Domination of Equestria - T+50 days.
It’s cold, and dark. It has been ever since I got here, but that’s not been the most unnerving thing about being kept here for days on end, in a world without light or time.
No. The worst thing, was the silence. The enveloping, choking absence of all noise. It had always been like this. I wasn’t sure how it had been accomplished, but from the moment I had come around, the world had fallen mute.
Maybe my ears were damaged. It wouldn’t be surprising given all I had gone through. The last few days had been...traumatic. Maybe it was simply because I had been kept somewhere far away from any source of sound.
Either way, from the moment I awoke on the medical gurney, swathed in bandages and lathered in burn treatment there had been no sign of who, or what had tended my wounds, or any other signs of activity. My skin was still sore, my fur patchy, but I was healing. Not as much could be said for many others of late.
*Clack Clack*
*Clack Clack*
What was that? A rhythmic tattoo in the gloom. A veritable assault on the abused drums in my head. At least it seemed they still functioned. A miracle, or intense first treatment. Someone still wants me around.
*Clack Clack*
*Clack Clack*
Hoofsteps? Something else? Either way, the sounds were getting closer all the time, and along with them a steadily growing green glow slipping through the darkness.
“Who goes the-Hurk!”
My throat is still very sore and abused and it protested at being raised after being left unused for so long. It hurt, the ample water in my den has clearly not had enough time to soothe it properly.
“Good evening {Redacted}. It’s good to see you up and about after your ordeal.”
“Why am I h-Gahg…”
“Don’t speak. Clearly some parts of your body have yet to fully recover. I can help with that.”
His voice was sweet like syrup, yet slick like oil. The deep, dim, ruddy glow of his green lantern barely illuminated his features. He was staring at me, eyes locked on mine intently.
“You’re wondering why I would offer to help {Redacted}?”
I opened my mouth once more to reply, but quickly decided through the rising ache not to. Instead I simply nodded.
“It’s simple. I need you. Your mind, your skills, everything you know and have learnt.”
“...Why?”
His eyes...those eyes...I couldn’t look away. The way the greasy green glow shone upon them cast them into impossibly deep shadows, and yet somewhere in those twin abysses, stars brighter than any I had seen burned through.
“Because {Redacted}, I want to save Equestria. I want to end all the inequalities and failures which have accumulated over the centuries, millennia even, by wiping the slate clean. Burn the old order down, and from its ashes I will build something new. Some will be caught in the flames, but many more will benefit from its warm glow.”
Warm glow? No...those eyes scorched with a fire that would consume everything in their path if it did not move aside first. It was hotter than any passion, yet colder than the most empty void of compassion.
“Why...would I...help...you?”
“Because {Redacted}, I can offer you things that no one else can. Your friends, your family, your home, your people. Don’t worry if it all seems a little cryptic right now, there’s no creatures down here other than us. No one knows you’re here, and I will keep it that way. We can talk here as much as we like without interruption.”
“...Speak…”
“Of course {Redacted}, let me tell you all about my grand idea, what will be my life’s accomplishment. Let me tell you all about my plans for what comes After Harmony…”
Down in the cold, in the dark, the silence was broken. In the days and months to come, it was never again to return to this place, replaced instead by the beat of industry.
Overlord Rule No:77 If I have a fit of temporary insanity and decide to give the hero the chance to reject a job as my trusted lieutenant, I will retain enough sanity to wait until my current trusted lieutenant is out of earshot before making the offer.