THE DARK LORD COMES

Comic-Con; the place where nerds go to be what they want, and buy to their heart's content. For Damian, however, it’s a chance for change. He had just arrived and already people were looking at him. The reason was simple: his costume. His Sauron armor was made of grey leather with each part being made by hand. In his right hand he carried a replica of Sauron's mace carved out of wood and painted over with dark grey. He had everything except the ring. Oh well, he was sure to head out and find one while here. He walked around for three hours looking at everything and taking photos with people, until he felt something.

It was a gentle pool at first, but he followed it, walking down the aisles of people and booths till he found what was drawing him; it was a similar style to the Resident Evil merchant stand, and the guy himself was sitting with his arms folded and his right hand on his chin. Then, he saw it: the ring. It was on a stand over a box labeled ‘We Bring War.’ Damian looked until he shook his head and walked up.

Once Damian was in front of the stand, the merchant looked up with a light laugh before speaking. "What can I do for you, sir?"

"I know who you are, and since I know you, you can guess why I'm here," Damian said. The Merchant, for his part, sighed before speaking.

"I need to change my costume." He said before taking a one-eighty and saying, “So, since you know who I am, can you tell me your name?"

"Damien, and may I ask what's in the box?" Damien said resting his arms on the counter. The merchant moved the ring stand before opening the top of the box. Once open to the light, you could see the rows of Uruk hai scouts and orc labours in foam rectangles. But in the first row sat the Nine; the lieutenants of the dark lord. The Witch-king of Angmar, and Khamûl, followed by the other seven. Damien looked back before speaking.

"How many are there in this?"

"Four hundred Uruk hai and eight hundred orcs. There's a book at the bottom for making orc and Uruk pits. Beyond that, your magic will come to you naturally. Anything else you need?" The merchant finished.

"Yes, what Equestria am I being sent to?"

"It's an anthro one, first off, and you will be sent six years before current events. You will also have an island the size of Iberia, so you’ll have plenty of land to work with. Lastly, you will be off the coast of Zebrica,” he said as he closed the box and put the ring back on top.

"Thanks for the info. Can I have the ring now?” Damien said.

"Sure, go ahead and enjoy your new life!" He said waving as Damien grabbed the ring, slipping it onto his ring finger and grabbing the box. Immediately after doing this, thing went dark.

=========

That was four days ago and since then Damien, along with his new army, have been busy. Their first objective was finding food, lay on the land, and finding a place to begin his fortress. The land they were in was much like the rolling ash hills from around Mount Doom, which fit since the volcano was still active and was blanketing the land in dark clouds. Damien sent the nine lieutenants, along with groups of 5 Uruk trackers for each. Once they were gone, he ordered most of Uruks to find anything that they could eat while the few Uruks he still had kept the orcs in line as they set up camp. They'd worked for about three hours as Damien watched from a nearby hill. Once they were done, Damien walked into the camp to see how they had done. After about thirty minutes, he was done examining the tents, and had those who failed start over with building their tents. He had just started to sit down when the first groups of hunters returned carrying various beast for dinner. Seeing this, Damien summoned wood for the orcs to use to start cooking.

Once done, he listened to some of the hunting parties who found promising positions for his fortress. Out of all of them, only two caught his eye. After that, he started to test his new powers, seeing just what he could do. When he did stop it was to either eat or listen to more suggestions on where to build. One place that drew his attention was a hill that rose higher than most, and only could be accessed from one side. When he asked the Uruks who told about it, they quickly went out to lead him to it.

It took a whole day till they reached the hill, and when they arrived, to say that Damien was impressed was an overstatement. The hill rose 230 feet into the air with a steep climb to the top. Once Damien climbed up to the peak, he was happy to see how far he could see. The terrain around them was flatter than what you would suspect, making it easy to spot anyone trying to attack. After walking around a little more, he thanked the Uruks and dismissed them. He then climbed back down and got to work. After six hours of work, he had created what he'd wanted. The main castle was built like Dragonstone with Isengard’s tower and outer wall. After doing that he carved out the caverns to where his industries of war and pits will be located. However, he added one last thing; something just in case he needed to defend his new castle...

After he had finished he returned to camp and rallied his forces and moved them to his new fortress. Once his forces had finished setting up camp, he put the orcs straight to work on the breeding pits along with mining, and building forges. Once they got started, he ordered the Uruks to patrol the castle and outer walls.

It took a month for the Nine to return. The land they found themselves on was in fact not just a barren wasteland of ash. In the northern region of the island were mountains with highlands all over. The southern and western regions were a savanna with the ash making it a rich green. The eastern portion was a large marshland with thick jungle and mud. That knowledge mattered little to him though, when he heard of the inhabitants the Nine had seen.

They were a mix of zebra and Thestral with bat-like wings, darker fur and a mane, while still having zebra stripes. They lived mostly in the savanna and northern regions, with only a few villages near the marsh. They seemed to be like the corsairs of Umbar, with most of them living along the coast and having fast moving ships. Damien decided to wait till he had larger numbers to make contact with them.

Three months later, and the numbers of orcs and Uruk Hai have increased greatly. Thanks to the spawning pits, the number of Uruks now numbered upwards of 1,500 and orcs having nearly twice that in their ranks. The new orcs were sent to work on building more pits and pumping out more weapons and armor. The Uruks were armored like in the movies, with most them becoming Uruk infantry or archers.

Damien himself currently was watching the Uruks train in the training field. Beside him stood the Witch-king, who was placed in charge of training the Uruks. So far the Uruks were doing quite well. Turning his head Damien spoke. "How long do you think it will take ‘till the Uruk Hai are ready for battle?"

"I believe they are ready for battle, master. Though I would suggest we go for small settlements and test them, first." The Nazgul replied to Damien, nodding before speaking. "Fine then. Have five hundred ready to march soon, and have my chariot ready with thirty Caragore riders as well."

"As you command, and would you like one of us Nazgul to accompany you?"

Thinking for a moment, Damien responded with a calm smile. “No, I think this will not warren your aid." He replied before continuing. “Have the troops ready at the outer wall’s gate and tell me when they are all ready. I’ll be in my room." As he finished, the Nazgul nodded before walking down to gather the needed force. Damien smiled before walking back to the castle. Once he was inside he went to his chamber, walking through six hallways and one staircase before coming to a dark grey iron door. Raising his right hand, he used his magic to unlock the door, as he had placed a special lock on the door so that only he was able to enter.

Opening the door, the first thing to meet a dark room with little to no light within it. Damien snapped his fingers, igniting six torches and a fireplace, bathing the room in a yellow glow. With the lights now on, all aspects of the room were revealed. It was a large room being 30 by 40-feet in diameter, with bookshelves along the right side of the room. There were no books yet, so each shelf was empty. The floor was made from black stone with a Caragore pelt placed in front of his fireplace, of which had a mantle with various werewolf and vampires in a state of battle carved into it. Across from it was a large bed—big enough for 6 people to sleep on—it had various animal pelts over it, serving as a blanket with pillows in a similar fashion. Both the front and back had carvings in a Norse style, with each post being a head of wolves or dragons. Beyond that, there was a dresser with an armor rack next to it and other doors; one to the balcony, and one to his private bathroom.

Damien sighed as he went to sit in front of the fireplace and stare into the flames. He thought on what his first target would be. The zebra/Thestral hybrids, of whom they later learned after capturing a hunter from a nearby village, called themselves Zestrals. They had come to be after many of the Thestral nobles and night guard had found out about Luna’s banishment, which caused a rift within the Thestral ranks. Many saw this as Celestia taking power for herself. However, with her influence, they could do nothing and thus opted to find a new home away from the celestial tyrant. They gathered a large fleet in which they sailed for six months until they found themselves on what, at the time, was called Isithunzi on the east coast of Zebrica. They sent teams to scout the island, and once they learned of the island’s lax inhabitants, they decided to settle on the island, renaming it the “Island of the Night.”

They conquered the island and started their new lives; from exiles to raiders. They and the locals over the next thousand years of crossbreeding became the Zestrals, founding a new culture and way of life. Those Thestrals that did not remain united, instead founded cities and built castles fighting for each other, and used their ships to raid the coastline of various zebra tribes. They indeed sounded much like the corsairs of Umbar, and maybe they could be a regular fighting force once conquered.

‘Hmm... Yes, that could work!’ Thought Damien as he considered the idea to invade the wandering Thestral bands.

As Damien thought longer on that prospect, he was disturbed from his planning by a knock on his door. Turning his head towards the door he sighed before standing and moving to open the door. Once he was in front of it he used his magic to once again open the entrance. On the other side of the door, wearing full armor, was a Uruk who held a Halberd in his right hand.

"Master, the troops are ready for you. Your Chariot is in the courtyard, as well." The Uruk said in a low baritone voice. Damien nodded, flicking his hand and shutting the door with his magic before he and the Uruk walked to the courtyard. It took a bit of time, and by then the Uruk had gone back to patrol which left Damien to walk through the halls alone. He walked for a few more minutes until he came to the entrance to the castle, where two Uruks armed like their comrade from earlier nodded before opening the gate.

Walking through the door of the keep he was met by the Witch-king standing next to a chariot with three armored Caragors hooked up to it. The Chariot was grey, with a gothic style, a set of javelins and an Uruk driver wearing simple leather for armor and an iron helmet. Next to it were thirty-some other Caragors, each having a well-armored Uruk next to it holding either a boar spear, Warhammer, or a tomahawk with a longer handle and a set of javelin hooked up to the back of their saddles. They were more akin to heavy skirmishers, and would be used as such. Damien turned to the Witch-king and spoke.

"What have you gathered for me, lieutenant?”

"360 raiders and 140 archers, master." he answered, his helmet turning toward the horizon before pointing south-west and saying, "The closest village to ours on the territory is that way. Scouts have reported that the village is new; maybe a month old now, and only has around 600 inhabitants."

"The general look of the population?"

"The scouts say the village is not well armed, with mostly mares and foals."

"Thank you, they'll be a good test of my abilities."

"Also they seem to be only earth ponies."

"Hmm, no matter. Thank you for the information."

"You’re welcome, my lord." He said before going back to the fort. Once he was gone, Damien walked to the chariot and got aboard as he summoned his armor and mace. Once his armor was on and he was in place, he turned to the driver and simply said, "let's go." the Uruk nodded before he drove the chariot up to the riders who now turned their heads to Damien before he yelled to them, "Mount up and follow me!" The Uruks immediately followed his command—mounting up and forming in a louse double line formation behind him—as the chariot drove to the gate, opening as they got close and continuing down the track until they reached the front gate where the Uruks stood waiting.

The chariot road up to the front of the assembly of Uruks who turned their attention to him before he spoke. "Form up and move out: we are going out to raid a village!" The Uruks who had been stuck raiding small caravans and killing what few pony were in them were more than happy as they let out a light cheer before moving into a three line column behind the Caragors. Once they were ready Damien commanded to the guards, "Open the gates.” The orcs in the gatehouse above quickly opened the gate, lowering the drawbridge as Damien and his soldiers marched through them.

The outside of the fort was a flat ground with hills scattered throughout. The trip would only take a few days but Damien knew that there could be trouble from the Ghouls that had dens scattered throughout the ash land. They had attacked a few of his patrols and, judging from the small number that had returned, they had killed a fair number of scouts. But he had a few experienced scouts who knew the area they were heading and was told as they marched that the likelihood of attack was low. The scout had been right, as the party made their way through the journey a d had no trouble with the Ghouls. The few that they did see didn't attack and kept their distance, most likely from the larger-than-normal band of raiders marching through. The rest of the march to the village was peaceful and there was little trouble.

After around four days of marching, the party reached their destination; a high hill that Damien used to watch the settlement from as the rest of his force stayed out of sight. Like the scouts had reported, the village was indeed under-manned with, from his guess, barely a hundred males able to fight; and they weren't well armed. The overall shape of the village was round, having been built around a pond in the middle of the village. They had set up a small wall that looked like it would be no trouble to simply knock over. The villagers also dug a ditch around it with stakes facing outward towards any enemy that tried to attack. If he was to rate the fort he would give it 4/10, thanks to the poorly made wall and the fact they had no towers and not a single stallion on guard at the entrance to the village. Luckily, that was in his favor, as Damien looked behind he saw his chariot driver and the rest of his troops standing by. Cracking a smile, he walked back to the chariot, and after getting on board he raised his hand into the air before swinging it down towards the village.

They quickly came over the hill with his Caragor riders moving at a trot as his infantry jogged behind him. The villagers now took notice to the darkly armored force as the stallions quickly started to yell at the mares and foals ran into the houses and tents. The stallions grabbed their weapons, which were mostly farm implements and wicker shields as they tried to form a shield wall at the entrance of their home. Once Damien was a hundred yards away, he ordered his forces to stop and had the archers from ranks in front, while the infantry stood behind them with the Caragor riders on the left side of the force. Damien sat in the front his eyes scanning the enemy formation.

After a moment or two, he spoke. “Archers! Fire at will!" And fire they did, as almost fifteen seconds later a volley of arrows flew overhead as the defenders raised their shields up to block the oncoming hail of arrows. However; the shields did little as the arrows pierced their shields, many arrows hitting their targets and killing many. Once the volley stopped, Damien smiled at the numbers now standing, he would say a quarter had fallen with some wounded. The Stallions now stood shaken, it was time to move the chariot! Charging forward with the riders following, the archer drew their swords as infantry charged past them.

Damien smiled wickedly from under his helmet as he heard the war cries coming from behind him. He gripped his mace tightly, ready for the coming battle. As they got closer he saw javelins come flying past his head towards the shaken defenders. The stallions once again tried to block the projectiles, even as their comrades fell around them and their screams filled their ears before the fighting even started. Damien was the first to hit the line as his chariot slammed through the 3 stallion thick line before him. The blades on the side of the chariot cutting even more as it passed by. Then, the Caragor riders came with spears out skewering the stallions as the Caragors jumped onto some of them, knocking them down before ravaging fearful militia. By then, the line was broken with many stallions now running as the riders cut them down. The few that stood and fought were swiftly cut down by the raiders and archers.

Damien stood in the center of the village, the chariot and its driver riding back to the melee before it ended. Damien stood there as a stallion came running down the path from the gate in a panic not even noticing the large behemoth in armor before him. Damien raised his mace in a pace ball grip and got in a stance before swinging, striking the stallion in the face, and sending him straight to the ground. Damien looked at the stallion seeing that his left eye was gone while the entire left side of head was caved-in, blood streaming down his face. As Damien stood there he heard screams as a set of stallions came charging toward him; one holding a hatchet and the other carrying a club. Damien just smirked at the two stallions who dared face him, as he got into a defensive stance.

The first to attack was the one with a club, he was big and strong, and sadly young. He looked to be eighteen and acted like it as he charged with his club over his head as he tried to kill Damien, but he was ready for this. When the stallion brought his club down, he used his power and sprayed a stream of fire at the stallion, causing him to pull back and dodge to which Damien swung his mace from his right hitting the stallion back into the flames. As the fire touched his skin he started screamed as he his now terrified friend watched on in horror, as Damien roasted him alive with an amber glow coming from his eyes. By the time the stallion was dead, Damien had already stopped burning him and moved to the other stallion who was still too shocked by what happened. Damien merely had to bring his mace down full force to kill him, and with a sickening crunch, the stallion was dead.

As he turned his head back to the path, he saw Uruks covered in blood going into buildings, dragging mares and foals out from them and bringing them to the center of town. They placed them around the pond while the archers held them as sword point. The riders came down the road next, going into homes and taking anything of value as their mounts feasted on the deceased militia-stallions back at the gate. Turning his head back to the center of town, he watched as more Zestrals were placed around the pond. Then he noticed a mare among them who acted and dressed differently from the others. Instead of wearing a normal dress like the rest of the mares, who dressed in Greek and Roman style dresses, she wore a red and black Thrall dancer outfit from Conan exiles which showed off her nice toned ass and C-cup breasts. With a red eye tattooed on her forehead beyond that, she had black fur with red stripes. Her eyes were amethyst and her cutie mark was of the words inscribed onto the ring with a fire around it. However, unlike the many faces of fear and horror that were worn by the other mares, her face was calm and controlled.

Damien turned his head left where two archers stood and said to them, “Bring that mare to me. Cut down anyone who gets in your way." The Uruks nodded and started towards the mare. The other mares and foals got out of their way, not wanting to get killed by the armored soldiers. Once they reached her, they moved to grab her arm, only for her to get up and start to walk towards Damien with the same calm look as before. She walked up to Damien before getting on her knees before him and speaking, “I am at your mercy, goth."

Damien was surprised by that her words, and asked, “Lat know zi ukpeak?"

The mare bowed her head nodding. "Kulkneg ro Melkor'ur Culav learn iav nalkruska kulkneg ayh young."

Now it was a surprise that this mare worshipped Melkor, though looking around he saw nothing for sacrifice and torture. But that may have been something that fell out among the cult of this world. But back to the mare before Damien.

"Then liwo lat ukerve alnej?" He asked as the Uruks around him readied their swords. The mare bowed her head, kneeling before Damien for the many villagers to see. Many mares faces showed almost horror as they watched one of their own kneel to the invader who led an army to slaughter their village. Some did follow her example, however, and bowed to Damien, praying that by their submission, they and their children would be spared. The children did the same. Smiling, Damien then shouted out for all of them to hear. "From this day onward, your lives are mine to command. You will serve me, no matter what I ask, or you will be punished. Am I clear?”

"Yes, master. We will serve at your command," the priestess spoke. Nodding, Damien then looked at the Uruks and ordered, "Gather any wagons and hook the Caragors up to them." Groups of Uruks got to work looking for wagons. It took a minute for them to return with seven wagons, enough to carry all loot and some of the new slaves. They started to load the wagons the Caragors were hooked up to. Damien had the archers take watch around the newly-conquered town, while the raiders kept watch over the mares to make sure none of them tried anything dumb. When they were done, the wagons were lined up; each of the first three being filled with the loot, and the other four having been filled with the children and elderly. Each wagon had mares walking behind them, as they were capable of walking the whole way, unlike the children and elderly. Each wagon had six Raiders and two archers around it to guard them, with an Uruk to work as a driver. The remaining riders moved to the back of the column, as the archers took front, with the raiders making double columns on both sides of the wagons to protect them from . The Dark Lord Damien rode to the front with the priestess, both riding upon a chariot. The driver stood on the right side as stood left with the driver front.

"Alright, move out!!" Damien said as he looked forward; his eyes burning a fire through his helmet. He began to scheme on what to do with his new slaves as the chariot moved forward with the columns of soldiers following behind them.