open IC: Opaline Alone (Private 1x1 RP with Catpone Cerberus)

[Catpone Cerberus 23,428]

@Props Valroa
Noctuna shook her head unimpressed, but didn't say anything until Opaline returned from getting paper and stuff, and while Opaline was gone, she had walked next to the pool of liquid in the room and did a spell on it, it may be that it no longer worked how it was originally used, but it was perfect for Noctuna's use. Cinder took the paper and pencil, and walked to the throne to use it as a table for drawing, and as she drew, she muttered things like 'mountains there, and there..' as she did her best to remember any important landmarks and such. 

While Cinder drew, Noctuna spoke again "In my thousand or so years of rule, I've seen nations and empires rise and fall, I've seen rulers who thrive and rulers who fall." "And those like you, those who can never accept blame, they always fall." "Paranoia, inner distrust, blindness for weaknesses..." "The fault of the fall always comes from inside, and the funny thing is, those like you, also tend to believe that the strong deserve to rule." "Yet those who beat you, are always cheaters, thieves, or something else like that, never are they just simply stronger that you."  

She lit her horn, and a picture formed on the liquid, it was her, without her 'outfit', dragging herself through a dark forest, her horn was broken, she had bad injuries matching her scars, and she was gasping for air, now and then spitting blood "Opaline, do you believe I deserved this?" she said, gesturing towards the image "I don't, those who did this to me hunted me down to do this, even though Princess Noctuna had always been a force for peace." her horn turned off, and the picture faded, as she looked at Opaline "But did I scream about how undeserving they were, how my nation was rightfully mine? no." "I got up, figured out what I did wrong, and fixed it." "I killed the traitors, I destroyed everything I had build to take it away from them, and they didn't even get the satisfaction of taking me down after." "I won." "But you?" "You cry about how things were taken away from you, how unfair it is, you act like a little filly who was called a mean name." "What you should do, is to ask why did it happen? how did they take it away? why did it work? and most importantly, What are you going to do about it? Are you going to do the same thing and hope your victims are bit more stupid this time? Or are you gonna fix it?" 

Meanwhile Cinder finished the map, it wasn't the most beautiful thing out there, but she never claimed to be good at drawing maps, nor had she really ever studied her surroundings with the intent to draw a map.

Spoiler

 

[Opaline Arcana]

@Catpone Cerberus

Opaline returned to see that Noctuna had been doing something with liquid she used for scrying. When she recognized that Noctuna was able to manipulate it, she realized that it was only her magic that had been depleted. This was a problem, because she was in an environment to where she was clearly weaker than the others. She would have to play her cards right in order to get what she wanted. While she did have the ability to drain dragon magic, yes - she didn't want to even try on Cinder. She didn't even know what Cinder was - so it could easily backfire.

Noctuna's words struck more than a nerve in her, though she would be lying if she said there wasn't some wisdom within them. "I lost my power because there was this Unicorn I had working for me. I trusted her to go out into the world and follow my objectives, however she became too comfortable with the lives of the ponies and opted to conspire with them against me. I believed that having an ally among the ponies would be the way to success, however it proved to be my downfall. Misty got infected by the values of the ponies, and she betrayed me." Opaline said with her teeth bared as she held back her rage.

"If she had only kept her mouth shut and followed my directions, everything would have worked out. That made me realize, that I was better off just doing it myself. I could have easily done what she had done, but I opted for the more...comfortable option. I suppose I was a bit too bold with her, and should have treated her better - if only so she wouldn't have thought the grass on the other side was greener..." Opaline shook her head as she took the map and opened it, looking at it. "Notably different, landmasses aren't familiar - but the ponies are separated. At least I have one thing going for me..." she muttered as she took in the map. 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,428]

@Props Valroa
"I guess that's a start." Noctuna stated calmly "I apologize for being so pushy, but I had to check if there's any sense under that ego of yours, I don't like working with idiots." she looked at Opaline coldly "They always ruin everything." she then let Opaline look at the map alone for few moments as she spoke to Cinder Instead "You never told your name." "Cinder." "Cinder? how...dragon-like." "Like I said, grew up in the dragonlands." she then moved to look at the map from whatever angle she got, studying it for few seconds, ah, she knew that place, it was Equestria, be it bit...poorly drawn "How about this, I'll take this part..." she pointed at the western 'weird forests' area with her hoof "...and you can have the rest, I'll even chase the unicorns out for you."  "Didn't you say you were for peace?" "Princess Noctuna was, I'm Queen Noctuna." "Now I just want peace, I couldn't care less about ponies."  Cinder just gestured 'what??', that made no sense. 

 

[Opaline Arcana]

@Catpone Cerberus

Opaline shot Noctuna a glare in return to her cold stare. She didn't particularly care about Cinder's name, and on the map she was more interested in the dragons more so than anything else. The "Dragon Stone" was not needed to take dragon magic. Simply made it easier to do so. She wasn't going to tell the others of her plans, but from this map she would have had to travel a long distance to get to the dragon lands. Would be lots of flying, but, nothing an immortal like herself couldn't handle. "You can have the "Weird Forests" part, whatever that means. First need to see what these ponies are like in person to decide a course of action." she spoke. "I will head to the Earth Ponies first. Whether you follow me there or not, I don't care. Just don't interfere with my plans to observe them for now." Opaline spoke as she took the map and then realized that there was only one map for the two of them. She sighed and got out another piece of paper, and began drawing her own copy of the map, figuring Noctuna wouldn't just let her walk away with it. Once she had her own copy, she would reach behind her throne and pull on her cloak and her saddlebags, which were somehow still behind the throne for all this time. She was ready to leave. 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,428]

@Props Valroa
Noctuna didn't really need a map, because she recognized the shape of the landmass, and while it had been a millennium since she had set a hoof in Equestria, and this was different Equestria, she remembered enough to know the basics, and didn't need more than that. However, since Opaline so kindly copied the map, she did take the original for herself.

Neither Cinder or Noctuna had anything to take with that they weren't already carrying, so they were ready to follow Opaline, regardless of how she felt about it, or well, Noctuna was really the one following her specifically, because while a nap would have been nice, she would survive without, and besides that, she really had nothing better to do, while Cinder, who didn't particularly like Opaline at this point, was more interested in Noctuna, as she wanted to know the story behind the injuries, and in general, based on the first impressions, the scarred alicorn was less predictable, while Opaline to her seemed just like a dragon in pony form, the 'I want, I deserve' mindset had become very familiar to her growing among dragons. 

"While I have no plans to interfere with anything, I am curious, what were you planning to do if I did? I have seen no evidence that I should be worried about your capabilities." "And if I may, what's your obsession with the ponies staying separate? I ruled a nation of mixed ponies, and it never caused any trouble for me." Noctuna's direct, maybe even bit insulting approach was a byproduct of her past, she had been involved in politics for a millennia, trying to keep her peaceful little nation safe while surrounded by a militaristic superpower from all sides, so she had dropped all unnecessary sugarcoating from her words a long time ago. 

 

 

[Opaline Arcana]

@Catpone Cerberus

Opaline lead the way out of the place, and from the way she walked it was clear that she was intent on accomplishing some sort of goal. Opaline charged forward and rose into the air with absolute confidence. Whether they followed her or not, she could care less. Evidently they had followed her, and Opaline looked to Noctuna and would answer her questions somewhat. "That's not for you to know, but I will say - a populace that is divided on itself is a lot easier to prevent from overthrowing one's self. It is how I managed to break apart the ponies, get them to hate each other more. I merely threw them the dice and let them play with how it rolled." she smirked widely at that. Seemed as if Opaline's way of doing things was to play on pre-existing tensions and allow them to flourish, making the work easier for her as she flew towards the South, towards the Earth ponies. Opaline had her saddlebag with her, evidently carrying her cloak with her so that she can walk without being noticed as an Alicorn. Opaline didn't seem to really care much about Cinder. If Cinder was a normal dragon she would have tried to drain her dragon fire right there and then. She wanted to keep that a secret, and wanted to do that on her own without anyone watching.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,428]

@Props Valroa
Noctuna's and Cinder's flight also mirrored their personalities,  Noctuna's body language was confident and nonchalant, as she simply walked forward and took flight without any kind of show, while Cinder kinda just fell over the edge of the balcony before opening her wings. "You could also just be a good enough ruler for your populace to not want to overthrow you." Noctuna remarked, granted she had had an advantage that Opaline didn't have, that being the fact, that everyone else were worse, but she still considered herself to be a successful ruler, due to her subjects rising to rebellion when she had been overthrown by the traitors.

Since Opaline clearly wasn't a talker, Noctuna changed conversation partners
"What about you Cinder? Why don't you like the species that you grew up with?"  "My first and only date tried to kill me by throwing me chained up into a cave full of lava. He was the only one who bothered to even pretend to be nice." Flint stated in casual tone "Huh, may I ask how you survived?" "Mutual interests." Noctuna tilted her head "Don't worry about it, what's with the questions?" "I'm nosy." Noctuna had no reason to lie about it, information was powerful, so she tended to pry, be it by directly asking, or spying by asking the shadows what they knew, and she didn't mind being seen as nosy.

[Opaline Arcana]

@Catpone Cerberus

The way that Opaline had flown beside them was much like a vulture looking for someone to pick on. It was clear that Opaline got her strength from picking on those smaller and weaker than her, and when in the presence of those equal to her - like Noctuna, she didn't really seem to even attempt anything like her body language spoke. As they flew, her eyes were constantly scanning the ground below for anything of interest. She didn't appear to take much interest in either of them, as she was more concerned about what they were flying over and what possible use it could be to her. Looking over to the two of them as they talked, she realized that she would be a lot more comfortable if she could just fly off on her own - but something in her mind told her that wouldn't be so easy. She had no power. She was no more powerful than any common Earth Pony - other than her ability to fly at the moment. Getting dragon fire or finding other ways to increase her magic were something that she needed to do before she could attempt anything. 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,428]

@Props Valroa
Since Opaline didn't interrupt them, the conversation went on. "My turn to be nosy then, what lead you to banishing yourself as you say you did?" "Realism" "Unlike certain creatures, I acknowledged that the world owes me nothing, that there is no destiny or right that will guarantee my future." "Sure I had won the battle, but I would not win the war, even we alicorns are limited to our physical bodies, and my troops were starting to fall, so I fled, but this time I made sure they couldn't come and hunt me down." "What about the whole thing with the princess and queen stuff?" "Princess Noctuna died in an execution, Queen Noctuna escaped it, it's a symbolic change of title, mirroring my embrace of villainy." "You are surprisingly honest about it" "Information is power, secrets are weapons, honesty is a shield." "You cannot use my secrets against me, if I have none." 

The dead lands were as boring as they were dead, just endless nothing, a husk of existence, there was nothing and nobody, and no sign of there ever being. Noctuna found it curious, though not as curious as the lack of life in the shadows, this wasn't just a case of bad dirt, this place was actively repelling life, both biological and magical. 

 

[Opaline Arcana]

@Catpone Cerberus

This is what Opaline really hated. Being completely powerless against those who seem to be bragging about themselves. This was just like how things were before, and she knew enough that she wouldn't be able to fight Noctuna anytime soon - it was on her potential horizon that Noctuna could end up being a possible enemy someday. Her abilities proved to be quite dangerous, although with no Elements of Harmony...that would be something to think about. Opaline managed to manipulate and destroy Equestria in the distant past, even when they had the Elements of Harmony - but this time around she lost because she didn't take the chance to kill off a potential threat when she had it. She also lost because she trusted others. So thus in her mind, she shouldn't trust anyone, and she should be far more ruthless in dealing with threats that come her way. To her it felt like Noctuna was fishing for Opaline to give some sort of aggressive response to her, so she just stayed silent until either of them asked her a question. She'd keep her negative comments to herself, while noticing that this place they were flying over seemed to be dead. Very boring. Hopefully it would end soon.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,428]

@Props Valroa
"So, Opaline." Noctuna continued "I couldn't help but notice that when you flew above me, there was a shadow of some kind following you, is that intentional, or just a side effect of your existence?" "And why are you so secretive about your capabilities in general? is it because you're actually weak? You clearly feel annoyed that we don't bow to you, so I'd expect you to at least try to make yourself sound in any way powerful." "No ponies will bow to you if you can't stand behind your words of authority." Opaline wasn't entirely wrong in her feeling, Noctuna was in fact trying to get some kind of reaction out of her, not necessarily an aggressive one, but that too was fine, as she was simply poking her to see what kind of individual she was, if she was worth of her time at all. 

 

[Opaline Arcana]

@Catpone Cerberus

Opaline simply glanced over to Noctuna, as if ascertaining her intentions with asking her questions. "I'll leave you to be the judge of that." she spoke, and said nothing else to Noctuna. There were no insults or jests that Noctuna may have expected from her. Opaline figured that doing such things would only erode the validity of her reputation. Noctuna was correct on one thing - she was weak, and had no magic to really speak of. She could absorb magic, yes, but first she needed dragon magic to really have any strong effects on anything. Noctuna could also see on closer inspection that Opaline's body was likely a bit bigger than hers - so the shadow may very well just be her body. 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,428]

@Props Valroa
"So be it." Noctuna stated "But you have given me lot more than you may think." "You are clearly a narcissist, as your ego makes you believe plainly contradictory things." "Things like your plans being perfect, even though someone managed to get past them." "You also, be it intentionally or not, try to signal your authority through things like body language, which is a sign of insecurity, as those truly in control, don't need to do that." "You also half-threatened me, yet you absolutely refuse to prove your abilities, and not only that, you haven't done anything to stop us from following you, even though it's obvious you dislike it." "So my judgement? Those you call your enemies took away your power in more ways than one, the reason you are so secretive, is because you have no capabilities, you are weak, just like your shadows." 

"You're egoistical Alicorn, who believes that it's destiny for our kind to rule, who believes that you deserve to rule just for being an Alicorn." "So, only thing you know, is ruling through power, but oh no, you had your power taken away, which implies that your power was also taken from somewhere or something." "Which is why you are so secretive, as you believe that everyone is like you, and thus, believe that if you were to be honest, we would not only turn against you, but actively stop you." "You believe that I am plotting against you, because you would plot against yourself." "You believe trust was the mistake you made, while to me it sounds that your mistake was forgetting that alliance goes both ways." 

"I'll make this clear so there's no questions, I follow you, because I have nothing better to do, and I will keep following you, until I either find something better to do, or you manage to make me stop. It is fully up to you if I am an ally or an enemy, but be warned, unlike you, I can actually stand behind my threats." As she said the last part, Cinder could swear the night's shadow got darker around them for a moment, even the snake around her neck woke up, wrapping around her tighter as if it was nervous about something. However, there was no change in Noctuna's voice or body language, it was the same confident yet nonchalant demeanor she had had the whole time. 

In the distance then end of the dead zone started to be visible, turning into a field of colorful flowers, a nice change from the boring and colorless wasteland, though what delighted Noctuna more was the amount of unclaimed shadows, so many shadow creatures without a queen to bow to, be it small ones for now, though due to her connection to darkness, she could also sense something non-shadowy moving among the plants, a lot of something.
 

[Opaline Arcana]

@Catpone Cerberus

Opaline was silent throughout Noctuna's whole dialog to her - knowing that Noctuna had deduced everything correctly. The accuracy of it all made her smirk under her breathe - as if she was a devious child who was caught redhanded. "I am willing to admit that everything you said there is correct - and that my main goal at this moment is regaining my capabilities. I know what has to be done to get them. The visit to the Earth Pony area is little more than a jaunt to stretch my wings and observe the current situations among the Earth Ponies. It appears that I am incapable of hiding things, or lying to you - which makes this all the more interesting, since you have some kind of method - either it be trained observation over the many years, or some other magical method - to know." Opaline said, her eyes looking directly into Noctuna's own. Despite Opaline being willing to admit this - she was not willing to say what exactly she needed to regain her capabilities. Opaline obviously hated to admit this, but wanted to show that she did have some level of humility.

The field of flowers was more than a welcome site, and Opaline's stare down below at them showed them she was more than happy to see an end to the dead area. She was looking forward to something to do. Observe the Earth ponies, then have some sort of method to separate herself from her 'friends' here to go off to regain her capabilities. Naturally, dragons are weak to her magic. The way she garnered so much power before was simply harvesting it off of them through her dragon magic siphoning ability. 

There is no way Noctuna would know that her siphoning ability was what she was referencing by "Regaining her capabilities". Or so Opaline thinks.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,428]

@Cheerilee
"Ha!" "No magic needed, I've been dealing with all kinds of creatures and beings for millennia, you learn a trick or two in that time." Noctuna explained "It turns out that all creatures are very predictable if you know what to look for."  While she had no real way to tell yet that it was dragons Opaline needed, like she had hinted in her words, she had an idea that Opaline's power wasn't her own, and it was really a matter of elimination what the source was. The first clue was that it was something Opaline knew existed in this world, otherwise she wouldn't have been so certain, a hasty guess would have been ponies, considering her interest in Earth ponies, however, Noctuna didn't believe that to be the case, as the focus on Earth ponies would have been odd, them being the worst source of magic from the ponies, and while the types of ponies had different magics, the difference didn't matter when it came to absorbing it, especially not to an alicorn, since the whole point of them was that they had all the types. 

"So, if you're so good, what's your take on me?" Cinder asked, curious on Noctuna's judgement on her "You have been bit more careful with your words, but I think I still have a good picture of you." "You're an opportunist, you don't really care what others do, only if it helps or harms you." "Due to your upbringing, you share lot of things with dragons in your mindset, but because of your mistreatment, and the other half of your heritage, you've lost the more brutish parts of their kind." "You don't like how dragons do things, but at the same time, you find ponies boring." 

"You are honest in that you don't lie, but at the same time, you leave a lot to be untold, however, what you keep secret cannot be used against you." "You do not seek riches or power, but rather, your only goal is enjoyment, and thus, the only reason you're still here, is because you believe it could bring you entertainment." "You are carefree, only focus on things you care about, and are not afraid of much, most likely due to your close call with death earlier in your life, however, you are not careless."

"And then the most interesting part, your magic." "You are both pony and dragon, yet you use the magic of neither, you use a different source." "Mutual interests" "That was your response to how you avoided certain death, and that explains it all." "You found something, or someone, and made a deal, which not only saved your life, but gave you power." Cinder clapped few times, "Bravo, though I'm surprised you didn't try to guess any more about the 'something or someone'." "I do not know enough about this world to be sure of the options." "Fair enough." 

 

[Opaline Arcana]

@Catpone Cerberus

"Hm. Interesting..." Opaline said, noticing that Noctuna had honed in her observation abilities more than she has. Opaline was observant, sure, but not to this level of confidence where she'd just go about stating it on a whim like it seemed Noctuna was doing. 

Opaline was careful to listen to what Noctuna was saying. To be honest, it did pretty much match her mental image of Cinder. She didn't seem to have any real goals beyond her own entertainment and didn't care much about the consequences of things so long as they provided entertaining outcomes. Opaline was right not to try draining her magic because it was not something she could actively drain from. She didn't understand what it was so she wasn't really sure what it would do if she tried. Not only that, she didn't want to show the others that she was able to drain magic from dragons themselves. 

"Very much what I expected. You seem like you do not care about authority or social norms, and do what you want. Matches my expectations." Opaline said, with a glance in Cinder's direction as they were now flying beyond the dead zone. Hopefully now they will come across some life, or some inhabited areas of sorts. Opaline was desperate for dragon fire magic. She couldn't be in this position for long and risk either of her "allies" at the moment betraying her without an ability to fight back. "Now then, I propose that once we enter into the Earth Pony area - that we do not show our Alicorn status. We are merely traveling unicorns, who got curious." It was not really possible to tell what the Earth Ponies would do, though from Cinder's description it seems likely they weren't too fond of other races. An alicorn walking into their midst would sure to bring more attention than some wandering Unicorn entering into their lands.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,428]

@Cheerilee
"Eh, why would I follow rules when I don't get the benefits from following them?" even if she followed the law of ponies to a T, she would still be an outsider, she still wouldn't get equal treatment, so why bother? "And it doesn't really matter what you pretend to be, you'll have a guard following you everywhere, maybe several due to your size." "I would say that only way to be unnoticed would be to look like an earth pony, but I don't know if that helps either in you case, since you both are way too big for earth pony mares." "Even traders get weird looks, and you don't have even that excuse." 

"So there is trade between the ponies?" "Yes and no, there isn't active trade per say, but there are travelling merchants of all kinds going everywhere, so the groups trade things indirectly." "However, due to our location, we won't see any of that, the trade happens mostly around the coast, we are inland, and not only that, we come from direction that all traders, and travelers in general, avoid."
 

[Opaline Arcana]

@Catpone Cerberus

 Opaline thought that appearing to be a very large unicorn was better than being an Alicorn among the ponies. She couldn't just flaunt herself and act all high and mighty, which would just be illogical to do at this point. Needed to gain more knowledge and observe for a while before even thinking about doing anything. "Right, and what do you know about the leadership of the ponies? Any names you know about or anything like that?" Opaline asked, wanting to test the waters to see if there were any familiar names there - if Cinder knew them at all. As they they were coming from the direction where none would seek to go thanks to the dead landscape, she understood why travelers/traders would avoid this direction completely. 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,428]

@Props Valroa
"That would be the kind of information I'd require payment for, but the fact is, I already told you everything I know." Cinder remarked "I don't care about pony politics, and those who do care generally know those things already, so I've never bothered to figure out any of the names." "And lot of names it would be, for pegasi it would be easy, with them having royal family or whatever, but for the other types? that's a leader per settlement, why bother?" "Only reason why I even know the general styles of leadership they have, is because they have happened to come up in conversations indirectly." "Heh, I don't even know the name of the dragonlord, and I grew up under her rule."  

[Opaline Arcana]

@Catpone Cerberus

Opaline nodded. "Guess I'll just have to ask nicely in that case. The Pegasi do indeed have a royal family - but if it's of Zipp, Pipp, and Queen Haven is the million dollar question. Hmm, what would you do, if you went to another world and saw those who wronged you within that world - but they did not know who you were? Would you seek to torture them, or leave them alone?" Opaline asked with a devious grin across her face. It was a question directed at the both of them. It was time to ask some questions of her own.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,428]

@Props Valroa
Cinder was the first to answer, as Noctuna thought about it for few moments "I don't really have anyone like that, maybe my ex? Would I kill him again? probably not, he was so pathetic that it wasn't that satisfying in the first place." "But if we are to assume he is the exact same minus meeting me, I'd probably try to seduce him and use him for my own entertainment." she figured that first thing she'd do if she ended up in a new world and found someone she knew, would be figuring out if there was a version of herself there too, but that wasn't the question.

"I would observe them and make a decision based on that." "The problem with revenge, is that it's a circle." "Circle of violence as some say." "By getting revenge, however justified it may or may not be, you will wrong someone else, be it a friend, family, or even just a member of same species, and they will likely seek justified revenge on you." "So if there was to be versions of my enemies here, who are identical to those I dealt with, but with the difference that they are not aware of me, I'd ask myself, what actions are the best on the long run." 

"Is the satisfaction of their screams worth entering the circle again? Is it worth making new enemies?" "It's a self-fulfilling prophecy, by attacking those who caused you trouble in different world, you give them a reason to cause you trouble in this one." "I myself am a good example of this." "My enemies saw me as a potential enemy, so they tried to get rid of me in advance, but in doing so, they not only created an enemy that was far more dangerous, but they caused a chain reaction, that will cost them lot more than they ever gained attacking me." "So I would ask myself, is it better to leave them alone, and possibly never have to deal with them again, or to seek justice, but ensure that someone else will become a problem."  One could get the idea that Noctuna liked the sound of her own voice...and they would be 100% right, she had a very high opinion of herself, the only real difference to Opaline on that aspect, was the fact that she didn't have the need to prove it to anyone, she didn't need the validation from others. 

 

[Opaline Arcana]

@Catpone Cerberus

Opaline found both answers she was given to be very interesting. Noctuna's response was a lot more valid in her opinion, as she saw it worthy of attention. "I dealt with my first enemies, Twilight Sparkle and her friends by working with existing tensions between them. I was able to pull a few string and give it enough time and the whole house of cards fell down, evidently Twilight had prepared enough ahead of time to prevent me from seizing complete victory - but that did not stop me from vanquishing her along with the other friends she gathered power from. With the Elements of Harmony destroyed, I then dealt with minor affairs to ensure the pieces of the board were kept separate." Opaline spoke, then would address her own question herself. "If there were identical enemies here, I would first say to myself that because of the state of the world as it is - it is likely that there is no Elements of Harmony, that Twilight still failed at the hooves of someone, perhaps another version of me. So the board is already set, for me." 

"Then the question is, who would potentially be capable of stopping me? The ones who managed to do so, did so because of their Unity magic, and my failure to take matters into my own hooves. I can see clearly where I failed. Instead of having that Unicorn, Misty go off and do things for me, I should have just done it myself. That way, there wouldn't have been as many failures, or her getting out and leaking my plans to my enemies. If my enemies still indeed do exist in this world in some form, I would first aim to assess whether they know of each other, and if they have access to that Unity Magic. If neither is of any importance to me, I don't see any real reason why I would care that they would exist beyond morbid curiosity." Opaline decided - looking forward as they kept flying onward.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,428]

@Props Valroa
"While reasonable, you are making a mistake that anyone, including myself, would make." Noctuna stated "You assume things work the same here." "Just for example, this Twilight, these, Elements of harmony, I have never heard of them, they could have existed where I come from, as I haven't been in Equestria since I fled a millennia ago, however, Unity magic, as you call it, certainly didn't, as no amount of unity, from us Alicorns, or from the three races of ponies, held any power against those in power." "Yet, I can come up with several ways how you would have fallen even if fully powered." 

"My point being, regardless if the so called unity magic exists here or not, those who you see as your enemies, could have something else you don't know to prepare for." "My world was similar to this one, as the map of Equestria shares the same general shape, yet I can tell the magic is different here, as the shadows act different." "There is no master of the night, I can tell, because there is no competition for the shadows, and from sound of what Cinder has said, there is no Alicorns around in general." "At first this sounds great, less competition for us, but it rises the question, why?" "The three types of ponies still exist, so why is there no those who wield them all? Were alicorns never created, or is there something that can wipe us out with ease?" 
 

[Opaline Arcana]

@Catpone Cerberus

"That is a valid concern, but what is more pressing - is the notion that there is someone or something out there that can wipe us out with ease. If you say that there is no master of the night, than nobody is moving the Sun or Moon, because only an Alicorn do that. If not an Alicorn, than who, or what else can? That is...troubling to think of." Opaline said, pondering her thoughts quietly for a few moments. It were perhaps a major wrench in any plans to take power - to consider that an unseen force could be far more powerful than an Alicorn. If that really was the case, then perhaps the best way to go about things would just be to not even try to take power? Sure, she needed to steal dragonfire, that much was necessary, but to try to take power over an alien world, without much knowledge of how things worked would quite frankly to be stupid.

"Any plans to take power here, will take years. We will need to learn and assess the situations around us before any attempts, if at all, would be made. If it is true that my enemies would not exist here, what would be the point? If there is nobody that I recognize, to stick it to?" Opaline said with gritted teeth, as if reason had somewhat prevailed for her - though her savage desire to have power and obedience from others was something that was rather hard to reconcile with. Opaline did not want to do something, only to end up dying or worse so soon after any attempts were made. Seems as though Opaline really cared about "sticking" it to her enemies, rather than power for power's sake. Sure, power was great, but without anyone who recognized her to grovel or see her victory? That would take away a lot of her reasoning for doing what she did in the first place. 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,428]

@Props Valroa

"You finally said something I can agree with, but I must correct you on one thing." Noctuna stated "Alicorns are not needed for the sun and the moon, we are just best at it."  "In my world, before alicorns ever arrived to Equestria, unicorns moved the moon and the sun, it took several of them at a time to do so, but they could do it." "And ponies were unlikely to exist at dawn of time, so there has most likely been other forces before that doing the job."  "And this is a different world, rules are different here anyway." "Actually... Cinder? do you have anything on that regard?" "The sun and moon?" Noctuna nodded "Nope, they have always moved as far as anyone is concerned, and there isn't really any reason to think it's done by something or someone." "As I thought." 

"What comes to your little crisis of identity, I'm sure you'll find new enemies soon enough." "If there exists something out there capable of leaving the night without a master, you may just get a taste of what I gathered power for."