Domination of Equestria - T+51 days.
“Oh dear, I’m sorry!”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“I just don’t know what went wrong!”
“Seriously Miss Hooves, It’s fine. The work day is nearly over and I expect Luna to have me out of this shirt in the next couple of hours anyway.”
“Oh...Oh my…”
“Tell me, how’s Dinky settling in?”
“She’s doing great! She’s doing so well in Celeti-ahhh what’s it called now?”
“The Canterlot Officers Corp Academy?”
“Yea! In there! She’s always done well in school and it’s so good to see her doing so well like that.”
“I’m not too surprised. She very much gave me the impression that she would thrive under the strict environment and high academic rigor.”
“Yea, exactly! Oh, I almost forgot, here’s your evening post. There’s this important one from Manehatten, and this one which I got from the Commandant of Canterlot on my way up here.”
“Thank you kindly Miss Hooves. If you could hold on a moment, I expect I’ll be sending at least one immediate reply.”
"Sure!"
“Humm…”
“Um...You ok? It looks like bad news?”
“I’m afraid so. There’s just been another attack in Manehatten. It’s got Rarity’s hoofprints all over it.”
“Oh...right.”
“Quite. I’m sick of only getting bad news from there. It’s been nothing but bungling and terrorism out there.”
"That sounds bad..."
"And to compound it all the Commandant here in Canterlot is now telling me he's missed that seditious bastard Rabble Rouser again!"
“I’m sorry I couldn’t bring you any better news…”
“Oh Ditzy, it’s not your fault. You’re the best mailmare I’ve seen, and it’s you I trust with my most important correspondence for a reason.”
“You...you’re flattering me…”
“It’s all true. Now, I’ve written my reply to the Commandant. Can you take it down to him tonight?”
“Sure! No problem! I’ll see you tomorrow for Dinky’s personal lessons?”
“Two o’clock. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Overlord Rule No:32 I will not fly into a rage and kill a messenger who brings me bad news just to illustrate how evil I really am. Good messengers are hard to come by.
Good. I would hate seeing Derpy hurt.
Then again, our overlord is not an idiot.
ALL HAIL THE DERP!
...I WANT TO BE ON THE OVERLORD'S TEAM!! SERIOUSLY!! Not gunna lie, he may be "evil", but DAMN if he doesn't give ya every reason to be on his side, ya know? Anyone who's good with Derpy is good by me.
6711602 I wouldn't really call him evil, more an overlord that wants to take over the world, but with as little trouble and hassle as he can possibly get, which means not being a massive asshole to everyone when they don't deserve it. Basically, be benevolent and the people you rule won't have a reason to want to overthrow you, and not because of fear but because it simply works well and (almost)everyone's happy.
*nods in agreement*
True that, son. True that.
"The Canterlot Officers Corp Academy"
Finally an equal opportunity center for higher education available to all races! Progress we can believe in!
The truth has been spoken. Okay, I'd likely end up keeping a punching bag in my office. That way I don't break a hand on a wall, so it's likely I'd scare the crap out of my messengers.
6711650 Maybe we could call it the Canterlot Officers Corp Outstanding Academy. C.O.C.O.A. for short.
(Yes, I just wanted to do that)
Derpy.
6711624 Well he's mostly not evil.
This rule expresses the most idiotic trope in all of super villian history.
Sure, getting bad news can be frustrating but killing the messenger is just dumb. It doesn't help short term and harms a LOT long term.
You kill the bringer of bad news just once and suddenly you either get bad news sugar coated (and/or delayed) or not at all. Knowledge is power and cutting yourself off of your own information network is the dumbest thing you can do.
I know in film and such it exists to show he is evil and doesn't care for others' lifes. It is still dumb.
MfG NIchtraucher
Quite so.
6711464
I don't know....he tempted Murphy after his final conquest.
Such a simple and effective rule. Is it a wonder why villains never succeed if this list was specifically made for them?
6712270 and then proceeded to make countermeasures and contingencies for any incoming scenarios...
So...what is so evil about this guy, other than being a conqueror and all that goes with it?
6711624 6713163 That's basically a result of the list. Most of the "evil" things bad guys do in stories to show they are supposed to be the bad guys are just plain stupid so being smart results in you cutting out the evil. About the worst you can do if you actually follow the list is morally ambiguous because even if you are a jerk, you will be a competent administrator who does a good job taking care of the country and its population with minimal trouble which is frankly better than most countries in the real world manage.
6713163
Not much. True, he's a mass-murdering, warmonging torturer and rapist, who mentally broke both Luna, Cadence, made them (and other mares, as it is implied) his personal fucktoys, sealed Celestia in a magic-siphoning torture device (The Solar Furnace) and uses her as a living mana-battery for his superweapon, and is a malicious master-planner who's not above using anything or anyone to further his ambitions, but after his original bout of evil, he's done so much good in the aftermath that what bad he has done almost seems negligible.
6711725 I think 'Canterlot Officer's Corp of Outstanding Academics' flows better.
6714819
The Simpson references are strong with this one.
6713399 I just love the way you described him.
I think that the Overlord is affably evil?
6713372
Or as I like to phrase it "sufficiently competent evil is indistinguishable from good".
6713399 So a Lex Luthor level Magnificent Bastard then?
6713163 He's a mass murdering sex fiend. But that doesn't really make him that different than other would be world emperors from our own history. Kinda put's Rome in a new light, doesn't it?
6772549 Hell, if anything he's a saint compared to most historical overlords.
Didn't he, like...die?
7148931
Look at the timestamp at the beginning of each chapter.
There is 297 days between this chapter and chapter four.
6712051 Not only that but you also risk getting betrayed by others who will fear that you will kill them when they put one toe out of line.
6713399
Ahhh sarcasm. My heart feels lighter already. Although with Luna it isn't actually clear because when they got married he told her that once he had the time she would love him. Maybe he broke her, maybe he really did win her love (he certainly is cunning enough to do either). With Cadence it was more taking advantage of an unexpected situation. Also, the other mares...you might be right, but since it was in his dreams we have no way of knowing whether Luna counts it as cheating if it is in his dreams or if those were memories through dreams, so to speak.
6738645 8199959
In truth, I can't even remember if I was being serious or sarcastic, because what I said was kinda both. Soooo, thanks?
6772534
Got it in one, ma boy. A more successful version of Lex Luthor who happened to land in Equestria.
8204989 well I think it's a pretty accurate description, you just framed it in such a way it sounds ridiculous, like a bizarre comedy of sorts.
But now, If you take it seriously it makes you realize that some of the worst things you can think of can actually be outweighted by extraordinary beneficial actions. Which is pretty controversial. On the bright side it means that no matter how terrible of a mistake you make there could always be a way to make up for it and redeem yourself. While on the dark side anything that makes unambiguously wrong actions be somehow more acceptable can lead to an increase in such wrong doings and people feeling like actions don't matter that much.
I guess the key is in remembering that no good deed gives the right to/or excuses anyone for doing bad things, and that no bad deed done negates the value of what good things have and/or are being done (unless that bad deed is the explicit opposite of the good deed in question, naturally).
~Leonzilla