“Oh Don…” I heard a sultry voice call out, stirring me from the blackness that was unconsciousness. “Don… relax. You’re safe.” Oddly enough, the voice seemed to calm me down, the gentle tone washing over me like a cool wave of water. “That’s it. Nothing will hurt you while I’m-” Suddenly the voice and the calming feeling was cut off as another took its place.

“Don, wake the fuck up right now!” My eyes jolted open to find I was in my castle mindscape, Nightmare standing over me. She seemed to have erected some sort of barrier around us, giving me enough to assume something was wrong.

“What’s going on?” I quickly sat up.

“You were nearly made into a toy by Chrysalis.” She nodded to something outside the barrier, and when I looked it was Chrysalis in the human form she had taken before when she was trying to seduce me.

“Oh I wasn’t going to make him completely brain dead. That would defeat the point.” She said flatly as if it was no big deal. “Besides, you tried to take over his body before and he still keeps your flat-chested ass around.”

Hang on… did I just wake up in the middle of a cat fight… that is going on between a ghost pony inhabiting my body and the bug queen of whores?

“Flat-chested?! What does that have to do with anything?!” Nightmare’s tone of voice revealed her to be much more annoyed about Chrysalis’ taunting than she was clearly trying to let on.

“Are you telling me the two of you haven’t done any dirty thinking since joining up? Seems like an ample opportunity. After all, it’s just all in Don’s head really.”

“I am not some slut like you! I actually aid him in ways that don’t require having a large bust.”

“ENOUGH!!!” I shouted out, the castle rattling somewhat with my anger. Both girls quickly shut up. “Nightmare drop this barrier.” She did as I asked while I stood up, glaring at Chrysalis. “I have no need for someone who whores themselves out to me. I need warriors, tacticians, people who can actually be of use outside the bedroom. Understand that well and know that if all you are going to offer is sex, you will soon find yourself without my support.”

Chrysalis sighed. “Oh fine. You’re probably no fu-” She suddenly stopped, staring off into space. “What the hell? Some pony has entered the nest and is coming straight for us!”

I rose an eyebrow at this. “Your guards can’t stop one pony?”

“This pony is clearly skilled, plus I am lacking in able guards since returning from Canterlot.” She gave me a serious look. “If I am to be of any use to you, than I ask you to rid me of this intruder. She seems to be after you anyways. She’s flying through the nest screaming ‘Where are you keeping him?’”

I put a hand to my chin. “Someone who is after me. Perhaps the Evermore finally sent someone who isn’t a grunt to try and do me in.”

“Either way we should be able to take them on.” Nightmare nodded. “We’ve had ample time to recover our magic stores, though your body still has some wounds.”

“Wounds that I have tended to.” Chrysalis chimed in. “They aren’t traditional bandages but trust me when I say they do a far better job. You shouldn’t feel much pain or have any trouble moving like normal.”

“Good. Have your changelings get out of the way. Let the intruder come through. I will than deal with them.” With that, my mindscape blurred away as I woke up. I was in a strange cave-like room, the walls coated in a black chitin with green fluorescent orbs imbedded in it for light. A quick check of my body showed that my wounds had been treated with some sort of green sludge, and that the material was sticky and rather stretchable, giving me my full range of motion like Chrysalis said.

“Where is the Dark One?!” I heard a pony scream out from outside the room. Sounds like a mare. Chrysalis mentioned flying so it must be a pegasus. Whatever level of skill she may have, she clearly lacks the element of surprise. I stood up before walking out of the room into what was a huge cave with dozens of offshoots similar to the one I had just stepped out of. In the center of the ceiling was a huge hole with sunlight streaming in. I saw a pegasus against the light, flying around as changelings fled into the various tunnels.

I lack my armor so I’ll have to rely on my agility to avoid taking damage. It wasn’t long until the pegasus saw me and flew over, landing in front of me.

“Ah, so you finally come out of your hole. Here I thought I would have had to tear the entire nest apart only to find you had escaped yet again.” Now that she was closer, I could see she was white with ice blue hair. Her cutie mark was two swords crossing over a shield. The edges of her wings were coated in sharpened steel, her weapon I assumed.

I gave my opponent a small smile. “Hide? I wasn’t even aware you were looking for me.”

“Well you’re going to quickly wish you had.” She flared her wings. “I am Snowflake Bastion of the Evermore. I am quite possibly the greatest fighter in our ranks and I have been sent to end your reign of evil.”

I chuckled. My, somepony is full of themselves.

“She does seem to take pride in her abilities. She wouldn’t have come charging in here if she didn’t.” Nightmare chimed in.

Indeed. She tossed aside many advantages to pull off this little stunt. “Well than, by all means try to stop me.” I said, mockingly putting my hands behind my back. This struck just the right chord, her air of superiority quickly dropping to rage.

“Do not underestimate me!” She screamed as she leapt toward me, slashing at me with her wings. I was quick however, stepping back with each slash and avoiding them. Despite her anger, she was still rather skilled, her attacks not giving me any room to counter.

Nightmare, shield. As I thought this, a shield made of shadows formed against my arm and I blocked one of her strikes before pivoting around to her back. In one swift motion I slammed the shield against her back, throwing her away from me though she quickly recovered.

“You are clearly quite the fighter. I find it hard to believe the Evermore trained a fighter of your caliber in the little time they have known I was active.”

“I have been a member for years prior to your return, ever since I was a foal.” She said with a grin.

“I see. Than I have to wonder just what were you doing the entire time I was still sitting in the ground. I can’t imagine someone who enjoys fighting like you would settle for a peaceful life style.”

I struck another blow with my words, her grin faltering once more. “I do not enjoy fighting. It is only something that is necessary in the face of true evil such as yourself.”

“Then why were you smiling so widely when you were attacking me? Even when I blocked your strike and countered you still seemed to be enjoying yourself.” That set her off as she jumped again, only this time I didn’t back away. I instead blocked the strike before quickly kneeing her in the stomach. I then grabbed her mane and threw her aside. All the while I could tell she was still enjoying the fight.

“You lie to yourself about your true nature. Why? You clearly have the talent to be a great warrior, the drive to become stronger, yet you hold yourself back with this talk of peace.”

“I… my want to fight is the evil within me. I must conquer it if I wish to ever be pure.”

“Oh please. Pure is an ideal that can not be achieved. To be pure is to have no desire, no passion. Purity is just a nice way of saying dull.”

“Shut up!” She leapt again, her strikes becoming desperate. I leapt back only for her to jump at me while I was still in air, tackling me and sending the both of us into the wall. She leapt back into the air as I slid down the side of the cave, my insides on fire.

Fuck! I really haven’t recovered enough for this shit. The pain died down after a few moments, moments that were oddly without further attack from my opponent. I looked up to see Bastion standing ready, as if this was some sort of honor bound duel. Oh, now I understand.

“You are trying to prove something, aren’t you?” I said while standing up slowly so as to not upset any more wounds. “You come in here screaming, ruining the element of surprise. You attack the front, never the back. You don’t strike me while I’m down.” I looked at her with a wicked grin. “You’re so prideful of your talent that you have to limit yourself in order to prove you are better.”

“I,” she started speaking strong but quickly stumbled, her words becoming mutterings. “I’m not. I can’t be. But… my excellence did say to use every advantage and I ignored him. I should have… no, that would prove nothing though. Any coward assassin can poison a drink.”

“Don’t be so confused about your pride. Embrace it. It is a part of you after all. You wouldn’t be where you are today without that drive to be the best.” The room seemed to darken slightly as I continued to walk forward. “And if those at Evermore can’t agree with that, than perhaps you should find someone who can properly give you use for your talents.”

“What do you mean?” Bastion asked, her voice somewhat shaky.

“I always have need for great warriors, and unlike Evermore, I actually reward those who work for me. You can have anything your heart desires if you are willing.”

Bastion seemed about ready to strike me down before she stopped and actually pondered it. It was after a good while that she spoke up again. “I want to be the strongest, and to be able to prove that I am to everyone.”

Too heavy for a drone. Must be Chrysalis. “Get Legion here for me. Both you and Bastion here have to undergo a sort of… initiation.”

“And just what initiation is this?” Chrysalis asked as I turned to face her.

“It’s giving you all the power you could ever want.” I grinned.

“Don.” Nightmare said flatly, pulling my attention away from what was happening. “We need to talk.”

Can it wa-

“No. You told me to wait before but now things have quieted down. This can not wait any longer.”

I felt the overwhelming urge to continue arguing against this before a brief moment of calming thought broke through. Very well. If this is really that important I can indulge you. This seemed to calm Nightmare down as I turned back to Chrysalis. “Get Legion here and have him open the portal. When he does, there will be a gray minion on the other side named Gnarl. Tell him you and Bastion are to undergo the rite by my command. He’ll lead you from there.”

I walked off before she could reply, heading down one of the tunnels before finding a small, dark corner I could shove myself into while Nightmare and I talked.

Alright, what is it?

* * *

“Alright, what is it?” I said as I found myself in my mind once again. Nightmare stood there, looking a strange combination of fearful and serious.

“Don, there is something wrong here. I don’t think- look out!” I looked to my side just in time to see one of the ten foot tall minion statues standing by my throne come to life and swing at me with its stone sword. I quickly rolled away from the throne, standing back up as I watched the its twin on the opposite side follow suit.

“What is going on here? This is my mind so they should not be doing this.” When one of the minions charged us, I rose my hand to destroy it with a fireball only to find I was without my powers. “What the?!” Thankfully, Nightmare wasn’t affected by whatever was going on, her shadows wrapping around me as the two of us were pulled to the ceiling.

“That’s just it Don. I don’t think this is your mind like you thought. Rather it is the mind of that thing you’ve sealed away and he’s been manipulating you through it.”

“So sad that it took your little friend to figure it out, ‘Overlord’”. A booming voice spoke out, a mirror of my own but much more sinister sounding.

“Hang on, if this is his mind, then where is my mind?” Before Night could answer she threw us both to the side, avoiding another attack from the statues. She quickly called forth a flurry of shadow spears to tear them apart before speaking.

“I think I found it before, though it is guarded by some kind of strange creature. Its venom made me face my own evils and I nearly succumbed to them.”

“You can not escape. Both of you will fall and the true Overlord will rule once more!”

“Then let’s get going. Sooner we are out of here the sooner we can stop listening to this bastard.” Nightmare nodded before putting the two of us down on the ground and running into the halls of the castle, myself right on her heals. As we ran, the walls themselves threatened to destroy us, bricks and spiked ornaments throwing themselves at us as we weaved our way through the maze of tunnels. Oddly enough, the further we went, the more I felt… I dunno, weightless? Like I was taking in a breath of fresh air for the first time in forever.

“Here we are.” Nightmare said as she stopped in front of a massive set of doors. Strange light seemed to pour out from between them as a serpent sat there, wrapped around the door handle. The serpent poked its head up, the dark voice of my other self booming from it.

“You are hopeless. You are weak. What is behind this door only proves that without me you have no strength.”

I smirked. “If that was the case, you wouldn’t be so protective of it. After all, you want to take back our body so really me being weak is a good thing.” The serpent hissed at my logic, only confirming things. “Right, Nightmare, if you could remove that thing?” She nodded before holding her hand out only for the entire hall to disappear into darkness, leaving only the door, the serpent, and ourselves standing in a black expanse. The serpent then leapt at me, biting my arm and wrapping itself around it.

“Agh! What the-” Suddenly my head was filled with whispering voices, taunting me with the voices of the ponies back in Ponyville yet speaking foul words.

“You are horrible.”

“You are evil.”

“You are an abomination.”

“You can’t be anything else.”

“It’s impossible.”

“Too far.”

“You’ve gone too far.”

“You will always be in darkness.”

“Why bother?”

“Just give up.”

“Accept it.”

“Evil finds a way.”

“It always finds a way.”

“With or without you.”

“Your death means nothing.”

“Nor does your life.”

“You are insignificant.”

“Just disappear.”

I grabbed my head, the voices causing a pain like no other to seep into me. I barely even noticed as Nightmare ripped the serpent off me before picking me up off the ground. Wait, what? When did I fall? I felt her put one of my arms around her shoulders before she dragged me toward the door. Was that door important? Was I important? Why can’t I remember things.

Just as the voices reached their maximum volume, Nightmare pulled open the door and the light streamed through. The voices screamed in agony as I squinted against the light. Everything seemed to fall away before light dimmed and we found ourselves standing in a rather dead looking garden. Bushes and trees were nothing but husks, not even grass grew in the soil. The garden made a perfect circle around a stone pool, empty of any water. Beyond this garden was nothing but a starry expanse, as if the garden sat somewhere in the universe.

“What… what is this?” I breathed, still woozy from whatever that serpent had done to me.

“This is your mind. It… isn’t in the best of shapes I’ll admit but now that you’re here it should come back to life slowly.”

A garden? That’s my mind? I walked around it, trying to understand the significance of the place. I must admit, this place makes me feel… calmer. Though I don’t understand why. Suddenly we both turned at the sound of rushing water to see the pool in the center filling from an unknown source. I walked over warily, all my warning signs going off in my head as I looked into the water.

Once I saw what was there though, I immediately collapsed, dry heaving as my stomach threatened to empty itself. That… that can’t be… I looked at my hands, shaking uncontrollably as I tried to get a hold of myself. What have I done… these hands… they are clean but all I see is blood!

“Don!” Nightmare ran over to me, kneeling down to help me only to stop. “Don… are you crying?” I quickly checked, rubbing my face to find it covered in tears. I felt a small voice whisper in my head as I tried to pull myself together.

“Pathetic… what sort of Overlord are you?” I quickly shook the thought away though.

I don’t care. This… this isn’t what I wanted to become. I shakily stood up, Nightmare helping me as I did before taking another long look at the water. In it was an image of me, only this time I wasn’t seeing myself through the blood tinted lenses of my other half. I was covered in blood, grinning like a mad man and with eyes to match. A few more parts of my body had been replaced by parts similar to my leg. Scars adorned much of my body, and overall I looked like a monster. I am a monster. This… this thing is what I was striving to be. I wanted to kill and maim for no other reason than because I could.

As I continue to stare into the pool, I was faced with my past sins. It showed me how I took advantage of Gilda’s anger to turn her into a creature that felt nothing but rage. It showed how I twisted Applebloom’s desire to be treated like an adult into a desire to aid me in my mission. It showed how easily I had taken Blueblood’s envy of Princess Luna and turned it into a craving for power. It showed how I tempted Flim and Flam with riches beyond measure before having to sink to threats just to convince them. It showed me Chrysalis and her immense hunger, and just how easy it was to tempt her with the apple that was satisfying it. Finally, it showed just how far I had fallen, being able to twist the loyalties of Snowflake Bastion even as she attacked me.

It showed me the ponies I killed in the warehouse back in town. The pegasus burning in the crates, the pressure of the blade I pressed against the remaining survivor as I interrogated him, the life slowly fading from Colgate’s eyes when I stabbed her. It showed the two ponies we captured in Murky Bottom, how I used their affection for one another as a tool to get what I wanted before having one be drowned by the corpse of the other. I called the act poetic at the time, and just that alone seems to have stained the very word in my mind. It showed me how carelessly I butchered the mafia in Manehatten, driving pipes through their bodies, plastering them against the walls, making examples of them so that I could use the sole survivor’s fear for information and labor. It showed me how easily I tricked Wade with a few choices words into helping me take the red nest, and how exhilarated I was when I roasted the guards alive. The feeling of power at the time was overwhelming, but now it just left me feeling hollow.

It showed the ponies I had met back in Ponyville. How they cared and trusted me. How they always simply wanted to help and make me feel comfortable. Twilight taking me into her home, Rarity making clothes for me, Applejack giving me work, Fluttershy always being so kind, Rainbow, who was definitely the most helpful when it came to my pony transformation. And Pinkie, the mare who saw through my disguise, who despised me at the start but slowly showed signs of caring. Is it possible she saw this place deep within my heart before even I did?

It showed me Spike, who looked up to me almost like an older brother and how I took advantage of that position. How I used the excuse of helping him learn what he is to go meet the dragons and get them to follow me. How I made him hold secrets from everyone else, even Twilight who was like a mother to him. It showed me Applejack after she went mute from her sister’s faked death, how the look of sadness in her eyes despite her smile never truly went away. It showed me much of the same from Fluttershy, her removed wings serving to only increase the already raging storm of guilt that was washing over me.

Finally, it showed myself once more, only this time it showed the true difference between myself and my other half. Faust was wise, but couldn’t believe that the Overlord had any amount of caring, conscience, or fear in him. So when she tore the Overlord from his body, these things were left behind and formed their own mind. Me. I was not evil. I was not rage and craving for blood. I was nothing that makes up an Overlord, and only existed as small emotional responses on earth. I was guilt, I was fear, I was love. And now that I was truly free of my other half, the things I had done hit me as they should have when I committed those actions. It was horrible, like my soul was being torn apart.

“N-night… w-what have I done?” I said, leaning against the rim of the pool as I shook. Her only response was to wrap her arms around me as I continued to mutter the same line over and over.

Nearby, unbeknownst to me at the time, one of the trees began to grow small buds along its branches.