//------------------------------// // Chapter 54: Diplomacy // Story: Harmony of Heroes: Ultimate Multiverse Explorers // by Lucar //------------------------------// "So, I take it it went well?" Samus asked once Sweetie Belle was escorted into the bridge of the Olympus. "Dark Samus had some nice tricks up her sleeves. I got a taste of these Power Bombs you talked about and she could absorb the energy of Phaaze to regenerate herself again and again. She could even create clones that were as dangerous as the original, but very easy to break." All these info made Samus wince a little, as well as the others. If she had gone and fought Dark Samus herself, this would have certainly been one of the most dangerous fights she would have gone through. "But in the end, it was nothing for me. I simply had to hit her hard to stop her from absorbing energy, and I got her simply by turning into Ridley and going full beast-mode on her. Also, her reaction when she discovered that I wasn't Samus..." "Wait a minute. Did you just say that you turned into freaking Ridley?" Gandrayda asked. Sweetie Belle smirked before she transformed and took the form of the terrifying pirate dragon, arms crossed. "Gave her some nice irony in the face. The good Ridley who saves the universe from the bad Samus." "And it has been enough to defeat her despite all you told us she could do? As powerful as Ridley is, I don't think he could match against that, especially in his base form without the augmentations," Ghor pointed out. Samus huffed. "Then you don't know Ridley enough. Even without the augmentations, when he wants, he can be a real monster. Only his ego and the surprise effect allowed me to get him the first time on Zebes. And on Tallon IV, I got him only thanks to my experience even with all my power ups, experience that Dark Samus obviously didn't possess. Also, he still had it bad that I had bested him so he was pretty much blinded by anger and revenge. I'm surprised he hadn't attempted to attack me earlier, beside what happened on the frigate." "He probably wanted to take you at your best to prove his superiority and heal his bruised ego," Dane said. "Ah!" shouted an amused Gandrayda. "Didn't work so well!" Dane then faced Sweetie Belle who returned to her normal appearance. "The Galactic Federation owes you a big thank you for your help. I'm sure that we can arrange to give you a reward, the same bounty that we promised them," he said as he designed the bounty hunters with a sign of his head. "No thanks." "You sure kid? That's a lot of zeros they are ready to give," Gandrayda said. "I'm from another universe. All this money would be no use back home and I would have no idea what to do with it." "You could open a bank account," Ghor proposed. "If you ever decide to return, this money could be useful to you. However, since you are a minor, you will have to bring an adult who is your guardian." Sweetie Belle giggled before she turned herself into an adult version of herself. "Or I can do that. After all, you have no paper that proves my age. And I think that my actions today showed that I'm not your usual minor." This shut up Ghor right there much to the amusement of Gandrayda. "But thanks. You are right, I will take your advice," the alicorn continued as she reverted to her filly-self. "I will accept the reward." "I was also told that you want to see the Chairman," Dane said. "After everything you have done, I'm sure that he will accept to receive you. And since I have to go give my report to him, then I can escort you to him." "Thank you Admiral. And if they want, Samus and the others should come. What I want to say to the Chairman is very important and I think that they should hear it. I already told Samus a bit, but not much." Samus nodded. "Whatever she wants to say, it's apparently bad news, but she didn't precise what kind of bad news. But considering she comes from another universe, then I fear the worst." "Like... a threat that would put the pirates and the Phazon to shame?" Ghor wondered. "Yes," Sweetie Belle answered very seriously. This made everyone exchange worried looks. Daiban. Sweetie Belle had already seen planets with their surface entirely covered by a huge city, but it was still impressive to see. While Daiban didn't have all its surface covered, the cities only forming large country-sized circles with some more or less big 'branches', it still was close enough with the cities easily seen from space. The planet itself was absolutely surrounded by a field of satellites and ships of all kinds, sizes, and shapes, many of these ships leaving or entering the planet. The whole planet was pretty much a fortress. No wonder since it was the Galactic Federation's capital. With the pirates, and also apparently the threat of some empire, the planet was constantly vigilant of a potential attack. The use of portal technology similar to what the Leviathans used was all it would take to bring war to its door despite being far behind the borders. On its surface, Sweetie Belle, followed by Samus (now without her armor, instead in civil clothes), Ghor, and Gandrayda, was guided by Admiral Dane toward an humongous building that towered far above all the other skyscrapers some of which were already much taller than the skyscrapers of Manehattan. Seriously, that building was certainly over one mile tall. Probably even two. It wasn't just its size that was impressive, but also how big it was and its appearance. The building consisted of three HUGE tower structures, longer at the base but comparatively rather thin (again, thinner at the top). These three towers were in a triangular formation, facing the center. Near the top of each of them were cable-like structures linking them to a large circular central structure with a flattened dome roof. Said structure was in the air, having no contact with the ground far far below. All in all, the building could encompass all of Ponyville excluding Sweet Apple Acres. The building was none other than the heart of the Galactic Federation, the Federation Meeting Assembly Hall, where the Council gathered. It was also where the Chairman's office was situated. "Isn't it risky to have the place where all the most important peoples of the galaxy gather so far above the ground? What if these cable-things break in the middle of one of their assemblies?" Sweetie Belle wondered. "Emergency reactors are placed at the bottom of the structure," Ghor answered. "If it starts dropping, the reactors will immediately activate by themselves, and the structure will slowly descend to the ground without damage. Or, if escape is needed, someone can take control to make the structure move away like a giant makeshift escape pod. There are even powerful energy shields, the bests of the Federation, ready to activate to protect it. And if things really are bad, there's even a portal to a secret location." "Of course, the attackers would first need to get close enough," Dane stated. "And with all that floats above our heads protecting the planet? I wish the attackers good luck," Gandrayda said. It wasn't long before they entered one of the towers. And eventually, they were in the Chairman's office where Dane began by giving the full report of what happened. The Chairman, some small humanoid green creature with large pointed ears and two antennae, gave a sigh once Dane was done. "So this is over. No more Phazon. I'm glad. And on top of that, we conquered one of the pirates' "Homeworlds". I hope this means that we won't hear from them anytime soon." "At least long enough to rebuild," Dane said. "And maybe start to convert the Homeworld into something else. Maybe an outpost." The Chairman nodded. "It would be very useful against the pirates. And also, try to find a cure for the Elysians. Losing them would be dramatic." "Unit 242 is already working on it with Units 217 and 486, but it is not certain if the Elysians will ever be themselves again." This visibly saddened the Chairman. Having nothing more to say, he looked at Sweetie Belle who was sitting on a chair in front of his desk. "So, you are Sweetie Belle. It is an honor to meet a being from another universe. I am Chairman Keaton. I personally thank you for your help in this crisis." "Nice meeting you Chairman Keaton," Sweetie Belle said with a small bow of her head. "I am Sweetie Belle..." Suddenly, she materialized her uniform, including her crown instead of her circlet. However, before continuing, she looked down at her uniform with a frown. "Hum... One moment, please." Then, she used her powers to change her uniform a bit. She replaced the Dedede symbol on her cape by the one she had shown to Taranza just before entering this universe, the rainbow Dreamstalk growing out of the black heart. She then replaced the Dedede symbols on her flank by just the black heart before she swapped the color of the armored heart on her chest to black and did the same with the heart-shaped rubies of her gauntlets. She also made the flower of her crown rainbow-colored, then turned her cape to a darker pink than her cloth while getting rid of the white rim. Finally, she turned the gold of her gauntlets into the same shade of pink than the cape. She will have to give it a better look later to see if it looked good, but right now she was satisfied. Giving a satisfying nod, she looked back at the visibly surprised Chairman (who was doing his best to hide it but failing) and said, "So, as I was saying. I am Sweetie Belle, queen of Floralia." "What?!" Samus almost shouted. "Hold on. You're a queen?!" Sweetie Belle giggled. "Yup! I know, I may be a little young to be a queen, but a king gave me the title and I wasn't given a choice in the matter so, eh. And before you ask, a regent is governing Floralia until I reach maturity so, until then..." She gave an amused shrug. "I go against everything that a normal queen should do and risk my life going on adventures in unknown universes while kicking butts." ... "Damn. Most badass queen ever," Gandrayda said. "And you know what this means Sammy? You got to fight alongside a queen all this time! Lucky you!" Keaton chuckled. "A royal from another universe. Now this is unexpected." He then went serious business and placed elbows on the desk, fingers interlaced before his face. "So, what does a queen from another universe want to tell me?" Sweetie Belle took a similar position, excepted that she simply put her forehooves against each other since she didn't have fingers. "I have come here to warn you against threats that will surpass anything the Federation ever faced that may or may not come to this universe." Keaton frowned. "You are not certain?" "The Omniverse is a veeeeery huge place. All I know is that these threats will threaten countless universes. This could include yours, or not. But better be prepared for the worst, right?" Keaton nodded. "What kind of threats are you talking about?" "Two Gods, one of light and one of darkness, and one army. The army should be the first one to appear. I don't know how powerful they will be, but when you are warned by a God that they will threaten many universes, then you can be sure that I will prepare as best as I can to face them. However, I can't be everywhere at once, protecting all the universes that this army will attack." "So you are seeking allies?" "Yes. Like the Federation. Or even beings like Samus here who is pretty much a one-woman army. Organisations and peoples on who I could count to be here to help me, at least, face this multidimensional army and protect the universes. I admit that I barely started working on this. Your universe is the first one that I visit since I have been warned of these threats. But I can already assure you that my friends and I are working hard to be ready. We are studying the technology of a powerful ancient civilization so it should be a matter of time before we are able to open rifts big enough to send armadas to other dimensions. Me including, we have many strong and powerful beings in our ranks, including a Creator God and his sons, and maybe a second one with his whole pantheon soon. We also have magic, with some very powerful mages. What we lack are actual armadas of spaceships. We have spaceships, but only a few. You are actually the first galaxy-spanning organisation we come across. And you joining us would be a huge boon." "Mmhmmh... And what is the best you have?" Keaton asked. "Right now? I would say dimensional portals. Just big enough to let people and small vehicle cross. I have friends who can build one in a matter of days. But as I speak, these same friends are studying a technology that allows someone or something to be turned into energy to enter much smaller spaces, a bit like the Morph Ball, where they could be stored, locked, or transported easily. They are also studying a similar technology to be turned into data to be sent inside computers. I let you imagine the possibilities with these technologies." At this point, Sweetie Belle could almost see stars in Ghor's eyes, the Hunter shaking in excitement. She grinned. "Would you believe that the world I got these technologies from only use them to capture creatures and to stock them in virtual worlds inside computers, mostly for competitions and entertainment?" "What?!" Ghor shouted in disbelief. "They have these wonderful technologies and they only use them for... THAT?!" "Ghor, calm down," Dane said. Sweetie Belle shrugged with amusement and said, "They have different priorities." She then turned back to face the Chairman. "But if we manage to fully reverse engineer the technologies of that powerful ancient civilization I mentioned, simply named the Ancients, then we would be able to... Well... Let's just say that the best the Ancients managed to create are these things." Sweetie Belle then created from her horn a hologram of a Clockwork Star, Nova, the hologram slowly spinning to let everyone see it in its full glory. "Don't let its feline face trick you. I have no idea why the Ancients gave them this. Maybe the one who designed them was an eccentric old cat lady and I wouldn't be surprised if it was really the case. The point is that these things, called Clockwork Stars, are the size of small planets, have near sapient AI, and have the power to bend space and time and to alter reality, saying "screw you" to physics, to grant pretty much any wishes. And I know for a fact that there are several of them. I personally encountered two of them, but I had to destroy them because one was working for a mad jested who had wished for world domination and the other was controlled by a crazy supercomputer who wanted to use it to wipe out all organic life in the universe. Note that the supercomputer was also created by the Ancients but had been corrupted, and also had reality-bending powers but to a lesser extent." Sweetie Belle then showed the portal-world, New Halcandra. "They also made these literal planet-sized portals. They only made two of them however, and one had been destroyed and the second is currently too damaged to work. Beside, the universe it was linked to is now gone so even if it still worked, we would need to tinker with it to allow it to send things to different universes." She now showed the Jambandra Base. "They even made this space station that dwarfed the biggest planets." To prove her point, she created a hologram of Elysia - the biggest planet she saw until now - and put it against the Jambandra Base. "But they did something even crazier. They allied their technology to the power of a God to create a whole universe out of their dreams. It's in this universe that most of their technologies that I showed you now remain, their home universe now being gone." She turned off the hologram and looked back at Ghor, smirking. "And we wouldn't mind more Smarties to help us study them." Ghor shook more violently before he passed out. Keaton was rubbing his chin in thought. "I will have to discuss this with the Council. This is a matter that could change the Federation, and that could be without a doubt very risky. This is not a decision that can be taken just by myself." Sweetie Belle gave a nod. "I understand. How long do you think it will take?" "Give me a few days. I will have to send a message to all the Council Members to call for an emergency Assembly, and it will take about a day for all of them to gather here. Then, the Assembly will start the next day. Your presence will be needed to help in explaining the situation. You will be given a VIP guestroom until then." "Thank you Chairman Keaton." The Chairman then looked at the others. "What was said in this room must not leave it for now. We will wait for the decision to be taken before we spread the news." Everyone nodded with Dane giving a military salute. Excepted Ghor who was still out. "Be sure to tell Ghor this once he wakes up." Again, they nodded. "Anything more?" Keaton asked, mainly to Sweetie Belle, but also to the others. Sweetie Belle thought a bit. "Will you want to get in contact with a more experienced leader? I really don't know anything about politics and, truthfully, I would rather want to continue to explore new universes and discover new allies than remain here for weeks to talk... uhh... about trade stuff?" Keaton chuckled. "Yes, it would be better." "Then, after the Assembly, I will return to my home and talk to the leaders here, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. And no, my home is in a different kingdom than the one from which I'm queen. Long story. But just a little warning, the time in your universe goes faster than in mine, about six day to one. So while I go talk to the princesses, it may be one day or two for you before I bring at least one of them here. I'm trying to find a way to deal with this." "I understand." Sweetie Belle used the time until the Assembly to create for herself a bank account with the help of Ghor who decided to remain with her (mainly because he wanted to hear more about the Ancients' technologies) and placed the money she got as a reward for helping in the Phazon crisis in it. Samus and Gandrayda also remained on Daiban too in wait of the Assembly, wanting to know what decision they will take, but Dane had to return to his fleet. The filly got to experience a bit of what it was like to live in such an advanced society. It truly was another world. Where technology was barely used in everyday life back in Equestria, here, it was everywhere. In a restaurant, for example, she didn't have to call a waiter. She simply had to sit at a table and then use a terminal here to chose what she wanted in the menu before passing her bank card over it to pay. Barely one minute later, what she commanded came out of the table perfectly cooked. Then, when she went to take a shower, the water was immediately at the right temperature to be perfect. No need to carefully adjust the water's temperature until it was good enough and no waiting one or two minutes for the water to become warm. Then it was time for the Assembly to begin, and she was escorted to the Council. To reach it, they had to take a floating platform that moved through one of the cable-like structures that linked the towers to the central structure where it was taking place. The Council was a breathtaking experience. She entered an absolutely huge room where there were easily thousands of people, all staring at her when she was directly escorted beside the Chairman in the center. All of them represented a whole planet and/or a whole people. All of them were politically as powerful as Celestia, if not more. For a moment, her stage fright almost returned. But when Keaton began to talk, she controlled her emotions and waited for her cue to talk. The Chairman briefly explained the events of what he now called the Kalandor Crisis (because the region of space where Norion, Bryyo, and Elysia were was named the Kalandor Region) and congratulated the bounty hunters for their role in dealing with it, especially Samus. Then, he introduced Sweetie Belle and talked about her role in the crisis before he went on about who she really was. Already, the news that she was from another dimension sparked a big hubbub among the Council Members that was quickly calmed by Keaton before he continued by explaining a bit why she was here. He then gave her the podium to talk and better explain the situation. Most Members listened to her with rapt attention, and there were many questions that Sweetie Belle had to answer. There were debates, more questions, more debates, and after a few hours, Keaton asked for a vote. Would the Galactic Federation join this multidimensional alliance? A big majority agreed, Keaton included. The details of the alliance will be discussed when Sweetie Belle will bring a representative with more experience in that stuff. As soon as the Assembly was over, Keaton gave the news which quickly spread to the four corners of the Federation. When she returned (with the Lor Starcutter) to Equestria, Sweetie Belle immediately went to talk with Celestia and Luna. Celestia immediately agreed to come, leaving Luna to take care of Equestria. Before sending her, Sweetie Belle also went to New Halcandra to talk to Gandaro, thinking that he should come too so he could discuss about the Ancient technology, and also because he was sorta the leader of New Halcandra so he needed to be here to represent the Dream Universe. He agreed. When she used a rift to return beside the Federation Meeting Assembly Hall with Celestia and Gandaro, an escort almost immediately came to guide them to Keaton. Sweetie Belle then left them at his office with a goodbye before she went to search Samus who still must be on the planet, not far. She didn't have to search far. Samus was waiting for her outside of the building, along with Ghor and Gandrayda. "So, how is this going?" Samus asked. "It's off to a good start. If this continues, then the alliance should be formalized before long." "Eheh. I wonder how long it will be before we are sent to other universes to deal with threats," Gandrayda said. "I wouldn't mind going to New Halcandra right now to begin to study the Ancient technology," Ghor said. "No problem. But, I must warn you, New Halcandra being part of the Dream Universe, physics don't make sense over there. Some good example is that we can breath in space and underwater and we can walk on most clouds. So, avoid questioning how things happen, you would just give yourself a headache. It's dream stuff, and dreams aren't logic most of the time." "Noted." Sweetie Belle then looked at Samus and Gandrayda. "So... This is goodbye. It's time for me to leave." "Aww. I will miss you, you little monster," Gandrayda said. "But I guess that we will see you again soon. When this multidimensional army will show itself." "Maybe even before, who knows. This army could appear in a few days, or in a few years. And I'm speaking of years both in your universe and in my universe. Until then, other stuff may come up. There's that situation with a group wanting to use corrupted Gods to control everything which I'm not sure how this will evolve." "Damn," Gandrayda said in a shocked tone. "Yup. Get used to it because I have the feeling that that kind of stuff will become common. Omniverse." "Well, at least, we won't get bored if that's the case." At this moment, Samus lowered herself to be closer to Sweetie's height and placed a hand on her head, rubbing it. "As soon as this army or some other threat shows up, call me and I will come to help. I owe you that after everything you did." "I will. Thank you Samus. And try to not lose your power ups until then," the filly said jokingly. "Mph. No promise," Samus said with a smile. "Goodbye Sweetie Belle." Sweetie Belle returned the smile before she turned around and opened a rift. With a sign of her head, Ghor then walked to her side. The two then waved goodbye before they passed the rift which closed behind them. Sweetie Belle dropped Ghor on New Halcandra where he was like a child in a theme park for the first time. Leaving him to the New Halcandrins, the filly then returned to Ponyville to have a small meal at Sugarcube Corner and to rest her mind after all that politic stuff. She didn't physically need rest (and food, and water) anymore and could do adventures one after another without getting tired, but all that politic mentally drained her. And she still felt bad about Rundas. Not seeing him alongside the other Hunters hurt. She really wished she could have gotten to know him better. From what she heard about him, he had been pretty much Rainbow Dash with ice powers. Then, after her meal, Discord appeared beside her with a paper. "I have good news! I got you the coordinates of two universes where you should find some powerful allies!" he shouted victoriously before he gave the paper to Sweetie Belle. "Great! Thanks!" she said as she took the paper. "Care to tell me who these potential allies are?" "And ruin the surprise? Puhlease!" Suddenly, a bird landed on Sweetie's head and looked down at the paper... Before talking. "Interesting. Why am I not surprised that you found for her these allies, of all possibilities." A chill creeped up Discord's body as he immediately knew who that bird was. He gulped, suddenly becoming very small. "Oh! Aah..." He waved at the bird with a terrified fake smile. "Hello... hum... DD, right?" Sweetie Belle froze at hearing this name. She thought that the bird was one of Discord's tricks. "D-DD? W-w-what are you doing here?" The bird snickered. "No need to be scared. Remember what I said." At this, Sweetie Belle took a big breathe to control her fear. He was right. DD only preyed on third category Gods, and right now, he had only eyes on Sweetie Belle. "As for what I'm doing here. Easy. I only wanted to join in the discussion and say how much I approve these coordinates. Good job Discord. I wanted some good shows, I will certainly have them with these three together." Discord gave a weak laugh. "You're welcome..." Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow. "Now you got me curious. I think that I will forget the rest and directly go to these universes." Discord nodded frantically as he didn't stop looking at DD. "Yes! Do so! Meanwhile, I... I... Oh!" He pointed at a watch on his leg that hadn't been here before. "It's time for my Yu-Gi-Oh tournament with my alternate selves! Must go! Bye!" And he smashed his way through space, leaving behind a hole in the fabric of space and time that quickly closed. The bird laughed. "He never ceases to amuse me." He then looked down at the filly under him. "You will see. You will love these new allies. You will form a terrifying trio with them," he said before he flew away, leaving her alone. "Uh... If you say so..." Sweetie Belle said as she watched the bird until he disappeared behind a tree. Then, she walked toward the Lor Starcutter to put in the coordinates so the ship could lead her to them.