//------------------------------// // How The Mighty Have Fallen // Story: The great Laharl - The tale of a displaced Overlord // by Hoppa_21 //------------------------------// “It worked!” cheered the mad marshmallow again, as she was bouncing happily up and down. Meanwhile I was panting, lightly bent over, somehow exhausted after this long imprisonment. Also I was still shuddering at the traumatic experience I had to go through. In the end I was spitting furiously on the ground, trying to get her saliva off my tongue. I definitely had to get her back for this. As Overlord, I needed to teach them some respect. The royal butts wouldn’t take me serious, if I could not even stand my ground against some fillies. So it was time for sweet revenge. I was standing upright and was ready to let them pay for their impudence. “NOW LISTEN HE-“ But my attempt to show them who the boss is here was cut off, as this white THING jumped me, forcing me to the ground and tackling me in a hug. I was so surprised by this, that even a yelp escaped me, which turned my cheeks red in embarrassment. 'How old am I? 500!? I can’t let such a thing escape my mouth! I AM LAHARL, THE OVERLORD!' “Did it really work? He’s just as ugly as he was before,” I heard Bowgirl say skeptically. “I don’t know Apple Bloom, but something has happened,” retorted Chicken. I ignored these comments, as I was more concerned with the filly, who was snuggling my chest. Just the thought of something like this made me shudder and now, that I could feel something like this… Let’s say a yelp was one of my smallest problems now. I need to put her in her rightful place now, before things get any more out of control. I shoved her with my hands off me or at least I tried. It was a somehow surprisingly hard task. She just wouldn’t let go. “Dammit! Let go!” I growled, as I met the resistance in my holy task to save my innocence, or what was left after this *shudder* kiss. You might think know, that a level 2000 entity could easily push off a filly and I would any time confirm that, but it somehow didn’t work. And there were only two possibilities for this. Either she was strong enough to take on a demon on this level (not just any demon, but an overlord, no less) or… I have grown drastically weaker. I strongly doubted the first theory, since this would make her powerful enough to face the two pony sisters. I know, that I shouldn’t judge looks, but she was just a filly and these normally weren’t stronger than level 3. That leaves only the other option. I quickly opened the menu, which only could get seen by me, unless I allowed others to access it too. There was no time to lose, so I was checking my level and blanched. I stopped struggling against her, as my whole world was crushed by a single bloodcurdling number. “Level 1…” I muttered quite shocked. 'How could this happen! Did the Elements of Harmony do that!?' “Yer alright? Ya don’t look so good,” said Bowgirl with a frown. I just stared blankly at her and checked the levels of the fillies. Bowgirl was level 4, Chicken level 3 and Marshmallow…level 2. And here I was pinned down by a level 2 filly. How degrading can life get!? I shook my head to get myself out of my stupor. I can’t just go over to resignation. I WAS LAHARL! Besides, what would Etna say, if she saw me in such a condition? I could never live that down! With newfound determination, I pushed the Mad Marshmallow quickly off. She didn’t expect that after my struggle had ended and so landed without any resistance and a squeak on her hindquarters. Chicken glared at me and stepped forward to face me. “What do you think are you doing!?” “Freeing myself from the Mad Marshmallow, Chicken,” I said with a grin on my face in an amused tone. “Chicken!?” Steam came out of her nostrils and I could clearly see the pain in her eyes. Seems like I hit a sore spot. Good. “No pony talks ta ma friends like that!” declared Bowgirl, who also took a step further. I just grinned wider, as I laid a hand on Chicken’s head, who was glaring at me by now. I opened the class/reincarnation menu and quickly scanned through for the Cockatrice entry. I then found it and of course took the ‘Good-for-nothing’ option. Wouldn’t want to waste any more of my precious Mana than needed, now would we? But my grin slowly moved to a look of confusion, as I pressed mentally the button to continue over and over again, but nothing happened. “Why doesn’t it work!?” I shouted frustrated and the three flinched slightly at my outburst. A look of terror formed on my face, as I took a look at my Mana resources. My suspicion was confirmed and I took hesitantly my hand off the fillies head. They looked confused at this, while Chicken still glared at me. “How can this be? 0 Mana left? How could it be effected?” I stared at my hands, as if they would hold the answer to that question. I tried to relax a little, because I had another escape rope, which I could grab to get me out of this mess. I opened the menu and looked into my item stock, searching for my sword Yoshitsuna. It was the strongest weapon and would allow me to defeat enemies that are several times stronger than myself. But no matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t find it. Frantically, I tried to search for my Testament Emblem. In contrast to the sword, it wasn’t the strongest Emblem, but still gave me a remarkable power boost, which I needed, considering the regalia, crowns and shoes of the pony sisters, which increased their states as remarkably as the Emblem for me. But back to the search… It was fruitless. I now came to realize, that I was weaker, than I ever had been, since I came to this strange world. Then I first came here, I was the same level too, but I had at least SOME equipment. But now? I would probably struggle to defeat those fillies! I was lost. It was hard to form a clear thought, if I probably couldn’t even defeat a guard in my condition. I needed a plan. I needed equipment. I was so stuck in my daze, that I didn’t hear the nearing hoof steps. And then, I was hugged. Just like that. AGAIN! “Don’t worry. Everything is going to be ok,” cooed the Marshmallow, which made me instantly tense up. “What are you doing, Sweetie Belle!? This thing is obviously nuts!” I heard Chicken yell. “No. He is obviously confused and needs somepony to comfort him,” answered she softly. “No, I DON’T!” I yelled, as I freed myself again out of her grasp. I then took a few steps away from them, never letting them out of my sight. A blush was forming on my cheeks. 'Dammit.' “Awww… Look at his cheeks! I knew he was just shy!” exclaimed a way too happy Marshmallow. “I AM NO-“ I began, but was soon drowned out as a loud squeal followed, together with a degrading exclamation. “I WILL KEEP HIM!” “You can’t keep him!” hissed Chicken, as it looked me over, “You don’t even know if he is housebroken!” That let my eye twitch. I never thought that I could get any more insulted today. Such a crime couldn’t go unpunished. “SCREW THIS!!!” I bellowed, as I used my magic to engage the battle mode. Dark walls built up around us and Bowgirl looked around her in fear, so did Chicken. Only Marshmallow seemed to be oblivious, as I could hear another ear-splitting squeal from her. “Where did he go?” asked Bowgirl, as I vanished from their sight and the room was divided in squares. Then a blue square popped up on the ground and she and Chicken stared at it in wonder and something could be read in the air. “Stage start?” read Bowgirl out loud in confusion, as she tilted her head. “I don’t like this one bit,” declared Chicken, as she looked around. “The aisle just stops halfway and turns into nothing. What do you think this means?” “Ah have no idea. The ceiling is gone too. What do ya think Sweetie Belle?” Marshmallow meanwhile was still trapped in her own little world, with her hands on her cheeks as she let from time to time a little squeal escape her lips. 'Lips…' I shuddered at the thought and reminded myself to end this quickly. I stepped out of the blue square and walked towards the three brats, who dared to insult me. You could say that I was livid, but still, the thought of making them suffer made me laugh. I would definitely enjoy this. My laughter brought me all the attention I needed as I stepped in their little circle. I was now standing in the middle of them. Marshmallow to my right, Bowgirl to my left and Chicken right in front of me. The perfect formation. I should have done this a lot sooner. I was now clicking on 'Special' and choose ‘Blazing Knuckle’. This sure would do the job. I ignored the frantic movement of the Bowgirl, as she noticed, that she was glued to her square. “What are you planning?” I heard Chicken ask and just grinned, as I pressed ‘Execute’. I then rushed into the air and slammed moments later into the ground in a ball of flames. A huge pillar of fire forming on impact and enveloping the three fillies. I could hear their screams and it sounded like music to my ears. A nice harmonic melody of pain and despair. “Hmhmhm… Haaahahahaha!!!!! How do you like that!” Satisfied with my evil deed, I turned around to leave. Surely this would be enough for them. Or that’s what I thought. I couldn’t move and suddenly saw the huge symbols form into the sky, which declared, that it was the enemies turn. I then slowly faced them again, as the flames slowly lifted themselves, only to see silhouettes in front of me and gulped. This reminded me about what I said earlier. I’m level 1 without any equipment at all. They have a little higher levels, so that victory would be a struggle for me. “Ow… What was that?” I could see Chicken rise. Not a good sign. Especially since I was in the center of them. The perfect position to receive a beating. “Ah have no idea.” This only left Marshmallow to respond. Maybe I got her good? But on the other hand, my EXP didn’t rise, so… “HAHAHAHAHA!!” An ear-splitting shrill laugh echoed from beside me, which let my blood ran cold. I slowly turned beside me to see a toothy grinned Marshmallow, with a mad glint in her eyes. A feeling of unease overcame me and I could tell, that the other two fillies were not off any better. Chicken turned to her and tried to form a response. “S-Sweetie Belle?” I realized too late, that I messed with forces, which were far greater than me. The moment I turned this into a game, I released the overzealous soul of a gamer at heart, who didn’t know any mercy. This memory would still haunt my dreams in years to follow, because I felt something that I haven’t felt in thousand years: Fear. The next things that happened felt like a haze. Marshmallow suddenly moved her friends into the perfect formation for a combo attack. First with the chicken as leader. She moved herself and Bowgirl beside her. I saw that combo attack had a 100 % success rate and gulped. Suddenly they were beating the crap out of me together, as they hurled me up into the air. One hit after another, I had problems to realize what was even going on. Eventually the attack ended and the movement of marshmallow and bowgirl was reversed. Next leader of the attack was Bowgirl. She used a special move. She hurled me up in the air and made some karate chops, as well as a powerful kick, which send me flying two squares to the left, right beside the marshmallow with an explosion. After that attack was finished, she and the chicken were moved for one last combo attack with marshmallow as the leader. I was severely wounded by this point and knew exactly, that my HP would drop to zero if I had to face another attack. There was no stopping it. But that wouldn’t keep me from trying. I laughed nervously as I was holding my arms up in a soothing manner. “W-Wait! Let’s talk about this!” She just laughed again at this. It was clear, that she wouldn’t just stop her assaults that easily. 'Dammit! I have no choice. Time to swallow my pride. If I can convince her to end her turn, I could still win this battle.' “What do you want!? I will do everything, you ask from me!” At this she stopped for a moment. “Everything?” I saw a mischievous glint in her eyes, but nodded regardless. 'No one had to know.' “A second kiss,” was her short response. “Forget that I said anything!” was my short response. 'I rather put up with losing a battle to fillies, than going through this again!' The mad glint in her eyes returned as she pressed ‘Execute’. This would definitely hurt. After the battle “What was that!?” Sweetie Belle rubbed her head sheepishly. “Sorry, I sometimes lose control while playing games.” “Ya definitely hang out too often with that Button Mash fella!” “What about this thing?” stated Scootaloo, as she pointed a finger at the unconscious Overlord. “We should probably call a teacher,” suggested the farm filly. “NO!” Both of them turned around to their friend, with confused looks on their faces. But Scootaloos turned soon to anger. “What do you mean no!? This THING attacked us!” “It was just a game and he obviously is in his rebellious phase. You can’t really blame him for this.” “Of course we can blame him for this! He is a demon!” Sweetie Belle moved closer to her friend, a determined look on her face. “It doesn’t matter! Remember Zecora? She was judged too! Only because she wasn’t a pony!” “That is different! She is a zebra and not some kind of demon!” “But he is HARMLESS! If he was really as evil and strong as Cheerilee said, when we wouldn’t have stood a chance against him!” “Yeah, but-!” “No buts! I will give him a home and take care of him!” “Ah think, we can’t win this Scootaloo,” uttered Apple Bloom as she walked over to her side, “But still how are you planning to do this with Cheerilee here, Sweetie Belle?” She mulled this over for a second, before she had an idea. She undressed her jacket and dressed Laharl with it. After that she took his scarf and wrapped it around his head. “See? She won’t recognize him now! And if she asks who he is, I just say that he is my cousin and I was ordered by my sister, who I coincidentally met here, to look after him!” Scootaloo and Apple Bloom shared with each other an incredulous look and then shrugged. It’s not like they could stop her.