No Strings Attached

“You killed the king?”

Doflamingo looked towards the golden unicorn stallion that had spoken; the way that the other unicorns were looking at it leading him to believe that it was the leader. The Emperor stepped towards the stallion, the two unicorns and the foal that were in front of him moving towards the side to let him through. To his credit the stallion stood his ground, scrutinizing the human as Doflamingo stopped a few meters away.

Doflamingo took the time to observe the unicorn, taking note that it appeared to be of middle-age if the few grey hairs in its mustard colored mane were any indication. The unicorn was roughly the same height as his current subjects and his coat also possessed the sheen created by the Crystal Heart. The stallion finished his examination of the human, the pony approaching Doflamingo to stop right in front of him.

“Just how did you defeat Sombra, if you even did?” the unicorn questioned as he looked up at Doflamingo, the pony’s horn coming up to the tall human’s chest, “I don’t see a horn on you so you can’t do magic and even if you’re fairly fit Sombra would have just blasted you with his magic first.” Doflamingo peered down at the unicorn, a smile that radiated warmth relaxing the golden unicorn.

“Oh, he did blast me with his magic,” Doflamingo replied as the unicorn looked at him in confusion, “I simply blocked it with my coat.” He gestured to his coat as a patch of it suddenly turned black and glossy, startling the stallion. “As you can see, I can use magic even without a horn. Anyway, I killed the king by cutting him up while I suspended him in midair. I tortured him a little before blasting a little hole through his head.” Doflamingo smiled widely, this eliciting a wince from the Stallion, the fact that the bipedal creature’s smile stayed firm only unsettled the unicorn further.

“You… really did all of that to him?”

“Of course. Afterwards, I skinned him to make a rug,” Doflamingo responded to the unnerved stallion, “he completely deserved it from what I hear so really I did the world a favor and gained a fine piece of décor in one swoop.” The unicorn gulped at this, the creature’s voice contained no deceit and his grisly tale seemed genuine. Golden Ring looked over towards Tin and Copper, the two unicorns looking nervously back at the armed guards that were watching the proceedings.

“Donquixote Doflamingo, or simply Emperor Doflamingo as of a few weeks ago,” the creature introduced as it held out a dirty hand towards Golden Ring. The unicorn glanced at the offered hand and figured out the meaning of the gesture, hesitantly extending a hoof towards the limb.

“Golden Ring,” The Emperor clasped his fingers around the hoof and shook it, Golden Ring relieved that the ruler appeared to harbor no ill-will towards the unicorns. Speaking of ill-will however, Golden thought that it would be best if he brought up the most pressing issue sooner than later.

“Um, about the attack on you and your guards,” the unicorn started, regretting his choice to advise his fellows to attack anything that entered the caves.

“It’s fine, a complete misunderstanding. However there is the problem that one of my guards was seriously injured when your two comrades,” the Emperor looked towards the two unicorns responsible, the pair shrinking under his gaze, “attacked him earlier today. Now while I forgive them for the incident, whether or not he does is debatable.” Golden Ring looked down at his hooves dejected, before an idea popped into his head. He glanced over at Ruby Heart, the crimson mare shielding her daughter with her body.

“Ruby Heart over there used to be a nurse; maybe she could help your guard?” Golden Ring asked hopefully, this could be a chance to salvage the unicorns’ reputation. He was overjoyed when the Emperor glanced at the mare before turning back to him and nodding.

“Sounds like a good idea, as long as he forgives you I don’t see a problem with you rejoining my Empire.” the Emperor said as he turned on his heels and walked back towards the exit with his guards scrambling to follow him. “Just head on up and talk to Captain Strategy,” The Emperor suggested.

“Wait, aren’t you going to come with us!?” Golden Ring called out after the Emperor.

“I’m afraid I can’t,” the human called back, “I’ve got a two o’clock I’m already late for so I’ve got to get going. I hope you enjoy life under my rule!”

With these words the Emperor disappeared from view into the darkness, laughing the whole way while his guards followed behind him. Golden Ring looked back towards the rest of the unicorns, each as confused as he was. Hesitantly he walked back towards the makeshift camp and began to pack his things, pausing only to glance around the curious faces of his fellow unicorns.

“What?” he asked as he continued to pack his things. “I’ve had enough of these stupid caves, living under the rule of a bi-polar alien Emperor would beat this any day.”

_________________________________________________________________________________________

“Emperor, I really must stress just how much this new metal could do for us!”

Doflamingo watched with great mirth as the head blacksmith, Iron Greaves moved from weapon rack to armor stand. He had made sure Strategy and his guards escorted the Crystal Unicorns to their new home as he flew away, his guards still gasping and staring in awe as he did so. He smirked at how easily impressed these ponies could be as he headed for the smithy. The gleam of polished steel glinted in the light of crystal lighting, the surprisingly upbeat brown-coated pony bouncing around the room. Doflamingo hadn’t met any blacksmiths before but he imagined them to be dour, heavyset individuals. The chirpy pony ended his bouncing, hefting a halberd out of a rack with the crook of his fore-leg.

“Look at this weapon,” the stallion gushed, holding out the head of the weapon towards the Emperor to show off the sharp edge. “The thought of combining a sharp axe-head and a spear is ingenious, how did your people think of such a brilliant weapon?”

“Oh, just a little bit of constant war for hundreds of years.” Doflamingo commented with a smile, the blacksmith staring at him in concern for a few seconds before he too shrugged and placed the halberd back, moving towards a stand which contained a full suit of armor designed to fit an equine creature.

“This new armor for changeling troops is also a masterpiece, even if I do say so myself.” Iron shined the armor with a rag, the steel suit designed to fully protect every inch of the wearer’s body. “The only downside to this model however is that they will be unable to fly, normally,” Iron grinned and pointed towards a set of gems set into the underside of the suit, Doflamingo peering at the cluster of three gems.

“Let me guess,” Doflamingo began, “Gems that manipulate gravity and or lighten the weight of the object their set into?” Iron stared at the Emperor in surprise.

“You are… absolutely right.”

“Not that hard to figure out really,” Doflamingo replied, “great work on the armor though, how many sets have you and your workers finished?”

“Only about twenty I’m afraid Sir,” Iron answered, his voice losing its cheer, “I know you wanted at least thirty but I was distracted by a special project I was working on.”

“Don’t worry about it Iron,” the Emperor responded as he patted the young stallion on the shoulder, “the Empire only has five changeling guards so it’s no big deal.” The Emperor’s words succeeded in cheering up the blacksmith, Iron’s cheery mood returning.

“Now what’s this about a special project?” Doflamingo asked, the blacksmith bounding towards a side room, the Emperor following close behind.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

“Iron, while I appreciate the gesture, I did not authorize you to make any armor or weapons for myself.”

Iron watched with a crestfallen expression as the Emperor gazed at his new suit of plate armor, the human frowning at this unfortunate misunderstanding. He would have to educate Iron on why this was an unfortunate waste of his time.

“But sir, you should be wearing some form of protection with you from now on and carry a weapon with you. It would impress your subjects and keep you safe since no one wants you to get hurt.” Defended Iron.

“Unfortunately Iron, I have no use for any of that. My powers alone provide me with plenty of offense and defense. For example, in terms of defense,”

Doflamingo suddenly activated his armament haki as the right side of his body glowed as if it were red hot molten metal before flashing away, completely covering the right side of his body with a black, shiny substance, as if the Emperor’s very skin was a type of armor.

“I have the ability to encase any part of my body in an armor that is completely unique to me. Allow me to demonstrate.”

The Emperor took one of the standard swords nearby and held out his hand. He swung down, much to Iron’s horror, upon his own arm and was afraid that he would see a severed limb and blood spraying everywhere when instead the blade actually broke when coming into contact with the Emperor’s new armored form. Iron’s jaw hung down, amazed at how strong the Emperor’s make shift armor was. He also realized that this was part of the Emperor’s magic at work and it was indeed better than anything he could come up with for his ruler.

“I see your point Sir,” Iron answered, “that is truly an impressive defense. I’m ashamed to say I can’t replicate anything like that.”

“Nonsense Iron. You are quite capable in creating protection for my guards. I just needed to demonstrate that I can look after myself just fine.”

Doflamingo continued. “In terms of defense, this armor is near impenetrable and such a hard substance can easily be used for offense.”

To emphasize his point, Doflamingo suddenly bent down and punched the ground with his armored fist. A small crater accompanied by a web of cracks appeared upon impact, the cracks spreading until they nearly reached Iron’s hooves. Iron’s astonishment only grew as the Emperor demonstrated his might and magical prowess.

“So,” Emperor Doflamingo responded, “in terms of accommodating me for battle Iron, while I appreciate the gesture, your work and time can better be spent in improving the gear of my soldiers.”

“Yes Emperor.” Iron answered.

“Now then,” suddenly the black armor the Emperor had slowly vanished, Iron staring in awe as the color disappeared and the Emperor looked the same as he did before activating his armor ability. “Do you wish to see what I can do in terms of offense?” The Emperor asked while Iron Greaves nodded fervently. He had only heard second hoofed accounts of what the Emperor’s magic and attacks were like, many saying that he used strings to defeat Sombra. From what he heard, the strings were sharper than any blade, lift objects up into the air and even allowed the Emperor to fly without wings.

Doflamingo chuckled as he shook his head. “Maybe another time Iron. I’ve already left a small pothole in your smithy and anymore damage will be coming out of the treasury’s pocket.”

Iron seemed disappointed, but he knew the Emperor was right. He had heard how destructive and agile the Emperor could be, the simple demonstration of his natural defense proving that. The Emperor could fully handle himself in a fight and Iron wasn’t too curious to know more about the Emperor’s martial prowess. Doflamingo rubbed his hands together as he strolled past the bewildered blacksmith and over towards a weapon rack at the end of the room. Deciding that the Emperor made his point about his work Iron followed the human.

Doflamingo stopped at the rack and retrieved another sword that was the length of a pony, multiple gems set in the grip.

“Sir,” Iron softly asked as the Emperor tested the weight of the sword, “have you even been trained to use th-“

Iron stopped speaking as the Emperor completed a series of thrusts, parries and slices, all expertly preformed.

“To answer your concerns, I’ve been practicing the use of bladed weaponry for years. After all,” the Emperor chuckled as he ran a finger over the sword edge, “sometimes cutting your foe with a knife is just so much more fun.” Iron shifted nervously as the human swung his sword a couple times more before another weapon caught the Emperor's eye.

“Ah, I see you found the mace sir,” Iron observed as the Emperor picked up the flanged device, the weapon designed to crush armor and shatter bones. The top possessed a pointed spike that could be thrust between the joints of an opponent’s armor and the weapon also had its own set of gems set into the handle.

“Indeed,” Doflamingo said as he poked the gems, “while I have experience wielding various weapons, my own abilities are more than enough for my enemies.”

Doflamingo didn’t have his pistols on him when he first woke up in this world, which might have been for the best as he didn’t want to upset the balance of power too much by introducing this world’s inhabitants to guns. Bows and arrows would settle for the time being, as he also needed to make sure that his Empire was catching up technologically while still being slightly ahead of any other potential rival countries.

“Well then,” Doflamingo sighed, “as long as we understand each other,” placing the mace back down and returning the sword to the weapons’ rack, the Emperor walked towards the rooms exit. “Great work Iron, keep it up.”

“Yes Emperor!” Iron saluted, the blacksmith already moving to the workshop to supervise the creation of the giant ballistae.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

“Emperor Sir, what took you so long?”

The guard private who had been assigned to the Emperor while he visited the military area of the city stared in awe at the sight of his Emperor, his very being giving off an air of authority and power that demanded respect. The human had no weapons or armor on his person, which confused the private before he thought of the unsettling idea that his Emperor didn’t even need such things for combat. While he had heard of the Emperor’s magical prowess, he didn’t have the opportunity to see his Emperor fight at all.

“Onwards, Guard Private…”

“Sharp Point, Emperor.” the guard answered when Doflamingo glanced at him.

“Yes, onwards towards the palace.” the Emperor decreed as he marched off, Sergeant Sharp Point following behind questioning what just happened.

Little did the Emperor know that there was an unforeseen danger that lurked back within his palace.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

“So the gems are-“

“Protected by a force field gem, I know I said I didn’t need the things he made for me but to make up for it al-“

Doflamingo trailed off as the pair entered the Palace Throne Room, the vast space seemingly empty as the Emperor and guard cautiously walked towards the throne.

“Isn’t there supposed to be servants and advisors Sir?” Sharp Point asked, the empty room really creeping him out.

“Normally yes,” Doflamingo replied as he scanned the room, “keep on your guard, something catastrophic must have occur-“ Sharp Point had no time to react before a black blur flew out from behind the throne and tackled the surprised Emperor chest on, toppling the human over as it collided with his chest.

“Ow,” a female voice sounded from the black figure sprawled on top of the Emperor, Sharp Point now able to see that the attacker was a changeling.

“Emperor Doflamingo?” Sharp Point stepped a little closer, seeing that the Emperor was looking down at the changeling, seemingly unhurt, which confirmed that the ruler was conscious. Now that he was closer, Sharp Point identified the changeling as the Emperor’s advisor, Reflection. The guard didn’t know what to do, the changeling recovering from the impact while the human simply stared at the changeling.

Doflamingo had seen Reflection coming at him, not bothering to dodge her sudden assault since he had not been hurt at all by the impact. Doflamingo looked up from his spot on the floor, a pair of angry green eyes glaring down at him.

“Donquixote Doflamingo,” Reflection was not pleased; Doflamingo’s developed sense of the female psyche keyed him in to this fact. The way that her hoof was rapidly approaching his face was also a dead giveaway. He smiled at the changeling’s fiery temper.

“What the Buck were you thinking!?” the hoof connected with Doflamingo’s shoulder, the changeling diverting the blow at the last second. “You charged into a cave filled with dangerous creatures by yourself!”

“No I didn’t. It was only a few unicorns and I did have a few guards who ran in after me.”

“I don’t care!” the irate changeling answered as she put both front hooves beside Doflamingo’s head, “what if you had gotten hurt or worse! You can’t just constantly run head-first into problems like that! We haven’t even gone on a date yet and you go off to fight unicorns in a cave!” Sharp Point decided that it would be incredibly wise to keep his mouth shut and move over to guard the door, well out of range of any potential changeling hoof attacks.

“So, if you’re done yelling and being paranoid,” Doflamingo asked slowly, “can you get off of me now? I can also handle anything I encounter myself thank you very much.”

Reflection paused as she looked into the Emperor’s eyes, or rather his sunglasses as the human squirmed under the changeling.

“Reflection? Did you hea-“

The Emperor was unable to finish his query as the changeling darted forward and pushed her mouth onto his. Sharp Point stood at his spot and stared at the pair, the sudden act so unexpected that the private could do nothing but watch as the changeling increased her assault on the Emperor’s mouth fortress. Strangely the Emperor ceased his struggling after just a few seconds, the human wrapping his arms around the changeling as he pulled her in closer. Both of the beings were so caught up in their activity that they didn’t even notice the throne room doors open and a large white pony accompanied by a group of bodyguards and dignitaries all surrounded by Crystal guards enter.

“Announcing the arrival of Her Royal Highness Princ- Oh!”

The changeling and human broke apart in alarm, pulling their heads apart to stare at the speaker in shock, the Royal Guard who was in charge of introducing his Princess speechless.

Emperor Doflamingo looked at the group of ponies from his position on the floor, all of them with varying expressions of shock and disbelief on their faces. The only exception was the tall white mare wearing a Tiara and Necklace, no doubt this ‘Princess Celestia’ that he had been expecting. Of course the Equestrians would arrive at exactly this point in time. Princess Celestia giggled, the white mare unable to control her mirth at the situation.

“Is this a bad time, Emperor Doflamingo? We can come back tomorrow if you prefer.”

“Fufufufu! No, no! That will not be necessary,” Doflamingo replied as he used a hand to wipe away the string of saliva that ran from Reflection’s mouth to his. “We were just… discussing the newest upgrades to the civic infrastructure in districts three-seven B to four-nine F, sanitary maintenance that’s all.” he finished, Reflection climbing off him as he stood up. The changeling sheepishly turned her head away from the Princess’s interested gaze, a green blush on her cheeks and human saliva on her chin.

‘While a little physical affection from my girlfriend is welcome, the timing of it all leaves a lot to be desired.’ The Emperor cleared his throat, the Princess looking towards the strange creature which when it was standing was much more intimidating.

“Shall we adjourn to my meeting chamber your Highness?” the Emperor offered extending a hand towards a door on the other side of the room. Celestia was quite impressed with how the Emperor quickly pulled off a flawless recovery, no trace in his voice of the fact that he had just been caught tongue-wrestling with a member of the most-vilified species in Celestia’s country.

“I think that would be for the best,” Celestia agreed, following the Emperor as he moved towards the doorway. The changeling female who had recently been on top of the human moved beside him, the creature ducking her head in embarrassment. The group of nobles following

Celestia looking at one another before the stern gazes of the Crystal pony guards drove them forwards towards behind their ruler.

The doors shut behind the group, leaving the lone Private Sharp Point frozen on his spot traumatized by the sight that he had bared witness too.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

To say the atmosphere at the table was tense was an understatement. Emperor Doflamingo simply sat there, his eyes scanning all of the Equestrians from behind his shades while Celestia sipped daintily from a tea cup suspended in her magic field opposite him. On Doflamingo’s side of the rectangular table sat Reflection, Sparkling and various nobles and guards.  Celestia was seated amongst her own Royal guard and her entourage of nobility with a particularly snobby looking blond unicorn whose face was still scrunched up in disgust from the sight he had been present to before.

“So Emperor Doflamingo,” Celestia began as she put down her teacup, “I would enjoy exchanging stories but being a ruler leaves one with little time to spare, something I’m sure you can relate to.”

“Of course, today alone has been quite a… interesting one.” Doflamingo replied as he tilted his head towards the princess, his habitual smile on his face. He missed the smile that Celestia hid behind her cup as she moved to take another sip.

“As I saw, at least I know for sure now that you yourself are quite receptive to changelings.” she teased as she took a victory sip of tea.

“Fufufu! I know it must be hard to hold yourself back Princess, I can tell by the way you stared at my crotch as I got up that you haven’t had a good time in a while.” Celestia spat out the tea she had in her mouth at the Emperor’s reply. She coughed and spluttered as Emperor Doflamingo calmly cleaned the front of his shirt with a napkin to at least get rid of the tea and not the stain. Doflamingo didn’t mind however, it was worth it to beat the Princess at her own game.

“I should have warned you Princess,” Doflamingo gloated as Celestia looked back up at him in embarrassment, “I am incredibly experienced in the art of diplomatic banter, you have much to learn.”

“So, it seems,” Celestia conceded, “shall we begin discussing the terms of agreement?”

“Against my better judgment Princess, let’s get down to business.”

_________________________________________________________________________________________

“… and so it is with these terms that we both agree to close this agreement. As soon as we both sign I will arrange for the transport of the sixty-one changelings currently held in Equestrian prisons to the Crystal Empire as well as multiple loads of supplies to assist in the re-building of the Empire.”

Doflamingo had been attentive throughout the proceedings, but was still subjected to a fairly forceful under-the-table reminder kick courtesy of Reflection. He nodded as Celestia levitated her glasses off of her muzzle as she put the parchment on the table. The deal was satisfactory enough for him and he was glad to know that Cadence couldn’t really do anything to stop this from happening. Using a feather and quill provided by a nearby assistant the princess signed her name at the bottom of the sheet, moving it over to Doflamingo after she was done. Doflamingo quickly read over the parchment one last time before signing his name at the bottom, sealing the deal much to the satisfaction to the Princess.

“It’s a real blessing that we were able to agree on something so important for all of our peoples Emperor,” the Princess happily stated, “now with all of that out of the way why don’t we share some of our past experiences. Now, as you’ve no doubt heard my little ponies are some of the most peaceful…”

‘Well at least that’s over with. Fufu, I guess having Reflection as a lover won’t be too bad. After all, I need to have my own fun every now and then. Still, I don’t really care much for all of this talking. Hopefully something happens to liven up this tedious affair.’ Doflamingo thought as he nodded his head as the Princess continued on with her re-telling of her country’s history. The nobility from both sides also looked completely bored and Reflection was staring at the table daydreaming. Existence for once actually took pity upon the Emperor and just as the Princess was about to explain how some elements defeated an evil snake the doors burst open, a frantic guard bursting through them with a halberd in his hoof.

“Commander Doflamingo, a large group of bipedal dog monsters are attacking the city pillaging and looting! The guard is fighting back but they need assistance!”

“Diamond Dogs,” Celestia stated with concern, “they are known for isolated foalnappings but I’ve never heard of them attacking an entire city before.”

The Crystal guards surrounding the table moved to leave however Doflamingo halted them with a hand. The Emperor stood up from his chair, grateful for the opportunity to kill these foolish mongrels for having the gall to raid his Empire.

“No, you stay here and guard our guests,” Doflamingo ordered, the soldiers returning to their positions hesitantly.

“Doflamingo,” Reflection asked with dread, “please tell me you’re not going out to fight again.” Doflamingo stopped and turned to face Reflection and Celestia. Reflection was so sensitive and temperamental; leaving her with a bunch of Equestrians was just asking for trouble. While he didn’t want to use his abilities in front of the Equestrians and the Princess, he thought that a little display of power might convince them to not do anything stupid and it would let him watch over them to see what they thought of his methods.

“I go forth to defend my subjects and kingdom,” he proclaimed, “however Reflection, I will also be staying here with our guests. For those who are curious, this is how I’ll do that.”

Without waiting for a reply Doflamingo raised his arms into the air and to everyone’s shock and amazement, thousands of threads suddenly began shooting out of the human’s body. The strings began to come together in the air, bundling together and becoming thinker and more defined as the seconds passed. To everyone’s surprise the strings were forming into something, something that looked surprisingly like the Emperor himself. Indeed, it only took a minute until the strings stopped sprouting from the Emperor’s body to form a perfect clone of the human, which was now promptly up in the air, held there by nothing any of the ponies could see, except to Doflamingo, who still had a few strings attached to  the marionette to keep it aloft.

“May I present my doppelganger,” Doflamingo gestured with a hand as the clone floated down onto the ground. “He is known as the Black Knight, a clone of myself created through my power. He will go forth and give out punishment to these so called Diamond Dogs.”

Doflamingo turned to his clone, which surprisingly turned to face him as they both smiled. “You know what to do…” Doflamingo told his double as the clone nodded and chuckled.

“Of course.” The clone replied, shocking the Equestrians and his own subjects alike. The clone began to leave the room, as everyone in the room stared off at it. The real Doflamingo sat back down in his chair and addressed the princess.

“Now then princess Celestia,” the Equestrian princess to stare at him in shock and curiosity as he smiled at her. “Please continue and tell me more about your little ponies.”

Doflamingo didn’t particularly care, but he already figured out that this princess was unused to the type of bloodshed he was used to and had trained his guards in the same manner. These soft-hearted Equestrians would get the wrong idea if they witnessed how he dealt with threats and for now he didn’t want to threaten the alliance he was trying to form with them and that meant keeping them here occupied while he controlled his clone to go and slaughter the idiotic dogs who dared to raid his city.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

The clone of Doflamingo passed Private Sharp Point, who was still in the throne room. The Private had snapped out of his trance when the messenger had gone past, Sharp Point shaking his head before he galloped after the human, the pony only stopping to retrieve his spear.

“Sir, where are you going? It’s incredibly dangerous outside with all of the monsters running around!” Sharp Point shouted as he caught up the Emperor who was in the process of moving his fingers around in an erratic manner.

“I know Private,”  Shadow Doflamingo responded gleefully, “the question you should be asking is who exactly is going to be in danger.”

“Sir?” the private questioned, slightly confused at what the Emperor was alluding to.

“It’s like this Sharp Point,” Shadow Doflamingo replied as he smiled at the opportunity fate had given him. “I’m going to put the ‘Die’ in ‘Diamond Dog’, and I am going to enjoy doing it.”

The clone’s chuckling left little to Sharp Point’s imagination on what the Emperor would do to the intruders, but he knew that it wasn’t going to be pretty.