//------------------------------//
// 4: A near death experience 
// Story: Adventures in Kingmaker 
// by Meadow_Dawn 
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Cyrus was carrying young Tig on his back, he managed to calm the young foal down enough to the point where he falls unconscious due to exhaustion. Cyrus can tell he has been through a lot especially since he had been missing for a month. "I still can't believe that worked." He says to himself as he heads to the cart to drop Tig off, glad that most of them got out of this battle unscathed.

Dawn nodded, having already cast her healing spell on their batpony companion.  She was weary, especially having also needed to gather the remnants of their feline companion who fell to the alligator, in the hopes that he could be resurrected.  "You did well... I was really scared back there.  Two alligators and that... thing... just you and me and my mind going blank and not even remembering half the spells I had available to me... That was incredibly clever of you." She said, kissing him on the cheek before going to the front to help pull the cart and get a move onward to safer lands while their gryphon companion helped to guard and keep watch along the journey.

Cyrus flinched at the kiss, "Uh, yeah... I was grasping at straws there, I really thought he was going to see through that." He says as he helps pull the cart as well after setting Tig in the back in as comfortable a position as he could, he really wanted to bring Jus'tav back to life, he wasn't willing to lose another companion. "To think they regarded that wisp as the spirit of a great warrior, I never would have guessed."

Dawn nodded from the front, having just secured herself to one of the two pulling stations, "All the same, I'm glad that we weren't all food today.  Come, get everyone situated and let's get this cart moving so we can get them to safety and find a good cleric for him."

"Right." Cyrus says as he gives the order to march with haste, he and Dawn pulled the cart from the ground, while Grim Glider pulled from the air, Cyrus found out that this entire mess was her doing and roped her in to help, much to her dismay. They made good progress in how far they managed to travel in a day, they stopped by Tig's home since it was on the way and Cyrus personally delivered the foal to his parents. They were overjoyed to see their son safe and home, "Sorry it took so long." Cyrus says with a smile on his face. They had nothing to offer, but the father told Cyrus that he will let his family and friends know of his kindness.  They offered to let them spend the night there, but Cyrus had to decline, he had no time to waste. They managed to go a few more miles until they had to stop for the night, setting up camp.

Dawn was bone tired so soon after having gotten so much combat and then so much hard labor in.  She tried to remember how to cast the spell for a substitute of good rest, just so they could have her on watch as their only real defensible pony, but she barely got her tent laid down on the ground along her bedroll before she climbed into it and laid in that bedroll with her tent as her pillow for her head.  She felt a little guilty about it truthfully, and she wanted to be able to talk with Cyrus, but she was so tired.  She laid there, expecting to fall asleep, only to sigh in frustration.  her body was tired but now her mind refused to rest.

Cyrus volunteered for first watch, he knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep immediately with what he just went through. When he saw that alligator approach, he was honestly scared, just like that day with the owlbear, he only intended to heal Dawn incase the Alligator was going to follow him. He didn't expect her go out and fight it, and when he saw Jus'tav's mangled body, he was afraid he was going to lose everyone again, just like how he lost his friends to the owlbear. He knew that fear was keeping him awake, yet he couldn’t help it, it almost happened again. When he was sure everyone was asleep, he let that fear show on his face. When he saw the other alligator and the giant lizardmen approach Dawn, he knew she wouldn't be able to take them alone, yet he couldn’t move. It was at that moment he remembered those lizardmen referring to the wisp as their god. He then put his prankster abilities to the test and conjured a copy of the wisp that he and Dawn killed and sent it out, hoping to scare the Lizardman away. His fear intensified when the Lizardman didn’t go away and instead begged for the fake wisp for its aid. He thought long and hard for a way to save Dawn, eventually he managed to get an idea, he made the wisp retreat, making it refuse the lizardman's plea. He was glad things turned out well in the end, but couldn’t help but fear the worst. Staring at the fire usually calmed him down, but it proved to be ineffective this time.

Dawn stirred slightly and spotted Cyrus brooding and tried to tell herself to talk to him when morning came, as she was just about to pass out.  Her dreams were fitful that night and she was glad to be woken from them when her shift came.  She soon got a small pot of a delicacy of ‘cocoa’ going and sipped it readily as she surveyed the surroundings.  She shivered and looked over to Cyrus as often as the circumstances would allow.  It almost seemed to her like he was sleeping just as poorly.  After another of her quarterly patrols around the outside of the campsite, she sat down, back to the low fire so she wouldn’t lose her night-adjusted sight, and put her hoof on the ground next to his cheek, using her wrist to stroke it and try to reassure him.  They went through a lot, but they did what they had to do and were still alive, with the ability to revive their companion.

Dawn continued to be oblivious to that fear he had, having heard of his fear of losing the people and ponies that have joined his party. In the end, she did what she had to.  She trained herself for exactly this reason, to fight and protect herself so she could return home.  Nothing was going to stop her, and ever since the discovery of somepony else who had that goal, she was going to ensure they could as well, just as she promised.

"Not again... please... not again... I don't want to be alone again." Cyrus says, he was sleep talking and was not aware of what he was saying, but it was evident that he was having a nightmare, "I'm sorry..." tears started to stream down his face.

Dawn scanned the skyline, feeling a sadness cross her heart and gently held him to her side, trying to help him find some comfort and help him ease from a nightmare to a more pleasant dream. She blushed lightly as she knew he was close to her flank, but she just wanted to see him happy again as she wiped the tears from his face and rubbed his forehead reassuringly.

Cyrus seemed to have calmed down at this, as he didn’t look as scared now. After half an hour he was starting to wake up, at first he pays no mind to his surroundings as he wakes up, "Not again..." he says, implying that this isn't the first time he had that nightmare. He looks around now and sees Dawn next to him, he wasn't aware of her watching him in his more pitiful state. "Morning." He greets simply.

Dawn continued to hold him gently, still wanting to let him find some peace, “Morning…” She hesitated, not really sure what she should say at this point, her sympathy in full swing.  She didn’t want to see him cry, but knew better than to speak of it.

"Ugh, I still ache all over from all that travel we did yesterday." He says as he gets up and stretches, some of his bones popped as he did, "Well that didn't sound good..." he comments. Bones popping during a stretch usually meant that one wasn't fully rested, at least to him it did. He hated that nightmare, it always pops up whenever he least expected it. He wondered if he should share it with somepony, to lessen that burden. But he quickly scrapped the idea as he didn't want to burden anyone with it. He looks at Dawn and goes, "Um... What's for breakfast?" He asks, the smile he gave was forced, it was pretty obvious to anyone who knew him well enough since they know what his genuine smiles looked like.

Dawn chuckles weakly and holds him close to her as she used her horn to crack some eggs into the skillet and pulled out some salted jerky they had prepared to warm up alongside them. “Something that needs less preparation than soup… we only have a week for Jus’tav.” She paused, not wanting to be tactless, but wanting to show she cared, “If you ever need to talk about things, I’m here for you.  Doesn’t hurt that glider is asleep in the cart either. So, please, just-” She let her voice trail off, not really sure just what it was that she needed to say.

"... I guess I can tell you." Cyrus says as he sat down, "Ever since that encounter with the Owlbear, I sometimes relive that moment where I just watched as my comrades are killed, frozen in fear." He says, tears started to run down his face once more. "I wanted to save them, I really did! But they told me to flee, to live. In the end, I did the most logical thing anypony would do, flee and leave them behind. You don't know how painful it is. Running while you hear the sounds of your friends being mutilated, echoing through the caverns as you escape. That nightmare always comes up every now and again, as though to tell me that I will always end up alone, no matter what I do." He stares at the ground. The memory was very painful to recall, his heart ached every time.

Dawn picked him up as best she could and hugged him close, letting him rest his head on her shoulder or neck.  She gently rocked him like a mother would, or at least she hoped like it, and tended to the breakfast quietly as she spoke just as softly, “Cyrus, you’re right.  I can’t imagine it, and your pain is great, I can feel it.” She said as she raised a hoof to his chest and held it there. “Your friends did the best possible thing for you, and they probably knew that if they didn’t, you wouldn’t get to live. Back there… I thought we almost got that point.  I didn’t see a way out, so I dashed out there if anything to buy you time so you could live, and take up my research maybe so you could make your way home.” She took a breath and kissed him on the forehead, taking the food and putting it on a plate, slowly putting it nearby. “You were really clever back there.  But even so, you need to realize something really important… Death happens, and what matters is how we react.  Your friends died protecting you because you are amazing and don’t know it yet.  You can keep moping about their death and make them sad, or you can buck up and be glad that they gave you the biggest gift they could.  After all, we got to meet, and your friends don’t want you sad, do they? I’m sure they understand you miss them, but your world doesn’t have to end with them, does it?”

"You're right... I know you're right, I try to live for them as well... but it still hurts in the end. I don't want to lose anypony else... I don't want to go through that again. I refuse to let it happen again. I especially don't want to lose you." He says as he looks Dawn in the eyes, both of their green eyes meeting. "You're my closest friend here, and we said we would go home together. Maybe I sound childish right now, but I refuse to lose you and go alone. We will get through this together, no matter what. I owe it to Aegeon and Hilde to live, but I swore not to let that tragedy happen again, and I swore to avenge them when the time is right. I can't afford to die now, nor allow anyone else to die before it is slain." He says, most of his sadness seems to have been replaced with determination.

Dawn quietly nodded, “so, let’s go ahead and keep training so we don’t lose anypony else, and make sure your friends smile when we get to your home in one piece. By the way,” She chuckled, “Better eat your breakfast before your jerky becomes too inedible.”

Cyrus looks at his plate and laughs, "I probably should, shouldn’t I?" He asks as he picks up his plate with his hooves and used his magic for his utensils to eat. "Thanks for listening to me, I really needed to get that out of my chest. And as you said, we'll train to prevent it from happening again, so let's eat and get ready to move again, Jus'tav isn't going to revive himself." He says, his smile returned to his face. "You know, I wonder if some poor bloke is trying to draw my sword, they will be awfully disappointed to learn it won't get out of its sheath, and even then it won't kill anything because it will be blunt  and harmless to anypony unless I use it." He says thinking about it, he laughs at the thought of some random pony’s attempt to use the blade.

Dawn blinked and suddenly got an idea. “You know… If it has been found, there’s probably rumors floating around about it.  Why not, next time we’re in the kingdom, ask if anyone’s heard of a sword that refuses to work for anypony? If not, then why don’t we spread the rumor that there’s a mystical magical sword of whatever properties that will be sure to grab attention? That way, once it’s found, it’s just a matter of going there and then soak up the drama from you effortlessly drawing it and putting it into your sheath.” She giggled and added as she headed over to the cart, “If you really wanted to be an ass, you could say, ‘Oh, that’s where I left it.  Sorry!’ and treat it like it was no big deal!”

Cyrus laughs at the suggestion, "Who knows, maybe someone did find it but won't want to give it up, I mean the guard does look like it is made of gold, they might probably keep it as a decorative... well we have nothing to lose for trying it, so we'll see." Cyrus says as finishes his breakfast and goes with her, after the others wake up, and had their breakfast, Cyrus set them up and ordered the march, with the same set up as before, which Glider was not happy about, it takes them five more days to arrive at the town, they went to the local clergy to find someone who can resurrect their fallen companion, to which they do, they were told to leave Jus'tav's remains there for the night and the ritual will commence in the morning as preparations need to be made.

Everyone stayed at the Inn and each had their own room. Cyrus was in his room thinking of how to use a shield eventually, it was possible for him to use them back where he was from, but here they always got in his way. He was also thinking about strategies to use in the marathon of the game he played with Dawn before, because they always exhausted themselves to the point they couldn't play. He dared not write any of his game plans down as one never knew who could end up prying in their things... either that or he would end up accidentally leaving them out for the world to see, he wasn't going to risk it.

Dawn knocked on his door, carrying the board game and figuring he was present.  She learned to really enjoy these moments together, and having him sleep in her bed was a prize she looked forward to teasing him about later. She was relieved that they didn't have to worry about Jus'tav getting revived anymore, and was in a suitably good mood.

Cyrus goes to open the door, "Come in, I was expecting you." he says as he lets Dawn into his room, all the rooms were pretty much the same. "Ready to start our 12 game marathon?" Cyrus asks, ready to play so many matches in a row, he had a lot of fun last time, so he was excited.

Dawn smirks, "No, we're doing just one, MAYBE two like we originally agreed... After all, we have to study to get our spells readied and memorized for tomorrow, just in case.  I will refuse to play you more than that, no matter how much you may throw a tantrum~"

"Fair enough." Cyrus says with a shrug, slightly disappointed, "I am not intending to lose anymore than I already did, so I hope you’re ready." he says once the board and pieces were put down and he starts setting up his pieces, he was going to match Dawn's experience with the game with his cleverness, he didn't get away with a lot of pranks from just running away after all.

Dawn smirked, intending to be a lot more devious and misleading.  She placed her pieces on the board and made sure that two of her three highest ranked officers were hidden behind bombs, while the highest was near the flag, as was a many scouts that could detect or catch his spy, assuming the bombs failed. “Are you ready to be my pillow tonight?” she teased.

"You wish." He says as he starts by moving one his edge pieces one step forward. his strategy was incredibly risky as he placed his flag near the top, with four of his strongest units surrounding it, with the scouts close by to catch the spy, he knew what he was doing was possibly fool hardy, but if he can trick Dawn into thinking the flag was somewhere else, he might win.

Dawn smiled, instantly analyzing each piece that he did and didn’t move.  She played cautiously, making calculated low ranking unit losses so she could send just the right unit in to kill them.  If they died, she noted the higher ranking unit and maneuvered herself to flank him on both sides.  She always seemed to have a move or two planned ahead for each situation, and rarely made a move that cost her more than she cost him.

Cyrus laced both sides of his flag squad's area with bombs, he hardly moved his scouts more than one space, since they can be recognized easily, he is still unfamiliar with the game despite the previous marathon they had. It was almost time to put his plan into motion.

Dawn had been keeping her eyes narrowed and watching carefully.  It was extremely common for flagged areas to be covered with bombs.  Only the foolish or insane kept none near their flag.  She only attacked units that moved and smiled, “I think I see what you’re doing….”

"Oh? And what am I doing?" Cyrus asks, keeping his eyes on the board, the biggest self imposed rule for himself whenever he does his pranks is to never react until the prank is done. he was very good at not making any weird expressions or gestures that would give him away.

Dawn continues to smile without answering, knowing that watching an opponent and where they're looking was almost always a clue for the inexperienced.  His focus always returned to two key points, and she intended to use it.  Carefully, she made her moves to advanced with a mixed set of units.  a bomb pair, a couple scouts for along the way that were still alive, and her upper tier units along with her spy.

Cyrus smirked on the inside, he hardly looked anywhere in the direction of his flag, he had a feeling what he does in the board is only half the battle, he continues what he does, leading her to a dead end.

Dawn continued to fight, and frowned heavily as she lost one of her two major players, her second highest rank.  She still had her third and first, but hadn’t captured his spy.  Her brows furrowed.  For all her genius, she was incredibly easy to read.

"Aaaaannnnnnnd.... that's the game." Cyrus said as he took the flag with a squad that consisted of the miner, spy and scout. He kept those three units out of any fights until the coast was clear for them to strike. "Told you I wasn't going to make it easy." he says with a smug look on his face.

Dawn laughed and bowed to him, “Very well… and where will I be sleeping tonight?”

"Hmm... I didn't think about that." Cyrus admits as didn't give much thought into it as all he was concerned with was winning this match.
Dawn chuckled and climbed up onto the bed next to him, leaning against him like before, “I see… Maybe we could read a book or something?”

"Well I have nothing better to do." Cyrus says as he grins, he always enjoys Dawn's company so he didn't mind.

Dawn chuckled and used magic to gather her books and pulled out a new one she had just purchased to read, laying out a few for him to have the option of reading himself.

Cyrus does take one himself and reads as well, he hardly took the time to read anything in this world, either because he would rather do something else or in the case of his current status, got sick of it because of the amount of paperwork he has to deal with. In this case though, he isn't complaining since he is curious about the books this world had to offer, he may as well see what he might have been missing this entire time.

Dawn herself was enjoying a tale of romance between an elf and a dragon who was protecting her from a clan of bugbear shapechangers. Some of the options included the more mundane, exploring what life might be like for a world without magic, while others included an alternate reality if magic worked differently than it currently did.  Titles such as “The Misenchanted Sword,” “Detective Joe,” and “Help for the Bedwetting Child” which was probably in there by mistake.

Cyrus picked a book titled "Chronicles of the emblem of flames: The dark dragon" and so far he was enjoying it. "So... Mars and I can relate, We're both princes, and we both have swords that can only be used by our respective families... which we both lost for one reason or another." He comments as he finished the prologue. "Though the main differences are that he is an earth pony, and I am a unicorn, he can't use magic while I can, and he has an older sister while I don't have any siblings, I freaking envy him on the last point." he says as he starts to read chapter 1.
Dawn hummed as she looked up at him, “I’m sorry, what were you saying?” She asked.  Clearly she was enjoying her book, “I see….” She bluffed as she looked down. “I hope to get to that sword book eventually.  The characters aren’t ponies for some reason, but I dunno, seems a bit different, so I’m sticking with the familiar for now.

"... Yeah, weird." Cyrus says hesitantly. Technically I'm not supposed to be a pony myself... but I guess that isn't important for now. He thought as he continued to read the book he had.

“Although…” Dawn spoke up, putting the book down as she continued to lean against him, “Can’t help but wonder what it’d be like… only two legs, no horn magic… what do you think?”

"Hmm... That is an interesting thought, rather curious myself." he says as he puts one hoof on his chin as he thought. ‘Gods this is getting awkward! I am denying myself damn it!’ his face never reflected what he felt in his thoughts, he just kept reading the book he had.

Dawn shrugged and leaned against him more, completely comfortable in his presence in light of all the hardships they endured.  Eventually, as another hour passed, she yawned and set her book down, staying nearby while her mind began to shut down.

Cyrus was in the middle of the fourth chapter when he started to feel drowsy, his horn magic dissipated and he fell asleep before he could put something to save his spot. He dreamed he was back home, back to being a human. He never forgot what it was like to walk on two legs and neither how it felt to have hands, the reason he didn't pick up a shield in this world was because he didn't know how it would work without his hands, plus he wasn't as used to using his telekinesis as Dawn is since she was a pony from the get go. Though reading the book gave him some ideas as to how it could work. Since he was asleep, he scooted closer to the nearest source of warmth, that being Dawn, as he was not aware of what he did in that state.

Dawn smiled gently as she caught the book for him and carefully moved the books onto the end table with a scrap piece of parchment used as his bookmark.  She smiled happily as he went close to her.  She laid him down carefully before taking the sheets bunched up near the foot of the bed and brought it up over them and tried not to giggle as she felt his hooves wrap around her body to hold her close before falling asleep herself.
The next morning Cyrus gets woken up by the sun's rays yet again, "Ugh, just when the dream was getting good too..." he says as he sat up drowsily, he looked around and saw that he slept with Dawn like he did back at the kingdom, I swear if she tries to pull that on me again, I am not going to be happy. 
Cyrus thought as he looked at her, he wondered if this was going to keep happening every time they finish one of their games, he swears he could hear rumors about them spreading before it even happens.

Dawn slept peacefully for a few more minutes, looking peaceful and oddly vulnerable compared to all those times she was out in adventuring gear.  She started to shift slowly and moved a hoof to her face, rubbing at her eyes before stretching.  She pulled back instantly once she felt his leg with hers and blushed, “O-oh! C-cyrus…. Right… H-how’d you sleep?”

"Pretty good all things considered." He says as he starts stretching as well. "Well we better get to the temple to get Jus'tav brought back, they should be done with preparations by now." Cyrus says as he got off the bed, then getting all of his stuff together since they only paid for that night.

Dawn nodded, slowly getting off the bed herself and gathering her things before leaving and trying to put her mind on the task of getting Jus’tav back to life.  She was soon suited up and readied to go at his side to go to the church, though her mind kept wandering to how that morning’s wakeup call was.  It felt nice to sleep in a bed, but even nicer not to dream of fires and family long gone.

Once the party arrived at the temple, the priest they paid to bring their dead companion back started the ritual. A holy light enveloped Jus'tav's dead remains and was putting him back together. Any pieces that were lost after his death regenerated to be as though he never lost those pieces in the first place. When Jus'tav suddenly sat up gasping for breath as his spirit came back to his body, Cyrus patted him on the back with his hoof with a big grin saying, "Welcome back!" He was incredibly happy to have his companion back.

Dawn smiled and nodded to him, “It really is good to have you back.  Sorry if we didn’t make it so well last time, but we’ll do better next time. We’ve been working hard to make sure that’s the case.”

Now with Jus'tav back from the dead, the group head back to the castle though it takes at least two days to get back, the first night they stopped for camp, Cyrus lost to Dawn because he got overconfident and made a dumb mistake. "Darn it!" he says as they were in Dawn's tent, "I can't believe I let you take my spy and general like that, argh!" He was not very happy he lost.

Dawn chuckled and tapped her sleeping bag, “You can take a guess as to where you’ll be sleeping tonight… I’ve already used my alertness spell on our guard.  They’ll be good without rest the whole time. Got your book handy?” She giggled as she thought to herself, ‘probably the only reason I really wanted that spell!’

"Yeah, I have it with me." Cyrus says as he pulled out the book he was reading at the inn. Because there was no longer an urgency for getting back, he was able to take it easy at the back of the wagon to read more of his book, he was currently in chapter 10, where Mars and his army must infiltrate a castle to rescue princess Crimson Glow, in order to free Princess Scarlet Claw from their enemy's hold on her. He was enjoying himself with that book, from what he's heard, there are currently three books out, and the one he is reading is the first one.

Dawn smiled and enjoyed her time together, listening to the fire crackle as their horns lit their books.  She eventually yawned and closed her book up, getting into the sleeping bag and looking up at Cyrus expectantly, as if he should join her in the bag in her tent.

Cyrus closes his book and looks at her, "Well... I did lose." He says simply and joins her in the sleeping bag. This is going to be awkward. He thought as he climbed in.

Dawn chuckled, “Yup… I wasn’t kidding when I said I wanted a warm body pillow.” She had this happy smile on her face that was transparent.  She had grown to enjoy his company a great deal, between all their study together, fights, spellcasting, and she didn’t pay him any mind this night when he got into the bag.  She zipped up the side and let the airy bag practically seal them in together from the neck down and shivered happily in place. “Good night Cyrus.”

"Good night." Cyrus says as he closed his eyes to sleep. At first it felt a bit awkward needing to sleep like this, he hardly uses a sleeping bag because of his habit of sleeping so close to the fire. But he guesses it is better to sleep in one this time since he is not close to the fire. He hated to admit it, but he was starting to get used to sleeping with Dawn, though the first time around was mostly due to them playing the game till they dropped. A smile grew on his face as he slept, for he was comfortable next to Dawn.

Dawn slept readily until morning, at which point she used her magic to bring her study materials close until Stalwart was ready to wake.  She knew she needed her spells ready for the day ahead, and blushed as he moved in his sleep, hoof going down to her lower belly, but trying to focus. After all, he was asleep and didn’t mean it intentionally.

Cyrus slept soundly throughout the night. Cyrus woke up about ten minutes after Dawn. He drowsily opened his eyes and tried to stretch like he always did, only to feel slightly cramped and his hoof going up some fur. He realized that he was in a sleeping bag and remembered he was sleeping in it with Dawn, he quickly retracted his hoof, "Er... Sorry!" Cyrus apologizes quickly, his fur going bright red.

Dawn chuckled and wiggled her legs, accidentally rubbing his own, “N-not a-“ she froze, realizing what was going on, “u-uhm… how’d you sleep?”

"Um, pretty good actually." Cyrus answers, he used his horn magic to open the sleeping bag, he needed space to stretch. He gets up and stretches himself. "Much better." He says after stretching, he uses his magic to get his spell book, he sits down and looks through all of the spells he learned so far.

Dawn chuckled, “Couldn’t wait to get away from your mare friend huh?”

"Er... what?" He asks confused, it took him a few seconds for it to register in his head, his face turned red again. "Uh... that was not the intention... wait what?" Cyrus asks again, he could have sworn she called herself his mare friend.

Dawn laughed and got up from the bag, “Nothing, nevermind.  You missed the joke.” She shook her body, shivering slightly in the crisp air and donned her clothes as she reviewed her spells.

"Er... right then." Cyrus says as he goes back to his spell book, choosing his spells, he always takes shield, that spell has saved his flank more times than he can count. Snowball is another choice he likes since there have been times he needed to stay away from the fray. other than those two, he always had a hard time choosing his spells.

Dawn finished quickly, nearly always sticking with the same spells over and over again.  She started to don her armor, when she saw him still studying.  She quietly trotted up behind him and gave him a surprise hug, draping her forelimbs over his shoulders while saying, “Hai there!”

Cyrus looked see Dawn, "Oh hai." He says with a grin, he went with a lot of his usual spells, including force sword in case the enemy's armor was too hard. After he finished he closes his book. "How ya doin?" He asks Dawn who was still hugging him.

Dawn chuckled and put her head on top of his and shrugged. “Not bad, hoping Jus’tav can cook breakfast this morning to any degree of success this time…”

Cyrus laughed, "It was his turn now wasn't it?" He says, he hopes the food doesn’t get burnt like last time. "Well, if it does go bad, at least we have rations to eat if it does."

Dawn nodded, “Yeah… oh well.  I’ve got plenty.  What’s on the agenda for today? We’ve saved the colt, are we going after that nay-sayer again or that forest drake or something new?”

"We are heading back to the castle right now to get any shopping done... while we look for the naysayer that is, he is a slippery bastard I'll give him that." Cyrus says as he thinks about it, "then we will probably try to kill that drake again. Then explore what's left."

Dawn nodded, "Sounds like a plan... though, I don't suppose anyone could make some drake-skin armor could they?" She asked in a fit of inspiration, stepping toward their tent flap.

"Hmm... not sure, maybe the smith back in the kingdom might, I am not too sure." Cyrus says exiting the tent with Dawn, he was hoping that breakfast was edible since Jus'tav didn't do a very good job last time.

Dawn frowned already at the breakfast… it was only half burnt, but was still crispy.  She had tactfully ignored the dish and proceeded to eat her ration, then turned near crimson when glider asked how their ‘sleep’ was.  Glider, being the tactful pony she was, practically asked her in particular what she’d name the prince or princess after their ‘fun’ of last night. “For the last time! We didn’t do anything but play a board game!”

'... why do I have such nosey retainers?' Cyrus asked himself, he was so annoyed that it helped him eat the half burnt breakfast. It didn't stop his face from going slightly red though. "It's as Dawn says, we played a board game and nothing more." He said as he finished. "Anyway, once everyone finishes their breakfast, we will head out. You are still on pulling duty Glider, you still haven't worked off your sentence." Cyrus said with a glare, he still hasn't forgiven Glider for the little mishap that almost cost them Jus'tav and all their lives. Glider groans because she has been doing nothing but pulling the cart for the past week.

Dawn smirks but decides to help out by pulling the cart along with them, thinking over how the combined magics might work if they mastered other spells together.

The party had arrived at the castle just as the sun was setting, after eating, Cyrus was out in his usual practice area practicing his spell strikes, he found he and dawn have yet to practice combining their spells after the lizardman incident. He knew they were close to perfecting it, they just needed to go at it some more.

Dawn stuck by Cyrus’ side after they arrived, tired, but grateful for a home to return to. “Home sweet home… I wonder if it’ll ever be finished…”

"With that owlbear around... not likely." Cyrus says as he swings his uncharged blade, "We'll have to take it down before the end of the month, or else we might not have the funds to rebuild everything again." he says while swinging.

Dawn nodded, continuing her magical concentrations, practicing her ice and lightning on her blade and stabbing or slashing at a wood log to test its effectiveness.  “Why aren’t we-“ she stopped, remembering the reason why that might be easier said than done. “Well, what can we do to keep it from happening?”

"Well... we can go around exploring areas we haven't been to yet, and get stronger exploring them, then there are several quests we can do to get funds to equip ourselves for the fight. Then there is the combining our magic we have yet to perfect." Cyrus lists off, "Speaking of equipment, I have to remember to buy a breastplate tomorrow before we set off."

Dawn nodded, “Definitely need you to have as much protection as possible… After all, who will else would I play board games with?” She laughed and then asked, “You ready for another try at that spell combining?”

Cyrus takes one final swing before answering, "I thought you'd never ask." he says as he takes his position. "Ok, we just need to get the timing and amount of power to put in at once. You ready?" he asked as he readied his stance, ready to strike the log in front of him.
Dawn nodded, “Lets do this!” She said, readying herself to cast, intent to get him up to the needed power and holding it there for those few crucial seconds.

Once Dawn said she was ready, Cyrus chanted the spell and his sword glowed with electricity and swung the blade at the log.

Dawn surged it up to that practiced level of magic output, trying to get it there fast but without getting it higher than it should, hearing the familiar cackle and watching it strike the log.

When the log was struck with the blade, it was being electrocuted as the blade cleaved into it, the log was pitch black after the magic died down. Cyrus picked up one of the halves with his magic after he sheathed his sword, "I think we did it!" he says as he holds it up with his magic.

Dawn squees loudly with delight and practically jumps on him in her excitement at their success. "We did it, we did it we did it!"
"Whoa!" Cyrus falls over at the sudden glomp, he laughs as he was happy that they finally got it down. "Yup! We did it!" He says with a smile on his face.

Dawn laughs giddily before getting off of him and clearing her throat “w-well, it’s about time!” She said, trying to stay composed while they basked in the glow of success.

"Yeah, it is, I am not going to lose though." Cyrus says as he gets up, he is determined to win the game for the night. "this success has me pumped so I won't lose!"

Dawn smirked, “Funny, I was about to say the same thing!” She said, leading the way to her room to give that board game yet another go.  They played, and while it got very close, she lost to the king by leaving one side exposed and a scout was able to capture the flag!

"And I win, told ya I wasn't going to lose." Cyrus said with a grin on his face, "That makes two wins for me and one for you... not counting all the games prior." Cyrus said as he used his magic to write a score page in a blank journal he had.

Dawn frowned, “Didn’t expect you to get so good so quickly…” She sighed and bowed to him like before, “So, where would you wish for me to sleep, King Cyrus?” She giggled lightly, knowing he didn’t like those titles.

"Ugh, you know how I hate formalities, especially between friends." Cyrus says looking a little annoyed. "For that you are sleeping in my room." Cyrus wasn't thinking when he said that.

Dawn smirked, “I know Cyrus, I’m just teasing.” She said as she put the game away. “After you~” she said, suggesting he should go to his room.  If she were honest with herself, the system of betting winner choose where loser sleeps was turning out quite well!

Very well." Cyrus said as he lead the way to his room, while the room was grand, there were some things scattered around, "Uh, sorry about the mess." he says as he clears some things off the floor, Dawn steps on a note book, in it were sketches of ponies and others with names on them, she recognizes the ones on the later pages and even sees a sketch of herself in it.

Dawn paused and picked it up, looking at that page of herself and smiled as she put it down on a desk nearby, "you make me look much prettier than i really am. Do you enjoy drawing?"

"Huh? Oh, uh... kind of. I mostly just draw whatever companions I have in this world, but I guess if you liked your entry, then I guess I did a good job." Cyrus says as he scratches the back of his head, it was clear he never intended to show the journal in the first place. "Anyway make yourself at home I guess." He says as he climbs on the bed and starts reading his book.

Dawn laughed, "don't tempt me or i might just start cleaning your room!" She shook her head, "its funny really, i feel the need to clean when with others, but my own room's allowed to be a mess... im such a hypocrite." She chuckled as she climbed up near the foot of the bed to read her own book

"Please don't, last time the servants cleaned my room, some of my stuff was missing because they thought they were junk." Cyrus says as he did not like the idea of others moving his things around. "Anyway, I guess we can cross mastering the combine magics from the list of things to do since we just mastered it."

Dawn smirked, "sounds good to me! I feel the same on my room. We have a system and it works," she said as she opened her book

"At least we agree on something." Cyrus said grinning as he continues to read his. He was getting close to the end of his book by the time he felt drowsiness hit, "I don't know about you, but I'm gonna sleep." he says as he puts his book away. "Good night." Cyrus then gets comfortable on the bed and sleeps.

Dawn read just a little more, then shivering in the chilled wintery air, pulled up the covers over them both as she left herself drift to sleep.

As before, Cyrus instinctively seeks the nearest source of warmth, that again being Dawn. He then pulls her closer to himself like he always did, never aware of what he does in his sleep. He smiles as he feels the warmth of his companion right next to him.

Dawn wiggled in place and sighed, happy for the companionship, even if glider loved to make them feel awkward for it. She fell asleep thinking on that initial bet and thought, "worth it" before being lost to dreams of warm clouds and back massages.

In the morning, Cyrus wakes from the sunlight pouring in from the window, he reluctantly opens his eyes. I swear, once this castle is finished, I will have blinds on my window and will have the last laugh, mark my words you damn ball of fire. Cyrus thought as he glares at the window. He drowsily gets up, he pretty much stopped questioning Dawn sleeping with him at this point, both didn't seem to mind this and it doesn't seem to matter who wins the game at the moment since the outcome ends up like this regardless. he looks into his spell book and sees one of the new spells he jotted down, the fly spell. he stares at it then looks at the window, he decides that now would be the perfect time to test the new spell. He carefully gets out of bed to not wake Dawn, walks up to the window and chants the spell, from his back grew ethereal wings of magic in a red color as that is the usual color his magic comes out as in this world. He first sees how he can control the wings, eventually figuring out it was with his mind since they were magic wings. He backs up a little before going for a running start, jumps at the last possible second, and spreads his ethereal wings once he is out of the window. He was gliding at first since he wasn't moving his wings, but then he angles them to make himself ascend. "Whooohoooo!!!" He shouts as he went higher, however he forgot that he was supposed to flap his wings as well, so he started to fall, "OH CRAP!!!" he shouts as he falls into some trees, breaking his fall.

Dawn stirred heavily, being quite sluggish but swore she heard Cyrus' voice.  She reached over to where he had been sleeping, only to feel alarmed that his spot, while warm, was empty.  She bolted up and rushed around the room, trying to figure out where he went.

"Ow... that was rough." Cyrus says as he is lying on a branch.  Aside from several bruises and a hurt back, he was perfectly fine, he checks his ethereal wings to see if they're broken, which they weren't. "Ok, flap wings, got it." He says as he prepares to jump yet again. He jumps with his wings spread like before, this time he flaps them every so often to stay air born, though rather clumsily. "Easy, easy." He says to himself trying to keep himself in the air.

Dawn tried to keep calm, after all, there wasn’t that much trouble he could get into, right?  She yawned, stretched, and headed over to the window, looking out idly without intending to look for anything in particular.

Cyrus's hoof came up and grabbed on the edge of his window, he was flapping his wings hard trying to stay airborne, "How do pegasi make this look easy!?!" he says while he struggles, he is slowly rising to the window.

Dawn nearly jumps out of her skin when she suddenly spots Cyrus with wings! “C-cyrus!? What the hells!”

"Uh... hi Dawn. I felt a little adventurous, so I decided to try out the fly spell, not as easy to use as I thought." He says with a forced grin and as nonchalantly as possible.

Dawn stared openly at him, then looked down and saw some broken wood below and smirked, “I can imagine… Still, couldn’t wait to find out what it’s like to be an Alicorn huh?”

"Uh... no I just wanted to see what it was like to fly, we are the only two who couldn't till now." He says as he puts his other hoof on the window and starts to pull himself up with the slight aid of his ethereal wings.

Dawn laughed and used her own hooves to pull him up as well, only to use too much of her own weight and toppled over backward, pulling him on top of her.  In spite of it, she started laughing at herself even more than she already had been.

Cyrus laughed as well since his flying was really bad. "Well that was fun." He comments before he realized he was on top of Dawn, "Um... Uh... sorry!" He says as he gets off though the red ethereal wings have yet to dissipate. His face was red from the position they were both in while he was picking out twigs and leaves from his mane and tail, the latter being the only thing he was still not used to having.

Dawn smiled and slowly got up, looking over his wings, “Red… I wonder why red… your coat is white, and your tail… gods it’s a mess! Don’t you ever brush it?”

"...No, I don't." He says hesitantly as he didn’t want to admit he completely forgot it's existence despite it being attached to him.

Dawn laughed and shook her head, “Geeze… Didn’t your mother teach you about how to care for your tail, fur, or anything?” She let out a sigh through her smile and said, “Come on. Can’t have you make a bad impression on somepony just because you don’t know any basic grooming…”

"Alright." He says as he followed Dawn, he moved the ethereal wings about to see how much control he had over them. Though he couldn’t do it too long as his wings unmateralized since the spell wore off. "Aw." Cyrus says disappointed as he was starting to get the hang of controlling them.

Dawn chuckled, “You know, if you were a ‘proper’ prince, you would probably have wings all the time.  Or at least, I think so.  Nopony’s seen a male Alicorn though…” she said, getting out her spare brushes and starting to use one on his coat from the neck down his body.

"Maybe I just wasn't meant to be an alicorn or maybe I just haven't earned them yet... who knows." Cyrus says as he shrugs, he wouldn’t have known anyway since he wasn't supposed to be a pony in the first place.

Dawn laughed, “No idea… but maybe one day.  I haven’t seen you smile so much since you won that game against me for the first time.”

"Well its not too surprising when you have to consider I was afraid, alone, confused, and just flat out home sick." Cyrus points out. "I guess I'm just happy to find somepony who understands what I'm going through, especially since you're no different in terms of being in an unfamiliar world." He then looks at the mark he had on his flank, a blade infused with fire, he wondered why he had that, he was never able to figure it out.

Dawn nodded and continued to brush, getting many knots sorted out, occassionally painfully. She studied that mark as she did before asking, "Hey Cyrus? How did your parents choose your name?"

"Uh... oh my name?" He asked as he came back to reality, "Well, I guess my dad just wanted to name me after the kingdom I guess, I never asked." He admitted. He never did wonder why his parents called him that. "And you?"

Dawn nodded, thinking as she brushed his midsection toward his back flank, “I was named Meadow because of my coat of fur. When I got my cutie mark and we celebrated my cuteseanera, I was called Meadow Dawn after that, and it kinda stuck.  My mark always reminds me that there’s somepony out there who needs a good smile, a guiding light of sorts, and I trust that’s true for me as I try to return home….”

"I see... I suppose that was true in my case. Thought mine would have reflected my nature, but I guess reflecting how I fight works too." He says. He still didn’t know what he was talking about, he just said it because it made sense to him.

Dawn looks at him curiously, “Y-you… don’t know what a cutie mark is do you.”

"Huh?" He asks.

Dawn looked at him more seriously, “I’ve kinda figured something’s been off here…. Level with me… Were you always a pony?” She asked.  She knew it was a long shot, but so much of what he did and didn’t do as a pony always seemed off.  How he handled his weapon, how he tried to grab things with his hooves still despite being a unicorn and being able to use horn magic, and with him being from another world, she just couldn’t shake this feeling that he knew either a lot more or a lot less than he let on.

His head drooped down and the shadows of his mane covered his eyes. "Does it matter?" He asks, there was a bit of fear in his voice and a bit of sadness, as though he was scared of the outcome of what would happen if he did tell her.

Dawn hugged, trying to reassure him as best she could.  She interpreted his answer as a definitive ‘yes’ and did what she could to help. “Geeze… no wonder you’re so out of sorts… To me, it doesn’t really matter that much, but it explains a bit.” She paused, trying to think of just what else she could really say. “Sorry if I upset you by asking…”

"Please don't ask me about it again, it's hard enough to get used to what I am without thinking about what I truly am." Cyrus says soberly, "Plus it's not something I want to talk about."

Dawn nodded, feeling rather guilty for having brought it up at all, and continued to focus on brushing down his flanks while dwelling on the subject.  She realized she struck a sore nerve, and didn’t think it was going to be that hard on him, but in hindsight, realized just how stupid that was.  She barely mumbled a “sorry” before continuing her task, hoping this didn’t ruin their friendship.

"Its fine, its not like I wasn't expecting it to come eventually, I mean with how often you're with me... it was only a matter of time." He says, looking a bit more depressed, "I just don't want to lose my closest friend here, and I felt that truth would have made you leave me." he admits, his fear was still there.

Dawn sighed in relief and then moved to in front of him and gave him a kiss with her eyes closed.  She held it for a couple seconds before chuckling weakly, trying to sound more confident than she felt, ‘Y-you won’t get rid of me that easily… I mean really, we’ve done how much together already? C-come on…” She said, trying hard to keep her hooves on the ground for fear they’d start shaking.  She felt horrid, as if he thought that she would leave.  Had she done that bad a job showing him what she was truly like?

Cyrus was not expecting the kiss, when she finished, he had to ask, "So... you really don't mind that I am not really what I am?" he asked, his eyes peering from the shadows of his mane at Dawn, as though scared that she wasn't telling the truth, his green eyes looking into her's.

Dawn shook her head, “N-not yet anyway… I honestly don’t know what I’d think if I did see you as something else, but… it doesn’t change how you’d act right?”

"Last I checked before coming here, I don't think I've changed at all, my body may be different," Cryus says as he put his hoof on his chest, "but my heart won't change for that reason." he says as he hugs Dawn, "I'm just glad you won't think of me any different." Cyrus says with tears streaming down his eyes, relieved that this wouldn't change anything between them.

Dawn nodded, unable to speak and tearing up herself.  She had worried she had said the wrong thing at the wrong time again, and now she knew that it was not the case.  She may not know what he had been like, but now she knew not to talk of it and held him close, because she treasured her friend and was glad he would still stick around.

Cyrus held her for a few more minutes before letting go, "I guess you were still doing something." he said with a small smile as he plucked another twig from his tail with his horn magic.

Dawn chuckled weakly and brushed her eyes  with her wrist before going back to stroking his flank with the appropriate tools, “Y-yeah… we’ll get you sorted out in the end. If anyone gives you a hard time, come to me ok?”

"Right, you'll be the first to know." Cyrus says with a small chuckle, You know, being a pony isn't so bad... at least I have someone I can count on here... still doesn't beat being human though. He thought as he continued to pull more debris from his tail.

Dawn nods, "I'll help you out as best I can, that's for sure." She said, looking at his tail and shook her head, "Ok... this... looks like it's gonna hurt.  It's so tangled I'm surprised nopony noticed before now... then again, neither had I... Mind sitting down on the edge of a chair or your bed? This might take a bit..."

"Uh... sure." Cyrus says as he climbs on the bed like Dawn asks, he was not sure he wanted his tail to be groomed because of Dawn's comment.

Dawn took a deep breath, placed a blanket over his hindside for his own privacy, and then started to brush from the top, but when it tugged too much she tried going from the end, using part of her grip on the brush and straightening out the tail down low and working her way to the end each time, the other part gripping the hair above it so it wouldn’t hurt when she had to be more forceful.

Cyrus felt some of it, and it hurt, "OW, ow, ow, ow, ow," He did not think something like this would hurt. Ok, I take back what I said, being a pony is not good after all! He thought as it almost felt like his tail was being pulled off.

Dawn stopped and looked up to him, “Sorry… gods, your tail is a mess…. If we want to take care of it and not risk hurting you, we might have to just cut it shorter, and focus on brushing it above a certain point, then once it’s long enough to still give you some privacy, cut that part off and go back to maintenance…” She sighed and tried to take it smaller pieces at a time, not the whole tail, but small bundles at a time to make it infinitely more bearable.

"Yeah... that sounds better..." he says as he is relieved that it wasn't hurting anymore, "I don't even know why my tail is so long in the first place." Cyrus commented as Dawn continued to brush his tail.

Dawn chuckled, "Probably because you didn't have anypony to learn about how to handle that I imagine... any idea how long you want your tail?"

"I don't know, as long as its easy to manage, seriously its been that long since I got here." Cyrus says looking at his tail.

Dawn laughed briefly, “I guarantee you THAT’s not true.  Specially if you’ve been here long enough to become king… Honestly, I’m thinking right about halfway down to the ground would be about right for you.  Long enough for privacy, swatting flies, yet short enough to not get muddied up by the ground and dirt or mud unless you take another tumble.”

"That sounds good I guess, You're the expert." Cyrus says leaving it to Dawn's better judgment. "Will probably start brushing it every so often now so that I don't have to go through that again." Cyrus says cringing at pain from earlier.

Dawn nods, grabbing some scissors and carefully snipping at it at as close to an even length as she could manage before playfully patting him on the rump, “Sounds like a plan.  Your royal tail has been trimmed.  Climb on down and let me know what you think of it and I’ll try to keep it in mind for next time.”

Cyrus climbed down from the bed to look at his tail, "Yeah I think this looks good, might miss its original length, but eh, I think I prefer it like this." Cyrus says as he continues to examine his tail.

Dawn smirked, “Cyrus… if you stay like you are for about a year or so, you’ll practically get it down to the old length anyway.  How long since you came to this world and… well…” She asked, trying not to so directly remind him of whatever he was beforehand.

"Um... been here for a bit more than half a year now." Cyrus says as he tries to remember how long its been. "Well I doubt we'll stay here for that long. but good to know in case we do." Cyrus says with a grin, "Anyway we should get going and get some breakfast, we can't go looking for a naysayer on an empty stomach." He says with a smile.

Dawn smirked, “Yeah… let’s eat.  Though, for future reference, it’s taken me a good 2-3 years to get everything I have now, and I fully expect this to take another year or two to get the materials I’ve encountered so far, not counting any adjustments for bringing you with. So, better pony up and get ready to stick around this world with a good friend for a while longer.”

"Wouldn't have it any other way Dawn." Cyrus says with a grin, as long as he has dawn as his companion, he wouldn't mind waiting a few more years, he wasn't going to be alone for a while, and he prefers it that way.

Dawn laughed as she waited for him by his door, “So, about that flight spell…”