open Rise of the Stars roleplay (1x1 with CatponeCerberus)

[Catpone Cerberus 23,436]

@Lucid_Nightlight
"If it goes violent, I may have to consider leaving Equestria behind." Ember shared "It's unfortunate that what I said when all of this started is becoming more and more reality, about how in worst case scenario I may end up having to start working against Equestria." Cinder looked at her "My offer still stands, you're welcome to join me if you want." Ember shook her head "Constant travel isn't my thing." 

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Ruby followed Quasi, but what was probably surprise to most, instead of lashing out, she put her leg on Quasi to calm him down and spoke to the dragon "Yet, who is it that is still standing? Even immortality didn't save him." "Nothing he did was his own accomplishment, he used Equestrian magic created by those more skilled than himself." "I admit I was proven wrong on certain things, but that's what makes us different, I can see when I make a mistake." she moved closer to the dragon's ear and lowered her voice, the tone also changing to much colder one "How does it feel? you ask,  Awful, awful enough that I would enjoy nothing more than ripping off each of your teeth one by one and feeding them to you, breaking your every bone only to wait them to heal so that i can break then again, but alas, I have other plans." she then made true of her threat, and cut of the dragons tongue, burning the wound shut to stop it form bleeding, this was too sudden for anyone to stop her, she then spoke to the closest guard, "Chain them up and ready them for public execution." she then addressed the other prisoners "Anyone else have something to say?"  

While from outside it seemed she was handling everything rather well, Quasi, if he was looking for it, would have been able to tell that this was an act, her thoughts may have been blocked from him, but her emotions bled through, and the dragon's comment had gotten under her scales, causing her to feel rather dejected, one thing that had been true in her words was that she indeed felt awful.

 

 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"They plan to allow the secession and then assassinate officials to get the new nation to rejoin Equestria. I picked this up guarding a secret meeting when I wasn't in reserves. I of course told secessionist leadership, they're keeping the fact they know a secret so Equestria doesn't just send guards."

"I fear Equestria has fallen. It exists but the Equestria we know is gone. As for my plans, Ember, I go where you go."

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

"The rule against torturing you only applies to keeping you alive. Consider this part of your death."

 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,436]

@Lucid_Nightlight
"And nobody listened when I said this would happen." Ember said with a sigh, she wasn't happy to be right "But, my current plans won't change much, retirement requires me to disappear anyway, so it isn't much different if instead of the underworld I need to hide from a nation." Cinder looked surprised "You're going to retire? You're younger than me!" Ember nodded "Yes, unlike you, I don't enjoy killing, and the mess is simply getting too big for me at this point." 

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Ruby didn't really care about the rule at the moment, but at the same time, she already had a way to explain how what she did wasn't torture, torture was about causing suffering, she didn't do that, she just wanted to shut the dragon up. She also wasn't at her best mentally, so there was that too.

She continued speaking to the other prisoners "No heartfelt apologizes? No begging for mercy?" "Hmph. I would say I'm impressed if it wasn't for this smell of fear surrounding all of you." she then looked at Quasi "*I've made my choice, you can order the others killed however you want.*" 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"You're not a target at the moment though, they probably know that you wouldn't approve of their way of doing things. I've had an idea but, killing Celestia might create a few issues among the Equestrian population. Plus, Princess Twilight would be a little sad about that, she doesn't have it in her to abandon Celestia."

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

"Guards execute them, remember to tell them to make peace with their God."

He then went to the one Ruby wanted to kill.

"I suggest you make peace with your God too."

[Catpone Cerberus 23,436]

@Lucid_Nightlight
"At the moment, but that won't mean I won't become one, and even if I don't, there would certainly be more guards appearing around me, they know I could be a threat if I decided to go against them." Ember pointed out, she was already waiting for the day they would finally decide enough is enough and arrest her, and that was before the whole earth thing. "And killing a princess? No way, I'm not taking part in something like that, not only would the aftermath be catastrophic in several different ways, but somepony that powerful is simply outside my skill set." Cinder cut in after Ember had finished "I'm not touching that either, I'm all for bit of chaos, but the two sisters, that's too much even for me." 

 

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

As was planned, Ruby would oversee the executions while the one chosen was made ready for public appearance, she had been right, this gave no satisfaction to her, but what she had been wrong about was that she wouldn't recognize any of them, she did recognize the one she chose, not from appearance or even voice, but the smell....though, she wasn't really happy about it, she would have rather not recognized them.

"*Could you remind me Quasi, what limits, if any, is there regarding executions in our law?*" "*And what is the least dignified way to die from the point of view of the common Nightwing?*" she still didn't know that much about their culture, so she wanted to ask.  

 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"I'm not going even attempt such a thing. I do worry though. One idea is Twilight. While loyal to Celestia, she also doesn't like the path Equestria is on. If she can be convinced of the severity of the problem, she could be able to convince the sisters to step down."

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"*The death should be quick. Nightwings are very proud. Make him feel weak. If you chain him up to make him unable to move and also make him look the part with those chains, he won't like that much. Also, put a muzzle on him so he can't use fire. Put a blindfold on so he can't see. Not seeing is very undignified when being killed.*"

"*Talk down about him to the crowd, make him seem like a coward with your words. He can't even defend his honor because he can't speak.*"

"*There's hanging, beheading, firing squad, lethal injection, neck breaking, throat slitting, if it's quick then you can do it. The thing about cooking him was just to freak him out.*"

[Catpone Cerberus 23,436]

@Lucid_Nightlight
"While in theory that could lead to better direction, it necessarily wouldn't." Ember pointed out "I have no doubt that Earthlings are clever enough to make canceling the decisions already made as hard as possible, if they don't just attack when it's attempted." "It's like digging a hole. you can stop digging, but it won't make climbing out any easier." Cinder spoke after that "You don't need to hypothesize, they have already done that in their world, any time there is a nation that seems to do too well with the wrong kind of system, they 'liberate' it" "So yes, Equestria has dug themselves into a hole." 

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"*I see*" Ruby turned thoughtful, she asked the guards to get a muzzle and a blindfold but to not put them on yet and instead hold on to them for now, she was going through her options, thinking of the best way to do things to try and get some enjoyment out of the whole thing while also not breaking the law too much. She was considering just ripping his head of, but she decided against that because she wasn't entirely sure if she was in strong enough shape to actually pull that off, and she didn't want to test that in front of everyone, but it did give her another idea. 

Though before she would proceed to any of that, she needed a small breathing break, she addressed the guards "Come tell me when everything is ready, I'll go catch some fresh air." she'd then get up and move towards the exit, she didn't ask Quasi to come with, but she also wouldn't stop him from following her.
 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"I'm not going to give up. I think what I will do is stand and fight. I won't ask you to do the same if you don't want to but Ember, will you be with me while I take on this task? I don't ask you to fight unless you choose to, I just ask that we can remain together."

Arrow wasn't sure how he would fight. Would it be a violent or peaceful fight? Would he be a soldier or an influential figure to rally people to a cause?

"The thing is, what type of fight?"

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Quasi would go with Ruby to ensure he was with her to provide support. If she asked him for space, he would grant it to her.

"*I really love you Ruby. In times like this, sometimes one needs to be reminded of these things. What shall we do with the other egg? Shall we keep them or have them adopted to someone else?*"

"*Regardless of what happened, I can still love them as if they were my own but I know you're trauma is painful. Only you would know how keeping it would effect you and thats why I want to leave the choice to only you.*"

[Catpone Cerberus 23,436]

@Lucid_Nightlight
"I will not actively take part in your actions that no doubt will put target on both of our backs regardless." "I'm not interested in politics and I'm done with fighting against rulers." Ember started, even with the peaceful option, there was certainly someone who would want to get rid of Arrow, and thus indirectly her. "But, I won't leave you alone either, if things do get bad, I'll be behind you, I'll be damned if I lose someone I care about to Equestria again." "In other words, we'll stay together, but I won't take active part at whatever you are planning until it goes south." 

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

Immediately when Ruby was out of sight of the prisoners and guards, her act dropped and her demeanor changed to a lot less prideful one, it was not hard to tell that she had been reminded of something specific which made her feel worse. Even when they did finally reach fresh air, Ruby didn't sit down or even stop moving, instead she paced around in a small area, taking deep breaths and generally trying to calm herself down and bring her thoughts to somewhere else.

Quasi's words, and more specifically the question, while not a pleasant topic, actually helped her a bit with that.

"*Too early to decide anything, we don't even know yet if anything will happen for sure.*" she started with quiet and generally unhappy sounding voice, obviously she hoped the whole prophecy thing was just some last effort mental trick from Darkstalker, but she didn't really believe it "*But assuming it does, there's no point in punishing a hatchling for something it has no control over, it is still my blood, so until there's something really wrong with it, I'll keep it, even if I have to see nightmares for rest of my life.*" if nothing else, she would eventually get numb to it. 

"*I tried hiding from trauma already, you saw where it lead, unhappy, lonely dragon, ready to go mad the moment someone makes her remember the wrong thing.*" "heh" "*Guess there is something good that came out of this, now it doesn't matter what happened in that hole, it doesn't faze me anymore.*"

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"I'll do what I can to keep you out of this. You shouldn't have to fight if you don't want to. And trust me, if they go after you, they'll only find my blades piercing their hearts. Or a war hammer caving their skulls. Or a hatchet, or an axe. Or an arrow. Maybe a crossbow bolt. Or a bullet, maybe, I prefer the old ways of fighting. You get the point."

"I... own a lot of weapons. Kinda a hobby of mine. You should see my collection actually. Oh! I should show you my warship, it's outdated now but it's cool!"

Clearly, Arrow really loved weapons.

------

"*They will be ours not the other dragon's. With this said, should we announce that we will be having hatchlings?*"

[Catpone Cerberus 23,436]

@Lucid_Nightlight
"Told you there's others who do that." Cinder suddenly cut in, looking towards Ember, to which Ember responded "I don't think he gets them by killing the owners..." she paused for a second and looked at Arrow "....right?" 
---------------------------------------------

Ruby shook her head "*Not yet.*" "*I want to wait until it is certain that my physical injuries didn't cause....complications.*" "*I also don't want the attention to myself until I get my head straight enough.*"

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"No, I purchased them with money. You can afford a lot when you killed dragons for a living. Other dragons don't care enough to go after them themselves and most ponies aren't brave enough, so they set the bounties pretty high."

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"*Yeah, probably a good idea.*"

Quasi would give Ruby a quick nuzzle, pretty typical of dragons of his world that were close.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,436]

@Lucid_Nightlight

Ember gave Cinder a 'told you' look to which Cinder just shrugged, Ember responded to Arrow "It's less about bravery and more about ability I'd say, it's better that unskilled ponies don't go hunting....well, anything." "But I get the point, and agree, It's not like I'm struggling for money either." "Though, I also don't buy weapons and battleships, so it can't be necessarily directly compared." 

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Ruby didn't mind the nuzzle, in fact, she even returned it, kinda, she at least tried to, but it was more a gentle poke with her head than an actual nuzzle, she wasn't really good with all the nice gestures, and while she had made a mental note to learn them to show her appreciation, she hadn't really had a chance to for obvious reasons.  

She hesitated a bit but then spoke "*Thank you Quasi for...everything, I know I haven't been the best towards you, and you deserve recognition for your patience with me, but I promise I'll try to do better and....I think I can finally state it as a fact; I love you.*" 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"The battleship was from a big payment, especially dangerous dragon. I've got enough to live on but don't expect me to own a castle."

---------

"*I've not been the best towards you either. That time I stabbed you with a spear, I know it was to keep the prophecy from going wrong but... I think about that everyday.*"

[Catpone Cerberus 23,436]

@Lucid_Nightlight
"I don't like castles anyway." Ember said nonchalantly "They are way too big to be protected properly, as is shown by the amount of threats that have gotten into this one." "My point was that we can't really compare our wealth directly because we spend it so differently."    

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

"*I honestly forgot that part even happened, I was lot more unhappy about you freezing me in place with your magic.*" "*And I can't say I fully forgive you for that whole mess, there's a reason why I worried you'd use the collar against me.*" her voice wasn't judgmental, in fact, it sounded more like her admitting something than her blaming Quasi "*The reason why I lashed out back then was because I felt betrayed, felt like you cared more about the cheap clone of me than the real me.*" 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"Maybe it's more for looks. I'd suggest some walls to stop Earthling ground attacks. Honestly, that's probably being worked on after that private army snuck in and tried to kill Quasi and Ruby.

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"*That will never happen now. And I'll always care about you.*"

[Catpone Cerberus 23,436]

@Lucid_Nightlight
"Considering that the only ones that actually got in to the castle itself uninvited were dragons, changelings, and myself, I don't think walls would do much for that problem." Cinder pointed out, Ember thought for a moment, "I'm not sure if the castle would need defending from Earthlings, Ruby would most likely take part in the battle, and Quasi wouldn't let her go alone, so there would be no reason to attack it." 

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"*While I wouldn't say never when there's possibly several millennia in front of us, I do not doubt your promise, for two months you had full control and you did nothing, not a single command came out of you even by accident."* "*It's a one thing to not use that kind of power, but the amount of effort you put in to avoid even accidentally doing something is unarguable.*" 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"Machine guns work on dragons pretty well if you can pierce their scales. That's only a problem for Ruby's kind and they don't care about attacking people they just want to live their life. Though, explosives are pretty nice for that."

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"*Those rebels are pretty unorganized now. I have no doubt they'll give up soon.*"

[Catpone Cerberus 23,436]

@Lucid_Nightlight

"Explosives are only good if you actually hit with them, and something like heat-seeking weaponry isn't much use against a highly insulated creature that can spew out fire." Cinder remarked "So one would need to rely on the blast radius more than direct hits, and in some places that isn't possible , if you have any kind of morals that is." why did she know enough about explosions to say all that? well, if one was to spend time with her, they would learn that knowing things was kinda her thing. 

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

The topic change was sudden enough that Ruby actually reacted with slight surprise, though she didn't mind, she didn't exactly enjoy talking about the collar, even if it was her who brought it up. "*So I hear, Cinder has been trying to get into their circles for...unrelated reasons, and from sounds of it the morale is getting lower, no doubt the inner disagreements and the lack of outside support is getting to them.*" "*Maybe we should offer incentive for cooperation, something like, not killing those who surrender themselves?*" 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"Quasi probably has something. He has his generals constantly brainstorming, doing war games, and making plans for many scenarios. He also will go and in create a surprise scenario to teach them to adapt to surprises. That and he'll mixup existing plans."

"So, what's next for us?"

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"*I agree. Leaders can be put on trial and put in prison. These rebels never accepted citizenship so we can deport them and let Queen Thorn do what what she wants with them. If they return they'll be killed.*"

[Catpone Cerberus 23,436]

@Lucid_Nightlight
"I think I'll start getting ready to go back to Equestria, don't want to be here when something happens again to stop travel" "Especially with where Equestria is going, I want to get certain things done as soon as possible." Cinder spoke after Ember "I meanwhile, while you didn't ask me, will leave you alone for a moment if you go, as I have jobs to do here, but I'll be back to annoy you soon enough." 

 --------------------------

"*Exactly, but only for those who surrendered peacefully in certain time frame, when we locate the rebels' operational heart, those who are still there will meet their ends without question, way or another.*"

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"Cool. If you still plan to stay at my place, I help move your stuff. You can put it wherever you want. I'll also train the militias. Hopefully we can avoid war but we should be ready. In case Equestria invades after our secession. The plan is to let Equestria make the first move so their allies aren't as likely to attack if war happens. We're going with a form of Democracy and Republic. But also with a monarch to preserve our old ways, just a limited power monarch."

"We haven't decided who yet."

Someone of note walked up.

"Me."

"Princess Twilight? I thought you were loyal to Princess Celestia."

"I was but... her path isn't aligned with friendship. I might step down and just go into civilian life when things are stable and let you elect a new monarch. But, I feel that if I truly care, I need to do something. We're independent now, we declared independence and Celestia let us leave. I am aware that her intentions are not good though."

--------

As those words were spoken, a familiar coyote would walk up. It was Miror holding a familiar cat.

"When I heard your cat was missing, I looked all over for her. I found them in a nearby cave full of Chaneglings. I snuck past them got the cat."

Quasi inspected the cat, this was most certainly is them and they were alive and healthy.

The cat would climb up on Ruby's head and pur.

Miror would give Quasi directions to the cave, they were in pretty good detail.

"There 90 of them at least. Very well armed. While, I may not impose violence myself, I do understand the need for military action and self defense, I don't have the heart to hurt anyone, I'd feel pretty terrible if I did that."

[Catpone Cerberus 23,436]

@Lucid_Nightlight

Neither Ember or Cinder bowed to Twilight, though their demeanor towards her were bit different from each other, Ember's told more about her not bowing out of principle, while there was still a small amount of respect, while Cinder's was more dismissive, showing absolutely no respect to the title of princess.
"We'll discuss the living situation when we get some actual privacy." Ember mentioned to Arrow before addressing the whole situation that took place. "What are the borders exactly? would like to know what nation my house is currently in." 

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

While she didn't show it outwards, she was kinda glad that the kitten was aright, even if it had grown a bit in the few months it was gone, she still didn't understand why it was so friendly with her, but she had learned in the last months to appreciate the kindness she did get, even if it was in form of the relaxing purr of a trusting cat. "We could just fill that cave with fire." she suggested "Though I'll leave this to you, I'm not in the shape to lead an assault yet." she looked at Miror "And you..." she paused for a second "....still don't remember your name, I apologize for your bones, it was bit unnecessary from my part, though I still stand behind rest of my actions, as an individual, not as the Queen of Starlania." 

 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"We were fortunate enough to live where we live. I've spoken to Sky and Myra about it, as you know they were able to leave. They agreed that the mountains in the south were a good natural barrier and left lots of places to hide in the event Equestria were to go through them."

"They also told me that Equestria would have a stronger army, so using the forests was very important, Sky even said that this played a part in America's loss in the Vietnam War."

"If an invasion happens, aim to make the war long and painful for invading forces, cause as much enemy casualties as you can and damage as much expensive equipment as you can. This will lower moral of enemy troops and make the war unpopular in Equestria."

"Sky mentioned that too. Equestria was originally going to protect Dasonia but, Myra and Sky upon being told about Celestia's plan to secretly kill our officials said that they support us over Equestria and that if Equestria goes through with the assassination attempts, they will personally send a letter and messenger expressing their unhappiness with their 'immoral behavior' while also rejecting any aid from Equestria."

"Dasonians have a strong view on morals, this comes from their religious beliefs. They don't really aid rebellions because of those religious beliefs too. They'll typically not agree with a rebellion but will also point out anything the non-rebel nation is doing wrong. Though, our nation is not a rebel nation as Princess Celestia let the land leave, saying no was an easy option but she decided to say yes. That's probably why Dasonia has chosen to work with you since the new nation is by the standards of their belief legitimate and not subject to Equestria."

"Yes, the treaty was signed. It was signed into law too as requested and also it was made known to the public. While it is possible the Princess could betray us, our legitimacy gives us a clear advantage in making a war hard for Equestria as long as we don't attack first, and we will not, I want to avoid a war."

"And the name of the new nation?"

"Harmaland from the word Harmony. We had a dog from Wales visit, they were a tourist. He told me about a castle named Harlech and it's history. And he sung a song called Men of Harlech. He said that patriotic songs are good for morale and that they make the ones who call the nation home happy. Of course Wales isn't really all that independent, it's part of the UK but, he still says it has a place in his heart. He also says nations will sometimes adopt songs from other nations and make their own version."

Twilight would show a brown parchment that had the borders of the nation. The map wasn't colorful but it was easy to see what everything was.

A guard then took Twilight to the diplomacy room.

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"I hold no anger, also, I think Princess Twilight wants to speak with you. Part of Equestria has left and formed a new country. Twilight currently is Princess but she also might step down and let another lead instead."

"I have little knowledge on the issue. We won't send soldiers but, I'm willing to hear what Princess Twilight wants to tell me."

Quasi would call in a guard to bring a reward for Miror for the return of the cat, as he did mention a reward when the cat was first discovered to be taken from the castle. The reward was a lot of gems that had much monetary value to Nomadikos, as Starlanian money would be of no importance where he lived. Miror told Quasi that the reward wasn't necessary and that he just wanted to ensure the cat was home. Quasi would ask him to take the gems as he felt Miror should be rewarded and he already told there would be a reward and wanted to be true to his word. Miror politely thanked Quasi would and told him he'd use them for the betterment of his nation and for others who were in need. A few Starlanian guards would help Miror transport the gems to his land under Quasi's orders. He'd then ask one guard to bring Twilight to the diplomacy room.

"*Let's go see what Twilight, Equestria's status makes this secession issue important. Especially since we trade with Equestria I want to know what action take.*"

[Catpone Cerberus 23,436]

@Lucid_Nightlight
Cinder visibly tuned out the moment the politics talk started, and Ember listened only to the extend that it affected her, neither of the were interested in the fine detail of how the defense or politics of the nation was planned, Cinder because it simply didn't concern her in any way, and Ember because she was not going to take part in another war. 

The only comment from either of them was just Ember half muttering "Good, at least the house is on the right side of the border." though after Twilight left, Cinder remarked "Harmaland? Harm-a-land, guess that fits, because there will be lot of harm in this mess." it was slightly odd how much everyone wanted to bring up politics with these two anti-government individuals around.  

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"*Let's hope this won't take long, I have an execution to attend to.*" 

Edited July 17, 2022 by Catpone Cerberus