private IC: Return of the King (1x1 with Catpone Cerberus)

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sombra noticed the creature Una was looking at but didn't want to loiter around more than he needed to. He would proceed to walk into the crowds, losing any would be watchers of the two of them. It would take a while, but eventually he'd lead them to the edge of the city, seemingly looking for something. Eventually he would spot a nearby cave upon leading them away in the night, into the cave. He'd be able to see in the dark with his magic. With his night vision, he would be able to see that nobody was here. When all was said and done, he would look to Una.

"Now we practice." he said, opening up the light magic book. With his horn, his horn began to glow white and cast a light down the cave. Testing it out.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,428]

@Props ValRoa
There wasn't much time to see the creature in detail, as they too were moving, but with what was seen, the thing that struck Una's eye at least, was the fact that while the individual was at a first glance a dragon, a bipedal clawed creature about the size of average bipedal dragon, the impression would fade quick, as they seemed to have the head of an unicorn, there also wasn't any obvious wings, though that was as far as she got before the line of sight was broken.

Una had no trouble seeing in the dark either, most likely due to her dragon third, or Changeling, or both...it was weird actually, her vision was perfectly stable in the dark, even though she knew her eyes were changing like everything else in her body, guess the change was just on the surface, which actually comforted her a little, because the idea of her insides changing between three species was...unpleasant. 

As the first thing, Una took off her robe, and put the stuff she was carrying down, both to get them out of the way, and for sake of comfort, as it felt almost claustrophobic to have to hide inside the cloth constantly. Then it was time for a test, she couldn't actually do much with the specific spells she learned yet, as they were entirely defensive and thus quite hard to test in action, but she wanted to see if they felt like anything, so she cast a spell she remembered, her horn glowing Changeling-green, after which her body glowed faintly for few seconds, nothing too flashy, or remarkable, but it did something, so that was good. 

She made sure to not be too close to Sombra, as she didn't want to accidentally absorb anything from him. 

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sombra would allow Una to practice, and would step away from her to give her some space. His horn would strobe a bright white as he would read something off the pages of his book - and a bright white laser would shoot down the cave and evaporate a stalagmite further down the cave. He carefully observed the results - watching the steam shooting from it. "Impressive." he remarked, and then would look for another spell to cast in the book - then his horn would flash white and he'd angle his horn forward, letting out a blinding flash from it.

Una could see that Sombra was uncomfortable with the way he was casting the spell - that could potentially indicate that this magic was strange for him to cast due to his reliance on dark magic, but he was still able to cast it effectively with some difficulty. 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,428]

@Props ValRoa
Una didn't pay much attention to Sombra, as she was thinking about her own readings, she did notice he wasn't as confident with the new spells as he seemed to be with other things, but she just figured that to be because they were new, after all, with the little she knew, she knew that Dark magic was quite unique when compared to other types of magic, so challenge was only natural. She was actually glad that she wasn't looking at him when there was a sudden flash, because while she didn't know what spell he did, she did know that it probably would have been quite bad for her eyes. 

She thought for a moment without doing any spells, how could she change the spell, could she maybe focus more magic to it to make it more powerful? Was there a way to redirect it? What it was, was basically a magical shield that formed around her body, which caused spells hitting it to get absorbed by it, after which they were dispelled, this meant that she got nothing from it, and that it only worked on magic, but what if she somehow managed to bind it to her Changeling magic? Changelings had the natural ability to absorb emotional energy, and while she didn't know how to do that, certainly it was linked to their magic?

She would try few things, though this wasn't really apparent outside, as it just looked like her doing the same spell again and again, at most she looked more focused.  

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sombra would then stand there and consider the implications of what he was doing. He obviously had only casted a few minor spells - and he had a bit to go to achieve mastery of the subject, but he knew that using types of magic that he had never used before would only increase his chances of success. What he was doing here was in the case of a battle - he would prefer to use subversion tactics rather than all out conquest like before. He had stolen many of the plans and blueprints so far, and he knew that technology had improved beyond measure. All of this would take him potentially months, if not years to fully come to terms to.

After taking a bit to think to himself, he would begin practicing more light magic. Doing spells such as blinding spells, lasers, as well as pure light shields. It was really awkward and strange for him to do, but with time, he started to build up more of an ability to handle it. It still felt uncomfortable for him to do, though. It was purely awkward. He would proceed with studying the light book intently for the next few hours or so, wishing to completely focus on that one first, letting Una do much the same for what she was practicing. 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,428]

@Props ValRoa
Una at some point purposely turned her back towards Sombra because light magic like what he practiced wasn't exactly pleasant to look at in the darkness, and even the ones not meant to blind were blinding when they suddenly broke the darkness. For her, not much changed at first, she just kept repeating spells with small thinking pauses between sets, all spells were similar in purpose, but slightly different in what exactly they did, but as attempts went on, with the slow but inevitable exhaustion, came also frustration, which lead to stubborn determination, which would eventually bring results of some sort. 

It started with very minor change, that being, her magic being slightly brighter now and then, this went unnoticed by her, and most likely wasn't that noticeable for others either until one was specifically observing her.  Eventually, after few hours, something new happened, her magic suddenly got slightly darker in color, but brighter in glow, and she let out a gasp like she hadn't expected it, and after few seconds of holding the spell, during which more magic got added to it, it shot out of her horn into the darkness, hitting stone with nondestructive blast. 

While her face wasn't visible to Sombra, her body language told that she wasn't exactly sure what she just did, though if he didn't stop her, she'd lit her horn once again, repeating the same spell, be it with the magic being back to her original color.

 

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sombra would have looked back at her and noticed something was different with her magic. Whatever it was, she was doing something somewhat successful with it. He didn't really pay it any real attention - as he wanted to show her that she had a degree of freedom to test her own magical ability as she saw fit. Of course, it was just another way to show her that he was such a "lenient" master. If this was back in his own Kingdom, he imagines that he would have had his scientists examine her and perform tests on her to make her a weapon for war. Since he lacked any kind of ability to do things on that level - he obviously couldn't do it.

As he continued with his magical ability - he noticed his ability and focus was getting stronger. Because he himself was an expert spellcaster, he had easily skipped the more introductory stages. This kind of magic would take an average pony a long time to learn, but he was casting it more or less normally by this point. There was one certain point where his own magic had replaced with a white glow while he was casting it, indicating that it had fully settled in - amplified by his modified amulets.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,428]

@Props ValRoa
Una was of course happy that she finally succeeded at what she was trying, but she also didn't know for sure if she really had, after all, while obviously she had managed to redirect a spell, and to put more magic behind it, she had no idea if the spell did what she wanted, since by the nature of the spell, it didn't affect non-living, non-magical things, and it wasn't like she was going to test it on Sombra, it also most likely wouldn't work on him anyway due to him being far more powerful than her, as his natural resistances were probably enough to nullify it. 

She did get curious about the first success though, why was the magic different? Why had she felt different? she could have tried to replicate it, but her magical stamina was actually starting to get low, so she didn't want to risk going too far, so instead she did smaller spells that she already knew well and tried to replicate it in those, she was still going to test the limits of her stamina because like with physical stamina, only way to get it higher was to bring it to its limit.

She didn't find a way to replicate the darker magic, but she formed some theories, none of them yet provable. 

At some point she stopped and tensed up, she felt something new, but it wasn't anything in her, it was something outside, like Sombra, but not him, this was different, while Sombra felt like anger and hate, there was something that felt like....she didn't know a word for it, but it was like happiness, but twisted, it was actually in a way more terrifying than Sombra. She'd move closer to Sombra and quietly said to him "I think we may have company, I feel...something" 

 

 

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sombra would give Una a serious look and he would stop casting any future spells suddenly. With his magic, he would pack away the books he had stolen. He would also take Una's books out of her possession and pack them away too. His look indicated that he was willing to fight at a moment's notice if they were about to be attacked suddenly. His expression told Una all that he needed to - that he didn't want anyone to know that they had stolen books from the library. 

"This was a mistake. We shouldn't have come into this cave. Allows others to block off the entrance. If we were anywhere else, I would go and fight them off - but we are in a highly populated area and we cannot risk being uncovered. We must retreat further into the caves." he spoke, and would quickly begin moving further back towards the cave incase there was going to be any oncoming attacks in his direction. He moved briskly, indicating that Una should do the same. 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,428]

@Props ValRoa
There was no attack, or even sound of foot or hoofsteps, besides Sombra's and Una's of course, and there was no sign of anyone besides Una's feeling, until someone spoke "I'm no tactical genius, but how does running deeper into a dead end help?" "I mean, I have no interest in doing anything to you but if I did, you'd only be helping my cause." It was a female voice, a deep voice for a female, but clearly feminine, and the tone was very casual. If they were to stop, the speaker would come to view, or well, before the speaker itself, there would be three sets of slightly glowing red circles, two smaller ones and one bigger one, these stuck out in the dark because, well,  they were glowing.

Soon rest of the individual would be visible though, and it was the creature from earlier, and she didn't get any more normal from up close. Not only was there a head of a pony on dragon's body, she was also covered in both scales and fur, and there was something golden,eye shaped on...no, in her forehead. There was also the red circles, on her hands and her stomach, which seemed to be some kind of tattoos, her eyes were also very off, being black and unnaturally blue. Lastly there was her outfit, if you even could call it that, it was made of metal, and it didn't look comfortable, nor practical, it looked more like something you'd put on a prisoner, it was just missing the chains.

Lastly there was a powerful magical aura coming off her, it was dark in nature, but it wasn't dark magic, it was something...non-Equestrian.

If they didn't stop, the creature would simply follow them until they did, not once showing aggression, and if she was attacked, she'd simply dodge, and insist that she was no threat. There was no visible weapons. 

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sombra would stop walking and turn to face towards where the speaker had spoken from, his eyes settled on those three sets of glowing circles. It took her a second to recognize that it was the same individual from before, and upon that realization he was made more suspicious of this individual. Everything in his mind told him to eliminate this possible threat as soon as he realized who it was - but he relented and took a moment to look over the individual's features. It seemed they were a similar being to that of Una, which only made him more curious.

"Let's cut to the chase. You are clearly the same species as this one here." he pointed to Una. "Most likely biologically engineered through highly advanced and unfamiliar technology, from another dimension -as a weapon. You are far more along in your understanding of yourself than she is. So tell me, what is your purpose here, and who are you? You seem to have some ability to sense us, track us, with whatever otherworldly magic you have. You know more than you let on." he snorted.

"In my time, I didn't have to deal with other worlds bleeding into our own. So tell me." he said, more of a command if anything.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,428]

@Props ValRoa
 

The creature tilted it's head with puzzled look on her face "What?" she tapped her chin thoughtfully and quietly said to herself "That would explain few things." before addressing Sombra and Una again "Now I'm curious what kind of meetings you've had to come to that conclusion, but let me address things first." "I am indeed another freak of nature, but the same as your friend here? I mean, maybe? though there's no Changeling in me as far as I know." "For everything about biological engineering and technology from another dimension...I frankly have no idea what you are on about, but I won't say it's not possible, I for sure don't know what kind of natural shenanigans would lead to something like I." as before, she was very casual, she didn't seem to be threatened by Sombra "Name's Flint, you may have seen my wanted posters somewhere, I'm wanted in 10 nations, 3 of which want me dead." "My purpose...I don't know, chaos? destruction? I like to burn stuff, here I am because I saw her" she pointed at Una "Got curious, haven't seen many other freaks of nature around." 

"Tracking you wasn't actually that hard, I simply followed you in the crowd, saw you enter the cave, and followed bright flashes of light and sounds of hoofsteps." she hit one of the metal rings on her arm against her metal torso part, letting out a clang of metal that demonstrated the echo in the cave "No magic or technology needed." "However, someone has followed you with...something" "Something small, round and invisible followed you in, no idea where it is now, but I noticed it when it disturbed dust near the entrance." that was all she said to them for now, but she did start to mutter to herself thoughtfully "Worlds bleeding to others, where have I heard of that before."  

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sombra would sigh in a long weary manner as he would take in what Flint said to him. "Apparently I can't go anywhere with beings from other dimensions and other worlds following me and interfering with my plans, either way. I might as well jump off a cliff and throw in the towel if this is going to be how it is." he stated in a sarcastic manner while rolling his eyes. "But seriously, the prevalence of creatures like you seems to always attract in my direction one way or the other. You also don't seem to know where you come from. Neither does she." Sombra would gesture towards Una slightly there as he would go silent for a bit as he would process what was going on for a bit longer.

"If you want to make yourself useful to me, be my guest. You can start being useful by removing whatever was following me. Then we will go from there. You may have a guess to who I am, or if not, you can figure it out yourself." he grunted, looking off towards the entrance as if expecting Flint to do what he said there.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,428]

@Props ValRoa
"Depends on what you mean by 'come from', I know where I grew up, I just don't know who, or what, my parents are, if they even exist. Nor do I know how old I am, as I have no idea when I was born, or hatched, or whatever you said, or maybe I do know, but just can't remember because I was a baby." Flint's speaking went between thoughtful and indifferent, with her emotional state seemingly following that, Una didn't like how Flint felt, her emotional 'aura' seemed to keep changing, but there was also a specific feeling on the background for all of it, there was something....off about her in the emotional level. 

Flint suddenly turned smug, changing the topic on the fly "What if it's not you, I for sure didn't come here for you, as stated, I came because of her..." she pointed at Una again "...I have no idea who you are, you speak like I should, so I assume you are some big name among ponies, but that's the thing, I'm not from here, I know I look like I am, but I am very much new to Equestria. My point being, maybe she's more attractive than you, for other-dimensional freaks."  

Flint then again flipped in her demeanor, this time to very calm and almost serious seeming one "Told you, no idea where it's now, it was like, actually invisible, there was nothing  to sense from it, the only reason I noticed it was because it moved dust."

Una actually didn't mind being talked about like she wasn't there this time, because she didn't really want to talk with Flint, she didn't trust her, though at the same time, she believed she wouldn't reveal anything about them, the distrust was more general, she seemed bit....unstable?
 

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sombra would look to Flint in a fairly disinterested manner. "Whatever the case is - it is clear to me that there are other forces at work within this world that I have been unaware of. If I had any guesses, you are the result of another dimension bleeding into our own...somehow..." then his eyes widened as an idea dawned upon him. Perhaps the return of the Crystal Empire is what caused the Dimensional barriers to slip slightly, allowing beings from other dimensions to slide into this one? He had no idea how long Una's building was in that forest for. It was well hidden after all - but he wasn't so sure about that bit.

"Let me ask you this. Would a massive buildup of magic relating to physical constructs be something that could cause other worlds to bleed into this one?" he wasn't going to tell Flint who he was, or what his plans were, obviously. "As for the invisible object you had detected - we should go elsewhere. Whoever or whatever was watching us now knows where we are. I am vulnerable to attack." he said in a weary manner as he began to walk out slowly. The way he looked around and the manner he walked indicated he expected to be attacked, and he had a spell ready just incase of that. 

Sombra gave Flint a fairly distrustful look as he continued forward. Una could possibly feel Sombra's hate rise beyond the levels he normally had. Sombra was very annoyed, but opted to attempt to be more diplomatic here. 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,428]

@Props ValRoa
"I have no idea." Flint stated "I haven't studied magic, in fact, I haven't studied, period, I've never as much as visited a school." "Look, as far as I'm concerned, this is my world, sure there is a chance I'm not from here, I have no known relatives and I'm abomination towards nature, but, if I did come from some different reality, it happened so early in my life that it's meaningless, because I was a baby, or even an egg, if I came out of an egg." "I know absolutely nothing about this other worlds nonsense, I'm here only because I spotted her" she yet again pointed at Una 

Una actually spoke too this time, but not to Flint, she addressed Sombra, without revealing his true identity "It is possible, massive magical event could in theory cause an effect that makes a spot, or a world, more prone to specific reality anomalies." she then looked puzzled and muttered to herself "Since when have I known that?"

Before there was really any time to respond, Flint spoke again "Ah, now I remember, bleeding worlds, at one point I stumbled upon a camp, some red dragon's camp, I read his journal while he slept, bunch of nonsense, but there was something about dying world, disappearing from existence and more importantly, worlds bleeding, though that's all I remember, didn't really care for it." 

Una felt Sombra's feeling towards Flint, but she didn't give it too much mind, as she could understand, she wasn't enjoying Flint's presence either, and while she herself wouldn't say she hated her, Sombra was...well, he was Sombra, she'd be more concerned if it was anything else than hate or anger. 

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sombra's eyes would narrow slightly at Flint's explanation as they made their way out of the cave. If they had made their way out of the cave he would begin to lead them away from the city, down the mountain and into the Wilderness. At least that was his intention. Perhaps they can find some privacy there. 

"Perhaps you should have listened to what that dragon was saying, could have given you more of a clue." Sombra would say, irritated by how Flint didn't know much more than that. Something about that red dragon sounded familiar. He would figure that Dragon is the one they met earlier, but he didn't want to reveal too much to Flint. "It is possible you came from another world. I have never seen one such as you, so the logical conclusion is that your origins are not of this world." he commented idly as they continued, then looking to Una.

"I do not have it in my ability to test it. Even if I did, I would not find myself inclined to." he shrugged. "Attracts unwanted attention."

[Catpone Cerberus 23,428]

@Props ValRoa
"Eh, don't see what good knowing about it would have done for me." Flint stated in bored manner, before continuing withl cheerful, slightly smug tone "And you have been everywhere?" "Sure, I haven't met other hybrids yet either, or bipedal ponies, but there is plenty of bipedal creatures of all kinds outside Equestria, so while not impossible, I wouldn't say me being from different world is the logical conclusion." Flint was following the two, though unlike Una, she actually wasn't behind anyone, instead she was moving the same speed as Sombra short distance to his side "Equestria is not the whole world you know? in fact, lot of places don't even know you exist." "I would know, I'm part-unicorn who heard about unicorn magic for the first time last year or so." 

 

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sombra would look to Flint as they walked further down the mountain and towards the wilderness. "Valid point, however, I know enough to know that other worlds are - and have been bleeding into this one. It is concerning to think how that would affect the state of affairs in the world, if it ends up getting to an increased level." he would say to them, though he was only really concerned about the stability of any future reign he would have over Equestria itself. 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,428]

@Props ValRoa
"I for one welcome it." Flint declared, as a grin rose on her face "I do so enjoy watching things burn...." she said it with almost sickening amount of delight, before both her expression and tone returned to the one previous "...both literally and figuratively." "Like all of this" she spun around with her hands wide like she was gesturing Sombra to look around "Wouldn't it be so beautiful, to sit down and watch...no, feel the flames engulf everything around us." she seemed almost like she going in some kind of trance, but she snapped out of it "Though then the animals would be homeless." 

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sombra would give Flint a strange look. While Sombra wanted to control and own everything for himself - he didn't want to destroy the land he ruled from. What good ruler would destroy the land they rule over? Would only tarnish his own name, if anything. "That'd just label you as a terrorist. The Two Sisters would hunt you down and lock you away for something like that. Destroying the land is a stupid thing to do. Unless you are in war." he said, in a tone that indicated he didn't find anything about that funny.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,428]

@Props ValRoa
Flint did find something about it funny, as evidenced by her humorous tone "Add them to the list, though the more accurate term would be arsonist, I do it for my own enjoyment, not some bigger motive." Welp, that explained it to Una, why Flint felt so wrong, she wasn't just unstable, she was unhinged "I told you, I'm already wanted in several places, some of which want me dead, so what's one more nation on the pile?" she held her chin thoughtfully "Though, it would be interesting to see if Equestrian imprisonment would actually hold me, nobody else has managed that yet." she kept a short pause "Until you count this of course..." she knocked on her 'outfit' "...which I don't count, because I don't feel too imprisoned, quite the opposite." 

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sombra would give Flint a harsh glare. "I don't trust you." he spat suddenly and then took a few steps forward. "Maybe if you got a sense of direction into your head you'd be quite something. But all I see is indications that you are an aimless vagabond. It would be easy for me to go the other way, but it seems you'd slip up and let others around here know about me. That's not something that I will let happen. If others were to know about me, and her..." he gestured to Una. "They'd drag us away to a dungeon somewhere, or outright kill us! And word would spread about it...everywhere..." he seethed with hate.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,428]

@Props ValRoa
Flint seemed rather unfazed, in fact, Sombra's outburst seemed to amuse her "I wouldn't trust myself either if I met me." she stated nonchalantly "Aimless though? nah, my aim is clear, personal happiness, you should try it some time, it feels nice."  "But that aside, what exactly would I tell? that some shady pony and another hybrid creature were alone in a cave doing spells?" "I still have no idea who you are, I can tell from the way you speak that you are most likely infamous rather than famous among ponies but that's about it, besides you being a criminal of some sort, as you just told me that." 

"Ultimately though, not much you can do about that, only way to make absolutely sure would be to kill me, but you are a fool if you think you can do something that entire nations have failed at." she smiled at him, it was a purposefully annoying smile; before side-eyeing Una with more blank expression "And don't bother trying mind tricks to make me your loyal little pet, it won't stick." 

[King Sombra]

@Catpone Cerberus

Sombra growled, and considered this personality impossible to reason with. Flint was really bothering him greatly. Any effort spent on controlling her could potentially backfire in his face, and if it was true that entire nations have tried to kill her off - then it was beyond his power to do so. Instead, he just looked at her in a hateful manner and snorted.

"Get lost. You are impossible to reason with. Go on and spread chaos or whatever it is that you do. Just get away from me." he ordered, already finding it painful to listen to her talking to her. Una could see how annoyed Sombra was getting, he was already extremely enraged, and was seemingly doing what he could to maintain control over his emotions. "I gave you a chance, and I can already tell you will do your best to purposefully bicker and annoy me. Begon, filth!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.