Dumbfounding would also be equally accurate.

Water features sprinkled among trimmed and tended bushes and hedges with a wide marble path leading up to an impressive set of ornately-carved double doors were what comprised just the front garden. The double storey mansion had some interesting relief carvings of stylised ponies dancing or rearing or staring blankly at me.

Instead of gawking, like an amateur probably would, I enacted a casual saunter down the path, Twilight after a moment or two more of mouth-gaping, scrambled to keep up.

Head held high, we made my way to the entrance. Instead of knocking, the door swung open and a neatly dressed elderly-looking mare greeted us with a tilted head.

“Hello, little ones, what may I do for you?”

As Twilight looked more like one of the stone statues in the garden, I decided to take the initiative to speak.

“We’re Amethyst’s friends.”

The mare nodded slightly and had already reached for her purse. When my words sunk in, her hooves paused and slowly sank down onto the ground.

“Erm, my hearing does seem to be failing me as I get older, would you mind repeating that, little one?”

I hesitated and repeated myself. “We’re friends of Amethyst. Is she home? She gave us this address…” Judging from the shocked look on the mare, this was either a stranger’s house… or Amethyst doesn’t get many visitors.

“If you do not mind, would you please wait here?”

We waited for about five minutes. We took the opportunity to chat.

“You know, Amethyst is pretty wealthy.”

Twilight nodded sullenly. “She’s got everything. Friends. A big house. Everypony’s respect.”

I whacked her on the shoulder. Twilight gave me a hurt look as if she didn’t deserve it. Because she did. Stop giving me that look.

“You’re saying that as if you don’t also have all of that.”

“I don’t have all that money.”

I recalled the two storey house and the fact she was the Princess’ personal student. I don’t know what Twilight was worrying about.

“You don’t need that money. Besides, you seem well off.”

Twilight started guiltily. “Oh, yeah, I guess so.”

I rubbed her head. “Don’t get too wrapped up. Life isn’t a competition. Enjoy what you’ve got. That’s how I live it.”

“Right.” Twilight took a deep breath. “Yep. Just ignore the huge house. The maid. The massive garden. The gigantic doors. The sparkling clean floors…”

Twilight muttered to herself, while I occupied myself with trying to decipher what Amethyst wanted out of us. Why exactly did she try to invite us here?

Suddenly, the doors shuddered, cracking open with a grinding thunk as an unseen latch was released. The hinges, well-oiled, didn’t make a sound, which I found more impressive than the doors themselves opening. Instead of Amethyst, like we expected, a severe-looking mare stared at us with piercing garnet eyes.

“Hmm, so you’re the ones that have been bullying my Amethyst.” She glared at each of us in turn. “You must be Twilight Sparkle. The main culprit.”

I think we had professional circus performers beat with the synchrony of our jaw drops.

“N-No! We’re Amethyst’s friends—”

Well, not really, Amethyst never really said so herself.

The forbidding look burned icy holes into us, making Twilight step back a bit and me take one forward. The mare took in our movements and her mouth downturned just the slightest bit more. She looked angry, but I got the feeling it was more at herself than at us.

“Where’s Amethyst—”

“Amethyst doesn’t make friends. She doesn’t need friends.” She cut through my attempt and continued in a harsh tone. “Just be honest. You naïve foals are here because you want something from my daughter.”

For a moment, I didn’t know how to react, but then I thought about tackling this in a different way. She was probably wily to all standard tricks. Let’s do this a little more… demonically.

Instantly, I dropped out of my foalish-looking demeanour and straightened up. “Alright, you got us, we’re here because we need something from Amethyst.”

Amethyst’s mother stood there in mute shock for a brief moment as she took in my candid explanation.

“Hmmph, all of you are the same. What is it? Name your price and then never step hoof in here again.”

I rolled my eyes. “We need to see Amethyst. It concerns her father, actually.”

This time her mother drew back, confused. “What do you mean? What do you need from Mandrel?”

I sighed, looking at my hooves indifferently. “Twilight’s father works at the Board. We just need to confirm a few things. The Princess told me we didn’t need to look into this, but we thought it best to investigate it ourselves.”

“An investigation?” The mare’s eyebrows drew together suspiciously. “With a couple of foals? You’re not fooling anypony.”

I sighed. “Ma’am, I’m sure you’re aware of your husband’s work at the Board.”

“W-Well, yes, but—”

“And things might not always be what they seem on the surface.”

“Okay, still—”

“So, all we need to do is speak to Amethyst and we’ll be on our way.” I gestured meaningfully behind the bewildered mother. “After you.”

After a few moments, Amethyst’s mother seemed to regain a measure of her former self and then stomped into the house. Taking this as an implicit invitation, I followed straight after winking at the surprised elderly maid to the side.

Twilight leaned in close and hissed at me. “How did you do that?!”

In a low voice, I replied. “It’s simple, I just bombarded her with a lot of different potential scenarios, some of which was familiar enough to make it convincing and some of them unfamiliar enough so that they give her pause. If there’s anything adults truly fear, it’s the unknown.”

Twilight nodded thoughtfully. “The unknown, huh? I think I understand. There’s nothing worse I hate than not knowing.”

A sly smile crept to my lips. “I think it’s a little different between you two, oh well.”

Twilight gave me a confused look, but didn’t have time to reply as we were lead into the dining room.

Amethyst’s mother sat gracefully at the opposite end of a large table and the maid pulled out chairs for the both of us. We sat down, not so gracefully.

“I’ll admit you foals aren’t the regular sort, but I don’t believe you beyond that.”

I stared at her. “I’m telling the truth.”

“I’m sure you are,” she replied nonchalantly. “And that’s why I’m taking you more seriously than if you hadn’t. The best of lies can be spun from the truth.”

She had that right, but the way she phrased it, sitting all smug there really gave me a strong desire to smack her in the face. Still, I resisted the urge, not because I couldn’t, but because that would have been too easy. Also, it’d probably upset Twilight.

“So, what do you want?” I finally asked.

She raised an eyebrow at the both of us, but then turned to Twilight. “The way Amethyst describes you is not at all how I imagined.” She narrowed her eyes as she studied Twilight for a long enough period to make her squirm in her seat. “You’re very… lukewarm.”

Just then, a skitter of hooves came echoing down the stairs behind us and I turned around to spot a frantic Amethyst scrambling to the table.

“Y-You’re here! Early!”

“Is that a problem, Amethyst, dear?” Her mother called out from the other end of the table. Amethyst jerked her head towards her mother and like a marionette, performed a stiff pony-like curtsey where she dipped her head at the same moment that she bent her foreleg forward and swept herself downwards.

“Mother.”

“Amethyst. Now about my earlier question. Is there a problem?”

“No… I simply wanted to prepare things earlier for their arrival.”

A non-committal answer that was deeply commendable for a foal that stumbled upon an unexpected situation. My decision to spring a surprise on Amethyst lead to this awkward exchange, so I decided to take some responsibility and shift some of the blame to us.

“Please accept our apologies, this an urgent matter,” I stated. The maid reappeared with a pot of tea and served it to us wordlessly. I took the cup and gave it a sip, using a hoof to pick it up, and I realised a little too late that the everyone else had used magic to pick up their teacups.

Amethyst’s mother didn’t miss the motion, but she didn’t comment on it, instead she interrogated me. “What sort of urgent matter?”

I shrugged. “Well, I don’t know whether I should be telling anypony. Especially to ponies whose names I don’t know.”

The barbed comment sticking into her lack of etiquette struck deep and the mare reared her head, her purple and blue mane sweeping back as she took a deep breath. Indignation flashed in her eyes, but also… perhaps a hint of respect?

“My name is Tourmaline Star. I am the current Chief Executive Officer of Ament Artificers, one of the largest jewellery and magical artificer companies in Equestria. We are one of the foundational supporters for the Board as you probably well know. Amethyst has told me that your name is Morpheus and her name is of course Twilight Sparkle. The personal student of Princess Celestia herself. Her father does indeed work at the Board, and I’ve personally heard a lot of his achievements as well as hers. A strong family that is positioning themselves as one of Equestria’s elites.” She pinpointed her focus on me, pinning me to the chair with the force of gaze. “What I don’t know is you. Where do you fit into all of this?”

“M-Mother!” Amethyst cried out.

Tourmaline ignored her daughter and stared at me. “Well?”

“Well, what? I’m not obligated to provide you with any information at all. If I had to say anything, if you doubt me, just ask your Princess.”

Tourmaline frowned at my statement. I could see the gears in her head turning. “My Princess? Well, I can see you are not here in any official capacity.” She sighed. “What agreement did you reach with Amethyst that she would invite you over, especially knowing our house policy on guests.”

Amethyst sort of shrunk into her chair, looking like she wanted to desperately merge with it. “Mother, I—”

“We’ll talk about this later.”

Amethyst sagged in her chair. I felt sorry for the kid, but now I knew where her motivation came from. It was to avoid disappointing her domineering mother. Her hostile attitude could actually be considered tame compared to her mother’s.

I decided to put Amethyst out of her misery.

“You have no evidence of that. We’re simply seeking some information. Direct us to the Board and we’ll handle things from there.”

As soon as I said it, I knew it was a mistake. Tourmaline’s eyebrows shot up and she got up quickly.

“Amethyst, come here now.”

“What?”

“Now!”

Amethyst scrambled over to the other side of the table as Tourmaline’s horn glowed a menacing blue. I watched all this with a frown. Damn, what was going on?

“Everypony connected to the Board knows where it is. Only other creatures wouldn’t,” she announced. By the Other, the maid was even joining in.

I waved my hooves hastily. “Let’s all calm down, I was given Night Light’s card himself. I simply want to find out where it is.”

Tourmaline looked at the card briefly and grinned in triumph. “See, only otherworldly creatures wouldn’t be able to see the address!”

Twilight nudged me from the side. “Erm, is this what they are talking about?” She pointed to the empty space on the reverse side of the card. There was nothing there I could see.

“Advanced creature, reasonable size, power to change forms and assume the likeness of the host… a demon?!”

“Hey, now—” Before I could say anything more, a brilliant bolt of energy coursed towards me. I narrowly ducked, but was hit blindside by the maid’s own shot.

Magical charge crackled on the surface of my skin. I tried to ground it safely, but it was searing my essence as it made its way to the metaphysical void. My essence was like wires melting to conduct the magical charge.

Still weakened from my encounter with Alma, I couldn’t do much to defend with my domain and instead took the hit severely.

“Morpheus!” Twilight cried out and hastily erected a barrier between us. Seeing the action, Tourmaline’s eyes widened.

“Young foal, if you’re really a pony, why are you helping the demon?!”

“Because he’s my friend!”

“Step away from him, little one, I don’t want to hurt you,” the maid called out.

“No!”

Tourmaline gestured impatiently. “Get out of the way before the demon decides to strike you down!”

“No! You’re not even listening. Morpheus is a good demon!”

“Impossible, step away from him now!”

“M-Mother, I think—"

“Quiet, Amethyst, I’m dealing with a delicate situation right now. That’s the Head Executor’s daughter, you know.”

“Will you listen to me?” Twilight shouted. “Stop it, Morpheus won’t hurt anypony!”

Tourmaline gritted her teeth and shook a hoof at us. “You don’t know these creatures like I do, child. My husband works at the Board and he’s told me about these foal beings. Step away from it!”

Before Twilight could interject, I did so. “I’m her demon! She summoned me!”

Silence.

Then a carefully phrased question came tentatively out.

“Is that true?”

Twilight nodded.

Tourmaline’s mouth twisted. “Get out.”

We were frozen.

Tourmaline sneered at us. “Did you hear me? Get out!”

We stood there for a moment, then I tossed my head. “Fine, let’s go.”

I led Twilight out with no further words. Amethyst didn’t meet my gaze as I looked back. Her head was hung miserably and I didn’t know what to say. I gritted my teeth. What monumental stupidity. If only I had shown Twilight my card, none of this would have happened.

I needed to find a way to make this up to Amethyst.

——————

When we left, I was aware of multiple presences behind me. Before I could say anything, Twilight kicked a stone and angrily snorted to herself.

“Morpheus, I’m sorry somepony hurt you,” she said as we walked.

“There’s no need to apologise—”

“But not everypony is like that! Amethyst’s mother was just especially mean. And stupid. And stupid mean.”

“Twilight, it’s okay,” I said, “this is very typical behaviour.”

“No it’s not!” she exclaimed, turning around with a mad scowl. “Ponies shouldn’t treat you like that without getting to know you first! I should have—why are you smiling like that?”

“I’m just thinking that it’d be great if most magi were like you.”

Twilight’s cheeks died down from blotchy red as her anger resided and embarrassment took place. “I’m nothing special.”

I laughed. “You keep telling yourself that, but I swear you’ve got the lowest self esteem for the most soft-hearted magus I’ve ever come across.”

Twilight smiled. “Morpheus why do you always cheer me up?”

“Well, I do it because—oh wait, I forgot to mention, looks like they’re following us.”

Twilight twitched and looked up at me. “What?”

“Amethyst, the maid and Tourmaline are behind us.”

I’ll tell you this right now, they’re better than the average tracker, but they’re not so experienced that they could escape detection.

Twilight made to turn around, but I stopped her by clearing my throat and nudging her from the side. “Don’t let them know we know. Just let them follow us.”

“Why?”

“I want to know what exactly they’re after.”

Finally, after turning a couple of corners, we arrived at the Board of Containment’s supposed main headquarters. I say ‘supposed’ because the building was very unassuming in a part of town that didn’t suggest there was a governmental entity just lying around. A tall white-washed building stood proud over the street, with vacant lots around it. Strange, considering that the rest of the houses along the streets were townhouses.

I glanced back, but Tourmaline and Amethyst were hidden around the corner. Smirking to myself, I touched Twilight on the shoulder.

“Hey, I’m going to see what they’re talking about.”

“Morpheus! Wai—”

I slunk off, positioning myself around on the other side of the wall. With my sensitive hearing, I could listen to what they were talking about.

“Okay, now I need to meet up with them and get them in.”

“Get who in, Amethyst Star?”

“M-Mother!”

Oh, looks like Amethyst had planned to meet up with us by sneaking out. Looks like that failed, though.

“I’m going to deal with that demon.”

“You can’t, Mother, Morpheus isn’t a bad demon.” Nice one, Amethyst, sticking up for me.

“How would you know that?” Tourmaline replied. “We must report them to the Board. We would be in dire straits if we let such a dangerous creature roam around Canterlot.”

“But—”

“Enough, Amethyst, we have to ensure our safety.” There was a brief pause. “We will talk about your disobedience later.”

I had heard enough. I slipped away, taking soft but swift steps to catch up back to Twilight.

She stood still at the entrance, trying to find some way in. There wasn’t a handle, but this was definitely a door.

“So this is the Board of Containment,” I muttered mostly to myself.

Twilight’s ear twitched as she caught the sentence anyway.

“This is where my dad works.” She squinted at the building. “It doesn’t look very big.”

I shrugged. “Maybe it’s bigger on the inside?”

With a sort of implicit shared agreement, we knocked on the door.

“Yes?” A tired-sounding voice flopped out as a slot appeared. A red-tinged eye glanced down at us. “I’m sorry, we can’t—”

“Ahem, is this the Board of Containment?” Twilight asked, interrupting the speaker who was just about to turn us away.

“No. You must leave.”

The slot started to close. I quickly added, “We’re here to see Night Light, is he in? His daughter is here.”

The slot paused.

Then it continued.

“No visitors.”

I cleared my throat and took a gamble.

“Even if the visitor is a demon?”

The slot paused once again. The eye shifted from me to Twilight.

“You’re Night Light’s daughter?”

Twilight nodded.

The eye shifted to me. “You’re her demon?”

I nodded.

“I have standing orders to convey a message to you both.”

“Uhm… okay?” I said.

The eye quickly shifted from red to black, making me spring forward and push Twilight out of the way.

“Run,” it said and the slot disappeared.

With a creaking sound, the building slowly crumbled, as if a heavy weight was pressing down from the top.

“Twilight, watch out!” I rapidly shifted and grabbed her in my claws, dashing to the side as a beam fell down.

The building groaned and shifted, bulging from the middle like it was trying to contain something.

Snap.

The building suddenly exploded. Shrapnel stopped dead in Twilight’s hastily-erected field. Too late, I looked back to check on our ‘pursuers’.

Looking forward, I saw a hole rent in the side of the building and yes, there was typical spatial distortion caused by magic. A barrier had shattered, the resulting backlash blowing the hole in the side of the building as it tried to repel an invader. I felt the presence of something more sinister as I advanced forward.

“By the Other… Lex,” I muttered, feeling the familiar trace of his spatial domain.

Twilight came alongside me and gaped at the widespread destruction, she tugged at me. “We have to help! Somepony could be hurt!”

Nodding, I stumbled forward, but then stopped suddenly. “No, wait, you should stay here. I’ll check it out.”

“Morpheus, just because you’re a demon, doesn’t mean you can’t be hurt.”

Disturbingly, I recalled that I was more mortal than most. It’s alright, with my domain as long as Lex was nearby…

“Stay here, I can’t promise I can protect you, my essence has taken a hit.”

Twilight rounded on me with a furious expression. “What do you mean?”

I frowned at her. “It means that it might be difficult to use my domain to protect you. You should let me go first.”

“No! That means I should go with you more!” She stomped forward, not even waiting for my response. “You’re the one that needs protecting.”

“Hey, you can’t…”

“Why not?”

“Because…” I would’ve said ‘you’re my mistress’ a few days ago, but now I couldn’t find the words to express it. “Because you can’t, alright?”

“That’s not a good enough reason.”

“Well, I can’t think of one right now,” I replied testily.

Twilight surged ahead, leaving me behind. “Then hurry up and help me.”

Rolling my eyes, I trotted forward, easing aside a beam that had collapsed across the main hallway leading inwards. “Don’t die on me, Twilight, I still want to go back to the Other.”

Twilight chuckled in response.

———————

Inside was total chaos. What was once a nice-looking reception was now marked with burns and tears. Evidence of a desperate struggle was everywhere.

“Lots of power used,” I noted, touching the scorch marks scored into the stone. Cold. “This didn’t occur recently.”

Twilight cast a spell I didn’t recognise.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“I’m trying to find out if there’s any pony around—oh!” She dashed forward suddenly. “There’s somepony behind this door!”

There was a metal door with a thick aura shielding it. Suddenly, it swung open and a figure burst out, horn glowing as the door was held open.

“That’s the last of the demon’s traps! Go, go, go!”

Ponies streamed out from the door. Some of them saw us and tried to usher us back the way we came, but we stood our ground, curious about the sudden tide of ponies. We edged around, seeing the figure more clearly resolving into a stallion wearing a hooded cloak that glowed and shimmered with an aquamarine aura. Judging by his voice, that sounded oddly familiar. It was hoarse from shouting… oh no, it wasn’t…

“Is that the last of them?”

“Yes, sir. But the building’s sentinel is down?”

He sighed. “Alright, keep the door plate, maybe we can fix it later.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Alright, we have to—Ibis, get back, the demon is still here!” The hooded figure spotted me and sent off a magical bolt that tore through the air with seething intent.

I immediately tried to guard against it, but realised too late that I used my domain instinctively to do it. It weakly manifested and then resided, the magical charge passing through the intervening space and hitting me instead. I could no longer maintain my form and shifted back immediately as I was thrown several feet back, skidding along the floor.

“Dad, no!”

“Twilight?! What are you doing here? Morpheus?! Wait a second…”

I heard hoof clops approaching me steadily.

Night Light, the Head Executor was coming.

Author's Note:

Still unedited, although I did do some passes.

These two chapters were around 12 k words each which to be put into perspective is about 40 pages worth of writing, but actually it's more like 84 for this one, because it has more dialogue.

So I tried, yo.

Next Chapter: The greatest goals often require the greatest sacrifices.

As always, my fuzzy and foamy readers, thanks for reading!

P.S. The next chapter is probably going to be released as well, and there's also a short epilogue.

Comments

[lazyreader19]

"She liiiiiiiikes you.”

“Shut up, Morpheus.”

the tables have turned

[A.P.O.N.I.]

It weakly manifested and then resided,

Is "resided" what you meant to say? Also, do we know what his domain is? I've been building it up in my head that there's going to be this dramatic reveal, but has he actually said it previously?

[fractalman]

“Oh, well, I guess I shouldn’t push you two to marry, then.”

We weren’t the only students in the Academy having a duel. In fact, this event wasn’t restricted to foals who had a grudge. It was a regular part of the school’s curriculum. Which was strange considering how peaceful this place was. What in the multiple planar dimensions required students to know self-defence from potentially resurrected evil spirits, levitation that could move mountains and powerful barriers that could shield whole cities against malevolent forces for days at a time? Were they preparing for the apocalypse?

Nah, they're preparing for next tuesday.

[pahnazd]

That duel was amazing! Clever, clever Twilight.
Poor Amethyst - her mother has such a better-than-you attitude that I actually want to hit her in the face with a flaming chair.

So, Morpheus just took another hit. I wonder what his constitution is by now.
Check HUD, see 1HP left. Uh-oh.

[TheGreatEater]

Amethyst had a superior smirk on her face. “Too bad. If want something from me, you’re going to have to prove you’re stronger than me.”

If you
____________

“That’s not what I’m talking about, Morpheus is mine friend!”

my
___________

“Excuse me,” he said, but I need to make sure you’re not in any danger.

Wrap in " marks.
_____________

Velvet stomped her hoof. “You should have to be!” She reached out and gave me a hug. “You should be treated just like anypony else. That’s what I believe.”

shouldn't
_________________
8671080

I want to douse her with flan, then light her on fire. Have some glazed, flaming, bitch for dinner ... of course I might need to stock up on Tums so I avoid indigestion.

... or we could make glue out of her. I bet no one would miss her.

[sunnypack]

8673347 Wow, I've done a number on this story. Thanks for pointing out all the dumb mistake I did! Corrected~

[ThatBadGuy]

HALT!

Ze GNG has spotted a mistake!

=======•=======G=======•=======

“Excuse me,” he said, ["]but I need to make sure you’re not in any danger.

Velvet stomped her hoof. “You should[shouldn't] have to be!” She reached out and gave me a hug. “You should be treated just like anypony else. That’s what I believe.”

Though, to be fair, Velvet did spend the rest of the night fussing over Twilight’s leg.

“How did that happen?!” she[Who is talking?] exclaimed.

“I have have[Doubled] standing orders to convey a message to you both.”

=======•=======G=======•=======

HAIL GRAMMAR!

The Grammar Nazi Group

Boop-Happy Lass

24Stories55Members2016May

[SWEETOLEBOB18]

“It’s all about confidence. Seriously. Just fake it. Even if you’re scared.”

"Fake it 'till you make it" Old expression

[RoyalBardofCanterlot]

Great chapter. Velvet is awesome. But seriously, Twilight just got a lecture? I was almost sure she'd get a stern punishment, but as Celestia pointed out she did the right thing by freeing Alma so that did earn her leniency and Celestia is the merciful type.

[RoyalBardofCanterlot]

Tourmaline is a jerk and so are the guards. Isn't it standard knowledge that demons are loyal to their summoner to the point of a pathology and would never harm anyone their summoner didn't want hurt? That and Morpheus hasn't caused any problems thus far.

[TartarusFire]

These two chapters were around 12 k words each which to be put into perspective is about 40 pages worth of writing, but actually it's more like 84 for this one, because it has more dialogue.

Oh mai, poor you but this chapter wouldn't be awesome if you hadn't
I don;t know what to comment on it's just... so hype

[TartarusFire]

8676351
Because summoning a demon is dirty work, and probably black magic, what more do you need

Also because racism against demons being evil.
Also because demons are usually evil :V

[Nikolas]

Poor demon, recently Morpheus took a bunch of hits.

[Feather of Truth]

I am so glad I got around to reading this story again and with the updates I am happy to see more and sad it took me so long to read them. Loving the story's twists and turns.

Calling a theory right here.
I know who Selena is!!!

Back when Morpheus talks about her it feels like an extremely long time has passed like 10,000 years or more but what if it was only about 1000? This Other the demons live in exists outside of time and space so one year could easily feel like one second or an eternity. I assumed that Morpheus knew what Selena looked like since he knew her but the opening lines of this chapter blew away my conceptions. Selena is also another name for the moon goddess but I assumed it just referred to some humanoid magus from a different world.

"There isn’t much known about Selena, other than her efforts in creating the Other. Selena was a well-liked magus who’s appearance wasn’t quite known. Even me, the demon who had the most contact with her, only knew her voice. Sometimes I could catch glimpses of her deep blue eyes piercing through the black void"

As soon as I read that my mind connected Selena with Deep blue eyes and BOOM! Luna. This revelation has me applauding the author on this subtlety. I haven't read the rest of the story yet but I am confident I am right.

[Sollace]

It weakly manifested and then resided

reside
rɪˈzʌɪd/
verb
past tense: resided; past participle: resided

1. have one's permanent home in a particular place.
"people who work in the city actually reside in neighbouring towns"
synonyms: live in, occupy, inhabit, have one's home in, be settled in, have taken up residence in, have established oneself in
2. (of power or a right) belong to a person or body.
"legislative powers reside with the Federal Assembly"
synonyms: belong to, be vested in, be bestowed on, be conferred on, be entrusted to, be in the hands of

I feel like you keep using resided when you actually mean subsided.

[Scorch215]

The class was abuzz with this new development, but I was beside myself with worry. I mean I could take any of foals on, easy, but Twilight on the other claw…

Think you mean "any of these foals"

[Scorch215]

“Please accept our apologies, this an urgent matter,” I stated. The maid reappeared with a pot of tea and served it to us wordlessly. I took the cup and gave it a sip, using a hoof to pick it up, and I realised a little too late that the everyone else had used magic to pick up their teacups.

"this is an"

Tourmaline gritted her teeth and shook a hoof at us. “You don’t know these creatures like I do, child. My husband works at the Board and he’s told me about these foal beings. Step away from it!”

foul