[DBitP Sidequests] Do Equestrian Dragons Have Balls?

[Emperor Ing]

Hailing, in turn, held Vodkana against him, with a firmness of great power but a gentleness to not even cause the slightest discomfort, even as his tail coiled around her sensually. I trust your sense of self-preservation.

Though, if you wish to get get kinky, all I would ask is that you allow me a turn as well. He suggested teasingly.

[igordragonian]

Hailing, in turn, held Vodkana against him, with a firmness of great power but a gentleness to not even cause the slightest discomfort, even as his tail coiled around her sensually. I trust your sense of self-preservation.

Though, if you wish to get get kinky, all I would ask is that you allow me a turn as well. He suggested teasingly.

Vodkana purred, enjoying this moment to the fullest, wrapping her tail around him as well, using her "fin-blades"to scratch him gentely.
At his request she giggled with a surprise. "Nyahahaha! You REALLY are my number 1 fan, aren't you?' she said sheepishly. "I was sure you would try to claim me, and all of my clones to yourself, because you are the emperurrr.."
Vodkana looked at him with a feline smile- arrogant, adorable, and very self aware of her benefits.

"You don't want to control me, or even change me.. nya. I think it will work out just fine!"
She kissed him passionatly, feeling lust and even love. Her Pl almost doubled with that.
Down at the party, Vodkanas grabbed each other or random guests...but none of them felt joy as Main Vodkana.
After a very long kiss- after all, neither of them got tired so easily as mortals, abd they didnt even need to breath, combined with the outragously exprienced Vodkana... it was probably a kiss to remember, even for Hailing but also for Vodkana.
"I have always dreamed about a toy like you. nya" she purred.

[Emperor Ing]

The Emperor simply chuckled in amusement. Why would I want to change or chain perfection? He replied simply as he drew Vodkana in for a kiss. A long, deep, passionate kiss. It was by no means his first, but he could tell just through feeling a sense of kinship, something he's been lacking in all his decades of living. Someone who got it. It wasn't just a relentless pursuit of pleasure, but pain. A true hedonist seeks all sensation in all its forms, and knows the deepest of despairs as well as the highest of euphorias. After all, pain is necessary if the pleasure is to mean anything. Everything exists to feed the hedonists' whimsies, to be consumed and disposed of at a whim. The Empire itself is simply a means to an end. A mechanism by which all his desires may be met. The meat of an exotic animal from a dozen galaxies away? A bloody and brutal war against a race of natural ki-users? Everything and anything in this universe exists solely for his amusement, and to be disposed of at a whim.

Are you sure you are not in my dream? Hailing smiled in reply, an equally arrogant smile that spoke of infinite lust and desire. As odd as it may have seemed, the overlord of the universe being controlled by someone who was comparatively nobody, the idea of being a toy seemed appealing. Use me. He said. Take amusement as much from me as you are able, then cast me aside. But before that happens, I can make you intergalactic.

[igordragonian]

Vodkana clinged to him, her tail wagged from side to side, as she purred. She was probably right now more powerful than ever, consumed in her lust. She panted with excitement. Voadkna was sure.. that other timeline... Spoon was brave enough to take her to the Empire.
For once, she didn't needed to force herself to feel compassion, and all those emotions which recognized others, as persons with their own right for existence.
It also.. felt good to be the dream of other, the toy of other.

'Does it matter if this is a dream or not?' Vodkana purred,"Past, is memories, future, is imagination.. only our pleasure right now.. means something. Nya.' she found herself, doing something strange, but couldn't help it- she licked Hailing's horn. Even the sound of it amused her.
'You... said something about.. turning me.. interrrglalactic?"' she has asked with unending greed and lust.

[Hawkflight]

23 and Celestia
Android 23 at this merely raises an eyebrow as the two episodes finishes, takes out the disc, puts in the episode where not only Fluttershy successfully redeems him with kindness, but the original reason why Discord is redeemed is because Celestia goes to the Mane Six with his petrified statue asking the Mane Six to do it, and just spreads her arms as if presenting the evidence to the contrary with a teasing smile.
"I don't know, your future self seems to disagree, and she is clearly your elder having done this longer than you with more experience under her belt." she comments facetiously.

Princess Celestia simply stared at the screen as the episode ended, her expression a mixture of rage, disbelief, and confusion. After a moment, she took a deep breath.

"This ... bares further investigating," she relented. "It is entirely possible this part is made up. Separating fact from fiction will be a ... delicate maneuver."

Masala and Starlight
"Hm. Ok!"
Android 22 flies in.
"So.....uh......hi Starlight....um...Masala. Ready to go train? I think I have an idea for a few techniques you mgiht like!"
"Ooooooh! What are they?"
"You'll find out soon enough! I promise they will be fun."
"YAY!"

Starlight nodded. "Erm, yeah! Yeah I have to see Apfel for my sword training," she said, pretending as if the last few minutes had never happened. "And then, at some point I have to return home, see my family. Actually ... speaking of which, I was thinking I might ... or we could, even ... I mean, I could authorize it so Masala can visit Equestria. You know, just ... see what it's like...."

The first impressions of your people upon the Empire, more specifically Hailing himself, is negative, and you would do well to avoid relations with them, either diplomatic or adversarial, for the foreseeable future. If we can defeat Hailing and dissolve the Empire, then that will change, but I would expect the worst. Keep contact with Earth at a minimum.

Princess Celestia simply nodded. "Yes, it is a shame our first encounter went so ... poorly," she admitted. "I do not blame Starlight for her actions, but the situation is not ideal. Still, considering recent events, it is unlikely that our people can avoid each other forever." She took a sip of her tea. "You speak of dissolving the Empire, but I am curious -- how do you plan to maintain stability during this transitional period? Giving power back to the individual sectors you govern will be an immense task."

[Lord Raziere]

Villain Threat Eval.
".....Investigation? Its an event that hasn't happened yet and might possibly never will at the rate we're going. What are you going to do, get a time machine to travel to Universe 7 centuries in the future and ask the Celestia there? I mean can conjure one, I have a recorded memory of that in my archives...but I think the Time Patrol won't be happy with us if we do.

Anyways, moving on."
Android 23 is satisfied, considering the trolling score even now. She inserts the next disc
"After that, we have the Changeling Queen, Chrysalis. Basically, I don't know if this happened yet or how, but somehow something basically made this unicorn named Cadence or Mi Amore Cadenza however you say it, into the Princess of Love. She basically falls in love with and marries Shining Armor the Captain of the Guard at the time, who is Twilight Sparkle's brother, so of course the student of Celestia and brother of the Captain gets invited. However Chrysalis for some reason kidnaps and takes the place of Cadence to hypnotize Shining Armor to feast on his love and so that this love dome gets taken down then the Changelings invade and take over Equestria in fell swoop. However they get foiled by Love between Cadence and Shining anyways.....a force which they feed on. Yeah. Weird. Either they suffered major overload, or the "love" Changelings feed on is only a euphemism for a certain kind of "love"-if you know catch my drift- while the love that takes them out is actual love.

I honestly think Chrysalis is actually one of the lower threats here? she has minions but others can be argued to be
more powerful even without them, and her damage is mostly political. The only question is whether the changelings can take on humanoid forms. because if they can and just don't know it, we will have MAJOR problems if they ever get out of Equestria. Love seems to be a universal constant across species. and unfortunately, shapeshifting animals are a thing on Earth, people might just mistake them for a weird kind they never saw before, and think nothing of it since they're mostly harmless...mostly, some try to con people but their transformations are like easily broken.and I do not want to know what happens when a changeling drain love from a human or something, especially one with high power level, given our emotions tend to.....impact the world more as we go up.

On Masala
"I don't see why not! I think she'll like it there, how does that sound Masala? You get to go to Equestria! Its a real nice place and full of people like Starlight!"
"....Yeah! Sounds good! I'm good to adventure wherever! Whenever!

[Hawkflight]

Villain Threat Eval.
".....Investigation? Its an event that hasn't happened yet and might possibly never will at the rate we're going. What are you going to do, get a time machine to travel to Universe 7 centuries in the future and ask the Celestia there? I mean can conjure one, I have a recorded memory of that in my archives...but I think the Time Patrol won't be happy with us if we do.

Anyways, moving on."
Android 23 is satisfied, considering the trolling score even now. She inserts the next disc
"After that, we have the Changeling Queen, Chrysalis. Basically, I don't know if this happened yet or how, but somehow something basically made this unicorn named Cadence or Mi Amore Cadenza however you say it, into the Princess of Love. She basically falls in love with and marries Shining Armor the Captain of the Guard at the time, who is Twilight Sparkle's brother, so of course the student of Celestia and brother of the Captain gets invited. However Chrysalis for some reason kidnaps and takes the place of Cadence to hypnotize Shining Armor to feast on his love and so that this love dome gets taken down then the Changelings invade and take over Equestria in fell swoop. However they get foiled by Love between Cadence and Shining anyways.....a force which they feed on. Yeah. Weird. Either they suffered major overload, or the "love" Changelings feed on is only a euphemism for a certain kind of "love"-if you know catch my drift- while the love that takes them out is actual love.

I honestly think Chrysalis is actually one of the lower threats here? she has minions but others can be argued to be
more powerful even without them, and her damage is mostly political. The only question is whether the changelings can take on humanoid forms. because if they can and just don't know it, we will have MAJOR problems if they ever get out of Equestria. Love seems to be a universal constant across species. and unfortunately, shapeshifting animals are a thing on Earth, people might just mistake them for a weird kind they never saw before, and think nothing of it since they're mostly harmless...mostly, some try to con people but their transformations are like easily broken.and I do not want to know what happens when a changeling drain love from a human or something, especially one with high power level, given our emotions tend to.....impact the world more as we go up.

Princess Celestia watched the episode, watching closely to figure out what Chrysalis was doing. Once the episode was finished, she considered it for a moment.

"No," she finally replied. "Chrysalis ... she is good. Better than good, brilliant. Princess Cadenza ... the Princess of the lost Crystal Empire. If it wasn't her and Shining Armor, her plan would have worked." She turned to 22. "....Tell me. After seeing these events unfold, what do you think Chrysalis's plan was?

On Masala
"I don't see why not! I think she'll like it there, how does that sound Masala? You get to go to Equestria! Its a real nice place and full of people like Starlight!"
"....Yeah! Sounds good! I'm good to adventure wherever! Whenever!

Starlight grinned. "Great! I'll let Princess Celestia know, and you can come with me when I go back!"

[Lord Raziere]

23 and Celestia
"Hm. Well a later episode shows an alternate timeline where the the Mane Six never got together and Chrysalis succeeded, with the remaining free ponies living in the Everfree Forest with the help of Zecora- a zebra. So I'm pretty sure it was to take over Equestria by first cutting off the head then subverting the rest of the kingdom from the top down by first posing as some pony then probably sabotaging things of importance followed by a sudden swarm of changelings capturing ponies to drink their love. So yeah, I'm thinking taking over your kingdom is a safe bet. Probably capturing you, so that she can keep you around to drain you and your sisters power to keep the sun and moon moving because I doubt the Changelings want to get cooked by a sun standing still in the sky or have to figure out some other way of making sure that keeps going, so your job at least gives you "imprisoned alive" insurance to break out to save everyone if it comes to that.

She definitely had Changelings waiting outside to start the attack, this was going to be an invasion of some sort. Why not start with the capital, with the biggest threat to Chrysalis as well the biggest source of energy for her? If it was anyone else, sure it would've have worked, but it also wouldn't had as big a payoff- if it worked, Three Princesses would be captured under her control, the Elements would be in her possession, the Mane Six would be powerless. The only real flaw in it all was the fact you can't replicate a childhood relationship that practically no one knew about.

Which is the only explanation I can think of- you'd think that Twilight being your student, sister to the Captain of the Guard and baby-sat by the Princess of Love, Twilight who hatched her own dragon would be a minor celebrity unto herself and thus Chrysalis would research enough to know about the connection, but then again maybe thats just my future human media cynic mind drawing wrong conclusions, since even in the future, your technology is demonstrably not as advanced as humanities even without the knowledge of ki or the super-advanced space tech you see around you. at least a century behind, so perhaps your media wouldn't pick up on that."

Masala's Training
Soon the two flew until they started their training.
"Alright! Masala, lets start our training, today you'll be learning a new attack, a new technique!"
"OH!! What is it!?"
"Its called the Ghost Kamikaze Technique. I think you'll find it fun. Just focus your ki into your mouth and try to form a little ghostly version of yourself that can explode and blow it out like bubbles, much like a multiform but modified...."

[Emperor Ing]

Vodkana clinged to him, her tail wagged from side to side, as she purred. She was probably right now more powerful than ever, consumed in her lust. She panted with excitement. Voadkna was sure.. that other timeline... Spoon was brave enough to take her to the Empire.
For once, she didn't needed to force herself to feel compassion, and all those emotions which recognized others, as persons with their own right for existence.
It also.. felt good to be the dream of other, the toy of other.

'Does it matter if this is a dream or not?' Vodkana purred,"Past, is memories, future, is imagination.. only our pleasure right now.. means something. Nya.' she found herself, doing something strange, but couldn't help it- she licked Hailing's horn. Even the sound of it amused her.
'You... said something about.. turning me.. interrrglalactic?"' she has asked with unending greed and lust.

In your sector, you shone brilliantly. A star of desire, of love, and lust. He explained as he continued to slither his tail around Vodkana's body, massaging her fur at once gently and forcefully.

But you were limited to a single sector. A mere two hundred worlds. It is my desire to witness the apotheosis of my Goddess of desire, and set her loose upon my universe of pleasure! To create, consume, and destroy upon a whim.

Princess Celestia simply nodded. "Yes, it is a shame our first encounter went so ... poorly," she admitted. "I do not blame Starlight for her actions, but the situation is not ideal. Still, considering recent events, it is unlikely that our people can avoid each other forever." She took a sip of her tea. "You speak of dissolving the Empire, but I am curious -- how do you plan to maintain stability during this transitional period? Giving power back to the individual sectors you govern will be an immense task."

Apfel took a sip of his own tea as he considered the question thoughtfully. Have you ever wondered how a single species can conquer so many galaxies so quickly? You already know that each individual Homeworld Arcosian can conquer a planet single-handedly. The home-world in question is massive. One of the largest in the known universe actually, with a greater mass than the vast majority of stars. Even if its population is clustered on the many World Stones being blown about the giant's hyperstorms, you are still looking at an enormous population. Even if only 1% of them are combatants in the Imperial Army, that's still quintillions of planet-destroyers under the command of the Emperor. They have, and for the foreseeable future, will be the backbone of the Empire's military might. However even their numbers are finite, and as the Empire's territory expanded, it relied more on auxiliaries pulled from all sorts of races and sectors of space.

As such, the Auxilliaries will be transitioned over to regional authority, tasked with the directive towards enforcement rather than conquering. A similar directive will be given to the Empire's armed forces. They will be tasked with enforcing the law rather than bringing more under it. Maintain law and order until such a time that the region can become independent, and its secession can be finalized. Similarly, Segmentum Arcos will be dissolved, as will Sector Arcos, all the way down until I reach the world itself. A planetary sovereign will be found, or several, if tribal fractures still linger between groups such as the Exo and Inferno Arcosians. The distinction between the two groups, them being two of several, is hardly significant to be declared two subspecies, but the Exo are known to reside on the outer layers of Arcos' atmosphere while the Inferno live in the hotter, inner layers.

Before I do anything, first, I need to win the argument for why the Empire needs to be dissolved. Otherwise, someone will simply reboot the Empire based on some honest though misguided notions of racial and national pride. As such, a mass media campaign is needed, informing the people of Hailing's and the Empire's crimes and how the temptation of that kind of power will eventually turn anyone into a tyrant. I want soldiers and generals to be embarrassed that they were ever part of the Empire, and wives to ask their husbands why they were willing to die for a monster like Hailing.

[igordragonian]

[QUOTE=Emperor Ing;22066050]In your sector, you shone brilliantly. A star of desire, of love, and lust. He explained as he continued to slither his tail around Vodkana's body, massaging her fur at once gently and forcefully.

But you were limited to a single sector. A mere two hundred worlds. It is my desire to witness the apotheosis of my Goddess of desire, and set her loose upon my universe of pleasure! To create, consume, and destroy upon a whim.



Vodkana purred, tightening herself against the Emperor.
Down at the party, her clones went wild.. but none of them felt as much pleasure as she felt being here with him, as the tension was building up.
"Are you sure, your dear precious lil' empire can handle me? Nya?" she smiled with shining fangs. but it was clear, he caught her in the temptation.
"I don't want you to be too upset, if I'll break some of yourrr toys"

[Emperor Ing]

The Empire? He chuckled, swinging his body about. Hailing knew the truth: It wasn't real. What Empire? Does one see an Empire? Can one visit the Empire? Can they touch an Empire? What does an Empire taste like? Nothing more than a delusion. Shared by quintillions. Armies cosplaying as soldiers. Men in funny outfits all playing pretend. The collective hallucination of an entire universe has never failed to amuse.
No comedian could ever conceive of such a lasting joke, never! And you, my sweet Star, will share in my laughter, until it is time for a new joke to be told.

[Hawkflight]

23 and Celestia
"Hm. Well a later episode shows an alternate timeline where the the Mane Six never got together and Chrysalis succeeded, with the remaining free ponies living in the Everfree Forest with the help of Zecora- a zebra. So I'm pretty sure it was to take over Equestria by first cutting off the head then subverting the rest of the kingdom from the top down by first posing as some pony then probably sabotaging things of importance followed by a sudden swarm of changelings capturing ponies to drink their love. So yeah, I'm thinking taking over your kingdom is a safe bet. Probably capturing you, so that she can keep you around to drain you and your sisters power to keep the sun and moon moving because I doubt the Changelings want to get cooked by a sun standing still in the sky or have to figure out some other way of making sure that keeps going, so your job at least gives you "imprisoned alive" insurance to break out to save everyone if it comes to that.

She definitely had Changelings waiting outside to start the attack, this was going to be an invasion of some sort. Why not start with the capital, with the biggest threat to Chrysalis as well the biggest source of energy for her? If it was anyone else, sure it would've have worked, but it also wouldn't had as big a payoff- if it worked, Three Princesses would be captured under her control, the Elements would be in her possession, the Mane Six would be powerless. The only real flaw in it all was the fact you can't replicate a childhood relationship that practically no one knew about.

Which is the only explanation I can think of- you'd think that Twilight being your student, sister to the Captain of the Guard and baby-sat by the Princess of Love, Twilight who hatched her own dragon would be a minor celebrity unto herself and thus Chrysalis would research enough to know about the connection, but then again maybe thats just my future human media cynic mind drawing wrong conclusions, since even in the future, your technology is demonstrably not as advanced as humanities even without the knowledge of ki or the super-advanced space tech you see around you. at least a century behind, so perhaps your media wouldn't pick up on that."

Masala's Training
Soon the two flew until they started their training.
"Alright! Masala, lets start our training, today you'll be learning a new attack, a new technique!"
"OH!! What is it!?"
"Its called the Ghost Kamikaze Technique. I think you'll find it fun. Just focus your ki into your mouth and try to form a little ghostly version of yourself that can explode and blow it out like bubbles, much like a multiform but modified...."

Celestia nodded. "I would have attempted to keep things quiet, so that my pupil could live a relatively normal life," she replied. "You are right on all other accounts. But to explain how brilliant Chrysalis truly is, observe her actions after her mistake. Does it not seem odd to you that she would react suspiciously towards Twilight of all ponies? Do you think that perhaps could have been ... on purpose?"

----

Starlight simply smiled, nodded, and went on her way, following Vodkana and Apfel to the latter's kitchen.

Apfel took a sip of his own tea as he considered the question thoughtfully. Have you ever wondered how a single species can conquer so many galaxies so quickly? You already know that each individual Homeworld Arcosian can conquer a planet single-handedly. The home-world in question is massive. One of the largest in the known universe actually, with a greater mass than the vast majority of stars. Even if its population is clustered on the many World Stones being blown about the giant's hyperstorms, you are still looking at an enormous population. Even if only 1% of them are combatants in the Imperial Army, that's still quintillions of planet-destroyers under the command of the Emperor. They have, and for the foreseeable future, will be the backbone of the Empire's military might. However even their numbers are finite, and as the Empire's territory expanded, it relied more on auxiliaries pulled from all sorts of races and sectors of space.

As such, the Auxilliaries will be transitioned over to regional authority, tasked with the directive towards enforcement rather than conquering. A similar directive will be given to the Empire's armed forces. They will be tasked with enforcing the law rather than bringing more under it. Maintain law and order until such a time that the region can become independent, and its secession can be finalized. Similarly, Segmentum Arcos will be dissolved, as will Sector Arcos, all the way down until I reach the world itself. A planetary sovereign will be found, or several, if tribal fractures still linger between groups such as the Exo and Inferno Arcosians. The distinction between the two groups, them being two of several, is hardly significant to be declared two subspecies, but the Exo are known to reside on the outer layers of Arcos' atmosphere while the Inferno live in the hotter, inner layers.

Before I do anything, first, I need to win the argument for why the Empire needs to be dissolved. Otherwise, someone will simply reboot the Empire based on some honest though misguided notions of racial and national pride. As such, a mass media campaign is needed, informing the people of Hailing's and the Empire's crimes and how the temptation of that kind of power will eventually turn anyone into a tyrant. I want soldiers and generals to be embarrassed that they were ever part of the Empire, and wives to ask their husbands why they were willing to die for a monster like Hailing.

Celestia simply nodded along. "I believe I am beginning to understand how a central monarchy could fail on such a massive scale," she replied. She observed Apfel for a moment before standing up and adding, "I would like to show you something, if you would be so kind?"

[Emperor Ing]

Apfel nodded and stood up with Celestia, curiosity winning over his caution, but then again he wasn't receiving any danger signals. In fact, quite the opposite.
He felt safe enough to punch Hailing in the face and get away with it, though hopefully nobody would be crazy enough to actually attempt that.
Of course. He said, following.

---

Apfel's Ship - Starlight's Training

One of the advantages of the Arcosian Carrier is its central chamber. Most ships-of-the-line both civilian and military make use of an enormous loading dock at the very top of the ship. However, Apfel's ship lacks this functionality, as the carrying capacity has never been his concern. The ship is operated by a crew with a few guards, and extra space for passengers, but little else. The massive loading dock was converted into a training area for Apfel and anyone else to exercise and drill. The walls were lined with mirrors on many of the walls as well as several posters, notices of some kind, written in Apfel's native tongue.

Should Starlight attempt to decipher them, they're just posters reminding anyone using the facility to clean up after themselves and put away all unused equipment.

So. He began, drawing his World Blade and entering a duelist's salute. If I am to teach you, then I need to first know your level of skill. I want you to attack me with your sword and only your sword. I want you to try and kill me. He then raises his blade across from himself in a defensive stance.

[Lord Raziere]

Celestia nodded. "I would have attempted to keep things quiet, so that my pupil could live a relatively normal life," she replied. "You are right on all other accounts. But to explain how brilliant Chrysalis truly is, observe her actions after her mistake. Does it not seem odd to you that she would react suspiciously towards Twilight of all ponies? Do you think that perhaps could have been ... on purpose?"

Android 23's eyes dilate in realization.
".....That....sly....mosquito.... I never even thought of that! Shes more dangerous than I thought....she probably even figured out Twilight's lack of social skills and used that to her advantage."
Yes, changelings were not to be underestimated, no matter how powerful she was in comparison to them. Especially given her feelings for 22.
"So yeah, shapeshifting queen not only good enough to know when to strike but also improvise well when a plan inevitably doesn't go perfect. Watch out.

Lets talk King Sombra."
She puts in the discs for things.
"Honestly, there is not much to say. The King Sombra that threatens them is less of a person and seems more like one of those malevolent forces of nature that gets wiped away by something good and shiny, like some leftover shade or something. The main threat seems to be all his preparations to keep the crystal heart away so all you have to do is take notes, apply the proper procedure to get past all of them fast and put the heart back on and he is done. Heck, I imagine that if he attacked 22, all she would have to do is throw the Spirit Bomb at him and his evil would be cleansed. So....he is arguably weaker than the Changelings. He dies. Just straight up shattered to pieces. I guess you could try redeeming him if you really want but the Crystal Heart destroyed him so that might be out of the realm of possibility

So, moving on to actual threats....oh the Discord Plundervines, those are just things he planted a thousand years ago and just started coming back at that moment for reasons, they're like whatever. Elements of Harmony going back into a tree, only important for reasons about the Mane Six learning lessons that then lead to them getting the Elements back in some other form later, not that big of a threat, though I guess you'd be smart to just get rid of them preemptively.

As I was saying, moving on to ACTUAL threats, Hi Tirek! You magic-drinking centaur of pure evil. Yeah this guy is no joke, drained all magic from anyone he saw, temporarily turned Discord back towards evil by offering him friendship, then goes toe-to-toe with Twilight empowered by the other three Alicorns in a battle that seems more similar to the ones we usually fight. I always thought that fight scene was weird for a show like this, but I guess it was more accurate to reality than I thought."
Lets be honest, in this universe they're probably downplaying how much damage they can deal in that fight.
"And now this episode makes me realize that I have the same power to drain energy as Tirek and makes me feel like I'm looking at an evil version of myself. Greeeeeeeat."

[Hawkflight]

Apfel's Ship - Starlight's Training

One of the advantages of the Arcosian Carrier is its central chamber. Most ships-of-the-line both civilian and military make use of an enormous loading dock at the very top of the ship. However, Apfel's ship lacks this functionality, as the carrying capacity has never been his concern. The ship is operated by a crew with a few guards, and extra space for passengers, but little else. The massive loading dock was converted into a training area for Apfel and anyone else to exercise and drill. The walls were lined with mirrors on many of the walls as well as several posters, notices of some kind, written in Apfel's native tongue.

Should Starlight attempt to decipher them, they're just posters reminding anyone using the facility to clean up after themselves and put away all unused equipment.

So. He began, drawing his World Blade and entering a duelist's salute. If I am to teach you, then I need to first know your level of skill. I want you to attack me with your sword and only your sword. I want you to try and kill me. He then raises his blade across from himself in a defensive stance.

Starlight nodded and summoned a single blade, a rapier she'd had made earlier. It had an elaborate grip suitable for wielding by hoof or by magic, and her cutie mark was displayed on the center of the crossguard where the blade met the handle. She levitated the blade and gave a flourish, bowing to her new sensei. "Understood. First attempt, no spells, only simple telekinesis magic to wield the blade itself. Beginning now."

With a flick of her wings, she propelled herself forward at full speed, attempting to slice Apfel from bottom to top.

Android 23's eyes dilate in realization.
".....That....sly....mosquito.... I never even thought of that! Shes more dangerous than I thought....she probably even figured out Twilight's lack of social skills and used that to her advantage."
Yes, changelings were not to be underestimated, no matter how powerful she was in comparison to them. Especially given her feelings for 22.
"So yeah, shapeshifting queen not only good enough to know when to strike but also improvise well when a plan inevitably doesn't go perfect. Watch out.

Lets talk King Sombra."
She puts in the discs for things.
"Honestly, there is not much to say. The King Sombra that threatens them is less of a person and seems more like one of those malevolent forces of nature that gets wiped away by something good and shiny, like some leftover shade or something. The main threat seems to be all his preparations to keep the crystal heart away so all you have to do is take notes, apply the proper procedure to get past all of them fast and put the heart back on and he is done. Heck, I imagine that if he attacked 22, all she would have to do is throw the Spirit Bomb at him and his evil would be cleansed. So....he is arguably weaker than the Changelings. He dies. Just straight up shattered to pieces. I guess you could try redeeming him if you really want but the Crystal Heart destroyed him so that might be out of the realm of possibility."

Princess Celestia nodded. "Disappointing, but as I expected," she replied.

"So, moving on to actual threats....oh the Discord Plundervines, those are just things he planted a thousand years ago and just started coming back at that moment for reasons, they're like whatever. Elements of Harmony going back into a tree, only important for reasons about the Mane Six learning lessons that then lead to them getting the Elements back in some other form later, not that big of a threat, though I guess you'd be smart to just get rid of them preemptively.

Princess Celestia simply nodded, taking notes.

"As I was saying, moving on to ACTUAL threats, Hi Tirek! You magic-drinking centaur of pure evil. Yeah this guy is no joke, drained all magic from anyone he saw, temporarily turned Discord back towards evil by offering him friendship, then goes toe-to-toe with Twilight empowered by the other three Alicorns in a battle that seems more similar to the ones we usually fight. I always thought that fight scene was weird for a show like this, but I guess it was more accurate to reality than I thought."
Lets be honest, in this universe they're probably downplaying how much damage they can deal in that fight.
"And now this episode makes me realize that I have the same power to drain energy as Tirek and makes me feel like I'm looking at an evil version of myself. Greeeeeeeat."

"I too made the connection," she replied. "I find myself curious as to the similarities, although you have to touch somepony to drain them of their energy. Although the fact that Tirek will manage to escape from Tartarus is somewhat disturbing."

[Lord Raziere]

23 and Celestia
"Well there is good news about Tirek: His escape from Tartarus? Completely preventable. It happened during the episode "Its About Time" which was mostly Twilight doing a stupid involving a time loop of which absolutely nothing of consequence occurred, the Tartarus escape is unrelated to the loop, and loop itself is pointless aside from teaching a lesson that one can learn without it. Just perhaps install a few back up security measures in case Cerberus fails and your probably good to go. "
Of course 23 would probably just kill Tirek now if it was up to her, but she knew Celestia would want softer advice than that. She puts in the discs for the two times Starlight Glimmer attempts her evil plans
"After that, the only villain I know of is Starlight Glimmer. As far as I know, no relation to our Starlight. I'm going call her Glimmer to keep it from being confusing. Unlike all the other villains, she is basically just a unicorn with a very weird cute mark, with a stupid motivation. Basically she has the power to change Cutie Marks- in other words REWRITE DESTINY. As far your world is concerned. Of course she initially used this just to make own little village way from the rest of Equestria and remake the ponies so that they're equal to one another. Turns out her little "utopia" just makes people depressed because they are all equally bad at everything and therefore can't do any actual jobs well or lead any fulfilling lives. Equal in a way....but not Harmonious.

I was actually surprised by these episodes in particular. The show pushed such a pro-unity message after all, that it was a switch to have a villain who wasn't bent on tearing it all down but trying to push her own form of unity which turned out to be unworkable. Which added a layer of meaning and subtlety I didn't think they would ever do.

Really Glimmer's initial danger is not physical, but ideological. From my understanding, Equestria depends upon unity, -by everyone's talents being used to strengthen that unity from the ground up rather than that unity being used to crush those talents from the top down. Though I think one such as you can easily deal with that. Its when Glimmer comes back for revenge and somehow invents a time travel spell that actually changes things that suddenly she goes from "arguably less threat than Sombra" to "DISCORD WISHES HE WAS THIS THREATENING."

Yes, Glimmer travels back in time, manipulates young Rainbow Dash and screws things up, multiple times and causing various different timelines to switch around, with various other villains and the Flim Flam Bros- they're just two con ponies- winning in each. Ranging from Sombra and his army,to Chrysalis winning, to Nightmare Moon to Discord.....
She lowers her voice for the final timeline, saying it somberly.
".....The final timeline being just everything destroyed, a desolate wasteland of windblown sand. Cause unknown.

But thats not the stupid part. Y'know the reason for her hating cutie marks? The reason she decide to go for this Amon-wannabe schtick then screw all the Equestrian timeline by screwing with the Mane Six's friendship out of revenge? Potentially destroying the entire world she knew?

Because some pony got a cutie mark before her, and everyone paid attention to him over her."
Now she began ranting, working herself up into a state of unbelieving anger at the whole situation.
"Yeah. That petty. That short-sightedly, small-mindedly, insignificantly, petty! Like, there wasn't even any trauma or actual negative things done to her because of that. She was just jealous because he was more popular. That's it! A stupid motivation on par with Commander Red wanting to find wish granting orbs of phenomenal cosmic power so he can wish himself to be taller. And like saints, you all forgive her for this and redeem her. Like okay, the redemption I can understand, but couldn't you at least chew her out for being a colossal idiot who essentially pulled the Equestrian version of a First World teenager hacking into the government to launch all the nukes because the popular kids weren't looking in her direction!? I mean sure yes, forgiveness and positive encouragement, but I strongly feel as if this is one instance where a nice big "What The Hell Is Wrong With You?" is completely warranted!

.....Sorry. She was......a divisive character in my time. And now I know that she is real, somewhere, some when."
She finishes as she deflates and calms down, sighing and shaking her head at the wasted talent and mind-blowing stupidity on display.

[Hawkflight]

Apfel nodded and stood up with Celestia, curiosity winning over his caution, but then again he wasn't receiving any danger signals. In fact, quite the opposite.
He felt safe enough to punch Hailing in the face and get away with it, though hopefully nobody would be crazy enough to actually attempt that.
Of course. He said, following.

Princess Celestia ignited her horn, opening a portal to what Apfel might recognize as some place on Earth, and stepped through. She did not seem concerned about alerting Hailing to her presence, and if Apfel was particularly attentive he might notice why -- she had cast a privacy bubble spell around them. On the other side of the portal was a massive library, built out of marble bricks, with stone pillars and a well-kept courtyard. In the middle of the courtyard was a large marble statue of a horse, standing atop a square base. As she led the way towards the statue, Apfel could see a mirror on one side, facing the library.

"You understand, of course, that this is to be kept in the strictest of confidence," she said. "That said ... this mirror contains a portal to my world, to the land of Equestria. It is ... a relic from Universe 6, although I cannot tell if it is from their past or their future. I have deactivated it from the other side, but I am concerned as to the consequences should Hailing or his minions discover it. I would like your informed opinion -- do you think it is possible that, if they were to discover it, they could reactivate it and pose a threat to my world?"

23 and Celestia
"Well there is good news about Tirek: His escape from Tartarus? Completely preventable. It happened during the episode "Its About Time" which was mostly Twilight doing a stupid involving a time loop of which absolutely nothing of consequence occurred, the Tartarus escape is unrelated to the loop, and loop itself is pointless aside from teaching a lesson that one can learn without it. Just perhaps install a few back up security measures in case Cerberus fails and your probably good to go. "
Of course 23 would probably just kill Tirek now if it was up to her, but she knew Celestia would want softer advice than that. She puts in the discs for the two times Starlight Glimmer attempts her evil plans

Princess Celestia frowned. She doubted it was that simple -- she'd have to look into it later.

"After that, the only villain I know of is Starlight Glimmer. As far as I know, no relation to our Starlight. I'm going call her Glimmer to keep it from being confusing. Unlike all the other villains, she is basically just a unicorn with a very weird cute mark, with a stupid motivation. Basically she has the power to change Cutie Marks- in other words REWRITE DESTINY. As far your world is concerned. Of course she initially used this just to make own little village way from the rest of Equestria and remake the ponies so that they're equal to one another. Turns out her little "utopia" just makes people depressed because they are all equally bad at everything and therefore can't do any actual jobs well or lead any fulfilling lives. Equal in a way....but not Harmonious.

I was actually surprised by these episodes in particular. The show pushed such a pro-unity message after all, that it was a switch to have a villain who wasn't bent on tearing it all down but trying to push her own form of unity which turned out to be unworkable. Which added a layer of meaning and subtlety I didn't think they would ever do."

Celestia shook her head. "Remember, 23, what is a story to you is my reality," she said. "And reality is not so simple as stories make it out to be."

"Really Glimmer's initial danger is not physical, but ideological. From my understanding, Equestria depends upon unity, -by everyone's talents being used to strengthen that unity from the ground up rather than that unity being used to crush those talents from the top down. Though I think one such as you can easily deal with that. Its when Glimmer comes back for revenge and somehow invents a time travel spell that actually changes things that suddenly she goes from "arguably less threat than Sombra" to "DISCORD WISHES HE WAS THIS THREATENING."

Yes, Glimmer travels back in time, manipulates young Rainbow Dash and screws things up, multiple times and causing various different timelines to switch around, with various other villains and the Flim Flam Bros- they're just two con ponies- winning in each. Ranging from Sombra and his army,to Chrysalis winning, to Nightmare Moon to Discord.....
She lowers her voice for the final timeline, saying it somberly.
".....The final timeline being just everything destroyed, a desolate wasteland of windblown sand. Cause unknown.

But thats not the stupid part. Y'know the reason for her hating cutie marks? The reason she decide to go for this Amon-wannabe schtick then screw all the Equestrian timeline by screwing with the Mane Six's friendship out of revenge? Potentially destroying the entire world she knew?

Because some pony got a cutie mark before her, and everyone paid attention to him over her."
Now she began ranting, working herself up into a state of unbelieving anger at the whole situation.
"Yeah. That petty. That short-sightedly, small-mindedly, insignificantly, petty! Like, there wasn't even any trauma or actual negative things done to her because of that. She was just jealous because he was more popular. That's it! A stupid motivation on par with Commander Red wanting to find wish granting orbs of phenomenal cosmic power so he can wish himself to be taller. And like saints, you all forgive her for this and redeem her. Like okay, the redemption I can understand, but couldn't you at least chew her out for being a colossal idiot who essentially pulled the Equestrian version of a First World teenager hacking into the government to launch all the nukes because the popular kids weren't looking in her direction!? I mean sure yes, forgiveness and positive encouragement, but I strongly feel as if this is one instance where a nice big "What The Hell Is Wrong With You?" is completely warranted!

.....Sorry. She was......a divisive character in my time. And now I know that she is real, somewhere, some when."
She finishes as she deflates and calms down, sighing and shaking her head at the wasted talent and mind-blowing stupidity on display.

Celestia opened a wing and used it to sort of pat 23. "She may be real, but remember, you are viewing it through the lens of a children's story," she remarked. "I can assure you that whatever the outcome, I will have made sure to have words with her myself. Well, myself or Luna. But also, consider this -- it is entirely possible she has some form of sociopathy, some disconnect in her brain that simply prevents her from understanding the difference between right and wrong. And if that is the case, and she did not know any better, then that is in fact something to be pitied."

[igordragonian]

The Empire? He chuckled, swinging his body about. Hailing knew the truth: It wasn't real. What Empire? Does one see an Empire? Can one visit the Empire? Can they touch an Empire? What does an Empire taste like? Nothing more than a delusion. Shared by quintillions. Armies cosplaying as soldiers. Men in funny outfits all playing pretend. The collective hallucination of an entire universe has never failed to amuse.
No comedian could ever conceive of such a lasting joke, never! And you, my sweet Star, will share in my laughter, until it is time for a new joke to be told.

Vodkana was amazed. Hailing sure was hard core at this.
If she wouldn't have met 23-Senpai... she would easily get attracted to this way of thinking.
She felt mixture of thankfulness and disappointment, for that, that Spoon never dared to take her to Hailing.
Vodkana would have learned his ways- and probably, later would have established her own empire, just to have reason to play with Hailing.

'Nyahahah!| Vodkana giggled warmly. 'You are starting to impress me. I think I will keep you as my pet for quite a while... but for that...' her fangs shined with greed.
'I want a colossal golden statue of me, on every empiral planet! Nya! I want to have a title, so I could force any of your underlings to be my pet! Nya! I want the recources to host the greatest party in the history of the universe! Nya!"

[Emperor Ing]

Earth - Celestia and Apfel

"Universe 6?" Apfel echoed, not being aware of the nature of the multiverse's 13 universes or the youth of Universe 13 and its stable diversion from Universe 7. Still, he looked down at the statue's base. Simple stone. A statue, nothing more or less. At least in his eyes. He looked over it, made at least two walks around the statue and scanned it with his monocle-scouter in an attempt to identify any sort of anomaly.

The threat they would pose to Equestria cannot be exaggerated. Apfel stated as he felt he had scanned the statue to the best of his ability. He imagined some form of tactical advantage in the way that a portal of finite size might create a bottleneck of materiel and personnel,
but it didn't take a genius to know that it would only be temporary. All they need is one scouter through the portal and they will know your universal coordinates.

With this in mind, however, I cannot foresee a situation where they will find or activate the portal. To the best of my knowledge, they have no way of knowing it even exist. If you wish to keep its exit on Earth, the best you could do is act normally and avoid calling attention to this area. I cannot anticipate a moment of dumb luck, however. An Arcosian Royal Guard returning to headquarters from buying groceries happening to fly over at the time some Equestrian brigand figures they can make a quick escape through this mysterious portal he found, seeing a pony emerge from the base of a statue.

Improbable, yes, however the universe is full of improbabilities that changed the course of history. My recommendation would be to move it.

Starlight's training

The flap of her wings was an obvious telegraph of her intent to charge. He lowered his blade horizontally to stop Starlight's

[Hawkflight]

Earth - Celestia and Apfel

"Universe 6?" Apfel echoed, not being aware of the nature of the multiverse's 13 universes or the youth of Universe 13 and its stable diversion from Universe 7. Still, he looked down at the statue's base. Simple stone. A statue, nothing more or less. At least in his eyes. He looked over it, made at least two walks around the statue and scanned it with his monocle-scouter in an attempt to identify any sort of anomaly.

The threat they would pose to Equestria cannot be exaggerated. Apfel stated as he felt he had scanned the statue to the best of his ability. He imagined some form of tactical advantage in the way that a portal of finite size might create a bottleneck of materiel and personnel,
but it didn't take a genius to know that it would only be temporary. All they need is one scouter through the portal and they will know your universal coordinates.

With this in mind, however, I cannot foresee a situation where they will find or activate the portal. To the best of my knowledge, they have no way of knowing it even exist. If you wish to keep its exit on Earth, the best you could do is act normally and avoid calling attention to this area. I cannot anticipate a moment of dumb luck, however. An Arcosian Royal Guard returning to headquarters from buying groceries happening to fly over at the time some Equestrian brigand figures they can make a quick escape through this mysterious portal he found, seeing a pony emerge from the base of a statue.

Improbable, yes, however the universe is full of improbabilities that changed the course of history. My recommendation would be to move it.

Princess Celestia considered his words, then nodded. "I see," she said. "Thank you. Unfortunately, it would take a massive undertaking to remove the portal -- our efforts to move it would paradoxically draw attention to it. I have already had it disabled, but I will seal the portal on my end in the royal vault, so that nopony can reactivate it."

Starlight's training

The flap of her wings was an obvious telegraph of her intent to charge. He lowered his blade horizontally to stop Starlight's

Starlight didn't have time to be impressed that, despite her unusual physiology, Apfel had managed to read her movements. Instead, she swiftly used the momentum from her blade bouncing off of his to swing around for another strike.

[Lord Raziere]

23 and Celestia
".....Sorry. I got carried away. Yeah, its probably not simple. Nothing ever is. As for pitying sociopaths......heh. Your a better person than me then. I've never met a human who truly pities people who lack empathy entirely. In human society, most people don't care for your sob story. They care even less for people who are jerks. You be a jerk in a human social setting.....people are just going to shun you or kick you out entirely and let someone else deal with you. Sociopaths are far worse than that. Justice is blind and cares not for what excuse you have for screwing up, what matters is that you did.

For example, do you think most humans would even listen to my sob story? Hell no. They'd just see me as another dangerous overlord. Some would even look down me for even complaining and tell me to suck it up. Only psychologists and close friends care for your actual pages, everyone else just takes one look at the cover of your book. Same with them, the people we fight. Sure they probably have something that broke them. Doesn't change the fact that they're a threat. That worst case scenario, they might have to die to make sure better things remain. I can try pitying them, but I have so little left after spending it on their victims."
For example when she played Undertale, she didn't spare Flowey out of actual kindness or pity, but more to spite and troll him.
"Anyways, I didn't watch the sixth season much. The beginning episode of that is something about an alicorn being inexplicably born out of the blue named Flurry Heart from Cadence and then some big blizzard thing ravaging the Crystal Empire, and then the ending season thing I heard was changelings again, but some bug dude like overthrowing Chrysalis and make them all into some weird rainbow colored Changeling race that are good, didn't feel like watching it at the time, so I haven't seen that one yet but I guess its good news for you? I think there were at least two other seasons after but I didn't see them either and I can't seem to find the entirety of the eighth season and most of the seventh right now.

and yes, everyone there was JUST as confused and shocked by a baby alicorn even then, so no worries about that being bewildering and out of left field.

So yeah, that pretty much covers everything. I think."

[Hawkflight]

23 and Celestia

".....Sorry. I got carried away. Yeah, its probably not simple. Nothing ever is. As for pitying sociopaths......heh. Your a better person than me then. I've never met a human who truly pities people who lack empathy entirely. In human society, most people don't care for your sob story. They care even less for people who are jerks. You be a jerk in a human social setting.....people are just going to shun you or kick you out entirely and let someone else deal with you. Sociopaths are far worse than that. Justice is blind and cares not for what excuse you have for screwing up, what matters is that you did.

For example, do you think most humans would even listen to my sob story? Hell no. They'd just see me as another dangerous overlord. Some would even look down me for even complaining and tell me to suck it up. Only psychologists and close friends care for your actual pages, everyone else just takes one look at the cover of your book. Same with them, the people we fight. Sure they probably have something that broke them. Doesn't change the fact that they're a threat. That worst case scenario, they might have to die to make sure better things remain. I can try pitying them, but I have so little left after spending it on their victims."

For example when she played Undertale, she didn't spare Flowey out of actual kindness or pity, but more to spite and troll him.

"....I wish I could help you with that," Celestia sighed, shaking her head. "Sadly, your society sounds much like my little ponies, before the unification of the three tribes. It took the wendigos, and the threat of the end of our world, to bring us together like we are now, and even that almost did not happen. The best you can hope to do is help where and how you can."

23 and Celestia

"Anyways, I didn't watch the sixth season much. The beginning episode of that is something about an alicorn being inexplicably born out of the blue named Flurry Heart from Cadence and then some big blizzard thing ravaging the Crystal Empire, and then the ending season thing I heard was changelings again, but some bug dude like overthrowing Chrysalis and make them all into some weird rainbow colored Changeling race that are good, didn't feel like watching it at the time, so I haven't seen that one yet but I guess its good news for you? I think there were at least two other seasons after but I didn't see them either and I can't seem to find the entirety of the eighth season and most of the seventh right now.

And yes, everyone there was JUST as confused and shocked by a baby alicorn even then, so no worries about that being bewildering and out of left field.

So yeah, that pretty much covers everything. I think."

Princess Celestia grew puzzled. "But the birth of an alicorn is not unheard of," she said. "Why, our mutual friend Starlight is one such pony."

[Lord Raziere]

23 and Celestia.
23 look at the sun princess.
"Good. If you understand that, then you understand humanity. How humans always been, how humans always probably will be.
Then she hears Celestia point Starlight out.
"Oro? She is?"
She searches her perfect memory archives.
"She is! Why didn't I notice that before? Thought she was unicorn.
How did you even miss that?
"Guess the detail never came up. Wow, Starlight an alicorn. Thats pretty important, if history is any indication. Whats she Princess of? Don't try to hide it. Shes has to be a Princess of somethiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing. Or is that not clear yet? Man, six Princesses! Sun, Moon, Love, Friendship, think Flurry and Starlight are a pair? They seem to come in pairs."
She smirks mischievously.

[Hawkflight]

23 and Celestia.
23 look at the sun princess.
"Good. If you understand that, then you understand humanity. How humans always been, how humans always probably will be.
Then she hears Celestia point Starlight out.
"Oro? She is?"
She searches her perfect memory archives.
"She is! Why didn't I notice that before? Thought she was unicorn.
How did you even miss that?
"Guess the detail never came up. Wow, Starlight an alicorn. Thats pretty important, if history is any indication. Whats she Princess of? Don't try to hide it. Shes has to be a Princess of somethiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing. Or is that not clear yet? Man, six Princesses! Sun, Moon, Love, Friendship, think Flurry and Starlight are a pair? They seem to come in pairs."
She smirks mischievously.

Princess Celestia facehoofed. Congratulations, you got the Princess of Equestria, the nigh-immortal ruler who has lived through much more than you can imagine, to facehoof.

"How ... how did you even....?" She shook her head. Surely 23 had to be trolling her again ... right? Starlight even used her wings in her techniques numerous times. "Like I said, the birth of an alicorn is extremely rare, but not unheard of. It is ... well, we are both adults here, let us just say it is a product of my sister's and my youth, shall we? That is clearly something the show got wrong, whether through lack of knowledge or a difference between universes."

[Lord Raziere]

Celestia and 23
"I'm just joking Celestia! Of course I always noticed that she was an alicorn, it just never came up in conversation much, because y'know we fly without wings all the time. So its like, anyone can fly really. Wings are honestly less practical, because y'know, wings can be shot while they're flapping while ki flight just lifts you."
She thinks inwardly: Seriously how did I miss that? Oh well, she got to troll Celestia twice in one conversation, score! Even if this was accidental. She needed to pay attention to more details from now on. This was just like the time she didn't notice where she put those pills for Callins when he was having his second near-death experience and they turned out to be in her pocket. Was 22's ditziness rubbing off on her?
"Anyways. I sure hope this has proven enlightening. Anything else to discuss, Celestia?"

[Emperor Ing]

Princess Celestia considered his words, then nodded. "I see," she said. "Thank you. Unfortunately, it would take a massive undertaking to remove the portal -- our efforts to move it would paradoxically draw attention to it. I have already had it disabled, but I will seal the portal on my end in the royal vault, so that nopony can reactivate it."

Apfel nodded in response. Any precaution you could take on your end would be wise. I would furthermore suggest, if such magic were possible, to create a glamer within the vault itself to give the illusion of an endless void.

If I may, I would request your advice. There is nobody I trust with the power of who sits on the throne in the Eye of Arcos. I cannot even trust myself. Thus, I have entered an arrangement with 23, that if I become corrupt and cannot be saved, then she is to kill me. Power corrupts after all, and only Lord Beerus is more powerful. You have held the power of a monarch for over a thousand universal standard years, if I recall correctly, your highness. How do you resist the corruption of power?

Starlight didn't have time to be impressed that, despite her unusual physiology, Apfel had managed to read her movements. Instead, she swiftly used the momentum from her blade bouncing off of his to swing around for another strike.

Using the momentum of her blade bouncing to maneuver in to another attack rather than allow herself to be staggered. Starlight's clearly not an amateur. Good, makes things quicker on his end in terms of instruction. He raised his blade, angled so as to deflect and parry the attack rather than allow her to maneuver into another swing. Let's see how she recovers from this.

[Hawkflight]

Celestia and 23
"I'm just joking Celestia! Of course I always noticed that she was an alicorn, it just never came up in conversation much, because y'know we fly without wings all the time. So its like, anyone can fly really. Wings are honestly less practical, because y'know, wings can be shot while they're flapping while ki flight just lifts you."
She thinks inwardly: Seriously how did I miss that? Oh well, she got to troll Celestia twice in one conversation, score! Even if this was accidental. She needed to pay attention to more details from now on. This was just like the time she didn't notice where she put those pills for Callins when he was having his second near-death experience and they turned out to be in her pocket. Was 22's ditziness rubbing off on her?
"Anyways. I sure hope this has proven enlightening. Anything else to discuss, Celestia?"

Celestia shook her head. "No, this has proven to be a most enlightening conversation," she said.

Apfel nodded in response. Any precaution you could take on your end would be wise. I would furthermore suggest, if such magic were possible, to create a glamer within the vault itself to give the illusion of an endless void.

If I may, I would request your advice. There is nobody I trust with the power of who sits on the throne in the Eye of Arcos. I cannot even trust myself. Thus, I have entered an arrangement with 23, that if I become corrupt and cannot be saved, then she is to kill me. Power corrupts after all, and only Lord Beerus is more powerful. You have held the power of a monarch for over a thousand universal standard years, if I recall correctly, your highness. How do you resist the corruption of power?

Princess Celestia led the way back through the portal, where they had been sitting at tea prior.

"My circumstances are ... unique, so to adequately answer your question, I must explain my people's history. Or at least a defining event of it," she replied. She explained, as briefly as she could, how before she came into power, ponies had been divided into three tribes. How the wendigos had threatened to destroy them, but they had fought them off with the power of friendship and unity. How she and her sister had been asked to rule Equestria as its princesses, as their very bodies were a symbol of unity. And how, if they were ever to fall back into their old ways, the wendigos would return and destroy them all. She attempted to be as succinct as she could, but it still took a long time.

"....So, to answer your question, how do I resist the corruption of power. I am simply smart enough to know that should I ever fall to corruption, it would mean the end of everything I have worked so hard for. Of course, I know that there might come a time when my emotions override all logic, so in addition to formulating plans in case of my corruption and instituting checks and balances, I also practice meditative rituals every morning and evening as I raise the sun and moon."

Using the momentum of her blade bouncing to maneuver in to another attack rather than allow herself to be staggered. Starlight's clearly not an amateur. Good, makes things quicker on his end in terms of instruction. He raised his blade, angled so as to deflect and parry the attack rather than allow her to maneuver into another swing. Let's see how she recovers from this.

As Apfel parried her attack, Starlight stepped back. Instead of giving him a chance to exploit this window of opportunity, she instead adopted a defensive stance as she recovered and sought an opportunity of her own to reopen her offensive.

[Emperor Ing]

Vodkana was amazed. Hailing sure was hard core at this.
If she wouldn't have met 23-Senpai... she would easily get attracted to this way of thinking.
She felt mixture of thankfulness and disappointment, for that, that Spoon never dared to take her to Hailing.
Vodkana would have learned his ways- and probably, later would have established her own empire, just to have reason to play with Hailing.

'Nyahahah!| Vodkana giggled warmly. 'You are starting to impress me. I think I will keep you as my pet for quite a while... but for that...' her fangs shined with greed.
'I want a colossal golden statue of me, on every empiral planet! Nya! I want to have a title, so I could force any of your underlings to be my pet! Nya! I want the recources to host the greatest party in the history of the universe! Nya!"

Hailing smiled viciously. If a party you so desire, then a party you shall have! There shall be no expense spared, no excess denied! A true symphony of gluttony to serenade the universe with the song of our bottomless desires! There will not be a broadcast frequency that will fail to capture every horror and every delight and broadcast it across the stars!

And should you desire a servant as your plaything... His vicious smile only grew wider. Consider them yours.

The statues, well, the resources that go to them are resources that cannot be used for the party. He pointed out, the logical part of his brain actually making an insight. That is, until he comes up with an idea. He chuckles at the thought. Unless... He could already see it in his mind's eye. The greatest party in the universe will be done in the shadow of trillions of titanic Vodkana statues in celebration of their distribution across the cosmos. It will be glorious.

[Emperor Ing]

Princess Celestia led the way back through the portal, where they had been sitting at tea prior.

"My circumstances are ... unique, so to adequately answer your question, I must explain my people's history. Or at least a defining event of it," she replied. She explained, as briefly as she could, how before she came into power, ponies had been divided into three tribes. How the wendigos had threatened to destroy them, but they had fought them off with the power of friendship and unity. How she and her sister had been asked to rule Equestria as its princesses, as their very bodies were a symbol of unity. And how, if they were ever to fall back into their old ways, the wendigos would return and destroy them all. She attempted to be as succinct as she could, but it still took a long time.

"....So, to answer your question, how do I resist the corruption of power. I am simply smart enough to know that should I ever fall to corruption, it would mean the end of everything I have worked so hard for. Of course, I know that there might come a time when my emotions override all logic, so in addition to formulating plans in case of my corruption and instituting checks and balances, I also practice meditative rituals every morning and evening as I raise the sun and moon."

Apfel raised an eye-ridge. Several problems in the story stuck out in his mind in regards to the story of the three pony tribes. Most notably, the idea that the three tribes operated interdependently and equally. It was silly, in his mind. The Earth Ponies gave 2/3 of their crops away? Did the weather affect Pegasi 2/3rds less, or the sun shine 1/3rds as much for the unicorns? What primitive agrarian society could function with only 1/3rd their own crops? He was willing to give the unicorns the benefit of the doubt about the rotation of Equus around the sun being attributed to unicorn magic being used as a scam, as he didn't think that Celestia would be the one to operate that kind of interplanetary fraud, especially in front of someone to whom the mechanics of planetary rotation and revolution were quite familiar.

The Incirrian sat down. Nodding as Celestia finished. The ruin a corrupt ruler would bring happens whether or not emotivorous frost-monsters exist. The difference is that without the Wendigoes, such ruin is a slow process whose pace and progression is almost imperceptible. In a way,
I envy you.

May I be so bold as to request you teach me these meditative techniques?

As Apfel parried her attack, Starlight stepped back. Instead of giving him a chance to exploit this window of opportunity, she instead adopted a defensive stance as she recovered and sought an opportunity of her own to reopen her offensive.

Good maneuvering. Now control my center. Apfel coached as he sought an opportunity to test her defensive abilities. He flew at her, driving his World Blade forward so as to stab her.

[igordragonian]

Hailing smiled viciously. If a party you so desire, then a party you shall have! There shall be no expense spared, no excess denied! A true symphony of gluttony to serenade the universe with the song of our bottomless desires! There will not be a broadcast frequency that will fail to capture every horror and every delight and broadcast it across the stars!

And should you desire a servant as your plaything... His vicious smile only grew wider. Consider them yours.

The statues, well, the resources that go to them are resources that cannot be used for the party. He pointed out, the logical part of his brain actually making an insight. That is, until he comes up with an idea. He chuckles at the thought. Unless... He could already see it in his mind's eye. The greatest party in the universe will be done in the shadow of trillions of titanic Vodkana statues in celebration of their distribution across the cosmos. It will be glorious.

Vodkana giggled. 'You surely know how to use big words, you should write the lyrics for my album! Nyahaha!'
Vodkana felt hyped. 'I'll train belilyan exotic dancers! No! From all the species! I'll recruit the Great Maharjas of Tastes. in year from now... we will celebrate, my ascension as the goddess of the empire! Founding a new religion! Vodkanism! NYahaha"'
She scratched under Hailing's chin. 'You are so sweet! Nya...' she purred with a delight.

'Unless what!? Tell me!' she demanded, her curiosity belonged to him.

Even down at the party, her clones, paused what ever they did with an anticipation. Hailing was probably the most exciting thing, she ever met!