Catpone Cerberus

@Starforce "I have always been interested in glass, I don't know why, but something about it has always fascinated me." she picked up a small glass amulet from among the ready items, the light going through it turned into a rainbow in a prism like effect "I read about making glass since I first learned to read, and tried it in foal-safe environments now and then, but in the moment I got my cutiemark, that was when I knew exactly what I wanted to do" she brought the amulet up and looked through it "Every creation is like a life, unique and fragile, every imperfection adds character, those sold as perfect are equally as uninspiring as those who buy them."

@Lucid_Nightlight Ember let out few post-cry shaky laughs, "I'm curious how you got out." "I have had my own drink aftermaths, usually a fight or something catching fire, but once I woke up in middle of nowhere, wearing a bird outfit, with bunch of birds just staring at me. Still no idea what that was about." "I started to limit myself after I had enough enemies to make carelessness like that dangerous." she sounded slightly happier right away, though there was still sniffing and shakiness as was to be expected from someone recovering from crying. -------------------------------- "That is terrifying." Vix admitted "Let's hope he doesn't get any similar ideas with Ruby." he thought for a second "I understand if you don't want to think about it, but, since you know her best from us, what could possibly make Ruby that terrified? she doesn't seem like someone easily scared."

@Lucid_Nightlight Ember didn't respond verbally, but she did press herself slightly harder against Arrow, she didn't really know how she would have responded or really even how she was supposed to react, as this was the first time in quite a while she let herself to break down, eventually though, she started to calm back down, and after she calmed down enough to speak, she quietly said "Thank you." it hadn't magically fixed her problem, but it felt good to be able to let out some pressure. --------------------------------- "Sounds manageable." Vix stated "Danthe, how'd you feel giving me a ride?" Danthe, still steaming, or well, at this point smoking, just grunted "That's a yes." Cinder didn't say anything, which concerned Vix slightly, he had known her for some time, having met her before the first war, and had never seen her so quiet, usually she always had something to comment, and that stare, it sent cold shivers down his back.

@Lucid_Nightlight Ember didn't fight the hug, in fact, at first she barely reacted, but after a moment or two her last walls collapsed and she broke out crying, she was a quiet crier, but it was still easy to tell it had been long time coming, Arrow was right, she may have had a therapist, but professional help didn't replace emotional connection, sometimes instead of practical solutions, one just needed a shoulder to cry on, though who would have thought that the shoulder this half dragon found was that of an ex-dragon hunter. --------------------- Vix took his shield and scythe, his staff being on his back, readying his muscles a bit, it had been a while since he had been in actual fight "What kind of defenses are we talking about?" "Danthe and I can try to get me close enough to deal with them."

"Good.." Jenna stated, clearly relieved she hadn't injured Oliver, she didn't talk much on their way to the hotel, in fact, if Oliver didn't say anything, she didn't say anything after checking she hadn't hurt him, until they reached the hotel elevator "I'm sorry for acting like this, I don't...I have a bad feeling about this, I...we need to talk"

"There's always some kind explanation, if we find that explanation however, that is a different thing altogether." Jenna said as they arrived to a stairwell, it was locked, but locks didn't stop Jenna "I just got an idea, since there's power, we could see if there's any radio signals in here."

@Lucid_Nightlight "I know." "But I can't stop second-guessing myself" Ember admitted "I'm scared, of myself." "My mind is a mess, I don't know what to do." she wasn't good with emotions, so she was bit all over the place, but she had opened the gates, so she couldn't really stop, her eyes had started to tear up, but she was keeping her composure relatively well "I feel like I'm going to lose it." ----------- Cinder was the one to respond to that one, her voice being eerily low "In the blood of their victims shall the tyrant drown, as their demons rise to seek their due." Vix looked at her concerned "Are you doing aright?" "Oh, I'm fine, just fine."

"And what is that weird mold that grows everywhere?" Jenna added "It looks, smells and feels like mold, but it doesn't seem toxic, only thing in the air is the dust that covers everything." it was quite eery to walk in the empty and dark school, where the only sound was their footsteps and voices echoing in the empty building "I don't really know which would be better, there to be a logical explanation or this all being some supernatural oddity, both options have terrifying implications."

Jenna continued pulling Oliver for some time, though some time after they had left the mall and were already on the streets, she suddenly realized something and slowed down, letting go and looking at Oliver "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I, did I hurt you?" she would look at Oliver's arm if he let her to see if she had left marks with her unusually tight grip, her eyes told of mix of emotion "I'm sorry, I don't know what got into me I...we need to keep moving." The news seemed to had really upset her, with her somewhat contradictory statements before and her sudden change of demeanor, and now this, had she reached her breaking point? or did she know something she didn't tell?

@Blitz Boom Ruby nodded in agreement on Spicy's point about the relationship, granted she didn't think about it exactly the same way, since she didn't see friendships as worth much, but there was no point in getting stuck on details. "See you." she said as she turned to leave, though not before calling Charir by name and gesturing towards the door, he understood the message and left with them. Ruby noticed Leviathan's hesitation, and followed her glance, she wasn't familiar with cameras and such, but it didn't take genius to make the connection, and as Charir had shown moments before, one didn't need to understand how exactly something worked to know what it was used for. "I still don't have any plans, but I guess we could show Charir around the city a little. just so he gets used to the crowds." "Though the first thing should probably be to get out of this casino, I don't like the....current atmosphere in here." actually it was the lack of privacy, ironically the lack of ponies around them made the whole place feel less safe to speak in. "And I don't really want to stare at that mare any longer than I have to. " --------------------------------------------------------- "I have considered Discord in my various plans of action, but I am not hopeful, I do not believe I have been born from chaos, and thus he may not be able to take me away, and if he is familiar with what happened to me, would he not warn the princesses? yet to ponies I'm merely a ghost story, a legend." Scarecrow said, he appreciated the sympathy, but couldn't truly appreciate it. "My desire may be grim, and while it brings unpleasant ideas to my mind, it is also what keeps me from not doing them, as I realize there is other option, that being to find my origin, to find what keeps me here, whatever it is, certainly it can be undone?" "For that I need to not make myself a threat, so that I have access to information." lack of emotions was a double edged sword, while it had lot of negatives, there was also positives, one being, Scarecrow would never give up, because he couldn't feel truly defeated, no matter the setbacks, he was unable to feel hopelessness, he only had his goals and principles. "And who knows, maybe if I go with that pony we met at the farm, a solution is finally found, if not that, at least it could tell more about my true nature." it was weird thing to say for him, since he saw himself as other than anything to do with nature, but saying was a saying. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Sheska half dismissed the thank you, she nodded to acknowledge it but that was about it, she was uncomfortable around guards, and her body language signaled it, thankfully Stargazer didn't try to touch her, as that would bring more openly hostile reaction, though it wouldn't be as strong as it had been with Solar Silver, not having his body modified helped Stargazer when it came to the kobolds' opinions, since lack of technology helped them to disconnect him from their world. Trox got next to his sister and tried to help her relax by patting her casually on her back, he had his learned wariness too, but as had been a trend to this point, he was the more composed one. They thought for a moment if there was anything to add "There was an open door in that direction that had nobody around, don't know if it's any way connected, but we were going to check it before we saw this." Sear then mentioned, pointing into the direction of the door "Though seeing all of this, it probably isn't anything." it didn't really fit the picture, since with how messy the killer was, it was hard to believe there wouldn't be obvious blood near the door if it was related.

@Lucid_Nightlight Ember was quiet for a moment before responding "The thing is, that's not really the thing, it's just what I tell everyone to avoid them getting too nosy." Ember admitted, sitting down on her bed "All the violence and death have an effect yes, but it's not the one I let others believe it is, it's kinda the opposite." she let out a sigh "You know how I speak of my pony-half and Dragon-half separately? That's because there really is two halves." "What you see is what I'd call my pony side, it is what I'm comfortable with, but then there's the dragon, I have these...urges, violent, bloodthirsty urges, which I just learned, are most likely inherited, as Cinder too has them." "I've managed them well enough, really loosing it only once back when the events that lead me to this career path took place." "But the war... so much death....it was horrible, but also it was so.....enticing." she sounded like she was disgusted by her own words "I...I need some time to suppress it again, that's why I need the break." as she spoke, she looked at Arrow, not only to show that she was being genuine, but also to see his reaction "But her voice...." at this point she started to break a little "...I feel so awful...I know I'm not really needed there but...I feel like a monster." -------------------------------- "Yeah the surface world is awful." Vix agreed "But we all can make an effort to make it better, be it something huge like leading a nation, or something as small as showing compassion to those gone unloved, the important part is the effort." "We may not be able to get rid of evil, but we sure can be a thorn in its side."

@Lucid_Nightlight As the boat was boarded and left, Ember excused herself and started heading back, ultimately planning to go to her room, it wasn't hard to tell she was upset about the whole situation, she wouldn't chase Arrow or anyone away if they followed, but she also didn't ask anyone to come with. As the boat moved Cinder leaned on her weapon, looking into the distance calmly but with bloodlust in her eyes, Danthe paced around in irritated manner, she was quite literally steaming. Vix was more visibly paying attention to what was being said, though that didn't mean the others didn't hear. "Is it really repeating history if it happens in a different world?" he pointed out "Not that I think history doesn't repeat, but still"

@Lucid_Nightlight Ember stayed quiet after the message, not really responding even if addressed directly, she wasn't feeling too well, mentally that is, hearing what she had, even when she understood only half of it, made her mad at herself, she wanted to help, in fact, she wanted to help so much that it activated something primal in her, but she couldn't, as it was better she didn't. While Quasi held his speech, the others prepared, or well, Vix and Cinder did, since Danthe had nothing to prepare. Vix made sure his equipment was in top shape, and Cinder did some kind of ritual, drawing symbols on her weapons with blood she got from who knows where while muttering what sounded like nonsense. Enduur wouldn't take part because one, she was missing 2 legs, and two, someone had to watch over Charis. All of them nodded to Quasi's words, they accepted him as their temporary superior, even Danthe, who like Ruby, looked down on others, though it didn't mean he would have full control. "In that case, I show them true fear." her body's magic flashed slightly as she said it, Dark magic, while powerful in destruction, was ultimately most powerful in the mental space, feeding on things like fear and hate, it could cause one experience horrors beyond anything physical, and Danthe was not above using it for that.

@Lucid_Nightlight Everyone stayed quiet, none of them had any strong reactions to the horn alone, they all just got more serious, Danthe seemed slightly angry. At least it was something that grows back. The nightwing didn't resist, it was just happy to get away from Danthe. The recording started with silence, though it was only a second or two before the silence was broken by a sudden yelp, followed by familiar voice "Hello....It's me..." It was Ruby, though her voice was trembling and quite defeated sounding, it sounded almost unrecognizable coming from her "...The king says hi..." "*I can't...my body...doesn't listen...he...took control.*" her words in her native language were said as fast as she could, as if she was trying to hide the fact she said them "Drop the weapons...and...surrender to....him..." there was hesitation between the word 'to' and 'him', it may have been she hadn't said what she was supposed to, as right after she let out a gasp that quickly turned into a shriek of presumably pain, after which she was breathing heavily, speaking between breaths "*I tried to...I can't die....he took it away...*" "*He makes me....I don't want to...my body...'" she let out another short cry, after a moment of just breathing she continued "Surrender...and he may...show mercy..." "*Please...*" "Until then I will be his..." "I will..." "I..." every repeat her voice got shakier, and after the last one she let out a fearful whimper "No..." suddenly panic filled her voice as she practically shouted "*I beg you, please don't leave me here, plea...!*" her words cut short as the faint sound of heavy footsteps was heard and she whimpered again, this time with utter horror "No...ple..." The recording ended. The reactions to this were notably stronger, Ember and Vix reacted with sadness, empathy, while Danthe, and surprisingly enough Cinder were more angry than anything, they all were mostly quiet for now, though Danthe muttered something under her breath that was too quiet and unclear to hear. The positive thing was that Ruby sounded like she was relatively fine, but the question was, when was this recorded? 2 days was a long time.

@Lucid_Nightlight "That's not a weak spell that's for sure, teleporting a living creature the size of a dragon is not a simple task." Cinder agreed, Ember too nodded. The terrified nightwing gave the package freely, the nightwing was from Darkstalker's side, but whatever Danthe had done or threatened to do to them had made the messenger of the king of fear fear her more than the king. What was inside, was rather simple, yet had less than stellar implications, there was two things, a technological device, audio recorder to be specific, one that was made to both record and play sound, and there was already something recorded, and the second thing....was a horn, black dragon horn, cut cleanly from the base, and its size and shape was awfully similar to Ruby's horns.

@Starforce "It isn't really that big of a problem here in the grand scheme, I just see it more due to interacting with so many individuals in short time." Frail reasoned "Even if 99% is something, that 1% still exists." the difference was probably lot bigger when it came to good ponies versus bad, probably being closer to something like one in several thousands, but exact numbers didn't matter for the point she was trying to make. The room was nothing too special, glass making things, sand, random glass here and there, the construction had been made to endure the heat and there was proper ventilation for smoke and excess heat. There was a sand storage, with sand, and storage for broken glass that also had several of those glass balls Frail had made when she had shown off her talent, they were in different colors, it seemed this was how she stored used glass. There was also a cabinet that when opened had different glass objects in it, that was where Frail stored the new inventory before moving it to her shop.

@Lucid_Nightlight Cinder didn't yet say anything about whatever she had found on the body, as she had to check few things first and since she was no asked about it, she saw no point in explaining anything. During the two days that passed, nothing huge happened, Ember contacted few of her connections to find out if they had contacts in Darkstalker's land, but came out empty hoofed, Vix and Danthe returned to the cave explaining the situation to Enduur and waiting for something to happen. Cinder disappeared for a while, the only knowledge about her being that she had said to Ember she needed to do some digging. Only ones hearing Quasi's question were Ember and Vix, Danthe had stayed behind at the cave due to not really being able to communicate well with everyone, thus, Vix was speaking in her place too. Though before either of them could answer to Quasi's question, a familiar voice cut in, Cinder was back from wherever she had went "I can now with full certainty say what happened to Ruby." she showed everyone a paper with odd symbols on it, Ember commented "One use transportation rune." Cinder nodded "A modified one, made to transport big living creatures specifically, It was scratched on that Nightwing she killed, Ruby was teleported against her will." "Any idea on location?" "No, but the word is that Darkstalker has unknown visitor in his personal quarters somewhere, no confirmation on who or if they're there out of their own will, but the time of appearance matches." "the word?" "Don't ask, you don't want to know how." Cinder looked at Quasi "Do you have any way to see in there?" Quite the personality change it seemed, Cinder had become notably more serious since it had became certain that Ruby wasn't coming back by herself, and her mind matched it, she was taking this seriously Meanwhile, out of their perception was a peculiar sight, as in the city, coming towards the castle was Danthe, dragging after her a terrified Nightwing holding a package, and when anyone asked, she simply responded "Delivery to king."

@Starforce "I don't have equipment for blowing glass since I don't need it, but I know what you mean." Frail stated "There isn't really any worst individual, sure there's especially unpleasant ones now and then, but I don't like to spend my energy thinking about them." "But in general I would say those who don't understand the word no or those who are....bit too direct." "Because while a mean customer can make me agitated, and entitled snobs make me want to rip my mane out, they are merely annoyances that at worst ruin my day, but those who feel I owe them my attention make me often feel uncomfortable and sometimes unsafe." "Luckily they are quite rare, and tend to be the same ones every time." "There was this one mare who kinda just, radiated hostility, she just walked past and didn't even look at me but still I felt agitated."

@Lucid_Nightlight Cinder was first at the scene, mainly because she was already coming, having heard the commotion, and after scanning the situation with her eyes, she didn't say anything when she arrived, and instead locked her eyes on the body of the assassin, kneeling next to it and dragging her hand against its scales as if she was following a shape, she seemed curious about something. Ember was next, as she was the same distance away as Cinder had been, she just hadn't bothered to come before the guards had asked her to, last arrived Danthe and Vix, but only them, because Enduur had already left back to the cave with Charis, the only reason why Danthe and Vix were still there was because they were supposed to discuss few more details about the challenge with Ruby. While they did come at different times, the difference was mere seconds, tens of seconds at most, so it wasn't that Cinder just kneeled there for minutes in silence, though that wouldn't have been out of character for her. "I'm in." Cinder said being the first to respond "Assuming of course she doesn't just appear here herself dragging Darkstalker's body." "I can't, but I can help at this end if there's something to prepare, won't be taking part in any combat, period." Ember then continued, and lastly Danthe "*I will too, anyone who steals the freedom from a dragon deserves to die.*" she had personal experience after all, and to make sure the others around also would know her answer, she also stated "I, yes" she hadn't yet mastered speaking that language, as for most of her life she refused to speak in it out of spite. Vix just pointed at Danthe and nodded.

@Lucid_Nightlight "*It's agreed then*" Ruby stated in the same distant manner as before heading to her personal quarters with Quasi, this all may have seemed bit...official, but that was because as stated, for many of her kind, including her, the whole thing was more a chore than anything, to her it really wasn't as big of a deal as it was for the more emotion focused creatures, her original hesitation had come from different source, hesitation that she had reasoned away enough to get it out of the way. But while she may have been dismissive and bit distant, she made some effort to at least try to make it not awful as a whole for Quasi on emotional level, as she acknowledged it being a bigger deal for him. Some time passed, nobody was looking at a clock, until they would make their way out of the room, Ruby wanted fresh air and half-forced Quasi out of her room, it was her room after all, though she never made it into fresh air. As they neared the end of the hallway that lead to Ruby's rooms, Ruby suddenly gestured Quasi to stop and to be quiet, she then without warning punched her leg through the wall next to the door that lead out of the hallway, and pulled a nightwing through it, a nightwing with a blade, the blade had same venom on it as the one in the previous attack. The nightwing didn't have much time to do anything though, as it had just been pulled through a stone wall, a thin one, but a wall none the less, and its confusion lasted long enough for Ruby to give a killing blow. Ruby dropped the body between herself and Quasi "*Sensed the weap..." she stopped as her eyes glanced at the body, she then suddenly charged Quasi, slamming him with her whole weight, which probably hurt, but Quasi wouldn't be able to ask what that was about, because when he'd manage to recover, he'd find Ruby gone, with just her wedding outfit on the floor at the spot he had just stood before Ruby pushed him away. The whole event was quite loud, mainly due to the small wall collapse, so it no doubt got attention of anyone close enough.

@Lucid_Nightlight Would you be aright if I did a small time/event skip to the point where the previously discussed plot takes off? Basically i would have Ruby respond to Quasi and just have them go to Ruby's room, time skip, they leave the room, stuff hits the fan. I kinda like the idea of this being the last thing to happen just before the storm so to speak The main reason I'm asking is because I would need to slightly control Quasi by assuming things until the point Ruby disappears (the assumptions being: he follows her, the time he takes to recover from being slammed sideways.)

@Starforce "I think it's more the mental age, I've certainly aged past my body from dealing with rich ponies." Frail joked, as she walked "That aside, didn't you look around when you were in my workshop previously?" Sparkly had been there after she and Lunar had done the ring test "Though I guess that would have been dangerous with all the fire and molten glass, well, now you can explore freely without hurting yourself" she lead Sparkly into the basement.

@Lucid_Nightlight Ember would talk with Arrow for some time longer, but would head to eat after the crowd dispersed a bit and later head back to her room, besides the attack the wedding was exactly what she expected it to be. Cinder was not seen again after she had left the room with the Nightwings, though she was later spotted relaxing in a corner close to the visitor room, close to the roof, with her snake hanging from her and sleeping. Ruby spend pretty much the whole event with Enduur's group, entertained by Charis's hatchling nonsense and talking with Danthe and Enduur, it seemed that the four dragonesses were starting to get along pretty well, meanwhile Vix, who had no idea what was being said, took a nap leaning on Enduur's leg. Ruby appreciated the gifts, though she had predicted it would be something like it was, and not only because she could sense them before they were ever opened, it was the one thing she liked that the more morally sound creatures would be willing to bring. She wasn't even aware any possible stereotypes, as the only stereotype she knew was that males were weaker, and even that was really only true for her kind. Ruby seemed to be taken off guard for a moment "That was unexpectedly direct." she remarked "But, I knew this would come up eventually." "*But let's not have any eavesdroppers.*" she made sure Sky wasn't around, him being the only one besides Quasi and her kind to understand the language as far as she knew. Her reaction was not hostile as Enduur had predicted, though it wasn't full of happiness either, Ruby seemed slightly....distant, as she spoke. "*I'm not going to keep you in suspense, yes, I'm fine with it.*" "*I'm almost 200 and I have almost died twice, I thought about it and while i'm not overly excited about it due to....reasons, waiting won't bring any solution to my problems.*" "*But what about you? You make it sound very one sided, and are you able to handle the time i will be out of action so to speak?*" "*That will be at least half an year, likely more?*" The whole process took around 1.5 years, the latter half being only an average as that was the hatching time, and from the first year the latter half would be time when Ruby would need to rest lot more, she would still be perfectly fine to defend herself, but she wouldn't be able to take part in any actual battles.

@Lucid_Nightlight "There is many kinds of mind reading, Nightwings with natural gift are far from the only ones I know, I rather be too careful than not careful enough. " Ember pointed out "And this is exactly why they used them as shields, as I said back then, they know we care, it's manipulation." "It's a similar reason to why someone would capture someone's loved one, emotional manipulation, " That was one thing she was slightly envious of to those like Ruby, how much easier would it have been if she just didn't care? "*My point exactly*" "*And don't give up immediately if her first response seems hostile, she has build quite the wall around herself, but I noticed it to be quite fragile, I got surprisingly lot out of her with just few motherly words.*"

@StarlightMirage "You make me feel old with all that energy." Frail laughed, she was the kind that could just sit in peace and enjoy tea for hours, so she wasn't really used to the constant need to do something "I guess I can show you, not that I have had much time to do much." she got up