//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Overlord: Dominate Equestria // by Jashin //------------------------------// Examining one of the ships was a bit of a time-consuming process due to the fact that I was a huge hulking figure in heavy plate armor carrying a massive ax and most of the people in this world weren’t as large as I now am. Seriously, these halls were narrow as fuck for me with all the things inside of them and I could barely turn around while carrying my weapon. I also didn’t trust the minions to find anything intellectually important when I was already standing close by and not busy so I had to carefully examine everything I could see by myself. Each of the ships had a manual to go with them that taught about how to properly operate and fly the ship as well as keep them maintained in top performance. I took every copy of it to send back to the tower, making a note to go through the book at some point in the future while I stood outside deciding where to put the teleport stone. I also ordered all flags and everything that had something to do with the Storm King tossed overboard and burned with an oil lamp found nearby. All images of his kingdom's symbol were crudely painted over with the symbol of the Overlord by the minions with some paint they found in the warehouses. No point keeping all of that now, they already know I’m coming and conflict is inevitable. “Sire,” Gnarl suddenly spoke up. “I have some good news! The Tower is coming along much more nicely than I had originally thought! I was able to use only a bit of your, uh, still starting out treasury to make a new Nethergate instead of a simple teleport stone! This gate is able to drill from the netherworld straight to any location you have been to and marked! Plus, it even retracts back into the ground to keep any pesky meddlers from messing with it and leaves a tasteful tower of spikes when it does so if I must say!” “Useful, how do I set a location?” “Just feel your magic through your connection to the tower, sire. The spell should simply be a part of you. Though I should warn you, try and keep these gates for important locations only. These are very powerful Netherworld constructs so it is best to keep them only in important areas that require their strategic presence, like towns or places where great wealth is extracted. Minor teleport stones like the one you arrived on are better for more remote areas that aren't of immediate interest.” I concentrated on my gauntlet and my magic, the power came rushing to greet me with eager anticipation, ready to be used. Gnarl seemed to be right, much like my Evil Presence spell I knew how to use a small bit of magic to place a spell on an area that the gate can connect to. I walked forward towards a nearby warehouse that had its front storehouse gates wrecked open and barely hanging on their hinges. I pooled my magic into my gauntlet clad hand then pointed it at a spot in the center of the warehouse. A bolt of lightning shot from my fingers and slammed onto the ground, there was a small moment of time where I only saw a small red light on the floor until the ground started rumbling. Suddenly a twisting rock-like drill made of curved black spikes spun out of the ground, sending dirt, dust, and debris everywhere as the warehouse ceiling and parts of its surrounding walls were destroyed and flung away like confetti. The Nethergate unfurled from its drill-like appearance into its more gate-like form and stood proudly in front of me as it spilled out a beam of blue magic into the air from its center. Smaller rumblings were heard as minion pits cracked the ground near the left side of the gate, though only the brown pit was open and glowing. I nodded, this is a good start. I pointed at one of the smaller cranes, my minions didn’t need any more instruction than that and several rushed over to grab the device. They carefully maneuvered the crane towards the gate then set it down so that it could be teleported to the tower. “Gnarl, is there a place in this blasted land to store the ships away from the town?” “Hmm,” Gnarl pondered. “I believe so. Would you like me to send over some maps with the location? You can send some minions to park the ships near one of the teleport stones to await your orders, but they’ll probably only manage to get them in the general area.” “Yes, send four,” I simply said. “Very well, Master. Give me a moment.” I only really need one of the ships right now and I didn't want the others to be potentially damaged in the upcoming battle, the rest I wanted to send away as backups just in case I lose the one I‘ll be using. I only had to wait a few minutes when one of the tower minion guards popped out of the Nethergate with several papers clasped in its claws. It rushed over to me with a wide grin and presented the maps to me. “For the master!” I took the maps from the minion, it saluted then rushed back to the gate. I eyed the minion army I still had summoned, trying to decide how to choose who to pick to fly the ships. It was then that I noticed that four of the minions were each wearing what looked like a captain’s hat and decided that they were going to be the ones that will fly the ships. They had the hats, it’s clearly fate. “You four,” I said, pointing at each minion. They rushed forward to stand in front of me and saluted, “Take one ship each and take ten minions to help fly it. Now, wait until I say you may leave.” I handed each of the newly minted minion captains a map, it had a helpful red circle that marked where we were at right now and a large arrow that pointed toward an ‘X’ where they needed to be. The four minions saluted me one more time then rushed around the rest of the army to pick out who was going to go with them before settling themselves in front of a ship each. I mostly tuned it out and focused on something else. “Is there a better way of dominating the minds of the people here?” I asked Gnarl. “I really don’t want to do it one by one, that is far too tedious and annoying considering the population size down there.” “Well, sire, if you stand on the Nethergate and allow it to replenish your magic you can do a more magic-intensive ritualistic channeling of your Evil Presence spell. It will allow you to influence the minds of all the weak-willed peasants in a large area in one go and get them working for a proper Evil, the bigger the area the more magic is needed. But I should warn you it is only meant for the particularly weak-willed so you may come across... eh, rebels that won’t take kindly to your new rule. It’s also a very noticeable spell while it’s being done, you will be vulnerable as you channel the spell so be sure you're well guarded lest you need to do it all over again.” “How noticeable?” And where was this in the game? Hunting elusive civilians was annoying. “It is a large beam of concentrated dark magic being shot into the sky, sending clouds of energy and corruption around the area in a spiral of darkness and Evil. As you are new to this magic business it may take you a while to complete it.” “Very noticeable,” I dryly remarked. Well, it's not like control of the town was necessarily off the table with that information. The minions just need to keep the rabble off of me and since I didn't have a limit that is allowed to be out I'd have an entire army between the enemy and me. That and I don't want to have to come back to this place too much. I just want to dominate it, decide what the newly added "citizens" of my domain are to provide me, then move on to literally greener pastures and only bother to return if rebels happen to appear. “Don’t worry sire,” Gnarl replied. “The stronger and more used to your strength you get the easier and quicker it should go in the future! Evil always has to start somewhere!” I hummed, which sounded more like a growl, and decided to start off my decision in a smaller way for now so that I can learn some more magic before the battle. I’ll dominate this town once I have more than one combat spell available to me. This was a dock and therefore there had to be civilian dock workers and others who had knowledge of the ships hiding away from the fighting. I know I only killed guards and troops during my assault. “Search the rest of the docks,” I ordered as I took a place on one of the higher steps of the gate. “Bring anyone hiding to me.” My minion army cheered and yelled, leaving the more military part of this dock and charging the buildings just outside of it. I could hear the stomping of feet and their whooping alongside the occasional crash when something broke. I wasn’t worried about being unguarded, I still had forty-four minions waiting by the ships. I heard screaming and yelling, it seemed that there were indeed some people hiding from all of the fighting. My brow rose when I felt my connection with two of my minions disappear but I put that aside. It seemed some had more spirit than I had expected. About ten minutes later I had a large group of thirty dock workers knelt before me with minions surrounding them. They were a diverse bunch of creatures, some were cat people, some weird fish-looking people, even a couple of earth ponies. Well, the species mattered not, I just needed slaves to do the more complicated part of ship flying that the minions might not be able to do and workers to build the defenses for what is about to come. “Oh sweet Celestia,” I heard one of the ponies mutter as he stared at me and the Netherworld Gate behind me in horrified awe. He was a brownish stallion that had several minions grinning, dancing, and jeering at him with weapons at the ready. I didn’t say anything and just started. I picked the first victim that was closest to me. “What are you gonna do- argh!” the fat thing with tusks started to ask before he started screaming as my Evil Presence spell did its job. I could feel his life force and mind as I channeled the spell, I had this man’s life in my grasp to do with however I wanted. Just a simple pulse of the spell and he will fall over dead. What is interesting to learn about is that the spell is, lorewise, a torture spell and an enslavement spell and a killing spell all wrapped up in one multipurpose magical tool. Whoever created it was a utilitarian genius and should be applauded for their effort. It is easy to use and inflicts unimaginable pain across the target’s body using dark magic, a strong mind is needed to overcome that pain while a weaker one gives in to the evil energy coursing through them. It’s why it’s so useful against the weak willed, a fact that will likely serve me well when I get to Equestria proper. Conversely, a twist here instead of a pulse will render him devoted to me. Serving whatever task I assigned with fanatic fervor even if it will kill him. I almost gave in to the pulse of destruction, the feeling of this guy’s life in my hands was intoxicating and I honestly wanted to snuff it out just to see what happened, but I narrowed my eyes and twisted the mind of the dock worker instead. I was the Overlord, I don’t give in to anyone but myself least of all a spell that is under my control. I don’t let corruption control me as I was the one who corrupted and controlled. All of this happened in a few seconds though it felt like several minutes to me, I moved on to the now terrified second victim as the first began loudly worshipping me on his knees. Then I got to the ponies, coincidentally the last in line. I stood in front of the first, staring down at his shaking form to see what feeling a real life pony from Equestria would invoke in me. I didn’t care about the other races of this world as I didn’t spend several seasons watching them and a single movie with a brief glimpse just wasn’t enough. Is it strange that all I felt was apathy? Was it because he wasn’t even a background character to me? Just some no-named and unremarkable pony? Would I feel something if this was, say, Lyra or Bonbon? One of the main cast? Is this apathy towards life because I was the Overlord or something else deeper? I stared at this pony for well over a minute while I contemplated, his shaking getting even worse the longer he stared into my unblinking burning eyes. I just grunted and pointed my hand at him, his and his fellow pony’s screaming echoed across the docks like the others as I finished up. I ordered eight of the newly dominated citizens to split up evenly and accompany the four minion groups manning the ships. The rest stayed on the docks, worshipping me and awaiting my orders. I watched the ships sail off into the distance then turned to face my new slaves and ordered in a thunderous tone, “Start fortifying this place. I want that gate to the staircase fixed and barricades between the docks proper and my tower gate. Find any and all weapons and armor and bring them here. Minions, guard this base.” “Would you like Giblet to make some siege weaponry, sire?” Gnarl asked. “The fools of the Storm King's army seemed to have forgotten to install any in a military base and I can spy several good locations to place them.” “He can do that?” I thought to myself. “Oh, right, the Overlord does have his own siege weapons like when he assaulted the Empire in the second game.” “Yes, this place needs proper fortifications,” was my reply as I watched the slaves run around to eagerly work for me and my minions begin to guard entrances and exits as well was patrol the area. I now had time to kill so I moved toward the gate and stepped into the middle. I felt a pull and suddenly I was in my throne room suspended by magic until I was dropped on my feet to the floor. The tower was busy, general staff minions were running around with brooms and hammers, cleaning and fixing things as they passed. I could even hear sawing going on somewhere. “Welcome back sire,” Gnarl said by his place at my throne. “You’ll be pleased to know that the giant beetles we’ve gathered from around the desert wasteland have taken quite nicely within the Netherworld. They’re hardy creatures and the magics of this realm have mutated them to be able to breed rapidly. The guard minions are enjoying themselves as they constantly slaughter them, so be sure to check in every now and then to collect the gathered life force near the minion hives.” I rested my ax over my shoulder, “Can we not collect it automatically?” Gnarl scratched his chin, “Oh, certainly! But something like that costs money and, well… we don’t have nearly enough. Plus, Giblet is quite busy fixing the tower and making the siege weapons. He’s a hard worker but he has his limits. Best to prioritize and all.” I grunted and accepted the logic, “Very well, what about any magic tomes inside of the tower? I want to start learning while I wait for the counterattack coming.” I really need some spells with more range if I’m to break the army of the Storm King when they arrive. “Ah! A proactive Overlord!” Gnarl smiled with all his teeth. “Very well, I’ll gather up the fundamentals and a few basic dark magic spells for you to learn. Should be simple enough for someone as magical as you, sire. Dark magic has always been more about intent and forcing your will into the world instead of working with it. It may take some time for me to grab everything, so take a visit to the hives and stock up on life force, we may need it. Or don’t, it is your prerogative as the Master.” I dismissed him with a nod and briefly watched the old minion hurry off to one of the unblocked alcoves in the throne room. He must have stored the books in a place where they wouldn’t have been damaged. I decided to follow Gnarl’s advice and walked over to the platform that the flying stones parked at. Giblet was missing from his spot but that wasn’t surprising, I saw Mortis standing next to the spot that would take me to the minion hives. I made my way to him and waited as the rock traveled over to us. “Greetings, Master. You come to collect the Life, yes?” Mortis asked me as we stood in the center of the rock and flew off. “Good, good. If you need to bring back minions come find me. Balance must be maintained, death for life and life for death.” I didn’t say anything but that didn’t put the strange minion off as he casually walked towards his usual post by the flowing water that held the souls of dead minions. Mortis paused and pointed at a rocky bridge that led to a small area with four tunnels dug into the rock, that definitely wasn’t in the game. Three of them had boards put up over the holes while the one on the furthest left was open. “You find life force there, much death is happening. Brings much life.” I went straight for the tunnel, not wanting to waste any time when the first official battle with the Storm Kingdom wasn't too far behind. I could hear yelling and cheering and the sounds of fighting going on. When I exited the tunnel I saw a large pit dug into the rock of a very spacious room with metal bars rising from the edges of the pit to the top of the room. Off to the side I saw rocky and bare windows that gave a small view of the tower. Minions were jumping and cheering behind the iron bar as they watched a large group of minions fight against a horde of beetles that rushed out of another hole on the opposite side of the pit. It was a mini and rough looking coliseum. Every time a beetle died the life force, usually between one and three, was sucked up into a glowing blue magical device on the ceiling. I hummed as I watched the fighting, the minions were entertained at least.  I turned and examined the rest of the room. It was mostly bare rock with a few of my banners hanging on the wall. The only thing not bare rock was another device like the one on the ceiling attached to the wall, though this one was smaller and near the exit. I figured that these were the things that stored the life force so I placed my gauntlet over it and felt the life force drain from its storage into my minion pool. “Two hundred… not bad,” I mused to myself. “If only it was this easy to get life force in the games.” With that done I left the minions to their own devices and headed back to the tower proper. Gnarl was waiting for me with several books resting on one of the arms of my throne. “Ah, visited the minions I see. Good, good! Let’s get started then!” Gnarl grinned toothfully. I set my ax down and let it rest against the other arm of my throne as I took a seat. Gnarl opened up a book that didn’t have a name on its cover and started his lecture. “First, Master, I must begin by stating that all magical creatures have some instinctual use of magic and it can manifest in any number of ways. The humans of old were the rare exception, most had absolutely zero magical capabilities and the rare wizard had to study and practice often to use their abilities…” Several hours later... Thunder boomed and lightning flashed over the island that housed the castle of the Storm King. Rain battered the windows as the perpetually gloomy structure stood firm against the elements while overlooking a large military port and town that housed the army and armada of the Storm King. The walls of the throne room of the castle were a dark bluish gray, the banners of the Storm King hung in intermittent distances with torches and large windows between them as the room moved from the large doors to the throne. The throne itself laid atop a raised platform, all made from the same stone as the walls though the throne was carved with images of lightning and had several dark blue cushions laid over its seat. A similar color made up a lengthy rug that traveled from the base of the throne and down its stairs to stop several yards away from the platform. The Storm King himself sat on his throne, legs kicked up over one of the arms while he examined one of his action figures. “I just… I dunno,” he said to the mare standing before his throne. “I just don’t feel like they really got the left side of my face right. Do I really look that pale? Is my fur on that side going bald?” “Your Excellency,” Tempest said, “You’re not going bald.” “You could just be saying that!” He shouted, stretching himself from his throne to stare down at her. He sighed and resumed his lazing while inspecting his nails, “Anyway, what about that whole, uh, staff of whatchamacallit? The thing that’ll let me control the world, bring storms, and all that.” “The Staff of Sacanas,” Tempest replied. “The staff that will allow you control over all the Alicorn magic in Equestria.” The Storm King snapped his fingers, “Yeah! That! How’s that coming along?” “I have some of our top soldiers already following my lead,” she said. “I sent them to several locations that, from my own research, is where I feel the staff may most likely be at. As these are powerful ruins with many magical defenses we must excavate them with great care in order to obtain the artifacts within without destroying them. Even if the staff isn’t in these areas you will have many magical items waiting for you.” The Storm King scowled as he slowly inched his face forward and scrutinized the unflinching pony in front of him. Suddenly his face brightened and he smiled, “Great! I’ll be expecting-!” The doors to his throne room burst open and one of his guards rushed inside to kneel before the throne next to Tempest. “What?! You better have a good reason for cutting me off!” The Storm King yelled. “Your Excellency! I have urgent news! The military port of Klugetown has been captured along with five of our ships! Only one managed to escape alive, they report that the rest of our forces there are dead!” The guard replied. “What?!” The Storm King snarled. “Who?! I need to know who I’m about to destroy!” “We do not know who. The survivors say it is some huge figure in heavy armor with glowing eyes and a large ax. This creature commands an army of some sort of small vicious imp creatures. Over a hundred rushed the port without warning, they had no idea where they came from,” the soldier answered. The Storm King gripped the arms of his throne, annoyed that he'll have to further delay the acquisition of an important magical artifact more than he already has had to do. His fleet of airships just recently finished pillaging a surprisingly difficult empire and many were damaged, though he and his armada gave far more than they took. He knew it will take some time to finish the essential repairs needed for them to fly properly. He jerked his head to Tempest, “Prepare the rest of the armada once they are flight-capable, I don't care about the outside hull just focus on the steering and propellers! Cover the holes with planks if you have to! You! Go with Commander Tempest!” “Sir!” Tempest nodded, turning around and quickly rushing off to relay the orders with the new soldier hurriedly following her. The Storm King growled as he shot up from his throne, already ready to teach this new annoyance a hard lesson on why you should not cross him. He did not spend years pillaging empires and building his fleet of ships and soldiers just to let some no-name walk over his hard work. He also wasn’t willing to forgive those that interrupt his chances at obtaining ultimate magical power.