private A Cultural Exchange 1x1 with Drago Ryder

[Drago Ryder 641]

Honestly, attire that might assist in keeping her warm would certainly help stave off the need for hibernation, though it wasn’t exactly easy to find any that might fit her. “Yeah, that’s an accurate statement. I suppose I will just have to see what I find before I have to rest.” Of course, she didn’t say such a thing so as to not appear rude towards the earth pony. His company was a delightful change of pace.

With that in mind, her train of thought was momentarily interrupted by the offer of joining him, however temporary such a thing might be. It was a rather peculiar occurance, considering that the two had just met but a few minutes ago, though that didn’t exactly stop her from nodding. A light smile also graced her lips. “I wouldn’t mind at all. Thank you for the offer.”

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Drago Ryder

Midnight seemed quite pleased that Gale had agreed to come with him, though he wasn't sure exactly why. Sure he had enjoyed company before, but this felt different somehow.

He nodded with a wide smile before turning his attention to the sky, "If we make a good pace, we can likely get a dozen or so miles behind us before nightfall. Speaking of which, I know it's day now and we're both about, but are you usually day-oriented? or do you prefer to travel at night? It's the same to me either way, but I'd like to make you comfortable in our travels."

He'd shake himself off, sweeping off any stray grass that had clung to his cloak before stretching a bit in place, preparing to move again as he waited for her reply.

[Drago Ryder 641]

Watching Midnight, Gale moved to stand as well before stretching her legs. She was tempted to make the offer of flying him to his next destination, though she wasn’t entirely sure that she would be able to carry him along with anything he might be carrying. Aside from that, it also wouldn’t do any good to tire herself, lest they be thrown into an unexpected situation or draw too much attention in the day’s light. For now, she was content with walking with him for the time being, though perhaps she could bring such a topic up later.

Her earplates then flicked upward as he spoke, drawing her mind back to the conversation at hand. “That sounds good to me. I don’t really have any preference to time when it comes travel.”

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Drago Ryder

As soon as it was apparent that they were both ready Midnight would start out into the forest, he stepped rather nimbly despite his large frame, making next to no sound as he passed through the underbrush. He spoke in a low, calm voice that was easy enough to hear given Gale was nearby. "Try not to make too much noise, while I'm sure we could easily take care of any wildlife that crosses our path there's no point in fighting needlessly, but..." He paused as he put his helmet on, the eyepieces glowing red with some enchantment as he scanned about them, then he removed it before continuing, a bit less careful now, "There doesn't seem to be anything of danger nearby at the moment. But I did notice something interesting over this way."

With that he would lead them off in the direction he had specified.

Unless Gale stopped him or asked any questions he would continue walking, slowing once they could hear voices ahead, they sounded gruff.

Midnight's expression grew serious as he lowered his stance, turning back towards Gale, "Sounds like trouble, might be a trade caravan, might be a slave caravan, or both."

 

[Drago Ryder 641]

Gale gave a light nod as she followed after Midnight, understanding the reasoning behind his words. Considering that she had already eaten a few hours prior to meeting the earth pony, there wasn’t really a need for her to hunt and doing such a thing needlessly would only serve to waste a potential source of food. With that in mind, she was rather curious as to the helmet he put on, though such a thing could be brought up later.

It didn’t take her long to notice the voices as well and narrowed her eyes as she tried to think of possible options for how they might proceed. She doubted that Midnight would simply avoid the second party if they were indeed slavers, though the chance that they might be simple merchants might force them to give up the element of surprise in order to confirm such a thing.  “You have more experience with this sort of thing. I’ll let you decide on what to do with them.” Her voice was a low whisper, and while she didn’t show it, a part of her was a bit scared as to what might happen should this encounter go poorly.

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Drago Ryder

Midnight crept silently forwards, soon enough the voices became intelligible. "...what you're worried about. Hasn't been a caravan gone missin' 'n o'er five years. 'N it's been mor'n fifty since any 'ave spoken of dis 'Dæmon Pony'. So lay off it 'fore you give'm any ideas."

Midnight growled under his breath, "So soon a myth am I? She works faster than I thought. Looks like five guards surrounding the group, too many bodies to just be traders, huddled too close together, too unified." He ducked his head into his side bag and pulled out a small orb that seemed to have a small cloud roiling inside. He dropped it into his hoof delicately, if Gale were looking closely she'd see that his hoof seemed to have cracked into three pieces held together by the intricately carved shoe. 

Midnight looked at Gale, speaking low so as to not be overheard. "At least one of them's going to be a pegasus, I'll need you to keep them from getting away."

He turned back towards the direction of the sounds, donning his helmet with his off hoof and rising to his full height.

He mouthed a countdown to Gale before he threw the orb in the direction the voices were coming from. He immediately charged after it all caution thrown to the wind.

"What's that?" Was all the earth pony said before the orb smashed against his face, the cloud expanding to cover the whole area with fog.

All were moving about in confusion, the pegasus of the group leaped into the sky to try and get a better view, only able to see shadows of forms moving, Most obvious was the red glow of the eyepieces in Midnight's helmet moving about, each of the disoriented guards on the ground taken down with curdling screams and sickening thuds from Midnight's blows. At least two of the screams were cut off by the thuds.

Throughout it all not a sound came from Midnight, and only whimpers and comforting noises from the huddled mass in the center.

Despite his devastating power on the ground, there was nothing he could do to the pegasus above, if Gale didn't try to stop him he would fly off right after the first scream was stopped with a thud.

 

Eventually the cloud would dissipate revealing four somewhat mangled and obviously dead bodies, two earth two unicorn, as well as about a dozen zebra of various ages who simply stared at Midnight in a mixture of awe and fear. Awe from the older and youngest, fear from the rest. The eldest of the group stood from the mass and bowed before Midnight, who returned the bow in kind before speaking to him in his native language. The elder turned back to the rest and spoke to them, they would all get up, and give a short bow to Midnight, and would turn and bow to Gale as well if she were present, before heading off in a hurry towards a certain mountain he pointed out in the distance.

 

[Drago Ryder 641]

If Gale had overheard any of what the slavers had said, she didn’t say anything about it at the moment. The strange orb he held also caught her eye, though she did nod when he spoke of the pegasus, pushing her curiosity aside for the moment. The last thing either of them needed was for word of their actions here to spread among whatever circles these ponies might be a part of, and any questions that might be raised concerning her traveling companion could be addressed at a later time.

Noticing the pegasus take flight, Gale followed suit with a flap of her wings. It would have been easier to do this at night, but her speed would certainly help her in this instance. She would still be limited to her own strength during this fight, however for a few rather good reasons. With a low growl, she rushed towards the airborne pony, intended to make a quick swipe as she passed by.

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Drago Ryder

Gale's appearance in the sky only served to further frighten the guards, making it easier for Midnight to make his strikes. The pegasus was especially terrified by Gale's arrival, making it especially difficult to dodge the strike, catching him in a way that it sent him down into the trees.

If she went after him she could potentially catch him disoriented.

If she waited above he'd eventually get on his wings again and fly out of the trees, now fully bent on getting as far away as fast as possible. Depending on Gale's speed she'd be able to catch up.

[Drago Ryder 641]

Gale gave a light smirk as she watched the pegesus fall, and it didn’t seem as if Midnight was having any trouble. Figuring that the pony would try to escape on hoof and not noticing any reinforcements on the way, the dragoness flew into the tree line and gave chase, hoping to pin him down before he could escape. Granted, he could potentially take her in a fight if she wasn’t careful, but that thought didn’t cross her mind at the time.

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Drago Ryder

Catching him while he was disoriented made him quite easy to pin down, belly to the ground with his wings pinned to either side would make it impossible for him to escape or fight back without dislocating a wing, or worse.

Behind them the cloud was starting to dissipate, the sounds of violence stopped.

Being pinned didn't stop the pegasus from struggling weakly, crying. "Please! let me go! I won't tell anyone, I promise! Just don't kill me!"

It was up to Gale what she would do.

[Drago Ryder 641]

Gale raised a brow at the pony, not that they could see it, surprised that he would think such a thing. Granted, this was probably the first time he had ever done something like this and was thus scared out of his mind. Heck, he might have even been forced into this mess due to some other situation in his life.

Letting a light sigh escape her lips, the dragoness eased the pressure she was applying to his back and motioned for the pegesus to stand. The fighting probably wouldn’t last much longer, so she would need to get as much information out of him as possible. “I’m not going to kill you. Ponies don’t really taste that good compared to other things and doing so for any other reason would just be pointless. I just need to know if you were working for anyone that wasn’t already in the group you were with, the boss of your boss so to speak.” She figured that playing good cop would be for the best for now. If that didn’t work, Midnight could take over.

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Drago Ryder

The pegasus looked ready to bolt at a moment's notice, but stayed standing, if it was due to fear or his own judgment of Gale's speed was unknown.

He still trembled regardless, "Iiii I don't know, I was just the scout, you know, make sure the path is clear and all that. Works tight so I can't be choosy who guide for, but we were headed for trottingham if that helps."

Behind them they could hear the sound of the zebra herd running off.

[Drago Ryder 641]

Gale narrowed her eyes as she though about what to do next. Midnight would most likely appreciate the information, but he might not appreciate the fact that she had let the pegesus go. Still, it wasn’t like she could just kill him either. After a few moments, she shook her head and motioned for him to leave. He had probably only seen her, so that wasn’t much of a concern for her. “Just try to keep better company next time.”

Woth that being said, the dragoness turned to walk back towards the area where Midnight was. From the sound of it, the zebras were gone, so hopefully they wouldn’t have any more issues with slavers for the foreseeable future. 

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Drago Ryder

The pegasus hesitated only a moment after Gale turned around to rush off into the forest, taking wing soon after.

Gale would find Midnight in the clearing previously occupied by the slave caravan, he was in the process of dragging the mangled bodies of the slavers into a pile along with their stuff save for a small pile of valuables he had set aside. He set down the one he was carrying as Gale approached. "I see you let the pegasus go, not a mercy I would have extended, but I suppose it will remind slavers of the penalty." He snorted, "Called me a myth he did, can't have that now can I? I've got a reputation to uphold after all."

[Drago Ryder 641]

Gale shrugged slightly as she looked at the pile of bodies. It was a good way to ensure that they wouldn’t make anyone else suffer, but all of this was sort of new to her anyway. Either way, a gentle laugh escaped her lips, despite the rather morbid scene. “To be fair, I don’t think he even saw you, so you don’t have to worry about rumors spreading about you coming out of retirement.” Granted, it was more likely that a target would be put on her back as a result of her interference, along with Midnight’s, but that was something she could deal with later. “Besides, it was only fair since they did give us a potential location. This lot was apparently heading for Trottingham.” 
 

It was kind of ironic that ponies would be slavers, giving their belief in the magic of friendship or something like that, but there were bound to be some that would sell their soul for a quick bit. “We can probably pay the city a visit on the way to the gryphon kingdom if you want to look into this a bit more.”

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Drago Ryder

Midnight looked a bit unsure, "I haven't been in an Equestrian city since... well, let's just say it's been well over two hundred years since then." If Gale had been around to know it, or had heard of it, the Nightmare Moon incident was about that long ago as well.

He turned his attention back to the pile of bodies. "Do you have fire that's not explosive? I intend to burn them but I'd rather not fling their corpses across the forest. They may be the vilest kind of scum but they still deserve a dignified ending, and burning is much easier than burying." He chuckled, "Plus it's more traditional among the zebra to burn their dead, so a bit of a final slap ion their muzzles."

[Drago Ryder 641]

Gale raised a brow, though she didn’t really comment about Midnight’s age. Heck, she was just getting to adulthood, and it still sounded like she was younger than her traveling companion. “The past is just that. There is no reason to dwell on what cannot be changed.” A gentle smile then graced her lips, hoping that such a thing might comfort him if it was needed.

Turning her attention go the bodies, she gave a light nod as she slowly walked towards them. “As for this lot, I suppose that would be a fitting end. Thankfully, the more explosive variant is only really useful for larger opponents. My normal prey is much too fragile for an application of such force.” Stopping a few feet short of the pile, the dragoness opened her mouth, and a stream of flame that held the same coloration of that ussed in her earlier demonstration was released at a moderate pressure. If either knew what such a thing was, the flames could easily be compared to those of a blowtorch or bunsen burner. Either way, it didn’t take long for the fur of the ponies to ignite.

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Drago Ryder

As the bodies caught fire Midnight stepped back from the fire, then slid out from under his armor, revealing his sleek black coat crossed in many places with faint scar lines, like comets streaking across a starless sky. He began to circle to fire with a bit of a sway to his step. With good perception it was clear he was performing some sort of dance as he slowly made his way around the fire. He moved his mouth as if in some sort of chant, but he didn't make a sound. If Gale could detect magic, she wouldn't notice any fluctuations, meaning he wasn't chanting out a spell.

Once he had finally made it all the way around the circle he jumped back a length, revealing that his hoof marks in the ground had drawn lines similar to those one would find around a depiction of the sun. He carefully slipped back into his armor, "Sorry about that, it's part of the zebra ritual. If they were well beloved there'd be more circles as more would perform the rite, but I'm the only one here, so that's all they get."

He went over his armor again as he started to walk away from the fire to start stowing away the valuables he had collected from the slavers. "So, what sort of creatures do you typically consider prey?"

[Drago Ryder 641]

Gale watched as Midnight danced, interested in the movements. She was honestly tempted to join, though her size and the fact that she couldn’t perform such intricate maneuvers on the ground stopped her from doing so. She didn’t even notice the pattern that was being drawn until the end. “You have nothing to apologize for. It was rather nice.” Granted, the event itself was rather dark, but that was besides that point.

A light heat then rushed to her cheeks once her diet was brought up, and it was only then that she realized how such a thing might have been interpreted. “Oh, I typically eat fish and maybe a few of the smaller wild animals that inhabit this land. Either way, you don’t have to worry about that.” The last thing the dragoness needed was for him to think that she might eat him or something.

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Drago Ryder

Midnight raised an eyebrow in intrigue, "Fish you say? Sounds a bit difficult to hit fish with fire, given they're underwater and all. But it sounds like we'll get along nicely as I happen to enjoy those as well. Granted, I don't get to eat small game too often, given it intimidates the locals. I've heard the griffins hold a similar diet, so we should fit right in with them."

He would give himself another once over before turning his gaze northward. "To Trottingham then."

[Drago Ryder 641]

Huh, and here she thought that ponies were strictly herbivores, though it was a rather welcome surprise. At the very least, the similarities in their diet would probably make things easier in the long run, considering that neither would have to worry about their diet disturbing the other. “Yeah, though claws and teeth tend to make hunting a bit easier.”

Either way,she simply nodded as she looked in the direction they would be heading in. “That sounds good to me. If you want, I could just fly there with you riding on my back.” At the very least, it would save a good bit of time, though doing such a thing with the extra weight would most likely leave her tired once everything was said and done,

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Drago Ryder

Midnight looked pleasantly surprised by Gale's offer, "You sure? I haven't weighed myself in a while but I'm pretty sure I still weigh a good deal more than the average earth pony. But I'm sure you think yourself capable, or you wouldn't have offered."

He would look about her inquisitively, "I've, well, never ridden a dragon before. How do you suggest we go about it?"

[Drago Ryder 641]

Gale paused for a moment to think about the question Midnight had posed. She doubted that either of them had a means of giving him a secure seating arrangement on her back and simply carrying him underneath via claws and feet would only increase the risk posed by the activity they might undertake. “I suppose the best thing to do would be to just lay on my back and hold on as best you can. I’ll try not to go too fast, so that would certainly help. This is sort of a first for me as well.”

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Drago Ryder

Midnight shrugged, "Well, the dragons I knew weren't keen on ponies to begin with, so I don't think the practice of riding is too common to begin with. But I think my legs are long enough to hold on."

He'd reach his head under his barrel, tightening the straps of his bags before moving towards her side. lifting his forelegs onto her back to raise his view, "Hmm, If I get up there, I can get my forelegs ahead of your wing joints, then so long as you don't stop too quickly I should be able to hold on. If you could lower yourself it'd be easier to climb up, I could jump up but I wouldn't want to jump onto you."

Already with just his forelegs on her he felt a bit heavier than he looked.

[Drago Ryder 641]

Gale nodded slightly, figuring that such might be the case. This was also the first time that she would be doing this as well, so they would at least be breaking ground in new territory together. She also made sure to keep the wing next to him close to her body when she felt his hooves on her back, not wanting to hit him by reflex on accident. “That sounds to good to me. I’ll try to start off slow and see how it goes from there as well.”

The dragoness then lowered her body as instructed, figuring that having Midnight jump on top of her would probably do more harm to her back than anything else. The added weight would certainly slow her down, but it would still probably be faster and less risky when compared to walking.