The Order of the Alicorn

by Illumipony

Rating: mature
Tags: Princess Celestia, Sex, Twilight Sparkle, Main 6, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Other, Princess Luna, Adventure
Length: 43867

The forces of Tartarus invade Equestria, now Twilight and friends must team up with a group of demon-hunters to stop them, but can they tolerate the groups questionable methods?

Important Note The chapters of this story have been rewritten and are very different from what they used to be. If you would like to read the old version you may find it here.

I've learned many secrets since I became a princess. Secrets of government, secrets of military, secrets of intelligence, but there are some secrets I feel like I'd rather not learn.

The Order of the Alicorn. The most hidden, most secretive, and most fear branch of the Equestrian military. Soldiers trained for the specific purpose of slaying demons. Not just monsters, but the very incarnations of evil. Creatures from a different time, whose very way of life brings nothing but suffering.

Few ponies would ever willingly fight such monsters, but I may soon have to.

Published 2014-02-21 22:40:04 UTC
Last updated 2019-11-09 12:44:55 UTC

Chapter 1: Initiation

And low did the first angels fall from paradise. First went Lucifer, the Prince of Traitors and the Father of Lies, and with him went six others whom along with their new master would become the Crown Princes of Hell. And as they fell a fiery crown formed above each of their heads, and engraved on them were the words Gluttony, Wrath, Greed, Sloth, Lust, Envy, and Pride. They established their kingdom in Hades and in their perverse rebellion they corrupted our forefathers, those who inhabited the garden. Then after came the rest of hell’s legions, those angels who, seeing the success of the devil in corrupting God’s creation, joined the unholy rebellion and were cast out of heaven in countless number. In total, one-third of heaven's angels defected and joined Lucifer’s doomed cause. They made their temples in the pit of hell and created their perverse ideology to worship at the altar of sin.

Sin, the source of their power and the cause of their destruction. Sin, their one great pleasure, and ultimate misery. Sin, which they pridefully called their creation, for they had brought it into existence and not God the Most High.

Woe to any who fall to the seductions of the devil and his sin, for the pleasures they offer are shallow, fleeting, and inevitably lead to death. May the Lord give strength for all to resist these temptations and lead them throhieschferche Siamo con Dio.

“Damn this translation spell!”

I slam my forehead right in the crease of the book as if I could beat the correct language into it.

“You okay in here Twilight?”

I rotate my head, resting my cheeks against the dry pages of the tome so I can see Spike. He bumps the tower door open with his back and hauls in what’ll surely be about three hours of finicky translation spells worth of books.

“I’m fine,” I say

Spike lowers the stack of books down next to me with a grunt then climbs up to the top of the stack and uses it like a barstool. “Don’t usually hear you swear like that, and you don’t usually look like death when you have a sea of books to dive into.”

“I just haven’t been getting as much sleep as I should.”

“I’ve woken up some mornings to find that you’ve been glued to your readings all night, and even then you had a smile on your face.”

I give Spike a sullen look and turn my head away from him.

“Come on Twilight, what’s wrong?”

I sigh and think for a moment. How much can I tell him?

“Spike, how would you feel if I told you that, as a Princess, there are certain things I can’t tell you?”

He stares at me with narrow eyes. “I’d say that’s a convenient excuse to dodge the question.”

“No, that’s the answer,” I say sitting up. “I’m nervous because Celestia is about to show me some things that as a Princess I am sworn to secrecy.”

Spike’s eyes widen. “Oh.”

“All this research I’ve been doing recently, all of it is just to get the basic background and history of what Celestia is about to show me. The more I read the more I’m feeling overwhelmed by the whole ordeal.”

“Really? It sounds sort of cool to me.”

“Yeah, because you’re not the one who’s going to be in on the secret. I’m about to take an oath to hide information from everyone I know. You, my family, my friends, doesn’t matter how much I trust them.”

I take a deep breath and lower my head back down on the table. “I felt guilty keeping benign secrets between friends. I don’t know how I’ll handle government sanctioned secrets.”

“Oh come on Twilight, it’s not like you’re keeping anything someone ought to know from them.”

“Maybe, but I’ll still be hiding things from them,” I say. “What if something I learn comes up in conversation, like as some unsubstantiated conspiracy theory or news article? What if I have to pretend I know less than I actually do? What if I slip up and say something I shouldn’t? Do I lie to them? Say nothing? What if I spill some of Equestria’s most highly critical secrets and they get heard by a spy, or an informant, or worse a journalist?”

I feel a tug at the base of my tail and look down to see Spike holding tight to keep me from floating off into the rafters.

“Twilight,” he says. “Breath.”

I blink a few times in the air before inhaling a deep breath and exhaling as I glide down to the floor.

“Listen, you’re a Princess now. Celestia wouldn’t have given you that title if she didn’t think you could handle it and she wouldn’t ask you to keep secrets unless she was sure it was necessary. If she believes you can do this then I know you can.”

“I guess you’re right, but that still doesn’t change the fact that I’ll be keeping information from my friends. Even if it’s not malicious, even if there’s a good reason for it, and I’m never pressed to share things I’m not supposed to I still won’t feel right about it.”

Spike pinches his bottom lip between his thumb and forefinger. “Well, if you can’t be open about the stuff you’ll be learning, can you at least be open about the fact that you can’t be open?”

I give him a strange look.

“What I mean is if you just tell everyone that Celestia is asking you to keep secrets they’d probably be really understanding about it. Much more than they would if they just found out later on without you telling them. Would doing that make it easier?”

I raise my head up and think for a moment. My friends have been nothing but supportive of me becoming a princess so far. They even said that they’re ready to accept any changes that come with it, even if it involves me moving back to Canterlot and addressing me as ‘your majesty’. Neither of those things will be necessary, but the gesture was still touching. Maybe Spike has a point. Maybe I was fretting this whole time over nothing.

“Equestria to Twilight, yo, you still with me?”

I snap out of my thoughts. I smile and hug Spike close. “You’re right, I ought to just have a little more faith in my friends. Honestly, what would I do without you, Spike?”

He lifts up a finger. “Worry yourself into an anxiety-induced coma?”

I snort. “That’s silly Spike. You can’t worry yourself into a coma.”

“If anypony is going to be the first, it’ll be you.”

I give a loud laugh. Spike smiles along with me, happy to see me cheer up. Then his smirk becomes mischievous. “So uh, how much can you tell me about these secrets Celestia is telling you?”

I roll my eyes at him. “Not much I’m afraid. If you think about it enough I’m sure you’ll be able to get a rough idea of what I’m going to learn.”

His eyes drift up to the left corners of his face and he pinches his lip again. “Well, it could be some government conspiracies, or maybe some super cool spy network, or even…”

He stops suddenly. His arms go stiff and his eyes go wide. “Wait, Twilight, Celestia isn’t going to tell you anything related to the Order of the Alicorn is she?”

There’s an awkward silence.

“Oh, dear, Luna, she is isn’t she.”

I shush Spike furiously. “Would you be quiet.”

I look around as if there could be anyone nearby aside from the guards posted outside. “Yes, that’s what she’s showing me, and no you can’t ask anything further. I’m already pushing it by telling you that much.”

Spike’s eyes are as wide as the egg he was born in. The corners of his gaping mouth are curved into a tiny smile. “The Order, are they really as… I mean, that must be pretty exciting, seeing something most ponies only ever wonder about.”

Spike folds his arms behind his back like a bashful foal. I smile at his effort, even though it’s clear he’s dying to ask me more, and that he’s grossly understating how curious some ponies are.

The Order has been the subject of countless rumors and conspiracy theories since its inception more than a millennium ago. There have been stories of ferocious warriors going to battle with the most dangerous beasts of the underworld, of sadists who love bloodshed more than life itself, of horrific encounters that have left the strongest of Equestrian soldiers broken and insane. The rumors are so widespread even I had heard about them during my more reclusive years before Ponyville.

What I know for fact is this: The Order is the oldest branch of the Equestrian military, as well as its most elite and well trained. Only the absolute best of the best get selected to join it. Its primary purpose is confronting demonic threats and protecting Equestrian citizens from the forces of hell, though they have been called in during more large-scale military matters, the most recent being the changeling invasion of Canterlot. Unlike most other branches of the military, they operate in complete secrecy, and reports of their actions are only made public by necessity. Not even their identities are known. Those who join are sworn to secrecy and are quietly planted all throughout Equestria. The only ponies who do know anything about them are the highest ranking military generals, and those bearing the title of Princess, which I have just recently been granted.

All other information about them can only be inferred by observing their enemies, the demons. The most dangerous and vile monsters in existence. Just from the cursory research, I’ve been doing I’ve already been exposed to more accounts of horror and atrocity than I’d ever want to see in a lifetime. Animals being tortured and bled dry in profane rituals, infants being devoured as blood sacrifices, young mares being raped as tribute and being forced to bare infernal offspring that butcher them upon birth. It would almost sound like some twisted horror novel if I hadn’t just spent the last few days pouring over dozens of texts and news articles chronicling such horrific atrocities. How anypony can go about fighting such monsters, creatures that literally worship evil, I have no idea. I’m starting to see where the rumors that most of their soldiers go insane come from.

There’s a rough knock on the door and a guard’s voice comes through. “Princess Celestia to see you, your majesty.”

“Yes, send her in.” I’ll never get used to giving her permission to enter.

The door swings open and Princess Celestia ducks her head under the arching stone frame as she enters. Spike bows to her and I almost do the same but stop myself, remembering she told me not to do that anymore. Instead, I stand tall in what I hope is a royal fashion. She greets me with that characteristic calm smile. It relaxes me. It always has ever since I was a filly.

“Good morning Princess Twilight. Getting a head start on today’s plans I see.”

“Just preparing the best way I can your majesty. I’m currently studying up on old Pre-Equestrian Theology, and over the past few days I’ve also read through some basic demonology, occult theory, demon-hunting manuals, cult history, as well as Pine Field’s Basics of Demonic Anatomy, though I would prefer more time to get a wider understanding of that field.”

“If you had all the time in the world you still wouldn’t have enough time,” Spike says. I give a scowling look which he counters with a mischievous grin.

Celestia chuckles. “No need to fret Twilight. You’ve more than prepared for today. I’d say you’ve exceeded my expectations, but I always expect extraordinary work from you.”

My chest becomes tingly and there’s a slight twitch in my wings. “Thank you, Princess Celestia. I won’t start letting you down now, I promise.”

“Glad to hear it. Now, shall we make our way downstairs? My sister should be waiting for us.”

I nod to her before looking at Spike. “Time for me to go. I hope you can keep yourself busy until I get back.”

“Oh, no worries. I’ll just be tidying up in here so it’ll be ready when you get back.”

He walks towards the desk and I teleport him back in front of me before he can reach the books laying there. “You’re not reading those Spike.”

“What? Oh come on, that’s top secret too?”

“No, I just don’t want to send you to therapy for anything you might encounter in those books.”

“I can handle it.”

“I was barely able to handle it, Spike.”

He folds his arms and grumbles under his breath. Princess Celestia snickers a bit and then puts a hoof on my shoulder. I nod to her, then turn to the guard and give him explicit instructions to watch the room, just in case Spike gets any ideas.

He releases a defeated sigh before following us down the spiraling stone staircase. We part ways at the bottom. Spike heads out into the city, likely to donut Joe’s shop for some hot-chocolate and bear claws. Celestia and I head down the east wing of the castle. From there Celestia leads me down a long hallway to a corner door which leads down further into the basement.

The gentle glow of chandeliers and stained glass are replaced by the harsh blaze of torches that cast long shadows ahead of us. We walk through a wide empty stone labyrinth with multiple branching paths and corridors, with a ceiling just high enough to allow Celestia to walk through without adjusting her posture. The air is damp and there’s a sharp scent of burning wood throughout the area.

My wings squeeze tight to my back as we walk through this cramped area. For some reason, the wall mounted torches only illuminate the space we immediately occupy while off in the distance there is only shadow, as if it were somehow too dark for the light to pierce. I can’t shake the feeling that there’s something in that darkness, watching us. For a moment the thought of the torches going out crosses my mind and I feel some horrible dread like if I step out of the light even for a moment I’ll be snatched away and never heard from again.

“I hope you can forgive the dreary atmosphere.”

I hold back a scream at my mentor's voice and need to take a deep breath before answering. “It’s fine. I don’t mind Princess Celestia.”

“My sister played a large part in designing this labyrinth, spent several days drawing up the blueprints alone. I never could bring myself to change it that much, in the thousand years she was gone this place has stayed almost completely the same.”

My eyes widen and I take another look around. There are many sections of the castle that are old, but there aren’t many that have been preserved to stay the same as they were from the day they were built. I can see it now after giving the architecture a second look. The faded stone walls, low hanging ceiling, and the cracked grey brick floor. This place has age and it has history. I can only imagine what discoveries I could make if I were allowed a more thorough examination.

“Do stick close to me Twilight. This place was designed to be easy to get lost in.”

I snap back to reality and follow my mentor’s voice as it reverberates around the corner. I catch up with her and we resume trekking through the corridors at a brisk pace.

“Luna had a hoof in building this place huh?”

“She had a hoof in just about every aspect of the Order. It was her crowning achievement a thousand years ago, and when she returned she immediately resumed control. It’s almost like her child in a way.”

My gut twists at the notion of comparing a group of demon-hunters to children. “Well, whatever she’s passionate about I guess. It must have been good for her to have something left over from the past millennium to come back to.”

Princess Celestia is quiet for some time. We turn at three more intersections and then descend a flight of stairs before she speaks again.

“Twilight, can I ask you a question and can you be completely honest with your answer?”

“Yes, of course, Princess. What is it?”

She looks down at me with an observant eye. “Do you believe in second chances? That bad ponies can change if they’re just given the opportunity?”

I stop in my tracks and need to restrain myself from chuckling. “Well, yes, I and my friends played a big part in reforming Discord and Luna. It would be odd if we didn’t think that wouldn’t it?”

Celestia nods slowly. “Do you believe bad ponies should always be given a second chance?”

“Yeah, I’d say so. Don’t you?”

Celestia looks away from me and stares straight forward into the dark. “Long ago, when Luna turned on me and became Nightmare Moon, I led a squad of seven soldiers to face her. All seven of those soldiers were killed by her hooves. I had seven separate opportunities to save each one. I took none of them. I didn’t even try.”

My head tilts. I need to regain balance. For a moment I think she’s kidding, but her tone is so solemn and pointed I can’t imagine any circumstance she says it and not mean it.

My breath shakes. I ask, “Why? Why didn’t you–”

“Because the only way to do so would’ve been to kill my sister.” Her voice is quick and uncharacteristically cold.

“I knew that if I had time, if I waited long enough, even if it was for a thousand years, I could find a new group of ponies to take up the Elements of Harmony and Luna could be saved. I let seven ponies die to see that happen.”

She shudders and covers her own face with her hoof. “Seven more, after the ones she killed in her initial rampage.”

I can’t find words to speak. Celestia has always been so quiet concerning Luna and her betrayal. Though looking at it now I guess I can see why.

I look up at her like she’s a stranger. “Why are you telling me this now?”

She wipes her hoof from her face. Her eyes are inflamed like she was on the cusp of crying.

“I was placed in a horrible situation back then Twilight, the kind I adamantly pray you are never placed in. But even in less extreme circumstances, you will find yourself faced with decisions that will pain your very soul no matter what choice you make; your new title and responsibilities guarantee it. When you find yourself in such circumstances I hope you can display the sound judgment I did not, and avoid making a decision which, if I am being painfully honest with myself, I must admit was the wrong choice.”

My chest tightens up and I take two steps away from her. “Celestia, you don’t regret saving your sister do you?”

There’s something like horror in my voice and I turn my head away from her almost ashamed for having asked the question.

I hear her sigh again, dejectedly. “If you asked me that question before her return I would’ve said ‘no’ without a moment of hesitation, but now… There is one detail that genuinely makes me question myself, and that’s the fact that if the roles had been reversed, and it was I who betrayed Luna and she forced to stop me, she would’ve killed me without a second thought.”

“How do you know that?”

I turn my head back and see her staring at me dead on with the gravest of looks in her eye. “Because she told me so. She said I would have been dead before I could draw my sword.”

The silence is so thick I’m scared to break it. I always knew that conflict with her sister had torn her up inside. I couldn’t even imagine what it must have been like to have all that hate and bitterness hurled at you by someone you loved, but to sacrifice one, much less seven lives in order save her. If anyone else other than her had told me I wouldn’t have believed it. I feel betrayed.

Celestia eventually moves on and I tail her from a short distance. There’s nothing but the sound of our hooves clicking against the floor. We turn a corner and come to a solid stone wall with a large circular mural painted on it. The image depicts a blindfolded angel holding a large battle-ax in one hand and in the other a pearly white key so big that it needs its whole fist to hold it up. It stands on the severed neck of a demon, its decapitated head falling off into the pit of hell.

Celestia’s horn lights up with a spell and there’s a glow that comes from the angel’s face, before spreading to the rest of the mural, then the entire wall. Then it all fades, the light, the mural, and the wall, and a descending stone staircase is revealed behind it.

We continue down, the smothering darkness gives way to a more brightly lit passage and the ceiling lifts up high above us. Good thing too, I was starting to feel a little claustrophobic. We come to the bottom of the stairs and several yards ahead of us is a massive gothic archway with two gargantuan stone dragons carved into each side. Below them are six bat pony guards in full body silver armor and a seventh patrolling back and forth in a straight line in front of them. Each carries a halberd with blades in the shape of an angel’s wings. The patrolling guard stands to attention and they all salute us as we approach. I give the most regal smile I can as we pass by them and through the archway.

We walk through a narrow tunnel for some time. The temperature slowly becomes hotter until it’s just warm enough to be uncomfortable and the air becomes so humid it feels like I’m taking a drink with every breath. Up ahead I hear the sound of running water, lots of it like we’re approaching the rapids of a great river. Then we reach the end of the tunnel and I immediately gape at what I see.

We stand at the edge of a steep precipice overlooking a massive underground cavern that’s illuminated by large violate crystals. Dead center in this massive space is a huge column of water that gushes down from the ceiling like a twister out of the sky. It falls straight down, far far below where we stand, into a gaping black chasm in the ground. Around the chasm are a series of seven flat rings, carved out of the rock walls of the cavern and layered on top of each other like an upside down pyramid. I lose my breath at the sight of ponies on those rings, dozens of them. They stand in small groups, each with a leader, training in various forms of combat. Some have blades, others poles, some even fight hoof-to-hoof. I continue spotting more ponies all around the area. Some are scaling the sheer stone walls, others are in alcoves brewing alchemical formulas, and others still sit near the edges of the cave heads lowered and hooves extended in prayer.

I’m so engrossed in the activity all around that I’m startled when Princess Luna comes sweeping down from above and lands right beside us. She tips her head forward and places a hoof on her chest in greeting.

“Princess Twilight, it is a great joy to see you once again.”

“Princess Luna, this place is amazing,” I say.

“Taken in by its beauty are you.”

“And the ingenuity,” I say. “You built an entire military base underneath Canterlot Castle. I knew the tunnel systems beneath the city were extensive, but I never would’ve guessed you could hide something like this down here. It’s a stroke of genius.”

The night princess gets a beaming smile of pride. Celestia gets one herself, looking straight at her sister. "It truly was something special. A grand achievement at the time."

"I have to ask though, where does that come from?" I say, pointing up at the huge pillar of water. "Couldn't somepony find there way in from there?"

Princess Luna laughs. "Oh, rest assured young Twilight, we ensured that could not happen. There are some powerful magics placed in that waterfall, the likes of which guarantee that even someone managed to find their way to the source there would be no way of finding their way in. We'll show you, at the end of this tour, and you'll see exactly why entry from that point is impossible."

Oh, I can already tell this is going to be an amazing learning experience. I restrain myself from squealing with giddy so I can go straight to asking questions. “So, is this why you built the castle where it is? Because of these tunnels?”

“Indeed it was, though the castle only came second to the base itself,” Luna says. “These caves were originally the endpoint of a sort of pilgrimage. Members of the Order who joined early on in its infancy would undergo initiation by journeying to this point in the caves where they would be given a special baptism by being hurled into the falls which would carry them to a secret destination. It's a tradition which still stands to this day, one that I am deeply grateful for my sister having upheld.”

Luna looks over her shoulder and sees Celestia smiling at her.

“Given how tucked away it was and the naturally defensible terrain I pegged it as an excellent place to establish the primary headquarters of the Order of the Alicorn. And to answer your earlier question, yes. Once the base was set up, the castle came shortly after as a cover for the base, though after my exile my sister moved the capital to said castle, and thus the town sprang up as well.”

My horn glows for a split second, reaching for a pen and paper I don’t have. The easily defensible terrain has long been cited as a primary factor for the location of the castle, but I never knew that reasoning extended beyond the castle, to the very nerve center of Equestria’s defense force. I curse the rule against taking physical notes and strive to write down as much information as I can in my head.

“Is this where all members of the Order come to train?” I ask.

“The good majority of them,” Luna says. “Bare in mind, only the best of the best are even offered positions in the Order. Everypony you see below you have already experienced combat in some capacity or another, and most have gone through basic training in the guard; the only exceptions to the latter are individuals who have had hostile engagements with demons and come out the victor. We’ve never had a problem with space due to the demanding list of qualifications. This facility alone can house up to a thousand, though currently, we have just over four hundred, not including the pilgrims.”

“Pilgrims?”

“Agents in training,” she clarifies. “Shall we begin our tour?”

I’ve been so focused on the broad view I almost forgot I came here to get a closer look. “Yes, let's begin.”

Luna unfurls her wings and flies out over the training grounds. Celestia and I follow close behind her. We glide for a bit as Luna points out more details of the operation.

“Agents are trained here for a period of about two months before being deployed and continue to receive periodic training throughout their service. The majority of them have already gone through basic so the training you see below you is tailored specifically towards the hunting and slaying of demonic threats. How to react to what types of demons, what weapons to use, what potions to brew, how to track them, how to uncover them, how to fight them, how to kill them, and how to do so stealthily and contain any danger to civilians.”

I almost forget to keep flapping my wings I’m so enwrapped in the details. I can see why Celestia put Luna back in charge of the Order upon her return. It’s easy to get swept up in her enthusiasm as she delves into the nuts and bolts of the operation. The day-to-day schedules, the procedures of the training, even a bit of the financial aspects. She leads me through a series of tunnels to show me the full scope of the structure. There’s a primary alchemy lab where glowing remedies and scentless poisons are produced on mass. There’s an armory that overflows with blades, hammers, crossbows, halberds, axes, knives, razors, whips, and more exotic weaponry I can’t identify. There is a barracks the size of a hoofball field housing a fleet of bunk beds all neatly made. And a library.

I’m certain Luna saved the library for last thinking I’d want to spend a good deal of time there, a prediction that would be verifiably accurate.

I browse the vast collection of tomes, old stitched hardcovers thick with dust and some falling apart at the seams. I’m quietly appalled at their condition. Many of the titles are read in old languages long since dead and near forgotten about. I foresee more agonizing hours struggling with translation spells ahead of me. The few titles I can speak in a modern tongue all describe deeply disturbing topics. “The Encyclopedia of Torture and Blood Sacrifice”, “Corpse Preservation and Deconstruction”, “On Conjuring Demons and Making Pacts”.

My hooves recoil against my chest just reading the bindings. “I’m guessing there’s no light reading material down here?”

“I fail to see what weight has to do with anything.”

“N—No, it’s a modern euphemism. I mean everything in these books are horrifying.”

Luna gets a look of realization on her face. “Well, it’s a demon hunter’s library. What would you expect to see in here?”

“Much of the information in this room is troubling to read,” Celestia says. “But it’s also necessary to keep as a catalog of everything our enemies are capable of. The study of these tomes is the key to predicting and defeating the demons.”

“Which is why I’d suggest becoming very familiar with this collection, your majesty.”

The new voice is distorted and crackly as if multiple ponies were talking at once. I turn and see a short mare wearing a black hooded cloak and a clergy collar. She approaches with a calm step.

Luna clears her throat. “Princess Twilight, I would like you to meet the commander of Arch Company, and the most highly decorated field officer in the entire organization. Captain Octavia.”

The mare pulls her hood back, the darkness inside evaporates to unveil a fall of neat black hair down the back of her neck and a grey coat like the color of a rain cloud. She places a hoof to her chest and bows low to me. “It is an honor to make your acquaintance your majesty.”

“Wait a minute, I’ve seen you before.”

I feel the eyes of my mentor and her sister upon me. “I have. She’s a musician, her last name is Melody, and she lives in Ponyville just a little ways off from Fluttershy’s cottage. She played at the Grand Galloping Gala last year.”

“Relax Twilight, no one is questioning you,” Celestia says. “Luna is likely the one who assigned her there, to begin with.”

“Assigned?”

“As protection,” Luna explains. “It’s public knowledge that we keep undercover agents scattered throughout Equestria for quick response. Does it surprise you that we’d keep a few close by the Elements to guard our most powerful defenders?”

My knees lock up straight. “How many soldiers have you sent to watch us?”

“Quite a few,” Luna says. “Do you intend to have the Captain prostrate herself before you all day?”

My head snaps back to Octavia who hasn’t moved an inch, bowing before me with her face toward the ground. I clear my throat nervously.

“Rise Captain.”

She rises from the ground and stands at attention, looking straight forward with heavy violet eyes. “Your majesty, Grand Master Luna has offered me the great privilege of tutoring you in the ways of demon hunting.”

I swerve towards Luna. “You want me to train in the Order?”

She snorts. “Oh no, nothing that extreme, but some basic knowledge on demons and combating them is essential for any ruler.”

“Especially with the rise in attacks recently,” Celestia says. “As a Princess, part of your job will be to fortify the land against such threats and deal swiftly with any demonic forces that may slip through.”

I swallow my breath and lift my head a little higher. “Okay, but I have already done some preliminary research in the area and have plans laid out for more extensive study. If it’s knowledge we’re after I think I’m good on my own.”

“If your majesty lives up to your reputation, then I don’t doubt that,” Octavia says. “However, the tomes you will find here you will not find anywhere else. Everything you see before you is information banned in most corners of Equestria, deemed too dangerous or volatile to be released to the public. If you want the explicit details of what demon hunting is like this will be your best source. Also, Grand Master Luna believes your majesty would do good to see some practical demonstrations of how we operate, as opposed to just on paper.”

I get a cold rush down the back of my neck. “Is that really necessary? I mean, I’ve always learned best through the pages of a book.”

“Question your majesty,” Octavia says.

“Um, ask.”

“In what manner did you learn the lessons of friendship that led you to your current office?”

I look away from her. She has a point, a creepy point she could’ve only made by spying on us for Luna knows how long, but a point nonetheless. My friendship lessons were all learned from experience. Still, from the small exposure I’ve gotten from my research so far, I’m hesitant to allow myself near such horrific creatures, even just for observation purposes.

“I think reading will do fine regardless Captain. Demon hunting won’t be my primary focus as a ruler anyway.”

The Captain responds by doing something I have never seen any soldier, not even my brother, do while on duty. She breaks from attention, turns her head, and looks me dead in the eye. “The defense of this nation is not a priority for your majesty?”

I step back with my hind leg. My brother used to tell stories about his days in boot camp, how he once got chewed out for twenty minutes because he sneezed while at attention. It’s the most basic courtesy you’re supposed to pay towards a superior officer in the military and especially to royalty. The Captain just broke it so casually, and to deliver a loaded question no less.

I look back at the princesses just to confirm they saw the same thing I did. Celestia is pressing her priceless gold shoe to her lips and Luna is glaring like an angry wolf at the Captain. Octavia doesn’t even seem to register them. She keeps staring at me, her eyes demanding an answer.

The words struggle in my throat. “N– No, I just mean Luna and Celestia are the ones who’ll be handling most of the Order’s operations. I probably won’t have a say in these matters unless the situation urgently calls for it.”

“So, you need less training, in case you find yourself in an emergency situation, likely in circumstances where lives are on the line?”

“That’s—not what I meant.”

“It’s what you said. Unless of course, you believe leisure reading is a suitable alternative for practical demonstration and experience?”

“Well, it’s done me good in other fields like athletics and… sleepovers.”

I try to smile big like I’m confident and sure, like what I just said didn’t sound completely—

“That’s retarded,” Octavia says.

Oh God, I’m a failure as a Princess. I hear Celestia snorting like a pig behind me adding to my mortification and making me struggle to form words. “Well you see— I didn’t mean— I know practical experience can really—”

“I’m positive Princess Twilight merely meant reading is her comfort area, but she’ll gladly join you on one of your raids,” Luna says, forcing a stretched smile with teeth bared like a canine. “Sister, could you finish up our tour here for me? I need to have a conversation with the Captain about these special lessons she’ll be giving Twilight. In particular how she is to compose herself during it.”

She doesn’t wait for an answer but tramps forward and slaps a wing over the Captain’s shoulder to guide her down the hall. Octavia does not break eye contact with me until she has fully turned around. She doesn’t even flinch when Luna’s wing tightens around her.

I watch them go for a moment until Princess Celestia takes me by the hoof and leads me out of the library. We walk along one of the rings in the main room, needing to talk loud over the crashing water.

“I must apologize for the Captain,” says Princess Celestia. “She has a history of being extremely blunt, but I wasn’t expecting her to go so hard on you. Foolish of me in hindsight.”

“She’s acted like that before? Don’t soldiers usually get dismissed for repeated infractions?”

“Normally yes, but I allow a special exception for Octavia. Mainly because she is one of the best soldiers the Order has ever seen; and, I must admit, it’s also partly because I find her little breaches of etiquette amusing.”

I gape. “You like that she acts that way?”

“Well I could do without the occasional rudeness, but the lack of formality is refreshing. It’s extremely rare that I find somepony who is so unphased by title and rank and just says what they think. Plus, she infuriates my sister which I find hilarious.”

I look at her for a solid five seconds. Troops of agents run by us carrying crates of clear bottles. I look away from Celestia and slowly stare at the ground. I can feel Celestia’s gaze on me.

“I know it might not make sense to you now. Give yourself a few years in your new title. You’ll understand my frustration with rigid formality and may even come to appreciate these small antics I allow.”

“That doesn’t bother me, Celestia.”

“Oh, then what does?”

I pause for a second and hesitantly look up at her out of the corner of my eye. “Do you think what the Captain said about me was true?”

Her cheery face goes stony and serious. She looks at me with those soft eyes that remind me so much of my mother whenever she had to speak a harsh truth.

“Parts of it,” she answers. “She insinuated you didn’t care about this nation’s safety, I know that’s not true. You care about everypony in Equestria, and you’d be heartbroken to hear any of them had been hurt. But you have yet to grasp the kind of threats that are out there and what it’ll require to keep everyone safe.”

“And you think going out in the field, seeing these demon hunters at work will help me realize?”

“Seeing the demons themselves is the main priority. I know you’ve already read what they’re capable of, but you also know there’s a vast difference between a scene on paper and an actual event that affects real lives. I know you’re scared to go near these demons, and rightly so, but it’s a risk I fully believe is necessary just so there’s no room for doubt when you decide what must be done in order to protect your subjects.”

I go quiet for a moment.

“You’ll be perfectly fine Twilight,” she says. “You’ll have the finest soldiers surrounding you at all times and even if something does go wrong I have full confidence that you are powerful enough to handle it.”

“I know that Celestia, it’s not the physical threat that scares me though. What scares me is… that I might slip.”

“Slip?”

“I might tell my friends what I saw.”

Celestia stops and turns toward me. She blinks a few times. I Step in place.

“I realize I can’t possibly know what to expect or how to prepare myself for this experience, or if I even can prepare myself, but I know it’ll be troubling, that it’ll gnaw at my mind for days, weeks, probably months afterword, and ever since I moved to Ponyville I’ve always tried to deal with troubling things by going to my friends for support, but now you say I can’t tell them anything about the Order, and this is going to be some of the most troubling stuff I’ll likely see in my life so far, and I don’t know if I can handle it all on my own, or if I might just break and spill a whole bunch of stuff I shouldn’t to them, I don’t even know if they’ll be able to handle everything I see, I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep it all to myself like I use to before, I don’t know, I don’t know.”

I need to sit down I’m so out of breath. Did I inhale at all during that confession? I don’t know.

Celestia’s hooves stop a few inches in front of me. I don’t have the courage to look up at her. “I’m sorry Celestia. I know you keep everything secret for safety, but I don’t know if I can keep everything from my friends as you ask. I’m sorry to disappoint you.”

I bow my head forward and extend my hooves flat in front of me. I wonder if I should just place my crown down at her hooves.

“Twilight, come stand next to me.”

My head pops off the floor. Celestia taps the floor at her side, right at the edge of the ring we stand on. She shows no hint of anger or disappointment. I stand up and walk next to her.

“Grab my tail Twilight.”

My head jerks up. I look at her to confirm she’s serious. I raise a hoof to her tail and then, hesitate, deciding where and how I should grab it.

“Anywhere is fine Twilight, just don’t yank.”

“R-right.” I grab the tip.

Celestia extends her wings. “Now stay right behind me.”

I nod and extend my own wings. I take off right as she does and we fly up to the center of the room. We rapidly approach the large column of water that pours in from the ceiling.

My chest tightens. “Um, Celestia.”

“Don’t let go Twilight.”

I bite my lip and tighten my grip on her tail. I close my eyes and dive straight into the water column. What I feel is not moisture or dampness, but cold air, like I just broke through the surface of a lake but somehow I’m not wet. I bump right into Celestia’s back and fall onto a hard dirt ground.

“We’re here.”

I open my eyes and find myself in a heavily shaded area with towering walls of plants surrounding us on all sides.

“Is this the castle hedge maze?” I ask.

“Correct, a very special part of the hedge maze,” says Celestia. “One that is not technically closed off to the public, but is almost impossible to find unless you know where to look.”

“And the waterfall in the base takes you here?”

“It can take you to several locations all around Canterlot. It just requires a clear picture of where you want to go and a little concentration. Now, have a look at these Princess Twilight.”

She points toward the back wall of the section we’re in. There stands three large statues all draped with sycamore leaves and faded with age. One is of an earth pony donning a large set of armor and resting a war hammer across his shoulders, another is a unicorn standing on his hind legs and casting a spell, and the third is a pegasus sitting and holding up a large spear.

“Twilight, do you know who these three ponies are?” she asks.

I analyze them for a moment. Their faces seem familiar and after a time I realize where I’ve seen them before. “Steel Star, Honey Whistle, and Midnight Blaze. These are the only members of the Order whose identities have been officially released to the public.”

“Correct,” Celestia says. “I made the decision to release limited information about them a little over five hundred years ago, centuries after these three ponies had passed. Steel Star was the very first soldier initiated into the Order, a ferocious beast with a hammer, he trained Princess Luna in the art of combat and died in battle just a few days before her betrayal. Honey Whistle was a great explorer who found many holy relics still in use by the Order, including the Lance of Longinus she is depicted holding. And Midnight Blaze was a truly brilliant unicorn mage, who made great advancements in using magic to combat demons, particularly on how to defend against possession and psychic attacks.”

She speaks with infectious awe like she’s taking pride in their accomplishments as if they were her own. Then she lowers her head and her voice becomes quieter.

“The choice to have the Order shrouded in secrecy was not mine you know. Luna insisted it be as such. I found it a great injustice that the soldiers we throw into the greatest danger should also be the ones who receive the least credit. These statues and the release of their names were meant to be a way of correcting that unfairness in some small way. I told myself, these three were some of the most important soldiers in the Order’s history, heroes who gave their lives to protect Equestria and its citizen. It’s a shame that no one outside of the Order knows who they are. It’s been centuries since they were alive, any threats they faced or missions they were a part of had long since fallen out of relevance. What’s the harm in allowing them this small show of gratitude?”

Her throat bulges and her eyes go soft. “I remember telling myself that, Luna was probably so insistent on secrecy in the first place so she could plot against me. My worst excuse.”

I step towards her. “She did betray you, Celestia. I know she’s your sister but you had every right to question her under those circumstances.”

Celestia is quiet for a moment. “Perhaps, but in this instance doing so came back to haunt me.”

“What do you mean?”

“These statues weren’t up for three days before a string of disappearances started occurring. First, it was individuals, lone business ponies on their way home from work, mother’s on a morning stroll with their children, then entire families started vanishing, and foals were snatched right out of their classrooms. Names disappeared faster than the press could print them and the country was in a panic. Our defense force scrambled to investigate, to find a link between all these disappearances, and eventually, they found one. That’s when I got that horrific report, all the victims in the recent disappearances, every single one of them, shared a direct lineage with one of the three ponies you see before you.”

I get a cold sweat. “The kidnappers were targeting their descendants?”

Celestia nods. “Once we were made aware of that fact we laid a trap for them with their next target. They were successfully captured and brought in for interrogation. I was livid at this time, to the point of allowing some interrogation methods I’m not proud of, but we got them to spill everything. How they did it, why they did it, how many of them were left, and the location of their victims.”

“Were they alright?”

She doesn’t answer.

“Celestia?”

“There was so little left of them they couldn’t be identified. The stallions had been castrated, the mares impaled through their genitals; all of them had been raped, skinned, and mutilated beyond description. Not even the foals were given mercy; if anything they were even more sadistic with them. It was cruel even by the standards of demons.”

I’m petrified, I feel as much like a rock as the looming gravestones I once thought were statues.

“After that incident, I ordered all the remaining members of their lineage to undergo a complete identity change. Their names were rewritten, their residents moved to different locations across Equestria. I never released information about the Order again after that.”

I can barely hear her. My mind is slow to process such traumatic information. “I read accounts of similar demonic attacks, viewed descriptions, and imagery so gruesome it made me physically ill to ponder. I don’t think I was ready to hear it from someone I knew, even from you.”

“Then I hope you know why it’s so important you expose yourself to such things, so you won’t flinch at a time when you must stand in the face of it. I also hope you realize what you’ll be putting upon your friends should you decide to reveal such things to them.”

I clench my eyes shut. She’s right. I’ve had the same thought myself. If I did choose to share my experience with the Order I’m not sure my friends would be able to handle it. They might not be able to understand it. Could I really bring my friends into such a world?

I breathe a heavy sigh. “It doesn’t matter anyway. I’m bound to secrecy, it’s not like I’ll ever actually be able to tell them anything.”

“That’s not actually true, Twilight.”

I stare up at my mentor wide-eyed. “What? But, this is the Order. They’re infamous for their secrecy. Isn’t it like a law, that anyone inside can’t tell anypony?”

“Not a law, a mandate,” she answers. “The key difference being that a mandate doesn’t have to be followed by those of equal rank with the one who gave it. I know you still haven’t quite adjusted to this idea yet Twilight, but you are my equal now. If you believe that information about the Order needs to be shared for any reason, well, there’s nothing stopping you.”

I stare at her with my mouth hanging open for a few moments. “All this time, I thought I wouldn’t be able to say anything. I was trying to picture how I’d keep these secrets without lying to my friends. How I’d pretend ignorance when I knew everything.”

“I apologize if my timing caused you unnecessary stress, but I needed you to see this before I told you.”

She looks at me with a soft but serious expression. “You are a Princess now Twilight. Soon you’ll be governing your own part of Equestria and my input over your decisions will lessen over time. That growing independence, however, will come with a heavy responsibility. You must think carefully about the choices set before you and weigh the outcomes and the consequence of each carefully. Rushing to a decision out of emotion or carelessness will only lead to disaster.”

Her gaze turns towards the statues and her eyes darken. “Keep these statues in mind whenever you contemplate sharing secrets of the Order. Our soldiers are not the only ones who are at risk if too much gets out.”

I look straight at her, blink a few times, and hold my chin. “If I do have a choice in the matter, then I guess I’ll think it over. Give it a few days of thought before I decide what to do.”

“I also wish to stress that if you do ponder your decision for a time and still come to the conclusion that you should inform your friends, that is a completely fine decision to make. You may even wish to seek out Princess Luna about it, she’d give you her full support.”

“She would? I figured she’d be more tight-lipped than anypony about the Order.”

“Normally she is, but she seems to have made an exception with your friends. In fact, I suspect she may wish to go farther than you’d ever want to, try to get them to use the Elements against demons on a regular basis.”

Yeah, that’s not happening. As strong as we are with the Elements I’m fairly certain one of us would get killed after a while, if not worse.

“One last thing Twilight,” Celestia says. “I know I won’t be as close as your friends once you’re back in Ponyville, but while you’re still deciding what you wish to tell them, if anything, keep in mind that I am always here to talk should the need arise. I’m fairly certain I’ll be much more knowledgeable when it comes to dealing with the unpleasantness of demons. Not to degrade the bond you share with your friends of course.”

The gesture makes me smile to the point of tears. I take a step back to bow. Oh to hell with it; she just said we’re equals. I throw my hooves around her in an embrace. She stiffens a moment but then puts her own hoof around me.

“Thank you, Celestia. You’ll be the first pony I come to if I need help with any of this.”

“And I will be glad to lend it.” She brushes my mane aside as she breaks away from me. “Now, we should probably get back down to the HQ and continue with—”

She pauses. The light of her face goes dark and she looks to the sky. It takes a moment for me to see what she’s looking for, but then I hear it. There’s a loud echoing whistle that descends in tone, similar to the sonic boom Rainbow makes when she’s rocketing through the air. I think there might be some pegasus flying close by but then there’s a massive crash and earth shakes with such violent force I’m thrown to my stomach. Celestia needs to widen her stance to catch her balance.

I stand up and brush myself off. “What the hay?”

There’s a thump. One dense vibration in the ground beneath us. Then another. And another. Each one gets heavier. Celestia’s horn lights up defensively and she scans the area. I ready my own magic and stand next to her. The trees and the foliage around us shake with ever more intensity until the branches resemble whips. I hear a loud crack as several trees behind the statues come crashing to the ground and a huge taloned foot steps on the Pegasus statue and crushes it to pieces.

My horn, just a moment ago ready to fire off any number of destructive spells, loses its glow as I fight every instinct in my body to not immediately run.

The beast is as tall as one of the castle towers and the huge mass of leg in front of us is almost half as thick. It stares down at us with flaming rings of eyes and a burning halo set between two horns that twist like gnarled tree roots. Its lips part to show rows of shark-like teeth and then it speaks in a low echoing voice.

“Princess Celestia, what an honor it is to meet you.”

It bows to my mentor casting a massive shadow over us in the process. My eyes snap to my mentor and I see her shaking. “You… No… That’s impossible. How are you here?”

“So you recognize me. That simplifies things.” The creature leans down and extends its wings of pure fire casting a massive heated shadow that encloses the section of the garden like an oven. “I’m going to offer you one chance to hear me out without resisting and spare this city a couple thousand lives. Come with me right now. I have a proposition you will be very interested in hearing.”

Chapter 2: Prepare for Attack

I have a particular distaste for bureaucracy.

Those who are marginally acquainted with me are usually surprised to hear that. They all surmise that I enjoy rigid structure and routine. What I actually enjoy is logical structure and adaptability, which manipulative micromanaging administrative bullshit seems diametrically opposed to.

Grand Master Luna picked up on this pet peeve of mine rather quickly, and strategically started punishing me with filling out paperwork as opposed to more traditional methods of martial discipline. She’s always careful to pick out the most trivial and tediously pedantic forms she can find; confirmation sheets to allocate funds into repainting park benches snow white as opposed to milky white, proposals to host the yearly Canterlot Pastry Festival on the northwest side of the gardens as opposed to the northeast, orders for the Ponyville breed of lilac flowers to be hung in the throne room as opposed to the Apploosen breed, permission forms to use suspension as opposed to the drop when I bloody hang myself.

My subordinates would probably conclude that I’m getting off easy, that filling out such paperwork is far more preferable to manual labor. It’s an opinion I can not agree with. A third of these forms will get a fraction of the way up the approval ladder before getting rejected or sent back for some inane reason, another third will get lost completely within the labyrinth of government agencies, and the remaining third will go towards changes no pony will notice or care about. At least with scrubbing toilets with a toothbrush, you know your labor will contribute directly to somepony taking the most comfortable and sanitary shit of their life.

Still, I should be grateful. I would’ve been discharged years ago if Grand Master Luna didn’t have Celestia tugging on her leash. I try to keep that in mind each time I glance over and see the night Princess exacerbating my frustrations by watching me fill everything out while she lounges in the most laid back and casual way possible, her rear hooves kicked up on my desk and leaning back in her chair. She reads some bit store pulp novel with a cliche trench coat detective stallion on the front, while some crappy industrial sludge bleeds out of her headphones. She has actual work to do, she makes sure I know that, and then she procrastinates just to annoy me. Her methods are effective, I have to give her that.

I put in yet another order for yet another obscure children’s book to be added to the royal library. Luna’s music echoes louder for a second as she places her headphones down. I can feel her eyes on me.

“You’re making good progress Captain.”

“I strive to be as efficient as possible your majesty,” I say without dropping my quill.

“Good to hear.” She teleports another tall stack of forms into the room that slams on the desk with heavy thwap.

“Because at the rate you’re going I bet you can finish all these by the end of the day.”

I stare at the towering stack for a brief second and stop myself from snapping the quill in half. “Yes, your majesty.”

“Hm, actually you might have time to spare at your pace. I know, from now on every time you finish a form you must stand at attention and bow until I dismiss you.”

I breathe in deep. “Yes, your majesty.”

I reach for the top sheet. Luna magically slaps my hoof away. “The hell are you doing Captain? You’ve already finished a form have you not? Stand.”

I hold in my breath, stand up, and assume attention. Luna stands right in front of me and stares me in the eye. “Excellent, now bow.”

I press my right hoof to my chest, lock my left hoof out, and lower my head. “Your Majesty.”

“Hold there for a moment, I need to use the toilet or the can as they call it today.”

She opens the door with her magic and as she steps outside a grey blur flies straight into her face and they both go crashing to the ground.

I remain bowed.

There’s some groaning and then a panicked shriek from a raspy voice that I recognize as Chaplain Derpy’s.

“Grand Master Luna, I’m sorry! We have an emergency!”

“I hope it’s important enough to warrant barging in here unannounced,” she says with a grate in her tone.

“Canterlot is under attack! Demons are in the city slaughtering civilians!”

I look up at them. Derpy is sprawled out across the Grand Master’s lap biting the tips of her hooves. Luna stares back at her with eyes wider than trumpet bells.

“Impossible,” she says. “Our scouts would’ve spotted a raiding party several miles off.”

“Well, the warning came down from Princess Celestia your majesty. She and Princess Twilight are currently engaged with a very powerful demon in the skies above the castle and at the same time we’re getting flooded with reports of demons running loose on the streets committing a massacre.”

Grand Master Luna stares in silence for a moment then snaps to me. “Captain, gather your squadron and proceed to the south entrance of the castle. I’ll meet you there shortly once I have a read on the situation. Chaplain, you’re with her, go!”

“Yes, your majesty!” we both shout.

The three of us rush out the office and down the hall into the central room. The whole base is already on high alert and mobilizing to go into battle. Sergeants shepherd pilgrims out of the way while chaplains load up on Nephil-eye and rub their robes down with holy water.

Luna flies toward the portal and dives through the water. I jump and slide down the walls to the terrace below and repeat the action for the next few terraces, heading straight for the bottom. Derpy glides right beside me still biting her hooves.

“I’ve got a really bad feeling about this Captain,” she says. “Why would so many demons just attack out of the blue, and so openly like this?”

“Right questions, wrong time,” I say. “Secure the city, protect the civvies, drive those cloven hooved bastards back to hell, and don’t get eaten. Then you can dig the answers out of their skulls.”

“Mam, yes mam!”

I slide down to the final terrace where most of my squadron is already gathered. Rows of black hoods file in and encircle the pit. They salute as I move through. I go straight to the front where Sergeant Bon-Bon is waiting. She smirks at me with her giant silver battle-ax slung over her shoulder.

“Squads 2, 3, 7, and 10 are reporting for duty mam,” she says.

“Has there been any word from others?”

“Squads 6, 8, 9, 11, and 12 are currently holding the gates to the city from demons. Nothing from those inside the city, unfortunately.”

“We’ll link up with them if we can. How much Dragon’s Breath do we have?”

“Twenty-Six bottles mam.”

“Twenty-Six? That’s all?”

“The alchemists have been late on resupply, and the other squadrons have been eating through what we have like crazy mam.”

“We still had a hundred and fifty tongues left in storage the last time I checked, what the hell happened?”

“It’s bad mam.”

I stare at her in disbelief. “Fuck it, pass out what we have to the squadron.”

“Already done mam. We also have four vials of Nephil-Eye and a bottle of Samson Wine mam.”

“Good, take two vials to Derpy and keep two for yourself. Give me the Samson Wine right now.”

She hands over a darkened black bottle with a chuckle. “Don’t trust me with it?”

“If I have need to kill the entire planet I’ll give you some.”

She laughs. I turn to face the squadron. Forty agents in total. Thirty more held up in the city, another fifty holding the gates. In any other circumstances, I’d say we’re more than prepared, but it sounds like we’re facing an army. Best to play this cautiously.

I reach into my robes and pull out a long glass vial of holy water. “Bless yourselves!”

Each soldier whips out their own personal vial and sprinkles it across their heads, back, and chest. I do the same. I then unsheath one of my silver sabers and flick my left hoof to unfold my hidden crossbow.

“Arms up!”

The whole squadron follows suit, taking out blades, axes, crossbows, knives, and spears, lots and lots of spears. Derpy reaches into her robes and pulls out a long silver claymore with glowing scarlet runes running down the flat of her blade. Bon-Bon beats the butt of her ax into the ground.

“We make for the south entrance of the castle to rendezvous with Grand Master Luna!” I say. “Expect enemy contact the second we make the jump! Sergeant Bon-Bon, take squad 2, you’re on point! Derpy your on Nephil, call out what you see! Pegasi, guard her with your lives! We don’t know what kind of enemy we’re facing or how numerous they are, so be prepared for anything! Everyone else on me!”

Everyone gets into position. Bon-Bon and the ten agents of squad 2 take up positions in the front. Derpy hovers above us. She sprinkles a small vial of reddish liquid in her eyes, and after a few blinks, her mismatched irises begin to glow like gold. The other fifteen pegasi of the squadron float around her. Everyone else gathers behind me. I allow myself one deep breath.

“Steel yourselves! Go!”

Bon-Bon charges in first with Squad 2 right behind her. The pegasi follow shortly after them. I count in my head, three, two, one.

“Charge!”

I rush towards the portal myself with the remaining soldiers charging after me. I leap straight into the fall of water. I picture the giant double doors of the castle. There’s a cold sensation like touching the skin of ice, and then I see the burning sky.

The courtyard is littered with the corpses of royal guards, twitching gold bedecked limbs splayed alongside headless torsos that gush up blood. The small surviving contingent of the guard is being swarmed by winged succubi and bald fury demons that come soaring in over the gates. Bon-Bon is already on them, cleaving a skinny succubus in half while the rest of her squad rush to join her. Derpy shouts to be heard over the fury of the fight, calling out their movements.

I order my squadron to set up a perimeter along the steps leading up to the castle and secure a space for the surviving guards to safely retreat.

“Captain!” Derpy shouts.

She motions to the towering double doors of the castle behind us. One of them has been blown open and several dozen servants, maids, chefs, and a few noble ponies stare out from inside. There are three dead guards on the ground, a wounded guard slumped against the door and a furious one with a halberd standing in front of him. The lone standing guard is fending off two cackling fury demons flapping above on black feathered wings. One of the demons holds the severed head of a fallen guard in its bestial claws and proceeds to skull fuck it with its serpentine organ.

I bark the orders. “Squadron, douse the courtyard with Dragon’s Breath! No demons get through! Derpy, with me on the gates! Take the left one, I got the right!”

I fire a crossbow bolt at the demon who’s fucking the guard’s head. I hit it right in the back of its fleshy bald skull, shocking it for a second and buying the guard enough time to stick his halberd through its hairy stomach and disembowel it. Derpy charges in at the same time, slicing the left demon before it can react, gashing its pale face and sending it flipping to the ground. It lands on its taloned feet, holding a long sizzling scar beneath its pure black eye.

It snarls as Derpy swings at it again and catches her blade in its jagged teeth. It forces her back against the castle wall and tries to stab her with its jagged hulking claws. The points stick less than an inch in her cloak, stopped by the magic enchantments in the material, and then the demon falls weak, struck cripplingly ill by the effects of the holy water. I rush behind it before it can force its way back up. I bury my saber in its neck, catch the spine, then decapitate it with a swift jerk.

I kick the headless body away and exhale a deep breath. “Aim for the throat next time Chaplain!”

“Y-Yes mam!” she says shaking.

I glance over at the guard by the door and see him kneeling by his wounded comrade, holding his wounds shut. He’s gonna need medical attention fast.

I look towards the courtyard. The area is obscured in thick white clouds of swirling mist, at least five bottles worth of Dragon’s Breath. Demons howl and shriek inside of the clouds, writhing on the ground as their flesh melts off their bones. Agents and guards within the mist groan from burning eyes but are otherwise unharmed.

“Soldiers, regroup on me!”

I keep shouting as loudly as I can so those fighters who still breath can follow my voice out of the mist. Squad 2 falls back to the perimeter, bringing with them several standing guards, and a few wounded ones. Bon-Bon jumps out of the mist, the demonic blood that stains her robes sizzles and dissolves from the Dragon’s Breath. The pegasi squad also falls back, splattered in blood and with noticeably fewer numbers.

I quickly herd all those still standing into a wall formation in front of the doors, shields raised, spears thrusting out. The demons keep back, waiting for the burning mist to dissipate.

I look back at the wounded guard by the door and his friend desperately trying to keep him hanging on to life. I look over at the blown open door, spot a maid spying out from inside, and point at her. “You!”

She shrieks at my attention.

“Is the castle doctor with you?” I ask.

“H-He, He was killed,” she answers trembling. “The roof caved in and he was crushed underneath.”

“Do you have medical supplies? Anything, even a first aid kit?”

“Y-Yes, we’ve got plenty of those.”

“Bring them out! Derpy, go patch up that soldier!”

She looks back at him and then back to me. “I’m still on Nephil-Eye though, shouldn’t I be here? Ready to fight?”

I order Bon-Bon to give me one of her vials, which she does, and I promptly sprinkle it in my own eyes. “I can handle it myself. Go save that soldier Chaplain.”

She doesn’t hesitate after that and zips over to the wounded guard just as the maid comes scampering out with three bags of first aid. The guard’s friend praises her like an angel from heaven and plants a kiss on her cheek, leaving a bloody lip mark.

I shake my head at the display and turn back to the battlefield.

Twisting hazy shapes begin to form in my vision, dark glowing auras that move behind the mist of Dragon’s Breath. I can see them moving, planning. They congregate higher up, flying over the shrouds of mist, preparing for a straif.

“They’re coming from above! Pegasi, counter-offensive!”

The pegasi squad charges forward. The demons pop up over the mist and are immediately great with spear points to the face. Piercing shrieks and twisted wails echo as the demons plummet to the ground in pieces.

I see more dark auras. The clouds of Dragon’s Breath become thinner, and there effects less severe. Demons near the ground are moving forward, receiving burns but nothing like the lethal results from earlier.

“Squadron lay down a new shroud of Dragon’s Breath right in front of the old one, then split and move along the sides of the courtyard! Surround the enemy!”

Five agents in the rear immediately pull out a bottle of Dragon’s Breath each and smash them down right before the quickly thinning clouds. The squadron then splits and charges through the outer edges of the courtyard, through the haze of mist they just created. My eyes are slightly irritated as I move through, simply blinking fast is enough to make it tolerable. I can spot the auras of the demon’s moving through. They’re almost through the old clouds and are about to run into the fresh ones. We pop out on the other side of the clouds, directly behind them.

“Hold!” I say.

The demons keep moving forward, then there’s a choir of howling shrieks as they come hurtling back towards us with melted flesh.

“Charge!”

The squadron instantly runs forward. I charge with them. Blood splatters against my chest as I stab my blade through a succubus throat. I cry viciously. I jerk the blade out of its neck. I taste copper. My squadron pushes them back. Bon-Bon laughs. Horned heads roll on the ground, furies curl up impaled on the ends of spears, succubi crawl away with their entrails hanging out. We slaughter them all in seconds.

The battle in the air is still going on above us. The demon’s numbers have been drastically reduced, yet they continue to fight. They launch themselves frenzied, almost suicidally at the pegasi soldiers, and it’s starting to have an effect. Several agents are gored and ripped apart in the air. Some are devoured and the demons hold them in place as they ravenously bite and strip away their flesh. Blood and feathers rain to the ground.

There’s a stallion agent that gets tackled and slammed against the courtyard floor like a boulder, his body goes limp. The succubus that tackled him rips off his robes, grinds her cunt against his face, and bites off his genitalia. I fire a bolt into her neck. The holy water blessed tip burns a gaping hole in her throat so big the stallion’s severed phalice falls out of it. I watch her wretch and bleed out with a dick stuck in her throat.

“Captain, move!”

I hear the fury before I see it. Bon-Bon shoves me out of the way right before the demon sinks its talons into her chest. Bon-Bon, without even flinching, swings her battle-ax and cleeves the demon’s legs off, leaving its talons sticking out of her chest. The fury screeches and tries to charge again, but several soldiers have already surrounded it, and in a matter of moments it’s speared and gutted by over a dozen blades.

The remaining demons are cut to ribbons above us. The final one is impaled by three spears and decapitated.

There is silence.

The clouds of Dragon’s Breath fully evaporate, letting the sun reflect off the ocean of blood we stand in. My squadron collectively breaths a sigh of relief, but stays vigilant. I look back to the stairs. There’s a small collection of partially melted demon skeletons dripping with flesh. None of them made it to the doors. Derpy is just finishing with the stallion, having to beat off his friend’s overly grateful affection. Bon-Bon taps at the talons embedded in her chest, barely looking affected by it, as usual. Derpy moves to help her remove them, and patch up the bleeding.

“The weaker ones are supposed to be fucking cowards,” one of my agents groans. “They’re all pomp and teeth when they think they have the advantage, but once it's clear they're not gonna win they piss off like the insects they are. What the hell is up with these things?”

“They were acting much more aggressive than normal,” says another agent. “They just threw themselves at us without regard for life or limb. It's almost like they wanted to die, or didn't care.”

I reload my crossbow, pushing in the bolts with slightly more force than necessary. I feel the stinging need for a cigarette coming on, but I bite it, for now, knowing damn well that getting relaxed is a good way to get your head torn off. I look down at one of the demons, its face carved up like a jigsaw puzzle. I remember a line from a grizzly novel I once read. “Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful.”

“Captain Octavia! Is there a Captain Octavia here?”

There’s a guard running through the courtyard shouting my name, not one of the castle guards but one of Luna’s guards, a copper maned bat pony wearing dark armor.

“You are looking for me,” I shout.

He looks around. “Where are you, sir? I can’t make out faces with those hoods of yours.”

I growl in anger. “That’s mam, jackass! I’m over here!”

The guard jumps and salutes in my direction. “My apologies Captain. I am Captain Nightfall, first officer of Princess Luna’s personal guard. The Princess is currently joined with her sister and Princess Twilight, engaging the enemy leader. She has ordered me back here to relay her orders and give you a briefing of the situation.”

“Bring me up to speed, promptly!”

“Princess Luna and Celestia have ordered a full-scale evacuation of Canterlot,” he says. “This has been greatly complicated by the fact that large sections of the city are currently swarming with demons, making rescue efforts difficult. Captains Hazal’s squadron is currently engaged in the theater districts and has so far been successful in clearing out the enemy and getting civilians out. Captain Blue Moon’s squadron is deployed in the market district and has been meeting heavy resistance, though still managing to defend the civilians. There are also stray squads of order agents who were out on patrol during the attack who have managed to hold the exits to the city against repeated assaults. This gives us firm control over the majority of Canterlot, however, the demons still have a major foothold downtown. Order agents in that area were forced to retreat and all have reported massive casualties both military and civilian.”

“If we still control most of the city then why are we evacuating? Wouldn’t it make more sense to have the civvies hunker down somewhere safe and mount rescue efforts for those inside the hotspots?”

“Well, that was the original plan, until—”

There’s a massive shockwave that knocks the entire platoon off balance. Stone and mortar rains down, forcing us to duck under shields or run like hell. I kneel underneath the bat pony’s shield and see one of the castle towers collapsing, falling back towards the gardens. Standing in the base where the tower once stood is a demon almost as big as the tower itself, with massive fiery wings and a halo of fire above its head. It lets out a deafening roar with flames spewing from its mouth.

“That guy showed up,” answers Captain Nightfall.

“How the hell did that thing get through?”

“We don’t know Captain. It was already in the city when the alerts went out, and more demons just started popping up everywhere shortly after.”

There’s a massive blast of magic that forces the gigantic demon off balance. I see three specks of light in the sky close to the demon, the glowing horns of the Princesses. The demon laughs and thrusts its arm forward, its limb extends like a rubber band and swatts the darkened speck of light out of the air. The golden speck shoots over to catch her, while the violet speck magically shields them all from another blast of fire. I can actually feel the heat of those flames from where I’m standing.

“They’re getting slaughtered,” I say.

“They can’t unleash their full strength as long as that thing remains inside the city, not while there are still ponies inside at least.”

“Meaning they probably won’t be able to put a dent in that thing until the evacuation is complete.”

“Precisely Captain.”

I stare up the raging battle above us a moment longer. The Princesses should still be able to vaporize entire armies, even if they’re holding back. Yet all of their attacks bounce off the demon’s chest like insects against glass. It laughs at their attacks and fires another blast of flames that extends for miles. The princesses are able to dodge around it, can’t say the same for the houses below.

“Captain, Luna has left orders for you to evacuate downtown. You are to proceed there with your squadron as quickly as possible, avoid engagements along the way if you can. There’s been reports that the demons down there are far more powerful than in other areas of the city, and have trapped a large number of civilians inside. Get as many out as you can, then get far away from the city.”

“It’ll be done swiftly, Captain.”

I raise my sword straight up above my head and call out, “Arch squadron, gather yourselves! We’re taking this fight into the city!”

There’s a nervous cry of acknowledgment, as most tear their gaze from battle above and move into formation.

“Heaven help you, Captain Octavia,” says Nightfall.

“Heaven help us all,” I say.

I turn back to my squadron. We lost six pegasi agents and two ground agents. Only Bon-Bon was wounded, and frankly, she doesn’t count. Enemy numbers unknown, assumed to be extreme.

I order my squadron to form up and prepare to move out. I order the nine remaining pegasi to act as lookouts above us. Derpy falls in with them, brushing slightly dried blood from her hooves. Bon-Bon walks alongside me, adjusting her robes to cover the fresh bandages on her chest.

I order my soldiers to the castle gates. Two guards run up the towers to check for any demons outside. Once they’re sure the way is clear they open the gates and lower the drawbridge.

“Move out!”

The squadron gallops forward across the moat and into the city. The areas close to the castle are mostly intact, but as we move deeper in we start to see ravaged buildings with blown out windows and burning rooftops. Civvies rush out of smoking homes dragging foals and loved ones. City guards direct them down the streets where a large crowd forms heading towards the city gates.

I briefly look back at the clash between the Princesses and see the massive demon dodging repeated lunges from the three of them all at once. The Princesses try swinging out wide, likely attempting to lure it further away from the city. It doesn’t take the bait and instead shoots a blast of fire directly into the theater district. The three princesses scramble back to take its attention off the town.

There’s a knot that forms in my chest. I order the squadron to double-time it and we rush over to downtown. Along the way, we run across city guards and robed order agents running towards cries of combat in the distance. We also encounter several ponies that aren’t wearing robes carrying silver weapons. Patrol agents, likely off duty before the attack, and now find themselves in a warzone. Some of the patrol squads we come across are from my squadron and join up with us. Our numbers swell to a total of thirty ground troops and twelve pegasi by the time we approach downtown.

The area becomes a collection of tightly packed stone quarters and alleyways. Old abandoned shops with swinging signs advertising dresses, mane styles, cuisine, souvenirs, and then we spot one with an eviscerated corpse hanging off it. The once bustling tourist spot is now an echoing ghost town, which slowly turns into a burning ruin.

The pegasi spot fury demons flying high up over the district, fighting over helpless victims they’ve carried up there with them. They tear, and bite, and rip up the defenseless ponies, greedily devouring whatever flesh they can claw from each other.

I order the pegasi squad to keep an eye on them but not to engage. I also order Derpy to have the pegasi squad ready to throw Dragon's Breath at a moment's notice. In close quarters like this, a bombing run could save our asses.

We continue further downtown and the signs of conflict only get worse. Most of the buildings are damaged in some way, if not completely caved in altogether. Smoke pours in over the streets from fires off in another part of town. Bodies line the streets, most mutilated or partially devoured. Some are strung up from lamp posts or crucified against the sides of buildings with shards of wood rammed through every orifice.

We come across a lone incubus demon fucking the headless throat of a school filly. One of my agents throws his spear and impales the monster through the throat. It falls to the ground gargling its own blood and clutching its wound to stop the bleeding and is then stabbed and hacked to death by several more agents.

Derpy lands next to the headless filly’s body, looks at it with dull pity, then looks down the road and all around.

“Chaplain, why have you landed? You're supposed to be on lookout with the other pegasi,” I scold.

Derpy looks at me with concern. “Captain, may I have permission to use another dose of Nephile-Eye?”

“Why Chaplain?”

“Because this incubus is the only thing we've seen so far in terms of threats and our intel said this place was supposed to be swarming with demons.”

The squadron is silent. The crackling of fire is all that's heard.

I nod to Derpy. She takes out her last vial of Nephil and sprinkles it in her eyes. She then flies up above us and looks out across the city.

“This is odd Captain. Every demon in the area is heading out of the city.”

“They're leaving?” I say in astonishment. “Why? They had complete control over this section. It doesn't make sense.”

“Maybe they ran out of victims to feast upon,” an agent says.

“Or maybe they saw us coming and shat themselves,” jokes another

While my squadron debates among themselves I contemplate it in silence and become more baffled the longer I do. First, they act aggressively when they stand no chance of winning, then they just run when they're in total control? This behavior is unheard of. Something truly strange is happening here, and I can't shake the crushing feeling that the demon currently fighting the Princesses is related to it, if not the direct cause.

“Captain!” Derpy shouts. “There are still some demons left nearby, three of them! I think… I think they're Motholite demons!”

“Motholite demons? You’re positive about that?”

“Yes, Captain I’m positive.”

“Son of a bitch. Where are they?”

“Coming south on Pepper Street Captain, approaching Horn Avenue.”

“Captain!” shouts another pegasus. “I've spotted civvies running from that area. Some are wounded.”

“Mother fucker. Pegasi, fly ahead and unleash a volley of Dragon’s Breath on the bastards. Take them out if you can, but do not engage them directly!”

“Yes, mam!”

They all shoot off towards the fight and I rush my troops down the blood-slicked roads after them. The presence of the Motholite demons becomes more apparent as we draw closer. The ground starts to rumble and we hear what sounds like snarling tigers. We round a corner and come to an intersection. One street is blocked off by massive acidic clouds, at least five tongues worth of dragon’s breath. Mares and stallions come fleeing from that direction, some ragged and bloody, some limping and being helped by others.

“It looks like we got one of the Motholites Captain,” says Derpy. “The other two are on the move, heading west. I’ll keep an eye out.”

“You keep a close eye out Chaplin. Squadron, get the civvies out of here. I want two walls of spear ponies ready to stop a charge if it comes.”

My agents obey without hesitation. The civvies are checked for injuries and then directed to the gates. Some ask or beg to be escorted, but we are short on soldiers and those Motholites will no doubt crush them unless they’re killed here, so we order them off alone.

The spear lines form up just a few feet in front of the Dragon’s Breath clouds, one line standing, one line crouching, and all holding spears out ready to strike. I take out the large black bottle of Samson wine that Bon-Bon gave me earlier. I yank out the cork with my teeth, whiffing the sharp scent of raspberries. I move to the line of spearponies and hold out the bottle to the first agent.

“They’re flanking!” Derpy shouts. “Captain, they’re flanking!”

Her warning comes a second before a row of buildings on the street left of us explodes into a hail of crushed stone and shattered glass. Two massive demonic stallions the size of elephants come charging through. They turn to the line of spearponies and lower their giant jutting bullhorns.

“Pull back! Dragon’s breath! Dragon’s breath!”

The pegasi launch another volley of dragon’s breath, but the demons are already too close. Only one tongue out of the entire volley manages to find its mark and the demons charge straight through that. Whatever damage it did only succeed in pissing them off.

My agents start to run, but Sergeant Bon-Bon runs straight at the demons. She leaps headlong at the nearest Motholite which charges at her with a wide gaping mouth and multiple rows of jagged teeth. She swings her ax straight into its mouth. There’s a deafening crash. Bon-Bon’s ax rips through the bottom section of the jaw and slices it off at the hinge. The Motholite screeches and topples over crashing to the ground.

Bon-Bon falls off to the side, but the blunt section of the demon’s horn catches her in the face as she falls. She flips, lands on her stomach, and then immediately gets trampled on by the second Motholite. With nothing in its way, the demon charges towards us and lowers its horns.

“Scatter!”

I scream the order, but it’s given too late. The demon plows headlong into the left flank of the spearpony line. Agents scream as they’re gored, trampled, and devoured. Blood bursts out of crushed faces, splattering against my cheeks. I dive out the way of the stomping hooves. Several soldiers try to regroup and hold their spears up against the giant, but with too few numbers it does nothing. The spearheads embed into the demon’s wrinkly grey chest and the poles snap off from the force. The magically enchanted robes offer only mild resistance against the demon's horns. There’s another horrific wave of crying as the demon impales several agents and gnaws their bones.

I grab a hysterical agent and yank her back before a hoof the size of a tree trunk comes crashing down where she was. I shove the whimpering mare into an alley then turn back to the fight. I see Derpy trying to rally the pegasi together, scrambling to see who still has any tongues of Dragon’s Breath.

We likely have enough for one last volley at best. We need to make this count.

I take aim with my crossbow and fire a bolt straight into the Motholite’s eye. It howls in pain and stares back at me. I unsheath my second silver saber and run. The earth vibrates as the demon comes charging behind me. I go straight for the other Motholite which stands back up, tongue dangling out its missing jaw, and approaches Bon-Bon who’s lying groaning and broken on the ground. It lifts a gigantic hoof to crush her, but right as I think her luck finally ran out, she somehow turns on her side and swings that huge battle-ax from the ground. She hits it right into the side of its hoof the moment it starts coming down and cleaves part of it off. The Motholite howls in pain and topples down on its side. I run faster, hop up on its hind leg and then jump onto its side. I turn back to the other Motholite, take aim with my crossbow, wait for it to get just close enough, then fire and shoot out its other eye. The demon screeches in agony but doesn’t have enough time to stop its charge. I barely have enough time to dive off the demon’s side before the other Motholite comes crashing into it. I land rolling before I turn to see both Motholites collapsed on top of each other, roaring and squirming all around.

“Now! Throw every tongue we have left!” I shout.

The order reaches to the pegasi above who answer it instantly. Six tongues come raining down right on top of the demons and burst into huge burning white clouds. The demons screech and thrash around inside the mist, shaking the ground and collapsing several buildings nearby. The agents which still stand all circle around the mist with blades and spears at the ready. The vibrations begin to die down. One of the demons falls out of the clouds, its face melted off leaving only a bloody partially liquid skull. The agents breath a massive sigh of relief. I exhale my breath. Then the second demon comes charging out of the mist and rams me in the chest with its horn.

The world spins. I’m weightless. I feel nothing in my chest and everything around it is agony. My back slams into the ground, no, a wall. My face slams into the ground. I struggle with all my strength to breathe. I clutch at my chest, but I feel no blood. My chest is throbbing but there’s no open wound, not even a small cut.

I push myself up on wobbly legs and see the demon jumping wildly and crushing a crying pegasus beneath a hoof that’s nothing but exposed bone. Remarkably it’s still alive, but just barely. Its flesh is dripping off its body, exposing half dissolved bones underneath. Its eyes have melted completely leaving only bloody red holes in its skull. Its horns have dissolved down to tiny blunt nubs, which is probably the only reason I’m still alive right now.

“Captain!”

Derpy and come rushing over to me with a look of horrid concern. “Dear Celestia, how are you still standing?”

I wipe off a bloody lip. “Get back in there soldier, strike it while it’s still hurka—” I cough up blood and slump against the stone ground.

“Captain, you could have a collapsed lung after a hit like that. Leaving you here could be disastrous.”

I grab at her cloak with what little strength I have and growl in her face. “We need, to hit that son of a bitch right now while it’s still weak. If we wait, it’ll heal and all our efforts will be for nothing. Now get back in there and shove your sword up its ass!”

Derpy stares at me silently like I’m some child begging her on the street.

“Go! Now!” I demand.

She jerks back and dashes off towards the fight. I watch her fly for a moment before I cough and keel over in sheer agony. I crane my neck to look at the battle. Bon-Bon is literally limping towards it. The demon swings a broken hoof at her, and Bon-Bon throws her entire weight behind an ax swing to block it. She actually manages to match the strike, embedding the blade of her ax partially through the hoof. Even as she fights, however, steam rises out of the demon’s wounds and the holes in its flesh begin to seal up. Its face becomes less deformed, its horns grow back into deadly sharp points.

I need to get back in there.

I stand up, gritting my teeth against raw agony, and step forward. One step makes the already searing pain explode. I yelp and collapse down in the street again. I groan, struggling to gain back my breath. I dig my hooves into the borders of the stone and crawl forward, careful not to let the bad side drag against the street.

I feel something crunch beneath my hoof. There’s a shattered bottle on the ground. I must have dropped the Samson wine mid-flight. The dark liquid runs through the cracks in the streets in long slithering lines. There’s still enough for one.

I lower my head to the ground and slurp the wine off the ground. I grimace as I taste grime in the familiar spicy-sweet flavor I’ve come to know. I suck up as much as I can, even lap with my tongue like a cat, until I start to feel it kick in.

The throbbing pain starts to ebb away until I’m completely numb. I still struggle to breathe, but even the effort I exert is numbed. There’s a moment, like the time between a flash of lightning and the roar of thunder, where I can’t feel anything. Then, energy. Raw pent up aggression. My labored breathing becomes rapid and heavy like an enraged tiger, and my arms and legs tense up hard as stone. I grit my teeth and stand up. I pick my silver sabers up off the ground. I pant and snarl like a wild animal then charge forward with a frenzied scream.

The wind whistles in my ear and a thin layer of vapor builds up on my skin. The demon smacks Bon-Bon’s ax to the ground and then lifts up another hoof to finish her off. I leap five yards through the air and slash the demon’s hoof, right through the bend of its knee. It shrieks and flings its wounded hoof back at me. I jump, flip over its flailing hoof, then gash the beast across the cheek. It stumbles back, giving me enough time to launch myself off the ground, stab my blade into its neck, and swing myself up onto its back.

It snarls and bucks furiously, smashing itself against buildings and flailing its whole body to throw me off. I grab on to its gnarled mane tight enough to rip it from its scalp and brace myself against the collapsing stone that rains down on its back. I drive one of my sabers deep into the back of its neck, then swing across and bury the second one into its throat.

The demon howls then jumps high into the air. It twists around, I lose my balance, grip the swords I have lodged in its neck until they come sliding out. I fall several dozen feet through the air. The demon raises its hooves to come crashing down on top of me upon landing. I point my swords to give it one last dying stab when Derpy comes flying across and pulls me out of harm’s way.

The demon lands shortly after we do, punching four gaping holes in the street. It scrapes its hooves in the stone ready to charge again, but I’ve bought my squadron more than enough time to regroup and place themselves in a more advantages position for its charge. They stand behind me, spears raised, weapons drawn.

Derpy tries to put me down behind my agents, still worried about my health. I rip myself out of her hooves and jump over the line of soldiers to the front, screaming in a frenzy

The demon roars like an enraged tiger and charges at us once more. I take aim with my crossbow and fire a bolt straight into the demon’s eye. It shrieks and flails its head. It keeps charging at us but with its head slightly raised, exposing its neck. That’s my opening.

I kick off on my hind legs and launch myself like a boulder from a trebuchet. I thrust both my swords forward and stab them into its throat, slamming them in up to hilts which hit it with the force of a cannonball. It wretches and slows its charge. I twist my blades in and bite the skin of its neck to keep myself from falling. The squadron rushes forward without needing to be told. More than a dozen spears and swords stab into its chest and cut deep into its hooves. The pegasi squad dives in once more, but instead of slashing and waving off like before, they stab and bury their swords deep into the demon’s face and head.

The monster’s charge drags to a crawl. The spearponies slide back on their hooves as they struggle to drive their weapons in deeper. The demon keeps walking, but it does so almost automatically. Its open eye stares up into the sky, looking empty, then scared, and then lifeless.

The two-ton body keels over on its side and several agents need to jump in order to avoid getting crushed. One by one the agents pull their weapons out of the demonic corpse and breath a collective sigh of relief. I remain clamped to the demon’s neck, panting like a dog for several moments, then yank my swords out with a screech.

“Captain…” Derpy approaches staring at me in awe. “How the hell did you do that?”

I snort out a heated breath and answer in a low gravelly tone. “About a shot and a half of Samson wine.”

Her reverent face fades into shocked horror. “You drank what!”

“We can trade stories later chaplain. Right now, Sergeant Bon-Bon needs your help and we also need to sweep the area for any more civvies.”

“No, Captain,” She stands right in front of me and blocks my path. “I don’t think you know how dangerous what you just did is.”

“It was half a shot below the maximum dose,” I spit while pushing her out of the way.

“That’s not the point. You just suffered from massive blunt force trauma to the chest, and then you go and take one of the strongest numbing agents known in Equestria.”

“That’s what numbing agents—are—fugh—” I’m suddenly light headed and fall onto my back. The smoke from the city is swirling above me like stormy clouds, drifting off into nowhere. How delightful.

“Shit! Shit! This is what I was trying to warn you about!” Derpy says. She sounds distressed for some reason. I don’t know. I’m going to rest my eyes now.

“Knife! Goddamnit, somepony get me a knife!”

Pulsing, burning pain drums in my brain. I feel like I just woke up from a three-day bender.

I blink my eyes slowly. My sight adjusts to the ashen skies. Sergeant Bon-Bon sits in front of me. Her robes have been taken off, one of her arms is in a cast and her whole torso is wrapped in bandages. Her head and the left side of her face are also bandaged up, yet she still manages to smirk at me with that unshakable confidence.

“Motholite charge, full force, to the chest,” she says. “Don’t you start trying to outdo me, Captain.”

“What the hell happened?” I groan.

“After you started napping Chaplain Derpy Hooves moved like lightning to bring you back. Stuck a knife in your side, somehow that got you breathing again. Got a unicorn to cast some pretty serious healing spells on you as well. She said you’ll still need surgery after all this, but for now, you won’t die. She was confident enough about that to leave you in my care while she went off treating more wounded.”

“What about the civvies?”

“Rounded up all we could find and guided them out of the city. Now we’re just waiting for the princesses to do their thing.”

There’s a piercing boom and a far off rumble. Ponies scream all around us. I lean my head up and see that we’re in a rocky field overlooking the city. There’s thousands of ponies all around us. Mothers and fathers, foals and elders, paupers and nobles. They stretch on for what seems like miles in a sea of faces. Many of them look up in the same direction, up the sloping mountains towards the city.

Canterlot is in flames. The walls have crumbled, houses flattened, and massive sections of the city are rising with the smoke. The castle still stands, like a blazing jewel atop a melting crown. Flashes of light and fiery death shoot across the sky above it, with little regard for the capital below. The princesses fight on, and the demon still endures.

“How long have they been at it?”

“Little over an hour now. The princesses went full force as soon as all the civvies were evacuated. Now it’s just a matter of wearing the bastard down.”

There’s a bright blast of light as a golden beam shoots across the earth and strikes a large black mass into the ground. Pillars of flame shoot up from the crater it formed and a deafening roar echoes for miles, sending a shiver through everypony who hears it.

“Is it safe to be this close?”

“About as safe as we’re going to get,” answers Bon-Bon. “Scouts have reported demons hiding out in the hills leading away from the city. Some have reported seeing more Motholite demons among them. We can’t risk moving an entire city down there. We’re stretched thin as it is. Better to just hunker down in the safest position we can find and wait for the fight to end.”

I look back at the battle and squint my eyes at the buzzing dots in the distance. The princesses have begun dealing much more damage since we left, beating back the demon with massive, devastating blasts of energy, but the demon never goes down. It almost seems to laugh at them, even when they’re going all out.

The civvies around us stare in silent awe at the battle. Some cheer excitedly, optimistically chanting on the princesses as they fight. Others huddle together, comforting scared loved ones and foals. I notice Chaplain Derpy a short way down the hill attending to some wounded child who smiles at her despite being in obvious pain.

I sigh and rest my head on the ground. “You got a cigarette?”

“Pfft, you shitting me.” She reaches into a bag beside her and pulls out two fat cigars, already cut and wrapped in a regal griffin seal.

“How could I forget. You love to show off.”

She chuckles and lowers the butt of the cigar into my teeth. I roll it around in my mouth while she lights a cedar match and holds it against the end. I let the woodsy hazelnut flavor waft in my mouth for a moment before puffing it out in several thick twisting clouds. The tension that has built up in me over the past hour just melts out. I relax, though I’d still prefer a cigarette. I like to inhale.

I hold the cigar in my hoof for a moment and look over at Bon-Bon. She has just finished lighting her own cigar, holds it to her mouth, and audibly inhales before blowing out the smoke in one long continuous stream.

She sees me glaring at her and gives me a mocking smirk

“Fuck you,” I spit.

She laughs like a fat drunk and snorts smoke out her nostrils. I shake my head and take another puff on my own cigar.

I look back at Canterlot as I puff. Everyone is staring off at the explosions of magic and fire in the sky, worried or anxiously awaiting for their princesses victory. I stare down at the city below the fight, at the crumbled walls, the fallen stone structures, the collapsed homes, the burning streets.

I’ve never seen destruction on a scale such as this. I’ve seen neighborhoods burned, families slaughtered, countless minds and souls broken, but never an entire city destroyed. The demons have always been a terrifying presence, but their capacity for death has always been limited by their distrust of each other and their small numbers. The destruction of a city is something that has never happened in my lifetime, specifically because the Order was always able to band together and strike down any demonic force before they could become strong enough to do it. There has never been a force of demons strong or large enough to sack a city since the arrival of the alicorns. Now, that which entire armies have tried and failed to do has been accomplished largely by one single demon.

Predicting what history will deem significant is often a difficult effort, but this is the exception. I’ve got a horrible prick in my gut that says I’ve only just begun to see the ramifications.

The crowd around us begins to cheer and stomp their hooves into the ground. I move my gaze up and see the demon being restrained in the air by a twisting violet aura of magic. Glowing lights, like stars in the night sky, appear on opposing sides of the demon; one burning golden and the other a luminous ethereal ray. These two lights grow brighter and brighter as the monster struggles within its magic bonds. Then, the two lights shoot massive blasts of magical energy that collide into the demon on both ends.

There’s a blinding explosion that sends a shockwave that can be felt even out here, miles out from the city. The grass is uprooted, foals are knocked to the ground, and the burning end of my cigar is blown out. When the blast dies down there’s nothing but a massive cloud of smoke hovering above the city, which slowly dissipates to reveal an empty sky, devoid of any demons.

The crowd erupts into elated applause, chanting the names of the princesses and praising God with tears in their eyes.

Bon-Bon chuckles and slaps me on the shoulder. “They made it look easy.”

Yeah, they did. I don’t like that.

I stare up at the sky where the demon once was, scanning the horizon, slowly trying to swallow that it could be over just like that. That’s when I see it. High above the city, higher than the princesses celebrating their victory, there’s an unearthly red ring spinning in the sky and glowing like a star. It expands, growing wider and wider, blocking out the smoke, blocking out the sun. Soon it grows big enough for everyone to notice, and the cheering slowly dies out. Within the ring the lines of a pentagram form, with glowing demonic runes within the points of the star. There’s an echoing shriek, like the tormented voice of an infant, and then an explosion of hellish light.

Fiery balls of energy rain down from the pentagram and crash into the city, exploding upon impact. There’s a haunting silence as everyone watches what little remains of their home be decimated into a flat burning wreck. Streaks of light rage within the storm, gold, black, and violet twist dodging around the projectiles. Then objects like whips lash out from the pentagram and strike the streaks of light. There are several thunderous cracks, and then three huge explosions.

I raise my hoof to shield my eyes from the light. I notice beneath the edge of my arms something streaking down from above the city, heading towards us like a fiery comet. Several ponies scream and run farther up the hill. Bon-Bon throws herself on top of me and pushes my head down. The earth shakes and there’s a deafening boom as the object hits the ground. I feel something like rain shower down on us, and I open my eyes to see it is dirt.

Bon-Bon steps off of me slowly and I’m able to look at the mound of earth pushed up into a crater nearby. Ponies slowly rise from the ground, either to run away from or move closer to it. I try to push myself up and trot over to the crater, but there’s a dull pain in my side and my hooves are still weak.

“Hey, don’t be stupid. You’re still in no condition to walk,” says Bon-Bon.

“That could have been one of the princesses. I need to get over there and see this.”

“No, you don’t,” she says. “But, I know better than to think I can talk you out of it.”

She slips her head beneath my forehooves and hoists me onto her back. “Don’t go passing out on me though. I’d like to stay on good terms with our medic.”

I quietly agree and then she carries me over to the crater at a brisk pace. Dozens of ponies have crowded around, with hundreds more observing from a distance. Some of the guards and agents try to wave them back for safety, but most are gawking at what’s resting at the bottom of the crater. Bon-Bon carries me all the way to the edge of the crater and resting dead center of it is Princess Twilight.

Several agents already surround her, including Chaplain Derpy Hooves who frantically takes stock of her wounds. One of her wings is bent at an odd angle and there are peeling black burns running all across her back. She moves a shaking hoof up to her forehead and wipes a streak of blood off it. She looks down at her bloody hoof in horror. Then she looks up and sees the dozens of ponies staring at her in crushed shock.

“Twilight!”

The Princess’s drake assistant comes rushing out of the crowd and hurtling down the crater. Princess Twilight looks at him like a mother just finding her lost foal. She moves several agents out of the way with her magic and opens an arm to embrace him. She holds his crying face against her chest. He asserts repeatedly that she’s dying, and she assures him that she’s not. She stands up, against Derpy’s protests, and casts a spell to wipe away the blood on her face. The drake devolves into sobbing about how worried he was and thinking she was hurt, and the princess holds a hoof against his back.

I think I hear Bon-Bon sniffle in tears at this scene. I can’t help be feel sympathy as well. The drake reminds me of my sister when she’s not being an ass.

The reunion is cut short by another tremor that rips through the earth and another wave of dirt splatters across everyone. Everypony looks over and sees another crater formed in the ground just a short ways away from Twilight’s. There’s a figure that moves in the dust. Princess Twilight approaches the crater horn glowing with violent magic. The dust settles, and everyone gasps when they see Princess Celestia, hunched down in the dirt, blood and scorch marks draped across her body.

Everyone stares in disbelief. Even I’m shocked to see our most powerful ruler in such a state. Celestia struggles to stand. She quickly takes stock of the dozens of horrified expression staring at her and addresses them all with a waving hoof and calm smile.

The wave of relief that washes over the crowd is tangible. The citizens begin bowing toward their ruler. Bon-Bon does so as best she can without dropping me, and I do the closest thing to bowing I can while slung over her back. Princess Twilight begins to bow too but stands up at the last moment.

Celestia beams up at us all. Then a third shockwave hits right behind her. Celestia is thrown forward, but manages to catch her balance and turns back with a violent glow surrounding her horn. The dust settles, a massive figure begins to emerge. Ponies scream as the hulking black demon comes into view. It crouches low to the ground, and yet still towers three stories over the princess. It stares down at her with swirling fiery eyes, and between its grinning jaws lays Grand Master Luna, her hooves hanging limp, and her head bobbing ever so slightly with the faintest signs of life.

The aggressive light surrounding Princess Celestia’s horn instantly fades. She stands stone still, staring up silently at her unconscious sister. The demon chuckles and spits Luna out into its claw.

“This has been an extraordinary game you’ve played Celestia, but I grow bored. Either start cooperating with me, or I shall begin playing a game of my own. I warn you though, my games are of a much more intimate nature than yours.”

It holds Luna upside down in its grip then raises her up to its snout and takes a loud snorting sniff between her legs.

The crowd screams in horror. Bon-Bon jerks beneath me and I need to wrap my hoof around her neck to stop her from going on a suicide charge. Celestia’s horn lights up once again with burning magical light.

“Release her this instant or swear by all heaven I’ll—”

“Do what?” the demon chides. “Sick your indomitable elements of harmony on me?”

It lifts Luna’s legs up to its face again, making an elegant smirk like its sniffing the scent from a wine glass. I can hear Bon-Bon grinding her teeth. I’m almost tempted to let her charge, but I know that’ll end with her flattened into the ground.

“Your one trump card is miles away in some tiny farming village, doubtlessly fellating the importance of being there for friends when they need you most.”

Princess Twilight’s bent wing furls aggressively.

“Meanwhile, your best efforts against me have only succeeded in granting me some mild titillation. It was exciting for a time, but I’m beyond erect at this point and aching for release. So I offer you a choice once more. Come with me, hear what I have to say, and no more harm will come to your subjects or your sister. Resist, and I will defile your sister before your very eyes, in front of all of your citizens. And if you still refuse after that, I shall peel each individual layer of skin off her body, one at a time, until she dies of shock. Then I shall incinerate all of your subjects. Make your choice. Either one will bring great pleasure to me.”

Celestia snaps her teeth shut like a dog. Everypony stares at her in haunted silence. She stares up at the demon with a fury I’ve only seen on cornered hellspawn, or unveiled cultists. The demon holds Luna up with one hand and then spreads her legs with the other. Its narrow black tongue slithers out between its pursed lips and snakes down towards the Grand Master’s legs. Celestia is visibly shaking and baring her teeth.

I hold my breath, realizing with a quiver that fighting at this point is useless.

“Stop! You win!” Celestia shouts.

I grit my teeth and shut my eyes. The Princess must have realized it too. It’s a relief to see she’s being smart, though it’s the kind of relief one gets from pulling a shard of glass out of your leg.

Her intelligence is not noticed by everyone else watching. Ponies cry and beg Celestia not to do it. The demon doesn’t say a word, only lowers the back of its claw flat against the ground allowing Celestia to step inside its open palm, and then raises her up to chest level.

Princess Twilight shoots forward, limping down the crater, screaming hysterically. “Celestia, don’t do this! We can get the elements up here! We can’t surrender!”

Celestia looks back at her with a look in her eyes that scares me more than anything, genuine fear and insecurity. “We’re not surrendering Twilight! I have to go in order to keep my subjects safe. You must take up the throne in my stead. You must lead Equestria now!”

Princess Twilight freezes in her advance, seemingly petrified by what she heard. “No. Princess, we need you! I can’t lead Equestria on my own!”

“There’s no time Twilight!”

The demon snaps its fingers and a gigantic twisting black portal appears behind it. It turns to walk through it. Princess Twilight stares at the hulking beast and clenches her tearful eyes shut. When she opens them again they’re glowing a pure ethereal white.

“No! I won’t let this happen!”

Her voice echoes and massive swirling tendrils of light encircle her horn, fragments of magic so powerful they suck the breath from my lungs. Ponies around us either step back in awe or cheer in delight. The demon looks back at her expressionless.

“I’ll defend Equestria, and I’ll defend yo—”

There’s a venomous sound, the bellow of death. The demon’s eyes pulse with twisting hellish flame. Princess Twilight falls to the ground, her chest jerking and limbs flailing like she’s having a seizure.

“Twilight!” Celestia almost jumps down to her, but the demon curls its claws to form a cage.

“Calm yourself,” the demon says. “She will survive, though I foresee many sleepless nights for that one, for more than one reason.”

The monster howls laughter like cracking lightning, then turns back toward the portal. “Come, we have a celebration to prepare.”

Bon-Bon, as well as all the other soldiers, guards, and agents alike, watch with tightened hooves as the monster vanishes into the darkness with Princess Celestia and Luna. My gaze is turned down toward the bottom of the crater. There, jerking and rolling in the hard soil, being attended to by Chaplain Derpy and several civvie doctors, our de facto leader and Princess writhes. The student Celestia herself chose to be her successor.

I look back up at the portal, desperate to ask when she was supposed to take up her own throne, but Celestia is already gone. The portal fades and behind it Canterlot burns.

Chapter 3: Lust and Desire

I can’t control my dream.

I concentrate again on picturing the fireplace in my parent’s living room. I visualize the various family photos lining the rosewood mantelpiece, the broken mahogany clock that was handed down from our great-grandparents, and the cozy blue rug on the ground before it where my father and I would take turns reading to each other when I was young. I take care to picture it in perfect minute detail, yet no matter how hard I try I can’t get it to appear. It’s the most vibrant image of my childhood, getting it to appear in a dream should be something I can pull off without thinking. Yet, every time I try, nothing.

I’ve been experimenting with lucid dreaming ever since I was a filly. By the time I was a teenager I was able to float through my dreams, change entire landscapes, and recreate elaborate scenes from Frankenhoof, Buckula, or whatever pieces of horror literature I was reading at the time. Princess Luna herself was impressed with my skill at dream manipulation. I should be able to wake myself up at the very least. So why I am having so much trouble?

“Hail, Princess Twilight!”

I jump at the choir of voices. There’s an ocean of ponies behind me, a sea of faces that floods the streets of Canterlot, every winding zig-zagged street, as well as the cartoonishly high rooftops, and the violet colored clouds. I see my friends, rather my dream friends lined up in a row at the front. Dream Rainbow Dash and Dream Fluttershy are standing with their wings spread to their fullest extent and smiling with barely contained excitement. Dream Pinkie Pie makes no attempt to contain her excitement, bouncing up and down like she’s on a trampoline and declaring ‘I can’t wait, I can’t wait’, over and over again. Dream Applejack stands with her front hooves crossed and smirking confidently, much more contained than the others, and Dream Rarity applies a bit of eyeliner to her face like she’s preparing to go out on a date.

I smile nervously and wave. “Hey, girls, what’s with this huge crowd?”

“What, you don’t remember?” Dream Rainbow says like she’s offended. “It’s your coronation Twilight. You’re taking Princess Celestia’s place on the throne.”

She points her hoof up toward a towering violet staircase in the middle of the city, at the top of which rests an empty purple throne. Princess Celestia’s crown and regalia hang from the backrest.

“We’re throwing you a super huge, super special, coronation party Twilight!” says Dream Pinkie. “I invited everypony I knew, and told them to invite everypony they knew, and everypony they’ve only met a few short times in their lives. I can’t wait to get it started. Hail Princess Twilight!”

“Hail Princess Twilight!” the crowd chants.

Thousands of excited purple eyes stare down at me with expectant smiles. This is starting to head into nightmare territory, literally. Better change it quick.

I close my eyes and focus intently on imagining that scene from Count Buckula I always use to recreate in my dreams as a teenager, the one where the count’s three daughters are outside Rush Trotter’s room and are trying to coax him out, all while Trotter himself is giving every excuse he can think to stay in while he sneaks out the window. I almost feel like I’m inside that cold castle bedroom until I open my eyes and see the thousands of ponies still staring at me with thousands of purple eyes.

“Hail Princess Twilight!”

I’ve been dabbling with lucid dreaming since I was a filly. Princess Luna was impressed by how well I controlled my dreams. What the hell is going on?

Stop. Deep breath. You’re getting nervous. Bad emotions always bring on bad dreams. Just wake yourself up. You can go to Princess Luna and ask her questions about this later.

“Hail Princess Twilight!”

“Come on sugar cube. Let's get you up there on that fancy new throne already,” says Dream Applejack.

I face the crowd with a forced smile. “Thanks everypony, but this is all just a dream. I’m not actually about to take Celestia’s crown, because I’m going to wake up soon and be back in the real world.”

They all look at me confused, but continue smiling like a made a joke.

“What are you talking about sugar cube?”

“Yeah, you uh, seem pretty awake to me,” says Dream Fluttershy.

“No, I mean this is a dream. You’re all a dream. None of this is real, and now I’m going to wake up soon.”

“But I can’t wait,” Dream Pinkie says disappointedly.

I shake my head and wait a few moments. Then a few moments longer. Nothing happens. Things don’t fade away. The rising feeling I’d normally get when I’m about to wake up never comes.

Something isn’t right. Acknowledging that you are dreaming out loud is usually the quickest way to wake up. It’s worked every time I’ve done it in the past, there’s no reason it shouldn’t be working now. I am actually dreaming, right? Yes, I have to be. The way those roads twist and zig-zag make no logical sense, it is physically impossible for buildings to go that high, and no weather phenomenon I am aware of could ever make things this purple.

I think for a moment and remember back to the most recent time I knew I was awake. Was there anything unusual going on? I was studying this morning, fiddling with translation spells, talked with Spike, toured the Order facility with Luna, met that rude Captain, had that conversation with Celestia in the garden, and then—

The air in my lungs freezes.

The Demon. The city. Princess Celestia and Luna! No! No, no, no! I’m not asleep. I’m unconscious! This is bad. This is very, very bad! Canterlot has been destroyed, both Princess Celestia and Luna have been kidnapped, she left me in charge of everything, and I’m passed out on the ground not able to do a Luna damned thing!

Oh, Luna! Oh, Celestia! What do I do? I’ve never had to wake myself up from getting knocked out. Is that even possible? Oh Luna, what if I’m in a coma and I’ll only wake up thirty years from now after all of Equestria has been destroyed? I’m the only princess left! Who’s going to rule the nation? Oh Celestia, what do I do?

“Hail, Princess Twilight! Hail, Princess Twilight!”

I jam my hoof into my chest to stop myself from hyperventilating. I look back at my dream friends and the dream crowd and nearly scream.

“Stop! Just stop! I’m not supposed to be here! I’m not your princess!”

I fly straight up, flapping my wings as hard as I can. I fly past the cheering pegasi in the clouds, higher and higher, what feels like miles above the purple tinted city. If I flew high enough in other dreams I’d eventually wake up. That doesn’t happen this time. I just keep going higher into the violet sky, and then suddenly I can’t fly anymore. I fall. I panic and flap my wings, but it’s like there’s no air or wind resistance. My wings catch nothing and I just plummet to the ground faster than I came up. I hit the stone streets. I feel no pain, except for the shouting voices.

“Hail Princess Twilight! Hail Princess Twilight!”

“Shut up!”

I conjure up an energy spell and fire a laser beam at the twisting knotted buildings. It doesn’t make a dent. I fire explosions, lightning, fire, I try to uproot the very stonework of the streets with levitation, but it’s like playing tug-of-war with a giant. My levitation spell breaks and I fall on my back from the force.

“Hail Princess Twilight! Hail Princess Twilight!”

“I said stop!” I shout. “I told you I’m not your princess. I’m the princess out in the real world! Not in here, not in a dream! I need to get out of here. I need to see my real friends and my real subjects. They’re the ones that need me now!”

“Hail Princess Twilight!”

It’s like they can’t even hear me. Maybe they actually can’t. Oh Celestia, is this how things are going to be? Am I trapped inside my own subconscious? Unable to escape and doomed to be tormented by my own fears and guilt? That’s it isn’t it. I’m stuck here with these fake ponies while all the real ones are out there suffering, helpless, without a princess to guide them.

I feel like an ocean just crashed down on my shoulders. I collapse on the ground and bury my face in my hooves. Here lies Princess Twilight. She was crowned for two weeks, did nothing, helped no one, and left all of her citizens to die.

Tears stream down my face as I whimper into my hooves. Hoof steps vibrate an inch away from me.

“Hey, come on now sugar cube. There ain’t nothing to be sniffling about.”

I sniff in a snotty nose. “Go away!”

“Don’t talk to her like that,” Dream Rainbow demands. “We’re your friends Twilight, we’re just trying to be there for you like good friends should.”

“You’re dreams! Not real!” I shout clutching the stone beneath me. “You’re figments of my own mind. My real friends can’t help me right now.”

“Oh, now that simply is not true,” Dream Rarity states. “You have the most loyal and devoted friends anypony could ever ask for. Why your friends would follow you into the heart of dragon country, they would fight a changeling army by your side, they would be there for whatever problem or worry you had darling. And ensure you looked fabulous while dealing with it I should add.”

I remain buried on the ground, but then slowly crane my head up at Dream Rarity. I stare at her for at least ten uninterrupted moments of silence. The panic and frustration are blown away by the gust of one realization.

“You’re right. You’re actually one hundred percent right. Everyone here might be a dream, but my real friends are out there, and they’ll do everything they can to get me out of this, and even if they can’t they’ll still do everything to fight this demon. They’ll still save Equestria.”

“Exactly,” Dream Rainbow shouts. “Did you honestly think for a second I’d pass up a chance to kick this demon’s butt after everything it did to you? No way, I’ll hunt down that creep myself if I have to.”

“After we come by and patch you up Twilight,” says Dream Applejack.

“And throw a party for your coronation!” shouts Dream Pinkie.

“We’ll always be there to support you Twilight,” says Dream Fluttershy.

“We all have your back, your majesty.” One of the dream royal guards speaks, making a salute in my direction.

“The entire nation is behind you!” somepony shouts from the crowd, before they all scream out, “Hail Princess Twilight! Hail Princess Twilight!”

They all start chanting again, but this time I feel honored and blessed, knowing that it could easily be coming from all them in the real world. I stand up and wipe the tears from my eyes.

“Thank you so much everypony.”

“Don’t mention it sugar cube.”

Me and Applejack smile at each other.

“Alright then,” she shouts. “Let’s get this coronation celebration underway!”

She reaches behind my neck and pulls me into a deep kiss. My eyes burst open like popcorn kernels. I’m so confused I can’t even move for a moment. Then she starts sucking on my lip and tries to slip her tongue inside.

“Whoa, whoa, what are you doing?” I push away from her, breaking a string of saliva that connects our lips.

Applejack looks at me with sultry eyes. My heart flutters like a frightened bird.

“We’re celebrating your coronation Twilight, by showing our love and devotion to our newest Princess.”

“Yes, I’ve been waiting too long!” screams Pinkie. “Come here, butter buns.”

She launches herself at Fluttershy, tackling the timid mare to the ground and pushing her into a noisy, sloppy make-out session.

I’m still processing Applejack’s kiss while I’m looking at this insanity, and then I look around and notice that everypony is getting intimate with each other. Rainbow Dash and Rarity have found some stallions in the crowd and passionately trade saliva while guiding their hooves all over their bodies. Every citizen and guard have found a partner and are going at it in varying degrees of intensity. They kiss, lick, touch, grab, rub, hug, and oh wow, those two are straight up having sex.

I stare at the girthy dark blue stallion as he slips it into a panting Lemon Hearts with her forehooves pressed up against a wall. Wisps of mist appear before me, a purple haze that smells of cherry blossoms and strawberries. My body tingles at the scent. I feel a pair of hooves rest on my shoulders. I look and see Applejack’s lips a mere three inches away from mine.

“Pardon me being all forward like, I tend to take the initiative on these things. We can go as fast or slow as you’d like, Princess.”

Her eyes are a shade of purple. I stare into those lustful irises for a moment feeling my throat tighten up. I’m about to ask her what’s gotten into everypony when I suddenly recall as if discovering for the first time, that I’m in a dream. My own dream, that I control, or at least should be controlling. I am dreaming that they are doing these things. Why am I dreaming this!

I’ve never thought of my friends in this manner before. Sure, I’ve occasionally indulged myself in the privacy of my own bedroom, but I never fantasized about my friends. It just seems so inappropriate. Yet, I can’t deny that there is a part of me that isn’t averse to the proposition. The parts low in my stomach that feel like they could burst just looking into Applejack’s wanting eyes, and my lips that honestly liked the fiery roughness of her kiss.

Not my brain though. My brain checked out and flew away from this situation long ago.

I close my eyes for a moment and try once more to reign in my own dreams, and bring some order to the situation. That’s when I feel two heated breaths against my cheeks. I look and see two dream stallions, in purple guard armor, standing on both sides of me. Their faces are inches away from mine, and they stare solemnly at my eyes.

“We are yours to command Princess Twilight,” they say in unison. “Any want or desire you have we are duty bound to satisfy.”

Holy hay, their voices are so deep, like a drum. Why did these two show up now? I was trying to make things better, this makes it infinitely worse.

I try to concentrate on making it go away again, but I can’t look away. I’ve always had a thing for guard ponies, and especially guard stallions. Even as a young filly there was just something about that gleaming armor and those gallant looks that just drew me to them. When I got older, I had to admit there was something about the look that made stallions just seem so, virile, for lack of a better word.

The dream guards kiss my cheeks at the same time. The suddenness makes my stomach soar and I get a dopey smile. Dream Applejack kisses me on the neck and slowly plants kisses down, further toward my chest. The two guards take my forehooves and help me stand on my hind legs so Dream Applejack can get further down, all while they continue to kiss my pulsing red face.

I try to regain some sense of focus, but the whole atmosphere has become intoxicating. Ponies moan and gasp in pleasure all around us. Everypony has moved passed kissing at this point and is engaged in debauchery of one form or another. Dream Pinkie and Dream Fluttershy are in a group of three other mares, all eating each other out. Dream Rainbow is riding a dark earth pony stallion into the ground while servicing two others with her wings. Dream Rarity is using her magic to stimulate even more stallions while a younger one licks at her privates. All around me there’s daisy chains and gangbangs and bukkakkies, and loads of other activities others would be shocked to discover that I even know about.

Seeing my friends in this manner is disorienting, and I have to wonder where all these thoughts came from. Dream Applejack continues to kiss me lower, descending past my stomach and showing no signs of stopping. The two dream guards are massaging the base of my wings, which are embarrassingly extended out in a stiff erect fashion.

I swallow my breath and try to fold my wings back down. Come on Twilight, get yourself under control. You need to find a way to wake up from this. Equestria is in a crisis right now. They need their princess. You can’t waste time on this. You can have all the time in the world to experiment like this later.

My eyes flutter open as a thought suddenly strikes me. I have attempted to experiment like this in dreams before. Nothing to this degree, and nothing involving friends, but I have tried similarly questionable acts in past dreams and they all ended the same way; with me waking up sweaty and disappointed. There’d be some foreplay, a bit of fooling around, maybe even some penetration, but I’d always get to a certain degree of excitement where my brain couldn’t contain it, and then the dream would end. Maybe, it’ll be the same this time. If I go through with this I might just wake up.

I shake my head. Come on Twilight, you know there’s a dozen other ways you could wake yourself up beside this. The only reason you’re even considering it is because you want to titillate yourself. Besides, you’d be literally fantasizing about Applejack and all of your friends for that matter. Wouldn’t that be a tiny bit awkward?

Applejack kisses the outside of my folds. I gasp loudly as a bolt of lightning shoots up my spine, and my wings twitch sharply. I look down and meet her purple eyes, staring up at me from between my thighs. She smiles teasingly and then plants another, longer, kiss in the same spot. I exhale a shudder and let my neck go lax, as she kisses me there again and again.

Whatever awkwardness I may feel is drowned out by the torturous pleasure. Okay, on the other hoof, it really wouldn’t hurt to try. If I wake up, great. If I don’t… screw it. I want this.

I lift one of my forehooves away from the guard and push Applejack’s head into my snatch. She blinks up at me for a moment, but then chuckles, and licks my entrance. I moan without restraint and push my hips against her snout. I see a flash of pure purple for a moment as she spreads me open and slides her tongue inside.

I’ve never thought of Applejack in this manner before, but now that I am my head runs wild with it. Such a hard worker, always attending her farm. I bet she gets really pent up working outside all the time, bet she uses whatever time she gets to blow off steam. I could see her using her tongue on all manner of mares and stallions. I bet she has tons of experience. Maybe she gets off on the taste. Maybe she laps it up like cider, can’t get enough of it, gets addicted to it like liquor, drinks it down like wine, oh fuck yes!

She buries her tongue deep inside me. I let my mouth hang open and let out a long perpetual moan. One of the guards takes this opportunity to slip his tongue in my mouth. I oblige him with my own tongue, and we dance against each other with me taking the lead. I feel something firm and warm bump against my stomach, and I see that my guards are both fully erect and aching to get some relief of their own. I happily answer their call, using my magic to stimulate them both. They breathe heavily against my face.

I give Applejack a few gentle taps on the head. She looks up from my legs and I separate myself from the guard's mouth, panting and trembling like a tired foal.

“Let’s take these boys for a ride,” I suggest.

Applejack smiles up at me. “I like the way you think sugar cube.”

She stands up from between my legs and the guards lower me back down on my four hooves. They get behind us, ready to mount, but I take them with my levitation and set them on their backs. I space them with their legs just a few inches apart from each other. Me and Applejack position ourselves so we’re facing each other positioned right over the heads of their thick stiff members. We place our hooves on each other’s shoulders and look into each other’s eyes. Her purple irises almost seem to shine. We maintain this eye contact as we lower ourselves down. I feel the head push against my entrance. It spreads me open. I bite my lip and Applejack moans aloud. There’s a few more agonizing moments of resistance, and then they both slide inside.

I nearly scream from the pleasure as I feel my rump touch the guard stallion’s hips. Me and Applejack pant and moan for a while as we adjust to the overwhelming fullness. Then we look at each other and lock lips as we begin lifting ourselves up and down.

This is certainly the farthest I’ve ever gotten in a dream. It’s certainly too good to be anything but a dream; it didn’t hurt for a second. I almost don’t want to wake up now.

Me and Applejack use each other for balance as we quicken our pace, moaning into each other’s mouths. Swirling colors of purple surround us, and the moans and cries from the ponies mating everywhere harmonize with our own. The guards begin to moan as well and thrust their hips up in time with our humping. The pleasure builds and builds until I feel I could almost burst from it all. Then, it explodes. My whole lower body clenches up and a warm liquid rushes down my legs. I scream out loud and feel the stallion fire off inside me, his warm seed pelting my insides. My innards clench and spasm around his cock sending waves of electric pleasure again and again, before finally dying down.

I slump back into the guard’s chest as his final bursts of passion fire off inside me. Applejack lets out a ‘yeehaw’ as her own orgasm hits. Her guard lasts for a few moments after she finishes, and when he cums Applejack pulls out of him and jerks him off, aiming it so his seed shoots across all over my body. I shield my eyes as the sticky white chunks pelt my chest and stomach. I glare at Applejack a moment, but she just laughs and lowers herself on me, smearing the semen between our chests.

“You know, I reckon there ain’t nothing in this wide world, hotter than a cute mare lyin in pleasure after she finishes.”

My cheeks turn bright red. She smiles and lowers her lips to mine.

“Hey, we want a turn with Princess Twilight.”

I look over and see my friends and several other ponies standing before us. Many of them are coated in the juices of recently finished lovemaking. I stare at Rainbow and Rarity in particular, with raised eyebrows.

“Wait, I thought you two were only into stallions.”

“What? We can experiment if we want,” Rainbow shoots.

“Exactly,” Rarity agrees. “Besides, we’re here to show our devotion to the Princess. It only makes sense to show that devotion in the most direct and explicit manner possible.”

I’m still weirded out by this turn of events, but I remind myself, once again, that it’s a dream. Pretty much anything goes in here I suppose.

“Alright, if you insist.”

“Awesome. Scoot over Applejack.” Rainbow shoves her off and lands her hooves standing directly over me. “Let me show you who the best fucker in Equestria really is.”

She dives her tongue into my mouth and I don’t even try to take the lead. She’s much more aggressive than Applejack, grinding our mounds together and grabbing my butt tightly. I love it. I feel the guard’s cock become stiff inside of me once more and another guard comes up behind Rainbow and mounts her. We moan into each others lips as we make out sandwiched between two guards.

Things spiral on like this for what feels like hours. Everything becomes a stupor lust filled haze of moaning, fucking, and bodily fluids. I try so many new things it’s dizzying to keep track. Pinkie and Fluttershy pull me into a small army of mares that lick over every inch of my body, including the parts damp with stallion seed, and grind their pussies against mine until we squeal in orgasmic delight. Rainbow Dash teaches me how to use my wings to pleasure stallions, and I learn how much I love the feeling of their seed running through my feathers. Me and Rarity experiment with various ways to use magic to stimulate each other. I try my first experience with anal, letting some hunk of a royal guard push into me and shudder at the alien sensation.

I bring myself to climax so many times that by all logic I should be passed out and sore from it all, yet I keep going. I fuck dozens upon dozens of ponies, stallions and mares, and royal guards, so many royal guards.

I lose feeling in my legs at some point and just collapse backward against my latest guard stallion as he finishes inside me. I’m so spent I feel like I could lay down right here and fall asleep inside my dream, even though I know that’s impossible.

I look towards the purple sky, see that the sun has moved halfway across and realize with shame how badly I’ve lost track of time. It should’ve been clear that this wasn’t going to wake me up after the first round, yet I stayed and completely surrendered to my own carnal desires when I could’ve been looking for other ways to wake myself up. I swing my hooves up to my face, splashing my forehead with semen in doing so.

I roll off the guard’s chest and stand on wobbly legs. My wings, at least, are somewhat more stable.

“Where are you going Twilight?” Dream Pinkie Pie calls as she’s gets licked by three mares at the same time. “We still have all day to celebrate.”

I shake my head. “Sorry girls, but I need to leave now. Equestria is still in danger, and I’ve wasted enough time here as it is. Besides, I really don’t think I could go another round. My privates are starting to go numb with all this activity.”

“Tapping out already,” says Dream Rainbow Dash, landing in front of me sweaty, wet, and with a shaggy mane. “I thought that Alicorns were supposed to be the strongest most powerful ponies in all of Equestria.”

“I don’t think this is what most ponies have in mind when they say that.”

“Oh come on Twilight, you haven’t even gone a round with the big guy yet,” Dream Pinkie says.

“Who?” I ask.

“The big guy,” Dream Pinkie shouts. “Ozzy! Princesses Twilight wants a turn!”

Everyone suddenly turns towards a guard stallion who’s almost as big as Princess Celestia. He wears thick plated armor and beneath him lays Dream Fluttershy, writhing and squealing in pleasure as he piledrives her without mercy. I’m not sure what I find more surprising, Dream Fluttershy with a stallion or the fact that she seems to be enjoying such rough treatment. Her hips suddenly jerk and convulse violently as she screams out so loudly I’m actually afraid she might be in pain. It doesn’t calm me in the least bit when the stallion pulls out of her and lets her hips smack limp against the ground, leaving her moaning in post-coital bliss. The stallion turns toward me.

I turn into a block of stone under that gaze. I can’t even see his eyes, yet I can feel him staring at me behind that dark curtain of mane; it’s like sunlight focused to a searing point through a magnifying glass. He approaches slowly, calmly, never taking his eyes off me. Ponies step aside to make way for him. No one says a word as he approaches, no one even moves. I can’t help but think there’s something vaguely familiar about this stallion, though I’ve never seen somepony like him before. Then I notice the astoundingly large member hanging beneath his body, stiff and drooling like the venom of a snake. It’s almost scary, yet I can’t take my eyes off it.

He stops just a few inches away from me, and I realize I’m still looking directly at his penis. I shift my gaze up and he snorts a breath down on my face. I struggle to find my voice. “I’m— I’m sorry, but I can’t stay here any longer. I need to go—”

He spins me around so he’s facing my back and then lifts his forehooves onto my shoulders.

“Whoa, hey! Stop that! I said I can’t—”

He enters into me. I orgasm almost immediately.

The sudden burst of pleasure shocks my system to such an extent that I can barely breathe. I lock my hooves out to maintain balance and pant rapidly with my face towards the ground, my eyes open and unblinking at the white covered stone. He stays still long enough for me to finish riding the intensity of my orgasm. Then he pulls back, and I orgasm again.

He starts thrusting slowly and I can’t even form a coherent sentence. When my second orgasm begins to subside I only get a few moments of rest before the third one hits. I feel like my brain is about to melt out my ears each time I cum.

Dear Celestia, how is he doing this? This shouldn’t be possible. It makes no biological sense. How can I— Oh, hell, it’s a dream, just roll with it.

I push myself back against his force as he begins quickening his pace. He keeps giving me this impossible pleasure for several minutes, and then I feel his member twitch as he fires off a massive load inside me, filling me several times over with his seed spilling out onto the ground beneath us.

It takes me twelve seconds to catch my breath after it’s all done. I look back at him with awe. “Dear Luna, that was just—”

He pushes a hoof down on the back of my head, pressing my face hard against the stone streets, and starts pumping in and out of me like a piston. The result is a pleasure so powerful and overwhelming I lack the words to describe it. It never stops. I devolve into a writhing wet mess, babbling incoherent nonsense and pleasured screams.

I feel him shoot off inside again. My legs buckle and give out from under me. I lie on my stomach cooing softly with tears in my eyes.

“Oh my gosh. That was… what was that?” I sigh in disbelief.

The stallion throws off his helmet, letting it clank on the stone ground next to me. He rests his huge chest against my back, nuzzles the side of my cheek, and says with his breath burning on my ear. “A greeting present.”

My heart stops. That voice. I’ve only heard that voice a few times, but I recognize it with crystal clarity.

My head trembles as I turn to look. His eyes are faintly visible from this angle. I see them between the narrow openings of his mane, above his carnivorous grin. They’re not purple like everyone else. They glow red and twist like burrowing rings of flames.

Adrenaline kicks in and I start casting a teleportation spell. The demon thrusts inside of me. I gasp in panic. Pleasure ripples through me, so strong I barely have the concentration to think much less cast spells. I cry out for help, twisting my head in all directions, but my friends are gone. There’s no pony in sight. I’m all alone. I claw at the paved stone to try and pull myself out. It pins my hooves to the ground and bites down on my ear. I yelp and wriggle against him, pushing and twisting in ways that only serve to help it thrust deeper into me.

I stain the ground with tears and my own juices. With no other options, I lay my face against the ground and sob uncontrollably, as each pump sends a wave of unwanted pleasure that makes me nauseous to my very core. I feel the end coming. My stomach twists and tightens like something is tugging on both ends and it’s about to rip in half. I only want it all to be over. Then I cum, and the demon cums with me. I make something between a sob and a moan as I feel its horrid seed pour inside.

It’s length burns within me. It stays hard even after the orgasm, and I’m clenched painfully around it. It grabs my arm and turns me over onto my back. My teary eyes tremble open and I see the monster staring down at me, its smile as sharp as a dagger.

“Oh, what’s wrong? Not one minute ago you were enjoying this, having the time of your life.”

It pushes forward, more slowly this time. I clench my teeth and squeeze my eyes shut, yet I still shudder.

“You, tricked me,” I exhale. “You made me think you were somepony else. You’re the reason everypony is like this. You put these thoughts in my head!”

I’m yelling at the monster by the end. It only laughs and pushes in deeper. “You give me too much credit princess. Sure, I may have been misleading with my new appearance, but these thoughts, these fantasies, they were birthed from your imagination, not mine. I merely dug them out of your subconscious and brought them to the forefront of your mind.”

“Liar! I’ve never thought of my friends this way before, and I never would!”

“Oh?” The demon pauses mid thrust and leans down so close to me I can smell its smoky breath. “Then did I simply imagine the part where you gave into these desires on the flimsiest of pretexts?”

The coil tightens in my chest. I squeeze my eyes and lips shut then scream as I fire a magic laser point blank into its face. Smoke stings my nostrils and I try to wriggle up, but the demon’s weight is still on top of me, still inside me. When the smoke clears it’s still staring down at me with a grin. It didn’t budge. It didn’t even blink.

Tears well within my eyes. The demon begins thrusting again and the pleasure returns tinged with shame and guilt. I close my eyes and ball into my hooves.

“Aw, don’t be ashamed Princess,” the demon mocks. “You of all ponies should know such feelings are completely natural. Besides, of the countless fetishes and secret desires I’ve encountered in my long, long existence, unabashed hedonism ranks very low in terms of perversity.”

I feel its tongue, rough and boiling wet, lapping at my tears. “It is certainly miles below my own perversions.”

It chuckles coldly and thrusts into me harder as if to emphasize its own deviance. I grit my teeth. My hips shake. I climax. Why am I still aroused? This is wrong. This shouldn’t be happening at all.

I choke back the tears and whimper. “Why are you doing this? What do you want?”

It smirks down at me as if I were a child asking a naive question. “What I want, I will get, in due time. It is merely a matter of patience. The reason I’m here is to amuse myself while I wait.”

My heartbeat slows to a crawl. That’s all? Just a distraction? No, there has to be more to it. This can’t be happening for no reason.

“Oh, that’s the look I live for,” the demon moans. “That look of absolute shock, horror, and lust.”

“I’m not enjoying this!” I scream.

“I never said you were princess. Don’t conflate lust with desire. You’ll only torture yourself with such misconceptions.”

It thrusts in slow and deep. Its hoof reaches down and rubs my winking clit. I shiver as a horrible pleasure shoots through me.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“You’ll figure it out. You’ll be thinking about it for a long time after this. For now, just take solace in the fact that you have absolutely no control, not even over yourself.”

Its hips smack against my own. I yelp as it quickens its pace. I try to scream, but it grabs my throat and holds my eyes to meet its own.

“My capacity to hurt you is rather limited in here. Can’t get you pregnant, can’t give you a disease, can’t even do any real damage. I suppose I could make it painful for you rather than pleasurable, but something tells me you might prefer that.”

It chuckles a sick laugh and tightens its grip. I gargle out a choked cry. I pry at its arm trying to make some room to breathe. It holds me like this for several minutes. I feel the pleasure return again, like a haunting specter I can’t expel. It tortures me, gnawing at my gut like a ravenous animal.

“Yes, you have it easy in here. Consider yourself lucky, I guarantee you that your friends will not have the same luxury.”

Panic knocks the wind out of me. My whole body goes numb and for a moment I feel nothing but freezing terror and the pointed stare of the demon.

“Their cunts are gonna look like jigsaw puzzles when I’m done with them. Perhaps I’ll impregnate them, give each one their own little demonic hellspawn. Fun fact, when mortals give birth to demons, in about one in five cases, the newborns will tear straight through the stomach and feast upon their own mother’s blood. I wonder which of your friends would get the lucky bastard.”

The demon cums inside. My own orgasm shakes me from my stupor. I twitch and cry in a combination of sheer terror and shame-filled ecstasy. The demon grunts and forces itself in as deep as it can. When its orgasm subsides it exhales a snorting breath and slowly pulls out, for the first time since it started.

I whimper pathetically on the ground. The demon lies down next to me. Its breath stings my cheeks and its hooves move down to my genitals. I don’t even try to stop it.

“Please, leave my friends out of this. Do what you want with me, but just leave them alone. They have nothing to do with this.”

“You know that’s not true, not unless they have no intention of trying to stop me.”

There’s a collapsing feeling in my chest, and my head shakes as I pour out more tears. The demon wraps its arms around me and kisses my forehead in some twisted mockery of a lover.

“You ponies look so cute when you’re terrified.”

The demon’s hoof is on my chest, and suddenly I feel it lift me up. With one hoof it pushes me up into the air and I float into the sky. I’m lighter than air, and there’s a tingling feeling in the back of my head.

I look down at the demon to see it waving at me, and all around it, I see a hellish version of Canterlot. Buildings torn down and burning, bodies hanging mutilated from gas lamps, the stone streets turned into canals of blood. I fly higher away from this tortured city crying and screaming into the lonely void.

Chapter 4: Trauma

My eyes burn as if they’ve been submerged in acid. There’s a heavy weight on my chest. I have a ringing headache, and I feel as if I’m about to vomit. Parting my eyelids makes the burning worse, so I blink them open slowly, bit by bit. The room is dimly lit. There’s no sign of haze, blur, or out of place objects. I’m awake, but am I safe?

“Please bring her back. Please bring her back.”

I hear two voices beside me that cause my throat to tighten up like a clamp. I turn my head slowly, carefully towards the voices. Spike is standing right at the edge of my bed. Next to him is a grey pegasus wearing Order robes. Spike has his elbows propped up on the edge of my bed and prays with tears leaking through his clenched eyes. The pegasus stands behind him with her hoof on his shoulder, head bowed, calmly whispering her own prayer.

My mouth is so dry it feels like my tongue is made of sandpaper, and breathing is like inhaling a swarm of hornets. I shiver a moment before I’m able to force out, “Is it gone?”

Spike’s head pops up and his teary eyes grow big. He stares at me in stunned silence and then gets a look of tortured relief.

“Oh, Twilight!” He lurches up and throws his arms around my neck.

My body turns to wood and I feel like there are a dozen icy bugs crawling all over me. My heart palpitates like a rusty steam engine and I start to sweat. I try to push him away from me, but my hooves are as weak as wet parchment, and his claws are wrapped so tightly around me.

“I was so worried,” he sobs. “They kept saying you might not make it, but I knew they were wrong. I told them you’d wake up no matter what. I knew that—”

I summon magic to rip him off me by the tail. His damp smiling face goes flat as I set him down next to the grey pegasus.

“We’re so happy you’re awake,” says the agent. “You had us really worried for a second. Your wounds weren’t severe, but your breathing and heart rate was incredibly erratic. My name is Derpy, by the way, we’ve met a few times around Ponyville.”

I lean up in the bed and slump my rear hooves over the side of the mattress. I breathe in deeply and feel a stormy churning in my stomach.

“I—I need to be alone. Please leave.”

The grey pegasus is confused and Spike looks at me in shock. “Twilight, is there something wrong?”

“Just please, I need, hurg—”

I hunch forward and press a hoof to my mouth. I vomit, splattering acidic chunks over my hooves. Spike gasps and moves forward like he’s going to touch me again. I levitate both him and the pegasus back towards the flap of the tent.

“Go! Just get out!”

Spike hesitates, but the pegasus takes him by the shoulder. She shakes her head, pulls the hood of her robes up, and leads him outside.

I sit on the edge of the bed whimpering for a moment until another punch of nausea comes and I vomit again. I fall forward on all fours, violently coughing up burning bile into the grass. I fall on my side and shiver, wiping at my tears with a clean section of my hoof. That didn’t really happen, did it?

I crawl forward along the ground, inadvertently dragging my stomach through the puddle of vomit. I groan in response. I find the leg of a table near the back of the tent, and I pull myself up, using the edge like a crutch to support my wobbly legs. I stand for a second, hyperventilating and digging a hoof into my drumming heart. No, it was just a dream, a really, really bad dream.

The table I’m leaning against is cluttered with medical instruments, gauze, and various ointments and medicines. I see my crown lying smudged and bloody next to those tools. I levitate it up to my eyes and wipe it off until I can see a reflection in the violet gemstone. There are red marks running down the length of my back, fresh stitches on my arms and wings, and bandages wrapped around my head. My hooves and lips are soaked in sticky bile, and my eyes look like entrances to dark caves.

I set my crown down and spy an oval-shaped metal basin filled with water next to the table. I stumble over in front of it and bury my face in the water. I rub down my face, my hooves, pour it over my back sending small tremors of pain through it. I run the water over my chest and drench the spots where I felt its hooves. No! That didn’t happen! It wasn’t real!

It was just a dream. None of it was real. The demon might not have been real, but it felt real. I can still feel its breath burning in my ear, its venomous voice slithering in my mind, the feeling, no, I didn’t feel anything. That was horrific. Everything about that dream, that nightmare was wrong.

Nothing happened. I’m fine.

Even as I think that I feel my hoof moving, almost subconsciously, down to the space between my legs. I feel something there, wet and gunky. My eyes squeeze shut and my hooves go stiff as metal. I pull my hoof out from beneath me, hold it in front of my face, and open my eyes. There’s a dripping white substance running down the tip of my hoof.

My heart beats heavy and my breath starts racing. No, calm down. This doesn’t mean anything. I’m fine. I need to be fine!

I levitate a clean cloth from the table, drench it in the basin and clean myself off, everywhere. I gouge at myself until every last bit of that wretched dream is off of me. Then a thought suddenly occurs to me. I march over to my bed, yank off the sheets, and discover a large foul-smelling stain on my mattress. I hold my breath and stretch the sheets out in front of me, also soaked.

My eyes slam shut and I restrain a panicked scream before I fire a magic laser into the bed. The sheets dissolve and the mattress disintegrates into black dust. The metal frame melts into superheated goo and lights a fire on the ground which I need to stomp out with my hooves.

“Princess Twilight?”

I scream at the new voice. I swerve to the tent flap and shoot a hoof towards the intruder. “I thought I said I needed to be al—”

My eyes widen at who it is. The grey earth pony I met at the Order HQ earlier. She takes one look at the scorched dissolving sheets behind me and then looks me dead in the eye. “I’m not even going to ask.”

“You—You’re Captain Octavia, right?”

“That is correct your majesty.” She bends her front hooves down and bows, grunting as if doing so causes her pain. I quickly tell her to rise and she assumes a more formal stance at attention, staring straight forward.

“You look like you’re in pain,” I say.

“I took an injury during the battle, but the healers have patched me up enough to stay on my hooves. They appear to have done a fine job on you as well, your majesty, considering you’re even able to stand after the beating you took.”

I look again at my scorched back and stitched up wings, then it occurs to me just how little pain I feel. Glad to know the healers made it out of the city in time.

“I ran across your young drake assistant as he was leaving,” the Captain says. “He informed me that you had awoken, but he was also perturbed by your behavior. Are you fit to speak your majesty? To move around?”

It takes effort not to glance back at the smoldering pile of snapping bedsprings behind me. “I’m fine. I just—needed a moment to recover, after—recent events. I’d ask for a few moments more if you don’t mind.”

“I’m afraid I must respectfully disobey, your majesty. It’s been four hours since the abduction of the princesses and Equestria is in dire need of leadership. Your council is convened in a meeting this moment, discussing what is to be done, but there will be little agreement if there is not a princess to preside over matters.”

“My council?”

“Well, they’re your council now, since Princess Celestia isn’t here.”

“Oh.” There’s a shudder in my heart and a pulse in my breath.

“You are familiar with the council, your majesty?”

“Yes, I am,” I answer. “Princess Celestia introduced me to each of them shortly after my coronation. I shall join them soon, but I still must ask for a few moments to gather myself. I’ve only been awake for a minute now, and I haven’t quite got my head straight. Canterlot will survive another few minutes.”

“Canterlot is a smoldering crater, your majesty.” Her eyes move like swords, pointing straight at me. She keeps them on me only for a second, just long enough to set me off guard, then moves them back to attention. “Furthermore, our current situation has turned out to be much more dire than what we originally believed.”

I stare at her in disbelief. “How can this be worse?”

“Canterlot was not the only place that got attacked,” she says. “We’re getting in reports from every major settlement across Equestria. Demons have been popping up in massive numbers, committing genocide wherever they’re found. Most of the cities have become war zones, and Manehatten had to be abandoned completely. Numbers are still coming in but the death toll is already up in the hundreds of thousands, and there are mass reports of widespread rape, torture, occult activity, as well as general disorder and looting that comes with these crises. In short, your majesty, Equestria is facing a demonic invasion.”

It’s as though the air in my lungs has been sucked out of me all at once. I feel lightheaded and need to balance myself on the table again. Demonic invasion? I’ve read about such things in history books. I’ve read about times long before the Princesses when the forces of hell waged war to enslave ponies and slaughtered them by the millions. That’s supposed to be ancient history though, nightmarish events that happened thousands of years ago, nothing like that happens now. But, if that demon was able to overpower all three of us, dear God, there’s no telling what he’s capable of. Equestria is not prepared for this. I’m not even close to prepared for this.

“Your majesty, I realize that you are understandably shaken after the battle and the kidnapping of the princesses, but with Celestia and Luna gone you are the sovereign ruler now, and your presence is desperately needed. If you’re physically impaired from attending I can run a message up to the council and they will relocate here, but aside from that—”

“No,” I interrupt. “I’ll go. It’ll be faster, and from the sounds of things I’ve slept too long already.”

I have to do this. It’s what Celestia would do, what she would expect me to do, and I can’t disappoint her at this moment. She needs me more than ever. Equestria needs me more than ever, and I’m not gonna let some repulsive demonic dream get in the way of that.

I breathe in a deep sigh to steady my fragile nerves then levitate my crown off the table and rest it on my head. “Let's go, Captain.”

I walk to the swaying tent flap and pull it aside. The sunlight reveals an army of howling voices. Hundreds of ponies surround my tent. They’re held at bay by a force field, maintained by a ring of twelve unicorn guards. The faces outside the shield are a maelstrom of fearful, desperate, and angry ponies who all claw at the edge of the shield.

I freeze in place, held still by terror. My legs lock up. I step back by instinct and bump into Octavia.

“Your majesty?” she asks.

I lose balance and fall to the ground. I look up at her inhaling rapid panicked breaths. “On second thought, maybe we should move the council here. I don’t think I can handle walking through that.”

The Captain gives me a sneering look. “Your Majesty, if you are physically incapable that is understandable, but if it’s a matter of simple stage fright then you really should—”

“It is physical,” I nearly shout. “Just go, bring them here. I—I need a moment.”

I breathe heavily and look up at the Captain. She gives me a glaring vicious scowl that makes me feel five years old. “As you wish your majesty. I shall have them here shortly.”

She flicks up her hood and steps out of the tent.

I’m alone again, except I’m really not. I stay near the center of the tent, away from the walls, that I feel could come alive and smother me at any moment. What happened just now? I’ve never had a problem with crowds, I’ve been honing my public speaking abilities since I was a filly. Yet, I’m still trembling. I huddle in on myself, scared to death that something is going to somehow get through that shield, and find its way to me.

Why are those ponies even allowed to be out there?

I answer that question almost immediately, and immediately I regret asking it. Those ponies just lost their homes, their livelihoods, their friends, their families. They’re scared, and sad, and desperate, and looking for someone to guide them. I’m their only Princess now, and I just hid myself away from them as if they were a pack of rabid animals.

No wonder Octavia looked at me so harshly. I’m a terrible Princess.

Have I really been intimidated by this demon so much that I can’t even function? No, I was fine all through the battle. I even kept my composure after the city was destroyed. I was holding it together until that dream, but it was just a dream. No one crumbles because of dreams. No one fears for their life because of a dream. No one gets sick to their stomach because of a dream. No one has an emotional breakdown because of a dream. No one sets a bed on fire and yells at their friends because of a dream.

I cover my head and lower my face to the ground.

Okay, maybe it was more than just a dream, maybe I have no idea how real it was. I can’t afford to think about that now though. Equestria needs me and I need to be there for it. I have to get my head out this dream and into the present.

I’m safe here. There are guards and demon-hunters everywhere, and either my friends will be coming soon or I’ll be on my way to Ponyville. I’ll be fine for now. Just gotta get through this meeting with the council. I should be able to manage that.

I look down at the basin of water I washed with earlier. I see my disheveled appearance in the reflection and start adjusting myself to prepare for the council. I run water over the dark spots of my eyes. I use a spell that Rarity taught me to conjure a magic comb and straighten my mane. I make slight adjustments with the placement of my crown, all the while deliberating on exactly what I’m going to say and how I’m going to act.

“The council is on their way, your majesty.”

The voice is deep, scratchy, and distorted like that of a changeling. I shriek at its intrusion and jump at the entrance horn flared. There’s an Order Agent in the tent. The hood of her robes is up and her face is hidden behind an impenetrable fog of shadow. She pulls back the hood and the shadows instantly vanish revealing Captain Octavia’s face.

“You may wish to do some breathing exercises or meditation,” she says. “Something to ease your mind before the council gets here.”

I take several deep breaths before getting the strength back in my legs. “Sorry, this demon just has me on edge.”

Her tone softens. “Understandable, the books and newspapers do them little justice.”

I can’t tell if that was genuine sympathy or a veiled reprimand, or both. She has a point either way. I know Celestia wanted me to get more direct experience with demons, but I’m certain I’ve just gotten more experience with them in a single day than anyone would ever want in a lifetime. Everyone in Canterlot has. Yet, I need to continue on and deal with it, for the sake of Equestria.

I look back at Octavia, who for once seems to be standing at attention, respectfully. “So, all these years in Ponyville, you were actually a member of the Order.”

“I’ve been with Order for nearly twenty years now, your majesty. I was only sixteen when I joined.”

That’s the bare minimum age to enlist with the military. “That young, what made you decide to do it?”

“Circumstance,” she replies. “My mother died giving birth to me, then years later my father was killed by a demon. I, with the aid of my sister, killed that demon in self-defense. The Order takes note of ponies who can do that without any training, and so I was offered a shot at becoming an agent. I didn’t really have anywhere else to go at the time, so I took it.”

“So, right from the moment you enlisted, you were already familiar with demons.”

“Even before that,” she says. “My parents were both agents when they first met, your majesty.”

“So really, you could say you’ve been dealing with demons for almost your whole life?”

“I guess I could, your majesty.”

I stare at her nervously. “How do you deal with everything you experience on the job? All the death and horror?”

She says nothing for a moment, staying strictly at attention. Then, in a slow voice, she says, “Wine helps, and so do cigarettes.”

I chuckle nervously. “Okay, but say I don’t want to ruin my lungs, and I need to stay sober for the time being. What then?”

She silent for another long moment. “My advice is focus. Keep yourself as devotedly focused on the here and now, what needs to be done, and what you can do to accomplish it. Everything that’s in the past, or what’s out of your control, push that to the back of your mind. Kick it out of your mind if you can. Focus solely on what’s in front of you.”

I swallow a breath. “And, what if, you can’t help but think of things out of your control? What if, they’re consuming your thoughts so much you feel like you could crumble at the slightest touch?”

There’s silence for a long time. Octavia closes her eyes, then looks directly at me. “Canterlot was not your fault. You did everything you could to save that city. I can credit you that much.”

I restrain a groan and look away from her before she can tell that that was not what I was asking about. I think she can tell despite my efforts, as she gives me a concerned and slightly confused look. Thankfully, the council arrives before she can question me.

Five ponies enter into the tent, Commander Storm Stepper, Duke Gold Standard, Lady Elusive, Prince Blue Blood, and another mare I don’t recognize. They all bow to me and four of them proclaim in unison, “Princess Twilight.”

It takes me a second, but I remember to tell them to rise before it gets awkward. Commander Storm Stepper steps forward and raises a scruffy tan wing to salute me. “It’s good to see you again your majesty. For a moment we were worried we might have lost all of our princesses.”

I swallow a breath and feel pearls of sweat forming on my neck. Keep it together. Relax. Try to be confident. “We haven’t lost any princesses yet, and I intend to make sure that doesn’t change.”

Storm Stepper grins, and I can feel the pride shooting out her eyes, even though they’re hidden behind that messy red mane.

“Is it safe to assume you’re all acquainted then?” asks Captain Octavia.

“Indeed,” says Duke Gold Standard, who speaks very slowly while making wide unblinking eye contact with Captain Octavia. “Her Majesty, Princess Celestia was very intent on making us acquainted in the weeks preceding the coronation. She believed it important that our fledgling Princess be made familiar with key members of her court, and learn from them the responsibilities and requirements of her designation.”

“Yes, she was actually continuing that right before the attack started. I don’t think she ever introduced me to you,” I say pointing to the unknown mare. “Who are you exactly?”

She places a hoof on her scarlet chest and lowers her head with a controlled smile. “I am Duchess Dagger-Heart, your majesty. I had the honor of serving as Grandmaster of the Order of the Alicorn for nearly two decades before the return of our beloved Princess Luna, and with your blessing, I would happily serve again in her absence.”

My eyes widen. “Oh, well if you have the experience you say you do, I see no reason to turn you down. Unless any member of the— my council has any objections.”

Everyone remains silent, though I do notice that both Captain Octavia and Commander Storm Stepper are giving the Duchess unkind looks.

“No objections your majesty,” Storm Stepper says.

I look at her a moment but don’t ask anything. “Right, well, in that case, consider the job yours Duchess Dagger-Heart. Whatever formalities there are in granting you this position I ask that we forgo them, as this invasion demands our immediate attention.”

“I concur,” says Prince Blue Blood. “As fond as I am for such formal ceremonies we have little time, and even fewer resources to spare for such luxuries.”

He steps toward me, stumbling and talking in a weird tone.

“Have you been drinking?” I ask.

“Only a little,” he says. “This whole catastrophe has not been easy for me.”

He stomps his hoof and in walks a servant carrying a silver platter with a large crystal goblet and what looks like an aged wine, the really expensive kind. The servant pours the bottle for him and Blue Blood swirls it around for a bit before taking a deep swig.

The other councilors do not look at him as he does this and I just barely bite my tongue before shooting a sarcastic remark.

“Yes, the situation has been hard on all of us,” I say. “So, let's get started in resolving it shall we.”

Everyone nods and moves to the center of the room. Lady Elusive moves past the others, somehow not bumping into anypony despite wearing a blindfold. Her horn lights up, the glow of her magic radiating off her grey crystal body. She levitates a large rolled up scroll, big enough to cover a six seater dining table, and unravels it on the ground in the center of the tent. It reveals a massive map of Equestria which displays every city, town and the roads between them. There are red numbers marked beneath each settlement, ranging from single digits to over ten thousand. I have no idea what they’re supposed to mean.

Prince Blueblood's servant retrieves several large pillows from storage and lays them down in a circle around the map, giving everypony someplace to sit. Prince Blueblood himself acts offended by this and orders his servant out to find more ‘appropriate’ seating. Everyone else takes a seat around the map.

“First off, I want to know what we are currently doing to help those ponies outside,” I say. “There’s undoubtedly a lot of ponies in need of help after the attack and I want to be assured we’re doing everything in our power to help.”

“The situation extends far beyond that of Canterlot your majesty,” says Commander Storm Stepper. “Almost every major settlement in Equestria has reported enduring demonic attacks to varying degrees. From what we’ve pieced together it appears the more heavily populated areas were hit the hardest, while smaller towns received only minor attacks, or in some cases none at all. We’ve marked rough estimates of how many demons were spotted in each location on the map.”

So those are what those numbers mean. My heart holds still for a moment as I glance down at Ponyville, and I almost sigh in relief when I see the number is only six. I just hope they managed to deal with those few demons in time.

“We’re facing a national crisis beyond the scope of anything we’ve witnessed in our history,” says Duke Gold Standard. “Numbers are still coming in, but the death toll is already in the hundreds of thousands and will likely surpass a quarter of a million before the day is over. We have complete evacuations underway in Manehatten and what was formerly Canterlot, as well as partial evacuations in almost every other major city. We are pulling all available resources to send food and medical aid to wounded civilians, which have thankfully remained out of demonic capture with only a few exceptions. That being said, I would recommend that we focus aid efforts on moving the refugees of Canterlot to other settlements across Equestria, as without any pre-established infrastructure nearby, maintaining liveable conditions over such a long distance from surviving Equestrian settlements will quickly become infeasible.”

His tone is dry and lifeless, almost to the point where it sounds disrespectful. I recall Celestia’s repeated warnings about this before I first met him and decide it’s not worth focusing on at the moment.

“How long would such an operation take?” I ask

“Fortunately, the train systems have remained completely untouched from these demonic attacks,” says Gold Standard. “Assuming the tracks remain unmolested, and assuming no other complications arise such as breakdowns, fuel shortages, and the like, I would estimate about two weeks.”

“In all likelihood, we can count on it taking longer,” says Commander Storm Stepper. “My guards are spread thin in just about every area across the map. What few free soldiers I have are being moved towards crisis zones in the cities where demonic activity is out of control. There’s very little I can offer in order to protect these civilians should we choose to move them.”

“I believe the Order is more than capable of guarding the civvies,” says Dagger-Heart. “Thanks to its subterranean location, the Order HQ stands as one of the few facilities to have survived the attack on Canterlot. There is still a vast reserve of demon hunting equipment and weaponry we can draw from, and more than enough agents to use them.”

“Weren’t you telling us all earlier about how nearly half of the Order agents in Canterlot were either slain or wounded in the attack?” asks Commander Storm Stepper.

“We still have a formidable force outside awaiting my instruction,” says Dagger-Heart. “Besides, demons are the Order’s specialty. I don’t need to send as many ponies as you do to get the job done.”

The Commander and the Dutches look at each other like they’ve locked sabers in a dual. I don’t know what prompted them to act like a couple of feuding school fillies but it’s really disheartening to see this behavior in Celestia’s council.

“Enough with the looks,” I say. “Dagger-Heart, can you guarantee me the safety of those civilians?”

She immediately breaks off her dispute with the Commander and beams at me. “Absolutely, your majesty. I’ll have agents on board the trains themselves, as well as several platoons watching from afar. They’ll spot any demonic threats approaching long before they can attack, and even if they make it through the trains shall be stocked full of dragon’s breath and holy water, with agents ready to fight to the death to keep everyone safe.”

She seems confident, though she is the only truly unknown for me on the council. I can only trust that she was just as sharp when Celestia first appointed her as she is today.

“Very well,” I say. “ I’ll leave the defense of the evacuation in your hooves Duchess Dagger-Heart.”

She smiles and bows her head to me.

“Now that that’s taken care of, we should turn our attention to dealing with this, invasion,” I say the last word with difficulty, still difficult to believe it’s true.

“Our gravest concern at the moment is the city of Manehatten,” says Commander Storm Stepper. “It was by far hit the hardest out of any city in Equestria, save for Canterlot. Both the local guards and Order agents were overwhelmed by the vast amount of demonic forces that flooded the city. Many civilians and some military personnel managed to escape, but we believe there are still somewhere in the ballpark of one and half million ponies trapped within the city, under complete demonic control.”

The room is gripped with an unsettling silence. No one has to be told what this means. Mass murder, rapes, and horrors beyond anything I can imagine are likely occurring in that city by the hour. God help whoever’s trapped in there now.

I inhale a cold breath as I force up the courage to ask what scares me the most. “What about the demon that kidnapped Princess Celestia and Luna? Has there been any word on that?”

There’s a jade glow that lights up the whole tent. Lady Elusive uses her magic to form a small ghostly image of a demon on the map, right over Manehatten. She then moves this image all the way over to Los Pegasus, leaving a glowing line on the map straight between the two points. She does the same moving it to Vanhoover, then to Fillydelphia, then Cloudsdale, Baltimare, Appleloosa, Dodge City, Ponyville, and finally Canterlot. The glow of her horn evaporates but the lines on the map remain.

Celestia told me that Lady Elusive suffered greatly under King Sombra’s rule, that he did something to her eyes that left her so mortified she refuses to let anyone see them. I’m starting to think that the rumors of her blindness are exaggerated though, she seems way too precise for that.

“Lady Elusive,” says Duchess Dagger-Heart, as she looks up from the map. “Do you mean to say that the demon was spotted in all these locations before it attacked Canterlot?”

Elusive casts another spell, this one creating glowing timestamps beneath each one of the cities that the demon passed through. Duchess Dagger-Heart glances at the numbers only a second before shooting a contemptuous look at Elusive. “A simple nod makes ponies seem far less pompous just so you know.”

“Hold on,” Commander Storm Stepper says. “Lady Elusive, the demon was spotted in these locations at these exact times, your certain of that?”

Lady Elusive nods her head in a slow exaggerated manner while looking in Dagger-Heart’s direction, nearly clipping her head with her horn she gets so close.

Storm Stepper double checks the times and then looks up at me. “Your majesty, if these times are correct then the demon hit every major settlement in Equestria in less than three minutes.”

My eyes fly open as wide as wine goblets. “That can’t be possible, can it?”

“Not technically, your majesty,” says Duchess Dagger-Heart. “There are demons that exist which can teleport long distances through the use of rituals. Doing so at the pace at which Lady Elusive is presenting would require an extraordinarily powerful demon, but I’m certain there is little doubt that the particular demon we’re dealing with is of the most powerful variety.”

“I dare say, this is all rather perplexing,” says Prince Blue Blood, who is now sitting in a large cushioned mahogany chair and ordering his wine goblet full again. “If this demon reduced our cherished Canterlot to such a state, then why did it not do the same with the more common cities?”

“That, is anypony’s guess,” says Dagger-Heart. “Perhaps it was a special ability it was saving for an emergency, maybe Canterlot’s destruction factored into its plans. We have no way of knowing, and there are a dozen other factors that should take greater importance.”

“It might not have attacked the cities itself, but it’s possible that it may have led the armies of demons into them,” says Commander Storm Stepper. “If these timestamps are true then this demon arrived in each city mere minutes before the invasion started. It’s likely that this trail the demon blazed was the monster signaling its forces to attack.”

“That brings up something else that’s been bothering me,” I say. “How did these demons attack so suddenly in the first place? How did they slip by our lookouts? Why didn’t we get an earlier warning?”

There’s a burrowing silence among all the councilors. Storm Stepper and Dagger-Heart avoid eye contact with me.

“We’re not sure your majesty,” says Dagger-Heart. “The nature of these attacks has been, puzzling.”

“More like they make no fucking sense!” Commander Storm Stepper slams her hooves into the ground. “Every report we have insists that the demons simply ‘appeared’ within the cities. No siege, no marches, just ‘poof’ they’re inside.”

“Is it possible these demons were hiding in the cities?” I ask.

“No,” says Dagger-Heart. “The assaults carried out would’ve required vast organization and communication among thousands of demons, and that’s just for a single city, much less every settlement in the nation. If activity on this scale were happening in the cities it wouldn’t have slipped passed the local guard, much less my Order agents. No, they had to be organizing in secret, somewhere well outside our field of vision.”

“I wouldn’t jump to conclusions, Grandmaster.”

Every eye suddenly turns to Octavia. She’s been standing so quietly I almost forgot she was there, despite the fact she’s literally right beside me, glaring at the map like it’s a target for a bow.

Duchess Dagger-Heart looks at the Captain with a vicious gleam in her eye. “Captain, I didn’t even notice you were still here. You do realize that eavesdropping dropping on the royal council is a treasonous offense?”

“I was never dismissed Grandmaster,” says Octavia. “Furthermore, I recall that you yourself called me in to give a report on the battle of Canterlot, specifically the nature of the demons that attacked.”

“Yes, and you gave it wonderfully to us earlier. Now leave us, Captain,” says Dagger-Heart.

I stop her. “Hold on. I want to hear what she has to say.”

“She’s only a field Captain, your majesty,” says Dagger-Heart.

“Yes, the best one in the Order, if Princess Celestia is correct. And if she was on the ground during the attack then it’s entirely possible she might have noticed something we missed. Go ahead, Captain.”

Octavia gives a small bow to me and then turns toward the map. “Grandmaster Dagger-Heart is correct. If the demons were organizing on such a mass scale we would’ve noticed almost immediately, however, I find it highly unlikely that they were organizing. There are simply too many signs of disorder and poor planning on their part for this to be any kind of organized affair.”

“And these signs of disorder would be?” asks Storm Stepper.

“When I was on the ground in Canterlot the demons had overrun the downtown section of the city. They had the area under their complete control, with numerous civilians to kill and multiple ways they could’ve dug in and laid traps for us. They never did though, in fact, once my squad arrived almost every demon in the area had fled, despite having a clear upper hand.”

“If this demon was intent on destroying Canterlot regardless it would’ve made sense for them to leave?” says Dagger-Heart.

“Then why have lesser demons attack the city at all?” says Octavia. “The big demon was clearly in a league of its own, it took down three Alicorn Princesses at the same time. It didn't need help to destroy Canterlot.”

Duchess Dagger-Heart goes silent after that.

“It also doesn’t explain the fact that similar scenes were reported all throughout Equestria,” the Captain continues. “In almost every attack the reports were the same, fierce assaults at the beginning, only for the demons to suddenly turn tail and flee while they still had an advantage. The only exceptions to this were the cities where it was clear at a first glance that the demons outnumbered the military by a large margin.”

“It is a rather strange occurrence,” says Duke Gold Standard. “But it doesn’t quite disprove organization Captain.”

“It’s one of many strange occurrences,” says Octavia. “You mentioned earlier that our supply stores have remained for the large part untouched, despite the fact that most of them were in the cities where demons attacked. Our rail lines are also still going, despite being completely unguarded. The courier routes are also still going, we are getting messages back forth through the cities and not a single pegasi has reported being ambushed by demons.”

“What are you trying to get at Captain?” asks Dagger-Heart.

“She’s saying these demons don’t know what the hell they’re doing, and I’m starting to agree with her,” says Commander Storm Stepper. “When you go to war, you don’t just ram headlong into the enemy’s ranks, you cut off their supply lines, you block their communication, you destroy their infrastructure, you cripple their ability to fight until they can’t fight anymore. And as the Captain has been pointing out, these demons haven’t been doing any of that.”

“Exactly,” Captain Octavia says. “And if you want further proof then look at Cloudsdale. That city had a massive amount of demons assaulting it, yet during that entire time, not one attempt was made on the weather machines. Those production facilities could’ve thrown our entire ecosystem into chaos, yet the demons didn’t even try.”

Dagger-Heart glares at Octavia. “Okay Captain, so if these demonic attacks weren’t organized, if this isn’t anything less than an invasion, then what is it? I fail to see any other logical conclusion here.”

“When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”

I sit straight up and gape at the Captain. “Did, you just quote Sherlock Hooves?”

The Captain glances at me and gives me a sideways grin. “There’s one detail in this that I believe might point to a better explanation, and that’s the initial ferocity with which the demons attacked. When my squadron first arrived on the field, every demon in the area launched themselves frantically, I’d go as far to say suicidally at us. This, of course, is not in character for demons. They’re ferocious to be sure, but they’re not stupid. If they’re in a predicament in which they know they can’t win, then they won’t try. Yet, just as before, what my squadron experienced was not an abnormality. Every squadron of agents and every troop of guards reported that the demons were reckless in their initial attack, almost like didn’t care if they lived or died.”

“So how do you explain this Captain?” asks Commander Storm Stepper.

“What if the demons didn’t actually want to fight, but instead, were forced to.” Captain Octavia puts her down on the map, right in front of the big demon Lady Elusive placed on Canterlot. “We already established that this large demon was spotted right before each and every attack. What if he wasn’t signaling an attack, but instead causing it. It’s possible, that it could’ve been using its vast amounts of power to make the demons in these areas more aggressive, bloodthirsty, and violent. In that case, these attacks wouldn’t be organized assaults at all, but closer to sudden spontaneous riots.”

“Can-can demons do that?” I ask. “Make other demons more aggressive just by getting near them?”

“Yes, they can,” Duchess Dagger-Heart answers. “But it’s a rare ability and the idea of one demon causing an entire city to go berserk is, frankly insane. The only effects we’ve ever been able to document showed only minor increases in hostility, and only on a single subject, and only after several minutes of intensely focused eye contact. What the Captain is describing is beyond absurd.”

“And yet, it is the only theory put forth so far that explains every peculiarity,” Duke Gold Standard says, tapping a hoof to his chin and staring down as he speaks. “Sparing our infrastructure would be an irredeemable offense for an invading army, but a more understandable one for a chaotic disorganized group.”

“It would also explain how none of our soldiers noticed these demons moving until they attacked,” says Commander Storm Stepper. “As prepared as we were, I don’t think anyone considered the possibility that every demon in the cities would suddenly rise up and attack at the same time.”

“Not to mention the populations make sense,” says Prince Blue Blood. “As I recall, demons have a tendency to prefer more dirty and crowded areas such as the cities where they can blend in with all the rabble. If this vile demon used such an ability then it would only make sense that there would be more chaos in the more crowded settlements, such as Manehatten and Los Pegasus.”

Lady Elusive nods.

Duchess Dagger-Heart watches the room turn against her and swiftly adjusts her tone. “Well, even if this theory of the Captain’s is true, there is still the matter of what this demon will do next and how we should counter it.”

“That is a much more difficult question to answer,” Storm Stepper says, rubbing her chin. “We still don’t have a clear picture of what this demon’s goals or motives are, which makes predicting its moves somewhat difficult.”

“Corruption,” Blue Blood states, swirling his wine goblet. “It wants to tempt the masses into embracing its sadistic pleasures and debauchery. If it wasn’t, I fear it would have incinerated the common ponies outside, and done things to my poor aunty Luna that… I can not bring myself to describe.”

There’s a noticeable shudder in his voice and he takes a guzzling swig of the liquor. Why do I suddenly feel bad for him?

“That may be true, but it still leaves a very broad scope of possibilities for what the demon will do next,” says Storm Stepper. “I fear that predicting our enemy’s next move will be impossible unless we have more intel.”

“Princess Twilight.” Everyone turns toward the entrance of the tent where a guard peeks in through the flap. “There’s an agent from the Order outside who claims they have information on the demon that kidnapped the princesses. Should we let her in, your majesty?”

The whole tent collectively gawks at the timing. I shake the dumbfounded look off my face and respond, “If she has information then bring her in.”

The guard salutes and raises the tent flap a little higher. In scurries a short pony, her face concealed behind a black hooded cloak similar to Octavia’s. She bows to me and says excitedly in a distorted voice, “Your majesty, it is a great honor to be in your presence.”

“Oh shit,” Dagger-Heart says. “Your majesty, I’d suggest expelling this mare immediately.”

“W-Why? What’s the prob—”

“Oh hi Captain,” the agent says, waving to Octavia. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”

Octavia glares fangs at the mare. “Lyra. Bow. Now.”

“Oh right, sorry your majesty.”

“Wait a minute, Lyra?”

I motion the mare to rise and order her to pull down her hood. She does so and I confirm that yes, it’s the shaggy green unicorn I’ve been living next door to both in Canterlot and in Ponyville.

I stare at her for a moment before swerving to Octavia. “Was everyone in Ponyville sent to spy on me?”

“Guard you, your majesty.”

“I don’t feel guarded!”

“Hold on, Princess Luna assigned her to guard Princess Twilight?” Dagger-Heart asks, pointing to Lyra.

“Well, technically she assigned my squad, and Lyra happens to be a part of that squad.”

“And at no point did you consider that having a fucking psychopath near the princess could be a risk to her security?”

“I’m sorry, can someone please back up a few steps and tell me what the hay is going on right now?” I yell.

“Oh, it’s simple your majesty,” says Lyra. “Duchess Dagger-Heart is concerned that my past crimes of demon worship and occult murder make me unfit to serve you now, and Captain Octavia disagrees with her.”

I gape at Lyra who only gives me a childish grin in response. “Can someone else back up a few more steps please!”

“Lyra has a checkered past when it comes to demons, your majesty,” says Octavia. “But those experiences do make her one of the most knowledgeable minds on occult magick in the entire Order. If she has information on this demon, I would listen to her.”

“Checkered past? She’s still out of her Luna damned mind!”

“Shut up!” I shout.

I rub the sides of my head and breath in a mountain of air to calm me down. “Okay, Lyra, please tell us this information you have before my mother walks in wearing Order robes and I have an aneurysm.”

“Right away, your majesty,” she says with a salute. She then levitates a large beaten up tome out of a saddlebag and rests it on the table in front of me. The text looks like it hasn’t been touched in years and clouds of dust pop off the pages as she flips through them.

“When I first saw that demon fly over Ponyville, I didn’t want to believe it. I knew right away who it was, but my mind refused to believe, in fact, I still don’t completely believe it. Which is why when I heard you got an up-close look at it, I knew you had to be the one to confirm this.”

She slides the tome towards me as she continues to flip the pages. I sneeze and shield my nose from the dust.

“You fought this demon yourself,” Lyra continues. “You got a better look at it than anyone else in this tent, so I’m hoping you’ll recognize this better than anyone.”

She stops flipping the pages and points her hoof at a large image on the paper. “Your majesty, is this the demon that you and the other Princesses fought?”

I wave the remaining dust particles out of my face and look down at the page. There’s a tiny paragraph of text written in one of the ancient languages and above that a large image of a bipedal creature, with limbs like that of a lizard and a chest like that of a rhino. Wings of fire spread out behind it. Its head is flat like that of a serpent with twisting gnarled horns growing out the back corners, and between them floats a halo of fire.

Its eyes. The eyes almost look like they’re spiraling on the page, exactly how they did when it attacked us in the sky when it invaded my dream when it tricked me into…

I look away with a crushing weight in my lungs. “Yes, that’s the demon. That’s the one we fought.”

I push the image away so its eyes aren’t looking at me. Lyra stares down at the page with a fervent smirk and presses a trembling hoof on the page. “That confirms it then. I’m still having trouble believing it, but there’s no way I can deny it now. The demon that attacked Canterlot, is none other than the Crown Prince of Lust, Asmodeus himself.”

Silence. The absence of sound enwraps so tightly around us it’s smothering. Everyone stares at Lyra slack-jawed, wide-eyed, or frozen in disbelief. Even Octavia has her mouth open a bit. I myself get a blood-freezing chill shooting down my spine.

I don’t know many names on the list of notorious demons, but I know that one. Every school filly knows that one.

“Asmodeus,” I repeat in a trepid voice. “You mean, the fallen angel Asmodeus? One of the six that fell with Lucifer himself, Asmodeus?”

“And made up his inner circle along with the other Crown Princes of Hell. Yep, that’s the one,” Lyra answers in a tone far too casual for the answer.

I slump down against the back of my seat and press a hoof to my chest. Why is it so hard to breathe?

“She’s gone mad,” Dagger-Heart says. “She was mad before, but she’s off her damn rocker now. None of the Crown Princes have stepped hoof, or talon, or whatever outside of hell since the beginning of recorded history. The only way we even know of their existence is because of the texts of the ancient ones.”

“Which this very book happens to have been written by,” Lyra responds. “Don’t believe me? See for yourself.”

She levitates the open text over to the Dagger-Heart, shoving the dusty pages in her face. “You can read the old languages, right? Tell us, what does that paragraph below the image say?”

The Duchess flattens the book on the ground and scans the paragraph in question, her face drooping further into horror as she does. “Sadism; the most feared and dangerous form of the Crown Prince of Lust, Asmodeus.”

The very air seems to get sucked out of the tent as she reads the passage. Commander Storm Stepper lowers his head rubbing his hooves against his temples, Duke Gold Standard clutches his bit purse like a stress ball, and Blue Blood chucks his wine goblet over his shoulder before waving his servant to bring the entire bottle over which he proceeds to guzzle like cheap beer.

I curl myself into a ball on my pillow, squeezing my hind legs tightly, trying to push the image of its ravenous smile out of my head. You’re safe here. You’re safe here.

Dagger-Heart flips the book shut to examine the front cover, then flips it open again to see the title page and the author’s dedication.

“It’s not possible,” she says. “A demon this powerful has never appeared before in Equestria. Even in the age of brimstone, when all were enslaved to the demons, no one has ever seen a demon like this.”

“No demon has ever trounced three Alicorn Princesses at once before either,” Storm Stepper says quietly.

I lower my head behind my folded hooves. Its voice is in my head, clawing my brain, threatening my friends. You’re safe here. You’re safe here.

“This leaves us no other options than,” says Duchess Dagger-Heart. “We go with my earlier suggestion and pursue Asmodeus with the Elements of Harmony.”

“God no!” My head snaps up and I flap my wings to stop myself from falling over.

Every counselor looks at me in stunned silence. I try my hardest to slow my hammering heartbeat and respond in a composed manner. “I—I mean, don’t you think we should be more cautious with this Duchess Dagger-Heart? The Elements are our last line of defense. If we lose that, we lose everything.”

There’s another moment of silence as they all continue to stare at me. There’s a burrowing pain in my gut that says they’ve seen through me, they’ve read my mind, seen my dream.

“I had similar concerns, your majesty,” Storm Stepper says. “When Grandmaster Dagger-Heart made this suggestion earlier, I thought it was too risky, that it would be better to place you and your friends under strong guard while the Order searched for this demon. But, if this is truly Asmodeus we’re facing, I don’t believe there is any amount of security or defense that could keep you safe, besides the Elements themselves.”

“She’s right,” says Blue Blood, speaking a little louder than normal with eyes of tearful anger. “If we don’t act quickly this bastard is only going to cause more problems and I might never get to see my poor aunties again.”

There’s a sound of shattering glass and Blue Blood looks down like he just noticed the wine bottle he broke. He waves to his servant again, who already has a fresh bottle to give him.

“There is also the practical applications to consider,” says Duke Gold Standard. “The demons have usurped control over vast portions of the cities. Engaging them in direct combat could last months and cost us thousands in terms of lives and resources. If the elements were to be deployed however, we could instantly force the demons out and drastically cut down the loss of life.”

Lady Elusive conjures another image on the map with her magic, this one showing the symbols of the elements, striking down the figure of Asmodeus together.

“It appears that Lady Elusive agrees with me as well,” says Dagger-Heart. “Perhaps your majesty, would heed the advice of her council and reconsider the use of the elements?”

All eyes turn back to me. I fidget in my seat. “Couldn’t we try something else first before we risk it? Uh, maybe we could call in Princess Cadence and Shining Armor. Their love magic would probably be just as effective in dealing with Asmodeus as the elements.”

“Doubtful,” says Commander Storm Stepper. “Their magic is powerful, yet even a lesser threat like King Sombra was able to withstand it. It would be incredibly unlikely for it to have any more effect on a Crown Prince. The Crystal Heart might prove to be a more effective weapon but that would also leave the Crystal Empire vulnerable, right as a massive demonic attack is occurring. I know that Prince Shining Armor is your brother and that you are also extremely close with Princesses Mi Amore, but they have an obligation to secure the Crystal Empire to the fullest extent of their abilities, an obligation they are not going to abandon during an emergency like this; besides, from everything I’ve heard about the Heart, there’s a reasonable doubt that it would even work outside the Crystal Empire.”

I swallow a sharp breath. It may have only been a dream, but the implications were real enough. If anything like that were to happen to Pinkie, or Rarity, or any of them I don’t think I could ever forgive myself.

“What about—What about Discord? He could probably take a shot at it.”

This suggestion is met with a chorus of groans from all around the table. I think I heard Octavia grumble something under her breath.

“Discord, is next to useless in fighting demons, your majesty,” says Commander Storm Stepper.

“W—Why?” I ask. “He’s one of the most powerful magic users in the entire world.”

“That’s exactly the problem,” says Dagger-Heart. “Princess Twilight, do you remember after the battle, when the demon was taking Princess Celestia and Princess Luna away? You attempted to cast an extremely powerful spell, but succumbed to a seizure and fell unconscious.”

I blink and look at her from the corner of my eyes. “Yes, for whatever reason, I seem to remember that quite well, thanks for asking.”

Duchess Dagger-Heart clears her throat. “Yes, well what happened is that Asmodeus used an extremely common ability among demons called telepathic neuro-assault.”

“We call it ‘mind rape’ in the field,” says Lyra

I flinch at that word, but try to maintain composure.

“Anyway, this is a common ability among demons that’s used specifically to target magic users,” she explains. “When someone casts a spell they lower certain defenses in their mind which these demons can exploit by pumping in their own demonic magick. The result is an immediate neurological break down of the caster’s brain, such as what you experienced, your majesty.”

“In the case of unicorns it’s a simple matter of being cautious around demons, and using little to no magic around them,” says Storm Stepper. “However, in Discord’s case, well you’ve been around him, they guy radiates magic twenty-four seven. He’s constantly levitating, zapping random things into existence, breathing life into inanimate objects, at times seemingly without even noticing what he’s doing. It’s possible that he might not even be able to switch off his magic even if he wanted to, which in turn makes his entire body one massive target for such demonic attacks. Even the weaker demons could easily take him down this way.”

“He’s also developed an understandable phobia of demonic entities because of said weakness,” says Duke Gold Standard. “It’s highly likely he would refuse outright to help us, that is if we could even locate him while there are such high numbers of demons at large.”

“Plus, it was only a month or two ago that he was still plotting to throw Equestria into eternal chaos,” says Prince Blue Blood. “Are you sure we want to send someone like that to fight monsters known for their ability to tempt and corrupt others?”

I take their replies one at a time and slowly get beaten into forming the same conclusion. “Okay, so there are a multitude of reasons why Discord shouldn’t be anywhere near this conflict. I still don’t think we should send the elements out so hastily.”

The room becomes a mire of confused, even frustrated, looks.

“Well, what other suggestions do you have your majesty?” asks Dagger-Heart. “Even if we were to clear out the other demons without the aid of the elements, we’d stand no chance against Asmodeus himself.”

I try to answer that. I dig and my brain for a single reasonable suggestion that could save Equestria without getting the elements involved, but I’ve got nothing. Dagger-Heart’s question goes unanswered and for a full twenty seconds, the room stays uncomfortably quiet. They do nothing but stare, and judge, and stare, and I struggle to stay straight in my seat.

“Princess Twilight,” Commander Storm Stepper says. “Is there a particular reason you’re so hesitant to bring in the elements?”

I swallow a heavy breath. I need to tell them. If that really was Asmodeus in my dream, then they need to know that he did, what he said. They’ll understand, they’re my council they’re supposed to have my back on this, no matter what. It probably won’t even leave this room. Yeah, I just need to tell them what happened. Just tell them.

I breathe in until my there’s a painful stretch in my chest and push the confession out slowly.

“During the fight above Canterlot, Asmodeus spoke of the other elements. He said that if they were to get involved he would come after them.” Just this much is already difficult, but I force myself to go further. “He threatened to rape them, hurt them in ways worse than…”

That’s all I can bring myself to say. I’m struggling to hold it together. The counselors look at me now with concern and pity.

Duchess Dagger-Heart is the first to break the silence. “We were unaware of this, your majesty. I know all too well the terror that comes when lesser demons make such threats, let alone one like Asmodeus. But, as understandable as your concerns are, they are, well—”

“Short-sighted and cowardly.”

Everyone turns to Captain Octavia, who stares me dead on with seething contempt in her eyes.

I hear Commander Storm Stepper’s voice trembling out of the stunned silence. “C-Captain.”

“If you think keeping your friends hidden is going to save them you’re dead wrong,” Octavia continues. “Asmodeus is going to come after them regardless of whether they choose to fight or not. They’re the only ponies in Equestria that can pose any legitimate threat to him, and he won’t be content letting that threat roam about undisturbed. Hiding them away won’t change that and it won’t stop Asmodeus from slaughtering them at the first given opportunity.”

“Captain, enough,” says Storm Stepper.

“Furthermore, by hiding the elements away you’d be resigning the citizens of Equestria to horrific deaths at the claws of these demons. The elements could easily clear out the cities in a matter of weeks, and you’d choose not to do this simply to forestall a fight you can’t avoid. If that is not the epitome of cowardice I don’t know what is.”

“I said enough!” Storm Stepper stands up and grips the hilt of her blade. “Grandmaster, remind your agent of her place before I do!”

“You’re out of line Captain,” Dagger-Heart hisses. “Leave us now. I shall deal with you when we’re done.”

The Captain locks eyes with me. She’s unmoving, unremorseful, and completely without pity. She levels me with that look. It takes all of three seconds and then she turns to leave. I watch her as she goes. I stare at the exit for several moments after she’s gone.

“She was hig right.”

I turn to Blue Blood who looks at me with a dopey grin as he struggles to find balance in his seat. The other councilors stare at him in disgust, and in the case of Storm Stepper with contempt. “Your Highness, you’re drunk.”

“Now, now, hig hold on,” Blue Blood says, swiveling in his seat. “Don’t take that the wrong way. I would never hig wish to imply that the lower classes have any hig right to speak in that manner to royalty, but the Captain was right. She was being a hig right bitch when she said it, I certainly would never have hig expressed it in such an insensitive and disrespectful manner, but the basic gist of what she said was hig true.”

He falls back in his seat and leans over the armrest, looking at me. “Your concern hig for those blue-collar friends of yours hig while noble in its intention is ultimately hig cowardly when you look at the bigger picture. We need hig our heroes in the fight, not in the—the—”

He looks off into space like he forgot what he was going to say. “Hig well, we need them like I need hig my fine vintage medicine.”

He claps his hooves and a servant diligently hands him another bottle of wine, which he sips down like a toddler with a milk bottle.

He’s an insufferable colt acting out some piggish fantasy of a stallion, and yet it pains me to admit that he’s right. Captain Octavia is right. I know they’re right. Yet, whenever I so much as think of my friends facing that monster I go numb in my legs and queasy with fear. I can’t have my friends go anywhere near that creature, I’d rather die myself before they did, but deep down, I know there’s no other way. It’ll find them regardless. It’ll enslave Equestria regardless. It’ll hurt everyone regardless until it dies.

The Elements need to fight. I don’t have a say in the matter. I have absolutely no control.

Absolutely no control, even over myself.

To hell with that!

I clench my eyes shut and suck in the tears that were just crawling out. I sit straight up and stare to the center of the room, to the entire council. “You’re all correct. The Elements need to fight, and I’ll lead them in as soon as possible.”

The whole room goes stiff from the sudden change of heart. They all stare at me with a mix of shock and relief.

“That’s—That’s excellent news, your majesty,” says Storm Stepper. “And don’t you worry, I will ensure that you and your friends are kept safe. No expense will be spared in your protection. You have the entirety of the Equestrian army at your back.”

“Good to hear,” I say. “Duchess Dagger-Heart, about Captain Octavia.”

“She will be disciplined accordingly I assure—”

“Princess Celestia told me that she was one of the best soldiers the Order had to offer, is that correct?”

Dagger-Heart clicks her hooves together. “She is certainly a contender, I must admit. Though as you've seen she is sometimes difficult to keep in line.”

“I want her leading the defense of the Elements, give her whatever she needs.”

Duchess Dagger-Heart looks at me solemnly for a moment before quietly responding, “As you wish, your majesty.”

I turn to Lyra, who’s been standing quietly beside me this whole time. “Lyra, you knew what this demon was right from the moment you saw it.”

“Well, sort of,” she says. “I was basically in denial until you confirmed it for me, and even now I’m still having trouble believing—”

“You brought us this information before anyone else. Can you bring us more?” I ask.

“Oh, absolutely your majesty,” she says smiling. “I’ll search through my entire collection, every book, tome, and textbook.”

“Scour every resource you have and bring us anything you find on Asmodeus. Every little bit helps.”

“Yes, your majesty.”

She salutes and then leaves the tent. I walk to the exit immediately after her.

“Your majesty, where are you going?” asks Storm Stepper.

“To address my citizens.”

I throw open the tent flap and step out into the dimming mid-afternoon sun. The shield around the tent is still up, and there’s still a sizeable crowd vying for attention outside. Captain Octavia stands just outside the tent smoking a cigarette. She glares at me with those flaming eyes, but I pay them no attention this time.

I walk up to where one of the unicorn guards is standing, pooling their magic to keep the shield up.

“Lower the shield,” I command.

He turns to me with eyes widened. “Your majesty?”

“Do it.”

The guard stares at me another moment before signaling to his partners. They all stop casting their magic at once, and in a few seconds, the shield slowly dissolves. The crowd rushes towards me.

I panic for just a second, spread my wings and fly up. I keep myself hovering above everyone, and they all stop and stare up. This might be better actually, everyone can see me now.

I take a moment and look over the vast sea of ponies before me. Hundreds crowded immediately below me, and out further behind them, thousands. Small makeshift camps huddled in the craggy mountains below what was once Canterlot. I can actually see the spot where the castle used to be from where I am. I see multitudes of ponies staring out at the dusty crater, and slowly they all turn their eyes towards me.

I take a deep breath to flush out the nervousness and speak a voice like thunder. “Ponies of Equestria, I am Princess Twilight Sparkle, and I vow to ensure that the destruction of your city, your homes, your families, does not go unanswered!”

Chapter 5: The Wild Child

She’s late. Of course she’s late. Why wouldn’t she be? It’s the end of the fucking world, why would a trivial matter like that cause her to suddenly grow a sense professionalism?

I light up a cigarette and take a drag as I settle in to watch the show. Manehatten is burning. I can see it even all the way out here, miles away, over the pine crowned hills and shadowy plains. It glows like a dying ember smothered by the night sky. Three million ponies trickle out from the smoldering ruins, a flowing mass of citizens dimly illuminated by the occasional lantern and torch. Their dimly-visible coats form a multicolored river that crawls across the darkened plains, a trudging parade of gloom marching to an orchestra of death. It would be beautiful if it wasn’t so fucking tragic.

The wind runs its freezing fingers down my neck. I shiver and pull my faded dark green jacket tighter around me. For once I wish for the heavy weight of my Order robes, even if wearing them out here on my own is a bad idea. You can never be too sure of what’s around.

I hear leaves crunching beside me. I turn and see Vinyl standing a little way to my side. Her face is blank and she goes still as stone the moment I look at her. She levitates a large steel flask, likely filled with tequila, and knocks back a sip. I glare at her dead on, biting the end of my cigarette.

“Vinyl.”

“Tavi.”

That’s as much greeting as we give each other. She slowly walks deeper into the woods and I limp after her. The space between us is narrow, but it feels as if we’re walking on opposite sides of a canyon in two different countries. We don’t speak. We barely even look at each other. I keep tokin’ away on my cigarette. Vinyl keeps taking sips from her flask and gains a tiny bit more of a smile with each swig. Finally, she looks over at me and says, “So how’s life as a sister fucker going?”

“Fuck you!”

She turns away snickering like a mischievous school filly. I glare at her and take a long drag. “Two years. Two years since we’ve last seen each other and you open up with that. You’re such a cunt.”

Vinyl chuckles and edges closer to me. “Did you miss me that badly?”

I slump down and resign myself to her immaturity. “No, in fact I’ve had a number of stallions in that time who were far more satisfactory than you.”

“Mm-hm, how much did they charge you?”

“Two hundred an hour, and I didn’t have to deal with your foul alcoholic breath or your endless shameless perversions.”

“You’re the one who first wanted us to start fucking, sister.”

“Yeah, after years and years of you ‘joking’ about it, and even then only after I was heavily intoxicated.”

“You warmed up to it pretty fast though. It was almost every other day after that.”

“I’m sure it must have seemed like that to you in your drug-addled, alcohol-damaged mind. How did that attempt at sobriety go by the way?”

“You ask, while puffing away on a cancer stick.”

“Unlike you, I have no intentions of quitting. I’ll be blowing smoke in your face through the stoma.”

“Well at least I have a new hole to look forward to using.”

“Assuming I’ll let you use it?”

“Assuming you can resist me.”

“Resist stabbing you in the cunt, maybe.”

“Kinky.”

“Go fuck yourself.”

I suck in the last breath of my cigarette and flick away the butt. I need to stop for a moment as I fish around for a fresh cig. The dull ache in my chest makes it more of a chore than usual. I finally find one. Vinyl sticks her hoof in her mouth and bites down until she bleeds. I hold the cigarette out and she squeezes the wound over it, dripping blood along the fag until it saturates the paper. I hold it to my mouth, light it, and take a long drag.

There’s a faint coppery flavor added to the normal coffee esque taste. I exhale the smoke and lean my head back as the relaxing waves wash over me, then I look at Vinyl. She now appears to me as a scruffy pale grey succubus. Her mane is a grim shade of dark blue and black and is parted at the sides by two upward-curving horns that jut from the corners of her forehead. Her irises glow a shade of blood red in front of pitch black scleras which almost seems to shift and twist like moving shadow. She has a pair of large black bat wings tucked against her back, they extend from her shoulders all the way to her rump, which now has a lascivious cutie mark of an extremely vaginal looking pair of lips with a drooling tongue running between them. She unfurls one of those wings, wraps it around my side, tugs me in close, and then kisses me on the cheek.

The thin layer of aphrodisiac saliva sends a shiver through my neck and a wave of heat through my chest. We stop walking. I close my eyes and breath in a deep lustful sigh. I feel her heated breath on my cheek once more. I grab her by the mane and lock lips. Her lips are contorted into a huge grin that I need to dig past to get my tongue inside, and her jagged teeth scrape me as I enter in. I force her up on her hind legs and shove her back against one of the sullen oaks. She trembles and wraps herself around me as I grab and squeeze her body all over, thrusting myself against her so hard it feels like my heart is beating into her chest. Our lips separate with a pop, we pant short needy breaths and stare at each other with hungry eyes.

“I missed you Tavi.”

“I missed you too Vinyl.”

We smirk and lock lips again, moaning into each others’ mouths. Her long, coiling tongue wraps around my own while her potent, thin saliva drives me into lustful frenzy. She runs her hooves down my back, kneading the base of my tail, rubbing over my butt. I moan, then grab her bleeding hoof. It’s healing quickly, a thin pillar of steam rising from the rapidly sealing flesh, but I manage to stick my tongue in at the last minute. The sharp metallic taste of her blood sends a chill through my spine, and her healing flesh burns my tongue. Vinyl shudders through a wide grin as she watches this and grinds her hips into mine.

“Fuck, that’s so hot,” she says.

I flick my tongue out of her wound and draw a red streak across her neck, making her shudder and tremble. I lap my way up right to the side of her face, then whisper in her ear. “Give me the mark.”

Vinyl chuckles. “Worried someone might hear us?”

“Any precaution we can take is a smart idea.”

“Can’t argue with that.” She bites into her hoof once again, then pushes the tip of her other hoof into the reopened wound. She brings it to my head and draws a shape with it; a circle with a cross through the middle and a small sickle sticking out the bottom. She draws the same shape on herself, then presses her forehead to mine and mumbles breathlessly, "Ave Satanas."

Immediately I feel a sharp burn on my forehead, like some put a cigarette out on it. There's a skittering in my skull like a sheet being dragged across my brain, and then a warm comforting feeling all throughout my body, like what you get when drinking hot coffee in the winter.

Vinyl presses her lips to mine once more and without breaking the kiss I hear her voice in my head clear as a bell. “I’m glad we finally got back together, she says in her head, even if it did take the end of the world to make it happen.”

“Yes, I owe you a grave apology for that,'' I say in my head. “It was cruel and utterly selfish of me to leave you right after—”

“Shut the fuck up; I’m the one who fucked you over. I don’t blame you for leaving, even if I really would’ve loved to have you around at that time.”

Our kiss is broken. We lean against each other for a moment, feeling each other’s panting breath.

“I visited his grave,” I say in my head.

“I noticed. Morning Glories, sapphire blue like he always use to get me.”

She smirks, revealing two rows of shark-like teeth. I feel a tiny bit of relief at that smirk, and then I press my lips to hers again.

“Anyway, I’m sure you can guess why I called you out here.”

“To get licked?” she says with a smirk.

I give her a deadpan stare, then in one movement I grab her by the buttocks, pull her forward, and kick her legs out. She goes spinning to the ground, lands on her back with an aggravated grunt. I turn myself around, flick my tail in her face, position myself so she’s staring straight up at my muff, and lower my head so my lips are mere inches away from her already dripping slit.

“What have you heard about this invasion so far? Start talking and I’ll start licking.”

I can almost feel her excitement as she shudders against my entrance.

“I’ve heard that the Order got fucked, damn near every city got fucked, Manehatten got really fucked, Canterlot got fucked out of existence, and that Asmodeus is supposedly the one doing the fucking.”

I give her several quick rough licks down her labia that make her moan in delight.

“The Order has been trying to keep a lid on that last part,” I say in my head.

“The Order really has its head up its ass if they think they can keep that a secret,” Vinyl says in her head. "I knew it was a Crown Prince from the moment I saw the fucker fly over Manehatten, only took me a few minutes to narrow down which one."

I pause momentarily and glance back over my shoulder. "You were in Manehatten when all that shit went down?"

"I was knee deep in the smelliest part of it."

I feel her heated tongue on my entrance and groan as the slippery organ pushes in. Her jagged hooves grip my rump and pull me down against her snout.

“I was downtown in some old thrift shop when he flew over. One second I’m flipping through dusty Mootown records, the next I’m standing in Sun Square, my face so saturated with blood it’s literally squeezing off me like a sponge, crawling over mounds of twitching dying bodies, and the streets are running red with blood. Literally, like a river. I’ve heard of that happening back in the day when demonic invasions were more common, but I always thought that those were just stories. Never thought it was possible, to kill so many ponies that their blood just runs down the road so thick you can wade through it hoof deep. Fun times.”

She presses her muzzle up into my snatch, lapping and snorting like a thirsty animal. I spread her open and lick her winking clit.

“The Order thinks Asmodeus might have done something to cause the demons to become more aggressive and violent. Did you experience anything like that?”

“Yeah, but it was more than that. It’s like he made my bloodlust go crazy. It felt like I hadn’t eaten in years. I guess the one silver lining in the attack was that there were plenty of shit bags for me chow down on. Didn’t even get across the street before I stumbled across a group of avarice demons munching on some poor homeless ponies. It’s not usually my thing, but avarice flesh is actually pretty tasty when you’re famished.”

“So you managed to make it out unscathed?”

“Well, almost”. She says squeezing my butt. “Incubus demon caught me off guard. Clamped it hooves around my head and literally squeezed my skull until one of my eyeballs popped out. Had to bite open its jugular and push my eye back into its socket. It’s still jiggling around a bit. Sort of sick actually.”

I roll my eyes. I know she’s only bragging to try to annoy me, and in other circumstances I might have chastised her, but now...

“When I was in Canterlot, I got rammed in the chest by a Motholite demon.”

Her vigorous licking stops. I look over my shoulder and see her staring at me with wide gaping eyes. "Fuck off."

"With its horn."

"Bullshit, you’d be dead!"

"I almost was.” I unzip my jacket and pull back the flap to show her the dark bowling ball sized bruise on my chest. “Honestly, if it weren’t for a combination of blind fucking luck and a bottle of Samson Wine we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation right now. Oh, and I still killed it afterwards.”

Vinyl stares me dead-on, scanning, analyzing, just searching for any hint that I might be bullshitting her. Her jaw sinks lower and lower as it slowly dawns on her that I’m telling the truth.

I grin uncontrollably and use my hind leg to push her face back down in front of my crotch. “So what else did you see in Manehatten?” I ask in my head.

“Oh, fuck you! You’re telling me this story right now!”

“Later, after you answer my questions, and after you get a face full of my cum you degenerate horn-head demon slut.”

Vinyl’s face twists as her need for answers fights with her urge for release, and of course the latter quickly wins out. She jumps straight back into licking me hard, and I courteously do the same.

“What else did you see in Manehatten?” I ask again. “Specifically, was there anything unusual there? Weird activity, strange demons and so on.”

“Funny you should ask,” she says in her head. “I actually ran into some freaks that I’ve never seen before. Big hunched back goat hoofed fuckers with these bony wrinkled claws on their forehooves like griffons and thick black veils over their heads. Not like any demon I’ve seen before.”

“Doesn’t sound like anything I’ve heard of either. May have to send that one to our demonology experts and see what comes up.” I slide a hoof along her rump and make circles around her asshole. Her legs twitch at the touch and she shudders against my crotch.

“Push it in, please,” she says in a needy voice.

“Tell me what these hunchback demons were doing,” I respond.

She groans, but a little more prodding makes her swiftly obey. “Mostly dragging hostages down into the sewers, a lot of them. They only showed up after the Order had been driven off, so I never saw them fight, but they looked pretty nasty. They mostly stuck to themselves, although there was a demonic foal that seemed to be with them and was going around asking others to come join them.”

“A foal? Wait, it wasn’t—”

“No, it wasn’t her,” she says. “Trust me, I would’ve opened up with that if it had been. No, this kid was a colt, real young one, and yet weirdly confident in what he was doing. He was going around coaxing other demons to come follow the hunchbacks, and he was surprisingly successful at it.”

“What was he offering them?”

“I don’t know. He was pretty selective about who he talked to. Whatever it was, it instantly got the attention of every demon he talked to, and more than one expressed disbelief.”

I take an exasperated breath and then press my hoof deep into her cunt until the largest width of it glides inside with moist squelch. Vinyl wraps her back legs around my head tightly and squeezes my ass as she moans into my cooch. “Is there anything else you can tell me about these hunchbacks, or this colt?”

“Well, they were carrying weapons.”

“Weapons? That’s unusual for demons. What kind?”

“I saw a lot of bows, and big thick quivers, like covering most of their backs they were so big, they must have been carrying like a thousand arrows each. I also saw a few carrying swords, big ass swords, like as big as I am.” Vinyl rubs my butt and gives it a firm slap. “And I guess you too now that you’ve put on a few pounds.”

I stop everything I’m doing. I dislodge my hoof from her cunt, pull my head out from between her legs, lift my snatch out of her face, and sit down on her chest. Vinyl looks up at me, bleary eyed and chin dripping in fluids. “Oh bullshit, you did not just get offended! You are too much of a hard ass to get pissed at something like that!”

I don’t say a word. I pull a cigarette out of the pocket of my discarded coat and light up, giving her a little sadistic grin.

“Oh you cunt.”

“You said these hunchback demons only appeared after the Order had routed. Did you see how they came in, how they got into the city?”

Vinyl beats her head against the ground and blows out a sigh. “I didn’t see them when they first came in, though I did see some coming in from the harbor so I guess they must have swam across. Hell, they might have snuck into the sewers from there and popped out after the city was massacred, they seemed hell bent on dragging the survivors down there.”

“Considering the chaos that broke out during the riots, it would’ve been easy for them to slip in unnoticed. That, in conjunction with their weapons and the standoffish demeanor, sounds to me like Asmodeus may be placing some special forces inside the city to bolster the demons he riled up during his initial pass.”

“Yeah, neat, that’s cool how he did that. Can we get back into it!” She lifts her hips off the ground and wriggles like a floundering fish. The desperation in her voice is so delicious.

“One last question. Did it look like these demons were preparing for a confrontation? Were they doing anything to prepare for the Order, or the Elements?”

Vinyl mumbles out an indecipherable curse before grumbling an answer. “If they were, I didn’t see anything. Most of the demons were just fucking shit up, tearing the city and anyone unfortunate enough to still be in it to shreds, and the hunchbacks just mostly kept to themselves. Now come on! Please, I’m begging you Tavi! I want to cum!”

She squirms beneath me, her chest pressing up against my cunt. I release a pleasured sigh, then reach into my coat once again and unsheathe a hidden silver dagger. “Hm, you sure you’re ready for it?”

Vinyl stares at the gleaming silver blade and gets an uncontrollable, giddy smirk. “Yes! Yes, please!”

“You really want this?”

“Celestia yes!”

“Then beg for it.”

“Yes! Fuck, please Tavi! Hurt me as bad as you fucking can! Spill my blood, burn my flesh, make me squeal and cry like the little bitch faggot I am!”

I twirl the silver dagger in my hoof nonchalantly and take one last drag on my cigarette. I then spread her labia open, and place the flat of the blade on her clitoris, causing her sensitive flesh to burn and sizzle.

"Oh Fuck!" she blurts aloud.

Her whole body jolts and writhes violently to the point where it feels like I'm riding a bull. I hold the blade against her clit for several seconds and then slowly drag it up cutting the sides of her folds.

"Fuck! Yes! Keep Going! Please keep going!”

“Keep it in your head, and give me some attention too!”

I wiggle my hips above her. She snorts, grabs my ass, and starts ravenously eating me out. I moan in pleasure and press the blade into her slit once more. She squeals and jerks her hips uncontrollably. I spread her labia open with the blade and lick at her searing flesh, lapping up streams of blood which sends volts of pleasure through my body. Her thrashing, writhing body beneath my hips makes me quiver in delight, but it’s her screaming, that rapturous roar of pain and pleasure that really drives me into paradise.

“Fuck, Tavi, I’m so close!”

“Me too Vinyl. Fuck, scream for me you demonic cunt!”

“Then fuck me! Fuck me like I’m one of your cheating ex-boy friends!”

Well, she fucking asked for it. I tilt the blade so it’s lined up with her opening and jam it in to the hilt. Vinyl makes a floundering high pitch squeal, but still manages to lick me thoroughly throughout and I push myself back into her face to get her tongue in deeper. I pull the blade out until only the point is still in, then ram it back. I repeat the motion once more, and then she cums. She squirts a geyser across the ground, a mixture of cunt juice and blood. Her hips spasm, her legs kick, she squeals uncontrollably in pure ecstasy. I continue driving the knife into her, getting my hooves drenched and splattering a bit on my face. It burns so good. She stops licking me in her contortions, but I grind myself against her screaming snout and ride my way over the edge. I finally find my own release, driving the knife deep into her one last time and holding on tight as my body is wracked in waves of ecstasy. Vinyl lets a few more spurts and then goes limp. I feel her lapping up my fluids as I too ride out the pounding pulse of bliss.

It all dies down after a moment. I dislodge the blade, eliciting a sultry moan from my sister. The damage is extensive and ugly, oozing blood from large punctured gashes, but the wounds are already beginning to heal and seal up, which only seems to give her post-coital pleasure. I roll off her chest to the ground and take a long, content breath. We look at each other. Her dagger-toothed smile is made so alluring by the liquid dripping down her pale grey face.

“Fuck me, it’s been too long since we’ve done that.”

“Agreed,” I say lighting up a cigarette. “Your shameless perversion does have its charm.”

Vinyl scoffs. “You went along with it all. You sure you want to be hurling the word perversion around like some beaten whore?”

“Is that an admission that I top you?”

“Fuck no it ain’t. I’m queen lecher of fuck mountain, no one is taking my throne.” She worms over and sniffs my crotch as if she needed to prove the point.

I snicker, snorting out cigarette smoke as I do. “If you’re the queen, then what does that make Asmodeus?”

“It makes him a shit-sucking fucktard who should be hung, drawn, and quartered at the first given opportunity. I’m a little jealous that you might actually be there when Princess Twilight skewers his ass.”

I hold back a grunt and sigh out smoke. “Optimistic. She has a long fucking way to go before she’s anywhere near that point. Right now, the smart money’s on Asmodeus enjoying some Twilight Spar-kebab.”

Vinyl looks me sideways, then smirks and shakes her head. “Don’t have much faith in our newest-appointed Princess?”

“She is green Vinyl, really fucking green.”

“So were you once, and you fucking swam after getting thrown into the deep end.”

“The world wasn’t at stake with me, and I at least had mental preparation before facing my first demon. Sparkle is completely unprepared for what she’s getting into.”

“Really? I heard she gave a pretty damn good speech at the disaster zone, saying she was going to fire the Elements of Harmony straight up Asmodeus’s ass, or something similar to that.”

“She’s putting on a tough front for the nation, but she is crumbling inside. When she met with her councilors, she was grasping for any possible excuse to keep her and the Elements out of this fight.”

“She’s facing a Crown Prince Tavi, that would give anyone pause for thought. Besides, it sounds like she came around to fighting eventually.”

“Yeah, after I literally risked my career to point out that placing the safety of her friends over the survival of Equestria was short-sighted and cowardly.”

Vinyl doesn’t respond immediately. I look at her. She’s staring at me with one of the biggest shit eating grins I’ve ever seen. “You called her retarded didn’t you.”

I beat my head back into the ground. “No, I did not!”

“You did. You fucking did! You said it to her face!”

“I made no such comments to her in front of the council.”

“In front of the council?”

My face scrunches up and I look away from her. “I may have said it earlier in front of Princess Celestia.”

Vinyl bursts out laughing, a distorted echoing demonic laugh that sounds like multiple entities are cackling at once. I take a drag and fold my arms against my chest. “It’s not fucking funny Vinyl. The fact I had to go that far should tell you how little she’s prepared for this.”

“Oh lighten up,” Vinyl says. “It’s the Elements of Harmony remember. All you have to do is protect them long enough to find the bastard and then they’ll just instantly annihilate him.”

“You would think, but can we really be sure in this situation?”

Vinyl gives me a grave look. “Why would there be any doubt?”

“We woke up this morning thinking Canterlot was impregnable, now it’s a crater.”

“Canterlot was a city. The Elements are literal holy objects so powerful that most demons don't want to go anywhere near them. Think about that Tavi, my kind will usually tear ponies apart if they even think they're demon hunters, but the elements, no one fucks with the elements. They're that damn scary.”

“First, there have been plenty of demons who've tried to murder the elements, the Order just always kills them before they make it into Ponyville. Second, Asmodeus is no normal demon. If even a small fraction of the ancient legends are to be believed, he is more powerful than every other demon currently in Equestria combined. With that kind of power, I have to wonder if even the Elements will truly be enough to beat him.”

Vinyl blows out a long, depressing sigh. “Well, if Asmodeus does end up winning, I can help you blend in to the new demonic society by taking you as a slave.”

I give Vinyl a burning, vexed stare. She gives me a perverted smirk. “You’d be my property so no other demons would fuck with you, it would be a good cover, plus we could have some really kinky slave sex.”

She reaches her hoof out to my neck, but before she can touch me I bite the hoof, kick my legs up, and sit on her chest. “Stay on topic. I want to hire you spy on Asmodeus’s forces, and see what their planning.”

“Hire me? What, is our old deal not good anymore?”

“No, it’s not.”

I glare at Vinyl dead on as if she were a dog in need of whipping. Her face loses every bit of humor and she shrinks into the ground.

“Okay, I get it. Still a touchy area. I’m sorry about all that again.”

I sheath my contempt and shake my head.

“I’d love to forget it ever happened Vinyl, but I’m not sure I can trust you with information like that again.”

“I understand, Tavi.”

She looks away sorrowfully, guiltily. I take a deep breath then lean down and kiss her. She smiles, almost tenderly, and returns the kiss. “Maybe in time, I’ll feel comfortable again, but we’re nowhere near that point right now.”

“I won’t let you down again, I promise.”

She runs her hooves through my mane and we fall into a moaning make out session. At some point during the debauchery I take a small paper cylinder out from the pocket of my jacket and place it into her hooves.

“These are royal marks,” I say in my head. “There’s about fifty thousand bits worth right here.”

Vinyl stops everything. Her lips pop off mine and she stares at me with eyes like wide red diamonds. She tears open the paper, plucks out one of the coins, and stares in astonishment at the platinum alicorn insignia.

“Where did you get—”

“Princess Twilight tasked me with ensuring the safety of the Elements no matter what the cost,” I say in my head. “She made it clear that I essentially have a blank check to that end. Everything is at my disposal, any weapon, any soldier, any information, and of course, taxpayer money.”

Vinyl stares at me dumbstruck in silence. She peels off the rest of the paper and lets each of the marks clink down into her hoof, a small fortune that few outside of nobility and the ultra-rich have ever laid eyes on. “And the Princess will be okay with you paying me this much?”

“Good intel is never something to be cheap with, especially when the stakes are this high. You’ve infiltrated countless cults and covens for me in the past. You can interact and spy on demons in ways the Order can’t, and to top it off you have a talent for getting others to trust you. In short, you’re easily the best pony for the job. And in case I didn’t already make this clear, I am extremely concerned about how this will all go down. A demon as strong as Asmodeus is sure to have powers and abilities we can’t even begin to comprehend, and knowing what some of those abilities are beforehand would be invaluable to us, potentially world saving.”

I look Vinyl straight in the eye, glowing softly like dying embers. “That’s what I’m asking you to do, help me save Equestria, and for it, I’ll ensure you’re paid appropriately. Thus, the rather large upfront fee.”

“Upfront fee?” Vinyl repeats.

“Oh yes, you get us some good intel that aids us in the field, and I’ll ensure you are paid enough to satisfy a lifetime. All the booze, whores, and music you want included.”

Vinyl clinks the coins around in her hoof. Her gobsmacked face slowly gives way to a rapturous delighted grin. “You know, you could’ve just asked nicely and I still would’ve done it for you.”

“I know, but since I had the opportunity to pay you back, I thought ‘why not’. I literally owe my whole career to the info you’ve given me over the years.”

“Oh fuck off, you would’ve been a badass agent regardless of whether you had me or not. You’re the best demon hunter in the Order. The fact that you’re sisters with the best demon hunter on the planet just got you there faster.”

I shake my head and roll my eyes. She sits up from the ground and wraps her hooves around my back. I tense up for a moment as she buries her face in my chest and squeezes me tight.

“But god dammit if I ain’t touched that you thought of me like this,” she says in her head. “I love ya so much, sis.”

I hold still in Vinyl’s embrace and then lift up her chin and kiss her forehead. “I love you too Vinyl. Sorry it took me so long to see you again.”

“Don’t sweat it sis. Now then,” She pulls me down and flips me over onto my back. “If we don’t have anything else to talk about, then I am going to eat you out like an ice cream sundae.”

Her face presses against my skin as she slides down my body, leaving a rising feeling in my stomach. She levels her snout with my snatch and takes a deep sniff before drawing a long lick across my entrance. I shudder and breath in deep as the wonderful shocks of pleasure arise once more.

I lean my head back and for a few magical moments I allow all the stress and anxieties of the day to fade into the background of my mind. I think not of grand battle strategies or exhaustively detailed plans, only the firm movements of Vinyl’s tongue inside me. I worry not over the aptitude of the Princess or the fate of the nation, only the comfort of my partner and satisfying her desire. I fear not Asmodeus or the dangers that await me tomorrow, I bury them all in the warmth of her chest, the sleekness of her wings, the points of her teeth, the softness of her ass.

Tomorrow I serve my country, but tonight, for all too brief of a moment, I serve only myself and this wonderful twisted mess I call a sister. It’s been far too long since I’ve done so.