Catpone Cerberus

@Props Valroa
Sombra clearly didn't care much about Una's predicament, so she stopped talking about it, sure there were details that would have probably made him care more, but Una had nothing forcing her to disclose them, Sombra did have control over her actions, and she couldn't say anything to purposely harm him, but she could leave things unsaid, especially now that she had learned to bend the rules by thinking in specific ways. 

And what was this information? simple, from the three...minds? personalities? whatever they were, that were in her head, only this one, her, seemed to be obligated to loyalty, so keeping things under control, was as much to Sombra's interest as it was to hers, but really, why would she tell him that? why indeed...

The mayor was still home, after all, her job had burned down, so while she probably should go there to watch over the clean up, being the mayor and all, it wasn't as toed to schedule as the normal duties would have been...this was going to me a stressful week or so, dealing with the aftermath of this. She answered to Sombra while getting ready for the day, and the answer was pretty much no, as besides obvious things, like money and the aforementioned key, there was nothing special she owned, as she was a regular pony just as anypony else, being a mayor of a relatively small town didn't make you filthy rich like, well Filthy Rich. 

Sure there was historical stuff, like old pictures and one or two old maps of Ponyville as decoration, but those were both useless and worthless, as they weren't in any way unique.

Una kinda just looked around, as she had nothing to say or do, though as she did, she noticed something on the floor, it looked like just dirt at first, but she looked at it closer and realized it was ash, had Flint been here during the night?

@Blitz Boom
Solar saw the explanation for the lack of guards as nonsense, because the security detail of a princess and the general safety of the town were entirely separate from each other, it was the duty of those ruling the nation to make sure every location was safe from outside threats, and if the local governing bodies, in this case the local princess, failed at that duty, then it was for the higher government to fix. And while for now he just put a report forward, if nothing would happen from it, he'd make it happen eventually, if nothing else, he could request to have a branch of his own unit down there for monitoring duties, since the town seemed to have properties that caused it to attract threats from both inside and outside Solar's responsibilities, as most of the appearances from his world he was aware of, had landed in the surrounding area of that town, even those that originated from outside Equestria. 

Ah, Manehattan, busy streets and selfish creatures unaware that others exist, it reminded Solar of home, be it lot less fancy, having lived his life in The Capital, even the most decorated city in this world paled in comparison to the Solar Capital, a city of the elites....not that it was a bad thing, he had never been a fan of the overly grand design of the place, he could feel the ego shining from the golden buildings there...

But more things were different, more they were the same, as he felt like an outsider there like he did there, sticking out like a sore hoof in both places, be it for different reasons. Here he stuck out due to his appearance, his half golden body making him hard to miss, and back home, he stuck out because he didn't share the...aura, he didn't radiate the energy of self-entitled elite, and it was noticed by others, somehow they could tell that his status was mostly inherited, even if they didn't dare to point it out too much, since he was legally above them.

He scanned the area as he always did, it was a automatic process he saw no reason to turn off, so he noticed the hoofprints, but besides saving a picture for later investigation, he didn't think much of them, nothing he was aware of matched this exactly, and everything seemed to be fine around, so it was a safe bet that it wasn't anything he should be concerned about, especially since there seemed to be fixing work underway, thus implying that if it ever was a threat, it's old news now.

So he continued on, heading towards the morgue where the aforementioned body had been sent, going through the details given in the letter quietly in his mind, a curious case certainly, as based on the description given to him, it sounded like a city elite that had been mauled by an animal, which was weird to say the least, as those two things shouldn't have been anywhere near each other. 

------------------------------------

"Sometimes only a monster can hunt a bigger monster, when fighting the darkness, you need to be ready to embrace it. The question is which is in control? you, or the darkness." Myrkr stated regarding the saying, he had no illusion of pureness for himself, after all, as he had said to Sheez, all of them had blood in their hands.  
 

"The life a dragon is a long one, I've changed my mind before and will do it again." He said "But at current time, I have no plans to start an order of my own." "The blade will be passed forward, but it is not my responsibility, nor my right, as it will choose its own wielder, like it did to me, and like it did to every wielder before me." "It is not tied to the order, we did not create it, we simply adopted it, and many it has called, including myself, were outsiders, its origin is as mysterious as our founder, having been carried by one of the original members, who, like myself, had been called by it." 

"This place also doesn't have need for us in current time, it is filled with light, and has protectors of it's own, even if a tyrant was to rise, the natural order of this land would most likely call upon heroes to bring justice once more." "Besides, I do not believe an order is the right approach, by its nature, a fall is inevitable, as justice is not objective, yet an order needs an objective truth." he looked at the blade, it met his gaze "The greatest thing I can do is to make sure I will not be needed, and that is my current mission, our current mission." he looked into the direction of his travel companions, the two were having a conversation of their own "We were enemies mere months ago, we would have killed each other with no hesitation. We still would." "But we have put down our weapons for now, as we agree on one thing. It is our duty to make sure that we are the last of our kind here, that no conditions will ever arise to create those like us." "Be it duty to an oath, a promise to a loved one, or for sake of family..." as he said the reasons, his eyes went from the blade to the hooded dragon, and from her to Sheez, before returning to Nerzhei "...our reasons are different, but our goal the same." 

---------------------------

Charir wasn't at his sharpest anymore, as his instincts had taken control at this point, like Ruby had told Leviathan before, the more reasonable side of their kind was behind lot of work, and unlike Ruby, Charir hadn't had over hundred years to learn to control it, thus he was on pure instinct now, though luckily in his case this only meant that he was in full fight or flight mode, and had chosen flight. So he struggled and struggled, trying to push out fire now and then, but only managing hot air or tiny flames, as the fuel needed for the fire was like saliva, more was created constantly, but his body could do it only so fast, thus, with him pushing it out constantly, it didn't have time recover enough to make effective flames. 

Due to this, he wasn't really aware of what happened around him, so when the restrains got loose, he had no idea if he had burned them or if they just failed, nor did he think about it, as he could tell there was still something close by, and he took off running towards the exit. If the exit was still blocked, he'd freeze for a moment in front of it, before in his panicked state, he would test the barrier by sticking one finger/toe into it, just past the claw. This presumably burned his scales and flesh, which made him yelp and pull it away, leading to him pulling himself into a protective ball and staying there, Fight nor Flight was an option, so his instinct didn't know what else to do.

If the exit wasn't blocked, or it for some reason spared him from its effect, he'd keep running away from the temple for a while. 

Ruby held her usual demeanor,  though it was clear that she was exhausted, and while she was surprisingly worried about Leviathan when she first didn't move, she still was a creature with differently working emotions, so it made her more annoyed than anything. Again she didn't transform due to not being alone though, she wasn't reckless , she had no reason to think that these undead things wouldn't be willing to just kill them if they got annoying, they were unlikely have any more care for life than Ruby had, so she didn't want to risk Leviathan's life by starting a fight, or Charir's, since if the exit was still blocked, she could sense him still inside the temple. If she would have been alone, she would have transformed a while ago, as her own life wasn't as big of a concern for her. 

Ruby looked genuinely surprised by the question? "Who?" "The only male in our group is a dragon." "And while I saw the skeleton with the staff helping you out, I have opened no caskets."  "Must be some other pair of ponies, your servants were already walking around when we got here." since she was telling the truth, everything in the way she said it showed as much "I assure you, if I knew who you are talking about, I would happily bring them to you, wouldn't mind skinning them alive myself." honestly, if she did ever learn who to blame for this, she may actually do that. 

---------------------------------

After Light had been gotten out of the tavern, Sheska walked in the middle of the space muttering something under her breath, which based on the tone most likely included expletives of some kind, before igniting her magic and starting to move intact stuff that was thrown around by light back about where it used to be, and any possibly destroyed stuff into its own pile to the side, she may have not been helpful with Light, but at least she could help with the clean up. If nobody stopped her, after she was done, she went to the table that Sear and Chega had been sitting at, sat down, and just let her head drop on the table with audible slam, before putting her hands around her head in frustrated manner. Naturally Chega made her way to Sheska to see if she was doing aright, while Sear kinda just stood there processing what had happened. 

@Props Valroa

"You finally said something I can agree with, but I must correct you on one thing." Noctuna stated "Alicorns are not needed for the sun and the moon, we are just best at it."  "In my world, before alicorns ever arrived to Equestria, unicorns moved the moon and the sun, it took several of them at a time to do so, but they could do it." "And ponies were unlikely to exist at dawn of time, so there has most likely been other forces before that doing the job."  "And this is a different world, rules are different here anyway." "Actually... Cinder? do you have anything on that regard?" "The sun and moon?" Noctuna nodded "Nope, they have always moved as far as anyone is concerned, and there isn't really any reason to think it's done by something or someone." "As I thought." 

"What comes to your little crisis of identity, I'm sure you'll find new enemies soon enough." "If there exists something out there capable of leaving the night without a master, you may just get a taste of what I gathered power for." 

@Props Valroa
"Something? more like someones." Una stated, Sombra hadn't really asked, but she needed to say things out loud, even if nobody listened "They started as rogue thoughts, then they became voices in my head, and now they are haunting my dreams." "They made me to...eliminate that pony in the way I did." as she spoke, she got ready to move on if they needed to, not that there was lot to get ready, since she never became unready "I doubt it's possession though, they seem to have an interest to make me remember things, not that it worked." 
 

1 hour ago, Evil Pink One said:

Ooooo....... What do i do now.... im still a bit stunned from vacation and need guidance...

Respond to aforementioned posts, more specifically Blitz's, since mine has nothing to respond to. 

5 hours ago, Evil Pink One said:

Okay so im alive again ...... What happunnned...

@Blitz Boom @Catpone Cerberus

Nothing, it has been on pause.

here's the latest posts addressing you 

On 2024-01-30 at 1:49 AM, Blitz Boom said:

@Catpone Cerberus @Evil Pink One

On 2024-01-23 at 11:42 PM, Evil Pink One said:

He'd close his eyes and ears and his senses. He'd go into a zen state. Detached himself from his body. Pulse and heart slowed to hibernation. Temperature focused into the core.

" Shark will protect me..." his inner thoughts radiate within him.

Shark kept hold of him, refusing to let go, even as he seemed to stop being aggressive towards others, clinging to him like her life depended on it. This would make it far easier for the guard to examine him in a moment, and she sure seemed relieved/confused about that. Long as it would work though, that is what mattered, and she would try and take advantage of it soon, as Shark did hers to keep Light in place, shivering slightly, wanting for help to come to him. She did not understand the concept in some higher power to pray to. if she did, she likely would have done that too.

On 2024-01-28 at 3:48 PM, Catpone Cerberus said:

Sear agreed to help, though considering that Shark took care of the whole holding Light in place thing, she was there mostly to add extra weight, and if needed, to hold a specific spot in place, she didn't say anything, or really even emote, holding a determined and serious expression on her face, the same one she had had this whole time, sure it was somewhat emotionally painful situation to watch, but it wasn't in her style to get emotional.

"T-Thank you both for your help."

Shark would look up at the mare, as she got closer with Sear, eyes puffy from tears.

"Help mate?"

"That's what I'm here for. Just try and keep him still."

She'd be quick, drawing out a needle, and used it to poke hole on one of the inflamed blood vessels running around on his body. His blood would be tinted by a green'ish glow, from the poison, but she would keep examining, poking a few more holes elsewhere, trying to stay out of sight of Light, so that he couldn't see her. Every time she did, the result were the same. Tinted blood, dripping from the wound.

"No eggs, that's good. I can do s-something here."

She'd pull out a box of syringes from the bag, then rummaged around and found a small bottle. She'd draw a few inches of lightly blue liquid from it, then push the air out of the syringe, and look down on Light.

"It won't cure him, but it should help with the illusions."

If he stayed still, she'd jab the needle right into his bloodstream, and inject the liquid. After about thirty seconds, his delusions should start to flicker, making them easier to discern from reality, and ease the pressure he'd feel in his head.

"Sir? Can you hear me? You've been infected by a Harvest Mite. I've given you something for the symptoms, but we need to get you to the hospital right away. Can you walk?"

On 2024-02-03 at 1:07 PM, Catpone Cerberus said:

@Blitz Boom@Evil Pink One
Sheska observed the situation from the stairs as she came down during the latter part of the 'operation', she made a mental note about 'Harvest Mite' for when she got a chance to study this world's medical information, it wasn't that she had never seen creatures who's bite caused hallucinations, but the world of magical creatures was such that even seemingly identical cases could need opposite things to deal with. Not that she would have been able to do much even if she did know what the thing was, as she had no equipment, no medicine and no anti-venom, and at the point of her arrival, it was too late to stop the venom from spreading, so at most she could have paralyzed/numbed Light to stop him from attacking everything, but that could have made things just worse as far as she knew. So really getting him into the hospital was the only option left, and at that point she had no need to be there, as she couldn't do anything to ease the symptoms, and Light was two to three times her body weight at least, that without considering his ability to make himself heavier, so she couldn't help with the transport either.   

Chega had enough idea to have heard the Creature's name before, but that was about it, she didn't know how they would be dealt with, until now, so there hadn't been anything she could have done to help, as much as it hurt to watch, she was a bard, not much a song or clever wording did in this type of situation, and she lacked the physical strength, or mass in that matter, to be help in that aspect either, in fact, it would have taken just one poorly aimed kick from Light to kill here there and then, so she rather didn't take the risk. 

"They aren't the only ones to know, that much is obvious, the response was global after all." Jenna reminded "It is more likely that if it has anything to do with any government, it's some secret service that is the origin of the information." "But it may just as well be some group with nothing to do with any government of any kind." "In my opinion the bigger question still is their goals, if they knew what was coming, and told that to the military, then why not tell it to us? why only tell the location and time if they wanted us to do something?" 

"That's the problem." "If they exist, they are well hidden." Jenna stated "My contact has been....looking for them...longer than they have....worked with me." "And they are at least as...stubborn as you....if not more." she said the last part in joking manner, but there was truth behind it, Oliver, like humans in general, seemed to be very stubborn. 

@Props Valroa
It took a second for Una to respond, as it took a moment for her to realize she was awake, and more importantly could move again. "I-I don't know how to explain it." she blurted out, not wanting to raise unnecessary suspicion by staying quiet too long "Something is happening to me." she stood up as she spoke, still shaking "I'm not accusing you, but have you done something to me? because if not, I just may be going insane." she decided to ask honestly about it, because she knew Sombra could affect minds, and knowing that he had done something would have actually made her feel a bit better, as it would have meant that someone had things under control, even if to her personally it wouldn't have been pleasant. "That was not just a nightmare." 
 

@Props Valroa
"While reasonable, you are making a mistake that anyone, including myself, would make." Noctuna stated "You assume things work the same here." "Just for example, this Twilight, these, Elements of harmony, I have never heard of them, they could have existed where I come from, as I haven't been in Equestria since I fled a millennia ago, however, Unity magic, as you call it, certainly didn't, as no amount of unity, from us Alicorns, or from the three races of ponies, held any power against those in power." "Yet, I can come up with several ways how you would have fallen even if fully powered." 

"My point being, regardless if the so called unity magic exists here or not, those who you see as your enemies, could have something else you don't know to prepare for." "My world was similar to this one, as the map of Equestria shares the same general shape, yet I can tell the magic is different here, as the shadows act different." "There is no master of the night, I can tell, because there is no competition for the shadows, and from sound of what Cinder has said, there is no Alicorns around in general." "At first this sounds great, less competition for us, but it rises the question, why?" "The three types of ponies still exist, so why is there no those who wield them all? Were alicorns never created, or is there something that can wipe us out with ease?" 
 

@Blitz Boom

"I also have duties to attend, so I won't hold you any longer, I appreciate your words, and we'll meet again at some point, hopefully in calmer circumstances." "I'll put a word forward in the headquarters that this town needs more guards." Stargazer hadn't asked for it, but Solar didn't do it for him as much as he did for the reason of security, one guard could not do the job 24/7, or well, a regular guard couldn't, he could, but he was half machine, literally, though even he needed to sleep now and then...point being, forcing a single individual to be responsible for the town was at best negligent, and at worst deadly. 

If there was nothing else, Solar would seemingly take a quick glance at the area as a whole, before saying his goodbyes and taking off, but in reality, that glance was him recording the place for further analysis, in all of its negative effects, a good thing about being part machine was that you could do things like machine. If nothing else came up, he'd make his way back to his room in Canterlot, after leaving a short report about the town's security problem, which basically said 'While Stargazer did excellent job dealing with the newest threat, failing to reinforce the active personnel in Ponyville has the potential to lead to unprecedented loss of life.', of course written in correct official way.

Solar's office/rooms was rather normal, there was a front desk, empty at the moment, and then further in was his desk, and to the side there was a separated conference room, which was under construction to be transformed into a secure operation briefing room. Around Solar's desk was lot of paper, all the work in progress paperwork, and behind it an overly secure locked box, which had pieces of technology and whatever else samples he had gathered to investigate.

On a table to the side, there was a machine, he had gotten it made thanks to a tinkerer in ponyville, and simply put, it was a printer that allowed him to get information out of his mind directly on paper, it was very limited in its capabilities, thus the need to still write everything on the official paperwork, but he used it mainly to get the information on paper so that when eventually he'd get someone to help with the paperwork, he wouldn't need to share it verbally. He had ordered other machines too, but they were still under work, things like a projector that can project from his mind and such, basically machines that allowed him to share information from his systems to others, and machines that allowed others to investigate things without him being there, it was lot of work for the tinkerer, but it was possible with what this world already had.

After printing the draft of the report for the Sheez incident, Solar checked his mail for anything that may take priority over writing reports, and he did find one thing that did, a report from Manehattan. It stated that a body matching descriptions of what goes under Solar's responsibilities had been found and moved to proper storage to wait for him, along all the actions taken regarding the area of discovery. So Solar took off once again, and ended up taking a train because he had flown enough for today. 

---

"I am in no hurry, my companions can go on without me if they feel impatient, they don't need me, and I can always find them again." Myrkr stated, and as proof for his words, he sat down on the ground "But before I talk more about my order, I'd like to address what you said before."  "The line between a Paladin and a zealot is a thin one, that is the truth, I have seen other paladins, other orders, which I would call zealots." "At least in my point of view, which is of course affected by my upbringing, what determines the side of the line you are on, is awareness, there's a fine line between devotion, and blind fanaticism." "I'd like to believe that I have managed to stay out of the blindness, but it is something only others can judge." 

"Furthermore, blindness is what brought the doom of our order, in hunt for justice, we became tools of injustice, and in our quest  to bring hope, we lost our own vision for future." "Some of us became so fanatical, that they lost their devotion."  while somber, he sounded like he had accepted it all at this point

"I am sad to hear that the willing ignorance for history is true here too, guess it's just an universal truth for our kind, a saddening irony, as with our long lives we should be the ones to treasure it, to learn from the mistakes of those before us." "Those who do not learn from history, are doomed to repeat it." 

Then the wish for more information.

"It seems there may be a small misunderstanding, paladins is not the name of the order,  paladin, is simply a title, like knight, or general, there are paladins of various orders." "The names of orders are various, but usually reference something that is important to them, like the founder, the being they worship, or their core belief, however it can often be symbolic rather than direct." "My order is named after our founder, The order of Pyre." "Not much is known about them, other than the name, it's not even clear if it was their real name or a name they gained at some point." "And it's not matter of bad record keeping, the history of the order was written down in detail, but any mention of Pyre is kept vague." 

"The origin of the order goes further away than its creation, as before it there existed an unnamed group, part of which Pyre was, not many texts survived from this time, as they are ancient even by dragon standards, but those that did, tell a story of Pyre's group having to flee their home due to actions of a leadership, they detail some things from their journey, and finally mention the unjust suffering of Pyre." "It's unclear if they died or not, but the group was named in their honor, and that then evolved into the order." 

"Then things are quite uneventful for a long while, the group becomes a full blown order, they get new members, old ones die as time goes on, some things change, some stay the same." "Pyre was never worshiped, in fact, our order has always been quite open minded as far as religious groups go, as the only requirement was what's stated in the oath, so it didn't matter what you may or may not worship, as long as it is devoted to principles of the order." "However, it would be false to claim Pyre has no effect in the rituals of the order, most obvious example being funerals, as we burn our dead, on a pyre." 

"Things started to take a turn a millennia or so ago, the world became a darker place, more unjust, so suddenly the order's devotion was tested, the mission became more real. Things went well back then, but looking with hindsight, it was the start of the collapse." "Some centuries later, I come in." "I mentioned that fate chose me, 'forces beyond my understanding', it was not symbolism." "I hatched into a world of darkness, far from my land of origin, descendant to dragons who had to flee for their life." "My biology is bit different than you may expect, we evolved differently to dragons from Dragon Isles" "I won't grow much bigger than this." "But smaller size doesn't make us any less dangerous." 

"Without going in detail, I had flee my home, which is where the forces come to play." "I started hearing voices in my head, and while obviously at first I thought I was losing my mind, after a while I noticed things that couldn't be creations of my mind, which ultimately then led me to the order." "I'll come back to that." 

"The fall of the order was first slow and then quick, as things tend to be."  "As years went by, a great power grew around us, a collection of nations, an alliance on paper, an empire in reality." "They were militaristic, and while they started as a force for good, they became a tyranny." "We....helped them, we took down their enemies, who, yes, also were unjust causes of suffering, but were ultimately smaller problems than the one we were helping, even if indirectly." "This conflict broke the order, some couldn't handle the fact that there was no good choices, some were so stricken by guilt that they lost all hope, and some lost their belief in justice." "Some of us stayed, but then the last trial came, the empire gave an ultimatum, work for them, or die." he paused for a second "When the troops came, I was the only one standing guard." 

"If the order stands or falls is not a question, it has fallen already, I do not carry the weight of rebuilding, but the weight of legacy and history, I will continue my duties as paladin of Pyre, I try to inspire others to fight for justice, I will warn others of the mistakes we made, but the order will die with me, for it is my duty to carry the weight of our mistakes." "You may wonder why I stayed, why I still consider myself part of it, and to that, there's two answers, one is simple, I had...I have nothing else, it is as much part of me as I am part of it, and the second..." he took out an enchanted sword from under the robe, putting it on the ground in front of him, at first glance it looked like it was made of bronze, but at closer look the material was different, though that wasn't probably the focus point, as the sword was decorated with what resembled dragon eyes, one smaller and one bigger, eyes, which turned to look at Nerzhei "...I was chosen by the holy relic of the order, The blade of Sight, it called me to it, and it is my duty to carry it until I perish." 

---

It wasn't as much hubris as it was desperation from Charir, it was the only thing he could think to do to protect those he cared about, including himself, after all, he was well aware that even in best case scenario, it didn't do much, was it really arrogance to rather die fighting an unwinnable fight, than standing scared doing nothing? After all, as far as he knew, death was the only end result here.

This would show when he found himself restrained, as he was not filled with confidence nor determination, but rather, panic, as in his last ditch effort, he started spewing fire until his breath ran out, at which point, regardless of how effective it may or may not have been, if he found himself stuck again, all he could do was struggle and whimper, because ultimately, no matter how tough of a life he had lived, he was still just a youngling, and he was absolutely terrified. His state was such, that if he did at any point manage to break free enough to move, his first, and only instinct, would be to run in whatever direction the priestess wasn't in, and it would be blind, panicing run, like a wild animal. 

Ruby wasn't in a spot to help Charir, but if/when Leviathan did at least try to help him, she was in position to watch her back, and she would take the first orb going for Leviathan, and as she was being covered, she'd try to kick around a bit, but other than that, she wouldn't be much resistance, ponies weren't good at fighting something like that, and she was so tired from all the running that there was only so much force she could use. She held her composure.

She didn't try to transform here, mostly because she saw no use in it, nor was she really in the head space to quickly check if she could fit here without dying instantly, or more importantly in this case, without crushing the two others getting crushed by her. The fact that she could have done more damage in that form didn't really matter to her, because she had no reason to believe that it made a difference, as far as she knew, these things could come back from anything, and they had sealed the exist anyway. 

Ruby knew when to give up, they were against magic here, and the fact was that she didn't have much to do against it, regardless of her form, besides, the fact that they were still alive did imply that there could be a way out of this, after all, this place had dark magic that could burn flesh off your bones, so if they were wanted dead, why would they even bother with the capturing thing?

@Props Valroa
From outside, Una seemed to sleep as restfully as always, any movement being just normal movements of dreaming, however, inside was quite a different story. 

Una found herself in the facility that had been her life before Sombra, or at least she assumed it was where she was, because while she didn't recognize the exact location, she hadn't seen anything like it after meeting Sombra, so it had to be something from before it. Recognition wasn't helped by how...unstable the place was, any time she looked away from something, there was a chance that things were different when she looked back, she assumed this was due to it being a dream, and the haziness of her memories, since it would be hard for her mind to be consistent on something she barely remembered. 

Curiously, as she explored, any time she entered a room with a tube similar to what she had been in, she felt strong emotions, fear, joy, concern... even though every room was empty...kinda, there was always something in the tube, and there were staff around, but not physically, it was more her mind telling her there was something, but her senses not picking it up, most likely another effect of her memory, ghosts of wiped memories. 

However, when she entered her own room, things were lot more clear, and it wasn't empty, as she was in there, or well, two of her were, arguing. The darkness from the previous dream was also there, but this time it had attached itself onto one of the versions of her, taking the shape of her shadow with slightly more draconic features. The argument going on was about what happened earlier with the pony, the darkness attached version basically rejoicing about what happened, while the other was disgusted and angry about it. 

Una herself, couldn't speak, she tried, but no sound came out, however, her other selfs turned their attention to her, and started speaking to her instead, the other one scolding her for letting what happened happen, and the other thanking her and in almost seductive way encouraging her to ignore the other. As this happened, everything she had tasted, smelled and felt, came back to her like it had just happened, though more worryingly, Una found that she was unable to move now too.

Things escalated, and soon the two version of her were physically fighting, but instead of physical pain, any time one got a good hit on the another, a memory would overwhelm Una's mind, replacing everything else, the memories were hazy and nonsensical, with only small details in any way comprehensible to her, but there was a clear pattern. Simplified, any time the one with the darkness got an upper hand, the memories, made Una feel things that fueled anger, thirst for blood, in some cases literally, violence, and other things that were more....animalistic, while the other gave more positive things, motivating calmness, reason and generally less instinct driven things. 

This would go on until she was woken up, she would not wake up naturally, as much as she tried, and would only wake up when someone or something would wake her up, at which point she'd wake up with a yelp, overwhelming anxiety showing from her face, and she'd start physically shaking as if she'd been tensed up for a while.

@Props Valroa
Cinder was the first to answer, as Noctuna thought about it for few moments "I don't really have anyone like that, maybe my ex? Would I kill him again? probably not, he was so pathetic that it wasn't that satisfying in the first place." "But if we are to assume he is the exact same minus meeting me, I'd probably try to seduce him and use him for my own entertainment." she figured that first thing she'd do if she ended up in a new world and found someone she knew, would be figuring out if there was a version of herself there too, but that wasn't the question.

"I would observe them and make a decision based on that." "The problem with revenge, is that it's a circle." "Circle of violence as some say." "By getting revenge, however justified it may or may not be, you will wrong someone else, be it a friend, family, or even just a member of same species, and they will likely seek justified revenge on you." "So if there was to be versions of my enemies here, who are identical to those I dealt with, but with the difference that they are not aware of me, I'd ask myself, what actions are the best on the long run." 

"Is the satisfaction of their screams worth entering the circle again? Is it worth making new enemies?" "It's a self-fulfilling prophecy, by attacking those who caused you trouble in different world, you give them a reason to cause you trouble in this one." "I myself am a good example of this." "My enemies saw me as a potential enemy, so they tried to get rid of me in advance, but in doing so, they not only created an enemy that was far more dangerous, but they caused a chain reaction, that will cost them lot more than they ever gained attacking me." "So I would ask myself, is it better to leave them alone, and possibly never have to deal with them again, or to seek justice, but ensure that someone else will become a problem."  One could get the idea that Noctuna liked the sound of her own voice...and they would be 100% right, she had a very high opinion of herself, the only real difference to Opaline on that aspect, was the fact that she didn't have the need to prove it to anyone, she didn't need the validation from others. 

@Props Valroa
"That would be the kind of information I'd require payment for, but the fact is, I already told you everything I know." Cinder remarked "I don't care about pony politics, and those who do care generally know those things already, so I've never bothered to figure out any of the names." "And lot of names it would be, for pegasi it would be easy, with them having royal family or whatever, but for the other types? that's a leader per settlement, why bother?" "Only reason why I even know the general styles of leadership they have, is because they have happened to come up in conversations indirectly." "Heh, I don't even know the name of the dragonlord, and I grew up under her rule."  

@Props Valroa

There was no arguments, Una would nod and look around a bit, until she found a nice corner to lay down in, a bit of an odd choice, but Una didn't really have the need for beds or other such due to not being used to it, in fact, as far as she could remember, she had never slept in a bed, the only place she had slept in before Sombra found her, was the liquid filled tube. If not interrupted, she would fall asleep rather quickly, though this wasn't going to be a calm night for her...

The mayor got herself a bit of water to drink, and generally did things you'd expect from somebody who had been woken up in the middle of the night and tried to calm down again, so she was still around for any questions or such, but if Sombra said or did nothing fro a while, she too would head back to bed.  

11 hours ago, Blitz Boom said:

I tried to put in a response for all contingencies, but if I missed one, you can interrupt at any stage during what I wrote, and just ignore everything written after it, so it fits with your actions. Feel free to let me know if it looks like nonsense too.

@Blitz Boom
I do have a one question, what happens to fire?  While dragon fire does have magical aspects to it, at least for Ruby's and Charir's kind, the formation of the fire is still biological, and considering Charir's situation, he will be using said fire to try and break free, so what would that do if anything? Is the stuff fireproof? will it absorb it?

Other than that everything is fine.  

"It wasn't just us." Jenna reminded "Before things went down, there were people on the internet talking about similar letters." "There was also that one person we saw before entering the portal, I do wonder where they went." "Though if we would have been the only ones, then they would have definitely watched us." "But, I'm still not certain if i believe it could have been the military that did all of it, mainly because it's the military, mysterious letters isn't really their style." 

"Currently the only ones...with the means, is the order." Jenna pointed out "Maybe if the rumors of Cobalt...and the underground are true...they could do something." "But it's just rumors...and my contact has been...unable to find anything." 

On 2024-02-05 at 2:42 AM, Blitz Boom said:

I seem to recall you saying they were about the same size before.

I have mentioned it yes that they are about the same height as a mare, but sometimes one may forget the difference between bipedal and four legged creature (even I sometimes imagine the kobolds bigger than they are ) It's true that from the bottom of the foot on top of the head they are same, but pony still has notably more mass due to having bigger body in other directions. Point being, kobolds are small (and light) enough to ride a pony (somewhat)  

On 2024-02-05 at 2:42 AM, Blitz Boom said:

Now ain't that sweet? You think I'm adverse to make them meet up, just to tear them apart again.  Don't feel too safe just yet. Though things can go a few different directions, depending on what you respond next to things. Let is simply be said, that they are not done in the temple yet, and they should probably demand hazard pay afterwards.

it's not that I think it's safe, just that those exact situations don't work  

On 2024-02-05 at 2:42 AM, Blitz Boom said:

They are more neutral towards him then. I'll try and keep this sort of thing in mind.

It's good to remember who they are. They are part of species that is at least bit species-ists, always choosing their own above others, and they have lost enough to be maybe even bit afraid of getting too close to others, and from a place where ponies were not the good guys, so it's not that they are heartless monsters, they have just very high and thick walls around them when it comes to emotional connections. 

On 2024-02-05 at 10:27 PM, Blitz Boom said:

I forgot one thing actually: If you wanna keep going with Solar, I do actually have an odd character who would do well as a secretary, for the sort of group that Solar is trying to get running. Not someone brand new, just a char I've used sparingly, as she didn't have much of a place. But she's an odd one, who is good at the nitty gritty paperwork side of many things. All you'd need to do, were to go to Manehatten, and I could have them encounter one another.

I hadn't planned him to have an adventure of his own, but we could give this a try and see where it goes, I can easily have him visit Manehattan, since I can just say that there is something around there he needs to investigate. However, if at any point you feel like you have to forcibly come up with something to keep things going, then say so, no need to keep it going any longer than it naturally goes.  

@Blitz Boom
"The headquarters yes, while my unit is an unique one, regular procedures are still followed for now." Solar confirmed, doing both the office duties and the field duties, he couldn't really ensure his own presence for any specific times, so things like this had to go through the headquarters, but eventually he'd have more direct way of recruitment "And before I forget, Good job with Sheez, you chose the right approach." "The more reckless ponies may not think you did, but you can rest knowing you saved lives today." being a guard was a thankless job, so Solar figured he should make his own effort to thank others "And in more practical terms, you made my job lot easier, I thank you for it."

--

"There is no all-encompassing answer, as it depends on the oath one follows, but in general yes, the title comes with expectation of certain strengths, and certain obligations." "For me personally it has meant a life of scholarship, as I have spend most of my years studying to hone my abilities." "Healing is only one part of it." "As you are unfamiliar with the term, I should most likely explain the general idea." "In its simplest, a paladin is a knight, who's devotion for the cause is absolute." "It is often religious in nature, but it is not necessarily linked to any being." 

"As mentioned, life of a Paladin is not universal, but I can tell about my own." "My order was build around justice, the protection of the weak, the destruction of suffering." "I was but a youngling when I became part of all of it, I was chosen by forces outside my understanding, fate leading me to those who were to become my teachers." "My upbringing in the order was as you'd expect from any religious group, however, instead of religion, I learned history, and instead of praying, I learned combat." "My life as a Paladin was rather simple, when I wasn't out there fighting, I sat in the library learning, or was on the yard practicing fighting, I have vowed to fight for justice, so when I wasn't doing that, I spend my time learning how to do it better." "Thus my studies in healing, I am not naive, I know I'm but a single individual, so as time went on, I focused more and more on the small scale, how can I help individuals." 

"Which brings me to today, with the order gone, with me being the only thing left, my life is different, yet, I am driven by my oath still." "So to answer your question, What does the life of a Paladin entail? It entails the willingness to give your all to work for what you believe, willingness to constantly work on your mind and body to become better..." Myrkr again turned somber "...willingness to carry on, to have faith that even in the deepest darkness, you'll find light." 

Nerzhei probably didn't expect that kind of response, but she had been right in that Myrkr had nobody to share the weight with, so when he was actually asked about it, he may have gone bit overboard with the answer. 

--
"I'm alive." was Ruby's response to Leviathan's worry, and while she was as hard to read as always, minus the obvious pain caused by the wound and then Charir's fire, she was very much not 'okay'. Physically she was fine, what was a little cut here and there, and even the burn caused by Charir, since the pony form was not fireproof, was nothing to her, but mentally? She was good at hiding it, but she wasn't nearly as calm as she seemed, she was starting to feel more and more claustrophobic due to lack of room to transform, and thus was staring to feel extremely uncomfortable about being, quite literally, trapped in her own skin. She did not like being this helpless.

Leviathan's yelp got both of the other dragons' attention, Charir being more visibly worried, but as they both could see that she wasn't in active danger, and her words told Ruby what had happened, neither of them did anything, Charir wanted to do something, but didn't have the means to, nor time really, as his attention turned back towards the threats themselves.

 After the yank, Ruby spoke quickly, exhaustion audible from her tone "You already met the one chasing me." she gestured to the priestess "It reanimated some special mummy deer that speaks and can sense us." "Said mummy told the skeletons to bring us to it" she dodged and moved as necessary while she spoke "Have you tried to blow up a wall or a roof or something? if that doesn't work, we are out of options." 

Ruby was no help with fighting here, only way to do any real damage in this form, needed her to turn her back towards the enemy, which was just simply idiotic to do here, especially since they knew it would do nothing, however, Leviathan wasn't alone in fighting, because Charir still had plenty of energy, and while he knew it was ultimately useless, he rather went down fighting. So Charir went around slashing, mostly legs and the priestess's staff, yes they fixed themselves, but at least they would be out of the fight for that period of time.

While useless in fight right at this moment, Ruby still didn't just stand there doing nothing, rather she worked as extra pair of eyes, warning Leviathan and Charir about any incoming hit they may not notice, and if necessarily, even take a hit for one of them, fully aware that in this form that could be quite lethal. 

@Cheerilee
Depending on Sombra's exact wording, the mayor took a second before understanding the question, but would tell the names of 'Twilight's friends', and where they lived, though she didn't tell the latter for Rainbow, because as she explained, the location changed due to her house being build on clouds, but, she mentioned that you couldn't really miss it, and that it was technically speaking in Ponyville.

For the keys, she didn't fully understand the question, but she explained that in simple terms, the locks of the vault and the keys were enchanted so that they would only work when used by right ponies, but otherwise it was just like any lock and key, the locks only worked with those keys, and they keys only worked on those locks. 

@Cheerilee
"Eh, why would I follow rules when I don't get the benefits from following them?" even if she followed the law of ponies to a T, she would still be an outsider, she still wouldn't get equal treatment, so why bother? "And it doesn't really matter what you pretend to be, you'll have a guard following you everywhere, maybe several due to your size." "I would say that only way to be unnoticed would be to look like an earth pony, but I don't know if that helps either in you case, since you both are way too big for earth pony mares." "Even traders get weird looks, and you don't have even that excuse." 

"So there is trade between the ponies?" "Yes and no, there isn't active trade per say, but there are travelling merchants of all kinds going everywhere, so the groups trade things indirectly." "However, due to our location, we won't see any of that, the trade happens mostly around the coast, we are inland, and not only that, we come from direction that all traders, and travelers in general, avoid."
 

@Cheerilee
Una just followed silently, nodding in understanding but not having anything to say, while the mayor spoke, first stating that there was no code, and instead it was a combination of keys and magic, so she, or someone else with the right spell put on them, had to be there for the locks to work, and that no, she couldn't do anything to make Sombra one of them. She also mentioned that she had no knowledge on what security the castle may or may not have. 

@Cheerilee
"Ha!" "No magic needed, I've been dealing with all kinds of creatures and beings for millennia, you learn a trick or two in that time." Noctuna explained "It turns out that all creatures are very predictable if you know what to look for."  While she had no real way to tell yet that it was dragons Opaline needed, like she had hinted in her words, she had an idea that Opaline's power wasn't her own, and it was really a matter of elimination what the source was. The first clue was that it was something Opaline knew existed in this world, otherwise she wouldn't have been so certain, a hasty guess would have been ponies, considering her interest in Earth ponies, however, Noctuna didn't believe that to be the case, as the focus on Earth ponies would have been odd, them being the worst source of magic from the ponies, and while the types of ponies had different magics, the difference didn't matter when it came to absorbing it, especially not to an alicorn, since the whole point of them was that they had all the types. 

"So, if you're so good, what's your take on me?" Cinder asked, curious on Noctuna's judgement on her "You have been bit more careful with your words, but I think I still have a good picture of you." "You're an opportunist, you don't really care what others do, only if it helps or harms you." "Due to your upbringing, you share lot of things with dragons in your mindset, but because of your mistreatment, and the other half of your heritage, you've lost the more brutish parts of their kind." "You don't like how dragons do things, but at the same time, you find ponies boring." 

"You are honest in that you don't lie, but at the same time, you leave a lot to be untold, however, what you keep secret cannot be used against you." "You do not seek riches or power, but rather, your only goal is enjoyment, and thus, the only reason you're still here, is because you believe it could bring you entertainment." "You are carefree, only focus on things you care about, and are not afraid of much, most likely due to your close call with death earlier in your life, however, you are not careless."

"And then the most interesting part, your magic." "You are both pony and dragon, yet you use the magic of neither, you use a different source." "Mutual interests" "That was your response to how you avoided certain death, and that explains it all." "You found something, or someone, and made a deal, which not only saved your life, but gave you power." Cinder clapped few times, "Bravo, though I'm surprised you didn't try to guess any more about the 'something or someone'." "I do not know enough about this world to be sure of the options." "Fair enough." 

On 2024-01-30 at 2:02 AM, Blitz Boom said:

If you have any preference as to how I should address them after the split, with for instance the kitsune, or another used character, or even someone new entirely, lemme know. If not, I'll address it as things gets to that point, and take a stab with the on(s) I think will fit best into things.

I don't have specific preferences in that way, however, the twins won't be leaving the town (at least willingly) until 1. Sheska gets that tail prosthesis thing and 2. They are sure that Onache knows what happened with the attacker, so in other words, they are able to tell it to either her or her drone. Other than that, the only preference is that it's someone that makes sense for them to interact with, and probably more importantly, stick with, just as an example, while they don't dislike Shark, i don't think they would actively hang around her for sake of being around her, you know? 

On 2024-01-30 at 2:02 AM, Blitz Boom said:

as they don't seem to care about what happens to Light,

That's not really it, as I tried to explain in my now reply (as I really didn't know what to do due to Evil pink one not having replied yet), it's more lack of ability over lack of care, sure Sheska does prioritize her own brother over someone she just met, but they do care about Light, like you would care about someone you just met and didn't hate. They aren't exactly close friends yet though. (also Trox is upstairs, so he doesn't even know what's happening.)

Ultimately the only thing any of them could have done, is to get someone to help, but there was no need, as the guard appeared anyway.

As a sidenote, since I don't know if I have described it well enough in my writing, and in case it has been forgotten (because even I sometimes forget it), here's finally a visual aid on the size of kobolds (average)

On 2024-01-30 at 2:02 AM, Blitz Boom said:

They can fade into the background again easily, until such a time as you pull them out of retirement, if needed.

Basically, they'll be around any time the story goes back to the tavern, until when/if the siblings find a new, more permanent roof over their heads, at which point, the duo will continue their travels.  

On 2024-01-30 at 2:02 AM, Blitz Boom said:

As for the temple, having fun there currently, and I have some idea where things will go with this. I will just be curious to see if you guess it before that.

I had some guesses, but with the character's coming together, they aren't as viable. I was really betting on Ruby getting trapped somewhere alone and becoming damsel in distress