Iona dreaded waking up as today was the day that she had to set up the princess ball. By the stars, the ascended, and by the universe, she wished that her body would stop working. Darkness covered her vision like a flood covering the street. She refused to open them as if she stayed asleep then she wouldn't have to set it up.

"Princess, Princess rise and shrine." The voice belonged to a drone that had a voice straight out of a southern romcom that Iona watched on occasion. The twangy accent was good but it was not her ideal accent.

"Quiet machine, just ignore me and say I ran away." Shouted Iona as she pulled the covers over her head in an attempt to hide from the spherical drone that hovered over her via a type of anti-gravity technology.

"That simply won't do, you have duties, specifically the princess ball. Children from the rulers of all of the dynasties of the empire will be attending. You are representing not only yourself but your father and mother."

"Yeah yeah shut up, if I want to sleep for a couple of hours, then I will sleep for a couple of hours. No machine is going to tell…." Before Iona could finish the last word, the covers were yanked like a fish out of water.

"Princess you agreed to this and I have the recordings to remind you. Not doing it will cause others to view you with distrust. If the princess lies about hosting the ball, then what else is she lying about?" The drone said while folding the star-themed sheets with great skill.

The drone continued." Oh, and your servants will be taking you from here."

In seconds multiple of the servants entered her room with a small throne floating behind them.

"Who are you, people!" This princess ball must have been serious if they had to burst into her room like this.

One of the servants who was taller than the rest stepped forward."Your highness, we are here to escort you to the baths and the royal organizer."

"I don't need an escort and why are you even here. Why don't you go and enjoy your lives like play games all day, dance, or even dream?" Iona didn't understand why she had servants in a society where that wasn't needed. The palace was fully automated by the brain who did maintenance via drones, and in a sense, it was an eternal watcher in the night.

The next word the servant said shocked the young princess." It is because we want to serve. We all dreamed of palace life from the movies, books, and even games. It is such an exciting life, princess and we could leave anytime we want."

.

Iona opened her mouth to say something but nothing came.

"You know what, why not." Iona leaped into the air and landed gracefully on the floating throne.

Hours later, Iona was dressed in her star-themed kimono with a crown that raided like the stars of the galaxy. Subtle heat exited from the crown. On her feet were tabi stocks that were a dark blue with little stars painted over them. She didn’t wear her sandals this time as she was not in the presence of guests. Before her were numerous servants holding jewelry from rings that phased in and out of reality to bracelets that were made out of moonrock. However, one necklace with a shining orb caught her eye, and the orb resembled the sun before its metal imprisonment.

“What is this necklace, it is so beautiful?” Iona felt mesmerized by its radiant beauty. She felt like a child staring at a beautiful rock.

“Princess, the necklace is made out of gold and the orb is a condensed star. It is meant to show the glory of the royal family.”

“I will take that one”, she said as she grabbed the necklace and placed it around her neck. Iona felt proud, confident that she adorned herself with such a necklace that made her look divine. Although calling herself a god would be bad form, part of her wanted to do that.

"Now what is next?" Iona questioned while getting back on the throne.

"The royal party organizer is next princess, he had organized all parties in the palace for several millennia." One of the servants replied with his head bowed to the ground.

Iona was put off by how the servants took this role so seriously. She could have dismissed them and did the rest herself but something in her soul told her not to do that. Was it some nanobot in her bloodstream, or some distant god?

"Fine, let's go and meet him. I so do hope that he is pleasant."

Seeing the royal organizer, Iona was in a mix of emotions. The man had mutated his body via extreme genetic engineering. His feet were bird talons, and his legs were so scaley that snakes could call him brother.

His eyes were void and his smile revealed shark teeth that overlapped.

"Jesus, Zeus, and Thor, what have you done to yourself."Iona didn't mean any ill will to her fellow human but his appearance startled her. Has she forgotten the absurd gene modification that her kind did to themselves?"

"Princess I feel like these changes represent the best part of me, and because I saw this character in a show and I wanted to mimic him." The man didn't seem offended as if he was used to people being uneased by his appearance.

"No apologies, I mean no offense." She hated judgemental and hoped that she didn't offend the organizer.

"None taken princess, so you have a lot on your plate. Let me get the guest list." The man summoned a screen of hard light with a list so long that it would break the mind of a lesser species or one belonging to a barbarian culture.

The stars themselves would end before the list stopped. There were too many people coming to the ball. If there was a god that Iona knew, she already uttered so many blasphemous words in her mind.

"Fucking Jesus how many people are coming? This list is too long, it is just a ball."

"Princess, the ball invitation is sent to every Princess and their choice of guest in the empire. Our civilization covers billions of worlds, and the orbital stations are even more. Some may not attend, but expect a good number to attend."

"Good number my ass, do you know how many equations I will have to run to determine everything? There are so many factors I will have to account for."

"Well I can offer you some advice but your mother told me that this is all on you. Out of respect for the queen, I can't help you directly."

"You have to be kidding me, I don't even know where to start." Iona didn't know how to set up this ball. If she ran her equations, it would take days, and she did not have time as she was a perfectionist in her math.

"Princess one word of advice I can give you is that setting up this ball requires more than simple equations."

Iona nearly broke at what this man was saying. As if the man stabbed her through the heart with some primitive sword. The princess was in the process of nearly having a panic attack.

"Alright alright, let's do this. I will need nanobots and a temporal specialist for this project. Go fetch them and I will go through the lists."

"As you wish my princess." The organizer bowed and quickly phased out in a display of light while a hard light screen appeared in front of Iona.

She had to send an invitation video to each of the dynasties, and while her mother didn't do this, she wanted to add some spark to it.

In a display of light, Iona's kimono turned into a shirt, pants, sneakers and a gold chain was wrapped around her neck.

Once she pressed play, the hilarity ensured.

"Yo yo yo, this is princess Iona the infinite of the Solar Empire, I am here to invite all of the princesses along with their guests to the princess ball on Earth. As host, there will be music from hip-hop to classical, and for the nerds out there, we will be converting spacetime into music." Iona paused to catch her breath as she was still a biological being and she still needed to catch her breath. However, she flashed her gold chain while showing the eons-old peace sign.

"Next is the food, for the Bios, there will be fruit and lobster." Iona stopped for a couple of seconds as drool dripped from her mouth as she fantasized about eating the lobster.

Shaking her head, she continued," Not only that but there will be tons of sweets, meat and so much food that your bellies will burst. So I hope you all come and enjoy yourselves and remember to say cool like me." The screen closed and Iona groaned loudly. That was so awkward and by the stars, she wished not to do it again.

"Princess, what is your will." Said the dimension specialist as he appeared with the organizer behind the princess.

"Fuck, don't do that." Iona jerked as the specialist startled her.

"Apologies princess, it won't happen again."

"Alrighty, I will need the dimensions of this room to be extended that can contain millions of people if necessary. After that, we will need the walls to be heightened to support it. Can you do that?"

"Yes I can, I didn't spend a millennium in the arcane guilds for nothing."

"Then do so, then it will be the nanobots turn to do their work."

The walls along with the floor expanded like rubber bands as if the dimensionlist had such control over the lifeblood of the universe that he could be considered a deity. Matter or the lifeblood of the universe was being changed and distorted. Iona stayed silent as this process required concentration. Just one interruption could cause harmful effects from ripping a hole in reality, or worse. She admired the mastery of his skill and held her tongue.

After the dimensionalist was finished, Iona clapped as if she watched an entire opera.

"That is so awesome, man my party will be so rad. However, we will need a place to collect all of the gifts." The new room was wide and in the middle of the room was a large throne suited for Iona. It was propelled in the air via anti-gravity technology.

"Now, let's put these nanobots to work." After a series of equations, the nanobots gathered like a locust swarm. Tables with food were being placed in the room atom by atom. The display of creation was breathtaking as the bots added lights, curtains, and other necessities for the ball.

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"Princess, the line will be long. I suggest we put up the formation rules so there won't be any confusion.

"Yes, you are right, we will have a drone greet the guests." Just when Iona said that her drone phased above her but fortunately she heard the phasing so it wasn't as startling.

"Princess, I am here to check up on your progress. I see you have been busy, although your setting of the tables is much more different than your mother's."

"Are you here to criticize me all day?"

"No princess, but I must warn you that not everyone obeys the rules of the Ball. There will be enemies together in this room as the dynasties are not united."

"What would they try to do?"

"Oh you know, try to kill each other. Although it would be social suicide to do so, and in front of the heir to the empire, humans are not always the most logical of creatures. However, you can gain a better social standing if an incident arises."

"Explain please, how can a potential murder increase my status?"

"You are the heir to the empire but not everyone knows what kind of ruler you will be. If you show such rule breaking will not be tolerated then you will get much more respect. Imagine how your peers will treat you when you get into the guild."

Iona paused to process all the drone said and smiled." So I will be more popular if I do the right thing. However, what if a guest tried to attack me?"

"None would dare to do so princess, you are the jewel of the empire. Everyone knows you are the heir and surely attacking the princess will lead to a fate worse than death. However, you will be watched as your parents are highly protective. If such an incident happens, then the offender will be reduced to atoms."

"Oh fuck, this shall be an interesting ball. I guess I should get ready soon."

"That will be the best princess," said the drone as he teleported away.

Iona turned to the organizer while the nanobots were doing the finishing touches." Tell me, what do you think? I love the spark I gave to the ball."

"It is all alright princess but you are forgetting something.

"What is that organizer?" Asked Iona with raised eyebrows.

"The events, you have food, music but no games or events. A boring ball is worse than no-ball."

"Fine then, let me think of something. The actual dance will be at the end, though for the beginning there will be food and socialization, before the gifts I think I will play a movie."

"A movie my princess?" Questioned the organizer.

"Yes a bloody movie, but you must not like that option. So instead, I shall take arcade games from old humanity and palace them here. Mortal Kombat is primitive in design, but the nostalgia of the past always makes people happy."

The organizer was visibly confused but he bowed his head out of respect.

"For now, I will get ready for the ball." Iona vanished before the organizer like vapor in the wind before he could say a word.

Hours later, Iona observed herself in the mirror. Even in her dressing room, she could hear the sounds of so many people. They were all waiting for the host whose throne sat empty as she hadn't arrived.

"Your guests are waiting for you princess." Said the floating drone that hovered over the shoulder of Iona.

"I know, you don't have to tell me. I am just nervous...get ready to announce me."

"Do you need relaxation drugs? I could schedule an implant of drug glands in your body."

"No, I can handle it," Iona waved her hand to dismiss the drone as she planted the crown on her head. Her hands were shaking as she held the drone.

The drone grabbed both of her hands softly despite it having cold metal hands.

"Do not be afraid, you will do fine. You are Iona the Infinite of the Solar Empire, and you are master of these halls."

Iona could not help but smile at the encouragement of this drone. She straightened her kimono and summoned her rod which had an orb that contained a pocket galaxy for aesthetics.

Immediately reality shattered like a ball thrown through a window. The matter parted like the red sea as Iona stepped through. By the stars was this entrance beyond extra but Iona was an extra ten-year-old girl. After entering through, she found dozens upon dozens of princesses along with their guests. Some were the same age as her, others were teens and others were much older.

"Entering Princess Iona the infinite of the Solar Empire, and heir to the Master of the Universe."

Once Iona sat on the throne, each bowed before her. This filled her with a sense of pride that one day, all of the dynasty heads will bow before her.

"Raise your heads, and welcome to the palace. I will be your host and I hope you enjoy your stay." Iona said with her hands clapped together.

The crowd lifted their heads and one by one approached the throne.

The gifts that Iona getting was overwhelming from a pocket universe, a condensed neutron star, a dimensional cube, and even a necklace that was from the fourth dimension. Although that was one biological and wet.

One girl about Iona's age had blonde hair although it was short. There was no gift in her hand and this caused silence from the others. To not bring a gift was a huge social blow.

"My name is Princess Emily and I don't have a physical gift to give you."

The room could have been a soundproof room with his quiet it is.

"Instead, I have a memory." Immediately Iona was flooded with a memory of a really funny joke.

She laughed so much that tears dripped from her eyes. The joke landed well, although Iona was simple in her taste of jokes. She held her stomach as it started to hurt with how funny it was.

"You know what, that was funny. Give me a fist bump my dude." Iona held out her hand in a closed fist.

Emily met her fist with hers with a bright smile.

The older princesses laughed as it was a sigh of relief as that would be an uncomfortable situation to be in socially.

When Emily left, more princesses approached to give gifts.

"Princess, how could you allow people of the Martian dynasty in this hall. They are traitors, and are guilty of multiple war crimes."

This was expected and Iona was given a warning that something like this would happen. However, before she could answer, another princess spoke up.

"Don't speak to me of war crimes bitch. Should I mention to the princess where you get your food? On how you enslaved a medieval aquatic alien society and cull their numbers for your feasts."

"Bastard, those are baseless rumors!"

Beside Iona was her guard who kneeled to whisper in her ear." Princess, these representatives are from the Martian and Okiat dynasty, they are at war."

Iona whispered back." Why does father not stop them?"

"They are minor dynasties, and usually keep their feud contained. Their wars are quite small compared to wars in the past."

"How small are the wars?"

"Over a billion drones are printed for the wars, humans do engage but the drones outnumber them by a lot. Sometimes, a star may collapse as a result of the wars."

"That doesn't seem small to me, and what is this about aliens?"

"Trust me, it is small, you should have seen when one of the major dynasties went to establish his holdings in our neighboring galaxy. As for the aliens, the Okiat dynasty is xenophobic, and has several barbarian societies enslaved."

Iona for the first time in her life was visibly shocked. Her brain was taking time to process what the guard told her. Slavery was outlawed so long ago, but this was regarding humans, not the alien. Iona had no opinions regarding the xenos, but she saw some are weird.

"Why use slavery, that is a waste of time. We can create stars, and rearrange matter itself, I don't see why that dynasty is enslaving aliens."

"It is a complicated issue princess as some dynasties do it to have pets, others despise the alien, and there are some that use them as batteries."

"What do you advise?" Asked Iona

"Address them both, and be sure to be stern. So basically be yourself, my princess."

The argument between the two princesses was getting annoying and Iona hated to be annoyed. With such force as if hate itself flowed through her rod, she slammed it on the ground which cracked like thunder.

"Shut the fuck up! She shouted. "The princess ball is a place of neutrality where everyone can have a good time, not a place for your bricking. If you don't agree to that, then you will be escorted out, do I make myself clear?" All eyes were now on the two princesses who were just rebuked by a ten-year-old.

"Apologies princess, it won't happen again." Said the princesses in unison as they bowed in submission.

"I am glad that we understand each other." Iona gestured for the princesses to make way for more gifts.

The next princess was about the same age as Iona instead she had long golden hair and had a suit on. Iona's interest peaked as instead of some physics-breaking gift, or psionic message, all Iona saw was a box. It was simple, but Iona was tired of all of these over-the-top gifts so maybe this would be normal.

"Princess Iona, my gift is my family's homemade lava cakes." When she opened the box, the smell of the chocolate-colored cakes made Iona's mouth water, she could already taste the rich chocolate. The chocolate was not made by some nanobots. It was made with human hands, a rare thing in the empire of humanity.

"Thank you, what is your name?" Asked Iona as she took one of the chocolate cakes and bit into it. Euphoric pleasure rushed in her like a torrent of rain that falls from the sky. Her fingers closed involuntary as her taste buds were attempting to understand what was in her mouth. The cake burst hot thick chocolate in her mouth which was warm enough to enhance the experience. Iona took her time chewing the sweet as it was too good. If not for her enhanced biological form, the pleasure might be too much for the nerves.

"I am princess Amanda whose dynasty is the envy of the stars regarding bakery."

"Alright alright, enough of this, I will have to finish your chocolates later as it is so good." Iona quickly finished the one cake and closed the box. She opened a dimensional pocket and placed the box inside.

Amanda bowed before Iona before going to the side so more can come.

Hours later, Iona received all of the gifts and there was an abundant conversation and eating.

"I will converse with my guests as staying on this throne is boring."

The guard bowed his head as she got off her throne and went to mix into the crowd. Iona being anxious would be an understatement as one day she will inherit the empire that owns billions upon billions of stars. She passed through the crowd and approached the lobster and grabbed one by the tail.

“You like Lobster, Princess Iona, I prefer fried fish." Emily had a piece of lobster in her mouth. Beside her was her guest who was about her age.

Iona would have been offended if it was not for the pleasant joke that Emily shared. She grabbed one lobster tail and ripped it off in a snapping noise from the main body of the dead lobster." In my opinion, lobster is the best course at any party." The bluntness of Emily intrigued the princess as most spoke with such reverence and respect but Emily talked to her like she was a friend.

"Emily, you are very different, most tip around when they speak to me. However, you speak your mind." Iona paused to give Emily a chance to answer.

"Princess honestly is highly valued in my dynasty. Plus, I see that we will be doing so many antics together. However, this is your party princess so tell me who you will dance with."

"Please call me Iona and I am not sure." Everyone here had a dance partner, all except the host. The host usually had a partner such as Iona's mother with her father but Iona never bothered.

"Dance with me, I can teach you something about the art of dance," Emily said with such forwardness to it.

"No no Emily, you have your plus one and it will be rude for me to get in between you."

"Iona, the plus one was just someone to bring. He won't mind, plus he will be busy admiring the scenery."

Iona never danced before and it was one thing that she didn't know. This hurt her the only thing that could be hurt, and that was her pride.

"Then it is a dance then, Iona nervously chuckled as she finished the lobster tail in her hand and went out to socialize.

"Fuck yes, I win again," roared Amanda as she slammed her fist on the gameboard which caused a dent in it.

Iona was quick to see the commotion and fortunately, the nanobots were fixing the damage.

"Princess Amanda are you alright, ah I see you are playing Galaxy Fighter." It took all of her strength to not become excited about meeting someone who enjoyed the same game that she did.

"Galaxy girl is my main, she may be the cover girl, but I love her move sets and aesthetics. Who is your favorite character, princess Iona?"

"Mine is Solar, his move set works well with my mastery of long-ranged combat."

"Do you want to play a game?"

"A game right now, I suppose I have the time."

Iona enjoyed a couple of rounds with Amanda and it got loud, loud enough to cause a small gathering.

"Princess Iona, it is almost time to dance." The small drone hovered above her and laying a cold hand on her shoulder.

"Is it, man time flies by. Hey Amanda what is the score?"

"It is a tie, unfortunately," said Amanda with a nervous chuckle.

"Then let's end here and get ready for the dance." Iona summoned her staff and walked from the arcade area. Thousands upon thousands of eyes were now on her.

"My friends, it is time for the dance, now get with your plus one and enjoy yourselves. Glory to the Solar Empire, and glory to mankind." Iona Shouted which was adorable in its way.

Upon saying that, she began to walk to her throne before someone grabbed her shoulder and turned her around.

"Iona, I hope you didn't forget about my offer. Let's beat these losers and make them eat our dust." Emily was smiling and held out her hand as an invitation for Iona to take it.

"I don't know how to dance, so you will have to lead." Iona dropped her staff and grabbed Emily's hand although a bit tightly.

The dance floor was in complete sync, each movement was fluid with no jerking motion.

Iona's mind and Emily's connected so each knew their next action. Each of Iona's mistakes was corrected in microseconds. It was as if she had a mastery of the art of dance. Dancing was never Iona's strong suit, if it wasn't for Emily, she would have embarrassed herself.

"Iona your mind is immense, how do you deal with such psychic might? It is like I am an island surrounded by vast seas." Emily said telepathically as she stared into Iona's eyes.

"I inherited power from my mother and father. However, I am not sure how I handle it as I don't tend to use my psychic powers." Iona saw Emily's mind as a forest filled with animals drinking from the river.

"Let's become friends, we can have a slumber party, my place."

"I'm afraid I may not have time physically until I know when I head to the guilds but we can meet in the Astral plane."

"Ugh your parents are sending you to a guild, mine is sending me to the arcane guilds."

"By the stars, I am being sent there too. Maybe we will be roommates or dormmates."

"Then we will be the best pranksters in the history of the arcane guilds."

Iona laughed with a snort as the two danced throughout the floor.

Hours later the ball was over and Iona was laying on the floor mentally worn out.

Her mother manifested above her with a soft smile.

"Daughter this was quite a ball but you did well. Though I have some criticisms. You were too harsh with those two princesses, and some of the food choices could have been better."

"Mother, I just love lobster and those princesses were so annoying."

"Just because you love lobster doesn't mean that everyone else loves it. As heir, you will deal with so many people that want to make you pull your hair out. However, it won't be right to abuse them as that is bad form."

Iona sighed as she sat up and crossed her knees.

"Do not be disappointed, you did good and I love you. I just want the best for you my daughter, I love you."

"I love you to mom, but I did make two friends today."

"I know you did, it was Emily and Amanda, right? Emily's dynasty has some of the best chronomancers and Amanda's dynasty chefs are the envy of the empire."

"How do you know this?"

"Iona, I am the second most powerful person in the empire. It is my job to know everything that happens in this palace and beyond."

Iona wasn't fond of being spied on but she wouldn't say anything for fears of upsetting her mother.

"Mother, I will be in my room for the remainder of the day. I hope father was pleased with the ball."

"He was Iona, he and I are proud of you."

Iona nodded and phased out and into her room.

For the rest of the day, she contacted Emily and Amanda and played a building game with them for hours.

Iona the infinite, heir to the Solar empire finally has friends.