private A Cultural Exchange 1x1 with LonnaKitty

[Illiad Easle 3,173]

@@LonnaKitty

 

Midnight appreciated that Argante returned the gesture, he hoped she would be as receptive in the future.

 

He grew curious at the intentions of the elder. He didn't fear the possibility of a trap, given he was quite the fighter if pressed, so he decided he would go with it. He stood out enough that Argante would be able to find him if she needed to.

 

He moved over to the elder, his rather imposing figure having a similar effect on the crowd. "Yes? What is it?"

[LonnaKitty 173]

@@Illiad Easle,

 

"My boy, I wish to thank you ever so for helping our princess," His voice was shaky, though that was to be expected. "You may not have felt you have done much, but you have done a lot, more than I or the other members of our society could dream of." His smile was warm and gentle. The old stallion sat down, his old bones weary from standing for too long. "She has been pushed around by the council for too long, but since you have came here, she has brightened and has become the bright and strong willed princess I once knew." he gazed in the distance.

 

"Do this old stallion a favor, keep her bright. You remind me a lot of a pony I once knew, long ago, and if you are like him, you will do more good for her than ya think. She has kept herself in solitude for a long time, once she fully opens to you, you will see how bright she can shine." He pushed up, his joints cracking, he chuckled as he walked away to be left alone with the shadows of his memories. 

 

Argante kept talking with others on the stage, laughing with them, as they surrounded her, talking all at once, mixtures of good lucks, as well as questions from what she had seen. She kept the part about all the ponies hiding, so she talked about the shops, the colors, meeting Zecora, and all the good things.

[Illiad Easle 3,173]

@@LonnaKitty,

 

Midnight pondered on the elder's words as they walked away. He was surprised, yet glad, to hear he had made such an impact already in their lives. "I guess it's a good thing I made it here before Celestia's little friendship brigade. I wonder how long it will be before they show up here?" He muttered to himself as he sat down at the edge of the gathering, patiently waiting for Argante to be done speaking.

 

He had noticed that she seemed a bit more independent, more outgoing than she had been when he had first arrived, but whether that had been because of him or simply because of the barrier dropping it was too early to tell.

[LonnaKitty 173]

@@Illiad Easle,

 

Argante walked through the crowd, looking for Midnight. When she found him, she waved, popping out of the large crowd and stopping short of running into him.

 

"That was such a rush!" she exclaimed, small little bubbles of laughter coming out every so often. Her face was flushed from the excitement, she looked bright, like everything was right with the world. She circled around a couple times, trying to get rid of the excess energy.

 

"I feel as light as a feather," she cooed, her body matching her words as her wings lifted her above the ground a couple feat. She giggled at her silliness and landed softly on the ground, "Sorry about my...over eccentric attitude right now, I just feel pretty liberated! I just feel beside myself!" she blushed lightly as her laughter continued. Several ponies saw their giggly princess with the stallion. Some chuckled and left them alone, giving them space. Happy that their princess was happy.

 

Orange Blossom trotted up after a few moments, bowing to Argante and smiled wide. "Princess your stuff is almost done being packed, you will need to visit Raindew tomorrow though for your extra bracelets, as well as other things."

 

"Oh, thank you Orange Blossom, you are amazing!" Argante leaned down to give the mare a quick hug. They held each other for a moment as Blossom whispered something into Argante's ear. Argante pulled back a blush across her face as red as a rose. "O-Orange Blossom please!" she cried.

 

She only laughed at her flushed princess as she walked away, leaving Argante to pout over her.

 

"Gettin me all flustered like that, how mean..."

[Illiad Easle 3,173]

@@LonnaKitty,

 

Midnight snorted at Argante's antics, simply glad he could be a partial cause to her excitement.

 

He idly wondered what the other mare could possibly have said to get Argante flustered so quickly. Far be it from him though to ask if she were romantically involved with anyone. If she hadn't told him it was likely because it wasn't something he needed to know. "I'm sure she wasn't trying to be mean with whatever she said. I guess then you want to leave some time tomorrow?" 

[LonnaKitty 173]

@@Illiad Easle,

 

"No she was just teasing, saying stuff thats kinda embarrassing." She pouted again as she turned to Midnight a small giggle coming out. "And leaving tomorrow will be good, I think everypony will be fine." She looked out to her citizens, as they talked, planned, gossiped. She then frowned a bit as she looked towards the sun setting.

 

"Midnight, I...I feel that I need to tell you the rest of our history before we leave tomorrow, if you could come to my room, after you get some food, I would like to tell you, but for right now," she took a deep breath, exhaling as she started to walk off. "Right now I will need to gather my thoughts...." she opened her wings and flew off, her mind elsewhere.

 

She landed on her balcony, looking around at her room. The smell of the familiar lavender, the stones, the floor. She had grown so used to this room, and in only a few short days, it now felt, foreign to her. She approached the trunks that were near her door, placing a hoof on them. Soon she will be going to somewhere even more foreign. How will she handle it? She hoped she could handle it well enough.

 

Elsewhere, Hoofbeat approached Midnight, his sour face never changed as he stepped up closely to the other stallion he glared hard at him. "What sort of ideas have you placed in her head?!" he shouted. Several bystanders stopped talking as they looked to the shouting council member. One pony trotted off, hopefully to get another council member to intervene.  

[Illiad Easle 3,173]

@@LonnaKitty,

 

Midnight gave a contented sigh as Argante flew off, her enthusiasm was similar to Luna's oh so long ago. It was nice to have another immortal who appreciated his company.

 

His moment of calm was ended by the irate councilstallion, his expression changed to one of a firm, yet slight irritation, like one who was frustrated yet had the restraint to still act with civility, barely. He turned towards the shouter with a raised eyebrow, "I suppose I don't know what you mean. What ideas could I, only a mere third of her age, have to offer that she wouldn't already have? Other than it seems the ideas that she's quite old enough to make her own decisions, she's the ruler and should act like it, and that the world outside is oh so very different from the one you left behind. In short I suppose I may have given her the ideas of actual freedom of action, that she has the ability to not be in charge every once in a while, as well as the idea that she does have a say in what she does. One potential immortal to another, you're all quite different from whoever you were when this whole thing started, maybe you should treat her as a competent ruler rather than a puppet by which your council runs the citizens."

 

He knew this was far from over, but it felt good to say what he had been thinking, hopefully the repercussions would not be severe.

[LonnaKitty 173]

@@Illiad Easle,

 

There was an audible 'ooo' in the crowd. Hoofbeat glared across the crowd, the on lookers looked away, pretending nothing was going on, or they were busy with something else. He then whipped his head to Midnight. There was something in his eye, a shadow of some sort, the look he gave Midnight was full of ill-intent. However, he only scoffed, then smirked.

 

"You know nothing, and you will be leaving soon regardless, what we do here, is NOT your concern." he glared, then briskly turned, trotting away. Several ponies that were around looked to each other with concern. This was apparently something they had never witnessed before apparently. They all exchanged worried glances to one another, slowly dispersing away from what had happened. One pony stayed however. A small stallion. He looked at the scene with a thoughtful eye, the purple unicorn approached Midnight carefully. 

 

"Care to talk about what happened?" his voice was small, but deep, the look in his eye told that he wouldn't let Midnight go without some explanation. 

[Illiad Easle 3,173]

@@LonnaKitty,

 

Midnight had an ever so slightly mischevious smile as Hoofbeat left. What you do here is very much my concern and My word determines to what degree the other nations will interact with you. I can make things very difficult for you.

 

He turned with a look of surprise at the small one who had approached him, he was hardly used to those who didn't know him actually wanting to interact with him. "Oh? Sure. You see, from the moment I arrived I felt something was off, and the way Argante, I would add an honorific but I don't know which she would prefer, acted it seemed to me that she wasn't usually in a place where she made decisions. Especially since she seems to fear what the council might think. The way I see it, since the council has been in charge since Argante was very young they just never got around to giving her the power she deserved or really coming to respect her as a leader. Second guessing her decisions and what not rather than giving her ideas credit."

 

He sighed, "I hope that answers your question. If not, is there anything else you'd like to know?"

[LonnaKitty 173]

@@Illiad Easle,

 

The stallion stared and started to laugh. Well that wasn't exactly the 'normal' reaction one was expecting. Especially after hearing about one talk about their leaders. Yet there he was laughing away. He gathered himself and wiped a tear away, letting out a soft sigh. He coughed into his hoof as he straightened himself out.

 

"Ahh sorry bout that, wasn't quite expecting such a detailed answer," he let out another short burst of giggles, quickly containing them. "My name is Dusk Cloud, and I guess the only thing I want to know, is if you will protect my princess while she is with you," he looked off towards where Hoofbeat left, his eyes looked thoughtful, calculating, "I won't be able to protect her while she is gone after all, I have to stay here."

 

The small stallion glanced back to Midnight, though he was smaller, his overall presence, his aura if you will, made him seem larger. There was something mysterious about this pony. He only tilted his head to the side, waiting for a response.  

[Illiad Easle 3,173]

@@LonnaKitty,

 

Midnight had a look that said something along the line of 'Are you serious?' to accompany Dusk's reaction. "I fully intend to do everything in my power to ensure no harm befalls your princess while she is in my care. You have nothing to fear in that regard."

 

He looked around wondering what he should do next. It was about dinner time, but he thought he should see Argante first. "If that's all, could you please direct me to the castle so I can find your princess? She said she had something to tell me." 

[LonnaKitty 173]

@@Illiad Easle,

 

Dusk nodded, leading the taller stallion to the keep on the other side. He didn't speak much, most ponies seemed to pretty much ignore them, even move out of the way. They reached the large opened doors, he turned and smiled to Midnight, bowing, then quickly walking away without so much as a goodbye.

 

Argante meanwhile was pacing in her room. She knew she would have to tell this part of the story to somepony once the spell shattered. She just hoped, prayed even, that he would understand. She sat on some pillows near the open doors of her balcony. She stared at the stars that were now starting to appear in the darkening sky. She wrapped her tail around her hooves and just watched the sky.

 

Downstairs in the main hall, maids and butlers were cleaning and bustling around. No one paid any mind to Midnight when he entered, as everyone was busy with their own chore.    

[Illiad Easle 3,173]

@@LonnaKitty

 

Midnight made his way rather quietly through the castle, he knew after all the way top his own room, and he knew that Argante's room was right next to it.

 

Upon arriving he hesitated for a moment, wondering if he had done well so far on this trip. It had been a long time since he last had to welcome a nation to the world. Already it seemed he had made a good impression on some, but a bad one on others.

 

He sighed as he shook his head, now wasn't the time to worry about such things, Argante had something important to tell him, and he would be more supportive this time than the last time a dark coated alicorn confided in him.

 

After a deep breath to bury the memories brought on by that last thought, he knocked on the door.

[LonnaKitty 173]

@@Illiad Easle,

 

Argante turned to the door, she didn't move but used her magic to open the door. "Come in Midnight." her voice was soft. She smiled kindly to him as he entered. The smell of lavender permeated the room, it wasn't strong, but pleasant. She motioned with her hoof to some small seat pillows in front of where she was sitting. 

 

She waited for him to sit in front of her on the plush pillows. She didn't speak for a little bit, her mind wandered and she thought of the best way to tell her story. She closed her eyes, then slowly opened them, looking directly at Midnight she began her story. 

 

"Well I guess we should pick off where I left off. After the festival, my brother seemed, changed. I was the only one who noticed though, and so I repressed the thoughts, thinking nothing of it and dived right into my training. Because of my magic being multiplied by the Great Tree, I had to be put in the same classes as my brother. Now that I think back, and with what I know, I am very positive he was angry at me." she looked down and sighed, trailing her hoof in a unknown design on the floor.

 

"After a few years my father approached me. He told me that my brother could no longer be the new Shard. That I had to take his place. I did not wish for it though. When I asked why, he told me a shadow had taken a hold of his heart, and he was no longer fit to be the Shard. It seems that after a few years, the change I saw in him during the beginning became apparent to those around him. It felt like a betrayal of trust, and I honored my big brother too much to want to be the new Shard. However my fathers word was law. I was to become the new Shard, and as such, the reigning ruler of our small kingdom." She glanced up to see if he was following her story so far.

[Illiad Easle 3,173]

@@LonnaKitty

 

Midnight looked concerned, yet caring as he listened to her story. "It sounds like your brother grew jealous of your successes, when you were put on his level he was no longer special. Then his fears led you actually surpassing him. But I digress, please do continue."

 

He looked ahead with rapt attention, the expression on his face clearly indicating his interest.

[LonnaKitty 173]

@@Illiad Easle,

 

She could only nod at his assumption. "You could be quite right, I will never know for sure though." She stood up and paced back and forth a bit, trying to ease her nerves. She took several deep breaths hoping the smell of the lavender will calm her down. After a brief moment she continued.

 

"When Solano found out, he was consumed with rage, and something...happened, we still don't know to this day, but he started to destroy buildings, harm our citizens. What you see here today, is only a small fraction that survived. We used to be a bit larger, so many buildings, libraries, stores, we were such a thriving town, he destroyed so much, he killed many as well. Me and my family, we tried very hard to stop him, but he was so strong, the power was overwhelming. My brother then started to cast his curse, a curse of forgetting, a curse of, never existing." her body started to shake as she recalled the moments, fire, screaming, panic, and hurt, so much hurt.

 

"I started my own backlash while my parents worked on a counter. The curse was pretty much complete by the time we were able to catch up to him. My parents lost their lives performing the counter, which while his curse was in effect, everyone within the bubble would live eternally till the curse was broken. Thus time would stand still for us. My own spell was a bit more...darker, in nature." she sighed, here was her most hated memory, one she will never be able to forget.

 

"My spell stole his magic, I stole his magic and placed it in my own body. I thought, if he had no magic, the curse would not work. He had so much though, there was so much dark magic in his body, I couldn't take it all. I ended up fainting, the magic clashing and also amplifying my own was so painful. The last thing I remember was him saying 'Have fun as ruler of a now forgotten kingdom dear sister' and he laughed as he flew away from us, and out of our lives." as she concluded her tale, a few tears escaped her eyes, the painful memories still hurt, and she lived with it everyday.

 

"Its why I wear these," she held up her leg to show the bracelet, "It keeps my magic balanced, and the council, I know they fear me. I know they fear I will do what my brother did, since I now contain his magic."

[Illiad Easle 3,173]

@@LonnaKitty,

 

Midnight seemed stunned at the story, unbidden memories of a much older time came to his mind. He knew it wasn't the same but the similarities were shocking to him. He looked down, knowing now would hardly be the best time to share that story. He'd wait until she finally asked about his hooves before he told her that story.

 

"That's... certainly a traumatic experience. Such a shame it happened to someone like you, and especially to have the council fear you because of what you did, though arguably it may have saved everyone. I appreciate that you were willing to share it with me, I can understand to some extent what it must have been like, though Sir would really be able to relate to it better than I."

 

He sighed as he thought back on his own life. "I don't think I've encountered any trace of your brother in my travels of the world. Perhaps that is for the best, because now if I did find him... I would be the last to."

[LonnaKitty 173]

@@Illiad Easle,

 

She only nodded, her body still shaking from her history. "If he is alive, he would be weak, weaker than any normal unicorn. If he lives, maybe...just maybe I can find him..." what she would do if she did find him, she does not know. She shook off the thoughts plaguing her mind, shaking the shadows of the past away.

 

"I felt I needed to tell you this, I don't...particularly know why, but I felt that I had to. Just a feeling," she went and sat back in front of him, "I felt that you would understand, that you would not judge what I had done...I don't know if I will be able to tell other outsiders, to tell of the deed I have done, its a horrible thing, to strip ones magic from them." the pain in her voice was apparent, she sounded like a small filly being punished, instead of a wise alicorn that she should be.

[Illiad Easle 3,173]

@@LonnaKitty,

 

Midnight offered a comforting smile, "I'm glad you thought I should know and were willing to tell me. Perhaps you may never need to tell anyone else what you did, and while removing someone's magic may be horrible under normal circumstances, I'd say you did the best thing you could do. You potentially saved your kingdom from disappearing entirely, and there's no shame in that."

 

He spread his forelegs as if offering a hug, "Besides, I've heard of much worse things happening in my time, real murderers and brutal foalnapping gangs, both kinds of which I've had the pleasure of stopping. Really you're only bad if you do bad things for bad reasons, but when you do bad things for good reasons and it works then that's all that really matters."

[LonnaKitty 173]

@@Illiad Easle,

 

She nodded slowly, walking over and accepting the hug gratefully. She was then overcome with emotion, thousands of years of pent up emotion came washing out, her body started to shudder and she began crying. Her being was like that of a foal, crying and crying over so many things.

 

Her family, her citizens, driving her brother away. Each moment of crying was for each year of pain she locked away. Crying on his shoulder felt rejuvenating, her body was expelling all the negativity that she felt as she cried. When she pulled away, she sniffled softly, her eyes red from crying, as well as a flushed face.

 

"I-I'm sorry...." she grabbed a small towel and hand it to him, grabbing some tissues for herself, "I didn't mean to u-unload like that." she blew her nose, and wiped her eyes, trying to get herself to look presentable again. She knew she should have felt embarrassed, but she didn't, screw propriety and all that jazz she supposed.

[Illiad Easle 3,173]

@@LonnaKitty,

 

Midnight's smile brightened as he dried himself, he was happy to be a support for others. "Don't worry about it, I'm glad you feel you can depend on me. If you ever need someone to tell things to I'd be happy to listen."

 

He gave a happy sigh as he finished drying, "Now, I don't think either of us have eaten recently. You want to go do that?" He was hoping the prospect of food would help cheer her up, it helped him sometimes after all. Plus, it didn't hurt that he was a bit hungry anyway. 

[LonnaKitty 173]

@@Illiad Easle,

 

She smiled, the thought of food made her stomach rumble very loudly. A blush quickly spread across her face. "Hehe, yeah, food sounds really good right now. Dinner is probably over, but some of the kitchen staff might be able to rustle us up something to eat, and if not, I can, I have been known to...dabble in cooking." she grinned, leading them out into the hallway and down to the kitchens.

 

The halls were quiet, a guard maybe passing by every once in awhile, but it was like the keep itself was asleep. As they moved through the main hall and into the dinning hall, there was a little noise, ponies talking and laughing at each other. It wasnt coming from the hall itself, but from a door that was leaking light out into the emptiness. "Well looks like they are still awake."

 

As Argante pushed open the plain wood door, sounds of laughter and music came through. It sounded more like a tavern than a kitchen. They stood atop the stairs and looked down at the commotion. Several ponies were playing a game of dice, others were prepping tomorrows breakfast, throwing wood into the old fashioned stoves. One pony heard the two come in and smiled wide.

 

"Princess! Come on down 'ere!" he beamed, giving a mighty chuckle. He was much taller than the others, a big bulky green stallion, his mane was long and in a ponytail, but you could hardly tell cause of his massive beard, his tail however was cut short. He welcomed the two into the kitchen, the rest of the staff saying their hellos. "What brings ya 'ere princess?" he asked.

 

"Would it be okay if we could have some food made? We missed dinner." she asked sheepishly, he replied with a loud booming laugh, patting her on her shoulder.

 

"Aye, of course we can make somethin for ya wee princess! For ya friend too, what will ya have? You can go pick from the stock in tha pantry." he chortled, motioning to a small storeroom off in the back. 

[Illiad Easle 3,173]

@@LonnaKitty,

 

Midnight was impressed with the sense of camaraderie in the kitchen staff, it was very much like the kitchen staff back on Archback, though there seemed to be more of them here than he had ever had on any one shift. He supposed they had to cook for more than his did.

 

He was content to follow Argante to wherever she decided to go, he didn't want to impose after all.

[LonnaKitty 173]

@@Illiad Easle, 

 

She nodded and walked into the pantry. The pantry was fairly large, enough to accommodate all the food needed to feed the mouths inside the keep. Different shelves, of fruits and vegetables were strewn about. If there was a system it was a very hard to tell what it was. Nonetheless Argante looked around, sniffing around from shelf to shelf, letting her body find out what it was craving.

 

The green stallion stood in the doorway watching the two look around for food, "So princess, I heard that, you were goin ta be leavin for a little while, is it true?" he asked, the rest of the room got a little quiet, listening into the conversation.

 

She nodded, grabbing some bread of the shelf, "Yes I am Sage Stone, I will be going to explore our possibilities," she glanced over to him with a worried look, "Are you going to be okay with that?" she asked in turn.

 

"Aye, we will always follow ya lass, we care so much for ya, just want ya to be safe is all. When you return we will make all yer favorites." he gave her a wink. She smiled and giggled, as she grabbed some jam, peanut butter, and a pickle jar.

 

"I will look forward to it, but for now, I look forward to making me a sandwich!" she laughed, easing her way past Midnight and out into the kitchen once more, she laid her contents onto the small island in the middle of the room, making two sandwiches for her to consume. She waited for Midnight though to join her before she began to eat though, not wanting to be rude, as he looked for whatever he wanted to eat.

[Illiad Easle 3,173]

@@LonnaKitty,

 

Midnight was surprised at how disorganized the food area was, a faint smile came to him as he thought of how frustrated Gari would have been by it. Nonetheless he was able to find another flavor of jam and bread to form into a sandwich as well. It was after all the only thing he really knew how to prepare.

 

He brought the jam out as well as some more bread so he could make his own sandwich and join Argante where she was eating so he could eat too. It wasn't the best sandwich he had ever had, but it was a good enough try on his own part. He did raise an eyebrow at her odd choice of sandwich ingredients as he ate.