The nightmare was a minor entity. Something akin to both an infant and a foot soldier. Regardless, it writhed in my grasp. Its reply wasn't in words, or at least words that Ponykind would recognize. It communicated with feelings, and its dialect was that of fear.

"Why should I?" it seemed to say.

"Because if you don't I will burn you from this existence." I snarled in reply. That seemed to cow the demon, at least for the moment. It did try to free itself a few more times before it responded again.

"Fine. Will show." But it didn't make any effort to reveal any direction or information.

"Now." I lit my horn with bright silver light.

"Fine Fine. The deal is struck." Finally, the minor demon began to wiggle in a direction.

"Do not think to lie to me." I commanded, not trusting the thing even slightly. The demon settled for a moment, before it resigned to wiggle in a completely different direction. Better, but I still didn't believe the demon was actually leading me to its Lord.

Demons, and by extension Nightmares which were demons of fear, were organized in a very similar manner to mortal kind. At the very top was the King, who ruled over all. Next came the princes, each with their own phylum of darkness. Which in turn was further broken up between the Dukes, the Lords, the Generals, etcetera. All the way down to the common soldier, where the soldier would claim something simple like a single room or object as its domain.

Specifically, this nightmare was a very low rank amongst the horde it belonged to. Likely, it had claimed a room or object the colt had frequent contact with. It would pay tribute to a Lieutenant. And while I would prefer that it would take me directly to The Nightmare demon, likely a Duke or a Prince, it was much more likely to take me to its immediate superior.

And that was totally fine.

As the demon directed me towards a trap, I felt a thaumic ping as Celestia lowered the Sun. My horn was already glowing, so the demon didn't notice me cast my half of the spell.

"I have a plan, but the next time we speak you must judge me. If I am too far gone, or you deem me unworthy, annihilate me until all that remains is the memory of my name."

"... I understand." the Moon stated after a moment.

"Thank you."

The spell finished and my cosmic duty was done until morning.

The demon brought me to a collection of dreaming ponies in close proximity, except these ponies were all inter connected with a cancerous blob of shadow that connected them all. Due to the amount of ponies, and the similar vein of dreams, I reasoned this Lieutenant haunted an Inn in the local city. Or maybe a brothel where ponies dreamt of guard ponies kicking the front door down. Regardless, this was where this minor demon's superior made its lair.

"Master, here." The demon croaked in confirmation.

"Then be free." I snarled, purifying it with a pulse of silver light. The thing did shriek, but it was in its wordless tongue. It was in pain, but that pain was something like a distant cousin to the kind of pain mortals could understand.

The nuisance now gone, I approached the next demon in the hierarchy.

"Take me to your master vermin." I bellowed in challenge. The demon Lieutenant was larger then its subordinate. But it was still low enough that it wasn't adverse to doing things itself. It spoke in the same tongue as the minor, but slightly more eloquent.

"Moon Avatar? Here?" it seemed to smirk. "And if this One refuses?"

"You already know the answer." I threatened.

"Moon Avatar may threaten the Minors, but this One is not swayed."

Deciding not to speak, I shone silver light on the thing's tendrils that connected it to its captive ponies.

"Wait! We can be reasonable." it bargained.

"The time to be reasonable has passed." I snorted, burning away two cancerous growths and beginning to work through a third.

"Fine! The deal is struck!" It panicked.

"I knew you would see things my way."

The night continued much the same way. A nightmare would take me to its superior, I would destroy the abomination, and I would use the new demon to lead me onward. After the Marquis', I didn't bother destroying the old nightmare. My plan would go smoother if the Prince of Nightmares still had a court to hold sway over.

But finally, at around 2 in the morning, a Duke brought me before the Prince. It was this entity that commanded all nightmares. And thus my natural nemesis in the realm of dreams.

"Luna. Luna Luna Luna." It spoke in a deep baritone, actually using Ponish. "You've been causing quite the stir amongst my court Luna. I trust you have a reasonable explanation."

"I have come to make a deal." I still spoke with the authority of the Moon, I was not here to play games.

"A deal?" the Arch Thing replied in surprise. "You? Luna, The Moon's Chosen? How sublime..." it grinned. "You of course know my price, so what is it that you want?"

"We both know my soul is far too valuable to be wasted on trifles." I countered. "And for you, what I ask for is indeed a trifle."

"Oh?" The thing sighed. "Now you pique my curiosity as well as my attention."

"I wish to know fear." I started. "I wish to look at a mortal, and know their deepest fears. I wish to peer not only into, but through the very darkest depths of a soul. That is all I ask."

The demon seemed to ponder this.

"That's... It?" it spoke. "You do not wish for bravery, you do not wish for wealth? You come here, harassing my court, for the most basic of powers my spawn possesses?"

"I do."

"Now come now Luna. Surely there is something else you want, something more to wager your soul for."

"I told you, my soul is far too valuable for this."

"Then what do you propose to offer me?" it asked.

"I offer a fair share of tithing to you." I offered. "For all the fear I inspire, you shall get half in tithe. As if I were one of your Dukes."

The demon did the abstract concept equivalent of stroking one's chin.

"... This is an interesting offer." It admitted. "I do not believe any mortal has offered such a payment before."

"Do you reject my offer?" I asked, far too calmly.

"No!" It exclaimed. "No." it stated, calmer this time. "I know how much fear you leave. I know that you haunt the heart's of the most wicked mortals. This offer is not a small amount, even if by half." It admitted.

"Do you take me for a fool? That I would not come if I did not have something valuable to render payment with?"

"No. You are no fool Luna." It snarled. "You have been a thorn in my side for far too long. And yet... You come here, offering this for Our sight. You have a reason to need this. You have an angle." It seemed to examine a tendril like how a pony would examine a hoof. "The question is, what? What are you not saying? What are you so urgently in need of that you would come to me?"

"Do you reject my offer?" I repeated. "My time and patience are both limited, and you will not be receiving this deal again."

"No. The deal is struck. You will from now, till the end of time tithe half of the fear you inspire to me."

And suddenly my soul felt sick, as if infected with a slow, cold, and slimy toxin. Out of pure instinct, I put a hoof to my barrel, gasping suddenly for breath.

But despite the sudden urge to vomit, I smiled.

"What are you-" the demon growled, its form now opaque and only half there.

"There's only one way for a Harmonic creature such as myself to willingly tithe to a demon." I smirked, an oily blackness settling in the bottom of my heart.

"O- Oh. Ha!" the demon began, its form now disappearing entirely.

"Heh." I smirked grimly. "Surprised?"

Dun dun duuuuun!

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