[Overlord's POV]

The ponies were making their way to the tower at a fast yet not unreasonable pace, they were basically small horses after all, and we basically had an hour until they got here. I had made sure that there would be as few problems as possible, which is to say I had told everyone in the tower that if they attacked any of the ponies I would be very disappointed in them. Hey, it worked much better that threatening to strangle them, they looked to me as a parent of sorts and the only thing that hurt me more than physical punishment as a child was the line "I'm not mad at you, I'm just disappointed in you."

Really, I prefered it when they were yelling and smacking me.

Anyway, other than that I had told Sarra to wait in the meeting room for us, seeing as a queen had just attacked them, most queens looked almost the same with the only difference being color, and my needing to explain the situation to them so that we could avoid the 'Oh it's queen Chrysalis! Get her!' moment. Seeing as she would like to not be hit in the face, as would most likely happen otherwise, she agreed and was patiently waiting for us while feeding on a minion holding an illusionary sheep.

I had made a nice all vegetarian meal for them as well as set up some nice rooms near the base of the tower in case they wanted to stay the night. I had made sure that certain parts of the tower were open to the ponies, like the library, the laboratory, the kitchen and the training ground, but I had also made sure that the guards knew not to let them into certain other areas like my quarters, the spawning pits, the arena and the dungeon. After all, wouldn't want them to find yet another reason to hate/distrust me would we?

The only two minions I was worried about were the Jester and Gnarl, though it was for different reasons. With the Jester it was because I just knew that he was going to do everything and anything he could to get a rise out of pretty much everyone in the room, and seeing as he never left the throne room to my knowledge that meant that he would do whatever he could to ruin our first meeting... That being said it could backfire and end up making me look good to them so... Eh, live and let live, right?

While Quaver was just annoying, and therefore fairly harmless or at least easy to clean up after, Gnarl was much more dangerous to me right now, even if he didn't mean to be. He may not be very defencive about remarks made about himself but he tended to fly off the handle whenever anyone made a less than positive remark about any Overlord. It was to the point that one of the sheeple who... shall we say, was less than ecstatic about the plan to have the changelings integrate into society, was hospitalized and still has a bit of a limp. The sheeple who was injured was of course compensated for his injuries and Gnarl was reprimanded, but his temper and touchiness was still a work in progress. As such I had made it very clear to him that he was only allowed to listen and offer suggestions, he would not be making any decisions.

The ponies were only ten minutes away now, strange how time seems to fly so fast when you were thinking. I wondered what the ponies were thinking about my tower, they could see it from anywhere in the basin surrounding it and I knew it looked imposing... but not outright evil as there were no sharp spikes and/or skull designs anywhere on it. It wasn't even made of a black stone, it was more of a dark gray that appeared darker from the path they were coming from as it put the sun behind it... I just hope they don't attack me on sight, I would defend myself and that would lead to all kinds of problems...

I was sort of started out of my head by the Jester as he yelled at the top of his lungs "Introducing, The Ladies of the Sun and Moon, The Princesses Celestia and Luna! ...and the six others who followed them in." At the almost dismissive intro the girls, who were just rounding the curved stairway at the time just behind the two Princesses, as one gave Quaver the strongest glare small adorable multi colored ponies could. He just gave them a slightly malicious laugh, not even trying to hide the fact that they gave the exact reaction that he wanted them to.

"And, to the ponies of Equestria, Ahem, Introducing, The Duke of Denurium, The Master of Mutts, Bearer of the stone throne, Lamb-lover, Dimensional drifter, and Dark Demander of Dreadful Domicile Designs! The One! The Only! The Overlord Nobody!" As Quaver finished spewing up of those titles, which he probably came up with on the spot, all of the minions in the throne room started to cheer and pound their weapons into the ground, generally just making as much of a racket as they could to show their appreciation for me.

Once the cheering had died down enough for them to be heard Celestia opened her mouth to speak, but was beaten to the punch by Rainbow Dash who, with an eyebrow raised high enough to make Applejack proud if she could see her face, asked me simply (though thoroughly laced with sarcasm) "Really? Nobody? That's your name?"

You could hear a pin drop. Almost every minion in the room was tensed, though not to go after the ponies which they couldn't know. All eyes except for mine, the ponies and the minion in question, were on Gnarl, who was closer to the ponies than me. If he went berserk I wouldn't be able to reach him before he could harm them, but I knew that he would follow my orders and besides, he knew I didn't want a war with them (Yet, if I could help it) and was smart enough to know that attacking the Ponies would almost absolutely end in a war between us.

"Yes. I got to choose my name, and I decided that it would make a good pun. All to often people say things like 'Nobody will discover this' Or 'Nobody rules these lands' or some such. With my name the way it is, if anyone ever says anything like that to me, I can turn to them and say 'Yes, I do' or 'Yes, I will' or some other thing." I said with a stony face and monotone, if deep as all hell, voice.

Pinkie started to laugh at the joke but rather quickly stopped when nobody else joined in, giving everyone else a confused look once she noticed their silence.

"Perhaps we should speak in private? So as to avoid unnecessary interruptions..." Luna said with a questioning look at Celestia, who was just standing there looking at me with a neutral face, as though she was trying to size me up without looking aggressive or overbearing.

When she didn't respond to her sister I decided to give her an answer, "Actually, I already prepared a small chamber for us to have whatever little meeting in, the last of my... let's call them advisors, is waiting for us there. I should warn you, she's a changeling."

"So? We saw a lot of changelings on the way here, it was actually really hard to not see one." Rainbow said, again keeping someone from talking, though this time it was Twilight. That would probably become annoying very fast, considering I was already getting upset on behalf of the ones being kept from talking.

"She's a Queen and as such she is almost identical to Chrysalis, aside from coloring and the fact that she's just a tad bigger than her. I'm telling you this so that when you see her you won't mistake her or overreact." I said while getting ready to get up.

"As a side note, I happen to know that you have a very comfortable throne in Canterlot, would you mind telling me where to get something like that Princess?" I asked causing them all gave me a weird look, until I got up and the look changed to one of surprise and revulsion.

[Twilight's POV]

I'm not sure what I expected to happen when the Overlord got up, but it almost certainly wasn't for his entire back to sound like it was realigning itself as he moved. That was the sort of sound you heard in horror films when dead ponies started to move around and, consequently, when I would turn them off.

"How uncomfortable is that throne!? No wonder he was asking where the Princess got her cushion! What kind of pony would even make something like that?" I thought as he began to walk to one of the four stairways leading out of the room.

The Princesses gave each other a look as they moved to follow the Overlord, the rest of us just a few steps behind. While nopony had even given her any looks, Rainbow looked like she knew she had messed up. We had all agreed before arriving that the Princesses would be the one's to do most of the talking, after all they were much more experienced with diplomacy than us what with having been on the throne of Equestria for a collective thousand years.

I was more surprised at how well the Overlord handled her outburst, it was almost as though he expected it... or just didn't really care how others perceived him.

"Boy, I wish I could have that kind of confidence in myself. Then maybe I could get mom off my back about getting a coltfriend." I thought to myself with, I can admit it, a touch of resentment... and crushing insecurity...

Anyway! After a veritable maze of twists and turns, we stopped in front of a set of large wood doors with what looked like snarling dragon faces in iron as the knockers/handles. The Overlord opened up the room to reveal a long table of polished dark mahogany wood with more than enough chairs for everypony. Tall stained glass windows lined the room, depicting scenes that I could only assume related to previous Overlords (Were there even previous Overlords? Sure they looked different, but I'm getting the sense that they all wear that mask so it must be difficult to tell them apart...) including one that almost looked like an Overlord popping an ugly and almost comically obese creature like a balloon, simultaneously providing a good deal of light and making the room look just a tad longer than it probably actually was.

I froze for a moment at the sight of the changeling Queen at the other end of the table, I'm actually glad that the Overlord warned us about how much the Queens looked like each other to the point that it was almost like looking at a yellow version of chrysalis. Really, I wouldn't be surprised if Rainbow Dash or Applejack had overreacted and attacked her had they not been warned, I even had to restrain myself from reacting... let's just say that Luna has been having some trouble with giving me "peaceful" rest ever since the wedding...

"You're in my chair Sarra, take the other one." I heard the Overlord tell the Queen, whose name was apparently Sarra. Now, the general vibe that all of us got from the Overlord was one of no nonsense, do your job, if you have time to lean then you have time to clean, type of pony. As that was the case, even the Princesses showed a reaction when the Queen rolled her eyes, blew him a raspberry and instead of actually getting up just rolled the chairs to switch their places, taking almost a full minute to do so, with the only reaction from the Overlord being a light chuckle and a small push to help her switch the chairs faster. It almost felt like we all took a moment to look each other in surprise, but in reality we probably only looked at one or two of the others.

Once the Overlord had sat down at the head of the table, with what I could only assume was his advisor to his left and the Queen Sarra to his right, he rested his head on his hand and motioned with the other for the Princess to begin.

[Overlord's POV]

After helping the childish "Queen" to switch the two chairs, both of which were exactly the same, I sat down to see the ponies glancing at each other for a moment before focusing on me. Once I had gotten comfortable and let my... advisors, I suppose, (though it still felt weird to have advisors) get ready to hear anything and everything the ponies had to say, I waved my hand to let Celestia begin... Mostly because I actually didn't know how to start a meeting like this...

"Well, since we know nothing of you, why don't we begin with who you are, your people and so on..." Celestia began before slowly trailing off.

"Not much to tell from my end. I was an average person, and then I was pulled into a new world and body by him." I said while shoving a thumb in Gnarls direction, causing him to flinch and pull his ears back in shame. "Been dealing with all that's happened since."

"Wait, are you trying to tell us your from a different universe!? That's not possible! You have to be lying!" Twilight shouted out in what I could only describe as outrage at the idea of one of her established laws of the universe being broken.

"How dare you call our Overlord a liar! We will not stand this outrage! We declare war!" Gnarl yelled back at Twilight, causing everyone at the table aside from me, Sarra and of course Gnarl to get a wide eyed, 'Oh Shit' look.

I then thumped Gnarl on the head without even turning to look at him, only seeing him out of the corner of my eye, causing him to comically shake his head and look at me like 'What did I do?'

"We Don't declare war, you aren't allowed to declare war on anyone Gnarl, we talked about this." I said in a tired voice while the Equestrians got their shit back together.

Gnarl yelled out, "But my lord! They insulted you! We can't just let this stand!" he then leaned in to whisper to me, "We can't just let them get away with every little thing my lord, they might begin to think they can walk all over us!"

I sighed, and with one hand over my face I said, "One, I'm not insulted by what she said. Two, even if I was insulted, it does Not fall to you to take any action." At this point I turned to look at him, making sure that Gnarl was paying attention, "And three, If I tell you that you are not allowed to make any big decisions in regard to any other countries, it means that you aren't allowed to make any big decisions in regard to other countries. Am I clear, Gnarl?"

He gave me a petulant look for a few seconds before relenting, muttering a "Yes, sire." before turning away to sulk.

I turned back to the ponies to find them all practically on the edge of their seats. So much so that both Pinkie and Rainbow almost fell over when shooting back to look like they weren't eavesdropping. This of course made Sarra giggle and then immediately wince when she felt the emotions directed at her by the ponies.

"Ahem, yes, well perhaps we should both agree to a non-aggression pact? Just to give each of us... well, okay mostly us, some peace of mind?" Celestia said, visibly trying to not take Gnarl apart with her eyes.

"No." I told her.

It took a moment for it to register with everyone present, including my advisors, with me getting confused looks (And one hopeful one, guess who) from everyone at the table. I saw more than one concerned look being passed around between the elements and the Princesses shared a glance with each other, though had I not been looking I would've missed it.

"May we ask why?" Luna asked, finally speaking after being silent this whole time.

"I don't like making promises I can't keep and If I'm honest, which I usually am, I can see several scenarios where us being at war would be the only proper course of action." I said while trying to not incite anyone at the table, (Mostly Gnarl) "I wouldn't, however, be against a declaration of friendship, or whatever the equivalent is."

"I suppose that will have to do... If you don't mind, could you tell us a bit about your... servants?" Celestia asked while summoning a scroll and writing a few things down onto it, she then passed it to me so I could read and then sign it as well.

While reading what was on the paper I said "Yes... the minions, as they call themselves... They're, uh, subterranean by nature but will go anywhere I tell them to... ... Uh, we share a kind of psychic link or some such and if I wanted to I could... uh, restrict their free will... I don't, of course, but... yea..."

Gnarl picked up when I trailed off, saying "All minions live to serve the Overlord, we really don't have a purpose without one! In all there are four tribes of minions, but then you already know that from that Red that sire allowed to stay behind. Though, we are still looking for our lost Blues, so if you happen to find any of them do let us know!"

"But, what about before there was an Overlord?" I heard Applejack say while going over the bottom of the page again.

"There was no 'before', the first Overlord made the minions what they are, we wouldn't exist without his intervention. It's part of why we are so grateful!" Gnarl responded.

I handed the paper back to Celestia saying "Done, nice to have a friend."

Of course Gnarl had to get his two cents in, saying "I agree, You can never have enough good cannon fodder!" which caused me to face palm.

At this point I almost thought he wanted to make... wait, no yeah, he probably wanted to make the Princesses angry or upset in some other way. Damnit Gnarl! This is why nobody loves you!

"Anyway... what about trade? Is there-" Celestia began before I cut her off.

"I have a five percent tax on everything, and I don't care if it's imported or exported. As to immigration, you don't want to live here? Then good, get out, we didn't want you anyway. You want to get in? That's fine to, just do it through official channels so we don't have to throw you out. Anything else?" I said just trying to rush past the boring stuff.

The princesses looked at each other before Luna said "Um, well, no? To be honest, this visit was mostly to see if you would be a threat to our country as there seem to be a lot of those recently."

"I could guess that, seeing as you brought your super weapon with you." The elements looked shocked at being referred to as a weapon and the Princesses looked like they had just gone into panic mode. Before they could say or do anything I told them, "Calm down, It's fine! I would have done the same thing in your position. No harm done, now I'm sure you're all tired, I know I am, it's been a long day and we all need to unwind. You are welcome to stay in the rooms I've provided for you."

I had a feeling the day wasn't over yet... but damm I needed a nap.

Author's Note

2300- 2500
3300-3500

What's the difference really?

My fingers hurt.