Angel of Darkness

by Urimas Ebonheart

Rating: mature
Tags: Alternate Universe, Nightmare Moon, Romance, Original Character, Gilda, Adventure, Princess Celestia, Human, Anthro, Princess Luna, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark
Length: 198623

My sister left the fridge open again, so I now have to go down to the store to buy new milk and shit. I get there just fine and start filling my shopping basket when a guy with a gun enters and starts demanding money...

Dying is a rather terrifying experience, but my death was cut short when I was pulled out from my world by a demon who offered me a deal and a second chance at life, for a price. With no other choice I accepted his deal and was sent to Tartarus with his powers now coursing through me to fulfil my end of our deal.

NOTES:

Chapters 1 to 10 are a prologue to how Damien received his powers and learns how to use them in Tartarus before getting pulled into Equestria.

Additional character tags: Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Spike, Angel, Shining Armour.

Story will contain scenes of nudity and mentions of sex but with no details as clop chapters will be posted here Angel of Darkness- Mature Chapters

Published 2016-07-16 09:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2025-01-03 13:46:33 UTC

Chapter 1: Reborn

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 1: Reborn

I close the front door after coming home from work, another boring day packing boxes full of soaps and shampoos to be sent out and sold. I head into my kitchen to get a nice cold cola when I spot something that makes me sigh.

"Dammit, Mel! You left the fridge open again!" I yell at my sister as I look at the now spoiled and curdled produce in said fridge.

"Oh shit! Sorry, Damien. I didn't mean to!" she tells me as she pokes her head around the kitchen door.

I sigh again and empty the spoiled contents but a few things were still fine. "Don't worry about it, I'll just get some more from the store," I reply and tie up the bin bag.

"Here, at least let me pay for some of it," she says and pulls out her purse before handing me a twenty dollar bill.

"Thanks, while I'm down there do you need anything?" I ask her as I take the bill and pocket it.

"Na, I got enough cigarettes to last me the week," she replies with a shake of her head.

I frown and shake my head back at her. "You need to quit those, they'll kill ya one day," I tease her and she huffs at me.

"HA! I got more chance of being shot before that," she retorts and walks off back to the living room to look after our mother.

I walk into the living room as well and smile at my mother who smiles back. "So mom, do you need or want anything from the store? I need to restock the fridge thanks to Mel here," I ask her and playfully glare at my sister who sticks her tongue out at me.

"Oh just some polo mints will be fine," she replies as she adjusts herself in her chair. Her back is getting worse and I just don't earn enough for the operation she needs, so I try to make her as comfortable as possible.

"Alright, I'll be back in a while. Mel, don't touch my stuff alright?" I reply and warn my sister.

"Yeah, yeah. Now get going before the store closes," she replies and I chuckle as I grab my keys and phone.

I plug my headphones in and select shuffle on my playlist. After a long ten minute walk I reach the local market and grab a shopping basket, I then head down the aisles getting cheese, milk, mince beef, and some other things and decide to look at the magazine rack as I pass it by.

I hear the door open with it's usual bing bong sound and look up to see a guy wearing a motorcycle helmet with a mirror like visor on it so I can't see his face, in his hand is a handgun that he's pointing at the clerk who raises his hands up.

"Oh shit..." I mumble making the guy point his gun at me.

"Get on the floor mother fucker and don't move!" he yells at me, but before I could comply the clerk pulls out his own pistol and takes a shot at the thug.

The shot hits him in the shoulder making him fire his own gun, I feel pain flood my chest as I look down and see a red patch that's growing bigger by the second. My grip weakens and I drop my basket as I cough which sprays a bit of blood onto the floor. I fall to my knees and grip my chest as it's getting harder and harder to breathe.

More shots go off and the thug manages to get out the door and runs off. I start choking on my own blood as I fall onto my back shivering in pain and panic.

"Oh crap oh crap, hold on man. Help's on the way..." the clerk tells me in his own panicked state as my vision starts to blur.

'Is this how I die? Not an old man passing in his sleep or from some badass brawl? I get fucking shot! Mel was right... the chances of getting shot to death is higher than those cigarettes of hers killing her,' I think with a pained chuckle which just ends up choking me more.

The clerk puts pressure on my wound making the pain flare up more but I don't think it matters... there's no coming back from this...

"I'm so sorry man, this is all my fault," the clerk says sadly, I think he's shaking his head as I can't tell anymore.

I then hear the doors open and people rushing inside, but my body feels numb and cold as finally the pain stops, my eyes close and I let out my last gurgled breath.

I open my eyes and the first thing I feel is weightlessness. I look down to see I'm naked and my skin is a transparent grey colour. "The fuck?" I mutter in an echoed tone. I then look around and see nothing but a pitch black void. "Where the hell am I?" I ask myself.

"Good question, this could be considered a form of hell, or more commonly known as the space between worlds," a deep two toned male voice replies to my question from behind me.

I try to turn around but I can't seem to do it. "Who's there!?" I call out in slight fear.

"A dying soul, one who has an offer for you," he replies and I see what can only be described as a dark purple transparent demon move a few metres in front of me. He's slightly taller than me and has two horns on his head, large fang like teeth, pointed ears, slitted eyes, bat like wings and a long tail with a spear like tip on the end. "I have been wounded beyond aid, betrayed by my own kin, and I would be damned if I allow it to go unpunished," he tells me.

"What offer?" I ask cautiously as I look around again but see nothing else.

"I offer you my power and a chance to be reborn, but in exchange, you must kill my brother," he tells me as I notice his legs are starting to dissolve upwards.

"And what if I don't want it?" I ask him which makes him chuckle.

"Then you remain here for all eternity," he replies with a cruel grin.

"What!?" I shout out wide eyed. "But why me!?" I ask him.

"I was banished to your world and you were the only soul nearby I could pull at the time of your passing, I need a freshly deceased soul to take my power, and you were the only one I saw at the time... I don't have much longer left, and the longer you wait the less chance you got of getting out of here," he tells me with another laugh.

"So you're saying I don't have a choice?" I ask with frown.

He stops laughing and smirks at me. "Correct, you either take my power and kill my brother, or stay here for all eternity as insanity takes you," he replies as his legs are gone from his knees.

I look down in thought. 'So I'm dead and some demon thing has brought me here with no real choice in the matter. I either accept his offer or suffer an eternity of silence and solitude...' I look back up and he's now up to his mid thighs.

"Let's say I take this offer and go through with it, but afterwards I'm free to go do what I wish correct?" I ask him.

"Once you kill my brother you're free to do whatever you damn want, go on a killing spree or try to have a normal life again, makes no difference to me, but you'll be stuck in Tartarus until you complete your end of the deal," he tells me and holds out his hand. "But here's some advice, when you do face him, do not let him stab you in the heart with his sword. It is a cursed blade that destroys the soul of the one it slays," he warns as his waist starts to vanish.

I growl in frustration and reluctantly grasp his hand. "Fine," I relent and he grins widely.

"Very good, with this pact I, demonlord Val'ketoph pass my power on to you, you will be bound to Tartarus until my brother, demonlord Val'hades has been slain," he says and his dark purple colour flows down his arm and into me, turning me dark purple while he turns dark grey. My body then becomes solid with my pale white skin again and I'm now wearing a pair of black trousers, a white shirt and a black Leather trench coat. "The pact has been set, good luck, you'll need it," he tells me as he then throws me away from him before some kind of portal to a fiery wasteland opens in front of me.

"OH SHIT!" I yelp as I can hear his cackling laughter before the portal closes and I fall to the scorched earth below. "Oooff!" I hit the ground and the wind is knocked out of me. I groan as I slowly get up and twist my neck getting some clicks making me sigh in relief. "This is Tartarus?" I mutter to myself as I look around, I’m in an ash covered wasteland.

"Yup!" a cheerful feminine voice behind me says making me jump with a yelp and turn around.

What I can only describe as a bipedal horse with hooves for feet, horse like legs, slender and curvy hips, a long thin tail with a heart shaped tip, a thin waist, generous sized chest and a bright smile with two fangs showing is staring at me. Her fur is scarlet red and her hair is a dark blue which covers her left eye, it's long and flowing down to her mid back which has a pair of small bat like wings. She also has a pair of six inch long horns on her head between her ears which are curved backwards.

Though her face is much more different than a horse’s with bigger wider eyes with deep red irises more on the front of her head and not the sides like a horse, she has a shorter muzzle, bigger ears, and shows much more expression than a horse ever could.

"Wow, never seen you here before. Who are you?" she asks as I only now notice she's wearing a black thong shaped like a heart and a bikini that is also heart shaped which just barely covers her nipples.

"Errr..." I just stare dumbly at her.

"Errr? That's a silly name for a hot looking demon like you," she says with a seductive smirk on her face.

I chuckle nervously and back away from her. "My name's Damien... Who and what are you?" I ask her.

"Oh, my name is Dark Desire and I'm a succupony," she replies happily before lunging forward, wrapping her arms around me and kissing me right on the lips with a lustful moan.

I panic and grab her shoulders and push her back just before she could rape my mouth with her forked tongue. "Bloody hell! You're fucking crazy!" I yell and start running.

"Ohhh I like it when they play hard to get!" she says and then giggles as she chases after me.

Chapter 3: Welcome to Tartarus! Part 2

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 3: Welcome to Tartarus! Part 2

I follow her and we watch from within the cave as they arrive and look around the grove. "You sure you saw them here, Sugar Daddy?" the big demon asks the pretty boy... his name is Sugar Daddy? Pfft...

"Yeah, I had a harpy following him from above and she said he was last seen here, Master," Sugar replies to the large demon, holy crap he looks like a brute; big, muscular, and only wearing a loincloth while holding a large crude wooden tree trunk like club. Kinda looks like a fifteen foot tall grey ogre.

"Well then tear down this place and find him! I want his head by the end of the day or I'll have yours instead!" the ogre threatens Sugar.

"O-Of course, M-Master," he replies and a light of pink energy forms in his hands which moulds into the shape of a small hand sickle. He then starts chopping the trees down one by one and Desire gasps.

"No! My grove! I need those apples to survive out here!" she cries quietly as she watches her trees getting destroyed.

I'm not sure how or why, but I feel a pulse within me as my senses sharpen and a low growl exits my throat as the need to kill the ogre rises within my mind. Without thinking I charge out as Desire calls for me to stop but I ignore her as I hold my right arm out and I feel that same pulse I felt in town fill my hand as a dark purple energy appears and moulds into a large and lethal looking black and purple scythe with a sinister aura around the blade.

The name of the scythe then comes to my mind 'Thanatos, harvester of souls.'

"Master! There he is!" Sugar calls out, making the ogre and the other two look at me.

I take a deep breath and exhale as I feel light and agile. "Then kill him now!" the ogre tells the pretty boy who nervously complies and rushes at me with his pink energy sickle ready to strike.

I spread my legs with my left side facing Sugar and I pull the scythe back and wait for him to reach me. With a cry he leaps at me with the aid of his wings and that's when I strike, he yelps as he can't avoid my quick swing and my scythe impales him in the chest right where his heart is and continues until he's pinned to the ground.

He screams in agony as the scythe then glows and Sugar starts to shrivel into a dried up grey husk in a second. Once done, he breaks apart into ash... oh god, is that what all that ash on the ground is? The corpses of dead demons?

I pull the blade of the scythe out of the ground and glare at the ogre who looks stunned. Desire then runs over to me and grins at the ogre, why is she so confident all of a sudden?

"Jidaan! Unless you want to die, you better leave before my Master takes your soul as well," she threatens him... wait what? Master?

"Oh? So he killed my minion, what makes you think a deamon like him is a match for me?" he rumbles out back to her.

"Because my Master is a demonlord," she replies with a sadistic grin. The fuck is she talking about? I'm her Master?

"A demonlord? Bwahahahahaaa! You surely are getting desperate, Dark Desire. I'll tell you what, become my slave and I'll let you live as my personal toy while I kill your Master," he offers her and I notice her grimace.

"I'd rather have my soul destroyed than let you have me!" she replies in disgust.

I can feel my scythe just anticipating the kill of this bloated demon in front of me, and even I feel excited at the prospect of slaying him... is this my demonic side craving the kill or something... I'll admit it's kinda terrifying me, yet thrilling me at the same time.

"Then you can join his ashes among the wastes. Such a pity, you'd have made a wonderful toy," he replies and raises his club and lumbers towards us.

Desire yelps and flies off but the harpy attacks her in the air using her talons to kick at Desire. The succupony moulds her own blood red energy into a whip with razor sharp thorns along it which she starts to swing at the harpy leaving cuts and gashes on her.

I focus on the ogre and side step to the left to avoid his downward strike but the sheer force I put out makes me tumble along the ground to a sliding halt. "Ouch..." I mumble out and groan as I get back up.

"Hahahaha! What was that, demonlord? Can't you control your own strength?" the ogre taunts me making me growl aggressively.

I raise my wings and use them to launch myself at the ogre with my scythe drawn back, I reach him quickly which gets a look of surprise from him. I then swing but he avoids me hitting his chest, though I do end up taking his left arm instead.

The limb drops to the ground and the ogre cries out in pain. The harpy ceases her assault on Desire and turns her attention to our fight.

I quickly recover and twist myself around with the aid of my wings and swing for the bastard's back, but he moves faster than I thought he could and slams me with his club right in the gut, I feel bones break and organs rupture as I'm sent soaring into a few trees.

"Bastard! I will devour your heart for taking my arm!" Jidaan roars out in anger as he starts to stomp over to me.

I struggle to breathe as pain flares through me, but I can also feel my organs recovering and my bones mending quickly. With a gasp I get back up with a large amount of rage flowing through me as my body seems to have a slight aura of shadow around it.

The ogre stops and stares at me as his anger seems to fade for realisation. "You are a demonlord..." he mutters and backs off.

I feel so alive! I feel energy coursing through my veins as I can just taste the power at my fingertips! I toss my head back and let out a manic laugh that sends chills down the spines of all those present. "HAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA! I Feel GREAT! I FEEL ALIVE! Ohhh I will enjoy ripping out your soul!" I grin with a shiver of delight at the ogre who decides to abandon his minions and runs back towards the way he came from.

I lick my lips as I use my wings again to lunge at him and close the distance quickly where I slice off his right leg shortly followed by his left.

Jidaan cries out and rolls across the ground as he then tries to pull himself away with his remaining arm. I then land on his back tapping my scythe on my shoulder.

"Please spare me! I'll give you anything you want!" he begs for his life, pitiful.

"I don't think so, Thanatos thirsts for your soul, who am I to deny its prey?" I reply and raise my scythe high in the air.

"Nooo! I beg you! Spare me!" he continues to beg.

I ignore his pleas and swing my scythe down and impale him through his heart. The blade sings with joy as his soul is sucked right out into it making his body shrivel up and crumble into ash, I flap my wings as I'm no longer being held up by his body and land a few feet away.

The harpy and the little green ugly guy walk over to me and I raise my scythe ready to end them, but they surprise me by kneeling in front of me.

"We are yours to command, Master," they say together to me.

My mind momentarily goes blank and I lower my scythe. "What?" I ask confused as the bloodlust and adrenaline starts to wear off.

"You killed our master making you our new master, as well as the master of Felfire Town," the harpy replies, head still bowed down not daring to look at me.

I now own Felfire Town? As my adrenaline high wears off, days of being awake and using so much energy has made me tired and now I can barely stand as it all comes crashing down on me.

"Go back to town and await for my arrival," I order them both.

"As you wish, Master," they reply and quickly take off back the way they came from.

Desire walks over to me with the most creepiest smile I've seen on her yet. "Is it wrong for me to be so turned on right now?" she asks me and I just chuckle as my scythe turns back into dark purple energy before fading away. "Amazing, I thought the Thanatos scythe was lost!" she says in excitement.

I stumble forward for a few steps before collapsing. "Damien!" Desire calls out but I can't stay awake anymore and give in to the sweet embrace of sleep.

I awaken to the feeling of laying on a soft surface, am I on a bed? I blink my eyes open and the first thing I see is a cave ceiling. "Where am I?" I wonder aloud and slowly sit up as I stretch my arms.

"Damien?" I hear the voice of Desire say next to me. I turn to her and see her holding a rag that's dipped in some kind of red liquid. "How are you feeling?" she asks me as she pats the cloth onto my forehead.

"Fine I guess... I had the strangest dream, I conjured this big ass scythe and I slaughtered a big ugly ogre and pansy pretty boy... then I'm called master by two other demons saying I now own a town... crazy right?" I reply and ask her. She just raises an eyebrow at me in reply. "Ah fuck me, it really happened didn't it," I ask her and sigh.

"Yes, it did, you are now the master of Felfire Town... and was that an invitation?" she tells me with a smile and half lidded eyes.

I grunt at her flirting and shake my head. "Alright... I can work with this, and what was that comment you made to Jidaan about me being your master?" I ask her.

"I... it was my attempt to get him to leave... but I had no idea you had that much power already!" she replies and grins.

"Neither did I..." I reply as I frown and stay silent for a few minutes as she continues to dab my forehead with the cloth. "How long was I out for?" I ask her.

"Twenty-four hours." she tells me and then hugs me gently. "Thank you for saving the rest of my grove, without it I would not have survived for very long."

I smile and pat her on the back gently. "You're welcome," I reply and yawn, damn I still feel tired.

"You need to rest still, what you did was dangerous as you summoned a soul slayer weapon, that takes a lot out of a demon, especially one such as Thanatos and as new to it as you are," she scolds me.

I huff and lay back down on the makeshift bed in thought as I remember the feelings I felt during my rampage. 'I felt so angry, so full of rage... and it felt GOOD! What's happening to me?' I wonder as I yawn again, I then feel Desire pat my forehead with that cloth again, I'll ask her what it is later, more rest sounds good right now.

I've rested in Desire's cave for another two days now while I recover my strength, the stuff she's patting me with is a mixture of blood apple juice, fireweed, and some of her own blood. It's supposed to help me recover my energy faster and it seems to be working as I feel better every day. She's also been refraining from any lewd advances as well.

Desire has been unusually quiet since yesterday and giving me glances now and then. She's currently sitting next to me on the bed biting her bottom lip.

After a long moment of silence I can just see the gears turning in her head. She then looks at me with a faint smile. "Can I ask you something?" she asks me and I nodded in reply. "I want you to be my master," she says shyly.

I just look at her flabbergasted. "Wait, you want me to be your master?" I ask her stunned that she wants such a thing.

"Well, yes. Think about it, you can keep me fed and protected while I can keep you company and teach you about demonic powers and what I know about Tartarus... It's a win win situation, you also saved me from becoming nothing more than a plaything for Jidaan when you could have stayed hidden and let them destroy my grove... I feel like you're a demon I can give myself to both in body and soul," she replies and twiddles her thumbs.

I frown at her while thinking it over, a guide would be helpful, but I'm not sure about the company thing. I'll admit she knows how to kiss and her figure is nosebleed worthy, but she's not human... Though I doubt I'll ever see another human again for a very long time, if ever.

"Alright fine, do I have to do anything or do I just say you're mine?" I ask her, still not sure about this.

She smiles and shakes her head. "You just need to sink your pointy teeth into my neck to mark me," she replies and pulls her hair out of the way revealing her slender neck to me.

"What?" I ask dumbly as my brain shuts down.

"You just need to bite me, your demonic energy will leave a mark binding me to yourself so no demon else may claim me until you die or they're stronger," she replies with a smile, this place is going to drive me insane way before that void ever could...

I sit up and just stare at her wide eyed as I run my tongue across my two long fangs. She groans in frustration and leans over to me and grabs my head as she then puts my mouth just over her exposed neck. "Now just sink those chompers into me and just let your energy do the rest," she tells me and I sigh as I open my mouth and sink my fangs into her neck.

Instead of a hiss of pain she moans in delight as her blood coats my tongue and my eyes go wide, it tastes delicious as I give a gentle suck making her moan again. I quickly pull myself off and swallow the blood in my mouth, tastes kinda like cherries.

The two puncture marks scar over and a black marking of a human skull with horns appears over it, the two scars look like pupils on the skull.

"And that's it, I'm all yours now, Master," she says seductively again and hugs my arm while licking my cheek.

"Great..." I reply sarcastically and lick my lips as there's still blood on them. "And don't call me master, Damien is just fine," I tell her.

"Okay, Damien. We should probably head to Felfire and announce their new demonlord to them," she tells me and pulls me off her bed.

"Yeah... sounds fun," I reply but I'm actually dreading the thought of running my own town.

Chapter 4: Playing the role of mayor

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 4: Playing the role of mayor

Desire and I leave the cave and walk back to Felfire Town, it takes us three hours but we make it unscathed, unless I count Desire's little attempts at getting a reaction out of me about me owning her now. We arrive and the demons there spot us and start bowing to me.

"Master," they say as I walk past. I'm never going to get used to that.

That harpy from before flies over and lands in front of us. "Master, welcome home," she tells me and bows.

"Right..." I mutter and furrow my brow. "So where is Jidaan's old place, I might as well stay there for now while I get used to all this," I ask her and she gets back up.

"Very well, Master. Follow me," she replies and starts walking off after folding up her wings to her sides.

Desire and I follow behind her as more and more demons bow down to me. It was no less than a week ago they gave me odd looks when I first wandered in, and now I not only own this place but them as well? Demons are fucking weird... Well I certainly ain't going to treat them like slaves, my mother raised me better than that.

We pass by the Ifrit's Armpit pub and continue down the main street where we arrive at a large manor sized building. "This was Jidaan's home, as it was the only place big enough for him to fit, now it is yours," the harpy tells me.

"Why are you so accepting of all this? I killed your master and two of your friends," I ask the harpy.

She stops and looks at me. "We all hated Jidaan for what he did to us while he was in charge, hoarding decans to himself and stuffing his face with most of the town's food, he was starving us and using us as his personal toys or entertainment... Yes, two of my friends are gone and I can't blame you for fighting back as I would have done the same, but you freed us and the town from his cruelty... Unless you plan on continuing where he left off," she replies.

"No, I'm not going to force anyone to do anything they don't want, that's not how I was raised. And besides, I've got my own task I need to focus on," I tell her and push open the large thick doors to the manor, if a large rusty metal shed looking building can be called that.

I look around and see four doors in this room along with what appears to be trophy cabinets. The harpy shakes herself out of her stupor and walks beside me. "To the left is the treasury where Jidaan kept all his decans and other valuables. The second door leads to his bedchamber, the third door leads to his personal kitchen and the last door is where he keeps his... toys," she tells me and I glare at the fourth door.

I walk over to it and open the door to see twenty demons both male and female of different kinds, mostly harpies, incuponies and succuponies chained up to the walls with bowls of blood apples and what appears to be cups of brown liquid. They all look miserable and look over to us.

"Here we go again..." a demon who looks like a succupony but with dirty yellow hair and matted blue fur says already resigning to her fate.

I look back to the harpy beside me. "What's your name?" I ask her.

"Geneine," she replies.

"Okay, Geneine. I want you to release all of these demons and give them a hundred decans each... is that a lot or a small amount?" I order her and then ask.

"It's a decent amount, and are you sure you want to release them? They are yours after all," she replies and asks.

"I don't want slaves or servants. I want others to look up to me and follow me out of loyalty and their own free will. A follower who's willing to follow me is better than those that follow because they have no choice. I want to earn their loyalty and trust instead of fear and hate," I tell her getting a wide eyed shocked expression from her and I start ripping off the rusty chains binding the demons here.

After we've released them all, I've allowed them to stay here as long as they want or until they're ready to leave. Geneine then takes me to my new room and I notice the bed is large but stinks like shit.

"Well first I want the bed removed and a new clean one put in, do what you want with the old one," I tell Geneine. In a large wardrobe is multiple pairs of loincloths and I grimace at the equally bad smell in there. "Get rid of these as well, burn them if you have to," I then say and close the wardrobe.

"Very well, Master. Anything else?" Geneine asks.

"No thank you, I'll just look around and see what we got here, and just call me Damien please," I reply and she leaves the room after nodding.

"So, mister demonlord. What do you plan to do with your new town and demons?" Desire asks me and hugs me from behind.

"If I want to leave Tartarus, I need to kill Val'hades first, and for that I'll need to build an army of my own... So I think we'll be here for a few years as we build up our forces," I reply and enter the treasury. Looks like Jidaan wasn't exactly swimming in money but there seems to be quite a bit here.

"Our forces?" she asks confused.

"Yes ours, I don't know anything about this place or the demons and their politics, traditions, or anything. I want you to help me understand everything I can about this place," I reply picking up a crude looking coin which appears to be a just a piece of blank dark purple metal that I have no idea what it is.

"Looks rather plain for a coin..." I comment getting Desire to look at me.

"Each coin is made from demonite, a metal only found in the Smog Mountains near the Overlord’s Castle where it grows and each coin weighs exactly ten grams," she replies as she puts on a ring with a small red gem on it.

"Metal... that grows?" I ask her with an unbelieving look.

"Of course, demonite grows due to the high concentration of demonic energy in the mountain. It gathers into clusters and solidifies into this metal," she explains.

"Right, well then. Let's take inventory of what we got and who we got," I say and head out the door.

Two Months Later

The last two months have been stressful and I'm about to blow a fuse at this rate, I've had to use Desire to read out anything in the demonic written language for me while slowly teaching me it as well, she's teased me daily about it. I've given away half of the treasury to the population to help circulate what currency we have and to lower the prices of goods in town, so far it's working well and the demons are starting to like me more despite finding out I'm a demonlord and not a deamon like they first thought. My plan to have them loyal to me for my actions rather than through fear and force is starting to pay off.

Desire has had her blood apple tree grove moved over to a nice flat area of land just outside of town and it is being tended to by the lesser demon fel ents. They're basically tree people who look like they've been burnt like charcoal. They keep the trees healthy and pick the fruit when it’s ready to sell to the town, we get the profits and I pay them ten decans a day. They’re very happy with the arrangement.

Speaking of decans, Desire, Geneine, and I have counted what's left in the treasury and I have fifty-thousand and eight-hundred decans, should be enough to get this town running like a well oiled machine I hope.

I've also been told there is a large deposit of hell iron ore nearby but the cave that it's in has been overrun by wild monsters. I'll have to learn how to use my powers as I've been unable to re-summon that scythe again, so the mine is on hold for now.

The demons who were Jidaan's sex slaves decided to stay and be my personal servants. I told them it wasn't necessary but they said they had nowhere to go and that they were chained here for years. I relented and now they're my manor's maids and butlers, paid of course. Three of them are surprisingly good cooks.

Desire has informed me that the town's underground water supply is running low due to a blockage in the channel and that some imps and goblins have been sent to fix it. While I've learnt that demons don't need to drink water, it's used more for bathing, washing clothes and used in alchemy. They came back later and informed me the blockage was due to a infestation of waste worms, they've been dealt with and the water is flowing again.

During these last two months Desire has been sneaking into my room and getting into my new bed with me, something about feeling secure and that I'm just so nice to be around. That and I think she's trying to get into my pants any way she can.

I wake up to the sound of my door opening where Geneine walks in. She's at least now wearing a shoulderless shirt to cover her chest and a cleaner loincloth, she’s even putting on a bit more weight and doesn’t look skinny anymore, and her fur and feathers are now clean after a good wash.

"Good morning, Damien," she greets me and I try to get up, only to find I'm pinned down to the bed by Desire who’s snuggled up against me with a happy smile.

"Again? Argh, I give up..." I sigh in defeat, she wants to sleep here then fine, I don't care anymore.

"I have some bad news from the harpy patrol, there's a large group of armed lesser demons who've heard that Jidaan has been slain and are heading over here right now, most likely to raid us," she tells me.

"Oh wonderful, just what I need right now..." I grumble and manage to slip out of Desire's vice like grip, she's been getting stronger and stronger the more she feeds off me which I've limited to just kisses and hugs, but I don’t know how long she’ll be able to hold herself back before she decides she wants more.

"What defences do we have?" I ask Geneine.

"Jidaan was the only deamon here and is the main reason why the other towns left us alone, but we have over fifty imps, thirty harpies, forty-three goblins, a hundred felhounds, sixteen boarus, seventeen fel ents, twenty-one incuponies and thirty-seven succuponies," she tells me.

"Sounds like a decent amount. What of weapons or demon abilities?" I ask her.

"Most of our weapons are rusted over from poor maintenance and that we can't get any more ore from the mine. We have mostly knifes, swords, spears, and some maces. As for abilities, the imps can throw fireballs, the incuponies and succuponies are agile and good with whips and can drain their target’s energy until they're too weak to fight but that takes a while. We harpies have the air advantage, the boarus has a tough hide and can take a nasty beating while healing at a fast rate, the felhounds have a nasty bite that burns quite badly and the goblins are good at team tactics when fighting together due to their quick thinking," she explains. "But most importantly we have you, Damien," she says like I’m the ace in the hole… I don’t even remember how I did most of the stuff I did against Jidaan...

"Right, well then, gather every demon willing to fight and arm them as best you can, get the boarus up front with shields and armour with an imp on their shoulders to both attack and protect them. Do we have anything explosive? Like bombs or... napalm?" I ask her.

"No, but we can drop jars of worm oil which the imps can set alight," Geneine replies.

"Then get the harpies to carry jars of oil over their forces and get the imps to burn them. I want the incuponies and succuponies to protect our flanks and I want the goblins to help supply the harpies with the jars. I also want some goblins to help the fel ents to protect the blood apple grove as well," I tell her. All those years playing strategy games like command and conquer and the civilisation series are coming into play, and who said video games would be a waste of time?

"As you wish, Damien," she replies and walks out the door.

"Now about the problem of me not knowing any of my powers or the lack of my scythe..." I say to myself.

I hear a yawn and the shuffling of sheets as Desire starts waking up... "Damiiiieeeen! I'm hungry!" she says groggily and slides off the bed with a light thud.

I can't help but chuckle as every morning she acts like this until she feeds off me... I still think she's acting. "Yeah yeah," I reply and walk over. I then lift her off the floor with one hand, at least if anything I have superhuman strength on my side.

She smiles and instantly latches onto my lips as her tongue coils around mine. She moans as I feel her drain my energy or testosterone and she finishes with a lick on my cheek. "Thanks," she says and goes to take a shower. That's another thing why being the head honcho is good, I've had quick showers every few days to stay as clean as possible. One time was very awkward though when Desire walked in and instead of giving me my privacy, she joined me and scrubbed me down... very vigorously, she had no trouble feeding then...

I take off my newly made PJ's and put on my black trousers, white shirt and black coat and then head outside. I fly up -and when I say fly I mean flap about and lifting slowly into the air- and land onto the tallest building in Felfire. I look out and see a large group of lesser demons marching towards us.

I can't tell how many exactly or what they have but it seems we have a few hours before they arrive.

"Well then, I better see if there's anything I can use as a weapon..." I mutter to myself and jump off to the ground flapping my wings.

Chapter 5: Raiders

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 5: Raiders

Geneine escorts me to what is barely called an armoury, rusty, bent, and dull weapons line the walls or in barrels and dented rusty armour stacked haphazardly in a pile.

"Not very encouraging seeing our equipment in poor condition... some of these look like they'll snap or bend with the first hit," I comment picking up a longsword with a chipped and slightly bent blade.

"We would have made new ones but the mines are still overrun with worms and kobolds. Jidaan could've cleared it himself but he didn't care," my harpy secretary replies.

"I know, and once I've gotten used to my powers I'll go and clear it out, but right now we need to deal with this raiding party. Are there any scythes in here?" I ask while rummaging through the pile of weapons.

"There should be a few, but no demon really uses them anymore," she replies and starts helping me look through them.

Other demons start coming in and begin arming themselves with the poor equipment before heading back out to face the oncoming raiding force.

After ten minutes of sifting through the junk I find three scythes, two were too bent and not even worth using, but the third while dull, has at least got a straight blade and a good enough point to it for piercing. A bit shorter than Thanatos, but it'll do.

I ignore the armour as I doubt any of it will fit me and I seem to have rapid regeneration anyway. I then step out of the armoury to see my forces gathered and ready for battle... which doesn't look like much I'll admit.

"Right then... Well, I'm sure you know what's happening. An armed force of lesser demons is approaching our town, we're going to fight them off and then find out where they came from. As I see it, if they want to raid us then we should do the same!" I say to my gathered troops.

They cheer out in different ways and raise their weapons of choice.

"Now then, let's get into position and prepare for battle!" I shout out getting another chorus of cheers.

After just over an hour of setting up our defences including crude barricades and cover, we're ready for the advancing forces... I hope.

"Are the harpies and goblins ready!?" I call out and see ten harpies all ready to carry thirty jars of worm oil over to the approaching demons.

"We're ready!" One of the goblins yells back and pats one of the jars gently.

"Good! The rest of you harpies not carrying the jars protect the ones that are!" I tell them getting affirmatives in return.

"Are you sure you should do this without knowing how your power works?" Desire asks beside me with her red energy whip out and ready.

"Not really... but I have to do something and hope for the best... besides, maybe I'll learn something during the battle," I reply and grip my scythe tightly. 'Come on video game skills, don't let me down,' I think to myself with a nervous chuckle, hopefully that bloodlust I felt while fighting Jidaan kicks in and helps me again.

The imps start to climb onto the boarus’ who are holding large rusted tower shields with crude spikes on the front and wearing scrap metal armour, some imps also climb onto the shoulders of the harpies to throw their fireballs from high up and to shoot down any enemy harpies.

Also to tell our forces apart, I've had all of my troops wear a black bandanna around their necks so we -mostly me- don't kill the wrong guys.

The sounds of feet, claws, and hooves marching begins to echo throughout the wastes and reaches our ears. I take a deep breath and face my troops. "Alright, it's almost time! Imps, remember to set the oil on fire and shoot down any of their harpies! Incuponies and succuponies! You're job is to stop them from getting around the boarus! Goblins! Keep the jars going and then join the others in attacking the enemy when you’ve ran out!" I tell them.

Everyone gets to their positions and now we wait. After thirty minutes, the enemy force is easy to see now. They have the same demons we do but also what appears to be a pony spider hybrid. "Desire, what are they?" I ask her pointing out the new demon.

"They're arachniponies, they mostly hide underground and keep to themselves, it looks like some deamon or greater has subjugated a queen and is getting her to lay soldiers for them," she replies with a frown.

"And what can they do?" I ask her, the archniponies have six legs and two arms, their top half looks just like the succuponies but have black fur, no horns, and eight spider like eyes while the lower spider half has black carapace with what looks like a black widow marking on the back of their abdomen.

"They have paralysing venom in their fangs, can spit globs of sticky webbing at you to restrict your movement and with their spinnerets encase their victim, but they're also the best at making clothes with the silk they spin with their webbing," she tells me.

"Hmmm, any weaknesses?" I then ask her.

"Their webbing is highly flammable until it's turned into embersilk, so if you get hit by their webbing you can just burn it off," she replies.

"Good to know..." I say and sigh. 'I couldn't have just gone to heaven or be reborn again... noooo, I get dragged to a literal hell for some demon's personal vendetta...' I grumble to myself and ready my rusty scythe.

The approaching demons stop and a single one is sent out towards us, seems they want words first.

"That's rare, seems they want to discuss terms for our surrender..." Desire says confused.

"Well let’s see what it is and then refuse them, I want to know why they're here exactly... besides taking our shit," I reply and fly out with Desire beside me. I land a few metres away from a harpy dressed in decent blue clothing, probably from the arachniponies... I wonder if I can get a few to join us?

"Are you the leader of this town?" she asks me.

"Yeah... why are you here?" I ask her.

"We're here to claim Jidaan's wealth and strip the town for its resources, I'm here to offer you a chance to leave without bloodshed before we overrun the town," she tells me.

I raise an eyebrow at her and sigh. "And who sent you here? Surely you have a master as well correct?" I ask her.

"You don't need to know that, weakling. All you need to know is leave or die," she replies with a glare.

Desire then laughs at the harpy. "And what do you think you'll be able to do to my Master? Who by the way, is a demonlord," she tells her.

I decide to play along and narrow my eyes at the harpy and appear to be as imposing as much as possible.

"A demonlord? Why would a demonlord be this far out from the Soul Basin?" she asks clearly not buying it.

"I got sent through a portal and ended up here, so I'm building from the ground up before returning," I tell her, it's not exactly a lie.

"You're bluffing, you're probably just barely a deamon at best... I've said my piece, you either leave or die," she replies and goes to spread her wings, oh well.

I quickly swing my scythe at her and impale her through the side of her head. She has an expression of shock before going limp.

"You need to destroy her heart before she recovers!" Desire warns me so I pull out my scythe and bring it down on her heart. Her body then looks like it's cracking before bursting into flames and turning into ash.

'Jesus Christ!' I think as I watch the painful display, but a part of me revelled in taking her life... just like back with Sugar and Jidaan.

The opposing demons all cry out in rage and start to charge at us. I frown as Desire and I both fly back to our defences.

"Well, here they come... Imps! Get ready to fire and harpies get ready to fly!" I call out getting affirmatives in reply. It appears the enemy has twice as many demons than we do...

It seems they're now in range as my imps begin to throw fireballs at the hostile demons and my harpies take off to begin their bombing runs. Their imps are also throwing fireballs back which my demons take cover behind their metal sheet barricades or behind the boarus’.

I take cover along with Desire as the fireballs disperse against the metal sheets leaving only a small scorch mark. Huh, I was expecting more from them.

The harpies begin dropping the oil while the imps on their shoulders set them alight on the way down. I watch as the jars shatter and splash the oil over a large group of demons as they burst into flames. The boarus then brace themselves as incuponies, succuponies, felhounds, and other lesser demons try to get past but the imps on the boarus' backs toss fireballs into the enemy demons leaving burns and charred flesh on impact.

I break away from my cover and swing my scythe over the Boarus and impale an incupony in the head who's being blocked by the boarus. Desire starts throwing what looks like small double ended blades made from her energy over the boarus which hit some of the demons on the other side.

Our Incuponies and succuponies are holding them off at the sides but are suffering some losses as well as the harpies fighting in the air. If we don't start pushing back… if I don't start pushing back, we'll be overrun and I'll never get out of this hellhole!

As if responding to my plea, I feel a pulse in my chest and again my senses sharpen as that familiar bloodlust and urge to kill flares up again. Instead of fearing it this time, I embrace it and toss my rusty weapon aside as I feel energy gathering in my hand. My scythe, Thanatos forms and I grin widely showing off my fangs.

I barely notice Desire grinning at me but I ignore her and lick my lips before leaping over the boarus and swing my scythe into the group of demons in front of them, decapitating three of them and leaving deep facial gashes in two others. The three that I decapitated have their souls sucked out into my scythe which look like I did in the void, transparent dark grey version of themselves, I can just feel my weapon sing in delight.

I then feel energy build within me before bursting out with a roar sending the demons back a few metres. Again I feel so alive! "COME! SHOW ME THE BEST YOU'VE GOT AS THANATOS CRAVES FOR YOUR SOULS!" I shout out with glee before swinging again and slicing three demons in half by the waist, their souls being ripped out and absorbed into my weapon.

The demons falter for a second before charging right at me. My vision turns red as all I care about right now is to tear these weaklings apart. My scythe bathes in their blood as it steals their souls.

After slaughtering many more I take a hit from a fireball which burns off my coat's left forearm sleeve, but doesn't even burn my skin. I turn to the imp responsible and charge at him. He panics and tries to flee but I reach him and swing my scythe in an uppercut motion slicing him in half up the middle. His blood covers me and I have a sadistic grin on my face.

I turn to the rest of the attacking demons and I notice I've killed at least a third of them, they're so weak, so fragile... I want to face something with more power than these ants.

My grin seems to unsettle them and a thought comes to mind. "Tell me..." I start and walk over to a dark purple succupony with dark green hair, purple eyes with black freckles on her face who looks like she wants nothing more than to run. "Who sent you here to my town and take what is mine?" I ask her as I now stand a full foot over her as she shivers.

"M-M-Master Kigorian s-sent us..." she says as a strong bitter scent hits the air, I glance down and see her pissing herself in fear.

I then stroke my scythe's blood covered blade and then lick the blood off my fingers. "I see, and which direction may I find this... Kigorian?" I ask her as I then stroke her cheek gently.

The gesture seems to calm her down slightly. "T-Ten miles s-s-south west..." she replies as an incupony takes a chance to stab me in the back.

I turn around and grab the rusty blade which cuts slightly into my hand. "Thank you for your co-operation, my dear," I tell her as I then cut the incupony's head off and steal his soul before turning back to the succupony. "As a reward I, demonlord Damien Jackson, offer you a chance to join my demons, what say you?" I offer her with a warm smile and hold my hand out to her. "Better yet, I offer all of you a chance to join me and forsake your current master," I then shout out and gesture to all of them.

Every demon has stopped fighting as the succupony then speaks up. "B-But we'll be killed i-if we forsake K-Kigorian," she replies with wide eyes.

"Then I shall kill him myself. If he wants to raid me, then he can't complain if I raid him in turn," I tell her with a grin.

Desire then walks over to me as my demons surround the remaining raiders. "You know, unless her master is a demonlord, you just need to bite her and the others to overpower another demon's mark on a lesser demon," she tells me with a half lidded gaze and smirk.

"Is that so?" I reply and look to the succupony. "What is your name?" I ask her.

"S-Sinful Envy," she replies trying not to make any sudden movements.

"Well, miss Envy. Would you like to be mine?" I ask her and brush her long dark green hair away from her neck, there's a mark like an demonic octopus with eight tentacles on her fur. I then smell a more sweeter scent coming from her this time as she trembles and nodded rapidly as she blushes. "Then so be it," I say before biting down on her neck over her current mark, she screams out in bliss as her blood floods my mouth which tastes like lime and I gulp down a few mouthfuls before letting go where my mark has now replaced the old one. "You are now mine, Envy," I tell her as she seems to be shaking before her legs give out.

"Buck that was hot," Desire mutters with a quiet moan.

"Who else would like to join me!?" I call out, some more succuponies along with some incuponies, imps, arachniponies, and harpies step forward dropping their weapons and kneel before me. The others cry out in defiance and attack me, my demons, and the demons who wish to join me.

They're quickly put down as my scythe takes most of their souls.

I walk over to an arachnipony and examine her as I stroke one of her legs. "What is your name?" I ask her. Unlike a normal spider, she has no hair or fur on the insect part of her body but smooth shiny black carapace which feels soft under my touch.

"Sitharis," she replies as all eight eyes follow my movement.

"And do you have a queen, Sitharis?" I ask her.

"Y-Yes, she's being h-held in an underground room a-and being used to breed m-more soldiers..." she tells me as I walk around to her front.

"Would she join me if I freed her?" I ask next.

"I-If you don't c-cage her again then most l-likely yes," she replies with a nod.

"Good," I say and without warning I bite her neck. She hisses in pain and her blood tastes bitter as I sink my teeth into her soft flesh. I then let go and look her in the eyes. "Then I shall go and retrieve her and bring her here," I tell her and she nodded as the two puncture marks scar over with my mark on top, though it looks white to contrast her black fur.

I bite the rest of the demons, the females on the neck and the males on their forearms. Once I've claimed them all, my scythe fades away as the bloodlust and urge to kill also fades as well. I then shake my head and frown. 'It seems my personality changes when I have my scythe out... is it due to my demon half, bloodlust, or is it the scythe's influence?' I wonder to myself as Desire pulls me into an unexpected kiss and then grins at me.

"That was great! I knew you were the right demon to follow!" she says and keeps grinning.

"Okay then... Geneine!" I call out and ignore Desire's lustful expression at me.

"Yes, Damien?" she asks me when she lands beside me.

"Get these demons into Town and find them places to stay. Once I've rested, I'm going with a small force to attack this Kigorian prick and raid his town instead. Also, get the aracniponies to start spinning some silk so they can start making better clothing and other things like sheets and blankets that they can sell," I tell her and she nodded.

"As you wish, my lord," she replies and along with my demons, they escort my newly claimed ones into Town.

"Desire, head back to the manor and get a bath for me ready, I'm just gonna stay out here for a few minutes to calm down and clear my head," I tell her and she smiles.

"Sure, don't take too long though," she replies seductively and flies off leaving me here alone with the ashes of the fallen demons from the battle.

I look around and sigh as I look at my right hand. 'Am I losing myself the more I stay here? Will I end up a selfish bloodthirsty tyrant enslaving others to my will?' I think to myself as I flex my fingers. 'I'll just have to keep myself in check and learn to control these powers and urges,' I think with a frown and head back to my manor.

The demons that didn't or couldn't fight greet me with cheers and I nodded back to them as I enter my home... home, I guess this is my home for as long as I'm stuck here. I head into my chambers and then to the over sized tub where I see Desire drawing a bath for me, except she's naked and wiggling her hips at me.

"Oh, welcome back, Master. I've finished drawing your bath as you ordered," she tells me in a husky tone and then sucks on her right middle and index fingers.

At the sight of her voluptuous body along with all the stress and frustration from the last two months of running the Town, arousal from all of her teasing and flirting, and the recent raid pushes me over the edge as I walk over to her, grab her by her waist and throw her onto the bed making her yelp in surprise.

A strong sweet scent fills the air as I strip down and make my way over to her. I lean over her body and glare at her in the eyes. "So, you thought it was funny teasing me over the last two months did you? And don't think I didn't notice you trying to molest me in my sleep a couple nights ago, Desire," I tell her and grip the back of her head making her yelp with wide eyes. "Fine, I'll give you want you want so badly and I'm going to take out all my frustration on your body in the process!" I tell her and kiss her roughly.

Chapter 6: First raid

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 6: First raid

After Desire and I finished our little session of lust and fun, I carry her over to the still steaming bathtub and settle her in and then sit down myself. I feel so much better and relaxed now that I have all that stress out of my system, I miss my old boring and quiet life with my family already... hopefully once I kill that bloody demon's bastard of a brother I can try to have a life like that again... maybe even find a way home.

"Oh, Damien. That had to be the best rut I've had in years," Desire tells me before cuddling up beside me.

"I can say the same," I reply and extend my tongue back out to its half a foot long length while wiggling it into different angles. "Shtill didn't think my tongue wash thish long doe," I mumble around my tongue. It's something I discovered during our fun time.

"I sure am happy you found it out at least," she smirks at me with half lidded eyes as I retract my tongue.

"Yeah yeah, good for you," I reply with a smirk of my own and a roll of my eyes. "By the way, I haven't just gotten you pregnant have I?" I ask her with slight worry in my voice. Can I even get any demons pregnant?

"No, we succuponies can decide if we wish to get pregnant, helps us when we feed off the best kind of lust which is sex, since it just drips with testosterone and oestrogen. Same with incuponies, they decide if they want to release sperm to impregnate a demon as well. Makes us the number one demons to go to for a good time and relief without consequences," she replies with a shrug.

Well at least I don't have to worry about raising a kid yet... Wait, what does this make Desire and I now? "So, just gotta ask, but are we together or something now?" I ask her getting a confused expression from her.

"I'm yours to do as you wish with, you can rut me whenever you feel like it," she tells me. I don't think she understood my question.

"Okay, rephrasing. Do demons have relationships here?" I ask her.

"Sometimes the deamons or higher do, though we lesser demons are just bred like livestock for labour and soldiers," she tells me.

Wow, that's actually kinda depressing. "So you've never had a relationship before?" I ask her.

"No I haven't, and the last time I had sex was with my old master who was too rough and only cared about himself two years ago before he was killed and I escaped... what you did was so much better and I wouldn't mind doing it again soon," she tells me and licks my cheek again. "Why?" she then asks.

I glance at her and then look forward again, I've known Desire for the last two months and she's told me a lot about herself as I've told her about myself, she's basically been my best friend since I've been here. And despite her not being human, she’s very attractive, especially when she smiles sincerely with her hair covering her left eye.

"Well, we've known each other for two months, we even share the same bed... I guess I want to know if you'd like to be my girlfriend?" I ask her as I feel my stomach start to turn in nervousness, I haven't asked a girl out since my ex six years ago.

She stares at me with wide eyes. "You, a demonlord want me, a lesser demon as a mate?" she asks me with disbelief.

"What's wrong with that?" I ask confused at her shocked expression.

"Demonlords think themselves above mating with us lesser demons and only accept other demonlords or even archdemons. The fact you even rutted me is a surprise as I thought you would have rejected or even punished me as I'm so much weaker compared to you..." she replies and looks away with her ears folded down.

I frown at her and gently pull her chin to look at me. "You forget, I wasn't born a demonlord and was even weaker than you before I came here, I don't have their mindset and I find you attractive and fun to be around... You've helped me learn about demons and Tartarus as best you could these last two months. Without you I'd most likely still be wandering around the wastes and probably starved to death. You saved me out there, you have more value then you give yourself credit for," I tell her as tears start to show in her eyes.

I wipe her tears away and smile at her. "So, now that's out of the way. Would you like to be my girlfriend... or mate as you called it," I ask her again.

She slowly starts nodding which quickly picks up pace. "Yes, I'd love to be your mate," she replies and kisses me gently for the first time ever, I return the kiss as she starts to roam her hands over me.

Thirty Minutes Later

We washed each other off and I forgot I was covered in blood... yeah. Though that just seemed to excite her more.

We get dressed and I promised to get her some new clothes as all she has is that small and thin heart shaped bikini. I wonder how she would look in a black dress...

Once dressed and ready to go, I step out of my room to see a blushing Geneine sitting at her desk hidden mostly behind her wings.

"Geneine... are you alright?" I ask her.

She nodded and peeks over her wings. "I'm just f-fine, my lord... though you may wish to keep the noise down n-next time," she replies and I blush as well. Right, these walls aren't exactly soundproof.

"Noted... Well, I need you to gather a force of one-hundred demons to raid this Kigorian bastard. Because of that fucker we lost over thirty of our people and I'm going to make him suffer for it," I ask her with slight anger in my tone. I hear Desire let out a shaky breath but ignore her.

Geneine seems to calm down and nodded. "At once, my lord. I hope you make him suffer, two of the harpies we lost were dear friends of mine," she replies and leaves the manor to do as I asked.

I look at my right hand and think. 'How does my power work? Does it come out during a fight? Or do I have to will it to work?' I wonder to myself.

I close my eyes and focus on my hand as I remember the feeling of that bloodlust and desire to kill. I try to emulate it and will my scythe to form, I feel a pulse in my hand and energy gathering in my palm. I open my eyes to see Thanatos in my grip and I smirk, once again I feel the blade's thirst for souls echo throughout me.

"Don't worry my friend, when we find Kigorian you can feast on his soul," I say to my scythe which I can feel shiver in anticipation. Is my weapon alive? Or even sentient?

"I see you figured out how to will your weapon to yourself," Desire says and strokes the haft of my scythe, I can feel the blade shiver from the contact.

"So, before I head out, any advice on using my powers? Like can I shoot fireballs or balls of shadow?" I ask Desire while looking at my left hand.

"If you really have Val'ketoph's powers, then you're able to manipulate and travel in the Shadow Realm and conjure physical energy made of pure darkness. He was also a master of darkfire, a dark purple and black flame that can't be put out unless a stronger power is used on it," she tells me.

"I see, so how do imps use their fireballs?" I ask, maybe I can use their method to throw my own fireballs.

"They gather their demonic energy into their palms where they will it to ignite making their fire and then just throw it like a rock," she explains to me.

I will my energy into my left hand and grunt from the effort. Once done, I imagine it bursting into the flames Desire described and in a few seconds, I'm now holding a small black and dark purple flame in my palm.

"Whoa..." I mutter as I stare at the flames.

"Not bad, but I think you can do better. Still, a good first attempt," she tells me with a smile.

"Uh-huh, when I get back I'm going to practise with this a lot over the next few weeks, I'm sure you and Geneine can manage the Town's affairs while I’m gone," I reply and will the flame away, which dissipates into the air.

"Okay, good luck, Damien. You better come back without a scratch, I don't want my mate dying on the day I just got him," she says in a half teasing and serious tone.

"I'll be fine, I just have to take his soul, claim his demons, valuables, and free the arachnipony queen and come home for a nice hot dinner," I reply getting her to kiss me again.

"I'll get the cooks to make your favourite, blood apple pie with smoked waste worm sausages," she tells me.

My stomach already rumbles from the sound of it and I lick my lips. "Dammit, now I want to get this over with already," I reply and head towards the exit. When I first had waste worm sausages, I thought it would taste nasty, considering they look like giant brown maggots with lots of teeth, but it was surprisingly good.

I step outside and see the lesser demons gathering with weapons and armour, even a few of the demons I claimed are coming it seems. I walk over to Sitharis where she's wearing shitty armour and holding a spear. "You're coming with me?" I ask her.

She nodded in reply. "I am, Master. I wish to help free my queen from Kigorian's cruelty. He himself breeds with her to birth us as workers or soldiers... we're lucky if we even get to see our mother at times," she tells me with a frown.

"Very well, I could use a guide getting there and showing me where Kigorian and your queen are. By the way, how many demons live there?" I ask her.

"Three-hundred and fifteen, that included our raiding party of two-hundred and ten," she replies while adjusting her chestplate.

"I see, so we're facing just over a hundred. Is there a way to kill Kigorian without harming his demons? I want to claim as many of them as I can without killing them," I then ask her.

"You can challenge Kigorian to a winner takes all duel with no rules, as the name suggests, you kill him you get everything he owns, same should he kill you, but you shouldn’t need to worry about the demons as they’re workers, not soldiers," she tells me. "Thank you, by the way, for offering us a choice... I've never heard of a demonlord offering lesser demons a chance like this," she says with a genuine smile.

"Well, I'm not your typical demonlord. I treat my demons with respect and as equals, I even pay them for their services," I tell her with my own smile.

"I... see... then I believe I can safely say that the demons under Kigorian's rule will most likely wish to join you then. Our kind hides underground because the higher demons value us for our silk, but because of the way they treat us, we prefer our isolation," she replies and I find it amusing when she lifts her right back leg to scratch her abdomen quickly.

"Then you don't have to worry about that with me, your people may even start their own silk business in town if you'd like," I offer her.

"That... that sounds good actually..." she mutters and I leave her to her thoughts.

I look around to my gathered demons: some boarus, imps, succuponies, incuponies, felhounds, and some of the claimed arachniponies. "So we all ready to go then?" I ask them getting cheers in return. I then look back to Sitharis. "Care to lead the way my dear?" I ask her and she nodded.

With that we march out of town and towards my first raid.

It takes us seven hours of travel but we reach a slightly bigger town than mine, still same design with the rusted metal buildings just nearly twice as big. I think we'll have to strip the buildings of their sheets and drag them back to Felfire for building more homes.

I take a deep breath and shout out very damn loudly. "KIGORIAN! I CHALLENGE YOU TO A WINNER TAKES ALL DUEL!" My voice echoes throughout the wastes and I cough as that made my throat sore.

I see demons gathering around the town's entrance and a young three foot tall surprised looking arachnipony cautiously walks over to Sitharis.

"Sitharis? What's going on... where are the others and who are they?" she asks her.

Sitharis looks to me and then back to the arachnipony. "I have a new master now, Thrasha. He's a demonlord who is... surprisingly kind," Sitharis tells her and shows her my mark on her neck.

"What!? B-But that means... the raid failed?" she asks and looks sad and afraid.

"Yes, some of our friends, brothers, and sisters died in the battle, but Master Damien here offered those of us who accepted to join him instead of dying," Sitharis replies and looks back at me.

I walk over to this Thrasha and kneel down with a smile. "I'm here to claim everything this Kigorian owns, that includes his demons and your Queen. I'm offering you and the rest a chance to live as equals in my town of Felfire as citizens, not as slaves," I tell her.

Her eyes widen as more demons gather around with curiosity. I guess they're not attacking since they're not soldiers but workers.

"Who dares challenge the great deamon Kigorian!" a large brown coloured ten foot tall demon with a head of an octopus, top half of a man and the lower half of an octopus shouts out as he exits the town gate. He's wearing some really nice clothes covering up his waist and torso. Hmmm, I should take this wall and gate for Felfire for added defence, the lack of a wall is a fatal flaw I wish to see fixed soon.

"I do," I reply and walk through the gathered demons gripping my scythe tightly as it starts to crave the deamon's soul.

"You!? What can a deformed incupony like you do!?" he yells insulted. Why do the higher demons think I'm an incupony? I look nothing like them...

"Yes, me. I am demonlord Damien Jackson, and I'm here to claim this town along with everything and every demon in it, including your soul," I reply and hold my scythe out to my side horizontally where the blade coats itself in a thin mist of shadow. "I've already claimed some of your demons from the raid you sent against me," I say with a grin.

"WHAT!?" he yells outraged that I took his demons. "I will have your head on a pike and eat your body you filthy bastard!" he yells and pulls out two long whips from behind his waist and quickly swings one out at me. I manage to evade it but an unfortunate imp wasn't as lucky and gets his left arm shredded by the razors coating the whip.

I glare at the deamon for injuring one of my demons and use my wings to lunge at him quickly, he recoils from my sudden assault and I slash at his chest. His recoil saves him from being impaled but still leaves a large gash through his robe and chest as purple blood seeps out of his wound.

"How dare you injure me and damage my robe! I will make you suffer slowly before ending your miserable existence!" he roars out in anger before swinging at me again. I reach out and grab the whip with my left hand and use my scythe to cut off at least three metres of it.

I hiss in pain as I toss the piece of the whip away, the razors had cut open my hand but the cuts quickly close and I lick the blood off my palm.

"That all? Jidaan put up a better fight than this," I taunt him and roll my neck getting a few cracks.

"You slayed Jidaan!? Impossible! Even I would not be able to take him head on without a strategy!" Kigorian says in surprise that I damaged his weapon and to my statement.

"Yes, I did. Now stop resisting and surrender your soul peacefully, or I'll make you suffer slowly as I cut you apart piece by piece before ripping out your soul," I threaten him with a malicious grin, my bloodlust and urge to kill rising again. "Then again, I wouldn't mind if you resisted... I've been looking forward to a good fight," I then comment offhandedly.

I hear the sound of teeth grinding and I raise an eyebrow at him. 'Huh, I thought he'd have his mouth where his ass would be just like an octopus... oh well,' I think to myself.

He swings his other whip without warning and I jump to the side quickly, this time without tumbling like I did against Jidaan. I will a darkfire flame in my left hand and like throwing a rock, I toss the fireball at him hitting the tip of one of his tentacles. He cries out in pain as the flame slowly travels up the limb burning whatever it touches to ash.

He tries to put it out on the ground but the flame refuses to die and it has now burnt off half of the limb, he then resorts to wrapping the base of his limb with his whip and saws his tentacle off with a spray of purple blood and a scream of pain. The limb falls to the ground and turns to ash as the flame reaches the end.

"I WILL DESTROY YOU FOR YOUR TRANSGRESSION!" he screams in rage and swings his whip again making it wrap around my left arm, the razors digging into my flesh and gets stuck.

'OW! Oh mother fucker is asking for it now,' I think as I grip the whip in my left hand again. I then pull making him fly through the air as he's too stupid to let go and he slams into the ground with a squishy thud. I roar out in pain as the razors dig in deeper but my rage and bloodlust push through the pain and I lift him up again before slamming him down a second time.

I repeat this five more times before he finally lets go and slams into the town's wall. My arm is shredded and dripping blood but after a few seconds I manage to rip the whip off as my arm hangs limply by my side, it's taking longer to heal but that's fine. I walk over to Kigorian who's stunned and looking out of it.

I raise my scythe with one arm and cut off all of his tentacles from just below his waist. "GGRRAAAAHHHHH!" he roars out in pain which snaps him out of his stunned state.

"Oh? Still awake? Well it seems I'm the winner of this little duel, now I hereby claim your town, your valuables, and your demons," I tell him before slashing open his gut, making his innards spill out. I then raise my scythe up again.

"Damn you! DAMN YOU TO THE PITS OF-" he yells but I cut him off by impaling his heart. He gurgles as Thanatos happily starts absorbing his soul, making the deamon shrivel up before crumbling into ash.

I hiss in pain as my arm finishes healing and I flex my fingers. Damn, my sleeve is totally destroyed...

"He won..." a demon says as Sitharis walks over to me.

"You did it... our mother is free!" she yells in joy and hugs me with her arms and her two front legs.

I chuckle and pat her on the head. "You're welcome, now let's go and get her. We have a lot of work ahead of us," I tell her getting a nod from her.

She guides me through the town to Kigorian's manor where in the basement is a white naked arachnipony with a large swollen abdomen chained to the floor. Her hair is light grey and tied up in a ponytail, her legs are all spread out and unable to move as her arms are chained to the ceiling.

"So this is your queen?" I ask Sitharis, which gets the queen's attention.

"Who are you?" she demands with a glare.

"My name is Damien Jackson, and I'm now technically your new master," I tell her and walk up to her.

"New master?" she asks confused but still aggressive.

"It's okay, mother. He killed Kigorian and is offering us a place to live as equals," Sitharis explains to her excitedly.

The queen stares at me wide eyed. "How did you defeat kigorian? Even I a deamon were no match for him," she asks.

"I'm not a deamon, I'm a demonlord," I tell her making her eyes go even wider.

"If he is dead... then I can dispose of these tainted eggs before they hatch," she says and grunts. I turn away as she begins forcefully laying her eggs, followed by the sound of her crushing them.

"Was that really necessary?" I ask her.

"I will not spawn any more of his bastard hatchlings..." she hisses out at me.

"Fair enough," I reply and use my scythe to cut her chains off. "Here's the deal, I'm raising an army to eventually kill Val'hades, I'm offering you a chance to live as equals with my demons so you don't have to hide anymore," I tell her as some arachniponies come in with what appears to be a black dress.

The queen puts the dress on and smiles at her children. "And what do we get from this offer besides a place to live?" she asks.

"You can run your own business with your silk, selling clothes and other things," I reply.

She looks sceptical and hums in thought. "I've seen his town, mother. His demons trust him and are actually happy," Sitharis tells her as well.

The queen looks from her to me and narrows her eyes. "Very well, then I only have one condition. You will fertilise my eggs when I am ready to lay them, the seed of a demonlord will make them stronger no doubt," she tells me with a straight face.

I blink a few times and raise an eyebrow. "Pardon?" I ask dumbly.

"I said you will fertilise my eggs when I am ready to lay. Agree to this and treat us well and I shall agree to join your demon horde," she tells me with a smirk.

I frown and sigh. 'Great, I just get a girlfriend and now I have to tell her I have to fuck another woman just to keep her in town... Why do I have to be the nice guy instead of just telling her to do it...' I grumble to myself and look back at the queen. "Bah!" I yell in frustration, but having an arachnipony queen on my side is too good to pass up. "Fine! But it's solely to fertilise your eggs got it? I already have a mate," I tell her and she nodded.

"That is acceptable. My name is Queen Arachne by the way," she replies and holds her right hand out.

"Yeah, nice to meet ya," I grumble shaking her hand before making my way out of the manor as I dismiss my scythe. I see all the demons both mine and the others gathered outside. "Right then, first things first, I'm going to claim you all so line up and get your bites," I tell them and they line up. One by one I mark them including Queen Arachne and then order them to gather as much valuables as they can carry to take back. I even drag a large cart full of decans and valuables myself.

Once ready, we march back to Felfire where they deposit the large amount of valuables into my vault and I share out a fair portion for them to start living off, I then order teams to head back out and begin stripping the town for resources and materials to build more homes here, including the wall and gate.

"Damien!" I hear Desire call out and tackle me in a hug. I chuckle and hug her back.

"Told ya I'll be back," I tell her and smile.

She then glares at the shredded sleeve of my coat. "What happened," she demands.

I tell her of the battle and how the whip shredded my arm. "So now I just need to get this repaired. Fortunately we have arachniponies with us now so I can ask them to fix it," I reply and hear a cough behind me.

I look behind me and see Queen Arachne. "Don't forget our deal, I'll be ready to lay my next clutch in a month's time," she tells me and crosses her arms.

"Yes I know," I reply getting a frown from Desire.

"What deal?" she asks me.

"I have to fertilise her eggs when she's ready to lay them and she'll provide us with silk," I reply with an irritated expression. I feel like I'm cheating on my new girlfriend already...

"Oh, is that all? Okay," she replies nonchalantly.

What? "You're not upset?" I ask her confused.

"It'll help increase our numbers and will be sure to make strong arachniponies with the blood of a demonlord... I don't see a problem," she tells me and I just shake my head.

"Fuck this, I'm going to take a nap after I wash the blood off me," I reply as I take my coat off and hand it to Arachne. "Would you please fix my coat for me?" I ask her.

She takes it and sighs. "Very well, I do owe you for freeing me and my children. It'll be ready by tomorrow," she tells me. "Now, where shall I be staying for now?" she asks with a raised brow.

“I have a servants quarters built in my manor, you can have one of the spare rooms until we can get you your own place built. Desire can show you the way," I reply and walk off to my manor.

Chapter 7: Mines and upgrades

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 7: Mines and upgrades

After my nap where I find Desire snuggled next to me, I get up and yawn, the smell of blood apple pie and waste worm sausages quickly wakes me up from my half asleep state and I put on my shirt and pants as it seems Desire washed them while I was asleep.

I walk out my room and into the kitchen where the three chefs, an incupony, a succupony, and a goblin are preparing dinner for everyone in the manor. They also cook for the maids and butlers working here as well as their talents would be wasted on just me.

"Smells good guys," I compliment them as I sit at the large table.

"Thank you, Sir. It'll be ready in a few minutes!" Soft Touch the succupony replies and bends over to pull a pie out of the stone oven. I chuckle when she yelps from Silver Tongue the incupony slapping her ass making her blush and glare at him.

I wait for a few minutes as Desire walks in rubbing her eyes. "Feeed meeee..." she mumbles like a zombie and sits down on my lap. I wrap my arms around her waist and she hums as I feel her feeding off me.

"Good afternoon... or is it morning? You know I can't tell time here," I ask her.

"Afternoon is right, so what do you plan to do now that Kigorian is no longer a threat?" Desire asks me.

"Well, we'll have to wait for the others to bring back the resources of the other town to start making more homes for our increasing population. I need to start practising with my powers and then clear out the mine so we can make better and newer equipment with the ore," I reply as a whole eight piece pie with ten sausages is put in front of us along with two cups of rot wheat ale.

"Then I'm going to help you with your powers, watching you coursing with power gets me going so good," she tells me and licks my cheek.

"Right, just take this seriously. I want to make sure this town grows and is well protected, better weapons and armour is a good start along with a wall to protect us from ground threats and me getting stronger to fight the bigger demons is also a plus," I tell her with narrowed eyes, I'm not going to let her tease me when I'm going to practise potentially lethal abilities that could get her hurt or killed.

"Alright, I'll behave, but you'll have to fix that when we're done," she replies and circles her right index finger on my shirt covered chest.

I shake my head and reach around her for a slice of pie and take a bite out of it, Desire then takes a bite out of it herself and surprises me with a mouthful of pie kiss, sharing hers and mine together. 'This girl is going to be a bad influence on me later in life...' I think to myself and just let her have her fun.

Two Weeks Later

I can now freely summon my scythe and throw fireballs further and faster than any of the imps, I've also learnt how to spray my darkfire out like a short ranged flamethrower. Desire almost got herself killed when she couldn't restrain herself anymore and jumped on my back whilst I was using my darkfire at the time, I scolded her like a naughty puppy and told her no fun times for a week, that got her to sober up fast.

Arachne fixed my coat and is also out of the manor with her arachniponies most of the day. She's been looking around for a good spot to build her own silk empire as she put it.

The demons I sent to bring back the metal of the town I raided has brought back a quarter of it already and have begun building new houses out of it. Just another month or two and we'll have new homes, businesses, and a wall built.

It's been nice and quiet the last two weeks, no rival demon attacks, my new demons are getting along well with the others and I believe I'm good enough to clear out the mine so we can start mining again.

Geneine has guided me to the entrance of a cave leading underground, I can hear noises coming from inside making me frown. "How many are down there?" I ask her.

"We believe about two-hundred waste worms, wild felhounds, and kobolds are inside, but that was months ago when Jidaan was running things," she replies.

"Alright, head back to Felfire and wait for my return, get a team ready for mining as well," I tell her.

"It shall be done, my Lord," she replies with a bow before flying off back to town.

I look back at the cave entrance and summon my scythe. "Well my friend, these may not be high quality souls, but there's over two-hundred of them in there for you," I tell my scythe and feel it anticipating the killing spree ahead.

With that I light my left hand with darkfire barely lighting the cave a couple metres ahead of me.

One Hour and Forty-Two Minutes Later

I pant as I exit the mine with a tired expression. There was a LOT more monsters in there than we thought, not only were there waste worms, felhounds, and Kobolds in there, but also large red centipedes the size of my leg, large flaming bats that tried to bite my face off, and these crab like rocks trying to pinch my ankles.

I burnt most to ash while Thanatos took the rest of their souls, I wonder what my scythe does with the souls? I'll have to find out about what my weapon can do later. I dismiss my scythe and look at my coat, fucking thing is torn to shit again... great, Arachne is just going to love me for this.

I fly back to town where I see a bunch of about thirty demons mostly goblins and a few arachniponies carrying pickaxes and harpies holding bags.

Geneine looks up at me and smiles. "Welcome back, my Lord. I've gathered those who wish to mine the ore for twenty decans a day," she tells me and I look to the gathered demons.

"Alright, escort them to the mines and get some of the metal we're bringing back from Kigorian's town to make a wall around the entrance for defences in case someone decides to raid the mine,” I tell her. They all head off to start their work and I smile.

I have plans for the hell iron ore that will give my demons an advantage against even deamons. I'm going to bring firearms to Tartarus!.. Now I just gotta figure out how they work and how I'll make the bullets... bugger.

Desire walks up to me in her new black dress made by Arachne, but she's not as excitable as usual, I guess her near death experience has shown her that not everything is a game. "Hey, I see you got the mine back," she says rather calm.

I sigh as seeing her like this is depressing, I love her bubbly attitude but it was not needed when I was playing with darkfire. "Look, I know I was harsh when I was training, but I don't want to see you hurt, Desire. If I hurt or Tartarus forbid kill you, I'd never forgive myself... You can mess around when we're home and just lazing about, but when I'm training or coordinating the town, please restrain yourself..." I tell her and hug her tightly.

She sniffles but hugs me back. "Okay, I'm sorry," she replies.

I pat her back and kiss her cheek. "It's fine, you're unharmed and that's all that matters. I need to see Arachne about fixing my coat again and begin making plans for a new weapon I want to make," I tell her and we walk back to the manor hand in hand.

Four Months Later

I've begun my work on making a crude musket rifle, I remember it just needs a powder charge and a metal ball stuffed down the barrel with a flintlock hammer to ignite the charge, it's not an M4A1 Carbine or an AK47, but it's a start. So far I've had the stock carved from a blood apple tree branch that fell off months ago, and then had the barrel smelted and forged by the imps and goblins with the new ore coming in, little guys are great at crafting stuff. Only snag I've hit is the gunpowder and hammer parts.

I've kept my end of my deal with Arachne and fertilised her last four clutches, having... intercourse with her was a strange experience to say the least. She lays about ten eggs a month and so far we've got forty new arachniponies growing in an underground nest made by the arachniponies under their new silk store, at least I don't have to raise them myself... the thought of being a father figure to forty children just terrifies me. The demons in town are now well clothed instead of in rags and the town is growing very well thanks to the new additions.

We now have our wall built with three gates and many homes built from the remains of Kigorian's Town. Though lookouts on the wall have reported demons observing our town from a distance, I've sent out harpies to find out what they want or if they're hostile to keep an eye on them, though when they got close the demons ran.

With the new hell iron ore we've now got new equipment and gear, sharp swords, pointy spears, sturdy armour, and I've even got bows and arrows made for the lookouts on the wall, I think they enjoy taking shots at the roaming monsters in the wastes a little too much as they now have weekly competitions seeing who has the better aim. I let them do it as it gives them something to do and look forward to, keeps them happy and a happy demon is a loyal one.

Desire is back to her happy go lucky attitude and we've also had a few demons getting pregnant and forming families now. I just hope we can grow to a point where we'll be able to repel an attack easily before someone strong takes notice of us. I don't want this flourishing town bursting with new life and ideals to come crashing down from some power hungry asswipe looking for a quick score. I'll also need to start looking for deamons to add to my demon horde for more protection and more brute force to raid with if we need to. I've learnt quickly that if I want to raise an army I'll need to raid other towns and claim their demons and wealth, but I'm going to do it my way and spare the weaker demons and only kill their master if I can. The more I claim the faster I can get this army up.

My training is also paying off as I've nearly mastered my darkfire power, I can now shape it into objects, my favourite one is where I make a small dragon no bigger than two feet tall and make it fly into my target and explode, though this takes quite a bit of energy to perform. Sufficed to say Desire had her way with me that night after my display of power.

I yawn in my workshop that I've had added to my manor as I tinker with the hammer mechanism for the rifle, but I just can't seem to get it to make a spark to ignite the gunpowder we've finally got right, the fact there’s no flint here is halting our work.

"Alright, I'm out of ideas... is there anything we can use to make a spark?" I ask my small team of imps and goblins who are helping me to make this.

"What about thunder crystals? Only problem is they grow in the Thunderfury Mountains to the north," a goblin suggests.

"What are these crystals and how do they work?" I ask him with intrigue.

"Well, when struck, they release a charge of lightning and then slowly recharge after a few seconds. The smaller the crystal the smaller the charge they release," he explains to me.

I start grinning and laughing. "Perfect! I'll need to gather some harpies to come with me and bring some back," I reply and get up. "Continue to make more barrels and stocks so we'll be ready to add the hammers later," I tell them getting affirmatives in reply as I leave.

I gather a group of six harpies with imps on their shoulders for protection, new razor sharp hell iron claws attached to their talons and light armour plates covering their legs, they also have harnesses on their backs to allow the imps to hold on to. "So, we're heading to the Thunderfury Mountains to collect some thunder crystals for a project of mine," I brief them.

They look at each other with shrug before we all take off north.

Fifteen Hours Later

After a long flight north, we arrive at a tall mountain range with thunder clouds over head discharging periodically, well... that'll be a problem with the harpies wearing metal. Fortunately I see crystal formations near the base of a cliff face and fly over to it. The crystals are light blue with static electricity sparking off them.

I reach out and poke it gently and I get a mild zap but nothing painful. I grip it tightly and pull it out of the ground. I carry the crystal back to the harpies and place it in one of the electric proof silk bags before gathering five more crystal chunks.

Once gathered we turn around and head for home, but a fireball from an imp who isn't one of mine shoots down one of my harpies.

"Quickly! Kill them all and take everything they have!" I hear a deep voice call out and a group of twenty demons mostly imps and goblins attack us with crap equipment.

"Take her back home and get her treated, I'll make these bastards sorry for attacking us." I tell my harpies and they take off while carrying the injured one and the bags in their talons. My imps throw a few fireballs at the incoming demons before they're out of range.

"I don't know who you are, but you made a mistake attacking us," I threaten them and summon my scythe.

"You ussselesss imbecilesss! You let the harpiesss essscape!" a tall demon with the lower half of a snake, torso of a man and a head of a cobra yells angrily at the imps and goblins.

I frown at him for ignoring me and conjure a small darkfire dragon in my left hand, I send it out where it flies up into the air and comes back down, exploding on the imps and goblins turning seven of them into ash.

"I don't know who you are but you made a grave error attacking my demons," I tell him and spread my wings as I begin walking towards him.

The imps and goblins start backing away as the snake guy glares at me. "I don't care who you are, you'll leave that niccce looking weapon on the ground and sssurrender yourssself to my missstresss," he tells me and draws two long curved swords that almost look like a katana.

"I don't think you understand the situation you're in," I tell him and swing my scythe at a goblin who tries to stab me in the leg. My scythe splits the goblin in two as his soul is sucked out and into my scythe. "For attacking my people I will claim your soul," I tell him with an eerily calm tone.

The imps and goblins that watched their ally's soul get torn out run off behind some rocks knowing that they're outmatched.

The snake demon hisses at them. "What are you doing you cowardsss! Get back here and kill thisss bassstard!" he yells at them but they don't comply.

"It seems that they have more sense than you do if you can't feel the amount of energy I'm giving off," I tell him with a cruel grin while twirling my scythe around effortlessly.

Before the snake demon could even speak, I dash forward and quickly cut off both of his arms. "GAAAAHH!" he screams in pain as he writhes on the ground soaking the ash covered dried up dirt with his blood.

I kneel down and grip the side of his head and force him to look at me. "I'm going to give you two options... Option one, you tell me who your master is and I grant you a death that doesn't take your soul. Option two, you resist and I just burn you into ash before ripping out your soul in the most painful way I can imagine... So? What would you prefer?" I ask him.

He glares at me and spits in my face burning my left cheek. 'Did this prick really just spit venom or acid at me!?' I think with anger as I slam him face first into the ground. I wipe off the acid with my coat's sleeve and the burned skin quickly heals. "That hurt, mother fucker," I tell him and slam his face a second time into the ground.

I then put my scythe down and force his mouth open and then pull out both of his fangs. He screams again in pain as I pick up my scythe and raise it up, I swing down and impale him to the ground through his lower back making him cry out in agony.

"So option two it is then," I tell him and walk over to the tip of his tail, I then ignite my hands with darkfire and set his tail alight and watch as he slowly starts burning alive into ash. His screams of pain and anguish echo throughout the mountain range for any nearby to hear.

Once the fire reaches his waist, I pull out my scythe and pierce his heart. Thanatos sucks out the bastard's soul and the rest of the demon's body shrivels up and crumbles into ash.

"Now then," I say and turn to the imps and goblins staring at me in fear. "Come out and I won't hurt you," I tell them and they comply. "Who is your master?" I then ask them.

"Mistress Medusa," one of the imps replies.

"What kind of demon is she?" I ask next, if the name is any indication then I think I have an idea of what she looks like.

"S-She's a gorgon deamon w-who uses a demonite b-bow and hell iron a-arrows, she can a-also turn any lesser d-demon who looks at her i-in the eyes into s-stone," a goblin then tells me.

I thought so. "I see... and which direction from here is she?" I ask them.

"T-Twenty miles w-west," another imp replies.

"Thank you. Now, I am demonlord Damien Jackson and I'm giving you a choice. Return to your mistress, or become my demons," I tell them.

They look at each other and then back to me. "You're a d-demonlord?" a goblin asks me with fear in his eyes.

"Correct, but unlike the others, I treat my demons equally, well fed, and even happy. So, if you choose to join my community or stay with your current mistress, I won't hurt you, you're free to go if you wish," I tell them making them whisper to each other. If I show them some kindness and that I'm sincere, they'd hopefully pick me.

"And you won't treat us like slaves?" one of them asks.

"No I won't, all demons in my care are treated equally, this includes the archinipony queen in my demon horde," I reply.

One of the goblins steps forward and looks up at me while dropping his poor excuse for a dagger. "I want to join you then. Mistress Medusa has been... well, extremely cruel since her mate was killed two years ago, she's been treating us as slaves or even turning us into statues for her own amusement," he tells me.

I frown and shake my head, that's just fucked up. "How many demons does she have," I ask him.

"Four-hundred and sixty-seven. Including her three daughters and two sons," he replies and looks at the ashes of the snake demon I killed. "One of which you just killed..." he tells me.

So I killed one of her children... That means if she ever finds out, Felfire will be a target of her wrath, I need to get my rifles ready and for a possible assault.

"Alright then, those who wish to join me step forward, those who wish to leave you may do so," I tell them.

Three of the twelve demons back away before running off. I probably should kill them to stop them from telling this Medusa, but I gave my word not to harm them. I look at the remaining demons and smile before replacing their marks with my own.

"Let's head back to Felfire. We got a long walk ahead of us," I tell them as they all seem to perk up and head out.

One Week and Three Days Later

"Finally!" I shout out with a grin. The hammer mechanism for the rifle is now working perfectly! We've managed to chip away at the crystals slowly and replaced the original hammers with crystal tips, so when it slams down into the barrel's chamber, it pierces the 'shell's' silk outer layer and ignites the powder inside, burning the silk instantly and launching the bullet out with enough force to puncture shitty rusted armour, but not our new better armour we've had made.

"So does this mean we can start producing these now, my Lord?" a goblin asks with a smile, just as excited to have finally completed it.

"Yes, yes it does. Start making a hundred of these first and as many shells as you can make," I tell them getting nods in reply before they rush off to mass produce the rifles. I look to the completed one in my hands and grin, this will hopefully give my lesser demons a chance of even taking down a unarmoured deamon if they have to.

I've attached a sling to this one and I'll change it's appearance later, but for now I sling it over my left shoulder with a pouch containing thirty silk shells made by the arachniponies filled with gunpowder and a single bullet. I'll just practise later after I've had dinner and given Desire her daily snuggles as she calls them.

After eating and snuggling, I'm standing on the wall with an audience of demons watching where I have some harpies and goblins placing targets out in the wastes. I pull the hammer back and then load a shell down the barrel with a charging rod -which Desire called a ram rod and the other demons seem to like that better as well- I push the shell down the barrel and return the rod to its place under the barrel.

Once loaded I wait for the goblins to finish setting up the targets before they get out of the way with the harpies.

"Alright then, first field test of the musket rifle will now commence!" I shout out with a grin, I've fired an air rifle before and I'm looking forward to this. "Now a word of warning, this will be loud so cover your ears please," I warn the gathered crowd.

They comply and put their hands or wings in the harpies case, over their ears. I then take aim down at the closest target about twenty feet away and pull the trigger.

The loud bang makes a few demons yelp in surprise and jump slightly as the bullet hits its target and punctures the rusty armour easily.

I take a deep breath and sigh happily. 'Damn that felt good to do again!' I think to myself with a shudder before reloading, next design I'll have to try and make a bolt action rifle or a revolver chamber, the only flaw with this rifle is the reloading time. The demons around me look stunned at what the weapon can do from this distance and stare at the target with a hole now in the chestplate.

After a few seconds I've reloaded and I take aim the the fifty feet target. I fire the shot and the bullet veers off course slightly but still hit its target. I reload and take another shot aiming for the centre of the chest but the bullet veers again, seems like a half a foot spread from here.

I take a fourth shot at the seventy feet target but it misses completely. So the max range would be fifty to sixty feet then.

"Where did you get this weapon, my Lord?" an incupony asks me.

"I and a team of imps and goblins designed it, we'll be arming all of our demons with these along with swords, hammers, and spears, these will hopefully give you all a much better chance of surviving a battle, even against a deamon," I reply and smirk.

The demons start talking amongst themselves excitedly as I sling the rifle over my right shoulder. I look back and see Desire biting her bottom lip and squirming.

I smile and sigh knowing exactly why she's doing that. "Okay okay, I know what you want, but I get to be on top this time!" I tell her making her squeal before dragging me off as the demons around us chuckle at me.

Chapter 8: The wrath of a demonlord

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 8: The wrath of a demonlord

It's been two weeks since I killed Medusa's son, and there's been no sign of her or any attack force yet. Though we now have one-hundred rifles with two-thousand shells made and ready for use, I've got incuponies and succuponies training with them since they're more my size and perfect as marksmen. I've got the team now making pistol versions of the rifle for imps and goblins to use since the rifles are too big for them.

Nothing much has been happening and it has been nice and quiet, Desire dragged me for a picnic in her blood apple grove and it was very nice, though she sat in my lap and made me feed her which I personally enjoyed doing. Despite my life literally going to hell, I'm pretty happy with things as they are, though I wish I knew what was happening with my mother and sister... I hope they're doing fine without me.

I'm in my workshop waiting for my own rifle to dry off, I've painted the wood stock black with dark purple flames on each end. We've even got some crude grenades made using the gunpowder with a fuse wrapped in silk that imps can light and drop from the backs of harpies. We've got our own bombing squad now.

The door swings open with a worried looking Geneine entering. "My Lord! A large force of lesser demons with three naga deamons are approaching the town, they're armed and the three deamons look very upset. They'll reach Felfire within four or less hours," she tells me.

I think Medusa has finally decided to attack us. "Get the marksmen ready and archers on the wall. I want the boarus suited up and their imps ready, get the goblins ready for medical and get the arachniponies to set up webs on the field to slow them down. I want the harpies and imps doing flybys dropping the new bombs on them," I order her.

"At once, my Lord," she replies and heads off to relay my orders.

I pick up my rifle and a full pouch of thirty shells, time to see if these rifles will make a difference.

I watch from the walls as arachniponies are laying webbing down over the wastes, even if they set them on fire it'll slow them down a bit. I look back and see the harpies with an imp on their backs along with four bombs each, we didn't exactly get to make many of them in the last few days, only twenty of them in total.

The marksmen load their rifles and wait for the oncoming forces to arrive. The goblins have gurneys and medical supplies ready for those injured enough that their own demonic healing just can't keep up. The boarus are decked out in full plate medieval style armour and look like pudgy knights with a large tower shield and spiked mace. They have an imp also wearing armour but just not as thick or heavy on their backs to throw fireballs at the incoming demons.

I check my rifle and load a shell into it. Desire is beside me with her own rifle which she painted red with pink hearts on the stock.

"I can't wait to try this rifle on these bastards!" she says making me smile.

"Just watch your head and only come out of cover to shoot," I tell her and take a sip of blood apple cider from a bottle I brought with me. I discovered I can't get drunk but that didn't stop Desire from trying, she's the one that ended up plastered and fell asleep halfway through our love making that night.

The memory makes me chuckle lightly. "What's so funny?" Desire asks me.

"Nothing, just remembering something. So, how's your aim coming along?" I ask her.

"Pretty good, still getting used to the recoil but I can hit my target now at least," she replies with a wide smile while patting her rifle.

"Good, just make sure you don't hit me or the boarus when the fighting begins," I tell her with a smirk and she huffs indignantly.

After a good three hours the large demon force of about two-hundred or more stops and a harpy flies over near the wall.

"My mistress demands the head of the bastard who killed her son Cobraka," she demands of us.

"I killed him, and only because he attacked us and injured one of my harpies. You go back and tell your mistress that if she wants my head she should come for it herself," I reply and aim my rifle at her.

"You are in no position to back talk me whelp!" she yells at me and I've heard enough.

I pull the trigger and shoot her right in the heart, hard to miss a target twenty feet away. She falls to the ground as her body cracks and bursts into flames and then into ash, I look back out to the enemy force and grin before reloading.

"Alright folks, as soon as they reach the fifty feet markers, open fire at their harpies first and then their ranged demons. I and the boarus will hold them back while you reload. Archers, cover the marksmen until they've reloaded. Harpies! Start your bombing run once the marksmen have fired their first volley!" I order my demons.

They cheer out and the enemy horde begins their assault. I see a few boarus, ghouls, and arachniponies, but mostly incuponies, succuponies, imps, goblins, and harpies. I also see three of those snake deamons, two female and one male.

Their harpies start to rise before diving down at us on the wall. "Marksmen aim!" I yell out as we all aim at them. "FIRE!" I then shout as they’re within range. One-hundred shots ring out and hit all fifty-two harpies making them screech out in pain as they drop out of the sky, some turning into ash while others writhe in pain on the ground and trapped within the webbing.

With their aerial force removed, my harpies take off and once over the bulk of their forces, light their bombs and start dropping them. The bombs hit the ground or demons directly as the flames burn the silk away and ignite the gunpowder, causing them to detonate and send bits of sharp rusty metal in all directions, each blast killing or injuring seven to ten at a time.

I grin as I watch their ranks become disorganised, it seems human weapons -despite how outdated my ones are compared to modern day models- will make a major difference here for when I finally have the strength and numbers to attack Val'hades.

The deamons start yelling at their forces and they begin to march for the wall again, slowly due to the webbing their imps are having to burn away while my marksmen take aim again. "Aim for the imps when they come into range!" I order them.

My archers are taking pot shots as their arrows can reach one-hundred feet but are easy to avoid or block. Once the demons reach the fifty feet markers, I pull my trigger hitting an imp in the shoulder, the others fire and I watch as demons fall to the ground like dominoes.

"Reload!" I yell out and look down to the base of the wall. "Boarus! Get ready to defend the gate!" I tell them, they cheer and snort as they form a line wall with their shields together blocking the way in. I doubt even those deamons weapons or even acid will affect their armour much. I made sure to make them like juggernauts.

The remaining enemy imps have burnt away the webbing and are now throwing their fireballs up at us and another wave of bombs lands into their ranks. So far I think we've reduced their numbers to two thirds. I reload and take aim at one of the deamons giving orders from the back and pull the trigger.

The shot veers off course slightly and clips her cheek leaving a nasty gash as she yelps in pain. I huff in annoyance that I missed but quickly reload as my marksmen and archers continue their rain of death.

I finish reloading as Desire takes aim, but she screams as an arrow hits her in her left shoulder, making her drop her rifle and fall to the ground below. I hear a bone break from her as she hits the ground ten feet down and I stare wide eyed as she lays there screaming in pain.

I feel something within me snap as tears roll down my face. My vision turns red as anger, hate, and rage fill my senses and I look back at the deamon with a large bow and a grin on her face... now that she's closer, I can see she has snakes for hair and looks much older than the other two, she must be Medusa.

My energy starts to build and I can feel my urge and lust to kill rising to new heights, I can hear my heart beating loudly in my ears as my mind only focuses on the bitch who shot my Desire.

With a roar of pure hatred, I feel my energy encompass me, filling me with power I've yet to feel before. A second pair of wings bursts from my back and my scythe forms in my hand.

'Master, I hear your call for power and vengeance. Take the souls I have gathered and do with them as you will. You are now death incarnate, the reaper of souls, the Angel of Death. Make your enemies cower in fear as you take their very souls,' I hear a male voice in my head say that's coming from my scythe as more energy flows into me from my weapon.

My skin turns dark purple and two long horns made of shadow sprout from my head, similar to a succupony's just three times longer.

I grip my weapon tightly as I leap off the wall and towards the bitch who hurt my girl, oh the things I will do to her when I get my hands on her. A quick death is much too good for her.

I charge through the demons in my way, slicing off limbs and taking their souls as I carve a bloody pathway towards Medusa. I ignore the few hits I take from their poor weapons before I spray a large plume of darkfire with a roar. The lesser demons caught in it are instantly incinerated as their ashes are swept away in the wind.

I grunt as an arrow lodges itself into my stomach and I look over at Medusa who now looks slightly worried as she notches another arrow. I pull out the arrow and toss it aside, the wound instantly healing as I start running towards her, all four of my wings spread wide and an expression of cruelty and hate is on my face.

The other female deamon intercepts me and swings a large halberd at me, I catch the blade in my left hand and hiss in pain as the edge digs into my palm. I swing my scythe and slice off her right arm, making her lose her weapon. I follow through by releasing the halberd and lunging my left hand into her chest and ripping her heart out, which I then crush right before her wide eyes. She screams in pain as her body cracks and bursts into flames.

"Scaleen!" Medusa cries out as her daughter dies before her eyes, I could care less as she'll be joining her soon. I continue making my way to Medusa as gunfire sounds out with demons dropping around me as my marksmen are covering me.

The male deamon now gets in my way with his own expression of hate and anger. He swings a heavy looking maul at me which I jump over and bring my scythe down upon his head, the blade pierces the top of his skull and comes out his chest. He begins to wither and crumble as I claim his soul.

"Pytheon!" Medusa then shouts in grief but I continue my way to her as I glare at her.

"I will make you suffer for hurting my girl and endangering my people you fucking bitch!" I yell out in rage as I leap into the air. "I'll show you what happens when you anger a demonlord!"

She takes another shot which I avoid by flapping my wings. I dive down at her and plant both of my feet into her chest, knocking her down as I straddle her stomach with my knees holding her arms down.

Her eyes open and glow green as I feel a tingly sensation in my chest, but my energy is pushing it back and I grin at her. "I know of your ability, Medusa. It won't work on me," I tell her with a sinister chuckle before punching her in the face making her eyes stop glowing followed by a grunt of pain.

I drop my scythe beside her and start punching her repeatedly over and over again. My hands soon become stained with blood and her face is almost unrecognisable. Like her son, I open her mangled mouth and rip out both her fangs along with her tongue. She gurgles a cry of pain but I'm not done, I then start pulling off her snake like hair one at a time, each one getting her to flinch and choke.

After ripping off all thirty of them I then grip the sides of her head and gouge out her precious eyes with my thumbs. 'You won't make any demon else suffer with these again,' I think to myself with a wide sadistic grin.

I get up off of her and pick up my scythe. I stand over her and raise my weapon up before bringing it down and impale her at the waist. Another gurgled cry sounds out from her, but she screams in agony as I pull my weapon down slicing her lower half in two right down the middle. I watch as her innards spill out from her waist and blood pooling between the split tail.

"You should have stayed where you were," I tell her and raise my scythe again as she twitches on the ground. I notice every demon has stopped fighting and looking at me in both fear and awe. "But don't worry, I'll take care of your demons from now on," I say and pierce her heart.

She barely makes a sound as Thanatos is practically singing with glee as he sucks out Medusa's soul.

Now that she's dead and a pile of ash, my mind goes back to Desire and I take off back to the wall. I land near the medical area and see Desire on a gurney with a bandaged shoulder and left wing wrapped up, there are also others with wounds on the other gurneys as well.

My body returns to normal as my energy dies down and Thanatos fades from my grasp. I kneel beside her with a worried expression on my face.

"Are you alright?" I ask her.

She looks at me with a half awake expression. "I'm fine... they've given me some numbseed oil to dull the pain. They said I'll heal within a week," she tells me and smiles.

I sigh and gently kiss her forehead. "I thought I lost you," I mutter leaning my forehead on hers.

"I said I'm fine, but I'll need to stay in bed for a few days," she tells me. "Now, you have a new town and demons to claim," she says and lazily licks my cheek.

I smile back and nodded. "Alright, just rest and when you get better you can pick what we'll do in bed next time," I tell her getting a wider smile from her.

"Oh I have some new ideas I want to try," she replies before her eyes slowly close and she falls asleep.

I sigh and look to the medical goblins. "Take her to my manor and make her comfortable," I tell them.

"As you wish, my Lord," they reply as three of them cart Desire off towards our home.

I watch her leave for a few seconds in thought. 'There has to be a way to make her stronger... could I give her some of my power or energy?' I wonder before taking off over the wall and see that the remaining sixty or so demons left have surrendered, seems some of the harpies survived as well.

I give them two choices, to either join my demon horde or die as I'm in no mood to play nice or sugar coat things today. They agree and once marked, I gather a force of fifty marksmen, twenty archers, ten boarus, twenty harpies, ten arachniponies and forty imps and goblins along with four of Medusa's demons to join me as we march to claim my new town. This one I will keep so I can expand my territory.

Question is, what do I do with Medusa's remaining two daughters?

Chapter 9: Getting to know me

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 9: Getting to know me

After a couple of days travel to the town of Stonescale, I stand in front of the gate to the town where the demons on the wall point bows at us.

"Hold your fire! This is our new Master! He slew Mistress Medusa and has come to claim her property," one of the incuponies I claimed earlier shouts out.

I hate when they refer to themselves as property, but that's just how things have been well before I arrived. I hope to change that though.

I hear the demons mumbling on the wall to each other before looking back. "How do we know he's telling the truth?" a succupony asks.

I hold up the bow Medusa used along with her quiver. "She attacked my town and harmed my demons, so I slaughtered her and her children," I reply.

More mumbling is heard before the gate opens up and a harpy walks out over to us. "Forgive us for doubting you, Master, but Mistress Medusa has never lost in a battle before. To hear she has fallen... is both sad and welcome news. She used to be respectful to her demons, but with the lose of her mate she became cruel and heartless to all but her children," she tells me.

"I see... I understand she has two daughters still here correct?" I ask her.

She looks hesitant but nodded. "Yes, Slitherana and Adderine," she replies.

"I'd like to meet them," I tell her and she nodded in compliance.

"Very well. Please follow me to the castle," she replies and walks back towards the gate.

A boarus and two marksmen follow me into town behind the harpy. The demons in town talk amongst themselves as they watch us pass by, the place looks just like my town and Kigorian's, rusted metal sheets although there are some stone buildings as well.

We reach a tall stone castle in the centre of town with a moat of lava around it. We cross the bridge and the harpy bows to me in front of the large door.

"You'll find them on the second floor most likely in their chambers," she tells me. "Do you require anything else?" she then asks.

I nodded and grip the back of her neck making her tilt her head before I bite her. She hisses in pain until I release her now with my mark. "Gather the town together and get them ready for my mark. This won't take long," I tell her.

"O-Of course, Master," she replies and flies off.

My guards and I enter the castle and look around. "Fancy," the incupony whistles impressed by what's here.

Paintings of naga like people line the lobby walls with a large family portrait of Medusa, an older male naga and her children hanging on the back wall where a set of stairs leading up split off left and right.

I hear noises coming from the left so I head down that way as giggling starts to fill the hallways. I reach a door where it sounds like two girls are playing inside.

I open the door and see two naga women hitting each other with pillows while giggling.

"I'm not interrupting anything am I?" I ask them.

They both yelp and the older one glares at me. "What are you doing in my room ssservant!" she demands slithering over to me.

I raise an eyebrow at me and smile. "I'm not your servant. I am your new Master," I tell her and she backs off.

"W-What?" she asks with a frown. "How dare you make sssuch a claim! My mother will have your head on a pike!" she exclaims while the younger sister slithers behind her bed.

"She won't be returning ever. She attacked my town and demons, so I killed her," I reply and hold out Medusa's bow. Unlike their mother these two don't have snake like hair and look more like vipers. "I now own this town and its demons, including you two. Though don't worry, I don't plan on killing you or the demons in town," I tell them.

The older one just stares at the bow and slithers over before taking it, tears begin to fall from her face as she then hugs the bow. "You murdered our mother and sssiblingsss..." she says trying not to cry. "and now you come here to claim usss?" she asks emotionlessly.

"She brought it upon herself when she attacked, she could have stayed here, but she didn't. So I did what I had to to protect my home and demons," I tell her with a frown. "If I'm a murderer, what does that make your mother? I heard she turns demons into stone for fun. I killed her and your siblings to protect my own. She's more of a monster than I am. Now, I'm giving you a choice. One; you join my demons and you'll live well and treated fairly, you can stay here and run this town for me as I wish to keep it instead of stripping it. Or two; you can die and I find someone else to run things here," I offer them.

The younger of the two is staring at me in fear while the older is glaring at me, both with a tear stained face.

"And what do you plan to do with usss after that?" the older one asks.

"Nothing, all demons in my care are treated as equals. All you need to do is follow my rules and laws and you won't have to worry, but betray me and I will end your life painfully before ripping out your souls," I reply with a cold tone at the end.

She continues to glare at me before looking back at her sister. "Fine..." she replies clearly not happy about it. "We'll join you, only becaussse I want my sssissster to ssstay sssafe," she says and hugs the bow tighter.

I walk over to her and tilt her head aside her eyes widen as she realises what I'm about to do and hisses as I bite her. I back away after it's done. "Then as a show of trust, I'll let you keep your mother's bow as well as any of her personal possessions in the castle, minus any demons as now every demon here is equal and free to live how they want within my rules and laws," I tell her and hold out the quiver still holding some arrows. This'll also be a test to see if she'll try to kill me.

She takes the quiver from me and just stares at the weapon in her arms before sobbing and slithers over to her sister, giving each other a hug.

"I'll be here for a couple of days to help get everything in place, I then want you both to return to Felfire with me to see how my demons live. Hopefully that will give you an idea on how I run things," I tell them. "What are your names?" I ask them, I already know but introductions would be nice.

The older looks at me still with a glare. "My name isss Adderine, ssshe's my little sssissster Ssslitherana," she replies.

"Nice to meet you, I am demonlord Damien Jackson," I reply.

"I sssee, no wonder you defeated our mother then... ssshe didn't ssstand a chanccce did ssshe?" Adderine asks me as I walk over and gently bite the younger sister marking her.

"She could have just left, but when she shot my mate, who is still alive fortunately, she lost that chance. Should she have killed my girl, I would not have just stopped with your mother, I would have come here and destroyed everything in my fit of rage," I tell her and head for the door. "I'll let you two grieve for your loss, but I do not regret protecting my people," I say and leave the room. Despite our advantage with our rifles and bombs, we suffered some casualties as well.

I find one of the servants in the castle and after marking them, ask her to guide us to a few guest rooms before I go out and mark my new demons. I also found out this day that I hate claiming ghouls as their blood tastes foul.

Four Days Later

Over the last four days I've helped to reorganise the town and set up my rules and laws. So far the town is running smoothly and I have a secretary named Gilthina, who's a very smart female goblin with a very good memory, set up for Adderine to help manage the town's affairs, I know I'm very grateful to Geneine with helping me to manage everything in Felfire, like she is right now while I'm here.

Slitherana and Adderine have built three gravestones behind the castle next to their father and brother for their mother and siblings, her bow and quiver are in a locked case just in front of her tombstone. They've also started warming up to me as they talked to me over the days, though Adderine is still glaring at me now and then but Slitherana is taking a liking to my kind personality. I treat them both with respect, but when Adderine yells at me I just hold her mouth shut until she calms down, she's got a bit of a temper on her but hopefully we can calm her down over time.

We're now heading back to Felfire to show the sisters what life is like there, they still don't believe me when I say everyone is getting along and helping each other to make the town flourish. They think it’s the lesser demons jobs just to do as they’re told.

It takes us two days to travel back where Desire is back on her feet and greets me with open arms and a kiss with a lot of tongue.

"Welcome back. So who are these two?" she greets and asks me.

"These two are Slitherana and Adderine. They're going to learn what life is like here so they can run Stonescale better," I reply and hug her tightly. I'm glad to see her better and back to her happy self. "Did I miss anything while I was away?" I ask.

"Well... Arachne's first clutch of eggs hatched... and something that's never before happened happened. Four of the arachniponies are male, they look big, a brown and black colour with long thin fur or hair on their legs and abdomens and are more muscular than the females. Though the six females look slightly bigger than they should be for hatchlings and they seem stronger and faster as well," she tells me.

I look at her with wide eyes. "Sounds like the males are like tarantulas," I reply with a surprised tone.

She giggles and licks my cheek. "Other than that nothing much, the research team have more bombs made and a couple of... what were they called? Oh right, pistols made as well," she tells me.

Good, arming the imps and goblins with their own pistols will make my forces even stronger. I can just imagine imps and now goblins on the backs of harpies shooting down at our enemies.

"Well then, I need to show these two where they'll be staying whilst they're here," I tell my girlfriend and she smiles.

"Alright, I need to go see Arachne anyway, I promised to help her look after the hatchlings for a few hours," she tells me. "Oh, and nice meeting you two," she says to the two nagas and then walks off shaking her hips at me.

Damn girl knows just how to press my buttons.

I turn back to the two nagas and see Slitherana blushing while Adderine just looks unamused. "Let me show you to your rooms," I tell them and head off to my manor with them in tow.

Three Months Later

Both naga women have been well behaved while here and we’re getting to know each other better, they've also taken a liking to my manor staff as well, mostly due to the mean blood apple pie Soft Touch can bake. Slitherana has especially liked the kind and friendly attitudes of the demons living here and has even been visiting Arachne often. Adderine has taken a liking to my rifles and I've even let her fire one a few times, she asked for one of her own but I told her maybe after a few months once she proves she's loyal to me and keeps Stonescale running smoothly.

As for the rifles, we've made a few hundred more as they've proven their worth when another smaller demon raiding party attacked us. They didn't last long and were all wiped out, we didn't even get to find out who attacked us. The goblin and imp pistols are ready and while they only have a range of thirty feet, they're faster to reload and are damn deadly in the quick little buggers hands. I'm also now trying to design revolver rifles and pistols next, but I fear this will take me much longer than the muskets did.

Geneine has been sending and receiving letters from Stonescale with updates on how the town is doing. I've visited the town a few times and it's improving greatly. Once we have it running like Felfire, we'll be able to trade between each other... I need to find a way to make cars or maybe even airships! Though I'm probably getting in over my head with those ideas. Still, can't hurt to try.

At the end of the third month it's time for the sisters to head back to Stonescale, but Slitherana has requested to stay a bit longer. After giving Adderine a naga equivalent to puppy dog eyes, she relented and let her stay for two more weeks. After a quick hug, Adderine threatened me to keep her sister safe or she'd kill me in a bloody and brutal way.

Like she could, but I made the promise anyway and she left with an armed escort to see her back safely, I've also sent twenty marksmen to protect Stonescale as well with five-hundred shells and ten bombs. I've also asked Adderine to ship any ore their town mines here so we can get new weapons and armour made for Stonescale as well.

The other clutches of Arachne's eggs have hatched and once again it's the same as the first, more males were born and look like tarantulas while the females are stronger and faster, their webbing is also stronger and more fire resilient but not totally. The first batch are now walking about and it'll be another four months before they'll learn to talk, both Desire and Slitherana have been looking after them for Arachne when she had something she needed to do. I've also been helping her fertilise two more batches of eggs and now she’s going to take a few months off to rest from laying more. She's even set up a clothes store in Stonescale to sell her wares.

Desire and I are currently taking a walk through the blood apple grove where Slitherana decided to join us as well, she and Desire have become friends quickly and have been plotting something behind my back the last four days. I've decided to ignore them for now as I'm curious as to what they're up to.

I reach up to the fruit above us and pick an apple before taking a bite from it. Sweet, juicy, and still tastes like chicken. I nodded to a few of the fel ents tending to the trees who nodded back before resuming their work.

"Damien? You want more demons for your army correct?" Desire suddenly asks me.

"Of course, the sooner I get a large army the sooner I can kill Val'Hades and we can get out of Tartarus and to a better place. No offence to this place but it's way too damn hot and there's way too many people here that would want me dead... I can't remember the last time I saw green grass, starry and blue skies, sparkling rivers or lakes..." I reply and toss the core away.

"Well..." she says and then nudges Slitherana.

The naga girl yelps and goes wide eyed from the light elbow to her ribs. "Oh, right... erm, well. I'm willing to bare sssome deamonsss for you if it'll help," she tells me and stares at the floor.

I raise an eyebrow at her and chuckle. "If you're willing then I'm sure an incupony would love to help you with that," I reply, but she then looks nervous.

After a few seconds of silence Desire groans and shakes her head. "She wants you to breed her. She saw how strong Arachne's new children are from your seed, she want's her offspring to be stronger as well and you're the only one here that can do that," Desire tells me bluntly.

I stare at them wide eyed and slack jawed. "But, I only agreed to Arachne so she'd stay..." I reply and sigh as Slitherana seems to deflate. "Are you sure? Both of you?" I ask Desire to see if she's really okay with it and Slitherana if she really is willing to do this for me. I'm not going to force her to bare children if it's just to appease me.

Desire nodded and hugs Slitherana. "She agreed to let me be an auntie to them," she replies.

Slitherana just nodded with a small smile. "My mother alwaysss told my sssissstersss and I to only mate with a ssstrong demon when we found one... well you're the ssstrongessst around here and I've wanted my own offssspring for five yearsss now... Ssso I'm willing if you are," she tells me shyly.

"So just to be clear, this is so you can have children without a relationship correct?" I ask her.

She smiles and nodded. "Yesss, unlesss you'd like me to ssstay with you," she replies and surprises me by slithering over to me and coils herself around my legs and waist. She's left my arms free and is now face to face with me with an expression of longing, for a reptile she has very nice features. She has the head of a viper but a shorter muzzle, unlike a snake she can blink and doesn't need to extend her tongue like one to taste the air, She has no hair but a fin going down her spine to the middle of her back. While having no legs isn't an issue, she has wide hips and a C cup chest half the size of Desire's D cups.

Her face then suddenly blushes as she realises what she just did and quickly uncoils from me. "I'm ssso sssorry, Massster... I mean, Damien... I don't know what came over me," she says and hides her face in her hands.

Desire is giggling and I just stare into space. 'Well, that was an experience,' I think to myself as the feeling of her wrapped around me lingers for a while. "It's okay, but I'm in a relationship with Desire," I tell her.

"I thought demonlordsss took many matesss..." Slitherana says confused.

"They what?" I ask looking at Desire.

"Huh?" she says coming down from her giggle fit. "Oh, didn't I tell you? Demonlords and archdemons take multiple mates to breed their armies, though as I told you before that demonlords only take other demonlords or archdemons as mates," she tells me.

I've said it once I'll say it again, this place will drive me insane. "So you're saying I can have multiple partners?" I ask Desire with disbelief and a frown.

"If you wanted to, you don't have to, but Slitherana has taken a liking to you and I've taken a liking to her," she replies with half lidded eyes. "And I'm curious as to what she can do with that tongue of hers," she then says before licking the naga on the cheek... oh shit, she's serious.

I chuckle with a hint of madness behind it. 'You know what? Fuck it, why not? She's got a better attitude than Arachne that's for damn sure and I've learnt a lot about her over the last three months,' I think to myself. "Alright, I'll give us a shot... though I doubt your sister will be happy about it, I know she still hates me for... you know," I tell them and sigh.

"I know, I missss my mother and sssiblingsss, but you did what you had to, sssuch is the lawsss of the wassstesss..." Slitherana says and snakes her way over to me.

Do I regret what I did to Medusa? No. Could I have spared her brother and sister?.. Maybe, but what's done is done and I can't change that. "Well then, so how about we go on a date tomorrow?" I ask her.

Slitherana tilts her head to the left and frowns. "What'sss a date?" she asks me.

Chapter 10: Over the years

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 10: Over the years

The next day after explaining what a date was to Desire and Slitherana, I prepare to do something I haven't done since college... take a girl out on a date, well actually two girls as Desire wanted in on it as well.

So here I am with a pouch of decans, two bouquets in hand, one of fire lilys for Desire and the other of green chrysinthiens for Slitherana, they look like roses just the colour green.

There's only one place in town that could be considered a restaurant but I don't think I'll be taking them there as it's not very good... yet, but they're improving. It's my first attempt at introducing a fast food place that sells waste worm burgers and due to the lack of potatoes here we're still experimenting on what could be a good substitute for fries.

So in light of that, I've had the manor cooks make me a nice picnic spread for us, I paid them for the help of course.

I wake up Desire from my room and then wake up Slitherana from her guest room. "Good morning," I greet her as she slowly sits up from her bed, I blush as her scaled chest is exposed when her blanket falls off making me look away.

She yelps and covers herself up. "G-Good morning, Damien..." she replies as Desire is giggling to herself.

"I'll let you get dressed and wait outside," I tell her and step out the door. 'Don't demons know what pyjamas are? Took me weeks to get Desire wearing some,' I grumble in my thoughts.

"That was a pleasant view wasn't it?" Desire teases me and I mock glare at her. "Oh come on, you enjoyed it as much as I did," she says and lightly punches my shoulder.

I won't deny nor confirm her statement.

After a few minutes Slitherana opens the door wearing one of her new dresses Arachne made for her. "Sssorry I took ssso long," she tells us and Desire waves her off.

"Na it's fine, Damien is such a gentledemon, you could have taken half an hour and he would still be here waiting," Desire tells her and smiles.

I frown and grumble again as Desire giggles at my irritated mood.

We then head out after I give both of them their flowers, they thanked me and follow me out the manor with the picnic basket in my grip. We walk to the grove where a small clearing has been made for Desire and I to go to when we want to be alone together. I place down a blanket and spread out the food as Desire and Slitherana sit down beside me.

The picnic goes smoothly over the next two hours and we discussed what we all wanted to do in the future, Desire wants to have a baby or foal as she called it with me in a few years and to get better with her rifle so she'd be more useful to me in a battle, though I'd prefer if she didn't get involved in anymore battles again... still need to figure out how I can make her stronger as well. Slitherana wants her own children to raise and unlike her siblings, wants a quiet life and not to boss others around like her mother did.

I tell them of my goal to find a way to leave Tartarus once I've killed Val'hades, though for good or just so we have other places to visit I'm not sure yet. As much as I complain about this place, it's starting to grow on me. I also tell them more of the human ideas and activities I plan to introduce to my demons, I've noticed a lack of toys and games here and I plan to bring board games and card games to my towns.

I chuckle at the thought of bringing Yu-Gi-Oh or magic the gathering to them, I now have the image of a goblin shouting "You activated my trap card!" and holding said card up while his opponent curses under their breath. Poker and blackjack would also be fun to play with them as well.

Once we finish the food, we pack up and head back into town and towards the manor... I really need to find new things to add to this town as there's really not much to do here.

But for now, life is good and can only get better over time, hopefully.

Sixty Years Later

A lot has happened over the years in Tartarus. I've married both Desire and Slitherana after explaining what being married meant. We've had six children together, two with Desire named Olivia 'Desire' Jackson, a filly who has the strength of a deamon, she's timid but when it comes to a fight she's vicious and will rip whoever hurts her or her friends and family to shreds. Her fur is a mix between red and dark purple and her hair is black, her wings are larger than a normal succupony and fortunately, she doesn't have her mother's libido. I've had to chase off many incuponies who just wanted to get into bed with her.

And our son named Tidus 'Dark' Jackson who is also as strong as a deamon is a proud man whose skill with our latest revolver rifles is unmatched. He can hit a target from one-hundred and fifty feet away with little time needed to aim. His fur is black with dark purple patches dotted around and has red hair with dark blue streaks through it. His horns are longer than his sister’s and his tail is thicker as well.

As for my four children with Slitherana, I have two sons and two daughters, my sons are identical twins which threw us for a loop and they've used that to their advantage to play pranks and trick us as they grew up, but nowadays they're mature and respectful to their parents. My two sons Vipirior and Scalefang are Captains of their own squads in my army of two-hundred thousand demons spanning over fifty towns and cities of the wastes. They're both stronger than they should be as well nearly to the level of archdemons.

My two daughters are Yuna and Slitherine who was named after their mother's sister Adderine who was killed in a raid on Stonescale forty years ago. That was one of the few times I lost myself to my rage and wiped out the town and demons responsible for it. I later found out it was ordered by an archdemon by the name of Utaan under Val'hades command, a large two headed wyvern like demon who lives further inland to the centre of Tartarus. I now have both of his heads mounted on either side of my main gate as a warning to those who would dare oppose me after I slaughtered him and his demons.

Both Yuna and Slitherine run their own spa in Felfire which has grown into a large city, home to over one-hundred and twenty-thousand demons. Demons from all over the wastes have come to pledge themselves to me after they've heard what I've done and have brought to my demons. Even deamons and some archdemons have joined my horde. Although a few demonlords have sent me death threats should I not surrender my lands and demons.

As for Desire, I've learnt that I could bind her soul to mine, so that she can't die unless I do or she's killed meaning I've stopped her ageing, I've even managed to transfer to her about ten percent of my power making her nearly as strong as an archdemon now. Her horns grew longer and her wings are large, her tail is thicker and the heart shaped tip is sharper than any spear we can make. We've fought side by side in hundreds of battles and I wouldn't want any other but her beside me.

Slitherana is naturally ageless as she is a deamon which means our children are as well, it seems only lesser demons age and I've had a few breakdowns over the years watching friends pass on. I miss Soft Touch's blood apple pies so much and no one has been able to replace Geneine as my secretary. Slitherana spent a few hours a day with Arachne looking after their hatchlings together over the years, Arachne has found herself a mate, an archdemon named Yogtiron, who's surprisingly small for an archdemon, he looks like a stag beetle with powerful pincers on his jaw, he's similar to Arachne that he has an insect lower half and a incupony like upper half. So at least I don't have to fertilise Arachne's eggs anymore.

My demons way of life has improved exponentially with games and events as new kinds of stores, produce and products are being made and enjoyed by my people. Card games and casinos are popular but I've forced limits on how much they can spend in them. As for technology, I with a team of the brightest goblins have revolutionised the industry here. I now have a fleet of twenty airships built with cannons and bomb bays, along with sniper nests on the sides. The ships are powered by thunder crystals from the Thunderfury Mountains and are lifted by fireproof silk balloons filled with hot air from imps, while pushed forward on large propellers on the back and sides of the ship.

As for me, I've mastered most of my powers over the years, I can use my flames freely and control them like an extra limb, same with my shadow powers, I can extend multiple tendrils to grip and crush anything in their grasp. I've also learnt how to travel into the Shadow Realm, I almost shit myself the first time, the place is like nightmare fuel with the strange featureless shadow creatures that live there, though they seem to avoid or ignore me which I do in kind. I only use the Shadow Realm to travel long distances very quickly and only when I need to. I can also now change into my demonic form at will, but I have to still be careful as it increases my bloodlust and urge to kill by ten times at least.

Thanatos, my scythe, I've discovered was once an archdemon whose power was to steal the souls of others to make himself stronger, but two beings known as alicorns named Solaris and Galaxia sealed him into his own weapon and banished the scythe deep into Tartarus over three thousand years ago, although my arrival caused enough of a fluctuation in Tartarus to bind himself to me. So while there's not much he can do, any souls he takes he can funnel their energy into me boosting my own power for a short time.

I've also started my campaign to take over the overlord's castle in the centre of Tartarus. So far we've reached the outskirts of the demonlords territories and they're starting to get desperate. With my weapons, armour, and war machines I've helped develop, they're being pushed back suffering heavy casualties. They've even banded together to fight back against me to a stand still, but it still wasn't enough as I now march up toward the Overlord's Castle gates.

I'm holding my scythe in my right hand while holding a revolver pistol in my left. Gunfire and explosions echo throughout the courtyard as my demons fight against the poorly equipped and poorly trained ones of Val'hades.

My airships above are gunning down the enemies flying demons while bombing ground targets as well.

I raise my revolver and fire a shot into a charging ogre's head, blowing a hole right through it, took me many years to figure out how to make the casings from a cheap but sturdy metal since I couldn't make brass here. While the musket shells were fine being made from silk, they just wouldn't work with the revolver's chamber. So I used hell iron alloyed with a large deposit of tin we discovered as the arachniponies expanded their underground nests. The metal was good enough so it was produced and thus we developed proper bullets.

Once the ogre drops to the ground, I impale his heart letting Thanatos steal his soul. I continue walking through the courtyard shooting and slashing demons along the way. 'Just sit tight Val'hades, you've got a lot to answer for,' I think to myself. This bastard will pay for the attacks he's sent against my people and the friends he's taken from me. Adderine may have been a bitch now and then, but she was still a close friend and sister-in-law to me.

I can feel Thanatos anticipate the kill of Val'hades, making me smile.

I reach the large thick hell iron doors of the Castle and huff as I step aside to allow my ogres to ram the door down. They're wearing very thick armour that would make the ironman hulk buster armour look like tinfoil in comparison. I nodded to them both and they roar out as they charge shoulder first into the large doors. The doors bend but don't give in. "AGAIN!" I order them as they charge a second time.

It takes five charges but the doors are ripped from their hinges and fall to the ground inside the castle, crushing some of the awaiting demons.

"Clear the castle but do not engage Val'hades! He's mine!" I order my demons, they cheer and storm the castle, gunning down the enemy quickly and swarm the hallways like locusts.

I walk through the ashes of the fallen demons and make my way towards the throne room ahead. Desire is beside me with her own revolver rifle, pistol, and rapier sword. She's also wearing armour now that she's strong enough to wear it without it hindering her.

"Wait here, and don't let anyone through," I tell her.

"Okay, just be careful and kill that bastard for what he did to Adderine," she tells me with a kiss before aiming her rifle back to the entrance, she fires a shot when a goblin not wearing our armour runs in with a pair of daggers, she hits him in the heart killing him.

"Damn right I will," I reply and kick open the doors to the throne room.

I see many demons gathered around a ten foot tall red skinned demon with two long horns, a human like face, goat like legs and sharp fingernails. His black hair is short and combed back and his goatee is short as well.

"So, you are the thorn that's been in my side these last few decades, how you remained hidden for so long has been a mystery that I just couldn't figure out," he tells me.

"That's for me to know and for you to keep guessing," I reply and holster my pistol before spraying all the demons in front of me with my flames reducing them all to ash, leaving just me, Val'hades and a couple of female archdemons.

He growls in anger and stands up off his throne. "How is it I've never heard of a demonlord such as yourself? And your weapons and machines are unheard of, where did you get such things!" he demands like he's the one in control here.

"I designed them," I simply reply and grin. "You can blame your brother for that though, he brought me here to kill you," I tell him and chuckle.

"Impossible! I killed him decades ago!" he replies with wide eyes and a snarl.

"You made the mistake of sending him to my world, he gave me his powers and sent me here to avenge him. I personally don't care, but if I ever want to leave Tartarus, I need to kill you to complete our pact," I inform him and draw my more powerful revolver rifle from its holster between my wings.

I pull back the hammer with my left thumb and shoot the right archdemon in the heart, these are tipped with silver, a rare metal in Tartarus and very toxic to a demon. I only ever found enough to make six shots for my rifle.

The archdemon lets out a horrid screech as she bursts into flames before falling into a pile of ash.

This seems to upset Val'hades and the other archdemon very much. "You will pay for killing my mate!" he roars before sending a blast of darkfire at me. I quickly fade into the Shadow Realm and slip behind them. I then exit and fire a second shot into the other archdemon's heart from behind, killing her as well.

"Damn you!" he shouts out in rage.

"That's for all my friends and demons you had killed with your attacks on my lands," I tell him with a scowl before taking a shot at him. He creates a shield of demonic energy deflecting the bullet off to the side, but it still leaves a deep crack where the bullet hit and a small trail of smoke or mist of energy coming from the point of impact.

I huff and holster my rifle, I'll need to weaken him before I can shoot him. I raise my scythe and charge at him with anger fuelling me.

He also forms his own weapon, it's the sword his brother warned me about. Our weapons clash as I feel him pushing me back and I need more power. I activate my demonic form as my skin turns dark purple, a pair of shadow horns grows on my head and a second pair of shadow wings sprouts from my back.

With a roar of my own, I push back and deflect his sword to the side, I then thrust my right foot out and boot him right in the gut sending him soaring into the side wall. "You die here today, Overlord. I will take your throne and make Tartarus a better place for all demons," I tell him and rush towards him with my scythe ready to swing.

He quickly recovers and blocks my attack, he raises his left hand which is covered in darkfire so I counter it with one of my own as we slam our fists together, resulting in a large explosion sending me across the floor and him back into the wall.

I growl as my anger and rage rises along with my need to rip him apart. I get up and meld into the Shadow Realm getting up behind him as he peels himself off the wall, I appear behind him ready to impale him, but he swings his arm at me sending me flying into another wall.

"Fool. I know what my brother's powers are, you can't trick me so easily!" he taunts as I get up and my jaw realigns from the blow I took.

"Yeah? Well, could he do this?" I ask and conjure four darkfire dragons and send them out in four different directions, I then make them dive at him and he responds with a barrier that surrounds himself. The dragons detonate on his shield cracking it heavily.

"Not quite, he used harpies for his," Val'hades retorts and smirks as his barrier is still damaged. I draw my pistol and fire the last three shots which shatters his barrier and punctures his stomach and left lung.

He shouts out in pain giving me time to drop my pistol for my rifle, and before he could heal I fire a shot into his head, then into his heart with the silver bullets. He stares at me in disbelief before bursting into flames, but I'm not done. I quickly impale his burning body and Thanatos sucks out his soul.

'I'm going to keep your soul and use it when I need it,' I smirk as Thanatos is very happy with taking a demonlord's soul. I then dump his sword in the Shadow Realm so no one can use it against me.

With that done I head back outside to see how the battle is going. The cannons and gunfire are still going off as my sons Vipirior and Scalefang approach me with a few wounds slowly healing but otherwise just fine. "Father, we've sssecured the cccity and have begun weeding out any resssissstanccce, though many have sssurrendered and await your marking," Scalefang tells me.

"Good job boys, I've already dealt with Val'hades and took his soul. All we need to do now is rebuild and expand outward towards the other areas of Tartarus," I reply and pat them both on the shoulders. "I'm proud of you both," I say with a smile. They both smile back and nodded. "Go back to your mother and tell her the good news."

"Very well, father. We'll help pack up her thingsss and bring her and our other sssiblingsss here within a monthsss time," Vipirior replies and they both head off to an airship.

"So, mister Overlord. What do you plan to do now? The pact you made with Val'ketoph is done now right?" Desire asks me after wrapping her arms around my neck.

"I hope so, after we've got this place up and running to our standards I'll look for ways to leave Tartarus. Maybe we can all take a vacation to wherever we find," I reply and kiss the back of her hand.

For now though, we have a city to rebuild.

Chapter 11: Unwelcome guests

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 11: Unwelcome guests

Two Years Later

We've restored the Capital city which is now named Fel Haven. I've taken the role of Overlord and my wives are my council along with my three sons. My two daughters Yuna and Slitherine have opened a new Spa here and my other daughter Olivia is learning more and more about human technology, she's managed to take some of my ideas and concepts and make them reality, like pens and other gadgets that improve the quality of life here.

I've refrained from marking any new demons except those in my army, where civilians now have a choice to join my army or not.

For now though I'm standing on a balcony with my arms wrapped around Desire's waist looking over the city. Things are finally starting to calm down after Val'hades death, demons are happy, slavery is being stomped out and peace is spreading throughout the lands. It's like I was meant to be here, that's a creepy thought that I was meant to be killed just so I could be sent here by a dying vengeful demon... sounded better in my head.

Slitherana is out with Arachne having a day out at our daughters Spa while my sons are out celebrating a successful raid on a demonlord who refused to join our new nation and threatened to take it all for himself.

"So, what are you going to do for our anniversary next week?" Desire asks me with a giggle as her tail wraps around my right leg.

"Hmmm, it's that time again? Well, I'm not sure, how about a little vacation out to the hot springs?" I ask her.

Before she could reply, we both start glowing with a white light making me frown and hold onto Desire tightly. "Damien? What's happening?" she asks with a worried tone.

"I don't know, just don't let go," I reply and she holds onto my arms.

The light gets brighter and brighter until it's too bright to keep our eyes open anymore.

"He's surging! Quickly, get an inhibitor ring now!" I hear a female voice shout out and the light then dies down.

I open my eyes to the sight of incuponies and succuponies sitting in rows of seats with clipboards and quills in their hands. Except these people don't have the same features as the ones I know, these ones have no wings, a single horn on their foreheads, no fangs and different varieties of brightly coloured fur.

"Where are we?" Desire asks me which makes everyone in the room look at us with wide eyes, but their expressions are what put me on edge, fear.

"I don't know, but take my rifle," I tell her and she quickly gets behind me and pulls my rifle out of its holster on my back.

"Demons!" one of the women yells out and panic fills the room.

A small light blue boy is staring up at me just a few feet away with a silver ring on his horn. "Whoa..." he mutters with wide eyes and a dropped jaw.

I hear the sounds of heavy footsteps outside the only door in the room and I frown. I quickly draw my pistol with my left hand and aim it at the door. "Desire, if things go south I want you to blast out the window and we'll take off from there," I tell her as I think of an escape plan should things turn hostile.

"Okay," she replies and pulls the hammer on the rifle back.

The door opens and four men run in pointing spears at us. "Halt demons! You will surrender now or you will be put down!" one of them orders us.

The energy I'm picking up from these men is pathetic and hardly a threat to me. I chuckle coldly and form my scythe in my right hand. "I don't think you understand who you are up against. I am Overlord Damien Jackson of Tartarus, and you stand no hope against me, so if you wish to continue drawing breath, you will back off before I rip out your souls," I threaten them back.

"Overlord? He's the Overlord of Tartarus!? Quickly! Warn the Princesses! This is a code black I repeat a code black!" one of them orders another making him run out quickly. The remaining three look like they're starting to sweat.

"Now then..." I say tapping my scythe on the floor. "Where are we and who brought us here?" I ask them with narrowed eyes.

"Stay silent, demon. You'll wait right there for the Princesses to arrive to deal with you," the middle one replies looking more confident than he sounds.

Like I'm going to do as they tell me. "Desire, please blow out the window, we're leaving," I tell her and she nodded. She gathers her energy in her left hand and sends out a blast that blows the closest window out.

The people in the room yelp or scream as the sound of glass shattering rings out through the room. The men in golden armour with spears rush at us and thrust their spears at me. I dodge two but the third pierces my gut, making me grunt and aim my pistol right at his head.

"Bad choice," I remark and blow a hole through his forehead.

The people scream and the boy just stares in fear as the man I shot drops to the floor unmoving. Huh, he ain't healing or moving... did I kill him? That's pretty pathetic for a demon, are they even demons? I rip out the spear in my gut and toss it aside before huffing and follow Desire out the window.

We take to the air and I'm blinded by the bright light in the sky, wait... is that a sun? I marvel at the blue skies and white fluffy looking clouds which I haven't seen in decades. "Damien! Stop staring and let's go!" Desire yells at me and I snap out of my stupor.

I take off towards what looks like a cliff edge but something blasts me in my right shoulder knocking me out of the air and into a building below. "Ow... mother fucker..." I mumble and pull myself out of the rubble and fly out of the hole in the roof.

I look around and see a tall white woman with flowing aurora like hair, a very long horn, large feathered wings, wearing golden armour and holding a large maul with a sun shaped ball on the end. She's surrounded by soldiers with feathered wings as well.

"You shall not escape demon, for harming my ponies you shall be destroyed," she tells me with a heated glare.

I scoff and fly up to her level. "I only killed him because he attacked first, and it was one of your people that brought us here against our will. Unless you want more bloodshed, you will stand down and let us leave," I warn her and grip my scythe and pistol tightly.

"You dare threaten me? I've faced Overlord Tirek over a thousand years ago and sealed him while stripping him of his power back into Tartarus. I'm sure a weaker demon than him calling himself Overlord will prove no trouble at all," she replies and raises her maul preparing to attack.

I frown at her comment of being weak. I did not take over Tartarus by being weak! I aim my pistol at her and fire a shot at her head, surprisingly the shot ricochets off her helmet but the force of the hit whips her head back and disorientates her, making her fall out of the sky dazed.

I charge at her with my scythe at the ready but winged men and women intercept me and try to impale me with spears. Desire starts shooting with my rifle killing six of the soldiers before she's out of ammo. I swing my scythe slicing through a soldier's armour like butter and cutting him in two, his soul is sucked out and I turn to another attacking me. I blast him point blank with a gout of darkfire incinerating him instantly.

"Foolish creatures, you're in over your heads! But continue fighting if you must! I can do this all day!" I yell at them as my bloodlust rises getting them to at least back off but not run.

"Damien! I need more ammo!" Desire yells at me and I quickly toss her my rifle ammo pouch. While she reloads I slowly back up towards her.

"We're going into the Shadow Realm, hold onto my back and don't let go," I tell her quietly. She quickly holsters my rifle on my back and hugs me tightly.

The white woman has gotten back up and I smirk at her. "I'm warning you now woman, follow me and I will kill you," I threaten her and before she could say or do anything, we slip into the Shadow Realm tinting the world in dark grey colours.

I watch as they try looking around for us which just makes me grin wider. "Can we go now? You know I hate this place," Desire asks me in barely a whisper as this place muffles or even blocks most sound. She watches a wraith go by who gives us a quick glance before heading off on its way.

"Sure, I saw a large forest to the south, should be a good place to hide until we figure out where we are and how to get home," I reply and fly towards said forest at high speed.

After a couple of minutes I land just on the outskirts of the forest near a small rustic looking town. I exit the Shadow Realm and the world regains its colour. For the first time in a long while I see green grass and trees again. I kneel down and run my left hand through it and smile.

"You can do that later, we really need to go before they find us again," Desire tells me and takes my rifle again.

I sigh as she's right, while that white woman may have been confident, she also had the energy of a demonlord to back it up.

I stand back up and look into the forest. "Alright, I saw a ruin to the left. We can hide there while we figure out where we are, and if we have to I can go to that town and try to get some answers," I reply. We both ready our weapons and head into the dark foreboding forest.

After a few minutes of walking I hear a caw of a bird and look up to a tree branch to see a rather large black bird. 'I recognise that bird... was it called a crow or a raven?' I think to myself as the bird just stares at us.

The bird then surprises me by flying down and landing on the end of my scythe's haft, it then tilts its head and caws at me.

"Huh. Haven't seen one of you in ages... then are we on Earth?" I wonder to myself, but that can’t be right as there wasn’t any humans here.

The bird then hops over and lands on my left shoulder while still staring at me. "What do you want? I got nothing on me that you could want," I tell it and it just perches itself there.

"I think he likes you," Desire says with a giggle.

"Hmmm, well if he wants to tag along then I don't mind. I've never had a pet before and at least this one is black," I reply with a chuckle.

We continue through the forest as apart from the raven all other wildlife seems to be avoiding us. That's going to be a pain when we'll need to hunt for food. After a good twenty minutes of walking we hear the sounds of snarling followed by a woman's scream, so we rush towards it and find a yellow woman with light pink hair, feathered wings and a torn light green dress on the ground wounded badly where a large feline creature, who I think looks like a deformed lion is about to bite into the panicking woman's neck.

Desire reacts quickly and shoots the creature in the heart making it cry out in pain before staggering back and collapsing.

We walk over and I check the woman to find she's lost a lot of blood and is barely breathing. "Such a shame, she's very pretty. Too bad there's nothing we can do for her," Desire says with a sigh before reloading a new bullet.

The yellow woman's eyes barely open and she looks up at me in both fear and pleading for help while her breathing is very shallow. I frown and look at my left hand, can my demonic energy heal her like it can for other demons? But I don't even know if these people are demons or not. Well I got nothing to lose from trying at least, she'll die at this rate either way.

I place my hand over her heart and begin to pour my energy into her, at first she screams in pain but after a few seconds a few of her features change. Her ears grow longer and have tufts of fur on the ends, the feathers on her wings fall off and is replaced with bat like membranes, next her teeth turn more like a succupony's and her eyes turn red and cat like. Her wounds at least are closing and once they're all healed the woman passes out.

"Wow, she almost looks like a succupony now," Desire comments poking the unconscious woman in the chest a few times.

"Yeah, pretty strange but at least she'll live," I reply. I then pick the woman up and sling her over my right shoulder.

"Okay, questions; why are you carrying her and why did you save her?" she asks me.

"One; I can't leave her out here to be eaten or killed just after healing her. Second; despite her being afraid she didn't want to die," I reply and look back at the beast. "Bring that with us, we'll see if we can cook it up later," I tell my wife and she sighs.

"Sure you get the pretty mare and I get the stinky beast..." she grumbles. I think she only wants to carry this woman so she can grope her... I'm sure of it.

We continue our journey towards the ruins as the night approaches and we finally reach the decrepit gates. "Nice place," Desire comments looking around.

"Was is more like it, it'll do for now until we plan our next move, maybe this woman will tell us where we are and what way Tartarus is," I reply and enter the ruin.

Desire is looking around like an excited child while I find a good place to set up camp. I gather up broken pieces of furniture and make a small fire pit while Desire dumps the beast nearby. I then start to skin the beast, but a wail of someone in despair echoes throughout the ruins.

"The buck was that?" Desire asks and raises my rifle up, aiming further into the ruin.

"I don't know, but stay here and watch over her," I tell her and point to the still unconscious woman. "And no groping or molesting unless she allows it, understood?" I then warn her, the last female demon we took as a prisoner Desire molested her until she told us what we wanted to know.

"Argh, fine... but only if she lets me," she huffs and crosses her arms.

I chuckle and raise my scythe and light my left hand in darkfire before walking deeper into the ruin.

Chapter 12: Getting information

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 12: Getting information

I walk through the hallways littered with debris, stepping over broken and rotted furniture or stone bricks that have come loose from the walls and ceiling. The wailing is getting louder as I near the source, I enter a large room with a dried up fountain in the middle of the room with a pillar that has five poles sticking out of it that looks like it used to hold something on them. At the back of the room next to a broken window with moonlight flooding in is a cloud or mist of shadow that is making the noise.

I begin to walk towards it but my Raven takes off and lands on one of the damaged rafters overlooking the room. The sound of his wings flapping alerts the mist as a pair of beautiful turquoise eyes with slitted pupils stares at me with surprise and a little bit of fear.

"W-Who art thee?" her voice asks with a slight echo.

"My name is Damien Jackson. Who are you?" I reply and ask as I slowly walk closer to her.

"S-Stay back creature!" she warns me and floats higher into the air.

I dismiss my scythe and extinguish my flames. "It's alright, I'm not here to hurt you," I tell her and stand still.

She stares at me for a few minutes before speaking up. "Luna Nocturne," she finally says.

"Pardon?" I ask her with confusion.

"Thou asked for our name, tis Luna Nocturne," she replies floating down to the ground still eyeing me warily.

She has an interesting way of speaking, like the English of old. "It's nice to meet you, Luna. Do you know where I am? My wife and I were dragged from our home and brought here against our wills," I ask her.

Her eyes narrow and she floats a few inches closer. "Thou art in Equestria, more specifically our old castle in the Everfree Forest... thou dost not fear us?" she tells and asks me.

I frown and look down. "I've never heard of this place before, and to your question. No, I don't... Should I?" I ask and look back up to her where she shakes her eyes left and right as if saying no. "If it's not rude of me to ask, what are you?" I ask her.

Her eyes take on a sad frown. "We were an alicorn, until we were separated from our body and split into two... While our other half kept our physical body, we were reduced to this... this shadow form, stripped of our magic and weak..." she replies and falls to the ground sniffling.

I slowly walk over and kneel down in front of her, what surprises me is that I can feel the same energy I have inside her, is she a demon? I reach out and try to cup where her cheek would be in my palm but my hand just phases through her just like when others poke my wings. Her eyes snap open and she looks up at me as her shadowy like mist wraps around my hand.

"I'm not sure if there's anything I can do to help, but if you'd like someone to keep you company we wouldn't mind... I don't know the area and you sound like you could use a good chat," I tell her.

The bottom of her eyes tilt up as if she was smiling. "We would like that," she replies.

We head back to room we set up camp in, Luna is following behind me cautiously while my new raven friend is back on my shoulder. "We'll need to give you a name... How about Noctis?" I ask the bird, and surprisingly he nodded and cawed happily. Strange. "Noctis it is then."

We arrive at the camp to see the yellow woman awake, sniffling and being hugged gently by Desire. I raise an eyebrow at her. "What did I say about groping?" I ask her making her huff and roll her eyes.

"She's upset at her new appearance and I was just trying to calm her down," my wife replies with a frown.

"Alright," I say and walk over to the yellow woman. "How are you feeling miss?" I ask her.

"Apart f-from my a-appearance I'm f-fine...." she replies in barely above a whisper.

"I see, I'm sorry about that, but it would seem my demonic energy has altered you slightly to save your life. I wouldn't put it past me that you may very well be part demon now as well," I tell her honestly.

"I-I'm what?" she asks with wide eyes but then notices the floating cloud of shadow behind me who is also looking at the woman wide eyed. "NIGHTMARE MOON!" the yellow woman shrieks and with surprising speed uses Desire as a shield. Luna then does the same but hides behind me.

"Nightmare Moon? I thought you told me your name was Luna?" I ask the floating cloud.

"Our name is Luna, Nightmare Moon is just the name our subjects bestowed upon us during our years on our moon," she replies.

"Okay... So how did you end up here?" I ask her before going back to the beast and resuming my work on skinning and gutting it. The yellow woman looks nauseous and averts her gaze while Luna tells me what happened to her.

I'm surprised to hear she's royalty and that she’s over a thousand years old, she was also banished to the moon for a millennia just for trying to get her subjects to appreciate her nights more.

It seems over the centuries she was seen as a monster and villain that wanted nothing more than eternal night who people now call Nightmare Moon, though she despises the name... I then tell her that I'm the Overlord of Tartarus and that Desire is my wife, that makes both her and the yellow woman who told us her name is Fluttershy back away with wide fearful eyes.

"What? I'm not going to hurt either of you unless you plan to attack us," I tell them with a deadpan expression as the beast which Fluttershy told me was a manticore is now skinned, gutted and cooking above the fire pit.

"But we dost remember demons are cruel and hateful creatures whom delight in the pain of others, we remember Overlord Tirek and his hunger for power, which led him here to steal our magic for himself," Luna replies clearly not comfortable being near me now.

"Well, I wasn't born a demon, I was born a human who was killed in a store robbery gone wrong and got hit in the crossfire... as I was passing on, a demon pulled me into a void, gave me a deal I couldn't refuse along with his powers and dumped me in Tartarus where for the last sixty years I've been building myself up, killed the Overlord as part of that deal and became the Overlord myself. That was two years ago," I reply and turn the manticore steaks over the flames.

"So, thou art not cruel and sadistic?" Luna asks with a raised brow.

"Not really, only to those who would bring harm to my friends, family, and people. I've actually changed the demons under my rule's way of life. They're friendly enough and we now have games, holidays, families, and a functioning society where I used my old life as a basis," I reply and chuckle.

"But how did you get here?" Fluttershy asks, seemingly more comfortable with us now.

"Desire and I were overlooking Fel Haven from a balcony on our castle when we were engulfed in a white light, we opened our eyes to a new location in that city on the mountaintop and we had to fight our way out," I reply.

"You arrived in Canterlot?" Fluttershy asks with surprise.

"If that is what it is called then yes. A tall white woman with a horn and wings wearing golden armour attacked us forcing me to fight back, I didn't want to risk Desire getting hurt or killed due to the fact she was as strong as a demonlord so I escaped with my wife to here. I think that was about an hour ago right?" I reply and then ask my wife.

"About that yeah, she was a right bitch, threatening to destroy us just because Damien killed one of her soldiers for attacking and impaling him with a spear," Desire huffs and crosses her arms with an adorable pout.

"Thou killed a guard?" Luna asks with worry.

"He gave me no choice, I wasn't going to sit around and let them imprison us or worse, so as we went to leave they attacked and I retaliated. Simple as that," I reply and shrug. "But when I was about to kill her for her attack on me, more soldiers attacked us as well so we had no choice but to kill them. That's when I warned the woman to leave us be or the next time I see her I'll kill her," I tell them and check the meat, ah perfect.

I take a steak for myself and Desire takes one for herself as well. "Want one, Fluttershy?" I ask her and she looks like she's about to throw up.

"N-No thank you. W-We ponies don't e-eat meat..." she replies and turns away.

"That might not be the case with you anymore due to the changes you've gone through, those teeth might not be just for show," I tell her and take a bite from my steak... hmmm a bit stringy but not bad.

That seems to make her lose it and vomit away from us and shakes her head. "Oh don't be such a foal, it's actually very tasty," Desire says taking a big bite from her steak and moans inappropriately.

"So, Luna. What can you tell me about this place and where we can find a way back to Tartarus?" I ask her.

She snaps out of the stupor she seems to be in and looks at me. "Hmm? Oh, Equestria is home to the ponies of Equus, we have strong ties to the magic of the world and can keep the lands we live in in harmony with us, like the earth ponies magic to grow crops and their superior strength, the pegasi and their magic to manipulate the weather and fly. Then there's the unicorns who can use their horns to store magic and then use that magic to cast a variety of spells. And we alicorns have the abilities of all three races just multiplied by ten times." she explains to me.

"I see, and are there any other races like there are for demons?" I ask her.

"Verily, thy mate was once a pony, but the demonic energies of Tartarus mutated her ancestors into the demons they are today. Just as the harpies were once gryphons. Pray tell, do balrogs still exist?" Luna replies and asks me.

"Balrogs? Oh you mean the large bipedal dark blue minotaur like demons?" I reply.

"That is them," she says.

"Then sorry to say they died out a couple hundred years before I arrived," I tell her.

"We see," she says with a frown.

“Why do you want to know?” I ask her.

“We once entered the dream of a balrog who somehow found his way to Equus, he was rather boastful and had great pride in his strength and control of shadow magic, we visited his dreams often in our isolation on the moon but we never heard from him again in over two-hundred years,” she replies sadly.

Before I could speak, Fluttershy speaks up. "Erm, not that I'm not enjoying our talk, but I really need to get home before my friends start worrying about me," she says.

"Right... Then I must ask you to keep where we are a secret. I doubt you'd want me killing your Princess should she come after me," I ask her.

"No I don't... but what if ponies ask about..." she replies and gestures to herself.

"You're welcome to come back to Tartarus with us cutie," Desire offers her.

"N-No thank y-you, Desire. I like w-where I live, and I promise not to tell a soul," the timid pegasus replies, can she even be called a pegasus anymore? What were those bat horses in Harry Potter called again? Thas... thentils? Thastals? Oh right, thestrals.

"Very well. I'll carry you to the forest's edge and then you can make your way to the town from there... what were you doing in this forest anyway?" I tell her and ask.

"Oh I was looking for a rare flower that grows in here to make some medicine for a sick badger, but I couldn't find it and then that manticore attacked me... Thank you for saving me by the way," she replies.

"You're welcome, and I am sorry that it changed your appearance. Come on, let's get you home," I tell her and get up.

Before we could do anything though, soldiers in golden armour burst through the windows and that white woman I was told is named Celestia walks in through the front door looking very pissed off.

She then spots Fluttershy and gasps at her appearance. "What have you done to her you monster!" she yells out and glares at me.

I snarl back at her and stand up while forming my scythe. "I warned you what should happen if you followed me," I tell her and draw my pistol.

Desire is already beside me with my rifle at the ready. Luna looks petrified and Fluttershy looks ready to faint.

"P-Princess Celestia! P-Please don't hurt them! They saved m-my life!" Fluttershy tells Celestia.

"What? But look what he's done to you!" Celestia says and starts walking towards us.

"I..." the timid woman starts before a sad expression forms on her face. "I may not like my new... appearance... but I'd rather look like this than never see my friends again and dead in the forest..." she replies and looks down.

I glance away from Celestia and look to Fluttershy with my own sad expression.

"LOOK OUT!" Desire yells as it seems the white alicorn bitch took that as an opening and teleported in front of me before slamming her maul into my gut, piercing my stomach and sending me flying through a wall which crumbles onto me, I think she ruptured my intestine... fuck this hurts. "DAMIEN!" my wife calls out and tries to get to me only to be caught and held down by Celestia.

"I will make sure you'll never hurt my ponies again," I hear her say. I then hear Desire screaming in pain and I snap.

With a roar I take on my demonic form and burst out of the rubble. Before Celestia could even react, I'm already upon her and grab her by the throat. "Big mistake," I tell her coldly and choke her before tossing her hard through a thicker wall at the back of the room.

I hold out my hand and my scythe levitates into my grasp. I then coat my left hand in darkfire as I seem to have lost my pistol.

"Prepare to lose your soul, Celestia. You made the grave mistake of harming my wife," I tell her with as much malice as I could muster and all four of my wings spread wide as the light in the room seems to dim around us. The alicorn pulls herself out of the rubble with a small line of blood running down her left eye. "You called me weak earlier... then let's see how you do against me when I'm serious!" I yell at her and charge toward the wide eyed Celestia, easily killing the soldiers who throw themselves in my way.

Chapter 13: Demonlord VS Alicorn

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 13: Demonlord VS Alicorn

After killing the soldiers in my way I rush towards Celestia who quickly gets out of the hole in the wall and swings her maul at me. Our weapons collide making both of us stagger back slightly, she snarls at me and swings again only for the same result as the first strike.

Her horn lights up and she fires a blast of energy at me, I react by forming a shield of shadows deflecting her attack. She then swings her maul and I use the shield to block it, the shield shatters but I'm unharmed as I stagger back from the force.

A gunshot goes off and Celestia yelps in surprise as the bullet ricochets off her chestplate leaving a dent in the metal. It seems Desire wants payback.

I take advantage of her momentary surprise and try to cut her in half with my scythe, her armour is stronger than it looks and only causes her to get sent skidding across the stone floor.

The alicorn slowly stands back up with a shake of her head. "How like a demon, no honour in battle," Celestia says and spits out some blood.

She took a cheap shot at me at the start and she talks about honour? "Honour? You think there is honour in battle? Bitch, there's only three things in battle, the winners, the losers, and the method in which you win. I did not become Overlord by playing fair or nice. I took what I knew and used it against my enemies ruthlessly making sure my people lived while they fell! I will use any means at my disposal to ensure my people suffered as few casualties as possible while decimating my foes to the brink of total annihilation. You think there's some code of conduct to battle? There isn't," I tell her and fire a ball of darkfire at her, she gasps and quickly teleports to the side just avoiding the attack which blows out the wall behind her.

She looks back at me with a worried expression before teleporting to my left and swinging her maul at me. I raise my left hand up and catch the spiked head of her maul where a spike pierces my hand making me grunt in pain and her to look stunned.

"I've fought in so many battles, I've faced demonlords with a variety of powers and abilities over the last thirty-two years, and so far all you've shown is increased strength, agility, and some energy based abilities... Even your healing is pathetic," I comment and rip her weapon out of her grasp before sending the maul into the Shadow Realm out of her reach. She stares at the hole in my hand which closes quickly, though I hiss at the pain it causes.

Her horn glows and a large sword made of her golden energy forms in her hands which she then swings at me with an almost feral snarl on her face. I frown and stand still, only raising my right arm to block her attack with my scythe. Thanatos is pulsing with the desire to steal her soul, his anger at alicorns for sealing him in his own weapon rising.

I continue to block her frantic attacks and start to get annoyed, it’s like she hasn’t seen battle in ages, I then lash out with my left arm and back hand her in the face, making her spin in the air three times before clattering across the stone floor.

She gets back up and glares at me while wobbling on her feet a bit. "You will pay for killing my guards and what you've done to Fluttershy," she tells me and then looks at Luna. "And you shall not escape to haunt my sister ever again," she tells her.

I look back at Luna whose eyes look very upset. "Do you know what's more sad?" I ask Celestia getting her attention. "Your guards would still be alive if they didn't attack, and I warned you not to follow us. Their deaths are on your hands, Princess," I tell her and begin walking towards her. "And as for Luna, you will not touch her," I say and rush forward quickly and swing my scythe, she barely dodges and this time I leave a large tear in her left biceps armour.

She yelps and teleports a good few metres away. "That is not Luna! My sister is recovering in Canterlot after what that monster put her through! As for my guards, they will be avenged for their deaths," she snarls at us and fires a bolt of magic at me where I swat it away with my left hand, which is burnt by the sheer heat of her attack.

"Ouch," I say emotionlessly as the skin peels off and heals. "So you wish to die that badly? Very well," I tell her and rush at her again and create two clones of myself using my darkfire, we surround her and we all begin slashing at her with our scythes as she tries to desperately parry my attacks, she tries to teleport again but I quickly swing my scythe and cut two inches of her horn off, making her scream in agony. After a whole minute of slashing and burning, my clones dissipate and I pick up Celestia by her throat, her armour is all torn to ribbons and she's bleeding badly with burns across her body as she dangles limply. "Any last words before I take your soul?" I ask her raising my scythe above my head.

"STOP! Sir Damien... please, dost not harm our sister," Luna begs me as she floats over to us.

"And why not? She's made it clear she wants to kill me and my wife, despite that it was her people that pulled us from our home and family, then to attack us just for what we are. If I don't kill her now she'll be a threat to myself and my wife later," I reply and grip Celestia's neck a bit tighter getting her to choke and cough.

"That mayhap be true, but she is just over protective of our subjects and Equestria will fall into chaos should she be slain... The last Overlord didn't exactly come to us with offerings of peace..." she pleads and reminds me of Tirek's attack.

I growl and look back to the gasping woman in my grasp as I try to repress my urge to kill her. "You should thank Luna, she just saved your pathetic life," I tell her and drop her on the ground in a coughing heap.

"I'll take this whore and Fluttershy to the outskirts of that town near the forest, I'll be back after that and we can leave," I tell my wife before looking back at Luna. "You're welcome to join us or stay here, it's your choice," I tell her before gripping Celestia by the back of her neck, picking up her horn tip and dragging her over to a trembling wide eyed Fluttershy. "Come, I'm taking you home," I tell her and hold my hand out as my demonic form reverts back to my normal form.

She nervously takes it and I then meld all three of us into the Shadow Realm, she eeps and clings to my arm as I fly over the forest and to the edge of that town. I exit the realm and dump the alicorn on the ground as she grunts in pain with the tip of her horn next to her.

I see people stare at us before looking at Celestia, they scream in fear and start running around like headless chickens making me chuckle slightly. It also seems Celestia has passed out. "Fluttershy, tell your Princess here that should she come after me again, I will kill her," I tell the timid woman who nodded fearfully at me.

"FLUTTERSHY!" I hear a female voice call out and see a purple furred woman with dark blue hair and two stripes of pink through it, she's wearing a long dark purple skirt and a white button up shirt. She looks hysterical as she runs over to us.

"I shall take my leave then, don't forget to tell her," I say to Fluttershy before leaving into the Shadow Realm again. I wait for a few seconds as the purple woman checks over Celestia with her horn glowing before more people gather around trying to help. I huff and make my way back to the ruins.

I arrive and exit the Shadow Realm where Desire tackles me and snogs me deeply. "I'm so glad you're safe," she tells me.

"I'm fine, she wasn't as tough as Val'hades was," I reply with a chuckle. Noctis then flies down from the rafters and lands on my shoulder.

"Do not underestimate our sister, she was not fighting at full strength, she hast been giving our other half some of her power to recover quickly," Luna informs me.

"So she attacked me while she was weakened?" I ask as I look around for my pistol.

"That is most likely yes," she replies and nodded her eyes up and down.

"I see..." I say and frown as I find my weapon and reload it, maybe I should have just killed her to be safe... "Well, we need to leave now, have you decided if you wish to come with us or stay here?" I ask her.

She looks around the ruins and then to a few splatters of Celestia's blood on the floor before looking back at me. "We shall go with thee... our sister shalt not take this lying down... she will come back for us with a larger force and possibly the elements as well," she replies with a sad tone.

"Very well. Do you need to eat, drink, or sleep?" I ask her.

"We can sustain ourselves with the magic in the air for now, but tis not enough to help us recover," she tells me sadly.

I look at my right hand and cover it with my shadow energy, as it's similar to the energy she's made of. "Can you absorb this?" I ask while holding out my hand to her.

She looks at my hand and goes wide eyed. "Tis shadow magic..." she says quietly and then engulfs my hand with her mist like body. I can feel her absorbing my energy and she gasps as black ears pop out from above her eyes, followed by a horn and a muzzle with human like teeth. Her face then forms followed by the rest of her head down to her neck. The mist like shadow of her body now looks like it's her hair and her fur is blacker than darkness itself.

She's beautiful.

I pull my hand back as I feel quite drained from both the battle and her taking my energy.

"We... We feel our magic returning... please, canst thou spare more?" she begs me with pleading eyes, the echo to her voice now gone.

"Later, right now I need to recover and we need to leave," I reply.

"We thank thee for helping us and protecting us from our sister, Sir Damien," Luna tells me with a smile on her face.

I return the smile before Desire decides to ruin the mood. "Damn, she's hot... Can we keep her?" she asks me seriously.

I groan and facepalm myself while shaking my head, I then notice Luna blushing slightly at Desire. 'This is going to be a long trip home,' I think to myself.

"So, Luna. Which way do we go? We don't know these lands and getting out of the country seems like a good idea for now," I ask our newest travelling companion.

"We should head west towards the gryphon kingdom of Gryphonia. There our sister hast nary any jurisdiction and can not pursue us," she replies as I yawn. "Perhaps thou should sleep tonight and allow thee to recover thy strength," she then suggests.

I look up out of a hole in the ceiling and it's still night out. "Alright, I could do with a quick nap, I doubt Celestia will recover fast enough to attack us again so soon," I reply. We then walk through the castle and find Luna's old room still in good condition.

I remove the dust and then lay down onto the bed where Desire snuggles up beside me with a happy smile. Noctis has flown over to a cushion on the floor and falls asleep there. "We shall watch over thee till ye both awaken," Luna then tells us and I chuckle.

"Thanks, see you in the morning," I reply and after a few minutes I drift off to sleep.

Chapter 14: Dreaming

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 14: Dreaming

I open my eyes and I find myself sitting on my old couch in my old house on Earth. "The fuck?" I mutter as I slowly stand up from the couch. I'm in my black coat and I have my black hair still... so what the hell is going on here?

I look around the house in hopes of seeing my sister or mother but the house is empty, my search then leads me outside to the street making me frown as it's barren of any life as well. 'Am I dreaming?' I wonder to myself as I look at my right hand and rub my thumb over my index finger, I've had numerous dreams before but this one feels more real than any I can recall.

Shaking my head I walk down the street and make my way to where it all ended and began. Standing in front of the store where I was shot, I just stare at the doors before walking in and look around. Once again there's no one here and I sigh as I make my way over to the exact spot I died.

Kneeling down, I place my hand on the floor and frown as the memory and pain of being shot replays in my mind.

"Tis a sad fate thou hast suffered," a young girl says behind me. That voice, sounds like a younger Luna.

I look behind me and see a four foot seven, dark blue furred pony with light blue hair, a black dress, silver shoes, silver bracelets and an onyx tiara on her head. She has the same colour eyes as Luna but they’re not slitted. She also has a horn and a pair of wings.

"Who are you?" I ask her and stand up. How did she get behind me without me noticing... and I don't know if she's wearing actual silver or not, I can't touch the metal without experiencing intense pain.

"We art Princess Luna Nocturne. Who art thou?" she replies and asks with a tilt of her head.

"Luna?" I mutter and walk over to her. "Ah, you must be the other half of the Luna I've met," I say and kneel down in front of her.

"Thou hast met our other half?" she asks in surprise with wide eyes.

"Yes, in the ruins of your old castle... Where are we? And why are we back on Earth?" I reply and ask her.

"Earth? Is that the name of thy home?" she asks and I nodded. "We see, well we art in thy dream, we hast the power to see and influence another's dream for the better if they art having a nightmare," she tells me and looks around. "We hast never seen a place like this before," she then says as she glances at the products on the shelves with curiosity. She reaches out and takes a bag of gummy worms off a shelf and grimaces at the name. "Whom wouldst eat worms?" she asks in disgust as her face scrunches up.

I chuckle and take the bag from her. "They're not real worms, they're just a candy in the shape of worms." And to prove my point, I open the bag and eat a half red and half yellow gummy worm and hum at the taste, I'm surprised I even remember what they taste like.

I hold the bag out for her and she takes it gingerly before pulling out a white and green worm from it. She then after a few seconds of internal debate puts the sweet in her mouth and starts chewing it.

Her eyes light up and she smiles. "Tis delicious, it tastes like lime," she says and pulls out another.

I walk over to the drinks section and take a bottle of cola from the fridge keeping them cool, I haven't had a cola in over sixty years! I'm not going to let this opportunity slip by me, so I twist the cap off and chug down a large gulp of the fizzy dark brown liquid and then sigh happily. Oh yeah, just how I remember it.

"And what is that beverage?" Luna then asks me with curiosity.

"It's a cola, a carbonated fizzy drink," I explain to her and give her one.

She eyes it warily but eventually opens the bottle and takes a sip, she coughs slightly from the fizzy sensation and frowns at the bottle. "Tis a strange drink to be sure... but tis not detestable," she comments and takes another sip.

"So, why are you in my dream anyway?" I ask her and sit on the store's counter.

She swallows another mouth full of cola and then looks at me. "We felt a strange dream coming from somepony, only to discover thee art nary a pony at all. We must ask, what art thee?" she asks and takes another sip of her drink.

I narrow my eyes in anticipation of her reaction to my answer. "I'm a demon," I simply reply.

Her eyes go wide and she spits out her mouthful all over my lap... charming. "Thou art a demon!?" she yells and backs away.

"Correct, but I'm not going to harm you unless you attack me first," I reply with a mild glare.

She seems to be in thought for a few seconds and then gasps. "Thou art the one who injured our sister earlier today?" she asks me with a mix of anger and fear.

"Again, correct. She attacked me and my wife so I gave her a good thrashing. You should thank your other half, she's the reason I didn't kill her," I tell her and finish off my cola.

She frowns at me and then looks at the bottle in her hands. "How did thou escape from Tartarus?" she questions me.

"I didn't, my wife and I were pulled from our home and into your city. Only for your guards to attack us without letting us explain our situation, but I must return home and check on my family and subjects," I reply and hop off the counter.

"Subjects? Thou art royalty?" she asks and steps forward slightly to keep me in sight.

"In a way, I am the Overlord of Tartarus," I tell her and then look through the chips section of the store, oh doritos!

"O-Overlord!? But we thought the Overlord wast cruel and merciless... thou seemeth, friendly and kind," she says with confusion and disbelieving eyes.

I look from the chips to the young blue girl and reply. "The last one was for sure, but I killed him and took over where I treat my demons with respect and as equals. Don't get me wrong, I can be a right asshole to those who threaten me, my family, or those under my care. Your sister is a testament to that." I pick up a bag of cheesy doritos and open it up before munching down on the triangle shaped chips.

"Thou dost not enslave others? We must admit tis a first we heard of a demon who is kind," she tells me and walks over to me looking much calmer than before, but still wary.

"I like to think I've had a positive influence on them over the years. So, what do you plan to do now that you know I'm the one who injured your sister?" I ask her wanting to know if she'll start hunting me as well.

She sighs and looks away. "We canst nary blame thee for defending thyself and thy mate... though we wish thou didst not kill our guards as well as injure our sister and damage her horn as she canst not raise and lower the sun without her magic," she replies and frowns.

I choke on my chips as I then look at her. "Raises the sun? How is that possible?" I ask her clearly not buying it.

Luna then spends the next hour explaining that she and her sister's magic are connected to the sun and moon, while she guides the moon, Celestia guides the sun. This process used to be done by nearly a hundred powerful unicorns working together along with their parents centuries ago, but that job passed onto the sisters once they were old enough to do so. I've also told her of how I run Tartarus and what I've done during my time there, hopefully getting on this Luna’s good side will calm Celestia down, though I doubt it greatly.

"I see, so you could move the sun and moon if you need to?" I ask her. We've amassed a large pile of wrappers and bottles around us as we raided the store of its snacks as we talked.

"Verily, but we dost nary have the magic to do so, pray tell, dost our other half have any magic?" she asks me with hope.

"Well, I did give her some of my shadow energy which has started to reform her body, but as she is now as a floating head? I don't think so," I reply and take a bite out of a kitkat. I wonder if there is a way to get Desire into my dreams, she'd love some of these sweets.

My reply makes her sigh with a sad frown. "We see... then we must gather a group of Canterlot's finest mages and get them to channel their magic through us. Hopefully it shall be enough to complete our task until our sister's horn hast healed," she says before drinking a chocolate milkshake through a straw.

The world around us then begins to shake, making me get up and head out into the street. "What's going on?" I ask Luna as I watch the buildings break apart and fade away along with the roads and everything else.

"Thou art waking up," she replies and I look back at her. "Despite thou being a demon, we hast enjoyed our conversation and thy confectionaries... Would thou allow us to return another time?" she asks me with a smile.

I chuckle and playfully ruffle her hair. "Sure, just don't tell your sister of my location if you know where I am. I don't need her hunting us or sending more troops to their deaths," I reply.

"We promise to keep thy whereabouts a secret. Please look after our other half for us, we would like to see her return home safely. We know we may never be reunited as one, but having her as another sister would be welcome just the same," she tells me.

I smile in return as she starts to fade away. "Sure, she's agreed to travel with us for now. Desire and I will keep her safe," I reply as my vision fades to white.

I yawn as I open my eyes and the first thing I feel is Desire with her right hand down my pants groping my ass. I sigh and shake my head as I pull her hand away and sit up. Looking around, I spot Luna floating by the window looking at the moon on the horizon.

"Good morning, Luna," I say to her and stretch my arms.

She yelps quietly and turns to face me. "Good morning, Sir Damien... Didst thou sleep well?" she replies and asks.

"Well enough considering the bed is over a thousand years old... oh, by the way, I met your other half in my dream," I tell her and scratch my chin.

"We see, she didst not give thee any trouble? And thou didst not harm her either?" Luna asks with worry as I stand up. Desire moans unhappily as she pats the space I once laid trying to find me.

"No, we actually got along pretty well. We talked for a while and ate snacks together," I reply and put my coat back on.

Luna sighs in relief and smiles. "Tis good news to hear," she says and floats over to me. "Would thou be willing to bestow us with more magic please?" she asks me with hopeful eyes.

I smirk and hold my hand out covered in my shadow energy, she then surprises me by placing her cheek on my palm and closes her eyes as she absorbs my energy. I watch as her body continues to form starting with her neck, collarbones, shoulders and then her chest. I go wide eyed and pull away while averting my eyes.

"Why didst thou stop?" she asks me with confusion in her voice.

"You might want to find a way to cover yourself up, Luna," I suggest to her. I hear her gasp followed by the sound of soft chimes. I take a curious look due to the sound and find she's covered her chest with her mist like hair.

"We b-believe that shalt be all for now," she replies in embarrassment and looking away.

I cough into my left hand and then walk to the door. "I'm going out to find something to eat for me and Desire, wait here and for the love of Ifrit, don't let Desire see your... chest. She'll get ideas," I tell and warn her.

Luna nodded with a mild blush and floats back over to the window while I head out the room and out the ruins to hunt for breakfast.

On the way out I get a strange feeling coming from the direction of the pony town just outside the forest, like one of my demons is there...

Author's Note

Next chapter will be from Twilight's perspective as she questions and examines Fluttershy from the moment Damien left her and Celestia at the town.

Chapter 15: So many questions, so few answers

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 15: So many questions, so few answers

POV: Twilight Sparkle
Just before Damien dropped off Fluttershy

After getting a snack at Sugarcube Corner I start heading back to the Library to continue my study of advanced arcane sigils by Starswirl the Bearded, but along the way three figures emerge out of thin air near the edge of the town centre in a mist of shadow magic. I don't recognise the tall furless creature in the middle wearing a long black coat but I go wide eyed at who he's holding in his right hand.

Princess Celestia, beaten and bloodied badly where the creature then just drops her face down onto the ground and then drops something small next to her... oh no, is that the Princess' horn?

The other pony to his left looks like Fluttershy, but she has leathery wings instead of feathers and her eyes are red and cat like, as well as having fangs, and tufts of fur on her ear tips.

"FLUTTERSHY!" I call out which makes her look towards me. The creature then says something to her to which she nodded quickly in return before fading away in shadow mist again.

I run over to her and the Princess who fortunately is still breathing. "Fluttershy! What happened? Why is there blood all over you? Who was that?" I ask her as I start applying first aid to the Princess' wounds.

"Oh erm... I was attacked by a manticore and he saved me, his name is Damien, he and the Princess fought each other when she found us," she replies and flutters her wings slightly.

"He attacked the Princess!?" I ask shocked that anypony would attack the Princess.

"Well... no, she attacked him and his mate first actually..." Fluttershy replies quietly and then starts poking one of her fangs with a finger with a worried expression. "Although, he and his mate did kill all the guards with her..." she then informs me with a sad frown.

'He killed all the guards!? Oh I hope Shiny wasn't with them... could anypony even break through his shield spells?' I think to myself starting to get worried.

I shake my head and prepare a teleportation spell to get Princess Celestia to the hospital. "We'll talk about this later, the Princess needs medical attention first, meet me back at the Library," I tell her and gingerly pick up Princess Celestia's horn tip.

"Oh, okay, Twilight," she replies and gets up.

I nodded to her and then cast the spell, my vision goes white and just a second later I can see the lobby of the Hospital. There's nurse Redheart behind the counter with a couple of ponies sitting in the waiting area to the left. "I need help! The Princess is badly injured!" I call out getting gasps as the doctors and nurses go into action within seconds.

The Princess is placed on a stretcher and wheeled out down a hallway to an operating room. "Twilight, what happened?" Doctor Stable asks me while I hand him the Princess' horn tip.

"She was attacked by some furless bipedal creature, even Fluttershy seems to have been affected physically by his magic. I need to head back to the Library and get Fluttershy's account on what fully happened and see what changes have occurred," I reply.

"Very well, we'll do our best to help the Princess, we'll also send word to her sister about Princess Celestia's condition," he tells me and heads off after the nurses and other doctors.

After looking down the hallway hoping for the Princess' quick recovery, I head back to the Library to get more information about this creature. A quick teleport later and I'm in the main reading room of the Library where Fluttershy is sitting nervously on the couch.

"Fluttershy," I say getting her attention as I get a quill, ink well, and scrolls to write down everything she knows. "I need you to tell me in as much detail as you can about what that creature is and what it can do," I tell her and sit next to her.

"I, well, um... He said his name is Damien and that he is a demon," she replies and I gasp.

"A demon!? What is a demon doing here? The gates to Tartarus are sealed," I say as I start writing.

"Well he said he was pulled to Canterlot from Tartarus where he then escaped from the guards, but he also told me he's the Overlord of Tartarus as well," Fluttershy then tells me.

"O-Overlord!? Then... that explains how he managed to defeat Princess Celestia... what was his magic like?" I ask her seriously. I'll need to research what kind of magic he uses and find ways of countering it.

"I don't know, Twilight. You know I know nothing about magic like you or even Rarity, but from what I saw it looks like he uses shadows and this black and dark purple fire," she replies and fidgets uncomfortably.

"He uses dark magic..." I mutter as I write it down. "Anything else?" I ask her.

"Erm..." she mumbles and then nodded. "Yes, he has these strange weapons that look like tubes that make loud bangs which spits out something fast enough to make a hole through the guards armour..." she replies and turns a bit green as if remembering or imagining it.

"A weapon capable of piercing the guards armour?" I ask with worry, if that's the case then what if all the demons of Tartarus have such weapons? "We need to find a way to stop him before he can hurt anypony else... where was he when the Princess arrived?" I ask her.

"I... I promised him I wouldn't tell..." she mumbles and twiddles her thumbs.

"Promise? Fluttershy, he injured the Princess and killed her guards! He needs to be thrown into the dungeons or sealed away before he can kill anypony else!" I tell her with wide eyes, why would Fluttershy be helping him.

"He's not a bad pony, Twilight. I... I was about to be killed by a manticore before he and his mate Dark Desire arrived and, and killed the manticore before it could..." she says and sniffles for a bit. "I was dying, Twilight…” she says with a shiver. “If he didn't use his magic on me I would be dead right now... I may not like my appearance now, but he saved my life. He just wants to get back home to his family," she tells me with tears forming in her eyes.

I just look at her with surprise. He saved her? Why would a demon, the Overlord of Tartarus at that save one of the elements of harmony? "But... I... He..." I stutter trying to come up with a reason why he should be stopped and captured but Fluttershy's eyes show she meant what she said.

"I don't agree with how he dealt with the Princess' attack, but he only got really mad when she hurt his mate Desire, that's when he killed the guards and attacked the Princess. He was only protecting her and Luna," she tells me.

"Luna? What was Luna doing there? I thought she was in Canterlot recovering," I ask her. Princess Celestia wouldn't bring her sister to a battle in her weakened state… would she?

"Oh right, when we used the elements on Luna, it didn't cleanse her like we thought, it split her into two different ponies. The Luna we know got to keep her body while the other was turned into a mist of magic... though I did watch as Damien gave her some of his magic which started to make her a new body slowly, but she looks just like Nightmare Moon," Fluttershy tells me.

I just stare at her wide eyed and slack jawed as my quill slips from my grip. "Nightmare Moon is still out there as well!?" I shout out in near panic, so not only do we have a dangerous demon on the loose but Nightmare Moon is with him as well?

"Oh no," Fluttershy says waving her hands gently. "she actually hates that name and is basically a copy of Luna, they both have different parts of the original Luna's personality, it's why the Luna we know is timid and not very social while the other Luna is more confident and forward. She was actually pretty friendly," she replies.

This is too much... So nightmare Moon isn't evil but a half of Princess Luna? But... then why did all the books I've read all say Nightmare Moon was cruel and wanted to veil the world in eternal darkness? Did Princess Celestia rewrite history? There's only one way to get answers, I need to speak with Damien and this other Luna.

"In the morning we're going to gather the girls together and find this Damien... There's too many questions and I want answers. If he's as friendly as you say he is then he'll be willing to talk, if not then we can just use the elements on him," I tell her and pick my quill back up and write down everything Fluttershy told me.

"I don't know, Twilight... he's very strong and while friendly enough he seems to have a bad temper..." she replies and frowns sadly.

I sigh and levitate my scrolls, ink, and quill to a nearby desk and then look at Fluttershy. "It's the only way I can get some answers, what was Nightma... Princess Luna's reason for turning on Princess Celestia a millennia ago? Why is this Overlord friendly...ish compared to the last one who tried to steal all of Equestria's magic? I need to know!" I tell her and stand up. "I also need to scan you and see if there's anything wrong with the changes to your body," I inform her and start channelling a scanning spell into my horn.

"Erm, okay," she replies and just sits there patiently.

I cast the spell and after a few seconds of looking I detect the demon's dark magic inside her, focused mainly in her heart. "Fluttershy, could you show me the area around your heart please?" I ask her.

She blushes slightly at my request. "Oh, um, sure," she stutters and pulls her dress down slightly exposing the area around her heart, what I see is a black mark of a creature's skull I don't recognise with two horns on it. Fluttershy looks down and gasps at the mark. "Twilight, what is this?" she asks with worry.

I run over to my books and start going through the books I have on demons but I find nothing about markings.

"I don't know, Fluttershy, but I think that demon placed it on you when he healed you... what it does I have no idea," I reply to her question with worry of my own.

The Library’s front door then bursts open with Rainbow Dash coming in. "Twilight! What's this I hear about the Princess being in the Hospital!?" she asks me panting for breath. Following in behind her is Pinkie, Rarity, and Spike who was out helping Rarity all day. "Fluttershy!? What happened to you!?" Rainbow then shouts out at our timid friend's new look.

Fluttershy shuffles nervously as everypony stares at her. "Oh, hello, Rainbow. I'm fine," she replies and hides behind her mane.

Rainbow quickly flies over to her and I look back to the others standing near the door with shocked expressions. "Sit down girls, I've got a lot to tell you," I reply and gesture them all to sit down.

Twelve Minutes Later

"So that's why I want to find this Damien and the other Luna to answer some of my questions and if we have to, use the elements on them," I finish telling them all.

"So you basically wanna find them, ask questions, and if they get mean we kick their flanks?" Rainbow sums up.

"Basically? Yes," I reply and faintly smile.

"But how do we beat such a brute who managed to defeat the Princess?" Rarity asks with doubt in her tone.

"I'll put a shield spell around us while we ready the elements, I'm sure there's a spell here somewhere that can counter dark magic," I reply and we head upstairs to my private collection of books on magic.

"If the demon is as friendly as Fluttershy says, do you think he'll like parties?" Pinkie Pie asks as she sits on my bed and rocks side to side with a big smile on her face.

"Do demons even have parties?" Rainbow asks with a raised brow.

"I dunno! That's why I asked!" Pinkie replies with a giggle.

I just sigh and continue to look through my books while Rarity fusses over Fluttershy's new look and Pinkie plans for a demon themed party.

Author's Note

Next chapter will be Damien, Desire and Luna(NM) to set out towards the gryphon kingdom.

Now I'm off to write the next Shinigami in Equestria chapter.

Chapter 16: On the road part 1

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 16: On the road part 1

POV: Damien Jackson

Before I leave the ruins I clean out the guards bodies that are starting to smell bad after being left out all night. Once piled outside and far enough away from the castle, I then head out with my revolver to find something for breakfast, I fly over the ravine with an old rope bridge and start stalking through the woods.

So far I hear nothing and feel no presence of animals nearby, can they feel or sense me coming? I frown as I shift into the Shadow Realm, take to the air and fly above the canopy. I can't sense anything while in here but I'm hoping to see some large animal moving about that won't notice me coming.

After a good eleven or so minutes I spot what looks like a chicken's head poking out of a bush. 'Bingo.' I dive, tuck in my wings and drop down to it.

Once I land I step out of the Shadow Realm which startles it, its eyes then glow and I feel a slight tingle in the back of my head. 'Huh, reminds me of Medusa's stone gaze ability,' I think to myself. I then raise my revolver and shoot the chicken right between the eyes.

I raise an eyebrow as it flops out of the bush with a strange long and large scaled body. "I'm pretty sure I remember chickens don't look like that..." I mutter to myself and lift it up by its green scaled tail. "Eh, as long as it tastes like chicken I won't complain."

With a firm grip on our breakfast, I head off back to the Castle and land at the entrance. I walk in and find Desire and Luna talking to each other on the bed.

"...and then he slammed so hard, I couldn't feel my legs for days after!" Desire tells Luna with a dreamy expression.

Luna for her part is blushing like she's on fire. "We see..." she replies looking uncomfortable and then glances at me.

Desire follows her gaze and smiles at me. "Darling! How could you leave me like that without our morning fun!?" she asks me with a pout and crosses her arms. Luna sputters out nonsense while her blush intensifies.

"Desire, we may not have much time to play about anymore, we need to find a way back home before one of the other demonlords try to take over. Though I have faith in our sons to keep Slitherana and our daughters safe," I scold her, she should know when it's time to have fun and time to be serious by now. "Not to mention we may have a vengeful alicorn after us as well, I'd rather not let her catch us with our pants down, literally."

She huffs and turns her head away. "Well I still need my dose of lust from you," she tells me and gets up.

I shake my head and smile as she sways her hips over to me. "Fine fine, but I need to cook this chicken and then we need to get moving," I reply and she latches onto my face and kisses me deeply with a moan as she feeds.

I can see Luna is uncomfortable with our display so I break our kiss and desire whines. "Come on, just a bit more?" she begs me with wide soul crushing eyes.

"No," I firmly tell her making her sigh.

"Fiiiine, but I expect some extra before bed tonight," she replies and heads out the door.

I turn to the still blushing Luna and smile at her. "Sorry about that, she at least has better control than she used to have, otherwise we'd still be on the bed right now," I tell her and follow my wife out the room.

Luna remains silent and follows behind me while keeping her gaze on the floor.

We reach the room where we were attacked by Celestia and I set up the fire pit and begin preparing the chicken for breakfast. Noctis then flies in and lands on my shoulder while eyeing up the carcass.

After a few minutes of silence where Desire is brushing her hair with a brush she took from Luna's room, Luna finally speaks up. "How didst thou manage to slay a cockatrice without turning to stone?" she asks me.

"Cockatrice? I thought it was a mutant chicken..." I reply and frown at the dead creature. "Well I was looking for anything large and this was the only thing I found, it tried to turn me to stone so I just shot it and brought it back... it's edible right? No venom or such?" I ask Luna.

"While they hast nary any venom or poison, we dost not know of their flavour," she replies.

"Well, as my mother used to say, try everything at least once," I say and pull out its innards and toss them aside. Noctis jumps off my shoulder and starts eating the organs.

"So, Luna, have you ever been in a relationship before?" Desire suddenly asks Luna outta nowhere.

"We... we hast not, we had barely any time to ourselves running the kingdom alongside our sister. Finding a mate twas not on our mind at the time," she replies and sighs.

"Aw, so you got no dirty or kinky stories to share?" Desire asks with a pout.

Luna blushes again and I frown at my wife. "Desire, stop teasing her or so help me no sex for a month!" I tell my wife off like a naughty child.

She looks at me with wide eyes and then snarls. "You wouldn't dare!" she yells in anger.

"Oh I dare, you're letting your libido get out of hand again, if it's getting that bad we can find a nice secluded spot once we get away and I'll fuck you senseless, but until then keep yourself under control," I tell her with a glare and she surrenders with a pout.

"Fine," she replies and I sigh.

"Ye both hast an interesting dynamic..." Luna comments as she looks between us.

"Yeah well, she's a nymphomaniac with an insatiable lust, but I love her all the same," I reply getting a smile and giggle out of Desire.

I light the fire and slowly turn the cockatrice around on a spit above the fire.

"So how far is the gryphon border from here?" I ask Luna to pass the time.

"From what we last recall, tis about four days travel on hoof to the port then a week's travel via sea vessel across the ocean," she replies and floats beside me. "May we please have more magic to restore more of our body?" she asks me with a hopeful smile.

I chuckle and raise my left hand which I then coat in my shadow energy. She again places her cheek on my palm and starts absorbing my energy.

Her biceps start to form and her stomach begins to form as well, I also notice a pair of bat or demonic like wings start to sprout from her shoulder blades which only forms half way before stopping.

I pull my hand away as she took a good third of my energy and I want to make sure I keep quite a bit for a fight if needed. "There you go, I can give you more later tonight," I tell her and she smiles.

"We thank thee, Sir Damien," she replies and examines her new body parts, but she gasps at the sight of her half formed wings. "What hast happened to our wings!? They should be feathered! Not draconic!" she shouts out in alarm.

I frown and hum in thought. "Perhaps my demonic energy is altering you like it did to Fluttershy," I theorise and scratch my goatee.

She looks slightly upset but sighs and shakes her head. "We suppose this is acceptable if it means we canst have a body again..." she says with a sad frown.

"Oh lighten up, being a demon isn't all that bad, we're immune to disease and heal quite quickly compared to the creatures of this world," Desire says trying to cheer her up. "Besides, I think they look sexy on you," she then says with lidded eyes while fluttering her own leathery wings at Luna.

"Desire..." I warn her and she groans.

Luna just looks back at the half formed wings and sighs. "We see, that doth seems like useful benefits..." she says and looks back at me.

"If you're worried about what others will think then don't worry about it, I think you look great as you are, though we may need to find you some clothes soon," I tell her getting a small smile from her.

"We thank thee for the encouragement," she says as I cut a piece of breakfast off and taste it. 'What do you know? It does taste like chicken.' "Well, breakfast is served," I announce and Desire quickly breaks off a leg and bites into it.

"I've just had a thought, it's going to be confusing calling you and your other half the same name, and since your other half is known to the world as Luna, maybe you should get a new name?" I suggest to Luna.

"But tis our name! We canst not just change who we are," she says sadly, clearly not liking the idea.

"Well how about this, where I came from Luna was another word for moon, there's many more and Selene is one. So why not name yourself as Selene Nocturne, twin sister to Luna?" I offer her.

She hums in thought as she mulls the idea around in her head. At least she hasn't rejected the idea yet. "We... we suppose tis a good name..." she says and looks between me and Desire. "Very well, from hence forth we shalt be known as Selene Nocturne, Princess of Dreams," she tells us with her head raised proudly.

"Princess of Dreams?" I ask her with a raised brow.

"Verily, our other half shalt remain the Princess of the Night, whilst we shall claim the title of Princess of Dreams," she replies with a smile.

Good to see her cheering up at least. "Alright, let's finish up here and then get going. I don't want to hang around for the guards to arrive and throw themselves at me in vain," I say and take another bite of my breakfast.

After breakfast is finished, we head outside and stretch our limbs. "So, Selene. The gryphon kingdom is west wasn't it?" I ask her to clarify. Noctis is back on my shoulder and is looking around the courtyard.

"Verily," she replies with a nod.

"So how are you going to fly? I know you can float but that doesn't look very fast, and your wings aren't complete just yet," I ask her.

She hums in thought before turning her body fully into mist which makes me yelp as she engulfs my body and I feel her phasing into me.

'Thou canst carry us until our body is whole again,' Selene tells me in my head.

"That's so hot, though I'd rather you be the one inside me, my love," Desire says with a creepy smile.

'Damn she's really getting out of hand...' I think to myself and worry that Desire won't be able to contain herself much longer, ever since I gave her that power boost her libido and sex drive shot up as well.

'Mayhap we should find a location so thou may cool her down, she is acting as if she is in heat,' Selene comments in my head.

'You can hear my thoughts?' I ask her surprised with wide eyes.

'Verily, so we ask thee to keep thy thoughts from straying into the... more risqué criteria,' she tells me.

I sigh and roll my eyes. "Come on, let's just get going," I say and take off with Desire and Noctis flying beside me.

I follow Selene's directions as we fly west over the forest. I glance back to the town and notice a lot of guards in the streets before we lose sight of the town.

Not much happens over the next fourteen hours as we leave the forest behind us into a large grassy plain with a few trees around the area and a lake to the right. We stopped to fish at the lake where we had a quick lunch before we continued onward.

'Sir Damien?' Selene says getting my attention.

'Yes, Selene?' I answer her.

'What art those weapons thou carry? We hast never seen such weapons other than bows before our banishment,' she asks me.

'They're ranged weapons called firearms or guns of my own design, a team of my brightest imps and goblins helped me mass produce them for my army,' I reply as we come up towards some mountains.

'Thy whole army is armed with these weapons!?' she asks me with worry.

'Most of it, if you're worried that I might invade here then don't worry, unless your sister attacks us first Equestria has nothing to worry about from me,' I reply and spot a cave on the cliff face of the snow capped mountain that Selene said is called Frost Wind Peak.

Selene remains silent as we approach the cave and we land near the entrance. I look around and it's not very big, just a small cavern with a tunnel leading further in. I start shivering due to the cold temperature at this altitude, dammit, I'm so used to the heat of Tartarus that I feel like I'm going to freeze to death here. The sun has started setting and I'm tired from flying for hours non stop.

I quickly go out and gather some dead wood from nearby trees and return to start a fire, once going I sigh and sit beside the flames as Desire cuddles up beside me also feeling the cold despite her fur. Selene then exits my body and hovers nearby.

"Well, day one was uneventful I think, at least Celestia didn't send anyone after us," I say as Desire starts nuzzling me and feeds off my affection for her.

"Yeah, next time I see that whorse I'm going to plant my hoof so far up her cunt she'll never have foals again... damn nag almost broke my right horn off when she slammed me into the stone floor," Desire says angrily and rubs said horn lightly.

"After the beating I gave her she'll think twice before harming you again," I tell her and she hums happily.

"I've said this before, but I'm so lucky I found you in the wastes all those decades ago," she tells me and sighs with content.

"I could say the same, I would have died if you didn't find me. I guess we we're just meant to be together," I reply with a chuckle.

The sun begins to set as the moon starts to rise on the horizon. I look at Selene to see her with a sad expression. "Selene? Are you alright?" I ask her.

"Huh?" she mumbles and looks at me. "We art fine... tis just we canst feel our moon rising but our other half is guiding her across the stars... we feel so out of touch with the world and our night... though we suppose tis no longer our night," she replies with a far off look as she stares out the cave entrance.

I share a glance with Desire and she gets up and walks over to Selene where she then gives her a hug. "It'll be fine. Even if you can't stay here, you're welcome to come with us to Tartarus, it's not as bad as you think it is thanks to Damien," she says trying to cheer her up again.

Why do I get the feeling Desire just wants to take her home like a pet?

A loud snore or growl echoes throughout the cave making Desire yelp and Noctis to fly out the cave in fright. I turn towards the tunnel at the back of the cave and see a light glow near the back.

We're not alone in here.

Author's Note

And Gilda appears in the next Chapter :)

Now, does Damien save her and keep her as a gryphon, or will he turn her into a harpy now or later?

What would you like to see more?

Chapter 17: On the road part 2

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 17: On the road part 2

I summon my scythe in my right hand and draw my pistol with my left. "Wait here, I'll see what it is while you prevent anything from getting in or escaping," I tell Desire.

"Alright, happy hunting!" she replies and readies my revolver rifle.

I nodded with a smile and then frown as I turn towards the tunnel and begin my walk towards it. Along the way I see claw marks on the tunnel walls that look similar to a harpy's talons... Is there a harpy living in here?

My eyes go wide when I reach the end of the tunnel, I'm now in a large cavern with gold, jewels, furniture, cloths like silk and cotton along with other treasures lining the walls of the cavern. But in the centre is a large black dragon twice the size of a house with dark grey underscales, two long curved ram like horns are on the sides of its head and it appears to be sleeping on a pile of gold and gems.

I examine the dragon for a while before I hear the sounds of sniffling to my left.

Chained to a wall looks like a small harpy, except this one has paws on its hind legs and talons on its forelegs, the body looks more like a lion than a biped and its wings are located on the sides of its torso instead of on its shoulders, so this is a gryphon... I walk over and notice its a female, she hears my footsteps and looks up with wide eyes, she looks a little thin as her ribs are showing and if the skeletons in chains beside her are any indication, she won't be lasting much longer.

"W-Who are you?" she asks me quietly in fear.

"My name is Damien Jackson. Who are you and why are you chained to the wall?" I reply and ask her, I'm intrigued as to how she got here in this predicament, I figured the dragon would've eaten her already.

"I-I'm Gilda... I was on m-my way home back to G-Gryphonia from Ponyville when that dragon caught me and has kept me as a pet for the last month..." she tells me in barely a whisper with a pleading expression. Her eyes then widen as she looks behind me.

I feel hot air blast on the back of my neck as I frown. "The lizard is awake isn't it," I ask the gryphon who just nodded while trembling slightly.

I stand back up and turn to face the large reptile and glare at it while gripping my scythe tightly.

"And what do you think you're doing, pest?" the dragon asks in a deep tone.

"I don't think that is any of your concern," I reply and ready my pistol and scythe. "but if you must know I'm helping this young lady to leave."

The dragon growls and leans down to me. "And what's to stop me from adding such a strange creature like yourself to my collection?" he asks me.

I holster my pistol and cover my left hand with shadows where I launch four tendrils at his face and clamp his mouth shut. I then pull hard sending his chin into the stone floor of the cave. I then raise my scythe and hold it up to his left eye.

"And what's stopping me from turning you into a new pair of boots and coat?" I ask him back with a blank expression.

He struggles and pulls me up as he stands back up. 'Huh, forgot he has more mass than me,' I think to myself as I dangle from his head, though he still can't open his mouth.

The dragon whips his head to the side and I slam into the side of the cave wall dropping my scythe in the process. I groan from the feeling of a few ribs and a shoulder blade breaking which quickly starts setting back into place. 'That didn't tickle,' I think with a grunt and then growl in anger as I pull myself out of the hole and grip the tendrils with both hands.

"Cute, but let's see how you like it," I tell the dragon and yank on the tendrils still attached to his head, sending him into the cave wall leaving a sizeable dent causing loose rocks and stalactites to fall down from the ceiling.

"You idiot! You'll cause a cave in!" the gryphon yells at me as a rock barely misses her.

Right, I can just escape via the Shadow Realm, she'll be stuck here chained to the wall still only to suffer being crushed or starve to death. Plan B then, burn the bastard alive.

The dragon gets back up with a look that could kill and pulls off my tendrils. "I'll make you pay for that, pest!" he yells at me and takes a deep breath, seems he has the same idea.

I run over to the gryphon and before she could do anything, I enter the Shadow Realm freeing her of the chain and make my way under the dragon before he releases a large amount of flames where I once was.

"Blasted little pest cost me my pet!" the dragon seethes as I emerge with my hand clamping the panicked gryphon's beak shut to keep her quiet.

I shhh her and let go before flying up onto the dragon’s back and ignite my arms with my darkfire. 'Fucker wants to play with fire? Let's see how he handles a flame he can't put out!' I think as I then spray his entire head and back with my flames.

He roars out in pain as his scales begin to melt, I leap off as he rolls around on the floor trying to put it out, but to no avail as he slows to a stop. The scales and muscle of his head are gone leaving only his blackened skull and spine behind. I then will the flames to go out and turn back to the gryphon.

"You alright?" I ask her.

She's trembling but nodded at me. "Y-Yeah, dude... I-I'm good," she stutters and looks at the dragon’s corpse. "I've n-never heard of a-any kind of fire t-that could even hurt a d-dragon before..." she tells me in awe.

"Well my flames aren't like a normal fire," I reply and walk over to the gold pile. I then stuff as many coins as I could into one of the nearby backpacks to buy supplies along our way to Gryphonia.

Gilda then carefully walks over to me. "Why are you even here?" she asks me with a frown.

"My companions and I were going to camp here for the night but we heard snoring in the back so I went to check it out," I reply pocketing a large ruby with a flame inside it. I then hiss in pain as my left index and middle fingers are burnt by a piece of silver mixed in with all the gold and jewels, that'll take an hour or two to heal.

"We?" she asks confused as I blow on my burnt fingertips.

"My wife Dark Desire and another named Selene. They're back by the entrance keeping lookout," I reply and stand up before slinging the pack over my left shoulder. Should I take some of this silver to make more silver bullets for when I return to Tartarus? I could just collapse this tunnel and come back for the stuff here later if I ever return.

"Well, we're camping here for the night, you're welcome to stay or go, it doesn't concern me what you do now," I tell her and head back to the entrance to inform my companions of what has transpired.

Gilda follows behind me barely able to walk with how weak she looks. "What are you? You kinda look like the monkeys the higher class gryphons keep as pets..." she asks me.

"Did you just call me a monkey?" I ask her unamused.

"No no no, I said you look like one, just a lot bigger," she replies and huffs.

"Well for your information I'm a demonlord," I tell her making her stop with wide eyes.

"You're a demon!?" she asks which sounds like a squawk as she then backs away.

"Yes I'm a demon, and no I'm not going to hurt you. So stop shitting yourself and keep moving," I tell her.

She gulps and complies. We reach the entrance where Desire spots us and then gasps. "She's adorable!" she yells and flies over to us where she then hugs the petrified Gilda.

Selene floats over to me with a raised brow with Noctis on her shoulder. "Art thou alright, Sir Damien? We heard the sounds of a fierce battle," she asks me.

"I'm fine, just a dragon who thought he could take me as a pet. He's no longer a problem," I reply and pry Desire from Gilda. "Right then, exit's over there, stay or go, I don't care," I tell the gryphon who looks at the exit before her stomach growls and she hisses in discomfort.

"I'm in no condition to fly and I feel weak..." she says and then frowns. "Do... do you have any food and water to spare?" she asks though it looks like it hurt her pride to ask.

"No I don't," I reply making her slump. "Though there is a large dragon back there we can eat," I tell her making her go wide eyed.

"Eat the dragon?" she mumbles to herself in realisation.

I ignore her and head back into the large cavern with Desire and Selene right behind me. Once we enter Desire gasps at all the shiny trinkets and stuff around the cavern while ignoring the dragon's body.

"Be careful if you're going to look around, there's silver in the piles," I warn her.

"Alright, I'll be fine," she replies before walking off to explore.

"What is wrong with silver, Sir Damien?" Selene asks me.

"Demons are allergic to the metal, there's something in it that reacts violently to our energy and blood which burns us," I reply and walk over to the dragon's corpse.

"We don't recall such a weakness when we fought demons last..." she says more to herself than me.

I set up a fire pit with some of the loose rocks that fell and then start to carve up the dragon with my scythe. Thanatos feels upset that he didn't get to take the dragon's soul, next time I'll take the dragon's soul should I face one again.

Using golden rods I find nearby, I impale the dragon steaks upon them and lean them over the fire. I spot Gilda walk in slowly with a pained expression as she gradually makes her way over to the fire.

"So you decided to stay?" I ask her.

She gives me a wary glance before looking back at the fire. "If you wanted to kill me you would have done it by now, and you wouldn't have saved me either," she replies and winces as her stomach rumbles again.

I smirk at her will to stay despite knowing I'm a demon. "True, but then again you're no threat to me anyway," I tell her and rotate the steaks.

She huffs and glances at Desire, who is putting on golden rings and bracelets. "I take it miss cheerful over there is also a demon?" Gilda asks me.

"Correct, she's a succupony," I reply and chuckle as I watch Desire put on a long white gown she found in the cloth pile, though she shows no shame stripping naked before she put it on.

"A succupony!? Don't they seduce ponies and then suck out their souls?" the gryphon asks a little worried.

"What? No, they feed off of lust, or testosterone to be specific," I tell her with a raised brow, who told her that nonsense?

"Oh..." she mutters and relaxes before looking at Selene. "Is she a succupony as well?" she asks me.

Selene speaks up before I could reply. "Nay, we art an alicorn," she tells Gilda.

"An alicorn!? I thought there we're only three alicorns... Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadence," the gryphon says in confusion.

"We art... were Princess Luna, sister to Celestia... though we art but a shadow of our former self..." Selene replies sadly.

Gilda frowns before she gasps. "You're the mare in the moon? But Rainbow Dash said she and her dweeb friends defeated you!?" she asks clearly not believing what she just heard.

"Nay, they merely split us in two..." the alicorn replies and sighs.

"Gilda, stop asking questions or I'll throw you off the mountain, whether you can fly or not," I warn her.

She instantly shuts up at the threat and turns her gaze to the fire. Soon the cavern is flooded with the scent of cooked dragon meat as Desire walks back over in the white gown and covered in jewellery.

"There's so many neat things in here!" she says happily as she examines her new accessories.

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, we're staying here for the night and then we'll head to the nearest town to buy some supplies with the gold here," I tell her.

"Sounds good to me, I also found a rather nice bed back there we could, you know... how did you once say it? Shag like rabbits?" she tells me with a shit eating grin.

I hear Gilda choke on her breath while Selene blushes again. I sigh and know that she's nearing her limit on restraining herself. "Fine, I did promise I would when we found a secluded spot... doesn't get more secluded than a mountaintop cave," I reply and she cheers as she snuggles up beside me.

Gilda recovers from her choking and shakes her head. "Yeah, I'll be sleeping in the other cavern..." she says and looks at the well cooked meat with drool dripping from her beak.

I pick up a rod and take a bite out of the steak, well, dragons taste pretty good. "Meats done, so dig in," I tell them and Gilda wastes no time tearing into her steak, Desire decides to share mine with me while Selene floats over to a pile of gems and looks thoughtful for a few minutes. Noctis is on the dragon's corpse eating straight from the body.

Apart from Gilda's moans of satisfaction from finally getting to eat something, the cavern is quiet with the sounds of the crackling fire and the light tapping of gem stones from Selene's search. I then hear the black alicorn gasp and I watch her as her horn faintly glows a dark blue and a few gems float up beside her.

"Sir Damien! Dost thou knoweth how to make shadow gems?" she asks me as she floats back over to us.

"No, what's a shadow gem?" I ask her.

"Tis a magical gem infused with shadow magic, overwriting the pre-existing magic in the gem. If thou can turn these into shadow gems, we canst have our body back tonight!" she replies with excitement and levitates the gems over to me.

"Okay, so how do I do that? Just flood the gem with shadow energy?" I ask her.

"Verily, the shadow magic will twist the natural magic into shadow magic which we canst then absorb!" she tells me as I pluck a sapphire out of her magic.

"Well, here's goes nothing," I say and coat the gem with my shadow energy.

The gem's tint begins to darken as the swirling blue magic within turns black and the rest of the gem turns an onyx colour as well. "That's it! Keep going, Sir Damien!" Selene says as her excitement increases.

Over the next ten minutes I casually eat another steak with Desire while converting the gems.

"I've been wondering, where are you going?" Gilda asks me.

I glance at her and swallow my mouthful. "Why do you care?" I ask her and take another bite.

"Just curious, there hasn't been a demon on Equus for centuries, just wondered why one was here now," she replies with a shrug.

I stare at her for a few seconds and huff. "We're heading to Gryphonia to avoid Celestia," I reply and pick up the last gem.

"Celestia? I understand why being a demon and all, but why her specifically?" she asks me.

Desire giggles and nuzzles my right shoulder. "Damien here almost killed her to protect me," she tells the gryphon happily.

"YOU WHAT!?" Gilda shouts and then starts having a coughing fit.

"She attacked us, I defended myself and my wife as well as Selene. She's only alive because Selene didn't want me killing her sister, but the next time she attacks I will finish what she started," I tell her and finish converting the last gem and look to Selene. "These good enough?" I ask her.

She levitates the gem over to herself and smiles widely. "Verily, these art perfect!" she replies and begins absorbing the magic out of them.

We watch as her body begins to rapidly form as her wings are now complete, followed by her arms and then her waist which she covers up with her new space like tail and then her legs form. She then absorbs the last of the gems making her hair and tail shine with many stars and galaxies within them.

"Our magic hast been fully restored! We thank thee, Sir Damien for thy aid," she tells me and gives me a quick hug.

"You're welcome, though I suggest you try to find something to wear in the pile of clothes over there," I tell her making her blush and quickly walk off to find some clothes.

"I don't see why you ponies wear clothes all the time, must be uncomfortable and hot with your fur as well..." Gilda says with a frown.

"Modesty, we can't cover our privates like you can, plus it can also show our personality in what we wear as well," I reply with a shrug.

After a few minutes of silence Gilda speaks up again. "So you're heading to Gryphonia? Would it be possible if I come along? It's where I'm going and I doubt you know where to go," she asks with a bit more confidence in her tone.

I share a look with Desire who nodded with a smile, I think she just wants to hug the gryphon more. "Fine," I reply and look at Gilda. "You'll be our guide in Gryphonia and we'll get you there safely, deal?" I ask her.

She nodded and holds a talon out. "Deal," she replies and I shake her talon.

"Well, now that's all sorted, how about you begin what you promised?" Desire says and starts pulling on my arm.

Gilda blushes and quickly gets up. "Yeah, you have fun, I'll just leave you two at it," she says and slowly walks towards the exit.

"Lady Gilda! Wait for us, we wish to talk with thee," Selene says to the gryphon while levitating a lot of silk sheets and a few pillows behind her to use as bedding.

Once they leave, Desire drags me over to a nice looking deep blue bed with white silk sheets. She then pulls my coat off before pushing me onto the bed and smiles seductively as she then straddles my lap. "You better keep your promise of rutting me senseless, my love," she tells me as she begins to strip me of my torn shirt.

I can't help but grin as I grip her hips tightly, it has been a few days since we last had some fun.

Author's Note

After the next naughty chapter I'll be working on the next Kirsarnia chapter. :)

Chapter 18: On the road part 3

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 18: On the road part 3

Dream Realm

My vision fades in from white and I see myself in a place that looks similar to the ruined castle in the forest, except looking well maintained and furnished. It appears to be a throne room and I look around until I spot Luna on the night themed throne with a look of thought on her face.

"Hello, Luna," I greet the small blue alicorn who yelps and looks up at me.

"Damien? How art thou in our dream?" she asks me with confusion.

I just shrug as I walk over to her and sit down on the sun themed throne next to her. "Maybe you pulled me here? I don't know anything about dream magic or whatever it is. So why were you looking so glum?" I reply and ask her, these thrones aren't that comfortable... how did they stand sitting on these things?

"Oh, our thoughts were of thee," she tells me and I raise an eyebrow at her. "Not like that, we art worried as Twilight Sparkle arrived at Canterlot asking to access the Elements. We believe she wishes to hunt thee down for the... condition thou left our sister in," she replies with a frown.

"Ah, she wants revenge. And is she still in Canterlot?" I ask her.

"Verily, they art in guest rooms and plan to track thee down come morning. Our sister hast also ordered guards to track thee, we knowest thou art at Frost Wind Peak, both from the reports and where we canst sense thy dreaming body," she tells me with a sigh.

'So, the elements will be chasing us,' I think to myself and rub my chin in thought.

"We ask thee not to harm the Element Bearers, they art young and Miss Sparkle is just angry at thee for hurting her mentor..." Luna pleads with me.

"And what would you have me do? I have no desire to have the Elements used on me if what Selene has told me they can do is true," I reply with a frown.

"Selene? Who is this Selene?" Luna asks confused.

"Your other half, we decided it would be best if she had a new name, but besides that, what would you suggest I do?" I reply and ask again.

"Thou canst simply take one of their Elements and the rest would be powerless, we also ask if thou engages any more guards to simply knock them out. Our sister is already ashamed she let thee defeat her and that our other half had you spare her... she's angry, planning her next move and is trying to recover enough to enact it," she tells me with worry. "We hast never seen our sister this angry before besides Tirek... we believe she has a vendetta against demons," Luna then says.

"I see, did Tirek take someone special from her? A friend or lover?" I ask her and stand up, damn chair is hurting my ass.

"We cannot remember, we do not recall much before our banishment... unless those memories art with our other ha... we mean Selene," she replies and faintly smiles. "Tis a beautiful name she has chosen," she says.

"Well, her body is now fully formed and now she's just waiting for her magic to fully return, maybe you could contact her when she sleeps next? Or maybe right now?" I suggest as I think of a snickers bar and surprisingly it appears in my hand. "Hey, do you think you could teach me how to lucid dream?" I ask her and take a bite from it.

"That depends if thou hast an affinity for dream magic, if not, thou canst always ask our... twin to aid thee," she replies. "As for Selene, we would like to visit her. We shall return thee to thy own dream and leave thee lucid for tonight. Goodnight, Damien, and we thank thee," Luna tells me as my vision goes white again and I find myself in my old house on the couch.

I then feel movement to my right and spot Desire with a confused expression. "Where the buck am I?" she mutters and then looks at me. "Damien? Wow this is a weird dream... though I'm not going to complain," she says with a giggle before smiling lustfully and crawling on top of me.

"Desire? How did you get into my dream?" I ask her and then think about it, was it Luna that brought her here?

"Your dream?" she asks with a frown.

I sigh and begin explaining about Luna and her dream magic.

"Oh I see... do you think Selene could join us?" she asks with a sultry grin. I just roll my eyes and decide to see what Desire thinks about video games.

I yawn and scratch my beard as I wake up. Desire is still cuddling me with a content smile on her face after our night of passion and dreams, damn she's better at splatoon than I thought she would be... Then again she said the game looked like the characters were just jizzing everywhere so that might be what intrigued her to play so well.

I take a few sniffs and besides our strong scent of lust and arousal, the putrid smell of a freshly rotting corpse fills my senses.

"Fuck that's nasty," I comment and slowly get out of Desire's grasp as she whines from losing her grip on my body.

I yawn again as I get just my underwear and trousers back on before grabbing the dragon corpse by the tail but then wonder how I'm going to drag it out the cave as the body is too big to fit through the tunnel.

'How did this bastard get in and out then?' I wonder to myself as I summon my scythe and begin carving the body into smaller chunks.

Once done I wrap a tendril around the pieces and begin dragging them out down the tunnel. I arrive at the end to see Selene on a makeshift bed with a silk blanket wrapped around her with her dress beside her on the ground neatly folded. Gilda is laying in a pile of sheets in the shape of a bird's nest snoring lightly on her back, just exposing herself.

I roll my eyes at her and quietly walk past towards the entrance and toss the chunks of rotting meat off the mountain. I then walk over to Selene and lightly tap her shoulder. "Hey, time to get up," I tell her and she mumbles incoherently and rolls over. I sigh and poke her shoulder again continuously until she finally wakes up.

"Sister we art up, cease thy incessant prodding..." she mutters and sits up as her blanket falls off revealing her chest.

"I ain't your sister," I tell her while keeping my eyes on her face.

She yelps and covers herself up with a faint blush and a scowl towards me. "Sir Damien! Why art thou here!?" she demands.

"It's time to get up and get ready to go," I tell her and then walk over to Gilda and give her a light kick. "Get up, we're leaving," I tell her and then start walking back towards the main cavern to wake up Desire.

I arrive to see Desire getting dressed in a new pair of clothes, a pair of black shorts that look a size or two too small and a white silk shirt exposing a lot of cleavage.

"Hey, stud! What do you think? Now we match!" she tells me with a smile and her forked tongue sticking out slightly, why does she try to keep giving me heart attacks?

"You look beautiful, but we need to start making our way out, so grab a bag and start filling it with gold coins," I reply and tell her as I put on my shirt and coat as well as pick up the pack I loaded yesterday. She then straps on my rifle's holster to her back and checks the rifle's chamber, satisfied that it's loaded fully, she holsters it and begins collecting gold coins while avoiding silver ones.

Selene -now in her dress- and Gilda both walk in a few minutes later as I make sure we have everything we need.

"Good morning, Sir Damien, Lady Desire," Selene greets us as Gilda yawns.

"Hi, Selene! So how're you feeling?" Desire asks her while slinging her new pack full of gold over her shoulder.

"We art well, having our own body again is wonderful, though all that remains is to restore our magic," the black alicorn replies.

"Did Luna visit you last night?" I ask out of curiosity.

"Luna? Nay, she didst not..." she replies with a confused expression.

"I see, I spoke with her last night, she said she would visit you, but I guess something stopped her or she can't," I say and head towards the exit. "Either way we'll have to wait for her to contact me again to find out why, but she also told me the Elements are coming and that we have guards tracking us and know where we are so we need to leave now," I tell them.

"Very well, Sir Damien. Lead on," Selene says and we all leave the cave, only to find a squad of twenty guards waiting for us.

We just stand here looking at each other for a minute before one of them speaks up. "Demons, I am Sergeant Broadshield, you will answer for the murder of twelve royal guards and injuring Princess Celestia. Surrender peacefully and we shall grant you all swift deaths," an old looking guard demands of us.

I stare at him for a few seconds before bursting out in laughter. "You think you're a threat to us? I slaughtered your guards due to their attempts to kill me and my wife, but I can tell there's no point in trying to reason with you. Here's my demands, fuck off or I'll rip out all of your hearts," I tell them making a few flinch.

The Sergeant raises his hand and then swings it down. I frown as I wonder what he's doing before and arrow hits me in my left shoulder.

"GRRAAAAHH!" I yell out in agony as I dodge more arrows while ripping out the arrow in my shoulder and toss it away, damn thing is made of silver! "Get back inside!" I tell Desire and the others as I summon my scythe and charge at the Sergeant without warning.

Before he could draw his sword I cut him in half by the waist and rip out his soul... 'Fuck, I just remembered Luna asked me not to kill them...'

"Sergeant!" one of the other guards yells and thrusts a spear which also looks like it's made from silver.

I lean out of the way and grip the shaft of the spear making my shoulder wound flare with pain, I ignore it though and pull the spear from his hands where I slam it into the side of his head knocking him out and shattering the shaft of the spear.

As he drops to the floor the archers begin shooting arrows at me again and I avoid them by slipping into the Shadow Realm.

"Where did it go!?" another guard shouts out in worry. It? Did he really call me an it!?

I draw my pistol and exit the shadow realm behind the guards and fire a shot into six of the seven remaining archers hands that are holding their bows. The last archer turns and fires an arrow at me which I deflect with my scythe. I go wide eyed as I feel Thanatos cry out in pain from touching the silver.

'Sorry, Thanatos, but I don't think you'll be much more help here,' I tell him and dismiss my weapon.

I then take to the air and quickly reload my pistol, I'll need to conserve ammo now as I only have seventeen shots left. I holster my gun and dive down and land in front of a spear wielding guard and punch him in the gut hard, he collapses while cradling his stomach gasping for breath.

I take his spear and turn to the rest. "I'm giving you a choice, take your injured and leave, or I kill you all here," I threaten them. I then hear the sound of chimes behind me and just barely avoid getting run through by a sword, but I then grunt as the sword cuts the back of my right thigh which is being levitated by one of the horned guards, fucking blade is made of silver as well.

The guard's head who cut me whips back with a hole now between his eyes as the sound of my rifle echoes throughout the mountains.

Seems Desire is now angry.

I turn back to the guards and grin menacingly. "Death it is then," I tell them and coat my hands in darkfire.

"Fallback!" one of the guards yells out and the guards retreat while two of them pick up the corpse of the Sergeant and horned guard.

I keep my eye on them for a few minutes as they leave but a winged guard remains behind pointing his spear at me.

"Aren't you going to go with them?" I ask him with a raised brow and he growls at me.

"You killed my brother back in the Everfree Forest, I'm not leaving until I kill you," he tells me.

I narrow my eyes at him and chuckle. "Boy, if I wanted to I could have killed you and your fellow guards very easily. Don't throw your life away against an opponent you can't beat," I reply with a glare.

He growls in frustration and with a shout of anger flies off after the other guards.

Once he's gone I turn back to the cave. "You can come out now," I tell them and sit down as the cut on my leg and the hole in my shoulder is hurting badly. 'How'd they know about the silver?' I wonder to myself as Desire carefully checks my wounds and wraps them up with some cloth she got from the cave.

"Are you alright?" she asks me with worry.

"I'll be fine, but it'll take me a few hours to heal," I reply and hiss as she wraps my thigh up.

"Are we okay to wait until you heal? Or do you think they'll come back?" Desire asks me and hugs me gently.

"I think we're fine, but as soon as I'm healed we're moving on," I tell her and limp into the cave and lay on the makeshift bed Selene set up earlier.

For the next three hours we discussed what we'll do. Selene and Gilda were starting to get hungry so we decided to find a town where Gilda will buy supplies while the rest of us will find a place to set up camp.

Now that my wounds have healed, we set off where Selene has to carry Gilda due to her being too weak to fly herself yet. We leave the snow capped mountains behind us and fly over a meadow with flowers and wildlife running around. I grin as I spot a lake to our right, so we set down for a late breakfast but Selene looks upset that we don't have anything she can eat.

"Come on, Selene, try some. Those teeth of yours aren't just for show you know, Now that you're part demon you can most likely eat meat now," Desire tells her.

Selene eyes the fish and her newly formed stomach rumbles in hunger. "Very well..." she replies and gingerly takes one of the cooked fish. After a few seconds of just staring at it she finally takes a bite and winces as if it was going to taste foul, but surprisingly she opens her eyes and slowly chews with a curious expression. "Tis not as bad as we thought," she says and takes another bite.

Gilda has some water from the lake while the rest of us don't need to, being a demon at least means no getting thirsty.

Once finished we head off again and after a few more hours of flight we see a town nearby. We land in a woodland area and I hand Gilda a large bag of coins. "We'll wait here for you to return with food, water for you, and anything else you think would be useful," I tell her.

"Alright, though I may have to make a few trips, I don't think I'll be able to carry much yet," she replies and takes the bag.

"We shall go with her as well," Selene says as her horn glows. Her wings disappear and her fur turns light blue, her hair turns solid and is now white with a midnight blue streak through it, her dress also shrinks to match her now shorter height.

"Wow, that's pretty good," Desire says and circles Selene eyeing up her new look.

"Tis only a simple illusion, our wings art just invisible and we art still taller," Selene says.

"Alright, we'll wait here for you and get a campfire going. Try to find some tents while you're at it along with camping gear," I ask Selene.

She smiles and nodded as she and Gilda head off towards the town.

"So, my love. What shall we do while we wait?" Desire asks as she starts cleaning my rifle.

I sit beside her, pull out my pistol and start to clean it as well. "Not much we can do until they get back, just keep an eye out as I don't want to be caught off guard. These bastards have silver weapons and I'm not sure how they know they're effective against us..." I reply and sigh, my leg and shoulder are still sore from the weapons used against me.

So for now Desire and I clean our weapons and wait for the others to return... and my shoulder wound is throbbing again, perfect.

Author's Note

Still working on the Kirsarnia chapter so don't worry.

Next chapter here will be an encounter with the Elements of Harmony.

Chapter 19: The Elements arrive

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 19: The Elements arrive

Once Desire and I finish cleaning our weapons, we check the area just in case there are people wandering about. Last thing we need is being spotted and the town going into a frenzy. Although we did manage to find some wild berries and potatoes during our search.

With the area clear we relax at camp and I listen to Desire as she hums a lullaby she used to sing to our kids when they were younger. "Hmmm hm hmmmm, ahh ahhhh ohhhhh~" Desire sings while cuddling up to me as I stroke her hair lazily.

It takes Gilda and Selene an hour and some minutes, but they return with two tents, camping gear and enough food for a week.

"We hast returned! Is this everything we shall need, Sir Damien?" Selene announces and then asks me as she dispels her illusion. Gilda looks tired from the walk and carrying the food bags.

I look over the supplies and smile. "Yeah, these'll do," I reply and start setting up the pot over the campfire and begin peeling the potatoes and some other vegetables for a nice stew.

"Damien, I gotta ask... If you want to get back to Tartarus, why didn't you just ask Princess Celestia to send you there? She knows how to from what I've heard," Gilda tells me and I raise an eyebrow at her.

"Well for one she's a bitch, it seems she and her people think I'm just a monster who needs to be killed... So I wouldn’t trust her even if my life depended on it. So no, I won't be asking her for help," I reply as I stir the stew, damn that's smelling good. How long has it been since I've last eaten vegetables not native to Tartarus?

"We knowest of the four Gate's to Tartarus. One is buried deep in the mountain Canterlot now rests upon, though tis guarded by Cerberus from what we remember. The second is just beyond Gryphonia in the Plaguelands with a spellbound dragon guarding it. The third is in Minos, homeland of the minotaurs, though I know not its exact location or what guards it. The last gate is located deep in Zebrica, guarded by the spirits of the dead," Selene tells me.

"I see, so we'll be heading to the Plaguelands then?" I ask her.

"Verily, tis the closest gate besides the one under Canterlot," she replies with a nod.

"How long will it take us to get there? While I trust my kids with my life, Slitherana isn't a strong leader and I worry some demon might try to kill her and claim the throne before we can return..." I ask Selene who looks thoughtful.

"At our current speed, it shall take about two months of non-stop travel," she replies with a sad expression.

'Two to three months... I hope Siltherana and the kids can hold on till then' I think to myself as Desire taste tests the stew.

"Hmmmm, stews ready, and don't worry about the others. The kids are strong and when they work together not even a demonlord is enough to stop them," my wife reassures me.

She's right, Tidus and his brothers can take out a demonlord with their rifles, speed, and agility when working together. "You're right, well let’s camp here until tomorrow... wait a second... Has anyone seen Noctis? I thought he left the mountain with us," I reply and ask as I look around for the raven.

"We hast not seen him since yesterday," Selene replies.

I frown and look back towards the mountain. 'I guess he wanted to leave, oh well,' I think and sigh.

For hours we talked as we ate and I explained the rules of poker to Selene and Gilda. Selene used her magic to create a crude but working deck of cards from my description of them and now we're playing our seventh round of poker.

"I raise three," I say and toss three gold coins onto the pile. So far Gilda has the least amount of coins, I'm in third while Desire is second. Though Selene is sitting there with a smug smile as she has the biggest pile of coins.

"Verily, we shall also call. Royal flush!" Selene says placing three coins and then shows her hand.

We all groan and Gilda tosses her cards into the fire accidentally in her frustration.

"I guess that ends poker night," I say with a chuckle.

It's now night time as the stars shine high above us with a full moon just above the horizon. "It's a beautiful night," I say and lay down on my back with Desire using my chest as a pillow.

Selene sighs with a sad frown also looking up at the sky. "Tis a shame not many ponies care for it as much as we do."

I'm not sure what to say to cheer her up. I let out a yawn but stop mid way, I can feel a demonic energy approaching. "Get up! We got company," I tell the others and then smother the fire.

"Hey what gives!" Gilda complains due to the lack of warmth now.

"Up the trees, now!" I order them and fly up to a low branch. The others follow as well and perch on a thick branch.

"Sir Damien, what is the matter?" Selene asks me.

I look at her while keeping my senses on the incoming energy signature. "There's another demon nearby, and it's heading this way," I reply and look towards the source.

"Are you sure they're here?" a tomboyish voice asks.

"Yes, we tracked them here and waited for your arrival," a male voice replies to the first.

"I never met a demon before! Oh I hope they'll like the party I have planned for them... that is if they're nice, no meany mcmeany pants is getting a party from me if they hurt my friends!" an energetic voice then says excitedly.

A group of six girls and ten guards walk over to our camp and start looking around. The sky blue winged girl starts looking through our bags and stutters when she finds all the gold coins in my pack.

"Holy cow! Look at all the bits in here! I could buy a hundred tickets to a Wonderbolts show with all this!" she says while drooling at the sight.

"Oh my! This bag is full of bits as well!" the white horned girl then says looking in Desire's bag.

"But where are the demons and the other Luna?" the purple horned girl asks.

"Stay here until I tell you to come down," I quietly tell the others. Desire looks worried with her rifle ready as the guards are carrying silver weapons again but they all nodded and I jump down and land behind Fluttershy. "Hello, Fluttershy. It's nice to see you again," I say to the timid woman.

She yelps and turns around with a hand on her chest. "Oh, Damien. Erm, it's nice to see you too... How are you?" she asks me with a slight hint of worry in her tone.

Before I could reply she disappears in a flash of white light and reappears next to the purple girl.

"Get away from Fluttershy you monster!" the blue girl tells me.

I raise an eyebrow at her and then look back to Fluttershy. "I've been better, your guards weren't very friendly this morning when they attacked us, but I've faced worse," I reply to her question.

The purple girl steps forward eyeing me warily. "Why did you kill the guards and injure Princess Celestia?" she questions me.

I huff and cross my arms across my chest. "They attacked me and my wife as well as Selene. I tried talking to her but she got me with a cheap shot and then hurt my wife, I stopped caring after that and did what I had to to protect my family," I reply.

"Yeah right, you're just trying to take over Equestria aren't you!" blue girl accuses me with a glare.

"If I wanted to do that I would have killed your Princess instantly, no, she's only alive due to her sister asking me not to," I tell her and glare back making her flinch slightly.

"And where is this other Luna?" purple girl asks.

"Before that, how about introductions? I am Overlord Damien Jackson of Tartarus," I tell them with a polite bow.

They stay silent for a few seconds before answering. "I'm Twilight Sparkle, student to Princess Celestia," purple girl replies. She’s wearing a knee long deep blue skirt, a white undershirt and a dark purple sleeveless vest. Her hair and tail are a dark blueish purple with two streaks of pink and hot pink through it.

"Ah yes, Luna told me your name but not of your appearance," I say as she frowns.

Next up the pink pony who looks like she's having trouble standing still speaks up. "Hi I'm Pinkie Pie! Do you like parties?" she tells me and asks. She’s wearing a pair denim overalls with a striped white and pink shirt under it, her hair and tail are hot pink and very poofy like cotton candy.

"Hello, Pinkie. And yes, I do like parties," I reply. I then notice the guards trying to slowly surround me. "You do realise surrounding me is pointless correct?" I tell them making them stop moving.

I then hear the sound of a bow string being pulled back before an arrow soars at me, I dodge the arrow which barely misses another guard as the sound of Desire's rifle then goes off. The guard with the bow cries out in pain as he writhes on the ground with his left hand blown off.

I look back at the guard and then at the girls. "So your objective was to distract me so they could get a clean shot?" I ask Twilight.

"No! I told them not to attack!" she replies and angrily glares at the guards.

I hear one of the guards growl to my right and notice it's the same one from this morning who threatened to kill me for his brother.

"Shall we continue with introductions?" I suggest and look back at the girls but keep my guard up.

The white woman then speaks up looking a little green in the cheeks, she’s wearing a pair of black tracksuit bottoms and a thick warm looking light blue parker jacket. Her hair and tail is an indigo colour that's styled with curls and she has a horn as well. "I am Rarity Belle," she tells me trying not to look at the writhing guard. The blue girl is looking up trying to find the source of the gunshot.

The orange girl with blonde hair and a worn brown stetson hat on her head, a red checkered shirt which hugs her chest and shows her stomach along with a pair of denim shorts frowns at me while using herself as a shield for Fluttershy. "Ah'm Applejack," she says in an unfriendly tone.

Blue girl then looks at me and snorts slightly. "I'm Rainbow Dash, and any sudden movements and I'll kick your flank!" she tells me with a cocky smirk. She’s wearing a pair of black running shorts and white tank top where her wings are spread wide as if showing off. I can see why her name is Rainbow as her hair and tail are the same colour as a rainbow’s.

I roll my eyes at her and look back to Fluttershy, the demonic energy I'm feeling is coming from her, did I mark her unintentionally? "A pleasure to meet you all," I reply to them.

"Now where is this other Luna?" Twilight asks again.

"Get your guards to throw away their weapons and I'll ask them to come out," I reply and glance at the guards.

"So you can just kill us all? I don't think so, come on girls! Let's just blast him with the Elements already!" Rainbow Dash replies and tells the others.

I can't allow that, if Fluttershy is indeed marked then. "Fluttershy," I say looking at the startled woman as I assert my will over hers, with what is called The Master’s Will. "give me your Element," I command her and her eyes glaze over as she walks over to me, unclasps her necklace and places it within my hand.

Everyone just looks stunned that she followed my order. Fluttershy's eyes then return to normal and she looks around confused. "Erm... w-what just happened?" she asks and eeps when she sees me in front of her and her Element in my hand.

"I'm sorry for doing that to you my dear, but I can't risk you using these," I tell her and look back in time to see Rainbow Dash fly right at me with an angry expression.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO FLUTTERSHY!" she yells in rage and punches me in the face, I barely flinch and then grab her by the wrist, twisting it behind her back and summon my scythe which I hold up to her neck.

"Do you have a death wish, child?" I ask her as she struggles to break free.

"Please don't hurt her!" Fluttershy begs me with tears in her eyes. The guards around us are on edge as they point their weapons at me.

I look at Fluttershy and then to the girl in my grip. I narrow my eyes and then get a thought, if I mark her as well I can just command her to calm down. Though I'm sure the others won't take kindly to that.

"What are you all even doing here? Surely you knew that you were not going to be able to do much," I ask Twilight.

"I have questions and I want them answered," she replies with determination.

I frown at her and then smile. "If you want answers then you'll remain here while the rest head back to town, if you can't agree to this then you can all just leave," I tell her. If I can get Celestia's student on my good side maybe the psychotic Princess will back off a bit.

"Don't do it, Twilight!" Rainbow says to her and I twist her arm a bit harder making her yelp.

Twilight looks conflicted as she looks at her friends and then sighs. "Deal," she says and glares at me.

"Twilight! You can't be serious!" Rarity tells her with shock.

"Rarity's right, Twi'. What if he kills ya?" Applejack says trying to talk her out of it.

"He didn't kill Fluttershy when he could have but instead saved her and brought her back to Ponyville... As much as I hate how he hurt the Princess, it was out of self-defence..." Twilight replies to Applejack while still frowning at me.

I keep an eye on the guards while the girls discuss the matter amongst themselves. The leaves of the tree above us rustle and Gilda glides down with a not so soft landing.

"Gilda!?" Rainbow Dash yells in surprise seeing the gryphon. The surprise makes her stop struggling.

Gilda gets back up and limps over to us. "Hey, Dash," she replies and I slowly let the prismatic girl go.

"G? What happened to you!? Why are you here!?" Rainbow asks as she runs over to the gryphon while the others all watch.

Gilda then explains how she was caught by the dragon on her way home after what happened in Ponyville and how long she was held captive in the cave and how I came along and freed her.

"So I've agreed to show them the way through Gryphonia," Gilda finishes her tale while Fluttershy checks her over for injuries, despite the way Gilda treated her the last time they met.

I notice a guard behind me sneaking up with a spear, seems he's going to try and impale me with it. I nod up to Desire and she fires a shot, shooting off the silver tip of the spear.

"The next guard that tries to attack me, I will kill you all, or worse, turn you into demons and make you kill each other," I tell them coldly making them back off.

Without warning a silver arrow flies towards my head and I lean out the way where it barely nicks my cheek with a slight hiss of burnt flesh. I then hear someone choking and see Twilight with the arrow stuck right in the middle of her torso just below her heart while blood dribbles down her chin. She looks down at it in disbelief before collapsing onto the ground.

"TWILIGHT!" all the girls shout out and I turn to the guard who fired the arrow, he has a horrified expression at what he just did and then looks at me.

I yell out in anger and toss my scythe at him which impales him in the heart and sucks out his soul as his body shrivels up into a dried husk. "Desire! Kill the guards!" I shout out to my wife who begins to shoot the guards one by one.

One of the guards flies off and I notice it was that guard from this morning, I ignore him as the rest charge at me with their weapons trying to impale me from all angles. As soon as they get close enough I conjure my darkfire and blast it around me, turning the guards apart from the silver on their weapons to ash.

'So silver is also immune to my darkfire?' I think to myself and look around as Desire picks off the last two guards. I walk over to the husk and pull out my scythe before dismissing it.

Fluttershy is cowering behind Rarity while the others look afraid.

I glance at the bodies and ash around me. "Idiots," I mutter and shake my head. These guards are so poorly trained and inexperienced, has this country been so lax that their guards have become so rusty and sloppy? Just one of my lesser demons can take on ten, maybe twenty of these guards by themselves… without a gun.

"Twilight hold on, we'll get ya help!" Applejack tells the gasping and panicking purple girl who looks like she's going into shock.

I frown and walk over to them where Rainbow Dash gets in my way. "You stay away from her! You've done enough here already!" she tells me and I just shove her out of the way and onto the ground. "Oooff! Hey!" she yells at me and hisses in pain.

The others back away slightly as I kneel down beside Twilight and look at the arrow. With frown I grip the arrow with my left hand which starts to burn from the contact, I hiss in pain and pull the arrow out which makes Twilight scream in pain and toss it away before placing my right hand over her wound. I then flood her with my demonic energy which begins to close her wound but also makes her scream in even more pain as her horn splits into two and moves up her head next to each ear and curls back, her hair also grows six inches longer as well.

Two bulges then appear under her shirt and vest on her shoulder blades, most likely wings. Then the hair on her tail falls off and the stump is covered in her purple fur as the stump then grows a metre longer with a heart shaped tip at the end of her new tail. Next her eyes turn red and slitted as fangs grow in her mouth. Lastly, her hips grow a couple of inches wider and her chest expands an inch or two.

The wound finishes healing once the change is completed and she's breathing more steadily now. So much for getting Twilight on my side now, Celestia is sure to be very angry with what I've just done to her student...

With a sigh, I stand up and back away from Twilight as the girls look on in both relief and horror.

"What have you done!?" Applejack asks me in anger as they all check on Twilight.

"Saved her life," I retort harshly and walk over to my camp where Desire and Selene finally come down, making the others gasp.

I set up my new sleeping bag and then walk back over to Twilight where I carefully pick her up and lay her down on the sleeping bag.

"I'll look after her, you lot better head back into town while you can," I tell the others.

"And leave Twilight with you and Nightmare Moon!? I don't think so!" Rainbow says and growls at me.

I glare at her and bare my teeth, I'm already angry enough as it is. "Call her that again and I'll make you eat your own tongue! And you will or I'll turn you all into demons as well and order you to go!" I tell her making her flinch.

Twilight coughs and looks at the girls. "I'll be fine, I'll see you all tomorrow morning," she quietly tells them looking tired and weak.

The girls all glance at each other and then start walking away. "I'm warning you, if you hurt her I'll... I'll... I'll make you regret it!" Rainbow threatens me and I roll my eyes at her. Rainbow also gives Gilda a worried look who yawns and gets into her tent.

I then look towards Fluttershy. "Here," I say and hold out her necklace to her.

She walks over and shyly takes it from me with a quiet thank you before scurrying back to her friends. I watch as they walk away towards the town glancing back now and then with worried expressions.

"Now then," I say and sit beside Twilight who's looking at me with curiosity and a bit of fear. "What I want to know is how your guards know that silver hurts us." And so begins the game of twenty questions.

Author's Note

Next chapter will be a question and answer session between Twilight, Damien, Selene and Desire. And a look at what happened to the colt who managed to summon Damien and Desire.

Also how will Twilight cope with her new look and... urges. :twilightoops: Also Rainbow has anger management issues.

The Equestrian guards suck... like big time. Centuries of peace and no conflicts really hurt their military.

And where the hell has Noctis gone?

Chapter 20: Question time!

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 20: Question time!

"What I want to know is how your guards know that silver hurts us," I ask Twilight with a raised brow.

She looks worried for a second before answering. "Celestia remembered how she and her sister defeated Tirek during her recovery and ordered all the guards to be fitted with silver weapons..." she tells me.

"Alright, now you may ask a question," I tell her as Desire leans over Twilight with a lecherous grin. "Desire, no! Bad demoness! Bad!" I scold her and she pouts and backs away.

Twilight glances at her with a raised brow but then looks back at me. "What did you do to me?" she asks.

That's a reasonable question to start with. "I poured my demonic energy into you, turning you into a demon to heal your wound which would have killed you if left alone," I reply.

She goes wide eyed and starts to hyperventilate. "Oh calm down sweetheart, being a succupony isn't all that bad," Desire tells her and rolls her eyes. "You can rut all you want without worrying about foals or diseases," she tells Twilight who blushes brightly.

I facepalm and shake my head. "Dammit, Desire..." I mutter and look at Twilight. "Ignore her, now for my next question. What do you know about demons?" I ask her.

She still looks uneasy about what I told her. "Well... the books I've read state they're bloodthirsty brutes who try to force others to do what they want... that they'll kill for fun and wouldn't hesitate to hurt anypony in their way for power," she replies.

I sigh and shake my head. "Some are like that yes, those who think they're better than others. I've done all I can to bring order to Tartarus over the last sixty-two years and It's worked very well. We have laws, our own guards to enforce the laws, I've brought culture from my world to Tartarus and it has expanded and flourished, though there are some demonlords who still try to control whatever they can. I've advanced our military to protect my people from the more brutal demons to the hostile beasts and abominations of the wastes," I tell her.

She frowns and scratches her forehead and then stops mid scratch. "WHERE'S MY HORN!?" she screams in panic.

I grip her wrists and look her in the eyes, guess I'll need to command her. "Twilight, calm down," I order her and she slowly relaxes with a perplexed expression.

"What just happened?" she asks confused though very calm now.

"I simply ordered you to calm down, and as you are now technically one of my demons, you had no choice but to obey. I don't like doing it but you panicking won't help either of us, agreed?" I reply.

She frowns and slowly nodded. "I see the logic behind it... you won't force me to do anything I don't want to right?" she asks with worry.

"Don't worry, I won't force you to do anything against your will," I reply and slowly raise her hands up to her new horns.

She gasps and touches them gently with wide eyes. "I have two horns?" she mutters to herself.

"Yes, one channels your new demonic energy, which Desire can teach you how to use, and the other is for your pony magic," I explain to her.

She then looks down to see the tip of her tail wagging back and forth between her shins. "Is that my tail?" she asks while she watches the heart shaped tip.

Desire giggles and shows Twilight her tail. "Yup! You can even use it like a whip or to grip things!" she replies and grabs my rifle with her tail and waves it around.

"Okay... and why does my back hurt?" Twilight asks as she's getting less and less nervous and more and more curious.

"Those would be your new wings," Desire tells her and flutters her own wings.

Twilight gasps and quickly takes her vest and shirt off leaving only her dark purple bra left as she stares at her new dark purple wings. They're half the size of Desire's but they're still big enough to help her fly. "Amazing!" she says and tries making them flap, only to make them flail about.

I give Desire a deadpan glare as she's staring at Twilight's chest where the bra is barely holding together due to her growth.

Twilight notices this and covers her chest with her shirt and a blush on her face.

"So, now your turn to ask a question," I tell her and look through the supplies Gilda and Selene bought.

"Oh erm... I was going to ask what the mark you put on Fluttershy was but your explanation answered that for me... so, my next question is for Luna," Twilight says getting Selene's attention.

"Our name is now Selene, young Twilight Sparkle, as both us and our other half having the same name would be confusing," the black alicorn tells her.

"Selene? I see, well... what happened when you confronted Princess Celestia all those years ago? The history books say you tried to overthrow her and make night eternal..." the new succupony asks her.

Selene sighs and has a sad frown. "We approached our sister and asked her if we could keep the night going for a couple more hours so those waking could gaze upon our work... but she denied our request and sent us to our room like some naughty filly who was caught pinching cookies," she says and shakes her head. "We attempted to request our night be extended and again she denies us, the last time we confronted her we were in our pure form, the form thou sees before thee now, and told her we would be leaving the moon up for two hours..."

Tears begin to leak from her eyes as she continues her story. "She took this as our attempt to seize power for ourself and then somehow took over our control of the Elements of Loyalty, Laughter, and Honesty before using them against us, sealing us within the moon... Tis when we learned the Elements were not just meant to be used against evil... but canst be used on anypony," Selene finishes and wipes her tears away.

I frown and look towards the tiara like Element next to Twilight on the ground. I pick it up and instantly drop it with wide eyes... the energy of another demonlord is in it.

"Damien? What's wrong?" Twilight asks and picks her Element up.

"A demonlord's energy is in that Element..." I reply and take it from her and frown at it, I can feel the energy pulsing within in, whispering to me, telling me to kill Twilight and Selene.

"WHAT!?" Twilight shrieks and tries to shimmy away only to have Desire wrap her arms around the girl. My command to calm her down kicks back in and she relaxes again.

"Selene, is it possible to put demonic energy into the elements just like a gem?" I ask her.

Selene looks stunned with a look of realisation on her face. "This explains our sister's negative attitude before she banished us! She's been slowly influenced by Tirek's foul magic during her time wielding the Element of Magic!" she says and growls angrily.

"Then why wasn't I influenced by it?" Twilight asks with concern.

"How long have you had it for?" I ask her.

"Just over a month or two, but the Element itself along with the others was kept in Canterlot until they were needed," she tells me.

"So not long or near you enough to manipulate you... Desire, help me flush out the energy in here so I can fill it with my own," I ask my wife who reluctantly let's go of Twilight and puts her hands on the six pointed purple star gem on the golden tiara.

"You're doing what?" Twilight asks calm manner.

"If I replace Tirek's energy with my own, I think I can make it so the Elements can't be used against me or my demons, and to make sure Celestia won't be able to wield them ever again," I reply with a grin as Desire and I flood our energy into the Element.

The sounds of screaming echoes throughout our minds followed by a faint voice.

'You will regret interfering with my plans, soon I shall be free again as both Tartarus and Equus will be mine! And you, you will kneel before me and beg for mercy, for which I shall show none,' an old frail sounding man tells us before the last of the energy is purged.

"You heard that right?" Desire asks me.

"Yeah, so that was Tirek..." I say and frown.

I then begin filling the Element with my own energy along with a few rules and conditions, Celestia will never be able to touch this Element again as long as my energy remains in it, if she does she’ll get a surge of pain through her, only Twilight, Desire, Selene, or myself can touch it now.

"And done. Now Celestia can't use it ever again," I say and hand it back to Twilight.

"I still can't believe Princess Celestia was being manipulated by Tirek..." Twilight mumbles while looking at the Element in her hands. She then frowns with an expression of discomfort. "Why do I feel hungry? I ate before I came here..." she says confused with a scrunched up muzzle.

Desire gasps and giggles with delight. "Oh that's so cute, she's hungry for her first feeding of lust!" she says and claps her hands together.

"I'm what?" Twilight asks with a raised brow.

"We succuponies need to feed on testosterone as well to power our demonic abilities, this can be done through vigorous snogging or getting our brains bucked out by a male," Desire tells her and looks at me. "Looks like you'll have to start providing for two now," she says with a perverted grin.

I frown at her and look back to Twilight who looks very embarrassed and blushing over her whole face and neck. "D-Do I h-have to?" she asks clearly uncomfortable with it. I think if my command wasn't still in effect, she'd be having an aneurysm right now.

"Well, yes. If you don't you'll get weaker and weaker until you die, or get hungry enough where you'll try to rape the first male you see," Desire bluntly states. I remember when she was so hungry once she tried to strap me down to the bed while I was asleep and fuck me for hours... the reason it wasn't rape is that I let her.

Twilight looks horrified and looks at me for help. "What?" I ask her.

"Well... I've never... kissed a stallion before..." she mutters and looks away. I frown as she doesn't seem to be against the idea, I thought she'd be trying to find another way.

Desire is grinning wider and nodded towards Twilight while looking at me. Selene also seems to be blushing but unable to look away. After looking between them for a few seconds I roll my eyes and turn to Twilight, I gently cup her cheeks and quickly give her a lips only kiss where I can feel her slowly feeding off me. She yelps at first but then relaxes and moans lightly into the kiss.

After just a few seconds I let go and she looks dazed, her lips are still pursed and she has a happy look on her face with half-lidded eyes.

"Look at her! She's so adorable!" Desire says and hugs the blushing girl tightly. "So sweet cheeks, how was it?" Desire asks her with a cheeky smile.

Twilight seems to recover and then adopts an analytical expression. "His lips were soft yet firm and the amount of pressure he used was intriguing, the feeling of his energy flowing into me also felt nice and warm..." she replies and then blushes again. "Oh I can't believe I just did that!" she says and hides her head under her shirt.

"See, Damien here isn't a bad guy, and he's not a bad kisser when he really gets into it, especially in bed," Desire tells the girl in a sultry like tone.

I hear Twilight whimper as she begins to rub her thighs together. "Desire stop teasing her before you make her do something she'll regret," I tell my wife who sighs and let's go of Twilight.

"Fine, but I still say she needs to relax more and get a good dicking," she comments and moves back beside Selene. Twilight whimpers again and quickly crawls into my sleeping bag to hide herself, despite her new wings turning it into a small tent due to how stiff they are.

I sigh and rub my face as this is getting out of hand. "Alright, my turn to ask a question," I say in hopes that more questions will relax Twilight some more.

We ask each other a few more questions about each other's worlds and it indeed helps Twilight to relax and calm down again before everyone turns in for the night. We let Twilight have mine and Desire's tent to herself while we decide to stay outside under the stars keeping each other warm in Desire's sleeping bag which barely fit us both in.

And where the hell has Noctis wondered off to? I'm kinda upset he didn't stay around.

Earlier that day
POV: Luna Nocturne

I sigh as I finish court for the day, how my sister dealt with these nobles and their ridiculous demands all these centuries is beyond me. Once everything is wrapped up I head off to my sister's school for gifted unicorns in hopes of finding the colt responsible for summoning Damien and his mate.

I arrive where the deep blue coated colt with a short dark purple mane and tail wearing the school's uniform is sitting at a desk in a sealed room with an inhibitor ring still on his horn, along with a couple of guards watching him, I sit across from him with a warm smile. "Greetings young one, we art Princess Luna, and we wish to take thee as our personal student," I tell him. If my sister can have her own student then I shall as well, besides, I can feel this colt has the potential to wield dark magic effectively.

Contrary to belief, dark magic isn't evil nor does it corrupt, it is just a new name from after our banishment for what it was once called, night magic. As modern day unicorns only practice light magic, as night magic has been outlawed since I have been away, though I will attempt to have this law removed but I fear if my sister will react the same way as my request for a longer night back then...

"Your student?" he asks me with confusion.

"Verily, thou hast an affinity for night magic, the same magic we wield," I reply.

The colt frowns sadly and looks away. "But everypony says I have dark magic and won't talk to me anymore..." he replies and starts sniffling.

I frown sadly and walk around the table and give him a gentle hug. "Tis not dark magic, but night magic. Both thee and it art not evil, even a unicorn using light magic can be evil and cruel, tis how a pony uses their magic that defines them," I tell him and he calms down. "Now then, what is thy name?" I ask him.

He sniffles a few more times before smiling at me. "My name is Dusk Shine."

Author's Note

I wonder what Luna will teach the colt?

And will Twilight learn how to use her demonic powers?

Chapter 21: Back on the road again

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 21: Back on the road again

My eyes slowly open after a dreamless sleep with Desire cuddling my right side with my coat acting as a blanket for the both of us. I yawn and just lay here for about thirty minutes listening to the birds nearby chirping. I then feel a weak demonic energy coming our way. 'Must be Fluttershy,' I think to myself and get up which makes Desire groan unhappily as she's also dragged to her feet.

"Why are you up already? Let's sleep for another hour or two!" she whines at me and then yawns.

"The others are coming back and I want to get moving again," I reply to her complaint and walk over to the tents. I look in my tent and spot Twilight still cocooned in my sleeping bag. "Twilight, get up!" I shout at her making her yelp and squirm in the bag, I see the zipper glow purple and pulled down as her head pops out.

"Don't startle me like that!" she yells with a frown on her face.

"Well time to get up, your friends are coming back," I tell her and pull my head out of the tent and then walk over to Selene's and Gilda's shared tent. "Time to wake up!" I tell them and shake the tent slightly.

During the ten minutes of them getting out and dressed, I pile up the corpses of the dead guards and was about to set them on fire before Twilight told me not to so they could at least be sent back to their families for a proper burial. It seems during the night Twilight's bra snapped, so after cutting a couple of holes in the back of her shirt and vest to which she mumbles that Rarity is going to scold her for, we're all up and cooking breakfast with some of our supplies.

After six or seven minutes Twilight's friends arrive and the blue one... Rainbow Dash if I recall is still giving us the stink eye.

"Twilight, are you alright, dear?" Rarity asks her purple friend, all of them look worried for the purple girl.

Twilight nodded and smiles at them. "I'm fine, though I've learned a few things I'm a little uncomfortable with though..." she replies.

"Like what?" Pinkie asks her with a smile.

The girls all chat while I shake my head, their constant chatting and giggling reminds me of when Olivia brought home her friends for sleepovers and talked all night… and I had to chase off a few incuponies trying to get in with them as well.

"...so I now have two different types of magic," Twilight finishes explaining to them.

It seems Fluttershy's heard enough and sits down next to me, I glance at her as she twirls a lock of her pink hair with her fingers. "Can I help you?" I ask her as she seems worried.

"You don't think Princess Celestia would hurt me or Twilight because of how we look now do you?" she asks me after hearing Twilight explain that the Princess could be under a demon's influence.

"It's possible, she attacked me and Desire just for what we are, and she seems to really hate demons from what I could tell. So it is likely she'll either kill you and Twilight to 'end your misery' or lock you away somewhere and try to cure you... Then again she may do nothing," I reply and take a bite of the buttered bread in my hand.

"Whoa! You have wings now!?" Rainbow yells as they take notice of the succupony's new wings.

"Oh, right..." Twilight says a little upset. "I'm not a unicorn anymore..." she says to them sadly as her ears and wings droop down.

"Well if ya ain't a unicorn anymore, what are ya then?" Applejack asks confused.

Desire sits behind Twilight and wraps the upset girl in a hug. "She's like me now, a succupony," she tells them and they gasp.

"You mean like those seducing life sucking demons!?" Rarity asks in shock.

"Life sucking? Where did you hear that from?" Desire asks her with an irritated tone and a frown. Funny that she didn't deny the seducing part.

"Oh erm, from one of my more... questionable novels I've read..." she replies with a slight blush.

"Huh, well we don't suck out anypony's life, we feed off the lust or testosterone of a male to live, although we can transfer that energy to each other as well if we need to, like so," Desire says and surprises everyone by tilting the smaller succupony's head back and kisses Twilight enthusiastically.

Twilight yelps and then moans as she feeds off Desire's energy, which I know I'll have to replace later... Rainbow's and Fluttershy's wings spread wide where I get hit in the face by the latter's leathery wing.

"Oh I-I'm sorry!" Fluttershy says to me and quickly retracts said wing but still has a heavy blush.

I just grumble and sigh, I may be the Overlord of Tartarus, but I just can't bring myself to get angry at anyone who doesn't deserve it.

Everyone is silent while the two demonesses continue to make out and I just rub my temples. After a few more seconds Desire pulls back as her long tongue retracts out of Twilight's throat.

"I'm not sure why but that was hot..." Rainbow comments getting the others to look at her oddly.

"If you're done molesting her, Desire, we need to get going," I tell her and begin to pack up our new camping gear.

That snaps Twilight out of her dazed state at my words. "What? I thought you were going to teach me how to use my demon magic!?" Twilight asks with a frown.

I stop packing and look at her. "We are, that's why you're coming with us, it's also not safe to leave you with Celestia in her current state, unless you want to take that risk, I think Fluttershy will be fine as she has no demonic abilities as far as I can tell, just some physical changes," I tell her as I begin packing away the utensils, going to have to find a lake or river to wash them before using them again.

"What!? I can't just go! I have a Library to look after and Spike as well! What about my studies! And what if the Princess accepts my... change? I can't just up and go!" she replies and begins to panic.

This girl is easy to set off... "Twilight, calm down!" I order her and she relaxes with a sigh.

"Erm, thanks..." she says and shakes her head and rubs her right arm with her left hand nervously.

"Now then, we need to get going before your Princess sends anyone else after us," I say and pick up my pack of coins.

Selene levitates the camping supplies and with a flash of magic they disappear. "What did you do?" I ask her.

"We hast sent it to our personal magic pocket. We can store a limited amount of mass in said pocket and retrieve whatever we have stored there," she replies with a smile.

I notice Twilight's eyes light up at her words. "That's convenient. Well then, let's get going. I suggest the rest of you go back to your homes," I tell the other girls.

"And leave you alone with Twilight again!? I don't think so buster!" Rainbow says and gets in my face again.

I frown and summon my scythe and glare at her. She yelps and backs off but still glares at me as well.

"I'll be fine, you all still have your jobs and lives to live. Rarity, would it be too much to ask if you could look after Spike while I'm gone, I'll also send letters to Spike about how I'm doing and you can send letters to me through him as well," Twilight tells them and asks the white unicorn. I then dismiss my scythe and get ready to go.

"I guess so, Sweetie Belle is staying with our parents for her summer vacation, so Spike can use her room for now," Rarity replies with a worried expression.

"And ah have ta get ready for applebucking season," Applejack says.

"I have to look after my animals, I've left Angel in charge but I still need to buy more food for them," Fluttershy then says.

I reach into my pack and pull out a small pouch of coins. "Here," I say and hold them out to Fluttershy. "for putting you through this mess," I tell her and she stares at it wide eyed.

"Oh, I couldn't..." she says and shy's away.

"I insist, I have no doubt you've been having a hard time due to the physical changes... this is the least I can do," I tell her and lightly grasp her hand and place the pouch on her palm.

She looks at the pouch and then at me. "Erm, thank you," she says and hides behind her hair.

"You're welcome, now then let's get going," I tell my companions.

"I'll write to you girls in a couple of days," Twilight says and walks over to us.

"I don't like this..." Rainbow says and frowns with crossed arms.

I ignore her and grip Twilight around the waist. "Ahh! What are you doing!?" she asks with a blush.

"You don't know how to fly, so I'm going to carry you until Desire can teach you how to on your own," I reply and she reluctantly agrees.

Selene then carries Gilda due to her muscles still being weak while Desire picks up her bag of coins.

"Alright, which way from here, Gilda?" I ask the gryphon.

"Erm, a little to the left, we should reach the port town of Horseshoe Bay in a few days," she replies and points in the direction we need to go.

"G, stay with us! You don't have to go with them!" Rainbow tries to convince her friend.

Gilda sighs and looks at Rainbow Dash. "Sorry, Dash, but I owe Damien for saving my feathers... Besides, I need to get back home quickly. We're still friends right?" she replies and asks.

"Sure, but you better apologise to my other friends when you come back," Rainbow tells her with a sad frown.

Gilda smiles and without another word I take off making Twilight yelp as Selene and Desire follow behind me.

"Doh! I never got to throw them a party!" Was the last thing I hear from the girls as we fly off towards the ocean.

It's been a couple of hours now and Twilight has relaxed in my grip and seems to be enjoying the flight. "So, Twilight. What do you think about us demons now, considering that now you are one," I ask her.

"To be honest, I thought you would be rather mean and cruel, being the Overlord and all. And although I don't like that you killed our guards... it was out of self-defence... and I even told them not to attack unless I said so..." she replies sadly.

"They could have had orders from Celestia to attack us. Also, your guards are poorly trained and very sloppy, especially if they managed to hit you instead of me. Although that could be due to Tirek's influence on Celestia to make her forces weaker for when he attacks again," I theorise.

She winces and places a hand on where she was shot. "That could be true, I'll have to write a letter to my brother and inform him about it..." she says and looks around. "It's nice up here."

"And soon you'll be flying with your own wings when you learn how to control them," I tell her making her smile at the thought.

Desire then banks closer to us with a grin. "What are you two talking about?" she asks playfully.

"How stupid the Equestrian guards are," I reply and spot a river to our left. "We're setting down to gather some water and clean the cookware!" I call out to Selene and Gilda.

Once we land, Selene summons the gear as she, Gilda, and I begin cleaning them in the river, in the meantime Desire is beginning Twilight's lessons.

"Now then, first up I'll teach you how to use those cute little wings of yours," Desire tells her and spreads her own wings wide. "Now try and extend both of your wings fully at the same time, try and feel for the muscles just above your shoulder blades," she instructs the purple succupony.

"Okay," Twilight replies and scrunches up her face with her forked tongue poking out slightly as her wings twitch and spasm.

"That's it, keep going!" Desire encourages her with a grin.

And after a few minutes, Twilight finally gets her wings extended. "I did it!" she says excitedly but is then cut off as Desire kisses her without warning while transferring more energy to Twilight.

Twilight yelps as Desire slithers her tongue against Twilight's before pulling back. "Good, filly. Each time you succeed I'll give you more and more energy as a reward," Desire tells her and licks her lips.

I shake my head as I scrub the pot we used for the stew last night clean.

"Oh erm..." Twilight starts blushing heavily. "I'm fine, y-you don't need to d-do that," she tells Desire while shuffling on her hooves.

"Oh don't fight it, Twilight. You're a succupony now, it's nothing to be embarrassed about, admit that it feels nice," Desire teases her.

"Desire! Go easy on her will you? This is completely new to her and sooner or later she'll get used to her new instincts," I tell my wife who sighs.

"Alright alright, I can't help it when she's this cute and adorable," she replies and looks back at Twilight. "Alright, lesson two, getting your wings to flap," Desire tells her and they go back to their lessons while the rest of us finish off cleaning.

We only spent an hour here and once we were done, I carry Twilight again as we take off over the grassy fields to Horseshoe Bay.

Three Days Later

It took us three days of travelling, but we finally see Horseshoe Bay, Twilight sent two letters back to her dragon assistant Spike yesterday and got a response just a few hours ago, apparently it takes a while for the message to get to its destination. The first letter was just saying that the girls all got home safely and Celestia has been moved to Canterlot to recover more, the second was from her brother who was panicking that she's with the Overlord of Tartarus and begging her to 'escape' my evil clutches as he's on his way to rescue her.

Twilight's also getting used to feeding on lust from either me or Desire as well, though she still gets red faced from the action required.

Gilda is still recovering her strength and by the time we reach Gryphonia she should be able to fly by her own power again.

Selene has been also teaching Twilight something called night magic after Desire's flying preparation lessons. Twilight's beginning to learn how to meld into the Shadow Realm like Selene and I can, Desire could also learn it but she hates going into the shadow realm.

During breakfast, lunch, and dinner Twilight has been asking questions non-stop about Tartarus and its demons as well as my original world once I told her I'm not from here or Tartarus originally, Desire has also informed her about the history of the succuponies and incuponies over the last few centuries. She's like a sponge and just soaks up information while eager for more.

Although on the second night getting here, we heard Twilight crying in her tent and Desire ended up cuddling with her because she was getting homesick already. I had no problem roughing it outside on my own though, apparently ponies don't like sleeping alone for too long and Twilight is used to her dragon assistant Spike being in the same room as her. Something about a herd mentality, so Desire stayed with her the third night as well, they’re both starting to get along quite well now despite all the teasing Desire gives Twilight.

We finish lunch and pack up our gear after washing them with water from the nearby lake, Twilight is still uneasy about not needing to drink water anymore, although we can, it's just not needed.

"What do you plan to do once you get back to Tartarus?" Twilight asks me as I finish packing up.

"Firstly, I'll call a demon hunt for Tirek. Can't let him regain his power and possibly attack both our nations, I'll kill him and hopefully that'll remove the influence from your Princess as well. Then we'll find the Gate of Tartarus that leads to the gate under Canterlot and you can go home," I tell her.

"I see... How long do you think that will take?" she asks me with worry.

"To be honest? I have no idea, I estimate from five months to a year, depends on how quick we get there and find him. As well as how much power he’s regained over the centuries," I reply and stretch my limbs as the constant flying is taking its toll on my shoulders.

"That long?" she asks dismayed.

"You're free to go back and risk whatever Celestia may do to you, or stay with us where we can protect you from anything she throws at us... Tell me, do you resent me for turning you into a demon? Even if the other option was dying?" I ask her with a neutral expression.

She looks down in thought for a few seconds before looking at me. "Yes and no, while I am upset you turned me into a demon, I'm grateful you saved my life, and the fact you're being rather kind and tolerant of my constant questioning is nice, I can't hold a conversation about magic and science with anypony in Ponyville for more than five minutes before they leave or fall asleep..." she replies and sighs. "But to find out the Princess has been influenced by the demonlord she defeated over a thousand years ago... it's my duty as her student to see this through and help you stop Tirek in anyway I can and save the Princess," she tells me with a determined expression.

"Well it's nice to hear someone interested in my past and my culture, apart from my family and some close friends, most demons don't care. Also, Desire will be teaching you how to use your demonic energy to attack your enemies once we set sail," I reply and heft my pack back on, all this gold is quite heavy.

"Attack!? You mean I'll have to fight?" she asks me nervously.

"Until you get better with your new abilities, you'll just be learning for self-defence until you're strong enough to help in a fight. I don't expect you to put yourself in harm's way unless you're confident you can fight and win," I reply as Desire walks over.

"Besides, you're probably like me, you might have a piece of Damien's power in you making you stronger than a lesser demon as you were turned into a demon by a demonlord instead of being born one, maybe a deamon class, hold still," Desire tells Twilight and places her left hand on her forehead and her right over Twilight's heart. "Hmmm, yup, you're a deamon alright," she says and pats the purple succupony on the head.

"What does that mean?" she asks confused.

"It means you're two to three times stronger than a lesser demon, you can only be killed by having your heart destroyed or a fatal wound from a silver weapon and you no longer age once you hit thirty," I reply and walk over to Selene.

"I WHAT!? Eeeerrrr..." Twilight yells and then faints, but before she hits the ground Desire catches her.

"Erm, she took that rather well," Desire says with a grin and picks her up bridal style.

"She'll get over it, we're going to walk the rest of the way as I want to relax and let my muscles recover from the constant flying," I tell them and they agree. Selene's wings are aching since she hasn't had them for long but Desire is still fine as feeding off me helps her recover faster.

Once we start walking I look towards the still recovering gryphon. "So, Gilda. What's Gryphonia like?" I ask her.

"Uh, well. Our laws are strict and if they're broken the punishments can be harsh. Like fighting with the guards will get you thrown in Prison for ten years, killing a guard gets you executed by disembowelment. Thieving will get your talons cut off and destruction of property will have your possessions taken and sold to repay the damages. We're a hunter species so we like to hunt for sport and for food," she explains and spends the next ten minutes explaining gryphon traditions and beliefs.

During that time Twilight recovered from her blackout and was very embarrassed, though that's understandable finding out she's now ageless. She then uses her time practising to hover off the ground as we walk along the grassy field. Desire is beside her to catch her in case she falls as well as give her pointers and advice.

After an hour of travelling we see the port of Horseshoe Bay ahead of us and stop near some trees. "So how do we get in without attracting attention to ourselves? I doubt seeing four demons walk into port wouldn't start a panic, they may already know we’re coming," I remark looking at the port where a couple of guards are at the main entrance.

Selene retakes her unicorn disguise which makes Twilight facepalm herself and cast her own disguise making herself look like a unicorn again.

My wife's eyes widen as she walks over to Twilight. "Ohhh, teach me how to do that!" Desire asks her with a grin.

I frown as I'll have to probably follow them in through the Shadow Realm.

"Do we have time to teach her the illusion spell?" Twilight asks.

"I'm a quick study, just tell me how it's done and I'll give it a go," Desire replies and I just nodded at the young demoness.

So after two long hours and twenty or so minutes, Desire now looks like a pink unicorn with light red hair and blue eyes, she's still wearing her skimpy shorts and shirt but otherwise looks like a normal pony. "Took me two years to learn that..." Twilight says a little jealous at how quick Desire picked it up.

"Sweetheart, I'm over eighty years old, I've learnt how to pick things up quickly," my wife tells her with a cheeky grin.

"Eighty? You look no older than thirty!" Twilight says surprised.

"I'm an archdemon, I'm ageless as well, but thanks for the compliment," Desire says and walks up to me and grabs my shirt and pulls me forward and kisses me to replace the energy she just used.

Once we're all ready we head off and I slip into the Shadow Realm following behind them.

Author's Note

Next chapter the group will set sail and run into none other than... I'll let you figure it out. :trixieshiftright:

Chapter 22: The battle of Horseshoe Bay

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 22: The battle of Horseshoe Bay

I follow behind my companions and carefully watch the guards as they eye the girls but make no moves to stop them. Once into the port city, the girls look around while I notice Desire is getting a lot of stares from the stallions as she walks down the street swaying her hips, but I know she's doing it for me as she knows I'm right behind her.

It takes us twelve minutes to walk towards the market area as the girls wanted to buy some more clothing for themselves, during which I notice some guards following our group, I do nothing but keep an eye on them and continue to follow the girls. It takes the girls nearly an hour to buy six sets of clothes each as well as some underwear, trousers and shirts for me, Gilda didn't get any as she doesn't like clothes, said they chafe against her fur. Selene then stores them in her magic pocket as we then continue on our way after buying more food towards the harbour but a male voice calls out with relief in his tone.

"Twily! You're safe!" I hear the voice call out to our right and I see a white furred guard with a two tone blue mane and tail wearing full silver armour and wielding a silver sword and shield run over to Twilight.

"Shiny!?" Twilight says in confusion and turns to see the stallion run up and hug her. What follows is Twilight shrieking in agony as the sound of sizzling flesh from the armour he's wearing making contact with her and starts burning her.

I don't waste a second as I step out of the Shadow Realm, grip the stallion's breastplate behind his neck, and pry him away while ignoring the pain in my own hand as I toss him down the street. Twilight collapses and her illusion then breaks revealing her succupony form as she's shivering on the ground in severe pain, eyes clenched shut, and leaking tears as she cries.

"Twilight! Hold on girl," Desire says and kisses Twilight transferring a large amount of her energy to help Twilight recover faster. People around us gasp or scream as some watch and others run.

This Shiny guy is leaning on his left arm as he looks at Twilight with wide eyes and then towards me. "YOU! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY SISTER!?" he accuses me angrily and gets up as well as drawing his sword.

I've had enough of these guards and take on my demonic form. Two long shadow horns sprout on my head, my skin turns a deep purple, two more wings burst out below my original two and my senses sharpen. Everyone around me backs away fearfully as I release a chilling aura with the intent to kill.

"I saved her life when one of your inept guards shot her just below her heart. If it wasn't for me she would be dead right now," I tell him in a cold but eerily calm tone. "And I suggest not touching her again unless your goal is to cause her intense pain."

He looks back to Twilight who is still shivering but no longer screaming in agony, but the expression of pain still remains on her face as well as nasty burns on her arms and right side of her face while Desire attempts to calm her down.

He then turns back to me. "If you just surrendered when the Princess told you to in Canterlot then she wouldn't be in this mess! I'll be taking my sister back to Canterlot where she'll be out of your reach demon!" he tells me and gets into a combative stance. I watch as over a hundred guards arrive and surround us.

"I am the Overlord of Tartarus and I surrender to no one! If your Princess and guards just left us alone to leave then none of them would of had to die and Twilight would still be a unicorn," I tell him and glance back to Selene. "Selene, look after the others, take them into the Shadow Realm to keep them safe while I deal with these fools," I order the black alicorn.

She looks upset but sighs and nodded. "Very well, Sir Damien. Though we loathe the thought of more guards dying, the safety of thy mate, Lady Gilda, and Young Twilight art the main priority... just please, we ask thee to at least make their deaths quick," Selene says sadly.

"W-Wait..." Twilight wheezes out. "P-Please don't h-hurt my brother..." she begs me with fear in her eyes.

I look back at her with a neutral expression. "Don't worry, I have a better plan for him," I reply and walk over to a store with cookware and pick up a large frying pan for a weapon and a steel wok lid for a shield. I can't use Thanatos as it would cause him pain hitting Shiny's silver armour and their weapons.

Twilight still looks fearful even as Selene takes them all into the Shadow Realm. I roll my head getting a few cracks from my neck as I turn to face Shiny with a look that could kill.

"Evacuate the civilians! We're facing the Overlord of Tartarus himself and the area may suffer heavy damage!" Shiny orders the guards and twenty or so break away and lead the panicking populace away.

"Oh I have no intention of harming the civilians or damaging our surroundings, only those foolish enough to attack me and my group will suffer my wrath," I tell him and crouch down ready to launch myself at the nearest guard to my right.

He snarls at my words. "Like I'd believe the words of a monster, ATTACK!" he replies and orders his guards.

The moment his order left his lips I spring forward at the guard and before he could react I swing the pan in an uppercut and hit him right in the chin. The sounds of metal and his jaw shattering from the force echoes throughout the marketplace as his head snaps back launching his teeth as well as him into a wall where more bones break upon impact.

I'm done playing nice. 'I'm sorry, Luna, but my people come first,' I think to myself before turning and lunging at the next guard.

The first minute of the battle is just a bloodbath as I brutally bludgeon the guards that attack me first to death with the pan while deflecting their weapons with the wok lid.

Shiny steps in and takes a few swings at me which I avoid easily, I then toss the lid up and drop kick it into Shiny's face, using the lid to prevent me from touching his silver armour and causing him to flip backwards onto the ground on his chest. He's groaning in pain but not getting up. I then flap my wings to upright myself and land back on my feet.

"GRAAAH!" I yell as an arrow hits me near my left kidney from behind, I quickly pull out the silver arrow and turn towards the guard and go wide eyed as twenty more arrows fly towards me, so I flap my wings and take to the air just avoiding having my legs punctured.

I glare at the archers and toss my pan aside as I conjure eight miniature dragons around me with my darkfire and command them to dive at the archers.

They all scream as the dragons impact the archers causing mild explosions getting many of them in the blast, the lucky ones were killed in the blasts, three of them were unfortunate to have arms, or chunks of their torsos reduced to ash as they slowly die.

I land back onto the ground where Shiny attempts to attack me again, I jump back and pick up a kitchen knife on a vegetable stand and toss it at the gap in his leg armour, but he quickly erects a magical pink shield which deflects the knife. He lunges at me again and I roll to my right, I then pick up a fruit stand and throw it at him before he could react which hits and sends him skidding a few metres away. I focus on the other guards as he's no longer moving but still breathing.

I then spot a couple of large wood cutting saws to my left in what appears to be a tool store. I quickly run in and pick up one in each hand while grinning wickedly as I walk out towards the seventy guards still here. They all look nervous but I don't give them any chance to counter as I charge forward and parry the first guard's sword I arrive at with my left saw and with my right I cut a large gash in her throat right down to her spinal cord.

She drops her sword and grasps her throat with both hands in a vain attempt to stem the flood of precious blood that pours out, her expression is one of fear as tears flow down her face. I look to the largest group of guards as the one I just slit open drops to the ground twitching as her life fades. I grin at them sadistically and lick her blood off the saw. 'Hmmm, these ponies blood tastes quite nice,' I think to myself as my grin widens. I quickly carve up five more guards beside the first and then turn back to the main group.

A large stallion shakes off his shock and charges forward with a warcry while raising a large battle axe above his head ready to swing at me. I laugh as I drop the saws and launch eight tendrils at him which wrap around his limbs, neck, and torso.

Everything goes quiet as I raise him up and continue to laugh as he struggles. He then releases a blood curdling scream as I rip each arm and leg off with a hard pull, the sound of his flesh tearing at the joints, his bones snapping, and blood splashing on the stone street echo throughout the marketplace. I then toss the limbs at the horrified guards who use their shields to block the fleshy projectiles, I then follow up by piercing his torso with the now four free tendrils as they wiggle around inside him tearing up his organs.

Blood flows out of his eyes like tears along with blood down his chin as he can no longer even choke without his lungs. He soon dies and I toss the torso in front of the group of guards.

"I'm only giving you this one chance, leave and live or stay and die," I tell them still with a malicious grin on my face.

Sixty of them look at each other before taking off for their lives... cowards, but understandable when facing a foe much stronger than yourself.

A couple of guards attempt to pick up Shiny but I run forward and stop just in front of them. "This one stays with me, remove his armour and weapons, Or I will rip your hearts out through your asses," I order the two guards.

They panic and quickly remove Shiny's armour before running off in fear. I look down at the barely conscious Shiny and crouch down in front of him. "Now what to do with you? Hmmm, ah I know," I say and lift up his left arm and bite down hard on his forearm.

He yells in pain as I pump him full of demonic energy and begin his conversion into a demon. Just like Twilight, his horn splits in two and moves up behind between his ears, his hair grows a couple of inches and turns into a midnight blue colour, his fur turns grey as his eyes turn red and slitted. Next his tail hair falls off and the stump extends a metre long with a heart shaped tip on the end. Finally, two black leathery wings a bit larger than normal burst out of his shoulder blades and rip through his shirt. Once the change is complete, I release his arm and lick my lips where his blood tastes a bit sour. My mark then forms around the bite wound which heals over as scars.

"W-What did you... do t-to me?" he questions while coughing.

"The same as I did to Twilight, I turned you into a demon," I tell him and stand up. "Now then, get up, we have work to do," I order him and he goes wide eyed as his body slowly gets on its hands and knees as it stands up against his will. "You're now under my command, you no longer follow your Princesses, you only follow my orders, do you understand?" I ask him.

His eyes glaze over and he nodded. "Yes, Master," he replies and bows to me.

"Good, here's some rules for you. First, you are not to harm any demons under my rule, only my enemies. Second, you will come with us and act as a protector for Twilight, Gilda, and Selene. And thirdly, any attempt you make to harm me or anyone I call a friend or ally you will beat yourself to near death where you will lay on the ground writhing in pain until you heal... am I understood?" I tell him next.

"Yes, Master," he says and his eyes return to normal.

He then gasps and backs away while clutching his left forearm where I bit him. Selene and the others then exit the Shadow Realm and apart from Desire who looks like she's about to get off on what she saw, the others look horrified at what I've done.

Twilight still looking burnt stumbles over to Shiny and looks him over with tears in her eyes. "Shining... oh why couldn't you of just left!" she tells him and collapses as she passes out, but Shiny or Shining catches her before she hits the ground.

I walk over as my demonic form reverts and I stand over Shining. "Pick her up, we're finding a boat," I order him and start walking down the street towards the docks.

He snarls but complies and carries Twilight bridal style as he unwillingly follows me.

"Dude... did you have to be so... brutal?" Gilda asks me warily as we walk along the abandoned streets and past the mangled corpses.

"Yes, now that I've instilled fear into them, they'll think twice before attacking us again. They should be grateful I gave them a choice to leave, I would have killed them all should they have stayed, and next time I will," I reply as we arrive at the dock. Desire is beside me back in her succupony form nuzzling against my left arm with a happy smile of her face.

"It never gets old watching you dominate your enemy," she tells me with a sigh.

I roll my eyes with a slight smile and look at the boats here. Most seem to be abandoned while one large boat still has its crew. Looks like they're preparing to set sail.

We walk over to them and I tell the others to wait while I walk on board. "Who are you!? We don't have time to take any more passengers! There's a demon attacking the city and we're leaving!" a gryphon with a tricorn hat and red coat tells me.

I chuckle and smile at him. "That demon would be me," I reply.

He goes wide eyed as he and several other gryphons draw steel sabres.

"Relax, I'm not here to attack the city or you, I'm here to get passage to Gryphonia, the guards made the mistake of attacking us unprovoked," I tell him. "Besides, I would not hesitate to kill you and claim your crew should you attack me or my group," I warn him coldly.

He glares at me but sighs and sheaths his sword. "Stand down," he orders his crew.

I smirk and decide to see if gold will improve his attitude. "How much do you charge for a single person for passage?" I ask him.

He looks at me with confusion. "One-hundred bits, it covers cabin fees, bathing, and food," he replies with a raised brow.

I grin and take off my pack and count up coins equalling two-thousand bits and hand them over to him. Paying more than the usual fee should be good incentive.

The gryphon just gawks at the coins and then at me. "I would like to purchase passage to Gryphonia for me and five others," I tell him.

"Wha? But I thought you would just tells us to take you there... being a demon and all..." he replies very confused now while the crew also look stunned.

"I may be a demon, but I'm not evil or cruel, unless you plan to harm us that is," I say and turn back to the gang plank.

The gryphon sighs and ruffles the feathers on his chest. "Alright, fine... not like I have a choice but if you're paying then I can take you... but if any of the guards asks, you forced us to do this alright? I ain't going to prison or the dungeons for this," he tells me and I nodded.

I turn back to my group and wave them to come up.

Chapter 23: Pirate's off the starboard bow! Part 1

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 23: Pirate's off the starboard bow! Part 1

I wave my group up and they walk up the gangplank and onto the ship.

"Is she alright?" the Captain asks looking at Twilight's injuries while Shining glares at me.

"She will be, so where will we be staying?" I reply and ask the gryphon.

"Depends on who's staying with who, we have single room cabins as well as cabins for couples and a few for small families," he replies.

I look to my group and I know Desire will want to share a bed with me, but Twilight will have to stay with us as well so I can focus on healing her wounds. I guess the others can have single rooms.

"We'll take three single rooms and a family room," I tell him and he nodded.

"Very well," he replies and looks to his crew. "SET SAIL YA SEA SLUGS!" he yells at them and after a few seconds of hesitation they comply. "Follow me, I'll show you where everything is," the Captain tells me.

"What's your name?" I ask him.

"Jock Steelfeather, Captain of the passenger and cargo ship Swiftwing," he replies and glances at me. "And what shall I call you?" he asks.

"Damien Jackson, Overlord of Tartarus," I reply and smirk as he trips over at my title.

"You're what!? Oh great phoenix, what have I gotten myself into..." Jock says and sighs.

I just chuckle as he gives us the tour, a mess hall for crew and passengers to eat, two bathrooms, one for each gender and the cabin area. He also told us not to go down the right hallway as that leads to the cargo hold. Twilight also woke up during the tour still in pain while Shining was still carrying her.

"So this here is the family cabins," Jock says stopping at door number fifteen. "The single rooms are one to ten, pick any with a green marker and then once inside, push the latch on the other side of the door left until the marker turns red, this will indicate the room is taken. There is also a key hanging on the back of the door as well, please don't lose them," Jock tells us.

"Thank you," I reply and look to Shining. "Put Twilight on the bed and then go take one of the single rooms and then come back here," I order Shining who growls at me but has no choice but to comply. I then look to Gilda and Selene. "Pick a single room for yourselves and then meet us in here," I tell them as Desire and I enter the room. It has a large two person bed to the left with a single person bed to the right, there’s a dresser in between them for clothes or putting things on it. There’s also a desk with some writing utensils and paper on it.

Shining gently places Twilight on the single bed which she smiles sadly at him as Shining frowns as he then leaves the room and glares at me on the way. I ignore his glare as I walk over to Twilight who looks like just moving hurts.

"Alright, Twilight. I'm going to give you both some of my demonic energy and testosterone to help you heal faster alright?" I tell her and she looks at my left hip.

"But w-what about the a-arrow you took?" she asks me and I turn to her and lift my shirt out of the way.

"It's healing, but It'll be another hour before it's fully healed," I reply. The wound still looks like a hole but no longer bleeding, though it still stings like a bitch.

"I see..." she says and winces in pain again.

"So, you may feel a bit dizzy as the testosterone might cloud your senses," I warn her and she nodded slowly.

I lean over her and place my right hand on her chest making her blush slightly and then bring my lips to hers as I kiss her. She gasps and then sighs as she feeds and my demonic energy flows into her steadily.

I only pull back every ten seconds to allow us to breathe before kissing her again. Her burns are very slowly healing with new fur growing back.

The door then opens as Shining walks in and gasps before yelling out in rage and charging at me, except as he goes to swing at me he stops and then punches himself in the face where he then falls to the ground groaning in pain with a bloody nose and then continues to beat himself all over until I mentally tell him to stop, I’ll let him off with a warning this time.

"Did you forget the conditions your Master gave you already? Damien was right and you guards are idiots... How has your nation survived this long?" Desire asks him and giggles at his pain.

"Shut up, demon! And you! Get away from my sister!" Shining replies and tells me with a slight slur from a swollen lip.

I pull back from Twilight who looks drunk on lust but I've only healed her burns by a fifth so far. "I'm healing the wounds you gave her, so sit on that chair, don’t move, and don’t say another word," I order him sternly and he grunts as he walks over to the chair and sits down. I can tell he wants to continue his pointless demands but has no choice but to remain silent.

I return my attention to Twilight and continue to pour more energy into her and kiss her again, making her moan in a needy manner as her burns slowly resume healing.

"Hey honey, can you let soldier colt here talk again? I got a few questions for him," Desire asks me and I glance at her while mentally allowing Shining to talk again.

"Gah! Stop doing that!" Shining demands and I glare at him.

"He'll stop doing that the moment you start behaving yourself," Desire tells him and sits on his lap which makes him blush bright red.

"G-Get off me!" he stammers as she grins at him.

"No thanks, you're not as comfortable as our Master, but it'll do for now," she teases him and then frowns. "So I got some questions and I want you to answer them truthfully," she tells him coldly.

"Like I'd tell you anything, demon," he replies and glares at her.

"Unless you haven't noticed colt, you're a demon like me and your sister as well now... that also means you'll need a source of lust to feed from if you want to keep breathing, and I ain't going to be it, only Damien here is allowed to stick his dick in me as much as he wants. So that leaves you with two options, Selene, who I doubt will let you, or Gilda who might if we promise to give her my pack of gold," she tells him and I glance at them as I continue to heal Twilight. Who is still moaning and getting even more drunk on lust, at least she shouldn't be able to feel her pain right now.

"I need what!?" Shining asks wide eyed.

Desire smirks and leans down so their muzzles are just an inch away from each other. "Lust, or more specifically, the oestrogen from a female. If you don't absorb it, you will get weaker and weaker until you lose control and rape the first female you see," she explains to him.

Shining for his part looks horrified at that and gazes blankly at the wall behind Desire.

I pull back from Twilight who is now half healed and looking very dazed and happy. "I think he took that well," I comment as Shining looks like his brain put up the out to lunch sign.

"Well it is a problem that you didn't think about isn't it? I certainly won't snog him let alone buck him and Selene most likely won't as I think she has the hots for you as well,” she tells me and I raise an eyebrow at her making her giggle. “Gilda is our only choice unless we find another mare and turn her into a succupony for pretty colt here. Twilight definitely wouldn't make out with her own brother either," Desire tells me while snapping her fingers in Shining's face to snap him out of his daze.

"We'll ask Gilda if she would for the gold, but if not I'll see if any female's on board would be willing to feed him," I reply and return to kissing Twilight and pouring more energy into her.

She moans again and wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me tightly against her lips as her long forked tongue slips into my mouth and wrestles with mine.

"Oh damn, she's really getting into it... I think you should let her calm down before she'll want you to rut her, although I wouldn't mind watching that," Desire says and smirks lustfully. "That reminds me, I need a top up since I had to transfer a lot of my energy to Twilight back in the city," she tells me and gets up off Shining.

I sigh and pull away where Twilight whines. "Tonight I'll rut you, but right now helping Twilight to recover takes priority," I reply and our cabin door opens as Selene and Gilda walk in.

"Not the best ship I've travelled on, but it's also not the worst," Gilda says to Selene who looks at Twilight and I with a raised brow.

"What art thou doing to Lady Twilight?" the black alicorn asks me with confusion. She's now back in her alicorn form wearing a set of her new clothes instead of her unicorn illusion. She’s wearing a pair of mid thigh navy blue shorts and a dark purple tank top, she looks really good in it.

"I was transferring my energy to her to accelerate her healing," I reply as Twilight tries to pull me back down again while whining pitifully, her eyes are glowing pink as well indicating she’s fed on a lot and barely started processing it. "Selene, can you use your magic to put Twilight to sleep please so her body can process the energy, she's literally drunk on lust right now," I ask her.

"Very well," she replies and her horn glows, making Twilight yawn and slowly fall asleep.

"Thanks, now we have the issue of feeding Shining here," I say and walk over to the still stunned stallion where I then flick his forehead making him snap out of it.

"Huh?" he mumbles and notices us all staring at him. He then glares at me and I roll my eyes at him and then turn to Gilda. "So, Gilda, we have a deal for you. You help feed Shining and keep him alive," I say and pick up Desire's pack full of gold. "Then you can have all this," I tell her and drop the pack with a loud thud.

"Wha? But... all this just for feeding him?.." she asks with shock. I’m more shocked she’s not opposed to the idea.

My wife then pats Shining on the head. "Yup! And all you have to do is kiss him twice a day and if you're feeling frisky, have some fun as he can't knock you up unless he want's to," she replies.

I chuckle as Gilda blushes but grins as she looks at Shining with interest. "Been awhile since I've got any, I'm not opposed to a romp or two," she says and saunters over to Shining and before he could resist Gilda opens her beak and kisses Shining who tries to push her off but can't due to my command to sit still. Gilda then pulls back and licks her beak and smirks at me. "You got yourself a deal, I could use the extra bits as I'm probably fired from my job back home for being late... clucking dragon..." she tells me and tries to pick up the pack but can't seem to lift it.

"Here, we shall assist thee, Lady Gilda," Selene says and stores the pack in her magic pocket. "We shalt carry it for thee until thou requires it," she tells her.

"Thanks, I still feel like crap," Gilda says and sighs while flexing her right talon's claws.

"Don't I get a say in this! I have a marefriend already!" Shining says angrily.

"Of course you do, but should you not feed as I told you, you'll go lust hungry and rape the first female to feed off. Happened to me once but fortunately, it was Damien I jumped," Desire tells him in a happy tone. Shining looks down and frowns at the news. "A couple of kisses isn't that bad, and should you need more a good rut isn't out of the question, you can choose whether or not to get a female pregnant now, and you're immune to any diseases,"

The incupony growls in frustration. "Grrrr, fine! But I'm only doing it to keep my sister safe from you monsters!" he replies and snarls at me.

I walk over to him and lean down to his face. "Tell me, who're the real monsters here? The ones attacking the 'monsters' or the 'monsters' trying to get home to their family while being hunted for being different?" I ask him coldly. "I killed your guards and beat your Princess to a pulp to protect my wife and Selene from her own sister... What would you do if Celestia attacked your sister just because she's a demon now? Would you follow her order to kill her, or would you fight to protect her?"

Shining's frown lessens, and he looks away in thought. "I'd... I'd protect her..." he replies with a sigh.

"So, am I a monster for protecting my family and just trying to get home, or am I a monster for killing people trying to kill us first?" I ask in a more neutral tone.

"Alright! You made your point... then why didn't you just ask for help?" he replies and asks me.

"The guards who encountered us first didn't even listen to us and then attacked, ran me through with a spear. Your Princess is also still being manipulated by Tirek, his demonic energy was in the Element of Magic she was still wielding when she defeated him to now when Twilight and her friends found us, which I purged and replaced with my own. Celestia seems to have a burning hatred for demons, whether or not it's amplified by Tirek's influence or something personal I'm not sure. So no, I couldn't ask her for help, so our only option would be going to the Plaguelands and find the Tartarus Gate there," I reply and walk back over to Twilight to see her wounds nearly healed, just a few patches of burnt skin remain.

Shining just stares at me stunned as he processes the info I just gave him. "The Princess is being manipulated? And how do I know you're telling the truth?" he asks skeptically.

"You don't, but the fact I spared your Princess when her sister asked me to and I spared you thanks to your sister means I’m not here just to kill everything in sight, I only kill those trying to kill us. I'm not here because I chose to, but I certainly ain't going to let anyone tell me what to do and push me around. Now here's what's happening, I'm taking both you and Twilight to Tartarus with me," I tell him and he goes wide eyed. "Then once I've killed Tirek which hopefully clears Celestia's head, we'll get you and Twilight back here. Understood?" I explain to him.

"I don't like the idea of Twilight going into that horrid place," he says looking at Twilight.

"Hey!" Desire says angrily. "That's our home you're talking about!"

"From what I've heard it's nothing but wastelands and fire, how can anypony live there?" he asks flinching at her outburst.

Desire then spends the next thirty minutes explaining what Tartarus is like and how we're more advanced due to my ideas than the ponies which got Shining worried. I return to Twilight and continue healing her until she's fully healed.

Four Days Later

After giving Desire another heavy dose of lust which Twilight decided to stay with Selene the first night, I spent most of my time keeping an eye out just in case someone tried to attack us, I don't trust anyone not part of our group, but I trust Shining since he can't disobey my orders. So far the other passengers and crew have avoided us while Shining has stayed by Twilight's side during the day as they both start learning how to use their demonic energy from Desire and night magic from Selene. Twilight has been soaking it up while Shining is struggling but has gotten inventive with making strong shields and barriers with his demonic energy, something to do with his special talent being defensive magic.

Gilda has kept her end of our deal and provided Shining with enough oestrogen to feed off, while he wasn't enthusiastic about it Gilda is trying to get him to loosen up. Not much luck there though, still harps on about staying faithful to someone named Cadence who was once Twilight’s foalsitter. Gilda has also been talking to the Captain about any news he's heard from Gryphonia, so far there's a possibility of a civil war breaking out and the king is losing the loyalty of his people as they're having issues with raising taxes, crops, and game.

I got bored enough on the third day and started fishing using my tendrils on nearby fish as I sat on the railings. The crew who were fishing with poles just stood there slack jawed as I hauled up forty fish in minutes and a large shark which got the few passengers on the deck to panic. What they didn't realise is that I killed it as I hauled it on board. So now the ship has enough fish to last us the rest of the journey, though Twilight was more curious about her new omnivorous diet than Shining was as she tried fish for the first time and liked it, took Shining a few tries to get used to it.

Right now I'm laying on the bed relaxing with Desire who's teaching Twilight and Shining how to throw their energy like kunai knives.

"So, channel your energy from your right horn to your hands and then try to mould it into a double ended blade no longer than four inches," she tells them and demonstrates making a red blade with two ends in her right hand. She then throws it at the wall where it sticks into it for a few seconds before fading away.

"Ooohh, so it's just a physical manifestation similar to magical shields and barriers!" Twilight says and concentrates as a smaller three inch blade forms in her hand over a couple of seconds.

"That'a girl! Now try throwing it at the wall," Desire praises her.

Twilight gets this adorable expression where she frowns and her tongue hangs out as she lines up her aim with the wall. Just as she's about to throw the sound of wood splintering followed by a cannon going off rocks the ship, screams and panic echo throughout the ship in its wake.

"What's going on!?" Twilight asks scared as the sounds of panic grows louder and the ship rocks again from another impact followed by the sound of wood creaking and a loud splash to the left of the ship.

"I don't know, but stay here and keep each other safe," I tell them and get up off the bed before making my way up to the deck. I see Selene along the way and she walks over to me.

"Sir Damien! The ship is under attack from brigands, our mast hast been destroyed and we art no longer moving!" she tells me with worry.

"I see, then I'll just head over to this other ship, kill its crew, and claim the ship for ourselves," I reply and continue my way to the deck.

We reach top side and I see a ship twice the size of ours firing its cannons at the deck while trying to avoid sinking the ship. 'So they plan to board us?' I wonder and spot Jock behind one of the steel shield walls along the side that looks like it has a few dents in it. "Captain!" I call out to him as our ship fires back with what few cannons it has.

"Damien!? You know? For once I'm glad to see a demon! We're under attack from the Black Talon Pirates and we're dead in the water!" he tells me and yelps as a cannon ball hits the shield which bends at the top left corner.

I look towards the enemy ship and see another cannonball heading straight for me, so I summon my scythe and deflect it over my head which makes me recoil back a couple of steps from the force and making my hand sting for a few seconds.

I smirk and grin, killing some pirates will be some entertainment at least since I've been bored recently. "Wait here, I'll clear out the pirates and claim their ship," I tell Jock and take on my demonic form.

"To think I feel safer having the Overlord of Tartarus himself helping us... you'd think Discord had returned..." Jock says to himself as he watches me change with intrigue and slight fear.

Once done I take a deep breath and grin sadistically. "Right then... time for a bloodbath," I say and take off like a rocket towards the pirate ship.

Author's Note

Let the blood flow! MWAHAHAHA!

Chapter 24: Pirate's off the starboard bow! Part 2

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 24: Pirate's off the starboard bow! Part 2

I soar over the sea towards the pirate ship and land heavily in a kneeling position on the middle of the deck as the ship shakes violently.

"The cluck is that thing!?" I hear a male ask as the sounds of weapons being drawn surrounds me.

"It came from the cargo ship! Shoot it!" I hear another male order the others and I hear bows firing arrows. I dodge a few aimed for my chest and head while six hit me in the stomach, shoulders, arms and legs.

"We got it!" a gryphon to my right says.

I just smirk and ignore the pain as I pull each arrow out and my wounds heal quickly, at least these fools don't use silver weapons like the guards did.

"The buck!?" an earth pony to my left yells with shock as I casually toss the arrows aside.

"Hello, Gentlemen. I am Damien Jackson, the Overlord of Tartarus!" I introduce myself with mock bow. I grin widely at the mixed expressions that my greeting receives; some are surprised, others with narrowed eyes and snarls, but most of all, fear. "You have unfortunately attacked the ship I was travelling on and destroyed our mast... so I regret to inform you that I shall be commandeering your fine vessel and slaughtering your entire crew," I tell them and twirl my scythe around my body threateningly.

"The Overlord of Tartarus!?" a pony with pale grey fur and black stripes yells and then starts mumbling in a different language as if praying.

"The one and only, so now that I've introduced myself, who is the Captain of this soon to be dead crew?" I ask them still with my grin.

A large brown seven foot tall minotaur steps forward wearing a wide brimmed hat with a feather on the left side pointing behind him, he also has a large black tattered coat with dark grey fur lining the edges, a pair of grey trousers and holding a large battle axe in his right hand.

"I am Captain Ironhoof! Even if you are the so called Overlord, there's no chance you can kill all of us before we chop you apart," he replies and smirks. "Get him lads!" he orders his crew and they all charge with a battle cry.

My eyes widen and pupils shrink as my grin widens, I charge forward quickly passing by the fodder and reach the surprised Captain as I thrust my left hand into his chest and through his rib cage. He coughs up blood and his left hand grasps my forearm as I grip his still beating heart. "W-What!?" he stutters, extreme pain expressed across his face as his hat is blown off from the impact.

“Ironhoof!” I hear a female yell to my right in despair.

I chuckle as I lean up to his face and stare at him in the eyes. "You seriously thought a ragtag crew of scum could compete with me? I've got over fifty years of war experience fighting demons who could turn you inside out with just a glance, what do you have? Raiding lightly armed and barely guarded ships?" I ask him and laugh darkly. I then raise an eyebrow in thought. "Actually, I think I might have a use for someone as big as you," I say and pull his heart slowly towards me until he's kneeling in front me with a cry of pain. I then lean near his ear and whisper to him. "Would you like real power? All you would have to do is follow me and my orders without question, in exchange, you'll become a new breed of extinct demon not seen in over two-hundred years, which was very physically strong and very hard to kill," I tell him enticingly.

He coughs up some blood on my arm and coat. He then drops his axe while glancing at me as his eyes begin to dim. "Real power?" he asks with clear trouble speaking through his pain, but there's a hint of intrigue hidden within.

"Yes, all you have to do is kill your crew and I'll give you that power and spare you from death," I tell him with a grin.

He looks at his crew who look confused and scared, then down to the hole in his chest where my hand is still buried deep and gripping his heart as he seems to be thinking. After a few seconds he then looks at me and he grins in return. "Deal," he says and I laugh loudly as I flood his heart with my demonic energy, I'll give him enough to turn him into an archdemon but make sure he's completely loyal to me and Desire with a few commands laced in the energy.

He roars in pain as his fur begins turning a deep midnight blue and his muscles expand as he grows a good foot taller. His horns then grow thicker and half a foot longer while turning black. The hard fingernail like tips to his three fingered hands change into one inch long claws made for tearing flesh without hindering his ability to grip things. His teeth turn into fangs meaning he's now a carnivore just like the balrogs two-hundred years ago were. The coat he's wearing rips and falls off but fortunately his trousers stay intact.

With a final pulse of energy I let go of his heart and the hole in his chest heals over as his rib cage moulds back into place with my mark on his chest. After a few seconds he snorts and slowly opens his now black and ice blue eyes. "Now then my newest demon, kill this pitiful excuse of a crew," I order him and stand aside as he looks around at his now terrified ex-subordinates.

I smile as I watch him flex his fingers and look at his hands as a feral grin spreads over his muzzle. "Yes... Master," he replies in a deeper tone and with a deafening roar befitting the powerhouse predator he now is, he charges into the closest pony and with a single punch, launches the poor sod overboard while shattering his rib cage and internal organs.

I laugh sadistically as I watch the balrog tear his crew apart and he seems to relish in his newfound power. A few of the crew attack me clearly angry at what I did to their Captain and unaware that he willingly chose to do this. I dodge their sloppy strikes and rip out their souls with Thanatos who delights in the act.

Ironhoof then roars and charges at two others where he impales each one on his horns and tosses them aside with large holes in their chests, blood dripping from his now glistening horns.

The crew begin to retaliate and their weapons only seem to be leaving minor cuts on the brute's thick demonic hide, which slowly begin to heal leaving no evidence that he was even cut. Ironhoof laughs maniacally as the power coursing through him acts like a drug making him continue his killing spree. Blood soaks the deck as the cries of the crew is the only thing heard on the still ocean.

"Abandon ship! The Captain has gone mad!" a rather attractive earth pony female pony yells out with a hurt tone in her voice. She's wearing better clothing than the rest of the crew, has cream coloured fur, green eyes and light brown hair, maybe she's his second in command?

As the crew try to flee from the rampaging balrog, I leap over to the woman and grip her by the throat making her stab my arm with a dagger. "Ouch," I sarcastically say and pull out the blade before tossing it overboard. "Are you by chance the second in command?" I ask her as my wound closes.

She chokes and I loosen my grip on her. "Y-Yes," she tells me and I smirk.

"And what is your relationship to your Captain?" I ask her.

She growls at me and punches me weakly in the face, I don't even flinch. "That's n-none of your c-concern!" she tells me and tries to pry me off her hand.

"AAAARRRGH!" I hear a male gryphon cry out as Ironhoof tears him in half barehanded.

"It is actually, it'll determine whether or not you live or die," I inform her. "There's still a chance you could get out of this alive, so I ask again, what is your relationship with your Captain?" I ask her again.

She glances at Ironhoof and watches as he crushes what appears to be a bipedal dog's head like a grape, the body drops to the deck twitching as Ironhoof shakes off the blood, bone, and brain matter from his hand while laughing again.

"He... was my husband..." she tells me sadly. Seem's like she thinks he's nothing but a monster now.

"I see," I say and turn to Ironhoof. "Ironhoof, do you still want this female!?" I ask him while holding the woman out to him.

The balrog halts his slaughter as he stomps over and stands before the woman while staring at her. "Iron..." the woman says as she struggles in my grip.

They stare at each other for a few seconds before Ironhoof speaks up. "I do," he replies and strokes the woman's cheek tenderly with a single finger getting a surprised look from the pony.

"Hmmm, very well then, I'll turn her as well and she'll be under your command once again," I tell him and pull her towards me and quickly bite her neck making her yelp. I pour my energy into her and she begins turning into a demon but something is different, her fur turns scarlet red, her hair turns dark brown and her eyes blood red and slitted, but unlike a succupony, she doesn't grow wings as her muscles expand and contract making her a foot taller and much stronger than a succupony or incupony could ever be, a pair of horns grow out the sides of her head like a rams instead of on top and her tail changes similar to a succupony's but instead of a heart at the tip, two six inch razor sharp bone like blades grow on either side of the tip.

'This is interesting... So the succuponies and incuponies were once unicorns... this explains why Fluttershy didn't turn into a succupony like Twilight and Shining... she's a different kind of demon altogether,' I think to myself as I also give the woman the same commands I gave to Shining and Ironhoof.

I release her and my mark is now on her neck. "Congratulations, you're now one of my demons, your first order is to kill this crew with your husband," I order her while she recovers from the change and gasps as she feels her newfound power coursing through her. I watch as she moans and stands up shaking slightly and grinning just like Ironhoof did.

I sit back and still keep my grin as the couple rip apart the remaining crew together. I may have to build up a force to protect us better, it wouldn't hurt bringing back some new kinds of demons to populate Tartarus with either.

Thinking on that, what do I call earth pony demons? 'I think orobas sounds good, and pegasi demons will be thestrals... I wonder what the bipedal dogs would be? Some kind of hellhound?' I think to myself as the couple walk up to me and kneel.

"Master, our task is done," Ironhoof tell me.

I look around to see the corpses of the crew strewn about. "Good, now I'll be bringing the other ship over, you are not to harm anyone on board unless I say so, understood?" I tell them.

"Yes, Master," they both reply and stand up.

I stand up as well and face the port railing. "Now, kill any of the crew below deck and toss the bodies overboard before I return," I order them.

They nodded and walk off talking to each other as they start on their new task. I smile as this is just the beginning, it's like I'm starting all over again like when I first arrived in Tartarus.

I fly back over to the other ship and land on the deck, I revert back to my human form and Desire walks over to me and sees my blood stained coat. "Looks like you had fun," she comments and licks some blood off my cheek.

"Well, it was more interesting than I thought, we'll have two others joining us to Tartarus now," I tell her.

"Oh? And who might they be?" she asks me as Jock walks over.

"So are the erm, pirates dealt with?" he asks me.

"Yes, and I'll pull this ship over to the other," I reply and turn to my wife. "Desire, you'll meet them once we get over there, so let's get pulling," I tell her and together we pull the ship with ropes towards our new larger vessel.

Once there, the Captain, crew, and passengers transfer over while the smaller ship is tied to the aft of the larger ship and pulled along. It seems my newest demons have also cleared the corpses off the ship.

"So, Desire. This was Captain Ironhoof, now our newest balrog demon. And this is his wife... I didn't catch your name dear," I say and ask the newly turned orobas.

"Scarlet Blade, Master," she replies.

"Yeah, stop calling me master, Damien or at least sir is just fine," I tell them both.

"As you wish, Damien," Ironhoof replies.

"Now then, this is one of my wives, Dark Desire, you'll also follow her commands if she gives you any alright?" I tell them.

They nodded and bow to Desire. "My my, they are well mannered aren't they?" Desire says with a giggle while Gilda, Twilight, and Shining stay back from the new demons while Selene circles around Ironhoof getting a raised brow from him.

"So thou turned him into a new balrog..." Selene says and pokes him a few times before looking at Scarlet. "And we hast never seen a demon like her before."

"Well, I believe unicorns become succuponies and incuponies while pegasi become thestrals like Fluttershy now is, and here is what happens to earth ponies when turned, I’ll be calling them orobas," I inform Selene.

She then stops and looks at me. "Then what dost thou call us? We art formed from thy demonic magic, thus that makes us a demon as well..." she asks with an intrigued expression.

She has a point, what do you call an alicorn demon? "I'll let you come up with a name for an alicorn demon, right now though I need to get some rest," I say and turn to Ironhoof. "You and Scarlet can stay in your old Captain's room until we're ready to leave, then Jock will have this ship," I tell him.

He frowns and growls at me. "I've worked ten years to get this ship and the riches on board! You just want to give it away?" he asks angrily.

I raise an eyebrow at him. "I rule all of Tartarus, have a large amount of wealth, and my own army of two-hundred thousand demons with my own fleet of airships, what need do I have for a sea vessel? You can take whatever gold you can carry but leave any silver behind," I reply. "And speak to me like that again and you'll feel pain for a week, understood?" I warn him coldly.

He snarls and reluctantly agrees. “Yes, Sir.”

"If you prove yourself along our way back to Tartarus, I may even make you Captain of your own airship in my army," I tell him.

That seems to get his attention as his frown fades. "My own airship?" he mutters to himself and shares a look with Scarlet who nodded at him. "Very well, Sir. What would you have us do?" he asks me.

"Help Jock here get this ship to Talonsport in Gryphonia, from there we'll make our way towards the Plaguelands to find the Tartarus Gate there," I tell him. "By the way, do you have any prisoners or slaves on board?" I ask Ironhoof.

He's silent for a few seconds before answering. "Yes, I have several slaves in the brig I was going to sell to the Zebras at Zebrica..." he replies.

I narrow my eyes and snort. "Well, I'm going to release them and let them go at Talonsport with some gold each to let them get back to their homes. Just so you know I don't keep slaves," I tell him and he nodded.

"As you wish, Sir," Ironhoof says and bows before leading Jock and his crew away to explain how the ship works.

Selene smiles at me while Gilda yawns, Twilight seems to smile at me as well while Shining at least isn't glaring at me anymore.

"Let's go see who's down there shall we?" I say and head into the ship to find the brig.

It takes us a few minutes but we find it and what I see is appalling, people of different races chained up and filthy with a mix of dirt, sweat, blood, and shit on and around them. Some look up at us with hollow hopeless eyes while others look afraid.

"Shining, get these people out and checked on by the ship's doctor, then get them something to eat and drink," I order him and he for once doesn't argue and to his own surprise, rips off the locks barehanded as he, Twilight, Selene, and Gilda start helping those who can't stand up to the deck.

I see a strange looking black and dark green insect like pony in the back of a cell not moving. I walk over to him and frown as I can feel a slight amount of demonic energy in him that a lesser demon would have. 'Is he a demon? I've never seen one like him before,' I wonder to myself.

"Who are you?" I ask him as I kneel down.

He tries to speak but all he does is cough weakly. I place my hand on his chest and give him some of my energy which he absorbs rapidly, and since there's no physical changes as he absorbs it, I'm positive he's a demon. At least his breathing is more stable now.

I pick him up and carry him to the deck and lay him down so the doctor can look him over. "Why are you bringing that thing up for!?" one of the pony prisoners asks with a frown.

"Thing? He's a demon like I am, you think I'll leave him down there?" I reply and glare at him which makes him flinch and shut up. I then look back at the gryphon doctor. "Make sure he recovers," I tell him and he nodded fearfully without question.

"So, my love. Shall we go for that nap?" Desire asks me with a smile.

I grin back at her and nodded. "We'll need to gather our stuff from the other ship and find a decent room on this one then," I reply and yawn.

"I'll do that, you go find us a room," she tells me and flies off to the smaller ship.

"What about us?" Twilight asks me with Shining next to her.

"You're both coming with me so Desire can continue training you after some rest," I reply and they follow me below deck where after a good ten minutes navigating the ship, we find some cabins and I claim one with two large beds. Shining finds a single bedroom and later so does Selene and Gilda, Desire want’s Twilight with us to keep an eye on her so she can keep training her and teaching her more about being a succupony.

Desire returned with my pack still with some gold in it and goes back to help transfer food and supplies over from the ships. Once everything is settled, the ex-slaves are given the crew area to rest in with all the hammocks around after they've eaten a large meal. Ironhoof and Jock while not really getting along are getting things done and we're back on the move.

Three Days Later

Once again I do some fishing and get enough fish for those that can eat it, especially Ironhoof as he's now a carnivore. Twilight and Shining have been sending letters back to friends and family but not before we've checked them so they don't reveal our location, I had to force Shining to punch himself in the face repeatedly for trying to tell Celestia where we're going and I threatened to geld him should he try again.

And despite that, he and Twilight are getting better with their training, more so Twilight than Shining. Twilight can surprisingly conjure a single tendril like I can with each hand... though the first time she wrapped herself up by mistake as she had no real control over them yet, was amusing to watch at least.

Shining is able to make large thick shields and barriers now with his demonic energy and will be a valuable defensive asset, as long as he follows my orders without bitching all the time, I may have to break him to get him in line later if he continues resisting my orders.

Gilda is still feeding Shining twice a day and so far it's keeping him going, but Desire says it’s only a matter of time before he gets hungry enough to rape someone. Selene is focusing more on Twilight and Desire while teaching them night magic as Shining seems useless at it.

Some of the ex-slaves despite knowing that we're demons thanked us for releasing them from their bonds and for the five-hundred bits each to get them home. Though others seem to share Celestia's viewpoint that we’re nothing but monsters, which doesn't bother me anyway, we’re not here to get their praise or thanks.

The insect pony which we found out is called a changeling has recovered and told us his name is Sheldon, he was fishing at sea on a boat with two others near the badlands for his hive when the pirates found him, killed his friends and captured him, that was two months ago. Apparently their Queen is a demonlord by the name Chrysalis who I’d like to meet later.

Twilight and Shining though told me that changelings are dangerous and feed off a pony's, or another race's, emotions until they’re nothing but a dried husk. Sheldon though says that isn't true and they actually eat meat and some fruits, it was actually Celestia that spread the rumour about the emotions part. I can believe that with her hate of demons.

Twilight was shocked at the news but after learning that her Princess was influenced by a demonlord for over a millennia, she's still upset about Celestia's behaviour against me and my wife. Shining was indifferent and went back to his room to think things over.

Right now I'm getting a late night snack from the mess hall of the ship and some extra for Desire as well, I walk along the dark hallways with my bounty in hand as I head back to my room where Desire and Twilight were talking together when I left. Twilight's been acting more and more odd over the last three days and Desire is keeping a close eye on her.

I reach our room and frown as I hear heavy breathing and growling on the other side as it sounds like Desire is trying to calm Twilight down or something. I open the door and see Desire holding Twilight down who's red faced and breathing heavily as she's trying to break out of Desires grip.

"Damien! Twilight's gone lust hungry!" she warns me and Twilight surprises her as when she sees me she teleports out of Desires grip and tries to tackle me to the ground.

She only manages to make me take a single step back as I place the food onto the desk to my left and I then lift twilight up carefully by the back of her neck.

"I can see that..." I reply as Twilight's eyes are completely red and feral looking, she's growling and whining as she reaches out to me desperately.

"You know you have to rut her to calm her down don't you?" Desire tells me and walks over and hugs Twilight from behind while pinning her arms to her sides trying to hold her still.

I frown and sigh as I know she's right, if we leave Twilight like this she'll go find another male to rape.

"I know," I reply and lean forward where I kiss Twilight and she feeds off me heavily. Her eyes seem to barely focus again and she gasps.

I pull back and she looks scared. "W-What's happening t-to me!?" she yells in panic.

Desire nuzzles the left side of her face to calm her down. "You'll be fine sweetie, you're just going through something called a lust hunger, it's when a succupony or incupony doesn't feed well for awhile and their body forces them to find a source. Damien here is going to help you by rutting you okay?" Desire tells her and Twilight looks both afraid and excited, I let go of Twilight's neck as Desire has a firm grip on her now.

"Rutting me? B-But I've never had i-intercourse before..." Twilight mumbles as she rubs her thighs together desperately. "C-Can't he just k-kiss me a lot?" she then asks nervously.

"It wouldn't be enough, kissing is like a snack, rutting is like a full course meal, it's the only way you'll calm down quick enough without going feral again," my wife tells her and Twilight sighs. "It'll be fine, Damien has decades of experience and will do whatever you're more comfortable with," she then tells the trembling girl.

Twilight looks back up at me and gulps. "I-I... okay, just... p-please be gentle..." she asks and blushes heavily.

I smile softly at her and stroke her cheek with my right index finger. "Don't worry, Twilight. I'll be gentle," I reply and Desire lays her down on the bed as I take my coat off.

Author's Note

Why do the killing yourself when you can get others to do it for you? :pinkiecrazy:

Chapter 25: Complications

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 25: Complications

POV: Twilight Sparkle

I slowly wake up between both Desire and Damien as memories of last night flood my mind and I can't help but smile as I feel my face heat up. Even though we're all naked I'm not embarrassed at all, for the first time in years I don't feel stressed or nervous. I feel light and relaxed as if a weight was taken off my shoulders... and also my legs feel a bit numb making me giggle and snuggle into Damien more.

I then have a thought. 'Does this make me his mare and him my stallion now? My books told me when a couple mate it's a sign of dedication and... love,' I wonder to myself and look up to his sleeping face, here I am cuddling up to the Overlord of Tartarus and I'm... happy? Despite his violent nature when he's threatened, he's treated me, Selene, and Gilda well and with respect, and protected us from harm when we were attacked and saved both me and my friend from dying. He's also tolerated my brother's hardheadedness without really hurting him much.

If I do pursue a relationship with him... what would my parents think? What would the Princesses think? Would I even be welcomed back among ponies again? I sigh, relax, and let sleep take me again as Damien's reassuring scent fills my senses.

Dreamscape

I jolt upright and notice I'm wearing my usual clothes and what's more surprising is I'm a unicorn again. "Huh?" I mumble and look around, I'm back in the Ponyville Library where Spike is passed out on the couch with one of his Power Pony comics over his face.

Shaking my head in confusion I stand up and dust myself off and walk over to my assistant and shake him gently. “Spike?” But I get no response. I then walk over to the window and look outside only to see the town and no pony around, it's like a ghost town out there.

"What is going on?" I wonder to myself and I hear somepony upstairs in my room. I frown and head up and I see none other than Princess Luna looking through my bookshelves. "Princess Luna?" I say getting her attention.

"Ah, Miss Sparkle. We were hoping to enter Sir Damien's dream but we suppose this is the best we can do as thou art almost out of our current range... We bare a message that thou need to deliver to Sir Damien urgently. Our sister hast sent a letter to the gryphon King warning him of thy arrival, we believe they plan to ambush ye at Talonsport and capture thee and thy brother to be returned here, and kill the others," she tells me sadly and sighs.

"Ever since her defeat at the hands of Damien, she's becoming more and more unstable. She's lashed out at the guards and maids in her fits of anger, she's even hospitalised some guards sparring with them once she recovered... We fear that she'll soon snap and hunt thee all down herself," Princess Luna finishes with a sad frown. "And we dost nary have the power to stop her."

I frown and think, if they're waiting for us, then we'll just change course and land offshore elsewhere and let Mr Steelfeather continue to Talonsport without us. "Then we'll change course and sneak past Talsonsport elsewhere and use disguises to buy supplies in the towns we pass by... Damien can hide himself in the Shadow Realm if he needs to along with Ironhoof and Scarlet," I reply and tap my chin.

Luna looks at me with a confused expression. "Something seems different about thee, Miss Sparkle since we last saw thee... we just cannot put our finger on it..." the Princess says and circles me.

I blush and keep my eyes on her as I laugh nervously. "Different? How so? I like to think I'm still the same mare as before," I reply as my tail flicks to the left.

She stops in front of me and stares into my eyes for a few seconds and then gasps as she pulls back. "Thou hast mated with Sir Damien haven't thee?" she asks surprised.

I couldn't fight off the blush that burned on my face. "I-I-I..." I stutter but the Princess just giggles at me.

"Worry not, Miss Sparkle. Whatever reason thou hast it is thy business alone unless thou wishes to tell us," she tells me and smiles.

I bite my bottom lip and after a few seconds I tell her how it happened but left out the details. "And well... I'm not entirely sure what to feel about him, despite his violent nature, I feel safe near him and his wife..." I tell her as we sit on my bed.

"We see, he is an interesting fellow. Thou should ask our... sister, Selene to allow thee to enter his dreams, specifically his home world, they have the most interesting sweets there," she tells me and giggles again, but her eyes then go wide and she gasps. "Our sister is looking for us... please deliver our message to Sir Damien as soon as thou can," she tells me and quickly fades away leaving a note with what she told me on it. 'We hast left thy dream lucid, spend the rest of thy slumber memorising it perfectly.' I read the note over and over to burn the words into my mind... I won't let Prin... Celestia hurt my new friends... and possibly... my new mate.

I slowly open my eyes and yawn as I sit up and rub my eyes. I'm now alone in the bed but Desire is sitting by the desk brushing her mane.

"Ah, good morning sleeping beauty. So how do you feel?" she asks me with a warm smile.

I blush but return the smile. "Better than I ever have to be honest..." I reply and get out of bed with a stretch and gather my clothes and a towel, I need to wash up after last night's... activities... at least I can feel my legs again.

"That's good, so how was it for your first time?" she asks and leans her head on her left hand as she looks at me.

I bite my lower lip at the memories and feeling of Damien mating with me making me shiver. "I... I wouldn't mind doing it again..." I reply getting her to giggle and walk over to me.

She wraps her arms around me in a hug and ruffles my hair. "I'm sure Damien would love to bang your brains out again, so long as you can stay conscious next time," she teases me with a giggle making me blush harder.

I then remember Luna's warning and gasp. "I need to talk to you and Damien! It's important! Princess Luna gave me a message to pass onto him!" I tell her quickly. I don't know how much longer we have until we reach Gryphonia but we need to change course now!

"Message?" she asks confused.

I quickly give her a brief explanation making her frown and sigh. "Of course that whorse wouldn't just leave us be. Well then, looks like we'll just have to fight our way through again, and this time I won't be sitting idle. I may not look it, but I'm an archdemon, whose power originated from Damien's, I'll show them why we are feared amongst our enemies in Tartarus," she replies coldly and heads towards the door.

"Where are you going?" I ask her.

"To tell Damien. You go and wash up, I believe your brother wanted to talk to you... and he's not happy," she replies and walks out the door.

'My brother wants to talk to me? Why?.. Oh, I wasn't exactly quiet last night was I?' I think to myself feeling like I just want to crawl back under the covers and hide.

After washing and getting dressed in a clean pair of clothes which consisted of a pair of white panites and bra, light blue denim jeans and a dark purple shirt, I head back to our cabin to see if Desire and Damien have come back... but then I remember that my brother wanted to talk to me. I sigh and change direction for his room and once I arrive I knock on the door.

"Come in," I hear my brother say and I gulp as I open the door.

I see Shining laying on his bed where he looks up at me from the book he's reading. "Twilight, we need to talk," he tells me with a stern tone and look.

"A-And what would that be, Shiny?" I ask nervously.

He closes his book hard and glares at me. "What possessed you to let that monster mate with you?" he asks me without emotion in his voice.

I stare at him wide eyed at the tone and words he used to describe Damien. "Monster?" I ask shocked at his attitude.

"Yes monster. For Celestia's sake, Twilight! He's the Overlord of Tartarus! King of the demons! His abilities along with that soul stealing weapon of his make him look like an evil tyrant! He butchered my guards and turn us into monsters as well!" he tells me and tears start to form in my eyes.

"You think... I'm a monster now?" I ask him with disbelief with my hands over my muzzle.

His eyes widen as he realises what he said. "No! No... Twily... I mean look at us! Ponies will never see us the same way again... we'll be scorned and hated for what we are now," he tells me sadly and sighs.

I frown as I wipe my eyes and walk over and sit next to him. "My friends in Ponyville saw me like this, and they still wanted to be my friends. Even Fluttershy is a demon now but still the others love her and care for her... Yes, having ponies hate me for how I look will hurt, but as long as I have those closest to me still care for me then I'm okay with it... And Damien isn't the monster you make him out to be, he's kind and gentle when he isn't provoked. He's only protected himself and his wife when the guards attacked them, and he's also protecting Princess Luna's other half..." I tell him and shake my head before continuing.

"He only kills when forced to, he saved Fluttershy and myself from death and he spared Celestia when he could have killed her," I say and he looks at me stunned. "What?" I ask him.

"It's just I've never heard you call the Princess that without her title..." he replies with his surprised expression still on his face.

I frown sadly as I look to the floor. "I guess after learning that she's been manipulated all these years and that she's not the kind, motherly mare I've known since I was a filly anymore has made me lose faith in her... I'm going with Damien to Tartarus to help Celestia be free from Tirek's influence," I reply.

"I see..." he replies and sighs before getting stern again. "But that still doesn't explain why you let him rut you," he says.

I blush brightly and glance at his frowning face. "I was going into what Desire called a lust hunger... I was losing control of myself like a mare going into heat and I tried to jump Damien the moment I saw him enter the room... by rutting me he not only fed me, but he also brought me back to my senses..." I reply, but decide not to tell him how I'm feeling about it all at the moment.

He looks even more surprised and a bit worried. "You lost control?" he asks me.

"Well, more like I had the urge to eat something before I starved... an unquenchable desire for what I wanted... besides... he was gentle with me," I reply with a smile.

He frowns for a few seconds before sighing. "I still don't like it, but as long as he didn't hurt you then... it's going to happen again isn't it," he asks me sadly.

"Well... most likely, if it helps keep me under control then I can live with it... but what about you? What if you go lust hungry?" I reply and ask him with worry.

He grimaces and shudders. "I'm not sure... I love Cadence with all my heart... but if I lose control as you say you did, what do I do?" he asks me with a hollow tone.

"I know I wouldn't want you to lose control and rape an innocent pony or anyone else. Gilda did say she'd let you rut her to feed if you had to to prevent that happening, and Desire did tell you how to prevent yourself from impregnating anypo, anyone... I'm sure Cadence would understand," I reply with a hint of uncertainty.

Shining buries his face in his hands and quietly cries into them. "I didn't ask for any of this... I just wanted to save you from him and bring you home... but here I am forced to follow him, and to find out I could be hunted by the Princess as well if what he said about her being influenced is true, she even might have harmed you if I brought you back..." he replies sadly.

I lean over and hug my brother gently and try to calm him down. "I'm fine, Shiny. Despite being a demon now I'm still me, I love learning new things, like our new demon magic and-" I reply but get cut off as a flash of light blinds us and I hear the sound of a mare panting and another crying.

My vision returns and I see an exhausted looking Princess Luna standing in front of us with Fluttershy looking terrified next to her holding an equally terrified bunny.

"P-Princess Luna! Fluttershy! Why are you here?" I ask them in shock as I notice Fluttershy trembling with tears flowing down her face.

"We discovered that our sister planned an attack on Fluttershy's abode in an attempt to capture her once she remembered her physical change," she replies and gently guides the distraught mare to me. I quickly hug her and she cries into my shoulder. "Her animal friends tried to protect her from the guards and they were cut down in the process, but they bought us enough time for us to get to her and teleport here. We still had thy location from the night before which we used to get us here," she replies and collapses onto the ground.

"Princess!" Shining says and quickly picks her up and places her on the bed.

I'm both shocked and disgusted at Celestia right now, her hatred for demons despite her manipulation is getting out of hand, she knows Fluttershy and how gentle and kind she is... How could she even think about attacking one of the elements like that?

"We art fine, Captain Armour... We just require rest, but we shall not be returning to Canterlot again... we hast no delusion our sister wouldst not punish us for this... Fortunately we masked our magical signature so she cannot follow us," Princess Luna says weakly before drifting off to sleep.

Shiny and I are stunned silent as Fluttershy is sobbing hard against me, she loves her animals as if they were her own foals... to watch them get killed in front of her...

"It's okay, Fluttershy. You're safe now," I try to calm her down as I stroke her mane softly.

Her bunny Angel is frowning in the yellow mare's arms with an expression that appears to promise revenge.

After about eight minutes of silence the cabin door opens to reveal a very confused and surprised looking Damien as he looks at the Princess and then to Fluttershy.

POV: Damien Jackson

"What's this then?" I ask Twilight and Shining as I gesture to the blue alicorn and the thestral in the room... and what appears to be a small white rabbit as well.

After a couple of minutes of Twilight explaining the situation to me, I sigh and rub my face. I'm starting to regret letting Celestia live now.

"So not only did we have to change course, we now have a hate obsessed alicorn after us who even tried to kill or capture one of her own people just because they're a demon now? Just great, if she does show up, remind me to break off her horn again and shove it up her cunt," I say irritated and exit the room before heading back to my room with Desire behind me.

Jock and Ironhoof are taking us to a place called Skullcove Bay, a pirate town twenty miles to the left of Talonsport. Ironhoof has a lot of influence there and guarantees Jock's safety and passage out once we leave the ship.

I flop down onto my bed and sigh as I'm feeling stressed from all this bullshit happening. Desire lays beside me and circles a finger around my chest with a worried expression. "Are you alright, my love?" she asks me.

I frown and turn to look at her. "I've been better, but I've got a feeling Celestia just ain't going to let this go... I think we'll have to face her somewhere along the way and if we do, this time I'm going all out on her, even if it means using the souls Thanatos has collected," I reply and hug my wife to my left side tightly.

"You know what happens when you do that, last time you almost lost control, just like you did avenging Adderine and went on a rampage... it took both Slitherana and I to calm you down to a point you could vent the excess energy. If you did that again, I might not be able to calm you down alone," she tells me sadly.

"I know, but you remember what Selene said, Celestia wasn't fighting at full strength and I used my demon form to stop her quickly... I'm just not going to take any chances to let her attack any of us, I'll make her focus on me," I say and yawn. I could use a relaxing nap right now as it'll take us another five days to reach Skullcove Bay.

Desire sighs and cuddles up to me with a frown on her face.

Chapter 26: Skullcove Bay Part 1

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 26: Skullcove Bay Part 1

I'm gently shaken awake by Twilight who looks quite upset with her yellow thestral friend next to her.

"Twilight? What's the matter?" I ask and yawn.

"Um, Fluttershy would like to know if she could sleep in here on my bed? She can't bare the thought of being on her own right now after what happened to her," she tells me where Fluttershy looks like she has no life left in her eyes.

"Sure, I don't see a problem with that," I reply as Desire starts nuzzling me in her sleep.

"Thank you, Damien. Come on, Fluttershy, you need some sleep..." the succupony replies and then guides her friend to her bed where she gently hugs the crying thestral. I just notice that little rabbit of hers looking at me with an expression of deep thought on its little face.

I shrug it off and pull Desire closer to me and tune out the quiet sobs coming from the other bed.

The Next Day

I'm in the mess hall eating a breakfast of fish and steamed potatoes when Twilight and Fluttershy walk over and sit across from me. "Good morning you two," I greet them and look at Fluttershy. "Feeling better?" I ask her.

"No..." she quietly replies.

"I see. I suppose it would take time after what you went through. I know how it feels losing those you care about quite well," I tell her with a sigh.

"You do?" Twilight asks with surprise.

"Geneine was my first secretary when I took my first town in Tartarus, she was a harpy who was bright and clever, she also wasn't afraid to tell me when I fucked up. Helped me keep the town running and taught me how politics worked, until I changed them that is to more of a human structure," I reply.

"And what happened to her?" Twilight then asks.

"She'd died of old age over thirty years ago," I reply sadly.

"Oh... I'm sorry," she says as her ears fold back.

"It's okay, I've gotten over it now, but I do miss her, and Soft Touch's blood apple pies..." I say with a faint smile, I can still taste them if I remember hard enough.

"Blood apples?" Twilight asks intrigued. "I'm not sure if Applejack would like to know about those or not," she says with a dim chuckle.

"Well, they're more like meat than a fruit grown on a tree as they taste like chicken to me," I reply with my own chuckle as I finish the last of my breakfast.

"Then there's my other wife Slitherana’s sister Adderine, she was kinda like your blue pegasus friend, hard-headed and brash but strong and a great friend once you get to know her... she was killed in a demon raid from an archdemon about forty years ago," I tell them and smile at some of the fond memories I have of her. "So what can I help you two with then?" I ask them shaking those memories away for now. I then notice that the crew and ex-prisoners here are avoiding us like a virus but I ignore them.

Fluttershy hides behind her pink hair and Twilight places her left hand on her shoulder with a sad smile.

"Fluttershy wants to come with us so no more of her animal friends will be hurt because of her," she tells me.

I look to the thestral and stare at her, she's got the power of a lesser demon unlike Twilight, Shining, Ironhoof, and Scarlet. Unless I give her more power, she's still mortal and weak. "I see, and what can you do? Can you fight?" I ask the upset girl. She looks at me with horror and shakes her head quickly.

"Hmmm, well considering you're a new kind of demon I've never seen before, I have no idea what you're capable of," I say and scratch my chin. "You look more like you're built for speed and agility over brute force or magic," I observe and hum in thought. 'I wonder how fast she could fly if I made her into a deamon?' I wonder and shake my head, I won't force her to be ageless unlike the others for now.

"Well, for now I recommend staying close to Selene or Luna until we get you trained to at least protect yourself," I tell her. Her little rabbit then hops out of her arms startling her.

"Angel!" she says to the rabbit who sits in front of me and frowns.

I raise an eyebrow at the little white rodent. "What do you want?" I ask it.

As if understanding me, it points at me and then at Fluttershy and Twilight, then it points back at me and then at itself. "Angel! That's too dangerous! We don't know what could happen!" Fluttershy scolds the rabbit who looks determined and keeps looking at me.

"What does it want?" I ask confused.

"Oh, erm... he want's you to, um, turn him into a demon like us... he wants to pay back the guards for hurting our friends," Fluttershy tells me with sad eyes.

"Oh? Really?" I say and look back at the rabbit. "You want power? Even if you might end up looking hideous or deformed?" I ask him.

Without hesitating he nodded once and continues to look at me in the eyes.

I smirk and lean back in my chair. "I see, for one so small I admire your determination and resolve," I tell him and look at the two girls, Twilight looks intrigued while Fluttershy looks scared. "Very well, but don't blame me for what you may end up looking like," I tell him and extend my right index finger and place it on his chest and slowly pour demonic energy into the little guy.

His face impressively doesn't flinch despite the sweat beading down his brow. His fur turns black and his body starts growing until he's two feet tall, his back legs bulge with powerful looking muscles but still keep their slim and agile shape yet extend to half a metre long in length. His ears grow a few inches longer and his two front teeth turn into fangs as his eyes turn red and slitted. Next his front legs lengthen and his paws turn into hands with claws on the ends of his three fingers and thumb.

Angel's spine then cracks as his posture moves upright into a more bipedal posture, and to finish it all off two horns grow out of his head similar to a succupony's but I feel they're more for show than magic.

Once done, Angel stumbles trying to maintain his balance but ends up falling onto his back on the table. "A-Angel?" Fluttershy asks worriedly as she reaches out to the black rabbit.

"Well, he's a lesser demon at least, I'm not sure if he'd be able to take more than that... for now," I say as Fluttershy gently picks up her pet and holds him to her chest.

"Wow, that was amazing... Can I turn others into demons as well?" Twilight asks with intrigue.

"No, only highly powerful archdemons or demonlords can do it," I reply making her frown in disappointment. I look back to the rabbit and smirk as I have the perfect name for his kind of demon. "I'll be calling your species of demon a hellhare," I say to the new demon rabbit.

Angel smirks and then flexes his new claws and muscles looking quite happy with himself. "Fluttershy, I take it you know to stay away from silver correct?" I ask her.

She looks up from Angel to me and nodded with a wince. "I had to give my silverware to Rarity since I could no longer touch it," she tells me closing her left hand shut.

"I see, then you'll also have to keep it away from Angel as well now... how long do rabbits live for?" I ask her out of curiosity as I don't know if what I've done has extended that or not.

She seems to perk up now that she's talking about something she likes. "They live around eight to twelve years, Angel Bunny is five years old," she tells me and nuzzles him, good to see that despite his new vicious appearance she still loves him.

"So not really long at all..." I say and look at the hellhare. "If you could, would you choose eternal life?" I ask him, it's rather strange how intelligent he seems to be.

What happens next stuns everyone in the room. "If... Shy does... I do... to," he replies in an almost high pitched caveman like way.

"Angel! You can talk!?" Fluttershy asks him in awe with a slight smile on her face.

Now even Angel looks shocked that he spoke. "Yes?" he replies and looks up at her.

"That's incredible! You either altered his vocal cords or gave him an increased brain capacity!" Twilight gushes and summons a scroll, quill, and inkwell as she begins writing it all down. I notice that everyone around us looks horrified at what I did to the bunny and backs away or leaves the mess hall altogether.

"Then that leaves one more question. Fluttershy, would you like to become a deamon like your friend here and become ageless? You'll also become stronger as well," I offer her and she looks down at her pet.

"I-I... I don't know... living that long... watching others die around you... I don't know if I could do that," she replies and sighs before looking back at me. "Can I have some time to think about it?" she asks me.

"Take as long as you need my dear, there's no rush," I reply and stand up. "Now then, I need to talk to Luna, Selene, and Desire about our next move, have a pleasant breakfast girls," I tell them getting a faint blush from Twilight and a small smile from Fluttershy, at least she's looking better than the lifeless looking girl she was yesterday.

'So I can make animals more intelligent as demons... I don't know if that's a benefit or just scary,' I think to myself as I walk through the hallways toward our cabins.

"Dost thou remember when we swapped our sister's shampoo for food colouring?" I hear Luna ask someone in my cabin.

"We do!" I hear Selene reply and giggle. "It took her three weeks to get it all out, she chased us around the castle for days," she says happily.

I open the door to see Selene and Luna talking to each other while Desire is just listening in giggling with them.

"Hello, ladies. I see you two have finally met," I say to them and sit beside Desire.

"We have, and we hast establish we share the same memories which were not split between us," Luna replies and smiles.

"That's good to hear. So, Luna, what do you plan to do now?" I ask her as Desire leans against me.

Her smile drops and she sighs. "We cannot return to Canterlot in fear of facing our sister's wrath as we nary hast the magic to face her... Although our twin here seems to have recovered her full strength whilst we are still only half our original power," Luna says with confusion.

"Hmmm, that could be because of me... I gave her my energy to make her a new body which made her into a demon, perhaps my energy filled in the gap that each of you used to fill? If you were both split in half, it only makes sense your power was halved as well," I theorise.

"That does make sense..." Selene says in thought.

"So we would have to absorb thy energy to recover our full strength again?" Luna asks worriedly.

"That's one way of doing it, but you'll become a demon like Selene if you do, there could be other ways but I wouldn't know where to look," I reply with a shake of my head.

"We see..." she says and looks at Selene who smiles at her and hugs her.

"Do not worry, sister. We art fine with our form," Selene tells her and her horn glows until she looks like a unicorn again. "We can still use our magic to fit in if we so choose," she tells Luna and cancels the illusion.

Luna looks at her wide eyed and then at me. "Wouldst thou aid us in returning to our full power, Sir Damien? We would like to aid thee in returning our sister Celestia to her old self and teach Tirek the error he hast made," she asks me with a frown.

I raise an eyebrow at her question. "You sure? What about your subjects? Won't they be even more afraid of you than before?" I ask her.

She looks away sadly. "We dost not care anymore. No matter how hard we try they shun us and ignore us... our only friends are a maid named Sweet Song and... thee," she replies and hangs her head.

"That's it?" Desire asks shocked.

Luna nodded in reply as Selene hugs the smaller alicorn gently to soothe her.

"Then you realise that by doing this you become a citizen of Tartarus under my rule right?" I tell her. Luna looks at me just over Selene's arm and nodded slowly. "Alright. Come here and we'll begin, it may take a few days like it did with Selene, at least I don't have to make you a new body this time," I say and Luna gets up off the other bed and walks over to me.

I hold my arms out and let Luna sit on my lap and hug me. "Are you sure you want to do this? As far as I know, there's no going back," I warn her one last time.

"We art sure, Sir Damien," she tells me quietly but surely.

"Very well then, this may or may not hurt at first," I tell her and start covering her in my demonic energy.

She whimpers and hugs me tighter as her fur darkens slightly and she grows a couple of inches, she sobs as her feathers fall out and a fleshy membrane takes their place giving her the same wings Selene has. Next her eyes turn slitted and her horn lengthens an inch as well.

After ten minutes of silence the changes continue until they seem to finish and I cut off the flow as my energy is down to half.

I release our hug and look at her, she's looks exactly like Selene now, same height and shape except of turquoise coloured eyes, they're teal instead and while Selene's hair and tail look like a raging cosmos, Luna's looks like a calm and quiet night sky. I also notice her clothes have ripped exposing some parts of her.

"Seems the physical change is complete but I'll still need to give you more energy later," I tell her and let her stand up.

Desire then slaps her hand over my eyes to stop me from seeing anything. I then hear the sound of magic being used before Selene speaks up. "Here, sister. We have spare clothes thou canst use," she tells Luna.

"We t-thank thee, sister," Luna replies and I hear the sound of cloth rustling.

Desire then removes her hand and I give her a deadpan look to which she sticks her tongue out at me with a smile.

"Now that's done, I came here to talk to you all about what we'll do once we reach Gryphonia," I tell them all.

"Ooooh, so what's the plan, Master?" Desire purrs into my ear making me roll my eyes at her.

"Once we reach the bay, we'll stock up on food and water as well as more gear due to our increasing group, which we can cover with some of the gold on this ship. We'll also need a map as I doubt Gilda will know that area well," I say.

"Desire, you'll need to find yourself a new weapon as I want to conserve what little remaining ammunition we got in case we have to fight Celestia again. Selene, Luna, what weapons do you prefer using?" I tell my wife and ask the twin alicorns who are staring at each other trying to mimic the other's movements like a mirror.

"We prefer dual-wielding longswords," they both reply at the same time and giggle. Seems that despite being two separate beings with different personalities they still think alike.

"Then we'll stop by a weapon store at Skullcove Bay and see if they have anything you'd like. I'll need to find myself another weapon as well," I say and frown. I doubt they'd have any scythes and the best I could hope for would be a halberd.

"I would like to have a rapier in my hand again, I miss my one back at the Castle..." Desire says and gets off the bed before heading to the door.

"Where are you going off to?" I ask her.

She giggles and looks back at me. “I need to use the little fillies room, unless you'd like to come and help me?" she replies and teases.

I roll my eyes as Luna and Selene both blush as Desire laughs before leaving.

"Right then, I better go and see how Ironhoof and Jock are doing," I say to the twin alicorns and get up as well.

Four Days Later

Not much has happened over the last four days.

Twilight has learnt a lot from Desire, Selene, and even Luna while Shining is focusing on his shields and barriers, he's also learnt how to form weaponry from his demon energy and surprisingly has been less and less disobedient. Whether or not he's finally learning or it was something Twilight said, I'm not sure. They also both began learning to fly which Shining is getting the hang of quicker than Twilight is, despite her start with her lessons on our way to Horseshoe Bay.

Shining also almost went into a lust hunger but Desire saw it coming and managed to lock him in with Gilda in her cabin who let him have sex with her, sufficed to say Gilda looked very happy when she came out the cabin with a limp. Though Shining is trying not to think about it too much.

Twilight has given up her bed for Fluttershy and is now sleeping with me and Desire at her own request, Desire instantly allowed her and wouldn't let me say otherwise.

Luna's taken a cabin for herself and has been using her night magic to allow Desire and Twilight along with herself, Fluttershy, Shining, Gilda, and Selene into my dreams to see my world from my memories, Shining, Gilda, and Luna have taken a liking to video games while Twilight has been reading books from my old home's bookshelf, though some of the books were blank or missing words as I don't fully remember them. Desire and Selene were outside most of the time learning to drive cars as they found them more interesting, but they all gorged themselves on sweets, candy bars, and other foods that I can remember. Fluttershy has mostly been in front of the TV watching animal documentaries with a smile on her face with a stuffed version of her hellhare Angel in her arms.

Luna is also upset a bit that she's had to leave her new student Dusk Shine behind, but she's debating whether or not to go back to get him or to wait until she can return later, she has visited him in his dreams twice so far telling him what is happening. What was more depressing is that his family disowned him thinking he was corrupted after having summoned demons, so he's currently living in the dorms of Celestia's school. It seems if a noble family's child disgraces them, they get disowned and exiled from the family to restore their honour as that has been their tradition for centuries. Makes me sick to my stomach and I told Luna to bring the boy here if she wanted to but she needs more power to teleport him from Canterlot to here with Selene’s help which will take some time as I'll have to give her more energy to help her recover her power still.

Ironhoof and Scarlet have gathered a large amount of gold from the ship's vault while I topped up my pack with more gold as well, there was nothing of real interest in the vault, just some ornamental weapons, armour, coins, and valuable looking art. Though Twilight took a yew staff with a diamond on the end of it saying it was a zebra shaman's staff that they use for channelling their magic through it and wanted to examine it.

Selene and Luna have been talking to each other every day comparing what they know and exactly what parts of their personality they got each. It was rather depressing when I heard them say that the original Luna is now technically dead as both of them are so different from the original but at least retained their memories, Twilight also heard that and for a day she freaked out believing she and her friends 'killed' Princess Luna.

This lead me to believe that the elements do what their wielder or wielders want since Twilight and her friends 'wanted' to separate Nightmare Moon from Luna when they used them, resulting into their separation with Selene being the Nightmare Moon half, like how Celestia and Luna wanted to seal or imprison Discord away turning him into stone... I'll have to meet this Discord someday as from what Luna told me of his appearance seems too much like a demonlord to me.

Fluttershy had spent a lot of her time in our cabin with Angel constantly trying to get him to talk better and more clearly, she's also still deciding about being a deamon or not but I'm not going to rush her, there's plenty of time for her to decide. Angel himself though I've caught sneaking off at night which I followed him the first time in the Shadow Realm to find him practising with his new claws down in the brig where no one would find him. I just watched as he also surprisingly to both of us belched out a small amount of darkfire from his mouth by accident but soon started practising with that as well, I left him to it but I'll have to keep an eye on him to see how he progresses.

Gilda surprisingly is following Shining around teasing and flirting with him, if I didn't know any better from Desire's constant flirting when we were younger, I'd say Gilda has a crush on the incupony. That or he was really good in bed to her and she wants more.

Lastly, the ex-prisoners have been less and less afraid of us over the days and some even talked to us for a short while. Sheldon plans on returning to his hive and informing his Queen about me and my wife. I asked him to tell his Queen that I'll be back later to find and talk to her as I'm interested in how a demonlord got out here and stayed for so long undetected.

"LAND HO!" the crewman shouts out from the crow's nest as I look up from the game of chess I'm having with Ironhoof, despite his brutish appearance he's very good at the game and so far it's five wins each.

"Call it a draw for now?" I ask him as I stand up.

"Very well, it was good finding somebull who could keep up with me, my old crew were as smart as bricks... no challenge at all," he replies and smirks. "Though we will finish this later, Damien," he says to me making me laugh.

"Agreed," I reply and walk over to the front of the ship.

The first thing I barely see is the lands of Gryphonia coming up and what appears to be four ships as big as ours heading our way.

"Four vessels are on an intercept course, Captain!" the crewman then yells next while looking through his spyglass. "They bare pirate colours!" he then says.

"Do not worry, they are from Skullcove and will escort us to the docks," Ironhoof informs us.

"Alright, but just so you know, if they attack I won't hesitate to kill them and burn the bay down to the ground. Make sure you convince them of that," I tell Ironhoof who just chuckles.

"I have no doubt you could do so, Sir, but I shall try," he replies as we wait for the ships to arrive.

It takes a couple of hours where Desire is now on deck along with Luna and Selene. The passengers have taken shelter below where they'll be safe for now.

"Where are the others?" I ask Desire as the crew all look nervous.

"Twilight is still examining that staff and has figured out how to channel her pony magic through it, apparently it makes her pony magic stronger but her demonic energy is useless with it. Fluttershy is with her teaching her pet to talk more while Shining is with Gilda getting a top up again if you know what I mean," she tells me with a giggle.

"I see. Well, get ready for a fight in case these pirates attack us," I tell her as well as Luna and Selene.

They nodded as we wait for one of the ships to pull up beside us and extend a gangplank across. A black furred gryphon with grey feathers and a left glass eye which has a scar over it wearing a harness with multiple knives walks over with six others of mixed races and stands in front of us.

"Greetings, I am Captain Blackhide of the Skullcove Bay guards. Where is Captain Ironhoof?" he asks us.

"I'm here, Black," the balrog replies getting a surprised look from the gryphon as he looks Ironhoof over.

"Ironhoof? What happened to you?" he asks with intrigue.

Ironhoof snorts and glances at me. "I've been bested in combat... though I wouldn't even call it that as I had no hope of winning. Instead of being killed though, I was given a second chance along with my wife, we now serve Master Damien in exchange for power," he replies as the gryphon looks at me.

"Him? How could a scrawny thing like him beat you?" Blackhide asks making me glare at him.

"I wouldn't insult me again buzzard unless you wish to die," I threaten him coldly and summon my scythe, making his guards draw their own weapons and Desire to aim my rifle at them.

Blackhide frowns at me and gestures his guards to stand down. "Oh? I don't know you, so it's hard to believe something like you could beat Ironhoof here who’s never been defeated," he tells me with an irritating smirk.

"Perhaps you would like a demonstration?" I ask him and coat my left arm in my darkfire.

He raises an eyebrow at my arm and scoffs. "For threatening the guards of Skullcove, we'll be taking this ship along with it's crew and valuables for the pirate King," he says as another ship pulls up alongside us with its crew ready to board.

"Desire?" I ask my wife as she knowingly knows what I just asked of her. I was willing to let Ironhoof convince him we're just passing through but after Blackhide’s threat to enslave my wife and companions, he and his crew are now dead.

She aims my rifle at Blackhide and pulls the trigger blowing his brains out over the deck, the bullet coming out between his eyes which roll up as he drops dead.

"Hmmm, all bark and no bite. Desire, Luna, Selene, Ironhoof, you take the right boat, I've got the left one," I order them. "The rest of you protect this ship!" I yell out to the crew who look uncertain but comply as they draw their weapons.

Luna looks unsure but Selene looks more ready to fight. "Finally, we canst test our magic in combat once again!" she says and flies into the air as some pegasi and gryphons fly up to attack her. Luna frowns and flies up to help her.

"Desire, only use your energy and magic to fight, save your ammunition," I tell her and she sighs but nodded before holstering the rifle and conjuring two red energy whips with razor sharp thorns on them, she then walks over the gangplank and begins slicing up the pirate crew on the deck.

Ironhoof just stares at the corpse of Blackhide and then to me. "You didn't have to do that," he says coldly before crushing two of the guards Blackhide came with and I glare at him making him flinch.

"Anyone who threatens my family or friends is dead, remember that," I tell him and then fly over to the left ship before they could get their gangplanks across.

I look around at the crew and then take on my demonic form. "Thanatos, I hope you're hungry, because it's an all you can eat buffet today," I say to my scythe who I can feel grin in anticipation.

Author's Note

Hmmmm, will Damien burn Skullcove to the ground? Or will he try something else?

Also, does anyone want to see a clop chapter of Shining and Gilda?

Chapter 27: Skullcove Bay Part 2

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 27: Skullcove Bay Part 2

The pirate crew of this ship charges at me and I grin as I release a torrent of darkfire into the majority of them turning them into ash. I then turn to the left and swing my scythe into the first pony to reach me, impaling him in the shoulder and into his gut, Thanatos sings gleefully as he rips out the pony's soul turning the body into a shrivelled husk.

I easily pull out my scythe from the dried up corpse and swing it round to my right decapitating a gryphon. I watch as his soul is ripped out and flows into my scythe's blade as an ethereal scream echoes from the gryphon's soul before it's fully absorbed.

That unnerves the crew but still they attack me. I laugh since I had to kill the Equestrian guards to protect my companions, but here? Here I can slaughter these fools for fun!

I leap over a minotaur and hold my blade down resulting in his head splitting down the middle, his brain matter slips out as the two halves fall to the sides and onto his shoulders before he collapses to the deck with his blood pooling around him. His soul is also ripped out as it screams in fear making Thanatos shiver in delight.

A female bipedal golden retriever like dog pirate howls before pouncing at me with a sabre in each hand in an attempt to impale me. I use my wings to jump in the air before coming back down on her back, pinning her to the deck. I was about to sever her head from her shoulders but another idea comes to mind.

I grin wider as I lean down, pull her head up and bite her neck making her yelp in pain as I flood her with my demonic energy. I did want to see what one of these would look like as a demon anyway. I also note her blood tastes a bit like a bitter ale.

Her fur turns a dark brown and her features change from a dog to that of a wolf. Her muscles are more defined and her teeth are much more sharper. Her eyes turn red and slitted as my mark forms on her neck.

I release her as a dagger is plunged into my shoulder and I turn to the one responsible, a male earth pony with a now shocked expression. "Nice try," I tell him and grip his face with my left hand and cover his head in darkfire. He screams as his fur burns and flesh melts, his eyes pop before his neck rips from the weakened flesh. His body hits the deck and his head still in my grasp is reduced to ash.

The now bipedal wolf slowly gets up panting and shivering, her white shirt and shorts are slightly torn from her muscles expanding, but her eyes look unfocused and hungry. I then pull out the dagger in my shoulder and drop it.

The crew look fearful at their once fellow crew member now turned demon. I smile as I circle her. 'She looks similar to a werewolf... I think I'll call her kind lycans,' I think to myself before gripping her chin and forcing her to look at me. "What is your name?" I order her to answer me.

"K-Kira Goldfur..." she replies struggling to focus on me.

"I see, you are now under my command, Kira," I tell her and look around. "And my first order is to kill this crew," I tell her and her eyes dilate before glowing red and turn sharper, more focused with purpose. I've taken her free will for now so she'll feel no remorse or hesitation killing any of her possible friends on the ship.

"Yes, Master," she replies before howling even louder than she did before. She foregoes her sabres in favour of her new sharper claws and dives into a zebra woman who screams in fear. Kira silences her by ripping out her throat with her teeth and swallows the chunk of flesh and blood.

I return my attention to the crew and carve them apart while taking their souls, letting loose like this is really good for relieving the stress I've accumulated over the last four days.

POV: Dark Desire

I lick my lips as I lash out with my whips, I wrap my right whip around a pony's neck and a gryphon's with my left. The thorns dig into their flesh and with a strong pull, I sever their heads from their shoulders with a spray of blood splashing the area. Oh it's been far too long since I've went on a killing spree.

I smirk as it's cute thinking that they could sneak up on me as I pull my whips and swing them over my head, hitting the mutt behind me in the face tearing his eyes open in the process, he screams in pain clutching his eyes as blood flows out like tears.

"Are you boys even trying?" I ask them as three of them try to impale me with spears. I laugh as I take to the air and whip two of them across their throats tearing out their jugulars making them choke before collapsing.

I land back on the deck and then yelp as an arrow pierces my left hip. I turn around and glare at the pony with a bow. "You dare harm my beautiful body!? Oh you are so dead foal!" I yell and fly right for him making him stumble trying to notch a new arrow. I reach him and slap the bow from his hands and I dismiss my whips.

I lunge my left hand out and grip his throat as I create a rod with small razor sharp blades along the tip in my right hand. With a frown I ram it down his throat and start thrusting it in and out. Tears flow down his face as my... weapon shreds his throat apart making him choke and sputter blood around the... admittedly phallic object I'm forcing him to deepthroat.

I hear Ironhoof crushing the other pirates while I teach this worm his place. Hmmm, seems I've got a bit of a power complex ever since Damien gave me my power boost all those years ago... Oh well. I continue until the poor sod is no longer moving and just drop his corpse before pulling out the arrow with a hiss of pain.

I huff and toss the arrow aside before conjuring my whips again and continue to slaughter these pathetic pirates.

POV: Ironhoof

I frown as I squash the head of another pony before a minotaur I recognise charges at me. I snort and return the charge as our heads collide with him stumbling back in a daze before falling onto his back while I felt nothing.

"Hello, Thunderhorn. I thought you went back home after I left the port?" I ask and stand beside him while choking a gryphon who tried to cut my head off.

"Ironhoof!?" he replies as his eyes refocus.

"Aye, it's me," I say and snap the bird's neck before tossing him into a pegasus trying to ambush me from above.

Thunderhorn gets up and looks at me in disbelief. "Brother... what in Tartarus happened to you!" he demands and grasps my shoulders looking me over, blood is dripping down his forehead from our collision.

"I've grown stronger, brother! My orders were to kill this ship's crew, but... I would prefer you joined us. It's amazing, Thunderhorn. The power I now have, I'm stronger than any minotaur in the world!" I proclaim and shrug my brother off me as I punch a zebra in the face, making his neck snap back and drop dead onto the deck.

My brother just stares at me with wide eyes. "But these are our friends! Our allies! How could you just abandon and kill them for power?" he asks me sadly.

"Friends? Thunderhorn, you know full well why I became a pirate in the first place," I tell him coldly. I then push him aside as a cannon fires at me and I catch the iron ball while sliding back a metre from the force.

I grin before tossing the iron ball back at the diamond dog responsible sending him overboard and into the sea.

Thunderhorn looks up at me from his prone position and sighs before getting back up. "But father wouldn't condone this! Being pirates is one thing... but becoming a monster?" he tells me with frown.

I huff and grip his shirt, pulling him so we're face to face. "That old bull can rot for all I care, we did this for our mother and sister after he left us! Now I have the power to make sure they live a comfortable life and I've gathered enough gold to secure their futures for years to come! If becoming a monster means they can continue to live comfortably then so be it!" I yell at him before tossing him aside and continue with my rampage on the ship.

POV: Selene Nocturne

I fly around the ship with two dark blue longswords made from my magic as I battle the pegasi and gryphons, preventing them from attacking our ship.

A gryphon hen rushes me with a pair of cutlasses and a war cry. I teleport behind her the moment she reaches me and sever her wings off, making her scream as she plummets while flailing her limbs to the calm sea below.

"Sister!" I hear Luna call to me as she flies up beside me so we are back to back. "We art unsure about this... thou received our joy for battle... we art not sure we cans't do this..." she tells me but still has a pair of magically made swords in her hands as well.

"Worry not, sister! We shall tear these scum apart!" I tell her and parry a spear aimed at me before throwing my left sword at the pegasi, impaling his chest. I conjure a new sword and grin at the ponies and gryphons surrounding us.

"But-" she begins but I cut her off.

"If thou art scared of taking a life, then how art thou going to aid our sister? If thou art unwilling to fight then thou canst not save Celly!" I tell her, knowing that we both care deeply for our sister that we would do anything to help her, even from herself. “Remember our battles from our past, thou knowest thee canst do it!”

I look back and see a grim expression on her face before she teleports in front of a green furred mare and using her swords like a pair of scissors, cuts her head off cleanly and moves onto the next pirate. I smirk and dodge another attempt to impale me, which I reply by melding into the Shadow Realm. I exit behind the gryphon and run both my blades through her back and out of her chest.

POV: Shining Armour

I sigh as I leave Gilda's room after feeding on her lust again, though I'm not sure about the possessive thoughts I've been getting about her, I'll ask Damien and Mrs Desire about it later.

With a roll of my neck I start walking towards Damien's room to see Twilight. Along the way though I see a stallion wearing a red and white striped shirt with short loose pants tied to his waist with a sash. A bandanna is wrapped around his head, but the one thing I focus on is the cutlass he has drawn in his right hand.

"Who are you!?" I demand as he's not from the crew or passengers we saved.

"Oh looky 'ere, a'nudder one of dem freaks," he says as another stallion walks into view with a sabre.

"I'll say it only one more time, who are you!?" I demand again.

They don't answer and the pony with the cutlass thrusts it at me with a grin. I quickly raise my left arm creating a shield with my demon magic blocking his thrust, I then create a broadsword with the same demon magic and thrust back. It seems my conjuration was enough to surprise him long enough for me to impale his throat, dropping him to the floor.

"Longblade! You're gonna regret that you bastard!" his friend yells and swings his sabre at me, only for it to get stuck in the hallway ceiling.

'Is this idiot serious? Who swings a sword in a narrow hallway?' I wonder with a raised brow and then stab him in the head quickly.

Once he's down I make my way through the hallway towards Twilight's room and burst through the door.

I go wide eyed seeing Fluttershy and Twilight with bruises tied up on the floor with a gryphon and zebra about to pick them up. I notice the zebra has a deep cut across his chest, most likely from Twilight resisting, I then feel myself snap and create two gauntlets from my demon magic with spiked knuckles. With a cry of rage befitting a dragon, I lunge at the zebra and punch him right in the face, the sound of his jaw shattering makes me grin as I turn to the gryphon and parry his sword with my left gauntlet before uppercutting him with my right.

I don't waste a second before pinning him to the floor and repeatedly smash his face in over and over, making his beak crack then break off followed by his eyes bursting and his feathers to be ripped off from the force I'm using.

After a full minute of non-stop pummelling, I stop and breath heavily as I look down at the now unrecognisable gryphon who's barely twitching under me.

I frown and look at my gauntlets and see they're coated in blood and feathers, and I can't bring myself to care... am I becoming heartless? I then look back to a wide eyed Twilight staring at me with a sad expression. No, I'm not heartless, I did what I had to to protect my sister and her friend… I guess I understand Damien a bit more now.

I dismiss my gauntlets and make my way over to the mares then untie and ungag them both.

"ANGEL!" Fluttershy screams and picks up her pet who has a deep gash in his left side. I guess he was the one to injure the zebra, not Twilight.

"Twily, lock the door, I'll go get Damien or Mrs Desire, maybe they can help Angel," I tell her. I glance over and see the rabbit is still alive but in pain as Fluttershy tries to press a cloth to his wound to stem the blood flow.

"A-Alright, just be careful," my sister replies and hugs me.

I pull her off and hand her the zebra's sword. "Do not hesitate to use this if somepony you don't know tries to get in," I tell her with a stern tone.

She looks at Fluttershy and her pet, and then back to me. "R-Right," she says and shakily takes the cutlass.

I nodded and get up, I smile at her before heading to the door with my demon gauntlets back on and an angry expression on my face. 'How in Tartarus did pirates get on board!?'

POV: Damien Jackson

I leap over another pirate and plunge my left hand into his back and rip out his spine, but unfortunately it snaps at the base of his neck. I need to practice that some more, I never can seem to rip the skull out with it as well... unless that's just been movie logic all along...

Tossing the vertebrae aside I glance to the lycan still tearing into the rest of the crew with a single minded purpose. She's suffered some cuts and gashes but if she survives I'll be sure to help her heal, now I just need to find more of them to bring back to Tartarus, more new demon types means better variety and options in both my army and as civilians.

I kill the last crew member on the deck as Kira limps over and just stands beside me waiting for new orders. I look over towards Skullcove Bay and get a wonderful idea, I can just turn the bay into a new demon town. It'll weaken me a bit and force us to stay to recover, but it'll be a good foothold in this new world.

"Where are they!?" I hear shining yell out looking ready to fight.

"Shining? What are you doing up here?" I ask him as I fly over to him. Kira follows after me and leaps from ship to ship but trips with a pained yelp due to her injuries.

I sigh and place my hand on her back and give her some on my energy to accelerate her healing. She whimpers on the deck while her wounds slowly begin to heal, which isn't at all quick as she's only a lesser demon right now.

"What do you mean!?" he asks me angrily. "Twilight and Fluttershy were just attacked and almost taken away, I killed the bastards responsible and came up here to find out what the buck is going on!" he tells me with a scowl.

"Well, if you couldn't tell, the pirates tried to take over the ship," I reply and look out to see the other two ships heading towards us ready to board. "Excuse me for a second. Kira, stay here," I order the lycan.

"Y-Yes, Master," she replies emotionlessly but still in pain.

I fly off towards the left ship and as I circle it, I launch darkfire dragons at it setting the ship on fire as they explode on the poor buggers. The flames quickly eat through the ship reducing it to ash and anyone it touches. The crew that can fly take off and head back to the bay, most likely to warn their leader, but those who couldn't jump over board, taking their chances with the sea than with the flames.

I head back to the ship and watch as Luna and Selene fire balls of magic that detonate upon impact blowing holes in the other ship sinking it quickly.

I revert back to my human form and stretch my limbs. "Well, these pirates have royally pissed me off, so I have two options: one, I destroy the entire bay and all the scum within it. Or two, I convert the pirates into demons and claim the bay for Tartarus," I suggest to the others as they gather around.

"You want to WHAT!?" Shining yells in disbelief.

"Burn the bay down?" I reply with a raised brow.

"I think he means the conversion option, darling," Desire tells me with a smile.

"Oh, what's so surprising about that? It'll increase my forces and give us a safe haven here for when or if we return," I tell Shining.

Scarlet walks onto the deck dragging a few corpses with her. "Found these blokes below trying to tie up some of the passengers, so I killed the buckers. What do you want me to do with them, Sir?" she says and asks me.

"Toss them overboard," I reply and walk over to the body of Blackhide and place my hand on his still warm back.

"What are you doing?" Ironhoof asks me in confusion. I'll ask him who the minotaur next to him is later, so far he seems docile enough.

I ignore him and pour my energy into the body which begins twitching. After a few seconds he jolts awake and coughs violently.

"Sweet Celestia! You can revive the dead!?" Shining asks in shock while the hole in Blackhide's head is still there.

"Sort of, he's now an undead ghoul. His body is still a corpse, Using Thanatos' soul manipulating abilities I bound his soul to his body and he will serve me until I release him," I reply. I hate making ghouls but having him alive... ish, will help me convince the Pirate King and his pirates to be converted into my demons or be destroyed.

Some of our crew wince or grimace while one throws up over the railings. "Undead? You mean like a zombie from those cub comics?" Jock asks me while eyeing the still twitching Blackhide warily.

"Well, almost. He's not a mindless brain hungry monster, but he has no choice but to obey me," I reply and slap Blackhide on the back of his head. "Wake up already," I tell him and he shakes his head before looking around.

"The cluck is going on!?" the undead gryphon asks with wide eyes and looks around. "What happened to my ships!? My crews!?" he demands and then spots me.

"Well, I had them all killed," I reply and cross my arms. "You brought it upon yourself when you ordered them to take us," I tell him coldly.

"You filthy piece of yak shit!" he roars angrily at me and I smirk as he tries to swipe at me, only to freeze and convulse in pain from the demonic energy I left in him as it tortures his soul for attacking his master.

I lean down and grip his throat as I pull him up off the deck and dangling in the air. "Your first order is to get us into Skullcove so I can talk to this... Pirate King of yours, think you can do that?" I ask him.

His eyes glow red and he goes limp. "Yes, Master..." he replies lifelessly.

"Good," I say and put him down. I then look to the lycan who doesn't appear to be in much pain anymore but her wounds are still healing. I let her have her free will back and she gasps before looking at her claws covered in blood.

"So, how do you feel, Miss Goldfur?" I ask her and she looks up at me fearfully.

"W-What did you do to me!?" she yells shaking in place while backing up a couple of steps.

"You're now my newest demon, a lycan. You will obey my orders and be treated fairly, or refuse and I strip you of your free will again, understood?" I reply and tell her.

She looks back to the ship she was on and at the corpses strewn about, mostly the ones dismembered and gutted by her. She then looks back into my cold gaze and gulps before nodding quickly.

I smile and pat her on the head. "Good girl," I say and look at the others. "Get this ship over to Skullcove now, we have a King to visit," I tell the crew who quickly get to work.

“Damien,” Shining says getting my attention. “Fluttershy’s pet Angel was injured trying to protect her and my sister, he needs medical attention,” Shining tells me but looks unhappy with what I have planned for the bay.

“Thank you for informing me, I’ll go and see what I can do,” I reply and head below deck.

Author's Note

Part 3 next, Skullcove Bay is in for a surprise!

Also lycans! Werewolves who stay in werewolf form permanently.

Also what kind of demon do you think a zebra would be?

Chapter 28: Skullcove Bay Part 3

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 28: Skullcove Bay Part 3

I head below deck and to my cabin while the Captain and crew continue towards the bay. Once I arrive I try to open the door only to find it's locked.

I knock on the door firmly a few times. "Twilight? It's me Damien, open the door," I call out to the occupants.

I hear a gasp and something being moved before the door opens with Twilight standing there with a sword in her hands.

"Damien!" she shouts and hugs me. "What happened? A gryphon and zebra wanted to take us, something about selling us as exotic slaves..." she tells me with tears in her eyes.

I pat her on the head gently. "Don't worry, it's all taken care of now," I reply and look to Fluttershy and Angel. The hellhare is breathing heavily with a blood soaked cloth pressed to his side.

I gently pry Twilight off me and walk over to the distraught thestral. "He'll be fine, Fluttershy," I tell her and take the demonic rabbit from her. I remove the cloth and grimace as the wound is deep, a lesser demon won't survive this for long even with extra energy to help the healing process. Seems like I have no choice but to make him at least a deamon to save him, but will he survive the process?

"Stronger... make, me... stronger!" the hellhare tells me with a look of self hatred in his eyes.

But then again, with the willpower he seems to have he might just survive it. "Are you sure? There's a high chance you may not survive the amount of energy I'll have to give you," I warn him.

His eyes harden as he grins. "I... risk it," he replies, determined to go through with it.

I glance at his owner who's silently crying with Twilight hugging her.

I frown and look back to the hellhare with respect for his resolve. "Very well," I reply and place my hand on his back before pouring my energy into him with the goal of making him a deamon.

Unlike last time where he withstood the pain easily, this time he screams loudly as his bones and muscles grow again making him now six foot three inches tall, he retains his general shape but his eyes look sharper and bone seems to grow out of his skin into what look like plates across his shoulders, forearms, back and chest. His horns grow longer as well as his claws.

The wound closes until all that's left is a furless scar. It also seems he has passed out from the pain as well.

"Angel?" Fluttershy asks weakly with tears still streaming down her face, the hellhare that once was small enough to hold is now taller than her.

I keep my hand on him and feel the energy flowing through him. It's stable and he's now a deamon. "Relax, he just passed out. The wound has healed and he's now a deamon," I tell the thestral and stand up.

I walk over to the two pirate corpses and drag them out of the room while Twilight continues to soothe Fluttershy.

Walking up on the deck I see Shining giving Kira a slight glare while Ironhoof is talking with the other minotaur who looks unsure about something. Reaching the rails I toss the bodies overboard and then walk over to the others.

"Alright then, let's get ready to go so Jock and the crew can leave," I announce and turn to the gryphon captain. "Jock, I'm taking the smaller ship, get whatever you need from it and then get going," I tell him and he nodded before ordering his crew to transfer the cargo and food over.

He then turns to me with a smile. "Thanks for protecting us, even if it doesn't mean much to you," he tells me.

I chuckle before leaving to make sure we have everything we need.

It takes an hour to move everything and it appears there's a commotion happening at the bay. I pinch a spyglass from one of the crew and look to see figures running about manning cannons and ballista on top of the natural rocky wall surrounding the bay.

I scoff and look to the others. "Desire, Selene, and Luna, come with me and destroy those cannons and ballista, leave the ones manning them alive for now," I tell them.

Desire jumps happily at the chance to destroy them while the sisters merely nodded.

"What about us?" Ironhoof asks gesturing to himself, Kira, Scarlet, Shining, and the minotaur.

"Get the smaller ship ready for us to pull to the bay," I reply and take off with the others close behind.

It takes a few minutes but we reach the bay and look around from the air; most of the buildings are made from wrecked ships or small shacks. The pirates here look up at us with scowls and a few fearful after witnessing what we did to their ships.

"Desire with me, Selene and Luna take the left side!" I order them and we split up.

I use my darkfire to melt the cannons while Desire throws energy blades at the ballista, cutting off their bow limbs and ropes. We meet the sisters at the middle of the bay and look at our handy work; all of the artillery defences have been destroyed so we head back to the smaller ship while Jock is sailing away towards Talonsport on the larger ship.

"We all ready then? The moment we land, there will be a fight. Gather some planks and nails to build makeshift shields since they have bows, just an arrow to your heart is enough to kill you, so I want you all prepared for a long fight," I tell them seriously.

They do so without question as Shining rips the deck apart bare handed and lines the boards up into crude shields, Ironhoof and Scarlet hammer nails into the boards to keep them together along with grips from the door handles below deck to hold them. Shining and Twilight then use their magic to fashion crude iron armour from whatever metal they can get on the ship for Ironhoof for added protection as he'll be our meat shield. Doesn't look very flattering but it'll protect his torso and head.

It takes ten minutes but they all apart from me, Desire, and the alicorns have wooden shields.

"Alright, We'll pull the ship to port, the moment we land, I want you, Blackhide to guide us to this Pirate King's place," I say and then order the ghoul.

"Fine, it's the largest ship in the bay at the very back," he replies angrily that he can't even resist.

"Then let's go say hello," I say with a grin before taking off with my wife and the alicorns, pulling ropes attached to the ship towards the bay.

What greets us is a large group of three-hundred or so pirates all armed with weapons, both blades and bows.

"Well well, what do we have here?" I taunt and land on the dock of the bay. The others disembark from the ship where Desire is beside me while Twilight and Fluttershy hide behind Angel, Selene, and Luna. Ironhoof, Scarlet, the submissive looking minotaur, and Kira are behind me while Shining is beside his sister with a plank shield and a sabre in his hands.

"You will pay dearly for destroying our ships!" one of the pony pirates tells us.

I laugh at him as Desire speaks up. "Oh stop being such a foal, we left two of them intact!" she replies and huffs.

"Keep your muzzle shut wench!" a gryphon tells her, making me stop laughing and glare at him.

I launch a tendril at him with my left hand and choke his neck before pulling him to me and punch into his gut with my right. I grip as much of his innards as possible and rip out a kidney, his intestines and his liver. Some others drop out with them onto the dock planks staining them red as I also drop the guts in my hand.

I growl as I toss the corpse into the sea for the fish and glare at the others who look horrified. "Anyone else wish to disrespect my wife?" I ask them coldly. I ignore the slight moan Desire gives off as she loves it when I kill those who insult her.

About fifty of the pirates with bows aim at us and I just smirk. "Shining, a shield if you will," I order him and he uses both his pony and demonic magic to erect a large pink and red dome around us before the archers let loose their arrows which get deflected easily by it.

"Ironhoof? Which way to the King's place?" I ask the balrog who points to the large gallon at the back of the bay. "I see, care to make a path please?" I order and he grunts with a smirk.

"It would be my pleasure," he replies and places both of his plank shields in front of him. He then roars out before charging into the pirates knocking them easily aside while ignoring the small cuts he's receiving which heal quickly.

We follow behind the balrog as Shining keeps the dome up around us. The pirates try to break through it but don't even leave a scratch, it's so pitiful that none of these races are stronger than a deamon... except dragons and the alicorns.

We just casually stroll through the bay where the pirates are shouting at us and still trying to at least scratch the shield, the sound of a cannon going off echoes throughout the bay as the shield cracks from the cannonball's impact.

Twilight then adds her magic to the shield adding more red along with a purple colour swirling in it. The crack repairs itself before another cannon hits.

Ironhoof charges forward and rams into one of the cannon crews and crushes them swiftly, he then drops his shields ignoring the cuts he's receiving from the pirates still trying to take him down as he lifts the cannon onto his shoulder and lights the fuse while aiming at the second crew.

"Oh buck!" one of the other cannon crew shouts as Ironhoof's cannon goes off and destroys the second cannon. He then uses his cannon as a club and whacks a few pirates away from himself before picking up his shields again and making his way back on the path.

Luna and Selene are using their telekinesis to lift up the pirates in front of us before tossing them aside into the others making our path even more clearer.

Shining is beginning to look tired so I give him some of my energy to continue powering the shield. Desire is just giggling as she conjures her double ended throwing knives while casually throwing them into the arms and legs of the pirates. It keeps them both alive to be turned into demons and out of the battle so they won't be pests anymore.

A few unicorns start to use magic to blast the shield but they're still not even denting the barrier, it's rather pathetic to watch really. They'd be a lot more threatening if they used silver weapons... huh, I wonder if Celestia has cannons that fire silver cannonballs? Then shields wouldn't be a match as they'll just break through.

Scarlet is watching her husband push the pirates aside while Fluttershy is riding on Angel's back who's walking on all fours glaring and growling at the nearby pirates as a few darkfire embers huff out of his mouth with each breath he takes. He looks ready to attack at a moment’s notice.

For ten minutes we walk along the path up to the galleon at the back of the bay, most of the buildings here are crudely built homes made from the rotting wrecks of ships or shacks, no shops or even a café anywhere, it’s more like a fortress or base than a town.

I've also had to top up Shining and Twilight's energy now and then to help keep the shield up but we're making progress which is really pissing off these pirates as they can do nothing about it. Blackhide is getting yelled at for betraying them making him grimace and me smile.

Ignoring the shouts and insults we reach the galleon. "Ironhoof, please announce our arrival," I ask the balrog who grins.

"Knock knock," he says and punches the door on the side of the ship inward sending splinters everywhere.

The balrog then grunts as a couple of spears stab him in the legs, the pony and zebra responsible then have their heads crushed together by a pair of large dark blue hands. Ironhoof pulls out the spears and looks ahead to see a large five foot four inches tall deep orange furred gryphon with an eyepatch, a pegleg on his back left leg, jewellery adorning his neck and talons, and he's wearing a tricorn hat and blood red coat.

"What be the meaning of this!? How dare ye attack my bay! I'll have all ya gizzards for this outrage!" he roars out angrily and stands up before drawing a long gem encrusted cutlass.

I frown and walk through Shining and Twilight's shield and pass Ironhoof. I glare at the King as his cutlass has a thin layer of gold and silver on the blade.

"I am Damien Jackson the Overlord of Tartarus, and I'm claiming this bay and everyone in it. You people are familiar with slave trading correct? Then you'll have no objections to me taking you like slaves as well," I tell him and draw my revolver.

"You think I'll let ye jus' waltz in my territory and do as ye please!? I have enough people and firepower to repel the Gryphonian army!" he tells me and starts walking towards me before looking at Blackhide. “And you! How dare ye betray me after I took ya in!” he yells at the ghoul who winces as if struck.

I huff and smirk. "And I have enough power to level this entire area into splinters, ash, glass, and rubble within seconds," I reply and light my right arm with my darkfire.

That just seems to anger the King more as he hobbles towards me, quite amusing watching his pegleg swing out to the side before touching the floor again, looks like a dog lifting his leg to take a piss.

I just raise my revolver and shoot him in the head, the loud bang makes Twilight, Fluttershy, Scarlet, and Shining to yelp in surprise as the King drops dead. Wait, what was his name? Meh, don't care really. I carefully pick up his cutlass as the grip doesn't have silver on it since the hand guard appears to be made of iron and decapitate the King with it. I then clean the blade on his coat before sheathing the cutlass and give it to Desire, it may look gaudy but it'll prove useful if we encounter another demon and my wife can use it to kill them quickly should she need to.

"For me? Oh you spoil me, my love!" she teases and straps the cutlass to her hip.

Lifting up the severed head, I head back out where the pirates are still trying to break through.

"Listen up scum! I have killed your King and now lay claim to this bay and all of its inhabitants. You will all be converted into demons and serve me or I will take the souls of those who refuse! If just one of you runs then you all suffer!" I shout out over the mob who all stop attacking and stare at the severed head of their former King.

I hear Kira whimper as tears flow down her face.

"What's the matter, sweetie?" Desire asks the lycan softly while stroking her head.

"P-Please don't harm my h-husband or pup..." she replies sadly, nearly begging.

"That'll depend if they surrender themselves or not," I reply and look out towards the crowd of pirates. "Well? What'll it be?" I ask them.

One of them panics and tries to run making the others panic as well and dog pile the zebra trying to flee.

"Bring him to me!" I order them and the pirates don't hesitate to throw the zebra in front of me. He's too afraid to even speak as he stares up fearfully at me. I don't say anything as I grasp his left arm and bite down onto his forearm.

He yelps and screams in pain as I convert him, his fur changes from white and grey stripes to dark grey and black stripes, his eyes melt out of his head and a pair of wispy ice blue lights appear in the sockets acting as pupils, his body then shrivels up like he hasn't eaten in a long time and then turns transparent like a ghost. His legs then merge and fade from the knees down, almost looking like a tattered robe. Lastly, his hair and tail look like they’re floating about as if submerged in water.

'Huh, so zebra's are an undead type demon? I guess I'll call them wraiths,' I think to myself and let go of the new lesser demon.

The crowd is dead silent as they all watch fearfully as the ex-zebra gets up and hovers two feet off the ground.

"That's new..." Desire comments and examines the wraith who is looking himself over as well.

I just grin and look at the crowd. "Who's next?"

Chapter 29: Rescue the Elements Part 1

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 29: Rescue the Elements Part 1

"Who's next?" I ask the pirates gathered around with a grin.

The populace of the bay look between me and the newly turned wraith who is still staring at his bony looking transparent hands.

Some of them look like they're about to make a break for it so I speak up. "Remember, any of you try to run and you all die. All I'm doing is turning you into demons, you'll be faster, stronger... maybe smarter," I tell them and look at their expressions. Some still look fearful while others start to look intrigued.

"And what will ye be doin' to us after dat?" a diamond dog asks me.

"You'll follow me and my orders perfectly, you'll all be well treated and better protected then this sack of shit ever could or did," I reply and toss the severed head of the still nameless king at the feet, hooves, and paws of the pirates at the front of the crowd.

They all start mumbling to each other and my patience is wearing thin.

"I'm on a tight schedule here, so ready or not," I tell them and gather almost all of my demonic energy into my right palm. "Desire, this will leave me weakened, I need you to watch over me while I recover," I tell her.

"You know I'll look after you," she replies with a sultry grin.

I chuckle and continue to build up my energy until about ninety percent is gathered, I then release the energy and engulf the entire town and some distance outside it. The pirates grunt and gasp as their bodies absorb the energy and begin to change them into demons, but just like the others I put in the commands to never disobey or betray me within the energy or they'll kill themselves.

The unicorns all turn into succuponies or incuponies while the pegasi become thestrals and the earth ponies into orobas.

The zebra's all turn into wraiths except one male who turns into a skeleton and levitates off the ground, his clothes warp into a long robe and chains wrap around his waist, forearms and across his torso. I examine the new demon and notice he has the energy of a deamon, guess I'll call him a lich then.

I also notice a few more deamons rising from the bunch, one of the lycans has white fur with deep red eyes, is taller than the others by a foot and his claws look sharper as well, could be an alpha lycan.

I raise an eyebrow as the male gryphons change gender as they turn into harpies. I go wide eyed as I forgot about Gilda, I turn around to see she and the minotaur next to Ironhoof are fine behind the barrier Shining and Twilight are still keeping up. With a sigh I stumble from the lack of energy where Desire catches me before I fall.

"Come on, let's get you to bed and I'll sort these pillocks out," she tells me.

I smile and nodded as she pulls me back into the King's place and up into the ship where a large bed in the Captain's Quarters is. She lays me down and kisses my forehead. "Now get some sleep, I'll get this place up and running," she says and taking her advice, I fall asleep.

POV: Dark Desire

After putting Damien to bed, I head back down and glare at the new demons who are examining themselves and each other. Most of the gryphons are freaking out due to their gender change, but they'll get over it once they experience the thrills of being a female.

"Alright you lot, you now take orders from Overlord Damien and me!" I tell them and smirk.

Most of them frown and start yelling at me.

"I ain't taking orders from some wench!" a lesser balrog yells out. He's a foot and a half shorter than Ironhoof, has lighter coloured fur and shorter horns in comparison.

I snarl at him and quickly toss an energy blade at his groin making him howl out in pain as I cut his jewels off.

"Next one to insult me will lose their head!" I tell them all with a frown on my face. "Now then, you are all demons now and will do as you're told, your first order is to release any slaves you have here as they are now demons as well, we do not keep slaves!" I tell them and five of them quickly run off towards a large shack. "Also none of you are allowed to leave town until I or Damien say so! If you try, you will feel pain indescribable!" I then warn them.

"What shall we do?" Luna asks me from behind.

"Keep an eye on them, make sure none of them try to leave town, though I doubt they could with the order I just gave them,"

"W-What shall we do, mistress?" an orobas asks me.

I smirk at him. "I want to know all the resources, food, the exact number of demons here, and what assets we have," I reply. They all just stand there like statues with unsure looks. "WELL!? GET TO IT THEN!" I yell at them making most of them yelp and run off to do as I've ordered.

I notice the lycan we brought with us is whimpering and staring at the demons who are off to do my bidding.

"What's the matter, dear?" I ask her.

"M-May I go see my f-family, m-mistress?" she asks fearful that I might react violently.

I giggle and gently pat her head making her flinch. "Sure, go find them, but don't you dare leave okay?" I reply sweetly.

She nodded and runs off on all fours down the street.

"Well, then. I'd like you all to keep an eye on them all, if they try to retaliate, knock some sense into them. I have to look after Damien while he recovers," I tell the others.

They nodded but I stop Gilda, Fluttershy, Twilight, and Shining. "You four follow me, you're not ready for combat yet," I tell them and then point to Shining and Twilight. "and I'm going to teach you two more demon magic,"

“I’ve been trained to fight, I know how to handle myself,” Shining replies with a frown.

I laugh at him making him snort unamused. “If that were the case then you and your guards would have put up a better fight. No, you are very unprepared, but we’ll fix that in time,” I tell him. “Now come on.”

The three of them follow me inside while Selene, Luna, Ironhoof, Scarlet, and Blackhide wonder off to keep an eye out on the populace. I hear the minotaur talking to Ironhoof before they get out of my hearing range.

Two Days Later
POV: Damien Jackson

I yawn and stretch my arms feeling better and refreshed, I try to get up but I'm pinned down by Desire and Twilight on either side of me both wearing night gowns they bought back in Horseshoe Bay.

I smile at them and then smirk, I really need to use the restroom so I slap my hands on their rears and squeeze hard. Desire moans deeply and wakes up while Twilight yelps and gasps in surprise, but her left leg wraps around mine while her face turns red.

"You're finally up! You should know better than to keep a mare waiting!" Desire tells me and latches onto my face and feeds off me for a few seconds.

She lets go with a sigh and licks her lips. "That's better, but you'll need to top us off in a few more days," she tells me before Twilight lunges forward and kisses me aggressively.

Desire giggles while Twilight moans and keeps going. "She's been getting hungrier and hungrier while you were out, she's close to getting lust hungry again so you may have to feed her tonight," my wife tells me while Twilight backs off and buries her face into my chest.

"I see, so how have the new demons been adjusting to their new bodies?" I ask Desire.

"Oh not so bad, some have killed themselves, mostly the harpies who used to be male," she tells me. "but other than that, they've obeyed my orders to the letter. I've also got a list of resources and assets the town has," she tells me as Twilight continues to hug me.

"Good, I want to know what we're leaving this town with, we just need to find someone to leave in charge while we take Gilda back to her hometown," I say and gently pry Twilight off me who whimpers sadly from the lack of contact.

"I've got someone in mind," Desire says and gets up as well.

I look outside and notice it's not even morning yet. "How long was I out this time?" I ask.

"Nearly two days, you really used a lot of energy this time, you covered the entire bay along with a good mile out as well, We've got some demonized wildlife showing up showing similar signs of intelligence just like Fluttershy's hellhare," my wife tells me.

"Wildlife? What kinds?" I ask as I get dressed in a new pair of dark blue trousers and a red shirt, seems Desire stripped me out of my clothes while I slept.

"Well, there's been three bears, two pythons which show signs of becoming naga if the arms they're growing are any indication, multiple birds that all seem to have grown in size with sharpened talons and beaks, ten foxes that have nine tails and seem to be able to use magic. There are plenty more but I think the giant octopus in the bay happens to be the biggest of the lot, Fluttershy is surprisingly able to command them and they've taken a liking to her," she informs me with a smile.

A giant octopus? Damn, seems we have our own version of a kraken. "Very well, I'll see what we have and decide on where to go from there. How's Shining and the others been?" I ask her.

"Oh he's doing well, he's still feeding from Gilda and Ironhoof has convinced his brother to become a balrog as well. Luna and Selene have been together the whole time still talking to each other and Luna is ready to bring her student here when you're ready to provide the energy needed to teleport him from Canterlot," she replies and changes into her short black pants and white shirt. "Oh, and Blackhide's body finally broke down and he's dead again.”

Twilight has remained quiet and has gotten dressed in a deep blue pair of trousers and a dark purple shirt with holes in the back for her wings. She glances at me before looking away shyly twiddling her thumbs.

"Twilight? Is something the matter?" I ask her.

Desire giggles and walks over to Twilight and hugs her. "Well, go on darling, ask him," she tells the purple girl.

I frown and raise an eyebrow. "I-I-I... I just w-wanted to know if w-we are in a r-relationship together since we... mated," Twilight asks avoiding eye contact with me.

"What she means is she wants to be with us, she's never had a coltfriend before and she likes when you hold her, but she's not sure if you only just fed her or if there's more between us. She's actually been fretting over it after you fed her," Desire tells me.

"Oh?" I walk over to them and look down to Twilight who is still looking away. "So, if you could, you would like to be one of my wives?" I ask her calmly. She doesn't answer so I lift her chin so she has to look at me. "Well?" I ask her making her stare into my eyes.

"I... I don't know... I feel safe w-with you and despite your violent moments, y-you've looked after me and Fluttershy. But I'm terrified what my friends will think or say... or Celestia..." she replies on the verge of tears and hugs me again.

"It's your eternal life, you decide what to do with it. If your friends scorn you for your choice, then they were never really your friends. I certainly wouldn't mind a smart girl like you being with us, you're charming, beautiful, and you are the only one so far to see reason and talk with me instead of trying to kill me," I tell her and stroke her left cheek with my right hand.

She closes her eyes and nuzzles into my hand before sobbing and gripping me tightly with her head buried into my chest.

"Why did this all have to happen?" she asks in between sobs. "Life was simple, I was learning about friendship, new magic, and getting closer to my friends... then you show up and throw everything into chaos! And now I find myself unable to stop thinking about you! Even though you injured Celestia... turned me, Fluttershy, my brother, and Princess Luna into demons... took me away from my friends and family for my own protection, I just can't see myself being separated from you and Desire anymore!" she yells at me before crying again and thumping lightly on my chest to vent her frustration.

Desire walks up behind her and sandwiches Twilight between me and herself. "It'll be okay, Twilight," she tells the upset succupony reassuringly.

We just continue to hug each other for a few minutes before deciding it’s time for breakfast. I quickly find a restroom and relieve myself and wash up before joining the others below for our morning meal.

During breakfast a flash of green light fills the room and a scroll drops to the floor.

Twilight, now in a slightly better mood levitates it up to her face and opens it. Her eyes widen as she reads the letter and gasps. "Celestia is taking the other Elements and Spike to Canterlot to be cleansed of any demonic magic after meeting with you... the letter stops mid sentence," she says with a dead look in her eyes. "She's planning to kill them..."

I frown at the news, damn bitch is getting out of hand... the only way I see to stop her from this is to get Selene and Luna to teleport us to Canterlot to retrieve the other Elements and this Spike before they're killed. "Then let's go get them, we were planning to get Luna's student anyway, might as well get your friends as well," I say and get up from the table.

Twilight's expression hardens and she nodded to me before we head out the door to find Luna and Selene.

After ten minutes looking for them we find them sitting on the left side of the Bay's cliff looking over the sea. "There you are, we're heading to Canterlot now," I tell them sternly as we land next to them getting their attention.

"Now? Is there a problem, Sir Damien?" Selene asks me.

"Twilight received a letter from Spike explaining that Celestia is planning to execute the other Elements and him because she thinks they have demonic energy in them from coming into contact with me," I reply and turn to Luna. "We can pick up your student as well while we're there," I tell her, she frowns and nodded in reply. "Twilight, head back and let the others know where we're going and what we're doing," I tell her.

She looks sad but nodded. "Don't you dare die after what we went through this morning..." she tells me and flies off back to the bay.

I watch her go and turn back to Luna. "Let's go," I say and she nodded again.

Selene and Luna hold hands and their horns glow brightly, I hold their free hands and channel my energy into them to help power up the spell. Desire hugs my back and after a few seconds the spell is cast and a disorientating feeling washes over me.

Once it dies down, I look around and see we're back in Canterlot, more specifically the Castle's courtyard.

"Selene, Luna, find the Elements, Spike, and your student. I'll distract Celestia. Kill any guard who gets in your way, don't hesitate," I tell them and Selene nodded but Luna looks unsure.

"Very well, Sir Damien. We shall find them and meet thee back here," Selene replies and flies off.

"Please don't kill or seriously harm our sister," Luna asks me and then takes off after her other half.

I glance around and see the guards staring at us in surprise for a few seconds before drawing their weapons and charging at us, fortunately they don't seem to have silver weapons.

"This would be a good time to try out that new sword of yours, my dear," I say to my wife and she smiles as she draws it from her hip.

"Don't mind if I do!" she replies and flies up and over one of the guards while impaling him in the neck quickly before landing and running off quickly towards another guard.

I summon Thanatos and twirl it around for a few seconds until the first guard is in range. I then strike, slicing the guard in two from the waist and grin. "Time to teach miss royal pain in the ass some manners," I say and charge at the next guard blocking my path to the Castle doorway.

Chapter 30: Rescue the Elements Part 2

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 30: Rescue the Elements Part 2

POV: Selene Nocturne

Luna and I fly over the city and use our magic to try and pinpoint the elements location, I locate them just outside the city near the main gate of the mountain. "Sister, we have located them, we shall retrieve them whilst thou retrieves thy student!" I tell her getting a meek nod in return. "Thou knowest this to be right, sister. Should the Element Bearers perish, Equestria shall be vulnerable."

"We know, but we still think that there is a better way..." she replies and takes off towards Celestia's school.

I turn back to the location of the Elements and start flying over to them and conjure two swords made from my alicorn magic. After a minute of flight some pegasi guards intercept me and I frown in determination.

"Forgive us," I mutter and increase my speed catching the guards off guard and slice through one of them cleanly. Her lower half falls to the city below along with her intestines while she continues to hover for a few seconds staring at her missing half before dropping out of the sky as well.

"Damn you, Nightmare Moon!" a stallion yells before thrusting a spear at me.

The use of that name I hate so much makes me growl viciously and roar out in anger, I teleport behind the guard responsible and impale him in the back six times before decapitating him. "Never call us by that name again! We art Selene Nocturne!" I yell out and start blasting each guard with a mix of alicorn and demonic magic around me.

Body parts get blown off in my rage as the guards drop from the sky one after the other with panicked screams from the ponies below as the gore splatters around them, I then send out a sphere of magic around me pushing the remaining ten guards away from me and bolt towards the Elements as they may execute them in panic.

I see the carriage carrying them and land heavily on the unicorn guard to the right, killing him instantly following it up with a lunge with both my swords into the two pulling the carriage.

The last two guards draw their weapons but I don't give them a chance as I blast each of them with a beam of magic each, vaporising their heads off.

I catch the carriage with my magic before it could roll down the steep road, I then open the door and gasp at the condition the mares are in.

Rarity's horn has three inhibitors fused into it, Rainbow Dash has had her wings plucked of every feather with a lifeless expression on her face, Pinkie Pie's arm's have been broken and tied behind her with her hair straight and dull while Applejack has had both her legs broken. All of them have been tied up tightly as well. Spike has a muzzle over his mouth and a collar with needles almost piercing his now scaleless neck as well as chains tying up his arms and legs.

"By the moon, what have they done to thee..." I mutter and they all glance at me, each with defeated expressions.

"Luna?" Pinkie Pie asks weakly.

"Nay, tis us, Selene. Luna, Damien, Desire, and us hast come to rescue thee after receiving Spike's letter," I reply and use my magic to remove their bindings.

"What's the use... I'll never fly again..." Rainbow Dash says emotionlessly as her featherless wings wrap around her where she hugs them before breaking down into tears.

Pinkies arms are limp at her sides with a pained expression on her face, while Rarity can no longer use her magic as removing the rings will cost her her horn.

"How could the Princess do this ta us?" Applejack asks trying not to move her legs.

"Our sister is not sound of mind right now, she is being manipulated by a demonlord named Tirek we battled millennia ago. She believes ye art tainted by demonic magic and needed to be purged, so we hast come to take thee back with us," I reply and close the door. "Brace thyselves, we art heading to the Castle and shall await for Damien and our sister Luna to arrive with her student," I tell them and levitate the carriage off the ground.

More guards start to arrive so I stand on the carriage and use my left hand to focus on the levitation spell while using my right to blast the guards with beams and bolts.

'We need to get them to Damien, only he can restore them to full health,' I think to myself and head back to the courtyard.

POV: Luna Nocturne
Moments after separating

I fly over to my sister's school but stop as a few pegasi guards fly up to block me.

"Let us pass, we just wish to collect our student without bloodshed," I tell them but they all frown at me.

"You shall not harm the foals, Nightmare Moon!" a mare wielding a bow states making me wince at the name and shoots an arrow at me, I use my magic to catch the arrow and snap it in two.

"Please, we dost nary wish to fight," I plead with them but my plea fall on deaf ears.

Four guards charge at me and I frown sadly. 'Remember, tis to aid our sister,' I tell myself and teleport behind the mare and grab her in my magic and knock her out. "Sorry," I tell her and cast a slow fall spell on her making her drift slowly to the ground.

I flap my wings to avoid being run through by a spear and cast a concussive blast of magic to knock the stallion out and then cast a slow fall spell on him.

I repeat this for the last seven guards but slap myself for my stupidity. 'We canst just teleport to the school,' I tell myself and teleport to Dusk's room.

I spot the colt sitting on his bed crying with what appears to be magical bindings around his arms and legs, his inhibitor ring has also now been fused into his horn. I frown sadly at the colt as he's done nothing to deserve this.

"Young, Dusk. We hast come to rescue thee," I tell him getting his attention.

"W-Who are you?" he asks me fearfully.

"Tis I, Princess Luna. We've come to take thee away from here before our sister does something she'll regret," I reply and quickly remove his bindings.

"Princess? W-What happened to you?" he asks looking at my draconic like wings.

"We've been infused with demonic energy to restore our lost power, remember the two demons thou summoned?" I ask him and he nodded. "They art here to rescue some friends and we've come for thee," I tell him and pick him up.

He starts crying again and hugs me. "I thought you left me here... Just like everypony else," he tells me, which makes me hug him as well.

"We wouldst never abandon our student, tis just our sister is losing herself to the influence of another. Hopefully Sir Damien canst make her see reason," I reply and teleport us to our other half.

Once my vision returns, I'm sitting in a carriage with the Elements but gasp as I see their condition. "By our stars, what has happened!?" I ask them.

"Selene? I thought you were outside?" Pinkie asks me as I can hear the sound of magical blasts outside.

"Tis us, Luna. Our sister is outside correct?" I ask them and they nodded. I hand the colt to Rarity to look after. "Please keep our student safe whilst we aid our sister," I ask her.

"Very well, Princess," she replies and sets the colt onto her lap.

I open the door and fly out and join my sister on the roof. "Sister! We hast retrieved our student, make haste to the courtyard, we shall erect a shield to protect us!" I call out to her and she nodded as I cast a powerful shield around us. Selene levitates us to the courtyard where the sounds of an intense battle within the Castle can be heard.

POV: Damien Jackson
Moments after separating

I cleave through two guards and use my darkfire to blow down the main door of the Castle. Once that's done, Desire and I rush past the guards and into the Castle proper, I can feel Celestia's power just ahead of us.

"Desire, I'll deal with Celestia while you seal off the room and deal with any guards who get in our way," I tell her.

"Okay," she replies and again I blow the doors leading to her royal highness down.

I can see her sitting on a throne with a surprised expression on her face. "YOU! How did you get here undetected! I would have sensed a foul demon like you coming from a mile away!" Celestia yells in anger upon seeing me.

"You don't need to know that, I did warn you what I would do should you continue to attack us," I reply and take on my demonic form.

Celestia actually growls at me and summons a large greatsword made of silver along with silver armour as well. I use my improved speed to appear in front of a guard and headbutt him hard, knocking him out while I claim his sword and shield and turn back to face Celestia.

"You dare harm my ponies in front of me again!?" she roars out and charges at me.

"That's rich considering you were planning to kill your own people due to your paranoia," I reply and block her swing.

I grunt as she's hitting a lot harder than the last time I fought her, I retaliate with a thrust of my longsword which is deflected by her armour.

"I'm prepared for you this time, demon," she tells me and swings her sword again, I block it but get sent back stumbling a few metres.

'Dammit, at this rate I'll have to use my souls to get stronger,' I think to myself.

'Master, if you use the soul of Val'hades, we'd be strong enough to resist even the silver of her weapons and armour for a few minutes, but this will burn up the strongest soul we have,' Thanatos tells me.

I frown as I block another heavy hit from Celestia. 'Do it!' I tell him.

I roar out and feel a burst of power and energy flow through me as Val'hade's power courses through my veins. My purple skin is replaced by darkfire and my hair starts whipping around as if I was standing in a tornado, a third pair of shadow wings bursts out below the second and another pair of shadow horns grow out the sides of my head like a rams. My eyes then turn completely red and my teeth lengthen as well.

My vision is sharper and my hearing is exceptional, I feel stronger, faster, and the world around me seems to have slowed down a bit. Although I can feel the power slowly waning so I have to be quick about this.

"Let me show you why I am the Overlord of Tartarus!" I yell out at Celestia.

I burst forward and summon Thanatos to my right hand, once in range, I swing forcing Celestia to lean out of the way, but my blade clips her chestplate and rips a large tear into it. I hear Thanatos grunt but quickly recover as I swing again tearing off her left pauldron.

"Impossible!" she yells stunned that my weapon is affecting her armour.

I ignore her and swing again slicing her sword in half, silver may be a demon's weakness, but it's still not as strong as my scythe.

Twisting my body I slice off her left forearm protector which also just cuts her arm, she hisses in pain and fires a blast of magic at me, I deflect it with Thanatos and tackle her into her throne which bends backwards from the force. I grip her neck and toss her into the far wall and then dash towards her while carving off her armour.

She hates us demons so much? Then I'll just turn her into one once I've removed all the silver from her! Maybe that will remove Tirek's influence and I can use the Tartarus Gate here to get home.

She still has her boots and leggings on which I start slicing apart, she's covered in cuts but those will heal once I turn her into a demon.

I'm tackled away by a guard who then screams as the darkfire covering me engulfs him and turns him into ash quickly. I get up to see Celestia stumble out of the hole in the wall as pieces of her armour fall off leaving her in tattered clothing exposing parts of her chest.

"And where do you think you're going!?" I ask her and dash towards her.

Her eyes widen and I see her horn glow which I quickly grip with my left hand and she screams in pain as her horn begins to melt, I then cut it off at the base with Thanatos cutting her off from her magic.

I then tear off the last of her silver armour and then wrap my arms around her body, fear is in her eyes as she looks into mine. I then open my mouth and sink my inch long teeth into her neck.

Her screams amplify as I pour a heavy amount of demonic energy into her, her feathers fall out and turn to ash as membranes grow in their place. Her mane and tail change from an aurora colouring into blazing infernos like flares from the sun itself. Her missing horn regrows and bends upwards to give it a slight curve and a lethal looking tip.

Her muscles are now more defined and her hips and chest expand an inch, teeth like a human’s replace her flat ones and her eyes turn orange and slitted. I then add commands making her one of my loyal demons, as a precautionary measure while overwriting Tirek's.

I release her and she drops to the ground unconscious with my mark now on her neck, I still feel power flowing through me and look back to Desire. An idea comes to mind, instead of wasting the rest of this energy I'll give it to Desire and turn her from an archdemon into a demonlord as well.

"Damien?" she asks me cautiously.

"Prepare yourself, my dear," I tell her and open my mouth as I walk over to her.

Her eyes widen and a smile forms on her face as she figures out what I want to do. She leans her head to the side as she drops the corpse of the last guard in the room and pulls her hair away.

I wrap my six wings around her and bite down into her neck. She hisses in pain but moans as well as I flood her full of the remaining energy.

Her horns move down her forehead and fuse together before lengthening and curling slightly back. Her wings grow larger and her tail shrinks down and hair grows out of the stump into a dark blue tail. Her muscles also get more defined as the change finishes.

I release her and look her over as I'm now back to my normal demonic form. She looks just like an alicorn demon now. I may have lost the strongest soul I had, but I've gained a stronger wife and now a new alicorn demon in my ranks.

"Ohhhh, I feel so gooooood~, so powerful!" she says and kisses me roughly.

"Good, grab Celestia and let's go," I tell her.

"Grab her? We taking this skank back with us?" she asks me incredulously.

"She's now under my influence, so now she'll see reason and stop acting like a paranoid bitch," I reply and head towards the door with Thanatos in hand. I watch as Castle staff run around in a panic.

Desire grumbles and hoists Celestia over her shoulder before following me out the courtyard where I see Luna and Selene casting a shield over a carriage as some guards are attacking them. I guess the Elements, Spike, and Luna's student are in it.

"Luna! Selene! Prepare the teleport spell!" I call out to them and they look towards me as well as the twenty-four guards trying to break down the shield.

"Sister!" Luna calls out seeing Celestia's unconscious body.

"She's alive, now get the spell ready!" I tell them as both Desire and I slip through the shield and Desire takes over maintaining it.

"Halt! Release the Princess demons!" a guard yells at us which we ignore.

Luna and Selene place their hands onto the carriage and after a few seconds of charging up the spell with the aid of my energy, we teleport back to Skullcove Bay.

Luna and Selene fall to their knees panting for breath as I look around and see we're in front of the king's ship. Many demons look at us in surprise but Twilight and Fluttershy rush out of the ship and Twilight gasps at seeing Celestia.

"Oh my gosh! What happened!?" she demands and flies up and checks her mentor over.

"I did what was the most logical choice, I turned her into a demon and in doing so, removed Tirek's influence," I reply and jump off the carriage and open its door, Only to frown at the state the girls are in.

Rainbow glances at me and then scowls. "YOU! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" she yells at me and tries to punch me. I don't make any attempt to avoid it as she continuously punches my face. "IF YOU NEVER SHOWED UP THEN WE WOULDN'T BE IN THIS MESS!" she continues yelling before she gets tired and slumps to the floor of the carriage.

"Oh? I never asked to be dragged here," I reply and grip her by her throat and pull her out of the carriage.

"Hey! Don't ya go an' hurt her!" Applejack tells me which I ignore.

I twist Rainbow's head aside and without warning bite her neck making her yelp and try to struggle out of my grip. Membranes grow on her featherless wings and tufts of fur grow out of the tips of her ears, her eyes turn red and slitted and a pair of fangs grow in her mouth. She's now a lesser demon thestral for now.

"There, you have your wings back," I tell the rainbow haired girl and drop her onto the ground.

She grunts in pain and I look at the others. "If you want your wounds healed you'll have to become demons as well," I tell the other three before a little purple and green lizard jumps out of the carriage.

"Twilight!?" he says looking around.

"SPIKE!" Twilight yells and flies down before engulfing the lizard in a tight hug. "Oh, Spike. I missed you so much!" she says and sniffles as she continues to hug him.

"Twilight? What happened to you!?" Spike's asks, his question muffled by Twilight's chest.

She pulls back and while she explains what happened to her, I look back to the other girls. "Well? Do you want to be healed or not?" I ask them, I turned Rainbow instantly because she was pissing me off, I'm giving these girls a choice.

"And be a big meanie like you? No thanks," Pinkie replies with a frown on her face.

Twilight gets up and walks over to the carriage door and gasps. "Oh girls, what happened to you all?" she asks seeing their condition.

"Twilight!" they reply as she steps in and sits down.

"What did you do to me!" Rainbow demands and stands up with a glare on her face.

"I gave you your ability to fly back," I reply coldly and point to her new wings.

She looks back and goes wide eyed at the bat like wings. "Rainbow? Are you okay?" Fluttershy asks her.

Rainbow turns to see her and quickly hugs her. "Shy! We were so worried about you! We heard what happened at your home only to find... well..." she replies and frowns sadly.

"I know..." the timid thestral says as Angel walks over and stands beside her along with a demonic bear which has bone plates over its body like Angel and two demonic nine tailed foxes. I think I'll call them ursinos and kyuubi.

Rainbow then spots them and yelps. "Whoa! What are they!?" she asks and backs away. I notice Angel smirking at her.

"Oh, this is Angel, you remember Angel right?" Fluttershy says pointing to the hellhare.

"Wait... that's Angel? The cute little white fluffy bunny menace?" Rainbow asks while staring at the hellhare.

"I ain't cute and fluffy!" Angel replies making Rainbow yelp and hide behind Fluttershy. I like how he didn’t deny the menace remark.

I chuckle and turn back to the others who are still talking to Twilight. 'This is going to be a long day,' I think to myself.

Author's Note

So? Should Damien turn the other girls? And what would a demonic dragon look like?

Also how will Celestia react when she wakes up?

Tune in next time for anoth...

Also now over 100k words Woot!

Chapter 31: Bad News

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 31: Bad News

Twilight continues to talk to her friends while Spike looks up at me.

"Did Twilight really nearly die?" he asks me.

I glance down at him and nodded, he only reaches my waist in height and seems a bit chubby looking.

"Thank you for saving her, even if she looks different now... she's like a sister to me," he tells me.

"And what do you think of her change?" I ask him with curiosity.

He just shrugs and looks back at Twilight. "She's still herself, although a bit more confident in herself now..." he replies and then looks at me. "Are you really her stallion now?" he asks me.

I grunt in thought and look at Twilight who's trying to use her magic on the three mares still in the carriage, did she really tell him I'm her stallion? "That depends if she want's to stay with us or go back to Ponyville, now that Celestia should be more... calm, I don't think the Element Bearers are in danger anymore," I reply and glance back at Spike.

Spike then looks at Rarity with a sad expression. "I feel so useless, I was helping Rarity make a new dress when the guards just burst in and tried to restrain her, I tried to get them off her but they just threw me into the wall, pulled out the scales on my neck and put that collar on me, I could do nothing as I watched them put those rings on her horn... her screams as they fused them into it... I just felt so..." he says and slumps slightly in depression.

"You felt powerless?" I ask him as I remember that I could do nothing to save Adderine when Stonescale was attacked.

"Yeah, that," he replies and sighs and then winces in pain while rubbing his neck.

"What do you plan to do now?" I ask him, still curious on his thoughts and the fact he's talking to me instead of hating or fearing me is intriguing.

"I... I don't know, I've always been with Twilight, I guess if she decides to keep following you I'll go with her," he replies and winces again.

"Does it hurt that badly?" I ask.

"Yeah, but I'll get over it, they'll grow back... I hope," he says and coughs.

"I might be able to heal it, but you'll end up like Twilight and Fluttershy, you'll become a demon," I tell him and watch as Luna levitates Celestia into the king's ship, followed by Twilight and Selene who are levitating Applejack inside while Rarity and Pinkie Pie walk behind them along with Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and a young nervous looking blue coloured colt. I notice Desire yelling at the demons around us to get back to work or do something productive.

Spike gulps and looks worried as he watches Rarity enter the ship. "Me? Become a demon?" he asks fearfully.

"You've seen Twilight, she's perfectly fine, and her magic has grown stronger as well. She could fight off ten or twenty of Celestia's guards by herself at the same time if she really tried," I reply and then smirk. "Imagine how strong you'll become?" I entice him, I'm curious as to what a demonic dragon would look like. Would he be larger? A wyvern? Or something completely new?

"I'll get stronger?" he asks with wide eyes.

"Maybe, probably bigger too. Why? You interested?" I reply and ask with a grin.

He looks nervous but once Rarity is out of sight he frowns with a determined expression. "I'm always left behind when something happens, if it will help me protect my friends, then yes," he tells me.

I chuckle and kneel down. "Then hold out your forearm," I tell him and he hesitantly complies.

I look at the scales and I doubt I'd be able to bite through them, so I create a needle out of shadow energy at the tip of my right index finger and carefully press it under a scale and pierce the skin underneath. He hisses in slight pain and then gasps as I start pushing demonic energy into him.

He grunts and clenches his eyes shut as his body begins to grow taller, his scales darken to an almost blackish purple and dark green. The fins along his head and back now look like sharp blades, four horns then grow on his head, one on each side of the centre fin and one on each side of his head all pointing behind him.

Spike stops growing once he's three inches taller than me and cries out in pain as two wings burst out from his back and the membranes form. I grin as his muzzle extends with small bone like spikes coming out of his chin and razor sharp teeth that look like they could rip steel apart replace his smaller ones.

His claws lengthen and his muscles grow and bulge showing his new strength. He breaths heavily as the green flames turn into the black and purple of darkfire.

His eye's, though already slitted, turn red and finally the spade like tip of his tail now looks kinda like a battle axe and two one foot long bone like blades come out the back of his elbows. He also has my mark on his arm now and the scales on his neck have regrown.

I pull the shadow needle out of his arm and step back, I feel he is just as powerful as a deamon for now. Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Luna then rush out of the ship with worried expressions before spotting Spike.

"Spike!?" Twilight says and runs over to him.

"Ouch, did anypony get the number of that carriage?" Spike mutters while holding his head with his left hand. His voice is much deeper and he looks older as well.

Twilight then storms over and glares at me. "What did you do to him!?" she demands and I raise an eyebrow at her. She's certainly not afraid to question or yell at me anymore.

"He asked for strength, so I gave it to him," I reply as Spike begins to look himself over, I notice the others staring at him with wide eyes but Rarity has a slightly flushed face.

"You should have told us first!" she then tells me.

"So he's not allowed to make his own decisions?" I ask her.

Her frown lessens and she glances at Spike. "He can make his own choices, but something like this needs to be discussed..." she replies and sighs.

Rarity walks over and coughs politely into her hand. "Mr Jackson? You said you could heal my horn correct?" she asks me.

"Yes, but you'll be a demon like Twilight in the process," I reply with a raised brow.

"I know, Twilight has told me about her new... needs, but being cut off from my magic is a horrid feeling, and without it I can no longer do my work to the fullest of my abilities," she replies and then glances at Spike who's still checking himself over. "Besides, I believe I'll be able to... meet my new needs just fine," she says with a smile. Twilight looks between Rarity and Spike with a confused expression.

"Are you sure? We'll have to cut off your horn so your new ones can grow in without the rings on them," I warn her.

She gulps and looks up to her horn with a sad frown. "I... I suppose it will be necessary," she replies and cringes as she leans her head forward. "Just make it quick please..." she asks a little afraid.

"Oh, Rarity..." Twilight says sadly.

"Desire! Can you come over here for a minute?" I ask my wife who's talking to that lycan I turned on the ship, Kira I think her name is.

She turns around at the sound of her name and smiles at me. "Yes, my love?" she asks and hugs me from behind.

"I need you to make one of your energy blades and cut off Miss Rarity's horn just under the third ring," I tell her making her wince in discomfort.

"Ow, you really want me to do that?" she asks gently rubbing her own horn.

"Yes, if she wants to have her magic back it needs to be done," I reply and stand aside for her.

"Very well. Okay dear, I'm not going to lie, this will hurt a lot," Desire warns Rarity and conjures an energy blade in her right hand.

Rarity is trembling so Twilight and Fluttershy both hug her to help calm her.

"Okay, on three. One. Two..." Desire says gripping the end of her horn while holding the blade just under the third ring. "Three!" And with that she slices off the white unicorn’s horn.

Rarity screams in agony while Twilight and Fluttershy hug her tightly to prevent her thrashing about.

I quickly place my hand on the centre of her chest and begin pouring my energy into her. She grunts and shivers as the stump on her head lengthens into a horn again and then splits down the middle before forming into two new horns which slide up her head and stop beside her ears after curling back.

Her teeth grow two fangs and her shirt bulges as her wings grow under it. Next her chest and hips widen an inch while her tail hair falls off and the stump lengthens with a heart shaped tip on the end.

I stop and pull back so she's just a lesser demon. She pants as Twilight and Fluttershy hold her up, I notice Spike staring at her with a flushed face.

"Oh heavens that felt dreadful," Rarity says and groans in discomfort. "It feels like my clothing has shrunk on me," she then comments and looks down in time to see her shirt rip open leaving her bra covered chest exposed. Spike goes wide eyed as a thin trail of blood leaks from his left nostril.

"Oh, dear..." Rarity says as she covers herself with her arms.

"Desire, take her inside and get her some of your clothes to wear for now," I ask my wife.

"Sure, come on, sweetheart," Desire says leading Rarity and Fluttershy inside the ship. Twilight then turns to me with a frown.

"Why do I get the feeling you'll end up turning all my friends into demons?" she asks me with a frown.

"She asked for it, so far only Pinkie Pie and Applejack have refused, but unless your magic is good at fixing broken bones, I doubt their limbs will ever heal right," I reply and look to Spike. I chuckle as he's drooling while looking towards the ship.

"SPIKE!" Twilight yells at him, making him yelp and look at her.

"What?" he asks her.

"Don't you get any funny ideas mister," she warns him.

"Sir Damien! Our sister is waking up!" I hear Selene or Luna tell me from the ship’s door, hard to tell when they sound practically the same.

"We'll talk about this later, for now let's see if your Princess is sane or still a bitch," I tell her making her huff in anger.

"Don't talk about Celestia like that!" she tells me.

I roll my eyes and head into the ship and follow Luna up to a room where Celestia is slowly sitting up on the bed, I'm surprised her mane and tail hasn't set the room on fire yet.

"Oh I just had the worst nightmare, Luna," she says groggily. She then looks around and sees Luna and Selene as well as me, Desire, and Twilight. "Oh..." she says as tears start forming in her eyes. "it wasn't just a nightmare..." she says and looks at Twilight sadly.

"It wasn't," I tell her harshly.

She looks at me with a frown. "It would seem you have won, Overlord. Equestria is yours now since I suppose I'm now your slave am I not? All Overlords are the same, wanting to rule everything despite the feelings and lives of others," she says to me coldly.

"Oh? I’ve just wanted to get back to my family since I was pulled here, and what of the Elements lives when you had them broken and taken from their homes for 'purification'? What does that make you?" I ask her sternly.

Her eyes widen as if she remembers something. "What have I done?" she asks herself and starts sobbing into her hands.

"Celestia," Twilight says getting her attention. "Damien isn't like the demons you know, yes he killed the guards that attacked him but that was in self defence and to rescue my friends. He's told me what Tartarus is now like and how he's trying to make it a better place... demons aren't all cruel or bloodthirsty, I'm a demon now and I don't have the urge to kill everything in sight... And what about you? Do you feel evil or cruel?" she asks Celestia with a sad frown.

The white mare glares at me again before looking at her sisters and then to Twilight. "No..." she replies and sighs.

"Tirek was manipulating you. I suspect that when Twilight received her element it awoke the dormant demonic energy in the element of magic which you held for so long after his defeat, you've been exposed to it for years and he's been influencing you all that time, it must have started again when you were being so close to it in the Castle," I tell her making her eyes widen. "We purged his energy from it but the damage was done, you were convinced I was evil and well... you know what happened."

Celestia slowly looks at Luna with an expression of regret. "So it's my fault you were forced to endure a millennia of solitude on the moon..." she says and breaks down again.

Luna quickly hugs her and after a few seconds Selene joins in as well.

"We dost nary blame thee, sister. Twas Tirek's foul doing, we art home, and now thou hast been released from his grasp," Luna tells her sadly.

As cute as this reunion is, I still need answers. "Celestia, I just want to get home to my family. There is a gate to Tartarus under Canterlot correct?" I ask her and she frowns at me.

"There... was," she replies and looks away.

"Care to explain?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.

"I destroyed it so the demons couldn't find a way through..." she tells me and I sigh, just great.

"Wonderful, so it seems we'll still need to pass through Gryphonia and the Plaguelands to find the gate there," I say and turn to exit the room.

"Where are you going?" I hear Celestia ask me.

I look back at her with a raised brow. "To prepare for our trip, I still need to escort Gilda back to her home," I reply and leave the ship.

Of course she destroyed the gate, it couldn't have been that easy. I sigh as Desire walks out and hugs me from behind.

"We'll get home, I'm just as worried about Slitherana and our children as you are," she tells me softly making me smile.

"Yeah, well. Let's get everything together so we can get going, we've wasted enough time due to Celestia and these pirates and I know the gryphons are going to impede us," I reply and hold her right hand in my own.

Chapter 32: To Eaglesburg

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 32: To Eaglesburg

The rest of the day is spent packing up supplies and arming the others coming with us with better weapons and some armour.

Pinkie and Applejack are conflicted about what to do, they want to be healed and go home but Pinkie wants to stay with her friends, while Applejack wants to make sure I don't do something stupid, her own words. In the end they decided to tag along but not be turned into demons... yet. It'll only be a matter of time until the pain and uselessness of their limbs will convince them otherwise.

Celestia has been a wreck since I left her with her sisters about what she’s done. The little colt that we took with us from Canterlot has been looking around the town in awe at all the demons, he's still shocked that he's the one responsible for my being here, but he's upset he can't use his magic anymore. I'll let Luna talk to him about if he wants his magic back or not via demonizing.

Before we turned in for the night, Twilight and Desire confront me in the main bedroom of the ship and we all share a night of intense rutting and both mares are well fed for a good week. After the mind numbing sex, Desire is to my left side while Twilight cuddles up to my right side.

"Hmmmm, that was wonderful, my love!" Desire says and kisses my cheek.

"You're welcome," I reply and look at Twilight. "Feeling better?" I ask her. She looks up at me and nodded before frowning in thought. "What's the matter?" I ask her with a raised brow.

"I... I want to go to Tartarus with you..." she tells me and looks away.

"I thought you already were?" Desire asks confused.

"Not just to find Tirek... I-I mean I want to live with you both... I've come to care about you both and... I want to be with you..." Twilight replies with tears in her eyes.

"What about your friends and home?" I ask her.

"I can just visit my home once Tirek is dealt with, and I've known my friends for just little over a couple of months... and while I do care for them, I care for you both and Spike more..." she says and her frown deepens. "Does that make me a bad friend?" she asks quietly.

"Not really. Love and Friendship are two separate things. I'd do anything to make Damien or my family happy before I would a friend. To me, family comes first, and now you're part of that family," Desire replies and leans over my chest giving Twilight a passionate kiss.

I just smile at the sight and rub both of their backs as Twilight returns the kiss.

"We still have a couple of months before we reach the gate, that's plenty of time for you to decide on what you want to do," I tell Twilight getting a smile from her. "Now let's get some sleep, we have a long road ahead of us," I say and yawn as we all settle in for the night.

The next morning arrives and our group now consists of: me, Desire, Luna, Selene, Twilight, Shining -who said he's only coming along to keep Twilight safe-, Spike, Rarity -who after was told about the arachneponies silk and clothing wanted to come and see them-, Rainbow -who stubbornly invited herself along-, Fluttershy, along with Angel, her ursinos she named Harry in honour of a bear she knew, and the two kyuubi she named Yin and Yang. Also coming with us are Ironhoof and his brother, Scarlet, Gilda, as well as three harpies, two wraiths, four lycans, and two of each pony type.

"Do we have everything we need?" I ask my wife.

"Looks like it, enough food for our group for three weeks, tents for everyone, plenty of cookware, and enough gold coins to restock our supplies," she replies.

"Alright, get everyone gathered and ready to go, the sooner we get Gilda home the sooner we can head towards the Plaguelands," I tell her.

"Okay, see you in a bit," she says and kisses me on the cheek.

I wait by the front gate of the port town and look out over the horizon; rocky outcrops litter the landscape along with trees and grassy plains. I take a deep breath of the salty sea air and sigh. I just want to get back home and make sure Slitherana, my kids, and Fel Haven are safe.

After a few minutes later the others show up each with their own bags and gear.

"We all ready to go?" I ask them all.

"Verily, we art ready to proceed onward," Luna replies. I notice Celestia next to her with a frown.

"And what about you?" I ask the white alicorn.

"I'm going to teleport back to Canterlot and let my ponies know I'm alright," she replies and then glares at me. "If I find out you've let my sisters, Twilight, or the others be harmed, I will do all I can to make you suffer," she threatens me.

I just raise an eyebrow at her. "I make no promises, but I'll do my best to make sure they'll be alright," I reply and watch as her horn glows, she's encased in a white light and once it disappears, she looks just like she did before I turned her.

Celestia then turns to the others. "Are you sure about going with him? I can still take you all back to your homes," she offers the girls and Spike.

"Ah'm sure, I ain't leaving mah friends in his hands alone," Applejack says while glaring at me. She's sitting in a cart with the camping gear as she can't walk on her own, though her legs have been splinted and wrapped up in cloth to keep them straight.

"As much as I would like to get back to my boutique, the chance to meet a race that can produce their own silk is too tempting," Rarity tells her.

"I'm sticking with my friends! Besides... I wouldn't be much help to the Cakes with my arms being... floppy..." Pinkie replies sadly. Her arms are wrapped up in two slings under her chest and splinted as well.

"I'm staying with Twilight, she's hopeless without me," Spike says with a shrug getting a slight glare from Twilight and a chuckle from me.

Fluttershy just whimpers behind Angel refusing to look at the alicorn, Angel though looks like he wants to rip Celestia apart if the expression he's giving her is any indication, but he holds his ground.

Rainbow is still glaring at me with her arms crossed. "I'm going to make sure jerkoff here doesn't do anything to my friends, cuz if he does I'm giving him a beating he won't soon forget!" she says making me shake my head. Has she already forgotten what happened the first time we met?

Twilight shuffles on her hooves and then looks up to Celestia's face. "I'm... I'm staying with my mates," she says making Celestia and the other girls go wide eyed.

"Your what?" the alicorn asks stunned.

Desire grins and hugs Twilight from behind. "You heard her, she's now a part of our happy family," the new alicorn demonlord tells Celestia with a shit eating grin before kissing Twilight in front of her.

The others gasp while Twilight just smiles into the kiss. I smile at the two of them and shake my head, seems Desire still wants to rub it in to Celestia for what she did to us.

Celestia watches with a grimace until Desire backs away. "If that is... what you want, Twilight... I'm in no position to judge another for their actions right now," she says and looks at me. "If you harm her or break her heart, I will rip yours out and feed it to you," she threatens me again.

I just huff at her. "I protect my own with my life, she's one of my demons, and now a part of my family. I'll do whatever it takes to keep her safe," I reply and sling my bag over my shoulder.

Celestia narrows her eyes at me and I couldn't care less what she thinks. I make sure we have everything we'll need where Twilight helps me double check everything. Desire is right, Twilight will make a great secretary when we get back, if she decides to really stay with us that is.

I then turn to Desire. "So who did you say you're leaving in charge here?" I ask her.

"Remember that lich?" she asks me and I nodded. "His name is Thin'ta and it turns out he's quite smart and was the quartermaster of the bay. He knows what we have, where it needs to go, and who gets what. So him and a few other deamons will keep the place running for now," she tells me.

"I see, alright," I reply and look to the others. "Okay everyone, we're heading through Gryphonia towards the Plaguelands to find the Tartarus gate there. Once we find it, we either kill its guardian if he or she doesn't let us through, or if they do, we go in peacefully. Then we'll make our way to Fel Haven to make sure it's still standing before beginning the hunt for Tirek," I tell them.

"And how will you fight Tirek? He'll just steal your magic and use it against you," Celestia asks me.

"I have weapons that don't need magic, we'll just kill him from a distance with bullets and cannon fire. Heck, I'll even take back some silver and make some more bullets from it. Besides, a demon can only take another demon's power if that demon willingly gives their power to them," I reply.

She frowns again and I roll my eyes at her. "Erm, Master? What shall we do?" an orobas asks me.

"I want those coming with us to keep an eye out on our surroundings. One harpy will be in the air at all times to scout ahead, you'll then rotate out with each other to rest," I tell them getting bows and nods in return.

I then watch as Twilight gives Celestia a hug, she may be free of the influence and now one of my demons, but I don't fully trust her just yet. Once Twilight lets go of her, Celestia then hugs her sisters before finally teleporting back to Canterlot.

"Now that she's gone, we can get moving. Ironhoof, please pull the cart and be gentle with Applejack, we don't need her any more of a grouch than she already is," I tell the balrog.

He grumbles but his wife jumping up onto his left shoulder and stroking his horns makes him comply, he grips the front bar with his right hand and starts walking forward.

"Ah ain't a grouch!" I hear Applejack yell at me, to which I ignore.

The harpies talk amongst themselves before one nodded and flies above us. The convoy of demons begins their march while Desire speaks to the lich one last time.

"Everything better be running as I've told you by the time we come back, if it isn't I'm going to use your head for a football," she warns him making his ice blue flame pupils widen.

"Of course, Mistress. Everything shall be as you've requested," he replies and bows to her.

"Good~" she says with that smooth tone of hers. She then turns to me and smiles before skipping over and jumping onto my back. "Onward, my love! Home awaits!" she orders me making me raise an eyebrow at her. She's certainly in a good mood today.

I chuckle as I grip her thighs and squeeze tightly making her moan and giggle at the same time before I start walking forward.

Twilight follows behind us and looks a bit upset. "What's the matter, Twilight?" I ask her.

"Oh erm... it's nothing," she replies and straightens out her clothes.

I look over my shoulder at Desire and she smirks. "You know you can tell us, Twilight. You're family now," she tells the purple succupony with a smile.

Twilight looks between me and Desire while I notice the others looking at us. "Well, I... would like Damien to carry me," she replies with a mild blush.

Desire giggles and uses her wings to get off me. I then smirk as I turn to face her and before she could protest, I scoop her up bridal style and kiss her without warning. She yelps and then relaxes before wrapping her arms around my neck.

"Argh, I know you have the hots for him, Twilight, but please don't do that in public," Rainbow says with a sour look on her face.

Desire frowns at the rainbow maned thestral before smirking. "You're just jealous, you probably heard us last night and want some of that action yourself don't you?" she teases her and grins.

Rainbow blushes deeply before growling. "Fat chance! I'd rather have my wings removed than get in bed with that jerk," she replies before flying off but remaining in sight.

"Well that proved one thing," Desire says.

"And that is?" I ask.

"She was listening in on us last night, if that blush was any indication," she replies and licks her lips while Twilight looks like a deer caught in the headlights with rosy cheeks.

I shake my head and keep walking beside the cart. Twilight is still embarrassed as she buries her face into my neck.

"That's so romantic," Rarity says looking at us. "Though you're not exactly Prince Charming, the fact you care about her is still heart warming."

My right brow raises and I just give her a deadpan stare while Desire speaks up. "The cliché of the Prince Charming stereotype is so overrated. Why would I want some prissy spoiled brat when I have my big, strong, and dark demonlord who can crush his enemies with a wrath you've never seen before. Because at the end of the day I know I'm safe knowing that my mate can protect me and punish those that would dare do us harm," she tells the white mare before groaning. "And not to mention he knows how to rut a mare into a puddle of bliss."

Rarity's eyes widen before blushing and then frowns. "Well... be that as it may, it doesn't hurt to show a little class and good manners," she replies while flicking her curly mane out from her face.

Argh, why didn't these girls decide to go home instead! They're going to drive me insane! And I can’t force them or hurt them without Twilight getting upset.

I walk closer to the cart and look at Applejack; she's frowning while glaring at her legs. "You know I can get you back on your feet or er, hooves," I tell her and she just turns her glare to me.

"No thanks, ah'd like to remain a full blooded pony thank ya kindly," she snaps harshly making Twilight flinch in my arms.

"Oh? Even if that means you may never walk or even run right again?" I question her.

She looks away with a look of thought. After a few seconds she speaks up. "Ah'm sure ah'll be right as rain in'a few weeks..." she replies in a more neutral tone.

"Well you better make you're decision soon, if your legs don't heal right by then, I don't think even demonizing you would fix them properly," I warn her before stepping away and taking flight, I need to stretch my wings a bit and clear my head after all that's happened lately.

"Damien?" Twilight says getting my attention.

"Yes, Twilight?" I reply and look at her eyes.

"Is the only option to heal Applejack or Pinkie really by turning them into demons?" she asks me.

"As far as I know, unless you know a pony spell to heal them," I reply and look back ahead.

She shakes her head sadly. "No, we need to be able to see what we're fixing otherwise we'd just end up doing more damage, and piecing back bones from fragments is a long and complicated process that requires surgery and not always effective," she tells me.

"I see, well it's their decision for if they want to stay as they are or get healed," I say.

We remain silent as I fly for a few more minutes before landing next to Desire and I let Twilight walk on her own again. Our group continues to walk for a good four hours before stopping for lunch next to a forest.

Everyone gets something to eat while only Thunderhorn, Gilda, Dusk, Applejack, and Pinkie have some water. It seems Fluttershy has fallen asleep on Angel's back along the way as her demonic animals stay around her, I'll have to ask how she is commanding them when they all have my mark on them when she awakens.

Rainbow and Gilda are talking to each other while Shining is writing a letter to his marefriend back in Canterlot, which Spike sent with his fire. I noticed Rarity staying next to Spike and talking with him which made the dragon happy.

Luna is talking to her student and asking him if he wants to become a demon so he can have his magic back. To which he's not sure of yet.

The other demons kept watch over us as we ate and once fed, we pack up and move on again.

Two Days Later

It's taken us two days but we finally arrive at Eaglesburg just before nightfall. Rarity has started kissing Spike to feed off him and despite Twilight's protests she knows Rarity has to to survive. Spike seems to be very possessive and protective of Rarity now after mutilating a manticore that sneaked into our camp and tried to attack her during the first night. Rarity wouldn't leave his side at all after that, even now she's sitting on his shoulder with her right hand stroking the fins on his head. She's taking to her new instincts quickly and adjusted to it just fine, Twilight has even taught her how to make herself infertile for when the time comes that just kissing alone won’t be enough.

Applejack and Pinkie are getting more and more depressed about their broken limbs as Pinkie is going mad at not being able to do things by herself. I predict she'll be the first to snap and accept my offer at being healed. Rainbow discovered she's slightly faster now than she was before and has been pushing herself over the last two days. Despite being a right cunt, she knows how to fly.

Angel's speech has improved thanks to Fluttershy's tutoring, even the ursinos and kyuubi are showing signs of being able to speak a few words, but not as well as Angel is doing.

Scarlet, Ironhoof, and his brother have been mostly silent during the trip as well as the other demons we brought, seems they're still wary of us and wish not to anger me or Desire. I'm sure they'll lighten up over time.

Twilight has spent most of her time teaching Rarity how to use her demonic energy like she has, while Luna and Selene have been sparring together whenever they could, seems they're very serious about putting Tirek in his place.

Desire has noticed Shining being more intimate with Gilda as they shared a tent together the last two nights, she says he's showing the signs of subconscious possessiveness with her that most incuponies show when hitting puberty for the first time with a female they like and he might react badly if Gilda decides to leave the group once she gets home. I'll be keeping an eye on him then to make sure he doesn't do something stupid or he'll regret.

Spike received a few letters from those in Canterlot and Ponyville. Applejack's family say they miss her while Shining's marefriend Cadence misses him as well but told him to protect Twilight with his life. Celestia even sent a letter letting us know that Canterlot is back to normal and no one suspects her new affliction as she called it. She makes it sound like we're a disease.

Dusk has been helping out Luna with whatever she needed, he still hasn't decided if he wants to become a demon or not yet but it looks like he will soon.

We keep our distance where Gilda sighs while looking at the town. I walk up to her and glance down at her. "So this is where we say goodbye?" I say to the gryphon.

She looks at us and then sighs again. "Yeah... you know what? It was actually pretty fun, wouldn't mind going with you all, but I need to make sure I still have a house here," she replies and then frowns. "Would you mind waiting here? I got a bad feeling about something, I'll be right back after I check it out," she tells us and flies off towards the town.

I yawn as Luna's horn glows meaning she's raising the moon. "Alright you lot! Set up camp for the night, Cut Throat and Helga will take the first watch," I tell them all and they begin setting up camp for the night.

I notice Rainbow has a frown on her face as she watches her friend fly off towards the town.

Author's Note

And they're back on the road! What will happen in Eaglesburg? *shurgs* I dunno... haven't written it yet. :facehoof:

Also Damien x Twilight x Desire clop chapter will be up within 24 hours.

Chapter 33: Jail Break

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 33: Jail Break

"So what do you think?" I ask my wife with her and Twilight sitting beside me under a tree. "Will she stay here or come with us?"

"Hmmm, that depends. We'll just have to wait and see, I think she'll come with us. She's taking a liking to Shining as he has with her," she replies and giggles.

I glance at Shining to see him with a worried expression while looking at the town.

"I suppose so, but if she does, she'll most likely end up as a harpy due to the energy permeating Tartarus," I say and scratch my cheek.

I then look around the camp; to my left I see Twilight reading an old book about night magic that Luna gave her leaning against me. I wave my hand just behind the book, but she's so into it that she doesn't notice, which makes me and Desire laugh a little.

The others are setting up camp for the night and starting a fire pit where three of the pony demons begin making a stew and cooked fish.

The four lycans are patrolling the camp's perimeter while two harpies fly above as sentries to warn us of any danger, the third one taking a break from her last shift on the way here.

Pinkie looks even more depressed at the uselessness of her arms to the point her fur is now a darker shade and her mane and tail are straight flat. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash are trying to cheer her up but its not working, if anything it seems to make her even more upset.

I yawn as I'm starting to get tired, I pull Desire and Twilight closer to me and close my eyes. Twilight yelps slightly from the sudden pull but quickly settles in beside me while Desire giggles and snuggles into my neck.

About thirty minutes later, the food is ready and everyone digs in. Pinkie has to be fed by someone else which again upsets her. Desire gets frisky and takes a large mouthful of stew before kissing me and sharing her meal. Twilight blushes deeply but can't stop looking while I see a few others wince with various expressions.

The moon is now in the sky and the tents all set up. Desire, Twilight, and I get into ours and promptly fall asleep.

The Next Morning

We all get up, have breakfast, and pack up camp. Fortunately none of the townsfolk from Eaglesberg found us nearby. It's now eight-seventeen in the morning, but there's no sign of Gilda yet.

"Do you think she forgot about us already?" Desire wonders while I have a frown on my face.

"I don't think so... I think something must have happened to her, she wouldn't just leave her bag of coins here after we gave it to her. Desire; you, Luna, Selene, and Shining will go into town disguised as visiting unicorns and try to find Gilda, ask around town saying you're her friends and are looking for her," I tell my wife. I then look at Twilight. "Can you cast the illusion spell on others?" I ask her.

"Yes, but I'll need to stay near them for it to work," she replies with confusion.

"Then I want you to cast it on yourself, along with Rainbow and Fluttershy. You three will go into town and buy new supplies while the others are looking for Gilda."

"Erm... okay. What do we need exactly?" Twilight asks me.

I quickly find a piece of paper and a quill and write down a list of food and supplies we'll need.

She looks at the list and nodded. "Alright, shouldn't take too long to find all this," she says and casts her illusion spell, making herself look like a unicorn again.

"Why am I going with her and not the others!? I wanna to make sure G's alright!" Rainbow tells me angrily.

I frown and cross my arms at her. "Because if she is in trouble, you'll cause a commotion and reveal us trying to help her."

She growls at me and huffs aggressively. "Fine! But if she's in trouble I'm saving her, got it!?" she tells me and walks over to Twilight,

I scowl and walk over to her before grabbing the back of her neck and forcing her to look me in the eyes. "You will do as you're told or I will ORDER you to do as you're told! And if you keep being hostile with me, I'll have Luna and Selene teleport you back to Equestria as far as they can, even if it's above an ocean!" I threaten her.

She goes wide eyed and vigorously nodded. "Yes, sir..." she replies and the moment I let go she hides behind Twilight.

"Make sure she stays out of trouble, Twilight. Or I will take away her free will, I will not have her putting us in danger just because of her attitude," I tell the purple mare sternly.

"I will," she replies with a slightly worried expression. She casts the spell on Rainbow and then Fluttershy who kept her distance during my outburst. They both now look like random pegasi.

Rainbow is now quiet but looking both angry and upset, but I don't give a shit what she thinks right now. I meant what I said, she disobeys me and causes trouble, I'll make her like an obedient zombie.

Desire hugs me from behind and giggles. "I love it when you're so dominant," she tells me and licks my left cheek.

A smile spreads on my face and I turn my head to look at her. She wastes no time in kissing me before letting go.

"We'll find Gilda and report back once we know what's going on," she tells me as shining and the two black alicorn twins now looking like random unicorns are ready to go it seems.

"Alright, I'll stay here and keep an eye on the others until you come back," I reply.

With everything settled, they all head towards town in their disguises.

POV: Dark Desire

As we approach the town, it reminds me of what Damien used to tell me about a people on his world called Vikings, the buildings are made mainly from logs and stone with curved roofs and figureheads at the tips. The gryphons walking around look rather unhappy with life and just trudge to their destination.

Shining then looks to the left side of the town. He can probably sense where Gilda is just like I can with Damien.

"You feel she's over there?" I ask him.

He nodded with a frown on his face. "Yes, and I don't know how to describe it... but she feels upset," he replies as his frown deepens.

"Then let's go, I'd rather find her and make sure she's okay before something bad happens. I get the feeling we're being watched," I say quietly to the others.

They nodded and we follow Shining to a building that looks more like a prison or holding area. The walls are lined with barbed wire and a single guard tower watching over the entrance to the barracks looking building.

"She's in there," Shining says unhappily.

I hum in thought and walk up to one of the gryphon guards. "Excuse me, but we're looking for our friend, a gryphoness named Gilda?" I ask him with a flutter of my eyes while Luna and Selene look around the town keeping an eye out.

He looks me over and snorts. "She's been placed under arrest for failure to pay her rent over the last two months, she'll be sent to the mines to pay off her debt tomorrow," he replies and frowns. "I suggest you leave and go back to Equestria, Miss Gilda will be unavailable for quite some time."

Shining growls aggressively making the other guard tense up.

I just smile and nodded to the guard. "Alright, thank you for letting us know," I say to him and turn to the others. "Come on, there's nothing we can do but go home," I tell them.

Shining scowls at me but I slap his head and glare at him. He settles down but still has a frown on his face. We then leave the town making sure we weren't followed and meet back up with Damien.

"So how'd it go? Did you find her?" he asks us.

"Yes, she's been arrested for not paying her rent and is going to be sent to some mines to pay off her debt tomorrow," I reply as Shining flexes his fingers in anger.

My husband frowns and places his right hand on his chin. "I see, then we have two choices. One; we leave her here and continue on," he says getting a growl out of Shining. "Or two; we break her out and possibly make us and Gilda an enemy of the gryphons in the process," he then finishes.

"Well I vote to break her out, I've come to like her and wouldn't mind her coming along with us, she said so herself she wouldn't mind going with us as well," I tell him with a smile.

Selene, Luna, Shining, and a few others agree as well.

"Then it's settled, when Twilight and the others get back with the supplies, we'll wait till nightfall to break her out. I think the best way would be Luna and Shining to go and teleport her out. Shining will locate her and Luna will teleport in to get her and then teleport her back to us. The rest of us will wait outside in the Shadow Realm near the prison just in case they discover you," he tells us.

We wait for an hour as Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy return with bags of food and some more utensils. We let them know what has happened to Gilda where Twilight had to pin down Rainbow Dash before she could zip off into town to bust her out herself.

We spend the day getting ready for the break out, as much as I hate it, I'll be hiding in the Shadow Realm with Damien and Twilight while Selene will be taking Ironhoof and Scarlet into the Shadow Realm. The lesser demons will watch over the camp while we are gone.

We're now sitting behind the Prison in the Shadow Realm where a wraith floats by. I keep my eyes on it as they always make me feel uneasy. The guards are rarely patrolling back here, we've been watching for hours and we have a five minute window every time the guards pass. Speaking of the guards, they now just leave our sight.

POV: Luna Nocturne

I hold Shining Armour's hand and look back to Sir Damien. He nods at me and I let Shining know it's time to start. We exit the Shadow Realm and he walks forward and follows the wall to the right and after a few seconds taps on the wall.

“She’s here behind this wall,” he tells me.

I quickly cast a life detection spell. I can see the outlines of four gryphons behind the wall, one is alone and seems to be lying down, the other three are further ahead and seem to be keeping watch on the first. It would appear we can't teleport in without revealing ourselves to the guards.

I take us back into the Shadow Realm and hold up three fingers indicating the number of guards. Sir Damien appears to sigh and frowns nodding to me again.

We exit again and I tell Shining Armour to put up a shield between us and the guards before casting an illusion spell on us to make us look like a couple of random unicorns. I then teleport us into the room where I see Gilda looking miserable on a straw bed.

"Hey! Who are you!? You're not allowed in here!" one of the guards yells after rubbing his eyes from the light my teleport created.

We don't say a word as Shining Armour places a barrier between them and us which blocks their spears. I quickly place my hand on Gilda's back and teleport us back outside and into the Shadow Realm.

Gilda is looking terrified and clings onto my left arm for dear life while trying to scream which sounds more like a whisper here. Sir Damien nodded and we head back out to the campsite.

POV: Damien Jackson

That went better than I thought, I look back and see gryphons flying about the prison, no doubt searching for us. We make it to the camp without drawing attention to ourselves and exit the Shadow Realm.

"Wow, first time we did something like that without killing anyone!" Desire comments and giggles.

"Y-You came back f-for me?" Gilda asks still trembling slightly.

"Sure, you're our friend aren't you?" Desire replies and hugs the gryphon.

"G!" I hear Rainbow yell and tackle both Gilda and Desire. "Are you alright? You're not hurt are you?" she asks the now confused Gilda.

"I-I'm fine now... but I've lost everything," she says and frowns sadly.

"What did you lose?" I ask her.

She looks at me and sniffles slightly. "My mother's wedding band... they sold it weeks ago when they cleared out my home to pay off the rent I owed. I tried telling them I have the money, but they just didn't care and tossed me in jail before telling me I'll be sent to the mines..." she replies and closes her eyes, she looks like she's trying not to cry.

"What the hell kind of laws has your King made? That's harsh, even compared to Damien's new laws," Desire says with a raised brow.

True, I punish killers and thieves harshly, but missing a payment on your rent? At most you'll be kicked out of your home with some decans for the furniture so you could still eat and look for a new home or find help. But to take everything and then send them to slave away in a mine to pay it off? I would never do that.

"Well don't worry about it. We need to get going and away from here, I don't want the guards to find us and get themselves killed," I say and start packing up my stuff.

The others don't argue and in just thirty minutes we're ready to go.

"Alright listen up! We're taking the long way around the town so they don't spot us. Once we're clear, we shall head straight for the Plaguelands and only go into any town to buy supplies when really needed. We're going to limit our exposure to the gryphons as I recall Celestia warning them about us. So they'll most likely be armed with silver weapons," I tell them and then turn to the harpies.

"I want you all to keep an eye out for any gryphons near us. If you spot one, let us know immediately!" I tell them getting nods in return.

Next I look at the lycans. "I want one of each of you to be at the front, back, left, and right sides to use your sense of smell in case something is hiding or watching us. And to find any wildlife we could hunt for meat."

"Yes, Master," one of the females replies.

"Alright then, let's get moving!" I tell everyone and we start heading off.

Chapter 34: Ambushed

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 34: Ambushed

It takes us a good hour to circle the town while using the nearby forest as cover, we kept our distance as much as we could while Gilda told us what exactly happened with her.

The moment she tried to get into her home, the guards spotted her and just dragged her away to jail. She told them repeatedly that she had the gold to pay her debt, but the guards didn't care at all. Besides, I wouldn't have let her give her gold away anyway, it would most likely go to this greedy King who's bleeding his people dry enough as it is.

"You do realise this means I'm now a fugitive right?" Gilda tells us as we're now clear from the town.

"Better than working in the mines for who knows how long right?" Desire replies. "At least you have all of us to protect you."

"Yeah, G! If those feather brained guards think they can take you away again they've got another thing coming!" Rainbow boasts and pats Gilda on the back.

Gilda smiles at the support she's getting while I just smirk, I’d love to meet this gryphon King and beat some sense into him. I’ve learnt earning the loyalty of your people gets you more than taking what you want from them.

We continue our journey through the forest while everyone seems to be in some sort of conversation with each other. Luna and Selene are talking to Dusk about learning more magic and eventually demon magic when he's ready to turn.

Ironhoof is talking to his brother about what they'll do in the future and possibly bring their family with them if things turn out alright as he pulls the cart with Applejack in it who is cursing at the uneven ground causing her legs to hurt with each bump.

Pinkie is looking even more miserable and looks about ready to cave in to be healed. Though Applejack is still being stubborn.

Twilight and Desire are chatting happily about Tartarus' history while Shining is walking as close to Gilda as he can.

Rarity and Spike are flirting with each other and I guess it will be tonight or tomorrow night that she'll have to feed from him.

Fluttershy is talking to her animals from atop her hellhare, getting them to learn and say new words while Angel is constantly looking around the forest for any threats. He's really taking his role as her guardian seriously now.

The lesser demons are carrying supplies and watching our surroundings for any threats. A harpy suddenly dives down and lands in front of me.

"Master, a squad of thirty gryphons are heading this way," she tells me and I frown.

"So much for getting through here undetected..." I mutter quietly. "Let's pick up the pace and see if we can lose them in the forest, if we can't then we'll have to kill them!" I tell the others and we all start jogging through the forest.

"Sir Damien! We hast a suggestion!" Selene tells me.

"What is it?" I ask her.

"We can cast an illusion over us to make us look like a large boulder. We canst just wait for them to pass and then continue on later," she says.

That could work, and if it doesn't it would give us the element of surprise should we need to attack. "Alright then, do it!" I tell her.

We all move to a clearing and huddle as close as possible together. Selene's horn glows and a thin barrier is now surrounding us. I curiously stick my head through and see the outer shell looks like stone. Luna's horn then glows as our tracks are covered up and a new set continuing on is made. I pull my head back in and just watch as after a few minutes the squad arrives.

"Where did they go?" one of them asks another.

"They couldn't be that far ahead..." replies a female.

"Just keep following their trail, the Captain will have our heads if we don't find them!" the biggest of them with dark brown fur and grey feathers says, he then looks our way before narrowing his eyes. I glare at him ready for a fight but he just snorts and starts walking away following the fake trail.

It seems they've not noticed us at all, but then the worst thing that could happen does... Pinkie sneezes.

"AAACHHHOOOO!"

The squad freezes and looks our way again. I slowly turn to stare at Pinkie who smiles sheepishly.

"Whoopsie?" she whispers and the gryphons aim ten bows at us. Fortunately they're not silver arrows.

"LUNA! SHIELD NOW!" I order her and she quickly Makes a dome of energy around us as Selene's illusion crumbles.

"We'll be taking back the hen you took from the Eaglesburg jail," the big gryphon tells me with a stern look. Gilda then hides behind the tower of muscle that is Ironhoof who looks bored.

"Hm-hmm, listen here, sweetheart," Desire says getting his attention. "Gilda here is a friend of ours, and what you have planned for her is tantamount to slavery."

"She failed to pay her rent, so she must work it off," he replies calmly.

"So taking her home and all her belongings wasn't enough to pay for it?" I ask him just itching to summon Thanatos.

"She'll have no need of them once she's in the mines. Now hand her over and the ones responsible for breaking her out or we'll take you all back," he replies and now glares at us.

I laugh long and loud at his threat before looking at him with a deadpan stare. "Tell me you're not serious?" I ask him sarcastically.

"I never joke around," he replies and turns to the other gryphons "Take them all!" he orders them.

I step through the barrier and activate my demonic form, causing them to stop in their tracks.

"If you value your lives, you'll head back to Eaglesburg. You take one step closer to my group, and I will rip you all apart, tear out your very souls, and burn what's left so no one will ever find your corpses," I threaten them and summon Thanatos in my right hand while coating my left arm in darkfire. "This is your only warning!"

"The cluck are you!?" one of the females yells out while backing away slowly.

I stare at her right in the eyes with a frown. "I am the Overlord of Tartarus!" I tell her making a few of them gasp.

"So you're the demons the King was warned about... funny, the reports said you'd arrive at Talonsport," the big gryphon says while looking us all over.

"We had a change of plans. Now, leave or die. There's no third option. And should you follow or attack us, we will kill all who attack us," I tell him.

He looks to his squad before looking back at me. "Very well. I know when it's a fight I can't win," he replies and then walks away. "Fall back!" he tells his squad and they all fly off without question.

"You know that's going to bite us in the rump later right?" Desire tells me with a raised brow as I revert back to my human form.

"Possibly, but at least we know these gryphons aren't as dumb as lemmings like the Equestrian guards are," I reply getting an angry 'hey!' from Shining. "Let's keep moving! They're bound to come back with silver weapons now that they know we're here," I tell my group.

We quickly continue on at a much faster pace now to get as much distance between us and the gryphons as possible. It takes us six hours of travel through this forest, but we exit the tree line to see a pathway across a short clearing leading through some kind of valley between two cliff faces.

"I don't like this... Feels like we've been followed and watched for the last four hours," Desire says eyeing up the valley.

"Same, looks like a good place for an ambush," I reply and turn to the harpies and the thestrals. "I want you lot to fly up there and see if there's anyone waiting to jump us," I tell them and they nodded before flying up the cliffside. I just stare at Rainbow who looks back at me.

"What?" she asks confused.

"That means you too, get up there and check if it's safe," I tell her.

"Oh? And why should I?" she replies and crosses her arms.

I glare at her harshly. "You're a part of this group and you will do your part to help, I will not have you as just a waste of space and supplies. Now go up there and help the others or I will take your free will away and order you to go!" I tell her angrily at her constant hostile attitude towards me.

She growls and then spreads her wings. "Grrrr, fine!" she replies bitterly and takes off quickly after the others.

"Did you really need to do that?" Twilight asks me.

"Yes, I will not have her just tagging along, everyone will do something to benefit the group," I reply and wait for them to return with their reports.

"Damien?" I hear Gilda say to me. I turn and look towards her. "I just wanted to say thanks for getting me out of jail... You have no idea what it's like down in the mines. I've only heard rumours, but they say they either strap your wings down or clip them so you can't escape, you're barely fed, and the living conditions are worst than a prison... So, yeah. Thanks for saving me," she tells me with a sad frown.

I smile and kneel down to her. "You're welcome. We could have tried getting you out with your bag of gold, but after hearing about how your King runs things, I'd rather not add more funds to his already inflated pockets," I reply and ruffle the feathers on her head.

She smiles slightly and heads back over to Shining and starts chatting with him. I turn back to the valley and wait.

It takes ten minutes, but the others return unharmed. "Master, there are signs of gryphons having been up there before, but right now there aren't any," a harpy tells me while Rainbow sulks off to her friends.

"Alright then, I want two lycans up front and two in the back, harpies and thestrals stay above the valley to make sure nothing comes to surprise us. Selene and Luna, help protect the rear while Desire and I have the front. The rest of you surround the cart and keep an eye out," I tell the group getting affirmatives in return.

We make our way into the valley and keep watch for anything out of the ordinary. After about ten minutes one of the harpies yelp as she's shot by an arrow in the shoulder. She drops out of the sky but fortunately Ironhoof catches her and places her on the cart where Applejack pulls out the arrow and starts to wrap a cloth over the harpy's wound.

Another harpy screams in pain as she’s shot in the heart, everyone watches in horror as cracking lines spread over her and she bursts into ash which is blown away.

"Gryphons!" the third harpy yells down to us.

Rainbow comes back down and lands in front of me. "They just showed up out of nowhere!" she tells me and yelps as an arrow just misses her and sticks into the ground.

"SHIELD UP!" I yell out as Luna, Selene, Shining, and Twilight join together making a large barrier over the whole group. The other harpy and thestrals fly back down and enter the shield.

I pick up the arrow and notice it isn't made of silver. 'So Celestia didn't tell them about the silver?' I wonder and look up.

I can see about fifty gryphons on each side firing arrows down at us which bounce off the shield.

"Drop the boulders!" I hear one of them yell as giant boulders then start dropping down on top of us.

The shield cracks and quickly repairs itself but I don't know how long they can keep this up for.

"Desire, you take the left side I'll take the right. Leave none alive," I tell her.

She smiles and takes off quickly up the cliff face while avoiding the arrows and boulders. I head up the right side and once I get up to the top, I go wide eyed at the amount of gryphons here. There has to be at least three-hundred on this side alone, and what makes me worried is most of them have silver weapons and armour.

'They tricked us! They used normal weapons to make us think they didn't have any silver! And how did they hide this many from my demons initial flyby?' I think to myself and frown at them.

"FIRE!" I hear a gryphon male yell as a large amount of silver arrows fly straight for me.

I quickly meld into the Shadow Realm and I notice something odd with the wraiths in here. They're all just staring at me with their blank expressions, they've never done that before. I ignore them and move behind the gryphons and exit the Shadow Realm, I then gather my energy and spray out a large plume of darkfire into the backs of the archers.

Eighteen of them scream in agony as they're reduced to ash, I glance to the other side and see Desire lashing out with multiple tendrils which pierce her opponents while avoiding their weapons and arrows as best as she can, though she does have a couple of cuts on her arms.

I then create six darkfire dragons and launch them into the gryphons which detonate on impact. The gryphons, instead of panicking, rally up and try to flank me on all sides, these bastards are much more organised and quicker to react than the Equestrians are.

I fly up and meld into the Shadow Realm again while heading over to Desire's side to get her out. I reappear behind her and grab her by the waist before melding back in. "What?" she asks in a whisper.

"There's too many of them and with all the silver weapons they have even we'll have trouble fighting them, we need to get back to the others and get through the valley quickly," I reply and fly back down through the barrier they're still holding up.

We exit back out of the Shadow Realm and walk over to the others. "Are you okay?" I ask the four holding the shield up, more cracks are starting to appear on the shield.

"Yes, but we cans't nary hold it for long!" Luna replies while I see the lycans digging into the cliff face as the inccuponies and succuponies are tossing the rock and dirt to the side with their magic.

"What are they doing?" I ask as another boulder slams into the shield deepening the cracks.

"They think a cave system is on the other side! They're trying to break through to get us in!" Twilight replies and grunts as both hers and Shining’s horns flicker out and they collapse onto their knees panting for breath.

The shield is starting to get worse so I walk over to Luna and Selene then place my hands on each of their shoulders before pouring a good quarter of my energy between them to keep the shield up.

The gryphons are still dropping boulders on us while firing a few arrows down as well. The silver tipped arrows violently react to the demon energy in the barrier which makes a hissing sound as energy leaks out of the shield like a mist.

The four lycans finally break through three metres of the cliff face which leads into a cave system, leaving enough space for our balrog and cart to fit.

"Alright! Everyone get in there!" I tell them as Ironhoof pulls the cart through followed by everyone else leaving Selene, Luna, Desire, and I still outside.

"Alright, slowly pull the shield back then plug the entrance with the boulders they dropped!" I tell them getting affirmatives.

We walk back slowly as the gryphons start flying down to stop us but as soon as we're inside, Luna and Selene then drop the shield to levitate the boulders to stuff the entrance tightly preventing the gryphons from chasing us and leaving us in total darkness.

A few of the inccu and succuponies create small orbs of lights in their hands so we can see our surroundings.

"That went as well as it could have," Desire says and hisses in pain from the cuts she received.

"At least they're small, should heal within the hour," I tell her and look around. There's two tunnels, one to the right and one to the left.

"Gilda, do you know which way from here?" I ask her.

"Yeah, the right tunnel leads to the other side of the valley, I used to play in here as a chick. The entrance is a mile back to the left of the valley, and the exit is at least three miles ahead from here," she replies.

"Well then, let's get going. We have a long way to go still, but I think we'll make our own exit just in case those gryphons know these caves too, we'll collapse them along our way as well," I tell everyone.

Fluttershy looks terrified while clinging onto angel, Pinkie looks upset, Dusk is shaking while Luna is trying to calm him down, and Rarity is hugging Spike’s arm tightly.

Twilight is sitting on the cart still catching her breath while Rainbow is talking to Applejack. The other demons are checking their gear and supplies that they're carrying.

Once we checked we have everything, we start making our way through the caves, though the lycans have to widen the tunnels now and then for the cart to fit through.

Chapter 35: In the darkness I reign

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 35: In the darkness I reign

Luna tells us after many hours of walking and blocking the tunnels we go through that the moon is ready to rise.

We decide to camp in the tunnels here for the night where the lycans start digging a wide area big enough to set up our tents and use the dug up earth to block the tunnel behind and in front of us to prevent an ambush.

Once all our tents are up, the pony demons begin making dinner with just raw ingredients as we can't really light a fire in here without choking ourselves.

But before any of us could turn in for the night after eating our meals, Pinkie grits her teeth before yelling loudly. "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" She turns to me and stomps right over and shoves her muzzle right in my face as best as she can. "I'm tired of being useless! I don't care about being a demon anymore! I just want to help my friends again and if being a demon means I can then so be it!" she tells me with a determined frown on her face.

I raise an eyebrow at her and internally smirk. 'I knew it.' "Are you sure you want this? There's no going back," I tell her.

"Yes! Just do it already before I go insane!" she tells me with a pout.

"Very well then, but remember, this was your decision," I reply and before she could protest, I pull her towards me and bite into her neck.

"AHHH!" she yelps and hisses in pain as I pour my energy into her.

I expected her to turn into an orobas, but she turns into something else entirely. Her body gets thinner, almost snake like but keeps her fur and breasts. The stump of flesh on her tail starts growing longer to about two metres long and the fur turns to dark pink scales, but the hair on the tip of her tail remains. Her arms -which heal and reset the bones- and legs grows longer a few inches and her neck elongates as well to about half a metre.

Two horns resembling antlers grow on her head and her muzzle lengthens three inches as she grows a pair of fangs as well. The whites of her eyes turn light blue and her irises turn bright pink.

Next her hands and forearms change from three fingers to three dark pink clawed scaled talons and her hooves get slightly bigger as well. Finally, two dragon like wings grow out of her back and her clothes are all torn and barely hanging on her new body.

Once her transformation finishes, she shockingly has the power of an archdemon.

Everyone present just stares at her in surprise. "She... she resembles a draconequus..." Luna says dumbfounded.

"Ohhhh, look at all the pretty colours!" Pinkie says as she looks around and twists her body to look everywhere.

"Why does she look like Discord?" Selene asks Luna, but she can only shake her head in return.

"This is a surprise," I comment and walk around her. Her new tail has ripped her jeans to fit through, her wings have torn the back of her shirt and are large like an alicorn's, and her talons look very sharp. "How do you feel, Pinkie?" I ask her with a raised brow.

She slowly turns to look at me with a blank expression. "I see everything..." she replies and her eyes widen before she puts her talons together and rips the fabric of reality open and pokes her head in through the tear. "Whoa..." she mutters and my curiosity rises.

I look over her shoulder and go wide eyed at what I'm looking at. It appears to be the inside of a bakery with a blue mare and a yellow stallion wearing aprons baking confectioneries in a kitchen.

"Hi Mr and Mrs Cake!" Pinkie says to them making the stallion yelp and drop a tray of cookies.

"Pinkie?" he replies and looks to his right and sees Pinkie grinning at him. "Pinkie? Is that you?" he asks in surprise at her appearance while Mrs Cake is staring at the pink draconequus with her jaw agape and the dough she was kneading left forgotten.

"Yup! I'm feeling much better now thanks to Mr Meany!" she replies and I give her a glare for what she keeps calling me.

"What happened to you?" Mrs Cake asks her and walks over to us.

"I erm... couldn't take being useless anymore... so I let Damien turn me into a... demon, to fix my arms..." she replies warily of their reactions.

The two ponies look at each other and then back to Pinkie. "Pinkie, even if you're a, um... demon now, you're still the happy party loving mare we hired years ago to us," Mr Cake tells her with a smile.

Pinkie's lower lip starts to tremble as tears are pouring from her eyes like a faucet. She begins crying and her arms stretch out and wrap around the ponies backs before she pulls them up to her and hugs them both.

"WAAAAA! I love you both so Muuuuuuch!" she tells them and sniffs up the line of snot hanging out her nose.

Confused and stunned at what she just did the yellow stallion just pats her on the back.

"It's okay, Pinkie. We both love you too. We’re just happy you’re okay," he replies and the mare nodded in agreement.

Pinkie puts them both down and smiles brightly. "Okay! Well I need to help Mr Meany get home, then I can come back and help you again!" she tells them both and giggles.

"Alright, Pinkie. Since you can do so, just remember to pop in and say hello whenever you can. We've missed you around here," Mrs Cake tells the pink demoness.

"Okie Dokie Loki!" she replies and pulls her head back and the tear closes.

"That's quite the ability you got there, Pinkie... Do you think you could open a tear to Tartarus?" I say and ask.

She hums in thought for a few seconds but shakes her head. "I don't think so. I knew how to open one to Ponyville because I've been there. I don't know anything, anyone, or anywhere about or in Tartarus," she replies. I just notice her hair and tail are bright and poofy again.

"That's alright, was worth asking at least," I tell her and turn back to the others.

They're just gawking at Pinkie and I roll my eyes at them.

Pinkie then snaps her fingers and in a puff of pink smoke, a hammock appears floating in the air and she jumps up onto it and sighs in content.

"Pinkie?" Twilight says and walks over to her. "How did you do that?" she asks with a twitching right eye.

Pinkie looks at her and grins. "I'm not sure. I just know how to," she replies as a pair of sleeping blinders appears over her eyes and she promptly falls asleep.

Twilight just stares at her before huffing and crawling into our tent angrily.

The others after some silence start to get into their tents while Applejack has a blanket placed on top of her.

I then hear Rarity giggle and gasp before her tent glows a light blue and all sound inside ceases, I then notice another glow on Shining and Gilda's tent. I smirk knowing what's going to happen and make my way into my own tent where Twilight is angrily cuddling up to Desire.

"What's got you so upset, Twilight?" I ask her and take my coat off.

"Nothing, I'm fine," she replies agitated.

Desire giggles and looks at me. "She's just upset that Pinkie seems to have more magic than her now," she tells me.

"Is that all? Then how about when we find Tirek, I can take his soul and make you stronger with the extra energy like I did for Desire," I tell the succupony.

Twilight looks at me with wide eyes. "You mean I'll become an alicorn demon like Desire?" she asks me.

"Possibly, or you could become something else like Pinkie has," I reply and lay down next to Desire.

Twilight looks unsure but decides to just go to sleep.

I share a look with Desire where she just smiles and kisses me before using Twilight as a body pillow.

We wake up and the lesser demons get started on another basic breakfast but Pinkie uses her new power to make another tear to Ponyville and asks the Cakes to make some pastries for some of our gold. So at least we have something sweet for breakfast as well.

Twilight looks less upset about Pinkie's new magic at least. Rarity exits her tent who's hair is dishevelled and Spike has a massive dopey grin on his face. Twilight frowns at spike but doesn't comment on it.

Once we've all eaten and packed up our camping gear, Ironhoof with Scarlet walking next to him pulls the cart down the tunnel while the lycans clear the blockade and make the tunnel wider if they have to.

Gilda is sitting on the cart due to the fact she can't walk straight at the moment but is giving Ironhoof directions.

Desire and Twilight are chatting with Luna and Selene. Pinkie is hovering above us and looks like she's swimming through the air and is also wearing a pair of denim overalls that now fit her new body.

Rainbow is talking to Fluttershy who is riding on Angel's back again. The harpy who was shot is now fully healed as well.

We walk for about an hour when I feel something off around us. "What is that? It feels like we are being watched," Luna says. So I'm not the only one feeling it?

"Not sure, but I feel it too," I reply and close my eyes. The feeling seems to be coming from the Shadow Realm. "I'm going to check something quickly, I'll be right back," I tell them and slip into the Shadow Realm.

What greets me are the wraiths that wander here to surround me and just stare. I frown and look at them all with caution.

One of them then quickly floats over to me inches from my face and just stares at me. Then blood red glowing eyes open up on it's blank face making me go wide eyed, I've never seen them with red eyes before. The others also start opening their eyes but I can't move as I'm surrounded.

"Why have you not called for us, Master?" it asks me in a whispering raspy voice.

"Master?" I reply confused.

"Yeeees, you are the successor to Master Val'ketoph. You possess his power, thus we follow you. We have always followed you even when you ignored us each time you are here," he tells me and backs up a few feet.

I look around at the gathered wraiths and frown. "Then why have you never spoke to me before?" I ask it.

"Master Val'ketoph never let us speak unless spoken to, we assumed the same with you... but we can no longer sit idle, we wish for you to give us orders," it replies and the others whisper their own agreements.

"I see... Val'ketoph never told me what I could do or had when he sent me to Tartarus, so I had no idea you were his, I thought you were just beings who resided here. What can you do?" I ask them.

"We were Master Val'ketoph's personal force, created by him to aid him in battle and to protect him from threats and attacks from the Shadow Realm. We can only survive outside the Shadow Realm for a short while but we will fight whoever you deem an enemy."

"Alright... And how do I summon you should I need you?" I ask.

"Just open a portal to the Shadow Realm and we shall answer. We can also come out with your permission if we need be to report to you," it replies. I can't tell if it's male or female with the tone of voice it's using.

"Okay. So you all want orders?" I then ask.

"Yeeees," it replies.

"Then go through these tunnels and see if there are any gryphons ahead of us or near the exits. Then report back to me with anything you find," I tell them, getting them all to perk up and start heading down the tunnels. Only three of them stay behind.

"We shall remain here to protect you, Master," one of them says and they just stay nearby.

Satisfied with the outcome, I return to the Physical Realm. "Damien!" Desire says and pounces on my back and wraps her arms around my neck. "What happened?" she asks me.

"Remember those wraiths we saw in the Shadow Realm?" I ask her and she nodded in reply. "Turns out they were Val'ketoph's personal soldiers, that are now my personal soldiers since I have his power."

"So... they obey you?" she asks confused.

"Correct, I've sent them to search ahead and let me know what they find," I reply and squeeze her backside making her yelp.

"Why have they never spoken to us before?"

"That's Val'Ketoph's fault. They were only allowed to speak when spoken too, and they thought I had no need for them until now," I tell her and continue to carry her down the tunnel.

We walk another mile before a... I guess I'll call them shadow wraiths from now on so as to not confuse them with the zebra wraiths. One of the shadow wraiths appears before me making the others jump and I can see a shadow like mist coming off of it, I guess that's its energy getting burnt off from being in this realm.

"Master, there are gryphons at the exit and are waiting to ambush you," it tells me.

"Are you immune to silver?" I ask it.

"No," it replies with a shake of its head.

"What would happen if you are killed?" I then ask.

"We would cease to exist."

"I see. Keep an eye on them and let me know if they come in, we're going to make our own way out," I order it and it nodded before fading away.

"What was THAT!?" Twilight yells getting my attention.

I look back at her and smirk. "Reinforcements," I reply.

Chapter 36: On our merry way

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 36: On our merry way

"Reinforcements?" Twilight asks me with a confused frown.

"Correct, seems those wraiths in the Shadow Realm were my own personal force. They only now confronted me after so long being ignored. Desire and I always thought they were just residents of the Shadow Realm..." I reply and then turn to Luna and Selene. "Have you ever seen them when you go into the Shadow Realm before meeting me?" I ask them.

"Nay. We hast never seen such creatures before meeting thee," Luna replies with a shake of her head.

"So... what are you going to do with them now?" Twilight asks me.

"For now? I'll have them keep an eye on the gryphons while we take a detour," I reply and look towards the lycans. "How fast can you dig?" I ask them.

"We can dig through a mile in a day... but I think we can go faster now with our sharper claws," a male lycan replies.

"Good, start digging down once we get closer to the exit at an angle so we'll go under the gryphons, I'd rather we avoid them until we find a way to counter their silver weapons," I tell them getting a howl from them.

We go deeper into the tunnels until another shadow wraith appears before me making Fluttershy and Dusk yelp in fright again.

"Master, the gryphons are now entering the tunnels, they'll be here within the hour," it warns me.

"Right then, time to begin! Collapse the tunnel ahead and start digging a tunnel underneath us," I tell the alicorns and lycans before turning back to the wraith. "Keep an eye on the gryphons and let me know if they figure out what we're doing," I order it getting a nod before it fades away.

Luna and Selene use their magic to collapse the tunnel with a lot of stone and dirt from above it, while making sure our area doesn't cave in as well. They then use intense heat with their magic to melt the stone together making it impossible to pull them apart. Once done, the lycans start using their claws to rapidly dig while the others use their levitation spells to move the dirt and stone out of the way.

Rainbow is starting to fidget while looking at the walls of the tunnel like they're about to swallow her whole.

"It's okay Dashie! We'll be out and you'll be flying again in no time!" Pinkie tells her.

I smirk and look at the rainbow haired thestral. "Are you afraid of enclosed spaces?" I ask her with a slight teasing tone.

She scowls at me in reply. "I ain't afraid of nothing!" she yells at me which only makes me chuckle.

"So what do we do once we get past the gryphons, Master?" Scarlet asks me.

"We'll head straight for the Plaguelands unless we need supplies from a town, which we'll wait from a distance while Luna or Selene will go disguised, purchase it, and teleport back to us so no one will see them leave," I reply.

I hear some commotion ahead of me and see the lycans pushing some ore they've dug up behind them which Twilight levitates over to us.

"Iron?" Twilight says to herself while examining it.

Gilda then speaks up. "Yeah, this used to be a mine decades ago, but they mined out most of the iron here," she tells the purple succupony.

"Can you do anything with it?" I ask Twilight.

She hums before her horn glows and she condenses it down into the rough shape of a sword. She grunts and gasps while trying to mould it better but sighs and winces at the poor excuse of a sword.

"Well, making that makeshift armour for Ironhoof was easier as we had processed iron to begin with... I've never tried with raw iron before," she replies as Luna and Selene take it from her.

I watch with amazement as Luna uses her magic to heat up the iron and Selene uses her magic to mould it into a proper sword shape.

They take more and more chunks of iron the lycans are digging up to add to the sword making it longer and wider. Once done, Luna then cools it off slowly as the iron hardens, leaving a one metre long broadsword floating between them.

"Tis heavy, but usable," Selene comments and levitates it over to me.

I take it and feel that it is indeed heavy. I then swing it at the wall which leaves a deep slash in the stone and dirt.

"We condensed the metal to make it more durable, though it will degrade with continued use as it is not processed to how we would like. If we had steel and proper materials, we would make a more durable blade," Luna then says after her sister.

"How do you know so much about smithing?" I ask them as I notice the edge of the blade is slightly scratched.

"We used to train with our guards before our banishment... we also crafted our own weapons and armour," Luna replies before levitating more iron over to them and starting on another sword.

"Huh. Do you think you could make me a shield as well?" I ask them, with a shield I'll have a better chance of fighting against silver weaponry for now.

"Yes, but it will be quite heavy," Selene replies.

"That's fine. As long as it'll help against silver weapons then please make one," I say and look forward towards the still digging lycans.

Twilight, Shining, Desire, and the succupony and inncupony with us levitate the dirt and stone behind us and compact it against the walls to make them stronger.

During the time digging, Luna and Selene have finished the heavy iron shield for me and despite the hefty weight, I can wield it decently without much loss in mobility. Luna then spent her time talking to her student about what he'll do about his magic.

Applejack is talking to her friends while Rarity is being carried by Spike in his arms bridal style and giggling happily.

Shadow wraiths periodically informed me of the gryphons locations, they've reached the blockage and have tried digging through it, but they're having slow progress. I think we'll make it out before they can reach us at least.

The rest of the day is spent talking and progressing at a decent pace. Luna and Selene have made more weapons and shields for the others, even sharp iron talons and wing blades for the two remaining harpies. Twilight believes we've covered nearly a mile of digging and that we should set up camp for the night. Although, the lycans have dug up some gems along the way which they shared amongst themselves and even gave some to Spike to eat, which he was thankful for.

Luna closes her eyes to concentrate on raising the moon while Pinkie uses her strange power to let Twilight talk to Celestia in her bedroom, who after jumping from the sudden appearance of Pinkie glares at me for a few seconds before smiling at Twilight.

"It's so good to see you again, Twilight. How have you been?" she asks the purple demoness while glancing at Pinkie's new grinning form warily.

"I'm doing well, though we are running from the gryphons right now," Twilight replies.

"The gryphons? Oh yes, I did warn them about your... mate," Celestia says with a slight wince, whether or not from Twilight being my girl or the warning she gave the gryphons I'm not sure.

"We lost a harpy during an ambush but we managed to get away in some tunnels, we're currently digging a tunnel under them to avoid them due to their silver weapons," Twilight tells her.

Celestia sighs and looks down sadly. "I'm so sorry for what I've put you through...even if Tirek's foul magic was clouding my judgement, I should have realised what I was doing..."

"It's... it's okay, Celestia. I've come to realise that no pony can be perfect... that all of us can be swayed or misled," Twilight says with a small frown.

"I know. It still doesn't excuse what I did," the white mare replies.

I look around and notice Fluttershy can't even bare to look at Celestia while Angel is growling quietly at her. The others also still have mixed feelings about what happened to them.

"Worry not, sister. We shall put Tirek in his place once and for all!" Luna says enthusiastically.

"Verily. He shall pay for what he hast wrought upon us all," Selene then says.

Celestia smiles sadly at them both before looking at me. "Remember, if any of them are hurt, you'll answer to me," she says sternly.

I just roll my eyes at her and wave a hand dismissively. "Yes, I remember," I reply and watch as the lesser demons are setting up the tents along the tunnel.

"Please keep me informed if anything happens," Celestia says to Twilight.

"I will. Oh! Could you please send these to our families?" Twilight asks her and levitates a bunch of letters through the tear.

Celestia takes them and smiles at her. "I will, stay safe," she says and the tear closes.

"Well, that was something. Alright everyone, get some sleep and we'll continue in the morning," I tell everyone, watching as they get into their tents.

I try to mentally call a shadow wraith to me and I'm happy to see it worked as one appears before me. "Keep an eye on the gryphons and let me know if they get into the tunnel," I order it getting a nod in reply before it fades away.

"Good to know we have a vigilant night watch with us," Desire comments and stands beside me.

I wrap my right arm around her waist and smile at her. "True, at least we won't have to worry about ambushes at night anymore, or even during the day," I reply.

Desire starts giggling at the noise coming from a tent where the incupony and succupony we brought with us are about to start feeding from each other. Desire casts a soundproof spell over their tent so the rest of us wouldn't have to hear it.

"So how's your energy holding up?" I ask my wife.

"Since becoming a demonlord, I'm surprisingly not that hungry yet. I guess I can either hold more or I just don't burn it off as fast," she replies and nuzzles my right cheek. "Though Twilight might need to feed a bit tonight or tomorrow."

"Hmmm, I suppose. I just hope we can get past the gryphons and make it to the Plaguelands quickly. I would fight back, but they have too many silver weapons and out number us six to one," I tell her and notice Twilight walking over to us.

"About the silver... why does it hurt demons?" she asks us.

"We're not entirely sure why. I only found enough in Tartarus to make six bullets from it which was hard to do due to the fact I couldn't touch it. I only know it seems to react to our demonic energy, if we can find out why, we could make a countermeasure for it," I reply and yawn lightly.

"I have an idea," Desire says and smiles at Twilight before unfastening her fancy sword from her hip. "There's some silver on this sword. Would you like to try and find out why it hurts us? I know you like to learn things and you told us you like studying... so? Want to try?" she asks Twilight who goes wide eyed and grins.

"I love researching! Sure, I'll figure out why," she replies and takes the sheathed blade before crawling into our tent where we can hear her getting supplies out of her bag.

I only chuckle at her enthusiasm before sitting next to the stone wall of the tunnel. I close my eyes and take a deep breath before releasing it slowly. I then feel Desire sit on my lap sideways before kissing me gently.

"Decan for your thoughts?" she says with that smile I love so much.

"Just wondering if Fel Haven, Slitherana, and our children are okay," I reply and smile back at her.

"They'll be fine. And if they are aren't, there will be nowhere to run for those responsible," she tells me and just cuddles up to me.

I sigh and just let myself fall asleep.

Morning arrives and the camp is packed up after breakfast was eaten. The lycans resume digging and my shadow wraiths inform me the gryphons are still trying to dig through the blockage and are actually making progress. I've told the lycans to pick up the pace.

Pinkie frowns in thought while staring at the wall ahead of us before snapping her fingers with a grin. A large tractor like machine with a very large drill on the front appears in front of her and she grins at it before sitting in the seat.

"Oh stars have mercy on us... she has Discord's powers as well..." Luna comments grimly while Selene winces slightly.

I don't see the problem if this can get us through quicker. Pinkie starts fiddling with the controls and the drill starts spinning up, the lycans get out of the way and once clear, the drill moves forward. The dirt, stone, ore, and any gems it digs up seems to be sucked into the drill and spat out behind the tractor in cubes.

For the next two hours the lycans and Spike look through the cubes for gems while Luna and Selene sift through for iron.

"Luna, Selene. Do you think you could make Ironhoof a full suit of armour? Maybe for his brother as well," I ask them while looking at the balrog and minotaur who share a glance at each other. Having them in full plate armour would make them better suited to fighting against silver weaponry, less exposed areas.

"We could, but it would be very uncomfortable without any padding," Selene replies.

"Why not get Pinkie to poof us some armour?" Rainbow suggests.

As if on cue, the tractor Pinkie is sitting on disappears in a puff of pink smoke from under her and she falls onto her ass.

"OWWIE!" she yelps and stands up while rubbing her sore backside.

"That answer your question?" I say to Rainbow with a smirk, making the thestral frown at me.

"Pinkie? What happened?" Twilight asks her with confusion.

"I ran outta mojo..." she replies and pouts.

"It seems Miss Pie either can't control her power fully or she ran out of magic," Luna comments with a sigh of relief.

"We agree, sister. We believe she just isn't as powerful as Discord is," Selene adds in, also seemingly relieved.

Pinkie huffs and tries to levitate herself off the ground but nothing happens. "Oh phooey," she mumbles and walks back behind us with a frown.

The lycans after a few seconds get back to digging the tunnel themselves while Spike is still going through the remaining cubes for gems and ore.

Rarity gasps as Spike pulls out a large chunk of rough diamond the size of my head. "Oh my! Look at the size of it!" Rarity says and crouches down beside the drake.

Spike looks like he's drooling at the sight of it while Twilight seems to perk up. "Wait... If we can refine it and cut it into several pieces then the princesses and I may be able to make some enchantments with them!"

"What kind of enchantments?" I ask her.

"Well, they're hard to do and only the officers of the guard get them, but they can affect physical strength, magic, flight speed, weight, and make magical shields," Luna replies.

"And how do they work?" I then ask intrigued.

"They're attached to armour or weapons depending on the enchantment, and they require recharging after every use. Shining was using a couple on the armour he had back in Horseshoe Bay," Twilight tells me.

I then rub my chin in thought. "I see... can they be attached to anything?"

"Well, yes. But it depends on the enchantment," Selene replies.

"How long does it take to make one of these enchantments?"

"A couple of days, they're hard to do and one mistake could be disastrous," Twilight says nervously.

These enchantments sound interesting, but I'd rather not take a risk if it's dangerous. I'll have to get Twilight to try making some when we return to Fel Haven in a controlled environment. Olivia would be interested in this as it could help her invent better technology, the weight enchantments sound like they could help make our airships faster.

"I'll keep it in mind, but for now let's just focus on getting back to Tartarus," I say and notice the lycans have dug quite the distance from us.

"I can't believe we're still willingly going to Tartarus..." Rainbow Dash mutters to herself.

"Pinkie can always send you back to Ponyville," I tell her without looking back at her.

"And leave you with my friends!? I don't think so buster!" she replies angrily.

I just chuckle at her and keep walking down the tunnel. Rarity is being carried bridal style by Spike again who looks happy to do so. I watch as Luna and Selene store the iron ore and some gems into their magic subspace storage. Applejack seems to have fallen asleep in the cart while Fluttershy is talking to her animal demons.

That reminds me. "Fluttershy?" I say getting her attention with an eep. "How did you get the animals to listen to you since I'm technically their master now?" I ask her.

"Oh... um. I'm just good with animals. I've always felt more comfortable around them than other ponies," she replies and pets Angel on the back.

"I see... thank you for answering my question," I tell her and return my attention to the front of the tunnel.

The next four hours pass with some chatter from the others. Rarity and Spike continue to flirt with each other making Twilight sigh and grumble, but can't really do anything about it since she's basically in the same boat.

Twilight then went through her notes about the silver on the sword she’s studying. I do hope she figures out the cause, having such a weakness is frustrating me.

The lycans stop and press their ears to the wall and turn back to me. "Master, we are almost to the other side of the canyon," the left most lycan tells me.

"Good, wait until I send my wraiths to see if it's clear," I tell them and slip into the Shadow Realm.

Only four shadow wraiths are with me at the moment, so I turn to the one to the right of me. "Go topside and see if any gryphons are nearby," I order it.

It nodded and phases through the tunnel's ceiling. I wait for a couple of minutes before it returns.

"Master, you are currently over a mile from the canyon and no gryphons are nearby," it tells me.

"Good, get the other wraiths to come back, then spread out and keep watch on anything that could be a threat," I then order it.

"Yes, Master," it replies and heads off again.

I return from the Shadow Realm making Fluttershy and Twilight yelp in surprise. "We're clear, start digging up!" I order the lycans who howl and get to work.

After just over an hour, the lycans break through and check the area. "All clear, Master," one tells me.

"Good. Block the tunnel and let's get moving! Gilda, which way from here?" I say and ask our gryphon friend.

"Erm..." she mumbles and looks around once she's out. "That way!" she says pointing to a mountain range in the distance. "The Plaguelands are just beyond those mountains."

"Alright. Let's be on our merry way then!" I say and once the tunnel is sealed, we all start trekking across the grassy plains towards the mountains.

Chapter 38: Bad dream

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 38: Bad dream

We've been travelling across this dead land for a good twelve hours now. Dusk Shine had to be placed onto the cart once he got too exhausted to walk anymore.

Applejack is surprising herself with every step she takes, which along with Scarlet, they crack the rocky terrain under their hooves, this could be by how strong their legs are as they take a step, or they weigh a lot more now due to the increased muscle mass.

The trip so far has been quiet with no gryphons or predators in sight, even my shadow wraiths have spotted nothing ahead.

"Alright! We'll set up camp here for the night," I tell everyone getting sighs and groans from sore muscles.

The lesser demons get to work on setting up camp while I order the thestrals and harpies to scout the area from above to see if anything worthwhile is in the area. They take off except for Rainbow Dash who after an intense glare from me takes off after the others.

Applejack, Scarlet, and Pinkie Pie get to work cooking dinner while the incupony and succupony with us are cuddling and staring at each other with lust and love in their eyes. Those two have gotten very close to each other during our trip due to their feeding off of each other and I wouldn't be surprised if they started a family together once this is all over.

Once fed and everything cleaned up, we turn in for the night where a couple of lycans take the first watch along with my shadow wraiths to alert them of any danger.

I lay in my tent with Desire and Twilight beside me who are already asleep. I stare at the ceiling of the tent with thoughts of home, my wife Slitherana, my kids, and how the nation is doing with my sudden disappearance. Has another demonlord taken advantage and attacked? With these worries plaguing my mind, I fall asleep.

Damien's Dream

I open my eyes and yawn as I get up out of my bed in Felfire. Desire and Slitherana are cuddled up to me with my scaly wife's long tail coiled around my legs and her nose pressed into the crook of my neck.

I take a deep breath and sigh in content, I have a happy family and life in Tartarus is progressing well, my six children are still in school and learning from us as well. I have now got three other towns under my banner and a total of around three thousand and seven-hundred demons. Even Felfire has tripled in size and population since I arrived.

I'm broken out of my good mood as Geneine, now looking old with her feathers starting to turn grey, bursts into the room with a panicked expression on her face.

"My lord! Stonescale is under attack by an archdemon! The messenger is badly injured but told me the town was breached before he came here!" she tells me and I snarl in anger.

'What is an archdemon doing all the way out here!?' I think to myself and rudely shove Desire off me and pull Slitherana's tail from my legs.

They both yelp as they're rudely awoken but say nothing from the expression of anger on my face.

"Get a unit of the elite demons ready! Once I'm suited up, I'll go on ahead to Stonescale while you send the others there!" I order Geneine while putting on some trousers and a shirt, She quickly nodded and leaves.

"Damien? What'sss going on?" Slitherana asks me with worry.

"Stonescale is under attack by an archdemon and has already been breached," I tell her and start putting my dark grey fel steel half-plate armour on. I first put on my boots which go up to my knees, followed by the chest plate and pauldrons which has my mark on them both. Then I strap on both gauntlets and then put on my helmet which has a plate guarding my mouth and nose but giving me plenty of vision still.

I adjust the armour until I'm comfortable and grab my musket rifle with fifty shells for it. It's been modified to where I can push the under barrel forward to open up the chamber where the shell goes like a double barrel shotgun. I do so and check for any damage, still one-hundred percent functional. I pull the chamber back and strap it to its holster on my back.

My goblins are still experimenting with a revolver chamber and proper metal casing bullets to go with it, but finding the right metal for the casing is proving difficult as fel iron or even fel steel crack or warp from the pressure, in turn, damaging the chamber as well.

Once armed and armoured, I make my way to the door where Desire has also gotten into her armour.

"What are you doing?" I ask her with a raised brow.

"I'm coming with you! I'm not going to sit here while our sister-in-law is fighting for her life!" she tells me and equips her own rifle. She's wearing her own half-plate armour like mine but lighter.

Slitherana looks like she's about to have a panic attack which Desire notices.

She sighs and puts her gun down. "I'll calm her down. Get going already and kill whoever is responsible," she tells me and hugs her now crying wife.

I frown and quickly run out our room with Thanatos in hand and into the town where a large force of four hundred demons are gathered in fel steel or leather armour with guns and an assortment of melee weapons.

"All of you! Make your way to Stonescale NOW!" I order them before looking at Geneine. "Brief them quickly and get them going!" I tell her and then take to the air.

I slip into the Shadow Realm and without wind resistance slowing me now, I rocket off towards Stonescale.

I arrive to a grim and despairing sight, the town is completely devastated.

The castle is little more than rubble now and the homes and buildings around it are torn up, burning, or demolished. Ash and bloodied clothing litters the street of dead demons. I even spot the suit of Gilthina, Adderine's secretary covered in ash and blood.

I spend an hour searching for survivors and Adderine. I spot what looks like a dress Arachne made for Adderine and I quickly move to lift the stone wall from the castle on top of it. After I toss it aside, I go wide eyed as the dress is filled with ash, along with a demonite spear where the heart would be.

Tears flow down my eyes as I spot the necklace I gave Adderine for her birthday barely glinting in the ash. I then see a trail and follow it out of the town which leads off in the direction the Capital of Tartarus is in.

I snarl in rage as my grip tightens on my weapon. 'When I find the ones responsible, there will be no mercy or forgiveness, I will not stop until I have taken every one of their souls!' I say to myself and I can feel Thanatos pulse with anger of his own.

For four days I follow the trail, eating any wildlife I come across and sleeping very little along the way. I arrive and see a large city just bordering on the Blasted Wastes. This one bearing the banner of Val'Hades.

'Master. I can infuse you with a large quantity of souls, this should be more than enough for you to level this city by yourself with ease,' Thanatos informs me with malice laced in his tone.

"Do it..." I mutter, my eyes never leaving the City.

A large pulse flows through Thanatos and into me, my eyes widen and dilate from the sudden influx of power and my demonic form takes hold. But it doesn't stop there, my body is consumed in darkfire and a second pair of horns grow on the sides of my head like a ram's. A third pair of shadow wings grow under the second and my teeth grow longer and my eyes are pure blood red.

I feel like I can barely control myself as rage and anger fuel my actions and thoughts.

'Kill them... KILL THEM ALL!' I keep repeating before roaring out loudly, shaking the very ground beneath me.

I raise all six wings up and flap them down as hard as I could. The force sends me soaring into the city where I impact a tall ten story building, going right through it and setting where I went through ablaze with darkfire while the building collapses.

I go through two more buildings before crashing into the street where demons all scream and scatter. I pull myself out of the deep crater I made and twitch madly as I look around quickly, taking in all the sights and demons around me. I lock onto a deamon who looks like an ogre and launch myself at him.

Once I reach him, he tries to swing at me and I backhand his fel iron club out of his grip. He's surprised by this but I don't allow him to recover. I leap up and grasp his short black hair with my left hand which starts to burn him, I then hold my scythe to the right side of his neck.

"WHERE ARE THEY! WHERE ARE THE ONES RESPONSIBLE FOR STONESCALE'S DESTRUCTION!" I yell at him in a heavily distorted and deep tone as I start digging the blade into his neck.

He yelps and tries to pull me off, only to burn his hand when it makes contact with my body.

"I-I don't know!" he yells in fear as my eyes bore into his.

"THEN I HAVE NO USE FOR YOU!" I reply and decapitate his head and take his soul.

I see another ogre who starts to run while demons around me are screaming in fear and panic. Again I raise my wings and launch myself at him.

With a heavy thud, I impact his back sending him tumbling into a building. I jump in, ignoring the lesser demons crushed under his large body. I hop up onto his back and pull his head back.

"What about you!? Do you know who attacked Stonescale!?" I demand of him.

"I-It was U-U-Utaan!" he tells me fearfully and struggles to get up as my darkfire covered boots start burning into his back.

"And where is he!?" I tell him and pull his head back hard, making him yelp.

"AAARRGGH!" he screams as I unintentionally rip his head off.

I growl in anger and impale his heart, taking his soul. I step out of the now burning building and look around.

'If I can't find him... I'LL MAKE HIM COME TO ME!' I think to myself and take to the air.

I hold both hands out and start conjuring multiple darkfire dragons and send them one after the other like a machine gun into the city.

"UTAAAAAAAAN!" I roar out loudly over the city as buildings start exploding on impact from the dragons. They then catch on fire which quickly spreads, melting the metal and scorching the stone structures. Demons everywhere run for their lives as they get set alight and reduced to ash in the streets.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!?" A deep two toned male voice echoes throughout the city.

I look to the south and spot a large two headed black wyvern with dark grey underbelly scales. Each head has four horns and razor sharp teeth that can be seen over his scaled lips on both of his long muzzles. He has no arms or forelegs but three clawed hands on the elbow joints of his large webbed wings.

I instantly lock onto him as he has the strongest power I can feel here, which is pathetic to the current power I feel coursing through my veins. With a roar of rage, I dive at him before he could respond and with my scythe, I slice his left wing off near the joint connecting to his torso. I ain't letting him take to the air.

"AARGH! You little insect! What is the meaning of this insubordination!" he yells at me struggling to get up on his remaining wing.

I growl out lowly and glare at him. "You just destroyed my sister-in-law's town, killing her and everyone in it..." I reply coldly and start walking towards him.

Demons try to get in my way and attack, but their weapons can't cut me and they melt from contact with my darkfire. I can still feel Thanatos pouring more soul energy into me to keep this power flowing, but I can feel he's running low on souls now. But I'm taking the souls of the ones attacking me which Thanatos just burns to fuel my power.

Utaan's eyes widen and he snarls at me. "Impossible... that naga bitch said a demonlord would avenge her... There have been no demonlords in the Blasted Wastes for millennia! What are you doing here!" he demands with a confused frown which I ignore.

"You don't need to know that, I'm going to kill you and destroy this city for what you have done," I reply calmly before lunging at him again.

His left head lunges at me with his maw wide open to bite me. I flap my wings stopping just in front of his head, my eyes burn brighter and moving faster than I've ever done before, I swing my scythe and slice off his lower jaw.

The head gurgles out a roar of pain as his tongue flops out and dangles limply while the other breathes in and exhales a large plume of hellfire at me, bright orange and hot flames, though not as deadly as darkfire.

I slip into the Shadow Realm and go behind him. I exit and quickly cut off both his legs and his tail, making him collapse to the ground unable to move now.

He roars out again and his right head whips back to bite me, I jump to the side and with a flick of my arm, sever his head off.

The left head gurgles up more blood and flails as he seems to lose some cognitive function, but I don't let up as I start carving off chunks of flesh from his body to make him suffer, making the left head flail some more.

"Shtooopfh, spaaaregh... eeee," he says in a tone that sounds like he's having trouble forming the words in his head.

"You didn't spare Adderine or my demons! YOU'LL RECEIVE NO MERCY FROM ME!" I scream at him in rage as I cut open his back and start pulling out organs until only his heart and lungs remain.

He's twitching on the ground but still barely alive. I move to his remaining head and quickly slice it off before plunging my scythe into his heart, stealing his soul and turning his body to ash, though his skulls have remained behind.

I ignore his corpse for now and fly back up and do as I said, I burn his soul to power my assault where larger darkfire dragons bombard the city, demolishing the buildings until nothing is left standing, just like they did to Stonescale. Demons try to flee the city, only to be blown to pieces as my dragons detonate on them.

After what feels like hours and muffled voices calling to me, I feel someone hug me from behind. I look down to see two red arms wrapped around my torso which are slowly getting burnt. I hear a female hiss behind me in pain but then start to speak up.

"Damien... It's me... please stop, you've won. You don't need to stay angry anymore..." she tells me in a pained tone and I recognise her voice.

"Desire?" I ask feeling her nod into my neck as we slowly descend to the ground. I then feel another person hug me from my right side and hear the sizzling of flesh again. I look to them and see Slitherana with tears in her eyes but holding me tightly.

My eyes widen and my body reverts back into my human form. I quickly turn around and see the burns on their right cheeks, arms, and chests.

"Hey," Desire says weakly with a pained smile before letting go and falling to the ground.

I gasp and catch her before she hit the rubble below. I quickly pour what energy I have left into her and Slitherana as I kiss Desire deeply to help her heal faster.

After a few minutes, I feel drained, but they're both healed. I collapse next to them and they weakly hug me as tears flow down my face.

"I'm sorry," I tell them. "I couldn't save her..."

"We know... we found her remains..." Desire tells me making me cry for the first time in many years.

We and the elite force they brought with them bury the demons remains in Stonescale. Desire, Slitherana, and I stand in front of the damaged tombstone of Medusa and her husband. We buried Adderine's ashes next to her mother and put up a temporary tombstone until we can have a proper one made.

The trip back to Felfire was a sombre and silent one as we all mourned the loss of our sister and the town.

The next morning

I open my eyes and notice my eyes and cheeks are wet. I look to the right and see Desire looking at me with worry.

"That dream again?" she asks with a sad tone knowingly.

I just nodded and slowly get up. "Come on. The sooner we get to the gate the better," I reply and head out of the tent.

Chapter 39: The gate to Tartarus

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 39: The gate to Tartarus

Desire is clinging to my back with her muzzle in my neck to comfort me during breakfast as she knows I hate having that dream.

"What's the matter, Damien?" Twilight asks me with a worried expression at my slightly depressed mood.

Desire sighs and looks at her. "He had a nightmare, one which he hates."

"Oh..." Twilight just replies and looks down at the bread in her hand.

I smile at her concern for me and pull her against my side making her yelp quietly.

I notice Luna and Selene giving me sad expressions, most likely they saw my nightmare.

"I'm fine, I've gotten over it, though it still makes me sour in the mornings," I tell the purple succupony.

She smiles and snuggles up to me while eating her breakfast again. I yawn and close my eyes, then something is stuffed into my mouth and I look to my right to see Desire pushing a muffin down my throat with a grin.

I just give her a deadpan stare and she giggles before kissing me and shoving her tongue into the mix. I notice the others with mixed expressions but then ignore them and return her affection.

Once breakfast is finished, we pack up and then continue on our way. Along the way we come across a corpse of some strange looking wolf like creature, its fur is a dark green and it's missing a good chunk of its leg muscle and belly.

I hear someone throw up behind me as I frown at the body. Whatever killed it was quite big, maybe bigger than us. The tracks leading away from the corpse show four pawed claws on the ends of its feet, and judging from the pattern, it's a quadruped, most likely a cat species.

"Argh, that's nasty," Rainbow Dash comments as I look towards where the tracks are going. Fortunately, they're not where we're going.

"Let's keep going before whatever did this decides to come back," I say aloud and walk around the body.

The others agree and I look back to see it was Rarity who threw up as she's wiping her mouth with a napkin.

We walk for about four hours before a harpy calls out to us. "Some kind of beast is heading this way!" she says facing behind us.

I turn around and glare at the quadruped, it looks like a four foot tall undead tiger with rotten chunks of fur and muscle hanging off its bones. The face is missing its left half showing its skull while the right side is missing an eye.

I ready the Iron broadsword and shield the alicorns made for me while waiting for it to get closer. I move in front the group ready to intercept it.

Once the tiger reaches me, I swing my shield and bash it in the face mid leap. It tumbles along the floor and quickly twists itself into a standing position. I swing my blade around, feeling the weight in my grip waiting for the tiger's next move.

It starts circling me but I follow it along so it can't get past me to the others. It snarls before suddenly lunging at me where I retaliate with a swing of my sword. I connect and sever its head clean off, which rolls towards the others making Rarity shriek as it surprisingly tries to snap at her.

I look back to the body to see it stumbling to stand up without its head. I drop my sword and summon Thanatos where I quickly impale the body. Thanatos tries to suck out the soul trapped within the corpse but nothing is happening... there's no soul in this body. I frown and decide to reduce both the body and head to ash with my darkfire.

"WHAT WAS THAT!?" Rarity yells hiding behind Spike.

"An undead tiger... I'm thinking it's not the only undead we'll be seeing around here," I tell her and dismiss Thanatos before reclaiming my sword.

"You mean there's m-more of them out there?" Fluttershy asks with tears in her eyes. I guess seeing animals in this state upsets her.

"Most likely," I reply and sigh. "Let's keep moving."

We continue on and the others are now on edge, not only are there predators out here, but undead ones. I guess I see why this is called the Plaguelands now.

It's now nightfall and we've been attacked one other time by an undead gryphon, who seemed more feral than sentient. Desire put it down quickly and I tried to take its soul, only to find this one doesn’t have one as well. I burned the corpse to make sure it stayed down. Now we've set up camp for the night and had dinner.

I'm awoken during the night by one of my shadow wraiths.

"Master, a group of undead are coming towards your camp," it tells me in a raspy voice.

I frown and quickly get up, leaving my coat in the tent. My sudden movements wake up both Twilight and Desire.

"Damien? What's going on?" Desire asks me while rubbing her eyes.

"Undead are coming. Get up and get ready for a fight!" I tell them making them both scramble. I step out of the tent and whistle loudly making many of the demons yelp or jump. "ALRIGHT YOU LOT! GET UP AND GET READY FOR BATTLE! WE'VE GOT UNDEAD INCOMING!" I yell very loudly making the others move and arm themselves as I summon Thanatos.

Thunderhorn and Ironhoof step out of their tents wearing crude iron armour and wielding hammers. Scarlet then follows Ironhoof out wielding a cutlass.

Fluttershy's animal demons are now on alert and ready for battle ready to protect her. Shining Armour is wearing a crude iron chestplate and has a sword and shield made from his demonic energy.

The other demons are out and armed waiting for the incoming enemy.

"They're here!" a harpy calls down to us.

In the darkness of the night with just the moonlight to illuminate the land, I see glowing red eyes coming towards us. Barely visible are the silhouettes of gryphons, some ponies, a couple of minotaurs, and many different forms of wildlife.

"Try to destroy their heads! And don't use arrows! They won't be effective against them!" I order my demons and I get a roar of cheers, as well as an eep from Fluttershy.

I hear the snap of Pinkie's fingers and a bunch of bear traps appear on the ground between us and the undead.

The undead suddenly pick up speed and charge at us, the first one -a male minotaur- reaches me and I swing my scythe, impaling its torso through the right side of its rib cage to keep it still while using my left hand to spray it completely in darkfire, getting a horrid screech as it turns to ash.

Ironhoof is next and swings his heavy iron hammer Luna made for him into the other female minotaur whose head explodes from the force.

A lot of the undead step on the traps, setting them off and either breaking their ankles, or cutting off their foot, paw, hoof completely.

Applejack is next and swings a large battleaxe Luna and Selene made for her, the blade slices through an undead gryphon’s head like butter.

Twilight is using her magic to lift up the lighter undead and repeatedly slam them into the ground to break their limbs so they can't move. I take advantage of this and burn all those crippled. Luna and Selene are using their energy made swords to slice the undead up easily while avoiding all their attacks and blasting others at a longer range with their magic.

Desire is using her razor energy whips to dismember her targets.

Shining Armour is using his energy to create barriers and shields to protect Gilda, Rarity, Fluttershy, Dusk Shine, and the harpies as they'll not do much and would be easy to injure or kill.

Spike is using his tough scales as armour to block attacks from the undead horde while using his darkfire breath to turn a lot of them into ash.

The lesser demons are holding their own but a lycan named Fido gets bitten on his left hand by an undead diamond dog, though he continues to keep fighting even with the injury.

I start to conjure darkfire dragons and fire them into the still oncoming horde, they detonate on the grouped up undead, blowing large chunks from some and reducing others to ash.

The battle continues to go on as Luna, Selene, Desire, and I wipe out the majority of the horde while the others finish off what little remained.

Once done and all the corpses reduced to ash, I hear a panicked scream from the lycan that was bitten as his hand is twitching.

"I can't move my paw!" he yells as his hand seems to be moving with a mind of its own. I then realise that's how the undead here work, just like the games and movies back home, one bite and you slowly start to turn due to a virus, fungus, or bacteria.

I take a cutlass from one of the orobas and quickly slice off Fido's infected arm from the elbow down. Everyone gasps at my action and the lycan screams in pain while clutching his elbow.

But to everyone's horror, the hand is still moving and trying to claw its way towards Twilight. She screams as it gets closer as she then blasts it with a bolt of magic destroying the hand while panting with wide eyes.

"So, I think we found out why it's called the Plaguelands..." I say with a frown.

"What?" Twilight asks confused.

"These aren't true undead. They're reanimated with a virus, fungus, bacteria, or possibly an animation spell, it's why Thanatos couldn't take their souls, they don't have one," I reply.

"So you mean if we got bitten, we'll end up like them?" Applejack asks me wide eyed.

"Most likely. Seemed that way with Fido's hand. By cutting it off I prevented it spreading to the rest of his body," I tell her and walk over to said lycan who is now whimpering and use some of my energy to help heal his wound.

"So what do we do about them from now on?" Rainbow asks with her arms crossed.

"We demonlords will deal with them from a distance. I'll use my darkfire to reduce them to ash while the others will do what they can to cripple or destroy them," I reply and head back to the camp after Fido's wound is closed. When we get back to Fel Haven we'll have to figure out a way to either replace his arm or attach a blade to it at least.

I get back into my tent while Rainbow yells at me in protest. "What!? You're just going back to bed when there could be more of them out there!?"

I frown and poke my head out at her. "Yes. My shadow wraiths will warn me if more are coming. Now go to sleep, we're picking up the pace tomorrow!" I order her and she growls at me before stomping off back to her tent.

Desire and Twilight then enter the tent where Twilight looks worried.

"Are you sure we'll be fine?" she asks me.

"Yes. While these zombies are a pain, if I go all out, I can wipe out a lot of them at once and burn some souls to replenish what energy I lose," I reply and lay down. They both snuggle up and don't say another word.

Three weeks and two days later

We've travelled a long way during the past twenty-three days. We've seen some very old ruins of gryphon villages, nothing has really survived out here and our resources are running low. The only reason we still have fresh supplies is thanks to Celestia giving us more food with Pinkie's portal power. Though we had to pay compensation with gold from Desire's pack.

Celestia is also delivering mail from the girls families and receiving new letters from the girls as well. Every time she looks at me with distrust and I honestly couldn’t give a shit.

Our group has also been attacked four more times by large hordes of zombies. I used my darkfire dragons to decimate the majority of them from a distance while Desire, Luna, and Selene used their magic to burn and or cripple the ones I missed.

There were also a few lone zombies or small packs that we came across as well, but they weren't much of a threat.

We did lose Fido though to a large burrowing worm like zombie as it burst from under him and swallowed him whole. We destroyed the worm and Fido's body with it as it would most likely be infected even if he was still alive. The other lycans grieved for the lose of their friend.

Rarity and Spike are getting more and more affectionate in front of us while Twilight is more and more open with Desire and I. She's no longer nervous or shy when she feeds off me now and openly enjoys every "meal" with much enthusiasm.

The succupony named High Tide told us she thinks she's pregnant since she forgot to apply the spell to herself one time. Desire checked her over and she is indeed one week pregnant.

Rainbow Dash is still uncooperative and rebellious, but a good threat of turning her into a mindless zombie gets her in line.

Dusk Shine has decided to become a demon to get his magic back after a lot of convincing from Luna. Unlike Rarity who was awake when her horn was cut off, Luna put Dusk to sleep and then removed his horn. She also asked to be the one to turn him, to which I let her. She bit his arm and poured her energy into him. His fur turned black and his mane midnight blue while his tail lengthened with the heart shaped tip. Two horns grew on his head and his eyes turned icy blue and slitted. For now, he's a lesser demon.

Once he woke back up, he found he could use his magic again as well as start learning to use his demonic magic as well. As for his need for oestrogen, just hugging a female will feed him enough until he's about sixteen when his body will be needing more to survive. So for now, he’s sleeping with Luna and Selene in the same tent where he can feed from them over night while he sleeps.

So, after our long journey, we arrive at what must be the Gate of Tartarus, a large twenty metre tall red double stone door with demonic looking heads along the sides standing in the middle of nowhere... Except there's no guardian defending it.

"Where is the Guardian?" Luna mumbles to herself and I can't help but wonder that myself.

"Dunno, but it doesn't matter. We just need to open the gate and go in!" I say and walk over to the gate.

I place my hand on the rough and ancient stone door and can just feel the energy of Tartarus behind it. Before I could try to open the doors though, a loud ragged roar echoes throughout the Plaguelands.

Looking up, I see a dragon that looks like it's been dead for centuries with bones and muscle showing under some missing scales.

"WHO DARES TO OPEN THE GATE TO TARTARUS!?" it bellows out in a deep raspy feminine tone as it comes in for a landing.

Chapter 40: Home again

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 40: Home again

The large undead dragon whose scales are a deep blue with pale grey underbelly scales and spines along its back lands in front of us making Fluttershy faint on top of Angel.

She glares at us lingering for but a moment on Luna and Selene, before looking directly at me. "How did a demonlord such as you get out of Tartarus!?" she demands.

I frown at her and summon my scythe just in case she decides to attack me. "I didn't willingly. I was pulled out into Equestria by a colt's surge of magic," I reply as her eyes narrow onto my scythe.

"I recognise that weapon..." she says and goes wide eyed. "That's Thanatos' scythe!" she then yells and snarls at me. "Where did you get that weapon!?" she then demands again.

"He came to me when my power first manifested itself decades ago, my power fluctuating at the time was his only chance to be free from his prison which was weakened deep beneath Tartarus, he then attuned himself to my energy signature and has served me since then," I reply calmly.

I feel my scythe pulse in my hand after I finished explaining. 'Master, this dragon is named Olestra, and was once my friend and ally in the battle with the alicorns who imprisoned me,' Thanatos tells me. 'Would you allow me to burn some souls so I may speak to her?' he asks for the first time ever since he came to me.

I mull it over and look back to the dragon who looks like she's becoming impatient. 'Very well,' I reply and hold my scythe out in front of me.

I can feel Thanatos burning souls and a few seconds later, a transparent grey figure appears in front of us wearing a long cloak like robe with a hood covering all but the bony pony muzzle barely sticking out.

"Hello, Olestra," Thanatos greets the dragon who goes wide eyed at the sight of him. Even the others seem shocked to see the skeletal pony.

"Thanatos?" she asks in confusion and leans down to him.

"Yes, it's me. It's been a few thousand years hasn't it... what happened to you?" he replies and asks her sadly.

Olestra sighs and lays down on her belly. I look back to the others who look confused at her sudden shift in behaviour.

"After you were defeated, I thought you were killed and your weapon destroyed... so I attacked the alicorns in my anger, though I never stood a chance. But instead of giving me an honourable death, they cursed my soul and bound me to this gate to forever prevent other demons coming through. My body has been deteriorating over the millennia I have been here, and I've had to resort to hunting the living who wonder in these lands to repair my body," she explains to him and leans her head forward to nuzzle Thanatos, but her head just phases through him.

I carefully watch the two just talking while Desire walks over to me. "I've heard of this Olestra before, she was the general to Overlord Agosh back then... she was known for her savage tactics and unrelenting power," she tells me in awe.

I look back to the dragon who looks like she would be crying in happiness, but it would seem being undead has destroyed her ability to do so.

"My master needs to return to Tartarus, Olestra. Would you let us through?" Thanatos asks her.

"Your master?" she asks and looks at me again.

"Yes, he is the current Overlord of Tartarus, and he wishes to go back home to prevent Tirek from getting free again," he tells her making her eyes widen.

"Him? The Overlord?" she says and looks me over.

I frown at her, I know she just insulted me with that comment.

Thanatos laughs getting her attention again. "If only you knew what he has done in the last sixty years," he tells her getting a confused frown from her. He then starts to flicker and I feel him losing power. "I can't stay for much longer... It was good seeing you again, despite your current condition," he tells her before fading away.

Olestra stands back up and frowns in thought for a few seconds before looking back at me. "I am bound by the alicorns magic to prevent demons from escaping and to prevent me from wandering too far and forcing me back here. They didn't say anything about letting them back in," she tells me with a smirk. "Thank you, for letting me see Thanatos again..." she then says with a faint smile.

I smile back at her and nodded. "I'll see if there's anyway to remove the curse on you, maybe Luna and Selene here will know how to," I reply.

Olestra eyes the two alicorn demons distrustfully before nodding back to me. "Very well. If Thanatos trusts you, then so shall I... It's not like I'll be going anywhere soon."

She then turns to the gate and effortlessly pushes one door open.

"Now go, before the curse decides you're trying to get out instead," she warns me with a slight grimace.

My eyes widen as I realise she's been resisting her curse as best she can for a while now. "You heard her! MOVE INSIDE NOW!" I tell the others. But before Gilda could go in, I stop her. "Just be warned, if you go in there, there is a high probability you'll turn into a harpy. So you have three choices, go in and risk becoming a harpy, I turn you into one myself, or you turn back and start a new life somewhere else," I tell her.

She looks at the gate with worry and then to Shining Armour who is standing by the gate watching with his own expression of worry. Gilda then looks back towards Gryphonia before returning her gaze to me with a determined frown and nodding. "Just make it quick..." she mutters and tilts her head to the side.

Not wasting anymore time, I bite into her neck making her hiss in pain and pour my demonic energy into her, enough to make her a deamon at least.

She gasps with a grimace as her front legs start to move down her torso from the shoulders and fuse into her hind legs where the paws are replaced with her talons, she only remains standing due to my grip on her, her wings then move up to her shoulders and grow larger as well. Although something new happens as small four clawed talons grow out from the middle joint on each wing like hands. Next, her torso changes into a more human shape as her multiple teats move up her belly and merge together, forming breasts that grow from her chest.

Her fur then changes colour from light brown to the same purple on the tips of the feathers on her head and around her eyes. Her beak looks longer and sharper than the average harpy as well. Once the change finishes, she wobbles up onto her new legs with my help and yelps as she leans back too far. I catch her and quickly carry her to the gate where Olestra is now snarling and her eyes are dilating rapidly.

I get to the gate just in time to avoid a blast of darkfire from Olestra who roars out like a wild beast. Both Ironhoof and Thunderhorn quickly push the gate shut which sounds like it's locked behind us before just fading away. I walk over to where it was and hold my hand out, I can't feel it there anymore but I sense the gate is still here. Maybe it's in another plane of existence like the Shadow Realm?

"Why did she try to barbecue us after letting us in!?" Rainbow Dash yells angrily as I turn back to the group.

"It was her curse," I tell the thestral as I pass a wide eyed Gilda to a blushing Shining Armour who happily does so and hugs her. Gilda returns the hug using her wings like she would with her old forelegs. "She was resisting it the whole time, and I think opening the gate made it worse... but in the end we made it in." I then turn to the others and spread my arms. "Welcome to Tartarus!" I tell them with a grin.

"Sweet mother of Celestia... Ah still can't believe we're ere'," Applejack comments with a grim expression as she looks around. Fluttershy is hugging into Angel's back tightly with a terrified expression while Harry, Yin, and Yang gather around her to comfort her.

Pinkie Pie is frowning at the ash covered landscape and rubbing her chin in thought. She then tries to open a tear in the air but gasps when nothing happens. "I can't open a hole to Ponyville!" she announces.

Well, there goes our supply line and connection to Equestria.

Twilight quickly jots down a note on some parchment and walks over to Spike. "Spike! Try sending this to Celestia!" she tells him.

He takes the rolled up parchment and blows his darkfire flames over it, only to reduce it to ash which falls to the ground.

"Guess that's out of the picture as well," I comment and look around myself.

After squinting I recognise those mountains in the distance. They're the Thunderfury Mountains, which means the city of Felfire is nearby!

"Come on! We're near one of my cities, if we leave now we'll arrive there in a couple of days time," I tell them all and start walking towards the Mountain.

"Goodness, is it always so hot here?" Rarity asks and pulls out a fan from her bag to cool herself down.

"I dunno, feels kinda nice," Spike comments and wiggles his clawed feet into the ground.

"Most of the time, though there are some cold areas deep underground," Desire says and holds my left hand. "Been awhile since we were last in Felfire. I wonder how Mo'gra is coping with running the city? When we left her in charge, she was a nervous wreck," she then tells me with a giggle.

I can't help but chuckle as well. Mo'gra is a female ogre who is as smart as a goblin, but just as shy as Fluttershy can be. She was found in the wastes nearly dead from multiple wounds seventeen years ago, she escaped from a demonlord named Imotem, who abused her to vent his anger. After we took her into Felfire, we nursed her back to health and as thanks she joined our city as a secretary in training. Then after the defeat of Val'Hades, we made her the Mayor of Felfire.

Funny how Felfire was first ruled by a cruel ogre only to be run by a nicer one later.

"I'm sure she's fine. But we need to get an airship to Fel Haven and see what has changed since our absence," I reply.

The others trudge along behind us, for the first four hours nothing of note happens, but then a large waste worm bursts out from the ground and attacks us getting Fluttershy and Rarity to shriek. Spike growls and flaps his wings, launching himself at the beast.

"SPIKE!" Twilight and Rarity yell fearfully as the dragon lands on top of the worm, just above its mouth.

It tries to throw him off but Spike digs his claws into the worm making it screech loudly, he then inhales a large amount of air before spraying the worm in a large plume of darkfire.

The screeching gets louder as the worm starts to turn to ash. "SPIKE!" I yell getting his attention. "DON'T BURN THE WHOLE THING!" I tell him and he quickly jumps off the flailing worm and glides over to us.

"Why?" he asks as Twilight walks over angrily.

"What were you thinking!" she asks him with a slap to his left arm but she then yelps as the worm crashes down onto the ground.

"What? It attacked so I stopped it," he replies and then looks at me. "And why did you want me to stop?" he asks me.

"That there is dinner!" I reply and everyone apart from Desire looks ill.

"What!? You can't expect me to eat that... that... disgusting thing!" Rarity asks aghast.

"I had the same reaction the first time but it's actually pretty damn tasty," I tell her and walk over to the corpse."Desire, help me cut up some steaks from it," I tell my wife.

"Sure, I can't wait to taste something familiar again," she replies and takes Shining's sabre from him, who looks unamused.

It takes us a good ten or so minutes to carve up the worm but now we have twenty-four large steaks ready to cook. I also reduce the remains of the corpse to ash as to not attract unwanted attention.

Using the last of our firewood, we set up a campfire and with Pinkie Pie's power, she creates a barbecue grill over it. Desire and I start to cook them up and I notice the harpies and lycans start to drool from the smell, Gilda included.

Pinkie then creates a massive table with chairs along with plates and cutlery. Everyone awkwardly takes a spot and the ex-herbivores who've only tried fish so far look green in the cheeks as Desire serves up the steaks when they're done. Once all cooked, Desire and I sit down as well and dig in.

Twilight winces as she picks up her fork and pokes at the steak. "I know I've tried fish... but this is just, too much..." she says and then picks up her knife.

"No one's going to force you to eat it, but out here in the wastes, meat is the main stay here, as fruit and vegetables can only grow if tended. They usually dry up or are very brittle," Desire tells her and takes a bite of her steak. "Damn that'sh good," she says around her mouthful.

The purple succupony then gulps and she cuts off a piece and gingerly eats it. After a few seconds she nodded to herself and cuts off another.

Fluttershy looks like she's about to cry as she stares at her steak, but Applejack gives her a few apples from the cart to which she gratefully accepts.

Rainbow Dash glares at the steak before looking at me and then back at the steak. She quickly grabs her knife and fork and cuts off a nice chunk. She hesitates for a second before closing her eyes and stuffing the meat into her mouth.

After pulling the fork out and chewing for a couple of seconds her eyes slowly open with a surprised expression on her face.

"That's not half bad..." she comments before cutting off another piece and eagerly eating it.

Spike is tearing into his steak making Rarity wince. Pinkie is lightly shaking a salt shaker on hers before cutting off a piece eloquently and eats it, then she wipes her mouth with a napkin before repeating.

"You gonna eat that?" Spike asks Fluttershy who just meekly shakes her head.

"N-No, you can have it..." she replies. She then gawks at Angel who is eating a steak of his own happily with Harry, Yin, and Yang. "Angel!?" she then says getting the large helhare's attention.

"What?" he replies confused with a piece of meat hanging from his mouth.

I ignore them and finish up my steak. The lycans and harpies dig into theirs with gusto while the pony demons are unsure but eventually eat theirs as well. But the wraiths don't need to eat as they absorb the energy in the air, be it magic or demonic to sustain themselves. They can eat, it's just the food they do eat is dissolved into energy, and we can see it happen through their stomachs.

Luna and Selene are eating theirs with no problem, whether they've eaten meat like this before becoming demons or not I'm not sure, but they also help Dusk eat his as he looks a little put off from his food.

Once everyone has finished and is ready to go, the table, chairs, and barbecue grill all disappear.

"Right then, let's get moving," I tell them and with that, we trudge towards the Thunderfury Mountains again.

Two Days Later

We've past the mountains where Rainbow Dash has collected a few thunder crystals as she thought they were cool and had nothing like them in Equestria. They seem to not affect her as the electricity in them seems to just dance over her skin and fur. Although when Applejack tried to pick it up, it zapped her and left her fingers all fluffy.

We were attacked by a few more of the beasts of the wastes, where Fluttershy even managed to tame a wild hell hound pup she found alone and scared, she's now following the yellow thestral as if she were its mother. Fluttershy named her Blaze due to the small tufts of flame like fur around her paws, tail, and neck.

Now we can see the large city and I can't help but grin as we get closer and closer. I'm back to where it all began, memories of my arrival, meeting Desire, my first kill, and everything after flood my mind. I take a deep breath and sigh.

"I'm, home again," I mutter to myself getting a faint giggle from Desire.

Chapter 41: To Fel Haven

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 41: To Fel Haven

It doesn't take us long to reach Felfire as we walk up to the large city gates.

"DON'T MOVE!" a rough sounding voice demands from on top of the wall.

I look up to see a harpy flying down with an imp strapped to the harness on her back and a pair of revolvers in his hands which are aimed at us.

Once the harpy lands and gets a good look at me, she gasps and goes into a low bow.

"My lord! What happened to you? You've been missing for months!" the harpy asks me.

"I was pulled into another world, it took me months to find the gate that lead to here. Now, tell me what has happened in my absence," I reply and ask her.

"Some demonlords have banded together to take advantage of your disappearance and are laying siege to Fel Haven. Your wife and children have been evacuated to this city and are in the Mayor's Manor. Though your sons have taken an airship back to Fel Haven to coordinate the defences and push the invaders back," she tells me.

"I see, then prepare an airship to Fel Haven quickly! I'll be at the Mayor's Manor to check on my family, come get me when the ship is ready," I order her and she nodded before flying back over the wall.

"So you are the Overlord! To be honest, I thought you were just saying you were to be more intimidating..." Rainbow says with wide eyes.

I glance at her with a raised brow as the gates open. "I don't need to pronounce that I'm the Overlord to be intimidating. You can ask Celestia what I mean about that," I reply with a smirk while getting confused expressions from the others.

Desire moans and leans against me as she knows what I mean.

Once the gate is open, we walk through while being greeted by the demons in armour and armed with firearms or other weapons.

Twilight is gawking at the massive metal city while Shining is eyeing up the equipment my demons have with wide eyes. Compared to Equestria's guard armour, my demons armour and weapons are much more durable and lethal.

A boarus in thick plate armour with a spear and tower shield walks up to me.

"Welcome back, my Lord," he tells me with a snort. and salute

"It's good to be back, Captain," I reply and continue to the manor with my group trailing behind me.

"Is it me, or is this like watching Celestia walk through Canterlot?" Rainbow Dash asks Twilight.

Twilight is now staring at me with a smile on her face. "It does look like it. He really is loved by his people. Desire told me how lesser demons hated the previous Overlords for their cruelty, but they seem to care for Damien," she replies.

"Ruling with fear and power only makes it harder to rule. I'd have to watch out for assassins, riots, and disloyalty. By having my people trust me, I know that they'll help me in maintaining order and the general happiness of the people. There are no slaves in my territories, no one is above another, demons can even question my decisions or voice their opinions right in my face without fear of being struck down," I say getting their attention.

"A bit hard to believe that with your attitude," Rainbow says making me frown at her.

"I may show mercy and not force my will on innocent people unlike most demonlords, but when those I care for and look over are threatened, I will not hesitate to become a monster to protect them and to rip my enemy asunder," I tell her coldly, getting her to gulp and hide behind Spike.

"Twilight's seen his loving side many times, while the rest of you have mostly seen his protective and no nonsense side during our journey. I think it's only Celestia that's seen his vengeful side after harming me," Desire tells them and hugs my left arm.

I smile as I look at the still up and running pub named the Ifrit's Armpit as we pass it. A much more cleaner and friendlier place now than when I first arrived.

"Hasn't any other Overlord tried being nice to their people?" Twilight asks me.

"A couple did nearly a thousand years ago, but they didn't last long when a large force of demonlords and archdemons attacked the Castle and slew them, before turning on each other for the position. It's how the last Overlord named Val'Hades took over after murdering his own brother, until Damien killed him over two years ago," Desire tells the purple succupony.

"Welcome back, Overlord!" the demons around us continue to greet me as we walk down the street.

"Are those balrogs? I thought they were wiped out two centuries ago."

"Yeah, and what's wrong with those inccuponies and succuponies?"

"Look at the puppies!" a young imp says looking at the lycans.

"Are those ghosts?" another comments at the zebra wraiths.

My group just look around in fascination at everything my demons have achieved. We pass a school where the children are in the playground playing the current craze of pogs; small little cardboard disks with two different sides and a fel iron slammer used to try and flip as many of the stacked pogs over in a single hit.

"What are they doing?" Fluttershy asks as she watches a boarus playing with an inccupony drop his slammer onto the stack of ten or so pogs making five of them flip over, before cheering and collecting the flipped pogs.

"An old game I introduced from my world. It's become very popular with children lately," I reply.

"Looks like fun! Where can I get some?" Pinkie asks me.

"From a game store, I'll get you some later when everything calms down," I tell her and after a few more minutes we arrive at the manor.

Waiting at the door is my wife Slitherana and the mayor of Felfire Mo'gra.

"Damien! Desssire!" my wife yells when she sees us. She slithers very quickly towards us and without waiting, coils herself around me and kisses me deeply.

I wrap my arms around her and return the kiss. I'm so glad to see her safe.

I pull back and just stare into her eyes. "Where are the kids?" I ask her.

"Yuna and Ssslitherine are at their ssspa here while Olivia isss fuming in her old lab that ssshe had to leave her newer lab back in Fel Haven. Vipirior, Ssscalefang, and Tidusss are back in Fel Haven trying to keep the demonlordsss from ssstorming the cccity to take over the Cassstle sssinccce you disssappeared..." she tells me.

"How are they holding up?" I then ask.

"We've lossst a lot of sssoldiersss but the archdemonsss and airshipsss are repelling the worssst of them," she replies.

"I see, then I better head over there and put a stop to these attacks," I say and hug her tightly. "I'm so glad you're safe, I've been worried sick about you and the kids," I tell her getting her to sigh and nuzzle me.

"What happened?" she asks me quietly.

"Let's head inside and I'll tell you," I reply and she uncoils herself from me.

"How have you been Mo'gra?" I ask the large ogre woman who smiles and adjusts her glasses.

"I'm doing well, my lord. We're currently over populated with the refugees from Fel Haven," she tells me with a sigh.

"If you have to, ask for aid from the surrounding towns. I'm sure they could spare a few supplies to help accommodate the refugees," I reply getting her to write that down on the clipboard she's holding.

I notice Twilight looking at the charcoal pencil Mo'gro is using curiously.

We all then head inside where Desire gives Slitherana a massive hug and a kiss of her own. The others just stare at my naga wife with expressions ranging from surprise to shock.

We sit around the large dining table where the chefs are cooking us a nice meal of blood apple pie and some burgers.

For the next hour I tell Slitherana what happened as we eat the food. Applejack asked what blood apples were, so a butler brought one to her making her go wide eyed at the meaty looking fruit.

"Ssso we might have a new wife in the family?" Slitherana asks while looking at Twilight who blushes from the attention.

"That's if she wants to hang around," Desire replies and kisses Twilight on the cheek, making the purple succupony's face redder.

The harpy from the gate enters the room and bows to us.

"My Lord, the airship is stocked and armed. They're just waiting for you to arrive now," she tells me.

"Good. Keep watch over the gate for anymore hostile demons or refugees," I tell her getting a nod before she leaves. "Well then," I say to the others. "I need to go and sort out this invasion, You can either stay here and look around the city, or come along into a very likely and bloody battle," I tell them and get up from my chair.

"I think I'll stay here..." Fluttershy says, her animal demons sitting by the wall eating some cooked meat made for them.

"I'll also remain here, I'm dying to meet these arachniponies," Rarity says getting a smile from Fluttershy.

"Ah'd like ta know more about these blood apples, ah take it ya'll got an orchard here?" Applejack asks and I reply with a nod.

"I'm going with you!" Twilight says and stands up. "I did say I would help you get rid of Tirek so he can't hurt anypony else," she tells me and walks towards the door.

Spike looks conflicted about staying or going while switching his gaze to Twilight and Rarity.

"Then I'm going with you! I still don't trust him around you!" Rainbow Dash says giving me a glare as she gets up and walks by.

I'm nearly ready to shave her hair and fur off completely if she keeps this attitude up just to pull her down a peg or two.

"If Twily is going then I am too," Shining says and walks over to his sister, getting a hug from her in return.

"Count me in, I want to see the capital of Tartarus!" Gilda says and awkwardly walks over to Shining. Seems she's still not used to walking on just two legs.

"I wanna go too! Gotta make sure my friends stay safe!" Pinkie says and with a snap of her fingers, she's dressed in combat gear that I vaguely remember from the US army.

Instead of desert or forest camouflage on the gear, it's red and black and looks like ash. She somehow has one of my revolver rifles, painted bright pink with all the ammo pouches on her chest filled with bullets.

I frown at her and walk over and take the gun from her and examine it. It looks and feels just like any of our rifles.

"Pinkie... How did you know how to make this or even how it works?" I ask her carefully.

She grins sheepishly and twiddles her thumbs. "I'm not entirely sure... I just wanted one of them and poof... I don't know how they work actually..." she replies like a scolded child.

I sigh and give the rifle back to her before taking my rifle from Desire, then I remove the current six shots in it. "Quick lesson then. Pull back the hammer to cock it, then pull the trigger to fire the bullet currently in the top chamber," I tell her and demonstrate. I pull the hammer back making the bullet chamber spin around to the next chamber with a click. I then pull the trigger making the hammer slam forward where the primer of the bullet would be.

"To reload, press the small button here to the left side just in front of the chamber," I tell her and press said button. The chamber rolls out to the right and I slowly reinsert each bullet back into their chambers. "Once done, push the chamber back in and give it a slight spin to get the chamber in position," I finish and spin the chamber until it clicks into place.

"See? Simple. Now let's get going, I don't want to waste anymore time than we already have," I tell them all and make my way to the door.

"Please be careful!" Fluttershy says to us.

"What about you, Spike?" I ask the dark purple dragon.

He looks worried at Twilight and then towards Rarity. "I-I think I should stay with Rarity... she might need me to protect her..." he replies looking down.

"Aw, that's so sweet of you," Rarity says and hugs his left arm while being mindful of the long bone spike protruding from his elbow.

Though I know the real reason he's staying. Twilight told me how greedy dragons can get, and I don't think Spike want's Rarity feeding off anyone else but him.

"If that's your choice then so be it," I tell him and turn to the others. "Those of you who want to come then let's get moving now," I tell the other demons of our group.

Ironhoof and Scarlet both are instantly on their hooves. "You did offer me the chance of being Captain of my own airship. This will be a good opportunity to see one up close," the balrog says.

His brother Thunderhorn then stands up beside him. The others also get up and make their way over. Though Ebonwing looks like she's plotting something.

"What are you thinking about?" I order the harpy to tell me.

She grimaces as she speaks unwillingly. "I was hoping to use the possible upcoming battle to get myself killed..." she replies.

"I see, then you will stay here and do as Mo'gra tells you to do until we return," I order her making her eyes glow slightly.

"Yes, Master," she replies emotionlessly.

Rainbow Dash winces at the display before walking out the door. Is that why she acts that way to me? She's afraid of that threat I gave her a while ago about taking her free will away?

"Is that really necessary? I know what she tried to do before was horrible, but making her stay here when she doesn't even want to live anymore is a bit cruel don't you think?" Twilight asks me with a sad expression.

I turn to her with a frown making her cringe slightly. "She tried to sell off two of my friends as sex toys. I don't tolerate that kind of behaviour here or anywhere. What would you prefer, Twilight? That I just dump her in a prison cell and let her rot while draining our food supplies to keep her alive, or make her work her debt off where she isn't a waste of space and resources? Yes, I will admit what I'm doing is akin to slavery in a way, but I would never force an innocent to do as I say. She had this coming and she'll finish her sentence," I tell her and look to Ebonwing.

"Once I think she's learnt her lesson, she can go and try to start a new life here, or go out into the wastes and kill herself. As long as she doesn't cause problems she'll be free to even go back to Gryphonia when we figure out how to summon the gate again," I say and turn back to Twilight.

"So tell me, what would you have done?" I ask her.

She frowns sadly and looks to the floor with a sigh. "I don't know..." she replies.

"Well I for one agree with Sir Damien's method," Selene says with a glare at Ebonwing who remains seated and looking at the table.

"Enough. Let's get going already. I want to make sure my boys are alright," Desire says and drags me out of the room.

“I’ll let our girlsss know you’re home again!” Slitherana yells as we exit the door. I also hear Luna asking Rarity to look after Dusk until we come back to get them.

The others coming with us follow behind us to the city's airship dock which is hidden from view from this side of the city.

"So... how do these airships work?" Twilight asks me.

I glance at her before looking ahead again. "They basically look like sailing ships just without the masts or sails. In their place is a large balloon contained within a large metal frame where imps use their flames to fill it with hot air. On the top of the balloon is a hatch that can be opened and closed to release the hot air if needed to adjust the altitude. On the sides of the hull are propellers to move the ship forward quickly as well as small thrusters to help turn the ship in place and slow down," I tell her.

"Wow... Celestia has her own airship but it uses pegasi to pull it and unicorns to fill the balloon," she tells me.

"Well, our ships get their power from the thunder crystals from Thunderfury Mountain. The same crystal that Rainbow took from said mountain," I say as some demons bow in respect to me.

I nod back in reply and smile as I see a familiar face ahead.

"Damien! Where in the seven pits of despair have you been!" Queen Arachne yells at me with her husband Yogtiron next to her.

"I suppose you could say I was kidnapped and had to fight my way back. As you can see though, I've made a few new friends," I reply and gesture to our group.

"I see... and what happened to those inncu and succuponies?" she asks looking at the orobas and thestrals. But she then gasps at Desires new appearance. "Desire! What happened to your horns!?" she asks and walks over to her, also taking note how she’s a bit taller as well.

Desire giggles and taps her horn. "I'm a demonlord now thanks to Damien. I guess I'm a demonic version of an alicorn," she replies making the arachnipony queen go wide eyed who then notices Selene and Luna who are keeping quiet.

"I'd love to stay and talk, but I need to get to Fel Haven immediately," I tell Arachne who just dumbly nods. "Oh, by the way. There's a mare back at the manor named Rarity who's a seamstress from Equestria, she's here to study your arachnipony silk and discuss fashion with your people. Would you be willing to talk to her or send another to do so?" I ask her.

"Very well, I just checked on my latest clutch of eggs, so I suppose I can go meet this mare," she replies and looks to Yogtiron. "Come along, dear," she says and the large beetle archdemon smiles at her before bowing at me.

"It is good to see you are unharmed, Damien. Poker night just hasn't been the same without you or miss Desire," he tells me and follows his wife.

Once gone Rainbow speaks up. "Not gonna lie, they were creepy," she comments with a shiver.

I frown at her comment but start walking again, making the others follow me.

"This place is fascinating!" Twilight says excitedly and summons a quill and notebook. "Despite all you told me, it's much more detailed in person."

"This city used to be a small, rusted, and run down town of around three hundred starving demons when I first took it over. Now, it's a prospering city and the main hub of the wastes," I tell her as I look around with a smile. Memories of the city growing and expanding as new demons flocked to my territory for a better life briefly flash through my mind.

The others look at the guards and soldiers around the place. I notice Shining is frowning again like when he first saw them at how well equipped they are, most have frag grenades and thunder crystal shock grenades on their belts along with ammo pouches for either rifles or pistols. Some wear plate armour or the new tactical vests with more ammo and gadgets designed by my daughter and her team as well as leather armour for better mobility.

"They seem to be over equipped," the inncupony says.

"Not really, each wield as much as they can comfortably carry. You forget that we demons, even the lesser races, are physically stronger than you equestrians. Tell me, you feel stronger just being here correct?" I ask him.

"Now that you mention it, I do feel stronger..." he replies and flexes his right hand.

"That's the energy around us strengthening our bodies. Even I feel a little stronger just being back here," I tell him.

He looks at me with wide eyes. "You mean you were weakened back in Equestria?" he asks me with shock.

"A little, but not by much. Lesser demons and deamons tend to benefit more from the energy in the air than archdemons or demonlords due to our large reserve of energy within us," I simply reply as we finally make our way around the large skyscraper like buildings.

The group gawk at the large airship that is being swarmed with activity as imps and goblins check over the whole vessel. The ship itself is a galleon class with a single large balloon above it and four propellers on the sides.

"Whoa, it's huge!" Rainbow says in awe.

"Yeah it's big, but not our biggest," I reply and head over to the ramp up.

"WHAT!?" she then yells and flies in front of me. "You mean to say you got bigger ships!?" she then asks me.

"We also have four frigate class airships and our flag ship which my people called a man o war. A ship with over one hundred cannons, a bomb bay, and sniper nests on the sides of the balloon, though it’s flaw is that it’s rather slow," I reply and walk past her and up to the dock.

"My Lord!" a dark yellow inccupony with light green hair and dark blue eyes, says and bows before me. "The ship is ready to depart on your order, Sir!" he informs me.

"Very good, once we board set out for Fel Haven immediately!" I order him.

He stands straight and salutes. "At once, my Lord! You heard him! Prepare to depart!" he yells at the others on the ship.

I get a grim expression as I look out of the horizon towards where Fel Haven is. 'Let's see which of the remaining demonlords are responsible for these attacks,' I think to myself.

Chapter 42: Return of the Overlord

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 42: Return of the Overlord

Everyone is now on board and marvelling at the technology that the ship is built from. Imps have filled the balloon full of hot air and the ship lurches forward as the goblin engineers power up the engines.

"Ship ahead full! Next stop, Fel Haven!" The inccupony captain yells and turns the wheel to face north.

"If this is what I can get to command then I don't care about losing my ship at all..." Ironhoof says looking around the ship's deck with a grin. Harpies are on top of the balloon in the crows nests as lookouts using their sharp eyes, along with two sniper nests on each side of the balloon holding an inccupony or succupony sniper. They're using longer barrelled rifles with basic scopes on them.

"This is amazing! No pegasi needed to pull the ship... it's all done by technology! Oh I can't wait to start learning all I can here!" Twilight says with glee as she leans over the railing to look at the propellers.

"You'll find that a lot of our technology has never been heard of in your world," I tell her as I head into the planning room at the back under the steering wheel of the ship.

"What?" she asks and eagerly follows me into the back room.

Once inside, I walk up to the map table with all of known Tartarus on it. Next to it is a charcoal pencil which I pick up and lightly toss to Twilight.

"I saw you eyeing the one Mo'gra was using. It's just a stick of charcoal surrounded by wood to make a comfortable writing utensil. Less messy than quills and ink and easier to transport around," I tell her.

She stares at the pencil like it’s the next best thing. "How have we not figured this out yet! It's so simple!" she yells more so at herself with a pout.

I just shrug. "I noticed a lot of your technology was replaced with anything that magic could do or maybe you just didn't see a need to replace what seems to work?" I guessed and looked over the map. “We humans tend to not be satisfied with what we make or have as we know they can always be improved.”

Twilight walks over and also looks at the map. "This is Tartarus?" she asks and trails a hand over the map.

"That we know of. We're here right now," I reply and tap just north of Felfire. "And were heading here," I then say and tap on the city of Fel Haven seven-hundred and twenty-two miles away.

"How long will it take to get there?" she asks me.

"A day or two, this ship can move forty miles an hour at top speed but that tends to burn out the engines after four hours of constant flight. So the safest speed is thirty miles an hour, between a couple hours at max speed," I reply and sigh. Even though we're on our way, it'll still be a while before we get there.

"And what's here?" she then asks me pointing to a black hole on the map four hundred miles to the west of Felfire.

"Ah, that's the home of a leviathan class monster. She's the broodmother of the waste worms, like the one that attacked us. We leave her be since she's supplying this area with a steady supply of meat. Otherwise I would have had her killed due to the threat she poses," I tell her with a frown.

"She's really that big?" she asks with surprise.

"That's why she's a leviathan class. Last I saw of her she was nearly a mile long," I reply and walk over to the liquor cabinet. "Want a drink?" I ask her and take out two glasses and a bottle of rot wheat ale.

"I don't really drink..." she replies and nervously rubs her left arm.

"Actually, most of our drinks aren't alcoholic. This is called rot wheat ale, and despite its name, is actually very sweet," I tell her and pour a small amount in each glass. "The only difference I can remember when I last had alcohol from my world is that this still tastes just a strong, just without the hangover that comes with alcohol."

I walk over to her and hand her a glass. She takes it after a moment of hesitation and takes a small sip and winces at the strong flavour, but then her eyes widen.

"It tastes like sugared honey," she comments and takes another sip while getting used to the strength of it.

"I can't remember the last time I tried honey to be honest, but if that's what it tastes like then I'll take your word for it," I say and drink half of mine instantly with a sigh.

"So, how are you doing? Now that we're here in Tartarus, how do you feel about it?" I ask her, genuinely curious about her opinion of my home. I walk over to the couch and pat the cushion beside me.

She walks over and sits next to me and leans on my right arm. "To be honest, I was terrified of coming here, despite how you described it. It's hard to think of something one way when you've been raised with the view of another. But from what I've seen so far, it's been a fascinating experience and the demons are not what I expected," she replies and takes another sip.

"Can you see yourself living here? I promise the land looks nicer further inland compared to the wastes here. I guess you can say we're in the desert right now," I tell her and down the rest of my drink.

"I don't know, it's so different from what I'm used to and what about my mother and father? My other friends in Ponyville?" she asks with a sad frown.

"Hey, we just need to find the gate that leads to the one under Canterlot and repair it right? Then you have a way of coming and going whenever you want," I tell her soothingly.

"I guess. It'll just take me awhile to get used to this place," she says and sighs.

After about thirty minutes just sitting there enjoying each other's company, the door bursts open with a wide eyed Rainbow Dash.

"Damien! There's some flying monsters heading this way!" she tells me and quickly leaves.

I get up and head outside to see a flock of dire bats heading right for us.

"That's odd, dire bats don't come out unless provoked... something or someone must have disturbed them from their cave," I say and turn to the crew.

"RIFLES OUT! SNIPERS! TAKE THEM OUT!" I order the crew getting a cheer in response.

The sound of over twenty rifles including my own cocking their hammers back fill the air as our crew, Desire, and I aim at the incoming agitated bats.

The others yelp as a musical of gunfire echoes throughout the wastes and the bats drop out of the sky one after the other.

I barely hear someone whimper behind me but ignore them as I keep firing into the oncoming bats. It doesn't take long to shoot them all down.

"Good job fellas!" I say getting another cheer from the crew.

"That's bucking terrifying, and they hurt my ears," Rainbow says while looking at our rifles and covering said ears.

"It's one of the main reasons my forces are mostly uncontested, and probably one of the reasons Fel Haven hasn't fallen yet," I tell her and holster my rifle. "Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to take a nap," I tell them and head below deck to find one of the spare guest rooms.

"Wait for me!" I hear Twilight call out and run to follow me.

"Yes?" I ask her with a raised brow.

"I um... I'm feeling a little hungry..." she tells me blushing slightly.

I smile and pick her up making her yelp in surprise.

"Then I must look to the needs of my girl," I tell her making her blush intensify.

She uses her magic to open the door once we arrive and I walk in. There's a bed to the left at the back, a dresser to the right, and a table with two chairs next to the dresser. She closes the door behind us and I gently lay her on the bed.

"You might want to put up a sound proofing spell. Unless you want the whole ship to hear you?" I tell her teasingly. Now her neck and whole face are red but her eyes are half lidded.

"I don't mind if they hear us, it'll let them know you're mine," she says seductively. Desire has been a really bad influence on her.

"If that's what you want," I reply and start to pull her shirt up.

After feeding Twilight, she took a nap with me where I wake up to find both her and Desire cuddled up to me. I arch my back getting a few satisfying pops making Twilight groan and cling to me tighter.

I smile and pull her closer to me getting a sigh out of her.

"This is nice..." she mumbles and snuggles her face into my neck.

"I can't wait until we can just relax and settle back into our Castle. I'm looking forward to when Twilight becomes a true part of our happy family and has a couple of sprogs of her own," Desire tells me from my right.

"It would be nice to have a few kids running around again, you said you wanted another one didn't you?" I reply and ask her.

"Mmmhmmm, I want you to plant another foal in me. I miss holding a foal in my arms," she says and just lays there.

I wouldn't mind having a couple more children since ours are all grown up. I was about to go back to sleep when the ship's alarm goes off.

Throwing the covers off me, I roll over Desire getting a yelp from her and then a moan as I press against her chest. I ignore her and quickly put on my underwear and trousers. Foregoing my shirt and coat, I grab my rifle and make my way up to the deck.

Once I arrive, I see harpies in ragged clothing and soulless black glazed over eyes attacking my crew, but the gunners and snipers are putting them down quickly.

"Where did they come from!?" I shout out, getting a boarus' attention.

"They just appeared from a portal, my Lord!" he replies and then slams his morning star mace into the head of a harpy with a sickening crunch and a spray of blood.

"Must have been an archdemon or demonlord that did it..." I mumble to myself. These harpies are showing the symptoms of being under the influence of the master's will. "Kill or capture these harpies and go at max speed for two hours!" I order the crew and they fight more viciously to wipe out the attackers.

I notice Shining with a sword and shield fighting alongside the crew getting a few kills, along with the balrog brothers and Scarlet.

Luna and Selene are in the air taking on the harpies and preventing them from trying to slash the balloon.

I join the battle and launch multiple tendrils at five harpies, I grip them by their throats and squeeze tightly, snapping their necks and dragging them onto the deck. The crew take their time to stab them in the heart or tying them up when they can. I see another harpy try to sink their talons into the back of an inccupony, but I lash out with my tendrils and snare her tightly.

With a tug, I pull the harpy to me and jerk her head aside. I bite into her neck and flood her with my energy. She screams as my energy tries to overwrite her current mark which looks like a goat's skull with two tall vertical horns on it.

The other mark seems to be from a demonlord but it feels weak in comparison to my energy, so my energy has no problem finally overwriting the mark with my own.

Once completed, I mentally give the harpy her freewill back. She gasps and her eyes refocus and the glazed over look fades away.

I hold her out at arm's length and frown at her. "Who was your previous master?" I ask her.

She's trembling in my grasp and swallows heavily. "H-He is a d-demonlord named T-T-Tirek..." she replies terrified.

"Tirek? So he's loose and causing trouble. Where is he?" I then ask her.

"I d-don't know... H-He's always m-moving," she replies.

I frown and put the harpy down. "Very well, sit in that corner and don't move a muscle," I order her and her eyes glow.

"Yes, Master," she says and walks over to the corner under the stairs leading up to the steering wheel.

I refocus on the battle but it's already over. We've got a few injured demons but they'll heal just fine. Though they have captured a few more of the harpies, I'll claim them later though as I survey the damage done to the ship. The balloon has a slight tear in it but an arachnipony is already up there repairing it while the imps are constantly filling the balloon with more hot air to keep us up.

"W-Why did they attack us?" I hear Twilight ask as she walks up behind me.

"Tirek sent them, whether he knows I'm on board or not I don't know," I reply and look back at the new harpy I claimed. "You, come here now!" I order her and she complies.

"Y-Yes, Master?" she asks timidly.

"What were your orders from Tirek?" I ask her.

"O-Our orders were t-to disrupt any s-supplies from Felfire to F-Fel Haven..." she tells me.

"So Tirek doesn't know I've returned?" I then ask her.

"Not t-that I know of..." the harpy says. She looks as if she's waiting for me to strike her at any moment.

"Alright, hopefully that'll give us the element of surprise when we push back the forces attacking Fel Haven. You can go back to the corner now," I say and order the harpy.

She quickly nodded and scurries off back under the stairs.

"She looked terrified," Twilight says sadly.

"She must have been mistreated by her previous masters. We'll help her and the others we've captured to get settled in once we retake Fel Haven," I tell her and look to the crew. "STATUS REPORT!" I yell getting the captain to come forward.

"The Balloon had a small tear in it but it's already been patched up. A few were injured but they'll heal before we get there. Other than that? Just a few claw marks on the hull," he tells me.

"Good, now go full speed for two hours, I want to be at Fel Haven yesterday!" I tell him and he salutes.

"Yes, my Lord," he replies and looks to the helmsman. "FULL SPEED AHEAD!" he yells and the inccupony at the helm complies.

I can hear the thrusters and propellers protest at the strain placed on them but we'll give the ship some TLC once we get there.

"Keep an eye out for any more surprises!" I tell the crew.

They cheer as Pinkie suddenly pops up in front of me. "Surprises!? I love surprises! What is the surprise?" she asks me.

I just stare at her with a raised brow. "It's not the good kind of surprise, Pinkie," I tell her.

"Oh," she says sadly and pouts.

After seven more hours, the City of Fel Haven comes into view. There hasn't been another attack on us and I've converted the other harpies to my horde. They all say they don't know where Tirek currently is and that their orders were just to disrupt supply lines.

Sieging the walls is a large force of lesser demons and deamons about one-hundred and fifty-thousand strong. I also spot four archdemons with them commanding them at the back.

There's also our main fleet made of our Flagship, the TAF Death from above, four frigate ships, three galleon ships, and two sloop ships flying above the walls shooting down any harpy trying to fly over the walls while cannon fire assaults the ground forces.

On the walls are gunners and archers taking shots at the ground forces while also tossing grenades down at them as well.

I grin as I watch the man'o'war fire all fifty of its starboard cannons, the sound thundering across the land and stunning the ex-Equestrians.

"You weren't kidding when you said you have bigger ships," Rainbow comments but I ignore her as Desire wraps her arms around my waist from behind.

"So, my love? How do you wish to do this?" Desire asks me.

"Well, seeing as they have four archdemons and we have four demonlords, I say each of us attack them. But bring them to me, I could use more powerful souls for Thanatos," I reply.

After discussing the plan with Luna and Selene, we jump overboard and we each dive for a target while the snipers and gunners keep the lesser demons away.

Poor sods don't even see us coming as I summon Thanatos and without warning, impale the large ogre like archdemon through his back and into his heart. He is a fifteen foot tall bald green skinned muscular ogre with bone spikes coming out of his shoulders and back.

"WHAT!?" he yells getting the attention of the demons around him. He then screams in agony as his soul is ripped out and his body shrivels up slowly before crumbling.

Once he's reduced to ash. I land on the ground and smirk.

"The Overlord has returned!" one of the demons says with fear as I look at him.

My smirk fades as I adopt a grim expression. "Yes I have, and I'm not amused with what you're doing to my city while I was away," I reply and conjure six darkfire dragons and send them into the large group of about three-hundred demons in front of me.

They scream as they're reduced to ash, but I don't linger as our ship fires off a salvo of cannonballs into the horde of demons.

With them distracted, I make my way to the next archdemon.

'Time for a proper battle!' I think to myself with a bloodthirsty grin.

Chapter 43: Getting settled and...  some good news?

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 43: Getting settled and... some good news?

POV: Twilight Sparkle

I watch from the airship as Damien jumps off and dives straight for the large green muscular demon. He slams into his back making him stumble slightly and then pierces his heart with this scythe.

"WHAT!?" I barely hear the large demon yell in shock before screaming in pain as he shrivels up and turns to ash making me wince at the sight.

The smaller demons look at Damien in fear as he speaks to them but I can't hear what. He then sends six of his fire dragons into the demons turning at least a couple hundred of them to ash.

He then looks towards the next archdemon as the airship's cannons fire into the large crowd of attacking demons.

Damien takes off into the air again while killing any harpies who get in his way.

"Dude... That bucker is brutal," Rainbow says as she watches the battle beside me.

"Well, his city is under attack... I can understand him wanting to protect it and his people," I reply and watch as he reaches Desire who has the archdemon she's fighting pinned to the ground.

It's looks like a large burnt tree with arms and legs. It also has sickly looking green fruit hanging from its leafless branches. It's struggling to get up but each time it does, Desire knocks it back down while tossing explosive magical orbs into the lesser demons trying to kill her.

Damien wastes no time in hacking up the tree demon and seems to find its heart before stabbing it with his scythe. Once done, Desire focuses on the lesser demons and starts blasting them apart. Damien though flies over to Luna who's fighting a surprisingly small three foot tall demon that looks like a bipedal rat wearing black leather armour and a pair of wavy bladed daggers. A kris I believe they're called, but the demon is fast and very agile as it evades Luna's attacks.

The rat then lunges at Luna making her yelp in surprise, but Damien appears next to the rat and pins it to the ground with his scythe. I can faintly hear the rat's feminine screams as she's reduced to ash.

Luna nodded to Damien before flying up and starts blasting into the horde with her magic. Damien makes his way over to Selene next but he's greeted by a blushing and embarrassed alicorn who's covered in ash.

Damien facepalms and then points to the lesser demons that are now rushing at them. Selene quickly nodded and charges into the enemy forces carving them up one after the other.

My wings then spread and a blush is on my face as Damien then changes form where two horns grow from his head, another set of wings appear, and his skin turns purple.

He flies up and starts bombarding the horde with more of his fire dragons which quickly decimate the demons near him. In just a matter of a minute, he's killed at least five-thousand demons.

Cannon fire is still going off from both the airship and the ones mounted on the strong metal wall surrounding the city. Where did they even get all this metal from? Wouldn't it have been cheaper and easier to use stone?

I can only watch the destruction and death in both sadness and awe. Damien was right, Equestria wouldn't stand a chance against his forces and technology if they decided to attack...

"I've heard stories about wars from the elders before, but none of those compare to this..." Thunderhorn says in awe.

"Aye. I'm glad Damien spared Scarlet and I," Ironhoof replies and gulps nervously while hugging his wife with his right arm. "This is entirely different compared to the battle with the pirates... makes me think he was just toying with them and us."

After a while Damien flies back up to us after decimating nearly half the demons down there. He's panting hard and sweating slightly, I can smell his scent strongly making me shiver.

"Captain! Get us into the city now!" he orders the Captain in a no nonsense tone.

"Aye-Aye, my Lord," he replies and starts shouting at the crew.

I look back down to the carnage and destruction to the admittedly once beautiful landscape sadly. The dark red grass around the front of the wall is now scorched earth with a few burnt tree stumps and boulders remaining.

"Don't worry about the land, the fel ents can restore the flora over time," a dark blue coated succupony tells me with a smile before heading back to do her job.

I turn to face Damien only to see him sitting against the railing breathing heavily.

"Are you alright?" I ask him with worry as Desire, Luna, and Selene land on the airship.

"Just tired, I used too much energy too quickly, I just need to catch my breath," he replies with a wave of his hand dismissively.

"Well, at least you took out a nice chunk of their forces," Desire comments also looking just as tired. Same with the alicorn sisters.

I just sit beside Damien along with Desire as the ship flies over the city towards the tall Castle that looks even bigger than Canterlot's.

It doesn't take that long to tie the airship to the small dock attached to the side of the Castle.

"Alright then, I'm going to find my sons and find out what is going on here. The rest of you can stay here or explore the Castle, though some areas are off limits. Meet back in the Throne Room in two hours," Damien says and walks off the ship.

Desire and I follow him as well as Rainbow Dash. "I'll admit, this place looks cool," Rainbow says getting a smirk from Damien.

The walls while mostly bare, have intricate designs and dark brown wooden framework along the lower half. There are a few landscape paintings of places I've never seen before and demons running back and forth carrying supplies or boxes.

After about fifteen minutes of walking, Damien walks into a room with a large round table with a map of all known Tartarus’ locations on it. There are demons everywhere talking, writing, and planning with two naga demons like Slitherana and a inccupony talking together while examining the map.

The room suddenly goes silent as they one by one look at Damien with wide eyes.

"Mother! Father!" the inncupony shouts out happily as he and the two naga make their way over.

"Hello, my boys. I hope nothing too disastrous has happened while we were gone," Damien replies as he and Desire hugs their sons.

"We have lossst a few townsss to Tirek'sss forcccesss. But the other sssmaller onesss have ssstripped themssselvesss and evacuated to the larger cccitiesss," one of the naga replies.

"I see," Damien says with a frown. "Any idea where Tirek could be?" he then asks them.

"Sssorry, father. But we've been unable to locate him ssso far, he keepsss sssending hisss forcccesss through portalsss ssso we can't track him," the other naga replies.

I then speak up. "How long ago was the last portal?" I ask them.

They all look at me with a raised brow. "About two days ago to allow that large force to attack us," the inccupony tells me. "Who are you?" he then asks.

I lose some of my nerve with everypony looking at me. "I-I-I'm Damien's marefriend..." I reply getting a chuckle from Damien.

"You're taking another wife?" the first naga asks Damien.

"If she wants to be my wife, but we'll talk about it later. Right now, I want to know everything that's happened in the last few months," he replies and walks over to the table.

I hear Rainbow laughing at me making me blush in embarrassment.

"OW!" I then hear Rainbow yelp.

I look back to see her frowning and rubbing the back of her head with Desire grinning at me.

Three Weeks Later

It's been three long weeks since we arrived in Fel Haven, the assaulting forces were forced to retreat as Damien and the other demonlords along with their superior weapons cut them down after two days of constant fighting. Though Damien and his sons believe this force was just testing our defences.

The man'o'war airship was sent back to Felfire to bring back Slitherana and their daughters. It took them four days due to how slow it was but they arrived safely.

During those four days, Damien showed us around Fel Haven. It's so much bigger than Canterlot and has five times the population as well, but despite so many living here, it's surprisingly clean and friendly.

Desire also showed me Olivia's lab and I am ashamed to admit, I fainted at the sheer splendour of it. Workbenches with tools and apparatus I've never seen before! Chemicals and magical runes never heard of! Though I've been told to wait for Olivia to come back and let me in which was torture to me.

On the sixth day I got to meet Olivia and I like her already. She's very smart and knows many spells and enchantments. I've discussed possibilities of combining pony spells with demonic ones with her over the course of six days and I can't wait to get started!

Spike and the others arrived with Arachne and her husband along with the other scientists that were evacuated before the attack.

Shining and Gilda are spending all of their time together, he even took her out on a date to a restaurant. I think it's safe to say that despite what Cadence thinks, Gilda will be part of the family... I guess that if they got married together that would make Gilda my sister-in-law.

When not with Gilda, Shining has been fascinated with Damien's guard training program and equipment forging techniques.

Ironhoof and his brother have been hanging around the airshipyard learning all they could about the airships and how to pilot them.

Rarity as promised, was treated to a full spa course from Damien's twin naga daughters; Yuna and Slitherine. Rarity never felt so pampered in her life and is ashamed to say that even the Ponyville spa can't compare to Fel Haven's.

Pinkie has been collecting all sorts of toys and games like those pogs and trading cards. She’s stored them in a personal pocket dimension she discovered she had. She’s also been sampling all the baked goods she can find in the city.

Pinkie has also been trying to make a portal back to Equestria but keeps getting frustrated as something is blocking her power.

Fluttershy has been staying mostly in her guest room with her animals teaching them more words and just trying to stay out of everyponies way.

The last week has just been sorting out search parties to find Tirek's location but we've found nothing so far. I couldn't even trace the origin of the portals used to send demons to attack our towns and convoys. We've resorted to using the small airships to transport supplies where they're needed.

The lesser demons that came with us from Skullcove Bay have settled in and have been given some money called decans to find places to either live or sign up for the army.

The inccupony and succupony that came with us have decided to settle down together and bought a house for themselves.

The three lycans and two orobas have decided to start up a mining company and are making a mine near Fel Haven with Damien’s permission.

The wraiths are just hanging around the Castle as they don’t need to eat or sleep. They’re basically acting like sentries right now.

And the two thestrals are experimenting with their new abilities. It seems that Thestrals get stronger by drinking the blood of other demons besides other thestrals.

Rainbow got curious and Applejack allowed her to drink some of her blood. The result was Rainbow was able to fly twice as fast, was physically stronger, and could react to situations quicker. Though it only lasted for an hour.

I sigh as I sit down after an hour helping Olivia on something she's been working on for the past year. Something Damien called a dune buggy which intrigued her. It has an elongated cage like frame and four large rubberish wheels and a system called hydraulics to reduce the shock from uneven terrain that's connected to two axles that hold the wheels.

In the back behind the single seat is a half finished engine that Olivia has been trying to get to work. She tried to minimise the engines the airships use but that just caused the first test to explode due to a power overload from the thunder crystals.

She's been trying to find an alternative energy or fuel source for months but nothing seems to be working.

"Have you tried using a battery instead of directly integrating a thunder crystal? You could use thunder crystals to charge the battery then use the battery to regulate the power through the engine? We use mana crystals to power most of our appliances and filter how much magic flows through them," I tell Olivia making her stop examining the engine and slowly look towards me with a blank expression.

"A... battery... A FUCKING BATTERY!?" she yells enraged and screams in frustration making me flinch in surprise. I've learnt a few hours after meeting her that she got her vocabulary from Damien. "IT'S SO DAMN SIMPLE!" she then yells in disbelief and facepalms.

"I know how you feel. I felt the same when Damien show'd me a pencil," I tell her and giggle slightly. I then take a bite out of a sandwich I've started craving lately of waste worm slices with pickled buzzard eggs and black cabbage.

"I don't know how you can eat black cabbage without gagging. It's so sour," Olivia tells me.

"I'm not sure why, I've just had a strange craving for them lately," I reply and take another bite. Despite the sour taste, the eggs and meat kinda cancel it out. I've also been craving more lust from Damien as well for the last two weeks.

She glares at me for a few seconds before going wide eyed and rushing over to me making me yelp as she places a hand on my stomach.

Her right horn glows and after a few seconds she gasps. "I know why! You're pregnant!" she tells me with a big grin and dances on the spot. "I'm gonna have another sibling!" she says and squees in excitement.

I drop the remainder of my sandwich in shock and scan myself, and sure enough, I have a foal starting to grow in my womb.

That's when my eyes roll up and I faint in my chair.

POV: Damien Jackson

I frown as I stare at the map of Tartarus with many areas crossed out, only leaving the unexplored areas left possible that Tirek could be hiding.

Luna and Selene have gone back out into the wastes to figure out how to open the Tartarus gate from this side for the last four days while Desire is running the city with Slitherana. Twilight has been spending her time with Olivia in her lab when she isn't with me.

Rainbow dash is in the medical wing due to her attempt to fly above the flare clouds which burned her on contact, fortunately a few inccuponies caught her on the way down. There’s a reason why no demon flies that high as I’ve discovered over the years that this world has a complete cloud cover and three suns orbiting the planet. That explains why there’s no night here.

"Have we checked the dread swamp yet?" I ask my sons as they're also here.

"No, father. We'll send a frigate to scout the area within the hour," Tidus replies.

"Alright, I want scouts here, here, and here," I say pointing to the Swamp, the edge of the crag plains, and the border south of the blasted wastes.

The door bursts open with a very excited looking Olivia.

"Olivia? Something the matter?" I ask her.

"You won't believe what I just found out!" she says and starts jogging on the spot while doing a spin. "Twilight's in the infirmary with something to tell you!" she yells and screams before rushing back out.

Hearing that Twilight is in the infirmary has me worried and I rush out after Olivia with my sons right behind me.

Despite Twilight being younger than my kids, they all like her and while not yet calling her mother like Desire and Slitherana, they treat her with respect.

We reach the infirmary after a tense few minutes and I find a stunned looking Twilight laying on a gurney with Olivia jumping next to her.

"What happened!?" I demand getting one of the succupony nurses to smile at me.

"Miss Sparkle was brought in after fainting. She has no injuries but she has some good news to tell you, my Lord," she informs me making me frown in confusion.

I walk over to Twilight who doesn't seem to acknowledge me. "Twilight?" I ask a bit worried for her.

"I can't believe it..." she mutters and looks at me fearfully.

"What? What's wrong?" I ask her.

"I'm... I'm pregnant..." she tells me making me go wide eyed.

I then frown thinking back to the times we've had sex over the last few weeks and each time she's used the anti-pregnancy spell... except...

"I know how," I say making her look at me.

"How!?" she asks me nearly panicking.

"Remember when we were on the ship to Fel Haven when we first arrived?" I ask her making her gasp.

"I forgot to cast the spell..." she says in a whisper. "B-but I'm not ready to be a mother!" she tells me going hysterical.

I smile at her and gently stroke her cheek. "You'll be fine. You have Desire, Slitherana, and I to help you. We do have over forty-five years of experience raising children," I comfort her making her calm down slightly.

"I-I-I... I don't know I-If I can do it though..." she says on the verge of tears.

I sit beside her and start stroking her hair. "It'll all work out. Wouldn't you like a child to raise and teach all you know?" I ask her hoping it will lift her spirit.

Her eyes slowly widen at the thought. "That w-would be nice," she replies but still looks worried.

"Just take it easy from now on. This also explains your strange eating habits lately," I say teasingly making her giggle slightly.

"I trust you to help me through this, Damien," she tells me and leans up to kiss me. I smile and lean down to meet her halfway.

"Well, at least there's some good news lately," I say and stand back up. "I need to head to the war room and continue the hunt for Tirek. I'll see you tonight alright?" I tell Twilight.

"Alright... I'll just head to bed early then," she says and I help her up.

We leave the room where Olivia goes with Twilight and my sons and I head back to the war room.

Chapter 44: Off road fun

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 44: Off road fun

After many hours of planning and organising, a frigate has been sent to the Dread Swamp to begin its search for Tirek. I've also deployed a sloop each to the other two possible locations.

"Now all we can do is wait. You three get some rest, we'll go hunting in a few days like we used to do back in Felfire," I tell my sons who all smile at the thought.

"That would be great, father. It has been awhile since we last went," Tidus replies while rubbing his hands together.

"By the way, how's your marefriend doing?" I ask Tidus with a grin.

He sighs and shakes his head. "She left me for another deamon over a month ago. Said she only really dated me because I was your son, and since I wouldn't spend anything from the treasury on her, she left for a more wealthy demon," he replies sadly.

"Ah... Well I'm sure you'll find the the right demon for you someday," I tell him making him sigh.

"I've got all the time in the world to do that. But finding Tirek is our top priority for now," he tells me and yawns.

"Right. Go get some sleep. I'm going to go check on Twilight," I tell him and then head for the door.

"Sssleep well, father," Scalefang says and I wave over my shoulder as I exit the war room.

I trudge my way through the Castle and to my bedroom where I greet maids and soldiers along the way. I arrive at my doors and push them open to see Twilight laying on the bed with an excited Desire bouncing up and down next to her. Slitherana has coiled her tail and is using it like a chair next to the bed with a smile on her face.

"Damien! You worked quickly didn't you!" Desire says with a shit eating grin while patting Twilight's stomach. Who is blushing fiercely.

"It wasn't intentional but it is a welcome surprise. We did talk about having more kids around here, and it seems Twilight beat you both to it," I say and strip down to just my trousers.

Desire then pouts and crosses her arms. "Well, if it wasn't for Tirek right now, I'd have you bend me over this bed and buck me till I'm bloated with your hot steamy-" she replies getting a cough from Slitherana.

"I underssstand, Desssire. But I think you're making poor Twilight even more embarrassssed," my naga wife comments.

I look to Twilight to see her whole face lit up with a blush as well as down her neck.

"Oh... did you want to join in as well?" Desire asks the purple succupony who whimpers and pulls the blanket over her head. I also notice her rubbing her thighs together.

"Stop teasing her, Desire. She's nervous enough about it as it is," I lightly scold my wife.

She sighs and waves a hand. "Fine, but once Tirek is dead you're putting another foal in me," she tells me and without shame strips naked and cuddles up to Twilight who I suspect now has a full body blush.

I slip under the covers next to Twilight where Slitherana slithers in next to me.

"Let's just get some sleep. Tomorrow we can just relax as there's not much we can do until the airships return," I tell them and after a round of goodnights, we all fall asleep.

We're rudely awoken by my daughter Olivia who despite looking tired is bouncing around excitedly.

"I DID IT!" she yells making Desire groan and stuff her face into Twilight's chest, making the purple girl yelp at the sudden action.

"Did what?" I mumble rubbing my eyes.

"I finished the dune buggy! It works!" she tells me which wakes me up faster.

"It's finished?" I ask with a grin.

She nodded furiously and runs back out of the room.

I climb over Slitherana getting a giggle out of her. I then quickly get dressed and head out the room after my daughter.

I greet the soldiers and maids along the way to her Lab at the back of the Castle. Once there, I enter to see the buggy humming with power as the motor in the back is running smoothly.

It's a beautiful sight. "Olivia, it's amazing," I tell her getting her to squee happily and then pass out on her couch. She must have been working on it all night again.

I chuckle and then cover her with a blanket she keeps on the back of the couch just for occasions like this. I walk over to her workbench to see an instruction manual for the buggy.

I take a seat in the buggy and start reading the manual. Seems the gears are changed with two buttons or levers behind the grip of the wheel on each side. The right one goes up a gear while the left lowers it.

To reverse you'll have to go to gear one and then go one lower, seems like there's no neutral gear. The handbrake is between my legs, kinda like a jet fighter's flight stick.

There's no clutch pedal, but there are both a brake and accelerator pedal. There's some basic meters like speed, battery power levels, and distance travelled.

I find two more switches for headlights and powering the buggy on and off.

While I'm reading the manual, Twilight, Desire, and Slitherana enter the Lab and spot Olivia asleep.

"We've told her not to work all night multiple times..." Desire says with a sigh.

"I wouldn't be surprised if Twilight's done it before as well," I say getting Twilight to blush faintly. "Thought so. I take it you'll be continuing your silver research here? Maybe get Olivia to help you," I say to the purple succupony.

"Yes. I'm hoping to come up with an enchantment or ward to counter its effect. I'll be needing a lot more silver than we have right now though for testing," she replies and walks over.

“Once we get a connection back to Equus established, we’ll bring back some more for you to study,” I tell her.

I examine the area and it should be big enough to allow Twilight on my lap.

"Hey, Twilight. Want to take this for a spin with me?" I ask her getting her to perk up.

"Oh yes please," she replies and I help her sit comfortably on my lap.

The seat belt stretches far enough to strap us both in as I clip the two ends in front of Twilight’s chest.

"Desire, can you open the shutters please?" I ask my wife.

"Fine, but I get a go next," she says and presses the button to open the shutter door.

"Here," I say and toss her the manual. "Read that while we're gone," I tell her and she catches it.

With the door open, I push down the handbrake and then press down on the accelerator and Twilight yelps as we start moving forward. The engine humming a bit louder. Though it sounds nothing like a normal car engine, no exhaust or fumes either.

I pull out of the Lab at five miles an hour just to get clear and slowly turn to the streets of the City. Demons look on in awe as I slowly drive by heading for the City's main gate.

"Mommy! What's that!?" a little succupony filly asks her mother as we roll by getting me to smile.

"This is amazing! Such technology is unheard of anywhere on Equus!" Twilight says giddily looking at the meters on the small dashboard.

"Once we get out of the city, I'll teach you how to drive it," I tell her getting her to bounce excitedly on my lap. I try to ignore her ass mashing against my building arousal and focus on the street as I don't want to accidentally run anyone over.

It takes a good thirty minutes to navigate the crowded streets, but the demons all move aside for me and I thank them for it. If these buggies or eventually proper cars catch on, we'll need to widen the streets for actual roads.

The main gate comes up and the soldiers defending it move aside once they spot me.

"My lord! What is that?" a boarus asks me and I press the brake to stop next to him.

"My daughter's latest achievement. This is just a prototype and I'm giving it a test drive. We'll be gone for about an hour, but send some harpies to fly above us as lookouts just to be sure," I reply getting a salute from him.

After a couple of minutes, three harpies arrive in light leather armour and an imp on their backs armed with revolver pistols.

"Alright then, let's go!" I say and with the path out to the plains open, I slam the accelerator down making the buggy wheel spin for a few seconds before lurching forward.

Twilight screams as I press the right button on the wheel shifting gears until I'm in fourth and speeding away at forty miles an hour. The axle and hydraulics are keeping the buggy from bouncing too much and allowing us to drive over the uneven terrain easily.

Trees and boulders whizz by as we drive across the grassland, now back to its original splendour thanks to the fel ents.

"Oh how I've missed this feeling!" I shout out as Twilight is still screaming and gripping the sides of my legs tightly. As exciting as it is to be able to fly, driving in a machine built for speed and harder to control is a thrill I've wanted to feel again.

"SLOW DOWN SLOW DOWN SLOW DOWN!" Twilight begs and I slowly drop to fifteen miles and hour.

She's breathing heavily and seems stiff as a board. I chuckle and use my left hand to ruffle her hair.

"Don't worry, Twilight. Even if we tip over and roll, the cage around us is designed to keep us safe," I tell her.

"Oh that's reassuring!" she says sarcastically.

I brake until we stop and back into gear one. "Here, I'll teach you how to drive then," I tell her and explain how.

After a good five minutes, she grips the wheel and her hooves are now on the pedals with my feet against the seat.

"Okay, right to go, left to stop," she says to herself and gently presses the accelerator.

The buggy starts moving forward at four miles an hour and she applies more pressure, making us go at nine miles an hour.

"This... is actually rather fun!" she says and turns the wheel to the left.

She drives us around for a few minutes avoiding trees and boulders easily with a big grin on her face, but going no faster than ten miles an hour.

"I want one of these!" she says and yelps as a bump lifts her up a bit before slamming back down on my lap. I grunt not from pain but to keep myself from getting too aroused.

"Let's head back, I'm sure Desire wants her turn now," I say and let her drive us back to the main gate.

The harpies that followed us dive back down to the gate and start talking to the demons there.

We arrive back into the city proper and Twilight carefully navigates the streets, though I've had to slam the brake down twice before she accidentally hit someone and she apologised repeatedly.

I check the battery meter and see we only used five percent of the power. That's not bad for a prototype, I think Olivia will have to increase the battery’s capacity before we can use these for travelling long distances. But for now, these would be good for scouting the area with imps seated on the sides with mounted revolver rifles... maybe even grenade launchers...

I want an armoured division for my forces now… I wonder how long it would take Olivia to develop tank tracks?

We arrive back to the Lab where I apply the handbrake and unbuckle Twilight and myself. Olivia is still sleeping and Desire looks ready to go.

"Alright, my turn! I've already read the whole damn thing and it's made me want to try it even more!" Desire says as Twilight and I step out of the buggy.

"Just stay at five miles an hour until you reach the gates. Then you can have your fun. Just remember to be back within an hour or two," I tell her.

"Uh-huh," she replies and gets in the buggy.

She slowly drives out and I watch as she drives down the street carefully.

"Well then, I'm going for some breakfast since this distracted me. Care to join me?" I ask Twilight and Slitherana.

Twilight's stomach rumbles and Slitherana giggles at her.

"I could use a bite to eat," Twilight says.

"I'm feeling hungry myssself," Slitherana replies.

I hook my arms around each of theirs and lead them out of the Lab. "Then let's get going," I say and head for the Dining Room.

Author's Note

And Tartarus' tech advances again!

Chapter 45: Family reunion

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 45: Family reunion

One month later

The airships returned with no news on Tirek's location. Felfire and Fel Haven have both been under attack again by a small force each, I still think they’re just testing us, but the enemy demons have been either killed or converted to my horde. When I asked the captured ones where Tirek was, all they said was they were taken from their homes in the unexplored areas of Tartarus and forced to attack us. Not once did they meet Tirek or know his location but had other demonlords mark them instead.

Pinkie Pie has been going around the city buying all sorts of games and novelties that she wants to take back to Equestria when the gate is open again. She spends most of her time playing with the children at the local orphanage, making some cakes or other baked goods for them as well.

Rainbow Dash has recovered from her stupid attempt at trying to fly above the flame clouds, she's lucky she doesn't have any burn scars on her body. She now just flies around with Gilda or some other harpies or succuponies. She even punched an inncupony in the face who tried to flirt with her.

Fluttershy has been mostly in her room during her stay here. Though she does come out now and then to read in our archive about the beasts and animals we have in Tartarus. Her animal demons are also very good at talking now and turns out the female kyuubi Yin is pregnant with Yang's offspring.

Angel surprisingly has even asked me for dark iron armour to be made for him, with a seat and hand grips on the back for Fluttershy to sit on. I agreed and took him to the Castle forge where my goblin smiths made his armour. Turned out pretty good and Fluttershy says it's comfortable to ride on.

Applejack has spent most of her time out in the blood apple orchard we have just outside the city, half of it was destroyed in the attack from Tirek's demons but it's recovering thanks to the fel ents. I've also noticed my son Tidus spending a lot more time with her as well. I think he has a crush on the dark orange orobas mare who I also believe is enjoying his company as well.

Rarity is mostly with Arachne and her arachniponies trading designs and making clothes together. Spike has come to me for combat training and I've trained him a bit before giving him a routine to follow. Seem's other demons have been trying to get Rarity's attention lately and he doesn't like it.

Twilight and Olivia have been working on something new and haven't told me anything about it. Said it'll be a surprise.

My naga daughters Yuna and Slitherine have visited now and then to meet Twilight and her friends. Even inviting them to their spa for a major discount.

As I promised my sons, we went hunting waste worms with nothing but rifles and swords. We weren't allowed to use any spells, powers, or abilities as that would be too easy. We managed to catch five massive ones and bring them back home. We kept one for dinner and gave the others to any hungry demons who wanted them.

Life in Tartarus is running smoothly for now, but everyone is on edge for when Tirek might attack again.

Luna and Selene have returned two weeks ago and said that to open the gate, someone or something must bind themselves to it as a gatekeeper. The one that was under Canterlot was kept by a massive three headed black furred dog named Cerberus. If we can find the damaged gate and Cerberus who was most likely thrown into Tartarus before Celestia destroyed the gate, we'll be able to repair it, place Cerberus back as its keeper, and open the gate to Canterlot again.

The alicorn twins agreed but are taking a couple weeks off to teach Dusk more night magic and to make sure he's healthy due to his new dietary needs. Though for now cuddles and nuzzles are enough to feed a young inccupony.

I've fed Desire and Twilight over the last month and Twilight is REALLY frisky now, as her baby bump is starting to show. She's been clingy and even hissed at Desire when she tried to hug me when Twilight already was, although she apologised afterwards.

Slitherana and I have had a few nights of just us two together and I've gotten her pregnant again. She's very happy about it and we're betting if she'll have another set of twins again or not. Desire is really pissed that she can't get pregnant yet as she wants to help fight Tirek when the time comes.

I yawn as I write down my signature allowing the orphanage to build an extension using some funds from the treasury. I may enforce harsh laws to maintain peace and order in my territory, but I have a soft spot for kids.

With the last of the paperwork done for the day, I stand up and walk out my office before heading to the war room. The scouts have returned today and I want to hear what they've found.

I enter the room to see my sons talking to the harpy Captain of the squad that returned.

"Father! Excccelent timing. The Captain here wasss jussst about to tell usss what they dissscovered," Vipirior tells me and I walk over to them.

"Then let's hear it," I say getting a salute from the Captain.

"My lord, we discovered a massive Castle just beyond the Dread Swamp. The reason we missed it the first time is that it has eight massive spider like legs and is able to move. We would have left a harpy behind to keep an eye on it, but they discovered us and sent a force after us. I decided to retreat back here as fast as we could to inform you of what we found," she tells me.

"A Castle with legs?" I mutter to myself.

"There are legends of an old Castle like that, but I thought they were just an old demons tale..." Tidus says with a frown.

Then this makes tracking him all the more difficult. And where the fuck did he find a walking fortress?

"The best we can do is send another scouting squad back and see if the Castle left any tracks. Something that big must have left some behind," I say and look at the Captain. "Send another squad and try to track that Castle," I tell her making her Salute with her right wing.

"At once, my Lord!" she replies and walks out the room.

"Any other news?" I ask my sons.

"None, father. That'sss the firssst possssible sssighting we may have had of Tirek sssinccce hisss firssst attacksss," Scalefang replies.

"Alright... Keep me informed if something happens. I'm going to check on Twilight," I tell them.

"Of course, father," Tidus replies and they all start discussing on what to do next.

I head down the Castle to Olivia's lab where I find Twilight and Olivia standing over a rune circle on the floor with some soul crystals around it.

"What are you two up to?" I ask them making them both yelp in surprise.

"Daddy! Don't scare me like that!" Olivia scolds me with a pout.

Twilight frowns at me and then takes a bite of the black cabbage sandwich she's eating.

"Sorry, just came down to check on Twilight. I take it you're feeling okay still?" I ask her. She's been having morning sickness lately and it's making her cranky.

"I'm fine, just going over some notes with Olivia," she replies.

"Notes huh? So what are you trying to do now?" I ask again, hoping to get an answer this time.

They look at each other and then seem to silently agree to something.

"Well. I've been wondering what your world is like after all of the technology you've told me about and I've tried to replicate. Computers being the main thing. So I've been trying to make a portal back to Earth for the last ten years without you finding out... Surprise!" Olivia explains with a nervous grin at the end.

I just stare blankly at her like she's gone mad. "You're trying to open a portal back to Earth?" I ask her just to make sure.

"Erm... I'm not trying to, daddy... I have already, nine months ago... small ones mind you, but I've already established a connection to Earth using your soul's signature to pinpoint its location," she tells me while tapping the tips of her index fingers together.

"You've managed to open a portal to Earth... and never told me?" I ask starting to get angry. Not at her for trying, but at her for not telling me! She could have brought someone through by accident! Or fell through and never be able to return!

She flinches at the tone of my voice. "I-I know you're upset, daddy. But I wanted it to be a gift..." she tells me on the verge of tears.

She's tried using tears before to guilt trip me, it has never worked once.

"And what would have happened if you pulled someone through!? Or got stuck there yourself!?" I ask her still angry.

She whimpers and rubs her left arm. "I... I'm sorry..." she replies.

I walk up to her and stare down at her, making her look away.

After a few seconds I sigh and force her to look at me with my right hand. "Olivia... I would never forgive myself if anything ever happened to you or your siblings... This is why I always tell you to inform me first of anything you plan to research..." I tell her softly.

She bursts into tears and hugs me tightly. "I'm sorry, daddy! I promise I won't do it again!" she says and bawls her eyes out.

I stroke her hair and just let her cry herself dry. Once she's calmed down I ask her to explain what the rune circle on the floor is for.

"It's an anchor point, I've made a crystal to teleport the user back here when the portal is closed. I've already tested this by putting a timer on a crystal strapped to a rock on Earth, and then closed the portal. After a minute, the rock reappeared back on the rune circle. So it should work with anyone holding it," she tells me.

"And why have you been trying to open a portal to Earth for me?" I ask her.

"I know you miss your mother and sister... I wanted you to be able to go and say goodbye or something... I also wanted a computer..." she tells me with a nervous giggle.

I sigh and look at the rune circle on the floor. Despite coming to terms with never being able to see them again, I do want to know what happened to my family back on Earth...

"And you're sure it works?" I ask hesitantly.

"Oh most definitely. Twilight helped to make it perfectly stable and Luna also helped with some time magic so that it should be around the time you... died... It's been ready for the last three days. I was going to tell you tomorrow actually," she says.

"Then let's give it a try," I say, actually looking forward to seeing my mother and sister again.

"Right then!" Olivia says as both hers and Twilight's horns start to glow, making a dark purple swirling portal open up and get bigger.

"I've managed to trace your soul's signature to a location nearby where you left from," Olivia says and their horns stop glowing.

I look through the portal to see that it's night time on Earth, and surprisingly, the area looks just how I remember it.

I poke my head through and look down to see the portal is high up in the air, and I recognise the building below me. It's the general store I died in.

I look off into the distance and see my old small house. I fight the urge to just fly off and turn back to Olivia.

"You'll need this," she tells me and hands me a dark blue crystal with runes all around it. "To activate it, just pour your demonic energy into it, it'll do the rest," my daughter tells me.

I take it from her and look back out the portal.

"I guess I'll be back soon," I reply and jump through the portal.

It closes behind me and I grip the crystal tightly. I fly down to the store where it all ended and began. It's closed and the shutter is down, but I can still see through the gaps to the exact spot where I was shot.

I grip my chest as I remember the pain of being shot and the sensation of dying as the darkness enveloped me.

Shaking my head, I put the crystal in my coat pocket as I leave the store and fly off to my old house, hoping my mother and sister are still there. I land on the small porch and stare at the door. The living room light is on so someone is home. I raise my right hand and knock on the door firmly.

I hear the sound of feet shuffling across the floor and the door opens to reveal my sister Melanie. She stares at my chest then slowly looks up.

Her eyes look tired, she looks older, and she looks like she hasn't been taking care of herself. She even has a cigarette in her left hand and a beer can in her right.

"Who the fuck are you, it's two in the morning," she asks with a frown.

I just stare at her unsure what to do or say. But I eventually settle for scooping her up in a hug making her yelp in surprise.

"The hell you think you're doing! Put me down you creep!" she tells me.

"I missed you, sis..." I tell her making her stop struggling.

"I ain't your sister!" she replies and struggles again.

I put her down and frown sadly at her. "It's me, Damien," I tell her making her growl.

"My brother's dead! If this is some sick joke..." she says but the stops as she notices my eyes and wings.

"The fuck?" she mutters and looks at her beer can before looking back at me.

"Yes, I did die. But I guess you could say I was reborn," I tell her.

"Alright then. What happened on the day that YOU died then huh?" she asks me with a glare.

"You left the fridge open again. I had to go and get fresh food from the nearby grocery store to replace what went off. You gave me a twenty dollar bill and mother asked me to get some polo mints for her. You said you had enough cigarettes to last the week, and I told you that they'll one day kill you... You said you had more chance of getting shot before that, I guess you were right," I tell her making her eyes go wide.

"I worked in a soap factory boxing up soaps and shampoos, I remember when we went to the lake for a summer vacation in one of those rented cabins. The time you were picked on at school because you had to shave your hair due to the lice you caught from that billy kid, and I chased off the bullies for you. The time you told me you're boyfriend dumped you for the baseball cheerleader and you cried on my shoulder for hours," I tell her and list off a few more things I remember we did together.

Tears are now slowly rolling down her face she she drops her beer can.

"B-But how?" she asks in disbelief.

"Would you believe a demon resurrected me?" I tell her making her eyes go wider.

"A demon!?" she asks shocked.

"From a different world, not hell. Can I come in? I'll explain everything," I tell her making her nod.

I walk in and notice a table in the living room with a photo of me with some flowers around it. One thing I notice though, is that most of mother's stuff is missing and there's beer cans everywhere.

"Where's mom?" I ask her.

She goes quiet and sits on the couch, I sit down next to her. "She... she died three years ago," she tells me.

My eyes widen and tears start to form. "How?" I ask.

"Once we learnt of your death, she fell into depression and a year later, she died of heart failure," she tells me. "I've been taking anti depressants since then and counselling after tying to kill myself... " she tells me and shows me the scars on her wrists. "I've always blamed myself for your death. If I didn't leave the fridge open, you wouldn't have gotten killed."

I couldn't do anything but hug her again as she cries into my chest. "I'm sorry," I tell her and rock back and forth to calm her.

"What happened to you?" she finally asks.

I tell her a short version of what happened to me when I died and the first few years in Tartarus.

"It really is you isn't it?" she asks still unsure.

"Yes, I've come back to say goodbye," I tell her making her gasp.

"WHAT!? You're not staying?" she asks fearfully.

"I can't. I have a family and nation waiting for me back in Tartarus. Unless you want to come with me?" I ask her.

"Tartarus? As in hell?" she asks unsure.

"Kinda, It's hot and mostly the colour red. But it's not an eternity of pain and torment like the Catholics describe it," I tell her.

She looks like she's about to say something but the front door slams open and a hairy and chubby looking man walks in looking drunk.

"MEL!? WHERE'SH MY DINNER!?" he shouts angrily.

"Who's that?" I ask my sister.

"M-My boyfriend..." she replies ashamed.

I frown at her, then at the man.

"BITCH! I SHAID WHERE'SH MY *hic* DINNER!?" he yells again and stumbles into the room. He's wearing a blue shirt that barely contains his gut and baggy black trousers. His face is flushed and his short black hair is plastered to his forehead.

Mel gets up and walks over to him. "Jack, it's in the microwave," she tells him and he frowns at her.

My eyes narrow angrily as he pushes her away but she catches the table before she fell and he stumbles down the hallway.

"Why didn't you *hic* jusht shay sho?" he says and I hear the microwave open. "The fucksh thish?" he says to himself and storms back in. "I shaid I wanted shteak tonight!" he yells and slaps Mel across the face.

My anger boils over and I stand up and walk over to him and he just now notices me.

"Who the fuck *hic* are you? What you doing in my houshe!?" he asks me but I grip his throat with my left hand and raise him off the floor.

"I'm her brother," I reply coldly and tighten my grip.

He chokes and claws at my hand futilely. Mel gets back up and starts pulling on my arm.

"Stop! Please don't kill him!" she tells me.

"And why shouldn't I?" I ask her still choking the beached whale of a man.

"He's all I got left!" she says desperately and I frown at her.

"You're better than this sack of shit. Why are you even with him?" I ask her.

"He... he..." she tries to come up with something but then sighs. "He promised me drugs if I became is girlfriend..." she replies sadly.

So not only is my sister now an alcoholic, she's a drug addict as well. Seeing my sister like this is breaking my heart, I'm not leaving her here like this anymore.

Before she could do anything to stop me, I summon Thanatos and without warning, stab the fat bastard in the heart through the left side of his ribcage and rip out his soul. He will suffer for making my sister suffer!

"DAMIEN!?" she screams in horror as the body shrivels up like a husk.

I pull out my scythe and drop the corpse before turning to Mel. "I'm not leaving you with a guy like that!" I tell her.

"B-But... I..." she mumbles and looks afraid of me.

I sigh and dismiss Thanatos. I then walk over to her and kneel down. "For the last sixty-two years, I've missed both you and mom everyday. And now that I got the chance to see you again, I'm not going to let you suffer anymore," I tell her and gently hold her right hand.

"If you want to, do you want to come back with me? I can give you any life you want to live," I ask her sincerely.

She stutters and mumbles while looking back and forth between me and the corpse. She then frowns at me.

"Wait, sixty-two years?" she asks confused.

"The portal that brought me back here also sent me back in time, but it wasn't perfect, as I'm a few years off. I've been living in Tartarus for decades, Mel. I have a family now, with kids," I tell her making her gasp. "Making you an aunt, and I would like my children to meet their aunt."

She gulps and looks around the room. "I dunno," she replies scared.

"I promise, you'll be better cared for than you ever could be here," I tell her.

After a minute of silence and her thinking she sighs. "Okay..." she replies making me smile.

"I promise, you won't regret it," I tell her and stand back up. "Go pack what you want to bring. Is my computer and laptop still here?" I ask her.

"Yeah. They're in your old room still. Jack wanted to convert it into a erm... sex den, but I managed to convince him not to..." she replies sadly. I think I know how she convinced him.

As I make my way to the stairs, I stomp on Jack's head hard, crushing it into dried out chunks.

I reach the top of the stairs and open my old room's door. The inside is just like how I remember it, and the place looks clean with no dust covering anything. I spot my laptop and gaming computer on my desk and smile as I walk over to it and put my hand on the tower.

I look at the few game cases I have as most of my games are on Steam. I quickly get to unplugging it and carry it, the games, and the laptop as well as my old cellphone downstairs. I place them on the living room floor just as Mel comes in with a suitcase.

"Got everything?" I ask her making her nod.

"Before we go... can we say goodbye to mom first?" she asks me still sounding nervous.

"Sure, I want to say goodbye as well," I reply and I lead Mel out the back door.

"Why are we in the backyard?" she asks and then yelps as I pick her up bridal style.

"I'm going to fly us there, I just need you to tell me which way. And try not to scream, I don't want to draw attention to us," I tell her.

"O-Okay," she replies and yelps as I take off. "T-T-That way!" she tells me pointing to the old cathedral about a mile away while holding my neck tightly. I change course and after a quiet two minute flight, I land in the graveyard and put Mel down.

She walks off and I follow her until she stops at a tombstone.

"Here lies Katherine Jackson. A kind and loving mother of two, may her soul rest in peace," I read the epitaph aloud.

I notice the candles next to the tombstone are unlit and using my darkfire, I light them back up giving the area a faint dark purple glow.

Once done, Mel sniffles and hugs me again. I return her hug and pat her back.

"Who's out there!?" I hear an old man ask. I see a light shine at us from a torch coming from the Cathedral. "Heaven preserve us..." he mutters after seeing me.

"That's our cue to leave," I tell Mel and quickly pick her up.

She yelps again as I quickly take off back to the house. I doubt anyone will believe what he saw so I'm not worried.

The trip is silent as I land in the backyard. I put Mel down and we walk back into the house.

"You ready to go?" I ask her.

"In a minute," she replies and starts writing a letter.

I look over her shoulder and see it's a note for whoever finds it, saying she's left and not coming back.

"What about any friends you have?" I ask her.

"I don't really have any anymore. They moved away for their new jobs or just didn't want to be around me when I got depressed," she replies.

"I see. Then I think you'll make lots of new ones once we get there," I tell her making her smile slightly. "Now a word of caution. Once we get there, the demonic energy of Tartarus might turn you into a demon like me," I warn her.

"A demon?" she asks worriedly.

"It's not that bad, we're immune to diseases and if you end up as a deamon, you'll be ageless. And if you don't I can make you one," I tell her making her go wide eyed.

"Okay... I'm ready," she tells me and hugs me tightly.

I place a foot onto my computer gear while Mel is holding her suitcase. I'm still holding the crystal and I pour my energy into it. It glows brightly before enveloping both us and the area around us.

"AAAAHHH!" I hear a scream as we're teleported back into the Lab.

I hiss in pain as the crystal is damn hot making me drop it and it shatters on the floor.

"Damien! That was fast... who's that?" Twilight asks me.

I was about to answer but Mel starts screaming and grabs her stomach before curling up on the floor.

"It's okay, Mel. Just bare through it," I tell her as horns grow on her head like a succupony. Her skin turns a light pinkish red colour and a tail with a heart shaped tip grows from her tailbone. Next a pair of bat like wings rips through her shirt and her brown hair grows longer.

Her change takes a few minutes but once over she passes out. She still looks human but with succupony traits, I guess she's a true succubus now.

I pick her up and smile at her. "This, Twilight. Is my little sister," I tell her making her gasp. "Olivia, you can have the laptop and the phone on top of my computer, but leave my computer untouched. I got games on there I want to play again," I tell her and head for the door.

"Oh!" I turn back to them both. "Never open another portal to Earth again! From now on, it doesn't exist anymore alright? I don't want humans finding a way here or other demons figuring out how to get there," I tell them both making them nod quickly.

With that done, I take my sister up to a spare room that she can have and let her rest. She’s got a lot to see and get used to once she wakes up.

Author's Note

Next Mature chapter coming up is a one on one with Damien and Slitherana. Expect to see some hot naga loving.

Chapter 46: New world, new life

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 46: New world, new life

POV: Melanie Jackson

I slowly open my eyes and notice the bed I'm on is too comfortable to be mine. I also notice that Jack isn't beside me, which I'm thankful for as he usually smells of alcohol and other girls.

I yawn as I stretch my arms and feel something strange on my back. I stop mid stretch as I look at the ceiling and see that it's a dark grey colour. I sit up and look around to see dark red wooden furniture with ornate designs around the room, looks kinda like a goth’s bedroom.

I frown as my body feels different and I look down to notice my breasts are bigger and that my skin is now light red or pink. My hips are wider and my waist is thinner. I pat myself down and it feels like I have the body of a supermodel now.

I start panicking as I try to remember what happened last night and flashes of a tall black haired man with red and black eyes hugging me comes to mind. More memories flood my mind and I go wide eyed as I remember what happened. I quickly get out of bed and head to the window to see a city made of stone and metal which is quite large and despite the crude materials, almost looks like a human city.

Beyond that is red grasslands with strange coloured trees, flowers, and rocks around the place. I see mountains in the distance and I can barely see a desert on the horizon.

The sky looks like it's completely covered in black and grey clouds but it’s bright like a sunny day and the temperature is a little hot but I don't feel like I'm overheating.

I hear the door open and I turn to see what I can only describe as a black furred horse with white hair with a human shaped body, two horns on its head, two bat like wings, and a strange tail with a heart shaped tip on the end. Its also a woman if the large D cup tits she's sporting is any indication.

My only response to such a strange thing is scream my lungs out while grabbing the book on the desk next to me and toss it as hard as I can at the thing.

She yelps and ducks behind the door just avoiding my projectile.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU!?" I scream and pick up another book.

"I-I-I'm sorry ma'am! B-But Lord Damien has a-a-asked me to check on y-you. A-And I'm a succupony..." she replies with a terrified expression.

I'm breathing heavily with a new book ready to throw but what she said makes me frown. "Lord Damien?" I ask confused.

"Y-Yes. He asked me to b-bring you to the Dining Hall i-i-if you were a-awake," she tells me just barely peeking around the door at me.

"Where am I? And what happened to me?" I demand.

"L-Lord Damien said h-he'll explain everything," she replies still on guard.

I sigh and put the book back on the desk. I then feel something brush up against my leg making me jump and scream in fright which causes her to scream as well.

I look down to my right leg to see a long thing with a heart on the end that's the same colour as my new skin. I follow it up and go wide eyed seeing that it’s attached just above my ass. I then spot something else on the edge of my vision and see a bat wing like the one the succupony has, and it's attached behind my shoulder.

Taking a deep breath, I scream loudly again before my eyes roll up and I pass out.

"Is... alright?.." I barely hear a voice say as my eyes slowly open. I hiss in pain as the right side of my head is throbbing.

"She's waking up!" I hear some woman yell making my headache worse.

My vision is blurry but someone comes into focus and he has a worried expression.

"Are you alright, Mel?" he asks me and I frown at him.

"Who are you?" I ask and slowly sit up.

He helps me up and sits in a chair next to the bed I'm on. "It's me, Damien, remember?" he replies and I frown harder.

My eyes then widen as I remember everything. "It actually happened..." I mutter and check my arms to see they're still pale red. My body is still supermodel quality as well.

"Yeah. But now you'll never have to worry about anything ever again. I'll give you whatever you want within reason," my brother tells me.

I stare at him for a few seconds before tears start spilling from my eyes. Although it makes my headache worse, I dive towards him and hug him tightly.

He just holds me as I let out my emotions with relief that he's back and alive. I don't know how long I was crying for but I hear the door to the hospital like room I'm in open up to see another horse person with red fur and dark blue hair walk in. Unlike the other one I saw, she has a long haired tail and a long single horn on her forehead, She's also taller and has larger wings.

"Oh she's awake!" she says and rushes over to Damien and kisses him happily.

"Who are you?" I ask her with a frown. Why is she so chummy with my brother?

"My name is Dark Desire, and I'm your sister in law," she tells me making me gasp.

"SHE'S YOUR WIFE!?" I ask him in shock.

"One of my wives yes," he replies nonchalantly.

My jaw drops and I stare at him incredulously. He has more than one wife? "How many?" I ask bewildered.

"Two, and a possible third if she decides to stay once we get the gate to Equus back up and running," he replies.

He's seeing three women? I just stand up and sit back on the bed with a blank expression.

"Don't worry, sis. You'll get used to everything here in time. But first how are you feeling right now?" he asks me with concern.

I sigh and flex my fingers and now that I'm focusing on them, I can feel my new tail and wings move slightly.

"To be honest? I've never felt better in years," I reply. My breathing is better and my joints no longer ache, I also notice the scars on my wrists are gone.

"I would hope so. I've been using my energy to repair any damage to your body over the last six hours. That bump you took to the head when you fainted did a number on you," Damien tells me.

I gently touch my head and wince at the slight stinging pain still there, I also feel the bandage wrapped around my head as well.

"So, since you missed dinner, we'll have an early breakfast brought here instead," my brother tells me and my stomach growls in agreement.

"I could use something to eat," I say and lick my lips at the thought of food.

"Alright," he says and looks to another person I only now just notice. "Nurse, please go and bring up a trolley of three ‘I hate Monday’ breakfasts," he asks the dark yellow succupony with deep violet hair who nodded and leaves the room.

"Alright, what's going on here? Why are they all following your orders?" I ask Damien.

His wife was about to speak up but my brother puts his finger on her lips and then looks at me.

"I'm Satan," he replies making me confused.

"Satan?" I repeat what he said.

"Yup. I am the king of hell, the devil, Lucifer, or more commonly known as, the Overlord of Tartarus," he tells me with a shit eating grin.

My eyes widen as I stare at him. "You're a King?" I ask getting a nod in return.

"So being my sister, that makes you like a princess," he tells me still with his grin.

Fortunately the pain in my head is enough to stop me from fainting again.

"I'm royalty?" I then ask stupidly. I think my brain just went out to lunch.

"That's right. Now then, the room you first woke up in is your new room. You can decorate it how you want," Damien informs me. "Just let someone know that you want to get something for it first," he then tells me.

I just shake my head at everything that's going on. First my brother is back from the dead. Second, he's a demon now. Third, he killed Jack and I honestly don't care. Forth, I'm now a demon. And fifth? He's the goddamn king of hell...

"You alright?" Damien asks me with worry.

I sigh and look at him. "Not really," I reply.

"What's the matter, sis?" Dark Desire asks me and sits next to me on the bed.

"First, don't call me that. I don't know you well enough to let you call me that. Second, I just found out my brother is basically the devil and I'm now a demon as well. Not how expected my day to end," I tell her and shrug her hand off my shoulder.

She giggles and then sits on Damien's lap. "Then you're going to flip when you hear what you new diet might consist of," she tells me in a tone I don't like.

"My diet?" I ask suspiciously.

"Well, if you're anything like the succuponies now, you'll need a source of testosterone to feed from. I can't do it as I'm your brother, but I'm sure an Inccupony or some other male demon would help you," Damien tells me and my mind just goes blank.

"I need what now?" I ask dumbly for the hundredth time today.

"If you're just like the succuponies, that makes you a lust demon. So, Desire here will be teaching you what you need to know and do to feed properly," Damien tells me like it doesn't matter.

"A lust demon?... I know I did some things I'm not proud of, BUT I'M NOT A FUCKING WHORE!" I scream at him angrily.

I'm surprised when Dark Desire gets up and slaps me across the face, getting a slight wince from my brother.

"We are not whores or sluts, we just have a specific diet. I hear you call yourself or others that again, I will do more than just a slap next time!" she tells me with a frown on her face.

I rub my cheek with a frown of my own but I remain silent.

Damien sighs and gets up and sits next to me. I glare at him but he hugs me gently.

"I'm sorry that you're upset at what you are now. But what if I told you that you could use demonic magic now?" he tells me, making my glare soften.

"Magic?" I ask kinda intrigued.

Desire makes a some kind of blade of energy in her right hand, and a whip with thorns along it in the other. "We can use our magic to manifest weapons, levitate things from a short distance, use them to power runes or utility spells, and even prevent ourselves from getting pregnant which is perfect for having a good time and feeding," she tells me sweetly.

I stare at her red coloured magic weapons but wince at that last one. A contraceptive spell? Does that mean I have to have sex now just to survive?

"Don't give me that look. Here you don't have to worry about diseases so having sex with the spell up will have no consequences. If it makes you feel better we have some new condoms available, but it just doesn't feel the same as your mate pounding you raw," she then tells me making me blush as I can't help the images of my brother and her going at it fill my mind.

"You don't have to worry about that just yet, you can feed on just kissing a male for now until you go lust hungry. I estimate you have a month before you need to have sex to properly feed," Damien tells me, the door then opens and the nurse enters with the trolley.

"I'm sorry it took so long, my Lord. The kitchen is busy trying to make something... unique for lady Twilight," she tells my brother who smiles.

"She's still craving new things I see," he chuckles.

"What?" I ask confused but still a little miffed at what I have to do just to survive now.

"It's my third girl Twilight. She's currently a couple months pregnant with my seventh child and she's going through her craving strange foods stage," he tells me with a smile.

"Seventh? How many kids you plan on having?" I ask him with a raised brow. The trolley is brought in front of us as the lids are lifted off and my mouth waters at the new smells hitting my nose.

There seems to be sausages, pancakes, bacon, some kind of black beans, three jugs of different drinks, apples that looks like they have veins on them, and some strange looking vegetables.

"As many as my wives want really. My first six kids are over forty-five years old and live their own lives now. So we've decided it's time to have a few more. Twilight's pregnancy was an accident as she forgot to cast the spell on herself, but I don't regret it and she's starting to like the idea of having a foal of her own to teach and raise," Damien then tells me as he gathers a few things onto a plate for himself.

I look back to the food and gather what I think looks good. Once done, I pick up a knife and fork and tentatively cut a piece of sausage off and eat it. It tastes nothing like pork but still is good and juicy. I hum feeling better about myself now as I eat my food.

"What is this made from?" I ask as I eat another piece of sausage.

"Waste worms, they look like giant maggots with lots of teeth that live mostly in the blasted wastes," Damien replies making me choke and spit it out.

"WHAT!?" I scream in disgust. Oh god, I think I'm gonna hurl.

"Relax. I guess you could say they're the equivalent of pigs here, just more dangerous," he tells me and casually eats a sausage.

I cringe as the mental image of a giant maggot with lots of teeth similar to the sandworm from the movie Dune comes to mind, and I just ate some of it.

I look back down to my 'food' and wonder if the bacon is the same. I look at the apple and gingerly pick it up and examine it. The veins on it are a little off putting, but at least it looks normal enough. I quickly take a bite expecting it to taste bad... but instead it tastes like chicken?

I frown at the apple and chew slowly as it isn't that bad.

"Why does this taste like chicken?" I ask my brother.

He chuckles and looks at me. "I thought the same thing when I first tried one. They're more like meat than a fruit," he replies. "Mel, you might as well get used to these soon. It's the most common source of food here, though we do have fast food places and restaurants since I introduced them decades ago," he then tells me.

I sigh and frown in thought, did I make the right choice coming here? I'm happy my brother is alive, but all these changes and new things are driving me mad.

It seems Damien noticed my brooding and wraps his arm around me. "Hey. I know this is a lot to take in, but you'll get through this. What was your job before I brought you here?" he asks me.

"I... I worked as a barmaid in a bar..." I reply. At least it wasn't a strip club or other questionable place. The manager was actually nice to me.

"I see... If you wanted, I could get you your own bar if you want to run one. Unless you'd like to do something else?" he offers me.

I actually think about that, owning my own bar would be nice. "Can I think about it?" I ask him.

"Sure, we have all the time in the world," he replies and finishes off his food. "Now then, I got some things to see to. Just stay here for now and rest, I'm sure you still have a headache right?" he asks me. "If you need anything, just ask a nurse."

I nodded and look back at my food. I just stay silent as he leaves and I just pick at the food on my plate. After eating a few more different things. I lay down on the bed and try to relax. It takes a good ten or so minutes, but after thinking about what my new life could lead to, I fall asleep.

Author's Note

The Clop chapter of Damien X Slitherana is over 1000 words now and will be then next chapter released.

Chapter 47: Sightseeing Part 1

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 47: Sightseeing Part 1

I yawn as I rub my eyes and sit up. I look around and remember I'm still in hell... or Tartarus as my brother called it.

I pull the covers off me and stand up off the bed, I then stretch my limbs and scratch my chest. I suppress a moan from how oddly good that felt and decide to not do that again. Walking over to the mirror on the wall, I get a good look at myself and notice my hair is longer, and that I have two horns on my head.

I reach up and gently tap a horn but I don't really feel anything from it. I take in my physique and can't help but admire my new body. I've lost my slight pudge and I look lean, fit, and strong. I flex my muscles and I can just feel them stretch and bulge.

'This would be so much better if I didn't find out what I had to eat to live now...' I think to myself and sigh.

I hear a knock on the door and I yelp at the sudden noise. After getting my breathing back under control, I turn to the door.

"Come in," I say loudly.

The door opens and my eyes feel like they're bulging out of my head. A woman that looks like a bird and cat on two legs walks in and smiles at me with her beak... can beaks move like that? She’s wearing a modest maid dress, her feathers on her head are grey and the tips are a dark blue. The fur on her body and the feathers of her wings is a dark brown and she has a pair of silk bags on her hips.

"Good afternoon, ma'am. I'm just here to change the sheets," she tells me as she uses her right leg's talon to pull off the bed sheets and stuff it into her left bag.

I watch in awe at how flexible her legs are and how hard it must be to do this without hands, she replaces the sheets with clean ones and then heads for the door.

"Wait!" I say getting her attention.

"Hmm? Yes?" she replies and tilts her head at me.

"What are you?" I ask bluntly.

"I'm a harpy... how do you not know about us? We’re pretty common in Tartarus?" she replies and then asks in concern.

"No... you could say I'm new around here," I reply.

"Thought so, haven't seen a breed of succupony like you before... You kinda look like Lord Damien," she says and looks me over.

"He's my brother... where is he right now?" I ask her.

"Your brother!?" she yells and quickly bows to me and stutters. "Forgive my casualness, my lady. I didn't know you were related to the Overlord!" she quickly says still bowing.

"Erm, please don't do that. It's fine, really," I say feeling uncomfortable now.

She gets up a notices she spilled the contents of her bags and scrambles to pick them back up. I walk over and help her making her smile nervously.

"My name is Melanie, what's yours?" I ask her.

"Clarisa," she replies. "Thank you," she then says as the last of the sheets are back in her bags.

"Could you show me where my brother is?" I ask her.

"I would, but I have more chores to do, my lady. A guard would be happy to escort you though," she tells me and points a wing to an armoured horse guy.

"Oh, okay. Thank you," I say and she walks off. I head over to the guard and he looks at me. "Could you escort me to my brother?" I ask him.

"Of course. Lord Damien has instructed me to escort you to him when you were ready. Please follow me," he replies and I get a little weak in the knees. Oh god his voice sounds as smooth as silk while being deep and masculine.

I follow behind him and keep my eyes to the ground, why do I feel strange near him? It takes a few minutes, but now we're standing in front of a large double door. The guard opens a door and waves me inside.

I smile at him and nod getting a nod back before he walks off. I can't help but watch him leave for a few seconds before shaking my head. I go through the door and I spot my brother standing next to a table with a map on it. There's two... I can only describe as naga or lamia next to him and another horse man.

Damien looks up and smiles at me. "Hey, sis! How's your head feeling?" he asks me.

"Better now," I reply and walk over to him. "What's all this?" I ask him.

"We're hunting a dangerous demonlord named Tirek. Problem is he somehow found or made a walking fortress which we're having trouble tracking," he replies and taps on the map. "He was last sighted near the swamp, but we lost his trail after that. The tracks left by the fortress just, stopped."

"Who'sss thisss, father?" one of the naga asks Damien.

"She is your aunt and my sister, Melanie," Damien tells him making all three of them go wide eyed. "Mel, these are your nephews. Scalefang, Vipirior, and Tidus," he says pointing to each one.

"My nephews..." I mumble and remember how old Damien told me he was now.

"I remember you telling us of your sister before... but I thought she was dead by now with how long humans lived for..." Tidus says to Damien.

"You can thank Olivia and Twilight for helping me get her here," he says making Tidus sigh.

"That mare is always doing something crazy," he says and looks at me. "It's nice to finally meet you, auntie," Tidus says and holds his hand out.

I gingerly take it and shake his hand. I then shake the nagas hands as well.

"So, what brings you here then?" Damien asks me.

"Oh... well, I'd like to see the City," I reply, getting a smile out of him.

"I see. Well, Desire and Rarity are about to head out to the spa for a few hours. Perhaps you can go with them?" he suggests and I smile. The last time I went to a spa felt heavenly.

"I guess so, where are they?" I ask him.

"Tidus, would you mind taking Mel over to your mother?" my brother asks his son.

"Okay, father. I'll be back as soon as possible," he replies and walks past me. "Come, auntie," he says to me.

I follow behind him and I barely hear Damien wishing me a good time.

The trip is awkwardly silent as we walk through the halls. I glance at the décor until Tidus speaks up.

"So. What do you think of Tartarus?" he asks me.

"Can't really make an opinion yet, seeing as I haven't really seen or been anywhere yet," I reply.

"Good points. Then at least you'll get to see the City with mother when you go out," he says and stops at a door and knocks. "Mother?" he calls out and waits.

"Tidus? Come in!" I hear Dark Desire reply.

Tidus opens the door and I barely see my sister-in-law sitting on a bed talking to a white succupony with deep purple hair. She's wearing a beautiful red dress that goes just past her knees with one strap over her left shoulder.

"Oh, Melanie. Feeling better now?" Dark Desire asks me.

"Yeah... I wanted to see the City so Damien said I should go with you to the Spa," I reply.

"Oh darling, you're going to love it!" the white woman says. She gets up off her chair and walks over to me. "My name is Rarity Belle, but you can just call me Rarity," she tells me and holds her hand out.

"Melanie Jackson..." I reply and shake her hand.

"Your clothes look like they're about to burst, my dear. Perhaps later I can stop by and make you a new set? Or perhaps we can go shopping and find something you'll like? The arachniponies are masters at making clothing with their own silk," she tells me while looking me over.

I tug on my shirt a little, it does feel a bit tighter now. "I guess so, these are a bit tight," I say.

"Here," Dark Desire says and tosses me a pair of shorts, a shirt, a bra, and some panties. "These were my old clothes, but due to my recent growth spurt, they no longer fit me. So I guess you can have them then, I was just going to give them away," she tells me,

I catch the clothes and look them over, a plain pair of black hotpants and a dark blue shirt with some sort of red flower on the centre of the chest, and the underwear is plain white.

"Well then, I'll leave auntie Melanie in your care, mother," Tidus says making me wince. I'm still not used to the idea that I'm an aunt, makes me feel older than I am.

He leaves the room and closes the door. I look back to the other two and just stand there awkwardly.

"Well don't just stand there like a ponyquin, darling. Go get changed and we can then get going!" Rarity says with excitement while pointing to another door.

I walk over to the door and open it to see a nice looking bathroom. The colours are a dark purple wall with a black floor. The toilet and the bathtub looks like they’re made of obsidian and the tub appears to be able to hold five people easily and there's a variety of products for washing hair and fur, even scale polish.

I quickly change my clothes, which I rip off my body due to the fact I can't get them off because of how tight they are. The shirt Dark Desire gave me has two holes in the back which I assume is for my new wings, and the hole in the shorts is for my tail. Fortunately my shoes still fit me.

It takes me ten minutes or so to get changed due to having trouble getting my wings through the holes. But I get it done and re-enter the bedroom.

"Sorry I took so long," I apologise to them both.

"Oh don't worry about it, darling! The longest I've taken is an hour so don't feel too bad about it. Shall we get going now?" Rarity replies and suggests.

I nodded, actually looking forward to seeing the City my brother rules over... still can't believe he's practically Satan...

We leave the room and I silently follow them as they chat about upcoming fashion and gossip they heard around Tartarus.

I glance at all the maids, butlers, and guards we pass in the hallways. And again I feel slightly odd when I look at the guys here, so I decide to ask Dark Desire.

"Mrs Desire?" I say getting her attention.

"Hmm? Just call me Desire, Mel," she tells me and looks at me.

"Okay, I've been getting this strange feeling every time I see a guy... why?" I ask her.

"Oh, that's just your instincts trying to tell you to feed, you must be hungrier than I thought," she replies and without warning, leans down and kisses me hard.

I try to push her back but her hand is holding my head still. I then go limp as I can feel something flow into me, making that craving sensation recede.

She lets go after a few seconds and licks her lips. "There you go, that should last you a good few days," she tells me and I gasp with a heavily flushed face... I've never kissed or been kissed by a girl before... and it was with my brother's wife!

"What did you do!?" I demand once I snap out of my shock.

"I transferred some of my energy over to you, and since I can hold a lot more than you or the average succupony, I can fully feed you if I wanted without draining myself too much," she replies. I notice Rarity has a slight blush and is politely looking away.

"Don't do that again!" I tell her as I get my breathing under control. Why was that the best kiss I've ever had, and why do I feel like I want to do it again?

"Only if you can find a source of lust on your own, I won't have you going lust hungry and raping someone," she tells me seriously and I gulp at her tone.

"Yes ma'am..." I reply.

"Good!" she then says cheerfully and continues walking. "Let's get going again shall we?" she says and I glance at Rarity who sighs and walks beside Dark Desire.

I shake my head and follow behind them at a distance.

I notice that when I pass a guy now I don't have that feeling anymore. I guess Dark Desire was right.

We reach what I guess is the main lobby of the Castle as Desire and Rarity head over to the main doors leading outside.

I look at all the different demons that are lining up in front of another pair of doors at the other end of the lobby with a few guards there keeping an eye on them. Some are holding folders or papers and wearing nice clothing.

Some of them look like boars, spiders, horses, birds, goblins -both green and red-. Even some strange ones like a large beetle and what I can only assume is a bipedal bat.

I walk out the Castle and look up to see grey cloud cover everywhere.

"Is it always this bleak?" I ask.

Dark Desire follows my gaze and giggles. "Oh no, this is a good day. If the clouds are black then it's a bleak day, though the rare hot rainy days are nice in my opinion," she replies and continues walking.

I look around as I follow her. Buildings that look like they could fit back home stand tall, and they're made of either metal or thick looking stone. The glass windows seems to have a darker tint to them, almost like sunglasses.

One building looks like it's a casino while another looks like a bowling alley. Each building looks familiar but alien at the same time, and I notice the people around me giving me curious glances now and then.

"We're almost there!" Dark Desire says getting my attention.

In front of us is a nice looking black stone building with a Japanese style look to it. Dark Desire opens the sliding door and smiles. "Yuna!? Slitherine!?" she calls out and I hear faint gasps.

I look around and see we're in a waiting room with comfortable looking chairs, a small table in the middle with magazines and books on it, strange looking potted plants (one of which looks like tentacles and is moving), a counter with some kind of cash register on it, and a few paintings of locations I can only assume are from Tartarus are on the walls.

The doors to the right of the counter open and out comes two naga like women who smile brightly before slithering over and hugging Dark Desire.

"Mother! We were wondering what wasss taking you ssso long!" the left one says.

She's got pale red scales and a pale pink underbelly. she has a fin on her head that goes down her back but it curls slightly to the right.

"Yesss, and who isss thisss you brought with you? A new cussstomer?" the other then asks.

She has green scales which are paler on her front, she has two fins on her head that only go down to the back of her neck.

Dark Desire grins and gestures to me. "Meet your aunt, Melanie," she tells them making them gasp.

"Our aunt?" the red one asks in confusion.

"Yup, she's your father's sister. He brought her here two days ago," Dark desire replies.

"Oh! father hasss ssspoken about you a lot. We're happy to finally meet you," the green snake woman says to me.

"Erm, likewise. But I know nothing about you two as I've only been here for two days..." I reply feeling a bit nervous.

"Oh that'sss fine. Ssso, you're here for a full treatment with mother and Misss Rarity?" the red one asks me.

"I guess so," I reply.

"Wonderful! I'm Yuna by the way," she then introduces herself and holds out her hand.

"And I'm Slitherine," the green woman then says holding her hand out as well.

I gingerly shake their hands and marvel at how soft and smooth their scales feel.

"I'm Melanie... although I guess you already knew that, hehe," I say and chuckle lamely. I feel so out of place here...

"Oh don't worry about it, sis! Just relax and let your troubles just melt away~," Dark Desire says sweetly and pats me on my lower back.

"I said don't call me that," I tell her with a frown.

"Fine, you'll lighten up eventually," she replies and walks to the door the two snake women came though.

I follow behind her and look around the Spa. Hot tubs, mud baths, massage tables, lounge chairs, saunas, shower room, this place has it all.

"Firssst we ssshall begin with the sssauna," Yuna tells us and points to a door at the back with the female symbol on it.

"Changing roomsss are back there with many different sssized robesss ssshould you want one," Slitherine then says.

I follow Dark Desire and Rarity into the changing rooms and notice it's just a bunch of lockers and no actual changing cubicles.

I blush as Dark Desire and Rarity just strip down naked and store their clothes. Rarity puts on a white robe but Dark Desire just stays nude.

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about, Mel. We're all mares here," Dark Desire tells me with a grin.

"You'll get used to it, darling. took me a couple of weeks to stop blushing every time," Rarity says with a giggle.

I just walk over to a locker, quickly strip, and put on a blue robe that fits.

"See that wasn't so difficult now was it?" Dark Desire says in a teasing tone.

I glare at her but she just saunters past in her birthday suit and out the door. Rarity just puts a hand on my shoulder with an apologetic smile.

"You'll get used to her, she's rather forward and blunt with what she says or does," she tells me and walks out the room as well.

I sigh and follow behind her.

Three Hours Later

We exit the Spa and I admit, I've never felt so good in my life! I groan as I stretch my muscles and then blush as I remember the 'massage' Yuna gave me.

Dark Desire told them to give me the full body massage so Yuna told me to stand up straight, so I did and the next thing I knew is she coiled herself completely around me with her tail where her torso was just above my shoulders. I moaned as her body started to squeeze me in all the right places getting my joints to pop and my muscles to melt as her hands worked on my shoulders and neck.

I shake my head of the memory and look to the now dressed Dark Desire.

"So, where to next?" I ask, strangely excited and refreshed to explore the Capital City of Hell.

"Depends, what are you in the mood to do? Shopping? Games? Food?" she asks me.

My stomach decides to answer for me making them both giggle.

"Food it is then. There's actually a nice restaurant nearby that I've been to a couple of times," Rarity says and my stomach rumbles again in agreement.

We walk down the street and Dark Desire waves at a few demons we pass. I raise an eyebrow at the strange long pink creature that looks like a mixture of different animals fly by, who then waves at Rarity before zooming off down the street.

"Who or what was that?" I ask.

"Oh. That was just Pinkie Pie. She's on a mission to learn every game she can find here before we head back to Equestria," Rarity replies with a giggle.

"Okay..." I say and try to ignore the odd being that flew by.

We arrive at the restaurant and it looks like a goth was in charge of decorating it. I almost feel like I would see Dracula sitting at a table if I walked in...

"Despite its, rather dark appearance, it has some of the best food I've ever had. Including their meat selection," Rarity tells me.

"I see. It's not just going to be waste worm stuff again is it?" I ask and cringe at the thought of eating giant maggots again.

"No, they have other kinds of meat available," Dark Desire replies and walks in followed by Rarity.

I sigh and follow in behind them.

Author's Note

Part 1 of Melanie's first day in Fel Haven.

Chapter 48: Sightseeing Part 2

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 48: Sightseeing Part 2

POV: Melanie Jackson

We enter the restaurant and the interior is just like the outside, Gothic and dark themed.

The tables and chairs have demonic heads on the corners and the legs look like large wooden bones holding it up... at least I think they're wood as they're a dark red colour and have a slight grain to them.

There's a few demons already eating at some of the tables while others are dressed in nice butler or maid outfits serving customers.

"Let's find us a table shall we?" Desire comments and walks off.

Rarity and I follow behind her and my stomach rumbles again, making the white succupony giggle quietly.

Desire talks to a waiter and after a minute or so, he leads us to an empty table and once again I get a few odd glances thrown at me from the other customers.

We sit down at a four chair table and the waiter hands us each a menu. "Would any of you like a drink before ordering?" he asks us and I look at the drinks on the menu.

Rot Wheat Ale? Blood Apple Cider? Soulvine Wine? and many more drinks with strange names...

Desire asks for the ale, and Rarity the wine, so I ask for the cider. So while he goes to get our drinks, we look over the menu for what to eat.

I grimace at the different dishes of waste worm available, despite actually looking good, knowing what they're from is still off putting.

I don't know what a Jigoron is, but the steak it's from looks good. It has different vegetables I don't recognise and glazed in some kind of sauce. I decide to order it while Desire gets a waste worm casserole with some kinda bread sticks. Rarity orders the special soup of something that's spicy.

"So, Mel. What do you think of the city so far?" Desire asks me with a smile.

"If it wasn't for the lack of cars and the demons walking around, I'd say it's almost like a city back home," I reply.

"Oh, speaking of cars. My daughter has built the first working automobile called a Dune Buggy just a few days ago. It was very fun to drive," she tells me with a giggle.

"A Dune Buggy?" I ask in surprise. "Just what the hell has Damien been telling you about Earth?" I then ask her.

"Everything he knew. We even have guns!" she replies with a grin.

"Guns!? Is he insane!?" I yell getting the other demons in the place to look at me oddly.

"It's thanks to those guns we took over this City and have been able to protect ourselves from stronger demons. Along with the Airships and cannons on them," she tells me making my jaw drop.

I shake my head and just rest said head on my arms on the table. Rarity and Desire chat about something called the Grand Galloping Gala in Equestria and if a Tartarus version could be started.

After a few minutes, our food arrives and while my steak smells different to what I'm used to, it still smells good and my mouth waters at the scent. I pick up my knife and fork and cut off a piece before chewing it. I guess the closest thing I can compare it to would be a spicy piece of pork.

I just idly poke at my food in thought. Did I make the right choice coming here?

POV: Twilight Sparkle

I frown as I sit at my table in Olivia's Lab using a file with a protective mask and pair of gloves on to shave off some of the silver from the sword Damien took from that Pirate King gryphon.

Can't have any open windows or fans going as the silver dust will blow into my eyes or on my fur and I don't want to be blinded or burned all over again. The memory of Shiny hugging me in his silver armour makes me shiver at the recalled pain I was in.

I carefully pour some dust into a beaker and save that for later. For now I want to test this new mixture Olivia and I came up with.

I bring the sword up to my arm and lightly touch the silver to my forearm making it burn. I then use the new chemical solution Olivia and I have put together using waste worm saliva, ground up ogre mushrooms -large red mushrooms with grey spots on top of the cap-, and a concentrated infusion of raw demon magic. The mushrooms seem to be able to negate the burning effect that silver has on our skin. And while disgusting, the saliva and magic helps to accelerate a demon’s natural healing factor by three times, so we're hoping to make an ointment at least for now.

"Do you really think this is going to work?" Olivia asks me as I hiss in pain from the small burn.

I quickly wash the burn with some water and apply the ointment on the burned skin. "I hope so," I reply and sigh as the burning feeling dies down and I can see the burnt skin slowly healing and new fur growing on it.

"While not what Damien wanted, it's a start and a useful first aid solution," I say and carefully store the rest of the dust and sword away. "I'm hungry..." I comment as I rub the small foal bump on my stomach.

"You just ate three black cabbage sandwiches ten minutes ago!" Olivia tells me with a raised brow.

"I can't help it! These cravings are going to drive me insane!" I reply and sigh.

"Then let's go to the cafeteria and get you something to nibble on, then we can tell daddy what we've done so far," she tells me and gently pulls my arm to the door.

After a... admittedly large lunch. Olivia and I head out to find Damien about our breakthrough with our silver problem.

We find him and his sons in the War Room around the map table discussing something.

"Daddy! We have some good news!" Olivia tells him happily.

Damien and his sons look up from the table and smile at us. "Oh? And what's the good news?" Damien asks her.

Olivia nudges me getting a small yelp from me. "Erm... we've managed to make an ointment that will neutralise the light magic in silver and accelerate the healing of the burn it leaves," I tell him.

"I see. So at least for now we have something to help heal wounds from silver... Good job, the both of you. As for us, we've managed to find signs of Tirek out near the pits of despair. Our scouts found his Castle's tracks that head towards the Lost Soul Sea, a massive sea of lava that no demon has travelled across yet. We may have to send airships across someday to see if anything is out there," Damien replies with a thoughtful expression.

"I hope you find him soon and kill him. Because of him I lost valuable research time due to his attacks while you were gone," Olivia says with a huff.

"Don't worry, Olivia. He'll get what's coming to him," he tells her and then looks to me. "How are you feeling, Twilight?" he asks me.

"Oh, good. I just had lunch but I might need a little pick me up from you," I reply with a smile. It's nice to hear him ask how I'm doing.

He walks over to me and carefully wraps his arms around my back and pulls me against himself. I lick my lips as not only can I sense the lust from him, but also I like to think it's love as well. Is this kinda what Cadence can feel with her love magic?

"You're looking more radiant everyday, my dear. Seems like you'll be glowing in a few more months time," he tells me and leans down to give me a passionate kiss. I moan as my breath is taken away and I don't even care at Olivia's giggling.

I can't help but thrust my tongue down his throat, getting a grunt from him and making me smile as my hands grip the back of his shirt tightly. I groan in turn as his tongue slides down my own esophagus.

"Oh get a room you two," Olivia playfully comments making my eyes go wide.

"Good idea!" I say and with a strength I didn't know I had, I pull Damien out of the room and towards our bedroom leaving behind Damien's laughing sons and daughter.

"You're more frisky than usual," Damien says making me growl.

"And it's your fault! Now feed me hard so I can get back to my research!" I reply and push him into our room.

I lock the door and yelp as Damien picks me up and places me on the bed before eagerly stripping me of my clothes.

POV Melanie Jackson

I finish my meal and give off a light burp. The meat was good and I don't want to know what it came from looked like.

"That wasn't bad. So what else is there to see around here?" I ask Desire.

"Hmmm, well there's the casinos, the Pogorium where pog tournaments take place. You wouldn't believe how popular that game is with the youngsters these days, it was so popular that a wealthy archdemon named Ragadath started the Pogorium and holds tournaments for the children to compete and earn some prizes," she tells me.

I raise an eyebrow at her. "Someone runs pog tournaments?" I ask in disbelief.

"To you it may seem dumb, but the children here love it and it keeps them occupied. Some card games are often played but it's pogs that seem to be the most played these days," she replies.

"I see... I used to play it as a kid... but they quickly went out of style. How long have they been here?" I then ask out of curiosity. What else has my brother introduced them to?

"Errr, I think about fifty or so years. It's only recently been more played due to the tournaments, though I will admit, it's fun watching the young demons playing in them," she tells me with a smile.

"So, do you have any sports here?" I ask moving on from the subject.

"Well. We used to only really have orgies, arenas, and public torture displays. Everyone was too busy concentrating on surviving or indulging to really come up with anything. Then came Damien with ideas for games and sports like; football, basketball, golf, baseball, bowling, darts, tennis, and others as well. Although only Felfire has the only known full sized football field in Tartarus due to how big it is. Most towns or villages have the smaller five demon team ones," she replies as the waiter returns.

"Your bill, my lady," he tells Desire and hands her a slip of paper.

Desire quickly pays for our meal and gets up. "We can continue our chat as we go on," she says and we bid the restaurant goodbye.

"Well, darlings. I must be off as I promised Fluttershy to meet up with her later. It was a pleasure talking with you, Melanie. Should you ever need a custom dress or outfit, do let me know," Rarity says and holds her hand out to me.

I take her hand and shake it. "Thanks. I'll let you know if I need anything," I reply and let go.

"I'm looking forward to it, ta ta!" she says and heads off back to the Castle.

I look to Desire who smiles back at me evilly. "So what are you in the mood to see now?" she asks me.

"Erm... I'm not sure to be honest. I think I'll just go back to the Castle and take a nap... I need to think about what I want to decorate my room with," I reply.

"So why don't we go shopping for something you'd like? I'll even pay for all of it," she tells me with a shit eating grin.

Something in the back of my head is telling me to just head back now before Desire does something to embarrass me.

I just sigh and nod. "Sure. Might as well get it over with," I reply making her jump on the spot.

"Wonderful! Let's get going, I know just the first stop," she tells me and starts walking off.

With another sigh I follow her for the next five minutes in silence until we arrive at a store that makes me glare at her.

It's a bloody sex toy store.

"Now let's find you a few toys shall we?" she says innocently and before I can get a word out, she pulls me inside making me yelp.

So for the next hour, Desire forces me to get ten different dildos along with a strap on harness... why would I need a strap on harness? I also notice there's a lot of succupony and inccupony demons in here buying toys and other products.

Once we’re done, I have a bag of toys in my left hand as Desire then takes me to someplace else.

POV: Gilda

So far Tartarus is a cool place. The demons are surprisingly friendly, but can be just as mean when pushed too far.

I'm flying above the City with Rainbow just chatting and hanging out. The last few weeks have been the most fun I've honestly had in my life. Sure, I've had to relearn to fly due to my wings feeling like both my talons and my wings at the same time, making them flap oddly when I tried to move my non-existent leg and wing at the same time, but I've gotten the hang of it now.

I've also been convinced to wear a loose tube shirt and shorts when with others now. While walking around naked isn't illegal here, Dash and the others are just uncomfortable with me doing so for now.

Shining and I are getting closer and despite his stoic attitude most of the time, he's rather laid back and knows how to have fun. He's even decided to start a herd with me and his marefriend Cadence when we get back. The thought of sharing him with another female pisses me off, but they were together before he had to buck me to live, so I can deal with another female if it means I get to stay with him.

"So what do you want to do, Dash?" I ask her. After she recovered from flying into the ash clouds, she's kept her distance from them ever since.

"Wanna try another one of their sports?" she suggests.

"Hmmm, sure. I want to try that baseball game," I reply and we fly back down to find someone to give us directions.

The day passes by and I feel kinda guilty for hitting the ball into a demon's knee. But hey, I'm the first harpy who was able to play due to my talons on my wing joints acting as hands.

We saw Pinkie flying around with games and toys in her arms as she was heading back to the Castle. It seems she's still hoarding more stuff in her room. Then we saw Dark Desire walk by with Damien's sister I've heard has just moved into the Castle. Haven't met her yet, but I will later.

We return to the Castle after finding a place for dinner where we say goodbye to each other and I head up to my room. I find Shining laying on the bed looking sweaty and tired, since his training here, he's gotten more muscular and stronger. He's also only wearing a pair of training shorts so his delicious body is on display.

I lick my beak at the sight and walk over to him. "Tough day?" I ask as he looks over to me.

"You could say that. The training here is much more intense than the Royal Guard's is," he replies with a sigh.

I chuckle and crawl onto the bed and over to him before sitting down right on his groin. He raises an eyebrow at me but I lean down and gently kiss him.

"Want some help relieving some stress?" I offer him with a sultry smile and wiggle my hips.

His eyes widen as a smile spreads on his face and he returns my affection before lifting my shirt up.

POV: Pinkie Pie
The next morning

After spending the whole of yesterday finding all the games and toys I haven't got yet that I could, I decided to call it early. I wake up the next morning and spend the next hour making a pog set for the upcoming tournament that's happening today.

I've watched so many demon foals playing with them that I wanted to try and it's fun! I have my case of one-hundred pogs and ten different weighted slammers ready to play today and once checked over, I head down to the Castle's Dining Hall for breakfast.

Everypony is here already, including Damien's sister!

"Pinkie? Why are you so excited today?" Rainbow asks me.

"Well, I found out that today there is a pog tournament happening in the Pogorium and I've signed up for it!" I reply and hold up my pog case to show her.

"Tournament? For a little foal's game?" Dashie then asks me.

"Uh-huh! It's fun and I wanted to try it out. I don't really care for the prize, I just wanna play and have fun!" I reply with a big smile.

"So, what will you do if you do win the prize?" Damien asks me with a raised brow before eating a piece of waste worm bacon.

"Dunno, give it to someone else who needs it... I remember helping out at the Orphanage here before! Then they can have it!" I reply, my smile turning into a grin.

"That's very nice of you, Pinkie," Fluttershy tells me. She's wearing a new outfit that makes her look like some wild Amarezonian with fur hot pants and bra like top, I think this is the most of her fur I've seen her ever show off. She's even put on some muscle and looks more confident in herself. I guess spending her time with her demonic animal friends is helping her get fitter.

"I'm sure they'd appreciate the gesture, Pinkie. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a hunt to continue," Damien says and finishes off his food.

I notice Applejack sitting next to Damien's son Tidus, just chatting as they eat. Rarity and Twilight look happy, I can't wait to see Twilight's foal, I'll give them the best birthday parties ever!

"So what are you doing today, Dashie?" I ask her.

"Probably try some more of the sports here," she replies and stuffs her face with a piece of sausage. Out of all of us, I think she's taken to eating meat better than anyone else, even Fluttershy has started to eat some.

The others chat about what they'll do today while I finish up my breakfast. Twilight said she's going to learn how to use something called a laptop today... why would she want to put a top on her lap? Is it a skirt of some kind?

I say goodbye to my friends and with pog case in hand, I head out into the city for the Pogorium.

Chapter 49: The battle begins

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 49: The battle begins

POV: Damien Jackson

Pinkie exits the room with her case while the rest of us finish our own breakfasts.

I was about to speak up before one of my incupony soldiers bursts in.

"My Lord! Scouts have just reported sighting the walking castle, it's heading to the Blasted Wastes from the Lost Soul Sea and towards Felfire!" he tells me, getting my full attention.

"Prepare the fastest ships, gather our strongest demons, and get ready to fly to Felfire!" I order him getting a nod before he runs back out.

"What's going on?" Applejack asks confused.

"Tirek's making his move. But we're going to attack him before he even reaches Felfire. Twilight stay here, I know you wanted to help get rid of him, but due to your pregnancy, I won't allow you to come," I reply and tell Twilight before she could say anything, making her pout angrily.

"You're going into a fight!?" Mel asks wide eyed.

"No," I reply making her sigh in relief. "I'm going to war," I then tell her.

"Are you fucking insane!?" she then yells and storms right up to my face with a deep frown on her own.

"I'm quite sane thank you. This isn't the first war I've been in and it certainly won't be the last. But I need to take this bastard out before he can get away and cause more trouble for us."

Mel tries to speak but I place a finger on her lips. "I'll come back just fine, I have my wife and sons to watch my back as well as Luna and Selene, not to mention my own army," I tell her making her frown harder but not say anything else as she slumps back onto her chair.

I then make my way out of the room with Desire, Luna, Selene, and my sons following behind me. I smile as I hear Applejack tell Tidus to be careful.

"So how will we attack his castle, father?" Tidus asks me along the way.

"We'll observe from the airships first to survey its defences, but I think we'll use the cannons as well as powerful blasts of demon magic to attack the legs of the castle to prevent it from advancing further and from fleeing as well. Then we'll surround it with the airships before sending our forces inside to find the bastard, and once we find him, I'll rip out his soul," I reply as we head to our armoury.

We arrive and the others quickly don their armour as I smile standing in front of my demonite plate armour I had made after taking this castle. It has several scratches and dents from battles with the other demonlords still around, and I don't doubt it will receive more in the battle to come.

Desire is wearing her own newly made demonite armour we had made recently due to her new size that actually covers more of her body than her last set.

Both of ours look similar that are dark purple and have blades on the sides of our forearms to not only parry another's weapon, but to slice open throats easily.

Our boots and gauntlets look like bones woven together which are thick and dense allowing us to hit hard and block attacks better. Our chestplates and helmets are reinforced to protect our heart and brain from fatal or crippling blows. Our thighs and biceps are only lightly armoured to allow us more mobility, but will still provide decent protection.

The armour has human skulls for the pauldrons and helmet's shape as well as the belt's buckle. The chestplate looks like a rib cage while the bicep and thighs look like sharp scales.

Our sons armour is similar to ours, but lighter as they don't have the strength we do to lug ours around. Vipirior and Scalefang both have plates along the backs or their tails to help protect them, but the underside is vulnerable as they can't move with it covered.

Luna and Selene have both requested armour to be made for them and it looks like smooth elegant armour dyed with their magic to look like a moonlight silvery blue. They have half-plate armour with chainmail underneath, they went with mobility over raw protection mostly. They also have two demonite longswords each about a meter long and slightly serrated, as well as their own midnight blue revolver rifles and pistols.

Once equipped and armed, we head up to the airship docks and board a sloop, while the flagship Death from above and two frigates have already set out ahead of us as we'll easily catch up to them.

"Now all we can do is wait and plan on how we attack," I say as we watch the City slowly fade away.

Two days later

Our ship has caught up to the others and even passed them. We were attacked by a few direbats along the way, but it seems Tirek is no longer sending forces out to disrupt transport from Felfire to Fel Haven anymore.

Along the way we discuss what we could do to the castle from images drawn from the first scouts who encountered the castle. Our main focus will be the two knee joints in each leg to cripple or even collapse the castle.

We eventually dock at Felfire and Mo'gra greets us at the dock with a relieved expression.

"Oh I'm so happy to see you, my Lord! Our scouts have been keeping an eye on the castle and it is definitely on its way here, they estimate another two days before it arrives. It's already destroyed two frontier towns in its way, but the demons all evacuated here long before they arrived," she tells me.

"I see. Then once the other ships arrive, we'll mount a counterattack. Get all the ships you have here armed and ready for battle," I reply and tell her.

"Of course, my Lord," she replies and bows slightly before adjusting her large glasses and walking off.

"So, before we head off into battle, I'll need a quick top up from you," desire tells me.

"Fair enough," I reply and turn to my sons. "Get the fleet ready and prepare to move out as soon as the Death from above arrives," I tell them getting them to nod.

"Asss you wisssh, father," Vipirior says and they all head out to do as I ask.

"And us?" Selene asks.

"Look around or stay here until the others arrive, I'm not really sure what you can do to help right now," I reply getting a sigh from her.

"Very well," she says and walks off with Luna behind her.

Meanwhile Desire is already pulling me by my left arm to our personal room in the manor where she removes only hers and my armours crotch plates before bending over the bed and spreading her legs.

Sixteen hours later

Scouts have been reporting on the castle's movements on the hour every hour, it's still heading our way and seems to have picked up speed.

Our other ships have arrived and are fully armed and we have all of our ground troops on board while the incuponies, succuponies, harpies, and any other flying deamon or stronger will take to the air beside us. We have a total of ten ships with us.

Desire, Luna, Selene, my sons, and I stand on the flagship as we're slowly flying to meet the castle that's just three hours away now.

"This reminds me of the time we fought that demonlord out near the borders of the wallowing woods. He thought he could poison our food supplies with his forces of fel ents to contaminate our crop fields," Desire says with a grin.

"Once we figured it out and had our own fel ents repair or replace the damaged crops, we stormed right over to his castle and made him suffer greatly," I reply but I don't return the smile, we lost over three-thousand demons to the contaminated crops when they were harvested...

"Well what do you plan to do to Tirek?" she asks me with a slight purr in her tone.

"Rip off both of his horns and shove them both up his ass, then I'll break each of his legs in several places and slowly set them on fire until they're ash. Next I'll slowly cut out his organs before force feeding them to him, then I'll rip out his soul slowly and glare coldly into his fading eyes," I reply grimly as my grip tightens on Thanatos in my right hand, who shivers at the thought.

"Hmmm, I'll enjoy watching that. But what about his other demons?" she then asks me.

"Kill the other demonlords he has, but give the archdemons and deamons a chance to join us. Try to knock out the lesser demons so we can convert them later, they're no doubt being forced into this," I reply.

"Alright, sounds good to me, so I can try out my new strength fully on any demonlord we find?" she then asks sadistically.

"By all means, tear them apart. But bring them to me alive, more demonlord souls will be nice to have. I may even be able to transfer their power over to someone else," I reply while thinking who could receive such power. Mo'gra would be good. She's a gentle giant and with a power boost, become a kind but powerful leader to defend Felfire.

While lost in thought, the voice of my son Scalefang brings my attention to him.

"Father, the cassstle is now in sssight," he tells me and hands me a spyglass.

I take it and look through it to see the massive eight legged stone looking castle walking towards us.

"Alright! Load all the cannons and get the snipers into the nests! Get all boarding parties ready to storm the castle once we get it to stop!" I yell out my orders getting cheers as they spread the order to the other ships.

I look through the spyglass again and look at the legs of the castle. Their joints look like they could be damaged as they're not as thick looking as the main segments of the legs. Cannonballs and strong demonic blasts should be able to at least damage the joints enough to make it stop.

Once all of the ships are ready, the castle is only a few minutes away as our ships spread out and start preparing to circle the castle.

"A single harpy is coming!" one of the snipers yells out from above on the balloon.

"Let her come!" I yell.

After a minute or two, the harpy is flying in front of our ship with dull glazed over eyes and not wearing anything, she even has runes and lines branded onto her body.

"My master welcomes you to his castle, he hopes you'll enjoy his hospitality," she tells us lifelessly.

Before I could reply, her body then starts glowing as cracks form all over her and she screams in pain. Desire quickly thrusts her left hand out and sends a blast of energy at the harpy blowing her back until she detonates away from the ship.

The airship tilts from the blast slightly before righting itself.

"Bloody bastard sent a living bomb at us..." Desire says in disgust.

I frown and look towards the castle. Demons are flocking out of it and start gathering around the castle. More and more keep coming, more than the castle seems to be able to hold. I guess that the portal creating demon Tirek has is on board and is sending more demons here.

"All units prepare for battle! Snipers and ranged mages get ready to fire!" I yell out as the order is spread amongst the ships.

I glare at the incoming demons and look through my spyglass, what I see makes me grit my teeth in anger. The harpies, incuponies, and succuponies all have the same brandings on them.

"Fuck... they're all suicide bombers..." I say making the others gasp. "Luna, Selene, Desire, and any archdemon that can fly. We'll go ahead and take as many of them out as possible. Hopefully by detonating one of them they'll all blow in a chain reaction," I tell them. I don't want to risk bringing anyone who's a deamon or lower as we'll have the most chance of surviving a blast up close.

"Very well. Come! Let us fly out and meet them in battle!" Selene says and takes to the air with her rifle in her hands.

We follow behind her and make our way over to the horde of living bombs. Ten archdemons with wings follow us from the other airships and meet us mid flight.

"Once they're in range, open fire!" I say getting my revolver rifle ready, as does the others.

It's eerie not hearing the war cries of our enemy like usual, they're all emotionless, no fear, no doubt. Perfect soldiers.

I narrow my eyes as the demons are now within range. "FIRE!" I yell and pull the trigger.

My shot hits a harpy in the heart, making her burst into flames as she's reduced to ash. Unfortunately, she didn't detonate...

"Shit," I mutter and holster my rifle in favour of launching a barrage of darkfire dragons that take out a good three or four with each blast.

The others are firing their own rifles and demonic blasts, mowing down the demons but it's not enough as they're quickly making their way towards us.

"Fallback to the ships but keep firing!" I say and fly backwards while still launching dragon after dragon.

One of the harpies screech as she launches herself at one of the archdemons with us who looks like a large humanoid bat and before he could take her down, she detonates on him, leaving a nasty burn all over his chest and arms.

He falls out of the sky but Desire creates one of her thorn whips and latches it onto his leg where the thorns dig in. She drags him with us as we get back within range of the ships.

"OPEN FIRE!" I yell at the ships where bullets, magic, and cannonballs wiz pasts us and into the flying horde.

The enemy demons fall out of the sky to the ash covered wastes below, either with damaged wings or as ash themselves. Two of our sloops balloons get blown up as a few demons rammed themselves into them. The crew abandon ship before more demons detonate on the decks and blast the ships in half.

"KEEP FIRING!" I yell out and from the deck of the Death from Above, I continue to fire blast after blast of darkfire dragons into the oncoming horde. Suddenly, the enemy demons twitch before flying off back to the castle where they slowly circle around it.

The castle continues to walk towards felfire while more demons come out of the castle and join the others.

"Why did they stop?" I hear Tidus ask.

"I don't know and I don't like it... maybe they're just trying to keep us away until they reach felfire?" I say and glare at the castle.

"We need to come up with a plan to counter those bombers," Desire says angrily.

"Gather all our commanders into the war room and get the ships to follow the castle but keep their distance for now," I say and head to the back of the deck and into the war room.

Chapter 50: Castle Crashers

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 50: Castle Crashers

"So what do you want to do, father?" Tidus asks me as we gather around the war table.

"The Castle's leg joints are vulnerable to attack. I want all ships to focus fire on the front four legs' upper joints to stop its forward momentum. Who here knows about runes and sigils?" I reply and ask my gathered officers.

A dark grey furred Deamon with black hair and dark red eyes who looks like an incupony but with four horns and is a foot taller named Runic Charm replies. "I've studied runes, my Lord," he tells me.

"Is there anyway to trigger the runes on the lesser demons from a distance and force them to blow?" I ask him.

He hums in thought for a few seconds. "It can be possible, but I need to know what runes they had and how they were linked together to do it," he replies.

"Dammit..." I say. Luna then speaks up.

"I saw the runes," she says and conjures a piece of paper and picks up a charcoal pencil. After a few minutes of scribbling, she slides the paper over to him.

"Yes, I see. There's a subconscious command rune here, most likely to cause the detonation when close to a target," he replies tapping the rune that would be engraved over the demon's heart.

"Ssso what if we can trick them into thinking they're attacking a target?" Vipirior says frowning at the rune covered paper.

"And how would we do that? Illusions?" another officer says.

I narrow my eyes as an idea comes to mind. I mentally call one of my shadow wraiths and one appears next to me, startling the others.

"Can those explosions hurt you?" I ask it.

"Nooo, at worst, they shall merely send us back into the shadow realm to recover," it replies just staring at me.

"So can you make the demons detonate themselves while we focus on bringing down the Castle's legs?" I then ask it.

"If that is what you wish, it shall be done," it replies eagerly.

I smirk and look to the others. "Seems we got the start of a plan," I say and turn back to the shadow wraith. "If you can't make them detonate, I want all of you to come out and kill as many of the runed demons as you can and prevent them from reaching our ships," I order it getting it to bow to me.

"As you command, Master," it replies and fades away.

"What shall we do when we board the Castle, my Lord?" Porkscratch asks me. He's the only known boarus who has evolved into an archdemon in all recorded history, living for nearly two-hundred years in the farthest reaches of the Blasted Wastes where we found him half-dead from a battle he had with a now dead demonlord. He's seven feet tall and has dark brown fur covering his body. Two massive tusks are coming out the sides of his snout and his black hair is in the style of a foot long Mohawk.

He also has more muscle on him than Ironhoof and an eye patch over his left eye. He's not missing the eye, he just likes the patch. He's wearing a set of VERY heavy plate armour and wields a large hammer he's named Annabelle.

"Once the legs are down, hopefully the Castle tilts over, but if not, we'll send the armoured infantry through first to defend against any more runed demons who will no doubt be inside. Then we'll search the Castle for the portal demon and Tirek. Kill the portal demon as fast as you can, but do not engage Tirek, send word to me and I shall deal with him," I reply and look out the window in the side of the cabin towards the Castle.

I then turn back to the others. "Anyone else got any suggestions or ideas?" I ask them.

"If we cannot destroy the joints with the cannons, we recommend ramming one of the frigates into the side of the Castle. The force might be enough to topple the Castle," Selene says with a frown.

"That'll be a last resort, Any other ideas?" I ask the others.

"Erm, what about just going into the Shadow Realm and sneak in, find either Tirek or the portal demon, and kill them before they know you're inside?" Desire suggests as I and everyone else just stares at me.

I slowly frown and turn my head to look at her.

'After all these decades fighting... I NEVER THOUGHT OF DOING THAT!?' I yell at myself in my head. 'But then again, it just wasn't my style, but now I may have to do just that...' I then think to myself and look back to the Castle out the window. "It could work, but they may have demons who can sense me coming, Val' Hades did when I fought him," I tell her.

"Both our sister and ourself can assist you with that as we too can travel the Shadow Realm," Selene then offers.

"So, the plan is to send in my wraiths to distract and kill the runed demons with our ranged units while the ships focus on crippling the Castle. Meanwhile, Selene, Luna, and I infiltrate the Castle via the Shadow Realm and try to assassinate Tirek and any other demonlord we find. Agreed?" I recap and ask.

They all agree and we begin preparations for the coming battle.

I'm on the deck with Luna and Selene next to me while my sons and Desire ready their rifles. "Aim for the uppers joints of the four front legs!" I tell the gunner crew where the message is passed along to the other ships that just finished lining up their shots. "Wraiths! Begin your attack, I want six wraiths to come with us! Two to watch over each of us!" I tell my shadow wraiths where at least one-hundred of them fade in and without so much as a sound, fly towards the Castle and start attacking the runed demons still circling said Castle.

The runed demons retaliate and start detonating barely affecting the wraiths but two of my wraiths turn into a fading mist from a large blast before slowly reforming next to me and rushing back in.

"ALL SHIPS OPEN FIRE!" I then yell and all the cannons thunder out over the Wastes as half of the shots hit their targets.

The two closest leg joints get blown off and the legs after the joints fall to the ground with loud thuds and cracking the area around them. The next two legs only have their joints crippled and the legs freeze up.

The Castle completely stops as it threatens to tip over. "Luna, Selene! Let's get going. The rest of you keep the enemy distracted and slowly make your way to the Castle!" I yell out and go into the Shadow Realm where Luna and Selene follow me in.

We fly towards the Castle passing over the gunfire and runed demons before landing on the Castle and making our way in.

There's three hallways, one on the left and right and one straight ahead. I point to both Luna and Selene and then to the side hallways, they nodded and each go down one, each with their two wraiths following behind them. I head down the middle and keep my eyes out for Tirek or the portal demon.

My two wraiths stay close as we pass doorways leading to rooms filled with food, demons, or equipment. I frown at the room where I watch as a harpy strapped down to a table screams as a skinny four armed deamon that looks like a goat satyr is carving those runes into her body. More lesser demons are tied up to the side of the room with terrified expressions as they watch it happening.

I frown as there's nothing I can do without revealing myself, so for now, I continue on and check every room we pass. I finally come across a room with four dark blue portals open and a tall slender goat like bipedal archdemon wearing something close to a black and white butler's suit is standing in the middle of the room with an expression of concentration.

Lesser demons are dragged through kicking and screaming or looking defeated as they're dragged or pushed along. Some are already covered in runes and comply to any order they're given.

I summon Thanatos and look to my wraiths. 'On my command, attack any demons who try to get in the way, once I kill the archdemon, return to the Shadow Realm,' I tell them mentally.

"Yes, Master," they both reply and quickly scan the room.

I watch the archdemon closely. It seems to be focusing on the portals, but just as I'm about to issue the attack order, the archdemon's eyes glance my way with a frown on his face.

It seems he can't see me, as his eyes are moving about, just looking in our general direction. I slowly make my way around him but his eyes follow my general direction.

"I don't know who you are, but if you thought you could sneak up on me, think again," he says and points his left palm in my general direction before firing a blast of dark blue demonic energy that misses my head by mere inches and cracks the wall behind me on impact.

What worries me the most is that I felt the heat of the energy when it shouldn't even affect me in the Shadow Realm.

I quickly bolt forward and raise my scythe, once within range I command my wraiths to attack and exit the Shadow Realm. His eyes widen as I swing my scythe down.

"YOU!?" he yells in surprise as my blade sinks into his neck, through his heart, and coming out his hip.

"Yes, me," I say as Thanatos sucks out his soul while my wraiths slash and spray darkfire at the now attacking lesser demons. The four portals warp and collapse leaving no trace that they were there as the archdemon is reduced to ash.

"Fall back!" I tell my wraiths and return to the Shadow Realm, followed by my wraiths.

I hear the roars of demons echo throughout the Castle and frown. 'Seems they know we're here now.'

I quickly leave the room and continue down the hallway. Lesser demons are running about as deamons and a few other archdemons are issuing orders.

I then feel a tingle in my head. 'Damien, we hast found Tirek. He is in the left side of the Castle a floor down,' Luna tells me telepathically. I would reply, but I don't know how or think I even can.

I track back and meet Selene along the way. She nodded to me as she and our four wraiths follow me down the left hallway and navigate past the still hectic demons.

Selene has told me she managed to take out an archdemon who was distracted with a succupony he was raping in a small room without gaining anyone's attention. Although the succupony was crippled as her arms and legs were removed and asked Selene to kill her, which she granted.

We find Luna next to a large doorway looking inside, we come up next to her and I notice she's shaking, not in fear but barely restrained anger. Selene though growls and tries to rush in, but I grab her tail making her yelp and I pull her back.

"Not yet, control yourself," I tell her making her growl angrily but nod.

We watch as Tirek looks angry and is yelling at the other demons in the room. He looks like he's ten feet tall and very muscular, has a dark grey fur covered quadruped goat body with white cloven hooves, and a white short tail. His human like torso has black fur while his arms and shoulders are covered in red fur.

His head is the shape of a goat's and also has long white hair and a beard, two long vertical horns that start off curving out then back in before ending with them pointing to the sides. They're so long they're barely avoiding the ceiling of the room. His eyes are black with yellow irises. Lastly, he has a large grey fel-iron ring coming out of his nose.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE PORTALS ARE DOWN!?" he yells at a cowering incupony. Two more demonlords are standing beside him.

The left one looks like a twelve foot tall cyclops with thick demonite armour on and wields a large demonite club. His skin is a dark greyish-blue and his eye's iris is green. He also has a single short but thick horn on his forehead.

The other demonlord I recognise, her name is Killganna. She's nine feet tall and looks like a red bipedal crocodile with a slim figure and small breasts, but has a long jaw and nearly a hundred sharp teeth lining it. She's not as muscular as the other two, but her jaw alone has ripped apart everyone she's ever bitten.

She's wearing black leather armour and has a pair of swords that look like jaw bones with serrated teeth along the blades.

I've ran into her once before decades ago but she managed to get away after attacking one of my towns. This is the first time I've seen her since then and she looks stronger than before.

"T-T-The portals a-are g-gone and t-there is n-n-no sign of Bezulle. J-Just ash and un-runed d-demons..." he replies terrified.

Before Tirek could reply, the Castle shakes as the sounds of rifles, cannons, and explosions are still going off outside.

"A-And the Overlord's flying vessels h-have destroyed f-four of the Fortress' l-legs, M-Master," the incupony then tells him.

Tirek growls angrily before his eyes glow for a second, I then hear screeches and screams outside before lots of explosions go off followed by wood splintering and the groaning of bending metal.

"His ships and forces are no longer a problem," Tirek says and looks at the table in the room, on it is a map of Tartarus like mine but with more unexplored areas revealed on it. "Damn that brat, I need more power, I will reclaim my right as Overlord, and then I'll go and put those accursed alicorns in their place!" he says as he looks over the map.

I frown when he said my ships and forces are no longer a problem, just what did he do?

"W-What do you want to do now, M-Master?" the incupony asks him.

The incupony flinches as Tirek looks at him. "Get Infernious outside, we're still within range for him to bombard the City," Tirek orders him, getting the incupony to quickly bow and run out the room.

"Kill that incupony," I order my wraiths who nodded and fade out of the Shadow Realm and without warning, tear the incupony apart.

Tirek and the others eyes widen as they witness it. "So we do have intruders," the cyclops says in a deep rough voice.

Killganna then looks directly at me. "It's the false Overlord!" she yells and points at me, I forgot she could see things others could not.

With my cover blown, I exit the Shadow Realm along with Luna and Selene.

"So the child shows himself," Tirek says calmly as I glare at him.

I don't say anything to him but address my six wraiths. "Kill any of his demons who try to get in," I order them getting them to nod and wait outside the hallway. I then turn to Luna and Selene. "Luna, take down the right demonlord. Be careful of her jaw, it can rip apart almost anything. Selene, bring down the cyclops, but don't kill them, I want their souls. But if you can’t restrain them, then kill them," I tell them getting nods in reply.

"Luna!?" Tirek says surprised and looks between the two alicorns beside me.

"Verily, Monster. We art here to punish thee for harming our sister with thine foul influence," she replies and Selene looks ready to pounce at him.

"Yes, and this child had to ruin my plans of easily taking over Equestria and its magic. But since you're both here, I'll just have to settle for yours!" he says and opens his mouth.

After an awkward ten or so seconds, nothing happens. My wraiths have also begun fighting some lesser demons and deamons trying to force their way in.

"Why can't I take your magic!?" Tirek yells angrily.

"Because we art now demonlords ourselves!" Selene replies with a smirk. "Thou cannot take our magic without our consent!" she then yells tauntingly.

"KILL THEM!" Tirek then yells at the other two demonlords.

Before they could charge, the Castle violently shakes as the sound of more splintering wood echoes throughout the Castle, which is quickly tipping over.

"Back into the Shadow Realm! Get out!" I tell Luna and Selene.

They growl but comply. "AFTER THEM!" Tirek yells angrily as we make our way back out.

The hallway is slowly tilting and we jump out of a nearby window. What I see is my flagship the Death from Above heavily damaged and embedded into the side of the Castle which is now tipping over.

I look down to see most of my forces has abandoned their ships which lie on the ground in pieces. Quite a few of my forces are missing, most likely dead, but some are injured while most are still firing up at the few remaining runed demons attacking them and my wraiths.

I spot my wife and sons by the ground units but Vipirior looks injured.

I quickly exit the Shadow Realm before making my way down and land next to Desire. "What happened?" I ask her.

"Damien!" she yells and happily hugs me.

I return the hug and look towards the Castle as it finally impacts the ground, causing a large earthquake knocking us off our feet.

Before Desire can tell me what happened, a blast erupts from the Castle and a swarm of five-thousand demons emerge, some injured while most seem fine. Tirek and his demonlords jump out of the ruined Castle and glare hatefully in our direction.

"Tell me later, ALL UNITS STILL IN FIGHTING CONDITION! PREPARE FOR BATTLE!" I yell to my forces, getting cheers from them as they start making formations.

Chapter 51: Battle of the Blasted Wastes

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 51: Battle of the Blasted Wastes

I watch as my remaining one-thousand or so demons get into formation. Boarus upfront with heavy shields to block incoming spells, rifleman behind them using them as cover while aiming over their shoulders. In the back are my archdemon long ranged spell casters or super strong throwers, they act like siege weapons to toss powerful spells or massive boulders a good distance.

Though it seems I lost one of them.

Harpies are flying overhead holding what few bombs survived the ship wrecks, each of them also has an imp or goblin on their backs strapped to their harnesses wielding revolver pistols.

The fifty-one arachniponies still alive start laying webbing to our left and right flanks, ensuring the enemy will have no choice but to attack us head on or risk getting ensnared.

Whilst our forces are finishing their preparations, I turn to Desire. "So how did we lose all our ships?" I ask her.

"Well... Your wraiths were doing a good job distracting and keeping the runed demons at bay, but they just suddenly ignored them and dove at us. I quickly ordered everyone to abandon ship, and we started jumping overboard carrying those that couldn't fly down, then the runed demons dive bombed the balloons and hull repeatedly," she tells me.

"Though Blacksail stayed on the Death from Above and before the balloon or engines suffered too much damage, he rammed the ship into the Castle," she says and I frown. I turn my gaze to the now on fire ship sticking out of the side of the Castle. "Not everyone managed to get away in time, we lost nearly half our forces to the attack, but the wraiths have been protecting us down here," she finishes telling me.

"Dammit... So Tirek used his master's will to order them to charge us..." I say and look at the enemy demons.

They're all lined up randomly with no formations it seems. They have almost every type of lesser demon except arachniponies, though I do see more of those goat satyrs.

Their weapons and armour look basic, at least those with them, most have crude clubs or scraps of cloth for clothing only. So while they have the number advantage, we have better equipment and more demonlords.

"OKAY! ALL UNITS GET READY FOR BATTLE! ARTILLERY UNITS BEGIN YOUR ATTACK!" I yell and the three remaining long ranged archdemons begin their assault.

The ogre archdemon is picking up large chunks of broken stone from the Castle and is tossing them like a catapult towards the enemy demons.

The grey scaled wyvern archdemon is launching fireballs from her mouth which arcs down and detonates on impact.

The last archdemon is actually a large hercules beetle like demon we found and tamed. We attached a catapult like scoop to his front horn to turn him into a siege engine. Other demons are loading it with debris or rocks where the archdemon then lifts his head back and catapults the debris towards the enemy.

I watch as they scatter and try to avoid being hit. I faintly hear Tirek give the order to attack, making the demons roar out and start charging at us.

"GUNNERS! GET READY TO FIRE! SNIPERS! FIRE AT WILL!" I yell out my orders.

The few snipers we have start taking shots with their longer and scoped rifles. A few enemy demons collapse after getting shot, only to be trampled by their comrades.

I narrow my eyes as their harpies, incuponies, and succuponies begin to fly over to us. "SNIPERS! FOCUS ON THE AIR UNITS! HARPIES! INTERCEPT AND BRING THEM DOWN! DROP YOUR BOMBS ON THE GROUND FORCES WHEN YOU GET THE CHANCE!" I then order my forces getting screeches from the harpies who take off.

The snipers aim higher and start shooting the enemy air units. I simply observe as the enemy ground forces get closer and closer.

Once the enemy get within range, I order the gunners to open fire and I smirk as the front line crumbles and gets trampled.

"BOARUS! PREPARE TO DEFEND!" I yell getting snorts and oinks from them.

I start creating darkfire dragons and begin launching them over our forces and into the oncoming horde. Desire, Luna, and Selene join in launching their own spells into the demons as more debris and fireballs rain down from our archdemons.

So far it seems they've lost a good five to seven-hundred demons, but our harpies and their imp or goblin passengers are having trouble with the sheer number of enemies they're facing.

"Luna, Selene! Help the harpies!" I tell them getting nods before they take off to aid them.

We continue to fire into the oncoming demons as I call out to the arachniponies. "If you have any web grenades, get ready to throw them!" I say as the arachniponies pull out enchanted crystals from the packs on the back of their abdomens that they begin to wrap up in their webbing.

These are designed to detonate on a heavy impact, sending the compacted webbing everywhere in their blast radius, ensnaring those caught in it.

As the horde get closer, I give the order to throw them. The grenades soar over us and impact the ground near the demons which blow and spray webbing everywhere.

Most of it just covers the ash covered ground, while some get stuck on the demons who trip having their legs bound together. As they fall face first into the rest of the webbing, sticking them to the ground in the process, the demons behind them either trip over them, or trample them.

"SHIELDS UP!" I yell at the boarus and deamons in the front line who create a long wall of fel steel tower shields with spikes on the front.

After the web grenades had done their job, we now have a meat shield of screaming in pain enemy demons piled up as a small makeshift wall.

As the enemy demons make their way over it, it seems that cyclops demonlord is retaliating by throw pieces of the Castle at us now.

"INCOMING!" Desire yells out as her horn lights up and she catches the boulder with her magic before tossing it back into the horde of demons over the body wall. A few more boulders come our way and only the ones closest to us desire catches and throws back while my demons try to avoid the others.

I look up after hearing a few explosions to see Luna and Selene cutting down the flying demons while avoiding any runed ones in the mix. I see ten of my harpies and their imps or goblins have been either swarmed or a runed demon got them. The snipers are still taking shots at the flying enemys as well, but it looks like they'll soon run out of ammo.

'How I wish I still had at least two ships...' I look to the left and right flanks and spot imps slowly burning the webbing away while using boarus and those satyrs as shields so they can continue without getting hit.

"GUNNERS! FOCUS ON THE IMPS TO OUR FLANKS!" I order them and turn to Desire. "Fly to the left flank and blast them from the air! I'll get the right side!" I tell her getting a nod and while still holding a boulder tossed at us, she flies off the the left and slams the boulder into the imps repeatedly.

I take off for the right side and launch darkfire dragons into the imps as they scatter away.

I look out to Tirek who looks pissed and looks like he's yelling commands and such to three archdemons where two of them nodded and run back into the Castle. The third archdemon who looks like a giant turtle with some kind of forward facing volcano on the back of its shell slowly nodded and turns to face the direction of Felfire.

My eyes widen as this must be that Infernious Tirek mentioned. The turtle archdemon's volcano then begins to heat up and after a few seconds, a large molten rock is launched out soaring over everyone and goes off into the distance.

'Mother fucker is attacking Felfire!' I think angrily.

I head back and get Desire, Luna, and selene's attention. "We're going to either kill or cripple that archdemon!" I tell them getting nods from them. Desire looks absolutely pissed that they're attacking her old home while we fight them.

"I wish we could have brought more of the army with us, then we could just storm over to Tirek and kick his flank," Desire grumbles.

The space next to us tears open with a familiar pink line before expanding and out pops Pinkie's head. "Hey look at that! My portal-thing-amajigs are working again!" Pinkie says with a grin as I see she's at the Pogorium with a large case being filled with decans by a goblin behind her on a table with Ragadath in a blue pinstripe suit standing to the side with a big smile on his face.

"We're in the middle of a battle, Pinkie! What are you doing here!?" I tell her as another molten rock is sent soaring over us towards Felfire.

"Well, when my knee gets pinchy, it means something terrible is happening. So here I am to help!" she replies.

I'm not going to complain why her portals are suddenly working again, but I'll take it. "Alright then... Can you go to the Castle's barracks and gather the army and open a portal from there to here? We need reinforcements now!" I tell her as Desire and Luna both catch another pair of boulders thrown at us before tossing them back.

"Sure thing! Be right back!" she says and closes the portal.

While we wait, I launch more darkfire dragons into the still four-thousand strong horde pushing against our defensive line. The boarus are starting to get tired from the constant assault and we're running out of bullets. We were really counting on those airships to have the advantage, but Tirek had a cruel countermeasure for that.

Another larger portal opens up and out pours my army fresh and ready for battle. I grin as after a good five minutes, I have a force of over ten-thousand ready to go.

"Send another five-thousand through and then close the portal!" I tell Pinkie who looks exhausted and sweating. She gives me a thumbs up with a strained grin and after a few more minutes, my force has gathered making the enemy retreat back to Tirek who is fuming.

"Arrggh... Sorry, Damien... But I can't hold it no more..." Pinkie says before the portal collapses with a strange sound like a record being scratched.

I wonder if that portal demon Tirek had was the reason Pinkie couldn't make portals? Was he jamming her or something?

"Alright you lot! Form up and prepare to move out! Those who just fought take a break and rest here! You've earned it! The rest of you, FORWARD MARCH!" I yell getting cheers from my demons and we slowly advance as we remove the webbing from the grenades earlier.

I turn to my sons and smile at them. "You three stay here and get everyone ready to leave once we've killed Tirek," I tell them.

"Yes, father. We look forward to your victory," Tidus replies and goes to check on Vipirior, who is laying on the ground with a small wound on his head already bandaged up.

I return my attention to Tirek who appears to be furious and yelling at his demons who cower away from him. I don't want to kill anymore of his demons as I want them for myself. So when we reach him, I'll challenge him to a winner takes all one on one.

The webbing is quickly removed and the wounded and trapped demons that made up the wall were pushed aside to stay out of the way. With that done, my forces march forward in formation with the boarus and tankier demons upfront. I even notice Yogtiron is here.

He's covered in plate armour and has a swivel cannon mounted onto his beetle like abdomen, manned by two imps and three goblins with at least twenty cannonballs. It was Olivia's idea to make him a mobile artillery platform. Yogtiron also has his own scoped rifle with six full ammo pouches hanging around his waist so he's not doing nothing as his gunner crew shoots.

We slowly advance towards Tirek who is ordering his demons to do something.

After a few tense seconds, his demons all stand still and no longer cower before him as he opens his mouth. My eyes widen as I see his demons energy get pulled out of their mouths and he devours that energy. The demons shrivel up and all collapse into ash.

Tirek himself looks like he grew a couple of inches and his muscles expanded slightly. Seems he just stole his demons energy to make himself stronger. Does he really think adding their power to his will make him strong enough to face my army of fifteen-thousand, plus four demonlords?

"Artillery units! Open fire on them! Focus on the turtle first!" I order my long ranged units.

The gun crew on Yogtiron load the cannon on his back and quickly calculate their aim before firing. The cannonball whistles through the air and heads straight for the turtle archdemon.

The other artillery demons start launching their projectiles as well while the rest of us slowly march forward.

The cyclops uses a large metal club to bat any projectiles heading to him away, while Killganna twists her body around to avoid being hit. Infernious takes a direct hit from a cannonball which cracks the volcano like rock of his shell. Tirek snorts and all three demonlords start walking towards us while some kind of orb of energy forms between his horns.

I narrow my eyes at him as he continues to pour more energy into the orb. Then without warning, he launches the orb at my forces that flies faster than a cannonball right into my front lines, killing a good thirty of my demons on impact while injuring another twenty or so.

I snarl at Tirek and fly over to the front lines. "Desire, Luna, Selene! Intercept his attacks with your own! Don't let it reach our forces again!" I order them getting nods in reply as they spread out along the front and get their magic ready.

Tirek fires another orb and Desire launches a large blast of magic which detonates the orb, making a small crater at the impact site.

I have a couple of darkfire dragons ready as we slowly make our way forward. An orb comes flying right at me and I send a dragon out to intercept, they collide and detonate as we slowly get closer and closer.

"Snipers! Aim for their eyes!" I order my snipers now loaded with fresh ammo.

They take aim and start firing at the demonlords faces, the cyclops holds his club up to protect his face while Killganna just covers her eyes with her arms, the bullets bouncing off her tough scales. Tirek sets up a barrier in front of him that deflects any bullets heading for him.

I frown and pull out the last silver bullet I have left, its the only one I didn't use against Val' Hades nearly three years ago.

"QUICKSCOPE!" I call out to my best sniper here.

"Yes, my Lord?" he replies as he runs over to me as another orb is intercepted by Luna.

He's a dark grey furred incupony with dark yellow hair, his right eye is a deep blue colour. His left eye was damaged during our battle to siege Fel Haven years ago, but his sight is still the best of any other demon. He's been training with rifles for ten years and has never missed a shot in the last three years.

"I want you to take this silver bullet and try to shoot off one of Tirek's horns." I tell him making his eye widen.

He then frowns and takes the bullet from me. "As you wish," he replies and loads it into his rifle.

He heads over to the ogre archdemon and flies up onto his shoulder. The ogre stands perfectly still as Quickscope takes aim and after a few tense seconds where time itself seemed to slow down, he pulls the trigger.

The sound of the shot is lost among the many others echoing over the wastes, but the roar of pain from Tirek is louder than any gunshot as the bullet penetrates his shield and shatters the middle of his left horn.

I grin as I quickly turn to Desire, Luna, and Selene. "DESIRE! ATTACK KILLGANNA! LUNA AND SELENE, ATTACK THE CYCLOPS! TAKE THEM ALIVE BUT KILL THEM IF YOU HAVE TO!" I order them making them all grin as they quickly close the distance between us and the enemy. "THE REST OF YOU KILL THE FUCKING TURTLE!" I order my forces who all cheer and focus on Infernious.

I take flight and head straight for Tirek who looks absolutely livid and his broken horn is slowly regrowing.

I pull my scythe back and fly as fast as I can at Tirek ready to impale him the moment I get there, but I slow down the moment I see him pull out a pair of sickle like swords from the sides of his hips.

I reach him and land a good six metres away. "Damn you, Child. I will make your end long and as painful as possible," Tirek tells me and lunges at me.

I flap my wings to avoid his strike while leaping over him and land behind him. "You've tormented thousands of demons and many others, you've attacked my home and my people just to take a title you don't deserve. I will take your soul, Tirek. A quick death is too good for you. That I promise you," I tell him.

"We shall see, Child," he replies and charges at me again.

'Wraiths, swarm him and rip out his eyes,' I order my shadow wraiths who appear and latch onto Tirek who struggles and swings his swords at them.

A couple of wraiths are turned to mist as they fade away, but the others succeed in gouging out Tirek's eyes. He screams in pain and then snarls as his still intact right horn glows and a blast of energy blows all my wraiths away.

"Can't face me alone, boy!? Even blinded I will destroy you!" he rages out and stands his ground, but I don't answer and ignore his ranting.

'So he can still use basic magic?' I wonder to myself and take a swing at him, cutting the side of his goat like lower body.

He grunts and turns to my direction and fires a small blast of magic at me. I deflect it with Thanatos and slowly start walking around him, like a predator stalking its prey.

I glance to Luna and Selene to see them using hit and run tactics to avoid being hit by the cyclops' attacks. Desire I see is taking on Killganna with her whip which is slowly chipping away at her scales, but she seems to have a few cuts and bruises herself.

I look back to Tirek and see his eyes slowly repairing themselves and his horn has regrown by a third of what's missing.

'Time to end this before he can recover.' I head over to his left side while firing a darkfire dragon to his right as a distraction. He turns to the explosion and fires a blast of magic at the spot while I raise my scythe and swing at his back.

My blade slices through his skin like butter and comes out of his chest. He gasps in pain as his body slowly begins to dry out.

"You will torment us or anyone else no more," I tell him right next to his ear.

He growls and without warning, swings his left arm up and his sickle impales me in my own back through my demonite armour. I grunt as the blade pierces my left lung while he then screams as he shrivels up and turns to ash. His soul then screams as it gets sucked into Thanatos who sings with glee taking the demonlord's soul.

I gasp for air and cough up some blood as I drop a knee to the ground. A team of medics from my forces rushes over and swarms me while I watch Desire, Luna, and Selene continue their fights.

They carefully pull out the sickle and I groan in pain as they start cleaning the wound and make sure it's slowly healing by itself.

Killganna, looks over to me with wide eyes and then snarls before dropping her swords and running away on all fours quickly. Girl can move I'll give her that, reminds me of certain lizards back on Earth.

"BITCH! GET BACK HERE!" Desire yells angrily that her opponent just ditched her.

She gives chase and swings her whip out, ensnaring Killganna's left leg. Desire's dragged a couple of metres before tugging the whip and flings Killganna back over to her where she quickly ties her up with her whip.

Luna who seems to have a broken left arm is distracting the cyclops who is covered in magical burn marks while Selene flies away and then rockets towards his back with a spear made of her magic in her grip.

I smirk as the spear skewers him through the heart and his roar of pain slowly dies out as he's reduced to ash and his armour clangs to the ground.

I also notice Infernious is dead as well.

My vision starts to blur as I begin to get light headed. 'What?' I'm barely able to think as the last thing I see is Desire running over to me with an expression of horror on her face before everything goes black.

Chapter 52: Back to Equestria

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 52: Back to Equestria

I open my eyes and find myself laying on my back in a white void. I can't even tell if I'm laying on the ground or on thin air.

Standing up, I stretch my limbs and frown as I look all around me. Nothing as far as I can see, no shadows, no objects, nothing. I then look up and go wide eyed seeing a black shadow version of myself just hovering in the air and staring down at me.

His red eyes narrow before he lunges at me with a shadow version of my scythe.

I try to summon mine but I'm surprised as it fails to form, so I conjure two darkfire dragons and send them at him.

He swings his scythe and disperses my dragons without detonating them. I frown at this copy of me and flap my wings to get some distance from him, but he rushes me keeping no more than three metres apart from us.

I growl and push myself faster, and the doppelganger is keeping up perfectly. I turn around mid flight and launch four tendrils from each hand at him, he slices five of them, but three make their way through and coil around his right arm, neck, and left ankle.

With him now immobilised, I land and send more tendrils to keep him a good two metres away from me.

"What the fuck are you?" I ask more to myself than him.

"I Am YoU," he replies in a distorted tone of my own voice and isn't even struggling.

I raise and eyebrow at him. "You're me? I find that hard to believe since over the last sixty years I've never seen or heard from you," I tell him.

"I'vE AlWaYs BeEn WiTh YoU, BeFoRe YoU EvEn CaMe To TaRtArUs," he says calmly.

I roll my eyes at him, I'm not buying this for a second. This most likely has to do with Tirek's weapon that he stabbed me in the back with.

"Sure you have. Well, I don't need you filling my head with useless lies," I tell him and start to tighten my tendrils grip around his neck.

He doesn't show any signs of pain or even discomfort.

"YoU cAnNoT hArM mE," he says in an emotionless tone.

"Perhaps. Or perhaps I just haven't found the right way to do so just yet," I reply and conjure some darkfire in my left hand.

I then hose him down like a flamethrower and cover him in the flames, but it seems to also do nothing to him.

"YoU cAnNoT KiLl A pArT oF yOuRsElF," he tells me.

I huff and stop blasting him and hold him up. "And just what part of me are you? If you say my inner darkness or my evil side, I'mma slap you," I tell him unamused.

He remains silent making me groan and facepalm. "I knew it... You're nothing more than some hallucination or conjuration made by Tirek's weapon..." I say and shake my head. So does that mean I'm unconscious?

I look around one last time just to make sure nothing else is here. Nothing new has shown up so I look back to the copy and think about what to do with it.

Problem is, I can feel it has a soul of its own, so that means it's either a demon Tirek put in me, or it actually is a piece of my soul given its own form...

I sit down cross legged and we just stare at each other, I've lost track of how long I've been here and I'm not even slightly hungry yet.

After who knows how long, someone else fades in and I see that it's Thanatos. The cloaked and hooded skeletal pony walks over to me and bows.

"Master, Damien. I apologise, but I burned a few souls to inform Lady Desire of what is happening and how to fix it. I'm currently impaled three inches into your brain so I could transfer myself over to your body," he tells me.

I raise my brow at him just imagining my scythe jabbed into my head.

"Okay, and why did you need to impale yourself into my brain just to come?" I ask him.

"When Tirek stabbed you, a soul transferred into you. But felt it moments later and before I could warn you, you passed out. It has been blocking me from contacting you telepathically," he replies.

I look back to my copy and huff smugly. "I knew this thing wasn't a part of me."

My copy glares at Thanatos before launching a shadowy tendril coming out of his shoulder at the cloaked pony. Thanatos just side steps the tendril and grabs it with his left hand.

"It appears to be an archdemon in strength," Thanatos says and grips the tendril harder.

The tendril starts to rot along where Thanatos is holding it, making the copy go wide eyed and disconnect the tendril from his shoulder. He then slips out of my tendrils grip as his body changes shape and falls to the ground as a blob of shadow before it moves away quickly.

"Master! After him!" Thanatos tells me and I frown.

I quickly give chase with Thanatos following behind me. The shadow looks back and snarls before putting on more speed.

Don't know where he thinks he can run off to, there's nowhere for him to hide.

After a long and tedious chase, I get fed up and wrap a tendril around Thanatos. I then catapult him ahead making him rocket towards the shadow where the skeletal pony grabs it by the tip of its trailing body. The rotting effect spreads and quickly engulfs the shadow who screams in agony before his ash wraps around Thanatos' hand and up the sleeve of his cloak or robe.

I stumble as I land as I cannot tell where the floor is, after regaining my footing, Thanatos lands beside me and bows.

"Master, The soul has been removed from your mind, shall I return and let Mistress Desire know to remove me?" he tells and asks me.

"Alright, how long was I out for?" I ask him.

"About four hours at most," he replies.

"Then go tell Desire to pull you out... I'm ready to just take a long vacation after this, maybe bring my sister to Felfire so she can see where it all began for me," I say and he bows again before fading away.

I look around one more time and after a few minutes, my vision fades to black and my head is throbbing.

Opening my eyes, I'm greeted by Desire straddling my hips wearing just a pink shirt and black shorts with a worried expression on her face. I look around and notice we're in a guest room in our old Felfire manor.

"Damien?" Desire says gently making me look at her again.

"That was an experience..." I reply and touch the top of my head to feel a slight dent under some bandages that is slowly healing.

"I thought the worst when I saw what Tirek did to you... I thought I lost you," she says trying not to cry as she leans down and gently kisses me.

I sigh as I return it and then pull back. "Well, fortunately he had a shitty weapon. Did I miss anything while I was out?" I ask her.

"Felfire has taken some damage from the first boulder of magma Infernious launched here, we lost a few demons from the impact, but only one archdemon was badly injured as Bruticus used himself as a shield to take the blows of the next two that came. He's in the hospital recovering from severe burns and a few broken bones," she tells me.

I sigh again and look up at the ceiling. "Make sure he gets a medal and a large sum of decans for his bravery and selflessness," I reply and slowly sit up.

Desire leans back but stays on my lap. "How are you feeling?" she asks me while looking at the top of my head.

"Okay, considering I just had Thanatos in my brain... But the soul was removed and I just need rest. What happened to Killganna?" I ask her.

She frowns at the mention of her name. "She's fully restrained in the prison and is constantly being watched until you can rip out her soul, she's been begging us for mercy and trying to make deals to spare her," she tells me with her arms crossed.

"Good. Once I'm good enough to go and the room stops spinning, we'll head down and put an end to Killganna." I reply and grin as I reach up and wrap my arms around her waist.

She yelps as I pull her to my right side and she giggle as she snuggles up to me.

With Tirek now dead, we can focus on getting the Blasted Wastes Tartarus Gate open and build a fort and wall around it. Then look for a way to remove the curse on Olestra. Once that's all done, we'll find Cerberus if he's still alive and find the Tartarus Gate to Canterlot. Best way might just be to fix the Gate in Canterlot then go through and search for Cerberus.

After twenty minutes, I feel better and get up with Desire. I get fully dressed in my armour as does Desire before we head out to find our sons.

Along the way, many of the manor staff thank us for stopping Tirek from reaching the City and we nod and smile back at them.

We find our sons in the armoury polishing their armour and weapons, they look up at our entry and they smile.

"It isss good to sssee you unharmed, father," Scalefang says and they all make their way over. I notice Vipirior's head wound is now healed as well.

"Yes, thanks to Thanatos, the demon soul that invaded my body is now gone. So, we're off to finally bring judgement on Killganna for her crimes," I reply and smile.

"Then let us make our way then," Tidus says and we exit the manor where we greet Mo'gra along the way.

I look around the City and watch the demons running around doing their jobs or repairing some damage from the magma shots Infernious fired.

Desire tugs on my left hand and I start walking down the street towards the Prison. I greet the population along the way getting smiles and thanks from them.

It doesn't take that long to reach our destination and we enter the large thick iron walled Prison. Barbed wire lines the top of the outer wall along with sniper towers in each corner to prevent any winged prisoners to fly away, although they do have their wings restrained while outside.

We make our way to the underground cells where Killganna is being held and we pass by a single ogre archdemon heavily bound and has some rather colourful words for me and my family. He was sentenced to ten years imprisonment for killing his neighbour's helhound as it wouldn't stop barking and beating said neighbour half to death.

Fortunately, another archdemon was in the area and subdued him while the guards came and took him away.

We ignore him and make our way to the strongest cell in the Prison where we find Killganna chained and a thick demontie muzzle over her jaw to prevent her from biting but not from talking.

Her eyes widen after seeing me and I glare at her making her flinch.

"So, Killganna. Any last words before we sentence you?" I ask her.

"I'll do anything you want... I'll take your mark, please spare me..." she begs for her life making me glare harder.

"And what about the three border towns home to over two-thousand and four-hundred demons you butchered? Did you spare them when they begged for mercy?" I ask maliciously.

She looks like she's trying to come up with an excuse, but I don't allow her to come up with one.

"No you didn't. You slaughtered or enslaved them. Well today you shall answer for your crimes," I tell her making her struggle in her bindings.

"WHAT CRIMES!? IT'S KILL OR BE KILLED! THE STRONG CLAIM THE WEAK! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO JUDGE ME!" she screams in anger and she growls and snarls making the thick chains protest but hold.

"Oh? But by your logic, I do. I'm stronger than you. By your rules I have claim over you and can do whatever I want with you. And for murdering our people, I sentence you to soul removal," I tell her and summon Thanatos who I can feel grin with anticipation.

Her eyes widen at the sight of my scythe and she struggles harder.

"DAMN YOU! DAMN YOU AND YOUR SELF-RIGHTEOUS-" she yells but is cut off as I swing Thanatos and impale her through her chest and heart.

She coughs up blood and screams as she shrivels up and some scales drop off before her soul gets absorbed into the scythe and her body crumbles to ash.

"One less demonlord to worry about," Desire says and then sighs. "Just another ten or more to go..."

"We'll find them. At least a couple have joined instead of attacking," I tell her with one-armed hug.

Out of the twelve remaining known demonlords, two have decided to join us instead of fight.

A demonlord female named Hellia who looks like a human female made of liquid fire covered in hardened magma like armour on her forearms, hips and groin, chest, and on her feet and shins. Her hair is like a living flame softly flowing in the air. She lives in the largest volcano far to the north of Fel Haven and rules over a small group of fire elementals she herself has made and is still making.

The other is a male demonlord named Malagath, he's a rather small and one of the weakest demonlords but is fast and looks like a proper imp complete with wings, two horns, is slightly larger, and has far superior control over his flames than any imp I've met. He has just a single town of just imps in a secluded area within a mountain near the Blasted Wastes.

We only ever knew he was there when he voluntarily met with me in Fel Haven over a year ago after hearing that Val' Hades was killed by me and how I've treated my demons. After a nice long chat and rules, he agreed to being marked by me and left to his own home and people.

In return, I offer protection to them, their demons, and their lands. They get to keep ruling over their territories but they have to obey and follow my laws. I guess they're like barons or dukes now.

"Well, I guess we'll check what was damaged and then head home to tell the others the good news," I say and stretch my limbs with a yawn.

"I'm looking forward to just relaxing now, and you still have to fuck another foal into me mister," Desire says and tells me seductively into my ear as she licks my right earlobe.

I grin and spank her making her yelp and giggle. We all eventually leave and head back to the manor.

After checking the damage report, which was ten lives lost in the initial attack, and the splash damage from the two Bruticus blocked which totalled 10,400 decans in damages. Honestly, if Bruticus didn't block the last two, it could have been worse.

I've asked Mo'gra to give Bruticus a medal for his bravery and 25,000 decans from my own funds for his heroism.

Lastly, I've ordered tech goblins with the rest of the army still here to scavenge the Castle's wreck and reverse engineer said castle's tech. I want my own walking fortress surrounded by a fleet of airships.

Once that's all sorted out, we board one of the two remaining sloops in Felfire and make our way back home. The army that came through Pinkie's portal will have to trek back on foot once their task is done.

Fifteen hours later

We arrive back at Fel Haven where I see Twilight and the others waiting for us on the dock. Once tied down, Twilight wastes no time and runs onboard where she hugs and kisses me.

"I was worried about you, but once Pinkie told us about the reinforcements she managed to send, I felt better," she tells me.

I smile and pick her up bridal style and look down at her stomach, a nice visible baby bump is through her vest. I look back up to her face and kiss her again before pulling back.

"And I thank Pinkie for helping us when we needed it." I say getting a 'you're welcome' and a giggle from Pinkie. "Tirek did a number on our fleet and it'll take a while to rebuild what was lost," I finish and walk towards the Castle's Dock entrance.

The others follow behind me and I notice Mel glaring at me.

"What?" I ask her making her eyes narrow more.

"You came out of that with no injuries whatsoever?" she asks me still with her glare.

"Oh no, I got stabbed in the back through a lung with a soul weapon. Hurt like a bitch and got possessed by an archdemon's soul. Which has been removed already and I'm perfectly fine," I reply making her stop with wide eyes.

"YOU HAD YOUR FUCKING LUNG PUNCTURED AND YOU SAY YOU'RE OKAY!?" she yells at me making the others flinch at the loud noise. I feel her grab me from behind so I turn my head to see her staring at the hole in the back of my chestplate.

"And? As long as it isn't my heart I'll be fine," I tell her making her gawk at me, along with some of the others.

"I need a beer and a few smokes..." she mumbles to herself and rubs the bridge of her nose.

I just chuckle and continue on walking. We head to the Dining Hall and I place Twilight in her seat while Desire sits across from her.

Everyone else present takes a seat.

Slitherana foregoes a seat and coils around my chair. She then wraps her arms around my neck and lays her head on my shoulder with a smile on her face while her hands caress my chest.

I return her smile and kiss her cheek as maids come in and take our orders.

I look at Fluttershy and she looks a lot more confident than the timid mare I saved in that forest. She's still wearing her furkini while smiling as the pregnant Yin is on her lap happily letting Fluttershy stroke her back and head.

Angel then glances at me and smiles with a slight nod to me. I do believe I have his respect for how the thestral has turned out.

"So how was the, fight?" Rainbow asks me as she and both Gilda and Shining look interested as well.

"Well... at first, we managed to cripple the Castle but then-" I begin and continue to tell them what happened.

Once finished, our food arrived and is halfway eaten before Pinkie tears open a hole in the air and giggles as she pulls out some chocolate bars.

"Who wants one?" she asks everyone only getting me to stare at her.

"Where did you get those? Tartarus doesn't have chocolate..." I ask her with confusion.

"Oh, this is from my own stash from my bedroom in Ponyville!" she replies and passes out the chocolate.

Desire gasps and quickly snatches a bar. "You mean chocolate like from Damien's world!?" she asks and tears the wrapper off before taking a bite and just melts at the sweet taste with an inappropriate moan.

I just stare at Pinkie before it sinks in. "You can make a portal to Equestria?" I ask dumbly. If she can, we might not need to find the Canterlot portal. We can just make a new one using her portal as a base!

"Uh-huh! I tried after I rested from sending those guards to you! I missed the cakes so much that I didn’t think about it and said hello to them!" she says and sniffles a little.

"Miss, Pie. Would thou open a portal to Canterlot Castle? We would like to see our Sister," Selene asks the pink draconequus with hope.

"Sure!" she replies and opens a bigger portal to the Canterlot Castle Throne Room, which looks brand new since my fight with Celestia.

I hear screams come from the portal as I can see ponies in fancy or common clothes staring wide eyed at the portal or backing away.

"Sister!" Luna says as we watch Celestia go from shock to a smile.

After a few seconds, Celestia gets up off her throne and walks up to the portal while ignoring her guards pleas to stop. "Lulu!" she replies happily.

She stops in front of it but then gasps as I think the energy of Tartarus is leaking through, making her disguise drop and her demonic form to be revealed.

"THE PRINCESS IS A DEMON!?" a mare yells in confused fear as Celestia turns around with worry on her face as she looks at her subjects.

I quickly get up and reach through and nab Celestia by her arm and pull her through.

"PRINCESS!" the pony guards yell as I turn to Pinkie.

"Close it!" I order her making her yelp and shut the portal.

"What are you doing!?" Celestia demands angrily and pulls her arm out of my grip.

"Stopping your guards from getting themselves killed," I reply and huff as I make my way back to my seat and sit down, letting my scaly wife coil around me again.

"Sister!" Both Selene and Luna say and sandwich the white and fiery mare between them.

Celestia returns the hug as Twilight gets up and makes her way over. Once the hug is over Celestia looks at Twilight.

"Hello, Celestia," Twilight says nervously.

The larger white mare smiles and hugs Twilight gently, but then seems shocked and looks down slightly.

"Twilight... Are you... Pregnant?" Celestia asks dumbly.

"Erm, yes," she replies and rubs her left arm.

I decide to speak up before Twilight becomes a nervous wreck. "Well then, since you're here, You'd like to know that Tirek is now dead and no longer a threat," I tell Celestia making her look at me in surprise.

"Tirek is gone?" she asks hopefully.

"I took his soul and his body is ash, he'll harm no one else ever again. So, would you like to join us or go back to Canterlot?" I ask her politely and gesture to the spread on the table. As long as she remains civil, I'll show her respect and hospitality.

She looks around and then frowns. "Where are we?" she asks.

"In the Tartarus capitol of Fel Haven in my Castle's Dining Hall," I reply and cut another piece of sausage and bring it up to Slitherana who happily bites it off the fork.

Celestia's eyes go wide and she looks to her sisters who nod at her.

She looks back to me and sighs. "And why haven't you contacted us in over a month?" she asks me.

I finish chewing and swallow my food and look at her. "A demon under Tirek's rule was blocking Pinkie's ability to open a portal, nor do we know how to reopen the gate we came through just yet. She was only able to open it now since I killed the demon blocking her yesterday," I reply and give my wife another fork full of sausage.

"The real question is," Desire speaks up with a shit eating grin. "How are you going to explain this to your ponies?" she asks Celestia who looks horrified. "They must think you've been corrupted and sided with the mean ol' savage demons. That when you come back, you'll be a horrible tyrant while ruling with an iron fist. I have no doubt they fear Luna thinking she turned back into that... what was it? Nightmare Moon when we rescued the element bearers and her student?" she finishes still grinning.

Selene growls lightly at the name and Luna looks sad, but Celestia's wince just confirms it's true.

"Well, first things first. Do you want to go back to Canterlot, Celestia? Or would you like a tour of the place you've hated so much and see life from our perspective?" I ask the white mare.

She frowns and sighs, again. "I need to go back and make sure they aren't panicking too much," she replies and looks at me.

"Fair enough," I say and turn to Pinkie as Slitherana lets me back up. "Open a portal to Canterlot, I want to see the damaged gate under the City anyway," I tell her getting a salute and giggle before she opens another portal.

"Go through first and try to... soften the blow of our arrival," I say to Celestia who frowns harder.

"I really don't want you in my City... But I do owe you for freeing me from Tirek's grasp and protecting my sisters and the bearers from my madness..." she replies and with a deep breath walks through the portal.

I turn to Twilight with a grin making her nervous. "Once it's safe to go, we're going to visit your family. You've met mine, it's only fair we meet yours," I tell her making her eye twitch.

Without warning I pick her up and after a few minutes making sure we have everything we'll need. Including guns and plenty of ammo just in case things go to shit. Celestia tells us it's safe to go through and so with my grin still plastered on my face, I walk through with my family, the alicorns with their student, and the bearers.

Author's Note

Slightly longer chapter than I usually do, so enjoy!

Chapter 53: Meeting the In-laws

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 53: Meeting the In-laws

I follow behind Celestia with Twilight in my arms through the portal. Along with my two wives, three sons with their rifles, Mel, the two alicorns and their student, the element bearers, Spike, Angel, Yin and Yang, Harry, Shining, and Gilda.

Once through, Pinkie closes the portal behind her and I smirk at the frightened expressions of the ponies here.

"PRINCESS!" the guards yell and surround us with their spears pointed at us.

"Stand down, they are here as guests," Celestia says as calmly as she could despite her fiery appearance.

The guards all look confused before one of the fancy looking ponies gasps. "S-She's one of them... The Princess is a d-demon..." she says in fear and then panics, causing the others to panic as well.

The guards look conflicted before they look resigned and point their spears at all of us, Celestia included who looks saddened at their reactions.

I calmly set Twilight on her hooves next to Shining Armour and take a deep breath. "PUT THE SPEARS DOWN OR I'LL SHOVE THEM SO FAR UP YOUR ASSHOLES THAT YOU'LL TASTE THE SHIT ON THE TIP BEFORE I RIP YOUR HEADS OFF AND SHOVE THOSE UP YOUR ASSHOLES NEXT!" I yell at them making a few of them yelp and back up a bit, I think they're starting to remember me. Some of the fancily dressed ponies even pass out.

Celestia frowns at me before slowly walking towards the guards. "Please listen my ponies. Yes, I've been turned into a demon... but before this I was being manipulated by Tirek and made some of the most regrettable mistakes of my life..." she says looking to the bearers and Spike. "Damien here has freed me from Tirek's control. I may look different now, but I'm still the same Princess you all know," she tells them pleadingly.

The guards start mumbling to themselves before a white furred unicorn with a blonde mane and tail wearing a white suit with a light blue dress shirt speaks up. "And how are we to trust your word, Auntie? How do we know you haven't sided with these monsters and led them here yourself?" he asks her with a smug smile.

I'm getting a bad vibe from this guy, the kind of weasel who wouldn't hesitate to stab you in the back for what you got.

"I didn't lead them here, Blueblood," she says and sighs as she appears to be thinking. "They have come to make a peace treaty with Equestria," she tells him and I barely raise an eyebrow at her proclamation.

"A peace treaty with demons? Monsters don't know the meaning of peace, as the self-proclaimed Overlord here showed at Horseshoe Bay, and twice here in Canterlot," Blueblood replies looking at me.

So he's trying to start trouble. "I didn't know self-defence was illegal here, perhaps next time the guards will have learnt to ask questions and listen before just thrusting a spear into someone's gut without warning," I tell him with a frown.

"There's no reasoning with monsters. Guards, kill them all before they harm anypony here!" he orders and points at us. I notice the faint smile on his face as he looks at Celestia.

Before the guards could comply, I launch a tendril at Blueblood and wrap it around his neck. I then pull him towards me so we're face to face.

"You think you can judge us for what we are? Then perhaps I can do the same. You're more of a threat here than we are by trying to start a fight and get your beloved auntie killed in the process, which is treason if I recall correctly. I'm just here to see my mare's parents and then make peace with Equestria. I have no plans to harm anyone here, the other times were in self-defence and I gave those guards plenty of chances to leave us be, but you're giving me a good reason to change my mind... But I think I have a better idea," I say and without warning, create a shadow needle from my left index finger and jab him in the left bicep before pumping in a small amount of energy to make him just a lesser demon.

He yelps as his suit around the area is slightly stained red with blood before his fur turns black, his mane and tail turn darker, and his eyes are now red.

Everyone watches in horror as he's turned into a incupony, and once finished, I drop him in front of the guards.

"Well you heard him fellas, kill the demon," I tell them with a smirk, now they all look even more confused and hesitant.

Blueblood groans as he slowly stands up. "What have you done to me!" he demands and looks at his hands.

"Turned you into a monster, as you called us. So now what will you do?" I ask him amused, Luna even looks amused while explaining something to a confused Selene.

"You will turn me back right now!" he demands angrily.

I chuckle making him even madder. "I'm sorry, but the process as far as we know is irreversible," I reply and turn to Desire. "Take Blueblood here and give him the rundown on being an incupony," I tell her making her groan before walking over to Blueblood, grabbing his left ear, and dragging him off to a corner of the room. Ponies scramble out of her way while the new incupony is demanding his release.

I clap my hands getting everyone's attention again. "Right then! Now you all have my word that no harm will come to anyone as long as we aren't threatened. You be nice to us, and we'll be nice to you! It's just that simple," I tell them all and turn to Celestia. "Do you have a lounge or private room we can use while you get everything sorted out?" I ask her getting a tired sigh from her.

Her horn glows and she changes her look back to her normal multi-pastel alicorn style.

"Very well, we have a large lounge Luna and I used to receive guests or dignitaries," she replies and turns to a very confused and wary female guard. "Please escort my guests to the lounge, and for the love of the sun, please do not provoke them," she tells the guard.

"Erm..." she mumbles and looks to her fellow guards. Some shrug while others just nod at her quickly. "O-Of course your M-Majesty..." she finally says and shakily walks up to me. "P-Please follow me, S-Sir..." she tells me and I smile at her nervousness.

I gesture a hand to the door and she quickly walks over to it.

Before I follow her, I turn to Luna and Selene. "If you two want to, you can stay and help Celestia," I say to them getting them to look at each other and smile.

"But of course. We have much to catch up on," Luna says and they both along with a nervous Dusk walk over to a now smiling Celestia. I notice Desire walking back over leaving a stunned and gobsmacked Blueblood behind in the corner.

"So how'd it go?" I ask her.

"Oh he'll not be a problem anymore, we'll be leaving him with one of the Mistresses to keep him under control and fed," she tells me and giggles maliciously. The Mistresses are a select team of deamon succuponies who keep violent and dangerous males, mostly incuponies in line and punish them if they misbehave while under their care. This will ensure Blueblood doesn't threaten us or Celestia again, they might even break him and make a better person out of him.

With that done, the rest of us follow the guard down a hallway to the left as we exit the Throne Room. The maids all either yelp or scream as they dart into rooms closest to them. The guards attempt to stop us but our escort manages to calm them down without fully panicking or breaking out into a fight.

We finally arrive and the guard opens the door for us. "P-Please wait here until the P-Princess arrives," she quickly says and then runs off.

I chuckle as I look around. Four couches surround a small coffee table in the middle of the room. To the right side are three bookcases filled with books. To the left is what appears to be a door leading to a restroom if the gold plated sign on the door says so, next to the door is a liquor cabinet and a mini-fridge. At the back are two windows with large red curtains with many potted plants next to them.

"I can't believe that Blueblood bastard! He wanted to kill Celestia, and us as well!" Rainbow yells as she flops down onto a couch and folds her arms with a pout.

I sit down as well with Desire and Slitherana at my sides while Twilight sits on my lap and I wrap my arms around her stomach gently and stroke it. She hums happily and leans back against my chest.

"Don't worry about it, he won't be a problem anymore. So now that you're all home, what do you plan to do?" I ask them all. I notice Vipirior and Scalefang take positions near the windows with their rifles at the ready. Those two were always on guard in situations like this. Mel is looking at the City through a window with wide eyes.

Applejack speaks up as she sits next to Rainbow, the couch creaking from her heavy weight. "Ah plan to go back to mah farm an' let mah family know Ah'm alright," she replies and I notice Tidus look a little upset about that.

"I want to go back to my cottage and help any animals that survived the attack. I also want to give those that died for me the rest and thanks they deserve," Fluttershy says sadly but without any tears. Angel just growls angrily at the mention of the massacre.

"Well, after a long discussion with Arachne, I've decided to send some more of my designs to her along with materials she can't get in Tartarus for some of her silk and Designs for my own boutique. Along with the help of Spiky of course," Rarity says sitting on Spike's lap like a chair as he sits cross legged on the floor. He also has a dopey smile on his face as he stares down at her.

"I'm going to go back to the Cakes and help them out again! I miss them so much," Pinkie says and wraps her arms around herself with a pout.

"I'm... I'm staying with Damien and Desire..." Twilight says while looking at her stomach.

The other bearers look at each other hesitantly before turning back to her.

"Well, Twilight. If that's what you want, we'll support your decision. While Tartarus is still a dangerous place, we know it's not all bad, and Damien isn't the cruel evil brute we thought he was when we first met him," Rarity says making me stare at her with a deadpan expression.

"Glad to know you thought so well of me," I tell her sarcastically, getting sheepish grin in return.

We're interrupted by the door opening and Selene walks in. "Well, the Castle staff and the guard have been notified of thine presence and a messenger hast been sent to Captain Armour's residence where she'll inform his parents along with Cadence that thou art home. They should arrive shortly," she informs us before sitting on the couch next to Desire.

"Shame, I was hoping to walk along the streets and see the ponies reactions. But I guess the less that know of us the better for now," I reply and hug Twilight a little closer as she seems to be panicking slightly. "And you calm down, Twilight. You think your parents will think any less of you now that you're a demon?" I ask her gently.

She look up at me and then to her brother who is cuddled up to Gilda on another couch. "I... I don't know... While they were scared for me when I first sent a letter to them, they told me I'll always have a home here. And while they were startled when they saw me from Pinkie's portal... they didn't disown me or Shiny. I'm just worried what they’ll think about this," she says nervously while rubbing her stomach.

"Well then, you have nothing to worry about. And if they don't they never deserved such a smart, beautiful, kind, and caring mare as their daughter. But I think from what you've told me of them that everything will be just fine. If anything, I bet your mother will be ecstatic," I tell her, making her calm down slightly.

She then levitates a book over to herself from a nearby bookcase and starts reading it while everyone else is occupying themselves in their own ways. Pinkie conjures some cards as she, Applejack, Rainbow, Shining, and Gilda play with them.

Fluttershy starts to groom Angel while the two kyuubi are looking over Harry for any pests or dirt in his fur.

Desire is talking to Selene about what Celestia is planning to do now while Slitherana just rests against me.

Tidus is just staring sadly at Applejack with a sigh. I'll be having a talk with him later, if he wants to stay here with her, then that's his decision, Pinkie can always open a portal to let him come home whenever he wants.

After about thirty or so minutes, the door opens revealing a pink alicorn with a three toned mane and tail wearing a lighter pinkish-white dress, with light powder blue trimming. She spots Shining and quickly makes her way over to him where Gilda frowns at the pink mare.

Entering behind the alicorn are two unicorns; one is a light grey mare with a white and purple striped mane and tail similar in style to Twilight's, she has blue eyes and is wearing a nice light purple shin long skirt with a pale purple vest and white under-shirt.

The other is a blue stallion with a darker blue mane and tail with amber eyes, he's wearing a nice dark blue suit with a white under-shirt and red bow tie.

The moment they see Twilight they rush towards her and the mare pulls Twilight off my lap and hugs her.

"Oh my baby girl... I was so worried about you," she says to Twilight and hugs her tightly. I quickly extend a tendril and pick up the mare -making her yelp- off Twilight before she might unknowingly harm the foal.

"Please be careful with Twilight, ma'am. You wouldn't want to harm her passenger now would you?" I tell her making her frown as I set her down, Twilight though is now sweating bullets trying to stop herself from panicking.

The light grey mare looks down at Twilight’s belly and gasps before falling backwards where the stallion catches her. "Twily? A-Are you pregnant?" he asks her in surprise.

Twilight whimpers lightly before nodding. "Y-Yes, dad." she replies.

The pink alicorn who could only be Cadence squeals and gently hugs Twilight from behind. "You're pregnant!? Oh, Twilight that's wonderful!" she says and nuzzles the blushing purple succupony.

"Who's the father?" the stallion asks.

I get up and walk over to him. "That would be me, sir," I reply and hold my hand out.

"You?" he says and looks me over. "And who are you?" he asks with narrowed eyes.

"Surely your daughter told you about me?" I say and smirk.

He frowns and after a few seconds goes wide eyed. "You're Damien, the Overlord of Tartarus... My daughter is with the king of demons..." he says and follows his wife in the land of nod. Fortunately a light blue aura catches him and sets both him and his wife onto the last couch.

I smile widely and clap my hands. "I'd say they took that pretty well!" I say cheerfully, getting a giggle from some of the ponies in the room and smack across my left arm from Twilight.

"My parents fainted and you think it went well!?" she yells at me making many present wince.

Before she could go on a rant, I cup her cheeks and give her a long passionate kiss, she moans into it and I feel her feed off me for a bit until I pull away. Cadence, still hugging her from behind is blushing deeply at the noises Twilight made.

"So then," I say leaving the dazed Twilight to recover and turn to Cadence. "You must be Cadence, Shining's marefriend correct?" I ask her and hold my hand out.

She eyes me warily but takes my hand with her left and shakes it. "Yes, and I'm a bit upset at what you've done to him," she tells me.

"I understand. But, would you prefer how he is now, or dead in Horseshoe Bay?" I ask her making her glare at me.

"Neither, but what's done is done. I won't abandon him just because he's a demon now, but that doesn't mean I forgive you for doing it. Though I will thank you for saving Twilight's life," she tells me and sighs.

I chuckle and smile at her. "Fair enough, I don't expect your forgiveness, but I was tired of your guards constantly attacking us. So now that Shining is back home safe and sound, what are your plans?" I ask her.

"We need a long talk about Gilda and where she'll fit in as well as getting to know her," she replies making Gilda huff and snuggle Shining possessively.

A groan to my right lets me know that Twilight's mother is waking up, she yawns and stretches her arms as she sits up straighter. "Honey?" she says and looks around. She spots us all and looks confused before gasping again.

She gets up and kneels in front of Twilight and gently strokes her belly. "Y-You're with f-foal?" she asks, barely containing her excitement. "Who's the father? Where's your stallion?" she asks Twilight who just points at me.

I laugh as the mare faints again after staring at me blankly for a few seconds.

Chapter 55: Evacuate

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 55: Evacuate

I carve my way through the invading gryphons as I make my way to the main entrance. Other gryphons are panicking as my forces flood the bay gunning down or blowing up gryphons with grenades, keeping their distance and proving their skill with overwhelming firepower and group tactics.

Large boulders fly overhead from outside the bay, crashing through buildings while large ballista bolts puncture through walls.

The gryphon invaders take to the air in an attempt to retreat, but most are shot down before they can get away. I see medics running around applying Twilight's new ointment to the wounds inflicted by the silver weapons.

"My Lord!" I hear Porkscratch call out and I turn to the boarus archdemon. "We pushed most of the gryphons out of the bay, only a few remain holed up in some buildings. Thin'ta is still holding the main gate by raising the dead gryphons and using them to defend the gate." He snorts as he adjusts his grip on his hammer before swatting a boulder out of the air, shattering it into pieces.

I take a breath to reply but the bodies of intact gryphons around us twitch as a black mist seeps out of them. They slowly get to their feet as their flesh melts off leaving perfectly clean skeletons with glowing red eyes. I watch as they screech and run towards the main gate.

So they're just puppets as I took the souls of a few of those skeletons.

"Let’s get moving," I tell Porkscratch and start running after the skeletons with the archdemon close behind me.

Demons and even the demonic wildlife rally to us with their weapons or claws and teeth at the ready as we run through the streets of the bay. I see a lycan tear out a gryphon's throat with his teeth before spotting us and joining our group.

After a couple of minutes, we arrive to see Thin'ta hovering above a horde of skeletons with that black mist oozing from his tattered robes, his eyes also blazing red with power.

I look out towards the gryphons to see them taking cover behind wooden barricades with iron or steel reinforcement plating while firing silver arrows over them towards us. Our boarus units are holding their shields up and acting as cover for our riflemen to take shots at any exposed gryphons.

"What's the situation?" I ask Thin'ta as I walk up beside him. I notice he's missing a rib and a crack is on the top of his skull.

He glances at me before looking back at the gryphons. "Better than when it first started, my Lord. We lost a lot of our forces in the initial assault, but once we started to get some kills, I managed to raise them and started to fight back, it seems silver weapons don't affect my skeletons," he replies and tilts his head to the side to avoid an arrow aimed for his bony face.

"They're immune to silver? Hmmm... How many skeletons do you have under your control?" I ask him as I catch an arrow's shaft aimed at my own head with a frown.

"One-hundred and eighteen, my Lord," he replies and raises his arms higher. "Make that one-hundred and thirty-two," he then says dodging another arrow.

I look out to the gryphons and it looks like there's at least two-thousand or more. "Well then, good thing I brought my army isn't it. Send your skeletons back into town and defend the non-combatants, you take cover as well since you're the one controlling the skeletons," I tell him, getting a nod from him.

He then starts hovering backwards past me. "As you wish, my Lord," he says before turning and dashing inside the bay, his little skeleton army following behind him.

Once gone I turn to my demons. "Boarus up front with your shields at the ready! Rifleman and grenadiers behind them! Open fire once in range! The harpies and I will make bombing runs to distract and scatter them! Siege units! Start your attack now and aim for their barricade! And once our forces are close enough, follow them into battle! After the first bombing run, I'll go in through the shadow realm and find any of their officers to bring back for interrogation!" I tell my forces getting cheers as they run into positions.

The six-hundred or so boarus line up oinking and snorting, imps on their backs armed with light plate armour, a few grenades, revolvers, and ammo pouches.

Incu and succuponies huddle up behind them with their rifles and grenades at the ready while the harpies grab special jars of oil with cinder vines wrapped around them. The plants constantly emit heat and small flickers of flames, so when the jars shatter, the cinder vine ignites the oil creating an explosion and sending the ignited oil all over the enemy in the splash zone.

Goblins or imps are strapped to their backs with two bags of grenades at each of their hips holding a total of sixteen grenades. They also have a revolver and some bullets to fight off other air units if need be.

"PINKIE!" I yell out getting her to appear next to me in a puff of pink smoke.

"Yeah?" she asks and then yelps as she pulls her head off to dodge an arrow that just misses her before putting it back on.

I just stare at her for a second before shaking my head. "Open a portal and start evacuating everyone to the castle in the Everfree forest! Once we've given these Jigorons a good thrashing, we'll pull back to evacuate as well! Also make sure to tell the others to take anything of value that they can take with them, I don't want any of these Gryphons getting anything from this!" I tell her.

Her expression turns serious but her words and chipper tone don't fit at all. "Okie dokie!" she says before swimming away quickly through the air.

With another shake of my head, I mentally call for a shadow wraith and one appears in front of me. "Go out there and locate the one in charge," I order them getting a nod in return before they fade away.

I join the harpies and dismiss my scythe as I'll need both hands to attack the gryphons. "Alright then! We're heading out to bomb the gryphons!" I yell out before looking at my snipers. "Snipers! Cover us and stop the gryphons from attacking us in the air!" I order them and turn back to my harpies. "Let's move out!"

We take to the air with me in the lead flying to the right to flank the gryphons. Some gryphons take off already to intercept us but the snipers start gunning them down. Once we reach the front lines while dodging arrows, I begin launching darkfire dragons rapidly at the barricades.

The gryphons scream and run away from the barricades as they detonate, sending charred splinters and twisted metal everywhere, even into the fleeing gryphons.

My harpies drop their jars which shatter and explode on impact sending gryphons away from the blasts with burnt fur, feathers, and flesh as they wail in pain rolling around the ground to put themselves out. The goblins and imps start throwing grenades all over the place sending shrapnel into the now panicking gryphons.

Now with their front line in shambles, I slip into the shadow realm and wait for my wraiths.

Three of them approach me and bow. "Master, we have located their leader along with two officers. They are preparing to fire their ballista and trebuchet onto your boarus front line," the middle one informs me.

"Go and cut all the ropes on their siege weapons, but don't risk taking a hit from their silver weapons. I'll snag their leader, one of you take me to them now!" I order my wraiths making all the ones around us fly off to their siege weapons while the wraith that told me the location flies off.

I follow behind them and glance below. My wraiths are attacking the siege weapons, cutting the ballista bow strings and the trebuchet sling strings before quickly fleeing back to the shadow realm.

It doesn't take long to reach an area covered in tents with gryphons running around with medical supplies and arrow bundles. I spot a large tent at the middle back of all the tents with the gryphon kingdom's banners hanging beside the entrance depicting an eagle's head with two unfurled wings beside it.

Soldiers are running in and out of the tent with scrolls, most likely orders or lists for supplies. The cries of the wounded faintly fill the air, muffled by the energy of the shadow realm as I land in front of the tent. I watch what looks like a young barely out of his childhood gryphon run out of the tent with a tray of used bowls and utensils, his expression scared as he whimpers at the sounds of the wounded and dying.

I frown at this, bringing a child to be used to serve food at a battle-zone? Some demonlords used children as bait to lure out other demons, but they were usually either tortured to the point they lost their minds, or were trained to act like victims and then kill any demons who tried to help them.

I've never used children in any way for profit or my own ends, and it disgusts me that they would drag one here as a servant or even as a slave. Though I see no collar or shackles on him, the fact still remains that he looks terrified to even be here.

I've noticed that four of my other wraiths have regrouped with us already while the others are still sabotaging the siege weapons.

I turn back to the tent and enter to see a gryphon in simple looking leather padded steel plate armour, with red trim, and several medals hanging from his left pauldron. His fur is a light brown, his feathers white with dark grey tips, and his eyes are a mild brown. He's standing behind a desk with papers and a map of the area with little pegs which look like they're in the positions of their forces. Beside him are two gryphons in similar armour but fewer medals as they discuss the battle so far.

"What word do we have on the black winged demon? Reports say it's attacking our front line and we've taken heavy casualties. Also, their strange small cannon like weapons are also killing our forces that are too fast to counter," the left gryphon with grey fur, tan feathers and blue eyes says with a frown.

The seated gryphon frowns at the map and then looks out the tent's entrance. "We don't know where all these demons came from and with such powerful weapons as well, we may have to fall back and request the aid of the third and fifth battalions to take the bay," he replies and sighs.

"What about the monster in the waters? Our ships can't get near close without risk of being pulled under the waves," the right gryphon comments while tapping the map where the port is. His fur is black with dark grey feathers, and his eyes are a brownish red. Again he's wearing similar armour and less medals.

"That beast is a problem, and I doubt we'll be able to get close enough to launch a sea assault. For now we should fall back and regroup. Now that we've seen what these monsters can do, we can form a strategy to counter them," the middle gryphon replies.

I walk over behind the middle gryphon and look to my five wraiths. "When we leave the shadow realm, I want you to restrain the other two, if they resist, knock them out. If you can't restrain them, kill them," I order them getting nods from them.

I then summon my scythe, pull my revolver out, and exit the shadow realm. Quickly I hold it to the gryphon's throat while my wraiths appear and pin the other two to the ground and hold their beaks shut.

"Scream or call for help and you're all dead," I warn them as I hold Thanatos close to his neck.

"How did you get in here?" he asks me calmly and slowly glances at me.

"You don't need to know that, all I want to know is why you are attacking my town," I ask him and point my gun at the entrance as that young boy runs back in with a tray of wooden mugs. "Boy, keep quiet and move to the corner, now," I order him and pull the hammer on my revolver back.

Instead, his eyes roll back and he faints on the ground with a thud, spilling the contents of the mugs all over the ground. "Hmmm, that works too," I mutter and look back to the gryphon leader. "Well?"

"We originally sent scouts here as we got reports of finally locating the Black Talon Pirates hideout, but they came back with reports of demons infesting the bay instead. So the King has ordered us to wipe them out," he replies and I notice his left talon slowly moving to a dagger concealed under the desk.

"If you want to keep your soul, you'll stop going for that dagger. Put your talons on the desk slowly," I order him.

He sighs and complies, it takes him a few seconds, but both talons are on the desk.

"Good, now then. You'll be happy to know I'm evacuating the bay, once all of my people are safely removed, you can have the bay. All you gotta do is cease your assault, or I can call in my entire army of over two-hundred thousand to lay siege on your capital and your King," I tell him and lean close to his head.

"I could take this as a declaration of war against Tartarus and retaliate. And let me tell you, even with your silver weapons, ours can easily over-run and decimate you all. I alone can wipe out entire towns and tens of thousands of soldiers by myself. I can turn your towns and settlements into demons and take over your nation bit by bit. But I don't want to do that, and I'm sure you don't want that either."

I lean back and let him turn his head to look at me better. "So, what will it be? Continue this pointless fight sacrificing your forces in an attempt to take a little rickety town? Or let us leave without further bloodshed?" I ask him.

The sounds of fighting and screaming still echo in the air as more explosions go off. The gryphon frowns as he looks at the still unconscious boy on the floor, before sighing and looking back at me.

"And how do I know you aren't bluffing about such an absurdly large force?" he asks me.

"I am the Overlord of Tartarus, and you have my word that I have such a force and I never go back on my word. So you can be sure that if I make a threat, I will go through with it," I reply and warn him. "The only reason you aren't dead yet is you can just end this pointless fight without more casualties. But if I have to, I will wipe out all of your soldiers here and now."

Another set of explosions go off and a gryphon wearing half-plate armour enters the tent looking panicked.

"General Skyhawk! The demons... have..." he starts but stops spotting me and my wraiths.

The General clears his throat and looks to the gryphon. "Go on," he asks him as if I wasn't holding a blade to his neck.

"Errr... The d-demons have destroyed all our b-barricades and siege weapons. W-We can't get close to the b-bay without being shot down by their w-weapons..." he reports making me chuckle.

"Sounds about right," I comment and look back to the General. "Still think you can win?" I ask him with a smirk.

He sighs and looks back to the gryphon. "Tell all forces to fallback to camp. The demons are leaving the bay and we shall let them," he orders him.

The gryphon's eyes widen in surprise. "Sir?" he asks confused.

"They have agreed to leave the bay if we cease our assault. So go tell our forces to fallback already," the General tells him again.

"Errr... Y-Yes sir!" he replies and runs off.

"Well then. I shall take my leave, remember, should you attack during the evacuation, I will retaliate without mercy or remorse," I warn the General before slipping into the shadow realm where my wraiths follow behind me.

I watch as the other two gryphons get on their feet and shake their limbs with frowns.

"Are you going to just let them go?" The left one asks the General.

"Our siege weapons are gone, our defences are in ruins, their weapons are superior and they now outnumber us. What would you do?" the General replies and asks.

The left gryphon sighs and looks out of the tent. "I'd retreat and gather the army and crush this infestation. We can overwhelm them with numbers and if the court mage aids us I'm sure we'd win," he says with a frown.

The right gryphon then speaks up. "If he was telling the truth about the size of his army, then we'll never be able to out number them. Add his weapons as well as the abilities and powers of himself and his forces, we'd be lucky to cut down a few of them before we're slaughtered. The fact he's giving us the chance to fallback instead of just killing us all shows he's not here to just spill blood."

General Skyhawk rubs the underside of his beak. "That is true, Against a force that large and all armed with those weapons, we'd fall quickly. We'll wait here until the demons are all gone before sweeping the bay. Until then see that the wounded are tended to," he tells them both before getting up and checking on the still out cold boy.

With that done, I fly back to my forces who look confused as to why the gryphons are retreating. I exit the shadow realm and walk up to Porkscratch who nods to me. "My lord, what's happening?" he asks me.

"The gryphons are falling back and allowing us to evacuate without any more attacks against us, but they'll have the bay afterwards," I reply and watch as Thin'ta's skeletons stand guard near the entrance.

"Why not just crush them and take their supplies?" he asks me, still confused.

"I did plan to make this a frontier town in this world, but the gryphons are too hostile for my tastes. Instead we're going to set one up in the Everfree forest as we're soon to be allies with Equestria. No one goes into that forest due to the beasts and wild magic in there, but it's perfect for us," I reply and look around. "PINKIE!" I yell out to get her attention.

A poof sounds out behind me and Pinkie slams into my back to hug me. I take a step forward due to the force and I just glance at her unamused.

"Yes, Damien?" she asks innocently.

I sigh and shrug her off. "Open a portal to the Everfree forest at the ruined castle. We're moving out now," I tell her, getting a salute from her.

"Aye aye, Captain!" she replies and opens a tear to the forest.

I turn to my demons and clear my throat. "All right you lot! Head on through and set up a base camp! Also take as many of these silver arrows and weapons that you can safely carry through! We can use them to fight other hostile demons in Tartarus later!" I order them getting cheers as they start heading through.

Most are carrying food, riches, and others bundled up silver weapons, while others are helping wounded through.

"Pinkie, I'm going through with them, once we've set up a camp, I'll fly back to Canterlot. Until then, once we're all through, you return to Canterlot and let them know what's happening alright?" I tell her. She nods her head rapidly at me with a smile.

"Uh-huh!" she says and sits back using her tail as a chair.

It takes a good thirty or so minutes to get them all through. I look back out through the portal and nod to Pinkie who waves goodbye before the tear closes.

I look around and watch as my demons swarm the ruins and begin to set up tents and fire pits. A fel ent archdemon is using her magic with seeds from a pouch on her belt to quickly grow a makeshift wall around the castle out of thick black vines covered in thorns.

While not the most sturdy wall, it'll be enough to keep curious predators away.

"Your orders, my Lord?" a group of demons ask me, getting my attention.

"I want lookouts on top of the castle! and anyone not tending to the injured or doing anything to reinforce the castle's structure until we can rebuild it! Also form a perimeter around the vine wall just in case something does decide it wants to get in!" I command them, getting nods and bows in reply before they run off relaying my orders.

I sigh and look around one more time. Next will be rebuilding the castle along with a town, then a sturdy wall, then a stable portal from Fel Haven to here. I also still need to find a way to free Olestra from her curse, find the changelings, and get my fleet back up and running.

Slowly I rub my temples and groan, still so much left to do.

Author's Note

Next chapter I will write is for Godly.

Chapter 56: Setting up camp

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 56: Setting up camp

I watch as demons run around, setting up tents and a makeshift soup kitchen. Other demons start heading out and cutting down the surrounding trees for fire wood and lumber, as well as gathering stone and a bunch of plants to study.

A few howls are heard in the distance with a slight echo to them. I raise my brow as most stop to look in the direction it came from, before an explosion and gunfire goes off. Sounds like the scouts ran into a pack of wolves.

I return my attention back to the castle and take in all the details. Cracked stonework and shattered windows, torn and frayed tapestries, and an old overgrown garden area to the right with a few shattered and moss covered statues.

Might be better to just demolish the ruin and build from scratch. An hour passes and a dark blue furred with black mane and tail incupony named Night Light walks up to me.

"My lord! We've finished inspecting the ruins and about sixty percent of it is uninhabitable. It'll take more time and resources to replace or fix the place up than to just build a new smaller castle," he tells me and holds out a clipboard with a few sheets of paper detailing all their findings. "Though there is a vault under the castle, it appears sealed with some kind of powerful barrier. None of us could open or break the seal," he finishes, making me hum in thought.

An old vault? Did the princesses leave something behind? I narrow my eyes at all the damage the castle seems to have and shake my head. "I'll have a look at this vault. After that, salvage anything usable and make preparations to demolish this castle when we're ready to start building a new one. But first, take me to this vault," I tell him and hand the clipboard back.

"Yes, sir!" he replies as he takes the clipboard and walks towards the castle.

I follow him through the main lobby and see the remains of the first campfire we made here, a manticore's skeleton, as well as a cockatrice's. Been awhile since I was last here, but we continue on and turn left at the first junction. We head down a hallway with shattered windows, cracked or missing bricks, a few bones of animals litter the floor, and a few doors both intact or destroyed and collapsed.

We arrive at a stairwell and head down into the darkness where Night Light's horns glow and a ball of white light forms in his left hand which he holds up revealing a few metres in front of us.

The worn stone steps look dangerous and appear as if they'd crumble from too much weight, but we venture down carefully with only a couple of minor slip ups.

At the bottom, a team of incu and succuponies are examining the door and are trying many different spells to open the large iron or steel door with the depictions of the sun on the left door and moon on the right. A sudden flash of gold and blue light blinds everyone as a succupony screams followed by a loud thud.

I blink till my vision returns to find her unconscious on the floor with a small trail of blood running down her face.

"You lot get her back to the camp, I'll see what I can do about this," I order the others, getting affirmatives as they carefully carry her out.

I look the doors over and frown as I place my left hand on the moon door. I feel the magic flowing through the door before pulling back as it lashes out at my hand with a few bolts of raw magic.

"Tch," I grunt and shake my hand which feels a bit numb now.

Rolling my neck, I activate my demonic form and crack my knuckles with a grin. "Let's see who has more power shall we?" I mumble to myself and flare darkfire over both my hands before thrusting forward and push as much magic and fire as I could into the doors.

They react violently and arcs of raw magic start striking the area around me, but my fire is preventing it from hitting me at least.

My grin widens as I can feel the steel underneath start to melt under the heat of both my flames and raw magic output. My grin fades as I see what looks like spell circles with runes along the edges start spinning all over the doors. I quickly use my wings as shields and wrap myself in them while keeping my hands on the doors, but instead of attacks, yellow magical mist or gas starts spewing out of the circles making me take a quick deep breath.

'Thanatos! Burn some souls to give me more power!' I order him and grunt from the strain of trying to overpower the doors magic and holding my breath.

“At once, my lord!” he replies.

My eyes widen and glow as I feel the power boost flowing through me which I then divert into the door making it melt faster and the spell circles to crack before shattering. A loud and powerful explosion then sends me flying into the stairwell knocking the breath out of my lungs but I refuse to inhale and blearily look up to see the doors blown off their hinges, half melted and shattered and the gas or mist begins to dissipate.

I quickly tear off and hold my torn shirt up to my mouth and take small breaths so I don't pass out and wait for the dust and gas to clear. After a couple of minutes, I hear footsteps rush down with a few others behind them.

"My lord! Are you alright!?" he asks as he kneels down, wraps his left arm around me and helps me sit up.

I shake my head to help reduce the ringing in my ears and to clear my vision. "Yeah, the door proved to be tougher than I thought. But now it's open, so carefully go in and catalogue everything inside. Just don't touch anything until you're sure you know what it is," I tell them and scrunch my face as a headache is starting to form.

My clothes are totally ruined, the shirt is but rags now, my coat is singed and has a few tears in it. my trousers are missing from the knees down and what's left is torn up. fortunately my underwear seems to still be intact.

I wait for a good ten minutes for my head to clear before getting up and walking into the vault. To my left are a few worn but still standing display cases with old jewellery or weapons while the right has large objects ranging from suits of armour to furniture and a mannequin chained up. What intrigues me is the rather creepy looking mannequin has a soul trapped in it, but I'll leave it alone for now. It is black, shaped like a male pony complete with genitals, no fur, mane, or tail, but does have a metal collar bolted to its neck and a few shredded, faded, and frayed remains of clothing clinging onto it.

At the end of the room, is a large full-body mirror with a torn and faded tarp covering it. From the holes in it, the mirror is silver in colour and could very well be made of silver.

Night Light after ticking off something on his clipboard, walks over to me and sighs. "My lord! From what we have gathered, most if not all the weapons, armour, and trinkets have lost whatever enchantment they once possessed. The only objects of note are a closet, the mannequin, and the mirror which unfortunately is made of silver," he informs me with a list of objects on his clipboard.

"Hmmm... Take all the useless stuff topside, we can either return them to the princesses, or melt them down for parts. As for the still useful objects, carefully bring them up and make sure no one touches the mirror," I warn and order him, getting a nod in return. "Meanwhile, I'm heading up to Canterlot to inform the others of what's happening, then once everything is settled, I'll return with Pinkie so we can start bringing in supplies for construction."

"As you wish, my lord!" he replies and walks off giving orders to the demons present.

I give a few last looks to the three objects and frown as I'm not sure if the mannequin moved or not since I last looked at it. With a shake of my head, I make my way back out and give orders to prepare for some relics being brought up and to prep the castle for demolition, but not to start until I give the word. After that, I spread my wings, slip into the Shadow Realm, and make my way up to Canterlot with my Shadow Wraiths following behind me.

I land in the courtyard and just watch the guards run all over the place. It's like the castle is in lock-down now as they start escorting ponies out.

I shrug and walk in through the main doors and follow the same route the guard guided us down until I reach the lounge. I leave the Shadow Realm spooking the guard at the door, making me chuckle as I open and enter the room.

I see everyone is in here and Pinkie made it back safely. "Well, that was an adventure," I say as Mel walks over to me.

"What happened to your clothes?" she asks with a frown.

I raise a brow at her and grin. "I had an epic battle with a pair of doors. If you think I look bad, you should see the doors," I reply as Twilight is staring at my bare chest with reddened cheeks while Desire is biting her lip.

"Doors?..." she asks in a deadpan tone.

"Magical doors, they really put up a decent fight, better than Tirek did in fact," I reply with a shit eating grin.

She stares at me for a few seconds before sighing and walking back to the window. "I'm never going to get used to this..." she mumbles, making me chuckle and Desire to giggle.

Celestia politely coughs to get our attention. "Pinkie has told us what happened at the bay, but not about what you did in the Gryphons camp," she says with a cup of tea in her hand.

I look towards her with a smile. "Oh I just convinced them to let us leave without further bloodshed, the destruction of their siege weapons and defences was a strong motivator to agree with my terms. But in the end, they get the bay and us out, so it's a win win really," I reply and take a seat between Twilight and Desire while Slitherana drapes her arms over my shoulders and her head next to mine.

"My 'refugees' are currently setting up camp at the old castle in the Everfree. So I have to ask, may I demolish the ruin and build a new castle and town there, or would you prefer I find another location to build?" I ask her while Desire starts circling a finger on my chest.

She frowns slightly and sighs. "I'd prefer you'd leave the castle alone, there are many other places for you to set up a town in there and I'd rather leave our old home as it is," she replies and sips her tea.

I purse my lips and frown as well. "Well errr, you're not going to be happy to hear that the doors I fought were under the castle then," I reply, making her spray a bit of tea out and choke a little.

"Thou broke down the vault's doors!?" Selene asks in shock as Celestia thumps her chest while Luna rubs her back.

I nod to her and look up. "Had to burn a few souls to overpower it before the gas or mist it spewed out effected me, didn't take into account the doors magic and mine violently reacting which detonated and sent me into a wall dazed. Once I was recovered enough I saw the door completely melted and nothing but scrap metal," I reply and looked at the sisters. "You kept a lot of knickknacks down there didn't you? Only three things down there have some magic left in them as the rest are just trinkets now. A plain looking wooden closet, A creepy looking anatomically correct pony mannequin in rags, and a silver framed mirror," I say, listing off the three objects.

"Was the ponyquin still wearing its collar?" Luna asks with worry.

"Yes, it had a metal collar on it," I reply with a raised brow.

"Thank the stars... It is the prison of a several millennia old necromancer. He raised the dead and used them to attack Equestria as well as other nations, making an army before the nations banded together to bring him down. We used the elements on him and it turned him into a ponyquin, fitting as he raised the dead as his own dolls of sort," Selene tells me with disgust.

I raise an eyebrow at the sisters. "And you just left him there alone for several thousand years? Granted, the doors would be enough to prevent anyone less powerful than us getting in, but as you know I got in and had no clue what it was. I could have accidentally released him, but then again I have myself and my own forces there and many powerful demons that would kick his ass," I reply and rub my chin. "If you want I can take him to Tartarus and encase him in demonite and then dump his ass into the Lost Soul Sea, which is just an ocean of lava, where no-one would find him ever again. You can even come and push him in if you want!" I offer them with a grin.

Celestia has recovered and is staring at me with a frown. "You want to condemn him to an eternity under lava?" she asks incredulously.

"How is that any different than turning him into a ponyquin and leaving him locked away for eternity? Besides, if he was that much of a threat, I would have had him executed with having his soul removed before he could do more harm or damage to my people," I reply, shocking her even more. "A bit hypocritical of you being surprised at my offer when you've basically done the same to him," I say and chuckle.

Selene is the one to reply first though. "We would be happy to be the one to push him into the lava! We lost many friends and subjects during his reign of terror," she tells me with a sadistic grin. Luna, not as enthusiastic as Selene, still has a determined expression, agreeing with her sister.

Celestia looks wide-eyed at them before sighing and taking another sip of tea. "I'll admit, leaving him down there was not a good call... but with the castle overgrown by the forest and the self-sustaining defences of the vault, I thought he would be left there forgotten." Her frown fades before shaking her head.

I hum in thought. "Although if you can't bear the thought of an eternity under lava, I could just kill him and put an end to it if you want? And before you argue or anything, he has slaughtered many in the name of gaining power, he has torn apart families and brought misery to all in his way. I've slaughtered many thousands myself, but in the name of protecting and avenging my people. I guess you can say I'm like an overprotective father, just with my subjects," I say as Desire smiles and snuggles up to me.

Celestia and I argue over this for a few minutes before a Shadow Wraith appears and spooks most of us present. "Master, the strange doll has become animated and tried to kill some of your demons. Porkscratch has subdued him and is restraining him right now," he tells me, making me sigh.

"Typical. Well then, let's go sort this out then shall we?" I say and get up. "Pinkie, can you open a portal to the castle please?" I ask the bubblegum draconequus.

"Okay!" she replies and pulls a zipper tag out of her overalls left pocket and holds it up before pulling it down, complete with zipper noise as it opens a portal to the camp.

"Thank you," I say and step through along with everyone else.

I'm greeted to the sight of Porkscratch sitting on the black ponyquin, the metal collar shattered and littered on the ground nearby.

"Get off me you over sized lard stick!" the necromancer yells in an angry dual echo tone.

"Shut yer gob before I bury your head in the latrine!" Porkscratch tells him in an annoyed tone and a somewhat light punch to the ponyquin's head before spotting us. "My lord! This maggot suddenly started moving and tried to kill some of us, but his magic is pathetic and it was simple to restrain him," he tells me as I walk up to them.

"That so?" I ask as I crouch down. "So you tried murdering my people the moment you could move? Has being turned into a ponyquin or the years of isolation rotted all of your brain cells?" I ask him with an unamused expression.

He growls at me, making Porkscratch punch his head again. "I will have my vengeance! Those alicorns will pay for getting in my way of creating the perfect world!" the necromancer replies angrily before going still as his head looks in the direction of the four demonic alicorns and single normal alicorn behind me.

He begins struggling and snarling like an animal as he tries to break free of Porkscratch's large backside.

I look to the others to see Fluttershy hiding behind Angel and Harry. Rarity comments on how uncouth the necromancer is while Applejack just shakes her head at him. Rainbow, Gilda, and Pinkie are laughing at him while Selene and Luna look furious. Celestia has a neutral expression while Desire is unamused. Twilight is wincing, Shining just has a raised brow. Mel though just looks confused as she looks around the area.

"So, Celestia. What do you want to do with him? You and your people were attacked by him, so I say it's up to you and your sisters to decide his fate," I ask as I get back up and ignore the threats and insults being thrown at me from the necromancer.

Celestia, Selene, and Luna walk up and glare down at the still ranting ponyquin. It's Luna who speaks up first. "I have an Idea," she says and whispers to the other two. Selene starts laughing while Celestia raises an eyebrow at her.

Luna then turns to the others and looks at Rarity. "We would like to ask a commission from you, Rarity. If you would accept it that is," she asks the confused mare while rubbing her hands together.

Chapter 57: Trial

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 57: Trial

I look at Luna with a raised brow as she rubs her hands together with a grin on her face.

"And just what are you planning?" I ask her

She looks at me still grinning. "We shall seal him in a doll house with so many frilly dresses he shall wear!" she tells me in a chipper voice, but I feel the anger and malice hidden in her tone.

I can't help but smirk at the image I have of it in my head. "Ha! As amusing as that sounds, I think I'd like to put him on trial for the attempted murder of my people. I'm also curious about what he meant by 'his perfect world'," I reply and look back down to the struggling necromancer before looking back to the others.

Selene and Luna look at me with surprised expressions. "Trial!? Thou wish for a trial!?" Selene asks me angrily.

"Well not just for his attacks on my demons, but for the attacks on your people millennia ago. More of a formality at this point but still, I'd like to hear his side of the story first," I tell her and look to the necromancer who is looking back at me.

"You would hear the lies from a mass murderer?" Celestia asks me with a hint of disgust.

"I'm simply interested in what he has to say for himself. It wont excuse him from what he's done or attempted to do, and he will be punished for them, but I'm just curious is all," I reply and look to Porkscratch. "Let him up, but if he tries anything, rip his arms and legs off," I order him.

He laughs with a few snorts and stands up. "Oh please try something! I'd be happy to put you back in your place," Porkscratch says and steps away a few feet.

The necromancer slowly gets up with a growl while looking at us, before looking around to see he's surrounded with my demons all pointing spears or guns at him.

"Now then," I say and clap my hands, getting everyone's attention. "You will either be taken back to Canterlot or Fel Haven for your trial and judgement." I then look to Celestia. "Where would you prefer to have it? Do note that my courtroom has much better security and defences," I tell her, making her frown at the slight jab at her guards I made.

She then sighs. "Fine, we'll have this trial in your courtroom," she says, getting nods from Luna and Selene as well.

"Alright, those who want to go back to Canterlot please ask Pinkie to send you, those who are coming just wait until the others have left. Oh, and Cadence? You may want to go back as entering Tartarus may turn you into a Demon due to the high amounts of demonic energy permeating the planet," I warn her, making her wince.

She looks at shining who just smiles gently at her, though Gilda is still giving her the stink eye.

"Alright, I'll look after Canterlot until you return," she says and walks over to Pinkie who opens a portal to the lounge.

I watch as Fluttershy and her animals head back through, followed by Applejack, Cadence with Shining and Gilda, and lastly Rarity and Spike.

That leaves Celestia, Luna, Selene, Twilight, Rainbow, Pinkie, Mel, my sons, Desire, Slitherana, my demons, and the Necromancer.

"Okay next, You lot pack up and get ready to move deeper into the forest, the Alicorns want to keep this ruin as is so we're going to relocate when we return!" I inform my demons who all groan as they were ready to demolish and begin putting tools and explosives away.

I chuckle and look to the necromancer to see he's looking around, most likely to find a way out. I hold my left hand out to him and before he could do anything, I launch six tendrils at him, restraining his arms, legs, waist, and neck. "Pinkie, would you be so kind as to open a Portal to my castle throne room?" I ask her politely as the necromancer is squirming and spouting obscenities like a priest tells sermons.

Rainbow laughs at the necromancer while Luna and Selene giggle. Pinkie puts a couple of ear plugs in her ears and opens the portal I asked for.

I nod to her before walking through followed by everyone else. I look around and spot a few of the guards and city officials looking at us in confusion and interest.

"My lord, who or what is this... Charming fellow?" My royal treasurer asks with a raised brow and unamused expression. He's a fifty-three year old Goblin named Godon, or Moneybags as the staff like to call him, in a clean black suit with white undershirt and a pair of reading glasses on.

"He tried murdering some of our people, so he's going to be put on trial and punished. He's also murdered many of Equus' people as well," I reply and sigh as the necromancer is still cursing his head off. Wrapping a tendril around his mouth didn't shut him up and he's still talking.

"I see, I was just about to hand in my report on our current financial accounts and what projects are asking for funding," he tells me with a folder held between his left arm and hip.

"Thank you for your work as always, Godon. Leave it on my desk and I'll get to it tonight," I tell him.

He nods to me and starts heading to my office. "Of course, my lord," he replies and walks away.

I chuckle at his serious attitude and look to the others. "Follow me please to the courtroom," I say and take a left to the large double doors where a pair of scales is engraved on each.

"Momma! That lady has a pretty mane and tail!" I hear a succupony filly with her mother say while pointing at Celestia who's mane and tail flows like a calm fire. It turns out it can change colour depending on how she's feeling as it turns a slight shade of pink as she smiles a bit from the comment.

We enter the room and see a standard courtroom with the judge's elevated seat, the defence and prosecutors stands as well as a jury's bench. There are ten guards all pointing rifles at the defendant who is also chained to the chair he's on. It would seem a court case has just finished and everyone here is getting ready to leave as the Deamon incupony is being unchained from the chair and then forced out a side door while the prosecution thank the judge and pack up their papers and bags.

"Excuse me! May I ask you all to stay for a while longer!? We have a trial to do here and it would be appreciated if you could stay for it," I say and walk up to the defendant's stand and tie the Necromancer to the chair with my tendrils.

"Lord, Damien? And what are the charges against this... being?" Judge Unwavering Will asks. He's a middle aged incupony with dark green fur and a greying dark blue mane. He's wearing a black robe with the same scales from the door on his shoulders and a white shirt.

"Attempted murder and mass murder as well as mass forced mindcontol via necromancy," I reply and gesture the three alicorn princesses to the prosecutors stand.

Most of the witnesses sit back down murmuring to each other while the Jury stare at the still struggling Necromancer.

"How many has he murdered?" Judge Will asks us.

Celestia steps forward with a frown. "Over twenty-thousand lost their lives to this monster," she replies, giving the Necromancer a glare.

"I gave them eternal life! They no longer felt pain! They no longer went hungry! No longer needed sleep! They no longer fought each other! They were perfect! All I wanted was to share this gift with the rest of the world!" the Necromancer yells angrily as he struggles in his chair.

I huff with a glare at him. "Being a mindless animated corpse is a gift huh? Ask any of the ghouls in Tartarus and they'll tell you that their undead condition isn't pleasant. They still feel pain, they feel cold most of the time despite the heat of Tartarus around them. And no matter how much they eat, they still feel a constant hunger. You're 'gifts' are more of a curse and the only reason most ghouls stay 'alive' is to stay with their families," I tell him. "If you were still flesh and blood, I'd turn you into ghoul just so you can see for yourself the pain and misery you forced onto others."

The Necromancer growls and looks at me. "You have no idea of the freedom undeath truly brings! No fear of death pulling you away from your home or family!" he replies as one of the jury stands up and walks over to us. She's a ghoul succupony with some missing patches of fur on her face and mild rotting on her arms. Her fur is dark grey and her mane is a dirty blonde colour. She's also wearing a black formal suit with a knee long skirt. One of her eyes is a deep blue while the other is a cloudy milky white.

An angry glare is on her face and her voice has a gravelly tone to it. "A gift you say? I would rather be dead than continue this existence, and you forced over twenty-thousand people to suffer this curse? I'm still alive for my daughter only until she no longer needs me, I will suffer for as long as it takes until I can finally end this misery. As far as I'm concerned, you deserve the most painful and cruellest punishment there is," she tells him before spitting a rancid glob of thick saliva in his face before heading back to her seat.

Judge Will hits his gavel a couple of times to get everyone's attention while looking at the Necromancer. "So you admit to the mass-murder of thousands?" he asks him coldly.

The Necromancer looks to the Judge and growls. "Not murder, but rebirth!"

I just look at the nearest wall with a deadpan stare. 'Okay, so he's just insane. Though that is to be expected after millennia locked away.

Judge Will sighs with a frown. "I believe I've heard enough. Jury, how do you find the... Defendant?" he asks the jury in a neutral tone.

They look amongst each other and nod before looking back. "Guilty," the ghoul succupony says with almost a snarl in her tone.

"NONE OF YOU UNDERSTAND THE TRUE EMBRACE OF UNDEATH!" The Necromancer yells out angrily and redoubles his struggling.

"Then by the power invested in me by Lord Damien, I sentence you to the highest judgement possible, soul extraction. May you suffer for the lives you have cut short and the families you have destroyed," Judge Will says and bangs his gavel one last time.

The Necromancer rages loudly, spouting his insane drivel about the beauty of undeath and its gifts. I'm disappointed that he didn't have a more in-depth reason, or perhaps being alone for so long, he's simply forgotten. Either way, he'll be judged not by my hand, but from one of the alicorn sisters.

The witnesses and jury make their way out of the room while I pull the Necromancer off the chair and lift him a foot into the air in front of us.

I summon Thanatos and hold him out to the three sisters. "Since they were your subjects he killed, it's only fair that one of you be the one that punishes him," I tell them.

Selene without hesitation steps forward and grips Thanatos tightly before looking to the struggling Necromancer.

"This is for Starshine, the rest of our friends, and our subjects," she says in a deathly clam tone before pulling back the scythe and screams in rage. Thanatos swings forward and impales the Necromancer in the chest, the hard material he's made of splinters and cracks around the entry and exit wounds and black ink like blood flows out of both.

"RRRAAAAAAAGGGHH!" The Necromancer screams in agony as a grey see-through pony with a permanent frown on his face, thick eyebrows and a full short beard, slicked back mane, and frail looking body is ripped out and absorbed into Thanatos. The doll like body cracks and splinters all over before rotting and crumbling to dust.

Selene looks at Thanatos in her hands and smiles as she closes her eyes and sighs. She turns back to me as I dismiss my tendrils and she holds him out to me.

"Feel better?" I ask her and take Thanatos back before then dismissing him.

"Much, we've always felt the Elements never truly punished him for all he did, but now... We feel that all our friends and subjects can truly rest now that real justice hast been dealt," she replies with a sad smile, no doubt thinking of those friends she lost.

"Well then," I say and clap my hands, pulling her out of her thoughts. "Now that, that's over with, I believe I need to find a nice location for my new demon town in the Everfree, then get some of our best mages to create a new set of portal gates. Oh, I also need to figure out how to release Olestra from her curse as well," I say and frown in thought. Is it a simple matter of overpowering her curse with demonic energy, or will we have to dismantle the curse piece by piece?

Celestia sighs and rubs her eyes. "And I need to write up a peace treaty with you or Desire later... Sun and moon above I need a drink..." she says and mumbles making Luna giggle.

That comment makes me chuckle a bit at the thought of her sitting at a bar and face on the counter, drunkenly mumbling all her problems to the barkeep. "Okay then, ask pinkie if you want to go back to Canterlot or Ponyville. I need her help in moving supplies to the Everfree and locate a nice spot for a town," I say and walk over to one of the maids sweeping away the splinters and dust of the Necromancer's remains. "Can you go to the forge and ask three of the smiths to go to the throne room? Then get the quartermaster to gather enough supplies to start a frontier town ready in the courtyard," I ask her. The harpy maid smiles and bows her head.

"At once, my Lord," she replies and jogs out of the room.

Twilight then walks over to me and holds my arm and speaks up. "Can I help with the town? I'm curious to see how you construct those large buildings out of mostly metal," she asks me with a smile.

"Sure, since you plan on staying with us, it'll be good for you to learn how things are done here in case you want to help out," I reply and smile back at her.

"Blergh. Enough with the sappiness already, now that's all over with, I need to get back to Ponyville and see if I still have a job with the weather team," Rainbow says impatiently with crossed arms.

I huff at her for ruining the mood. "Then talk to Pinkie, not me," I simply say and make my way back to the throne room.

We wait for a good ten minutes where Celestia, Luna, and Selene have gone back to Canterlot and Rainbow is back in Ponyville while my sons have gone off to the guard barracks to do their jobs.

Mel is looking around my throne room while talking to a harpy maid while Pinkie is going through her pog collection. Twilight is sitting on my lap gently rubbing her stomach while Desire is talking with Slitherana.

The maid I sent returns with the smiths, a succupony, an imp, and a boarus, all in sturdy clothes, smithing aprons, and tool belts. Behind them is the male goblin quartermaster Pirion who is holding a folder with lists of all our currently available resources and equipment. "Good day everyone, I've called you here as we're about to build a frontier town on Equus and we'll need your services to maintain tools and equipment. Once all the supplies needed are gathered, we'll be heading back to the Everfree forest to find a nice spot to build on. Any questions?" I tell them and then ask.

The boarus steps forward. "Will I be able to bring my son with us, my Lord? I've been training him in smithing and this would be good hands on experience for him," he asks with a snort at the end.

I smile and nod. "I don't see why not, go get him and wait in the courtyard until we're ready to go. Anything else?" I reply and ask.

"That is all, my Lord," he replies and nods his head before stepping back. The others also nod their heads while the quartermaster steps forward.

"The construction of a three-thousand population town will take sixteen percent of our current supplies in Fel Haven, my, Lord," he tells me.

"That's okay, then get your tools and anything else you need ready and we'll meet you in the courtyard in 10 minutes, dismissed," I tell them and get up after letting Twilight stand first.

"Well then, who else wants to tag along?" I ask those present.

Mel turns from the maid after saying bye to her and walks over. "I'll go. Sounds more fun than being cooped up in here," she says and crosses her arms.

Desire and Slitherana come over and smile. "We'll stay here and keep things running smoothly, you go build our first town in another world. And build us a... what did you call it? A summer home?" she tells me with a smirk.

I just smirk back. "Ooooh, so you want a little get away where we can be alone and undisturbed?" I ask as my smirk turns into a sly grin.

She walks up to me and circles her finger on my chest. "Not just us, but Slitherana and Twilight as well. Imagine all three of us pressed against you, caressing you..." she says until we're nose to nose. "~Pleasuring you~" she says huskily and biting her lower lip.

The thought of all three of them pressed against me, moaning and in bliss, brings a smile to my face and I grin seeing Twilight with a flushed face obviously imagining the same thing.

"Sounds like a good time, but first," I say and grab the back of her head and kiss her hard.

She inhales through her nose before moaning deeply as she feeds heavily off me.

After a good ten seconds I pull away with a grin. "There, that should hold you off for a few days," I tell her, making her giggle.

"Perhaps, but I'd still prefer a proper meal though," she replies, licking her lips at me before she walks off grabbing Slitherana's hand pulling her away to our office, both of them giggling.

I shake my head and look to the others. "Alright everyone, let's head to the courtyard and wait for the supplies to be ready," I say to them.

Twilight grabs my hand while Pinkie and Mel follow us out. We pass by maids and guards in the lobby before stepping out into the courtyard. Crates of ingots, nails, bolts, and hinges are stacked to one side while a few stacks of timber and cloth are on the other. The whole courtyard is packed with materials and ready to be moved, the smiths and other craftsmen such as carpenters and builders are standing by.

"Are we all ready to go!?" I call out, getting the quartermaster to walk over with a clipboard.

"My Lord. All of the supplies are here and we're ready to go," he tells me while double checking his files.

I look to him and nod. "Good, get everyone ready to carry them through the portal," I tell him, making him nod and head over to the workers.

I then turn to Pinkie. "Please open a portal close to the demons in the Everfree," I ask her.

She salutes with a goofy grin. "Okie dokie!" she replies and slaps her hands together before pulling them apart.

A pink blob is pulled and stretched before she then pushes her hands together, squashing the energy. She repeats this over and over, the energy getting bigger until she then moulds the energy into a ball and tosses it at the castle wall where a splat sound echoes throughout the courtyard and the energy is now in the shape of a large doorway.

I can see the Everfree forest on the other side where my demons have set up another camp. I can also see a few of the local wildlife dead in a pile where a few demons are skinning and butchering them.

"Alright people! Let's get these supplies through and start building!" I call out to the workers, getting cheers in return.

They begin hauling the supplies through while I turn to Twilight and Pinkie. "I want you two working together to try and get a functional portal working that'll only allow demons with my mark or a special pass to walk through to Fel Haven. Maybe even have a secure building made on both ends as well," I tell them getting a smile from Twilight.

"Sounds like a fun project, I should be able to design a frame that'll hold one of Pinkie's portals and power them via a magical battery or with a generator as well," Twilight says and conjures a notepad and charcoal pencil.

"Ooooh! I've never done magic experiments before!" Pinkie says in excitement as she bounces in the air.

"Good, while you two do that, I'll be overlooking the town's construction. Now that we have a plan, let's get to it," I say and start walking towards the portal.

"What about me?" Mel asks.

I stop and turn back to her. "Hmmmm, what do you want to do? Oh, I know, want to help with the refreshments for the workers? You wanted to own your own bar right? This'll be good practice as a barkeep," I suggest to her.

She raises an eyebrow and slowly nods. "I guess so, alright, I'll do that then," she says and heads towards the portal.

I smile at her determined expression and follow her through, with Twilight and Pinkie close behind.

Chapter 58: Building a town

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 58: Building a town

Once we and all the supplies and workers are through, half of my soldiers head back through the portal and to the barracks.

The moment the portal closes, Twilight grabs Pinkie's hand and drags her off to the pile of materials we have and starts rummaging through it while telling Pinkie to levitate what she selects.

I leave them to their project and turn to Mel. "Let's get you set up shall we?" I tell her, getting a smile and nod from her.

So for the next thirty or so minutes, we built a basic looking bar counter with mugs and cups of various sizes, and many, many barrels of different drinks behind the counter. There's also a tarp over the top in case of bad weather.

"Hmmm, not the most welcoming bar, but it'll serve its purpose for now. Who knows? Once the town is built, you could open your bar here? This planet is remarkably close to resembling earth. I recognise some plants and animals that live here," I tell my Sister, who is thinking over what I just said.

"I guess so, the air is fresher and the temperature is cooler here," she replies and looks over her bar and supplies.

"True, a lot less of a brimstone and sulphur scent, but you get used to it. Well then, I'll leave you to your own devices, just don't charge them anything for the drinks and only one mug per demon, We'll get more drinks sent over later," I tell her and start walking away.

Over the next couple of hours, I observe and help if needed as the foundations for the main office for town affairs, the supply warehouse for materials, and the town's Barracks are just about finished.

Mel is having fun running the refreshment counter, and it seems the demons are taking a shine to her and talking with her while they have their drinks.

Twilight is frowning as she concentrates on her project where Pinkie is holding parts in place for a portal frame made of demonite and hell-iron for braces and reinforcement.

Everything is going along smoothly until I hear a commotion above us as a Harpy flies down and gets my attention.

"My Lord, a small demonic bird is heading this way," she tells me.

"Bird?" I say confused and frown as I focus and just feel it coming this way, the thing is, it has my demonic signature...

I fly up over the trees and the Harpy follows me. Once above, she points towards the bird and I frown as I can see dark-fire surrounding the animal. As it gets closer, I notice it's black and about the size of...

"Wait a minute... Noctis!?" I mumble to myself in surprise.

The bird finally reaches us and without hesitation, lands itself on my left shoulder. Now that he's right against me, he looks taller, more aerodynamic and regal, and has a longer, sharper beak and talons. Darkfire gently comes off the top of his head, primary feathers, and tail feathers which are longer. His eyes are red and his talons dark grey.

"Master, I... been... looking for... you..." he says in a primitive way but with a surprisingly deep voice.

"Is that you, Noctis? How did you end up like this?" I ask him as I slowly descend back to the ground.

Over the next thirty minutes, he tells me of how he lost us after eating that dragon carcass I threw down the mountain that was infused with my demonic energy due to the dark fire I killed it with. The energy turned him into a demon and he passed out due to the transformation. Once he woke up, we were gone and he couldn't find us so he stayed by the corpse and kept eating from it until he had to move on. He tried finding us but gave up and returned to the cave and nested there.

Over time he discovered his increased intelligence and dark-fire abilities. He practiced and honed them, and grew in power over the months, hunting the local wildlife until getting the locals attention. A group of hunters, two gryphons, a unicorn, and a pegasus came from the nearby town and they confronted Noctis.

While Noctis was able to kill a gryphon with his dark-fire and talons, the other three managed to hit him with four arrows and three magical blasts, and as Noctis hit the ground, he burst into flames and was nothing but ash.

He doesn't know how long he was like that, but he remembers gasping for air, emerging from his ashes and being whole again. That was two weeks ago and he just noticed my power from the mountains and rushed here.

That means he's now a form of demonic phoenix? And from the energy I sense from him, he's a high level Deamon, almost a low level Archdemon.

"Is the cave with all the wealth in it as we left it?" I ask him as a few demons passing by give Noctis a few glances before getting back to work.

"Yes... all is... as... it was... when you... left, Master," he replies slowly.

I hum in thought and grin, now would be a good time to collect it all and store it as funding for this town to trade with other towns or cities.

"PINKIE!" I suddenly yell out, making a few demons close by yelp at the sudden shout.

I hear a rubber stretching sound coming from my left and I turn to see Pinkie's head flying towards me as her neck stretches from her body.

"Yes, Damien?" she asks as an Incupony grumbles due to having to duck under her neck to get past.

"I need you to follow me and then open a portal back to here once we get there. We're going to collect a lot of hidden wealth for the town," I tell her.

She gasps as a rubber band pinging noise comes from behind her and her body starts flopping through the air towards us before slamming into her head and she's back to normal in front of me. "Like a treasure hunt!?" she asks excitedly.

"HEY!" Twilight complains as her project partner left her.

I turn to Twilight and shout out to her. "She'll be back by the end of the day, I need her help getting something!" I tell her and turn back to the pink enigma. "Let me get a few Harpies to come with us and we'll go," I tell her, getting a smile from her.

After about ten minutes gathering supplies and ten harpies with armed imp or goblin passengers and letting the others know where we're going, we set off towards the mountains of Frost Wind Peak.

Thirteen hours later

After a long flight and a few lunch stops, while ignoring the time Pinkie decided to make a biplane to fly part way (which I need to see if Olivia can make a design of one for my air forces), we reach the cave entrance atop the mountain. I see black feathers in the pillow and blanket nest that Gilda had made which Noctis seems to have claimed as his bed.

"Okay, Pinkie, open a portal back to the Camp. The rest of you guard the entrance, knowing our luck someone will stumble upon us during the transfer..." I say to everyone here.

Pinkie opens her portal and in comes some bourus and other heavy lifting demons who I guide to the piles of wealth in the back. After warning them of the silver, they begin hauling it all back through the portal and surprisingly for once, no one bothered or attacked us.

I've had the silver collected and safely stored to be sent back to Fel Haven and half of it to carefully be turned into silver bullets. These will be kept under lock and key and only deployed to kill invading Demonlords, the rest will be stored for when needed and some for Twilight to continue her research.

The warehouse and town office have been completed while the barracks are half way built. I order my demons to store all the gold, jewellery, gems, and coins in the newly built office vault which will be used for funding the town's needs, which Twilight has already taken a good two-thousand worth in bits to take to Canterlot tomorrow to buy several crystals and gems to use as batteries and enchantments for the portal gate.

The furniture, clothing, and artwork are stored in the Warehouse where we'll decide what to do with them later.

While we were gone, it seems most of the forest's resident wildlife had decided to declare war on us. Every hour a pack of around fifty wooden wolves Twilight informed me are called Timberwolves have been attacking the camp, and each time they try different tactics. If I didn't know any better, I'd say something is commanding them and is either trying to just kill us all, or get us to leave.

So naturally, I will answer this call for war and get a team to hunt for the source sending the wolves.

Now with the camp properly defended and the Timberwolves no longer a threat, we return to Fel Haven where Twilight takes Pinkie to Olivia's lab and recruits my daughter for the project, Olivia being the scientist she is agreed to join the project and so while I'm in my office with Desire and Slitherana doing paperwork, they're all in the lab tinkering with enchantments.

As for Noctis, I've commissioned a small but comfortable nest built within my castle for him and he's picked the rafters in the Throne room. Desire was happy to see he was okay as well when she got to see him again.

Three days later

My paperwork is settled for a few days so I can focus my attention on the town and get the right demons needed to keep it running. Speaking of the town, a couple houses have been built along with Mel's new bar with housing on the second floor for her and the finished barracks next to the office, next will be more housing and a market area.

As for the portal, the trio have finished the enchantment gems and built the frames. All that's left is to try and attach Pinkie's rifts to them and link them.

Also, Mel has become really popular with the workers and she's enjoying her time as the barkeep here. The others have visited when they could but Tidus is spending his time with Applejack when he's over here.

I'm currently overlooking construction of a house with Noctis on my left shoulder while I wait for the scouts reports about the Timberwolves.

"Damien!" I hear the voice of Luna or Selene call out to me. I turn around from the construction I'm looking at and see it's Selene.

"Yes?" I reply with a raised brow.

She stares at Noctis for a few seconds before asking. "What is that?"

"His name is Noctis, and he's a Dark-fire Phoenix," I reply and give Noctis a light scratch under his beak.

Her eyes go wide in surprise. "Noctis!? The raven thou had when we first met!?" she asks in disbelief.

"Good to... see you... again," Noctis replies to her with a light nod.

She just stares and then shakes her head. "At this point we shouldn't be surprised... We art here to warn thee, we received word that the Gryphon King, Julius Ironfeather is trying to ally with the Minotaurs and the Zebras after learning of both mine and our sisters demonic states to possibly attack and kill us thinking we're now under your control," she tells me with a frown.

I stare at her for a good few seconds before face palming. "Great, just what we need. Noooo, no time for a break, no time to just relax and get something peaceful done... but another asshole wants a piece of me," I reply and shake my head and pull my hand down my face.

"Hmmmm, hold on. What if we went to the Minotaur and Zebras first? Try to convince them we're not hostile or evil and form peace treaties with them? Then the gryphons might think twice about attacking us if we have other nations allied with us," I tell her with a raised brow.

She hums for a second and looks down with her left hand on her chin. "It could work, our reports tell us that he's currently in Zebrica, so we could go to the Minotaurs first before he gets the chance," she replies and looks back at me.

"Then we're going to need transportation. I still have a few sloop airships in working order, I wonder if we can supply Pinkie with enough energy to open a portal to allow one through?" I say with a grin.

"It should be possible," she replies as Noctis flies over and lands on her shoulder.

Selene smiles and strokes his head as I turn to Pinkie. "Pinkie! We need you for a second!" I call out, getting the Draconequus' attention.

I raise a brow as she appears to melt into liquid, falls to the ground, slithers her way over, and reforms in front of me.

"Yes?" she asks with a smile.

I roll my eyes and gesture to Selene. "We were wondering if you could open a portal big enough to let one of my small airships through quickly? We can supply the magic if needed," I ask her.

She frowns and narrows her eyes and rubs her chin in thought. I see calculations and math scrolling on her eyes and she suddenly gasps with a lightbulb appearing above her head.

"I can but only for a minute by myself, if you and Selene help I think I can open it for at most ten minutes," she replies.

"More than enough time. Open a portal and let's head to the dock and get a ship ready," I tell her and Selene.

They both agree and we head back to Fel Haven.

Two hours later

With a sloop armed and fully stocked, Pinkie grunts and struggles to open a large portal but Selene and I place our hands on her shoulders, transferring our energy to her, she sighs and the portal stabilises.

"Quickly head through!" I call out to Ironhoof, who will be taking this as his test to be captain of an airship.

"Aye, Sir!" he replies and the ship raises up and forward.

He's been practicing piloting an airship for the last three weeks and he's surprisingly good at it. He also immediately volunteered to pilot once he found out we were heading to Minos for peace talks. Both he and his brother want to get their mother and sister and see if they'd like to come to Tartarus or to the new town we’re building. Scarlet is also tagging along as an anti-boarder guard, she's very deadly with her new demonite cutlass.

We slowly pass through the portal and I notice Pinkie holding her breath and going cross-eyed. She starts shivering and once the ship's through, she exhales and starts deflating like a balloon, flatulent noise and all. The portal collapses and she re-inflates and smiles.

"Am I done?" she asks, I reply with a nod. "Okay! I'mma head back to Twilight and Olivia then, call me if you need me!" she says and flies off back down to the town.

"So, Selene. Shall we head to Canterlot and get an envoy for the Ponies as well?" I ask her as the ship rises higher into the air.

"Yes, it would be a good idea to bring an un-demonized Pony with us just to prove we're not all turned," she replies.

I frown as she makes it sound like a zombie outbreak scenario...

So for ten minutes as the ship flies, we discuss ways to convince the Minotaur Chief to not ally with the Gryphons against us. She believes if we can just prove we're friendly we can convince him to not attack us. Ironhoof though suggests he show's the Chief his new power and abilities in the arena and that I offer to give the Chief the same power, like a bribe and he'd be one of my demons in the process.

We'll go with Selene's idea first and if that doesn't work, then we'll go with Ironhoof's plan.

The castle of Canterlot comes into view where I see Pegasi start to come out and over to us.

I leave Selene to deal with them as I order Ironhoof to take us to the large Garden behind the castle and land there. Selene returns and the Pegasi escort us as we land.

Once tied down, we head into the Castle to discuss our plan with the other Alicorns.

Chapter 59: Airship trip

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 59: Airship trip

Selene leads us to the Throne room where the guards and maids avoid eye contact with us, making me smirk at their skittishness.

We enter the room to find Celestia and Luna on their thrones talking with guards and ponies while Cadence is to the side of the room sitting on a bench with Shining and Gilda.

Everything goes silent at our arrival as I see Celestia sigh. "Damien... Is there something you need?" she asks carefully.

I roll my eyes at her still wary attitude. "Just a pony envoy and some guards for them to join us to convince the Minotaur Chief to not aid the gryphons in attacking us all," I reply as I walk over to the base of the stairs to her throne.

She raises an eyebrow at that. "It would take a month to reach Minos... Even with one of our airships..." she says and looks at Selene.

"Worry not, Sister. Damien hast brought one of his own Airships, surely thou saw it as we arrived?" Selene replies and asks.

A white Unicorn with blue hair and moustache in a fancy black tux, top hat, and monocle speaks up. "You mean that strange airship we saw arriving outside the window was his?" he asks us.

"Yup, one of my smallest ones though, built for speed and scouting mostly. Perfect for getting to Minos as soon as possible," I reply.

"And how did it move without Pegasi to pull it?" he then asks and walks over to me, seemingly unafraid. Though the pale pinkish white Unicorn mare with pink hair and tail, a slender body, and a powder blue dress next to him looks nervous.

"Engines, propellers, and a thunder crystal battery to power them. So as long as the crystals remain active, it'll never run out of power," I reply and raise a brow at him. "And who are you?" I ask.

"Oh, where are my manners, I am Fancy Pants. I run a trading enterprise using our new airships to transport goods around the world. I was curious as to how yours moved by itself and wondered if I may purchase a few airships?" he replies and asks me.

I think it over, these airships are what help give my nation and army an advantage over my enemies. And I just don't feel comfortable selling them to others, even allies.

"I'll think about it, but until my new town is built and ready, I don't plan to sell or trade anything yet," I tell him, getting a nod in return.

"Understandable, well, should you change your mind, here is my card," he replies and pulls a business card from his tux and holds it out to me. "Perhaps we can even set up trading routes between your town and Canterlot?"

I take it and have a quick look.

High cloud world trade enterprise. Has Fancy's business address as well as various ways to contact him. I wonder how long it would take Olivia to replicate phones or cell phones with my old phone I gave her?

"Okay, I'll keep it in mind. But back to why I'm here, Celestia! Do you have a diplomat we can take with us?" I ask her and for the next ten minutes as we explain our plan to her, she frowns and nods.

"Primrose Scroll, would be the mare to go with you, along with six guards to protect her," Celestia says and I nod in agreement.

"Alright, we'll wait at my airship then for her, we're in the garden behind the castle," I tell her and start heading for the doors.

"Damien! Please protect her as well, she's not just an envoy but a friend, I will not be happy if you've let her come to harm while with you," she tells me.

I wave my arm over my shoulder. "I will!" I reply and exit the room with Selene beside me.

We wait in my airship while the crew make sure the ship is all good. An elderly light yellow Earth Pony mare arrives wearing white robes with dark blue trim, both Celestia, Luna / Selene's marks on the shoulders and a medallion of a sun with a crescent moon in overlapping is around her neck.

"Primrose I assume?" I call out to her, getting her attention.

"Indeed, are we set to leave or do you require more preparations?" she asks and eyes me with interest.

I chuckle as I jump down off the railing and land gently in front of her. "No, we're good to go. A room has been prepared for you, but your guards will have to share hammocks in the crew quarters," I tell her.

"Thank you, I guess introductions are in order. I am Primrose Scroll, envoy for Equestria for this journey," she says and holds her hand out to me.

I raise a brow and smirk as I gently grasp her hand and shake.

"You have my respect already for not trembling in fear at the sight of us. I am Damien Jackson, the current Overlord of Tartarus," I reply.

"I know. Celestia has already informed me of your appearance and I'm used to dealing with other species already, so dealing with demons is not much different," she says and chuckles.

"I think we'll get along just fine ma'am, shall we depart?" I say and ask her.

"Yes, the sooner we get there the sooner I can help prevent a war from breaking out... not the first time I've done that either," she replies and starts heading for the boarding plank. Her guards have a few crates which I can only guess are their own supplies and gear.

I like her already. I head back on board and almost shit myself as Pinkie's head pops out of nowhere.

"Dammit, Pinkie! Why are you here?" I ask her. The crew and our guests staring in confusion at her floating head.

She's about to say something but her cheeks puff out and I cringe as Purple hooves suddenly come out of her mouth. I watch with morbid fascination as Twilight slowly slides out without any saliva and eventually her head pops out with a disturbed expression on her face.

Pinkie coughs a few times before heaving again and next out comes a flustered Dark Desire wearing a short skirt and tank top who's left standing beside Twilight.

Once over, Pinkie is grinning at me. "Twilight heard you're heading out to Minos and wanted to tag along! So here she is! Also Desire called me and said she needed feeding soon, bye!" and with that, her head over inflates like a balloon and pops into confetti which dissolves into nothing.

I shake my head and look at Twilight who hasn't moved. "Twilight, you okay?" I ask her and snap my fingers in front of her face.

"I have stared into the abyss and it stared back at me..." she mumbles before fainting.

I catch her and sigh, making a mental note of punishing Pinkie somehow... "Desire... keep an eye on Twilight while I oversee the departure..." I tell her.

"Oooookay..." she says, still flustered as I take Twilight into my room and place her carefully on the bed and make sure she's comfortable. Once done and Desire sitting down on the bed, I head back out and order Ironhoof to take off.

The next morning

I yawn as I wake up with both Desire and Twilight beside me.

"Morning," Desire says and kisses my left cheek.

"Good morning. So, didn't expect to be dragged along did you?" I ask her and chuckle.

She giggles and smiles. "I did ask Pinkie to take me to you, but the way she did it was... an experience to say the least," she replies.

I chuckle and turn my head to face her. "I bet... Out of morbid curiosity, what was it like?" I ask her.

She hums and looks up to the ceiling, the creaking of the ship's hull sounds out now and then as we fly thirty miles an hour over the land.

"Probably how your dick feels inside me I think... Tight, warm, wet, just without any moisture sticking to me, and to be honest? It felt kinda nice..." she replies with a conflicted expression.

"Well I hope you don't make a habit out of it or it turns into a fetish, never been into vore myself and I don't plan to start," I tell her and yawn again. Holding both of them close to me by their hips.

She giggles while Twilight mumbles in her sleep, snuggling her head into my neck.

We stay like this for another hour before the door opens and Selene enters.

"Damien? We've left Equestria and have begun to enter the Badlands," she tells me and I raise a brow.

If I remember correctly, that Changeling named Sheldon we saved from the pirates said his Queen and Hive was here.

I get up and get dressed, leaving Desire giggling as she cuddles with a still sleeping Twilight who unconsciously snuggles with her. I exit my cabin and meet Selene out on the deck with Primrose as well.

Primrose turns and spots me. "I wish I had this vessel years ago, it would have saved so much time on travelling on hoof..." she says and stares back out ahead of us.

"Yes, it's a quick ship, but we're still thinking of ways to make them faster, or even a completely new design in the future," I reply and stand beside her as I take a breath of fresh air.

She looks at me with a raised brow. "Faster? how could you make it faster?" she asks.

I smirk and chuckle. "I'm afraid that will have to be kept a secret until it's ready," I reply.

I've told Olivia of jet planes in the past, and now that the Dune Buggy has been completed, she wants to try making a jet engine. We have a renewable source of oil that demonic frogs called Lash Tongues from the Dread Swamp secrete from their skin. Their oil is highly flammable and makes a good fuel when refined.

It's been mainly used as lantern oil for the last four-hundred years, but we're going to see if it can be used as a form of jet fuel for turbine engines in the future.

Primrose huffs with a small smile. "State secret, I understand. If you don't want to say I won't ask again, but we should arrive in Minos within a week at this rate," she says and looks back out to the horizon.

"Well then, I'll leave you to your own devices and I think I'll take a quick flight around the ship," I say and before she can reply, I jump overboard and spread my wings and fly alongside the airship.

Four days later

Twilight and Desire have been fed yesterday and not much has happened over the last four days. We've passed the Badlands and have entered the borders of Minos, a vibrant plains area with trees and other flora growing plentiful. I can even see a few lakes from up here.

Twilight and Desire are currently on the deck in sun bathing chairs wearing only a black bikini. My crew ignores them, but two of the pony guards are sweating as they steal glances at my girls. They can look, but if they touch, I'm ripping their hands off.

"My Lord! Movement high starboard!" one of my crew calls out.

I grab a spyglass from one of the crew and look through it. I spot what appears to be a squad of ten Gryphons flying towards Minos, and we're catching up to them very fast.

"Interesting... It could be an envoy from the Gryphons," I comment as I lower the spyglass. If it is, we'll let them live and it'll make for an intriguing encounter when we arrive before them.

An Incupony with a sniper rifle walks up to me. "Your orders, my Lord?" he asks.

"Keep an eye on them, but don't attack unless attacked first. And if they do, capture one alive, particularly the envoy if you can," I reply and narrow my eyes at them.

"Yes, my Lord," he says and flies up to one of the sniper nests on the side of the balloon.

"May I?" I hear Primrose ask behind me.

I turn and see her holding her hand out, I smirk and place the spyglass in her hand. She looks out towards the Gryphons and hums in thought.

"That is the envoy of the Gryphon King. It seems their King sent another to delegate for him while he's with the Zebras," she informs me with a frown.

"Hmmm... Well, this will be either annoying or intriguing, but let's get to Hornheim before them. Ironhoof! Full speed for two hours!" I reply and call out to the Balrog.

"Aye, Sir!" he replies and pushes the throttle all the way forward.

The engines roar as the propellers increase in speed and the ship lurches forward as we catch up to the Gryphons even faster than before. I can't help the grin that comes to my face as well soar past them, scaring the shit out of them and the looks of shock which then after looking at me become scowls as they try to pick up speed to keep up.

I look ahead again, still grinning. While my ship can keep going non-stop for up to sixteen days before needing maintenance, they'll need to stop for rest and camp for the night, we can just keep moving while doing that.

We'll have a good week or two before they show up, plenty of time to convince the Minotaur Chief to sign a treaty.

Three days later

We're on the deck looking towards the approaching city of Hornheim. A magnificent thirty foot tall, ten foot thick large brick wall surrounds the massive city. Large buildings dot the city, not surprising considering how big Minotaurs are.

A large building sits in the middle of the city, not exactly a castle, more like a fortress with thick walls and battlements. I can also see smoke coming from several spots near each other in a trade area of the city, perhaps forges?

All in all, it's a well made and fortified city. Not as big as Fel Haven, but still large.

"Ironhoof! Take us outside the main gate, I don't think they'd just let us land inside!" I call out.

"Aye, Sir! Prepare to land!" Ironhoof replies and calls out to the crew. He then steers the ship to the main gate.

I look down to the city as we fly over it and chuckle at the Minotaur soldiers I can see scrambling to the main gate, looking like a good ten-thousand of them flooding the streets. Civilians are also running for cover, you'd think I brought my fleet with how they're reacting to one little sloop...

"They won't attack us will they?" Twilight asks with worry in her voice.

"I don't think so, but Desire and I won't let any harm come to you or anyone else on this ship, alright? But just in case, get ready to head below deck," I reply and pat her head.

It takes ten minutes to touch down and lower the boarding ramp. I watch as the Minotaurs surround my airship with large battle-axes, war-hammers, spears that would more likely be called halberds with how large the spearheads are, and instead of crossbows, damn things are more like hand held ballista. The ballista wielders even have another Minotaur carrying large bolts for them.

Their armour is a mix of dark grey half plate or full plate in a very dwarven style, solid plates with runic engravings on them, beneath that there's thick leather padding. No chainmail, medium, or light armour in sight, nor any form of magic user among their ranks.

I step forward and disembark first, followed by an Incupony sniper and a Boarus knight with an imp pistoleer on his back.

Following behind us is Selene, Primrose and two of her guards, a mare and a stallion.

"Halt, identify yourselves!" a brown furred Minotaur in more decorated armour coloured white with gold trim demands, wielding a massive battle-axe of equal colour.

"I am Damien Jackson, the Overlord of Tartarus!" I announce, getting murmurs and much more guarded stances from them.

I step aside and let Primrose pass me. "I am the envoy Primrose Scroll of her majesty's Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, and Princess Selene of Equestria who has come with us as well," she introduces herself and lightly bows her head.

Selene nods her head in greeting.

The decorated Minotaur narrows his eyes at us, me specifically. "And why have you come here?" he then demands.

I speak up in reply. "The Gryphon King plans to ask both you and the Zebras to attack Equestria and my people due to three of the four Alicorns now being demons, and that I am the Overlord of demons as well. We've come here to make a treaty with your Chief to prevent that. We even passed by the Gryphon King's envoy on our way here, they should arrive in about a week's time."

"So you've conquered Equestria?" he asks and readies his battle-axe, putting his soldiers on edge.

Selene decides to speak up to that. "Equestria is still its own nation separate of Tartarus and we've simply agreed to a treaty, Damien has no say as to it's ruling or laws. Our sister Luna became a demon to restore her lost power, and mine self to regain our body and power. Our sister Celestia was under the influence of a demonlord we fought a millennia ago, Damien helped free her of Tirek's influence and returned her senses to her," she explains.

The Minotaur snorts and starts walking over to us. "Even so, Demons have always been known to be malicious and deceitful. I've never heard of a neutral Demon, let alone a friendly one," he says and stops a good ten feet away.

I raise a brow at him as I speak up. "And how long ago did your people last see a Demon?" I ask him.

He frowns and thinks for a few seconds. "That would be almost seven-hundred years ago."

"That's a long time for a lot of changes don't you think?" I then ask him.

His eyes narrow at me and he turns back to the city. "You will wait here until I have spoken with the Chief," he says and walks back to the gate.

I turn to the others and sigh. "And I guess we just wait on the ship," I say and start walking back up the boarding ramp.

Chapter 60: Arena

Angle of Darkness
Chapter 60: Arena

I lounge on the deck after equipping my armour, rifle and pistol, with plenty of ammunition for both with a cold glass of bloodapple juice in hand with Desire, also armed and armoured, and Twilight in their own chairs next to me.

Selene is with Primrose Scroll and her guards just chatting.

Twilight has a worried expression and glances at me before speaking up. "Are you sure we're going to be okay?" she asks me.

I chuckle and take another sip. "Of course. If they attack us, I'll just have my Shadow Wraiths pull everyone into the shadow realm while Desire and I will show them the grave mistake they made," I reply.

Desire giggles deeply. "Hmmm, I almost hope they do! I haven't really let loose with my new Demonlord strength yet and this could be a good opportunity... But then again, we don't want more enemies than we already have," she says with a sigh.

After a good twenty minutes or so, one of my soldiers walks up to us and nods to me. "My Lord, the Minotaur has returned with the Chieftain," he reports and heads back to the boarding ramp.

"Whelp... Time to see how this goes," I say and get up.

We make our way down the ramp and wait for the Chieftain and their white knight to arrive. They stand about twelve feet from us and I take in the Chieftain's appearance.

I raise an eyebrow seeing as they're a female. Just as tall as the white knight, and half as muscular, she's wearing solid half-plate armour with padding under it but her biceps, thighs, hands, and stomach are exposed as a large greatsword that's more like a sharp slab of iron with no handguard is strapped to her back.

Her fur is a dull grey, her eyes are a deep brown while her horns are jet black. She has plenty of scars all over her body showing she's had her fair share of battles.

"I am Onyx Battle-Born, Chieftain of the Minotaurs. I've been told you want to make a treaty with us, and why should we trust the word of a Demon?" she asks me.

I laugh, making her raise a brow. "How do you trust any word from a stranger? Doesn't matter if I'm a Demon, Pony, Gryphon, Zebra, or Minotaur. Trust has to be earned no matter who they are, so how do we earn your trust? I honestly just don't want you to side with the Gryphons or Zebras when they decide to go suicidal and attack us. I have an army of over two-hundred thousand that can take on around ten of you at once, each. I have weapons and armour that out match anything on this world, I have war-machines that are constantly evolving and tip the balance on any battlefield. But I only bring these to bare if threatened," I reply and tilt my head.

"Do you intend on joining the Gryphons in threatening me or my allies?" I ask her politely.

She narrows her eyes at me and huffs. "And how am I to believe any of that? For all we know you're bluffing."

I grin as I turn back to the ship. "IRONHOOF! THUNDERHORN! GET DOWN HERE!" I yell out.

Minotaurs gasp as they see the larger Balrogs clad in thick fel-iron armour with arm guards that are two inches thick, and a pair of massive hammers weighting eight-hundred pounds with heads in the shape of a bull's skull on their backs walking down the ramp and stopping beside me. "You called, my Lord?" Ironhoof asks, his muscles bulging as he glares at the Minotaurs around us. His wife Scarlet just smiles and sits on the sloop's railing as she watches.

"Ironhoof, Thunderhorn. Think you can take on these Minotaurs by yourselves?" I ask them as I gesture to the aforementioned Minotaurs.

They both look at each other and then to the Minotaurs with grins. They've both been training with each other daily and have found their strengths and limits. From what I can tell, Ironhoof is about four times stronger than this Chieftain, and ten times stronger than the average Minotaur here. Thunderhorn is slightly weaker than his brother but still seven or eight times stronger than the average Minotaur himself.

They both are some of the strongest demons I have physically and their regenerative abilities rival mine. They just have no ranged abilities, unless you count giving them modified ship cannons they can hold like an RPG as a ranged option.

Ironhoof laughs before abruptly stopping with a serious expression. "Easily, my Lord," he replies, making most of the Minotaurs glare at him.

Onyx narrows her eyes before huffing. "Then I propose a contest. My best warriors against those two in the arena, then you and I shall fight. Should they win, I will not side with the Gryphons. And if you win, I will count Tartarus as allies of Minos! But, should they lose, Tartarus will be banned from entering Minos. And if you lose, I will side with the Gryphons! What do you say?" she explains and asks me.

I grin widely and chuckle as I walk up to her making her guards tense up. I hold out my right hand to her. "Challenge accepted!" I gleefully announce.

She grasps my hand and squeezes, to her shock I felt no pain, nor my armour bent as I 'lightly' squeeze back, getting a small wince from her. We shake for a few seconds before both letting go.

She puts on a brave face and speaks up. "Only you and those two are permitted to enter, the rest will wait on board your ship," she tells us and I sigh.

"Was hoping to show off a bit, but if that's how it has to be then so be it," I say and turn back to the others. "We'll be back soon! Just relax and enjoy yourselves until then!" I say, getting a worried look from Twilight before turning back to Onyx.

"Oh, and if I find out any of your people attacked mine or the Equestrians, or even just harmed them, I will retaliate with my army," I warn her and start making my way towards the main gate. "Ironhoof! Thunderhorn! Let's go!" I call out to them.

They don't answer but I hear their heavy footsteps behind me.

"Keep an eye on them but don't attack unless provoked!" I hear Onyx say before she catches up with us.

I see her in my peripheral vision as we walk to the city's gate. "So, what are the rules for these fights?" I ask her as she walks ahead of us.

"As your Minotaurs think of themselves so highly they will be facing a hundred of our best warriors, no magic shall be used and they may only use what weapons they have with them. Our fight shall be the same, no magic and only what weapons we bring in with us," she replies.

"Is it a fight to the death or till one surrenders?" I then ask her as civilians gossip around us, keeping their distance but following as word spreads of a fight within the arena.

"Either, if one surrenders, then they are out of the fight, but most warriors are too stubborn and will fight to the end for their honour," she replies as I look around the city.

Solid grey brick buildings much larger than most of even Fel-Haven's buildings, besides the skyscrapers of course. The roofing appears to be clay tiles and there are a lot of ornamental weapons, banners, and statues of warriors dotted about the city. People all around us are talking about us while many start following.

We take a left off the main road and ahead of us is a large coliseum structure. "Follow this bull to the Arena's pit, I'll get the fight announced and ready," Onyx tells us and walks off down a side hallway.

"Alright, let's get this show started," I say with a smirk, getting a huff from the bull but he walks off down the main hallway. It doesn't take long to exit the building where we're led into the main arena. Flat bloodstained sand in a circular pit that's fifteen feet below the spectator stands, which is half full already and more minotaurs flood in to fill the empty seats.

Weapons line the pit's walls, ranging from axes, halberds or spears, hammers, tridents, it seems there's no shields, bows, crossbows, or one-handed weapons here.

"Minotaurs of Minos!" A loud deep male voice calls out. I spot a black minotaur on a balcony overlooking the arena with a megaphone in his hand. I wonder if it's powered by magic as the tech here I've seen is primitive. I also see Onyx standing next to him. "We have a special event for you today! For the very Overlord of Tartarus himself and two of his demons will be facing off against one-hundred of our finest warriors and the chieftain herself!" he says, getting cheers from the crowd.

I raise an eyebrow and look back to Ironhoof and his brother. "Well then, get limbered up and ready for your fight, try not to kill anyone, only knock your opponents out, no permanent damage, think of it as a test. If you win without a single kill, I'll give you both rewards," I tell them with a chuckle.

Thunderhorn grumbles while Ironhoof roars out a laugh boisterously. "Sounds like a challenge! Oh how I wish Scarlet was here to watch this!" he says and finishes with a deep chuckle as they both start stretching their limbs.

"Now I present our finest warriors and gladiators!" the Announcer says as the side gates open up and out floods a hundred Minotaurs of varying sizes, colours, and armour ranging from full plate to nothing but a loin cloth. I also notice quite a few sporting nasty scars and appear to be quite skilled.

They all spread out and start claiming weapons from the walls. "Guests! Select from the walls your weapons!" Mr Announcer tells us.

Both Balrogs reach back and pull their eight-hundred pound hammers from their backs and slam them into the ground, making a foot deep crater from each impact. Once done showing off, they heft them onto their shoulders with loud clangs of metal.

I chuckle and spot some now nervous looking Minotaurs around us. "Remember, not a single kill and I'll reward you for it. But if you have to, I'd rather you live than risk your lives for a prize. Now, show them what Tartarus is made of," I tell them before flying off up to the Announcer's balcony and take a seat on the railing.

"So, how long do you think this will take?" I ask Onyx as I look at the Minotaurs circling the Balrog brothers.

She laughs as she looks down as well. "I feel you've underestimated my warriors, it won't take long for my warriors to beat yours," she replies confidently.

I just smirk and focus on the coming battle.

"Warriors! Prepare for battle!" The Announcer yells, getting a cheer from the now full spectator stands. "The match will end when neither side can stand! Fight!" And the battle begins.

POV: Ironhoof

I grin and ready my hammer as the Minotaurs around us start moving in. "So, Brother! Are you ready to prove our father was wrong about us!?" I ask him and look for the strongest warrior I can find.

"Then how about we prove it to him together right now?" he asks and looks toward a Minotaur in full plate.

I look and my breath catches in my throat. Walking towards us in slightly damaged armour is our Father, Dark grey fur, cream coloured horns, green eyes, and a scar on the left side of his forehead, wielding a large battle-axe. I growl deeply as I place my left hand on my brother's shoulder.

"Keep the others off me while I go say hello..." I tell him coldly. 'I'm going to enjoy this' I think to myself.

He sighs and elbows my ribs lightly. "Just remember, don't kill him. Can't prove anything to him as he doesn't recognise us right now. Let's win and then chew him out. Then we can get Mother and Heartsong out of here as our prize for winning. It's been too long since we sent them any coin," my Brother tells me, making me sigh and calm down. He's right.

"Then let's stampede through them all... I'm thinking eight minutes, twelve tops," I reply and then roar out loudly before charging straight at my Father like a train.

My heavy hoofsteps leave small imprints of my metal clad hooves as I thunder across the arena floor. My Brother charges behind me, hammer at the ready before he slams his weapon lightly into his first opponent, sending him flying into two others.

He doesn't slow down as he starts swinging left and right, sending Minotaurs flying over others, any hit he receives is either deflected off his armour, or too light to even stagger him.

I leave them to him and focus on my Father who frowns at me and readies his axe. As I reach him he swings and I do nothing as it slams into my helmet, the clang of steel on fel-iron rings out through the arena. But it doesn't stop my momentum and I slam head first into his chest, cracking his chestplate and sending him tumbling past other warriors.

I swing my hammer left and right, mowing down warrior after warrior, making sure to not deal a fatal blow, broken bones maybe, but they'll live.

My father grunts and shakes his head as he stands back up and watches as I defeat every warrior that gets within range. He picks up his axe and with a bellow of rage, rushes at me again where the other warriors back away giving us some space.

He swings his axe and I return it with my hammer, despite mine being heavier, I'm surprised that he managed to stop it with as little recoil as possible.

I frown and swing again with the same result, we start trading blows on each other's weapons until the ninth hit shatters his axe. I smirk as I grab a warrior trying to attack me from behind and throw him into my father, knocking them both down to the ground.

I glance at my brother and see he's already taken down about forty warriors. I feel pride for him as he's come a long way since we reunited back at Skullcove Bay, no longer the timid and reluctant pirate, but now a strong and proud warrior!

I return my attention back to my own fight and start knocking out more warriors while I wait for my Father to get back onto his hooves.

POV: Damien Jackson

I smirk as I look at Onyx and the slack jawed Announcer. She's wide eyed in disbelief as my Balrogs have taken down seventy of the one-hundred warriors in just nine minutes, without a single fatality so far.

"I think it was you who underestimated my warriors, Chieftain Onyx," I comment and look back to the battle.

I chuckle as Thunderhorn is using a smaller Minotaur as a makeshift club before throwing him into another Minotaur.

It doesn't take long for them to beat ninety-nine warriors leaving one battered full plate warrior left standing. I raise an eyebrow as to why the Brothers are focusing so much on this single warrior. I can see them talking to each other which makes the warrior suddenly angry and pick up an axe and a hammer off the ground before charging at Ironhoof.

Their weapons collide, sending sparks flying at how hard they're hitting each other. Thunderhorn is just standing to the side watching them fight.

The warrior parries Ironhoof's hammer with his axe enough to then swing an uppercut with his hammer and slams it into Iron's jaw, making him stumble back a few steps.

Impressive, that was the first solid blow any of these warriors managed to connect. Iron shakes his head and huffs before walking back to the warrior and resuming their trade of blows.

Over the course of four minutes they continue to fight, but it would seem the warrior is getting tired while Iron is still going full steam. Ironhoof back hands the hammer away while headbutting the axe, leaving the warrior open for a hoof to the chest, sending him onto his back and he's not getting back up if the haggard breathing I hear is any indication.

"And I think that's a win for my warriors," I say, shaking Mr Announcer out of his stupor.

"A-A-And we have our w-w-winners! The Demons have defeated all one-hundred of Mino's finest warriors!" he yells out, making me hiss and rub the inside on my right ear.

"So, I guess it's our turn now? Fair warning, I'm just as strong as them but much faster. Are you sure you want to fight me?" I ask her.

Onyx shakes her head and glares at me. "I have never backed down from a challenge, even at the risk of death," she replies and heads to the balcony's doorway.

"Fair enough," I say and jump off the railing and glide down to the two brothers fist bumping each other.

"Well done, Brother! I dare say we are the strongest Minotaurs in history!" Ironhoof boasts, getting a head shake and smirk from Thunderhorn.

I land next to them and chuckle. "Not a single fatality. As promised I shall reward you both. Iron, you will become captain of my flagship Death from above when it's rebuilt. It is a Man'o'War class ship with one-hundred cannons, eight ballista, a bomb bay, sniper nests, and heavy armour plating. Scarlet will be your second in command," I tell him, making him look beyond excited.

"Thunderhorn, is there anything you would like?" I ask him.

He frowns and looks at Iron before looking back at me. "I want our mother and sister to move to Tartarus with us and be given comfortable lives," he replies with determination.

"Is that all? Granted, we'll go and get them before we head back to Tartarus. But for now, sit back, rest, and watch my match. Then while the Chieftain and I come up with a treaty, you can go visit your family," I tell them, getting nods from them before Iron looks back to that last warrior and huffs before walking off with his Brother.

I glance at the warrior as he and many others start to get up slowly before helping others onto their hoofs and out of the arena. I'll have to ask about their fixation on him later.

I see Onyx enter the pit and I smile as I do some mild stretching. "Any specific rules for our fight or just fight till the other can't?" I ask her.

She draws her massive slab of a sword off her back and holds it with both hands at the ready.

"As I stated before, no magic, and until only one of us stays standing," she replies and waits for Mr Announcer.

"Spectators! We will now begin the match of our Chieftain against the Overlord of Tartarus himself! " Mr Announcer yells to the crowd, getting them to cheer at their Chieftain and to jeer me.

I look around and spot a sword just as big as hers but less decorated and send out a tendril to pluck it off the wall and bring it to me. I test its weight and it feels like a good three-hundred kilograms. Not bad, but nothing compared to the Balrogs hammers.

I get into position and smirk at Onyx while she glares at me. The arena is silent as the tension rises in the air.

"Fighters get ready!" Mr Announcer yells. "FIGHT!"

Chapter 61: Chieftain VS Overlord

Author's Note

Sorry for the long wait. But here is the next chapter.

Chapter 61: Chieftain VS Overlord

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 61: Chieftain VS Overlord

Onyx instantly sprints for me while I hold the greatsword with my right hand and reel it back behind me. Once she's within range, I turn my torso to the left and pull my arm and the sword as hard as I can, the massive blade arcs around me horizontally where it impacts her slab of metal.

The resounding gong of heavy metal slamming against one another rings out in the Arena. She grunts as do I as we recoil from the strong blows.

Gripping the sword with both hands for better control, I start swinging quickly, forcing her to parry and defend against my strikes.

She struggles to keep up getting the crowd to sound worried, but she then surprises me by twirling her body and parrying my strike while swinging her left hand out and haymakers me in the head.

I yelp in shock and tumble across the ground for a few seconds. I recover and shake my head as I realise I've dropped the sword from the surprise. I roll my neck and crack my knuckles as I quickly sprint to the wall and grab a large battleaxe. It's much heavier than the sword, and feels like five-hundred pounds of pure steel.

I smirk as I heft it up with both hands and charge at Onyx. She huffs and kicks at the ground a couple of times before charging at me as well.

We both swing but this time my strike forces her back with the greater force and weight. She reels back and I follow up with a high jump and a dropkick to her head. With a grin, I return her face strike with my own and send her tumbling across the ground.

She recovers with a slight wobble and bloody nose. She growls and picks up her sword before walking menacingly towards me, dragging her sword along the sand covered ground.

I spin the axe a few times in my grip as I walk towards her as well. The crowd cheers her on and once we reach each other, we begin slugging again with our weapons. This goes on for a couple of minutes before she roars out and slams her weapon into the ground.

The ground shakes from the sheer force making me almost lose my footing. With a smirk I move back in to continue our trades, neither of us landing a blow with our weapons. Although I'm not aiming to injure her.

"Not bad, not bad at all. But you're going to haf'ta hit a lot harder than that!" I say as I use my wings to fling myself at her, using the axe as a shield and slam into her sword as she uses the flat to guard herself with. I bounce off her and she falls flat on her ass.

Landing on my feet I twirl my axe and start circling her as she stands back up.

"I think we both know how this is going to end. But to be honest? It's been a long time since I've had a fight just for fun and not to defend my home or people, or just to punish someone for attacking us. I hope you're enjoying this just as much as I am!" I tell her and wait for her reply and to get ready for round three.

She snorts but a smirk is on her face as well. "I will admit, you're the first to offer up a decent challenge. Most of my opponents don't last long against me, and so far you've lasted the longest! I am very much enjoying this. Now enough talk, let us continue!" she replies and charges with her sword.

I swing with an uppercut which she slaps my axe with the flat of her blade away. I spin around and use the momentum to strike at her left hip, she steps back just avoiding the axe and quickly steps forward and headbutts me on my forehead.

I grunt from the blow and as I lean back, I drop my axe and place my hands on the ground and bring my knee up, slamming it into her jaw.

She yelps in pain as her head goes back and forces her to stumble backwards. The crowd cheers and it's no longer just for her, but for the both of us as we put on a grand show of combat.

I cart wheel back and notice I'm next to the sword I first used and pick it up. I also notice a large dent where we first hit each other's swords.

And so for a good ten minutes we trade blows and she finally manages to get a solid hit on my left arm, fracturing it with the force. I groan in pain as my regen kicks in and repairs the damage.

I think I've given the crowd and Onyx a good enough show and start to get serious. I increase my speed and start to rapidly hit her sword near the handguard to make her lose her grip and after a good thirty or so hits, she finally gives in and releases her sword due to the pain of absorbing so many hits.

I quickly shoulder tackle her onto her back and sit on her stomach, her breasts resting on my lap while I hold the sword from the grip and blade and gently press it to her throat.

"And I think that's my win," I comment cheekily.

She tries to push the sword but I carefully keep it at her neck. After a minute of struggling, she goes limp and sighs.

"I concede..." she says, making the crowd go silent.

After a good few seconds of nothing, the crowd starts mumbling amongst themselves.

"C-C-Chieftain Onyx has conceded! T-T-The winner is the O-Overlord of T-Tartarus!" Mister announcer says, getting my attention and making the crowd clap but not cheer.

I look back down and see Onyx blushing and looking at my lap where I follow and chuckle at seeing how well her chest fits on it.

I stand up and remove the sword from her throat and offer a hand to her.

"So, by your own words, will Minos ally with Tartarus and Equestria? Oh and also refuse to help the Gryphons in attacking us?" I ask her.

She grumbles and grabs my hand and I help her back onto her hooves.

"I am a heifer of my word, I will not help the Gryphons attack you or Equestria and will also sign a nonaggression pact with Tartarus," she replies and dusts herself off before picking up her sword which is slightly damaged.

I grin and toss my sword to the ground. "Great, also if you would like, I could offer you more power and possibly eternal life if you want. I can make you a Balrog like my two warriors, and with how strong you are now, you may even end up an Archdemon or possibly a Demonlord. So, what do you say?" I ask her.

She looks shocked I would offer such a thing. "Why would you offer me that?" she asks in confusion, but not outright refusal.

"I look out for my allies and friends, and if I can help you become stronger so we could help each other when needed, why not? And it'll help you protect your people from powerful enemies. There will be conditions of course, such as you wouldn't be able to attack me or my people with intent to kill without feeling pain. But, it's your decision. We have plenty of time to think it over," I reply.

She looks down in thought, a frown on her face as she thinks it over. I grin as I see her glance at my Balrogs and then to her left hand.

After a minute or two she looks back at me. "Alright, I'll accept your offer. In return for this power, I will aid you should you need it. Now what do I have to do?" she tells me and asks.

I smirk as I walk over to her and without warning, grab her right horn, tilt her head getting a yelp from her, and bite into her neck.

"Ahhh! What are youuuuuu... Argh!" she demands in surprise, but then grunts as her body starts changing. The crowd gasps and goes silent.

She grows a couple of inches, her muscles become more dense and defined, her armour groans before the straps holding them snaps, leaving her in just a tight fitting pelt bra and loin cloth. her fur turns black, long white hair grows from her head down to her mid spine, her eyes turn ice blue, her horns a dark purple.

She grabs onto my body in discomfort and I grunt as it feels like she's trying to snap me in two. After a good minute, the changes stop and I release her. Although she still has me in a bearhug.

I raise an eyebrow at her as she breathes heavily, her eyes are unfocused as she pants and shivers.

"So... S-So much power... I feel... great!" she says and without warning, kisses me hungrily.

I go wide eyed as she vigorously makes out with me in front of everyone. I quickly get my wits back and frown. She want's to play like that huh?

I twist my right leg behind both of hers and pull, making her trip and release her grip on me. I grab her around her chest and hold her from just falling over, I then kiss her myself and force my long tongue into her mouth which coils around hers, making her moan and due to all the sensory stimulation, she passes out and I gently put her down.

My oral muscle slowly slithers out of her now limp lips and jaw with a loud slurp. I chuckle at the dazed expression on her face and wonder why she kissed me without warning. I'll just have to ask her once she wakes up.

I look around the now silent arena where the crowd just stares and doesn't know what to do.

Ironhoof and Thunderhorn both run up to me, both with shocked expressions.

"So..." Iron says awkwardly. "What do we do now, my Lord?" he asks.

"I guess we wait for Onyx to wake up and then we get around to making that treaty. Why don't you go and visit your family while I wait. This might take a while," I inform them and sit down next to the out cold chieftain.

"Are you sure?" Thunder asks me.

"Yes, now go. If you can convince your family to come with us, warn them that they'll either live in our town as minotaurs, or come to Tartarus as Balrogs," I tell them, getting nods from both of them.

I spot some of Onyx's warriors making their way over to us and I sigh as I glance at Onyx. She now has a dopey grin on her face and giggles. Really doesn't fit her new appearance.

POV: Ironhoof

My brother and I leave the arena and make our way through the city with a couple of warriors following us. Minotaurs who didn't come to the arena stop and stare at us or take cover. I smirk at a young calf who has a wooden sword in his hand gawk at us as he drops his sword in surprise.

It doesn't take long to reach the two floor home we grew up in and sigh as I stare at the door.

"Are you alright, Iron?" my brother asks me.

I shake my head and huff. "I will be once we get mother and sister out of here," I reply and knock on the door.

The door slowly opens and a young fifteen year old girl with white fur and brown hair with cream coloured horns and blue eyes looks up at me. I smile at the sight of my little sister, but then get a shocked expression as she yelps and slams the door shut.

Thunderhorn chuckles and I pout as I knock on the door again. "Heartsong!? It's us, your brothers!" I tell her, getting a gasp and the door to open slightly again.

She stares at us for a few seconds before speaking. "My brothers aren't dark blue..."

"We... got stronger and this was a side effect. I assure you, it is us, Ironhoof and Thunderhorn," I reply.

She stares at us for a few seconds and then asks. "What happened on my tenth birthday..."

I frown and then sigh. "We came home to give you a present and mother some coin, but father refused to let us in. We ended up fighting and he left us all. I gave you our presents and enough coin to last for a few years, we stayed for a few days and then left to get more coin for you and mother," I reply.

her eyes widen and she opens the door and hugs my leg. "It is you!" she says and then hugs Thunderhorn's leg.

"Aye, is Mother inside?" I say gently and ask her.

She looks back at me and nodded. "She's in the back making some more blankets for the neighbours," she replies and runs back into the house.

Thunderhorn chuckles and follows her in with me behind him.

The house is just as I remember it. A staircase to the right leading up to three bedrooms, the fireplace in the centre surrounded by plain cushions made by mother. Shelves with family heirlooms and trinkets on the walls, along with two old and weathered axes on display.

"Mama! Iron and Thunder are back!" we hear her shout.

I can hear the sound of a chair scrape on the floor as the back door opens. Our Mother walks through, a cane in her left hand due to a leg injury and wearing a soft comfortable grey robe. Her fur is a light brown and her horns a cream colour, eyes green and a steel ring in her nose.

She looks at us in shock before looking at Heartsong. "Sweetheart, where are your brothers and who are they?" she asks in confusion.

Heartsong explains what we told her and Mother looks surprised. She then leads us to the fire pit and we all sit around it where Thunder and I begin recalling everything that happened since we last met.

POV: Damien Jackson

I'm sitting on a chair within the Arena's main office where Onyx is laid out on a couch, still out cold and with a grin on her face. The announcer who is named Iron Lungs, is nervously standing behind a desk with a large scarred black furred male Minotaur named Gladius, sitting at said desk. His left horn is snapped off at the middle, and his right eye is a milky white colour while his left is brown.

"To think the Chieftain lost... I suppose there's a first time for everything," he says and taps a finger on his desk while looking at Onyx who is giggling and cuddling a pillow. He also has a mug of some strong smelling alcoholic drink.

"I've lost a couple of times during my sixty plus years in Tartarus. But I learn from my failures and defeats and improve myself from them," I comment and yawn.

"Yes, just as any warrior does, you fought very well, and your experience in battle showed. To be honest, after you've told me what you just did to the Chieftain, I would like to see a rematch. How well would you do against her with her increase of power?" he asks me and takes a chug of his drink.

"I'm not ashamed to admit that she's physically stronger than me now, but my true power comes from my Darkfire and shadow spells. I could easily just slip into the shadow realm and sneak up behind her with a lethal blow without her ever knowing," I shrug in reply.

He goes to speak but a groan from Onyx gets all our attention as she sits up, still hugging the pillow.

"Where am I?" she asks.

"Chieftain Onyx, you're in my office," Gladius replies and finishes his drink.

She looks around and her gaze lands on me, a mild barely noticeable blush colours her black fur. She shakes her head and looks her body over, flexing her fingers and muscles.

I stand up and walk over to her, getting her attention. "So, ready to sign that treaty or do you need more time to examine your new body?" I ask her.

She looks up at me and sighs. "Might as well get this over with, I have other questions I'd like to ask," she says as she stands up, followed by stretching her limbs.

I chuckle as I follow her to the door. "You're not the only one with questions!" I reply.

Chapter 62: Gryphon Envoy.

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 63: Back to work.

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 63: Back to work.

After dealing with the envoy, we said our goodbyes to the Minotaurs and headed back home. Twilight is currently resting in our cabin while Desire is nestled up next to me on a lounging chair.

She's swirling a finger on my chest and looking at me with half lidded eyes. "Just so you know, when we get back, you're knocking me up again," she tells me in a lustful tone.

My only response is to smile, snake my hand to her ass, and give a firm squeeze. She moans and drapes her leg over mine and snuggles into my neck, while being careful not to impale me with her horn.

For a few hours nothing of interest happens, until a loud roar echoes throughout the sky. I lean up and Desire groans unhappily as I look around.

"REPORT!" I yell out as I get up.

"REPORTING! DRAGON SIGHTED STARBOARD SIDE, ESTIMATED TEN MILES AWAY!" A lookout replies where I look over the railing and see a big dragon heading toward us.

I frown as I start issuing commands. "HALT THE SHIP! READY THE CANNONS! SNIPERS TAKE AIM! I'LL GO SEE WHAT IT WANTS AND IF IT'S HOSTILE WE KILL IT!"

A round of affirmatives shout out as the crew scramble to fulfill my orders. I start stretching as Desire gets up and walks beside me. "So what's the plan?" she asks me.

I hum and shrug. "Simple, ask what it wants, if it's hostile we kill and harvest it. If friendly? Maybe have a chat and then be on our way," I reply and start hopping on the spot.

"Hmmm, I am getting hungry and that dragon we had when we first got here was tasty..." she says and her gut gurgles.

I chuckle and grin. "We'll see," I simply say as I'm given a flare gun kit with three different coloured flares; red, green, and blue which I tuck into my coat.

Selene comes out and asks what's going on, so after a quick recap she says. "It would appear to be a rogue dragon, any dragon not living in Draconis are considered exiled or lone hunters. Killing them here would not result in retaliation from the Dragonlord at least."

"Hmmm, good to know," I reply and take off toward the dragon.

As I get closer and closer, I see its colours are green scales with tan belly scales. Four backward pointing horns adorn their head and two fin-like ears on the sides. Their tail has six spikes on the end and they seem to have a few battle scars over their body.

After a good five minutes I finally reach them. I stop and hover in place where the dragon also stops and glares at me.

In a deep male tone he speaks. "What are you doing in my territory," he demands calmly.

Well, points for not going instantly hostile. "Just passing through from Minos to Equestria, we didn't even know you were here to be honest," I reply.

He looks from me to my ship, then back to me. "And what is that?" he asks, pointing to said ship.

"It's my airship that we use for long distance travel and cargo transport," I reply. Makes sense since I doubt he's seen anything like it before.

He narrows his eyes and grins at me. "Then you shall pay a toll for passing through my territory," he tells me greedily while licking his lips.

I now have an unamused expression and sigh, and those points are taken back. "How about no, my turn, you leave now before I skin your hide, eat your corpse, and take your soul," I threaten him and summon Thanatos. "By the way, you wouldn't be the first dragon I've eaten before," I warn him.

He growls and I can just see his pride not taking that threat very well. "You dare threaten me!? You pathetic little bug! I will roast and eat you alive!" he says angrily and I've just had enough of this.

I rummage through my coat and find what I was looking for, the flare gun with a red flare and load it. Aiming up, I pull the trigger and the flare flies up, surprising the Dragon.

"What was that!?" he demands.

I just grin as I hear gunfire and the ship fire its cannons, the sound of the whistling cannonballs soar past me, slamming right into the dragon while bullets hit him in the face, blinding him as both eyes are shot out.

I pretend to cringe as I see his left arm break from one hit, another hits his stomach, and a third impacts right on his right cheek, the other two shots missed by mere inches. The gunners have got some good aim from that distance.

The dragon roars out in pain as he spirals down to the ground. I tuck in my wings and dive down after him until I'm right behind him and swing my scythe into his back.

Another roar as Thanatos is trying to pull out his soul, but it seems the lizard is resisting, that's a first. I create a blade of solid shadow and start shanking him in the kidneys over and over until his soul finally gets pulled out.

I quickly pull Thanatos out and take off before the corpse slams into the ground. Now with the little skirmish over, I pull out the green flare and fire it up, signaling the ship to come over.

After a good ten minutes the ship lands and the crew begin their task of butchering the dragon. Selene has asked for two of his horns, as weapons made from a dragon's horns are quite durable and retain a sharp edge for a long while.

I agree and the team have made several bolts of dragon hide, many slabs of meat wrapped up and stored away with preservation spells, bones and loose scales cleaned and placed into the ship's cargo hold.

Selene sighs and speaks up. "Shame we do not know the location of his lair, his hoard will be lost until it is randomly discovered."

"Oh is that all?" I hold up Thanatos and allow him some power to manifest. "Thanatos, search the dragon soul's memories for the location of his lair," I ask him.

"Yes, my Lord," he replies and after a minute, I see images appear in my mind, a valley, and a cave on a mountain side nearby.

"Well done, you can do whatever you want to the dragon's soul," I tell him, getting a nod in reply as he fades away.

I dismiss my scythe and look at the crew. "All aboard! We will be heading out to claim a hoard!" I shout out, getting excited cheers.

"That's handy," Selene comments with surprise.

I shrug as we head back on deck. "I sometimes keep forgetting Thanatos can do that, and I rarely need to do so. It also doesn't always work as it depends on the willpower of the soul as well," I reply.

I take the wheel and fly us to the lair which takes about thirty minutes. We arrive, enter, and nothing much happens. It's similar to the other dragon I killed with a pile of gold and gems, just less furniture. We loot the gold and are careful with anything silver. We bury any skeletons of minotaurs and other races we find, then make our way back to Equestria. I've given about a third of the hoard to Selene and she's also found a few minotaur treasures she will send back to Onyx later.

We land at Canterlot after a week of travel and offload Selene's spoils. Once she and the Equestrian envoy are back in the castle, we say our goodbyes and take off back to the town which has progressed nicely in the two weeks we were gone.

"Alright! Unload the gold and store it in the town treasury! Get the silver prepped for transport back to Tartarus and securely stored! Get the dragon meat ready for a feast! And send the dragon hide, bones, and scales to the blacksmith to see what it can be used for!" I start giving out orders.

Desire yawns and stretches as she gets off the ship and hugs me from behind. "Well that was fun, but we need to go back as I have no doubt paperwork has piled up, and you. Need. To... breed~ me," she tells me seductively.

I sigh and rub my face. "I know, go get Twilight and ask her what she wants to do, stay here and visit her family, or come back with us," I ask her. She hums and kisses my cheek before walking back onto the ship to find our purple lover.

"Damian! You're back!" I hear Mel ask as she walks over to me. I notice a dark red male succupony with short white hair about her age walking next to her and looking nervous.

She gives me a quick hug and asks how our trip was. "It turned out well, won over the minotaurs, pissed off the gryphons, killed a dragon, and got a lot of treasure. How are you?" I surmise and ask.

She blinks a few times and shakes her head. "Sounded like an adventure, but I'd like to introduce you to Crimson Skies," she says and gestures to the nervous succupony.

"I take it from how nervous he is, you either went lust hungry and he helped you, or he's your new boyfriend?" I ask calmly while glancing at the now slightly shaking Crimson Skies.

She looks at Crimson and sighs as she hugs him. "I told you it'll be fine, now stop shaking," she tells him. Seems she's the dominant of the two.

I chuckle and wave my hand dismissively. "I'm sure dating the sister of your boss would make anyone nervous. As long as he's treating you right then I'm okay with it. At least you found someone to help you take care of things and like him," I say and look around.

No sign of Pinkie around but I have no doubt she'd appear if I called out to her. More housing is built, some shops ranging from convenience stores, an Inn, weapon store, butcher, and... there's already a sex toy shop up and running. I mentally shrug and focus back on the now calmed down succupony who is hugging Mel back.

"Well, nice to see you having a good time here, but I need to head back to Tartarus and the paperwork waiting for me," I tell my sister.

She lets go of Crimson and looks at me. "Yeah, I suppose running a nation has its boring parts, I'll let you know if I need anything. But I need to get back to my bar as well," she replies and tugs on Crimson's hand. "I'll meet you tonight after work," she tells him and walks off.

"Okay!" he calls out to her.

I smirk as I quietly walk up behind him and give him a gentle but firm pat on the shoulder and hold my hand there. He goes rigid and stops breathing.

I chuckle and pat his shoulder. "Relax, I'm not gonna do anything to ya. Just treat her well and never hurt her, then we'll get along swimmingly. What's your job here by the way?" I ask him.

He finally breathes a sigh of relief and salutes me. "I'm part of the recon squad that was assigned to explore the surrounding forest, my Lord," he replies.

I nod in understanding. "I see, anything interesting found while I was away?" I ask him. Seems like he's finally losing tension.

"Actually yes, we found an odd really big tree that's just covered in magic and it seems from the magic experts opinion that it may very well be the heart of this forest," he replies.

I rub my chin in thought. "Interesting, continue observing it and if it becomes a threat, contact me immediately and contain the tree and anything else it could be using. Kill it if you can't," I tell him, getting a salute. "Dismissed," I then say.

He nods. "Yes, my Lord!" he simply says and flies off.

I wait for a few minutes where I see Desire with Twilight walking over.

A smile works its way onto my face as Twilight gives me a quick hug and kiss before backing up. "Desire's told me you're heading back to Tartarus for work, but I'd like to stay here for a couple of days to see my parents. Then I'll make my way back to Tartarus myself and meet up with you. Should give you and Desire enough alone time to make a baby while I'm gone," she says and comments with a sly smirk.

I raise an eyebrow at her trying to talk dirty. "Oh? You sure you don't want to be there to watch? I'm sure Slitherana would like to join in as well," I tease her and lean down to her ear. "Just imagine, Desire on the bed, you on top of her, me leaning on you as I'm breeding her, and Slitherana wrapped around all three of us as we rub against each other in a hot sweaty mess," I tell her in a deep husky tone.

Her face instantly blushes red, her legs are lightly rubbing against each other, and her breathing gets heavier.

Desire moans at the description and giggles. "I think she likes that idea!" she says and before Twilight can voice her opinion, Desire just picks her up bridal style and heads for the portal. "We're making it happen!" she says in excitement, leaving Twilight blushing harder and sputtering gibberish.

I just laugh as do a few other nearby demons and follow them both to the portal.

Twilight is back in her lab with Olivia and calmed down for now. Desire has gone off to prepare for her breeding tonight while I'm in my office looking over piled up papers and forms.

Seems a few Archdemons want to pledge their loyalty after hearing about what I did to Tirek and his Archdemon followers. I'll have to set aside time to meet with them and see if they're being sincere or just trying to kiss my ass.

"Hmmm?" I'm looking at a request to set up a racing track outside the city. I guess someone saw the dune buggy I test drove and wants to offer a deal of making a race course and thirty percent of the profits goes to the treasury.

Sounds like a fun idea but it'll be awhile until we start production of dune buggies as Olivia is still fine tuning the prototype. I place it in the pile for setting up a meeting with the petitioner and move onto the next.

Godon knocks on the door and enters with a report on the finances which I think him for. He simply nods and leaves.

After a quick read through I move onto the next form... Huh, well ain't this a rib tickler. This fucker is demanding I hand over over the throne to them or suffer his wrath... A Horgan Killjoy? Never heard of them before. I look over the paper and there's nothing else, just that one demand. I throw it in the bin and set it on fire with a bit of darkfire.

For the next few hours I sift through a good forty percent of the paperwork before calling it a day and head to bed as I'm pretty sure I'll have plenty to satisfy my appetite tonight.

I greet the staff on the way and reach my room. With a firm push I open the doors and head to the bedroom.

With a confidant push I open the door and what greets me is the exact scene I described to Twilight and Desire.

Both succponies are on the bed hugging each other while Slitherana is wrapped around them both. All naked.

"Bout time you showed up, I can only kiss this mare for so long before I go find you myself!" Desire says and I see Twilight looking back at me with an extremely lustful expression and saliva dripping from her mouth.

I just grin, walk over while stripping down and climb onto the bed.

Author's Note

I'm back and we hit the 200k words with this chapter.

Chapter 2: Welcome to Tartarus! Part 1

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 2: Welcome to Tartarus! Part 1

"Piss off you crazy bitch!" I yell back to the succupony without looking, but by the sound of her hooves she's gaining on me quickly.

She giggles as she picks up speed. "Come on! Surely you can go faster than this! This won't be as fun if I catch you too quickly! Try flying with your wings!" she replies and suggests.

'Wings?' I think as I look back to see two wings that look like they're made of shadows coming out of my shoulders. Come to think of it, my hair is now longer and black with red tips instead of my short brown... I try getting my wings to flap but all I accomplish was making them flail spastically.

"That's funny! But if you don't hurry I'm going to get you!" she shouts out to me and I try harder but to no avail.

After a minute or two she's had enough of chasing and leaps at me. I yelp as we tumble and end up with me on my back and her straddling my waist.

"Gotch'a" she whispers and smirks.

"Look miss demon lady, I'd very much appreciate it if you didn't kill, eat, or rape me," I ask her with wide eyes as I can't help but stare at her chest which she has squished together between her arms as she pins me down.

"Kill? Eat? Well, I'm not gonna kill ya cause then I'd starve, but I can eat you in a good way," she replies suggestively and licks her lips. She then leans down and puckers her lips as she gets closer to mine.

"STRANGER DANGER! I NEED AN ADULT!" I scream as I try to pry her off me but she's surprisingly strong.

She giggles again as she kisses me for a second time with a needy moan and this one includes the use of her forked tongue, but this time I notice something being pulled out of me like energy or something. 'Fuck! Is this bitch sucking the life outta me!?' I wonder with panic and redouble my attempts to get her off.

She then pulls back and sighs licking her lips again. "Oh that's tasty, hmmm yes I think I'll keep you for myself stud," she tells me and slowly sits up but not removing herself off me.

I just stare at her with wide eyes. "The fuck you just do to me?" I ask her while I'm strangely calm.

"I just fed on your lust, or testosterone if you want to be technical about it, it seems you've been pent up for a while and it is simply delicious," she tells me.

"Wait, you eat lust?" I ask her with a raised brow. At least it's not my life or soul...

She giggles and twirls a finger on my chest. "Of course, I'm a lust demon, we feed on another's lust be it for us or someone else, but you are full of repressed lust and testosterone as it seems you haven't gotten any in a long time," she says teasingly.

I just frown at her and cross my arms. "So what? I was busy looking after my mother and sister while working two jobs..." I say with a sad expression at mentioning my family, I may never see them again, and how are they going to cope with my death? Who'll keep them going? I shake my head from those thoughts and look back at her. There may still be a way for me to see them or at least send a message. "Let's see you have time for dating while doing that!" I reply with a huff. Wait why am I still talking to this crazy girl? "Now will you get off me please?" I ask her.

"Please? Well aren't you a polite little demon?" she replies with a smile. "And what will you do once I get off?" she asks with a grin.

'If I take off she'll just catch me again,' I think to myself as I stare at her eyes. "Well if you promise not to jump me or rape me I won't run," I reply.

"Alright, but if you try to run then I'll have my way with you until I'm satisfied," she tells me and slowly gets up but not before rubbing her groin against mine making me shiver.

Once she's off I get up and dust myself off. "Thanks," I mutter as I look around. "So, questions, where am I exactly?" I ask her.

"You don't know where you are?" she asks with a raised brow. "Oh you did come through a portal so that does make sense. Well you're in the blasted wastes, a place where we lesser demons live away from the higher, greater, and demonlord demons who treat us as slaves or snacks," she tells me. This girl is just full of energy... or is that from the lust she just fed off me?

"Well then, thanks for the meal. I haven't eaten in a while and that hit the spot, hmmm maybe next time I can have a full course meal?" she asks and then giggles as she begins walking off.

I just watch her leave as her hips sway back and forth and tail swinging happily behind her, I just shake my head and look around and spot what appears to be a small shabby looking town in the distance. I shrug and start making my way over there.

It took me an hour of walking over the hot ash covered land which also had small pools of lava, rocky outcrops, and potholes around, but I arrive and the place looks more like a slum. Rusted metal sheets cover the houses and buildings as a multitude of different demons are walking about. Some look like harpies with eagle like heads while others I can only guess are imps along with some... I have no idea what they are.

Some of them give me odd looks as I walk through the run down town and I spot what appears to be a bar if the sign suggests so, it seems I can't read demon writing. It's a big place but it's like it'll give me tetanus just from looking at it. 'Well, no better place to get information than a pub,' I think to myself and walk through the door.

The music from a four man band with shoddy looking instruments -if you can even call it music- stops and everyone here stares at me. I raise an eyebrow and walk over to the bar and sit on one of the uncomfortable wooden stools.

"Never seen you around here before," a demon that looks like a bipedal pig or boar says to me, he's wearing a pair of ripped trousers and dirty apron.

"Yeeeeah, you could say I'm new in town. I seem to be lost and don't know exactly where I am," I reply and good god this guy smells bad, even if I had any money I wouldn't buy a drink here.

He laughs which also sounds like snorting as he looks around. "You're at the charming little town of Felfire, and this is my bar called Ifrit's Armpit," he tells me and chuckles.

"Right, so what direction would I need to go to find Demonlord Val'hades?" I ask which gets the whole place to go silent again.

"And why would you want to go and find that nasty piece of work? Looking to join his army?" he asks me with a raised brow.

"Not exactly," I reply, I don't think it would be prudent to tell them that I need to kill him.

"Then why? It's the only reason anyone would willingly go to him," he then asks as the music starts up again.

I'm not sure how to reply to that without spilling the beans. "Erm, I guess I just want to see what the guy is like myself. I've only heard rumours about him," I reply and hope he doesn't take note of the sweat on my forehead.

"Ha! Then I'd give that up if I were you, you'd be forced to either join his army, for manual labour, or his personal cocksleeve," he tells me.

I grimace at the last one and shake my head. 'Yeah no thanks.' "Well then, I guess I'm not going anywhere near there then," I say and get up. "Thanks for the info," I tell him and he huffs.

"Yeah yeah, now if ya ain't buying you can just shove off," he tells me and returns to serving his other customers.

I leave the pub and grimace at the sight of a dog that has a light amount of flames on its body pissing against a building where it hisses and slightly melts the rusty metal sheeting.

I continue to walk down the streets looking around as my stomach then rumbles, how am I going to find something to eat? I have no money and I doubt anything here is healthy.

"What do we have here?" a person that looks similar to that girl I first met expect it’s a guy with short hair and sleek muscles says and struts over to me wearing only a loincloth. "You're a strange looking incupony aren't you?" he says as he circles me while three others that are with him chuckle.

"What the hell do you want?" I ask him with a cautious glare.

"You, you'd make quite the pretty decan when we sell you to the local deamon," he replies with a cruel grin. Decan? Is that what the currency here is called?

'Well, I should have expected this from a bunch of demons.' I look between him and his buddies, they don't look like much and apart from pretty boy here the others are malnourished and skinny. One is short and red with pointy ears, the other looks like a harpy with a loin cloth and nothing covering her breasts and the third looks similar to the red one but green and butt fucking ugly with his pruned looking face.

"Yeah, I'll think I'll pass on that," I tell him and start backing away.

"I'm afraid a weak little demon like yourself doesn't have a say in the matter," he replies and goes to grab me by my shirt.

I frown and grip his wrist and twist it to subdue him, but instead the bones snap and he cries out in pain... 'Holy shit! I just snapped his wrist like a fucking twig!'

"Don't just stand there! Get him!" the guy yells at his friends while holding his broken wrist in his other hand. The others snap out of their stupor and rush me with rusty looking knives.

"SHIT!" I yelp and take off back the way I came and make my way towards the exit of town rushing past surprised demons who scramble out of my way.

I feel something impale my right calf and I tumble to the ground, I look down and hiss in pain as a rusty knife is stuck in my leg. I pull it out and my jaw drops as the wound just closes. 'Whoa...' I stand back up and glare at the little red fucker who doesn't have a knife anymore and just looking stunned that I'm back up already. 'So he threw it huh?' I think to myself as I lift my right arm up and feel something pulse in my hand with the knife.

I ignore it and toss the knife back at the bastard and notice the knife has a dark purple aura around it, the red prick yelps and can't avoid it in time as the rusty blade makes contact but instead of sticking into him, it fucking detonates and blows his top half clean off.

"Wow..." I mutter in disbelief.

The other two look from the corpse to me and then to each other. "Screw that! This bastard's a deamon!" the harpy screeches and flies off.

"Wait for me!" the green bugger yells after her and runs off.

Demons in the street stare at me and start to back away. At least I won't have any more trouble hopefully, though I think it would be best to leave before something else goes wrong.

I turn around and run out of town for a good hour and sit on a rock to catch my breath. I then look to my right hand and stare at it. 'Now, how did I do that?' I wonder but I can't recall the feeling that came with it, dammit.

I sigh and look around, nothing but wasteland for miles... god this place sucks. That demonlord couldn't have given me information about this place or my new powers... jerk.

I frown and look up to see if there's a sun and notice there isn't one... just dark grey clouds covering every inch of the sky above me. Surely all this fire and lava can't be producing all this light? I don't know how long I've been sitting here but I eventually get up and start walking off in a random direction.

I'm not sure how long I've been wondering around aimlessly as it felt like days and night hasn't arrived once. I've had to avoid a demon or two and I've also been chased by a big brown worm thing with rows of teeth which wasn't fun, but at least I've figured out how to use these damn wings to fly for a full minute at least.

I think I'm nearing my limit as I sit down panting heavily, tired, and starving. I then hear footsteps behind me so I get up and turn to see that girl again, Dark Desire I think she said her name was.

"Ah, so we meet again, Damien wasn’t it? I must say you've done well to survive out here for five days by yourself so far, I also saw that little scuffle in town, nice use of the volatile shadow with the knife by the way, and surprisingly good regeneration too," she says and walks over to me.

"Oh, it's you again. What do you want now?" I ask her, if she decides to molest me again I don't think I could resist her now even if I wanted to.

"What? I can't come over to say hi? Maybe steal a kiss or two," she replies and giggles. I just roll my eyes and my stomach rumbles again even louder this time. "You must be really hungry to be that loud... come with me, I know where some blood apples grow around here," she tells me and starts walking off.

Blood apples? Doesn't sound very appetising, but I'm willing to eat anything right about now. So I follow this girl across the wastes where we arrive at a grove of green barked trees with orange leaves, and hanging from the branches are blood red apples.

She picks one and takes a bite out of it. "Mmmmm. Not as good as lust from a strong demon, but still tasty," she says and picks another before tossing it over to me.

I grimace at what looks like bulging veins along the skin of the fruit but once my stomach rumbles again I give in and take a bite. My eyes widen and I take another bite and another until I've eaten it down to the core, tastes kinda like cooked chicken. "That was surprisingly good," I comment and toss the core away before reaching up for another.

"Yeah, they're alright, but I know what I want more," she says before swaying her hips over to me and roughly kisses me again. Her tongue molests mine as I feel that same energy drain as last time.

She then pulls away with a slight moan. "Mmmmm. That's the stuff," she says and giggles with a smile.

"Good for you, now if you don't mind I'm starving," I tell her and start eating through fruit after fruit.

I sigh happily as I toss my twentieth core away and grin, I feel much better and stronger now that I've eaten something.

"So what are you going to do now? I've noticed you've just been wandering in circles for the last few days," she asks and tells me.

"What?" I ask with a frown. 'I've been going in circles?' I sigh and sit down beside her on the bench. "This place fucking sucks... I should've just stayed in limbo," I say and pinch the bridge of my nose as I think I feel a headache coming on.

"Limbo? You mean that portal you came out from was the world between worlds?" she asks with shock.

"That's what that demonlord told me when he dragged my ass here," I reply and lean back on the bench.

"A demonlord brought you here?" she asks with a curious tone.

"Yeah, said his name was Val'ketoph," I tell her.

"Val'ketoph!? But he was killed by his brother six days ago! How did he bring you here if he was dead!?" she replies and asks me.

"I just met him before coming here, said he was a dying soul and then he asked me to kill his brother and gave me his power," I tell her making her gasp and back off.

"Y-You're a demonlord!?" she yells and starts to panic, huh, her attitude changed quickly.

"I dunno? I just got here when you found me," I reply and scratch my chin, wait... I have a beard now?

"Oh, so you're not going to enslave or hurt me?" she asks calming down.

"No? Why would I do that?" I reply and chuckle.

"Oh good, I came out here to get away from my last master when he was killed by another demon, who wasn't at all pleasant or even good at sex, his lust was disgusting," she replies looking calmer now.

"Yeah, too much info there," I tell her.

"What? I can't help what I am," she huffs and crosses her arms.

"So do you live around here?" I ask her.

"Yeah actually, I've got a cave just over there," she says and points over to a decline in the ground which leads to an underground cave.

"A cave?" I ask her with a deadpan stare.

"What? I'm a lesser demon, you expect me to have a castle?" she huffs again and scowls at me.

I shrug and look out towards the wastes. "Better than nothing I'll admit... The fucks that?" I reply and then ask as I see three dots and a large blob heading towards us.

Oh shit, it's that pretty boy with his two lackeys and a bigger demon behind them.

"Oh no. It's the deamon who runs Felfire Town," Desire says and starts backing up towards her cave.

Chapter 37: Next stop, the Plaguelands

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 37: Next stop, the Plaguelands

Our group continues onward towards our destination, and thanks to my shadow wraiths, we've avoid a few gryphon patrols.

We stop for a quick lunch and I check over my remaining ammunition. I have fifteen shots left for my revolver and twenty-five left for my rifle. If I had more then I could deal with these damn silver weapons and armour the people here are using against us. But until I get more or Twilight figures out why we're vulnerable to it we'll just have to be careful.

We've passed a town but had no need for more supplies so we avoided it. Most of our group were silent except Twilight and the alicorns talking about her research into the silver on the sword she's studying.

Pinkie is feeling better again and is floating above us making random objects out of nothing. I then get an Idea and ask her if she could make more bullets with her ability but some of the objects she made started to just poof away in a puff of pink smoke, so that idea is out the window.

Three Days Later

The last three days were uneventful, a few close calls with patrols but nothing major. We had to kill a patrol who spotted us before they warned others and I took their souls and dumped their bodies into the Shadow Realm. Turns out my shadow wraiths can devour the flesh of the dead to make themselves stronger, so I shall be making a habit of feeding them the bodies of my enemies. The stronger they are, the stronger I am.

I've topped up Twilight and Desire with my testosterone and they should be good for three to five days. Twilight was really enthusiastic this time.

Our supplies are getting shorter and we'll need to fully restock before heading into the Plaguelands. We come up to a large town that's the only one closest to the Plaguelands border from here.

"Luna, Selene. Time for you to get us as much supplies as you can," I tell them and hand Luna my bag full of gold coins. "I want you to store as much food and water you can into your magical storage, at least three months worth to feed all of us. Also, try and buy some bows and arrows for the thestrals," I tell them getting nods in return.

"We shall get what thou hast asked for, Sir Damien," Selene replies as both she and Luna cast an illusion on themselves to look like random unicorns.

"When you get the supplies, teleport back here. We'll be in the woodland area over there," I tell them and point to the small forest to our left.

"Very well. We shall make haste and return soon," Luna says and they both head off into the town.

Once they're gone, I turn back to the others. "Alright people! Let's head into the woods and stay out of sight! I want the thestrals and the harpies in the trees as lookouts!" I order the others.

Rainbow grumbles at being told what to do but complies and I'm surprised to see Fluttershy fly up into a tree with her animals surrounding the base of said tree.

I blink at Pinkie as I see her set up what appears to be an old world war two radar station with headphones on her head. I shake my head at her and then take cover next to Desire and Twilight.

POV: Luna Nocturne

Selene and I walk towards the town down the path to appear as travellers. The guards at the gate give us a glance before ignoring both of us. We head through and ask for directions towards the market, the kind old hen tells us where to go and we thank her.

Following the directions we arrive at a large market with stores and stalls lined up down a street into a large plaza. We quickly head to a few food vendors and buy a reasonable amount of produce and meats from each vendor as buying everything or too much from a single place would be suspicious.

So far we've spent nearly half of the bag's gold and our storage is nearly full with three months worth of food. We then head to a weapon store and enter where a little bell above us jingles and an elderly tom gryphon looks up from a newspaper he's reading.

"Huh... don't see many ponies out this far and certainly not in my store. What can I do for you young hens? You lost?" he asks us with a raised brow.

"Nay... I mean no. We've been travelling around Gryphonia on business and have decided to get some souvenirs for our husband back home. We thought some gryphon bows and arrows would be good as he likes archery. What would you recommend?" Selene replies and asks trying very hard to not slip back into old Equestrian.

"Does he now?" he says and puts his paper down, I wince slightly at the headline.

Demons in Gryphonia!

Reports from the Eaglesburg guard reveal the presence of demons from Tartarus have set paw in our fair kingdom.
They have a wanted fugitive by the name of Gilda, a twenty year old hen who was imprisoned for failing to pay her debts on time. She escaped with the aid of the demons and is currently missing as well as the demons.

They were last sighted at Rock Thorn Valley where our courageous soldiers fought them before they escaped.

If anyone has any information or seen the demons, please notify your nearest outpost immediately.

The old tom notices me looking at the paper. "Oh that? Yeah, frightening business that is. To think monsters are running about in Gryphonia, we've enough problems with the King taxing us into poverty..." he says and chuckles. "Don't tell anyone I said that, they'll have me head in a noose within hours."

"Veri... Yes, terrifying indeed. I suppose after this we should head back home then," I reply and smile at the gryphon. The monster comment he made hurt a little but Selene and I just smile and bare it.

"Right. So what kind of bows does your husband like?" he asks us and gestures to the bows lining the left wall of the store.

Selene and I look over the selection and Selene leans over to me. "We would prefer more of Sir Damien's firearm weapons than these," she tells me quietly.

From what she told me they can do and from what I saw when Desire killed that Pirate with her firearm, I would have to agree with her. But none the less, Damien has asked us to purchase some and we shall do so.

"We, I believe we shall take one of each kind. A shortbow, a longbow, a warbow, and a hunting bow," I say to the old tom.

"Very well, how many arrows will you be buying? I would assume he would have his own would he not?" the tom asks us.

"He does, but they're pony made. We think he'll appreciate a new variety to chose from," Selene replies.

"Makes sense, I doubt you'll be able to find gryphon quality arrows back in Equestria. So how many you want?" he asks us while getting the bows we asked for from the back of his store.

"Two-hundred should suffice," I reply as Selene's attention is brought to some noise outside of the store.

"Two-hundred? And do you have enough to pay for this?" he asks warily.

I take off my bag and let the heavy weight of the bag hit the counter where the coins jingle loudly. "Yes, we can afford it," I reply.

"Alright," he says and places the four bows wrapped up in a thin cloth to keep them together. "That'll be four-hundred and seventy tirits," he replies and I get the equivalent out from the variety of gold coins from the bag.

The sound of smashing glass out front gets my attention as two drunk toms are fighting each other and the guards arrive to break it up. There's also a group of gryphons watching us through the store's window. Selene continues to watch while I turn back to the old tom.

Once he finishes counting the coins, he hands us four quivers each packed with fifty arrows and bundled up in cloth for easy transport.

Selene opens her storage and deposits the bows and arrows inside. "That's rather handy, wish I could do something like that," he says with a chuckle.

I smile at him and nod my head. "Thank you, sir. we'll be heading home now, have a nice day," I tell him getting a goodbye in return.

We leave the store and start heading towards an alleyway to get ready to teleport back to the others. But before we could, a group of male gryphons follows us in with unpleasant expressions.

"Look what we have here fellas! Now what's a couple of nice looking mares like you doing this far from home?" the tallest one who I presume to be the ringleader asks us. He has black fur, grey feathers on his head, and dark blue markings around his eyes. A rare colouration for a gryphon.

"Tis none of thy business, gryphon. We suggest thee turn back and leave us be," Selene warns him with a frown.

"Ohhh, feisty. You'll make a great profit after selling you to Julian's whore house," he says and Selene's eyes widen. This makes the gryphon smirk but her eyes don't show fear, but anger.

"Thou dare to commit such an act!?" she yells at him, her anger building as the gryphons all laugh.

"Oh and what shall you do about it sweetheart? Blast me with your lame pony magic?" he asks mockingly.

Back when we were whole, I had a very bad temper and was quick to anger if insulted. I don't have that flaw anymore but it seems it was passed onto Selene now as she is grinding her teeth loudly, and it appears she lacks the self-control I have to keep it in check.

"Care for a demonstration?" she hisses out with malice in her tone.

He gives her a glare and smiles. "Cute. Okay guys, knock them out and stuff them in the carriage. Also cut their horns off just to make sure they don't try something," the leader orders the others with a grin.

"Yes, boss," they reply and I shiver at the hatred Selene is letting off.

Before I could say anything her horn glows and the leader screams in pain as the sound of flesh ripping and a rapidly growing patch of blood is spreading on the ground between his hind legs. He falls onto his side clutching his groin as Selene drops his testicles in front of his face.

"As the foals say nowadays, thou hast done bucked up!" she yells and points both her hands at the gryphons as a crowd starts to gather at the male gryphon's cries of pain.

She spreads her magic out and levitates the five goons into the air where they flail helplessly. Selene then grins widely as her disguise falls from her lack of concentration on it and her focus on the gryphons, displaying her demonic appearance and wings. She then raises them up before repeatedly slamming them into the ground over and over again as the sound of their bones breaking and shattering makes me wince with each impact.

Once thoroughly beaten but still alive, she levitates the leader towards herself and grins before sinking her fangs into his neck and pours her demonic energy into him just like we've seen Sir Damien do.

He screams as his body begins to change into a harpy and the pitch of his voice turns feminine. Breasts grow on his chest and his talons fuse with his hind legs, replacing the paws and making him... her bipedal. Her hips then widen and his waist gets thinner before her muscles get leaner and more curvy, her beak even shrinks and her face more rounded.

Once done, Selene releases her and spits out her blood as the same mark Damien gave us is now on her neck. "Thou wished to make us a slave? Then thou shalt be ours!" she tells her coldly as her horn charges up before the soldiers arrive and we teleport back to the field near the forest.

POV: Damien Jackson

It's been a couple of hours and I feel a spike of energy ahead of us as Luna and Selene return. But I raise and eyebrow at the third person with them who appears to be a black furred, grey feathered with dark blue tips harpy.

Selene looks pissed as she drags the groaning harpy across the ground and then dumps her in front of me. Luna then drops her disguise and sighs.

"Who's this?" I ask Selene as the harpy shivers on the ground at my feet.

"A foul animal who threatened to enslave ourself and our sister as whores! So we turned him into a female and shall treat her as she would have treated us," she replies angrily.

I look down at the harpy with a frown. "Oh really? What's your name?" I ask and grip the harpy by the throat and lift her up.

Her eyes glow slightly at my command. "Ebonwing..." she replies weakly.

"So... You want to enslave others for your own profit?" I ask her getting a pitiful whine in response as she tries to use her wings like arms and pry my hand from her neck. I make the harpy look me in the eyes as I force my will over hers. "You will do as you're told when you're told! No matter the order. You will obey everyone here and not question them, is that clear?" I tell her coldly making the others shiver at my dark tone.

The harpy's eyes glow red and then dim. "Y-Yes, Master..." she replies lifelessly as she stops struggling.

I drop her onto the ground and turn to the others. "Do not abuse her, you can tell her to do chores or fetch something for you. But if you go beyond that I will have your head," I tell the others who nodded quickly. "And get her some clothes, I'll not have her naked."

The two orobas demons pick her up and drag her over to the cart and give her a plain shirt and shorts.

"So, did you get what I asked for?" I ask the two sisters.

Selene is still glaring at the harpy but Luna replies. "Verily. We hast procured four bows of various types and two-hundred arrows." She then nudges Selene to get her attention.

The angry alicorn opens her storage and pulls out the weapons.

I examine them and nodded. "These'll do for now, give these to the thestrals and anyone else who wants one," I tell them and they nodded before handing out the bows and arrows.

I sigh and give one more glare at the new harpy. She'll be obedient until she's earned her freedom back. I then notice the town seems to be abuzz with activity.

"I suggest we get moving before the town finds us," I say aloud and get the group moving again.

Two weeks and five days later.

Over the weeks, Twilight has gotten further in her research about why silver hurts us. Apparently, silver is said to be a blessed metal from the creator of the planet who infused it with light magic. Which is why it's always used as a magical conduit for the devices Equestria invent. It's this magical signature in the metal that we're vulnerable to.

Now that we know, Twilight is trying to come up with a way to either reduce its effect or even negate it.

I've also discovered Twilight loves to cuddle a lot after feeding. Almost crushed my ribs when she once over fed off me, she was more affectionate than usual.

The girls and Shining are still sending letters back to their families while also receiving them as well, and Shining has finally spoken to his marefriend thanks to Pinkie’s power. While she wanted him back home despite his... "Condition", she agrees he should stay here and look after Twilight. He also told her about Gilda and what they do which she wasn't happy about and said they'll talk about it when he gets home later.

The harpy Ebonwing has been following all orders given to her, but at first she tried to kill herself rather than live like this. She was stopped and punished with only two meals a day instead of three for a week. I also gave her commands to be unable to kill herself or attack anyone else in the group.

Applejack after being stubborn for so long has finally given in once she was told her legs aren't healing properly by Twilight and if left alone, she'll never be able to run or applebuck again. I turned her into a lesser demon orobas, her legs healed and are now even stronger than before. Though she's not a fan of the ram like horns on the side of her head, or the two blades on the tip of her new tail.

Ironhoof's brother Thunderhorn has also decided to become a balrog after being convinced by him. Once turned, he's a lighter shade of blue than his brother and a couple inches shorter, but just as strong and tough as him.

Luna's student Dusk Shine is still conflicted about becoming a demon to get his magic back and misses Canterlot and a little bit for his parents despite disowning him, but is still learning basic education from both Luna and Selene. Even Twilight has taken some time from her research to teach him a few things.

We've been seeing less and less patrols of gryphons the closer we got to the border of the Plaguelands, which is fortunate for us at least. Though along the way we were able to barely see the Capital of Gryphonia from a great distance. It was similar to Canterlot that it was built on the side of a mountain, but not as grand in appearance.

We make it to the borders of the Plaguelands, which is nothing but a cracked and sickly looking pale sandy brown wasteland with dead trees and pools of what appears to be diseased greenish water or sludge. The air even smells foul with death and decay. It also seems it's not as lifeless as I thought as there are tracks which seem to indicate predators in the area.

"So this is the Plaguelands? Selene, which way to the Tartarus Gate?" I ask her.

"If we recall correctly, tis near a month’s travel... that way," she replies and points to the north east.

"We have to traverse this dreadful place!? My mane will dry out within a few days!" Rarity exclaims in horror.

I roll my eyes and address my group. "Let's get going. The sooner we get there the sooner we can head to Fel Haven, and Rarity?" She looks at me with a pout. "I have two daughters who run the best spa back home. If you suck it up and bare with it, I'll make sure you get a free full session," I tell her making her perk up at that.

"Well, I suppose I shall tolerate this till then..." she replies defeated.

The others look around us as we make our way through the Plaguelands.

Chapter 54: Return to Skullcove Bay

Angel of Darkness
Chapter 54: Return to Skullcove Bay

While Twilight's folks are still snoozing on the couch, I turn to Twilight who is still frowning at me.

"So, my dear. Now that you know your parents still love you, what do you want to do while you're back here?" I ask her with a smile. Cadence lets her go and moves over to Shining and Gilda.

Her glare lessens but she's still pouting. "Well, once my parents wake up, I want to go home and tell them what's been happening since I last wrote to them," she replies.

"But how will we get there?" I ask with a smirk.

She smirks back making mine lessen a bit. "Pinkie will open a portal for us, she's been to my parents' house before," she replies making me pout.

"Damn. Oh well, I'm looking forward to getting to know your folks since they weren't afraid from the mere sight of us," I reply and look to my sister. She's still staring out the window looking over the city with a look of thought.

"We would recommend prolonging your excursion out of the castle until the populace knows of thine presence," Selene says as she stands up from the couch.

"Fair enough, we didn't come here to start a panic," I reply and sit back down on the middle couch next to Desire and Slitherana.

"Thank you. Now then, we shall head back to our sisters and begin preparations for the announcement. Please remain here until we can find you rooms to stay in," she then tells us as she leaves the room.

"This looks like something from a Disney kid's movie..." Melanie mutters as she continues to look out the window.

We relax and wait for a good eight or so minutes where Cadence was making a fuss over Shining while Gilda is glaring at her. The others are chatting or playing cards again until Twilight's folks finally wake up again.

Her mother is the first to wake up and just stares at the ceiling with a blank expression. "Welcome back," I comment with a smile.

"My baby girl is pregnant with the Overlord's foal..." she says in an emotionless tone.

Twilight looks worriedly at her mother, but what she says next just makes me smirk. "I have no idea what to get for a demon foal... would bright colours even work? No no no, it'll have to be darker tones..." she mumbles to herself and I just can't help but laugh.

"Keep the noise down, Dear..." Twilight's farther mutters as he rolls over and off the couch he's on. "Ooof!" he grunts as he looks up sleepily. "Honey... Where are we?" he asks and then spots me.

"Good morning," I say to him casually.

"Mom, Dad, I..." Twilight begins but then goes silent and looks down.

"Oh, Sweetheart. It's okay. As long as you're happy then so are we," her mother says and hugs her gently.

Her farther yawns and slowly sits up rubbing his eyes, his hair slightly dishevelled over his left eye.

"Well, this is certainly not what we were expecting when we heard you came home," he says as he slowly stands up and stretches his limbs.

"What were you expecting?" she asks him curiously.

"That you would return and continue your studies under Princess Celestia like usual, despite being a demon" he replies with a chuckle. "Instead, you're with foal and in a relationship with the most feared demon known to ponykind," he then says nervously.

"Well technically, ponies fear the title Overlord of Tartarus, they don't know about me personally," I tell him with a grin. "Though that will be changing soon I think."

"Yes well..." Twilight's mother says and looks to her daughter. "When will you be moving back to Ponyville?" she asks her.

"I errrr... I decided I want to stay with Damien, Desire, and Slitherana," she replies quietly.

"You... want to stay in Tartarus?" her mother asks in disbelief.

"It's not as bad as you think. I've seen a lot while I was there and most if not all demons under Damien's rule are friendly," Twilight replies with a faint smile.

I chuckle getting their attention. "You're making it sound like a nice holiday destination," I say getting a giggle from Desire.

"Well, it certainly is nicer than Manehatten is... At least you don't have any homeless people living in your streets or litter dumped on the ground," she replies with a huff. "I remember when we went to Manehatten six years ago to get mom's newest novel published, homeless ponies on the streets asking for handouts wearing tattered clothes and in poor condition. I know Celestia is trying to make it better for them but there's only so much funding she can use," Twilight says with a sigh.

"I see, well I guess we could offer them residency in Fel Haven, there's always room for more workers if they're willing," I say with a smile.

"You're willing to take them in?" Twilight asks surprised.

"If they're willing to work for what they get, sure. I won't tolerate them freeloading though," I reply.

Before she could speak, the door opens to reveal Celestia, Luna, and Selene. "We have arranged for you to be revealed to the public in two days. Until then, you'll be given rooms to stay in. Breakfast is served at seven a.m. Lunch at two p.m. And dinner at eight p.m. If you're late you'll go without," Celestia tells us, her tone sounding tired and stressed.

"Fair enough, your home your rules. So how did your ponies take it all?" I reply and ask her.

She sighs and rubs her left temple. "Not as well as we hoped... Some lost their nerve and ran out screaming, the maids and staff are on edge, and the guards are hesitant to follow our orders now. I just hope the citizens don't start a panic or a riot..." she says. I can just see the bags forming under her eyes.

"You look exhausted," I comment, making her look at me with a frown.

"I've had to keep my illusion spell up all day everyday just to stop everypony from panicking at my demonic appearance. The constant drain on my magic is tiring me quickly, not to mention I have to raise and lower the moon myself again while Luna was in Tartarus..." she replies a bit angrily.

"Well I suppose after this announcement you won't need to hold up the illusion anymore. And if you'd like, I could treat you to a full spa course at my daughters spa? Rarity can vouch for them," I offer Celestia. Rarity perks up at the mention of her name.

"Hmmm? Oh yes, Princess. Yuna and Slitherine have the most divine spa I have ever visited. Their skill and... physiology make the experience very enjoyable, and relaxing. Their own special mud baths have left my coat more luxurious than I've ever had it," she says with a mild blush.

"We must agree, sister," Luna says with a smile. "We have visited their spa ourselves and found it most enjoyable. Thou shalt not be disappointed," she then tells her.

Celestia sighs and rubs the bridge of her muzzle. "I will think about it after this is all over. But for now, I need to get everything ready for the announcement. Selene, please keep our guests out of trouble, I don't want anything going wrong before the announcement is done..." she says with a yawn at the end.

"We shall, though we recommend getting some rest first, sister," Selene replies with a worried tone.

"That sounds like a good idea, I shall be in my room should you need me..." Celestia says with another yawn.

I fight off the urge to yawn as well but fail when Desire and Twilight fall victim to the contagious action. Once I finish yawning, I speak up. "Well then, tomorrow I would like to go to where the Tartarus Gate is here. I have an idea to fix it up and link it to a new gate in Fel Haven using Pinkie's power so we'll have faster access to each other. Certainly would make trading between us easier," I say making Celestia wince slightly.

"I'd rather leave it as it is," she admits with a sigh.

"Your call really. We can always just set up the gate at Skullcove Bay, we need to rename it and see how... what was his name? Thin'ta?" I say and ask Desire who nodded in reply. "See how he's doing and if the place is running smoothly," I finish saying.

"We don't think the gryphon king will allow thee to do just that," Luna says with a frown.

I just shrug. "I own the bay there now, unless he tries to take it by force, he ain't having it," I reply.

"You know that could start a war right?" Shining says with a raised brow.

"Possibly, the only other option is moving them all to another location...Could always tame that forest we met Selene in, build a town there," I say while rubbing my chin in thought.

Twilight looks at me in surprise. "You want to build a town in the Everfree!?"

I look to her with a raised brow. "Why not? From what I saw while there, nothing is a threat to us really. It'll also make a great defensive position as well," I reply.

Celestia sighs again and shakes her head. "I'm going to bed before I have anything else I'll have to worry about..." she comments and leaves the room, making me and Desire chuckle.

Luna giggles and turns to us. "We shall be attending court while Celestia slumbers. Should anything arise, Selene shalt knoweth where to find us," she tells us and leaves the room.

"So, Mel!" I say to my sister, getting a hum from her as she looks at me. "So what do you think of this place compared to my castle?" I ask her with a smile.

"Well... This place seems to be more like a maze compared to yours, and all the bright colours and reflective surfaces are painful to look at. Best part I would say is the garden," she replies and returns to looking out the window.

I chuckle while Cadence giggles which makes me raise a brow at her.

"You're not wrong... You could get temporarily blinded should somepony cast an illumination spell near freshly polished marble, gold, or mirrors... The castle is enchanted to be more durable and magic resistant so the magic in the marble makes light more reflective," she tells us with a wince. "I accidentally blinded some guards and Shiny when he surprised me one time and my magic discharged," she says with another giggle.

"Yeah, I couldn't see for an hour until the magic wore off. Though if there's an intruder, it's effective in stunning them easily," Shining tells us with a chuckle.

"I see... I might have to look into that for my castle. Install flash stones in the hallway ceilings that trigger when magic is channelled into them, blinding those not expecting it," I say and rub my chin.

"So what should we do now? It's still a good four hours until sundown," Twilight says as she sits between her parents.

"I want to get to know more about the stallion that caught my little girl's heart," Twilight's mother says with a smile.

"Alright. My name is Damien Jackson. I was born a human on a planet called earth until I was shot in the chest and died, where then a dying demonlord pulled my soul to the plain between worlds and... I guess you can say forced me to promise to kill his brother for revenge in return for his power and a second chance at life in Tartarus." I tell her and over the next hour give a brief overview of my life in Tartarus.

"So you really brought order to Tartarus?" Twilight's father asks in awe.

"Wasn't easy, and many other demonlords still want to bring it all down just so they can sit at the top. Running a nation is not a life of luxury, I have to make sure everything is running as it should be. Make sure everyone has enough to live comfortably, or at least have a roof over their head, a job, and three meals a day. I have to make sure our defences are the best they can be. There's lots of things that need to be done before I can relax with my family at the end of the day. And that's with advisers and offices to make sure the minor details are running smoothly," I explain to him with a sigh.

"Sounds tiring," Twilight's mother says with a wince.

"It can be, but I have my family to support me. My sons manage the soldiers for me, my wives handle domestic affairs, and I handle the national affairs with other demonlords that are willing to work together. Now then, are you going to tell me your names or will I have to start guessing or give you names myself?" I reply and ask them with a smirk.

"Oh heavens, how rude of us. My name is Twilight Velvet, and I'm a novel writer," Twilight's mother introduces herself.

"And I am Night Light, I'm a retired guard," Twilight's father then introduces himself to us.

"Pleasure meeting you both, it's certainly refreshing compared to mostly screams of terror we're introduced with," I say with a chuckle.

"Well... if Twilight didn't say good things about you in her letters... we most likely would have as well," Mrs Velvet says nervously.

"Nothing I can really do about that with how bad a rep my title has, though I must ask. How do you feel about what I did to Twilight and Shining? Twilight I had to turn to save her life, and I turned Shining to use him to protect Twilight and she asked me not to kill him," I ask them both.

Night Light sighs with a frown while Velvet winces. "I won't say I'm not upset with what you did to them, but they're alive. Although I can't say the same about the families of the guards you killed during your escape. Many are crying out for justice to be served against you," Night Light tells me.

"I can't say I regret killing them, they came at us with silver weapons and killing intent. When it comes down to it, it's them or us, and I prefer to keep my people and family alive than people I don't know who want me dead," I reply with a shrug.

"I see... So if anypony or creature threatened Twilight or Shining, you would protect them from harm?" Velvet asks me.

"I'd destroy the threat with overwhelming force not only to end the threat, but to intimidate any others with them to surrender or flee. I don't tolerate any attacks on my people or nation and will reply appropriately," I reply with a sigh. "It's happened one too many times during my life in Tartarus. Demonlords attacking us just for our resources and lesser demons for slaves, I've destroyed everyone that has tried but even then we still suffered losses."

"Sounds like you had a tough life," Velvet says sadly.

"Not all bad. Now that most of known Tartarus is stable, I can focus on advancing our tech and civilian comforts. And I've had happy moments during the earlier years. My children being born is one of my happiest memories, holding them in my arms and smiling as they giggle or laugh," I tell her with a smile.

We all stop as Pinkie starts doing some random movements and twitches before yelping in pain.

"Pinkie? You okay?" Applejack asks her with concern.

"Something bad is happening, I think at Skullcove Bay as I had the urge to talk like a pirate..." she replies and scratches her chin.

"Are you sure?" I ask her and stand up, getting a nod from her. "Pinkie, can you please open a portal?" I ask her.

"Okie Dokie!" she replies and tears open a portal in the middle of the room.

I just stare at the scene before me. The sounds of battle where Gryphons wielding silver weaponry are assaulting the bay. I see some ash on the ground along with gryphon bodies while those still alive are fighting back the invaders.

"Close it!" I order her making her yelp and the tear zips shut, complete with zipper sound. "Now open a portal to Fel Haven, we're going to need my army," I say in a cold tone. My sons and desire are already up and ready to move as Pinkie opens the portal. "Desire, Vipirior, Scalefang, Tidus, Pinkie, with me. The rest of you stay here and wait for our return," I tell them.

"What's going on?" Twilight asks nervously.

"Gryphons are attacking the bay," I reply before heading through the portal with the others behind me.

We exit to my throne room where I inhale deeply. "GATHER THE ARMY! ONE OF OUR TOWNS IS UNDER SIEGE! MEET AT THE BARRACKS IN TENS MINUTES!" I order the soldiers and guards in the room who immediately get running.

We head to the armoury and suit up quickly. Once done, we head to the barracks where I see a good couple thousand ready to go. Including a few of my heavy hitters of archdemons.

"We're heading to a demon frontier town on a world called Equus. It is currently under attack by gryphons wielding silver weaponry so watch yourselves and each other! I want a few captured alive but the rest can be put down! Try to find their officers and take them alive! Engage at range first, only get close if you have no other option!" I quickly brief the soldiers armed with rifles, pistols, grenades, a mixture of melee weapons, and a variety of armours.

They cheer out as I look to a nervous Pinkie. "Open the portal as big as you can, once through find a place to hide until it's over," I tell her making her nod and open a portal big enough for four incuponies to walk side by side.

"ADVANCE! AID OUR PEOPLE AND PUNISH THE INVADING GRYPHONS!" I order my troops.

They charge through, fire in their eyes and rage in their hearts. I follow them and summon Thanatos, I'll have to avoid parrying and dodge any attacks from silver weapons so as to not harm Thanatos unnecessarily.

I look around and spot a group of lycans and harpies defending a warehouse like building where the cries of children can be heard within. Gryphons wearing steel half plate armour with leather padding are attacking the defenders with silver spears, swords, and arrows.

Not wasting anymore time as my army floods the bay, I charge towards the defenders and arrive at the first gryphon archer. He looks at me in surprise as I slice him in two and take his soul. The defenders take advantage of the confusion our arrival causes and attack the gryphons.

All but one gryphon falls where he stabs a harpy in the chest. She screams in pain but since she's not bursting into flames or ash, her heart is still intact. The others finish off the gryphon while I run over to her and place my hand on the wound. I gently flow some of my energy into the wound to help heal it faster.

I hear the sound of rushing water as the Kraken rises out of the ocean, tentacles extend above the bay before coming back down, slamming into gryphon ships trying to get to the docks. Cannons go off as the remaining ships fire at the Kraken who roars out in pain before descending under the waves.

Seconds later tentacles burst out of the water, wrapping around the ships and gripping tightly, snapping the ships in two before retreating back into the sea.

Gunshots sound out rapidly and the cries of pain follow. Our last fight with the gryphons may have gone in their favour, but this time I have more soldiers and better weapons.

"When did they attack?" I ask a lycan who is cut up slightly, the wounds not closing due to the silver that caused them.

"I think fifteen or more minutes ago. The animal sentries alerted us of their arrival and we managed to get defences up in time, but they overwhelmed us and their weapons are powerful..." he replies and hisses in pain before licking some cuts on his arms.

"I see. Keep defending this point, I'm heading for the main gate. Where's Thin'ta?" I tell them and ask.

"He was holding the bulk of them off at the entrance," he replies.

I nod and take off for the main gate with my scythe and a group of my soldiers.