open Life in Canterlot Castle

[Catpone Cerberus 23,604]

17 hours ago, Lucid_Nightlight said:

The wyvern took both Ruby and Somnus to house. The house was fairly large by pony standards, but it was small living for a wyvern. Clearly Somnus' parents were not too wealthy, but Somnus was okay with that.

When the wyvern opened the door, two wyverns would be seen. One male and one female. Other wyverns could be heard, but they were probably in other parts of the house. The female who had to be his mother was first to speak.

"Somnus? You're alive?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"I'll explain soon. I'll get you something to eat. You're probably hungry after going so far. Plus it looks like the red one needs it."

Somnus looked over at Ruby and joked.

"Wow, giant lizards are so untrustworthy aren't they?"

Ruby stayed quiet the whole interaction, again not bothering to hide what she thought about the whole situation, and didn't let out any sounds even when she was mentioned. She only spoke when Somnus spoke to her, and even then she only muttered "By not trusting anyone, I'm always either right or pleasantly surprised." "But don't celebrate yet, we haven't left yet."

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

2 hours ago, Catpone Cerberus said:

Ruby stayed quiet the whole interaction, again not bothering to hide what she thought about the whole situation, and didn't let out any sounds even when she was mentioned. She only spoke when Somnus spoke to her, and even then she only muttered "By not trusting anyone, I'm always either right or pleasantly surprised." "But don't celebrate yet, we haven't left yet."

The female wyvern brought over some raw meat and put it on a table. Of course an extra seat had to be stacked for Somnus since he had no idea how to get out of his pony form.

"You worry too much, Ruby."

Edited May 17, 2019 by Lucid_Nightlight

[Catpone Cerberus 23,604]

1 hour ago, Lucid_Nightlight said:

The female wyvern brought over some raw meat and put it on a table. Of course an extra seat had to be stacked for Somnus since he had no idea how to get out of his pony form.

"You worry too much, Ruby."

"You trust too much." Ruby muttered back before sniffing the meat to make sure there wasn't anything that shouldn't be there "Can't trust even one's own mother, they may appear to your territory and try to kill you."

 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

33 minutes ago, Catpone Cerberus said:

"You trust too much." Ruby muttered back before sniffing the meat to make sure there wasn't anything that shouldn't be there "Can't trust even one's own mother, they may appear to your territory and try to kill you."

"I don't think wyverns do that."

Somnus took a bite out of his food.

"See? I'm not dead am I?"

The female wyvern sat down at the table.

"I'm sure you want to know what happened. Why you grew up in Equestria, why you don't look like a wyvern."

She began to explain what happened.

"This war isn't the first. Long ago, we were at war with the bigger kingdom. During that time, we were powerful. After much fighting, we were defeated. Our army was destroy and the nation was weakened. As punishment, certain wyverns would be chosen at random to be executed. You were one of them despite being a hatchling. To protect you, we made a deal with a changeling and had you turned into a batpony. Of course, changelings aren't as good as at changing others as they are for thenselves, so the spell wasn't great. You didn't have the fangs of a batpony or the instinct of one."

"Why are my eyes changing during certain times?"

"The spell has weakened. Although it cannot break completely, it will weaken enough to where both forms can be used. Though, in wyvern form, it will last a certain amount of time before you will turn into a batpony again and you will have to wait a bit before turning back. If you don't wait, the spell could damage you or even kill you."

"What? No fair! Ruby gets to change forms whenever she wants without dying!"

"Hey, I don't know anything about her kind or what she can do."

He looked over at Ruby.

"Lucky."

[Catpone Cerberus 23,604]

1 hour ago, Lucid_Nightlight said:

"I don't think wyverns do that."

Somnus took a bite out of his food.

"See? I'm not dead am I?"

The female wyvern sat down at the table.

"I'm sure you want to know what happened. Why you grew up in Equestria, why you don't look like a wyvern."

She began to explain what happened.

"This war isn't the first. Long ago, we were at war with the bigger kingdom. During that time, we were powerful. After much fighting, we were defeated. Our army was destroy and the nation was weakened. As punishment, certain wyverns would be chosen at random to be executed. You were one of them despite being a hatchling. To protect you, we made a deal with a changeling and had you turned into a batpony. Of course, changelings aren't as good as at changing others as they are for thenselves, so the spell wasn't great. You didn't have the fangs of a batpony or the instinct of one."

"Why are my eyes changing during certain times?"

"The spell has weakened. Although it cannot break completely, it will weaken enough to where both forms can be used. Though, in wyvern form, it will last a certain amount of time before you will turn into a batpony again and you will have to wait a bit before turning back. If you don't wait, the spell could damage you or even kill you."

"What? No fair! Ruby gets to change forms whenever she wants without dying!"

"Hey, I don't know anything about her kind or what she can do."

He looked over at Ruby.

"Lucky."

Again Ruby stayed mostly quiet, just eating her meat seemingly uninterested about what was going on around her, only commenting to things by muttering to herself about how her kind would have done things better, for example how they wouldn't need to ask help from a bug. At some point Calti had came out and had been given a piece of meat by Ruby. To Somnus's final comment she stated "Luck doesn't exists, we are just genetically superior."

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

1 minute ago, Catpone Cerberus said:

Again Ruby stayed mostly quiet, just eating her meat seemingly uninterested about what was going on around her, only commenting to things by muttering to herself about how her kind would have done things better, for example how they wouldn't need to ask help from a bug. At some point Calti had came out and had been given a piece of meat by Ruby. To Somnus's final comment she stated "Luck doesn't exists, we are just genetically superior."

Somnus laughed.

"No organization. Spending most of your time trying not to die. Can survive, but cannot thrive. That sounds so superior."

Somnus them got serious.

"I want you take a glance at this place. This small nation is facing a larger nation. They are extremely outnumbered, any army they had long ago is gone, and are reduced to a civilian militia. Despite all this, they are fighting with everything they have. You call them inferior, but unlike you, they have something that they will fight and die for. Not pride, but something that actually has real value in life."

"Now tell me Ruby, what does it mean to be strong? What does it mean to be weak?"

[Catpone Cerberus 23,604]

31 minutes ago, Lucid_Nightlight said:

Somnus laughed.

"No organization. Spending most of your time trying not to die. Can survive, but cannot thrive. That sounds so superior."

Somnus them got serious.

"I want you take a glance at this place. This small nation is facing a larger nation. They are extremely outnumbered, any army they had long ago is gone, and are reduced to a civilian militia. Despite all this, they are fighting with everything they have. You call them inferior, but unlike you, they have something that they will fight and die for. Not pride, but something that actually has real value in life."

"Now tell me Ruby, what does it mean to be strong? What does it mean to be weak?"

It was Ruby's turn to laugh, though it ended to a painful snort "Firstly, none of that has anything to do with genetic superiority." "And something they fight for?" "Ultimately it's just a fight for survival, the fight that all creatures have to fight, regardless of their politics." "Dying for something is just failure at survival." "Value is created by individual, there is no such thing as real value in life." "For a pony the real value is to do something for the system you live in, for a mouse it is to get as much offspring as possible before dying." "Who are you to say that the mouse doesn't have value in life because it doesn't fight in wars against a evil mouse dictatorship?" "Value has been invented by civilizations so that the creatures who are part of it don't need to accept the fact that their existence isn't any more meaningful than any other creature's"  "And that's coming from walking pile of pride, because there's difference being better and being more meaningful."

"And lastly, to be strong is to be able to come on the top of your enemies, to be weak is to lose, to fall and not get up, to give up, to die." she let out some smoke from her nose "You waste your breath trying to convince me that acting like prey is being strong." 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

19 minutes ago, Catpone Cerberus said:

It was Ruby's turn to laugh, though it ended to a painful snort "Firstly, none of that has anything to do with genetic superiority." "And something they fight for?" "Ultimately it's just a fight for survival, the fight that all creatures have to fight, regardless of their politics." "Dying for something is just failure at survival." "Value is created by individual, there is no such thing as real value in life." "For a pony the real value is to do something for the system you live in, for a mouse it is to get as much offspring as possible before dying." "Who are you to say that the mouse doesn't have value in life because it doesn't fight in wars against a evil mouse dictatorship?" "Value has been invented by civilizations so that the creatures who are part of it don't need to accept the fact that their existence isn't any more meaningful than any other creature's"  "And that's coming from walking pile of pride, because there's difference being better and being more meaningful."

"And lastly, to be strong is to be able to come on the top of your enemies, to be weak is to lose, to fall and not get up, to give up, to die." she let out some smoke from her nose "You waste your breath trying to convince me that acting like prey is being strong." 

"There is your problem. If they aren't like you, they are weak. That's the way you think. You underestimate prey. You underestimate all that is different from you. You are aware of them yes, but you still downplay how strong they really are. A cow alone cannot do anything, so they stay in heards to create strength. A lion hunts alone and would be crushed by a heard of bulls. This isn't weakness, it is adaptation, which is a sign of strength."

"A dragon hunts alone and could take on a few ponies. But what about a legion? Could you win against an entire legion, an army made up of thousands? Ballistas, canons, magic? Would you even stand a chance?"

[Catpone Cerberus 23,604]

5 minutes ago, Lucid_Nightlight said:

"There is your problem. If they aren't like you, they are weak. That's the way you think. You underestimate prey. You underestimate all that is different from you. You are aware of them yes, but you still downplay how strong they really are. A cow alone cannot do anything, so they stay in heards to create strength. A lion hunts alone and would be crushed by a heard of bulls. This isn't weakness, it is adaptation, which is a sign of strength."

"A dragon hunts alone and could take on a few ponies. But what about a legion? Could you win against an entire legion, an army made up of thousands? Ballistas, canons, magic? Would you even stand a chance?"

"No." Ruby simply replied "Having more of you doesn't make you strong, it makes you powerful." "Having magic isn't being strong, it's being powerful." "Using weapons doesn't make you strong, it makes you powerful." "You are doing what you yourself accused me of doing, thinking that strength is only about physical power." "Mouse is a weak creature that can be squished easily by many different creatures, and that mouse will always be that, regardless of if he's alone or if he is with thousand friends all fielding weapons mass destruction." "If I get overrun by too many ponies, not a single pony is strong, the army just is powerful."

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

21 minutes ago, Catpone Cerberus said:

"No." Ruby simply replied "Having more of you doesn't make you strong, it makes you powerful." "Having magic isn't being strong, it's being powerful." "Using weapons doesn't make you strong, it makes you powerful." "You are doing what you yourself accused me of doing, thinking that strength is only about physical power." "Mouse is a weak creature that can be squished easily by many different creatures, and that mouse will always be that, regardless of if he's alone or if he is with thousand friends all fielding weapons mass destruction." "If I get overrun by too many ponies, not a single pony is strong, the army just is powerful."

"You don't understand what I am saying. Prey is smart. Physical strength means nothing in terms of true strength. Prey is smart enough to use numbers. While their body is weak, their mind is strong. They know what they face cannot be beaten in a direct one on one attack, so they gather numbers and tools to win. They are smart and therefore strong."

Somnus' intention was not to make insults, it was to prove his point. He was aware that Ruby would be stubborn, but he was also aware that he was not as stupid as Ruby thought he was.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,604]

On 5/17/2019 at 11:55 PM, Lucid_Nightlight said:

"You don't understand what I am saying. Prey is smart. Physical strength means nothing in terms of true strength. Prey is smart enough to use numbers. While their body is weak, their mind is strong. They know what they face cannot be beaten in a direct one on one attack, so they gather numbers and tools to win. They are smart and therefore strong."

Somnus' intention was not to make insults, it was to prove his point. He was aware that Ruby would be stubborn, but he was also aware that he was not as stupid as Ruby thought he was.

"Instinct isn't being smart." Ruby argued "You knowing being in big group makes you more powerful isn't you being smart and knowing something special, it's you doing what your instincts has told you since you were born." "And a creature in a group is not strong, they are powerful." "If you surround yourself with thick armor and weapons, and bring hundred Discords to your aid, that doesn't make you any stronger than you are without them, it makes you powerful yes, but not strong." "Would you call an old pony with barely enough strength to walk hiding inside many layers of stone walls strong only because she happens to be the boss of an army of let's say alicorns? Or would she be just powerful?"

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

8 hours ago, Catpone Cerberus said:

"Instinct isn't being smart." Ruby argued "You knowing being in big group makes you more powerful isn't you being smart and knowing something special, it's you doing what your instincts has told you since you were born." "And a creature in a group is not strong, they are powerful." "If you surround yourself with thick armor and weapons, and bring hundred Discords to your aid, that doesn't make you any stronger than you are without them, it makes you powerful yes, but not strong." "Would you call an old pony with barely enough strength to walk hiding inside many layers of stone walls strong only because she happens to be the boss of an army of let's say alicorns? Or would she be just powerful?"

"And all you are even made of is instinct. Now, if we are going to talk about physical traits, let me teach you a simple concept. To you, a pony is weak and to a normal pony, you are strong. To a mouse, a pony is strong and to the pony the mouse is weak. To a cricket, the mouse is strong. To the mouse, the cricket is weak."

"Now, let's say that something bigger and scarier than a dragon appeared. And trust me, there are plenty. Judging by your logic, that would make you weak."

[Catpone Cerberus 23,604]

3 hours ago, Lucid_Nightlight said:

"And all you are even made of is instinct. Now, if we are going to talk about physical traits, let me teach you a simple concept. To you, a pony is weak and to a normal pony, you are strong. To a mouse, a pony is strong and to the pony the mouse is weak. To a cricket, the mouse is strong. To the mouse, the cricket is weak."

"Now, let's say that something bigger and scarier than a dragon appeared. And trust me, there are plenty. Judging by your logic, that would make you weak."

"Learning the language of other species was not instinct, learning everything necessary about them to become one of them, not instinct, not eating you right away when you tried to sneak on me, against instinct, letting myself be used by creatures like ponies, against instinct." "And I have already faced several foes bigger and scarier than me, yet here I am." "But yes, if I was to lose, I would be weak, but unlike you, assuming I don't die, which is unlikely, I wouldn't try to claim I'm not weak, no, I would collect my pride, heal up, and get stronger until I'm stronger than that who beat me or die trying."

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

24 minutes ago, Catpone Cerberus said:

"Learning the language of other species was not instinct, learning everything necessary about them to become one of them, not instinct, not eating you right away when you tried to sneak on me, against instinct, letting myself be used by creatures like ponies, against instinct." "And I have already faced several foes bigger and scarier than me, yet here I am." "But yes, if I was to lose, I would be weak, but unlike you, assuming I don't die, which is unlikely, I wouldn't try to claim I'm not weak, no, I would collect my pride, heal up, and get stronger until I'm stronger than that who beat me or die trying."

"If that is strength, then I don't want it. If power can take down someone stronger, that makes power better than strength. And to use power, you have to be smart. Being smart is also better than strength. So when you really think about it, you've got the short end of the stick."

[Catpone Cerberus 23,604]

8 hours ago, Lucid_Nightlight said:

"If that is strength, then I don't want it. If power can take down someone stronger, that makes power better than strength. And to use power, you have to be smart. Being smart is also better than strength. So when you really think about it, you've got the short end of the stick."

"Again you are trying to claim I think strenght is only physical, even though I have said the exact opposite." Ruby pointed out, clearly annoyed "You seriously think I would be able to kill creatures bigger than me if it was all about that?" "And I never said you are not allowed to want to be powerful, I'm just trying to stop you from getting offended when I call creatures weak." "And your point doesn't make sense, the point of being strong is to be able to win a fight, so by definition can't be worse than power." "The difference is that with power, the creature with the power by themselves are weak."

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

1 hour ago, Catpone Cerberus said:

"Again you are trying to claim I think strenght is only physical, even though I have said the exact opposite." Ruby pointed out, clearly annoyed "You seriously think I would be able to kill creatures bigger than me if it was all about that?" "And I never said you are not allowed to want to be powerful, I'm just trying to stop you from getting offended when I call creatures weak." "And your point doesn't make sense, the point of being strong is to be able to win a fight, so by definition can't be worse than power." "The difference is that with power, the creature with the power by themselves are weak."

1

"Doing this clearly isn't good for neither of us. Let's just agree to disagree."

Somnus decided that this would be a better idea. If he wanted to get in better standing with Ruby, arguing over such pointless things had to stop. He decided to try not to show it, but he was quite bothered by how he couldn't get Ruby to like him more. He simply didn't know what approach would work.

Edited May 20, 2019 by Lucid_Nightlight

[Catpone Cerberus 23,604]

11 hours ago, Lucid_Nightlight said:

"Doing this clearly isn't good for neither of us. Let's just agree to disagree."

Somnus decided that this would be a better idea. If he wanted to get in better standing with Ruby, arguing over such pointless things had to stop. He decided to try not to show it, but he was quite bothered by how he couldn't get Ruby to like him more. He simply didn't know what approach would work.

Ruby just grunted. At this moment there probably wasn't anything Somnus could do, not because he had done something wrong, but because Ruby's tiredness and pain caused her to feel rather annoyed to say the least, so she really didn't have patience for anything even slightly annoying. 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

11 minutes ago, Catpone Cerberus said:

Ruby just grunted. At this moment there probably wasn't anything Somnus could do, not because he had done something wrong, but because Ruby's tiredness and pain caused her to feel rather annoyed to say the least, so she really didn't have patience for anything even slightly annoying. 

Before Somnus could say something else, there was a loud sound outside. The old wyvern lifted a large panel in the floor.

"Both of you go down there now."

[Catpone Cerberus 23,604]

21 minutes ago, Lucid_Nightlight said:

Before Somnus could say something else, there was a loud sound outside. The old wyvern lifted a large panel in the floor.

"Both of you go down there now."

Ruby just rolled her eyes and went through the hole, she was too tired to care what was going on, and it showed because right when she got there, she took as good as a position as she could, and closed her eyes. But she didn't fall asleep, but instead 'slept one eye open' so to speak, observing what happened around her to notice any possible threats.

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

Just now, Catpone Cerberus said:

Ruby just rolled her eyes and went through the hole, she was too tired to care what was going on, and it showed because right when she got there, she took as good as a position as she could, and closed her eyes. But she didn't fall asleep, but instead 'slept one eye open' so to speak, observing what happened around her to notice any possible threats.

Somnus went in after Ruby. The panel was shut and there was a dim light that would help them see.

"Those wyverns from the bigger kingdom are really persistent."

[Catpone Cerberus 23,604]

On 5/20/2019 at 8:30 PM, Lucid_Nightlight said:

Somnus went in after Ruby. The panel was shut and there was a dim light that would help them see.

"Those wyverns from the bigger kingdom are really persistent."

Ruby didn't respond, she was too focused on sleeping and observing, Calti could tell she wasn't calm, so she walked around on top of her, also checking for any signs of danger, hoping to distract the possible threat so Ruby could get away.

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

18 minutes ago, Catpone Cerberus said:

Ruby didn't respond, she was too focused on sleeping and observing, Calti could tell she wasn't calm, so she walked around on top of her, also checking for any signs of danger, hoping to distract the possible threat so Ruby could get away.

A few hours would pass before a loud noise could be heard. After the that, the panel was opened.

"They searched place for a good while. They eventually got annoyed about finding nothing and destroyed the table. They will be back though."

Edited May 21, 2019 by Lucid_Nightlight

[Catpone Cerberus 23,604]

20 hours ago, Lucid_Nightlight said:

A few hours would pass before a loud noise could be heard. After the that, the panel was opened.

"They searched place for a good while. They eventually got annoyed about finding nothing and destroyed the table. They will be back though."

"They clearly aren't too smart if they didn't look under the floor." Ruby muttered "And have your senses really gotten that much worse that they couldn't sense me?" she let out bit of smoke "No wonder you need a civilization to survive." she was still quite tired. 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

14 minutes ago, Catpone Cerberus said:

"They clearly aren't too smart if they didn't look under the floor." Ruby muttered "And have your senses really gotten that much worse that they couldn't sense me?" she let out bit of smoke "No wonder you need a civilization to survive." she was still quite tired. 

"What, did you forget that there are ways to throw off senses?"

"That's correct. All I had to do was make them focus on me. Doing this caused their mind to not think about what scent or sound that could be picked up. That, and they probably don't know your scent yet."

Somnus started to get more worried about Ruby.

"How are you still tired? You've gotten tired right after that fight and you've been that way since. I'm starting to think something isn't right."

[Catpone Cerberus 23,604]

27 minutes ago, Lucid_Nightlight said:

"What, did you forget that there are ways to throw off senses?"

"That's correct. All I had to do was make them focus on me. Doing this caused their mind to not think about what scent or sound that could be picked up. That, and they probably don't know your scent yet."

Somnus started to get more worried about Ruby.

"How are you still tired? You've gotten tired right after that fight and you've been that way since. I'm starting to think something isn't right."

"I have open wounds all around my body and I have several bones broken, among other injuries." Ruby replied tiredly "My healing may be fast, but it still takes energy, and with this many injuries, it's lot of energy."