"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."