Special Delivery

If there was one thing you could say about Twilight Sparkle's new castle, it's that there was enough room in there for anypony to do, quite literally, anything. That was the thinking today, as both Rainbow Dash and Applejack were busying themselves with a game of catch, tossing a bright red ball from one side of the entrance chamber to the next. Both mares displayed an impressive array of jumps and acrobatics in their seemingly-endless quest to avoid losing. And while others from their inner circle, most notably Pinkie Pie, were keen to keep watching with awe, others, like Rarity and Fluttershy, had long ago moved on, though it was not from a lack of caring who won, but from the very basic fact that the game had gone on for as long as it had. As for Twilight herself, she was simply sitting on her throne, reading one of the many magic tomes she had at her disposal, ignoring her friends' game. Even Rainbow and Applejack were growing tiered at this point, as evidenced by their increasing panting, which was saying something, given how energetic the two were known for being.

Nevertheless, the two kept on going, stubbornly refusing to admit defeat. And so, with her last ounce of strength, Rainbow hurled the ball towards Applejack, hoping that this would be the moment she would catch her out. For a moment, the cyan Pegasus grinned as she saw that her friend did not seem to be moving fast enough to catch the near-sonic-speed ball. However, that smile soon faded as she saw that the ball was instead heading towards the open door of the castle, wherein a hapless earth pony stallion, pulling a large and heavy cart, was about to enter. The stallion noticed only at the last second that the ball was coming, and stopped walking immediately, just in time for it to slam into the ground in front of him. From the gasp he let out, it was clear that he was shocked from the experience. The other mares looked on with worry at what was almost a needless accident, and Rainbow, feeling guilty about having almost hurt the guy, flew down and landed on the ground beside him, bearing a greatly apologetic look.

"Sorry, Mister! I didn't see you there!"

The stallion took a moment to compose himself, before bearing a very nervous smile.

"Well, er...think nothing of it, Miss. I was, er...is the Princess home?"

Rainbow nodded and turned around. Sure enough, Twilight was flying over to the stallion, so the young pegasus stood aside for her, instead picking up the stray ball before moving off. As for Twilight, she landed in that same spot before smiling and addressing the stallion.

"Welcome to the Friendship Palace! Can I help you?"

The stallion nodded at that before turning towards his cart. Following his gaze, Twilight looked on to see, to her delight, that the cart was fully laden with books, many of which looked quite old. She knew what the presence of so many books at her palace meant, but nevertheless remained silent as the delivery pony began to explain things.

"Special delivery from Princess Celestia, your Highness. Oh! And I was supposed to give you this as well!"

Twilight looked down as the stallion reached into his pocket and brought forth a small envelope. Using her magic, Twilight levitated it out of his hoof and began opening it, revealing the letter within. As the stallion began to walk further into the castle, Twilight remained where she was, reading the letter out loud.

"My dearest student. I have been doing some work going through some of the older sections of the Canterlot Archives, and I came across a number of tomes that I think you would be interested in. They're a touch older than the literature you're used to, but they contain a number of fascinating experimental spells and studies from many of the city's brightest magical minds. I have read them myself many times in the past, and I feel you should now be privy to them also. Feel free to use them in whatever capacity you wish. Yours sincerely, Princess Celestia."

Twilight smiled warmly at the letter. Even after so much has happened, she thought to herself, Princess Celestia always tries to help me improve myself. Turning, she looked upon the cart, which her friends were now looking upon with interest. The stallion had begun unloading the tomes, placing them in neat piles on the ground. Pinkie Pie had taken one of the books herself, regarding it carefully before taking a deep breath and blowing off a century-old layer of dust. Unfortunately, this dust then went straight into Rarity's face, promptly causing her to cough for a while, after which she glared angrily at her pink companion. Putting on an innocent face, Pinkie smiled in response to this, which Twilight couldn't help but chuckle at. Walking over, she looked over several of the covers of the books that were now hers. Studies of magical creatures. A record of failed spells and incantations. Encyclopaedias of magical items, both real and legendary. There didn't seem to be anything aspect of magical study that wasn't covered by at least one of the books here. Needless to say, the young Princess broke out into quite a wide smile from this.

"All these books...it'll take me ages to get through them all!"

Rainbow, who was not quite as enthused as her friend, picked up one of the nearby books from atop the pile and began reading through it. At first, she seemed incredibly bored by it all, but after a few more moments, she stopped and squinted her eyes at a particular passage. Shaking her head to make sure she hadn't been imagining things, she looked at the book again before reading aloud it's contents.

"How to make your perfect coltfriend?"

Twilight turned to her Pegasus friend and began opening her mouth, ready to respond to the clear confusion Rainbow had displayed. However, before she got the chance, a bright white blur shot past her and slammed into Rainbow, knocking her out of the way. The book flew from Rainbow's hooves and into the open and eager hooves of Rarity, who, oblivious to the annoyance of her friend, stared at the book with an almost hungry look.

"GIVE IT TO ME!!!"

Although taken aback by the behaviour of their fashionista friend, the other mares all looked at each other for a moment before chuckling out loud, even Rainbow, who had thankfully recovered from the attack. Rarity, however, was staring intently at the book, reading passage after passage. And it was here that she came to an important understanding.

"I...don't understand any of this."

Twilight rolled her eyes a little before making her way over, using her magic to levitate the book before her so she could get a look at it herself. After glancing through a few of the other pages of the book, she gained a knowing look upon her face, after which she turned to Rarity, who was eagerly awaiting some kind of explanation.

"I've heard of this book before. This is a list of magical experiments from a few decades back, mostly ones that either failed or never got finished."

Looking back to the book, Twilight returned to the page Rarity had been obsessing over.

"As for this one, it says there was apparently a large number of mares and stallions at the time who had pretty much lost the nerve to ask others out, so they banded together to make a project that would, in essence, create their perfect mate."

Rainbow and Applejack glanced at each other before the latter raised an eyebrow at Twilight's words.

"Um, no offense, Twi, but ain't that a little...ya know...odd?"

Before Twilight could respond, she was interrupted by the meek squeaking of Fluttershy, who had been silent during all of this.

"Um...I think I could relate to them...I mean...I think I could."

The mares looked from her to each other, and Twilight mused on that thought for a while. It stands to reason that there have been other ponies out there who are nervous like Fluttershy, she thought. If there were a lot of them at one point, it kinda makes sense that a project like this might come about. After looking back at the book, Twilight read a few lines before hearing the sound of somepony clearing her throat. Looking up, she saw that it was Rarity yet again.

"Begging your pardon, Twilight...but does the book happen to mention whether this little project was...well...successful?"

The young Princess stifled the urge to giggle at her friend's unspoken implication, and instead looked back to the book. However, after reading further, she looked back to her friend with a somewhat down face.

"I'm sorry Rarity. It seems the experiment was abandoned before they found out if it would have worked."

Rarity's ears dropped after hearing that, after which she spoke with a somewhat annoyed tone.

"Let me guess. There was some kind of controversy about creating ponies from magic, right?"

Twilight shook her head at that.

"Nope. Turns out that everypony working on the project actually fell in love with somepony else in the project and, well, they all lost the need to finish it."

Rarity let out a grunt of annoyance.

"Typical! The one time love-at-first-sight decides to strike!"

Twilight rolled her eyes yet again at that, at which point she noticed that Rainbow had walked closer to her.

"So, Twilight, you're our resident egg-head. Do you think this thing would have worked if they'd finished it?"

Although annoyed at the return of her old nickname, Twilight nevertheless indulged her friend by returning to the old notes. After reading them over a few times, she let out a sigh before looking up at Rainbow.

"From what the old unicorns had figured out, it seemed that, to create a life like this, they'd have to have access to magic far more potent than that of a regular unicorn."

At first, Rainbow seemed to be just as disappointed as Rarity after hearing that, but after a while, she simply shrugged her shoulders and walked off. Indeed, the general feeling on the matter, as Twilight looked around to gauge her friend's expressions, was that interest in this little diversion had been well and truly exhausted. As such, the young Princess magically levitated the book over to the pile it came from, at which point the rest of her friends resumed what they were doing before, with Applejack and Rainbow going outside this time to resume their ball game. Twilight, instead, got back into her throne and began reading one of the other tomes the Princess had given her. From the smile she wore as she was reading it, it was clear that her interest in this book at least was alive and well. And so it was that the six mares all carried on spending time with one another, generally enjoying their evening as a group. But, as with all days, it eventually came to an end, and the sun began to set beyond the horizon. One by one, Twilight's friends all waved goodbye to her, ready to make their way to their own homes. Twilight, in turn, waved back happily to them, until eventually, she could no longer see them.

Using her magic, she began closing the great doors of her palace, at which point she began walking past the great table of the main chamber, ready to head on up to her bedroom. However, as she passed the table, she glanced to the pile of books, on top of which lay that same old tome that had interested her friends so much. She stopped, staring at it for a few moments, her mind mulling over certain possibilities. However, she soon let out a laugh at the whole thing, thinking over what such an action would mean. Please! Making a coltfriend out of magic? Ridiculous, even by the standards I've come to expect from magic. She looked to the tome and gave it' surface a gentle sweep to get rid of some of the dust, if only because of her general respect for books as a whole. Besides, she continued to think, it's not as if I actually need a coltfriend anyway. I mean, sure, I've never actually had a steady relationship...or even gone on a date...or had any stallion show an interest in me...or even discussed colts with my friends or...

After those thoughts sank in just a bit more, Twilight shook her head, a look of annoyance crossing her face. It's ridiculous! It's stupid! Again, I don't need a coltfriend! I mean, what would I even do with one? What possible use could I have for having a colt my age hanging around me? Having us share secrets with each other and going on long walks in the moonlight, or...or snuggling me when I'm lonely or...other...stupid stuff. Yet again, she shook her head, albeit more violently this time. Nope! Not gonna do it! I mean, aside from the idea of magically creating life just being plain weird, it couldn't even happen! They said it themselves, no unicorn could do it! However, as she thought more on that particular point, she began to remember something incredibly important. Although...I'm not actually a unicorn. So, maybe...I could actually do it? She turned, looking upon the book once more, and hesitantly, she reached forward a hoof and began to open the book, turning it to the desired page. Sure enough, the older unicorns from all those years ago had left instructions behind on how to go about it, even though they themselves didn't know if it would work.

Well, Twilight thought, I suppose as a dedicated student of magic myself, it's kind of my duty to make sure whether a spell really works or not. I mean, we can't have unanswered questions, right? Despite the obvious forced reasoning there, Twilight nevertheless began looking over the book's instructions, in particular the notes that clearly stated that some kind of pony physical imprint would be needed. Something like an eyelash, or drop of blood, that sort of thing. Feeling uncertain, Twilight looked over to her left, at a stray strand of her mane that had fallen into view during this. After a few more moments of doubt, Twilight took a deep breath before using her magic to pull the strand out of her head completely, causing the expected wince of pain that came afterwards. Staring at the hair, she carefully placed it upon the ground and began to stand beside it. She turned, reading a few more of the book's passages. This is still ridiculous, she thought. But then again, if this fails then I will have proved that it's officially a dud spell and we can all move on. Well...I can move on at least.

Letting out an annoyed groan, she instead began to close her eyes and concentrate, pouring a good amount of magic into her horn. She replayed the passages of the book over and over in her mind, creating in her mind's eye the spell she wished to use. A spell that, until today, had never been tried. The lifeless strand of hair began to glow along with her horn, levitating off the ground slightly. All around her, there was a slight gust of wind encircling both her and the strand, despite there being no open windows anywhere. More and more she concentrated, feeling the spell come forth. The incantations and equations were being spoken repeatedly in her mind, and before long, her magic began to make itself known. The hair strand began to glow even brighter than before, and now, so too did the words in the book, as if it and Twilight's magic were working in perfect harmony together to make this one great thing happen. Twilight strained against the great magic she was conjuring forth, with beads of sweat rolling down her face. Eventually, she felt the apex of her spell, and thus, let it
loose.

In an instant, there was a blinding flash of light, and Twilight couldn't help but shield her eyes from it. As the moments passed, the light died down, and there was a distinct smell of something burning, which was often the smell left behind by particularly powerful magical spells. As the light finally faded, Twilight kept her hoof over her eyes, and in her mind, she kept on thinking the same thing. There's not going to be anypony there. There's not going to be anypony there. There's not going to be anypony there. Slowly, she finally lowered her hoof, after which she also opened her eyes. And when she did, they soon snapped open with shock. Because, despite her half-hearted wishes, there was indeed somepony there.

"Hello."

What in Tartarus is THAT?!

"Hello."

The words were pleasantly spoken by the new arrival, and that, perhaps, was what surprised Twilight the most. When one thinks of a spell that can conjure up the perfect partner, there are many things that they could imagine would be the result. However, none of those images are what currently stood before Twilight. For there, standing in the smouldering circle created by Twilight's spell, was a creature she had never seen before. At first glance, some might mistake it for one of the Thestrals, the so-called "bat ponies" that often served as Princess Luna's night guards, complete with the traditional bat-like wings. However, there were distinct differences between them and the one who now stood before Twilight. This stallion's colouring was, quite frankly, the brightest shade of red she'd ever seen on anyone, pony or otherwise. It possessed horns, as in plural, one on either side of it's head, rather than the single horn of a unicorn, and they curved upwards, rather than remaining straight. And then, there were his eyes. They were milky white, and possessed no pupils at their centre. The overall image of this creature was, to put it lightly, not the most encouraging. In fact, as it opened it's mouth to speak, Twilight's first impressions got the better of her.

"DEMON!!!"

Before the new arrival could react, Twilight's horn was ablaze, and it soon burst forth, shooting the demonic-looking pony back, straight into a nearby wall. It slumped to the ground immediately after the impact, the side of it's body smouldering from where Twilight's magic had struck it. In an instant, Twilight's expression transformed from one of fear, to one of sheer worry. Oh no! What did I do?! Galloping over, she stopped just short of the now-motionless creature on the floor. Seeing the singed spot where her magic had made contact, Twilight's mind was wracked with guilt. I've killed him! Oh Faust, what am I going to do! I’ve never killed anypony! Not even my worst enemies! He didn't even do anything! How am I going to explain this to...?

"Mistress?"

Snapping her head down, Twilight looked on to see the demonic stallion start to get up, his expression showing no sign of pain or distress. On the contrary, he actually seemed to be quite happy, wearing a cheerful smile and looking at her with a slight tilt to his head. Twilight, taking a nervous step backwards, regarded the stallion carefully, noting at last that the burn mark on his side was now, miraculously, disappearing, as if by magic. The stallion said nothing, at least for a while, as the two continued to stare at each other. But eventually, he gave the young Princess a sweeping bow.

"I live to serve, Mistress."

Cocking an eyebrow, Twilight looked the stallion over before finally getting some words out.

"M...Mistress?"

The stallion finally got up, giving an even wider smile before nodding enthusiastically.

"Correct, Princess Twilight. I live for you, and you alone."

Maintaining her cautious stance, Twilight cleared her throat.

"So...who are you? And...where do you come from?"

The stallion, stretching out his wings slightly, put his hoof to his chest before starting to explain himself.

"I have no name."

Rats, Twilight thought. So much for question one. Sighing, she spoke further.

"Alright then...what exactly are you?"

"Until now, I was lifeless. A swirling mass of dark magic, without a mind, without thought or feeling. You changed that. As for what I am now...you called me demon, so I suppose that's what I am."

A pang of guilt rang through Twilight after she heard those words. His first moments of life and he hears his creator call him a monster. This will not do well for his self-esteem, I'll say that much.

"Okay, next question. If you existed before I gave you life, where were you at the time?"

It was here that the stallion's expression changed, seeming to be deep in thought about something. After some time had passed, he finally spoke.

"I remember roaming through the vast caverns and desolate fields. I myself never described the place, nor did I ever have any knowledge of names. However...I believe your people refer to it as...Tartarus."

Twilight stared at him, seeing if there was any hint of some sort of jest in his expression. Sadly for her, there was not. After standing in sheer silence for several minutes, all while the stallion just continued smiling, Twilight spun around and began running towards the magical tome she'd used. She flipped through page after page, reading over all the notes shed read in preparation for this spell. As she read, her mind was hard at work trying to make sense of everything that had just happened to her. Okay, Twilight, keep calm. There's no reason to panic. After all, just because your spell to make a perfect mate has conjured forth a demon from the worst place in all the world doesn't...okay...perhaps that is a good enough reason to panic. Now whimpering, Twilight finally read the last passage of the book, and found nothing to suggest why this had happened. Okay, there's a logical explanation for this, I'm sure. Best guess, those old unicorns thought they'd made a spell to create a perfect stallion, but they never tested it, so they never found out that it actually summoned demons. Fine, sure, why not?

Slapping a hoof against her forehead in frustration, she turned, seeing the demon still standing there and, more importantly, still smiling. It hasn't done anything...at least not yet. It keeps calling me Mistress, and said I created it. But...if it's a demon, how much can I trust it? It came from Tartarus for Faust's sake! Only the worst stuff comes from there! It could all be a ploy, a plan to deceive me and help in some kind of mass invasion of Equestria or something! Okay...maybe that's a little paranoid. I have to keep calm. Find out more about this guy. But don't let him think you're onto him, at least if there's anything to be onto at all. Taking a few steps towards the creature, Twilight thought long and hard about what to ask, but before she could, the demonic pony spoke first.

"You appear unhappy, Mistress Twilight."

Twilight let out a sigh.

"I'm fine, its just..."

As the words of her new "friend" began to sink in, Twilight's eyes widened.

"How...how do you know my name? I never told you."

The stallion beamed at that.

"Oh, it was all part of my creation. When you fused my essence to yours, I was granted a vision of your thoughts and memories. There probably isn't a single thing about you and your life that I don't know."

From the look on his face, it was clear the stallion didn't think that what he'd just said was in any way bad. Twilight, in the other hoof, could not have been any more freaked out. So...I've not only summoned a creature from Tartarus, but now it apparently knows everything I know too. Perfect! Just perfect! Can this day get any worse?!

"Twilight?"

The alicorn's ears perked up as she spun around, just in time to hear her number one assistant, Spike, enter the room while clutching a large pillow and his standard Rarity doll. From the way he was rubbing his eyes, it was clear that he'd only just woken. Twilight, meanwhile, was mentally chiding herself. Of course it can get worse! Why do I even ask these questions?! Letting out a groan of annoyance, she took a step forward, trying to put on as calming a tone as possible.

"It's alright, Spike. Nothing to worry about."

Unfortunately, the young dragon had just noticed the new arrival, who promptly gave him a little wave as he kept on smiling. Much like Twilight, Spike's reaction was immediate, as he jumped back with fear, dropping his pillow and doll before running up to Twilight.

"Wha...what is that thing?!"

With her head darting between the demon and Spike, Twilight was at a loss on what to do to make her friend at ease about all this. At ease? I'm about to have a migraine about all this myself. What chance do I have to make somepony else more comfortable right now? I guess I could just tell him the truth. Not as if it could make things wor...NO! Not gonna say it this time! The universe is clearly waiting for me to say stuff like that right now. After taking a few deep breaths, Twilight finally gave her assistant his answer.

"Spike...this is a demon from Tartarus. He's made from dark magic and I created him after trying to cast a spell to make the perfect coltfriend."

The little dragon looked from Twilight, then to the demon, before looking back to Twilight. After a very uncomfortable silence, Spike finally spoke up.

"That...I don't believe this!"

Twilight sighed.

"I know. Creating something like this is wrong on so many..."

"No! I mean I can't believe you were that desperate for a coltfriend!" Spike interrupted.

The Princess shot him a dark look, which promptly shut him up pretty quickly, though it was obvious from looking that he was still barely holding back a chuckle from it all. After letting out a groan, Twilight started rubbing her temples, and it was here that the demon finally spoke up.

"Twilight...does my appearance bother you?"

Twilight looked up, seeing the honesty in his face as he spoke that. She wanted to answer, but all that came out were a few false starts. In lieu of an actual response from his apparent creator, the demon simply smiled and spoke again.

"If it pleases you, I believe I can remedy this issue."

Under normal circumstances, Twilight would have inquired further about that. Unfortunately, she didn't get the chance, as her creation was suddenly, and without warning, engulfed in bright red flames all over. Letting out a scream, Twilight and Spike backed away from the instant inferno before them. Much like how a child would react when seeing one of their toys broken, Twilight was quickly running back and forth in an utter panic. What do I do what do I do what do I do what do I do what do I do?! However, that line of thought soon began to die down, as indeed did the flames themselves. And when they did, both Twilight and Spike stood aghast at what stood there now. It was still a stallion, but now it was a regular, mortal pegasus. Both his fur and his mane was a bright white in colour, with the latter being a little shorter than how most stallions wore them. His eyes now had pupils and were the most piercing shade of blue Twilight had ever seen. As for his build, he was somewhat average in appearance, seeming rather androgynous, though leaning more towards male than female. In stark contrast to the demon’s former look, this appearance was, for lack of a better word, utterly angelic.

For Twilight, there was only one thought on her mind when seeing him. By Faust...he's gorgeous! However, her attention was then drawn to Spike, and as she looked down at him, she saw him point to her back with a very amused look on his face. Turning her head around, Twilight's eyes widened when she saw that her wings had involuntarily stretched out, clearly approving of her new male friend. In a panic, Twilight quickly tried to push them back down, all while laughing in a very nervous manner. After composing herself as best she could, she cleared her throat a little before addressing the demon.

"Well...that's...different."

The stallion, still smiling, tilted his head a little, giving no response to that. Moments afterwards, he began to approach Twilight, leading to a slight bout of nervousness from the young Princess. When he was within reach of her, he raised a hoof and, to her shock, brought her close in a hug. He's so warm, she thought to herself. No! Don’t fall for it! He's just trying to get you to like him! This could all still be a deception! However, as the stallion kept on embracing her, he began to speak in a tone of voice that was far different than before. In his previous demonic look, his voice sounded somewhat gravelly. But now, it mirrored his angelic look, sounding like the kind of voice that could put even a rampaging dragon to sleep.

"I was made to be your perfect coltfriend, Twilight. Anything that makes you happy, makes me happy too. I believe physical comfort does a lot to relieve stress."

Before Twilight could answer to that, she felt the top of her head being patted gently by the stallion's other hoof.

"There-there."

The whole effect was, as promised, very calming, and Twilight, who was so unfamiliar to a stallion's embrace, soon found herself feeling quite relaxed. Sadly, this moment didn't last long, as Twilight was brought out of it by the sound of Spike clearing his throat. Realising what was happening, Twilight quickly pushed the stallion away, yet again letting out a nervous laugh.

"Yes...well...that's all well and good. But I don't think we really need to go ahead with that plan, Mr..."

A pause followed that, after which Twilight realized a very important fact.

"I...actually don't know what to call you."

The stallion tilted his head again.

"I am your creation, Mistress. You may call me whatever you wish."

A small part of Twilight was actually excited at the prospect of getting to give somepony their name. However, the more logical part of her kept on trying to remind her that she should still be wary about all this. So, keeping her eyes on the stallion, she began to let her horn glow, after which another book was levitated off a nearby shelf and began hovering towards her, opening as it moved. As it drew nearer, Spike squinted his eyes to get a look at the title.

"The Big Book of Colt Names?"

Seeing the confusion on her assistant's face, Twilight rolled her eyes.

"It was a gift from my Mother. Trust me, this is actually one of her more subtle hints of wanting grandkids."

Another chuckle escaped Spike before he could stop himself, but Twilight ignored him before starting to read the contents of the book out loud.

"Let's see...how about...Dusk Shine?"

Spike shook his head.

"Too obvious."

Twilight raised an eyebrow at that before continuing.

"Okay, how about...Flash Sentry?"

"Too incendiary."

"Anon?"

"Too generic."

"Random Insert?"

"Too unimaginative."

And somewhere, a hapless teenager dating a blue-haired Siren suddenly felt very insulted, and didn't know why.

"Alright. What about...er..."

Letting out a moan, Twilight just threw the book on top of the pile near the table, and instead stamped her hoof on the ground.

"I'd never be happy with a name picked form a book, so I'll just name you myself. You're a demon, and another word for that is daemon. So I'll just shorten that to Dae. That okay with you?"

The stallion nodded.

"It's a name you picked for me, Twilight. How could I ever be unhappy with something you chose for me?"

Despite the protests of her mind, her face conjured up a blush at that, much to Spike's amusement. After clearing her throat a little, Twilight gestured to Dae before starting to walk away. Obediently, the stallion followed, as did Spike, and the three of them made their way towards the main staircase of the castle. Throughout the journey Twilight had a look of great frustration upon her face, though Dae seemed just about the happiest pony one could ever see. After some traversing they eventually made it to the door of one of the castle's many bedrooms. Using her magic Twilight opened the door and gestured inside.

"Get in."

Still smiling, Dae obeyed, and soon, he was standing right in the middle of the spacious guest room. Looking at him sternly, Twilight pointed at the ground.

"Now, I want you to stay here tonight, got it?"

Dae nodded at that.

"Anything for you, Mistress."

Blushing yet again, Twilight promptly slammed the door shut, before turning to see a very smug-looking Spike.

"So...you got yourself a new coltfriend, eh?"

Angrily, Twilight pointed a hoof into his chest.

"Look! This wasn't meant to happen this way! I don’t know what to do right now, but I'll get to the bottom of it soon enough!"

Spike rolled his eyes at that and nodded, making his way back towards his own bedroom. Looking to the room beside her, Twilight let out yet another groan of annoyance before walking off. How do I get myself into these situations?

Meanwhile, a certain white pegasus was looking around his surroundings, carrying a look of curiosity upon his face.

"So...this is what it's like to be alive."

Slowly, his expression twisted into a mischievous smirk.

"Interesting."