Mmmmmmm. I can get used to this. The essence of old book charm and the mixture of the tree's natural odour are simply divine. The cooling breeze, neither too much nor too little, is just fantastic along my plates. Beats my old room on the wrath level that's for sure. It was always had a hint of blood and a pinch of something bitter. I certainly can get used to the tranquil sound rather than the screams of the damned.

"AAAAAARGH!"

" Wow... That was scarily close." I mumbled, slightly startled by a female voice. Not at the scream just at the fact this place seemed quite peaceful; back in hell the dammed were tormented non-stop, A friend of mine has a 20 hour shift monitoring the those in the anger/wrath level of hell. Here I'd imagine a scream similar to hell must signal the apocalypse.

"Calm down sweetie bell. Tiara and Silver spoon are complete block heads for bothering you like that." The voices stumbled in and 2 weights were heard hitting the wooden floor.

Or just a spat between kids, just as good here I suppose.

"They always pick on me, Applebloom and Scootaloo because we don't have our cutie marks! I really want my cutie mark so they'll stop." Spoke a young voice. There was a lot of painful truth in those words. The girl was clearly agitated and upset by this 'Tiara' and 'Silver Spoon' pony.

"Hey remember what it means to not have one. You still have potential. A whole lot! Don't let them girls get to you." Spoke a wise and yet young voice. What's a cutie mark? Is it those things on everybody's arse?"

After a short silence I was tempted to open my eyes and look at the pair. I was stopped by the next sentence.

"Yeah. your right spike. Thanks. It’s just that they always act like they’re better than everypony else. They’re both rich, have cutie marks and get whatever they want. They use it to pick on the other kids as well and..."

I felt something awake and make its way towards my mouth. It slithered almost choking me, my eyes shot open and I faced the bookshelf opposite the door. I couldn't move. My jaw became possessed and hissed.

"Vaaannity! must corrupt imaaaage!"

What the fucking hell was that?

" What was..?" I believe spike spoke.

"Oh hey cool! Awesome statue for Nightmare night!" I assume, Sweetie bell chirped. She slid into my field of view, I remained frozen. How did.... you know what fuck it, I've been awake for less than 5 minutes and I have been possessed and a baby unicorn just skidded across the room and is now starring into my flaming eyes. Today is going to be fun.

"This thing looks so scary. When did you get it?"

"I um...don't know. Maybe Twilight hired it for tomorrow night? I'm pretty sure that was not here when I left." He came into view. I was surprised, truly. Twilight lives with a baby dragon. A little, wingless purple dragon. Spike scratched his chin with his claws. Admittedly I was envious of him having claws because I miss my own. "What is it? looks like it's part pony part rock. It doesn't have hooves, I don't think twilights finished putting it together."

"I want to see it finished! I'll bet it's the scariest thing around. Where did twilight get it?"

The dragon shrugged. "Beats me. Why don't cha ask her? she'll be up and about here somewhere, just look for a trail of books" He sighed "That' I'll have to clear up."

I could see him blink. "Where is she anyway? I want to know what the hay this thing is."

"Spike! That's no way to speak to our guest!" I heard Twilight voice yell. They looked towards the kitchen, I remained frozen.When twilight explains spook 'em!

"Guest? You mean this is somepony in a costume?" I felt the little unicorn tap my hardened shell. "It sounds like diamond, who made it?"

"Hmmmm." I saw spike walk up and inspect me. He poke the eye sockets. I embraced for pain, but surprisingly I could not feel anything. I could tell his arms were rooting around the back of my eye socket. Perhaps I only have fire for eyes and no surrounding white stuff. cool. "There's no one there Twilight. Look!"

Spike was about to do something I would not ever allow. He was about to bite my horn.

"Spike Don't even think about it! Magma Vein could you please introduce yourself" I heard an agitated librarian announce.

Still I did nothing.

"Magma Vein? Are you okay?" I heard her creeping in from the kitchen. They all eventually gazed at me. I just needed one more thing.

"Are you okay Twi? It's just a stupid statue. Watch."

Bingo.

Spike reached towards my face. His claw almost touching me. Just as he was about touch me, just a single millimetre away, I shot up. My plates slid out like metal sliding on metal. My orange blood became visible in the cracks; fire reached out and my eyes focused on the dragon. The poor thing's index finger drooped at my sight.

"Stupid statue huh? Yes Twilight I am fine. I assume this is the roommate you were on about." I had to snigger a bit; it was a funny sight, 2 ponies and a dragon shocked at the sudden transformation, that and the fact I had to show no hard feelings.

"Your...your..." The little reptile repeated.

"Yes I am real. Thankfully I don't have eyes huh? Just these little lights. I am Magma Vein." I gave a little bow. "You must be spike. Twilight told me a bit about you, she also said you might need time to warm up. I'm sure we'll just get along just fine." With that I extended my hoof for him. It was like any normal hoof, which confused me quite a bit, and he seemed Ok with the han-hoof shake. I'm going have to get used to that.

"Yeah... right. Sorry bro. You scared me. I didn't know you were an actual pony, you kind of look like a pony-lantern."

"Spike!"

"No need. I'm used to it Twilight. Yeah I can understand. No harm, No foul though right dude?" I asked him. He nodded and started to smile.

"I'm sweetie bell." The young unicorn added. "So you’re not something Twilight needed for nightmare night?"

I grinned and turned to Twilight. "I maybe something she needs but I doubt I'm what she exactly wanted." she blushed a bit.

"So who are you? You definitely not any type of pony I know." Spike added standing by my side. He clocked onto the fact that fire was escaping my plated skin.

"Well perhaps we can answers that question with many more over breakfast. Twilight I did get my beauty sleep last night; no offence but it does look like you were busy last night, still not enough to ruin that lovely shade of crimson you wear so well."

Again she blushed. "I was thinking of questions to ask for this morning. Spike get us some breakfast, sweetie bell are you staying?"

"Can I?! Yes please." The little filly eagerly took a seat at the table.

Over a fantastic serving of oats, fruits and biscuits I had managed to cover who and what I actually was. Spike simply said 'Whoa' every time he got it. I told them about how I was the toughest and highest rank guard in ' the world’s toughest prison'. I would never tell these kids the true purpose of or even the name hell. They asked what home was like so I told them about the human world. When I mentioned we had no magic Twilight asked how that was possible. I replied that our world is built around technology that conquers all problems. Even in hell we have iPhones and iPods, although you need normal shaped ears for the ear buds. We also have poor quality customer service. It's weird in hell purely because Hells torture methods have remained the same forever and will continue to, and yet the places where demons go to relax are more modern. Not shiny silver or chrome plated, but furnished and updated...in red of course.

This led to achievements in medicine, space travel to the moon, and breaking the light barrier with the Hadron collider. She was amazed and tried to keep up with writing every achievement and listening to them.

I could tell Sweetie bell was interested, but not as enthusiastic about the science.

"Do humans have Nightmare night?"

"Erm...what's that?" I had a vague feeling but I wanted to be sure.

"It's where ponies go out and dress up in costumes and get free candy!" she said happily.

"Oh yes. It's my favourite holiday. I assume there's more to it than mindless gluttony?" I said looking to twilight, who was organising her scrolls.

"Yes. It is based on the legend of nightmare moon, where every year she comes down from the moon to feed off little fillies. So ever year, on tomorrow’s date, the kids dress up to hide from her, the costume is meant to disguise who they really are. We give them candy to offer to her, and when she is satisfied she leaves for another year." she smiled at spike. "Did you hear that part? Disguise." She emphasised that last point enough to make me look at him.

"I'm telling you it is an awesome costume. All that candy will be mine!" he proclaimed.

Twilight chuckled and looked back at me. "So I take it your kind has similar traditions?"

"Almost. Humans don't have one monster, they have every kind of monster lurking about that day. The humans call it Halloween. They too have costumes and collect sweets, but there's a catch." The ponies leaned closer.

"Trick or treat." I said flatly.

"Trick or treat?" They repeated confused.

"Yes; the adults give them either a treat , like sweets and currency, or a trick. The tricks have to be evenly distributed amongst the treats. They can be anything like candy apples."

"What's wrong with that?" Sweetie bell asked, curiously.

"The candy apples are actually candy onions." I chuckled.

Spike chuckled too. "Cool. That would be funny, I'd just hope not to get one."

Twilight scribbled it down. "I see. That is the trick, and by evenly distributing the fake candy apples amongst the real ones, nopony can tell. Are there any others?"

I had a feeling she wrote an entire subsection on the trickery of humans as I listed all the ones I could think of. From chilli chocolates to mentioning how as children reach towards a basket of sweets, there were to be scared by the man in the scarecrow costume.

"Yeah, as you can imagine already being a monster gets you all of the jobs." I mused. The ponies and dragon looked at me as if I had started talking a foreign language.

"What do you mean a monster?" Sweetie bell asked.

"Well, honey, the monsters the kids dress up as...don't have anything on my species. No dragon, vampire, werewolf, mummy, zombie or skeleton had anything that could out scare my kind. That's why it's my favourite time, I can walk freely and blend in but after that day I'm a black smudge on a white background."

"You stick out?" Spike asked slightly in deep thought at the terrible metaphor.

"That's right. We are the nightmares they think they hide from. We have no reason to hunt them, but..." I looked at the purple unicorn. " It's easy for people to make mistakes. They think we're mean before they get to know us." she smiled sheepishly. "All in all they miss out on such fantastic, handsome, amazingly interesting individuals such as myself wouldn't you agree?" They nodded on unison.

"You say you’re a different species, what do you mean?" Twilight asked after reading over her notes.

Looking towards the filly and dragon, it was probably best to discuss my role and hell and demons later, privately.

"I will tell you, and only you, later Twilight. My past may not be appropriate for young ones." she acknowledged, but wore a face of slight worry.

I then decided to lighten the mood with other holidays such as Christmas, Easter and even St George’s day. Which in hindsight was a bad idea given present company.

"Wow. This is really interesting. I'm sure princess Celestia would be eager to receive these letters, Spike if you would please."

"Sure thing Twilight." Then I saw another confusing event. In a puff of green smoke and fire all the letters on the table disappeared. Did he just destroy all of this morning’s hard work? Twilight must have caught glance of my confused demonic face.

"Oh that's just how I send my letters directly to the Princess. They don't get destroyed and are transported instantly."

"I see. So does everypony have a dragon to send mail or are you a special case? Also does the Princess send you mail back in the same way?" I question intrigued by the concept. We just have phones and email...or telepathy.

"No, we use mail pegasi to the deliver mail. I think the Princess uses a special candle to send her letters to me."

Now that that was settled I got off my seat, I planned on assisting Spike with taking out the plates and bowls when I had to stretch. I acted as if I was in my bipedal demon form, stood on my back legs, yawned flailing my tongue, I could feel two particular plates twitch a bit but I started stretching my arms apart...

Snap

Clank

"Oops."Well I suppose super strength is in check.

"Whoa." Spike broke the silence but kept the amazed face, as did the girls.

"How did you do that?" Twilight asked studying the chains and shackles now on the floor. "Those were impossible to break!"

"Wow you’re really strong, I don't think even big mac could do that." Sweetie bell added.

"One of the perks to my body." I shrugged before pointing to my body.

The ponies took the time to study me. I hate getting attention, especially when on the job. One small distraction could leave me vulnerable for demons to escape. They walked around, sweetie bell seemed intrigued by my skeletal and gel like chest. She chuckled and mentioned how warm it was when she poked it. Spike focused on the buzz saw spikes that formed my mane. I think he thought his were better because they were green. Twilight focused on my twin horns. Of course the magic user wants to know if 2 horns can affect how much magic I can use. She seemed to study them bringing one hoof below her chin.

After a while I explained what I actually looked like. With the help of drawings, and time...a lot of time, they managed to grasp my original form. It was getting dark outside, so I volunteered to escort Spike and Sweetie bell home. Twilight mad the point of my form and I guess she had a valid reason. Again spike left for the night with Rarity, well technically Sweetie bell but I'm sure he had his reasons. It was a slight infatuation over beauty, or so I gathered, nothing punishable by Hell's standards.
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I was browsing through the books, more importantly fiction. Back in hell we have a collection of stories from both demons and humans. We also had movies too. Sixth sense is my favourite. Apparently I hated it in my human form. Some demonesses have even possessed women to meet the likes of Robert Downey Jr , Bruce Willis and even Morgan freeman. Especially after Bruce almighty.

Outside I could hear 2 familiar voices.

"Please Twilight, don't tell him. I want it to be the bestest super dooper ' we're sorry we thought you were a monster' party."

"Cross my heart hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." Twilight responded before yelping.

Twilight arrived home, rubbing her right eye, and brought a friend. A very, very, very energetic pink pony.

"Hi Magma ooh I need a better name than that not that your is bad it's really quite cool and dangerous but not a nickamey type so hmmmmmm..." She pondered pouting her lip, gently tapping it with her hoof.

"Good to see you too miss pie." I replied to the barrage of words, bowing to dodge each syllable.

she giggled at a high, but cute, pitch "I'm just so excited for tomorrow, I sometimes talk a lot. How are you? wanna muffin?" She produced a brown muffin out of nowhere. She will kill me with the pure insanity of her natural actions. I looked at the muffin. It was dark brown with a heavenly cocoa scent. It almost glowed on the pink tray that was actually pinkie pie.

"Is...that chocolate?" I asked already licking my lips.

"Yes, I made this 1 minute ago and it's still all warm and gooey, do you want it?" she asked practically taunting me by waving it about. I could hear Twilight mumble something.

"We were walking a minute ago how did...you know what you are truly random Pinkie."

I looked directly at it, and stated calmly "OH GOD YES!" at a high volume. Ok maybe I was not calm at being reunited with a long lost friend. It took 30 years to taste chocolate because it's not found in hell, so I can't have it on breaks. I am not allowed to be seen by humans, even when I break that rule on Halloween, I can't risk being exposed. I do not have money to buy it, and I am too good to resort to stealing. Hey I maybe a demonic entity but we have morals too.

I quickly devoured the muffin and helped it complete its mission in life. Major muffin you will be missed and your mission has set the bar for the other operatives with similar goals. God speed Major muffin. It tasted so creamy in the middle. It even had a caramel middle that oozed in my mouth. The taste of chocolate was so immense it had completed my picture book memory of what chocolate is, the colour, the smell and now the taste. I think I smiled in a state of bliss because my fangs were all on show.

The girls were containing laughs until they burst.

"Hey it's been 30 years since I last had chocolate!" I barked removing the remains of the treat from my maw.

"HAHAHAH wait what?" Pinkie pie stopped and looked at me before her eyes widened. "thi-thir-thirt thirty years?" She looked confused, as if not able to accept how somebody can go 30 years without cocoa.

"Yeah. It's hard to get on my job."

She looked like she was about to burst before she gasped for air and shot out the door, leaving behind a pink cloud and a face that looked similar to that painting called scream.

I looked at Twilight she looked back at me. I asked what happened, she said "Really 30 years? how and why?" I said Its part of the job, she said "I don't know what pinkie pies got planned for you but I'm glad I'm not you right now." It was a threat that was not one meant to harm or humiliate, and yet it scared me. That night we spent more time discussing who and what I really was. She eventually got used to the idea of hell. She did not like the idea of torture, but I said the victims did not like the pain they suffered for the time it was to be endured.

Eventually we had one last cup of tea in her room next to more scrolls, not something I normally do, before she explained to me the elements of harmony and there role with nightmare moon and Discord. She was startled when I told her that he was how I got to Equestria. We concluded that the stone prison sent him to hell and moved onto the princesses. I think she was expecting to be in shock about the age of Luna and Celestia, I turned the tables when I told them how old Satan REALLY was. She talked about the many adventures she had been through with her friends. The parasprites, the dragon who refused to move, the Gala and then the diamond dogs.

I felt something writhing in my gut again. "Well I think I should turn in for the night, Nightmare night might just be the perfect excuse for me to visit Ponyville." I suggested, she agreed.

I felt something grab my vocal cords. "Well..cough..sweet dreams."

"Goodnight Magma vein." she smiled back as I did my best to remain upright.

I closed the door behind me and stumbled to my bed sheet, and got into my sleeping position. I could feel it pulling its way to my mouth. Clawing and forcing itself out like I was about to spew. My mouth opened again.

"Greeeeeed. Muust remove seekers of desire from the eyesockkkets"

I collapsed exhausted. Fighting this...whatever it is, seemed impossible. THE FUCK IS HAPPENING TO ME? I passed out.