Just Another Day

Subject: Re: Just Another Day Fri Apr 05, 2013 1:19 am

Midnight was taken aback by the mare's sincerity. From past experiences, the replies were... staggering. Not really the appropriate ones, but that was Manehattan. Things like that were common with those all high and mighty city folk.

"If you like, I can be your shadowy knight under the moonlig- OUCH!"

"Alright that's enough outta you."

"You didn't 'ave to kick me that hard!" Midnight rubbed his flank where Steam delivered a full force kick.

"I will not have you seducing a new friend!"

"What? I wasn't going on about that! But thanks for telling me where your mind was." Even though Midnight sounded mad, he still had a joking tone in what he said. "What do you think ponies will think when they see me limping along?"

Subject: Re: Just Another Day Fri Apr 05, 2013 1:40 am

Dylgo gave a small scowl at the implication. she had a crush on Dare. She was grateful to him for saving her life, but he had his chance to play the hero. he might have had a chance if he had stayed at the hospital. Thankfully, Steam gave him a much deserved kick.

As the two talked, Dylgo sat where she was and fussed with her bandages a little. she was feeling really uneasy. going over to the cart, Dylgo started munching on some snacks so she could avoid saying something.

Subject: Re: Just Another Day Fri Apr 05, 2013 2:04 am

"Look, just because it started out like that doesn't mean that that was my purpose. If you'd let me finish before- dah, never mind." The pain on his flank made it difficult to string up any more sentences.

"Besides," he turned his head to Dylgo, "I can tell by the way she reacted that one, she doesn't like me, and two, she fancies somepony else. Don't deny it, I can smell these kinds of things."

Great, now I missed my chance completely. Asking about Dare right now would have been a bad idea, and hardly relevant. I guess I'll have to try another time.

Subject: Re: Just Another Day Fri Apr 05, 2013 3:56 pm

Dylgo blushed at this. was she really so transparent? shaking her head a little, she speaks up. "Well, I won't comment on that matter." She said walking back over. she was getting tired of the cloak and dagger routine. she needed to know if this was really him or not. but she just couldn't bring herself to ask the question.

Subject: Re: Just Another Day Fri Apr 05, 2013 8:29 pm

A sly grin crept up on his face as if to say "See?" in response. "You look like you have a question in mind. Don't worry, I wont bite." Midnight wished that he had worn those fake fangs if only to inspire discomfort. Maybe next time. A steady gaze would have to do this time.

Subject: Re: Just Another Day Sat Apr 06, 2013 8:34 pm

Dylgo thought for a second, kicking the floor slightly. she really wanted to ask, but it would certainly make things even more awkward than things already were. "Alright. Are you the Stallion that saved me that day?" Who needs a sane situation anyway?

Subject: Re: Just Another Day Sat Apr 06, 2013 10:49 pm

Midnight smirked at the question. Shaking his head, he said, "I would say I was, if it were true. But the stallion who saved you, and I who got hammered by that cannon, are not the same stallion. We are two completely different ponies with our own separate goals." He kept a strait face and never once broke eye contact.

She may take it however she wanted. "Now tell me something. What do you see in me that resembles the stallion in question? Aside from the physical."

Subject: Re: Just Another Day Sun Apr 07, 2013 3:38 am

Dylgo looked down as her ears drooped to resemble her emotional state. "I just... oh, forget it." She said as she walked over to the counter and sat down. She didn't want to deal with this anymore. Why would he want to hide the fact that he saved her life? It made no sense! All she wanted was to properly thank him for what he did, but how do you thank a stallion who apparently doesn't want to be thanked?

Fussing with her bandages more, she realizes just how angry at the world she really was at the moment. Her teeth nearly broke her bandages for celestia's sake.

Subject: Re: Just Another Day Sun Apr 07, 2013 6:17 am

Steam fiercely glared at Midnight before going to where Dylgo was, seeing how infuriated she was. She should have known this was a bad idea.

"I'll catch you girls later. I got something to take care of."

Midnight already had his saddle bags on and headed outside without another word. Now Steam worried. Having him leave like that was not a good sign.

"Dylgo, sweetheart," she started, keeping some space between the two of them so she wouldn't invade her friend's personal space, "what he said wasn't exactly false... but it wasn't exactly the whole truth either. It's not my place to say, but I just can't stand somepony in this state. It's a bit complicated. Midnight is not the pony who saved you, but... they are also the same pony."

Steam scratched her head. How was she going to explain this? "Uhm... I think it's better to think of it as the two sides of a coin. I'll tell you more if you promise not to tell him that I told you this. Deal?"

Subject: Re: Just Another Day Sun Apr 07, 2013 3:50 pm

Dylgo tapped her hoof as Midnight left. She just wanted all of this over. Sighing, she looks at steam curiously. "Alright. I promise. Now what's going on?" Dylgo stood up and walked over to Steam as she asked this. She had a feeling that something was up, but she had no idea what.

Subject: Re: Just Another Day Sun Apr 07, 2013 8:13 pm

Steam rubbed her foreleg with uncertainty. "Midnight is... not a normal pony, I guess you could say. There's something wrong with his mind." She sat down on her haunches and began to rub the back of her head. It wasn't something easy to explain.

"The best way to put it is: Midnight has two ponies living in his body. One is normally kind, happy and friendly, but the other was a monster who only wants to destroy. The one you met in White Tail was Shadow. Back in Manehattan, the same stallion began to mercilessly dealt with the criminals on the streets, but it wasn't long before he targeted the innocent."

These things were never easy to explain. How could anypony bare to say such things about a friend. "Midnight was my friend before Shadow showed up. We noticed that he was a lot happier since Shadow began popping up in the streets. One night I went to his house for a visit. I accidentally stumbled on a suit, the same suit the alleged murderer wore. Then he showed up just as I looked the suit over. You can't imagine how scared I felt. To my surprise, he told me everything."

"We already knew that he was a bit emotionally unstable since he would snap at us for no reason. This made it hard for him to keep friends. He couldn't take it anymore and made the suit to let the negative emotions spill out the bottled rage he had. It worked, and he felt happier. But soon he found out that controlling his blood lust became harder and he started targeting passers-by when he's in the suit just to satisfy himself."

"Midnight knew he couldn't live with it, so he made a new pony from thin air, called him Shadow Whisper. It was his new identity. As Midnight's happiness grew, so did Shadow's blood lust. It was hard to know the facts and still act like nothing's wrong when you're around him. That's why he didn't want to tell you. He wanted to protect you from the truth about his inner darkness, and the image he crafted for himself as Midnight. Please promise me not to tell anyone else." Steam's eyes began to water. Her heart weighed down and her chest began to burn.

"Please understand that no one must know that Midnight is Shadow. They just look alike, they are different ponies... Trust me when I say that Midnight is trying his best to control Shadow in his losing fight. Please..." Tears began to roll down her face as rogue emotion seized control.

Subject: Re: Just Another Day Sun Apr 07, 2013 9:54 pm

As Steam explained everything Dylgo felt worse and worse about her actions. everything suddenly made perfect sense. Seeing Steam breaking down, Dylgo quickly got up and hugged her tight. "I understand. And I promise, Steam. This'll stay between us." Dylgo had a hard time controlling her own emotions when her friends were. But Dylgo needed to be strong for steam.

Subject: Re: Just Another Day Sun Apr 07, 2013 10:28 pm

Unable to control her emotions, she wrapped her fore legs around Dylgo's neck and buried her face on her shoulder. "He grew up being emotionally unstable, constantly losing new friends. The doctors couldn't help him, and... and psychotherapists only succeeded in delaying the inevitable." Steam's tears flowed freely from her eyes and pain on her chest just gotten worse.

"It isn't fair... It isn't fair at all..." She lost her senses right there and continued to cry her heart out, keeping her sobs as silent as she could. "Don't... blame him for what he does..."

Subject: Re: Just Another Day Sun Apr 07, 2013 11:55 pm

Dylgo hugged Steam through it all. wrapping her good wing around her, She looks at Steam with a concerned look. "It's ok Steam. I understand. you don't have to tell me anything else if you don't want to." Clearly Midnight meant a lot to Steam. and Dylgo had clearly opened up old wounds. She really hated doing so.

"Don't... blame him for what he does..."

"I promise. I won't." She said, giving Steam a genuinely concerned look. Thinking of nothing else she could do, she keeps hugging Steam, letting her cry it out. After all, everypony needs a good cry every now and then.

Subject: Re: Just Another Day Mon Apr 08, 2013 12:18 am

Without letting her face leave the comfort of Dylgo's shoulder, she uttered a weak "Thank you" before let the tears take over. It was a solid ten minutes of waterworks before Steam finally calmed down enough to leave Dylgo's shoulder.

"Thank you... thank you for understanding. My, I'm so sorry I made your coat wet. You should wash up upstairs." Steam gave a weak smile from her tear-stained face before retreating to the kitchen to wash herself off with a wet towel.

Subject: Re: Just Another Day Mon Apr 08, 2013 9:20 pm

Dylgo sat patiently while Steam cried. Dylgo felt really bad. she had clearly opened up some really painful memories for Steam. Dylgo had some of her own, so she knew how much it hurt. any apology would have to wait though. she didn't want to risk making it worse.

Her Shoulder was soaked with tears. while upstairs, Dylgo made sure to take mental notes of everything she just learned. Surely midnight was even more protective over that sort of information, so she also made a mental note to remember that.

Heading back downstairs, Dylgo starts to wonder what Dare's been up to. "Hey Steam, Have you heard anything from Dare lately?"

Subject: Re: Just Another Day Mon Apr 08, 2013 11:33 pm

Steam felt a lot better now that she got that out of her chest, though she did feel a bit guilty for dragging Dylgo into this. A secret that heavy was hard to keep. She just hoped that the pegasus wouldn't have to witness Shadow's side.

She dried herself off with a dry towel and returned to the counter. The cannon would have to be stored somewhere before any customers get accidentally pillowed out of the shop. But before she could push it out of the way, Dylgo broke her train of thought.

"Dare?" She echoed with a somewhat malicious tone. "I haven't heard from him since last time he came here. But I think he'll be dropping by over the weekend to take the mail from the post office. Why'd you ask?"

Subject: Re: Just Another Day Tue Apr 09, 2013 4:23 am

"oh, just wondering." Dylgo said, ruffling the feathers of her good wing. She couldn't wait until she could fly again. she was itching to get in the sky. but there was still a few more weeks before she could.

Looking at the cannon Steam used to blast Midnight, She looked around it. "So what are you going to do with this?"

Subject: Re: Just Another Day Tue Apr 09, 2013 5:43 am

The craftspony scratched her head. "That's a good question. I was thinking that I'd dismantle it and turn the metal into something useful, but..." She had one of her hooves over the pressurized gas tank that provided the cannon with power. "this thing still has about ninety percent of usable gas."

She got to thinking about what to do. She couldn't store the container someplace, cause that just meant she had a bomb that could go off at any moment, and gas tanks packed quite the potential punch. Could probably blow the whole shop up.

"AH-HA!" The light in Steam's mind clicked, "I'll just use it on Dare! I'll think of something after that."

Subject: Re: Just Another Day Wed Apr 10, 2013 12:08 am

Dylgo tapped her chin in thought about what to do with it. they certainly didn't want the equivalent of a time bomb sitting around. But thankfully, Steam came up with the best idea. Giggling at the idea, she smiled at Steam. "Yeah! that'll be good for a laugh, and use a bit of that gas as well." As she said this, her mind shifted to Dare's wing. surely nothing could happen to it. But still, she worried about that. "But, how about we add a little more padding to where he lands, ok?"

Subject: Re: Just Another Day Wed Apr 10, 2013 2:03 am

Steam gave a bright grin. "Don't worry about him. If he can survive a piano from twenty feet, he can survive a pillow projectile." She walked up to the front of the cannon and looked at it for a minute.

An idea came to mind after noticing that the cannon was just big enough for a pegasus to squeeze in. "Knowing Dare, he'll probably ask me to turn this into a pony cannon." Her thoughts were unknowingly said out loud. She grinned again as she made her way to her bulletin board and scribbled something on the pad she pinned there.

If one were to look, she scribbled something in symbols which had little resemblance to the Equestrian way of writing. It was her own secret little language, made up ever since she was a wee foal.

Subject: Re: Just Another Day Wed Apr 10, 2013 2:52 am

Dylgo shrugged in acknowledgement. "good enough for me." Then it hit her. "Wait, a piano?! Eh, I shouldn't really be surprised anyway." There was a good chance she was told this story before, but forgot. Her memory was about as good as her flying ability at the moment.

"Knowing Dare, he'll probably ask me to turn this into a pony cannon."

Dylgo just smiled nervously at this. she didn't like where this was going. on the other hand though, it was probably intended for Dare and not her. curious as to what Steam was doing, She looks over at what she's writing. but sadly, she couldn't figure it out.

Thinking of nothing else to do, she looked over the cannon some more.

Subject: Re: Just Another Day Wed Apr 10, 2013 4:43 am

Going back to the cannon, she scratched her head. How was she going to hide this? It was still Tuesday... Taking it apart would reduce it's structural stability. No way would it fit through the front or back doors. And she couldn't let it sit here...

She paced around the room, searching for a sign. Anything would do. But during her pacing, nothing came to mind, until she noticed a somewhat hollow sound in the middle of the shop. She slapped herself with her own hoof. "Of course!"

Steam looked around suspiciously before locking her doors, windows and pulling down the blinds. After everything was secure, she went to one of the giant cogs sticking out of the walls and reached for a switch. She then moved a panel on one part of the wall, which clicked after aligning with a hidden mechanism.

The middle of the shop's floor buckled slightly and slid to the side to reveal a stairway to the basement. "Now..." She used her magic to lead the cannon down the basement, whistling happily to herself. "You coming Dylgo?" She asked with a cheery tone. How could she forget the basement? It was one of the reasons why she bought this place. Boxes of supplies were piled in scattered messes all around the place. A light clicked open, revealing everything that it held. From unfinished projects, to raw supplies.

Subject: Re: Just Another Day Wed Apr 10, 2013 5:19 pm

Dylgo was amazed by the sight before her. a secret basement? She didn't know Steam had a basement to begin with. Following her down the stairs, she looked around. it was dust, and filled with all sorts of stuff. It was junk to Dylgo, but she had no doubt it was treasure to Steam. "You certainly have a lot of stuff down here."

Subject: Re: Just Another Day Wed Apr 10, 2013 8:45 pm

Steam giggled as she covered the cannon with a large cloth she found on one of the boxes. "Yeah. I actually forgotten I had this place. I heard that the last owner of this shop also liked making secret panels and hidden passages, which is why I bought this place. He wasn't exactly... good at hiding his secrets though." She turned to her friend, "You can take whatever that takes your fancy down here."