Demon Bonds

It went on like that for weeks. Months, even. The mare, whose name I learned was Prismia, quickly seized control over the little hamlet she had summoned me to. And she let me know how much of that was due to her skills and not what she had stolen from me.

I could tell the bitch had some serious trust issues with jealousy and self-worth problems thrown on top of it. She claimed it was only due to her being so popular among those she forced to revere her instead of the necklace she wore, compelling them to adore her. She took fucking pride in being a 'beloved neighborhood citizen' and gaslit herself into believing she wasn't anything but a petty tyrant.

All the while, I was paraded around like an obedient pet on a leash, having to endure the disdain of 'everypony' around me. I often found my coat sullied with rotten tomatoes and foul eggs (among other less pleasant things). They blamed me for their suffering while still kissing the ground Prismia walked on as if she were a goddess. If only they knew the reason why they found their lives to be so miserable all of a sudden.

Every day, I was forced to pleasure Prismia as she got progressively worse. She was actively draining the love out of those innocent ponies, robbing them of their life force to make herself young and beautiful again. And in the meantime, I was starting to starve as I was unable to feed on sexual energy due to the fucking contract.

I would have taken the first chance I got to return to Hell at this point, seriously. Punishment be damned; everything would have been better than this enslavement to a wannabe warlock. At least I knew Lilith wouldn't let me starve like this. Even my sisters wouldn't be that cruel, backstabbing notwithstanding.

Before long, the whole hamlet was falling into disrepair as chaos and hatred reigned. With no love in their hearts left, the ponies of this community turned on each other and committed the worst kind of crime there was: cold-hearted murder. Foals and old ponies alike were killed for the pettiest reasons, such as theft and jealousy or mere annoyance and other such grievances. Mares and stallions were openly raping each other out on the streets while Prismia sat on her overly gaudy throne admiring a statue made in her likeness, only with a horn and two large, feathery wings. A symbol of power and royalty in this world, as I learned from her gloating.

She was anything but that. She was a witch who corrupted everything she touched to the utmost. And I enabled her to do so because I was too stupid and eager to escape Hell. This was all my fault. I should have been wiser and more cautious. I should have expected a trap and not underestimated her.

There was next to no resistance from the ponies that fell under her spell, and I was powerless to watch as those who tried were torn to pieces by her sycophants. Or so I thought would happen to the pink pegasus mare leading the rebels in a fight against Prismia's oppression. Things were about to change drastically for me one year after my initial arrival in this world, I could tell.

Cadance. I've seen the pegasus mare around every so often. She always gave me this pitiful look as if she felt this kind of kinship with me. A shared suffering, a deep-seated loneliness. It was like her heart cried out to mine, and... it baffled me. Why would this mare look at me this way when everyone else seethed at the mere sight of me? For some reason, she was different. She didn't see a monster in me. She treated me like a person, someone on an equal level. It was a first for me, to be honest. No one else ever did.

Somehow, she managed to escape her gruesome fate and instead tackled the witch off her throne when she confronted her about her wrongdoings. In the ensuing struggle, the pink pegasus somehow tore off Prismia's necklace. The thing flew close to where I was forced to sit still, and my heart leaped in my chest. For the first time in a very long while, I felt a spark of hope ignite in my chest.

Now more than ever, I wished I could move freely and help the pink pegasus. Alas, I was still bound to the contract, and that wouldn't change so soon with Prismia alive and breathing.

It was too bad that not one pony came to Prismia's aid, then. No, instead, the opposite was the case. She kicked Cadance off of her, only to find herself being dogpiled by a bunch of murderous ponies with no love left in them for her. Cadance fluttered away from the bloodbath over to where I was shackled to the throne and the necklace that was not too far away from me.

The pink mare frowned at me in concern. "Are you okay?" she asked, and I found out I could move again. If only I wasn't still bound to the throne and in the vicinity of a bunch of colorful, murder-happy ponies out for blood. That... was not a thing I ever thought I would have to deal with.

Life was strange—really strange. There was Heaven, Hell, the supernatural, the wicked, the undead, magic, and now, ponies. What was next, I wondered? Fairies and eldritch horrors?

I looked at Cadance, unable to figure out why she was so friendly to me when her peers were currently trampling Prismia flatter than a pancake. That, and me being a demon, obviously. I wasn't exactly high on the list of beings a mortal would befriend, pony or not. Yet, here she was, concerned for my well-being. She really was an enigma, wasn't she? "Are you seriously asking me that?"

Cadance examined my state of malnutrition and winced. It didn't help that I currently reeked of rotten vegetables and foul eggs, either. Let's not mention the other stuff, shall we? "I, uh—Right. Sorry."

I scowled. "Why are you being so nice to me, anyway?" I asked, scratching at an itch in my dirty coat. Prismia didn't give me many chances to bathe. Or move at all while the itchiness was driving me crazy (aside from my hunger doing so, as well). Having fur sucked.

"You looked like you needed a friend," she told me with a small smile while shyly rubbing her foreleg with a hoof. "I have no idea what kind of pony you are, but nopony deserves to be treated so poorly."

...was she for real? I was a fucking demon, and here she was, trying to comfort me. In what kind of bullshit fairy tale did I find myself here? No one was that kind. I glanced over to the pile of murderous ponies and raised a brow. "Shouldn't you make a run for it? That mob of angry ponies won't be distracted for much longer with what remains of Prismia."

Cadance blinked before turning her head in the direction I pointed at and quickly paled. "Oh, dear Celestia..." she exclaimed while she made a distressed, retching sound. "W-what do I do?!"

She wasn't a very bright one, was she? "How about you run?" I proposed dryly in a deadpan. Instead of doing just that, though, she turned back to me with panic, trying to find a way to get the shackles off me. There wasn't a keyhole on any of them. Trust me, I knew. "What are you doing..?" I asked her, and she snorted as if it was obvious.

"Trying to save you!" she told me before grabbing a rock, intent on trying to smash the chains instead. Not that that would have done me any good (or her, for that matter). I was in no condition to run, much less use my wings to fly.

"Hey," I said, forcing her to look at me. "Don't be a fool and save yourself. There's no way I would make it far before they caught up to me. Go. I will be fine."

Cadance sniffled. "Don't lie to me," she said with a watery voice, trying her hardest to break the chain while our time was running out. The rock was far too small and already started breaking into even smaller pieces. "I-I won't leave you here to be mauled to death by what are supposed to be my friends and family!"

I looked at her with pity. Prismia might have taken my freedom, but she took everything away from this poor girl. "It's okay," I told her as gently as possible. "At least I get to be free of my torment. You can still save yourself. Don't waste your future on me."

Cadance shook her head, rubbing her eyes with the back of her leg. "No," she said, glaring at me with determination. "I won't leave you behind. You deserve to be happy, too."

I shifted on my legs and felt my heart stir at her passionate words. A feeling of warmth spread within me, and yet, I couldn't let her do this to herself and her future. The murder-happy ponies were starting to stop their frenzied fighting as a few remembered I was still chained to the throne, and I resigned myself to my fate. I won't let the same be true for Cadance, though.

The chain was just long enough for me to stand between her and the frothing mob. So, I strained against the pull of the chain, spread my wings as wide as possible to make myself the bigger target, and kicked her weakly away from where I was. I looked back at her with a smirk just as the first pony slammed into me.

"No!" she screamed as the second pony reached me. The rest were turning to face the new commotion, and it wouldn't be long until they dogpiled me next.

The second pony flung me closer to where I had kicked Cadance in the hopes her flight instincts would kick in. She would have just enough time to do so while the first and second pony started fighting over who would get to turn me into horse lasagna next. Only now did I realize that one of her wings had an awkwardly bent primary feather from her fight with Prismia, and she was favoring one of her hind legs over the other. She wouldn't be able to fly, and she wouldn't be able to outrun the mob now that they took notice of us. We were both screwed.

Any moment now, a victor would emerge, and I was in no condition to defend the pink pegasus from their wrath. Fuck. If only I wasn't so pathetically weak right now...

Cadance grabbed me against her chest as she screwed her eyes shut, tears running down the side of her head. "Why..?" I asked, still unsure why she wouldn't save herself while she had the chance. Even with a bad leg and a bent primary feather, she could have made it as long as I distracted them long enough.

She laughed a bitter laugh. "I felt bad for you," she said, not noticing the glow of the necklace intensifying right next to us. "You were forced to be her slave, and nopony ever showed you any compassion and love." I blinked as she smiled, and at that moment, she looked like an angel to me. A genuine angel, not one of those pricks God left in charge of Heaven.

I gulped, suddenly nervous. Was I blushing? My face felt kind of warm. And my heart... I've never felt it quiver like that. "I—"

Right as I opened my muzzle to respond, the world around us turned white before the horde of ponies could jump us. There was a sound of crystal cracking and an explosion of energy, then... nothing. Cadance still held onto me while I was trying to clear the spots from my vision. Things felt peaceful and serene for the first time in my life. I could feel her gasp long before my healing factor caught up with repairing the damage to my retinas and eardrums. I didn't quite feel as icky anymore and noticed I was clean again. Huh. Weird.

Cadance let go of me as we stared in wonder and confusion at where we suddenly found ourselves. It was unlike Heaven, Hell, Earth, or the world I had been summoned to. This place was ethereal, for lack of a better word. Shiny, floating lights passed us by as we sat on a trail of fairy lights, or what I would describe as fairy lights since these couldn't possibly be stars. Or would will-o'-the-wisp describe them even better?

"Where are we?" Cadance murmured, astonished. I hummed with a frown, never having heard of a realm quite like this one. The royal library in Lilith's domain did not mention a place like this (even counting the restricted section or her secret vault), so I doubted it was a creation of God.

"Certainly not the afterlife," I scowled, swatting away a light that came too close for comfort. "I doubt even Lucifer fucking Morningstar has heard of this place. No idea about the rest of the angel pricks, but this doesn't look like a realm born from grace. There's no holy light. No comforting warmth. No soothing invigoration." And I wasn't screeching in pain from angels trying to smite me, for that matter.

"Grace?" Cadance asked me, and I rolled my eyes.

"Heavenly magic, the opposite of infernal energy that... I... draw... strength from," I told her, turning back to her before stopping in my tracks.

"What?" she asked as she noticed me staring at her. "Do I have something on my face..?" she asked, reaching a hoof up to feel for any abnormalities. It caught on the side of her head as it encountered a golden, curly ram horn, and she froze. Then she frantically ran her hooves over it while turning her head around uselessly in the hopes of catching a glimpse of it. That's when she saw her right wing, now a leathery bat wing instead of her usual feathery appendage. She shrieked, falling on her backside.

"Well... I will be," I muttered, not having expected to see her changed like that.

"What happened to me?!" she asked me, on the verge of panicking. I shuffled over to her and forced her to stop, helping her back up. I enveloped her in my large, membranous bat wings, hoping it would comfort her.

I had a theory, but I couldn't be sure of it. It was supposed to be impossible, but she was a mysterious mare. "I guess the explosion from Prismia's necklace unleashed the stolen succubus powers along with the love she stole," I told her, noticing her blush from her muzzle being so close to mine. I smirked. "With you right next to me, some of it must have gone into you."

"Is that what you are?" she asked, and I tilted my head. "A succubus?"

"You're just noticing it now?" I asked back with a demonic purr. "My, my, and here I thought my 'cutie mark' would have given me away."

"Hush, you," Cadance admonished me, still blushing up a storm. "So does that mean Prismia..?"

"She summoned me from Hell and forced me to sign a contract with blood," I said with a shrug. Gotta make sure I couldn't be summoned by some fucking wannabe warlock ever again, now that I was properly free. Maybe Cadance would bind me to a new contract? She didn't seem like the type to screw me over, but you never knew for certain. Cadance looked at me in pity, and I turned away. "Don't dwell on it. I'm no longer beholden to serve her, and with you countering the twisted love-stealing spell on her necklace, everything should be back to how it was before."

"Aside from the damage she inflicted on my village," Cadance muttered, ears splaying back against her head. "And me appearing to share some of your characteristics now."

"Not just some," I guessed, glancing at the image on her flanks. She followed my gaze and gasped once more. Her cutie mark had a noticeable 'demonic' touch to it. The crystal heart was fairly regular, appearing just like Prismia's necklace before it was corrupted with my energies, but that was the only thing about it that was 'normal.' Much like my own cutie mark, hers had the typical devil's tail hugging the heart while two demon horns sat on top of it. Around it were two golden filigrees and above it a shimmering halo. As in, it glowed on her flanks.

"Does that mean..?" she whispered, too stunned to finish the question.

I shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. The presence of a halo stumps me since it should be an antithesis to the infernal energies. Still, those horns and the tail are a surefire sign of you having gained succubus heritage."

"Oh..." she said lamely, and I was tempted to snort. She was an interesting pony; I had to give it to her. She was beautiful, too—nice, kind, pure.

She didn't deserve any of this. It was my responsibility to make things right, even if it was only to lend an ear to listen to her worries. Besides, there was nothing wrong with a bit of succubus heritage, right?

"Don't worry," I reassured her, and she looked at me uncertainly. "At most, you're a half-breed, so I don't know for certain whether or not you would have to feed off of sexual energy. You might have inherited some of my dream walking abilities, aura of seduction, and the power of compulsion. That's everything Prismia forced me to give up." Though what else she had slumbering within herself, I couldn't tell.

Cadance sighed. "At least that's not too bad," she said, going back to studying herself. Her left side looked mostly unchanged, so there was that. Her eyes looked as they did before she was involuntarily changed, as well. As for her teeth, she still had her typical pony teeth, but some looked noticeably sharper, while she had a cute little pair of fangs on the bottom and upper row. They were considerably smaller than mine and were almost unnoticeable unless you paid attention to them. Any internal changes would have to wait until we found a way back to her hometown. Not that I knew how. "What now?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I cannot even begin to guess how we got here, much less what kind of place this is," I answered. I gestured at the starry road. "We could always follow the path."

"Are you good to walk?" she asked me, and I tested the strength of my limbs. Nothing felt too weak, so I took a few practice steps.

"I guess the release of energy must have given me a boost," I theorized, not having any trouble moving. "I should be good for a little while. Still hungry as fuck, but I can manage." Nothing new there, anyway. Being hungry was par for the course for a succubus.

"D-do you, uhm... do you need to feed?" Cadance questioned me, her muzzle a beet red.

Her question made me smirk. "Are you offering~?" I asked back with a husky voice. Her wings shot open stiffly, and I cackled. "How old are you, anyway? Judging a pony's age is kind of difficult. You look all the same to me, aside from the foals and the old and wrinkly ones."

"...t-twenty-four?" she said, sounding more unsure of herself than anything. She wilted a bit and chewed on her lip. "I don't know for sure. I was found as a filly by a pair of earthponies, so your guess is as good as mine. I have lived with them for eighteen years, and we just assumed I was six before they found me. I can't remember how I ended up alone in the forest."

"So, probably more like twenty-two at the very least," I hummed. Then, I shrugged. "Works for me. I've been summoned by younger wannabe warlocks before."

"H-how old are you, if I may ask?" Cadance asked with an even worse blush. Damn, she was friggin' cute.

"Hmm. That depends on who you ask, but... probably about two thousand years by now," I mused. Her eyes bugged out, and I chuckled. "Yeah. Time works differently in Hell. It exists more or less at the end of time, so this is kind of like time traveling for me. For all I know, you could have been born before I did. This reality exists outside the bounds of Heaven and Hell, so I couldn't even begin to guess what celestial year we have."

"If you say so," she said, a little bit overwhelmed by that revelation. I wasn't better off once I learned about the reality of Hell and Heaven existing outside of the loop. Technically, those existed before everything else, but only the big archdemons were there to witness the birth of the universe as we knew it. Every other demon came into existence once existence technically ended after judgment day. The apocalypse hasn't even happened yet, but in a way, it did. It was a headache to wrap your head around.

"Come on," I said, putting an end to that topic for now. "Let's see where this path leads to—"

I didn't get further than that before I bumped into something. I turned my head only to see white. Fur, my mind provided so helpfully for me. I turned my head upward only to see the pony I stumbled into looking down at me with steely magenta eyes. Great.

"And who might you be?" the owner of said magenta eyes asked me with a certain tenseness I associated with religious zealots. The hatred for demons was almost universal in all of them. Well... fuck.

"Forbidden Pleasure," I lied, going with the name Prismia gave me, adding my own twist to it. Never let it be said demons couldn't be creative. Not that it was particularly imaginative, to begin with.

"And what is a demon doing in the Realm of Ascension?"

The realm of what now?

"P-Princess!" Cadance exclaimed, taking her attention away from me. This 'Princess' pony that could only be the ruler of the land I was summoned to turned her head to regard my only friend in this mess. The big mare didn't relax her muscles, though. "I—"

"A demon and a half-breed, how curious. I have no idea how you managed to get here, but you should leave. Now."

"But..." Cadance started, only to wilt, shivering with fear. Fucking Hell.

"I don't want to hear it. Your kind is not welcome here in my world," Celestia said, beginning to scowl. "I won't ask again. Leave now or face the—"

"Oh, shut the fuck up, bitch," I snarled, a demonic growl leaving me as I stood protectively in front of the only pony who had ever been kind to me. "She is innocent. She saved an entire village from a vile sorceress because it was the right thing to do. She saved me from enslavement out of the goodness of her heart. I won't allow you to talk to her like that. Take your grievances out on me, not her."

Princess Celestia regarded me with a stony face before quirking a brow at us. "Is that so?"

"..." Cadance stayed silent while I continued to glare up at the holier-than-thou bitch.

"I'm sure you're willing to prove your words, then?"

"And how are we meant to do that?" I asked with a snort, wary.

"I have my ways, but you must be honest," she told us. "Before we do that, though, I insist you tell us your True Name, demon."

I tensed up, sneering. "So you can command me around like that bitch, Prismia?" I snarled. "Forget it."

"I won't," Celestia claimed, glaring back at me. "But you will sign a contract that you will not speak a word of this place to another soul. I cannot let the secrets of this place fall into the wrong hooves—or claws, as the case might be for your hideous ilk. I hid it for a reason."

I relaxed marginally but didn't let my guard down. She wasn't wrong to mistrust me, though I was not as awful as my so-called 'brethren.' Cadance placed a hoof on my shoulder, and I sighed, slumping down on my haunches. Ugh. Fuck me. "Fine," I ground out. "I am the 'adopted' daughter of Lilith herself, the Matron of all Monsters. I am the Lilin Ishtar, Goddess of Sexuality and Love. That is all you need to hear. My sins are my own burden to bear."

The big mare turned an appraising eye on Cadance and the pink... nephilim? As impossible as it was, that's what she was now, wasn't she? My friend gulped, rubbing her leg uncomfortably. "I-I'm C-Cadance, Y-Your Highness."

"Just 'Cadance'?"

"Y-yes?"

"Very well, then. In exchange for your names and the promise to never utter a word of this place to another soul, I, Celestia Solaris Sol, grant you the chance to prove your claim and earn your place among my kind. You will not harm your fellow citizens or the crown unless in self-defense or the defense of your country. You will abide by all laws and contribute to a better future like any other pony for as long as you live and walk among my kind. If you ever break this vow without my permission, you will be banished from returning to this world unless I allow you to return. Is that understood?" Celestia asked and I nodded with heavy reluctance. There were loopholes in the wording of this contract. Still, the implication was there that even trying to exploit them would result in an instant ban from Equestria, thus forcing me to go back to Hell and the snake pit that awaited me there.

Celestia looked at Cadance next, and the mare next to me gulped, nodding shakily. "Good. Follow me."

There was no physical contract signed with our blood and True Name, but somehow, I sensed that this place served as a witness to our vow. We were bound by our word to abide by it or suffer the consequences; Cadance as much as I.

Celestia led us further down the path before sending a spark toward the floating orbs of light. Images appeared next to us, looking like comically large television screens as we passed them by. Each one showed a scene of our lives. Cadance's on the right, mine on the left.

I scowled at the scene of my unjust sentence, the fucking twat of an angel taking the word of my ex over my own as he sentenced me to an eternity of torment in Hell without a second glance. Heck, he didn't even look my way as he slammed the gavel down while muttering a melodic 'Guilty.' If I ever got the chance, I was going to rip his fucking throat out before stuffing his dick up his own ass.

Celestia frowned at the same image while Cadance watched in horror at everything I had to endure following my sentence. It wasn't anything special to me anymore, but my heart stirred a little bit at seeing her react so strongly for my sake. She really was the kindest pony I had ever come across.

Before long, we came upon the images of Prismia enslaving me and the subsequent turn for the worse as she got her hooves on my powers. It wasn't pretty what Cadance had to endure because of that.

Suffice it to say, she wasn't a virgin anymore, and let's leave it at that. The following pictures explained how she came to be the leader of the rebellion, her surrogate parents murdered by the asshole that abused her trust. I watched in satisfaction as that very same asshole was murdered in turn by his actual marefriend he cheated on, and things only got uglier from there. Princess Celestia didn't say anything, but I could tell she was furious with what Prismia did to the little hamlet in the middle of nowhere.

Next came the pictures of me being bound to Prismia's throne and Cadance confronting her. I even saw Sunbutt smile faintly in satisfaction as the witch got what she deserved. Then she frowned again as the Cadance in the pictures came to my aid, refusing to leave a demon like me alone to save herself. Celestia watched regretfully as she saw my valiant effort to buy her enough time to escape, only for Cadance to stick by my side.

And then came the moment when Cadance showed compassion and love to a creature undeserving of it. The necklace's two halves exploded, releasing the stolen love from the ponies Prismia abused and the succubus powers she stole from me. One-half of my powers went into Cadance, while the other half returned to me (and a good amount of sexual energy to tide me over for a few days, possibly more).

Princess Celestia sighed. "I feel like apologies are in order," she hummed, a forlorn and distant gaze in her eyes. "It seems I let my prejudices get the better of me. Again."

I glanced at the tall mare while Cadance fidgeted anxiously next to me. "Look, Lady," I began with a frown. "You aren't the first and certainly not the last to treat me like I'm less worth than dirt. I've done things that probably deserve a worse reaction than that, but a girl has gotta do what a girl must to survive in Hell. If you really want to make it up to me, apologize to Cadance for how you reacted to her."

"I truly am sorry," she said, nodding at me and then at Cadance. "To both of you. Neither of you deserved to go through what you did."

I scoffed. "Whatever," I muttered while Cadance accepted Cellybutt's apology with a shy nod. Stupid, compassionate ponies. "Now, what's so important about this place anyway? Because I've got no idea why it's such a sour topic that you needed to force a contract on us if showing us our shitty past is all it does."

"It does much more than that, Ishtar," Princess Celestia said, and I shuddered at her casual use of my name. "It is here that Gods and Goddesses are born anew. This place grants worthy ponies a life of eternal youth and incredible power."

"Uh-huh," I drawled, unimpressed. So does Hell, minus the worthiness part. Only the archdemons held that kind of power, and very few gave it to lesser demons like me.

"Don't be so sour, Pleasure," Cadance nudged me, and I rolled my eyes. "Can you tell us more, Princess?"

The big sun goose swan horse nodded with a smile, amused by our interaction. "The reason why I don't want this place to become common knowledge is that it exists outside of time and creation. Attune it to the correct dimension, and in the wrong hooves, it could prevent entire universes from coming into existence... or gods."

I stumbled over my hooves as my eyes went wide. "Are you serious?!"

"I'm afraid I'm not joking, Ishtar," Princess Celestia answered me, a heavy weight evident in her voice. "We stand at the beginning of all there is; both Heaven and Hell won't exist for quite some time as long as we stay here."

I'm pretty sure I was doing my best to impersonate a fish right now, unable to comprehend the true implications of this. Cadance raised her hoof next to me as if she were in a classroom waiting for the teacher to call on her.

"Yes, Cadance?"

"If we are at the beginning of... well... time, how come we could look at our past if it hasn't happened yet?

Princess Celestia smiled, likely proud that Cadance thought to ask that question while the answer was pretty obvious. "Because it has already happened."

I rolled my eyes and explained further for Cadance. "Since we lived through it, it has become a fixed point in time, writing the event into existence." The pink mare made an 'Oh' face at that.

Sunbutt nodded. "Yes. While that is true, this place merely draws from your memories. Aside from what you know has happened, it cannot tell what will happen. You yourself are linked to your time of origin while this place is not."

My eyelid twitched, and I ignored the look of mischief on her muzzle. I was not about to play mind games with that bitch. Fucking Hell.

"Okay..." Cadance said, struggling to understand the idea that time itself hadn't even happened yet for every other universe out there. And yet, she was linked back to when she disappeared from her own universe. "So... what now? How do we go back? Do we have to wait if our universe doesn't exist yet, or..?"

Princess Celestia tittered. "No, nothing quite so dramatic, dear. There are two ways to go forward from this point. You will have to make a choice. Both of you," she hummed, turning to face us with that fucking serene façade of hers. "I'm putting a lot of trust in you, and I hope it won't be misplaced. I'm uncertain how this process will affect you, but you will become an aspect of life itself, should you accept the burden of upholding order among creation."

"What are you saying..?" I asked her, suspicious. "You aren't seriously going to grant us—"

"I do," she interrupted me while my heart leaped into my throat, a bead of nervous sweat rolling down my forehead. "And I will. Both of you seek something that only ascension can grant you. Freedom, love, helping those around you... that is only the beginning of the list. I'm sure you won't abuse the power I'm willing to grant you after everything I have seen of you. But know this: there are things out there that put Heaven and Hell to shame. There is a reason why I keep my world so isolated from the rest of creation. The nightmares lurking in the abyss make anything you know of look tame in comparison."

I gulped and shared a look with Cadance. Holy fuck. What could possibly be worse than Heaven and Hell? I didn't even want to imagine it, but I would take it if it gave me an out of ever having to go back to those places.

Cadance smiled at me, and I felt a flutter in my chest. I averted my gaze, trying not to blush, and together, we gave Princess Celestia a nod. Sunbutt gave us a kind smile in turn. She did something I could only describe as truly divine, and the light show that followed felt like a burden taken from me while a new one was placed on me. I didn't feel all that different, the only difference being that I didn't feel as hungry anymore. That, and I felt a whole new mastery over my powers as I opened my eyes again.

Cadance and I weren't in the weird, floaty place anymore. Instead, we were back in the little hamlet without a name in the middle of nowhere. Ponies were tidying things up from the aftermath of Prismia while some were staring at us with guilt and shame.

The biggest, most significant difference was in Cadance's appearance. Both of us were slightly taller than we were before, but her eyes had gained an inner glow that emitted a feeling akin to fledgling grace.

Meanwhile, Cadance blushed heavily as she noticed the newest addition to our anatomy. Succubi and incubi were known shapeshifters, so I wasn't entirely surprised to feel a dick between my legs where my clitoris should have been, but I guess it was the baseline for our new bodies now. No balls, though. Shame about that. All the jokes I could have made...

I looked at the raging boner Cadance sported, and she gave me a half-hearted glare. "Don't. Say. A. Word."

"I wasn't going to~," I teased her, cackling like a mad demon. I had to say, pony cocks looked far more pleasurable than an imp's dick, that was for sure. And hers was already glistening with precum while her tail stood at attention, stiff as a flag pole. Oh, my. She's got it bad, damn. I wouldn't mind letting her work off some steam with me underneath her~.

A crackling pop and flash of light announced the arrival of one Princess Celestia, a.k.a. the sun goose swan horse herself, Princess Sun in the Butt, and Cadance quickly hid her body's arousal behind two hooves. I couldn't help but cackle in glee as the taller mare gave us a raised brow while everypony else pretty much prostrated themself before her.

This would be a fantastic start to a new life; I could already tell~.