15: Moving Ahead...
It had been several days since Azure’s destruction of the random town on the outskirts of Equestria. He did not think that anything had been noted since then. He did not have any way to know since he had destroyed the gate that had been placed there and its place hidden deep to avoid it being found. The Overlord had checked on the Hives and been shocked to find that they were more than replenished and he was sure that he would not need to harvest any essence for a while due to the sheer amount that had been brought to bear and he had taken the rest to be used later.
Azure was quiet as he walked through the minion burrows and he nodded to Mortis as he passed by. Azure had not needed to resurrect any of the minions in his army since they had been up against ponies that did not pose any threat. He paused to look around as the minions lounged in place or chased after various rodents that had been allowed to breed and live to give them something to do in their spare time. Azure shook his head as they chased the creature and he moved past them to avoid being run into. He jumped to the platforms and commanded it to move and take him back to the throne room.
He had left Gnarl to ponder how to ensure that the Changeling stayed under his command versus it being returned to the Queen when they got close to her. So far their experiments had not shown any signs of the drone being taken from him. He had shown no sign of losing his connection to the Overlord but that did not mean that Azure would not be ready in case he did. The platform stopped at the edge of the throne room doors and he jumped off to see Wrath come running out of the doorway and slide to a stop at the sight of him. He trotted to the stallion and waved a letter in front of the red pony.
“Give me that.” He growled at the minion tried to jump to his back before giving over the letter. Wrath went still and gave it to him and the stallion walked into the throne room with the minion on his heels. His magic gripped the letter and he opened it as he paused next to the map table.
Azure:
Can you come to Ponyville? Applejack wants to speak with you about her sister and I thought that it would be easier to meet her at the castle versus out at her farm.
Thank you!
Twilight
“Hmm. What could possibly be so dire that I need to go there?" He questioned aloud. His eyes traveled around him and he shrugged. “I have nothing better to do at the moment. So a trip to the town might prove to be an interesting distraction. Will see if she is asking about the dead town or not.”
He left the note on the map table to allow Gnarl to know where he had gone. He would take his helm with him in case he needed to explain further but he saw no need to wear it. Wrath sprinted away to retrieve the helm that sat next to his throne and ran back with it in his claws. He walked out into the center of the room and commanded the Gates magic. He opened his eyes to see Twilight standing at the bottom of the stairs, surprise in her eyes.
“Hi, Azure.” She greeted him with a wave of her hoof. “I wasn’t expecting you to show up so fast.”
“I had nothing better to do at this time.” He replied as he walked down the stairs to join her. The gauntlet roared and his normal amount of minions surged over the ground to join him. “You caught me in a moment of boredom.”
Twilight giggled and nodded to him. “Well Applejack wanted to talk to you so just come with me and we can chat with her.”
Azure nodded and stayed at the mare’s side as he walked toward the castle at the end of the street. He glanced up and he could see that ponies were no longer turning to stare at him and the minions as he passed by. He allowed himself a light chuckle at the sight of the ponies ignoring him. Twilight looked to him as he laughed and she tilted her head slightly at him.
“I was laughing at how they no longer seem concerned with my presence.”
Twilight looked around them and she smiled. “They are used to you by now. At first, they were running from you and the minions but now you’re just like any other pony in town.”
Azure said nothing and simply looked ahead of them as she spoke. He had to admit they adjusted fairly quickly but that just meant that the minions moving through town would most likely go unnoticed. He took note of it to inform Gnarl of later and stayed with the purple Alicorn. They reached the castle and Twilight opened the door to allow him to inside ahead of her. She followed him inside and her magic pulled a chair out for him to use as they walked into the next room. Applejack stood up as he approached, he could see that she was upset by her expression and he sat down in place, the minions sat down around him. Wrath set him helm on the table and went back to his own place. Wrath sat on his tail and Azure flicked it to inform the minion that he did not approve. The minion stood up, picked up the long tail and sat down with it on his lap. While Azure had not expected that to be his solution he allowed it.
“Ya need ta explain yerself.” Applejack said to him, her voice firm.
“This again?” Azure said to her and leaned back in his chair.
The mare blinked and then shook her head. “Not what Ah meant. Ya were on mah farm the other day.”
Azure thought back and nodded in agreement. “That is true.”
“Did ya meet anypony?”
Azure thought it over and shook his head. “Nopony that stood out.”
“What about three fillies?” She replied.
Azure looked thoughtful and he nodded. “Okay, now I recall them. Yes, I did meet three small ponies.”
“And?” She went on.
“And…What?” Azure replied he had to admit he was not sure what she was looking for him to say.
“Apple Bloom has been havin’ nightmares since then. Anythin’ that ya can think of that could cause that?”
Azure shook his head. “To be honest this beating around the bush is becoming boring. Just say what you want to say.”
Applejacks eyes widened then her eyes narrowed in anger. “She’s been wakin’ up cryin’ with nightmares of minions. Lots’a minions.”
Azure feigned caring as the mare spoke, but his interest failed as she went on. “And?”
“And ya scared the daylights outta her.” She replied, hotly. “Yer a mite old ta be scarin’ fillies.”
“It was not my intention to frighten them.” He replied.
“What was the intention of bringin’ that many minions to mah farm?”
“They mentioned that Wrath did not look that frightening so I changed his armor. They said that he was scarier but not enough to be protecting me. So I called on a few more and they decided that they were scary enough altogether.”
Applejack stared at him and Twilight shook her head, an exasperated smile on her lips. “Ya knew that they might get scared!? And ya did it anyway?”
“I did not see a reason not to prove them wrong. Was all in good fun.” He replied.
Applejack slapped her hoof to her face and glared at him. “Ya are too old for that. Did ya really think it was okay ta terrorize three little fillies?”
Azure shrugged and placed his hooves under his chin. “As I said. All in good fun.”
Applejack snorted in reply. “Stay away from mah sister.”
“She and the others were following me around. I told them to stay out of the way and they persisted. Perhaps she is the one that needs to be told to stay away.” He countered.
“Oh, she will. Ya need ta grow up, Azure. Yer older and bigger than they are.”
Azure’s brow lifted at her comment and he chose to allow her to feel that she had scolded him properly and he stayed silent. She pushed away from the table and stomped to the door behind him. He didn’t bother looking back as Twilight trotted after the angry mare. He said nothing as he could hear Twilight trying to smooth things over and the other mare huffed and left, slamming the door behind her. Twilight came back to him and sat down in her own chair. She sighed and looked at him.
“You really shouldn’t have scared the fillies.”
“As I said it was not my intention. I simply proved them wrong, at their request.”
“You could have said that to Applejack.” She countered.
“Perhaps. But do you think that would have changed anything?” He replied.
Twilight shook her head. “Probably not, but still.” Twilight began and the sound of a door opening caught her attention as Spike trotted up to her, a scroll in his claws. “Hi, Spike.”
Spike jumped to his own chair as she took the scroll from him. “Hey, Azure.” He said with a friendly wave to the stallion.
“Spike.” He replied and waited as Twilight stared at the scroll ahead of her. “Anything interesting?”
“Yeah. A town was attacked by somepony and…” She paused at the sight of Spike next to her. “Spike?”
“Yeah?”
“Can you bring in some coffee, please?” She asked him brightly.
He looked at her, his face accusatory but he nodded. “Sure.”
Azure watched as the dragon walked out of the room and the door closed behind him. “That bad?” He asked her.
“Yup. It was wiped out. Nopony lived.” She said as she read it over.
“Oh.” Azure feigned shock at her words. “Any ideas?”
“Princess Celestia says it was burned to the ground and that the ponies are…unrecognizable.”
Azure widened his eyes at the information. “That’s quite the feat.”
“I agree. It takes a lot of work to do that to a body. Azure?”
“Yes?”
“Can your minions…?” He feigned insult at her words and she shook her head. “I mean do they have the ability to do that? I‘m trying to figure out what kind of strength would be needed.”
“Given plenty of time perhaps. But it takes time to do that to a body as you said. One minion would not be able to attain that easily. There would need to be a great deal of them to accomplish such a feat without help.”
“Okay. That’s what I thought. I was sure that you had nothing to do with it and I am glad to be right. So what else could it be?” She asked as she set the paper on the table.
Azure looked up as Spike came back into the room, he pushed a trolley with drinks into the room and Twilight smiled at him as he got to her. She looked to Azure and he nodded back at her. Her magic covered the coffee and she made herself a cup and another she set on the table and held up sugar and milk to him. He nodded to both and she tipped in a couple of sugar cubes and a bit of milk and her magic set it in front of him. He took the offered cup and sipped it as Spike got back into his chair.
“So what did I miss?” He asked as he set his own drink on the table.
“Not much. Just asking Azure what his red minions can do and how hot their fire is.” She feigned to him.
“Oh. Boring.”
“Not that interesting,” Twilight said back to him and sipped her coffee.
Azure said nothing and took a gulp of his drink. A plan formulated behind his eyes as a slight smile tugged at his mouth as he set his drink down he gathered himself to spin a lie to the mare. “Now that I think of it I do have something to mention.”
“Oh?” Twilight asked him. “Everything okay?”
“Thankfully yes. But, could a dragon have the needed amount of literal firepower to harm that town?” He asked her.
He watched as Twilight’s eyes went wide as he spoke. She looked to Spike who said nothing as he stared at the Overlord. “That’s possible. Why do you ask?”
“I was at home and a letter came to me from one of my settlements calling for my help. They were under attack from something it seemed.” He began and the mare and dragon were listening intently. “When I arrived several homes were on fire and a section of the wall burned as well. Thankfully the walls are solid stone so it would have taken a great amount of flame to melt them. But they reported that it was a group of dragons that had attacked. I found them and chased them off before they could do more damage.”
Spike’s jaw dropped as Azure finished speaking and the red stallion took a drink of his coffee as Twilight stood up and the map came to life and she looked up at him. “Can you show me roughly where the attack happened?”
“Why?” He asked her.
“I want to know if they got driven off by you and went to this other town.” She explained. “I do not think you had anything to do with this, you were protecting your ponies, same as I would have.”
Azure’s magic held his drink as he got to his hooves and walked over to her. He looked at the map and pointed out where the attack happened. He lied about the exact location and made it seem as though the dragons had been driven off of his land and had then attacked the village next. Twilights eyes narrowed and he could see the anger in her eyes.
“Can you describe the dragons?”
“Do you know them?” He asked.
“Not personally. But there are a few younger dragons that we have come into contact with that are not as likely to let it go that a pony drove them off.”
“Meaning?”
“There are a group of teenager dragons that don’t like ponies at all. Last we were around them they attacked us and Spike. We got away from them once but the idea that they decided to go after your ponies and then this town is…”
“You think Garble would do that?” Spike asked.
“I think it could be possible. You saw how much he hated ponies before.” She reasoned to the baby dragon who nodded. “But to…hurt so many.”
“It is possible,” Azure added in. “If a being has enough anger or hatred then they cannot be expected to act rationally or with any sense. He lost to you before, correct?”
“Yes. We got away with the egg of a phoenix before and that was what he wanted.” Twilight replied.
“So that would still count as a loss in his mind. An affront to his personal pride.” Azure replied, ensuring that the idea of an enraged dragon was the cause of the deaths. “I know that when I was fighting to take back my kingdom I would often goad my enemies into acting out from anger or a slight to them. It’s a common tactic. In your case, it was not deliberate but it is still an affront to him. Therefore it is possible that he could gather those of like mind and spur them into enough of a frenzy to act out.”
Twilight listened to him and she nodded as he finished speaking. “You make a good point. He is a pretty nasty little dragon. What did the leader of them look like?”
“He was red with a yellow belly,” Azure replied.
“Yup. That’s Garble.” Spike said as he nodded, his arms crossed over his chest.
Twilight nodded, agreeing with the baby dragon at her side. “I wish it wasn’t but I don’t think we can disagree with Azure and his description. It makes sense that if he failed to cause harm to Azure’s ponies that he might go after others. Are your ponies okay?”
“They are fine. Repairs are already underway to several homes and roads.” He admitted to her. “More terrified than harmed. They were fine once the threat was driven from the lands.”
Twilight sighed in relief as he spoke and looked to Spike. “Take a letter, Spike.”
Azure watched as the baby dragon pulled out a scroll and will from behind him and waited for the mare to speak.
“Dear Princess Celestia, I am shocked to hear what happened to that town and I have spoken with Azure at length and his minions are not able to destroy a town of that size in a short amount of time. He did confide that his ponies had been attacked several days earlier by a group of young dragons. He was called to the scene and drove them away and it seems that their defeat at his hooves might have angered the leader and they attacked the next settlement they came across. I asked him to describe the dragon that was the leader and he described a dragon that Spike and I are aware of. A young teenage dragon named Garble was the driving force behind the attack on Azure’s own ponies. I can ask more if needed but I am certain that we are looking at a group of dragons and not any minions. Azure would not attack any pony unless provoked and has no need to harm them. I hope we can find out what caused the attack and help to bring the matter to a close.
Your fellow Princess, Twilight Sparkle.”
She looked at Spike who nodded, rolled up the scroll and a blast of green flame sent it on its way. He watched as it spiraled out of the room and through the window. ‘When I take this town I need to make sure I keep that little one under wraps.’ He thought to himself and leaned back on his haunches. He wTwilightck to his chair and sat down as Twilight did the same.
“Thank you for your help, Azure. I had no idea what could have caused this.” She said to him.
“It’s no trouble. War is something I am familiar with.”
“Unfortunately.”
“True enough.” He replied to her and got to his hooves. “Speaking of unfortunately I do have other things that I need to tend to back in the Netherworld. Unless there to is more you need?”
“No. I’m fine but thank you for asking. What are you up to anyway?” She asked him, a smile on her muzzle.
“Nothing of great importance. Just planning ahead.” He responded to her.
“For?”
“In case that Queen tries to find the Netherworld I am making sure that even if she gains entry she will not be able to escape it.”
“Oh. That’s a good idea. Are you sure you will be okay?”
“Should be fine. Only I can use the army and they will only respond to my command. The Gates are already safeguarded against her and her kind. But should she find a way past that, we have contingency plans for her.”
“I won’t ask. You already know what you’re doing. If you need help with anything let me know and I will do whatever I can to help out.” She said to him.
“I will keep it in mind. Till next time.” He said to her as he gathered his minions and walked for the door.
“Be safe, Overlord,” Twilight called to him as he left.
Azure let a grin come to his face at her choice of words. He didn’t need to look at her to see the flash of color or the change in her expression through her eyes. He paused as he considered how to entice her to allow him to touch her again but he chose to wait. She would call for it again soon enough. He recalled asking Faye how it had felt to be corrupted by him and she had said that by the second time she had begun to need his magic to touch her. Almost like a drug and by the end it would be all that she could see. Now she did not need his magic, all she needed was to be close to him. His hooves carried him out of the castle and into the sunlight. He walked to the Gate as the minion jumped into their respective minion holes and he commanded the Gate to send him home.
His eyes opened as he looked around and left the center of the room and then to the side where Gnarl waited. The Minion Master said nothing as the Overlord joined him. Azure opened his mouth to say anything when he stopped and his jaws closed slowly as he considered an old thought.
“That’s it.” He said aloud. Gnarl turned to look at him when he spoke as Wrath came up to him, carrying his helm. “Gnarl, bring me the drone.”
“Master we are still…” The minion went silent as Azures blazing red eyes looked to him as he disagreed. “Of course, Dark Lord.”
The Minion Master looked to his own runners and they took off to retrieve the drone. Minutes ticked past and the drone was brought before him. His magic reached out and he used his spell once more. The drone’s eyes went wide at the influx of his magic and he looked to the Overlord, need in his gaze.
“As I thought.” He said and released the magic. “As I was thinking over the presence spell that I was slowly infecting Twilight with I was reminded of how Faye said it felt when I was slowly draining her. It’s like a drug, one that they cannot argue against. I figured I should check with the drone we have and he confirmed it for me. Draining a bit from him showed that he is also under the influence of it. So the easiest way to keep him under my control is to go with him into the Hive. We can use him to get more information.”
Gnarl stared at him as he spoke. “Master you’re a genius. I had not considered that solution. You are right that your presence alone is the strongest influence of all. I had not thought of it that way. Did you add more to the Princess?”
“No. I figure if I let it go for a bit then I can see if she reaches out to me first.” Azure assured him. “For now I will let her figure it out on her own.”
“Sounds like a plan, Dark Master. We will prepare the drone to go back to the Hive and report in. Which minion will you use?”
“I will use Wrath this time. He is the boldest of the group and the most easily seen. No doubt that they have seen him so it will add credence to any claims of being close to me.”
“Fair point Master.”
“Prep him. We will head out in a few minutes.”
Gnarls eyes widened and he began to yell commands as Azure walked out of the room and stood on the balcony outside. The red stallion was quiet as Wrath sat on his back and Azure looked back as the minion ran his claws through the Overlords tangled mane. He said nothing and permitted the minion to act as he saw fit. His ears flicked absently as he listened to the minion's claws scrabbling over the stone as Gnarl yelled and shouted to them. His mind cleared as he closed his eyes and focused on what he wished to accomplish. He was ready for if the Queen wished to move on him personally and try to use him. The drone was to then assure her that he was not that close to the Overlord yet and needed time to gain his confidence. For now, he would worry about it later and school the Changeling on what he was to do. He could hear Gnarl doing just that as he waited and he could hear the creature agreeing and committing it to memory.
Azure's mind came into focus as he prepared to move forward and keep his goals in the front of his mind. He would either enslave the Queen or break her.
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An outstanding good job very well done my dude. I can't wait to see the fruit of this corrupted seed you planted into twilight hehehe.
9568945
Working on it. So far I have outlines ready for use but have to get to them. Thank you for reading!!
9570248
Not a problem keep it up!
9570248
More please
Oh Twilight.....you naive fool. The Overlord has played you like a fiddle and it's only a matter of time before he decides to cut your strings....or corrupts and makes you into one of his mistresses.
Mwa-ha-ha-ha! All hail the Overlord!
He did though.