private A Cultural Exchange 1x1 with Drago Ryder

[Drago Ryder 641]

(Huh, didn’t realize that. I could certainly control some beings in groups you control overall as well, if you want.)

Rorik gave a light nod in response to Midnight’s words.Such a strategy had been his modus operandi for some time, if only to ensure that things didn’t escalate too drastically between the two opposing groups. As for Gale’s placement in all of this, he did understand his concerns, and while he was concerned as to how the slavers might react to the presence of a dragon, it would probably be less of a risk for her to be outside where she’d have more room, to move. “I suppose you would know her abilities better than I.” Honestly, it would have been preferable to mix some ponies into the group going in, if only to make it seem more believable, though he suppose they could be snuck in if anything.

Gale had honestly stayed closer to the edge of the camp as she watched ponies mingle with each other, not really sure on where to place herself. All things considered, she wasn’t exactly inconspicuous, and such was most likely why the zebra had took note of her. Once she had motioned for Gale to move towards them, the dragoness figured that it would’ve been rude to not oblige them. Slowly, if only to not draw too much attention to herself, Gale approached the zebra and went for the first thing that came to mind. “Thanks for that. I’m not really used to being around large groups.”

Edited April 21, 2020 by Drago Ryder

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Drago Ryder

(Inside)

Midnight nodded, "If we're in agreement then? we should start getting the group ready. While we don't have any sort of deadline I'd like those slaves freed sooner rather than later."

(Outside)

The zebra was bowing when Gale arrived, he rose to speak with her, "You helped our shining hope to free us, while many of us are now headed back to our homelands, others of us wanted to remain and offer our help in freeing others, so we followed after you. We saw you get attacked by this group. Are you in need of assistance?"

[Drago Ryder 641]

Rorik gave a light nod in agreement as he took one last look at the map before him. “I’ll get my best ready in a two hours, three at the latest. If things go well, this might be the last time these animals use these mountains.” Hopefully, their initial encounter with the group hadn’t alaremed the slavers to their presence and a potential raid, but that could be dealt with when the time came. “Thank you again for your assistance.”

Gale raised a brow in surprise at the zebra’s words and shook her head. While she was a bit wary of these ponies, the last thing they needed was a full scale conflict at the moment. “We should be fine at the moment, There was a slight misunderstanding, but everything was sorted out rather quickly.” A gentle smile then graced her lips as she focused on the first half of the provided message. “I hope that their travels are safe. There are more dangerous things than ponies inhabiting the wilderness and sea.” 

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

Midnight nodded in return, "I'll stay close in the meantime, see if I can't assist around the camp before the attack." With that he would exit the tent and notice Gale lurking at the edge of the forest, curious he would approach to see what had caught her attention.

The zebra smiled, "We are glad to hear that no trouble has befallen our saviors. We too hope for their safe return, but we are also sure that an honorable death is better than life in slavery." He would turn as he noticed Midnight's approach, bowing deeply as he had with Gale, "Our shining hope! We followed you in hopes of lending our assistance tin the freeing of others, if such help is desired."

Midnight smiled when he saw who Gale had been talking to, "Admirable bravery, do you mean we yourself? or is we many?"

The zebra rose from his bow, "We are many my lord, ten of us are we."

Midnight nodded, "Then your assistance will be most appreciated, get those who are with you and bring them here. In two hours we intend to free others."

The zebra was quick to leave after that, provided Gale didn't have anything else to say to him.

[Drago Ryder 641]

Gale felt a light sigh escape her muzzle as she watched the zebras leave, though the fact that their presence was required in just mere hours didn't exactly sit well with her. Turning her attention to the earth pony beside her, the dragon figured it would be best to get to the root of most of her concern. "I don't suppose that had anything to do with what you and Rorik were discussing, does it?" She was fine with freeing slaves, but there was certainly a limit to what they could do, even with the added ponypower provided by the zebras. If most of those following Rorik were to follow them into battle, however, that was a different situation entirely. Either way, she had certainly missed something important.

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

Midnight nodded, "Their leader, Rorik, has been planning to liberate a slave camp nearby for some time, it's the same one we were about to attack by ourselves. Now we will have a much better chance of freeing more of the slaves given we have more to assist and a better understanding of our enemy's preparations. We're going to smuggle in weapons to the slaves they have hidden in the mountain, and then trap the slavers between us and the newly armed slaves so that they have no choice but to surrender or die." He slammed his hooves together for emphasis, it was clear he had something of a passion for liberating slaves, or more specifically eliminating slavers.

He seemed to come to his senses as he turned back to Gale, "I do hope that is alright with you? The plan as it stands is for you to scare the slavers into retreating into the mountain so they can be trapped between the forces without and the armed slaves within, if you're good enough with your fire you could even try to burn or smoke them out of their holes."

[Drago Ryder 641]

While Gale was a bit concerned with the hatred in Midnight’s voice, she could also understand why such a thing might have been there in the first place. Honestly, they were going to attack the slavers at some point anyway, so this just shifted the odds more in their favor. Either way, she simply shook her head once he asked her to voice any concerns she might have. “It’s ok. It honestly feels good helping to free zebras.”

At the very least, she wouldn’t be in any direct danger during the course of this plan, though she had to at least assume the slavers were using equivalent or better equipment. If she was hit, the ponies they would be fighting would have that much more control over the skies. “Either way, I should be able to provide some support.”

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

Midnight nodded, "Glad to hear you approve, it shouldn't take long for them to be ready to stage the attack, so if there's anything you need to do to get ready for it, now's the time. If there's something you need help with, I'd be happy to assist in any way I can."

[Drago Ryder 641]

After thinking about her response for a moment, Gale let out a light sigh as she felt a cold sensation wash over her, only just now realizing a few issues that might arise on her part in the next few hours. "Honestly, I'm terrified of what might happen. I know you said I wouldn't be right in the middle of all the fighting, but I haven't exactly fought against anything that wasn't specifically prey either. What if I mess up and hit an ally with my fire by accident or end up knocked out of the sky because I wasn't paying attention? I couldn't even kill that scout I was chasing earlier, and there's not telling what he did afterwards." The dragoness went silent for a moment after voicing her thoughts, waiting to see what her companion's response would be with baited breath.

Edited June 10, 2020 by Drago Ryder

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

Midnight was surprised at first, most of the dragons he had met before were prideful, never admitting to weakness or fear, and never backing down from a fight. Nonetheless, upon seeing Gale's genuine fear his whole countenance changed, gone was the fiery passionate war horse, in his place was a gentle and kind stallion, a fatherly expression as his whole body seemed to soften with his expression.

He sat down on the edge of the clearing, and motioned for Gale to sit beside him, "I can understand how you feel, you certainly aren't the first to exhibit such worries. You can't make someone a soldier and expect them on their first day to be a skilled fighter. Mercy is not a weakness inasmuch as you do not let yourself be taken advantage of, often those spared never return to being slavers, those that do do not warrant being spared again. Your other concerns are very valid. Sir, when he fought at my side, often had to take great care to not strike our allies with his lightning, Mohotma when he first started would regularly get separated from the rest of the group because of his pride, allowing him to be taken down more easily. I assume you don't have personal experience with either though, right? You haven't hit an ally before nor been taken down? If you have, it is likely the source of these worries, and it would do you good to talk about it."

Midnight would wait patiently for her response.

[Drago Ryder 641]

Gale was honestly a bit surprised by Midnight’s change in demeanor, though she did find his words to be rather effective at calming her nerves. Shaking her head, the dragon didn’t really need to think much about her answer. “Well, no. That hasn’t happened so far, if only due to this being the first time I’ve ever been around ponies, zebras, or any other sentient species for more than a few hours.“ Even then, she had never really participated in any form of conflict, preferring to run should something go wrong. It wasn’t like she had a stake in whatever politics might have been at play. It was perhaps a bit selfish on her part, but it just seemed like the best route to survival.

With the experiences of the past day behind her and an opportunity to think things over, however, that way of living seemed more appropriate for a coward than anything. She may not have known much about the world outside of the land she grew up in, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t handle herself either. The fact it took her this long to realize such a thing lit a simmering rage in her chest, though perhaps her meeting with the pony before her was a way to atone for that part of her life. “I suppose everyone has to start somewhere.”

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

Midnight nodded, a look of understanding on his face, "Ah, I see then. I suppose I misjudged you when we first met, most of the dragons I had met with before were used to interacting with other creatures, I had supposed that one like yourself, wandering on your own, would have had more extended interactions before." He sighed, "I'm sorry for roping you into this, I hope you don't feel obligated to assist, I won't think any less of you for sitting this one out if you don't feel ready for it."

He looked as if an idea had struck him, "Although, we do have a bit of time, perhaps if you and I practiced for a bit? Work on those fears of yours before we get into the real fight, then you wouldn't be starting from nothing on your first fight."

[Drago Ryder 641]

Gale thought for a moment about the proposition Midnight had made and slowly nodded, a smile dancing across her lips. “That sounds like a good plan to me. Thank you.” Any outside observer would probably think they were just having a simple spar, so there was nothing to worry about on that front. After moving a few feet from the earth pony, the drsgoness took.a rather loose fighting stance, figuring that such might work for her. “I’m ready when you are.”

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

Midnight took a few moments to stretch after shedding both of his layers of armor (Can't remember if he's still wearing them at this moment) to stand in just his fur before her. His body showed little to no sign of his apparent age, outside of the numerous scars that cut across the black coat like shooting stars on a empty sky.

After his stretches he took his position opposite her, "Now, while I can't train you how a unicorn or pegasus might attack you, I can at least emulate an earth pony. If you can subdue me, then you'll be more than a match for any earth pony we encounter out there. Let's start simply and work from there."

He'd approach almost in slow motion, moving his legs as if galloping, but not approaching quickly, "Most earth ponies rely on ground speed to close the distance, getting to the unicorn before they can cast a spell, and to the pegasus before they can take off."

Once he was close enough to see clearly, but not to strike, he reared up before slamming his hooves down, albeit with much less force than when he had fought the slavers before, "They rely on their strength once close, going for crushing blows and crippling strikes."

He turned profile and demonstrated both a one legged and two legged buck, "Normally I'd recommend keeping distance from earth ponies in a fight, but in your case I think if it came to it you could easily withstand most of their blows."

He stepped back a bit, "Now, let's practice. We'll say for this exercise that you were somehow downed, or that the fighting has moved into the caves where areal mobility is limited. I'll charge at you like an earth pony would, and you'll do your best to block, dodge, or subdue me, whichever you think yourself capable of."

Once he was sure she was ready he would charge, moving much faster than before, but not nearly as fast as in the fight. Soon he'd be rearing up to bring his hooves down on her for a head strike.