Dawn sits nearby, having eaten her fill of the day's hunt. She looked over to the young leader and quietly asked while the others were away, "So... I see you got everyone in line. What plans do you have for yourself and the kingdom?"
Cyrus looks at Dawn and then looks up at the sky, stars shimmering in the night sky, "Not sure in all honesty. What I really want to do is find my sword. It is the only thing I have to remember my home. As for the kingdom, I guess it’s to build things like a smithy and at some point actually finish the castle." He never thought much of the future, only what is going on in the present.
Dawn nodded, cleaning her mess kit before sitting down nearby. "Look... what's going on? You've had this distant look on your face every night since I've joined your party, and I've only seen it in my own reflection... are you ok?"
".... I guess I just miss my home, the kingdom I was to originally inherit. I tend to feel lost in this place. And then how a lot of my companions here just leave without a word. But I suppose loneliness like this is to be expected when your companions aren't tied down to the responsibility of a kingdom. Doesn't mean I won't miss them though, good and bad." Cyrus says, his tone sounded slightly somber as he continued to watch the shimmering lights in the sky.
Dawn nodded just as solemnly. She knew something felt off about him, and the way he avoided what she was driving at only confirmed it. It’s how she avoided the topic herself as a foal. "Not from this world either huh? So, the sword is your reminder of where you come from I bet... I've got nothing from my home... I still miss my family..." she took a breath and let it out slow before adding, "you plan to return home yourself?"
Cyrus looked at her puzzled, "Wait? You too!?!" he asked, surprised by what the green mare just said. He never mentioned another world so Dawn guessing that he isn't from this world is rather surprising, he laughs at this revelation, "Wow, I didn't think I'd find someone in the same boat as I am." He calms down before answering, "To answer your question, I don't know. It's hard to weigh my own desires over the desires of the people." He says, looking at Dawn.
Dawn nodded, "Yeah... my home was burning when I woke up as a little filly... I nearly died from the smoke and fell through my bedroom mirror... I still dream of my parents and brothers burning in the fire." She shook her head and returned to his line of thought, "Don't mind me... as long as I'm around, I'll do my best to help. We'll figure out a way through... ever thought of training a backup ruler so you could go home?"
"... I'm sorry about your loss..." Cyrus says in a sad tone, "I didn't know, and now I get why you didn't want to come near me when I charged my sword with fire that one time." He says, he then got back on topic with the kingdom, "And no, it never crossed my mind to train someone to take over if I ever did decide to go home... if I ever found a way back that is." He says.
Dawn looked him dead in the eye and said quietly, "Look... if you're not happy, you'll regret doing what you don't want to do, no matter how good you are at it. I'm halfway readied to return to my home as it is... so the question becomes... would you want to return home if you could, and if not, what's stopping you?"
"I do want to go home, however, I can't leave my sword here." He answers looking Dawn in the eye as well, "But I also want to do everything I can for the people here before I leave, I want to make sure I left them in a manageable state once I do go home."
Dawn nods. "I'll do my best to make sure our spell is ready. I promise not to leave without letting you get that chance to return home as well. Of that, you have my word, even if that means waiting until we find your sword."
"Thanks, I couldn't ask for more." Cyrus says as he smiles, he then has a thought "I get the feeling that spell would require more power than anyone of us alone could produce. You want to try combining spells as a team?" Cyrus asks. He and Tom always combined their attacks whenever they had the chance, always landing powerful blows to their enemies, he didn’t see why it couldn't be done with magic.
Dawn hummed, looking up at the stars, "You know... that... that might be it... I'll have to study up on this more, but I could have sworn my magic kindergarten classes mentioned some sort of story about doing just that!" She stood, walking quite close to him before adding, "If you ever want somepony to talk to, about home or magic, or something else, you're welcome in my tent whenever you wish."
"I'll keep that in mind." Cyrus says as he looks back up at the stars, "You know, I always wondered if the stars in the sky were actually other worlds... I wonder which one is mine." He says not taking his eyes off of the sky.
Dawn chuckled, "I'll have to ask Princess Luna when we get home... that'd be nice if it was just up there..." she said, stopping to stand on her hind legs and reaching a hoof toward a bright star.
Cyrus reaches for a star as well, wondering if that star he reached for is the one he belonged to. "Look out, Cyria, your prince is coming back!" Cyrus says with a grin, he may have the emblem of Mareth on him, but his heart shall always be with his home. "The biggest reason I need that sword back is because it is proof I am the heir to the throne, as only those born into my family can draw it from its sheath. Seriously, Tom tried." Cyrus explains looking at Dawn again.
Dawn went back to all fours, nodding, "Never heard of Cyria, but then I'd guess then you never heard of Equestria either... we'll get you home, just you see." She smiled, flicking her tail confidently.
"That's true, I've never heard of it in my life, but I know we'll get back to our homes in one peace, I'm sure of it." He says as he pounded his hoof onto his chest. If there was one thing he's always had, it would be his enthusiasm.
Dawn laughed, "You know... I'm really glad we met." She yawned silently, mouth gaping before shaking her head, "I think I've reached my limit... See you in the morning Cyrus..."
"I am glad about that as well. See you in the morning then." He says as he starts looking at the fire, a dangerous thing if used the wrong way, but a gentle light if handled with care. At least that's what his magic instructor once told him when he almost gave himself a phobia of fire back when he first started to learn magic... maybe he'll tell her at some point.
Dawn woke for the last shift, watching over everyone as they slept, smiling broadly at Cyrus' sleeping form on occasion. She felt really glad to have met someone that was like her... stuck in a world and hoping for a way to get back. The sunrise was beautiful, though she knew better than to watch it except briefly and continued to survey the land around them.
Cyrus wakes from a dream where he was back in his world again but as a human like he originally was, being with all his friends again. He stretches like he always does when he wakes up, "Dang it, why couldn't night last a bit longer..." he says as he wanted to sleep more, he then looks around and sees Dawn, "Morning Dawn." He says before needing to cover his mouth from a yawn.
Dawn smiled at him, unaware of his dream, but barely heard his comment, "Dreams always seem to leave us right as we want them, unless of course, you get a message from the princess of the night... Did you sleep well otherwise?"
"Yep, slept like a log. Bugs don't bother me much, plus I always like being outside, so I can't complain, and you?" He asks, he has heard of the name Luna before, but she wasn't a princess like Dawn said hers was, Luna is the Guardian spirit of the moon where he's from.
Dawn smirks, "I can't stand the bugs when I'm sleeping, but that's why I have a tent... I slept well... for once, I dreamed of some good times..." She sighed and got a fire going with some simple magic and got a small pot of water to prepare for any teas or coffees the group might want, "Feeling hungry?"
"Yeah, I am a bit hungry actually," Cyrus says as he gets up and does a cat's stretching motion. Cyrus's mane was in a bed head since he barely woke up, there is even a cowlick or two sticking out of it.
Dawn nodded and got a morning soup started, knowing the group was going to be hungry. "So, what was life like growing up for you?" She asked, half laying down on her side against a log
"Well... as a colt, I was... difficult to most," Cyrus says trying to find the right words. "I will just straight up say that I hate being formal, while most of the noble colts and fillies were well mannered and educated... I was a brute in comparison. I tried my hardest to get along with them, but my demeanor kinda scared them away, they didn't even enjoy the pranks I did. Of course, none of the pranks were aimed at them, but still. Growing up in that castle was incredibly lonely." He explained.
Dawn nodded, "Yeah... I could see why... no point in hoofing around the issue when a direct question'll do... wasn't there anypony who was your friend? Eventually?”
"Haha, funny thing about that. My best and only friend at the time wasn't even a noble, he was a commoner... but he tried to steal from the royal treasury," Cyrus said smiling at how funny the circumstance was.
Dawn laughed heartily, "So a prince became friends with a thief!" She finally caught her breath and looked at his side before asking, "So where's your wings?"
"What?" Cyrus asked confused. "Wings? I’m pretty sure I never had those." He said. He didn’t even know there were ponies like that, "Um, why did you ask?"
Dawn looked at him curiously, "because all royalty are alicorns... or... I thought... I know Celestia and Luna did, then there was the new princess..."
"... I guess not all worlds follow the same rules... or I will somehow turn into one by sheer luck, who knows." Cyrus says as he shrugs, he inherited his magic from his mother, so it might be that she is a unicorn in pony sense, his father can't use magic though so he might be an "Earth Pony" as ponies in this world refer to them, he was not sure.
Dawn hummed, thoughtful as she stirred the pot then put some bread on the skillet to toast, "I guess so... so, what happened between you and the rogue? They a mare who stole your heart instead of the treasure?" She teased as she poured the soup into a bowl for him and offered it
"No, he was a colt like I was, his sentence for trying to steal from the treasury was that he had to be my friend for a few months, as decreed by my father. Honestly, I found it surprising that my father would send a commoner to spend time with me, he might have been getting desperate as none of the young nobles wanted to be my friend, the first thing I did with him was show him a prank. The victim was the scribe who runs the royal library, I essentially made him sit on a bag that made a farting sound when he sat on it. He didn't know it was there so that made it even funnier, we climbed a tree to get away." Cyrus started laughing, "The way the old stallion stood up was priceless. My friend at first wasn't laughing, but he did after he felt safe enough to remember it, he laughed as hard as I did, we were best friends since." Cyrus says fondly remembering that day.
Dawn snorted before laughing innocently. "Good. Nopony should be without a good friend." She said quietly as she continued to hold his now cooling soup with her magic, waiting for him to take it while wondering what else to talk about.
"Thank you." He said as he sat down and took the bowl with his hooves and used his magic for the spoon, "I think I mentioned his name to ya." he says after swallowing a spoonful of soup, "but just in case I didn't, it was Tom." he says before eating the next spoon full. "Great soup by the way."
Dawn chuckled, "Thanks... I hope we find him too... what's he look like?"
"Thing is that I think I am the only one who ended up here thankfully, but in case he is here... well he would be easy to spot for two reasons, one he almost always wears his armor, one of the pads has the royal emblem on it." he says as he draws the emblem in the dirt, which looked like a crown with five lines ascending and meeting at a specific point. "The other is his massive sword, that thing is so easy to recognize it is not even funny."
Dawn smirked, "Yeah... definitely nopony that'll have those two things..." She served herself some food and once again grew quiet, trying to think of what she wanted to talk about. She liked his practicality, but struggled with thinking what more to ask when she sat down and said, "Anything else? Or did you want to talk about something different?"
"Hmm, let's see. You mentioned princesses from your world, and how you mentioned Luna going into dreams, would you mind explaining some of that to me... just in case the spell goes wrong and I get sent there with you. It would be good to know a bit about how things work there just in case." He says, while he did make a good point, he was mostly just curious.
Dawn smirked, "Sure..." she said, slowly explaining what she knew of her two leaders from her foalhood memories. She started to suspect he wasn't from her world, both from the need to explain what every foal knew, but also how he said it at the end. "And that's about all I really remember honestly."
"Hmm, Princesses that control the sun and moon, interesting." He says as he puts his hooves in a thinking pose, "Where I'm from the nature of my world is governed by Twelve spirits. The Spirits of Fire, Water, Sky, and Earth govern the basic elements. Then above them are the spirits of Light, Dark, Life, and Death. And finally, the spirits that govern all, The spirits of the moon and the sun." He explains, "Just knowing about them is the easy part, finding them is the hard part."
Dawn hummed her interest, "Are they ponies still like our princesses?"
"I have never seen them myself, so I can't say, though I would assume The sun spirit, Sol, would take the form of an alicorn, and so would... Oh gods! I just realized that the moon princess from your world and the moon spirit from mine have the same name!" He says as he laughs at the Luna revelation.
"You only just figured that out!?" Dawn laughed, eventually sighing before speaking through her smile, "You know... this really makes me wonder... what if all the worlds have these similarities... that there's something in common no matter where you go? Wouldn't that be somethin'?"
Cyrus drinks what's left of the soup in his bowl before answering, "Ahh, yeah it would. Our worlds may be different in some ways, but we're the same in others." He says with a smile.
Dawn smiled, taking a deep breath and letting it out, "You know... I'd be tempted to go to your world first if we could, visit your place before I go to my home, figure out a good way to go back and forth so we could visit.... what do you think?"
"Whether it's yours or mine first, it is still a great idea," Cyrus says as he thinks about it. Though wonders if she will freak out like he did when she becomes a human, he thinks he'll cross that road when he comes to it.
Dawn nods, "It's a promise... Anything else I should know?"
"Hmm. No, nothing at the moment," Cyrus says as he is trying to think of anything else she should know.
Dawn stretched out, spreading each leg individually before putting out the fire, "Well, we'd better head back to the kingdom sometime today... "
"True, we still have a naysayer to catch," Cyrus says as he remembers the pony who was spreading rumors about him, causing unease to the people. He doesn't exactly care what others think about him per say, but he can't forgive them for spreading anxiety throughout the kingdom. "Second I catch him I am putting him in a dungeon," he says as he gets up to get ready to march.
Dawn smirked and nodded, ready to help him with this issue
Dawn and Cyrus returned to the kingdom, and she enjoyed the quaintness of the place, yet she couldn't help but notice that there were groups that gave them frowns or scowls. Cyrus had given them the order to address this, but she didn't know what to expect.
"Cyrus, what's going on with this pony or group of ponies?"
"Well, it was before you and everyone else joined that me and my previous comrades found this pony just telling everyone how me and my friends are not to be trusted and other negative things. We tried to clear up any misunderstandings we thought he had for us, but it turned out it might be that he might have a personal vendetta against me. Either that or he might be trying to spread anxiety over the kingdom, I just don't know." He says. He is more serious right now than he was back at the camp.
Dawn nodded. "Either way, he's trying to cause trouble. Know anything about what they've been saying? Anything specific?”
"Basically, from what I can tell, any good intentions we have been doing are being twisted into lies to convince the people that we are not to be trusted. A giant turtle we dispatched so that the fishermen could fish in peace, he made it look like we were attacking the local wildlife for no reason. Then another time when we saved a pony from a werewolf attack, we kept the said pony under custody to make sure he wasn't infected, only for the stallion to twist that as well. I personally don't care what Ponies think of me. Hell, I would encourage ponies having their own opinions. What I can't stand is said opinions being used to make my subjects uneasy." Cyrus explained.
Dawn growled, almost uncharacteristically as she said, "I hate those types. Tearing down the success of others, often to turn themselves into a hero or martyr for their own agenda. This will need to be handled with tact. Any ideas?" She asked, already thinking of a couple ideas.
"I want to have him arrested for the most part, but I doubt doing just that would be enough to stop him. If he persists, then I probably won't have much choice but to resort to executing him as an example to the Kingdom, and I really don't want to resort to that." Cyrus says, his face showed that he was not a big fan of the Idea.
Dawn smirked, "Yes, don't give them the martyrdom they seek. What if, upon being caught, we gave them a mission? In front of everypony, if they want to be a hero, they can't refuse... I'm not sure what that mission would be... but give ‘em something that would show the ponies the truth, that we want to do good, and give them an opportunity... if they refuse, then you question their character... what do you think?"
"I suppose that could work, if the reason he is doing this is to spite me, he will probably refuse, proving he isn't saying what he says for the good of the kingdom." Cyrus says as they continue to walk, thinking of what sort of mission he should give. It shouldn’t be something absurd that anyone would refuse, but not something too easy that anyone would accept.
Dawn nodded, "You can't give any followers ammunition to his cause, or else doubts stick in their minds and it can take a decade to fix it. " She then smirked, "What if he were head of an expedition to protect the wildlife we're dealing with? I still remember a tree we didn't do well with…"
Cyrus thought for a moment, "I suppose that can work, if the wildlife is truly what he says it is, then he should not have a problem accepting. If he refuses, it will start putting doubts in his followers and they may start questioning him... this could work." Cyrus says as a smile shows up on his face, "The best way to prove your point is with action, if you can't back your words with action, then you have no reason to complain and no right to criticize."
Dawn nodded, "Yep. Seems like you're really taking that to heart. Ever need any help, I'll back you up, no questions asked."
"I will count on you whenever I need it, Dawn," Cyrus says, he enjoys talking to Dawn, at the very least she listens to him, unlike everyone else. He worried that might be due to him being a pushover though.
Dawn wasn't aware of those doubts or thoughts, and didn't really think of him as a pushover, but she did see a bit of herself in him in a way. She even wanted to show him the path she used to keep herself on the way to the goal she cared about most.