open An Arrow to the Wing (1x1 with Catpone Cerberus)

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

The castle was peaceful, but outside Equestrian lands, a war raged. Some dragons from the dragonlands didn't approve Princess Ember's rule. Viewing her as a weak leader, they rebelled and seceded from the dragonlands forming their own nation called Fironia.

The story of two opposites began. A former dragon slayer and a dragon would work together to defend the dragonlands and stop the Fironian menace.

 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"Got visual on her, Arrow?" A batpony asked.

"Got visual on your mom!"

"My mom's a wyvern, not a dragon!"

"That's a type of dragon!"

"Yeah, but wyvern's are smaller, why do you think they aren't sending me? Anyway, we need to capture her alive."

The two approached the place they suspected the dragon was.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@Lucid_Nightlight
If they were looking for a dragon, they wouldn't find one, because though they were in the right place, the dragon they were looking for was in her disguise, looking like every other pony around her, though she was arguably the most attractive mare in the area. 


Ruby heard someone talking about Wyverns nearby, or well it was more that they were shouting and her ears just happened to pick up it up from the sea of meaningless chitchat that was going around her. She hated living among ponies, it was so boring and she hated having to look and act like these pathetic prey animals to blend in, if it wasn't for the powerful magic users among them she would have brought the whole civilization down the moment she had arrived in Equestria. 

She casually followed the pair with her glance, not for any specific reason, she just kept her eye open for a chance to fool someone out of their money, and nobody else had seemed like it would be any challenge, ponies were awfully easy to seduce. 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"I've picked up a scent, there's a dragon and not a normal one either. I also smell pony mixed with this dragon scent."

"The dossier says may be able to blend in. We just don't know how she blends in. Why haven't we taken her out? Isn't she dangerous?"

The batpony turned around, she noticed a pony that smelled a lot like a dragon, but he had no idea she was the dragon.

"Ma'am, we need you to come with us, we need to ask you a feel questions."

Arrow looked at the 'pony' and burped loudly.

"Wanna see my pet crab?"

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@Lucid_Nightlight
Since the two said it pretty much in front of her, Ruby knew they were looking for her, bit worrying, she needs to look into who knows so that she can deal with them, but that was for later, she had these two to deal with first. 

She just sat quietly, acting like she was surprised when the batpony asked her to come with, though surprise was replaced by cold disappointment when the other one opened his mouth. She spoke to the batpony "Who is asking?" she said, sounding almost bored "You talk like an officer of some kind, but your friend here talks like a lonely drunks do....scratch that, that would be insult towards drunks." the batpony could have been fun to try, but the other one ruined it. 

Edited August 1, 2020 by Catpone Cerberus

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"The royal guards. We're looking for a dragon and you, ma'am have the scent of a dragon."

"He's actually a wyvern, he has a good sense of smell. Also the fact you have the attitude of a dragon is suspicious now."

The batpony pointed something out.

"The cutiemark doesn't help the case either. We're gonna have to question you. And Arrow, you can't stereotype dragons you're making us look terrible!"

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@Lucid_Nightlight
"Royal guard huh, you two probably haven't left the castle ever before this then, considering you both seem to be living under a rock." Ruby said sounding somewhat amused "One has never seen a gem related cutiemark and one has never met a rude pony." so the batpony was part of the malformed subspecies, that would explain the weird feeling she got about him "Well, I guess I have no choice, don't really care for getting the royal guard after me." she would follow them, though she didn't go quiet yet "Also, I happened to hear your little argument from earlier, and no, wyverns are not dragons, that's why they are called wyverns and not dragons." 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"You smell like a dragon and have a cutiemark of the very thing dragons like."

"I find the fact that a large dragon is in Equestria and yet is rarely if ever spotted. A dragon cannot fly forever, and I doubt dragons can camouflage like geckos. And if they do, they couldn't for very long, they'd have to move to eat and they'd make a lot of noise. You agree, Somnus?"

"Something intelligent, you really are improving. Yeah, um... we should probably ready our weapons."

Arrow readied the nonlethal hammer, and Somnus readied his spear in case this went terribly wrong.

"Alright, admit it so we can skip the interrogation."

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@Lucid_Nightlight
Ruby chuckled and put her hoof in front of he mouth in amused manner "You do realize I can just scream and you two become the bad guys?" "It doesn't matter if you're guards, it's two stallions threatening unarmed mare with weapons." she smiled "But that aside, you also seem quite stupid in your actions." "You are looking for a dragon, a large dragon by sound of it, and you think I am that dragon, so your solution is to threaten me?" "Have you ever met a dragon that does something because they're threatened by someone? because I haven't, so why are you threatening someone you think is a dragon." she also disagreed with the statement that she would make a lot of noise but she didn't say anything about that for obvious reasons. "And lastly, what are you gonna do? hit me? how scary." the sarcasm was obvious 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"True, you could, but we still have a job to do. And my threats aren't idle. See my friend? Somnus is a wyvern, they're a one fourth smaller than a full grown dragon, but they're really fast and have sharp teeth. And me? I use to slay dangerous dragons, you would be not problem to me."

"We're here to take you to Princess Celestia to strike a deal with you. However, we need you to admit who you are. Arrow get ready to teleport us to the interrogation room if she doesn't cooperate."

Arrow protested. "What!? I always end up ending up landing myself wrong in a teleportation spell! Remember when I got stuck in the garbage can for a week?"

Somnus rolled his eyes. "Just ready the spell in case we need it."

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@Lucid_Nightlight
Ruby looked quite unimpressed at Arrow's threat? boasting? She wasn't concerned about Wyverns, they really weren't a threat to her, and a dragon hunter? She was quite disappointed, she knew local dragons were....incompetent, but with what this hunter had shown of his intelligence, she had clearly overestimated them. 
"So let me get this straight, Princess Celestia wants you to find a dragon that may or may not hide as a pony somehow so she can make a deal with them, so you two, after finding somepony who you think may be them, decide that best course of action is to threaten them?" "Though then again, she did send a dragon hunter to strike a deal with a dragon, so I can't say our princess thought it fully through either." "And what if you're wrong? What if I smell like a dragon because I have....close relations with one?" It may be that since apparently Celestia herself sent them looking for her, they have the description of Ruby's pony form too, but Ruby wouldn't just straight up admit she was...well, she, after all, these to may be lying and well, she was quite curious what this interrogation would include, since she had actually never seen it in action, maybe it was some kind of truth spell, or maybe it was more meaningless threatening, she kinda wanted to know.

 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

Knowing what needed to be done, the blue unicorn sighed and teleported them to the interrogation chamber. The suspected dragon and the batpony wyvern would end up there, but Arrow would fall through the ceiling.

While Arrow was getting up, Somnus asked a question.

"So, you don't want to admit you're a dragon? You know you live in this land illegally, yes? We can keep you locked up if we want. Also, we have a dossier about you, don't think you've gone unnoticed. Although we know little about where you're from, we do know you're different from local dragons."

Arrow grabbed a dossier about the dragon and showed her.

Name: Unknown, Arrow calls her gecko.

Abilities: Unknown, transformation magic heavily suspected.

Known Information: The "gecko" is a red dragon and is suspected to have superior durability to other dragons. A pony has been seen, but is not documented as a citizen of Equestria. Appeared around the same time as the dragon. Pretty greedy, tricks stallions into giving her money, pretty intimidating, like seriously, she's really scary. Like, really really scary.

Plan: Negotiate her into helping in dragon civil war. Several large piles of gems have been prepared.

 

"As you can see, we don't expect a dragon to work for free. Would the gems change your mind?"

Edited August 2, 2020 by Lucid_Nightlight

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@Lucid_Nightlight
Ruby seemed unfazed by everything that happened and was said, she just had this annoying little smile on her face as everything was going on. She took the papers and read them calmly to herself. "Don't be so close-minded, it's not just stallions, it's also mares and other creatures." she then suddenly said after she was done "And how do you not have the name? It's not like it's a secret." she dropped the papers "Also, I'm not afraid of getting locked up, I'm not thread to Equestria so I'll be out eventually, and I have time to wait." 

"I still don't get why you tried to threaten me in the first place though, I asked you who was asking, so you could just have said that you want to make a deal." "I take it this isn't about peace talks?" she still hadn't straight up admitted that she was she, but it should be clear that she was interested.

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"Peace isn't an option, they refuse to listen. We want you to admit who you are. We will lead some groups and attack high profile areas. There is also a plan to take down their leader."

Somnus explained something. "We do have a last resort move to forcefully undo the transformation spell, but we wish for you to admit to avoid any deaths."

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@Lucid_Nightlight
"Is your brain malformed too?" Ruby said to the Wyvern-batpony "I know your kind can be....how do I but it kindly?...slow, but you should be able to figure out the truth without me spelling it out for you." she was purposefully letting her act slip, showing a bit of her true dragon-like nature, but she wouldn't directly say yes or no to the question about her identity, partly to annoy them and partly to see if they had brains in their heads, because assuming she would be joined by at least one of them, she wanted them to have some capacity to think.

"So, you have a choice to make, will you trust your intuition that I am who you are looking for? or will you potentially ruin your chances on getting the deal by angering the dragon you're trying to make the deal with by forcing them to transform, assuming your magic would even work?." "This of course assuming that I indeed am the dragon you're looking for and not just an illegal mare who likes to have quality time with dragons." That was probably the most overly long way to say yes without actually saying the word, but that was Ruby, she liked to annoy lesser creatures who thought they could control her. 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"Fair enough, we'll take the chance. We'll take you to Princess Celestia."

This was clearly the dragon.

"Yeah, that's the dragon, her ego is significantly high."

"Question, why don't they ask those dudes from the newly discovered world for help?"

"They're sending one individual in they're land. We'll be meeting him too in the throne room."

"Oh, the stars and stripe people?"

"No. Other world."

"Well, let's go."

He started to lead them to the throne room.

Edited August 5, 2020 by Lucid_Nightlight

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@Lucid_Nightlight
"Again with stereotypes, I have met plenty of ponies with high ego, like Rainbow whatever who works with the princess of friendship." Ruby said with wake offence before continuing to no one in particular "I didn't really imagine I ever would end up this deep in the castle lawfully, honestly I'm disappointed, the one in ponyville is lot better looking." her lack of respect would keep showing, especially when they would arrive to the throne room, as she would refuse to bow or kneel, and would instead keep her head high with blank expression on her face.

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

When they got to the throne room, Princess Celestia sat on a throne, many guards surrounded them, probably due to the alleged dragon that wasn't known to be friendly.

There was also a white albino dragon, different from other known dragons in certain aspects. He seemed weaker than Equestrian dragons, despite his fair size.

"Feel free to get acquainted before I explain."

The white dragon nervously spoke first.

"I'm Quasi Nix."

"Interesting name."

"My name means 'Like Snow' I'm what is called a Nightwing in my world... except, I'm a little different than other nightwings. We can read minds and tell the future, but... I can't tell the future unlike most Nightwings and I have moments I cannot read minds, like under immense stress. We're also not immune to fire like the dragons in this world."

Quasi looked at the suspected dragon.

"What's your name?"

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

"Ruby Shine" Ruby said with cold and uncaring voice, this was technically a fake name, but it was also her real name in this language, since her kind didn't use names in the way many others did and they only used them to talk about someone who had really made a name for themselves, and that name usually was color of their scales followed by their most prominent feature.

If this dragon managed to get into Ruby's head, he would only find two notable things, she found him to be pathetic, and she found it humorous that Celestia thought some guards could do anything to her, other than that it was hard to find anything, she knew her mind could be messed with at some point so she had learned to empty it from anything she didn't want to be known.

@Lucid_Nightlight

Edited August 8, 2020 by Catpone Cerberus

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"There's a Skywing queen named Ruby. She was was around when the dragonets of destiny were still fulfilling a prophecy. If only I could meet them! I'd tell you the whole thing, but I don't wanna spoil anything. It's almost as if this were from a series of books and I kept things vague to avoid spoiling a anything! I'd call it Wings of Fire!"

The dragon had a bag, it was opened at the moment and full of many scrolls.

"What are those?"

"Scrolls. I like history. Do you think this will be recorded in history?"

A kitten popped out of the bag, looked like a stray. Judging from the look on Quasi's face, he didn't know the kitten was there.

"I know it's unacceptable to eat these kinda animals in your world. So, what do we do with the cat?"

"I don't know, I already have a crab."

The crab was suddenly standing on Arrow, staring at Ruby.

"Red says he will eat you alive, Ruby."

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@Lucid_Nightlight
"It will only be in history books if ponies win." Ruby stated when history was mentioned, and any possible opposition to the statement would be met with a look that said 'you know I'm right'. Regarding the kitten she didn't say or do anything, though she wouldn't be too surprised if it decided to make its way to her, because after she had met a some kind of cat-pony hybrid who seemed to know way too much, cats had started to like her more for some reason, and she didn't necessarily mind it, not because she liked cats any more than any other creatures, but because one less creature wary of her made it easier to blend in. 

She seemingly didn't care about the crab or what it allegedly said, and she really didn't, crabs were so insignificant to her that they could just as easily not existed.  

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

The cat swatted at Ruby, trying to play.

Celestia spoke to them explaining what's going on.

"There's a civil war in the dragonlands. Our normal soldiers cannot help, however, two dragons and a former dragonslayer can."

She looked at Ruby.

"Ruby. I know you aren't one to work for free. There are mounds of gems waiting for you if you complete this mission. Along with this, we will grant you citizenship and will erase your record of any past crimes. Do you accept?"

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@Lucid_Nightlight
Ruby ignored the cat, having more important matters to care about.
"I'm surprised there is records, since I understood you didn't even know my name." she commented, though then again, she did know that Celestia knew more than other ponies, so it wouldn't be a surprise if she knew more about Ruby than anyone else in Equestria "I'm always up for some good ol' dragon killing." the part about the record and citizenship was whatever to her, they could be a nice help with her plans for the future, but they could also hinder them depending on how it would happen. "And if I get paid doing it...how could I refuse?" she was in, even though she again didn't directly use the word yes.

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

"Alright, you'll head to the dragonlands now. And I understand, Quasi Nix that your kind does use weapons and armor. We've made you a spear to suit a dragon of your size and your armor is now enchanted to be strong enough to protect you. However, it does not make you invincible. I'm sure you'll represent your land well."

While walking out the castle, Arrow looked at Ruby.

"I've always wanted to ride a dragon."

"I doubt she'll give you a ride, she sounds kinda mean and really scary."

Edited August 9, 2020 by Lucid_Nightlight

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@Lucid_Nightlight
"Better not even try it if you value your life." This wasn't even a direct threat necessarily, because while Ruby would be quite violent if Arrow tried to ride her, he wouldn't necessarily even survive getting on her because of the sharp spines on her back that would easily stab him if he put any weight on them. If the cat was to follow her, Ruby wouldn't give any effort to stop it, even if it went as far as climbing on her back, because unlike ponies, cats were allowed on her, not that any sane pony would even try when she was in her pony form.