Selene leads us to the Throne room where the guards and maids avoid eye contact with us, making me smirk at their skittishness.

We enter the room to find Celestia and Luna on their thrones talking with guards and ponies while Cadence is to the side of the room sitting on a bench with Shining and Gilda.

Everything goes silent at our arrival as I see Celestia sigh. "Damien... Is there something you need?" she asks carefully.

I roll my eyes at her still wary attitude. "Just a pony envoy and some guards for them to join us to convince the Minotaur Chief to not aid the gryphons in attacking us all," I reply as I walk over to the base of the stairs to her throne.

She raises an eyebrow at that. "It would take a month to reach Minos... Even with one of our airships..." she says and looks at Selene.

"Worry not, Sister. Damien hast brought one of his own Airships, surely thou saw it as we arrived?" Selene replies and asks.

A white Unicorn with blue hair and moustache in a fancy black tux, top hat, and monocle speaks up. "You mean that strange airship we saw arriving outside the window was his?" he asks us.

"Yup, one of my smallest ones though, built for speed and scouting mostly. Perfect for getting to Minos as soon as possible," I reply.

"And how did it move without Pegasi to pull it?" he then asks and walks over to me, seemingly unafraid. Though the pale pinkish white Unicorn mare with pink hair and tail, a slender body, and a powder blue dress next to him looks nervous.

"Engines, propellers, and a thunder crystal battery to power them. So as long as the crystals remain active, it'll never run out of power," I reply and raise a brow at him. "And who are you?" I ask.

"Oh, where are my manners, I am Fancy Pants. I run a trading enterprise using our new airships to transport goods around the world. I was curious as to how yours moved by itself and wondered if I may purchase a few airships?" he replies and asks me.

I think it over, these airships are what help give my nation and army an advantage over my enemies. And I just don't feel comfortable selling them to others, even allies.

"I'll think about it, but until my new town is built and ready, I don't plan to sell or trade anything yet," I tell him, getting a nod in return.

"Understandable, well, should you change your mind, here is my card," he replies and pulls a business card from his tux and holds it out to me. "Perhaps we can even set up trading routes between your town and Canterlot?"

I take it and have a quick look.

High cloud world trade enterprise. Has Fancy's business address as well as various ways to contact him. I wonder how long it would take Olivia to replicate phones or cell phones with my old phone I gave her?

"Okay, I'll keep it in mind. But back to why I'm here, Celestia! Do you have a diplomat we can take with us?" I ask her and for the next ten minutes as we explain our plan to her, she frowns and nods.

"Primrose Scroll, would be the mare to go with you, along with six guards to protect her," Celestia says and I nod in agreement.

"Alright, we'll wait at my airship then for her, we're in the garden behind the castle," I tell her and start heading for the doors.

"Damien! Please protect her as well, she's not just an envoy but a friend, I will not be happy if you've let her come to harm while with you," she tells me.

I wave my arm over my shoulder. "I will!" I reply and exit the room with Selene beside me.

We wait in my airship while the crew make sure the ship is all good. An elderly light yellow Earth Pony mare arrives wearing white robes with dark blue trim, both Celestia, Luna / Selene's marks on the shoulders and a medallion of a sun with a crescent moon in overlapping is around her neck.

"Primrose I assume?" I call out to her, getting her attention.

"Indeed, are we set to leave or do you require more preparations?" she asks and eyes me with interest.

I chuckle as I jump down off the railing and land gently in front of her. "No, we're good to go. A room has been prepared for you, but your guards will have to share hammocks in the crew quarters," I tell her.

"Thank you, I guess introductions are in order. I am Primrose Scroll, envoy for Equestria for this journey," she says and holds her hand out to me.

I raise a brow and smirk as I gently grasp her hand and shake.

"You have my respect already for not trembling in fear at the sight of us. I am Damien Jackson, the current Overlord of Tartarus," I reply.

"I know. Celestia has already informed me of your appearance and I'm used to dealing with other species already, so dealing with demons is not much different," she says and chuckles.

"I think we'll get along just fine ma'am, shall we depart?" I say and ask her.

"Yes, the sooner we get there the sooner I can help prevent a war from breaking out... not the first time I've done that either," she replies and starts heading for the boarding plank. Her guards have a few crates which I can only guess are their own supplies and gear.

I like her already. I head back on board and almost shit myself as Pinkie's head pops out of nowhere.

"Dammit, Pinkie! Why are you here?" I ask her. The crew and our guests staring in confusion at her floating head.

She's about to say something but her cheeks puff out and I cringe as Purple hooves suddenly come out of her mouth. I watch with morbid fascination as Twilight slowly slides out without any saliva and eventually her head pops out with a disturbed expression on her face.

Pinkie coughs a few times before heaving again and next out comes a flustered Dark Desire wearing a short skirt and tank top who's left standing beside Twilight.

Once over, Pinkie is grinning at me. "Twilight heard you're heading out to Minos and wanted to tag along! So here she is! Also Desire called me and said she needed feeding soon, bye!" and with that, her head over inflates like a balloon and pops into confetti which dissolves into nothing.

I shake my head and look at Twilight who hasn't moved. "Twilight, you okay?" I ask her and snap my fingers in front of her face.

"I have stared into the abyss and it stared back at me..." she mumbles before fainting.

I catch her and sigh, making a mental note of punishing Pinkie somehow... "Desire... keep an eye on Twilight while I oversee the departure..." I tell her.

"Oooookay..." she says, still flustered as I take Twilight into my room and place her carefully on the bed and make sure she's comfortable. Once done and Desire sitting down on the bed, I head back out and order Ironhoof to take off.

I yawn as I wake up with both Desire and Twilight beside me.

"Morning," Desire says and kisses my left cheek.

"Good morning. So, didn't expect to be dragged along did you?" I ask her and chuckle.

She giggles and smiles. "I did ask Pinkie to take me to you, but the way she did it was... an experience to say the least," she replies.

I chuckle and turn my head to face her. "I bet... Out of morbid curiosity, what was it like?" I ask her.

She hums and looks up to the ceiling, the creaking of the ship's hull sounds out now and then as we fly thirty miles an hour over the land.

"Probably how your dick feels inside me I think... Tight, warm, wet, just without any moisture sticking to me, and to be honest? It felt kinda nice..." she replies with a conflicted expression.

"Well I hope you don't make a habit out of it or it turns into a fetish, never been into vore myself and I don't plan to start," I tell her and yawn again. Holding both of them close to me by their hips.

She giggles while Twilight mumbles in her sleep, snuggling her head into my neck.

We stay like this for another hour before the door opens and Selene enters.

"Damien? We've left Equestria and have begun to enter the Badlands," she tells me and I raise a brow.

If I remember correctly, that Changeling named Sheldon we saved from the pirates said his Queen and Hive was here.

I get up and get dressed, leaving Desire giggling as she cuddles with a still sleeping Twilight who unconsciously snuggles with her. I exit my cabin and meet Selene out on the deck with Primrose as well.

Primrose turns and spots me. "I wish I had this vessel years ago, it would have saved so much time on travelling on hoof..." she says and stares back out ahead of us.

"Yes, it's a quick ship, but we're still thinking of ways to make them faster, or even a completely new design in the future," I reply and stand beside her as I take a breath of fresh air.

She looks at me with a raised brow. "Faster? how could you make it faster?" she asks.

I smirk and chuckle. "I'm afraid that will have to be kept a secret until it's ready," I reply.

I've told Olivia of jet planes in the past, and now that the Dune Buggy has been completed, she wants to try making a jet engine. We have a renewable source of oil that demonic frogs called Lash Tongues from the Dread Swamp secrete from their skin. Their oil is highly flammable and makes a good fuel when refined.

It's been mainly used as lantern oil for the last four-hundred years, but we're going to see if it can be used as a form of jet fuel for turbine engines in the future.

Primrose huffs with a small smile. "State secret, I understand. If you don't want to say I won't ask again, but we should arrive in Minos within a week at this rate," she says and looks back out to the horizon.

"Well then, I'll leave you to your own devices and I think I'll take a quick flight around the ship," I say and before she can reply, I jump overboard and spread my wings and fly alongside the airship.

Twilight and Desire have been fed yesterday and not much has happened over the last four days. We've passed the Badlands and have entered the borders of Minos, a vibrant plains area with trees and other flora growing plentiful. I can even see a few lakes from up here.

Twilight and Desire are currently on the deck in sun bathing chairs wearing only a black bikini. My crew ignores them, but two of the pony guards are sweating as they steal glances at my girls. They can look, but if they touch, I'm ripping their hands off.

"My Lord! Movement high starboard!" one of my crew calls out.

I grab a spyglass from one of the crew and look through it. I spot what appears to be a squad of ten Gryphons flying towards Minos, and we're catching up to them very fast.

"Interesting... It could be an envoy from the Gryphons," I comment as I lower the spyglass. If it is, we'll let them live and it'll make for an intriguing encounter when we arrive before them.

An Incupony with a sniper rifle walks up to me. "Your orders, my Lord?" he asks.

"Keep an eye on them, but don't attack unless attacked first. And if they do, capture one alive, particularly the envoy if you can," I reply and narrow my eyes at them.

"Yes, my Lord," he says and flies up to one of the sniper nests on the side of the balloon.

"May I?" I hear Primrose ask behind me.

I turn and see her holding her hand out, I smirk and place the spyglass in her hand. She looks out towards the Gryphons and hums in thought.

"That is the envoy of the Gryphon King. It seems their King sent another to delegate for him while he's with the Zebras," she informs me with a frown.

"Hmmm... Well, this will be either annoying or intriguing, but let's get to Hornheim before them. Ironhoof! Full speed for two hours!" I reply and call out to the Balrog.

"Aye, Sir!" he replies and pushes the throttle all the way forward.

The engines roar as the propellers increase in speed and the ship lurches forward as we catch up to the Gryphons even faster than before. I can't help the grin that comes to my face as well soar past them, scaring the shit out of them and the looks of shock which then after looking at me become scowls as they try to pick up speed to keep up.

I look ahead again, still grinning. While my ship can keep going non-stop for up to sixteen days before needing maintenance, they'll need to stop for rest and camp for the night, we can just keep moving while doing that.

We'll have a good week or two before they show up, plenty of time to convince the Minotaur Chief to sign a treaty.

We're on the deck looking towards the approaching city of Hornheim. A magnificent thirty foot tall, ten foot thick large brick wall surrounds the massive city. Large buildings dot the city, not surprising considering how big Minotaurs are.

A large building sits in the middle of the city, not exactly a castle, more like a fortress with thick walls and battlements. I can also see smoke coming from several spots near each other in a trade area of the city, perhaps forges?

All in all, it's a well made and fortified city. Not as big as Fel Haven, but still large.

"Ironhoof! Take us outside the main gate, I don't think they'd just let us land inside!" I call out.

"Aye, Sir! Prepare to land!" Ironhoof replies and calls out to the crew. He then steers the ship to the main gate.

I look down to the city as we fly over it and chuckle at the Minotaur soldiers I can see scrambling to the main gate, looking like a good ten-thousand of them flooding the streets. Civilians are also running for cover, you'd think I brought my fleet with how they're reacting to one little sloop...

"They won't attack us will they?" Twilight asks with worry in her voice.

"I don't think so, but Desire and I won't let any harm come to you or anyone else on this ship, alright? But just in case, get ready to head below deck," I reply and pat her head.

It takes ten minutes to touch down and lower the boarding ramp. I watch as the Minotaurs surround my airship with large battle-axes, war-hammers, spears that would more likely be called halberds with how large the spearheads are, and instead of crossbows, damn things are more like hand held ballista. The ballista wielders even have another Minotaur carrying large bolts for them.

Their armour is a mix of dark grey half plate or full plate in a very dwarven style, solid plates with runic engravings on them, beneath that there's thick leather padding. No chainmail, medium, or light armour in sight, nor any form of magic user among their ranks.

I step forward and disembark first, followed by an Incupony sniper and a Boarus knight with an imp pistoleer on his back.

Following behind us is Selene, Primrose and two of her guards, a mare and a stallion.

"Halt, identify yourselves!" a brown furred Minotaur in more decorated armour coloured white with gold trim demands, wielding a massive battle-axe of equal colour.

"I am Damien Jackson, the Overlord of Tartarus!" I announce, getting murmurs and much more guarded stances from them.

I step aside and let Primrose pass me. "I am the envoy Primrose Scroll of her majesty's Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, and Princess Selene of Equestria who has come with us as well," she introduces herself and lightly bows her head.

Selene nods her head in greeting.

The decorated Minotaur narrows his eyes at us, me specifically. "And why have you come here?" he then demands.

I speak up in reply. "The Gryphon King plans to ask both you and the Zebras to attack Equestria and my people due to three of the four Alicorns now being demons, and that I am the Overlord of demons as well. We've come here to make a treaty with your Chief to prevent that. We even passed by the Gryphon King's envoy on our way here, they should arrive in about a week's time."

"So you've conquered Equestria?" he asks and readies his battle-axe, putting his soldiers on edge.

Selene decides to speak up to that. "Equestria is still its own nation separate of Tartarus and we've simply agreed to a treaty, Damien has no say as to it's ruling or laws. Our sister Luna became a demon to restore her lost power, and mine self to regain our body and power. Our sister Celestia was under the influence of a demonlord we fought a millennia ago, Damien helped free her of Tirek's influence and returned her senses to her," she explains.

The Minotaur snorts and starts walking over to us. "Even so, Demons have always been known to be malicious and deceitful. I've never heard of a neutral Demon, let alone a friendly one," he says and stops a good ten feet away.

I raise a brow at him as I speak up. "And how long ago did your people last see a Demon?" I ask him.

He frowns and thinks for a few seconds. "That would be almost seven-hundred years ago."

"That's a long time for a lot of changes don't you think?" I then ask him.

His eyes narrow at me and he turns back to the city. "You will wait here until I have spoken with the Chief," he says and walks back to the gate.

I turn to the others and sigh. "And I guess we just wait on the ship," I say and start walking back up the boarding ramp.

Next Chapter: Chapter 60: Arena Estimated time remaining: 25 Minutes