//------------------------------// // 28: New Meetings... // Story: An Overlord Apart // by OblivionShadow //------------------------------// Hunter set his wine glass down and looked over his shoulder to the happily hugging siblings. Behind them, Princess Cadance stood waiting for her turn to greet the young Alicorn. He stood in silence as the other mares looked between the pair of them and the stallion. “Ya might wanna go greet them as well.” Applejack suggested with a push to his shoulder. “I will not impose on them. In this case, I will wait to be introduced.” He replied and pushed the mare's hoof back to the ground. The Overlord stood quiet in place as he waited. He looked back to them as Cadance came forward to greet Twilight and they began to do a little dance. He looked at them and then to the other mares who smiled and laughed at his look. “They do it every time. Cadance was Twilight’s foal sitter and that was their song and dance.” Fluttershy informed him. “I see.” He sighed and waited. A gentle tug on his tail got his attention and he looked back to find Twilights magic tugging his tail. He spun on his heel and walked to her, coming to rest at her side. “This is my brother, Prince Shining Armor and my sister in law Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.” She said to him and pointed to each pony as she spoke. “Shiny and Cadance this is my date, Overlord Hunter Flame.” Hunter gave a polite bow of his head as the two ponies stood in shock at the sight of him. Their eyes were wide as they looked him over and Hunter waited for them to react and speak up. The first to recover was Cadance who smiled widely at him. “It’s nice to meet you, Overlord. I have to admit I did not expect my sister in law to bring home a stallion when she left for a while.” She said, teasing in her tone. He saw the look of shock and the bright blush that went over Twilight's fur at the others words. He chuckled quietly and shook his head. “Truth be told I do not think she expected it either. I had intended to send my usual decline for this event until she asked me personally.” He replied to her. Cadance looked pleased with his reply and she nudged her husband, who shook off his shock. “She asked you?” He finally spoke up. “Yes.” Hunter chose to keep the details to himself unless he found a good reason to elaborate. Shining Armor looked at his sister, who nodded. “Yes. I asked him to come to the Gala with me.” “It has so far been an interesting event,” Hunter commented and Twilight bumped his shoulder with hers and shook her head. “How so?” Cadance asked, her voice interested. “It’s nothing.” Twilight quickly replied with a glance at her elder brother. Hunter took notice of the quick reply and looked at the inquisitive pink Alicorn. “I did manage to get into a fight already.” He tossed the pink mare a bit of information, his interest piqued to see what happened as Twilight growled quietly at him. “A fight?” Cadance looked at her sister in law. “Did he get in a fight with another stallion over you?” “He was defending me that’s true. But it’s not what you think.” “What happened?” Shining Armor deadpanned. Hunter bit back a smile as he watched. ‘This should prove amusing.’ He thought to himself as he waited in silence. “It was Blue Bloods' fault,” Twilight admitted. “Oh no. What did he do?” Cadance sighed and looked resigned as she questioned the younger mare. “He took offense with me being here as her date and confronted her about it,” Hunter replied. Twilight looked at the black stallion and she glared for a moment before a look of resignation went over her face as she began to explain. “He was mad that I didn’t take a stallion from Equestria to the Gala. I told him it was none of his business who I brought to the Gala and he got angrier at me.” “And?” Shining said to her. “And he may have torn my dress when I tried to get away from him.” She admitted, reluctantly. “Hunter came in and got him away from me and fixed my dress as well. Blue Blood challenged him to a duel and he was soundly beaten by Hunter.” “He did what?!” Shining and Cadance intoned as the other mare finished speaking. Hunter fought back another smile at the look of shock and anger that went over their faces. “He acted foolishly and has been punished,” Hunter spoke up to help out the overwhelmed Alicorn at his side. “Celestia and Luna have been informed and we were assured that they would act further.” “Oh, he is in so much trouble if both of them went after him,” Cadance admitted as she composed herself. “He had better hope I don’t find him first,” Shining vowed. “He will be too busy avoiding me,” Hunter replied with a cocky grin. Twilight snorted a laugh and nodded. “It’s true.” Shining looked at the tall black stallion and Hunter could tell that he was sizing him up. He was not foolish enough to think that he was accepted by a family member just for defending his sister once. The Overlord waited as Cadance nudged her husband and he seemed to snap out of whatever thoughts he had and he drew up close to her and smiled. “Well, I guess you picked your date well, Twilight.” The other Alicorn said to her. “I told Blue Blood that it wasn’t his business who I asked and I would have asked him even if he wasn’t the sole ruler of his kingdom.” She replied with a wide grin. “Sole ruler?” Cadance questioned. “Yes. I rule my ponies on my own.” He replied to her. “Interesting. May I borrow Twilight for a moment?” Cadance asked him as she placed a hoof on her sister-in-law's shoulder. “Up to her not me.” He replied as the two mares went off to the side, leaving him with Shining Armor. The white stallion was silent for several seconds as the mares were soon out of earshot. The stallions cyan blue eyes looked at him as a slight grin went over his mouth. “So how badly did you whip Blue Blood?” Hunter was not able to stop the sly grin that pulled at his mouth. “As I said he will be too busy avoiding me to worry about you. I stood in one place while he ran around me.” Shining barked a laugh and nodded his head as he fought back laughter. “I have to admit I would have loved to see that fight. Or can it even be called a fight?” “It was not a fight as much as a one-sided beating,” Hunter admitted. “I even went easy on him.” “You did?” “Of course. I have fought wars and to expect him to have the ability to fight me head-on is foolish.” Shining laughing stopped as Hunter spoke and his eyes flashed with curiosity as he regarded the armored stallion. “Is that why you came to the Gala dressed in armor?” “I am in a place that I know very little about personally and to expect me to walk in wearing a suit would have been foolish.” “No pony here would attack you.” Shining insisted. “Blue Blood did.” He replied quickly. “You can argue with me but even your sister knew better than to tangle with me on the subject of my attire. I did have it altered by Rarity to appear less…intimidating.” Shining grinned and nodded. “It’s just different. But not in a way that is frightening.” He said to him. “So my sister asked you to Gala herself?” “Yes. I was going to decline the invite as per normal but she asked me before I got the chance to decline the formal invitation via my advisor.” Shining gave him an understanding glance before he tipped his horn off to the side. Hunter followed the stallion a few feet away to the side and out of the direct sight of the mares. He waited as the Prince looked at him and he knew that he was going to try the big brother tactic and he waited for it to happen so he could brush it aside. “Don’t hurt her.” He finally said and Hunter looked at him. “She was never a very friendly filly until she met her friends. I was all she had when we were young. So when you tell me that she asked you personally at first it was hard to believe but I trust her judgment. You’re not the run of the mill stallion that’s for certain.” Hunter was taken aback at the substance of the other words. He had been expecting Shining to grill him about his sister and instead he had been given words of wisdom and reason. “Your sister is a very clever mare. She has yet to harm me or give me a reason to doubt her. While we disagree at times she has not tried to change how I rule. I like to think that we complement each other in other ways. She has been open to learning all that she can and so long as she did not force me to change my ways we have gotten along.” “How different is your kingdom? I know you rule alone but how different is it?” He asked. “Twily wouldn’t fight you if she didn’t think it was needed.” “I rule alone without the use of vassals. I do not allow ponies to rule each other due to the chance that they will revert back to ways that have been outlawed. I do not permit slavery in my kingdom. She saw it first hoof how that affects ponies and she also saw how they plot to overthrow or kill me when they were given the least bit of leeway. She played a pivotal role in ending an attempt on my life in one part of my kingdom and saw it clearly in front of her. She led her friends and one of my dragons into battle and came out the victor.” “Wait…what?” Shining stopped him and Hunter waited as the stallion spoke. “She went into battle for you?” “She did by her own choice. I did not ask nor did any of my ponies. She and the others chose to act to help and they played a role in ending the rebellion with no innocent ponies being harmed.” “What do you mean she went into battle exactly?” “While I was in the city tending to the rebellion a group of ponies and automatons had been ordered to capture her and her friends. Their goal was to ransom them back to Equestria and then send them back.” He watched as Shining’s eyes went wide and he waited for him to go on. “I had left one of my smaller dragons with her to protect them and she led him into battle at her side. The battle was short-lived from what I found out when the small dragon called out to the larger ones that I had with me and she went back to help.” “Wait you have dragons? So that enormous gold dragon outside is yours?” “Yes. He acted as our ride to the event.” “He acted as a taxi?” “Yes. I asked him and he agreed.” Shining blinked in shock as he thought it over and shook his head as he made a go on motion with his hoof. “I had four adult dragons flying over the city if I should have needed them and one went to help Twilight and the others. They captured one of the ponies that attacked them and brought him to me in the city.” “Wow.” Shining went quiet as his mind went over what Hunter had told him. Hunter was quiet as he waited for the white stallion to process what he had been told. “So you command dragons and ponies in your kingdom?” “Yes. Not all dragons answer to me but the ones that live in the Netherworld are mine to call on should I need them. The golden dragon with me is the Lord of Dragons and leads them back home.” “So how do you call on them? I wouldn’t think they would answer to just anypony?” “I am the above him in terms of command. They answer my call should I ask. I do not command them lightly and unless the situation is dire I will not call on them.” Hunter assured him. Shining nodded in understanding. “Well, your right about your kingdom is different. Equestria has been blessed with peaceful times and…why are you laughing?” “I am sorry. I flew to Twilights castle on the back of that very dragon and nopony noticed. We flew on him to the Gala and nopony noticed until he landed in front of the Gala. Your security seems to have fallen flat since your ascension Prince Armor.” Hunter teased gently. Shining looked embarrassed for several seconds as Hunter spoke and he breathed out a deep sigh and looked at the guards around the Gala ballroom. “Tell me you’re kidding?” “No. Even I thought they would have seen the golden dragon flying from Ponyville but nothing happened until we landed.” He watched as Shining Armor shook his head and tried not to look annoyed at the guards around them. “Well if you tried that in the Crystal Empire I promise you would have been met with a contingent.” Hunter barked out a laugh. “I have no doubt.” “There you are,” Twilight said as she and Cadance came back to them. “You moved.” “Better to get out of the way.” He assured the mare as she drew up next to him. “So what did you two talk about?” Shining asked his wife as she came to stand with him. “Just mare talk.” She assured him. Hunter looked over to Twilight as a flush went over her fur and she looked at the ground. While his interest was piqued he chose to leave it alone to save the mare embarrassment. His red eyes fell on the ponies around them and he looked up as music went through the air around them. He had not participated in a ball of any kind since the one Gnarl had thrown when he had finished conquering his kingdom. It had been a formal event much like this one but with a great deal more politics. Twilight nudged him and his ears flicked back to the ponies with them as her friends joined them. “There you two are. We had begun to wonder.” Rarity said to them. “Sorry Rarity. We borrowed them.” Cadance giggled. “Its fine darling. It’s nice to see you both.” The pale mare said to them. Hunter said nothing as the others greeted the pair and conversation flowed around him.