Celestia turned uneasily in her bed, her body aching and complaining for the medications that Sasha had given her when they had returned from Belzebù's palace. At least her belly was full, since Jaco had decided to prepare a 'get well' feast for the princess as soon as they returned. Needless to say, she had been ready to devour anything the little devil was willing to put in front of her, and so were the other mares, after the day that had passed without eating in the King of Flies' castle.
They had all eaten together in the infirmary, relaxing, for once, as Noxfero evidently tried his best to be a pleasent host, and since he had stabbed his minion with a fork only twice, the alicorn considered his efforts a success. But now, Twilight and her friend had gone to sleep, as well as the archdevil and his minion, leaving her alone in the infirmary.
Well, not actually alone, since Sasha was in the room next to the infirmary. She had actually asked the princess if she wanted any company, but the princess had politely refused, to avoid wasting her time. But now, she was regretting her decision, as she continuously turned under her sheets, uneasy. Her skin ached and where the needles had pierced her wings, the scars were burning.
The mare groaned again, staring at the ceiling. She would like to fall asleep, but...
*creeeak*
Her ears perked up suddenly. Had she just imagined that sound?
Her magenta eyes moved slowly towards the door of the infirmary: the heavy iron door was slightly open, and something was crawling inside: the first one to enter was the tall and faceless humanoid that she had briefly seen when Junior had saved her from Mephisto's palace. The creature slid inside the room without a sound, turning its head around, before moving silently, almost sliding towards the other room, as the alicorn heard a faint sound of static.
She moved the eyes back towards the door, as a new crawling sound reached her ears, like a series of little metallic spikes ticking on the floor. The faceless humanoid made a little motion with his hand, as he started to "stare" into the room where Sasha was supposed to be.
Immediately, from the floor, the little figure of Junior entered into Celestia's field of vision, keeping himself up with his tentacles, his short legs dangling in the air. He moved a hand towards his servant, who nodded and disappeared. Junior turned his face, still hidden in the darkness, towards the alicorn, and slowly, silently, started to move towards her, supported by his tentacles.
Celestia stiffened slightly, as she continued to look at the little devil, as he moved silently nearer and nearer...
"Is there something I can do for you?" she suddenly asked, smiling calmly, and making the little devil emit a low shriek, which he immediately muffled with his hands.
"You are awake?" he hissed, his red eyes widened in the dark. The princess could also see that his cheeks were darkening furiously, like his father's did when he was embarassed. She smiled and nodded, calmly.
"I am. The medications might be useful, but aren't easy on my weak body." she explained calmly, while squinting her eyes in the dark, trying to understand what the devil was doing there.
"I... see..." blurted out Junior, while he started to fidget his hands together, nervously, like a kid caught doing something wrong. Celestia cocked her head slightly at this.
"So, is there something I can help you with?" she asked again, softly. The little devil flinched, moving his eyes away.
"No, I... I mean, there is not a... there isn't anything..." he started, before closing his mouth, his face darker than the darkness in the room itself. Celestia smiled softly, as she started to understand, recognising the symptoms.
"Do you want to keep me company?" she asked gently, moving slightly aside. "I can't sleep anyway."
The little devil stiffened and emitted a confused noise, before slightly sliding towards the Princess's bed, still keeping a certain distance. His eyes continued to avoid the ruler's ones, as Celestia continued to stare curiously at him. As far as she knew, the little creature despised the ponies.
While she was thinking about that, Junior finally lowered himself onto the metallic bedframe, and remained perched there, like a bird, returning to look at the princess, still avoiding her gaze.
"So..." started the Princess, trying to avoid the formation of any awkward silence. "You are Noxfero's child? You really look like him." she said softly, adjusting her head on the pillow. "You also act like him." she added, with a little smile.
"Thanks, I...what?" stuttered the little devil, rocking along the bedframe, slightly. "Really?"
"Yes. You are really his son." continued the alicorn. She studied the little devil with her eyes for a few moments, before asking gently: "How old are you?"
"I'm going to be four in a couple of months." was the proud answer, as the little devil puffed out his chest, making the mare chuckle.
"Four? My, you surely look and sound much more mature than any little foal of that age that I ever saw."
"Well, I am not one of your foals." snapped the little devil angrily, darkening again around the cheeks at the sound of the mare's giggles. "Stop laughing at me!" he hissed, looking away.
"My apologies, it was just a consideration, I didn't mean to offend you." The alicorn said softly, immediately stopping. She continued to study the little devil, thinking: as far as she had seen and heard from Twilight and her friends, the little devil wasn't really nice with the others, barely caring or even speaking with them. She took a breath in, as a twinge of pain hit one of her wings, disappearing immediately. "Do you help your father with his work? When you are not occupied with saving princesses?" she asked jokingly.
"I do what I can." was the answer of the little devil. "My father is... often occupied with other things other than work, so I gladly help him."
"I'm sure he's grateful for that. I heard how lazy he can be." the mare said gently. "Your mother must be really proud of you, helping your father and all."
"I guess..." was the low-toned answer, as Junior frowned, further lowering his eyes. Celestia blinked, before facehoofing: of course that was going to be a sensitive spot, she had seen all the clues to assume so. The fact that Noxfero never mentioned his son before, nor a bride of any sort should have been enough. She bit her lip, and quickly changed the subject, as she saw the little devil skulking lower and lower.
"You know, I still haven't had the chance to thank you." she started softly, catching the attention of the little devil again. "You saved my life and my mind. Something that no one else has done in a long, long time. You saved me from the most pain I had felt in centuries, and I'm greatufll to you, from the depths of my heart." she said gently, bowing her head. "Thank you."
"It had to be done" snarled the little devil. "Otherwise, I would have to put up with your crying and panicking subjects for even longer than I already had to." huffed the little devil.
"They were worried." noted the Princess.
"They were annoying. Loud and obnoxious."
"The situation wasn't easy."
"I never got like that when my father went missing; they didn't have to be so utterly distasteful, keeping dad away from his job and all. You aren't part of this world, your well-being shouldn't be a concern for us." he hissed, starting to fume. Celestia looked at him calmly.
"They are Noxfero's friends." she started. As the little devil rolled his eyes, she continued: "They formed a bond of friendship in the past, and a similar bond cannot be broken. Your father was worried for them, as I'm sure he was worried for me. And sometimes friendship goes beyond laws and rules." she said softly. She pondered for a second, before leaning towards the devil, her horn lighting up with a golden aura, as she took hold of the little devil's body, making him float towards her, with a yelp of surprise.
"Let me go this instant!" he snarled, trying to bare his teeth. But differently from Noxfero, his fangs weren't really menacing. Celestia placed him near her on the bed, before dispersing her magic.
"I understand that you are feeling... maybe jealous of the girls. That Noxfero is showing his affection towards them much more than I have seen him doing with you." she said gently, without moving away her eyes when the little devil glared at her. "And that you are scared that all of this may put your father in peril. But honestly... you shouldn't underestimate him." she finished, smiling. "He can take care of himself. He has what he needs, here." she continued, pressing a hoof gently where the little heart of the devil was supposed to be.
Junior snarled, before jumping off the bed, his tentacles springing out of his back once again, to raise himself into the air, and start to crawl silently towards the door. Celestia rested again on the bed, closing her eyes.
"By the way, thank you for checking on me." she said softly.
The crawling towards the door continued.
"If you want to pass time again and talk a little, I'm here." she added.
A grunt was her only answer. She smiled. He was Noxfero's son alright.
-oOo-
As soon as the fake sun of Hell rose in the sky, marking a new day of suffering and torment for an immense number of souls, Noxfero slipped out of his bed, aided by his shadows, without waking up any of the mares that were still snoring softly under the sheets, still recovering from the past tiring day.
The Archdevil studied them for a second, smiling softly, before slipping out of the room, his raincoat flapping lazily at every step. He walked quickly down the hallway, yawning and scratching his head. He was tired as heck, but after all, he had a lot of work to do. Office work. Because other than plotting against Mephisto and finding a way to send the girls back home, he still had his job to do.
"Morning everyone." he said as he entered the kitchen, stretching his black, leathery wings.
"Good morning master." greeted Sasha, floating a few inches above her seat as she sipped from a cup of warm blood, smiling gently. "Did you sleep well?"
"Of course he did!" chirped Jaco, raising his head from behind the stove, smiling brightly. "If you want something, take it yourself!" he stated, while starting to pile up trays upon trays all covered in food, before picking all of them up, and starting to move towards the door. "Gotta bring these to the Princess."
"Tell her I said hi." called the bigger devil smiling, following the little devil with his eyes, before turning and meeting the stares of the other four servants. "What?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Master..." started Esper, coughing and scratching his nape with his dirty nails. "You see... "
"We are afraid those ponies are messing up your brain." concluded Pumpkinhead, staring with his carved eyes at the Archdevil, while putting some sugar in his cup of sawdust. "Your charted behaviour has changed drastically over the last few days. And that worries us."
"Speak for yourself, scarecrow." hissed Zira, stirring from under the table, holding a sardine in her hand. "I like how you are now, master." she added, smiling. "You smell happier."
"Agreed." added Sasha, staring down her two males colleagues. Esper lowered his eyes, murmuring an apology, but the Scarecrow didn't move his eyes.
"Master..." He started, but the Archdevil stopped him, raising a hand, before moving towards the fridge.
"It's all good guys."
"Master, I'm just afraid they might doing something to your brain..."
"I'm fine Pumpkinhead."
"But your patterns say..."
"I understand!" Noxfero snapped, glaring for a second at his minion, before relaxing slightly. "I'm not being controlled, I'm just..."
"Happier?" suggested Zira from under the table, poking her head out.
"...Yes, a little." admitted the Archdevil. "Listen, I know it goes against what I always told you, but they are friends of mine, ok? I'm happy to have been able to see them again after a year, even if not under the best circumstances."
"See? They were friends. Not mind controlling alien ponies." purred Zira, glancing at the scientist, before morphing into her panther form and trotting out of the door, headed to the gardens. Pumpkinhead shrugged, gulping down his sawdust.
"I was just worried master." he said, before turning. "I'll be in the labs, working on the portal." he stated, before leaving as well. Sasha moved her eyes back to her master, who was now leaning against the wall, sipping his cup of blood.
"So... friends eh?" she asked innocently. Noxfero nodded. "They sure seem to consider you a good friend." she added, carefully. "All of them. And they are all really nice. I don't doubt they are a good influence on you. Especially that pink one." she continued, smiling softly.
Noxfero raised an eyebrow, moving his eyes to the vampire.
"I wonder how strong your bond might be. I mean, as far as I have seen, and with my centuries of experience, I would say that that's more than-" continued Sasha, before stopping when the devil emitted a low growl of warning. "...but of course, I can easly make mistakes." she quickly added, before finishing her blood and morphing hurriedly into a bat, flying away quickly, understanding she had gone too far.
Noxfero snarled at the bat, finishing his cup as well, before glaring at Esper, who was trying everything to pretend he wasn't listening.
"Go to work." ordered the Archdevil, snarling, before turning and starting to wobble towards the office.
-oOo-
Rarity was the first one to wake up, yawning quite unladylikely and stirring slightly, before raising her head and noting that only she and the other girls were in the bed. Noxfero had vanished, as silent as a shadow, letting everypony rest. The unicorn yawned again, before silently sliding down the bed, headed towards the door, before she stopped when a hushed voice called for her.
"Pssst! Rarity!"
She turned, smiling softly towards Pinkie, who was waving a hoof at her.
"Good morning darling." she said quietly, stepping closer. "I'm going to see if there is something edible in the kitchen. Do you want me to check if there is something for you?"
"Can I come with you?" said the pink mare, pouting. "I'm hungry, and I want to see Noxy. He ran away all silently without waking us up!"
"Dear, he did that so we could rest." explained calmly the unicorn with a smile, but all the same she helped: thanks to her magic, the earth pony was able to crawl out of bed without waking up all the other mares. Rarity gave a quick glance at the bandaged legs of the pink mare. She probably still wasn't able to walk on her own, even if she would have tried to. Rarity sighed. "Well, I had to redo my mane anyway..." she thought, before sliding the pink mare onto her back, giving out a little yelp when she let her magic go, feeling for the first time how heavy the pink mare was.
"Thank you Rarity!" happily exclaimed the pink mare, before covering her mouth, giving a worried look at the other mares, all fortunately still asleep.
"Dear, don't mention it." was the answer of the candid mare, as she stumbled out of the room, trying to keep the pink mare on her back.
Pinkie smiled, and nuzzled the unicorn's nape with her muzzle, hugging her from behind, the best way she knew to express gratitude.
"Thank you anyway..." she murmured, before adding something unintelligible, hiding her muzzle in Rarity's mane.
"I'm sorry darling, what?" the unicorn asked politely, while slowly walking down the silent, deserted hall, trying to remember the exact way towards the kitchen. At the end of the day, Noxfero's speeches about the dangers in the castle had turned out to be quite exaggerated, so the mare wasn't too worried about walking alone with Pinkie. But the layout of the castle was certainly confusing, to the point where the real danger was in getting lost.
"I'm confused." said the pink mare finally. Rarity turned her head a little, looking at her friend, giving her an inquisitive look. "I mean..."she started again, before groaning and massaging her own head with a hoof. "It's hard to explain. It's that... I'm feeling happy. All things considered."
"Well, you are Pinkie Pie, after all." chuckled the white unicorn, taking a glance out one of the windows, trying to orient herself.
"Well yeah, I know, but I mean, all things considered. I was happy when the Princess was still locked up buy that red meany-head. And I'm still happy now, even if I have to be carried around and my hoofsies are hurt, and I made everyone worry, and Noxy was scared and all of that... I still feel this sensation of happiness, inside. It's really strange. Like, having butterflies in my tummy. Not that I ate any butterflies." she continued, stopping for a second to take a breath.
"You are happy that after a year, Noxfero is still his same old self. Or at least... the self he became thanks to us... and you." said Rarity softly, giving a glance at the pink mare on her back. "You are happy we were able to meet him again."
"Yes..."
"Pinkie..." started the unicorn. "Can I ask you something?"
"Of course silly!"
"You were much more... close to Noxfero that any of us, back in Ponyville..." started slowly and carefully the unicorn, choosing her words. "I was wondering... is there any chance that he could be..." she continued, before stopping, when her eyes noted something out of the window they were passing by: a little dot was quickly approaching the castle, increasing in size rapidly.
"That he...?"
"That he...uh..." stuttered Rarity, as she squinted her eyes to understand what the thing approaching them was. She just had enough time to try and make out the silhouette of something like a chariot, or a sled, when suddenly there was a flash of light, and the dot accelerated rushing quickly towards the castle.
"What is tha-" started the pink pony, noticing just then the thing coming closer and closer to the castle, when suddenly the object accelerated even more, skipping the remaining distance in half a second, almost hitting the window where the two mares were standing, just to change direction at the last moment, diverting its trajectory, disappearing from their field of view, just an instant before the sound of an explosion and crumbling stones filled the corridors of the castle.
"What was THAT?!"
-oOo-
Noxfero sighed, slowly raising his eyes from the pile of paperwork in front of him, as a few pebbles and dust fell from the ceiling over his head. He raised his eyesn and looked where there had once stood the wall of his office, and was now only an enormous, crumbled and gaping hole leading outside, where the remains of a motorized sled were burning, scattered all around the zone of impact, partially covered by the crumbled obsidian that once had been a wall. From the debris, grunting, the Santa Claus and the gorilla raised their bodies, swearing and yelling at each other.
"I TOLD you to not touch that button!" yelled the red-dressed man, cleaning his chin from the debris, as blood ran from a series of cuts.
"Well, you could have TRIED to be more convincing!" retorted the oversized monkey, shaking himself out to clean his fur, before glaring at the other one.
"This is the last time I let you drive!"
"I drive far better than you, drunken fatman!"
"Oversized chimp!"
"Can you two please stop arguing?" groaned Mark, emerging from the debris, helping himself with his candid wings as he stood up and dusted himself off, apparently the only undamaged one of the trio. He then turned towards Noxfero with a smile and bowed slghtly. "Good morning Nox. Sorry for the... violent arrival but HE..." and pointed to the monkey. "...wanted to PRESS the red button marked 'don't press."
"Heh, what can I do? I am a curious monkey." snickered the gorilla, before walking forward, adjusting his tie.
"What the fuck do you three want?" the devil in annoyance. Of course he wasn't really annoyed, any excuse was good if it ment he got to skip out on his job.
"Just listen to you. You didn't tell us anything, we didn't even know if you were still alive." huffed the gorilla, climbing on a cabinet and sitting up there, scratching his flank. "We were worried."
"Indeed." agreed the angel, floating softly above the ground. Noxfero thanked god that today he was actually wearing something, instead of going around naked. It was just a tunic, but hey, better than nothing. "So, how did it go?"
"Yeah, come on, tell us tell us!" chirped the Santa Claus, sitting on one of the chairs resting in front of the devil's desk. The archdevil sighed, leaning back on his chair, dropping his papers.
"We tied, and returned. End of the story."
"You are boring."
"You are fat."
"Fuck you."
"Aaaaaanyway..." continued the devil, turning towards the others. "That's not all."
"You tease!"
"Will you shut up!?" barked the monkey, grumbling. "Jesus you are annoying."
"I know." admitted the other one with a smirk.
"AS I was saying... as Mark knows..." started Noxfero again, slightly annoyed, while gesturing towards the angel. "Mephisto managed to kidnap the ruler of Equest- that place."
"Ah yes, about that, how..." started the angel, but he was interrupted by the devil.
"Let me finish. Junior rescued her a few days ago, she's safe now."
"Did he really?" asked the gorilla, raising an eyebrow. "He doesn't seem like that kind of guy.
"You never know. Kids are strange." chuckled the Santa Claus, before thinking. "Maybe he'll deserve a present, this year."
"Anyway...something else happened. Since their ruler was captured, acting on instinct, six of them..." continued the archdevil, tensing a little. "Well they...kinda..."
"Noxfero? Is everything all right?" asked the soft voice of Rarity, as the door slowly creaked open, the unicorn carefully peeking inside the room, along with the pink mare with the poofy mane on her back. Noxfero tensed, as Mark raised an eyebrow, while the gorilla's and Santa Claus' mouth opened slightly.
"...yeah, kinda followed me here." finished the devil, standing up. "Is everything ok you two? Is something wrong?"
"Well, you tell us darling, you are the one with a sled parked in your office and a crumbled wall." was the unicorn's polite answer, while her eyes studied the other three humanoids, who were all staring back.
"I know you two." finally said Mark, opening in a smile. "You are the ponies who came to our rescue when we faced Mephisto in the castle."
"They did WHAT?"
"Well of course." exclaimed Pinkie, surprised.
"We were worried for our princess, mister...?" Rarity asked politely, still studying the creatures in front of her. She remembered the red headed creature who had helped Nox against the demon who had captured the princess well enough, but the other two were a complete mystery, even if she remembered that after all, Jaco had said that they weren't alone.
"Kerby!" exclaimed the Santa Claus, nodding to her, while the gorilla stood silent, pondering.
"Hello Kerby! My name is Pinkie Pie!" immediately screamed the pink mare, waving a hoof. "Nice to meet you."
"I assure you, you are not happy to meet him." giggled Noxfero, crossing his arms and leaning back on his chair, grinning at the mare.
"Uh? Why not?" was the confused comment of the mare, as she raised her hooves towards Noxfero. The devil glared at her and sighed, before he stood up and walked towards the two mares, grabbing Pinkie and holding her in his arms, as the unicorn let out a slight sigh of relief.
"Yeah, why not Noxy?" asked the Santa Claus with a fake pout, as the gorilla raised an eyebrow at the devil's actions, while the angel smiled.
"Because..." he started, before stepping in front of Rarity, glaring at the fat man. "You are almost a worse freak than me."
"Hey now!"
"He's right eh." huffed finally the gorilla. "I'm Gil. and the giddy angel over there is Mark."
"You are all Noxy's friends?" asked excitedly the pink mare, making the devil roll his eyes.
"Of course we are!" exclaimed Mark.
"You could say that..." agreed the monkey.
"Noxy?! You hate it when others call you Noxy!" was the only comment of the Santa Claus, before he received a punch in the side from the angel.
"Wooow! We should totally have the others meet you guys!" Pinkie continued happily, waving her hooves around and making it hard for the devil to hold her. "That would be super-duper great! Noxy never told us he had such nice friends!"
"I have an image to protect..." muttered the devil, being completely ignored.
"Well... I guess it's not a problem, after all we don't have anything vital to do..." muttered Mark, scratching his chin. "Also, if my information is correct, Satan isn't in Hell at the moment, so we cannot be caught."
"Well, that's settled then!" cheered Kerby, raising his arms in the air happily. Noxfero groaned, rolling his eyes.
-oOo-
"...and so, he took that teen dragon by the tail and started slamming him all around, especially on the other dragons' head!" chuckled Pinkie, while the other mares, awake now and with a big breakfast placed in front of them by Jaco, giggled at the memory. Noxfero grayed a little, trying to avoid the amused glances of the Santa Claus and Mark, who where politely seated on the floor of the devil's room, leaving the bed for the mares. Gil had placed himself on the wardrobe, looking down seriously, studying the situation.
"You really did all of that to save them?" finally asked the Santa Claus in disbelief, while casually taking a croissant out of his hat, offering it to Jaco, who was sitting next to him.
"Well... I..."
"Of course he did!" exclaimed the pink mare, nuzzling the devil's chest, causing another wave of gray on his face.
"At the time, Noxfero had regained all of his powers. Just in time, I should add." giggled Twilight, raising a cup to take a sip of tea.
"He really wasn't a douche?" asked the angel politely, still looking amusedly at the devil as he tried to stop Pinkie's cuddles.
"Well, he was kinda a blockhead when we first met." admitted Rainbow, scratching her head. "He kinda raided our town and ate everything."
"That was funny. Especially at the end when Rarity smashed a sewing machine over his head!" giggled Jaco, gulping down his croissant, before promptly receiving another one from the Santa Claus.
"I'm not proud of that." admitted the mare, giving an apologetic glance at the devil. "I was scared you were going to hurt Sweetie..."
"I know, I know..." huffed Noxfero, rolling his eyes. "I know. Just... can't we leave all these things in the past?"
"Absolutely not, this is far too entertaining. This is going to add to the list of things I can use to blackmail you." was the Santa's answer, before turning towards the mares. "Come on, come on, another one!"
"Aw, Ah reckon that's not fair, partner." chuckled Applejack, adjusting her hat. "Ah think it's your turn to tell us somethin' 'bout our friend here."
"Since when is what I did in the past something interesting?"
"Since now. Now shut it!" ordered Kerby, before scratching his chin, and then turning towards the others. "What's a good story?"
"Mh... Maybe when he tried to make a commercial for Hell?" suggested Gil, grabbing the banana that the Santa Claus was offering him.
"Or maybe when he tried to sneak up into Heaven to steal a new computer?" added Mark, smiling at the thought, while slightly approaching Noxfero and Pinkie, raising his hands with a questioning face. Noxfero nodded slightly, as the angel lowered his hands on the bandaged hooves of the mare, and his light started to shine, healing the wounds beneath.
"Or maybe when he had his domain stolen by a mustached frog! Yeah, that should be a good one." finally decided Kerby, smiling.
"Those mustaches were sooo cooool..." said Jaco in a dreamy tone.
"They sure were. Anyway, there was this time when..."
"Aw, no need to tell that." said Pinkie, while giggling, feeling her hooves tingling and her wounds slowly disappearing, as the light of the cherub fixed her. "Noxfero told me those already." she said, smiling.
"He did?... Well then..." mumbled Kerby. "How about that time he received a box full of-"
"Already heard that."
"Uh... then the time when..."
"That too."
"Then when..."
"Saaaaame." chirped the mare, giggling as the angel took away his hands and the light faded away. Kerby finally shut up, dumbfounded. "Awww, don't make that face. It's just that we talked a lot, when we worked in the bakery together."
"Oh you did, did you uh...?" grumbled the Santa Claus, crossing his arms and glaring at the devil.
"Well they worked together a lot, I think it's normal for them to share..." said Twilight "After all, they passed a year working together."
"In a bakery." added Pinkie, smiling. Kerby narrowed his eyes at the uncomfortable devil, and the mare in his arms, who was giggling and smiling.
"So he told you a lot of things eh?" he asked, his eyes on the mare. "Now, did he tell you his favourite color?"
"Black of course." was the giggling answer.
"Favourite animal?" was the next question, as the Santa Claus leaned forward.
"Cats. You know, Fluttershy tried to make him adopt one but after meeting Opal... Oh, do you know who Opal is? She's Rarity's cat, and..."
"His favourite number?" continued the Santa Claus, shutting up the mare. Pinkie narrowed her eyes as well, leaning towards him, frowning.
"Eight. Because it's fatty."
"Favourite music?!"
"Boring classical stuff!"
"Favourite food?"
"Everything unhealty!"
"Favourite pasttime?!"
"Beating down Jaco!"
Santa's and Pinkie's nose were pressed against each other's, glaring angrily at each other, all while the other mares followed the scene worriedly, as well as the angel, while Gil looked mildly interested and Noxfero was trying to ignore everything that was going on, and Jaco was still tring to take out other croissants from Santa's magical pockets.
"FAVOURITE SEASON!" screamed the red fatman, starting to tremble in rage, darting up, imitated by the pony.
"FALL!"
"SEA OR MOUNTAIN?!"
"HE PREFERS TO STAY HOME IN FRONT OF THE COMPUTER, WHATEVER THAT IS, WHEN HE'S NOT DOING HIS JOB!" screamed the mare, huffing from her nose, her mane puffy and sparkling, her eyes reduced to a couple of slits. Kerby closed his mouth, feeling cornered. He didn't expect to find someone that actually knew all this litle details about his devilish companion.
Well, there was one thing...
"How did he die?" he asked calmly. Immediately Gil, Mark and Jaco tensed, their eyes suddenly worried, and pointed on the devil. Pinkie tensed as well, as she felt Nox's nails digging in her coat, as the devil stiffened. She remembered the night he had told her ,and also, the promise she made.
"I... I don't know." she said slowly, lowering her eyes and her ears. "He never told me."
"Yes! I knew that! Ah-ha, we are still the bestest of friends!" exclaimed the Santa Claus, every trace of anger disappearing from his now jolly face, as he took out a lollipop from his pocket and handed it to the mare. "Come on, don't take it personally. I'm sure he likes you anyway!" he exclaimed happily, before turning towards the others, giving a thumbs up, as they relaxed.
Pinkie didn't answer, just smiled softly as the devil gently scratched her nape, in a silent thanks.