Catpone Cerberus

"The wind is picking up." Jenna stated "Soon it will start to rain." as she said it, she looked into the direction of the wind "You should...get into to shelter I made for you...before you get wet." regardless of being so big, Jenna wasn't actually that warm beyond blocking the wind with her size, as while her body's temperature was lot higher than human's, her scales isolated most of that, the current exception being her wounds, as having lost the scales from those areas, they were radiating heat.

@Blitz Boom "It is not murder when it is in self-defense, and your job." Solar stated rather dryly "And trust me, if things ever get that bad, you won't need much convincing; if a stable enough connection is formed, I will be a fraction of your trouble." "However, reality may be on our side there, as regardless of great effort, no stable portals from our world have been created since the corruption." he felt that it needed to be said regardless of moving to other topics, it was the worst case scenario, and was very unlikely, if not impossible; however, at the same time it was something that needed to be acknowledged, rather prepared for something that won't happen, than unprepared for something that does. "For Changelings, while of course talking with their species directly is on my to-do list, the information I seek is such that even friendliest of their kind would be unlikely to be happy about me asking, not to mention actually giving the information." "To put it simply, I need the most efficient ways to neutralize them, in case someone like UNA appears and ends up being a bigger problem, and I imagine they wouldn't be too happy if I went up to them and asked them to tell me how to kill them." the last part was said with bit of humor, as obviously he wouldn't be so direct about it, and neutralizing didn't necessarily mean killing, but the point still stood, especially since the tension between the species' was unlikely to be entirely gone, very unlikely, if the queen he had met was anything to go by. "I believe that is all for now, questions welcome of course; I don't expect you to remember everything I've told you, as it is a lot, but I trust that you now have enough context to understand what you will be seeing." "For your duties specifically, my hope is that after some time, you'll be able to filter incoming paperwork without my input, and send it forward." "I do need to show you around the building so that you know where is what, but that's for bit later, as it takes a moment for the documents regarding your level of clearance to be made." --------------------- Ruby seemed to be bit surprised by the question, before looking down at her own claws, seemingly only now realizing her own movements "Nervous? No, that would imply I'm worried about the future." she said, lot less dismissively than one may expect "Rather, it is the past that fills my mind." she got up and stretched her wings to get ready for the long flight "I'd be lying if I said I'm excited about seeing the place of my greatest failure again." her dreams had also been a bit restless, though she didn't make that known, as she frankly didn't want to talk about them. "I too left for a reason after all." Charir of course was bit nervous about it too, after all, he had fled not so long ago, so the risk of meeting those he ran from again was real; however, the exciting idea of meeting their more magical counterparts overpowered his fear, especially because even in all his wariness, he did trust Ruby when she promised to keep him safe. To move the topic away from her feelings, Ruby changed the subject "We'll fly to north-eastern direction, and go around the Equestrian mountains from the eastern side, then, at the ocean, we'll turn north-west, to avoid the coldest parts of the northern ocean." "That is as far as I can tell verbally, as even I don't know where exactly the Homelands are on the map, I just know how to get there." "Ready?" she would ask Charir too if he was ready, and he'd nod, and until Leviathan cancelled her previous statement about being ready, Ruby too took flight. Of course if Leviathan had questions, or comments, they could be said and answered in the air too. --------------------- "Our arguments rarely end in injuries of any kind, mainly because there is this, strong biological...urge?, which makes the idea of hurting another kobold...repulsive." Trox had to think a moment to come up with proper words, it was hard to describe to creatures that didn't have it. "Which also impacts our language, as our insults can get quite creative." "For learning the language, I don't really know, as we don't really know any more local kobolds than you do; Chega could know someone willing." "For books, there exists plenty for us to learn ponish, so you could use one of those to do the reverse, however, I have no idea where you'd get one, as they are not really something we carry with us." "It is good to also remember that most kobolds aren't as used to dealing with outsiders as we are, so reactions may vary" "There may also exist non-kobolds who have managed to study our language, but I again don't know where to even start looking for them." "Myself and Sheska specifically, we aren't who you are looking for in matter of teaching language, however, we are more than willing to discuss culture and our species in general." Sheska and Chega seemed to reach an agreement of some sort, and based on the body language, Chega had in fact won the so called argument, and Neon would have a chance to hear bit about the results, as Chega spoke to Sear "When we leave, let's drop few things to Sheska's and Trox's new place, and when we come around again, I need to remember to visit a bank." As Sheska came back to Trox and Neon, Trox asked in slightly amused tone "So?" and Sheska answered in almost defeated manner "She promised to get us only some basics, for now." "She is even worse than the one we knew." Trox chuckled.

"Whenever that is." Jenna agreed "This thing feels infinite." she looked up at the beam they were following once again, they had walked a days worth at least in distance, yet their target was still somewhere behind the horizon. She didn't say it out loud, but Jenna had a strong feeling that they'd be travelling quite a way outside the city; She started thinking about alternative ways to move, motor vehicles were probably out of the question, but maybe a bicycle? it would probably be better than walking, right? "Why is it that this feels so terrifying?" "I'm at the point that I almost hope we see some kind of monster or something." she was again half-joking, but there was also some truth behind it, the emptiness around them was terrifying, and seeing something to fear was preferable to not knowing if there was something.

"We'll see what the situation is then." Jenna stated "Being found...in the first place, and whatever...those dragons were..." "...it complicates things." "If nothing else...I need to be lot more alert...to be ready to shed the human form...when needed." The wind started picking up.

@Blitz Boom Solar would take the cubes offered to him, and as he started addressing everything that had been said, his systems ran chemical analysis on one of the cubes; this was an entirely automatic process that started without any input from him. "I thank you for trusting me enough to tell me this, for your questions, I'll go in order." "What comes to other nations, I have informed the princesses on the potential threat, and they are to decide who is informed and who is not." "But, we must also acknowledge that they are not Equestrian responsibility alone; We will assist others in combating them yes, but the security of other nations is ultimately their own concern." "Diplomatically speaking, only problem they could cause, is it coming to light that we knew of their existence and did not warn others, which is a mistake of politics rather than us." "This Equestria however has no fault in their existence, and thus cannot be blamed for any potential destruction; And in all their unpredictability, they all want nothing less than to be associated with ponies, and thus only a total fool would even try to blame them on us." "Especially Sheez, who is the main potential for trouble. In fact, her hatred towards ponies makes her a very attractive ally for our enemies, not that I believe she'd take such offer." He didn't trust Sheez, but he believed that she cared for her species enough to not bring war to their doorstep. "For Myrkr's blade, I'd like to specify that it seems sentient, but I have no real evidence either way, as he was rather vague about it." "All that is certain is that it has eyes that move like it's alive, and based on his word, it has the ability to decide and call upon its wielder." "For its origin, he was as clueless as we, as while the blade has been with the order since the start, they did not create it, and rather it found them." "The eyes seemingly being from dragons, I can only assume it is dragonic in its origin." "Such an ancient weapon still being effective in the modern day of our world also means that it must be especially powerful, or capable of independent adaptation." It may have not been a question, but he still wanted to address it. "I have my own theories of its origin, but that is entirely speculation." "As for the unknowns, I will discuss them in my next face to face report to the princesses, as I will also request them for information about changelings as a species; my information on them is very limited, because in my world, Changelings as a species was wiped out from Equestria, I am well aware of things like the anti-magic properties of Black stone and the nature of their magic, but the species itself was lost to history." "Before learning about project UNA, I wasn't sure if they had survived anywhere." "With UNA specifically, we are likely to learn if she appears in Equestria, as we know that she took a part of a building with her, and even if we don't find her, a room filled with advanced technology appearing somewhere will certainly be noticed." Until of course it ended up underground like the kobolds had, as not every cave was in a hive of a Changeling queen. "Project Viper is problematic because we don't know his mental state, it could be that he seeks out his kind, but it could also be that he has gone feral." "There is also the potential that he never left the world; we only know that he disappeared after his escape, and he is the only one from the three that has no clear evidence of being taken from the world." "Mercy will be hardest to track if it truly can be anything, however, if everything else is true too, then we don't need to, as it is unlikely to pose a threat." "Though we will keep an eye out for mysterious gardens.". "It is also good to acknowledge that there is potential of them appearing outside Equestria, at which point we may never learn of them, as even with Scorch out there, the world is a big place." "For myself, to put it simply, you'll cook me alive before any of my parts start melting." "However, your abilities can be of use in the worst case scenario." "When talking about control, we are not talking about something akin to mind-control, as my mind is still mostly biological; Rather, it will be a takeover of my systems, things like my eyes, two of my legs, and most importantly, my offensive and defensive systems." "I will still be me, I'll just lose control over most of my body, and knowing my old superiors, I wouldn't put it past them to just kill me to save power for weaponry." "My defense's strength is also its weakness; it blocks everything. And while you alone would be unlikely to be able to do anything, heating the surrounding area enough to burn flesh would help with overwhelming that defense." "And permission?" Solar once again turned more commanding "I order you to annihilate me if it comes to that." he then went back to his usual professional but not overly strict tone "I also hope it never comes to that, and I want to believe that I haven't missed anything in my actions to try to stop it ever happening; But if it does happen, the only course of action is my total destruction." -------- Neither saw reason to wake Leviathan, however, after removing the message she had written on the ground, she spoke to Charir in her normal voice, explaining the plans and such, who responded in short responses, but also in his regular tone, so depending on just how deep Leviathan was sleeping, this could have been enough to wake her. "I believe it is starting to be closer to what you'd call 'Day'" Ruby said in dry but slightly joking manner. "I have already eaten my fill, I woke up before either of you." It was a lie, she hadn't eaten anything, but she also wouldn't, she didn't want to fill herself up before a long flight, and the previous meal was big enough for her to go for a good while. "Charir hasn't, though I doubt he wants to eat too heavily, it's a long flight." if offered, Charir would eat one lobster for a snack, but other than that, he'd gesture what could be understood as 'flying and full stomach bad.' As she spoke, Ruby seemed bit distracted, as while she did look towards Leviathan when she spoke to her, her eyes didn't look at her as much as they looked through her, and there was small movements that in most creatures weren't necessarily that big of a deal, but for someone like Ruby who usually sat still like a rock, it was unusual; the tip of her tail was slightly moving from side to side, and she was slowly pushing her claws into the dirt. Her breath was also slightly hotter than usual, but since she wasn't really breathing at Charir or Leviathan, there wasn't really a way for them to tell. ------- "We had hats for a moment, Onache made us ones from cardboard, but they were lost in all the chaos." "Which is why we prefer hoods, those don't fly off as easily, and they take less space." "We also know what tourist traps are." even in their world, similar things existed, cities like the Capital sold things for those who couldn't afford to actually live there, and smaller tows also sold things to travelers; Though some of them were actual traps too, used to rob creatures. "I'm sure we'll find some cheap cloth somewhere to make something ourselves to start with." "Forests also have plenty of materials." They, like most kobolds really, tended to first try to make something themselves, and buying was secondary for after they were well off enough for excess. "Though we'll probably see this 'Rarity' later when we'll look into getting a full wardrobe." "Our arguments aren't all so nice of course, but you rarely see anything with actual vitriol, that is saved for those who deserve it." 'those' of course meaning a very specific kobold in this case "when it comes to the language itself, it's complicated topic." "First of all, there is no one kobold language. Due to being underground species, each community forms their own language, however, due to our anatomy, all of our languages share similarities with Dragonic languages, and with each other." "Myself and Sheska speak two kobold languages fluently, our native one, which you can hear them speaking, and then a sort of universal language that was created where we come from so that kobolds from different communities could communicate with each other more easily; We are the only ones who speak the latter here." "Sheska also knows several more different kobold languages due to her study of medicine." "It is hard to say if it would be hard to learn, because as native speaker of one, it's lot easier to learn others too, as they all follow the same basic idea." "I think the hardest part would probably be the differences that culture causes, just for example, we have three words that all translate to sister, because we are all brothers and sisters, but certain separation is still necessary, as in, Chega is my sister, but she is not my sister like Sheska is." "On the opposite end, we don't have words like Doctor, or Nurse or so on, and instead we have only a single word for the profession of the medical kind, a word that best translates to Healer." The 'argument' was slowing down, now sounding more like a negotiation or bargaining.

Tara and Alicia, while they consider each other sisters, aren’t related by blood, nor is their father their biological father. They first met in ”Home for troubled young”, as they were left there around the same time in their early teens. Alicia is couple years older than Tara, but they quickly became friends, as being older than many others there, they found connection in each other. The exact reasoning for why they were brought there by their biological parents is bit different for each, but it can be summarized for both of them as: lack of respect for authority, and tendency to cause trouble. Due to their older age, and having already learned to manipulate others a bit, the two managed to get slightly better treatment than many others in the institution, though they still weren’t safe from the worst parts of the place, and in some aspects, due to being older, they actually had it worse. They however weren't there for long, as only few years from their arrival, the place burned down, so its impact to them remained minimal, besides of course meeting each other. The biggest impact to them came from what happened after the fire, as in the chaotic aftermath of suddenly needing to house a bunch of ”Troubled” young creatures, Tara and Alicia got selected into the ”sane” group, which was pushed into the adoption system due to limited space in the alternative institutions. They didn’t really expect much, they knew they weren’t exactly on the top of demand after all, they still didn’t respect authority and their criminal history wasn’t kept a secret, so it was unlikely anyone wanted to adopt them. It didn't bother them though, as they frankly didn't want to be adopted, they were old enough to care for themselves, what did they need adults for? However, it didn’t take long until someone got interested in them, they overheard older male feline asking about them, and after hearing everything, and regardless of being recommended many others, he came to see them. He seemed wealthy, and as he asked bunch of usual questions, questions to which the two answered with expected disrespect, Tara stole his wallet, seemingly unnoticed. As the potential adopter left, Tara and Alicia assumed that was that, but to their surprise, they had been adopted the next day. They weren't really given any choice, as the orphanage where they had stayed quite literally pushed them out, almost as if they were happy to get rid of them. They were brought to a mansion, and they were excited; until they were told that they had to give the wallet back and apologize before they were let inside, and then had a door shut in their face and locked, in middle of winter, without proper clothing. To many creatures this wouldn't have been that big of a problem, but the two had short fur, and they were not build for cold weather. Needless to say, they swallowed their pride and apologized. After they had settled in, they of course kept challenging their new "father", not having gotten the message from their first day, but it only lasted for few weeks, as they were provided with a crash course on respect. In summary, the first day was a taste, and the few weeks of defiance followed a similar course; Their to be father never touched them, and they were never actually harmed, but they learned their place. They think back to that time positively, as while unpleasant experience, they were ultimately happy that they did accept their place, due to what they gained from it. When they started respecting him, genuinely, rather than out of fear for punishment, he respected them back, and he wasn’t actually that strict, or strict at all really, he only expected basic respect towards himself, and the willingness to do as told; otherwise they were free to do pretty much anything they wanted. After the first few weeks, they never saw another punishment, even when they actively challenged their father, though they still apologized when they were in the wrong, and in turn, they got an apology when they weren't. Their lives were great from that point on, their adoptive father was wealthy and influential feline, having his claws in lot of places both legal and illegal, and they had full access to all of that privilege. They were very much spoiled, and the few awful weeks were quickly forgotten. Soon their father brought them into the know, teaching them things and showing them around, they were as good as biological daughters to him, and soon enough they too saw him as their father. Along all of this, the two sisters had access to material and means to educate themselves on any topic they could imagine, and they took full advantage of that. With such wealth and privilege, they soon started act a part, both in good and bad, they were educated and knew how to behave properly, but they were also prideful; and with them taking part in the various operations their father had his claws in, they indirectly, and in some cases directly, exploited those lot less privileged than them, and just in general started to treat those lesser than them like...well, like they were lesser than them. With this came more sinister side too, as they took glee in the misfortune of those lesser than them, and started purposely causing such misfortune, just for fun. However, then their father died, the cause was natural, and something they had known was long time coming, yet they felt it was still too soon. They inherited everything, but they didn’t celebrate, as even if they didn't share blood, he was their father. They kept a brave face at the funeral, which was a big event, but after it, grief-stricken from the loss, they isolated themselves for a while. After grieving properly, they took full control of their father’s operations, though along it, they started a new hobby, kidnapping. They would take individuals, bring them to their mansion, ”have fun” with them, and then let them go, most of the time. They were of course smart about this, making sure that either the victim wouldn't know who they were in the first place, or that they wouldn't talk; not that it mattered much, as due to having their claws pretty much everywhere that matters, they were quite untouchable.

Nux and Nax were left to ”Home for troubled young” when they were too young to really remember anything about their parents, but they do faintly remember that they did have parents, not that it has any effect in their lives, as they have no interest in seeking them out. Due to being sisters, they were kept in the same room, a room that was designed for a single creature, be it with two beds. Because of this, they grew up to be very close, as they didn’t really have any other choice, being stuck so close to each other, and not really having anyone else to turn to for emotional support. They were two of the few who the institution ended up kinda helping, as the reason for them having been brought there in the first place, was their violence towards each other; a permanent reminder of which can be seen on Nax, as one of their fights had ended with Nux biting off and eating Nax’s right ear. This however doesn’t mean their problems were solved, as while the treatments kept them off each other enough for them to start caring about each other, they now channel their worst habits towards others. Their life in the institution didn’t have much more effect on who they ended up becoming, as their worst tendencies had always existed, and while the experimental treatments and medicine didn’t help with it, it didn’t actively make it any worse either, if you don't count growing disdain towards figures of authority. They spend most of their time together, and while they got along with some other patients, they didn't make any real friends. Their time in the institution ended, when a fire from unknown origin started in the basement and engulfed the building, and while they made it out alive, Nax was caught in the flames enough to be burned, leaving her with permanent scar tissue on the left side of her face, neck and shoulder. The scar tissue wasn't the worst issue of the injury however, as she also lost her left eye. It took her a while to accept her new physical appearance, but she came to embrace it, partly thanks to her sister, as Nux thinks it's cool. They learned later that one of the other patients had apparently perished in the fire, though they didn’t know much about her beyond the fact that she was always carrying a dragon plush toy with her, a toy which she also spoke regularly to, not that it was too unusual in that place. They however came to doubt this information later in their life. After Nax had gotten medical treatment for her burns and they started to heal, the two ran away from the hospital, and while they were still quite young, they managed relatively well on their own, because their biology allows them to eat things most creatures couldn’t, things that others throw into trash, and on the streets where they ended up on, there was lot of trash. Nux and Nax also were, and still are, notably smaller than other bipedal creatures of equivalent maturity, and this worked in their benefit too, as it allowed them to better stay hidden in the gang and corruption filled streets, and it also made others underestimate them, giving them the benefit of surprise. As the years went on, the two started gaining some infamy on the streets as with their growing confidence, they started letting their worst urges free. When it comes to the worst parts of Nux and Nax, they are different yet they complete each other. They both enjoy the pain of others, but with their own quirks, Nax is more into the psychological side, caring more about the reaction of the target than what was actually done, while Nux likes the physical side, partly because she likes to get a taste of them, literally. Because of this, they often play an act where they overplay Nux's worst habits to terrify their unfortunate target. The two were small players in the city for a long while, known to some, but ultimately just a part of a whole messed up reality, that is, until one day someone came in and toppled the biggest gangs in the area, leaving a massive power vacuum, which the two naturally took a advantage of. They didn’t start a gang, as they had no interest in organized crime in that way, and instead, they started an operation in gaining information and then selling it forwards, weaving strings into the gangs and other forces filling the power vacuum, making them an unnoticeable yet powerful force in the whole.

Nature versus nurture, a never-ending debate, but what happens when one feeds the other? Flint never fit the norm, in fact, being a hybrid between several species, nothing about her was normal, and her parents knew that, whoever they may have been. Before Flint was old enough to form memories, before the word flint even existed to her, she was left on the door of an institution, ”Home for troubled young” it was called, though if you ask her, ”Prison for kids that parents can't handle” would be more accurate. And Flint’s opinion is not without cause, as the place was less a home, and more an old-school mental institution, where young creatures like her were left by parents that never came back, left to be subjected to various ”treatments”, which most of the time only made things worse. Early medicine at its finest. Flint wasn’t called Flint back then, but her original name has been lost to history, as later in life she went on a mission to wipe herself from existence, a mission in which she succeeded, as storing of said information had been given as much care as she ever was. She herself of course knows it still, but as she doesn't consider it as her name anymore, it will never be said out loud. Because of her young age at arrival, the ”home” is the only thing she ever knew, she never had a Dad or a Mom, only Doctors and Officers; And at the time, she didn’t question it. She however never saw it as a home, just a place she lived in. Life in the institution was quite unpleasant, most of Flint’s days were spend in her room, a small room with minimal furniture and barred window, there were some supervised times for social interaction with the others, and of course all the ”treatments”, but most of the time her only interaction was with staff, and with a plush toy of a dragon she called ”Scaly”, her best and only friend. This kind of life combined with already existing issues made Flint spite others and life itself, especially so, as she felt she got punished even when she was being good. Flint was fascinated with two things from very young age, fire and blades, and in her young naive mind she hoped she’d grow up to be like Scaly, a sharp clawed, fire-breathing dragon. This lead to her stealing things like knives when she got a chance, which in turn lead her to find something particularly interesting about herself. Due to the unique way her fur-scale mess of a skin grows, when stricken in the right way with right kind of material, sparks are formed; After this discovery, she couldn’t get enough of it, sometimes accidentally harming herself as she tried to make herself spark. The staff of course tried to stop her, but she always found a way. This all lead to her, in her early adolescent years, to do something that changed not only her, but many others' lives. It was a regular day in the building, when Flint managed to escape the eyes of the staff, and hid in the basement, there she started to strike sparks once more, though this time she had placed herself close to flammable material, which caught the sparks and ignited; It is not known if this was intentional or accidental, but the fire soon spread, and due to the building’s fire safety being as up to date as their medical practices, the fire spread quickly. Flint didn't run, and instead sat there for a while, staring at the flames in awe, letting them swallow her; Turns out she was fireproof. She finally broke out of her trance like state when she felt something, or rather, felt the absence of something; Due to being a plush toy, Scaly wasn’t actually fireproof, and had turned to ash, making Flint very upset. After getting over the loss of her only friend worryingly quickly, she got up and started walking, ultimately walking out of the burning building into the snowy outside world. The fire destroyed the place entirely, and wasn’t without casualties, as most of the staff were mysteriously unable to leave the place in time, though due to the total destruction of the building, and the local authorities being less than stellar at their job, no conclusions were made of the cause or possibility of foul play. The young patients of the place however all made it out, be it some with injuries, though one was never found, and was thus marked as a casualty; Flint. Flint found herself from city streets, filled with creatures of all kinds and all ages, yet she didn’t know how to approach anyone, after all, this was the first time she was outside all alone, and in full honesty, she didn't trust adults. She collected all her courage to seek help, yet she got none; Thinking she was just a beggar, many ignored her, some were even hostile, and few, while friendly, only gave her some money and told her to get going, without letting her explain anything. However, when she finally gave up and sat down in an alley to get cover from the wind, a group of creatures approached her, they insulted her and threatened her at first, but after they realized she was a fish out of water, they offered a hand, a hand that Flint regrettably took, a hand that was not that of kindness and compassion, but that of exploitation; that group was not a group of friendly strangers, but a group of gang members, and a naive little girl was exactly what they needed. Flint soon learned the nature of the place she found herself in, a city of gangs and corrupt law, it made sense to her, only a place like that would allow places like where she came from to exist. As time went on, she learned into the ways of crime, and during the years of being a tool for gain of others, Flint started to realize her situation, how she was just being used, and like her uses, something else changed with age; She was in her late teens now, and she was no longer a naive little girl. One day, as she was locked in a room in one of the gang’s buildings after making a mistake, she started to think and realized what her future would most likely look like, so she made a plan for escape. As days went on, she was in and out of the room, she was once more a prisoner; But she learned that the building had lacking fire safety, and it was relatively easy to make it even more so, so she did, and when the time was right, all it took was a little spark. After that she disappeared, and only she knows where she went or what happened, but few years later, she appeared once more, changed, and with a bone to pick. First, there was set of fires, the homes of the staff members from the ”Home for troubled young”, who had survived but later died of natural causes, were burned to ash; and so was every other place that held information about the institution, more specifically a certain patient. Then, a memorial put up for the victims of the fire was vandalized, the name of the single lost child was removed, and with all paperwork of them having been burned, and the last creatures to remember them being dead, the name was lost to history. Rumors about Flint started to spread, giving her nice nicknames like "the purple freak" as the operations of a specific gang came under attack, building after building, member after member; a once influential gang crumbled, then another, and another. And as her destruction spread, so did her name ”Flint.”; she picked it herself, based on the unique feature of her skin. And Flint was nothing like that girl that had disappeared years before, empowered by magical artifacts that had bound themselves to her, she had a new purpose, chaos, the disruption of established order. She has no ideology, no deep message, it is a game to her, a chase; she does not seek to change things, she doesn't care to make a difference. It matters not if you are cruel or kind, honest or corrupt, criminal or the law; for all she cares is that you have authority, authority she is going to defy. And she is going to enjoy every moment of it. Old/MLP Design ˅ ----------- A bit about the "artifacts" and her abilities/powers. --First the most obvious one, her outfit, or armor, or however you want to call it: She found it in some old ruin worn by a skeleton, so naturally, the first thing she did, was to put it on. The moment she put it on, it reshaped it to her body and bound itself to her, meaning that she cannot take it off, nor can anyone else as long as she's alive. It looks like metal, feels like metal, and acts mostly like metal, with few differences: 1. It is more durable than metal, and even when damaged, it fixes itself 2. It constantly changes to fit the host, loosening enough to let Flint move normally, reshaping if she loses or gains weight, etc. but it's always just a bit too tight, making it uncomfortable to wear. 3. It weights barely anything Abilities: 1. It protects her even beyond what regular armor would, but she feels everything like she is unprotected. 2. It allows Flint to get out of any restraint and go through any lock, as they kinda just break when she wants them to. 3. Not an attribute of the "armor" per say, but in combination to Flint's unique skin, when she moves in specific ways, sparks are created. --Second, The thing between her eyes. It too was found from some old tomb, and as she touched it, she passed out from pain, only to wake up with it fused to her forehead, all the way into the bone. It came with a negatives too, as it came with an extra voice in her head, though Flint at it are mostly in agreement, and it makes her unable to lie; it doesn't force her to tell the truth, just not tell lies. She however is not aware of the latter, as it's less an active block, and more a control of her mind to not feeling the need to lie. It also turned her eyes unnatural and blue. Abilities: 1. It makes Flint more durable than regular creatures, allowing her survive even normally lethal blows, to certain limit. It allows her to heal injuries that normally don't heal, a hard limit being dismemberment. It however does not protect from pain. 2. It gives her the magical ability to materialize anything (solid) she can think of, and to dematerialize what she has created at will; She uses it mainly to make knifes. These materialized objects act like the real objects, but are always blue.

Jenna shook her head, and quite bluntly said "I'd die." she kept a short pause to let it sink in "I have broken bones...so possibly shards of bone...not connected to me anymore...inside me; And I have wounds...and I'm missing a chuck of my shoulder." "When we transform....we physically shrink." "Even if I survived the transformation itself....the human body cannot withstand this much...damage."

"Well, at least it means we are still sane." Jenna stated, half-joking, hoping to bring things up even slightly "Tell me if at any point you start enjoying it, so that I know you have started losing your mind."

@Blitz Boom "Next we'll be going through the cases that have already been identified, while you of course don't need to know every detail as you won't be facing them yourself, it will make the paperwork easier to know what is new information and what not." He started by pointing at himself "First, myself." "Solar Guard 308, the head of intel in the extermination unit 5, trained and build for locating and eliminating hidden individuals and groups opposing the Empire." "While not motivated to serve my previous ruler, my systems, regardless of my best efforts to eliminate such risk, could be taken over by said ruler if a stable connection between the worlds is to ever form, thus I have provided a detailed explanation to the princesses on how to best combat me if the worst comes to pass." "Because of my capabilities, which would allow me to take down large company of local guards with ease, combined with my will to help this world to combat those like myself, and few details in my defenses which make it possible, be it costly, to take me down with local means, my threat level is yellow." "This means that while I pose no active threat, eyes are to be kept on me." "Next, we have the kobold twins..." He took a painting of two kobolds (Sheska and Trox) "Trox and Sheska, two kobolds from the night-realm, were heavily involved with the local rebel movements." "While highly critical, and in some cases even hostile towards any and all pony authority and military personnel, they have no interest in harming the current order or innocent civilians." "They are highly skilled in combat, and Trox's artificial enchantments, while outdated, provide advantage against many in this world." "However, even with the advantage of these enchantments, the knowledge of weapons and tactics still unknown to this world, and the ability to make those weapons, their threat level is green, meaning that it is not necessarily for us to keep an eye on them; thus the documents moving the responsibility for them into the hooves of the regular branches." "In other words, they are to be treated like any other non-pony coming from outside Equestria." "Any future reports of them that find their way on your desk, are to be redirected to whatever branch has the responsibility of the area or type of issue." Solar then took a painting of a male red dragon wearing some kind of armor "Myrkr, or as he calls himself, Brother Myrkr" "He is a paladin and the last member of an order from the United." "He is a skilled warrior and wields a sword and a rapid-fire blaster: Latter can be combated with normal anti-magic defenses, however, the sword seems to be sentient to certain extent, and its abilities are not known to us." "He claims to stand for justice, and has provided us with information in potential threats we may face in the future from the United, giving weight to claims that he shares my goals, even if he was unwilling to join the unit itself." "His threat is yellow, as while he doesn't pose threat to us, we don't know enough of him to properly state his abilities, and as such, it is not safe to leave him to the regular guard." Next was a painted picture of a green female dragon with golden metal parts not too different to Solar's "The Solar Commander 20, General Scorch, or should I say, ex-General" "The first commander of the previously mentioned extermination unit, my commander." "She is cold, calculated, and efficient, and with 800 years of service under the empire, her experience is unchallenged." "She wasn't as cruel as some, but where ever she went, only piles of ash were left, as she personally burned down everything." "That is until some years ago, she turned on the Empire, slaughtered half of our unit with uncharacteristic brutality, and went on a campaign of sabotage and destruction against military and government targets, before disappearing." "As I later learned, this disappearance was because she ended up here." "She is also the one who gave me that cryptic message, foreshadowing a potential kobold uprising." "She is yellow, because while she is extremely dangerous, and we have no means to realistically combat her at the time, she poses no threat, as to quote her, she is done with ponies." "As we speak, she has most likely left Equestria, with no plans to come back." "She however does have a way to contact me, as she too has an interest to make sure that the world that created her, will never come true here; thus she will provide us with any intel she may gather" There was certain respect in Solar's voice as he spoke about Scorch. Lastly, he pulled out a painting of Sheez "Sheez, a kobold so infamous that even kobolds despise her." "Commander of a Nightmare unit from the night-realm, her unit was the most feared extermination unit in the whole Equestria." "Cruel and efficient, wherever her unit went, death followed, only kobolds were ever spared, no matter if soldier or civilian, an elder or a foal, any equine unfortunate enough to share a settlement with their target, were killed." "She is ancient for a kobold, her mostly artificial body having allowed her to live several lifetimes; she was there when we invaded the kobolds' homes, she lived through the enslavement of their kind, saw it from the start, was a slave herself." "This left her with deep hatred for us ponies, hatred that led the course of her life, getting her banished not just by her community and family, but her entire species." "Everything in her is designed for a single purpose, eradication of ponies, and it shows in her abilities." "Her blade, made from, in lack of a better term, weaponized void, can cut through magic like it's nothing, and her magic defenses go beyond anti-magic, as magic around her ceases to exist altogether." "I cannot overestimate just how dangerous she is, it is said that some magical beings get ill from just standing near her." "Which is why we are extremely lucky about the two previous individuals for being here, as they are currently the only beings in this world capable of putting up a fight against Sheez." "Which for the luck of everyone, puts her threat to only orange, as while she is extremely dangerous in both ability and motivation, Scorch and Myrkr are now watching over her, and they will kill her if must." "However, due to the danger, I have put out a word to every other branch of the guard, that if she ever appears again, they are to evacuate everyone form whatever settlement she may be in, and immediately inform me and the princesses." "While I have painted her here as mostly metallic, her tech allows her to disguise herself as biological, so any reports of an orange kobold with four arms, is to be taken to be her, and are to be given to me with top priority." That was all the paintings. "As a last point, there are few cases told to me by Myrkr, that while not yet spotted here, may show themselves some day" "As mentioned before, The United, unlike us, went into the direction of biological modification, and several of their subjects escaped; Myrkr told me about few he believes have left the world, the information is limited, as he wasn't told everything either, but it is something." "First, Project name UNA, artificial hybrid, an attempted shapeshifter, She was still work in progress when her room was swallowed by break in reality. Her build is that of a female equine, and she is in a state of constantly shifting forms, she is relatively harmless by herself, but due to her ability to copy skills and abilities, she can become extremely dangerous in wrong hooves." "Second, Project name Viper, a living chemical weapon." "A modified dragon, who's bodily liquids and smoke are extremely toxic and corrosive, He escaped his containment, killed everyone in the facility, and disappeared without a trace." "While extremely dangerous, he can be taken down with any ranged weapon with relative ease, though one needs to consider the risk of his toxins spreading in case of death." "And third, 'Mercy', the project name is unknown, as the subject destroyed all information of itself, however, in a recording it made, it states that it calls itself Mercy." "Little is known of its creation, for the previously mentioned reason, however, what it is known, is that it is a shapeshifter, that can be anything or anyone, with the ability to adapt to any kind of damage and to learn any skill quickly." "Myrkr followed its trail, only to find himself in a garden with evidence of tear in reality having happened." "He stated that Mercy is unlikely to be a threat, as from sounds of it, while it had killed everyone in its facility, it just wanted to live a life in peace." "That is all for now I believe, any questions?" ----------- Ruby had slightly exaggerated things, not in what the Homelands were, in fact, one could argue she underestimated just how awful place it was to live, but more on what they were likely to face themselves in this specific travel. Ultimately it was like she had said now twice, they were most likely be fine, as the smaller dragons did still have enough sense to not start a fight with someone like Ruby, when they were clearly just going through rather than trying to take over the territory; But she had a reason for it, it wasn't that she was worried that Leviathan was stupid enough to try and befriend someone clearly wanting her gone, but rather she was concerned that she would try to be the third party in something, like for example trying to help someone injured from a battle, as that would be what would get her killed, if anything. She also wanted to try and prepare her mentally, because the Homelands were truly a place where kindness and compassion went to die, there was nobody pure or innocent in there, everyone's claws were dirty, everyone thought about only one thing, themselves. As to be expected, Ruby didn't much react to Leviathan's gestures, but it wasn't purposeful dismissal, rather, she didn't know how to react, as she didn't really have context for true trust. She herself had trust issues, that probably was clear, but she also didn't really know how to tell if someone really did trust her, as she was used to being surrounded by distrust; not that she blamed anyone for it, she wouldn't have trusted herself either, after all, it was one of the lessons all of their kind learned, only you yourself can be trusted, everyone else, just like you, are only interested in their own gain, even acts of genuine kindness, are to fulfill a goal for self. Charir opened his eyes enough to see what was happening when Leviathan came to him, though while it was quite weird to him still, he didn't mind Leviathan's presence, and while his sense of touch was still limited due to his thick scales, somehow just the knowledge of Leviathan's actions made him feel better. Assuming nothing happened around them. nothing special happened with the two dragons during the night, Charir slept peacefully, and Ruby didn't at least do anything that would have woken up the others, depending on when exactly Leviathan woke up, Charir would probably be awake too, as he, like Ruby was a early waker, though while awake, he wouldn't move until Leviathan too woke up. Ruby meanwhile would be gone once again, there being just few deep scratch marks on the ground where she had slept; however, if she looked around, Leviathan would find an answer to where she was, as Ruby had scratched a message on the ground in front of the two 'Went for a drink'. If they waited, Ruby would be back some minutes later, as her usual self, though she did seem to sink her claws into the ground a tiny bit more than usual. If however they decided to go look for her, they'd find her from where Leviathan had found the lobsters, drinking the water; the same observation could be made for her claws. ----------------- "Regular water is enough for moisture, besides, for our scales, the worst case scenario is that we need to shed bit more at once" kobolds shed a tiny bit constantly instead of their whole skin at once, but they had the ability to shed more at a time, even the whole thing if necessary, and while they weren't used to the sun, they still had counters for heat and drying up to certain extend, the bigger problem was the light. "Honestly, what we need is clothing, probably light colored so that it doesn't get hot, and something like a hood so that we can shade our eyes." "And of course time, it's not like the sun is dangerous to us, we just aren't used to it." As the walked, they did in fact try to stay in the shade. When in the Tavern, Chega and Sear were sitting down eating, and Sheska got straight to the topic, telling Chega that they wouldn't be staying in the room anymore, to which Chega asked if they needed anything, and as Sheska told her to not worry about it, an argument started that soon changed to a kobold language, it wasn't the bad kind of argument, rather, it was clear even without understanding the words, that it was Chega insisting on helping and Sheska insisting that she didn't need to. This clearly amused Sear, and even Trox seemed slightly amused as he addressed Neon "You know, the most common argument between kobolds is and argument between generosity and humility." "Especially healers like Sheska have hard time taking praise or help." "I'd join but I know Chega will win, she has a way with words, she's a bard after all."

"Like said...that's what the trees are for." Jenna concluded, the fact was that she was big bright red creature with open, be it burned shut wounds, the only thing she could hide from was things flying above them; anything on the ground would be able to smell, see or hear her regardless what she did, as the only real way to hide better was caves, and they weren't actually super common, especially not ones she could actually fit into. The problem with caves was also the fact that they usually had only one good entrance, so if someone came from there, there was no way to run away to. She sniffed the air "I can smell a rainstorm...coming." she moved back into the pool of water once more "That's good, it'll wash...away the smells."

"You and me both." Jenna said "I would otherwise keep my powers active to keep an eye for any life around too, but the air feels so unnatural that it would probably make me physically sick." due to just how weird everything here felt, she didn't really like using her powers here until necessary, which in turn made her feel more normal she had ever felt, closest to a regular human, and she kinda hated it, she felt so vulnerable.

@Blitz Boom "When it comes to the various magic beings of the world, especially those of the night, there are few aspects which make them....irrelevant for our mission." "Firstly, cataloging them is an impossible task, for not only am I not aware of many of them, but they also do not follow any specific nature, as by their nature as nightmares, they are more psychological than physical, they are what you fear, what you will fear, what you don't want them to be; so to prepare for them, is to make them immune to your means of combating them." "Second, they draw their power from the cursed night, their horrors empowered by the glow of the cursed moon, something which does not exist here." "Simply put, if they were to come here, if not instantly vaporized by the sun, they can be chased away by bright enough light." "Which leads to the third thing, they exist here too, be it in lot weaker form, and mostly trapped in the dream realm, and Princess Luna has been dealing with them as long as she has ruled the night; thus they are easily combated with already existing means." "In general the natural creatures that may not exist here, are still just that, creatures, and pose no bigger threat than those that already exist here; thus our main concern is threats directly caused by the advancement of war technology and magic." "For the sisters, while of course all information you can gather is welcome, the unfortunate reality is that they are outside our capabilities, and will require action from the princesses and the calling on the elements of harmony, or whatever equivalent may exist at that time." "I have provided the princesses with all information on their counterparts I have, and will in future do so in case we find something useful, but if the worst comes to pass, we are to run and hide just like everyone else." It was probably not what Magma expected, but it was the truth, him, or really even someone like Sheez, going against their version of the sisters directly, was like a filly trying to take down Celestia and Luna in one to one battle. "The most we can do, is to aid with potential banishment, in case the elements are unavailable." "However there is one aspect of their power that we do need to prepare on relation to myself, but I'll go more to that soon." "Draconequui in other hoof, are complicated topic." "I do not believe they were destroyed by the sisters, as they wouldn't be trying to hunt them down still if they had, however, Chaos magic has been studied closely, and while there hasn't been any success that wielding it in its full power, it is understood quite well...or at least as well as it can be, per its nature." "I am aware of the local allies, like Discord, even if I haven't had the honor of meeting him myself, and he is of course a consideration in our mission, however, we obviously have no say in the matter, as things like that are between him and the princesses." "However, if there are some more...minor individuals of his kind, I am willing to work with them more directly, as long as the princesses allow it of course." "Lastly, while it is an interest of mine, there isn't much research that can be done towards my world from here, as it would merely be speculation based on incomplete information, and it is not part of our duty." "However, if there is information you can request, then please do, as understanding the nature of the situation can help us to combat it" "And as far as I'm aware, all evidence implies that matter is only leaving our world." "Any further questions?" if not, Solar would get ready to continue to the next part of the briefing. --------------------------------- In another show of her excellent ability to read the room and relate to emotions, Ruby started with a thoughtful remark "I guess you could call it post-apocalyptic wasteland." "It is a wasteland, no doubt about it, the fact that life exists there in the first place is nothing short of a miracle; And our kind is descendant of long collapsed civilization." "And you are not wrong thinking it sounds depressing, Myself and Charir aren't exactly flowing with joy now are we?" she had no illusions about it, while she of course liked her old life to the extend of it being what she knew, she wouldn't have claimed that it made her happy, in fact, Charir interacting with Leviathan was the first time she had seen anyone from her kin visibly happy about something; the closest thing was satisfaction of victory. Then she addressed the more emotional stuff, and while she was her usual self, there was certain level of genuineness to her that wasn't there usually "While I can promise to try to spare them, as I do not take satisfaction from killing hatchlings either, I cannot promise I'm not forced to do it." "It is true that they are not prey animals, but, we are animals, and when cornered, animals do not act with reason." "And they, we, live by 'kill or be killed', mercy is unknown concept to many, the idea that someone spares you just because they don't want to kill you, is unheard of." "In the mind of most, to be spared, means that more suffering is planned." "And many times they are sadly right, even if not by the one sparing them, losing a fight and surviving, often makes things worse, I would know." the way she said the last three words was...bitter? "I will try my best to keep us out of conflict altogether, but the truth is, kindness goes to die in that place..." she looked Leviathan in the eyes, the cold, jaded killer staring from her amber eyes "...and only the monsters thrive." as much as Leviathan had tried to convince her otherwise, Ruby was still not any less of an monster than rest of her kin, yes, she was a monster that was trying to better herself, but there was over century and half of history behind those eyes, history filled with exactly what she was now trying to warn Leviathan about. "I wouldn't blame you if you didn't trust me, I have made it no secret that I don't much care for your moral views." "Especially since my life in Equestria has been build on lies." Ruby admitted "However, I appreciate your trust, and assure it is not misplaced, for in all of my faults, I'm a creature of my word." she laid her head down on the ground as she laid down "But can you promise something to me in turn?" she looked at Leviathan "Whatever happens, prioritize Charir." regardless of her answer, or lack of it, Ruby would then close her eyes, Charir meanwhile, while not fallen asleep yet, had closed his eyes a while ago, as with fear and adrenaline finally fading away, he had become exhausted. --------------- "You can tag along, but be careful, the last two ended up in the hospital, technically three, but Light's situation had nothing to do with us." "Though he did almost get himself injured with Sheez too." "The thing causing the injuries has been dealt with, but we do seem to pull trouble to our way." it was a combination of humor and a genuine warning. "But thank you mayor for help, and, we'll see you around, let's hope you won't see our names on your desk anytime soon again." The twins were then ready to leave if there was nothing else, and would do so. When outside, the covered their eyes from the sun with their hands, they still weren't used to the brightness outside "Can't wait to get out of the direct sunlight of this place." "Actually, what is the weather like here usually? Is it always this sunny?" they would walk at calm pace, the direction being the tavern.

Jenna pointed at the trees she had toppled of the pool of water "Visual shelter is enough...for me, because anyone able...to smell or hear me, would smell and hear me...regardless the shelter." "And unlike you...unlike humans, I don't need shelter...from the elements."

It was weird really, the idea of a malevolent person in there with them made her more uncomfortable than the idea of meeting more of those...things, that came out of the portal, maybe it was intelligence thing, since a person would be able to stalk them and plan things, while the things, while probably humans at some point, seemed to be less than animals in that aspect, as their movement didn't seem to have any more logic beyond 'move forward' "Just keep your senses sharp aright?" "I don't want us to be surprised."

@Blitz Boom Solar started with the unit related info "As stated before, this unit was formed to combat threats from mainly my world, but, the more official mission is 'Identifying, investigating and countering anomalies beyond common means.'" "Other worlds is not a new concept for this world, the princesses have been aware of their existence from the start, in fact, travel between them, and the use of them to counter threats is older than the Equestria as you know it." "Banishing of the sirens being one of more public examples." "However, until my arrival, any potential threats caused by these worlds were reasonably simple to combat, as they tend to be tied to the same rules as this one, and thus same means work against them as against comparable local threats." "But my world, while still tied to the same rules of reality, is unique in a way not foreseen by the princesses; harmony failed, and so, evil has evolved beyond the means of this world." "That is where this unit comes in, I am to build a framework for combating threats from places like my world, or in other word, we are to expect the unexpected, prepare for what we don't know." "Obviously, our mission is paradoxical, we are to be ready for something we cannot prepare for by its nature, because if something is well known enough to have commonly known counters, it is no longer our responsibility, so, more realistically, this unit is less about active elimination of threats, and more about quickly analyzing them to find a way to combat them." "That is partly why I was chosen to be the commander of the first generation of this unit; while my knowledge is of course a part of it, my history as the head of information in my unit back home, fits the information focused mission of this unit." "This makes you an important asset for the unit, as most information will be going through you way or another, and that is also why you need to understand the exact nature of that information, thus a history lesson." He took the first painting; the paintings were just the cloth, making them take less space than paintings usually did; the first painting was a map, the shape of the land was same as Equestria, but that was where the similarity ended "Our history is mostly same to yours, up until certain point." "At some point before the first appearance of Nightmare moon is where things change, though that part of our history is truly known only by the sisters; However, what is known, is that several Alicorns were created, the means, the reason, or the exact time is not known, but I know it happened, because some of them are on the list of 'kill at sight' still to this day." "The most important deviation however, is with Nightmare moon, as she was never banished to the moon, instead, due to reasons only known to the two sisters, Celestia too was corrupted, becoming a being known simply as 'Daybreaker'" "The reason why this part of our history is relatively unknown, is because anyone besides the two sisters who was there to see it, was either killed by them, or disappeared; and as you can probably imagine, the sisters have an interest to paint their own version of history" "Next thousand or so years is relatively unimportant, the two sisters went to a war, which is still going on to this day: this is what has lead to our current technological and magical development, as all resources were put to try to out advance the other side; to put it shortly, we quickly moved from arrows and swords to ballistic weapons using explosive power to launch the projectiles, to ranged weaponry weaponizing magic and other kinds of energy; there was a time when our weapons were so long ranged, that you could bomb the opposing side without leaving your room." "However, as defenses too evolved, long range weaponry became obsolete, and we went back to hooves on the ground, close quarter combat; which lead to the current style of combat, utilizing super soldiers like myself, and short distance drones." "Notable events during this time were; The invasion of the dragonlands, the extermination of changelings, assimilation of the various minority species into the empire, and the invasion and enslavement of kobolds." "It is also notable that beings like Discord, while known to exist, have not been seen since the sisters' corruption." "It is also important to note that the sisters are not what you think when you hear Nightmare moon; the sisters from my world, have amassed so much power that to call them alicorns is an insult; they are, in short, as close to gods as they could ever be, beings of magic broken out of the limits of their physical forms." "This map is what our Equestria looks like now..." he gave the map for Magma to look at from closer, the landscape was quite different, The eastern part of the land was a giant desert, the west was a giant forest, and the frozen north had been replaced with crystals "The Solar Empire, the Eastern half of Equestria, my home, is a never ending desert with a never ending day, and its ruler, Empress Daybreaker, is as cruel as her sun is." "It is an empire of pride and greed, golden buildings, golden soldiers..." he gestured at himself "...and the empress's greatness is to be worshiped." "Luckily she has some sense in her, and protecting yourself from the sun is allowed, until of course you are being punished for something." "Under the cursed sun, thirst is least of your worries." "West, The Realm of the Night, or as often called, The night realm, is of course Nightmare Moons domain; overseen by the cursed moon and its darkness, it is a thick, endlessly dark forest, similar, yet worse version of what you call The Everfree forest." "And while the humid cool environment is more pleasant, the nightmarish creatures and literal nightmares inhabiting it balance it out." "Nightmare moon, as her name suggests, rules with fear, and thus is quite sadistic ruler." "To put it shortly, While Solar Empire is cruel physically, in the Night realm, you suffer lot more psychologically." "The two sisters are very similar, yet also the opposites." "In the North, is what we call The Crystal North; During the corruption of the sisters, it was the Crystal Empire, ruled by Sombra, but one day the area was taken over by dark magic and Crystals rivaling the mountains in size, and while most likely caused by Sombra, it is not known what his or his Empire's fate is, as nobody has ever gone in or come out; even the sisters with their immense power have not been able to break through." "Outside Equestria, there is what is simply known as The United, it is an alliance on paper, an Empire in reality, that was formed to defend against potential Equestrian attack, I do not know much about them, but what I do know, is that unlike us, their military research focused on biological modification over technological one, which we will get to when I'll go through the known potential threats." "As I have mentioned, my world is unstable, thus the reason why I'm even here, the situation is not fully understood, but since the corruption of sisters, rips in reality have been appearing, pulling things away and sending them who knows where; it is certain that this is not the only world where things end up, because if it was, you'd been aware of us long before I ever arrived." "What is known, is that it has been getting worse, what started as tiny magical anomalies, has become such that it is taking whole buildings with it, thus the believe that the world will eventually collapse entirely, as with this level of increase, in some centuries, the rifts will be big enough to swallow Equestria whole. And while I'm not expert on the topic, I don't believe reality can withstand that" "This is important to know, as with bigger and bigger things get taken, those bigger things also have a risk to end up here." "The situation also has an effect that is by all means good for every other world, as at the time of it starting, all existing connections to other worlds ceased, and regardless of lot of effort, no stable portals have been created since; this is good for us, as it is in the interest of the sisters to flee the collapsing world to other worlds, but as they are unable to create portals allowing it, as they either collapse or lead to dangerous locations, they cannot spread their corruption beyond our world." "As stated, reasons for all of this is not understood, but some theories link it back to a landmass that seemed to have disappeared from existence around the time of the princesses corruption, the theory is that the magical surges from something like that could cause the world to start breaking apart." "Do you have any comments or questions at this point? Before I go to known appearances and the nature of the potential threats?" --------------------- "It is a long flight there, around 10 hours or so I believe, so extra weight is not suggested." "There is few islands hour or so away from the land, so we can stop there for a meal and rest, before entering the homelands, as it is best to minimize the time we spend in the homelands themselves." Ruby stated, she herself would be fine without breaks, but for the two smaller dragons, especially Charir, it would be dangerous to just fly straight there, as he/they would be way too exhausted to protect themselves properly. "For tribute, we are individuals, and the variation is too great for it to be a good course of action, while some could be bribed, and some may let you through because they just don't care enough, others would not care for gifts, and some could even take it as an insult." "The reason we haven't killed each other to extinction, is the same as why we kill each other in the first place." "We are solitary creatures who hate everyone else, so we avoid each other, and while some of course are more blood thirsty than others, most don't seek out fights for sake of fighting, rather, there is usually only three cases where we get involved with each other, need for more territory, greed for treasure, or reproduction." "Our pride, which is also a reason for our violence, is also a form of protection, as most, unlike our mother, have principles, we don't go after the young, small, sick, injured, or pregnant; not from some moral reasoning, but pride, for going after those with no chance against you, is cowardice, and only weaklings need to fight those weaker than themselves." "What comes to safe travel, as I mentioned before, we will keep to the southern edge of the land, which is populated by the younger population, we are talking everything from Charir's size to about half my size, so they should be mostly smart enough to not try anything." "And if they do try something...remember that I used to be on the top." "I may have not been much use in the temple, but the Homelands are my turf, as some say." She may have been quite literally thrown to the bottom, but it didn't change the fact that she had climbed up by herself becoming the top of her generation for a while, and while she didn't wish to harm the young dragons any more than Leviathan did, she was more than willing to show why she used to be respected. "And it is good to collect your magic yes, not to fight, but flee, and more importantly, get Charir out of there if necessary." "And try to not let the young age of some of them to fool you, they are not like Charir, Charir lost, the ones we'll meet, are the ones who won." It was bit mean to say about Charir, but it was true, he lost, she lost, they were the ones who didn't make it in the homelands. -------------- "Doctors obsessed with titles sound like a danger for patients." Trox concluded, sure some kobold healers could be prideful too, but they got their pride from teaching others, rather than their own excellence, in fact, from Trox's experience, kobold healers were almost irritatingly modest, even for a kobold, hay, he had to constantly remind his own sister that she had saved his life. "So I guess we'll see if it becomes relevant." Sheska remarked "Because let's be realistic, we live in middle of a forest, near a pony settlement, with no permanent kobold residents anywhere near; the likelihood that a kobold in such a state will make it to me alive in the first place, is close to zero." "And if I can be blunt, the wording of the question was purposeful, we didn't ask for permissions, only if it would be a problem." They were not Equestrian citizens, not in this world at least, and they would not make themselves such, as they refused to acknowledge any pony authority over themselves, not anymore; this whole address thing, it was just for convenience. "But I believe that's everything right? We need to head to the tavern to Inform Chega that she can stop paying for our room."

@Blitz Boom Once again the week really drained me in such way that my head is foggy as the roads in a humid morning, so I'll push my response to next week, I even had trouble coming up with wording for this

Leaina’s upbringing was relatively unremarkable, her parents were caring and took good care of her, and while she was adopted, something she is aware of, as far as she is concerned, they are her parents, period. Her family didn’t have much, but due to the sacrifices made by her parents, Leaina had been given a better start in life than her parents had ever had; She hadn’t gotten full formal education, but through literature and some apprenticeships her parents had managed to provide to her, she had given a route to climb upwards in society, a route, that she refused. Leaina did try to follow her parents wishes, she worked to fund further education for herself, but while she didn’t mind education, the rat race of society just didn’t fit her, it made her miserable; So after the death of her parents, caused by natural causes partly resulting from their hard life, Leaina walked off, quite literally. This decision however was not a sudden one, in fact, she had planned it since she was old enough to understand the idea, every decision from her choices of study to the skills she had learned, was to prepare for it, for since the day her first memory was formed, she craved for freedom, for happiness; since the start, nature had called her. Leaina had never felt like she was full part of society, she never really fit in, as due to her unique biology, she was always the one that stuck out, the weirdo. She had at first tried to hide it, she had figured that if she just managed to hide the horns and the extra pair of ears, everything would be fine, but it had not done anything, not only were her teeth still a giveaway of her differences, but there was also the fact that everyone knew her already, and her attempts to hide herself really only fueled the teasing and bullying she tried to hide from in the first place. She had few friends here and there, but as time went on, those friends found their place in groups, while she was still the weirdo, so she sought purpose from elsewhere, the forest behind her home. Leaina had always liked nature, animals, plants...the natural world fascinated her, and she spent lot of her time just wandering in a nearby forest, observing; and she took every opportunity to learn about nature and how to live in it. Thus, when it came to education and skills, that mindset was behind her choices in there too; she learned hunting, how to take care of injuries, how to work with wood, leather and so on, she learned animal behavior, how to shelter from storms...everything and anything that’d be useful in the untamed wild. This of course didn’t make her any less of a weirdo. Another aspect causing her to be treated differently was her seemingly unpredictable mood swings, she could go from taking quite harsh treatment without much of a reaction, to getting violent over genuinely minor thing, it was something she herself could acknowledge too, but she had no real control over it, so she just tried to avoid situations where it usually showed itself. As she grew older, this unpredictability changed, it didn’t go away, but rather evolved, and in current day, she seems to be more in control of her emotions, but that doesn’t mean it’s all positive. Leaina is generally a friendly and relaxed individual, she is happy, and it shows; she is also very caring, even overly so if she gets attached to something, however, if you get on her bad side, that’s where her unpredictability shows, as her reaction can be anything from just being a jerk towards someone, to straight up sadistic cruelty, and her reaction doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with how she was wronged; It doesn’t matter if you actively hurt her or accidentally step on her favorite flower, few mean words is equal in likelihood to finding yourself in a fate too cruel to describe. Leaina is not alone, as she is always accompanied by two...creatures, Lefty and Righty, two creatures she considers family; She named them based on which side the single big eye is on, but she also often calls them ”The boys” or ”My boys” or something similar. Lefty and Righty are male creatures with unknown origin and species, their general build and behavior is canid like, but their movements and leg anatomy is more feline, including retractable claws. The most prominent detail though, is their eyes, as they have six eyes total, one bigger, main eye, and five smaller ones, which they use for various purposes by opening them as needed. Some of the uses for the smaller eyes are: Better depth perception, a level of night vision, a level of infrared vision. While lacking the ability to produce speech, and often seeming like just weird animals, Lefty and Righty are highly intelligent and sapient, making them highly dangerous, as they combine the strengths of animalistic instinct and intelligent planning. Leaina and the two first met when Lefty and Righty were small enough to fit her palm, she was still a kid back then, but after confirming that they didn’t have a mother taking care of them, Leaina took it upon herself to take care of them; her parents weren’t excited about the idea of her taking care what they thought were two wolf cubs, but relented after Leaina simply did it anyway. It didn’t take too long for them to realize that the two creatures were not wolves, as they opened their eye soon after being found, but Leaina wasn’t too concerned about it, in fact, she was enthusiastic about it, as being the weird one herself, she related to the two weird creatures. As they grew up together, a connection was formed between the three, and they spend more and more time together in the forest, and later in life Leaina realized that at some point them playing had turned to teaching, as she had realized that many of her skills in fighting and traversing the forest, she had learned from the two creatures. A more literal mental connection had also formed at some point, as the three are able to communicate with each other wordlessly almost as if reading each others thoughts, however, it is not actual reading of minds, but more a feeling of sorts. A certain event really solidified the relationship between Leaina and her boys, it was during her teenage years, though that’s as specific as she ever gets, when she found herself in a physical confrontation, she ended up on the ground, wrapping herself with her wings to protect herself; this ultimately led to her wings being injured to the extend she could no longer fly, and it could have been worse, but Lefty and Righty had heard her cries, and had come all the way from the forest for her rescue. Furthermore, the two had been great mental help to Leaina in the aftermath, as she had come to terms with her new ground bound reality. Now she lives with Lefty and Righty in the wild, she isn’t anti-social or feral, in fact, she quite enjoys interacting with others now and then, but she generally avoids getting involved with society as whole, partly because being ”a savage” causes...certain treatment towards her. Her skills and knowledge allow her live entirely self-sufficiently, and she enjoys her life, though sometimes she helps others to track down something or someone for bit of money, which she then uses for things that she cannot get her hands on easily in the wild, be it specific material that is inconvenient to get otherwise, or something that’s for sake of enjoyment alone.