Catpone Cerberus

"Sure, but what if there's three of them...next time?" Jenna argued "Or they send an older dragon that's three times my size?" "I am surprised and slightly proud...that I managed to take down those two." "But they were my size." her expression changed as if she was trying to recall a memory "I can't help but think about my teacher." "The only real...social connection I had before I took my place...among humanity." "Awful dragon, but more importantly...he absolutely destroyed me in any fight we had...and he didn't even give his full effort." "He's also much larger than I am." "I'm terrified by the idea...of him finding me."

"That does make me think." Jenna said "If we actually manage to make any sense of this, and possibly even to stop it somehow." "I may need some time to adjust my own beliefs." as they arrived to the house, Jenna tested if the door was locked, which it was, and then used her powers to open it "Already it's clear this whole thing is somewhat supernatural, which already goes against what I've thought most of my life." "But if it does turn out there's some kind of...being, behind this, the implications are huge." The house didn't look like it had been lived in, there were all the furniture you'd expect, but it was too orderly and clean to be a lived space; likely a house that had been on sale before...well, whatever was going on. It was also free of mold as far as they could see by just looking at things.

Jenna spotted a house that seemed to be in better condition than most, and started leading them towards it "Yeah, though then again, it's not like we have a good explanation for this anyway." "The government making a deal with figurative devil, or the literal devil, isn't any less likely than any other explanation." "I have a feeling that if we ever get any kind of answer, it won't be any less unbelievable." "Honestly, I wouldn't be shocked at this point, if we saw the Grim Reaper walk past us."

"Heh, if I ignored it, I would worry about not worrying about it enough." Jenna said in joking manner, before letting out a sigh "Though in full honesty...I don't know how much of it is healthy concern, and how much of it...is Talon succeeding in their brainwashing." "Me fearing them is, after all, for their benefit too." .... "I'd like to think I can see through their manipulation, but...I did grow up under them, everything I know, everything I've learned since...I broke out of my egg." "It came from them." "It no doubt....has influence on me still, on how I see things."

"Oh yeah, no disagreement there." Jenna agreed "But I don't understand what would have this as an outcome." "Who would be the other side of the deal?" "God? The Devil? Some super alien race?" "That would also rise so many questions." "That's the reason why I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt here." "Not because I don't think they would make a deal that accidentally leads to this, but because I can't imagine what kind of thing could cause this in the first place."

"Optimistic as always." Jenna said with slight amusement "That's really the biggest difference between us...isn't it." "Maybe it's because of you're human, or maybe it's a simple matter of...experience." "I wish I could just push my worry away, but I can't." "Some say that, better the devil you know, than the angel you don't." "And in this case I agree with that." .... "At least when I knew Talon was chasing me, I knew what they do." "But now?" "I can't prepare for something I don't know about."

@Blitz Boom It's been an year since this , how time flies. Anyway, I bring this topic forth yet again, the Vaz thing wasn't as minor as I first planned after all, but now I'm out for any real ideas for this specific story besides the aftermath of the find of course. It still stands that if you want to do kinda this look for potential hires thing, I have some weirdos who could appear on the list of meetings among whatever characters you had/have in mind.

@Blitz Boom "Ah, now that sounds more like a name." Asildae remarked on the pony introducing herself, seemingly unfazed by her crying besides looking at her curiously. Any further reaction she may have had, was cut short by Glutton grabbing Tiger into her magic. She didn't interrupt Glutton addressing the pony either, simply observing until she was spoken to again. "I see, I guessed it was something like that, but as you said, pony names can be quite weird, and based on what I have read, Naval Nerd is something I can imagine being a name." "Though I would of course question the parents' love for their brood, if they gave them such a name." Asildae looked at the piles of trash with the same analyzing curiosity that was becoming familiar from her, though her thoughts were less on the physical reality of what she was seeing, and more on why it existed. How wasteful were the lives of these creatures for it to produce such amount of byproduct in the first place? It was almost disgusting to her, and she was someone who enjoyed eating rotting meat. But well, one's waste was other's treasure, so at least it went to use. As she was left alone with the pony, Asildae looked at her closer, as in, almost touching close, her unusual eyes studying her, antennas vibrating as they hovered just above the equine's fur "You know, I have never actually gotten the chance to see one of you this close." her close examination being interrupted by things landing near them, as she in turn studied the chest, a curious thing, magic no doubt. She didn't touch it though, and instead just studied it from safe distance, she after all didn't really know much about magic, and had no idea if touching this thing specifically was bad for her health. She turned back towards the pony "It is a shame that getting a taste of you would be.....socially looked down upon." "I have always wondered, if you can taste the magic." She once again turned her gaze towards the piles of trash, and tilted her head, speaking again as they saw Glutton's unnaturally large...appetite. "She is a fascinating creature isn't she?" that was really the only thing she knew to say, she couldn't even start to try and understand how what she saw was possible, and the fact that the ponies managed to keep those like her in some amount of control? It was impressive in its own right, Asildae's own kind wouldn't have realistically been able to do that, though their natural anti-magic could likely help in such situation. When Glutton returned, Asildae would catch couple of rats from the fleeing group, she would have taken more, but she did only have two arms. She of course then proceeded to fill them with the corrosive venom as before, though this time she purposely did it in a way that Tiger Lily was able to see the process, which was simply her sinking her fangs into the living creatures, which then pumped the venom in. "I don't have any que-" "No, actually I do." she pointed at the pony, thus bringing the quickly dying rat uncomfortably close to her "Where would be the best place to find some kind of a map?" she moved her hands a lot when she spoke, gesturing whenever relevant to what she said, without letting go of the rats of course "Not a map for this place, but something for the whole world." "I'm not from here you see, and I need to know where here is relative to my home." ----------- "The pleasure is mutual, you two were interesting individuals to meet, awfully rare experience when you live as long as I have." Vaz stated, giving his own polite gesture, before he turned to leave "Until we meet again." "Stay safe, and value your time." he'd then calmly walk away in the direction of Ponyville, like someone who had all the time in the world. As he wandered off, Solar spoke "Immortal kobolds and the undead." "Yet somehow it makes perfect sense." "And in hindsight, it's so obvious too." "Clever little creatures." he then shuddered a bit, a small break from his usual demeanor "I've seen lot of things during my relatively short life, horrible, terrifying things." "But the ways she died, her last moments." he gestured at that bag holding the parts of his former coworker "I wouldn't wish it to my worst enemy." He the addressed Magma more officially "Among the regular reports, I'll be sending one to the princesses directly, this potential threat, as likely or unlikely it is to actualize, is more existential than most." ------------- Vulri seemed to get happy from Leviathan's words, and while the others didn't say anything, they did visibly want to comment something, but probably decided against it as they didn't want to argue with an adult. Leviathan's breath showcase got what was in a way a reverse reactions to her usual shows, as this time the three locals seemed to be more impressed with it than Charir, not saying Charir wasn't, it was just that this time he wasn't in as much of a awe, as to him, breathing things was slightly less impressive than the more delicate things Leviathan usually did. "I've never seen anyone change their breath like that." Vulri commented "I'm sure we can do that, we just...don't?" Ereo added, bit unsure if they could or not, and Oreon finished with "We are taught to embrace what we are, and master that." The trio thought for a moment after the question, before starting to list off things "Darkscales, you know, those ones..." Oreon gestured towards the library "...they breath darkness, I think it's like dark mana or something? but I'm not sure." "There is also water and ice, steam." "One of my friends breathes high pressure air, it's more dangerous underwater than on the ground though." "There's also venom, and acid. both breath and spit." "Magma, and a weird, magic resistant sticky goo thing." "Different gasses with different effects." "There's a close relative of my kind that just breaths light." "There's stories of dragons that instead breathing anything, suck magic or blood instead." "There's probably more, there's so many different kinds here, some of which never show themselves outside elder meetings." "Probably someone who can petrify too, though that's more likely a spell rather than natural weapon." Charir listened fascinated, until something caught his ear "Wait, sucks blood?" "Are you talking about the Rotten one?" "Who?" "My mother spoke of ancient rotting dragon that hunts other dragons and sucks the life out of them." "It is one of the only stories that everyone on our side hears." "It is used as a warning against using magic." "We do have a similar story, though here it is used to warn against immortality." "A dragon more dangerous than a death-bringer, that hunts magical dragons to keep its body from breaking apart."

"What kind of a deal can a government even make to accidentally end the world?" Jenna asked "Like actually? I'm not saying you're wrong, but I can't come up with one." "Usually it has something to do with nukes if you believe all the movies and such, but this clearly had nothing to do with nukes." "And why did our government know about it? since they knew to prepare before the portals appeared."

"If that is the case...then they are not on our side." Jenna mentioned "Because it's making Talon more aggressive...and that's bad, for everyone." "The only reason why Talon stays in the shadows...is because humanity. with the Order, put up enough of a fight to balance the power." "If that balance is broken to either direction, it's bad." "More obviously, if Talon gets the upper hand, they can do what they want." "...And they want total control, the end of humanity as the leading species." "But if The Order, if Humanity gets it..." "Outside hunting my kind to extinction, it would also harm humanity." "Because Talon would...fight back, they would fight like injured beast, they would literally...fight like their lives depends on it." "The carnage would be immense." "Regardless...this isn't good development, and it makes me worried."

Regardless of being royal blood, Noctuna never cared about becoming a ruler, such life never seemed attractive to her. She rather spend her time studying, learning, while her brothers and sisters prepared for their future roles. Specifically she was interested in the matters of magic, especially the darker side of it. Her interest didn’t lie in the power it could provide however, but rather in the unknown nature of it, as darkness by its nature, was secretive and corruptive, hiding its secrets from those too scared to face the abyss, and often driving mad those not prepared to carry its burden. During her studies, Noctuna found something curious, or more accurately, it found her. A being of darkness, something that took the form of a long, snake like dragon. Dragå, she came to call it, and as they interacted, they formed a friendly relationship, learning from each other, and growing more powerful each. At some point, the politics of the royal life became too much for Noctuna, and she left her home behind, relinquishing any privileges her blood brought her. She settled down far away, continuing her studies in a remote cabin she build, no longer having need for existing literature, as she had Dragå, a direct line of communication in darkness. As time passed, as years turned into decades, and decades into centuries, the once remote cabin was no longer alone. First there were couple of neighbors, then a village, and eventually the once vacant land had grown into a city state. A city state, which Noctuna found herself ruling as a queen, regardless of how much she had been against it. The centuries she ruled were relatively uneventful, there were some conflicts, a crisis or few, but those were a normal part of governance. The most notable part to Noctuna herself, was the day she found a partner to share the rest of her life with, or at least, that had been the plan. Unfortunately fate had different plans. Empires grew around her, and it was only a matter of time until they hungered after the lone city. And so the day came, the city fell, not to the might of an army, but to a conspiracy in the heart of the city. It could have ended there, Noctuna was ready to let go, but the traitors were not satisfied. Execution was planned. Noctuna escaped, but it cost her partner’s life, and she herself was not in good health either, her injuries certain to end up lethal. Desperate to not have the sacrifice to be in vain, she reached into the darkness, and did something she had avoided until now, she let it in. And so, Dragå fused with her, bringing the full power of darkness with it, it was painful, and Noctuna could feel the dark power fill her soul, but she was alive. And as her wounds burned shut, pain turning from hindrance to strength, rage took over, she had been betrayed, the one she loved had been taken from her. They would pay. ----- In the land between two empires, sits ruins of a city, a city surrounded by land where now life grows, where no animal enters. Most travelers are too scared to explore it, and those who do, tell about feeling of unease, the feeling of being watched. Some swear they could see something moving in the shadows. It had been a normal day in the city, it had been a decade since the last queen had been dethroned, so things had long been back to normal. While her body had not been found, Queen Noctuna was assumed dead, and most barely remembered her name. One day, what was mistakenly assumed to be a simple rainstorm, made its way towards the city. Reports told of creatures of darkness, beings beyond sensible description. Deadly shadows snatching soldier and civilian alike. And in their lead a dragon with a missing horn, a queen thought to be long dead. Few survived, spared for the sole purpose of telling what happened. They told of the terrifying power the queen held, how a single glance from her caused indescribable agony, how a dragon like shadow ate soldiers whole. The ruins of the city were investigated in the aftermath. All evidence of life was gone, all information destroyed, every structure brought to ruin. No bodies were ever found. The only thing found, was a broken crown, sitting on the ruined throne. ----- Elsewhere rumors speak of odd single horned dragon, one that calls herself queen, but has no kingdom. She lives in a humble cottage, away from the hustle of cities and towns, and while seemingly harmless, some claim to feel unease around her, and some, they swear her shadow was looking at them. _______________________________________ *Å=O, not A

"Then they would investigate...what killed them." Jenna pointed out "Talon is an organization of control freaks...in cases like this, they don't just shrug their shoulders and move on." "Something is...seriously off." "First that clearly fake plane accident, now this." "Thousand years of secrecy and hiding...and suddenly there's not subtlety?" "They are either very confident...or they are lashing out, like cornered animal." "I don't know which is worse."

"Yeah." Jenna responded "The only thing we really know for sure, is that the people who lived here had no idea either." "At least publicly." "Though I do want to give the government the benefit of the doubt in this case." "After all, even the most corrupt, most vile government wouldn't gain from the end of the world." "So I doubt this is a case of them deciding to not stop it, and it's likely they were equally clueless."

"That would cause a paradox." Jenna mentioned "If this was literally the future I mean." "At most it's probably parallel future or something." "Though I don't know if that would still explain it." "A city that takes over two days to travel through is just unreasonably huge." "I wonder if time is just wrong here, more than was already obvious." "Or if this place is messing with our minds?"

"It's just uncharacteristic of them." Jenna stated "The protocol requires...confirmation of death, or reason for letting the target...flee." "In a case like this, I would have been required...to give chase, since there's no risk of...exposure." she let out a thoughtful hum "But then again, attacking a train...is also very uncharacteristic." "There has to be something...bigger going on."

"That is true." Jenna agreed "But it doesn't mean they aren't actively looking." she shifted her position to put less weight on her ribs "Which does...rise a question." "Where are they?" "We are not that far....from the site of the battle." "But besides those helicopters...I haven't seen, heard or even smelled anything."

"That's why I insist we keep going deeper, to figure out what is holding the portal open." Jenna stated "Even if it is starting to seem bit hopeless, since it seems to be so far away." they finally arrived into the residential area, and Jenna started looking around for intact, non-moldy house "I also just realized something, we have been traveling for almost two days based on our clocks, yet we are only starting to near the border of the city." "Our city is big, but it is not this big. it is not '2 days to walk through' big."

@Blitz Boom "They could fight back, thus, it was no longer an unnecessary compromise." Asildae pointed out "Misjudging the capabilities of the other is not an inherent fault of the logic, it's just that, a misjudgement." That logic had worked for them, they didn't spare their neighbors out of kindness or other such reasons, they spared them because war was not worth it at the time; And for creatures that couldn't put up a fight? if they were in the way, they were removed. Asildae looked as Glutton did her thing with the drawing, but didn't react outside a sound of acknowledgement, because as stated, she couldn't really relate, and thus she didn't have much to say in the matter. She didn't pay much mind to the creatures looking at her, mainly because she was looking at them and the city itself with the same curiosity; She had never been in a city, nor had she ever really seen most creatures regardless of knowing about their existence, so she observed with great curiosity. Her curiosity wasn't the kind that a child would have though, it was more analytical, more observant, lacking any awe. Asildae broke out of her observation when Glutton suddenly picked up a pony, giving her a curious look but not commenting on it. She did respond when she was addressed though "Hello there." "Is Naval Nerd your name, or is it just something Glutton calls you?" pony names were weird, Asildae knew that much, but she wasn't sure with this one, as Naval Nerd sounded like a potential insult. "As for helping you, don't know what you expect me to do." "But don't worry, from us two, I'm the one that's more likely to eat you." she then 'smiled' opening her mouth enough for two spider like fangs to show, before sticking out her proboscis and moving it around her mouth as if licking her non-existent lips. While she was of course joking, be it with some truth behind the statement, her lack of facial expressions made it ambiguous enough to be unnerving. ------------- "I do not understand the full nature of souls either." Vaz admitted "Though, if I do find a way to undo the ritual during the lifetime of your branch of the guard, I will inform you or the future members of it, before using it." For the question of contact, Vaz seemed thoughtful for a moment "There is no direct line to contact me." "And while I travel in specific order, it is hard to estimate my location at any one time, because I may spend anything from one day to several years in one place, as time holds no meaning to me anymore." "If my counterpart was to appear, I will know; I could feel him for the short moment the two realms connected, so there is no doubt I would feel him joining our reality." "But, there is one way, though I can't promise it to be fast." he activated his magic once more, and used the magic strings to form a magical symbol in the air. "Draw this symbol and activate it with magic, it is one-way teleport to send non-living material to a place where I store my possessions." "Were you to send a letter through it, I will see it when I visit it." "It does not provide a way for me to respond through it, but I can figure out a way to respond through other means." he would wait for Magma to copy the symbol before extinguishing the magic. "I have one more question before we go our ways, I've analyzed the recording captured by my late colleague, and there is something in kobold language I cannot translate." he then 'spoke' audio in different language in different voice, it was similar to Vaz's voice, but it was more hoarse and somewhat malevolent sounding. There was also an odd quiet echo, as if countless voices were whispering with him. "I take it that it was my counterpart speaking." "It's nothing to be translated, it's a spell." "Basic reanimation spell, he's rising an army." "Those are relatively easy to deal with, since they are as weak as the body used,." "Thank you, that's all I need for now." "Until she has something more to ask, I wish you luck in your own endeavors." ----- Charir didn't comment further, though he did almost mention that he didn't exactly need such advice, since he didn't really dare to mock even those that were his own size; He may have been a death-bringer, but he lacked the over-confidence of his kin, in fact, it would have probably done good for him to learn to be more proud, rather than less. The accident seemed to be slightly sore topic to Ereo based on his reaction to it being mentioned again, not in way of trauma, but rather more in him feeling ashamed about it, while the two others seemed more casual about it. When it came to the electricity butterfly, the reactions were similar to before, where the trio were just curious if anything, and Charir was more visibly amazed by it. When it landed on him, assuming Leviathan didn't keep holding it separate with her magic, it would be absorbed by Charir, without any input by him, and would arch a bit before disappearing as it spread into his scales. Since he was the one addressed most, Ereo would be the one to respond to the question first "The older and more skilled dragons can control it freely, even shape it like you did." "That requires active use of our magic, so I don't know how to do that yet, I need to learn to properly control the basics first." "What I can do, is to harness it, both from outside sources, and through natural generation." the other two stepped a bit to the side as electricity started forming on Ereo's scales in similar manner to how Voltaick's scales had been constantly electrified. "We also don't breath fire, but electricity." "I would show you, but I don't know how to properly control where it goes." a shame again flashed on his face when he said it. As he spoke, Charir reached his foreleg closer to Ereo, which caused some of the electricity to jump into him, which naturally got the attention of the trio "You can just take it?" "That shouldn't happen, you can't just steal it like that, right Ereo?." "No, my scales should hold on to it until I release it." Charir looked at his leg and back at the trio "Steal?" "Yeah, our natural magic keeps it on us, that way we can stay charged up even in rain and water." "We can't just take it from each other like that." "So that means he can just drain your electricity? That's...scary." "And kinda cool." Not really wanting to continue on the topic of how scary he was, as he worried they wouldn't want to interact with him again if they did, Charir tried to move the conversation back to them "I...uh. What can you do? besides change color?" he asked Oreon in the same direct manner he had complimented her with, though this time it was bit more intentional, "I breathe magic instead of fire." "Magic?" "Yes, pure mana." "It does...weird things, I don't control it very well yet." "We usually learn illusion and alteration magic, as those come to us naturally." "I don't know anything cool yet." Charir was now looking at Oreon like she was one of Leviathan's magic showcases. "That sounds interesting." "We do magic too." Vulri joined in, sounding bit envious for the attention the two others got, Charir looked at him "Do you breathe magic too?" "No, I breathe fire, but we are naturally talented in magic, more than most." "What can you do?" "Nothing." "Nothing." Vulri seemed bit embarrassed "Nothing...yet." "Spells are hard...okay?" "But when I do learn them, I'll be better than anyone else!"

"There is one thing that would be good to know before we turn back." Jenna pointed out "If any of this spreads." "Because if it does spread, leaving without finding a way to close the portals, would mean that home will look like this too."

"We do need to worry about it now too." Jenna pointed out "For the reason you mentioned" "I'm injured, if they find us again now, I can't put up a fight as effectively."

"Hopefully." Jenna sighed "Doesn't bother me any less though." "We made a mistake...somewhere." "I failed to notice or consider... something." "That can't happen...we have no room for mistakes."