The snow was falling down upon the forgotten lands of the Frozen North, spinning and spiraling, carried by the wind far and wide, covering the tracks of the mighty undead army under command of High Lord Arantir. The necromancer was flying high in the skies, a map in his magical grasp as he scanned the surroundings. The said map was nearly useless and most likely inaccurate, the only things from it were mountains, and even those seemed off. Unfortunately, most of the land was covered by many layers of snow, a lot of which hardened under its own weight into ice. Frustrated, the necromancer folded the map and put it in a saddlebag, realizing that it wouldn't help him find what he needed. However, there was something interesting among the emptiness that was the Frozen North.

Arantir noticed a pole in the middle of a snowy field. An artificial pole made of metal, something that stood out among the gentle curves of snow. The necromancer flew down to the pole and looked at it closer. No rust, no corrosion, the metal pole shone in the light as if it was made just a moment ago. Cocking an eyebrow, Arantir touched it with his hoof.

He felt something resonating through his body, a sort of energy he couldn't quite understand. It was familiar but at the same time, it was not. Such a feeling left him mildly confused as one of his ears twitched, sensing something in the air and underneath the snow and ice.

The High Lord retracted his hoof and tapped his chin, thinking. The pole would require much, much more scrutiny. For all he knew, a city could be underneath him, and he intended to find out the truth. And thus, he ordered his troops to start digging.

Two armored pegasi were flying across the sea to the Griffin Empire. The sun was rising from behind the Grittish Isles, the sky was clear, and a mist covered the water. The pegasi kept low, their hooves almost touching the surface of the sea. The pegasi glided silently, piercing the mist, keeping close to the remains of the railroad bridge. Everything was silent, the sea was calm, only the rare flaps of the wings could be heard as the scouts moved forward, knowing their task well.

Suddenly, they saw two dots quickly zooming in. The pegasi hid behind one of the bridge's support bases, covering themselves in shadows and mist. About a minute later, two flying figures passed them by, heading towards the Grittish Isles. The pegasi followed them, keeping distance as not to attract attention. They recognized the figures as griffons, and so they knew they needed to follow them to see what they were up to.

For a few minutes, the flight continued without any event. The tension was in the air as griffons made their way closer and closer to the Isles, flying along the ruins of the bridge, not even caring about hiding themselves. The pegasi glanced at each other, unsure of griffons' intentions. They were too careless, unthoughtful of their surroundings and possible advantages using them would bring.

Suddenly, the griffons stopped and turned around. The pegasi scattered, hiding behind one of the bridge supports.

"We surrender!" the griffons yelled, hovering in place. Thinking that it was a trap, a simple trick, the pegasi split. One of them readied a crossbow and took a position on top of the ruins while the other revealed himself to the griffons.

"Drop your weapons." he ordered loudly.

Without hesitation, the two unbuckled their weapons and threw them into the sea below. Cautiously, the pegasus flew closer to the griffons while the other aimed at them with a crossbow, ready to send a bolt into them at the first sign of trouble. The menacing tip of the bolt was directed at the chest of one of the griffons, the string was tense, and yet the pegasus held the weapon steadily, his hoof close to the lever but not on it.

"Fly straight along the bridge." the first pegasus ordered loud and clear. "Don't look back. Don't turn. Don't speak."

The griffons nodded and turned to their original destination. The pegasi joined them, following them from behind at a reasonable distance, keeping weapons at the ready. They changed flying patterns from time to time, looking around to see if there was any danger. Surprisingly for them, there was nothing.

The tension was in the air as the wings flapped and the group flew closer and closer to the Isles. The griffons looked straight ahead, flying silently, just as ordered. They felt the urge to turn around and look at the pegasi but they fought it well, not allowing themselves to disobey the orders. One of the said griffons was especially nervous: his eyes darted from left to right, he flexed his claws from time to time to alleviate the stress. The second griffon was calm and collected, a neutral expression on his face as he flew in a seemingly relaxed manner.

"Fly lower." one of the pegasi commanded as the group reached the Isles. "Land on the shore."

The griffons followed the orders without question. Once on the shore, the group moved forward, eventually coming to the large camp of Luna's army. The griffons were unnerved by the unusual silence of the place: no casual chatting, no clanking of the armor of soldiers in training, no hearty talks after a tiring night, nothing but silence. It was complete, absolute, it was dead silence.
Was the army of Equestria so well-disciplined? All soldiers were in full armor, too. Despite the griffons having just arrived, there was nothing. No whispers, no stares, not even glances at them. No one paid any attention to those that were the enemies of Equestria at the moment. The eyeholes of the helmets looked empty, lifeless, and completely black as if there was nothing living inside them.

They heard the sound of clopping hooves coming towards them. They turned their heads and saw Luna. The Princess of the Night stood before them in full plate armor, a sword in its sheath buckled securely to it. Her aqua eyes pierced their souls, looking deep inside, searching for something she knew they had, unnerving them to the core.

"Why did you come here?" the alicorn asked, her tone demanding. Her wings were unfolded, making her seem even bigger than she already was, standing more than a head taller than the griffons.

"Your Highness, we surrender ourselves to you." one of the griffons spoke. "We wish no harm, we merely want to find out what is going on. The war..." he paused, his thoughts going elsewhere for just a moment. "We want to understand it. How it started, why... We have many questions, and we can't get them on our side."

"...Very well." Luna said after a few moments of thinking. "Follow me, then. We shall discuss it all."

Without a question, the griffons obeyed, following the princess to one of the tents. In truth, the reigning silence scared them even more than the powerful alicorn in front of them. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to come, maybe it was a trap of sorts. The griffons looked around, expecting to see something that would ease their fears or at least tell them what danger was waiting for them,. Instead, there was nothing out of ordinary, nothing that would raise any red flags aside from the silence. However, the unknown scared them, and Luna's intentions were the unknown.

Many rumors surrounded the Princess of the Night. Tales of her great power were widespread even among the griffons. She moved the moon, she almost overthrew Celestia. She was an unstoppable force not at all unlike her sister, she would move even a mountain if it was in the way of achieving her goals, no matter what those goals could be. The tales of ancient battles in which she took place were the talk among many griffon soldiers. However, it was hard to separate truth from myths.

The two griffons remembered when few remaining scouts returned after their unsuccessful mission. What was expected to be an easy takeover of a major city turned out to be a complete failure with many griffons ending up dead. The plan failed, the city was left standing, and now it was apparent why. A relatively large force was assembled and the griffons had no idea where it came from and how it arrived at the battlefield so quickly.

"Take a seat, please." Luna gestured as the group entered a tent. Reluctantly, the griffons obeyed, still quite nervous. "Now," she looked at the two as everyone took their places at a table. The princess took off her helmet, revealing her majestic starlit mane. "I would like you to introduce yourselves."

"My name is Erich of Blackbeak, knight of the Griffon Empire." one of the griffons introduced himself more or less confidently. "My friend Mark is my page." the griffon by his side nodded politely.

"Pleasure to meet you both, Erich and Mark." the princess nodded, her expression neutral. "Now, to the matter at hoof. I understand what you said, but would it not be hard for you to arrive here knowing that those you knew died?" she looked at the griffons, interest, and caution in her eyes. "The first battle between our nations turned out to be unsuccessful for your side, after all."

"We abandoned our post, that is correct." Erich nodded. "However, we did not betray our nation. We merely want to find the truth. Despite what our empress said, I do not believe that you would start a war." he looked Luna in the eyes. "Just to make it all clear, I will be not helping you win but I will not fight. However, I ask you to remain on the defensive, princess." he sighed deeply. "Enough griffon blood had already been spilt... Both before the war began and after."

"I cannot know whether you are a spy or not, sir Erich." Luna replied. "Besides, what do you hope to find here?"

"Knowledge and understanding." the knight explained. "Your Highness, knowledge is the ultimate power. Without it, we are deaf and blind, flailing our limbs helplessly. No decision is reasonable unless the knowledge leading to it is obtained."

"That is true." the princess nodded. "Your intentions, if not noble from the point of view of your nation, are reasonable for someone of your status. Knights are supposed to be knowledgeable, after all." she paused for a second. "However, I have a few favors to ask of you as well as terms you must follow if you want our cooperation on the matter."

"I am listening, Your Highness."

"First of all, terms of your movement across the country." Luna said. "First and foremost, you are to be accompanied by at least two members of the Royal Guard at all times."

"That is reasonable." Erich nodded.

"Second, you may not possess any weapon as long as you are in Equestria." the princess continued. "And third, you may not leave Equestria without notifying me directly, in person. And, of course, you must follow our laws."

"I accept the terms, Your Highness." the knight agreed. "So, what are the favors?"

"Since you are here now, we need to provide an exchange." Luna replied. "We also need to understand what started the war and therefore we need to know what happens on the other side."

"I understand." Erich nodded once again. "I have a net of trustworthy griffons around the country, they will be able to help you. However, it will be immensely harder to send a pony there."

"Would you not be stripped of your status because of your seemingly treacherous intentions?" Luna asked him, looking him in the eyes.

"I will be marked only as missing in action. I made sure of it." the griffon explained. "I will let you keep my armor and crest, Princess Luna. You may let them be until I am a knight of Griffon Empire or you may destroy them. The choice is yours to make, but from now on, I am but a griffon traveler, searching for answers to my questions." a smirk touched his beak. "Vague past and no connections to the Empire."

"Your possessions will be safe with me, sir Erich." the princess nodded. "You will have to spend a day and a night here as I arrange everything, and I might ask you to answer more questions. For now, rest. Let us see what future brings."

Andromalius was walking through his castle, a slight bouncing in his step, a smile on his face. The things were turning for the better and he was helping it all become true. Despite having a war on the horizon, many things could become better and the hell stallion believed that it wouldn't be long before the war ends.

Suddenly, he felt something clank against his body and then fly away, soon rattling on the floor. He swiftly turned around and there in the shadows he saw someone holding a crossbow. Reacting quickly and almost purely on instinct, Andromalius grabbed the crossbow and pulled it from the assassin's grasp. The attacker tried to run away but the hell stallion reached them with two mighty jumps and pinned them against the floor.

It was a griffon, his eyes were rolling to the back of his head as foam appeared in its beak. His body shuddered for a few moments before coming to a complete stop, a final sigh escaping it. Confused, Andromalius stood there, looking at the lifeless body of the assassin for a few long seconds.

A second crossbow bolt bounced off him, landing nearby. Having no time to lose, the hell stallion turned his head to the second assassin, casting a spell to freeze them in place.

Looking around for good measure, Andromalius sighed shakily, adrenaline pumping through his veins. The beating of the heart deafened him for many moments until he came to his senses. Finally, reasonable and thoughtful decisions could be made.

"Guards!" he yelled, and two minotaurs clad in armor appeared around the corner soon after, and they immediately noticed the two bodies. "Screen the whole castle and the city. Notify nearby settlements but don't raise panic. Reinforce the security around the portal to Equestria and notify Equestrian Royal Guard as well."

"Right away, my lord." one of the minotaurs nodded and the two hurried away, leaving Andromalius alone with the two griffons.

His horn started to glow and soon the first griffon was coughing, coming back to life. Before he could understand anything, Andromalius stunned him. With a long sigh, he picked up the two unconscious bodies.

It would be a very long day for the hell stallion, and especially long for the two assassins.

Author's Notes:

I'm very sorry for not updating for three months. Things have been hectic, to say the least. But I'm coming back on track.

For now, have these two images.
Inanna, drawn by Skunkdinner.

Seran, drawn by me.