Honour Bound: Duty and Love

by Omega Wing

Chapter 3 - First Impressions

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Chapter 3:

'First Impressions'

Birds chirping. That was the first sound Cloud Hunter could hear as he slowly regained consciousness. That, and he felt, surprisingly comfortable. The soft feeling under him could only have been a bed, the position he was in made it quite obvious. That, and the soft sheets that seemed to cover his entire body also backed up that fact. All he could see was darkness however. His eyes were still closed. He attempted to open them, but found that he didn't have the energy to do so right now. He then attempted to move one of his legs, only to regret it when an aching pain made itself known, running all the way from his leg up to his head. He let out a quiet growl and stayed completely still.

He had no idea where he was right now. And he certainly had no idea how he was still alive. If anything, he was surprised he wasn't dead yet, considering the wounds he received as he tried to get away from Grande's troops.

Thoughts coursed through his mind right now as to where he was. He couldn't have been captured Grande's troops, otherwise he would be dead. Taking prisoners was something they didn't do, that, and they would definitely not give him a nice, soft and warm bed to rest in. And they certainly wouldn't patch up his wounds either.

At the thought of his wounds, Cloud Hunter mustered all the strength he could and forced his eyes open, he immediately shut them again as they had yet to adjust to the slightly lit up room he was in. After opening and closing them a few more times, he was finally able to keep them open and carefully used one of his hoofs to lift the sheets up. He could see that his wounds were indeed patched up. A majority of his body, covered in bandages. He then looked up at his surroundings. The room he was in was lit up a little, the corner he was in was just dimly lit and the window blinds were closed completely. He was able to make out the faint light that was trying to shine through the blinds.

Chancing it, Cloud Hunter raised the blinds and growled when the bright sunlight blinded him. He took his hoof away and lay back down, as he started to feel the aching pain in his body returning. He looked around the bedroom again and started wondering where he really was. Most of the structure around him looked wooden, which led him to assume that he was in a cottage of some sort. It was then he remembered when he first crashed, the last thing he saw before falling unconscious, was a cottage.

He started assuming that the owner of the cottage must have found him, took him in and patched him up. Considering how quiet it was, minus the chirping of the birds outside, Cloud Hunter could only assume that the owner was away at the moment. He made a mental note to thank them whenever they got back.

Letting himself drift off, he dwelled on his last encounter with King Grande.

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"Know this, even if we were outnumbered, even if we were at the ultimate disadvantage, we would not falter. Your ruthless leadership over this land, your lack of care for your kingdom and your subjects, is what pushes us to continue fighting! You may have struck down our leader a long time ago, but that only inspired us to unite and keep fighting! King Grande, even if it costs me my life, I swear, I will stop you!" Cloud Hunter stated, his tone full of confidence and anger.

Grande laughed. "Bahaha! YOU think you can stop me? Twelve years ago, your leader Metal Wing couldn't even come close to stopping me. What chance do you think you have, YOU, his lowly Commander? All who have risen up against me have been vanquished, you and your pitiful forces will be no different."

Cloud Hunter lunged forward and attempted to impale the Alicorn, but Grande teleported behind the Pegasus and struck his breastplate with his golden sword. Cloud Hunter managed to pull back just in time. He gasped in shock as he looked and saw a clean open mark across his breastplate. "Darn it..."

Smirking, Grande said, "You seem to forget that the armour and weapons I have at my disposal have been forged by the greatest materials in the land. I could cut your head clean off, and it wouldn't even cause a bloody mess."

Growing frustrated at his arrogance, Cloud Hunter let a loud battle cry as he rushed forth once more. He thrust his spear forward, hoping that its length would be enough to allow it to get close and hit its mark. Unfortunately, Grande swiftly waved his sword in front of him, cutting the spear in half.

Acting fast, Cloud Hunter jumped back, twirled his spear around until the pointy edge on the other side was aimed at his opponent, and tossed it.

The Alicorn King was still too quick though, as his horn had already been charged up, creating a barrier that easily reflected the broken spear.

Chuckling at the Pegasus' attempts, Grande slowly walked forward.

The sound of cheers filled the air, catching their attention. Both looked over the balcony and saw the rebel troops retreating and scattering, even then, most of them were still being pursued, some were even captured.

Eyes widening in horror, Cloud Hunter glared back at Grande, who continue to smirk. "It looks like you have failed once again Cloud Hunter, what will you do now hm?"

The Alicorn was right, he did fail again. He attacked the capital city on numerous occasions in hopes that his continuous attempts would be enough to finally bring down the King's army, but that was not to be. He had gathered Ponies, Unicorns and Pegasi from other parts of the land, uniting them under his banner and swearing to fight until the land of Dalkia was finally free from Grande's rule. There were others, others who could have joined the Allied Forces, but they refused, fearing that they would fail to defeat the Alicorn King and only end up putting their own lands at risk.

There were also those Grande convinced to join his side. The Wolves of Endrum, and the Zebra forces of another foreign land. Heck, he even traded some of Dalkia's most valuable treasures to the Griffin King, in exchange for troops. Though the Griffin King was reluctant at first, the treasures were too good to pass up and he obliged, providing the Alicorn King with a large number of Griffins for his army.

It was even rumoured, that Grande had a pet dragon at his command. But none had ever seen it, because nopony had been able put him into a tight spot where he would need to bring it out. Suffice to say, defeating him was near impossible.

Cloud Hunter deemed it near impossible because he knew that nothing was impossible. However, as the Pegasus flapped his wings and remained in the air, watching his allies flee the city, he started losing hope. He had done everything he could at this point to try and bring the King down, but all of his attempts were futile. He had tried so hard, he got so far, but in the end, it didn't matter.

His forces were defeated and now here they were, fleeing, surrender, scattering and being captured. There was no doubt in his mind that they would be returning to their own respective homes around the land. They had clearly lost hope too, and didn't want to anything more to do with this war. They had given up, and Cloud Hunter honestly could not blame them.

"But I won't..." The Pegasus muttered.

"Hm?" Grande narrowed his dark red eyes at him.

Cloud Hunter faced the Alicorn again and said, "I won't give up! I swear, no matter what it takes, I will carry out my duty as a Knight! I swear, on my honour, I will stop you Grande!"

With that, the silver armoured Pegasus bolted off at a very impressive speed.

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The last thing Cloud Hunter could remember from that encounter was Grande yelling for his troops to go after him. He just hoped the troops that pursued him never made it back to shore after knocking them into the ocean, because if they did, they would inform Grande of his escape and the Alicorn would merely send more after him, and he had plenty of troops to spare.

Then again, there was still the possibility that Grande would just ignore him altogether. There were still other factions in Dalkia that had risen up against him, and Grande was no doubt more focused on getting rid of them than going after one Pegasus, even if that Pegasus was the Commander of the Allied Forces. Cloud Hunter thought for a moment about who was left. The Pirates of Endrum and the Griffins of Vulhaven were most likely Grande's main concerns, the Unicorns of Bale were far in the East, so there was a possibility that Grande would most likely just forget about them. But then, King Grande was known for never leaving survivors, so there was still a high chance that he would eventually send his army to destroy Bale.

Cloud Hunter's thoughts were interrupted as he heard a melodic voice singing outside. It was a mare, that much was obvious just by her singing. Her voice sounded so soft, it almost seemed impossible to imitate.

The mares singing lasted for a good few long minutes. Cloud Hunter lay back down in the bed and got comfortable again. The soft feeling of this bed, accompanied by the sound of this mares beautiful singing, made him feel, VERY relaxed.

Everything was so, peaceful, it almost seemed like a dream. Then again, maybe he was dreaming and he just had yet to wake up.

His thoughts of whether he was dreaming or not however were about to be put to the test when he heard a door opening. It came from downstairs. He heard the same mares voice talking, but he couldn't make out what she was saying.

Then, he heard her making her way upstairs.

Cloud Hunter slowly closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep, he wasn't entirely sure if he was ready to start conversation with a stranger yet. The bedroom door opened and he heard hoofsteps approaching him.

He remained motionless as he heard something being placed down on the table next to the bed. Then, that same soft voice he heard spoke. "Oh dear, still asleep. I really hope he wakes up soon. He needs to eat."

Her voice was much clearer since she was right there next to him. Her tone was so soft, it just seemed so impossible that it was real.

Finally, Cloud Hunter decided to take the risk and slowly opened his eyes.

The mare, who was watching him, let out a soft gasp. "You're awake!"

Cloud Hunter slowly moved his sights to the mare who was sitting at the side of the bed. Her coat was a cream yellow colour, and she had a nice, long, tidy pink mane and tail. And her eyes were...Cloud Hunter couldn't believe what he was seeing...her eyes...her crystal blue eyes...they were so beautiful. Never in his entire life had he seen such beauty. He was so captivated by this mares eyes that he hadn't noticed he was holding his breath.

The mare gave him a confused look and backed away slightly, growing a little nervous as he continued to stare in awe at her. "Umm, excuse me?"

Cloud Hunter shook his head slightly and took in a few deep breaths before asking, "Am...am I dreaming?"

"Umm, no, you're...you're wide awake, if that's what you're wondering..." The mare said softly.

Remembering the bandages that were wrapped around most of his body, he looked down at them for a moment before turning to the mare and asking, "Were you the one who...patched me up?"

The mare smiled slightly and nodded. "Why, yes I am. Angel bunny found you just outside the Everfree Forest, so me and Rainbow Dash helped you inside and started taking care of your wounds. You probably would have died if you had been out there any longer."

Cloud Hunter winced a little at the thought of dying from blood loss. He turned to the mare again and returned her smile. "Well, in that case, I guess I owe you my life miss...?"

The mare's eyes widened. "Oh! How could I forget! My name's Fluttershy."

Cloud Hunter continued to smile. "Thank you for helping me Miss Fluttershy."

Fluttershy blushed at his reply. "Umm, y-you're welcome, but please, there's...there's no need to call me miss. Just Fluttershy will do."

"If that is your wish. My name is Cloud Hunter." Cloud Hunter replied, not taking his eyes off of her.

At first, Fluttershy was just nervous when he stared at her, but after looking into his piercing blood red eyes, she started to get a little scared and slowly looked away.

Cloud Hunter noticed her frightened expression and said, "Do I frighten you Fluttershy? If so, I'll leave here at once, I don't wish to make you uncomfortable." The blue Pegasus then attempted to climb out of the bed, only to feel his body aching again, forcing him to fall back down with a growl.

Fluttershy quickly turned back and rushed over to him. "Oh please don't move, you're still too hurt!" She grabbed the sheets and placed them back over him. "Just, stay in bed and rest for now..." She turned to the table next to the bed and pulled it closer so it was within Cloud Hunter's reach. On the table was a small bowl of soup. "I assumed you may have been hungry so I...I made you some soup."

Cloud Hunter looked at the bowl of soup for a moment before turning back to the shy Pegasus. "You didn't have to...I mean-"

"Oh but you must eat. I mean, if you...if you want to that is..." She said before hiding slightly behind her mane.

Again, all Cloud Hunter could do was stare at her. 'Why is she so nervous? Then again, if I were housing a complete stranger, I guess I'd be nervous too, not as much as she is though. I have to admit, I haven't exactly made a good first impression on this mare.'

Fluttershy noticed he was staring at her and slowly turned away. "Umm...I...I'm going to...I'm going to go now, if you need anything..."

"Wait." Cloud Hunter said, stopping her in her tracks. "I...I'm sorry if I'm frightening you Fluttershy, I'm...I'm just not used to others being so kind to me. Nopony has ever been so kind to me before."

Those words caught her attention. "R-Really?" She replied as she turned to him.

"Really." The blue Pegasus replied. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. "Umm, Fluttershy, if you don't mind me asking, where exactly am I?"

Fluttershy gave him a confused look. "Umm, you're in my cottage."

Chuckling a little, Cloud Hunter said, "My apologies, I should be more specific. I mean, where am I? What land am I currently in?"

Eyes widening a little at his words, Fluttershy said, "You...you're not from here? You don't live here I mean?"

"...Where exactly is here Fluttershy?" Cloud Hunter asked, his tone was a mix of confusion and curiosity.

Fluttershy slowly opened the window blinds and then the window itself. The bright sunlight lit up the entire room, forcing Cloud Hunter to shield his eyes for a few seconds. A nice warm air blew in through the open window, which Cloud Hunter gladly welcomed. After recovering from the flash of the sunlight, Cloud Hunter took his foreleg away from his eyes and stared at Fluttershy, who was once again by the side of the bed, standing on her hind legs with her forelegs resting on the side of the bed mattress.

"You're...you're in Equestria." Fluttershy said.

"Equestria...Equestria..." Cloud Hunter repeated the name to himself a few times. He knew he had heard that name before, he just couldn't remember where.

Fluttershy decided to ask the question that had been in her mind ever since she found him. "You don't live here in Equestria right? So...where exactly are you from? If...if you don't mind telling me that is..."

"Equestria! I remember now!" His sudden outburst caused her to jump back a little. "Sorry. But I knew I heard that name somewhere before. Equestria was the land mentioned in the capitals archives. Supposedly a land ruled by a tyrant Princess who banished her sister to the moon and in doing so, stole all of the power of ruling the land for herself."

Fluttershy's eyes widened. "W-What? N-No...that's not..."

Cloud Hunter looked down at the sheets and sighed, cutting her off. "That's just great...I escape the land of one tyrant, only to end up in the land of another."

Suddenly, just as Fluttershy was about to speak again, she heard knocking coming from downstairs. "Fluttershy! Are you there?" She heard a voice call from outside.

"That's Twilight!" She turned to Cloud Hunter. "Please wait here and take your soup Cloud Hunter, my friends are here, I'll introduce you to them."

Cloud Hunter raised a brow slightly but nodded, pushing the sheets off and carefully sat up so he could start drinking the soup. Fluttershy smiled and trotted out of the room.

After taking a few sips of the soup, Cloud Hunter smiled slightly. "Wow...this soup is to die for..." He stopped after realising what he just said. Shaking his head, he went back to drinking it, paying little attention to the several muffled voices he heard downstairs.

It only took him a few minutes to drink the whole bowl. He placed it back down on the table and leaned back until he was resting against the pillow. He let out a frustrated sigh when he remembered he hadn't answered Fluttershy's question. "Darn it..." He muttered.

He remembered something else and he mentally kicked himself for not realising it earlier. His armour was gone. He could only hope that Fluttershy didn't throw it away, he'd need it for when returned back to Dalkia. "I wonder what happened to the others..."

The Pegasus started thinking about all of his allies back home. There were others, others who had led the Allied Forces with him, and he couldn't help but worry about them. He had no idea what became of them. There was a chance, a very slim chance that they were still alive, but there was an even higher possibility that they may have been killed during their retreat. Either way, Cloud Hunter feared the worst, and he hoped that atleast some of his allies managed to make it to safety.

He was dragged away from his thoughts by the sound of hoofsteps making their way upstairs. No doubt it was Fluttershy's friends that she mentioned earlier. Normally he would keep to himself and not tell anypony anything, but Fluttershy seemed completely harmless, that much was obvious, so surely her friends couldn't be too different could they?

"Cloud Hunter?"

That soft voice caught his attention. He looked up to see the shy Pegasus peeking in slightly.

Chuckling a little, he gestured for her to come in.

The shy Pegasus slowly opened the door and walked in, followed by another mare. Cloud Hunter's eyes widened a little when he noticed this lavender mare was an Alicorn, there were only two other Alicorns that he had ever seen before besides this one. The Alicorn was then followed by an orange Earth Pony who was wearing a Stetson hat, and her blonde mane and tail were both neatly tied up.

Following those two was another mare, and Cloud Hunter was convinced this one was possibly of royalty due to her beautiful and elegant appearance. Her coat was a clean white colour and her curled up indigo mane and tail only added to her elegant look.

The next mare that came in surprised him. She was all pink, save for her candy looking mane and tail which was a darker shade of pink. The big grin on her face already told him everything he needed to know about her, she was definitely the cheery type.

A sixth mare came trotting in. A cyan Pegasus with a rainbow coloured mane and tail, much to Cloud Hunter's confusion, as he had never seen a Pony with so many colours before.

He slowly sat up more so he was in a more comfortable position and stared at the sixth mares, who all stared back with mixed expressions. Some curious, some confused, one still shy.

The lavender Alicorn stepped forward and spoke up. "Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle." She said.

Cloud Hunter didn't reply.

Twilight tilted her head a little in confusion and turned to Fluttershy. "Umm, you already know Fluttershy I'm sure..." She then turned to the other mares. "This is Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash." She said pointing towards each mare as she spoke their name, the mares in return gave him a smile, save for the one called one Rainbow Dash, who just continued to give him a curious look.

"Howdy partner, it's nice to meet ya!" Applejack said tipping her hat to him.

"Indeed it is!" Rarity added. "We are so glad to see you making a fine recovery."

Pinkie Pie rushed over to the side of the bed until she was mere inches away from Cloud Hunter's face. "So who are you? Are you are you from around these parts? Is this your first time coming to Ponyville? Because if it is then that's good because then I can throw a party for you and I love to throw parties for everypony who is new to Ponyville and then we can be friends and started hanging out together and-" The Pink mare was dragged away by Applejack.

"Give the fella some space sugarcube, he jus' woke up." Applejack said.

"Oh of course! Silly me!" Pinkie replied, her smile never leaving her face.

Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes and turned back to Cloud Hunter. "So, what's your name?"

'Clearly Fluttershy hasn't told them my name yet. I suppose she wasn't exactly sure if I was comfortable with her telling them my name for me. I have no problems with that, of course, I guess it is only appropriate that I personally introduce myself.' Cloud Hunter thought to himself before facing the lavender Alicorn. "My name is Cloud Hunter."

Twilight smiled. "It's nice to meet you Cloud Hunter." She said holding her hoof out.

Cloud Hunter looked at her hoof for a moment before facing her again.

Growing a little nervous at his stare, Twilight slowly lowered her hoof, her smile also faded as she set her hoof back on the wooden floor. "Umm..."

Knowing she may have seemed a little hurt by his refusal to bump hoofs, he figured now would be a good time to speak. He figured it would be best to keep important information from them atleast until he could confirm whether or not their intentions were good. Yes, they seemed quite friendly enough, but there was still no telling what these Ponies were capable of, which meant that Cloud Hunter had to be aware at all times. He and one of his allies, a Unicorn named Vanisher, was attacked once by assassins during the war, those assassins, just happened to be mares, that didn't stop him and his ally from killing them however.

Snapping out of his thoughts, he realised they were all still standing there, watching him curiously, waiting for him to say something.

'Ugh, why do I have to be the one to start conversation? Well, I suppose that's a good thing, I can ask my questions first, hopefully I'll get the answers I need.' Cloud Hunter thought to himself.

He slowly shifted over until he was sitting at the edge of the bed and took in a deep breath. He looked at them again. They seemed so friendly, so friendly that it just didn't seem possible that they meant any harm. Cloud Hunter was having second thoughts. He started mentally kicking himself for even thinking that such innocent looking mares would have any evil intent.

Fluttershy had said that she and the one called Rainbow Dash had brought him into the cottage after they found him and patched up his wounds. That alone was enough to persuade him that they meant no harm.

They were very friendly judging by how they were acting towards him so far. And everything seemed so peaceful. They seemed so kind, that much was obvious to him now. But that fact also made him realise just one thing...

'How do I tell these overly friendly Ponies that I'm a Knight from a foreign land?'