All was silent except the methodical stomping of hooves and boots in the tunnels. Five changelings followed a tall dark figure as he marched onward with sword in hand.

"My lord can you hear me?" A somber voice rang forth out of seemingly nowhere. The dark one stopped in his tracks and looked around for whoever spoke.

"Easy sire! It's only me. Emerald Wing." The Overlord lowered the sword and dropped his battle stance. With there being no immediate threat the dark one continued his trek down the tunnels. The changelings that were under his command scrambled after him and his ravenous pace.

"Don't forget about me, I'm here too your lordship." Another feminine voice spoke that couldn't be any other than Chrysalis. However the armored warrior didn't stop his advance or even acknowledge the former Queen. "It would seem that you can hear us my King cause we can definitely sense your location, even in those tunnels. Your changeling crystal will allow us to see and hear what you do master. Even more so that it allows us to interpret your will without words or actions. A useful commodity for any ambitious Overlords such as yourself."

"Do not interrupt me Chrysalis! Besides it is my job to advise the leader of this hive and I will not have you trying to take my place you cushion." Emerald yelled over the hive mind for all to hear. It wasn't long until Chrysalis replied with a scathing retort of her own.

"I may be the royal cushion now but that just means I'm closer to him than you are! You may be the adviser but you have forgotten which one of us is the royal changeling here!"

"You are a pretty poor royal changeling because look at the mess you've gotten our hive into! Your mother would have never let this happen to her hive." There was a gasp and then a short pause. Chrysalis's temper exploded as she continued to scream at Emerald.

"Don't you dare bring my mother into this Emerald!"

"Oh I will indeed bring her into this Chrysalis! She is a better Queen than you'll ever be and I still regret the day I left her hive for yours!" Their bickering kept on escalating further and getting louder with each passing moment. The changelings that followed the Overlord were now covering their ears in an effort to drown out the noise. It wasn't long until the dark one himself stopped in his tracks, perturbed by their screams of anger. He literally started to shake with rage and lifted his gauntlet with a fiery green blaze. The effect was immediate as both changelings were silenced by an intense urge to kill.

"I am sorry my lord, such actions are unbecoming of a royal changeling such as I."

"I apologize as well. It would seem that the crystal has augmented your powers in some way because I don't remember your flames being green." The Overlord looked down to his left hand and confirmed that his ball of fire was indeed green. To him such modifications could prove to be useful, or hazardous. As his father once taught him, all magic was useful but deadly if not mastered properly. Extinguishing the flames he resumed his trek through the excavated caverns before him.

"Master. It would be prudent to inform you of your surroundings. Currently you are in the wastelands to the west of Equestria's borders. The tunnel you're currently in will take you to the surface which is a couple miles from an Equestrian border town. Brittlebuck lays on the edge of the wasteland and is barely within Equestrian territory." Emerald informed the Overlord.

"I should warn you that changelings aren't on friendly terms with ponies. Also I don't know how the ponies will react to your magnificent presence but I'd bet it will be hilarious." The dark one did not react to Chrysalis's warning and instead moved onward. Not long afterward the exit to the surface came into sight. The tunnel ended at the bottom of a mountain range overlooking a desert valley. In the middle of the valley was a single river with a town built up around it.

Brittlebuck would have looked like any other quaint little pony village except for one thing, it was on fire. Large black smoke rose from the many buildings that populated the town. A tower with a solitary bell rang in the distance, indicating the town's plight. The Overlord and his five minions wasted no time and ran to the ransacked town of Brittlebuck.

When the group reached the entrance to the town they noticed that the walls and gate had been broke into from underneath. Holes littered the ground and screams can be heard along with the sound of fighting. Further into the village they saw bipedal dogs pouring out holes in the ground and terrorizing the locals. They came with nets and all manner of weapons and seemed intent on capturing ponies. Some other dogs could be seen carrying off various items from looted houses and dumped down holes with captured ponies.

Those that had yet to be captured were fighting tooth and hoof to drive off the invaders and save their loved ones. Sadly the dogs outnumber the remaining ponies and without help would soon be overrun.

"Those are diamond dogs sire. They are another race that doesn't get along with ponies. My guess is that they are enslaving the locals to dig up gems for their pack. Gems are literally their food source and tend to take slaves to harvest gems for them." The dark one listened to Chrysalis's explanation until a scream grabbed his attention.

A pair of diamond dogs were trying to shove a mare and a little filly down a hole but were having difficulties. The mare struggled fiercely and screamed for help as if her fur was on fire. With a well placed kick to the dog's head it dropped the little filly and then the mare screamed at her. "RUN! RUN LILLY RUN!"

The little filly bolted as if a demon was chasing her. The mare unfortunately was finally dragged down the tunnel by the other dog while the first got to it's feet. After shaking it's head the diamond dog took pursuit of the little filly in an attempt to recapture her. The filly turned a corner to quickly and ran head first into the boots of the dark master himself. She looked up too see a tall dark figure blocking out the sun and immediately froze with fear. The diamond dog turned the corner itself and spotted it's prey but failed to see the hulking figure behind her. The Overlord stepped forward and kicked the dog in the muzzle with the heel of his armored boot. With a pathetic whimper the diamond dog was launched backwards and landed unconsciously on the ground.

The dark one looked back and saw five different ponies comforting the little filly he had just saved. They whispered soothing words as the filly openly cried into the coat of one of the ponies. For a moment he wondered where his minions had gone but Emerald quickly explained. "Don't worry master, your changelings just have taken another form to avoid suspicion. Changelings automatically take the form of something else when the time is appropriate." The Overlord just nodded in understanding and turned his attention back to the ponies still fighting off the other dogs.

Every remaining pony besides the filly was now encircled by a large group of diamond dogs, slowly closing in on them. A few ponies in armor were at the front of the group while those unarmored wielded make shift weapons, like pots and pans. The Overlord raised his hand and pointed to the group of dogs that he intended to attack. The disguised changelings nodded and formed up behind their lord except the one tending to the filly. With a silent war cry the Overlord and his minions charged the pack of diamond dogs. One of the dogs turned around only to get hammered in the face by a metal gauntlet. The pack itself was caught of guard and tried to fight back against the small group that charged it.

All of the diamond dogs turned to attack the Overlord but left their backs exposed to the ponies. The one armored pony in the center ordered the charge and soon they too joined the fray. Caught in a pincer the invading dogs were overwhelmed but still tried to fight back. The Overlord himself reveled in the thrill of battle and mercilessly attacked his enemies.

Almost every diamond dog fell to his attacks and could not deal damage in return. Their numbers dwindled as the dog pack was crushed between two forces. The leader of the invaders made his presence known as he let loose a terrifying howl, dogs whimpered in his wake and ponies backed away nervously. A giant diamond dog that stood eight feet tall and had rippling muscles all over, turned his gaze to the Overlord. This alpha was adorned with many animal skins and wielded a giant bone hammer that belonged to some giant creature. Rage was evident in his eyes as he snarled at the dark one. However the display fell short when he just raised his sword and charged the alpha.

The two clashed as sword met bone, as armor met fur. The alpha growled and snapped his jaws in an attempt to kill his opponent. The Overlord just head butted the overgrown dog and tossed him on his backward. The alpha landed on his back legs and swung his bone hammer downward, which was parried. Furious blows were exchanged back and forth and each one parried by the Overlord.

Getting frustrated the alpha tossed his weapon aside and lunged at the enemy. Without blinking the dark one intercepted the big dog and stopped him in his tracks. The alpha started to go feral as he tried to bite and scratch through the metal armor. The only thing it did was make a horrible screeching noise which only hurt the alpha even more. When the alpha pressed his ears up against his head the Overlord delivered a brutal punch to the alpha's face.

Such a brutal blow knocked the alpha off balance and he fell face first to the ground. Right before he landed the Overlord punted his boot forward and nailed the overgrown dog right between the eyes. Such force knocked the alpha unconscious and started to bleed from his head wound. The remaining diamond dogs started to flee now that their leader had been defeated. Those that weren't captured escaped back unground via the many tunnels that littered the town.

The ponies probably would be cheering right about now if it wasn't for the dark one's presence. They had no idea what to make of him and were still in shock of what he did to the alpha. Thankfully none of them had to do anything as the little filly from before ran up to one of the armored ponies. "DADDY!!!" She yelled with tears in her eyes as she hugged her father just a fiercely as he hugged her. The guard looked up from his daughter and approached the one who had saved their town.

"I would like to thank you for saving my little Lilly as well as our town. I'm Iron Scent the captain of the Brittlebuck guard, and this is my daughter. Lilly Scent. Forgive me for asking but what's a minotaur doing way out here?" One of the disguised changelings stepped forward and politely intervened.

"I'm sorry mister Iron Scent but our leader doesn't speak. We were heading to town for some supplies and saw your diamond dog incursion." The guard captain seems to buy it and looked at the now ransacked town. "Mister Scent we saw diamond dogs trying to foalnap your daughter along with another mare. It was because of this mare that your daughter got free from her foalnappers and over to us."

This new information sends him into a state of panic and worry. "Oh no they got my wife! By Celestia I've got to rescue Aroma Scent!" The guard captain rushed around asking for volunteers to go with him and rescue the captured ponies. The Overlord just watched emotionlessly until Chrysalis spoke to him with the hive mind.

"Your changelings seem to be more powerful now. It would seem that they fed off the love from that little family reunion the two of them just had. Just imagine how much of it you could get if you reunited the whole town with their families." There was a slight pause as the Overlord heard Chrysalis licking her lips as if she was a wolf drooling over a fresh kill. "Perhaps you should volunteer to go with them and get these ponies to like you."

The Overlord just remembered another thing his father had once taught him. It is always great to get others to fight for you. The dark one just looked at one of his disguised changelings and she nodded in agreement. "Mister Iron Scent. We would like to assist you in your endeavor." The guard captain looked at the mare then to the Overlord and then smiled.

"Thank you for all your kindness strangers." Iron turned to his group of guards and ponies and addressed them. "Alright everypony listen up! We are going into the diamond dog dens to rescue our family and friends! We cannot let these mutts have their way so we must teach them a lesson!" There were cheers of stomping applause as the captain gave his speech. "Let's go free our fellow townsponies!"

One by one and two by two the group of ponies entered the tunnels that the dogs left behind. Soon the Overlord's turn came to enter these dark caverns. Underneath his helmet he smiled sinisterly.

The real fun was about to begin.

Author's Note

I'm sorry it took so long everyone/everypony. I've been real busy with work, school and the girlfriend. Even though I was unable to write as much as I've wanted to, I've still been having a lot of ideas for this story. When I'm stuck at work I'll think of funny or cool things to have happen in this story and I'll just giggle randomly. So don't fear folks, the Overlord is far from done with Equestria.