Volvox was a very ancient being who has lived on an island inhabited by humans, cats, dogs, and various other monsters, the monsters all died out by fighting one another as time went by and only one demon remained after a while, the demon's name was Dommiel. Volvox eventually became the oldest living being on the island while Dommiel became the second oldest, this made them become the rulers, they decided it would be best to have the island become a peaceful and orderly kingdom, so they put every remaining human, cat, dog, and the five monsters still alive under mind control and live peacefully while the humans who disagreed were exiled. They cast their magic and made the island shaped like a big circle with gold houses and buildings everywhere, and every family had six members: a father, a mother, a son, a daughter, a pet cat, and a pet dog, they also cast spells so the humans were immortal, never age, and never had to eat or drink to survive or use the bathroom. The humans had light skin tones, black hair, males had short hair while females had long hair, and brown eyes, they all wore white long-sleeve button-up dress shirts with their collars buttoned down and tucked into dark blue pants, they also wore black belts, white socks, and black shoes while the cats and dogs all had white fur, the cats had green eyes while the dogs had brown eyes. Volvox became the country's emperor while Dommiel became its king, they appointed the oldest human as the prince, a man named Tom, he made public appearances while Dommiel resided in the tallest building in the island's very center and Volvox was nowhere to be found,
"All hail Emperor Volvox." the humans said every day at 6 a.m. in emotionless monotone voices, everything was a normal day until one day, an earthquake happened, the plate tectonics shifted and they moved elsewhere.
The world shook while the earthquake continued and everything shifted, everybody exclaimed as the plate tectonics shifted around and changed the formation of the countries, it went on for about a minute before stopping,
"What in tarnation caused that earthquake?" Applejack asked,
"Who knows, but it's definitely too big to be a natural one." Twilight Sparkle responded,
"Excuse me, everycreature." Princess Celestia called out from the sky in her Royal Canterlot Voice, they all faced her,
"I apologize for that earthquake, some of my students are trying new spells, some of them have just cast a powerful earthquake spell as part of their experiments for a school project, they did not mean any intentional harm to anyone." Princess Celestia explained, and she flew back down,
"Well, there's our answer, some magic spell gone wrong in Canterlot." Rainbow Dash spoke,
"I don't think it went wrong, Rainbow." Twilight Sparkle remarked,
"*gasp* Look!!" Pinkie Pie hollered as she pointed, everyone did and saw Volvox's kingdom to the east of Canterlot,
"Did the earthquake move that place here?" Fluttershy asked,
"It sure looks like it." Applejack replied,
"Ugh, it's all gold, they could at least use more variety in color." Rarity commented,
"Well, we can at least greet and welcome them, come on, let's give them a welcoming." Twilight Sparkle responded, and they went into her hot air balloon and headed to the country.
The Mane Six headed to the new kingdom and Twilight Sparkle looked on in awe at the place,
"Everything in this country is nice and clean, neatly lined up, all buildings getting taller or shorter as they get closer or farther away from the center but still same size as the others in the same section as it, everything one color, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, this country is like a dream come true place for me." Twilight Sparkle ranted,
"Ugh, really, dear, you need to be more open about expressing one's self." Rarity responded,
"Yeah, everything being orderly like that is boring." Pinkie Pie added while saying 'boring' in a singsong voice,
"We'll see how the people are when we get closer, the biggest thing I hope for is they're friendly and welcoming." Twilight Sparkle stated,
"Same, I wouldn't want a neighboring kingdom or country next to our own to be unfriendly." Fluttershy remarked, and they kept going to the new country. They continued floating to the country and arrived, Twilight Sparkle gasped excitedly when she saw all of the citizens wearing the same outfit and cats and dogs looking exactly the same,
"Everybody wearing the same outfit? All cats and dogs the same size and color as all the other cats and dogs? This country really is paradise for me." Twilight Sparkle remarked, the hot air balloon then got caught in an invisible barrier around the country and the six mares exclaimed as they stopped suddenly. Gold lights emitted from the country and scanned them,
"Figures are quadrupedal and do not match the genetic and anatomical appearance of country's natives, entry into country denied." a male robotic voice spoke, and the invisible barrier went down while a gold electrified barrier appeared around the country,
"Wait, we have to be the same size, shape, and color as the cats and dogs?" Rainbow Dash inquired,
"It looks like it, or those bipedal natives there, that means none of us can enter their country." Twilight Sparkle answered,
"What do we do then?" Fluttershy asked,
"Well, I guess we just watch from afar and see what they do, we need to make sure they're not a threat, too." Twilight Sparkle responded,
"So we go back?" Pinkie Pie asked,
"Yeah, let's go to Canterlot and report to Princess Celestia." Twilight Sparkle replied, and they headed there.
Tom was watching the six mares from Equestria leave while standing on the top floor of the tallest building in the country's center,
"What do we do about them, Dommiel?" Tom asked,
"Let's let them do as they please for now, they don't seem to be a threat to our country." Dommiel replied while standing behind Tom,
"I was wondering if they'll try to take down our barrier." Tom brought up,
"We'll have our citizens ready to fight them if they do." Dommiel responded,
"Indeed, it may not look like it, but every citizen's a soldier in time of battle." Tom spoke,
"I just hope we won't need to use our three monsters on them." Dommiel said,
"Me neither, it'd be wasting their energy if they really are weaklings." Tom added,
"Just let them act how they wish for now, I see no reason to engage in combat with them as of now." Dommiel suggested,
"I agree, I think everything's going to be fine as of now." Tom spoke, and they continued watching the mares.
The Mane Six arrived in Canterlot and went to go see Princess Celestia, they went to her throne room and bowed to her,
"Princess Celestia, we tried to welcome the new country but were unable to enter it." Twilight Sparkle reported,
"I'm aware, that country seems to put emphasis on everything being orderly, even one misstep out of their country's system would be considered a problem." Princess Celestia replied,
"I really like how everybody and everything looks the same there, Princess Celestia, it looks like a good thing to me." Twilight Sparkle said,
"No, Twilight, it's bad." Princess Celestia responded,
"Bad? How?" Twilight Sparkle questioned,
"They all look and act the same because they lost their sense of self, they have no sense of individuality, they're acting more like machines than people, and they can't express themselves like how Pinkie and Rarity do." Princess Celestia explained, Twilight Sparkle's jaw dropped,
"Not only that, their orderly paradise country is likely only like that on the surface, if you look into the country and see how things are within their government and politics, you will see the country's a mess, the emotionless expressions on their faces are likely masks of their true feelings, too." Princess Celestia continued,
"So... what do you suggest we do, Princess Celestia?" Twilight Sparkle asked,
"Let's watch them and see how their daily routines are, it might be boring, and nothing happens, but it'll give us an idea on how the natives live." Princess Celestia answered,
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, I don't feel like sitting around, watching a country while doing nothing for a full 24 hours." Rainbow Dash interjected,
"You all don't have to do it together, just one of you can be enough if you can stay awake that long, but I do suggest taking turns, and have Spike and Starlight Glimmer watch as well to make how long you all have to watch shorter." Princess Celestia suggested,
"Well, Ah guess it wouldn't hurt, let's gather up some of our friends and have them write down what they observe, we'll take turns too, the younger ones watch and observe durin' the day while us older fellers do it in the night." Applejack said,
"True, come on, let's go home, we start tomorrow." Twilight Sparkle spoke, and they went back to Ponyville and got on with their days.
The next morning came and the Mane Six got up and went outside early,
"All hail Emperor Volvox." the humans all said together at 6 a.m. in monotone voices, everycreature of every country looked at them,
"Emperor Volvox?" Applejack blurted,
"That must be their country's ruler." Twilight Sparkle responded,
"Maybe he's residing in that big building in the country's center." Fluttershy suggested,
"I would think so, he should be able to see the entire country from there." Twilight Sparkle remarked,
"We're here." Sandbar hollered as he ran to the Mane Six with Gallus, Ocellus, Smolder, Yona, and Silverstream,
"Wow, y'all six are early today." Applejack stated,
"Well, we heard about watching and observing the new country, and we were excited at the idea of learning about the new place, so we woke up as early as we could." Silverstream explained,
"You didn't have to come into our dorms and yell at us it was time to wake up." Gallus scolded,
"Can you lead us there? I'm ready to start taking notes on the new place." Ocellus spoke,
"Of course, we will lead you all there now." Twilight Sparkle responded, and they did. They arrived at a cliff that allowed them to see the entire country,
"Okay, we'll take turns taking notes, you all can still have fun and play here as long as you work, and you all can take breaks, I would recommend all of you taking turns on writing your review, but how you go with it is up to you guys, we'll be here to take over and write down what we see tonight when you all are asleep." Twilight Sparkle explained, and she and her friends left.
Sandbar and his friends began watching the country from afar,
"I'll go first, guys, you all have fun." Sandbar spoke,
"You sure, Sandbar?" Silverstream asked,
"I'm sure, we'll all being taking turns anyway." Sandbar responded,
"Alright then, we'll let you know when your turn's over." Smolder spoke, and they set up a timer to go off in 90 minutes and they began to play and have fun while Sandbar began taking notes.
Sandbar watched the country while his friends played board and card games behind him, he wrote down everything he saw, he saw the men walking into various buildings while others stayed outside and polished all of the buildings while the women tended to the houses and the kids went to school. He watched the men work while the women walked and took care of the cats and dogs while they ran around freely and played with one another, everything was peaceful, quiet, and slow in the country. Sandbar yawned as he watched and nothing else happened, the timer dinged after 90 minutes,
"Sandbar, you're done." Ocellus stated,
"Oh, good, nothing happened, it was boring." Sandbar spoke,
"Yeah, we noticed that from here, too." Gallus replied,
"Yona wants to go next. Yona wish to get assignment over and done." Yona stated,
"Okay, but don't go crazy, Yona." Ocellus replied, and she reset the timer.
Tom looked at the six students watching and reporting what goes on in their country,
"Let them finish, Tom, we have to let the other countries know we pose no threat to them." Dommiel spoke,
"Still, I don't like having them watch us like that." Tom remarked,
"Hold it out for now, if we can convince them we're not a threat, they'll leave us be." Dommiel stated,
"I hope they don't attack us." Tom commented,
"We're ready to fight them if they do, remember, Tom, you, me, and everyone else in this country is a soldier, everyone's combat trained if war breaks out." Dommiel reminded,
"I still hope things can stay peaceful." Tom said,
"Give them a day, if they watch us daily, then it will be a problem." Dommiel spoke, and they continued watching their country.
Yona watched the country while her friends played and had fun,
"Ugh! This is boring! How much longer must Yona watch?!" Yona fumed,
"20 more minutes." Ocellus replied as she checked the timer, Yona seethed while she continued writing, the timer dinged after a while,
"Finally." Yona commented,
"I'll go next, I want this to be over and done with." Smolder spoke, and she began taking notes while the others had fun.
Twilight Sparkle and her friends were in the Castle of Friendship and helping her go through her spell books, she also called Sunset Shimmer to help her,
"What kind of spell are ya lookin' for again, Twilight?" Applejack asked,
"A shapeshifting spell, if we can disguise ourselves as females of that country, maybe we can observe and make sure they're not threats to us." Twilight Sparkle answered,
"You could've just asked Ocellus to try to change into one of their natives and enter the country, Twilight." Starlight Glimmer remarked,
"Yeah, but getting her into the country would be hard, we don't know if they have anything that can detect magic or not, either, plus, Ocellus could end up in danger if she's detected." Twilight Sparkle responded,
"So, the idea is find the spell, practice casting it until its right, and then check out the country and make sure they're not hiding anything dangerous?" Sunset Shimmer asked,
"Yes, everycreature is waiting for our answers, until we confirm they're no threat, we're can't sleep at night comfortably." Twilight Sparkle answered,
"And you called me here because the country's natives look like the people from my world and I might have a better chance of getting the spell right." Sunset Shimmer deduced,
"Right, but unlike your world, that country's natives all have the same skin, hair, and eye colors, we have to get the height and weight right too since the kids look to be the same height and weight as the other kids, same with the adults." Twilight Sparkle added,
"That... might be a bit hard for me to replicate." Sunset Shimmer commented,
"Well, keep looking, the spell should be somewhere." Twilight Sparkle stated, and they kept checking,
"I found it!" Spike hollered about 10 minutes later, and he put the book on the table. They looked at the spell and Twilight Sparkle, Starlight Glimmer, and Sunset Shimmer began casting their magic, they all got the spell wrong the first time and kept practicing for about 40 minutes until they were finally able to make themselves look like humans,
"There, we got it, phew, that took a while, let's rest a bit, we'll continue trying to get the spell right afterwards." Twilight Sparkle spoke, and they did.
The six students continued taking turns writing down what they saw in the new country, Gallus went after Smolder, then Silverstream, and Ocellus went last, the timer went off after she watched for 90 minutes,
"Ugh, finally, the assignment's done." Gallus spoke,
"Come on, let's gather together and combine what we wrote." Ocellus suggested, and they did. They put their papers together and looked at what they reported,
"Wait, they're all the same, only two things we noticed in differences is the females go back home after walking their cats and dogs and the kids come from school about an hour ago." Gallus stated,
"Yeah, that was a pretty pointless assignment." Smolder added,
"Well, it's done, our teachers should be here anytime now." Sandbar stated, and they waited. About five minutes passed and they heard running, the Mane Six arrived,
"Sorry we're a little late, we were busy and took a short break, we were looking for a spell and practicing it so I can try to disguise myself as one of the natives and enter the country." Twilight Sparkle explained,
"You could've asked me to try to morph into one of their citizens and enter the place." Ocellus remarked,
"I want to make sure it's safe first, Ocellus, I'm also going to see if they have barriers or sensors that can detect that stuff, too." Twilight Sparkle replied,
"Ah, okay, gotcha." Ocellus stated,
"Head on back, y'all, we'll take over observin' them from here, so leave yer notes for us." Applejack stated, and the Student Six headed back to the School of Friendship. The Mane Six watched the people in the country while struggling to stay awake,
"Ugh! This is boring!" Rainbow Dash vented,
"Yeah, nothing's happening." Pinkie Pie added,
"Not only that, there's no one outside in the kingdom right now, I think all of 'em's asleep." Applejack remarked, they looked and saw the country was completely dark and quiet with no one outside and no lights on,
"Yeah, I agree, come on, let's head home, I think we're done." Twilight Sparkle spoke, and they all headed home.
Tom watched the ponies leave and he got ready to sleep,
"Well, I think they're done, Dommiel." Tom said,
"I think so, too, now, hopefully, they will leave us be." Dommiel responded,
"I doubt it, we're still newcomers, and due to us not allowing them into our country to check it out, they're probably paranoid that we're hiding something." Tom remarked,
"I figured, if they remain paranoid, I'll think of a way to try to reduce it." Dommiel responded,
"There's also the exiled humans who have been trying to reenter our country." Tom reminded,
"Well, they didn't like my and Volvox's idea of a utopia and try to prevent the people from fighting and killing one another, we also use mind control so they don't do that stuff." Dommiel remarked,
"I don't hold anything against you two, I think that was the best decision, too, well, Dommiel, I'll go ahead and get some rest, goodnight." Tom said,
"Goodnight, Tom." Dommiel replied, and they slept.
The next morning came and everybody woke up early,
"All hail Emperor Volvox." the citizens of the country said at 6 a.m.,
"Do you notice something strange in their tone of voice, Tia?" Princess Luna asked,
"Yes, they're all speaking in an emotionless monotone, almost like either they don't enjoy their life there or somebody is controlling them telepathically, I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed." Princess Celestia replied,
"Still, even though we can't enter their country, I'm getting the feeling they're hiding something." Princess Luna said,
"So am I, their monotone voices makes it more suspicious as well." Princess Celestia spoke,
"I hope we can find some way to establish trade and let us enter the country so we can really see for ourselves how things really run there." Princess Luna said,
"Let's leave that to Twilight and her friends for now, we'll get involved if things get violent." Princess Celestia responded, and they continued watching.
Twilight Sparkle and her friends looked at the country and got a good view on the females in the country,
"Okay, we got our ideal appearance, here we go." Twilight Sparkle spoke, and she, Starlight Glimmer, and Sunset Shimmer cast the spell to disguise themselves. They focused and tried to disguise themselves as adult females, they tried for a few minutes and soon got the appearance right except for the hair and eye colors,
"That's good enough, dears, I got some eye color changing contact lenses and mane dye that can take care of the flaws." Rarity said, and she cast spells to make their hair and eye colors the same as the citizens and made the three wear the same outfits as the citizens,
"Okay, I'll go first. Rarity, go ahead and teleport me to the country." Twilight Sparkle instructed, and she did.
Twilight Sparkle arrived in the country and saw all of the kids going to various schools throughout the land, the country went into lockdown shortly after she arrived with force fields appearing around every building,
"Country's population over limit, outsider detected, beginning anti-magic, anti-hologram scan." a computer spoke, and a yellow light lit the country and Twilight Sparkle's spell was canceled out,
"Outsider detected, beginning teleporting process." the computer spoke, and she was teleported out of the country.
Twilight Sparkle appeared just out of the country and was in the water around it, the barrier appeared around the country again as well, she teleported to where her friends were,
"Can't enter that way, Ocellus and the changelings' shapeshifting abilities will likely not work, either." Twilight Sparkle spoke,
"So, uh... what do we do now?" Rainbow Dash asked,
"I can have the animals go around the country and report to me what they see." Fluttershy suggested,
"Yeah, I don't think so." Pinkie Pie replied as she looked on and saw the birds and marine animals moving away from the country,
"Huh, I wonder what's going on." Fluttershy spoke,
"Maybe that barrier goes underwater, too." Applejack theorized,
"Maybe, but the way they're moving away, it's almost like there's some giant or scary monster in that country's waters." Fluttershy responded,
"I can check if you all want." Pinkie Pie suggested,
"It's fine, Pinkie, I'm sure the animals have their reasons." Starlight Glimmer remarked,
"Well, so much for checking out their country." Sunset Shimmer said,
"Let's wait for now and see what they do, I don't think there's anymore we can do on our part." Twilight Sparkle replied, and they got ready to head home.
Tom sat at a table and wrote a letter,
"What are you doing, Tom?" Dommiel asked,
"I'm going to send a letter to those horses watching us, I hope this will bring down their paranoia and worrying about us hiding stuff a bit." Tom explained,
"Good idea, since they're that paranoid, this might be the best idea." Dommiel spoke,
"I'm going to leave you and Volvox out of the note, I plan to make it look like only I'm the ruler." Tom stated,
"Good idea, but if they do find out, I'll explain that we are special exceptions and function as people who defend the country from invaders." Dommiel responded,
"Sounds good, I'll start going around getting pictures now." Tom stated, and he headed outside with a camera.
The Mane Six got ready to head back but saw Tom come out of the building in the country's center,
"Hey, look, there's someone walking on his own." Rainbow Dash said as she pointed, they all saw Tom walking around, he looked just like the other males except his hair was whitish gray and he had wrinkles in his face,
"Ah don't think he's Emperor Volvox." Applejack spoke,
"I doubt it, he looks more like a representative for the country than its actual ruler." Twilight Sparkle commented,
"Yeah, I imagine Emperor Volvox wearing fancy clothing exclusive only to him and being carried around by others while he sits in a palanquin." Rainbow Dash commented,
"Ooh, I know, maybe he's the king." Pinkie Pie said,
"I'm thinking he's more of a chancellor." Twilight Sparkle replied,
"Or the regent if Volvox is still a kid." Fluttershy countered,
"Well, whatever he is, I hope he establishes contact with us." Rarity stated,
"Me too, let's keep watching and see what he does." Twilight Sparkle responded and they did. Tom walked around his country and took pictures of the buildings' interiors, he took pictures of the inside of one house and a school, he then went back into the country's tallest building and put the pictures and letter in a bottle, he put them in the center of his table while the building's roof opened, a launcher shot the bottle into the sky.
The eight mares saw something launch out of the country's center building and landed in the water, it floated towards Equestria and they gasped when they saw it,
"It's a letter!" Pinkie Pie hollered, and Sunset Shimmer brought it over with her telekinesis. She opened it with her telekinesis and they all looked at the letter while Twilight Sparkle unrolled it,
"Dear, Horses,
I am Prince Tom, spokesman and representative for my country's citizens. I have brought you all pictures to show you all that we are peaceful and not hiding any dark secrets, while I would like to meet you person, I cannot due to my country's laws saying we cannot exit the country alongside the population being required to remain at a fixed number at all times. We will have to exchange communication through letters due to our country being a utopia, and no foreign creature is allowed to enter. I am not sure as of this time if I can establish foreign relationships and trade yet, I will need to consult with my higher ups on it first." Twilight Sparkle read,
"Look at that, we managed to establish contact." Applejack chirped while smiling,
"We got something, but it's not much, I hope his higher ups do say 'Yes' to having a relationship with our country and we can spread friendship to them." Twilight Sparkle stated,
"I wonder who his higher ups are." Pinkie Pie said,
"Well, we got Emperor Volvox as one, and he's a prince, so obviously, there's also a king or a queen or both." Applejack responded,
"We'll let them figure that out, let's look at the pictures he sent us." Twilight Sparkle stated, and they did. They examined the pictures closely and saw they were the interiors of their schools, homes, and factories, they were completely gold, one thing that caught their attention while there were males and females in the schools and homes, the factories only had males in them,
"I guess the females don't have jobs in their country." Fluttershy commented,
"Still, taking care of the house, children, and pets is no easy task." Rarity replied,
"I'm not seeing any currency, either." Rainbow Dash said,
"Now that you mention it, you're right, I don't see money in any of these pictures." Twilight Sparkle replied,
"They're probably hidin' it so they don't get robbed." Applejack deduced,
"I don't think so, Applejack, Celestia said all of the citizens seem to be mind controlled, so I doubt there would be any stealing." Twilight Sparkle countered,
"Still, it'd be weird if they don't have any form of money." Applejack remarked,
"Well, whatever the reason, they might have some kind of currency, I'll wonder about that later, I'll go ahead and write a letter to them." Twilight Sparkle stated, and she made a letter and quill appear and began writing,
"Dear, Prince Tom,
I am sorry for my and friends' intrusion into your country, I am Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship in the country of Equestria. I was trying to visit you all not only to welcome you, but also because a little while ago, our country had foreign invaders that were under the command of a person called the Storm King, he destroyed our country, trapped our rulers in stone, and enslaved us, so we were a bit uncomfortable about your arrival as well. The other countries are also watching us since we're the most powerful country around here and are on good terms with them, so we're checking for them as well, if possible, we would like to be on good terms with you all as well.
P.S.
Our kind are called Ponies, not Horses, if possible, we would like to know what your kind are called as well."
"There, it's done, I'll go ahead and send it." Twilight Sparkle said, and she used her telekinesis to give the letter to Tom and moved it to their country's center building, its top opened and she lowered it into the building.
Tom put the letter on the table and unfolded it, he and Dommiel read it together,
"Oh." Tom and Dommiel said together,
"No wonder why they're uncomfortable not knowing what's in our country." Tom commented,
"The experience must've shook them, they must want to make sure we're peaceful and mean no harm so it doesn't happen to them again." Dommiel theorized,
"I agree, hopefully, those pictures I sent them will relax them." Tom responded,
"I hope so, too, last thing we need is war with the other countries." Dommiel added,
"Well, I'll go ahead and write a short note to them." Tom stated and he did, he then wrote a sentence on a piece of paper and put it in a bottle, he then put it on the table's center and the launcher in the table shot the bottle out of the roof and high into the sky.
Sunset Shimmer picked up the bottle with her telekinesis and unfolded it,
"We are called humans." Sunset Shimmer read,
"Sounds easy enough to remember." Applejack remarked,
"I think that's all the communication we can do with them today, let's head back." Twilight Sparkle stated, and they did.
The next day came and everybody got up early,
"All hail Emperor Volvox." the country's citizens said at 6 a.m.,
"What do you two think Emperor Volvox looks like?" Scootaloo asked,
"Ah don't know, maybe really old." Apple Bloom replied,
"Yeah, I think so, but that Prince Tom guy looks old, I'm wondering how old Emperor Volvox is." Sweetie Belle added,
"Well, Ah'm sure we'll see eventually, c'mon, let's go get a better view of that country." Apple Bloom instructed, and they got on a house's roof and looked on at the country.
The Mane Six gathered together and got ready to head back with Spike, Starlight Glimmer, and Sunset Shimmer, but saw the Cutie Mark Crusaders trying to get a better view of the country, they went to go see them,
"Apple Bloom." Applejack said, the three fillies turned around,
"If ya wish, you and yer two friends can come with us." Applejack suggested,
"Really?" Sweetie Belle asked,
"Why, of course, darling, the country's pretty big up close." Rarity responded,
"Come on, we'll show you how it looks up close." Fluttershy said, and the fillies followed them to Canterlot.
The ponies and Spike arrived at the cliff and the Cutie Mark Crusaders let out sounds of awe,
"The country's huge from here." Sweetie Belle stated,
"See, told ya." Applejack replied,
"Hey! Look, there's the old guy again!" Pinkie Pie hollered as she pointed at Tom standing on the center building's roof,
"Excuse me, citizens, can I have your attentions please?" Tom asked, they all looked at him,
"King Dommiel and I have discussed what to do with establishing foreign trade and relationships with the neighboring countries, we both agree it's best we do to prevent hostilities and reduce the risk of war breaking out, but we would like for you all to vote, we want to know what you all think about having foreign relationships, whichever gets the most votes will decide the outcome, voting will start after all of the men finish work today." Tom explained and the platform he was on went down into the center building.
The ponies and Spike watched while the citizens got on with their days,
"I guess they have some freedom." Twilight Sparkle commented, they watched the people get on with their days and they went to the center building in the afternoon and began voting. Everybody lined up in a single file line,
"Wow, I didn't think they could vote, too." Spike said as he saw the cats and dogs were in the line as well, it took hours for the voting to finish and they all went home. The top of the center building opened and a platform Tom was standing on raised,
"We have finished counting the votes, most agree on having good relationships with the other countries, we will see how we can establish the routes." Tom said, and the platform went down. The creatures cheered loudly while the humans remained silent,
"Alright, we can establish trade, hopefully, we can form a friendship with them." Twilight Sparkle stated,
"I hope so, too." Princess Celestia replied as she and Princess Luna walked to them,
"You all have done well, me, Luna, Cadence, and the other country rulers will take it from here, we'll focus on establishing trade routes with them." Princess Celestia stated,
"What we're thinking so far is have the hippogriffs use their ships to deliver the items, if that doesn't work, we'll try to use our magic to deliver them." Princess Luna added,
"Head on back now, we'll let you know how establishing the trade routes go." Princess Celestia spoke, and they all left the area.
Tom and Dommiel sat at the table together,
"You have any ideas on how to establish trade routes, Tom?" Dommiel asked,
"Well, I was thinking maybe having those horses to the west of our country using their telekinesis to move the items around." Tom suggested,
"I'm thinking that's best, too, there's no way the foreigners can get close to us without setting off the barrier." Dommiel remarked,
"Don't forget we can't leave the country either due to the law saying it requires a fixed number of people at all times." Tom added,
"That too, maybe the best choice would be is to have them come here to us by ship, if they have any, and discuss trade routes and items to trade through the barrier." Dommiel suggested,
"If anything, history books would be nice, I would like to learn about the history of this area." Tom remarked,
"Me too, learning history would be nice, but other materials would be useful, too." Dommiel responded,
"We can always use extra cotton, we're kind of low after making uniforms for every citizen." Tom stated,
"That's true, we always have to make different sizes when we have a new child born to replace someone who has died." Dommiel replied,
"I'll wait for a bit and see what the others do, I'll adapt depending on their decisions." Tom remarked, and he sat and looked at a map with Dommiel while planning trade routes in case the other countries trade by ship.
The rulers of each country gathered in Canterlot and sat together,
"What have you two had in mind for trading, Princesses Celestia and Luna?" Princess Skystar asked,
"Well, considering they don't allow outsiders into their country, and it's surrounded by water, we thought about having you hippogriffs try to deliver the items with your ships if our magic doesn't work." Princess Celestia explained,
"I think our magic should work since Twilight was able to use her magic to deliver letters to them with no problem." Princess Cadence remarked,
"What about yak? How do yak deliver goods and do trade with country?" Prince Rutherford questioned,
"We'll deliver your items with our magic." Princess Luna answered, Prince Rutherford smiled,
"How are the people? Can they really be trusted? Us hippogriffs don't want another Storm King." Queen Novo said,
"Well, they seem peaceful so far, they're not going around trying to conquer other countries, and we have managed to establish communication thanks to Twilight and her friends' efforts, they seem reasonable." Princess Luna responded,
"Me and Cadence have been watching them from our homes as well, we can see the people of that country, there's no fighting or arguing of any kind, but we believe the citizens are being mind controlled to some extent considering they their 'All hail Emperor Volvox' every morning at the same time in complete monotone." Shining Armor explained,
"That's been bothering me, too, it's almost like they have no freedom and someone is making them that way by force, my father was kind of like that, too." Princess Ember stated,
"I never told you all to have no emotion." Dragon Lord Torch objected as he laid on his stomach,
"Griffonstone has been aggravated by their morning sentence, we wish to see this Emperor Volvox in person." Grampa Gruff spoke,
"I think we all do, but it seems we have to settle on discussing things with Prince Tom for now, we learned this morning there's also a King Dommiel, we wish to meet him as well." Princess Celestia replied,
"Still, Emperor Volvox is still no show, my kind is starting to think he doesn't exist." Rain Shine remarked,
"What? I surely would think he definitely exists if the people worship him." Princess Luna objected,
"We know that King Dommiel exists since Prince Tom mentioned this morning he had a talk with him." Princess Cadence added,
"I'd like to meet them as well, but I gathered you all here so we can go see them together, we will try to get as close as we can to their country and hope we can discuss things." Princess Celestia explained,
"Still, it's unusual for a country around here to not have a monarch show." King Thorax remarked,
"Yeah, it's almost like he's hiding deliberately, I sure would like for him to show his face at least once." Pharynx added,
"Well, come on now, let's go see them, I think it's best we use a ship and sail there, but Dragon Lord Torch, you will have to fly there since you're too big." Princess Celestia stated, Dragon Lord Torch scoffed,
"Yak will need ship since yak can't fly or walk on water." Prince Rutherford spoke,
"Sure, we can prepare a ship for you." Princess Skystar responded,
"Just don't stomp or smash anything." Queen Novo commanded,
"Let's go then, I guess we all use the ship then." Princess Celestia spoke, and they all left the room while Dragon Lord Torch broke part of the wall as he crawled through the doorway, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna left last.
The rulers went near Mount Aris and boarded a ship, General Seaspray steered it,
"I see something in the water." Princess Skystar stated, they looked and saw two big glowing yellow eyes looking at them from under the water,
"I don't recognize that creature." General Seaspray commented,
"I see another creature there, too." Princess Celestia answered, they saw a long serpentine creature with scales of eight different colors wrapped around something under the country,
"I can see another creature past it." Princess Luna added, they all saw a big human skull past the serpentine creature,
"We'll ask about them when we arrive." Princess Celestia remarked and they kept going. The ship arrived at the country and Tom walked to them,
"Outsiders detected near border, activating barrier." a computer said, and it came up,
"Can you hear us?" Princess Celestia asked,
"Loud and clear." Tom replied from inside the barrier,
"Good, we would like to discuss establishing ways of transporting trade and goods to one another." Princess Celestia stated,
"I've been trying to figure that out, still haven't came up with how to get our stuff outside our country, yet." Tom spoke,
"Can't you use that thing in your center building to shoot stuff out of the country?" Princess Cadence asked,
"Well, that's mostly for shooting messages in bottles to people on ships or nearby islands, it's not made for other stuff." Tom answered,
"Well, it never hurts to give it a try." Princess Skystar stated,
"True." Tom remarked,
"Well, is there anything you wish for in particular?" Shining Armor inquired,
"Cotton." Tom answered,
"Cotton?" Shining Armor asked,
"Yes, country's kind of low on that material for making clothes, we wear the outfits we wear because they're our uniforms, the law states everyone's uniform has to look the same, be made from the same material, and be the same colors." Tom explained,
"Oh, wow." Princess Skystar remarked,
"That reminds me, we would like to meet this King Dommiel and Emperor Volvox." Princess Luna stated,
"Sorry, but King Dommiel is too occupied to make public appearances most of the time, and Emperor Volvox has no involvement with government affairs anymore." Tom responded,
"Wait, so then, who handles all of the laws and foreign relationships of your country?" Princess Luna questioned,
"King Dommiel, he is looking at the ocean and trying to think of trade paths by ships right now as we speak." Tom replied,
"What do you do then?" King Thorax asked,
"I am his eyes and ears on watching the citizens and making sure they stay safe, I am also the spokesperson and representative of our country's government, I'll be handling the trade of goods as well." Tom explained,
"And King Dommiel?" Princess Cadence inquired,
"He will try to meet you all in person if he has free time, after the trade deals are established, he will be signing documents and certificates to validate them." Tom answered,
"So we're not going to be able to meet him?" Princess Ember asked,
"Not at this time, no." Tom responded,
"Well, we can provide you all cotton, as for us, well, we haven't decided what we want from you all, yet." Princess Celestia stated,
"That's fine, you can decide that after the trade routes become official." Tom replied,
"Yak will need to figure out way since yak cannot fly, use magic like pony, or walk on water like kirin." Prince Rutherford commented,
"Leave it to us, Shining Armor and I will deliver your country's items to them." Princess Cadence responded, Prince Rutherford smiled,
"I'll let you all figure out what you all want from our country, but as for us, just cotton as of now, you all can send me letters like how the previous group did." Tom said,
"Thank you, but one more question before we go." Rain Shine stated,
"Yes?" Tom asked,
"What are those things in the water under your country?" Rain Shine questioned,
"Those three are creatures that protect our country from foreign invaders, our land had more than just humans in the past, they destroyed one another through constant fighting, there are seven creatures that are not humans and don't fit into the criteria of our country's laws, so special exceptions were made for them. Those three under the country are our protectors, two more creatures act as Emperor Volvox's pets and bodyguards, and King Dommiel and Emperor Volvox themselves aren't humans, they became our rulers because they're now the oldest natives of our island with Emperor Volvox as the oldest and King Dommiel as the second oldest." Tom explained,
"Why are you the prince?" Princess Ember asked,
"Because I'm the oldest human in the country right now, the next oldest human will become the next prince after I die, those seven creatures are older than me, but their races and species have died out long ago, so they're the last of their kind, us humans, cats, and dogs are the only abundant species left on this island." Tom explained,
"Ah, I get it now, makes sense." Princess Skystar commented,
"We'll be heading back now, we know how we'll do trade, us ponies will use our magic to deliver the goods of our kind and the yaks, dragons, griffons, changelings, and hippogriffs can fly, seaponies can swim here, and kirins can travel on the water and come here." Princess Celestia stated,
"That sounds good, I mean, it's not that far away for us." Princess Ember commented while smiling,
"I think I already have an idea on what us griffons want." Grampa Gruff said smugly with a smirk on his face,
"We'll hand you the documents after we make them for you all to sign." Princess Celestia stated,
"Okay, I'll be waiting." Tom replied, and the ship left while he went back into his country's center building.
Canterlot's printing companies began making the documents while the rulers told the workers what they would like on them, they signed them and the ponies then used their magic to deliver the documents to the country. Tom and Dommiel sat and read them together,
"So apparently, those birds to the east of us want gold." Tom commented,
"Well, there's not much we can do, we don't use currency." Dommiel responded,
"I have an idea, Dommiel." Tom said,
"Okay then." Dommiel remarked, and they continued reading the other documents, they read and saw the ponies wanted their outfits, the dragons wanted any jewels if they had any, the yaks wanted musical instruments, the changelings wanted their history books, the hippogriffs and seaponies wanted their jewelry, and the kirins wanted their art,
"Well, it's quite a bit, every species wants a different item, we'll have to convert some of our factories into making those stuff." Tom remarked,
"It'd be like old times before Volvox made this utopia of our country, it's almost like you humans are getting back in touch with your roots of art and money." Dommiel stated,
"It wasn't just us humans, you demons had stuff like art and currency in the past, too." Tom reminded,
"Well, I think we can manage this, as long as they don't ask for too much." Dommiel said,
"I agree, having the factories producing them shouldn't be too hard, either, let's go ahead and sign them." Tom replied, and they signed the documents.
The next day came and Tom was on the center building's roof again,
"Everyone, due to us opening trade with the other countries, some of the factories will begin making and producing different items, we have to make jewelry, musical instruments, and art again, just like before we became a utopian country. We will also have to give away some of our history books from school due to some of the other countries wanting to learn about us, while the other countries will give us cotton in exchange for us to make the uniforms we all wear. We will try to maintain a healthy relationship the best we can, since we still cannot allow outsiders in, if they don't work out, the converted factories will revert back to making what they used to make." Tom spoke, and the platform went down. The factories began going under construction and the other countries watched,
"Ah guess that country used to be just like any other country here back then." Applejack commented,
"I still wonder why they became the way they are." Ocellus replied,
"We'll learn when we look into their history books." Twilight Sparkle spoke,
"Give them time, darlings, they have to get everything set up now, I hope things can get going and produced in six months latest." Rarity stated, and everyone got on with their days.
About a week and a half passed and the trades began, Tom and Dommiel used their table's launcher to shoot the items out of the country while the ponies caught them in midair with their telekinesis, the items for their respective countries were taken by its creatures while the ponies used their telekinesis to deliver the country's musical instruments to the yaks. The School of Friendship taught the students while they looked at the humans' history books,
"Okay, class, two big announcements today, obviously, we will be looking at the humans' history and learn about it together, and the other big news, we have managed to convince Kirin Grove to send one of their own here to the School of Friendship, everybody, say hello to Autumn Blaze." Twilight Sparkle spoke, and Autumn Blaze jumped forward and waved at everybody,
"Hello, everybody, I'm Autumn Blaze, I look forward to being friends with you all. Kirin Grove has been wanting to befriend other countries ever since we stopped being silent and opened our borders to foreigners, Rain Shine hopes me being here will strengthen our bond with Equestria and offer our friendship to the other creatures..." Autumn Blaze rambled,
"Autumn Blaze, I have to start teaching now." Twilight Sparkle stated,
"Oh, sorry." Autumn Blaze said,
"Go on and take your seat now." Twilight Sparkle instructed, and she trotted and sat next to Gallus,
"Hopefully, we can get a human in our school, too, but it's probably going to be difficult due to their country's laws, but we hope that we can get one of them here and spread friendship to their country, too. Let's get started on today's assignment." Twilight Sparkle spoke, and they opened the new history books.
Everybody read the history of the country with the first chapter dating back billions of years ago, the island was inhabited many different types of creatures, they all fought and killed one due to either needing food to survive, hostilities between one another, or wanting to become the ruler of the island. Volvox was born around this time and was a three headed quadrupedal creature, his kind also fought to be the rulers of the island and were killed until only he remained. Dommiel appeared in the books and was born about 1,000 years after Volvox, he was a demon, his kind also fought to be rulers of the island and were killed, they were also killed by being hunted as food. They read together and the students began yawning,
"Okay, everybody, I think we'll stop here for now." Twilight Sparkle said while yawning, and they closed the books,
"We'll continue tomorrow, but until then, school goes on as normal, dismissed, everybody." Twilight Sparkle stated, and they all left the room.
The few days went by and everything was peaceful,
"All hail Emperor Volvox." the country's citizens said at 6 a.m. daily, the days went on peacefully while Tom and Dommiel watched their country,
"I got a note, that purple pony in the country to the west still wants us to send a human to her school to represent our country." Tom revealed,
"We will have to decline, it will make our population go down from the fixed number assigned by Volvox as the law." Dommiel replied,
"There's also the fact if we hold a vote, most citizens would not want to change that law, either." Tom added,
"That, too, the citizens are content with that law, plus, sending a kid away would be distressing for the child and their family." Dommiel remarked,
"People are okay with their lives here, too, and our schools are satisfactory enough according to the reports our citizens give us, even without the mind control." Tom added as he looked at the notes and voting polls on the schools being liked enough,
"I'll go ahead and write a note to them saying we have to refuse." Dommiel spoke, and he wrote the note, put it in a bottle, and the launcher in the table shot it out of the center building's roof and into the water.
The ponies saw the bottle drifting to Equestria and Twilight Sparkle picked it up with her telekinesis, she opened the bottle and unfolded the letter while she and her friends gathered around her,
"Dear, ponies,
We must decline your request of having one of our kind attend your school due to a few reasons. One is our country's law requires us to have our population a fixed number at all times, another is another law saying natives of the country cannot leave, and the last one is due to the distress the child and family will feel due to them being separated from one another far away and for a long time." Twilight Sparkle read,
"That last reason sounds like an excuse." Rainbow Dash remarked,
"It really does." Sunset Shimmer added,
"Not only that, look at the writing, this don't look like Prince Tom's writin'." Applejack commented,
"You're right, it must be King Dommiel's." Starlight Glimmer replied,
"I still wish to meet him in person one day." Twilight Sparkle remarked,
"Now, now, darling, I'm sure he'll show himself one day, just give him time and let him finish up with his job." Rarity suggested,
"Should we ask them about their country's law?" Fluttershy asked,
"No, Fluttershy, that is not up to us to decide, we'll have to let them sort it out on their own, all we can do is wait and hope they change that law." Twilight Sparkle answered,
"And if they don't?" Pinkie Pie asked,
"Then they don't, we'll just have to deal with it." Twilight Sparkle responded,
"I mean, they're still new here and we haven't really befriended them, yet, maybe they'll change their law in the future to let us in after we've gotten along in a few years from now." Spike said,
"I sure hope so, but until then, we'll just keep reading their history books." Twilight Sparkle answered, and they went back home.
Night time came and it was pouring rain with thunder and lightning, everybody saw a light in the distance to the north, it came closer and everybody saw it was a big wooden ship with humans on it,
"We found the country." a man said, everybody saw the humans in the ship were all wearing different outfits and had different hairstyles from one another, they continued sailing forward until a creature with glowing yellow eyes emerged from the water, it was black like a shadow and as tall as a mountain,
"It's the Umibōzu!" another man exclaimed, the creature let out a very loud moan and then began swinging its arms down to destroy the ship. The humans screamed while the Umibōzu continued swinging its arms down and destroying the ship, water from the ocean began flooding the ship, it soon got destroyed and the humans floated around in the ocean. General Seaspray led a ship with hippogriffs on them to the humans and began getting them out of the sea and onto the ship with help from the seaponies,
"Hurry! Turn around and head back to Mount Aris!" General Seaspray commanded, and the hipppogriff did. The Umibōzu moaned while it picked up a piece of the destroyed ship and threw it at the hippogriffs' ship, the unicorns used their telekinesis to hold the ship part in the air while the hippogriffs' ship sailed back to Mount Aris and the Umibōzu went back under the water.
The next morning came and the ponies headed to Mount Aris and gave the humans clean clothes, towels, and food,
"Y'all alright?" Applejack asked,
"Yes, thank you." a man replied,
"While I have seen many creatures in one form or another, that one from last night was like no other." Zecora said,
"Who are you guys?" Rainbow Dash inquired,
"We were originally citizens from that island, we didn't agree with Emperor Volvox's laws, so we were exiled, we lived on a nearby island until the earthquake shifted us around." the man explained,
"Those humans on the island are our families and friends, they were okay with Emperor Volvox's ways, though they have freedom in voting and deciding the laws of the government, they are mostly under mind control, Volvox made them that way in an attempt to stop us from fighting and killing one another for one reason or another." a woman added,
"Um... we already established trade with them and get along well, they did give us their history books as part of the trade." Rainbow Dash spoke,
"So I assume you all are familiar with how Volvox became the ruler then." the man responded,
"No, we didn't get that far yet, we're at the part about when he and Dommiel were born and the creatures slaughterin' one another." Applejack revealed,
"Long story short, they all fought either for food, survival, or the throne, that creature that attacked us last night is the last of its kind." the man responded,
"What was that?" Princess Skystar asked,
"That was the Umibōzu, they are creatures black like shadows and tall as mountains, they lived in the sea and fought for dominance on the island, that one is the only one left." the man revealed,
"When me and the other rulers went over to discuss trade, we noticed it watching us, we saw a big skeletal head and a long snake-like creature under the water as well." Princess Luna stated,
"That skeleton is the Gashadokuro, it is 15 times bigger than us humans, they were one of the apex predators back in ancient times, we still don't know how skeletons like that are able to be sentient or even alive. The serpent is Yamata no Orochi, it is a giant serpent with eight heads and eight tails, unlike the others, Orochi has always been one of a kind, it's still around because it has proven itself to be too powerful to take down, Orochi is as old as Volvox himself." the man explained,
"Wait, when we visited that country with the other rulers, Prince Tom said there was seven people in that country that didn't fit the criteria of their laws with Volvox and Dommiel being two of them." Princess Celestia remarked,
"The last two are Phoenix and Thunderbird, Volvox's personal pet birds, they are big and look identical, but Phoenix is made of red fire while Thunderbird is made of blue lightning." the woman answered,
"Where is Volvox? We haven't seen him at all." Pinkie Pie said,
"Volvox resides in an underwater shelter, he has no power or authority as of now, he's mostly just there, it is Tom and Dommiel that are running the country." the man replied,
"That's another thing, we're still waiting to meet Dommiel since Tom said he's too busy right now." Twilight Sparkle remarked,
"Tom's lying, Dommiel never makes a public appearance, he's always in that center building watching the country, he only comes outside if there's an attack in or around the country going on." the man answered,
"So... we will never get to meet Dommiel?" Princess Skystar asked, the humans shook their heads,
"What are y'all gonna do now?" Applejack inquired,
"We're going to rest and recover for now, we'll try again in freeing our families and friends from Volvox's and Dommiel's mind control afterwards." the woman answered,
"You sure about that? That big black creature looks really strong." Terramar remarked,
"It is, the Umibōzu is that country's first line of defense whenever invaders arrive, we still have to contend with the Gashadokuro and Orochi after it." the man spoke,
"We'll see if we can convince the rulers about letting your families and friends free." Princess Celestia stated,
"Thank you, but I doubt it's going to work." the man replied,
"Come on, everyone, it's time to go back." Twilight Sparkle said, and they went back to Equestria.
Tom and Dommiel looked at the exiled humans in Mount Aris,
"So they finally found us again." Tom spoke,
"It was a matter of time, we're going to have to deal with them trying to come into our country again." Dommiel stated,
"I mean, all we did was tell them to live elsewhere if they're not going to agree with our laws, they should be grateful that you, me, and Volvox didn't decide to execute them." Tom said,
"They're still natives and related to our citizens, Tom, executing them still feels wrong to me." Dommiel remarked,
"I don't like the idea of doing that, either, but we might have to if things get really ugly between us and them." Tom reminded,
"I hope not, even if we have to to stop them permanently from trying to come back, I'm still going to regret it." Dommiel responded,
"Me too, Dommiel, so will Volvox." Tom added,
"Our citizens are still free enough to recognize they're their former family members and friends, so of course they'll be against killing them as well." Dommiel said,
"That's true, they're still their loved ones, even though us humans killed other humans very often back then either out of spite or try to become the island's ruler or ruler of the humans." Tom replied, they soon heard a ship coming and saw the other country's rulers on it,
"I'll be right back." Tom stated, and he headed outside.
The rulers of the country sailed on General Seaspray's ship and arrived near the country, the barrier went up when they were in front of it, Tom soon arrived in front of them,
"Prince Tom, we need to talk." King Thorax spoke,
"Is it about last night?" Tom asked,
"Well, partially, we heard from those people on the ship that they're former natives of your island." Princess Ember responded,
"They are, they didn't agree with our utopian laws and society, so they were exiled and sent to live on another island." Tom explained,
"And those who are citizens in your country?" Pharynx asked,
"They agreed to live like this willingly." Tom revealed,
"Under constant mind control and doing the same thing every day?" Queen Novo inquired,
"Volvox decided that it would be for the best, us humans fought and tried to kill one another very often back then for various reasons, Volvox and Dommiel put them all except me under a bit of mind control to prevent that from happening." Tom explained,
"And those cats and dogs?" Princess Celestia asked,
"At first, but after they got used to each other, there was no longer any need to mind control them, they are content with their current lives as well." Tom answered, the rulers looked through the barrier and saw the cats and dogs playing with one another and having fun,
"We would like for you all to accept those formerly exiled natives back so they can see their families and friends again." Princess Celestia said,
"If they're willing to accept our laws and adapt, they're welcome to return." Tom replied,
"And be under mind control and unable to do what they want? I don't think so." Princess Ember rebuked,
"We would like for you all to stop the mind control and let your natives have their free will back." Shining Armor stated,
"And revert back to our warmongering nature again?" Tom asked,
"Prince Tom, I can stop people from fighting one another with my magic, so you don't need to worry about that." Princess Cadence explained,
"Hmm, I will need to speak with Dommiel and my citizens over this." Tom remarked,
"Thank you, Prince Tom, we hope you can settle this peacefully." Princess Celestia spoke while she and the other rulers smiled, and the ship they were on sailed back while the barrier went down and Tom went back into the center building.
Tom entered the center building and stood on a platform on the floor while the building's roof opened, the platform moved up and he stood on the center building's roof,
"Attention, everyone." Tom said, the citizens looked at him,
"We have been requested by the foreign countries to end Volvox's and Dommiel's partial mind control over you guys, and accept the exiled humans back in, I understand a lot of you would like to see your families and friends again, but are also comfortable with our current life, so we will hold a vote, it will be either you all want those exiled people back and end the mind control, or you all want to stay the way life is right now, voting starts after school and work end today." Tom spoke, and the platform went down. He walked to the table and sat,
"Well, there's nothing we can do, Tom, our people will ultimately decide what happens." Dommiel remarked,
"That's not it, I'm worried on how you, Volvox, and the other five creatures will react." Tom replied,
"I won't get mad, but I'm worried Volvox might disagree as well." Dommiel remarked,
"I just hope he doesn't take control of you and the other creatures." Tom stated,
"Me too, but he might, I pray that he doesn't." Dommiel responded, and they watched their country.
The Mane Six, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Student Six, Autumn Blaze, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadence, Shining Armor, Flurry Heart, Sunburst, Pillars of Equestria, Starlight Glimmer, Sunset Shimmer, and Spike watched the humans in the country vote,
"Well, I hope this goes well." Flash Magnus stated,
"Me too, but I'm getting a bad feeling about what they're doing." Mistmane replied,
"That reminds me, have you detected how powerful the mind control is, Starswirl?" Princess Celestia asked,
"It's kind of strong, but we might be able to break it, and look right now, they're voting, I have sensed that they are being led where to vote through the mind control, but they're not controlled on what they vote for, they have free will in deciding that." Starswirl the Bearded explained,
"I've tried sensing the kids when they're in school, they're mind controlled into taking notes, but they choose what notes to write down, same with tests, they choose the answer of their own free will." Sunburst added,
"The cracks and flaws of their utopia are finally starting to show." Princess Luna commented,
"Indeed, they are, not only do they forbid outsiders and foreign aid, but they will exile those who don't agree with their laws, I always thought there was some kind of problem with their country, and I now know there is." Mage Meadowbrook replied,
"There's also this Emperor Volvox person, he has only been mentioned and has made no appearance, at least we know King Dommiel is there since we saw his writing and signature on the documents, but not Emperor Volvox, I'm beginning to think he may not be real after all." Somnambula commented,
"I agree there, lass, and just like how they all say their 'All hail Emperor Volvox' every morning, I figured something was off by their emotionless monotone voice every time they say it." Rockhoof responded, the others nodded in agreement,
"There's also their laws, they haven't gone into detail about it besides having to wear the same outfit, but from what I see, I think some of their other laws might be everybody needs to be the same height and same weight, and everyone have the same hair or fur color with the young humans having black hair and the old humans having white or gray hair." Scootaloo remarked,
"Not only that, all of them have the same eye color, too, they all have the same skin color as well, and everyone's hair is the same length, I bet y'all bits that country only has two names, one name for all the boys, and another name for all the girls." Apple Bloom added,
"Ah noticed that, too, Ah think it also applies to the cats and dogs, as well, they all have white fur, are the same size, shape, and height as one another, and all the cats have green eyes while all the dogs have brown eyes." Applejack replied,
"While I do like their simplicity and their outfits overall being fashionable despite simple, I still wish they would have more variety." Rarity said,
"Yeah, aside from the buildings being taller or shorter depending on how close or far away they are from the center, everything looks the same, color's the same on everything, too, even the buildings except the one in the center all look the same, it's so boring." Pinkie Pie added,
"There's something that's still bothering me." Fluttershy spoke,
"What's that?" Twilight Sparkle asked,
"The animals and people don't seem to age, I'm not seeing any stores or food, either, I never saw anyone eat or drink anything in that country, either, it's almost like they're more like machines than people." Fluttershy explained,
"Now that you mention it, I've kind of noticed that, too." Rainbow Dash spoke,
"Maybe they're under some kind of spell that's making them like that." Spike suggested,
"It's possible, we already know they know magic exists, so maybe one of them knows a spell or spells to make the people the way they are now." Starlight Glimmer stated,
"Now that I think about it, maybe we should've had Discord investigate the country for us when they first appeared." Sunset Shimmer commented, Discord appeared,
"Oh, no, I most certainly couldn't. You see, I am sensing great danger from under the country, like there is some kind of giant monster residing there." Discord spoke,
"Oh, come on now, Discord, you're basically immortal, you have nothing to be afraid of." Rainbow Dash said,
"On the contrary, I am sensing some demonic energies from the top of that center building and right under it, the one at the top feels like a bunch of shadows, and the one under it feels like the flames like that of Celestia when she becomes Daybreaker." Discord explained,
"You sure it isn't when my kind turn into niriks?" Autumn Blaze asked,
"Or dragon fire?" Smolder suggested,
"I guarantee you that the fire on Daybreaker is as hot as the flames of the sun, which is even hotter than both combined." Discord answered,
"Still, it's a bummer we can't enter their country, I would've liked to have explored it." Sweetie Belle stated,
"Me too, Sweetie Belle, it's my kind of country, everything nice and clean, neatly arranged, island shaped like a perfect circle, and everyone does everything in an orderly fashion, I would've adapted so easily to living there." Twilight Sparkle gushed,
"I couldn't live there, I'd get bored quickly." Sunset Shimmer remarked,
"Me too, same thing every day at the same time, what a boring lifestyle." Silverstream added,
"There's also the mind control, I don't want any kind of mind control over me." Sandbar stated,
"Me neither, I want to live as free as possible." Gallus spoke,
"Can you guys please not bring that up? I have bad memories of being mind controlled." Shining Armor responded,
"Yona bet country not look good up close." Yona spoke,
"Probably not, I don't see any decorations on the roads and buildings, all of that gold would make my eyes tired, too." Ocellus said,
"The way it shines during the day comes into Flurry Heart's room and the reflection has woken her up a few times." Princess Cadence remarked, Flurry Heart let out baby noises while frowning,
"Hopefully, if they do vote to end the mind control, I hope they change the law about the population being at a fixed number so we can get one of their citizens into our school." Twilight Sparkle stated,
"That would be great, Twilight, we will be able to spread love and friendship to them and make others a whole lot more comfortable having them around." Princess Celestia replied,
"Flurry Heart has been wanting to meet the citizens there, too." Princess Cadence said, Flurry Heart cooed excitedly,
"Let's head off to bed now, everybody, we'll know what they choose tomorrow." Starswirl the Bearded stated,
"I hope they decide to accept their exiled citizens back." Spike said,
"We all do, Spike, let's go now." Twilight Sparkle replied, and they all went home and slept.
The next morning came and everybody of every country watched the humans' country with Tom standing on the center building's roof,
"All hail Emperor Volvox." the humans all said in their usual emotionless monotone voices, Tom came up on the platform and stood on the center building shortly afterwards,
"The votes are in, most of the humans have voted that we should to end the mind control and let the exiled humans back in, we will lower our barriers and let them enter peacefully, but be ready, people, you all may already know this, but Emperor Volvox will more than likely not be pleased." Tom spoke, and the platform he was on went down.
The hippogriffs at Mount Aris put the exiled humans in a ship,
"I'm sure you all know how to steer a ship, good luck getting acquainted on things back at home." General Seaspray spoke,
"Yes, we know how to control and ship, and thank you all for your hospitality, we'll be off now." the man who spoke to the ponies yesterday replied, and another human began sailing the ship to their country while the hippogriffs waved bye at them.
The ship sailed to the country and humans there were no longer mind controlled and waved at them, they got close to the country and the barrier suddenly went up. Everybody exclaimed in confusion and the Umibōzu emerged from the water while letting out a loud groan. it began swinging its arms down at the ship and the humans in the country tried to get through the barrier,
"Volvox! This is what the humans want!" Tom hollered, an earthquake began and the platform he was on quickly went down, he ran out of the building and the ground in the country's center split open. The Gashadokuro emerged and roared loudly, the other creatures in the other countries jaws' dropped at seeing it,
"That thing is huge!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she looked at the 90 foot tall skeleton, the Gashadokuro began swinging its arms around and destroying the buildings, it also picked up buildings and threw them at the humans trapped in the country. The other countries went over and began trying to help, the unicorns tried to destroy the barrier around the country, the Pegasi, dragons, griffons, changelings, hippogriffs, seaponies, and kirins helped the exiled humans fight the Umibōzu while also bringing the humans in the water to safety, and the earth ponies and yaks threw big boulders at the Umibōzu and barrier in an attempt to destroy it. The Umibōzu threw objects and fish at the creatures while the exiled humans fired their ship's cannons at it, it had no effect on it, it began picking up humans from the ship and threw them at the ship, they screamed while the unicorns caught them in midair with their magic.
Fluttershy commanded her birds and marine animals to go help the humans and they began pecking and biting the Umibōzu, it swatted the birds into the water while the marine animals continued to bite its body,
"Dragons! Together, let us breathe fire! That creature resides in the water! Maybe the heat makes it uncomfortable!" Dragon Lord Torch bellowed, and they all flew over and breathed fire on the Umibōzu, Smolder and Spike joined them. The Umibōzu groaned loudly and steam began to emit from its body, it got too hot and went back into the water while moaning,
"Okay, it's down, onto the barrier!" Princess Ember commanded, and they did. The humans in the country hid under the rubble while the Gashadokuro picked up the buildings and looked for humans, cats, or dogs to eat, they all hid while everybody on the outside got desperate to destroy the barrier,
"Twilight, Starlight, Sunset, come over here with me, Luna, Cadence, Shining Armor, and Starswirl." Princess Celestia called out with her Royal Canterlot Voice, and they went to her. They arrived in Canterlot and met up with the others,
"We're going to try to destroy that barrier with our magic combined together." Princess Luna explained,
"We're ready." Twilight Sparkle replied, Starlight Glimmer and Sunset Shimmer nodded,
"Okay, on three, one, two, three." Princess Celestia spoke, and they all shot big blasts out of their horns and combined them together, everybody got out of the way and they hit the barrier, electricity appeared on it for a few seconds and it exploded,
"Let's go." Princess Celestia spoke, and they teleported.
The exiled humans sailed forward while the Royal Hippogriff Navy also arrived with their ships, the Gashadokuro began swinging its arms around and destroying every building and home. Twilight Sparkle arrived in the country,
"Outsider detected, commencing teleporting outsider out of country. Error, teleporting device, anti-magic device, and anti-hologram device malfunctions." a computer voice spoke, she used her telekinesis to move the pieces of debris up,
"Everybody! This way!" Twilight Sparkle called out, they ran to where she was and to the ships. The cats and dogs also ran to the exit while the unicorns used their magic to tie and restrain the Gashadokuro, it broke free from its magic chains easily each time. The humans arrived at the island's border but huge flames suddenly appeared all around the island's borders, the humans stopped running while blue lightning struck the island, they heard birds cawing near the island's center and the ground burst open, two big flying birds emerged, one was made of red fire while the other was made of blue electricity, everybody realized it was Phoenix and Thunderbird.
Phoenix and Thunderbird shot fire and lightning out their mouths respectively at the country while Phoenix also flapped his wings around to create waves of fire. The kirins turned into niriks and ran through the fire around the island unharmed while the dragons flew past it unharmed due to their scales protecting them, they arrived into the country and helped Twilight Sparkle fend off the two birds. The dragons grabbed and restrained Phoenix while the niriks absorbed his fire, Thunderbird held his wings out and electrified the entire island, Twilight Sparkle quickly cast a shield around herself and the humans to block the electricity. The two birds shot more fire and lightning out of their mouths and mixed them together, the entire country caught on fire while the Gashadokuro was unharmed by all of the flames and electricity. The flames around the island got doused by Pegasi using rain clouds, they flew to above Phoenix and put a downpour on him, he screeched as he evaporated. Thunderbird held his wings out and screeched to summon lightning, it came down but got redirected and absorbed into a thundercloud held by more Pegasi, he held his wings forward and shot lightning out his feather tips, they got absorbed into the thundercloud, he and Phoenix screeched while Phoenix evaporated and Thunderbird got absorbed into the thunderclouds.
The humans ran to the ships and got on, they began to sail away while the Gashadokuro got fully restrained and it roared. The ships sailed away from the island but more rumbling began, eight whirlpools appeared around the island, the waters rose highly and eight big, long, serpentine heads and necks emerged out of the water, they all roared while the kids screamed,
"It's Orochi! Orochi has appeared!" a male citizen from Volvox's country exclaimed, the other creatures looked on with shocked expressions at how big it was along with each head and body being different, one was made of red fire, one was made of blue water, one was made of brown rocks, one was made of light pale green wind gusts, one was made of yellow electricity, one was made of brown wood, one was made of silver metal, and one was made of light blue flames. All eight of Orochi's heads began slamming their bodies down to destroy the ships and tried to bite anyone nearby, the fire head burned the ships while the water head flooded them and the wind head broke them apart, the lightning head leaned above the ocean and opened its mouth, he shot lightning into the ocean and electrified it. The unicorns fired magic blasts at it and tried to restrain it but none of them were working, the fire head shot fire at Equestria and Princess Cadence and Shining Armor quickly put up a barrier, the wind head made the debris in Volvox's country float around its entire body and then began shooting them at the countries and ships.
Everycreature tried using everything they had against Orochi but nothing was working,
"How are we supposed fight this thing?!" Rainbow Dash inquired,
"That's the thing, Orochi has been too powerful for us to fight against even back then, the eight bodies are all different elements, the red one is fire, the blue one is water, the rock one is earth, the green one is wind, the yellow one is lightning, the brown one is wood, the silver one is metal, and the light blue one is void." a man explained,
"Void?" Twilight Sparkle asked,
"What's void?" Applejack asked,
"Spiritual power, it's things that are not physical, like emotions and willpower, it is also known to some of us as aether." a woman explained,
"Why don't we try using the Elements of Harmony?" Rarity suggested,
"I don't think it's going to work." Twilight Sparkle replied,
"Yeah, and there's only six elements for us, Orochi has eight." Rainbow Dash added,
"Seven if you count me." Sunset Shimmer reminded,
"But if we can get the Pillars of Equestria to join us, that'll give us 13 elements and maybe we can overpower him." Applejack suggested, Orochi's heads roared and the lightning head shot several bolts out of its mouth that floated around in midair, the earth, wood, and metal heads shot rocks, wood chips, and metal shards out of their respective mouths to pelt the ships, the wind head made debris fly everywhere, the fire head burned everything while the water head flooded the ships, and the void head shot non-elemental energy blasts out of its mouth.
The dragons and niriks tried fighting Orochi with their fire and they noticed the metal head was uncomfortable,
"Wait, that's it, maybe we can take out at least four heads, five if we're lucky." the man said,
"What do ya mean?" Applejack asked,
"In one of our element chart beliefs, fire overcomes metal, metal overcomes wood, wood overcomes earth, earth overcomes water, and water overcomes fire, maybe we can use them against each other." the man answered,
"Let's give it a try." Starlight Glimmer spoke, and they got ready. Orochi's heads shot out breaths of their respective elements at every country and the unicorns grabbed the fire, water, rocks, wood chips, and metal shards with their telekinesis and threw them, the fire hit the metal head, the water hit the fire head, the rocks hit the water head, the wood chips hit the earth head, and the metal shards hit the wood head, the five heads got knocked out,
"What about the other three?" Pinkie Pie questioned,
"There is no element weakness for them." a second woman answered,
"What do we do?" Fluttershy inquired,
"Pillars of Equestria, me and my friends need your help, let us try combining our elements together to overcome the creature." Twilight Sparkle spoke in her Royal Canterlot Voice, all six of them arrived with Starswirl the Bearded teleporting them,
"Let's do it." Starswirl the Bearded agreed, and he cast a spell to get the Elements of Harmony and the Mane Six wore their respective elements. The Mane Six, Pillars of Equestria, and Sunset Shimmer floated up in midair and their eyes' glowed white, they all shot beams of different colors while Orochi's wind, lightning, and void heads absorbed the elements of the other five heads into themselves and shot them out, the wind head shot fire, rocks, and wood chips alongside its wind breath, the lightning head shot out water with its lightning breath, the void head shot out metal shards with its void breath. The eight elements combined together into one blast and entered a deadlock with the 13 ponies, a big earthquake began while they tried to overpower one another, the ponies sweated but they soon overpowered Orochi's breath attack and knocked out the three remaining heads.
The Mane Six, Pillars of Equestria, and Sunset Shimmer floated down and panted while they sweated,
"Is that the last of them?" Twilight Sparkle asked,
"No, there should be two more threats." Tom replied,
"Volvox and Dommiel, right?" Starlight Glimmer asked, Tom nodded,
"Well, it looks safe, come on now, let's take them to the closest country." General Seaspray commanded, and they sailed to Equestria.
The barrier around Equestria went down and the ships arrived, everybody got off at Equestria's easternmost border and walked forward. Black shadows appeared behind them and everyone saw shadow-like wings going back to the humans' country, a shadow creature with a bipedal body, horns, claws, and teeth appeared in the sky, it roared while it twitched its head around a bit,
"Look!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed,
"It's being mind controlled, it must be trying to break free." Starswirl the Bearded deduced, the creature threw its arms forward and black blasts shot out of its hands, everything the blasts touched got infected with dark energy. The creature flew forward and roared as it dived down and got ready to grab someone with its hands and feet, everyone sidestepped and dodged him easily while he twitched and struggled to regain control of himself. Starswirl the Bearded cast a spell to break the mind control and the creature regained control of itself, it transformed into a smaller form and changed to Dommiel, he sighed and panted,
"Where were you?" Tom asked,
"Under the country." Dommiel revealed,
"We finally meet, Emperor Volvox." Pinkie Pie stated,
"No, this is King Dommiel." Tom corrected, the other creatures exclaimed,
"Where's Emperor Volvox?" Rainbow Dash inquired,
"Emperor Volvox hasn't been seen in years." a girl from Volvox's country answered,
"No offense, y'all, but Ah'm beginnin' to think this Emperor Volvox guy ain't real." Applejack commented,
"He's very real." a man from Volvox's country interjected,
"Then where is he?" Fluttershy asked,
"Under the country, there was an elevator at the bottom floor in the center building that would lead to him." Tom answered,
"Well, let's go, and Prince Tom and King Dommiel, I'm sure Princess Celestia would like to have a word with you two on running the country." Twilight Sparkle spoke, and they kept walking. Everybody walked until they heard a big explosion behind them and looked back, orange flames surrounded the entire humans' home island,
"What now?!" Rainbow Dash fumed,
"It's Emperor Volvox." a human boy replied,
"So he's finally decided to make an appearance." Twilight Sparkle commented, the orange flames in the center rose higher and higher, it reached high into the sky and everyone saw a figure through it,
"I have given you all immortality, I have stopped you all from aging, I stopped you all from fighting and waging war permanently, I used my magic so you all don't have to eat, drink, or have to use the bathroom, that by extension gotten rid of the need to hunt and kill your pets and one another, I preserved our old history for you all to learn your origins and taught you all well, I have gotten rid of currency so none of you would be swayed and tempted by money. I've given you all a paradise, and this is the thanks you all give me? It took me a long time to make the utopia what it is, you all should be grateful that you humans are still alive today." Volvox ranted in a deep, loud, booming voice, the flames spread out and went down. Everybody reeled back and dropped their jaws at Volvox's appearance, he was a 3,000 foot tall three headed quadrupedal creature, the right half of his body was made up of big gray bones with his right head being skeletal, the left half of his body was made of black shadow-like mass with his left front leg's and left hind leg's claws and left head's eyes being red, and his center head, spine, and tail were pink with yellow seven pointed star shaped chitin growing down his spine and connected by tentacles laying neatly down his spine, and a big yellow sharp pointed triangular tip on his tail with two more sharp tips on the back corners of it.
Volvox used his telekinesis to pick up the humans and Dommiel,
"I am not going to have you all spread your violent, warmongering ways to the other countries, I might as well make you all extinct now." Volvox's center head spoke,
"Wait, Volvox, look at the humans you exiled, they were peaceful with the other countries' natives when they met them." Dommiel stated,
"That's because they're still new, humans usually don't start their destruction of other countries and species until after the other species feel they can trust and befriend them." Volvox countered,
"Volvox, please, give the humans a chance, plus, look around at the other countries around you." Dommiel pleaded, Volvox looked and saw the other creatures looking at him with pleading faces,
"Very well, but if you start destroying stuff and waging war, I'm rendering you all extinct." Volvox warned, and he put them back down in Equestria,
"I believe you should be punished in some form, Volvox." Princess Celestia spoke as she flew up to him,
"Due to you attacking your own citizens, alongside us, and mind controlling your people, I believe you should be arrested and tried in court." Princess Celestia said,
"What are my charges?" Volvox asked,
"Attacking other countries, taking away your citizens' free wills, and attacking your exiled citizens." Princess Celestia answered,
"Am I the only one being put on trial?" Volvox asked,
"No, Dommiel and Tom will face charges as well." Princess Celestia replied,
"Come on, you two, might as well get it over and done with." Volvox spoke, and he walked to Equestria while each of his steps made the ground shake, they went to Canterlot while the other rulers went as well,
"Let's go, everyone." Twilight Sparkle stated, and they went to Canterlot.
The trial in Canterlot began and Volvox, Dommiel, and Tom were on the stand, the trial took place outside since Volvox was too big to enter any buildings and unable to go to the courtroom, Volvox received the most charges with the ones Princess Celestia mentioned while Dommiel was charged with helping Volvox making the utopia and Tom was charged with lying to the other rulers on some subjects, Dommiel and Tom served time in a dungeon while Volvox was held with magic chains and shackles outside.
The next morning came and all of the humans gathered together outside the School of Friendship,
"Okay, now I can finally have a human representative in the school, which one of you would like to attend?" Twilight Sparkle asked, a human boy from Volvox's country stepped forward,
"Oh, nice, I already have one who wants to attend, what's your name?" Twilight Sparkle asked,
"Tom." the boy replied, the other creatures' attentions were caught as their eyes' widened,
"Hold up, how many of y'all are named Tom?" Applejack questioned, every single male from Volvox's country raised their hands, some of the other creatures gasped under their breaths,
"What are y'all girls called?" Applejack inquired,
"Mia." a girl from Volvox's country answered,
"Do all of you females have the same name?" Sunset Shimmer asked, they nodded,
"They don't even have their own identity." Rarity lamented,
"Okay, first assignment for you guys, give yourself all different names." Twilight Sparkle instructed, and they tried while the exiled humans gave them ideas, they soon adapted different names,
"Good job! Now, to change your hairstyles, the outfits will be worked on later." Pinkie Pie spoke,
"I'll handle the outfits part, darling." Rarity replied,
"For those of you who wish to grow your hair out, give it time, for those who wish to either cut your hair or tie it, we have the supplies." Twilight Sparkle stated, and she got them with her telekinesis. The human females began styling their hairs while some of the males shaved theirs off, the males with short hair just watched,
"Okay, that's good, we'll continue tomorrow." Twilight Sparkle said after they finished,
"Everycreature, make sure you share your dorms and meals with them tomorrow." Fluttershy instructed, and they entered the school and slept.
The next day came and the humans were all in Rarity's class with Pinkie Pie as her assistant, she gave them sewing machines and instructed the humans from Volvox's country to make their own outfits, they finished and Rarity shrieked when she saw they all made the same uniform they were currently wearing,
"No, everyhuman, you all are supposed to make your own unique outfit." Pinkie Pie instructed,
"About that, this is the only outfit we know how to sew and make." a girl from Volvox's country explained,
"Well, you all can start by making your uniforms from threads and cottons of different colors, I'll be able to work from there." Rarity said while smiling, and they did,
"Very nice, now to make your outfits more different by adding various decorations." Rarity instructed and she and her students showed them how,
"Um, Miss Rarity, is there a reason in this?" a boy asked,
"Why, yes, this is to teach you how to express yourselves, and make yourself unique and stand out as an individual, living in unison and all being the same like how you were under Volvox's rule is something many people do not want." Rarity explained, and they continued class until it ended, they went to the other classes and Pinkie Pie taught them to open their emotions, Rainbow Dash tried to teach them how to have fun, Fluttershy taught them about other animals besides cats and dogs, and Applejack taught them the concepts of food with her apples.
The days gone by with the humans from Volvox's country meeting with Starlight Glimmer for counseling and Sunset Shimmer showing them the humans of the world she stayed in, Volvox went back under his country after his sentence was over while Dommiel and Tom still commanded the humans, the Umibōzu began helping the ships sail through storms, the Gashadokuro became a tourist attraction in Equestria while it gave children piggyback rides, Orochi used its eight heads to rescue people drifting in sea from shipwrecks, and Phoenix revived himself naturally while Thunderbird's lightning came out of the thunderclouds and gathered together and they flew around the world. The humans eventually adapted and broke free from the habits Volvox's instilled onto them, they all began wearing different outfits, different hairstyles, and built houses and buildings of different shapes, sizes, and colors, some lived in the other countries while others returned to the island and lived with the other creatures peacefully.