Andromalius was walking down the hall to his room when he saw both princesses. He needed to tell them an important thing.

"I'm leaving today." he told them, and they stopped. "I must get things done."

"Good luck, son." Luna nodded, and continued walking.

"I have something to tell you." Celestia replied. "After today's court. It's important."

"I'll wait." the hell stallion nodded. "Until then."

***

Andromalius rested in his room along with Inanna. Both of them were on the bed.

"So..." Inanna spoke. "We're leaving?"

"You and I, yes." he nodded. "I must find the last artifact."

"And what about Natura Stella?" the succubus asked.

"She has her own life." Andromalius replied. "And she isn't ready to fight. I don't want to endanger her life." he frowned. "Especially considering that Sombra is somewhere out there. I don't know what he can do."

"It's two of us, then." Inanna nodded. "So... do you have any plan?"

"It's hard to plan when it's unknown what waits for us. However, our starting point is the city of Hornguard." he laid out his plan. "Then, we'll move northwards. If you're right, the capitol of Demon Alliance is somewhere there. I have a feeling we'll find something there... It also may be very dangerous."

"Yep, Regnum must be somewhere there if it wasn't destroyed." Inanna nodded.

"Is there anything special about the city?" Andromalius asked.

"As far as I know, it was in the mountains. The mountains stood near the ocean shore."

"I guess that is enough." the hell stallion nodded. "I'll talk to Celestia later today, and then we move out."

***

An hour later.

Andromalius heard that the door to his room was knocked at.

"Enter." he said, and Celestia entered.

"I want to talk to you." Celestia said, taking a seat. "I know that something important is going to happen once you complete your quest, and I have something that will greatly help you."

"What is it?" Andromalius asked, interested.

"The Elements of Harmony and their bearers." the alicorn replied.

"..." Andromalius narrowed his eyes. "You want to send these six mares with me? Don't get me wrong, but that is absolutely insane."

"They know how to take care of themselves, not to mention that they have the most powerful artifacts known to ponydom."

"And you say they'll endure biting frost, Sombra, and whatever else dangerous waits for me there? I cannot accept what you offer, aunt."

"Sombra was defeated by me and Luna. We wielded the Elements, and they imprisoned him in the Frozen North for many centuries."

"Still, the mares aren't ready." he shook his head. "And what about their families? What will you say to them if any of their daughters die?"

"I... I have a feeling the bearers will succeed." Celestia replied. "Besides, you've proven you can resurrect."

"If you really want that..." Andromalius frowned. "They may go with me. But under one condition — if there is a threat I'm not likely to defeat, I'll teleport them back straight to you. I'll also try to train some of them battle magic." he sighed. "But if something worse happens to them... You'll be to blame."

"I understand." Celestia nodded. "But I've learned that the six can learn from their own mistakes. Also, they've already overcome many things."

"It's better be truth." the hell stallion replied. "So, where will I meet them?"

"An hour later here. They'll go straight to you." Celestia stood up. "Good luck, Andromalius. You'll need it."

An hour later.

Twilight Sparkle and her friends walked through the Canterlot Castle to Andromalius' room. All of them had saddlebags with many necessary things: warm clothes, magically preserved food and water, warm sleeping bags, and other small individual necessities, and Twilight had a camera. Every pony had their respective elements worn on them.

"What do you think about all of this, girls?" the Twilight asked. "As for me, I'm unsure about this..."

"An adventure to the Frozen North is almost as awesome as me." Rainbow Dash replied.

"Ah dunno." Applejack answered. "If it's as important as Celestia says, we must go there, right?"

"As for me, I'll maybe find some inspiration there for the new winter clothes I'll be making." Rarity replied.

"Any adventure is fun with friends!" Pinkie Pie smiled, as usual.

"Um... It's... fine." Fluttershy said.

Soon, the six stopped at the door. Slowly, Twilight walked to it and knocked it twice. Steps were heard, and the door was opened by Andromalius.

He looked over the ponies. All of them, except Pinkie Pie with her unfaltering smile, were nervous, though some tried hard to hide that. And some, like Fluttershy, didn't. "It seems everypony's ready. So, come inside." Andromalius gestured, and then muttered quietly to himself while going back to his place: "Everypony, that's a word I still learn to accept..."

Confused, the ponies entered the room, and soon it was rather crowded. They noticed Inanna, who was standing by Andromalius' side. She had a black cape on her, almost completely hiding her.

"We'll cut a lot of our time by teleporting to a castle that is far deeper in the Frozen North than anything else." Andromalius said.

"What castle?" Twilight asked.

"The one situated in the city of Hornguard."

"The capitol of the unicorn tribe?" her eyes widened. "I must see it!"

"I doubt you'll like what you'll see." Andromalius replied, igniting his horn. A magical doorway appeared in the room and opened, revealing the dimly lit halls of the castle of Hornguard. "Everypony, have no fear. What you are about to see isn't our enemies."

With that said, he entered the portal-way first, Inanna followed him, and then others joined. As the last pony entered, the portal-way closed.

"Whoooaaah!" Twilight exclaimed in awe, looking around. "I've never thought I'll visit this place! It's so ancient! Some say it's over five thousand years old!"

Others weren't in such an awe or as enthusiastic about it as Twilight was, but were interested in the place in one way or another.

"Ugh, spiders!" Rarity said with disgust, noticing a spider between the stones of the wall. Then, she noticed a tapestry with a spider in its center. "Do they... worship spiders here?"

"O-oh, scary~y!" Pinkie Pie giggled, looking closely at a black spider she found.

Andromalius patiently waited for the girls to finish discussing the hallway and continue moving. Inanna just smiled at him.

"Look at that, you're younger than most of them, and look at the difference!" Inanna appeared in his head.

"Would the circumstances be different, I'd be like them." he replied with a chuckle.

"Oh, look at this!" Rainbow Dash called, picking up a rusty sword. "An awesome sword!" she stood on her hind legs, and tried to swing the sword with her forehooves. She failed, as the sword's blade fell apart from the hilt. "Aw, damn! Would make a nice souvenir, though." she packed the hilt in her saddlebags.

"So..." Twilight turned to Andromalius. "What is so bad about this place besides the dust and spiders? Well, and being a little bit chilly."

"And the smell!" Rarity added. "Ugh, I think something died somewhere!"

Suddenly, everyone heard a clanking sound from somewhere down the hall.

"You're about to see." Andromalius replied calmly while the ponies stared in fear of what was coming towards them from the darkness.

Soon, a pair of skeletons clad in rusty armor revealed themselves, stepping out of the darkness. One of them carried a longsword while another carried an axe. The skull of the first one had the jaw missing, and another had a piece of a rusty blade in it.

Rarity fainted.

"That's what I was talking about." Andromalius said while everyone else but Inanna and Rarity were staring at the passing skeletons. The two didn't do anything but glanced at the group.

"Spooky, scary skeletons!" Pinkie Pie giggled, not afraid one bit.

"Yeah, skeletons." Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, seemingly not afraid. "I would take them out in less than ten seconds!"

"Yeah, nothing too hard... uh..." Applejack had sweat rolling down her forehead.

Fluttershy was just sitting on the ground, looking at the skeletons with fear in her eyes.

"Are those animated by magic?" Twilight asked with interest, looking at Andromalius. "If so, who did that?"

"A very powerful necromancer." Andromalius replied.

"And what is he doing here?" the unicorn narrowed her eyes.

"Apparently, I don't really know. Maybe it's Asha's doing."

"Who's Asha?" Twilight continued asking.

"An ancient goddess of his world." Andromalius replied. "Maybe if you meet the necromancer himself, he'll tell you more."

"Pfft, gods nor goddesses exist." Twilight rolled her eyes.

"Believe me, they do." Andromalius sighed. "They do... Maybe in another form that you expect, but they surely do." he looked at Rarity, who started to wake up. "Once Rarity wakes up, you all should get your warm clothes on."

***

The group moved through the dark halls of the castle of Hornguard. On their way, they met a couple more skeletons, and a vampire. Other than that, nothing happened until they reached the throne room.

Andromalius opened the heavy oak door and saw Arantir himself sitting on the throne.

"Hello, Andromalius." he greeted the hell stallion. "I was told you are coming. The question is, why?"

"I have a quest to complete." Andromalius replied.

"And why, then, do you have so many companions?" the necromancer asked another question, seeing the six mares emerging from the hall. They looked at him with interest.

"Celestia thinks they can help me."

"Hm... Maybe I can also help you. It's beneficial for us both, not to mention Asha's bidding." Arantir stood up from the throne. "I could send my student with you."

"You know who she is." Andromalius replied, stepping forward. "First of all, she has many other things to deal with. Second, I think I have enough help."

"Maybe I have another way of helping you, seeing that your companions don't look so well on the moral part." the necromancer teleported a cape and levitated it to Andromalius.

"The Cape of the Lion's Mane?" Andromalius looked surprised.

"It'll help you with the morale. I have no use for it." Arantir explained. "It's also rather warm, and that is important, considering the temperature up there. Who's the leader of the group that was sent with you?"

"We have no leader. We're friends." Twilight Sparkle spoke.

"Hm..." Arantir scratched his chin, looking at Twilight's crown-artifact. "Why everyone else has necklaces while you have a crown?"

"Uh... I don't really know."

"Then it means you're the leader." Arantir levitated the cape to Twilight. "Accept this as a gift... May it help you succeed in your mission." he looked into Andromalius' eyes. "And return alive, of course."

Andromalius mouthed "not entirely my choice". Arantir quirked a brow, but nodded.

"Let's go, then." Andromalius said after Twilight put on the cape. The group turned to the exit and headed outside.

"Darling, this cape looks good on you!" Rarity stated. "Made of such a rare material... My, you should be proud you ever get to wear this!"

"I... do feel good about wearing this." Twilight nodded slowly. "It's like... It lifts my spirit."

"It seems the artifacts really work." Andromalius thought, chuckling. "I wouldn't mind a luck boost. Nature's Luck perk, that is something I wouldn't mind at all."

"It's like absolute luck?" Inanna asked.

"Yes. A very powerful thing that is very rare. To get it, you must be very lucky in the first place." the hell stallion replied.

The group exited the castle and found themselves in the completely empty streets of the city. Even the ghosts were gone. Andromalius guessed that Arantir had something to do with that.

Silently, the group moved. Twilight used the camera to take photos of the surroundings, while others just looked around.

"Andro, didn't you notice something's wrong?" Inanna playfully asked.

"As far as I can see, everything's alright." he replied.

"Rarity stopped blushing while looking at you. You become not so interesting to her as before." Inanna giggled.

"Will we be talking about sex? Right now?" Andromalius rolled his eyes.

"What, you don't want these mares?" Inanna replied with fake shock.

"You and Natura are enough. I don't want my life to be turned into an orgy." Andromalius replied. "Besides, I think there are plenty of other stallions that may be drooling over them. I? I'll let other stallions have them. I don't want a harem, that'll be ridiculous."

"Hm, you don't want them to praise Lucifer's son?"

"Forming a cult of satanists is the last thing I'll ever want to do." Andromalius snorted. "I have as much in common with the typical antichrist as you have with a nun."

Inanna stifled her laugh while Andromalius grinned at his joke. Everything went unnoticed by the ponies, who were focused more on their surrounding than on the demons.

***

Soon, the group reached the Astrological Tower.

"So," Andromalius spoke. "Get your hoods on. There's very cold up there."

"Ugh, my mane'll get messy." Rarity complained.

"Either that or you'll lose your ears to the frostbite." Andromalius replied. "I needn't warmth, but I can't say the same about you.

"I also don't know what we'll face there." he continued. "That is why we must be ready for everything. And if you feel bad, tell me, don't hide it. It's the matter of life and death."

Author's Notes:

The final chapters are coming.