Rescuing the ponies from the diamond dogs was turning out to be quite the daunting task. They practically dug a natural maze of tunnels within other tunnels during their assault on Brittlebuck. With so many twists and turns, getting lost was almost assured. To make matters worse, the diamond dogs had taken to collapsing many of their tunnels behind them so following them became difficult. It was as if the dogs knew that they were coming.

Then the great and dark one had a moment of clarity. They did know that they're coming. Who wouldn't hear a brigade of twenty ponies stomping down through the maze. Every few minutes the ponies would come across a dead end and have to find another path. It was definitely clear that if the Overlord wanted to rescue the ponies he'd have to do it himself. So when Iron Scent led his militia down another tunnel the dark one did not follow, instead he went the other way.

Once the sound of stomping hooves faded in the background the king and his changelings moved on. Their path had taken them to even more labyrinth caverns and winding tunnels. These paths were unlit but the changelings seemed to be able to find their way well enough. The Overlord just followed his new minions through the tunnels and took note of their features.

Through the hive mind the dark one was able to find out the changelings' names, abilities, natures, likes and dislikes. Of the five changelings with him, three were drones. One was a caster and the last an infiltrator. The infiltrator was a female named Tear-a Heart. Quite the unique name, whether it meant she was a heart breaker or an assassin the Overlord did not care. She was definitely more lithe than the drones and quite determined to complete her current task. Tear-a had no problem leading the others and the master through the darkness, in fact she seemed to relish the dark abyss she was currently in. Regardless of her level of enjoyment there appeared a small beacon of light off in the distance.

The light emanated from torches placed methodically along the tunnel walls and following them led to an even bigger excavated cave. The entrance to the further portions of the cave were blocked off by a wooden palisade and gate. In front of the gate stood a lone diamond dog with a spear and all. It would seem this poor sod was placed on guard duty and had no idea he was about to be relieved from his burdens.

The Overlord pointed to the diamond dog guard and willed for Tear-a to take out the target. The infiltrator just licked her chops as if she was about to sit down to a meal and transformed. Tear-a had taken the form of a diamond dog but she was obviously more feminine than any others the dark one had seen so far. In this form she stood on her hind legs and walked upright like her master. Terra winked at him and then shimmied her way over to the guard with a sway in her hips.

The dog was to stupid to question why she was even outside the dens in the first place and followed his more primal instincts. It wasn't long until Tear-a had the poor guard wrapped around her dainty little paws and following her away from the gate. She led him to a dark corner where nobody could see them both. Not long after the dark one heard some shuffling and scuffling noises from the dark corner. A minute later Tear-a comes swaggering out of the darkness while twirling a key with one of her claws. Yep. Tear-a was definitely a heart breaker, but the Overlord still didn't know which kind.

When Tear-a reach her master she presented the key too him which he took without a second thought. The other changelings rolled their eyes while Tear-a returned to her original true form. The key fit within the lock smoothly and turned without much effort. Beyond the open gate was a large den of diamond dogs residing within many of the excavated tunnels. It would seem the dog community has made a city of sorts here underground and seem to be still expanding. One thing was definitely clear though, they were severely outnumbered.

Guards patrolled almost every path and workers fueling their industry. Pony slaves could be seen hauling large carts of dirt and gems every which way and dogs beating up on them. If the dogs were left alone they'd probably get more slaves and hollow out the wastelands at the rate they're going. Just by watching the ponies toil in strife gave the dark one an idea.

The Overlord pointed to each of his changelings and willed them to follow his command. Each of his minions transformed into a diamond dog of different varieties, Tear-a took the same form she previously used. Their lord inspected each and everyone of their features until he was satisfied with their disguises. After a moment of apprehension the great and dark one handed over his sword to one of his drones. With another wave of the hand he demanded that his will be done. The changelings hesitated but did as they were ordered. They encircled their master and restrained him from each side.

Even though the changelings were in diamond dog form they still could not compare to the master's height. In order to make their ruse realistic they had to tightly grasp the Overlord's arms and torso. Once everything was in order the marched their master straight into the wolves' den.

Naturally a small group of diamond dogs walking around with a mysterious armored figure would draw the attention of many a diamond dog. The chatted amongst themselves and pointed to the dark figure being dragged inside. It wasn't long until diamond dogs clad in scavenged armor pieces stopped the group in it's tracks at spear point.

A dog with more armor pieces than the others step forward an practically yelled at the group with improper speech. "Stop! What you doing?!" One of the disguised changelings stepped forward and spoke in an equally impaired dialect.

"We capture creature outside. Big strong and make good slave." The dog leader looked over the would be slave an agreed with that statement. Then it suddenly hit this pack leader that if they captured this creature then why was it still wearing armor.

"Good. But why you no take armor?"

"We can't get off with claws or paws." The dog was definitely suspicious but was more excited to have such a good find. If they could not get the armor off then the smith dogs surely could.

The whole time the other changeling was conversing with the pack leader, the Overlord was shaking with anger. He did not mind being restrained because it was all part of his plan, but Tear-a was being more than a little adventurous. She was the one who restrained his left arm and while the others conversed she hung on his arm like a floozy. Tear-a would draw little hearts in the Overlord's arm or hug it close to her body affectionately. Oh the dark one wanted to smack her so bad, but if he did that then his plan would have been all for nothing. So he just silently endured. Plotting his revenge.

The pack leader was about to wave them through until he suddenly realized something. He did not recognize any of their scents. "Get them!" He yelled. The other guard dogs were startled but did as they were told. As one of the guards got close to the group he recognized a familiar smell emanating from one of the females.

"Hey boss! I smell Gubbin on this bitch!" The guard dog was talking about Tear-a, the others closed the distance on began to smell for themselves. Tear-a was irritated by the name the other had called her but she was more disgusted with the dozen of diamond dogs pressing their wet noses on her body. The Overlord just watched in amusement as her personal boundaries were invaded. It wasn't the revenge he had planned but he'd take it.

"Ya she does smell like him alright. If you were in Gubbin's pack why you no say so?" The dog leader asked.

"You never asked." The disguised changeling replied. Amazingly the pack leader bought the excuse while the changelings stared at him like he was the most stupid animal on the planet.

"We take slave now. You all go get food." The leader said while his guard dogs surrounded the dark one and apprehended him. His minions watched as he was forcibly taken away down a separate corridor. Eventually the guards had taken him to a different section of the city which was just a glorified word for a refurbished mine.

These mine tunnels were narrow and long with railroad tracks in the middle of each one. Mine carts littered these tracks and were pulled along them by ponies. The ponies were hooked up to metal harnesses that pulled one or more of these carts behind them. Each slave was more diverse than the last. Some had shiny coats of many a color while others had dirty fur. The majority of those here were fully grown able bodied ponies so there had to be others being held elsewhere.

The guards brought the dark one to a blacksmith workshop in the secluded portion of the mines. A lone husky diamond dog stood over an anvil, pounding away at whatever metal that lay atop it. Whatever the blacksmith was working on stopped as he turned to greet the other dogs. They told him that he needed to remove the armor from their new slave so he could be put to work. The guards ended up strapping the Overlord to a table with leather restraints and left the blacksmith to his work. If there was one mistake the guards did was leave him alone with this husky dog.

When the blacksmith turned to the table with tool in paw the Overlord's left gauntlet burst into green flames, incinerating it's restraint. Before the husky could react he was caught within the dark one's vice grip. The dog then panicked in an attempt to free itself while the Overlord just leisurely escaped his bonds. Hanging on the wall were several racks of mine cart harness and fixtures, the dark one plucked a couple of them from the rack. While it would be easier to kill the mangy mutt, it's always more satisfying to torture and dominate it. Without a second thought the Overlord placed one harness on the dog and another on it's head. With some effort he was able to bend the harness until it fully bound the dog's head like a muzzle. To top it off the great and dark one hooked a chain to the harness and tossed the husky on all fours. Before the poor diamond dog could catch his breath he was dragged down a dark tunnel by the most evil creature he'd ever seen.

The Overlord knew what his next objective was. He had some worshipers to save.

Author's Note

Oh my God./Oh my Celestia. This chapter hit me like a freight train and wouldn't stop until I've published it. So many ideas and so many chapters to write. Hopefully it will be worth it in the end and you guys enjoy it. Until next time.

"Giblet don't chew that!" Gnarl - Overlord 2