I trotted through the corridors of what passed for a "grand" building in the minotaur city, wishing that this meeting was already over. In truth, I had problems of my own to contend with. Byck and Zangara were growing restless with talks of war, and there were even whispers that the elections for the new Duke Fromme might be finalizing, despite my efforts to stall them as long as I could. I hoped the new one was as weak as possible. It would be nice to have a puppet duke under my control to help keep the other two in check. My stunt with Antares bought me some more control, but not nearly enough. I needed more if Kathyrine was going to have a secure position after my passing.

I reached the doorway at the end of the hall guarded by six heavily armored minotaurs, who tensed up when they saw me stop in front of them. I quietly scoffed and rolled my eyes. It's not like I of all griffins was going to assassinate Purgle here in Schunie. That would be massively counter-productive.

"I'm here for my scheduled meeting with King Purgle," I said, looking down at them to the best of my abilities, given the height difference. "Stand aside, if you please."

The minotaurs exchanged glances, but one of them ultimately nodded and opened the door for me and my four bodyguards to enter the throne room.

Purgle sat smugly on his throne, as per usual. I didn't expect him to stand up and greet me. He had no respect for visiting dignitaries, and I foresaw it getting him in a lot of trouble someday. The minotaur had strength and charisma, there was no doubt about that, but could he play the political game? Not a chance. Subtlety was not his strong suit, and he refused to listen to anyone who did have talents in that regard.

I stopped in front of the throne and inclined my head in a small bow. "King Purgle. I am pleased to see you again." I nodded to the minotaur standing at his right. "And the same applies to you, High General Bludworth. We have much to discuss."

"Yes, we do," Purgle agreed, leaning back on his throne. I inwardly scoffed. No poise at all. "The Equestrians are in a period of unrest, something I find interesting. You've heard, I have no doubt, that it was some Las Pegasopolan businessponies who orchestrated her assassination?"

I grunted and nodded. "Of course. I doubt there's a single being on the planet who hasn't heard that. It's been in every newspaper I've seen for the past two weeks."

"Funny, though, how they used griffin raiders who were incarcerated in your prisons, Aepnet. I have always found that curious." Purgle raised an eyebrow. "You wanted Antares gone for throwing you in one of her prisons?"

"I see no reasons to do things like that; my pride is not so easily bruised," I said with a scowl. "I cannot control everything that goes on in my country. I did not think the raiders would be a problem, and I underestimated the power and numbers of some of the Equestrian spies in my country. I assure you we have found and executed many of them."

"Or you went on a changeling hunt," Purgle said with a shrug. "Dangerous, given Antares' mood, don't you think? Word on the street is that not even Celestia and Luna can control her thirst for vengeance. I pity what would happen to you if she found out that you executed innocent ponies and you didn't have me supporting you when she called for war. She may do that soon if she feels threatened enough. Even with three alpha alicorns ruling Equestria, you need more than that to win a battle, and their military is severely weakened, particularly with their main weapons supplier down. Antares knows this, so she will begin building up her military like mad." A fire flared up in Purgle's eyes, one that I didn't really care for. "This is the perfect time to strike! We have every justification to feel threatened now!"

"No, it isn't," I growled. "You heard what Celestia and Luna did to Sinosis' army once they reached the battlefield. The battle was over in minutes. Any invading army would need ranged Nightmare Weapons to have a chance, and Cadance's Blade Wings have found and destroyed three since the assassination attempt, even with anyone who has one going underground. Some beings are straight-up surrendering anything that even looks like it could be a Nightmare Weapon. That's how they found one of them."

"The pony princess cannot be everywhere at once!" Purgle pointed out. He made a slight hand motion, and Bludworth set out a small table and a map of Equestria. He pointed to Manehattan and Vanhoover. "I attack Vanhoover and you attack Manehattan. The Equestrian army is stretched too thin to defend both fronts at once, even if they called for reinforcements from the Crystal Empire, whose military is a complete joke."

"And what of Mesud and the Saddle Arabian army?" I snarled. "It would be weeks, if that, before I'd be the one fighting a two front war! This is ignoring the fact that Antares might begin creating some of her human weapons!" I sorted and shook my head. "Your best bet at invading Equestria was hoping that Antares died from her wounds and provoking Celestia and Luna then. She didn't, and now she's stronger and more paranoid than ever. Celestia likely told Antares not to create her weapons, but now that Celestia does not hold Antares' leash anymore, I have my doubts that Antares will not begin production the second she sniffs an invasion, despite Celestia's wishes." I closed my eyes and sighed. "No, King Purgle. I will do all I can to support minotaur unification with you as king, but invading Equestria would bring nothing."

"Except Celestia, Luna, and Antares to their knees! Can you not see that, Aepnet?" Purgle growled. “It matters not how strong they are if their cities burn. If we take Vanhoover and Manehattan, we can take the Unicorn Range and Fillydelphia. If we take them, we can take Baltimare and Ponyville. From there it's a short trip to taking Canterlot. Once Canterlot falls, the rest of Equestria falls as well." Purgle snorted. "Not that Celestia will let it get that far. Seeing Vanhoover, Manehattan and Fillydelphia destroyed will cause her to sue for peace."

"No, it will not!" I screeched. "It will cause her to allow Antares to create her weapons, and she will call upon Mesud to sack Iselin, which you and I both know full well he can easily do if I am fighting a two front war! Make no mistake, Purgle, if Griffonia is invaded, I will pull every last one of my soldiers out of Equestria, leaving you alone to get the princesses to surrender. Besides that, I have my doubts that Equestria can even be invaded successfully at all! Vanhoover? Manehattan? They’re tourist cities with absolutely no military importance whatsoever. Canterlot, the city of most importance, is smack dab in the middle of the country, right next to Ponyville, the other tactically important place because the Elements of Harmony live there and the Everfree Forest is on its doorstep. How are you going to get there without suffering massive casualties, and how would you hold those cities?

“I think that you are also forgetting Cloudsdale. Half of Las Pegasus is a den for whorses, drunkards, and gamblers, and the other half’s allegiance is suspect, but can you tell me your plan to attack a cloud city? I know I can’t help you. I’m fighting Antares in the east, remember? I can’t spare the troops, particularly when I know that Mesud will charge my borders any day. The Equestrian air force would decimate you before you even saw the spirals of Celestia’s castle, or the trees of the Everfree Forest."

"We'll call upon the Diamond Dogs, then,” Purgle said, slamming his hand on the armrest of his throne. “Equestria is full of riches, and there are hundreds of small colonies already inside of Equestria. We could use them as a saboteur and espionage force, on top of a military one."

I rolled my eyes at that. "The Diamond Dog kings are even less united than you are. Your culture is a military one, so I fail to see why you'd ally yourself with groups prone to more infighting than newborn chicks begging to be fed first." I narrowed my eyes at him. "You're warmongering. You're so desperate to prove your right to the minotaur throne that you're going to use any excuse that you can to go to war with Equestria, a nation whom I know has no desire to go to war with you. If you attack Vanhoover, you will lose within weeks. You may sack the city, but I assure you that the next one to fall will be Schunie. Then what will your crown mean? Given Antares' current temperament, I'm sure your crown would look very nice on your head when it's impaled on a spike outside of your burning city."

"Indeed? Because from what I've heard, Antares has calmed down considerably. We haven't seen the Las Pegasopolan conspirators drawn and quartered in public yet, have we? The arrest wasn't even violent. Antares was completely calm. Much more like her usual self."

"That's because they're her ponies, not foreigners gearing for war!" I snapped. "I shudder to think of what she'd do to you, to me, if she went to war with us."

"Her army is weakened!" Purgle said with a scoff. "And it was not raised in the crucible of battle as my soldiers were. A head-to-head battle between my army and theirs would result in a resounding victory for me."

"As if Antares or Celestia would let it get to that point. They know that pound-for-pound your army is stronger. They have better tactical sense than that."

"But Antares is young yet, and she is the one that I place my chips on being the most dominant of the three." Purgle snorted and crossed his arms. "I'll bet she's even mounting one or both of the other ones."

"Don't be silly. That's tabloid rumor and you shouldn't put stake in it. Antares might have a fiery temper when provoked, but all of my sources say that she has mellowed considerably now that she has found her attackers. Don’t provoke her. Invading Equestria would be a terrible idea and you know it!" I sighed and ran a claw through my head feathers. "Now look, in the event that Equestria invades your country I will, of course, come to your aid as I promised. Mesud would have no justifiable reason to attack me for honoring a treaty when Equestria themselves were the aggressors, and if nothing else I could probably hold off him invading long enough to make a difference. But I will not aid and abet warmongering, particularly against Equestria when Antares is such a big question mark. I have my own subjects to think about, not to mention a daughter who is nowhere near ready to take the throne in the event of my death."

“We could try more assassinations. Cadance, Shining Armor, the Elements. Cadance is mortal, after all”

“Only if you want Celestia and Luna to become angrier than even Antares is capable of coming. Believe me, Cadance and the Elements of Harmony are untouchable if you want to handle this with some modicum of strategy.” I shook my head. “Which you clearly are not. You haven’t truly thought this through in the slightest. You’re provoking war with Equestria, and for what? To prove that you’re the rightful king?”

“No, to prove to my new nation that we have nothing to fear from them, and to prove to Celestia, Luna, and Antares that their aggression will not be tolerated.”

I clicked my tongue. “If that’s how you want to justify it to yourself, then I suppose I cannot stop you. As for me, though, I’m not going to be on the wrong side of a slaughter.”

Purgle's face hardened into a glare, and I could see him tighten his grip on his spear. "So you're backing out of our treaty? You're not going to war with Equestria with me if I go?"

"I didn't say that," I said, shaking my head. "I'm saying that I have my own country to think about, and you had better have a very good reason for provoking the pony princesses. I'm not leading my soldiers into a massacre, and you shouldn't either."

"You are a coward, Aepnet. There is honor in dying in battle to protect your country, the likes of which you cannot understand."

"And you are a madman, Purgle. There are benefits to surviving that I can see you cannot understand. I like to think myself a pragmatist sometimes. Invading Equestria at this stage with no Nightmare Weapons and Mesud on my eastern border would be the worst thing for the both of us."

"So that's it, then. I think you've made your position clear."

I gave him a single nod. "I suppose so. Equestria is in shambles, but a weakened Equestria is still very strong, particularly with the wild card that is Antares."

"Very well." Purgle pointed to the door with his spear. "Then get out. If you wish to go to war at my side when Equestria does something worthy of it, I'll hold you to it."

"If they do, then I'll go to war with you, but I doubt it."

With that, I turned around and walked out of the room, wondering just how I'd gotten involved with this madman in the first place, and what it might cost me if he took it too far.

Author's Notes:

Once again, you can donate to my marriage fund for some cool stuff!