Chapter 1

The last thing I remember was the feeling of falling and then black.

I don't remember what killed me, all I do know is I was walking home on a nice day with no clouds, at maybe three or four in the afternoon. I was walking and just tripped on a small rock maybe. then I fell and nothing, just black.

If I'm going to start talking to myself I might as well say my name. it's Kevin not sure that matters now, after I fell it's just been this blackness. Although maybe void is a better term for this place. I can't feel anything or see, I'm just here, it's weird as I'm not mad or sad. I feel like I should be, but I'm not.

How long have I been here anyway? Is this it? Ok what do I know? I'm Kevin Leery Forester, I'm twenty-one. I was born in 2001 in the state of Ohio in Columbus city. No job as I lost my last one to budget cuts last month, no living family, not many friends and no pets.

What else? My main hobbies are cartoons, reading bad fanfiction and games and that's it? What else do I say? Well fuck is this really it? Literally just a black void and my own head.... Why am I not panicking or sad? Can I even get sad?

So, what do I? Do I repent my sins? Or scream and make a wish? Can I move? kind of feels like I'm moving now but nothing has changed. what is that? light?

As my mind comes to awareness, I still see black. :Oh not this again: But as I keep looking, I see it's not all black there's some very faint light. I try to move closer only I feel different now, I feel warm and very wet. my mind now catching up to my body :where am I?:

And suddenly I feel whatever I'm inside move. Swaying back and forth slightly as it does so. :Wait am I in someone's womb?: Although now that I think about it that seems right, I did die. And then that void and light, so rebirth? Probably: as whoever I'm in keeps moving I feel them stop after some time and wherever we are It is much brighter. But that's all the difference I see.

I can hear some muffled noise from outside, but I can't make anything out it's all just noise. After a few moments I feel my mother move and lay down, I thin. Then a quick burst of movement. The water around me flooding away and the walls squeezing me as I'm pushed forward. After a while I see bright light as I leave my new mother.

I can't see well for a while, the light around me is hazy and blurred but after a while my new eyes start to adjust to the light and the first thing I can make out is the wall of the room I'm in. Its color is a soft white much like unfired clay bricks. As I get my bearings and look around the room.

As I look around the first thing to catch my eye is a pink and magenta color. After focusing for a moment I make out the shapes. :Oh what the fuck?: In front of me is a pony, a type of pony I recognize. :Well I know where I am now: as I take in more of my surroundings I see the pony in front of me is a unicorn mare.

She is wearing what looks like a doctor's coat. Although it stops at her mid back and doesn't seem to cover her belly, only the chest and back. Looking around I see another pony, this one not wearing anything, an earth pony mare with dark brown coat and green mane. They seem to be talking but I don't recognize the language and the sounds don't have any meaning to me.

Continuing to look at the room I'm in, it's pretty sparse only having some cushions, a bed, a small desk, and a cradle that I'm in. Laying on my side I look up as I hear the conversation between the two mares get louder. I don't know the words but neither looks happy and the doctor keeps trying to get the other mare to sign the clipboard she's holding in her magic.

I get distracted by that as I see a light pink field seep from her horn and vanish reappearing near her clipboard. My attention going back to their conversation as it's now more of a shouting match, before it can continue the brown mare pushes the door to the room opens it and slams it behind her leaving only me and the doctor in the room.

She seems to deflate slightly before looking at me. And seeing me staring back at her, she grins a bit and approaches me. After a moment she seems to cast a spell on me before finding a piece of paper and casting a spell on it. This seems to form words although I can't read them as I don't think it's English. Although it's hard to make the letters out from the light shining through it.

After reading the words her mood seems to lift some, now with a big smile. She picks me up and moves me out of the room and down a hallway with several dozen other doors, all with numbers I don't understand. After going through another door we come to a quiet room full of cradles with sleeping foals, she puts me down in one and leaves. And after a few moments of nothing I decide to just sleep like the others, and after a few minutes I drift to sleep.

time skip

It's been about a week or so from when I was born, and things are interesting so far. And I've stayed in what I presume is a hospital. In that time not much has happened, I've been fed and changed at least twice a day but not much beyond that. Today something new though, as one of the nurses picks me up and we move to the front of the hospital two doors leading outside.

At the front desk she hands me off to a group of ponies, mostly mares but some stallions, and a few foals they seem to be gathering to go with them. As she passes me to an older unicorn mare, she also gives her an envelope I think my documents. :Well looks like I've found who I'm living with:.

After a day or two of not seeing the brown pony, who I think was my mother, it didn't take long to realize that I was given away. I don't know why nor do I really care. In my past life I grew up living with uncles and aunts never meeting my birth parents. They died in a car crash from what I was told.

The older-looking mare picked me up in her magic. As her group started to leave, me with them. As the doors closed behind us, I got my first good look outside it looks like midday as I look around. I see three to six-story buildings around us, seems like we're in a city and a fairly big one from the looks of it. Many ponies moving up and down the streets some with carts and carriages.

As our group moved through the busy city streets, I see more ponies mostly unicorns some pegasi and a few earth ponies all walking going about their day some carrying things. After twenty minutes or so we turned off the busy street and down one with less traffic. We pass a few restaurants with ponies eating at tables as we pass by.

After some more time we reach a large building three stories high with a fairly large front lawn along with a few gardens growing herbs and small crops. As we enter the main doors, we come to a fairly large room with a large staircase going up to the second and third floors. We turn down a hallway and into a room much like the hospital around two dozen cradles most empty sitting in the room, the older mare holding me put me down before leaving.

rapid time skips

It's been a few weeks that I've been at the orphanage. In that time I've learned quite a lot. A few words although I'm not sure what they mean I have a decent idea but I'm not certain, my legs have gained enough strength to walk a few of my new caretakers looked surprised but not overly so. I learned why soon when one of the other foals that came with me from the hospital started walking a week later although that does make sense as ponies in my last life could walk soon after birth.

I've decided that I should probably not try speaking, I don't really want too much attention. This world has magic so I don't actually know if they have encountered someone who's reincarnated before so I may try speaking when one of the other foals that came with me does.

Another thing that seems to be working in my fever is they don't seem to think it odd that I can walk already. I think it's because I'm an earth pony, out of all the ponies that are here I'm the only one, most being unicorn's foals and a few pegasi ones.

Even though we can't have been born that far apart, maybe a few days at most yet I'm already bigger than all of them. And from what I've seen earth ponies seem bigger than the others pegasi being the smallest so me walking before the others didn't seem to raise any red flags.

At this point I've seen several rooms and in one there was even a mirror on the wall. So I finally got a good look at myself my coat was a deep brown even darker than my mother's my main and tail were green much like hers but much like my coat it too is a deeper color a deep forest green my eyes being a bright light green almost like emeralds.

And I've been outside a few times although always under close watch. I've even enjoyed playing around as a kid again without having to stress over work and rent has been nice but I'm starting to get bored I'll have to find a way to entertain myself.

time skip

It's my first birthday today. I was given some small toys and some drawing supplies as gifts. Even better news is I was given a name, it's Shade Evergreen, I decided to take that name as it seems fitting with how I look. In other news I've learned a lot of the language.

I still can't say I'm fluent in it, but I can now hold a conversation even better is that not a few weeks ago one of the other foals said their first word a week ago so I started to do the same now a lot of my caretakers try to teach me words mostly simple words but it's still helping a lot in learning the language.

One thing I found out is that the orphanage has a library in it while watching me. One of the caretakers took me there to return books. It's not big but still fairly large holding a hundred or so books. In the past year, I've been able to learn a few written words although not many. I think I will try to learn more if I can. Although I shouldn't push my luck too much, in the past year, I had a few close calls with the caretakers.

Speaking of the caretakers, I've learned some of their names. The main one being the name of the orphanage head. The older unicorn who took me here. Her name is Margee Limestone, her coat is sandstone in color and her main a dark brown although not as dark as my coat and her eyes are a dark blue.

I've learned the names of a few other ponies but mostly I haven't the orphanage houses around a hundred or so orphans, so they have quite a few staff members. Another interesting thing is eating, after we turned ten months old, they started to feed us solid food mostly soft stuff some bread, fruit. And a few other plants that humans don't eat often or at all like daisies and hay at first, I was a bit apprehensive but after trying them they aren't that bad although I'm definitely starting to miss meat.

time skip

It's my second birthday today, I'm two now, and somethings have changed. The big one being I have magic now a month or so ago I picked something up with only one hoof a small rock I'd been trying to do so for a while now practicing a few times a week since I turned one.

A few of the other foals my age also started doing it but only the unicorns not pegasi so I think my practice has paid off some. I think a unicorn's horn has a lot to do with how they use magic to hold things so early in life because even when they are only holding something with their hoof their horn still glows a small bit my best guess is their horn is compensating for their weak magic for their age.

In the show most earth ponies are farmers or bakers stuff like that something that requires contact with their work but it's pretty obvious that they still have magic, just not a horn. But that still doesn't explain why unicorns have more magic than other ponies. My best guess is that unicorns simply use their magic to make a direct effect more often than the other types of ponies.

A good example is that most earth ponies use their bodies more, so their magic probably strengthens them. Whereas a pegasus uses it to fly as their wings are not really big enough for them to fly, yet they still do. On top of that some ponies also seem to have more magic than others the only reason I can think of for that is simply practice. From what I remember of the show most unicorns that are strong in magic grow up using it more than others.

After deciding to try to train my magic. My best idea to do so is to simply use it to hold something as long as I can right now. I can only hold something that doesn't weigh much a few small pebbles and twigs from the yard during playtime. So my current plan is to find the maximum weight I can hold and do so for as long as I can before my magic runs out and to do that as much as I can.

time skip

I'm five now and in the past two years, I've made a lot of progress. The main changes I've had are preschool, we get taught by a teacher that the orphanage brings in and we have a room for classes. Right now we're mostly learning to read so not much for me to do as I already know how to read but there are some words that I don't know so it is rounding out my knowledge.

Probably the best part is the small bookshelf which I read through mostly simple kids books. But some still had some things to learn. By far the best part about growing some was the alone time. Before I could only do things like practice for short amounts of time now, we are for the most part left to our own devices for most of the day now.

Because of this I've had a lot more time to practice than in the past two years the length of time and weight I can hold have been increasing I've even learned to hold things without touching them it's only a few inches from my body but after practicing it seems to be increasing in range as I push my limits.

After a while I decided to name this effect simply my telekinetic field or TF for short. With my practice I can now hold a few pounds of stone without using my own strength and a few ounces at most when floating them without contact. Another thing I've noticed is I can hold smaller and lighter things much longer now it may just be my growth but even then I don't think It would be this strong. So I believe my training is working.

The last real thing of note is I've taken up running mostly in games with the other foals to try and stay fit I don't know if exercise will help with my magic capacity all that much but it's worth a try and keeping in shape will help me in general my current plans are to try and get access to the main library and learn more about magic in general.

time skip

It's my eighth birthday today and the past few years have been interesting. Let's start with school, in my past life I lived in America and the grads there went. From preschool and kindergarten from four to six elementary schools from seven to eleven, middle school from twelve to fourteen and high school from fifteen to eighteen.

After we left preschool at six. We started something like middle school which lasted until we were ten, it's pretty similar mostly to tests on spelling and grammar. The biggest difference I found was numbers. We were only taught basic math at eight earlier this year and even then only basic addition and subtraction, not even multiplication.

Furthermore many of the other ponies my age are having a hard time doing it. For a human even if a kid struggles with math, they would still be better by this age. I don't think ponies are dumber or something like that, as far as I've seen in all other aspects, they are comparable to humans although smaller. So it's really just math that seems to be a difficulty for them, my theory is that a pony's mind is less geared towards math than a human's although I don't know the reason, I just can't see another possibility.

In other news I've gotten to explore the city more and finally learned what city I'm in. Which to my shock turned out to be Canterlot of all places to be born. I'm not really sure if that's lucky or not. Good news is I think my idea to keep a low profile was a good one mostly because of my proximity to a certain sun pony. Speaking of her I got to see her raise the sun not long ago during the summer sun celebration. Me and the other foals were taken to see it and I can tell you right now she's definitely got presentation if nothing else.

Another thing I've learned is dates like my birthday, April fifth. That's another odd thing, the calendar has the same names for months and the year is also three hundred and sixty-five days just like Earth. I may have to look into that later but for now it's only an interesting oddity I also learned the year 988. So I'll be twenty when cannon starts.

In terms of my own progress my training continues as normal. I'm now able to lift rocks weighing sixty to seventy pounds and able to float a one to two-pound rock close to me. Although it gets harder the further away it is I can lift maybe half a pound roughly eight ounces five or six feet away from me for things like pebbles and twigs with some effort I can pick them up almost ten feet away.

I've kept up with my running too mostly to train my endurance. I also started drawing again in my past life, It was a hobby of mine that I stopped doing because I never had enough time for it. This turned out to be a good choice of hobby because around a year ago I finally got access to the main library.

In the library most books were about careers and jobs which does make sense. But two books did catch my interest both about magic, the first being about what magic is and, the second is about runes and spells.

First, what is magic? Well it didn't give clear answers like I'd hoped but I did learn that magic is a form of energy that is everywhere in the world as far as they can tell. And that using magic requires two things will and math.

Will to move and form your magic and math to give it instructions unicorns do this by memorizing a spell matrix in their mind and then pushing their magic out of their horns to power the spells in contrast earth ponies and pegasi that use their magic more passively for strength to fly and to hold objects.

The other book went more In-depth about a spell's matrix. And the runic spells use the same math formulas to do the same things in different ways. A good example the book gave was the heating spell, a simple spell that only heats something until warm the math basically just tells the spell what the base temperature is and to go higher.

The more complex the spell and the more drastic the effect means you need to keep the spell matrix and math firmly in your mind and then you need enough magic to power it. This is part of the reason not many unicorns learn more than the basic spells and most go to magic schools to learn anything more. And also why only unicorns use this type of magic. If a earth pony or a pegasus did try this method they wouldn't be able to push the spell out of their bodies where it's been formed.

This being the most widely used type of magic but there's also runic magic it's not that different from normal spell casting and despite its name it seems to not use any language only numbers and symbols as far as I can tell. In fact the two branches of magic are almost identical. The spell matrix and runic matrix being interchangeable with each other. The big difference being that a spell matrix is formed in the mind and a runic one is formed outside the body using magic to draw it.

What interests me the most about runic magic is that you don't need a horn to cast them. You just need to push your magic into the tip of your hoof and draw the matrix out. And if you're good enough at it you can even form the matrix all at once outside your body. That's actually the difference between a novice and journeyman runic caster, a mater is somepony who can form more than one at a single time.

Now as you can imagine I was pretty excited that I could actually do magic. I read the entire book that day, and the next day I went to my room with a small rock and the book that I was able to borrow with a promise to be careful with my attempts.
At first I was surprised they would give an eight-year-old a book on spells but the only three spells in the book are one for heating another for cooling and a weak lifting spell.

On top of that when a spell matrix fails or is done incorrectly the magic will just dissipate into its surroundings. With weak spells this isn't that dangerous but with more powerful spells the uncontrolled magic can be dangerous. This being one of the main reasons most don't use this magic. Why spend your time learning a difficult and sometimes dangerous branch of magic when you can just pay a unicorn to do it for you.

And as for why other ponies don't use runes to make enchanted items it's the same because the process of making an enchanted item is the same if you're using runic magic vs spell casting.

After making it to my room. The room itself is rather simple a bed two shelves a desk and a small chest. As I move to sit on my bed and try the most basic step drawing with magic as I focus on my hoof. I try to concentrate my magic in the front of my left hoof. My hoof gaining a small emerald green shine on one end I focus and move my hoof to the left as I do so a line of deep green magic is left in the air.

I smile at this and attempt to draw out the heating spell. And after several attempts I draw two rough circles of green light one inside the other as I keep my concentration. I write the correct numbers inside and as I draw the last number. I move the small rock I brought with me and put it into the circles and feed the runes my magic the matrix flashes slightly as the rock starts to heat up. And after a minute or two I've used half my mana and cut my connection to the runes, the matrix dissolving into moats of light before disappearing.

As I reach out to touch the rock. I feel the warmth coming off it the stone is hot to the touch :it worked: as a large smile spreads across my muzzle. I see a faint light coming from my side. :hmmm?: as I turn, I see the light coming from my flank. Before there's a flash as I blink the wight spots from my eyes I turn to my flank. Excited to see what's on it as I do so I see the form of a stone tablet with a runic matrix on it the stone is a deep dark color much like lava rock the runes don't seem to have any meaning that I can tell just random numbers and a few symbols. After seeing my new cutie mark I decide to practice more runes before going to bed.

time skip

It's now my tenth birthday, it's been two years since I got my cutie mark. As a gift I was given a book on some more complex spells after getting my cutie mark. The head mare told me that I could only practice basic spells and only with the supervision of a caretaker. So I'm excited to try some more complex spells.

A few things I've learned that are important one most ponies consider fifteen to be an adult which seemed a little weird but ponies in my past life were adults a five or six and only lived for twenty-five to thirty and I've gotten to meet some ponies here that are way older one in their seventies. And ponies also seem to mature a bit faster than humans.

One of the things is that I was told to start thinking about is a career and was given a small book with apprenticeships I could take for a job. There were quite a few mostly crafting and production jobs so I'll have to give it some thought as when I turn fifteen, I'll have to leave the orphanage. One thing of note is guilds, many of them for a specific craft like blacksmithing or tailoring.

As for my training It's been going well. I can lift almost two hundred pounds with my TK field now floating ten pounds close to me and almost a pound around twenty feet away. My magic reserves are still growing along with my control over my magic. At this point I think my reserves are larger than even most unicorns my age. Most of them not practicing much magic and some don't even practice spells at all.

I've also gotten better at drawing and practicing more after I learned that the better my runes are drawn the less magic they take for the spell. Using runes has also helped me train how fast my magic refills the rune for the heating spell that I could only keep up for a few minutes two years ago I can now keep going Indefinitely my body has also kept growing I'm now almost as tall as some of the adult pegasi and still growing that and as I've kept exercising so I'm in good health.

A few weeks after my tenth birthday I finally decided on an apprenticeship after looking through the book they gave me I found one for a librarian for the city. The library is the second largest library in Equestria only behind the royal library the job itself isn't anything grand. But its pay is pretty decent as not many younger ponies want to work there the only real requirements are I need to start the job before the age of thirteen and I need to stay until I'm fifteen.

The main reason I chose this job is because it gives me plenty of time to research as I'm allowed to read on my break and before and after my shift. I also get free access to the library and can check out as many books as I like as long as I take them back every month. On top of all of that I also get a rent-free room, nothing fancy but still my own space. After learning all this I decided to go for this one. it took a week for them to send a letter saying I was accepted and after that I started my new job tomorrow.

Chapter 2

View Online

After waking up and washing I grabbed a bag with my things and headed to the head mare's office and knocked on the door "Come in" as I entered the office, I see Magree the mare who brought me to the orphanage years ago. "Morning Shade you ready to go?"

I nod "Yes mam" she nods back.

After a few moments she gathers her things we leave the orphanage. As we walk through Canterlot we pass through the shopping district and move towards the older part of the city as the buildings get taller and more fancy. We come to the entrance of the library we stop.

"Here" she hands me a packet with my documents "You've been a good colt these years and you've grown so much" she tells me looking me up and down some "Now you behave ok I don't want to hear about you starting trouble now" I give a small simile to her.

"Of course mam, and thank you for taking care of me all these years."

She gives her own smile before giving me a nod and passing me a small piece of paper with some numbers on it "This is the orphanage's address for any mail you want to send and make sure to tell me if you help."

The last part is mixed with some sternness in her voice. "I will, I promise, and thank you again" I say as I put the slip of paper in my bag "Goodbye."

And with that she nods and starts walking back to the orphanage. I turn back to the city library the building is much larger than the others around it. Its style is very similar to the old Roman buildings. With large stone pillars and bricks, and a large front entrance with a fair few ponies coming in and out.

As I make my way inside, I approach the front desk. An elderly unicorn mare is sitting there checking someponys books and putting them in a bag. I wait a few minutes for them to finish before approaching the desk. "What can I do for you sir”? she asks.

"I'm here for an apprenticeship, it should be under the name Shade Evergreen."

She looks a bit surprised. "Oh so you're the new colt joining it's good to see some young ponies interested in learning" she says in a happy tone. "Do you see the door over there" she points with a hoof to a door on the left wall In between some bookshelves. "Go through there and take your first right then it should be the first door on your left."

"Thanks."

As I turn to the door after a few moments I'm at the door I reach out and knock.

"Come in it's open." As I open the door, I see a light green unicorn mare with a blue mane. "Oh so you're our new apprentice" I nod as I enter the office.

"Yes, I'm Shade evergreen nice to meet you."

She nods to a sitting pillow on the floor. "I'm Daisy Scrolls nice to meet you too" As I sit she brings out some forms. "So you will need to sign this it will make you a government employee and this one is for your room" as I look at the papers nothing really noteworthy stands out mostly just a simple document for taxes.

"I was surprised this was a government job to be honest I would have thought it would be under the city's control" I ask as I read through the pages.

Daisy chuckles at that "I thought the same when I took the job but apparently the princess likes to keep the library well-kept most of our funding even comes from her" I pause at that.

"Ha, I never would have guessed that." After a few moments I finish reading and sign my name on both documents. Getting a surprised look from her as I don't use my hoofs but my TK field.

"Well that's a neat trick."

I smile. "Ya I think so too" As I finish signing, I pass the papers back and she looks them over before nodding.

well, everything looks good." She puts the papers on her desk "Follow me I'll give you a tour of where you're going to work." We leave her office.

After showing me the library's layout. She brought me to a breakroom. The room has a few long tables with some cushions to sit on. "This is our break room you can eat or just relax on your break food is served in three meals so you can get breakfast at six, lunch is at two and dinner at seven."

After that we move to a wide hallway full of a few dozen doors as we walk down the hallway. We stop at a door numbered fifty six she hands me a key "This is your room key don't lose it you'll be fined for it."

"Thanks" as I unlock the door and enter the room it's larger than I expected around fifteen by twenty-five feet the left wall has a bed desk and dresser on it the front wall has a decent-sized window the right a small kitchen, a counter top, and oven along with another door leading to a bathroom with a shower and toilet.

"Lot more space than I thought."

Daisy nods "I have your schedule here" She passes it to look at it. I have work tomorrow at seven.

"Thanks again." She smiles.

"No problem, don't forget breakfast is at six, and have a good night Shade" I nod.

"You to Daisy."

After she leaves. I close and lock my door before unpacking my things. Mostly drawing supplies on the desk. :Now that I think about it I don't own much do I? Well, I can buy some stuff when I get paid: It's not too late, so I decided to drop my bags and go read in the library. After locking my door again I made my way to the main library.

As I wander the bookshelves, I see many sections before finding the one I was looking for, runic magic. Only a dozen or so bookshelves for this subject. And being in an out-of-the-way part of the library. I decided to try and find a book for the basics of the craft, hoping to find one to let me improve on my basics. I didn't want to blow myself up so best to start small.

And after some time, I found a book that looked good. It's mostly about different kinds of basic runic spells. And after a bit more time searching, I found another about forming a runic matrix. Most other books seem more advanced than these. So I take them to the front desk and check them out before heading back to my room and getting comfortable.

And after some reading and practice, I go eat the food that's being served. The food itself is nothing really special, mostly some raw and cooked vegetables, fruit, and some hay fries. After saying hello to Daisy, I head back to my room and read some more before showering and heading to bed. I don't want to be late for my first day of work.

After waking up I take a shower after drying off. I go grab one of the books that I got yesterday. And after reading some of it I found out my earlier presumption about a matrix only having math was wrong. Although in hindsight it makes sense as despite the ponies of this world having more knowledge than you'd think they are still less advanced than humans.

The main thing I missed in the first runic book I read was the term symbols. I thought this meant things like plus minus and other math symbols and they do but they also have symbols for other things. A good example is light. If I wanted to show light in a matrix, I would have to use something like the speed of light or its wavelength so the spell would have a starting point to work off of.

But as far as I can tell the beings of Equis don't know the speed of light or about light wavelengths so how do they use something like a basic light spell well they use a symbol to represent light instead as a substitute. This is why there are different names for a spell matrix. There is a pure number matrix for the ones with only math which are the most powerful but also most complex the second type is a mixed matrix having both numbers and symbols being somewhat less stable and weaker also taking more magic to use. And finally, there are pure symbol matrix's being the weakest and least stable taking the most magic to create the same effect.

Although most ponies outside of researchers or spell scribes don't use or really know these terms as it's mostly for somepony doing spell creation. Speaking of spell creation, I've found some texts about it in the small library at the orphanage mostly in warnings about its dangers because you can get hurt when a spell becomes unstable this danger and the difficulty most ponies seem to have with more complex math makes spell creation an uncommon career to attain as higher education is needed. This is one of the main reasons that even in an empire as big as Equestria there are only a few real magic schools, most ponies just don't have the talent or drive to try.

And even then, most only modify a preexisting spell. Only a few truly new spells being made every few years, most being released by the crown, some being made by Celestia herself every so often. For my own mental sake I've decided to abbreviate the matrix names to P.N.M and M.M and finally P.S.M to keep better track of them as an example my first spell would be a P.N.M as it's only numbers.

Another thing is the symbols themselves. Most being words of ancient languages. Although I don't know why they would use an older language rather than a new one. After learning all this I decided to find a book on the runic languages later today although I've realized many of these runes are unnecessary for me as a lot of them are for concepts and things. I already know enough about to use that anyway.

A good example of this is the light spell I practiced last night. I tried to change it by using a specific wavelength instead of the symbol they used and after some minor tweaks. I got it to work, the spell being more stable and giving off more light even using around a quarter less magic to maintain the spell.

But after learning about some of the dangers of modifying a spell I decided to only try on weak spells until I get more experience with the craft. The page I'm reading right now is one of those basic spells being one to create a small flame only about the size of a candle flame. But the spell is one of the more complex beginners' spells.

As I start to draw out my rune matrix. I'm interrupted by a few knocks on my door. I pause my drawing to pick up my key from my desk with my TK field and move it across the room to unlock my door. And after a moment I get the door unlocked and bring my key back to me "It's open come in" I give a light shout.

As the door is pushed open I see Daisy coming through the doorway "Morning Shade sleep well?"

She greets me as she enters my room "Yes you?"

I ask back and she nods "Ya so you ready to go?" I nod.

"Yes, do I need to bring anything?"

"Just your key" After grabbing my key we leave my room. And as we walk down the hall she asks me something. "So what are you reading?"

"Some books on runic magic, why?" she gives a bit of a surprised look.

"You practice runic magic? Wow, I've never met a non-unicorn that uses it."

I turn to her "Really? I would have thought there would be at least a few you've met."

"Nope most ponies that aren't studying it never even learn much about it, I myself know some but not much."

As we entered the break room, we paused our conversation to get food before sitting down and continuing. "Who taught you how to do it?" before I could answer we were interrupted.

"How to do what?"

We turn to see an older-looking pegasus stallion. The stallion looked to be on the older side, some of his main graying and a few wrinkles under his orange eyes. His coat being almost the same color of orange and his red main still visible even with its graying. "Oh hay Blaz have a good sleep?"

"Just fine, so this is the new pony working with us?"

I nod to him "Yup nice to meet you names Shade" I greet him.

"Same It's good to see some colts still care about knowledge, ah but where are my manners I'm Blazing Flame but most just call me Blaz nice to meet you." He says as he sits down at the table with us. "But back to my first question how to do what?"

Before I can answer his question Daisy does so for me. "We were talking about runic magic apparently shade here practices it" Blaz looked at me sharing the same look of surprise Daisy gave me earlier.

"Well, now that's a surprise, who taught you if you don't mind me asking?"

Daisy pipes up. "That's what I was asking."

"Well, no one taught me, I found a book about it and decided to try to learn it" Both looked even more surprised now Blaz being the first to speak.

"Do you know any spells?" he asks. I look around for a good example and I spot Blaz's tea.

"Is your tea cold?" I ask.

He looks at his tea before taking a sip. "Yup."

I grab his cup from his hoof with my field and start to draw the runic matrix. Over the past two years I've had only two spells to practice the heating spell and the floating spell, so I've gotten fast at drawing both. After around thirty seconds I finish and start powering the matrix and after a few moments I stop letting the spell disappear before giving blaz his now hot cup on tea "here you go."

Both looked shocked at my display "WHAT was that?"

Daisy asks. I give a light smirk "The heating spell."

she looks back at me. "I know what spell it was but how did you cast it so fast."

"Well, I don't have to picture it in my mind, only draw the runes and feed it magic so as long as I'm fast and don't mess up the runs it doesn't take that long."

"Still colt she's right I've met a lot of unicorns that take longer to cast that spell, how long have you been using it? Blaz asks me.

"Well, it's the first one I learned so a little over two years now."

"How many spells do you know?" Daisy asks.

"Well, I know heating and float from the first book I had on runic magic, magic light and candle flame I found books for yesterday so I'm still learning them."

"Well, you've got me beat when I was your age, I only learned one" Daisy says while finishing her meal.

"We should get moving you ready?

I had finished my own food a while ago, so I nodded "See ya Blaz."

"You too Daisy same with you Shade hope you like working here."

"Me too Blaz."

Chapter 3

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After we leave the break room. We walk to Daisy's office. And we sit down, "So right now you are an assistant librarian so most of your only real duties are to reshelve books and help older librarians in their work, although most won't need it, it's mostly to teach you what we do and get you familiar with the library."

"Here's your schedule you start at seven in the morning your half-hour lunch break is at noon and you finish up at three in the afternoon and after that you can just do whatever you want many read in their rooms or the library, but you can also just leave and do anything else" she gives a badge with the symbol of the library on it along with my name and job.

"This is your badge it marks you as a librarian so don't lose it there's also a sticking enchantment on it so just put it on your chest it'll gain enough magic to stick form the environment so just make sure its stuck and you'll be fine also don't forget to take it off after your shift don't want anypony to try asking you for help" I nod before sticking it to my chest.

She also gives me a small paper map "And finally here's your map", she leaves the office and I follow after her a few moments later. We move through a few doors to the back of the library before reaching a room filled with sacks of books on tables with ponies filling several carts. "So your main two jobs will be pretty simple you'll be sorting books to fill the carts or pushing the full carts out and putting the books back on the shelves for today you'll be doing the second."

As we approach a cart she continues "The carts are already sorted so you just have to take them where they need to go each book has a small round symbol" She holds up a book showing a small round symbol made of silver showing a pickaxe on it "each symbol goes to a different section the ordering being right to left is A to Z ascending so bottom right is A and top left is Z, got it?"

"Ya don't sound that hard, so I'll be moving the carts today?"

She nods "Yup everypony knows your new so just take it slow and get used to the library and I'll see you at lunch in the meantime I'll be in my office if you need me ok?"

"Ok see you at lunch."

After she leaves, I pick a cart and start pushing towards its designation, deciding to simply push with my TK field instead of my hooves as I make my way through the library over the next five hours of moving the cart. The process not being too hard with the strength and range of my TK and healthy body.

After a few hours and finishing my third cart I went back to the sorting room only to see it mostly empty. Glancing at the clock on the wall I see its twelve oh five lunchtime. I leave and after a short walk enter the breakroom before grabbing some food and sitting down next to Blaz and Daisy already talking.

"So Shade, how's your first day going?" Blaz asks.

"Not bad I've emptied a few carts but that's about it, nothing to really mention" he nods as I take a bite of some steamed carrots "Although I do have some questions if you don't mind?" I ask them.

"Sure, what do you need?" Blaz asks back.

"Well first I normally do a morning run but I'm thinking I'll probably do them after work now, know any good places?"

Blaz nods with a smile "Good most ponies don't, but you don't need to switch if you want the best place would probably be the park, it's only around two blocks away and has plenty of space so you can get there in a few minutes just leave the library, go left down the road and continue for a while."

"Thanks good to know, my next question is more for Daisy" she turns from her food to me "Do you know any spells to tell the time I didn't even know it was lunch until I saw the clock in the sorting room."

"Sure no problem I know one, it's pretty simple I can find the book for you later."

"That would be great thank you" she nods.

"No problem." After some more chatting we finish eating and get back to work and after three more hours I'm done for the day. After checking in with Daisy and getting my first day's pay I grab my saddlebags and head out to the city.

As I walk along the street I pass through the upper city market district, mostly shops and restaurants, and I descend into the lower parts of the city as I approach the market. The markets here being mostly stalls along with several restaurants, some bakeries, and many other shops.

While growing up in the orphanage I'd visit these markets a few times mostly to help with shopping and to teach me some bartering skills. As I pass through the market, I spot many things that catch my interest but pass them. I'm here for something specific that I've seen in the past.

I turn to go down a side street, this street still has traffic just much less as this street has mostly batponies and a few griffins. This particular street sells meat, mostly fish, and a few other types. As I walk down the street I stop at a stall selling several types of fish meat.

After looking for a few moments I see what is labeled as bass. I see the stall owner, a batpony, passing some fish to another batpony after they're done I call out to him "Hey how much for the bass?" He turns to me and looks a bit surprised and after a moment speaks.

"Sorry didn't mean to be rude, just not often you see a non-batpony in the meat market, especially an earth pony."

"And as for the bass it's ten bits a pound" I turn to see the fish, it's good quality, and ten bits a pound is a decent price.

"Sure, I'll take a pound," I say before grabbing my bits and paying him after he wraps my fish in some paper. And puts it in a small paper bag before passing it to me "Thanks have a good day."

"You too," he says back.

After that I also bought a small bag of flour, a few potatoes, some salt, oil, and sugar, a few plates, some small glasses, forks and spoons, and a pan and pot. Along with a wooden spoon and a decent knife. Before heading back to the library. As I enter one of the staff-only back door, and head to my room after closing my door. I take out my goods and new dishes and get them put away.

Feeling hungry I start by preheating a pan on the stove. The heat comes from an enchanted small flat metal ring controlled by a small metal dial on the front. I start cutting the piece of fish into small strips before oiling my pan and laying the fish into it to cook while I dice two potatoes before adding them to the pan.

After I flip the fish, I hear a knock at my door before shouting "The doors open come in." After a second or so I hear my door open and close.

"What are you cooking?" I turn to see Daisy standing there with a book looking curious.

"Fish and potatoes, why?" I ask back. And hearing my answer, she looks somewhat shocked.

"You eat meat?" I nod.

"Ya not often but sometimes."

"You're just full of surprises aren't you? Well I brought you the book I mentioned." I turn off the burner and plate my food before turning to her. I grab the book "It's mostly just simple spells for things like housework and convenience."

"Thanks for this I'm sure it will be a big help." I float the book over to my desk before looking back at her I see her eyeing my meal "Would you like to try some? I made more than I need."

After hearing my offer, she pauses for a moment before giving a hesitant nod "Y-ya sure I'd like that" seeing her hesitation.

"Are you sure? You don't have to if you don't want any."

"No I do kind of want to try, my grandsire was a batpony he used to offer me some, it's just been years since then."

"Well grab a plate" After we sit down to eat, she tries a piece of the fish.

"Oh WOW, this is good" see her take several bites of the fish in fast order.

"Slow down you don't want to choke," I say with a grin as she does so looking a little embarrassed, we sit in silence after that and finish our meal.

As I collect our plates I put them in the sink. "I'm glad you enjoyed it" she walks to my door.

"Yup thanks again and have a goodnight Shade."

"Same to you," I say as she closes my door. I start to clean up and after I'm done I start reading the book Daisy brought me.

The book mostly contained a list of spells with small descriptions of them and their effects. The one I decided to try first was named temporis. A simple spell to tell the time nothing complex but still very useful. And after spending some time memorizing the matrix I cast it a few times.

It took me a few tries to get it right but after I did it wasn't that hard to get down. After that I started to look through the book for any other spells. I might want to learn a few that caught my eye. Ones like a basic spell to make things lighter and one for freezing something but after a while I put the book down and picked up one of the ones I got yesterday.

This being the one about runes. This chapter in particular is about types of magic. This being new to me as I previously thought that all magic was the same but in hindsight that doesn't make much sense as beings like Discord definitely have some other type of magic, and same with Sombra probably.

The difference being their magic element. Many different magic elements exist, one for any emotion and type of force in nature such as air, fire, and water. The main effect of using different types of magic elements being one of a supplement to normal magic.

A good way to view this is that most spells use neutral magic also called natural magic the main reason you would use an element instead is that depending on the spell the power and effect can be boosted and enhanced. All beings are born with one or several elemental affinities so if somepony with a fire affinity were to learn how to convert their natural magic into fire magic and use it to power the candle flame spell or any flame spell it would be enhanced.

You can also use the converted magic in a raw form as unlike natural magic it already has an effect and as you're the source of the magic it has some form of connection to you. And although it's not very efficient. Costing much more natural magic you can also use an elemental type of magic to control it directly without the use of a matrix.

The main advantage being the ability to quickly use your magic. The downside being that when you convert your magic to an element while you have little to no practice sometimes you'll lose more than half the magic in the process. The main benefit is that unlike spells where you only have a limited amount of control over them with an element you can use it for anything that you like.

For instance you can use a fire affinity to enhance a fire-based spell or you can control it directly and start moving around fire at will. You may be wondering why doesn't everypony use their affinity? Well two reason,, one most don't train even their natural magic and so don't have enough excess magic to convert into elemental magic without draining yourself and the second reason has to do with finding out your affinity and unlocking it.

After looking through the book I found out how one can learn their affinity and unlock it. All you need to do is to use a spell the book even has the spell. But the problem is not the spell's complexity but its power cost being higher than three or four adult unicorns' worth of magic so there are only three good options.

One can gather several unicorns to power a runic matrix. Option two, find a pony with enough magic to do it themselves. And finally get a crystal and enchant it to hold a magic reserve and use it as a buffer to power the spell. Out of all the options available to me the last one is the best as getting several ponies together or getting a pony with enough power would cost a lot and that's even if you can find anypony willing.

So my best bet is buying a gem and enchanting it and surprisingly that's not as hard as it seems. Gems, even the bigger ones, aren't that expensive as crystals seem much more common here than on Earth. Charging it would only really take a week or two. The hardest part being finding a spell for the magic reserve. But I do work in the second-largest library in Equestria so finding one should be only a matter of time.

And as for the gem when I walked through the markets today. I saw several gems that would work just fine. I don't remember their exact price. But I don't think it's much more than I'd make in a month so I'm going to only be buying some small things for the next few weeks as the sooner I know my affinity the sooner I can start practicing with them.

After making several notes in a journal I keep it in English so no pony can read it. I take a shower before draining my magic through a fire candle spell. My new method for doing so as I used the heating spell in the past. But I've decided to use this one instead as the more magic you use for it the bigger the flame gets but it also takes more to maintain making it very useful and for burning through a large amount of magic quickly.

After only a minute or so I'm drained. Only leaving enough that I don't pass out. I drag my tired body to my bed, falling asleep almost as soon as my head hits the pillow.

Chapter 4

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It's been a week since I started working and I've gone through several shifts sorting and shelving books while learning the layout of the library and getting more familiar with it. And after work researching several topics, but as I've dived into the knowledge of the library, I realized that just learning things at random Isn't going to work.

To that end I've decided to redo my training schedules and plans. Let's start with the latter. My plans for now mostly consist of learning any useful magic and also probably creating some new spells but I'll need a lot more practice and knowledge for that as for my long-term plans.

One thing I've never forgotten is my past life and with it the show. I've done a lot of thinking on how I want to act and I'm still not sure. But I know I don't want to be dragged into the main plot mostly for fear of messing things up. But I also don't just want to do nothing. So for now my plan is to help from behind the scenes. Nothing obvious but things like seeing if I can put some protections around a certain tree of harmony or helping with one of the other disasters. And now that I have a decent amount of privacy I started to write down all that I remember from the show in a hidden journal.

And as for short-term plans, I want to unlock my elemental affinity and learn more spells in general which brings me back to training and researching. For training I run once a day in the morning and drain my magic halfway when I start and finish my shift and mostly read and practice spells then completely drain my magic before bed. For now there's not much to change so I'll stick to my current training until I find a better way.

The last thing I'm still training is my TK field, as it stands right now, I can pick up a pony although it's still hard to move things that heavy. And even then only for a dozen or so feet, but for smaller objects like books it's around twenty feet. This has made my job of putting away books much easier as I don't need a ladder to place them on higher shelves. This also being the main way I've been training my precision and aim. I've also started to move more than one thing at a time and although I can, my control is much less when doing it so I'll keep training. As for raw lifting power I mostly train that by lifting my bed a few inches off the ground and holding it there for as long as I can.

In terms of research I've decided to only pick three or four projects at a time to not overwhelm myself. Sight now the topics I'm researching are mostly runes, how affinities work, and spells in general. And to a lesser degree I'm also learning about history, namely anything about alicorns and the past of the princesses. And finally I'm thinking about learning healing magic as no matter what I plan on doing it will be somewhat dangerous so being able to heal myself and others will be a big help.

In the past week I've been reading about a few runes for different things. One of my interests is one that was in the book Daisy gave me. It's effect is to nullify gravity in a small area, it doesn't work on large or heavy things but if I modify it to be more powerful it could be useful to me later. For now though I'm looking more into the affinity spell and I ended up finding a book that goes more in-depth about it.

I'm glad I did as some things I learned are important. The main thing being that when you cast the spell it doesn't only take a large amount of magic but also takes a large amount of magic to maintain the spell. So you only have around half a minute to write down the results before the magic runs out. The second important thing is what the spell actually does when you cast it on somepony of yourself the spell's matrix will have several balls of light each of a different element.

So I spent some time in the past week looking for a guide to what the different colors mean and I did find one. I don't know if it has all the elements, but it does have a good list, so I wrote them down for later. I also went to the market yesterday to see gem prices and found that I wasn't that far off from my earlier guess. I'll take me around three more weeks to buy one and a few days to enchant and fill it.

Speaking of enchantments I'm in the library right now after work reading a book on enchanting. The process being surprisingly easy all you really need is a material that can conduct magic. And to cast a spell on it while also casting a smaller matrix inside the main spells matrix and then applying it to your item. I ended up finding the spell to hold magic. It wasn't too hard to find and it's not too complex so I've decided to get some practice with the spell before I use it on a crystal.

As I put the book back after drawing out the matrix in my notebook. I turn to start heading to my room. Only to stop dead in my tracks as not far in front of me I see a unicorn filly mare reading at one of the tables a purple coat, a tail, with a main of dark purple almost blue with a stripe of lighter purple and pink going through it.

I immediately start walking the other way before moving behind a bookshelf. After gaining some distance I started to calm down. :Why the hell is she here? out of all the ponies to run into that's almost the worst: As I make my way out of the library and into my room I close and lock my door :the last thing I need is to start messing with canon before it's even started: After some time, I calm myself down.

Ok so I might have overreacted some but still I shouldn't interact with any of them right now. After showering I decide to practice the enchanting spell to form it right, and after a while I draw and redraw the matrix a few times. I stop and notice that it's getting late so I draw the matrix for the candle flame spell before pumping all my magic into it creating a foot-wide ball of fire for a few minutes before it fizzles out and I head to bed.

sponge bob like cutaway "three days later."

After the scare three days ago. I was walking on eggshells for a while but after I didn't see a certain purple pony again. I settled back into my daily routine nothing else happened thankfully. And right now I'm heading back from shelving books I take a moment to draw the temporis spell.

Eleven fifty-three lunchtime. I leave the cart in the sorting room and make my way to the break room where I sit next to Blaz and Daisy as I normally do and after I sit down I start eating "So Shade you've been here more than a week now how you are liking the job'' Daisy asks me.

"Not bad the work is pretty easy so nothing to really complain about."

Blaz speaks up "You've been doing a good job colt most who start don't get past two carts a day you did double that yesterday just don't push yourself too hard ok?"

"I won't" I pause to take a bite of some heyfries "I've been trying to find books on spells to train my control, if either of you know any good ones?"

Daisy pauses in her eating for a moment "I think I remember some, but most are complex or take a lot of magic so I'm not sure how much luck you'd have trying them."

I perk up at this "Really do you know any basic ones?" she shakes her head.

"Sorry can't say I have, although I do know some books on training I could find for you?"

"That would be great thanks" After that we talked about some other things before getting back to work.

After I finished my shift, I decided to go to the park for a walk to relax. I've been doing this every few days to clear my head and get some fresh air. As I walk through the park, I see a group of tables with several ponies playing game. As I watch them play, I see an elderly unicorn setting up a chess set on one of the tables before sitting down.

I've come through this park a few times now, so I've learned that it's an open invitation to play. So I decided to walk up to him "Hey you mind if I play a game."

The old pony turns to me and after a moment he gives me a smile "Sure colt you ever played before?"

He says while motioning for me to sit "Ya I've played it's been a while though so a refresher would be nice" he nods.

After a few moments of him explaining the rules, they end up being the same as my old life. As we started playing, going back and forth turn to turn, and while I wasn't the best at chess in my past life it was something I always liked so as the game continued, we seemed evenly matched but, in the end, his experience wins out and he checksmates me.

After our game the old colt turns to me "Well now it's not often I find one so young that can give me a challenge" he says with a light chuckle as moves the board back into order.

"Thanks sir. Anyway I better get going, have a good day."

He nods "Same to you colt and come back if you ever want a rematch."

As I leave the park and start walking through the city passing several shops before seeing a tea shop. I decide to get some tea. As I enter the tea shop its walls are a soft dark wood several wall-lined seating areas with small dividers separating them. I approach the counter and wait in a small line for a bit.

After getting to the front of the line I'm greeted by a younger-looking mare "What can I get you?"

"Mint tea with some lemon please."

"Sure. Three bits and you can sit anywhere you like" After paying her I go and sit in a corner booth and pull out my notebook to study some while waiting for my drink.

After a few minutes a pony comes and brings me my drink "Thanks."

She gives a smile "No problem if you need a refill just ask" I nod back and take a sip of my tea before returning back to my notes as I work my way through my notes organizing them and making them neater. And after some time, I finish my tea and get up to leave.

As I walk down the street heading back to the library as, I start to hum a tune. And after a few minutes arrive at the library and make my way to my room putting my notes away before grabbing the book about affinities and making myself comfortable on my bed as I start reading.

Another thing that I've learned about is emotional affinities. Most emotions have an affinity counterpart but what makes them special is how they function. Unlike elemental affinity which enhances a spell's power through whatever element you have. The emotional ones enhance the power of a spell based on what emotion you're feeling and how strong it is along with what you're doing with that spell. So if you have an affinity for love and perform an act of magic out of love the spell is enhanced.

Another branch of magic I've been interested in is cutie marks but I've found almost nothing on the subject so far what I have found is mostly just reference material and not much else. So I've had to make some guesses about it. I think it's at least part random but I can't rule out the possibility of fate in some form.

What I do know is that the effects of a cutie mark can be vast or small. Take mine for example, through trial and error I've found that it enhances my runic magic how fast I remember a new matrix and helps me draw them. The effect isn't large, but it is noticeable and has helped a lot.

After some time I finish reading and like most days, take a shower and drain my magic before going to bed.

Chapter 5

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It's been two weeks and I've truly gotten into the flow of my routine. My days are starting with my morning run and then working and going about my day. Right now I'm on one of my days off Tuesday and Wednesday. Which might seem like a weird choice. But the library is open on the weekend, so I work the weekend and take the mid-week off.

I'm spending my day on a practice field. I found it while wandering the city a few days ago. Tt costs four bits per hour so it's not that expensive but I have to tell them if anything breaks and clean up after myself or be fined or pay them to do it for me. I came here to test a few spells.

The first being an ice spell when formed it allows the caster to form and shape a few pounds of ice. I'm using this spell to create an ice spike an inch of two thick and eight inches long with points at both ends. And then grabbing it in my TK field and launching the ice spike forward using as much force as I can aiming towards the target on the far side of the field.

As the spike impacts the target the ice spike shatters after imbedding itself a few inches into the target. Shards of ice scattering on the dirt field. I walk over to the target and inspect it. The packed hay is impacted with shards of ice intertwined with the hay jagged shards cutting and small shards buried deep inside.

After looking at the target I walk back and take another shot and after several shots I stop seeing the target now filled with spikes. I pant, now drained of most of my magic I sit and rest for a while, before gathering the mess I made and leaving the test range.

As I walk down the street I start moving back to the library and after arriving. And after heading to my room I close my door and move to lay on my bed and get comfortable before dozing off and falling asleep.

When I woke up it was evening. I blinked my eyes slowly as I made my way into the kitchen and checked my cabinets finding some bread and a few carrots along with two potatoes. After some thought I grabbed the potatoes and my knife, some oil and my pan. And started preheating it then cut the potatoes into thin slices and add oil to my pan and finally add my potatoes.

While my potatoes fry in the oil I grab the carrots and peel them then cutting the ends off. I then split them down the middle and repeat that. Cutting two carrots down into eight carrot sticks and adding them to a plate I move back to my frying potatoes and flip them.

I then grab my bread and slice off two pieces, adding them into my pan to toast. After a few minutes I remove my toast from the pan and also drop it on my plate at the same time I add some salt to my pan. I keep flipping my potatoes and cooking them until crispy and soft before adding them to my plate. I wash my knife and pan as it cools.

I finish washing my pan and sit to eat my makeshift dinner as I read a book on the runic language. I start to take notes on different runic matrix arrays picking out small bits and adding them to my ever-growing list of runic experiments to conduct in the future.

After I finish eating and wash my plate I settle at my desk and start practicing drawing my spells out. I draw and cast my candle flame spell and hold it there as I move my hoof and try to draw out another spell. I get to drawing the second circle before I lose my focus and my first spell fails, and the small flame flickering out while the runes dissolving.

I repeat this many times over the next few hours as it turns dark outside the sun being replaced by the moon as I continue to practice trying to cast two full spells at once making some progress but never succeeding. At this point the magic I'd gained from my nap was running dry so I stopped.

I walk into my shower and turn on the water letting out a sigh as I let the water wash over me. I clean my body using some soap and I dry off with a towel before heading to bed.

After waking up I grab my bag and start heading towards the market district. As I walk down the street I pass several restraints. But after a while I don't find any that look good, I continue to the lower markets. As I walk through food stalls I spot a stand selling fried bread with some type of sauce.

As I approach, I smell the frying bread and the sweet scent of maple "How much for two?'.

The pony flipping the bread stops to look at me "Two bits each."

I nod, giving him four bits and taking my sweet treat with me. I continue down the street glancing at different items and after a while I finish my food. As I am near the edge of the market. Most stalls here are less trafficked and less busy. I was about to turn around, but as I turned I paused.

Not far away I see a gray diamond dog sitting on a cloth in between two stalls. Their head down as they shift through their things and place them around their surrounded gems of different cuts and colors scattered about. I approach and stop in front of them. Their attention now on me. I bend down to inspect a large piece of amethyst.

As the light reflects through its body I put it back down where I found it and I turn to face the diamond dog seeing their red eyes "Do you have any rubies."

The diamond dog looks thoughtful for a moment before answering "A few" as they reach into their bag pulling out several rubies of different sizes and placing them on the cloth. As I look through them, I see a good-sized one with a decent clarity, its size being about a two by two-inch cube.

"How much for that one" I say while pointing a hoof towards the gem they look at the one I'm pointing at.

"One fifty for that one" I pause, that's cheap for a ruby especially one that size. And using a ruby will be much more effective than many other gemstones. I won't have many bits left but this will be worth it.

"I'll take it." I say while grabbing my bits as I do so the diamond dog looks excited with their short tail wagging slightly and a large smile on their face.

I pass my bits to them and wait for them to count it all. After a minute they nod and pass me the gemstone "thanks."

I give a nod back as I put away my new gem. And as I start walking out of the market heading home my thoughts wander. I got really lucky crystals come in different grades when it comes to magic depending on the size and clarity. The crystal can also hold more magic along with absorbing and releasing more magic faster with less waste.

The least powerful crystals are things like cloudy quartz and jade. The middle quality being amethyst and clear quartz. High is rubies and sapphires. And the best is diamond. My original plan was to buy a decent-sized amethyst with decent quality. This ruby can probably hold three to four times the magic more than the one I wanted to buy, it's also cheaper than them.

As I make my way into my room. I close my door and put my bags down. With some excitement I move to my desk and place the ruby on it. I only have one chance, if I mess up my enchantment the crystal will crack or shatter so after taking a few moments to calm myself I start practicing the spell for the magic reserve.

After spending an hour practicing holding the spell while I draw the smaller matrix inside it. I complete the spell three times without messing anything up. I take a break to go eat my remaining carrots and recharge my magic and after half an hour I'm ready.

As I move the ruby to be right in front of me I start drawing the spell being careful to go slow and be as accurate as I can for the best quality after some time I finish the spell and start on the enchantment matrix. This one being smaller but simpler as I complete both and gently pick up the ruby.

holding it up I see the matrix fade as I push magic into the inner matrix. The outer part fading as the magic is bound to the crystal. The inner matrix fading soon after and dissipating after a minute. I close my eyes to concentrate and try to push my magic into the gem and feel the magic sink into the gem and compress. After I empty my reserves I open my eyes, and smile wide as I see a small red spark softly glowing in its center.

time skip

It's been three days since I successfully enchanted my ruby and during that time I've been dumping all my excess magic into it. And it should be enough after today so tonight I'm going to try unlocking my affinity.

As I go through my workday, I'm jittery and excited. At lunch even Blaz and Daisy notice although they didn't ask why. After finishing my workday I immediately return to my room and grab my crystal. After draining my magic once again, I spent the next few hours recovering. And by the time I was ready it was dark, the sun having set.

I stand and walk over to my desk grabbing my notebook and flipping to a blank page while grabbing a quill and inkwell. Moving to the middle of the room I place my things down and ready my ruby. I start by drawing the outer circle almost as large as me and the other only slightly smaller. I start to fill out the empty space with an uneven mix of runes and numbers.

As I finish the last number the spell uses much more runes than numbers in this spell. leaning more towards a pure symbol matrix although it's technically a mixed matrix, After finishing the spell I stop to prepare myself. I'm going to have to control a lot of magic and I do not want to lose control of this spell.

After a moment I start pulling the magic from my ruby and direct it into my spell as I do so the glow of the ruby that has built up over time begins to drain at a visible rate. The power flowing into the spell as the matrix starts to glow brighter and brighter almost to the point of being blinding.

The spell is now ready. I move my hoof to its center and wait after a moment, the glow dims by a large amount. And in front of me I see two orbs start to take shape. Slowly glowing threads intertwining into small white spheres as I watch the left sphere slowly turn darker and eventually almost black the final color being an almost black dark purple that seems to absorb all the light around it.

I glance at the other sphere that begins to take shape after writing a hasty note on the first sphere's color. I see the second sphere slowly start to turn a bright green and after a second. I realize it's the exact same color as my eyes, a bright green reminiscent of emeralds.

Then all at once the spell collapses. The ruby having run out of magic. The spell and the spheres dissipate into motes of light before vanishing entirely. As I sit in the dimly lit room. The only source of light being a candle on my desk. I move it over to me and start writing notes on the colors I saw.

After finishing I move to my desk bringing my things with me. I flip through my book finding the page with my notes on affinity types, and I start going through the list before finding one that matches. The bright green sphere being the affinity for life its main properties is to boost spells for plants and healing.

After writing that down I continue flipping and after going through almost my entire list I find it the dark blackish purple. Space affinity this one's got almost nothing written about it. Not even what it helps with, and after some thought I realize the only ponies you see using any form of space manipulation whether that being teleportation or changing somethings dimensions are really powerful beings. Like an alicorn or Discord, and while some ponies do use it on some smaller scales most are either powerful regular ponies or pinky. And the less you think about whatever pinky does or how she does it the better.

But that also leaves me somewhat stumped. As for my life affinity I could try healing spells and controlling and growing plants to train my control and precision and maybe healing wounds directly after I get some practice and learn more. I would rather not try healing myself right now.

But with space I don't really know where to start as I doubt that the library will have spells on space magic as even in my old world where we have much higher levels of math space was a high-level subject. I do remember some useful things but not enough to create a spell without a lot of time so my only path may be using the raw form to manipulate space directly for any other pony. This might not be an option either as most here won't have any knowledge about the fabric of space.

From what little my notes copied from the book said about this affinity. It's mostly theory about what one could attempt to do with such an affinity but nothing on how to use it or what for so I'm just going to have to experiment while being very careful and try and find out what I can do with it.

After writing all my thoughts down I started to change my schedule for training and research. Over the past few weeks, I've read almost every book about alicorns and their history. So I'm taking that off my schedule and replacing it with healing and plant-based magic.

I'm also going to start spending some time after my morning run trying to control a few small plants in the park as I doubt any will notice a few plants growing faster, but first I'll have to learn how to convert my magic. I should also look for books on ways to train my life affinity before I start messing around with it.

I remake my schedule and take a few more notes before continuing with my nightly ritual. A shower and draining my magic. Deciding to recharge the ruby in case I ever need it before climbing my way into bed and letting sleep claim me.

Chapter 6

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After waking up I see it's almost midday feeling hungry having only eaten two carrots yesterday, I move to the kitchen and open the food cabinet only to see it empty. "Ugh" I knew I forgot something yesterday, it's Tuesday, so no free food. I guess I'll have to go out.

I grab my bag and head for my door. As I walk out of the library I head to the market district like yesterday and find the same food stand buying a few of those sweet fried bread buns, and make my way into the park and after sitting on a bench I dig into my treats.

As I sit and eat, I look around. I'm sitting on a bench facing a small pond. several fish swimming close enough to the surface to see. birds chirping unsee in nearby trees and the sound of colts and fillies kicking around a ball in the field behind me I lose focus staring at the view so much that I don't notice the sound of hoof steps coming close.

I lift one of my buns to take a bite, "Do you mind if I sit here?". the sudden voice startles me, and I jump a little. I quickly turn my head to the voice only to freeze. not more than a few feet away from me is a young unicorn stallion he's tall for a unicorn and in good health having a decent amount of muscle his coat wight and his main a few shades of blue from light to dark mixed together and a pair of cobalt blue eyes staring at me.

:WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING HERE!?: Shining Armor out of all the ponies in this city why did it have to be you. After a moment my brain registers what he asked and realizing that I've just been staring at him in silence I force myself to calm down and respond to him "sure."

He nods and sits down on the other side of the bench. The silence is deafening so after a moment I continue eating, trying desperately to ignore my uninvited guest but after some time he speaks up "So what are you eating?" I turn back to him, seeing him eyeing my food.

"Some fried sweet bread want one?" I offer hoping to seem less nervous as I float a bun over to him, he eyes it before taking it.

"Sure thanks" he bites into the bun, and we eat in silence for some time, both of us enjoying the view he finishes first before looking at me again.

"So what are you doing today if you don't mind me asking?" I stare for a moment trying to find a way out of this conversation but not finding any I decide it's less suspicious to just answer his questions.

"Eating my breakfast and enjoying my day off" he looks surprised for a moment before the realization dawns on his face.

"Oh you're an apprentice, aren't you? That makes more sense most, your age would be in school right now where do you work?"

"The city library for about two months now."

"Really? Not many young ponies working there do you enjoy it?"

"Ya the hours aren't bad the pay is decent and free food on workdays so not much to complain about and after work you get free access to the library."

He lets out a chuckle before stopping and looks a little embarrassed "Sorry you just remind me of my sister she's around your age always reading or trying new spells she'd be so jealous that you can stay after hours" he says while in between soft chuckles "oh by the way my name's Shining nice to meet you."

"Same, names Shade so what are you doing here?" I ask as I finish my last bun.

"I'm waiting for my dame and sister to meet up, they told me to wait in the park so they can finish shopping, so what do you do at the library" but before I could answer him, we were interrupted by a new voice.

"What library?" I turn my head to see Twilight Sparkle and their dam twilight velvet standing with a few bags floating next to her.

"Oh, hey Twilight I was talking with Shade here he works at the city's library" Her eyes move to me and she gets an excited expression hopping from one hoof to another she moves towards me.

"YOU DO? What's it like? What do you do? How long have you been working there? ho-" Before she could continue to bombard me with questions a hoof was placed on her muzzle.

"Twilight, you know not to do that, Twilight Velvet turns to me looking embarrassed at her daughter's actions "Sorry about that, she can get excited when it comes to books."

I nod "No problem it's ok" I turn to Twilight who looks even more embarrassed than her dam, her ears pinned back and a shy look on her face "And to answer your questions it's ok I mostly shelve, and sort books and I've been working there for around two months."

After hearing my answers she perks up some, her ears returning to normal "Thanks and sorry, dam said I get excited about books and magic."

I nod "That much is obvious" I take a moment to crumple the paper bag that held my food and put it in my bag. I hear a gasp and look back to see Twilight staring intently at me.

"How did you do that?" she asks with excitement in her voice once again having watched me crumple the bag without my hooves.

After a moment thinking how I wanted to explain this I said "Well you know how all ponies can move things with their hooves right?" she nodded "So the magic that lets you do that is in every pony and a few years ago when I was younger, I got it in my head that if I could train that ability, I could make it more powerful and do more with it. so I started training with it."

Twilight and Shining and their mother gain thoughtful looks as I continue my explanation "And I started trying to lift heavier and heavier things, over time it slowly got easier, and I could lift more and as I was messing around with it. I found that I could lift thing even if they weren't touching me and started training that to hold something and slowly pushing it away from me and just like my lifting strength my range also increased along with my control and at this point it's about the same as having a horn"

All three looked shocked at my explanation the first to speak was of course twilight "THATS AWESOME" she shouted out before quieting down from a stern look from her dam "Sorry"

I laugh "it's ok."

Shining speaks up after a moment. "Well colt, that's impressive I don't know many ponies who train that hard."

"Thanks, it certainly took a lot of time to achieve but I think it's worth it to move things without my hooves."

Before we can continue our conversation their dam speaks up "Come on you two we don't want to be late for Shining's appointment it shouldn't be long now. shining, do you have your watch?"

"No, I forgot it this morning."

"Here" Before they can say anything else I start drawing a matrix. and in a few moments I cast the Temporis spell showing the time to be one thirty-six.

Twilight gets the same excited look but before she can start asking any questions she’s cut off "Oh no we're going to be late" their dam exclaims before grabbing Twilight and putting her on her back before running off Shining not far behind her.

I sigh in relief. Well that wasn't too bad and while I definitely got their attention and my plan to stay away from the cast is dead in the water, but it's at least cool to meet them and it might be useful to know them as most don't look into ponies. they know so it might be better to hide in plain sight even though it's not as good as remaining unknown. Plus, in the show after Twilight leaves for Ponyvill she even almost forgets so she might not remember me as anything but a friend that she'll forget.

And after the day I've had I still need to go shopping for some groceries and after doing so and getting home with my goods. I decided to take my mind off of today and look through the library as I walked through bookshelves looking for books on healing magic and training my life affinity. Although the original book on affinities I read had some suggestions for training but not as much as a book for specifically the life element which would be much better.

After finding the right section of the library I searched through several books before finding what I was looking for, a book on life magic and its application by Star Shine. The book's text is dry as sand, but the information is good. The instructions for learning how to convert your magic seem about the same for any element.

First you try to visualize a single point in your body and push your magic through it. technically it is possible to convert magic in any way you wish it's really all about will but for those without enough will or control over their magic imagining a process to convert their magic is easier.

I've chosen not to use this method as it doesn't seem to have a negative effect on somepony who uses it. but I feel like it's not a good method mostly because it feels like a shortcut to power so I've decided to use the harder method to feel your magic and will it to take a new form to force its shape.

After reading the entire book I check it out at the front desk and leave the library and walk to the park. As one of the steps I want to follow is learning conversion in an environment with a dense amount of life magic and the best place nearby is the park.

After reaching the park for the second time that day I searched for a quiet spot. I find a small spot under an old oak tree that's out of view of any other ponies, a wall of bushes with the tree to my back. I lay on the grass and start focusing on my magic trying to feel the magic around me as my magic seeps into the world around me.

After some time, I start feeling the magic in the grass and roots around me as I study the feeling of the magic of life. the magic itself gives a feeling like a rush of energy from drinking coffee only to a lesser degree. I spend a while just sitting and feeling the ebb and flow of the magic, feeling it move through the roots and feel the magic of the sun being absorbed and converted.

Over an hour passes as I lay almost perfectly still. I retract my will and focus not outward but inward reaching into my magic. I start willing my magic to take the form that I've felt applying more and more of my will trying to change my magic into that of life. After a while of this I feel something break and feel a rush of energy go through me, I hold onto that feeling trying to burn its feel into my memory but after a few minutes my reserves of magic are drained almost dry so I stop.

I open my eyes glowing green softly for a moment before fading. As I stand looking at the ground around me, the grass only a few inches long before has grown wild and lengthy, the flowers blooming as several vines clinging to my legs. I shake the vines off of me and step away from where I was laying a circle around it of plants growing from its center and radiating out from it.

Noticing the sunlight fade as the sun is lowered and the moon rises into the sky I start making my way home humming a happy tune.

Chapter 7

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It's the day after I unlocked my life affinity and I started the day like normal with my run. Today is Thursday so I head to the breakroom and grab some breakfast, and sit down not long after I start eating Daisy sits next to me. "So how was your weekend?"

"Not bad I got a lot done and met some interesting ponies and got a few chores done, how was work?"

"Just fine, boring as always but I think that comes with the job" I let out a chuckle.

"Ya that seems about right" We spend the rest of breakfast chatting about small things mostly food. turns out Daisy really doesn't like Daisies ironically enough. that ended up getting a laugh out of me.

After breakfast I start going about my shift. Today it's sorting books so I sat down at one of the tables and settled in for a while. hours later I'm done with my work and in my room reading through the book on life magic. After reading some I narrowed down how I wanted to start training. and what I've found that this is the best approach seems to be growing plants by training your magic to control how a plant grows and how fast.

So, I'm going shopping for flowers that are small and grow relatively fast, they are cheap and I can fit many of them into my room without taking up much space. With this in mind I grab my bags and leave my room. as I walk down the street looking for a flower shop or even just somepony selling seeds.

I keep walking around and after an hour without finding anything I stop to take a break on the side of the street and sit there I see a pony I recognize. Twilight Velvet shopping with a bag floating with her much like yesterday "Well I've had no luck so far and it's not like it could hurt: so I decide to approach her walking over. "Hello again." I greet and she turns to me. staring at me for a moment before her face shifts, gaining a small smile.

"It's you from yesterday Shade right?" I nod "It's nice seeing you sorry we had to run off, Shining had a meeting and we couldn't miss it hope we didn't make a bad impression."

"It's fine I don't mind we all have some days like that, I never did catch your name though."

"Oh, where are my manners? I'm Twilight Velvet but I share a name with my daughter so most call me Velvet you can do the same."

"Sure, thing Miss Velvet I mostly came to ask if you know of any plant or flower shops nearby."

"Thinking of doing some gardening? Well either way I know of one, If you go down that street and take two lefts, and a right you should see it. it's called the rose garden" as she points down the street.

"Thank you so much, I hope you have a good day and say hello to Shining for me."

"Same with you colt and I will."

I started walking down the street she pointed out to me. I continued down the street taking two lefts and a right, and after some time walking I saw a small flower shop just like she said the rose garden. As I entered the shop I see a red mare at the counter pruning a rose bush before seeing me "hello how can I help you?"

I walk up to the counter "I'm looking for a flower that can make its own seeds to replant and grow again" She looks at me with a confused face at my request.

"Well, I know of a few that don't look that great, mostly small flowers, some with thorns" She then points out several flowers in the shop in various pots. I walk around the shop and pick out three flowers. the first with the body of a daisy with a gray flower at the end. the other a vine with dark leaves and many tiny pink flowers. and the final one a small round bush made of many small red leaves making it look like a round red ball with its bottom third missing.

As I take the pots to the countertop and place them the florist gives an odd look at my choices "Well this is probably the oddest order I've ever seen a false daisy along with a gripping vine and finally this one."

"What's so odd about them?" I asked, curious about her reaction.

"Well not much is interesting about False Daisy, its claim to fame is that before it blooms it's almost impossible to tell it's not a daisy and it's not edible it won't hurt you, it just tastes terrible. The Gripper Vine is mostly known for the fact that it can hold onto pretty much anything while in little to no soil it's hard to cut and grows fast and they have a decent grip, I've seen one of these climb a four-story building from a single small pot.

And then there's this one I don't actually know what it is. one of my customers brought it to me and said he found it in the wood and scooped it into a pot for me although it does make seeds and I've collected some a while ago and I've tried looking for its name and didn't find much and I don't really have the time to keep looking. honestly I didn't know what to do with it so I put it up for sale."

After hearing her lengthy explanation of the plants I was interested in I decided to buy them. "How much for all of them?" I ask.

"Well not many ever buy false daisies the same with the gripping vine and I don't have a use for the bush, so I'll just say ten bits."

"You sure?"

"ya honestly most of these were just taking up space, Will that be all?"

"Can I also get three more pots and some soil please?"

After grabbing what I requested I paid her and grabbed my purchase and started walking back home. After reaching home I placed my new plants near my window and gave them some water along with staking my spare pots and soil. I started reading about training my life magic and controlling plants.

The book itself doesn't contain any plant spells, just theory about them. Most plant spells seem to follow two paths, the first being plant growth and the second controlling plants. although I don't think there will be many plant spells as this type of spell doesn't seem common as when looking for a book on training your life affinity I only found two. the one I'm reading right now and the other which was mostly just conjecture and research material.

What little books I did find on plant magic were for growing herbs or improving soil quality. which means the biggest branch of magic that life affinity will help with is healing magic. That combined with the lack of plant-based spells means it's probably better to just use raw magic for plants and focus on healing spells. so after learning what little the book had to offer I brought the false daisy to my desk.

While the book didn't have much to offer in terms of plant spells it did have advice for using raw life magic. The easiest method for training life affinity is to grow a plant until it flowers and seeds, then collect the seeds then uproot the plant. chop it up and add it back into the soil and use life magic to enhance decomposition then planting new seeds starting the cycle over again.

This gives you an endless supply of plants to work with, and as long as you keep some seed if the plant dies you can just make another. As I place the false daisy on my desk I start converting some magic into life magic before reaching out and trying to encourage growth I see the small plant start to grow reaching higher than the single gray daisy joined by others as the buds open.

As the buds open to reveal a gray daisy flower the flower persists for a few minutes before it starts wilting. as they do I see small seeds falling off them. the small brown seed attached to a tuft of silky fibers. After collecting the seeds I grab my knife before pulling the plant out and chop it into bits, dicing it and mixing it back into the soil.

I repeat this process four times each time using my magic to help compost the old plant by encouraging it to degrade and rot. In the end I have a few dozen leftover seeds and my magic is almost dry. I place my leftover seeds in an old flour bag. I'm going to need to get some jars or bags later, but right now it's late and I have work tomorrow so it's time for bed.

time skip

It's been a few weeks and it's Jun 18 and the summer sun celebration is soon. I've made some progress in my training, in terms of my old training I've learned a few new things. First I've made some headway into the runic language learning more symbols. I'm still nowhere near fluent but I'm still improving. My TK field has seen some improvement but its power is starting to level off to the point of almost not being worth dedicating so much time to practice so I'm going to continue training its control but not its strength.

My general training in magic continues, I drain my magic every day along with using it throughout the day and I'm still seeing slow but steady growth. For my new training I've been trying to find a basic healing spell with no success. and after several days of no progress only finding higher level spells, everything else being information texts, I finally decided to ask Daisy for help as during one of our conversations she mentioned a cousin that's a doctor.

Today was Monday I made my way into the breakroom and settled in with some food for dinner and after some time I see

Daisy enters the room after she grabs some food and sits on the other side of the table. "So Shade, how was your day?"

"About the same as every day you ask me that almost every day and the answer never changes."

"I know", she says with a teasing smile on her face.

"I would actually like to ask you a question" She nods with her mouth full.

"I've been trying to learn some healing spells but I can't seem to find any basic ones to start with but I've had no luck"

"And you won't" Seeing my confusion at her answer she laughs, "I asked the same thing to my cousin and I'm afraid my friend that you've fallen into a trap most aspiring doctors and students fall into. It's like this as far as I'm aware there are no basic healing spells. That branch of magic is just too complex as any who've tried to create a basic healing spell have failed so far. from what my cousin told me all the basic spells that have been made are so weak that they do basically nothing to speed up the healing process."

"So, there's no basic healing spells because they get too weak when trying to simplify them?"

"Yup I don't remember the exact reason he said but I think it had something to do with healing spells having a lot of symbols in them."

Now it makes sense this world is much like mine so sometimes I forget that it is different. In my old world we had a good understanding of biology and how the body works. but from what I've read in the books I've been searching through these ponies are not as advanced as humans in this aspect.

They understand how a disease spreads but not what causes it and they have no understanding of microorganisms not being able to see them, that's considered one of the great limitations of healing magic for them, magic can repair your body but not kill a virus or infection.

This also explains why all the spells I did find even with their complexity it's still mostly symbols as they can't use many things to base the spell on. furthermore, this would make it extremely hard to make a basic healing spell as it would have to be almost entirely symbols weakening the final spells effects rendering the spell almost useless. This even explains why this world still teaches mostly traditional healing and many other methods my old world used as you can't just heal anything as the number of ponies that know and can use powerful healing spells are probably in extremely high demand but low number.

This also means I may be able to create a basic healing spell as while I wasn't a doctor in my past life I did take biology in high school so I may know enough to make one. but I can't as I am right now I have nowhere near enough knowledge to pull off something like that but It's something to work on.

But for now it's still years before canon starts and all I'll be doing for the next few years is growing and trying to master my magic so I have time. After finishing my meal and saying goodbye to Daisy I head back to my room.

After I'm inside my room I check on my plants and on all my empty pots now full after experimenting with the plants. I've discovered a few things of not about two of them, the false daisy being the only one to become uninteresting to me.

The other two plants however have several points of interest. for the gripping vine I've found that just like the seller said it does grow really fast when using magic to enhance their growth they grow even faster. and like she said they grab anything they can to grow higher the other thing once again like the seller said they are surprisingly strong for their size being tough and hard to cut or saw the vine stalks being filled with thick fibers.

And then there's what I've found about the last plant, it took me a while to find a book about it. this red bush is named blood leaf tea, yup it's a tea plant. a very rare tea plant, from what I learned this plant is very hard to farm bordering on impossible as the only known way is to have a pony with a life affinity to cultivate it.

The reason being not that the plant is hard to grow but because the properties its leaves are valued for is to increase magic regeneration and as the number of things that can help with magic regeneration are very few the leaves are highly valued.

The problem comes in when you try to farm them as the plant's leaves only gain this property if it's grown in an environment rich with life magic like a large forest or deep in mountain ranges. While you can grow the plant if there isn't enough life magic it won't gain its magical effects rendering it into just a red bush. But if you have a life affinity like I do and get your hoofs on one you basically have an unlimited supply. With this in mind I've already filled the other pots I bought with more of the tea plant and after learning how to make tea I started to produce blood leaf tea.

And after growing several plants and picking them clean before drying the leaves into tea I now have a large stockpile stored in jars along with many spare seeds and four grown bushes. And I've also found out that the tea tastes quite good having a somewhat lemony flavor.

After checking on the plants and watering them, I like all my other nights, shower and go to bed.

Chapter 8

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It's Friday, Jun 21 today and it's the summer sun celebration and Canterlot is busy with all different kinds of ponies moving about for the festivities, and I've been given the day off as the library will be closed today, and Celestia is going to be giving a speech like she does most years and like most years before this one I'm not going.

Mostly because It's just not my thing I don't mind going to a party but something like this is a little too big for me, that doesn't mean I'm going to be doing nothing though I have a few plans of my own, I'm going to be shipping a package to a certain pony.

To explain we have to back up a bit, during the past few weeks after meeting Shining and Twilight I've been thinking about how much I should change about the timeline, at first I didn't want to interact with any of the main characters, and I still don't but I've realized that if I don't know any of them then it will be hard to help when canon starts.

But if I can get to know some of them before canon at a minimum, I can offer help or be asked to help, the problem being how to do this without getting too much attention on me, I want them to know I exist not to become a part of the main cast, I'm basically trying to become a background character, someone who can help but does things unseen most of the time.

So, I'm taking advantage of the summer sun celebration as many ponies send gifts to Celestia on this day and I'll be doing the same, my plan is to send a lot of my new tea to her, this may not sound like much but after learning about the blood leaf tea's magical effects I kept researching the plant, I learned that the plant is much rarer than I thought as the only way to harvest it is to wander the forests and mountains looking for it and while it's not hard to spot it's not common to find.

I also went looking for it in the markets to see that it was priced at four hundred bits for an ounce, that may seem ridiculous as you'd think at least one other pony has a life affinity to sell this stuff, but after some thought I realized that the process to unlock an affinity isn't easy.

As I learned in the past to unlock your affinity you need a lot of magic, but you also need a lot more money even me with a decent-paying job where I don't have to pay for food or rent it took just under a month to collect the money necessary the only reason, I got such a good crystal for so cheap was blind luck.

That and as I've learned the reason plant magic is so underutilized is how complex the spells are and just how rare the life affinity is, combine this with the expense of a decent crystal and having to enchant it along with the possibility of the enchantment failing and the crystal being rendered useless, along with the time and knowledge needed to use an affinity means most never find out what affinity they have and even less try unlocking and using them as It's much easier to just use normal spells.

This means that the only way to get blood leaf tea is by harvesting it from the wild, a dangerous job even in my old life and my past world didn't have magical monsters roaming the wilds, and I haven't even mentioned the last piece to this puzzle, the magical effect of the tea doesn't give you magic but specifically increases one ability to regenerate their magic so while the effect doesn't do much for your average pony as they haven't trained to regenerate their magic, but for ponies that have the effect it is much more noticeable in some cases taking hours off recovery times.

All this accumulates into its absurd price now as for why this is important is because I might be the only pony in Equestria that can produce as much as I like only requiring time as it takes longer to dry the tea than grow them, now I don't want to start selling the stuff as that would immediately put me in the public spotlight, but I can send a twenty-pound package of the tea to her, as for the reason I think she'll need it is that even if she wanted to drink it every day she couldn't because even though she definitely has the money to pay for it there's just not enough to go around, plus, the magical effect is still coming from the herb itself so for somepony of Celestia's size she'd need much more to achieve the same results.

So, with all this in mind I walk with a box filled with twenty pounds of tea stored in a few wooden boxes I bought yesterday bringing it to the post office, one of the few businesses open today, as I enter the post office is busy and it takes half an hour to get to the front of the line.

"Hello sir, what can I help you with?" the brown-colored unicorn stallion at the counter asks me.

"I'd like you to deliver this to the princess, I presume that you can do that right?"

He nods "Yup I will need your name,” he passes me a small piece of paper and a quill and an ink well, “and I need to know if it's fragile?"

"No, it just can't get wet."

"Ok it will be five bits please" I give him five bits and I write my name on a small piece of paper he gives me, as he takes my package behind the counter, I move out of line for the other ponies waiting before leaving the post office as I start walking home.

After reaching home I start cooking a small meal for myself, frying some salmon I bought and slicing some bread along with lettuce and mustard making myself a fish sandwich after I sit down at my desk and start reading a silly crime novel I found while eating my sandwich.

After finishing my dinner and washing my plate I sat on my bed and started reading about healing magic, after learning how difficult it is to learn healing magic, I decided to learn it anyway as in the future I would like to make healing spells, mostly basic ones.

It will take me a few years to learn what I need to know before I can even start trying to make a healing spell, but I have time so why not, another thing I've been trying to unlock is my space affinity, the only real progress I've made is when I try meditating, I can somewhat feel the empty space around me although it takes all my concentration to feel anything and even then it's a faint feeling, but it is getting easier with time although like healing magic this might be unusable for a few years.

I have made some progress with plant magic mostly in the efficiency of my magic conversion, I now lose less magic when growing plants, it's not much less, only a few percent but with time that will grow, no pun intended, as I stay awake throughout the night waiting for dawn I read and draw.

After several hours I check the time, five forty-six dawn break will be at six so I put down my book and make myself some tea before sitting in front of my window and waiting for dawn break, I sip my tea as the sun starts to rise and the moon falls.

I raise my cup to toast, to another year in this world, :Well I hope the princess liked my gift: after enjoying the sunrise for a moment I move to my bed more than ready for sleep.

pov shift to Celestia

After raising the sun, I move to the throne room and take my seat preparing for day court, before one of my little ponies comes up to me Clover Field my assistant after giving a short bow she speaks.

"Good morning your majesty."

"Same to you Clover."

She gives a quick nod and floats a clipboard and a package next to her :That's odd, most gifts I get are sorted and checked for danger before I get them:, I do love how much they care I just wish they would worry about me less.

"Clover is that one of the gifts I got, I thought we would only be opening them later after day court, which starts in half an hour?" I asked my assistant.

"You are right, your majesty but after we found out what this package contained, we thought it best to get it to you as fast as possible," This caused me to grow concerned.

"Is it something dangerous?"

"No, it's just the value of the package that's a concern," This answer makes me confused.

"Well don't keep me in suspense,"

"Well at first the guards didn't know if it was real but after getting an expert to inspect it, who confirmed that it's all real," She moves the package to me, the outside being basic cardboard with the top loose, as I open the box, I see several simple wooden boxes and a note laying on top of them, I picked up the small note while reading it.

May this serve you well princess signed Shade Evergreen that was all nothing else just some nice words and a name, I move the note to the side and grab one of the boxes before opening it, I have to struggle to keep my face neutral as the box is filled to the rim with a tea I recognize well having enjoyed it greatly in the past on the rare few occasions I've had it, blood leaf tea.

I turn back to Clover "How much is in these boxes?"

"All the boxes combined have roughly twenty pounds in total."

This time I can't keep my shock off my face :TWENTY POUNDS!! The herb sells for hundreds of bits per ounce: .

"How?"

"We don't know your majesty, all we found out was the sender's name, one Shade Evergreen, and where they sent it from one of the post offices in Canterlot"

"Hmm, that's not a name I recognize."

"I'm having some ponies looking into it but that could take a few days."

"That's fine I do wonder how they got so much though?" I take a moment to cast a spell seeing the time, day court starts in a few minutes.

"Well please keep me informed on what you find" I take some tea out of the box and summon a small jar to put it in before moving the box to a safe place, and please have some tea made for me," I ask Clover as I pass her the jar.

"Yes, your majesty" She then walks away to deliver the tea leaves as I prepare for day court, after a few minutes ponies start filling the throne room along with Clover holding a silver tray with my tea set on it, I take a moment to sip some, tasting the light lemon undertones and the feeling of my magic refilling, :Shade Evergreen I wonder, who are you?:

Chapter 9

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It's been a few days since the summer sun celebration, and I received a letter today that has the royal seal on it, it seems I've gotten Celestia's attention, and after popping the seal open and opening the letter I started to read it.

Dear Shade Evergreen, first I'd like to thank you for your lovely gift, I rarely get to enjoy this type of tea and that's a shame as It's one of my favorites, I'm writing this letter to invite you to the palace gardens for tea on Jun 30 at three in the afternoon, I hope to see you there, show the guards this letter and they will let you into the palace grounds. Signed princess Celestia.

In all honesty I should have been expecting something like this, Celestia seems like the kind of pony that likes meeting somepony in person, so here I am standing in front of the palace at two forty in the afternoon on a Sunday ironically enough, she must really want this meeting as she even got the library to give me the day off work.

As I approach the gates one of the guards stops me "State your business?" they demand.

"I'm here for a meeting with the princess and I have an invitation," I say while holding out my letter, the guard takes the letter from me and starts reading it, and after a moment they wave another guard over "he's here for a meeting with the princess, escort him to the gardens" the other guard nods.

"Please follow me sir," I nod and we start making our way through the palace heading towards the gardens, after a few minutes we make it to the gardens just on time for my tea party, as we approach the gardens a complex web of hedge walls separating small gardens and sitting areas with benches and fountains, we move through the maze-like gardens, the guard taking several turns and at one point I'm pretty sure walking us in a circle before we finally arrive.

As we pass through an archway covered with flowering vines, we enter a small walled-off area with several guards standing along the sides, and in the center lying down in front of a table is Celestia herself, after we approach the table me and the guard bow to her "your guest has arrived princess."

"Thank you, you can leave us" The guard nods and leaves us alone standing with the other guards around us., Celestia now staring at me with a soft smile on her face, "Hello Mr. Evergreen, it's nice to meet you, thank you for coming."

"And thank you for inviting me princess" I say trying to keep my voice steady and not let my nervousness show as she gestures for me to sit.

"Before we start, I'd like to thank you for the gift," She takes a sip of tea from her cup "It's not often I can drink it and as I said in my letter to you it's one of my favorites."

"No problem princess to be honest the reason I sent it to you is because I thought you'd get more use out of it than me I can only drink so much after all," I pause for a moment as she moves a cup of tea over to me and I take a sip of the blood red tea, "Although I'm guessing that you're curious about where it's from?"

She takes a moment to drink the last of the tea in her cup before answering my question, "Straight to the point then? Yes, that was the main reason I asked you to meet me," I lift my cup to take a sip, "and I'd also like to hear the story behind that, if that's ok with you."

She seems to have noticed my TK field "Well for the first thing it might be best to show you, if that's alright with you princess?"

She nods "That's fine."

After she agrees I take a small bag of seeds and a small pot of dirt out from my saddle bags and place them on the table in clear view, Celestia raising an eyebrow at my choice of items and also not having used my hooves to take them from my bag, "So that's what your doing I must say I don't think anypony I've met has ever really tried to use their magic like that."

I pause at this "Really I'd think you'd have met at least one other pony that thought of the idea?"

She lets out a soft chuckle "Yes you'd think so, but to my knowledge I haven't, Do you mind telling me how you accomplished it?"

Hearing her question, I stopped setting up my demonstration to answer, "Well, when I was young around six or seven, I think, I saw one of the other ponies my age, a unicorn holding something with their magic, and a thought came to mind, I don't even really remember why I had the idea in the first place, but I thought that if a unicorn could lift something with magic and I had magic to pick things up why couldn't I do the same and float them too, so after that I'd spend hours practicing trying all kinds of things and after a few months I succeeded," I stop to drink some tea to wet my drying throat.

"I presume you couldn't lift much at the start?" She asks as I drink my tea.

"You'd be right princess, at first I could only lift pebbles and twigs a few inches away from me, but with time and practice my weight capacity and range increased."

Celestia now had a much more pronounced smile on her face, "It's rare to find a pony that experiments with their magic, most don't seem to have the motivation, what's the most you can hold now? if you don't mind me asking."

"Not at all princesses right now I can hold around three hundred pounds at ten feet, although after that how much I can carry decreases the further away it is, and I've found that recently its growth has leveled out."

"That's very impressive for a pony your age, most unicorns can only lift one hundred or so when they are adults."

"Thank you, princess, I also brought my notes on what I remember and what I have found out through the years," I say, bringing a neat stack of papers out of my bag and passing them to her.

The smile she's had throughout this conversation grows bigger showing a bit of her teeth, "Thank you" she says looking through some of the notes, and after a few moments she stops and looks back to me, "This is well made and very nicely done, do you mind if I give this to my researchers to study?"

"Not at all princesses there are yours to do what you want with" She nods before motioning a guard over and giving him my notes.

"You can continue" I nod and take one of the seeds I brought with me before pushing it into the soil, after I cover the seed with dirt, I place a hoof on the side of the pot and close my eyes to concentrate, reaching out with my magic I start growing the plant, its red sprout pierces the soil slowly reaching higher as small red leaf's grow and branches split as the plant continues to grow.

As the plant increases in size it starts to expand outwards and rounds out forming a small red bush in the pot, I open my eyes to look at Celestia's reaction and I've never seen her with a bigger smile before, and that includes in the show, after a moment of staring at the newly created plant she speaks excitement clear in her voice.

"It's been a very long time since I've had the pleasure of seeing somepony use life magic, it's a rare thing to witness even for me, you've been making the tea yourself then, where did you get a blood leaf tea bush from? Most that are found are picked clean or protected from poaching."

"A flower shop," I answered deadpan.

"Truly?" she asked with a humorous expression on her face.

"Yes, I originally went to buy some flowers to train my life magic and ended up buying a small bush of it from the owner, she didn't even know what it was, I was curious and she sold it to me with two other flowers for ten bits, and after a few days of searching, I found out what the plant was and did."

"You bought one of the most valuable herbs in Equestria for ten bits at a flower shop" her voice filled with mild disbelief, after a moment of silence, she asks a new question, "How did you unlock your affinity? The spell isn't something most can cast."

"I used a gem and enchanted it to hold a reserve of magic."

She nods "Many do the same, I presume you practice runic magic then?"

"Yes, it's actually how I gained my cutie mark."

"Good I find most don't use that branch of magic sadly, I must say for one so young you've learned much, I am curious what other affinities do you have? Or was life the only one?"

I took a moment thinking if I should answer or not but after some thought I decided that it's probably a bad idea to lie to the princess, for all I know she might be able to tell if I'm lying, "I do have one other affinity, the problem being that there's not much I can use it for as I don't even know how to unlock it let alone use it," But to answer your question princess I have the space affinity."

All at once I see her face shift through expressions first shock then joy and finally understanding mixed with sadness, "I see, That's an affinity that I haven't seen in a very long time, I will be honest with you, I don't really know if you can use that affinity even, I only know a few space spells myself and the only other pony I've ever met that had that affinity was never able to do anything with it."

I take a moment trying to look somewhat disappointed, it wasn't too hard as I was at least hoping she might know something to help me use my space affinity, but that just means that I'll have to do it on my own as best I can.

"That's fine princess I still have the life affinity after all and that's proving useful enough."

After my words, she regains her smile, "It's good to have some optimism, I feel most tend to get caught up in what they don't have instead of what they still have," There're a few seconds of silence, "Moving on, what are your plans for the future?"

"Most likely? The same as it's always been apprenticing at the library continuing to learn magic to research and experiment with."

"Really? That's all? I would think you'd want to become a researcher, the notes you gave me alone are probably enough to secure you a job and some notoriety with others."

"Well to be honest I'm not the kind of pony that likes attention, and while my current apprenticeship isn't glamorous, I enjoy it, and to be blunt I just don't like the idea of fame, I much prefer my quiet life as it is, that's also the reason I never sold any tea."

Hearing my answer, her smile fully recovers, "Well, sadly we're almost out of time and I have duties to attend to soon, but if you don't mind, I'd like to ask a favor from you?"

"Sure, princess what do you need?"

"Would you like to send letters back and forth?" She lets out a small laugh at my surprised face, "I enjoyed our talk and hope to do so more in the future if that's alright with you?"

"It'd be an honor princess."

"Thank you., and have a good day Mr. Shade," she stands up picking up my plant "A guard will show you out" A guard moves to stand not far away from me.

I nod "Thank you as well princess and same to you," once again following a guard through the gardens and palace before we return to the gate, as I walk home I think about the conversation I just had.

Well, that wasn't so bad if nothing else she's nice, it's kind of odd now that I think about it, I'm going to have to go back to work tomorrow like this didn't happen, as I reached my room and took a shower, I couldn't help thinking I forgot something.

After eating dinner, I prepare for bed before a thought strikes me :she stole my plant!!!:.

Chapter 10

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Jul 17 Wednesday, it's been a little over two weeks since my meeting with Celestia and she's sent me a letter, mostly about the research I gave her and some suggestions for books to read. and oddly enough a few really mundane things, she asked me what my favorite food was, I didn't really know how to answer that, so I just sent a letter back answering all her questions, even the food one, and thanked her for the book suggestions.

I mean what else am I supposed to do? Not answer the ruler of the country I live in when she sends a guard to your door with a letter and a request for a response, I wrote a letter before giving it to the guard, the letter also had a mailing address to send letters or packages too, but after that I got back to my plan for today.

I'm going to be doing some enchanting and experimenting, that's why I'm heading to the markets today, I'm going to go gem shopping, unlike last time I'm not looking for a large high-quality gem but several smaller ones at least that's the plan, to explain why I need to explain how linked enchanting works.

When you enchant something with a spell, you're essentially binding it to the object of your choosing, this process doesn't leave any physical markings on the object itself, the only difference is the magic being bound to the object, a good example of what I'm talking about is my stove, the metal ring that heats up what your cooking is enchanted with and how much heat it gives is controlled by a metal dial.

But how are the metal plate and dial connected? There's nothing behind the dial itself and the plate can be removed for cleaning so how does the dial control the heating plate and how is it powered? The power is easy to answer as when you enchant something the number of spells you put on any one object is limitless.

Any object can hold as far as I know unlimited spells, but if you did do that it would be both pointless and dangerous as while you can put as many spells as possible on an object powering them is another matter entirely, most objects depending on what they are made of can handle different amounts of magic and if you exceed that limit the object will start to break down and self destruct.

But back to how the stove is powered, enchantments can use any type of magic as a power source, so the enchantments on the stove are made to absorb magic from around it, end this will work with most basic spells but for something more complex there is simply not enough magic to fuel the enchantment in the environment, so most use gems because for their size they have the best weight to energy capacity.

On to the other question of how the plate and dial are connected, well, that's where the linking spell comes in, the spell itself is fairly complex but still easy enough for me to cast, the spell's effect is to link two or more enchantments together, the spell itself only acts as an on and off switch with varying degrees of both as an example if 0 is off and 1 is on I could use either of these or any in between.

The stove has an off position that being 1 and several other options being so if I wanted something halfway in between I'd use 0.5 this means that you can control the enchantments output to a limited degree, and the spell can also be linked to as many enchantments as you like but maintaining the link takes a very small amount of magic, the more links you have the higher the magic drain and if it exceeds what the environment has, or the power source can provide the links will degrade and fail.

As I walk through the markets, I walk to the edge and find what I'm looking for, sitting on a mat in between two stalls I see a gray diamond dog surrounded by several bags as they sort gems, one thing I've found surprising is that most ponies don't buy from the diamond dogs.

Apparently they are considered untrustworthy rumors of them being thieves because of other packs stealing from travelers, much like the show although I haven't heard anything about kidnappings.

As I approach the diamond dog, they look at me for a moment before some recognition shows on their face, "Hey I remember you, you bought a large ruby a few months back."

"Yes, I came to see if you had a few small rubies, preferably cut like a cube?"

They start looking through their bags and after a moment placing three small rubies half an inch in size on the mat, "These are all I have for rubies, but I do have more sapphires in this cut if that will work?"

"Let me see" They nod before going through their bags again before placing six more sapphires all the same size as the rubies.

"How much for each?"

"Twenty each but I'll drop it to eighteen if you buy three."

"Make it fifteen and I'll buy them all" Their face morphs looking shocked at my offer.

"Deal!" I nod and pass him one hundred and thirty-five bits in total and wait as they count them and after a moment they nod, and hand me my new gems, "Pleasure doing business with you," They have a large smile on their face.

"Same to you."

I spend some time looking through the markets and after a while I find what I'm looking for, a small knife made for wood carving, after that, I started walking back to the library to return to my room, after making it to my room I place the gems on my desk and move over to my window, I take a pot that I emptied earlier and also move it to my desk, I also grab a blood leaf tea seed.

As I sit in front of my desk, I place the seed inside the soil of the pot and start to grow it, but unlike the other times I've done this I try to control how it grows by forcing it to not grow any leaves and trying to grow the main trunk of the bush as thick as I can.

After a few minutes I have a weird-looking bush, it has no leaves or branches, only a single stick two inches thick and a foot long, I use my new knife and cut the stick at its base before moving the pot back to the window, I move over to my sink and hold the stick over it and focus using my control over plants to try and remove as much water from the stick as I can trying to dry the wood out.

This process is difficult as it requires complete concentration on my task and after two hours, I'm finally done, as for why I'm going through all this trouble is that to run my experiments I'm going to need a material that can conduct a decent amount of magic and the easiest is the blood leaf tea as the high content of life magic makes the plant strong and its wood durable.

It also means that I can just make more if I destroy what I'm using, as I take my newly dried stick over to my desk, I use my knife to remove any bark on the wood leaving only a solid wood stick, the wood itself is a light color much like cedar with thin strips of red going through the woodgrain much like veins, I start by cutting a small one-inch piece off from the stick with my knife.

This takes me half an hour and after that I start slowly whittling it down over the next few hours, as the sun sets and my room is engulfed in darkness, I grab a candle and light it with the candle flame spell before continuing my work, after my carving I'm left with a small flat wood square as close as I could get it to match one of the gems in size.

After finishing this I grab one of the rubies and start enchanting it to hold magic along with a spell to absorb the magic from the environment around it placing one and then the other and finally a spell to activate the link when you tap the ruby, this spell is very simple it's only prepose being too open and close a link when you give it the desired input, which I've set to tapping the ruby two times, after a few minutes I'm done, and I have a ruby with a small glowing center, this crystal holds much less magic than the large one I have but that's ok I don't need much magic for this.

After I finish the ruby, I start on my piece of what I'm calling bloodwood, I'm going to enchant it with a light spell I've modified for this enchantment, the normal light spell uses symbols and numbers, but this one uses only one symbol as a base while the rest is just numbers so its magic cost is almost half the original cost while being twice as bright.

I enchant the piece of wood with my new light spell and test it for a moment, the spells light easily overpowering the candle on my desk, after making sure it works as intended, I start casting the linking spell and after drawing the runes I draw the number 1 inside a blank spot in the matrix to set the parameters for power output, the spell creates a small white string made from magic coming from the center of the matrix that with some concentration I can move, I move one end to the ruby and the other end to the small wood piece and after a moment the link settles into place before vanishing.

I wait a few minutes for the link to stabilize and start pushing magic into the ruby filling it halfway and taking most of my remaining magic, as I set the ruby down on my desk, I place the wood piece next to it, and after tapping the ruby twice I open the link between them allowing the magic to transfer into the wood piece.

After a second the wood piece starts to glow decently bright lighting up my room in white light, I check to see if there are any problems, and seeing none, I place the wood piece under my bags placing them on top of the wood piece to block the light, my main experiment here is to see if I can make a magic light last for several hours.

The reason being that most in Equestria like I did tonight use candles to light their homes at night, this is because while the light spell isn't hard it does take a surprising amount of magic to maintain mostly because it uses so many symbols in the spell, this means that buying a magic light that can recharge and still lasts for a few hours takes a large and expensive crystal and is out of reach of most ponies.

But a smaller one like the ones I bought today would be while still expensive for most ponies it would be within reach, my hope is to make it last a few hours at least so it can be used by anypony for lighting If I'm right and my new spell has enough of an efficiency boost to let the small gem last a few hours.

But for now that's tomorrow's problem, I'm taking my shower and going to bed.

Chapter 11

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July 18 Thursday, as I get out of bed, I make myself some tea to start the day off, after pouring my tea into a cup I start checking my things, first the plants, one empty pot from last night, three with blood leaf tea plants, one false daisy and finally my gripping vine.

After giving them water and some soil I decompose the used plant from yesterday and move it to my desk, I move my bag and see the piece of wood still glowing, I quickly cast the temporis spell checking the time just under eight hours since I activated the enchantment, and the ruby is almost empty with only a tiny flicker of magic left in the gem.

I tap the ruby twice, turning off the light and placing the ruby out of the way to let it slowly recharge over time, it seems my experiment was a success, and the spell is stable, after that I head to breakfast deciding to skip my morning run and start my workday early.

several hours later

After my workday ends, I head back to my room and check on the ruby seeing it's a third full, it's been around eight hours since I turned it off, which means that it would take around a full day to charge, and last around sixteen hours when in use, I start making another magic light, this one is the same as the last only using a sapphire instead of a ruby, as for why I'm making another magic light just like last night is to send it to Celestia.

After my meeting with Celestia and thinking some more about how I want to help in canon, I decided that I'm going to focus on being support for the main cast, my plan is to make either spells or enchanted items to help them accomplish their goals easier while also making things to help Equestria at large.

I'll be doing this by making things like this simple light, right now, many ponies don't have access to a reliable source of light and after dark mostly use candles and fire in general, but this light wouldn't be that expensive for the vast majority of ponies, giving them a stable and reusable source of light after nightfall.

The only real problem being that I can't really sell my creations, I simply don't have the time to do so in between learning new things and my apprenticeship, but there is a certain princess who likes to improve her little ponies' lives and who I can trust to not take advantage of others.

So, I'm going to send this and any future inventions to Celestia as she will probably know how best to sell and use what I make, so today I'm sending this second magic light to her with a letter that has instructions and all the spells used including my new light spell.

With this in mind, I start by carving a new wood piece, the process going faster now that I've had some practice with the carving knife, I finish after two hours, then I enchant the sapphire, layering the spells into the gem, and finally linking them.

After I'm done, I rest for a while and write a letter to Celestia adding the spell matrix's drawn on paper to the pages before grabbing my bags and the new magic light and leaving my room, as I walk to the same post office I used last time, I enter the post office and head to the counter.

A gray unicorn sitting behind the counter speaks up "Hello sir what can I help you with?"

"I need a small box, and I need to ship something along with a letter to the same place," They nod and reach behind the counter pulling up a small box.

"Will this work?"

"Yes, do you have any padding?"

"Yes, sir we do" They reach under the counter again and pull out what looks like scrap paper before filling the box and passing it to me along with a weight sticker with a spot for an address and the sender's name.

I fill out both and place the magic light into the box before closing it and passing it back to the mail pony with the letter, they look at the sticker before nodding and taking both, "That will be five bits please."

I pass them the amount and leave the office before heading home.

pov shift to Celestia

I sip some of my tea enjoying the taste, I'm taking a break before lowering the sun and raising the moon, as I drink my tea, I see Clover enter my room with a letter and a small box, I raise an eyebrow at this as very few ponies are on my mailing list, so I have to wonder who it's from.

"Princess, I have a letter and package from Shade Evergreen for you," Clover says in a happy voice as always.

I smile, it seems that Shade has sent me something again, I wonder if it will be as interesting as last time, "Thank you, clover."

I grab the letter and package before opening the letter and reading it.

Dear Princess Celestia, I'm writing to you to give you an invention I've made enclosed in the spell matrix and a list of materials required, the second part of this letter contains a brief description of the item, thank you for your time and have a good day princess. Singed Shade Evergreen

I smile at this, the letter is short but from my time talking to the colt he seems like the type of pony to speak bluntly, I open the second part of the letter and inside are five spells written out on paper along with instructions.

Enclosed are all the spells used in the enchanted object I've sent you, the enchanted object I've sent you is a magic light made by linking a piece of wood with a modified light spell I made, to activate the light simply tap the gem twice, Its reserve will last around sixteen hours and it takes a full day to recharge, the reason for sending it to you is that I don't really have a use for more than one and you will probably know best what to do with it.

After finishing the second letter I flip through the papers, most are spells I recognize the enchantment spell along with the linking spell, the third is a magical reservoir spell, and the fourth is to absorb magic around it, these I know remembering when they were created, but the last one is new to me, It's the basic light spell, just heavily modified, It's almost all numbers only use one symbol for its base.

The spell work is impressive, I've made my share of spells, and this one is well done, I've seen far worse spells from much more experienced magic users in the past one, so young making something like this is definitely noteworthy, the other thing is bringing a large smile to my face.

I myself have tried to find a good light source for my ponies but most simply weren't viable, being too costly for most of my ponies or too difficult for mass production, but now it seems I've been given a solution to this long-standing problem, I open the box and inside I find a small gem with an even smaller piece of wood, I gently tap the gem twice and see the piece of wood light up and start glowing.

After turning off the light I pass the spell pages and magic light to Clover, "Take the gem and wood piece to the researchers, tell them to test it thoroughly, and send the pages to the scribes to add to the library" She nods.

"Good night princess."

"Same to you Miss Clover," I watch her leave with the box and pages, :I really should think of a way to thank that colt:.

time skip

Aug 13 Tuesday, it's been almost a month since I sent Celestia the magic light and the next day I received a thank you letter from her, and only a few days ago I received a package and a letter, the letter was about the Grand Galloping Gala on August 21, and the package had a few rare books on life magic and one on enchanting, along with an invite to the event itself and her asking me to attend.

So, here I am on my day off shopping for a decent suit, and for the first time I'm going shopping in the upper part of the city, as I walk the street, I look at several shops until I find one that looks good, as I enter the shop, I see an elderly stallion unicorn cutting some fabric.

"Hello sir, what can I help you with?" the elderly pony asks his voice, holding a high-class feel to it.

"I'm looking for a good suit preferably in black or a dark gray," He takes a moment to look at me then the old stallion nods.

"I can certainly help you with that sir please follow me," He starts walking deeper into the shop with me following him, we pass a few clothes racks and cloth rolls before making it to the backroom, inside the room was a small round raised platform.

"Please stand on this sir while I take your measurements," I nod and stand on the platform as the old stallion spends the next few minutes measuring me, after a few minutes he's done.

He takes a moment to write down a few numbers, "I have something in your size sir, but it is gray."

"That's fine," He nods and we move back into the shop front, he looks through several racks before bringing a plain gray suit to the counter.

"That will be fifty bits sir," I nod and pass him the bits before he passes me a bag with my suit in it.

I leave the shop and start walking home to put my new suit away, after getting home I put the suit away and head back out, I'm heading back out to the city as I want to test some spells so I'm going to the range I used last time, after reaching the range I rented a room for a few hours.

I'm here to test something with my TK field, my field has basically stopped growing in strength and I don't seem to be able to increase my control either, so I'm done training it now but there is one thing I thought of trying not long ago and I want to test it, my idea is simple, I want to try crushing something.

When I use my field, I normally try to be gentle with the things I hold, but this time I'm going to do the opposite, I walk onto the field and create some ice like the last time I was here, I create a small ball of ice and hold it in my field and try to focus on my field trying to generate as much pressure as possible onto the ice ball.

After a moment I hear and see the ball crack, a small crack running through it and seeing my successes, I continue trying, after a few hours of practice, I stop having broken several shapes made from ice, I made some progress, but I don't think this is viable as even with my years of practice with my TK field the effect seems weak, so I don't think I'll be training this as it won't be very useful to me.

After cleaning up and leaving the range I check the time and see I still have time to do anything I like, so I walk to the park and sit on a bench before pulling a book and quill out of my bag along with some ink and start drawing the view in front of me.

I spent three hours drawing a decent sketch of the scene, seeing the time, I started to walk home, and after making it home I closed my door and decided to treat myself and make some pancakes for dinner, I grabbed my ingredients and started cooking using my field to cook them almost perfectly golden brown.

After I finish cleaning, I make some tea to go with my food and lay down on the floor with my plate of pancakes and cup of tea, I eat while reading my silly crime novel, and after I finish, I clean my plate and cup before showering and heading to bed, same as always.

Chapter 12

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Aug 21 Wednesday, today is the Grand Galloping Gala and I'm cleaning myself up for the event, I tied back my mane after combing it and made sure to clean myself thoroughly and used some lavender soap to smell decent, and put on my new suit, the suit gray is fairly plain looking but I like it.

After some time, I leave the library not wanting to be late, as I approach the large building the gala is held in, I wait in line for a while, twenty minutes later I'm passing my invite to a greeter and after they look at it, I'm let inside, as I enter the lobby, I see a mass of many different ponies talking with each other some dancing to music being played by ponies on a stage, while some were sitting at tables eating many types of food.

And walking around the room talking with many different ponies is Celestia, I'm not one for parties but I have been to a few larger ones in my past life although I don't really know what to do, so decide to go sit down at one of the tables and enjoy some fruit salad the mix of fruits giving a pleasant taste, "Oh, it's you."

The voice startles me making me jump in my seat, I turn to the voice to see Twilight standing next to me, :I really need better awareness of my surroundings: her hair is tied back much like mine, and wearing a dress, "I remember hello I don't think we ever properly introduced ourselves."

She looks a bit embarrassed "Ya sorry about that my brother had an important meeting to get to, but it's nice to meet you Shade right? I'm Twilight."

I give her a nod "Nice to meet you too Twilight."

For a moment she looked hesitant to ask something before speaking up "If you don't mind can I ask you some questions about the field you explained last time?" she asked, her face looking hopeful.

"Sure, why not? take a seat," She smiles and we spend the next hour or so talking going back and forth on various topics, mostly magic and we end up talking about the history of ritual magic.

Ritual magic is a branch of magic that is almost extinct, ritual magic is the practice of drawing out a spell matrix with a magic conducting powder, mostly gem powder on a flat surface, the biggest historical use of this type of magic is when ancient ponies used it to raise the sun and moon.

Ritual magic works by combining the magic of several individuals into one spell matrix allowing them to cast a much more complex and powerful spell, but the downside is that by combining the magic you reduce control and with that the efficiency of the spell by a massive amount meaning that to cast the spell requires up to ten times as much magic while also making the resulting spell much less stable.

The reason this branch of magic is almost gone is because of the invention of the magical reservoir spell, it was invented around the year 200, and before the invention of this spell there was no widespread way to stockpile magic for later use, so as the spell became part of everyday life for ponies' ritual magic was slowly forgotten.

Our conversation is interrupted by Celestia as she lays down next to us grabbing some cake before greeting us, "Hello, I hope the both of you are enjoying the gala."

I nod to the princess "I am princess, you?"

"Very much so I always like the gala, But beyond greeting you two I wanted to talk to you Mr. Shade," I looked up to her before placing my food down and giving her my full attention.

"Yes princess."

"First I'd like to once again thank you for the gift," I nod to her, "And this time I have a gift for you," Both me and Twilight look curiously at her.

She takes a letter from under her wing seemingly from nowhere "This is for you although I think it best you open it at home and enjoy the gala for now."

I take the plain white letter from her and place it in my suit, "Thank you princess."

"No problem, now did I hear you two talking about ritual magic?"

We spend the next half hour talking about magic, all of us going back and forth and after a while Celestia leaves to attend to other guests, leaving us to talk again as we spend the rest of the gala in conversation, but after another hour she leaves heading home with her family.

Not having anypony to talk to I decide to leave and head home, I make it back to my room take off my suit and place the letter on my desk before showering after drying myself off I sit at my desk and open the letter, as I read the letter my eyebrows rise before my mouth falls open.

The page contained the number to a bank account in my name, along with the plans for the new magic light that's going to be sold by the crown and select merchants with help from various merchants and crafts ponies around Equestria to help in the production and sale of them.

This means that the new magic light is going to be sold all over the country, and as the inventor of the magic light, I'm entitled to two percent of ALL sales to be deposited into a bank account in my name, I'm about to have a lot of bits, knowing Celestia I really should have seen this coming.

Well, if nothing else I won't need to work another day in my life although I'll probably still work at the library to maintain some form of cover, many would question a young colt with no family and background having enough money to not need to work and I feel I would get bored with that much free time.

The good news is that in a few weeks I won't have to worry about affording materials for experiments and research but for now it doesn't change much as they won't even start selling them for several weeks and right now all I want is my bed.

time skip

Aug 30 Friday, I'm eating lunch with Blaz and Daisy like most days and suddenly Daisy asks me "Hey shade I'm going to an auction later and have a second invite you want to come?" I pause not expecting such an odd question.

"You go to auctions?" she nods before holding up a silver bracelet I see on her foreleg sometimes.

"Yup that's where I got this, normally I'd ask Blaz, but he doesn't have enough spare bits to go this time, so I thought I'd ask you," I spent a few moments absorbing her answer.

"Well, what's at these auctions?"

"Lots of things but this time I heard that the auction has mostly parts from magic creatures," That got my attention as most magic creatures have odd and unique properties, right now, I have a good number of bits stockpiled and when the new magic lights are released, I'll have a lot more.

So, after some thought I agreed "Sure I've got nothing better to do today."

"Thanks, these auctions can be so boring it's nice to have company for them."

"No problem, what time is it?"

"It's at seven so how about I come over and get you at six?"

"Sure" I agree, we finish our lunch and go back to work, after work I take a shower and then do some light reading.

I turn my head as I hear a knock on my door and after opening it, I see Daisy, "Hey, are you ready to go?"

"Yup," I grab my bags and we leave the library heading to the upper part of the city we make our way through the market district we come to a large building with several ponies heading in guards checking invitations to the auction, we approach the entrance and Daisy shows them the invite she has, and they let us through.

We move through the entrance and enter the auction house we go to the front desk, and I'm given a paddle with the number 327 on it along with a mask and full body cloak, I turn to Daisy, "Is this really necessary?"

"You'd be surprised how often others try to steal something from others, I've seen it happen three times and all failed but it still happened," I look a bit startled but ponies just like humans have greed and if you're going to do something as stupid as stealing in the capital city where the princess resides you might as well steal something really valuable.

So, I put on the mask and cloak flipping up its hood fully hiding my identity from others, we grab our paddles and make our way deeper into the building entering a large room filled with seats and a stage at the center where we take our seats sitting in the middle rows.

We wait for a while as more and more ponies fill the room until almost all the seats are full, a pony walks on stage his coat is black his mane gray and he's wearing a fine suit with glasses, "Welcome gentle mares and stallions to the silver mane auction house."

"We all know what we are here for so let's begin with the first item for tonight" a mare wheels a glass case with a bag in it.

As the auction started the first few items that were brought out didn't catch my interest most being more trophies than anything, but as the auction continued, I see something that piqued my interest, "Next is something truly unique" the same mare from earlier wheels a glass case with a black egg a little bigger than a chicken egg inside it, "This egg's origins are unknown we don't even know what it is, and we looked, it's been in our collection for several years and hasn't hatched, we'll start the bidding at one hundred bits."

After hearing the auctioneer most don't seem interested in it as most would probably think it's dead having been with the auction for so long, as for me I was very, very interested, my control with my life affinity and my ability to feel life magic isn't that strong having only had my life affinity for a few months but even then, I can feel the life magic radiating from it even with me being so far away I can feel it like I'm standing next to it.

I raise my paddle into the air, placing my bid, "I have one hundred, one hundred going once, one hundred going twice, and sold."

I was surprised nopony even tried to bid against me having gotten the egg with ease, we watched as the auction continued and while there were some things, I would like to buy they were out of my price range, and after another hour the auction finishes, and we move to the lobby again and I am led to another room I pay them and am given my new egg placed in a wooden box.

We talk some as we walk back to the library saying good night to each other before heading to our rooms, as I close my door, I drop my bags and move to my desk excited to see my new egg, I place the egg on my desk and get my first good look at it the egg is black in color so black it seems to absorb a lot of the light around it even when I shine my magic light next to it very little light reflects off the egg.

Instead, I try feeling it with my magic letting my magic wash over the egg trying to feel anything but after a few minutes of nothing I stop, the egg has the densest life magic I've ever felt so dense it's almost hard to look at glowing like a small sun in my magic, I reach out with my magic again trying to poke and prod the egg seeing if I can get any reaction out of it.

After getting no response I try using life magic instead the magic is almost immediately absorbed by the egg seemingly endlessly hungry for more life magic I keep feeding it until I almost run out of magic, I stop and take another look at its life magic its density having increased a small bit I stare at the egg as it seems to absorb even more light now.

I guess I'll take that as a good sign, I place the egg next to my bed stand and move to the kitchen to make myself some food having missed dinner at the library, I grab some squash cut into it, and pulling out the seeds then I cut it into small cubes and throw it into my pan before putting it on the stovetop adding some oil, so it doesn't burn.

I put some salt and pepper on them and cook them until soft with a light crisp, I take them out of the pan and plate them, I take my food and like most nights when I make food I start reading a stupid or silly book, this one about A fillynaping mystery, I finish my food and wash my dishes and move to my bed and convert the last of my magic to life magic and dump it into the black egg after I drain the last of my magic, I lay down and as I fall asleep, I don't notice the egg shake very slightly.

Chapter 13

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Sep 10 Tuesday, it's been almost two weeks since I bought the strange egg and it's done nothing but absorb all the life magic I give it the only other difference is the egg's shell is still getting darker and darker with time.

Beyond that the new magic light was released to the public at large and to say it's been a success would be an understatement.

That's not to say everypony is talking about it and nothing else most simply buy it and are happy to have it, most not caring who invented it or why which works just fine for me.

I've kept up with my normal training and I've been trying to find something new to work on, I have a good number of bits now so I can get a lot more creative with my work, yesterday I realized that all information in Equestria travels through letters and messengers.

There's no way to send a fast message the best you can do is get a fast Pegasus to deliver your message, but in my old world we could talk to each other around the world, and we didn't even have magic just tech and knowhow, so it should be possible here the main problem being that there are no spells I can start with and modify which means I'm going to have to make my own spell for this.

This is a bit of a problem for me as I don't want to release potentially dangerous knowledge into this world, so I probably need to use a symbol as the base and starting point and work from there but that means I need the right symbol to start off from, and the only ones I could find that might be useful was one for sound and the other one is the light symbol that I used in my new light spell.

And after some thought my best bet is the light spell, I'm hoping that I can modify the spell to send a low wavelength of light much like radios from my old world, with that in mind I've modified the spell, this is the easy part the hard part will not be sending the signal but receiving and translating that into something understandable.

I'm going to try to send and receive a signal first, I grab one of my rubies and a sapphire I then place both on my desk and start with the ruby I enchant the gem with the experimental light spell, as I draw the matrix, I fill a blank spot with the number 100.

I don't remember much about radios from my last life, but I do remember the basic idea, a low wavelength of light sent out with something to receive it the really big problem I have is I don't know how that wavelength of light is translated into sound.

The number is to set the specific wavelength to send and receive, originally I wanted to send a message through a linking spell but had to scrap that idea as the further away two linked things are the more magic it takes to keep them connected, I then enchant the sapphire with the same spell as the ruby.

I push some magic into the ruby seeing no difference when it's activated but I feel the magic slowly draining out of the ruby, so I think it's working, I move to the other gem and activate the second part of the modified light spell the part used to receive a signal it's supposed to create a small light from within the gem when it gets a matching signal.

After a moment I see the sapphire light up slightly, after that I move the ruby with me while leaving the ruby on my desk as I move to the other side of my room but as I walk the glow from the sapphire grows weaker with distance, after I reach the other side, the glow stops the sapphire no longer receiving the signal from the ruby.

I expected problems but for it to be so weak that it can't even reach twenty feet, I may have to rethink this, these gems don't hold a lot of magic but to be this weak means something else is going on here, I make some tea and start going through the spell matrix trying to find out what's wrong.

The math is all correct so I can rule that out, the only thing I can think of is the symbol that the spell uses as a base, I start going through the information I have on the light symbol but after going through all my notes and finding nothing, I'm thoroughly stumped.

The spell should work but something is definitely wrong with it, I spend another hour reading through my notes slowly and after I find nothing again, I stop, I rub my tired eyes in front of me and all my notes and after a moment I start putting them away.

Seems like this spell is a bust for now I'll have to read some books to see if I can find out what's wrong, I place my notes back with some disappointment but that's the thing with experimenting not all things work out well, I decide to get some air and leave for the markets to see if I can find anything of interest.

As I walk through the markets, I see many different stalls selling many things and as I move through them, I see a stall run by a species I've seen before but I've never met a Griffin was standing at a stall surrounded by knives and blades, I spend a few moments just staring at them before approaching.

As I walk to the stall, I get a better look at their stock of many different weapons, mostly blades, but I do see a crossbow lying in the back, I reach the stall and start looking at different weapons "Need help finding anything?"

I turn to the voice and see the griffin now staring at me "You have any daggers? preferably with a curved blade and short handle."

They look thoughtful at my request before grabbing various weapons and showing them to me and after a few I see one I like, it's a simple dagger with a curved blade and wood handle in a sheath after looking it over I decided to buy it, the total price for it was fifty bits, after that I continued looking through the markets.

And after a while I don't find anything, I want to and decide to leave, not wanting to go home I walk out of the market and towards the shops this area is still part of the market district, just shops instead of stalls, as I move through the shops, I pass several before I find a garden shop that looks good.

This shop isn't like the flower shop I've been to in the past this shop has many different types of plants and is bigger, so I decide to find some new plants to train with, I enter the shop and see an earth pony mare at the counter, they notice me entering the shop and smile.

"Hello, what can I help you with?" she asks me in a cheery tone.

I spend a moment thinking before answering "What plants do you have with magical effects?"

She raises a brow at my question "I have a good amount although they can get expensive."

"That's fine" She nods and moves through the shop showing me different plants and telling me about them, and after a while I buy two plants that catch my interest, the first is an Iron Oak sapling that is known for having very strong wood but also for growing very slowly.

The reason I bought this is because the wood of the tree is even stronger if it's grown in a place with high life magic the interesting thing about this is that the more life magic around it the slower and stronger it grows, I may not have enough room for a tree but if I try growing the tree very slowly and with a lot of life magic, I wonder what will happen, it also makes acorns like other oaks, apparently they are insanely tough.

The other plant is a Companion Vine, the vine itself is uninteresting in looks just a green vine with tiny white flowers and inedible seed pods despite this it costs twice what the Iron Oak sapling does, what makes this vine so special is that when it's planted it creates and releases amounts of life magic making everything near it grow faster and healthier.

This effect isn't enough to grow something like Blood Leaf Tea, but it is enough to help grow many other plants faster that's also why it costs so much, the Iron Oak costs sixty bits and the vine is double that most who buy these plants are rich and have a lot of space to work with, I may not have much space, but I can control how large the plants get so it should be fine.

Right now, both plants are small the Oak is only a foot tall, and the vine is only sprouting, I buy both along with a large pot and enough soil to fill the pot, and some extra soil for it all combined is around one hundred pounds so it's heavy but only somewhat I start floating everything and leave the shop after paying and head home.

After making it to my room I move my plants around placing my new tree in the left corner of the room to give it some space, I fill the bigger pot with soil and plant the Iron Oak inside the soil then I start giving it life magic and focus on growing it to a small size tree almost reaching my ceiling but not touching it.

After the Oak is a decent size, I grab the Companion Vine and plant it in the same pot as the oak, after planting it at the small tree base, I start growing the vine guiding it to grow up the trunk and then along some low branches before stopping its growth, I wanted the vine for obvious reasons as it will help with all my plants.

As for the Iron Oak, I got it for materials as while the blood wood is strong it's a little soft and has a tendency to split and splinter when being carved making it hard to work with and while Oak does crack it should be much better than bloodwood, that and depending on how much life magic, I use I can get stronger or weaker wood giving me more options.

I start pushing more life magic into one of the Iron Oaks branches trying to keep it the same size as I regrow and strengthen the wood as I do so the branch grows some despite my best to stop it, after some time repeating this, I'm done so I grab my knife and cut the branch off before helping the tree heal the cut wood where I cut the branch off.

I cut the leaves off of the branch along with the unusable wood as I cut the small branches, I noticed how hard they were a half-inch thick branch taking a surprising amount of effort to cut then, after some time, I'm done leaving me with a branch of solid oak I strip the bark next this time my knife is somewhat struggling even with its sharp edge the cuts aren't smooth.

After I finally get all the bark off of the branch, I take it to my sink and start drying it out, even with the practice I've had it takes three hours mixed with breaks to rest and regain my magic my tea helping to speed up the process, but after I finally finish, I have a branch two inches thick on one end and one inch at the other.

I try to cut a piece of wood off of the branch with no real progress as the wood is simply too hard to cut and carve, all cuts I do make are uneven and ruin the wood, in hindsight this is something I should have thought of as for how to fix this the answer is like many things magic specifically enchanting my knife to be sharper.

There is still some daylight left so I leave my room and start looking for books in the library, after checking several sections and a few shelves I find something that will work a spell to make a sword or any other weapon sharper, the spell is rough and not very well made but fairly simple so after two hours of messing with it I get something usable.

After returning to my room, I place my notes on my desk and grab my knife before enchanting it with the new spell after doing so I try to cut the branch again and while it's still hard it's usable now, I should probably make a better spell for this later as while this one works there's only so much, I can do in two hours.

After I cut a piece of the wood off, I put the rest of the branch to the side and focus on the piece I have, I start whittling down the piece of oak cutting until I have a rough cube one inch thick and two inches long, for now, I don't have a use for this but it's big enough to test its properties later.

I spend the rest of my day carving blocks of wood from the branch, after I finish with the branch I stop and put everything away, I move to the kitchen and make myself a grilled cheese with some tea, after finishing my food and checking all my plants I take a shower and head to bed tired.

Chapter 14

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SEP 25 Wednesday, it's been two weeks and after all this time I've finally found what is wrong with my spell, to explain I have to talk about the runic language and how it works and why it's used over other languages, the first thing is that the runic language is made up of only symbols.

That may not sound important from a human perspective, but this language wasn't made by humans, the language itself is all different symbols each one meaning a different word as the language doesn't use letters only symbols and nothing else, this is the reason it's used in a spell's matrix as instead of using your limited space to spell out a word in a spell matrix you only need to use one symbol.

The downside to this is obvious as trying to actually use it for anything else is hard as hell compared to a normal language, if you want to read a runic sentence you need to learn all the unique complex symbols to understand anything, this brings me to the other thing about the runic language and also why my spell failed.

The other thing about the runic language is the meaning behind the words, this is why my spell failed as I didn't take this into account when creating the spell matrix, a good example of this is why my spell failed the symbol I used was the light symbol.

When you think of light, what comes to mind for a modern human, that might be light waves along with visible and nonvisible light, but what does a pony think of, well the only thing they really know about light is that when it's there they can see and when it's not it goes dark.

So, when I tried to use a symbol representing the ability to see to make something you can't see the spell worked but was horribly inefficient and even a little unstable, this also left me at an impasse as I can't make this spell with only math without using knowledge from my old world that could be misused.

And I don't have the magical knowledge necessary to create a spell like this without making it use far too much power to be practical, so I'm going to change focus from trying to make this spell to something else as I don't have the skill or knowledge necessary right now.

I'm going to try something simple but practical anti-pest crop protection, that may seem a little out of nowhere but many farms in Equestria have problems with pests that eat and kill crops causing failed harvests mostly because of their lack of things like pesticides and while Equestria and its citizens don't starve it's still a big problem.

With this in mind I'm going to be trying to create some enchantments that will help, and with my new outlook on how to use runes I have a few ideas as while the runes having meaning closes some doors it opens others, like the runic word for protection in the past, I didn't see much of a use for it.

But now I do, the idea of protecting something or somepony is vague but also malleable it can mean protecting a box from being opened or it can mean protecting somepony in a certain area from anything dangerous to them, runes may be vague, but they allow me to give a spell broad instructions for a wide variety of scenarios.

My idea is to use this rune to make the spell slowly freeze anything trying to eat the crops this will kill and slow pests while driving them away and anything larger will flee the cold while any pests big enough to stay warm will be much easier to find and catch.

It will take me a few days to create the spell and even then, I don't know how large I can make the area of effect for the spell, I have to be careful because if the spell takes too much magic to maintain as the more, it takes the bigger the gem needed to keep it active and if it uses too much it will be useless, this is why I'm trying to make it freeze pests very slowly to lower the magical cost for upkeep.

Right now, it's looking like the spell will be very slow it'll be so slow that it would take over an hour to freeze even a slug, but most bugs and other small pests don't like the cold so after a few days any in range of the spell should die off and I'm hoping other bugs won't try to move into the empty area as it's too cold for them.

The other part of the spell I'll have to make is something to keep the temperature from dropping too much as to harm the plants themselves as that would just cause a new problem for the farmers, I'm hoping to have this enchantment use the same type of gem as the light but that's not looking likely right now.

Beyond all that I've been busy testing my new type of wood, the Iron Oak wood is proving to be a good choice as not only is it tough and with a little help from my enchanted knife usable it's also a decent magic conductor not as good as the blood wood but still decent enough, I've also learned that unlike regular oak the Iron Oak wood doesn't crack if it has enough life magic in it when it's being grown.

This makes it a very stable material for magic and regular use, I've run some tests to see what the limits of the wood are and I've yet to find any limit to how tough it can get although it does have a steep magic cost the stronger you make it, the Companion Vine is also proving useful as while it doesn't make magic rich plants grow faster it does help keep them alive in an area without much life magic without me having to help them let me use my magic on other things.

Like the black egg which beyond the amount of life magic in it which is still growing hasn't done anything, the only other difference is its color which at this point absorbs almost all light even when I place a magic light next to it, I can only barely make out some texture and at this point I'm starting to wonder if it will ever hatch.

I've tried looking for any information on the egg but much like the auction house has come up with nothing, I'm also starting to wonder if it's a good idea to let whatever it is hatch but after some thought my curiosity won out and I will keep trying to hatch it, but I will use one of my spare gems to make a small magic shield around it just to be safe.

But today I'm spending some time making a better sharpening spell for my wood carving knife, the one I'm using now was slapped together in two hours from a less-than-perfect spell it isn't that great it works just not well, and if I'm going to be using even tougher Iron Oak wood, I'm going to need something better.

And after a few hours of work, I have a much-improved spell, I grab my knife and undo the enchantment by carefully pulling the spell out of the knife with the counter spell, the enchantment spell binds spells to objects and the counter spell undoes the bindings you do have to be careful though, so you don't destroy the item in the process.

After removing the old spell, I enchant the knife with my new one, I grab a piece of oak to test it on and the knife glides through it like butter offering no resistance and a clean cut, I expected the spell to be better but not to this degree although I made this spell for only me, so I made it with only numbers.

With this new spell on my knife, my carving speed went through the roof, right now, I don't have anything I need to carve but I still have several small wood blocks and I don't really need them, so I grab one and start carving not to make something for a project or an experiment but simply for fun.

And after an hour or so I'm done having carved a small hourglass out of the wood it's simple and crude, but I found myself really enjoying the process, I do many things, but most are projects or learning and training I do have some things that I do for fun but not many and I've been thinking of getting a hobby and wood carving sounds like a decent one.

It's just past noon, so I grab my bags and head for the door, I make my way to the upper city markets looking for a crafts shop or something similar I end up finding a hobby shop so that will have to work, as I enter the shop, I see rows of shelves next to each other all filled with different small tools.

I spend some time looking through the shelves and after some looking, I found the perfect thing a wood carving kit, it's expensive like most metal things as anything made from metal needs a blacksmith to make it, the kit itself has sixteen small different blades along with a beginner's guide to wood carving.

I buy the kit for one hundred and twenty bits before I move onto another shop, this one a blacksmith, I'm here looking for a decent saw to cut up the wood I grow as cutting the thicker branches with a knife won't work well and after buying a basic hoof saw I head back home.

After getting home I lay all my new tools on my desk make some tea and start the process of enchanting all the new blades along with the saw, after I'm done, I grab my new saw and my knife before moving to my oak tree and start by removing the Companion Vine from the tree letting it lay on the ground.

After moving the vine out of the way, I take my saw and start cutting the main tree trunk a few inches from the soil, I fell the entire small tree and moved the fallen tree to the side before cutting off branches from the trunk and placing all the extra bits into the pot.

After some time, I render the trunk down removing all the bark and branches placing them all in the pot, and decomposing it all back into soil before I start regrowing the Iron Oak from its stump, after a few minutes, and adding some more soil from what I bought, I have a new tree that I place the vine back onto.

I take my new small log several inches thick at its base before thinning out quickly to only an inch or so thick, I cut the log down into several wood blocks before stacking them near my desk and placing the scrap wood into the pot, I sit at my desk and start using my new kit to slowly carve down a block of wood.

As I cut small bits of wood off the block slowly with different tools chipping away at the wood for several hours, as the room goes dark, I use my light to continue carving and at this point, I've carved out a rough pony shape it has no detail just a blank wood model with a horn and wings.

The toughness of the wood makes it possible to have a very small link of wood that does not snap or crack while working the wood letting me make wings that hold onto the rest of the carving without it breaking, I'm far from done with it but I have a rough model.

But I have work tomorrow and it's getting late, so I put down my tools down and go to the kitchen making myself a sandwich without meat, just vegetables and some mustard and after enjoying my dinner I take a shower and make my way to bed.

Chapter 15

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OCT 15 Tuesday, today I'm at my desk carving my little alicorn model this is the fourth as in the last three I've broken or messed up the carving, I've been carving a lot and I'm having a surprising amount of fun I even bought some wood to make a small shelf to hold my carvings.

Checking the time, I stop carving and spend an hour meditating on the space around me I try to feel the empty space as it moves, I've been doing this for several months now and I've had some small progress in my efforts as I'm now able to vaguely feel the space around me without having to give my complete concentration.

It still takes a massive effort to feel anything, but I can now slow down and try to feel the space around me with more detail than before, along with that I can now vaguely feel when things move, I can only barely feel it but it's definitely there, when I started feeling this, I started moving things around me to train my senses.

The other thing I've been working on is my anti-pest spell and I've made some progress on the part that targets pests, using some bugs and a slug as tests I've gotten the spell to start freezing them it's a little fast for my liking as it drains too much magic right now, but I can work on that and beyond that the spell is looking well within the realm of possibility for me.

It's still fairly early in the day and after my meditation I don't have much to do so I decide to go to the library and find some new books to read, as I walk through the shelves, I pass many different types of books before stopping at the section with plant books.

I grab an interesting-looking book about medicinal herbs before finding a table to read at and settle in for a nice read, after a while I've read through the book, I find several herbs I may want to find or buy as they have some interesting effects, there's one in particular that I really want and that's the White Rose.

The White Rose is much like the False Daisy in that it's almost identical to a normal rose bush, the main difference is in the plant's name the flowers of this rose bush are white and have a magic property the magic they possess is simple in practice but complex in function.

When the white rose is exposed to a cold environment it will absorb the cold protecting the plant from the cold and through an unknown process converts it into ice affinity magic, this is massive as the plant is essentially converting a temperature difference into magic if I could find out how it works, I could make some absurd things.

Even if the process is slow, I can just scale it up to increase the effects, if It's possible to create a spell that does the same as this plant, I could place it somewhere cold and get an increase in magic regeneration for gems and ponies, there are only a few ways that can help somepony regain magic faster and all are very rare.

But objects that regenerate or collect large amounts of magic are even rarer as I can only really think of one and that's the crystal heart and that thing uses the love magic of an entire city for power, so I'm definitely going to see if I can get a White Rose bush for research, beyond that a few of the other plants in this book look rather useful.

As I finish the book on herbs, I wonder what other books I should look for next and I decide on a topic I've been curious about for some time now, illusion magic Is an obscure branch of magic as it uses both high-level math and complex and uncommon symbols, I find a book on it and start reading.

From what I've read from this book and what I've learned while researching other magic, that illusion magic tends to lean towards two paths, the first is physical illusions this type is best described as light constructs creating an illusion around a target, and then there are mental illusion spells this branch is much MUCH rarer as very few even know one or two basic spells of this type.

Mainly because it's illegal to use that type of spell I only know its name because the book I'm reading mentions it in passing, mental magic seems rare in general for this world as I've only found two spells one to help with meditation and the other to help calm somepony down, but beyond that it's one of the branches of magic that's dwindled with time.

After taking some notes I place the book on herbs back and check out the book on illusions before returning to my room, I check on my plants giving the Iron Oak some more soil before I go back to carving, I spend the next hour or so chipping away at the wood trying to be careful not to break this one.

As I carve the pony figure out of wood, I slowly scrape pieces off bit by bit, and after a few hours I have a decent carving of an alicorn it's still a little crude but I'm improving, I place the half-done carving on my shelf and grab the book on illusions and start reading more about them.

Illusion spells seem fairly standard to what you imagine them to be creating things you can see but not touch, a good way to look at this is magic holograms and there are two main ways to go about making an illusion.

The first is creating a spell to show a certain thing like a large beast or monster using math and only a few symbols, this method takes less magic as you're mostly using math to create an image of what you want the downside is that to change it, you'd need a new spell.

The other method is to use mostly symbols and less math this makes the spell much more flexible allowing you to have the illusion be controllable to a degree, the downside to this is the power costs increase exponentially higher with the changes you make but if you have enough magic, you can make just about anything you want.

I look at my gems still having my large ruby along with four small sapphires and one small ruby I had two rubies, but I used one to make a shield around the black egg, I grab a sapphire and place it on my desk and check the book to make sure I have the spell right.

The spell I'm going to be enchanting into this gem is a small illusion spell that lets you draw in a small area, it's only about a foot of space and it only has red, blue, and green to draw with but I'm curious how it looks, and I have a few spare gems, the spell is complex for how little it does, and it takes me several minutes a good amount of my magic and a few attempts to enchant the sapphire.

After I finish, I activate the enchantment and move my hoof and a line made of red light follows it, I spend some time getting used to the enchantment and try drawing with it and after a while, I've made a 3D cube that I can rotate and change as I want, I continue to mess with the enchantment for the next hour drawing and erasing different things.

After I have my fun, I turn the enchantment off and store the gem, I then spend a few moments cleaning up my workspace.

I'm hungry and I don't feel like cooking today so I'm going to a restaurant I found by accident a few days ago so I grab my bag and leave my room, I move through the city and find the place I'm looking for The Cozy Clover.

It's a strange name for a restaurant that serves mostly batponies and griffins, but they do serve fish and I've been looking for a place that sells cooked meat, as I enter the restaurant, I see a pony who greets me "Hello sir can I get you a table?"

"Yes, thank you" They lead me to a table, and I take a seat before they pass a menu to me.

"A waiter will be with you shortly," I nod my thanks and start reading through the menu and after picking what I want I wait a while for the waiter.

The waiter a batpony mare comes up to me "Hello sir what can I get you?"

"A Grilled fish sandwich and some heyfries please," The waiter looks a little surprised at my order but writes it down anyway.

"We'll have that out to you when it's ready" She walks away and goes into the back, and after twenty minutes I have my food placed in front of me and start eating right away the fish is nice and crispy with a lovely sauce that goes well with it, I get a few odd looks from the other ponies in the restaurant.

It's a bit uncomfortable but I can't blame them, it's not often you see an earth pony eating meat let alone enjoying it as much as I am, I take my time eating before I finish and after paying, I leave heading to the park as I want to do some drawing in the clear weather.

I sit on a park bench and take out my sketchbook and start drawing a large tree in front of me slowly drawing its trunk and roots, after getting a decent sketch of the tree I start drawing the background of a few bushes and walkways along with a small pond nearby, But I stop as I hear someponies hoof steps.

I turn to see a pony I recognize and have met in this very park Shining Armor and after walking up to me I greet him, "Hey nice to see you again Shining, how have you been?"

He takes a seat next to me "Same Shade, I've been busy, to say the least I don't think I've had a quiet day for a month at this point" he says back his voice having a tired tone to it.

"What have you been doing if you don't mind me asking?"

"Guard training I've been in a camp for tryouts."

"You're planning to become a guard? good for you."

He nods "Ya I'm excited I start in a few months, but it's just the training that's been a slog and I'm starting to wonder if I really want this."

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step," He turns to me and gives me an odd look before chuckling.

"Well, I certainly didn't expect that colt you're just a fountain of wisdom ha?"

"I try," we spend the next hour talking about things mostly work and stupid things like the fact that he likes comics, I swear I mentioned them once and had to stop him after he went on a fifteen-minute rant about a character getting retconned out of the comic he liked, but talking to him was enjoyable.

After a while he had to go, and left the park, I drew for some time before also leaving the park and heading home, after getting into my room, I as always checked on my plants and after giving them water and shifting them around, so they all have enough light.

I sit down at my desk and start working on my pest spell, right now, I'm working on the part of the spell that targets the bugs, I don't want the spell to spread cold over an area but selectively target and freeze pests only, leaving the plant unharmed I've worked out how to target bugs just not how to keep the cold from spreading afterwards.

As I write out math equations, I slowly make small progress in my work, I've managed to get the spell's magic cost down by slowing the freezing effect and I've even gotten the area of effect to a little over an acre of land enough to cover a small crop plot, This won't be perfect but it's far better than nothing, it should be only a few weeks before I can finish and send the spell to Celestia so she can get some ponies to test it.

After getting some spell work done, I go through my nightly ritual of showering and going to bed, but right as I'm about to head to bed I see the black egg shake a slight amount, the sudden movement making me think I was seeing things, but it definitely moved, I don't know what's in that egg, but I know now that it's definitely alive if nothing else, I check the shield around the egg and after finding it working correctly, I head to bed.

Chapter 16

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NOV 22 Friday. As I walk with a book cart I stop and start placing books back into their proper places on the shelf in front of me, as I do this, I pick up three books at a time, after all my training with my TK field, three things at once seems to be the limit of things I can hold at one time.

After emptying my cart, I move back to the sorting room and grab another full cart, and repeat the process again and again, as much as I like working here it can get very repetitive but that's ok, I'm happy with my work as while it's slow and boring sometimes, I enjoy the silence and time to think.

As for what I'm thinking of, well a few things one is my current project, the anti-pest spell, at this point it's almost done I have everything I need, I have all the effects I want to figured out, I just need to combine them into one spell.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make the spell work off of my spell gems, but the spell won't require a large gem just a slightly bigger gem a little over an inch as the small gems I have are just under what is needed, still, this means that after I finish the spell, I can just send it to Celestia as she is more than capable of finding a gem to test the spell for any side effects or potential problems that they may cause.

Beyond my spell work, I've kept up with my carving and even practiced some illusion magic, for carving I finally finished my alicorn model it's done, and it doesn't look that bad in my opinion, I'm planning on enchanting it with several basic illusion spells to make it look like Celestia for a hearth's warming gift to her.

I have also for several months now been learning healing magic and after all this time I've finally successfully cast the most basic healing spell that I could find, all the spell does is help speed up the healing of small bruises and rashes, that may not seem like much but considering I've only been learning for a few months and I'm self-taught its some decent progress.

My life magic has had much progress as I can now control the growth of small plants to a vast degree, it's still hard to control large of magical plants as I can only really stop a plant's growth or speed it up, but for small and non-magical plants I can control the growth to a much greater degree.

I can control what parts grow or stay the same and how it will grow in what direction and how far or if I want flowers or fruit, it's still only for small plants like my False Daisy and Gripping Vine but progress is still progress, as for my other plants I've been experimenting with the Iron Oak I've been feeding a good amount of life magic into one branch and taking samples to see its changes over time.

My space magic is about the same no real difference for now, as for the black egg I've seen it shake a few more times and it's still getting darker and at this point it almost looks invisible when in a shadow it might hatch soon but I don't really know with that in mind I've used another gem to shield it just to be safe.

I empty another cart and take it back to the sorting room, I look at the clock on the wall and see it's three twenty-two and my shift is over I let go of my cart and make my way back to my room, after entering my room, I sit at my desk and start finishing my anti-pest spell.

I start with the targeting part of the spell, this piece of the spell works by using the protection rune and having it target any bugs on plants with fruit or grains on them, this leaves the plant unharmed as the spell only targets pests trying to eat the plant and its fruits.

This part of the spell then feeds what is targeted into the next part of the spell, this part freezes bugs that the spell tells it to, over an hour or two the bugs will very slowly start freezing bit by bit until they stop eating the plant or die this means that they still eat some of the plant, but it stops them from doing so until the plant dies.

The spell will also freeze all bug eggs that are laid on the plants, killing them and preventing new bugs from being born on the plants, I have found one problem that I wasn't able to solve for now, the spell doesn't have enough power to go through that much soil meaning that underground bugs won't be very affected by the spell.

So, the spell won't be as effective as I want it to be but it will still help farmers as right now, they have nothing beyond just killing pests with regular methods, and finally, the last part of the spell is its enchantment this part is not really interesting just a slight modification on the preexisting enchantment spell.

I spend over an hour piecing the spell together and making sure it functions correctly and won't fail when used, I grab some paper and start writing a letter to Celestia about how the spell works and what type and size of gem is needed for the spell along with what should be tested.

I finish my letter and copy the spell matrix onto some paper and seal it inside an envelope along with my letter before grabbing my bag and leaving my room, as I step out of the library, I hear the snow crunch under my hooves as I walk, we are well into winter now and the snow is getting thick on the streets.

I walk the streets moving to the post office I've used several times now, I enter and talk to the pony behind the counter going through the process of getting a letter delivered before leaving and moving back outside., feeling the chill in the air I hurry back to the library.

After getting back to my room I curl up in a blanket and read my book on illusions in front of my desk, I want to enchant my wood alicorn carving to be a small copy of Celestia so I'm reading through this book, illusion spells that are static are much easier and take less magic but can take a long time to get right.

I start by hollowing out a small compartment in the wood, I go slow so I don’t break anything and after a while I have a square hole, then I take another piece of wood and carve it down to fit the hole, I enchant a gem with the base spell that sets the Illusions base color.

After layering several more illusion spells onto the gem and spending time adjusting the colors and shapes after a while, I have a rough copy of Celestia, it's not ready yet and I'll need to do a lot of work on it, but it's just a matter of time until I finish, I spend the next few hours adjusting the illusion trying to get it right.

I place the model back on my small shelf and check on the black egg, it's not moving right now it seems to only shake every once in a while, there's no other activity from it, just the odd shake, I make some tea, and start checking my plants to make sure they're all fine.

After I'm done, I settle in for a cold evening with my tea and a good book, I read through some of the book before hearing a knock on my door and after opening my door I see Blaz standing there with a bag, "Hey Shade, how's your day been?"

"Not bad you?"

"Good, do you mind if I come in."

"Sure," I say, moving to the side and letting him inside.

After he enters my room, I close the door and lead him to my table as we both sit around it, "So, to what do I owe this visit."

He looks a little pensive before placing the bag he has with him on the table, "Well, if you don't mind me asking you eat meat, right?"

I raise my brow at the unexpected question as I've told both Blaz and Daisy that I eat meat fairly regularly and while I still share some of my cooking with Daisy somedays, I've offered some of my cooking to Blaz before, but he refused my offer as he said he doesn't like meat so him asking me this is a bit odd.

"I do but why do you ask? I thought you don't like meat?"

He nods "I don't but I'm not asking for me."

His answer caused me some confusion "So why are you here? Do you need something?" as I made some tea for us.

"Well, it's about my son and his wife, they are expecting a foal soon."

"Congratulations," I place the now heated tea, having used a spell to heat the water almost immediately before adding some tea leaves.

He nods "Thanks but they have a problem," I pass him a teacup and he stops for a moment to take a drink.

"Well, less a problem and more just an annoying situation, my son's visiting with his wife and they're staying with me as they live in Cloudsdale, but like I said his wife is expecting a foal and both are pegasi."

He takes another drink "And she'll be due soon, so she's been getting a parity bad craving for meat, so my son went and bought some meat thinking I'd know how to cook it, I don't ."

"So you want me to cook some meat you brought?"

"Yes, I was hoping you could help us."

I smile at him "Sure, let me see what you've brought with you," He nods his thanks before passing me the bag he brought with him, after opening it I see a chunk of fish meat.

"Well first, what type of fish is this?"

"Bass."

I nod "ok any preference on how I should cook it?" He shakes his head "ok then it won't take long to cook so come back in an hour or so."

"Thanks Shade."

"No problem, Blaz," After that, I lead him to my door and see him off before closing my door and heading into the kitchen, I fully unwrap the fish meat and place it down before grabbing my knife and cutting it into several inch thick slabs, I set my pan to heat up and add some oil and after letting the pan get hot, I add the fish.

I sprinkle some salt and pepper on the fish as I cook it and after a while, I turn the heat off and place the cooked fish on a plate before cleaning up, I'm enjoying some tea when I hear another knock at my door, I grab the fish and walk to the door opening it to see Blaz standing there.

I pass him the plate "Here you go this should be decent."

He gives me a nod "Thanks again I hope you have a good night."

"Same to you Blaz," He walks away and I close my door.

I go to my bed and bundle up again to continue reading my book.

Chapter 17

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DEC 14 Tuesday, it's December now and only a little over a week until Hearth's Warming, and like most ponies this time of year I'm out shopping for gifts, I've finished my gift to Celestia, and I'm planning to send it soon, I also sent her the anti-pest spell a few weeks ago and got a letter back thanking me along with telling me that she will have other ponies test it so it's ready for spring.

It will take a lot of testing and it won't be ready for mass use for a year or two but at least the spell is done, and they will be testing it more thoroughly in spring, as for other gifts I'm out shopping for Blaz and Daisy, now that I think about it, they're really the only ponies I really know as friends, but back to what I'm doing, I'm looking for decent gifts for both of them.

That's why I'm trudging through a few inches of snow in the cold to do some shopping, at this time of year very few if any stalls are out on the streets as Indoor shops cover most business for a few weeks until the snow is cleared, I find my way through the cold streets to find the hobby shop I've been to before.

I know both Blaz and Daisy fairly well, so I know what I'm getting them, daisy likes to paint so I've gotten her some paint and brushes, Blaz though is a little trickier as he likes a few things first but the thing I decided on was puzzles, yup he likes solving puzzles of all kinds so I'm here looking for any I can find.

As I walk the shelves, I find a small cube of wood, a puzzle box, and after a little more searching I find several regular picture puzzles, after paying for my things, I leave to walk back home it's dark the sun has set, so I cast a magic light to follow me as I walk home, I turn down a side street and halfway down it my hoof hits something and I tumble down to the snowy road.

After pulling myself off the street I look back to see what I tripped over, I see something lying on the street covered in snow with only some black sticking out illuminated by my light, I reach out with my field to pick it up but after a moment nothing happens the object remaining unmoved from its spot.

:What?: confused I reached out with my field again trying to move the object but just like before no response, I spend a moment feeling with my magic as if I feel nothing at all, my magic seemed convinced that nothing was there, that it's just empty space, but I can clearly see it sitting there on the street.

It's also odd for something to be on the street as they are cleaned regularly and somepony would notice something black as ink sitting in the middle of the snowy street even if it's partly covered in snow, I look around the street I'm in a small street going in between two buildings it's after dark so I'm alone the only pony in sight.

I focus back on the object placing my things to the side some distance away, I try once again to feel this with the same result as before, I change my approach and try feeling it with life magic only to end up with the same result as before, nothing, all my magic agrees that this thing doesn't exist.

At this point I'm both intrigued and concerned all things have magic, All things except this thing apparently, I don't want to touch whatever this is again, and I can't move it and I'm sure as hell not leaving it here unsupervised, I spend a moment thinking what I could do, I could find a guard to help but not many patrol this late in the day especially in back alley streets.

And that still means I'd have to leave it alone for some time, I think for a moment and decide that I should try everything I can before trying to pick this thing up with my hooves, I spend several minutes trying with my magic to feel anything but always getting the same result, nothing.

I've tried my natural magic along with my life magic so I might as well try space magic, I spend a few minutes getting in the right headspace before meditating in the falling snow, I reach out vaguely feeling the space around me and finally, I can feel this thing,

As soon as I feel it, I get a splitting headache and I barely catch myself from falling over as my head spines, what I felt can only be described as empty space crushed so hard it becomes a solid thing, I can feel the warped and crushed space like a twisted knot in the world around me.

After a while I slowly recover regaining my balance :what the fuck?: I stare at the thing I've found, and I have no idea what to do this thing is beyond my knowledge, wherever this thing came from but I can't leave it here but that means I'm going to have to pick it up, I need to get this to Celestia she's the only one who could help with something like this.

I form a basic plan in my head and empty my saddlebags before reaching out with my magic to move the snow away from the thing, after doing so I get a good look at it, it looks like a normal rock much like obsidian back and jagged, it's a little bigger than my hoof a few inches across at most.

I carefully move my bag to scoop up the unknown stone, after I do that, I grab my things and start moving back to the library holding the bag several feet away from me at all times, when I get home, I place the bag in a far corner and start writing a letter, glancing at the bags to keep an eye on it.

I don't know how long it will take to get a meeting with her especially this time of year but I'm going to try, the post office should still be open I'll have to leave this thing here, but I don't have much other choice as carrying that thing around the city doesn't seem like a good idea.

I write my letter being a little vague but stressed about needing to meet her as soon as possible, after finishing the letter I run to the post office and give it to them and run back to the library, after entering my room, I check to make sure it's still there, seeing that it is.

My letters to Celestia normally take a day or two at most to reach her and I normally get a response back the following day, she should get my letter tomorrow morning so I'm not planning on sleeping tonight, I don't know what this thing is but I'm not sleeping anywhere near it.

I spend the next several hours waiting through the night never taking my eye off the bags for long, it's five in the morning when I hear a knock at my door "It's open come in," I say turning my head to the door, I let out a sigh of relief as a guard enters my room.

"Are you here to escort me?" I ask them.

"Yes, sir I'm to bring you to the palace" I nod and grab my bags keeping them a few feet away from us as we walk, we walk through the streets as the sun rises and the moon sets, after a while we reach the palace and pass the guards, we move down hallways taking several turns before coming to a door guarded by two ponies.

As we pass the door, we enter a room, and sitting at a table in the center is Celestia, who seems to be doing some paperwork, as we approach, she looks up from her papers and turns to us with a small smile on her face, "Hello Mr. Shade, it's a pleasure to speak to you again,"

I bow before approaching the table "Same to you princess, although I wish it were with better news,"

She raised a brow and looked at the bag I still had floating near me "Yes your letter did say you needed to speak to me urgently but not why,"

I nod "It's a little hard to explain, it might be best to just show you, may I?"

She nods and I move the bag to the table and dump the odd rock on the table, it lands with a soft thud, "A rock?"

Seeing her confusion I say "Try and pick it up with your magic princess."

She still looks confused but does as I ask, her horn glows and after a moment of nothing she focuses more, her horn glowing brighter but the rock stays completely still, "Try and feel it with your magic princess" I recommend, I feel the magic in the room increases as she tries to feel the rock.

I see her face shift as she feels the stone with her magic focusing more and more on the rock having moved all her paperwork off the table, "What is this?"

I'm not sure if she was asking me or just thinking out loud but decided to answer anyway, "I know what it is just not how it exists" She turns to me and nods for me to continue, "I found it in the city literally in the street, I tripped over it, and it was just lying there in the middle of the street was a rock, I was curious and tried to pick it up and just like now nothing happened."

"I tried several things but only one thing worked, space magic."

"You can use your space magic" her voice carried some surprise.

"Somewhat, I've found that if I meditate, I can somewhat feel the space around me not by much, but I didn't need to feel much to decide to bring it to you, as far as I can tell this rock is a chunk of space crushed into a physical thing."

She looks just as shocked at this as I was when I found out she looks back at the rock "How does something like this even exist?"

"I have no idea, honestly princess, if I didn't have my space magic this would just be an odd rock, but it does exist."

"Have you touched it again?"

"No, I don't know where that thing came from, and I don't know what it can do so I've left it be until I could bring it to you princess."

She nods "Probably for the best, I will be honest I don't know what to make of this thing, I don't even know how one would go about making something like this, when you used your magic what did you feel?"

"Trying to feel it was less than pleasant, it was like having your point of view flipped upside down inside out at the same time, giving me a splitting headache too."

I see her cringe slightly at that "I've felt something similar in the past, what do you think should be done with it?"

I spend a few moments thinking it over before answering her "I'm not sure but if nothing else it should be placed somewhere secure and safe."

She nods "Yes that is probably for the best, thank you for bringing this to me."

"No problem princess."

She pulled a bag from somewhere and put the rock into it before placing it to the side, "Beyond that there's another thing I wanted to talk to you about."

I nod to her "Well I'd like to thank you again for the new spell, testing is still ongoing and early but it's promising so far" I smiled at that "The ponies working on the tests wanted me to send you a list of questions, and since you're here now do you mind?" she summons a piece of paper in front of me.

I look through most of the questions and there mostly about parts of the spell and a few about the symbols and math used, I spend a few minutes answering what questions I can and adding some notes to others before passing it back to Celestia.

She looks the page over and nods "Thank you, is there anything else you need?"

"Beyond sleep? No princess, I'm fine."

She smiles at me and gives a light laugh "Good then the guards will show you out, have a good sleep Mr. Shade."

I nod getting up and following the guard out of the palace, after leaving I walk home and fall on my bed happy to get some rest.

Chapter 18

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DEC 23 Monday. I sit at one of the tables in the breakroom eating lunch waiting with two boxes for Blaz and Daisy, I see Blaz enter the room with two boxes under his wing, he grabs some food and sits next to me "hey Blaz."

He gives me a smile "Happy hearth's warming colt" he pushes a box over to me.

"Same to you Blaz" I responded by passing his gift over "you first."

He nods and rips open the wrapping paper before opening the box, seeing the puzzles his smile widens, "Thanks colt, it's your turn now."

I look at the box a simple green and red wrapping paper on the outside, I rip the paper off and open the box inside, inside the box is a set of different spices in bottles, I read some of the labels of the bottles, I recognize some of them like ginger and clover, but there's also a few I don't recognize.

I'm smiling at this, cooking is something I really enjoy, and this will make it much more interesting "thank you Blaz."

"No problem colt."

We continue to eat for a few minutes before Daisy enters the room, she also has two boxes with her she sits after getting food, "Hey happy hearth's warming, did you two start without me?"

I chuckle at her "maybe, here" I pass her my gift.

She rips the paper in an exaggerated manner before opening the box and seeing different paints and brushes.

She smiles at me "thanks Shade, here your turn" she passes me a box wrapped in blue paper.

Like last time I removed the wrapping paper and opened the box, inside is a simple copper bracelet with a few topaz gems in it.

"Thank you, Daisy."

"No problem," After that she and Blaz exchange gifts, Blaz got Daisy a camera, that got my interest as while I knew cameras exist in this world, I don't know how they work but it might be interesting to research later.

Daisy got Blaz more puzzles which he seemed happy with "so what are you two going to do with your Hearth's Warming" Daisy asks.

Blaz is the first to answer, "well I'm going to fly to cloudsdale to visit my family."

I think for a moment before answering "not anything really, I guess I'll just spend some time off to relax" I get sympathetic looks from both of them "oh don't give me that look I'll be fine."

"Well, I'm visiting family like Blaz, and come new year I'm going to be busy" Daisy says.

"Why?" I ask.

"January is when the library hires new staff every year, and I have to interview them to see which one's will be a good fit for the job,"

"Do a lot of ponies apply?."

She shakes her head "no but the ones that do are either not cut out for the job or don't know what the job is really like, so unlike apprenticeships where you work until your of age, they work on probation for six weeks to see if they can handle the boring and repetitive work" after that we spend the rest of lunch talking before getting back to work.

A few hours later I got back to my room after work., after closing my door I spend some time making tea, I get time off until the first of January and the new year, so I don't have anything to really do for the next while and I don't really have anything to work on.

I don't know what if anything I should invent and beyond my regular training I'm out of things to do, I don't have any projects and that means I only have research left, so I need something new to work on, I spend over an hour trying to think of something before coming up with an idea.

I decided to create something to help with my plants using a few different spells, specifically water spells, water spells are mostly two types, water creation and water manipulation.

Water manipulation is the branch that focuses on water gathering, things like gathering water from the air around you or plants and soil, this breach sees the most use mostly to gather drinking water, although not on a mass scale as that would cost a massive amount of magic, the upside is if you're gathering water on a small scale it's relatively easy to learn the spells and they don't use that much magic.

As for water creation it uses magic to create water from nothing at all, it's technically a type of conjuration but like all types of conjurations the spells are stupidly complex and summoned things don't last long breaking down not long after use, this also means you can't drink the conjured water.

I have neither the time nor magic capacity to learn water creation so I'm looking into water manipulation instead, I'm going to mess around with this magic a bit and hopefully entertain myself, so tomorrow I'm going to look for books on the subject.

time skip

DEC 28 Saturday. It's been a few days since I've started to look into water manipulation spells, and I've made some small progress, unlike most of the other types of magic I practice water magic is widely used and there's no shortage of spells to learn, I'm spoiled for choice for once, so I had to narrow down what I want.

After looking through several spell books I found one spell that looks good, it moves water to form a ball from the air that can be manipulated it's not terribly complex and I'm only going to somewhat modify it for my use, the only real downside to this spell is that it can take a while to gather the water from the air, the upside is its low magic cost.

I want to take this spell and give it a modification, I want the spell to gather water from a specific area and condense it creating a small area with little to no water in the air, as for why I'd want this it's for my plants, my specialty and expertise are in life magic and plants.

My plants have helped me a lot, so I obviously want more but magic plants are rare and expensive, my problem with my plants is that many plants I want don't grow in equestria that isn't too much of a problem I can still buy them or hire somepony in the future to find them for me.

But even if I get them, If the plant isn't suited to live in the climate it could die, I can use my magic to keep it alive but that means spending time and magic constantly taking care of them, I eventually want a decent collection of plants so the more of them I have to take care of on a regular basis the worse the problem.

The best solution I've found it to create a climate that's as close to the plants place of origin as I can, but this means I need to create an enchanted object with enough magic to keep the artificial climate active at all times, this is why I'm trying to limit the amount of water in the air, if I create the right spell for the enchantment I can make something similar to a desert.

I'm not the only pony who does this ether most wealthy ponies with magic plants have similar enchanted objects, I could buy some enchanted objects instead of making one, but I need to learn more about spell creation and like I said I don't have much to do anyway.

One of the main things I'm going to need to figure out is what to do with all the wastewater generated I'm thinking of collecting it to use for the other plants, I'm also going to need make sure to not remove all the water, so I'll need a way to monitor the levels of water in the air or at least a way to keep track of them.

Modifying the spell to only affect a small area isn't hard and enchanting that spell into a gem is also easy, but finding a way to know how much water needs to be removed is hard, I can use the liking spell but that might not have enough options to work well in this project.

My plan so far is to have three spells in total, the first will monitor how much water is in the air, that spell will feed into the second which will control the finale spell telling it how much water to remove, this should all be within possibility for me, I'm thinking of making the control spell a modified timer spell.

If I start with the monitoring spell and link it into the other spells, I can give it a value for how much water I want in the air then tell it to activate the timer spell to set a time for however long is needed for the water spell to drain however much is needed.

I'll need to use a basic timer spell to figure out how fast the water is being removed and how long the timer spell should last but that will only take some trial and error on my part, this won't be the only spell I'll need in the future as mimicking an environment is difficult, but it's a good starting point for now.

I sit at my desk drawing and erasing different matrix's before getting a decent timer spell, it's by far the easiest of the three only a slight modification of the base spell with a few other to set times and receive instructions, the water spell should only take a day or two, the monitoring spell might be a little more difficult as I'll have to create it myself, but I should be able to finish this project before the new year if all goes to plan.

I spend another hour going through my notes and flipping through some of the books in my room that I thought would have useful spells or runes.

After going through my notes and books I decided to cook myself some dinner, I bought some cod earlier in the day, so I looked through my cabinets for something to cook with it and after some searching, I found some flour, a good amount of oil and finally a few eggs I bought a few days ago.

I check to make sure the eggs are still good before cracking them open into a bowl, I mix them before grabbing a plate and dumping some flour on it, I place my pan on the stove and pour a good amount of oil inside before moving back to my fish as it heats up as I cut the fish into slabs.

I coat the slabs in egg then flour repeating a few times before adding them to the boiling oil, as my fish cooks I flip them regularly so they cook through after I'm done, I have a plate of fried fish that I season with the new spices Blaz gave me, I make tea to enjoy with my meal as always.

I enjoy the sunset with my meal watching the last rays of light fade I turn on my magic light, after finishing my food I clean my things washing the pan plates and the bowl when I'm done, I head to the bathroom to take a shower I clean myself up before drying off and heading to bed.

I climb into my bed pulling the blanket over me I start drifting I'm about to fall asleep before I hear it, at first it sounds like some small scratching and a few nearly silent cracks, I try to ignore the sound to get to sleep but after a while I can't anymore and get up looking for the source of the noise.

I use my light and take a look around my room following the sound, I approach the source of the sound on my shelf and right as I approach. CRACK

Chapter 19

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DEC 28-29. After hearing the loud crack, I move my light closer to see the black egg better, I see cracks all over the egg, its ability to absorb light making it look like a black hole is cracking apart.

After a few minutes of me waiting I see something break the suffuse of the eggs shell, a black beak pushing its way out forming a small hole, I continue to watch as the egg slowly breaks apart and after waiting a while longer, I see the egg finally crack apart at its sides.

I see the top of the egg now separated from the bottom half move, I reach out with my field and pull the top half of the egg up and out of the way, inside is a small bird chick letting out soft chirps as it shuffles around, its skin was all black along with its beak, and it had no feathers like all newborn birds.

I grab a few books from my desk, I had no idea what would come from the egg, but I'd guessed it would probably be some type of bird or lizard, so I made sure to have a several books in my room for when the egg hatched, I flipped through several chapters trying to find anything that would help.

Before I begin my reading, I clean up the chick with a rag and keep it warm by holding it to my chest, I read through the books and don't find anything about what this chick might be the closest I've found is some type of crow, I did also find out how to take care of it, I'm going to need to go buy some food for it and I know a pet shop I've passed it in the city a few times, so for tonight I'm going to let it sleep with me to keep it warm.

As I wake up the first thing, I hear it chirping I get up and hold the little bird "you must be hungry? well then let's go get you something to eat" I grab my bag and place the hatchling on my back wrapped it a cloth to keep it warm and using my field to keep it stable, as we make are way to the pet shop I remember, we arrive and enter I see a mare at the counter and approach, "hello sir what can I help you with?"

"Well, I have a bird that I hatched recently and I'm not really sure how to take care of it" I say with some embarrassment.

She doesn't look very surprised at my statement "you'd be surprised how many ponies I've see come in with the same problem, can I see the bird?" she asks looking at my back.

I pass the bird over to her letting her see it, and after a moment of looking she speaks "well I'm not sure exactly what type of bird this is I can say it's probably a type of crow, are you looking to keep it?"

I nod "yes I came to see what I would need to raise it."

She gives me a smile "ok I'll show you what you'll need and tell you how, although I'll have to charge you."

"That's fine thank you", she spends several minutes helping me pick out a cage some toys for when the birds older and food, the food she gave me is a bottle filled with a mix, it doesn't smell the best but after giving the bird some they seem to like it, she tells me that most crows can start eating solid food after a month so I don't need to buy much and I'll only need to buy more every week or so.

I also bought everything my new friend will need, a water and food bowl along with the cage and toy's I mentioned before, I was also told that most crows can eat most things the only things I can't give it is chocolate and dairy, the final thing I was told was how to keep the chick warm turns out they sold a short guide with a spell so I bought one instead of looking for it in the library, after my shopping I leave the store and make my way back to the library and my room.

I close my door and place the chick on my desk in its cloth nest, I spend some time setting up the cage it's not large, three feet tall three wide and four feet long, it's not the best and I'll probably get something better when he grows some, but it will do for now.

I don't have much room, so I place the cage at the foot of my bed in between the bed and my desk, I assemble the cage and place it on the floor, I hear the chirping of my new roommate demanding food and start feeding them while looking around my room.

I'm starting to realize that I don't have much space and with my plants and my new friend I have even less, I may have to think about moving to somewhere bigger but to do that I'll need permission from the library, and I'll need to find someplace to move to, It's the end of December so in a few days so I can find some time to talk to Daisy and ask her about it, for now though I have my environment spell and this little one to keep me busy.

time skip

JAN 1 Wednesday, it's the new year and canon creeps ever closer.

It's Wednesday which normally means I have the day off but with the new year I get a new schedule my days off are now Thursdays and Fridays so today is now a workday, and I go through my workday as normal.

I do make one change and that's during lunch I leave back to my room to feed the bird, I walk to Daisy's office after my shift is over and knock on the door, "come in" I open the door and see her at the desk with several papers covering it she looks up and sees me, "Shade what can I help you with?"

"Well, it depends, do you want to do something else for the day?"

"To get away from this for the rest of the day would be great, what is it?"

"I need more space and I now have a pet so I'm looking to move what are my options?"

She doesn't look surprised as she's seen my room, "well you have two options, first is asking the library for a bigger room but that's unlikely as there all occupied right now, there also not that much bigger than the normal rooms", she spends a moment looking for something before placing several papers in front of me.

"And the second option is to get an apartment\, but as your underage you can't just live anywhere, but you can live somewhere that is near an employee that's worked here for several years, and I just so happen to be living a few blocks from here in an apartment building with a spare apartment."

"Although I do have to ask if you have enough bits, the apartment I live in is in the upper city so it can get pricey."

I look through the papers she passed me before answering "ya I have enough, I won't get into specifics but let's just say I used some of the bits I've made in the last few months to invest and it's going well."

She nods "ok then all we need is you to sign these papers saying you're moving."

"Wait, I don't even know if I can get the apartment it seems like a bad idea to leave before I have somewhere to live."

She lets out a chuckle "you don't have to worry about that my grandsire owns the building, he even asked me a few weeks ago if I knew anypony that wants to move so this works out well for both of us."

I look through the last of the papers before signing them "well then you said you wanted an excuse to leave want to show me the apartment?"

"A chance to ignore this paperwork for the rest of today? do you even have to ask?"

I wait a few minutes for her to get things in order before we leave, we walk down the street away from the library and after a little while we come to an apartment building with several floors, Daisy introduces me to her grandsire, he's an elderly but strong looking stallion, former guard from the looks of him.

The apartment is decent sized with three rooms and a bathroom, the main room has a large window on the far wall from the front door with both other rooms and the bathroom through three doors to the left when you enter, and the kitchen is in the main room to the right this place is fairly big more than enough room for me.

The main room is fifteen by twenty five feet, both side rooms are fifteen by fifteen one of the side rooms has a window, and the kitchen has a nice island counter a stove with an oven and plenty of cabinet space, the large window looking out into the city overlooking a few other buildings letting you see past them and into a little of the countryside.

After looking at the apartment I decided to move in almost immediately, I can use the main room's window for my plants, and I'll still have space, the side room with the window will be my bedroom and the other small room can be a work room.

I sign a renter's lease for the year, and it can be renewed yearly after that, the rent is a little much but with how much I've gotten so far from the magic light sales I can live here for a decade or more, after getting everything signed and paying him the first month rent Daisy offered to take me shopping for furniture which I accepted.

We stop at the bank so I can withdraw some bits and after we spend time moving from shop to shop buying things I will need, first a bed along with some pillows and blankets two tables and a few sitting pillows, several shelves and two desks for my work room.

Along with a few lesser things, after telling the different shops where to deliver the purchases we couldn't carry with us to my new home we walk back to the library and Daisy helps me move my thing over in several boxes.

When the last box of my things is placed in my new home, I offer to take Daisy out to eat for her help and to wait for my other things to be delivered, we walk around for a while before stopping at a restaurant we spend a few hours eating and chatting over good food before heading back to the apartment building.

It's late and the sun has just set over the horizon when we enter the building and move to the front desk where Daisy's grandsire leads us to a mail room with my new things and we spend half an hour bringing it all to my room, after we finish, we say goodbye and separate.

I close my door and look at my new room seeing the various boxes, I check on my little friend feeding him before I start unboxing everything and setting up my bed and one of the tables in my room to place the birds cage on, after I move to the work room and set up a shelf and desk leaving the others in the boxes for now.

I sort and place everything on the shelf before moving on to the kitchen, I place my utensils and pan away sorting my spices into a cabinet, I use my new larger bathroom to take a shower and clean myself up.

I sit on my bed with the little chick reading a book about birds, I move the small bird into his cage in a small nest made of cloth with a warming spell on it, "good night little one' it gives me a chirp in response "you know I need a name for you, how about shadow? the small chick remains silent.

"Not that then, hmm your dark in every way from your skin to your beak, your egg was so dark it absorbed light itself so how about Entropy?"

Chapter 20

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JAN 2 Thursday. I get out of bed shifting as I stand up, I stretch and yawn before my attention is caught by a chirping from the cage, I make my way over to the cage and see Entropy calling out demanding to be fed.

"Good morning to you too" I see their head turn to me, and I see that Entropy's eyes are open, "well now look who's making progress" I smile at them before grabbing Entropy's food and feeding them, after I finish feeding them, I inspect Entropy checking on their health.

I see small pins poking out of their skin "seems like you'll be getting your first feathers in a day or two", I spend a little more time making sure they're fine before placing them back in the makeshift nest and making my way into the kitchen and cooking some breakfast.

I make pancakes and some tea before eating my meal and getting to work, it's my day off and I need to get my new home in order' I start by assembling my other shelfs and the other desk in my workroom, when I'm done the work room has two desks on the back wall and shelves lining the left wall.

I set up my last two shelves in my bedroom giving me space to store my things, after finally I set up my last table in the main room along with a few sitting pillows, I'm done setting things up, so I checked on my little friend again before leaving my apartment.

I descend the stairs and make my way to a small office, after knocking I open the door and see Daisy's grandsire Thistle Rush, I offered him some bits if he could go to my apartment and feed Entropy in the afternoon when I'm at work, and after some haggling, we come to an agreement.

I spend a few minutes showing him how to feed Entropy, after that I leave the apartment building and make my way to the park for my morning run, I stop panting slightly as I stop running at the opposite edge of the park, a spot I've rarely been to before, I sit at a bench to catch my breath and recover.

While recovering I look around and spot a fountain and let my mind wander to a few odd things about this world, the main one being the lack of violence when I first came to this world, I worried that it is not like the show that violence and murder could be as common as in my last world, but I've found that it's not like that.

While violence and murder can and does happen it's just not the same as my old world, a good example of this is the murder rate being almost nonexistent to the point that when it does happen its city wide news and is talked about frequently for some time after it happens.

Another good example is war, on Equis war is a rare and infrequent thing even outside of the continent that Equestria is on, most wars only last a year or two at most and the vast majority end in peace agreements, it's a fairly rare thing to see a war end with a nation being full conquered, armies are also much smaller here even large nations have relatively small armies.

I don't know why this world is so peaceful, but my best guess is a combination of the species of this world being less violent and more willing to cooperate at least to a degree along with probable some of harmony's influence as while not all like each other and wars still do happen from time to time, but this world seems much better at peaceful then my last one.

It does make what the storm king accomplished an outlier from the norm, I will have to keep an eye and ear open for any news from that part of the world hopefully I can find out more about how he came to power.

I focus back on the fountain for a moment before moving on and walking back through the park heading home, I close my door entering my apartment and take a moment to check on Entropy and make sure they are fine before grabbing my bags and leaving again.

I'm heading to the library to look through some books, normally I'd have these books with me but now that I'm not living at the library, I can only check out two books at one time, so I need to go there to research some things, as I enter the library I make my way through a few sections before finding water spells.

I'm here to learn and look for a few water spells, I want to find any spells that would be useful to me in my environment projects as eventually I want to mimic any environment I will need in the future for my plants, and now that I have more space to work with, I can get more plants.

I grab a few books that catch my interest and find a table to sit at, as I read through the books I find a spell that seems useful, the spell uses water to create a small constant stream of water, to use it all you need is a source of water near you that supplies the spell and a target to fire at.

You also have some degree of control over the spell's effects, how fast the water moves and how much is moved, its matrix is a little complicated and uses more symbols than it should but it's not a bad spell and could have its uses in the future I draw out the spell matrix in my notebook before moving on to the next book.

I read through another book this one is mostly just theory, most was useless for me but there were a few interesting symbols, so I added them to my notebook and moved on, I was about to open the next book but stopped as not far away from me I see Daisy leading a pony around the library.

I guess we have a new coworker, I watch as they move through the library before moving out of sight, I read through the rest of the books I picked out before placing them back on their respective shelfs, I leave the library not having anywhere to go I wander the streets for a while looking for anything that looks interesting.

I pass several shops and make my way to the lower city markets, I decide to go looking for plants or seeds in the market deciding to find some simple plants from different environments so I can test spells with them, the lower city markets generally have less valuable and more common things, but many caravans from all over come here to sell their goods.

So, there's plenty to find if you know where to look, I find a stall with different types of plants and find a few that I want, first is a regular cactus it's a small ball shaped cactus covered in thorns and placed in sandy soil, the second is a jungle fern of some type and the soil in the pot is dark and moist.

And third a juniper berry bush, needle like leaves and small green berries on its branches the soil in this one is a dry dark brown soil, after buying the plants along with some different kinds of soil and several pots I keep looking through the market grabbing some necessities and a few clay jugs before heading home.

I enter my room and place my bags down before organizing my new plants, placing my Iron oak in the left corner next to the large window, my Blood Leaf Tea plants in between the Oak and window in a row along with my false daisy and gripping vine, I then place my new plants the cactus in front of the window, the fern I placed directly under the oak, and the juniper berry bush on my kitchen countertop.

I spend a few minutes enchanting a sapphire with the desert environment spell and place it in the pot with one of the clay jugs I bought to catch and collect the water, I finished the spell two days ago and it worked out well its effect is slow, so the gem doesn't need me to refill it and I'm planning to use the water from the process for my other plants.

I don't want to use the sink for water as now that I'm living out of the library I'll need to pay for the water I use, so why not use the free water I'm now making, I'm going to be keeping a close eye on the cactus to see how it reacts as when I bought it, it already seemed to be having problems living in this climate.

After making sure all my plants are well and dumping some life magic into the fern and berry bush to keep them alive, I go to my room and check on Entropy, they seem to be doing well and after feeding them some I pick them up and bring them with me as I go about my work, as I leave the room.

I enter my work room and start taking stock of all the things I have, some Iron Oak wood my large ruby that's still enchanted to hold magic two small rubies with shield enchantments and three unused sapphires, and finally the eggshell that Entropy hatched out of.

I've been wondering what Entropy is and have found nothing so far, even odder is the fact that they seem to be a regular crow, the only difference I've found is that much like with the egg Entropy's life magic is massive holding several hundred ponies worth of life magic despite being so small.

For now, I'm just going to keep a close eye on them and see what happens, I won't be able to watch them when working but I'm going to try and spend as much time with them as possible to try and form a bond with them, I place Entropy and his nest on the side of my desk at work.

I start by disenchanting the two rubies with shields as I don't need them anymore and can use the rubies for other things, after I'm done, I place them back on the shelf before going to the main room for two pots and some soil for cold plants to fill them, I fill the pots and move to the Juniper Berry bush growing two berries until they are ripe and taking them with me back to the work room.

I want to mess around with fruit to see how much I can make grow and If I can change things like its flavor and color, juniper berries have a piney taste and a blue color I start by growing two small bush in each pot, I don't know how to modify the plant directly, but I can speed up the process of selective breeding by picking the right types of traits and breeding for them using my magic to speed up the process.

I make them both flower and pollinate them by using my field to grab the pollen and transfer it to the other plant before having both grow fruit before growing several dozen berries and picking the largest berry I found and decomposing all other berries along with both plants.

I spend the next few hours of the day like this each time selecting the largest berry from each generation, after a while I stop as Entropy makes it known that their hungry by chirping nonstop, after feeding them I take Entropy and my pots out of the room, I place Entropy in their cage to sleep before bringing the pots to the main room.

I empty one pot before placing my new juniper bush next to my first one checking if the berries are any different, I hold one berry from each plant and see that the old berries are slightly smaller than the new ones, smiling at my success before decomposing all the berries.

I make myself some food a basic grilled cheese and some carrots before taking a shower and heading to bed.

Chapter 21

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JAN 4 Saturday. I leave my apartment early in the morning heading to the library for my day of work, I enter the building passing the front desk and making my way to the breakroom for breakfast.

As I enter the breakroom, I see Daisy and Blaz sitting next to the pony I saw being shown the library a few days ago, I grab some food and sit down next to them getting a good look at the new pony, unlike most who come to work here she looks relatively young.

A unicorn mare, she has a dark gray coat and black mane with dark green eyes, "oh hey Shade have a good weekend?"

Blaz asks me "yup not much happened as always, who's the new pony?"

The pony is question answers me "hi I'm Maple Stone nice to meet you" she says her voice having a steady quiet tone.

"Shade Evergreen, nice to meet you too."

"So what brought you to work here if you don't mind me asking?" I ask curious as not many younger ponies want to work here, I don't count I'm not young.

She stares at me for a few moments before answering "well I'm new to the city and don't have anywhere to stay so this was the best option for me, plus the pay isn't bad either."

"Fair enough" I do wonder why she'd move here with nowhere to stay but I've heard stranger things while living in this city, we spend the rest of lunch talking about various things before getting to work, before we separate Daisy gives me a new schedule for work hours, I now start at eight and stop at four, I guess I'll have more time in the morning now.

I go about my work sorting books and stacking them on carts to be returned to their shelfs, I see Maple moving carts, so I guess she's doing reshelving today, as the hours pass nothing happens just normal work I check the clock and see it's lunch time so I start heading to the breakroom.

When I arrive it's the same as every day spend some time eating and talking before getting back to it, one bad thing about my shift change is me having to work until four today spending an extra hour working isn't so bad though, when the day finally ends, I get the last few books on the table sorted before leaving.

I entered my apartment building and checked with Thistle Rush to see if he had any problems feeding Entropy, he assured me everything was fine so I headed up the stairs before entering my room, I closed my door and headed to my bedroom to check on Entropy.

They seem fine greeting me with a few soft chirps, I feed them some more before bringing them with me, I try to keep them close as I go about my day to form a bond with them, I think it's working some as whenever Entropy sees me, they start chirping and seem to get excited.

Entropy's feathers have started to grow in they now have several feathers on them and many more still growing, the feathers themselves are odd as they seem to be almost made of pure black, finally it seems some of Entropy's strangeness has shown as normal crow feathers don't look like Entropy's.

Normal crow feathers have this slight rainbow shine to them, but Entropy's is pure black similar to their egg although the feathers do reflect some light it's not much, but if nothing else I can finally definitively say that Entropy is not just a regular crow, beyond that they seem to be healthy and growing fast.

I place Entropy on the floor next to me before meditating, I feel the space around me feeling the shifting of Entropy next to me, I start moving a small piece of wood and cast a float spell on the piece of wood letting it stay in the air while I feel the space shift, I've been training my ability to feel space by doing this, it's probably not the best way to go about it but I don't know a better way and I don't think anypony else would know a better one, I stay like this for some time before standing up.

I grab the juniper berry bush I've been breeding and start the process again, I've been doing this for a few days now and have gone through over a hundred generations this has resulted in berries that are almost a quarter larger than the original.

It will take many more generations for the plant itself to change in any large way, but this does prove that this idea is a decent one, I'm also thinking that I could crossbreed different plants, normally you can only crossbreed plants that are similar, but with my life magic I can get a little more creative.

In theory I can crossbreed any plants that have pollen, I'm not sure how well this strategy will work but it's worth a try if nothing else although I won't be doing this for a while as I'd like to focus on selective breeding for now before moving on to that, I keep repeating this process of taking the largest berry and growing it before starting at the beginning again.

After draining almost all of my magic I place the plants to the side and decide to do some carving, I grab some Iron oak wood and my kit before going back to my desk and starting the carving, I shave the wood block down to a rough pony shape before adding detail.

The last carving I made I sent to Celestia as a gift, she sent a letter back thanking me, right now though I'm making a carving for myself, I always liked having collectables so why not make some and practice at the same time, so I'm going to make a model of noteworthy ponies.

I'm starting with another copy of Celestia, I don't want to make anything that somepony could accidently see so I'm only making models of ponies that are well known right now, or ponies that wouldn't be recognized by others, I don't want anypony asking difficult questions.

I spend the next two hours carving away at the wood until I have an alicorn model, and just like last time I carve out a small compartment for the gem using one of my recovered rubies to enchant the new model, and after some enchanting and adjustment I'm finished.

I place the new Celestia model on one of my shelfs, before moving Entropy back to his cage so he could sleep in peace, I head back to my room and begin my next project, my magic has recovered over the last few hours so I'm going to work on a new spell matrix.

This specific spell matrix is for another type of environment, this one being for a humid environment for the jungle fern I have, this spell will be very similar to the desert spell but instead of taking water out of the air it will be adding water along with a very minor heating spell.

The heat of the environment is actually something I forgot to add to the desert spell in the past so I'm going to need to add that to the enchantment, with this in mind I go to the main room and grab the gem out of the cactuses pot and bring it back to my work room after deactivating it.

The heating spell is easy as the gem still has enough magic capacity for a slow and weak heating spell, so I modify the basic heating spell to slowly bring the temperature to a stable level and keeping it there, after an hour of work making the spell as efficient as I can to use the least amount of magic possible I add it to the gem and place it back in the pot.

I move back to the work room and continue working on my jungle environment spell, It's very similar to the desert spell using the same control spell and monitoring spell, the difference comes in with the last spell as unlike the desert I need to create a wet and humid environment.

I'm planning on using the water collection part of the desert spell to drag water from the air and trap it inside a small area, I'll need to add a very weak shield to keep the water inside but the gem should have enough capacity for all five spells at once as they are all weak in effect although it will probably be cutting it close.

I start by adding the monitoring spell heating spell control spell and after some time and tinkering a very weak shield spell, enchanting all of these spells into the sapphire before starting work on the water spell component, I start with the water manipulation spell that I used for the desert spell.

I modify the spell to collect water from the outside of the weak shield and releases in into the inside in as mist, modifying the spell to releases the water as mist took a while to make work taking twice as long as it should, but a few hour after the sun has set I'm done with the spell.

I add it to the ruby before activating it for testing I spend a while testing the spell before realizing a problem, the spell intakes too much water causing the spell to release too much water into the spells area and the ruby doesn't have enough capacity to hold more passive spells, I think for a while before finding a solution.

I modified the spell not to take water from the air but a nearby source until there's enough in the spell's area before stopping, I'm going to place the fern next to the cactus letting the water generated from the desert enchantment to feed the jungle enchantment.

I'll still need to empty the desert spells water jugs just less often now, with my problem solved I set up the jungle enchantment and placed in into the ferns pot before placing the fern next to the cactus, I watch as a small stream of water move through the air and enter the weak shield before becoming a fine mist after passing the shield.

Seeing both enchantments working I grow and pollinate some spores off the fern before growing a second fern in a small pot as the first one may die from the environment its been placed in, I don't know what type of jungle the fern is from so keeping a copy while I tinker with the spell so I don't need to waste time buying a new fern.

After I finish my new enchantment I grab my teapot and add some water before using a heating spell to bring the water to a boil before adding some tea leaves and letting it sit for a few minutes, spending that time checking on Entropy and feeding them some while also grabbing my sketch book.

I sit in front of the main rooms window laying on three pillows, I sip some tea before starting a sketch of the view in front of me, I spend an hour drawing the countryside bathed in the light of the full moon, I draw the stars and hills along with the small lights in the dark dotting the landscape.

I stop noticing how late it is, I have work tomorrow so I put away my things and take a shower, I let the hot water wash over me before scrubbing my coat, after my shower I dry myself off before walking into my room, I see Entropy sleeping in their nest, I spend a few minutes combing my mane before noticing how long it's grown.

I should get a haircut soon this is getting a little out of control, after brushing out my hair I head to my bed and climb under the covers before drifting off to a dreamless sleep.

Chapter 22

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JAN 10 Friday. I sit at my desk modifying a spell matrix, but before I can continue I'm interrupted by Entropy making a fuss in their small cloth nest next to me, I let the spell dissolve and turn my head to them, Entropy was hatched on December twenty eighth making them two weeks old now.

In the past week their feathers have grown in, Entropy now looks like a black ball of fluff that's double the size they were after they hatched, they have also become much more attached to me whenever I'm home they demand to be in the same room as me, and if not they'll make their displeasure know by chirping until I bring them with me.

So as I go about my day I keep an eye out making sure their fine, they seem to be growing at the same rate as a normal crow, so I'm guessing they'll be able to fly in two or three weeks, I feed Entropy and take them with me as I head to my bedroom for one of my books.

I borrowed this book from the library, It's a healing book I need to learn pony anatomy as if I want to create healing spells as I'll need to know what I'm healing in the first place, so I go back and forth between books on healing magic and anatomy knowledge.

This book is about pregnancy and helping with foal birth, although the process of birth is somewhat easier and less dangerous for ponies than humans due to the different body structure, as I read through the book I find a spell matrix for a spell, this spell is to tell what gender a foal will be.

The spell is a little complex for me but not impossible to cast just time consuming, I read through the spells description and find an interesting fact about the spell, when cast it glows two different colors green for male and blue for female what's interesting is the spell can be used on anypony of any age and it will still give a result.

I could use it on myself and it will tell me I'm male, after reading this I get an idea and start memorizing the spell matrix, I don't have much use for this spell but I can use it to answer a question that I've had for a while now, what is Entropy's gender.

I don't know if the spell will work on something that's not a pony but I have some free time as it's still morning so it's worth trying, I spend the next two hours going through the spell making sure it's safe and will work correctly and after I've finished I started drawing the matrix in the air above Entropy who watched me the entire time.

As I finish the spell matrix I see it take effect and see a blue aura around Entropy, I then cast the spell a few more times to be sure and yup as far as the spell can tell Entropy's female, I'm not one hundred percent sure as the spell was made for ponies but from what I've seen of the spells matrix it should work on almost anything with two genders.

So for now I'll assume Entropy's female until I can prove otherwise, I spend some more time reading before checking the time seeing it's eleven, I get up and place Entropy back in her cage before heading to the main room hearing her displeased chirps at me leaving her in my room.

I grab my saddle bags placing them on my back and leaving my apartment and heading for the bank to withdraw a decent amount of bits then walking to the lower city markets, I reach the market after some time walking and make my way to the edge, I'm here looking for more gems as I only have two sapphires left and no rubies.

I'm going to need more gems so I'm looking for the diamond dog I've bought my last gems from, but after a while I don't find them I guess they're not here right now which isn't surprising as they seemed like a caravan so they probably left to resupply their stock or to a different city to continue trading.

I look through the market and find a few different traders selling gems, they're more expensive but of the same quality and after going through a few gem sellers I go back to my apartment, I enter my room and check on Entropy who seems happy to see me as she moves around her nest.

I bring her with me to the work room before placing her nest and my bags on a desk, I shift her to the side of the desk and open my bags organizing and counting out the gems I've bought, I've found out through my shopping that gems are sold in certain sizes, small gems are half inch to one inch cubed, medium two to three inches cubed and finally large four to five inches cubed.

I find how large gems can get in this world to be amazing, for some perspective while gems in this world are still expensive their value doesn't come from their rarity but the time needed to mine cut and transport them as while the gems themselves aren't rare the work required to make them useable keeps their price fairly high.

The good news is that gems can get big, really big, some of the largest gems measure several feet in size, although the larger the gem the more work it takes to sell so most gem sellers stop at large gems.

I empty my bag and in front of me I have my new gems, seven small rubies, three small sapphires, two medium rubies, one large ruby, and my best find a six by six inch amethyst this cost a fair amount of bits, five hundred bits to be precise, even with the bits I've made with the magic lights I put a dent in my account

But even with this being a weaker type of gem its size is more than enough to make up for it, I place all the new gems on shelves before taking some time to work on two projects, the first one is a small thing I want an easier way to check the time as while I can cast the temporis spell with ease it's still annoying to draw the matrix so often.

I grab the simple copper bracelet that Daisy gave me, it has a three topaz gems imbedded in the copper I want to enchant the bracelet to tell the time but because of the small size of the gems I'm going to have to get a little creative, I start by enchanting all three small topaz gems to hold a small reserves of magic.

I then enchant the copper band with a modified temporis spell, adding a very weak illusion spell that I modified onto the band and spending some time supplying the illusion enchantment with magic while shaping the illusion into a small clock that will float above the copper band when activated.

And finally I link all the enchantments together, the three topaz gems should provide just enough magic to power the illusion for a few minutes every hour or so, the spell takes too much power to be active all the time but is enough for small amounts of time throughout the day.

I fill the topaz gems with magic and see a small modern looking clock much like an alarm clock appear in the air, I wait for a while before the enchantment runs out of magic and the glowing white numbers dissolve into the air, it lasted five and a half minutes before stopping I mark the time and place the bracelet on the side of my desk to see how long it takes to fully recharge.

I start work on my next project, the last of my environment spells this one for the juniper berry bush, I need a dry and somewhat cold environment for this plant, I start with a small ruby enchanting it with the monitoring and control spells, and then I add the weak shield spell before starting work on the last spell.

I need a cooling spell to keep the environment cold, I don't know any area of effect spells so I'm going to have to modify yet another spell for my work, I start with the spell I've used in the past to create ice and use it as a base working from there.

After a an hour I'm done and finish my enchantment adding it to the ruby before leaving it in the original juniper berry's pot leaving the one I've been breeding alone, I look around and not seeing anything left for me to do I decide to take some time to go to the park and grab a book to read and my bags before leaving.

I leave and walk to the park letting myself relax on this nice day, I pass many ponies going about their business on a path in the park before leaving the path and moving to a quiet part of the park laying down in a grass field under a trees shade, as I lay there and open the book I brought with me.

I spend some time there reading before I see something coming near me through the corner of my eye, I quickly turn my head just in time for a wood frisbee to hit me right on the side of my muzzle, I react how one would expect flinching in pain and spending a few moments letting my brain catch up with what's happening.

I rub the side of my muzzle trying to ease the pain from the impact, I turn my head down and see what hit me, seeing the frisbee on the ground I pick it up in my field inspecting it, I look around me trying to see where this frisbee came from and after a moment to my left I see several young ponies staring at me a few dozen feet away.

A few colts and filly's stare at me as I hold the frisbee and after a moment I give them a small smile and throw the frisbee back, one of them catches it and after a moment of nopony moving I wave them away letting them get back to their fun.

They leave, going back to their game as I continue reading my book, after some time I start feeling hungry so I leave the park making my way to the market to buy some supplies, I shop for some fish, potato's, carrots, spices, and a loaf of bread before making my way home.

I get home and place my ingredients on the counter before as always checking on Entropy, she greets me by demanding food and after feeding her I bring her with me to the kitchen placing her nest on the island counter to keep her away from anything dangerous.

I grab my pot and fill it with water before placing it on the stove to boil, as it heats up I peel and chop the potatoes and carrots into pieces, I cut the fish into small cubes and season it before adding it to the now boiling water along with the potatoes and carrots before brining the pot to a slow boil and letting it cook.

I spend the time it takes my soup to cook by reading with Entropy in between my forelegs resting, after an hour I smell the fish soup and get up to check on it and seeing it fully cooked I turn off the heat and let it cool down for a while before placing some in a bowl and cutting some bread eating it with my soup for dinner.

After I finish and clean everything up, I use my bracelet and seeing that it's still a little early spend the next two hours growing juniper berry bushes and breeding them, and after draining my magic I place Entropy in her cage and take a shower before heading to bed.

Chapter 23

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JAN 25 Saturday. I sit in the breakroom across from Daisy and Maple with Blaz to my left as we eat our lunch, It's been a few weeks now since Maple started working at the library and I've gotten to know her better in that time, she doesn't have family in the city although she did mention some family elsewhere, overall she's good at her job and seems like a decent coworker and given some time maybe a friend.

My thoughts are interrupted by Blaz asking me something "so colt you have any plans for your two weeks."

"I'm not sure in all honesty" I answer back, we get two weeks of vacation every year that can be used from June until March, I wasn't able to use it last year as I started in late April, I don't really know what to do with it though, I don't have family to visit or anything important to do.

"I think I might just take the two weeks off and relax some."

Blaz lets out a chuckle "colt I've gotten to know you and I know for a fact you'd use that time to learn or practice something."

Daisy adds to his comment "I have to agree with Blaz you train like the world is going to end" I'm stunned for a moment before giving a laugh, we spend the rest of lunch chatting about mundane stuff.

After my shift I head home, as I enter my apartment I see Entropy hopping around on the floor greeting me with several caws, "nice to see you too girl" I pick her up and place her on my back, over the past two weeks she's grown a lot her feathers are completely grown in now.

Even her flight feathers have reached their full size meaning she can fly, she already does some, flapping her wings to climb on top of furniture or my shelves and cabinets, she's also very intelligent beyond even regular crows, although this world seems to have many intelligent animals so I'm not sure if she's much of an outlier.

She seems to understand me to a degree moving out of the way when I ask or sometimes bringing me something I need, she does get confused when asked to do more complex things but she is only a month old so maybe in time she'll understand me better.

She's grown into an adolescent crow, she now looks mostly like a regular crow the only large differences being her completely black feathers and her eyes also being completely black, she also won't leave me alone anymore to the point of trying to follow me out of the apartment when I go to work.

Today I think it's time she gets some practice with flying, before I leave I check on my plants the environment spells seem to be working well and I haven't needed to give any life magic to them and the plants still look healthy, my experiments in selective breeding have also gone well as at this point the juniper berries I'm growing are almost three times their starting size.

My plan today is to take Entropy to the park for some flight practice, I grab some juniper berries and feed them to Entropy who's taking a liking to them I also place some in a bag for snacks for the both of us, I put my saddlebags on my back and have Entropy stand on my back before leaving my apartment.

This is the first time I'm taking Entropy outside so I'm keeping a close eye on her, as we walk through the streets Entropy draws little attention as many ponies have pets so having a crow with me, even if she looks a bit odd, goes mostly unnoticed a few young ponies did ask to pet her, but she didn't seem to like the idea much so I said no.

I walk through the park for a while before finding an empty field and setting my bags on the ground, "ready girl?" I ask Entropy who gives a caw in response, I hold her in my field and raise her a few dozen feet in the air before letting go, she flaps her wings trying to fly.

She fails dropping through the air some before gliding to a stop and landing on the grass, I walk over to her and feed her a berry as a treat before we try again, we repeat this several times and each time she gets a little further from me, I pick her up and seeing her tired I grab a book out of my bag before sitting down and reading some while she rests.

We spend some time resting before we start again and this time she flies much further seeming to have learned a lot from our first attempt, and after a few more tries she's flying a circle around me, she can fly but she'll need much more practice and to grow some as she can't fly far right now getting tired quickly.

It's mid day when we return back home, Entropy flies off my back landing on the counter top when we enter the main room, I spend some time making myself some lunch and feeding Entropy a full meal I fill a bowl with some cubed raw fish for some protein to help her develop some muscle, along with a few berries and some carrot pieces taking my time to cut it up small before placing it and leaving her to enjoy her food.

I've been thinking about what Blaz asked me earlier today, what do I want to do with my two weeks off? Well I decided on something, camping specifically going camping in one of the forests around equestria.

I liked camping when I was young in my last life and I haven't done it in more then two decades so I think it could be fun, I'll have to inform Daisy a week in advance so I'll tell her tomorrow, I'll also buy supplies tomorrow as well, but for now I'll be breeding plants for the rest of today.

time skip

JAN 26 Sunday, I'm walking out of the library after my shift, I told Daisy about my camping trip and signed a form for my two week vacation I have February second until February sixteenth off.

I make my way home to grab my bags and check on Entropy, she greeted me like always with a few caws and some chirps I give her some attention and scratches before grabbing my saddlebags and leaving to make my way to the markets.

As I walk through the markets I'm looking for several things, I need a tent and a decent backpack along with a compass and map, you'd think I'd need more but not really I can grow my own food and create fire so the only thing left is water and I have an idea for that.

I look through the market and find a tent and a backpack, the tent is made from green cotton canvas not amazing but it'll keep me dry, the backpack is made from brown canvas, I also found a decent compass and a map that while a little crude works just fine and the last thing I bought was a small metal flask.

As I make my way home I try the backpack placing it on top of my saddlebags it fits well and feels comfortable, I enter my apartment and place my new things in my work room before eating some lunch with Entropy and getting to work, I start with the metal flask I bought.

I'm going to need a source of water on my camping trip so I'm planning to enchant a gem to fill this flask, I'm not sure the flask can handle the magic from the spells so it's probably best if I use a gem along with the flask, I start by looking through my notes for anything that will be useful.

I can use the same spell I used for the desert enchantment to gather water, the problem is that the air isn't clean so I'll also need it to filter or boil the water, I grab one of my small sapphires and start thinking my way through this problem.

First I'm going to need a way to tell the spell when to stop filling the flask, I go through my notes and not finding much decide to make a very simple spell for this, I start with a two empty circles and add the runic word for weight then add some math making the output for the spell the flasks weight.

I then realize I don't even have a way to weigh the flask in the first place, I spend over an hour making a spell to weigh things and because I don't have anything that I know the weight of I have to use more runic symbols then I wanted to so the spell takes more power then necessary but the spell works.

As I spend the next hour adjusting the spell to get the weight of the flask right I think about what I've learned of runes, when I discovered that the meaning of runes mattered to their function I researched it, I had several questions and found a few answers.

First how does the meaning of a runic word effect a spell?, when you cast a spell you need to understand at least what the runic word means as in if the word is for cold or hot, if you understand the math and what the words mean you can cast the spell but for those who are creating spells you need to understand not just what the word means but the context around the word.

When I was using the light rune to create something you couldn't see I was using the right word I just wasn't using it with the right meaning as the word was never meant to be used that way, witch brings me on to my second question where does the meaning and context of a word come from?.

Is it the belief of ponies or the thoughts of the beings who created the rune that determines what it does?, and after much research I've found that nopony really knows some theories but nothing solid it seems I've stumbled on one of the great unknowns of this world.

Third, can a runic word's meaning and context be forgotten and if they can then what?, yes they can and have been forgotten and when they are forgotten the spells using that rune become useless as while you could still try casting them you will have unpredictable and potentially dangerous results.

And finally where do new runic words come from?, they come from ponies, when somepony want's to create a new runic word then need to things a symbol and something else not completely know, lets say you have a new effect or concept and you want to turn it into a runic word.

First you'll need a unique symbol preferably it should have something to do with the effect or concept, then you need to place it inside a matrix for a spell that would use the new runic symbol while keeping the symbols meaning and effect in your mind before attempting to cast the spell.

This is where things get odd as sometimes this will work just fine and you have a new runic symbol, or sometimes the effect is random or the most likely outcome nothing happens and the spell just fails, many ideas have speculated on why some fail while others succeed but there seems to be no real pattern.

The only things we do know is that keeping the new symbols effect in mind when you create and cast the spell can improve your chances at success but by how much is also very inconsistent, there is also some who think one's knowledge and emotions along with there belief in the spell working helps but no evidence has been found to prove if this is true or not.

I move away from my thoughts having found the proper weight for when the flask is full and empty, I enchant the flask with a spell to tell the gem when it's full by sending it's weight to the water condensing spell and having it stop when full.

I enchanted the sapphire with the condensing spell it has two activation requirements first a simple double tap for the link and when the flasks enchantment says it's not full, this will let me turn off the water condensing enchantment when it's not needed.

The sapphire will condense water and have it flow into the open flask, the two main problems with this setup is that while I was able to get the spell to target the flask to fill it it doesn't have enough power to do this more than a foot away and the more the gem and flask move around the more time it'll take to get the water in the flask without hitting something in the way.

The small sapphire I'm using doesn't have enough power to fix these problems so while traveling I'll need to keep the flask and gem as still as possible to avoid any problems, the final enchantment I add is a spell that purifies water this spell takes a decent amount of magic as it uses a fair few symbols but I solved that by making it only purify water in a very small area the inside of the flask, and the spells can purify my flask in only a few seconds as the spell may take a decent amount of magic but is fast working.

Along with the last bit of magic capacity of the gem I use a second link and by modifying the water spell a little I have the water purifying spell activate when the flask is done filling itself.

I move on to the last thing I'll want with me when camping, I plan to camp in a forest that isn't that dangerous but it's not a commonly visited forest either and will have some dangers so I'll need some protections, first my dagger I honestly forgot I bought this as I've had little use for it beyond keeping it in my bags incase it's ever needed.

I start by adding the enchantment I use for my wood carving tools, I can't think of anything else a blade would need for now so I move onto the next and largest thing, I take one of the large rubies and enchant it to hold magic before working on a shield that would protect my camp from anything that would seek to harm me.

I enchant the ruby with a decently strong shield I'll need to work on it through the week but it shouldn't be to hard as it doesn't need to power anything else, the shield will cover a thirty feet area, I have to spend some time making sure the shield will let me and Entropy through along with air as I don't want to suffocate.

After finishing the shield I don't have anything else to do so I make myself and Entropy some dinner before showering and heading to bed.

Chapter 24

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FEB 2 Sunday. I make my way out of bed early in the morning, I spend some time making breakfast for me and Entropy before I start packing what I'll need.

I have everything ready, my flask is done and after some testing I've found the best place for it to be is on top of my backpack so it doesn't move too much while I walk, I also finished the large shield enchanting the large ruby to hold magic and create a shield wasn't too hard just taking some time over the past week.

The shield won't be extremely powerful or anything, but it will be good enough for where I'm going as I don't need it to hold off powerful beasts or monsters just keep the occasional predator or defensive animal away from my camp, in all honesty I probably don't need it but as the saying goes, better safe than sorry.

The shield I've made will be passive from the large rubies magic gain, so all I'll need to do is place it in the middle of my camp and activate it to keep me safe, I'm bringing my magic light, newly enchanted flask, my dagger, some emergency food and juniper berry seed in case I need to create more food.

And when I was shopping for food a few days ago I found a water resistant cloak that I bought as It's still spring and it rains fairly frequently, I've also packed anything else I'd need some cooking and eating utensils along with some tea and spices.

Now onto where I'll be going for my camping trip there is a forest named the White Tree Valley, It's a valley completely filled with birch trees it's a somewhat popular place to camp, although it's not too popular as it's not completely safe.

The forest doesn't contain any really dangerous things, only a few predators and wild animals this combined with the forest's lack of decent trails means that while some ponies camp here its mostly empty, when I finish checking I have everything I'll need for the next two weeks, I let Entropy sit on top of my backpack as we leave my apartment.

We begin walking to the train station to catch a train headed for the small town nearby the forest, the train will take several hours and will arrive near the end of the day and I'll need to walk the rest of the way to the forest, I'm not sure if I'll have enough daylight to reach the forest so I might need to stay at the small town or camp on the roadside for a night.

After some time walking I arrive at the train station, I have to wait on a bench for another hour as my train was late, because of course my first train ride in this world would be late, I eventually get on the train and find a cabin to sit in, I will be spending several hours in this cabin so I guess I'll get comfortable.

I pick up and place Entropy on the seats next to me and place my bags and backpack on a rack hanging above us, I spend a moment looking around the cabin although there's not much to see, two benches on each side of the cabin with a few feet in between them, two racks made of wood bars hang above my head and a window looking outside to my left.

I decide to use this time and grab two books my runic notebook written in English, my sketchbook, along with a quill and inkwell, I'm going to spend some time working on my understanding of several runic symbols, I've been learning and documenting as many runic symbols as I can.

After my last mental rant two weeks ago about runic symbols I decided to revisit the topic as when I first looked through books on the subject I only learned what I needed too before moving on as I wanted to learn other things more, and I'm glad I did as I've learned much I missed the first time.

I've found many books about the meaning and context of different runic symbols, but one thing I've not found is a book with all the known symbols and their meanings, I have found books with dozens or even hundreds of symbols but I haven't found a book with all of them.

I think the main reason is plain and simple greed, while ponies seem less greedy overall then humans it's still very much there, many ponies create new symbols and keep them for themselves or only pass them to family members, the result of this is that while many books have collections of runic symbols there is no public repository of all known runes.

This is one of the reasons that many unicorns don't learn new spells as not only do you need to learn a spell’s matrix if the book your learning from doesn't have an explanation on the runic symbols in the matrix and what concepts they use the spell will be harder to learn and use along with using more magic to cast.

This has been a source of endless frustration for me and also why I'm cataloging all the symbols I learn, I have come across several spells that I could learn but never master because the pony who created the spell didn't tell anypony exactly how the spell worked.

I've learned that this is almost standard practice for anypony that creates spells or runic symbols, keeping how the spell works to themselves or the exact meaning behind a symbol secret so only ponies they tell can use it properly, in hindsight this makes a great deal of sense explaining why so much magic knowledge gets lost over time, it only takes one pony not telling somepony else and dying before they can pass it on and its lost forever.

Well not forever as you can reverse engineer a spell and rediscover the meaning behind a symbol, the problem is that doing this is nothing but a time sink as trying to guess the correct meaning and context behind a rune is hard at the best of times, and if use mistranslate or mess up any part of a spell’s matrix it can be dangerous.

As for why it's so hard to recreate runic symbols, well as I've said in the past runes have their meaning and what the symbol means, the first is what the creator of the rune was intending it to do with it like create fire of steam, what the rune means is the word itself so a word for hot and cold or fire and ice.

A rune is a combination of both these things, let's say I wanted to create a new symbol for a rune I would start with a runic symbol like ice and add onto it to give it a meaning and turn it into glacier creating a new rune with a new meaning with different effects, you then use the process I described last time drawing and using the new runic symbol.

I've decided to use the term runic word for a runes actual meaning, and runic context for the meaning the creator of the symbol gave it.

My point in this rant is what happens when a runic symbol is forgotten?, well it depends on how much of the symbol is forgotten, if the runic word if forgotten then the symbols context is also lost as if you don't even know what it means as a word then how can you grasp the words full context.

When you try casting a spell without knowing the symbols meaning at all then you can still cast the spell but your chance of success is low and the chance that something in the spell will go wrong will only increase.

On the other side if you forget the symbols context but still know its word then you will still be able to cast the spell with a decent chance of success, but things can still go wrong there's just less of a chance of it happening, so it's best to know both before casting a spell.

This is also why learning high level spells, like healing spells, is difficult as they often use many rare or lesser know runic symbols, especially for healing magic as you often can't afford a spell failure when healing somepony, my new internal unhinged rant is interrupted by a knock on the cabin door I close my rune book and put it away quickly keeping my sketchbook out before answering "come in it's open."

After a moment I see a griffin enter the cabin, they look fairly regular for a griffin covered in a few shades of brown feathers and fur, they see me and I see them looking up and down looking me over just like I was before speaking, "you mind if I sit here?"

Their voice is distinctly female, I think for a moment before agreeing "sure I don't mind", I pause for a moment realizing that Entropy might not like being near others, but after a few moments of Entropy intensely staring at the griffin she relaxes and moves to sleep laying against my flank.

The griffin moves a bag into the overhead rack before moving opposite of me and sitting down, after a moment of silence I go back to my own business, I don't want to go through my runes when someone else is inside the cabin so I'll just do some sketches for now.

Some time passes like this before I'm asked another question, "what are you doing?", I look up to see the griffin staring at my book, the question was blunt but most griffins I've spoken to in the past where the same so I think most of their kind are just blunt with their words.

I spend a moment thinking before simply turning over my book letting her see the sketch of Entropy I was working on, she looks at the book for a few seconds before nodding at me "not bad I've seen many who are worse and they have fingers to work with", she moves her talons for emphasis.

I've not been using my field to hold things just my hooves, I'm silent for a moment before deciding to just take the compliment, "thank you" she nods again.

"So you like to draw?" I pause at this, is she trying to make small talk?, if she is then she needs to work on her skills.

But I keep my thoughts to myself, "yes it's a hobby of mine has been for years now, why do you ask?"

Her posture shifts she seems uncomfortable, before she lets out a sigh "this isn't going well is it" she asks more to herself then me as after a moment she seems to realize what she said, "sorry not that this is a bad conversation, or anything you said, it's just" she trails off her words ending as she tries to get herself to stop stumbling over her own words.

I'm now thoroughly confused, but then I realize what this is she's probably trying to learn small talk and from the looks of things her statement was correct that this isn't going well, after a moment of silence I decide to try offering some advice "well first you should have started with your name or asking mine and then probably have asked something like how my days has been so far."

She seems stunned for a moment before looking more embarrassed than before, "ya sorry about that, am I really that obvious?"

"Yes, if you don't mind me asking why do this?"

"Well as you guessed I'm not exactly the best at talking to others, and I moved to equestria recently and have been trying to learn."

"Ok I can understand that but why start now most griffins I've met that aren't traders are about as blunt as a brick in conversation."

She lets out what sounds like a laugh mixed with a bird chirps, "that sounds about right, well to tell the truth I'm an apprentice for a merchant and I need to get decent at talking to others, so I was told to learn by talking to anyone I can."

"Ah that explains it, well do you want some help?", we spend the next hour talking through several things as the train moves along the countryside, I learn her name is Violet and a few other things but after a while longer the train stops and she leaves, wishing me well as she does.

After that encounter I go back to my sketches and runic symbols, several hours later the train stops as I've reached my stop I grab my things and leave the train, there was a few small things that held up the train so we are almost an hour late, so I'll be spending a night in the town.

After asking a pony working at the train station and they point me in the direction of a small inn with rooms for rent, I walk the dark streets before finding the inn and renting a room for the night and heading to my room, after entering I spend some time eating some food with Entropy before we head to bed.

Chapter 25

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FEB 3 Monday. I get out of bed looking around the room I rented last night, I was tired and wanted to sleep so I didn't get a good look at the town or inn, I also had to make dinner last night as the inn's kitchen was closed when I arrived, good news is it should be open for breakfast.

As I gather my bags Entropy wakes up from sleeping on the beds headboard, she looks around for a moment before flapping her wings and landing on the floor in front of me, she gives a caw and waits for me to put my saddle bags and backpack on before flapping her wings again and landing on top the backpack and laying down as I leave the room.

I walk down a set of stairs entering a reception and dining room, a desk and kitchen entrance along the left wall and several tables along the right wall, after descending the stairs I go over to a table and sit for a while before a pony asks me what I want to eat.

I order some food for us and we eat breakfast before making our way out of the inn and moving towards the edge of town, as I walk I get my first good look at the town, it's a small town with mostly earth ponies around a hundred buildings with few of them reaching above two stories high.

The town seems quiet and peaceful, as I reach a dirt road leading out of the town leading into a grass plan extending into some mountains nearby, I pass a sign as I leave the town, welcome to Ilinalta, an odd name for a pony town if you ask me.

Entropy takes off from my back and flies around in the open sky, I don't blame her she doesn't get to fly freely much in the city she flies around even doing a few tricks, as we continue down the road reaching several splits in the road, I have to go through the map I have several times before finding the right way to go at each turn.

Over the next hour of walking I came across two different encounters, the first was a courier traveling with several packages who didn't stop to talk for long before continuing on their way, the second was a group of traveling merchants that I saw camped on the roadside.

I spent some time talking to the caravan leader, after some talking I found out that they came from the direction I'm heading in, they informed me that the road crosses a stream but the stream was overflowing and while I should be able to cross it I should be careful.

I thanked them and spent a little while trading with them, I bought some spices I wasn't familiar with along with a small shovel it's made from Iron and while it's a little heavy but works well, after that I continued down the road and a while later I found the stream they told me about.

It doesn't seem to be as overflowed as they said, I guess it receded some the stream still seems higher than normal, I shouldn't have a problem crossing the stream as long as I'm not weighed down too much, I spend a few minutes securing my bags before holding them above me in my field as I cross the stream.

The water is cold and moving fairly fast but not strong enough to stop me and after several minutes of careful walking I'm at the other side, and after drying off and putting my bags back on I keep moving down the road, it takes another hour and three more splits before finding a sign, White Tree Valley.

This valley is interesting for its location, it's in between two mountain ridges, the road I'm following will lead along the side of the valley, the valley extends into the mountains before narrowing out and ascending, this means that I can find the road even without my map or compass as all I need to do is head downhill and I'll find the road.

I find the trail leading into the valley and start following it, the terrain around me changes as I walk as the grass plains turn into forest and eventually I start seeing a few birch trees, as I continue I see more and more birch trees before all other types of trees vanish from sight.

The brush also thins out some as the ground levels some, I enter the White Tree Valley proper the birch trees are dense here while the underbrush is fairly light, I follow a trail for a while heading deeper into the valley, as I walk Entropy flies from tree to tree following me.

After a while of walking this trail we find a decently clear and flat dirt patch, which seems like an old camping spot but it will do just fine for me, I start setting up camp assembling my tent and using my new shovel to dig out a fire pit that's been filled in over time.

I also spend a while clearing out a few shrubs growing in the camp, after I'm done I place my large ruby in my tent and tap it twice activating the shield, I walk out and see the magic shield seeing a thin barrier around the camp, after making sure everything was working correctly and that it's keeping out the rain I move back to my tent.

I'm going to be spending a little under two weeks here so it's time to get to work, I came to this valley for a few reasons, first I came to relax and spend some time away from the city, second I came to train my life magic, and finally I came to let Entropy experience the forest.

Speaking of Entropy she seems to be having a blast, she keeps moving around flying from tree to tree and picking up anything of interest to examine so she seems to be having fun, right now she seems to be inspecting a berry bush nearby, I recognize this bush it's often called thimbleberry.

I see several red berries sitting on its branches, Entropy picks one off the bush before bringing it to me and holding it and staring at me, I think she's asking if it can be eaten, "smart girl aren't you?" I walk over to the bush and eat a few of the berries, I turn to see her eating the berry she picked and considering she starts hopping around and eating more she seems to like them.

I grab a berry and spend some time removing seeds from it before storing them in a bag, I didn't come here for plants but I'll take anything that could be of use, but like I said a moment ago I'm mostly here to relax and train my life magic not look for plants.

Ever since I unlocked my life magic I've mostly trained my control and the efficiency of my magic conversion, but I've gotten to the point where it's time to move onto the next step, all this time I've been growing plants by simply pushing life magic into plants and forcing them to grow.

While this method is easy as you can imagine this is far from efficient, I waste a lot of the magic used doing this which is one of the reasons I'm in this valley, the first step to learning life magic is to improve your control and conversion the second is to use your improved control to mimic the natural process of plant growth.

I need to observe how life magic flows through plants as they grow and copy it letting me grow plants without wasting so much magic, when a plant absorbs life magic it grows faster and healthier this is also part of the reason I'm doing this here instead of the city's park as the denser the life magic the easier it is to observe the flow of life magic.

I walk around the forest near my camp and find a plant, some type of mushroom I'm not sure what type so I won't touch them, I haven't grown any mushrooms yet so this will be some extra training, I dig up the mushroom along with a good amount of the soil under it and move it back to my camp, I place my pile of dirt at the edge of my barrier.

I place it down and lay in front of it before concentrating, I need to move my magic into the plant and instead of forcing growth I let the plant do what it wants with the magic and just watch, I watch as the different flows of life magic move and twist through the mushrooms mycelium and cap, the thick life magic of the forest helping the plant making it easier to see the flows of life magic.

I sit there for almost an hour before getting up, the soil that I bought is now completely filled with the mushrooms mycelium and the top has many mushroom caps coming out of the top, I take a smaller amount of this soil and move it to a different area.

I gather some soil and mound it around the chunk of mycelium filled soil, I spend the next two hours slowly copying the process I watched earlier, moving my magic it the same flows trying to copy what the plant does and how it grows, when I'm done I have another pile of mushroom filled soil, that I decompose.

I then repeat this process without copying the plants magic flow, after writing down the results I find that when I'm copying the plant I save around twenty percent of the magic I would normally use, this matches what I've read so I spend the next few hours repeating this with a few different plants.

This is how I'll be practicing my life magic from now on, the reason that this is the next step for learning plant magic, is that when using this method you need to learn the unique flow of each plant and that can take a long time, but the up side of this is when you memorize the flows enough you can grow that plant even faster then before along with it costing less magic to do so.

So while I'm in this forest I will be getting as much practice as I can, I check the time and see I still have roughly two hours of daylight left before it gets dark, before doing anything else I gather some dead wood for a fire tonight most of what I find is wet but I fix that with a water manipulation spell removing the water and stacking the wood near my tent.

After I'm done I decide to explore the area around my camp some more I also grab my sketchbook incase I find anything interesting to draw, I put on my cloak before stepping out of the barrier that stops the light rain from falling on my camp I hear the small taps of rain on my cloak as I walk into the forest.

Entropy decided to come with me walking and hopping under my cloak as we walk, I stop in several places to draw different plants or gather seeds, after a while it starts to really get dark so we move back to camp, we enter our camp and I take off my cloak and start piling some wood in the firepit.

While I'm doing this I see Entropy holding a stick she seems to have found and adds it to the firepit, I give a slight chuckle before scratching the back of her neck as she bows her head and lets out short chirps, after rewarding Entropy I cast the candle flame spell and light the wood with the apple sized ball of fire.

I turn to a new page and look around myself for something to draw before looking up, in the city light pollution isn't strong but it still blocks many stars from being seen at night, above me I see a break in the clouds showing the night sky, I spend the next few hours drawing constellations of stars before cooking some food for us and laying in my tent next to Entropy and drifting off to sleep.

Chapter 26

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FEB 9 Sunday. as I move my magic through a small birch sapling I try my best to copy its natural life magic flow, I sit concentrating using my will to control the magic keeping it from moving in ways I don't want it to, after some time the tree sapling grows several inches before I stop my magic drained almost completely.

I stand up and make my way to my camp around one hundred feet away from the young tree, after entering the shield I'm greeted by Entropy who flies down from a tree branch near by and lands in front of me with a caw, we have been here for a week now and we've been having a pretty good time.

We've gone on several hikes around the valley, I've gathered a few types of seeds mostly different berries and two tree seeds one for a birch tree and the other a stray maple tree I found, most of our time I've been drawing or simply exploring the valley and spending the rest of my time training my life magic.

I've learned how to grow many plants by copying them but haven't mastered any of them as I'm just learning new patterns for different plants rather then trying to master any of them for now, the process is still much slower then simply forcing plant growth but I'm getting better and this was more about learning how to copy the plants.

Entropy has also been busy, she's spent most of her time with me but she's also been exploring the valley mostly the tree tops, she's even brought me a few interesting fruits although I think she does that so I can tell her if she can eat them or not as whenever she finds a berry or fruit she can eat she hops around celebrating.

Another benefit of this training is creating new plants, right now the only way I can modify a plant species is to selectively breed them and pick out the tiny random changes stacking them over hundreds or thousands of generations like I've been doing with the juniper berries.

I won't be able to create new plants for a long time but this is a step closer to that, right now if I get a decent amount of control over my ability to copy plants magic flows I'll be able to speed up my current process while using less magic meaning more generations of plants every time I sit down to breed them.

Another part of life magic that I've been ignoring is animals and other living things, there are two parts of life magic that aren't considered separate types of magic but as far as I can tell they basically are, so I've decided to name these two paths of life magic floramancy and biomancy.

I've only been practicing floramancy this entire time, mostly because biomany is much more complex as unlike a plant you need to feed animals, things can also go horribly wrong if done incorrectly and I don't want to create some abomination by accident.

I'm planning to start using biomancy only after I get a good hold on healing magic to be safe so I won't be using it for a while probably a few years, that and I'm doing just fine with floramancy right now, I sit next to the embers of my fading fire from last night and use a metal teapot to boil some water.

I wait a few minutes for the water to boil before adding some red leaves to the water and letting the teapot cool on a rock, I spend a while writing down anything of note from the magic flows of the birch tree, I've found that the flows of magic in a plant grow in complexity with a plants size and the amount of magic in the plant.

For magical plants that may just be the biggest benefit from learning this new use of life magic, my normal method of forcing plant growth uses massive amounts of magic to grow a plant with high amounts of magic in it, depending on the plant and how much magic is in it them it can take much more magic and time to grow a magical plant compared to plants with little to almost no magic.

Because these plants are magic growing they will always take more magic, but I can decrease the cost and speed up the growth if I learn its magic flows, but magic plants also have much more complex magical flows than regular plants so it will take me longer to learn them.

I pour some tea in a cup and take a sip of the red tea helping me regain my lost magic, It'll take an hour or two to regain all of my magic even with the tea helping so I decide to finish my tea and go for a walk through the valley, like all my walks Entropy comes with me flying around the area as I walk but never too far away.

As I walk we move a fair distance from our camp we move uphill a distance to a flattish area with thicker brush and taller trees, I keep making my way through the brush and as I walk I hear a noise somewhere to my left through the brushes, I stop walking and listen to the sound.

It sounds like somethings scratching wood but it's hard to tell from here, I stay still for a moment wondering what I should do, I don't have my knife on me and I'm not sure what's making that noise, I war with myself for a while before letting my curiosity win, I follow the noise before entering a small clearing.

I see a birch tree with an animal scratching the trunk, it takes a moment for me to realize what I'm looking at, it's a brown bear cub sitting next to the tree and using it's claws to scratch the tree's bark, I freeze before backing off slowly, I need to leave now, it's mother won't be far away an-.

My thoughts are interrupted by a large brown bear burst out of the bushes heading straight at me, :FUCK!: I turn and run I need to move now, I hear the bear not far behind me and after a moment I still here it I hoped it wouldn't follow me but I guessed wrong it's decided I'm either a threat or food.

I run through bush after bush trying to gain some distance but I hear the bear getting closer, and then at the worst moment I trip hitting the dirt of the forest floor tumbling as I do so, I try getting up only to see the bear far too close to me only a dozen feet away, I panic and freeze.

I don't have time for a spell and I don't have my dagger, I force myself to move trying to draw a spell but right as I start, I see the bear closing the distance between us, and right before the bear reaches me I feel something slam into my side before everything goes black.

For a single moment I think I'm back in the place I was in when I died, but the darkness only lasts for a fraction of a second before everything comes back like getting hit with a wall of color and sound and I feel myself falling for a moment before hitting the ground, I cough as the air is forced out of my lungs.

After a coughing fit I get on my hooves and look around to see, :my camp?: I look around and see Entropy looking at me her feathers disheveled and body slumped on the ground, I panic and move over to her checking her over and notice she seems uninjured she only seems tired and weak, I take her to the tent to rest before checking on the shield making sure it's strong and stable before going back into the tent.

I tend to Entropy keeping her warm and giving her food and some tea for a while, I don't know how but she brought us back to the camp and saved me from a bear the least I can do is take care of her, after an hour or so she regains a decent amount of her strength, she tries to stand looking around but I push her back down.

"It's ok girl we're fine, try to rest", she seems to understand laying back down fully and finally going to sleep almost immediately I let her rest and leave the tent, I take off my bags and add some wood to the last embers of my fire and start checking over my body, I have a few scrapes and a lot of bruises but I'm otherwise fine.

I spend some time casting the only healing spell I know on myself might as well get some practice while thinking over what happened, first from now on always have a weapon with me, second I need a spell I can cast fast of an enchanted object with a spell in it for defense, and third whatever Entropy is can teleport apparently.

I need to calm down some, so I start trying to meditate it takes me a while to calm myself and clear my head but eventually I calm down enough to relax some, I get up and check on Entropy again she seems to be sleeping she probably over taxed her magic when she teleported us.

She's only a little over a month old so while her body is almost fully grown her magic is still somewhat weak even if she is a highly magic creature her magic will take time to grow, she should be fine after a good amount of rest and time, it's still around midday so I have time to do things but I don't think I'll be leaving the camp for the rest of today.

I don't have much to do inside the camp beyond practicing my plant magic, but I require focus to do that so I think I'll spend some time drawing so I start to draw the bear I saw today, I should probably make a new book for animals something like a bestiary I haven't needed one before now but if I plan to go on more camping trips I'll need to learn how to handle more predators.

I should also research some actual combat spells soon but that's for the future, right now all I need is to try and enjoy my vacation the best I can although that might be hard as I'll be spending the rest of my time in this forest looking over my shoulder for bears, I spend the next hour growing plants and training.

I pause as I see Entropy leave the tent and hop over to my side, "hey girl feeling ok?" she chirps to me before hopping on my back and laying down, "I'll take that as a yes then" we stay like this for a while as the sky goes dark and the moon rises into the sky.

I take a break from drawing to cook us some food, it's nothing fancy just potatoes and some dried fish seasoned with some of my spices, we eat in the light of the fire, I sit next to the campfire with Entropy laying against my side now while I draw a
rough star map of the sky above us.

I've done this for a few days now whenever the sky is clear enough that I can see the stars, I could probably find better star maps in the library but I enjoy doing this so I think I'll continue for as long as I'm out here, I won't be able to do this in the city but whenever I'm outside the city I think I'll continue.

I put away my book and check the time, I could stay up but after today I think some more sleep than normal will do me good, I clean things up around the camp before checking the fire and adding some more wood to it before gently picking up Entropy and moving us to the tent before climbing into my blankets and letting sleep claim me.

Chapter 27

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FEB 13 Thursday. It's our last day in the forest as we will be leaving today, the next train back to canterlot will arrive early in the morning tomorrow so I'll be leaving soon today and staying in Ilinalta again.

Right now I'm organizing all the things I've found in the forest over the last two weeks, I have over a dozen types of berry seeds a few fruit seeds and three tree seeds, birch maple and pine I'll have to research them when I get back to the library, I'm also going to need a new sketchbook as mine is now full.

Beyond the things I've collected I have gained a decent amount of practice with copying different plants flows, I've studied a few dozen plants now so I think I have enough practice to feel life magic even in my apartment, so I'll be able to continue my practice back home although it will probably take a while for me to get used to copying plants in an environment without as much life magic.

That's for future me to worry about right now I'm spending the rest of my time in the valley copying the magic of the mushrooms I first found here, I drain my magic then rest with some tea before I start packing up the camp to leave the valley.

time skip

FEB 15 Saturday. I wake up getting out of my bed, I may like camping but I have missed my bed, I move into the kitchen before making some breakfast for Entropy and me enjoying some fresh meat before grabbing my badge and making my way out of the apartment and to the library, I walk through the streets moving through the morning rush of ponies.

I enter the library and check in with Daisy for a moment before starting my work, I'm reshelving books today so I grab a cart and get to work.

I've been thinking about Entropy's ability to teleport ever since she first used it, I still have no idea what she is but as I learn more about her I can narrow down my search, what I do know so far is that she seems more intelligent then a normal animal even by this world's standards.

I'm not sure if she'll become as intelligent as a pony but considering how smart she's been so far I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility, and as for her ability to teleport I should probably help her test and train this new ability as I rather she didn't teleport inside a wall, or pony.

I have also realized something important, she can teleport which means that at least to some degree she's manipulating space, that is both amazing and somewhat useless right now it's amazing because I might be able to copy her to do the same, and also useless as even if I can copy her I don't have the control required to manipulate space like that yet.

Still it's something which is great as before this I was going in blind, beyond that I think she might develop more abilities given some time, the reason I think this is because as far as I can tell when it comes to powerful magical creatures they seem to get more powerful the older they are, alicorns also follow this rule as most alicorns as best I can tell start out as really powerful ponies and then become alicorns that get stronger with age.

I move back to the sorting room to return my now empty cart before taking another full cart and leaving the sorting room again, changing the subject from magic creatures to something I've discovered recently, and it reminds me once again of the odd nature of cutie marks and what they do.

Let's start with my cutie mark, as far as I've been able to figure out my mark helps me learn modify and create spells, and that brings be to something odd about my cutie mark that I noticed when I got it, when I first got my mark I thought the symbols on it where gibberish but they are not.

I was going through my notebook that I filled with different runes last night organizing it and noticed that one of the runes matched the runes on my mark, my cutie mark has fourteen symbols seventy three numbers along with thirty seven math related symbols, all on a dark stone tablet drawn in the same green color as my eyes.

The rune that matches my mark is a rune for water, a very old rune for water in fact it's the oldest rune I could find that means water I'm not sure what this means for me, but I took some time to closely examine my mark and I didn't find anything just like before.

I don't know what any of the other symbols mean as I don't recognize any of them, the math also still doesn't make any sense and I don't mean I can't understand the numbers or the order they are in, what I mean is that it makes literally no sense at all.

This is a part of the numbers for a example, 12 = 23 - 243 = 34 + 3 and it goes on, the math isn't just wrong it is literally impossible hell it's barely math at this point it's just random numbers more than anything, but the fact remains that one of the symbols for water is there and they are exactly the same, I once wondered if fate was an active force in this world I still don't know but this does make me lean to a solid maybe.

I've done a lot of research on cutie marks and I'll probably look again now, but I still understand very little a good example of how odd marks can be are the names of ponies, many ponies have names that seem to determine their cutie mark at least to some extent, but then ponies also seem to get their marks from doing what they love.

I have two theories of how this works, both involve harmony as it's a powerful force in this world although I don't know if harmony is a force or a actual being maybe some kind of aspect of this reality, it may be possible as discord does also exist so I can't say for sure that other beings representing parts of the world don't exist.

Take me for example I still don't know how I ended up in equis so once again I can't say for sure that something like the embodiment of death life or fate hell even time doesn't exist somewhere out there.

My second theory is about emotions and harmony and how they affect magic and the world at large, emotions are very important in this world that much is obvious but what role they play in how this world and its magic works is vague at best, and that leads me to my theory.

I know all things living and nonliving things have magic, and magic gathers inside some types of materials and always gathers in living things, I think harmony is either a real being or a manifestation of all beings emotions, I don't have anyway to prove either of these theories but there my best guess so far.

Whether or not this has an effect on cutie marks I don't know, but I think it does somewhat and my best proof is in Rainbow Dash and Twilight both ponies have done many thing worthy of note like all of the main six but what I find interesting about these two is their names and cutie marks.

Lets start with Rainbow Dash specifically her name, she gained her mark from the sonic rainboom and her name is Rainbow I don't know how much more obvious the universe can get with that, then we have Twilight who's mark is as far as I can tell about all types of magic at the same time.

What I find interesting about all this is that Rainbow Dash's name is very specific to what she goes on to do' while Twilight's name is still connected to her future as she is going to be trained by the being that currently controls the day night cycle right now and her name is the middle point in between both day and night.

This whole mess gets even worse when you bring in Twilight's dam who's also named Twilight but seems to have a fairly ordinary life in comparison, if I had to boil this all down into a single question it would be, to what degree does a pony's name affect their cutie mark and future?.

And to be honest I'm as lost as everypony else, I may have special knowledge of this world and what will happen to it but in living here I've come to realize that there are still things, big things about this world that I don't know about and if I want to stop what's coming I'll need to keep learning more about this world.

I move out of my thoughts as I make my way into the breakroom for lunch, I sit next to Daisy as she talks to Maple "hey anything interesting happened when I was gone?" I ask mostly as a joke as almost nothing happens in the library.

Daisy turns to me and gives me a deadpan look before answering "besides a massive dragon head appearing in the city before disappearing? no" she answers her voice filled with sarcasm, I pause and sink back into my thoughts for a moment, :well it seems spike has been hatched then:.

That also means Twilight is officially the student of Celestia now and also now has her cutie mark, I'm forced out of my thoughts as Daisy is still looking at me waiting for a response, I guess I'll need to play ignorant then, "very funny Daisy, but seriously anything happens?"

Maple speaks up "actually she's telling the truth three days ago a dragon's head broke it's way through the top of Celestia's magic school along with a magic shockwave at the same time there were a lot of ponies panicking."

I pretend to pause before sighing "because of course I'd miss something like that, anypony get hurt?"

Maple shakes her head "no there was some panic but the guards did their job and everything calmed down soon after."

I pause to eat a steamed carrot before speaking again "Well that's good, any other wildly crazy things happen when I was gone?"

Daisy answers this time "nope just more of the same like most days, although Blaz will be two weeks late to return to the library and work he pulled a wing muscle so he was told to rest for two weeks."

"Well I hope he gets better soon otherwise working with the two of you is likely to drive me crazy" I joke trying to lighten the mood a little seeing the concern for her friend on Daisy's face.

That does get a small laugh out of her, we continue eating lunch and talking about what we've missed and how our time off was, I told them about going camping although I lied about where I went and that I was alone, as I don't think they'd like that I went into a somewhat dangerous valley by myself.

I get into a conversation with Maple about pie which she seemed to really like, she even seemed a little obsessed with pie, after that we went back to work and before I knew it my shift was over and I'm walking out of the library and heading home.

I enter my apartment and not even a few seconds later Entropy is in front of me on the floor chirping, "hey girl I'm guessing you're hungry?" she claws at me before flying over to the kitchen, I spend some time making some food and making some tea for the both of us as I have a plan.

After she eats I bring her with me to the window and lay down, I think for a moment on how to try to get her to do this, before getting an idea, crows in my world were trained to solve puzzles and I think I can do the same here, I grab a small ruby from the work room.

I spend some time enchanting the ruby to create as strong of a shield as it can in a two foot area, after a hour I'm done and have a ruby that generates a small shield next to it that only lets light and air through, I grab a few juniper berries as treats along with a small piece of raw fish meat.

At this point Entropy knows something is happening and is paying close attention to me, when I activate the shield it will only last for an hour or so before the ruby needs to recharge but that's enough, I give her a berry which she gobbles down before placing the piece of meat on the floor and activating the shield around it.

Entropy really likes meat even more then fruit or berries so she will try almost anything to get it, my hope is that her desire for the meat will be strong enough for her to try teleporting inside the shield, I keep some tea nearby incase she does teleport as she'll probably need it to regain her lost magic.

Last time she teleported she moved both of us a few miles back to the camp, so I think a jump of only a few feet will be something she can do without exhausting herself like last time, Entropy seems to understand she can't reach the meat after repeatedly trying to find a way around or through the shield.

She spends some time scratching at the shield with her beak and talons before getting frustrated hopping around the shield and cawing at it, I give her a berry to try and calm her some before letting her continue trying, I start meditating trying my best to feel the space around me.

I can't keep my attention on her with both my eyes and spatial senses so I just try feeling the space and close my eyes, it takes a while of her repeatedly trying different things before something happens, Entropy stills for a moment before I feel the space around her twist and shift, I can't keep up with what is happening and only catching bits and pieces of what she's doing.

Then for a split second Entropy disappears and then in the same second reappears inside the shield, I try my best to feel the process but my senses are not enough to feel what is happening clearly, I open my eyes after a moment and see Entropy enjoying the piece of meat.

I turn off the shield and let her eat her well earned treat before checking her over, she look a little out of breath much like when she flies for a long while but is otherwise fine, I smile at her as she bows her head demanding scratches I comply using the edge of my hoof to scratch her neck.

"Well then girl it seems you'll be joining me in some training, although I'll need to buy more meat" she caws at me when I say meat and I chuckle "seems you agree then."

Chapter 28

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FEB 27 Thursday. I sit next to the magic shield as Entropy takes a moment to concentrate before teleporting, and after a moment I see her disappear in an instant, with black wisps of something that looks like smoke that disappears almost immediately after she teleports.

I've been training her for over a week now and she's made some good progress, when we first started she would get tired and she still does but I think that will lessen with practice and time, she has improved with how long it takes for her to teleport she needed roughly ten seconds each time before.

And now she only needs five or six, this is massive progress for such a short amount of time, but I think that has more to do with her learning how to control her ability than anything else, I think that whatever her kind is would teach their young to teleport around the time they learn to fly or maybe soon after.

I think this because it would increase a young birds chance of surviving when they leave the nest, but because I didn't know she could teleport she was never taught how, so when she saw me in danger she probably acted on instinct and teleported us, she probably didn't even know what would happen but wanted to save me.

Because she never knew she had this ability she needed to learn how to use it properly, I think that's why she's made so much progress in only a little over a week, I think her progress will slow down soon but she's doing fine for now so we will keep training like this until then.

As for my own training, I've kept up with my morning runs and meditation, I've also been successful in copying a plants magic flow in my apartment, although much like I thought it's more difficult to feel the life magic flow through a plant here but I can still do it and that's what matters.

I've spent my time copying the plants I own, mostly the Iron Oak as it's magic is fairly complex but I expected that even so it still took me three days to even get a decent understanding of the trees magic flows, I've made progress just not much and it will probably take me a few weeks to fully memorize it.

I also took some time to look at the other plants and the results are about what I expected, the Jungle Fern, Cactus and juniper berry plants are regular along with the false Daisy, the Gripping Vine is a little interesting as it's magic flows are fairly complex for such a relatively simple plant but still fairly normal.

The most interesting plants are the Companion Vine and Blood Leaf Tea, as far as I can tell the Companion Vine seems to use complex flows not only to grow itself but also to pull in more life magic from the environment, it's much more efficient than other plants and I have high hopes for this plant in the future.

Then there's the Blood Leaf Tea which by far has the most complex magic flows I've ever seen, I'm still new to copying plants and because of the complexity of this plant I couldn't learn much of anything so I'll have to revisit this plant at a later date.

I've also been spending some of my spare time doing research into a few different subjects, the first subject is about the symbols on my cutie mark, and sadly I've found no other runes that match the ones that are on my mark, I've also not been able to make any since of the numbers other than them being in the pony language.

Another thing I still need to research are the different languages of this world, but back on topic I've also been researching cutie marks again and just like last time I've found basically nothing that would help me understand how they work.

It's odd because you'd think that a species that is almost defined by magic marks they have would try learning more about them, but most seem to just not care about cutie marks beyond what they mean and how to use them, but then again humans did the same not caring about something until it becomes a problem or is needed, still it seems weird.

Maybe I'm missing something but the fact remains that there is little written about the nature of cutie marks and I'll have to try finding my own answers, if I even can, moving on to the last thing I'm researching and that's what Entropy is, I still don't know but I might have found something.

I was looking through a book about myths and legends from a few hundred years ago mostly because I was curious, but while looking through it I found a reference to something that seemed similar to her, A Night Crow, I only found the name and a brief description of what it is supposed to be.

What I found was more of a story to scare foals than anything else, It calls them the birds of the night evil creatures that are made from darkness and hate almost the opposite of a phoenix in every way, well first things first the book I found this in was full of myths and stories so it's likely to also be full of lies or misinformation.

Second I don't think Entropy is evil as she both saved my life and has never hurt anypony, hell the most she's ever done to me is demand food and scratches, but I do think that she might be related to a phoenix in some way as they share the trait of teleportation and are both avian, I'm not sure if this is what I've been looking for but I'll look into the name more in hopes of finding something.

I've thought of asking Celestia but I decided against it, it might be selfish of me but I'd like to keep the true nature of Entropy to myself, my main reason for this is her ability to teleport as I can do many things with her help that I may not be able to do otherwise and I may need her help to stop what's coming.

So unless something comes up I'll be keeping her nature secret for now, moving on I've found a new project to work on a text copying spell to anything on a page really, there are a few spells that do something similar but the ones I could find only copy small amounts of text or a few symbols and none copy art, mine cant copy art either but can copy some simple symbols.

This means that the county goes through a staggering amount of ink and paper because if you make a mistake when copying an important document you need to start over again wasting paper and ink, at first I almost decided not to create this spell as the ponies that make ink and paper would see less business, but then I realized that I could make the spell also use ink but I will probably need to make the spell a little more complicated for that.

The spell was always going to need paper, but I think I could make it use no ink if I really tried, but instead I'll have it use both and like I said earlier the spell will probably be a little more complicated but also use less magic to cast as it won't need to create the letters just move the ink around.

I have found a runic symbol for copy, well technically it's a symbol for mimicking but that will work just fine for what I have planned, I'm going to start with a already existing copy spell as while, it's a little messy and crude but it will work well enough as a base for my spell.

I'm in my work room right now going through the spell matrix, I remove most of what is there and start streamlining what remains, I add four symbols to build the spell off of the symbol for mimicking then the symbol of movement and finally two symbols one for area and the other for light.

The finished spell when cast will create two small zones one green and the other red, this comes from the light and area symbols making a small illusion, then you simply place a filled piece of paper inside the green area and keep it still, then add the same amount of blank paper to the red area, then the spell will use the movement and mimicking symbols along with some math to copy the contents of the paper.

It will take longer depending on how much you're copying but it should still work, although because the spells matrix is small to reduce magic costs it won't be able to copy more then twenty pages depending on how small or large the text is it could also increase or decrease.

It takes me six hours to get a prototype done and it will probably take me several more days to finish the spell completely, I stop to make some lunch at the insistence of Entropy, we go into the kitchen and find little to eat so I decide to leave and go out to eat before buying some groceries.

I grab my bags and Entropy hops on top of me as we leave the apartment, I see Daisy inside the hallway next to her door and approach her, "hey Daisy, how's your day so far?"

"Oh hey Shade, ya it's been fine same as always I suppose, you?"

"I wish I could say it's been interesting but nope just more of the same, any new about Blaz?"

She nods "yup his son stopped by the library today said he should be fully healed in another week or so."

"Good it'll be good to see him again, anyway I hope you have a nice day Daisy" I say moving past her to the stairs.

"You too Shade."

I walk out of the apartment and start moving through the streets, it's late right now so there is a decent amount of ponies on the streets most like me going to get a late lunch or heading home for the day, Entropy decides to fly over head rather then ride me letting me move more freely through the streets.

I walk through the market district before entering the area with many food stalls and restaurants, I head to a place I've been to before the Cozy Clover and unlike last time I enter with Entropy so I ask if she can eat with me and I'm told yes but if she breaks anything I'm paying for it.

We get a table before ordering some food I get baked cod with some steamed vegetables and heyfries, I order Entropy a fruit bowl as I don't think they want a crow eating raw meat where others can see, I get our food a while later and it's great.

The fish is cooked well and there's a white sauce that reminds me of ranch that goes well with the fried cod, Entropy seemed a little jealous of my fish but then after getting a bowl filled with several types of fruit and berries she's far too distracted to care about my food anymore.

We spend our time eating in silence before I pay the bill and we leave, I still need to buy food for home so we make our way through the market buying necessities and a few extra things, Entropy finds a wooden ball with several holes throughout it letting her pick it up with her beak.

She doesn't have many toys so I get it for her, and considering that when I gave it to her she wouldn't let go of it I think she's happy with her new toy, I buy three new blank books and some more ink I also find two things of interest so I buy them, the first is a book about the griffin language.

I've wanted to learn other languages for a while but couldn't decide on which so I just decided to learn the one I thought I would use the most, and out of all the races of this world, not counting ponies, the species I've encountered the most is griffins so I'll be spending some of my time trying to learn their language.

The other thing I bought was a enchanted painting of a forest at night, the enchantment makes the painting give off a soft glow of different colors letting the painting have glowing fireflies and a glowing moon, what I'm mostly interested in is the enchantments used as they look interesting, plus the walls of my apartment are empty so this will add something to look at.

We take everything back home and get it put away, well I put everything away while Entropy throws her new ball around and chases it but I'm not complaining as she looks happy, we spend the next hour or so training her teleportation with berries as treats as she ate a large meal recently so no fish for her.

We spend the rest of the daylight playing or training before it gets dark and I start breeding plants, I've not learned the magical flows of the Juniper Berries yet so that's what I work on hoping to speed up the process of breeding them.

I have some success but it takes me a few hours of practice before I can grow the Juniper Berries decently fast so it will take me a few more days before I can achieve the same speed I normally have, but after a few hours of practice my magic is almost gone and I'm tired so after cleaning myself up I head to bed.

Chapter 29

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MAR 12 Wednesday. I get out of bed and after waking up Entropy and we move into the kitchen so I can make us some breakfast before going to work, I make myself a grilled cheese and some fruit with the last of the fish for Entropy.

But as I eat my breakfast I hear a knock at the door and move over to the door to answer it, "letter and package for yo, Shade?" I see a guard in their armor specifically one Shining Armor standing at my door with a box and letter, :oh hell, why the FUCK is it you again:.

I need to think fast and not say anything stupid, "oh hey Shining I didn't know you were part of the guard, when did that happen?" he still seems a little confused but after a moment answers me.

"I joined younger than most and got into the guard early" :good now don't ask me abou:, "if you don't mind me asking why are you getting a letter and package from the princess?' :WHY!:.

I think fast trying to come up with an excuses and the best lies are the truth so let's try that, "I sent her a gift once and she liked it, after that we started sending letters back and forth for a while now as for the package I have no idea."

He still looked a little confused but seems to have dropped the subject :thank god: Shining's horn lights up as he passes me a letter and box, I take the letter from Shining while I move the package inside the apartment with my field before opening the letter and reading it.

Dear Shade Evergreen, I'm writing to you because the first full tests on the pest enchantment have finished and included in this letter is a copy of the results that I'd like you to review if you have the time, as the researches want to check that the results are what you expected and also asked you to include any more advice you can give them.

I'm also asking you to join me on the fifteenth of March at three in the afternoon for a meeting with me as I'd like to discuss something with you, beyond that there is a second package with this letter that's a late Hearth's Warming gift as it took me a while to copy the book in my spare time I hope you enjoy it. Signed princess Celestia.

I haven't gotten a letter from Celestia since she sent me a thank you letter for my Hearth's Warming gift, I look back to Shining "I'll send a letter later thank you for bringing this to me, nice seeing you Shining."

He gives me a nod "same to you Shade" he then walks away from my door and down the hall, I close my door before calming down some :I swear if I bump into him unexpectedly again I will flip a dame table:.

I refocus on the letter and take out the test results and place them to the side along with the letter, I move the package over to me and open it inside is a single book with a green cover and no name on it, I spend a few minutes to skim the books contents and find it be a hoof written instruction book.

The book's author is a pony named Green Skies, a unicorn mare born in the year 124 and died in 235 at the age of one hundred and eleven, she lived a long life especially for the time period she lived in and that's what makes this book so interesting.

Green Skies was a master at using the life affinity I've even seen her name a few times in my research about affinities, this book is a book she wrote for her at the time apprentice who made a few copies, some of the knowledge it this book I even found in the library but only bits and pieces.

This is as far as I can tell a full unedited copy of the book, Celestia said she copied it for me and considering her age she might even have one of the original copies, as I flip through the book I find many things that interesting me all worth learning, I have to stop myself from reading it because I still have work so I just place the book in my room before finishing my breakfast and leaving.

I get into the library and go about my work as always and like every other day with nothing of particular interest happening, While working I let my thoughts wander specifically to what happened when I was camping the Sonic Rainboom.

First when the Sonic Rainboom happened I was far enough away to not feel it or maybe the forest and valley walls dampened the effects enough for me to not feel it either way the result is the same, I've been researching about what happened and I may ask Celestia when we meet.

I've found little unfortunately the best source of information I've found about the event is a newspaper that explained some about the event but it had nothing I didn't already know so I wasn't able to learn much out of this whole thing, I did learn how the public reacted though.

And it's pretty much what you'd expect some panic over the magic shockwave and then even more panic over the dragon head busting its way out of a building, after an hour or two the guards got everything under control and Celestia made an announcement that everything was fine.

After that most calmed down and after a day everything was basically back to normal, this once again reminds me about how much ponies trust Celestia not that the trust they give is unwarranted, the effects of the shockwave didn't do much else besides giving every weather team a stroke over how much work they needed to do to fix the weather after it.

I check the time by looking down and activating the enchantment on my bracelet It's lunch time so I head to the breakroom,
and when I enter I see a newly recovered Blaz sitting with Daisy and Maple so I grab some food and sit with them.

"How's everypony doing today?"

Daisy is the first to speak "Shade perfect you can help me prove my point."

Blaz also speaks "Hey colt, ya you might be able to shed some light on this."

I'm not too surprised at this as when you work in a library you often have ponies disagreeing over different topics, "Sure why not, what's the topic?"

"Well blaz here thinks that the warming spell can melt stone if you use enough magic when casting it, I think the spell will take too much power for anypony to cast before the stone melts, what do you think?"

All three look at me, Maple quietly listening in, "well first we are using the basic warming spell not a modified version right?" the both nod "well than I think it depends on the type of stone something like shale has a low melting point so that would take a lot less effort."

"You'd also have to take into account the affinity of the pony casting it if they have a fire affinity then it would be easier, so in short yes and no."

Blaz speaks first "told you so."

"He didn't say you were right just that it was possible" both continue to bicker over the topic.

Maple looked confused at this before turning to me "does this happen often?"

"Right you probably haven't seen them like this before, no not often but maybe once a month or so depending on what it's about."

She pauses for a moment with a thoughtful look at me "why ask you?, not to sound rude but they are both older then you so why ask you? also what is an affinity?'.

"Well first I focus mostly on learning how spells work so I know a little more than most, and second affinities are what type of magic you have a natural advantage in you can read up on it if you want the library has plenty of books on it."

It's not often I talk to a pony that doesn't know what affinities are, but I work in a library so maybe I'm just biased, "I might just do that thanks" I nod to her as my mouth is full.

I swallow before speaking "So any plans for the day?'.

"No not really, I did want to look for some new blankets though."

"Did the room not come with them?, mine did."

She looks a little embarrassed at my question "ya they do, but I kind of destroyed mine."

I raise a brow at this before deciding that it's best not my business, "well your still new to the city and there's a few places I know where you can go to get what you need and I also need to buy some necessities, so after work would you like me to show you where they are?"

She pauses looking like she doesn't know how to answer me for a moment, "yes that would be very helpful, thank you."

I smile at her "No problem, but we really should finish our food, lunch is almost over" we eat and get back to work for the next few hours.

After I'm done with work I walk back home to grab my saddlebags before returning to the library entrance and waiting for Maple, she comes outside not long after so we start making our way to the market district.

We make it to the market and first we stop at a cloth shop, it mostly sells cloth for other businesses but also sells things like bed sheets tablecloths and other products that use large amounts of cloth, we spend a while looking through their stock feeling and looking through different cloths.

Eventually Maple finds one she likes and buys it, I tell her she can head home but she decides to continue shopping with me, so we move through the market talking as I show her around and buy what I need which is mostly just food but I also need meat, so when we approached the street that has the meat market I stop us.

"So this part of the market is for meat, I'm not sure if that's a problem for you so do you want to stay here?", I ask her as most ponies get uncomfortable around meat especially raw meat, but hearing my question she seemed unaffected.

"No that's fine I'll come with you," I'm a little unsure as she may change her mind when we enter the street, but as we walk down the street she does seem unaffected by what's around her I don't think I've ever seen a non batpony so unbothered by this.

I'm curious but keep my thoughts to myself we all have a past and Maple seems to keep hers close, hell it's not like I'm one to judge over somepony not talking about their past, I buy some bass and we move on as our shopping is done so we decide to part ways and both head home.

I make it back home and as always I'm greeted by a certain bird demanding to be fed, so after making some lunch for me and cutting up some fish into small bites, I eat while placing small pieces of fish inside the magic shield we letting her teleport inside and back out repeating this over dozens of times before stopping.

She's now able to teleport inside the shield almost instantly and is much better at teleporting in general so I'll have to find a new way to train her ability, I give her the rest of the fish before making my way inside my work room I sit in front of a desk and start working on my almost finished project.

The copying spell is proving to be more difficult than I expected, over the past two weeks I've drawn and redrawn it more times than I can count but finally a few days ago I finished a decent working version of the spell, I've been testing and adjusting and now it's basically finished.

I still need to test it some more and unfortunately the spell ended up needing another runic symbol to make it work, this has made the spell use more magic then I'd like but it's still castable by almost any unicorn, I'll also probably be giving it to Celestia at our meeting so she can take credit for it.

After some testing of the spell I moved onto the test results for the anti pest enchantment, the tests were done over the months of January and February and they consisted of three crop fields, the first was wheat the second potatoes and the third blueberries.

The wheat seemed to be decently protected but a few larger pests were still active but that was expected, the potatoes seemed to be helped only some as the pests that ate them mostly lived underground but the enchantment did help keep the plants leaves and stems safe.

The blueberries were the crop most positively affected as most pests that tried to eat them died or fled the area, over all it seems the enchantment was a success after reading through the test results I added some suggestions on where to deploy the enchantment and what other plants would benefit most from it's help the most.

After that I grab the book Celestia gifted me, the book doesn't have any ground breaking techniques or anything but it does have many small things that will help me improve on what I already have, I spend the rest of the day reading through the book and testing different things on my plants.

The most impactful thing I've found in the book is a better way to feel the life magic flow through a plant, this doesn't help me in memorizing the flows but will make it a bit easier to feel the flows of magic so it will speed up my progress slightly.

Beyond that the book does have something else of use, it has a list of useful plants to help somepony practicing and training their life magic, I'll still need to find these plants but I'll at least know what I'm looking for now, after draining the last of my magic I make some dinner for me and Entropy before heading to bed.

Chapter 30

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MAR 17 Sunday. I make my way through the city moving higher and higher, I'm heading to the palace for a meeting with a certain princess.

I had to leave Entropy back at the apartment, she was not happy about that but with some bribes and scratches she was willing to let me go, after that I grabbed the things I would need for today, first my notes on the anti pest enchantment, second my new copy spell.

I walked to the entrance of the palace and like the last two times a guard leads me inside, we move through several hallways and arrive at a room I've been to before, although last time I was here I was panicking over a rock, we enter and I see Celestia sitting at a table.

"Mr. Evergreen, it's nice to see you again".

I bow "same to you princess", I sit opposite of her at the table, "I have the test results you wanted me to look over" I say placing them on the table.

A smile blooms on her face, "thank you" she spends a few minutes looking through my notes before placing them to the side.

"I also have this for you" I then place the new spell I've created on the table, she raises a brow but doesn't look very surprised, she looks through the spell's matrix and my notes on the spell before speaking.

As she reads the smile on her face grows, after a few minutes her horn glows for a moment as she casts the spell, she then grabs two pieces of paper from nowhere, she quickly writes something on one piece of paper before copying it, after seeing the spell work properly she finally speaks.

"This is amazing work" she takes a closer look at the spells matrix, looking through the numbers and symbols, "it's well made, almost any unicorn should be able to cast it", she takes a few more moments to drink some tea as I wait quietly.

"Although I am curious as to why the spell uses the mimicking symbol?"

"Yes it's a little out of place, but I couldn't find a better rune so I made do with what I had", she nods at my explanation.

"You did well for not having any exact matches, what do you want to do with the spell."

"It's yours now princess" I answered bluntly.

"I guessed as much, what I'm asking is what you want in exchange", she playfully deadpans back, the smile never leaving her face.

"Nothing, I don't really need money, and like I said in the past I don't like attention, so let's just say it's free?"

She lets out a laugh "it's a rare day when I have to find a way to pay somepony for something free, you're a hard pony to pay you know."

"Well as I said I don't need bits, I don't even know what to do with all the bits I have let alone more" I take a sip of tea and tasting the familiar tea gives me an idea, "well this tea is worth a fair amount so let's just call it even."

That gets another laugh "very well if you insist, thank you Mr. Evergreen."

"Shade is just fine princess, if that's not too forward of me?", I've talked with her a few times so I don't think this is too forward, at least I hope not.

"It's not, I find many are too formal with me, and you can call me Celestia if you want."

"Of course princess", I say with a cheeky tone and a small smile "your letter said you had something to discuss with me?"

She gives me a look before answering, "yes I wanted to see if you'd be interested in a project that's being worked on."

"Really? I'm still an amateur at making spells, I'm not that confident with working on higher level things", I say trying to emphasize my uncertainty.

"Yes but you seem to have a knack for finding creative solutions, and this project is mostly a small thing that's hit a rough spot, it also doesn't involve spell creation", I think over her words and decide to accept, and if I find that this will affect the future too much I'll just say no and pretend to not have the knowledge or skill.

"I suppose I could at least see what this is about", she passes me a few pages, the project is small and I can see why she wants my help, this project is to breed a new strain of grain that will be sold to farmers for a steep discount.

The specific goal of this project is to have the new strain grow better in rocky soil, there are a few regions that have less then quality soil making them import grain from other regions of equestria, they want a strain that will grow better in rocky soil even if the yield is lessened.

The pony that has been doing this is just growing wheat and selectively breeding them slowly, they basically just grow wheat and leave it in a corner until it grows and picking out the best ones, the problem is nopony want's to do this so the pony working on it right now is an older earth pony who wants to retire.

So somepony else needs to do it and because I have the life affinity I can do it in a fraction of the time with better results, "I can definitely do this all I'll need is the right soil and the some seeds from the plant, I also have one other request."

"Thank you I'll have a guard bring it to you before you leave, and I'm willing to grant a request as long as it's reasonable."

"I'd like my name to remain out of any of this."

"You really don't like attention do you, but that is reasonable so I'm willing to grant it, how long do you think it will take you to finish",

I spend a moment thinking over it "well it depends on how much magic the plant requires to grow, but it is wheat so probably a few months maybe a year at most, I can also get a little more specific with the end result so is there anything else you'd like for the plant."

"I know many things but plants aren't my specialty so what would you recommend?"

"Well how much snow does the region have a longer winter or a higher altitude?"

"Some of both depending on the specific area."

"Then I can also breed them to handle the cold better, but I can't think of anything else that would be of immediate concern."

"Perfect once again thank you for helping with this, but I think our time is almost up."

I check my bracelet and see that it's been a little over half an hour since we started talking, I turn back to her looking at my bracelet, "a clever place to put an enchantment, but I have duties to attend to, it was a pleasure speaking to you and I hope we'll do this again."

"Same princess have a good day", a guard walks me out of the room where another guard is waiting with a few bags, they lead me to the gate and pass me a few bags of soil along with a small bag of seeds, all combined it wasn't too heavy but it still took me a while to bring it all home.

After placing the bags next to my front door I see Entropy who flies over and lands on my back, "I wasn't gone that long you know?", my only response was a caw, but after some scratches she seemed placated, I'll need to clear some time every day to breed this wheat but it will still help me train.

And if I spend some time fully learning it's magic flows I can speed up the process, still this is a long term project but it's worth doing, I place the soil and seeds on my shelves before spending some time feeding both of us, as I haven't had lunch and Entropy is always hungry.

After we eat I start on something new, I realized a problem when Shining showed up a few days ago, my apartment is full of expensive things and currently the only thing protecting them is my front doors lock, crime may be rare in the city but it still happens so I need more security, so I'm going to be making some protections for my house.

And I already have a large gem enchanted to hold magic, the large ruby I used when camping is just sitting there so why not use it, I move into the workroom and grab the large ruby before sitting at a desk, first I remove the shield enchantment leaving the magical reserve.

I then start going through my notebook looking for a spell I can use, I have something pretty close the spell lets you engulf an area in a shield but only a small area, I'll make a better shield later for now I just need something that will work until I can research a better shield.

I modify it slightly making the shield weaker but letting me determine the area it will shield, and after two hours I have the shield done it's not as strong as I'd like but is more than enough to deal with a common thief, I spend another hour shaping the shield to fit my apartment.

The shield won't let any other things inside except me and Entropy, I'll need to turn it off to let others inside but I'll fix that later, and I'm not expecting visitors anytime soon, the ruby is already charged from sitting around and the shield won't take more magic then the game regenerates so It won't need to recharge.

I place it on a shelf in the work room before moving onto the next thing, I grab the book Celestia gave me, I've been reading through it and have found a few things, like the fact that I'm an idiot that can't see what's right in front of him, why? well I missed something so damn obvious that I hate it.

When I grow a plant they need two things, my life magic and soil, I don't add water something that plants need and this whole time I've been unknowingly compensating by using more magic than necessary, THIS WHOLE DAMN TIME!, as you can imagine this is a little annoying.

But I guess that's what you get when learning about a magic branch with whatever book you can find in a massive library by yourself, though it's not all my fault as none of the books I did find mentioned this, and even with water the process is only a little faster.

It’s a small boost but a welcome one, an odd thing I've found is that using water only helps grow plants without much magic, from what I can tell the more magic a plant has inside it the less of an effect adding water has, I don't know why, as magical plants seem to need just as much water.

My best guess is that like me when a plant grows they can also use their life magic to use less water, this is my best guess but there is a few things wrong with it, I'll have to try researching this later, although I don't have high hopes considering the fact that those same books didn't mention this whole mess.

I take two of my pots and fill them with rocky soil, I place them both on a desk and plant a wheat seed in both, after a while I have two wheat plants each with stalks and seeds, the cornels look smaller then the ones I've seen at the market, probably from the previous breeding attempts.

I leave them alone and move over to my other desk, I open my notebook and grab a small ruby, I enchant it with the same environment spell I used for the Juniper Berries it's not perfect but it will do just fine, after that I spend the rest of the day learning the magical flows of the wheat.

When I'm done I write what I felt down, I want to try comparing the starting wheat to the finished one to see if their magical flows are any different.

After I finish this I head into the main room to take a shower and make dinner, I feed both of us and head to bed early.

Chapter 31

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MAR 20 Thursday. I make my way through the park as I run past a tree, I've been going on a morning run most days for years now and it seems to do me well, I find it helps me clear my head and relax some.

I make it to the other side of the park and turn around, I used to do one lap through the park, but since I started working at the library I've grown, as it seems I've hit my teen years, I've been eating more in the past year then before, and have grown an inch or two.

I make it to the other side of the park and rest some before walking back home, as I leave the park Entropy lands on my back, she comes with me whenever I go running she mostly follows me or explores the park, she's almost three months old now.

The only difference I've seen in her is her feathers that are getting darker, before they looked almost identical to normal crow feathers just darker, now though they're starting to absorb light like her egg did, this isn't a problem right now but if it continues she'll start drawing unwanted attention.

The good news is that this process seems to be very slow, it's taken three months for me to see the slightest difference, and I spend almost all of my time with her, so others probably won't notice for a while, that gives me some time to find a solution, I'm thinking some type of illusion.

I enter my apartment and Entropy flies off, I head into my work room, I have a few things I want to make today, I grab my tools and bring them over to the Iron Oak in the main room, I'll need some wood so I'll be harvesting some branches, I saw two thicker branches off and help the plant heal.

I decompose all the excess, then I spend some time drying out the wood, I've gotten better at this over time and it only takes me half an hour to finish, I take them to my work room and start cutting the branches down, after an hour I have two, two inch thick and seven inch long wood blocks.

I place one block on my shelf and place the other on a desk along with my tools, I start whittling down the block, I thin it out and round it out with some sandpaper, after an hour I have a solid wood pen, I place my tools away and clean up my desk for the next step.

I made this for an experiment, I have always drawn my spell matrixes with my hoof, I want to see if I can use another source of magic to do the same thing, I grab a small ruby and enchant it to hold magic and place it to the side, I'll need a custom spell for this.

But I only need it to condense and release the magic at one point, I use two runes for this, a rune for concentrate, and a rune for release, these runes are almost perfect for this spell, concentrate is not ideal but it will work fine, the spell takes me until noon to finish it.

I link the new pen and ruby together and try to use it, I activate the link and let magic into the pen, and immediately realize a problem, I forgot to give the pen a way to stop drawing, but before I start modifying the spell I test it, I drag the pen through the air.

And an odd glowing line is carved into the air before letting it fade after a moment, I repeat this a few times and notice that the color is definitely odd, its color is white but it has a rainbow sheen to it.

This confuses me for a moment, but then I realize, the gem is feeding the enchantment with magic it's gathered from the environment around it, this means that the pen is using a random assortment of magic affinity types to draw this give it the odd effects.

I spend another hour fixing the spell, adding the ability to turn it off by tapping it twice like most other things I've made, I start by drawing a basic heating spell, but half way through the lines start disappearing, my best guess is the magic being used in the matrix.

When I draw a matrix all the magic used is my own, that magic is stable as it's from one source, but this magic is a mess of different affinities and not all combine well, when I use a gem to power an enchantment the magic gathered by the gem is condensed inside and released for an enchantment.

The difference between enchantments and a matrix, is that the enchantment is bound in a stable state on a object letting it use all types of magic without problems, but while a matrix is still being drawn the mass of conflicting magic types makes the magic unstable, that's why it disappears so much faster.

That's just my best guess though, I'll need to look into it later, this effect is small and wouldn't be a problem for anything but runic magic, as when a spell is being drawn it's very delicate and can be unstable if done wrong, I spend the next hour studying the pens magic.

I write down everything I learn in one of my notebooks, I've found some things out but this will need more study, the magic the pen uses is mostly condensed natural magic, this is where the white color comes from, the rest of the colors are small amounts of many different affinities.

With a little extra effort I'm able to draw the heating spell fast enough to cast it, and the results are the spell working and then rapidly breaking down, I won't be able to cast any spells fast enough to use the pen to make spells so I honestly don't know what to do with it.

If I separate out all the affinities out of the magic it should work fine, but that will require a lot of work and finding the right runes and math, and for something this small it doesn't seem worth it to spend all that time, I'll still probably look into it I'll leave this project alone for now.

I still have a few hours left before the day ends so I start work on the next project, that being training Entropy's teleportation, the method I was using is no longer useful, so after some thought I decided on the next step, I modified the shield we have been using, to block some of the light passing through it.

You can still see the inside it's just harder, she still sees me place a piece of meat inside when we start, I see her sit outside the shield for a while before disappearing, I turn off the shield and see her eating the piece of meat, she took much longer to teleport this time so we'll use this training method from now on.

It's eight by the time we are done, so I move over to the kitchen and make us some food, we eat in silence while I organize all my notes from today, after eating I drain my magic by breeding wheat, I've found a problem that I may encounter when breeding the wheat.

I need to make sure the wheat is still edible and tastes decent, I've looked through ways to test both and the best method I've found, and it depends on what it's used for, most in this world seem to breed wheat to increase its size, they don't seem to be able to test it's quality besides how it looks and tastes, so I'll be doing the same for now.

I'm planning on grinding up some of the grain every week or two and making some bread, it's not a perfect test but it seems to work well enough for this world, and I can try finding a better way to test it later, after draining my magic I take a shower and go to bed.

time skip

MAR 21 Friday. I get out of bed, after getting up I see Entropy teleport out of her cage and lands in front of me, one downside of teaching her how to teleport has been the fact that she can follow me anywhere and I can't really stop her, she's still bribable though.

I open my bedroom door and check on my plants, their all fine and the environment enchantments have been a success, as all three plants have been just fine without me, I move to the kitchen and make us some breakfast, fruit with a little meat for Entropy and I fry some fish and make myself a sandwich.

We eat and I leave for my morning run, it takes an hour to finish it and get back home, when we do get back I spend some time meditating on the space around me as Entropy trains with the new shield, I still haven't learned anything from watching her.

I feel her distort the space around her as she moves, we spend the next hour like this before stopping, I move over to the workroom with the wheat plants, I start breeding them, I grow several small plants in a pot then pick out the best ones before repeating the process.

I'll need a way to grind down the wheat, so I'll be going through the market today and try to find a solution, I see some light rain outside so I head to the front door, grab my saddlebags and put on my cloak, Entropy sits on my back as we leave, I walk down the stairs and out the building front doors.

I walk out into the rain feeling the light patter of raindrops on my cloak, Entropy doesn't seem to mind the rain either, she just sits on my back as I walk, I take my time moving through the streets as I walk to the markets, when we arrive I see less stalls then normal but even with the rain many are open.

As I walk I keep my eyes open for anything that could break down grain, I stop at a stall with several herbs and spices and see a mortar and pestle, it's made from a dark gray stone, I look it over and find it to be sturdy, the only problem with using this is it would be slow.

But after giving it some thought I buy it, after that I make my way through the market buying things I need at home, before I'm finished the rain starts picking up and I decide to head home early.

We make it back to the apartment, we are both fairly wet so I dry myself and Entropy off with a towel, I spend some time putting away all the food, I take my new mortar and pestle to my work room, I place them on my desk and get to work.

I want to enchant both to speed up the process of grinding down the wheat, I look through my notebook and find two symbols that should work fine, I want to enchant the mortar to be more durable and make the pestle grind things down easier.

For the mortar there are a few spells I can use that already exist, but I'll have to make one for the pestle, I use two runes for this, a rune of crushing and the other a rune of breaking, I'll need to make this enchantment weak enough to not damage the mortar.

I spend the next two hours making the spell and enchanting them, when I'm done I grow some wheat seeds and collect them, I try grinding them and the process is fairly easy only taking an hour to make a pound of flour, I collect the whole grain flour and place it inside a jar.

I clean everything up and take the jar into the kitchen, I haven't used the oven I have yet so why not make some bread?, I start with some water and flour and add some eggs, after adding some yeast I bought earlier I mix everything thoroughly, I don't have a baking pan but my solid iron pot will do just fine.

I place it down and let the dough rise, I spend an hour training Entropy before adding the dough into my pot and placing it in my oven, I don't have anything to do, so I just spend some time drawing, I draw Entropy as she sleeps on a branch of the Iron Oak.

I don't finish when I smell the bread, I check it and then wait a little longer before taking it out to cool down, I mostly finish my drawing by the time the bread is cool, I cut off a piece and add some butter, it's got a decent flavor, I spend the rest of the rainy day eating bread and drawing.

Chapter 32

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APR 5 Saturday. I place the last book in the cart on the bookshelf, I move the now empty cart back to the sorting room, I check the time and see that my shift is over so I return the cart and leave heading home.

I leave the library and make my way home, when I get home and enter my apartment Entropy flies over to me, I quickly make her some food and grab my saddlebags, I want to read some today but Entropy will try following me so I have to leave before she finishes eating.

I make it out of the apartment building without her following me, I walk back into the library and start looking through books, after a while I find a few books about what I need.

Today I'm going to spend some time reading about a few subjects, first anything I can find about the ambient magic in an environment, second combat magic, ever since the bear incident I've wanted something to defend myself, the library doesn't have many combat spells but there are a few.

Most of the combat spells you can find are weak or slow which makes sense, I don't think anypony want's powerful combat spells in a public library, the third subject is the shield protecting my house, it's not the best for several reasons, first and most importantly I need a way to let others inside by turning it off and on.

I've never had guests but I will at some point, the problem is I need someway to link the shield to myself or a way to control it remotely, I have an idea but I'll need a specific rune for it a rune and I don't have it, so I'm looking for it as I research other things.

I spend the next three hours reading through a few books, I add anything I find interesting into my notebook, as I make my way through the books I find a few things I could use, one of particular interest is a different type of rune for protection, a rune of citadel.

A citadel is a fortress or castle inside a city, the pony who created used the rune to enchant and reinforce walls, I want to use this in my shield as the runic context will work well, I'll combine this with the protection rune, the magic requirements will increase some but that's fine.

I still need something to turn it off and on, and after all my searching I didn't find any runes that would help, so until I find a rune that will work I'm just going to enchant an activation mechanism to do the same, I'll need to hide it but also keep it close, so I'll have to find a place to put it.

After finding a rune that would work with my shield I start looking through the combat magic books, most only have simple spells that aren't that useful to me but a few I find stand out, first a spell that's literally just a weak fire ball, the spells official name is lesser fire ball.

But from the description it's basically a fire bolt, it's small moves fast and isn't very destructive, but it's a decent spell so I add it to a new book that will have any spells related to combat, the second spell is just a water bolt, the last is a little odd it's not very dangerous but it is interesting.

It's a transmutation spell that turns soil into thick mud, I haven't found any transmutation spells before as they are normally too complex or powerful to be in the library, the spell itself is mostly uninteresting but the matrix is a different story, it has several runes I don't know and some fairly complex math.

Honestly this spell is much more complex than it needs to be, but I added it to my notes to study later, I see the library darkening as the sun sets I guess it's time to head home, I place the books back on their shelves before leaving the library and walking home.

When I enter the apartment I immediately have an annoyed bird cawing at me, I have to spend the next ten minutes bribing her with scratches and berries after that she calm down and spends her time following me, I go into the work room and find the shield.

I grab my large ruby, and start the careful process of removing the shield spell from it, I have to be very careful so I go slow, after half an hour I finish and can then start working on a new shield spell, I start with the protection rune and the citadel rune.

I work my way through the matrix adding and changing things as I go, it takes me a while to finish but when I'm done I have a better shield, the old shield stopped anything besides air me and Entropy, this one is the same but with the addition of the citadel rune the shield will protect the room more.

I'm not sure to what degree the new rune will improve the shield, but even with the spell costing more magic it looks sturdier, the last shield looked like a thin transparent wall this one is a little thicker and slightly less transparent, I'll have to find a way to test it but for now I'm happy with the improvements.

I spend some time enchanting the large ruby again and shaping the shield to cover my apartment, I shape it to hug the walls making sure not to extend it to other apartments, I start on the next step, I take a small piece of wood and start carving it into a small flat piece

It is a half inch by half inch flat wood piece, I enchant it to link into the shield and turn it off when flipped over on one side, I do this by using a rune for up and one for sticking so it doesn't flip by accident, I set the large ruby on my shelf and place the small wood piece on the counter top.

I look around looking for a decent location, I eventually decide to place it inside the Jungle ferns pot, the wood is Iron wood so it shouldn't rot and when it's sitting under the fern leaves it will be very hard to see, but its still nearby enough to flip when needed.

I take another piece of Iron oak wood, its an inch thick and several inches long, I carve down one side into a point and push it into the fern pots soil, I lay the activation piece on top of it and it sticks to it, when I need to turn off the shield I just pull the piece of wood until I overpower the weak sticking effect and flip it.

I test it several times making sure nothing is wrong and that the link is stable, after I'm satisfied that it's stable I move onto the combat spells, I sit down at a desk and open my new book studying the three new spells, I leave the transmutation spell alone for now and focus on the other two.

It will still be some time before I have the skill necessary to create a spell matrix without drawing it, so I want a spell with a decent amount of power and a simple matrix so I can draw it fast so I need to focus on one spell.

The water bolt spell takes longer and has a higher magic cost, but is better as it has a decent amount of force behind it, but it takes more time and magic to cast then the fire bolt, but on the other hoof the fire bolt spell is better at a distraction and if I hit the eyes or some fur it may do a decent amount of damage.

After looking over the spells I decide on the fire bolt spell, my reason for choosing it is its matrix, the fire spell works by gathering air and lighting it on fire then shooting it at something, the water bolt spell works by gathering water from the air and shooting it.

What matters is how simple I can make it, the fire spell uses fewer runes and a smaller matrix, letting me draw it faster, I spend the next hour taking apart and modifying the fire bolt spell, It's not easy as the spell is simple, giving me few things to improve.

When I'm done I have a new fire bolt spell, it costs a little more magic then the original but is faster to cast using a simplistic and small matrix, I'll need a lot of practice with it but I have time if nothing else, I spend a while drawing the matrix, practicing.

I don't have anything to do after this, I think for a moment before deciding to go for a walk, it's night time but that doesn't mean there's nothing to do, I grab my bags and magic light then move to the door, but Entropy doesn't seem willing to let me go without her so I let her sit on my back.

I've heard of a few places that are still lively at night, the first is a place nicknamed lantern street it's a small street filled with a night market lit up by many hanging lanterns, I've been curious about it and it's open on weekends, I make my way through the dark streets with my magic light.

Entropy doesn't seem to mind the dark, she blends in so well that even with the light I have with me you can barely see her, I walk down several streets and enter the market district, I see several other ponies walking to a specific street I follow them and see the street I'm looking for.

When I turn a corner I hear and see a fairly busy street, its filled with stalls on both sides with a clear path through the middle, almost all of the ponies I see are batponies then a few unicorns and one pegasi, in between the stalls there is ropes with hanging lanterns made from colored paper.

There is a lantern on each rope, two or three every ten feet or so, there also very bright so I walk into the street and look at a lantern closely, there is a hole in the bottom of the paper shell, inside I'm surprised to see a small gem with a piece of wood lighting up the lantern.

After some staring I see that the gem is locked in place with a metal cage around it linked to the rope above it, I follow the rope and see them tied to the stalls main posts, if somepony tried to steal one they would need to reach up there and cut the metal.

They could probably still be stolen, but unless you steal several they wouldn't be worth the risk for how cheap they are, It's a little odd seeing something I've made being used, after staring for a moment longer I move on exploring the street looking through different stalls and what they are selling.

It's very similar to the regular market, all the normal things are here, many with a night theme, I stop at a food stall selling some type of noodles, I haven't eaten dinner so I sit at the stall and buy some, not long after I have a bowl of hot noodles with some broth.

It reminds me of ramen, it has a piece of carrot and some brown sauce on top, I'm given a fork and spend my time eating a warm meal, when I finish I leave the fork and bowl on the stall, I continue exploring the market, I pass a few stalls and find one that catches my interest.

The stall has different jewelry stones and uncut gems, most are small things but I see something that I like, it's a bracelet much like the one Daisy gave me, It's made from silver and has four sapphires imbedded in its front, I pick it up and get a better look.

They form a cube with lines in between them, each sapphire occupies a corner making a sideways cube with corners pointing up and down, the side corners lead to lines carved to go around the bracelet, I see the price and it's a little expensive but that's fine.

The only problem is that I can't tell if its real silver, it definitely has the weight and color of silver but I can't really tell, after some thought I decide to take the risk and buy it anyway, I spend a moment haggling and after arguing that I had no way to tell if it's real silver we come to an agreement.

I get a decent bit off the price and continue down the street, I almost make it to the other end not finding anything else I'd like, but on the last stall I see a few plants, most look uninteresting but one I recognize, a Moon Glow it's a plant that releases a small pale light at night.

The plant uses this to attract bugs and their predators, so when something like a frog finds the plant it will eat the bugs and often relieve itself next to the plant, the frog gets a free meal and the plant gets fertilized, a symbiotic relationship for both, I'm interested in it as it has a few properties that will be interesting to selectively breed or cross breed.

The plant isn't rare but it is hard to transplant or move so you don't find them often, I buy the plant and make my way to the end of the street, I turn a corner and start walking home with my new things.

Chapter 33

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APR 10 Thursday. I sit at my desk tinkering with the water bolt spell, even if I decided to focus on the fire bolt spell I thought I'd tinker around with the water bolt spell, I don't really have a reason, but having a well made version might be useful later.

I've been able to increases the speed at which the spell gathers water, but that increased the matrixes complexity making it harder to cast, If I want to progress in my casting speed I'll need more practice, so right now I'm practicing drawing two matrixes at once.

I attempted this several months ago but I didn't have enough control at the time so I stopped, and I've improved my control, I haven't been practicing like this so I'm drawing a matrix and holding it there before attempting to draw a second matrix.

When I cast a spell I need to draw the matrix with my magic and then push enough magic into it, the difference comes in when I want to hold a matrix without using it as soon as it's done being drawn, when I place my magic into the air it will dissipate after around a minute.

As a pony grows more powerful there magic is more stable letting them hold a matrix without effort longer, but when you want to keep a matrix around after that you need to concentrate and keep the magic stable, when I first tried doing this type of training I didn't have the control to keep the matrix stable.

And I also didn't have enough practice to draw the matrix fast enough to cast both, what changed is that I now am much better at drawing matrixes making them more stable, as a matrixes stability is affected by a few things, first how well its drawn, second how stable the magic used to draw it is, and finally how well the spell is constructed.

When I first did this training my matrixes had imperfections in them, and they still do just to a lesser extent, this is why I failed and why I can do it now, I spend the next hour drawing the firebolt matrix and holding it as long as I can keeping it stable, but the longer I try the more it seems to slip away before it fails entirely.

Right now my magic can hold a spell in the air for just under a minute, and I can hold it there for about three minutes before it collapses and the magic dissipates, I'm not sure why but as a ponies magic grows it becomes more stable, I tried to find out why but most don't even use runic magic let alone study it's mysteries.

After practicing some I stop to work on something else, my new plant has been doing ok, I have it in a pot on the kitchen counter as it doesn't like direct light, I've done some research about it over the past few days and have found a few things of note.

First its glow isn't just light, it's moonlight, the plant seems to convert ambient magic into lunar affinity magic, I'm not sure if it has any real use right now as lunar magic seems like another variation of light, but it's something of note, the plant also seems to prefer forest soil.

I've been feeding it life magic to keep it healthy but it doesn't seem to like this environment as I can feel my magic healing it whenever I give it some, I'm not sure what the problem is but that's fine as it is the only plant I need to keep healthy right now.

I've learned some things about the Moon Glow, first how long does it's light last?, well that depends on how large the plant is and how much magic it is the environment around it, second are there any uses for the plant beyond light?, yes but not much, the leaves can be used as a mild healing agent.

It helps with small cuts and scrapes, but beyond that the plant is mostly just a natural light, I've collected some seeds from the Moon Glow to store and am going to leave the plant alone until I start trying to selectively breeding it or find a use for it, It's ten in the morning and I don't have much else to do today so I look through my things to get some ideas.

And I land on my new bracelet, I'm not exactly sure how I want to enchant it but I have a few ideas, first this bracelet is made from silver which can handle much more magic going through it than the copper one Daisy gave me, that combined with the better gems gives me more magic to work with.

I move to my bedroom and take off the copper and topaz bracelet Daisy gave me, Daisy is the first real friend I made in this life and I don't want to damage the first gift she gave me, so I place a cloth under it and leave it on my bedside, I've keep using it as a clock for checking the time when I wake up.

I don't want to just stop wearing it, but I can't keep it on me always, I'll still wear it sometimes but I think I'll keep it at home for now, I head to the work room and get started, I grab the new bracelet and sit at a desk.

I start by enchanting all four sapphires to hold magic and linking them together, I want this to still be a watch but I can add more now, I spend time going over the spell matrix for my watch, the last bracelet didn't have much magic so I had to make the spell as simple as I could.

But this time I can add a few more things, first it will tell me the time and date now, second it will let me set a timer that will make the bracelet activate when the timer finishes, and it even has enough magic to add two very small illusions, when it's day there will be a small sun and a small moon at night.

I spend some time working on the matrix and refining it, I then enchant the silver of the bracelet with the new time spell, it takes a while to get the Illusions right but I'm able to get them looking right, when I turn it on, it shows a small clock in the middle, on the left is a small sub number for the timer, with the date and year on the right side .

Just like the last bracelet it can't be active all the time , but it can be active for longer, the last one could last two to three minutes before using all it's magic, this one can last ten minutes and is much more useful, I go through the rest of my things before leaving the workroom.

I don't have anything left I want to do so I grab my things and bring Entropy with me to the park, I walk through the streets and after a while we reach the parks edge, we come here often mostly on my morning runs but also whenever I need to relax or Entropy needs to stretch her wings.

I walk over to an empty bench and sit down, I don't have anything to do here either but it's nice to simply do nothing sometimes, as I watch the scene in front of me I see several ponies, some younger ones playing and older ponies talking or playing with them.

Most seem to be having a good day, but there is something odd, I'm just sitting there when a pony enters a restroom nearby, at first they look uninteresting a brown unicorn stallion, I barely notice him when he enters and I wouldn't find it odd except he doesn't use his magic to open the door but his hoof instead even though I can see the dirty handle form here.

It's a little odd but I don't really care about what others are doing, but then things get weird, another pony comes out they are a gray unicorn stallion that walks off and out of sight, I wait because I'm now curios about when they will leave, I realize that what I'm doing is stupid but my curiosity is nagging at me but I let my curiosity win, so I decide to just go inside check on them.

I turn the dirty handle with my field and open the door, inside is a few stalls and a urinal, but as I look around I notice something all the stalls are empty, I check the room but there's nopony here it's completely empty which makes no sense, I kept my eyes on the door the whole time and there's only one entrance nopony could leave without me seeing them.

Something doesn't feel right so I spend a moment thinking before I realize what might be happening, I try and act calm as I leave the restrooms and walk out of the park, I walk slowly down the streets as I keep an eye out for anything following me and I don't stop checking behind me until I enter my apartment,

When I enter I put Entropy down but she keeps following me chirping softly at me, "I'm fine girl, just something unexpected" I make myself some tea to calm down before getting my thoughts in order.

This has raised several questions for me but before I go down that rabbit hole I need to make sure I'm correct in my guess, what do I know for sure?, first a pony entered that restroom and a different pony came out, there is only one entrance and exit so there's nowhere else they could have gone.

Which leads to my best guess and the reason I left the park so fast, that pony may have been a changeling, I don't have concrete proof but I can't see many other possibilities and all of those are even less likely to be true, I spend a moment writing down all I remember about how they looked.

Both were male unicorns around the same height, the first one had a light brown coat and red mane, the second a deep gray coat and blue mane, I don't remember much else about either of them but I think they looked parity similar besides the colors of the coat and mane.

I don't know why they were in the city, but if I had to guess a park filled with ponies enjoying a nice day and having fun is a decent place to gather love, although would they really be so desperate for love to risk being active right next to the princess?, then again hiding right under her nose isn't the worst strategy.

This still doesn't solve what I'm going to do about this, I can't tell anypony as nopony should know about them for years, I think for a while before deciding on my next course of action, I won't do anything as I can do little that would help, I won't be able to stop them myself nor do I want to as that endangers the future.

So for now I'll think of ways to protect myself, and fight them when the time comes but that also won't happen for years, the good news is I don't think they will be a danger to anypony as they are probably just here to gather the love magic released into the environment.

With my mind made up I stand and make some lunch for the both of us and we eat in silence, Entropy seems to know I'm still a little on edge as she seems determined to distract me, she keeps throwing her ball at me until I throw it out and then returning it back to me.

I smile a bit as she bows her head and ruffles her feathers, I scratch her neck moving the feathers around, "thanks girl, what would I do without you?" I get a caw and some small chirps in response, I try to stop worrying over this unexpected encounter and do some training to distract myself.

I move to my workroom and start messing with the pen I made not long ago, I still cant use it for much but it can help me train something, if I draw a matrix fast enough I can try and hold the unstable matrix, this lets me train my control over magic not my own.

I don't know if this will be useful but I thought the same thing about my Tk field when I first started, it's much harder to hold these matrixes in place as the magic fights me the whole time trying to break free and unwind, I can only hold it for several seconds before it dissipates but that can be improved, I think.

I spend the rest of the day inside training and thinking of things I could do and playing with Entropy.

Chapter 34

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APR 19 Saturday. I sit down at a table in the breakroom with my lunch, in front of me is Daisy and Blaz, and Maple is eating on my left.

I look at Daisy as she's eating and ask her something, "hey Daisy?" she turns her head to me "any good auctions happening soon?", she thinks for a moment and swallows her food.

"Yes actually there is one I know of, it's happening in a few weeks but it's not as large or particularly interesting as the last one, it doesn't need an invite though, you want to go?"

"Ya I enjoyed the last one and I'm getting a little bored and need something to shake things up some, plus they can have very interesting things."

"You still remember the last one we went to" I nod "same place next month on the seventh, I'm down to go with you?"

"Sure, thanks Daisy", we continue our lunch and get back to work, it's uneventful as always and after a few hours I'm free to head home.

After getting home I take a moment to go through my calendar to make sure I'm not missing something important, half way through marking the date of the auction I realize that I forgot my birthday, it was April fifth, I've been so busy that I just forgot it, I decide to make up for it by doing something fun or stupid, probably both.

I spend some time feeding Entropy before grabbing my saddlebags and taking Entropy with me, I'm heading to the practice range that I've used in the past as I want to practice the combat spells I have, instead of just practice drawing the matrix, I walk through the streets and find the right building.

I enter and rent the next three hours of time inside the range, it's a simple test range much like a gun range with stalls and targets on an opposite wall, the wall in made of stone and enchanted so you can get pretty crazy before you damage it, I walk into the range and pick a spot.

I leave Entropy behind me and make sure to keep her there, I draw out the firebolt matrix and send it down the range at a target drawn on the wall, I don't hit it but get close so I try again drawing two firebolt spells at once, I succeed but aiming both is even more difficult then just one.

I brought some tea in my flask to drink, so I spend the next hour firing bolt after bolt improving my aim, while Entropy somehow sleeps nearby despite the noise, I stop and spend some time going through my notes while regenerating my magic, while I'm resting I see an older looking unicorn stallion walk past my stall.

He has a black mane and a stone gray coat along with yellow eyes, a strong build with more muscle then some earth ponies I've seen, I get up and start casting again and this time I've gotten a little bit better at aiming the spell, I repeat this cycle once more, but while resting again I'm interrupted.

"You're not bad colt", hearing the voice I look up from my book and see the older stallion that passed me earlier, his voice is deep and gravelly.

"Thank you? I don't think we've met before, have we?"

"No we haven't met before, but I saw you casting that spell a lot and got curious, not many younger ponies coming here to cast spells so much."

"Well thank you for the compliment, but if you don't mind me being blunt with you what do you want?"

He lets out a chuckle "fair, well first I should probably introduce myself, names Stone Mace nice to meet you."

"Shade evergreen, nice to meet you too."

"To answer your question I rarely see young'uns like you practice so much, most learn a spell until they are competent with it and leave it at that, few I've seen practice so much after that, so my question is why are you practicing so hard."

I think for a moment before answering him, "I use runic casting so it can take me a while to cast a spell and firebolt is a fast spell so I'm trying to get decent at aiming it."

He nods at me seemingly pleased with my answer, "well I've met a few ponies that use runic casting, so I don't know how good you are but some of the recruits I've had are a bit slower then you, so good job."

"Former guard?"

He smiles "caught that did you? ya I used to be a guard I retired last month and I'm already regretting it" he says that last part with a grumble" I raise a brow at him before deciding not to ask, "speaking of the guard you ever consider joining?"

"No I'm apprenticing at the city library" before I continue Entropy wakes up from her nap apparently deciding to wake up from our voices and not the spells being sent down range be other ponies, she turns to Stone and stares at him for a while, he also notices her and stairs back, they keep this up for a few moments before Stone lets out another chuckle.

"Seems your friend keeps an eye on others, the library? well not many go there but it's a decent profession, you planning to stay there or do something else."

I stay silent for a moment wondering if I should answer him as we just met, but I decide to tell him the partial truth, as others like Daisy and Blaz already know I want to make spells they just don't know I already do, "I'm planning on getting into spell creation and research."

He nods at me again, "a good career, so that's why you're taking notes?"

"ya I'm researching how this spell works right now" another partial truth.

"And decided to get some hoofs on experience? good most who take that path only make things and either keep it to themselves or pass it on, you want some advice from an old stallion?"

"Why?'.

"Like I said most ponies your age don't put in nearly this much effort, I like that and I don't have much else to do right now."

I think for a moment before deciding to humor the old stallion "ok sure why not?", he spends the last hour I rented giving me tips and some advise on how to properly aim a spell, his advise really helps as I make more progress in that hour then the previous two hours, but after my rented time is up we part ways.

"Thanks for the help sir Stone."

"Ha it's just Stone colt no need for sir, also colt you have more persistence then most of the recruits I've trained don't lose it, I work here as a trainer so if you need some help I'd be happy to give some advice when I'm not working", I realize that I may have kept him from his work, but he seems to see the look on my face, "I'm not working today if that's what your wondering."

I sit there for a moment before making a decision "you have any open spots?" he raises a brow before nodding "well I wouldn't mind having a trainer so how much?"

"You sure colt?"

"I get paid decently and have the spare time plus I could use the practice, so why not."

"Well I'll need to ask your parents but if they agree I'm willing."

I open my bag and take out a paper card, I'm an orphan living on my own this lets me do some things that others can't at my age but I need to provide proof, so I was given a card saying as much for situations like this, I pass the card over to him and he looks over it, his face doesn't shift but if feels a little softer.

"Well then I have an open slot on Wednesday the thirtieth from five to seven and it costs fifteen bits an hour, that work for you?"

"That works fine, I'll be there" I check my watch and decide it's time to head home, "Thanks for the help, and have a good day Stone."

"Same to you colt", he says as I walk out of the room, I make my way through the streets and get back to my apartment after a while, all this time I've been learning on my own but now I have a teacher for the first time in a long time, I still don't fully trust him but guards frequent the range so if I need help it would be easy.

I grab the wheat plants and take them to the workroom, I've kept up with breeding them almost every day and I've made a little progress, at this point I've mastered its magic flows as best I can with my skill right now and that has sped up the process massively.

I can breed them around fifteen times now before having to stop and regain my magic, this is faster than I originally thought it would be, at this rate I'll be able to finish this in five to six months from now, but because I'm breeding them so quickly I need to test them more often than before.

This has led to me making bread almost every day now, my watch has helped a lot in this as with some experimenting I've been able to find out how long it needs to bake before it's ready, letting me set a timer and do other things at the same time without the worry of starting a fire.

The good news is I don't buy bread anymore as I make plenty for both me and Entropy, I mostly make sandwiches and toast, I've even tried making some sweets and made some cookies they were ok but I can definitely improve them, Entropy also seemed to like them.

I've enjoyed baking and it's nice having fresh bread but I'll need to buy more yeast if I continue like this, but that's fine it's inexpensive and common, as for the wheat it's still early but I'm already seeing a very small amount of progress.

Its grains are the same but the wheat has been growing a little better in the rocky soil now, I'm going to change the wheat's soil every few weeks adding more rocks and less soil each time, I'll keep doing this over time to let the wheat slowly adapt over successive generations.

It's still slow going but progress is progress, I spend the next hour breeding the wheat, I get through thirteen generations before stopping to harvest enough grains to bake some bread, I'll be baking more than normal as I want to give some to Daisy.

I want to give her some both as a gift and to see if she thinks the wheat tastes decent, I bought a few loaf pans a few days ago to make bread loafs, I grind down the grain keeping the bran on the grain, I knead the dough and let it rise before filling two loaf pans and bake them.

I set a timer and move back into the work room, I'm going to work on my shield some more, I'm not going to update it for a while but I want to start making things to add when I do, first fire protection this one is both easy and hard, I'll need a way to detect fire that and put it out.

Detecting a fire is hard as I cant detect the temperature as that would make the shield also detect any heat source high enough, that includes my stove and oven so I need some other way to detect fire, I also need a way to put out fire without destroying anything.

For that the best method would be removing the air, but I have to be careful not to suffocate myself by accident, but I can't do that without a way to detect fire so it's best to start there, I look through my book and find a rune that might work, a rune for fire prevention.

I don't need to prevent fire but stop it, still this could be of use, I tinker around with the shielding spell and try to think of ideas that could work, I'm eventually brought out of my thoughts by my watch lighting up, I turn the alarm off by deactivating the enchantment.

I move back into the main room and take the bread out of the oven, it's well cooked and has a good look to it, I take the bread out of the pans before placing them on a plate before putting it on the counter and let it cool down, I drink some tea and keep looking through my notes for a while.

I get up and check the bread it's still warm but is fine to eat, I take a loaf with me and leave Entropy inside my apartment before moving into the hallway, I move across the hallway and knock on a door, the door opens and I'm greeted by Daisy "oh hey Shade, what do you need?"

"I made some bread and thought you'd like some" I passed the loaf over to her and she smiles at me then takes the loaf.

"Thanks, I'll tell you what I think tomorrow, want to come inside?"

"No thank you, I'm a little busy right now, have a good day Daisy."

She gives me a knowing smile "sure, have a good day Shade."

I walk away and make my way back inside, I spend some time making lunch, I cut some bread slices and toast them in a pan with butter, before frying some eggs in the same pan, I eat my lunch while sharing some of my eggs with Entropy.

Chapter 35

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APR 30 Wednesday. I enter the training range a little before five in the afternoon, I'm here to train with Stone Mace, I check in at the desk and am led by a pony to a room, and open the door.

Inside I see Stone slashing a sword around in front of him, he notices me and stops, "come on in colt."

I enter the room, it's mostly plain looking with wood floors and white walls, "so what do you have planned for today?"

"Well first I have a few questions for you" I nod "first your age was marked as twelve right?" I nod again "I can see why others may think you're older, most your age don't act as mature as you, you're also tall for your age, but that's besides the point, second do you want help in spell casting and exercise or just one?"

"I'd like both."

"Good, do you do any exercises right now and what do you eat regularly?"

"Morning runs for a few years now and I eat a decent amount of bread, I should probably eat more veggies now that you bring it up, and meat three to two times a week."

I see his expression change a little giving me an odd look "meat? besides batponies I've met only two ponies in my life that eat meat, I'll be honest colt that's an odd habit for any pony let alone an earth pony but I'm not one to judge others, I do think you should cut back some though."

"I've worked with several batponies and from what I remember they ate meat once maybe twice a week, so I suggest you cut back to one maybe two meals with meat in them per week, moving on I'd like to test you some, basic things mostly a few exercises and some spell practice."

"Sounds good to me", he starts out by showing me some exercises I can do at home or when on my runs, he works me hard for the first hour having me push my bodies limits some, after that first hour we move onto spell practice and aiming, it was mostly small but impotent things.

Little things like how to better visualize a spells trajectory, when you cast a spell aiming it is mostly a matter of control over your magic and how well you can judge distance and speed, he has me cast spells as fast as I can while moving around at a slow trot.

I've never had to cast a long range spell while moving so this took me a while to hit anything, but progress is slowly made with each and every attempt, after that we spend the rest of our time going over different exercises in detail, I leave after seven as we both need to get home.

When I enter the apartment I see Entropy waiting for me, she flies over and demands some attention before leaving me alone, she's stopped following me everywhere inside but she still keeps an eye on me, although she still tries to follow me anytime I leave.

I drop my saddlebags and head to my workroom, I'm going to work on illusions some, I enter the room and grab a medium ruby to work with, I sit down with the ruby along with one of my notebooks and start as always by getting the gem to hold and gather magic.

I didn't do anything for my birthday and the last time I made a complex illusion was when I made the Celestia models so I think it's about time I dip my hooves back in and have some stupid fun with illusions.

I'm using one of my two medium rubies for this as they can let me get more complex and interesting with my creations, I'm going to use the same illusion spell I used for the Celestia models and a new one I found that lets me shift the colors instead of only having one solid color.

These spells combined give me a decent range of color and detail to work with, I want to make something really impressive and fun so I'm going to lair several enchantments and illusions onto the gem, I'm making a small planet, I'm hoping to make a small fake planet that I can modify and change however I like.

To start off with I'm going to need to make this illusion be able to move around, not much but I'd like it to spin if nothing else, but illusions like that are magic intensive the good news is I have found a spell that will help with all of this, a base frame spell.

This spell lets you attach different illusion spells onto it, the two things to keep in mind is there are only twelve slots for illusions spells you can link into it, and you can't use other spells beyond illusions as the frame spell was made to only use illusions.

The spell itself works by linking other spells to it through a different type of linking spell from what I normally use, using both of these combined you can link illusions together and have them stack on top of each other this lets them interact to an extent.

I'm looking into other frame type spells and I haven't found any other types yet, but I'll keep looking, I start with the frame spell and the first illusion, I create a stone colored sphere and take my time slowly adding other details as I go, after a while I have some indents that will be oceans.

I shape some mountains but then realize that they are far too big to look right, I spend more time trying to get them right and after an hour I have something that look kind of like a rocky dead world, it's rough and will take more work but I think it's good enough to add the water.

I layer the second illusion and shape it to fill all the sunken areas with blue, it's all one color so it kind of looks like a 3D rendering of a simplistic world, I spend some time adjusting its colors and get it to shift from lighter to darker water at different parts, and keep it transparent.

I spend more time adjusting these two illusions and getting them to look decent, I make some progress but this project will take me a while to get right and make it look good, I stop as it's getting late and move away from my desk to eat dinner and get some sleep.

time skip

MAY 7 Wednesday.

I just got off from work and am heading back to my apartment, I have a busier schedule than normal because I'm doing a whopping two things today, first practice with Stone and second the auction with Daisy later today, at first I worried that I'd have to miss practice with Stone or the auction, but after asking Daisy the auction starts at seven thirty so luckily I'll have time for both.

I get to my apartment and spend some time taking care of daily chores, I feed Entropy and tend to the plants before spending my spare time tinkering with my little planet project, the water and land is much more detailed then before and I've moved onto the next steps.

I added two new illusions to the frame, first is a transparent bubble that covers everything and is opaque, its thick so it reaches out from the ground and up giving the planet an atmosphere, I think it looks fine but it will need some more work, the second is that the whole illusion now slowly spins on a tilted axis.

The next thing I want to add is clouds and some greenery on the land, but that's for later as I don't want to be late for practice, I grab my saddlebags and leave heading for the range.

I make it there after a little while, and make my way to the same room as last time, as I enter I see Stone doing the same thing as last week swinging around a sword and practicing different slashes, "hey Stone" I call out as I place my saddlebags on the floor and close the door.

He turns to me "colt" he greets "well you've come around for a second time, keep this up and we'll get you properly trained in no time" he jokes.

"Do many not come back?"

"Some but many also choose not to, before we begin I want to ask you exactly what you want training for, I know you want to get better with your spells and fitness but what's your goal here?"

I take a moment to think it over, I want to be ready for what's to come and deal with the things that will inevitably pop up, but in what way? I think a little more before answering him, "could you put me through the same training guards go through?"

He raises a brow before showing a small smile, "well I've not gotten that request before, those who ask for that type of training are planning to join the guard but that doesn't matter, yes I can, but if you ask me to do that I'll need you to stay with me the whole way through."

He moves down a little to be eye level with me, then locks eyes with me "if I train you like that I expect you to be here until the end and if you quit I won't continue training you, I won't train anypony like that unless they prove they've earned it, you got that colt?"

I've met a few people like Stone in my past life, one of my uncles was former military so when they ask you something like this I know they are being completely serious, I also know that this is a opportunity I may never get again as Stone has trained guards before and he will be by far the best teacher I can find.

That and having the same training as a guard even if I don't manage to finish it will be invaluable to future plans and events, with my mind made up I give him a firm nod, "yes I want this."

He keeps eye contact with me for several seconds before giving his own nod, "good then let's get started."

An hour later I realize I may have made a mistake, "you call that running?! I've seen fillies run faster! Now pick up the pace colt?!, I severely underestimated both how loud Stone is when he shouts and how much of a slave driver he can be, although that last part is mostly my fault as I asked a former guard trainer to train my dumbass.

By the time our session ended I was barely standing and was utterly exhausted, I'm resting while taking deep gulps of water from my flask when Stone approached me with a piece of paper, "how are you feeling colt?"

I almost glared at him while answering, "well I just got to see what's in store for me, so about as well as can be expected."

He gives a deep chuckle in response, "well then consider this the cherry on top" he passes me a list of different exercises and meal suggestions, "that is a regimen similar to what a guard goes through when in training camp, I expect you to do the same."

I'm tired and sore but still stand and give him a determined nod, "I didn't go through today just to quit now, so bring it on you madpony."

He only smiles in response "you'll have to try harder than that to get on my nerves colt, we still have a little time left anything you want to ask?"

I ask several questions about the list he gave me and a few specific things on it, when we are done I bring my tired body back home to take a shower and get cleaned up, I eat some bread really quickly before leaving without Entropy and making my way to the auction house.

I arrive and have to wait twenty minutes before Daisy shows up, "sorry if I kept you waiting, I had some last minute paperwork that needed to get done."

"It's fine I wasn't waiting long" we enter the building and pay for two seats in the auction "so know anything about this auction?", I ask as we put on our cloaks and masks.

"Well this auction is smaller than the last one and will probably be less interesting, but hey there is always something to look at if nothing else."

"Fair enough", we make our way into the same large room as last time, inside there are around one hundred ponies far less than last time as back then this room was full, we take a seat not having a specific number this time allowing us to sit anywhere not taken.

We choose middle seats and wait for the auction to start, after a while everpony finds a seat and the doors are closed as the auction begins, a mare walks out on stage and like last time says a few words before bringing out the first item, it's a fancy sword well made but uninteresting to me.

The Next several items are the same, well made weapons and a few other things, like a pure silver tea set or a gold lined silk cloak, as the next item is bought out and it does catch my interest some, a wood crate filled with many books, some old and others new.

"This next item is an assortment of books bought from a private collector, the books are mostly random but a few are spell tomes and several are hoof written, the bidding will start at sixty five bits", I don't know if anything in that crate will be worth it, but I don't see a reason not to try and see what's inside.

I raise my paddle up, "I have sixty five bits, going once", almost before he can finish another paddle goes up and calls out.

"Seventy five", I guess I'll have to fight for this one then.

"Seventy five, going once, goi" he's cut off by me raising my paddle again.

"Eighty five"

"Eighty five, going once, going twice, going thrice, sold", it seems the other party decided it wasn't worth it.

The auction continues and more things are brought out, I sadly don't find anything else of interest but I did get something, and Daisy even got herself a necklace made from silver so the night went pretty well all things considered, after the auction I pay them eighty five bits and get my crate.

I spend the time it takes to walk home talking to Daisy, we break apart at our doors and I close the door behind me, I use my light when I enter to light up the dark room, I get a little scare when I see Entropy sitting right in front of me in the dark barely visible, as always I have to bribe her before she will forgive me.

I'm tired and don't have work tomorrow so I just feed both of us and collapse on my bed sleeping like a dead rock.

Chapter 36

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MAY 21 Wednesday. I run while being shouted at by Stone like all my Wednesdays now, the training has been a brutal grind of physical and magical exhaustion, the training schedule Stone gave me was also a tough routine but it is working well.

I've lost a little weight and the physical exercise is becoming a little easier, I'm still far from being done but I've passed the worst part, I think, and I won't quit now.

I've also made progress in everything else I'm doing, my little planet has been something I've put a decent amount of time into, I've added some greenery and have made some progress on the clouds, the wheat project is still making steady progress and as far as I can tell the bread I make still seems to be fine,

I've also learned a little of the griffin language in the past three months, but I'm only learning it in some of my spare time so I've made slow progress, I'll keep learning for now but eventually I'll need to get some practice with the language, I could try and do some trading at the market with griffin traders, but that's for a later date.

Moving on from that, I've also spent a few days over the last two weeks going through all the books I bought at the auction, most were books I've seen in the library, but a few were new to me, they were mostly uninteresting or useless to me right now, and then there is the hoof written books.

The books are trash, all but one are just journals and diaries, one was a little useful it's a book about research into rock formations, not very useful right now but still better then everything else inside the crate, I did have to buy a bookshelf to store all the books I wanted to keep, and to help keep them nice and organized.

I've kept up with general research and learning a few things here and there, and I've been thinking about what project I want to work on next, I've thought of a few things but most had to be put to the side as they were either too complicated to work on right now, or would make too much of a impact on the world.

A good example of the first thing is healing magic as I'm still learning as much as I can about it but progress is painfully slow, all the spells use way too many symbols with hard concepts to learn properly, I have learned one other healing spell as I thought it would be a large help, and it has.

It helps recover from sore muscles, it speeds up the healing process slightly, the spell doesn't cost that much magic but because you need to use it for an extended period of time it can add up, I've mostly used it to speed up my recovery from training with Stone.

And I've had a few ideas that had to be scrapped because of potential problems, for instance the communication spell I tried to make, I may still make it but after some thought I decided that if I do make it I won't be giving it to others unless it's really needed, it would simply cause too many potential problems to the plot of the story.

But that still leaves me with nothing to work on or improve, I stop running as Stone calls an end to the first half of our training, "hey colt" I look over to Stone as he sits next to me.

"Ya?"

"I've noticed something these last few weeks?" I give him a nod to continue, " did you know you act like a unicorn?"

I raise a brow at him, "in what way?"

"Most unicorns I've met don't do much physical work, they tend to just use their magic instead of their hooves, even I do that just less" I've gained some trust in Stone so I told him about my field as it's a relatively small thing to reveal, "I think you need to get used to using your hooves more.

That's not to say you shouldn't use your field thing, it's a massive advantage over others, especially those who don't see it coming, but like I said you also should use your hoofs more, we don't want you getting hurt if that field ever fails you."

I think on his words for a few moments before realizing he's right, "I think you're right, thanks Stone."

He flashes me a smile "no problem colt that's what I'm here for, let's get back to it", he stands back up and starts walking to the targets.

"Sure" we spend the rest of our time practicing casting spells while moving around, I do this in two ways, first keeping a matrix in the air and moving it with me, at first this proved to be difficult but I've gotten a little better over time.

The other method is to draw the matrix as I walk and make it follow me, this is much harder as walking with three legs is more difficult than it looks, both methods are not easy but I'll need to get better if I want to be able to defend myself while staying mobile.

After I finish the training and make my way home, I like always have to tend to Entropy before she'll let me go about my business, I feed her some juniper berries before heading into my work room, I still don't have any large things to work on so I might as well work on my current projects.

But I also want to try something different for once so I'm going to try and cross breed two plants that are different, I'll still pick two plants that are fairly similar to increase my chances, I grab three pots and some soil before sitting at a desk.

I then grab two seeds from my small collection, a Thimbleberry seed and a black berry seed, I want to breed both of these as they are similar but different enough to see changes, I plant and grow both into small bushes before making them flower and bloom.

I move some pollen from one to the other and let the flowers fruit, I pick the fruit and extract some seeds from the thimbleberry before planting them in the third pot, when the resulting plant grows it looks about the same as the Thimbleberry, I let it grow and fruit before picking a berry.

It looks about the same just a small red berry, I try eating it and don't notice anything different, I try this whole process a few more times trying to change the resulting plant, and after seven attempts I finally get something new, the berries on this bush are a darker shade of red while also being less sweet.

It's not much but I still succeeded in my attempt, I stop for now decomposing all the plants after collecting some seeds, I make some tea to recover my magic and work on the wheat next, I grab both pots of wheat and two other pots before moving them to the workroom desk.

I also grab a Moon Glow seed as I want to experiment with it some after, I decomposed the first Moon Glow a while back as I have plenty of seeds to grow one whenever I need it, I place the wheat on my desk along with the other two pots and remove one of the four pots then plant the Moon Glow seeds inside the pot and put it to the side for later.

I first start by collecting some of the wheat seeds and composting the plants, I need to remix the soil to make it more rocky as the wheat has adapted to the current soil, half way through mixing the soil I decide to use my hooves instead to mix up the soil, it does get a little messy but I get it done.

I clean up and start breeding the wheat, the project has been progressing well in the past two months and I'll probably be done by August or soon after it, beyond that I have confirmed that a plant's magical flows change as the plant does, the wheat's magical flows have changed a slight amount over time.

It's not by much but it still proves the theory, beyond that the wheat has been adapting well so far to the new soil, so I'm adding the second part of this project is the environment spell, I've already made the spell a few weeks ago for when the wheat was ready.

I made the spell by modifying the spell I used for the Juniper Berries, it will create an arid and cold environment for the wheat to grow inside, I take two rubies and spend a few minutes enchanting them and placing them inside the pots with the wheat plants.

I spend a little while growing more wheat and testing how it does in the new environment, the previous breeding seems to have prepared it some so while it does struggle it still grows fine, I breed a few more generations before placing them to the side and focusing on the Moon Glow while drinking some tea.

I haven't done anything with this plant yet and I still don't really know what to do with it now, but I thought I might as well try and see what happens, I plant the seed and after a few moments I have a Moon Glow on my desk, first I'm going to just selectively breed it to see if I can make any changes.

I use another two pots and start trying to find any differences between the plants, after four generations I find two that look promising for different reasons, the first is very slightly brighter than the original, and the second is dimmer than the original.

I want to see if I can get the plant to have a different amount of light and if that will make the light last longer, so I'll be breeding both strains and seeing how they change over time, for now through I decide to start with the brighter strain and breed it first, I spend the next hour working through several generations before stopping.

I put all the plants away or collect seeds and decompose them, after I'm done I start on two things I'll be working on for a while, the first is my small planet, and the second is a smaller thing I'm making as a gift, the Summer Sun Celebration will be here in a few weeks and like last year I'm getting Celestia a gift.

I'm going to send another batch of Blood Leaf Tea and make her something, specifically I'm planning on making her a quill that doesn't need to be refilled, I have a few ideas on how I want to do this but let's start with the small planet.

It's going well, I've added a lot more detail and it's starting to look like an actual planet now, it's not done I'd like to add many more things and at this point I still have eight slots left in the frame so I have a decent amount of things I could choose to add next, one of the first things would probably be a storm of some type.

As for the quill, well having an enchantment to just create ink would be hard but I do have a different idea, I want the quill stand to collect carbon from the air and condense it inside a slot that you dip the quill inside and use it to write, I'm not sure if I'll be able to make something like this but I think it's possible.

I'll probably need to use a medium gem for this, it is a massive waste for something like a quill but I think it will be a nice gift so I'm doing it anyway, I'll also need it to draw properly, which I'm not even sure is possible with just carbon but it's worth a try.

I spend the rest of the night going through different notes and runes before getting some sleep.

Chapter 37

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MAY 30 Friday. I'm sitting at a desk inside the workroom, and breeding Moon Glow plants right now, specifically the dimmer strain, I've had a decent amount of success in creating the two different strains, the difference is now much more noticeable then before.

I stop and move the plants back to where they belong, then I grab a small ruby and my notebook on runes, I've spent the last week thinking about what I can make and I realized that I've had something sitting under my nose this whole time, my water flask.

Stone is right in what he said about me, I think like a unicorn, that's why I didn't remember that not all ponies can just use a spell when they want to find some water, but the vast majority of non unicorns can't do that and need to find and purify water when they are traveling.

This is why the next thing I'm working on is a reliable source of water, and for places without much water to find I already have the perfect thing, my flask gathers water from the air after all, it would probably work slower in an environment without much water in the air but it should still work.

That means the harder type of water gathering is already done, the other type of water gathering I want to help with is ponies who can find water but it's dirty or they don't have a way to purify it safely, so I want to make an enchantment that purifies dirty water sources.

I bought a second flask yesterday for this, I started by refamiliarizing myself with the water purifying spell, it uses a lot of symbols and could use some work to improve them so I'll start there, I start by deconstructing the spell into its base symbols and math.

I'm able to remove all but two runes and replace them with supporting math, the two runes I left as a base for the spell are, a rune of purifying, and a rune for water, when I'm done I have a spell that costs much less magic and even works a bit faster, when I'm done with that I write done the spell matrix and start modifying it.

I'm modifying the matrix for the second flask, I'm going to enchant it to purify water that's been added to the flask, a pony using this will still have to find water, but as long as they do find water they will be able to drink it no matter how contaminated it is.

The reason for modifying the matrix is to make the spell weak enough to hopefully work without a gem, I start by enchanting the flask to gather magic without holding it, I then add the new water purifying spell and link both together, now I just need to see how long it takes to purify water.

I take the flask to my kitchen and fill a cup with a little dirt and some water before mixing them thoroughly, I may have added to much dirt but that's fine we'll just start testing at the high end, I check the time and fill the flask with dirty water before waiting, after eight minutes I pour out some water.

It's clear and seems clean when I drink some, I guess we have a success, I spend a while doing several tests with different types of contaminants, it takes several minutes but it seems to purify the water regardless, as I'm doing these tests a thought strikes me.

Where are all the contaminates going? after that I realize something both amazing and terrifying, I look through my notebook and don't find anything to prove what I'm thinking but I can't see any other way it could work.

The runic context around the purifying rune is simple, remove anything that doesn't belong, but either on purpose or more likely on accident whoever created this made it remove contaminants by destroying the matter completely, which may be the most terrifying thing I've found in all the spells I've seen.

I think whoever created this wasn't aware of just what they had made, they probably just saw that it worked and like me never thought about where the contaminants went, I'll have to experiment with this rune more, I'm not exactly sure what counts as a contaminant but I should find out.

With that somewhat terrifying discovery out of the way, I spend some time updating the enchantment on my first flask with the improved purifying spell, before writing a letter to Celestia and grabbing both flasks, I don't really need my old flask and the new one was always going to be sent to her, so I spend some time writing a letter to her and copying the spells used onto some paper before putting it all in an envelope.

I take both flasks and the sapphire connected to one of them and grab my saddlebags, Entropy seems to want to go with me as always, "stay here girl, I won't be gone long" I give her a few berries and leave, I've been trying to train her to not follow me and it seems to be working well.

I make my way to the closest post office, I could just leave them in my mailbox to be shipped but I rather not have letters between me and the ruler of the country be shipped through the mail, so when I need to send her something I go through a post office as It gets there much quicker and isn't laying around were somepony could steal it.

After sending the package I head back home, when I enter the apartment Entropy is there waiting for me, "told you I'd be back soon, now how about some training?" I set up the shield and grab some meat chunks to give her, we train a little before stopping.

At this point the shield we are using blocks all line of sight, she had a few problems teleporting without being able to see where she's teleporting, but after a few tries she got the hang of it and can now do it just as fast as before, so I think it's time to work on a new type of training at that involves a trip.

I want to train two things right now, first how far she can teleport and second how well she can teleport other things, and I have a plan for both, after a little training I grab my saddlebags again and bring Entropy with me as we leave, we leave the apartment and make our way to the market district.

There are many different businesses in the market district and one on the outer edge caught my interest, they let you rent a storage room of different sizes, and for different lengths of time, the most important thing is that it's around five miles from my home.

The first time Entropy teleported she moved both me and herself several miles, I'm not sure the exact distance but it was at a minimum four miles and that was before she started practicing and she's also grow some so she should have more magic, that's why I'm going here to rent a storage room and use it as an in between point for training and to see if she can move that distance.

I just need a way for her to understand what I want her to do and I have a plan for that, I walk in and go over to the front desk, behind the desk is an older looking unicorn mare, "hello I'm here about renting a storeroom?"

She looks up from some papers she was reading to look at me, she looks me over before giving a slight frown, "you have to be an adult colt now scram."

I pause at this as while several businesses have denied selling me things based on my age before, I normally just show them the card I have that gives me permission, but I've never had a pony reject me like this before, "mam I hav."

Before I finish I'm cut off, "I told you colt your too young, now leave" she says her voice holding an annoyed tone.

I'm annoyed at all this but decide it's not worth dealing with her, so I leave as there are several places like this one and while they are a little further away but they should still work fine, it takes me a while to find another place that will work.

Like the last place the pony at the counter says I cant rent a room, but unlike the last place they let me get out my card and I successfully rent a small storage room for the next few weeks.

The room is small, only ten by ten feet but it will work for us, I let Entropy look around the room before using some ink to draw a circle big enough for me to lay inside, I take out a small piece of meat and place it inside the circle and let Entropy eat it.

Next I sit down on the hard floor inside the circle with Entropy on my back "ok girl I'm not sure if you can understand me enough for this, but try and bring us home", she tilts her head at me "take, us, home, and, get, meat" I say slowly to her.

She seems to understand that enough to realize what I want her to do, I feel her talons grip my coat through the bags straps and then a minutes later I see nothing but darkness, like last time it's only a single moment, and then all the color rushes back like I blinked, we are inside my apartment I look back to Entropy to check on her.

She seems only a little tired but is otherwise fine, "amazing job girl" I tell her while feeding her some meat and giving her scratches, I make some tea for her and after resting for a while I get her to try again, this time is easier as she seems to know she has to teleport to get some meat.

We do this five times in total before stopping, when we appear home again I make her a full meal to enjoy for all her hard work, after five teleports she's definitely tired, I make sure to keep an eye on her for the next hour before she falls asleep, I put her inside her cage and leave her to rest.

I think it's safe to say that this day went well and I'm not even done yet, in my search for things to do I decided to research my plants and different uses they may have, while doing this I found out something about the Moon Glow.

The plants light comes from the plant absorbing ambient magic and converting it to create luner magic to create the glow, but if you pick the flowers and supply them with a source of magic it will still do this, this effect only lasts a few days after the flowers are picked and the glow is much weaker.

And I'm curious so I'm going to run some tests on this effect, I take some time to grow a basic Moon Glow in a pot, the plant's flowers are similar to Lotus flower is shape but much smaller in size, they are thick and white with a small cluster of white stems in the middle.

I pick the petals and place them to the side before decomposing the plant and growing a new one, I repeat this until I have a decent amount of petals to work with, when I'm done I grab my mortar and pestle and grind down the petals, I have an idea but I don't know if it will work.

From what I've learned of things like alchemy, you take plants, or parts of plants, that keep their magical effects after killing them, and mix them to create a new effect or use the plants effects better, I want to see if the glowing comes from the plants flesh or it's fluids as the book never told me which, so I use a small cup and pour the plant juices into it.

I keep the plant pulp inside the mortar and place it to the side, I then push some of my magic into the fluid and watch as it gains a slight glow, it's not strong but definitely noticeable, I try the same with the pulp and it glows a bit stronger, I decide to empty the mortar into a bowl.

I mix a little bit of both inside of the mortar, crushing and mixing them thoroughly, I end up with a thick paste that glows bright enough to be seen in the day, I spend some time drawing things with it and pushing magic through it to see it glow, seeing this gives me an idea.

But it's late already and I have work tomorrow so it's best if I get some sleep.

Chapter 38

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June 3 Tuesday. I finish my morning exercises and head home for a quick shower, after that I make my way to the library as always and head for the sorting room, but before I can I'm stopped by Daisy in one of the hallways "hey shade I need you for a while."

I don't ask why as she wouldn't ask without a reason, so I just nod and we walk over to her office and sit down inside, "so what do you need?"

"Well you've been an apprentice at the library for a little over a year now, that means it's time for you to do more then just sort books endlessly", she pauses to place a piece of paper on top her desk, "but there are several things you can do, so you'll be choosing a mentor to learn under."

"This list is filled with anypony willing to teach you, you'll be shadowing them and learning their job for the next year, so choose carefully", I'm a little excited, sorting books may be easy but it's also as boring as dry sand.

I look through the list and see both Daisy and Blaz on it, along with several other ponies I've met while working at the library, I spend some time thinking over my choices.

Most at the library treat me like a colt, which is fair as I am a colt, but it doesn't make it less annoying when they talk to me like I'm stupid, in contrast Blaz, Daisy, and Maple treat me more like a friend and equal, they basically don't talk down to me, so I rather apprentice under one of them.

Out of the two Daisy works as an administrator, she's not in charge of the library just the employees and their pay, I've seen the library head a few time but they are rather hooves off in running the library, back to the point though, I don't think I'm going to apprentice under Daisy.

I don't have any interest in administration or paperwork so that only leaves me with Blaz, the library is public so often books are either lost or damaged beyond repair, this is why the library has at least two copies of every book, and also why you can't check out a book if it's the last copy in the library.

Blaz's job is to copy books to either be added to the library or replacing lost books, so If I apprentice under him I'll be copying a lot of books, interestingly enough Blaz's told me his job became easier because somepony made a copying spell, It doesn't help him copy a single book as the copy spell has a limit, but if he needs to make multiple copies he doesn't need to write the same pages again and again.

With this in mind and after looking through the rest of the list, I eventually decide "I'll go with Blaz."

Daisy looks up from some paperwork she was doing while I was deciding, she gives me a smile "good choice paperwork isn't fun, and thanks for winning me ten bits."

I give her a deadpan look "you both bet on who I would pick, didn't you?"

"Wrong, all three of us, Maple pitched in."

I let out a long sigh "is Blaz at his work area right now?"

Her smile grows "yup, do you remember the way?"

"Yes, thanks Daisy", she nods to me as I leave her office and head down the hallway, I move through a few hallways before stopping at a door and knocking on it.

"Come in" I open the door and enter the room and look around, the room has three desks, two are covered in stacks of loose paper, and the last one is empty, there are also several bookshelves lining the walls, and sitting at a desk is Blaz looking back at me, "well looks like I just lost twenty bits, thanks colt, well come on in we got work to do", I close the door and move over to him.

"You know my job pretty well from hearing me complain about it so I don't need to explain much", he places a stack of papers to the side "considering how much you take notes you probably know the new copying spell by now, right?"

"Yes I know it well."

"Good then lets get you set up" he motions over to the empty desk, "you'll work there, here this is what we'll start on", he passes me a small history book, "a few of these were destroyed in the last year so we need to make three new copies, I'll be writing down the first half, and you'll do the second half, we'll then take turns resting and copying the pages we made, sound good?"

"Sounds good", I sit at the desk and get to work, and as I start writing I let my thoughts wander on an internal rant.

I eventually want a copy spell that will copy full books, but the current one can only copy a few pages and also can't copy from books, as adding a part to the spell that lets it target specific words or pages would make it use too much magic for most ponies to cast, this is why me and Blaz still have to copy out pages by hoof and them copy them to assemble a new book.

Moving on from work, Entropy's training has been going well, I have her teleport me to the storage room I rented and back twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening round trips, this lets her get tired but not exhausted.

And it's been working well as while she still gets tired, she can now teleport the distance much faster, I've started timing her with my watch and when we started a few days ago it would take her almost thirty seconds of concentration before teleporting, now it only takes twenty five seconds, a large improvement for such a small time frame.

As for the flasks I got a thank you letter back the next day, Celestia seems happy with them and I was told that I would be getting a cut of the profits, I don't think she would take no for an answer, so I guess I'll have more bits and nothing to do with them, hell I have enough at this point to not work for the next few decades.

As for my other projects, the wheat is doing just fine and should definitely be done by mid August or early September, my other plants have been growing well and haven't had any problems.

My small planet is almost done now, it looks decent and just needs a few detail tweaks before it's finished, I'm not sure what I'll do with it when it's done, but It does look nice.

The endless quill has also seen much progress, I was able to get the quill to draw with carbon much like a pencell, but I still need to finish the part that will gather carbon from the air, although I think I can just get the purifying rune to filter it, but I don't want it sucking in a bunch of air all at once so I'll have to slow the process down.

Beyond my projects I've kept up with Stone's training, It's still rough but I'm making progress, I've gained some muscle and have lost weight, I've also improved in my magic training, I'm now able to draw a matrix while walking, it still takes a while though.

I continue copying pages for the next few hours until lunch, the book isn't that thick so we are almost able to finish it before lunch, and after lunch we are right back to it, an hour later we are done copying the pages and spend some time going through them.

After making sure everything is correct we start using the spell to create three copies of the book, it takes both of us several turns before we finish, when we are finally done we spend the last bit of the day binding the book and giving them proper covers before finishing for the day.

I spend a few moments cleaning up my desk before leaving, "well colt you seem well suited to this work, not that I would suspect anything different from somepony like you."

I give him a blank look showing how impressed I am at his attempts at humor "have a good day Blaz" I deadpan to him as I leave.

"HA, same to you colt."

When I get home I go through my daily schedule, checking the plants, making food, and trying to keep Entropy entertained enough to work on other things, but when that's all out of the way I sit down and start finishing the small planet, it's now detailed enough to almost look real, if you squint some.

But it looks good enough for me, there are mountains, some rivers and even a wandering tropical storm that moves through the oceans, the clouds look nice and as I still had three slots left when I was done I decided to add a ring around the planet, and the last two I'm going to use to make the planet have a day night cycle.

It takes me a while but I'm able to get the illusions to work right, when I'm finally done I spend a few minutes simply watching it spin slowly, when I'm finally done staring at my small world I place it on a shelf and turn it off with two taps, I grab my other project that needs work.

I've gotten the quill to write properly when covered in a thin layer of loose carbon, but I still need the gem to gather that carbon, and because I don't have anything to start with I'll have to work from scratch, I start by selecting the right runes.

The first rune I need is one for air, after some looking I find I have two that would work well, first a rune of air, and second a rune of wind, after some thought and looking through the runic context for both I decide on the rune of wind, as my spell needs to gather air so having movement as part of the context should help.

After that I need a rune for condensing and I have a perfect rune for that already, so that's covered, the last rune I need is something to separate the carbon from the air, with this I have three options, first a rune of purification, second a rune for filtering, and finally a rune for separation.

All could work but I think I'll go with the filtering rune, as it only filters things instead of destroying or separating them, I spend the next three hours just working out all the different parts of the spell, I wasn't even able to finish it as the math needed is also complex.

I put it back on a shelf when I'm done, I'll work on it more later but for now I'll focus on something else, I grab the bright strain of Moon Glow and place it on my desk along with an extra pot, I'm going to do some breeding and then work on the Moon Glow extract.

I spend a while just breeding them to get a brighter plant before I start harvesting their petals, I gather a decent amount before stopping and putting the plant back, I grind down all the petals and collect their fluids inside a small clay jar.

I want to see if the magical effects of the plant is lost if I extract as much water as I can and then purify it to be pure water, I go through this process and when I'm done I have a very small amount of clear liquid, I try and push magic into the liquid and it gives off a very soft glow.

It's so soft I can barely see it even in this slightly dark room, it seems the processing of the plant has removed almost all of the magic from the fluid, I don't think the effect will last long in this form, a day maybe two at most, so I'll need to find a different way to process the plant.

Still this proves that the Moon Glows magical effects last a long time even with heavy processing, unlike some other magical plants.

I'm also starting to form an idea of what I'll use this extract for, but that's for later, right now it's late and I need sleep, I spend a few minutes having Entropy travel back and forth between the storage room before going to bed.

Chapter 39

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JUN 11 Thursday. I copy another page from the stack to the right of me and place it inside a growing stack to my left, I've learned in the past week that Blaz is a hooves off teacher, he mostly just gives me a section of a book to copy and double checks my work.

He's also quiet, most of the time we work in silence only speaking a few words every hour, the work itself is boring, but it's still more interesting than book sorting so I've been having a decent time.

I finish the section I'm working on and sort the copied pages before placing them in a neat stack, another thing I've learned about Blaz is he's not a very good organizer, his desk is always covered in loose pages and open books, I honestly don't know how he works like that.

I check my bracelet and see that the workday will be over in a few minutes, so I clean up my work desk and finish sorting a few papers before standing up and stretching, "I'm heading out, have a good day Blaz" he turns to me and gives a nod before going back to whatever he's working on, I leave the library and head back home.

When I arrive home I go through the daily checks before preparing to leave, I have a plan for today a haircut and a lot of shopping, my mane has grown fairly long and I need to fix that so today I'm heading to a barbershop, I take Entropy with me and grab my saddlebags before walking out into the streets.

I know where a barber is so I walk through several streets and find the right place, I can't bring Entropy inside so I just let her fly around the area and enter the barbershop.

Inside there are a few different ponies getting their manes cut or trimmed, "welcome what can I do for you?", a mare sitting behind a desk asks me.

"I'd like to get a haircut if you have a spot free?"

"Sure", after a minute I'm led to a small place to lie down and get comfortable.

After a little while a pony walks over to me with a towel and kit, "so what are you looking for today?"

"I'd like you to just cut it at my mid neck and clean it up some."

"That's all? ok then get comfortable" they wrap the towel around me and start cutting, I'm not one to get hairstyles I just want this mess out of the way and taken care of, and I rather not try doing it myself, mostly because I know I would ruin it somehow.

I go over the rest of my plans as I wait, a trip to the markets for some necessities, and three other things, first several glass jars and bottles, I need something that won't accidentally contaminate any fluids I'm working on, or melt from something being acidic.

And I need a new weapon as while I do have a dagger it's too large to conceal easily, so I want something small and easily hidable.

accessible if I need it, and finally more gems, specifically a few different cuts and types to experiment with, also restocking.

After that I want to try and practice my griffin some, it's an interesting language and I need some practice with someone who knows it, I'm hoping to find a griffin that will at least try and speak with me, one thing working in my favor is that much like griffins themselves the language is blunt.

Many words don't have any other meaning or context, it's a very literal language, you say what you mean and nothing else, this makes it a little easier to learn but also means that the language has more words to learn, I haven't tried speaking in the language but I should at least be able to understand a few words even if I can't speak back very well.

The barber finishes cutting and spends some time trimming me up, when they are done they clean out my hair and let me stand up, I'm given a small mirror to look through, my mane is now much shorter and looks better, I tie it back into a ponytail and pay them before leaving.

I walk out and not a moment later I feel Entropy land on my back, "ready girl?" and like always my response is a caw, we move through the streets and head to the market, we pass through a few streets before arriving at the edge and working our way through the stalls.

I start with my necessities and after that, I start on finding some glassware it takes me a while and go through several stalls before finding a merchant that would take a bulk order of glassware I have to haggle some and end up paying more than I probably should, but it the end I have thirty seven jars all of different sizes along with several bottles.

After that I look through a few weapon sellers before finding one that's perfect, the being at the stall is a griffin, I walk up to them and try using a griffin greeting, "hello day good?"

And I think I did a decent job, until the griffin starts laughing, "not a bad attempt, but it could definitely use some work."

I'm embarrassed but regain my dignity a little hearing their words, "sorry that's literally my first attempt, and thanks."

"Sure it's not every day I meet a pony that tries to learn our language so thanks for the laugh, now did you need anything?"

I take some time to look through their stock and after a while I find something that looks good, it's a small blade five inches long with a wood handle wrapped in cloth, one side has an edge that travels up the blade and then goes at an angle until it hits the back of the knife.

The blade is thicker than most and has a sturdy feel to it, after deciding to buy it I try again to speak griffin, "this one have, sheath?"

The griffin seems to find my attempts funny but humors me, "does this one have a sheath? Not bad for your second attempt, and a bit of advice? there are a few places on the edge of the markets where you could probably get a griffin to help you learn for the right price, and yes it does have a sheath you want that one?"

I stop my attempts, "yes I would, and thanks for the advice."

They nod to me, "thirty bits" I pay them the amount and they pass the sheath to me, I spend a moment sheathing the knife and securing it to my saddlebags before moving on, I make my way to the market's edge looking through stalls for anything that catches my interest.

I pass a few stalls and find a small pony run stall selling gems, a few of them have different cuts and I find a cloudy quartz that is cut into a pyramid, it's three inches long between corners and is heavy, after some thought I buy it, cloudy quarts may be one of the worst gems for holding magic but it could have its uses.

When I do make it to the edge of the market I check a specific spot and find just who I'm looking for, a diamond dog with gray fur, red eyes, and black hair, they are sitting on a cloth mat, and like the last times we've met they are surrounded by different gems, but unlike the other times they aren't alone.

The other diamond dog is sitting next to them and is smaller, they have the same colors with the only difference being their eye color, a deep cobalt blue, they seem related, maybe siblings or a child, I approach them and get close, "hello again, good to see you're still around."

They flash me a smile "one of my favorite customers, good to see you, uh" they pause as if realizing something, "you know we never actually introduced ourselves have we? well then nice to meet you, names Beryl."

"Names Shade nice to meet you too, who's this if you don't mind me asking?"

The smaller diamond dog looks at me with some apprehension, "she's my pup, Gravel, I'm teaching her the ropes of the trade, anyway what can I get you?"

I nod to the pup, "nice to meet you Gravel, and to answer that I have to ask, did you come here with a caravan?"

She nods, "yes there are a few dozen of us and we mostly sell gems and a few other things, why do you ask?"

"Well I'm looking for large and uncommon gems, even better if they have interesting cuts, so I'm wondering if your caravan has anything I'd be interested in."

She gains a thoughtful look and stares at me for a few moments, "yes we have things like that but they are expensive, I'm willing to take you there and introduce you to the caravan leader, but I'll need to know you can afford something like that."

I raise a brow and seeing my face she elaborates, "it's not that I don't trust you, but if I go and tell the caravan leader that we have a wealthy customer and they aren't I could get in hot water with them."

After hearing her I think for a moment before deciding, "I'll agree but I want something with your caravan's name or mark, I may trust you some but I'm not sure I trust your caravan."

"I can agree to that" she goes through a bag before passing me a piece of hard and rough paper with a symbol and name on it, The Rough Riders, "does that work for you?"

I think for a moment more, I have roughly five hundred bits on me as I knew I was shopping for gems, and even if I do get robbed I won't be anywhere near broke and I could find out who they are easily enough to inform the guards, with all this in mind I take a bag with my bits and open it next to her.

"Will this work?", I open it slightly before placing it back into my saddlebags.

Seeing the insides of the bag her eyes go wide for a moment before nodding, "definitely, we are camped right outside the city in view of the walls, look for the symbol and you should find us easily, I need to finish up here but I should be at camp in an hour or so."

I nod to her, "I'll meet you there then" I walk away as Beryl and her pup start packing up their things.

I decide to get everything I have home, after getting everything put away and sorted I eat and leave to make my way to the city edge.

As I walk through the city gates I see several caravan camps with a decent amount of other ponies and guards walking around the area, this area works like a small market in and of itself, I look around a while before finding the right camp and asking one of the members where their leader was.

They seemed to know I was coming and one of them led me to a large tent, when I enter I see Beryl and her pup talking to an older looking diamond dog, they have gray silvery fur with some fading blue color still in their hair, and they turn to me and I get a good look at their face.

There is a small scar on their cheek and their eyes are a bright light blue, "come on in" they say motioning with a paw, their voice is distinctly male and deeper than others I've met, "please have a seat."

I sat across from them at a table, "nice to meet you, I'm guessing Beryl already told you my name?"

They nod, "yes she did, nice to meet you, my name is Onyx Granite, so you're looking for gems?"

"Yes, I'm looking for odd, large, or rare gems, I should show you this first'', I pass over my card and wait for them to read it.

Onyx passes it back to me a moment later, "that answers a few questions and clears up a few problems, I'll be honest I was about to reject you for your age but this will work, I do have to ask though how do you have so many bits?"

Luckily I have an answer to things like this, "I work at the library and when you work there you get a place to stay and free meals, this left me with a decent amount of bits to invest, you know the magic lights that were invented a while back?" he nods at me.

"Well I got lucky and invested in several businesses that make and sell them with the crown's help, so when they got the contract to make the new lights."

Onyx cuts me off at this point, "you got in early and got a massive payday and are probably still making a good amount even after the rush when they first came out, that definitely explains it", he takes a moment to drink something from a cup.

"We have a decent collection but some are reserved by others so we can only sell you some things, would you like to see what we have?"

I stand up, "sure" we leave the tent and go to a few carts nearby, and with the help of a few other diamond dogs they unload a few crates and start opening them, we go through several crates as I pick out several things to buy each being placed to the side before the crate is returned to the wagons.

By the time we are done I have several gems in front of me, first another large ruby, second an eight sided diamond shaped sapphire that is four inches long, and third is five medium rubies.

The last two gems are by far the best and most expensive, a two inch cubed diamond, and a one inch cubed water gem, all this combined is a lot of bits, a lot even for me but this is still much less than what I would have to pay to somepony in the city, but it will be worth it for this.

"I'm willing to take them all, but I only have one five hundred on me right now and will need to get the rest from the bank, the Diamond is worth around that so how about I take the diamond and give you what I have before coming back with the rest?"

Onyx spends a moment being silent before answering, "I can agree to that", he holds out a paw that I shake.

"Then I'll be back in an hour or so", I pass him a bag and get back a gem, I leave heading home real quick to put away the diamond before heading to the bank, I have to fill out some paperwork saying that they are not responsible if I lose the bits, I'm able to finish the deal before dark and get home, I swear banks never change no matter the world.

After closing the deal I'm given a small crate to carry everything and spend some time talking to Onyx before leaving for home.

When I finally get home with all the new gems I let out a sigh of relief knowing nothing went wrong, I feed both me and Entropy before storing all the new gems and taking a shower, after drying myself off I spend the rest of the night sorting my things and doing some practice.

I take one last look at the softly glowing water gem I bought before heading to bed.

Chapter 40

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JUN 12 Tuesday. I get out of my bed and check the time, and after fully getting out of bed and making myself some tea I start going through several different exercises until I'm done with my mirroring training.

After that I have Entropy move both of us back and forth between the storage room, while she's teleporting I'm meditating on the space around us as we move, it feels odd when we teleport.

At this point I still need to use almost all my concentration to feel the space around me, but I have made some progress in feeling the shift when Entropy teleports us, it's hard to describe, the space feels like it shifts, blends, and cracks all at the same time and it's all hard to understand.

Feeling the space around us when we move is hard to understand, but is much easier to feel then empty space, this has made my training speed up a little, not much but it's still better than nothing, once we are done I make some food and settle it at a desk in my workroom.

Stone really pushed me hard after work yesterday so I didn't have a chance to look through my new gems yet, so I decided to write a list of all the unused gems I have, while I'm looking at them.

One large ruby, five medium rubies, four small rubies, four small sapphires, all are cube shaped, my new diamond shaped sapphire, three inch cloudy quartz pyramid, six by six inch amethyst cube shaped, two inch cubed diamond, and finally my best find the one inch water gem cube.

I now have the gems needed to try and do some more advanced enchanting, to explain why I need to go over how gems work, different gems are better at different things it's just that it doesn't matter much for weak or simple enchantments, but for powerful or specific things you need different gems.

This brings me to the water gem, gems naturally hold more magic than most things, and when something that hold a lot of magic is in a place with a high concentration of any type of affinity, the plant life, animals, gems, metal ores, and basically anything that can hold a decent amount of magic.

When anything like this sits in an environment with a high concentration for long enough it will take on that affinities properties, this process is painfully slow and rare, which makes finding something with an affinity hard, but also means that the object has unique effects.

The water gem I bought will greatly boost anything to do with water magic, but only water magic, the downside to gems like this is that the gem can only hold water affinity magic, any other type of magic and the gem will start breaking down or become unstable, this limits the use of the gem but gives it more power.

The reason I bought it is because I may not get another chance anytime soon, honestly I'm surprised they even sold it to me, but now that I have it I can do some truly great things with it, I won't be using it right now though as I want to study it and save it for something important.

I move the water gem back to the shelf and continue, the diamond shaped sapphire is also useful, the shape makes it better at absorbing ambient magic from around it, but weakens the gems stability so I can't cast any powerful spells with it, I have a plan for it but I'll get back to that later.

The diamond is just plain useful, diamond is basically better at everything but doesn't have any special effects.

And finally there is the cloudy quartz pyramid, the shape gives the gem more stability, but it will be bad at absorbing magic, both because of its shape and the gems quality, It's still useful though and will be the first gem I use today, so after counting everything I place the cloudy quartz on my desk.

I want to experiment with the purification rune, and I want a gem that's very stable and weak, this is why I'm using the cloudy quartz as its shape and weak power will ensure that if anything goes wrong the aftereffects will be weaker, this rune seems to destroy matter I don't want anything going wrong,

I grab a few blocks of Iron Oak wood and my woodworking kit, I want to make a stand that will hold the quartz pyramid upside down so I have a flat side pointing up, I carve out four wedges that meet at their corners and leave a hole in the middle.

I glue the corners together and use the warming spell to dry the glue, I place the gem inside before removing it and adjusting the hole with a tool, I do this several times before I get a good fit, I then spend a moment cleaning up the desk.

I'm going to need a new spell for this project but it won't be too hard to make what I need, I start with the purifying spell I made recently and start modifying it, I remove the water rune and replace it with a rune of liquid, it takes me an hour of tinkering to finish this but when I'm done I place it to the side.

The next thing I'm going to need is to make something new to me, I start with four runes, first a rune for knowing, second a rune for understanding, third a rune for seeing, fourth a rune for learning, all this combined will make something I've wanted for a while now.

A scanning spell, it's not as powerful as it sounds, this will be a weak spell and won't be able to scan much but will work for this project, I spend the next few hours making this spell, and at midday I finish a prototype, it could definitely use much more work, but it is working.

When you want to use this spell you first need to pick a rune to base the scan off of, if you don't the spell will fail as it tries to scan everything at once, so you have to limit it by giving it something to focus on, in this case I have it working with the same rune of fluid I used earlier.

This means the spell will be able to scan any fluid and attempt to output a result, but the more things it needs to scan the more magic and time it will take, the spell will also only give me one type of output, it will tell me how much of what fluids are in a container.

That's it, nothing else, and even getting the spell to do this took far more magic and runic symbols than it should, the matrix is double the size of the water purification spell, and I don't mean my streamlined version I mean the old one, to be blunt I'm not ready to make spells like this and was only able to because I brute forced it with symbols and much more math than needed.

But after some testing the spell, it does work so it will have to do, the last thing I need is a small illusion, which I take from the copying spell and modify, it's only a few small modifications so it doesn't take me long before I'm ready, I spend an hour very carefully enchanting the cloudy quartz, being careful not to make any mistakes.

When I'm done I place the cloudy quartz inside its stand and activate it, when I do I see two symbols appear on top of the gem's flat side, first a green circle outline two inches across, and second there is a larger green cube outline that is seven inches long and five across.

All this hovers in the air above the gems in it's stand, I grab a small piece of paper and cut it down until it's the right size and leave it on my desk, then I grab a small glass jar and take it to my kitchen, I fill the jar halfway with water, I then grow and harvest some juniper berries and juice them, before adding the juice to the jar.

While walking back to the desk I mix the fluids in the jar together, I then place the jar in the small green circle and grab two other things, a rag and a heavy block of wood, I put the rag over the jar opening it and placing the wood block on top of it, I activate the enchantment and place the piece of paper in the output.

And after a few minutes two lines of text form on the page, seventy three percent water, twenty four percent juice, three percent unknown, that's all I get, the spell doesn't seem to be able to tell what type of juice it is but that's fine I don't need it to, I activate the purifying enchantment and wait for it to finish.

When it is done I lift the wood block to check the rag, it's clean, not even wet, which means that nothing came through the air, I can now say with a degree of certainty that the purifying rune doesn't evaporate things away, next I use the scanning enchantment again.

This time it only takes a minute to finish, I grab the new results, ninety nine percent water, one percent unknown, I'm guessing the unknown is just tiny partials of many different things, but the rune seems to have done its job very well, although this still doesn't answer if the purification rune destroys matter, but it's certainly looking more likely.

I spend two hours just mixing and purifying different liquids, the enchantment lets me purify other fluids by selecting them, but water seems to work the best, other fluids take more magic to purify and don't get to the same purity as the water, but that's fine.

After I'm done testing I clean up everything and take some time to relax, it's still a few hours before the day is over and I don't want to work on a project, but I also don't want to just lay around, so I'm going to do something productive, I grab my saddlebags and let Entropy hop on my back before leaving my apartment.

I'm going to try and find a griffin to help me practice the language, I'm not exactly sure how to go about this but I have an idea, I walk to the edge of the markets where it's much less busy and spend some time looking around for a griffin merchant, and I do find one after a while.

They are an older looking griffin with some silvery fur sticking out in spots, and a few frayed feathers, they seem to be selling a few trinkets and other random items, I walk over to them, "see anything you like? I can offer you a good price?", a male voice asks me.

I look through his things, but find nothing I want, "no, but I do have an offer for you?", I see his eyes focus on me "I'm trying to learn the griffin language but need some practice, so I'm willing to pay you to teach me while you try and sell your things."

He seems interested enough to hear me out, "what type of practice?"

"I don't need help writing or reading just speaking the language, we'd probably just talk and you'd help me learn as we do so, I'm willing to pay you fifty bits for the day."

They seem to think over my offer before speaking, "I'm part of a caravan and we're leaving in two weeks, so how about forty bits a day, but you come see me whenever you can over the next two weeks."

I think it over before deciding to agree, "I can agree to that, but I'm only paying you at the end of every day."

He nods, "fair enough, my name's Gerald, now how about you take a seat?"

"Names Shade, and thanks", I sit next to him for the next three hours talking and conversing while Gerald tries to sell his trinkets to others, he's not the worst teacher, that's not to say he's good but he seems to actually make an effort to teach me.

He's also a decent conversationalist, he had more than one interesting story to tell and seemed like a well traveled individual, but as the day comes to a close we decide to stop and call it there, I leave as Gerald packs up his things and make my way home.

Chapter 41

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JUN 14 Saturday. POV Celestia

I take a sip of tea as I fill out and copy another form from the stack in front of me, this month is always so busy, the Summer Sun Celebration is only a week or so away and the paperwork just piles up.

It's not all bad though, the new copy spell has been making it easier, and yesterday I received yet another gift from a certain colt, the quill I'm now using might be the most complex thing they have made.

On my desk is a wood block that contains a gem, I dip the quill tip inside a slot and sign another form, I even spent some of my rare free time looking through the enchantments, and they are truly unique.

Thinking of all this brings my mind to the pony responsible for all of this, Shade Evergreen, a source of both great joy, and even greater confusion for me, a young earth pony, an orphan, an apprentice, and an inventor, this pony is many things, but simple is not one of them.

So many things about him both makes sense and also don't make any sense at the same time, I've had a few of my ponies look into his past but that has answered little, and in fact just raised more questions.

As far as I've been able to find out he started practicing magic as soon as he could, his younger life is mostly uninteresting as he was and is still young, but seemingly right at the moment he left the orphanage he started doing so much that it's a little overwhelming.

When offered the chance to become an apprentice he agreed, not that uncommon for orphans, but he decided to become a librarian apprentice, it's a rare thing for a pony that young to seek that type of apprenticeship, in fact only four have done the same in the past few years.

Then without help he unlocked his affinities, most don't even bother to unlock them at all, and then he spent a considerable amount of time training that affinity, after that he found a valuable plant by accident and with it an even more valuable herb, one only he could grow in large quantities.

And then he just gave it away, I'm used to others sending me gifts to gain my favor, but Shade doesn't seem to want that from what I've seen, then there is the first time we met, at the meeting I could tell he was nervous, even if he hid it well, but that's where he went from interesting to odd.

He's mature for his age, he speaks well and tried to remain calm through our conversation, and as far as I can tell he never lied to me, he didn't even hide his method, he even offered to show me how he did what he did, the vast majority of ponies his age would be scared or secretive, but he wasn't.

The next several meetings and letters have only raised more questions, he seems very good at math, I can tell that much from the things he's sent me, he's also good at inventing new things, and every single thing he sends me is useful or life-saving, the magic light alone has helped so many.

And in return he asked for nothing, in fact he didn't even ask he just sent me a life-changing invention and said it was mine, the fact that he didn't even ask for bits or to have his name attached to it is odd to say the least, in the end I decided to give him some of the royalties from it's sale.

And all he's done with those bits is invent more things, the magic light, the anti pest spell, the copying spell, and recently the water flasks, each one of these is amazing, the light is something I've had other ponies try to make for a while, but none succeeded.

The pest spell has been working well, crop loss has dropped by roughly seven percent this year, that may sound small but adding up all the different farms together and it makes a difference.

The copy spell has been a personal favorite, there were a few spells that did the same thing, but those cost too much magic for most to cast and were hard to learn, this spell is fairly easy to learn and almost anypony can cast it, it's made the administration of equestria easier.

Paper and ink waste is down massively, and important paperwork can be copied and sent in mass quickly now, this spell has even made my job easier, I don't have to wait as long for bills or documents to be written and sent to me, and with the new quill he sent me I don't even need to use ink anymore.

And finally the new flasks, this is something I never thought could be solved this easily, with a small gem and a flask you can now get water even in the desert, I know it will definitely be popular with the caravans.

I move the signed paperwork to the side, I then open a letter I got from Shade with my new quill, it's a progress report on the new strain of wheat he's breeding, I smile at the progress and expected finish date, if he can get it ready before the next year starts then that would be perfect.

I never did ask him to send me progress reports, he just did, I've come to know that Shade is the type of pony that does so much for others and never seems to want them to know, I don't know why but he seems dead set on remaining unknown, even with all he's done.

I may not know why he does this but I can tell that he wants to help others, what I can't understand is what drives him, he does all this, and yet he doesn't seem to have a reason, at least not one I can see clearly.

I take another sip of tea as I finish reading the report he sent, Shade Evergreen what drives you?, I would like a break from all this paperwork, and maybe I could invite him to talk again soon, maybe it's time to ask some questions and get a few answers.

POV Shade

I'm copying a page when a chill runs down my spine, :did Blaz leave a window open?: I look around but nope all the windows are closed, I shake my head and focus back on the page in front of me.

time skip

JUN 17 Tuesday. I stand in front of the gates to the palace checking the time.

It's odd that Celestia would invite me this time of year, the Summer Sun Celebration is a little more than a week away so why does she want to talk now, I suppose it doesn't really matter I'm about to find out, I approach the gate and like the times before I show a guard the letter I got and they lead me through the palace.

We enter the same room as last time and I see Celestia lying next to a table, unlike last time she's not alone, she has a small baby dragon with her and seems to be entertaining them, :I forgot that Twilight might be here, fuck: I maintain my calm and approach the table after bowing to her.

"Good to see you again princess."

"Same to you Shade" Before she can continue Spike interrupts her, "Shh it's ok."

I spend a moment looking at Spike pretending to be surprised, and after a moment I speak, "I've never met a dragon before, what's their name?"

She turns back to me, "It's Spike, my student Twilight hatched him."

"So that's what happened? I heard that a dragon's head put a hole in the roof of your school."

"Yes it was a byproduct of him hatching, he's still young but is growing fast" "she moves Spike a little away from us to some blankets before casting a spell around him, I'm not sure what spell but if I had to guess it's something to let Spike sleep while we talk.

"Now you're probably wondering why I invited you?", I nod "Well first I'd like to thank you for the gift I love it, and I have also been meaning to talk to you for some time now and realized that I had some free time today, so I'd like to just talk if that's ok with you?", I don't trust that for a second.

"Completely fine princess, anything in particular you want to talk about", she smiles at my answer.

"Well, what have you been working on recently?"

Out of all the questions, this is by far the worst to start on, in response I take a moment to rummage through my saddlebags, and I take out a book I use to take notes.

I have several notebooks but most I keep at home and write in English, this is one I use when at the library or in public, it's written in the ponies language just in case somepony sees it, this book only has some notes and spells along with my thoughts on things, It also doesn't have anything that would get me in trouble, or anything I shouldn't know.

"Here this should give you a decent idea of my current skill", it's pretty obvious she was asking a loaded question, and from the look on her face she wasn't really trying to hide it.

She just smiles and takes the notebook, I spend my time trying to keep myself calm as she takes a few minutes to read through several pages, "you have progressed much further than I realized, different spell designs, matrixes, and even some notes about plant cross-breeding."

She passes the book back to me and I put it away, "Thank you princess."

She's silent for a moment before speaking, "We've talked some and have been writing letters back and forth for a year now, and something has been on my mind for a while, so do you mind if I ask you something personal?", I spend a moment thinking, before nodding to her "Why do you make things? what drives you to learn and train so much?"

I freeze, :out of all the dammed questions it had to be that:, I'm silent for almost a full minute, I see Celestia about to speak before cutting her off.

"Magic is many things, and it can do so many wonderful things, but so often I see others look at a problem and just accept it, some do try and fix or improve things but most don't", I pause to keep my words steady "but so many of those problems hurt others and could be solved easily, but nopony does."

"So often I see a way to fix something or improve those problems, so one day I decided to do something about it, I guess you could say I don't stop trying to improve because I can't let the world stay like this, I can't just sit here and watch others suffer when I can do something about it."

Celestia's face shifts to a soft understanding look, "I know what you mean, I'm much the same I see many problems, and often I try and help all I can but I can never do everything alone, you should try and remember that Shade, and I apologize if that question upset you in any way."

"It's fine princess, but how about a change of topic?", we spend some time talking about several topics, and I find myself relaxing, I may have to hide a great many things from her, but unlike my other friends I can actually talk to her about my projects, and to no ones surprise she's great at giving advice.

We spend the rest of our time together talking about different branches of magic, and when our time is up we stop, "thank you for keeping me company for a while Shade", she picks up a sleeping Spike "I do have one last thing to ask you, if that's ok?"

I hesitate for a moment before nodding "I asked you why you do so much now I want to ask you, what do you want to be when you grow up?"

I sit there, really thinking over her question, :what do I want to be?:, and after some thought, I find my answer, "I want to help, even if nopony ever knows, even if nopony ever knows I did anything at all I want to help."

Celestia has a kind smile on her face as she looks at me, "Then know that I will always do my best to help you, have a good day Shade"

"Same to you princess", after that I'm led out of the palace and back out into the city, I hum a small tune as I walk home, and I think I feel just a bit better about the future.

POV Celestia

As Shade leaves I spend a moment thinking over what we spoke about, I didn't get any real answers, but I'm not sure I need them, I could tell that Shade has secrets and that he didn't really want to answer me, so I stopped asking after the first question.

I want answers but not at the expense of Shade's trust in me, I don't want to push him away by asking too much, so for now he can keep his secrets, I just hope he trusts somepony with them, holding all that in won't do him any good, but for now I'll be patient.

Chapter 42

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JUN 21 Saturday.

I slowly wake up and get out of bed, It's the Summer Sun Celebration today and I have some things to do, I leave my room and spend some time making breakfast for myself and Entropy, speaking of Entropy she's still changing and I think it will definitely become a problem.

At this point her feathers have gotten extremely dark, and it seems whatever process that is happening is getting faster, she looked mostly normal when she was born but over the last half year she's changed.

Her feathers are darker at this point, but unless we come across anypony who is an expert on crows or birds we should be fine for a while longer, at this rate it will become noticeable to everypony within a few months, so I need to find a way to hide her changes, but that's an entirely different problem, my best bet is an illusion spell, but I need it to last several hours, or always be active, and anypony would notice Entropy holding a gem.

So if I want it to be an enchantment I need a material that can hold, gather, and withstand enough magic to keep an illusion up for a long time, I don't have anything like that but I can find it, the problem is that the only thing that might work to hold the spell is a magical metal, magical metals are rare and expensive, they can have a very high magical capacity, even higher then a lot of gems, but even with a decent magical metal the illusion spell would take too much magic, so I need to get creative.

Illusions are made in many different ways, but what I need is a spell that will use the least amount of magic possible, or a spell that will stay on Entropy for a decent while,

Let's start with what I need both of these spells to do, I need it to make Entropy look as normal as possible, If I remove everything and just make the spell change her color that would be enough, I just need her feathers to not look like the event horizon of a blackhole, much like her egg.

So if I can get an illusion to cover only her feathers then that would also save on magic, if anypony were to touch her they would notice, but she doesn't let others touch her anyway so I don't think that will be a problem, if I use no runes it would save on magic but it will take me much more time to create the spell, so I'll probably need at least a few runes for this.

Using an enchantment also has two more problems, first I need to find a magical metal that is good enough to use for this project, and second I need somepony to forge it into a usable state, all of this is going to require me to do a lot of research.

So I'm going to spend some of my spare time researching all of this, I'm also going to be researching something I should have been looking into for some time now, changelings.

How do changelings change? Do they use illusion? Do they transform? What kind of magic is used in the process? All these questions lead me to a new project I want to work on, a way to detect changelings, this is more of a long-term project, mostly because I don't even know what I'm trying to detect.

One other thing about the changeling's transformations is why it creates fire, the changelings seem to live in the dark so why would part of their abilities make fire? just another question to add to the ever-growing pile I guess, I'm not sure if changelings use illusions but it seems as good as any place to start.

I open one of my notebooks and turn to a page containing the new scanning spell I made not long ago, I've been making small improvements but it will take much more than a few days to really make the spell better, right now I want to use this as a base.

My first step in this project is to see if I can make a way to detect illusions, I start with one of my medium rubies and enchant it to hold magic, then I add the scanning spell and change out the liquid rune, but then I realize that I don't have any runes for illusions, so I guess my new first goal is finding a rune that will work.

I go through my notes for a while to make sure I don't have a rune that would work, and I was right I don't have a rune for this project, with this in mind I realize that I'll have to do this another day, so I spend a moment making sure Entropy is fed before putting on my saddlebags and leaving my apartment, the library like most businesses isn't open today.

So for now I decide to simply enjoy the holiday, I leave my apartment and walk through the crowded streets moving towards the park, when I enter the park I walk around for a while before lying down in a grass field, Entropy flies off to a nearby tree as I open my sketchbook.

I look around and spot an old Oak that looks familiar, I look at it for several moments before recognizing it, it's the same tree I unlocked my life affinity at, I stare at it for a while before starting to sketch it, I draw it's trunk, it's branches and its leaves, I then add the buildings I can see behind it, then the ground around it.

After a while I finish my sketch and close my book, after some time staring at the Oak I walk over to the old Oak and place a hoof on its trunk, I focus and push my magic into the tree, and after a moment I watch as a single acorn falls from the tree top.

I walk over and pick it up, :someday it would be nice to find a place to plant this, but that day is not today: I put the acorn in my saddlebag and whistle, after a moment Entropy lands on my back, "Time to go girl" We spend a while slowly walking through the park and simply enjoying the nice day.

After some time we reach the edge of the park and leave, I wonder what I want to do today before deciding on something, :actually, maybe today is the day: I decide to keep walking as I push past crowds of ponies to reach the cities edge, I make my way outside the city walls and keep walking for a while, nearly an hour later I stop at the roadside and keep walking off the road.

I walk through a grass field and arrive at a small forest, it's a small place the trees and bushes aren't dense so it doesn't take long for me to be out of sight of the road, I wander the forest for a while sketching a few plants and even finding a wild blueberry bush that I collect some seeds from.

By the time I find what I'm looking for it is midday, I find a small clearing in the forest made from an old tree falling over, its fall has left a hole in the tree cover and from the looks of it the tree fell over fairly recently, I spend a while decomposing the tree into new soil.

When I'm done I take out the acorn and place it on top of the new soil, I back up some before laying down and concentrating, I close my eyes and start meditating on the life magic around me, before pushing my life magic into the acorn.

I dump more and more inside, I feel the ground under me shift as new roots grow and expand, and after a while I stop, panting slightly from exhaustion, I open my eyes and see a thick tree trunk in front of me, I turn my head up and see the new Oak tree covering the small clearing that was here before.

I see dozens of new acorns growing on the branches of the new tree, I simply stare for a while looking up at the tree and feeling the life magic course through it, after a while I've recovered enough and stand, and I start walking through the forest, making my way home while humming an old tune.

JUN 26 Thursday.

"Checkmate, that's eleven to zero right?" Gerald asks me.

"Yes, you should tell me how you get so good," I respond in slightly broken words.

"Good try, you almost got it, but you it's got, not get."

I look up to Gerald while moving all the chess pieces back into their starting positions, over the past two weeks I've been spending a lot of my free time here with him, and although I'm paying him it's still nice to simply talk to someone old, in many ways he reminds me of an old uncle.

He's always rambling on about this or that, hell he even had a conspiracy theory or two to tell me, and all while trying to teach me how to speak griffin properly, and to be honest I'm going to miss our talks a little, as he's leaving with his caravan today.

"Black or white?"

"What do you think?"

"Black", he always picks black, although he never told me why.

It's late in the day and I'll have to leave soon, but I have just enough time for one last game, it was me that thought of playing chess first, I quickly learned that was a mistake, turns out Gerald is very good at chess, so good that I've only won three of our games.

But that's fine I didn't come here for this anyway, I came to learn and I think I'm doing well, in the last two weeks I've learned a lot, I'm still far from fluent but I can at least hold a conversation now, even if I speak like I'm a child still learning to speak properly.

"Hey Gerald" he looks up from the board to me, " you've helped me a lot in the last two weeks, so thank you, I mean it, thank you."

I see his feathers rise up slightly, he's silent for a moment before answering "Well nothing to really thank me for Shade, You're the one paying me after all."

I just give him a smile and move my next piece finishing our last game, "It's been a pleasure Gerald, I wish you the best wherever you end up, and keep the board, consider it a gift."

His eyes focus on me for several moments before he nods, "Don't get all sappy on me Shade, get going, and thanks for talking with me."

I walk away from him heading home, :I wonder if I'll ever see him again? Maybe, if the world is kind, maybe:, I walk through the streets and get home right before the sun sets, I let Entropy off my back and take my saddlebags off, I don't have work tomorrow so let's work on a few things.

First an update on my changeling detection project, not much honestly, I've made some progress in finding the right rune but haven't found anything that would work well yet.

But while searching for runes related to illusions I found something that can help with my other project, I found a spell that could help me hide Entropy, It's still going to take a massive amount of work but this spell should help, the spell is called ghost target.

It creates an illusionary target that you can shape, things won't hit the target obviously, but it has a unique twist that can help me, the target can move, the spell uses two runes I do not recognize that allow the spell to move and bend, I've been able to find a out about one of them.

It's a new rune of movement, I already have something similar but this runes context is vastly different than the rune I have, the rune I have is about movement in general, while this rune is specifically made for the movement of illusions making it much better at doing what I need.

Sadly I can't find any reference to the other rune, and for the illusion to bend I need that rune, If I can get both I'll be able to make an illusion spell that will cover Entropy, it's not a permanent solution but it will give me time to create the right enchantments, and find the materials I need to solve this problem permanently.

So right now I'm studying the rune trying to find anything that can help narrow down my search, and so far the only thing I've been able to figure out is that the rune is based on a bending rune I've encountered before, I have the rune in my notes but I'll need to find the book I copied it from and work from there.

After looking through the rune again and noting some things down I move on to something else I've been wanting to try, I bring my liquid purifier, my Moon Glow plant, and my mortar and pestle to my desk and start working, first I go about the process of harvesting Moon Glow petals.

I grind them down and add some water to the mix, I keep grinding down the petals trying to extract as much fluid from the petals as I can, when I'm done I drain the mix into a jar and place it on top of the smoky quartz, I let the scanning finish and check out the results.

Sixty-seven percent water, twenty-three percent plant fluid, I have the enchantments purify the plant fluids and let the enchantments run, it takes almost an hour for the spell to finish but when it's done I have a small amount of clear fluid, I'm not sure if this will work but there's only one way to find out.

I take a piece of paper and write something with the fluid, but to my disappointment the glow is only very slightly brighter than when I tried this last time, at least it's a step in the right direction, I'm not completely sure why the plant's magic fades so much with this method.

I spend a while trying to draw a few other things before cleaning up my desk, I guess I'll need to think of a different method to try, but for now I'll work on something else, I grab my wheat plants and spend the rest of the night breeding them.

Chapter 43

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JUL 2 Wednesday. As I copy another page I look through all the pages I've finished so far, I then double-check them before grabbing a book cover, it takes a while to bind all the pages into a finished book, but when I'm done I put the book next to four other copies.

As for why I'm making so many copies of a single book, well turns out that the city library having the second largest collection of books in the country means that when other smaller libraries lose a book and don't have any to copy they will request a copy from us, or in this case several copies, to replace the lost ones.

There are a few dozen ponies who have the same job as us, I've met a few but most simply ignore me or don't want to talk, so I leave them be, so I've mostly just spent my time talking with Blaz, and while Blaz may be quiet a lot of the time he always has something interesting to say when he does speak.

"I'm done with this order, what's the next order?" Blaz simply points a hoof to a book, I grab it and start the process all over again, I take a moment to look through the first page before starting to copy it, I've learned that this can be the hardest part of the job, it can be hard to simply copy things again and again.

But it's not all bad, I have an amount of work I'm expected to complete, and if I finish before the day ends I can spend the rest of my time reading, I look at a small piece of paper attached to the book, it's the order ticket and it tells me who's ordered the book and how many they want.

I only need to make two copies of this book, It's a thin book so this shouldn't take long to finish, I work my way through the book writing page after page, and by the time I'm a third way through it's lunch, I get up and whistle to Blaz who turns to me, "lunch" he nods.

We both move through the library and enter the breakroom, we get some food and sit next to Daisy and Maple, "so how are you two doing today?" I ask as I sit down.

Daisy answers first, "Besides dealing with an apprentice that decided to leave in the middle of the work day? Fine."

"Who decided to quit?"

"You remember the stallion who always, ALWAYS tried to mix philosophy from books into his sentences?"

I let out a groan, I've unfortunately met that pony a few times, and even as an introvert I've never wanted to end a conversation faster, he was a minor noble who decided that working at a library would make him look cultured, all he really did was read about romance and quote philosophy.

"Ya, I remember him, well at least we won't have to listen to him at lunch anymore."

"So that's why lunch is so quiet today? Well like the colt said we won't have to hear his yapping anymore."

"So what about you Maple?"

"Well I have the day off tomorrow, not anything interesting to do though."

Maple's days off are Friday and Saturday, "why do you have the day off?"

Daisy answers me, "When Mister Philosophy quit I had to shift the schedule around some, so she has another day off this week."

"And you have no plans?" she nods "Well I don't have much to do tomorrow so want to do something?"

It takes a moment for her to answer me, "Sure, anywhere in particular?"

"Well, you do seem to like pie" Almost to prove my point Maple's ears pop up and she looks at me more intently, "So let's go find some, I know a cafe where we can find some pie."

"YES, oh sorry, yes that sounds nice, what time?"

"I have a few things to do, so let's meet at the library at twelve, that works fine for you?"

"Sure, and thanks Shade."

"Hey what are friends for if not to waste your free time", we spend the rest of lunch talking before getting back to work, and after a few more hours of copying and writing books I'm free, like always I clean my work area before saying goodbye to Blaz and leaving.

I stop at my apartment for a little while to feed Entropy and grab my saddlebags before leaving again, it's Wednesday so it's time to be run ragged by an old stallion, I leave Entropy and make my way to meet Stone, I find the right building and enter it making my way to the right room.

But before we start Stone asks me something, "Well colt at this point you are in good enough shape for us to change things up, so today you're learning something new", he tells me this with a smile, a smile I do not trust.

And an hour later I'm more than proven right, Stone decided that I'm ready to learn some basic hoof-to-hoof combat, and the end result was me getting a good amount of practice with both of the healing spells I know, that and getting my ass kicked repeatedly over the course of the next hour.

When we are done I still have several bruises to heal, "That healing spell works well, most recruits would need a full day of rest doing half that, keep it up colt."

I guess that's a downside to learning healing magic, when Stone found out I could speed up my healing process, even if it takes a lot of magic to heal myself, he took it as an excuse to push me harder, but even with this training being hell it's definitely working.

At this point I've burned off all my fat and have gained a good amount of muscle, that is an upside to the healing spells I'm using, they only speed up the healing process so muscle fibers still grow back in increased amounts, the main downside is that the spell only works at a decent speed if I use a lot of magic to make it work.

For a lot of spells you can add more magic to increase the effect or speed of the effect, the upside is obvious, it's faster, but there are two main downsides, first the magic costs grow exponentially so you have to be careful not to drain yourself completely, the second is a little more situational.

If a spell is not made well, or when using runic magic if the matrix is damaged then overpowering the spell could go horribly wrong, this is why I only overpower the healing spells while meditating, it helps keep everything more stable.

After we are done with combat training I'm asked another question, "So colt, when a guard trains they train their magic and also train with a weapon, I want you to do the same, so before next week I want you to find out what weapon you want to train in, I know the basics for most weapons, and if that's not enough I know a few guards that could help."

I'm thankful this question doesn't cause me more pain, "Ok I'll make sure to try some weapons out, do you know anywhere I can test some weapons out? I rather not buy a bunch of weapons I might not use."

"This place has something that will work great, they have wooden weapons of all types, just ask at the desk and rent a sparring room, now get up colt we aren't done yet", I groan and stand back up.

time skip

JUN 3 Thursday.

I get out of bed and groan a little at my sore muscles, I make some tea and spend a while healing myself before getting ready for the day, I need to meet Maple but that won't happen for a few hours so I have some time to do other things, but first I grab four very small pieces of fish and call Entropy over.

At this point we travel back and forth between the apartment and storage room eight times a day, four times in the morning and four in the evening, it takes eight trips to tire her out the same amount as before, it seems her training is working well.

When we are done I feed her a proper breakfast, I also make myself some French toast, I haven't had this in years so I thought it would be nice, when I'm done cooking and cleaning I sit down and eat with Entropy, and when I'm done fighting off Entropy's attempts to beg for my food I finish eating and move to the workroom.

I sit down and start working on the illusion spell for Entropy, I've made some progress on finding the other rune but still haven't found it yet, another part of the spell I'm working on is its ability to stay active for a long time, this is done by overpowering the spell and making sure the spell knows what to do with the excess magic.

I need the spell to use all the magic I pump into the spell to keep it active, and if I don't tell the spell to do that it will use the extra magic to just improve everything, or go wild, and I don't need that so even if this makes the spell more complex it's worth it.

I work my way through the half-finished spell matrix, I shift things around, and edit things for a while before stopping, I'll need to work on this more but I can't do much more without that other rune, I'll have to find it but that's for later, I write and sort my notes before moving on to the next thing.

I grab the newly named Rocky Wheat and start breeding it, at this point the wheat is mostly done, it can handle the new environment well and just needs the finishing touches, throughout the process of breeding the grains have shrunk a little and there are less of them, I'm going to be fixing that before I fully finish this project.

This should only take a week or two so I'm finishing a little ahead of schedule, the reason that I was able to finish faster is because I didn't take into account that once the wheat adapted to its new environment it wouldn't need to keep struggling, now that it's fully adapted it's growing faster and that uses less magic speeding up this final step.

I breed them for a while before taking a break, I spent a decent amount of magic healing myself so I spend a while resting and drinking tea, after going back and forth for a while I stop breeding the wheat, I don't have anything else I want to work on so I just spend the rest of my time reading.

I'm brought out of my reading by the alarm on my watch flashing, I turn it off and put on my saddlebags, Entropy sees this and wants to come with me, "not this time girl, I'll feed you something nice later ok? so just relax here some", she doesn't seem happy but stays.

It took a while but she now seemed willing to stay when asked, I walked through the streets and made my way to the library, and when I got there I see Maple waiting for me, "Hey Maple, sorry if you had to wait for me."

"It's fine, you are leading the way?" she seems excited, :she really likes pie ha?:

I just smile at my friend, "Sure come on it's not far from here", I start leading her through the streets and to our destination.

We walk along the streets before finding the place I remember, a small cafe named The Blue Berry, it's a stupid name but they make good sugary baked treats, they have most things you'd think of, along with a few booths inside to sit at, we enter the building and find a booth to sit in.

"So what type of pie do you want to get?" I ask as we look through the menu.

"OH, so many choices, I can't decide, apple? raspberry?" she continues naming different pies, she's definitely excited about this.

I also realize that she's definitely the type of pony to take forever to decide, "How about we just get one cherry pie, and an apple pie? Keep it nice and simple."

She seems to war with herself for a few moments before agreeing, "ok", I motion over to a waiter and place our order.

"Well it will probably take a while to make, so want to talk about something?" I ask as the waiter brings me a green tea I ordered.

She thinks for a moment before asking something, "Well how about this, what do you do in your spare time?" she asks.

"Well, honestly a lot, I have a few hobbies and also like learning in my free time, so you'll have to be a little more specific."

"Ok then what's your favorite hobby?"

I spend a moment sipping my tea while thinking, "Drawing, I've been doing too since I was very young and have always enjoyed it", a thought strikes me and I open my saddlebags and take out a book, "Here" I pass it over to her.

She opens it and starts flipping pages, "Wow color me impressed, these are all amazing, although I guess that makes sense you have to draw anytime you want to use a spell."

"Thank you I try, and yes I presume drawing that much has helped me improve", she continues flipping through pages.

"There are a lot of plants, do you like plants? And what's with the crow?"

I nod, "Yes I do like plants, I even keep several in my home, and that's Entropy she's my pet crow."

"You have a pet crow? I honestly didn't see you as the type of pony to have a pet, why a crow?"

"Ya I'm normally not the pet type, but well let's just say that I got lucky and found Entropy's egg, and I wanted to see if it would hatch, after it did I guess she grew on me and now we are almost inseparable, sometimes I have to convince or bribe her to not follow me to work."

Maple lets out a small laugh, "Really? Well you'll have to introduce me sometime", we are interrupted by the waiter placing both pies in front of us along with two plates, and two forks, we spend a moment filling our plates before digging in, while we eat I'm able to get down four pieces before having to stop, but Maple is already on her fifth piece and is still going, "I knew you liked pie, but your really able to eat it aren't you?"

She gains a little blush and pauses mid-bite, "It's fine, I'm just surprised, most don't eat as much as me but you just keep going, well it's my turn to ask the questions, so let's start with what your favorite hobby is?"

She seems to think it over for a moment, "Well I'd say it's baking, I like baking things when I can, but I don't do it often, only when I feel like it."

"Hm, I also bake, mostly bread, It's a good hobby to have, ok next what is your favorite baked good that isn't a pie."

"That's not fair, that's like asking what type of fruit you like and then saying you can only choose berries, but fine if I had to decide I'd say it's cake, any type is fine, except chocolate, I don't like chocolate."

"Ok, what's something you genuinely don't like?"

"Odd question, but sure, hmm if I had to pick I'd say large gatherings, and I mean large gatherings, parties are fine but once you get more than ten ponies in a room with me I stop having fun."

"Fair enough, I don't really like crowds either", I put down my fork and push my plate away, "Well I'm full and I should probably get back home, I have a bird to placate and some other things to do, thanks for the fun time Maple."

I spend a moment paying the bill and gathering my things, "Same to you Shade, and thanks for the pie, but what am I supposed to do with the rest? And how much was the bill?" both pies aren't even halfway eaten.

"Well, I guess you'll have leftovers for a while, and don't worry about the bill, consider it my treat, have a good day Maple."

"Fine, but next time I'm paying, have a good day Shade", I make my way out of the cafe after that and start heading home, I don't even notice Maple watching me from the window as I walk away.

Chapter 44

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JUL 4 Friday. I move out of my bed and move to the kitchen, and after making some food and tea I move over to my workroom, I had an idea last night and I want to test it, but I'll need to be very careful, I've wondered over the meaning behind my cutie mark many times, and I realized something my cutie mark is a spell matrix, so what will happen if I tried to cast it?

But I don't want to just cast a spell that may just be random numbers and runes, I rather not have an explosion happen in my apartment, so I need to cast the spell with the least amount of magic possible, and have several protections in place, and for both I'm going to need a few gems.

I sit down at a desk with my notes and a small ruby, I start with the enchantment to hold and gather magic, I spend a while removing the part of the spell that gathers magic, once I'm done I enchant the ruby and spend a minute making sure everything is working correctly.

I feed it a small amount of magic to make sure it's working and start work on the next thing, I spend some time drawing out my cutie mark and copy it to a piece of paper, the next step is protection, so I grab a medium ruby and enchant it to hold and gather magic before spending some time filling it with magic.

After a while recovering my magic I start on the shield spell, I'll need a new shielding spell for this so I start with the base spell and work from there, I make the shield better at containing what's on the inside of the shield, I also add protections against fire just to be safe, it should contain any fire or smoke now.

I enchant the medium ruby and spend some time shaping the shield to the correct size, I stand up and grab my wood saw, and move to my main room, I spend a while cutting down the Iron Oaks main trunk, once I have it cut I move it to the side and start growing a new tree.

During this process I make sure not to damage the Companion Vine, when the new tree is large enough I place the vine back on it and start processing the tree, I remove the branches and leaves to be decomposed, during this process the saw struggles slightly to cut the trees main trunk.

It seems that with the Companion Vines help the Iron Oak had absorbed a lot of life magic, the fact that the enchanted saw is having any trouble cutting it proves that this harvest of the Iron Oak is tough, to the point that it might be as tough as a few types of metal.

I don't need all the wood for this project, after drying out the wood and rendering it down I have a two-foot-long, three-inch thick wood post, I also have a few smaller wood blocks that I was able to cut out from the rest of the trunk, after cleaning everything up and decomposing all the scraps I take the wood to my workroom.

I store everything besides the wood post, I move the post to the center of the room and stand it up, I take the medium ruby with the shield and place it on the floor a few feet away, I take some time to make sure the shield will cover the upper part of the post and activate it to test it.

I then spend an hour drinking tea and recovering my magic fully before proceeding to the next step, I cast the sticking spell, it's a basic spell that does what the name says, sticking something to something else, I use the spell to anchor both the post and the medium ruby to the floor, that should keep it in place.

The final step is to enchant the small ruby with my cutie mark, when I'm done I place the ruby inside the shield and activate the shield, I then start slowly feeding magic into the small ruby while watching the process, nothing happens for a while, but then in an instant I see the ruby flash so bright it blinds me.

I have to cover my eyes as the inside of the shield is engulfed in fire, when the light fades I'm able to open my eyes, and I'm greeted by the sight of a burning wood post, I'm lucky the shield is still intact, but the inside is a complete mess, the ruby is shattered into hundreds of pieces.

The wood post seems to have withstood the magic, but not the fire, it's currently burning slightly, but the shield blocks air so it should die out once it burns through the available oxygen, I wait a minute before the fire fully dies out, I ready a water spell and once the shield is deactivated I cover the wood post in water.

After the smoke clears and the post is no longer smoldering I face my next problem, there are no windows and this room is enclosed, there is nowhere for the smoke to go so it's just on the ceiling, I also can't just release it into the city, I rather nopony think there is a fire.

I could let it settle but that would take a while and somepony might smell the smoke after a while, I grab my notebook and leave the room trying my best to trap the smoke inside, I need a way to fix this as fast as I can, I don't have a spell to clear the air, but if I cut a lot of corners and sacrifice any form of efficiency I can make something fast.

I spend the next half hour trying my best to make a spell with the purifying rune, and an air rune, it's far from well made, to be blunt this spell is a complete disaster, but it should work, I enter the workroom again to see that a lot of smoke has settled.

I draw the spells matrix and push my magic into it, it takes far more magic than it should but after a few minutes the room is clear, :god this whole thing is just a disaster, then again I did try and cast a spell that didn't make any sense,: I spend the next two hours cleaning the entire room.

When I'm finally done making sure everything in the room is clean and intact I relax some, I take a moment to look at the post and the remains of the ruby, the post is burnt but still in one piece, and the ruby is in hundreds of pieces, that I've collected, I store the gem fragments and move the post to the main room.

I decompose the post down and move back to the workroom, I sit at my desk and start writing down notes about what happened, I'm pretty sure the spell was unstable and when I pushed magic into it everything went out of control, I'm just lucky the shield contained the blast, I didn't feel or hear anything so I don't think my neighbors noticed either.

I'm not really sure if I learned anything from all this, well I guess I learned to get better safety measures for the future, not that I want to do this again, when I'm done with my notes I put everything away, I don't want to do any more testing today and I'd like some fresh air.

"Come on girl, we're going out," I call out to Entropy from the main room, in a few seconds Entropy flies from my bedroom and lands near me, I take a quick shower to wash out any soot before grabbing my saddlebags and leaving with Entropy, I walk through the streets until I reach the park.

I spend a while drawing while Entropy flies around the area, after a while I get a little bored of drawing and remember that I have something I need to do, I call over Entropy and take her home before leaving again, I make my way to the same building I meet Stone at.

I rent a sparring room like he suggested, when I enter it's the same type of room we normally meet in, it also has several racks filled with different types of weapons, I don't really know where to start, well what type of weapon do I like?

I'm not trained in any of them so I can just pick anything, after some thought I just decide to try the things I like the look of, I try out a few staffs a short sword, and even a polearm, I do find one weapon that I like but it's not exactly practical, the greatsword, it may just be the monkey part of my brain but I like the idea of hitting something with a big sword.

But like I said it's not really practical, I can use it easily as it doesn't matter how much it weighs, but carrying around something like this in public is just not going to happen, I try to think of a solution or even an excuse to choose this weapon as I like it, and I do find one.

I can hold and move three things at the same time with my field, if I hold three things my control suffers some, but I can control two things at the same time with minimal loss to my control, so my idea is simple I'll pair the great sword with something else, I spend a while trying to decide on the right combination.

And I decide on a dagger, one blade for heavy damage and weight, and the other for speed and exploiting openings, then again I don't know anything about combat so we'll see what Stone thinks of my choice and go from there, for now I spend some time swinging both around for a while.

It's a little hard to swing the great sword, but then I realize what I'm doing wrong, I'm holding the whole blade in my field, I adjust to only hold the handle and swing it again, it's much faster now, but after a few swings I stop, my control degrades after several feet and I rather not hit myself with a large piece of wood, so I decide to not try anything else until I meet with Stone.

I don't have much else to do so I put everything back and start making my way home.

time skip

JUL 9 Wednesday.

I walk through the same building I've been in so many times now, I walk through the familiar hallways and enter the right room, and like most times I come here I see Stone practicing with a sword, he turns to me and nods, "Shade, enjoy your week?"

"Ya I did, I also did what you told me to and tried out some weapons."

"Well don't keep me in suspense colt."

"I tried several things but I decided on an odd choice, and I don't know anything about combat so I thought I'd run it by you first," he nods for me to continue, "Well I decided on both a greatsword and a dagger."

Stone didn't seem to reject it instantly, he seemed to think it over for a few moments before nodding, "It's definitely an odd choice, but it makes some sense, using both will give you a good amount of options, and from the size you are right now you'll grow enough to use a greatsword even without your magic."

"The only real problem is that I don't know any styles to teach you, but I can teach you how to each separately, so we'll start with the dagger and go from there."

I gained a smile hearing his answer, "Don't smile yet colt, You're training in two weapons which means I'm going to train you twice as much."

I lose my smile some but nod to him, "Well come on colt, we're heading to a training room for some training weapons," and much like last time I don't trust the smile he has.

Chapter 45

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JUL 18 Friday.

I stand up from meditating, my ability to sense the space around me is still very slowly progressing, I walk to the kitchen and make the only tea I've had for over a year now, :I should find out how to make other things with this tea: I do have a cookbook but it doesn't have anything I can make.

I only have one plan today and I won't be doing that for a few hours, so I'm taking a quick trip to the library, I give Entropy a few berries and leave my apartment, I make it to the library not long after and start looking through different cooking books.

After a while I find a few books to read, not just cookbooks but a few others too, I spend the next hour skimming through a few books before opening the cookbook, this book mostly has baked goods, and after a while I find something simple and easy to make with tea as an ingredient.

Tea cakes, they don't need much and go well with tea, I write down the recipe and put the books back before leaving, when I get home I start gathering everything I will need, it takes me a while to mix everything and bake them, but when they are done they come out decent.

They are a little sweet so I probably should add less sugar next time, but they have a slight lemony flavor and go well with the tea so I'd say this went well, after that I spent a while breeding the Rocky Wheat, it took a little longer than I thought but it's finally done.

It took just under five months to complete this project, and I think it's come out great, I'm going to keep some seeds with me so I can still make bread, but right now I have three five-pound sacks I bought that I've been filling, I finished the wheat yesterday day and sent a letter to Celestia.

I haven't gotten a response yet, but I know they will need a decent amount to grow so they can then distribute it, that's why I'm filling these sacks, it's probably overkill but that's fine, she'll probably have either a guard, or me deliver it, I'll give them two sacks and keep the last one so I don't have to grow wheat every time I want bread, the sack should last me a week or two.

I spent a while growing and collecting the grains, I already filled two sacks yesterday so it doesn't take long to fill the last sack, when I'm done I tie shut the sacks and place them on a shelf, I do have something else to do today, if I can.

I want to find someone to keep learning the griffin language from, but I got lucky last time with Gerald, this time I'm going to try and find a better way to do this, but I'm not sure how I could do the same thing as last time? But like I said I got lucky last time.

I could try and find an actual teacher, but I have no idea where to find somepony like that, I could try and ask around? But that's just leaving it up to blind luck at that point, there is a place I could go to that can help me find a teacher, and I don't have any better ideas, so I grab my saddlebags and leave my apartment.

It takes me a while to find the right place but I do find it, there are many guilds in Equestria, some are more frequently used and some less so, this particular guild is decently sized and is also very old, the Information Guild, their name says it all really, they trade information for money.

They have also been around for a long time, you might think a guild like this does some less-than-legal things, and maybe they do but most of their business is trading information that is legal to those who are looking for it.

Let's say you need to find a rare herb? Well pay them enough and they will find any information they can about it, and if you pay them more then they will even help you get it, and that's the problem, they trade information and I have many things I'd like to keep secret, so I'd rather not do business with them, but as the old saying goes, Needs must.

I didn't use their services in the past because the things I was looking for were either something I didn't want others to know about or things I could find on my own without having to pay them, this is why I didn't use them in the past, I don't want to ask them for information.

At least not for important information, but for something like finding a teacher? Well an orphan trying to find a teacher for a skill that could help them get a job isn't all that uncommon, hell I've even seen guild posters advertise just that, this is why I decided to find them this time, as most wouldn't think it odd for me to look for a teacher.

I find the right building after a while, it looks like a regular office building, the only big difference is the sign, Information Guild Canterlot Branch, simple and to the point, I watch the building for a while before entering, and a few ponies enter and exit the building most younger a few around my age, perfect I won't be out of place.

I walk into the building and look around, it's a large room with several counters with ponies behind them, and other ponies waiting in lines, above each desk is a sign, I look through them before finding the line that matches my needs the most, Training Information.

There are a few ponies in the line so I stand behind them and wait, it takes a while to get to the front but when it's my turn I walk up to the desk, "Hello how can I help you?"

"I'm looking for someone to teach me the griffin language".

They nod and flip through several pages before stopping, "We have a few on record, ten bits for the list and an extra five for directions, and their business hours."

They are blunt and to the point not that I expected anything different, I pass them fifteen bits and they nod then spend a moment copying the information with a spell I'm very familiar with, I’m passed the page and leave the line then I place it in my bags and leave the building.

I walk a decent distance away before finding a bench to sit on and read the list, it has several names and where they do business, there are a dozen different options so I have to narrow down my search, first I look through the addresses to see which are closest.

Six are close to where I live, I'll probably need to do this after work so I exclude any with business hours that wouldn't work, I have four options now, I don't know anything else about these businesses so I stand up and start walking, I'll just need to find these places and see them for myself.

After an hour later I've scratched three names off my list, the first was fully booked and couldn't fit me in, the second was not willing to teach me, and the third was closing shop and moving to a different city in a few weeks, so I only have one place left.

The address led me to a small shop that seemed to sell art, I thought I had the wrong place but the address matched, so I entered the shop and looked around, several shelves filled with small sculptures and paintings fill the shop, but it seemed mostly empty with only me and the owner at their counter.

The owner is a griffin, they look to be on the older side not as old as Gerald but still not young, they have a dark blue coat, and slightly lighter blue wings, the feathers around their head are white, and their beak and talons are yellow, they look up from the book they are reading and look at me with their brown eyes.

"Hello, is there anything I can help you find?" Their voice is feminine.

"I was told you teach the griffin language?"

She spends a moment staring at me before answering, "I only teach it to those who actually try, most who come to me don't put in enough effort for my liking, so how much do you know?"

I don't understand all the words missing a few, but I have enough practice to understand her, "I practice some, still need more though, I could use the help to learn more," I answer back, probably messing something up but I hope it's coherent enough.

She looks a little surprised but then gains a small smile, "Not bad, most who come here don't even know a full sentence, and expect me to teach them the whole language without putting in much effort," she says the last part like she had a grudge.

This confuses me, "Really, why? I can understand if you don't want to teach those who don't have a basic grasp of the language, but then why do so many come to you unprepared? Do they just not ask?"

"Well unfortunately the language has gained a bit of a reputation for being easy to learn, not wrong it is easy to learn in comparison to other languages, so a lot of ponies come to me thinking it won't take long to learn the language and then get mad when they have to actually learn a complex language.

"But back to business, you want to learn from me?"

I nod, "Yes I've learned some but can't find any other way to advance at the pace I'd like to, I could just talk to others but that will only get me so far."

"Well, you have enough of a grasp of the language for me to teach you, what hours do you have free?"

I think over my schedule before deciding, "Would Monday work?" she takes out a book and flips through a few pages before nodding.

"What time?"

"Well I'm an apprentice so I'm free after four."

"I can make that work, we may be interrupted by someone coming to the shop, is that fine with you?" I nod, I've been learning it in a market, I can handle a pony or two interrupting us, "Ok then, it will be twenty bits an hour, and we start at four thirty and stop at seven, Does that work for you?"

"That's perfect."

"Well then, my name is Caelum Vi, Nice to meet you, do you need anything else?"

"Shade Evergreen, same, and I think I'll look around before leaving," She just nods, I spend a while looking through the shelves and find a small griffin statue that looks nice, I buy it and say goodbye before leaving the shop and making my way home.

When I open my front door I'm greeted by Entropy waiting for me, like always I have to placate her with scratches and some treats, when I'm done I set my new small statue on my counter top I think it looks nice and it adds yet another thing to fill the empty space around my home.

I don't have anything else planned for today, so I guess I'll just spend some time messing around, I've been learning the magical flows of the Iron Oak for a while now and I think I have a good grasp on it so I want to grow the wood into different shapes and see what I can do with it.

I grow and collect an acorn from the Iron Oak, I then take it along with a pot filled with soil to my workroom, I sit down and push the acorn into the soil, I then grow it into a little foot-tall sapling, I make sure to keep the sapling the same size but let the roots grow throughout the pot.

I use my knife and slice the sapling down the middle, then have it grow back, leaving me with a sapling that splits in two, I cut both a few inches above the split and push them together, I then grow both together making a rough wood ring.

I keep the sapling the same size as I dump life magic into the sapling, the tree stays the same size but the wood gets tougher, when I've used most of my magic I stop and cut the wood ring off, because so much magic was dumped inside such a small sapling the wood is insanely tough.

So tough that even my wood carving knife feels like it's dull while I cut it, when I'm done I place the ring to the side and move the plant back to a shelve, I'm basically out of magic so I'll need to continue this later, so I take out my sketchbook and start drawing Entropy as she sleeps.

I think I'll just relax for the rest of the day.

Chapter 46

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JUN 21 Monday. I wake up and move into the kitchen to make some breakfast, and after feeding Entropy and myself I sit down to read some before I have to go to work but after a while, I'm interrupted by a knock on my door.

Not many knock on my door so I'm guessing that it's somepony Celestia sent to collect the wheat, :And I swear to magic if it's Shining again I will flip a table: I move over to my door and being careful I open the door a little and when I see who's outside I open the door fully.

:OH, thank fuck: Standing on the other side of the door is a guard I do not recognize, "You here for the wheat?"

"Yes sir."

"Wait here a moment please," I walk away from the front door and go into my workroom grab two sacks, and bring them out to the guard, "it's in these, don't get them wet," he nods and takes the sacks before passing me a letter.

I see the royal seal on it and move it to the side, "Anything else?"

"Do you need me to take a letter back?" I shake my head, "Then no, have a good day sir," They take both sacks and start walking away, that's what I like about the guard, no unnecessary questions asked, I close my door and grab the letter I crack the wax seal and start reading.

Dear Shade Evergreen, first I'd like to thank you for the help you have provided me in this project, you've performed beyond my expectations, and I'd like to update you on the progress of the other inventions you've sent me.

First the magical light, they work well and we've found no problems so far, its sales have dropped some but that's to be expected, they can last years so most who wanted one already bought one, there has also been some discussion about exporting it to neighboring countries on a large scale, but it likely won't happen for a while.

The pest spell has already proven very useful, the main harvests of the year won't come in until fall, but the crops that are harvested earlier have shown good results, most have a ten to fifteen percent increase in crop yield, mostly from crops surviving more often.

The copying spell has been a massive help to the running of the country, there is not much to say about it beyond the fact that it's doing what it was made to do, and that there have been no problems with it.

The water flasks are already in production and will be released in a week or two, I've had several tests done on them and they work well, As you theorized the water harvesting flask is less effective in dry environments, but even then they still produce enough water for a single pony.

and finally, the new wheat you've made, I've decided to adopt the name you've been using, the Rocky Wheat will be grown in greenhouses and sent out to farmers, hopefully, it will be widespread in a year or two.

I'd once again like to thank you for the service you've provided to Equestria. Signed Princess Celestia.

I fold the letter and place it back inside the envelope, it's nice to know how the things I've made are doing, I reread the letter a few times and write down the information before burning the letter to ash, I burn the letters that could tie me to my inventions, any letter that is us just talking I keep.

But moving on I have an experiment to run before work, here's a question, how much magic do I have? Well, I don't really know I'd need a way to measure it.

Trying to feel the magic of others is something I can't do, and I don't really know how much a pony has to begin with, so that's what I'm going to try and figure out, I refill my teapot and take it with me to my workroom, I sit down and start going through my notes.

I do have a plan for this but it will take a lot of magic, I start with the scanning spell I made a few weeks back, It's seen some improvement since then mostly making the spell more efficient and stable, I grab a medium ruby and place it on my desk, and I take a moment to modify the scanning spell.

I want it to scan my magic, but I don't have a rune for me so I need something that will target myself and my magic, which leads me to my first problem, what type of magic am I scanning for? Even if I don't have an affinity for other types of magic that doesn't mean I don't have them in me.

For instance, all living things have life magic in them even if they don't have an affinity for it, so I need to narrow my scan to just one type, I pick natural magic as all ponies have it and it's the most common type of magic, so it would be the best baseline to work off of, I even have a rune for natural magic.

The next problem there is natural magic all around us, so I still need something to target specifically me, if I use a rune for pony and the natural rune at the same time I probably could get the spell to work, but it would need even more magic and because I'm scanning a full pony this spell will take a long while.

With this in mind I place the medium ruby back and look through my collection for something that will work for this project, and after some thought I grab the six by-six-inch amethyst I've had for a while now, even if the gem is only amethyst its size should be more than enough to hold the magic I need.

A gem's magic capacity is determined by the gems type, size, and quality, in that order, this amethyst is of decent quality and its large size also helps to keep it stable, so I take the heavy gem and place it on my desk, first I'll need to modify my scanning spell.

I'm undoing a lot of my work with this spell but I need to, It takes me a while but I get about halfway done before I have to leave for work, I grab my badge and leave my apartment, it only takes a little while to make it to the library and find my way to the right room.

I enter to see Blaz already working on something, "Hey Blaz."

"Oh good you're here colt, I got news."

I raise a brow, "Good or bad?"

"Depends on how you look at it, a small library burned down."

:Oh shit, please tell me it's not Ponyvile: I try and keep my calm while asking a question, "Do you know where?"

"Not really, but the order took a few days to get to us so I assume it's far, maybe a border town who knows? Anyway, we now have a massive order for over one hundred different books."

Hearing his answer I calm down, and then let out a groan hearing the second part, "The next few days are going to be a mess aren't they?"

He lets out a chuckle, "Yup, don't look so down, before that new spell this would take weeks, now sit down there is a list on your desk."

I nod and sit at my desk and look at the list and look for the names, I need to make a copy of each so I start by writing down the names and making my way out of the room, I'll need to retrieve these books first so I make my way through the shelves and find the right books.

When I'm done I sit down back at the desk, I start with the thickest book and flip it open.

The work is the same as always, I stop as the timer on my watch goes off "Lunch," I say to Blaz before leaving the room and walking into the breakroom, I don't see Maple here yet but Daisy is sitting there, so I grab some food and sit opposite of her eating my food.

I'm drinking some water when I'm asked a question, "So, how was your date?" I spit out the water I was drinking and cough a few times.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"HA got you, no I'm just messing with you."

I glared at her, "where did you even get that idea?"

"Well, Maple told me about the day you two had, I know it's not a date but you've got to admit it sounds like one."

Thinking about it I can see how others would make that mistake, "Well as long as you know it wasn't, and I will get you back for that."

She just smiles, "Bring it on, so how's your day going?" We continue talking as we eat, Blaz and Maple join us not long after and both get a laugh out of Daisy telling them what she did to me, Blaz nearly fell off the table, and I was half tempted to help him do just that.

After lunch I get through the rest of the workday and start cleaning my work desk up, I was able to copy the pages today but I'll need to go over it again to make sure I didn't miss anything.

I take a quick trip home to clean myself up and get ready, I have another meeting to get to today, after cleaning myself up some I feed Entropy and leave, I walk through the city until I find the right shop and enter it, I see Caelum behind the counter reading just like last time.

She looks up when I enter, "Good you're here, come on then let's get started."

The next two hours are filled with dry conversation on different topics and words, it's not exciting but I learn a lot in that relatively short time, it really puts in perspective how much having a good teacher can help.

A few ponies come in, some buy things some don't, and when we are done she gives me a few books that can help me and sends me on my way, Caelum is a blunt person like most griffins I've met but she's a good teacher and I think learning from her will help a lot.

I make my way home in the dark and take a moment to make some tea before getting to work, I need to finish the spell I'm working on so I sit at my desk and start where I left off, it takes me a while to get the runes working together properly and to finish all the math.

It's not done and I'll need to work out some other problems, the main problem right now is the magical requirements, the amethyst should be able to hold enough magic for a full scan, but the scan will take hours to complete and I'll need to stay as still as I can throughout it.

I'll also need to fill the amethyst with magic and considering how much it can hold it could take weeks, if I dump all my excess magic inside it will speed this process up massively, but I won't be able to do much training if I do that, regardless I start enchanting the amethyst to hold and gather magic.

I've done this many times so it doesn't take me long to finish, I won't add the scanning spell for now, I have some time to finish and improve it so I'll add it when the gem is full, I place the gem on my shelf and start on something else.

I don't have much to work on right now so I'll just spend a while tinkering with a few spells, first the scanning spell I just made, it could use a hefty amount of work and adjustment, I spend a few hours like this tinkering with different spells and dumping my magic into the amethyst, It will take at least two weeks to fill the gem at this rate.

When it gets late I spend some time reading and playing with Entropy, I throw her wood ball and close my book, "ya know girl" She looks to me with the wood ball in her beak as she brings it back to me, "We should get you some more toys," she seems to agree as her tail starts waving up and down.

"OK, then we'll go shopping soon," after a little more time I get up and take a shower, and head to bed.

Chapter 47

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JUL 25 Friday.

I got out of bed and nearly tripped over a knotted rope on the floor, a few days ago I went shopping with Entropy to buy her some toys and she got a few things, a knotted rope, another small ball, and funnily enough she wanted some building blocks we found.

She seems happy with her toys although I should try and teach her to clean up some, but right now I head to the kitchen and make some food for both of us, when I'm done we take our daily trips to the rented storage room, her training is still progressing well.

It still feels odd every time we teleport, every time I see that place with nothing in I think of my death and past even if it's just for a moment, but thinking of a world that I will never see again won't help save this one, so once we are done I walk into my workroom and get to work.

First a little update on my self-scan project, the gem still needs to fill a lot and the spell still needs more work, I've completed the part of the spell I was working on but still need to add more things, first things first I need some amount of magic to measure with.

I decided to use the firebolt spell for this, as it doesn't use much magic and is consistent, I'll use that as a baseline and scale it up from there, I'm doing this because if I tried to measure the exact amount of magic I'd need a unit of measurement and I don't have that, so I'm just going to use the spell as a rough way to measure my magic.

I start tinkering with the scan spell and get it to link into the firebolt spell, I choose the firebolt spell because it's nice and consistent as it uses the same amount of magic each time it's cast, as for why I don't just cast the spell over and over again until I'm out of magic?

Well running completely out of magic is something you don't want to do, at the low end it will give you a headache and leave you exhausted, and if you overdo it too much it could kill you, that's why I stop using my magic when I start feeling side effects as I want to push my magic to grow not harm myself.

And while I'm casting the spell my magic will regenerate, I can feel my magic but I can only get a rough measure of how much magic I have, so if I used that method I would get an answer that is off by quite a bit as my magic would regenerate while I'm casting.

It takes me over two hours to get both spells to work together properly but when I'm done I have my first prototype, it still needs a lot of work but it's somewhat done so I copy the matrix down and start work on the next thing after I put away anything that I won't need.

I want to mess around with some plants, specifically the wood ring I made in the past, as I think I accidentally discovered something amazing, my magic was full when I dumped it into the Iron Oak sapling, so it got a lot more than normal.

The ring is only an inch wide, and the amount of magic and the small size caused a new reaction in the ironwood, it all started when I tried to shape the rough ring into a proper shape, and failed as my knife did basically nothing to the wood even with its enchantments it only somewhat cut through the bark, I was confused by this and tried to find out the answer.

The wood was tougher than any I've had before, why did this happen only now? Well turns out that when I give the Iron Oak life magic it will use it to strengthen itself and grow larger, but it seems to level off at a certain point and after a while I learned it has a limit and if the plant reaches that limit it will still grow stronger but the progress will level off and slow down to almost nothing.

I think most plants probably have this limit to stop them from taking all the life magic from around them, but when I concentrated that much life magic on something so small it forced the Iron Oak past this limit, in normal circumstances the plant would probably just grow larger.

But I was stopping it while my magic and will still wanted the plant to grow stronger, so when my magic started saturating the plant it was forced to keep making its wood stronger against its nature and past its limits, it seems that I could push a plant past its natural limits if I use enough magic.

The end result of this is the wood ring being so tough I don't even have a way to work with it right now, this discovery is amazing for several reasons but the best is the ring itself, Iron Oak wood becomes slightly more magic resistant and conductive the stronger it is.

So how much magic can this ring hold and use? Well I want to figure that out today, but to do that I need a way to work with this material so I grab my wood carving knife and a medium ruby, I'll also need to create a better spell for this new project so I look through my notes and find the spell I have on my carving knife.

I look through it and try to make it as strong as I can for the new way I'm going to use it, after I'm done I enchant the ruby to hold and gather magic then add the spell, when I'm done I link my knife to the ruby and grab the wood ring, I try and cut into it but even with more the magic behind this enchantment it's not easy.

It takes me a while to remove the bark and start cutting the ring into shape, it takes a while but when I'm done I start on the next step, trying drying the wood out I take it over to my sink and try to force the water out it takes much more time and magic then it normally does but I finish after a while.

I take the ring and place it on my desk and decide to start with something simple, I enchant the ring to gather and hold magic and after a while of giving it magic it's full, it doesn't hold much magic around a tenth the capacity of a small ruby, but this is much higher then I thought it would be.

It brunt out quickly so I'll need to see what the real limit of this wood is by experimenting more, but if I can get it to hold as much as a small ruby it would be amazing, not needing to use small gems would be very convenient for me, but I don't know what the limit of this wood is so I shouldn't get ahead of myself.

This ring can hold a decent amount of magic for how small it is and the fact that it's wood, I'll definitely need to experiment with this more but for now I spend some time taking notes about the ring and any theories I have, I also try to add another spell to the ring, a basic illusion.

But it proves too much for the small ring and it promptly bursts into flame, I'm holding the ring in the air so not much happens I just take it into my kitchen and dump it in some water, that would be a downside to using this wood even if it's tough it can still burn.

There are problems I can see with this wood now that I think about it, first it probably can't handle that much magic going through it at once without damaging the wood, so I'd need to slowly fill and release the magic to keep the wood intact.

I could use this as a cheap way to gather large amounts of magic, but I don't think it will work well if I use it to cast any spells that aren't weak and it would be single use, the magic can be gathered safely but when I try and use it the wood will probably start destroying itself fast.

But this is still an amazing thing to have, I also don't have much to do today so I might as well test some things about it but to do that I need two things.

First, if I want to work with this new wood I need better tools, at the bare minimum I need my saw and wood carving knife and the ruby I enchanted can link to both, but if I want to enchant all the other wood carving tools in my kit I'll need to use more gems then I have right now.

For my saw and carving knife, I need a better enchantment so I take the modified version I made earlier and start taking it apart I need to do more than just modify this spell to get the results I need, I take what little parts of the spell that I can use and start on my new spell.

This spell will be linked to the medium ruby so I can let it use much more magic, I look through my notes on runes and find three that will work well, a rune for carve, a rune for cut, and a rune for sharp, they don't all fit perfectly for this spell but in combination they should work well enough.

I add them and start working on the spell, it takes me a while to get everything to work together but when I'm done I enchant everything and try it on a tiny wood scrap from the ring, I tap the ruby twice and start carving with the knife and I once again get a smooth cut without much resistance.

Once I see that it works I deactivate the ruby and place it to the side to regain its magic, and start on the second thing I will need which is more wood, I still have the pot with the Iron Oak sapling so I grab it and place it on my desk, I want to grow a one-inch piece for some testing so I grow the small stump into a nub.

I grow it a little larger to account for the bark and young wood before starting to saturate the wood, I want this wood to be at least as strong as the ring but the ring had much less mass so this will need more magic, I'll need to do this process a few times to get the same effects so after I'm done draining what magic I have I stop.

I take some time to make tea to help me recover faster, I don't have much I can do without using magic so I decide to look through my notes on other projects, I'm close to finding the rune I need for Entropy's illusion but I'm missing some context for it but I should be able to find it soon.

After organizing my notes on the spell and looking through the runes used my magic has recovered enough to go again, so I dump my magic into the Iron Oak sapling again I also need to wait again so I just decide to draw some as I wait, I look around and start drawing the small griffin statue I bought not long ago.

Chapter 48

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JUL 30 Wednesday.

The air in my lungs is forced out as I'm pushed back from Stone's hoof hitting me, "You have to remember that when fighting close up there is more than just your opponent's weapon to look out for."

I pick myself up off the ground as Stone points out yet another thing I need to learn, Stone may be a good teacher but he is also a rough teacher, I nod to him and pick up my wooden dagger getting ready for another exchange.

We've been doing this for four weeks now and I'm still getting used to the feeling of fighting somepony, it's not something I ever thought I'd need to learn but it could be useful in the future, and since when has something being hard stopped me? Not anytime soon I hope.

After several more rounds of me getting my flank handed to me we stop and move onto magic, at this point I can draw the firebolt spell while walking in roughly thirty seconds, and according to Stone that's not nearly good enough and I agree with him.

I've made progress but I really should try and advance to the next step in runic casting, but I don't have the magical capacity for that yet so I'll need to make do with what I have for now, that won't stop me from practicing the steps later today.

But for now I just focus on drawing out the spell matrix correctly, when I'm done I take a second to aim and release it, the small bolt of fire impacts the target and leaves a scorch mark on the painted stone target, I repeat this again and again as Stone reminds me of things he's taught me over the past weeks.

When we are done we go our separate ways and I walk home, when I get home I have to feed Entropy like always but when I'm done I make some tea and head to my workroom to start dumping my magic into a small wood bump, this is the fifth time I've grown a piece of what I've come to call Steel wood.

Through several tests I've found out most of its properties, I was right in my guess that it can hold a lot of magic, and sadly I was also right when I guessed that the wood couldn't handle large amounts of magic passing through it at once.

It can store large amounts of magic if the magic is gathered slowly, when magic is held in a reserve it doesn't move around but when I try and activate a spell or enchantment the wood can't handle it and normally catches on fire, or in one case explodes into wood splinters, I'm glad I put up a shield for that one.

All this means that the wood is not useable as a material to replace gems, but it still has uses, the best I've found so far is to use it as a one-time use magic battery and if I make a linking spell to transfer all that magic to a gem before the wood completely destroys itself I could use it to quickly fill gems.

But I'll need a much more heavy-duty linking spell for that so I'll look into it later, the last thing I have to say about the new wood is how much magic it can hold, and the answer is that a one-inch cube of Steel wood can hold about a quarter of the amount a one-inch ruby can hold.

Moving right along to another project that I left alone for a while and I can now make some progress in, trying to detect illusions, I was working on the illusion spell for Entropy when I realized that if I use both of the same illusion runes it might be enough to get the spell to work.

I did try and only use the one illusion rune I had but it wasn't enough for the spell to detect illusions, so until I find the rest of the other runes both of these projects can't progress, and by magic have I been trying to find the last bits of the final rune.

I've even found some of its runic context, but sadly the book that had it was only using half this runes contexts as an example for something else, but it did tell me about some of the rune's history and that led me to other books with more bits and pieces of the runes context, but not all of it.

And I rather not try guessing the context, my search continues even onwards and upwards, so for the rest of today I'll work on something else trying to advance my rank as a runic caster, right now I'm an apprentice and I want to become a journeyman.

Ranks for casting with a horn are simple, an apprentice can cast any spell they have the magic for with a good degree of certainty, most unicorns fall into this category, and most guards who fall into the upper percent of this category.

A journeyman can hold a spell matrix in their mind forever so they can cast it instantly when needed, they also have greater reserves of magic and have much better control over their magic, unicorn guards that work in the palace have to reach this level at a minimum, along with a few others who are mostly researchers or ponies seeking to push their limits.

A master can cast multiple spells at once, and have a vast knowledge of spells and magic along with considerable magical reserves and control, only guard captains and old ponies who have practiced magic their whole life ever reach this rank, there are probably only a dozen or two throughout Equestria right now.

And finally a grandmaster can instantly cast multiple spells at once, they are as close as a pony can get to an alicorn and have a scary amount of magic and knowledge, no grandmasters currently exist in Equestria right now and there are only a few recorded grandmasters in the past two millennium.

Runic magic is very similar but also different in a few ways, an apprentice runic caster can cast any spell by drawing out the rune with their magic, and have enough magical reserves and control to power the spell to cast it, not many practice runic casting and there are probably less than a thousand ponies who use it in Equestria right now.

A Journeyman runic caster can focus their magic in the air to form a spell matrix without needing to draw it, they can also hold a spell matrix in their mind to form it at a moment's notice like a unicorn, but fulfilling both of these categories is harder than a unicorns path, so there are probably less than a dozen ponies who have reached this level in Equestria right now.

A master runic caster are basically the same as their counterparts, they can cast multiple spells at the same time and hold a large amount of knowledge and experience along with large reserves of magic and a great degree of control over their magic, to my knowledge there are no ponies who have reached this level in Equestria right now, and I could only find a few references to masters of this craft in existing in the past.

And finally grandmasters at runic crafting, just like masters they are basically the same as a grandmaster who uses horn casting, but I could only find one pony who ever achieved this title and sadly their name and much of their achievements have been lost to time and forgotten by the world.

Coming back from one of my mental rants I sit down and start meditating, I don't have the magical reserves to form a full matrix all at once but I can at least practice trying to draw a matrix without my hooves, I need to concentrate on my magic and push it outside my body.

This is another reason that becoming a Journeyman as a unicorn is easier, using their horn they can push magic outside their body much easier than others can, so a unicorn can become a Journeyman at runic casting faster than an earth pony or Pegasus.

I push my magic outside my body and try to keep control of it, I try and condense it into a line but I don't control the magic well enough and it starts dissipating, this is what makes this process so hard I need to condense my magic and keep it like that in a complex pattern.

And doing this takes a lot of magic from me, much more than I normally need to draw a matrix and even if I can create a matrix with this method I still need to supply the spell with enough magic to cast it, this is the main reason that basically nopony reaches Journeyman rank in runic magic.

I make some fresh tea and try again, this time I don't try to make a line but just a rough one-inch dot, this time a small deep green dot forms in the air it's smaller than I planned but it's there, I then try and form a line using the dot as a starting point but after a moment it also dissipates.

I keep trying this again and again, but I never get more than an inch or two of length before I reach my limit, I can see several ways to improve my attempts but this is mostly just about practice and repetition, I probably have enough control to form a matrix but I'll need much more practice.

So I settled in and started training in yet another way, this could take a few months but I need to do this if I ever want to improve my casting ability.

time skip

AUG 1 Friday.

I get out of bed and start yet another day of messing around with magic and hoping for the best, like all days I first cook some food for me and Entropy and make some tea that I'll need throughout the day, I sip my tea and eat a fish sandwich as Entropy devours her bowl of fruit and raw fish.

When we're done I spend a while cleaning up, I then spend a while doing my morning exercises and when I'm almost done, "Berry" I nearly jump out of my skin as Entropy says her first word, and after calming down a smile forms as I look over to her, I reach out my hoof and start scratching her.

"Well I think that's a bit overdue, good job girl" many crows learn to mimic sounds and words, and unlike Entropy they aren't nearly as smart, so I think it's about time she learned a word or two although I'm not sure how to really teacher her more words beyond just talking to her often.

"I guess I'll have to talk to you more hu girl?"

She seems to understand that I'm happy, at least that's what I think from the speed at which her tail feathers are moving, "Berry" she mimics again.

"Sure girl" I grab a juniper berry and feed it to her as a reward.

This is definitely a new way to start my day, but I have things I want to do so after a few trips quick through a black void I head to my workroom with my tea, first things first I want to practice drawing out a matrix with only my magic, I've started doing this every day for at least some amount of time.

I've made some progress and can now form a line five inches long, but I need at least a few feet and several dozen different individual structures to form even a basic spell matrix, but progress is still progress so I continue on, each time improving slightly.

Once I'm done I move on to something else, I have some reading material that Caelum wanted me to read through, she mostly teaches me how to speak the language but was also insistent I learn to read and write the language just as well.

This is easier as I already know a decent amount of the written language, it's more work to do but I don't mind, if there is one thing I've learned it's that I might be a training junky, but that's something I refuse to call a problem, plus I do other things and take breaks.

The book she wanted me to read is a griffin history book, it's dry but there are a few interesting things in the book and some interesting griffins to learn about, I get through some of the book before I want to take a break from reading so I decide to start practicing with forming a matrix again for a while.

I go back and forth several times over the next three hours and by the time I'm done reading the book and taking notes for later I want to do something else entirely, so I decide to spend the rest of my day playing with Entropy and trying to teach her more words.

Chapter 49

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Aug 8 Friday.

I open another book and start reading through it to find any reference to what I'm looking for, I've probably looked through over one hundred books in my search for the second illusion rune and I'm still missing three small pieces of it.

I'm still not done but I'm very close and should be able to find the rest in a few weeks, and really need to find it soon, at this point Entropy can't leave the apartment as her feathers have gotten too dark, I hoped I'd have more time but it seems I don't.

Entropy's not holding up the best right now, she hasn't left the apartment in three days and is starting to get restless, I've been trying to play with her more and make sure she always has something to do, but I can't be there always and I don't think she'll last more than a week or two before trying to leave.

Not that I blame her, she just wants to go flying again and go outside, I push those thoughts away and focus on the book in front of me, after a while I find another part of the runes context and add it to what I know, I only need two other parts and then I'm done.

I find another missing piece in the next book but even with all my searching I can't find the final piece I'm looking for, as I move a book to the side I start putting all the books away on their shelves, when I'm done I look for something not research related to read, and after moving through a few shelves I find a griffin history book

After I grab the book I turn my head and see a pony I know looking through some bookshelves, It's Twilight with Spike on her back and her dam, I haven't seen either of them in a while now, although I did meet Spike who seems a little bigger now, they have several books with them and seem to be searching for another.

I decide to talk to them, I haven't in a while and I should at least try to get to know them so I walk over to them, while hoping this goes well, "Hello, it's been a while since we last met."

Both startle a little and turn around and see me, and after a moment Twilight Velvet is the first to speak, "Hello Shade?" I nod "Yes it has been quite a while now, how have you been?"

"I've been doing well thank you for asking," I look over to Spike and stare at him for a moment, "I'd ask where you found a dragon hatchling, but I'll settle for asking their name,"

Twilight looks a little embarrassed but answers me, "His name is Spike,"

Twilight Velvet buts in, "She hatched him" she says with pride in her voice.

"DAM!"

"She's a little embarrassed, but I keep telling her it's fine and something to be proud of."

I wave a hoof, "It's fine I guess I now know that rumor I heard has some truth to it, and if it makes you feel better it's not the oddest thing I've heard before."

"A rumor? Well regardless you're an apprentice here right? Maybe you could help us find a book we're looking for, If you're not busy working?"

"I'm not working today and am only here to read, so sure, what are you looking for?"

"Here, and thank you for the help," Twilight says while passing me a page that has a list written on it, each has the books name and the subject it covers along with most having a checkmark next to them, I recognize several books on the list, there is only one book not checked off the list, I read through it's information.

I don't know this book but I can guess where it will be for the subject, "Follow me please," both nod at me and I start leading them through the library and find the right shelve, after a moment I see the book several feet above us and reach out with my field and bring it down to us.

"Here, anything else you're trying to find?"

"Nope that's the last one, thank you," Twilight says to me as she holds the book.

"If you don't mind me asking why do you need to find so many books?"

Twilight looks a little nervous before answering me, "I need to study for a test, what are you reading?" She's a terrible liar but I'll give her points for trying to change the subject.

"Ah that makes sense, and I'm reading this," I show the book cover to them, but after a moment of both of them looking at it confused I realized the cover is written in griffin, "Oh sorry, it's a griffin history book," I say a little embarrassed at not realizing sooner.

"You know the language?" Twilight asks me.

"Enough to read, but I'm still learning it," my eyes wander to Spike as I think about dragons in general, so I decide to take a risk and try asking them, "This might come off as a little rude and you have every right to say no, but would you mind if I ask some questions about Spike?"

Hearing my question Twilight Velvet steps in taking control of the conversation, "What type of questions?"

Seeing her wariness I try and phrase this well, "Nothing personal or out of line, honestly I'm mostly curious about things like how he's aged and what he eats."

She stares at me for a few moments seemingly judging me, I make sure not to break eye contact and try to keep myself calm, "That's fine but I'll be answering the questions."

"That's completely fine with me mam, would you like to sit at a table for this?"

She nods, "Yes I would, please lead the way," it doesn't take us long to find an empty table and get comfortable, me and Twilight Velvet sit opposite of each other at a table while Twilight is reading some books at one end.

I take out a quill, some ink, and a piece of paper, and place them on the table between us, "Before I start I'd like to say I'm going to be writing notes, if that's fine with you?" She nods "And you can ask to look at them any time if you want," She seems pleased with my statement showing me a small smile, and waits for me to begin.

She seems like a protective dam and I would rather not get on her bad side, so I'll have to be careful not to say anything out of line, I spend a moment collecting my thoughts before asking my first question, "So what does Spike eat?"

"A few things, when he was first hatched we fed him nonsolid things before moving on to gems and normal foods."

"Does he eat meat?" I ask this with a straight face.

She looks at me with focused eyes for a moment before answering, "We haven't tried yet but we assume he will need some at some point."

I write that down and then rip a small piece of paper off before writing a street name on it I then pass it to her, "There is a fish market on that street all week long, most batponies go there for what they need."

She looks a little surprised but quickly shifts her face back into the calm but stern look she's had for this conversation, she takes the piece of paper from me after a moment, "Thank you, but if you don't mind me asking why do you know about a fish market so well you know the street it's on and when It's open?"

I smile at her, "I don't mind at all, it's not something I hide but I also don't make it well known, but I happen to like fish so I buy some to eat pretty regularly."

That gets an odd look from her, "Is that healthy?"

"Yes and no, ponies can eat meat just fine, you just don't want to eat too much, I limit myself to one or two meals with meat in them a week, I can also give you some recipes if you need them?"

"I think we are fine, you have other questions?" She didn't seem to be judgmental just grossed out a little by our subject, not an uncommon response, and hearing her request and wanting to move onto a new subject I move on to the next question.

"I don't know how big he was when he hatched but how much do you think he's grown since then?"

"He grew some after he first hatched but soon slowed down, we know he's still growing just not very quickly."

I nod while taking notes, "That seems about right."

"What makes you say that?"

I finish my notes and look back at her, "Well a few things, most animals that hatch from eggs tend to grow very fast for a short amount of time before slowing down, and he's a dragon so I expect it could take several up to a few decades for him to reach the size of a pony."

"Really you think so? We thought he'd grow slower than a pony but that seems a little too slow."

I think about her words for a moment before answering, "Maybe, but we know little about dragons, and they could be like ponies with several different subspecies."

"Subspecies?" she seemed a little offended at my words, seems I hit a nerve, some could take me saying someone is a subspecies as an insult, especially if they don't know the words meaning as not many know or use this word outside of researches.

"Sorry if that came out wrong, subspecies isn't an insult, the word is used for different types of living things that come from a common ancestor."

Hearing me she looks a bit less offended but still looking at me with hard eyes, "Can you give an example?" it seems she wants me to prove it.

I think for a moment before finding something that would work well, "You know how there are many different types of apples?" she nods, "Well all those apples came from a tree somepony decided to start growing," her eyes haven't left me so I assume she's following along.

"So who do we have so many different types today? Well, some ponies took the apples that had traits they wanted and only planted those ones."

She cuts me off, "You are talking about selective breeding?"

I nod, "Yes exactly, with selective breeding ponies created many types of apple, but some of them have changed so much over time they barely resemble apples anymore, so we gave them new names and called them different species, so all species that come from another species that are still around are called a subspecies"

"Again sorry if that came out as an insult, the term is mostly used by those who study plants and I can understand how it can be misinterpreted."

Her face relaxes and she gains a small smile, "It's fine I should also apologize I've just had some bad experiences in the past, so I'm sorry if I overreacted some, and thank you for the explanation," Her face has relaxed more then ever and it seems she holds no grudge.

"No problem mam."

She cuts me off again, "It's Velvet."

I nod, "No problem Miss Velvet, I think it's best I end the questions here, sorry again about that and thank you for being patient with me, and just to say it aloud I don't have a problem with others that are different, I work with many different ponies here and several are good friends."

"That's fine we all make mistakes, and that's good to hear" She seems to think about something for a moment, "Can you please tell me the time."

I may not be the most social but I know a polite excuse to leave, so I just nod and draw out the spell matrix with practiced ease, "Looks like we need to go, thank you again for helping us find the book, and I hope you have a good day."

Twilight who's been silent this whole time speaks up, "Thank you, and have a good day" She mimics her dam,

"No problem it's nothing, and same to you have a good day," I watch as all three leave my line of sight after a moment, :Well that could have gone better, at least I was able to clear up the misunderstanding: I decide to leave too, Entropy needs me and I don't want to leave her unsupervised for longer then I have to,

Chapter 50

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AUG 9 Saturday.

I leave the room me and Blaz work in as my shift is finally over, but I don't leave the library and instead start looking through books, it takes me a while to find any books about illusions that I haven't already searched but when I do find a few I start reading through them.

I've been reading a lot of books trying to find the last piece as Entropy's mood has taken a turn for the worst, after reading through the books I once again find nothing and let out a weary sigh, I put the books back and force myself to read something else so I don't completely burn myself out.

But I can't bring myself to stop looking so I pick a book about illusion spells, it's mostly theory and is dry but I like this kind of book as they always have something new to learn about magic, but as I'm reading I find a section about the exact rune I've been looking for.

This book is not about runes so I don't expect much, but after a moment of reading through the theory the book uses a rune as an example to demonstrate some theory, and to my surprise, it's the very thing I've been losing sleep looking for.

I had to stop myself from getting excited and make sure it was correct, and after checking and then double checking my notes, I was right it was the final piece I needed, I nearly jumped for joy before reminding myself I'm in the library, Entropy's state has been a source of constant concern and worry for me so finally being able to fix it is a great relief.

I rush home and after feeding Entropy I immediately start finishing the spell, the spell was only missing this rune so it only takes me an hour to complete it after that hour of work it's done, and I leave my workroom and find Entropy sleeping on the kitchen counter and gently wake her up, "Hey girl, sorry for waking you but I need your help with something."

She gets up and watches me as I practice the spell several times I'm ready enough to try casting it on her.

She seems to know I'm excited and stands there while looking at me, "Just stay still ok girl?" She seems to understand and keeps standing there, I start drawing out the spell and after a few moments of drawing the matrix and making sure it's correct I successfully cast the new spell, and in an instant she looks like a normal crow again.

She turns her head and looks around her new look for a while as I make sure nothing is going wrong, she looks fine and seems to be able to move around, wanting to test it I walk over to the other side of the room and call Entropy over, she looks at me and flies over landing on my back without issue.

We go through several tests and the spell holds up to her flying, moving around, and covers her completely, but like I thought if I touch her my hoof sinks into the illusion and it doesn't feel right, but Entropy only lets me touch her so as long as nopony else does so it should be fine, when I finish the last test I celebrate some.

"YES it works," I celebrate finally knowing for sure that the spell works I let myself relax, and after coming down from my high I look at the time and write it down, I still need to know how long the spell lasts without overcharging it, while I wait with Entropy I start work on my other spell.

Accounting for the time it took to test the spell it takes two hours for the spell to finally wear off, the spell takes a decent chunk of my magic but lasts a good amount of time, and if I overcharge it I can make it last longer if I need to, but for now I think it's time for Entropy to get some fresh air.

"Let's go to the park girl, what do you say?" She gets really excited and starts jumping around while cawing, and lands on my back before I can even get my saddlebags on, "Fine, fine let's get you outside."

time skip

We spent two hours at the park before heading home, it's near the end of the day when we got home and after entering my apartment I made us food and some tea for myself to relax.

I got really lucky finding the last piece of the rune today, but I have it now and I'm both relieved and excited to start testing with my other spell, it's mostly done but even with both runes it will take several hours to finish it enough for some basic testing, but for now I'll just spend some time relaxing without the fear of Entropy going stir-crazy.

But as I'm about to retrieve my sketchbook to draw something I hear a knocking at my door, I walk over and crack open the door slightly and look outside, there a guard stands waiting for me, seeing them I open the door fully, "I have a letter for you sir."

They like most guards, get right to the point and hold out the letter, I nod and take the letter like always, "Thank you," I open the letter and start reading it.

Dear Shade Evergreen, I'm writing this letter to once again invite you to the Grand Galloping Gala on the twenty-first of the month, I hope to see you there.

I'd also like to inform you that the Rocky Wheat has been growing well and should start being sent out after winter. Signed Princess Celestia.

The letter is much shorter than most she sends me but it gets the point across and she's probably very busy right now, I look inside the envelope and see an invite to the gala as she said, I quickly write up a response and seal in inside an envelope before passing it to the patiently waiting guard, they take the letter and give me a nod before leaving.

I'm not too surprised Celestia invited me again, and I had a decent time when I went last year so I might as well go again, but I'll need a new suit for that as I've outgrown my last one by a fair amount, over the past year I've grown an inch or two and have become much fitter, I don't like bragging as it's just not something I enjoy doing, but I do have a certain amount of pride over how far I've come in the past two years.

I shake my head and start working on my illusion detection spell, I've been working on this for a while even if I couldn't finish it until now, and during this process I've gone through several ideas and ways I could go about this spell, but the form I decided on was something that will need some preparation, I want this spell to detect illusions and I want it to be active for a long time, but that will take a lot of magic so I need to do one of two things.

First I will need to limit the effect of the scanning spell, or my second option, having it be vague enough that the spell doesn't need to scan something intensely, both of these options have downsides to them.

The first option is partly solved by me limiting the spell to illusions but that's not enough, so if I limit it to only bending illusions then that will massively cut down on magic use, but this project is also to see if I detect changelings, and I'm not sure if changelings use illusions so it might be useless on them.

The second option would be vague and non-specific, I can do this in a few ways like making the spell only scan in a limited area, or having the spell only scan something enough to know it's there and tell me.

But now that I have both runes and the spell is actually possible I have to decide how I want to use this, I decide that I should first make sure that the spell will work properly, so I start working on the spell removing parts and fixing things that break as I go.

It takes several hours until I'm done and the night drags on when I finish, but when I'm finally done I don't have much time left before I need to get some sleep as I still have work tomorrow, so I quickly enchant a small ruby to hold magic and add the new spell then I fill it with enough magic to see if the spell will work.

The spell works by picking a radius to scan, in this case I set it to twenty feet, and then I needed the spell to inform me in some way, so I have it make the ruby glow green if it detects anything, but the spell won't be able to tell me where what it detects is just that's it's there.

I move my small planet to my desk and activate it, at the same time I activate the new spell and wait for a while, the scan is much simpler than the fluid scanner so it takes much less time, and after a few seconds the small ruby glows green as it detects the spell.

After seeing that the spell is finished enough to work I call it a night, I need to clean myself off and sleep both tired and relieved.

time skip

AUG 14 Tuesday.

I get out of bed and go through my normal routine, after some food and our trip through the darkness I grab my saddlebags and head for the upper city markets, I need two things and the first is a new suit for the gala, I walk through several streets before finding the same place I went to last time.

And just like last time I got measured and after looking through a few options I found a nice simple black suit that I bought, after getting my new suit I started looking for a piece of jewelry, I have a plan and for that I need something, so after finding a shop in the upper city markets that sells more high-end jewelry.

It takes a while to find something that I think will work, and after some haggling with the pony running the shop I end up paying more than I like but less than I would have had to, I bought a bracelet made from silver with several rose carvings engraved on it with a small diamond in the center.

After getting everything I need I head back home, it doesn't take long and after getting my saddlebags off and attending to Entropy I make some tea and sit down at a desk in my workroom, I take a closer look at the bracelet and study it, it's elaborate and quite beautiful and I think it will look nice.

The diamond is also of a good quality and will work well for my plan, I want to be able to detect changelings but I need to be extremely careful in how I go about this, as for why? Well, the only real way I can see to test this spell is to find a changeling, and I don't think I'll find one who will willingly work with me.

So I need to find one moving through the city without them knowing, that's where this gets dangerous and where I'm not sure if I should do this, but after a lot of thought I think knowing if I can detect them is worth it, and if I do this right they will never know.

I want to enchant my new bracelet to hold the illusion detection spell, but the current spell uses too much magic to work with my idea so my plan for today is to work on that, I grab my notebook and start deconstructing the spell matrix and thinking of ways to lower it's magic consumption.

I start with the way the spell informs me it's detected something, I can't use something that others will be able to see or hear, so I decide on linking in a very weak heating spell as I can have it get warm when it detects something, after that I work on what the spell detects.

I still don't know if changelings use illusions, but I know other ponies rarely ever use illusions in public as they can fail and accidentally reveal what they are trying to hide, and both these runes might be able to detect something even if it's not an illusion spell, but if it does the reaction will be weak.

The reason I bring all this up is because I need to know how intently I need the spell to scan something, this is one of the things that uses the most magic so after some back and forth with myself I decide to go as simple as possible, if they do use illusions then I just need to know nothing else.

The scan will probably take several seconds to detect something, I also added the other parameters for the spell’s scan, I limit the spell to only ten feet and to limit magic use I have it only tell me if it detects an illusion in that radius, not where the illusion is or how close it is.

This is far from ideal but should be enough for the bracelet to hold the enchantment, after enchanting the small diamond to hold and gather magic and start enchanting the bracelet with the new spell, it takes a few practice attempts to cast it correctly but after that I enchant the bracelet.

After I'm done I take both it and my small planet to the main room and place it on the far side of the main room, I activate it and walk more than ten feet away before marking a line and activating the bracelet, after checking that it's stable and not breaking I slowly walk over to the small planet.

I enter what I think is roughly ten feet and wait, and after a few seconds the bracelet on my foreleg starts to warm up, as I get closer the warmth increases before leveling out once I'm a foot away from the small planet, it seems I was pleasantly wrong.

I can tell the distance they are from me but only roughly, still that's better than nothing, after several more tests I check on the bracelet and see how much magic it's used, after a little over an hour it's drained a little more than a tenth, I can't get an exact amount but that seems about right.

Despite my best efforts I couldn't make the spell completely passive, but it will still last several hours and that should be enough, after I'm done testing and writing down notes about it I put everything away and decide to relax some.

To be honest with myself stressing over Entropy safety last week and how much I've been working on I need a little break, and as much as I don't like large crowds I am looking forward to the Gala, I enjoyed the last one even if all I did was talk about magic, or maybe that's why I enjoyed it?

Doesn't really matter I suppose, my point is that I'm hoping to relax some and maybe talk to Celestia some, talking to her can be a little stressful but she always has something interesting to say, so for now I think I spend the rest of my day off just reading something stupid or doing something stupid, maybe both?

Chapter 51

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AUG 21 Thursday.

I get out of bed and stretch, feeling the pain in my muscles as I move around, they are still pretty sore from yesterday as Stone decided to go extra hard on me, I asked why and he said I looked like I was getting used to his training routine so we'd be going even harder now.

So that's just amazing, but beyond that I'm excited for today and I'm a lot less nervous than last time as I know what to expect now, It's still a little daunting to go somewhere with so many ponies but I'll manage, maybe.

It's still several hours before the Gala and I won't take long to get ready as all I'll really need is a shower and to brush out my mane and tail so I have time to do other things, but first I need to feed the child that I call a best friend and make myself some tea as I always do, after some tea we take a few trips through what I'm now calling the void.

I'm not really sure where we go when Entropy teleports us, but my best guess is some dimensional plane that is easy to access or is easier to move through than others, either way I think that space in this dimension is either compacted, or space is relative and you can move vast distances instantly.

Or maybe being in the void lets you exit wherever you want, the answer isn't that important to me right now but if I ever get good enough at sensing and potentially manipulating space it could be important, but for now there is another question that's been occupying my mind when we do this.

How does she know about this place? Well, I think the answer is dependent on what answer you're looking for, personally my best guess is that whatever she is is born with a connection to this place, I'm not sure how but magic only follows the rules it wants to so who knows?

My mind then wanders to unknown magic, unknown magic is a term used to describe any magic that doesn't follow the systems sentient beings use, a good example is how I do magic I don't really need runes, or matrixes, or anything else to do magic.

But if I tried without all that I would be less than successful, as trying to control magic without the systems and structures in place is like trying to grind a mountain to sand using a rock, sure given enough time or the right pony it can be done, but good luck with that.

This is all to say that the structures and systems we have only work because magic seems to agree with how we made them, we shaped chaos and formed some sort of order out of it, why is magic like this? And why does it behave like this? I don't know and I think the only ones who do aren't telling us anytime soon.

I'm brought out of my thoughts as Entropy makes her last trip through the void, at this point we take four round trips twice a day, the more we do this the further her ability grows and I'm not sure if there is a limit, but if there is a limit I don't think she'll be hitting it anytime soon.

I will need to find a new place for us to travel to as it seems this is no longer pushing her limits, but that's for another day right now I want to work on my new bracelet and relax before the Gala, I grab one of my English notebooks with my notes on the spell and start trying to improve it.

I do this with most of my spells but this one is something I really want to work well so I'm putting in more time than I usually do, as I go through my notes I'm so distracted that I don't see Entropy moving around the apartment like she normally does.

That proves to be a mistake as she decides she wants my attention and carries one of her wood balls over me as I lay near the overhead counters and drops it, her aim proves true as my face gets firmly planted in my book by a small wood ball hitting the back of my head.

"AHH, motherfucker," I slip into English for a moment before rubbing my head and looking up to see the smuggest bird I've ever seen, in response I narrow my eyes and smile back before grabbing a small berry from the Juniper Bush on my counter and using my field to throw it at her, but she proves to be a little too quick for me and move out of the way.

I narrow my eyes at her and after a moment grab another berry, "Berry" seems she knows how to mock me now.

"Oh don't you worry, I'll give you all the berries you want," Things only devolved from there.

And after an hour of berries flying around my apartment and a not-insignificant amount of stains that I needed to clean up afterwards we both calmed down, she helped clean up by eating the berries and bringing me a rag while I cleaned up the stains and berry juice.

Sometimes we may get silly and a little out of control, but that never lasts long as we normally get ourselves back to normal not long after we are done with our fun, Entropy may be a little mischievous and is becoming something of a prankster but I don't know what I'd do without her.

After another few hours of me going through my notes and spending a while drawing a new sketch of Entropy it's time for me to get ready, I take a shower and clean myself thoroughly before combing out my mane that's just long enough for me to tie back behind my head.

As I stare at the small mirror and look at myself, I do a double take as I see the fur around my chin is very slightly thicker than before, ponies mature faster than humans and are basically fully grown by seventeen, but that varies depending on the pony and what subspecies they are from.

Earth ponies in particular can hit puberty before others, and considering my size this shouldn't be much of a surprise to me, but honestly I would rather not go down that rabbit hole right now so I just find my suit and put it on before grabbing anything else I will need.

I want to bring a bracelet and decide to bring my new one as I like the carvings in it, so after I grab my new bracelet and activate it before putting it on, I've been doing this for a few days now when I walk around the city to see if it detects anything.

But so far it's done nothing, I'm not sure if that means that I haven't run into any changelings or that it just doesn't work, personally I think it's the latter and it doesn't work, but that's not important right now I'll just turn it off when I reach the Gala but for now I might as well leave it on to see if anything happens.

After making sure the suit is on properly and that I look decent I pet Entropy some and tell her to stay before leaving, I walk through the streets of Canterlot and not long after I see the Gala, it's dark and the Gala seems to be in full swing already and after passing my invite to a pony and going in I see that the event has definitely started.

I'm not sure what I should do so I just find a place to sit at a table and get some food, just like last year the tables are filled with many different types of food and after a little searching I found some carrot cake and dig in, it's well made and it's just what I needed to take my mind off of worrying about random things.

I spend a while simply watching the Gala and its many ponies talk and interact with each other, and not long after I start looking around I see that Celestia has joined the crowd of ponies, although it's not hard to see her given her height and appearance.

She's wearing an elaborate dress that looks both simple and complex, which from what I know of her makes sense, I keep looking around at all the ponies and see a few faces that I recognize, not anypony from the show just different ponies that I've heard about over the years.

I do see who I think is Prince Blueblood and his family, but I'm not really sure and even if it was I rather not have to interact with nobles, I keep looking around before a thought occurs to me, why was Twilight here last year? She wasn't Celestia's student yet.

I mean many ponies do come here to make connections and socialize so her family could have just come here to do that? Or maybe they just got an invite somehow and decided to come for the festivities? Wait was Celestia talking to us technically the first time they've met?

Maybe? Honestly the show was unclear about many things so I'm not sure if that would have happened anyway, I don't think it matters now as things seem to have happened as they should, I try to focus on other things and leave the existential crisis for later.

It takes a moment for me to return to normal but after that I just keep eating my cake and try to have some fun with the night, I try a few other desserts and even find something I haven't seen in both my lives, the best way I can describe it is carrot pudding.

Some dumbass human thought it was a good idea and probably already made it before, but it's still new to me and after deciding to try it I find that it's not bad, a little too much carrot flavor for my liking but the sweet taste seems to go well with it, although that may just be this body agreeing with it more then my old one would.

As I'm eating I see Celestia spot me, she doesn't nod or anything but she definitely saw me and will probably talk to me at least once tonight, I'm interrupted in my eating as a pony reaches for a baked apple at the same time as me, "Oh sorry, you go first."

I offer as I turn to them, as I get a good look at who is in front of me I take in their appearance, a mare that is on the younger side but definitely an adult, she is a unicorn with a blue coat, teal colored mane, and green eyes, "It's no problem, and thank you" she responds while taking a baked apple.

After that they start eating next to me, I don't really care and just grab an apple without using my field, I do use my field in public but I decided against using it here to draw less attention to myself, too many high profile ponies here and too many who could see it as odd.

That may sound odd but in a world of magic most who see me use my field don't care and just focus on what they are doing, the few that ask I just tell them it's something anypony can learn to do if they train enough, although like I said most don't seem to care.

"So what are you doing here? If you don't mind me prying into your business," I'm a little surprised by the same pony from earlier talking to me but quickly use the excuse I had prepared for something like this.

"I got lucky and had a chance to win an invite and didn't really have anything else to do, so here I am," I chose to use this as an excuse as many get invites from many different sources and the invites also don't have names on them, so unless somepony really tried it would be hard to prove me wrong.

"Got lucky? Well I'm pretty much the same," Seems she got an invite from somewhere, not that it really matters, "So what have you found that's good? I don't recognize half the stuff here."

I'm not the most comfortable talking to somepony I don't know, but I rather not stand out so I answer her in a short and simple way, "Well it depends, I happen to like carrots so anything with that is fine for me but if you're here for something less dense I think I saw some fruit salad over there."

I point to a table not too far away with several fruits and a few other less-cooked things, she seems interested in it and nods to me, "Thanks, and have a good night," I simply nod back and start eating my food again.

But as I do so I move my bracelet as it's uncomfortably warm right now... :wait I forgot to turn it off, WAIT!!: I freeze for a moment before forcing myself to act normal, I try and stay as calm as possible while trying to remember when my bracelet started feeling warm, and after a moment I realize that it started not long after that pony sat next to me.

I keep eating even though I don't want to while my mind goes into overdrive about the situation, let's start with this, is there any reason that would just be a pony with an illusion on them?

They looked young so it wasn't for looks, and I find it unlikely that they would be under a full body illusion, and if they were anypony who touches them would realize, like I said in the past most don't use illusions to hide their looks as it can fail from being disturbed.

That and coming to a party that the princess is attending while under a full-body illusion is suspicious as hell, and honestly could get you in a lot of trouble, so what other possibilities are there? Hiding a scar or other markings? No that's out for the same reasons.

A magic object with an illusion on it? she was wearing a dress but it was simple and seemed to be form fitting for the most part, and even if she had a magic object hidden on her it wouldn't make sense for the same reasons, if a guard or other pony found out they would probably be in trouble.

And she didn't have any jewelry either, but my bracelet still went off so the only real possibility that I can come up with is the most obvious, there is a changeling in the Gala.

Chapter 52

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AUG 21 Thursday.

My thoughts keep running wild trying to think of any answer that is more likely than the one I found, but after a few minutes I have to face the fact that my current situation is not the best, but I realize that my mind is just going in circles and thinking of things that aren't important right now, so I get my mind in order and find a place to start.

First question, what is the likelihood of that changeling being here for me? I'm not completely sure but I don't think they are here for me.

I have a few reasons for this, first while someponies know about what I do for Celestia I don't think they have infiltrated the empire enough to get a hold of anything with my name on it, and even if they did they would probably just see that all I do is make things for the princess.

And if they did know about me they wouldn't really have a reason to find me, I don't think they'd blow their cover just to get a hold of me, as while I make things for the princess but so do many others, and the only thing that makes me stand out from them in what I do is my success and speed.

And unless I really fucked up the timeline I don't think they would need me to make something for them, so if they weren't here for me why would they be here? Well they could be here to gather love as this is a very large party with many couples and families having fun.

They could also be here to just spy on the princess and other important ponies, and to do either of these you need to blend in and not draw attention so talking to other ponies and trying to find the right type of food is a good excuse to wander around the Gala, either way I don't think I drew too much attention to myself.

Maybe some from how bluntly I answered her questions but someponies, those like me, just want to be left alone so I think I did fine, but now comes the big question, what do I do now? Well nothing, I came here to relax and have some good food, so my best move is to do just that until I can leave quietly.

The only problem is talking to Celestia as I don't think I can stop the princess from talking to me, I'll just have to do my best to not act out of the ordinary and remember to not say anything that could be overheard by others, Celestia will probably be able to tell something is wrong but I can't do much about that.

As I'm thinking over my plans of what I could do I'm interrupted by ponies around me turning their heads to my left and up slightly, I don't even need to turn my head to know it's Celestia that they are looking at, :I guess this is happening sooner than I thought it would:

It isn't all bad though as Celestia is known to talk to many ponies while at the Gala, many of those ponies are also not important ponies, from what I've seen she seems to take great joy in having a night to talk to her little ponies without needing to bring them to the palace or inviting them to a meeting.

Not that I blame her, this is probably one of the few days she gets to do that, but all this does work in my favor as while some will find it odd that she's talking to me most will just brush it off as her finding a conversation that interested her, at least that's my hope.

A pony not far from me down the table gets up and bows, :it seems I'm out of time to think: I turn my head and try to act a little surprised and do the same as the ponies around me, Celestia walks nearby and stops at the table I'm at, but to my luck she starts talking to a different pony first.

I'm not sure if she noticed something was wrong with me or she just wanted to talk to this pony but either way it makes her talking to me even less noteworthy, after a few moments everypony at the table including myself goes back to eating their food.

And after several minutes Celestia finally moves over to me and sits down, "Hello Shade it's nice to see you again, I hope you are enjoying the Gala so far."

"Same to you princess, and yes I am," from the look in her eyes she definitely knows something is up with me.

"Good, how have you been since we last talked?" but she doesn't bring up my discomfort and just continues talking to me.

"I've been well, how have you been?" I ask back more as a courtesy than anything, as she is the princess and if she wasn't well I'd have much bigger problems.

She smiles at me, "I've been just fine, so what have you been working on recently?"

:Ahh fuck, really? you could have asked any question and you ask that?: I keep my thoughts to myself and answer her, "A few things here and there but nothing that is done, right now I'm mostly just learning and training," Hopefully anypony listening in will think I'm talking about a school project, or that I'm something like a craftspony.

"Good to hear that you're still learning new things," she takes a moment to grab a plate and several slices of cake.

I decide to try and change the subject even if I'll probably fail, "Has the quill worked well? I didn't have time to make sure it would work correctly for a long time."

She gives a slight nod while eating before swallowing her food and answering, "Yes it works just fine, I must say again it's a very nice gift, and has made doing paperwork a little easier."

"Good to hear," I buy myself some time by eating a bite of my cake, :god this whole conversation is stressing me out: .

"You said you're also training?" : well there goes my plan, for the love of magic please stop talking about me, you're over one thousand years old you must have something more interesting to talk about: .

I decide to just tell the truth on this as I don't think it would reveal anything I wouldn't want her or others to know, "I've mostly spent my time trying to improve my runic casting right now," I half lie as while I am training that it's not the only thing I'm training right now.

"Really? How much progress have you made so far?"

"Some, I can form about a one-foot-long line of magic in the air, and progress is slow, but things like this always take time so I expect I'll be working on it for a long while yet."

She nods as she puts down her now empty plate, :I know she likes cake but that seems like a bit much: "That's good to hear, most don't even bother trying to advance to the next step, but that's not important right now, this may sound a little personal but I wanted to ask if you are doing ok living on your own?"

:Ahh there it is: I definitely shouldn't lie here, "I will be honest and say yes and no, there are some days that it can get lonely but I don't mind the quiet, and I do have a few friends, and colleagues to talk to, and a pet," I will have to mention Entropy to Celestia at some point and if I do it now instead of trying to hide her it will raise fewer questions in the long run.

"A pet? I myself have a pet, she's been a companion for a long time now, what type of pet did you get?"

"Yes I heard you have a pet Phoenix, I have a crow and she's a hoof full."

"A crow? I expected something else to be honest but now that I'm thinking about it that fits you rather well, a smart bird for a smart pony, and a hoof full is probably the best way I can describe Philomena, I swear she has a way to distract me at either the best or worst of times."

She says all this in both a joking and very much blunt manner, and I just have to laugh at the way she describes Philomena, "Ya mine's the same, this morning she decided I wasn't paying enough attention to her and dropped a woodball on my head while I was reading."

That gets a laugh out of her and a small smile out of me, Celestia may be a little intimidating but once you get past her size and all of that she has a way to make you just relax and talk, "What's her name?" I stopped at this, originally I didn't want to spread her name around too much.

The only ponies that know it are Maple, Blaze, and Daisy, I didn't want to tell her because of the mirror as she might have enough knowledge about that world to know what the word means, but even if she does it's unlikely she'll think I know what the word actually means.

So after a second I answer, "It's Entropy."

Her face shifts to confusion, :FUCK!: I look at her face and I don't think her surprise is faked, although it would be hard to tell given the experiences she has in that area, "Entropy," She says the word out loud, "An odd word to use as a name, where did you come across it?"

It's my turn to look confused, "I wasn't aware it was a word, I just picked it because it sounded nice to me," I tell another half-lie.

She nods, "To be honest with you I barely remembered it was a word either, from what I remember it's a very old dragon word for death," :wait what? WHAT!!?:

Crushing my panic I ask a question after a moment, "I wasn't aware the dragons had a language."

She nods, "Most don't, I myself am not sure about the reasons but at some point they stopped using it and started using the pony language, I'm also not sure why they started using our language, but back to the point a few document and text still have bits and pieces of their old language, I myself only know a few words that I could find translations for."

That was far too much information to just have dumped on me all at once, but before I could ask any questions she looks around and stood up, "It's been a pleasure as always Shade, but I would like to talk to more of my little ponies tonight ends, I hope you don't mind me cutting this short?"

:HELL YES I MIND, you're just going to drop that on me and leave?: "Not at all princess, have a good night and I hope you enjoy the rest of the Gala."

She gives me another smile, "I plan to, and have a good night Shade," with that she is followed by an attendant as she walks away and starts talking to other ponies, I take a few minutes for her to walk away from me before getting up and moving towards the exit and leaving the Gala.

As I walk home in the dark I let my mind wander to the conversation I just had, first dragons have a language? Where the fuck was that in the show, then again griffins also didn't have a language and this isn't a show but a real world, and at this point I know that things are different here.

But I didn't think it would be this different, she said that the dragons stopped using their language, so why would you just stop using an entire language? She also said they started using the pony language, when? God this whole night has been a complete mess.

First I get far too close to a changeling for comfort, and now I'm dealing with learning this shit, I shake my head and try to organize my thoughts as I enter my apartment, and Entropy like always is there to greet me with demands for food and scratches, "Berry."

"Nice to see you too girl," I get her some food and make some tea to help me calm down, well tonight was interesting if nothing else, my only real regret was not getting any answers, actually I did get one, I take off my bracelet and turn it off, I know this works on changelings now.

I'm not sure how this will help me but I have it now, I take off my suit and toss it to the side happy to not have it constricting me anymore, "You know what? fuck tonight I'm going to bed," and I do just that deciding to deal with all this later.

Chapter 53

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AUG 22 Friday.

As my mind wakes up I stare at the ceiling and for a blissful moment I don't remember last night, but inevitably those memories come back as I drag myself out of bed.

I'm glad I don't have work today as I have several things I need to think through and several questions that I need to ask myself, but before diving head first into all that I head to the kitchen to fill my stomach, and as I'm making some eggs and toast Entropy comes in from my bedroom.

"What?" I hear her mimic a new word.

"I guess you're getting the hang of talking ay? Well no matter," I grab her bowl and fill it with some berries, raw fish, and a few nuts, I've been trying to feed her a variety of things to keep her healthy, "Eat up," the words barely leave my mouth and she's already digging into her food.

As much as she harasses me for food I can be thankful she's not a picky eater, I go back to making my food and when It's done I make some tea to go with it, I just eat in silence deciding to relax as best I can with my mind wandering around so much, when I'm done I clean up and head to my workroom.

I grab a blank book and take it along with the tea to my bedroom, I get on my bed and wrap myself in a blanket to fight off the cold, it's already fall and it won't be long before the snow starts to fall again, but that's not what I should be thinking about right now is it?

After last night I have started asking myself many questions, but I need to think through this properly so let's do this the best way I know how, with a decent plan, I flip open the book and start writing my questions down one by one until I have a good place to start.

First, what is my main goal?

Second, what should I do?

Third, What should I be doing right now?

Fourth, what do I want?

Fifth, what have I been doing?

After writing these out I draw a line under each of the questions, I flip to a new page and start filling it with my thoughts.

First, what is my main goal?

It is and always will be stopping this world from losing its magic, Why? Because the suffering and death that something like that would cause just from happening would be immense and if I even have a chance at stopping it I won't let myself stand by and do nothing.

As for how I can even try to stop something like that? I don't know but I must try, not just for my sake but for those I've come to know and care about, so what can I do to help myself stop this? I'm already doing it right now, training and preparing for what's to come as best I can.

Second, what should I do?

I don't really know, but I do know that I need to change the future and what is to come, I have been doing this in a few ways already, how? Equestria is at the center of all that is to come and if it is stronger and better prepared then it could massively help.

I've helped the crown and Celestia govern the empire more efficiently, I've helped with light, helped them with water, and food and all that comes with that, but is all of this enough to really make a difference when fighting fate? I don't know and I don't think I ever really will, at least not until it's far too late to change anything.

And I suppose all that brings me to the next question.

Third, what should I be doing right now?

Just like the previous questions I don't really know, what do I know? I know I need to make more changes and keep helping Equestria prepare but the real question is how I should do that? Make more things, improve more lives, and help this world be ready.

What do I need to accomplish that? I need information and power, I have some of the first and a little of the second right now but I'll need far more, what kind of information do I need? It's been clear to me for a while that this world IS a world and is much more complex than a children's show.

That comes with both upsides and downsides, the downsides? Things outside of my knowledge aren't things I can control or influence, I can't plan for something that I don't know is out there, so how do I solve that? Discover what is out there and do what every human before me has done, go poke that something with a stick until I understand it.

The upsides? While this world is full of the unknown and that can be a threat it can also help me, a good example of this is runic magic, if it didn't exist I wouldn't be able to cast spells or invent the things I've made that have helped so many, and that's just the things I know of.

This world is full of magic and history, the things that have been lost or found are amazing and could save this world just as easily as it could end it, to put it simply this opens and closes many doors for me.

Fourth, what do I want?

Beyond saving this world? I want to be happy and do what I love, exploring this world and learning more about it, I honestly think that part of me is still the most human, it's said we came from nomads and I can't tell you the number of times I've just wanted to leave this city and see this bountiful world.

But I can't do that, I want to one day but I have a life here right now and responsibilities to take care of, but one day I will wander this world I promise myself that if nothing else.

Fifth, what have I been doing?

I think I've been doing my best, could I do more? Maybe? But if I live my whole life for nothing, could I even call that living? I don't think I can live like that, doing nothing but worrying and interfering in the lives of others all day every day, how can I save this world if I don't live in it?

I stop writing and stare at the page for a moment, after a moment I add another question.

Sixth, what is my plan?

I only have three real advantages over others in this world, first my knowledge of the future, second my past lives knowledge of how the world works and how it can be changed, third my human perspective on this world, and with that seeing things in a different way than others.

So knowing all of this, what can I do? First leverage all my knowledge as much as I can, if I know how to do something that others don't I need to use that to my advantage, second plan for as much as I can, and I think that starts with me documenting all I know safely.

If I die before canon starts then my planning goes out the window, so I need a way to leave behind what I know because if I don't then everything I've done might be for nothing, the information will need to be stored in a way that others can't find it before it's needed.

I also don't want anyone with bad intentions to ever find it, I'm not sure if I can make something like that yet but it does need to be done so I'll try and think of some solutions.

And the other thing I need to do is change the future in a slight but improved way, how? Well I'll just have to go on a case-by-case basis and plan around things as best I can, I think that's the main thing I've learned from writing this all out, I need to plan for EVERYTHING.

After I finish writing this all down I stare at the page, why not start now? I flip to a new section of the book and start on the first thing I need to plan around, changelings.

I have a few things I need to think about when it comes to them so let's do this again, I start writing out different points of interest and concern.

First, what do I know about changelings from the show, and what more have I learned about them?

Second, what is their current condition?

Third, their leader Chrysalis, what do I know about her?

Fourth, are they a threat right now?

Like last time I underline all these questions and start thinking my way through each one.

First, what do I know about changelings from the show, and what more have I learned about them?

I know their abilities and roughly what they are capable of, but like with many things I can't be certain that what I know is right, they can change into many different shapes and sizes, does this ability have limits? I don't know but with my experience in magic I think it does.

If nothing else I presume that the larger the change from their normal form the more magic it takes to maintain it, I also think that learning how to change is something they probably know on an instinctual level but still need to train with to improve.

I can also guess that Chrysalis's is either much better at this than other changelings or is simply more powerful, probably some combination of both.

They eat emotions, how and why? Well I don't know where they came from or how they came to be, I do think that they could have come from evolution, why do I think that? Well emotion is a really easy way to get food, why hunt for food when you can just blend into a population and feed off of others without them knowing.

I know emotion affinity magic is released into the environment when someone experiences that emotion, I'll need to look more into that, but my point is that I don't know the full history of this world so changelings could be something that came about naturally or were created.

Another thing of note is their smaller size and ability to fly.

Second, what is their current condition?

Well I think that right now their hive is probably a lot smaller than in the show, and I think that for a few reasons but the main one is simply food, they attacked a fucking alicorn you don't do that unless you either have the power to know you stand a chance or your just that desperate, and I don't think they had the power.

That means they were so desperate for food they were willing to risk it all on one hell of a move, that strongly implies that they didn't have enough food to support their current population, and raising a population that big takes time, I don't know how long a changeling takes to grow.

But if we assume that because they are insectoids or at least similar to insectoids it's probably faster than a pony, I'll just use ten years as a placeholder for now, that's probably overstating how fast they can grow but this is just for an example.

If we assume a changeling takes ten years to grow enough to start working or fighting for the hive then if they wanted to vastly increase their population they'd have to start right about now to be ready in a decade, why do it now though if they don't know the Crystal Empire will reappear?

Well the Crystal Empire is only one place, and there are other places a changeling army could go to invade, all this combined with the fact that I've been seeing changelings more often means that they are probably trying to gather as much love as they can to feed their growing population,

This theory still leaves several unanswered questions but I find it likely that this is happening so until I find evidence to the contrary I'll plan around this for now.

Third, their leader Chrysalis, what do I know about her?

Well I know she's not stupid, maybe a little off her rocker but she can still plan well enough to almost succeed in taking over the Crystal Empire, someone like that shouldn't be underestimated even if they aren't the strongest beings around, humans only had our minds and look how far that got us.

But beyond that a lot about her is unclear, and with my intentions to change things I'm not sure how much my knowledge will help me, I do know one thing for certain though, she wants her changelings to survive.

Fourth, are they a threat right now?

Yes and no, as long as you aren't a threat to their plans or try to stop them I think they would rather not draw attention to themselves, and in that regard we are very similar.

I closed the book after making sure I was done for now, my thoughts are rambling and I'll probably need to add more to this book over time but this is enough to start with and I need to get some things done today, I get out of my blankets and make my way to my workroom, I have so much work to do and so many plans to make.

Chapter 54

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SEP 1 Monday.

I write another line of text and move to the next page, it's been a few weeks since the Gala and I've been going through my days like before, that's not to say I've been doing nothing this whole time.

I've kept up with my practice and training with both Stone and Caelum, and I've made progress in all the other things I do, but what I want to hopefully work on right now is my first healing spell, well kind of, it depends on how you define a healing spell, I personally see any spell that helps with the healing process as a healing spell.

Also, I'm not going to be making a new spell just modifying an existing one to make it better, The Cleansing spell is just what you think it is a spell made to magic away dirt and grime, there are a few spells like this but the ones used in healing are much more complex.

They are used to clean wounds and medical equipment, but as you can imagine having a spell clean a wound without it accidentally harming the patient can be hard, this is a large part of why the spell is so complex and uses five different runes.

The spell also takes a while to fully clean a wound and takes a decent amount of magic to cast, I plan to try and simplify the spell, make it work faster, and use less magic, and having looked at the spell I've found a good amount of room for improvement.

But doing this will take several weeks to breakdown the spell and build it back up again, but even with the time investment I think it will be worth it, I won't be doing this today though as I have a few things I need to do, and the first is to finish my work.

Recently a pony made a new spell, and this pony isn't me this time, I don't know all the details but apparently some researcher got tired of copying out text from books, so they took a spell and modified it over the past few months to remove the glue binding most books together.

The spell is a little complicated for my tastes and could use some modifications, but it does what it needs to and does it well, it lets both me and others remove the binding on a book and just copy the pages without writing them out, and it's something I never really thought of.

And honestly I'm kind of mad I never thought of that, not that mad though as the spell has made me and Blaz's work go much faster, although after we got the spell we've had much more free time so the library decided to give us more work to fill that time.

So now I'm not sure if I should thank this pony or kick them, as for what the new work is? Well many old and untranslated books find their way to the library, so now the library head is having more of us proofread these books or translate the older books slowly.

As both of these things still need to be done slowly so I don't think we'll run out of work anytime soon, I finish the book I have in front of me and place the stack of paper to the side to be rebound later, I look at a list to see the next book I need to work on.

And after finding the book I look through it and see it's an exploration journal, the books we get are inspected before we get them so we are given a rough idea of what needs to be done with them, I look at the notes on this book and see it needs to be proofread and some parts need to be removed, and several pages are missing.

A few of its pages were torn out at some point and I'll need to count how many pages are missing and add a note to the book explaining how many are missing and where they fit in the book, then when I'm done copying it I'll add an extra page with all this information on it at the end of the book.

Many old books come to us like this, but not all are added to the library as space isn't infinite, so the ponies I mentioned a bit ago have to check the book and see if its contents are worth the work and time needed to make the book as readable as we can

This book is being kept as while it is damaged it also contains several accounts of different types of animals that are rarely documented, I take the book and gently flip it open to see that the writing is not the best and several important pages are missing from it.

I skim it a little and see that most of it is about different kinds of birds, it's a little interesting as there is even a bird that has some form of bioluminescence in its feathers that glow at night, but after a little looking I start copying the pages and cleaning up the text while noting any missing pages.

I don't finish this book by the time my shift ends, so I organize all the pages and leave them on my desk before leaving the library and heading home, but when I get home I don't stay long, I just feed Entropy and grab my saddlebags before leaving again.

It's a Monday so I have language practice today, I make my way through the streets and easily find the right shop, and when I enter the small shop I see Caelum reading like normal, she looks up and sees me "Hello Shade."

"Hello to you too Caelum," Caelum Isn't the type to do small talk so we get right into my lesson.

At this point I don't need to learn much about the written part of the language and we are focusing on communication right now, I'm not sure when I'll be done but I don't think it will take more than a few months at this rate, although I don't know and Caelum won't tell me, every time I ask she just smiles at me and says nothing, I think she just enjoys fucking with me a little.

Our lesson went as normal and I learned a little more of the language like every time we do this, I've also asked her many things as we've talked and today is no different, "I have a question for you if you don't care?" I always ask if we are still in the middle of a lesson.

She nods, "The last word is mind not care, and no ask away."

I take a moment to remember the right word and note it down, "This might sound personal but where were you born? I'm curious as I don't think you ever say."

"Said not say, and no I don't think I ever did, I grew up in a smaller griffin city, not anywhere really important just a fishing city on the coast, the city's name is Crossis, honestly it's a boring place to live as most just fish, or trade, that's one of the main reason I came to Equestria."

I make a note of the cities name as she continues, "You ponies might be a bit emotional for my tastes but you know how to make things interesting, no offense intended," She adds the last part in the same dry manner she always does.

"None taken," I check the clock on the wall nearby, "Seems we're out of time today, take mind Caelum."

She just smiles at me, "You mixed them up, and same to you Shade" I stare for a moment before chuckling at my mistake, and after leaving I head home again.

I enter my apartment to Entropy like all days and take off my saddlebags, I spend a little time playing with Entropy before having her take us through the void, as we do this I meditate on the space around me, I still haven't learned much from doing this but it's helped me get better at sensing the space around me.

At this point I can sense the space around me more clearly and without using all my mental effort, it's still not easy but I don't have to try as hard now, I still do as I want to push my limits as always, and I still haven't found a way to use space magic beyond just sensing the area around me.

As we enter my apartment again and stop moving back and forth I give Entropy some treats and make my way into my workroom, something I've been putting off a little to research some other things is my self-scan, the gem finished filling a while ago but I had other things to do.

But today I decided to get it out of the way and I'm rather curious about what the results will be, I grab the strongly glowing amethyst and move it to the center of the room before lying it on the floor and laying next to it, I'll need to stay as still as I can so I'll just spend more time meditating as it works.

Before I start the scan I grab a small piece of paper and keep it with me as I start the scan, the amethyst flashes with magic and starts to work, I calm my breathing and stay still as I start to meditate, while I do so I let my mind wander to the things I've learned about affinities over time.

To use an affinity properly you need to convert your magic into the type you have an affinity for, for my life magic I spent time learning how to do it through observation, but I haven't fully unlocked my space magic yet, so how can I still sense things with it?

Well as long as you have an affinity your natural magic will carry much more of that type of magic than normal, my natural magic has much more life and space magic in it then other ponies this lets me sense these types of magic even if I haven't started converting it yet.

But the downside is that it takes both more magic and much more concentration to get the same results, so why haven't I unlocked my space affinity yet to make it easier? Well when I first unlocked my life magic I chose to not go with the method that was recommended.

I did this as it felt like an easy shortcut to power and I thought it might have downsides that I didn't know about at the time, and I was partly right as if you use the method they recommend it does make it easier but also makes it harder, this is mostly because ponies like structure and order.

And when you form the structure to convert your magic trying to then change that structure can be hard as you have come to rely on it and it has been in that form for a while, this makes everything harder even trying to improve is harder as that also changes the structure of the mental construct you are using to convert your magic.

In contrast I don't have a structure to convert my magic I just observed and felt the life magic around me and willed my magic to change into it, this lets me grow without hitting any problems like others who used the other method would have as they'd have to change the structure or learn the way I did if they want to improve more.

This is why I haven't used the other method as I don't want to trap myself in that mess, so I've just been observing the feel of space magic around me and how it flows and flexes, I don't do this right now though as the scan is still happening and I don't want to use magic while it's working.

And after a while of me meditating and thinking about some spells I want to work on, I feel the magic stop flowing and settle down, I open my eyes to see the amethyst is almost empty and walk over to it, I grab my piece of paper and place it on top the amethyst before waiting a moment.

The result is two hundred and forty-six, I raise a brow at this as that seems high but after thinking about it some I think I know what's going on, a good example is a human, we can exert a lot more force from our muscles then we know but a lot of that strength is locked away to prevent ourselves from being hurt from overexertion.

Most living things are like this, they have a reserve of different resources for the body to use in life or death situations, I think that it's the same for our magic as we need some of it to live so if we used it all we'd die, and like I said in the past using too much magic has side effects.

So the real question becomes how much of my magic is held in reserve? Well this scan was based off of the firebolt spell I made that uses small amounts of magic, and if I had to make a rough guess I'd say I could probably cast the spell one hundred and fifty times before I start feeling side effects.

Keep in mind that I'm not adding magic regeneration to all these numbers, but if I pushed myself and suffered a headache and some nausea I could maybe cast one hundred and eighty firebolts but any more than that I'd start risking my life, and after doing some quick math.

Side effects start at roughly forty percent magic left, and anything past thirty percent and you're risking your life, that may seem like a lot of your magic but considering all things in this world need some type of magic just to live I'd say that it seems about right.

It still doesn't really answer the question of how much magic I have compared to others but it does give me a way to roughly measure my magic against others, the firebolt spell uses about half as much magic as the copying spell so I use that as a base and go from there.

Many at the library use the copy spell and when they first got it a few bragged about how much they could cast it and others wanted to prove them wrong, and if my memory is right I noted the results down somewhere at the time, and after looking through a few notebooks I found it.

Most of these ponies are middle-aged and probably have more magic so I'll need to account for that but after doing the math it seems most of these ponies can cast six hundred firebolts on average, and after some more math I have a rough number to work with.

A young adult unicorn has on average enough magic in them to cast two hundred firebolts, so right now as a colt I have more magic than adults that are around twenty years old, after going through all this and making sure to note down that all this is with rough and imprecise measurements I finish up and place the amethyst on its shelf.

I have work tomorrow and still need to cook dinner so I clean up my work area and start cooking some food.

Chapter 55

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SEP 4 Thursday.

I get out of bed and like all Thursdays I'm still sore as hell from Wednesday, but after making some food and tea I spend a while using the muscle healing spell to fix that, it takes me half an hour to feel fine again.

When I'm done I go to my workroom and start looking through several notebooks all written in English just to be safe, all these notebooks have knowledge about the show or future events, and right now I want to recall and copy a few things to a new notebook.

The new book is where I'm going to put all my theories and knowledge about changelings and what they could be doing, once I've grabbed all the books with the information I need I spend a while copying it and re-organizing it, when I'm done I put all the books back and grab my saddlebags.

Before I leave I grab several things, my tent, food for a few days, a new flask with the water collecting enchantment on it, and several other things I might need, I have a plan for today and that plan involves not being home for a while, after I've gathered everything I call Entropy over and cast the illusion spell on her before we leave.

As we walk through the streets I let my mind wander to what I'll be doing over the next two days, as you've probably guessed it involves camping, I spent a little time checking the records for the small forests that are around Canterlot and it turns out that most of them are owned by the crown.

And after looking through a few laws and boring texts I found out about something, the reason for all this is that I heard that as long as you don't damage the forest and if it's owned by the crown you're allowed to camp there, I didn't know if that was true so I did some research.

And turns out that that's correct, as long as you don't damage the forest in any large way, so something like cutting down a grown tree, but smaller things are just fine, you can even harvest any fruit or herbs you find as long as you don't take too much.

And you also have to pay a higher tax if you intend to sell anything you gather from the forest, this is why I'm heading outside the city as I'm allowed to camp out there, and after my last trip I wanted to do it again but I only get two weeks off a year so I couldn't.

But now with a forest so close I can take small trips out there and be in the forest more often, as I walk I also keep an eye on how far we've traveled and the rough distance, this trip is also to test something else, after we reach a point I stop at the roadside.

We aren't far from the city walls and I can still see the city buildings, when Entropy teleports us to the storage room I rented she moves us about five miles and through much of the city each time, and with four trips both ways that's roughly forty miles at once, so I want to test two things.

First, does increasing the distance multiply the magic cost any, and second, does that mean she will now be able to teleport forty miles at once, I want to test both of these but doing so inside the city could be bad, this is because I don't know what happens when Entropy doesn't have enough magic to teleport but still does.

I rather not appear in the middle of the city, or a wall, so I'm doing this differently, I'll head to two different spots both near the city but in wooded places that are roughly forty miles apart and have her try to move us in between them, I start walking down the road again and head for a forest not long after.

I don't think Entropy will be in danger if she doesn't have enough magic to teleport but tries anyway, the reason I think that is because of my self-scan not long ago, if my body keeps magic in reserve to not kill itself then other beings with magic probably do too.

And if a being develops the ability to teleport I'd also expect it to develop some safeguards against accidents, if she doesn't have enough magic I think she'll either not be able to teleport, or will only be able to teleport a certain distance before collapsing from exhaustion.

As we enter the forest I walk through it heading for a certain spot, and when I reach it I see what looks like an old Oak tree sitting among some grass, this is the tree I grew not long ago and I'm going to use it for the first spot, I take off my saddlebags and start setting up camp.

When I'm done I take Entropy over to the Oak and sit at its base, I look around and start collecting several twigs and small stones with my field, when I'm done I arrange them into a circle around me, Entropy sees this and seems to know what's happening.

She's gotten used to what me making a circle means, "Not yet girl" I make sure she doesn't try to move us yet, first I make another circle on the other side of the tree and sit in that one, "Ok girl move us to the other circle."

She looks at me for a second she then hops off of me and around the tree for a moment before returning back to me, seems she is smart enough to get a good look at where she's moving us, she hops back on me and after a few seconds we move through the void for a moment.

And we appear on the other side of the Oak tree, I give her a berry as a treat and have her do this several more times before stopping, when we're done I let her wander off and fly around the forest, I do tell her not to go too far as this forest could have other ponies in it.

I don't think others will wander into my camp but you can never be sure, so while she's having her fun I start on the next part of my plan and that involves my sketchbook, I take it out of my saddlebags and start drawing the circle and Oak tree as accurately as I can.

If I want Entropy to teleport us back here I want something to remind her what this place looks like, that and it's fun to simply draw, I came out here to test things but also to train and relax some from city life, somedays the constant noise and movement can be overwhelming so it's nice to go somewhere so quiet.

After I'm done with my drawing it's around midday so I still have plenty of time to do other things, and one thing I want to do is make this camp a little more secluded from others, but I don't want to use magic or gems to do that so I will be doing this more naturally, pun intended.

I walk away from my camp under the Oak tree and move a little bit away, I start converting my magic and pushing it into the plants around me, I slowly walk around my camp in a circle letting my magic grow the plants into a thick wall of brush and tree branches.

This takes a long time as I can only move a dozen feet before running out of magic and having to wait for it to regenerate, and that brings me into the next thing I want to test, a plant I've had for a while now is the Companion Vine and I haven't done anything with it beyond letting it help my Iron Oak grow.

But I remember that the plant uses its magical flows to help it gather life magic, and I thought, why can't I do the same? Well I can think of a few reasons but it still seems like something I should at least try, so after another round of growing plants I sit down and let my magic fill before I start meditating on the life magic around and inside me.

I can see my magical flows and they are much more complex than anything I've ever seen before, I take a moment to think about this before deciding to be careful about this, so instead of trying to change the flows inside of me I try to copy the magical flows on top of my skin.

Shaping my magic into the correct flows and shapes takes a while but when I'm done I have a glowing shifting mass of green magic flowing over my skin, holding this takes a lot of concentration, and a decent amount of magic and so I shouldn't be able to hold it for long, but that's where this experiment starts to get interesting.

My theory on how this should work is a small fact I came across, when you are in an environment with more ambient magic it boosts your magic regeneration, the more magic around you the better the result, but the returns are diminishing and too much magic in the air can hurt you.

And as I hold this formation of magic around me as it flows, I'm able to hold it for longer than I should and after a while of feeling my magic I realize that I was right, the magical flows are gathering life magic and keeping it close enough to my body to increase my magic regeneration.

But this whole process takes more magic than I gain, so after I get low on magic and let go of the magic to let it dissipate, I'm very happy and surprised that worked so well, but it seems like many things I train it isn't fully usable right now, I'll need to get a much better understanding of the magical flows of the Companion Vine.

But if I do get better at this I might be able to gain more magic from this process than I'd lose, if that is possible, this is all still relatively unknown to me so I'll have to move slowly and with caution, after taking notes about my experiment I start growing the nature wall around my camp again.

I don't finish it before night sets in but I get about halfway before stopping, and by the time I'm done I'm very tired, my magic may regenerate but my mind still gets exhausted, so after making some food for me and Entropy before I head to bed.

time skip

SEP 5 Friday.

I get out of my tent and sit next to my dying fire before grabbing my teapot as the sun rises up into the sky, gathering water with a spell I fill the teapot and set it above the warm coals, as I'm making fresh tea Entropy flies down from the Oak tree and lays on my back while preening herself as I make my tea.

After breakfast and some tea I gather up my camp before setting out again, I remember to cast the illusion spell on Entropy before we leave the forest and make it to the road again, we continue down it along the city, I take out my map and start trying to roughly judge the distance as we go.

I can't judge the distance perfectly so I try to stop a little under forty miles away just to be safe, this takes a long while as I have to walk a good distance, but these roads are well maintained and traveled so a little after the afternoon we reach the right distance.

I can still see the city and there are a fair few ponies on the road, so after some looking around I leave the road and walk into a wooded area, and after a little more searching we find a good spot to do this.

I've walked from one side of the city countryside to another side, if we travel from here we shouldn't appear inside the city if Entropy can't make the full trip, but I only plan on doing this once for now, I just want to test Entropy's abilities not stress her out with lengthy trips, or endanger her.

If this does work I'll have her move us from my apartment to the Oak tree I grew as they are roughly fifteen miles apart so if she can make this trip she can do a round trip once a day, and after finding a secluded place I take out my sketchbook and open it, I show the page to Entropy and let her look at it for a while.

"Ok girl you're smart and I think you know what I want you to do, so do you want to earn a berry? Just be safe ok? If you can't do it that's fine" Entropy stares at me for a few seconds before closing her eyes and going quiet, she stays like this for almost two full minutes before I see the familiar void greeting me.

I feel like it takes longer this time but it's hard to tell in this place, but we do reappear next to the Oak tree, I keep my eyes on Entropy to make sure she's ok, she's definitely tired from that trip as her body drupes some but beyond that she's fine, "YES GOOD GIRL, YOU'RE AMAZING!!"

After I feed her several berries and a small piece of fish she's looking a bit better, and I think I've answered my main question, it seems that as long as she has the magic increasing the distance doesn't multiply the cost any more.

I'm happy she succeeded and she seems happy too, "You can rest now I'll get us home just fine," she seems to accept that and just lays down on my saddlebags as I start walking us home.

Chapter 56

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SEP 9 Tuesday.

I reapply new glue to a book cover and start delicately rebinding the book. I used the glue removal spell to remove the glue on the book not long ago. I've looked into the spell and it's actually interesting, it has a few interesting ideas in it, and I think it could be useful.

After I'm done with the book I start on the next. And because I'm an overactive pony I let my mind wander as I do so. First things first, Entropy's new method of practice is to teleport to the secluded Oak tree and back home twice a day. And it seems to be going well.

She gets tired but not to a dangerous or worrying degree. And like the last times we've changed her training I think it will get easier for her with time. Moving on to all my other training. My language lessons are going well as always. And my training with Stone is also going well.

In fact I've been doing so well that he's upped my training by throwing small pebbles at me while we practice fighting. And he can throw them pretty hard and fast, so now I have to constantly be aware of flying pebbles. As for where the pebbles come from? He's hidden them throughout the training room, somewhere I can't find.

I swear if that old guard wasn't such a good trainer and teacher I'd have thrown something back, maybe a table. But that's just me being dramatic, as much as he causes me pain he's also the reason I'm in such good shape. That and he's also the pony that teaches me how to hit others in the right way.

Want to know an interesting fact? Turns out punching somepony in the throat is just as effective on ponies as it is on humans. But moving on again, I've been working my way through a lot of the different things I've been meaning to research and noting things I learned down.

And as always I learn more than I expected and less than I wanted, but that's fine. One thing I learned is about Emotional affinities. I've not learned much as it's an under-researched and vague topic, but I did learn a few things.

First magic with an emotional affinity comes from somepony experiencing that emotion, the stronger the emotion the more is released. I don't know why the beings of this world would evolve like this. Either that or it's some type of unintended effect from having magic.

I never found an answer to that question. But I did find something much better. I found an old research journal about an experiment to convert magic into an emotional affinity through an enchantment. This is something I've thought about in the past but gave up on for now as there was no knowledge to work with.

I've found some knowledge about converting magic into an affinity but never an emotional affinity. I'm not sure why nopony tried, but my guess would be that it's simply not needed. I mean what would you even do with a reserve of sadness? or happiness?

That and I think there is a moral aspect to consider. I rather not have somepony be able to create a large amount of hatred affinity magic that could be used with a spell to cause chaos on a mass scale. Then there is the opposite end, somepony forcing somepony else to be happy.

Both are things that probably aren't likely to happen, but I rather not test them in practice. But that doesn't mean that this avenue of research is not useful, the most obvious example is creating love for the changelings to feed off of. But I'm not sure if giving them an endless source of love is a good idea.

Chrysalis was able to gain some form of power boost from having so much love at her disposal. So giving her an endless amount is probably a bad idea. But it's still an option to consider as I don't know if all changeling would get more powerful from overdosing on love or just her.

But for now I've shelved the idea. Beyond all of this I also found another very interesting thing, I found another one of the runes from my cutie mark. It's also a very old rune like the last one, and it's for wind. Water and now wind, I'm not sure what they mean or if they mean anything at all, but if nothing else I've made some type of progress.

I finish binding the book and place it to the side to dry and be added to the library. I look at my bracelet and see the time. "Lunchtime Blaz" I called out to him while making my way out of the room we work in. And after a short walk we enter the breakroom and get some food.

And like always we sit with Daisy and Maple. "So how are you two doing today?" I ask both of them after sitting down.

Daisy is looking a little tired and is the first to answer. "Well besides the paperwork from somepony lighting a book on fire inside the library, not much."

Eveypony else in our little group raises a brow. And I'm the first to speak, "How? Who starts a fire in a library?"

She just looks at me with her tired eyes. "Apparently some young colt with poor eyesight thought that he needed to see the pages of a book better. And so he cast a small candle flame, and one thing leads to another and the book now on fire. Also you'll be seeing an order for a textbook coming your way soon."

Both me and Blaz groan at this. Textbooks are the worst, their words are small and close together so the copy spell can only copy half the amount of pages at once. That combined with how many pages these books usually have means that copying a single textbook can take as long as copying three other books.

That and if we don't have another copy we'll have to wait on a new one from publishers or another library and that's its own kind of hell. I rub my muzzle and turn to Maple, "Please tell me you don't have more work for us?" I ask more as a joke than anything.

"No, I don't." She answers in her short and blunt manner. Seriously the only thing she seems to get excited about is pie.

"Well I have some news." Blaz says. We all turn to him and wait. "What? Noponies going to ask?"

Daisy sighs. "Fine, what's the news?"

Blaz shows a massive smile. "My son sent me a letter, he and his wife are having another foal."

Daisy's the first to speak, a little more energy now in her voice. "Congratulations!"

Maple congratulates him next. "Same" and she does it in the most Maple way possible, with a bland tone and simple words.

I'm the last to speak and decide to mess with him some. "I don't live here anymore so you should look up some recipes."

He looks a little bashful but takes my verbal jab in stride. "And don't come to me for relationship advice colt." And like always he jabs back, So I just smile at him. "Beyond that, I'd like to go out to eat but rather not spend a dinner celebrating alone. So do any of you want to get a free meal?"

I just nod to him. "I'll have to stop home for a bit but I have nothing to do, so sure."

Both Maple and Daisy also agree and we make a plan. We'll be going to a decent restaurant that Blaz likes after work at seven. And we'll all meet there.

But for now we finish up our lunch and get back to work. I go through the books I have to work on and after a few more hours I'm finally done for the day. I leave the library and after getting home, and I tend to Entropy like always. And then I take a shower to clean up and leave my apartment again.

And after walking through several streets I found the right place. The Bashed Table, I swear even after living as a pony for twelve years I still don't understand their naming sense. But I ignore that and stand near the building, waiting for the others to show up.

And I don't have to wait long, as I see Blaz walking towards me with Maple. They both live at the library so I guess that's why they're showing up at the same time. "Hey you two, I guess it's only Daisy we have to wait for."

Blaz nods, "Ya seems like it."

"How about both of you go in and get us a table while I wait for her out here?" I offer both of them.

"You sure colt?" I nod. "Well thanks, we'll be inside then." With that they walk inside while I continue waiting. And after ten minutes or so Daisy rounds a corner and walks over to me.

"Are Blaz and Maple not here yet?"

I shake my head. "They're inside getting a table, they should have one by now."

We both walk in and see Blaz and Maple sitting at a table waving us over. We both walk over and sit down on the cushions around the table. I look around the restaurant, it's nothing amazing but has a nice feel to it. And I can smell something good from another table.

"This meal is on me so get what you want."

I take a look at the menu and see a few options. But one does catch my eye, a fruit salad with some slightly sweet sauce on it, and some cheese. I think the cheese is a little odd but some fruit doesn't sound bad so I choose that. A waiter takes our orders and leaves us with some water.

"So anypony have something interesting to talk about?" Blaz asks after we order.

Daisy answers him. "Beyond work? Well I did finish a new painting recently, I think it came out ok. But I do want to try and find a better blue paint color, mine are just not right for what I need."

I speak up at that. "You know, I don't think I've ever seen one of your paintings."

"Have I never shown you? I guess I haven't. Well remind me sometime to show you, I may not be the best painter but I take pride in being decent at it."

I just smile and nod. We talk about several things but eventually the topic of conversation drifts into Blaz's hobbies. "I swear Blaz the only thing you do is puzzles." This stellar comment comes from Daisy.

"That's not true. Ok maybe it is some, but I used to have other hobbies. I just stopped doing most of them over time."

"Really like what?" I ask him.

He smiles. "At one point I tried to learn the griffon language but stopped."

I cut him off before he could continue, as I saw an opportunity to mess with him. None of them know I can speak griffin almost fluently. It's not something I've tried to hide but it just never really came up. Honestly I don't use the language a lot out of learning it as I have no one to talk to.

"Really, you know how to speak griffin? so what if I called you old right now?"

All three of them turn to me with looks of surprise. It's times like this that I want to buy a camera. "I didn't understand much of that but I heard the word old" Blaz responds back. "And if you're calling me old I'll keep calling you colt until you're my age."

I smile wider at him. "I said. Really, you know how to speak griffin? So what if I called you old right now? It's not my fault you can't understand me."

Daisy joins back in. "When did you learn griffin?"

"I have been for a while now, it just never came up. And to answer what you're probably going to ask next, no I'm not fluent but I am getting close."

Daisy looks a bit put out at my guess, but smiles again at getting an answer. Blaz joins back in, "Well I'll admit that's impressive, but colt you are just like an onion." I raise a brow at him. "You're full of layers and smell awful." He says this with a smile typical of him. I try to stay strong but seeing his smile and hearing his stupid joke I can't help but laugh.

The joke also gets a laugh out of Daisy, and surprisingly even Maple gives a small chuckle. "Oh Blaz never change you mad, old, pony." I say after I stop laughing.

"Same to you, you young, weird, colt." After a little more banter we all stop as the waiter brings out our food. The fruit salad is nice and the sauce goes well with it, I even try some of the cheese. It's not bad and goes surprisingly well with the fruit and sauce.

We continue joking around while we eat our food. But like all things it must end. And after another hour we decided to call it a night and head home. I thank Blaz for the meal, he just waved me off and told me to go home. When I do get home I decide to just relax and play with Entropy for the rest of the night.

Ponies much like humans can be a pain in the neck to deal with. But it's nice to spend time with friends.

Chapter 57

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SEP 12 Friday.

I move a plant pot with a piece of Steel wood that's not ready yet. I spent most of yesterday working on the new cleansing spell and observing the magical flows of the Companion Vine.

The cleansing spell is more complex than I originally thought, and will probably take some of my free time over the next month or two to complete it. But what I have worked on already shows great promise. When it's done it should cost around half the magic and be much easier to learn.

And it will have another unintended effect. Turns out that one of the main things you should know when you become a nurse is any cleansing spell. You can still be a nurse without learning it, but those who can use this kind of spell are more valued as they can cast the spell while a doctor uses their magic to heal somepony.

That's because any cleansing spell that is used for healing is so complex most hospitals don't have enough ponies that know it. So there can be competition for those that do know it. So I may accidentally cause a small mess for the medical industry. And that's part of why I pass all these spells and inventions to Celestia. She's much better equipped to deal with any problems that will inevitably pop up.

Moving onto the Companion Vine. After I had my first success with copying its magical flows I've been observing it more to improve my technique, and how efficient it is. And I've had some success, but not much as copying the plants flows in great detail is much harder than a basic copy.

But progress is progress. :God is that my saying now? I mean it's not the worst, but still: Anyway back to my point. I'm not sure if this technique will ever give me more magic than it takes but it can let me stretch my magic out. I'm not sure if that will help my magic capacity grow, but it's definitely improving my control.

Now that we got what I was doing out of the way, I can get to what I want to work on today. A spell I've had for a long time now, and I want to have some fun with it. The Floating Spell. And boy is it an odd spell, well odd to me. The reason I say that is the single rune it uses.

This rune is something I haven't come across before. And the curious thing about it is the meaning behind the single rune. The rune is for float, not that odd by itself as I've come across a few runes for float before. But this one's oddness comes from the runic context.

Its context holds a word in it that I can't really explain concisely. That's because the word is very old and doesn't have a translation for either the Pony or English languages. So while I can find a definition I can't ever find a translation for the word.

The word itself has a few definitions. And the best I've found are two different definitions. To float and see. And to separate from the ground and touch the sky. But I can never fully express this word in any language I know. And as a result I can never fully understand the rune and its meaning, as I simply don't have that words original meaning.

This is mostly just something I found curious. Moving onto the spell itself, it's very simple. Really just some basic math telling the spell the few things it needs to know and the rune to make it all work together. I want to mess around with this spell but not as it is.

So with this in mind I'm currently sitting at my desk improving the spell. First I take out the rune, as while it is a curious rune not being able to fully know it weakens the spell. I changed it for another rune of float I've found in the past. After that it just takes some math, and a little time to double-check everything, before it's ready.

When I'm done I draw out the matrix and cast the spell. I modified this spell to float things up a predetermined and preset distance before keeping it there. I can also control the area of the spell effects. And can even control what it will lift by specifying a weight limit.

Adding all this did increase the spell's magic cost by almost double. But even then my magic regeneration, without drinking tea, is more than enough to hold the spell for basically forever. I do some testing as always. Checking how much the magic costs increase with the weight it's holding.

With the spell I can lift almost three hundred pounds without losing any magic. But if I hold something that heavy with this spell I won't lose magic. But I also won't gain any as I'd be using it as fast as it comes back to me. Once I'm done with my tests and taking notes I get to the fun part.

I go to a shelf and pick up a small one-inch Steel wood cube from a small stack of several other cubes. I spend a lot of my time at home. And when I have excess magic I make sure to use it. But sometimes I'm not training and instead learning or tinkering with spells.

So when I'm doing this and my magic is full I normally take a moment to drain all my excess magic into something before going back to what I was working on. So over time I've collected a small stockpile of Steel wood blocks. I take this small block of wood and place it on the desk.

I can't enchant the Steel wood to hold a powerful magic. But I can have it hold a weak spell, and the spell I just made should be weak enough to work. I start out by getting my carving knife and whittling down the cube. This will lower the magic capacity more but I don't need much for what I have planned.

When I'm done shaping the cube I'm left with a small one-inch triangle pyramid. I then carefully enchant the Steel wood to hold and gather magic, before adding the new float spell. While I'm adding the floating spell I configure it to only float a small amount of weight right above it.

And when I'm done I take a moment to test it. I grab the medium ruby that has the small planet illusion in it. I turn the ruby on its side so that the cubes corners are pointing up, down, and to the sides. Then I activate the float spell in the piece of Steel wood and place the ruby above it.

And the spells work, as the medium ruby floats above the Steel wood piece. I spend a moment simply staring at the gem floating there before moving on to the next step. Normally when I activate the planet illusion it appears above the gem. But it's not hard to move it.

So I move the planet to cover the ruby. The planet is bigger than the ruby, so when I'm done you can't see the gem, just a small planet floating an inch above the wooden triangle pyramid. I spend a while watching the planet slowly move and spin atop the wood piece. I think this has gone rather well.

Sadly the ruby doesn't gain enough magic to have the illusion always active. But it can last a few hours and that's good enough for me. The float spell keeps things from the ground but also keeps anything it's floating very stable. This means that when I pick up the Steel wood piece the gem will stay with it.

Honestly this whole project was just for fun. Some days it's nice to just make something cool. But now that that's done and my magic has regenerated fully I'm going to get some more training in. I leave my workroom and make my way to the Companion Vine.

As I sit in front of the Iron Oak I start feeling the life magic around me. Learning a plant's magical flows isn't hard if you're just looking to copy it. But those flows aren't as simple as they look. When you start trying to copy a plant's flows in greater detail you realize that those flows are made up of smaller flows.

They weave and twist into each other to make the larger flows. But if I want to improve this ability I need to copy the plant in greater detail. But copying the smaller flows is much, MUCH harder to achieve. But like all things it can be done with enough practice.

But It will take me a while to fully learn and memorize the flows. As I sit around the Iron Oak, I meditate and feel the flows shift in the Companion Vine. This process is always slow and tedious, but it also helps me improve my control. After a while I stopped studying the Companion Vine.

And start copying the magical flows onto my skin, and trying to improve my skill at it. I've learned a few small tricks while practicing, but for the most part improving at this will just take time. So I spend an hour slowly draining my magic and practicing.

After that I don't really have much to do for the rest of the day. I check the time and I still have about two hours before sundown. So I decided to do something I haven't done in a while. I grab my sketchbook and my drawing supplies, before calling over Entropy.

She flies over to me, "Think you can do our trip early?"

She caws at me and after a moment she closes her eyes and stays still. I know this well so I wait for her to do everything correctly. And after a moment we spend a moment in the void before reappearing in the forest. "Thanks girl, you're the best." And like always she demands food.

So after feeding her I started drawing the Oak tree here. I came out here to draw the stars, but the sun won't set for a while. So for now I'll spend my time drawing different things as I wander the forest. It's not a thick forest but it's one of the largest near Canterlot.

I finish my rough sketch and spend a moment casting the illusion spell on Entropy. Then we both set off into the forest. It's a quiet day, and the only sound in the autumn forest is the quiet wind. The trees have lost most of their leaves. And any leaves left are a brilliant orange color.

As I walk I hear the leaves crunch under me in the wind. But after a moment I hear something. Not far away from me I hear loud voices shouting not far away. I haven't seen anypony else in this forest before. That and it's suspicious for an argument to be happening out here.

Not far away from me is a dirt overhang that has elevated ground on top of it. I'm on the lower side some distance away. While the argument seems to be happening on top. I'm not one to involve myself in others' business. But this whole situation seems off.

So after a little thought I move over to the overhang and sit under it. "Hey girl, can you get us ready to leave at any moment?" I ask as quietly as I can. She closes her eyes but after a minute we stay in the same location, so I assume she's waiting for me to tell her when we need to leave.

With that done I start listening in on the conversation above me. "And I keep telling you that it can't be done safely."

"And I keep telling you I don't care, we have our orders and we need to finish them." :Oh what the fuck did I just stumble into?:

"To gather that much we'd need to move through several heavily populated areas for a few hours, we don't have the magic for that. We need to rest and recover, because if we don't I can't guarantee that nothing will go wrong." Both voices are male but I can't tell much about them beyond that.

Then there is a small stretch of silence at that. "Fine, I'll see what I can do. But this is up to the queen, and with how much love we need I don't think we'll be getting a break anytime soon."

:FUCK: I start feeling panic rise in me, but crush it down as hard as I can. And after a moment I get my mind under control and continue listening.

"That's all I ask. And ya I know what you mean it's been getting pretty," but the voice abruptly stops. "Do you feel that?"

I don't listen to their words anymore I just tap Entropy and in an instant, we are gone. I only start calming a little once we are back inside my apartment. "FUCK" I say in a quiet shout. My mind is moving a mile a minute and I don't like it, so after taking a moment to calm down I start thinking through this.

Those were changelings that much is obvious. As for what they were talking about that is also obvious. What's less obvious is what happened next. I found the book I've been writing about changeling in, and started adding more. First, what did I learn?

Well I can definitely say that a decent amount of changelings are inside Canterlot gathering love. I can also say they have plans and orders to follow. The argument itself seemed to be in between someone giving orders from the queen, and someone in charge of the operations in Canterlot.

And there was that part about them being overworked. I'm not sure if they just don't have the numbers or if they can't bring more changelings into the city without getting noticed. But that does raise a question, why do they need so much love. I know they eat it but the way they talked about it, it sounds like this is more than normal.

This does give credence to my theory. But they could also just need more for something else. I just don't know enough about them right now. But out of all of this the thing that worries me most is what happened at the end.

They felt my presence. I don't know how I didn't realize it before but they might be able to sense emotions. I'm not sure if that's what they felt but I can't think of anything else it could be. And if that's correct that's a big problem. That changeling probably felt that spike of panic I had.

And if they can all sense emotions I basically can't talk to any of them. If I find another changeling in disguise, and if I have to talk to them. They would feel my panic about having to interact with them, and that could end very badly. Well if nothing else I have something new I need to work on.

I'll have to look into shielding my emotions or even just hiding them entirely. But for now I better keep my distance from them and get some research done.

Chapter 58

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SEP 17 Wednesday.

I walk through the streets heading to the library. It's been a few days since the forest incident and thankfully things have been quiet. But that doesn't mean nothing is wrong, I still have to worry about a changeling possibly interacting with me. And to that end, I've done something that might seem counter-intuitive.

I've stopped wearing my illusion-detecting bracelet. My reasoning behind this is simple, if I don't know that the pony I'm talking to is a changeling then they can't sense my fear or panic. Now obviously this isn't the best solution but until I find a better one it's my best bet.

I reached the library. And start walking through different hallways, before reaching the room I work in. But to my surprise, Blaz isn't alone in the room, as Daisy is also there talking to him. "What's this? A visit?"

Both turn to me with Blaz being the first to speak. "Don't know colt Daisy just showed up and said she'd be waiting for you."

"I can explain that myself Blaz. Anyway, I need to talk to you for a bit, mind coming to my office?"

"Sure lead the way." After a short walk we enter her office and sit down.

"So first, nothing is wrong. At least I don't think so, it really depends on how you see it."

I just sigh at her. "Daisy stop joking and just tell me, I have three books I need to do today," I say back at her.

"No need to be short with me Shade. But you are right I'm keeping you from your work. Ok sit down, this is going to take a little explanation." I comply and sit opposite of her. "First, do you know Ruby Rose?"

I think for a moment. "Ya I do, she's the older mare that works a few doors down from me and Blaz. I never talked to her though." The mare in question was elderly. Her main and tail, which seemed to be red at one point, is almost entirely silvery gray now. And her coat is a deep red, while her eyes are equally red.

"Right, so the thing is she's decided to retire at the end of the year, keep that in mind. Now you said you've been learning Griffin, you even showed you're almost fluent in it. What I need to know is how well you can write and read it.

I raise a brow at her. "Ok seriously Daisy, what is this?"

"You know it's my job to keep the library staffed." I nod to her. "Well, finding somepony that can take over for Ruby won't be easy. Not many ponies learn other languages, and those that do mostly learn Zebra or Griffin as we have the most trade with them."

"But most who learn griffin use it for trade and don't want to work at a library. This is a problem because Ruby is our expert for the Griffin language and does all our translations for it. So I would normally have to find somepony to replace her, but like I just said it's not easy, and that takes time."

"But while thinking about the problem I realized you might be able to help."

"So what, you want me to take over for her?"

"Yes and no. You are still underage and need a mentor, but we can work around that. What I'm asking is, would you like to apprentice under Ruby and fill her spot while I look for somepony qualified for the job."

I think over it for a few moments. It would be beneficial to learn from an expert on the written language, and it wouldn't be a position I'd hold forever. After some thought, I came to a decision. "I'm willing to do it, but I'd like to know how exactly this is going to work."

Daisy smiles widely at me. "Good, and as for how it will work that's easy to explain. Like I said you'll apprentice with Ruby until she retires in a few months, and when she leaves you'll go back to working under Blaz, as you'll still need a mentor. I don't expect you to do the job long after that, a month or two at most."

"And as a bonus I convinced the library head to give you the same pay as Ruby during that time. I know you don't really need it, but you will be paid twice what you are right now. But before we continue I want to ask if you're absolutely sure?"

She says this part more as a friend than a superior. Do I really want to do this? Yes I think I do. I'll be able to solidify my knowledge of the Griffin language. That and it would be a nice change of pace, plus the extra pay doesn't hurt either. I nod to Daisy. "Yes I'm sure, I want to do this."

"Ok, just making sure. And I'll be looking for others to fill the job starting right now, so if you change your mind I can probably find somepony to fill in for you if you change your mind. I mostly offered this to you because I thought it would be a good learning experience."

I smile back at her. "Thanks, Daisy I appreciate it."

"Well I've kept you from work long enough, so let's go inform Blaz and introduce you to Ruby." And we do just that. After walking back to the hallway, and informing Blaz, we walk down a few doors before knocking. "Come in." The voice that answers is that of an old, softly-spoken mare.

When we enter I see Ruby. And she's just like I remember. "Nice to see you Daisy." She turns to me. "And this must be the colt that will be taking over for me, at least for a while."

"Nice to see you too Ruby, and yes this is Shade."

I nod to her. "Nice to meet you ma'am."

She looks me up and down for a moment before answering. "Same to you Shade, and Ruby is just fine." I nod to her again.

Daisy speaks up again. "Well I need to get back to work, and you two need to do the same. Have a good day Ruby."

“Same to you daisy,” Daisy then walks through the door and leaves us.

I turn to Ruby as she shifts through a few pages. "Come here, I have something I need you to do." I comply and walk over to her. She passes me a small stack of papers. "First I want you to fill out this test to see where you're at." I nod. "You can work over there."

She points to a clean desk nearby. "Ok." I don't complain and just start filling out the test. Most of the test consists of me writing out sentences, and answering grammar questions. It takes me a little over an hour to complete it. And when I'm done I take it with me and move back over to Ruby.

"I'm done." I pass her the test, and she takes it, and then starts reading it.

It takes her several minutes to finish. "You did really well, there are a few things we'll need to work on, but overall well done." I can't help but smile at that. "Now then, come over here and help me with this book.

time skip

SEP 18 Thursday.

I leave my bed as the sun rises into the sky. Yesterday was certainly an interesting experience. Ruby turned out to be a very quiet but very good teacher. And as I learned she was an actual teacher when she was younger. But back to the point, she's a quiet pony.

And I mean quiet, she didn't talk except when she needed to. But when she did speak it was always to teach something to me. And I think I made the right choice. The work is basically the same as before just with a different language, and I find myself enjoying the work more.

Normally during work I don't get bored, but it can get tiring and tedious. This work may be the same, but using a different language just keeps me more interested. But enough about that, time to talk about Stone, he's still pushing my limits all the time.

We are still practicing with daggers, but I've made good progress. We've also done some practice with great swords, but for now we are focusing on daggers. I leave my bedroom and start making breakfast. And when I'm done me and Entropy take a quick trip through the void.

We didn't go to the forest we normally use, but the other spot we used during Entropy's distance test. It's only a little further away from the city so Entropy can still make the trips, even if it makes her a little more tired. But she's fine, if she's ever too tired I make her stop and rest, even if we have to spend a while in the forest.

I do want to go back to the other camp, but I'll need to make a shield to hide it. Once we are back in my apartment I give Entropy a treat and head for the door with my saddlebags. I'm going to the library as I have several things I need to research.

Like always it's a short walk and I'm there. Once I'm inside I start looking through shelves for anything that might be relevant. Right now my focus is on finding a way to shield my emotions, and I already have a few ideas. I spend the next few hours digging through different books.

And after learning what I can I head back home with a few possible solutions. Once I'm home and inside my workroom, I start going through a few of my notebooks. My plan right now is a type of shield that will stop my emotions from leaking out, but that's easier said than done.

My first, and arguably biggest problem is finding a way to carry an enchantment like this with me. I expect it to take a decent amount of magic to use, and that will need something that's able to keep up. After some thought, I decided to work on the enchantment itself first.

The spell for the enchantment can be made in two different ways. First, I can use only one rune, a rune for emotion, and use that to base the shield off of. Second, I can target a specific emotion to block out by finding the right rune for that emotion.

Both have ups and downs, so let's start with the first. Upsides, I can use just one rune that covers for all emotions, and it would use less magic. Downsides, it will be blocking all emotions which is odd in its own way, and while the rune would block out all emotions it will probably do so to a lesser degree.

Now the second idea. Upsides, it can better block a single emotion, and it will be harder to break or see through. Downsides, if I need to block more than one emotion I'll need to add more runes, and finding those runes could be hard.

I think over my options before flipping through my notebook with all the runes I've collected. And after some searching through the notebook I only found one, A rune for sadness. Well that's not very helpful right now, I guess I'll need to do some research and try to find more runes for this.

And that also puts a stop to most of this project. The only thing I can work on right now is the size and shape of the shield, so I just started working on that. I take out a notebook and start my work. It's not too complicated to set up a shield's area and shape, so after two hours I'm done.

I take notes and start on the next thing. The cleansing spell. It's made good progress, but it is still far from done. I have knocked the number of runes the spell used from five to four, and I think I might be able to lower it to three if I do well enough.

I spend even more time working on the cleansing spell. But I start feeling hungry after a while and decide to stop. I stand up and move into the kitchen to start on a late lunch. Maybe I should just relax for the rest of today? Ya, that sounds nice. It's important to relax and ground myself.

Chapter 59

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SEP 18 Thursday.

After deciding to relax I find my sketchbook and sit in front of the main room's window. I can see a few birds on a building not far away and just start drawing them. I can't see them well from here, but I can draw them as they sit in a line on the edge of the building.

I get halfway through the drawing when I abruptly stop. A thing I've developed over time is my ability to sense life magic. And something with a lot, A LOT, of life magic just got close enough for me to feel it. I don't know what it is, but I try to focus on it while keeping calm.

I feel it is getting closer to me slowly. It's not moving fast so I know it's not in a hurry. What is that? Why is it here? I focus my mind while keeping a metaphorical eye on the mass of life magic. What could this be? Well I only know of two things that have that kind of life magic in them.

First, Entropy. I don't think it's another of her race so that's out. Second, an alicorn, and that might be possible. Although I don't know why Celestia would be here, but I have a decent guess, me. If it is her then I should get ready. I quickly go into my workroom.

First I grab any notebooks that have anything she shouldn't see in them. I don't really have anywhere to put them so thinking fast I go over to my Iron Oak. And using my magic I decompose the wood of the trunk to make several small areas. They aren't large but can each hold one book.

After moving the soil out of the way I put the books inside and grow the wood over the opening. This takes me a minute, and by the time I'm done the mass of life magic is much closer to me. Next I grab my small planet and move it to my bedroom, then hide it under my bed.

But as I'm thinking of if I need to hide anything else my mind has a thought. And what if it's not Celestia?

I pause at that thought. I don't know anything else that would have this much life magic, but just because I don't know it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. But I don't really have a way to defend myself from something like that do I? But as I'm starting to panic about all of this my time runs out.

That mass of life magic is now on the same floor as me. No time to spiral, I need to keep my calm as best I can. I'll ask a question to see if it's her, if it is I'll deal with all the questions she'll ask, and the secrets that I will have to tell her. And if it's not her I have Entropy get us the fuck out of here.

I cast the illusion spell on Entropy and had her ride on me. "Ok girl remember that time I asked you to wait to move us? I need you to do that again." Once again I'm not sure if she understands me, but she closes her eyes and stays still on my back. My saddlebags are near the door if I need to grab them, and I'm as prepared as I can be in such a short amount of time.

And whoever they are is at my door. Nothing happens for a moment, but then I hear a knock. I wait a moment, steeling myself for whatever is to come. And open the door. I normally check who's on the other side before opening the door fully, but that won't matter here so I just open it fully.

On the other side is a pony. A unicorn mare with a lime green coat, jade eyes, and a light blue mane. And on her back is a large dove. We lock eyes and neither of us speaks for a moment, I'm tense but summon my courage to ask a question before she can speak.

"What was the first gift I ever sent you?" I say this in a blunt and flat tone.

Her face shifts for a moment, looking confused, but after that moment I see it shift to understanding. She smiles at me, "A lot of red tea." I let my body relax, and use my field to flip the small piece of wood that controls the shield around my home.

"Come on in, please close the door behind you." I move out of the doorway and walk to the kitchen. I'm going to need something to help me relax, and tea sounds nice right now.

As I start making tea, Celestia comes inside and starts looking around the room. Not that there is much to see beyond the one painting I have, and my plants. "Thank you for inviting me in, although I am rather curious how you knew it was me?"

It doesn't take me long to heat the teapot with a warming spell, so I walk over to my table and sit down with two tea cups. "I can feel life magic, and very few things give off as much life magic as you. Also, you can drop the disguise if you want, I don't normally get visitors."

She nods at that, and drops her illusion. A small flash of light and Celestia is standing in front of me. "That's something I didn't know. Although now that I think about it, that would explain a few things." I pour both of us tea. "I met Green Skies several times, and she always seemed to know when I was nearby. I guess she did the same as you."

I take a sip of my tea. "Most likely. To be honest your arrival gave me quite the scare." She raises a brow at me. "I couldn't tell it was you, just that somepony with a lot of life magic was nearby. That was why I asked you that question."

She looks at me for a moment. "I'm beginning to realize just how paranoid you are."

I just give her a small smile. "You know I'm not the type for formality, and I realize that I don't really make much sense. But before we get to that, how about we get the rest of our introductions out of the way." I say while pointing a hoof to the dove on her back.

She smiles again. "Yes I suppose some introductions are still necessary." After a second the dove on her back also changes, there is a large Phoenix on her back. "Shade I'd like you to meet Philomena."

Philomena stares at me for several seconds. She just stares with narrowed eyes, but after finding whatever she was looking for she stops and starts preening herself. "I believe it's your turn," Celestia says, holding her smile while staring at Entropy.

As soon as I knew it was Celestia at my door I knew she'd find out about Entropy's true nature. So I don't try to hide it, I use my magic to carefully dismiss the illusion spell around Entropy. And watch Celestia's face for her reaction.

At this point Entropy's feathers don't really look like feathers anymore, just a dark mass that reflects almost no light. Honestly, it's hard to tell where her feathers end and begin. "Celestia meet Entropy, she's been a very good friend to me."

She stares at Entropy, studying her. "I don't know where you found such a bird, do you know what she is?"

I shake my head. "No, not from a lack of trying, I've looked through every book I could find about magical birds. I only found one reference that might be right, but even then it's vague. Do you know what she is?" I ask back hoping to finally have some answers about Entropy.

But to my surprise, she shakes her head. "I may know a few things about her, but they are little more than myths. Sorry if you were hoping for more. Where did you find her?"

"I won't say I'm not disappointed, but I would like to hear what you do know. And I hatched her."

Celestia looks surprised again. "How? Most magical beings very rarely have children, so where did you find her egg?"

"Well to answer the second question, I found her egg at an auction. They said it was in their collection for years, and that they had no idea what it was. And I bought it because much like you, her egg was producing a lot of life magic." I refill my tea cup, having already emptied it.

"No pony else would buy it so I did, and after that I started dumping my excess life magic into her egg."

She cuts me off. "Did you ever consider if that could go wrong?" She doesn't say this with a scolding tone just as an actual question.

"Yes, I had two shields over her egg and kept a close eye on it. Anyway there isn't much more to say about her egg, beyond the fact that it kept getting darker over time, in fact by the time she did hatch the egg looked more like a hole in the world around it." I stop short as Philomena files over and lands on my back.

I decided to try and be friendly with her. I take a juniper berry from the bush on my counter and try to float it in front of her. She immediately eats it, I didn't even stop moving it, she just grabbed it out of the air.

Celestia chuckles at this. And I just sigh, "I'm going to take a wild guess, and say that Philomena is also obsessed with food?"

"Yes she very much is." Entropy and Philomena are both on my back looking at each other, after a little while both don't do anything and just sit on my back. "It seems Philomena has taken a liking to you, but she tends to do that with anypony who gives her food."

I nod to her. "Well I've calmed down some, and I've delayed enough. So what would you like to know?"

She gives me a reassuring look. "I can tell you're not the type to tell others about yourself, I've known that for a while now."

I nod. "Yes I don't share much about myself with anypony, honestly Entropy probably knows me best."

She nods back. "I'd like to say before we begin that I won't be angry or judge you, I'm just concerned about your well-being. That said, my first question would be, are you ok?"

I really thought about her question before answering. "Yes and no. Am I ok with my life, and what I'm doing? Yes. But, there are other things that cut away at that. And I think the biggest thing is lying."

Like she said she doesn't judge me and just listens to me. "But why lie about anything?"

"Because I want to help, but I also want to be left alone. And I think I can't overstate that last part, I REALLY want to be left alone. And I'm not sure I can say why to you, I also won't lie to you and say I don't have secrets I won't tell you, and this is one of them. And I hope you can respect that."

She listens to me talk with a calm face. "Then I will, I do hope you can trust me enough with that one day, but I won't force you to tell me. Let's move on, I've asked you this before, and you gave me a half answer then, but why do you try so hard?"

I was expecting this question, but that doesn't make me any more ready for it. But I'm tired of the lies and I think it's long past due for the truth. Why now? Because if I can't trust Celestia I can trust no one. "I'm scared."

She raises a brow seemingly surprised at my answer. "Scared of what?"

"Celestia, have you ever thought about what having magic really means?"

This only seems to increase her confusion. "In what way?"

"I'll be blunt then. Celestia, do you know how easy it would be to cause mass destruction with magic?" She tries to answer but I cut her off. "If you gave me a single small ruby I could level a building with ease, I'd just need to fill it with magic and have it gather and compress air."

She doesn't speak, just continues to listen as I go off on a small rant. "You wait a week and then light the air on fire, the resulting explosion would be massive. And this has no real limit, as long as the air doesn't condensate into water then the more air you have the bigger the explosion."

She stops me at this. "I can understand the concern over something like that, but why fear it so much? The likelihood of something like that happening is almost zero."

"Because anypony can do this, as long as a sentient being has magic they can cause massive destruction. And the worst part is that it's not even hard. I fear the day a pony decides that they want something, and will use any means to get it. All it takes is a single pony with the right knowledge and a city is just gone."

By the end of my rant I'm not loud or angry, just tired. There is a long moment of silence before she speaks. "I, I understand, that fear, it is one I shared long ago." I look up to meet her eyes again, surprised at her answer.

She takes a long drink of tea before continuing. "When I was much younger I was always fearful of others' intentions. The world isn't like that now, but back then court politics could get messy and dangerous. I've lost a few friends that way."

The mood is heavy now, and a stillness comes over both of us. "But one day I realized that if I did nothing but worry about what could be I'd grow blind to what is."

A saying comes to my mind when hearing that. "Those who live in fear of everything never truly live."

She nods. "Wise words, and something to keep in mind. I myself still have moments where I slip back into that type of thinking. And in the end I settled for preparing as best I can."

If the mood was bad before it's downright fucked now. I'm more relaxed now and decided to show some trust, so I stand up while making sure that both Entropy and Philomena are still stable on my back. "Come with me," I walk over to the door to my workroom and lead her inside.

When she enters, she starts looking around at the things on my shelves. "What is all of this?"

"Welcome to my workroom, I test, create, and invent here. Feel free to look around, just be careful what you touch." And she does just that, she takes her time looking through different things on my shelves and examining them. And she starts looking through my small stack of Steel wood cubes.

"What are these for?"

"You saw the small tree I have, right?" She nods. "It's an Iron Oak, they are known to have wood that is both magic resistant and magic conductive. And because I can make the wood stronger with life magic I can take the wood to new levels."

"I've seen some craftponies use the wood in the past." She looks around the room. "Just how many things have you made?"

"As of now? Several dozen spells and many other small things. Mostly enchanted objects I use for various purposes. Any of my larger projects I send to you."

"That is another thing I wanted to ask you, why send your inventions to me? I know you want to be left alone, but it still seems odd to not take any credit for them."

"Honestly? It's for the same reason as my fear. I make many good things, but they can be used in horrible ways. That and I believe you'll know how to implement and use the things I make better than I ever would."

She looks happy to hear that. "Thank you for the trust. What are you working on right now?"

"Right now? I'm taking apart the cleansing spell used for healing, and improving it, I hope to make a much better version."

"Really?" She asks back with much more enthusiasm and interest. "How long until it's done? And how far have you gotten?"

I'm a little surprised with how excited she seems. "I won't be done for several more weeks, and how about I just show you?"

I take her over to my desk and take out a piece of paper with the half-done matrix I was working on earlier today. She reads through it quickly and then does something I don't expect. She hugs me, I'm stunned by this and don't do anything until she lets go of me.

She sees me looking shocked and backs up from me. "OH, I'm sorry if that was too far." She apologizes.

"No it's fine, I'm more confused why you seem so happy?"

She looks a little bit embarrassed at all this. "Once again sorry, I let my emotions get the best of me. And to answer your question, it has to do with some unpleasant memories."

I can see she doesn't like thinking about it, so I cut her off hoping to keep our lighter mood. "Then you don't need to answer me, you've respected my privacy, and I'll do the same."

She smiles widely at that. "Thank you, but I do think you should know the reason. What do you know of the Red Plague?"

As soon as I hear the name I start remembering all I know about it. In 556 a plague wiped out over thirty percent of Equestria at the time. To say it was a disaster would be an understatement. That may not sound too bad to humans but it is for ponies.

A thing I've learned from reading about history in this world, is that plagues aren't as much of a threat for them. In a world with magical spells and plants disease is much less of a threat to your life. And that's what made the Red plague so bad.

The original disease was relatively bad, it caused some pain and red boils to appear on the infected's body, but was relatively easy to survive. Most who caught it recovered after a few weeks and lived on just fine. But the disease did have an interesting ability.

It was highly resistant to magic, and thus couldn't be treated using magical spells or plants on a large scale. This wasn't a problem until it mutated. The disease mutated to form boils in the throat, which normally caused the infected patient to die, as they would have difficulty eating, and being unable to breathe if it got bad enough.

And worse yet if the boils popped it would normally result in an extreme infection of the throat. The plague got its name from the red boils that still appeared on the skin. And because most healing spells and plants wouldn't work the disease was a disaster.

I can not overstress how bad this was for them. They had never had a plague this bad in their remembered history and were completely unprepared for it. The only two things that kept it from being worse, was the small size of the population at the time, as most ponies were spread out.

But when the disease did get into a community the results were hellish. The only form of magic that did help was a few cleaning spells. I'm not sure about all of the details, but apparently, a few of the cleaning spells were able to get past the magical resistance of the Red plague.

And after the plague had burned itself out it became mandatory for doctors and healers to learn at least one cleaning spell. And this is also the reason that many still value those who know it, even if Equestria is much better prepared for a plague now.

I focus back on our conversation. "Yes I know a lot about it."

She gives a slow nod. "I was there and lost many to it, and I've had many try to improve cleaning spells as a result. But the one you have here shows great potential, the fact that you've removed a rune entirely and still improved the spell is no small feat."

I knew that she was there, and did see all of the deaths involved. So of course she's happy to have the spell be easier for others to learn and have them be better prepared. "Thank you, and sorry again for bringing up bad memories."

She just smiles at me. "You have nothing to apologize for. Now I think we've gone off topic." Seems she's trying to lift the mood.

"Yes we did. What other things did you want to know?"

"Hmmm. What do you train in? I know you use life magic, and are working on sensing space magic, but what else?

"A lot. I'll just go down the list. I practice life magic, I'm still getting better at sensing space magic, and I also keep practicing my runic magic. I'm currently trying to become a journeypony in runic casting. I pay a retired guard to train me in both fighting and weapon use."

" I have a teacher and I've almost become mostly fluent in Griffin."

"Really? That's good, not many bother." She says this is a challenging and joking tone. I'm just happy we're not on a depressing topic.

I just smile at her small tease. "Yes really, and if you want I can just speak Griffin for the rest of our conversation?"

She just smiles back. "No that's fine, please continue."

"I work at the library and am currently apprenticing under Ruby Rose. But I expect you already know that." She doesn't answer me and just keeps smiling. "I research and learn different spells. Mostly illusion spells, healing spells, and a large assortment of other spells."

"Beyond that I have a few hobbies. I carve wood, draw, and I obviously create things. There are probably a few things I'm missing but those are the big ones."

"I must say that is a lot for anypony to do. But considering your attitude I think constantly learning new things and seeking out knowledge is just who you are. Who's the guard you train with?"

"Stone Mace, he runs me ragged, but I couldn't ask for a better trainer."

She nods. "Yes, I remember meeting him a few times. From what I remember he had a reputation among the guard recruits."

I laugh at that. "Ya, that sounds like him. Anything else?"

"Yes, have you found out any of Entropy's magical properties? She's definitely highly magical so I expect her to have some abilities."

Right now both Entropy and Philomena are still on my back. Both just seem to be napping while me and Celestia talk. I pick up Philomena and move her over to Celestia. "Hey girl wake up," I say to Entropy, and after a moment Entropy opens her eyes and turns to look at me.

"Want to earn a treat?"

"Berry." She answers back. And Celestia looks a little surprised at her talking

"Sure a berry it is." I walk into the main room with a curious Celesta following me. I grab a Juniper berry and keep it with me. "Ok girl, just to the other side of the room." She caws at me and closes her eyes. And considering the small distance it only takes a moment before we both vanish in a wisp of back smoke.

I see the void for a moment and then see my apartment again. I turn back to look at Celestia and see her fully shocked for the first time. "She can teleport? I have several questions."

I chuckle at her. "I thought you might, ask away."

"How far can she move? How does she move? Are there any restrictions? And how long has she been able to do this?" She asks all these questions very fast and with an excited tone. It's times like this that I remember she's still just a pony.

"Well in order. Right now she can move us forty miles, but suffers from exhaustion afterward. I don't know how she moves us just that we move through someplace I've been calling the void. It's just a back empty space that we appear in for a tiny moment."

"Like I said she gets exhausted if we move too far over her limit, or exceed that limit with much smaller teleportations. And she's been doing this since she turned a few months old, and I train her by giving her treats to move us around. When we started she could only move us a short distance but that's increased."

"You train your bird? Never mind of course you do. Still this is an amazing thing. I've never met anything besides a Phoenix that can teleport. And now I'm even more curious as to what she is."

"Yes, she is an amazing bird. We take trips to a forest outside Canterlot." I say this while giving Entropy her well-deserved berry.

I think about something for a moment before speaking again. "Celestia? You probably know what I've been avoiding this the whole time, So I'll just ask. Now that you've had most of your big questions answered, what happens now?" Despite my best efforts, my voice comes out a little nervous.

She stays silent for a few seconds before answering. "I'll be honest, I expected to have to comfort you or help you with dealing with the stress of life. But beyond a few small things you are doing well, very well."

"I'm not sure what to do with you Shade. I want you to live this life you've made for yourself, but I also worry over your safety." She once again goes quiet for a moment. "So I will settle for keeping a closer eye on you, I'd like you to meet me at the palace once every two weeks to talk."

I was honestly expecting worse. "That's it? just talking to you?"

"Yes that's it. I've seen ponies younger than you make a life for themselves in much worse conditions, and you are doing very well for yourself in life. So like I said I'll just keep an eye on you. Plus it's nice talking to you, and I wouldn't mind doing it more often."

I stay silent for a moment thinking it over. "I don't have a problem with that. But I do have one thing to ask of you. Like I said I have things I may never talk about and secrets I may never tell you, all I ask is that you accept that, that may never change."

She gives me a sad but understanding look. "I can't promise I'll never ask, but I can accept that you may not answer. That I can promise you."

Hearing her say it fully and with certainty I feel the last bits of uncertainty leave me. "Then it would be my pleasure to talk with you more," I say, showing her a smile. "Also, how long do you have before you need to leave?"

"I thought this would take longer and cleared my schedule for the day, so we still have quite a while. Why?"

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted something to eat? I'm hungry and would like to eat lunch."

She just shows me a new smile. "I'd love to have lunch, what are you thinking of making?"

"Nothing amazing, just something simple to eat. Although I do have to ask, are you ok with eating meat?"

She raises a brow. "You eat meat?"

"Yup, most don't seem to like it, but I do."

I take a quick glance around the room and see Philomena decided to sleep on Celestia's back after our demonstration, not that she seems to mind. While Entropy is sleeping in the Iron Oak.

"I don't mind it, but I also don't get to eat it often."

"I'm going to just guess it has something to do with nobles and weird politics," I say in a dry tone.

She chuckles at my dry tone. "Yes, that's about right. Do you need any help?"

I think for a moment before getting an idea. "Not with cooking, but I do have a project I never really found time to complete that I wouldn't mind a second opinion on."

"I'd love to." I nod to her, before heading back into my workroom and grabbing several things. A pot with soil, some wheat seeds, my mortar and pestle. And my notes on the Moon Glow plant and my experiments with it. I pass her the notebook as I get to work on the food.

Celestia keeps an eye on me as I start growing some wheat. I grow and harvest enough to make some bread and start grinding it down. It takes me a few minutes before I'm ready to add the other ingredients. As I make my dough Celestia reads through the notebook while watching me work.

I leave the dough alone to rise and start on the fish. I take it and just slice it into thin slabs. I preheat my pan and add a little olive oil, before adding the fish. And while it's cooking I fill a baking pan with the dough before putting it in the oven.

"What was the plan for this project?"

I turn to her. "Not much really, I just wanted to see if I could extract the Moon Glows magical properties for other uses. But because I never got that far I never really had a use for it. The only idea I did have was for an ink that you could only see if you fill it with magic."

She nods. "Well, I've never seen Moon Glow used for that. But I can tell you why it failed, but I also want to see if you can figure it out, so I'll give you a hint. What is the most common way to store magical ingredients?"

"Drying, why?" But I cut myself off as I realized the problem. "Most of the plant's magical properties are in the plant matter itself aren't they?"

She gives me a smile that I've seen a lot today. "Yes, while the fluids of magical plants have some magic in them most of it is in the plant itself, and by filtering out everything but the water the effect was massively reduced."

I just sigh at that. "You'd think I'd have realized sooner considering how much I work with plants. Thanks for pointing that out."

"No problem, also there is a way you could achieve a type of ink like that." That gets my attention so once again I turn back to her from my cooking. "If you dry out the petals and turn them into a powder before mixing it with a fluid you'll probably get a better result."

I add several seasonings to the fish while thinking about that. "I think you're right. I could also write on something that isn't paper to have it be less noticeable. Thanks again, I think I'll try that." We both went silent for a while as I continued cooking. The fish is done first so I put it to the side.

But the bread will take a while longer so I sit back down at the small table. I'm about to talk about something I'm not sure I should, changelings. It's been clear that they have more going on than the show ever said, and to be honest I find it unlikely that Celestia doesn't know about them at all.

So I'm going to tell her my first two encounters, but only that and nothing else. "I did have one other thing I wanted to mention." She puts down my notebook to give me her full attention again. "I think it's best I start at the beginning, I was experimenting with an enchantment to detect illusions."

That isn't a lie. "And I succeeded." I leave the table and grab the bracelet out of my bedroom, before returning. "Here." I passed it to her. She takes a few moments to examine it. "But that's when things get odd, do you remember my mood at the Gala?"

She nods. "Yes you seemed distressed, that was part of the reason I wanted to visit you and check on you."

"Well I wasn't stressed about the Gala, but rather what happened. But I'll get to that. All this started in the park. I was sitting on a bench enjoying my day when I saw a pony enter a restroom nearby, I didn't think much of it at the time. But that pony never left."

"A different pony came out, but no matter how long I waited, the other pony just didn't. Normally I'm not the nosey type, but I do have moments when my curiosity gets the best of me. So I head into the restroom and find nothing. No pony was in there, it was just empty."

As I talk I see her face shift into a neutral form. This is the face she shows to many others, this isn't Celestia, this is Princess Celestia. "There was only one entrance and exit, and nopony could fit through the windows. Now I thought this was all weird and just went home."

That wasn't a full lie, but definitely not the full truth. Her face stays the same so I continue. "The next incident involves the bracelet. I took it to the Gala as it was my nicest looking bracelet, but I also forgot to turn the enchantment off." Celestia seems to know where I'm going with this.

Her face might as well be stone right now with how little it's moving. "And while there, it detected an illusion. I'm not sure if either of them are connected or how powerful the illusion I detected at the Gala was. And honestly, this is all probably just my paranoia getting the best of me again. So you should probably take what I say with a lot of skepticism, I just thought I'd mention it."

She's silent for a moment before her face relaxes back to normal. "Thank you for telling me this, and I would appreciate it if you did the same in the future." She doesn't say anything more than that for a moment. "Do you mind if I get a copy of the enchantment on this bracelet?"

That I expected, so I just nodded. I may be messing with the future here, but I need to change things. And while this has the potential to change a lot, I think it will probably change less than I expect. If the face she made was any indication then I can say almost for certain that she probably already knows about the changelings.

I grab some paper and copy down the spell before going back to check on the bread. It's done so I take it out to cool down. When I look back at the table again the piece of paper is gone and Celestia's mood is somewhat better. I let the bread cool and start cutting it into slices.

I take them and add a little mustard and the fish on top, it's not fancy or that special but it should do. I make us both a plate and bring them to the table. "If Entropy tries to steal any just pick her up."

She smiles again at my small joke. "Thank you." We eat in relative silence. And after we are done I spend a moment cleaning everything up. She's about to speak again but stops. "It seems I may have to cut my visit a little short sadly."

I look at her to ask why, but I'm interrupted by a knock at my door. Celestia takes a moment to cast an illusion on both herself and Philomena before answering the door. Outside is a guard waiting for her. I walk over and say my goodbyes.

"Have a good day, and when should I come to talk to you?"

"Same to you, Shade. And I'll send you a letter with a schedule, please tell me if it will work for you when it arrives. Also if you ever need something don't hesitate to ask, ok?"

I nod. "Of course." And with that she leaves my home. I close the door behind them and sit down staring at the door.

My thoughts are still a little messy about this whole day. But I think I feel a little better.

Chapter 60

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SEP 25 Wednesday.

Right now I'm translating a page from a Griffin history book, It's not the most interesting thing to read but it's not half bad. I've been working with Ruby Rose for over a week now and things have been going well, I've learned a lot and it's been a nice change. Although I miss working with Blaz some, it's nothing big, just a small complaint.

It's also been a week since Celestia visited me, and I think I feel a little better. Honestly, constantly wondering when she might ask me questions was a distraction for me. I'll still have to talk to her more now, but I know when it will happen in advance and that makes me less nervous about it. And her promise to let me not answer questions also helps.

And it was also nice to just have somepony to talk to about things. There are just some things I won't or can't tell my friends, and as much as that sucks at least I can talk about it to her now. And speaking of our meeting, I got a letter this morning, although it gave me quite a scare.

Apparently, Philomena got a good enough look at my apartment to teleport right inside. So I got to see a small flash of flame and then there was a phoenix standing on my table while I was eating breakfast. Beyond that I'm supposed to go to the palace on October second, so I have that to look forward to.

But for now I've just gone back to my everyday life. Learning new things, working at the library, and later today I get to be beaten by an old pony. Although I probably shouldn't call him old, I'm not scared of him popping up or anything, but I'd also like to not tempt fate. I've said it before, but honestly it's odd to go from talking to an immortal princess, and then just having to go back to normal like nothing happened.

I refocus on my work and start on a new page. It takes a few more hours to finish work and get home. And after a little time hanging out with Entropy, I leave again to head to my training. And when I do get to the room me and Stone train in he's there like always. "Hey Stone, have a good week?"

Over the time we've spent together we formed something of a friendship. I wouldn't call him a close friend, and I don't think he would either, but still a friend nonetheless. He turns to me and greets me with a nod, "Hello to you too colt, and it was fine. Although I did have to deal with some less than pleasant customers."

"Nothing out of the ordinary then. Shall we get started?" He nods and my self-imposed torture starts again. After getting through half our routine I get to rest for a moment while Stone tells me everything I did wrong and why. He mostly goes over what I need to improve and how I should do so.

And like always the training is a grueling thing for me, but I also get a little bit better. After my training and a little more of him telling me what I did wrong I'm finally free for the day. And I drag my sore body home.

time skip

SEP 26 Thursday.

I get out of bed and start making food and tea. After that, and a little healing to get rid of any soreness from yesterday, I head to my workroom. I have something I might now be able to finally finish, with some help from a princess. With this in mind I grab a pot and some Moon Glow seeds.

I go through the process of growing and collecting the petals. Once I have a good amount I take them over to my kitchen and start drying them out. Unlike the Iron wood I need to be more careful to not damage the petals while doing this. Once I'm done I take them back to the workroom and start grinding them down.

They grind down easily and turn into a light gray fine dust. I take this and start mixing it with some water. Once it's formed a paste I try drawing with it on some paper, it leaves gray streaks on the paper, but it does work. I run my magic through the paper and watch the streaks give off a strong glow.

In fact it's a little too strong and makes it hard to read. I start experimenting, adding more or less water to see what works best. After a while I get it to have a decent glow while still being able to write with it. I clean up my desk and put everything away after taking some notes.

I completed this project more for the satisfaction than anything, as I don't really need it. But hey it might be useful later you never know. I do have one other thing I wanted to make today and I want to gather some material, so I start gathering what I will need.

I grab my small saw and wood carving knife, along with my saddlebags and a few berries for Entropy. "Hey girl, I need you to take us on a trip," I call out to her while she's perched on a branch of the Iron Oak. She flies over and lands on my back, "To the forest ok?"

She caws and after a little wait I'm greeted by the cold autumn breeze. This is the other forest that we traveled to a while back as I rather not run into anymore changelings. And I'm here to do some cleanup. I want to make something, and for it I need wood, and while I could buy it I would rather gather it.

But this forest is owned by the crown, so I'm not allowed to cut down any trees, even if I can just grow them back right after I rather not as it just feels disrespectful. So I'm here to find fallen trees, which are legal to cut and use as I want, I just can't sell anything made with it without saying where it's from.

I don't walk fast as Entropy will need all her magic if I want to have her bring the wood back with us. Plus it will be interesting to see how much she can bring back with us, and if she can't then I'll just have to bring it in through the city. But I think she'll be able to do it considering she brings my things with us.

I walk slowly through the woods enjoying the crisp air and quiet day. It should only be a week or two before the snow starts to fall, not that I mind the snow, it's always had a certain charm for me. I catch myself walking down memory lane and thinking of long-gone days.

I wonder if my relatives back on Earth are doing well? I hope so, we may have never been very close but they were still family. I shake my head and chase away those dark thoughts, it can be hard some days but I'll make do. I've been alone most of my life and I'm just happy to have more friends in this life.

But despite my best efforts my mind still wanders to my past life, so I just let it while trying to keep myself positive. Like I said in my past life I was alone a lot, I had those who cared about me but not as close family. I think the closest I ever was to someone was my cousin.

He was a nice guy, and a good friend throughout much of my life. But we grew apart over time, there wasn't a dramatic falling out or anything we just grew up and talked less and less. By the time I died I hadn't seen him in over two years. Realizing that this line of thought is just ruining my day I shut it down.

How about something more positive? I have close friends in this world, maybe not many but still it's nice to have them. And I think given some time I can say the same for Celestia. But not yet, I may know her more now through our letters and conversations but it will take a while longer before I can call her a friend.

I stop as not far off the trail I was following I see a downed tree, I walk over to it and start inspecting it. It's an old Chestnut tree, it seems it fell not long ago from the soil under it sliding away in the rain. It's still alive but it is totally uprooted and won't stay that way long.

The tree's trunk is more than a foot across and several feet long. I cut off a branch with my saw and it cuts with no resistance whatsoever. I brought the medium ruby that feeds the enchantments so this will be easy to cut. I look at the tree's wood and see it's got a decent quality to it.

I start by removing one large branch that is a few inches thick and several feet long, along with a smaller branch that is only one foot long. Once I have those I start on the trunk. I cut it at the base and then cut it before the branches start at the top, this leaves me with the tree trunk. I take out my knife and start removing the bark.

But I stop as a thought occurs to me. Why don't I just decompose everything I don't need? I think about that before changing my approach. I don't have enough control to make a clean-cut shape, but I can get a rough shape that will be much easier to work with.

I start with the bark as it will be easier, and after several minutes I've removed it all. Next I start by trying to decompose away one side of the trunk until it's flat, this takes much longer than the bark. But after almost fifteen minutes and wiping away new soil I'm done.

It's not great but it's flat enough to cut down on a lot of my work. I repeat this process over the next hour, slowly shaping the log down. And when I'm done I have a good piece of wood, just one problem left, I don't think Entropy can move all this at once.

I use my saw as I want more precision, I cut the rough plank into seven cubes of wood, each is roughly a one-foot cube. I call over Entropy who's been flying around the area while I work, but to my surprise she comes back to me with a dead mouse in her beak.

Apparently she has hunting instincts, so I just sit nearby and wait as she eats the mouse. Most ponies probably wouldn't like watching this but I couldn't care less, in fact I'm happy to know that she can hunt her own food. After she's done I have her land on my back and ask her to take us home with a chunk of the wood.

It takes her more time than normal but she gets it done. We reappear inside my apartment, Entropy is a bit tired so I leave her to rest while I move the wood block into the workroom, but when I return to the main room I see that the floor has several blood stains on it. Right, she can be a messy eater.

I find a rag and clean this up before taking Entropy to my shower to clean her off. She's not happy about getting wet but still lets me wash her. Once I'm done I let her go and return to the main room, it will take a while for Entropy to regain her magic so I make both of us some tea.

I drink out of a cup and Entropy drinks out of a small bowl. Honestly I'm surprised she even drinks the tea, when I first gave it to her she tried some and just kept drinking after that. I wonder if it's some form of instinct? Or maybe she's just smart enough to know it helps her.

And that's another thing, I don't really know how smart Entropy is. She can understand me to a degree, even if she doesn't always seem to know what I'm asking. But she does understand basic and even a few more complex instructions, I'm also not sure how smart she will become.

She'll be turning one in December, so if her intellect keeps growing with age she might end up being as smart as a pony. I should ask Celestia how smart Philomena is to compare them, they may be different species but they are both magical birds and could be related considering both can teleport.

But that would be almost impossible for me to prove. After a while of Entropy resting and me meditating on the space around me we make another trip. This time I know she can move us so I grab a little, I have her move one wood block and the two branches I cut off, and after we wait a while in the forest for her to recover.

This time it takes Entropy a little less time to move us but she's more tired when we arrive. I make her an early lunch as we still have five more wood blocks to move. While she eats and rests I get to work on my project. I stack the second wood block in the workroom and start with the branches.

They are still alive so this should work, although I've never really tried to grow root from something that doesn't normally make them. But from what I remember you can grow new Chestnut trees from cuttings so this should work. I leave both branches on my desk and retrieve a pot filled with soil.

I take the large branch and stick it inside the small pot and make it grow roots, while I keep it stable and upright with my field while also grabbing my wood carving knife. I cut the large branch at the top, cutting a hole in its side a foot from the top. I take the small branch and place it in the hole before growing both branches together.

Next I have the large branch base, growing it outwards into a large wood bulb. I use my saw to cut the branch out of the pot and lay it on its side. I cut the bulb halfway, I use my saw to make it as flat as possible, then I stand it up. I back up and look at my newest creation.

It's seven feet tall and the top nears the ceiling, one foot down is the smaller branch sticking out sideways, and the bulb at its bottom has formed a stable base so it doesn't wobble around, it also has a few small twigs with leaves along the whole thing. I decompose what's left of the Chestnut in the pot and take it, and the new bird perch with me into the main room.

I set it up near the window, and as so as it's upright and in position Entropy immediately lands on the sideways branch. I smile up at her, "I'm glad you like it." I fill the pot with some more soil, and then pollinate and collect a seed from the Companion vine.

I plant the seed in the pot and place it at the bird perch base, I then grow it up and along the perch. I'm hoping the vine will be enough to keep it alive and let it maintain its natural look, I also may have to give it some life magic but it shouldn't be much if I do. Me and Entropy still need to retrieve the other blocks of wood so I enjoy some tea while waiting.

This is going to take a while.

Chapter 61

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OCT 3 Thursday.

I wake up and go through my routine of healing myself and doing my morning exercises. I have my first biweekly meeting with Celestia later today, It's at three in the afternoon and it's only six right now so I have a lot of the day still free. And I don't mind that as there is something I want to work on.

I make some breakfast and feed Entropy her food. I eat while looking out the window and see small flakes of snow falling outside. It seems winter is a little early this year, it's not unheard of but still not common either. I just enjoy the view and eat my food.

Once I'm done and have everything cleaned up I head into my workroom. Next to a shelve I have the seven Chestnut wood blocks stacked together, I don't have a use for all of them, but I do want to turn one into a bird bath for Entropy. She should prefer that to me taking her in the shower.

But making a regular bird bath would be boring so let's have some fun. I take one of the blocks and move it over to my desk. I've been doing a little testing on how detailed I can get when decomposing away unwanted wood, and have made a little progress.

I lack the control to do fine work for now, but taking out rough chunks to speed up the process is relatively easy, only taking some time. I started by grabbing my wood carving kit, it's seen less use as the wood I normally work with is too tough, but now it will see some use once again.

I use my magic to take out a rough amount to form a base, I do the same to form a bowl on the top. After cleaning all the soil off and using it to feed several of my plants I start doing the detailed work. Right now I have a wide base that thins and then widens into a bowl on top.

I start by cleaning up the base using my tools and some sandpaper. I slowly make my way up the bird bath, and after three hours I've finished most of the outside. The next, and last, part takes over an hour by itself, as the bowls inside needs to be smoothed out.

Once I'm finally done with the carving I can move on to the enchantments. I want it to fill with water and also keep Entropy from flinging water everywhere when she cleans herself. The first part is easy as I'll just use the same enchantment I use on my flask.

I enchant a small ruby as that should provide enough water. The shield will take more work though, I need it to just stop water from leaving the shield but not any water on or inside Entropy. None of this is that hard, just time-consuming, it takes me two hours to get the shield right.

When I'm done I enchant the shield into a small sapphire. I take both gems and hollow out places for them on the birdbath base. And once everything is finally ready I move it to the main room. Entropy is currently sleeping on her new perch that she seems to love.

I take the bird bath next to the perch and let the enchantments do their work. I add some water as it will take a while to fill on its own. It's not very large but it should do just fine for her. I admire my work a little before heading back into my workroom.

I want to bring something to show Celestia, nothing fancy, honestly, it will be more of a toy than anything. I just want to know what she thinks of it as it may give me some inspiration, or even just something to talk about with her. I grab one of my steel wood blocks and get to work.

The heavily modified float spell I made has a quirk to it that I didn't realize at the time I made it. Depending on how much magic you give it determines how strongly it will keep an object stable, the minimum is just enough to keep it from falling out of the air.

Take my small planet for example. It doesn't have much magic so I can just take the ruby off by pulling on it a little. If I increased the magic the float spell gets it would be much harder to move it around without turning the enchantment off.

And this gave me a fun idea. I take the float spell and modify it slightly, changing the area it floats things in. When I'm done I enchant the small cube of Steel wood and activate the enchantment, I let go of the cube midair and watch as it just stays there not falling.

I had the enchantment only effect itself letting it just stay in the air forever. The best part is that I weakened the effects of the spell just enough for it to not move, but for me to still be able to overpower it and move it around with ease. I take a while to just play around with it before stopping.

I check the time and see I still have a few hours left before my meeting, so I decide to just practice with life magic until it's time to go.

small time skip

I place an illusion over Entropy and put on my saddlebags and cloak as I prepare to leave. My meeting is in a short while and I need to leave, so I take the Steel wood cube I enchanted earlier along with some paper and writing supplies before leaving my apartment.

I step out into the street, the snowfall has only increased and the ground is now covered with an inch of snow. I walk the streets with a few other ponies as I make my way to the palace, I've kept her letter as an invite for when I get there.

I've done this a few times now so I just walk up to a guard and show them the letter, and like those last few times a guard leads me through the palace. And I'm once again led to a doorway, before I'm let in I take a moment to take off and fold up my cloak before stuffing it in my saddlebags.

And when I'm led inside I see Celestia at a table waiting for me, I give her a bow and sit down with her. "Hello Shade, thank you for joining me. I hope things are still going well?"

I nod to her, "Yes everything is just fine princess, and thank you for inviting me. It's always a treat to see the palace." I try to be less formal than I have been in the past but still use her title.

And she doesn't seem to mind. "It's fine and you're free to use my name, not many do. I see you've brought Entropy with you." She says while looking at Entropy who's still on my back.

And Entropy stares back at her. I'm not sure if Entropy likes her yet but Entropy doesn't seem to mind her presence if nothing else. "Yes I wanted to talk about her with you, but first I have something of a gift."

She just smiles as Entropy stares her down before giving me her full attention after I speak. "You always bring me things, not that I mind." She says this in a joking manner.

But I don't mind and just take out the small wooden cube, I pass it over to her and let her inspect it for a few moments. "It's nothing important, more a small oddity than anything, but I thought you might find it interesting." She passes the cube back to me.

I tap it twice and activate the enchantment before moving it in front of both of us over the table. And I just let go of it with my field, and it works just as intended staying still in the air. She smiles at it before casting a spell on it, "Definitely interesting. What spell did you use for this? I can detect one."

I make a mental note that she can detect spells with some form of spell. "A heavily modified float spell, it can be used to specify an area where it will keep objects stable and in the air. This one I made is weak enough to be moved without needing to turn it off."

After my explanation she does just that, moving the cube around and letting it stop in the air. "You're right it is more of a toy than anything, but it's still an interesting application for a float spell. I don't think I've ever seen it used like this before. I have seen others accomplish the same thing, but this is a much more elegant solution."

I just nod to her, "Thank you. And I suppose it could be called elegant, I'd just call it simple. Honestly I find the material I used more interesting."

She doesn't ask and just pours us some tea, so I just take that as a sign to continue. "It's Iron oak, but I found that if I saturate a small amount of it in enough life magic its properties are enhanced past its normal limits. Although it's still wood and has a tendency to burn when too much magic moves through it."

She does nothing but smile as I explain, "You remind me of my student, she also likes to discover new things. Do you mind if I keep it? I like collecting small oddities like this."

I shake my head, "Go ahead I don't really have a use for it, and I can just make more wood."

She nods and the small cube is turned off and placed on the table. "As for Entropy I'm afraid I don't know much, I did spend some time looking through the royal library to see if I could find more but still I didn't find much."

She drinks some tea as I wait for her to continue. "I found a few myths and legends about the Night Crow, but most of that seemed more like speculation and hearsay. But I did find one thing, it was vague and the text was very damaged, but what I did find was interesting."

I'm excited to finally learn anything about Entropy, so I just keep quiet. "It was an old text and the author is unknown but it spoke of an ancient bird made from the night that protected them from beasts. They are said to blend into shadows and move through nothing."

I raise a brow as she stops. "That's it?" She nods, "Well that is definitely vague but it's better than nothing, thank you for taking the time to look for anything you could find."

She just keeps her smile and nods. "It's no problem, I was also curious about her. And you now have a hint of what she might be capable of."

I nod, "Yes that part about shadows, I haven't seen her do anything like that before but it wouldn't be far-fetched from what I've seen of her abilities." The prospect of Entropy being able to work with shadows in some way is something I'll have to test with her later.

"I also wanted to ask you something else, how smart is Philomena?"

She looks thoughtful, "In what way?"

"Well Entropy understands me enough to bring things to me and take me to specific places when I ask her to, and she's learned two words so far. That's why I was asked how smart Philomena is, to try and compare the two of them."

"What are the words she knows?"

As if on cue Entropy joins our conversation. "Berry, What?" She says both words to Celestia.

She raises a brow at Entropy. "That's what I mean, I didn't even have to ask her she just listened and knew. Honestly she's less than a year old and I'm starting to wonder how smart she will get."

She's silent for a moment, "I can say for certain that Philomena has never spoken, she does know where to take me or my letters when I ask. But I'm not sure how much she understands beyond that. Now that I think of it I can point out a few cases but they are very few."

"And if I compare Philomena to Entropy it's not really a competition. What just happened shows she at least understands we are talking about her and her ability to mimic speech. I can think of many magical animals that have an understanding of someponies intentions but few know how to speak, or understand what others are saying to them."

"Really? I thought there were a few ponies that could understand animals?" I'm curious as ponies like Fluttershy can do something like that.

"Yes and no, Someponies can but it's more about intent and body language than actual words."

"So this is also a dead end? Well it was worth a try. Do you have anything else you wanted to talk about? I'm out of questions."

"I have a few, but first have you ever tried teaching her new words?"

"No not in a structured way, I have tried to help her mimic more words but I'm not sure she's ready yet. Like I said she's not even one yet and her intellect is still growing, but that does sound like a decent idea once she's grown up some. Thank you."

"No problem. Keeping on the topic of Entropy, you said she moved you both through a place you called the void? What is that exactly?"

I think over the best way to describe it before answering. "I only appear there for fractions of a second each time so I don't know much. But I know that there is nothing there, no light or dark, no sound, no downwards pull, nothing to stand on. It is an almost complete void."

"Almost?"

"Yes almost, while I'm there I can still feel my body and magic. But I'm not sure what else is really there as like I said I spend only tiny moments there. I haven't tested anything like trying to stay there or anything, I'd rather not get stuck."

She once again nods. "That's probably for the best, teleportation can be a dangerous thing. Moving on, are you still doing ok? Anything bothering you?"

I smile at her, it's nice to have somepony ask that. "About the same, as in life is just going, nothing to really complain about right now. And even some good news, your idea worked and I now have some glowing paste, it's not very useful but it's fun to mess around with. And using a brighter strain of Moon Glow gives it a pretty bright glow even I dilute it, letting me make it very bright."

"Brighter strain?"

I nod, "Yes I breed a type that is brighter and one that is dimmer, it was mostly just to practice but they have their uses. Beyond that the new cleansing spell should be done in three weeks, probably a bit more though as I need to make sure everything is working right."

She smiles at that. "Speaking of spells I heard something that I thought you should know about." I drink some tea while listening to her. "Recently a few of my researchers and two that happen to also be nobles requested to know who's been making all the new spells."

I choke on my drink a bit at hearing that, after a little coughing I recover enough to speak. "And your response?"

"I told them it was a gift from a pony that works for me, not a lie but also not the truth. I won't reveal that you have anything to do with it unless you want me two, but ponies are starting to notice so many spells coming out and the cleansing spell will be much more noticeable. It's not often that a new healing spell is made, even if it's only for cleaning many will take notice."

I let out a sigh at that, I try to think of a good way to deal with that but can't see a good solution. Why not ask her? She's probably dealt with similar things in the past, :fuck it?: "I have no idea what to do about that, do you have any suggestions?"

Her smile grows a little. "I have one, although it may seem counterintuitive. I say you give them what they want, just not all of what they want."

I think I see where she's going with this. "So something like a writer's name? Give them a name so they have something to look for while sitting right in front of them."

She nods. "Precisely, most will look for anything connected to that name and I don't think many if any would suspect you."

It does seem like the easiest way to solve this before it gets out of control, and she's right basically nopony would suspect a library apprentice. "Thank you again. And I'll give it some thought before giving you a name to use."

"Good, and no need for thanks. Well, our time is running short, is there anything else you'd like to talk about before we are done?"

I think that over for a moment. "Yes actually, how far away would you say my apartment is from here?"

I see her realize the what I'm thinking. "Around ten miles probably a little more, I'm guessing you're thinking of having Entropy deliver your letters here?"

"Yes exactly, she can make a trip like that twice without needing to rest halfway and it would make things more convenient. Would it be fine with you?"

"Yes but I'll need to find a place she can come and go from, I can get that ready by the next time we meet. Thank you for coming Shade and have a good day."

I stand up and give her another bow. "Same to you princess," I say back in a joking way. She just smiles as a guard leads me back outside.

Chapter 62

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OCT 31 Friday.

It's been just under a month and a few things of note have happened in that time. My second meeting with Celestia and also her showing Entropy a room she can deliver letters to. It was a small blank room with only a single table in it, but that worked just fine for us.

On the same day I also told her the fake name she could use for me, Vail Winter. It's got nothing to do with my name and should throw off any attempts to find me.

Beyond that over the past month, I have been using almost all of my free time to finish the cleansing spell, and that paid off when I finished it two weeks early. However I didn't send it to Celestia yet as I wanted to improve and polish the spell to the best of my ability before giving it to her.

I did this both because it's at least somewhat important to her, and because I wanted my first healing spell to be fully complete and triple-checked for any mistakes. And yesterday at our last meeting I was able to give it to her, but it wasn't as much of a celebration as you'd think.

Celestia had a somewhat gloomy mood the whole time, she was definitely happy with the spell being done but I could tell she wasn't in a good mood. Why? Well we met yesterday and today is Nightmare Night, and I'd imagine that this day isn't much of a holiday for her.

I am glad she got some good news before today, I hope that helps her in some way. But enough of the sad talk, beyond that everything else is progressing nicely. Caelum thinks I should be done learning from her in a few weeks or a month at the most, and that time is just to make sure I remember everything I've learned.

It's not an emotional goodbye for me, unlike Stone or Blaz I never developed much of a relationship with Caelum. The most I could say is she's a good teacher that I liked to learn from and would do so again. Moving onto Stone things have been going well, if you can call me getting my flank kicked well.

Apparently I've learned enough about daggers to have a basic amount of skill, so now we've started working on the greatsword. And just like the dagger I get my flank kicked back and forth until I learn something. I also asked him what we'll do when I'm done learning the basics of the greatsword.

And he doesn't really know, I remember him telling me he doesn't know how to fight with both a dagger and a greatsword. So his plan seems to just be to have me fight him while he uses various weapons and I use a dagger and greatsword until I learn my own combat style.

I'm not sure if that will work but other combat styles had to start somewhere so I'll give it a try, I'll probably also see if I can find any books that could help, but considering how peaceful this world is I won't get my hopes up.

Next is my work with Ruby Rose, and It's been going just fine, I should be fluent enough in written Griffin by the time the new year starts to take over for her. I've also gotten to know Ruby a bit better, but much like Caelum I don't think we'll ever be more than teacher and student.

As for me right now? I'm at home right now cooking some breakfast to start my day. I'm not planning on going out as many will be walking around and I also rather not walk around in the cold and busy streets. I also have some things I want to work on today, so after eating my food while Entropy uses her bath I head to my workroom.

I don't have a main project to work on so I'll be doing some experimentation today, specifically with plants. A while ago I was girding down more Moon Glow to see how long the powder would last before its magical effects fade. But while growing a Moon Glow I saw it have an unintended effect.

I've been selectively breeding the brighter strain of Moon Glow while harvesting the petals trying to make it brighter, but one of them developed a small mutation. The effect that makes its petals spread into all its leaves, I'm not sure how this happened but I got lucky finding it as the glow was so soft I almost missed it.

Its glow is so soft it almost looks like it's just light reflecting off the leaves, but after picking a leaf and putting it in the dark it definitely glows. I sit at my desk with two pots filled with soil and some Moon Glow Seeds, these seeds are from the Moon Glow that mutated.

I plant a seed in both pots and grow them, I start breeding them again and again while picking out those that glowed the most. I want to see how far I can push this mutation and how much I can make the plant glow. I don't really have a reason for doing this beyond my curiosity.

The Moon Glow doesn't take much magic to grow as it's a small flower, this lets me go through many generations before running out of magic. And after forty-seven generations I'm almost out of magic and go to make some fresh tea, and some lunch.

I leave my workroom and see Entropy sleeping on her perch, she doesn't sleep anywhere else anymore and I'm happy she likes it. I get to work making some tea and food while reading up on some healing magic. I've made much progress in healing magic but I'll still need to study much more if I want to make better healing spells.

Entropy wakes up a while after I start cooking, I pass her a bowl of food I made her. We both eat in silence like most days as the snow falls heavily outside. After I'm done eating I go back to breeding plants, it's a slow process but over time I see the small changes accumulate.

I stopped to drink more tea, but it's gone cold. I think on that for a second, let's fix that. I decided to take a break from plant breeding and start modifying the heating spell. It's a very simple spell so after an hour I'm done, I enchant my metal teapot and activate it.

The spell is very weak but it should keep my tea nice and warm for as long as I like. I continue my plant breeding, by the time I'm done it's a little brighter than when I started. It will take me much more time to get the leaves to glow like the flower but it should be possible with enough time.

I still have a lot of the day left but not much to really do, I walk back into the main room and sit facing the window. The snowfall is even worse now, I watch as flakes of snow fall in uncountable numbers past my window. I find my sketchbook and start drawing the view.

I draw the outlines of different builds that I can just make out through the snowfall. I take my time with it and try to add as much detail as I can. It's a slow process taking me two hours to get right, but it comes out to be one of my better drawings. I sit there for a moment trying to think of what to do next.

I could start thinking of gifts? Hearth's Warming is in a few weeks and I'll need gifts for a few ponies. Daisy always likes new paints, and Blaz always likes puzzles, as for Maple I know she likes anything involving pie and a few other sweets. I start scratching away at some paper thinking of different things I could give them.

I can buy some small things for them next week, but I also need to buy some necessities. After finishing my list I stand up and stretch and start practicing my runic casting. At this point I can form a four-foot-long line of magic without using my hooves,

I've made good progress but still far from forming a spell matrix. I'll need around eight to ten feet just to form a basic spell, and I'll also still need to form the matrix with that line and memorize it before I can cast it instantly. I continue my practice as the sky grows darker.

time skip

NOV 1 Saturday.

I keep my cloak close as I make my way through the snowfall. After a while, I enter the library and make my way to the right room. I enter and take off my cloak while moving to my work desk, "Find your way through the snow?" I look over to Ruby as she asks me that.

"Just fine, but I'm wondering what the weather teams feel like right now? Probably cold." She just nods before going back to work, and I do the same sitting down and getting to work. All this snowfall is from a rogue storm that got out of control, and from what I hear the weather teams are having a hard time with it.

Rogue weather is the term given to any weather not made or controlled by ponies, basically it's what a human would call normal weather. But there's nothing to be worried about as all that this storm brought is higher snowfall than normal and some stronger winds.

It can make it hard to move through the streets though, but the weather teams made an announcement and this storm should be lessened by tomorrow and gone in two or three days. I focus on my work as the hours tick by, I stop when it's lunchtime and make my way to the breakroom.

I sit down with Blaz, Daisy, and Maple like always. But I pause as I see Maple, she seems tired, like really tired. She looks the same as normal but her movements are slow and she's sluggish to react, "Did you not get enough sleep last night Maple?"

She turns to me and blinks slowly, "I'm fine, just tired." She says this while sounding a little out of it.

I raise a brow at the way she answered me, she must really be tired to not even be able to form a half-decent response. I've known Maple for almost a year now, and I know she's not a morning pony. And this isn't the first time I've seen her tired, but this is more than normal.

I just give her a nod, "If you say so, but tell me if you need help with something ok?"

She gives me another slow blink, "Sure." I'm not sure if she really understood me but I got an answer. I turn to Daisy and look at her while gesturing with my head to Maple and giving her a questioning look. She just shrugs and shares my look of confusion.

Maybe I'm worrying over Maple too much? She is an adult and is probably just dealing with something. So I'll do what a friend should offer help and wait until she either accepts, or until she needs help so badly that I do it without asking.

But for now, I'll just hope she's ok and wait until she needs my help. It sucks, but like I said she's an adult and as a friend, I'll have faith she can take care of herself. After talking with Blaz and Daisy for the rest of lunch I make my way back to work. A few hours later I'm free and start making my way out of the library.

As I do so I also see Maple leave the library. Why the hell would she be leaving in this weather? Food? Maybe something she needs? My curiosity is killing me, but this isn't some pony I don't know, this is my friend and I shouldn't dig into her business.

So I let it go and made my way home in the falling snow. Maybe I should invite her to do something, get her mind off of work for a bit, and talk to her?

Chapter 63

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NOV 6 Thursday.

It's been a few days now and Maple seems to be doing much better. She still looks a little tired but seems to be doing better overall, Daisy did end up getting a bit annoyed with her for leaving in a storm and has been forcing Maple to take breaks. I've never really seen Daisy like that but apparently she can be stubborn and a little scary when she wants to.

I'm just happy Maple seems to be ok, and as for her leaving in that storm? nopony asked, why didn't I? Like I said it's not my business and she deserves at least that much trust as my friend. Moving on I have some plans today and something exciting to do, I need to go shopping.

Right now I'm going through my saddlebags and cleaning them out for today. I won't be taking Entropy with me as I don't want to deal with her for a while and she doesn't really like being snowed on, but she can take care of herself and will be fine here. Once I have my saddlebags emptied out I find my card and put on my cloak and saddlebags before leaving my apartment.

I walk through the streets as small flakes of snow fall around me. My first order of business is finding gifts for my friends, I didn't try to keep it as much of a surprise and just asked them what they would like as a gift.

Maple just asked for some good tea and sweets. I don't want to give her Blood Leaf Tea so I'll have to find some other type to give her, and the sweets are easy enough to find.

Blaz wanted puzzles to noponies surprise, but he also asked me to send him a few good fish recipes, turns out the second foal his son is having is a Bat pony and he wants to know how to cook for them if he ever needs to in the future.

Daisy just asked for some paint and a new set of brushes, specifically any types of blue paint I could find, apparently she still hasn't found the right one.

They also asked me what I wanted as a gift. I asked Daisy to paint a pot for me as I thought it would be a nice thing to add some art to my home. From Blaz I asked for a chess set, I think I might know a princess that would enjoy a game or two. And from maple, I asked for a pie pan and a pie recipe that uses tea.

That last one was both a legitimate request and me wanting to see if she can actually find a pie that uses tea. I walk through the markets and shops looking for anything that catches my eye. I find a stall selling maple-shaped maple flavored sweets and buy them, I can't pass on a gag gift.

I found a small puzzle box, it's made from wood and after having the seller tell me how to open it I bought it, the puzzle box is a hard puzzle and I think Blaz will enjoy the challenge. I already know enough recipes so that's blaz off my list, and if I lock those recipes in a puzzle box I happen to own that's not my fault.

I keep looking and fail to find any stalls with paint or brushes, so I have to go through a few shops to find what I'm looking for. It takes me longer but I find several shades of blue paint along with a few other colors and some decent brushes.

That only leaves Maple who wants some tea. And that brings me to the exciting thing, during the winter Equestria has a shortage of many types of herbs. So often during winter trade caravans from the Zebras come to sell cheap herbs at a profit.

The dry savanna plains they live in are easy to travel through if you know what you are doing, and that easy travel gives them easy access to many environments with many types of plants and herbs. I didn't know about them last year but I do now and I'm not missing the opportunity to get some interesting plants.

I don't have to leave the city to find them but I still have to walk to the other side of the market and that takes a while in the snow. When I do find the right place I see several stalls with markings I don't recognize with zebras wearing cloaks like me. I guess they don't like the snow.

I look through their stalls, this is the only Zebra caravan here right now and it's a smaller one so I won't find any really good things, but I could still find a few things that would be useful.

But first I need to find some tea for Maple so let's start there. I see a stall selling specifically tea and tea products. The stall owner is talking to somepony so I take my time to look through the teas they have, and I find a nice apple tea that she should like, Maple will never tell me what flavor of pie is her favorite but I know she likes apple pie.

I wait as the zebra and pony talk over the price of something. Zebras are known for their herbs and potions, but they don't export many potions to others as most potions degrade rather fast and can be hard to transport. So instead they bring the ingredients and take commissions for whatever you'd like.

It lets them sell their potions without a lot of the logical problems, the downside is that if you want one of their potions and they aren't here you either need to go to them or wait for them to show up again. The stall owner and pony seem to have come to an agreement and the pony leaves.

I walk up. "I'd like this please." I place the small bag of apple tea on the table.

They nod, "Fifteen bits I will need, for you to take what you need." And like many zebras, they talk in rhyme. I just pass them the bits and take the tea, It's an apple tea, something you can find commonly in Canterlot but the Zebras are good with making tea and this tea is of a much higher quality than what I'd be able to buy for that price.

I look through several other stalls before coming to one with a few plants in pots and many dried herbs. There are also a few small jars filled with seeds and labeled with paper tags, I look through them and see many names I recognize. Most are normal and common herbs.

But a few of them caught my interest. Solar Vine seeds and Frost Bloom seeds, both I've heard and know of, I wouldn't mind owning them. After not finding anything else in the jars that I'd want I move onto the few small plants they have. Again most are things I can find here, but two are different.

The first is Spicy Red Root, I don't recognize it but it catches my interest. It's a large thick root with small fern-like leaves growing out of the top. I'm intrigued and grab it, I'll ask the seller and look around at the library to see what I can find out about it.

The last is by far the most and also least interesting. It's a small and clearly struggling Venus Fly Trap, I don't know how they have kept it alive in this cold as it's not known to like the cold at all. It's nearly identical to Venus Fly Trap I know, the only difference being its color, a deep purple with reddish stripes.

I have no use for this plant but I'm still buying it, why? Who wouldn't want one? It's a cool plant to have and I think it will be fun to just have around, plus fly's are annoying and I wouldn't mind having less of them in my life.

After looking through the rest of what they have nothing else catching my interest, I just buy what I have and ask a few questions about the plants before walking home. When I do get home I store the seeds and start working on the Venus Fly Trap, I'm surprised it's lasted this long in the cold and it needs help.

The Zebra said they didn't know anything about the Venus Fly Trap so I'm on my own. I start by feeling its magical flows, they are weak and sluggish. I start feeding it life magic and watch as the leaves and maws regain color. The purple lightens some as the red deepens, and the plant now looks much more healthy and stable. I take it to my window and place it with the others.

I go and grab a small sapphire to enchant, I don't know what the plant wants as I'll need to look into it later, but I know it will probably need a warmer and wetter environment. So I just settled for copying the jungle environment spell and placing the sapphire in its pot.

I'll keep an eye on it but it should at least stay somewhat stable now. I started with the Spicy Red Root next, I was able to ask the Zebra selling it about what it is. They didn't say much, just that it's a common food for a lot of them and you can eat it raw or cooked beyond that its name says it all.

I don't know how the plant flowers so I just have to brute force it with my magic, this takes longer and much more magic but after some effort I have several seeds from the Spicy Red Root. That name is a bit of a mouthful, isn't it?

I plant one of these seeds just to make sure they'll grow properly. I plant it and after a little while I have another Red Root, I think I'll just call it that, it seems easier. I take the new root out of the pot and start washing off all the dirt in my sink, I grab my knife and cutting board.

I cut off the top part that connects to the leaves, I spent a little while cutting it into several pieces. The inside is a deep crimson that looks like blood, I fill a pot with water and drop it inside before putting the lid of the pot on, and then putting it on the stovetop to heat up and cook.

I'm not sure how long I need to boil them so I'll check on them while cooking the fish. For the fish I do what I normally do, slice it into pieces and cook it in a pan with several seasonings. I have to go in between checking on the fish and Red Root but after a while both are done.

The Red Root came out much like a potato, it's soft and creamy with a nice amount of spice to it. Although its red color seems to stain a lot. But the Red Root goes well with my fish and Entropy also seems to like them, I don't remember if crows can taste spice but she doesn't seem to mind either way.

I'm definitely using this more in my cooking. After lunch I take the Red Root I still have and leave it next to my window with the rest of my plants. I still have two other plants that I got, well they are seeds, not plants but that's semantics. I grab a pot filled with soil and start with the Frost Bloom.

The Frost Bloom is a small flower, it has a white stem with very deep green leaves and light blue petals. Its base has several thick leaves with small thorns on their tips, all these leaves are connected to its main stem that rises high to form its flower.

The flower itself looks similar to a thistle without its bulb, it is a collection of light blue needles that form a small tuft on top. This flower doesn't have any magical properties or effects, you can't even make much with it. But it has one quality that made me buy it.

It can grow in very cold temperatures, far beyond almost any other plant. Its natural environment is snowy mountain tops and plateaus. It also has a small bulb under the plant that lets it hibernate until the winter much like a poppy, and when winter comes it grows out of the ground and blooms.

This lets it grow and breed without competition, and most animals won't eat it as it's slightly poisonous. You don't see them much in Equestria as they aren't from here, I wanted the plant because I might be able to crossbreed it with other plants to make them cold-resistant.

I grow a single flower in the pot and have it grow several new seeds for me to store. I take the pot and place it on my countertop as it does look nice despite its cold nature. The last plant I found is by far the most interesting one, the Solar Vine.

It grows on rocky outcroppings in the desert, and it does basically the same thing as the Moon Glow. The Moon Glow converts ambient magic into lunar magic, the Solar Vine stores solar magic it gathers during the day and releases it at night to attract bugs and their predators just like the Moon Glow.

Both plants use this to help themselves grow, but that's where they become opposites. The Solar Vine only collects solar magic and can't convert it from neutral magic. Its glow is also weaker than the Moon Glows. I planted the Solar Vines seed in a new pot with a branch from my Iron Oak as support.

I push my magic into the seed and watch as it grows up the branch. Its body is almost identical in color to sandstone, I presume that's to blend in to not be eaten. Its leaves are a sandy yellow-green that grows at certain points along the vine, at the base of these leaves are bean-sized white flowers.

I grow new seeds from the plant and store them like the others. I take the vine out into my main room and place it at the base of Entropy's perch and grow it along the perch with the Companion Vine. The Companion vine should also keep the Solar Vine alive despite the cold.

It should be relatively fine as desert plants need to deal with both extreme heat and cold. I haven't needed to give Entropy's perch any life magic so the Companion Vine should have enough for both. After checking on all my other plants I sit down and start wrapping the gifts I got.

Chapter 64

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Nov 14 Friday.

It's been a week since I bought my new plants and I've learned a few things about them. First the Spicy Red Root, honestly what I found on this plant is mostly cooking recipes and a way to make red dye with it. It comes from the savanna and is a popular crop for the Zebra's.

Second the Venus Fly Trap, or what they call it the Bug Trap, I prefer the human name but both work. It's not edible and can't be used for anything and is mostly valued for its ability to kill bugs. And it's known to grow in wet jungles or marshes so it should do just fine with the jungle environment spell I used.

Third, the Frost Bloom, I already said where it's native to and what it does. The only other thing I found out about it is that while it is poisonous if used right it can help with pain, although you have to be very careful not to poison somepony while using it.

Fourth, the Solar Vine. Same as the Frost Bloom I already explained most things about the Solar Vine. The only new thing I learned is that I can make a bitter tea from its flowers that helps with indigestion, but I don't think that will be of much use to me.

Besides my new plants I've also finished with my practice of Griffin, Caelum said I was done and so I was. There were no tears or heartfelt goodbyes, I simply paid her for the last time and said goodbye after thanking her.

I have a few things I want and need to do today. I have my meeting with Celestia later and I want to work with my new plants. Right now I just returned from a trip through the Void courtesy of Entropy, and she can now make two round trips twice a day.

"Thanks girl, good job." I feed her a few berries.

"Good." Another new word she learned two days ago.

I smile and scratch her, "Yes good." I leave Entropy on her perch and move into my workroom. I take three filled pots and grab a Soler Vine seed and a Gripping Vine seed. I've never used the Gripping Vine for anything and long ago decomposed the plant I had while keeping seeds.

I plant both and grow them until they are large enough to grow flowers. I picked the Gripping Vine to crossbreed with the Solar Vine as both have several traits in common. And my goal is to increase how fast the Solar Vine grows and how tall it can grow.

The Gripping Vine can grow higher and faster than most other Vines while still staying stable. I want those traits for the Solar Vine, and I also want to increase the Solar Vine's glow but that will come later. I start by moving pollen from one plant to another while using my life magic to grow new seeds.

Over the next three hours I grow many seeds that either don't grow, or grow into a worse plant that I have no use for. By the time I stop I don't get any good results, but that is to be expected as I am basically just mashing two plants together and hoping for a good result.

I check the time and see I still have a few hours until my meeting. I eat some lunch while thinking over something I've thought about a few times this week. What should I get Celestia? She probably doesn't need anything but she's helped me and I want to do so.

She'd probably prefer something personal as a gift. I start thinking over the problem again and after a while I get an idea, and it involves the Iron Oak. The Iron Oak will grow as fast as it can with how tough the wood is, so an Iron Oak with weaker wood grows faster, and one with stronger wood grows slower.

I think this happens because the tree doesn't want to have different parts of itself having different amounts of strength. If half the trunk can withstand a tornado and the other can't it won't end well for the tree.

My idea is to make a small Iron Oak that has been strengthened so much it almost doesn't grow, it still will but if I can make it Steel wood then it could take years to grow even a small amount.

I walk over to my Iron Oak and start growing a small acorn, I keep it small but let it fully develop before collecting it. I have a smaller clay pot that should work just fine, I take it and fill it with the proper soil before planting the small acorn.

I let the seed grow but keep it as small as I can. I slowly grow it into a small bonsai tree, it looks fully grown but is only half a foot tall. Once I'm done growing it and styling it, I start dumping my life magic into it. I still have a few hours until my meeting and by that time I should be able to make this small tree all Steel wood.

I spend this time draining my magic into the tiny tree and taking breaks where I draw and drink tea. By the time I have to leave the tree is ready, it will now grow very slowly and be pretty hard to kill as it has a lot of life magic in it. I grab my saddlebags and leave my apartment.

I've been through the process of showing the guards my invite and having them lead me. But that's where things go a little wrong, standing as a guard for the room is Shining Armor. I recognize him and I know he recognized me. :God fucking DAMMIT! Why is it you every time? I don't even have a table to flip right now:

Despite my worries, I'm thankful that he stays professional and doesn't say anything to me, the other guard opens the doors and I walk in trying my best to pretend I don't recognize him. I'll have to think of something if I ever need to explain this to him. Honestly with Twilight being Celestia's student I'm surprised I haven't run into her yet.

I walk in and bow to her like always before dropping the formalities and sitting down. "It's nice to see you as always Celestia."

"Same to you Shade, I'd like to start off by apologizing if I was a bit off at our last meeting." She sounds genuine and looks a bit down.

I wave my hoof. "We all have bad days. Anyway, here, Happy Hearth's Warming." I passed her the Iron Oak.

She smiles a little at this, I'm glad that helped lift her mood a little. "Thank you, but you didn't have to get me anything."

I just smile back. "You've helped me a lot by just having somepony to talk to, and that didn't stop me last year."

She looks over the tree for a few moments. "Hmm, isn't this an Iron Oak?"

I nod. "You decided to learn about it then?"

She nods back. "Yes, after our first meeting I wondered if any others found out how to grow Steel wood. But I couldn't find anything beyond just framing and harvesting it, not that I'm very surprised as you were only able to make it because of your magic. Did you pick this tree for any reason? It seems odd for you to choose something so normal."

I smile at her jab. "Yes I picked it for a unique property it has, the more life magic used to strengthen it the slower it will grow." I drink some of the tea and enjoy its taste, I don't know who she has make it, but it's much better than when I make it. "That tree will take years to grow."

"I saw that being mentioned in a few books, a creative way to make a house plant. Thank you for the gift, it's lovely." She moves it to the side of the table.

"I'm glad you like it, also the wood is very tough so when you do need to trim it you'll probably need enchanted tools to do so."

"I'll keep that in mind. Here happy Hearth's Warming." I'm surprised at this but I really shouldn't be. She moves a book over to me and I look at its cover, How To Make Wooden Jewelry By Hardy Wood. I was not expecting this, but it's a welcome gift that I can get some good use out of.

I take a moment to skim through it and see it has several sections, even one on how to embed gems into wooden jewelry. "This is perfect thank you, and you might be getting some jewelry."

She nods. "I'm glad you like it, and that would be nice I don't wear wood often. Now before we move on I thought you'd like to know how the cleansing spell is doing." My ears betray me and stand up showing my interest. She just smiles, a smile I don't trust. "It was open to the public a week ago and to say it's going well would be an understatement."

"I've had the two main hospitals in Canterlot and several others in the region offer you a job and several dozen ponies requesting a meeting with you." That floors me.

"THAT many? I know healing spells aren't made much but this seems a little excessive." Not many make new spells but that still means several dozen good spells, and who knows how many bad ones come out each year. It's been a single week, why the hell would so many care?

Her smile just grows, and I have the feeling she's enjoying my reaction. "A few reasons. First I had all the other spells and inventions you've made were placed under your alias, so the first time many are hearing of you is from taking credit for two popular spells and two widely used inventions. The only thing you didn't get credit for is the Rocky Wheat."

I just give her a tired and deadpan stare. And she just continues to smile back. "Second. While many spells come out very rarely does an established and well-known spell see such a large improvement. And finally, that simple fact that nopony has heard of you before, you're a complete unknown that's done much in a short amount of time."

I just sigh and drain my teacup. Honestly I should have guessed she'd pull something like this, I know she means well and wants me to take credit for my accomplishments, but I also don't want others to know about all this for several reasons. But I also expected something like this. It is odd for an unknown pony to come out of nowhere and improve a spell so much. This is just that but more, I'm not sure whether I want to thank Celestia or prank her. Maybe both?

I speak after filling my cup again. "Thank you for respecting that I don't want my name to be known, and for helping me release all these things," I say this in a tone that shows how unamused I am. "What was the excuse you used for me?"

But this damn princess won't stop smiling at me. "your welcome, and I should be thanking you. I declined all the invites and meeting requests for you, and I told them you work for me as a private researcher meaning you worked for me and me alone, that only resulted in me getting dozens of letters addressed to you."

She takes out a stack of letters bound in string and tied with a bow, I swear she's doing this just to fuck with me at this point. I take the stack and move it to the side, I look back up to her and see that her smile is still there. :Oh fuck there's more:

"And there is one last thing of note, after I declined the hospital's requests for information on you they requested for me to have you work on a certain spell." She passes me a rolled-up piece of paper. I unwind it and see a complex spell matrix, this one for a Blood Loss Prevention spell, commonly shortened to B.L.P.

It's made to save lives by keeping blood loss to a minimum, it creates a small shield around any wounds to seal them. It's not a permanent fix by any means, but it does buy time for the injured party to get proper help. And in a world where travel can take a while it saves many lives often.

But I'm not sure how much I can improve this spell, it's much more complex than any other spell I've worked with before. It uses three rings and eleven different runes on top of all the math. After looking over the spell I place it down and turn back to Celestia. "I've never worked on anything this complex before and I can't guarantee how much success I'll have in improving this spell."

She gives me a reassuring look. "Let me tell you what they want before you reject it." I nod and let her continue. "They are offering a large amount of bits and a stake in the hospital, I wouldn't take the latter offer as they could find your name if your part of their shareholders."

I give her a grateful nod. "Thank you I'll be careful of that in the future."

"You're welcome. In exchange they want you to streamline the spell, specifically, they want you to lessen the magic cost while not sacrificing anything else about the spell." I think about the offer for a moment while taking another look at the spell matrix.

If I'm just cutting down on the magic cost and not making the spell better then this becomes much more doable. Looking at the spell matrix again I can see a few places to improve but this could take a while. I look back up at her, "When would they want it finished?"

"They want it done in a year and will let you go six months over that if you can improve it some by the end of the first year." A year? I spent just over three months on the Cleansing spell and I held it back for two weeks just to double check my work. Celestia sees my surprise. "Most don't make spells as fast as you do."

"How much do they expect me to improve the spell?"

"Ten percent. and for every percent after that, they'll raise your pay by ten percent." It seems they have a way to measure the effects and cost of a spell, I'll have to look into that later. I started really thinking about this offer, if they just want ten percent then I could probably do that, it would take me a few months, maybe half a year but I could do it.

"Why me? I'm an unknown that's only been around for two years." I find it odd they would just offer something like this to me.

"I did tell them you work for me and that comes with a level of legitimacy that most take years to achieve, and while you are new everything you've made is impressively well made."

So after some more thought and studying the matrix, I decided to accept. "I think I could do ten percent but I promise nothing over that."

"Really? Well even if you fail you'll just have to pay a fine to them. Here?" She passes me another piece of paper. It's a contract with more details and how much they'll be paying me.

"HOW MUCH!!" I shout out as Celestia just continues to smile at me.

Chapter 65

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DEC 25 Thursday.

I finish wrapping the last gift and place it with the others before standing up to stretch. It's been a little over a month since my last meeting with Celestia. And at the end, she told me she would be busy with a few things and we won't be having any more meetings until January 14.

In the past month things have been going just fine, I've started my work on the B.L.P. spell. I start to go on another internal rant as I make some fresh tea.

The B.L.P. spell works by forming small shields around a wound and keeping the blood inside. This is accomplished by using several runes together and a lot of math to tell the spell where a wound is and where the shield should go. This is all done by the spell so the caster only needs to provide enough magic.

And that is the main reason this spell is so complex. It does almost everything by itself and just needs magic and some will. This is good as a doctor can just cast the spell and not worry too much about blood loss for the next hour. But it also means that the magic cost is very high and like I said, it only lasts one hour, more if you overpower the spell but that's just a waste of magic with how much the cost increases compared to the time you gain.

The good news about this is that while the spell is complex it has many places I can improve. I can now confidently say I can hit the ten percent mark they want, but it's going to take a long while to go through this spell and make sure nothing breaks at the same time. This also explains why they're paying me so much for ten percent.

And that brings me to who's paying me for this, and the answer is complicated, to say the least. The medical system in Equestria is something that could only work with an immortal princess running it.

First, how do hospitals work? Well, Equestria has free healthcare for all citizens paid through taxes, if you're a pony that wants to get medical help you just go there and get it, For the everyday pony it's that easy. But for anypony working in the medical industry, it's a fucked mess.

The medical industry in Equestria is a mix of large crown-sponsored and funded hospitals, with many smaller and privately run clinics owned by others. Then you mix in the guilds that help organize and train doctors and other medical professionals.

Then mix in other schools to teach doctors the same things or more things. Mix in an immortal monarchy and the varying degree of control that the monarchy may choose to use depending on where you live. And the result is something that shouldn't even work, let alone work well, but it does.

I'm not sure about a lot of the specifics, but it turns out that having an immortal semi-divine pony ruling over all this is enough to make it work with a surprising amount of efficiency and success. I bring this all up because it can kind of be confusing as to who this spell is for, and who's paying me for it.

The two specific hospitals that offered this job are partly owned by the crown and the public while being funded through a mix of taxes and revenue gained from other services offered.

The free healthcare I mentioned only provides what you need to be healthy. That includes medical exams, medicines, and anything to do with sickness, injury, and incurable ailments. For anything else, you need to pay them, as for what ailments count and don't? I have no idea, and I'm not opening that can of worms today.

Back to the question. The short answer is that the director of that hospital is paying me with some of their and the crowns money to have me make a spell that will be available to the public and any other medical practices, and in exchange, they'll get a large tax break and a lot of the prestige that comes with the spell.

And that brings me to another thing I now have to deal with, taxes. In Equestria it's pretty easy overall, in June they send you a form telling you how much you own from your income. The crown works with banks to collect that data. You pay them, and you're done.

But if you want to declare any tax exemptions you need to bring a lot of information and proof to the tax offices. Last year I didn't need to pay anything as the crown gives orphans a one-year tax break when they get their first job to help them get their footing. But this year I can't do that.

This leaves me with a question. Should I just pay the amount they ask for or try to get a few exemptions? I think I could claim a few as my work is for the crown and I make things to help others. But honestly fuck that, I'd need a tax professional to do that and I'd have to reveal a lot of information to them that I don't want anypony to know.

Even if I get them to sign a contract or something like an N.D.A. I don't think it's worth the risk. Plus I have far too much money to know what to do with, so I'm just going to pay the higher amount so I don't have to deal with it. But enough about taxes and hospitals.

Moving onto my life. The library is going through some repairs and will be closed until the new year, which means me and everypony else has a week off. And because we can't exchange gifts at work we agreed to meet up at Daisy's apartment later today. I'm done making my tea and start on the next thing I need to do.

I offered to bring some snacks with me so I'm going to make some cookies. I take out some fine white flour I bought and start measuring it out. I measure out all the other dry ingredients and mix them, next I start on the wet ingredients before mixing them together.

I lay out small balls of dough on a baking sheet while preheating my oven. I set a timer on my bracelet and start waiting, I take out the book Celestia gifted me and continue reading it. I've been using this book and small chunks of the Chestnut wood I have to practice my wood carving.

This has helped me improve my wood carving as it has been a fun hobby. And if I use it properly I could make some interesting things if I have the right type of wood and gem. But for now, it's just a way to improve my wood carving until I can get good enough to make decent-quality things.

I read through the book for a while before checking on the cookies, I look at my timer and turn it off. I take the cookies out to cool down and go back to reading. A while later I check the time again, it's six in the afternoon and we're supposed to meet up at six thirty so I should probably get going now. I pick up all my gifts and the fresh cookies before heading to my door. I close my door and lock it behind me, I walk over to Daisy's door and knock.

After a moment Daisy opens her door. "Shade nice to see you, please come inside." She moves to the side and I walk inside. The walls are painted a light red, and the room is much more furnished than mine.

Her apartment is the same as mine in terms of space and layout, with one main room with a window and two side rooms. She has a dining table with a few cushions. By the window, she's made a small nook surrounded by paintings on the walls and a few potted plants.

In the middle is a large plush carpet. "Sit down wherever you like, and tell me if you need anything." Daisy lives up to her friendly and nice attitude with a happy tone.

"Thanks for hosting our little get-together, also I have to say I like the way you've decorated." I look through some of the paintings on the walls. Most look well-made and are mostly paintings of cityscapes and plants. "Are all these paintings you've made?"

She comes back over to me. "Thank you. I pride myself on being able to decorate. Yes and no, most of them are mine but a few I got from my dam, she was a painter for a living." I think I remember her mentioning that before.

"Regardless they're very good." I turn away from the walls and pass her the plate full of cookies. "Here as promised, where do you want me to place these?" I asked while gesturing to my gifts.

"OH, these smell good, thanks for making these. And under the tree is just fine." I move over to what might as well be a Christmas tree that's set up in a corner of the nook. I place the gifts in a few spots, none touching any other. I look around and see Daisy cooking something in the kitchen.

"What are you making?" I walk over to the kitchen but don't enter.

"Hot chocolate, I thought it would go well with the cookies, and I can't resist a good hot chocolate." We both turn as we hear a knock at the door, Daisy walks over and opens the door.

"Blaz, Maple glad you both could make it, come on in Shade's already here." Both Blaz and Maple walk in each with a few gifts.

"Hello you two, have a nice walk through the snow?" I ask as a jab. Blaz just smiles while Maple gives me a deadpan stare.

"Same as ever colt, and yes the cold was lovely you should take a swim later." And like always Blaz jabs back.

"I hope the cold wasn't too bad Maple, I'm making hot chocolate if you want some?" Daisy offers as she closes the door behind them.

"That would be nice, thanks." She responds in a somewhat tired tone.

Daisy nods. "Either of you want any?" Both me and Blaz just nod. "Feel free to sit where you like, and gifts go under the tree."

I decide to sit at the small table, I get comfortable and enjoy the calm atmosphere. Maple also sits at the table while Blaz helps Daisy retrieve some mugs. "So Maple, you seem to be doing better recently, still feeling ok?" I ask as she has been doing better but still looks tired a lot of the time.

She nods. "Yes I'm doing better, this cold has just been brutal, and like I've told you I don't do well in the cold." She's said that a few times now after we pressed her on why she's so tired all the time. She told us that she had a condition that makes her tired when it's cold.

I'm not sure if I believe her, but she also asked us to leave the subject be and so we have. I can't say I'm not still worried or curious, but it's not my place to dig into her life.

Daisy and Blaz walk over and sit down with us before passing out a few mugs and placing the plate of cookies on the table.

We talk while eating through the plate of cookies. I also get a surprise as Daisy eats half the plate by herself, I didn't know she had a sweet tooth for cookies. After a while, we decide to start unwrapping gifts and all lay down on the thick carpet and get cozy.

Daisy speaks up. "How do you all want to do this?"

I think it over for a moment. "Just pick them one at a time?" I offer, I haven't done this in years so I honestly have no idea.

Daisy looks to Maple and Blaz who both shrug. "Randomly it is." She picks one out and reads the name. "From Shade to Blaz." She passes him the gift and he opens it, it's the puzzle box I got him.

"I got the pony I bought it from to show me how it works, it's a hard one so you should have fun trying to figure it out," I explained to him.

"Thanks colt."

"Next, Maple to me." Daisy wastes no time in opening her gift, and it's even more blue paint. She grabs another gift.

We continue like this as we all unwrap our gifts. I got just what I wanted. A painted pot from Daisy, it has several Rose bushes filled with rose flowers painted on it. Maple did find a good pie pan, and she did find me a pie recipe with tea in it, somehow.

And finally, Blaz got me a very nice chess set, it comes in a small wooden box and the pieces are made from stone. One set is granite and the other is a darker stone I don't recognize. "Hey Blaz I think you may have gone a little overboard on the chess set, don't get me wrong I love it, but still."

We're all sitting around and organizing what we got. He looks up at me and smiles, "You'd think so, but that chess set was owned by my ex-wife. She never wanted it back and it's been years, and I don't want it so it's yours now." Blaz has mentioned his ex-wife a few times but never told us why they split up.

"HU, well ok then." I look over to Daisy as she organizes different paints she got, in an odd twist of fate, me, Blaz and Maple all get her some amount of blue paint. She seems happy about it though, "You think you finally have the right color of blue in there?"

"Maybe, with painting you can never be sure. But a few of these show promise." She says this while holding a small jar of paint up.

I look back over to Blaz who mostly got puzzles. He looks back at me and has a look on his face. "Hey colt I just remembered I also asked you for some recipes, did you forget?" He says the second part is a fake hurt tone.

I just give him a large smile. "No, I remembered it, in fact I already gave it to you."

He looks confused for a moment before looking down at the puzzle box. He starts chuckling, "Well colt looks like you got me good this time, I'll make sure to return the favor."

I look over to the last pony and see that Maple mostly got different sweets, she has one hell of a sweet tooth, I almost feel bad for her teeth. But like everypony else she seems happy with what she got. We spend our time messing around and I use my new chess set to play a game with Maple, who loses horribly.

We stay late and go home even later, but when the night is finally over I can get some rest.

Chapter 66

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DEC 28 Sunday.

I put down my carving tool as I crack another piece of wood and ruin another attempt. Making things out of wood is a lot harder than you'd think. I've improved a lot in detail work, but I still have a long way to go. I clean up my desk, sweeping off wood shavings and chunks.

Today is Entropy's first birthday and at first I wasn't sure what to do for her. I already made her a perch and bath, and she doesn't really need much else. So after some thought I decided to just get her a nice meal and spend some time with her. It's for this reason that we are heading out tonight.

It's the late afternoon right now and it will be dark in about two hours. I've made a reservation at a fancy restaurant that allows pets and serves meat. I had to look through several restaurants yesterday to find it and I could only get a reservation after dark on such short notice.

But I don't mind the cold or dark much and I know Entropy doesn't. But before all that I still have some time to mess around. I take out a few seeds and two pots before setting them on my desk. I plant the two seeds and grow them to a decent size, both the vines that grow are odd.

They have a deep green vine, but yellowish sandy leaves. This plant is the result of me breeding the Solar Vine and the Gripping Vine. The flowers still glow but it's gotten even dimmer, on the upside the new vine is stronger and grows faster. Now I just have to selectively breed it into something useful.

My main goal is to have the vine grow strong enough to cover a large area. The original Solar Vine doesn't grow that large and can collapse if it grows too large. I want to breed it until I can grow it as large as I like, and then focus on how much solar affinity magic it can store and release.

I breed the new vine for a while as I keep an eye on the time. When I'm almost out of magic I grow some seeds and decompose the plants away before storing everything. I still have another hour so I go out and lay down next to Entropy's perch. "How are you doing girl?"

"Berry?" She asks while landing on my back.

I scratch her neck and grow a Juniper berry for her. "Here, you've grown a lot this year and saved my ass two times now. Enjoy the well-earned berry." She just eats it before lying down in between my forelegs as I continue to scratch her. But I have to move my face away as she starts flapping her wings.

"AH! The fuck?" I have to close my eyes until she stops. I look back down at her prepared to give her my best disapproving look, but stop as I see something on the ground. Ever since Entropy stopped growing several months ago she's never lost a feather, but on the ground in front of me is a large feather that consumes all light.

I pick it up and examine it. It's one of her bigger feathers and seems pristine and undamaged. I turn back to her as she looks up at me. "Great, I can't even be mad at you now. Ahhh, just take your damn scratches." I continue scratching her while looking at the feather.

I have no idea what I can do with a feather but I'm sure as hell going to try and find out later. After a little more pampering I stand up and walk into my work room, I place the feather on the shelf next to the box that I got Entropy's egg in, it now contains her eggshell. I walk back out and start putting on my saddlebags.

I lay my cloak over my saddlebags and raise its hood. "Come on girl, we're going to get some good food." She lands on my back again and I cast the illusion spell over her before we leave. The snowfall is still light so we should be able to make it there easily.

I brought my light with me to see, and after a while I found the right building. It's only just after dark so a decent amount of ponies are still around. The restaurant is well lit and after walking in I move over to a small front desk while lowering my hood. "I'm here for a reservation, it should be under the name Shade Evergreen."

The mare behind the desk nods and looks through a book for a few moments. "Yes, your reservation is for six. You are a little early, but we aren't too busy. Would you like to wait or get a table now?"

"Now is fine."

She nods again. "Just to remind you if your pet eats any other customers' food or breaks anything you'll have to pay for it. Please follow me." She leads me to a table and I get comfortable while Entropy sits on the table. After a short wait, a waiter takes our orders and leaves.

I got a fish club sandwich. And asked them to just bring out some cooked fish and fruits for Entropy. I pass the time by giving the birthday girl all the attention she wants. Both of us skipped lunch so by the time our food arrived we immediately started digging in.

I relax as I finish my meal. This place may have taken a while to find but by magic the food was worth it. I pay for our meal and we leave satisfied. As I walk outside I see that the snowfall has gotten much worse, I can't see more than a few feet in front of me.

I flip up my hood and tighten it, before moving through the snowfall. I rather not walk through this snow and luckily for me I don't have to. I look for somewhere out of the way so Entropy can just take us home. After a little walking, I see an alley that is unlit and out of view from others.

I walk into the alley and look around, I can't make out much so I walk further down the alley and I see that the alley turns left. I walk over to check if it's a dead end where we can hide from view. I turn the corner only to have something slam into me. I flinch from the impact and I feel Entropy fly off my back. I strain my eyes in the darkness and snow to look at what I ran into.

In front of me in the dark I can just make out a pony. I'm about to speak up and apologize, but in a quick movement they lunge at me. But I haven't been getting my flank handed to me every Wednesday for nothing. I dodge to the left and tense my body, they rush past me but quickly find their footing and lunge again.

I panic and just move, reacting with the training that's been beaten into me. I dodge again and as they pass me I swing my hoof out as hard as I can, I feel the thud as it impacts the side of their head.

They hit the street and landed in the cold snow several feet away. Through the dark I see that they don't get up and just stay on the ground. :WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!:

I sit there for a minute just trying to get my panicked breathing and racing heart under control. After my mind processes what just happened I quickly take out my light, I hit them in the head pretty hard and I need to check that I didn't just kill somepony by accident.

I activate the light and move over to the pony. I'm not a doctor but I know enough to tell if this pony is dead. :OH god please don't be dead, don't be dead: I keep repeating this to myself as I walk over to the pony. But once I see them only one thought occupies my mind. :FUCK!!:

Laying in the snow is a dark mass of chitin sprawled out on the street. A Changeling is lying face down in the snow not moving. :This is BAD! I NEED to think fast: I have no idea if others will be able to tell what just happened in some way. After some panicked thoughts I form a rough plan.

I grab the Changeling and turn to Entropy, she flew off my back in the scuffle but returned once the Changeling was down. "Take us to the forest with the Oak tree, now." She wastes no time and lands on my back. And after the most stressful minute of my life we vanish from the alley. We appear inside in the small clearing with the Oak tree.

But I don't relax, hell I don't think I can. The forest is dark and quiet, the Oak tree I grew in the past has no leaves like the rest of the trees. I clear some snow off the ground and lay the Changeling down, I need to see if they are even still alive. I start looking over their body.

I can see them breathing as their chest moves. :Ok not dead that's good: I keep looking them over, I check their head to see no real damage to the outside beyond a scrape on their chitin from my hoof. Seems I hit them hard enough to knock them out.

And that's a problem as I don't know when or if they'll wake up. I'm not an expert on insects but I don't think they are going to die, I can't really be sure though. I don't know if they can find this Changeling somehow so I need to leave as fast as I can. But even a pony could freeze in this cold if left out here.

I could just leave this Changeling out to just die? They attacked me. I stop that thought and smack myself with a hoof. I can't- no I WON'T let this changeling die just for trying to survive as who they are. I turn to Entropy. "Take me home," It takes another minute but we appear at my apartment.

I've made up my mind and I have a rough plan. I didn't see any green flames, this Changeling wasn't transformed and probably attacked me because I saw them. And I refuse to kill someone just for trying to save themselves.

I find a spare blanket and cast the best cleaning spell I know on it, if I remember correctly that spell also removes hair. I give the blanket a shake to remove all the things the spell loosened off. Next I head to my workroom and grab all the Chestnut wood scraps I have.

Once I have both I turn to Entropy again. "Back to the Oak Tree girl." She's already made two jumps so I can only go home after this. We reappear inside the forest again, I move over to the Changeling and wrap them in the blanket before dumping the wood scraps in a pile.

I use the candle flame spell and light it on fire. I made sure to only grab the Chestnut pieces so nothing could be traced back to me. I lay the Changeling on their side so their underbelly is facing the fire. I double-check to make sure they're still breathing and wrap the blanket around them tightly.

I use my field to disturb all the snow I walked on to remove my hoof prints and turn back to Entropy. She's clearly tired from teleporting me, and so much cargo. "One last time girl, home." It takes longer than normal but we vanish and reappear in my apartment, finally safe.

Entropy is barely standing up and looks utterly exhausted. I pick her up and move her to my bed, "Get some rest girl, magic knows you've earned it." I wrap her up in my blanket and leave her to rest. I don't rest though I still have things to do.

First I take off my cloak and saddlebags. I go through every pocket and make sure I haven't dropped a single damn thing. After checking and double-checking I move on to the next thing. I start thinking of anything that might link me back to this. It was dark and I had my hood up and drawn low, so I don't think they saw what I looked like enough to recognize me.

But a Changeling might be able to see better in the dark? Still, even if they can it would be hard to see past both my hood and the thick snowfall. I shake my head and focus, I can't do much about it if they saw me. What else? Entropy? She flew off my back when we collided, and trying to see her in the dark might as well be impossible.

Blood, I don't think I was injured? I start checking my body for any wounds. I have a small bruise from when we ran into each other but that's it, so I didn't leave blood behind. I keep running through different things before I stop. I find my notebook where I keep my knowledge about Changelings and start writing.

I add any small detail I can remember about this mess. I hope that Changeling wasn't too injured and can recover. That wood should burn for a while but if they are in a coma I don't think I can help them. I definitely can't go back to that forest anytime soon to check if they died.

I pushed those dark thoughts away, I did what I could while keeping myself safe, even if it wasn't enough to save them. I sigh and check the time, it's not that late but this day has been a fucked mess and I need rest, I'll think about all this later. I walk into my bedroom and snuggle up with Entropy. I let sleep claim my mind, and the dark thoughts along with it.

Chapter 67

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DEC 29 Monday.

I rise from my bed with groggy thoughts. My mind is still occupied with last night. I start by making some tea and sitting down with a few of my notebooks.

Last night was a fucked mess of a situation to be in, and I still feel a little terrible that I might have killed that Changeling, I was just defending myself but that doesn't make me feel much better about it. I can't even go and check, I just have to sit and wonder without an answer. I sigh and down more tea. I guess I may never truly know.

I flip open the notebook for Changelings. I wrote down everything I could remember last night, but I did it in a rush so I'll need to sort and organize what I wrote down.

The Changeling I saw was around the size of a Pegasus. They looked like a Changeling, black chitin, I think their eyes were green but I didn't get a good look at them, holes throughout their body. I didn't have time to thoroughly examine them so I didn't learn much beyond their size and how they looked.

Moving onto the circumstances. When I ran into that Changeling in that dark alley why did they attack first? I didn't see the flash of green fire that happens when they transform, so unless they have a way to hide it, that Changeling was undisguised in the alley.

The likelihood of them getting out of that situation without me seeing them was almost nonexistent. I think once I saw them they only had two choices, kill me to keep their secret, or run. And I don't think whoever they report to would be very happy if they ran, hell that might even get them killed.

So they went with the only real option they had left, attacking me. I spared them both because I couldn't bring myself to kill them through inaction, and because I don't think they had much of a choice. From their point of view, they were put in an impossible situation, kill or be killed.

But what doesn't make sense, is why the hell would a Changeling be undisguised in the middle of a city? To rest maybe? I'm not sure how their magic transformations work but they count as illusions in some way, and illusions take a good amount of magic to hold, and their illusions are also solid, increasing the magic cost further.

Even if they've evolved to do this there would be a point where they would have to rest and recover their magic. But the alley was near the upper city markets and that area has more guards around. They could have been doing the same thing as me and were using the alley as an out-of-the-way resting spot.

But in that weather? Yes, it would be hard to find them but it would also be hard to see others approaching. I have some evidence that they can also sense emotions, so why didn't they sense mine in the alley? They obviously didn't know I was there. Can they turn that ability off? Does it take magic to use?

What can I learn from the way they acted? Thinking back on it, their attacks were just wild lunges without any real skill or combat style. Were they not trained to fight? Well, why would you train them in combat when their job is to only infiltrate to collect information and love?

And I remember those two Changelings in the forest talking about being overworked. If I needed to train Changelings to collect enough love to not starve I would be willing to sacrifice other things to get that faster. If they were only trained to be good at infiltrating and nothing else I could see it being a possibility.

So many ifs and buts with no real answers in sight. I just don't have enough information. So what do I do? What can I do? I sit there getting lost in my thoughts for a while.

I'm a single pony, and I'm up against. Beings capable of moving celestial bodies. Discord, who might just be the fucking embodiment of chaos. Warlords. Wars. Magic bullshit of truly epic proportions. And the end of the fucking world. I was outclassed from day one.

And in all of this, I've only three real advantages. The knowledge my past life has given me. And within that my knowledge of the future. And time to prepare for what's to come. And with the way things are going I might not have that second one for much longer. So what do I do?

After an hour sitting on my floor and thinking it over again and again, I find my answer.

I sigh as the realization sets in. I'm not ready. I'm not ready to fight this battle, I have neither the strength nor knowledge to do so. I'm still eleven for fucks sake. I need to grow stronger and keep doing what I've been doing, helping as much as I can while staying safe, but to do that I need to solve my main problem right now.

Changelings can still find me, and if I want to live long enough, to grow enough, to help enough, I can't die now. So I'll Keep my head down and hide until I am ready. But to hide I need two things, a way to tell when Changelings are nearby so I can leave. And a way to hide my emotions.

And luckily I've made some progress in the second. I found a rune of emotions, its context doesn't fit what I need the best, but I'm also out of time to find a better rune. I'm also not sure if what I'm making will even work, but like I said I'm out of time. I take my notebooks with me into my workroom.

I sit at a desk and begin. Including today, I have three days to finish this before I have to go back to work.

When I encountered them in the forest they didn't sense me until I had a strong emotional reaction. And I think that they are tuned to only look for strong reactions. If you're a Changeling and need to sort through a crowded street for the best source of love the easiest way is to look for the highest amount of love emotion.

Most others are probably ignored in favor of those strong bursts of emotion. So if I have this shield to block those strong spikes of emotion and keep the rest at a low level I'd probably not draw much attention. I wouldn't be a good food source and I wouldn't stand out for having no emotions at all.

Then again this is all with the assumption that this will even work. I drag my mind out of my thoughts and start working on the spell. I start with the shield spell I've used in the past. First I remove the rune for shield, I can make this spell work without it and that will cut down on the magic cost some.

Finding the right math equations to form a shield will take a while but once I have that I can add the rune for emotions and more math to have it conform to my body. If I can get this working as well as I hope I can then it should be able to work with a piece of jewelry.

It'll definitely need to be an expensive piece of jewelry but I could care less about money right now. I prepare for the sleepless nights and days inside I have ahead of me by drowning my stomach in more tea and settling it at my desk.

DEC 29 Monday POV shift Celestia

Yet another of my guards walks over and places a report on my desk. It's been a hectic two days to be sure, and things have gone far from planned.

I move another report over and read it, another failure. This all started a while back when a few guards and other ponies started noticing some odd things. A few ponies here and there going missing, or a pony acting out of the ordinary. How I wish it stayed that small.

At first nopony knew what to make of this, but over time patterns started to emerge. Someone was taking my ponies, I was not happy, to say the least. But we could never catch any of them in the act, and it's gotten worse recently. We don't know the exact number yet, but over three dozen ponies have gone missing in the last two years.

Luckily not long ago I got my hooves on the enchantment Shade gave me. I had a few ponies trying to develop something similar but that was still a year or two away from being ready.

The enchantment only tells you if somepony with an illusion is nearby but that was enough to start tracking them more consistently, and hopefully find them. I've had several ponies making the devices in secret to be used by the guards and a few agents, and they were supposed to start using them yesterday.

That did not go well, I'm not sure how but whoever is behind this found out. The few suspects we had under watch disappeared two days ago, along with several of Canterlot's guards, I don't know where the leak happened but it did. The new devices were given to several experienced guards and agents as quickly as possible and sent out looking, but they've found nothing so far.

I read through the report and stopped at a certain point. Last night we had a rogue snowstorm that is also being investigated, while it was happening one of the suspects under watch was ordered to be brought in. They were able to track them down, but there was a fight and the suspect ran.

They were followed to an alley that connected two streets, but shortly after that, they got away in the snowstorm. I read a note at the bottom of the report.

Suspect presumed to have used the alley to change their disguise and left through the other entrance before guards could secure it.

I sigh and drink more tea to fight off my fatigue. Another dead end, as I go through report after report I find nothing but close misses and cold trails. We haven't captured any suspects yet and it's looking increasingly likely we won't, whoever's behind this had a plan to leave fast if needed.

I don't know who's behind this but when I find them. I stopped that thought trying to not let my anger get the best of me. I take a breath and calm myself. I sort through a few more reports before taking a break. This has been a disaster, and the worst part is still unknown.

They had somepony high enough in either the guard or any of the other ponies involved in this plan. I've done my best to keep it quiet but they still found out, and if I want to try this again I'll need to plug that leak.

I would have just given that enchantment to every guard in Equestria. But it takes too much magic. I've had a few ponies start enchanting larger, lower-quality gems, to have them be sent to other cities and towns. But even doing that on a large scale is difficult to do without notice.

I could ask Shade to help? I shake my head. No, he may be accomplished but he's still just a colt and I refuse to drag him into danger. My mind wanders to the colt as I read through more reports. I had to postpone our meetings for a while in preparation for this.

My meetings with Shade have been a nice distraction from my duties. He, like most, was formal with me when we first met and continued to be so until we talked in his home. I'm still a little surprised he was so calm about it, and that he blatantly told me he had things he may never tell me.

My curiosity about that is still strong, but it's clear he doesn't want to talk about it so I'll wait, I can be very patient when need be. After we started meeting he became much less formal with me, and it's not often I have a pony do that.

Many do become more comfortable around me after some time, but few actually relax enough to joke around with me and have a little fun. I smile as I sign off on another report with my quill. It will be nice to talk again when this situation is more stable.

I nearly groan as another guard places several more reports on my desk. I drink another cup of tea and settle in, it's going to be a long day.

Chapter 68

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JAN 1 Thursday.

I slowly get out of bed and make my way into the kitchen for some tea and breakfast. It's been a hectic three days of spell creation and keeping an eye out for anypony acting strange. But after a few late nights and long days, I'm done.

After my breakfast, I'm about to go into my workroom when I hear a knock on my door. I hurry into my workroom and grab a new necklace I bought, it's made from silver and has a small silver case on the chain. The case has a diamond that is the exact size of the case and fits inside perfectly.

The necklace was easy to find but having a gem worker pony cut a diamond to the right size took a full day by itself. But it was worth it as my new emotional shield is enchanted into that diamond, and even better I was able to cut down on the spell's magical requirements enough to have it be active all the time.

I take the necklace and place it around my neck before heading to the door. I take a moment to feel the life magic behind the door, it's about the same as anypony would have. I open the door slowly to see Daisy looking back at me. The bracelet on my foreleg doesn't react so I open the door fully.

"Hello Daisy, do you need something?"

She smiles at me. "I have bad news and good news, which do you want first?" I don't feel any panic as she says all this in a tone that is far too happy and teasing tone.

"Bad news." And I know how to shut her teasing mood down, a response about as subtle as a brick.

She loses her smile a little. "Oh, you're no fun. I hope you didn't plan anything for today as you have work."

I raise a brow at her statement. "I do? It's Thursday?"

"That's the good news. This year I planned out the new schedules in advance, your days off have been moved to the weekend." She says all this in the same teasing tone.

I just stare at her for a few moments. "You'd have to have known my days off were moved for a while. You aren't trying to prank me are you Daisy?" I ask back in the same tone.

All I get is the same smile. "I'm only half joking, you can come in tomorrow if you actually have things you need to do." She offers in her normal tone.

I think about it for a few moments. I can't just stay here forever fearing that this new shield won't work. It's like a Band-Aid you'll have to rip it off at some point, and I'd rather do this fast to give me more time if it doesn't work. I nod to her, "Ya I can come in, give me a few minutes."

She smiled again, "Thanks Shade, I need to leave now so I'll see you there." With that, she leaves down the hallway.

I close my door and spend a few minutes feeding Entropy before leaving my apartment. I walk through the streets, I'm still a little nervous and on edge but I make it to the library with nothing happening.

I move to the room that me and Ruby work in but find it empty. After realizing my mistake I walk over to the room that Blaz works in. "Hey Blaz, did Ruby leave my work here for me?" He turns to me from his desk.

"Yup, there is a schedule on your old desk with what you'll be working on."

I nod my thanks and walk over to what is now once again my work desk. I look through the schedule, it has a list of books that should keep me busy until Daisy finds a replacement. I find the right book and distract myself with work, I slowly relax more over the following hours.

By the time lunch rolls around I'm a little more calm about being outside of my apartment. There is nothing like three days of worry and panicked work to raise your anxiety and paranoia. But that will fade with time, but also never disappear, I am paranoid by nature.

But bringing out and about living my life helps. I walk over to a table and sit down with my friends to eat lunch. "So how have all of you been?" We haven't talked since we exchanged gifts a week ago.

Blaz answers me first. "I took the time to go visit my son, his little foal is just as much of a hoof full as he was at that age," Blaz says with a very happy tone, he doesn't use a tone like that often.

Daisy answers next. "Blaz you'll have to get pictures for us someday. And I've been doing just fine, I spent some time painting and trying out those blues you all got me."

"Are any of them the right one?" I ask.

She shakes her head. "Not yet, but a few show promise and One is very close."

And last Maple answers. I turn to her, she's been looking better. The cold has let up some after that snowstorm and spring should be here in a week or two. Maple speaks up, "I've been fine, thank you for the tea, it's nice." Her answer is short but that's something I've come to expect from her.

"I'm glad you like it. Although if you want more it might be hard to find, I bought it from a Zebra caravan." She just nods and continues eating.

Daisy looks at me. "Have you had any trouble today with Ruby's work?"

I shake my head. "No it's been the same, she left me a schedule that should last until you can find a replacement."

"Good. Also, I saw it this morning but I do like the necklace, it's plain but it fits you."

"Thanks, I thought it looked nice." That's only a half lie as I do think it looks nice, but that's not the reason I'll be wearing it all day. At her comment, both Blaz and Maple look at it. Blaz just nods after a second, and Maple just goes back to her food after looking at it.

I'm glad neither of them had more questions, I don't think I have the mental energy to form complex lies right now. We talk about mundane things for the rest of lunch before heading back to work. It goes as normal and after a few more hours I'm free to head home.

But I have something I need to do. I start walking to the lower city markets, I have a few necessities that I need to buy. Another reason to head to the markets is to help with my fear. I won't know if the shield works until I find a Changeling, and I rather not live in constant fear.

But I also find it difficult to just stop worrying, walking around should help. I walk through the markets trying to not let my nervousness show. I buy what I need along with a new cloak, I need to get rid of my old one. It's made from canvas like the last one but is dyed a deep green.

I put it on to stop the very light snowfall from landing on me. It's still odd to me that all this snow will be gone in a few weeks. I walk home a little less nervous than before, but still keeping an eye out. I make it home and start putting everything away, once I'm done I start working on my necklace.

I made the shield in three days and had to cut a few corners along the way, now that it is done I feel like I have some breathing room to improve it. I go over the matrix for a while changing small parts and improving it the best I can. But after an hour I stopped.

I've ignored everything besides Stone's training for the last four days and I should start catching up. So I started doing some work on the B.L.P spell, I've made some progress but it will take me several more months before I can finish it. With that in mind, I'm setting aside some time in my schedule to work on it slowly.

They gave me a year and I have many other things I want to do, so this will just be something I do at my own pace. I spend a while organizing my notes and making a few small delicate changes to the spell. It's a slow process as I need to take many things into account to make even small changes.

After a while, I'm interrupted by Entropy landing on my desk. "What?" I look over to her.

"Just doing some work, what do you need girl?" She looks back at me for a few seconds.

"Out?" I raise a brow, a new word. Out? I'm confused about this.

She moves over and looks at the door. "Out." OH! Oh. Shit, I haven't taken her outside in a few days now have I?

"Damn girl I'm sorry. How about a quick trip to the park before it gets dark?" She starts hopping around and moves over to me. I chuckle at her, "Ok just let me get my cloak." I stand up and find my new cloak, as I'm putting it on I see Entropy move over to me and land on my back.

I cast the illusion spell on her and walked out of my apartment. Once we leave the building she takes the opportunity to fly off of me and around the area. I keep my hood down as I walk to the park, it doesn't take us long to arrive. It's still day with a few ponies about having fun with the snow before winter ends.

I find a bench with a nice view and sit down. I just enjoy the view and watch as Entropy flies around the area, after a while she lands near me and sits down. "Did you have fun?"

"Good." That's all I get, but it's enough to know she's happy. We didn't stay long as it was near the end of the day, so we just spent a while relaxing before leaving for home. The walk is also peaceful and we arrive home not long after, Entropy goes off to do something and I get back to work.

I sit down and start working on the B.L.P spell again. An hour later I'm yet again interrupted by a small caw near me. I sigh, "I'm trying to do something girl, what do you want?" I say this while turning around, only to see nothing. I look around me but I can't find Entropy.

I hear another caw right next to me, that makes me jump slightly. I keep looking around but still see nothing. "Girl, you ok?" I'm getting a little worried. But I see some movement by my hooves, I look down only to see my own shadow moving. It splits off from me and in wisps of black smoke Entropy emerges from the shadow.

She looks back at me with what I can only describe as a smug look. "WHAT was that?" I remember the mention of shadow magic but this seems sudden. More wisps of black smoke appear as Entropy molds back into my shadow. I look behind me and see that my shadow on the wall now has a crow standing on it.

"Since when could you do this!?" I ask her, but she doesn't respond to me. She just moves out of my shadow on top of my back before sitting down. "We have so much to test." She just tilts her head at me and stays silent. "Let's get you a treat." That got her attention.

I fill a bowl with fruit and fish. She eats while I make my own food. After we are both done I walk into my bedroom, I've been going pretty hard so after seeing the time I decide to just get some more sleep than normal tonight.

Chapter 69

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JAN 3 Saturday.

It's early morning right now and Entropy just finished moving us through the void. We only did a single round trip today instead of two as I want her to still have a good amount of magic for tests.

I held off from testing her new abilities yesterday so I could catch up on several other things, and I also don't have work today so I can focus on this. I feed both of us and I sit down with Entropy in the main room with a notebook. I bring over an empty pot and place it by my window so it casts a single shadow.

I also have a bowl of small pieces of meat, that Entropy's been eyeing the entire time. "Ok girl, try and go into that shadow." She tilts her head and looks at the pot's shadow, after a few moments she walks over and touches the shadow before merging into it.

"Ok, now come out." She does so and looks at me expectantly. I chuckle at her, smart bird knows I give her treats for this. I throw a small piece of meat into the air next to her, she catches it out of the air and gobbles it down. I move the pot away and pick a leaf off of the Iron Oak.

I place it in the same spot. "Again." She moves over to the leaf inspecting it, she then moves a talon into the leaf's shadow and once again melds into it. It seems the size of the shadow doesn't matter. "Stay there for a moment girl." I wait several minutes before picking up the leaf.

Its shadow is now a few feet away. "Ok come on out girl." She emerges from the shadow again. She can leave the shadow even if it's moved, I take another note while rewarding her. The next test I move over the pot again and have her hold the leaf.

She once again touches the shadow before melding into it. I think it's safe to say she needs physical contact with the shadow. She moves into the shadow but the leaf doesn't move with her, it seems she can't bring things with her. I take a note and test this same thing several more times to be sure.

It ends the same way every time, she can't move other things with her into the shadows. Another thing I notice is the fact that she doesn't seem tired yet, I add a note for that and continue. The next step is having her meld into my shadow, and walk around for a while.

She just stays in there for a while as I work on a few other things, sometimes her shadow is on mine and sometimes it's not. Seems she can control that, another note is added. When she leaves my shadow she still doesn't look tired. The next test is simple, I have two shadows connected and ask her to enter one and leave the other.

She does this easily. Next, I move us into my bedroom, I close the door and use a blanket to block out any light from the gaps in the doorway. I can't see anything but have her stand on my back and then ask her to move into my shadow. A moment later I feel her disappear from my back.

I wait a few moments and then move the blanket before leaving the room. Before asking her to come out, she does so. Seems she can stay inside my shadow even in darkness. How does one move into a shadow that isn't there? Maybe shadow magic is the wrong word for this, it acts more like darkness in general.

I again make a note of this. Next test, I have Entropy return to my shadow and ask her to teleport us to the other side of the room. But after a few minutes, nothing happens. I then ask her to just teleport herself, and after a moment she appears outside of a shadow nearby.

Having her inhabit my shadow doesn't get around her not being able to move things through shadows. The next test is the same but I ask her to teleport to another shadow, and she does. She stays inside the shadow, she moved without needing to leave the shadows.

I ask her to move back to my shadow, and she does. I have her stay there and sit down to start meditating. I try to feel the space around me for anything out of the ordinary, but after several minutes I feel nothing occupying my shadow. Whatever this is doesn't mess with space as far as I can tell.

I know she still takes some form of, different form inside a shadow as she can still talk and even move around the shadow. So if she's not messing with space then it's more likely she's becoming a shadow, that does raise some concern in me as I don't know what will happen if a shadow vanishes.

But she can also teleport to other shadows so I don't think she's in too much danger. I can only think of one other big test, how long can she stay as a shadow? And from what I've seen I'm not sure if there is a limit, but it's best to test it regardless.

So I asked her to just stay inside my shadow for a while and continue on with my day. She doesn't seem to mind staying in there so I'll just let her stay until she wants out. I start working on something new, to explain I'll have to go over a few things.

While researching ambient magic I came across something that is considered one of the greatest mysteries of magic. Ambient magic is categorized into affinity ambient magic, and neutral ambient magic, let's start with affinity magic.

Affinity magic comes from anything in this world that causes magic to change its form. Take fire affinity magic, for example, it can come from a being with that affinity or anything that is related like a wildfire and a volcano. This same thing applies to all affinities.

The process of converting that magic can take endless forms. I'm not sure why but I think it's some combination of belief from sentient beings or the odd and vague rules of magic. However it happens, when magic becomes a certain affinity it slowly fades back into neutral magic or is used up by something in the environment.

This means that without a source any affinity magic will run out. But it's different for neutral magic, this is where the mystery comes in. All throughout the world there is a set density of neutral magic in any and all areas, it's never more or less than that just the same everywhere.

And nopony knows why. This is why my gems can all gather magic at the same time in a small space, once they absorb some magic it's replaced by more to keep its density the same, the best way I can describe this is if you teleported a ball of water away while being underwater.

The second that water vanishes more flows in to replace it. The only way to overcome this and store more magic than that base is with a medium to bind that magic to, gems, living things, any anything else capable of holding magic.

They also do collect some magic from many affinities but that's basically nothing compared to the amount of neutral magic. This also lets me do something interesting, I walk into my workroom and sit down to start my work.

I start with the linking spell, it's not too complex to cast but it is very delicate and can break very easily. So not being in any rush I slowly work my way through the spell over the next few hours. The spell does several things but at a base level, it just moves magic.

But it's also not the best at this, it's a simple spell but that also makes it a little inefficient at what it does. A rare example of a spell being simpler making it worse. I added a new rune on top of the old one and even doubled the amount of math.

I've modified the spell to move more magic in a more stable flow while making it possible to roughly adjust the amount of magic moving through it. It's not perfect though, it costs more magic to use and upkeep while also being more complex to cast. After I double-check the spell I can move to my next step.

I grab four Steel wood cubes and a medium ruby. I enchant all of them to hold and gather magic before linking all of the Steel wood cubes to the ruby. I activate the links and wait, I've used enough of these to roughly know how long this should take.

While waiting I spend my time copying the Companion Vine. It's slow and tedious but I push through and keep going over the next few hours. I stopped several times to check on the ruby while also checking the time and taking notes. It was faster but not to the degree you'd expect.

The Steel wood can only slowly gather magic so the effect is roughly five percent per Steel wood cube, but that's just my best guess. I can't make many of those cubes very fast so while this is helpful I'd need more magic to grow more Steel wood to make anything truly impressive.

Still being able to recharge gems faster without using more gems is nice. I check on Entropy, it takes a few attempts for her to respond, when she comes out she's fine but gives me an annoyed look. It took me a moment before I realized she was probably sleeping and that I just woke her up by calling her name.

"Sorry for waking you girl, I'm just checking that you're ok. You can go back in there to sleep if you like?" I offer and after a moment she does so, melding back into my shadow. I take another note that she can sleep in my shadow. I spend a while checking that the new linking spell works fine before leaving my workroom.

I want to go out so I tell Entropy to not leave my shadow unless I ask her to, I get a small chirp from her in response. I take that as a positive and put on my necklace and bracelet along with my saddlebags and cloak before leaving my apartment. I still have a few hours of daylight left so I have some time.

I don't need anything right now, but I feel like going somewhere. I go to a small cafe I haven't been to in a while. I walk in and find a nice place to sit, and not long after a mare walks over to me. "What can I get you?"

I want to treat myself a little so after taking another look at the menu I order. "A piece of cherry cake and some lemon tea." I don't eat cake often and it would be a nice treat.

"Sure it'll be right out." And a minute later I have a slice of cake and a cup of tea placed in front of me. I take out my sketchbook and start to draw as I enjoy my treat. I spend a little while here even getting a refill on my tea before leaving. When I do go outside it's near the end of the day.

And considering what happened last time I was out at night I hurried home. I get home just fine and spend a moment taking everything off. I have Entropy leave my shadow and let her free. She spent a total of nine hours in my shadow without any problems.

She's done a lot today so after a quick trip through the void I start making her food, I give her a bigger meal than normal. I also make a smaller meal for myself. While eating I start organizing my notes on the tests I had Entropy do, and I must say this is a very odd form of magic.

At its base, she seems to be converting her body into some form of non-physical magic construct. I have no idea how but it is very useful for me. She seems to be able to stay in my shadow as long as she likes, I could have her with me at all times from now on.

I probably won't though, she needs her own time to have fun. But it's still nice to have a better way to hide her when we move around. After I finish with my notes I start practicing again with my space sensing. It's still getting easier to sense space but I don't think I'm ready to try unlocking my space affinity.

After the sun sets and I get tired I move into my workroom and drain my magic into a growing Steel wood piece before heading to bed.

Chapter 70

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JAN 10 Saturday.

It's the dawn of a new day and I'm spending it like always, breakfast and a trip through the void. Once we're done I walk over to my workroom and start breeding plants again.

I've been breeding two things for the most part, my crossbreed vine and the special Moon Glow. The new vine has been progressing well but it needs a lot of work, it's now more stable and its glow has improved a little.

The special Moon Glow that has glowing leaves has been going better, its leaves have gotten brighter and its flowers are the brightest I have now.

Today I want to try to breed this new vine with the special Moon Glow. I don't really expect much to happen as both plants are very different, I try breeding them several times but I don't even get a viable seed from them. After many attempts, I stop and start thinking about a different way to go about this.

I breed them again while trying to force my will on the plants, I use a lot more magic than normal into it trying to bypass this roadblock, and after a while, a few seeds grow. That single attempt took almost half my magic for four seeds, so I took them and started planting them.

They also take more magic to grow than other seeds, and sadly none of them grow well. I was able to force the plants to breed successfully, but all the resulting plants were not very good. One lost almost all of its glow, another was barely able to live, and all of them were failures.

It seems that while I can force the plants to breed the resulting seeds are still random. I decompose all the useless plants and the two starting plants. Using this method would take far too much magic, so I'll just shelve this for a while. I move onto my next piece of work.

I've thought about a few things that could help other ponies and came up with something very small but useful. Let me ask, how much time do you think different sales ponies spend counting bits? On a pony-by-pony basis probably not much, but add that all together and it adds up.

So I want to make something very simple, a bit counter. I start with the spell, which should only need a few things. Bits are a controlled currency and have a standard weight and size, I want the spell to weigh and count bits. I could try to weigh a bit, but why do that when I could just find the information?

Seems it's time for a quick trip to the library. I just take my saddlebags and leave Entropy at home, It's a quick walk to get there and after looking for a while I find two books. It's not information that's hard to find and after making a few notes and double-checking it I get up to leave.

As I'm walking out I see a pony I haven't seen in a few months. Shining Armor was at a clerk's desk checking out a book, and he saw me. I also have to check out two books so I need to go to that desk. :Well, fuck: Honestly after this many run-ins with him I'm not that panicked anymore.

I just try to act like nothing is out of place and walk over with my books. Shining is a good guard from what I remember, and him being in Celestia's guard despite his age proves that. So I'm going to handle this the same way an uncle of mine would.

I've mentioned this uncle before, he was in the military for nearly three decades. And I never really knew what he did because he never talked about it. That man didn't get disrespected, why? Because he was the type of guy to take shit from NO ONE.

I spent a decent amount of time around him, and I think it's time to drag out some of what I learned while watching him. Shining the first to speak as the clerk checks his book. "Hey Shade. It's been a long time, how have you been?" I can tell that something is off about him but ignore it.

I smile at him. "Ya, it's been a while. I've been just fine, you?" I'm better than him at keeping my mask. I've had to stare down Celestia several times, I can bluff my way past a young guard. I also let my guard down a little as my bracelet didn't react after several seconds.

He gives a small smile back. "I've been doing well." I can see him warring with himself for several moments before he speaks again. "Hey, do you mind if I ask about som- ."

He doesn't get to finish as I cut him off. "Not here," I say in a tone I've learned from my uncle. It's dry, blunt, and no-nonsense. He just stares quietly at me as I check out both of my books and start walking towards the doors. "Do you have anything you need to do for a while?"

I relax my tone somewhat while asking this. "No, not for a while. Why?" He asks this while putting on a bracelet of his own.

"You have questions and I don't want to answer them where I work. So do you what to take a trip to the park?" He's silent for several moments after I ask this, he moves his bracelet again before nodding.

"Ok, lead the way." He says this in a more relaxed way than before. I make a mental note of that but start walking with him to the park. On the way I stopped at a cart and got us both a treat, I got some type of sweet bun, and he got a plain donut. When we do reach the park we find a bench to sit at.

It's much like the first time we met. It's also at this point where I start questioning whether it's even a good idea to talk to him about anything. But having his trust could help in a few ways as knowing somepony high ranking in the guard could prove very useful.

And to be blunt I need more competent ponies I can trust. I rather not dive head-first into the main cast, but a few ponies like Shining could prove vital. I turned to him after several seconds of silence, "Well we both know you saw me that day, so what do you want to know?"

I leave my question open-ended to give me room. He stares at me for a few more seconds before answering. "What am I allowed to know?" I smile at him. Shining works as a guard in the palace, so it's not much of a surprise that he'd ask this.

"Well, I can safely say that it doesn't involve anypony getting hurt or being in trouble of any kind and that I have a biweekly meeting with the princess." He just stares at me for a moment before sighing.

"Getting a straight answer out of you isn't going to be easy is it?" He says this with a tired look.

"Nope, talking to me will get you little. Also, you seem rather defeated, mind if I ask why?" He did drop his mask rather fast.

He just gives me the same tired look for a moment. "I'm where I am in the guard both for experience and for them to teach me more. Two of my trainers have been riding me hard recently." He cuts off there abruptly.

"I won't ask why, but I will give you my sympathy, I train with an older guard trainer myself so I know the pain of a hard trainer." This is honest, Stone never goes easy on me and always expects better. Not that I mind.

He looks at me a little surprised before getting this odd look on his face. "What's the name of the pony training you? If you don't mind me asking." He adds that second part as an afterthought a moment later.

"Stone Mace." I only get his name out before his face shifts to one of full shock.

"How did you pull that off? So many guards request him as a private trainer but he rejects almost all of them, even I got rejected." He says with a baffled tone.

And I'm equally confused for a moment. But it does make some sense, Stone has been a very good trainer to me this entire time, and I can see other ponies wanting that. It's also nice to know I met Stone's high standards. "I ran into him by accident, he offered and I accepted."

I keep my answer short, and he realizes he's not getting more from me, "Of course, how else? Well, what can you tell me?"

"I like tea." He gives me a deadpan look while I smile back at him. "I work for the princess in a certain capacity, I won't say more than that but I can guess you'll see me at the palace more. I also ask that you don't tell others about any of this." This whole time I've wanted to answer him enough to satisfy his curiosity.

If he thinks he knows the answers he won't go looking. He now knows I work for the princess and for many ponies that's enough. His face shifts again to something more upbeat. "I'm a guard and legally we can't say anything about our work in the palace or anything related to that work, to unrelated parties. I can only talk about this with you because you were involved."

I didn't know that, but it is useful. "Not that I would even if I could, this isn't my business, it's just another thing I can't talk about." I see a bit of myself in those words, I guess we both have things we can't talk about to those we care for. I take the last bite of my bun and finish eating it.

"If it makes you feel any better you are not alone in that. Well, it's been nice talking but I do need to get home." I stand up from the bench.

He nods. "Well, thanks for answering what you could, even if you decided to be vague about it. Have a good day Shade." He's gained a little smile.

"Thanks for the talk, it was nice, also say sorry again to your dam for me." I walk away before he can ask what I mean. He doesn't come after me and just watches me leave while shaking his head a little and muttering something about crazy colts. I get a good distance before chuckling over the whole event.

He seemed more relaxed after our conversation, I hope I can talk to him more. Maybe while at the palace? Maybe.

Overall I think that went well, I thoroughly confused him while also answering him. It helps that he legally can't talk about this, I make a note to look up those laws later. I walk back home and enter my apartment later than I planned. After feeding Entropy I head into my workroom.

This information wasn't hard to find. I feel like this just gives others information to try and counterfeit some bits, but I also think that they would probably have a few ways to check if a bit is fake or not. But that's not relevant to me, this whole project is just to help merchants and their customers trade faster.

I continue my work on the new spell. I use a bit's weight and size as a base with a tiny amount of wiggle room on both sides, as most bits are probably a tiny bit different from each other. This spell should be very simple to use, enchant it into a flat stable object and activate it, with something to give it magic.

Then the spell will scan above itself and count all bits it can find before giving an output. The scanning part of this spell will take the most magic. But the scan will be for one thing specific so it's less complex than my other scanning spells. I work well into the night working on the specific parts of the spell.

When I stop I have a decent amount of the spell complete, it still needs a lot of work but I should be able to finish it before me and Celestia meet again. I leave my workroom and make myself some food while feeding Entropy some snacks. After a quick shower, I just head to bed.

I climb into my bed and get comfortable as Entropy merges into my shadow. "You want to sleep in there?"

"Good." I guess so then, I snuggle into my blankets before drifting off to sleep.

Chapter 71

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JAN 14 Wednesday.

It's the end of my workday and I'm at home waiting for my meeting, I told Stone I wouldn't be training with him last week. I just told him that I had something to do at work.

Right now I'm double-checking my newest invention. It's a small flat piece of wood several inches wide and long, with a small sapphire to provide magic. It's simple to use, you just place bits on it and a small illusion will tell you how many there are.

The spell scans anything above the small wood plate for anything that matches the weight and size of a bit. Most of my time was testing, it can also count bits inside bags or containers. It's not the most useful to smaller sellers but for bigger transactions, it should speed things up.

I also expect many to not really trust this invention for a while, but I think it will see use after some time using it. But none of that really involves me as I won't be doing more than inventing it. I still have some time before I have to leave so I just do some chores.

I take care of my plants and Entropy's needs, and then I just spend some time carving wood. Right now I'm working on a model of Entropy while in mid-flight, it's far from done as I'm still learning how to carve feathers properly. The book Celestia gave me has information on how to carve several things.

Feathers are delicate to carve as they are both thin and detail-intensive. I'm using a piece of Chestnut wood for this so I have to be more careful than when I work with Iron Wood, but I'm slowly improving as I go. I stop for a moment as I see a flash of flame in my main room.

Philomena appears in a small shower of flames that disappear immediately after. I look over to her as she lands next to Entropy on her perch. I look up at her as she holds a letter in her beak, "Hello Philomena nice to see you." I grow and pick a Juniper berry to trade her.

She drops the letter and catches the berry I throw at her, Entropy watches this and then looks at me expectantly, I just smile and do the same for her. I open the letter, and it's just a confirmation of the time of our meeting, I fold the letter and keep it with me, I'll need it to get inside the palace.

Philomena doesn't leave right away and instead just starts resting next to Entropy on her perch, Entropy just stares at Philomena for a moment before doing the same. I continue with my carving, slowly cutting out small pieces of wood, I slowly carve out a single feather before moving on to the next one.

This model is several inches across and is going well so far, I hope I don't break it before I finish it. I spend a while longer working on it before checking the time, it's still a little early to leave so I find a book to read. This is one of those books I bought a while back at the auction.

It's just a story novel and not a very good one at that, but it keeps my interest long enough. When it's time I get up and watch as Philomena leaves in another flash of flame. "Hey girl, you remember the plan?" Entropy opens her eyes and looks at me for a moment before flying over to me and landing on my back.

"Ok then, let's get going, we have some revenge to reap." She doesn't answer me and just melds into my shadow as I put on my saddlebags and jewelry, I leave my cloak as it's not snowing right now. I walk out into the street and start making my way through the city.

The snow has lessened a lot and by the end of the month, it will all be gone. I see some guards pass me as I walk uphill into the upper city, I've seen more of them patrolling recently. I don't think much of it though, it's probably just a robbery, even if those are rare they do still happen.

It doesn't take me long to reach the gates, after showing them the letter I got earlier, I'm led to my meeting. I enter the room and bow as always before sitting down with Celestia. "Hello Celestia," I say to her while getting comfortable.

She smiles. "It's good to see you again Shade. How have you been? Anything of interest happened since our last meeting?"

"Straight to it then?" She gives me a nod. "Well I've been doing well, and I have two things for you." First I pass over a report on the progress I've made with the B.L.P spell, it's not long and basically just tells her how long I think it will take along with a few other small bits of information.

After she's done she moves the papers to the side and looks back at me. I pass her another small stack of papers, these have all the information she'll need to know about what I've nicknamed the Bit Counter. Then I placed the one I made on the table and slid it over to her.

Her smile grows as she reads through the papers. "This is very well done, I can think of several ponies who will find this useful." She looked back at me once she was done reading. "I must once again thank you for the work you've done. And the work you've given me." She says that last part in a teasing tone.

"Stop accepting things I give you, you should know by now it's just a trap to give you more work." I tease back at her. Her smile stays and she moves the papers and bit counter to the side.

"Well if nothing else I'm happy you've been busy. Where is Entropy? You mentioned you were bringing her." She asks.

I just smile and wait for my plan to unfold. Me and Entropy had a plan, and considering how smart Entropy is I hope she remembers. After a moment of me just smiling silently Entropy starts, and from Celestia's own shadow, we both hear a voice. "Move."

Celestia's head snaps down in surprise and she starts looking around her, but she finds nothing. "Out." This time Entropy's voice comes from the stack of papers to her left. She picks them up with a confused face, nothing is under them.

She looks at me thoroughly confused. "Where are you?" She asks this in a curious and happy tone while casting some type of scanning spell. I can't hold it in anymore and start chuckling, Celestia's waits until I'm done before giving me an expecting look.

Once I stop I answer her. "Come on out girl, I think you've earned that treat I promised you." Entropy shifts out from the shadow of my teacup and stands on the table with a proud look.

She watches Entropy closely as she emerges from the shadow. She looks surprised for a moment, "When did this happen?"

"Just after the new year, she basically did the same thing to me. I'm not sure how she learned how though. We've tested several things and it's an interesting ability. It seems what you found was accurate in some way."

"It seems so. Do you mind if I take some notes on a few suggestions and ideas?"

"I'd love that." She pulls a piece of paper from somewhere and starts taking notes. Celestia is a curious pony just like me, then again if you live that long you would need to be curious to not go insane from boredom.

I feed Entropy a small piece of fish while she takes her notes. Philomena is sitting on a perch in the room and sees me giving Entropy something, she flies right over to the table and lands next to Entropy. I think for a moment before turning to Celestia. "Hey, can Philomena eat meat?"

I don't know the diet of a phoenix so I thought it best to ask. She stops for a moment to look back at me, "I've offered a few times but she doesn't always take it, she prefers fruit and nuts" She goes back to her notes. Instead of giving Philomena meat I take a small bag out of my saddlebags.

I only brought two small pieces of fish for Entropy, but I also brought some berries with me when I went outside with Entropy. I give the second piece of fish to Entropy and offer several berries to Philomena, she takes them happily. She eats all of them in only a few seconds and I spend a while scratching her feathers.

She didn't let me pet her for the first few meetings, but I kept giving her treats and now she lets me pet her. Her feathers have an odd feeling to them, it's like holding your hoof over boiling water in the steam. It isn't warm enough to hurt me and feels nice, it gives a nice warm that takes away any cold from the waning winter.

My second hoof is occupied a second later by Entropy also demanding scratches. I pet them both for a while, when Philomena was done she decided to find a better spot to sit, after a flap of her wings she landed on top of my head before sitting down.

I just look up at her as she looks back down at me, I chuckle and let her have her fun. When Celestia finishes she looks back up to see me scratching Entropy while Philomena sits on my head. She holds it in for a second before chuckling at my situation.

"It seems Philomena has really gotten to trust you, I'm glad as she doesn't always trust others even after interacting with them for a while." She silently passes me the notes she made. I take a moment to look through the few pages she wrote. In very neat and elegant writing she's taken about three pages of notes.

They are mostly about theories and suggestions of different things to test, most of those tests are things I've already done. But a few suggestions are things I didn't think of. Can Entropy move through glass in a shadow? What effect does a shadow being distorted by things like water have? Along with a few other suggestions.

"Do you mind if I copy this?" she nods while petting Entropy who moved over to her after I stopped giving her attention. I take out some paper and cast the copy spell on her notes twice, I put away the first copy and take out a quill to start adding a few things to the second copy.

I use the back sides of the papers to answer what questions I can, it takes several minutes to finish before passing the edited notes and her original notes back to her. "Thank you, there are a few things in there that I missed. I added anything that I did test." I wait again as she reads my added notes.

"Also, how has the whole Vail Winter thing going." I've heard the name mentioned a few times at the library over the past few months.

"I have mail for you." I nearly groan as she moves several letters over to me. Every time we meet she gives me any mail Vail Winter gets. I haven't answered most of them as most are just me being invited to different events.

The few I did answer were mostly invites that were too important to ignore, so I just politely declined them, claiming that I'm too busy with work for the crown. I got many letters the first month or so, but after that, it calmed down to only three or five every time me and Celestia meet.

But we haven't met in a while now so I have more than normal. I start going through them and see a few that are nothing new to me, I do find one from a noble family for a party of some kind. I write them a polite letter declining their invitation and move on.

Most of the other letters are uninteresting to me, but one does catch my interest. It's a student, I don't recognize their name, but they are writing me for extra credit. They can get a little extra credit if they write to a known inventor, and she decided to write to me.

I'm not sure what to do with this, so I decided to just send back a list of book recommendations to study and leave it at that. Once I'm done I turn back to Celestia who's put away the notes and is now just drinking some tea. I pass her both letters.

After she takes them I ask her a question. "When was the last time you've played a game?"

She turns to me before thinking for a while. "I'm not sure, it's been a while now though. What type of game?"

I smile and take out a wooden box from my saddlebags. "A friend got me this and I thought you might enjoy something fun to do." I unfold the box to reveal my new stone chess set.

She smiles again. "I'd love that, it's been far too long since I've last played." I see her smile and realize that I just challenged a thousand-year-old pony to a chess match. Needless to say, I didn't win a single one of our games.

Chapter 72

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FEB 1 Sunday.

It's a new month, and the last of the winter snow is gone as spring has started. That also comes with more rain but I don't mind that at all. Right now I'm relaxing in my main room while carving Entropy's wooden copy, it's seen some good progress over the last two weeks.

I have to be very careful with it so it will take a while to complete. I do this while thinking over another problem I have, I have two weeks vacation to use and I'm not sure where to go yet. I have a few ideas but would need to plan them out more.

I could visit another pony city or take a trip to another country nearby, but I only have two weeks to travel and it takes time to move from place to place. So I need to pick the right place to go to still have fun with my trip.

The best way to travel is by train, the train network in Equestria is extensive and can take you to most cities quickly. I was able to find a decent map of the train network and have been looking for a good place to go. I still have a month and a half until I need to decide so I'm not in a rush.

I clean up the wood shavings on the floor and move my unfinished carving, and tools into the workroom before starting work on my plants. I take out the vine I've been breeding and start the process by planting its seeds. The vine is still unnamed but I've thought of a few.

Sun Vine, Sky Vine, Star Vine. This vine still has glowing flowers and can grow much higher than the Solar Vine, so something that references its glow and ability to grow so tall. It's not hard to grow, it's a fast-growing plant so it doesn't need much magic to grow enough to make seeds.

I can go through quite a few generations every time I sit down to do this. It can grow large enough for my needs now, so I'm now focusing on its ability to absorb solar magic, but that is going to slow this down by a large amount. I don't have a way to measure their ability to do this so I have to test each one.

I've been taking three of them each the same size and leaving them by my window each day to collect light. Then I take the one that holds its light the longest and brightest, this has been slowing down my breeding of the plants by a large amount so this project will take a while to complete.

When I'm almost out of magic I collect seeds from them before decomposing the plants. I still want to breed more plants so I go make some tea to recover my magic faster, when I have my tea I sit down with my selectively bred Juniper bush.

I spend the next two hours just learning the magical flows of the Juniper berry to take away a lot of the cost from breeding it. The main reason my plant breeding has had such an increase in speed is that I've gotten better at memorizing those magical flows.

And my magic capacity is still slowly growing, but it's mostly the former. After I have a decent understanding of the Juniper bush I start breeding them. I can get through many more generations faster than the last time I bred them, so I can change them faster.

But even with the new speed it will still take a few weeks to make really big changes to the plant. To be honest I don't have much of a reason to breed the Juniper bush, but I want to see how large I can get the berries to grow, while still having the plant grow without my assistance.

Right now the berries are three times their original size and I want to see how far I can push that. I spend another hour just breeding and decomposing plant after plant while checking for the best ones. Once I'm out of magic again I move on from plant breeding.

I put everything away and take a break for a while, I sit in my main room and start reading a book. This book is about the effect that different magical plants can have on ponies, and it has a decent description of Poison Joke. This plant is odd even by this world's standards.

Because of its unpredictable effects, it's illegal to own or grow, and I can see why. The plant's effects aren't too hard to reverse but they can still be dangerous. If it changes your body to a significant degree it can cause a few bad conditions. It may not be the most dangerous plant but it's definitely up there.

I keep reading through the book for a while before standing up. I don't have anything else to work on so I just ask Entropy if she wants to go out with me, she just stays on her perch and closes her eyes again. I shrug and put on my things before leaving my apartment.

I don't have anything in mind so I just wander the streets for a while and explore the area, I also make sure to not enter secluded areas. As I walk I find a few interesting things, mostly different guild buildings and a few interesting businesses.

I find a small discount bookshop near a street corner and decided to check it out. As I enter the small building I'm met with the familiar smell of dusty paper and still air. It's not a large shop with only a few rows of bookshelves that go back deeper. I see an old mare at the desk who's reading a book.

They look up at me as I enter. "If you need anything just ask. Or you can look around." The mare says in a calm and quiet voice.

"Thank you, I'll just look around for now." She goes back to her book and I start looking through a few books. The shop goes further back than it looks. As I walk further back the books get more dusty the further I go, and when I reach the back of the shop I need to take out my light to see the books well enough to read them.

A lot of the books I saw near the front were popular and well-known books, but back here I see many that are less common. I find a few journals and even someponies old tax documents, I keep looking through the shelves trying to find anything of interest.

I spend an hour just looking through dusty shelves for anything that might be useful, but in the end, I only find three books that I want. The first is about plants that grow well in the cold and a few methods to tend and farm them. The second is about insects and their uses in various industries and products.

It's not the most useful but the book is written in Griffin so I thought it would at least be interesting. The third book is the most interesting out of them all. It's about runes, it's a small collection of recorded runes from over two hundred years ago, it's hard to find any collection of runes let alone one this old.

But I can also see why nopony ever read through it thoroughly, the first two-thirds is a journal that is about a pony's mundane life. Only after you get past that will you find badly written notes about different runes, it's also degraded to a good degree at this point.

Most would just think the book is damaged and even if they did read it I think they would stop after a few pages of badly written, rambling, boring text. But I work with old books all day long, I know the difference between a book damaged from use and a book damaged by age.

That is what drew my attention to this book, it is very old. And while the writing is bad, what it contains is useful and accurate information on several runes. Several of these runes I recognize and their runic context is correct and accurate, so it's likely that the runes I don't recognize are also correct.

And this book has several runes I don't recognize at all, and a few seem really useful to me. I take all three books and carefully move them to the front desk. I approach the front desk and place the books down, "How much for these?"

The old mare looks over them for a moment. "Thirty bits for these two, the last one barely looks usable so I'll sell it for five bits." That's about right for discount books, I pass her the bits and carefully put the books away before stepping out into the street.

When I arrive home I take everything off of me and carefully move the damaged book into my workroom. This book is in bad shape and it's best if I copy it quickly before I lose any knowledge it may contain. I can't risk taking apart the book's binding in its condition so I have to copy the pages one by one.

I focus on the runes first and start copying them over, the writing is not good and this part of the book is more damaged. I even find a few pages suffering from slight water damage, somehow, after I copy every rune I start on the other text.

At this point, it's been drilled into my brain to preserve books, even if it's just a journal from a long-dead pony. This book isn't large so after a few hours I'm done with the book, I don't have a binder so I just make a copy of the parts about runes and tie the full version together before placing it to the side.

I wrap the original book in some cloth and place it on a shelf, I'll probably give it to the library. I take the copied pages and start looking through the runes in detail. There are several that I recognize, but some of them are odd. A rune for blue light, it's specified to be blue in the runic context.

One rune shows some promise. A rune for silence, I haven't found a rune for this before and I can think of several uses for it. A rune for life, this rune has some odd context and the notes on it are unclear on its uses. But even if it does work I don't think it will work well as it is not very well made.

Runes are only as good as the context and the knowledge used in making it. The next rune is for the sun, and it's borderline useless, there are other runes for this and this one is so weak it is also useless to me. I keep looking through the pages and add the runes to my collection as I go.

Once I'm done I want to try one of these runes. I take one of my two remaining small sapphires and start working on it. I enchant it to hold magic and start on my idea. I take the rune for silence I found and start forming it into a spell matrix, what I'm making is not complex so after only one hour I'm done.

I place the sapphire on the floor and activate the enchantments. A small invisible zone forms three feet around the gem. I pick up a piece of Steel wood and throw it into the zone and watch as it hits the floor without making a sound. I test several things to see how well it works.

I even move my head into the field, it's odd to have all ambient sound just stop. Absolute silence is something few get to experience, I wouldn't recommend it. I was able to overpower the enchantment with a loud enough sound, I slammed two pieces of metal together.

Even then the sound was much quieter than it should have been. Once I've had my fun I put the gem away and go back to the main room to read the other two books I found.

Chapter 73

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FEB 12 Thursday.

I copy another page as I translate more text from the book I'm working on. It's been five weeks since I temporarily took over for Ruby and I'm chugging along just fine. I look through the next page and read through it for a while before I start translating it, once the page is done I copy it and move on to the next one.

After I finish the book I check the time and get up to leave the library, I'm done with my shift. It doesn't take me long to get home and go about my chores, feeding Entropy and tending to all my plants.

Once I'm done I walk into my workroom and sit down at my desk, I have a rune I want to play around with more. The spell I made a week ago is useful but I want to make a few variations of the spell I made. I start by modifying the spell I already have to stick to something and move with it.

This is more complex as I don't intend for it to be an enchantment but a spell to cast on myself. I have a good base to work with and this spell isn't the most complex, but it still takes me two hours to get it right. When it's done I test something before casting it.

I gently stomp my hoof on the wood floor and listen to the thump, I draw out the matrix and cast the spell on myself. Once the spell is done I stomp my hoof again and this time I hear nothing. I stomp on the floor several more times each time with more force until I hear a noise.

It takes more force than I thought it would to make any noise with my hooves. The spell is very simple, it just forms a silenced area around my hooves to keep them quiet. This does have a few downsides first, it's a spell made to be cast on a pony.

It would take a good amount of modification to make it usable as an enchantment. Second, it takes more magic than I'd like as I needed to add two more runes to have it form only around my hooves and form an area to affect not just my hooves but also a small zone around them.

This spell will be perfect for stealth, not that I have much use for that kind of stealth, at least not yet. I move on to my next idea for this rune, this will be an enchantment with a few small modifications to the original spell. The changes are so small that it doesn't take me more than an hour to finish.

The main change is to limit the effect to only the border of the invisible bubble. This will block all sound from the outside and inside at the same time. While testing it I got another idea and added another small change, I made it only block sound from the outside and not the inside.

I set the zone to only three feet and enchant it into the same small sapphire that I used last time. I test it by activating it and throwing things inside the area of effect. They land and I can clearly hear them hit the floor, I place my head inside and throw something outside, but I hear nothing.

I weaken the spell's effects so that it just dampens all noise but doesn't get rid of it entirely. The small sapphire I'm using for this is overkill for such a weak spell and a very small sapphire or ruby, like the ones on my bracelet, would be enough to keep this enchantment active indefinitely.

This would make it really cheap, which is good for my idea. I add one last thing to the spell before I start optimizing it, I add a very weak illusion to give a very transparent look to the bubble so you can actually see it. Once that's done I spend the next two hours just improving the spell.

I'm making something that all parents would thank me for. In the city, or a lot of other situations, a foal could lose sleep from there being too much noise around them. But with this spell, you can leave a small gem near a sleeping foal to block out all unwanted noise while still being able to hear the foal if they cry out for you.

This should help many tired parents finally get some sleep. I can think of a few other spells that do this but all of them are too complex for small gems. And the best part is that because this spell is so easy and weak I don't need to include the runic context in the spell's instructions.

Whenever I give something to Celestia I normally include the runic context to make the enchantments and spell more efficient for those casting it or enchanting objects with the spell. But this is so weak that even without the context it would basically make no real difference.

The reason I'm not giving out the runic context is that this rune can be used for some less-than-legal things in the wrong hands. I rather not risk it, so they won't be getting the context, they could still use the rune but this will make it much harder to do.

And if they had another way to find it then me including the context or not doesn't make much of a difference. I copy the spell matrix and its single rune onto some paper along with a description of how the spell works and a few things to test before releasing it to the public.

I disenchanted the gem I was using and returned it to a shelf before leaving my workroom. I walk out and see that it's fairly late at night, I have Entropy take us to the forest and back once before asking her to bring the latter to the palace. She does so and vanishes for a minute before returning.

After that, I make both of us a late dinner and take a shower before heading to bed.

time skip

FEB 14 Saturday.

It's the weekend and I'm spending my time working on a few hobbies while training and preparing for a few other things. Right now I'm waiting for my magic to refill by practicing my space sensing. I've gotten to the point where I can slowly move my forelegs while still maintaining my concentration.

It's still hard but I'm making progress. After my magic refills, I go back to copying the Companion Vines's magical flows. The green flows of magic wrap around my body as I form my life magic into the right ebbs and flows, this has also seen progress.

The magic I gain is still less than what I expend, but It's to a lesser degree than before. I stay in that position for the next three hours trying my best to keep it all stable and working correctly. I have to make sure that the flows don't move into the wrong position.

I have to form them in the correct construct without letting them stray off. I feel a flow shift as my attention shifts away to something else, the thing that distracted me is Philomena teleporting into my apartment in a flash of flame. She lands next to me and offers a letter in her beak. I take it and give her a berry before she leaves, I open the letter.

Dear Shade. Thank you for yet again adding more work to my schedule. Jokes aside, this is a very useful invention that many will find a great relief. I noticed that the runic context is not included and after looking over the spell I agree that it's probably for the best that it stays that way.

Beyond that I hope you'll have a good trip, please remember to be careful and keep Entropy with you. Remember to find a guard if you need help.

Signed Celestia.

This letter is in response to me planning out my trip. I've decided to travel to a medium-sized pony city called New Trotten. It's a smaller coastal city with several shipping routes and a fishing industry, I picked this city as it's on the larger size of cities while not being one of the large cities.

And it has a higher population of Griffins than any other city in Equestria, it has several things to do and the best part is how fast I can get there. It's primarily a trade city so it has several train routes there and by train, it would only take me one day to get there.

I would leave in the morning and arrive after dark. It's about the same distance I traveled to Ilinalta from here, so it won't take long for me to arrive, giving me plenty of time to enjoy my trip. I've booked my trip for the twenty-first and informed both Daisy and Celestia of my plans to take a vacation.

I only told Celestia about my plans to travel and where I'm going, just in case anything happens, but I very much plan to stay out of trouble while there as I rather not stress while on my vacation. I had to sign a few forms Daisy gave me yesterday, and I'll be doing a little more work so it's not too backlogged when I return.

I hope it's like last time, a calming and quiet trip, then again the bear incident last year was not that quiet or calming. Regardless I'm excited to see some new sights and hopefully, find a few interesting plants and books to take home with me.

I leave on the twenty-first but my vacation starts on the twenty-third to give me two extra days off, Blaz recommended I do this as many at the library also do this to give them some extra time. I'll be returning on March eighth and go back to work the next day.

I plan to take Entropy with me, she'll probably spend a lot of that time either in my shadow or under an illusion. I have a few things I need to prepare for my trip and the first is a safe way to carry my bits with me. I need to bring a good amount if I want to buy things and pay my expenses.

So I need to keep that safe from both thieves and my own potential incompetence. And I'm not entirely sure how to go about this in a good way, the best idea I've found so far is to enchant my saddlebags in some way to make them more durable or secure.

The cloth that makes up my saddlebags is fairly durable so I should be able to enchant it, even if its effect is weak. I stand up and let the magic around me disperse as I walk into my workroom with my saddlebags. I take out my rune notebook and start looking through it to find a rune to work with.

I flip through several pages and note down a few runes on some loose paper as I compile different potential runes. I then start looking through these rune’s context looking for one that would fit my needs the best. When I'm done I'm left with a single rune that should be perfect.

A rune for locking. I can't get very fancy with how weak I need to make this but I now have a good idea of how to go about this. I start on a very basic spell to keep anything it's used on locked and closed as best the spell can with how weak it will be. When I'm done I grab my saddlebags and start enchanting them.

The saddlebags have several pockets with metal buttons to keep them closed as I walk. I enchant a specific metal button to activate or deactivate the main enchantment when tapped two times. Then I enchant the saddlebags to keep all the pockets locked closed.

I link the enchantments and try it, I activate the enchantment and try to open a pocket. I can't open it with a gentle pull so I keep using more force. It doesn't take much to force it open, anypony could force it open but I would feel it if they did it while I'm wearing my saddlebags.

It should get me to notice if anypony tries to take anything from me without my notice. Once I'm done testing it I turn the enchantment off and head to my main room to continue my practice.

Chapter 74

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FEB 21 Saturday.

I started double-checking my things to make sure I didn't miss anything I may need on my trip.

My cloak, my small dagger, some berry seeds, my flask, and a bag with a good amount of bits for shopping and expenses. I can go to a bank in New Trotten to get more if need be, but that will cut into my time. And finally, my newly enchanted saddlebags that I will carry my things in.

I pack everything I just stated, and a few other small things I might need before checking the time. It's very early and the sun won't be up for a while yet. I gently wake Entropy up with a shake, she opens her eyes and looks at me, "Sorry to wake you girl but we need to go. You can keep sleeping in my shadow."

She gives me a small caw and melds into my shadow, I put on my saddlebags and leave into the dark streets. My train will arrive just after dawn and the train station is a decent walk away. I take out my cloak and put it on as a light rain starts falling around me.

After some time walking, I approached the train station, I saw a pair of guards walking down the street in the opposite direction as me. "Sir, can I speak to you for a moment?" As I'm passing the guards one of them stops me with a question. I've seen them patrolling more than normal and rather not cause a scene before my trip even starts.

I lower my hood and look at both of them. "Sure, what do you need?" I remain calm and respectful as I look at them.

I see the other guard relax a little at my friendly answer. One of them moves a piece of paper over to me, "We've been looking for information on this pony, do you recognize them?"

I move closer and look at the picture properly for a few moments. It's a unicorn drawn without color, I decide to answer honestly. "Nope, I don't recognize them. Do you mind if I ask why you're looking for them?"

The guard nods and puts away the piece of paper. "Thank you for your time. And they are a suspect we are looking for, if you see them please contact a guard. Have a good day sir." After that, they both continue their patrol down the street. I guess that partly answers my question.

I wonder what they did to get the guards so riled up? Well if the guards are looking for information and not the pony themself then I can at least guess they aren't in the city anymore. I move those thoughts to the side as I arrive at the train station and enter the building.

My train won't arrive for a while longer so I just sit down at a bench near a light, I take out the sketchbook I brought with me and spend some time drawing in it. After a while I see sunlight start streaming in through the windows as Celestia raises the sun once again.

My train arrives several minutes later. I stand up and find my ticket before moving over to a desk, a few other ponies doing the same. This early train still has other passengers and more will come before we depart, I have to wait for a few other ponies to go first but a short while later I'm moving to my train.

I enter and walk along it until I find a section with several private compartments to sit in. These are on a first come first serve basis, I pick one in the middle and open it before getting comfortable inside. I sit down and have Entropy leave my shadow before casting an illusion spell on her.

Just to be safe I dump almost all of my magic into the spell so it should last for the entire train ride. I take out the only reading book I brought with me, a text on medical knowledge. I brought it because it's a long read and will give me something to do on the train ride.

As I settle in for the ride through the window I see ponies start to fill the train, and hear them moving around outside my compartment through the thin walls. After a while, I need to use the bathroom and leave Entropy to watch over my things while I'm gone. After some wondering I find a bathroom and do my business before heading back to my compartment.

As I walk back I remind myself of the two new rules I'm following while on this trip. One, don't use my field in front of others. Canterlot is mostly unicorns so not many question odd bits of magic, but others that are less used to that, will be more likely to ask about it, and I rather not deal with that so unless I'm alone I won't use my field.

The other is smaller. I'll be calling Entropy, Shadow whenever others I don't know ask about her. It's a small thing but it's for the best that I don't stand out more than I already do.

As I enter the train section that I'm in I hear raised voices not far away. I don't pay it much mind as I get closer to my compartment, when I do get there I see a compartment door several doors down open, a Griffin is pushed out and I can now hear the voices clearly.

I can now tell that the voices are speaking in Griffin, I see another Griffin come near the open door and throw a satchel to the Griffin on the floor, some of its contents scattering on the floor. "Stay out of our compartment, you're not welcome" The other Griffin looks back while grabbing their satchel.

"That's not what you said earlier, at the train station you said I was welcome to sit with you all." The voice that answers back is surprisingly calm about the whole situation and sounds more tired than angry or annoyed.

The other Griffin also with a male voice seems to get angrier at their response. "I won't have a soft beak like you sitting with us. now STAY OUT!!" They slam the compartment door shut after that.

Two things both shock and piss me off about what I just saw happen. Soft beak is an insult used by Griffins and it's basically like calling someone a weak bitch, which in and of itself is uncalled for in a public space even if most beings around you can't understand what you're saying.

The other reason that this is making me angry is I'm pretty sure I know why they called the other Griffin this Griffin that. The Griffin that was thrown out is now standing upright and is picking up the things that fell out of their satchel when it was thrown. And it's easy for me to see that they are missing a limb.

Their left forelimb stops abruptly halfway down and has a scar at its end. Insulting someone with a disability is a great way to make me fucking angry, it's something I can't stand.

One of my best and only friends in my past life was treated like this for missing a leg. He would never get angry over stuff like this, so I would for him. And I've had to tell off more than one asshole for things like this, and that part of me is still very much there.

It's one of the few things that can and will make me violent. I steam in that anger for a moment before deciding to focus on something of more importance in this situation. With my mind made up I start walking over to the Griffin.

I reach out a hoof and pick up a small bag that fell on the floor several feet away from them before walking up to them. They turn to me as I approach them, "Here this fell out." I hold it out for them with a calm face and relaxed posture.

They look at me for a moment before reaching out and taking the small bag that makes clinking noises as it moves. "Thank you." They say in a voice that has a less-than-happy undertone, not that I blame them for using that tone after what just happened.

I nod to him. "I heard what happened. Do you need a place to sit, my compartment is still half empty?" I make the offer while motioning behind me.

They stare me up and down for several moments and seem to be thinking it over for a while, I wait patiently as they decide. After a few more moments they give me a slow and reserved nod, "Sure that would be nice, thanks again."

I give him a small smile. "No problem." I turn around and walk back over to my compartment before opening the door. The compartment has two benches on either side with a small table in the middle, I sit with my things and Entropy on the left side.

The Griffin enters behind me, they look around the compartment for a moment, they spot Entropy before closing the door behind them and sitting on the opposite side from me. I don't ask them anything about what happened and just go back to reading my book. We sit in silence for several minutes before they speak.

They clear their throat and I drop my book and look at them. "If you don't mind me asking, why did you help me?" They ask this in a cautious tone. I can see their eyes flicker to where their limb should be for a moment.

I decided to give him a direct answer as most Griffins seem to prefer that. "I heard and understood what happened and there is no situation where what they did was ok. So I decided to lend some help." I say all of this in perfect Griffin to prove my point.

They look stunned for a moment before looking embarrassed about the situation. "Sorry you had to hear that." They respond in a quieter voice.

"You have nothing to apologize for, they do. Even if you started that situation, which I doubt you did, they shouldn't have resorted to insults or force." I say this in a tone of voice that shows that I meant what I said without any room for argument.

He once again seemed a little stunned at my statement. He goes quiet for a few more moments, "Thank you, again. My name is Avalon, it's nice to meet you." They try to not so subtly change the subject. I take a moment to get a good look at him.

He mainly has brown feathers with a few light red ones mixed in. His eyes are a light rose red, with the feathers around his head being a deeper red than his other feathers. After looking him over and decided to just let the subject go and introduce myself.

"My name is Shade, nice to meet you too. and like I said it's no problem, and if you need help just ask." I offer while putting back the medical book in my saddlebag and taking out my sketchbook.

They nod and look over to Entropy who's decided to demand scratches from me. I reach down and give her what she wants, "What's their name?" Avalon asks while looking at Entropy.

I lie without a second thought, "Her name is Shadow, she's nice. Just don't touch her, she doesn't like when others do that." He nods and keeps looking Entropy over for a few moments.

"Would you mind if I draw her?" he asks with a slightly nervous tone. I don't mind at all and give him a nod while starting to draw in my sketchbook. Avalon takes out his own book to draw in and holds it in his lap while holding a quill in his talons. I decided to do the same as him and continue to work on a drawing of Entropy I haven't finished yet.

We spend the next two hours in almost complete silence while we both draw. When he stops I do the same and look up to him, "Would you like to compare?" I ask in a friendly tone while smiling at him. He looks a little uncomfortable and I'm about to apologize to him for overstepping my bounds when he holds the open book out to me.

I gently take it and pass him my sketchbook while looking at his drawing. I'm a little blown away by what I see, despite only drawing for two hours, his drawing has an amazing amount of detail to it and is beautifully done. I have to stop myself from turning a page to see what else he's made and just pass the book back to him.

"That is very well done for how much time you had, are you an artist for a living?" He looks bashful at my compliments and gives me back my sketchbook.

"T-thanks, it's not really the best. And no I'm not an artist just a courier. Yours is well done, and." He seems to catch himself and stops.

"And what? If you're offering some advice I would be glad to have it, not many have the kind of skill you have." He's almost blushing when I say that and stays silent again, I just patiently wait for him to respond. I've meant every word I've said to him, drawing with one limb would be hard enough but to have that kind of skill while having one limb is just impressive.

"W-well since you asked. You should use a different kind of quill, the one you use is not the best for small details." I listen intently as he starts to talk about different things I can do to improve my drawings, he gets more and more passionate as he goes. And I settle in for a long drawing lesson with a smile on my face.

Chapter 75

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FEB 21 Saturday.

I'm drawing another sketch of Entropy while Avalon gives me different pieces of advice and small instructions. Turns out that Avalon very much likes art in many forms, but his favorite seems to be simple drawings and sketches.

Avalon is a quiet and calm Griffin and seems like a nice person overall. I draw another line and look back up to him as he draws in his own book. It's still several hours until we arrive so I might as well attempt some small talk. "We still have a long ride until we arrive, do you have any good stories?"

He looks back up to me. He seems now much more relaxed than when he first sat down with me and has opened up more than any other Griffin I've met so far, he seems to defy his nature in that way. "Well, I do have one about a delivery I had a while back."

"Oh ya, you did mention you were a Courier. What's that like?" I changed the subject slightly out of curiosity.

"I work for contract hire, it basically means I'm independent of any organization and can be hired by anyone. And it's fine, I mostly move small delicate things as they are easy and can pay decently. Back to the story, a month or two ago I was contracted to deliver some documents."

"They needed them to be moved fast and while I'm not that fast on land I consider myself to be a good flyer. I was contracted to move them in two days as they were important and time-sensitive. And I got it there in time, but the pony I was supposed to deliver them to wasn't there when I arrived."

I listen to his story with a smile on my face. "Turns out the pony that I was supposed to deliver to was fired by some other pony that wanted their job and got them fired somehow."

"Why?" I ask him.

He shrugs. "I asked another employee there and they just started talking about some feud between them over some past incident. But this is where things get fun. The contract I signed was for some important documents for this business, and it specifically said I could only deliver the documents to the pony working there."

I start to see where he's going with this. "So when I arrived and they weren't there I couldn't give it to the new pony or I could get heavily fined for a breach of contract. But that's not my job and after some less than pleasant back and forth between me and the new pony in charge.

"He just lost it a little after I mentioned the other pony's name and that I had something for them. Full-on screaming at me that they didn't work there anymore and that I wasn't needed there. So I did just that and left without delivering the documents."

"The contract told me what to do if I couldn't fulfill my delivery. It's standard practice in most contracts like this to return the package to the sender in situations like this, so I did just that and left the same day. When I got back my employers were losing their minds over what happened."

"Turns out the document I was delivering was for a trade document, it needed to be signed before they could buy out a new business in that area before word got out and their competitors noticed the same opportunity, and that new company got a better offer."

"The new business was a small smithy that invented a new slightly cheaper way to smelt iron, it mostly just saves fuel. But when that pony refused to let me deliver my package to the pony stated in the contract they lost the opportunity and got into a bidding war over ownership of the small company."

"They ended up paying a lot more than the original offer to acquire that business. And I was contracted to take another document to that pony not long after, it was a letter telling me they were fired from his new job." Avalon chuckles as he ends the story.

I chuckle along with him. "That's just a mess, do you have things like that happen often?"

He shakes his head. "Thankfully no. That was probably the worst reaction I've gotten from someone getting a delivery."

"Probably for the best that it stays that way. So are you delivering something now?"

He again shakes his head. "I'm heading to New Trotten to pick something up that needs to be moved, and after that, it's back home. Where are you going?"

"I'm on vacation for the next two weeks and decided to take a trip to New Trotten. Where is home for you? I myself have lived in Canterlot for my whole life." I start with where I live to sound less noisy.

"Same, I've lived in Canterlot for two years now. It's a wonderful city, the only problem I have is all the questions." He stops abruptly at that and looks a little odd, I think he was relaxed enough to let that slip out by accident.

He stops for a moment and looks back at his missing arm. "Why haven't you asked yet?" He seems to realize he said that out loud a second after he said it. "S-sorry that came out wrong. It's just that most ask about it and you haven't even after a few hours."

I just smile at him. "I had a friend that was missing a limb when I was younger. And while he never let it show I know he didn't want to talk about it when others asked. So no I didn't ask, and I won't be asking anytime soon."

He gives me a thankful look. "Thanks not many do that." He stops talking after that and goes back to drawing in his book. I do the same for a moment before a thought strikes me, why doesn't he have a prosthetic? After flipping ahead through the medical book I brought until I found a small section on prosthetics.

I read through it for a while and saw that it's not the most informative. The answer is mostly that ponies don't need prosthetics much, as while it's not easy it's not too hard to reattach limbs with healing magic. But over all this seems to be yet another thing that is underdeveloped in Equestria.

My mind won't let this stand, so I find my notebook and start thinking of ideas on how I can make or improve prosthetics. I start writing down different runes and spell matrices while thinking of different rune combinations or spells that could help. As I'm doing this I don't notice Avalon staring at me.

"What are you working on?" He asks. I jumped a little at his voice as I was sucked into my work. I look at him and think of the best way to explain this. And just decide to down play what I was doing while still being honest.

"I study and practice runic magic, and I had an idea a moment ago. I was just making some notes and writing down a few ideas on some things to research later." He looks intrigued.

"Runic magic? I've heard a bit about that, it's a type of magic non-unicorns can use right?"

I move my hoof in a half-and-half gesture. "Yes and no, it's not often used but those that do are mostly Earth ponies and Pegasi. But all beings have magic and with enough practice can use runic magic, even you could use it."

"Wait, I could use magic?" He asks while looking confused.

I nod. "Well, yes. You'd need to learn how and you'd probably have less magic to work with than a pony, but you'd still be able to use a lot of simple spells." I give him an example by quickly drawing out a basic light spell matrix in front of him and casting it to form a small ball of light in the air.

"Wow." That's all he says as he looks mesmerized by the small light. After a moment he looks at me with a surprisingly determined look on his face and a certain look in his eyes, "How could I learn to use magic?" He nearly demands of me. I guess I've sparked something in him.

"There are a few ways, but before you start there are a few things I should warn you about." I start writing something out as I continue speaking. "All magic can be dangerous if used improperly, so no matter what you decide on I caution you to be careful and double check everything as you go."

"With that out of the way let's start with this." I pass him a page of paper I ripped out of my notebook, it's filled with several math questions. "Magic is mostly three things. First, will, you need to have enough will to control your magic to do as you want. Second, you need magic. And third, you need the knowledge to use magic."

He looks down at the page confused. "And what does math have to do with this?"

"Magic spells are made from two things. Runes to give the spell complex and widespread instructions, and math to give the spell structure and more specific instructions. If you can solve those questions it will give me a good idea of what books to recommend to you."

"Also I noticed that you seem really interested in magic, why?"

He gives me the same look he had when he was talking about art. "I've seen it a lot, and it's always interested me. But now that I know I can use it I really want to try and learn how. Also, thanks for the help, again." That last part is said in a more reserved way.

"No problem, it's just nice to see someone excited to learn about runic magic." We lapse back into silence as he works on the questions and I continue working on my ideas. It takes him almost two hours to finish the thirty questions on the page. When he passes it back to me I start reading it.

He got a surprising amount of them right, even a few of the ones I didn't expect him to be able to answer. Seeing that he has at least some potential with the mathematics side of magic I start writing a list of books for him. When I'm done I rip out another page and hand it to him.

"This is a list of books to start with, you can find all of them at the city library in Canterlot. I recommend you start at the top of this list and work your way down. A few of the early ones might seem simple but they have several things that are important to learn."

He looks over the list and looks back at me. "Thanks, I know I've been saying that a lot but I mean it."

I smile at him again. "And like I said before, it's no problem. Just make sure you stay safe and don't ignore the warning in those books, many ponies make that mistake and while weak spells are safe to fail stronger ones can lead to some less than pleasant situations."

He gives me a firm nod. "I promise." He goes back to reading through the list after that and I go back to my work. We spend the rest of the train ride in silence with a few small conversations. When the train does eventually arrive I start gathering my things and preparing to leave.

When I have everything ready I turn to Avalon. "Thanks for the story and keeping me company through the ride. Oh, and the drawing advice." I pretend to forget that last part just to see him smile about it when I bring it up again.

He nods and stands up next to me. "It's no trouble. And thank you for all the help you've given me, even a lot of ponies aren't as helpful as you have been. Here." He passes me a small piece of paper. "That's my mail address. If you ever need something moved I'd be happy to do so." He smiles at me while I take the piece of paper.

I smile back before taking a small piece of paper and writing down the address used for my apartment building. If he sends anything there it will just be sorted into my mailbox without him knowing what room I live in. "And here, if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm more than willing. Have a good day Avalon."

"Same to you Shade, and I hope you have a good vacation." We both leave the compartment and make our way off the train before separating to go our own ways. I look around the busy train station and move towards the exit, I walk out onto an equally busy street.

I smile as I look around. Seems I have a new city to explore.

Chapter 76

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FEB 21 Saturday.

The first thing I do after leaving the train station is to find a place to stay the night as it's already near the end of the day. Before that, I found a public restroom and had Entropy move into my shadow, the spell I cast on her was almost over. After that, I started looking around the area for a place to stay.

New Trotten is a decently big destination for travelers so there are many places to stay. I found an inn not long into my search but decided to look for someplace closer to the ocean. I haven't been to the ocean in over two decades and it would be nice to spend some time there.

It takes me a while to reach that part of the city and find a place to stay. This inn is smaller in size and also a little more rundown then others, but it's also got the right feel to it. It's called the Salty Pony, by magic these names. I ignore it and walk inside the inn while looking around.

The place is what you would expect. A room filled with tables, and ponies eating while having fun. A bar on the back wall with a pony serving drinks and talking with others. It's got a down-to-earth feel and in my opinion, it is much better than the other inns tourists go to.

Their sign said they had rooms but I couldn't see any other ponies beyond the bartender and a few waiters, so I just decided to walk over to the bar counter and wait a while for the bartender to come over to me. I don't have to wait long as the mare bartender comes over to me.

"If you need food, ask for one of the waiters, I only have drinks." They say in a bored tone. I guess she thinks I'm just here to eat, well I am but that's not the point.

"I'll probably get some food, but first two questions. Do you have a spare room? And are pets allowed?" She looks me up and down with a close eye for a moment before nodding.

"Small pets are fine, just keep them under control. And we do have a few rooms free, ten bits a night without meals, and eight more bits every night you rent after the first night." I nod and use a little force to force open my saddlebags and take out my bit bag. Including tonight, I'll be staying here for sixteen nights, so I passed them a total of one-hundred and thirty bits.

I have to count them out one by one which takes a few minutes, I really hope the bit counter catches on soon, this is just painful. The mare raises her brow as I go and looks quite happy by the time I'm done. "That should be enough for the next sixteen nights."

She nods and takes the bits, she moves a key out from under the counter and over to me. "I hope you enjoy your stay." I nod again and leave them to their work. I walk out of the inn for a few minutes to find another restroom, it's harder to find one on this side of the city but I do find one after a little searching.

I wake Entropy and have her leave my shadow before casting an illusion spell over her. Then with her on my back, I walk back into the inn and sit at a table. It doesn't take long for a pony to walk over to me, "What do you need?"

"A serving of whatever you recommend, and some fruit for my little friend." Entropy perks up at the mention of food and moves off of me and onto the tabletop.

They nod and write it down. "Some potato soup and bread, with some fruit." They walk off and I take out my sketchbook to draw as I wait, not long after the same pony places two bowls and some bread on the table. One is filled with some diced fruit that Entropy starts eating as soon as it's on the table, and the other is filled with hot soup.

I eat the bowl of soup, it's well seasoned and cooked, and it also goes very well with the bread. When we are done I walk through a hallway on one side of the inn and pass several doors before finding the room number that matches my key. I close the door behind me and lock it before looking around the room. It's just a bed and a small desk, but that's all I need.

I take off my cloak and saddlebags before sitting at the desk to continue working on a few ideas I have. While I may not have done much today I've been awake for far too long at this point, so after two hours of notetaking and brainstorming ideas I have Entropy merge into my shadow before heading to bed.

FEB 22 Sunday.

I slowly open my eyes as I look around the room. I do some basic exercises, but keep it light, before casting the illusion spell on Entropy and leaving my room. After locking the door I walk into the large room and sit down at a table to get both me and Entropy some breakfast before we leave the inn.

I wander the streets for a while with Entropy in my shadow before finding a guard. I ask them for directions to somewhere I can buy a map, and they bluntly give me those directions. I follow the directions and see the streets start to fill with more and more ponies and griffins as I get close to the markets.

The streets are filled with mostly ponies, but there are also a lot of griffins walking around, much more than I've seen before. I walk around a street corner and see familiar rows of stalls and the sounds of a bustling market. I walk through the markets looking for a place to buy a map.

I want a decent map of the city so I don't have to ask for directions all the time or get lost. This city gets a good amount of visitors so finding a stall that sells maps doesn't take me too long. I bought two maps, one that shows most of the important business, and another that shows a more detailed layout of the streets and buildings.

Maybe I should work on improving maps? Thoughts for later. I start walking towards the side of the city that connects to the sea. I haven't seen the ocean since I was twelve in my past life, that was a long time ago. Since when did I start reminiscing about my life?

Then again if I add my lives together I'd be thirty-two years old, some days it feels like my last life was an old dream. I shake my head and focus on enjoying the nice day, I make it to the beach and step hoof in the sand for the first time in a long time. I simply enjoy the feeling for a while before continuing.

As I walk I watch the waves form and crash onto beach sands. The last time I saw a view like this was when I was a kid on a cross-country trip to a cousin's wedding. I hope they are still doing well, I shake my head again and continue walking down the beach.

I walk up to the ocean before something important occurs to me, I don't know how to swim. I never learned how to do that in this body, I think for a moment before deciding to not go swimming today. So I lay down in the sand and took out my sketchbook to start drawing.

I spent a while drawing the sea and watching other ponies swim in the water. I chose to observe to learn how they swim through observation, I still won't go swimming right now but it's good to see how others do it.

When I'm done with my basic drawing I get up and clean off any sand on me before leaving the beach and walking back through the city streets again. This time I'm not looking for market stalls but shops, specifically plant shops. Coastal areas can have many types of useful plants that I wouldn't mind adding to my collection.

The map I bought has a few listed and I decided to visit them all. Two hours of walking later my decision turns out to be less than effective. Out of the five shops listed, three of them were just flower shops, and another sold only decorative plants. The only slightly useful shop was the last one. It mostly sold normal plants but did have one thing that I wanted, Salty Seaweed. This plant is very similar to normal Seaweed but with a few twists.

The name comes from this plant's ability to absorb a lot of salt into its own leaves and stem, this makes it hard and unpleasant for many sea creatures to try and eat the plant, giving it a good defense against being eaten.

In fact, the plant can absorb and store so much salt that it's a viable way to harvest salt, it's also used in several different popular dishes. But this also leads to it being overharvested by many, and because of that it can be hard to harvest any large amount of it at any given time.

The plant also has two other properties that interest me, it can survive in freshwater, although it does have some difficulty with that. It can form small salt crystals on its stem if it lives long enough in an environment with enough salt to absorb.

I bought a small bottle with the plant in it, it's not doing that well inside and probably wouldn't live that long if I didn't give it life magic. This plant doesn't have much use to me, but like my other plants, I can breed its abilities into something I can make use of.

I plan to just grow some seeds later and dispose of the plant afterwards. Once I'm done with plant shopping I start looking around for other things to do, and after a little searching, I find a small cafe advertising free board games to use. I have nothing better to do so I walk inside.

It's nicely decorated and filled with several ponies sitting around and playing games or talking to each other. I find an empty table and sit down, I wait for somepony to take my order, and a griffin walks over to me with a notepad not long after.

"What can I get you? And will you need chess pieces?" I'm about to answer their first question but stop as I hear the second question. :Chess pieces?: I'm confused by their question and they seemed to have noticed. They just point down at the table with a talon, and I notice that the table has a chessboard built into it.

I just chuckle to myself for a moment before answering. "A cup of green tea and some cookies, please. And yes I'd like the chess pieces." They nod and write down my order before leaving. It's a little odd seeing so many griffins around, maybe I should use my language skills a little more? Why not?

Not long after they leave the griffin returns with a small box that has all the chess pieces inside it. "Your things will be out soon." I nod my thanks and entertain myself by setting up the chessboard while I wait. I decided to use the white pieces and set the other side up with the black pieces.

After a few minutes, the griffin places my drink and a plate with cookies on the table. "Thanks." I pay them and they nod before walking off to tend to other customers. I sip my tea and enjoy a cookie while taking out my notebook to work on a few things as I wait.

Prosthetics are hard to make for several reasons. The main reason is simply the fact that there are so many different limbs that could be missing, even just griffins and ponies add so many different limbs. And you'd need a different type of Prosthetic for every type of limb in several different sizes, and that's a tall order, even with the crown's resources.

Magic could provide several ways around this problem, but I don't think I have the skills for something that advanced yet. Making a single prosthetic may be possible for me, but I don't have much of a reason to make one right now. I'll keep looking into this but probably shelve it for a later date.

I keep working through several math problems to form a few different matrix’s and spells. I eat a few cookies and finish my tea by the time somepony sits down across from me, I put away my book and look at who sat down with me.

An old griffin with a scar across the left side of their face stares back at me, I examine them a bit. They looked male but it can be a little hard to tell with Griffins, they also have a slightly intimidating presence to them. They remind me of Stone in a few ways, they sit up straight and wear an unreadable expression.

After examining them I speak up. "Black goes first." I think they seem like the type that doesn't talk much, and that guess was proven right when they moved a pawn without saying anything in response.

I ask for a refill on my tea as we play chess in silence, neither of us say a word as we play out our game. They are a good opponent but after a long drawn-out game that I barely win through a little luck on my part. I look back up to them, "Checkmate." They study the board for a few moments before looking up to meet my eyes.

"Hm, not bad." After saying that they finished the drink they got and stood up from our table before walking out of the cafe. Well that was definitely something, I double-checked my bracelet and necklace, and both are working fine. I finish my cookies and tea before paying and leaving the cafe, I walk through the streets making my way back to the inn.

Chapter 77

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FEB 25 Wednesday.

It's been a few days since I arrived in New Trotten and been having a good time. I've spent that time eating at several restaurants and shopping, I've even found a few interesting things to keep.

A very well-made sculpture of a small island that is painted to look accurate. A wooden mug made from maple with metal rings to hold it together. Several types of seasonings that I haven't come across before. And finally, a small envelope opener that looks like a small sword, it even has a tiny sheath.

Right now I'm walking to the beach for something I found yesterday while wandering. I found a flier advertising swimming lessons, they are apparently a popular thing. That didn't make much sense to me for a while, but then I once again realized that these are ponies not humans.

Humans consider swimming to be a skill that most need to learn, but there are a few outliers to that. But overall most humans know how to swim and do so a lot throughout their life, it's not the same for ponies.

As a pony, we aren't as good at swimming as a human and from what I've seen many just never learn to swim at all. To be fair not many have a reason to learn, ponies on the coast teach their foals to swim but ponies from inland don't bother doing it that much.

This also varies depending on the subspecies, not many pegasi learn to swim as wet feathers can be less than fun. So most who learn to swim are unicorns and earth ponies. As a result of many not knowing how to swim, many choose to take lessons while visiting a coastal city, and I've decided to do the same.

The practice starts at ten am and is at a calmer part of the beach, anypony can show up and pay them ten bits to learn with everypony else. I have Entropy in my shadow and am walking to the meeting place. I look around the city as I walk.

Most of the buildings have a more open design to them than Canterlot. The buildings here are taller and further apart. This lets many pegasi and griffins fly around with more ease, and also leaves more room for balconies. All of this gives New Trotten the city a much less cramped feeling than Canterlot.

Another difference is what the buildings are made of. In Canterlot the buildings are mostly stone and wood, but here the buildings are made from brick and mortar. I near the beach and start following a path for a while before seeing a sign on a post in the sand.

It's another advertisement for swimming lessons. I walk over to a decent-sized group of ponies and wait with them until it's ten am, twenty minutes later a pony gets our attention. "Hello everypony and welcome. If you're here to learn please form a line and talk to one of the ponies that are wearing the same vest as me."

They are wearing a white and red vest that stands out, I walk over to a forming line and once again wait for a while. After I get to the front I pay them ten bits and wait until everypony else finishes. The next two hours after that are fairly boring overall and mostly consist of me slowly learning the basics of swimming as a pony.

I had to take a shower afterwards, I was a very salty pony by the time I was done. It wasn't very hard to learn to swim but I'll need more practice to let that knowledge set in. It was a little past noon by the time I was done so I started thinking about what to do next.

I think about what to do as I once again wander the city streets looking for anything that catches my interest. After some wandering I see something that wasn't marked on my map, it's a smaller street filled on both sides with market stalls and ponies walking around shopping.

I looked through my map again but couldn't find anything about this street or its market, so I decided to just take a look around the market and see what they had. And what I find is both amazing and a little worrying, this is a gray market. I'll need to give some context to explain that.

Crime is not anywhere near as common in Equestria then anywhere in my last world, but it does still exist. And by far the most common form of that small amount of crime in Equestria is gray markets. They sell a lot of things that aren't really illegal, but are also not truly legal.

A good example is herbs, some are illegal to sell, but only because they can be dangerous if used improperly. Why would the crown allow this? Well getting rid of all crime is simply not possible, and the next best thing to that is controlling that crime.

Illegal markets will never go away as long as there are things ponies can't buy in regular markets. If you tried to get rid of these markets they would just hide better and be harder to find and control. So instead the crown lets a small and controllable amount of illegal markets so it's easy to keep them under proper watch and control.

Doing this lets the crown pick off any truly dangerous crime while getting help from other criminals. Why? If you were a gray market seller, you and you aren't doing anything the crown would really care about. But if another pony in the same market starts doing really illegal things then it would be in your best interest to tip off the guard.

The end result is a self-limiting illegal market that keeps major crime to a minimum while still being something the crown can keep under control. To be blunt, this is all in a controlled mess that could properly only function under the guidance and planning of an immortal.

I double-checked my knife and put on my cloak before entering the street. There are a few things that I could find while here so as I walk I pay close attention to what others are selling. I keep to myself and don't draw attention as I shop, but I don't have to be too careful.

Places like this are normally open secrets to the local communities, I've seen at least two ponies that give me the same feeling as guards and carry themselves in the same way. I walk through the streets looking at what they have to offer, a lot of what is here are items of dubious origin.

Most of these things aren't illegal to own or sell, but that just means the sellers probably got them through less than legal means. A few things I do recognize as illegal are around, but none of them interest me. Honestly, this place is less illegal than I thought it would be.

The atmosphere is much lighter than you'd think, and a lot of ponies seem to just treat this like any other market. Around half of the griffins and ponies here don't even hide their face from view. Seeing the way this place operates I take my time looking through various stalls.

I have to fight my paranoia a little to not make me act too careful, that would just draw more attention to me. I found a stall selling herbs of various types along with different remedies. I look through the labels of a few remedies for a few moments, but wrinkle my nose and stop after I see a bottle labeled, Male Enhancement.

I just keep to the different herbs and find an interesting herb that I buy before moving on to other stalls. I stop at another stall selling enchanted objects and start looking through them. They have a few things you'd expect to see here, including one of the water flasks I invented.

It's probably here because it was stolen or some other reason. I keep looking through the objects before finding one of interest to me and buying it. I continue through the market but don't find anything else of interest to me, so after reaching the other end of the street I walk away and start heading back to the inn.

I take off my cloak in yet another restroom and let Entropy ride on me under an illusion before entering the inn. I got us some lunch before heading into my room. I found two things that have shown some interest to me. I start by taking out the herb I got and placing it on the small desk in my room.

I recognized this herb and thought I might have some use for it. Spine Leaf is a small plant with very sharp needles on the ends of its leaves. And It's not even an illegal herb, It's needles can be used as a seasoning, but not many like the taste, and because of that very few ponies sell them so it can be hard to find.

The needles are said to have a unique taste and are sometimes used as a seasoning for different dishes. I only bought a few needles but I still feel a little life magic left in them. I've never tried to grow a plant from an almost dead leaf, but it's worth a try if nothing else.

I don't have any soil or pot, so that's the first thing I need to solve. I leave Entropy in the room, I walk out of the inn with a small glass bottle I had free, and start walking down the street. There are still a few hours of daylight left so I decide to do something fun before continuing with this.

I give it some thought and start walking to the cafe I went to a few days ago. They had good tea and snacks, plus I wouldn't mind having some fun with a game or two. When I arrive and enter the building I look around and I'm slightly surprised to see someone I recognize.

The same old griffin from last time was playing a game of chess with a pony while drinking some tea. I order some tea and a pastry before sitting at the same table as the old griffin. He turns to me and gives me a small nod, which I return, before going back to his game.

The other pony playing against him is not doing very well and doesn't seem happy about it. They aren't as quiet as us and even let out a few quiet curses when they badly lose the game, they leave right after that and walk out of the cafe. I move and sit down opposite the old griffin and start setting up the game.

"White goes first." His deep and dry voice calls out white I'm moving the pieces. I nod and set up the white pieces on his side before sitting back to relax and enjoy my tea. He doesn't talk again after that and we start our game, it doesn't go as well for me this time.

While we play I take some time to get a better look at this old griffin. His feathers are a mix of coal black, and deep ash grays. His eyes are a light yellow, and his talons have a stone-gray look to them. Honestly seeing someone so darkly colored is a little odd, even most other griffins I've seen weren't this darkly colored.

Our first game ended with me losing badly due to a mistake I made at the beginning of the game. But our second game is much more evenly matched, it ends in a draw as we both only have our kings left on the board. I look up to him while finishing off my tea, "Not bad."

He looks up after I say that and locks eyes with me. His face hasn't changed this entire time, but now I see it change very slightly to what I think is a humorous expression. "Not many give me a challenge. Phelix." He holds out a talon to me.

I smile a little and shake his talon with my hoof, "Shade." He nods before standing up and walking out of the cafe. I check the time and decide to do the same as it's getting near the end of the day. While walking back to the inn I look around for any loose soil, It doesn't take me long to find a tree planted on a street corner.

I make sure nopony is looking and fill the bottle with soil before walking back to my room at the inn. I sit at the desk again and start thinking about how I want to try this, after some thought I just decide to try something. But I only have three leaves so I do need to be careful.

I start by taking one of the needles and sticking it in the soil. I focus and start dumping life magic into the needle while trying my best to force the magic to grow roots on a part of this plant not normally able to do that. It takes a full minute of focus to succeed, I watch through the glass bottle as a few small roots grow downwards.

Next, I cut off the needle and grow the plant from its new roots. I watch as a new plant is grown from the roots and steadily takes form. Once it's big enough I use more magic to grow some seeds and harvest them before testing if they are viable.

I take out the first plant but keep it intact before planting a seed and giving it life magic. It grows in short order and I decompose both plants to make room for more tests. I take the second needle and cut it in half before trying to grow it the same way I did before.

The first time it took two, maybe three times the magic it took to fully grow the plant from a seed. I repeat the process and roughly compare them. The second test with half a needle took five to six times more magic than using a seed, to make the same fully grown plant.

I cut the last needle and only used one-fifth of the needle, like the others, this one also becomes a fully grown plant, but it took much more magic than the others. It seems that I can grow a full plant from any plant matter as long as that matter is still alive, but it also takes increasing amounts of magic depending on how small of a sample I'm working with.

I bought this plant for two reasons. First, I'm curious about how it tastes and I always like new seasoning. Second, the plant's needles are very sharp and fairly sturdy for their small size, I see some potential in selectively breeding these needles for other uses.

I open my notebook and settle it to start writing down Ideas while studying the plant in front of me.

Chapter 78

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FEB 28 Saturday.

I feel the cold water wash over me as I scrub out all the salt and sand from my coat and mane. I just got out of the ocean water and had some fun swimming around for a while. I've been going for a swim every day since I learned how to.

After I'm done I start walking back to the inn. I eat an early and hardy lunch before going to my room and sitting down at the small desk. Today I want to work on something I found at the gray market a few days ago, a small dagger made from iron enchanted to be covered in frost.

Its enchantment isn't that strong, but it has a unique property. Frost doesn't just cover the blade, it also imparts a small amount of frost into whatever you cut with it. The effect for both is weak and wouldn't do much, but I'm more interested in what runes were used to accomplish this.

I start with a spell I haven't used much before. The spell forms a copy of whatever enchantment you cast it on, this lets you study the enchantment. But it's a fairly complex spell that takes a good amount of magic to cast the spell for an extended amount of time.

After drawing out the matrix I cast the spell on the dagger and watch as a matrix forms in front of me. Along with another matrix that gathers magic, that I can ignore. I start writing down and copying everything so I don't have to keep powering the spell, it takes twenty minutes to finish. After I'm finished I let the spell dissolve and start going over what I copied.

The spell that was enchanted into this dagger is interesting, and the runes used in the spell are even more interesting. Out of the four used I recognize two of them, but the other two I don't really know that well. One I recognize as a modified rune for frost that I've come across before.

But the other is completely unknown to me. Its base structure isn't similar to any other rune I can remember off the top of my head, but I can't be sure without my other notebooks. It does share a few traits with other runes but that's not enough to know what this one could be, I'll have to research this rune more when I get back to Canterlot.

Not having anything else to work on I settle for just organizing anything I did learn and writing it all down. Once I'm done I put everything away and walk out of my room after locking the door behind me. Entropy is on my back and today I have two new places to visit.

While on a walk through the city yesterday I found the tallest building in the city. It's a large bell tower that is a little taller than the next tallest building. And after looking around I found out that they offer open visits to the top on the weekends, and I've decided to do just that.

I have Entropy merge into my shadow before I approach the bell tower. When I reach the base I see several other ponies who also seem to be here for the same reason, I join the waiting crowd of around twenty ponies. After a while, a pony comes over and opens the doors to let us inside.

I wait in a line and pay seven bits before walking up the long staircase. It's a tall building so it takes several minutes to reach the top of the tower. When I climb the last step I look out on the city in the late morning sunlight. I move out of the way of other ponies behind me before really taking in the view.

It's amazing to say the least. The brick buildings stretch out beneath me and I can see many pegasi and griffins flying around above the city. The tower I am standing on is around twenty feet across with railings around the area with four brick pillars holding up the roof and a large metal bell above us.

I walk over to a railing and look over the railing, I've never been afraid of heights so to me this is just an interesting view. I look back up and take out my sketchbook and a quill, I don't get to draw a view like this often. I spent two hours sitting up on the tower drawing the view.

When I'm done with a few good sketches I stand up and take in the view for a while longer before walking back down the stairs. I have something else I want to do today, I walk through the streets and find the right place I'm looking for. I approached New Trotten's city library.

It's nowhere near as large as Canterlot's city library but it's still a decent size and has many, many books. Most of these books are things I can find in Canterlot, but I'm guessing there will be more Griffin books to read here. When I enter the library I have to write my name down and I can't check out any books as I don't live in this city.

But I'm still able to read as much as I like for free. I start looking through bookshelves and different sections. I'm happy to see that I was right as I found a section with nothing but Griffin books, it's even organized into several smaller sections for different subjects.

I start by picking out a history book and a political book. They may seem boring but knowing about the cultures and governments that others have will always be interesting to me. I start with the history book which turns out to be less interesting than I hoped it would be.

It's about a smaller Griffin city and is more like light propaganda for the king who ruled it at the time this book was written. I move that book to the side before starting on the culture book, this turns out to be more interesting. It's an instruction book for griffin nobles on how to act and behave.

It's an older book but still seems relevant, I don't think I'll get much use out of it but I do find it interesting so I keep reading it. I learned several griffin words to not use at formal events and a few gestures and actions that can be considered rude in different situations. Once I'm done with that book I find another to read.

I came across a combat book and decided to flip through it, after a few pages I saw enough to know it won't help me and put it back. Next, I found a griffin cooking book, and this one I very much like. Finding meat recipes in pony books is hard, but in this book, I find many fish recipes with interesting ingredients.

Most meat recipes I use and know are from my last life, so finding new recipes using this world's seasonings makes me excited to try out some of these recipes. After reading through the recipes and copying several of them into my notebook I check the time.

Seeing the time I put the cooking book back and left the library. I start walking to a place I've taken a liking to, the board game cafe that I've been to a few times. I've come to enjoy the feel of the cafe and its drinks. I went there again yesterday in hopes of a relaxing game or two of chess, sadly the old griffin Phelix wasn't there and the ponies that played with me weren't that much of a challenge.

I'm hoping to see Phelix, he doesn't talk much, which I like, and provides a good opponent for a fun game. When I enter the cafe I'm happy to see Phelix sitting at a table playing a game of chess, but I'm surprised to see who's playing with him. A small hippogriff sitting with him enjoying a cookie while moving a pawn.

They are small and probably not that old. They have a light gray coat and a white mane, with very light green eyes. They seem to be having a lot of fun and won't stop talking to Phelix even though he doesn't respond much. I walk over and sit down with them while they continue their game.

Phelix looks over to me and gives a little nod while not taking his eyes off the game. The filly also sees me and her eyes seem to light up. "Hello! Who are you? What are you doing here? Are you here for games like us? What kind of snacks are you going to get? Do you like chess?" The young voice of an excited and happy filly rapid fires questions at me.

She stops as Phelix gives her a stern look. "Introduce yourself first, and say sorry for not letting him answer." He turns to me with a slightly tired look. "She's excitable." The filly looks a little admonished and has her ears slightly pinned back.

I can't see a filly like that and try to cheer her up a little. "I'm Shade, and in order. I came to play games. Yes. I want tea. And yes I enjoy chess." She looks happy at me giving her answers, and looks a little less shy.

" I'm sorry.MY name is Silvis, nice to meet you." She says the first part shyly before cheering up instantly and giving me a blinding smile. This filly is far too pure for me, I can feel my teeth rotting from it. I smile back and settle in while they play their game, I work on a few spells and some math as they play and order a cup of tea.

I finish a little work and my tea by the time they are done. Phelix looks over to me, "Here for a game then?" I nod and he starts setting up the board again, but before he can we are interrupted.

"But Grandsire, you promised we'd go to the park after this," Silvis says with a look that is a mix of sad and adorable. Phelix gives me a look that tells me he doesn't want to argue with a filly right now.

I brought my chess set with me when I traveled here. I thought I could find somewhere to play in a park but never needed to after I found this place. I don't know either of them that well, and my paranoia is shouting at me to stay quiet. But I also don't want that paranoia to stop me from having fun.

I check my bracelet and make sure there is no reaction before making up my mind and pushing my fear to the side. "I have a chess set with me, we could play there?" I offer. If I want to live my life then conquering my fear is something I need to get used to, I just need to remember to never forget my fear.

Phelix looks at me, his eyes are hard and he seems to be judging me. After a few moments and more prodding from Silvis, he sighs and nods, before standing up and placing Silvis on his back. "YAA! Park!" The filly celebrates her victory as we leave the cafe and start walking to the park.

Neither of us talks much beyond answering Silvis's questions. The small relationship I have with Phelix is simple, we both want a good challenge and a quiet game of chess. I don't know him and he doesn't know me, we are both just here for a fun game and to not have to talk.

And I'm happy with that. As much as I like how much ponies care for others, a lot of the time I just don't want others to drag me into a conversation. But I also like doing things with others from time to time, and Phelix seems to be the same.

As we walk they lead the way while I follow behind them, but something catches my eye as we walk. I look down while walking and see Entropy sitting on my shadow. I've trained her to never come out or show herself in any way unless it's important. She looks at me then moves to the side of my shadow and points behind me with a wing.

I feel my fear rise but force myself to not outwardly show anything, I just keep a steady pace. Entropy melded back into my shadow after that while my mind started running wild. Entropy showed me something was behind me but couldn't specify. Am I being followed?

I can't just turn around to check, but after looking around in front of me for a moment I see an opportunity to prove if I guessed right. Not far down the street is a restroom, something that is becoming increasingly useful to me. I walk up beside Phelix, "Hey do you mind if I use the restroom really quick?"

I ask while motioning with my head to the restroom. He looks over and then nods, we both stop and I enter while he waits outside. Once I enter I make sure no one else is inside before having Entropy leave my shadow. "Girl, am I being followed?" Entropy gives me a look and caws.

I know her enough to know that's a positive. After some quick thoughts, I formed a rough plan. "Move into the shadow of whoever is following us, then come back to me a little after."

She looks at me for a moment before melding back into my shadow a second later. Even when Entropy is in my shadow I can still feel her life magic, and if she understands me correctly then I can easily pick out whoever is following me. When I leave the restroom I feel the mass of life magic move away from me as we continue walking down the street.

If I look behind me too much, whoever's following me will notice, but if I only do it once they are unlikely to notice much. Once I feel Entropy stop moving further away from me, I turn my head to open my saddlebags with my mouth while still walking. I take out something from a pocket and at that moment I look around behind me.

I feel Entropy's life magic coming from two griffins walking together a good distance away from me. Who the fuck? I turn back while my mind starts thinking of why two griffins would be following me.

I haven't done anything, so why? I keep thinking of other possibilities as to why I'm being followed but can't see any logical reason that makes sense to me. As we walk further I feel them keep the same distance with us even after we turn a few corners.

After some thought a different idea pops into my head. These griffins are definitely following us, but I don't think they are following me, I look over to Phelix and Silvis as we near the park.

Chapter 79

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FEB 28 Saturday.

After realizing that those griffins might be following Phelix and Silvis instead of me I calmed down slightly. It would make more sense than random griffins following a pony that's been in this city for a little over a week. But now the question becomes why are Phelix and Silvis being followed?

I can think of a few reasons and the first is somewhat likely and less concerning than the others, the griffins following them are guards of some sort. I have no idea who Phelix and Silvis are so they could be important enough that they need guards from some form of threat.

But on the other hoof, I don't know if they are guards or a threat themselves. Phelix stops at a bench next to a play area and takes Silvis off his back to play while we sit down at the bench. While I set up our chess board I feel Entropy move back into my shadow.

I've been training her to do a few different things, after I found out she could see out of shadows I trained her to keep an eye out when she can while I'm walking around in public. It's becoming apparent that Entropy is still getting smarter, she's able to understand me a bit better now.

As I finish setting up the pieces Phelix moves the first piece as our game begins. While we play I keep track of those two griffins by feeling their life magic, they haven't moved closer and seem to be keeping their distance for now.

Keeping track of two specific sources of life magic can be hard with so many walking around. But I had them pointed out to me and have been trying my best to keep track of them while acting normal, it also helps that they are moving together and that makes it a little easier to pick them out.

I've even been able to see them a few times now, right now they are sitting on a bench a good distance away while looking busy by talking to each other and doing a decent job at watching us while they talk without drawing attention to themselves.

Now that some time has passed and neither of the griffins have done anything I'm calming down and thinking of what to do next. From what I remember seeing earlier I don't think either of those griffins had any visible weapons with them.

That again makes me think that they could be some type of guards or maybe some type of surveillance. But the thought that I'm wrong still bothers me, and now I'm wondering if I should say something. If they are just guards then saying something would make me look suspicious and could lead to me being seen as a threat.

But on the other hoof if I say nothing and something goes horribly wrong, then I could end up regretting it for the rest of my life. I think it over a few times as our first game ends with me losing, and as time ticks by I keep running it through my head again and again.

But I just can't make up my mind and keep going in circles, and after a while I keep thinking about my next potential actions. Phelix doesn't seem like the type of griffin to go down without a fight, and I think anyone who tries to mess with Silvis will have to answer to him.

He is in good shape and I can bet he has some form of weapon on his right now, he is a capable griffin and I think he can take care of himself. So is the risk of me intervening worth it? Well, it really depends on what form of intervention I take.

I could just be blunt and ask about it, but that could go wrong very easily. I could try and deal with it myself, but that carries a lot of risk and presumes that those two griffins are a threat.

So what can I do? I don't have a way to know what their intentions are, and I'll need to find out if I want to decide on anything. I could gather information? But that might be more risky than my other options. I keep trying to think of a good solution.

After a lot of thinking I decided to do something that would be risky. I can't bring myself to do nothing, but rushing into this is a very bad idea. I need more information and to get it I'll have to act, "Do you know the time?" Phelix looks at me for a moment before motioning with his talon to a clock tower nearby, that I've seen already but pretend otherwise.

I look at it a bit and look back at him. "I have something to do, will you still be here in an hour?" I try to keep my words simple but concise with a casual tone, and above all else truthful, the best lies are truths. He once again scrutinizes me for several moments, then he gives a single nod.

I nod back and stand up. I know he doesn't trust me and this probably made him a little suspicious of me. "I'll be back." I leave the chessboard as a small token of trust and stand up before walking down a park path. I find a restroom to find a quiet place, after making sure I'm alone I start modifying a spell quickly.

The silence spell that I made for foals is simple and doesn't take much to modify, it helps that I'm only making two relatively small changes. I switched the effects to keep all sound inside while letting outside sounds in, and I increased its size to form a bubble around all of me.

This leaves one more problem, this spell was made as an enchantment and not a spell to be cast on someone and I don't have the time to change that. But the spell is weak even with its size increase, and the diamond in my locket around my neck still has enough excess magic for another enchantment. I needed to install an on and off function which takes a little more time, but after fifteen minutes I'm done.

I cast the spell on myself and tested it two times with a bit, before continuing with my plan. I leave the restroom and follow the life magic of the two griffins while being careful to not accidentally enter their line of sight. I know where they are and have a good chance of sneaking up on them.

Luckily the bench they are sitting on has its back to a decently tall brick wall that separates a different area of the park. I make no noise as I walk around the park and reach the other side of the wall before moving to the area where they are sitting. I lean against the brick wall and take out my notebook to look like I'm just drawing while listening in.

I have an hour time limit and I've already used some of that so I keep my quill nearby and start waiting. After ten minutes I hear something. "What time is it?" A male voice asks.

"No idea, I think I saw a clock over there if you want to go check?" Another male voice, this one a little deeper, answers them.

The other voice sighs, "Na it's fine, this job is boring." I hear a slight chuckle from the other voice at that.

"Ya, but it's not hard, follow and watch a single griff for a few bits, easy money." After that, they go quiet again. Well, that wasn't as useful as I hoped it would be. But it does put some of my fears to rest, they are only here to watch. I can also say they probably aren't guards.

But who hired them? And why? I don't know anything about Phelix but I can assume some things from the way he acts and looks. He's old but is in good health, has a well-muscled body for his age, and a personality that says he's been some type of guard or soldier.

I stop my thoughts as I hear them speaking again. "You know I never asked, but how did you find the pony that gave us this job?" The lighter voice asks.

"Honestly? Luck. Some Fancy pancy pony in a cloak dumps a small bag of bits in front of me while I'm drinking at a bar and says there's more if I find somegriff to do this with. But hey I'm not one to ask questions about a job like this, not with pay this good." They answer back in an amused and friendly tone.

Ok, they are definitely not guards, but they are also not here to cause immediate harm. But who wanted them to do this? This just raises more questions. I wait out the rest of my time, but they just start talking about different drinks they enjoy.

After my hour is up I walk away from the brick wall and put away my cloak while canceling the spell, then I start walking back to the bench with Phelix sitting on it.

When I arrive he's not on the bench, but he was off in the play area looking at something Silvis wanted to show him, before seeing me and walking back over and sitting down with me again. He doesn't say anything and just moves the first piece on the board to start a new game. I started thinking over the whole situation again and what I should do.

Now that I know no one is in immediate danger I have to think about this in a different way. I know basically nothing about either party involved in this and I don't want to pick sides without knowing who I'm even supporting.

Phelix could be a criminal being investigated by the guard through those griffins for different crimes. Or he could be a criminal and those griffins were sent by rivals to spy on him.

On the other hoof, he could be a retired guard who is being targeted by criminals. Hell, he could even be some form of griffin noble and this is some political spying to dig up dirt on him.

There are so many ways this could be taken and I'm starting to think that maybe I shouldn't get involved at all. I keep mulling it over, Silvis eventually tires herself out and decides to take a nap on top of Phelix while we continue playing.

We complete five more games by the time the day nears its end, and I'm running out of time to make a choice. I just can't think of a good way to choose, but after a while, I realize something and make my choice. Regardless of what's going on, there is a filly here.

My next choice could get others hurt, but out of all those that are involved and could get hurt the one that should never be hurt is a filly too young to even understand that today is anything but a fun day out with her grandsire. So not seeing any truly good choice I choose the choice I think will keep her out of danger.

This is a little rash and stupid but I just can't bring myself to do nothing at all. I know those griffins are watching them for some reason, and whether it be for good or bad reasons this filly is still being caught in the middle. I have to shove down my fear and act while my mind is made up.

I take a moment to turn my head and look through my saddlebags while using that time to quickly write something on a small piece of paper inside the pocket with my field and a quill.

I keep it hidden. "Thanks for the challenge," I say as I lose our last game and start packing the pieces away. I move the piece of folded paper out of my bag with my field while keeping it out of view. I slowly move the piece of paper under the bench and fit it through a gap in the wood pieces before moving it into his talon that is resting on the bench.

When he feels in touch with his talon he doesn't outwardly react but does move his talon to hold and crumple the piece of paper in it. I act like nothing happened and just put the chess set away in my saddlebags before getting up nodding goodbye, and walking off. I have no real idea what I just did or what it may cause, but I promised myself a long time ago to live this life without regrets and I intend to do that as best I can.

As I walk away from the park an old griffin uncrumple a piece of paper in his palm and reads it. We were being followed since we left the cafe. And for a moment a look that can only be described as blinding rage moves over his face before vanishing just as quickly.

He looks down to his sleeping grand-filly and gives a very small smile before standing up and walking away from the park bench with her still on his back.

Chapter 80

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MAR 7 Saturday.

It's been a week since the park incident and nothing has come of it so far. After what happened I decided to stay a little more low-key for the rest of my vacation, this has resulted in me spending all my time at the beach swimming or reading through books at the library.

That's what I'm doing right now, reading through a Griffin book about different herbs. It has several herbs that I've noted for future reference and study. When I'm done with the book I put it back and find another book to read, this one seems to be an old research journal.

As I read through the first page I got far more interested in this journal. It's several decades old and didn't seem to get much notice at the time, it's about griffin runes. Not many ponies practice runic magic, and even fewer griffins use it. This study was about the few runes we know were not just used by griffins but made by griffins.

But runes are pretty universal as long as you know the meaning and context. So while the journal did have a few interesting things including a few runes to copy I didn't learn much from it and moved on not much longer, a little disappointed. I keep reading through books looking for anything that could be of use.

I've learned that a lot of Griffin books here are just history or medical books. So after that journal, I focus on medical books and pick out a few to go through. Griffin's biology is significantly different from pony biology, and I've mostly studied ponies and I should learn more about the second most common species in Equestria.

There are several differences, such as different plants that ponies can use as medicine just fine that can be harmful to griffins. A few of these plants are also used as seasoning in pony dishes and while it probably won't kill a griffin it can mess them up pretty badly if they eat too much.

Treating a wing injury on a griffin is different as the wing bones are in different places and need to heal in a different way. On top of all of that, hippogriffs also have different biology to both and thus have different needs. I like the idea of healing others, and to do that I need to learn all of this, so I settle in to read through as many books as I can.

After reading through several books and wasting most of the day I see something moving towards the table I'm reading at in the back of the library. I picked this spot because it's out of the way and was quiet. I glance over and see something that makes me panic slightly.

Phelix is walking through the library shelves towards me. I don't know why he is here, but I don't think I have too much to fear as I didn't do anything negative to him. I also have Entropy, I rather the world does not know about her but if I have to decide between my safety and a secret I know what I'm choosing.

Beyond even that Celestia knows where I am and when I'm supposed to be back, if anything happens to me then she will come looking. As I take in Phelix's appearance I'm even more reassured of my safety, he's not wearing anything beyond a single dagger and he's alone, all that sends a pretty clear message.

He wants me to know he's armed and that he's serious. And it also tells me he's powerful enough or has the right connections to find me in a city this large. It's best I just try and talk my way out of this if I can. I move the books I was reading out of the way and wait.

He walks up to the table while looking around the table filled with books, I give him a light nod as he sits down on the other side of the table looking back at me. He says nothing for a while and just keeps looking me up and down for nearly a full minute before finally speaking.

Before he speaks I cut him off a little by drawing my own dagger and gently setting it on the table with my hoof. He looks at it for a moment and does the same with his dagger before looking back at me, "I've asked around, you aren't from this city are you?"

I should try to be truthful and not lie if I don't need to, lying will just get me caught in my own web of lies I'd have to make to cover for other lies. I keep eye contact as we talk, "No I'm just on vacation. Why are you here?" I ask back.

His face doesn't change in any way as we speak. "You don't know me, and you helped me. Why?" His deep and dry voice sounds out while he moves a book over to look at its cover.

"You're right, I don't know you. But I know a filly doesn't deserve to get involved in whatever this is." He looks back up at me a little sharply, he just stares at my face with narrowed eyes seemingly looking for any hint of dishonesty or malice.

I don't back down and just keep staring back, after a moment he speaks up again. "What do you want?"

"From you? Nothing. Like I said, I'm just a pony on vacation." I answer back. Again he stares me down for a moment.

"And from others?" He asks back.

"Many things, I suppose. What do you want from me?" This is devolving into a tick-for-tack situation, we just keep swapping questions and it's making me a little nervous about what could happen next.

Again he says quietly and looks at me for a while, he takes off the sheath for his dagger and places it on the table next to his dagger. "I came for three things. To know why you helped me. To give you some advice. And to give you this dagger."

I give him a confused look as he sheaths the dagger and slides it over the table to me. I pick it up and look it over as he keeps talking, "What's the advice? And what does the dagger mean?" For the first time I see his face change expression, he gives me a very small smile. This helps with my building anxiety slightly.

"The advice. You made someone angry, I recommend you leave the city within a few days. And the dagger." He reaches a talon across the table over to me and holds it out. "That means you're a friend to us." I look at his talon and after looking at the dagger I notice a symbol on the pommel of the dagger

I don't recognize it but I can find out later. I look back to his talon and shake it with a hoof before putting the dagger in my saddlebag. "I'll be leaving the city tonight. I do have a question." He stands up and nods at my first statement and focuses back on me again at the second part.

He gives another small nod for me to continue. "Was that filly in danger? And is she still in danger?"

He stays quiet once again for several moments. "Yes. No." With that, he walks away and I keep my eyes on him until he's out of my sight. Once he's gone I wait a few minutes before sighing in relief and relaxing some, it seems I got out of this one alive.

:By magic I really have a way to bumble my way ass-backward into things like this, don't I?: Talking to Phelix took up some of what time I had left, I still have time to read more but I think it's best if I just leave this city as soon as I can. I place every book back and leave the library with my cloak hood drawn over my head.

I go to the inn I stay at and give them back the key before heading to the train station. I stop at another restroom to let Entropy out and disguise her before continuing. I walk into the large brick building and sit down on a bench to wait for my train, it won't be here for a few hours.

As I sit down I let my mind think over what happened more as I wait. I don't think Phelix had any reason to lie to me, then again I wouldn't really be able to know, still, I think he told the truth. If he did then I have no regrets over the situation, even if it comes back around I still wouldn't change what I did.

If he's not lying then Silvis was in danger, then I'm happy with my actions. I still don't know if Phelix was on the good side, if whatever this is ever had a good side to begin with. I open a pocket on my saddlebags to look at the dagger I was given.

I wasn't paying much attention to the way it looked at the time. The handle is a dark wood shined to a great degree and with a flat metal pommel. The complex engraving on the pommel depicts a rose bush with thorned vines and flowers wrapped around an even smaller engraving.

It's hard to see in the dark lighting and the shade from the bag it's in, so I leave it alone to study more later. I spend a few hours waiting for my train while organizing all the notes I've made in the past two weeks.

When the train arrives it's dark and night has fallen, I board the train and find a compartment to sit in before relaxing. I look out of the window as the train leaves New Trotten. I don't plan to visit this city again anytime soon, but despite what happened I had a good time.

time skip

MAR 8 Sunday.

I step off the train in the early morning as I once again step back into Canterlot. I walk through its familiar streets and get to my apartment building, I get my key from Thistle Rush and walk up to my apartment before entering. I let Entropy out of my shadow and she happily flies over to her perch.

I'm happy to be home and take off my saddlebags before setting them to the side and checking on a few things. I check on all my plants to make sure they are healthy, I check and all the plants are fine. I also check that everything else is as it should be.

I take my saddlebags into my workroom and sit down at a desk before grabbing some paper and an envelope. I write about the more mundane things that happened on my vacation and that I'm back, before asking Entropy to deliver it to Celestia. Entropy returns a minute after disappearing then she goes back to her perch.

I walk back into my workroom again and start putting everything away and organizing it all. The new seeds I got, two new daggers, and a few small trinkets I found. Once everything is organized I start work on adding my notes and cross-referencing all the things I've noted down.

It's noon by the time I'm done. I find the dagger I was given and spend some time looking over it in better lighting and with a more critical eye. The blade is made from one piece of solid steel with a tang that goes all the way through the handle and then it becomes the pommel.

The whole thing is a single piece of steel with a wooden handle wrapped around it. It's very fine metal work and would cost a good amount to buy. The blade is curved and it reminds me of a Scimitar, with a blunt back and a razor-sharp cutting edge.

I look over the engravings again and look through the smaller engraving. I look through it closely and it seems familiar, I feel like I recognize it from somewhere. And after thinking about it I realize where I remember it, this is the emblem of a griffin royal.

:How the fuck does shit like this keep happening to me!?: I find the notebook that has everything important I know about griffins that I might need in the future, after flipping through several pages I find what I'm looking for. The emblem belongs to the royal family of GriffonStone.

I sat there for a while, a little stunned over the whole situation. I just sigh, "Well shit." I leave to make some tea and relax my now tensed body, while I try and look at the upsides. Sure I may have potentially affected the future, again, but I now know Phelix wasn't a criminal.

I slump down in the main room to drink some fresh tea and sigh while looking out the window. I'll need to look into them more when I have time. And it's not all bad, I did get their favor in some way, and I never remembered them from the show so maybe Phelix and Silvis could just be relatively unimportant members of the royal family.

After thinking about it for a bit I decided to practice my ability to feel life magic and ignore this for a while.

Chapter 81

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MAR 15 Sunday.

I slowly let out a breath as I focused on the life magic around me. Right now I'm lying on a patch of grass in the park training my ability to sense life magic on a larger scale than before.

In the past, I mostly focused on small details and plants. Right now I'm focusing more on tracking the larger amounts of life magic around me to sense other beings while mostly ignoring plants. I decided to do this in the park as from an outside perspective it just looks like I'm meditating or taking a nap, and it has a good variety of life magic sources to train with.

It's been a little less than a week since I got home and thankfully nothing much has happened. I caught up with my friends and gave them each a small souvenir I bought for them. They are small wooden carvings I saw in the markets that I thought they would like.

A puzzle piece for Blaz, a pie for Maple, and a daisy for Daisy. That last one was more of a joke than anything, but I couldn't help myself. Beyond the gifts I got some news the day after I returned, Daisy found a replacement for Ruby and I'm going back to my normal work again.

It's a little boring but the job became less interesting to me after I fully learned Griffin, plus this means I can move on to other things. I also got back to training with Stone, who after hearing that I took it easy while on vacation decided to run me right into the ground, and then some.

I also got a response letter from Celestia inviting me to our next meeting, which is later today. It will be nice to talk to her for the first time in a few weeks. The last thing worth mentioning is the fact that I saw a bit counter being used at a bank when I went to get some bits a few days ago.

That should make many ponies trust the new invention a decent amount as a bank wouldn't use something optional that could cost them bits especially if it could get them in legal trouble if it doesn't work correctly. I expect the bit counter to start popping up more and more over time if things go well.

I breathe out deeply in preparation to try something I haven't done before. I've practiced space sensing enough to do it without using all my concentration for a while now so I'm wondering if I can use both life magic sensing and space magic sensing at the same time.

Doing this will be a step back in some ways as it will take a lot more of my concentration to do this, but it will also push my limits and that should help me improve faster. I stay as still as possible and have everything around me fade away as I start meditating on the magic around me.

I start with life magic and feel the grass and trees, the ponies walking down a nearby path, and a flock of birds flying above me. I then try to add space on top and overlap them while trying my best to blend them together in a way that gives me the most information.

But a problem started happening, the different magics overlapped too much in many areas and sent me the same information twice. This adds unnecessary overlapping information for little gain, so I start filtering out all duplicate information. It's a slow process of identifying different sources and choosing to focus more on them or ignore them.

I also have to choose which magic I want to send me information on a specific thing. Then I have to commit all this to memory so I don't have to filter it all out again. This will need a lot of work to become second nature to me but if I can succeed then I'd be able to add two new senses to myself.

I continue this process until my magic is nearly dry, I stop and open my eyes to look around me. The grass has grown a little from my efforts but isn't noticeable unless you're really looking. I'll probably just focus on each type of magic individual for now until I can use them constantly without needing to meditate, then mix both together as it's not really worth it right now.

I check the time with a quickly drawn out Temporis spell. Seeing that my meeting will be relatively soon I stand up and stretch before walking out of the park and to my apartment building. I get my saddlebags and Entropy melds into my shadow, and I leave to walk to the palace.

Like always I show them my invite and they take me through the palace. Unlike other times we don't go into the room we normally meet in but instead I'm led to the gardens, it seems we are having a nice meeting outside today. I look around as we walk through the rows of hedges.

The last time I was here I was worrying over my first meeting with Celestia and didn't take the time to truly appreciate how beautiful it is. The winding hedges have many areas filled with different flower patches and trees with colorful leaves, it's a lovely place to visit.

I follow the guard into a part of the path with Celestia inspecting a flower. I walk up to her and bow, "It's nice to see you again Celestia, have you been doing well?" I ask while walking over to her and standing a few feet away.

She looks back with a smile. "I've been doing well, although I've had a lot of work because of a certain pony and their inventions. How was your vacation?"

We start walking through the gardens as we continue talking. "It went well, I saw many things and even learned how to swim. And that washing salt out of my coat and mane is something I may need to make a spell to help with."

She nods with an amount of mock seriousness. "I know that feeling well. I'm glad you had fun and took your time to relax, but knowing you, you probably spent a lot of that time learning or training something."

I pretend to look offended at her words. "I'll have you know I know how to have fun, it's not my fault I consider both of those things to be fun," I say while hamming up my words a little.

That gets a small laugh out of her. :She has a nice laugh: My mind stops at that thought. Well, those thoughts are going into a corner of my mind to be ignored. "Well, I see you're in a good mood." We reach a clearing that is higher up and overlooks most of the gardens.

We both sit at a table set up in the grass. I stare out at the gardens while Celestia casts a warming spell on a teapot, as I look around I notice we are alone with no guards in sight. But I don't need my eyes to know that on the other side of the hedge around us, several guards stand watch.

"We should meet out here more often, this place is amazing." She nods and moves a teacup filled with red tea over to me.

"I'd like that too. I'm happy you enjoyed your vacation, you seemed like you needed a break. Anything interesting to talk about?"

I think about anything that wouldn't reveal my involvement in what happened, although I'm not sure even she knows about what happened. "Well like I said I spent some time learning how to swim and spent even more time at the beach doing just that."

"I also spent a lot of time at the city library, they had many Griffin medical texts that were interesting, and a few other books that caught my interest." I started talking about the various things that caught my interest while I was in New Trotten.

When I'm finished with my storytelling I remember something and take out some pages from my saddlebag before passing them over to Celestia. The pages are an update on my progress with the B.L.P spell. While she's reading through it I spend some time setting up my chess board, she sees me setting up the pieces and smiles at me.

When she's done reading I ask something else, "Do you know any good ways to train magical sensing?" This launches us into a conversation about different methods and what might work for me. While we talk we also play chess, and I really shouldn't challenge her to this, but I think I improved while playing against Phelix so I might stand a better chance now. The rest of our meeting proves just how wrong I am and just how far I still have to go.

When our meeting is done we say our goodbyes and I'm led back outside before walking back home. When I arrive home I take my things off and move into my workroom to start work immediately. I've been so busy catching up with everything that I haven't had the chance to work with the new plants I got.

I take a few pots full of dirt and place them on my desk before grabbing seeds, the Salty Seaweed can't be grown by me right now so I focus on the Spine Leaf. I read up on this plant while at the New Trotten city library so I know a few things about it.

The Spine Leaf's appearance and natural environment. It has leaves that are similar to a daisy, a splay of deep green leaves coming from a central stock. And the stock ends in a flower that has a blueish-white color that looks similar to a poppy without the bulb. The main thing to notice about its appearance is the needles on the edge of its leaves.

Unlike other plants that have thorns or small spikes on a leaf, the Spine Leaf has thick leaves that grow full needles that are similar to a cactus. They are only a quarter inch long but are very sharp and surprisingly durable for their size, I think they also have something that helps them stay inside as the needles are said to be hard and painful to remove.

The environment this plant is native to is the grassy plains that stretch across several parts of Equestria. The plant evolved to grow in nutrient-poor grassland soil and live through bushfires while developing its needles to stop herbivores from eating it.

It's been used as a natural source of sewing needles for a long time but became less useful as metal needles became common and they are better in every way.

I take two seeds and plant them each in a pot before growing them into full plants, but as I'm doing this I notice something odd happening. I grew the first few Spine Leaf in less-than-ideal conditions and with little starting material and because of that I never noticed that it was a very fast-growing plant.

The life magic it takes is about average but after some testing, I find that the Spine Leaf can grow very fast, the only other plant that comes close is the Gripping Vine. This effect isn't something documented in any book I read, but it offers me an interesting opportunity.

After some observation, I find that the Spine Leaf is very efficient at absorbing and using life magic to grow. This lets me grow a generation of the Spine Leaf very fast, and that's without me learning the Spine Leaf's magical flows. So I decompose everything and start over by growing a single Spine Leaf to start memorizing its magical flows.

The plant is smaller than most and doesn't have any magical effects so it's relatively easy to get a basic understanding of the plant's magical flows. I decided to test how fast I could grow the Spine Leaf now and plant another seed, and push life magic into it while watching it grow at an amazing rate.

I start selectively breeding the Spine Leaf to grow tougher needles, every generation I pick off a needle and snap it to see which is toughest. I'm able to get through a lot of generations quickly but the magic cost is still the same which just led to me running out of magic faster.

I'm not sure what I'll use the needles for but having them around could prove useful for a few ideas. In between breeding plants, I take breaks to regenerate my magic and work on a few other things, specifically, I'm working on the runes I found on the frost dagger I bought.

I've been able to find one of the two unknown runes but I haven't found anything about the second one. Maybe I should have asked Celestia? Well if this rune gives me too much trouble I'll ask next time we meet. I stop looking through runes and walk back into my workroom to breed even more plants.

Chapter 82

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MAR 20 Friday.

I sit up from my work desk and turn to Blaz, "I'm heading home, have a good day Blaz." He nods without looking over at me.

"Same to you Colt. Oh and can you drop this off to Daisy on your way out?" He says while motioning to a small stack of papers on his desk. I shrug and take them with me, I stop by Daisy's office while leaving and give her the papers. With that done I walk out into the main library to leave and drop off a book I need to return.

While returning the book I look around and see a pleasant surprise. Sitting at one of the tables near the front of the library is Avalon reading through a book and taking notes every once in a while. I remember him being a nice griffin to talk to and having a good time with him on the train. I pushed away the negative thoughts from the way he was treated on the train.

I don't really know him but the interactions I've had have been pleasant so far. So after giving it a little thought I decided to walk over to say hi and see how he's doing. He's facing away from me, so not wanting to startle him I walk around the table and sit down opposite of him.

He's so focused he doesn't notice me for a few moments before catching me out of the corner of his eye. He looks up at me and doesn't seem to recognize me for a moment before it clicks, "Shade? It's good to see you. How are you doing? Did you enjoy New Trotten?" he asks with a friendly tone and a small smile.

I return his smile, "I'm doing well. And my trip went well, I had a good time. So you decided to look into runic magic then?" I ask while looking at a few of the books he has around him, most of them are the books I recommended with a few other books on miscellaneous subjects.

He nods enthusiastically. "I've started with the books you recommended, thanks again for the help. What are you doing here?" He asked curiously while moving the book he was reading a little to the side and looking through the others.

"I'm glad the suggestions helped you, and I was just returning a book before leaving. I just came over to say hi and ask how it's going, have a good day Avalon." I nod while standing up.

He nods back and moves another book over to him, "I'm doing just fine, and am having fun with this, so many interesting things. Same to you Shade have a good day." He nods to me before going back to reading, I leave the library and start walking home. I don't try to make new friends often but Avalon is a decent Griffin and I can see myself getting along with him.

Although I may be a little biased because he does remind me of that old friend I had in my past life, I hope he took my death well. I shake my head and open my apartment door to see Entropy on her perch sitting with Philomena as they both sleep, I close the door and look at Philomena confused.

I look around the main room but don't find a letter or anything else she could have delivered to me. Why is she here? Entropy heard me walking around and woke up, she looked over at me and flew down to me landing on my back. I raise a hoof to scratch her before making lunch for her.

While making her food Philomena also wakes up and lands on the countertop looking at me expectantly, I just sigh and make more than normal before filling a bowl for each of them. After they start eating I leave them be and take another look around the apartment.

But like last time I found nothing Philomena could have delivered to me. Did she just come for food? Or to visit? I shrug after a while and continue with what I had planned. I sit down at a desk in my workroom, take out two pots filled with soil, and plant a Solar Vine in both.

This is the selectively bred Solar Vine. It is basically finished but I don't have a place to grow it right now. The main idea with this new vine was to see if I could use plants to gather a specific magic affinity from the environment and collect it to use for other projects and ideas.

I've decided to call this new vine the Solar Trap as that is just what it does. It now collects and stores a large amount of solar magic and can cover a large area if necessary. But right now I want to create a different strain for a new idea I had while working on this project.

I want to breed another strain of the Solar Trap to not release the solar magic it collects from its flowers. As I breed the vines I take time to think through something that's been on my mind recently, I've been thinking more and more about my past life and it's started bothering me a little.

I find myself remembering old acquaintances or a few of my friends, I'm not really sure why all this comes to mind though. I can't point out a specific moment when this started, but I think it began after I started my vacation, and I'm not sure how to feel about it.

It feels like there is this thing nagging at me and I don't know what it is, and not knowing is just making it worse. Throughout the day I think about people I knew and cared for, how they are doing, and if they're ok. I feel a little trapped thinking about the past so much, and it's distracting me.

But every time I try to think through it to put my thoughts to rest I always end at the same place with the same question. Why? Why am I thinking about something I can never change? Why am I thinking about a life I will never see again? I'm so distracted by my thoughts that I stop breeding plants.

I snap out of those thoughts and realize that I've stopped repeating the motions that have been burned into my memory from the amount of times I've done them. I stand up and walk out of the workroom, I need to properly think through this and finally put these thoughts to rest.

I see that Philomena has left and sit down with Entropy in the main room trying to think through this yet again. But that just once again brings me to the same question, why do I keep thinking about all of this? So I start thinking about all the things I've been ignoring, I start thinking of all the thoughts I've pushed to the side to get work done.

I think about how my friends could be doing, how what little family I have is doing right now, are they all ok? Will they be ok? Slowly my mind is consumed by all these thoughts and at a certain point I just stop holding it all in.

I think of all the feelings and memories I've kept inside and as the emotions wash over me it starts to overwhelm me and I do something I haven't done in so many years, I cry. I cry over all that I lost and all those that I will never see again, all the memories that are now so far away.

Entropy doesn't know what is wrong with me but does know something is definitely wrong. So not knowing how to help she just sits with me and quietly chirps, "Good, good." she keeps repeating that word a few times until I get some type of hold on my emotions.

I think I found the answer to my questions. When I first met Avalon and helped him I was reminded of one of the only real friends I ever had, and with that came so many other memories that I have ignored for so long now. I think I've been using work to keep my mind off of these thoughts for a while now.

After recovering enough to stop crying and stop spiraling down an endless road of old memories, I reach out to pet Entropy and let her help me calm down. After several deep breaths and some time I'm doing better, I make some tea and try to think through my life trying not to break down again.

Ever since I came to this world I didn't think much about my last one, always burying myself in different things to learn and train to distract myself from negative thoughts. After all, why think about what you can't change? But it was Avalon that indirectly brought back some bad memories when he was treated badly on the train.

After thinking through it on my floor for an hour in silence and after a few more tears, I think I know what is nagging at me so much. My past life will be forgotten and no one will remember a large part of who I am and how I lived. If I died today then the new friends I've made will never know so much about who I am, and I know I would regret that.

But I can't tell them about it even if I want to, and it hurts to hide so much from them. But beyond that, I think I fear them never knowing who I was and what I've done. I fear my story would be forgotten, with no one to tell it and no one to know who I really was. After wallowing in my sadness for a while longer I feel determined to not let that happen.

If I die I want to be remembered for who I actually was and not who they think I am. Filled with a determination to fix this and put my fears to rest I walk back into my workroom to start thinking of ways to solve this new problem. If I'm going to write down my life I need a way to keep it safe from others and for it to only be used if or when it's necessary.

And I think I have a good way to do both, illusions. Illusions let me store a drawing and if I can draw I can write, but to do this I'll need to do it properly. I start by finding my note on a spell I used for my model planet, the Base Frame spell, it lets me attach several illusion spells together so they can interact and work properly with each other.

The spell has a limit of twelve but I think I can fix that and modify it to fit my purposes better. Before starting on that I start on how I'm going to store the information itself, and I come across the first illusion spell I ever used. This spell lets me draw with three colors on a white canvas.

I start by stripping down the spell to make it as simple and cost-efficient as possible. The spell isn't that complex so it only takes me an hour to finish it. The finished spell has an average book page-sized area to draw in and costs very little to cast and maintain.

The part of the spell that takes the most magic now is the amount of detail I can draw in. I increased the detail so I could write with more accuracy and precision. I enchant the spell into a small sapphire to test it and see if I did anything incorrectly.

After some tests, I fixed a few problems that popped up and refined the spell a little more before moving on to the next part. This spell, that I'm calling the Page Spell, is very simple to the point that I even removed the part that lets you draw, Why? Well, I'll need to write everything down and that will take many pages, the more pages needed the more magic it will take.

If every page has the ability to draw in it would be a massive waste of magic as that small cost stacks up. So instead I'll have the Page spell work with another spell to do the drawing part, so I'll only need one spell to draw with and not bloat the magical cost by attaching that to every individual page.

This spell to go with the pages will just be called the Pen spell. It's very easy to make as it's just the drawing part of the original illusion spell. Once I'm done with those two spells I start on what's going to tie everything together and make it work properly, the Base Frame spell.

Right now it can only hold twelve spells but that limit will be the first thing I remove. The reason the limit is there in the first place is because the math used in the original spell is lacking in several areas while also being less than efficient, limiting the spell's effectiveness. Over the weekend I'll spend my time optimizing the spell to work with the Page spell and Pen spell.

Considering how cheap both spells are, I should be able to fit several dozen pages on a single small gem without going over its magical regeneration rate, and bigger gems should provide much more capacity. I work late into the night determined to fix what has been bothering me.

Eventually Entropy demands dinner from me and I stop my work to feed both of us, before deciding to not run myself ragged and get some sleep.

Chapter 83

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MAR 23 Sunday.

I walk through the streets as a gentle breeze moves around me in the evening sunlight. It's been two days since my break down and I'm doing better overall from my previous mood. I've tried to keep those thoughts in my mind without breaking down or ignoring them, but trying to accept them.

I'm still in a down mood but not ignoring it seems to help me work through it, at least some. As for my fears, they have lessened very slightly by me actually doing something about those fears. And I also got a little lucky, yesterday in the evening Daisy knocked on my door to invite me to a party night at her place.

She invited all three of us so Maple and Blaz will also be there because Blaz will be leaving tomorrow for his two weeks, he's going to visit his son and grand-foals. I was happy to be invited, hanging out with friends should help my mood improve a little.

So I agreed to attend and she asked me to bring the dessert, so right now I'm out shopping for ingredients to make a pie, Maple should be thrilled. But I need apples and several other ingredients to make it so I'm walking through the markets shopping for everything I'll need.

I bake often enough to find all the ingredients easily and the apples are also easy to find in the market with how often ponies eat them. I look through what stock a few vendors have and buy enough for two pies, one with red apples, and another with green apples.

Once I have everything I need I return home to start prep work. I get home and start going through and organizing everything I'll need while also gathering up a few seasonings I want to use. I start by preheating the oven and then I start working on the dough, mixing flour and salt with some water.

Making the pie dough is easy, just add small amounts of water until you get the right consistency. Once that's done I leave it alone and work on the filling, I peel the red apples and cut them into slices before covering them with a little sugar and cinnamon.

Cinnamon is something that was surprisingly hard to find, it's not the most popular seasoning among ponies for some reason, ponies can eat it just find most simply don't like it. But I very much enjoy it in apple pie so I'm adding it, I hope they don't mind.

I do the same with the green apples and take out two pie pans, I had to buy an extra one today. I roll out the dough and line both pans before adding the filling and covering both of them, I open the preheated oven and place both pies inside before using my bracelet to set a timer.

I sit down and start practicing while I wait for it to bake. I've made significant progress in progressing to the next rank of runic caster. I can form a long enough magic line to form a matrix, but now comes the tedious part. I need to shape and form that line into a matrix while memorizing it.

I'll basically have to relearn all the spells I know and practice until I can cast them whenever I want. This will be both slow and fast, learning a single spell again would only take a day or two, and memorizing it is only a matter of practice. But to relearn all the spells I know will take me a while.

For now, I start with the spell I use the most, the Temporis spell. I write out the simple matrix on a piece of paper and start trying to form the numbers and the rune I'll need for the spell. I focus and shape that magical line into the right shape before cutting it and moving on to the next symbol while trying to keep what I've already made stable.

I started with the matrix's outer and inner lines, another thing I need to keep in mind is to form everything at the correct size. When drawing out matrixes I don't need to worry about making spells too big or small but now that I'm casting without my hooves I need to keep everything near enough to the correct size.

Why? Well, let's take the FireBolt spell as an example. To cast it I draw out the matrix and a small bolt of fire forms at the center of the matrix in the empty area. But if I make the matrix smaller than the bolt it's creating then the magic could destabilize the matrix, and as you'd imagine that's very bad.

This combined with the fact that many spells need to be a certain size to work correctly for one reason or another, is why one of the instructions in casting a spell is how big the matrix needs to be. This mostly applies to runic casting but can be a factor in horn casting as well.

This means I not only need to form the matrix correctly I need to remember each spell's size. I form another part of the spell but am interrupted by my timer going off, I sigh and let the magic dissolve before walking over to my oven.

The pies are done so I take both of them out to cool and go back to practicing. By the time I'm supposed to leave for the get-together I've made some decent progress and have committed most of the Temporis spell to memory, it will take more practice but I should be able to become a Journeypony in runic casting very soon.

Once I memorize the spell fully and cast it instantly I can officially call myself a Journeypony in runic casting. I stand up and stretch before grabbing the pies and walking out of my apartment, I walk over to Daisy's door and knock. Not long later Daisy opens her door and greets me with a smile.

"Shade glad you could make it, ohhh pie, Maple will be thrilled." She says happily while letting me inside before closing the door behind me. I like Daisy's apartment, It's got a comfy feel to it. I leave both pies on a counter and find a comfortable place to lie down and talk.

After a while Blaz and Maple show up together with their own foods, Blaz brings a bowl of mashed potatoes. And Maple brought some fresh-cut greens, cucumber slices, carrot sticks, and a few other things. Daisy made our main course, a casserole, they put their things in the kitchen and we all sat down.

We all sat down at Daisy's table as she brought out a board game, "So what have you got for us?" Blaz asks Daisy while she sets up the game. A flat board with paths along it and a start and end location, reminds me of the Game Of Life from my old world.

I let the emotions of that thought wash over me and try not to ignore them, I feel a little sad but I'm also happy to spend time with friends.

Daisy finishes setting up the board and explains how to play and the rules, it turns out to be very similar to the game I know with a few twists. The game is called Adventure and you have to roll dice to move a certain distance before landing on a part of the path that gives you a choice.

To win you have to collect either gold or artifacts and both are counted as points at the end, whoever has the most at the end wins. "Everypony understand?" She asks when she finishes her explanation, and we all nod before picking out pieces and staring at the game.

I land on a spot and get a card that I keep. Daisy speaks up while Blaz rolls for his turn, "Did you show them yet?" Both me and Maple are confused for a moment before Blaz shows us a piece of paper.

I'm confused by the crude and nonsensical drawing he shows us. "Ya, I got it yesterday, my grand-foal's first drawing." He says with a slightly proud smile. Maple stays silent but I get an idea to have some fun with Blaz, I love messing with him. I pass Blaz the card I got earlier to Blaz, he reads it and looks back at me with a clearly exaggerated annoyance, "Really?"

I just smile and note down the increase in my gold because I just stole half of Blaz's gold from him. "Well you can't blame me, that smile was just asking for it." We both have serious faces for a moment before that facade cracks as we start laughing. "But in all seriousness that's adorable, I'm happy they are doing well," I say with a happy tone.

That's one of the things that helps with the stresses of my life. Blaz is always down to joke around and help me laugh about life. Maple always listens to our problems and offers solutions that are oftentimes practical. Daisy always tries to keep us positive and also offers solutions while trying to cheer us up.

We continue our game while cracking jokes and getting frustrated at each other with various cards and tricks. In the end, it comes down to the wire between me and Daisy for first place, I roll again and get unlucky. I land on an event that takes some of my gold and fall behind Daisy.

I turn to her after learning this and decide to go out with a bang, I use my last turn to give all my gold to Maple letting her win. "We both know that's against the rules." She says with a fake seriousness.

I smile back, "Not if I get Blaz to agree with me." I look over to Blaz and he gives me a deadpan look.

"Colt, drag me into this and I'll give you all my work while I'm on vacation." He says in a blunt tone but keeps his smile showing just how serious he truly is.

"Like you could do that." Daisy doesn't say anything and just smiles at me. "He can't do that, right? Right?" Daisy stays silent and keeps smiling. "Fine, I'll take the loss. Anyway, how about we get to the food? I'm hungry." Everypony agrees and we start setting the table.

The food is all well made and we all enjoy stuffing ourselves, when we are done I go and grab both pies to serve dessert. I place both on the table and to no pony's surprise I now have Maple's full attention. I cut both pies up and fill a few plates before passing them around, I make sure to fill Maple's plate with more than anypony else.

"Thanks" I get a round of thanks from everypony and sit down to enjoy my own plate. We all enjoy the pie and end up eating through all but half of a pie, again to no pony's surprise mostly because of Maple. "Where did you get these pies," Maple asks in her blunt manner.

I raise a brow at her question so she elaborates. "I try all the pies I find, but don't recognize this one ." Of course Maple's is the type to find and try new pies in her spare time, so why am I not surprised? How the hell would she even be able to tell the difference?

"I made them," I answer cautiously and watch as her eyes light up slightly and focus even more on me. I push the last half-finished pie over to her, "You can take this home, just give the pan back to me." I see one of Maple's rare smiles and get a nod and quiet thanks in return.

After we finish eating the night starts to wind down and we all decide to call it there so Blaz and Maple can get home before it gets too late. We all say our goodbyes and I stay a little longer to help Daisy clean up before heading home with some leftovers to share with Entropy.

When I get inside my apartment I'm greeted by an annoyed bird that's been waiting for her dinner, "I know girl, but I brought something new." I say trying to appease her, I fill a bowl with a few things she likes and add some of the food we made before heading into my workroom.

I sit down and start working on the project I've been working on for three days now. The modified Base Frame spell is basically done and just needs some testing and tweaking.

I still need a way to lock the illusions away from others but that can be done later for now I'll just test if it works correctly. I grab a medium ruby and add the spells used to gather and hold magic before adding everything else and starting my tests. First I use the Page spell in the gem and try to draw with the Pen spell, it works well, although I can see a few things that will need to be tweaked.

After several tests I stop and leave my workroom, it's getting late and I have work tomorrow so it's best to get some sleep.

Chapter 84

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MAR 29 Sunday.

I focus as another number appears in the air in front of me to complete a spell matrix, I push more magic into it and watch as a small ball of light forms in front of me. I try my best to memorize the entire matrix and after the light vanishes I try to cast it again.

This time I try to rapidly form the entire matrix from memory in one go, in a few seconds the matrix forms but a few parts are wrong so I let it collapse and start again. This is the tedious process of relearning spells, over the past week I've officially advanced into a Journeypony.

The first spell I fully memorized was the Temporis spell and after that, I started relearning other simple spells. So far I've relearned the Heating spell, and the Firebolt spell, and now I'm working on the Light spell. I attempt to properly memorize the spell again by slowly forming it without my hooves.

I could just write down the matrix and study it until I memorized it, but doing it like this helps me train my magical control and my ability to form a matrix without drawing it by hoof, so while it is less efficient I prefer this method to others so far. I've been practicing this Light spell for a few hours now in between breaks.

Now that I can cast spells instantly I can use a part of magic that I haven't before, spell chanting. Using different words while casting a spell can improve the effects of a spell depending on the word and how you use it, this either slightly or massively improves your spells, but there are several downsides.

First, if you're using runic magic you probably won't use spell chants until you reach the Journeypony rank. This is because you have to chant the entire time you are casting a spell, for a Journeypony runic caster that could be a single word as they can cast a spell instantly.

But for an Apprentice runic caster, they'd have to chant the entire time they are drawing out a matrix and casting it, and that is a dangerous thing to do for a few reasons. The first problem with it is how you do spell chanting, you need to push your magic into your throat and words, and then clearly and correctly say a word, this adds to the magical cost of a spell.

And while using spell chants you have to be very careful how you go about it as one wrong word can go horribly. If I cast Firebolt and chant the word fire at the same time then the fire of the spell would be all around stronger. Or if I say burn then the spells fire would burn hotter.

But if I say either of those words incorrectly it can destabilize the entire spell and it could backfire on you. So if you're fighting someone and they throw a brick at you while you are chanting something bad is going to happen.

The words you say can also negatively affect the spell so if I say water while casting Firebolt that will also destabilize the spell, all words you chant need to have meaning to the spell you're using and work well with it.

On top of all of that, you need to make sure the words you're using have the right meaning, if you chant glacier with an ice spell you have to fully know what that word means in detail. And even further, you also need the chant to last the entire time you're casting, so if you're still an Apprentice runic caster then you need a long chant that lasts the entire time it takes to draw and cast the spell.

For all these reasons I and most others haven't used spell chanting, in the past as I thought it best to advance my rank first. I don't think I'll start using it until I fully stop using non-instant runic casting, and that means I'll just be relearning the spells I know for now.

While advancing set me back it feels so nice being able to cast a spell so fast without tiring out my forelimbs. Beyond my spell practice, I've gotten better at fighting with a greatsword and Stone said we'll be moving on from it in a few weeks, and that means I finally get to use both a dagger and greatsword at the same time.

But he did warn me that we'd be developing my own combat style by him fighting me. That just means I'll be mostly on my own to come up with ideas and see what works and what doesn't while getting my ass kicked at the same time, isn't that great?

I stand up and stretch out my body before looking over as Philomena teleports into my apartment with a letter in her beak. I trade her with some berries and open the letter, it's once again an invite to a meeting later today. It's still relatively early in the morning so I have plenty of time until the meeting.

This letter doesn't come as a surprise because it sends me a different letter with our meeting date and time every month or two. I keep the letter and spend a moment petting Philomena, who melts at the attention and scratches. Entropy sees this and can't let it stand so she flies down from her perch and tries to get my attention.

I just give both of them attention for a while before giving Entropy a few of her toys and walking away to do other things. My mood has improved a good amount over the past week and I'm doing a little better overall about the whole situation, but I'd still like to finish my project and start writing things down.

And that brings me to a problem I've been having. This project is basically complete and ready to go, but I still don't have a way to protect it and keep its contents safe. That is what I've been working on for a week now and I think I've come up with a decent but non-perfect solution.

I don't need to keep others out if there is nothing to access. The writing will be in English as a safeguard but the gem will also have a self-destruct to destroy itself if accessed by somepony that's not me. This is the best solution I could come up with that couldn't be easily defeated.

It's far from perfect and if it's ever activated then all the knowledge would be lost, but that's better than it falling into the wrong hands. I'll set up a password system and then activate the self-destruct if it's entered wrongly or if the gem is tampered with.

The way the gem will break is easy enough as all I need is to add a spell that is purposely wrong and activate it when needed. I take out the medium ruby I've been working with and start tinkering with the right type of spell to use in the wrong way.

I settled for something else and overcharged a Firebolt spell to form inside the gem, the resulting heat would crack the gem quickly and shatter it, rendering it useless. Next, I start on the password system, it's not hard to make something like this as it's just me filling in something the spell expects to be there, and if it's not then it activates a link to the firebolt spell, but I still have to get creative for a reason I'll touch on in a bit.

The next part is something a little more complicated and I need to be careful with how I implement it. I start making a scanning spell to detect anypony trying to tamper with the gem by using a rune of protection as its base and building on it with a rune of locking.

This is more complicated to make and I spend extra time making sure there are no mistakes in it. After three hours I'm done and I add the spell to the gem without activating it. Next, I link that into the same password along with the self-destruct and decide on what form the password should be in.

This brings me to a flaw and that's the fact that I can't prevent others from observing the enchantments enchanted in the ruby. And the password needs to be stored in those enchantments so the spell knows it, that's why I've made the password a bit unique.

It checks if the answer you give is correct but the entire spell is using human numbers and symbols for the math. It's filled with several false answers that are in English that mean nothing and do nothing in the spell, and unless they can translate it anypony trying to find the right one would basically have to guess the answer.

On top of that, the answer isn't even there because the real answer is formed from several parts of those fake passwords, this is the best solution I could come up with. The only concern left is somepony seeing the English numbers and letters, but if anypony besides me is seeing this then I already have bigger problems.

Once everything is done I test it a few times by putting in the correct password. There is a moment where I'm nervous I did something wrong and I'm about to see my work shatter, but it all works correctly and the enchantments activate. I turn it off again and put it away after seeing that it works.

I'm not going to write anything right now, I'll do it later. I place the gem on a shelf and leave my workroom, only to see something I never thought I would see. Apparently, Philomena decided to stick around and saw Entropy use her bird bath, and decided to try it.

I walk out to see a bird made of magical fire washing themselves in water. I'm worried about her safety for a moment, but she doesn't seem to mind and just keeps bathing in the water. Turns out her fire can't be put out by water even when she bathes in it.

I watch the strange sight and after a moment just sigh, my worry having left me after seeing that she's fine. I watch her just to make sure none of the enchantments do anything to her, but nothing happens. After she's done I start on lunch for me and both birds.

I'll have to ask Celestia if she knows why Philomena showed up and stayed here last time. Once the food is ready I give both of them a bowl and eat my sandwich while thinking through something. I'm still working through my feelings and could use some advice.

But I can't ask my friends, and that only leaves one pony I could ask, Celestia. Either as a human or a pony, I don't trust easily, even if I want to it takes time to earn my trust. And over the last year, I've come to trust Celestia much more, I'm still a little wary about talking to her about myself but I think I can trust her.

And while I don't want to talk about my real past with her, at least not now, I think I can still get some advice and counsel from her. I'm also worried about revealing too much to her, but I think I should at least somewhat talk to her about what I'm going through.

But I'm still unsure, after some thought I shake my head to force away those fears, but I don't ignore them. I just don't let them stop me. It's still two hours until our meeting so I start working on my runic spells while I wait. After an hour Philomena leaves and I start gathering my things to do the same.

It's been raining slightly today so I grab my cloak and saddlebags, along with my illusion bracelet and my necklace. Entropy merges into my shadow and we leave the apartment to walk through the streets. I take my bracelet and necklace off before entering the palace, It's the normal song and dance when we get there, and not long after I'm once again led into a room with Celestia waiting at a table with a pot of tea.

When I enter I drop any pretense about my mood and just let it show in my expression and body language. I don't bow and just sit down, I don't think either of us cares about me bowing and I just don't want to right now. Celestia immediately notices my low and less than enthusiastic mood. "Are you ok?" She asks with concern in her voice.

I just stare back as Entropy leaves my shadow and moves onto my back. "Do I look ok?" I say back with a little snark, but quickly realize that she doesn't deserve that. "Sorry, and no I'm not ok. But I would rather not talk about that first." I say with a less defensive tone and pass her a report on the B.L.P. spell.

She takes it and not even glancing at it moves it to the side before giving me her full attention, she gives me a comforting smile. "That's fine, I have a few things we can talk about first if you want?"

I down my entire cup of tea in one go before nodding. "Yes, please," I say, thankful she's willing to let me calm down and get more comfortable.

"I have letters for you, if you'd like to start there?" She moves seven letters onto the table. I stare at them for a moment and slowly nod before taking out my chess board and passing it to her, she silently takes it and starts setting up the game.

I look through the letters. Four invites to events, they are really being persistent, I just write polite rejections. Two letters about offers to work for different companies and what they are offering as an incentive, I have no interest in that and write a blunt and professional rejection to both.

The final letter is about- I stop reading it and look back up to Celestia with a tired expression, "Really? Why?" She's done setting up the game and is now looking through the report while I was going through the letters and looking at the letter I'm reading.

"You are fairly wealthy, and the recent inventions have been a massive success, especially the silence spell for foals." I look back down at the marriage contract and don't bother responding to it, that has got to be the oddest thing I've ever been sent before.

I pass her my replies and look down at the board to move my first piece. And decide to just go for it before I can convince myself to back out, "I've had an odd week, a few downs and a few ups." She looks back up at me after finishing her turn, giving me her full undivided attention. "You know me, I don't like dancing around things..... And I could use somepony to listen and offer advice."

I feel the weight on me lessen a little at saying that out loud, too late to turn back now. She just smiles slightly and nods, "That's the reason we have these meetings, what do you want to talk about?" I'm once again thankful that it's Celestia I'm talking to.

She said that all genuinely and without a hint of anything but kindness and understanding. I sigh, "I'll start with the bad stuff then, around a week ago I broke down. Full crying breakdown, it was not a good day." I drink all my tea again and she refills my cup.

"Turns out I've been holding a few things in too much and it all came out at once, the main thing being that I hide things from my friends. And before we go down that rabbit hole I'm not going to tell them about this part of my life, maybe one day but not now, and I don't think I'll talk about why either."

She gives me a sad but understanding look and nods. "That's fine, just say what you're willing."

I swallow thickly and continue, "Well I've been ignoring and pushing those thoughts down for a while now, and when it all came out I realized that I feared not being remembered for who I really was. You would know and remember but if anything ever happened to me they, they wouldn't."

By the time I finish speaking, my voice is a little hoarse and I start drinking more tea to help me keep calm. "After my breakdown I've been doing a bit better, I had a nice game night with friends and I've decided to do something about that fear." I move another piece and take a moment to collect my thoughts.

With a more steady voice, I continue. "You know me, I see a problem and I try to fix it. And if I left this fear alone I knew it would only get worse, but like I said I won't tell them about my life yet, so I decided to write everything down in case anything ever happened before I felt it was time to explain."

I deliberately don't mention how I'm storing all this writing as I'm not sure if I want to reveal that to others yet. Once I'm done she waits a moment before speaking, "Well I say with certainty I will always remember you, I promise that." She says that with so much conviction it's a little startling to me.

Hearing that once again lifts a small part of that weight off of me, even though I presumed she'd do that hearing it makes it feel more real. "And I can understand what you're going through. I would obviously suggest telling them, but that isn't my choice to make, it's yours, and yours alone."

She gives me a sad smile, "I've seen many ponies who work for me go through the same things, struggling with not being able to tell their family and friends about their work and how it went. It can be quite a weight for a pony to hold, especially for somepony so young." She says this without any insult, stating a fact to me that she's probably seen so many times.

"And many of them did the same thing as you, bottled it all up until it all came out at once. It's ok for that to happen, and you've done nothing wrong, just unknowingly followed the same path. But what's important now is how you move past this and how to deal with it from now on."

"And unlike many you've already started doing something productive instead of staying in that place like many others sadly do." She gets a slightly far-off look for a moment before refocusing on me. "A journal is something I recommend to anypony who has the same problem."

"It's a good place to start and beyond that, I recommend two other things. One, try your best to work through those feelings through some activity instead of just pushing them off to the side and ignoring them. Two, if you start feeling like that again, come to me and let me talk to you about it, even if it's a day we aren't scheduled to meet I'll make time."

I'm a little overwhelmed by all she said for a moment and spent some time thinking over it before answering. "I've tried to not ignore those feelings anymore but that will take time to get used to, but I also won't give up. And I promise to send a letter if it happens again." I say with complete seriousness.

She promised to never forget me, I should do the same, even if it's just in this way. "That's all I ask. Anything else you'd like to talk about?"

I smile a bit. I'm already feeling somewhat better having gotten all that off my chest and saying it out loud. "Well, I still have the good news I mentioned." I smile and spend a second concentrating, in roughly three seconds a full Temporis spell forms and is cast, showing the time.

I see a true smile spread across her face and feel my own smile grow at the sight, I rather not end our meeting on a sad note. "Amazingly done, congratulations on the advancement." She says in a happy tone while clapping lightly with her hooves.

"Thanks, I thought it would be nice to end this on a more positive note." Seeing the time I know our meeting will end in a few minutes. "And thank you for listening, it means a lot to me," I say with a serious tone, and I mean that.

She nods, "Always. We can talk longer if you want?"

"No, I have many things I'd like to write down and work through by myself." I turn her offer down and smile while looking at the board, for a moment I can't believe what I'm looking at but smile at the sight. "Also, checkmate."

She looks confused for a moment before looking down at the board and laughing at it. Through some mix of her focusing on me more than the game and some weird form of luck, I've finally won my first game against her. "Don't worry this one doesn't count, if I'm going to beat you I'll do it properly." I challenge her.

She smiles back at me, "I'm looking forward to it. Have a good day Shade, and remember, you are not alone."

I nod. "I will Celestia, and same to you." After that, I stand up and Entropy returns to my shadow, I start packing up the chess game before stopping as a thought strikes me, "Actually I do have one more question." She looks back at me and nods, "Philomena's shown up at my home before with nothing to deliver, did she not bring something?"

She looks confused before shaking her head, "I haven't sent you anything beyond the letters, seems she's really taken a liking to you." She seems to think for a moment before pulling a piece of paper from somewhere along with a quill and writes something down on it.

She holds out the piece of paper to me. "Here, it's some instructions on how to take care of her properly, they should help when she visits, and also don't have grapes within sight around her." That last part is said with complete seriousness and that just confuses me.

"Why?" She doesn't answer and just smiles playfully. "Fine, I guess I'll just have to test it." She smiles wider, or maybe I shouldn't test it. I shake my head and take the piece of paper before putting it in my saddlebags as a guard walks me out of the palace. After I'm outside I find the nearest restroom and have Entropy take me home.

Once we arrive I feed Entropy and sit down in my bed with the medium ruby, I sit there staring blankly at the first illusionary page for several minutes before I move my hoof and start writing.

Hello if you're reading this then something has either gone horribly wrong, or I'm dead. My name is Shade Evergreen, and my name is also Kevin Leery Forester. And I have a story to tell you, my story, and I'm so sorry.

Author's Notes:

200k...... YES!! LETS GO!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!!

I can not believe I have made it this far.

First I'd just like to thank everybody who's helped me with this story, from the smallest grammar correction to all the advice, I wouldn't have gotten this far without it and I'm very grateful.

I'd also like to say thank you for reading my first story, and one that I've loved making.

And lastly, I'd like to explain something. When I started this I had no plans or ideas on how far I'd go, I had an idea that wouldn't leave me alone and the will to say fuck it and try to write anyway.

I've never written anything before this and I was massively out of my depth when I started, hell I didn't even take notes on names and other important things until I forgot something important twenty chapters in.

And now I'd like to think I've grown a lot and I'm not complete shit at writing anymore, but I still have a long way to go.

This is all to say if you're ever thinking about writing, go for it, if it sucks so be it, but at least you tried and finally got that idea out of your head, rent paid in full.

But that's enough of my rambling, if you have any questions feel free to ask them and thanks as always for reading, have a lovely day. :D

PS, any names for the new illusion pages?

Chapter 85

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APR 8 Wednesday.

I hit the floor once again as Stone landed a solid hit to my left back leg, I dash to the side trying to recover only to have a pebble hit the side of my head while I was moving. I try to recover again but a second blow to another leg brings me down with a wooden sword pointed at my throat.

It's pulled away a second later and I roll right side up before drawing out a spell I've come to rely on, the basic muscle healing spell. After recovering for a while I stand up and keep the spell active to help me heal. "Not bad Colt, but you probably should have blocked with the dagger instead."

I nod and pick up both of my weapons before getting ready for another round of getting my ass kicked. After several more rounds of this, we spent some more time going over what could improve my combat style and a few general things to keep in mind.

Fighting with blades is different for ponies and involves more dodging than tanking hits. Heavy full armor does exist but isn't common, most prefer lighter armor that covers their back and head, like the guard. I asked Stone and he said that full plate has a main weakness.

It's good protection but there are gaps. For humans that was a weakness that could be exploited but it was hard to exploit it as knights were taught to protect those gaps, for humans it was hard to hit those gaps because it's hard to angle a weapon right to hit those weak spots.

But ponies can levitate things to hit those gaps much easier and this makes full plate less effective. So most prefer top and chest armor with a helmet, this helps with arrows and bolts while leaving their legs free to dodge and maneuver out of the way. So most ponies develop a very mobile and fast form of combat.

There are exceptions to all of this but the guard mostly follows this doctrine and has for hundreds of years now. And it makes sense for what they normally deal with, most guards only deal with thieves and common criminals. And when things do devolve into a fight it's normally against untrained, relatively badly equipped opponents.

Like I said there are exceptions and differences. There are guard regiments for different tasks like search and rescue, tracking criminals, and pretty much any other role the police and military would do in my old world. Honestly, the only reason the guard hasn't gotten corrupt and weak over time with how little they fight or change is Celestia's oversight.

I rapidly form a Firebolt spell and launch it at a target Stone is moving while I trot around. I miss but cast the spell again half a second later and hit the target before it's dropped and another is lifted in the corner of my eye.

Another thing about pony combat is the fact that it requires a higher degree of situational awareness, an attack could come from any direction so you need to learn to keep not just your eyes but also your ears alert, and for a pony that is different.

Humans have ok hearing but it's weak compared to ponies, you know the saying, you could hear a pin drop? Well, I can. But I haven't used that hearing much in this life so over the past year we've been training, has it been a year already? I try to think about it but cut the thought short as he throws another target at me.

Over the last year, Stone's been training my hearing by giving small clues about when and where he's going to throw something, and sometimes he doesn't but throws something anyway just to keep me on my hooves. He switches from throwing things around me to throwing things at me as I try my best to dodge, block, and hit what I can.

I hear a small noise behind me and move out of the way a second before a small pebble flies past me, but inevitably something gets through and hits me on my side. I stop when that happens and stumble on my tired legs a little before recovering.

Stone stops and walks over to me, "Well that's it for today, you've improved a lot from that Colt I met a year ago. But you still have a lot to learn, get some rest and remember what I said." His deep and dry voice says with a slight chuckle at the end. He doesn't say much but we already covered anything important earlier.

I nod to him and slowly walk to the exit with him. "I won't forget. Have a good day Stone." I've come to see Stone as a good mentor, and a decent acquaintance. He's not a friend but is still relatively close to me and somepony I hold respect for. And while I do pay him to kick the shit out of me, he did warn me so it's not his fault.

And I've found this exercise to be a good way to work through the emotions I've been dealing with. In the past, I would just enjoy the improvement and practice, and I still do but I've also taken Celestia's advice to heart and used that time to work through my negative emotions and uncertainty.

I've also been doing this while I exercise on my one and while drawing and writing. Celestia sent a book to me the day after our last meeting, it's about how to properly express and process emotions in ways that won't just make you wallow in those negative emotions.

The book isn't a perfect solution by any means and it's not intended to be, so I'll keep talking about how I'm doing with Celestia, although I am a little guilty that I'm unloading all of this on her. But she did volunteer and has continued to do so. I walk out of the building and put on my cloak after seeing the slight rainfall.

It's a cloudy day and the streets will be dark soon so I hurry home. I enter my apartment and like normal tend to my plants and Entropy, after that, I make some tea and lay down in the main room before I start my runic casting practice. After a while, I drain my magic and spend the time it takes to regenerate my magic to study.

I've been learning about healing magic for almost two years now and I've made a lot of progress. In this time I've mostly focused on the practical knowledge and not spells, mostly because the spells require that knowledge and also because I've never had much of a need to learn the spells.

But with my training going even further and the work I'm doing on new healing spells I think it's time to learn more healing spells and get some experience with them. I can't test them on injuries but I can at least learn them and memorize them for later.

I spend the rest of the night practicing and reading before heading to bed after a shower.

time skip

APR 9 Thursday.

I walk back home from another day at the library and I'm in a pretty good mood all things considered. I still have a lot on my mind but I am feeling much better than two weeks ago. I enter my apartment and once again feed the small gremlin I live with before getting to work.

I walk into my workroom and find the large amethyst before placing it on the floor. It's been a little over seven months since I last scanned how much magic I have and I'm curious about how much it's grown in that time. The scan takes just as long as last time and I spend that time meditating on my feelings.

This is one of the things the book Celestia gave me recommended I try. It's simple, you meditate on what you're feeling and why you're feeling it while asking questions about both. Basically, just a mental exercise to make you better understand what you're feeling and help you accept and deal with it.

But it's a delicate balance, you want to better understand what you're feeling, not get stuck in those feelings. I open my eyes as I notice the gem stop.

I hold out a piece of paper and watch a number appear on it after a moment. The first scan was on SEP 1 and had a result of 246. This scan had a result of 297, a significant improvement in the total amount considering it's been around half a year, but that's not completely unexpected.

During a pony's teen years and early adulthood, they are known to have their magic grow faster. I'm not sure if that's because they start using their magic more at that age, or if there is a biological and magical reason for this happening. But regardless it does happen around that time for most unicorns and I presume other ponies as well.

That brings my mind to a different topic, ponies age up faster than humans. As a good comparison, most humans consider eighteen to be physically mature and twenty-one to be mentally mature, this is just a general rule and has many exceptions. For ponies, they consider fifteen to be physically mature and eighteen to be mentally mature, also with many exceptions.

This isn't a cultural difference but more so a fact of pony biology. But this means that as an almost thirteen-year-old I'm considered to be in the middle of my teens, so it would make sense for my magic to be growing so much with my age and constant training.

I find the right notebook and write down the new information before grabbing my notebook on runes along with a small ruby. I had an idea earlier today and it's stuck with me, the floating enchantment that lets me suspend things in the air, I want to modify that spell and try something.

I slowly modify the spell over the next few hours so it can handle more magic and a more powerful effect. The spell is a little complicated but I'm just improving on what's already there and even then only in a few key areas. When I'm done I enchant the small ruby to hold and gather magic before adding the modified floating spell and starting work on the other pieces.

I need a way to turn off the enchantments from a distance, I've done just that before so after looking through a few notes I copy what I did with the shield around my apartment, using a small piece of scrap wood as the switch, when I flip it the enchantments will turn off or on.

And now that last piece, I make a very simple spell using a rune of seeing and a rune of understanding to make them work properly. The result is a very simple spell that activates a link connected to it when something is moving within a certain radius of itself.

It's set to a single-foot radius around in, which is the same area that the beefed-up floating spell will affect when activated. I enchant all these spells into the small ruby and then link them together properly. The very basic detection spell links into the floating spell.

The simple switch links to both the detection and floating spells to turn them off and on when I need to. Once everything is ready I place the ruby in the middle of my desk and flip the small piece of wood, there is no visual difference. I grab another piece of scrap wood and throw it above the ruby.

Once it passes the threshold it moves a little further before abruptly stopping in mid-air. All the ruby's extra magical capacity is being used in the float spell so I expect it to be pretty strong and hold things very stable. I reach out to try and grab the piece of wood but have to push against the spell.

It's like pushing my hoof through honey, possible but difficult. With enough effort I'm able to push in half way, the more of my foreleg I push in the harder it becomes to move. But the spell isn't strong enough to overpower me and I pull my hoof back out after reaching the center.

If I make it stronger than I could trap myself inside, it would work like a glue trap in a three-dimensional area. But it also gives me a different idea. I've basically made the perfect stabilizer, with the downside being that it also traps things. I can think of a few uses for this but that will take more work and it's late.

Guess I'll test this more in the morning.

Chapter 86

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APR 11 Saturday.

I draw out another rune and double-check that everything is correct before casting the spell without a target in mind. The matrix flashes before disappearing completely, it does nothing. This is a healing spell I've been working on for over an hour now with mixed success.

Before this, I only knew two healing spells, one for speeding up the healing process of muscles, and the other speeds up the healing of bruises and rashes. And now I'm learning about a spell to help speed up the regrowth of fur and hair, not the most useful spell but I found it interesting to learn.

And I've found another healing spell I want to learn. It helps with healing burns and it might be the most complex spell I've tried to learn yet. It helps speed up the healing process but to a much greater degree, the other spells can take hours to fully heal injuries.

And even if you overpower those basic healing spells with more magic, like I do, it hits a limit on how much faster it can go before the magic required makes it not worth the investment. But this is a better quality and more complex spell that costs more magic but can be pushed much further.

I look through the spell's matrix for a while before deciding to do something else instead, it's the weekend and I wouldn't mind doing something I've been thinking about. I grab my saddlebags and cloak, and then my necklace.

My necklace is something I don't leave home without and recently I've put some work into improving it. Over time I've improved the illusion detection spell on my bracelet and now it's efficient enough to fit on the diamond in my necklace at the same time as the emotional shield.

I had to remove the silence field enchantment but that's just fine by me. This also leaves me with the bracelet free to be enchanted with anything else I could want again. After putting on my necklace I call Entropy over and she merges into my shadow before we leave my apartment.

Over time I've observed that Entropy seems to prefer to stay inside my shadow when we move through public areas. I think she likes being able to watch everything or sleep whenever she wants while staying with me. And that's good because her appearance keeps changing slowly.

When I started using the illusion spell on her, her feathers were so efficient at absorbing light that she looked like a hole in reality itself. Now her feathers have stopped getting darker and have started to become a mass of black shadowy wisps that appear and roll off her like fog before vanishing. This effect started at the very tips of her feathers but is slowly creeping over more and more of her body with time.

I'm going to guess all her feathers will be replaced by it given time, she'll definitely be a sight to see on that day. I take my time walking through the markets and making my way to the city's edge. I don't find anything of particular interest before I reach the city's gate.

I walk outside the city past the guards and see many caravans camped outside selling many different things. Many of them set up stalls out here to sell things without needing to move their products into the city or pay for a stall, the downside is that they can only sell to each other and any ponies going into or out of Canterlot.

I'm here to see if the diamond dog caravan I traded with last time is here again. I only have three small gems left and one medium, so I'm going to need more for my tests and inventions soon. And to my luck, I see the same symbol used by their caravan on a camp.

It's been months since I last bought gems and back then I wasn't as rich as I am now. All my inventions and spells are really seeing some dividends now, there was a dip from paying my taxes but I can easily ignore that. My point is I have much more money to spend this time on some of the things I had to leave last time.

I walk over to their tents but don't approach too close, it's obvious I'm here to talk to them and I think it's best I don't just walk inside their private area asking questions about where their leader is, so I simply wait for someone to see I'm here and get someone in charge.

And a few minutes later two diamond dogs approached me. They both have small swords and are well-muscled, it seems like some guards noticed me, perfect. While they approach I take a moment to remove my cloak and pack it inside my saddlebags, I also move my small dagger from a hidden spot into a pocket, I would rather not have any misunderstandings.

Last time I was here I was vouched for by the caravan leader's daughter, but I'm alone this time and I'm also not sure if the leader is still the same diamond dog, so it's best to stay on good behavior. Both caravan guards walk up to me and look me over before one of them gets a bit closer.

"What business do you have here?" Her tone is blunt and dry but not angry or rude.

"I've done business with your caravan before, and I'd like to do more. I'd like to speak to the caravan leader if that's fine?" I ask back with an even tone.

They scrutinize me a little more before nodding. "Follow me." They turn and start walking away. This is going surprisingly well considering I had no proof of my claims, although it would become apparent very quickly if I was lying to them. We walk through their camp and enter a large tent with a table set up just like before.

And just like last time Onyx is there, reading something while looking over some other papers. He sees us enter and looks confused for a moment before seeming to recognize me. "Well this is a surprise, I'll be honest I never thought I'd see you again." His tone is light and relaxed as he looks over my appearance.

"Well, I needed more gems and decided to check if your caravan was here." He nods and moves the papers away before getting right done to business. He doesn't seem as suspicious of me as last time, I guess I earned some trust from doing good business with our last deal.

"Well you have some good timing then, someone I supply just backed out and I have a lot of gems that they ordered. First, though, did you bring enough bits or are we doing the same deal as last time?" He asks while walking me over to several carts filled with boxes.

I'm not worried about being robbed as we are right next to the capital, and Entropy can get me out very fast if need be. "I brought a good amount, but if you have some more expensive gems then we can do the same deal again." I offer and he nods before calling two other diamond dogs to help him with the crates.

I brought a lot of bits with me this time and I'm expecting to have to go get more for this. Over the next two hours, we go through a few dozen crates and haggle over different gems while I look through them for what I want. By the end I have so much that it will be hard to bring it all home in one trip.

So we agreed to make it three trips in total with me coming back two more times to get the rest and pay them one-third at a time. I end up spending more than I thought but it still doesn't make that large of a dent in my savings. It takes me three hours of back and forth before I'm home with everything by the end of the day.

On my last trip, Onyx gave me a pendant with their caravan symbol on it, he told me I can show it to the guards to be let in right away if I did business with them again. I tried to decline as I didn't really know or trust them but he insisted because, in his own words, I rather not lose good business from an inconvenience, and from his tone I think he was speaking from experience.

So in the end I took it and kept it in my saddlebags while walking home. I made sure to check it for any type of tracker or magical enchantment before going home just to be safe, there was nothing on it but it's always best to check and be sure, many would call me paranoid, and they'd be right.

Thinking about my paranoia makes me think about the Changelings. I haven't had my bracelet or my necklace detect anything yet and I find that odd. I've been wearing the bracelet for months but nothing has happened and I'm wondering why. But I'm also not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

That saying just feels wrong as a pony. I refocus as I enter my apartment again with the last of the gems. I bought a lot and have to sort them all while updating my inventory list.

I got eighteen small gems, seven rubies, six sapphires, and five diamonds. Seven medium gems, four ruby, two sapphires, and one diamond. Two large gems, one ruby, and one sapphire. After that, I have the more unique gems I found.

A sun stone, this is an affinity-attuned gem for solar magic, it could prove to be very useful and I already have an idea for it.

Next is an iron gem, and it's an odd gem. It's known for being very durable and sturdy, and that extends to its magical capabilities. It can handle a lot of magic moving through it and is above average at conducting magic but it can't hold that much magic in itself.

And the last gem I found is a fire gem, this one is mostly self-explanatory. The gem is the same as the water gem, it can hold and safely store a large amount of fire affinity magic, but only that affinity and no other affinity type.

After organizing everything and writing it all down I start on a new project immediately. I grab the sunstone and place it on my desk, I start with the spell I use to hold and gather magic in gems. I've never modified this spell before because it's one of the few spells that has little room for improvement, honestly I'd love to meet the pony who made it, but they're long dead.

I carefully enchant the sunstone to hold and gather magic, because this is an affinity gem the process and how I use it is different. The spell will work fine as it just helps the gem gather and hold the magic it can't force any gem to take more magic than it can hold so it's safe.

The sunstone can only hold solar affinity magic and the spell will gather all magic that it can, and because only solar magic will enter the gem the other magic will just stay around it or more likely be absorbed by my other gems in my apartment, and the neutral magic won't decrease or increase as it can't outside of a gem.

But back to my idea, I can speed up the sun stones ability to absorb solar magic in a few ways. The first is simple, leave it in sunlight, and the second involves a plant I've bred. The Solar Trap is perfect for this idea and would massively speed up the gathering process.

Normally the sunstone could take weeks to gather all the magic it needs and fill itself because solar magic in the environment is in low amounts, even in direct sunlight. But I do have a problem, I don't have a large enough area to grow a Solar Trap big enough to fill this gem in a single day, although if I could find a place like that then it would be possible.

For now, I finish enchanting the sunstone, I grab a filled pot and a Solar Trap seed to plant. I take both to my main room and clear a place near my window with the best sunlight throughout the day, I place the pot and plant the seed before growing it into a full plant.

I don't have anything for it to grow on so I control the plant to grow into a structure of interwoven vines capable of supporting itself. The Solar Trap doesn't expend solar magic and just collects it, I originally wanted to have the Solar Trap feed its collected solar magic into other Solar Vines to keep their flowers glowing at night, but this is honestly a better use for it.

Once it's done I place the sun stone next to the base of the plant where the most magic will gather. It will probably take several days to fill it but when it's done I can experiment with it and see what I could do with Solar magic. I can think of the most basic use, which is to simply release the stored Solar magic for plants to absorb and use.

Once it's properly in place I take a shower and feed both of us before heading to bed, I have so much I want to do.

Chapter 87

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APR 12 Sunday.

I return from my morning run and start showering after I get home. After I'm nice and dry I check on the sunstone, it's working as intended and has collected a small amount of solar magic.

The bright yellow gem with a rounded appearance and a slight glow to it, it's opaque and seems to be working correctly. I hold the gem and feel a slight warmth from it on my hoof, I place it back and make some tea before heading to my workroom.

Now that I have several more gems I can experiment with a few more things. In the past there were two main things that limited what I could do with the gems I had, The first is the gem's magical capacity, and the second is how much magic a gem can handle going through it.

But now that I have the Iron Gem I have an interesting idea I want to try and make, it shouldn't be too hard. I found the three-inch gray, and slightly see-through gem and set it on my desk with four small rubies. First I have to enchant all of them to hold and gather magic which takes several minutes to draw the matrix out so many times.

With how much I use this spell I should relearn it later, once I'm done with that I leave the gems to the side and start working on a spell that's going to be needed for this idea to work. I've made a variation of the linking spell before but I'll need to make another one for this.

This one will be for moving much more magic at a time than the others. I roughly know the max a small ruby can channel through itself without causing damage to itself, but it varies so I'll undershoot that just to be safe. I add another rune to this linking spell along with a lot more math to improve the transfer rate and make it more stable.

This takes me longer than I thought it would but after a few hours, I'm done and can start using it. I link three of the rubies to the Iron Gem and have them all push their magic into it, even all three of the rubies dumping all of their magic into the Iron Gem at the same time isn't enough to hit its transfer limit.

Once that's done I start working on the more complicated part of this spell. The transfer capacity of gems is mostly dependent on the size of the gem, and also its quality and clarity to a lesser degree. So I take the same modified linking spell I just made and modify it again.

I make it have several different rough amounts of magic it will discharge at a time based on percentage and depending on what I set it to. I also added a small scanning spell to the Iron gem to detect when another gem is touching it, once that happens it uses that output to attach the linking spell to the gem while both are touching.

I don't have a dial to control the linking spell so I improvise by carving a tiny wooden cube the same size as a die. I carve several numbers and have the spell determine what number is selected by using a rune for up, it's basic but it will work. This setup lets me change the amount of magic transferred.

Once everything is in place and double-checked I leave the three connected rubies to the side to gather magic and place the last ruby next to the Iron stone without letting them touch. It should be obvious that I'm making an improved invention I made a while back.

At the time I used Steel wood to help a gem charge faster, but that had a few downsides. First I needed to relink the Steel wood blocks every time I wanted to charge a different gem. Second, it was an improvement over just letting gems charge normally but was still slow, this new charger will speed things up a lot.

It will fill gems as fast as possible with the limits gems have. Once everything is double-checked I move the unused ruby and let it touch the Iron gem. I see what little magic the three other rubies have collected drain into the last ruby at a visible rate.

I leave it be to test how well it works, I mark down the time and start working on a different idea I had to help more than just me. That's right I've found a way to make more work for Celestia and help ponies as a byproduct. I've done something similar to this in the past but this time I am better equipped.

I grab my cloak and set it on a desk in my workroom. The material my cloak is made from is canvas, and canvas is already water resistant and because of that it's by far the most common material used for cloaks and tents, and I want to improve that aspect further.

The canvas is tough enough to have a very simple enchantment on it, nothing powerful but what I'm planning is very small. I basically want to make a spell you could enchant into any durable enough piece of cloth to be hydrophobic and to do that I'll use two runes.

A rune for protection and a rune for fluid, it won't be a perfect spell and it will probably only repel water. If you dunk it in water it will still get wet, but it should protect against rain and most other fluids. I work on the spell for a few hours before I have something that should work well.

I enchant my cloak and use my flask to test it, it works decently well but like I expected it's a weak effect. But it still works and I can give it to Celestia next time we meet. While I'm lost in thought about other things I could test, I'm interrupted by Entropy.

I hear her caw and turn around to see her holding a letter, I raise a brow at her. "Where did you get that?" She tilts her head and moves the letter from her beak to a talon before holding it out to me. "Thanks? Here." I walk with her into the kitchen to feed her a few berries.

But while doing it I feel something else land on my back and I jump a little, I quickly turn my head only to see Philomena standing on my back. I sigh, "Well that answers one question, I'm guessing you also want some?" I see Philomena's eyes lock on the berries I'm feeding Entropy and take that as a yes.

After rewarding them both I open the letter.

Dear Shade. I'm writing to tell you that our meeting will be delayed by a week because of some unforeseen circumstances, nothing concerning but you'll probably see something about it in the newspapers soon. Our next meeting is on April 18 at the same time as our planned meeting, I hope to see you there.

Further, I wanted to ask how you're doing. You've been handling this well but I also want to remind you to be patient, things like this take time to heal and that's normal.

Stay well, and remember I'm here if you need to talk. Signed Celestia.

A smile forms on my face as I read this, she normally sends me letters, and after our meeting where I admitted my troubles her letters always ask me how I'm doing and remind me she's there if I need her. It's a small reminder that I don't need it, but I am happy to receive it regardless.

I find some paper and a quill to start writing out a response.

Dear Celestia. I'm doing well, thank you for the book. It's been helpful and I've been doing what you suggested. But I'm still having a few problems. Sometimes I find myself a little lost in those emotions, but I feel like it's better than just pushing it all down.

I'll be at the meeting, and now you've got me curious about what's going on. But I know better than to try and get involved in politics.

Also, I made another spell, it's small this time I promise. I'll include the spell and what it's used for with this letter along with an update on the progress of the B.L.P spell.

I hope whatever is happening goes well. Signed Shade.

I write down the spell and instructions along with an update on the B.L.P spell before sealing it all in an envelope. I look over and see Entropy preening Philomena's feathers, how does that even work? Her feathers are made of fire. I leave those questions for now and place the letter next to them.

Both look at it for a moment before Entropy walks over and picks the letter up, she vanishes a second later and I spend the time it takes her to deliver the letter petting Philomena. Philomena's feathers are interesting in several ways that I've seen while interacting with her.

Her feathers are made from pure flame that doesn't create any form of smoke. They have a present warm feel to them and feel soft, the flame is less like actual flame and denser, unlike normal flames you can actually feel an odd texture to them that is hard to describe.

And you can also feel the feather's spines, the fluff is pure flame but the feather spines are still solid which leads to an odd sensation while petting her. Entropy interrupts my train of thought again by reappearing next to Philomena and after a moment looking annoyed at her getting all of the attention. I pet both of them for a while before giving both of them some more berries and leaving them alone.

I find my wood carving knife and the wooden carving of Entropy. Sadly this isn't the one I was working on last time, that one had a bad cut that cracked the wing. The good news is that this one is basically complete and just needs a few smaller touches.

I spend a while just finishing it while Entropy and Philomena mess around and play. Turns out that while Philomena isn't as smart as Entropy she's still pretty smart even for a bird, and also loves to throw things around, as I learned when I narrowly moved out of the way of a wooden ball.

On the upside, it's interesting to watch two teleporting birds fight over different toys by stealing them from each other and teleporting to a different area of the main room. After a while, Entropy seems to decide to stop playing and take a nap on her perch, and Philomena, after seeing that decides it's time to head home teleporting out of my home with a small flash of flame. Maybe I should make Philomena something?

Then again Celestia can get her just about anything she would want. After things calm down I finish up with the wooden carving and put it away, I sit down with some fresh tea and start practicing my spatial sensing, I move three small pieces of scrap wood around me while I do this.

I'm getting pretty good at sensing space and I feel like I could probably unlock my space affinity if I really tried, but I think it's best to improve more before doing that just to be safe. Once I'm out of magic I take a notebook and start working on a few problems while waiting.

Specifically, I'm working on a few ways I could potentially make prosthetics, but it's slow going and It seems like this isn't something I can finish soon. It's just too complicated and I don't know enough to make it work properly right now, and I haven't found any potential solutions to needing so many different types of prosthetic limbs.

After working on this for a while I decided to do something I haven't in a long while. Getting a little flash of inspiration I grab a small sapphire and start Enchanting it into an Illusionary book, which is what I've come to call my new illusion information storage, next I look through my sketch books and find what I'm looking for.

My old star maps, I should make more again soon, maybe in the forest although that might not be the best idea considering what happened last time. I start drawing copies of the star maps in the illusionary pages while making sure to stay as accurate as possible to the originals even if that means including mistakes.

I work into the night and stop after seeing the time, I call Entropy over and have her take us to the forest and back a few times before she tires out and I take a shower while she rests. She can make eight trips back to back now and I might need to find a further away place soon.

When I'm clean and dry I feed both of us and head to bed, I have work tomorrow and I need some rest