Overlord Equestria
Book 1: Infiltration (part 2)
It had been three days since Cleaning Miracle have returned. During that time, she successfully resumed her duties as maid/undercover bodyguard.
But also, she was pending on the recovery the earth pony she rescued from the deeps of the Everfree Forest. Constantly asking for updates of her status, and paying visits.
And, finally, the earth pony have opened her eyes and was taken to the Princesses to give them an explanation. Cleaning Miracle was also allowed to be there for her friend, since she needed a lot of support.
“Your Highnesses!” said the earth pony, bowing nervously to Celestia and Luna.
The two Princesses gave her a greeting nod, and a warm smile. They could see from miles away that the girl was really nervous.
“Greetings, my little pony.” said Celestia softly. “What is your name?”
The earth pony smiled weakly. “My name is Nabel. It’s an honor to meet you, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna.”
Luna smiled warmly. “A strange name, but not less beautiful. Tell us, Nabel, what were you doing at the Everfree Forest?”
Nabel looked at Cleaning Miracle, and then lowered her gaze, sighing sadly. “I, I was tired. Tired of everything.” explained the mare. “At this point, my life was nothing but a succession of errors. Finally, I decided I had enough, and…”
“You went into the forest, waiting for a monster to kill you?!” asked Celestia, visibly worried.
Nabel only stared at the floor, unable to say anything.
“But, my little pony, you are still young, with an entire life before you!” gasped Luna. “Why would you take a decision so extreme like ending your life? Your life itself is the most valuable present you would ever have. Why giving it up like that?”
Nabel began to cry. “Like I said, my life is nothing but a mess! I was tired of failing! What else could I do?!”
“Listen to me, my little pony,” said Celestia, “no matter how bad the situation seems, there is always a solution. Nothing can be so awful to lead you to take your own life!”
Luna was also really concerned. “And now what, young Nabel? Are you going to try to kill yourself again?”
Nabel didn’t answer. She continued staring at the floor, as tears ran through the corner of her eyes.
“No, in the end, I couldn’t. Before I realized, I was running to save my life. In the end, I was too coward to die. Unbelievable, I can’t do anything right. Not even dying.”
Cleaning Miracle put a hoof on Nabel’s shoulder. “It’s alright, you only realized you want to live. Isn’t that good?”
“Yes, but, now what? I have no friends, no family, I have nothing. I am nothing. I want to live, but, to live in loneliness all over again? No, I can’t take it anymore.”
“You were lucky enough for me to find you.” smiled Cleaning Miracle. “That means life is giving you a second chance.” Then, the maid turned to the Princesses. “Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, please, is there any chance you can give Nabel a fresh start?”
“What do you have in mind, Cleaning Miracle?” asked Princess Luna.
“Let Nabel work here, as one of your maids. As head maid, I promise I’ll look after her.”
Princess Celestia seemed pleased with the idea. “I love the initiative, Cleaning Miracle, but, what about what Nabel wants. Do you think it’s a good idea, young Nabel?”
“I… I… I used to be a maid of a wealthy merchant in Vane-Eccia.” explained Nabel. “I… I am a very capable maid. If you allow me, I’ll be delighted to work for you from now on.”
The Princesses nodded, satisfied with the resolution.
“Very well, young Nabel. You’ll be working for us from now on. Cleaning Miracle would take care of your accommodations. But, you must promise us something.”
Nabel gulped, nervous. “What is it, oh, Princesses?”
“You’ll have to make some friends.” said Celestia. “There’s no better remedy for loneliness and depression than friendship. They’ll help you to left behind whatever made you take the resolution of finishing your life.”
Nabel bowed, not sure of what to do or say.
Cleaning Miracle chuckled at this, and patted her back in a comforting way.
“It’s easier than you think, Nabel. You already have a friend in me.” assured Cleaning Miracle.
“Thank you, thank you so much…”
Both ponies exited the Throne Room in silence, feeling between nervous and happy. Or that was what they wanted the others to think.
In reality, Cleaning Miracle was relieved that everything went as fine as she promised to her new masters.
Soon enough, Cleaning gave her lady an empty room on the personnel wing. She was reluctant to give her beloved savior such an undignified accommodation, but it was necessary for the plan to work.
“You seem troubled, Cleaning Miracle.” said Narberal indifferently. “I hope that doesn’t interfere with your mission.”
“Of course not, Lady Narberal!” said Cleaning, bowing before her. “But, I am not comfortable with giving you this small room, when you deserve much more. A being like you having to content with this just doesn’t feel right.”
Narberal Gamma smiled a little. “It’s okay, you should see the rooms I had to stay when I was being an adventurer with Lord Ainz. Besides, this room is only a bit smaller that my room in Nazarik.”
Cleaning Miracle nodded nervously.
“Glad to hear it, My Lady. Whatever you need, just name it. I am forever at your service.”
Narberal Gamma stared at Cleaning with her ice-cold gray eyes.
“Remember, Cleaning, your Loyalty should lie with Lord Ainz before me.”
“Of course, Lady Narberal. Of course! But as long as there are only the two of us, I’ll serve you, in the name of Lord Ainz.”
With that, Cleaning Miracle left the room.
Flashback, one week earlier:
Cleaning Miracle was running for her life.
Everything started to went wrong at the very first moment she put a hoof on the Baharuth Empire.
Unfortunately for her, the recent events on the Empire had all the court magicians in extreme alert, and they began to look at her suspiciously despite the perfect disguise created by the Princesses themselves.
But, what called everyone’s attention, was the fact that she began to ask too many questions about the incident at the ruins.
And, before Cleaning could realize, she was being chased by a bunch of soldiers.
“Magic Cancellation!” shouted the Magic Caster, sending a spell over Cleaning Miracle.
The spell hit her right on the back, making her human body to dissolve in a flash of light, revealing Cleaning’s true self: a little pony.
“Oh, look, a pony. Go get her!”
Cleaning Miracle tried to run faster, trying to lose her pursuers in the forest. But they knew the area better, and she was starting to get tired. It was only a matter of time for them to get her.
“There’s nowhere to escape. Soon enough you’ll show us the way to your Hidden Kingdom.”
But then, it happened.
A golden dragon crossed the skies, and devastated the capital with its fire breath, followed by an army of undeads. Tall creatures, wearing black armors, with rotten faces, carrying giant swords with heavy shields.
“What is this?” asked one of the humans, chasing Cleaning Miracle.
His voice called the attention of one undead, who sent a powerful blow to the human, cutting him in half.
The undead then turned to the others, and smashed his head with the shield. Another one tried to run, but the undead threw his sword, cutting his head off with no effort.
“What’s the meaning of this?” gasped Cleaning Miracle, shaking in fear.
The monster turned to her, and stared. Cleaning gulped, but soon, the undead continued his search for humans, ignoring Cleaning.
More of those monsters from the pits of hell continued their advance.
If they didn’t ignore Cleaning, they simply stared at her, and then continued their way. But, if they find a human, men, women, even children, they killed them mercilessly.
“What is going on?” whispered the terrified Cleaning Miracle.
Suddenly, someone pulled her mane.
“Gotcha!” grinned the human soldier who captured her.
“No!! Let me go!” cried Cleaning Miracle.
“I don’t know what’s going on, little pony, but I know it is your fault. It doesn’t matter, I have you now. I’ll take you to Paradyne, and I’ll be rewarded. Let’s just wait for this madness to end and…”
“Oh, look, someone escaped from the Death Knights.” said a cold voice right behind them.
The human and Cleaning turned, to see a group of six beautiful women.
They all were dressed in maid costumes. No, it weren’t maid costumes. It looked more like armors, designed to resemble maid costumes.
Each one of them were extremely beautiful, young, and graceful. But they were surrounded by a sinister aura that gave chills to Cleaning and the soldier who captured her.
Then, the soldier recognized one of them.
“Hey! I know you. Aren’t you the ‘Beautiful Princess Nabel’ from Darkness?”
One of the maids, with black hair tied in a tight ponytail, and cold gray eyes grinned. “Yes, I’ve been known as Nabel for many times. But today I came as Narberal Gamma, one of the Battle Maids from the Great Tomb of Nazarik.”
Narberal crated an electric sphere in her hands. “And, I came to make sure no one escapes. You, and all humans (worms) should suffer the righteous rage of Lord Ainz.”
She then sent the electric sphere to the soldier, killing him instantly. Narberal grinned evilly as she sniffed the air. “Mmmh, even the planarian smells good well-done. Entoma, would you like them?”
One of her partners, with purple hair, and red eyes, with eastern-styled clothing simply clapped her hands in excitement. “Really? Thank you, Narberal!”
The strange woman took the corpse, and began to eat him. But, strangely enough, her mouth didn’t move. But Cleaning could clearly hear the sound of powerful jaws chewing and ripping pieces of flesh, as the creature moaned in pleasure. “Oishii!”
Cleaning gulped, looking at the six women. “Please don’t kill me!”
One of them, a beautiful blonde with blue eyes and a unnerving smile raised an eyebrow at this. “Did that thing spoke? Interesting!”
“Okay, shall we keep her as a pet, or kill her?” asked a red-haired one, with dark skin and golden eyes.
“She seems cute.” said one with light pink-orange hair, amber eyes, and an eyepatch.
The older one, with short black hair tied in a bun, green eyes, and glasses, called them to order. “Girls, remember to stay alert. We’re here to make sure no one escapes, not to capture wild life and keep them as pets. We’re not Lady Aura.”
“But this thing can talk, Yuri-nee!” said the red-haired one. “Aren’t you a bit intrigued?”
“Fine, we can ask one of the Guardians if you want, but I do not recommend to bother Lord Ainz with frivolities like this.” sighed Yuri.
“I don’t know, remember what happened with Lord Sebas and his pet, Tsuare?” asked the blond one. “This may be of his interest.”
The six things began to argue what to do with Cleaning Miracle.
The poor unicorn just listened to them, waiting for a chance to escape. But, she could feel the eye-patched-one and the one who called herself Narberal watching her every move. She was clearly in disadvantage here. Her instincts were warning her that this creatures were by far, more powerful than her. Even the Princesses would have trouble dealing with this six monsters. Because she knew, in the bottom of her heart, that none of them were human.
Then, Narberal froze, and placed her index finger on her forehead since she was receiving a ‘Message’ from her Master, Lord Ainz.
“Narberal!” called the voice of her Master.
“Yes, Lord Ainz.”
The other five stopped their arguing, letting their sister to speak with their Master.
“Narberal, this is important. Have the six of you stopped a human magician? I need, at least, one high-ranked magician alive.”
“No, we only had an encounter with a soldier. Why? Aren’t we going to kill them all, as you decided?”
At the other side of the ‘message’, Narberal could hear her master sighing.
“And this is why I don’t like to rush things. I told Demiurge that we should wait to gather more information before destroying the city. Fine, we would have to get the information elsewhere.”
“Is something wrong, Lord Ainz?” asked Narberal, confused by the attitude of her Master.
“Nothing to worry about, Narberal.” explained Lord Ainz. “During the assault to the capital, Demiurge’s minions found some valuable information, about a secret civilization that could be an interesting ally. But, we had already exterminated all the people who could tell us more.”
“We’ll stay alert, Lord Ainz.” said Narberal. “If we see any high-ranked magician, what should we ask him about?”
“The secret civilization of ponies. Thank you, Narberal. But don’t bother, I know you won’t find anyone. Demiurge’s forces are too efficient.”
Narberal froze, staring at Cleaning Miracle. “Wait a second. Did you say, ponies?”
“Yes, why?”
Narberal cut communication, and looked at her sisters.
“I’m taking this thing to Lord Ainz. If he considers it’s a waste of time, I’ll take full responsibility before him, but, I think he will be pleased.”
“Alright, suit yourself!” shrugged the red-haired one. “But let us play with her in case Lord Ainz doesn’t think she’s useful.”
Narberal grinned. “Of course.” Then, she took Cleaning Miracle from the nape. “And you, let me do the talk if you want to live.”
Cleaning Miracle nodded. “Thank you, thank you. You have my eternal gratitude, I swear!”
Narberal Gamma gave her a cold gaze. “Don’t thank me yet. Your fate is yet be decided by the Supreme One.”
After saying goodbye to the other Pleiades, Narberal created a portal. Cleaning Miracle was pushed inside, and together, they crossed to the Great Tomb of Nazarik.
The Overlord of Death was sitting on his Crystal Throne, with his must trusty servants, Lady Albedo, and Lord Demiurge, at both of his sides.
“Narberal, what a strange surprise.” said Ainz.
Lord Demiurge, a demon in an orange suit, simply fixed his glasses. “I imagine you should have a reason to abandon your position, right?”
“And what is this filthy animal you brought with you?” asked Lady Albedo, with clear disgust in her voice.
Narberal bowed, and forced Cleaning to bow with her hand. The poor unicorn was paralyzed by fear, but she obeyed in silence.
“Sorry for the intromission, Lord Ainz.” began Narberal, without raising her head. “But right before you called me, my sisters and I captured this thing. We were about to dispose of her, when you gave us new instructions about finding anything about the hidden civilization of ponies. Well, I think the evidence speaks for itself. I believe, this thing is one of them. A pony.”
Demiurge raised an eyebrow. “For real? Are you completely sure, Narberal?”
“Let’s ask her.” Said Lord Ainz. “Do you speak, unicorn? Do you understand what I’m saying”
Cleaning Miracle slowly raised her eyes. Only her eyes, she didn’t dare to raise her head before this creature. “Yes, I speak, and I understand you perfectly. Oh, my Lord”
Albedo seemed really amused. “Interesting, a talking unicorn! And, are you one of them? A pony?”
The mare gulped. “Yes I am. My name is Cleaning Miracle, bodyguard of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. I was sent here, by their Majesties, to gather information about the Empire. Please don’t kill me!”
Lord Ainz’s eyes glowed. “That’s up to you, Cleaning Miracle.”
“What do you mean?”
“Are you willing to cooperate with us?” asked Ainz.
Cleaning Miracle trembled in fear. “Cooperate?”
“Demiurge!” called Lord Ainz.
The demon on the orange suit made a small bow, and approached to Cleaning Miracle.
“Yes. You see, my little pony, while our forces were showing Emperor Jircniv his rightful place, I took a small trip inside the library of his Court Magician, and came across some interesting documents. In those documents, I read the story of your people, of how the pathetic humans tried to enslave you, and take your power for themselves. And you answered by creating some powerful monsters to protect you. From a creature of Chaos itself, and even a monster who feed of your enemies’ strength and use them against them. And, when you finally expelled the invaders from your land, you came and isolated yourselves from the rest of the world. Hey, you were crafty enough to make your own sun and moon to live in perfect peace inside your territory. That’s why you intrigued us.”
“In the end, the monsters we made for our protection turned against us.” sighed Cleaning Miracle. “We were forced to make a new kind of weapon only to keep them in line!!”
“Why I’m not surprised?” said Demiurge. “With your skills to create new magic, and your hate for humans, you ponies are the perfect allies for us. With your help, we will exterminate humans from this world in no time.”
“Think about it, Cleaning Miracle.” said Ainz, extending his hand to the unicorn. “The ones who forced you into hiding will be gone for good, and you and your people could live in peace for once. Not to mention that this alliance can become the basis to exchange magic knowledges and techniques between our nations.”
Cleaning Miracle looked at Ainz. “What choice do I have?”
Albedo smiled softly. “Help us, or perish, of course.”
Cleaning Miracle trembled in fear, but understood her situation. “Princesses Celestia and Luna would never help you just like that. They are too comfortable with the current situation. But, if you somehow show them this is for the best, I think you may have a chance.”
“Would you help us to convince them, then?” asked Demiurge.
Cleaning Miracle was about to answer, when Ainz interrupted her. “You don’t have to answer now, little pony. I’ll give you a week. During this week, you’ll be living here at Nazarik. Narberal will show you the advantages of serving me. But, also, she’ll show you all the torments we have, to give you an idea of what can happen to you if you refuse to help us, or worse, betray us.”
Narberal finally raised her head. “I understand, Lord Ainz.”
“Only a visit, Narberal. Don’t touch her. This girl is your responsibility.”
“I know.” said the Battle Maid.
“And, when the right time come, you’ll help her with the infiltration to her nation. Understood?”
“Understood, Lord Ainz.”
Canterlot, present day:
Cleaning Miracle shook her head, as she finished remembering the very first time she knew her new Master, the Supreme One.
Hopefully, Celestia and Luna would see the advantages of having him at their side. Maybe Twilight would be a problem, but she was the one with less authority, so she didn’t represent a real problem. Yet.
“I’ll do my best to prove my worth to Nazarik!”