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

[Catpone Cerberus 23,594]

@Lucid_Nightlight
There was nothing in her mind to imply hostile intent, everything matched what she had said, she was also thinking about Ruby, not in a bad way, rather, it was like elder thinking about their grandchild, but more death and destruction related.

"*What do you take me for young male? If I wanted to kill you, I'd snap your spines, I don't bother with meaningless trickery*" "*I do not fear you*" Ruby stated, still shaking "*No you don't, I know, and I'm proud of you.*" "*I'm not trying to threaten you, but I know it's hard to ignore those pesky instincts, and I'm truly impressed, not many can stand it this long.*" she sounded genuine, she then looked around "*Who was the other one trying to speak?  or was it even words, or just noise?*" she waited for a second and then looked at Sky with a grin, she was just messing with him...partly, he'd need to practice if he wanted to have actual full conversation. 

The dragon then returned to the topic at hand, dropping the package between her and Ruby, it was big enough that it would have probably crushed anyone who wasn't a big dragon, and since she was being accused of nonsense, she opened it herself, revealing a big, nicely decorated wooden box "*It's a gift, your mother did such an awful job teaching you, that I figured you could use some light reading.*" "*There's also something to add to your collection.*" she gave a knowing smile, a genuine smile like that was probably more terrifying than if she would have just growled or something.

If someone opened the box, there indeed was books, huge books, but books none the less, and one singular crimson dragon-scale, a scale the was bigger than Ruby's head. 

 

This dragon seemed to be very honest, her thoughts matching what she said every time. 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"*I was told your kind were savages. One pony says some dress in the scales of their own kind and dance around like idiots.*"

He wasn't trying to imply that he believed what he was told but, he noticed that dragon didn't dance like an idiot in the scales of other dragons.

"*Not to say I actually think that.*"

"*Your land was attacked by jackal terrorists, with superior technology, of course their group is destroyed now but, how is it that they never gotten that far into the land? Were you around when this happened?^"

[Catpone Cerberus 23,594]

@Lucid_Nightlight
"*We are savages, and some do like to wear their victims, though I'm not aware of any dancing, but we all are individuals, who knows, some may do that too.*"the dragoness stated "*I'm just too old for that stuff, after some time it gets old.*"

"*And what comes to those pathetic little furballs, I was not involved, as I didn't need to be, no amount of toys will tame the homelands.*" "*We are not the only dangerous thing there, everything from the smallest of animals to plants and the air itself is hostile.*"

"*The terrain is almost impossible to travel for outsiders, the ground is everything from unstable ash to molten stone, in parts hot enough to cook anything not local to crisp in seconds, the air is toxic, hot and full of volcanic ash and other such, this is not only dangerous to breath for those not-adapted, but will also damage machinery, it's really a miracle that any life evolved there in the first place.*" "*And of course if the ground and air trying to kill you wasn't enough, anything that does manage to live there will try to kill you.*"

"*At the edges this is not as apparent, but deeper you go inland, worse it gets.*" 

Ember had pretty much noped out of the situation, having gone as far as possible while still having her eyes on the situation, this was so far beyond her pay grade that she rather stayed out of it altogether, Cinder meanwhile stood in submissive position, contrasting her usual smug self, and why wouldn't she, compared to her this dragon was basically a god, so who was she to challenge it even as little as in her demeanor. All the snakes and crows had also went hiding, their survival instinct overpowering whatever connection they had to the two hybrids. 

Edited December 19, 2021 by Catpone Cerberus

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

Quasi obviously didn't have the same instincts Ruby had, as he seemed unbothered with the dragon, Sky and Myra were confident that nothing would happen but were wary since they had their baby with them.

The baby pup watched the dragon curiously.

"How old is he?"

"Three weeks, he started eating meat two days ago."

"When will he stop being a baby?"

"Other than opening their eyes, walking, and eating meat, they grow up at the same speed as a human. This is part of what a virus stemming from the Nomadikan islands did to alter canine and vulpine dna and thus changing our genetics. It started only in the Nomadikan islands until one day the Romans made a failed invasion attempt, bringing war dogs with them."

[Catpone Cerberus 23,594]

@Lucid_Nightlight
The conversation went ignored, all having different reasons why, Ruby was obviously focused on totally different things, Ember was too far to hear it in the first place, Cinder was...doing her own thing, though they probably wouldn't have wanted her input anyway, and the unnamed dragon didn't understand the language.

"*That reminds me, the gift is not the only reason I'm here, I actually do have a message for you from someone...*" she took out a big piece of what at least looked like paper and cleared her throat "*Queen Bekisnhlekil of Starlania, we as the superior power acknowledge your rule, and will gift you the land known as The Homelands with the condition that you are to let it stay in its natural order. This gift is personal, and if something is to happen to you, Starlania's ownership over the land shall be void.*" she put the letter away and gave Ruby a roll of similar paper like material "*There's a more official document in case some of the lesser beings try to argue.*" Ruby was now getting pretty heated up, not as in angry, but literally heated up, her physical temperature was rising as she spoke through her teeth "*Superior power?*" the dragon didn't answer, instead she just pointed at the box full of books "*You're a smart little dragon, you'll figure it out.*" she gave Ruby an annoyingly sweet smile.

If the pup was still looking at her, the dragon would attempt to very carefully boop it with her claw, which probably was near to if not bigger than the tiny creature, but if there was any kind of hostile reaction from anyone, besides Ruby, she would stop however far she got and pull her leg back.

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"*I see.*"

Quasi would attempt to read her mind. He wanted to find out who this was and weigh his options.

Quasi was pretty concerned, was she part of this prophecy?

"*You aren't a draconequus are you? We had to deal with one once and they're pretty concerning.*"

[Catpone Cerberus 23,594]

@Lucid_Nightlight
As before, there was nothing suspicious in her mind, she thought what she said, she thought about Ruby like grandparent thought about kids, just more violence related, and she considered everything around her to be lot smaller than it was compared to her current size, besides those there was only the 'background thoughts' that one would expect from someone like Ruby, just without the lingering darkness and pain.

"*Am I a what now?*" The dragoness asked, not having any idea what draconequus was, Ruby would speak right after "*She is not, I...assure you." she was still speaking through her teeth, and she was getting hot enough for any non-heat resistant creature to be unbearably uncomfortable if they got closer than a pony length to her, though heat could be felt from further away of course. "*She is...an Elder.*" her discomfort started to become apparent in her voice now, she was actually starting to impress even herself on her tolerance, but it did take lot of willpower. 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"*An elder, do you know of the creatures capable of destroying an entire civilization? We need to know these things so we can prepare to defend ourselves in the case they attack.*"

"*Maybe if you gave us that Animus m-"

"*No, we are not giving away such a powerful weapon. In fact, I may make it so that only our nation has it. I've seen what it can do, if Darkstalker wasn't for power and just wanted to destroy, we'd all be dead.*"

[Catpone Cerberus 23,594]

@Lucid_Nightlight
"*I know only what I need to know.*" "*They are the ones who sent me, and they won't attack you, assuming of course you're not planning to join in the effort of inserting earthlings into our lands."* The dragoness stated, yet again her mind wouldn't have any extra information "*They are not a hostile kind, they only act in retaliation, though be it mentioned they see no worth in life, so the act of retaliation can be quite extreme even by our kind's standards.*" "*A civilization is to them nothing more than a small wasp nest is to you.*" "*Their actions also are not of our kind's, attack on us would only bolster their will to destroy.*" "*No amount of magic or toys will stop their will, they are, what you lesser beings call gods, they are beyond the limits of worlds*" Ruby cut in "*Are you telling me... there's something else living in the homelands? something we.. somehow haven't noticed... for generations?*" she may have been in very unpleasant state, struggling to let her words out, but she was curious "*No, they do not live in our land, or even our world, though this is where my knowledge ends, they say the books you were given will answer most questions you may have. I do not know where exactly they are, or even why they care about our land so much, but the glimpse I got of them convinced me of their power, as I felt it overwhelm me like my presence does to you.*" the dragoness then addressed Sky "*But don't worry little creature, they'll send another warning before total destruction, a very clear warning, because while they don't hesitate to destroy, the path of least effort is the preferable option to even them*"

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"*I wouldn't call them that but, they're obviously an issue. What about the elements of harmony? Turned a multidimensional thing into stone twice. Or Quasi could use animus magic.*"

"*And start a war? No.*"

"*The Americans are leaving the land.*"

"*Good. We best be ready to defend ourselves in case they change their mind and become aggressive."*

Quasi wrote something on a piece of paper and ate the paper. And he'd do so again.

"*Tell them we'll keep them off your land but tell them aggression will not be tolerated.*"

[Catpone Cerberus 23,594]

@Lucid_Nightlight
"*I don't have the knowledge to comment on magic things, but I will say, why assume they need to be physically present?*" that was all the dragoness said or thought about it, she also didn't comment on any of the other stuff besides the last statement, even the fact that Quasi was eating paper didn't seem to face her, to which her words and thoughts only raised more questions "*I won't tell them anything, they already know everything.*" Ruby was starting to reach her limit, so she cut in "*You done here?*" the dragoness nodded "*Then...Get out!*" as she shouted, her breath alone was hot enough to cause serious burns to anyone close in front of her, not that there should be anyone besides the larger dragoness, though the heat would be felt by everyone, as it was hot enough to raise the temperature. The dragoness just smiled, bringing her face right in front of Ruby's, looking her through one more time "*Such a great dragon you've become, you make your ancestors proud."* Ruby just growled at her, the dragoness then turned around and started making her way out, wiping the spears still stuck to her off like they were merely dust. And way out she made, as nothing would stop her, she responded to no words, and while she avoided hurting or destroying anything, she would go through anything in her way if anything got there, and through, as in, literally through, a living creature, an object, a door, a wall, didn't matter. She would take off flying after she got out.

Ruby meanwhile also just turned away when the other dragon made her leave, she walked few steps, got shakier, walked few more, got even shakier, took one more, and then promptly collapsed on the floor, breathing heavily in exhaustion, everything in her body shaking as her muscles relaxed, her body was also still burning hot, so if anyone not heat-resistant touched her, it would be painful experience. 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

Quasi seemed pretty concerned about these creatures. He'd right something else down. 'Hide the happenings of this world and the living things within from the creatures. Let them see fake but believable things of this world.'

"I hope that worked. If so, this world is safe from their eyes. Though, if they showed up physically, this would be concerning. I'm out of paper that is on my person but, that should be enough. It won't make us invincible but, if they attack, we have some sort of chance... I hope."

He wasn't fully confident from the look on his face.

"I don't know what their capable of but one thing is certain, fighting them must be a last resort, for now, just protect that land and keep outsiders outside. I want our military to made as strong as possible. I want a blockade around the homeland and a strong warning to all nations that the land shall not be entered. Any civilians attempting to enter will be arrested and any military will be fired upon."

He wrote down something on non-animus paper and stamped it with a stamp only that he had. And also wrote a code on it, a code that changes every time it is written.

"Give this to a general, we're at ERS 2."

ERS was the Starlanian version of the American defcon system, one was the most severe and 5 was the least. ERS stood for Emergency Response.

He whispered to Ruby.

"We might have a chance if war breaks our but I'm not confident. For all I know, they could still find a way around the animus magic. I'm not sure. No one's ever done it directly but I don't know what they can actually do. If war does break out, I hope we can win. For now, we must protect that land. that is the best chance we have at our survival. The other response will only be an act of desperation, I hope it'll be our saving move and not our last gasp for air."

[Catpone Cerberus 23,594]

@Lucid_Nightlight
Ruby struggled back on her feet while Quasi spoke out loud, this was the first time she was this physically exhausted while not dying, and she wasn't really sure how to handle it, she responded with her voice still bit shaky "No point in losing sleep over it...it sounds like either they're peaceful or powerful beyond imagination...either case...no point in worrying about it...though I would argue that the fact...that they haven't attacked yet...shows former to be true...if they were hostile like my kind...they wouldn't send messengers." she again tried to walk, using her wings for support this time, she tried to get to her room before she passed out from exhaustion, but as her speed was few shaky steps in a minute, she wasn't optimistic "I'm far more concerned about the fact that Elders actually exist.... and I pray for any god that may exist that I don't need to see them ever again...that was...unpleasant." she then addressed nobody in particular "Somebody get that box in my room!" before almost falling over again, she then let out quite the list of expletives in her native language, she was frustrated, mad at her own weakness. She then in turn whispered to Quasi "*I'm not feeling well... I need to get downstairs.*" it felt weird to admit weakness like that, but it would be pretty hard to hide considering she was constantly shaking, fire-hot, and could barely stand up, not to mention walk. 

 

Meanwhile Ember and Cinder started a chat in the other end of the room as their animal companions returned, sharing their thoughts about the situation to each other, Ember still didn't trust Cinder fully, but they both were the observant kind, and had similar views on certain things.

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

Quasi would go with Ruby to ensure she was okay.

"She knows you. I am unsure how. So, a genuine civilization in your land isn't an option, your kind's instincts prevent that. And the possibility of angering whatever wants things to stay how they are. What would've happened had you given into your instincts?"

[Catpone Cerberus 23,594]

@Lucid_Nightlight
"She may have been a relative... the physical resemblance was hard to miss." Ruby mentioned, it still didn't explain how she would know Ruby well, but it wasn't hard to believe an Elder could have somehow observed her before, after all, their existence alone was a feat, since the amount of food something that big would need, seemed pretty impossible. "If I would have listened my instincts....I'd be in a different land right now." "It's a survival instinct I think...extra sense in a way...we can sense the presence of others of our kind... more powerful individuals give stronger feeling..." "It's an unpleasant feeling...painful even...meant to make us avoid fights we can't win yet." "But to this extend...to be next to someone so ancient...I'd rather have all my bones broken again ten times over than spend another ten minutes with her." as violent as their lifestyles were, their physical evolution had still focused on survival, so the instinct to flee from bigger opponents made perfect sense, nature didn't care about one's ego. 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"I fear some of your instincts are harmful. You'd be better off with just the ability to use reasoning than whatever that was."

Quasi was thoughtful for a moment.

"Perhaps some sort of therapy might help you counter your instincts, though, such therapy would require exposing you to those that would give you a survival response, you'd have to work your way up to an encountering an elder, I'm not sure how well such a therapy would work."

"We could also use magic to just get rid of such a sense. Or just banish all elders, but in the event an elder showed up, I imagine enforcing that rule would lead to many casualties, we could just make it impossible for them to enter but then they could get mad and wait outside our portal. We could just make it to where any elder that goes near the portal dies but, that's a moral issue. I think lowering this defense mechanism would help, that could make the sense more compatible with reasoning."

"I don't expect an attack from elders but their potential to cause many casualties is a concern. What kind of weapons would work on an elder? Would missile armed drones work? Anti-air guns? Or do we actually need a nuke to kill these things? There's so many threats in the other worlds, especially Equus."

[Catpone Cerberus 23,594]

@Lucid_Nightlight
"While I agree with the instinct being a negative... it would not be a good idea to get rid of it even if possible.... since it allows me to sense my kind before any magic or technology does." Ruby pointed out "It would also be pointless.... since as much as I hate to admit it... when it comes to hostile elders... the right action is to flee...a nation wide evacuation even." "I don't know much about them... in fact... as I've stated sometime before...I didn't even know they really existed...their existence is......improbable." "Their size alone is so big there isn't enough food in the whole of homelands to feed one of them...not to mention bunch of them." 

"The fact that at least one of them exists...means there has to be some kind of magic involved...also evidenced by her hiding her true size...but unlike with my transformation...she didn't seem to have the weaknesses of her new form." "So it may be they lack the magical weaknesses my kind tends to have... and for physical toughness......their thickest scale could be thicker than I'm wide...my claws would merely scratch the smallest of their scales." Ruby wasn't one to back out of a fight as had been shown many times now, and she may have had some self-destructive thoughts, but even she wasn't willing to go against an elder, that would be a fight lost before it even starts.

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"A nation wide evacuation would be hard to pull off. You may not but, if elders attack, our nation will stand in fight."

The fact Ruby seemed to want to avoid fighting the elders this much concerned him.

"We'll need to weigh our options. While we do have animus magic, we cannot depend on it, such magic is too dangerous stay and is better off destroyed. We could use to give us a chance in our challenges we may face in the future, but a guarantee could lead to tyranny. Moonwatcher, the one who can see the future says in a timeline where I make it impossible for Starlania be harmed, tyrants will rise to power. So, that is not an option."

"I think we give our nation a fighting chance and then destroy animus magic. Whether our nation lives or dies after that is up to us and the choices we make."

[Catpone Cerberus 23,594]

@Lucid_Nightlight
 

"Ultimately I don't believe the Elders will be a problem for a while... we have nothing they wouldn't get from closer" Ruby stated, she was starting to finally cool down, though that was the only thing going better since everything else was related to her physical fatigue which wasn't going away without rest "It'll be more of a problem when I get older and bigger." she didn't comment on the animus magic since she had made pretty clear her thoughts about using magic to make one stronger "But why visit me?... Why would someone that ancient give the slightest damn about what some young failure does with their life." "...She even brought gifts...we don't give gifts." 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"Well, it is normal in an organized nation, perhaps this was their culture back then. I've found nothing bad in their head but, something could be up. You were able to block me from your mind, she was able to some how. Not only just block my mind reading but even put false thoughts in their place. This is just speculation, I have no idea if that is what's going on."

Quasi looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Maybe these powerful creatures are keeping the elders alive. But if so, why? Why are the interested in the islands. Whatever the case is, I'll let you rest, given your weakened state I'll have guards posted outside."

Quasi will wait. After Ruby spoke or if Ruby said nothing, Quasi would leave the room.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,594]

@Lucid_Nightlight
"I don't think she lied... she certainly was hiding something... but I believe every word that she said." Ruby said thoughtfully "I'll have a look....those books... maybe they really are the answer." that was all she said, and so she would do, she headed to her personal room behind her personal throne room, not letting anyone follow her in beyond pushing the box just past the door, she would then seal the door between her personal space and the throne room. She was physically drained, but didn't feel generally tired, so she started going through the dragon sized books, eventually taking a nap if not bothered. 

Meanwhile Ember had decided to go to the room that was to be given to her, and in pleasant surprise, Cinder didn't actually follow her in, instead she waited outside, she may have been sometimes unbearable jerk, but even she respected the privacy of others...if she wasn't going to kill them that is, which she wasn't in this case.  

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

Quasi would go check on a few things. Sky would feed some meet to his baby and Arrow would talk to some of the off duty guards.

After a few hours, Quasi would knock on Ruby's door to check on her.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,594]

@Lucid_Nightlight
After a moment of nothing, the sound of footsteps came towards the door, and eventually Ruby opened the door, she was already feeling lot better, not in her fullest shape, since that would take a good night sleep, but in good enough shape to do things normally. Behind her was one of the books opened up, and close to it was various dried hides with writing on them, written in her native language with either blood or ink, hard to tell from the door. She didn't say anything, just looked at Quasi waiting for him to state his business. 

[Lucid_Nightlight 923]

@Catpone Cerberus

"I'm making sure you're okay, find anything out yet?"

During this time Sky would talk to Cinder.

"How exactly do you know Ember? I get she is allegedly your sister but, how'd you find out?"

[Catpone Cerberus 23,594]

@Lucid_Nightlight
"Nothing solid regarding the 'highest power' or whatever it was, haven't gone through everything yet." Ruby responded, turning back in her room "But I did learn something else, about my kind, and more specifically, my bloodline." "The texts about our history I found from the homelands were...lacking, not inaccurate, just lacking." she took few of the hides and pulled them closer together "Our kind wasn't a thing back then, we are relatively new species, hybrids, and my bloodline, 'Black Horns' as the dragon in the cave called me, are the offspring of few specific species of dragons." Relatively was important word here, because they were new in their sense of time, but it was still somewhere around 10 000 years, which for most species was not considered new. "That of course assuming these texts are accurate"

------------------------------------------------
"I've known that I have a sister for most of my life, my caretakers told me as much." Cinder explained in her usual smug way "They didn't take her under their wing because they worried she would get killed after seeing the reaction towards me, dragons didn't really like ponies back then." "So our biological parents gave her to someone else." "Really the only problem was finding her, I didn't know her name, where she had ended up, what exactly she looked like, or if she was even alive."