Monster? Or friend?

He had killed them all. He had torn them apart. But he hadn't enjoyed it. Still, that should show those ponies to come to this part of the forest. It was his, and only he decided what was allowed to live here. And those ponies were anything but allowed. But one escaped. He got up on his long black hindlegs and started running after the pony. He wasn't going to let this one live. Although he didn't like killing them, he knew it was vital to his survival. If knowledge of his existence would become public, he would surely be banished to Tartarus again. And he wasn't about to let that happen. He had already let some escape before, but not anymore. Luckily, he could easily follow the smell of fear.

He increased his pace, his long claws sometimes scratching the trees and the ground. He already saw the mare that had escaped. The mare was much slower then he was, and he easily caught up to her. He was about to deliver a killing blow when the mare stumbled, making him miss and fly over her. He stumbled slightly and twirled around to see where the mare was. She was still busy getting up, so he flipped her on her back and pinned her to the ground. Her eyes were filled with fear and horror. And he couldn't blame her. He lifted his left claw, his bloodred eyes taking one last look at the mare.

"Sorry..." he whispered, his voice deep and rough, and before the mare could react, he struck down. He had pierced her head and heart, killing the mare on the spot. He prefered killing them quickly and with as less pain as possible. True, he was a demon. True, he was a monster. True, he had killed many. But that didn't mean he liked any of those statements. Unlike almost every demon, he didn't enjoy the suffering of others. He had always been the odd one out. And he respected his victims. Everytime he killed someone, he would bury the corpse. This was no exception.

He had buried the ponies, and was now getting rid of their stuff. Tents, clothes, money and the like would be destroyed. But items like food, books, pictures, jewels and toys, those he would keep. He liked reading, the pictures, toys and jewels were some sort of collectables for him and the food was just for emergencies. He was just about to open the last carriage when he heard crying. It didn't sound to far away. His eyes quickly scanned over the area, and he saw something move. But only slightly. Something was moving underneath one of the broken and collapsed tents, and it was crying.

"Bwaaaa! *hicup* Waaaa!" Whatever it was, it was scared. He lifted the tent and his eyes went wide. It was a foal. A female unicorn foal. She had a blue coat, slightly darker then cerulean blue, and her mane and tail were red. He carefully picked her up, making sure his claws wouldn't cut her. The foal opened her eyes when she noticed he had picked her up. She immediatly stopped crying and tried reaching out to his face. She didn't seem scared at all. She wanted to... play? Didn't he scare her? Wasn't she aware of the danger she was in?

"Uh!" She clumsily waved her front legs around, trying to touch his face. He carefully brought one of his claws to her face, curious of how she would react. At first she just looked at it. Then she touched his claw with her small hoof. It looked rather silly, her small hoof next to his huge claw. Compared to him in size, she was just a newborn puppy. And he the new owner. Ever since he had escaped Tartarus he had been lonely. Maybe some company would be nice. And if she stayed with him, he wouldn't have to be afraid of being discovered. But how was he going to raise a foal? He had books and toys, but he had no idea what ponies eat.

"Dadda!" He guessed he just had to try things out. He knew some non-poisonous fruits and where they grew, meat was also not a problem, but milk was. He knew mammals needed milk to grow, but how was he going to get milk? He could try stealing from nearby villages, and he still had some milk from previous travellers stored in his cave. But he didn't have a lot of it. Some of it might even be spoiled.

"Nam!" The foal suddenly bit down on his claw, completely oblivious of how he could kill her right now. If he pushed his claw forward only slightly, his claw would cut her tongue out of her mouth and she would slowly bleed to death. Or if he lifted his claw it would go straight through her head, instantly killing her IF she was lucky. But he wouldn't do any of those things. No, he would keep her. As a friend.

"A... friend..."

Canterlot castle...

"Your majesty!" One of the royal guards said, walking towards Celestia.

"What is it Suncloak?"

"We have received word of another 'accident' in Everfree Forest. It's been three days since one group of ponies has entered the forest, and they should have gotten out two days ago. They have most likely been killed." The princess sighed in dissapointment.

"I guess I have no choice. Silverwing?" She turned to the general in question, her expression serious and hard.

"Yes your highness?" He said with a confident smile. He knew that look in his princesses eyes. Everytime she had that look in her eyes she had a new challenge for him. And he liked new challenges.

"Prepare your crew. You're going to find whatever is harming my little ponies. The creature has now killed too many of my ponies, and this is where I draw the line." He voice was hard and cold.

"Got it!" He flew away, hearing one cold remark from the princess.

"Kill it, if neccesary."