private A Cultural Exchange 1x1 with DwhitetheGamer

[DwhitetheGamer 867]

@@Illiad Easle, 

 

Copper nodded in understanding.  "Feel free to go back to the castle once you cleared your mind."

 

He launched a Spin Dash back to the castle, where inside, the Mane Six and Daring were waiting on any responses from Ditzy.  Copper walked to them and said, "Midnight needs some time alone, but he wants Twilight for renewing some enchantments."

 

Twilight looked at him and nodded.  "I'll do it, then."  And flew out of the castle and over to Midnight, after finding him near the Everfree Forest.  When she landed, she asked, "You wanted to renew enchantments?  I happen to learn them a few days ago."

[Illiad Easle 3,135]

@,

 

Midnight looked slightly skeptical as Twilight flew in, but shrugged, illusion enchantments weren't hard to learn anyway.

 

The mist was starting to fade away from his hooves, to reveal a very irregular hoof shape. Rather than a single solid piece of keratin his hoof was split into three distinct pieces, much like an ancient merychippus, though instead of the side two 'toes' being mostly useless, Midnight's 'toes' could be used to grasp and were better suited to more difficult terrain. In addition the three pieces fit into each other in a way that when put together they would resemble a normal hoof, which was better suited to plains and fast running.

 

Midnight looked to Twilight with a serious expression. "I'm letting you see this, not because I completely trust you, but because you are the only one I trust around here with the skills necessary to renew the enchantments. The framework is inscribed in my shoes, all it needs is more mana."

 

He sighed as he looked at one of his forehooves more closely, the shoe having been designed so that the toes could be locked together or separated by a motion. He separated the toes and rubbed his face a bit. "You know, you are now one of three living beings on the planet that know of my... abnormality. I would appreciate if that number didn't grow any further please." 

[DwhitetheGamer 867]

@@Illiad Easle, 

 

Twilight nodded.  "My lips are sealed.  It'll just take a moment."

 

She levitated the shoes to her and read one of them.  She repeated the words and, with a glow of her horn, brought back the enchantments to the shoes as Midnight requested.  She then levitated them back to him.  "All fixed.  We're at the castle if you're ready to come back, in case Copper didn't tell you already.  I'll leave you alone."

 

She started to walk back to the castle, in case Midnight wanted to talk to her.  One'd never know when it would be wise to talk it out.

[Illiad Easle 3,135]

@,

 

Midnight replaced the shoes easily, they having been designed for comfort and being easily removed. With the enchantment re-activated his hooves resembled any other pony's. He trotted in a quick circle to ensure they were on right and sighed as he sat back down.

 

With a shrug he stood back up, and made his way slowly to the castle, hopefully none of the residents blamed him for Ditzy's outburst. 

[DwhitetheGamer 867]

@@Illiad Easle, 

 

Inside the castle, there was very little chatter going around until Midnight showed up.  The minute Rainbow Dash saw him, she fumed with fury.  "WHY YOU!"  she yelled and charged after the older stallion only for hooves grabbing her back hoof to stop her.  She turned angrily and saw it was Copper who did it, angrier than she was.  "SONIC!  WHY ARE YOU DEFENDING HIM?!"

 

Copper said calmly, but with universal anger on him, "Have you forgotten that he knows how to fight?  It wasn't his fault to begin with."

 

Rainbow looked shocked, then dropped her head before looking at Midnight.  "I'm sorry, Midnight.  I'm just caught up in the fact that you would say such mean things to your old friend-"

 

Copper stopped her from going any further.  "He didn't say mean things.  He was being frank with her, at least I assume."

[Illiad Easle 3,135]

@,

 

Midnight looked surprised at Loyalty's outburst. And was inwardly relieved that Copper stopped her from attacking. Loyalty was fast and had air superiority, thus would have a decent chance in a fight against him, though with his massive frame it would only take one well places strike to ground her permanently.

 

"Frank? Always. Mean? I can see why you might see it that way. It's just that one of my many morals is that one's life should be held in the same regard as they care for the lives of others. Maybe I could have said it better, but the point I made stands. That is, if we are both thinking of the same things." 

[DwhitetheGamer 867]

@@Illiad Easle, 

 

Copper nodded at Midnight and continued on his words.  "If you allow me to repeat your words, Midnight.  Today's ponies have grown too soft, unable to face the cold-hard truth.  Our actions don't have the same consequences because of Princess Celestia's doting.  Midnight's children are able to handle the truth and understanding of how their actions have consequences and how to remedy them to a degree that none of you would understand.  Words can't fix mistakes, he knows that's not the case, and now, I'm beginning to realize it myself."

 

Before saying this, he was walking towards Midnight.  Once he reached his side, and had finished his speech, he had a serious expression on him.  "Do you all understand what I'm saying?"

 

The Mane Six looked at each other with concerned expressions, but they nodded at Copper and Midnight.  Copper nodded back, and looked at Midnight.  "Do you have anything to add?"

[Illiad Easle 3,135]

@,

 

Midnight looked relatively confused, he didn't think those words really applied to the situation. "Um... sure I guess? I don't think the two of us had the same point in mind or you're seeing what I said in a completely different light than I did. If it has some deep meaning to you then that's a bonus I did not intend."

[DwhitetheGamer 867]

@@Illiad Easle, 

 

Copper was confused as well.  It wasn't what Midnight meant?  "Oh, well then.  I guess what you're saying is being frank to you can mean being mean to somepony else, right?  My bad.  I thought what you told me when I talked to you was what you meant by being frank."

 

Twilight shrugged.  "Either way, I think we all learned a valuable lesson.  Words can't turn back the clock, they can't fix anything, and they can't be taken seriously until they become actions."

[Illiad Easle 3,135]

@,

 

Midnight shook his head, "Alright. Yes, my point was that being frank can be interpreted as being mean and I do see now what your words meant Copper. As to Twilight, my point was that words are often not enough. It is important to apologize, but apologies aren't going to fix everything. You apologize for your words, and you work for forgiveness for your actions. In that regard I would like to apologize if any of my words offend, it is not my intent."

 

Hopefully with that cleared up they could move on with their day. 

[DwhitetheGamer 867]

@@Illiad Easle, 

 

"You're forgiven, Midnight."

 

Everypony turned to see Ditzy, who over heard the last part of his words, walk to them, eyes shut and all.  She continued, "And you know what?  I wanna take back my words of turning back time to never have seen you."

 

Copper caught the meaning of her words, and looked shocked.  "You're eyes..."

 

"Yup."  she said, and opened her eyes to reveal that, "They have been fixed, everypony."

 

Daring gasped, lunged and embraced her sister.  "Yay!  The Ditzy I know is back!"

 

Ditzy returned the embrace, and the others smiled in return, except for Copper, who said, "Not to Midnight.  What about your foal?"

 

Ditzy had a concerned look on her.  "Oh.  That.  I guess I didn't think about her that time, a part of my trauma.  heh."

[Illiad Easle 3,135]

@,

 

Midnight sighed, he gave an unsure smile. "I think you should go to a hospital, given the effects you may have experienced another severe trauma which should be looked at by a professional before you do too much. No disrespect to Princess Sparkle and all, but I don't believe she is a certified medical professional. I do accept your apology Ditzy, though I must warn you here, time is not something to be messed with lightly, in fact I don't think it should be messed with at all. The effects are too great for even the best of us to fully comprehend. I hope in the future you pay more mind to those that depend on you before you make hasty decisions, you almost ended the life of someone I hope is close to you today. I would appreciate if the same situation doesn't arise again." 

[DwhitetheGamer 867]

@@Illiad Easle, 

 

DItzy nodded, and promptly went out of the castle, but not before saying, "Thank you, Midnight."

 

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief.  "Thank goodness.  Friendship problem solved.  And no, I'm no medical professional."

 

Copper couldn't help but grin.  "I'll never get over the fact that all your cutie marks can glow like they do."

 

Twilight giggled.  "It's a big part of us finding friendship problems, Copper, as you know."

[Illiad Easle 3,135]

@,

 

Midnight looked over at Twilight, "I'm actually curious about this map of yours, I would certainly consider the dispute between Ditzy and I as a friendship problem, did anything show up on your map as a result of that?"

 

He wondered what sort of problems were actually important enough for the map to send them to fix, and whether friendship problems were really worth the undivided attention of the newest princess. 

[DwhitetheGamer 867]

@@Illiad Easle, 

 

Twilight nodded.  "Yeah, it had showed up on the map.  Fluttershy said she could've swore she heard yelling and we went to check on the issue and saw Ditzy smashing her head onto the wall of the castle.  We were concerned, so we took her back in to try and figure out why it'd happen and... well, you should know who'd accuse you of such doing."

 

Rainbow blushed with embarrassment at Twilight's words.  

[Illiad Easle 3,135]

@,

 

Midnight shrugged, "I wouldn't say I wasn't completely at fault for the events that transpired. Though again I would say that they were not my intention. There are much more effective, quieter ways to subdue someone if that were my goal. If I thought she was truly serious about changing time I might have been more inclined to stop her." 

[DwhitetheGamer 867]

@@Illiad Easle, 

 

Twilight nodded at Midnight's statement.  "I learned the hard way to not mess with time.  I created a time loop to where I told myself in the past to not look at the sun, join Pinkie Pie, and some other things.  Naturally, I didn't listen to my future self and I did everything that I was told not to.  This was long before I got my wings, though."  She fluffed her wings out in the last sentence.  "I promise there won't be a next time."

[Illiad Easle 3,135]

@,

 

Midnight nodded, "Good, an old friend of mine lost himself to messing with time, I'd hate to see it happen again."

 

He looked around, this adventure hadn't taken too much time. He looked over at Copper, "It's still pretty early in the day, we could probably make it up to Canterlot before the Midnight Star closes for the day if you still want to go." 

[DwhitetheGamer 867]

@@Illiad Easle,

 

Copper nodded.  "Let's get a move on, then.  Bye, girls!"

 

As the Mane Six and Daring gave their goodbyes, Copper led Midnight out of the castle and to the Friendship Express.  From there, Copper paid for their tickets to Canterlot and, when the train arrived, which wasn't very long, the two hopped on and took their seats.

 

Copper looked over at Midnight.  "So there's a company named after you?  Did you found it?"

[Illiad Easle 3,135]

@,

 

The train was a bit more cramped than Midnight expected, it certainly wasn't designed for someone of his stature, the Trojan trains were much better in that regard, though Midnight found the seating here to be a bit more comfortable.

 

Midnight nodded at Copper's query, "I founded it yes, from afar. It was a year or two after I discovered that Celestia was stopping news of other nations from being told to her ponies. I took it upon myself to spread the word in this format, one that wouldn't be taken seriously enough to get much notice, but accurate enough that those who knew of it could easily learn the truth of the world. Presently the article titles seem outlandish to the populous as they have no understanding of foreign affairs." 

[DwhitetheGamer 867]

@@Illiad Easle, 

 

Copper nodded.  "I see.  So is it best to keep it under wraps between the ones who know about it?  I'm just wondering because should the truth mistakenly comes out in some form or another, then the ones who know are gonna be trying to deny it, and eventually the truth will get exposed.  Not only that but they might question Princess Celestia for keeping the truth away from them."

[Illiad Easle 3,135]

@

 

Midnight looked thoughtful for a moment. "Actually, the tabloid is written in such a way that if you didn't know it contained the truth you would think it was entirely satire. It's goal has always been to spread the truth, so you would be fine to share it around. Many will refuse to believe that it is anything but fiction, and that's to be expected."

[DwhitetheGamer 867]

@@Illiad Easle, 

 

Copper nodded.  "That's good to know."

 

They continued chatting about other, minor things. and about fifteen minutes later, they reached Canterlot.  Once the train had stopped, they had gotten out and into the Canterlot Station.

 

Copper looked at Midnight.  "Lead the way, Midnight.  You know where it is."

 

(Temporary switching of DMs commence.)

[Illiad Easle 3,135]

@

 

Midnight lead Copper to an industrial district near the outskirts of the city, practically too the side of the mountain where it continued upward even further. The building was not particularly different from those around it, other than it having the name on a small wooden sign out front. A small paper dispenser stood by the door which advertised one bit for one paper. The building was a small two story affair.

 

Midnight turned towards Copper when they arrived. "You have any questions before we go inside?"

[DwhitetheGamer 867]

@@Illiad Easle, 

 

Copper shook his head at Midnight's query.  "Nah.  I don't have any, at least not that comes to mind."  

 

He then said, "It does look like any other well-organized building out there in the world, at least the places I've been to, which isn't that many to be honest."  He said that as more of a compliment to the structure of the building.