"No one saw or heard anything, your majesty," one of the guards reported to Princess Luna once the initial on-site investigation was concluded. The alicorn scrunched her muzzle and closed her eyes, suppressing a curse boiling in her maw. She knew she was tired, easily irritable, but she needed to think clearly.

"Disappointing, but not unexpected," she replied with an unsteady sigh, "Very well... return to thy assigned patrol route and continue as normal."

"Right away, your majesty," the guard bowed, and his patrol disappeared in the streets of Canterlot soon after, leaving the princess and the hell stallion alone. With the prisoner transports gone and the guards back on their assignments, the place was clear, and nothing reminded of the attack that happened barely twenty minutes ago. The high mountain winds blew, whistling and whispering as they always did at the edge of Canterlot.

For some time, Luna simply led Andromalius back to the castle in silence, taking one of the more crowded routes. The ponies parted as soon as they saw the two coming, allowing them to pass without slowing down. A deep frown was present on the face of the tired alicorn, her body tense and her ears down. She stared ahead of herself without looking at anything in particular, ignoring the ponies that turned to look at her as she went. She half-yawned before refocusing her mind on the task, namely figuring out who was behind the attacks.

The attackers were five in total, and their steps led from the busy streets straight to Andromalius without a stop at any particular point. They were mostly untrained, and the weapons found on them were unremarkable – could come from any blacksmith in the city. It wasn't forbidden to carry weapons within city limits, but certain limitations were in place, disallowing anything above a certain length of blade and hilt; carrying crossbows within city limits, on the other side, was prohibited completely. The charred remains of those the attackers had could still provide insight, however; weapon manufacturers were required to stamp serial numbers and their special mark on the most durable parts of the weapons, and the metal bowstaves were still relatively intact.

The attackers themselves were unremarkable; they would easily blend in with the colorful and diverse crowds of Canterlot. Of course, there were records about these ponies somewhere, but it was unlikely for anything useful to be found. If anything, Luna expected to find out that their families knew nothing about it either.

With these thoughts in her mind, Princess Luna returned to the castle and decided to head straight to her personal study. If anything, privacy would help her a great deal; however, she decided to bring Andromalius along just to make sure she wasn't missing anything. There was always a bigger picture in mind, and having an extra head to think would considerably widen her own view, opening it to new possibilities she wouldn't be able to reach on her own.

"'Tis obvious they are being very careful," Luna spoke, looking at the map of Canterlot she laid on her table, "Thou wast attacked here. I wouldn't draw any conclusions just yet, but this is the rich part of the city, so 'tis probably worth keeping in mind. May I ask what thou wast doing there, by the way?"

"Just exploring the city," the hell stallion replied honestly. With the benefit of hindsight, he would've probably noticed ponies following him; alas, he did not. He realized he needed more awareness, especially knowing that someone persistently wanted him gone from Canterlot and Luna's side.

"Very well, canst thou draw thy path?" the alicorn suggested, "It might be nothing, but every little detail, no matter how seemingly insignificant, would help us in the investigation."

Agreeing with her, Andromalius picked up a pencil and drew a line through the city, placing dots on specific points he stopped at. He didn't know what could be concluded from this, but he didn't know the city nearly as well as Princess Luna did, and neither did he know its citizens.

Luna thought for a long time, her eyes traveling along the line time and time again. Sometimes, her eyes shifted to nearby mapped objects, and a deep frown was ever-present on her face. She also kept scratching her chin with the other end of the pencil. She even chewed it for a moment, but then noticed the hell stallion staring, and it forced her to place the pencil on the table.

"This doth not lead anywhere," she sighed, a flash of anger and frustration in her eyes, and then said through gritted teeth, "They are careful indeed..."

"What about the prisoners?" Andromalius suggested, although he suspected she had already thought about them.

"I doubt they know anything useful," she waved her hoof and stifled a tired yawn, "They were most likely dispensable, and their fanaticism for light removes the possibility of reasoning with them. Most likely, they were given simple instructions and even simpler reasons to follow them, but I suspect it was done via proxy. The only real lead we have is the strange artifact..."

The sphere flew into the room, carried by Luna's magic. She carefully placed it on the table in such a way that it wouldn't roll off. The smoke inside it was still. The surface of the orb felt hot to the touch, and there was some sort of strange pulsation, magical in nature. Luna pulled out a magnifying glass and stared at the sphere through it, narrowing her eyes until they were slits.

The clock ticked loudly, second passing by second. At first, Andromalius hoped she would suddenly spring up and find an easy solution they both overlooked until then. But as seconds turned into minutes, his hope faded away, turning into disappointment and frustration, and he felt Luna shared it. However, even if that was true, she wasn't showing it, focusing all her attention on studying the artifact instead.

Andromalius thought he was lucky he managed to catch it before it hit the ground, but it would be for naught if there was nothing helpful about it. It was certainly an interesting artifact, but if it was but a dead end, it would cease being useful to either of the two for the time-being.

"Thou saidst it was used on thee," Luna reminded, turning to the hell stallion, "And thou felts... naught?"

"Nothing at all," he shook his head, "But I remember that the... mist inside it was moving. It definitely doesn't now."

"Interesting..." she peered through the magnifying glass again, "I can see... symbols. But they're too small, hard to decipher amidst everything else. But if it was supposed to work on thee, then maybe there's a reason the attackers and those behind them thought so," she put down the magnifying glass and started pacing along the side of the table, "I believe 'tis fair to assume they took into account the fact that thou'rt a demon. I've not heard much about them, but supposedly, they were banished quite a long time ago. Maybe this is the artifact that did it? But then, if it is, why would they risk losing the only supposed weapon they have against demons?" she forced herself to a stop and looked at the orb yet again, "Or... alternatively, this is but one of many artifacts used to banish demons. And..." her brows went up as she nearly pressed her muzzle against the orb, "Aha! This might just be the confirmation of my thoughts... some symbols are obviously torn. So, this is a part of something larger!" she turned to Andromalius again, "Art thou following?"

He nodded in confirmation. He had read plenty about artifacts that were broken into pieces for various reasons; in Heroes of Might and Magic 5, for example, a portal was locked by a key, and the key was broken into two parts, which were then hidden away. Andromalius found it entirely possible that this sphere was a part of a bigger artifact or a set of them; maybe finding the rest would prove to be the key to unlocking the mystery he found himself in, be it the conspiracy against Luna or his appearance in Equestria. However, where would he even start? Unlike the game, this world wasn't designed with gameplay in mind; another sphere or a similar artifact could be hidden anywhere in Canterlot or outside of it. There could be magical defenses placed around the artifacts, and Andromalius had no idea how he would deal with that. The possibilities, all in all, were endless, and he needed to narrow them down before proceeding.

"We need to find out who used to own such an orb, but we must do so discreetly," Luna continued, "A few Canterlot families might help, for their loyalty lieth with my sister and I. But we must be careful not to tip off those we pursue, otherwise it would all be for naught. I suggest that thou getst some rest, for there is training ahead, and perhaps even more than before. Thou hast to be ready in case any other attacks happen, especially if our adversary decideth to be more... devious in their plans."

"I think I know what it is," Inanna spoke inside Andromalius' head once he was back in his room. Until then, she was completely silent, deep in her own thoughts following the attack.

"What?" he asked, slightly startled by her sudden reappearance. And this time, for some reason, she didn't project herself near him but simply talked inside his head.

"If stories are true... This is probably the part of the Sphere of Purity, a powerful artifact that banished all demons... five thousand years ago, I think?" she explained slowly and with uncertainty, "I don't really know that much, but... it's strange that the artifact didn't work on you."

"Maybe because I'm not from here," he offered a plausible explanation, "I... can't really think of anything else."

"Could be that, yeah... or something else," the succubus replied in a hushed tone, "Do you realize what this could mean? The princess really said it all – the Elements did nothing but knock you out, and the fragment of the Sphere did nothing. Even a blade just bounced off of you!"

"You think I'm immortal?" Andromalius rolled his eyes, "Pff, that's definitely not it."

"But if you are?" Inanna pressed, "Just think about it... And even if you're not, there's something really important about you. Maybe you have a purpose here, don't you think? I mean, why did you change bodies? Why were you given the body you have now? It's really, and I mean, really far-fetched to call it a coincidence, luck, or whatnot. Such things don't happen randomly."

With each word coming from the succubus, Andromalius found himself agreeing with her. There was no luck about what happened to him, things were just too specific. An equine, yet demonic body; capability to do great magic; some form of invulnerability; and who knows what else. What she said made complete sense, and it scared him. He never believed in a higher power, it never made sense to him, but now... something was working, someone was offering him powerful abilities. But why, and who could be his mysterious benefactor? A bigger question would be, what purpose did he play in this world? Truthfully, there was no answer to that – yet. But if someone was indeed guiding him, aiding him, then why didn't they speak to him? Inanna was a weird case, for she appeared out of nowhere, but it didn't seem like she was the one behind it. However, there was a question lingering in Andromalius' mind about her...

"Inanna, why exactly did you contact me? he asked carefully and slowly. And for a long moment, there was nothing but silence from the succubus – uncharacteristically of her, that much was true.

"It is said..." she began quietly, "An otherwordly demon would come, bringing freedom and knowledge. He would destroy the barrier, free the demons, and rule them justly and fairly..."

"And you think...I am that demon?" Andromalius felt his eyebrows rise, and a shiver ran down his spine, chilling him to the core. Prophecies weren't uncommon by any means, but now he was a part of one. He was that demon, the coincidences were simply impossible. His mind was spiraling out of control as he tried to make sense of Inanna's words.

He wasn't a demon, however – he was a human... was he? On the inside, he definitely was, but certainly not in body or anything else. However, why would he be a candidate? Compared to smarter and better people on Earth, he knew nothing at all, especially when it came to governing. Like any human being, he had a list of random trivia in his head, but that barely constituted for proper knowledge if at all.

"That's why I'm talking to you – I was tasked with testing you," she admitted, knowing full well that lying her way out would be impossible at this point and would do nothing but alienate the hell stallion, "While you're, frankly, not the best candidate for a ruler, and you have a lot to learn, you do still fit the prophecy, and... nothing shows a better candidate anytime soon."

Andromalius let out a long, shaky sigh as he sat on the floor in his room. He remained silent for a long time, staring at the ceiling as if it could burst and free him of all the burden. Or, at the very least, collapse and knock him out or kill him outright. After all, what was he to do with all this? First, he was a part of some grand conspiracy to remove Luna from power, and now he was revealed as a part in an ancient prophecy relating to demons. Was there a way to deal with it without losing his mind? In fact, he could already feel himself slipping through.

Out of nowhere, a thought came to his mind – it was all going to be alright. As if a pleasant voice whispered to him, he could hear the words: he was strong, and he could learn to be stronger. In the face of unfair odds, he would prevail; in danger, he would fight his way out. While he lacked understanding as of now, he could gain it through time and effort. It was a calming, reassuring thought; but it wasn't enough.

"Andromalius, are you alright?" Inanna asked, genuine concern in her voice.

"Just... give me some time, please..." he replied weakly, stood up and then stumbled to the bed; almost breaking its legs, he crashed onto the bedsheets and sighed, enjoying how cool they felt. He would have to confront the prophecy one way or another, but for now, he desired nothing more than a few hours of good sleep.