A Cultural Exchange

by Illiad_Easle

An Exchange of Gifts

Even close to sunset, the place was alive with activity. Dax continued to motion to Illiad, skirting groups of workers and stationary equipment. Strangely enough, there was a general feeling of unease, and even some hate, towards Dax... and there was no obvious reason why.

Illiad was sure to draw away as much hate as he could, managing to lower the level to at least discontent. Hate is a bad thing to leave sitting around, so he neutralized it with some of the love he had stored.

All the same, Dax was either oblivious to this, or didn't care - he kept going, turning back every now and again to motion Illiad to follow him. Eventually, he came to one of the sheds that stood in rows in front of the gigantic half-sunken boulder with the double doors in it. The sign on the shed read [SHED #7].

"In here!" Dax nearly yelled. "She's in here!"

Dax went to the door, and knocked in a humorous manner.

"Silver! I brought him! I brought him - come and see!"

After a moment, the door opened. Standing there was a cute unicorn mare with twin braids, she had some soot on her muzzle, and a pair of goggles over her eyes. She reached up and lifted them onto her forehead, and she smiled broadly.

"Well, hello there! You must be Illiad, correct? My name is Silver Studs; I'm overjoyed to meet you! Well, not so much as OVER joyed, but more like extremely pleased to meet you!"

A unicorn that is cute And smart? Perhaps there is some hope for me getting married after all.

Illiad was initially at a loss for words, which was odd as he was usually quite well spoken. He did his best to organize a coherent statement. He left off the accent he used with the Blackwater parents as he wanted to sound a bit more genuine,

"If you don't mind my saying so, you are far more beautiful than Dax described. Yes, I am Illiad, and it is a great pleasure to meet you as well."

Smooth... Let's hope she approves.

Silver cocked her head a bit, lifting an eyebrow.

"Dax said I was cute? Daxter," Silver smirked, "are you getting a crush on me?"

She laughed heartily at this, then turned to go back in.

"Please - come inside."

Inside of the shed, there were technological gadgets and gizmos galore. Clockwork gears here, roll of copper wire there, and spare parts neatly stored in bins all over the shed. In the center of the shed was a large worktable, with what appeared to be no fewer than four separate projects in various stages of completion. Otherwise, the floor and every available surface was as clean as a whistle.

Wow, Clockwork would certainly love this place.

Silver smiled sweetly at them both.

"Welcome to my parlor, said the unicorn to the stallions! My hovel is your hovel... well, not so much as YOUR hovel, but more like you're quite welcome here. I have finished that project, Dax - are we supposed to present it now?"

"OH! Well, we can go ahead and give it to Illiad, but he won't get any use out of it until he gets home... and WHAT a use!"

Silver giggled, and walked over to one of the apparent projects on the table; it was a box, about the size of a bowling ball, with four gems on top, and a hole through the middle of it, top to bottom.

"Here we go - my little project for the ponies in Troy; go ahead, ask me what it does!"

Silver seemed quite proud of her work, and she was near bursting with it.

Not having much knowledge in the finer workings of tech like his good friend, Illiad did not have much to go off of in guessing the device's function. But that did not stop him from examining it up close, he withheld his magic as he didn't know if anything inside would be sensitive to magic.

"Is it... A magic powered space cooler?"

He was crouched so the device would be at eye level, he looked up and over at Silver, "Tell me, what does this thing do?"

Dax smiled, then looked over at Silver. "Your presentation can begin!" He then leaned against the wall and smiled.

Silver's smile broadened, and she actually whinny-giggled. It was adorable.

"What you're looking at, my dear Trojan, is an Oasis-Maker!"

Her pride was near bursting.

"See, you take it out into the desert; when it begins detecting water, the gems will start to light up. When all four gems are lit, it means you are directly over a source of water. That's when you place a piece of pipe or tubing or something in the hole, and put the device on the ground - then press all four gemstones; the device will then push the pipe into the ground, and when water flows out of the pipe, it'll stop on its own! Instant oasis!"

The implications of this... Wow. I don't even... I need to make a call.

She grinned, and tried to rein in her enthusiasm.

"It was made with my own designs and hoofdywork... but it was Dax's idea, in case he doesn't tell you."

She grinned at Dax, while the young stallion blushed a bit and looked away.

"And so it goes to prove that I am a genius! Well, okay, maybe not so much as a genius, but more like I'm intelligent and skilled enough to get the job done! So, Mr. Illiad - what do you think?"

Both she and Dax were eager to hear his opinion.

Illiad stood frozen, his mouth hanging slightly open as his eyes looked back and forth between Silver and her machine.

"I don't even know what to say."

He rose back up from his crouched position, still staring at the device.

"It is... it’s just... "

"... Perfect."

Illiad looked over at Silver. "Have you heard anything about the Trojan United Science Trust? I think with inventions of this caliber you'd be accepted instantly. Which begs the question, what is a genius mare like you doing working here? This invention of yours could put your name in history books."

Silver stared, then blushed deeply, then turned away with a wave of her hoof.

"Oh, COME now! Okay, the genius remark was a bit much on my part, sure, but... c-c-c'mon, now - don't tease me like that!"

There was confusion and a little bit of anxiety coming from Silver, but Dax was ecstatic!

"YEAH! I KNEW you were great, Silver - this just confirms it!"

She looked around a bit, then shyly shrugged.

"Well, I... thank you, Mr. Illiad - that's kind of you to say. I don't... it..."

Silver tapped her hooves together nervously, then gave a shrill giggle.

"Oh, I'm not one for... uhm, I... " She closed her eyes, gave a hard sigh, then looked back up at Illiad with a firm, yet kind look in her eyes. "I'm quite flattered by your compliments, but I have an obligation here, and I have a job to do. I don't think I'll be leaving the quarry anytime soon; you're quite sweet to tell me I'm better than this, but the truth is I..."

She dropped the look, and after glancing over at Dax, she turned back with a smile on her face.

"I love working here, and I really enjoy my job. Why would I want to change that?"

It was quite obvious that, emotionally, she wasn't telling the whole truth - but maybe there was a reason?

"I'm glad you like the gift - and be sure to tell the other Trojans that's it's a gift from the Blackwaters; that might open negotiations between them, right? Would they be interested, maybe?"

"There's an embargo, Silver - I don't know if Princess Celestia would allow it... would she?"

Illiad's face fell a little bit at her response.

"I know there's more to this, but if you don't want to share I won't pry."

He retrieved a small card from his robes, and passed it over to her.

"Even if you don't want to leave that area, I'm sure the Trust would still love your work. You contact that address if you're interested and they'll supply you with whatever you need to keep inventing. Now as for negotiations, the last I heard your princess was still refusing all audiences with our envoys, and lately she's had the guard start enforcing the borders a bit more strongly. The border towns like Appaloosa and Dodge have been open to trade with Troy for a few months now, but I doubt that this will get your princess to change her mind. The best I can do is organize some trade between Troy and here, but you are so far northward that it will be difficult."

He looked back at the invention. "I'll tell the public it was a gift from the Blackwaters like you want, but I will make sure enough important people know that it was you. This will certainly change the whole dynamic of the nation, we can have more cities, better expansion practices... It's a whole new chapter in the history of Troy."

He turned back to Silver, "I wouldn't be surprised if they ask you to name a town or two."

Silver blushed fiercely.

"Oh, I don't know about... oh... oh, they don't have to do that, now! And make sure they know it was Dax's idea - the 'making something to find water' part, that is. I never would have thought of it on my own... I'm a little air-headed; not really that my head is full of air, but more like I tend to be a bit scatterbrained, at times."

She grinned, and after taking the card and putting it away, she turned back and chuckled.

"I keep things running here at the quarry - it's the reason we have lights, and plumbing, and... well, all sorts of stuff! I keep everything running smoothly here; they wouldn't know what to do without me!"

"I'll be sure to mention his help as well. I understand why you would want to stay, but if you ever need to leave, the TrUST will assist you."

He turned to Dax at that point, "Now, is there anything else you'd like to show me tonight? Or should we resume in the morning?"

"Well... we've still got a whole week, right? Then yeah, I guess we could rest... Silver, it's good to see you - thanks for making the gift; I think it's safe to say he likes it!"

Silver smiled, "Sure Dax - and you're welcome Mr. Easle! Feel free to come by sometime - if I'm here, I'd be happy to chat with you!"

Dax waved to Silver, then made his way outside. As the two of them made their way towards the manor, Illiad again saw the red pony who was staring at him earlier... and he was staring at him again.

I thought that was Oglevy before, but now I know it isn't. Who could that be? I have the strangest feeling that they're going to cause some trouble later on.

Dax was sort of wound down in energy, but he kept talking about the general day-to-day around the quarry, so he didn't seem to even take notice; he was enjoying having somepony to actually talk with him.

"Hey Dax, Who's that red pony over there?"

Illiad sincerely hoped that nothing bad would come of it, he definitely didn't need two ponies after him.

"Hunh?" Dax casually glanced over his flank, like he was trying to find something else to talk about.

"Him? That's Redd - he's a forepony. Not a nice one, either. Still, he does his job and makes his bits... but, he's also a bit of a brownmuzzler, to be kinda honest."

Dax at least had the civility to blush a bit.

"He's also a snitch for my Father sometimes, so keep that in mind if he says anything to you."

With that, Dax led the unicorn around the bend. The last thing he saw was the red pony's wild yellow mane... and noticed a horn buried in it.

Eventually, they reached the manor house, and Dax grew quiet. For a moment, Illiad could hear the howl of the wind, tearing through the jagged edges in the cliffsides around them both. When the gusts blew a certain direction, he could feel them; they were crisp and chilly, but clean.

Which brought up the thought: if this is a mine, shouldn't there be smokestacks or some other sort of run off?

Upon reaching his guest room door, Dax turned and regarded Illiad with a smile.

"Okay. Look, I'm..."

He paused, then simply hugged Illiad. The stallion was happy to have a friend. Stepping back, Dax beamed at him.

"I'm really glad you're here. This is gonna be fun - for both of us, I hope."

With that, Dax started to walk off - then over his flank, he asked, "How do you like the hot tub?" with a sheepish grin. He disappeared around the corner before Illiad could ask about it.

Sometimes I forget he's almost an adult. He acts so childish some times.

Illiad entered his room, noticing his other robes folded neatly on the bed and his cloak hung nearby. He quickly unfolded the robes and rolled them tightly so they wouldn't crease. He then removed his other set before rolling them in a similar manner. He didn't entirely know what Dax meant by hot tub, as he didn't remember there being one in his room, was he referring to Silver? He supposed he would never know. Illiad proceeded to try the bed, which he found to be far too soft. He then moved the blankets to the large cushion in the corner, which he found to be a bit more firm and much more comfortable to him.

He realized then how quiet it was, the walls blocked the little sound that existed outside the room and thus it was almost silent in the room. In Deltrot he had grown used to the soft blowing of wind that kept his house cool during the day, its absence was a bit unnerving to him.

He pulled out his diamond and fashioned it into a sort of fan, it would remain powered by the energy he had collected and it should last long enough. It generated a similar noise to what he was familiar with and within moments he was peacefully asleep.

Slowly, Illiad began to notice the cushion, which was soft and well-made, was beginning to sink - seemingly into the floor.

After a closer investigation, he discovered that there were hinges on one side. Curious, he lifted the cushion... and beneath it, installed into the floor, was a pony-sized tub of cool, crisp water; it was big enough to bathe in! On the side of the tub was a hoof-sized blue button, with a tube running down from it to somewhere beneath the water. The cushion itself was seemingly removable from the hatch it was attached to; it wouldn't be difficult to do so, either.

Seems that there was more than first meets the eye all around when it came to the Blackwaters.

Hmm, I certainly didn't expect that. Could this be what Dax meant? I suppose a bath would be a good way to start the day.

As the room lacked windows there was no easy way to tell how much time had passed, the diamond wasn't much dimmer so he assumed that it hadn't been long. He removed the cushion from the hatch and placed it next to the newly discovered bathtub. He once again set in to sleep, hoping that there would be no other surprises that night.

Author's Note:

And thus ends the first day of the cultural exchange. A continued thanks to Randimaxis for being my wonderful co-author and commentator.

Comments

[Randimaxis]

And so, here's where Silver Studs makes her appearance.

When the quarry was still in the planning stages, it occurred to me that such a business would have to have all sorts of machinery running to keep it as profitable as the Blackwaters were showing to be. I toyed with the idea of a constant in-house crew of six, a pair of twins (those two became the butler ponies), and even a small nest of Changelings... but in the end, I thought it would be better for the roleplay (and easier on my mind) to have a single individual doing ALL the work - our little unicorn mare busybody.

The fact that Illiad got goosebumps over her took me completely by surprise. I had just wanted to show off a nifty side-character; instead, she'll come more into play as things progress... and this seemingly innocuous first meeting could have far-reaching implications.

Oh, and Silver's catchphrase: "not that ---, but more like ----" actually came from someone I once knew in Middle School; they were almost CONSTANTLY doing that - I scaled it back considerably, but it's still a nifty vocal tic.