The moon was high in the sky, shining onto the land below, casting long and dark shadows from different objects around the world. The winds blew slightly, providing a nice chill after a warm, almost hot day. Most ponies were already asleep, sleeping soundly in their beds, enjoying the night in their own way.

However, one particular being was wide awake, sitting on his bed. Andromalius didn't want to sleep at all. After everything he had seen and heard, he promised to himself that he would not go to sleep, no matter the circumstances. The hell stallion didn't want Inanna to find anything about him, be it his deep sexual desires or anything else, related to the former or not.

Bored to the bone, he decided to spend his time elsewhere. After all, his door was no longer locked from the outside and he could go pretty much anywhere within the Canterlot Castle as long as it wasn't something private like bedchambers or other places that only the princesses had access to. Instead of testing his luck, he went to the Canterlot Garden under the night's cover. He was already getting used to putting on a cloak. He especially didn't want to be seen by a random wanderer at this time of night. It could bring... interesting consequences, after all.

While he wanted to go outside Canterlot Castle and explore the world, he couldn't. First of all, he was guarding Princess Luna, it was a job he couldn't abandon. If he did abandon it, such an action would ruin anything and everything going on between himself and the princess: trust, friendship, all of it would be gone. Secondly, his appearance was fearsome, if not outright terrifying to ponies. It was a great hindrance, and he definitely couldn't go anywhere unnoticed. While he was at the castle, he had some help, at the very least. Outside, he would be alone. Maybe not defenseless, but certainly without any companionship which he needed in this new and confusing world.

In a few minutes, he reached the gardens. Even under the moonlight, it was beautiful with many flowers closed for the night, and yet there were some that were blooming, glowing slightly. The animals were hiding in the bushes or on the trees, avoiding the infernal equine. Andromalius, not noticing them, walked to a bench near a small pond and took a seat. He looked at the surface of the water, admiring the mirror image of the moon and stars. He touched the pond, sending ripples throughout the surface, distorting the image.

"Who's 'ere at this time o' night?" a voice spoke to him from behind, making his ears perk up and turn to the speaker.

Andromalius slowly turned around and saw an old earth pony stallion. His fur was grayish-green, his mane was gray. His cutie mark was of a shovel and a plant. Despite looking old, there was still a spark of youth in his eyes as they looked at the hell stallion.

"I am," Andromalius finally replied, hoping that it was dark enough to hide his features. "Personal guard of Princess Luna, if you need specifics."

"Ah, relaxing, right?" the stallion walked around the hell stallion. "'Tis sure tiresome, isn't it? Serving the princess, I mean."

"Not so much," Andromalius replied with a shake of his head. "Princess Luna is..." he paused, thinking for a moment. "Well, I don't think I'm supposed to tell you."

"Nah, don't worry, I'll tell no one. I used to guard Princess Celestia when I was young, after all," the stallion smiled, sitting down nearby. "Oh, and where're my manners!" he slapped himself on the forehead and then extended his hoof. "I am Shovel Knight, nice t'meet ya!"

"Andromalius," the hell stallion introduced himself as well, and both bumped hooves. "So..." he paused to gather his thoughts. "Princess Luna thinks of me more like I'm her friend, not just a guard."

"Well, 'tis certainly no surprise," Shovel let out a soft chuckle. "A personal guard ain't just a guard that protects the body. He's more like somepony that a princess can rely on completely. And it means sharin' her problems as well. Princesses don't have many friends, and they're surely not happy about that."

"I think I understand," Andromalius nodded.

"Well, I s'pose ya do," the gardener shrugged. "I can't tell you how things are now, I'm too old to guard a princess properly. Celestia still comes here sometimes to see me, though."

"Shovel?" a familiar voice of day princess sounded from behind the two stallions. They turned around and saw Celestia.

"Hello, Celestia!" Shovel Knight smiled and went to his princess. They shared a hug. "It feels like years since you've been 'ere."

"I'm sorry about that. The schedule was pretty tight during the recent years," Celestia hung her head in shame, her ears drooping slightly. "But now I have more free time, and I think I can spend more time in the gardens," she smiled, her mood brightening. "It's always nice to have some friendly company after the tiresome day of court."

Unbeknownst to the princess, Andromalius disappeared silently, creeping around her and heading back into the castle. He knew he should leave those two alone, he would be just a third wheel. He was unsure if Celestia liked him, after all, and so, to evade any and all tension between her and himself, it was best for him to leave.

The hell stallion wandered through the castle aimlessly, not knowing what to do. He was bored, he was slightly irritated as memories of Inanna the Succubus went through his head, and overall, he just needed to spend the time somehow.

He noticed there wasn't any guard at Celestia's bedchamber doors. Andromalius knew that sneaking in wasn't a good thing, but he wondered if he could find anything interesting in relation to him.

"Oh, Andro, you're trying to find out Celestia's fetishes?" Inanna was inside his head once again, ready to tease him. "One of her fetishes is a banana one. She loves sucking them like a lollipop. It makes her so~ aroused."

"Did I need to know it?" Andromalius replied and sighed, knowing that there was no way Inanna would stop with it.

"Well, who knows... Maybe someday you'll have a threesome with both princesses, hmm?" she suggested.

"I doubt any of them sees me in that way," he disagreed, his irritation growing.

"I don't know whether they do or not, but better be ready for everything, don't you think?" the succubus giggled.

Andromalius groaned in reply, deciding to silence himself as not to provoke her further and then entered Celestia's bedchambers. They were empty, the lights were off, and the hell stallion knew that the owner was away.

Moving through the dark room, the hell stallion came upon a table. There were many papers on it, some of them in stacks, some just scattered around in an unorganized and seemingly chaotic way.

What caught Andromalius's eye was, however, a piece of paper, which was titled "The thousandth year".

"Hm... I wonder if it's relevant to me," Andromalius thought. He picked the paper using his magic and brought it closer to read.

Twenty-first of June, year three thousand A.F.E.

Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student, is doing really well with her studies. Once again, she surpasses my every expectation in terms of magical study. I shouldn't be surprised, her talent is magic, after all.

However, I am concerned about her well-being. She doesn't have any friends, she rarely talks to anypony. She is entirely focused on studying, which wouldn't be as bad if she socialized in at least some way.

I had a very bad experience some years ago, and I don't want the same happening to my new student.

So, I am going to send her to arrange the Summer Sun Celebration in Ponyville. That village is calm and full of friendly ponies. It will be the perfect place for Twilight to befriend somepony, and maybe even find a special one.

---

Twenty-second of June, year three thousand A.F.E.

Everything went as I expected. Twilight befriended five ponies, all six became new bearers of the Elements of Harmony and helped to free my dear sister Luna from her madness.

Applejack, an earth pony mare with peach-colored fur and blonde mane, earned the Element of Honesty.

She told Twilight that everything will be fine with her if she let go. I don't know how does that connects to honesty, but it isn't my place to question the Elements' choice.

Then, a being known as Horse of Tartarus tried to stop the rest of the six from getting to their elements. Nightmare Moon made the creature obey her biddings, and sent it to scare everypony away from the castle, in which Nightmare Moon was planning to live and rule from after defeating me.

However, the creature returned to the forest where it came from.

So, only when the creature left, the five got their Elements.

Pinkie Pie, an earth pony mare with pink fur and darker pink, puffy mane, earned the Element of Laughter after cheering her friends up.

Fluttershy helped a lost snake to get out of the castle, thus earning the Element of Kindness.

Rainbow Dash, a pegasus mare with cyan fur and rainbow mane, refused to leave her friends to Nightmare Moon and the Horse. She said that she would never forgive herself if she left her friends. Thus, she earned the Element of Loyalty.

Rarity, a unicorn mare with white fur and purple mane, gave her tail to the bat. The bat looked fabulous, having white fur as Rarity's, but lost all of her magnificent hair because of eating a wrong fruit. The Element of Generosity was thus earned by Rarity.

Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student, earned the Element of Magic after she solved the ancient prophecy.

After freeing Luna from her own curse, I was told about that Horse of Tartarus. Hoping to send it back to the place where I thought it came from, all of us found it and used the Elements.

So, ...

Suddenly, the door behind Andromalius creaked open. He quickly hid in the shadows.

"I know where thou hidest thy most delicious cake, Tia," Luna said devilishly, stepping in and closing the door behind herself. "Dost not thou worry, I shall only take a small piece of it..."

Luna sneaked to a wall and pressed something on it. The wall silently opened, revealing a huge cake in a transparent freezer. She liked her lips, and then took a slice of the cake using her magic.

Andromalius sneaked out of the room and went back to his one.

"Well," Andromalius thought, now back in his room. "Now I know what I was hit with..."

"Elements of Harmony? Those are interesting things." Inanna was quick to start a conversation.

"Inanna, do you ever sleep?" Andromalius wondered.

"I can miss so many carnal acts in my sleep, so nope," Inanna chuckled. "I don't need to sleep anyway, rarely any demon does."

"No jokes about sex this time?" the hell stallion asked, surprised.

"I wait for an appropriate time. You'll have a very awkward boner, and that's when I will laugh."

"God damnit..."

"I am a succubus, what did you expect? Having sex most of the time is natural to us," Inanna explained, fake surprise in her voice. "And I'm the troll master among them all."

"Well, your jokes about sex aren't always needed. Adding sex to everything isn't funny," he scowled at her, hoping that she would get the message this direct.

"Well, maybe you're right, but... Well, my sex drive was and always is higher than heaven, and I needed to annoy someone to cool off. You just happened to appear at the wrong time, that's it. Don't worry, though, I'll keep it down a bit."

"Um... Thanks, I suppose," Andromalius replied nervously, not entirely trusting her.

"You're welcome, Andromalius. Oh, and Luna's heat cycle starts tomorrow if you forgot."

"Shit."