"Perhaps... It is time to leave Peppermint." Bertram felt the oncoming power. He didn't need to look to know who had been responsible. "The battle is ours." Naara just watched the heroes in awe. He was too starstruck to notice one of the near dead equestrians struggle to his hooves. The Equestrian charged at Naara and slashed at his back leg, before taking his last breath. Naara, screaming back into reality, rushed away towards the remaining forces, ignoring his severely injured leg.
(Sorry, was kept away without internet access for over a week. Back now ) Tyren seen the blade penetrate Naara's leg, and responded to the attacker with a knife to the throat. Watching as the entire Equestrian force was lifted into the air to be trapped in a large negative void the size of an entire city, nearly 2 million of them in total were doomed to die by the Eriborian. Once inside the void, the leader of Ardelan turned a brilliant white and seemed to be cutting the time stopped Equestrians seemingly at the speed of light. Tyren just looked in awe before turning helping Naara limp to the rest of the group. Tyren knew that such powerful magic performed by the Eriborian had a high chance of killing him due to magical fatigue, but he knew that he would hang onto life by a thread.
Arriving back at the camp a mere moment before the total annihilation of the equestrians, Naara was immediately taken to the med-tent, in an attempt to save his severely damaged leg. The cut was a near perfect attack that should have completely immobilized him, but for some reason he had managed to push away from it with Tyren's help. Bertram stood at his side, the number one thought in his mind that Naara would be remembered for managing to get away before the Eriborian's attack. Naara was in a forced sleep while his leg was worked on. His dreams consisted of him sitting in total blackness, surrounded by the dead Equestrians. He was alone with an actual army of dead ponies. He would occasionally hear a faint voice, of the doctors and nurses working with him.
Tyren stood at the side nearby Peppermint, hoping that Naara would be alright. His leg was saved, but everyone knew that it could have been much worse. Tyren's attention then changed to a seemingly disappointed Peppermint nearby him for an unknown reason. Her face full of sadness gave the Ryborian some concern about the young Equestrian pegasi, so he nudged her to gain her attention. "Are you alright?" Tyren asked the young mare. "You haven't been the same since we came back. Is something wrong?" Pepper looked at the Ryborian and gave him a weak smile before she was overcome with sadness. "I feel like that I'm responsible for Naara being injured. I know that it wasnt my fault, but just seeing him like this made me feel like it was. It was my kind who tried to kill him after all." Tyren put his hoof on the mare's shoulder and looked at her. "I understand that Equestria is not full of bad ponies just itching for murder, but it is also not full of good ponies either. I sometimes hate myself for having to kill so many misguided souls, but I know that I'm not particularly responsible for what they desire. Upon what they have been told by their queen, they want to make the world a better place." "The answer will come to you in time. It is one you must discover for yourself. You were amazing out there today considering it was your first time in combat. We're proud of your accomplishments today, so let us hope that this war ends soon." Tyren said before taking a glass of wine and taking a drink.
"Something tells me, when Naara wakes he will have much to speak to us about... but we should not stay here. He will be out for much longer, and we have been here for long enough. Come, we should eat." Bertram around the two and left the tent with a sigh. Naara studied the features of each of the equestrians he passed in the void. "Every face you see in dreams is a face you saw in real life. These are the warriors I saw die on the field today." It wasn't his voice. He wasn't sure whose voice it was, but it was his thought. He then noticed a pony whose face was blurred. He was intrigued and approached it. The armor manifested slowly on the pony, and then the battlefield around it. It was the first solar flare, killed by Tyren. Naara watched the scene of his death. It repeated, ending a few seconds after his death and re-starting at the moment of the initial charge. After watching it run through easily 10 times, the void faded back into Naara's vision, this time with far less ponies. Only 3 floated near him. He assumed it was those that survived the viscous onslaught. They seemed to wake up, and stand next to him. HE attempted to move, but his back leg, the one that had been cut, would not move. In front of them, the princess of the moon appeared. The Equestrians immediately cowered in fear, but Naara stared at her, the same way he looked at the heroes.
Tyren went outside of the tent and walked into the camp's nearby. He could tell that it was very dark outside, but the enormous funeral pyre's roughly a mile long seemingly turned the obsidian night into a rough sunset if one were to get close to the flames. The Ryborian strangely did not feel tired, but could not help his stomach rumbling once Bertram mentioned food. Around the outskirt's of the city was the huge alliance camp dedicated to fighting Celestia and the Equestrian Empire. What used to number 250,000 soldiers from all races only numbered 3,000 after the battle. While devastating as it was, he looked around at the soldiers around them of all races laughing along with each other as they told stories and sung songs. It amazed him how war could bring people together. He was with the group as they walked past a small Ryborian camp, with all of it's soldiers looking at Tyren with some awe and respect. All of them were young, looking like they had just passed maturity at 50. They cheered on Tyren as they walked past, becoming something of an idol amongst them. Once he made it to the mess hall of the camp, he was surprised to see the quality of the food. It was certainly not the slop that he had heard stories about, it was very close to actual meals. It seemed that this alliance cared about those fighting for it, and that seemed to impress him. Once he took a bowl of simple bread and butter, alongside some spices and water to create himself a meal, the Ryborian could not help but feel like he belonged. "The food here is better then the 'Night Crisis' nearly 1200 years ago. If Nightmare Moon were to have taken power and attacked Ardelan, we would have no choice but to go to war against her. We had Crimson Rose assassins at the ready the moment she took complete power of the throne." Tyren said. "We were on rations then due to those events, back when Eriborian Leonia was in power, which would have made him the grandfather of Eriborian Razona." Tyren broke the bread and showered spices in the water, turning the water into a purple liquid. He then muttered a short but sweet prayer before he decided to eat.
"You should see the rations the Equestrians have right now. Their leaders feast on rare and evil meals, like lobster and changeling wings... but their weakest units are nearly starved... and their prisoners..." Bertram growled. "Regardless. We have more land in our possession, and more food to go around. We spread it as is proper." He took a bite out of an apple. "Just so you know, Naara is going to leave the army tomorrow morning to hunt his destiny. One of you will probably join him, and it will lead you all to a war bigger than what we're fighting now. Of course at the same time, we will all remain as mere footsoldiers in a battle being fought by demigods..." He took another bite of the apple and smiled at the two, seemingly breaking his own character, before turning to leave. He yelled out to them before exiting the area "Remember your dreams. They are the domain of the princess we fight for after all!" (He was a prisoner of war, and escaped through a dream he saw of the future. He now believes all dreams to be premonitions and takes them as fact. Just thought I'd explain that so you aren't as confused as your characters should be)
Tyren dumped the bread in the purple liquid in the bowl before taking a mouthful, offering the sad Pegasi besides him a meal. She refused without saying a word, seemingly depressed about what happened after the battle. She eventually got up and left to get herself a meal, leaving Tyren alone. Tyren just finished off his meal and looked upwards into the sky before deciding to catch some shut eye. He felt like that he needed it, his muscles were still stiff from the combat he conducted before. Walking around the camp until eventually finding his tent and falling asleep, his mind focused on thinking at the speed of light before relaxing and eventually entered his dreams.
Bertram sat near his cot, in his tent. He said a prayer in ancient Equestrian. He had no idea what it meant or what was being said, but he had done it since he was a child and read the prayer in a book. He quickly went to his bed, and already accustomed to sleeping in the poor conditions of war, was fast asleep nearly instantly. Naara awoke from his sleep. His leg was bandaged and nearly healed, and he had no plans to change that fact, or risk hurting it again. "I thought da princess talked to those who saw her in der sleep. Heh, no prob. I guess I'm just gonna spend da night thinking to myself... Mainly about my stupidity..." He hit his head with his hoof. "Awestruck. In da battlefield. DATS HOW YA LOSE A LEG!" He sighed and looked around in the darkness. "I'll never be as strong as da gods with an injured leg, man. Heroes are destined to fight da gods... mortals are weak. Mortals are not remembered." (I am explaining both of their complexes I guess >.> Oops.)
(Time skip to next morning) Peppermint was the first to awaken from her sleep, much earlier then the rest of the camp. She did not sleep well, having only a few hours sleep before she woke herself up and watched the sun rise over the horizon. The Pegasi felt much better today then what she felt like yesterday, she felt like a brand new mare. She sat down against a tree sipping on a cup of juice. ------------------------------------ Once the sun was truly in the air, the Ryborian woke up slowly. Going to sleep in only his flexible and astonishingly comfortable undersuit that all Spell-Swords and Crimson Roses wear under their armor, the Ryborian found a sealed envelope next to his sword. It had a formal red sealer at the back branded with the symbol of Ardelan. While the front of the envelope only had the word's "For a well deserving Ryborian" Curious, he opened the letter using his magic and began to read to himself. It was an invitation to an award ceremony taking place at sunset. It was nothing special, except the very last line only followed up with three letters. "E:V.R" The Red maned Ryborian had a look of total shock on his face as he muttered the name of the sender. "Eriborian Razona" he said in a barely audible tone. Tyren then quickly got dressed in his armor and went over to the mess hall to gather his breakfast and at the table of where he met the rest of his group yesterday. When he arrived, he found the entire area nearly empty except for three souls, two Zebra and a Buffalo. Taking his place after gathering his food, he made a mental note to visit Naara after his meal.
Bertram got out of bed, mumbled to himself something about food, then immediately walked out of his tent and took to the air to do several laps. "I should find the heroes. Maybe they can tell me how to get de gods eyes on ya. Dat would certainly help, wouldn't it?" Naara spoke with the tired doctor who had just entered the tent. "Listen kid. I don't believe these "heroes" are anything more than powerful ponies. You can hunt them if you want, but I wouldn't go anywhere for at least a week. You'll be fine, but if you try to move, that leg is not going to stay healed and will need to come off." Naara stopped talking while the doctor did simple checks on his leg's condition. He thought about what the doctor said, sighing to himself every few minutes.
(Going to post the Interest Check for that RP next post) Tyren was inside of the city with a group of specially selected Ryborian's who received the same letter that he did, and that they were going to get awarded in a huge ceremony that was being attended by the Eriborian himself. He looked like he was the oldest person receiving a reward, the others looking much younger then he did. One looked like she had just reached maturity. The group went towards the Ryborian church, having been reconstructed before the battle. Once the group all arrived at the church, they opened the doors to reveal almost every single Ryborian survivor of the previous battle, with Equestrians and Zebras being one of the several other races attending the ceremony. Even a few Changeling's were inside to attend. The Eriborian stood on a stage with two Crimson Roses at his side, with many other priests and important figures from Ardelan. The atmosphere felt electric, the gleeful mood of the crowd drowning out the emotions of the previous battle. Once the ceremony was well under way, the Eriborian began to read out the names. "Silan Elatina, 2nd Recon, Spell-Sword, 232 years old Alius Wilchia, Archer, National army, 51 years old The names continued to go down the list, with a thunderous applause once the Ryborians stood on stage after receiving metals and a hoof shake. Tyren was the very last individual on the list, but also received the largest applause "Tyren Euralaia, Spell-Sword ,Crimson Rose. Survivor of the Black War and the Night Crisis, 2,519 years old And like that, the crowd just erupted in applause.
