Hidden beneath the bed, the she-demon looked out at the meat morsel held by the alicorn. She was far too large for this space, but she had somehow made her body fit into the six inch high space beneath the bed. She did not understand how her magic worked, only that it worked when she needed it to work.

The alicorn was worse than anything else she could think of. She would rather be beaten with iron or torn apart by wolves again than endure this. Her terror caused her to tremble, and as she cowered beneath the bed, she thought of Coffee Cake.

Courageous little Coffee Cake, who had been filled with mortal terror, but had somehow overcome it. The she-demon whimpered, not liking this realisation, not at all. Her heart felt as though it would jump up and leap out of her throat at any minute. She could feel her blood squirting through her veins in an almost painful throb.

“Come on out, I won’t hurt you… I have a treat!”

The alicorn did, in fact, have a treat. Even in the throes of terror, the she-demon still felt the keen pangs of her ever-present hunger. It was a pain that never fully went away, it was always lurking like some terrible rough beast. She peered out from beneath the bed and saw the wad of jerky being waved around. She sniffed, her snort holes flaring, and thought about how nice a bite of salted jerky might taste.

“Majesty… I need to… about what I said a moment ago…”

“Yes, Malcanus?”

“I did not mean it the way it sounded… it’s just… food usually has bugs in it, or mice, or rats, or any number of other vermin. Never once did I mean to imply that—”

“Oh come on, Malcanus, it was funny. Let it go.”

Beneath the bed, the she-demon heard laughter. It was confusing and disorienting. Alicorns did not laugh, they destroyed, they burned, they laid waste to everything and brought order everywhere their hooves fell. Alicorns were not creatures of humour, they did not appreciate pranks, and they had no love for chaotic mischief. The she-demon was at a total loss to understand why this alicorn was now laughing.

“A little part of you is just like me,” the alicorn said in a soft, soothing voice. “I can sense it. Your mother or your father was a pony… but I’m not sure which. I’m guessing that somepony made a deal… perhaps for some knowledge, or a powerful spell, or something.” There was a long pause before she continued, “And then you came along. You have within you a little spark of goodness that makes you special, a little spark that could not be extinguished, I’m guessing.”

“What do you mean, Cadance?” the white unicorn asked.

“The magic of banishment still clings to her,” the alicorn replied. “Come out from there and let me love on you, please?”

A faint hint of memory surfaced from the depths of the she-demon’s mind. Pain. Torture. Excruciating torture. Being flayed. Being skinned alive. Evisceration. They had tried to break her, to make her like them, they had shown her pain, and suffering, and her tormentors had an encyclopedic knowledge of every agony ever known. The memory became a flood that threatened to overwhelm her. She curled into a fetal ball, overcome by the memory. They were trying to help her, trying to cure her, trying to fix what was wrong.

Letting out a pained gasp, the alicorn fell to the floor with a thump. “Oh… ugh… the pain… Shining, help me… I can’t… I can’t bear it, Shining, I can’t,” she stammered as she too, curled up into a fetal position.

“Cadance, what’s wrong?”

From beneath the bed, the she-demon heard a commotion, but was in no condition to respond. She was submerged in a sea of tortured memories, left adrift. It was somehow worse in this body, in this realm, where everything seemed so much more real, where there was hunger and thirst.

Drowning, memory became indistinguishable from reality.

“There is another demon here.” Cadance gritted her teeth and fought to stand up on her hooves. “It’s hurting her… I can feel it… I tried to touch her mind and he… and he… he interfered somehow… I wish Celestia was here, she would know what to do.” She wobbled on her hooves and began to look around the cramped cabin.

“She has a book,” Malcanus said as he pointed to the book on the table.

Wings flaring out from her sides, Cadance whirled upon the book and lifted it up in her magic. The cabin became sweltering hot as her magic manifested, and the book resisted. A battle of wills was joined. Shining Armor, no slouch in the magic department, brought his own magic to bear upon the book. Malcanus, standing near the fire, felt his hackles rise.

“Speak, book, for I so command!” Cadance’s voice was like a thundercrack and everything around her trembled. “What are you and what is your purpose?”

“Fuck off, cocktease!” the book retorted.

“Wrong answer.” Cadance’s voice was a low growl. Her magic rippled along the book’s cover and after a few seconds, the book let out an agonised howl. “I have had dealings with your kind before, book. Submit to me!”

“Fuck you, you cock gobbling, cum gargling, asshole felching, semen slurping slut!”

Eyes narrowing, Cadance let out a dangerous pulse of magic that made it feel as though the cabin would topple and fall over. The book let out a pained wail and it’s cover began flapping like butterfly wings. It burned with pink flames and an ominous crackle filled the air.

“My name is Humiliation!” the book cried as its covers continued flapping. “I was sent to catalogue her many humiliations and make a novel of her sufferings!”

Malcanus, unafraid of demonic creatures in any form, stepped forwards. “I’ve read your contents. It doesn’t seem much like humiliation to me. Lie to the princess again, and I’ll have you ripped out of the book so I can play with you. And I know a lot of fun games, trust me.”

Cadance cleared her throat. “Perspectives, Malcanus. Demons have a very different view of what is humiliating.” She looked at her husband. “Pull the demoness out from beneath the bed and make sure she’s okay.”

Shining moved to do as his wife asked. He reached out with his magic and dragged out the limp body beneath the bed. She was unresponsive and didn’t move. Using his magic, Shining Armor cleaned the bed and the demoness as well, having had a lot of experience with cleaning up urine since becoming a father. He set the demoness down in the bed and placed her head upon the pillow as Cadance continued her battle of wills with the book.

“Why is she here?” Cadance demanded.

“Her insufferable goodness!” the book screeched. “We could not cure it, no matter how we tried, so she was banished to this horrible place with the hopes that it might fix her.”

Confused, Malcanus’ ears splayed out sideways and Shining Armor’s did the same. Both stallions stood there, blinking, with almost identical looks of bewilderment upon their faces. A dreadful silence filled the cabin. Cadance lacked the confusion that Shining Armor and Malcanus had, upon her face was a look of pained understanding.

“But this is a good place for her,” Malcanus said in a low growl.

“Again, perspective,” Cadance remarked in a voice filled with pain. “She is nigh immortal. She is a soft hearted creature of simple goodness. She will not age and only extraordinary circumstances will kill her. She will make friends, she will love, and she will be forced to watch as those she knows and loves grow old, suffer, and die.”

“Exactly!” Humiliation shouted.

“But… but… but…” Malcanus stood there, stammering, at a loss for words.

“She will know pain and loss like few others, and one of two things will happen. She may turn to evil, the seeds of bitterness and loss might create weeds that will choke out her innate goodness, or she may be steadfast and choose to do good. But that is a choice for her—”

The book let out a hissing sound and then said, “You ponies are tricky, deceitful creatures! She will be hurt by you! Betrayed she will be! She will grow to hate you and then she will be broken! Many times have I dealt with your kind! Many times have I been summoned in the burning circle! Many times have I been invoked so that one of your pathetic kind could humiliate another—”

“SILENCE!” Cadance boomed.

The book fell silent before Cadance had to resort to other means to make it be quiet.

“So, your kind sent her here, to this place, where some of the worst of our kind reside.” Cadance’s voice held a dangerous, quiet calm now. “No doubt, with the hopes that it would hasten the process. You disgust me.”

“What do we do, Cadance?” Shining Armor asked.

Cadance drew herself up to her full height. “There is no way I am letting this foul little imp continue to torture one of my subjects. And let me make that clear, Humiliation, she is mine. Any further attempts to cause her harm will be seen as an active act of war and I will respond in kind.”

“Uh, it feels wrong to just destroy her book.” Malcanus’ face held a tortured expression. “She’s very possessive of her book. It’s her cutie mark for crying out loud, this will hurt her if it breaks.”

“I will re-enchant it,” Cadance replied. “It will be a book of love, not a book of humiliation. She deserves better.”

“Any last words?” Shining Armor asked the demon bound in the book.

The book, still held in Cadance’s magic, said nothing. It made no reply. It hung suspended in the air, silent, with nothing to say. No insults, no crass words, no cruel jibes. Shining Armor let out a smug sounding snort and glanced over at Malcanus.

“We should do this before she wakes,” Malcanus said.

“I agree.” Cadance nodded her head. “Shining Armor, I will require your assistance. Malcanus, go and fetch Glitter Glammer. She is a skilled wizard and I will need her help. Go, and hurry!”

Conditioned to obey commands, Malcanus rushed off to do Cadance’s bidding.

“Malcanus, before she wakes…”

“Yes, Princess Cadance?”

“We need to talk, you and I.”

“What do you need of me, my princess?”

“Malcanus, I can sense how you feel about her, I know what lurks in the back of your mind—”

“Majesty, I am her guardian and her protector! I would never act upon such feelings!”

“Well, why not?”

“Because, it would be wrong.”

“Why would it be wrong? Because she’s a demoness?”

“Because, I have an obligation as her guardian and her protector. I will not take advantage of her.”

“You know, Malcanus, a lover can also be a guardian and a protector.”

“Yes, I am positive they can, Princess Cadance.”

“It’s okay to be attracted to her. She’s a sexy, slinky demoness.”

“Majesty, I am not sure that’s appropriate.”

“She is a creature in need of love and affection. She already holds a great deal of affection towards you, Malcanus.”

“She what?”

“She does, Malcanus. I can feel it. She adores you.”

“It wouldn’t be right.”

“Why?”

“It’d be like… it’d be like having your way with a feral mustang. Morally, ethically, it’s wrong. I could never do such a thing. Ever. My honour would never permit it.”

“But she has presence of mind. And if she isn’t in the mood for your advances, I am positive that she has ways of telling you no. Which reminds me, I I need to do something about that spell that is making her mute.”

“Princess Cadance, I—”

“She is a creature that deserves love and affection like any other. Would you be the first to break her heart, Malcanus?”

“Majesty… I… you can’t just expect me to—oh, very well, I submit. It feels very skeevy, but I shall test the waters, if that is what you command of me.”

“It isn’t a command, I just want you to be open to the possibility.”

“Of course, Princess Cadance.”

“Shepherd Malcanus, when was the last time you got laid?”

“Ahem… Majesty?”

“Shepherd Malcanus, when was the last time you ploughed somepony’s back forty? Celibacy isn’t a healthy state of being. We are social creatures, meant to touch one another. We are sexual beings. We are made to connect with each other. When was the last time you laid some pipe in a mare?”

“Uh…”

“Out with it, Shepherd Malcanus.”

“It has been a while.”

“Well, that demoness you have your eye on, she hasn’t been brought up with our societal mores. She doesn’t know our social rituals. She doesn’t know our ways—”

“Which is why it feels like I would be taking advantage of her!”

“I’m not asking you to screw her silly on the first date. I am asking you to follow your heart and try to teach her our ways. By the same token, don’t be afraid to do what comes natural. Sometimes, we ponies place too much emphasis on ritual.”

“I’m confused.”

“Teach her how to love and value life, Malcanus.”

“But I’m no great lover, I don’t know how.”

“Well, figure it out. She’s no expert either. And send me reports. Keep me informed. I want romance reports, do you understand me?”

“Yes, Princess Cadance, I will do as I am asked.”

“Good. I hear Shining Armor and Glitter Glammer returning. We have more work to do.”

Author's Note

Next chapter, the sleeper awakens.