//------------------------------//
// Rule 24 
// Story: Chronicles of an Evil Overlord 
// by Melancholy 
//------------------------------//

Domination of Equestria ­ T+213 ­ days.
Fall of the Crystal Empire - 20:13

Rightie ho, let's give this another look shall we?
We’re in the heart of the city, capital of the Crystal Empire, the palace is surrounded by my shock troops, the evacuation routes have been cut off and even the entourage of Princess Cadence had been routed back to the last stand line. They’re cowering under the palace supports, but that shouldn’t be an issue, we brought plenty of charged close combat lances and sabers. And the generals complained about constant close combat drills. Hah!
So, all in all this should be the perfect moment of crowning victory, right?
So why is it that my army, outnumbering the Prince and his paltry defenders by no less than five to one, is currently floundering against a pristine shield?
Why?

“Why!?”
“Worry not my Master! Even with the anti­magic field offline we can still defeat them! They are but pathetic ponies!”

“Idiot! Those are far from pathetic! They are the elite of the Crystal Empire, led by the best commander in recent Equestrian history, backed against a wall with their Princess and Empire on the line! It’s going to be far far away from a fucking cake walk!”

“But Master­-”
“But nothing you buffoon! We’re being picked off by their unicorns and archers from within that shield while we can’t do a thing!”

“Why not bombard them then Master!? We could have that shield down in moments with our superior firepower!”
“Why do I employ you!? Have you seen that monstrosity of impracticality they call the Crystal Palace!? If we hit one of those supports the whole thing will come down. Not only will it cause damage among our own troops but something made of that much crystal is liable to shatter and spread its devastation over most of the city! Do you think I ordered hoof to hoof combat only because I’m feeling uncharacteristically sporting!?”
Idiots. All of them, idiots!

Well, not all of them, obviously, or we wouldn’t have gotten this far.
In fact, most of them are pretty good. How on earth have I ended up with this one today then?
Bah, not important.

“Master! We’ve captured the saboteur!”
“Really!?”

“Yes Master, it seems that the technician in charge of the Anti­magic field’s power supply had been converted by the enemy. He cut the cable in several places. The engineering corps is repairing it as we speak!”
“Fantastic! Order our troops to withdraw outside of their arrow range until that shield comes down.”

“Your word is my command, My Master!”

Excellent.
You’ll be mine soon, Crystal Empire. And with you out of my hair, there will truly be nothing remaining to challenge my rule of Equestria.

Overlord Rule No:24 I will maintain a realistic assessment of my strengths and weaknesses. Even though this takes some of the fun out of the job, at least I will never utter the line "No, this cannot be! I AM INVINCIBLE!!!" (After that, death is usually instantaneous.)