A few hours before the sunrise.

Arantir was far away from the city of Canterlot. He was flying to the dangerous and mysterious Everfree Forest. His goddess, Asha, told him to go there. Without hesitation he obeyed, and within a few minutes, he was already flying there on his wings, gliding through the night's cool air.

The sensation of flight wasn't unfamiliar to him; he had a time once when he carried the artifact "Wings of Angels". But those were not his own wings, the feeling was too unnatural. There are no winged humans on Ashan except angels, and those are servants of Elrath, the Dragon of Light.

But after Arantir's arrival to the land of ponies, he learned to love the flight. His new wings felt natural to him, he felt like he could travel anywhere with them.

Soon, he landed in the clearing somewhere in the Everfree Forest. The trees surrounding it were covered in a spider web, many cocoons of varying sizes hanging there on it. An eerie, slightly green mist surrounded the clearing. A big spider appeared from behind the trees and crawled to the necromancer.

"You have come here, at last." the spider spoke. "Asha speaks proudly of you, High Lord Arantir. Welcome to our small temple in the name of her here, in Equestria."

"Hello to you, Asha's servant." Arantir replied with a slight bow. "For what purpose am I here?"

"I speak her words, Arantir. Let me answer you." the spider replied. "We are her followers, we represent Asha here. She gives us orders, and we obey them without question.

"Our creator has already spoken to you, we know. And I need to give you a sacred weapon of those who are imprisoned. Take it to Andromalius, for he is the one in need of this, to free those who created the weapon."

Two smaller spiders came out, carrying a strange weapon:

"We have been keeping it for a very long time. And now, this weapon must be taken to the demon. Now, demons are not the bringers of chaos; someone other is. A great war will come, and you shall partake in it as well."

"You speak of war, spider. Who will I fight against? Who is my ally, if any?" Arantir asked. He walked to the two spider and touched the weapon with his right hoof. The weapon glowed red, then flew to Arantir and attached itself to the belt on Arantir's side.

"There are those who want to control both chaos and order." the spider replied. "They cannot directly appear in this world, but they are influencing it. But when the final battle will come, they will appear and clash with us. As for the ally... You have one. In fact, you know him."

"Is he Andromalius?" Arantir wondered. "How will this young demon help me? How can he be so important? He doesn't even have an army."

"He is not what you think. He is... much more." the spider cryptically replied. "You shall find out in time."

"Many questions are left unanswered..." Arantir frowned. "However, Asha knows what is best."

"Asha uses all, High Lord Arantir." the spider nodded. "Now, go."

Morning.

Andromalius woke up, blinking groggily. Clearing the blur of sleep, he saw eyes of Inanna, looking at him. She was lying on top of him.

"Good morning." she greeted him, smiling. "Had a good sleep?"

"Yes, I did." Andromalius replied, smiling in return. "You?"

"I was mostly admiring your handsomeness," Inanna winked. "It's not every day you see a stallion of such a fine figure, you know."

"Huh." Andromalius chuckled.

"And why do you always wear the amulet?" Inanna pointed at the Alicorn Amulet that was locked around the hell stallion's neck. "Isn't it uncomfortable during sleep?"

"Hm, I just don't really feel it being here." he touched the amulet with his hoof. "Perhaps it makes itself unnoticeable. I don't know why hasn't Celestia nor Luna asked me about it yet. Well, I think this invisibility is pretty useful." he yawned. "And what are you going to do now? You haven't disappeared yet."

"Well, I hope I'll be able to visit the gardens here." Inanna nuzzled the hell stallion's chest. "But, well, my appearance is a little unusual, and that is an understatement. And I doubt Arantir would like to see any more demons here.
And I don't really want to go back to Hell. The smell here is much nicer than there. And the scenery is not just shades of black and red!

"There are so many colors, so many scents that I feel!" she closed her eyes, smiling. "I doubt I can describe it in words... All of this is just wonderful! I hear sounds of animals, I feel the warmth of the sun, I see the blue sky! It just... I can't even describe how good it is! I have been living for a hundred years, and not even once I've been here before."

"I don't think I can feel what you feel, but nature is beautiful, I told you that some time ago." Andromalius replied with a smile. "Now, here's a good proof, isn't it?"

"Of course." Inanna kissed his horn. "Well, how do you feel about some fun in the morning?"

"You're so eager to do it even after the fun we had yesterday evening?" Andromalius chuckled.

"I am always eager." the succubus giggled.

"Well, then I will tease you some time." the hell stallion replied with a grin. "I always wanted to ask you a few questions..."

"Let's get it over with so we get to action."

"So, the first one — how do succubi and incubi deal with gays or lesbians? Well, if they exist at all." Andromalius asked.

"A rather strange questions..." Inanna scratched her chin. "Well, the lust of a gay stallion is poisonous to incubi, and lust of a lesbian mare is poisonous to succubi. It's really simple, see. So, gays and lesbians are off-limit to us. That does mean that all incubi and succubi are straight. Well, we were made like that."

"But what if a succubus has to please a mare to get a stallion more aroused, if aroused at all?" the hell stallion wondered.

"There's no problem with that." Inanna shrugged." I tell you what, most mares prefer both stallions and mares, and that doesn't mean they're lesbian of sorts. Mares love stallions, stallions love mares, it's been like that for eternity. But that doesn't mean that they don't like experimenting in bed. It is largely common for a stallion to bed two or more mares, and visa versa. Mostly the nobility is doing that 'only one stallion and one mare, we are above lust, blah blah blah' horseshit. They are more perverted than they try to be anyway." she chuckled. "Anyway...

"So, it makes no difference if you have two mares in bed, or have a friend that helps you to please your mare, or you make sweet love to just one."

"And what about incest?"

"It is acceptable between a brother and a sister, and only like that. Most of times they have sex only because there is no other choice to get satisfied. So, it's all about pleasure, not love."

"There is more freedom of sex here than in my home world. I don't know whether I should be disgusted or happy." Andromalius replied.

"Being happy is healthier." Inanna chuckled. "So, any more questions?"

"Nope."

"So, shut up and take me!"

Suddenly, a knock sounded from the door.

"Ugh..." Inanna groaned, facehoofing. "I hate it when this happens..."

"I will hide you." Andromalius made her invisible with his spell. Then, he walked to the door and opened it.

"Mister Andromalius, princess Celestia requires you at the throne room." a guard that was behind the door told the demon.

After Andromalius told Inanna to stay in their room, he headed to the throne room. He almost noticed a sigh coming from inside his wardrobe.

Guards that were posted along the hall didn't acknowledge his presence in any way, keeping doing whatever duty they did.

Finally, Andromalius reached the throne room. The two guards that were guarding it opened it for him, letting him enter. On one of the thrones, princess Celestia was sitting, waiting patiently.

"Hello, Andromalius." she greeted him warmly. "Did you have a good sleep?"

"Yes, I did." he nodded. "Thanks for letting me stay at the castle for some time. But why did you call me? Certainly not for asking a simple questin, right?"

"Of course." Celestia nodded. "Well, I wanted to ask you... Can you teach battle magic?"

"...That was out of the blue." Andromalius raised his brow. "Whom will I teach? I guess it is rather important."

"Yes, it is. I need you to teach my student battle magic." Celestia frowned. "While I shouldn't approve this, knowledge, even such as this, must be shared. I want my student to be ready to defend herself and her friends and family if a need arises. She has a very big magical potential, and she has few ways to use it."

"Whom are you speaking of?" Andromalius asked.

"Does the name Twilight Sparkle tell you anything?"

Andromalius remembered the night when he sneaked into Celestia's room. He knew of Twilight Sparkle from the princess's jurnal.

"No," he lied. "But let me guess — is she a unicorn with lavender fur, dark-blue mane with streaks of pink and darker pink?"

"You are correct, but how did you guess?" Celestia wondered.

"Her cutie mark looks like a sparkle. Her colors are that of twilight. So, my guess is pretty much obvious." Andromalius replied. "But is she not afraid of me? Does she know I'm more than a beast?"

"Well," Celestia nervously cleared her throat. "I've already told her about you. She and her friends, in fact, helped me to fight my fears. Because of them, I've gone after you."

"So, how would they react to me when they see me?" the hell stallion asked.

"Most will just be wary, some more than others, and one of the six will surely be very scared." Celestia answered. "So, will you teach my student? I won't hold you if you don't want to."

"I think I will." Andromalius made his decision. "After all, this action will help me to get on better terms with the six. I don't want others to think of me like I am evil."

"I am glad you accepted." Celestia smiled. "Well, then I go call Twilight. Until then, I want to talk to you about one more thing... But that is after I send the letter."

A few minutes later.

Andromalius and Celestia were in her private office, sitting on a couch. The princess was having tea, and Andromalius was waiting for her to ask him another question. His helmet was taken off, lying on a nearby table. The hell stallion hasn't used his hellfire on his body for some time, so some black fur grew on parts of his body that were not covered by armor-like bone excrescences. A mane that was colored fiery-red grew on his head, and at that moment was about a centimeter long.

"You have changed a bit, I've noticed." Celestia spoke. "You now look more like a pony with fur that grows on your body."

"I doubt I would ever look like one, mostly because of this,—" he tapped on his horn. "—and this." he tapped on his armor-like bony exoskeleton. "Not even taking that into account." he moved his long, dark-red tail.

"Well, that is true, but don't think about that like it's bad." Celestia sipped her tea. "Your appearance is more unusual than terrifying. I was told that some maidmares in my castle find you... appealing." she chuckled softly. "By no means you are ugly, that is true."

"I told you mares like you." Inanna spoke inside the hell stallion's head.

"I think I forgot to turn off my horse-SWAG. I'm covered in mares." Andromalius chuckled.

"Ironically," Celestia continued. "Maidmares don't like my guards much. They say that these stallions are, well, married to their job."

"The guys in the military from my world can be like that, too." Andromalius nodded.

"So, that thing is interdimensional." Celestia laughed a little. "So, now to the point of our meeting here... I want you to tell me about Arantir. It seems you know him rather well."

"Are you afraid of him?" the hell stallion asked straightforward.

"Honestly, yes." Celestia sighed. "He is powerful, and he is a necromancer. I've known a few of them in the past, and none was friendly. I'm unsure of this High Lord..."

"I understand." Andromalius nodded. "But he isn't evil. He is a servant of a greater force, Asha. She created the world Arantir lives in, and his duty is to make sure that her creation won't succumb to the darkness of chaos of her brother.

"Yes, Arantir's methods are questionable in certain ways, but it is for the greater good. Would you exchange a thousand of lives for the peace and order? If you wouldn't, the whole world will die."

"I... I think I would do that, but such action will haunt me for the rest of my life." Celestia whispered. "I am... I don't want to make decisions of such kind... I am afraid I will be too scared to do anything."

"Arantir will do anything to save the whole world without hesitation. He is cold and merciless if anyone stays in his way, but that is understandable. You are much different, Celestia." Andromalius put a hoof on her shoulder. "I know you can't accept his way of thinking. But he wishes no harm. But I advise you — don't cross his way. He is guided by the Goddess of Order, and she knows everything far better than any living or unliving creature here, in my own world, or in Ashan."

"But what if he wants to become a ruler of Equestria, to ensure order?" Celestia asked.

"He doesn't want to rule everything and everyone. With an army as big as his, he can take over the whole world. Every killed soldier becomes one of his. But he doesn't want total domination, he doesn't want wealth or respect. He doesn't need money for anything, for the undead doesn't need anything that can be bought."

"Will he kill me if I do something wrong? Will he kill me if I did that not on purpose, accidentally?"

"He can reason." Andromalius answered. "But if you won't reason, he most certainly will destroy you."

"I... I don't know how must I feel about this." Celestia admitted.

"Take your time." the hell stallion replied. "Don't make rash decisions."

"I've learned they are rarely good ones, I know." Celestia chuckled lightly. "I still can't forget the fear I had when I... Well... You know."

Andromalius nodded. He knew what happened between him and the princess in the past.

"What happened cannot be changed, but you can always fix your mistakes or at least try not to make new. Every mistake we realize is a lesson."

Suddenly, someone knocked at the door.

"Enter." Celestia spoke.

A guard entered the office, a stern expression on his face.

"Your highness, High Lord Arantir has returned to the castle. He brought a weapon with himself: cross-shaped, completely made of metal, roughly two meters long, the main blade about fifty centimeters, two lesser blades that are perpendicular to the main one are roughly thirty centimeters, a hoop that connects all three blades and a handle. There are also two red inscriptions: one on the main blade and one on the handle. Potentia Daemonis and Flammis Acribus Addictis correspondingly." the guard reported pretty fast, explaining all the details, not skipping a beat.

"That is exactly a long-lost weapon of equinaur!" Inanna spoke inside Andromalius's head.

"You've told me that it's a sword." Andromalius replied.

"Perhaps my information wasn't accurate, but it must be it! The inscription on the blade is the name of the weapon. It is translated to modern language as "Demonic Force". The second inscription is rather ironical, for it says "Sentenced to acrid flames", and that is the fate of those who fight against demons. However, it became our fate as well."

"I know no weapon of such kind. Does it have any magic, dangerous or otherwise?" Celestia asked for further information.

"The unicorn specialists have discovered weak traces of magic. It is not dangerous, though." the guard replied.

"And what did Arantir say about the weapon?"

"He told that the weapon belongs to Andromalius."

Silence fell. Slowly and fearfully, Celestia turned to the demon. He sat still, proceeding everything that was said. And he felt fear from the princess, as well as interest.

"Dismissed." Celestia said to the guard. He bowed and exited the room. "What game are you playing, Andromalius?" the princess asked the hell stallion with a strained voice.

"It is time to reveal my secrets, I guess." he sighed.

Half an hour later.

Andromalius explained everything to princess Celestia, he told her everything about himself, his destiny, and the demons. He also told her of the amulet he was wearing. The first reaction he got was her jumping and yelling to get that cursed item away from her. However, she calmed down when he took it off and explained everything about the amulet's curse and how it works.

"And you knew everything about that since you appeared here?" Celestia asked.

"I've got more information since then." Andromalius replied. "And I am one hundred percent sure that the demons won't try to do anything evil."

"You've never met any of them, how do you know?"

"Well... I've met one already." he nervously shifted in place. "In fact, she's in this castle."

"Who?" her brows rose in surprise.

"A succubus named Inanna."

"A succubus..." Celestia said, frowning. "Hm... Succubi are known that they suck out life from their victims in exchange for pleasure."

"They do suck something, but it is certainly not life." Andromalius chuckled.

"What do you?... Oh..." Celestia's cheeks reddened. "Oh... And you've... Well... You know..."

"I know, and the answer is yes." the hell stallion replied. "What I don't understand is why you are so shy about that. May I ask why?"

"Um... I am not comfortable with answering..." Celestia blushed harder.

"I won't force you if you aren't ready, alright."

"Okay, let's speak about something else..." she cleared her throat. "So, what are you going to do now? It seems that your task is something that you must complete to fulfill your destiny."

"You won't join me this time?"

"I'm afraid I can't." she shook her head. "Grand Galloping Gala is coming, and I am required here to prepare everything needed, as well as to partake in this event."

"What is it?"

"Grand Galloping Gala is an event that is hosted at the Castle once a year; it is a meeting of all important persons in Equestria, sometimes even from outside the borders.

"And I wondered if I could ask you to stay for the event. It would be better for your image if you partake. Ponies will get to know you better, so no misunderstandings will be made in the future. As you told me, you are a future ruler of another nation that is long-gone. And a ruler needs to be recognized by others not as something evil."

"I... I am unsure of how I feel about that." Andromalius replied nervously.

"Well, with a right suit and without your helmet, you would look rather good and not threatening." Celestia replied. "And what about the succubus?"

"You want her to partake in the event as well?" the hell stallion raised his brows.

"It is recommended that every person takes someone with themselves." the alicorn replied. "Seeing that you already have a... partner, you are more than ready."

"I think I should take some time to think about that. Now, I need to meet Arantir."

Andromalius and Arantir were in the former's room. The weapon that the necromancer has brought lied on the bed. Carefully, the hell stallion examined it.

"That is certainly something..." he said. "Arantir, how did you acquire it?"

"This weapon had been stored by the servants of Asha." the necromancer replied. "I don't know how long, nor do I want to know. What matters is that this weapon is now serving you. And while I don't know what part in the future of this world you take, I will not try to stop you. Asha sees what you will become, and she knows better than me what I must do." he looked into the fiery eyes of Andromalius. "Don't let her trust in you be wrong."

Author's Notes:

Don't worry, the end of the story isn't near. However, when it comes, the sequel will be made. And I have some rather exciting news for you. I will not just do arts for the story and its sequel, the music will also be done for special occasions. I am no musician, but I will try my best.

Well, here's ponified vampire: