Help from the depths of hell

Chapters

Awakening of the Ink Demon
Dying Cruel Sun
Old Times
Melted Moon
Old tales

Awakening of the Ink Demon

“Princess! Where are we going?” Exclaimed Twilight who was following her mentor through an unknown part of the Castle.

Twilight’s entire life shattered. Everything went wrong so fast she couldn’t even register what the actual threat was.

Just yesterday, they were all celebrating the Summer Sun celebration with everpony, but then everything turned upside down.

Nightmare Moon came out of nowhere and managed to steal the Elements of Harmony from her and her friends. Not even Luna was aware that Nightmare Moon was still alive.

Not only that but Daybreaker too appeared at the celebration and both her and Nightmare Moon allied against all of Equestria.

Luna and all of Twilight’s friends were captured, Discord was sealed of into his dimension, unable to even help and the Crystal Empire had to deal with the unexpected return of King Sombra.

Twilight’s hope were about to break, if not for her mentor to save her from the living hell that was once known as Ponyville. Fire burned everywhere and total darkness covered the skies, unabling the ponies to find their way out of the prison of fire.

The two evil monarch were on their way to the Castle now and Twilight and Celestia didn’t have much time before they too end up captured, officially sealing the fate of Equestria.

“Princess! Where are we going?!” Exclaimed Twilight again, her mentor only continued trotting with haste towards wherever they were going, which became darker and darker as they went deeper into the unknown area of the Castle.

“We are going to get the last and only help we can have, a help that I will hopefully not regret later.” Finally answered Celestia.

Twilight was left perplexed, there weren’t many times when Celestia would regret something, besides her regret from a thousand years ago, but these regrets were already swept away. So what could still be haunting her at this time of age?

Twilight was about to ask another question until she noticed that the atmosphere around them changed. Not only that but the darkness slowly faded away and light could be seen, yet the light coming from up ahead felt… old.

The walls too changed drastically, from the once marvelous walls of the Royal Castle to… old planks of woods that didn’t even seem to have much time left before breaking apart. She also noticed some ink on the walls, dripping from the small cracks that were in the old wood.

The lamps hanging on the roof barely emitted any light and the little light that was emitted did not even felt like it belonged here.

The presence of ink only increased as they walked forward, the some parts of the walls didn’t even have planks and only holes could be seen in them. And in these holes, Twilight saw glimpse of… pipes?

Pipes that seemed to pump ink started to be more exposed, some were even in their way.

Then Twilight finally saw something up ahead, it was a closed door, a door that looked to be even older than the ruined Castle of the Two Sisters.

Now this broke through her shut mouth and she couldn’t help but ask.

“Where are we?”

Celestia didn’t immediately replied, until she suddenly stopped in front of the closed door. On the top of the door, Twilight could see something written, but it was in a language she has never seen before. The letters were too otherworldly for her to even find a reference to help her understand them. Then Celestia finally spoke.

“Somewhere I wished I would forget forever…” She stated before opening the door.

What she saw in there wasn’t like anything she has seen in her entire life. There was a single large room, there was in the middle of the room a throne like chair elevated by the pyramid looking stairs. Lanterns could be seen in the walls, seemingly shining until the end of time.

But this was not what surprised her the most, what surprised her was the… Thing sitting on the throne. It was a being entirely made of Ink, it emitted an aura that was so powerful it turned the room inky and moisty, she could even see the shadowy ink travelling on the ground and the walls.

She could hear the monster’s breathing, the way it breath sounded like it was suffocating but when she looked at it, it was looking perfectly fine, even though it looked like it was constantly melting.

She couldn’t see its face as it was looking down like it was asleep but she could see it had two little horns springing on its head. Not only that but she could see on its left hand that there was a huge glove covering its hand, she could also make the form of a bow tie attached to its neck? She couldn’t really see with the constantly dripping ink. She could also hear its heartbeat, the heartbeat sounded so loud it even made her own heart bump harder.

Then, she heard the most terrifying and most disturbing voice she ever heard in her life.

“iT’s BeEn a lOnG tIme liTtle pRiNcesS” It said. She couldn’t even see any trace of movement on its body or face when it talked.

But the moment it lifted up its head to look at her and Celestia, she was more petrified than what the cockatrices could ever do. Its face had a smile, a smile that was disturbingly wide. Not only that but she couldn’t see its eyes as it was covered by a layer of ink.

“Quiet Ink Demon!” Celestia exclaimed which only got a chuckle from the newly named Ink Demon. Twilight was definitely terrified when she heard that the thing in front of her was a Demon.

Demons were fairy tales to her, at least more so than the other fairy tales she read. Demons were said to be an extremely ancient species of Spirits, more ancient than even the Alicorns. They are said to wield more power than the Marquis-Class of Spirits, like Discord who earned the title of Lord of Chaos thanks to its powers.

Wendigo's themselves were in fact a rank lower than Lords and Ladies in the spirit Class, they were some kind of Knights or in some really rare cases, Baron-Class.

But demons were so powerful they were considered to be Royalty even. Royal-class spirits could bend the very fabric of reality and were the most powerful beings to be known to ponies. But they all disappeared for some unknown reason.

Only one demon remained of their disappearances. It was the Ink Demon, the one who controls the very creations made by imaginations. He brings characters from the fantasies of ponies to life, but he can also trap anything he wanted into his own reality, his own world with his own rules.

That is what makes the Ink Demon so terrifying, in fact, he is the only demon known to have a name. Having a name in the spirit world is considered highly honourable and it shows that you are unique and unlike the other spirits. It also shows your power as only spirits with power would be remembered by the world.

The demon in front of Twilight and Celestia though was erased from all books or mentions anywhere in the world. The only thing related to him were old relics that without text or guidance would only be considered like any other relics found in nature.

But it was not erased from the mind of the only one who still remembers its existence, Celestia herself.

“You will come and aid us in these dire times.” Stated Celestia as Twilight only looked at her like she was crazy.

“As rUde aS AlwaYs. YoU nEveR kNew hOw to aSk heLp AftEr aLl.” Said the Ink demon before standing up from its throne. Twilight stood on guard ready to fight even if she knew she could not win against a being like this.

Then, the aura that pressured the atmosphere inside the room was… sucked up by the Ink Demon. Not only that but the ink that seemed to drip forever on his body began to be absorbed by what Twilight assumed to be his real body.

The real body itself showed a bipedal creature wearing clothes that would be wore by the high-class ponies in Canterlot. His face was now cleaned of the dripping ink and she could finally see his face.

She was surprised to see that the previously grim and disturbing smile on his face actually fitted his expression. His pupils were of pure black, not even letting light reflect on them and yet it suited him even more now with the warming smile on his face, a smile that would seem to never wear off. His skin was as white as Rarity’s fur.

He wore a top hat that hid his demonic little horns, he also wore a white shirt with a black vest covering it with a white bow tie attached to it. He also wore white gloves on both of his hands and he carried a long cane with sophisticated artwork carved into it. In short, he exactly looked like the many nobles in Canterlot, expect that he was bipedal and had a tail ending with an arrow.

“Well? Won’t you introduce me to your new prodigee little princess?” He said with a surprisingly normal and even comforting voice. This comfort Twilight was feeling disturbed her to her very core.

Celestia didn’t reply and only glare at the Ink Demon. Then he suddenly turned to Twilight and extended his hand.

“Hello. Nice to meet you Twilight Sparkle. I am Bendy the Ink Demon, a pleasure to meet you.” He introduced himself while doing a little respectful bow, something you would do to show respect to another individual in the noble society, something she saw too many time while going around the Royal Capital of Equestria.

The sudden mention of her name even though she didn’t even say anything shocked her and her jaw suddenly dropped and her eyes opened wide.

‘How did he know?!’ She exclaimed in her mind.

“Well you are in my domain so of course I would know.” He said while showing his surroundings before turning back to Twilight.

“W-what?” Questioned Twilight who could not even register what was happening in front of her.

“Ah and do not worry little princess, I’ll gladly help you with your little situation but I will expect a little compensation of course.” Bendy explained. At this, Twilight’s eyes widen even more as she knew what he was implying.

Demons were known to form contracts with the living beings of the ancient times but in return for their services, they would always demand something ridiculous in return, something that was most of the time unreachable for the client. And when the client can’t compensate, it would be their souls that would compensate.

“I…..accept.” Celestia replied and even hesitated in the middle of her sentence. To Twilight, this meant the end of the world to her, her own mentor sold her soul for the sake of saving Equestria. And when she looked back at the demon, in her eyes, his smile grew wider even though it didn’t.

“Well, let’s not waste time little princess, let’s go. It’s been a while since I left this place after all.” He said before walking towards the exit door that somehow grew bigger to fit the tall demon.

Twilight was now on her way to save Equestria once again, but with the help of the most dangerous being to ever exists.

Author's Note

Here goes the first chapter, hope you like it.

Dying Cruel Sun

Twilight, Celestia and Bendy were walking back to the Castle. Bendy was leading the way while Celestia and Twilight followed behind him.

This gave Twilight the opportunity to talk with Celestia about what she just got themselves into.

“Princess…. Why do you know a Demon? I thought they were all gone.” Whispered Twilight to Celestia.

Celestia didn’t reply as she only glare and the walking demon in front of them. The way he stood and walked with the help of his cane really made him look like nobility, but Celestia knew that no Demon could ever approach the humility and modesty that is a noble.

“He is… something I’d rather not talk about…” Whispered back Celestia.

“Ahhhh. This reminds me of the old times when we would stroll around the Castle.” Suddenly stated the Demon, not even turning around to look at them.

“Quiet Demon.” Said Celestia but Twilight could see a slight tinge of… red? Was her mentor blushing?

“Ah sorry if I had offended you little princess.” He apologised but without even a glint of sincereness.

Silence fell on the group once again and Twilight didn’t know what to talk about with the Princess. She could obviously see that the demon and Celestia had a history together, and she wanted to know, needed to know what history was between them.

“Oh, I see what troubles you so much that you had to come to me.” He said the moment we went back to the Castle, coming out of the uncomfortable darkness that was the Demon’s lair.

The view that opened in front of them was that of a nightmare. The entire city of Canterlot was on fire, red and blue beams of magic would appear around the city. Celestia was watching in hopelessness as her subject’s screams could be heard even in the Castle. Twilight watched in shock as the innocent ponies burned as they ran around the burning world.

“COME OUT CELESTIA AND SEE WHAT YOUR WEAKNESS BROUGHT UPON YOUR PRECIOUS SUBJECTS!” Screamed the flying alicorn of fire on top of a burning roof.

“Ah yes, the little sun… I forgot about your heated friend little princess.” Said Bendy, not even bothered by the sight of the end of the world that was in front of him. He only stood there, a hand on his chin as if thinking about something.

“Well, I guess I can cool her down for now.” He said before turning into a puddle of ink before flowing outside of the Castle.

Twilight only looked at the puddle of ink in shock as she didn’t sense any magic being used in the process of transformation while Celestia only looked away in shame before looking at the ground.

“I… didn’t want to resort to this…. I’m sorry.” Was all Twilight could hear from the sad fallen Princess before the sounds of pain and fire died down.

When she turned around, she was shocked and was even about to fall to unconsciousness when she saw a sight she would never forget.

On the building where Daybreaker once was, stood the Ink Demon in his monstrous form. He held the obviously dying Alicorn in his inky hand. Not only that but the aura she saw in his lair was now larger than she could ever imagine. The aura had completely taken over the entire city of Canterlot, ink could be seen flowing everywhere in the city which stopped even the fire of an Alicorn from spreading further.

Instead of the flaming hell was now complete darkness, shadows of ink slithering the ground, walls and even the sky itself. The city was covered by an inky darkness, a darkness that turned every light down leaving only the tiny tinge of brightness emitting from the Sun Alicorn. Her mane and tail was no longer a deadly fire, they were now only remains of a dying Sun.

The demon let go of the Alicorn, her lifeless body fell on the rooftop of the building they were on. Then, the demon seemingly devoured her, not with his mouth but with his entire inky body, the ink was engulfing the body of the dead Alicorn before disappearing into the puddle of ink.

Then the aura disappeared and the darkness slowly disappeared, leaving a surprisingly untouched city.

Canterlot looked as good as new, like nothing even happened to begin with. Twilight looked through the windows of the castle and not a single trace of destruction could be found in the city.

“H-how?” She turned around to look at her mentor who was still looking at the ground in shame. Twilight didn’t understand why Celestia acted that way, the entire city was untouched and the ponies were even walking around without a single one of them being wounded or in danger.

“I see…. You’ve grown quite fine little princess.” Suddenly said a voice from behind Twilight. She jumped around to look and saw the Ink Demon in his “normal” form standing in front of her. He was staring in contemplation at her mentor.

“Well! Why don’t we go see the other one for now?” He asked her without even looking at Celestia.

“Your teacher will need some time alone after what I did.” He said with a hint of malice which sends shiver down Twilight’s back.

She could only nod in silence at the being in front of her. She couldn’t talk in front of him, his presence troubled her to the point of making her voice disappear.

The demon then turned towards the direction of the main gate of the Castle, possibly to exit the Castle to go find Nightmare Moon who was still alive it seems.

While they were walking, Twilight could only see her mentor’s unmoving body looking at the ground. She could not even move towards her, she felt guilt like none other as she saw herself being incapable to comfort the very pony who helped her during her entire life.

But she also knew she had a duty as a Princess. The duty to save her kingdom from this madness. And she needed to know what was between the powerful being she was following and the Alicorn she followed her entire life.

Old Times

“Where did this monster come from?! I didn’t hear about any of this from my foolish sister!” Exclaimed a clearly frustrated Nightmare Moon who was currently torturing the beasts in the Everfree Forest.

She knew that something was wrong the moment she saw Celestia and her student through the windows of the Castle.

Her instincts saved her from the darkness that befell on Canterlot. She was lucky that she was no longer in the city as she saw darkness like she never saw before, she could also see the silhouette of a bipedal being made by this shadow that covered Canterlot.

After seeing the silhouette of the monster, she fled to the Everfree Forest. Her pride would normally never allow her to do such a thing, but she was not foolish enough to take on a monster that easily took over Canterlot by just standing on top of a building.

“Damn monster! You’re a being of shadows! And no shadows is stronger than me who controls the night!” She screamed as she exploded a Timberwolf.

She was thinking about what to do next but every plan ended in her immediate demise. King Sombra is protected by the blanket of snow around the Crystal Empire and Chrysalis is not something she can trust.

She screamed in rage again as she obliterated another Timberwolf. She would again be defeated by these weak ponies, but, she still had plans to deal with them without directly going to them.

After all, she imposed her rule in the Everfree Forest. The manticores feared her and the hydras bowed before her power. They all feared her and were ready to fight for her instead of going against her.

“Well, no matter how much time I must wait, night WILL fall on Equestria forever.” She said with a new resolution.

But she would have to wait as she knew that she could not stand a chance against this monster, for now.

“Ah yes I almost forgot…. I wonder where this amulet could be.” She said before laughing like a mad mare.

“Hm… She is quite troublesome indeed.” Sighed Bendy as he walked through Canterlot city with Twilight.

They could see many ponies disoriented or even unconscious around on their path but they all helped each other. They were so busy helping each other they didn’t even notice the Ink Demon and the Princess of Friendship strolling through the city.

Twilight herself was left speechless since the very moment she left behind her mentor, she still feels guilty and wished she could go back and comfort her. Although now she had a disturbing companion now, and she slowly built up courage to speak with the being in front of her.

“W-where are we going?” She never felt like this ever before. Even against Discord, King Sombra, Chrysalis and even Tirek, she was fine and was ready to fight them head on. But now she was next to a being that even made her, the one who saved Equestria nearly every time it was in danger, shake.

“Ah yes, we are searching for the other Moon, but she is quite troublesome so we will only see for the casualties in Canterlot before going back to the little princess.” He explained nonchalantly. Twilight could not even understand him, it is even harder to understand him than Discord’s riddles.

Yet at the same time, what he was explaining made complete sense and was so simple even fillies and colts would understand. Searching for Nightmare Moon, seeing if there are any injured inside the city of Canterlot and then go back to see the… little princess?

“Why do you call Princess Celestia ‘little princess’?” She blurted out without thinking before immediately covering her mouth with her hooves. She couldn’t even understand her reaction towards him! The only time she reacts that way was in front of Princess Celestia herself! So why does she feel so vulnerable when talking to him?

“Hm… Well I would tell you but it is better to wait for the little princess herself to be in better shape.” He said as he watched a pony helping another pony standing up.

Twilight felt extremely uncomfortable and uneasy, something about him was wrong right now and she couldn’t put her hooves on it.

“It looks like everything is fine in the city, maybe after some week the city will be back on its feet.” He said while watching the walls around the city that were flooded by soldiers trying to see if there were any injured within their ranks.

That’s when it clicked in her head. The thing that was wrong about him was that there isn’t anything wrong with him right now. He was being too nice and even was checking on the injured, she could see him taking a peek at some of the confused ponies on their way. The way he acted now with so much care for the ponies was nothing like he was not just an hour ago.

“Why do you care so much about the ponies?” She blurted out again before putting her hooves on her mouth. She got a chuckle as a response.

“Well, it would be rude of me to not take our little contract seriously.” He said and now she understood.

In the books she read, both fictional and mythical, Demons were known to be extreme with their contracts. They take every part of it with extreme care, some of the books said it was to make sure the client would pay for the contract in return, others books said it’s because demons, while known for their mischiefs, were quite the noble and honest class of spirits.

‘That’s right… our contract.’ She thought before atrocious images flashes in her mind. She imagined many scenarios where the demon she was walking with would take everything important to her. Her mentor, her friends, Spike…

“Well now, why don’t we return to your mentor’s Castle? I think she is waiting for us.” He said before pointing at one of the towers of the Castle, in one of its windows, she could see the silhouette of Princess Celestia watching them.

The demon didn’t wait for an answer as he was already walking back to the Castle, still having a smile on his face. Twilight only followed him from behind, far away enough so the demon could not grab her or attack her.

She was scared of him, scared of what he would do, scared of what he can do and scared of what would happen once their contract was done. She was lost in her nightmarish imagination while her body continued on autopilot.

“So little zebra? Where is the amulet?” SAid Nightmare Moon calmly as she held Zecora in her magical grasp.

Zecora could not respond as she was being choked by the Alicorn’s grasp. This made Nightmare Moon’s more angry as her patience was slowly fading away.

She released the zebra but still had a spell ready to fire if the zebra tries to flee.

“So? Are you gonna tell me or are you ready to die?” She said as her spell charged stronger and stronger.

“...At the end of my home
Lays the object you search…
Leave me alone…”

The zebra said as she laid on the ground while glaring at the Alicorn. Nightmare Moon smiled and went deeper into the house of the zebra, she saw a box laying on a table and there was indeed the amulet inside of it.

When she returned, the zebra was nowhere to be seen as she might have fled away into the woods.

“No matter, I have what I wanted.” Nightmare Moon smiled before walking towards Ponyville.

When Twilight and Bendy arrived at the Castle, Celestia greeted them at the entrance.

“So little princess?” Bendy said while looking directly at Celestia. She only glared back at him then looked more softly towards her student who was behind him.

“Twilight… You will have to save your friends from Nightmare Moon with… him. I cannot accompany you as I must stay here to calm the ponies.” Celestia explained.

Twilight came out from behind Bendy and looked at her mentor with the determination she always had when saving Equestria. She then looked at Bendy with the same determination in her eyes, as if to say that he must and will help her in her quest to save her friends.

The demon only smiled, like he always do, but the smile he had right now felt more… happier? Like he was excited by what’s coming in the future.

“Well, let’s go to your little town to start then.” He said before turning around and walking towards the train station. Twilight followed behind with her new found determination. And Celestia watched them walking away, knowing fully well that she would have to pay the price for the protection of the undefeated Ink Demon.

“I will wait for you Twilight and…. uncle.”

“Ah, it looks like little princess is slowly opening up again.” Suddenly stated the Ink Demon in the train station.

Twilight quizzically looked at him, wondering what he was talking about Celestia. She still didn’t gave up on knowing more about the demon and with her new determination, her fear of talking to him was swept away.

“What was between you and little- Princess Celestia.” She stuttered a little and then blushed. Bendy only chuckled.

“You could say she was some kind of niece to me.” This brought an explosion stronger than Discord’s madness into her mind.

“SHE WAS WHAT?!!!!” Screamed Twilight effectively bringing the attention of the other ponies in the train station. She apologized and blushed before looking at the demon with wide eyes.

The train arrived and they both entered it.

“Ah yes, the little princess used to be such a hot headed young sun.” He said before contemplating.

Flashback, many millenia ago

“Uncle! Uncle! Look at this flower!” Exclaimed a very young Celestia while holding an ancient yellow flower. This flower is known to always turn its head towards the sun, but the flower the little princess held was always facing her.

“Well…. It is quite beautiful.” Said an inky voice. It was Bendy the Ink Demon in his monstrous form.

He didn’t have complete mastery over ink yet so he would always walk in his demon form at the time. Everypony were afraid of him, but the royal family weren’t afraid.

Yet the little princess would always play with him. He did not care much as he did not have a heart besides the one that always beats when he is in this form.

The little princess was in no better situation, she was found around the frozen mountains of the North with her sister Luna. The ponies at the time were very strict when it came to Alicorns and so they sheltered the two young Alicorns and would make them into great rulers.

In short, the princesses were alone and would be used to maintain the day/night cycle. This continued for generations and Celestia became more and more aware of the situation she was in.

She fled with her sister into the deep forest that was feared by every living beings. Why did life fear the forest so much? Because Bendy was in here. He was already known throughout the old kingdoms as the Monster of Destruction. Even the last Draconequus, Discord, didn’t dare to enter the dark Forest that would later be known as the Everfree Forest.

Celestia and Luna were in bad shape even before they entered the forest because they were pursued by the ponies who wanted to keep them in their Castles. As a matter of fact, it was during this time that the personalities known as Nightmare Moon and Daybreaker were created.

Emotions acted differently with Alicorns, and strong emotions would often manifest themselves. So of course that when they were fleeing, the feeling of hatred grew to manifest into the two evil personalities.

But when they met Bendy, these emotions faded away. But the personalities didn’t and were only in a state of sleep deep within their consciousness.

The Ink Demon himself grew attached to the two Alicorns, he played with them and even built a Castle for them at one point.

The two Alicorns, well only Celestia as Luna was still afraid of the Ink Demon, started to call him Uncle for some reason. But he didn’t hate or like it so he didn’t say anything.

“Say Uncle! Why do you look like that? Doesn’t it hurt?” The little princess said as she watched the melting body of the Ink Demon in worry.

“It is how I am… The pain already faded away a long time ago.” He said before looking away.

This worried Celestia even more. He was after all the only one who treated her in true kindness in her entire life, and she would feel really bad if she couldn’t help the only one who treated her that way.

“Let’s go… you need to turn the sun down.” He said before walking towards the Castle he built inside the forest where Luna was waiting.

Luna was still afraid and would often stay closed inside the Castle. She is quite timid and wouldn’t talk much to anyone besides her sister. This was how they lived, Bendy would walk Celestia outside while Luna stayed inside the Castle, when the time came they would make night time before going to sleep.

They didn’t especially need to sleep but it still made them rest and more comfortable. Bendy also told that it would be nice for them to feel how the other beings felt like, even if he himself didn’t need to sleep at all, in fact he didn’t even need anything to live. It was like he was immortal after all.

He insisted for the two Alicorns to eat regularly even if they didn’t need to. They lived a normal life for many many years, until…

Flashback End

“Ah, it seems like the train has arrived.” Bendy said and indeed, the train stopped.

Twilight started to contemplate about what the demon told her. The Princess Celestia was this childish a long time ago? She also couldn’t believe that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were alone and even used by the ponies at the time.

All the stories she read up until now about the Two Alicorn Sisters fell apart. The stories about two powerful being suddenly appearing and helping the ponies to raise the sun and the moon were false?

Well, they still raised the sun and the moon but they didn’t help, they were used and even manipulated to use their powers for the ponies. Not only that but from what he told her, their powers were also used to monopolize their powers in Equestria.

The ancient time sounded so cruel but she couldn’t contradict the demon either as he didn’t seem to lie and she didn’t find any reason to lie about such a story.

“Come on.” Said the demon, bringing her back to reality. But when they got out, she heard the screams of ponies.

She ran past the demon and went into Ponyville. The town was already rebuilding after the attack of the two evil alicorns.

Twilight saw hell again, this time she saw Nightmare Moon, wearing what looks like..

“THE ALICORN AMULET?!” She screamed, bringing the attention of the Alicorn destroying the town.

“Ah yes, I knew you would come out, now you meet your doom!” She shouted before shooting a deadly spell.

But then a wave of ink suddenly appeared in front of Twilight, completely devouring the beam of magic. When the wall of ink fell down, a new silhouette stood between Twilight and Nightmare Moon.

Darkness fell on the little Town of Ponyville. Just like in Canterlot, the sky, the ground and the walls of the buildings had inky shadows slithering on them. A dome of ink was around the town of Ponyville.

Hard breaths could be heard as well as loud heartbeats. The Ink Demon has awakened.

“DoOm iS an oLd FriEnd of MiNe.” The demon said before looking directly at the Alicorn.

“lEt’S hAve fUn.”

Melted Moon

‘How long has it been since I fought? Centuries? Millennias? Maybe even million of years.’

Were the first thought of the Ink Demon after turning into his true form. Well, it was actually his normal form but he thought that his “gentleman” appearance suited better for the social role of the world.

Right now, he wasn’t actually taking Nightmare Moon seriously, even if she has the Alicorn Amulet. He didn’t need to traumatize the ponies of Ponyville with his true true form, a form which he honestly almost forgot he even had with how little he uses it.

Anyway, right now, everypony in Ponyville were terrified and seemed to be petrified like statues. No one can blame them with how messed up their current situation is.

An atrociously powerful Alicorn stood on one side, and an even more powerful being stood on the other side. Not only that but the aura of these two monsters literally covered the poor little town with darkness of the Void and the Night.

“Do you think you scare me Beast?! I am an Alicorn wearing the Alicorn Amulet! I am a being that transcends all of you weaklings!” The arrogant mare exclaimed.

Bendy didn’t care at what she was saying. As a matter of fact, he was not even thinking about the fight at all.

‘Should I end it quickly?’ or ‘Will little princess be mad at me if I mess her “not so related” sister?’ Were some of his actual thoughts.

In front of the ponies stood a being only told in fairytales, Nightmare Moon, the corrupted Alicorn and ruler of the Night. A being that scared them to their very souls.

But in front of the Ink Demon, only a little child in needs of discipline. To say that he underestimated her would be an understatement itself. Many would think that he was too arrogant or cocky, yet he actually has the power to back his claims.

‘I guess I’ll just play a little to see if she grew up.’ Was the Ink Demon’s final thought before looking straight at the mare, who herself did not notice the stare since the Demon had his eyes covered with ink.

“sO? whAt aRe YoU goIng to dO? bOastIng woN’t sAvE yoU.” He said trying to anger the mare, which worked perfectly.

“What! I will show you the might of the Night!” The angered Alicorn shouted before charging straight at the Demon.

Bendy couldn't care less about whatever she was planning, but he was amused by the attempt. It wasn’t everyday that something is trying to aim for your soul when in fact, you don’t have one.

He waited, and waited, and waited. But it was too long for him, the mare took too much time in charging her spell.

Yet in the eyes of a certain purple pony, the spell charging up inside the Alicorn’s horn was the deadliest she’s ever seen. And the casting time was so much faster than she expected it to be.

The stronger the spell, the longer the casting time takes depending on the pony’s control of magic. Yet, a spell that could literally obliterate the whole town was taking mere seconds to cast.

But in the eyes of the Demon, whose senses transcended far beyond the realm of this reality, the spell took too much time. He was honestly thinking about helping Nightmare Moon optimizing the time needed for the spell to be cast. Not only that but the spell itself worked for physical beings, which he seriously was not, he was literally made of Ink, Ink that was obviously infused with his immortal existence.

In the end, when the spell left the horn of the Alicorn, Bendy only stood there.awaiting the crimson beam to make contact with him.

But in that little time when the beam was still travelling to him in mid air. A very, very interesting happened in front of the Demon.

The purple Alicorn who was previously too afraid at the raw power of the Obliteration spell, was now standing in front of Bendy, seemingly trying to protect him with multiple barriers.

“Run!” Twilight shouted at the Ink Demon.

She began to feel pain when the beam made contact with the multiple-layered barrier. But she surprisingly did not fall down, through sheer determination she held against a spell that was several level higher than her little barriers.

‘Interesting….’ Was the only thing the Ink Demon thought in this situation.

“What are you doing! Get away! Now!!!” Shouted the purple Alicorn again, but now with more pain in her voice.

“i cOuLd aSk yoU tHe saMe. wHat ArE yoU doIng?” Asked the Ink Demon, seemingly not bothered by the state in which the Princess of Friendship is.

“I’m protecting you!!!!” She barely could shout, her strength was slowly leaving her body.

“...wHy?” He continued to ask.

“Because your our last chance for saving Equestria!!!!” She finally shouted with every last bit of her strength, a strength she directed towards the barrier which successfully deviated the Obliteration spell.

But she was now exhausted, from this one single spell only. She was too tired and her body finally gave up and her mind drifted to unconsciousness.

An inky hand catched her just before she was about to fall on the ground. Even if the hand that was holding her was covered in ink, the Ink itself did not dare to taint her purple fur.

Then, the unconscious mare disappeared in a flash. She was actually teleported back to Canterlot Castle with Princess Celestia.

The Ink Demon stood back up, facing straight towards the arrogant Alicorn, who seemed to be smirking in victory for whatever reason.

“This is a proof that you are no match for me! This spell was not even my strongest but it costed all of an Alicorn’s power to stop it!! Surrender and bow before me!” The Alicorn exclaimed. But she got no response, instead, she got silence. Silence that was accompanied by the sound of the Demon’s breathing and heartbeat.

Nightmare Moon slowly started to be afraid as time passes, the atmosphere, the sounds, the silence, the world itself seemed peaceful to her. That’s when she realised it.

When she looked around, she did not see anypony, in fact she did not see anything at all! She looked around, there was only the eerie feeling of being cornered. The little town of Ponyville felt empty, so peaceful.

She looked at the sky and it was the same thing, it was empty, no clouds were in sight whatsoever. She blinked once, twice and when she blinked for the third time, she realised her current situation.

She was in the grasp of the monster in front of her, not only her but the world around her. The reason why she couldn’t feel anything from her surroundings was because she was trapped, because she was already dead, and the dead can’t feel anything beyond the grave.

A sudden chill ran through her entire body, for the first time in her entire existence, she felt fear and hopeless. But these feelings were quickly pushed away by her pride, or what remains of it.

“C-come at me!! Or are you a-afraid?!” She stuttered, her body did not even listened to her anymore.

The beast only stood there in silence, then he disappeared in the darkness around her. Not only that but the heartbeats could be heard coming from all around her.

Then she felt a sudden gust of wind behind her right ear, on instinct, she jumped as far as she could from the source of the wind and when she turned around. Nothing.

She turned back and forth, she was turning all around her trying to find where the beast was in this world of Darkness.

“Show yourself!” She screamed, fear could be clearly heard in her voice.

“iT is TiMe for tHe eClipse to fAde aWaY.” The beast said right behind her.

And before she could even move, the world faded away. Her consciousness drifting away, her body became weaker and weaker, it became so weak that it started to melt. She was melting yet she didn’t feel anything, not even pain.

The blue colored mane melted to become black, not just her mane and tail but her entire being. Even her mind melted away.

After a while, she completely became one with the darkness that was around her, and then. Nightmare Moon was no more.

Author's Note

Well, let me hear your thoughts about this chapter. It took me some time to think up a battle but I realised that I wasn't good in epic fight scene, so I just improvised a bit.

Also, the day this chapter came out was actually the day I submitted the story. That's because at first I wanted to finish the story before publishing it but I really needed a third perspective on this chapter.

And if any of you wonders why some parts of the story looks weird to read, well that's cause I'm not a native english speaker.

Edit : I changed a tiny detail because I realised how BS it looks.

Old tales

Monster, God, Spirit, Emperor, Destroyer. So many titles attributed to this one entity, but only one was the closest description from what he truly is.

Demon

For ponykind, these entities were powerful subspecies of spirits, said to be equivalent to Alicorns for the spirits, Royalty.

Yet they all vanished for some unknown reason, the place that will be known as Tartarus once was their home, yet the dimension was vacant upon the arrival of brave ponies who tried to explore the most feared place known to anything.

The place was empty, devoid of any life or any deaths. No bodies, nothing, an empty place that seemed to reach forever into the horizon. A perfect place to send criminals thought the rulers of ponies at the time.

But they were wrong, one Demon remained in the world of ponies.

The Ink Demon

Not much was known about that specific demon, information about Demons in general was rare in the first place and so it would be even harder to identify this specific Demon.

The first and last place it was known to reside by ponykind, or any species for that matter, was the Cursed Forest, later known as the Everfree Forest.

Many attempted to explore the forest, all of them returned safe and unharmed. At least somewhat unharmed. Upon interrogation, the ponies that returned from the forest explained that the forest was to be left unexplored and be prohibited from access. The reason? “You wouldn’t want to know…. but you should know that an abomination will kill all those who enter the forest.”

Of course, no one believed the ponies' words since afterall, they all came back alive. But they assured every single ponies or even beings that questioned them, that if they were alive, it was because The Beast didn’t feel like killing at the time.

The Beast, another title that Bendy acquired during his years of popularity. Of course, he didn’t kill them because he “didn’t feel like killing”, it was because he actually didn’t care about the ponies in the first place, he was simply having his daily stroll around the forest.

Indeed, the Demon named Bendy was misunderstood as an abomination of terror from every single living being. None dared to approach him aside from the greenery of the forest he lived in.

Yes, there was one demon who did not live in Tartarus, a single Demon that escaped the Fall of Hell, as the event regarding the disappearance of Demons was known as. This Demon being totally clueless about the event in particular and who simply lived in peace in the forest he called Home.

Bendy didn’t do much in the forest besides walking around and enjoying the greenery, or at least what remained of the greenery. His overwhelming aura and power took a physical body in the form of an inky aura always surrounding him and slithering his surroundings like shadows. Luckily, the ink would evaporate if he went too far away from his initial position and the forest wasn’t too affected by the daily bath in inky aura. Though it did give the forest the cause behind its unholy name, a thick layer of darkness constantly covered the forest, making outsiders blind to the insides of the forest, so is the reason behind the Cursed Forest’s name.

That was the uneventful but peaceful life of the Ink Demon. Until two little fillies ran towards the forest...

Darkness, that was all she could see. She could hear a small beeping sound, repeating itself every 5 seconds she observed.

Then, she felt something moving next to her. Trying to touch the thing that moved, she moved her forelegs but all she could feel were the soft sheets of a bed.

She tried to open her eyes, it was hard but she could open them… somewhat. She could barely see anything in front of her, but she immediately understood that she was at a hospital.

Twilight was on a hospital bed, when she moved her head to look at what moved next to her bed, which was painful to do, she immediately wanted to gasp and jump out of the bed.

There, next to her was the tired head of her mentor, Princess Celestia. Even with her blurry sight, Twilight could still see the details on her mentor’s face, and if she has to be honest, the Princess of the Sun looked horrible. Bags could be seen under her closed eyes, black stains could be seen all along her once beautiful and even divine white fur. Even her once majestic flowing mane wasn’t moving, it was barely even moving like it used to. In short, her mentor looked tired, extremely tired and if the dried tears down her cheeks were any indications, worried too.

Twilight didn’t know what to feel, she felt extremely bad but also extremely angry at whoever made her mentor turn into such a pitiful mare. But she didn’t have the energy to express any of these feelings, all she could do for now was look around the room.

She wasn’t physically injured but she felt a strain from her magical abilities, it must’ve been mana exhaustion from using all that power to block Nightmare Moon’s-

‘NIghtmare Moon! That’s right! What happened to her?! And what happened to-’ “Don’t worry, the moon made way to the sun and I’m personally fine and a little bored.” A voice suddenly cut her train of thoughts, an unnerving voice that sent chills down Twilight’s spine.

“Y-” She tried to speak but found out that her voice was quite broken. All she did was look at the door of her hospital room, there leaning on the doorframes was the Ink Demon himself with his eyes closed and his ever so uncomfortable yet comforting smile on his face.

“Don’t speak, lie down and rest and please don’t wake the little princess.” The Demon said to her while doing a little side glance when he opened his eyes before closing it back.

‘I should be the one telling you that…’ Twilight thought as she slightly glared at the Demon who was clearly the only one speaking loud in this room. Then she glanced at her mentor’s quite pitiful state.

“She’s been waiting here for nearly two weeks already, you sure do love your sleep little star.” The Demon said while grinning at her, but she didn’t care at the moment.

‘Two weeks?!! I’ve been here for that long?!’ Twilight panicked in her mind.

“Don’t worry too much, both the moon and the sun are fine and as for the other stars, hm, it’s quite interesting what the eclipse did to them…” The Demon said in a cryptic way as he looked in front of him in contemplation, which made him look like an idiot since it looked like he was glaring at the door frame in front of him.

“Well, for now rest but I do have a question for you.” The Demon said before looking straight at Twilight.

‘W-what?’ Twilight thought, a little uncomfortable by the sudden stare the demon gave her.

“Why did you do that?” He asked.

‘W-what?’ Twilight thought, confused by the question.

“Why did you block the spell? Knowing full well it was pointless of you to do that.” The Demon said to her.

The princess of friendship contemplated on that. Why did she do it? She knew that the being in front of her could take the spell so why did she do it? After careful consideration, she answered.

‘Because you are the last hope Equestria has, someone even Princess Celestia didn’t even want to get help from. And… and I didn’t want to see you die…’ She thought before looking down.

“Why? I am a Demon, something that everything fears and wants dead so why? Even the little princess didn’t want to see me again for who knows how long.” The Demon said, confused and clearly not understanding her actions. That surprised her since she thought the being in front of her knew everything in advance and was always composed. But now, he looked lost, almost like a child…

‘But… You aren’t evil…’ Twilight thought, looking back up at the Demon who looked at her even more confused.

“What makes you think so?” He asked.

‘I saw you looking at the injured ponies back when we walked around Canterlot… You were carefully looking if anypony was very injured… And… I don’t think it was only because of the…’ “Contract?” ‘...yes.’

“I see… Well, I’ll be going now.” The demon said and Twilight wanted to say where he was going, but she couldn’t as the Demon was already gone into the shadows, going who knows where.

Then, she felt movement on the other side of the bed. It was Celestia and she was waking up. Twilight stared at her mentor and she would’ve gasped if she could. Celestia’s eyes were bloodshot, her pupils were so small they could barely be seen.

“Twilight!” Celestia exclaimed as she jumped at her, nearly crushing her already broken body.

“Celethia….” She struggled to say.

“Ah! I’m so sorry!” Celestia said before backing off, looking down on the hospital bed as she regretted her actions.

Twilight was quite shocked, since the start of this crisis she was seeing completely new parts of her mentor. She hasn’t seen her look so… weak and helpless. Since she couldn’t really speak, she did what she could do, she gently hugged her mentor who immediately cried.

“I was so worried when… he brought you back with so many wounds…” Celestia said through her sobs.

“Wh-*cough*... what happened…” She asked, coughing as her throat was dry. It took time for Celestia to calm down, but when she did, she started to explain what was happening.

Nightmare Moon was defeated and the reconstruction of Ponyville and Canterlot soon started, apparently the two evil sisters didn’t attack any of the other cities. For what reasons? They didn’t know, but it allowed the other cities to send some helping hooves for the reconstruction as well as helping the injured ponies. Next was the Ink Demon, whose existence spread across the entire land being labelled as the mysterious savior and the secret weapon of the Royal Family. Many of the nobles saw this as leverage against the Princesses for hiding such a valuable and dangerous entity from them. The Demon himself didn’t seem to mind all of that and simply brought her back to the hospital where Celestia apparently threw a fit and accused the Demon of harming her precious student which resulted in her being covered in ink, no major injuries though.

“He also healed you on the way so all you really needed is rest to recover from the magical strain.” Celestia finished.

“Celestia *cough*, who is he?” Twilight asked and Celestia immediately understood what she wanted to know. She really didn’t want to say anything but her friend and former student needed to know.

“A long time ago…”

Flashback over two thousand years ago

“WhaT iS thIs?” She heard as she and her little sister ran inside the Cursed forest. She stopped with her little sister, both petrified by the distorted voice.

They were still little fillies, scared and tired of being used by the hateful ponies. Their alternate self already in the process of manifesting in the world.

“Who’s here?!” Yelled Celestia in a semblance of courage, obviously still in a state of fear. Their horns lit up, ready to fire at the slightest movement in the surrounding.

“oH? hOw cUtE” The distorted voice said once again, scaring them both as they stared into the darkness, and the darkness stared back at them. From the shadows of a forest they could see movement. Luna fired a beam as soon as she saw it.

“Oh mY, whAt vIolenCe!” The voice said, mocking the poor attempt at harming its source, further infuriating the moon princess as she fired another beam.

“Shut up!” The small princess yelled as she fired beams after beams. She didn’t even know what she was supposed to hit, but she fired anyway in a state of fury, Nightmare Moon slowly manifesting through her body. Celestia, seeing this, tried to calm her sister but failed.

“oH? IntEresting… A fEllOw bEinG oF shAdowS…” The voice said and the two little Alicorns stopped moving, petrified by what they were feeling. They looked in the darkness, and the shadows seemed to expand… on the ground, on the trees and maybe even the sky! Everywhere in front of them seemed to be devoured by slithering shadows, and as the shadows came closer and closer to their petrified bodies, the sound of a heartbeat made its way into their ears, followed by an unstable sound of breathing.

Then, the very darkness they stared at for the past ten minutes manifested itself, its embodiment taking the form of a monstrous entity that seemed to constantly melt, and on what looked like its head was plastered the most terrifying smile they’ve ever seen in their lives.

“WelL thEn, wHy Don’t YoU tWo iNtroDucE yOurSeLvEs?”

Author's Note

Yes, it's me.

Now I know it's been over a year since then but I got a good excuse! Well actually I don't, I just burnt out at the time, and during that I kinda... forgot my account password. Well I could bring out any type of excuses but the fact that I kinda fled this story all together doesn't change.

SO yeah, here's the new chapter and also if the writting seems different, well it's normal it's been over a year since I last wrote something so don't get too surprised if the story becomes dull. And as for the schedule? There's none and I gotta focus on school too, so the releases may range from a week to practically another month/year. So yeah, don't get your hopes up just yet.

With this, I hope you liked this chapter. :twilightsmile: