The glorious and peaceful fields of Elysium, the wonderful place of rest for the faithful ponies that followed the divine rulers of Equestria and their harmonious teachings, was said to be the pinnacle of perfection mortal minds could not truly conceive.

Still, a small part of Halberd tried to imagine that promised place, that Heaven where the good, faithful believers would go as he tied the rope around his neck.

And as his body fought instinctively to breathe, that small part prayed to see his family, his friends and the love of his life on those fields.

Waking up in a white room, sitting in a wide chair and with a wooden table in front of him was...

Well, he was very confused.

A hoof rubbed his neck (a neck free of pain and even the slightest hint of a rope tied around it) as he surveyed the room. There was nothing in there; no windows, not even a door, just him, the chair and the table.

And yet there was light, coming from no visible source.

"What's going on..?" He thought out loud as his eyes kept roaming over the walls, trying to find something, anything-

"You are dead."

The pegasus startled, almost falling off his chair as he turned; at the other side of the table, sitting in a chair that wasn't there a second ago, was a Diamond Dog.

With grey fur and a simple black jacket with golden lines, he was resting his head in a paw, elbow pressing against the wood.

A golden necklace with small, transparent orbs hanged from his neck, matching the brazalets on his wrists. Some were empty, others filled with small flames or wisps of dancing shadows.

"You hanged yourself, and you died."

Halberd Wings stared, blinking.

And blinking.

He opened his mouth. Closed it. Blinked a couple more times.

"Let me guess: you were expecting Elysium?" The dog asked.

The pegasus nodded. "I... Y-yes. I mean, I... hoped..."

"You and every Equestrian soldier that has time to pray before death. And most of those who don't, too," the Diamong Dog said, scratching his head as he looked away for a few seconds. He then looked back and straightened himself. "No living being actually knows what comes after death, and yet they are so sure... Anyway, that particular crisis of faith can wait for later..."

"Wait, how can that wait-"

"...because we have more important things to deal with." The dog extended an arm.

"You can call me Garen."

Halberd Wings' eyes shifted between the paw and his face, confusion evident at the gesture.

The awkward moment stretched for a few seconds until Garen retracted his arm. "Right, wrong greeting; I keep mixing them..." He muttered before clearing his throat.

"As I said, I'm Garen and I'm here to help you, Halberd Wings."

The pegasus tensed. "How do you know my name?"

"I'm a spirit, it's what I do."

"..."

Garen sighed."Right, you don't know. You see, mortals are like books, and beings like me can "read" them; that way we learn about them and create a space they can understand, take forms they can recognize, know what they went through so we can help them."

That felt like a total invasion of his privacy and being, but while the old Halberd would have protested, the person he was now was only annoyed and resigned at that.

Besides, he had left his diary behind so someone would know his story, so he kept his complaints to himself.

"So, if you are not a Diamong Dog, what are you?"

"I'm a spirit, a being born in this plane of existance. Don't ask about how I really look; you couldn't perceive it anyway and I can't describe it in words you can comprehend."

"...And why a Diamond Dog?"

Garen shrugged. "I liked the form."

Halberd rubbed his forehead. "Ok, what's going on? Why am I here? Why are you here?"

"You died-"

"Yes, I know that."

Garen rolled his eyes. "Let me finish. You died full of hatred."

The pegasus' expresion hardened, pain and hatred and contempt clear for all to see. "You know all about me, don't you? Then you know why."

"Another stupid war, yes-"

Halberd's hooves impacted loudly against the table. "Stupid?! Stupid?! We offered humanity salvation! To become better than the disgusting monsters they were! And instead they destroyed us! They would rather drown in their sins than live in harmony! How dare you call such evil stupid?! How dare you call our suffering stupid?!"

Garen stayed calm, only looking annoyed at Halberd's angry shouting, staring at the pony glaring at him.

"Because I work with soldiers."

Though still angry and breathing heavily, Halberd's brows twisted in confusion.

"You think you are the first person I deal with? Or the first soldier? When we spirits decided to help the souls of the dead, we agreed to specialize in groups. I got sorted into helping soldiers and warriors, and I've been doing this since before there was light in ANY universe."

Garen's voice was firm and stern, his eyes hard as diamond. Halberd sat down, rage dying as he found himself listening and trying to imagine that.

"So you..?"

"Have dealt with quintillions of soldiers, warriors and fighters. Seen, through their memories, more wars than there are grains of sand in both your old world and Earth. And I have decided that war is stupid. Get angry at me if you want, but that is what I believe."

"... All we went through was not stupid," Halberd countered. "All that pain, all that sacrifice, all that loss... And that traitor giving up at the end..."

They stared at each other in silence, Halberd looking away as he realized Garen was looking at him with pity in his eyes. Don't do that, you bastard. You don't get to call our war stupid and then act like you feel sorry for us.. for me...

Garen finally broke the silence. "I'm here to help you, Halberd. And that means, among other things, make you see the futility of the war."

"I don't need your help. And we fought to save an evil race, before realizing they were beyond salvation."

Garen Ignored that last part, for the moment. "This is the first part of the afterlife; the frontier between the mortal world and what awaits beyond, so to speak. You have taken the first step, but I can't let you go further."

Halberd turned back to stare at Garen in shock and renewed anger.

"W-what? Why would you do that?! How is stopping me from reaching Elysium helping?!"

"Because you will turn into a demon, if you keep going."

Author's Note

Welcome to this little story I've had in my head since the end of Warfare.

No one knows what happens when we die, so I came up with a little character to try and help Halberd with all the hatred the war left him with.

Now it's up to him if he accepts or not.

To remind you in case you skipped the story's description, this story in non-canon with the NegotiationsVerse.