Luna tells us after many hours of walking and blocking the tunnels we go through that the moon is ready to rise.

We decide to camp in the tunnels here for the night where the lycans start digging a wide area big enough to set up our tents and use the dug up earth to block the tunnel behind and in front of us to prevent an ambush.

Once all our tents are up, the pony demons begin making dinner with just raw ingredients as we can't really light a fire in here without choking ourselves.

But before any of us could turn in for the night after eating our meals, Pinkie grits her teeth before yelling loudly. "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" She turns to me and stomps right over and shoves her muzzle right in my face as best as she can. "I'm tired of being useless! I don't care about being a demon anymore! I just want to help my friends again and if being a demon means I can then so be it!" she tells me with a determined frown on her face.

I raise an eyebrow at her and internally smirk. 'I knew it.' "Are you sure you want this? There's no going back," I tell her.

"Yes! Just do it already before I go insane!" she tells me with a pout.

"Very well then, but remember, this was your decision," I reply and before she could protest, I pull her towards me and bite into her neck.

"AHHH!" she yelps and hisses in pain as I pour my energy into her.

I expected her to turn into an orobas, but she turns into something else entirely. Her body gets thinner, almost snake like but keeps her fur and breasts. The stump of flesh on her tail starts growing longer to about two metres long and the fur turns to dark pink scales, but the hair on the tip of her tail remains. Her arms -which heal and reset the bones- and legs grows longer a few inches and her neck elongates as well to about half a metre.

Two horns resembling antlers grow on her head and her muzzle lengthens three inches as she grows a pair of fangs as well. The whites of her eyes turn light blue and her irises turn bright pink.

Next her hands and forearms change from three fingers to three dark pink clawed scaled talons and her hooves get slightly bigger as well. Finally, two dragon like wings grow out of her back and her clothes are all torn and barely hanging on her new body.

Once her transformation finishes, she shockingly has the power of an archdemon.

Everyone present just stares at her in surprise. "She... she resembles a draconequus..." Luna says dumbfounded.

"Ohhhh, look at all the pretty colours!" Pinkie says as she looks around and twists her body to look everywhere.

"Why does she look like Discord?" Selene asks Luna, but she can only shake her head in return.

"This is a surprise," I comment and walk around her. Her new tail has ripped her jeans to fit through, her wings have torn the back of her shirt and are large like an alicorn's, and her talons look very sharp. "How do you feel, Pinkie?" I ask her with a raised brow.

She slowly turns to look at me with a blank expression. "I see everything..." she replies and her eyes widen before she puts her talons together and rips the fabric of reality open and pokes her head in through the tear. "Whoa..." she mutters and my curiosity rises.

I look over her shoulder and go wide eyed at what I'm looking at. It appears to be the inside of a bakery with a blue mare and a yellow stallion wearing aprons baking confectioneries in a kitchen.

"Hi Mr and Mrs Cake!" Pinkie says to them making the stallion yelp and drop a tray of cookies.

"Pinkie?" he replies and looks to his right and sees Pinkie grinning at him. "Pinkie? Is that you?" he asks in surprise at her appearance while Mrs Cake is staring at the pink draconequus with her jaw agape and the dough she was kneading left forgotten.

"Yup! I'm feeling much better now thanks to Mr Meany!" she replies and I give her a glare for what she keeps calling me.

"What happened to you?" Mrs Cake asks her and walks over to us.

"I erm... couldn't take being useless anymore... so I let Damien turn me into a... demon, to fix my arms..." she replies warily of their reactions.

The two ponies look at each other and then back to Pinkie. "Pinkie, even if you're a, um... demon now, you're still the happy party loving mare we hired years ago to us," Mr Cake tells her with a smile.

Pinkie's lower lip starts to tremble as tears are pouring from her eyes like a faucet. She begins crying and her arms stretch out and wrap around the ponies backs before she pulls them up to her and hugs them both.

"WAAAAA! I love you both so Muuuuuuch!" she tells them and sniffs up the line of snot hanging out her nose.

Confused and stunned at what she just did the yellow stallion just pats her on the back.

"It's okay, Pinkie. We both love you too. We’re just happy you’re okay," he replies and the mare nodded in agreement.

Pinkie puts them both down and smiles brightly. "Okay! Well I need to help Mr Meany get home, then I can come back and help you again!" she tells them both and giggles.

"Alright, Pinkie. Since you can do so, just remember to pop in and say hello whenever you can. We've missed you around here," Mrs Cake tells the pink demoness.

"Okie Dokie Loki!" she replies and pulls her head back and the tear closes.

"That's quite the ability you got there, Pinkie... Do you think you could open a tear to Tartarus?" I say and ask.

She hums in thought for a few seconds but shakes her head. "I don't think so. I knew how to open one to Ponyville because I've been there. I don't know anything, anyone, or anywhere about or in Tartarus," she replies. I just notice her hair and tail are bright and poofy again.

"That's alright, was worth asking at least," I tell her and turn back to the others.

They're just gawking at Pinkie and I roll my eyes at them.

Pinkie then snaps her fingers and in a puff of pink smoke, a hammock appears floating in the air and she jumps up onto it and sighs in content.

"Pinkie?" Twilight says and walks over to her. "How did you do that?" she asks with a twitching right eye.

Pinkie looks at her and grins. "I'm not sure. I just know how to," she replies as a pair of sleeping blinders appears over her eyes and she promptly falls asleep.

Twilight just stares at her before huffing and crawling into our tent angrily.

The others after some silence start to get into their tents while Applejack has a blanket placed on top of her.

I then hear Rarity giggle and gasp before her tent glows a light blue and all sound inside ceases, I then notice another glow on Shining and Gilda's tent. I smirk knowing what's going to happen and make my way into my own tent where Twilight is angrily cuddling up to Desire.

"What's got you so upset, Twilight?" I ask her and take my coat off.

"Nothing, I'm fine," she replies agitated.

Desire giggles and looks at me. "She's just upset that Pinkie seems to have more magic than her now," she tells me.

"Is that all? Then how about when we find Tirek, I can take his soul and make you stronger with the extra energy like I did for Desire," I tell the succupony.

Twilight looks at me with wide eyes. "You mean I'll become an alicorn demon like Desire?" she asks me.

"Possibly, or you could become something else like Pinkie has," I reply and lay down next to Desire.

Twilight looks unsure but decides to just go to sleep.

I share a look with Desire where she just smiles and kisses me before using Twilight as a body pillow.

---

We wake up and the lesser demons get started on another basic breakfast but Pinkie uses her new power to make another tear to Ponyville and asks the Cakes to make some pastries for some of our gold. So at least we have something sweet for breakfast as well.

Twilight looks less upset about Pinkie's new magic at least. Rarity exits her tent who's hair is dishevelled and Spike has a massive dopey grin on his face. Twilight frowns at spike but doesn't comment on it.

Once we've all eaten and packed up our camping gear, Ironhoof with Scarlet walking next to him pulls the cart down the tunnel while the lycans clear the blockade and make the tunnel wider if they have to.

Gilda is sitting on the cart due to the fact she can't walk straight at the moment but is giving Ironhoof directions.

Desire and Twilight are chatting with Luna and Selene. Pinkie is hovering above us and looks like she's swimming through the air and is also wearing a pair of denim overalls that now fit her new body.

Rainbow is talking to Fluttershy who is riding on Angel's back again. The harpy who was shot is now fully healed as well.

We walk for about an hour when I feel something off around us. "What is that? It feels like we are being watched," Luna says. So I'm not the only one feeling it?

"Not sure, but I feel it too," I reply and close my eyes. The feeling seems to be coming from the Shadow Realm. "I'm going to check something quickly, I'll be right back," I tell them and slip into the Shadow Realm.

What greets me are the wraiths that wander here to surround me and just stare. I frown and look at them all with caution.

One of them then quickly floats over to me inches from my face and just stares at me. Then blood red glowing eyes open up on it's blank face making me go wide eyed, I've never seen them with red eyes before. The others also start opening their eyes but I can't move as I'm surrounded.

"Why have you not called for us, Master?" it asks me in a whispering raspy voice.

"Master?" I reply confused.

"Yeeees, you are the successor to Master Val'ketoph. You possess his power, thus we follow you. We have always followed you even when you ignored us each time you are here," he tells me and backs up a few feet.

I look around at the gathered wraiths and frown. "Then why have you never spoke to me before?" I ask it.

"Master Val'ketoph never let us speak unless spoken to, we assumed the same with you... but we can no longer sit idle, we wish for you to give us orders," it replies and the others whisper their own agreements.

"I see... Val'ketoph never told me what I could do or had when he sent me to Tartarus, so I had no idea you were his, I thought you were just beings who resided here. What can you do?" I ask them.

"We were Master Val'ketoph's personal force, created by him to aid him in battle and to protect him from threats and attacks from the Shadow Realm. We can only survive outside the Shadow Realm for a short while but we will fight whoever you deem an enemy."

"Alright... And how do I summon you should I need you?" I ask.

"Just open a portal to the Shadow Realm and we shall answer. We can also come out with your permission if we need be to report to you," it replies. I can't tell if it's male or female with the tone of voice it's using.

"Okay. So you all want orders?" I then ask.

"Yeeees," it replies.

"Then go through these tunnels and see if there are any gryphons ahead of us or near the exits. Then report back to me with anything you find," I tell them, getting them all to perk up and start heading down the tunnels. Only three of them stay behind.

"We shall remain here to protect you, Master," one of them says and they just stay nearby.

Satisfied with the outcome, I return to the Physical Realm. "Damien!" Desire says and pounces on my back and wraps her arms around my neck. "What happened?" she asks me.

"Remember those wraiths we saw in the Shadow Realm?" I ask her and she nodded in reply. "Turns out they were Val'ketoph's personal soldiers, that are now my personal soldiers since I have his power."

"So... they obey you?" she asks confused.

"Correct, I've sent them to search ahead and let me know what they find," I reply and squeeze her backside making her yelp.

"Why have they never spoken to us before?"

"That's Val'Ketoph's fault. They were only allowed to speak when spoken too, and they thought I had no need for them until now," I tell her and continue to carry her down the tunnel.

We walk another mile before a... I guess I'll call them shadow wraiths from now on so as to not confuse them with the zebra wraiths. One of the shadow wraiths appears before me making the others jump and I can see a shadow like mist coming off of it, I guess that's its energy getting burnt off from being in this realm.

"Master, there are gryphons at the exit and are waiting to ambush you," it tells me.

"Are you immune to silver?" I ask it.

"No," it replies with a shake of its head.

"What would happen if you are killed?" I then ask.

"We would cease to exist."

"I see. Keep an eye on them and let me know if they come in, we're going to make our own way out," I order it and it nodded before fading away.

"What was THAT!?" Twilight yells getting my attention.

I look back at her and smirk. "Reinforcements," I reply.

Next Chapter: Chapter 36: On our merry way Estimated time remaining: 5 Hours, 41 Minutes