Under the rays of the zenith sun, a unicorn and a pegasus stood at the shore of the ocean. They peered into the water, listening to the waves softly washing over the shore.

The unicorn turned her gaze back to the forest she came out of just a few minutes ago. The wind quietly whispered but the usual noise of the wildlife was gone, replaced with an eerie silence. The leaves rustled, some of them falling and swirling through the air, carried by the gentle wind. The noise of the battle, the clashes of steel, the screams of the dying, and roars of battle cries were long gone; only one thing remained — the smell of death. Intangible and silent, it could only be felt by the very soul. No matter how peaceful the surroundings seemed to be, it was apparent that something was amiss even to the least keen eye.

The unicorn reached out with her hoof and touched the water; in an instant, she winced in phantom pain and pulled out, shaking her hoof. She held it close to her chest, nursing it as if it was cut and bleeding. Her ears folded, and a pained look appeared on her face.

"Are you alright, Natura?" the pegasus asked with worry, stepping closer to her.

"I'm alright, but..." she looked back at the ocean, "These... deaths... they're taking a toll on everything..." she let out a long sigh, a lone tear rolling down her cheek, "They bring sorrow and grief to everyone. Ponies, griffons, the very nature itself... Everyone feels it. The more deaths happen, the longer all of us will have to recover. Years, decades, maybe even centuries..."

"What can we do about it, then?" Nota asked, trying to be hopeful, "Is there anything at all that we can do?"

"The two of us? Honestly, I don't know," Natura replied with uncertainty, "We might be able to... fight, but it would only bring more deaths..." she hung her head and sniffed, more tears welling up in her eyes, "I just don't know..."

"Natura..." the pegasus gently lay one of his wings on her back, "We'll find a way. Now, c'mon, let's get away from this for now."

Far away from the sites of the recent battles, deep within a long-abandoned castle, now occupied by the undead, Arantir was preparing to interrogate the griffon he managed to capture. Suspended in the air by magic, the captured griffon struggled to move, breathing heavily as sweat rolled down his face. His beak was forced shut by magic as well, preventing him from saying anything just yet; only low growls and grunts could be heard coming from him. His eyes darted from side to side, scanning the empty stone-walled room, but the only thing to be seen was a reinforced iron door in the center of one of the walls, as well as ventilation holes near the ceiling; they were too small to be crawled through if the griffon managed to break free from his magical shackles.

The silence was broken as the key turned in the lock, producing a screeching sound of old mechanism in need of oiling. The door opened with a whine, and the High Lord Arantir walked in. He looked up at the griffon with a neutral expression and then released his beak.

"I will never tell you anything, scum!" the griffon barked out, spitting at the necromancer. A magical glow surrounded the spit, sending it into the eye of the griffon.

"I have no time to quarrel with you, griffon," Arantir said in a stern tone, "You will lay out everything you know or I will force it out of you. And if you think to lie..." he raised his hoof and gestured at the griffon, "I will know it."

The griffon was silent in defiance, glaring at the necromancer coldly. A few long moments passed before the next words were spoken.

"Judging by your armor, you are a high-ranking officer in the Griffon Empire," Arantir continued, his eyes traveling along the red stripes on the high-quality steel plate armor of the griffon, "It's no surprise you show such devotion to your cause, whatever it may be. Unfortunately for you, it also means that you have valuable information for me," his eyes flashed green, "So, what will it be?"

"Nothing you have can make me speak, pony," the griffon retorted, "I know all your methods, and I will not budge to any of them."

"That is where you are wrong," the necromancer made a green flame appear on his hoof as he raised it. The griffon's eyes widened in surprise, staring at the dancing flame, "You don't know my methods."

On Equestrian shore, Andromalius and Celestia prepared to depart on a boat. The alicorn princess wore a warm coat over her alabaster body, and a scarf was wrapped around her neck. On the horizon, snowy mountains could be seen standing tall and unmoving; beyond them, the Frozen North lay. However, it wasn't the destination of the two.

"I believe everything will go well," Celestia assured her nephew, "You are now a ruler, and as such, you have to participate in meetings with other rules. Build relationships, negotiate agreements and other things of that sort. My sister and I ruled for so long only because we've given a lot of our attention to the art of diplomacy over the course of centuries. We might have the most powerful known magic on our side, but just having a bigger stick than others doesn't mean we should use it. Aggressions brings aggression, Andromalius; the deeper you are in it, the more difficult it is to get out."

"So, we're doing this right now to get allies?" Andromalius asked with interest.

"In simpler terms, yes, that is the case here," the alicorn nodded, "We meet with minotaurs today. They are the most technologically advanced race in the whole known world; we could greatly use their help."

"And what is my place in it?"

"Well, you'll be watching and learning, for the most part," Celestia explained, "It is not uncommon for rulers to bring in their own children or other younger relatives to meetings."

"But why are we traveling alone?" Andromalius looked around to emphasize his point. There was only a couple of civilian ponies that were preparing the relatively small boat.

"We're going to the Concordia Agitatum, the Island of Negotiation. As per tradition and agreements, we must travel alone just like any other ruler that wishes to negotiate," she told him, "If we were to bring weapons, we would be violating the agreement, and the punishment for it is most severe."

Having no more questions, for now, Andromalius nodded in understanding, and the two waited for the preparations to be done. In a few moments, they got into the boat and started making their way over to the distant island.

For a long while, they were silent as the boat quietly floated across the surface of the ocean. The weather was almost still, making an impression of peace. From time to time, pegasi would come down from the skies and snatch fish from just below the surface. All of them soon disappeared as the two rulers continued on their way.

Andromalius stared at the water, his gaze drowned in the movement of the ocean. Absent-mindedly, he put his hoof in the water, feelings its chilly surface. With a heavy mind, he made circles with his hoof, keeping himself calm and distracted during the trip. The events earlier that day echoed inside his head: the sudden and disturbing news, the following talk with Celestia, and then preparations to the meeting with another ruler. All hopes of settling the conflict without many losses were gone, replaced with a grim realization — the war was indeed there, eating up lives with ease.

The hell stallion knew he couldn't be everywhere at once. He wasn't omnipotent, he wasn't all-knowing, and so his only hope was that he would be able to find resources and allies necessary to defeat the griffons; most importantly, he needed to find the reason, dig to the very root of this war. It wasn't a computer game; it wasn't a relaxed match of strategic skill between friends; it was a very real conflict. Andromalius was no longer moving pixels on the screen of his PC, and his opponent wasn't his friend. Many real lives depended on him, depended on his ability to solve problems and think ahead.

He wasn't sure he was ready for this challenge. During the last few months, he uncovered the unexpected truth about himself and the universe as a whole. A son of one of the most powerful entities on Earth and Equestria, he had to take up more responsibility eventually. From having a reasonably peaceful life in a rather small city, he went to being the ruler of an entire country in a foreign world. Even now, it made him think of how impossible it would sound to him just a few months ago. But now, it was very real.

Meanwhile, Celestia was observing him with worry. She sensed his mood but didn't know what to say; she herself hadn't been to a war in many centuries. Despite having hundreds of years worth of diplomatic experience, she didn't manage to sense the incoming war or rise in hostility towards ponies. Had she failed? And if she did, would she fail again? These questions could only be answered by someone who wasn't her, unfortunately.

After what seemed like a small eternity, the island finally appeared from behind the horizon. Andromalius finally raised his eyes and looked in its direction, taking in the scenery. He didn't know what he expected to see, but what he saw managed to surprise him. The island was small and entirely rocky with only a single crooked pine tree in the center of it; under the light shade of the tree, a table made of stone was placed. Under the said table, a somewhat humanoid figure could be seen.

"It seems King Ordin is already here," Celestia said, a soft smile on her face, "Now, Andromalius, remember the greeting — a half-bow. More than a polite nod, less than a full bow. And don't worry — he is a good person, I'm sure you'll have a positive first impression of him."

Andromalius nodded in response, hiding his nervousness. Despite his tough exterior, on the inside, he wasn't ready for such an important event. His experience with such meetings was limited to going to a headmaster's office after someone broke a window in his school, and that situation was much different than the current one. Fortunately, he had Celestia on his side, so he wasn't going into this alone, at the very least.

In a few minutes, the two disembarked the boat and made their way to the table. King Ordin stood up and came from behind the table to meet them. He was a minotaur, slightly taller than either of the ponies, had white fur, a long graying beard and a full head of hair, and piercing green eyes. He made a bow, to which the two responded in kind.

"Long time no see, Princess Celestia," the minotaur king said in a soft deep voice. Then, he turned to Andromalius and sized him up with his eyes. His look was wary but respectable, "I have heard good things about you, Lord Andromalius, and I'm pleased to meet you."

"Any words from others?" Celestia asked as the three took seats at the table.

"Zebrica decided to stay away from this conflict for now," Ordin replied, locking his fingers together and placing his hands on the table, "And I thought they've sent you a letter."

"If there was any, I might've missed it," the alicorn said, "Amidst all this..."

"Yes, I understand," the minotaur king nodded, "And from what I know, other, smaller nations are staying away from this conflict. They have neither the resources nor power to aid either side, and I understand them."

"What about you, King Ordin?" Celestia asked with interest. Before she could continue, however, the minotaur's eyes widened and he jumped across the table in one swift motion, tackling the alicorn. Andromalius stood up, confusion in his eyes, and then something ricocheted from his exoskeleton.

The hell stallion turned around and faced five griffons, all of them armed with crossbows. With a loud whistle, a bolt passed by the demon lord and struck King Ordin in the shoulder, eliciting a cry of pain. Quickly, he pushed Celestia under the table, hiding her from more bolts.

"Are you insane, you damn birds?!" the minotaur shouted in anger. "Do you have any idea what you've just done?!"

Wordlessly, Andromalius surrounded the two with a protective magical shield. Rage welling up in his eyes, he rushed at the griffons, ignoring another bolt that reflected off his front. The element of surprise gone, the griffons could do nothing as the hell stallion charged up his magic and froze all of them in place, preventing them from letting the bolts loose or flying away.

"Now, this..." King Ordin mumbled, standing up, a crossbow bolt stuck in his shoulder, preventing much blood from escaping, "Absolutely... unacceptable!" he roared, his bloodshot eyes glaring at the frozen griffons, "You a-"

A bolt struck him from behind, cutting him in the middle of a sentence. After a long moment, his bulky body fell forward, ending with a thump. Another three griffons were standing from behind, ready to strike. However, Andromalius was the first to act — grabbing all three with his magic, he crashed them against the stone table, making a crack appear. Knocked out, they were no longer a danger.

Quickly, he made his way to the minotaur king and used his magic to pull out the bolts. Breathing heavily, the hell stallion lit his horn again, and this time the glow was golden. In an instant, the wounds on the minotaur's body healed as Ordin groaned, returning from the dead. With a long sigh of relief, Andromalius sat down on the ground.

"I did it... I did it..." he muttered to himself, a sudden smile appearing on his face. This time, he was in the right place at the right time, and he managed to help when the need came. He tried not to think of what would happen if he weren't there. A pleasant buzz in his horn from the recent spell reminded him not to worry, at least for now. What was done was done, and the result was positive.

"King Ordin, are you alright?" Celestia said worriedly as she crawled from under the table, rushing to the minotaur.

"A crushing headache..." he groaned, sitting up, his vision blurred, "Someone hit me in the head really damn hard..." his eyes shot open "The griffons!"

"Dealt with," Andromalius replied, finally finding the strength to stand up and to drag all the unconscious bodies to the table, "An... ambush."

"Oh damn, these bastards..." Ordin growled, "I have no idea what has gotten into them, but it's apparently enough to cause them to declare war on all of us," he looked at the griffons in disgust, "This is unheard of..." he turned back to Celestia and Andromalius, "I am... very grateful for saving my life, Andromalius. I don't know what you did or how you did it, but..." he touched his shoulder, "It seems I'm alive and well. And I thought that... this day was the day," he let out a long sigh, "And as a result of this, the least I can do is to join you. Whatever is going on, I cannot stay out of this; not anymore."

Despite the good news, Andromalius couldn't help but frown. If griffons were willing to break such laws to get to him and his aunt, as well as anyone who would want to ally themselves with the ponies, then what were griffons doing? What was their plan?

Andromalius and Celestia looked at each other and nodded, having the same thoughts in their heads. They might have won this battle and gained an ally, but they were not a step closer to understanding the griffons or deciphering their actions. If anything, the only thing they understood was that griffons had no limits; nothing was law to them, and they would go to great length to win this conflict.

Author's Notes:

And another stat update for Andromalius. The stats haven't changed that much, I only really did one thing: changing his portrait and polishing everything else.