"Reinforcements?" Twilight asks me with a confused frown.

"Correct, seems those wraiths in the Shadow Realm were my own personal force. They only now confronted me after so long being ignored. Desire and I always thought they were just residents of the Shadow Realm..." I reply and then turn to Luna and Selene. "Have you ever seen them when you go into the Shadow Realm before meeting me?" I ask them.

"Nay. We hast never seen such creatures before meeting thee," Luna replies with a shake of her head.

"So... what are you going to do with them now?" Twilight asks me.

"For now? I'll have them keep an eye on the gryphons while we take a detour," I reply and look towards the lycans. "How fast can you dig?" I ask them.

"We can dig through a mile in a day... but I think we can go faster now with our sharper claws," a male lycan replies.

"Good, start digging down once we get closer to the exit at an angle so we'll go under the gryphons, I'd rather we avoid them until we find a way to counter their silver weapons," I tell them getting a howl from them.

We go deeper into the tunnels until another shadow wraith appears before me making Fluttershy and Dusk yelp in fright again.

"Master, the gryphons are now entering the tunnels, they'll be here within the hour," it warns me.

"Right then, time to begin! Collapse the tunnel ahead and start digging a tunnel underneath us," I tell the alicorns and lycans before turning back to the wraith. "Keep an eye on the gryphons and let me know if they figure out what we're doing," I order it getting a nod before it fades away.

Luna and Selene use their magic to collapse the tunnel with a lot of stone and dirt from above it, while making sure our area doesn't cave in as well. They then use intense heat with their magic to melt the stone together making it impossible to pull them apart. Once done, the lycans start using their claws to rapidly dig while the others use their levitation spells to move the dirt and stone out of the way.

Rainbow is starting to fidget while looking at the walls of the tunnel like they're about to swallow her whole.

"It's okay Dashie! We'll be out and you'll be flying again in no time!" Pinkie tells her.

I smirk and look at the rainbow haired thestral. "Are you afraid of enclosed spaces?" I ask her with a slight teasing tone.

She scowls at me in reply. "I ain't afraid of nothing!" she yells at me which only makes me chuckle.

"So what do we do once we get past the gryphons, Master?" Scarlet asks me.

"We'll head straight for the Plaguelands unless we need supplies from a town, which we'll wait from a distance while Luna or Selene will go disguised, purchase it, and teleport back to us so no one will see them leave," I reply.

I hear some commotion ahead of me and see the lycans pushing some ore they've dug up behind them which Twilight levitates over to us.

"Iron?" Twilight says to herself while examining it.

Gilda then speaks up. "Yeah, this used to be a mine decades ago, but they mined out most of the iron here," she tells the purple succupony.

"Can you do anything with it?" I ask Twilight.

She hums before her horn glows and she condenses it down into the rough shape of a sword. She grunts and gasps while trying to mould it better but sighs and winces at the poor excuse of a sword.

"Well, making that makeshift armour for Ironhoof was easier as we had processed iron to begin with... I've never tried with raw iron before," she replies as Luna and Selene take it from her.

I watch with amazement as Luna uses her magic to heat up the iron and Selene uses her magic to mould it into a proper sword shape.

They take more and more chunks of iron the lycans are digging up to add to the sword making it longer and wider. Once done, Luna then cools it off slowly as the iron hardens, leaving a one metre long broadsword floating between them.

"Tis heavy, but usable," Selene comments and levitates it over to me.

I take it and feel that it is indeed heavy. I then swing it at the wall which leaves a deep slash in the stone and dirt.

"We condensed the metal to make it more durable, though it will degrade with continued use as it is not processed to how we would like. If we had steel and proper materials, we would make a more durable blade," Luna then says after her sister.

"How do you know so much about smithing?" I ask them as I notice the edge of the blade is slightly scratched.

"We used to train with our guards before our banishment... we also crafted our own weapons and armour," Luna replies before levitating more iron over to them and starting on another sword.

"Huh. Do you think you could make me a shield as well?" I ask them, with a shield I'll have a better chance of fighting against silver weaponry for now.

"Yes, but it will be quite heavy," Selene replies.

"That's fine. As long as it'll help against silver weapons then please make one," I say and look forward towards the still digging lycans.

Twilight, Shining, Desire, and the succupony and inncupony with us levitate the dirt and stone behind us and compact it against the walls to make them stronger.

During the time digging, Luna and Selene have finished the heavy iron shield for me and despite the hefty weight, I can wield it decently without much loss in mobility. Luna then spent her time talking to her student about what he'll do about his magic.

Applejack is talking to her friends while Rarity is being carried by Spike in his arms bridal style and giggling happily.

Shadow wraiths periodically informed me of the gryphons locations, they've reached the blockage and have tried digging through it, but they're having slow progress. I think we'll make it out before they can reach us at least.

The rest of the day is spent talking and progressing at a decent pace. Luna and Selene have made more weapons and shields for the others, even sharp iron talons and wing blades for the two remaining harpies. Twilight believes we've covered nearly a mile of digging and that we should set up camp for the night. Although, the lycans have dug up some gems along the way which they shared amongst themselves and even gave some to Spike to eat, which he was thankful for.

---

Luna closes her eyes to concentrate on raising the moon while Pinkie uses her strange power to let Twilight talk to Celestia in her bedroom, who after jumping from the sudden appearance of Pinkie glares at me for a few seconds before smiling at Twilight.

"It's so good to see you again, Twilight. How have you been?" she asks the purple demoness while glancing at Pinkie's new grinning form warily.

"I'm doing well, though we are running from the gryphons right now," Twilight replies.

"The gryphons? Oh yes, I did warn them about your... mate," Celestia says with a slight wince, whether or not from Twilight being my girl or the warning she gave the gryphons I'm not sure.

"We lost a harpy during an ambush but we managed to get away in some tunnels, we're currently digging a tunnel under them to avoid them due to their silver weapons," Twilight tells her.

Celestia sighs and looks down sadly. "I'm so sorry for what I've put you through...even if Tirek's foul magic was clouding my judgement, I should have realised what I was doing..."

"It's... it's okay, Celestia. I've come to realise that no pony can be perfect... that all of us can be swayed or misled," Twilight says with a small frown.

"I know. It still doesn't excuse what I did," the white mare replies.

I look around and notice Fluttershy can't even bare to look at Celestia while Angel is growling quietly at her. The others also still have mixed feelings about what happened to them.

"Worry not, sister. We shall put Tirek in his place once and for all!" Luna says enthusiastically.

"Verily. He shall pay for what he hast wrought upon us all," Selene then says.

Celestia smiles sadly at them both before looking at me. "Remember, if any of them are hurt, you'll answer to me," she says sternly.

I just roll my eyes at her and wave a hand dismissively. "Yes, I remember," I reply and watch as the lesser demons are setting up the tents along the tunnel.

"Please keep me informed if anything happens," Celestia says to Twilight.

"I will. Oh! Could you please send these to our families?" Twilight asks her and levitates a bunch of letters through the tear.

Celestia takes them and smiles at her. "I will, stay safe," she says and the tear closes.

"Well, that was something. Alright everyone, get some sleep and we'll continue in the morning," I tell everyone, watching as they get into their tents.

I try to mentally call a shadow wraith to me and I'm happy to see it worked as one appears before me. "Keep an eye on the gryphons and let me know if they get into the tunnel," I order it getting a nod in reply before it fades away.

"Good to know we have a vigilant night watch with us," Desire comments and stands beside me.

I wrap my right arm around her waist and smile at her. "True, at least we won't have to worry about ambushes at night anymore, or even during the day," I reply.

Desire starts giggling at the noise coming from a tent where the incupony and succupony we brought with us are about to start feeding from each other. Desire casts a soundproof spell over their tent so the rest of us wouldn't have to hear it.

"So how's your energy holding up?" I ask my wife.

"Since becoming a demonlord, I'm surprisingly not that hungry yet. I guess I can either hold more or I just don't burn it off as fast," she replies and nuzzles my right cheek. "Though Twilight might need to feed a bit tonight or tomorrow."

"Hmmm, I suppose. I just hope we can get past the gryphons and make it to the Plaguelands quickly. I would fight back, but they have too many silver weapons and out number us six to one," I tell her and notice Twilight walking over to us.

"About the silver... why does it hurt demons?" she asks us.

"We're not entirely sure why. I only found enough in Tartarus to make six bullets from it which was hard to do due to the fact I couldn't touch it. I only know it seems to react to our demonic energy, if we can find out why, we could make a countermeasure for it," I reply and yawn lightly.

"I have an idea," Desire says and smiles at Twilight before unfastening her fancy sword from her hip. "There's some silver on this sword. Would you like to try and find out why it hurts us? I know you like to learn things and you told us you like studying... so? Want to try?" she asks Twilight who goes wide eyed and grins.

"I love researching! Sure, I'll figure out why," she replies and takes the sheathed blade before crawling into our tent where we can hear her getting supplies out of her bag.

I only chuckle at her enthusiasm before sitting next to the stone wall of the tunnel. I close my eyes and take a deep breath before releasing it slowly. I then feel Desire sit on my lap sideways before kissing me gently.

"Decan for your thoughts?" she says with that smile I love so much.

"Just wondering if Fel Haven, Slitherana, and our children are okay," I reply and smile back at her.

"They'll be fine. And if they are aren't, there will be nowhere to run for those responsible," she tells me and just cuddles up to me.

I sigh and just let myself fall asleep.

---

Morning arrives and the camp is packed up after breakfast was eaten. The lycans resume digging and my shadow wraiths inform me the gryphons are still trying to dig through the blockage and are actually making progress. I've told the lycans to pick up the pace.

Pinkie frowns in thought while staring at the wall ahead of us before snapping her fingers with a grin. A large tractor like machine with a very large drill on the front appears in front of her and she grins at it before sitting in the seat.

"Oh stars have mercy on us... she has Discord's powers as well..." Luna comments grimly while Selene winces slightly.

I don't see the problem if this can get us through quicker. Pinkie starts fiddling with the controls and the drill starts spinning up, the lycans get out of the way and once clear, the drill moves forward. The dirt, stone, ore, and any gems it digs up seems to be sucked into the drill and spat out behind the tractor in cubes.

For the next two hours the lycans and Spike look through the cubes for gems while Luna and Selene sift through for iron.

"Luna, Selene. Do you think you could make Ironhoof a full suit of armour? Maybe for his brother as well," I ask them while looking at the balrog and minotaur who share a glance at each other. Having them in full plate armour would make them better suited to fighting against silver weaponry, less exposed areas.

"We could, but it would be very uncomfortable without any padding," Selene replies.

"Why not get Pinkie to poof us some armour?" Rainbow suggests.

As if on cue, the tractor Pinkie is sitting on disappears in a puff of pink smoke from under her and she falls onto her ass.

"OWWIE!" she yelps and stands up while rubbing her sore backside.

"That answer your question?" I say to Rainbow with a smirk, making the thestral frown at me.

"Pinkie? What happened?" Twilight asks her with confusion.

"I ran outta mojo..." she replies and pouts.

"It seems Miss Pie either can't control her power fully or she ran out of magic," Luna comments with a sigh of relief.

"We agree, sister. We believe she just isn't as powerful as Discord is," Selene adds in, also seemingly relieved.

Pinkie huffs and tries to levitate herself off the ground but nothing happens. "Oh phooey," she mumbles and walks back behind us with a frown.

The lycans after a few seconds get back to digging the tunnel themselves while Spike is still going through the remaining cubes for gems and ore.

Rarity gasps as Spike pulls out a large chunk of rough diamond the size of my head. "Oh my! Look at the size of it!" Rarity says and crouches down beside the drake.

Spike looks like he's drooling at the sight of it while Twilight seems to perk up. "Wait... If we can refine it and cut it into several pieces then the princesses and I may be able to make some enchantments with them!"

"What kind of enchantments?" I ask her.

"Well, they're hard to do and only the officers of the guard get them, but they can affect physical strength, magic, flight speed, weight, and make magical shields," Luna replies.

"And how do they work?" I then ask intrigued.

"They're attached to armour or weapons depending on the enchantment, and they require recharging after every use. Shining was using a couple on the armour he had back in Horseshoe Bay," Twilight tells me.

I then rub my chin in thought. "I see... can they be attached to anything?"

"Well, yes. But it depends on the enchantment," Selene replies.

"How long does it take to make one of these enchantments?"

"A couple of days, they're hard to do and one mistake could be disastrous," Twilight says nervously.

These enchantments sound interesting, but I'd rather not take a risk if it's dangerous. I'll have to get Twilight to try making some when we return to Fel Haven in a controlled environment. Olivia would be interested in this as it could help her invent better technology, the weight enchantments sound like they could help make our airships faster.

"I'll keep it in mind, but for now let's just focus on getting back to Tartarus," I say and notice the lycans have dug quite the distance from us.

"I can't believe we're still willingly going to Tartarus..." Rainbow Dash mutters to herself.

"Pinkie can always send you back to Ponyville," I tell her without looking back at her.

"And leave you with my friends!? I don't think so buster!" she replies angrily.

I just chuckle at her and keep walking down the tunnel. Rarity is being carried bridal style by Spike again who looks happy to do so. I watch as Luna and Selene store the iron ore and some gems into their magic subspace storage. Applejack seems to have fallen asleep in the cart while Fluttershy is talking to her animal demons.

That reminds me. "Fluttershy?" I say getting her attention with an eep. "How did you get the animals to listen to you since I'm technically their master now?" I ask her.

"Oh... um. I'm just good with animals. I've always felt more comfortable around them than other ponies," she replies and pets Angel on the back.

"I see... thank you for answering my question," I tell her and return my attention to the front of the tunnel.

The next four hours pass with some chatter from the others. Rarity and Spike continue to flirt with each other making Twilight sigh and grumble, but can't really do anything about it since she's basically in the same boat.

Twilight then went through her notes about the silver on the sword she’s studying. I do hope she figures out the cause, having such a weakness is frustrating me.

The lycans stop and press their ears to the wall and turn back to me. "Master, we are almost to the other side of the canyon," the left most lycan tells me.

"Good, wait until I send my wraiths to see if it's clear," I tell them and slip into the Shadow Realm.

Only four shadow wraiths are with me at the moment, so I turn to the one to the right of me. "Go topside and see if any gryphons are nearby," I order it.

It nodded and phases through the tunnel's ceiling. I wait for a couple of minutes before it returns.

"Master, you are currently over a mile from the canyon and no gryphons are nearby," it tells me.

"Good, get the other wraiths to come back, then spread out and keep watch on anything that could be a threat," I then order it.

"Yes, Master," it replies and heads off again.

I return from the Shadow Realm making Fluttershy and Twilight yelp in surprise. "We're clear, start digging up!" I order the lycans who howl and get to work.

After just over an hour, the lycans break through and check the area. "All clear, Master," one tells me.

"Good. Block the tunnel and let's get moving! Gilda, which way from here?" I say and ask our gryphon friend.

"Erm..." she mumbles and looks around once she's out. "That way!" she says pointing to a mountain range in the distance. "The Plaguelands are just beyond those mountains."

"Alright. Let's be on our merry way then!" I say and once the tunnel is sealed, we all start trekking across the grassy plains towards the mountains.

Next Chapter: Chapter 37: Next stop, the Plaguelands Estimated time remaining: 5 Hours, 28 Minutes