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

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"I'm unsure. Perhaps there's something in her that I can see but, can't figure out. I see good in her."

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"That's without Quasi. Yes, Ruby might like to handle something on her own but, Quasi is ruling the country too. He sees the need for a proper military. This navy isn't done for no reason, it's done out of necessity. The portal being close to their land in the ocean makes the target for Earthling nations and possibly some weird maniac from Equus trying to rule the world or whatever. You've seen how many times Equestria was attacked. One egomaniac dragon isn't gonna cut it."

Sky spoke calmly.

"Really, I'd imagine that the Starlanian navy is Quasi's decision. He loves Ruby and cares for her input on things but, he's no pushover. He probably has a bit of a tactical mindset due to his time with his caretaker Mira."

"Didn't he kill Mira?"

"Yeah, attempted to attack Ruby or something."

"And Mira was a military genius, weird that Quasi could win against such a dragon."

[Catpone Cerberus 23,420]

@Lucid_Nightlight
"Like I have told you, these things can't really be rationalized." Vix said to the oldest dragoness, having sat down on the ground near the dragon family "It's my turn to question things, if you were held somewhere, how did they come to be" Ruby cut in, pointing at the two younger dragons when saying 'they' "I wasn't the only one there, and as hinted before, I had to settle for what I had." "And before you ask, we were the only survivors, others couldn't handle the things done to us." 

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"I didn't say anything about her success at attacking, only that it's unlikely she would be using army or weapons to do it." Ember pointed out, Cinder meanwhile was chuckling to herself, she seemed to find something about the conversation amusing, Ember continued "And military genius is quite different from combat skill, and high emotions can have unpredictable results on the fight, there's a reason why I for example try to stay professional when working."  

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"Cruelty you've witnessed it too then. The Nightwings have been guilty of this, one particular one, Mastermind  has experimented on the rainwings to learn about their venom. The rainwings in turn did wrong, putting him in quicksand, taking him out when he sunk too low only to place him back in. Said it was to wait until they had a proper prison. Both our kinds did wrong here however, the rainwings had the nightwings live separately from them, said they had to 'earn" the right to live among the rainwings. It's why I came in and rallied the nightwings to protest this and demand independence."

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"I don't know, Ruby might not want to use military but, Quasi probably would. Wouldn't surprise me if Quasi had to send the military out to retrieve or defend Ruby trying to just fight an entire army."

[Catpone Cerberus 23,420]

@Lucid_Nightlight
"One should not look all things through lens of right and wrong, existence is a very wrong place, and you don't solve the problems by arguing about who has done more wrong." The oldest dragoness stated "Good and evil are decided by those currently in power, you may try to disclaim it but it is true, let's take this demand for independence you mentioned for example, it was the right thing to do because you succeeded in it, but if it were to fail, you would have been seen as the villain, the one who rallied for disorder." Vix let out a sigh "More I listen the stories about things going on here, more I realize just how right our kind is about the surface, I understand well why most of us want to stay in isolation from all of this." 

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"My point still stands, giving Ruby an army won't make her any more or less likely to attack." Ember pointed out "And we all know she would rather die than let someone rescue her." Cinder listened interested, "She sounds like a no nonsense type, I like it."  

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

"There is right and wrong, even if there wasn't, there is pain and comfort. My people suffered pain of oppression, I gave them comfort. Now we are on our way to becoming the dominate land of my world, not because of power but because of need. Our trade with Equestria is being discussed, we're testing it a bit. They have something we want, magic, we have things they want. The trade ensures the security of our nation."

"Aren't there issues?"Fu

"Of course. Our military is still forming. We have some but, training is still being done. Many are trained but, it's been a while. There is also some unrest from Sandwings that did not want to live under Starlanian rule but also refused to move though this is a minority of sandwings."

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"Sure, rogue. Funny, a paladin and a rogue."

"I don't understand what you mean."

"Well, Ember is like a rogue with her stealth and stuff and you're like a paladin, being religious and wearing armor and stuff."

"He plays some sort of game on Saturdays some company gave him free stuff as a reward for his part in the war and now he plays a lot also... he collects dice. Keeps hiring jewel cutters and blacksmiths to make him dice."

[Catpone Cerberus 23,420]

@Lucid_Nightlight
"Too bad you can't live like we kobolds do." Vix said "We don't have need for armies, no government, no rulers, no need for trade or any other kind of interaction with the surface." "No wars, no unrest, no unnecessary politics, we are a community, and we deal with things as a community." "Though I'm no longer part of that 'we', as you may be able to tell from the fact that I'm here." "Unrest? I'm surprised you haven't dealt with that already." the oldest dragoness commented, looking at Ruby as she did "I'm letting Quasi try to handle it peacefully until they cause too much trouble." 

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"Dice you say, I could make you few sets out of different creatures' bones for few coins." Cinder said from where she was standing "I don't know much about the game but I've seen the dice it needs." she was as smug as always, but the offer sounded genuine. Ember gave her a suspicious look, Cinder shrugged "What? I told you I've been around." 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

A commotion and then explosion was going outside the cave, then, a nightwing guard and a sandwing came in, engaged in combat. The nightwing overpowered the sandwing, and stabbed it dead with his spear.

"A group of sandwings plan to assassinate you both. We saw this one heading in the direction of this cave. They attempt to use dragon flame cactus, a plant that explodes when exposed to fire. Some of the assassins were caught and found guilty in trial. We'd like to ask what their punishment should be."

"Well, crimes against the King and Queen directly are to have punishments chosen by the king and queen as written in law, I'd hate to execute them, it's not something I want to do. But... attempted murder on the leaders of our nation is serious. Life imprisonment might work... I'd never suggest torture, and I already signed into law that torture is not a legal punishment. Ruby, what do you think? Imprisonment or death?"

"They don't bear the sword in vein "

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"I...  don't feel comfortable using dice made of bone, no idea where they came from."

"What do you do with the bones?"

"This fascination with death is not very healthy. No one should take pleasure in the deaths of others."

[Catpone Cerberus 23,420]

@Lucid_Nightlight
All four dragons and the kobold kinda just watched things unfold, the family and the kobold because they had no reason to care, and Ruby because she didn't think the situation needed her involvement, the guard was handling it fine. "Life imprisonment is waste of resources, so either death or banishment with return leading to death." she addressed the guard "For now keep them locked up, when I get back, bring them into my personal quarters, I'll have a little chat with them and I'll personally execute them if deemed necessary." imprisonment also had the problem that one could break out of there, that, and as she saw it, this was a good time to make it loud and clear that she didn't play games, and merely locking them up could send a signal of weak mindlessness, it needed to be shown that enemies of this land were dealt with effectively, if she was going to make this place fitting for those like her, she needed to show that those discriminating against them had no power here. 

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"Bones are simply a good material when you have nowhere to store heavier or more expensive stuff. Nor the tools to make anything out of any other material." Cinder pointed out "And I gotta eat, so may just as well use the bones for something too, since the dead animal doesn't need them anymore." "I'm also not fascinated with death, rather I'm...indifferent towards life." "What I do find fascinating is power, strength, the way a god looks at us mortals, the way a warrior thinks of ants, the way a predator sees its prey." 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"If we banish them, they can still conspire or come in with a disguise, I don't like the idea but, we may have to have them killed. Do what the queen says."

The guard nodded and took the body with him, probably to have it buried.

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"Sure. But you creep me out."

"Yeah, I agree with Sky."

[Catpone Cerberus 23,420]

@Lucid_Nightlight
"I'm glad we agree." Ruby stated before addressing the dragoness family "That brings me to, consider yourself invited to the wedding from my part too, I'd enjoy having someone with some sense to talk to." "Attempted assassination not changing the plans at all?" Vix asked, to which Ruby stated "No, if those cowards are stupid enough to try it there, everyone will see why Quasi is the one doing all the talking." 

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Cinder shrugged "Well, it's good then I'm not trying to please you." the snake on her was moving again, slithering around her body being a snake, another snake suddenly dropped from the ceiling on Cinder's head, slithering downwards to meet with the other snake, after which they continued being snakes. "If we say I believe you, what do you want from me anyway?" Ember asked, Cinder shrugged "I don't have any friends or family, figured I could try to connect with my sis." 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"Will this be a public execution or is public humiliation too cruel?"

"Could release information about the executions."

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"Hey, Arrow, you should join a session for that g-"

"Why would I play a game about my old job?"

[Catpone Cerberus 23,420]

@Lucid_Nightlight
"You should know nothing is too cruel for me." Ruby pointed out "But if it will be public or not, it really depends on what they say." "Though it may be a good idea to make some kind of announcement regarding it, since it will be public eventually when I'll drag their bodies out of the castle." "I'd also like to make a statement to the nation after it, I want to make sure there isn't any...misunderstandings." 

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"Because games are fun?" Cinder remarked, creating set of dice from the same crystal like substance as the blades earlier and started tossing them on her hand, Ember gave her a look and she just smirked "Ignoring me won't shut me up." she threw the dice, they all landed on the biggest number before disappearing.

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"The time to be cruel is on the battlefield I think, not like torture the enemy, which I've done and feel wrong for but, to use any advantage you have. I don't believe in torturing prisoners of war or civilian prisoners either, though the sandwings in this case are civilian prisoners. Should we give them some choices on how they wish to die? Or should we choose? Hanging?"

He looked thoughtful for a moment.

"I don't want to leave them mutilated, so no beheading, I'd like to give their families the option to bury them."

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"Doesn't count if you make your dice do that on purpose, that's cheating."

"So, are we gonna have to get more tickets to the airship?"

[Catpone Cerberus 23,420]

@Lucid_Nightlight
"As I said, I'll do it personally, there's no reason to make it any more complicated with contraptions or by involving guards or executioners or so on."  Ruby stated "You do the talking, but when talking doesn't work, I do the dirty work." "The system you have decided we build up has decided they deserve to die, so they are now my responsibility." "And what point is in punishment if you can choose the nicest option?" "But don't worry, I'll keep them in one piece, they aren't important enough for a show." 

Meanwhile Vix spoke to the oldest dragoness on the background "One of you as a bureaucrat is quite terrifying idea." 

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"It's only cheating if you get caught." Cinder stated with a smug smirk "Though it's not like self conjured dice are allowed anywhere, they need to be physical." she took out a bone-dice and tossed it up and down in one hand almost like one would with a coin. 

"More tickets? why? for her?" Ember asked pointing at Cinder "No, if she wants to follow me, she needs to figure out her own travel." 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"My system did choose this, and I stand with it. While other options are on the table, death is the safest option in this situation for the security of our nation. But only because we have reason to think they are capable of killing us, were they incapable or the plan was a bluff, they'd simply be thrown in prison. Were it a joke, I'd say a fine and a warning and perhaps probation. I don't like the idea of having them killed but, it's the safest option."

"Should we get to the city then?"

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"It's whatever I guess."

"So what happened in Dasonia during the war?"

"The jackal terrorists invaded. They were eventually pushed out but it took some work. Our technology is not advanced, mostly blades, bows, ballistas, and catapults. Some other things but, it wasn't advanced. The jackals had cold war era weapons. Guns and vehicles. Many Dasonians died but victory was achieved, the jackals fled to the beach, where they made a last stand, most were killed. Few surrendered and were imprisoned. They were later sent to their home countries to be judged there. Their courage will be remembered."

"One instance, there was a miracle. A rock slide happened killing an entire battalion of terrorists. Anyway, shall we get going?"

[Catpone Cerberus 23,420]

@Lucid_Nightlight
"I for one am more than happy to kill them." Ruby stated, surprising nobody, before addressing the family of dragons again, Vix was getting pretty much ignored by her, but he wasn't surprised, nor did he mind "I think this matter is handled so yes, we should probably return." she first responded to Strings, even though it wasn't really her business to hurry them, before talking to the eldest dragon "Keep the invitation in mind, but don't feel pressured, you are free to keep the cave regardless, we'll meet later to figure out the exact borders of your territory and get all the annoying yet necessary law-stuff made so that nobody will bother you." after that Ruby would be ready to leave, and when they would eventually leave, the three dragons and Vix went back in the cave.

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"Yeah, I'm about done hearing about war and the end of the world, I'm on a break, I'm supposed to relax." Ember said, being already on her hooves when she finished the sentence, Cinder...didn't say anything, she just smugly waited for them to leave, after which she followed them outside, reached her hand out and with magic pulled a weapon to her hand from the pushes, it was a combination of several weapons, it was a pole weapon with one end having spear-like blade, and the other having a combination of an axe and a scythe, she put it on her back. If nobody interacted with her, she would do just like she had said earlier, follow them, just far enough to be outside a normal conversation radius, but close enough that it was clear she was following them.

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"Now that we're going back to the city, wait until you meet the royal pet!"

Quasi would then go with Ruby.

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Walking along with the group, Sky spoke up.

"You know, I was thinking we should get a pet otter."

"Why an otter?"

"They're so cute and they bite anyone that annoys them when they eat!"

[Catpone Cerberus 23,420]

@Lucid_Nightlight
"Besides the cat that doesn't leave me alone?" Ruby questioned "What's the point of a royal pet anyway, most animals live too short times to even matter in the end." it probably wasn't a surprise that someone who saw no worth in intelligent life didn't see any more worth in the 'lesser' creatures either, though that was more a blessing for those creatures, since most of them were so pointless in her eyes that she didn't bother even hurting them." I don't think even the animals themselves understand the concept of being a royal pet." she though for a moment "Maybe one of those kobold things would be a nice pet, they could make themselves useful." it may have been a joke, or not, it was hard to tell from her.

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"I hear they are also smelly." Ember noted "And what animal doesn't bite when it's annoyed?" "Or scratch, or peck, or hurt you otherwise." on the background few crows and snakes started fighting, neither Ember or Cinder did anything about it. Cinder didn't comment anything this time, just following the group from a small distance, it could be she didn't hear them, or she just didn't have anything to remark this time. 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"I bet you love the cat! I've ordered the guards to protect the lizard and keep civilians away from it, I thought it would be funny for them to guard a lizard."

"I think we made a smart move on focusing on recruiting nightwings, I fear if we had too many sandwings in the military, we'd have a coup. I have doubts that any armed revolt will get very far as the nightwings are majority. I feel however we should continue to modernize our armies. Also, I've got concerns about the suns and moons of Earth and my world. I'm concerned that if the Princesses chose to, they could use them to wipe our all life on our worlds. We're considering ways to prevent them from doing this."

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"Yeah but they squeak and they're pretty friendly when raised in captivity."

"So, you're gonna steal a baby otter from the wild?"

"No, I plan to purchase a couple baby otters that are unable to survive in the wild and give them a comfortable life in Dasonia. I can build a fence with some water, and it's an actual natural environment for them, our land is untainted by deforestation. We only chop down trees in specific places when we need to. We'd have to get them past a certain age since we don't have anything to simulate otter milk and cow milk is deadly to river otters."

Sky and Myra's pup would watch the bird and snakes fight letting out a puppy howl.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,420]

@Lucid_Nightlight

"While it is good to prepare for things....did we meet the same princesses?" Ruby asked "Those soft creatures are very unlikely to do something so drastic, even the evil version of Luna didn't want to kill anyone." "While I despise the pony princesses and their underling, I believe the Earth to be the biggest threat to us, unlike our neighbors, they are far enough that they think they're safe from my revenge, and unlike the ponies, they have the natural drive to conquer and destroy." 

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"I'll never understand the urge to have a pet that so many of you have." Ember said, feeding the crow on her head "So much effort just to get a smaller animal to take care of, isn't a kid enough." the fight between the crows and snakes was surprisingly even, they didn't seem to care about the noises the pup made, though it did get the attention of Ember and Cinder, who both looked at the fight and sighed, then Ember spit out bit of fire and Cinder shot some kind of exploding crystal out of her hand towards the fight, neither hit anything, but the crows and snakes scattered "I would know. I'm stuck with an army of crows, and I don't even need to take care of them" Cinder cut in "At least you don't have a sea of snakes slithering after you!" 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"We can probably handle the issue. Wiping out animus magic would be a good idea after we put a magic lock on celestial bodies around our world and Earth."

After a while they would arrive at the castle. A nightwing guard would walk up to them.

"The sandwings you've requested, they're in your chambers now waiting for you, we have guards ensuring they stay."

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"Pets aren't that terrible, my crab is pretty nice."

"You cannot keep a bird from flying over your head but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair."

"Never thought that'd take on a literal sense."

[Catpone Cerberus 23,420]

@Lucid_Nightlight
Ruby didn't comment on Quasi's statement, she didn't know anything about the topic of moving celestial objects or animus magic, so she had nothing to say about them. 

"Good." Ruby simply stated "Have you gotten anything useful out of them?"  she then asked as she made her way towards her room, it was good to know what had already been figured out so that she wouldn't waste her time repeating things, not that she really cared if she could get information from them, she just wanted to look them in the eyes as the last breath left their bodies, they clearly had a problem with her, so why not give them the chance to actually look her in the eye. 

When she would arrive towards the room, her head was held high, and in general her demeanor was proud and intimidating, that added to the dimly lit hallway that was the way to her room, and it was probably quite the sight.

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"Sure, you could stop them, if you're ready to kill birds in regular basis." Ember stated "I didn't, because I don't feel like constantly killing small animals that at worst are annoyance and at best are useful allies." the crow on her head cawed, Cinder again cut in "It also doesn't work, killing was the first thing I tried, the snakes got offended but didn't leave me alone." 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"They will only speak to you. They refuse to speak to the guards."

"Seems to me that they really hate us. Perhaps we can stop this, we could have Sandwing Queen Thorn tell any rebels to stop. They're loyal to her. And I don't think Thorn approves of their actions."

Quasi would head to the room too, he wanted ensure there was nothing cruel.

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"Do you put on perfume, maybe someone put something in that certain animals like."

The baby coyote would howl at the crow.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,420]

@Lucid_Nightlight
At least they weren't total cowards it seemed, it took some nerve to ask to speak to someone known for their murderous ways. "You contact her about that, don't forget to mention that such actions lead to death here in case she is hesitant to try stop it, if she cares for her kind she surely wants to limit their deaths even in other nations." she didn't believe it would do much, considering that these rebels knew full well that the change of ownership on the territory was voluntary from their leader, and yet they still fought it.

Ruby said a one last thing to the guard "Stay sharp, this may be a part of a plan, they may try something while we are in there, don't want any of you dying unnecessarily." 

 

As they would arrive, Ruby would address the rebels with her usual coldness "You could have just reserved a meeting with me if you wanted to speak to me so badly."  

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"No, besides, would be quite persistent individual considering this has been going on at least as long as my adoptive parents have had me, or in other word, longer than I can remember." Ember explained "And assuming Cinder is telling the truth about our family ties, by what chance would someone do it to both of us when even I didn't know there was two of us?" 

The crow cawed back, it was wonder how it didn't bother Ember at all, since the crow was next to her ear and it was quite loud.. 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"These are our lands. What gives you any right to take them from us, did you honestly think you could just show up and decide you own this place?"

"Your leader agreed with my deal with her own free will. I didn't force her to give it up. For years this was our land and the troubles of the past driven us from it. This is our home."

"Your home is under the occupation of the rainwing kingdom. Your kind are criminals of war."

"My kind are victims of poor leaders."

The other dragons in the room stayed silent, it seems this female sandwing was their leader. Well, of their small group, maybe not of the rebels, though it seemed she had a high rank. She looked at Ruby.

"I know we can't kill with spears, perhaps our explosive cacti is physically able to kill you but, we know getting to you is difficult. I didn't plan on talking to you, I planned on kill you two. Brute force failed, our leaders had to come up with something new. Tell me, have you visited Russia, couldn't get their military to kill you, however, we did get an army for hire to tear the town to pieces and then destroy you."

Quasi would let Ruby reply if that's what Ruby wanted to do, however, he told the nearest guard an order.

"I want our military on high alert. Tell the general to order the navy to guard the portal and the coast. Have the army garrison the town and coastline. We don't know if the attackers are on our land or not. I want soldiers on every street corner. Also have the general contact the Russians to see if they'll give us information, if they don't speak to us, contact the Americans. If that fails, contact the Equestrians and have them contact the Americans."

The guard nodded and went on his way.

"The rest of you guards, guard this room and oversee interrogation."

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"Have you seen a doctor? I don't know, I'm kinda at a loss for what to do on this."

Soon they would arrive at the airship, the boarding would be uneventful besides Sky purchasing tickets for him and Myra. Turns out babies get in free.

"We use to use these in war back in the day, Ace told me when he was alive. They stopped using these in 1937 we stuck with planes after that. That was a little before Ace got into air force after the bombing of pearl harbor. Said he walked right down to the recruiters office the moment he heard what happened."

"He was they old? How was he allowed to fight? Wasn't he in the military or a bounty hunter when he met you, and you're in your 20's."

"He told me about that too. They tried to tell him he couldn't fight anymore due to his age, so he sent letters to the president until the president himself personally had to get with congress and all that stuff to to make some law where the president can personally give the okay for someone to fight in the military and other government services."

"Every time someone inquired about him retiring he'd tell them the same thing. I'll retire when I'm dead."