private A Cultural Exchange 1x1 with DwhitetheGamer

[Illiad Easle 3,167]

@@DwhitetheGamer,

 

Midnight gave a light laugh. "I'm sure I'll cross paths with them some day. Hopefully it will be pleasant when it occurs. Besides, you and I both know that isn't how the elements work. Your time split as nightmare moon has matured you, you are more focused and collected than you were before. The elements merely healed the damage you did to yourself. It is a good change in you, if only Celestia could see it as I do."

Midnight moved towards a closet. and retrieved a small box and a large scroll. He passed the box over to Luna. "Gari made that for you, she had me promise I would give it to you when you returned." Inside the box was a bound journal, it detailed the first few decades of life for the Children. Midnight put the large scroll in a special holder on the desk, allowing it to be viewed more easily. "​I've been keeping a genealogy of the children, every century or so a group of twelve has been born bearing striking resemblance to the original 12. I don't know for certain what it could mean, but it is interesting." Midnight moved through the scroll to the very beginning, where 6 pairs started the tree. "There are just over four thousand descendants of the original children living here now, they almost worship you, hoping you will return to them, not doubt they would be thrilled to see you." Midnight sighed as he moved through the genealogical scroll, the names of the ponies he had cared for and raised these many centuries. "It was so lonely at the start. Just me, the twelve, and the few zebras that didn't want to go back to Zebrica. For nearly a thousand years I watched them and guided them. I built this castle to pass the time, started mediating conflicts between nations to prevent wars. I even started a fairly successful tabloid in Canterlot. Now I have another friend to pass the time with." He turned back towards Luna, a slight smile on his face. "I'm glad you could forgive me."

[DwhitetheGamer 867]

@@Illiad Easle, 

 

The smile on Luna's face grew wider as Midnight passed to her a scroll about the Children.  As she read it, she was so happy she came close to crying.

 

"There has been so much I have missed throughout these years.  I am so glad you have taken care of the Children."

 

Then she looked at Midnight.  "But now let us go towards another manner.  If I had heard right, you and Copper are going to have a race at some point during this 'exchange', am I correct?"

[Illiad Easle 3,167]

@@DwhitetheGamer,

 

That's certainly an odd shift of subjects the descendants of the ones that loved her most are wanting to see her and she wants to know about a race?

 

Midnight looked over with a confused expression. "That is the plan at some point, I watched him coming  here and I think I have a decent chance of beating him. Despite my old age caring for the children has kept me strong and fast. Why the sudden interest?"

[DwhitetheGamer 867]

@@Illiad Easle, 

 

Luna reassured him.  "It is just that I have never seen you have an interest in the sort.  I do not think you have seen Copper's Spin Dash at its full power yet, if thou have seen it firsthoof.  It is a glorious thing.  He was as fast, if not faster than a racing Pegasus in the last time he had shown me.  Though I understand you would not want him to use it, he does not mind, for he wants fair play to all ponies."

 

She giggled a bit.  They would have a lot of fun with this race, and she knew it.  

Edited January 13, 2016 by DwhitetheGamer

[Illiad Easle 3,167]

@@DwhitetheGamer,

 

Midnight looked slightly incredulous. "Luna, you wound me. It's like you don't even remember when we were together, in fact I think I'm still faster than you in a running race. Nearly 20m/s is no small feat, and that is without the assistance of my lightning sprint." He sighed, "I suppose in raising the children I have become a bit more competitive. But the race is for fastest Earth pony, I wouldn't want him at anything but his best, but I suppose we could do it in two runs, one without special abilities and one with. Though I have no doubt my Lightning sprint still makes me one of the fastest living things." 

Edited January 13, 2016 by Illiad Easle

[DwhitetheGamer 867]

@@Illiad Easle, 

 

Luna dropped her head in shame.  "I'm sorry.  I was just so caught up in the most recent events back at my home in Canterlot that I have forgotten about the Children and yourself.  Though this race looks to be wildly interesting indeed.  Well, I guess I should let you go back to sleep.  You have an exchange with Copper, correct?"

[Illiad Easle 3,167]

@@DwhitetheGamer,

 

"That is true. I'm getting too old to stay up all night like we used to." He began rolling up the genealogical scroll, pausing every so often at the marked generations. The scroll started out as a tree with lines, but eventually it got so cramped it moved to a list with each new birth connected to its parents, each entry had a name, birth-date an image of their mark, and when they got it. Once the scroll was all rolled up Midnight returned it to it's cabinet. He turned back to Luna. "I suppose you should be going now. Be sure to keep the box and Gari's journal safe, I know she'd never forgive you if it got damaged."

[DwhitetheGamer 867]

@@Illiad Easle, 

 

Luna looked at the scroll showing each generation of the Children.  She was so happy about her following she wanted to stay here, but duties in Canterlot prevented that from happening.

 

"I shall, Midnight.  I will return tomorrow to give you my sister's word of your race.  Goodnight, dear friend."

 

Then she walked out of the room, and when out side the castle, she teleported back to Canterlot to continue her duties.

[Illiad Easle 3,167]

@@DwhitetheGamer,

 

Midnight sighed as she left, he wrote a note reminding himself to get a lock on his door sometime in the future. He then returned to his bed and went to sleep, foregoing dreams in an attempt to rejuvenate more quickly.

 

Day 2

 

The chefs came to start their work early preparing some of the more common breakfasts so they would be ready when the delegates came in for breakfast. Cookie Pie waited at the counter for someone to come in while the other two chefs were prepping.

[DwhitetheGamer 867]

@@Illiad Easle, 

 

Copper awoke the next day, feeling refreshed after dreaming about the race he and Midnight would have.  He first went to the bathroom for his private stuff, then went outside the room.  He had smelled something delicious cooking, and would've ran to the dining hall had he not thought about the delegates still sleeping.  So he continued walking to the dining hall, where he sat down and patiently waited for a waiter to arrive.

[Illiad Easle 3,167]

@@DwhitetheGamer,

 

Cookie Pie saw Copper enter the room, she had never seen this pony before so it was clear he was new here. She stayed at the counter watching him with an amused expression for a bit before she gave a short laugh. She rolled her eyes and with a face full of mirth she trotted around the counter and over to Copper. "Hi there! You must be new here, I'm Cookie Pie, one of the chefs here in the castle. What's your name and why are you here?" She sat across the table from Copper as she waited for him to respond. As there weren't any others in the dining area she was free to interact with Copper for now. Cookie was just a bit shorter than Copper, she had a shortish chocolate brown mane and a cookie colored coat. Her small wings fluttered occasionally and from where he sat copper could see that her underside of her barrel was an even lighter shade, almost sugar cookie in color. In contrast her excited eyes were an impressive emerald green.

[DwhitetheGamer 867]

@@Illiad Easle, 

 

Copper heard a short laugh from a chef and turned towards the sound.  He saw a mare who was obviously a chef watch him before she trotted to him.  He smiled at the mare, who introduced herself to him.

 

"Hi, Cookie!  I'm Copper Strikes, and I came here, specifically to this castle, for an exchange of cultures with Midnight Star, who you shouldn't worry about introducing to me, I've already met him.  Oh, also for anything on the menu.  I'm pretty hungry."

[Illiad Easle 3,167]

@@DwhitetheGamer,

 

"It's good to meet you Copper. As to food, it's mostly made to order as each of the delegates we serve has different tastes and dietary restrictions, but whatever you can think up we can probably make, within reason of course. We already have a pile of toast ready if you want that, it's one of the few things everyone here can eat."

[DwhitetheGamer 867]

@@Illiad Easle, 

 

Copper nodded at Cookie for the suggestion.  "I'll take some toast then, please.  If you have any jam or jelly to put on them you can, if not that's okay.  Oh, and can I have some tea while you're at it?"

 

He smiled.  As he was taught, breakfast was the most important meal of the day, and a good one to rev him up was even better.

[Illiad Easle 3,167]

@@DwhitetheGamer,

 

Cookie smiled and nodded as she rose from the table. "I'll get right on that then." As she started to make her way back to the counter a unicorn walked in to the dining area. He was wrapped in cloth in a sort of toga fashion with his tail sticking out the back. His messy grey hair and his dark grey coat were in stark contrast to the whiteness of his robes. His purple eyes were half closed and he didn't seem to be in a great mood as he approached the counter. Cookie waved at him with her exuberance and the unicorn's expression improved as he gave a slight sigh. Cookie turned back towards Copper. "You'll have to pick up your food at the counter, more delegates are going to be coming in soon so I have to stay behind the counter." She then trotted over behind the counter, exchanged a few words with the unicorn, then entered the back room. The unicorn took a seat near the counter and sighed again. 

[DwhitetheGamer 867]

@@Illiad Easle, 

 

Copper understood Cookie's words.  She didn't want to have the Delegates have to wait on him for picking up his order.  So he got up from the table, pushing his chair in, and trotted over to the counter, waiting patiently for his food to arrive.  As he waited, he smiled at a unicorn behind the counter.

 

"Hello.  I'm Copper Strikes.  What's your name?"

[Illiad Easle 3,167]

@@DwhitetheGamer,

 

The unicorn looked up with a bit of surprise, he hadn't noticed Copper when he walked in. "Oh? I'm Attachè Case, I'm the delegate from the Trojan Empire." He looked over Copper with a curious expression. "So what brings you to Archback Castle? You wouldn't happen to be the new Equestrian Delegate would you?" Cookie came back out of the kitchen with a plate of toast with a small amount of blueberry and huckleberry jam on the side. "Here you go Copper, I didn't know which jam you would prefer so I brought you our two most popular ones." she turned towards Case, "I'll be back out with your dinner shortly." With that she returned to the kitchen.

[DwhitetheGamer 867]

@@Illiad Easle, 

(Yeah, you'd realize it, but I dunno how to put that slash on top of the 'e', so pretend it's there.)

 

Copper shook his head at the unicorn.  "No, actually.  I'm here because I'm in the middle of an exchange with Midnight Star.  I learned a lot of things about him and the Mountains, and honestly, I can't wait to show him around Ponyville.

 

When Cookie came out with the toast and the jam, he smiled at her.  "Thank you.  I'll try both."  he turned to Attache.  "So, I'll see you later, hopefully."

 

He returned to his seat and placed his order on the table.  He gently put some blueberry jam on one toast and took a bite out of it.

 

"Sweet Celestia, this is so good!" he said to himself.

[Illiad Easle 3,167]

@@DwhitetheGamer,

 

(Alt+138 for è but you have to use the number pad to do it)

 

Copper's exclamation on the jam earned him a weird look from Attachè "By the stars, do ponies in Equestria really use phrases like that? How odd."

 

"​You'll find it's quite prevalent in their culture, back before Luna's banishment they practically worshiped Celestia. But she's managed to tone it down in the past few centuries." Midnight said as he walked into the dining hall. "Good morning Attachè, good morning Copper, did you sleep well?"

 

Cookie returned from the kitchen carrying a plate with a sandwich on it, she placed it in front of Attachè before turning towards Midnight. "Good morning Midnight! The usual?" 

Midnight turned towards Cookie, "Good morning Cookie, I think I'll have what copper is having today, huckleberry if you would."

With a nod Cookie returned to the kitchen.

[DwhitetheGamer 867]

@@Illiad Easle, 

 

Copper turned to the sound of the voice in question to find Midnight arriving to the dining hall.  He wiped the jam he got on his muzzle off with his napkin then smiled at Midnight, waving at his friend.

 

"Good morning, Midnight.  Indeed I slept well.  How about you?"

[Illiad Easle 3,167]

@@DwhitetheGamer,

 

"As well as one can when they get woken up in the middle of the night." He took a seat next to Copper as he waited for Cookie to return with his breakfast. "So.. Do you have any more questions for me? Because I have one for you. Are you still interested in learning about changelings?" 

[DwhitetheGamer 867]

@@Illiad Easle,

 

As Copper kept eating his toast, Midnight sat next to him and had asked if he had any more questions.  He raised a hoof, signaling he will talk once he was finished, then after he ate, spoke.

 

"Actually, yes.  I do have one question.  I noticed there was a lot of countries in your room.  How was it, travelling across the world?"

[Illiad Easle 3,167]

@@DwhitetheGamer,

 

"Usually one answers the question asked of them before asking a new question, but I digress. It was interesting, to see so many creatures and cultures, to watch them change and evolve over time... It has certainly given me a new perspective on my place in this world. Much can happen in a millennium, I would say Luna was lucky in at least one respect, Equestria did not change much in her absence. Of all the nations I've watched Equestria has changed the least, certainly they have made much progress, but oh so much is the same as it was a few hundred years ago. I suppose this proves the problems with immortal rulers, In what I've watched it is the nations who's rulers change at a quick yet even pace that have the best growth. Of all, the deer and the Trojans seem to have the best grasp on this. The turnover allows new customs to form, new ideal to surface, the citizens are involved in their nation's destiny." He sighed, "I suppose I'm being a bit hard on Equestria, there are things that it does better than the other nations, it has the lowest crime rate by far of any nation, it has also remained standing the longest. The longer a ruler remains in power the more stable a country is, and Equestria has that covered. I'm sorry if that seemed to be a bit of a rant, I tend to do that when I'm tired. Now, you didn't answer my question. Do you still wish to know about the changelings?" 

[DwhitetheGamer 867]

@@Illiad Easle, 

 

Copper pondered on Midnight's words about Equestria.  He was surprised that very little had changed to him.  Then again, having an extended life span lets him see so many in so much time.  He would no doubt experience the same thing Midnight has.

 

"I see.  Anyways, yes, I still would like to know about the changelings.  What makes them different from what I know about them?"

[Illiad Easle 3,167]

@@DwhitetheGamer, 

 

"Well," Midnight said with a slight smirk and a sideways glance, "Perhaps your questions would be best directed at a changeling. Wait here, I will be back shortly." Midnight rose from the table and moved through the door on the opposite side of the one they had entered from, as the door closed behind Midnight Copper could see a much larger room with tables. Once the door closed Cookie returned from the kitchen carrying a larger quantity of toast than she had brought Copper. She looked around with a confused expression before carrying the toast over to Copper. "Do you know where Midnight went, or when he'll be back?"