//------------------------------// // Book 1 Part 5 // Story: Overlord Equestria Book 1 // by Kaliann25 //------------------------------// Overlord Equestria Book 1: Infiltration (part 5) It was a beautiful afternoon, and, after a long day of dealing with nobles, paperwork, and, having meetings with their little ponies, Celestia and Luna used to share a cup of tea, and a bunch of sweets (in Celestia’s case). It was the perfect way to recover their energies. “Hey, Tia.” said Luna. “Have you heard anything about Nabel? With all the additional paperwork I haven’t had the chance to ask Cleaning Miracle about her.” Celestia shook her head. “Unfortunately, I haven’t had the chance to talk with Cleaning.” said Celestia. “But, the other day I received a letter from Twilight Sparkle. She says that Nabel had made a great progress, and have made a couple of new friends.” “It’s a good start.” smiled Luna. “And, what is she going to do next?” “Well, you’ll be glad to hear that Twilight have decided to hire Nabel for good. After having her for a few weeks, she realized how much she needed some help with the castle?” “Just one maid for an entire castle?” asked the Princess of the night. “She should have at least five!” Luna shook her head, and shrugged. “But, I guess Twilight’s choice.” “Yes, yes it is.” nodded Celestia. “Twilight likes to do things her way, more relaxed, and modest than ours. There’s nothing wrong with that. Besides, Nabel is really efficient.” Luna agreed. Besides, this whole thing was about helping Nabel to get back on her hooves. Not about Twilight’s decisions. Suddenly, they stood, when they felt a magic disturbance on the air. “Sister…” “I feel it too. Let’s go!” They hurried to call their respective force commanders. “What’s going on, Princess?” asked the Solar Force Commander, Master Sword. “The Everfree Barrier had been compromised! All the units, assemble!” On the maids’ quarters, Cleaning Miracle was changing into her outfit, to start her shift, when she received a ‘message’ from Yuri Alpha. “It is time, Cleaning Miracle.” The maid/bodyguard froze in her place. She knew this day would come, but not this soon. Still, without a second thought, she mumbled a quick excuse to the head maid, and left as quick as she could. She had to reunite with her new masters at the meeting point, at the equestrian limit of the Everfree Barrier. Ponyville. At the edge of the forest, the human side of the Everfree Barrier; a tall woman was waiting. She was dressed in an armor that resembled a fancy maid outfit. Strange to look at, but that would be the last of the worries of whoever who looked at her. The cold, unnerving expression on her face was more than capable to make anyone careful around her. Not to mention the huge aura she had. Narberal Gamma sent a magic beacon, and waited for her master and his cortege to appear. Also, she had the instruction to kill anyone who wasn’t from the Great Tomb of Nazarik. Luckily, her partners were already on their way, and the first ones to arrive were the dark elf twins, Aura Bella Fiora and Mare Bello Fiore. Aura was a ‘ranger’ level ten, a class that gave her a great performance in exploring, and tame all kinds of beasts. As for Mare, he was a Druid, a class that was specialized in spells related to plants and summons from the forest. The pair was perfect to make a perfectly safe path into the forest for their Master. Following the elf siblings, six armored undead monsters, known as Death Knights, carried an elegant couchette, where Ainz Ooal Gown, the Overlord of Nazarik laid comfortably. At his side, with a proud smile, marched the Guardians’ Supervisor. Lady Albedo. And last, but not least, closing the formation, were Narberal’s sisters. The Battle Maid Squad, known as the Pleiades. Narberal kneel before them, and waited for them to pass. Both Albedo and Ainz dedicated her a small nod, and continued. They had no time to lose. Her sisters, however, smiled at her warmly, and waved their hands. Narberal smiled back, and teleported back to the equestrian side. Her role wasn’t over yet. All the inhabitants of Ponyville were having a normal day, until they saw both Lunar and Solar army marching into the town. Lead by the Princesses themselves. “Attention everypony!” announced Luna. “We have a situation in our hooves, and it’s urgent for you to evacuate now! This is no drill, we are in grave danger! Evacuate Ponyville now!” Roseluck was about to shout: ‘the horror, the horror’, but the soldiers shut her up, and guided her out of town before she and her sisters could make a scene. In the middle of the confusion, Narberal appeared from behind some trees, and turned back into her pony form, pretending to be as frightened as the rest of the town. “Nabel!” called a familiar voice. Narberal turned. “Trixie, do you have any idea of what’s going on?” “No, I was about to ask you the same thing.” Impatiently, a soldier shouted. “Less talking, keep moving!” The two of them obeyed, when Narberal froze in fear. “Hey, where’s Starlight?” Trixie frowned. “Maybe she is with the Princess. She’s her student after all.” “We can’t leave her!” cried Narberal. “She’s gonna be okay. Come on, please!!” But Nabel didn’t listen. She shook her head, and ran against the mass of ponies running on the opposite direction. A few guards noticed her, but the continuing line of ponies kept them busy, and prevented them to stop her. Trixie took a deep breath, and said a cursed word, before running after her friend. “Nabel! Come back here on this instant! The Six Bearers of Harmony, plus Starlight, Shining Armor, and the Princesses were waiting, at the edge of the Everfree Forest. At first, they were confused of what was going on, but, slowly, they began to feel a dark and powerful aura approaching. There were more of them, but one in particular felt especially powerful. Starlight gulped, she was good in combat, as Twilight could witness, but this time, she felt like whatever this creatures were, were out of her league. Somehow. Suddenly, somepony called her. “Starlight!” Everypony turned, to see the really scared Nabel, followed by Trixie, who could barely keep her pace. “Nabel? Trixie? What are you doing here?” asked Starlight. “Why didn’t you two run?” “I tried to tell her, but she refused to leave without you!” explained Trixie. Starlight face-hoofed. “I don’t have time for this! Nabel, I’ll be fine! Just go with the rest of the town! You’ll be safe! Seriously, I have no idea of what are we dealing with!” “But Starlight…” said Nabel. Trixie gulped, as she aimed a hoof to the trees. “Too late! Something is coming out!” Nabel shrieked, and ran to hide behind Starlight. Starlight rolled her eyes, but stood bravely in front of Nabel. Trixie gulped, and joined Starlight in front of Nabel. A single human came out of the forest. She was dressed in a maid outfit, much to everypony’s confusion. But this one was odd. Most of it, looked like an ordinary maid outfit. But, the apron in question was covered in small, spiked, pieces of armor that gave her a frightening look. Also, instead of stockings, she was wearing two pieces of plaque armor. But, not caring about the strange-looking maid, the four Princesses, and Prince Shining Armor, prepared to fight. “Human!” said Celestia. “How did you find us?” The ‘human’ bowed before them. “Greetings, oh, Princesses of Equestria. My name is Solution Epsilon. A battle maid, at the service of the Supreme One.” “Humans are not welcome in Equestria!” said Shining Armor, angrily. “No matter where you’re from. We are not interested in having acquaintances with emissaries from Re-Stize Kingdom, the Baharuth Emprie, or the Slane Theocracy.” Solution Epsilon smiled, an impossibly wide smile, that unnerved everypony. “There must be some kind of misunderstanding, pony. I am not human. Our Nation had nothing to do with such weak creatures. I am representing the Great Tomb of Nazarik.” Luna and Celestia exchanged a worried look. “The Great Tomb of Nazarik…” mumbled Celestia. “The Nation of Undeads that devastated the Empire’s Capital City.” Finished Celestia. “Yes, we are the ones who destroyed the Capital of Baharuth Empire. But, I must clarify that the Great Tomb of Nazarik had all kinds of creatures. Not only undeads. There is also a young human girl, who works for us, but she is an especial case. The rest of the humans should pay for the offense that Emperor Jircniv made to our Lord.” “Why are you telling us?” asked Luna. “Because, we made our research, and we know how much your race have suffered because of the humans, forcing you to isolate yourselves from the rest of the world. Think about it, none of our nations can exterminate humans by its own. They are like rats, if they’re not completely wiped, they’ll go into hiding, multiply, get stronger, and become a threat all over again.” She raised. “Lord Ainz have come all the way here only to offer you his friendship. If you accept it, we will exchange magic knowledges, and resources. Become allies.” “What are you saying?” whispered Luna. “By working together, we can assure the complete wiping of the damned race.” explained Solution. Celestia frowned. “And, tell me, Solution Epsilon. What does your Lord ask in exchange to accept his alliance? Enslave our little ponies? Our magic? Because, we warn you, we will defend Equestria no matter what.” Solution stayed calmed. “Like I said, all we ask is an exchange of resources, and magical knowledges. If you accept to give us, at least, a hearing, we will explain our goals and objectives with the alliance with more detail. Only the ponies you trust the most, Lord Ainz, Lady Albedo and us, the battle maids.” Luna and Celestia looked at Solution Epsilon. “Here we are.” said Celestia, frowning. “Captain Armor, tell your troops to form a perimeter of six meters around us. But you stay. Twilight Sparkle, you and your friends stay as well. Cadence, Luna, you, and I will listen to you, here and now.” Shining turned to the Lunar and Solar troops. “You heard the Princesses. I need you to retreat to six meters around us! But get ready to act any second. Understood?” The soldiers didn’t say anything, they just did as they were told. Starlight tried to make Trixie and Nabel leave, but, Nabel was too scared to move. And Trixie won’t leave without her. Sighing, she continued where she was, protecting them both. Then, Celestia turned to Solution. “Alright, call your Lord.” Solution bowed before Celestia, and raised a hand. The trees of the Everfree Forest moved, letting pass the rest of the Pleiades, in perfect formation, starting by Yuri, and finished by Entoma, Solution joined the formation in her place, between Entoma and CZ, and waited. Next, what the ponies saw, was the stuff of nightmares. Four powerful undeads, carrying a luxurious couchette approached to their Princesses. And, lying on the couchette, there was the incarnation of death itself. A skeleton. No, probably an Elder Lich, dressed in a beautiful black robe, embroiled with gold yard. Two red lights glowed at the bottom of its skull. Walking aside his couchette, there was a tall woman, with beautiful long hair, and golden eyes. It was easily told by the two wings sprouting from her waist, and the large horns growing from her head. The Lich jumped from the couchette, floating slowly until he touched the ground. “Greetings, Princesses Cadence, Luna, Celestia, Twilight. And Princes Shining Armor. My name is Ainz Ooal Gown, Ruler of the Great Tomb of Nazarik.” He then gestured his right hand to the woman with wings. “This is Albedo, my right hand.” The woman blushed furiously. “Oh, Lord Ainz, I don’t deserve the honor to be called your right hand. But, you can put a ring on my hand whenever you want it…” Ainz sighed. “Albedo, this is not the time.” Albedo shook her head, regaining composure. “You are right, Lord Ainz.” Then, she bowed before Celestia and Luna. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Princesses of Equestria. My name is Albedo, Supervisor of Guardians, of the Great Tomb of Nazarik.” They stared at Ainz, and Albedo, coldly, but they made a small nod. “Okay, let’s finish this already. What do you pretend with this alliance?” asked Shining Armor. “Straight to the point, right?” said Lord Ainz. “Well, as Solution have already told you, all we want is to make an alliance with Equestria. Help each other against the human nations, and, teach each other spells we don’t know, and exchange resources.” “Why us?” asked Celestia. “How it benefits us? And you?” Albedo smiled at them. “Don’t you see? You won’t need to hide anymore, you can live free, in a world where no one threatens you. And, if someone does, well, you can call the forces of Nazarik whenever you want. Lord Ainz would be happy to share some of his undead with you.” The Lich nodded. “And, in those occasions, all I ask is the all of the dead bodies from the battlefield. I like to experiment creating new types of undeads.” “Besides, you have everything we want in an ally.” explained Albedo. “You have great power on your own, you have wisdom, and, a long history with humans. Join us, and there will be no mercy with humans.” Luna shook her head. “I have question, how did you find us? The Everfree Barrier is supposed to hide our aura with its wild magic.” Ainz chuckled. “Oh, easy. I have a very capable Ranger, and a very capable Druid. They easily cleared my way to find you. Also, I have infiltrated a couple of spies, just to verify that you are allies worthy of Nazarik.” “WHAT?!” shouted everypony. “Yes, if you weren’t worth it, we would simply retire without bothering you.” said Lord Ainz. “But, since we’re talking about becoming allies, as a sign of our good intentions, I’ll retire them right away!” He raised a hand. Cleaning Miracle appeared from behind the soldiers surrounding the group. Luna and Celestia couldn’t believe it. What was going on? “Cleaning Miracle?!” gasped Celestia. “But, how? And, why?” The maid smiled sadly at them. “Sorry I didn’t tell you the truth when I came back from my exploration, but, I couldn’t. You see, the truth is, that I was found at the human city as soon as I started asking too many questions about the undead incident. Luckily, it was on the very same day when Lord Ainz attacked, and my captors were defeated by Lord Ainz’s forces. I was about to be killed too, but then, Lord Demiurge found some important documents about ponies. He told Lord Ainz about us, and I was called to tell him what I know.” “You sold us to him!” cried Celestia. “Princess, you must understand! I was given the choice between joining them, or a horrible death. Then, they showed me the benefits of joining Nazarik, and, my loyalty changed. This is the right choice, Princess Clelestia, and I don’t regret what I’ve done.” Albedo gently extended her hand to the maid. “And you proved your worth, and loyalty to Lord Ainz. I’m proud, Cleaning Miracle. You are one of us now.” Cleaning turned her back on the Royal Sisters, and joined Lord Ainz’s courtship. “No! Please tell me this isn’t truth! That all this time you were deceiving this monster, and have nothing to do with him! Please, Cleaning Miracle!” called Celestia. Lady Albedo smiled coldly at the white alicorn. “If she tried to deceive us, she wouldn’t be alive now.” “No, think!” said Twlight. “Probably she is afraid of what this creatures could do to her if she didn’t do as they say. You acted by fear, right, Cleaning Miracle?” The maid shook her head, with a faint smile. “Yes, but only at the beginning, your Highness. I was shown what could happen to me if I didn’t cooperate. But also the benefits of joining the Great Tomb of Nazarik. Wherever you look at, there’s luxury! Also, they taught me new and powerful spells.” Twilight couldn’t believe it. She refused to believe that this pony have betrayed the Princesses, and guided a monster to Equestria. An undead, no less. Starlight listened carefully, ready to teleport Trixie and Nabel to safety at the first chance. The undead suddenly turned his gaze to the trio. Nabel gasped, and hugged Trixie. Starlight, then, charged the magic on her horn and was about to teleport her friends, when, she was violently pushed to the ground, along with Trixie. “Nabel?” asked Starlight, with a hint of fear on her eyes. Ignoring the pink unicorn, the earth pony advanced toward the Elder Lich, and bowed deeply. “The infiltration has been success. I hope you are pleased, Lord Ainz.” Lord Ainz’s eyes glowed with pleasure. “You did a great job guiding Cleaning Miracle, Narberal Gamma. Now, return to your true self, and join your sisters.” Nabel transformed into a human-like form, with a maid outfit, completely made out of black metal plaques. “Changeling?” gasped Trixie. Narberal looked at her, and smiled. “Doppelganger.” Applejack threw her hat away, and advanced toward the battle maid. “A’ knew it! A’ knew there was something wrong with ya’! A’ never trusted ya’! And A’ll make ya’ pay for abusing ma’ friends’ confidence!” Narberal glared at Applejack. “Yes, you’ve been bothering me since day one. Let me show you, the power of Nazarik.” she opened her hand, charging a bunch on energy on it. “Twin Maximize Magic, ElectroS…” Applejack froze in fear, when Lord Ainz put a hand on Narberal’s shoulder. “Narberal, is not worth it.” “As you wish, Lord Ainz.” Another of the battle maids, red-haired with golden eyes, only clapped, and laughed happily. “Hey, Na-chan! Why don’t you stay as a pony? You’re much cuter that way!” Lord Ainz glared at the red-haired maid. “Lupusregina! Are you mocking Narberal Gamma, after she spent all this time doing an important mission for me, and Nazarik?” Lupusregina’s face turned red, and bowed deeply. “Of course not, Lord Ainz! I’m sorry.” “Don’t apologize to me, apologize to Narberal.” Lupusregina smiled kindly to her sister. “I’m sorry, Na-chan, you know it’s all good fun, right?” “Right.” said Narberal. She didn’t really care. Lord Ainz extended his hand to Narberal, like offering something to her. “Tell me, Narberal, is there any reward I can give you for doing this for me?” The Battle Maid bowed. “My Lord, serving you is the greater honor any of us can have. But, if you insist…” she looked at two astonished unicorns still on the ground. “If the alliance is made, I would like to train this two personally. I can see potential for a War Wizard, and a Master Illusionist.” “Fair enough.” agreed the Elder Lich. Starlight glared at the battle maid. “Do you actually think we will accept this alliance? With you?! And, if we accept, why would I accept anything from a traitor such as yourself?! I TRUSTED YOU!” “Betrayed you? You must be mistaken, pony.” Answered Narberal, indifferent. “My loyalty was never with you. I always served Lord Ainz.” But Trixie had something else in mind. “Teach us? Can you teach the Great and Powerful Trixie magic? Like, real magic?” “Trixie!” protested the Bearers of Harmony, and Starlight, in the unison. Ignoring them, Narberal smiled at Trixie. A cold and calculated smile that gave Trixie chills. “Yes, Trixie. I can make you really Great and Powerful. All you have to do is swear your eternal loyalty to Lord Ainz.” Albedo gave Narberal a warning look. “Narberal, remember, not until they accept our alliance.” Narberal bowed apologetically, and stayed silent, among her sisters. Princess Luna advanced toward the monsters. “Let me see if I get this right! You made our trusty guard to betray us, send one of your soldiers to spy on us, and you come here, wanting to be allies?” “We didn’t have any bad intention by sending Narberal and Cleaning Miracle to spy on you.” explained Lord Ainz. “All we wanted was to check if we can offer you something you want, so we can become allies.” “Well, you can go back now, since we have everything we need in Equestria. Thank you!” defied Cadence. “For real?” asked Albedo softly. “Are you sure you’re perfectly safe here?” “Are you threatening us?!” shouted Twilight. “No, no, no, please, do not think badly of us!” said Lord Ainz, shrugging. “Albedo was only pointing out that you have enough threats in your land already, you don’t need us to endanger you even more. Or, have you find a definite solution, beside entrapment, to deal with the creatures known as Discord, Lord Tirek, the Sirens, Umbrums, and such?” The Princesses exchanged a worried look. “How much do you know?” Lord Ainz stared at them. His skinless face couldn’t fiscally smile, but they could feel he was smiling. Yes he was. “A lot, actually. Most of the monsters you fight are your own creations. You made them for your own protection, but turned against you when there were no more humans to fight.” “What is he talking about?” whispered Starlight. Lord Ainz turned to her. “Oh, didn’t you know? None of your little ponies know the truth? Using her power to get into the Dream Realm, Princess Luna went to the darkest and scariest nightmares she could find, only to recruit the most powerful and frightening monsters created by the most twisted of subconscious. She gave them a physical body, so they could exist in the real world. And recruited them to fight humans. Those monsters are known as the Umbrums!” “HOW DO YOU KNOW ALL THIS?!” shouted Luna, seeing that all of her soldiers turned to her in horror. “But she didn’t stop there!” continued Albedo. “Then, she sculpted a monster out of clay, giving him life, and the ability to feed from life itself. What was the name you gave him?” Albedo chuckled. “Oh, right, Tirek. A powerful monster who became your personal bodyguard, and high commander during your war against humans.” “Yes, Princess Luna really messed up by creating those things.” sighed Lord Ainz. “But, Princess Celestia didn’t stay behind. One day, half intoxicated by salt, she also made a monster out of clay, a mixture of all the animals she could think of. Seeing how strange the final result was, you gave him a name that suited him just fine…” “Discord…” admitted Celestia. “Yes, I made him. And, my friend Star Swirl sculpted the Sirens, and I gave them life. Those mistakes would be chasing us for the rest of our lives, I admit it. Was that your triumph card? Expose us to our little ponies?” Lord Ainz shook his head. “Of course not. My triumph card, is an offer.” “Offer?” asked Twilight. “The magic you developed to defend yourselves against those creatures, the Elements of Harmony, are Healing-type magic.” said Ainz, opening his arms. “Obviously you tried to make the Elements different from your past creations. A good attempt, but, all the Elements can do is seal the creatures away. The monsters are able to get free from time to time, terrorizing your little ponies again. The Power of Harmony is good, but not good enough. I offer you my forces to destroy them for good.” “There’s no way you can defeat them.” said Luna. “For example, Tirek feeds from life force. How do you plan to defeat him?” “Using undeads, of course. Undeads have no life force, it would be easy for them to terminate your failure in a matter of seconds.” explained the Overlord of Death. “Also, Umbrums are shadow-type creatures, right? My subordinate Shalltear can easily rule over them. It would be easy.” Luna seemed thoughtful. “Terminate them for good… erasing our failures.” “No more Umbrumbs…” mumbled Cadence. In the meantime, Shining turned to see Lord Ainz. “Hey, can you deal with a Umbrum/Pony hybrid?” “I don’t see why not.” Shining smiled. “Well, now that I think about it…” “Shining, you can’t be serious!!” shouted Twilight. Shining Armor did not answer, but, he looked away from Twilight’s stare. She didn’t like that. “Accept our alliance, and we’ll destroy all the menaces of your land.” assured Lord Ainz. “In exchange for nothing. Consider it our gift to you, as a new ally.” He then turned back to the forest, and began to walk inside. Albedo made a small nod to the Princesses before she joined her Lord. “We’ll give you three days to decide. And, I hope you choose right. See you again, Princesses” With that, the cortege returned to the forest, walking to the human side of the Everfree Barrier. But, Narberal turned to Starlight and Trixie one last time. "You two have no idea of what you're truly capable of. With the proper guidance, you can become more powerful than you ever imagined. Think about it."