Demon Bonds

Cadance and I assumed our alicorn visage before leaving behind the dining room's oppressive atmosphere. The last hour was exhausting and emotionally draining, and the day barely started! I had a real knack for ending up with more drama in my life than I wanted, didn't I?

Anyway, since we were skipping breakfast and all that, snacks were the least the kitchen staff could spare us. We were friggin' princesses; we were allowed to indulge ourselves every now and again. Comfort food was a girl's best friend, no matter the reason. Relationship troubles were just the most convenient reason to stuff our faces with unhealthy food without getting reprimanded for it. And since I was the emotional support, I couldn't just not indulge with my best friend feeling so miserable.

I wasn't just saying that because I raided the pantry for all it was worth in scrumptious fruit. Nope. Not at all. Nuh-uh. Don't listen to Cadance when she tried to insinuate differently. She didn't know what she was talking about. After all, I was a good friend who didn't selfishly hoard all the cherries in the castle. Pfft. What? No! I was a good girl now, remember?

I happily purred as I popped another cherry in my mouth as we skipped our way up the stairs to our private chambers, notifying Raven that we would be unavailable for the rest of the day doing important princess duties and stuff she didn't need to know about because of reasons.

Cadance smiled, a fond expression on her muzzle as she noticed my good mood. "Are you sure you're not part cat?"

I blushed. "S-shut up," I grumbled, jealously guarding my fruit bowl from her attempts to steal from it. I snatched the sneaky cherry straight out of the air as Cadance tried moving it behind my field of view, coming dangerously close to kissing her as she almost succeeded. I blushed even more as she got a rosy tint on her cheeks. "Get your own fruit, bitch."

"If there were any left, sure," she grins slyly. "But somepony is being a greedy bitch about it."

I let out a fake scandalized gasp. "Cadance!" I said, outraged. "Whatever would the press say if they heard you talking in such a way?! Aunt Celestia would be so disappointed in you! Do you have no shame? You uncultured bitch."

My best friend snorted. "As if," she said, rolling her eyes. "The only one offended by it would be Sunset, and only because she hates us. The newspapers and gossip magazines are already writing non-flattering things about us. Aunty Tia finds it hilarious whenever we do something that subverts the image ponies have of us. Besides, you're one to talk, bitch. Have you seen what they write about you? They think you're turning the E.U.P. into your personal harem."

I grinned proudly. "Only the recruits," I cackled. "The newbies can't resist themselves yet. They are so easy to lure into my trap~."

Cadance hummed, nodding thoughtfully in agreement. "Maybe I should try some of that, too..." I stumbled at the unexpected comment, giving her a disbelieving look. "What..? You don't think I'm happy with my 'nice' princess image, do you?"

I opened my mouth to respond, "Well—"

Cadance interrupted me with an uncharacteristically dark scoff. "I hate having these stupid expectations placed upon me," she grumbled, scowling unhappily. "It's annoying. They view me as this 'can't do no wrong' pony on this impossibly high pedestal, while you... you're actually normal in their eyes. They just shrug, shake their head, and say, 'Oh, the Princess of Lust is doing it again; she knows what she wants. She's a princess not afraid of being true to herself; I wish I could be that confident.' They expect you to be like that because it's so... it's so friggin' you!"

"But—"

"And in the meantime, I'm stuck with 'She's so much like her aunt, it's no wonder she's a princess! I want to be like her!' but secretly, they envy the allure of Princess Forbidden Pleasure more. Do you know what I've heard them saying? 'I bet Princess Cadance must be so jealous of her.'"

"Cadance—"

"And you know what? They're right! I am jealous of you!" she seethed, stomping her hooves angrily. Inconspicuously, I levitated the fruit bowl closer to her in a silent offering of comfort and peace as we approached the hallway leading to our apartment suites. The guards standing watch at the intersection pretended to ignore her emotional turmoil, but I could tell they were curious to know what was going on. I glared at them, daring them to eavesdrop. They would regret talking about anything they heard.

I followed Cadance into her suite, ignoring the abundance of pillows thrown around the room, the many pony plushies that resembled Aunt Celestia or myself, and various other stuffed animals. While she had gotten mostly rid of the pink stuff, it still screamed girly girl from next door to me. She kept redecorating her place every few months or so. The only constant was her kitchen area.

"Better?" I asked as she plopped herself down on the large couch while she demolished the strawberries in the bowl with a generous helping of whipped cream. She mumbled unhappily, wrapping herself in a comfortable, fluffy blanket. Before I could get some spoons for the tubs of chocolate and vanilla pudding, Cady grabbed me with her baby blue horn magic, and I had no choice but to serve as her life-sized plush. I froze up.

"Now everything is perfect," she stated, happily snuggling with me. I squirmed slightly, flustered and scared she would notice my erratically beating heart. "Mhh... Shiny has got nothing on you. I've missed you..."

"I, uhm... I, uh... w-what?" I squeaked out, helluva confused.

"You're so soft," she mumbled, breathing contentedly in with her muzzle buried in my mane. "And you smell better. You don't have the sweaty, musky smell of horse on you that makes me want to gag."

I blinked. "Uhm... thank you?"

Cadance hummed lazily. "You're welcome."

"Is it really that bad?" I asked, curious.

She let out a groan, head slumping down in frustration. "You have no idea. Shiny never uses scented shampoo or perfume."

"Have you told him to?" I questioned, mildly astonished she put up with him if it annoyed her so much.

"He claims he's allergic to it," she scoffed.

"Uh-huh," I grunted, skeptical. I was sure he just wanted to prove he was as manly as the other guards. Stallions, seriously. "So... the musky smell of a stallion is a turn-off for you?"

"I guess," she groused. "My previous coltfriend wasn't any better. At least he didn't complain about the scented candles in my bedroom."

"And Shining Armor does?"

"Not so much about the smell, but he gets pouty when I don't want to cuddle with him without them," she explained, and I saw her frown as I turned to look at her. I never expected her to be anything but happy to have him as her special somepony. She returned to sniffing my mane after I turned my head back around, giving her what she wanted. "You kinda smell like a candle, now that I think about it..."

"I'm a succubus, Cadance," I reminded her. "I smell like what you want me to smell like."

"So that hint of rotten egg whenever you get mad is what you actually smell like?"

I scrunched up my muzzle. "No," I denied. "That's... complicated. You don't always smell like ozone to yourself, do you?"

"Not when I'm not mad about something..." she responded, thoughtful. "Is that what 'holy magic' smells like?"

"As I said, it's complicated. Magic doesn't have a 'flavor' or 'scent;' it's the stench of sin or virtue that changes how a demon or angel smells. You're a nephilim; should you feel righteous anger, you will smell of lightning, just as you would smell of rotten eggs if you let hate control your anger."

"I see..." Cadance hummed. "So... what do I smell like normally?"

"Your shampoo, for one," I said, snickering as I could tell she expected something different as she deflated ever so slightly. "And whatever else you're using to smell nicer."

"So I don't smell of what you like?" she pouted.

I shook my head, smirking in amusement. "I wouldn't know unless you stopped using your flowery shampoo and perfume." Not that I wasn't weak to that, already. Besides, it wasn't like I would admit she smelled like angel and sin to me.

Cady let out a 'Huh' at that. "Wait... does that mean you didn't shower?"

I snorted. "I didn't have hygiene on my mind after waking up today. If you haven't noticed, I kind of had a panic attack about being found out today."

Cadance winced noticeably against me. "Sorry..."

"Don't be," I sighed, grabbing a grape from the fruit bowl. After a second or two of playing with it in my mouth, I bit down on it, savoring the refreshing sweetness. "I was a silly pony expecting Eight Bit to react like a religious human would."

"I'm still mad he told Shining Armor about it," she grumbled testily. "He had no right to share that with him."

I shrugged listlessly. "They are best friends; of course, they will talk. I'm glad they didn't spread the news before Aunty found them. Celestia forbid Sunset found out about it."

Cadance shuddered against me. "Yeah, that would have been bad," she agreed, trembling slightly in fear. "I just know she would have used it against us to spread unrest amongst everypony. I had hoped she would mellow out after Aunty adopted her, but... she seems even more determined to find something to get rid of us."

I nodded, peeling a banana. "What's she gonna do, though? Stab me with a holy sword? I doubt anything short of an angel's blade could kill me now." Not that I wouldn't revive at some point, anyway. The question was when and where. I wasn't a fan of being turned to ash.

My best friend squirmed against me, uncomfortable. She stole the top half of my fruit before I could bite into it. "Please don't talk like that," she pleaded while I scrunched up my muzzle, giving her a miffed look. I sighed, nodding at her request as my ears wilted. I needed to remember ponies didn't do well with such morbid topics.

We silently contemplated our life and our lot in it as we snacked on fruits, chocolate, pudding, ice cream, and everything else we could get our hooves on. Cadance had a stash of homemade cookies in a big box, and we combined everything with everything, even the cookies and pudding. The one rule of comfort food was that you didn't give a fuck about how disgusting a combination was if it tasted great—except for pickles and mustard. That shit should not be allowed unless you were pregnant, and even then, it was a questionable combination.

Now, chocolate and cheese worked surprisingly well with each other. As did cheese with everything else, to be honest. It was like a universal rule or something. Especially if it was melted cheese. You just couldn't go wrong with cheese.

Anyway, by the time we decided to do something else other than experiment with every combination we could think of, we were stuffed so full that the only option we felt up to was watching bad sitcoms on the television. I've gotten used to the off-color, glimmering quality of 'modern' Equestrian televisions, but by dear God, even the pony versions of telenovela were abysmally bad.

I supposed trash TV was a universal constant, as well. At least it was funny enough to talk shit about how bad it was. I was sure the actors would be in tears if they heard us talking about how unrealistic their performance was or how dumb the characters were for not realizing the drama could have easily been avoided if they had been honest from the start. Some were also hilariously blind to notice their friend was into them big time.

Ah, trash TV. You gotta hate and love it.

Once we got bored of doing that, we went back to idly chatting and snacking on whatever was left of our comfort food.

"Do you still want to go on that date with me?" Cadance asked, and I blinked, confused and suddenly hopeful. "The one I talked about?"

"I, uh... yes? Definitely. I'd love to," I breathed out, nervous. "When do you want to..?"

"It depends on what Shining says, but I was hoping next week?" she proposed, dashing all my hopes instantly. Right. The double date. How dumb of me. "Assuming Eight Bit is okay with it."

"So... what happened to 'He isn't the right guy for you'?" I asked, cold bitterness biting into my heart. If only I wasn't such a coward to tell her the truth...

Cadance rubbed a hoof over her fetlock, looking down glumly. "I was wrong about him, and... I'm sorry. He took the news a lot better than I expected. Better than Shiny did."

"Hey," I said, nudging her gently. "It's going to work out, you will see. And if it doesn't, you can just dump him, you know? No one is telling you have to marry the guy."

"I..." she mumbled, fidgeting with her wings. "I can't just do that. He will hate me and tell everypony what I am!"

I huffed out an angry breath of air. "If he does, he's got a serious death wish," I told her, sneering. "Not only will Aunty Tia turn him into a pony well-done, but I'll rip him a new one where his dick is supposed to be. Trust me, he won't go telling anyone."

"It... uhm... would break his heart if I broke up with him..." she weakly responded, but I shrugged uncaringly. I was already tempted to redouble my efforts in the Dream Realm to torture the guy because he made her doubt herself. Screw him, seriously.

"Cadance, don't take this personally, but not every guy is a knight in shining armor. If he won't make you happy, why are you even together with him?"

I watched as she stared at her hooves, going through a multitude of expressions within a couple of seconds. Finally, she settled on resignation. "I guess it's just a habit. I'm the Princess of Romantic Love, aren't I? Being in a relationship is my calling. How can I inspire others to be open for relationships and confess their feelings if I'm not willing to be the role model for them?"

"Even if that love is toxic?" I questioned her challengingly. Her head whipped around to face me in shock. Before she could protest, I elaborated, "Think about what kind of example you're setting by being in a relationship that makes you deeply unhappy.

"I know, breaking up with someone shouldn't be the default answer to relationship troubles, but when you aren't even interested in the guy beyond appearances, what do you think ponies will think of that? You have this idea that the first nice guy will make for a happily ever after, but that's not how it works. Either you click with each other, or you don't.

"Shining Armor is an idiot that is, on the surface, great. But when you are grossed out by him and don't even want to kiss him—don't give me that look; I know you haven't—perhaps take that as a hint and ask yourself what you truly want. Not what the dumb, little filly from a few decades ago wanted or what society 'expects' of you. Be honest with yourself because any relationship will feel hollow if you can't do that much."

Cadance met my eyes with tears glistening in hers, and I smiled in a manner only reserved for her. "Ish..."

"Take it from me, Cady," I said, gently pressing my forehead against hers. "I fucked it up more times than I'd care to admit. You saw how my relationship ended, and that was the epitome of bad decisions and toxic relationships. I settled for the first guy that had no problem with me being a whore; I felt no love for him, did my best to please him out of some sense of obligation and wanting to be the best girlfriend I could be, and then ended up being murdered by my ex, anyway.

"I'm not the pony you should be asking relationship advice about, but I know one thing: don't force yourself into a relationship and always, always communicate. And if it turns out you don't want a relationship, then that's fine, too. Just because you're the Princess of Love doesn't mean you must be in a relationship."

"Thanks," Cadance mumbled back, a distant look in her eyes.

"Yeah, well... don't mention it," I responded awkwardly, moving my head away from her. "Seriously, don't. I'm not a big motivational speaker; there's loads of bad advice I could give you because of my screwed-up perspective. Heck, you shouldn't even take everything I just said as the be-all-end-all of relationship advice and decide what you think is best."

Cady blushed brightly. "I'll... keep that in mind," she said, levitating a cupcake over from... somewhere. "I suppose this date will give me all the answers I need, then. I do like Shining, but.... perhaps just as a friend. We will see."

Right. I would have to ask myself whether or not I wanted to give dating Eight Bit a fair chance, too. He was fun to be around and not too shabby in the looks department, either. Now, if only I could convince him to be true to himself and give being a software developer another chance. I knew he would do great things if he were at the forefront of the gaming industry once it started popping off in the next couple of decades.

He had so much fucking potential it was criminal not to pursue it.