It isn't easy ruling the Nether, but Kyra manages. Though, things get tough when The Candy Mare escapes from Tartarus and she must travel to the Mortal Realm to bring her back! But how can she find her when The Candy Mare could be anybody?
Special thanks to Knackerman for letting me use The Candy Mare and for helping portray her character correctly.
It isn't easy ruling the Nether, but Kyra manages. Though, things get tough when The Candy Mare escapes from Tartarus and she must travel to the Mortal Realm to bring her back! But how can she find her when The Candy Mare could be anybody?
Part I - "Just Another Day" Kyra goes about her day-to-day activities, dealing with out-of-control slaves, spending time with her adopted daughter, and having some fun with her underlings. Part II - "Nightmare Night" Kyra travels to the Mortal Realm to track down the Candy Mare... and bumps into Twilight, who introduces the Demon Queen to her friends... Part III - "What A Fright" The Mane 6 and Kyra try and track down the Candy Mare. Meanwhile, a couple ponies go missing... Part IV - "Something Sweet To Bite" The Candy Mare manifests into her new form and sets her sights on the Mane 6 and their demonic protector who take refuge in the abandoned Castle Of The Two Sisters... Part V - "Queen Of The Netherworld" With Luna's help, Kyra and the girls make one final stand against the Candy Mare...
A red mare with long black hair, wearing nothing but a thin black tube top and black panties, sat on the balcony of the top floor of her tower, left leg dangling over the edge. She looked out over the hellish landscape of the Netherworld, which was made up of a bunch of large, rocky landmasses connected by thin stone bridges. Beneath was a sea of lava. For a demon, though, it didn't matter. Lava was as harmless to a demon as water was to a mortal.
Being queen of this place wasn't the best, but she made do. Every now and then, she would reminisce of her life before she died. A much simpler life. To get her mind to return to reality, she kept telling herself "at least I'm in charge..."
"Mistress!" A voice called from the ground, about 50 meters down.
Looking down, she saw a gray mare with long black hair, wearing the same thing she was. Letting out a sigh, Kyra placed her hand on the ledge and jumped off. She always did enjoy jumping from high places and feeling the wind in her hair. Landing on her feet, she looked at the demon.
"Deva," she said, crossing her arms. "What brings you here? Something wrong?"
"Not sure," Deva replied, shaking her head. "It's just... Viper was looking for you."
Kyra hesitated before un-crossing her arms and walking away from her tower. "What does my dear sister want?" She asked, crossing a bridge.
Her tower sat on its own landmass, connected to land by one of the Nether's many thin stone paths.
"Something about a misbehaving slave..." the gray demon answered as she followed. "Wants to know what to do with him."
"Isn't that Amanté's job?" Kyra asked as she continued to walk towards the slaver's domain; a rocky cave that led down into a cavern where all the fun happens.
"It is, yes, but Viper still told me to get you," Deva explained. "I didn't mean to bother for something so--"
"No no..." the queen interrupted. "Viper told you to get me. You're only doing your job..."
Deva gave a light smile, hearing that her master wasn't mad at her. When Kyra got mad, she could get really violent and really scary. This is a fact that all demons in the Nether knew and made them all afraid to screw with her.
The two kept walking until they crossed a thin, stone walkway that connected to the landmass that Amanté's slave den sat on. Out front of the cave was a tall, black demon with short gray hair down to her shoulders. Her body looked nice and sleek and she wore a black, leather top that left her belly visible as well as a short, black, leather skirt and black high-heel boots. She was circling a green stallion who was on his knees, looking rather pissed.
Upon noticing the red mare, Amanté waved to her. "Mistress. Sorry to bother you."
"What seems to be the problem?" Kyra asked, stepping up to the tall demon.
Amanté crossed her arms as she eyed the stallion. "This one is giving me trouble. Always fighting back... Trying to attack me... I can't get through to him..."
Kyra listened to what the slave handler had to say before walking in front of the stallion. "Do you not understand what I'm trying to do?" The red demon asked, slowly getting to one knee in front of the stallion.
"Yeah... I understand..." the stallion replied with a glare. "You're trying to turn me into a bitch!"
Kyra quickly shot a hand out and grabbed his neck. "Listen, you piece of shit... You're here to be punished. Period. And before I came into power, the punishments all involved physical pain of the worst kind... Now, I let Amanté be in charge of the slaves because she enjoys it so much... But, if you shit on this privilege... I'm sure I can make your time here even more unbearable..."
The stallion's glare didn't fade. "Fuck you," he finally said.
Kyra let out a low growl before she quickly stood up. Her fingernails then grew into long, sharp claws before swiping at the stallion's face. He let out a yell of pain as three large gashes wear left behind on his face. Kyra then turned to Deva.
"Take this piece of shit to the Smelting Chamber," she ordered.
The gray mare nodded and walked up to the stallion, grabbing him by the ear and pulling. "Get up and get moving," she commanded, leading the stallion away.
"Any other slave issues?" Kyra asked as she turned to face Amanté.
The black mare shook her head with a smile. "No... Care to come see?" She cooed, holding her hand out towards her den.
Eyeing the den, Kyra let out a sigh. "I suppose I could..." she said, heading towards the cave.
Smiling, Amanté followed. "I think you'll be quite happy with my little pets."
"I never doubted your ability to break down a slave," Kyra said as they entered the slave den.
The room inside was empty, apart from a stone staircase leading down to the dungeons.
"I appreciate the confidence, mistress," the black demon cooed as she followed her queen down the stairs. "I have to say, I... I am grateful that you gave me this duty. It is like I was... meant for this..."
Kyra grinned as they finally reached the bottom of the stairs. "Well, you seem to enjoy yourself."
They were now in a large cavern that seemed to stretch on forever. Ponies were chained to walls and stalagmites, some looking content as they slept and others nervous, scared, or normal.
"This way," Amanté cooed as she walked passed the red demon, heading towards a gray stallion who was sitting against the wall.
There was a collar around his neck which was chained to the wall. He was totally naked like all the others, his cock laying limp against right leg. He didn't seem unhappy. Just a little bored. When the two neared him, he looked up at them with a smile as he got to his knees.
"He always gets happy when I pay him a visit," Amanté said as she stepped up to him and stroked his short, black mane. "Such a good boy..." she cooed as the stallion nuzzled her leg.
"Hmm... He does seem to be rather obedient..." Kyra said as she stepped in front of him, putting a hand on her hip.
Seeing the ruler of this realm standing there made the stallion feel both afraid and honored to be in her presence. He gave her a bow and kept his head lowered. Smiling, Kyra got to one knee and put a finger under his chin, gently lifting his head to look in his eyes. He looked back with a sense of fear and respect.
"Mmm... Good..." Kyra cooed darkly. "He knows his place..."
"That, he does," Amanté chimed in with a smile. "I have actually been trying to find a way to reward him for his loyalty and obedience... But, I see no greater reward than a quickie with... you..."
Kyra quickly looked over at her with a bewildered look. "You think I would engage in sexual activities with one of our slaves?" She asked, letting out a chuckle. "Me? The queen?" She then eyed the stallion, hesitating in thought. "Although, it... would be rather fun for... me..." she then said as she eyed the stallion's meat. "Still not a demon cock, but..." she started as she gripped it. "it'll do..."
The stallion let out a gasp when he felt her hand grab his flaccid dick, which soon became less and less flaccid the more she stroked it. Her strokes were also quite rough and forceful as she was accustomed to handling demon cocks, like when Deva, Amanté. or Viper grew one for some fun time. When the stallion meat was nice and hard, Kyra positioned herself over it. Placing her hands on the stallion's shoulders, she pressed her chest to his face as her thin panties disappeared in a flash of fire. Licking her lips, she slowly lowered herself until her lips wrapped around the cock's tip.
Letting out a moan, she lowered herself all the way so their crotches touched. The stallion, himself, was enjoying this immensely. Closing his eyes, he let out a soft moan when he felt his dick enter her pussy. It was warm and wet inside, like a furnace covered in water. It was a weird feeling but also the best thing he ever felt. Letting out a gasp of pleasure, also enjoying the feel of her breasts against his face. When she lowered herself all the way, however, they became face-to-face and chest-to-chest.
"Enjoying this, slave?" She asked as she rocked her hips back and forth, up and down, sweat of arousal beginning to run down her back. She then placed her right hand on the wall behind him, their faces getting closer as she stared into his eyes. "How do you feel?"
"S-Scared..." the stallion moaned, looking back in her eyes. "But, really good..."
Grinning, Kyra moved her left hand to the stallion's wrists, running her finger along the binds. The slave soon felt his wrists were free and placed his hands on the floor beside him.
"Feel free to touch..." the mare cooed as she rested her cheek on his shoulder, letting out moans as her pussy heated up.
The stallion hesitated for a couple seconds before slowly raising his hands and placing them on her butt.
Kyra smirked and kept rocking. "Mmm... That's it... So, what's your name?"
"Nnn... Uh... Wh-Whatever you want it to be..." he moaned out as he ran his left hand up the mare's sweaty back, feeling close to an orgasm.
"That's cute..." Kyra moaned with a chuckle. "But, I want to know your mortal name..."
The stallion moaned and grunted before he fired off his load into her pussy, filling her up. "S-Steel... F-Forged Steel..."
Kyra let out a deep sigh as she squirted her hot, demon juices all over his lap as she felt his cum fill her up. Smiling, she sat in his lap and felt his cock slip out of her. "Mmm... Steel, huh?" She asked, pulling back to look him in the eyes. "I think I have another treat for a pet as special as you..." she cooed, poking his muzzle.
Steel leaned back against the wall and shook his head. "That's okay... mistress... What you just did was... more than enough..."
The red demon grinned and placed her hand on his chest. "No... I believe in punishing the bad with the most horrifying of torture methods... But, I also believe in rewarding the good as best I can..." She then slowly got to her feet, looking at Amanté. "Bring him outside..." she said before she started walking back towards the stairs.
The black demon nodded and went to go undo the stallion's bindings. "You should feel honored. I haven't her this impressed by a slave yet..."
"I do feel honored," Steel said as he felt the ring around his neck open and fall to the ground.
Smiling, Amanté helped him to his feet. "Come on..."
Kyra left the den and stepped outside, looking around as she crossed her arms, semen still running down her legs. Hearing Amanté exit her den with the slave, she smiled. "Watch..." she cooed, holding out her hand. There was a light rumble as Kyra closed her eyes. Suddenly, a large, rocky, rectangular structure rose from the ground. When it was about 4 stories high, holes began to blow out of the sides, forming what looked like windows. Once the rumbling subsided, the structure looked like a hotel. "There..." Kyra said as she held her hands out at her sides. "Haven," she said, turning to Amanté and Steel. "A fine hotel for all your slaves who are as obedient as this one."
Steel stared at the hotel before looking at Kyra. "I get to... stay there?"
Kyra smiled and walked up to him. "Yes," she said, placing a hand on his head. "You'll get a comfy bed and a nice room. It may not look like it from the outside but inside... I made very nice..."
Steel gave her a smile before Amanté began leading him towards the building. Watching them walk away, she heard another come up behind her.
"Haven, huh?" Asked Viper with a chuckle as she stepped up beside her. "Sounds a bit cheerful for you..."
"The name is to soothe those who stay there and to make all the others slaves want to stay there..." Kyra explained. She then eyed her sister. "Have you seen Malice around?"
"I believe I saw her near Fire Lake," Viper replied before looking at the red demon's crotch. "Did you... enjoy yourself?"
Kyra looked down before snapping her fingers, making the excess cum vanish as her panties reformed. "Keep an eye on things," she said as she began walking away. "I'll be spending time with my daughter..."
"Have fun!" Viper called to her, before turning and heading inside Amanté's slave den.
An 8-year-old-looking, black demon with long silver hair and red eyes was seated in a large, shallow pool of lava that only went up to her waist. She was wearing the typical outfit that Kyra and Deva wore; black tube top and black panties, which also appeared to be fire-proof. She was waving her hand in front of her as a butterfly made of fire followed it. The foal smiled and held her hand palm-down as the butterfly landed on it.
Kyra walked up to the lake and smiled warmly, before stepping into the lava and making her way towards the young demon. The kid's ears twitched as she looked over at her, smiling widely.
"Mommy!" She waved cheerfully.
Kyra let out a chuckle, sitting behind her and pulled the kid into her lap. "Hey, sweetie," she cooed, wrapping her arms around her. "How's your day been?"
"Pretty good..." Malice replied as she made another fire butterfly emerge from the lava. "Yours?"
"Busy..." Kyra said with a smile as she watched the butterflies. "I didn't get a whole lot of time to relax before Deva came to me with a slave problem..."
"Slave problem?" Asked the filly. "Isn't that Amanté's job?"
The mother gave a smile at that. "Yes, but... it had gotten to the point where he just wouldn't cooperate... So, I had Deva send him to the Smelting Chamber... Which reminds me, I should go check on him..."
"He's that bad, huh?" Asked Malice as she made the butterflies dance around them before a fire rabbit jumped out of the fire, making her giggle.
Kyra smiled as she watched. Malice always enjoyed coming here and creating animals out of fire. It seemed to be her way of coping with her early death.
"It wasn't all bad..." the red mare said as she gently patted Malice's belly. "Amanté showed me a slave worthy of rewarding. So, we now have a hotel called Haven where all the good slaves get to live in."
"Is that what that rumble was?"
"Yes," Kyra replied with a chuckle. "That was the rumble." She then let out a sigh. "I just wish I wasn't so busy... Then, I could spend more time with you..."
"You have your job," Malice said as the fire rabbit jumped into her lap and looked at her. Smiling, she pet it. "It's okay."
The red demon shook her head. "No, it's not... Look, I... know I only met you once you arrived here, but... you're still my daughter... And, I'm your mother... I need to be there for you." She then smiled and began tickling the filly's stomach, making the girl giggle and flail her arms around.
"Come on, mom!" Malice said between giggles as she put her hands on her mom's.
Kyra then fell back into the lava as Malice went with her. Malice rolled in place onto her stomach and looked down in her mother's eyes, the two's giggling subsiding as the red mare let out a sigh. Kyra then reached up and gently ran her fingers through her daughter's silver hair.
"How about... after I'm done with work... we do something together?" She asked with a smile.
Malice smiled and hugged her, nuzzling her neck. "Sounds good, mom."
Kyra smiled, too, and wrapped her arms around her daughter, rubbing her back. "I love you, sweetie..."
"I love you, too, mom..."
Kyra flung open the large, metal doors to the Smelting Chamber. Inside was a large pit of blue fire, the large chamber filled with screams of tortured slaves. Lesser demons, both males and females who were completely nude, walked around the pool as they kept an eye on the slaves in the pit. Deva stood near the entrance, leaning against the wall as she watched the demons torture the bad slaves.
"Deva," Kyra said as she walked over to the gray demon.
Deva looked over at her and smiled. "There you are. That slave you had me bring here is not looking too good..." she said with a chuckle.
"Where is he?"
Deva stepped away from the wall and motioned for Kyra to follow, before heading around to large pit of acid before stopping next to a naked dirty white mare. The white demon stood by a lever, her hand on the device before she looked at them.
"Deva," she said. When she noticed Kyra, she quickly bowed her head respectively. "Mistress Kyra..."
The red demon walked up to her and patted her shoulder. "How's the slave, Ivory?"
"That green stallion Deva brought in?" Ivory asked as she stood upright, before looking at the acid. The stallion was halfway in the liquid as there was a collar around his neck. Attached to the collar was a chain that went up to a pulley system and then came back down to the device Ivory had her hand on. "He's been screaming in pain ever since you brought him in, Mistress."
Kyra nodded and looked at him. "Bring him up."
"Right away," Ivory said as she pulled the lever, the stallion being pulled up... only his lower half had melted away.
As he was lifted, his entrails hung from his torso as he screamed in pain. Ivory then pulled a second lever next to the first one and the stallion was brought over solid land, before being lowered to the floor.
"So..." Kyra said as she stepped up to him. "Learned your lesson yet?"
The stallion just glared at her through clenched teeth. "Fuck... you..."
Kyra let out a sigh and held out her hand, making the stallion yell out in pain as his spine began to regrow. She then looked at Ivory. "When he's fully healed... push him back in..."
"Of course, Mistress," Ivory replied with a small smile before looking at the stallion.
Kyra gently took Deva's arm as she began to walk away. "Come with me..."
"Where are we going?" Asked the gray demon. "If you don't mind me asking..."
"You and I... are going to have some fun together..." the red demon said simply before eyeing Deva with a smirk.
The third-in-command smirked back. "As you wish, Mistress..." she cooed.
The two left the Smelting Chamber as Deva looked back at a large, prison-like structure in the distance. Eyeing her, Kyra let out a sigh.
"She's not getting out..." Kyra said as she kept walking. "No one escapes from Tartarus..."
"I know..." Deva said as she looked ahead. "Why do we keep her?"
"Because..." Kyra said as she stopped and looked at her. "We can't kill her. We can only keep her contained."
Deva nodded before looking at Kyra. "What if she does gets out?"
"If Miss Patch... somehow manages to break out of Tartarus..." Kyra began. "I will just go after her and bring her back..."
The gray demon hesitated before nodding. "All right, I'm... sure you know what you're doing... Because we can't have her stealing souls..."
Kyra quickly unfolded her wings and wrapped them around Deva, pulling her close as her eyes began to give off a red glow. "You doubting me, Deva?" She asked darkly.
The slightly lesser demon shook her head quickly. "N-No... Of course not, I... apologize..."
Kyra hesitated before smirking. "If you're so worried... let's pay her a visit."
Deva's eyes went wide, opening her mouth to say something before Kyra quickly pulled her wings away. They were now standing in front of the gates of Tartarus. Still smirking, Kyra folded her wings up as they disappeared in her back. Turning from Deva, she approached the gate. It was a large, steel double door with runes carved all over it. With a wave of her hand, the doors unlocked with a loud clank before slowly opening. Eyeing Deva, the red demon entered. The gray demon quickly followed so as not to be left behind.
Inside were a long series of hallways that seemed to stretch on forever, without end. Cells lined the walls, the entrance to each being a metal door with runes and a rectangular hole for which to peer inside. Kyra led Deva down the halls, eerie moaning coming from a few of the cells. Soon, Kyra stopped in front of one. The back-left corner of the cell seemed to be covered in shadow. Deva stepped up beside her as both peered inside.
Nothing happened and the cell seemed to be empty. Deva was about to turn away before blue eyes appeared in the shadow, each having a purple swirl inside which circled the small pupil.
"Kyra..." a high-pitched little girl's voice cooed playfully. "Have you come to let me out?"
"You're not going anywhere, Pumpkin..." Kyra said as she crossed her arms.
"But, it's so lonely and dark in here... Maybe if I had someone to play with..."
"You're spending the rest of your life in there," Kyra said sternly.
The mare in the cell hesitated before the figure began to eerily stalk towards the window, the shadow following her and keeping her somewhat obscured. She then banged up against the door as her face came right up to the window, making Deva jump slightly as Pumpkin's half-white, half-pink face was no longer hidden by the shadow. Her candy-corn-teeth-filled mouth pulled back into a sick grin.
"Don't talk to me about life!" Pumpkin yelled in what sounded like multiple, overlapping voices. She then let out a soft growl as her speech went back to normal. "Mine was taken from me... And, when I get out... I will have my revenge and kill anyone I want..." She then paused before looking up. "Nightmare Night..."
Kyra went wide-eyed. "How'd you know that?"
Pumpkin giggled before looking at her again. "I can always sense my holiday..."
The red demon's face turned to a scowl before she began walking away. "Well, have fun spending it in here!" She called back as Deva quickly followed.
Pumpkin watched them leave before backing back into the corner. "Soon, Kyra... Very soon..."
Kyra and Deva left Tartarus and began heading back to Kyra's place.
"Probably shouldn't have antagonized her, Mistress..." Deva said nervously.
"You're a demon, Deva," Kyra groaned, annoyed. "Grow some balls!"
"I will soon," the gray mare said with a chuckle. "But, seriously, that's the Candy Mare! And it's Nightmare Night in the Mortal Realm!"
Kyra eyed her with a look of warning. "Put... more faith in me..." she said in a commanding tone. "Or I'll put you through a form of torture that would be most unpleasant for you... Do I make myself clear?"
Deva hung her head slightly in shame. "Yes, Mistress... I apologize..."
Kyra looked her over before stopping, turning to Deva and grabbing her by the hips. The gray mare turned to face her and quickly looked her in the eyes.
"Um..." Deva said, smiling lightly. "Here?"
The red demon grinned and waved her hand, both her's and Deva's clothing disappearing. "You bet..."
The gray demon looked down at their bodies with a chuckle before looking Kyra in the eyes. "Shall I... get my package out?"
Kyra nodded and reached down, grabbing Deva's crotch. She then felt a hard cock grow up her arm before she felt a pair of balls on her wrist. Smirking, she moved her hand up the shaft and gripped it by the tip. "Gonna fuck me nice and hard?"
Deva nodded as her rod twitched. "If that's what you wish, Mistress..." she cooed.
Kyra smirked and pushed Deva onto her back before straddling her. The gray demon let out a grunt as she hit the floor before smirking up at her ruler. Kyra then reached down and gripped Deva's cock, lifting her waist up before dropping back down onto the hard rod. Both let out loud moans as Kyra began to ride her right-hand demon roughly right there in the open for all to see.
Pumpkin Patch was sitting by the door to her cell, dragging her sharp, peppermint stick fingernails down the door slowly. Suddenly she heard a voice from the other side of the door.
"Hey," the dark female voice cooed.
Pumpkin quickly stood up and looked through the small window, finding herself staring into a pair of red eyes. "Who are you?" She asked, tilting her head as she slowly ran her hands up the door. "Come to let me out?"
"I can't..." the female demon said, shaking her head. "Only Kyra can open these cells. However, if you were to use your anger... You could probably break out of here..."
"Use my anger?" Pumpkin cooed teasingly. "Oh... Because being in here isn't royally pissing me off enough... Especially when it's my holiday!"
"The protection runes are extremely powerful. You'll need to reeeaaallly tap into that anger... Then, you'll get your revenge you want so badly..."
Pumpkin glared back at the mysterious demon. "And, you know how to accomplish this?"
"Simple..." the demon cooed. "Just think about how every Nightmare Night you'll be stuck down here, never again to take souls for your own. Never to take your revenge on the one who did this to you in the first place," the voice said as Pumpkin felt herself get angrier. "Just keep that in mind..." The voice cooed as whoever it was could be heard walking away.
Pumpkin let out a growl. "Just hope we don't meet on the surface..." she cooed with a devious grin, thinking about all the things she'd do to this mysterious mare if they should meet on the surface.
Kyra let out a grunt as she pummeled the gray demon's pussy with her rod. The both of them continued to let out grunts and moans before they both suddenly came, coating each other in demon semen. Letting out a happy sigh, Kyra slowly pulled out and stood up.
"Thanks for the quick fuck," Kyra cooed, licking her lips.
Deva smirked up at her, crossing her arms behind her head as she kept laying there. She was about to say something when they heard someone running towards them. Looking over, they saw a naked yellow mare with short black hair running towards them.
"KYRA!!!" The yellow mare yelled, waving an arm as if they didn't already see her.
"Honey..." Kyra said calmly. "What is it?"
The yellow demon skidded to a stop next to them, looking worried. "Its the Candy Mare! She's broken out!"
Kyra and Deva's eyes went wide before the red demon turned to Honey. "Pumpkin?! How?!"
Honey bit her lip and shook her head quickly. "I-I don't know, I--"
"Get Amanté! Tell her to meet me at my tower!"
Honey nodded quickly and took off. Quickly scrambling to her feet, Deva watched the yellow mare run away.
"What are we going to do?" Asked the gray mare.
Kyra let out a low growl. "Pumpkin can't be aloud to regain any more strength... I'll have to go after her and bring her back..."
"But... That means you'll have to go to the Mortal Realm," Deva pointed out, sounding disgusted.
Kyra turned in the direction of her tower, making her way towards it. "It's part of my job to keep the demons in check. When one goes rogue, I have to bring it back before it causes too much trouble. As much as I hate Mortals... Angels are worse..."
Deva nodded as she followed her mistress back to her tower to prepare for her mistress' journey...
Kyra was pacing back and forth in front of her tower when Deva and Amanté finally arrived.
"There you two are," Kyra sighed as she approached them.
"Anything you need from us?" Amanté asked, sounding just as worried as her mistress.
"The red mare nodded. "I will have to leave and hunt down Pumpkin before she causes too much trouble. You need to let my sister know that she's in charge while I'm gone... and I need you two need to find out who let her out," Kyra said before turning and heading towards her tower.
"Wait, what?" Asked Deva, eyeing her sister. "What do you mean by who let her out?"
Kyra stopped at the doorway to her tower and spun around to face them. "Those runes on her cell were powerful. I made them myself..." Kyra hesitated before letting out a sigh and turning around, heading inside her tower. "Someone let her out!"
It was Nightmare Night in Ponyville and foals were out with their parents trick-or-treating. Meanwhile, in the Golden Oaks Library, the town's librarian was standing in front of a mirror in her bedroom. She was wearing a magician's outfit with hat and fake beard. Smiling as she looked herself over, she marveled at how accurate her costume was to the legendary sorcerer it was based off of.
Just then there was a knock on her door. "Uh, Twilight?" A young male's voice asked. "You almost done in there?"
"Just about, Spike," Twilight answered, before pulling herself away from the mirror and heading to the door. Opening it, she saw the young purple dragon dressed in a dragon costume. Not able to hold herself back, the librarian burst out laughing. "You... You're going out as a... as a dragon?"
Crossing his arms, Spike raised an eyebrow. "So what?"
"The point of dressing up is to be something you're not," Twi said as she left her bedroom. "But, if you wanna go as yourself, let's go." She then headed for the stairs that led to the first floor.
"Maybe next year you go as a librarian," Spike said jokingly.
Twilight let out a chuckle. "No, I don't think I'll go as a librarian... Since it's my job here in Ponyville, I would like to take a break from that."
"Well, you do you," the 12-year-old dragon said with a smile. "I wanna be a dragon."
Letting out a chuckle, Twilight approached the front door and opened it. "Come on, Spike," she said, the dragon picking up a pumpkin-shaped bucket. "Let's go get you some candy.
A white unicorn mare circled a white unicorn filly in the middle of a boutique. The filly was wearing a white princess dress and looking rather annoyed.
"Come on, Rarity," the filly complained. "It's not a pageant. It's only Nightmare Night."
"That may be true, Sweetie Belle, but that's no excuse to not look fabulous." The mare was wearing a yellow top with a short blue skirt and orange and black stockings. At least part of her attire was festive. Draped around her neck was a roll of measuring tape.
Rolling her eyes, Sweetie just stood there for about another minute before crossing her arms. "Is it good enough, or..."
Taking a step back, Rarity thought for a moment before smiling. "Yes. Yes, it is."
"Oh, finally," the filly said with a wide smile as she hopped off the little stage she was standing on. "Now, we can go get some candy."
"Yes, but do remember not to overindulge, dear," Rarity pointed out as she followed her littler sister to the front door. "You don't want a stomachache."
"I'll worry about that later," Sweetie scoffed before opening the door, the both of them heading outside.
Applejack walked into Apple Bloom's bedroom, wearing a lion costume. She had a brown full-body outfit, minus the head, with tail and short fur. Around her neck was a lion mane and she had a fake lion muzzle over her own pony muzzle. She looked around the bedroom before the filly she was looking for walked into the room, wearing a gypsy costume.
"Ah'm right here," the filly said as she looked over her sister. "A lion?"
"Ah told ya I was gonna be a lion," Applejack said with a smile as she walked over to the filly.
Apple Bloom smiled. "Ah wasn't sure if you were bein' serious."
"Well, I was," the older sister replied with a chuckle. "Now, come on, lil' sis," she beamed as she headed out the door. "Candy awaits!"
Rainbow Dash was knelt in front of Scootaloo, looking over her costume with a smile. "You look adorable, Scoots."
The orange filly had on a full-body cat costume with a hoodie that resembled a cat's head. On her hands and feet were fake paws. "You really think so?" She asked with a wide smile.
The cyan pegasus nodded as she rubbed her head playfully. "Sure do."
"Do you have yours?" The filly asked with a giggle, liking the playful head rub.
Rainbow smirked and stood up. "Of course I got mine. We're matching this year, right?" She asked, leaving the bedroom they were in and headed into the bathroom.
"Oh, I can't wait to see you in a kitty costume," Scoots sad with a giggle as she climbed onto the bed and sat down, facing the bathroom doorway.
"You're the kitty!" Dash called back from the bathroom. "I'm the cat!"
Scootaloo chuckled and rolled onto her back. Soon after, Dash came out of the bathroom wearing her costume. It was almost exactly like Scootaloo's costume except, instead of a one-piece, it revealed her legs from the lower thigh to her ankle and her arms from under her shoulder to her wrist. Her feet and hands still had the cat paws.
"Wow, Dashie," Scootaloo said, sitting up to face her.
"What?" Asked the mare with a chuckle. "Like I said... I'm the cat and you're the kitty. Plus, maybe I'll meet someone..." she said as she headed for the door.
Scootaloo smirked at her before following.
Fluttershy walked around the outside of her cottage, setting down food for her animal friends. She wasn't in a costume either as Nightmare Night was her least favorite holiday. Every year she spends it with her animals instead of dressing up and going into town. She was currently wearing a long pink hooded sweater that went down to just above her legs as well as shorts that weren't visible. As she fed her animals, she passed by a stick in the dirt a few feet from her cottage, a sign attached to it. Stopping to look at it, a few tears fell from her eyes.
Walking over to it, she knelt down in front of the sign, running her hand along the engraved letters. A. N. G. E. L.
"Happy Nightmare Night, Angel..." she whimpered, sniffling as she closed her eyes.
Pinkamena stared out the window of the main room of Sugarcube Corner, watching all the stallions, mares, and foals having fun and scaring others with their costumes.
"Pinkie?" Asked Mrs. Cake as she and her husband walked down the stairs. "You aren't wearing a costume."
The pink mare looked over her shoulder at them before looking out the window again. She was wearing dark blue footed onesie pajamas that hard pink lollipops on them. Mrs. Cake was dressed like a mummy and Mr. Cake was dressed up like Dracula, or rather the pony-equivalent to Dracula.
"No..." was all the pink mare said.
Mr. and Mrs. Cake looked at each other as they got to the bottom of the stairs. "But, you go out every year," the mare said as they walked over to her. "And, you can't be alone tonight. Not when there's so much fun to be had outside."
"Would you like one of use to stay with you?" Asked Mr. Cake.
The pink mare shook her head. "I'm good..." She then looked at them with a light smile. "You two have fun."
Hesitating for a second or two, Mrs. Cake smiled back. "Okay, dearie. If you change your mind, you still have all those costumes downstairs."
"Take it easy, Pinkie," Mr. Cake said as he opened the door, the both of them leaving.
Pinkamena watched them go before letting out a sigh.
Twilight was standing in line to bob for apples when she heard the sound of leaves rustling in the wind. Looking at a nearby narrow space between two houses, Twilight noticed that it seemed darker than it should. As if no light was getting in there despite everywhere else being lit by either candlelight or moonlight.
Feeling like something was wrong, she looked around for her friends. Not seeing them anywhere, she looked back at the shadowed "alley." Taking a deep breath she left the line she was in, moving to investigate. When she got nearer, the light seemed to be returning to that small space between the houses. Moving to the corner of the house on the right, she peered inside.
When the unnatural shadows vanished, there was a brief burst of fire. Shielding her eyes with her arm, Twilight looked away for a second. When she looked back, there was a red mare standing where the fire was.
Kyra stretched her arms with a light groan, before letting out a disgusted sigh. "I can't believe I had to come back here..." she muttered to herself.
Twilight was wide-eyed as she watched. Slowly taking a step back, her foot scraped across the dirt, making the red mare's ears perk up. Kyra then whipped around to face her, making the purple unicorn let out a startled yelp.
Raising her hand towards Twilight, the unicorn was engulfed in red magic before she was yanked into the alley and into the clutches of the red mare.
Holding her by the neck, Kyra pulled her in close and sniffed her neck. She then stuck out her foot-long tongue and licked up the mare's cheek. Twilight just let out coughs and whimpers.
"P-Please don't hurt me..." Twi choked out. "W-Whatever you are..."
Kyra let out a sigh of annoyance and dropped the mare to the ground. "You aren't the one I'm after... You taste and smell... normal," she said, sounding disgusted.
Twilight let out a cough as she rubbed her neck. "Wh-What are you?"
The red mare hesitated before crossing her arms. "I'm Kyra. Queen of the Demons. I'm--"
"A demon?!" Twilight gasped in fright, her eyes going wide. "A-Are you here to kill me?!"
Kyra smirked evilly before letting out a chuckle. "And bring Sera down here? She's nice and all but I'd rather avoid any interaction with Angels. No, I'm here to look for a demon who's escaped from Tartarus."
Twilight hesitated before quickly scrambling to her feet. "A d-d-demon's escaped Tartarus?!" She exclaimed, before starting to run away. "I have to go warn my--" She then let out a gasp as she was suddenly slammed into the side of the building by an unseen force. She was then dragged across the wall, letting out a groan as she was brought back to the red mare.
Kyra kept her held against the wall as she stepped up to her. "If you tell anyone what I am or what's going on... I will personally take your soul to Nether and you will never see the light of day again."
"But... my friends and I can help..." Twilight explained, her heart racing as she sweat from fear. "Y-You see, we're the Elements Of--"
"Harmony?" Kyra asked, sounding disgusted for saying such a happy word. She then thought for a second. "Suppose that could be enough to make you immune..." With that, she released her hold on the unicorn, letting her drop to her knees. "Maybe you could be of some use to me, after all..."
Twilight got to her feet and smiled lightly, still really nervous about her company. "Anything to... help the queen of the Demons..."
Kyra raised an eyebrow as she crossed her arms. Saying nothing, she walked to the end of the small alley and looked out at the ponies enjoying Nightmare Night. "She could be anywhere... She could be anyone..."
Twi tilted her head as she walked up behind the demon. "Um... Who?"
Kyra looked over her shoulder at her. "Pumpkin Patch."
"Pumpkin Patch?" Asked Twilight, thinking of where she heard the name before. "Why does that sound familiar?"
When she snapped out of her thoughts, she realized Kyra had started moving into the streets of Ponyville. Something else to note was that the Demon Queen was now wearing a costume to blend in. She wore a black cloak and had on a headband that had bat ears, which covered her pony ears if viewed from the front. She also had on fishnet stockings and high-heels. She still had on her black tube top but her panties were replaced with black shorts.
"W-Wait," Twilight stammered as she ran to catch up. "Pumpkin Patch. From the legend? Are you telling me that... the legend is true?"
Kyra eyed her before looking ahead again. "The pony was real but the killings were made up. She only managed a couple before Luna was able to banish her to the Nether, where I was tasked with watching over her. As I must do with all of the powerful demons that are brought to me."
"Wait..." Twilight said, thinking aloud. "Luna?"
Deva and Amanté stepped into the cell the Candy Mare was held in.
"Did someone really help her escape?" Asked the younger sister.
Amanté shook her head. "That's what Kyra said..."
Deva eyed the door and ran her hand over it. "Hmm... That still doesn't explain how she got out. Only Kyra can open these doors..."
Amanté thought for a moment before looking at her sister. "Perhaps she was riled up? Maybe someone spoke to her..."
Deva eyed her before turning and leaving the cell. "Then Kyra was right. There is a rogue demon in the Nether."
"Where are you going?" The taller demon asked, following her sister.
"To tell Kyra."
Applejack was watching a Bob For Apples event, wearing a lion costume. A lion muzzle was over her pony muzzle, a lion mane was around her neck and she wore a brown one-piece with a tail that looked like pajamas for child. On her hands and feet were lion paws.
"Careful, ya'll," she said. "I know ya'll want them apples but ya don't wanna stay under fer too long."
"Applejack," Twi said as she walked up to her.
Turning to face her, AJ smiled. "Twilight. Hey." She then looked her friend up and down. "And, uh... who are you supposed to be?"
"That isn't important right now," Twi said urgently before leaning in. "We have a situation..."
Applejack hesitates for a moment before noticing Kyra. "Um... Who's your friend?"
"We're not friends," Kyra said, looking either bored or annoyed or both. Hard to tell. "We just met."
AJ chuckled nervously before looking at Twilight. "So, um... What's going on?"
"Not here. Get the others and have them meet us at the library."
AJ gave an unsure nod, eyeing the red mare in her vampire cosplay one more time, before heading off to find the others.
Twilight watched her walk away as Kyra started walking away, too. "So..." the red mare said as Twilight walked quickly to catch up again. "To the library, then?"
Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo stood near a house, a few fillies at the front door getting candy. The cyan mare then knelt down in front in the filly and smiled. "You know what would be so funny and cute?" She asked, setting her bag down. "Instead of doing the usual Nightmare Night tune, do this." She then held her paws up like cats do before tilting her head. "I want some candy. And I want it meow."
Scoots let out a giggle as she shook her head. "I'm not doing that."
"Oh, come on," the pegasus said with a smile. "I want it meow. Right meow."
The two just startled giggling when Applejack ran up to them. "Hey, Dash," the orange mare said. "Twilight needs ya. We're all meeting at the library."
Rainbow looked up at her and sighed, looking back at Scoots. "Come on. We can go back to this afterwards," she said, standing up and holding out her hand.
Hesitating, the filly let out a sigh and stood up, taking her hand. "Better be good," she said, slightly pouty.
Kyra was laying on the couch by the staircase leading up to the library's second floor. Legs crossed, she said nothing while Twilight was leaning against the wall near the front door. There was an awkward silence before there was a knock at the front door. Quickly opening it, Twilight smiled.
"Hey, you guys," she said as her friends entered the library.
First, was Applejack and Apple Bloom, followed by Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo, then Rarity and Sweetie Belle, Fluttershy, and Pinkamena taking up the rear.
"So, what's happening meow?" Dash asked, getting a chuckle from Scootaloo but a confused look from everyone else.
Kyra looked over at them and eyed each one. Seeing the fillies, she growled and got to her feet. "And, who invited the little ones?" She asked, approaching the group. "I don't believe they're the Elements, are they?"
"Hey, missy," Dash said, standing between the orange filly and the red mare as her tone became more serious. "Scoots goes where I go. Got a problem with that?"
Kyra glared into her eyes before Twilight let out a nervous chuckle. "Uh... Girls? Meet Kyra. She's... uh... Well, she's..." Letting out a sigh, the unicorn shook her head. "I don't know how to put this..."
"I'm Kyra," the red mare said, introducing herself as she kept glaring at Dash, the two inches apart. "Queen of the Demons."
"Like hay you are," AJ scoffed as Rainbow smirked, no one believing a word of this.
"So, she isn't a Demon?" Fluttershy asked, a hand over her mouth as she looked really nervous.
"Of course not, darling," Rarity assured her as she crossed her arms. "She's just... not all there..."
Rainbow looked over at Twilight. "You actually believed her when she said she was a demon?"
"Demon Queen," Twilight corrected, as if she were afraid to upset the red mare. "And, you didn't see what I did..."
"And, what did you see?" Asked the cyan mare. "A Nightmare Night prank?"
Kyra's eyes flashed red before the pegasus was thrown up at the ceiling, hitting it with her back and letting out a grunt of pain as she was held in place.
"Rainbow!" Yelled AJ, charging at the red mare. "What do you think yer--"
Letting out a gasp, she was thrown backwards and collided with Apple Bloom. Going wide-eyed, Fluttershy ran over to help them.
"You're a monster!" Rarity yelled, her horn lighting up.
Eyeing her, Kyra let Rainbow fall to the floor with a thud before the walls and the ceiling around them exploded, revealing a fiery landscape. Rarity let out a gasp and looked around. "Wh... What..."
"You foolish mortals need to know your place..." Kyra cooed darkly. "I may live below you but you exist beneath me..."
"S-Someone he-elp..." came Fluttershy's frightened voice. "Sh-She isn't b-breathing..."
Looking over at them, the others saw Applejack and Fluttershy knelt over Apple Bloom, who seemed to be having trouble breathing. Letting out a sigh of annoyance, Kyra started to approach them.
"You mortals are so fragile..." she said, sounding like she did't give a shit.
"You stay away from her!" AJ yelled, getting up and approaching the red mare, pulling her fist back for a punch.
When she tried to attack, Kyra grabbed her fist and pulled her close, the two about an inch apart. "If you don't want your little sister to die, I suggest you stay the fuck out of my way." She then shoved the mare aside. Twilight managed to slip in behind her to keep her from falling. The red mare then stepped up to the downed filly and knelt down. As she did, she eyed Fluttershy. "Are you going to try and stop me, too?" Fluttershy shook her head quickly, letting out a soft whimper but not backing away from AB. "Good choice," Kyra said, before placing her hand on Apple Bloom's chest. "Figures... Broken ribs. Piercing her lung."
"Ah'm gonna KILL YOU!" AJ yelled, before there was a red glow beneath Kyra's palm.
The filly let out an ear-piercing screech of pain as the faint sound of bones cracking could be heard. Tears were streaming down Apple Bloom's face, hearing her sister scream like that. After a few more seconds, Kyra pulled her hand away and Apple Bloom gasped loudly, before breathing heavily and rapidly.
Kyra then stood up and turned to Applejack. "She'll live." She then walked away as Applejack ran over to her sister.
"What is wrong with you?" Twilight asked, a look of disbelief on her face.
The red mare eyed her and crossed her arms. "Do your friends believe me now? In case you've forgotten, there's a murderous demon out there. In her current state, she'll have had to possess someone. If she kills enough and steals enough souls, she'll be able to manifest in her true form."
Dash finally got to her feet and looked around at the hellish landscape around them. "So, you're... a real demon, huh?"
Kyra looked over at her. "No shit. Now, do you want to help save lives or do you want to keep questioning whether or not I'm telling the truth?"
Rainbow hesitated before AJ spoke up, still knelt down with Apple Bloom leaning against her. "What is this demon, exactly?"
"The Candy Mare," Kyra replied, turning to face her. "Originally known as Pumpkin Patch."
"The... Candy Mare?" Asked Rarity. "The old legend? She was... real?"
The Demon Queen nodded and crossed her arms. "And one of the things she can do is infect candy, infecting anyone who eats it. The process is irreversible."
"But..." Fluttershy said, getting to her feet. "The foals... Nightmare Night... Everyone's handing out candy tonight."
"Precisely," the demon confirmed. "Now, let's stop screwing around and get out there."
"Um..." Rainbow said as she looked confused. "What should we do when we find her? We're not demons like you. We'll be killed immediately."
"Magic shields," Kyra replied as she eyed the cyan mare. "The Candy Mare will be able to wear it down but it will make you safe for a while. Also, don't eat any candy and don't go investigating any strange voices. And, be careful of voices. If you can't see who's speaking to you clearly, run. I will cast a spell on all of you. Should you run into Pumpkin, I will know and come to pull you away. However, once we find her, we need a way to capture her. Luckily, I have an idea. We just need to find her."
The Elements all eyed each other, not feeling too confident.
"But... not all of us can use magic," Fluttershy pointed out.
Kyra let out a sigh and rubbed her forehead. "Fuck me..." Looking up at the mares, she sighed even deeper. "Pair off, then. Some will be at a bigger disadvantage but if you follow the rules and trust in me, you will be fine. Everyone else in this town, however, is a potential victim. So, if you'd prefer the legend to stay a legend, I suggest we move. Now."
Just then there was a pillar of flame in the center of the room, the Mane 6 and the fillies backing away. When the fire dissipated, Deva stood there. Looking around, she spotted the 9 normal ponies... then Kyra. "Mistress," she said, walking up to the red demon. "We may have found out how Pumpkin got out."
Kyra raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Oh?"
"It's possible her anger reached new levels and she became too strong for the runes," Deva explained. "Someone must've got her worked up. Meaning there's a rogue Demon who really doesn't like you."
Kyra thought for a few seconds before nodding. "Makes sense... The angrier Pumpkin gets, the stronger she gets." Uncrossing her arms, she stepped up to Deva. "Keep this between you and your sister. But, keep your eyes and ears open." Nodding, Deva took a step back to prepare for her trip back to the Nether. "Oh, and... Deva?" Kyra asked, her tone becoming softer.
"Yes, Mistress?"
The red demon gave her a light smile. "Say hi to Malice for me. Tell her I'll be home as soon as I'm finished here. Deva smiled back and nodded, before vanishing in a burst of fire. Looking back at the others, Kyra saw them all huddled by the front door. "What?"
"So, that was another Demon?" Asked Dash.
Letting out a sigh, Kyra walked towards them. "Let's get this started already."
Twilight thought back to what the Demon had said. "So... Who's Malice?"
The red demon stopped when she was near the group, before eyeing the purple mare. "What's it to you?"
"Nothing... I just..." Twilight started. "You just seemed happy when you mentioned her name..."
Hesitating, the Demon's eyes narrowed as she stepped up to the unicorn. "Are you trying to be my friend?"
Twilight wanted to take a step back but feared it would show distrust. "Um... Yes?"
Kyra shook her head. "No." She then looked at the others. "Let's get one thing perfectly straight... I'm not your friend. I don't want to be your friend. In fact, I wish I never met you. However, there's more at stake here than my personal hatred for your kind. So, rest assured, when Pumpkin Patch is back where she belongs I will rid myself of you." Returning her attention to Twilight, she leaned in closer. "Friends create a bond. Bonds break. You get hurt. Maybe even die. So, in summary, friends get you killed."
"That's not true," Twilight said, her facial expression becoming serious. "Friends can help you in the darkest of times."
"Is that a fact?" Kyra scoffed. "Tell me, if your friend's in danger and you know it's a trap... will you go help?"
"Of course."
"My point exactly..." Kyra continued. "You create friendships, and when that friendship is in danger, you become reckless in order to try and save it. Recklessness will get you killed... and, if you're going up against the Candy Mare... that sort of recklessness will do far worse than simply kill you..."
Twilight's eyes stayed narrowed as she looked away. Kyra hesitated for a second before moving so she was in close proximity to the others as well, who also had scowls on their face.
"Some pep talk..." Applejack said as she crossed her arms.
Kyra eyed her before letting out a chuckle. "I'm sorry. I can't take you seriously looking like that." She then held up her fist as it became engulfed in a red smoke. She then held her hand out towards the group as the red smoke seeped from her palm and engulfed the group.
"What the hay?!" AJ said as she looked around.
"This better be good..." Rainbow said as she got ready to fight in case this went poorly.
Rarity held Sweetie Belle close as the red mist appeared to absorb into the mares and fillies.
"There," Kyra said, lowering her hand. "I'm now partially connected to all of you. "I'll know where you are and what you're doing at all times... If you see Pumpkin or hear her, so will I."
"Oh, I feel so much better..." Rainbow groaned, not liking the idea of hunting down a dangerous demon.
"How much time do we have?" Asked Twilight.
"Not long," Kyra answered, looking at her. "She would've already found a host by now. Now, she'll concentrate on acquiring souls so she can manifest in her true form."
A gray filly with long red hair, purple eyes, and wearing a cloak stood near the Nightmare Moon statue in the forest near the town. She held a basket of candy and was staring at the pile of candy meant as the offering to the evil alicorn. Hesitating, a small smirk spread across her face as she reached into her bucket and pulled out a piece of candy. Raising it to her mouth, she blew onto it. A green mist left her lips and went inside the candy. The sweet began to take on a greenish tint. The filly then tossed it onto the pile of candy. Watching the cursed candy land on the pile, her smirk grew wider before she turned and walked away.
Malice was sitting on the edge of one of the many drop-offs in the Nether, staring at the lava below. Soon, Deva walked up beside her and sat down.
"Hey, kiddo," she said with a smile.
Malice smiled back as she looked up at her. "Hey..."
Deva put her hand on the filly's shoulder and leaned in. "Your mother's doing fine. Told me to tell you that she says hi and that she'll be home as soon as they find and capture Pumpkin."
The little demon nodded. "I figured..." she said, before looking down at the lava again with a smile. "I'm sure she'll manage to bring Pumpkin back."
A brown stallion wearing a ghost outfit went to hide in an alley, pressing his back to the edge and peeking out at all the ponies having fun. Looking around, he noticed two ponies coming closer and closer. Wanting to jump out and scare them for fun, he smirked and took a step back into the shadows. When he was about to jump out, he heard a filly's laugh echo throughout the alley.
Ears perking, her turned around, looking into the alley. "Um... Hello?" He asked.
"You're silly..." the filly's voice cooed as purple eyes could be seen, glowing in the darkness. "That isn't how you scare someone..."
The stallion wasn't sure what to think. This filly was sure doing a good job at being creepy. "Um... What's your name?" He asked her.
"My name..." The voice repeated. "You can call me... Pumpkin..."
"Pumpkin, huh?" Asked the stallion with a light smile. "Fits the holiday pretty well..."
"Oh, Nightmare Night is my favorite time of year," the filly cooed before letting out an eerie giggle. "Do you know why?"
The stallion thought for a moment, before leaning against the side of the building. "Uh... The costumes?"
The eyes squinted as if the filly was giggling silently. "No... The candy, of course," she said, holding out her hand. When her hand emerged from the darkness, the stallion could see a piece of candy on her palm. "Here. From one friend to another."
The stallion hesitated before walking over to her, kneeling down and taking the candy. "Thanks, but... don't you want it?" He asked, now face-to-face with the purple eyes, still unable to see the face they belonged to.
The filly shook her head again. "No... I want you to have it."
The stallion gave her a light smile before popping the candy into his mouth. "Mmm... It tastes..."
"Sweet?" Asked Pumpkin. "Good... Now, then..." She then swiped at his arm, creating a large gash. Before he could let out a scream of pain, the filly ran at him. Pinning him against the side of the building, she pressed her hand to his mouth with more strength than a full-grown pony. "Shhh..." she cooed, the stallion's veins turning green around the gash. "Let it happen..." The stallion's eyes went wide in fright before the filly leaned in. "Mmm... You have such a tasty soul..." She then shoved her small fist through his chest and grabbed his heart, crushing it.
Kyra looked over the group of ponies, the environment back to normal and looking like a library again. "So, now comes time to split up into groups," she said as she crossed her arms. The girls all looked at each other, not entirely sure who should go with who. Letting out a groan, Kyra rubbed her forehead. "Alright," she suddenly said, taking a step towards them, pointing at them. "Twilight. Rainbow Dash. You two." Looking at Rarity, she pointed to Applejack. "You and Applejack. That leaves Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy," she said, before letting out a sigh. "Guess I'll go with them..."
Fluttershy let out a soft whimper, not wanting to go with the scary demon. Pinks also seemed unsure as she eyed the frightened pegasus.
"What about us?" Asked Scootaloo."
"You're going home," Kyra said sternly, eyes narrowing as she looked at her.
"I already said, wherever I go, she goes," Rainbow Dash reminded her.
"And you're okay with the possibility that bringing her along will get her killed?" Kyra asked, eyeing the mare.
"They would be safer with us than home alone..." Rarity said, speaking up.
The demon looked at her before looking at Sweetie Belle.
"What about Malice?" Asked Twilight, making Kyra glare at her. "Could leave her alone, knowing she might be in danger?"
"Don't... compare these fillies... to Malice," Kyra growled as she got in Twilight's face. Staring into her eyes for a second or two, she turned away and let out an annoyed sigh. "Fine... They come, too..." Turning to the group again, she looked them over in thought. "Twilight and Rainbow will take the center of town. Rarity and Applejack will check every alley. And I'll take Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy and we'll patrol the border."
"Is it just me, or is it weird that she knows our names?" AJ whispered to Rarity, making the white mare nod.
Kyra eyed them before heading for the door. "Come on, you two," she said, looking over at Pinks and Flutters.
Fluttershy let out a soft whimper of fear before Pinkie put an arm around her. "I got you," she said with a light smile.
Eyeing her, the pegasus smiled back before following the demon. When they left, Rarity and Applejack looked at each other before leaving, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom following. Rainbow Dash then looked at Twilight, who looked back at her.
"Come on, Rainbow," Twilight said before heading out the door.
The cyan pegasus let out an annoyed sigh. "You've got to be kitten me..." she said as she followed Twilight, getting a little chuckle from Scootaloo.
Deva and Amanté were walking through a town of sorts. There were rocky buildings like huts made for those demons that earned their place in the Nether but weren't at the level where they could live at the new hotel. As they walked, they saw a few demons hanging out, some sitting on a semi-comfortable bed in their hut that looked like a prison bed.
"So, what could we do to find out who's responsible?" Asked Amanté.
Deva shook her head. "I don't know. But, it's up to us to find out. We can't tell anyone..."
Just then, Viper stepped out of one of the nearby huts. "Hey, girls," she said with a kind smile. "What's up? What can't you tell anyone?"
"Oh... nothing..." Deva said with a light chuckle. "Just, uh... A-A job for... Kyra..."
"Yes, we... can't say what..." Amanté added.
Viper hesitated before letting out a chuckle. "You two are so cute," she said, before letting out another chuckle. "I'm Kyra's sister, remember? I know what's going on."
Deva tilted her head. "How'd you find out?"
"Well, when a demon escapes, it's hard not to find out," Viper explained. "Also, I asked Malice just to be sure."
"Oh..." Amanté said, hearing their poor attempt to hide their mission was a complete failure and utterly pointless.
"Need me to do anything?" Asked the other black mare. "Ask around?"
"No, that's okay, Viper," Deva replied with a smile. "We got this. Besides, Kyra asked us so it's our responsibility."
Viper gave them both a smile and nodded. "Your loyalty to my sister is commendable. Now, go on and find out who's setting demons loose."
Deva nodded and started walking away. "Catch ya later, V!" She called as Amanté followed her.
The long silver-haired demon smiled and waved back.
Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Scootaloo headed into Ponyville, moving through the crowds of ponies celebrating Nightmare Night.
"So, how did you find this mare?" Asked the cyan mare.
"Kyra?" Twilight asked in response. "I saw her sort of... appear in a burst of fire in an alley. I tried to run but she caught me."
Rainbow eyed her. "Did she... hurt you?"
Hesitating, Twilight rubbed the back of her neck. "Um... Not... really..." she muttered. "She thought I was the Candy Mare at first. But then she mentioned that she didn't want to have to deal with angels..."
"Angels?" Asked the pegasus, not sure if she heard her friend right. "So, angels and demons really exist, huh?"
Twilight let out a sigh. "It would appear so..."
"So..." Rainbow started. "What do you... think of her?" She asked as Scootaloo looked up at the unicorn.
Twilight looked at Rainbow, then the filly, and then the mare again. "I mean, she's... a little... you know..."
"She's a demon, Twilight," Rainbow said, not believing that her smart friend would befriend such a mare. "How could you ally yourself with her?"
"Because there's a greater threat out there," Twi explained, eyeing her friend. "And every mare, stallion, and filly in town is in danger. Terrible danger..."
Rainbow thought for a moment before looking down at Scootaloo, who looked up at her. She then sighed, annoyed with having to team up with Kyra. "I suppose... I'm just glad she'll be gone once this is all over."
Kyra, Pinks, and Fluttershy were circling the edge of town, the red mare in the lead. All three were quiet as the pink and yellow mare were too nervous to speak. The red mare wasn't exactly on good terms with them and didn't seem to be up for a discussion. She also seemed like she didn't want to be here, yet she was forced to be here. That couldn't feel good for her.
Noticing the silence, Kyra turned her head slightly and eyed them. "See anything?" Fluttershy jumped a little, startled by the sudden voice. Pinks put an arm around her and shook her head. Looking ahead again, Kyra crossed her arms. "You don't need to be afraid of Pumpkin. Not while I'm with you."
"Um..." Pinks started, eyeing Fluttershy before looking at Kyra again. "Actually, it's... you..."
The demon scoffed and looked over her shoulder at them. "Me?" She asked, sounding like she was shocked. "You're afraid of me? When the Candy Mare is out here?"
"You aren't exactly easy to talk to..." Pinkamena pointed out.
This made Kyra laugh. "Oh, come on. You must stupid to worry about me as well as the Candy Mare. When it comes down to it, no matter what, you're gonna have to trust me. Can't do that if you're afraid of me."
"Exactly," Pinks pointed out. "We can't trust you if we're afraid of you..."
Kyra eyed them once more before looking ahead again, not saying a word.
Rarity and Applejack continued their search through the alleyways, hoping they didn't find anything.
"So, lemme get this straight," Apple Bloom spoke up. "There's a crazy demon on the loose and we're... lookin' for her?"
"That's about right," Applejack confirmed as they kept looking behind and in between the houses.
"Don't be scared," Rarity said with a smile as she looked at the fillies. "That Kyra will be able to sense when we're in trouble, remember? We'll be fine."
"Says you..." AJ muttered through her teeth. "Ah still don't trust her."
"I honestly don't think she's up to anything sinister," the white unicorn said as she peeked into an alley. "Though her attitude could use an adjustment."
"She's scary, but... I trust her," Sweetie said before Rarity let out a scream.
AJ and the two fillies looked over at her to see her staring into an alley, her hand over her mouth.
"What is it?" Asked the orange mare, running up to her, before looking in the alley. Eyes going wide, she held out a hand to Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. "Stay there. Don't look."
Sweetie and AB eyed each other and did as they were told. Applejack then made her way into the alley. Covering her mouth, she slowly approached the corpse of a brown stallion, his veins green and a hole where his heart should be.
"Ah don't... believe it..." she gasped, before looking away. "The Candy Mare's been here."
Kyra stopped moving suddenly, Pinks and Flutters almost walking into her but managed to stop, too. The red mare then turned around to face them. "Rarity and Applejack have found something..."
"Found something?" Asked the pink mare. "Like what?"
"A body," Kyra said like it was nothing, making both mares go wide-eyed. "I'll be right back," she said, before vanishing in a burst of flame.
Fluttershy let out a whimper as Pinkamena gently took her hand.
"I won't let anything bad happen to you," she said reassuringly, getting a light smile from the pegasus.
Rarity, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom all let out a startled gasp as Kyra suddenly appeared right in front of them.
"Found something, did you?" She asked, before entering the alley with Applejack.
The orange mare looked up at her and nodded, taking her hand away from her mouth. "Y-Yeah... His heart's missin', I think..."
"That's nothing special," Kyra commented before looking at the end of the alley towards the center of town. Walking out of the alley, she looked looked at the ground to the left and saw a pumpkin. "Now, this is significant," she said, kneeling in front of the pumpkin. There was an engraving that looked like the dead stallion's face, frozen in a state of horror.
AJ left the alley to join her, looking around at the ponies having fun. "A pumpkin?" She asked, looking down at the demon. "Like the legend?"
"Yes, Applejack," Kyra said with a nod. "The trapped soul of the stallion she killed... The only way to free the souls of her victims is to destroy her host." She then stood up and looked at Applejack. "Having just escaped Tartarus, she'll need a host until she acquires enough souls to regain her power."
"That doesn't sound too hard," Applejack said, sounding confident.
"Its not that easy, you idiot," Kyra said as her eyes narrowed, getting a glare from the earth pony. "Pumpkin will most likely acquire a body that will make you think twice before killing her. She's a demon. As much as I dislike her, I can say she's smarter than you mortals."
"Do ya have to be so rude?" AJ asked, crossing her arms.
"I don't... like... mortals..." Kyra said with narrowed eyes. "You all die so easily..."
Fluttershy and Pinkamena looked around the area where Kyra left them before they heard a voice.
"Hey..." an eerie little filly's voice came, sounding distant. Like whoever was saying it wasn't saying it to them. "What's your name?"
Pinkamena and Fluttershy eyed each other before looking towards the source of the voice. Seemed to be coming from an alley they had recently passed.
"Could that... be..." Fluttershy began. "A-And, is she..."
Pinks eyed her before taking a few steps towards the voice. "If it is then we should tell Kyra..."
"Green Tea?" Asked the voice. "Nice name. Would the little filly like a piece of... candy?"
Pinks' eyes went wide before she took off. "Oh, shit!" She gasped, before taking off towards the voice. When she reached the alley, she found a little green filly looking around, confused. On the ground was a piece of candy.
"What happened?" Asked the filly, looking at the pink mare. "Th-There was a filly here just a moment ago... Where'd she go?"
Pinkamena slowly placed her foot on the candy and shrugged, forcing out a chuckle. "I have no idea. I didn't see anyone."
"Huh..." Green Tea muttered before leaving the alley, still really confused as to where her new friend went to.
When she was gone, Pinkie reached down and picked up the candy. Looking it over, she saw some green speckles on it. Turning around to return to Fluttershy, she let out a gasp of surprise when she bumped into Kyra.
"What happened?" Asked the red mare. "You didn't run after her..."
"She was about to kill a filly," Pinks said, showing her the candy. "She was about to give her this."
Kyra looked at it before making it disappear from the mare's hand. "If you wanna get yourself killed, that's fine. But don't give Pumpkin any more ammo to use against us. She already has one." She then turned and started walking away when the pink mare spoke up.
"One what?" Pinkie asked as the demon stopped.
"When someone eats her cursed candy they are cursed and become a candy pony. Pumpkin's servant. Mind slave. So, let's keep her victims to a minimum, shall we?"
Fluttershy looked around, waiting for her friends to return. About to go after them, she heard a crying from a nearby alley. Letting out a gasp, she looked over at where it was coming from.
"H-Hello?" She asked, holding a fist over her mouth as she inched towards the alley. "Wh-Who's there?"
She took a few more steps before Kyra slipped in front of her, making her let out a loud shriek.
"Do you ponies have a death wish?" Asked Kyra, looking annoyed. "Stay together... and don't wander off..."
"I-I'm sorry, I... I just heard someone in... trouble..." Fluttershy whimpered. "I wanted to help."
"You can help by sticking together. You separate, you die," the demon said as Pinkamena rejoined them. "I can't have you dying on me. That would make me look bad."
"You already look bad," Pinkie said as she crossed her arms. "Now, how about lightening up and quit trying to act so tough?"
"I am tough," the demon snapped back, looking at the earth pony. "And, how, pray tell, would I lighten up when Pumpkin's out there?"
"Fine," Pinks retorted. "Then, after all this, we're gonna hang out."
Kyra scoffed at that. "Uh... What?"
"You and me," Pinkamena said with a smirk. "We're gonna get to know each other. Spend a day in the park. Something like that."
Kyra made a disgusted face. "A walk in the park? With you? No way would I ever hang out with you ponies."
"It's a wonder you have no friends," the pink mare cooed teasingly.
"Oh, I have many friends..."
"Name one," Pinkie said with a knowing smirk. "And Malice and that demon from earlier don't count."
Kyra hesitated in thought before crossing her arms. "I don't need... friends..."
"Everyone needs friends, Kyra," the Pink mare said in a more friendly tone.
Twilight and Rainbow Dash continued to investigate the town, finding nothing of interest.
"It's probably a good sign that we've found nothing, right?" Asked Rainbow Dash as she interlocked her fingers behind her head. "Maybe the demon isn't here, after all..."
"Either that..." Twilight started as she looked around. "Or this Candy Mare is really good at hiding."
"Yeah, that could be the case..." the pegasus replied with a sigh. "I just hope this is all for nothing and that the demon isn't here..."
"Regardless of whether or not she's her, Kyra is," Twilight pointed out. "I don't think she'd be here if the Candy Mare wasn't."
Letting out an annoyed sigh, the cyan mare let her arms hang at her sides. "You still think she's all that?"
"I wouldn't say that exactly," Twi replied. "I just think she knows what she's doing. I mean, she clearly hates being here with us and yet here she is. The only reason she'd be here would have to be that the Candy Mare is here."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Rainbow replied with a sigh of defeat. "I just hope, when this is all over, we never see her again..."
Twilight thought for a moment before letting a small smile creep across her lips. "Or..."
Rainbow Dash's eyes widened before she looked at her friend. "No... No, Twilight, you can't be serious. You don't really wanna make... friends with her?"
"So, what if I do?" Asked the unicorn. "Everyone deserves a friend and Kyra is no exception. And, having a friend would probably make her less of a, uh... Um..."
"A bi--" Dash began before being interrupted.
"Yeah, that," Twilight said quickly, eyeing Scootaloo. "I just think we could really help her loosen up."
Rainbow rolled her eyes before looking down at the ground. A pumpkin caught her eye. It had a carving of a mare with a sad look on her face. "What the..." she began, kneeling beside it. "That's an eerie pumpkin..."
Fluttershy turned away from Pinkie and Kyra, seeing a shadow moving in the alley she heard the voice come from. "Um... K-Kyra?" She asked. "There's movement in that alley," she said, pointing.
Kyra looked away from the pink mare and at the alley. "Hmm..." was all she said, before disappearing. Reappearing in the alley, she let out an angry sigh. Before her was the body of a mare, a pumpkin beside her. "Dammit..." She then felt a tingle when Twilight and Rainbow Dash found a pumpkin. "That makes three... Shit..."
Hearing the other two run over to join her, she turned and walked away. Upon seeing the body, Fluttershy covered her mouth and shrieked, eyes watering as Pinks pulled her to the side so she couldn't see the body. She then comforted the mare as Kyra looked at them.
"She's killed three ponies already..." the demon said. "Combine that with her rage... she should be about ready to manifest in her true form. When that happens, you mortals are so fucked."
"Then... what do we do?" Asked Pinkamena.
"Same thing we've been doing," Kyra replied as she started moving again. "Keep looking for the host."
Twilight and Rainbow left the pumpkin behind as they headed towards the other end of the town, heading towards the candy offering pile in the forest.
"I wonder how the other groups are doing..." Rainbow thought aloud. "Think they found anything?"
Twilight shrugged. "I have no idea what the other groups are doing. I just hope Kyra isn't being mean to them..."
The cyan mare let out a low growl. "She better not be mean to Fluttershy."
"She has Pinkie," the unicorn pointed out. "She won't let Fluttershy get hurt. And, definitely not let Kyra be mean to her.
"I guess you're right..." Rainbow agreed. "So... Where haven't we looked yet?" She asked.
Twi looked around in thought. "Well... Kyra, Pinks, and Flutters are watching the border... Rarity and Applejack are looking in alleys and behind buildings... and you and I are scanning the town... That leaves..."
"The forest!" Rainbow gasped. "The candy offering!"
Twilight's eyes went wide and looked at her friend. "Of course! The Candy Mare! Candy pile!"
Just then, Kyra appeared before them, making them both scream and jump in fright.
"Candy offering?" Asked Kyra. "You actually do that?"
Twilight and Dash eyed each other once their breathing returned to normal.
"Yeah?" Rainbow said questioningly. "Of course. It's tradition."
"It's stupid," Kyra growled. "All that candy in one place. Three ponies already dead. This perfect for the C--"
"What?" Twilight asked, her heart rate speeding up. "Th... Three dead?"
"Yes, three dead," Kyra repeated as if it were nothing. "But, I won't be seeing them anytime soon unless we kill the host."
"Do you think she's at the candy offering?" Rainbow asked.
"At this point?" Kyra said with a sigh. "I'm sure of it. She has everything she needs to come back."
"Then, what are waiting for?" Asked the cyan pegasus, sounding determined despite the situation. "Let's go kill this demon."
"No..." Kyra said, chuckling softly. "Stupid pony... We'll all regroup at the entrance to the forest and then we'll go."
Rainbow Dash glared at her before crossing her arms. Twilight then took a step forward and nodded.
"Alright. Go let them know," the unicorn said, getting a single nod from the demon before she disappeared. Twilight then looked at the pegasus. "Cant let her get to you. She's a tough demon and sees us as weak ponies. We need to show her we're tough, too... and that we can take care of ourselves."
"I know, but..." Rainbow grumbled. "I just don't like her..."
"We can figure out whether or not she's likable or not later. Right now, we need to regroup with the others. If the Candy Mare is at the candy offering, then we'll all need to be there."
Dashie gave her a hesitant nod. "Alright... Let's go," she said before they both started running towards the forest.
As they ran away, a cloaked filly with purple eyes watched them with a small smirk. "See you soon, ponies..." she cooed, before popping a piece of candy in her mouth.
Kyra stood at the entrance to the forest, tapping her foot impatiently. She had told them all where to meet her a few minutes ago and they still weren't here. Letting out a sigh of annoyance, she started to go on alone when she heard the sound of approaching footsteps. She turned around and crossed her arms, watching them run over to her. They had all removed their Nightmare Night outfits and wore normal clothes.
Twilight was wearing a white t-shirt and a violet skirt, Rainbow Dash was wearing a white sports bra and black shorts, Applejack wore a daisy duke and ripped jean shorts, Pinkamena wore jeans and a black, long-sleeved shirt that had rips along the arm, Apple Bloom wore a light blue shirt and denim shorts, and Sweetie Belle wore a purple shirt and short black pants. Scootaloo still had on her kitty costume and Fluttershy still wore her long sweatshirt.
"Took you guys long enough..." the demon said as her eyes narrowed.
"Well, not all of us can teleport..." Rarity replied as everyone, aside from Twilight, gave her a dirty look. It was clear that they liked her about as much as she liked them.
"Not my problem," Kyra sighed, turning from them and began heading into the forest. "Now, come on. Time is of the essence."
Rainbow eyed Twilight as they followed the demon. "Oh, yeah... Real friendly," she whispered.
"It's not over yet," Twi whispered back.
The group continued into the woods until they arrived at the Nightmare Moon statue and the pile of candy. Looking around, they saw that no one was here. Kyra took a few steps towards the pile of candy before turning to the group.
"The fuck?" She asked. "Where is she?" The group looked around, not saying anything. Kyra let out a growl and began walking towards them. "Let's head back to town before someone else dies."
When the group parted to give her room, the demon stopped dead in her tracks. The others all turned to see what she was looking at. Standing a few feet from them was a little gray filly with long red hair and purple eyes. She was wearing a cloak but had the hood down, just standing there. Kyra hesitated before smiling.
"You came on your own?" She asked. "Decided to come back home?"
The little filly giggled. "I am home..." she cooed in a sing-song voice. "I don't wanna go back with you..."
The mortal ponies all gasped as Twilight stepped up to Kyra. "Is that... the host?"
Kyra eyed her and nodded. "Pumpkin's in control of her now. Nothing we can do."
"B... But..." Twilight started, not wanting to harm a filly.
The red demon took another step forward. "You say you don't want to go back, but... you're just standing there. What are you waiting for?"
The filly smirked. "Nothing. I just like watching the looks on your friends' faces... The realization that the only way to end this is to kill me." She then inhaled deeply through her nose as all the mortals gasped. "Mmm... I can smell their fear... The only thing sweeter than candy, isn't it?"
"I've had enough of this," Kyra said, sounding annoyed as she raised her hand and clenched it into a fist. As she did, about ten roots shot out from the ground all around the filly and impaled her, blood splattering all over the grass. The filly let out a gurgled laugh before she closed her eyes. The roots then slipped back into the ground as the fillies body fell to the grass with a soft thud.
Everyone stared in horror before Twilight spun the demon to face her. "What was that?!" She yelled, slamming her fist into Kyra's shoulder. The demon didn't even flinch or show signs of pain. "You just killed a filly!"
Kyra stared into her eyes before placing a hand on the unicorn's chest. With a quick thrust forward, she shoved the mare away like she was made of paper mâché. "That wasn't a filly. Not anymore. When Pumpkin takes a host, she also takes the soul. That was just the empty corpse of whoever that used to be. She was dead before I got here."
Rarity put a hand over her mouth. "How awful..."
"What about her parents?" Asked Applejack, getting a look from everyone else.
Kyra walked over to the body and knelt down. She then, much to the shock of everyone else, reached out and placed her hand on the filly's cheek. "I'm sorry..." she said softly, though the others could hear. She kept her eyes on the filly a little longer before looking at the group. "We're done here." She then looked at the filly's body again and waved her hand over the body, sealing all the holes to make it look more presentable. When she was about to scoop her up, they all heard a rustling from the candy pile.
Kyra's eyes went wide and looked over, as did everyone else. The candy pile looked like it was moving as pieces rolled down the side from the top as if there was a mini earthquake. Soon, peppermint sticks unwrapped from the wrapped and fused together, forming a hand, which began to rise from the pile. As it did, more candy came together to form an arm.
"Oh, shit," Kyra growled, as she and the mortals watched the candy start to form a body. Looking at the others, Kyra pointed towards another path off to the side. "To the old castle. We'll lose her in there until we think of a plan."
Twilight nodded as she and the others took off running towards the path. When the Candy Mare had a head, half her body was still in the pile. She then grinned at the red mare.
"I'm coming for you," she sang evilly.
"Yeah, come get me, bitch," Kyra spat before running after the others.
Running into the old, run-down castle, Twilight looked back. "Be careful!" She warned. "This place is old, so the floor might be weak!" Looking over at the others, she then added, "And traps."
"Traps?" Asked Rainbow as everyone else looked at her with great concern, too.
Twilight nodded. "Booby traps for intruders. It's a good bet that no one's here to deactivate them."
"Well, that's just fantastic," AJ growled. "First, a demon... Then, a bitchy demon... Now, traps!"
Making their way down the main hall, Fluttershy let out an "eep" as the floor beneath her crumbled.
"Fluttershy!" Pinks gasped, diving forward to grab the mare's hand as she fell through the floor. Grabbing the mare's hand, she let out a grunt as she tried to pull up. "Come on..." she grunted. "Don't let g--" She was cut off when Fluttershy's hand slipped and she fell. "Flutters!" Pinks yelled, reaching out to her with wide eyes.
"Oh, no!" Rarity gasped as she took a step back before a panel opened underneath her. Letting out a yell, she slid down a chute before the panel closed.
"Oh, come on!" Applejack yelled, moving to assist before stepping on a trapdoor, too.
As the orange mare fell, Twilight looked at Pinkamena and Rainbow Dash. "Stay away from the center of the floor! Back against the walls!"
Pinks scrambled to her feet as she and Applejack pressed their back against opposite sides of the hall. When they did, the section of wall they stood at flipped around, taking them with them.
"The heck?!" Yelled Twilight when it was just her, Kyra, and the fillies. "Where's safe?!"
"Not here," Kyra growled, grabbing her hand and running. "Damn, you girls are making my job really fucking difficult..."
The unicorn did her best to keep up with the demon's pace as she looked back to see the fillies close by. She then looked way down at the entrance to see the Candy Mare standing there, eyes glowing purple as she raised her sharp claws, waving to her. Twilight let out a gasp when she was suddenly thrown into a room. Kyra then waited for the fillies to enter before she ran into the room. As she did, the Candy Mare rushed at her and swiped her candy cane claws at her. Letting out a yell, Kyra kicked her away and closed the steel door with a thud. She then raised her hand as dust shifted and hardened, closing off all sections where air could get into the room.
Kyra then turned to Twilight. "Your friends want to die, don't they?"
"What?" Asked the unicorn, taking a step forward. "No. Of course!"
"Well, they sure seemed drawn to the traps," Kyra pointed out, crossing her arms. "I suppose that's just shit luck. And, now we're all separated."
Twilight opened to her mouth to say something before looking at Kyra's arm. "O-Oh, um... What's that?" She asked, pointing. "Your arm..."
The demon raised an eyebrow before looking at her right arm. "Oh, fuck..." she growled, noticing a cut just under her elbow. The veins around it were glowing green. The green coloring also seemed to be traveling up her arm. "Fuck," she growled again, flexing the fingers on her left hand before she grabbed her right arm by the shoulder.
"Wh-What are you doing?" Asked Twilight, the fillies backing up as Sweetie Belle tried to avert her eyes.
"The curse is spreading," Kyra explained. "I have to amputate."
"A-Amputate?" Asked Twilight, going wide-eyed. "H-How do you plan on--"
"You may want to look away..." the demon said before letting out a yell and tearing her arm off, blood spraying all over the floor.
Twilight covered her mouth as the fillies screamed in terror, looking away and running to cower in a corner.
The Candy Mare stood outside the door with a grin on her face, running her clawed hand down the door. After reveling in the pained sounds and terrified screams, she left to go find the others.
Fluttershy slowly opened her eyes. Everything seemed dark and blurry and her head was spinning. Letting out a groan, she sat up before letting out a sharp yelp. A strong pain shot through her body, originating from her leg. Whimpering as tears filled her eyes, she looked at her leg. Eyes going wide, she saw an unusual bump on her leg. Slowly reaching out and touching, she let out a pain yell. Definitely broken. She then began hyperventilating, knowing if she couldn't move then she was as good as dead. Suddenly, she remembered back to when Applebloom had her ribs broken and Kyra fixed it, as painful as it seemed. She then knew that the demon was her only hope.
"K-Kyra?" She asked, sniffling and looking around her surroundings. She seemed to be in the dungeons. She was in a hallway with cells lining the walls. The doors to each had fallen off and the cell walls had crumbled. "Kyra?!" She yelled out as loud as she could as tears fell from her eyes, her voice echoing off the walls. "Help me, please!"
Kyra dropped to her knees, her right stump dripping blood all over the floor beneath her. Twilight had backed up to stand in front of the fillies, blocking their view from the horrific scene. The demon mare clutched her stump and growled in pain. Twilight eyed the fillies, who were facing the wall with their eyes closed and covering their ears. Turning back to Kyra, she made her way over to her.
"Um... What was that?" She asked, kneeling in front of the demon.
Kyra eyed her with clenched teeth before letting out a pained grunt. "If... If the curse spreads to your body... your soul becomes hers and you become, what she calls, a Candy Ghoul..."
"But... you're a demon, too..." Twilight pointed out.
"Obviously," Kyra said, before wincing from the pain. "But, a demon can kill another demon... I am to her as you are to your friends... If the curse spreads, I have no soul for her to take... I'd just live a life of eternal pain and suffering as her puppet..." She then leaned back and sighed, removing her hand from her stump as the bone twitched.
Twilight quickly scooted back from the grisly sight before she watched a bone grow out from the stump. The arm was reforming. First her bone grew all the way down to her fingers. Holding up her skeleton hand, she looked it over as her muscle began to grow back. After that, her skin reformed, finally giving her an arm back. Letting out a deep exhale, Kyra fell on her back, panting heavily.
"Shit..." the demon sighed.
Kyra sat up as Twilight went over to kneel beside her.
"Um..." the unicorn said softly. "Are you... Are you okay?"
"I'm fine..." Kyra replied before eyeing her. "Why do you ask such a stupid question?"
"Well, that seemed to hurt," Twilight replied, acting like the mare's rude question didn't bother her. "The whole... arm ripping thing..."
"I do what I do to survive," Kyra said as she rubbed her shoulder. "Though, it could've been worse... I could've had to rip my arm off and be mortal..."
"Why?" Asked Twilight, sort of getting sick of hearing from the demon how much she despises mortals. "Because you'd be mortal, too?"
The demon let out a soft chuckle. "No... Just imagine having to rip your own arm off."
Twilight shivered at the thought before nodding. "I see your point. Though, if it came to that... I'd just use a sharp object, or something..."
"Could you do it?" Asked Kyra, looking at her. "Cut your arm off?" Her tone seemed to have changed. She didn't speak with hate in her voice now. She seemed to be having an actual conversation. Something strange to Twilight but not unwelcome.
The unicorn hesitated before smiling. "I'd do what it took to survive, too."
Kyra did nothing for a few seconds, as if she were thinking, before smirking lightly. It didn't seem like a devious smirk, but more of an impressed smirk.
Three figures entered the castle; a stallion and two mares, all three seemingly made of Candy. They made their way down the hall where they were greeted by a wall of black smoke, slowly filling up the hall in front of them. They stopped moving as the Candy Mare emerged from the smoke.
"I want you to find them..." the sweet-tasting mare cooed. "and I want you to cut them. I will take great pleasure in making them my slaves."
Pinkamena made her way into an indoor garden. The plants were long dead and the stone structures, crumbled into pieces on the floor. In the center of the round room was an ankle-high stone wall that served as the edge of the garden. Inside was dirt and all the dead plants. Some of the dirt had poured out through holes in the small wall. All in all, this place looked eerie and dead.
When she was about to leave, she heard a scuffling from the hall. Letting out a gasp, she took cover behind a broken statue. When she stood, it came up to her chest, so she was able to kneel behind it. Peeking out, she saw a mare stumble into the room. The pink mare let out a soft gasp when she saw that the mare was made of candy. It wasn't the Candy Mare, though. It looked like she used to be a normal mare but was candified to look similar to her mistress. Upon hearing the gasp, the Candy Ghoul turned its head to look towards Pinkamena, who quickly hid herself from view again.
Rainbow rounded a corner and found herself another hallway. "Aw, come on..." she groaned. "Where's the way out?" She kept moving and looking around for a side passage that might have a staircase. Suddenly, she heard a scraping noise, which seemed to be getting closer and closer. "Uh... Guys?" She asked.
When she got no answer in response but the sound got closer, she looked around and found a metal rod sticking out of a pile of rubble. Grabbing it, she got ready to attack. A figure soon emerged from a hall in the distance. It turned its head to look at the pegasus. Rainbow gasped when she saw what it was; a pony made of candy that wasn't the Candy Mare.
"What the heck is that?" She asked.
The creature then took off running at her. The pegasus didn't run away, though. Pulling the rod back like she was getting ready to hit a baseball, she grinned, waiting. When the candy pony was closer, it reached out to attack her. The mare quickly stepped to the side and swung at its head. Hitting it hard, the candy pony lost its footing and landed on its back. Right after it hit, it swiped at her legs. Jumping back, she managed to dodge it before it quickly got back up.
"Resilient, huh?" She asked, before dropping to her knees to avoid another swipe before she swung at its leg. When it fell over again, Rainbow quickly took off. "Stay down and don't follow me!" She called back.
Fluttershy scooted back against the wall, keeping her eyes on the entrance to the room, panting heavily from the pain and from fright. "Okay, Fluttershy," she told herself. "You can't stay here... You have to move..."
Looking at her leg made her less confident, though she knew she had to get moving. Taking a deep breath, she slid down the wall onto her right side to keep her broken left leg off the floor. Using her right hand, she dragged herself across the floor with grunts and yelps of pain, her injured leg resting on her good one.
"You're not dying here, Fluttershy," the pegasus told herself as she kept dragging herself across the floor.
Letting out grunt after grunt, she finally managed to crawl into the hallway outside the room. Looking both ways, she began to pull herself down the left passage. Moving further down the corridor, she saw a 4-way intersection. "Oh... Which way?" She whimpered.
Suddenly, she heard a sound coming from down the hall where she had come from. Looking back, she saw a candy pony walking towards her, claws out by it sides. Seeing how slow the pegasus was moving, the candy pony didn't seem to be in a rush.
Letting out a gasp, Fluttershy began to crawl faster, turning down another hallway. Due to her frightened state, she wasn't paying attention to where her limbs ended up and her hurt leg slipped off her good one and hit the corner of the wall. Mouth opening in a silent yell, tears filled her eyes as she stopped moving. The pain was too much for her to concentrate on anything. Slowly, a pained yell escaped her lips and her her breathing became erratic. Letting out a sharp gasp, she looked up to see the candy pony standing there. It lunged towards her, making her scream in fright before the candy creature was knocked away by a familiar orange mare.
"A-Applejack?" Asked Fluttershy, holding her leg above the wound.
The earth pony knocked the candy pony to the floor before stopping repeatedly on its leg before shattering it. "You leave her alone," she growled, grabbing its left arm to keep it from cutting her. She then stood up and placed her foot on the candy ghoul's neck, stomping it a few times until it shattered. The flailing arms fell limp but it didn't seem dead yet. Not wasting this moment, she quickly ran over to Fluttershy and knelt down beside her. "Oh, damn, Flutters..." she gasped, noticing the swollen leg and the tear-stained face of her friend. "Come on," she said, slowly helping the mare up on her good leg and put her arm around her. She made sure to stand on the side of the broken leg to make sure it didn't hit anything. "Let's get moving."
Fluttershy quickly nodded and leaned against Applejack, feeling safer with her friend now here.
Twilight panted as she watched the fillies collapse to the floor, their breathing becoming more desperate. The unicorn then looked at Kyra again. "We have to get out of here... We're running out of air..."
Kyra hesitated before nodding. "Right... The problem of mortals..." She then turned to the door. "So... an escape plan..."
"Can't you just... teleport us all out?" Asked the purple mare.
The demon turned to look at her again. "No. Pumpkin feeds off magic, too. I fear that all the teleportation I did around town helped in bringing her back. Now, that she's manifested herself in this world, the plan has changed."
"Plan?" Asked Twilight, confused. "What was the plan originally? And, how is it different now?"
"Well, originally I meant to kill her before she had the power to manifest in her true form. If I did that, then her connection to this world would've been severed and she would've returned to the Nether." She then paused and eyed the door. "Now, that she's made it into your world... I'll need the help of the one who assisted in her imprisonment all those years ago..."
"Who?" Asked Twilight, finding it harder and harder to breath.
Kyra turned to look at her again. "Luna."
Twilight went wide-eyed. "Princess Luna helped imprison her?"
Just then there was a bang on the door followed by a loud scraping noise, making Twilight jump. "How long do you think you can stay in there?" Came the eerie childish voice of the Candy Mare. "If I can't get in... then, that means you made the room air-tight..." She then giggled eerily. "If they suffocate, then it's not fair. Open the door so I can kill them myself..."
Kyra narrowed her eyes at the source of the voice before looking at Twilight. "Teleportation may be to risky to use around Pumpkin. But, perhaps I can use a lesser spell so as to not give her too much energy..."
"What do you have in mind?" Asked the unicorn, breathing heavily as she looked over at the fillies.
"I'm still connected to you and your friends from that spell earlier," Kyra explained. "I can combine that with another spell to communicate to each of them. Now, they wouldn't be able to respond to me but I can at least tell them what to do."
Twilight nodded and went over to the fillies, kneeling down with them. "Do whatever it takes... I don't have much... air left... and these three... have even less..."
Kyra hesitated for a few seconds, looking at the four of them before closing her eyes. "Listen up..."
Applejack and Fluttershy stopped running and looked at each other when they heard a voice in their head.
"You hear that?" Asked Applejack, receiving a nod from Fluttershy.
"...find a way back up and regroup," Kyra's voice continued. "I'll distract Pumpkin so you all can escape. Luna is the only one who can help us now so we need to get out of here. Now."
"Find a way up?" Asked Applejack with a scoff. "How are we supposed to do that?"
Almost as a response to her question, Kyra continued her announcement. "To find your way back, I will help. When I'm done talking, you'll hear a beep. The louder it is, the closer you are. Find your way quickly."
After she was done, sure enough both Applejack and Fluttershy heard the faint beeping.
"Well," AJ said, looking at Shy. "That's somethin'..."
They began to head in the direction of the beeping, making their way down the hall when someone ran out from one of the adjacent hallways. Both AJ and Fluttershy jumped before letting out a sigh of relief.
"Rarity," AJ said as Fluttershy looked through her mane, before smiling.
"Oh, I'm so glad I found you girls," Rarity said with a few pants, looking behind her. "We need to follow that noise quickly. There's one of those candy things chasing me." She then noticed Fluttershy's leg. "Oh, no! Your leg!"
"She knows..." Applejack commented as Shy leaned against her. "We have to get moving and get her help."
Rarity nodded and started heading in the direction of the beeping. "Onwards!"
Pinkamena covered her mouth as the candy ghoul came closer to where she was hiding. Suddenly, she heard a voice in her head.
"Listen up..." came Kyra's voice, making Pinkamena jump and let out a quiet gasp. The candy pony stopped moving as it tilted its head as if listening for another noise. The pink mare then heard Kyra's voice again. "find a way back up and regroup. I'll distract Pumpkin so you all can escape. Luna is the only one who can help us now so we need to get out of here. Now." The pink mare suddenly felt a little hopeful knowing they were going to go to Luna. The alicorn surely could help. "To find your way back, I will help," Kyra continued. "When I'm done talking, you'll hear a beep. The louder it is, the closer you are. Find your way quickly."
When she was finished, Pinks heard the sound and then nodded to herself, knowing what she had to do. Looking around, she quickly picked up a broken piece of the statue. She then threw it from the other side of the statue where the candy pony wasn't looking. The creature immediately looked over at the sound and darted over to it.
When it did, Pinkamena scrambled to her feet and made a run for it. The candy mare quickly looked over at her and hissed before darting after her. Moving like a cheetah, it quickly caught up to her and pounced. Hearing the incoming attack, Pinks turned around and tripped, falling backwards. When she hit the ground, she slid her knee up to her chest and grabbed the candy pony's wrists, her knee against its neck to keep it from clawing or biting her.
Letting out grunts of effort to keep it from harming her, she looked around for something to use. Finding nothing in range, she looked up at the creature's candy face. Closing her eyes, she breathed slowly, relaxing and getting her heartbeat to return to normal. When she felt calm, cool, and collected, she opened her eyes. Filling up with determination, she found the strength to push the pony off her, throwing its arms away from her.
When it hit the floor, the pink mare quickly got to her feet and took off towards the hallway where the beeping sound grew louder. When she made it to the door, she heard the candy pony regain its footing and took off running at her. As soon as she made it through the doorway, a familiar face stepped in front of her.
Letting out a gasp, she stopped moving. "Dashie?"
"Yep," the cyan mare said with a smile, holding up her piece of metal. "Get down."
Immediately, the pink mare dropped to her knees as the candy pony lunged at them. Rainbow pulled back before swinging hard at the pony like a baseball player. The metal bar struck the pony in the neck, shattering the candy. The ghoul hit the floor next to Pinkamena with a thud as the neck completely shattered, sending the head rolling away.
"Come on," the pegasus said as she helped the pink mare up. "We have to move. Now."
With that, the two made their way down the hall towards the beeping.
Applejack helped Fluttershy over to a flight of stairs, the beeping getting louder as Rarity stopped beside them.
"This has to be the way up," AJ said with a smile before looking at Fluttershy, her smile fading. "What's wrong?" She asked, noticing the mare's expression. She looked worried.
"My leg..." the yellow pegasus whimpered. "I don't think I can make it..."
AJ looked at her swollen leg before looking at the stairs. "Well... We have to get up there..." She then looked at the injured mare again. "If Kyra wants to help you, we're gonna have to--"
"She will help," Fluttershy corrected. "Twilight believes in her..."
Applejack was shocked at first by how her friend seemed to side with the demon, though it seemed the pegasus had a lot of trust in their unicorn friend. Smiling at her, she nodded. "If you want Kyra's help... we do have to head up the stairs..." Fluttershy looked at the stairs again, nervously. "We'll carry ya." AJ added with a smile. "Okay?"
"Yes," Rarity agreed. "Put your arms around us and we'll help you up."
Fluttershy smiled at both of them and nodded. "Okay..."
Pinkamena and Rainbow ran up a staircase and found themselves in the hallway they fell down from. Looking at each other, they let out a soft chuckle of relief before looking at the staircase on the other side of the hall. Seeing Applejack and Rarity carrying Fluttershy up the stairs, they smiled and waved before noticing Fluttershy's leg.
"Oh, no..." Rainbow gasped.
"Fluttershy!" Pinkamena yelled, running towards her.
AJ and Rarity smiled at seeing their friends, Fluttershy letting out a soft whimper at the pain in her leg.
"Are you okay?" The pink mare asked, running up to them. "I-Is it bad?"
"B-Broken..." Fluttershy answered. "B-But Kyra can help..."
Rainbow eyed Applejack, who gave a light smile. Suddenly the group heard a faint laugh. Looking down the hall towards the entrance, they saw the Candy Mare standing beside a metal door.
"Looks like you made it," she cooed darkly, tilting her head. "Guess I'll have to kill you myself..."
Back inside the room, Kyra eyed Twilight and the fillies. "Get ready," she said, as the fillies gathered near Twilight, ready to run. The demon then looked back at the door and sent the other ponies outside a message. "Run for the exit. Now!" She yelled.
Applejack let out a gasp as she slid her arm lower on Fluttershy's body and held her waist, lifting her up so her feet didn't touch the floor. The pegasus let out a gap of shock as she was lifted up and let out a wince at a slight pain in her leg. Rarity did the same with her left arm, supporting the injured mare's waist so all the weight wasn't on AJ. They then began running towards the Candy Mare, along with Rainbow and Pinkamena, all hoping Kyra knew what she was doing.
The Candy Mare grinned and licked her lips. "That's it..." she cooed. "Come play..."
When she was about to run at them, Kyra flung the door open, hitting the candy pony, making her stumble. Kyra then kicked her in the side, causing her to fall over and hit the floor with a thud. The demon then watched Twilight and the fillies leave the room as the other ponies ran passed. Her eyes then fell on Fluttershy, who was looking at her as she was carried away. When Kyra started to run, the Candy Mare grabbed her ankle and pulled, making her hit the floor with a grunt.
"You're ruining playtime," the Candy Mare cooed as she climbed atop the demon and rolled her onto her back. "I'll have to teach you a lesson..." She then raised both clawed hands and thrust them at the red mare. Kyra grabbed her wrists and pushed back, keeping the peppermint stick fingernails out of her eyes. "Just let it happen..." the candy pony cooed.
"I'll never be your slave," Kyra grunted. "And, I won't stop trying until I get you back where you belong..."
"I belong... everywhere," the Candy Mare hissed. "And, as soon as I kill you, I will be..."
"Not on our watch," came another voice from nearby.
The Candy Mare looked up to see Twilight about to swing the metal rod that Rainbow had. Growling, she swiped at the mare before getting a metal bar to the face. The candy pony tumbled off the red mare with a hiss of annoyance as Twilight held out her hand.
"Come on," she urged.
Kyra quickly stood up on her own. "What are you doing?" She asked in a scolding tone before grabbing the mare's wrist. "Come on," she said before running after the others. "We have to get out of here, now," Kyra said, when they aught up to the others. Using her powers, she created a red mist around the group. When the mist dissipated, the ponies were gone.
The Candy Mare scrambled to her feet in a squatting position. Placing her right hand on the floor, she scraped the stone and growled before looking back to see the candy ghouls leaving the staircase where Pinkamena and Rainbow came from. "Useless..." she hissed. She then held out her left hand towards the candy ponies. "But I can make use of you..."
The ghouls then stopped moving before they began cracking. Soon, they shattered and the pieces flew into the Candy Mare, adding on to her candy body. Her fingernails became longer and her muzzle became slightly longer, more teeth filling the empty space. Her arms and legs grew in length about three inches. Her body became slightly thicker as did her arms and legs.
Kyra and the others ended up back in the Golden Oaks Library, Applejack and Rarity quickly bringing Fluttershy over to one of the chairs at a reading table. Rarity then ran upstairs to grab a pillow from Twilight's bed and brought it back down to help support Fluttershy's hurt leg.
As they did this, Kyra got to one knee and placed her hand on the ground. Nodding to herself, she then placed a finger on the floorboards, a red glow emitting from her fingertip. Drawing as large a circle as she could on the floor with her finger, she created a glowing red ring. The others looked over at her as she drew a triangle in the circle, separating the circle into four sections; the three on the outside of the triangle and the triangle in the middle. She then drew smaller circles in the three outer parts. When she was done, the symbol flashed red.
"What's that?" Asked Rarity.
"Protective rune," Kyra explained. "Big enough to cover the entirety of Ponyville. It's risky, because Pumpkin can feed off it... but it will keep everyone safe for a couple hours."
"Why didn't you just make one of these from the start?" Asked Rainbow Dash.
The demon eyed her. "And trap her in here? Are you dense?"
Rainbow was about to retort but was cut off when Fluttershy spoke up.
"K-Kyra?" Asked the yellow pegasus, getting the demon's attention. "He-elp, p-please..." she pleaded. "I-It hurts..."
The red mare hesitated before slowly walking over to her, looking over her leg and letting out a sigh. "Bitch..."
Everyone gasped and Fluttershy felt her heart skip a beat, not believing what the mare said.
"That's uncalled for," Applejack said with a glare, clearly pissed off. "It's not her fault she got hurt. She isn't a demon like you--"
"I wasn't talking about Fluttershy," Kyra said, her eyes meeting the pegasus', who seemed relieved to hear it. "This will hurt," she warned, almost as if she gave a shit.
Nodding, Fluttershy sniffled. "Do it."
After hesitating for a brief second, Kyra placed her hand on the swollen part of the leg. Shy let out a wince of pain before a loud cry of pain escaped from her lips accompanied by a loud crack as the bone snapped back in place and healed. Tears fell from her face as Rarity ran over to comfort her. Kyra pulled her hand away, the bump gone as she turned to Twilight. Something caught her eye.
"Oh, shit..." she said through clenched teeth.
Looking down at her leg, Twilight gasped when she saw a cut on her knee from when the Candy Mare swiped at her. "Uh... Oh, no..."
"Twilight?" Asked Applejack, she and the majority of the girls not knowing what was going on, but Twilight and the fillies knew.
"She's infected," Kyra said as she quickly moved over to the unicorn. Looking over at the table in the center of the room, she pointed at it, everything on it flying off and landing on the floor. "And, there's only one thing to do..." Her eyes then met Twilight's as the unicorn nodded, a frightened look on her face as her heart rate increased. Kyra then brought her over to the table and patted it. "Lay on your back." The unicorn did as she was told before Kyra let out an angry growl. "I told you not to do anything stupid..." she hissed, looking Twilight in the eyes. "Why the fuck did you risk your life for me?"
"Because..." Twilight said with a light smile. "You're my friend."
Kyra froze in dismay, not believing what she heard. Nothing she's said or done made any indication that she wanted friendship. In fact, she acted the opposite and yet this mare still cared about her. Looking away briefly, she hesitated before moving her hand to Twilight's leg, eyeing the cut. "Damn you..." she growled through her teeth.
"Huh?" Asked Twilight, making the demon look her in the eyes.
"Damn you for making me care..."
Twilight smiled lightly, hearing that her persistence seems to have paid off.
"Can't you just knock her out?" Asked Applebloom, knowing what had to happen.
Kyra eyed them before looking at the cut, noticing the green in the unicorn's veins was spreading rapidly, quickly nearing the mare's hip. "No time!" She yelled, getting ready.
"Do it," Twilight said, gripping the sides of the table as tears filled her eyes.
There was a sudden wet, tearing sound as Twilight's screams filled the Library.
Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkamena, Fluttershy, and Rarity all watched in horror as Twilight's leg finished growing back. Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were looking away, not wanting to see this a second time. When the flesh had fully grown back, the unicorn lay limp on the table, panting heavily. Kyra looked over the exhausted mare before looking at her leg. Running her hand over where she had torn the old leg off, she let out a sigh. Looking down at the infected leg on the floor, she snapped her fingers, igniting the limb on flames. It quickly disintegrated as it and the ashes vaporized and disappeared completely, leaving nothing behind.
Looking back at Twilight, she smiled lightly. "You're pretty brave... for a mortal..." she said, getting an exhausted smile back from the unicorn.
After keeping her eyes on Twilight for a couple more seconds, she disappeared in a burst of red smoke. When she was gone, the girls all looked at each other.
"Is it just me, or... is she... less of a b..." AJ started, before stopping, remembering there were fillies here.
Rarity smiled and looked over at Twilight as the unicorn sat up. "She does seem a little less rude. She even seemed genuinely angry at the Candy Mare for causing Fluttershy to break her leg."
"She did look nicer," Fluttershy spoke up with a light smile.
Letting out a sigh, Rainbow looked over at the purple unicorn, crossing her arms. "Guess you were right, Twilight... Seems Kyra isn't a lost cause..."
Smiling, Twilight slowly stood on the floor. To her surprise and relief, her leg didn't hurt. It felt as though she never lost it in the first place. "She even told me I made her care, though she seemed angry about it... Or, at least, irritated..." Walking over to Rainbow, she put a hand on her shoulder. "She still has a little ways to go... I'll need your help..." She then turned to face the others. "I'll need all your help."
"Yer really goin' to a lot of trouble for this mare we just met," AJ pointed out. "And a demon, no less..."
Twilight thought back to how Kyra looked when she called her friend. "Because everyone needs a friend," Twilight explained. "I could sense something about her. Like, she was only acting rude..."
"Kinda like a Caramel Crunch," Applebloom said, getting everyone's attention. "You know... Hard on the outside, yet soft and chewy on the inside."
Twi let out a chuckle. "Yes, Kyra is like Caramel Crunch. And, when I called her a friend just now, I saw something on her face. It was only for a second, but I could see... that... crunchy exterior turning soft... It's like she wants a friend but doesn't want to ask. So, no matter what she says and no matter how rude she is, I need you all to stick with her."
Rainbow hesitated before nodding. "Suppose it can't hurt... Plus... be cool having a demon as a friend," she said, as a smile spread across her face.
"Yeah, it would," AJ agreed.
"So, it's settled, then..." Twilight said as she looked around at the group. "Kyra's a friend."
Rainbow nodded before tilting her head. "So... where'd she go?"
Princess Luna stepped out of the shower in her bedroom and grabbed a towel. Wrapping it around herself, she walked over to the steamed-up mirror. Letting out a sigh, she placed her hand on it and wiped off some of the steam. Letting out a gasp, she saw a red figure in the reflection. Turning around, she saw Kyra standing on the other side of the room.
"Kyra..." the alicorn said, going slightly wide-eyed.
"Hey, Luna," the demon replied with a light smile.
The princess slowly approached the red mare. "It's been... so long..."
"Oh, only about 2,000 years..." Kyra said with a light smirk.
Luna stepped up to her and smiled. "It is good to see you again... How is Aura?"
Kyra gave her a nod. "She's doing well..."
"I would love to see her again, too..."
Kyra hesitated before letting out a sigh. "You know the situation..." The demon replied. "Suicide taints the soul. She isn't the same mare you remember..."
Luna nodded before crossing her arms. "I remember that..."
The demon then leaned in closely. "We do have a problem, however. A pretty big one."
Luna appeared to tense up at hearing the bad news. "What sort of problem?"
"Pumpkin is back..."
The princess' eyes widened. "Pumpkin's back? How did this happen?"
"Someone let her out..." Kyra explained. "I have my best working on finding out who did it, but right now... we need your help."
"Of course," Luna nodded. "I will do whatever I can to... Wait... Who is we?"
The Candy Mare quickly and quietly crawled towards the forest exit, leading back to town, her longer arms and legs allowing her to cover more distance quickly. Suddenly, she hit an invisible wall and bounced back. Letting out a growl, she quickly got back on all fours before reaching her right hand out. When it hit the wall, she felt it and looked around, realizing what it was. Letting out a louder growl, she banged on it with both hands.
"Oh, what's the matter?" Asked Kyra as she walked up to the candy pony, arms crossed with a smirk. "Can't get thr..." She trailed off when she noticed the mare's new body.
The Candy Mare grinned, showing off her candy corn teeth. "Like it?"
"I didn't know you could do that..."
The Candy Mare got back on her feet, placing her hands on the invisible wall and leaning in until her forehead hit the shield, too. "Do you think this shield can keep me out forever?"
The red demon walked up to the shield and got in the candy pony's face. "No... Just as long as I need it to..."
"Good," the Candy Mare cooed darkly. "Because whether it takes a day, a month, a year, or a lifetime, your energy will run out... And, when it does, I will be here... and, I will kill everyone..."
Kyra glared at her. "No, you won't..." she said, before turning and walking away. "Not while I still breathe."
The candy pony let out an eerie laugh. "You haven't breathed for years... But, when I get through this barrier I will tear you limb from limb... That still hurts, doesn't it?"
Kyra stopped moving, knowing the Candy Mare was right. Despite her being an immortal demon, she still felt pain caused by another demon. Pushing it to the back of her mind, she focused on the plan at hand and continued moving.
The Candy Mare licked her lips as she watched the red demon walk away. "Soon..." she cooed, scraping her claws down the invisible shield.
The girls back at the library all sat around, waiting. Fluttershy was sitting on the couch and Twilight was pacing back and forth in front of the door. Soon, there was a frantic knock on the door. Before she could open it, Twilight turned to see the door fly open.
"Twilight?" Asked Luna, quickly walking up to the unicorn and hugging her. "I am so very sorry that you had to get caught up in all this..." The alicorn was wearing a blue bra and panties, which were covered by a blue nightgown.
The purple mare smiled and hugged back. "It's fine, princess..."
The alicorn nodded and pulled away, before looking around at everyone else. "My apology extends to the rest of you, of course... I hoped we had dealt with this horror years ago."
"Well, with your help, we'll do it again," Twilight said with a smile. "Because, this time, there's six more of us."
Luna turned to face her again and smiled lightly. "I admire your optimism, Twilight..."
"What about us?" Asked Scootaloo.
"You'll wait here," Kyra said as she entered the library, the door slamming shut behind her.
"We can't leave them alone," AJ said as she took a step towards the demon. "Not with that monster out there..."
Kyra stopped and looked at her. The demon clenched her fist as if she was trying to hold back a snarky comment. "I... I have a plan..." she said before walking towards the fillies.
Aj and Dash eyed each other before the cyan mare spoke up. "Which is what, exactly?"
Kyra stopped in front of the fillies and looked down at them, the little fillies looking up at her in return. "I can create a smaller shield to protect them..." She then slowly knelt down in front of them. "You three will be safe in there..." Sweetie Belle smiled lightly as the demon eyed the orange filly, who had a look of worry. Kyra then slowly reached out and placed her hand on her shoulder. "I promise..."
Scootaloo looked her in the eyes and nodded, the demon giving her a light smile. Applejack and Rainbow Dash both looked at each other, exchanging a happy expression mixed with surprise at how friendly Kyra seemed to be now. The demon then drew a large circle on the floor beside the fillies, big enough for all three of them. After creating small runes around it, the circle lit up.
"Alright," the demon said, looking at the fillies. "Get inside and don't... leave... the circle," she said, pointing at them. "I don't have enough energy to create another shield in addition to the one protecting Ponyville... so I made the next best thing," she said, before pointing at the circle. "Sit inside it. And don't leave it." Sweetie Belle and Applebloom both nodded and crawled into the circle. Kyra looked over at Scootaloo and let out a sigh. "You have to get inside... It's the only way you'll be safe..."
Scootaloo eyed the circle before looking at the demon again. "I-I could go with you..."
Kyra let out an internal gasp, not expecting this. The filly seemed to feel safer with her around. Despite her bitchy attitude, these ponies still seemed to trust her. "I... I can't," Kyra said, eyeing the others before looking at Scoots again. "I'll be doing something very dangerous and I can't risk you, or your friends, getting hurt. You saw firsthand what happens when you get cut... and what has to happen afterwards..."
Scootaloo hesitated before slowly reaching out, placing her hand on the demon's arm. "Well, you... grew yours back, and... grew Twilight's leg back..."
Kyra gently took the filly by the shoulders, Rainbow taking a step towards them inc case the demon did anything bad. "That is not a pain a little filly like you should have to endure... So, please... stay here with your friends. Keep each other safe inside the circle."
The orange filly looked a little nervous before looking over at Rainbow Dash. The cyan mare gave her a smile and a nod. Scootaloo then looked at Kyra again and nodded. "Okay..." she said, before joining Applebloom and Sweetie Belle in the circle.
The demon gave her a small smile and stood up, turning to face the others. Rainbow gave her a smile, telling the demon that she was happy with how she handled Scoots. The demon hesitated before giving her a light smile in return. "Alright... We have work to do..."
Luna gave her a smile before heading for the door. "I will find a good spot," she said as she left.
Twilight walked over to the door and watched the Princess walk away. "A spot for what?"
Kyra walked up next to the unicorn and eyed her. "For the trap, of course. We need to get Pumpkin back to the Nether and she won't go willingly. So, the only option is to trap her in a small shield similar to the one protecting Ponyville. Then, Luna and I can use the banishing spell we used before."
"Well... What are waiting for?" Asked Twilight with a nervous smile. "Let's go banish a demon."
The Candy Mare scraped at the shield, glaring at the town when suddenly the shield flickered like a light about to go out. Looking around, she smiled widely, taking a step back to watch the shield about to go down.
Kyra and Twilight returned to where they found one of the Candy Mare's cursed pumpkin's.
"There it is," Kyra said as she picked it up.
"What was so important about these pumpkins again?" Twilight asked as she looked over the pumpkin.
"They're connected to Pumpkin," Kyra explained. "You destroy one, you free the soul. However, Pumpkin will get a huge power boost and know exactly where you are..." She then looked at Twilight. "We're gonna use it to lure her in."
The Candy Mare banged on the shield with a growl each time her fist hit the barrier. With each hit, the force field rippled before it suddenly faded away, causing the candy pony to fall forward. Quickly placing her claws out in front of her, she stopped herself from getting a face full of dirt. Looking around, she crawled forward a little before stopping. Confirming that the shield was down, a grin spread across her face and began heading towards town.
Kyra and Twilight joined the others with Luna in a clearing near Ponyville.
"Everything is set," Luna said when she saw Kyra. "I cast a spell on the town making everyone sleepy. They should all be indoors now."
"Good," Kyra said as she set the pumpkin down in the grass.
She then pointed at the grass and slowly turned all the way around, a circle burning into the grass large enough for the Candy Mare. Once the circle was complete, she held out her hand as runes began to burn into the ground around the circle. As she did, Luna lit up her horn and held her hand out, the red runes and circle flashing blue before glowing purple.
"There..." Kyra said, lowering her hand as she stepped out of the trap. "When it senses Pumpkin inside it... it will activate. Now..." She then pointed at the pumpkin and it exploded.
The Candy Mare stopped suddenly when she felt a power surge. Letting out a growl, she looked in the direction of Kyra. She couldn't see her from where she was but she knew where she was.
"Clever..." she hissed. "But, I'm not stupid."
Kyra and the others looked around, wondering where the candy demon was.
"She should have been here by now," Luna said, sounding worried.
The red mare crossed her arms in thought. "Well, this is bad... Where is she?"
Scootaloo was seated in the protective circle, knees to her chest and hugging herself.
"Come on, Scootaloo," Applebloom said with a smile, putting a hand on her knee. "I'm sure they've trapped that monster by now and are on they're way back here right now."
"Yeah," Sweetie Belle agreed. "That candy pony may be scary but she didn't seem too smart."
Applebloom let out a giggle. "I bet she has candy for a brain."
She and Sweetie high-fived and giggled as Scootaloo's lips formed a smile.
"Of course I have candy for a brain," an eerie voice cooed, sending shivers down the fillies' spine. They looked over to see the Candy Mare standing there, smiling down at them. All three fillies wanted to scream but just stared at her in fright, huddling together. "It just means all my ideas are... delicious..." she joked, squatting down to be closer to eye level with them. Seeing their frightened expressions, she sank lower until she was on all fours, her belly almost touching the floor as she leaned in closer to the shield. "What's the matter?" She asked. "I thought we were having fun." The fillies said nothing. Grinning, the Candy Mare placed her hand on the shield. "Interesting... If I try and sap the magic from this shield... Kyra will be alerted immediately... Seems you three are safe..." She then eyed Scootaloo, who seemed to be the most terrified. Smirking, she backed away a little. "I guess I should go... No use hanging around here..." She then started to turn to leave, before quickly lunging at the shield with a hiss.
The fillies all let out screams of terror and jumped backwards a little. Scootaloo, however, jumped the most and fell backwards, the top of her head landing outside of the shield. Grinning widely, the Candy Mare swooped over to her and gabbed her hair, pulling her from the circle. All three began screaming, Scootaloo being scared for her life and the other two pleading that the candy pony let their friend go.
"Oh, now you wanna talk to me," the Candy Mare said as she dragged Scootaloo across the floor before standing up. When she lifted the filly off the floor, Scoots grabbed the candy wrist and tried to crack it. Looking down, she noticed she was about two feet off the floor. "When I have something you want, you wanna talk."
"Please, don't hurt her!" Applebloom pleaded.
"Yeah, let her go!" Sweetie cried.
The candy pony placed her free hand on the shield. "Her life is in Kyra's hands," she cooed darkly, before sapping the magic away from the shield.
Kyra let out a gasp and looked back towards the library. "The fillies!" She yelled. "She's there!" Before the others could react, she disappeared in a burst of red smoke.
Twilight hesitated before looking at AJ, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity. The three seemed terrified before running back towards the library.
The purple mare then looked at Luna. "We should stay here... in case Kyra is able to get Pumpkin here..."
The princess hesitated in thought for a couple seconds before nodding in agreement.
Kyra appeared in the library near the front door, seeing the Candy Mare standing by AB and Sweetie Belle and holding Scootaloo up by her neck.
"Oh, I'm so glad you came," the candy pony cooed, holding the filly in front of her. "Come for this?"
The red demon glared at the candy abomination, knowing if she made a move towards them, the filly could get cut.
"You said I'd be safe!" Scootaloo yelled through her tears. "You promised!"
Kyra let out a soft gasp. For some reason, hearing the filly say that felt as though someone had stabbed her in the heart. "I... I will keep you safe... I-I will..."
The Candy Mare giggled. "If you wanna keep her safe... you'll have to give me something."
The red mare growled through her teeth as the front door opened. AJ, Dash, and Rarity all ran in behind Kyra, skidding to a stop as they all stared in fright.
"Scootaloo!" Rainbow yelled, tears in her eyes.
Kyra eyed them before holding her arms out. "Stay there..." She then lowered her arms and looked at the Candy Mare again. "What do you want for her?"
The candy pony grinned and leaned in. "You, of course... Give me you... and I let these fillies go."
"That's ridiculous," the red mare replied. "If I give myself to you, what's to stop you from killing them anyway?"
"Kill these?" Asked Candy, holding up Scootaloo like she were nothing but a doll. "They're so cute. I was thinking of keeping them as my playthings. The terror on their faces and the fear in their hearts is like... candy... to me... But, if you refuse... I will make their death excruciatingly painful."
Kyra hesitated before taking a step forward. AJ then grabbed her arm.
"What are you doin'?" Asked AJ. "There's gotta be another way."
The red mare stopped and then turned to Applejack. "It has to be this way. If there is a slim chance to keep that filly... to keep Scootaloo... from suffering as one of her puppets... I will take it."
Rainbow Dash slowly stepped up to her and sniffled. "W-Would saying... thank you be... too inappropriate?"
Kyra let out a scoff. "After the way I've treated you?" She asked, before shaking her head. "No..."
The cyan mare then pulled the demon into a hug, to everyone's surprise. "Thank you..."
Kyra smiled and slowly hugged back. "If I fail..." she whispered. "I had fun with you girls..." She then pulled away from the pegasus and made her way towards the Candy Mare.
"If she fails?" Dash asked herself, she and AJ eyeing each other.
"Alright, you candy-coated bitch," Kyra growled, stepping up to the candy pony. "Let her go. And I won't put up a fight."
The Candy Mare hissed happily and threw the filly aside. She tumbled across the floor with a whimper.
"Scoots!" Rainbow yelled, running for the filly.
The candy pony then grabbed Kyra by the neck and lifted her up. "Time to make you my personal pet," she cooed, pulling her hand back before thrusting it through Kyra's stomach.
The red mare grunted as her eyes went wide, blood spurting from her mouth.
"Kyra!" Sweetie yelled.
"Just... let it... happen..." the candy demon cooed.
Kyra coughed up more blood before smirking. "Got you, bitch."
The Candy Mare went wide-eyed for a second before glaring at her captive. "What are you talking about?"
Kyra grabbed the candy-coated arm that had impaled her. "This!"
Then, in a burst of red smoke, they both vanished. AJ and Rarity eyed each other before running to their sisters.
Twilight, Luna, Fluttershy, and Pinkamena were standing by the trap, when there was a burst of red smoke in the trap. Quickly looking over, Twilight and Luna saw the Candy Mare and Kyra in the circle.
"What?!" The candy monstrosity growled, banging on the shield with her free hand.
Luna let out a gasp before holding her hand out towards the shield, the ground within the trap glowing blue. Twilight ran up to the shield when she noticed what was going on.
"Kyra!" She yelled. "Wh-What happened?!"
The red mare eyed her with a grunt, the shield flickering but holding, as if the demon was using all her strength to keep the shield up and to resist the candy curse. "I'm... saving all of you... What's it look like?!"
"But, you're gonna die, aren't you?!"
Kyra looked down at her stomach, seeing the curse spreading very slowly. "Eventually!" She grunted. "Now, Luna! Quickly!"
"I can not do this alone!" The princess yelled back. "Last time, I had you!"
Twilight looked back and forth between Luna and Kyra, before walking over to the princess. "You have me."
Luna eyed her and shook her head. "No... It would take too much energy."
"I don't care," Twi said, almost cutting her off. "I will do whatever it takes to get rid of that thing," she said, pointing at the Candy Mare.
The princess hesitated, biting her lip before letting out a sigh. "Alright. If you... feed me your magic to ensure mine does not run out... I should be able to perform the spell on my own."
Twilight gave her a smile and nodded, standing beside the alicorn and gently taking the princess' free hand. She then began to transfer the magic she had from herself to the princess, who began to feel a small surge of energy.
"No!" Yelled the Candy Mare, banging on the shield. "LET ME OUT!!! I WON'T GO BACK!!!"
Twilight started to feel light-headed. "How much... How much longer?"
Luna eyed her with a gasp when AJ, RD, and Rarity came running over to join them, along with the fillies. "You are running low already..." she said, feeling her power surge fading. "We are almost there, Twilight."
"I don't think I... have enough magic..." the unicorn groaned, rubbing her head. "W-We need more..."
"And, you have it," Rarity said as she approached them.
Twilight looked over at her and smiled. "Are you... sure?"
The white unicorn nodded, placing her hand on Luna's and Twilight's hands. "Most definitely."
Rarity then felt her magic slipping away as Luna smiled, feeling more magic flowing into her. Starting to feel lightheaded herself, she groaned. Kyra, meanwhile, was starting to feel weaker and weaker by the second and the shield began to flicker more.
"The shield won't hold fer much longer!" AJ pointed out. "If yer gonna do somethin'... do it fast!"
"FUCKING DAMMIT!!!" The candy demon yelled.
Luna focused harder and let out a yell as she pushed herself to finish the spell. The shield soon shattered, but not before blue tendrils shot out from the ground and wrapped around the candy pony and Kyra.
"NO!!!" The candy pony screamed, sort of sounding afraid all of a sudden. "I CAN'T GO BACK!!!"
A tendril then wrapped around her neck before pulling both her and Kyra into the glowing blue circle. When the blue glow vanished, the candy pony and the red demon were gone. Twilight and Rarity collapsed to the ground as Luna dropped to her knees, all three exhausted. AJ, Rainbow, and Fluttershy ran over to them.
"Are you okay?" AJ asked as she helped Rarity to her knees and Dash helped Twilight to her knees.
"Yeah..." Rarity said weakly. "I just feel... drained..."
"Me, too..." Twilight groaned.
Pinkamena then looked at where the shield was, slowly walking over to it. "Um... Where's Kyra?"
Rainbow looked over at her before looking at AJ, everyone seemingly worried that they would never see the red demon again.
It took Twilight a while to process what Pinks had asked. When she did, she let out a gasp and stumbled to her feet. "Kyra?" She asked, finding it hard to walk as she stumbled towards the pink mare before dropping to her knees. "Kyra?!"
Rainbow quickly ran over to make sure she didn't hurt herself. Kneeling beside her, she put her arm around her. "I'm sure we'll see her again."
Twilight looked at her as a tear fell from her eye. "Y-Yeah," she said, giving the mare a light smile. "I bet you're right..."
Luna slowly got to her feet, slowly feeling her magic return. Since she was an alicorn, her magic was returning at a much faster rate than Twilight and Rarity. When she had enough, she placed her fingertip on Rarity's horn, causing it to light up. Letting out a gasp, the white mare felt her energy return to her.
"Ooo... Thank you," she said with a smile, getting to her feet.
"No... Thank you," Luna corrected, giving the unicorn a smile before walking over to Twilight and Rainbow. "You did good, Twilight. I am proud of you."
The purple mare looked up at her and smiled. "Anything I can do to help..."
The alicorn placed her finger on Twilight's horn, the unicorn feeling her energy return. "There. Now, I suggest you all get some sleep. You earned it..." She then unfolded her wings. "You all did an amazing job tonight. Let us hope we never have to do this again."
"Never dream of it," AJ said with a wink.
Luna let out a quiet chuckle. "Well, you might," she said, before turning and flying back towards the castle.
"What?" Asked Applejack, going slightly wide-eyed. "Oh, thanks!" She called after the princess. "Thanks for that!"
Twilight chuckled as she got to her feet. "Alright, girls... Let's go home." She started moving before stopping. "Wait," she said, her smile fading as she turned to the others. "Th-That... filly..." she said, a tear falling from her eye.
The others all eyed each other as Applejack stepped forward. "We should... bring her to the mayor... Tell her what happened..."
"We can't tell her about demons," Pinkamena said with a sigh. "She wouldn't believe that... and, it would make us seem suspicious..."
Twilight nodded. "Then, we tell her we found her like that and we're not sure what happened..."
Rarity shook her head disapprovingly. "This isn't right," she said, crossing her arms. "Her parents have the right to know."
"Look, I would love to tell her, too," Rainbow said as she stepped up to the white unicorn. "But, there was a reason both Kyra and Luna kept the existence of the Candy Mare secret from everyone in Ponyville."
"They probably didn't want to scare anyone," Fluttershy said with a light smile. "Otherwise, Kyra would've probably just gone after her directly."
Rarity nodded and looked at Pinkamena again. "But..."
"We'll tell her," AJ said with a smile. "When the times is right. But, not now."
The white mare hesitated before letting out a sigh. "Okay..."
Twilight knelt down by the body of the filly, her lips trembling as she pulled her into a hug. "I'm so sorry..." she sniffled, before scooping her limp body up in her arms.
Her friends all had sad expressions as Twilight carried the filly's body to the mayor's house. Her friends followed, each with a sad expression on her face. When they arrived, Rainbow stepped up to knock on the door, since Twilight couldn't. After a few seconds, the lights inside came on before the door opened.
"Twilight," the mayor said, wearing a white nightgown. "What are you..." She trailed off when she saw the filly's body. "Is... Is she asleep?"
Twilight sniffled and shook her head. "No..." she whimpered, tears falling from her eyes.
"Oh, no," the mayor said, stepping up to her to get a better look at the filly. "Wh... H-How did this happen?"
"We don't know," the purple mare replied. "W-We found her like this..."
The mayor reached out and placed her hand on the filly's cheek. "In all my years... I have never seen anything so tragic..." She then looked at the others. "Tomorrow, we will have a funeral for her..."
"What about the parents?" Asked Rarity.
"Mother," Mayor Mare said a she looked at her. "I know who this is... I will go tell her now. For now, leave her on the couch until I return. I'm sure her mother would like to say her good-byes."
Twilight nodded and began to head inside. As she did, the mayor put a hand on her shoulder before heading off back to her room to get dressed. The unicorn made her way over to the couch in the living room and laid the filly down. She then got to her knees and gently took the filly's hand in her own.
"I hope you're in a good place now..." she sniffled. After taking a few more seconds, she stood up and went back to her friends. "Alright... Let's go home..."
The others nodded before they all started to head back to their own homes.
The Next Day...
Twilight went downstairs and headed for the fridge in the kitchen. Taking out an orange, Spike walked in, rubbing his eyes.
"What happened to you last night?" He asked with a yawn.
"N... Nothing..." Twi answered with a light smile. "Just hung out with my friends..."
Nodding, Spike let out another yawn. "Well, I'm gonna get cleaned up and go for a walk. Unless you need me for anything."
Twi shook her head with a smile. "No, you're good. Enjoy your walk."
Spike nodded and ran off for the stairs, heading up to the bathroom to take a shower. As he did, the front door opened as Twilight's friends walked in.
"Twilight?" Asked Rainbow, followed by AJ, Rarity, Pinkamena, and Fluttershy. "You up?"
The unicorn stepped out of the kitchen and gave them a smile. "Hey..."
"How you holding up?" Asked Rarity.
Twilight slowly walked over to them and sighed. "I'm better... You?"
The others all nodded as AJ took a step forward. "Any word on Kyra yet?"
The unicorn shook her head. "No. Nothing."
"She did say she'd leave as soon as the Candy Mare was taken care of," Fluttershy pointed out.
Twilight let out a sigh and went to sit on the couch. "I know... I just thought that... after what we went through... she'd stick around..."
"If she survived," the pink mare said as she looked at the others. "We all saw how she left. The Candy Mare impaled her. Remember what happens when you get cut from that candy demon?"
Twilight rubbed her leg and nodded. "I hope she's okay..."
Before anyone else had time to think, the front door opened and in walked Kyra.
"Alright, so the mission was a success and Pumpkin is back where she belongs," she announced, as if everything was normal. Looking around at the girls, she noticed their shocked expressions. "What?"
Twilight got up from the couch and slowly walked over to her. "Kyra?" She asked, eyes wide with both hope and shock.
The red demon raised an eyebrow. "Um... Yes?" The unicorn stood in front of her and hesitated before wrapping her arms around her. "Oh..." Kyra said with a light chuckle, loosely hugging back. "Okay... Why?"
Twilight pulled back from the hug and gave her a smile as a tear fell from her eye. "We were... worried that you had... died..."
Kyra looked away briefly before eyeing the purple mare. "You know I... am dead, right?"
"Well..." Twi said as she wiped tears from her eye. "We thought the... Candy Mare's venom got you..."
The demon let out an internal gasp, hearing actually worry in the mare's voice. "Oh..." She then looked around at the others, who also seemed incredibly relieved to see the demon alive and well. "You all were... concerned that I was... gone?"
"Of course," Rarity said with a smile, taking a step towards her. "You're our friend."
"And, you saved Scootaloo," Rainbow pointed out. "I owe you for that."
"Anyone who risks their life to save others is alright by me," AJ said with a smile.
Kyra looked at the farm girl. "It was... my job to get Pumpkin back..." she said, trying to sound tough while making it clear that there was a different reason. She then looked at Rainbow. "And, if I let that filly die... I'd have to explain to Sera why I let two fillies die." The mention of the dead filly suddenly killed the happy vibe everyone was feeling at seeing the red demon alive. Clearly noticing the change in atmosphere, Kyra knew she fucked up. "Speaking of... that filly... I do have some good news..."
"What is it?" Asked Fluttershy.
"Well..." Kyra began, looking around at the mares. "Since her soul was taken by Pumpkin... she sort of went with her to the Nether... But since Pumpkin has no power there, the soul was split from her..."
Twilight thought for a moment before letting out a gasp. "Wait... So... you're saying that she's... with you?"
The others all let out gasps of their own as they stared at the demon. Kyra eyed them all and nodded.
"Yes," the demon replied. "In fact, I... spoke with her mother earlier... After she found out from the mayor..."
"You did?" Asked the purple unicorn. "What happened?"
Kyra eyed her. "Well..."
Earlier...
A gray mare with short black hair slowly entered her home, tears in her eyes as she slowly closed the door behind her. Sniffling and trembling, she stumbled into the living room, leaning against the door frame.
"Peppermint?" Came a voice in the darkness.
Looking up, the mare saw a red mare sitting on the couch. "Wh-Who are y-you?" She asked, lips trembling as tears streamed her face.
The red mare hesitated before standing up. "My name is Kyra... and I have information about your... daughter..."
"Minty?" The mare asked, wiping her eyes. "Wh-What do you know a-about... h-her?"
Kyra took a moment, picking her words carefully. "Well... I... I've never been good with... words..." the demon said with a light smile as she took a step towards the mare. "But... I suppose the easiest thing for me to tell you is... that... I'm a... demon..."
The mare hesitated before scoffing. "You think this is funny?" She asked, sounding angry. "You think it's funny to play a prank like this on a grieving mother?"
Kyra shook her head. "No, I... I'm serious..."
"And I think you need to leave," the mare said with a demanding tone in her voice.
The demon let out a sigh. "Fine... I guess I have to prove it..." Closing her eyes, she tilted her head to the side.
Meanwhile, the crying mare just watched her. Suddenly, Kyra's eyes shot open, glowing red as the edge of her mouth grew closer to her cheek, revealing sharp teeth. She then opened her mouth as a foot-long tongue rolled out. Letting out a gasp, the mare turned to run, only to bump into the red mare, who looked normal. When she was about to scream, the demon covered her mouth.
"Shh..." Kyra cooed. "I'm not here to hurt you... You see, your daughter was possessed by another demon who escaped from me. When she left her body and manifested with her own... your daughter did not survive..." She then lowered her hand and gently held the mare by the arms, who just stared at her. She seemed to be listening. "I captured the demon and, with her, went your daughter's soul. So... to summarize... your daughter is with... me..."
The mare let out a gasp and gently placed her hands on the base of Kyra's neck. "She's with you?" She asked, hope in her voice. "S-So you can bring her back?"
Kyra gave her a sad expression and shook her head. "No... I'm sorry... She's gone..." The mare then burst out crying again at hearing the bad news. Kyra slowly pulled her into an embrace, gently rubbing her back. "The most I can do is... see if I can purify her soul so she can become an angel... Then you two will be reunited when your time comes..."
The mare pulled back from the embrace and wiped her eyes. "Y-You can do that?"
Kyra gave her a smile and nodded. "I, myself, have a daughter. She shouldn't be a demon, either, but we connected, and... I sort of adopted her. Your daughter will be safe with me until I can fix all this. Our daughters are actually getting along quite well," she added with a smile.
The mare smiled back and sniffled. "Thank you... for telling me this..."
Kyra smiled back and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Oh..." she said suddenly, holding out her hand as a small, red rock formed on her palm.
Peppermint eyed it before looking at Kyra. "What's that? A rock?"
"Yeah..." Kyra said, rubbing the back of her neck. "We don't really have... stores where I'm from, but... your daughter wanted me to give this to you... To let you know she's safe."
Peppermint's eyes filled with tears again and smiled, slowly taking the Nether rock. Looking it over in her hand, she slowly held it in her fist and sniffled. "Thank you..."
Kyra smiled and patted her shoulder. "I have to go..."
The mare sniffled and nodded. "Of course. I have to prepare for the funeral, anyways..."
Kyra started to turn towards the door as a tear fell from her eye. Sniffling, she eyed the mare again. "It's my fault... I'm so sorry... I-I wasn't watching that demon close enough... If I had, maybe I could've stopped whoever let her out..." She then stopped and put her hand over her eyes, feeling embarrassed as she didn't like to show weakness.
Peppermint hesitated before stepping up to her, gently placing her hand on the demon's wrist and making her lower her hand. Looking into the demon's tear-filled eyes, she smiled. "I don't blame you..."
Kyra sniffled and nodded, hugging the mare once more before turning and walking back towards the door. Without saying anything else, Peppermint watch the demon open the door and leave like a normal pony.
Later...
Kyra smiled at Twilight. "It went well..." She then hesitated and quickly wiped her eyes as if to hide a tear. "But, I do have some good news... sort of... For you, anyways..."
"Huh?" Asked Twilight. "What?"
The red demon let out a brief chuckle. "Well, it seems Pumpkin wasn't the only demon that was released. The cells were emptier than they should be... so, it looks like you'll be seeing more of me..."
"What?!" Applejack exclaimed.
Kyra then let out a chuckle. "Don't worry... The others aren't as bad as Pumpkin, but... they're bad... But, you have me," Kyra said with a smile. "Good news is I came up with a spell to cast on this town so if any demons show up I'll know."
Twilight smiled and crossed her arms. "That's great... Though, it would be even better if a demon threat wasn't the only way we got to see you..."
The demon hesitated before looking at her. "You mean, you... wanna... hang out?"
"Of course," Rainbow said with a smile. "You're starting to grow on us."
Kyra didn't know what to do or say. She just stood there as the room was filled with a silence. The demon then snapped back to reality and took a deep breath. "Um... I..."
Twilight smiled and stepped up to her, gently taking her hand. "Come on... Hang out with us."
Kyra looked her in the eyes before looking down at their hands. Letting out a sigh, she closed her eyes. "Fine... I've treated you all like shit since I got here..." she said, before lifting her head to look at everyone. "If you still wanna hang out with me after all that, then... I guess you can't be that bad..."
"Great!" Twilight shouted, wrapping her arm around the socially awkward demon. "Let's go do something."
"I still have things to do back home," Kyra said with a blush as she tried not to look at Twilight. "Plus, I have to call for a meeting with a certain Angel... about that filly... But, afterwards..."
Twilight nodded. "Sounds good."
"Great," Kyra said with a light smile, going into silence again for a few seconds before speaking again. "Um... Bye, then." She then disappeared in a burst of red smoke.
"Well, she seems to be opening up," Rarity said, getting a chuckle from Applejack.
"Yeah," the farm mare agreed. "Did you see that blush."
Twilight smiled and let out a happy sigh. "Well... Let's get the day started, shall we? Lots to do and not really sure when Kyra will be back."
Pinkamena nodded and began to head to the front door. "I have things to bake... I'll see you girls later," she said, opening the door and leaving.
Rarity was next to leave. "And, I have my clothes."
AJ headed out with Fluttershy as Rainbow walked over to Twilight.
"Well, that went well..." Rainbow said with a smile.
Twilight nodded. "Yeah... I can't wait until she comes back. Things just seem more interesting when she's around."
"Are you sure you aren't excited for her to come back for... another reason?"
The unicorn blushed heavily. "Um... What?"
"I saw you hold her hand..." Rainbow teased, bumping her playfully.
Twilight blushed more before looking away. "She's nice... Sort of..."
The cyan pegasus let out a chuckle and patted her back. "I'm just teasing. Just be sure you know what you're doing..." she said, before leaving.
When everyone had left, Twilight walked over to the doorway and looked out. Everything seemed to be peaceful in town, aside from the upcoming funeral. Tough times seemed to be ahead but Twilight knew they had a fighting chance with Kyra on their side. Additionally, she felt happy whenever the demon was around and she wasn't entirely sure why. Perhaps she'd work all that out later but, for now, she just enjoyed the fresh air and the sun, unaware of the experiences to come...
