Beyond the Portal II: Flames of War

by Firestar463

Chapter 14

Dawn broke over the countryside, filling the sky with hues of red and pink as the sun rose over the horizon. Those rays of light soon found their way past the white stone walls of Ironwall, through the branches and into the window of Kyle’s bedroom. They crept up the floor and onto his bed, landing upon his pillow where his head normally rested.

Except he wasn’t there.

Instead, he was already up and about. The early morning didn’t seem to bother him despite his late return to Ironwall, most likely due to the late-afternoon nap he had taken the day before. His morning coffee had already been brewed and drunk, and now he stood in his armor upon the training grounds.

He narrowed his eyes at the training dummy before him - little more than a few planks of wood arranged into an upper body and arms and a sack of flour for a head, with a crude Horde symbol painted upon it. Though mere wood, it was a solid construction, able to withstand heavy blows for a respectable duration. Near the bottom of the post, a steel plate was anchored into the ground by four rivets to hold it solidly in place. Kyle took a deep breath and jabbed with his right hand.

His strike sent a dull thud echoing through the wood, and the dummy shook violently from the force of the impact. A strong jab, and yet he was clearly not satisfied. His arm had shaken almost as much as the training dummy, indicating that his strike wasn’t dead-on, and he knew that his blow hadn’t had nearly as much force behind it as it should have. He frowned and jabbed forward again. Once more, the wood trembled under his blow, and once more he found himself dissatisfied. He rose from his fighting stance and stepped backwards to calm himself.

He had woken early in the day, and found himself unable to return to sleep. And so he had risen an hour and a half before the sun, intending to get some work done early. But though he had sat at his desk and sipped his coffee and signed his papers, he found himself growing restless. His mind kept drifting away from his work, and he was unable to concentrate. Finally, as he finished his paper signing and moved on to reading the reports, he had been unable to take any more. And so he had donned his armor and taken to practicing his combat skills.

It had been a while since he had been in a fight - not since Hallow’s End, and even that had been less of a fight than him slashing away with a pair of daggers. He had to admit that he was a bit rusty. This proved to be especially true when it came to his unarmed combat, which he usually excelled at. His first few blows had caused him more pain than he felt would have been inflicted upon a living opponent. And so he had spent the next hour jabbing and kicking at the training dummies, honing himself back to the level of skill he had grown used to. And even now, he still felt unhappy about his form.

Or no, not his form. He knew that by now his form was back up to his old standards. But a haze of anxiety clung to him like a fog that refused to break under the heat of the sun. Anxiety about the news he had received from Rarity the day before. It clouded his concentration, clouded his connection to the Chi around him. There was no way he was going to get any better like this. So rather than lash out again, he instead sat on the ground and folded up his legs. His eyes closed, and he began to meditate.

But he didn’t meditate in his usual way, where he would see the world through the eyes of other creatures. Such an action, an attempt to find peace in the world, would only lead to failure if he could not find peace within himself. Instead, this time he turned his mind inward, and he reflected on the events of the previous day and his musings from the night before.

Asking some random stranger wasn’t an option, especially considering his position as a Commander and the best-known Human in Equestria.. Filwin was out. Lyra was out. Rarity was an option, for sure, but was she the best option? What about his other friends, the other element-bearers? Rainbow Dash… probably not. Neither she nor Applejack seemed like the kind of Pony to enjoy something as formal as the Gala was sure to be. Nor could he see Pinkie Pie being able to maintain good behavior for so long.

Fluttershy… another potential option. If nothing else, she seemed the one to mind another visit the least. So long as she didn’t have another incident with the animals - Kyle cringed slightly as he remembered the look of sheer terror on Rainbow Dash’s face when she recounted the tale - then it wouldn’t be too bad. The worst part, as with every option he imagined, would be the dance itself. Besides the question of how a Human and a Pony would dance together, Fluttershy was well-known for her terror of the spotlight. Dancing in public didn’t seem her style at all.

And then there was Twilight Sparkle herself. Yet another potential option, and the more he thought about it, the more she sounded like the best option. She already had to go, so it wouldn’t be like inviting one of her friends to return to the scene of a past disaster. Plus, she was one of his closest friends here in Equestria - and beyond, come to think of it. But there was a problem - as a Princess, she likely already had a dance partner already chosen. Given Twilight’s tendency towards over-preparation and punctuality, that seemed even more likely. Though she had seemed concerned that day at Sugarcube Corner - apparently the day that she had learned about the dance. That had only been two days ago, and everyone he had talked to said that she hadn’t been acting any less nervous since then. Maybe she didn’t have someone picked out. Maybe that’s why she was so nervous...

Well… Only one way to find out… He’d have to head into town today anyway to confront Lyra about nuzzling his hand. He could swing by Twilight’s and ask her… simple.

And if she already had a partner lined up… well, Fluttershy and Rarity were still options.

The sound of boots on gravel caused Kyle to open one eye. He turned his head towards the noise to see a slender Night Elf walking into the training area, a compact bow clutched in her hand. She glanced his way, but said nothing, moving instead towards the archery range. She moved up to the line, and then took half a dozen paces backwards before notching her first arrow. It whistled down the lane and struck the target near the bottom and on the left side, where the leg would meet the torso - a crippling blow, but not a lethal one.

Kyle turned his attention back to the dummy in front of him and rose to his feet. He forced thoughts of the Gala from his mind, and found that it was easier to do so now. He had a plan of action. He had something solid to hold on to. Some kind of peace, temporary though it might be. He clenched his fist and closed his eyes. “Breathe in…” he thought as he eased back into his fighting stance. “... and out…” He opened his eyes and focused them on the desired impact location, just below where the arms jutted out from the core. That location, along with the head, was where he could most easily inflict lethal damage. The haze of anxiety surrounding him seemed to fade as he held on to the plan he had just formed. Instead, he concentrated entirely on his next strike. He barely registered the hum of magic behind him as a mage stepped up towards one of the magical dummies and began channeling into it. He focused solely on the target before him. He opened his eyes, stepped forward, and jabbed.

Instantly, he felt the change. His blow moved faster, his hand felt more solid, his arm no longer shook as it made contact, and his fist no longer echoed with a dull thud. Instead, a loud crack! split the air like a gunshot. The two others present instantly turned, thinking that Kyle had broken his hand. Instead, what they saw was a large fracture across the core of the training dummy he had struck. Kyle smirked and spun around, unleashing a blackout kick. This final strike final did the job, and the upper half of the training dummy splintered away from the core, leaving only a shattered wooden post anchored into the ground.

Kyle stared down at the ruined training dummy with a satisfied smile. “There we go…” he murmured softly. He turned away from the destruction and strolled out of the arena, seemingly oblivious to the incredulous stares of the Hunter and the Mage who had seem him turn a solid training dummy into a pile of splintered wood.

The garrison wasn’t nearly as quiet as it was when he had first awoken. The line into the mess hall was beginning to form as workers and soldiers alike filed in to get their morning meals. Kyle squeezed past them and made his way back to the town hall, feeling better now than he had when he had stepped out. He smiled as he stepped back into his office and sat down at his desk. He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. There was nothing quite as good at relieving a bit of stress than breaking something.

His eyes slowly opened and moved across his desk. On the left side was the usual stack of papers that needed filling out, though that pile had been somewhat diminished during his earlier attempt to start the day. Those that had already been filled out were sitting on the back right corner, ready to be sent out to… wherever. Anywhere but here. There were other things besides the forms - a small cup full of pencils, a coffee mug holder, a half-read engineering report, a stamp with his seal upon it…

His eyes flashed back to the engineering report, and his good mood sank. He still had to at least get through the summary and be able to understand whether the findings made any sense or not. But as he had discovered the day before, technical jargon could be found even there, and he had been unable to decipher half of what he had read. He’d need a dictionary to make it through the rest…

As if on cue, a sharp rap against the door echoed through the room. The door swung open to reveal Filwin with her usual clipboard and goggles. She smiled at him as she hopped up in the chair opposite him and laid her clipboard down. “Good morning, Commander,” she said cheerily. Her head turned slightly towards the corner of his desk. “I see you’ve made quite a dent in the work today already, sir. Had an early morning, did we?”

“Earlier than usual, yes.” Kyle reached for the clipboard, but Filwin placed her hand on top of it to stop him. He slowly pulled his arm back and locked eyes with her.

“So I heard,” she replied. Even through her goggles, Kyle could see a faint twinkle in her eye. “Something about a broken training dummy?”

“Yeah…” Kyle rubbed the back of his head and chuckled. “I might have gotten a bit carried away… Though I won’t say that I didn’t need it.”

“No big deal. The steel plate anchoring it to the ground is intact, so it’ll be a simple matter to replace the dummy itself.” Now Filwin slid the clipboard across the desk towards him. He picked it up and brought it up to his face. He found it very brief, only mentioning a small encounter a few of his troops had had with a pack of timber wolves, which they had driven back into the forest. Ever since construction had ended, Filwin’s reports had become far shorter.

“Great. Thanks for this Filwin,” he said as he placed the clipboard back down in front of her.

“No problem.” She reached for the clipboard and dragged it across the desk to her. “I’ll take my leave now sir. Unless there was something else?”

“No, no I don’t…” Kyle trailed off as his eyes landed on the engineering report. His eyes flashed over to Filwin, then back to the report, then back to her. “Actually…” he murmured. “Filwin, you’re an engineer right?”

Filwin was already halfway out of her seat, but she scrambled back up as Kyle addressed her. She raised an eyebrow as she met his eyes. “Not… not technically sir. I’m not certified,” she replied. “Although I… have done some tinkering in the past.”

“Excellent. Come over here.” He dragged the report in front of his desk and stood up as Filwin walked around to him. He motioned for her to sit, and she did. “Any chance you could help me with this thing? I can’t understand half of the stuff in here.”

“The… entire thing, sir?” she asked. She quickly glanced towards the door. “I, uh…”

“Oh, no no.” Kyle shook his head quickly. “I’m just taking a look at the summary. I got about halfway through before they lost me.” He flipped to the appropriate page and pointed. “Right about there. Could you take a look and see if all of this stuff makes sense? I don’t need to know the technicalities, just whether or not they did their stuff properly.” Filwin sighed in relief as she picked up the report and began reading the beginning.

It took her less than ten minutes to power through the entire summary, during which time Kyle filled out a couple of papers from the other side of his desk. He looked up when the ruffling of paper announced that she was done. “Well, they certainly didn’t make it easy for you, did they?” she laughed. “I’ll have a word with them about that. They need to remember that at least the summary needs to be in layman’s terms. But other than that, it seems sound. I didn’t look at the raw data, but I assume they did it all right.”

“So it’s good?”

“It’s good.”

“Great. Thanks a ton, Filwin. I owe you one.” Filwin merely smiled in response as she handed him the report and hopped out of his chair. A moment later, and the door to his office was closed, and he was left alone again.

Kyle glanced over at the clock hanging on the wall. It was only 8:00 in the morning, and already he was halfway done with his work for the day. For a moment, he considered delaying the rest of his work and heading into town to catch Lyra and Twilight. But no, he decided. He couldn’t do that. Lyra was probably already out… wherever she went to work. And Twilight was almost certainly out and about running last-minute errands for the fundraiser that evening. Which, he remembered, he needed to attend so that he could pick out a design from Rarity’s sketches. He could catch Twilight then. With that thought in mind, he pulled one of the papers to his left in front of him and began to write.

---

Noon had just barely rolled around by the time Kyle finally placed the last form off to the right side of his desk. He had to admit that it had taken him longer than he had anticipated, but at least it was done now. The open window next to his desk brought in a cool breeze that carried the scent of brisket upon it. Kyle’s mouth began to water, and his stomach growled angrily at him, and so he took his leave of the office and made his way towards the mess hall.

It seemed that fate was on his side that day. Less than half a dozen men were waiting as he took his place in the line, and soon he was seated underneath one of the trees with a plate. It didn’t take him long to polish off his plate, and a quick wash later he was back in his office.

Though for what reason he didn’t know. His work was done for the day, so he really had no need to return. Maybe just instinct when there was nothing else to do. For it seemed, for the first time in a long while, that there was nothing else to do. Scootaloo was at school, and their next training session was already scheduled. Twilight and Lyra, the two Ponies that he would normally spend free days with, were both out and about doing their own things. There wasn’t any construction to help with in Ironwall anymore. He had already had a bout of training and meditation that day, and to be perfectly honest, he didn’t feel like risking breaking another training dummy...

By this time, Kyle realized that he was moving down the hallway away from his office and towards his room. It was a nice day out, so it would be a shame to waste it inside, but at the same time winter was fast approaching. The air outside was chilly even without the wind, and so he changed into a longer-sleeved shirt to keep himself warmer.

And since he had apparently decided that he would be spending his free time outside, there was one logical place to spend it. The park. At least there would be Ponies around for him to people-watch, and hey, maybe something would come up. He moved towards the door to his room, but hesitated for a moment. He quickly turned around, went back to his bedside table and scooped up a fistful of bits before stowing them in a small pouch and tying it securely around his belt next to his Tigereye brew. After all, he was going to a fundraiser that evening. He might as well bring some funds.

It didn’t take him long to make his way to the park. Even though it was just a bit after noon, the park was still crowded with Ponies. Some were lying around and talking. Others were playing with frisbees or flying kites. He even saw an odd game off in the distance, where one Pony would hurl a small ball at another, and the second Pony would hit it with a large wooden stick before running around a large dirt diamond. Kyle observed for a moment before returning back to the tree he had used the past few days. He scrambled up to the branch he had napped in the day before, and found that from this position he could observe the game down below.

The objective, he quickly deduced, was to hit the ball as far as possible and make it the entire way around the bases before someone who had the ball either touched you with it, or else reached the point of the diamond to which you were running. The rules slowly came to him as he observed. He found himself watching the game for quite a while and mentally keeping score of how many Ponies on each team had made a full circuit. Neither team had many - four for one team, three for the other. It looked like it would be an interesting game to play given the chance, though Kyle found watching it a bit slow for his tastes. Slowly, his eyes began to close…

Poke.

Kyle slowly opened one eye. Instantly, he could tell that a decent amount of time had passed. The Ponies were no longer playing their game, and the sun had moved through the sky to shine down at a different angle. “Dozed off again…” he thought sleepily.

Poke.

This time, Kyle opened both eyes and turned his head towards whatever had poked him. He blinked in surprise as he stared past a sky-blue snout directly into another set of magenta eyes, mere inches from his own. He said nothing, but simply waited.

A second later, the face pulled backwards and formed into a frown. “Aw, I thought I had you,” Rainbow Dash grumbled as she hovered next to the branch Kyle was resting on.

“Not today, I’m afraid,’ Kyle replied. He pushed himself into a sitting position with his back against the trunk. “So, what’s up?”

“You are, apparently.” Kyle gave her a deadpan look as she snorted. “What are you even doing up here?”

“I was napping…’ Kyle stretched his arms and folded them behind his head as his eyes closed. “What time is it, anyway?”

“Getting to be around five.”

Kyle’s eyes opened again, and he turned his gaze to the sky through the gap in the leaves. He had been out for longer than he had expected. “Well then… thanks for waking me up,” he murmured.

“Does that mean you’re leaving?”

“Planning on it, yeah.” Kyle rolled himself out of his position and dangled from the branch for a moment before dropping down to the one below it.

“Sweet.” Rainbow Dash settled herself down on the branch Kyle had just vacated and curled up. “That means I get my napping branch!” Kyle just smiled and shook his head as he prepared to climb back down the tree. “So where are you off to?” he heard Dash ask.

“Probably going to try to find Lyra,” he replied. “Been trying to find her for the past couple of days.”

“Eh, she’s probably at work. I think the orchestra lets out for a dinner break here soon.” Kyle could hear the playfulness entering her voice. “Maybe you’re looking to accompany her?”

Kyle ignored her last comment. “Any idea where they practice?”

“There’s a little performance hall on the west side of town. I’d imagine that’s where they’d be.”

“Thanks.” Kyle lowered himself down another branch.

“Oh, and Kyle?” He looked up as Rainbow Dash poked her head over the side of the branch. “If you could not mention that you found me here, that’d be great. It’s kind of my napping spot for when I don’t want to be found.”

Kyle raised an eyebrow, but nodded anyway. “Sure thing.”

“Thanks.”

A moment later, Kyle was back on the ground. He glanced back up into the tree. Only the very tip of a blue wing gave away Rainbow Dash’s position. Likewise, as he walked away and glanced back at the tree, he found that he couldn’t see her among the leaves and branches. It was a better hiding spot than he had suspected.

As Kyle moved towards the exit of the park, he noticed that it had become significantly more crowded since he had walked in. Since work and school were not letting out, many were taking advantage of the still-pleasant weather. He spotted Derpy and Dinky were out in an open field tossing a ball back and forth. A moment later, he couldn’t help but smile as he saw Scootaloo and her friends off underneath a tree with a piece of paper unfolded in front of them - no doubt scheming to get Applebloom and Sweetie Belle their cutie marks.

After asking around a bit, Kyle finally got a cinnamon-colored Pegasus mare to give him some directions. It wasn’t long after that Kyle found himself approaching a rather large building near the edge of town. The design contrasted greatly with the simple wooden houses that comprised most of the town. Ornately carved marble pillars, white stone brick, smooth quartz stairs… It reminded him greatly of the old High Elf ruins that pre-dated the sundering.

Rainbow Dash’s prediction seemed to be accurate. As he approached the performance hall, the front doors opened up and a pair of Ponies walked through, neither of whom Kyle recognized. The first one was a brown-coated Earth Pony mare with a black mane and tail and an odd symbol for a cutie mark, and who was also sporting a pink bow tie wrapped around her neck by a white band. The other was another Earth Pony mare who wore a similar tie, though her coat was neon blue and her mane and tail were a chestnut brown. Kyle was able to identify that her cutie mark was another strange symbol, and he found that he couldn’t identify the meaning behind this one either

More Ponies began to filter out. Most of them seemed to have similarly strange cutie marks that Kyle couldn’t identify - unknown symbols, a crooked letter b, a number sign… Given the fact that this was supposed to be where the orchestra played, it didn’t take much reasoning to determine that these were musical symbols, though what they stood for he didn’t know.

And then, he spotted it. A flash of mint green, right at the very back. Lyra’s familiar form fell away from the mob of musical equines. She moved slower than the rest of the Ponies around her, quickly separating from the main group. Her back was to Kyle, and she hadn’t noticed his presence yet.

Up to this point, Kyle hadn’t felt anything but a twinge of uncertainty. Now, however, his nerves came rolling back to him. Lyra was well known for her oddities, almost as well known as Pinkie Pie. She could either take this very well or very badly. And if she took it badly… It was almost enough to make him turn his back and walk away.

He frowned. No. He’d put this off for far too long already. He reminded himself that if he didn’t deal with it now, it would only be worse later. He steeled himself and took a deep breath. “Lyra!”

The mint-green unicorn froze. Her head shot up and swiveled towards him. Even from a distance, he could see her eyes light up. And yep. There it was. That same old toothy grin. “Kyle!” she exclaimed as she galloped towards him. She skidded to a halt a few paces away and smiled up at him. “What’s up?”

Kyle forced his visage to remain even. “I’ve been looking for you.” His voice was strong and steady, and yet Lyra’s ears perked up. Her smile fell. She knew. She knew something was wrong.

“You have?”

“You’re on dinner break, right?”

“No… no, we’re done for the day. Early night.”

“Come. We need to talk.”

Her smile was completely gone by now. Maybe it was the lack of emotion in his voice. Maybe it was the seriousness in his tone. It was never like this around friends. Not unless something was wrong. Her ears fell and her head dipped. “Alright…”

Kyle turned and walked down the street he had just come up. Behind him, he could hear Lyra’s hooves against the street. His own boots echoed her steps. Between her hoofsteps and his bootfalls, between the sound of his own heartbeat and Lyra’s soft, anxious snorts, there was only silence.

He didn’t know how long they carried on like this. He only stopped when the trees of the Everfree forest loomed before them, like a menacing shadow. Perhaps not the best spot to talk about this. But it couldn’t wait any longer. He turned to face Lyra.

Instantly, her mouth was open. “Is… is this about the other night?” she asked quietly.

Kyle nodded slowly. “Lyra, I’m your friend. You know this, right?” She nodded as well. “And I don’t want that to change. I still want to be your friend. But what you did the other night… I know Equestrian society well enough by now to know that what you did goes well beyond the boundaries of mere friendship.”

“I’m sorry!” Lyra blurted suddenly. She lowered her head. “I know, I know what you said to me before. I just thought… You know, since we’ve been hanging out more… I thought maybe you’d changed your mind.”

She averted her gaze, choosing instead to look off to the side at the ground. Kyle knelt down so that he was eye-level with her. “Lyra. I’m sorry, but I haven’t changed my mind. And no, it has nothing to do with you personally,” he added. “You’re a great mare and a great friend, but… well we’ve talked about it before.” Lyra remained silent, so Kyle continued. “Look. I’m not mad. We won't mention this again. Just… please don’t do anything like that again. It really makes me uncomfortable. Alright?”

“Alright.” She looked back up at him and smiled weakly. “Still friends?”

Kyle slowly returned the smile. Lyra's ears perked up as he placed one hand on her shoulder. “Still friends.”

Comments

[Emperor of Jurai]

Well the conversation seems to be going better than he thought it would, good!

Anyway glad the guy finally not getting his ass handed to him by his new task, started to feel bad for the guy having to deal with all that stress. Other than that...good little filler chapter between big events. Carry on

[Marenteius]

good work my friend. Nice to see things moving forward from where they were... looking forward to the resumption of the main action!

[The Twisted Shadow]

I'm not giving up on the Lyra/Kyle Ship! It shall live!!!!! Who shall join me!!!!?

[Firestar463]

5860951 Keeping that ship afloat huh? Let's see where that takes you.

On an unrelated note, today marks the one-year anniversary of me publishing chapter 1 of Beyond the Portal. A full year of writing fanfiction... man, what a trip...