//------------------------------//
// An Exchange of Scenery 
// Story: A Cultural Exchange 
// by Illiad_Easle 
//------------------------------//

Illiad awoke to the sound of careful knocking at his door.

The room was cool and still, apparently nopony had come inside while he was sleeping this time. Except for the knocking, he was alone.  The previous night's happenings almost felt like a dream... but only almost.  There were far too much strangenesses that happened to EVER believe they were real; so, naturally, they were.

From the other side of the door came another soft knock.

Illiad pulled his diamond from his head where it had been sitting as and earpiece since the previous night. He formed it back to a diamond and left it drift where it may as he moved to the door, painfully aware of his bedraggled and utterly disheveled appearance.

He opened the door enough to see who it could be as he wondered what time it was. "Who is it?" 

"Ah, good - THERE you are, Mr. Easel!"

It was Vylia Blackwater... unaccompanied by her two servants, for once.

"I was hoping I would catch you before you took off with Daxter today - excellent!"

She smiled broadly at him.

"I would absolutely adore for you to accompany me today, as I have a number of different errands to see to, and would very much appreciate some company; the conversation we had the first day was fabulous... but hardly enough for my tastes!  Come now, Mr. Easel - would you please be so kind as to accompany me?"

Illiad stared at her bleary eyed, not quite sure if she was serious. He slowly blinked as he thought about it, "Um... Sure, I guess… Just give me some time to get ready, I just woke up." He was already prepping a light cleansing spell, just in case she was insistent about his immediate departure and he didn't have time to change robes or bathe beforehoof. 

Both her smile and mood brightened.

"Well, abso-LUTE-ly!  In fact, while you freshen up, I'll even go and fetch you something to nibble and sip during the ride.  The taxi shall be waiting outside; not too much of a rush, but no more than two shakes of a filly's tail, Mr. Easle!"

With that, she turned and trotted back down the hallway.  Curious... an invitation to join her for errands?  Without her usual escort?  And HER offering to fetch food for him?

Was there a reason for all this?

Something is going on here. Illiad closed the door as the Blackwater left. He quickly shucked his robe and bathed as quickly as he could, emerging from the water a bit cleaner and more awake a few minutes later. He dried and wrapped himself in a fresh robe, he paused for a moment as he realized it had been one of the fastest times he had gone through his morning routine.

Illiad returned to the door, his diamond secured in his robe. He grabbed some paper and a pen on his way out, in case he had time to write out the events of the past day. These things secured he made his way outside to look for the taxi Mrs. Blackwater mentioned. 

Sure enough, outside was a taxi, the driver staring open-mouthed at Blackwater Manor as Vylia waved a hoof from the backseat.

"Over here, dearie - come come!"

She opened the door and presented him with the seat next to her.  In it, there was a small basket with sliced and toasted multi-grained bread, a jar of strawberry preserves, some battered and fried apple slices and a number of slices of hay bacon.  Next to the basket was a thermos; hopefully, it wasn't tea.

Vylia moved these things aside enough for Illiad to get in, and patted the seat.

"Now, I won't bite - sit, and let's be off, shall we?"

Illiad took the indicated seat next to Mrs. Blackwater. "So...." Illiad said as he sat down, "What exactly is this all about?"

He was curious to say the least, she hadn't seemed inclined earlier to interact with him on a 1 on 1 basis, so what had changed? He wondered if she knew anything about the events of the previous night and if this was involved in that, maybe this was her way of getting him out of the quarry so she could tell him to never come back without Dax knowing. That would certainly be a mischievous plan.

She smiled brightly... and indeed, a tad mischievously.  

"Why, I simply figured it would be a wonderful opportunity to have a chat without having to fuss over the children; we so rarely get company at the Manor, and what sort of hostess would I appear to be if I were simply giving my dear Daxter's fine friend a routine nod-and-grin during his visit?  No, dearie - that simply WON'T do for a guest of the Blackwater family!"

She leaned forward.  "Driver?  To the address I've given you, please?"

It took the cabbie a moment to realize his fare was ready; the Blackwater Manor was impressive, after all.  But he blinked rapidly after a beat, then blushed a bit as he replied, "Yes, ma'am," and began to move forward.

"There we are!  Now, I do have a few stops to make, but I believe the FIRST one shall be the most important one on this outing, and by far will take the longest, I'm sure."

She sat back comfortably in the seat... which, for once, was actually comfortable.

"Besides," her grin widened, "I'm fairly certain you'd want to spend as much time in Canterlot as possible, hmmmm?"

She watched him slyly to see how he'd react to this news.

Illiad was unsure what exactly Mrs. Blackwater was getting at. Sure there were many things in Canterlot that he could spend time at, the Archives and his family being two of them, but there was a reason he visited Canterlot on a semi-annual basis at most. First, he was continuously scared of being recognized, either by those who attacked him the first time or by others inclined to enact the same punishment again, and second because the attack had given him such bad memories of the place. If his parents didn't still live there, he never would have returned after he fled, despite the archives.

"I suppose that makes sense, being a good host is an important attribute after all. I suppose I'm glad you're willing to be so gracious to someone you only just met a few days ago. In regards to Canterlot, I'd rather spend as much time out of Canterlot as I can. Too many bad memories led me to leave the city, and Equestria, in the first place. If my family didn't still live there I'd avoid the place like a quarantine zone."

Vylia put on a look of concern.

"Oh, yes... that dreadful incident with the tea, wasn't it?  Well, I suppose some ponies simply don't have any common horse-sense - such a horrid thing to imagine; using tea for such a cruel, jealous and stupid reason.  An absolute shame, that."

She gave a small smirk.

"Oh... but you never told me the entire story, DID you?"

She turned her gaze out the cab window, but kept speaking.

"Of course, something like THAT doesn't go without notice SOMEwhere - from there, it's only a matter of finding the correct information and learning it.  Such as I've decided to do with YOU, Mr. Easle - you are fascinating, as I'm quite certain you're either aware of, or purposefully UNaware of.  And of course, since my Daxter has such an interest in you, then so do I..."

She turned to smile at Illiad, and he couldn't sense any malice in her emotions... but he got the distinct feeling that she was making sure he understood that he would have eyes on him, and that she was digging into his history - without directly saying so, of course.

"And of course, somepony truly should look into this terrible crime against you... after all, where is the justice in having you scared to death to set hoof in your hometown, dearie?  That's no justice, I assure you.  But... that comes later."

The enigma of her smile at that comment was perplexing.

Illiad was quite worried, it was clear that Mrs. Blackwater had powerful connections if she knew anything about the attack, and it scared him how she talked about justice. His scales had already been balanced for the incident, anything further would be vengeance, and petty at this point. He just didn't want there to be the chance that it would happen again. He wondered what Mrs' Blackwater had planned, and he really hoped it had noting to do with the attack.

"Anyway, I do have to say that Daxter has been talking SO MUCH about you; he was a bit petulant that I took his attention away for a bit, but he IS a good colt, and minds his Mother.  Tell me in all honesty, Illiad dearie..."

She leaned in a bit closer to the Trojan; he could smell her perfume clearly.

"What do YOU think of my Daxter, Mr. Easle... and why do you believe he thinks so very much of YOU?"

"To be frank? He's a good colt, a bit stunted in his emotional and social growth but his heart is in the right place. He has potential for great things. As to why he thinks so highly of me? I think it is due to me being one of the only ponies he's met that doesn't work at the quarry, and thus does not fear the recurrence of past incidents. Also, I am a stranger, a pony from a faraway land that he's never heard of. A whole new world that, through me, he gets to explore. It could also be because I care about him like I do my other friends, I have practice being actively compassionate and that has earned me some deep and lasting friendships in the past."

Illiad was severely tempted to be passive aggressive in his response, but he withheld it. She was the one in control here and he did have a slight bit of fear as to what she could do.

"A bit... stunted?... in his emotional AND social growth?"

Oooh, there was a quick flash of anger at that, but her face belied nothing.

"Well... I suppose that might seem true according to someone like YOU, perhaps - but my Daxter is far better off than you appear to think he is.  He has a fine home, a good family, and plenty of things to keep him happy.  He's been taught all the high-class functionary manners, and he is a well-balanced colt in all he says and does."

The smile her current grin grew into was a bit shark-like in its appearance.

"But we are each entitled to our own opinions, of course."

No matter how wrong they may be, was what Illiad read in her eyes.

"At any rate, dearie, I'm sure you'll get a much clearer idea of exactly the kind of equines the Blackwaters can be after today!"

The pleasant demeanor she put on was nowhere near the level of self-satisfaction she was putting off... obviously, Vylia had something up her proverbial sleeve, but there would be no telling what it could be until later.  Hopefully, it wouldn't be anything bad... but with all he'd seen from the Blackwater matron so far, it might not be a bad idea to keep an eye on her.

Especially today.

"Now, there are a few errands that I must take care of while we're in town, but those will have to wait until after our first stop - that's the important one, you see.  That can take as long as it needs to, but you need not worry your horned head; each thing in its' own time."

Illiad could already see the buildings and spires from the seat of royalty ahead of them.  The city was very much like he recalled from his last journey here - maybe one or two new buildings, but that was all.  It shone in the morning sun like a jewel in a crown.

"Ah, such a beautiful city!  You know, I tried to get Luther to move us here back when we first married, yet he absolutely refused to leave the quarry out of his sight.  I swear, that stallion sometimes seems more obsessed with that hole-in-the-ground than he is with his own family - though I KNOW that's not the case, I simply can't help myself.  Oh, I could only IMAGINE how far up the social ladder we might have come, had we been here in the heart of it all!"

She gave a wistful sigh, gazing at the city ahead of them.

"Well, I suppose there's no sense in crying over spilled cider - besides, being as close as we are to the quarry, I receive any changes to the accounts and the inventories almost immediately, and our presence there motivates the workers to do a better job, of course.  So, I suppose there IS a silver lining to it all... but a filly can dream, can't she?"

She gave her melodic, tinkling laugh and put a hoof on the Trojan's shoulder.

"Now, Illiad, dearest... since we will be in Canterlot proper, perhaps there might be someplace you would wish to stop in at, for old time's sake?  Perhaps Pony Joe's, later?  Daxter insisted on stopping there when we were here last, and it wasn't lost on me when he brought some of those delectable pastries back to the Manor - as I assume they were for you, along with the book and the cloak, of course... or am I mistaken?"

She raised an eyebrow, looking at the stallion as if she were waiting for him to play his turn in poker.

A social chess player she really is, but she plays so close to the nose she can't even see the flaws in her strategy. She finds it impossible that her children could have problems and no one close to her would dare to tell her the truth. I am in a unique position here as an outsider that she actually cares the opinion of.

All this in mind Illiad worried what she was getting at, she didn't ask meaningless questions unless she was intentionally trying to avoid a subject, like the emotional and social state of her son, so all these questions had a motive to them. He thought carefully as to how to answer them.

"It has been a while since I was last at the archives, just after Chrysalis' attack I believe, it would be nice to go back and talk with the curator again, we've been friends since I was a much younger colt." 

As much as he enjoyed meeting with his parents, he had just met with them a month or two prior and not much had happened since then to warrant another visit. Besides, he hadn't told them ahead of time, to show up unannounced would be quite un-courteous.

"As to those items, yes. Dax did give them to me soon after he found me yesterday." Which reminds me, I think they're all still in the tent. They should be fine but I should remember to go back for them before I leave.

Illiad sighed, he knew that Mrs. Blackwater probably knew about him being empathic given she knew of the attack, but he didn't want to bring it up as the reason why he was the most accurate gauge of her son's emotional growth. He decided he'd simply work on Dax directly to improve those areas.

"Oh, yes... the Curator, of course!  It would be nice of you to check up on your old boss, Illiad - so much time among the books and scrolls must have been wonderful fun for such a well-read young stallion as you were, hmmm?  Well, I don't see why we can't make a small stop there; it would be my pleasure to see this fine Curator, myself."

She turned and looked out at the city proper as they rolled into it.  It was a rather busy-looking day, as there was activity everywhere - but it wasn't any different than a typical Canterlot day.  Lots of ponies trotting down the walkways, smiling and greeting each other, and all seemed well.

"Such a wonderful city, Canterlot!  Oh, the shops, the ponies... the Palace itself!  Such extravagance is an absolute marvel, isn't it?  I, myself, have never been..."

There was a tiny, extremely well-hidden yet clear ribbon of sad disappointment at that statement; yet her features and poise showed none of it.  

"... but I have heard that it's fabulous within.  Of course, a palace MUST be!  It wouldn't do for it to be less that spectacular - after all, it's only one of the many, many ways we show them how much we love them, isn't it?  You DO love our princesses, don't you?  Oh, what am I saying - of COURSE you do!  Somepony who keeps in touch with Princess Luna in such a casual manner as to simply send a single messenger to summon her presence has GOT to care about our royalty!"

She gave Illiad a casual smile, but her point had been made; she knew about Luna having been at the quarry... AND knew who brought her.  Unless Taps had ratted him out, Vylia's information network was on top of their game.  He might have to find out if Taps was, indeed, a part of this network or not.

Illiad took a moment to ponder a response instead of answering immediately.

"I did very much enjoy working at the archives, I especially loved re-shelving week when there would be a few times that I would be the only one in the whole archives outside of the guards. The archives are very peaceful at night and one of the most secure buildings in the city. A great source of solace before my inevitable departure. I'm actually surprised that you have never been within the castle, you seen important enough to be invited to the Gala at the very least. My relationship to your princesses is complicated and not one that I will likely discuss here or anywhere."

Vylia leaned back in her seat, looking a bit self-satisfied as the taxicab moved on through the lovely streets of Canterlot, she lifted an eyebrow.

"Well, you certainly seem to have your wits about you this morning... and here I was, hoping to catch you off guard!"

The melodic titter again; it was almost scary when she was nice - it was akin to waiting for the other horseshoe to drop.

"As for whatever connections you have royally, it most certainly is NOT my business - though I wouldn't be as pushy about secrecy as all that... you should learn some tact, Illiad dearie; it would do you a world of good, I'm sure."

"Mr. Easle, I was wondering: since you'll be in charge of my Daxter while he's in Troy... oh, still so funny to think of Daxter being so far away... might I ask what you possibly have planned for the two of you?  Being a caring Mother like myself, I'm naturally curious to hear what my son will have in store for his visit.  Please, regale me."

She looked as if she were a sweet mare, asking a kind stranger for a smile... yet Illiad had the distinct impression that, depending on his answer, he was being judged as a guardian for the Blackwater's middle child; what he had to say might make the difference between Daxter seeing Troy... and Illiad being sent on his way home alone.

Clearly there was some agenda to her comments, though the questions about the Trojan Itinerary seemed disconnected from the others. A distraction perhaps? This barrage of questions makes answering them in order a tad difficult.

It was scary how much information she had been able to gather but he knew that the nature of his relationship to Luna was an utmost secret and for it to get out would be an item on the short list of treasonable offences. It was a risk telling Dax, but he was confident the colt would tell no one.

Illiad's expression brightened slightly as the subject of Troy came up, "On the itinerary for Troy: First I will be showing Dax around the capital city of Troy, if possible I will show him how our government functions as well. Second I will show him around my current city of residence Deltrot where he can meet the few friends I have made there, then we will be taking a trip to the Alphyns observatory, one of the largest observatories in the world, then there is a nice A Capella concert in town I plan to take him to, Hexcomb is performing. I've heard of them doing quite a few charity concerts throughout Equestria. And then we'll see what other things interest him as we go, there's an extra day or two if something I hadn't thought of intrigues him. We may get to go and test Silver's Oasis locator if TrUST and the Grand Council approves it in time." He had decidedly left out mention of the changelings in case she had not heard of those plans from Dax, or if she had read his letters.

She reached up with a hoof and adjusted her gold bow, then turned back to her travelling companion.

"I am pleased to hear you already have some nice things planned out for Daxter to attend!  Oh, he will ab-so-LUTE-ly love the observatory... as I'm sure you well know!  Oh, you'll have to write me about how he reacted; I'll be interested to hear what he'll have to say!  And a concert as well?  My, my... I hope this won't be too expensive on your end; if you forsee such an issue, mention it to me - I'll make certain that any expense will be covered.  I won't have you doing something so kind for my son, yet nearly bankrupt yourself for it."

She stretched a bit - a pretty sight - then huffed a sigh.

"About the Gala..."

She seemed a bit confused about where to begin, then simply shrugged to herself and turned to look the unicorn in the eye.

"Come now - if you're Daxter's friend, you simply CAN'T be that dense; you know of our reputation, no doubt - and so do many others.  As long as everyone thinks of us like so, then it's certain that the invitations will continue to get 'lost in the post', as it were."

Now there was a thread of anger, tinged with longing, which broke loose from her careful mental shroud.  It was hot and angry... yet blue and hungry, too.  Not what one would completely expect from the likes of her.

"Still... OH!  Listen to me, I DO go on, eh?  It looks as though we've already reached our destination - you see?"

The house was rather simple, one of many in a row with only minor things to differentiate it from the others. Most notably it looked brand new while the adjacent ones were a bit more weathered given the age of the district they found themselves in. The first floor had a face of polished white marble and the next two a smooth light grey brick. A balcony stood on the second floor with an empty easel sitting near the black iron railing. The door appeared to be a light birch with a mark artistically carved into it bearing a crossed paintbrush and ruler quite similar to the ones on Illiad's flank.

Illiad looked at the house in mild surprise, then turned back to Mrs. Blackwater with a questioning look. He thought hard about the correct way to respond to the situation. Clearly she knew this was his parent's house, whether this action was ben- or mal- evolent remained to be seen. "I'm not entirely sure how I ought to respond to this situation. Your hopes have indeed come to pass with this turn of events."

"Excellent!" She cried.  "I'm SO glad you were surprised!  I thought that, since your family was here, I might be generous and bring you by for a visit - it's just one of the nice things I do, that's all."

She primped her mane a bit, but even as well as she was hiding her emotions, Illiad could tell she was quite pleased with herself.

"Well, Mr. Easle?  Are we simply going to sit here, or shall we see if your family is home, shall we?"

She opened the door and deftly skipped out onto the sidewalk, then turned and came around to Illiad's side and opened the door for him.

"Right this way, come come..."

She gently hurried him from the cab to the front door, then motioned to the house with a hoof.  "Well..?"

Well, that makes this all seem much closer to benevolent. Illiad's surprise quickly returned to intrigue at the Blackwater's elation. She opened his door! He didn't think that was something that could happen. He emerged from the taxi with a nod, "Knowing you, at least one of them must be home or you wouldn't have brought me." Illiad had a slight smile on as he approached the door, though he knew that Mrs. Blackwater knew they were home, he did not know if he was expected there. With a slight bit of hesitation he knocked on the birch paneled door, his unshod hoof leaving no mark on the soft wood.