Twilight sat in one of the library’s chairs, idly watching the CMC as they leafed through the latest Daring Do novel. Asmodeus was currently upstairs, giving Zecora a well deserved bath. The unicorn didn’t really know how she expected the CMC to behave after the… live demonstration wrapped up.

Sure enough for the first twenty minutes after they were practically filled to the brim with questions for the demon, and a few of them were directed towards Twilight, but now they were acting as if nothing strange had happened. Every now and then one of them would spare a glance towards Twilight, but there wasn’t any harm in that.

Cadance had come back down after Asmodeus had gone upstairs, a blush thoroughly covering her face as the thick smell of sex assaulted her nostrils. Despite her embarrassment, the princess had managed to organize her thoughts enough to cast a few quick cleaning spells on the sex-soaked couch.

When she finished her task, Cadance had sat down next to Twilight and immediately an awkward silence had leapt up between them, and half an hour later there they still sat.

“So,” Cadance began in an effort to break the silence, “what are you reading?”

Twilight looked down at the notepad held in her hooves, filled to the brim with in depth notes taken during Asmodeus’ demonstration.

“Its uhh… my notes,” Twilight said softly as she gestured towards the empty couch, “ya know.”

“Oh…”

The silence reigned supreme once again. Well, until Cadance’s hooves suddenly shot out and wrapped Twilight in a crushing hug, pulling the smaller mare onto the Princess’s lap.

“Oh my little Twilie is all grown up!” she murmured softly as she buried her face in Twilight’s shoulder, “It seems like yesterday when I was pushing you on a swing and reading you bedtime stories!”

The CMC watched on quietly as Twilight struggled vainly in Cadance’s hooves.

“Cadance!” Twilight choked out, “You’re crushing me!”

“All grown up...” Cadance said again.

Realizing her struggle was in vain, Twilight sighed and wrapped her legs around Cadance, returning the awkward hug.

“You’ll always be my favorite foalsitter Cadance,” Twilight said softly, “and you’re technically my big sister now.”

The Princess of Love readjusted her grip before pulling Twilight even closer to her.

“And look at you now! Living on your own, making friends, having sex!” the princess continued, “I’m sorry for being so mean earlier, I just couldn’t stand to see you hurt Twilight.”

“Its okay Cadance,” Twilight said as she patted the mare’s back, knowing that there was little else to say.

The two of them held the hug for a few minutes, taking shelter in each other’s arms.

Eventually the hug had run its course, and albeit reluctantly, Cadance slowly released Twilight from her grip. The unicorn regained her footing as she looked into Cadance’s now puffy eyes. The princess sniffled before giving Twilight an encouraging smile.

“I’d hate to ruin a moment,” Asmodeus’ voice suddenly interrupted, “but I feel that I should let you know that Zecora is taking a nap in your bed Twilight.”

The unicorn turned to see the Archdemon, his fur still shining slightly from the bath. He was looking at the display of sisterly love with a strange look, but nevertheless had a smile on his face.

‘This is his greed, his obsession’ Celestia’s words from earlier echoed in Twilight’s mind.

“Thats not a problem, I’ll be sure to wake her up in time for her to get back home safely.”

Asmodeus nodded as he walked to the fillies. The CMC gave him bright smiles as he kneeled down in front of him, only Scootaloo had a blush on her cheeks.

“The final thing you should take away from today, is that both parties should be willing to clean up after the other. Its fine if one decides take the responsibility from the other, but the attempt at least should be there.”

The fillies nodded as the demon finished, before eagerly pointing out the novel to the demon.

“Would ya mind reading it out loud to us?” Apple Bloom asked.

Asmodeus’ eyes opened wide in mild surprise, but shrugged anyway.

“I would not be opposed to it, but forgive me if I don’t know the context of what I’m reading.”

The fillies looked confusedly up at him.

“I didn’t read the earlier books,” Asmodeus clarified.

“Thats not a problem,” Scootaloo said as she scrambled up Asmodeus’ side before plopping herself on top of his head. Her orange fur blended in with the demon’s waving mane.

Twilight could tell that Asmodeus was unfamiliar with the situation, he had probably never read aloud to fillies before. The unicorn giggled slightly as the remaining two crusaders snuggled up into his chest, his massive size easily providing a safe haven for them.

“Hes not used to fillies being so trusting with him,” Cadance explained from behind, “the book I read said how their parents and other ponies would try to keep their foals away from him, they were scared he would corrupt them. The foals themselves always treated him as more of an object than a pony,” Twilight heard the princess sigh, “and to think I did the same thing.”

“I don’t think Asmodeus is the pony to hold a grudge,” Twilight replied, watching on as Asmodeus’ voice began to rumble its way through the novel’s pages.

“I don’t know what to think of him,” Cadance sighed, “I can tell that he means well, but I just don’t agree with what he thinks. I don’t even know why I let him buck Zecora in front of the fillies.”

Twilight stepped backwards and pulled Cadance into another hug, this one noticeably less intense than the last.

“Listen Cadance, Asmodeus is thousands of years old and both princesses trust him, maybe we can both learn something from him.”

****

The hours passed surprisingly slowly, the rustle of a turning page one of the only things to mark the passage of time. Cadance and Twilight had retired to the kitchen so they could catch up on each other’s lives without disturbing the other’s reading. Every now and then a giggle or shriek would sound from the other room as Asmodeus reached a more interesting part of the book which accentuated the steady rumble of the demon’s voice.

Twilight looked up to check the time and with a start realized that it was now late afternoon, and rapidly approaching evening. In fact, Rainbow should be getting of work---

The unicorn’s thought process was interrupted by loud bang! sounding from the main entrance to the library.

“Sup Twi!” Rainbow Dash shouted out.

“Gosh darn it Dash, you just did exactly what I told you not to,” Applejack’s voice grumbled out.

Twilight got up and peered around the corner just in time to see a flying orange missile plow its way into Rainbow. The athletic mare let out a loud oomph as she was rocked back on her hooves.

“Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo screamed out as she wrapped her legs around the older mare’s neck.

It only took a second before the filly exploded into an embarrassed blush and awkwardly climbed back onto her hooves as the rest of the ponies watched on.

“I.. uh mean.. sup?” the filly said, trying to sound as awesome as possible.

Rainbow looked down at the filly as she bit her lip, conflict evident in her face. She glanced for a second towards Asmodeus. The demon gave her an encouraging smile before motioning towards Scootaloo with his head.

The prismatic mare evidently made up her mind, and before the filly could react, Rainbow’s wing shot out and pulled the filly into a hug. Enveloping Scootaloo’s smaller form in a cape of blue fur and feathers. Scootaloo struggled in surprise for a brief second before wrapping her legs around Rainbow once again.

“Ain’t that the cutest thang,” Applejack drawled as a smile spread across her face.

The two pegasi held their hug as Applejack trotted over to Asmodeus and looked down on her younger sister.

“How did you manage to rope Asmodeus into this?” the farmer asked.

Apple Bloom glanced up at the demon before giving her sister a shrug,

“Wasn’t really that hard,” the filly said, ‘hes pretty warm.”

Applejack chuckled as she bent down and nuzzled her sister,

“That he is sugarcube.”

As the farmer pulled away the filly stood up and stretched, waking up her sleeping muscles.

A soft clopping of hooves indicated Rainbow releasing Scootaloo from her hug, both of them shifted awkwardly on their hooves afterwards, not being used to the physical affection.

“So….” Rainbow began, “what were you guys up to?”

“Oh.. uhh… Asmodeus was just reading Daring Do to us, the new one,” Scootaloo replied.

“What? I’m kinda jealous,” Rainbow smirked.

“I want a moment with my sister too,” Sweetie Belle said, pouting petulantly into Asmodeus’ leg, “but she and Spike are probably too busy making dresses.”

“Ah actually passed by her on my way here,” Applejack said, “she told me that she’s making dinner for you and Spike, so you should probably head on back to the boutique if you want it hot.”

“Awesome!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed as she leapt upwards. She turned around and gave Asmodeus a brief hug and “Thank you!” before scuttling out the door, eager to spend some time with her elder sister.

The others in the library didn’t even have the chance to say goodbye as the door clicked shut behind the filly, and before they could collect their scrambled thoughts a knock on the door distracted them yet again.

“Come in,” Twilight called out, and to her surprise, it was Big Macintosh who stepped inside. The large stallion looked around the library taking note of his sisters, the younger one immediately leaping up to wrap him in the filly version of a crushing hug.

The large stallion let out an oomph as he was rocked backwards, but nevertheless a smile adorned his face.

“Hello,” Big Mac said to the other ponies in the room. When he caught sight of Cadance his eyes widened slightly in surprise, but he quickly reigned himself him. “Princess,” he said as he bowed respectfully.

Cadance smiled and curtsies in return. “Please, call me Cadance. I’m not here on royal business.”

“Eeyup,” Big Mac replied as he turned his attention towards Asmodeus, who was still laying down on the floor. He shifted the wheat in his mouth as he stared down at him, “Me and a few of the boys are going to the pub, wondering if you wanted to come.”

Apple Bloom clambered down from the stallion’s neck as he finished his sentence. She trotted back over to Scootaloo, who was affectionately leaning on Rainbow’s side.

Asmodeus looked genuinely surprised at this. “Ummmm…” he went as he rose to his hooves, “I think I would enjoy that if Twilight would allow me to go.”

“Ah don’t get a choice in the matter?” Applejack questioned dryly.

“Technically no,” Asmodeus replied with a smirk, “but I wouldn’t go if you don’t want me to.”

Applejack blushed slightly as she scraped her hooves on the ground, “Well I don’t have a problem with it.”

Twilight shrugged,

“As long as you’re home by eleven.”

Both Big Mac and Asmodeus gave the unicorn “are you stupid?” looks, but Twilight held firm.

“And thats final,” she swiftly added.

Asmodeus visibly wilted, but shrugged none the less.

“Alright then, lets head out,” Big Mac said as he motioned towards the door.

Asmodeus nodded and gave his summoners affectionate nuzzles as he passed by them. Scootaloo smiled up at him as he pulled away from Rainbow, Asmodeus reached a hoof down and ruffled her mane a bit. The motion was slightly awkward, obviously Asmodeus only did it because he saw Rainbow do it earlier.

With a final wave goodbye, Asmodeus and Big Mac left the library.

It was getting dark outside, that pleasant time of night when things were just starting to calm down. Foals were home or over at a friends house, the odors of dinners being cooked wafted out of open windows, and stores were just about finished closing up.

Big Mac led Asmodeus through the streets, the ponies who were still out and about gave the pair polite greetings as they passed by. A few mares, as well as one or two stallions, gave Asmodeus a little more than a passing glance, but by now the entire town knew exactly which mares he was staying with, and none of them wanted an element bearer to be mad at them.

The pub was a fair distance away from the library, located in an older section of the town. A swinging sign denoted the establishment’s name, “Ponyville Pub.” It wasn’t the most original name, but something more raunchy would be out of place in the small town. The building istelf wasn’t much different from the pub stereotype. Wooden beams, heavy glass windows, and the general sound of merriment were all present.

Big Mac opened the heavy wooden door and held it for Asmodeus. As the demon stepped inside the smell of pipe smoke, good liqour, and tasty food assaulted his senses. Despite the early hour there were a fair amount of ponies seated inside the main room, who all turned to acknowledge the new arrivals.

“Hey, Big Mac!” a voice called out from a large table in the back, the owner, a black pegasus with a white mohawk, leapt up from his seat in order to greet his friend.

“Thunderlane,” the farmer drawled as a smile crept across his face.

The two bumped hooves and the pegasus turned towards Asmodeus, Thunderlane only gawking at the demon’s impressive stature for a moment.

“And looky here, who did you drag with you this time Mac?” he asked.

“Asmodeus,” the demon introduced himself as he shook hooves with Thunderlane.

“Well, good to finally meet you man,” Thunderlane said happily as he motioned towards the table he came from, “Come meet the rest of the guys.”

Asmodeus followed the stallion back to his table, where a familiar face was waiting for him.

“Spike?” Asmodeus said, surprised that the dragon was here.

The dragon was currently chugging down some manner of drink, Asmodeus couldn’t tell if it was alcoholic or not.

“Isn’t Rarity cooking dinner?” Asmodeus asked the dragon.

Spike nodded as he set the now empty cup back on the table.

“Yea, I just stopped in on the way home for a quick drink. I do this everyday.”

“Well, I heard from Applejack that shes just about finished with it, Sweetie Belle is already on her way back to the boutique.”

“Sweet, its vegetable noodle soup night, good stuff,” the dragon explained as he made his way towards the door. As he passed Asmodeus he stopped long enough to shake the demon’s hoof. “Listen man,” he began, “I know we didn’t exactly start out on the right hoof. And if I learned anything from Twilight that wasn’t something about books, it was how to be a friend. So if we could, I don’t know, start fresh I would appreciate it.”

Asmodeus cheerfully clapped the dragon on his shoulder,

“Do not worry Spike, in all honesty it is in my best interests to be your friend as well.”

“Alright, sweet,” Spike replied, “maybe I can sneak out a bit later and come back here if Rarity lets me.”

“We’ll save the hard stuff for later then,” Asmodeus assured the dragon.

Spike said goodbye to the rest of the ponies in the pub, surprisingly calling everypony by name, as he headed towards the door. With a final wave, he pulled the door open and left, and almost immediately the pub went back to its prior clammer.

“So, lets get you introduced to the rest of the gang,” Thunderlane said as he motioned towards the table, “we got Caramel, Time Turner, Lucky, you know Big Mac, and then me, Thunderlane.”

Asmodeus nodded politely and shook all the hooves the stallions offered,

“I’m Asmodeus," the demon responded.

As Asmodeus sat down at one of the open spots at the table, he took the time to examine the stallions who were going to be his drinking buddies for the night. Caramel was an unassuming earth pony, tan fur and brown mane, definitely not the most original of colorings. But, he had the “nice guy” look about him, something that Asmodeus always respected.

Time Turner was an even less original coloring, brown on brown, but he had the distinct look of eccentricity about him that gave him a distinct appearance. Lucky, with his blue-gray fur and black mane was the most distinctive of Asmodeus’ new acquaintances. Asmodeus looked over at Thunderlane and immediately recognized some similarity to Rainbow Dash, particularly in his body type. The black pegasus was obviously an athlete, although not quite as dedicated as Rainbow was.

“So whats your deal?” Lucky asked as he eyed Asmodeus up and down, “you some spawn of Tartarus come to steal of Ponyville’s mares? You’re all they’ve been talking about for the past couple days.”

Asmodeus chuckled as he leaned back in his seat,

“Spawn of Tartarus? Oh most definitely. Come to steal all your mares? No, just a few, and only until I go back to Tartarus.”

“Whoa,” Thunderlane said, “You’re actually from Tartarus? I thought that was just a rumor. I was a hundred percent sure you were some visiting dignitary or something.”

“Isn’t Tartarus a prison?” TIme Turner asked, “A pit of fire that holds all of the creatures that Celestia deemed too dangerous to stay in Equestria?”

“Partially, I’m not allowed to tell you to much about the inner workings of Tartarus, but we do operate a prison for the… undesirables,” Asmodeus explained, “I am actually Lord of a part of Tartarus, the Circle of Lust to be precise.”

“Circle of Lust? An incubus then,” Time Turner derived, “bringers of infinite pleasure, masters of seduction,” he looked Asmodeus up and down, “that seems about right.”

“Coltcuddler,” Thunderlane snickered.

“Me? I can assure you Derpy does not think the same. I am just secure enough in my sexuality to admit when a stallion is better looking than normal.”

“Yea yea,” Thunderlane waved a hoof, “I’m just messing with you. But Asmodeus dude, master of seduction? I could use a few tips.”

“Like how to get out of the friendzone?” Caramel suddenly piped up, his question halfway between serious and a joke.

“Dude, we all know you’ve been stuck in there with Minuette since we were foals.”

“Friendzone?” Asmodeus asked, unfamiliar with the modern slang.

“Its the inescapable zone where a mare puts a stallion when she decides, be it conscious or unconscious, that she will never have any attraction to you as anything more than a friend, be it romantic or sexual in nature, where the stallion’s feelings on the matter are the opposite. The usual stallions that fall into it are the nice guys, like our resident one Caramel over there,” Thunderlane explained.

Caramel blushed slightly as he gazed forlornly at the table.

“Well, what has he tried before?” Asmodeus asked.

“Well, he asked out another mare for Hearts and Hooves day,” Lucky said, “but that didn’t last long at all.”

“When he was younger he took her to prom when no one else asked her to go, I don’t know why, she’s a pretty good looking mare” Thunderlane added.

“Oh you should have seen him when he found out that Chrysalis brainwashed her, ran all the way to Canterlot to make sure she was okay,” TIme Turner said.

“How about bringing her flowers and ice cream when her old coltfriend cheated on her?” Lucky said as he tapped his chin.

“Didn’t he do that twice?”

“Three,” Big Mac clarified.

With every sentence Caramel visibly wilted, his face a mixture of depression and embarrassment.

Asmodeus cleared his throat,

“Well, that is certainly quite the track record. Did you ever tell her how you felt?”

Caramel’s muzzle let out a respectable thump as it impacted the wooden table.

“No”

“You’re gonna wear a hole in my table if you keep doing that,” a mares voice said from over Asmodeus’ shoulder.

The archdemon turned slightly as a fuchsia colored mare walked up to the table, balancing a tray of drinks on her back.

“I assume you’re the barmare?” Asmodeus asked.

“Nah, I’m the owner of this fine establishment hon,” Berry Punch smirked as she began to distribute the drinks to the stallions at the table, “been in my family since this town started.”

“Forgive me,” Asmodeus apologized.

“Ain’t a problem,” Berry said, “more than a few ponies think the same,” she lifted a particularly strong drink off of the tray and slid it towards Caramel, “Got your special ‘friendzone’ drink here hon.”

“Friendzone drink?”

“Straight whiskey,” Berry replied.

Asmodeus looked at the drink as Caramel reached for it with a lethargic limb, but before he could grab ahold of it the demon’s horns lit up and levitated the cup away from the stallion. The group looked at the demon in surprise as he tossed the drink back, his face hardly twitching as the liquid slid down his throat.

“Thats not the drink you need,” Asmodeus said as he made his way to an open window. The ponies at the table watched in confusion as the demon poked his head outside. With a burst of light from his horn, the clouds above Ponyville disappeared, revealing the night’s young moon to the ponies vision.

“Ughhh, I spent all day making those clouds,” Thunderlane complained.

“This is a trick Princess Luna taught me centuries ago,” Asmodeus said, ignoring Thunderlane’s comment. A single cloud drifted across the sky, and Asmodeus’ horns lit up as it began to cover the moon.

The ponies gasped as the cloud suddenly seemed to become thicker and began to flow into the cup at a steady pace. For a brief moment the moon seemed to dim, but it soon regained its former luster.

When the cloud fully disappeared, Asmodeus turned back and made his way to the table. The demon sat back down and placed the cup in front of the curious ponies. Inside it was the clearest liquid any of them had ever seen, and it seemed to shine with a soft light.

“This is moonshine, the strongest liquor on this plane,” Asmodeus explained. He slid it in front of Caramel and stared at him seriously, “I am going to give you a choice Caramel,” he grabbed ahold of Caramel’s hoof and placed the cup in it.

“You can drink that now, and get extremely drunk like you normally do in this situation. Don’t bother to deny it, I can tell thats what you normally do in this situation. Or, I can use some of my magic, and you can go tell this… Minuette how you really feel.”

“What does your magic do?” Lucky asked.

“Nothing to impressive,” Asmodeus said as his horns lit up, two trails of flame forming a burning heart in the center, “It will just… amplify your emotions for the next few hours. Give you the courage to say what you want to say.”

Caramel looked down at the drink in his hoof,

“Will she like me back?” he asked hesitantly.

Asmodeus shrugged,

“Who knows? I am a demon lord, not a mind reader. All I know, that this is the only thing you haven’t tried yet.”

The stallion gulped as his hoof began to shake,

“What if she says no?”

“Then be her friend, move on, wallow in self pity, whatever you want to do.”

Caramel swallowed thickly and tension visibly fled from his body, and without further ado he began to lift the cup to his lips. But before he could take a sip a large red hoof stopped him.

“Don’t be rash now,” Big Macintosh drawled.

Caramel stared at his friend for a few moments before lowering the cup,

“I don’t think I could handle it if she said no.”

“Buck this dude,” Thunderlane said as he grabbed the cup from Caramel’s hoof. He thrust it to Asmodeus and said, “do your magic stuff, we’ll help him if it doesn’t go the way we want it to.”

Asmodeus raised an eyebrow, and Caramel hesitantly nodded. Asmodeus’ horns lit up as he levitated the cup back to him.

The heart burning above him suddenly shot into the cup, and the originally clear fluid turned into a swirling mass of orange, red, and yellow. Asmodeus levitated the cup to his lips and took a sip.

“If Luna were here this would be stronger, but it should be good enough for you.”

Caramel reached out a hoof and accepted the offered cup from the demon. He looked at the strange fluid and sniffed it a few times, the strong liquor causing his nose to twitch.

All of a sudden Thunderlane clacked his cup to Caramel’s,

“Bottoms up.”

And the two stallions drank.

Caramel’s posture immediately changed, the passive, unassuming stallion suddenly seemed as if he could literally take on the world. He slammed the empty cup down on the table.

“I bucking love her.”

And he ran out the door.

Author's Notes:

Yea. I know this is a lot shorter than a chapter should be. But a combination of real life and writer's block is putting the hut on my writing output. So I just decided to split this into a three part chapter. so please don't be frustrated with its short length.

Now, on June 28th I will be leaving for a 28 day long canoe trip in northern Ontario, and I will have zero access to anything resembling the internet while I'm there, so don' expect any updates during the month of July. So if I don't get another chapter out by the time I leave, I do apologize, but I'll keep you guys posted in some blogs. I do have some stuff to edit this weekend, so most of my freetime is going to be going to that, I can't leave people hanging.

After I get back from Canada I will be going to Bronycon, which is pretty freaking awesome. Ponies, ponies everywhere. So in all honesty, mid to late august is probably when i'll really be able to start working on this story again, and I hope that none of you are to annoyed about that.

Gold4tune out, pce /)