Lord Leikvard Redbeak descended towards the castle with a strong flap of his wings, his guards falling into perfect formation behind him. The griffon never did enjoy talking with the alicorn sisters... they were simply too peaceful and harmonic in his opinion, not a single true warrior among them. Not that it could be helped though, there was an important issue that needed to be dealt with; a decision had to be reached concerning the area of the former Blackshadow Reach.
In the past, the mountain range known as Blackshadow Reach in the north of Equestria had formed the natural border to the griffon empire... but not anymore. There had been an earthquake, followed by a landslide and the collapse of a large part of the mountain range. As a result, a huge canyon had formed.
A huge canyon that now stood like an open gate between Equestria and the griffon empire... the natural border was gone. And now, a new border had to be drawn.
The problem, however was that none of the two nations wanted the area as its own. It was nothing more than a wrecked landscape, difficult to oversee and hazardous to cross... diamond dogs had already started to dig their tunnels into the debris... At the same time though, none of them wanted the other side to lay claim to the area. After all, it was still an open path between the two kingdoms.
Making it accessible would be extremely hazardous, any operation in the secluded area was difficult and expensive... not to mention what it would mean to send an army to secure the region. Splitting it between the two nations would not do either; too much potential for conflict. And letting it go to the diamond dogs? Leikvard shook his head, that was completely out of the question. He could only hope that the alicorns would make some sort of offer that he could accept, but he somehow doubted it.
Even as Leikvard and his bodyguards landed on the platform of the main tower, his thoughts did not leave him peace. Time was of essence here, the longer they waited the deeper the dogs would dig... The doors of the large tower opened, but what stepped out of them was no alicorn.
"What in the world?" Leikvard raised an eyebrow as he watched the strange creature approach. He checked his surroundings carefully, shouldn't there have been guards? The platform was completely empty except for him, his guards and... whatever it was.
"Greetings!" the strange creature offered a broad smile and spread its arms, "It is my pleasure to welcome the great Lord Redbeak and his fearless griffon warriors to Canterlot castle!" he bowed deeply before the griffons, "May your talons always find the meat of your prey."
Redbeak gave a short nod, whatever this thing was, at least it knew what respect meant. He waited for the creature to rise again, "Thank you for your welcome... but who are you? Where are princess Celestia and princess Luna?" his brow furrowed, "More importantly, what are you?"
For a short moment, a small, white and blue butterfly flew around the necromancer's head, its little wings fluttering furiously. Aergad pushed it away with a small wave of his hand, "Me? Oh, you are going to love me!" he watched the butterfly fly around him with a smirk... it was glowing in the dark.
---
"They're bringing more cake!" Twilight wailed desperately as the pygmies stuffed another piece of frosted dessert into her mouth.
"Where do they even get all of this stuff?!" Calindria cried out as she furiously tried to evade the slice of cake aimed for her mouth.
"It's delicious!" Luna sobbed between bites.
Next to her, Celestia too was trying to free herself from her bonds while being force fed a milkshake. She had managed to evade some of it, but she feared that she had already gained several pounds... not to mention that her whole coat was covered in sugar. Her eyes widened in fear as she saw the pygmies carry out a huge banana sundae.
"Princess Celestia? Princess Luna?" they all looked up and into the face of Pipsqueak, "Why are you inside a box?"
"Kid?" Calindria looked up between another bite, "Don't look inside or..." she paused, "How come you don't fall inside?"
"Fall inside?" Pipsqueak raised an eyebrow in wonder before spotting the mountains of cake, "Oh, wow! Can I have some too?"
For a moment, Celestia did not understand how the little foal had managed to open the box without being trapped by it. But then, she remembered what one of the imps had once told her; the necromancer would never endanger a child... or a foal for that matter. Granted, it would lessen her fury... but not much.
"Young foal?" she called up to the foal, "You are our only hope. Can you find a way to get us out of this trap?"
Pipsqueak scrunched his face, trying to understand why they would want to leave the magical land of candy... but she was the princess. The foal picked up the box, inspecting it from all sides as the feast inside continued relentlessly. For a moment, he wondered what he should do and then, out of impulse... he turned it around and gave it a shake.
---
"And then... and then, you know what she answered?" Aergad's grin widened as he gasped for air, "She ate the cherry!"
Leikvard burst into laughter, hammering his fist onto the table as the necromancer poured him another glass of Ruby Coast and struggling for breath as tears entered his eyes. "Beautiful!" the griffon laughed as he took another big gulp, "I would never have thought that my visit here would be this entertaining!" he gave Aergad a poke as he started to slur in his drunken state, "You have got to visit the griffon empire sometime, you know... meet someone more of your caliber."
"Oh?" Aergad chuckled as he watched the griffon wobble on his seat, "Is that an offer I hear?"
"Just a suggestion!" Leikvard put his arm around the necromancer's shoulders, "Someone with your talent is obviously wasted on the ponies! When you do get bored, send us a message!"
"I'll keep it in mind." Aergad smiled.
Their celebration was interrupted as the doors to the royal hall were thrown open, and Celestia entered in a dash... her coat smeared with cake and the alicorn clearly upset. The moment she spotted the two at the table, many emotions ran over her face; anger when she spotted the grinning necromancer... and worry when she saw the heavily drunken griffon.
"Lord Redbeak..." she started, furiously trying to think of how to excuse whatever mischief he had undoubtedly already performed. The countless butterflies she had encountered on her way had not necessarily lessened her anger... not in the least.
"Ahh, Celestia!" Leikvard greeted her with a smile she had never seen before, the old griffon had never been the friendly type... "Me and Aergad here were just talking about you! A most splendid..." he turned to the necromancer, "What were you again?"
"You mean besides awesome?" Aergad replied, making both of them burst out into laughter.
"Well, whatever he is..." Leikvard continued, "He is simply fabulous!" he sighed, "Well then, I fear that I must return to the empire to make everything official." he turned to the necromancer, "Think about my offer."
"What?" Celestia asked with surprise, "But what about Blackshadow Reach?"
"Me and Aergad have already come to an agreement, and I am sure you will be delighted to hear..."
The necromancer held up a contract, the griffons' seal imprinted on it shining like a beacon as he grinned with that maniacal smile, "That we're going to be neighbors! I've gotten a nation of my own!"
If Celestia's mouth could have dropped any further it would have... Next to her, a butterfly exploded into a puff of magic, and a dazed Shining Armor hit the ground.