JUL 10 Friday.

For an instant, I feel the all too familiar feeling of the Void. I relax a little and just enjoy the fraction of a second where there is nothing but blissful silence and calm.

To say this day has been stressful would be a monumental understatement. I've gone from running to hiding to fighting, all while juggling my concerns, fears and telling lies. And the worst part is that I had to pretend to be calm and collected as best I could the whole time.

At this point I'm tired, more tired than I've been in a long time. Physically I'm mostly fine, but mentally I'm past my limit and it's really hard to keep my mask of calm at this point. I've never been the best when dealing with things like this, but today really has shown me just how true that is.

I prefer the quiet life, helping where I can while staying in the background. And maybe I could deal with things like this if I had time to prepare, but I didn't and now I'm just relieved to finally be somewhere safe, even if my paranoid mind disagrees with the assumption that it's safe.

The Void is gone just as fast as it came, and as I get my footing under me I look around the mailroom. The room Entropy normally delivers letters to isn't big by palace standards, but that still means the room is more than big enough to fit Celestia and around twenty guards.

I was expecting to be greeted by guards, then I'd give them this stallion and leave the room to talk to Celestia. Instead, I'm greeted by guards, and Celestia with the most intense stare I've ever seen her make. Her face doesn't show much emotion but I've gotten to know her well enough to somewhat guess what she's feeling.

I can see a mix of concern and worry under her mask of calm, but when she looks at the mares with me I see something else. If her stare was intense before now it's downright piercing, to say she looks intimidating would be one hell of an understatement.

The mares basically freeze when she looks at them with that stare. Not that I would do anything different in their place, I do not envy their current situation.

I pull the stallion off of my back and give Celestia what most would consider a normal bow, I normally don't do this anymore but those two mares are still watching. The mares see what I'm doing and mimic it a second later, Celestia turns to a guard and nods.

Two guards walk up and take the stallion from me before dragging him out of the room, while four more guards follow behind them. Good, I do not want him escaping. Celestia turns back to me and nods, so I take that as permission to stand up.

After I stand up the mares follow suit and also stand up, Celestia takes a moment to look at the mares. "You are safe here, but I ask that you stay in this room until I return." Her tone is nothing but royal business, and while that may have sounded like a request, it was not. After that, she turns around and heads for the door with me following behind her.

Once we leave the room Celestia waits for the door to close fully before turning to me, she lowers herself down some to be more near my eye level with me. "Are you injured?" Her tone switches in an instant and now holds concern for my well-being.

I shake my head. "Maybe a few bruises and scrapes but that's it. Also, those two aren't enemies, but I'm not sure if they're friends either so have the guards keep a close watch." She stares at me for a moment before nodding and casting a few spells on me, I guess she's double-checking that I really am fine.

After she sees the results I see some of the tension leave her body, wow she was more worked up about this than I expected. After that, she seems to actually think over what I just told her, "Then who are they?"

I tiredly nod. "I'd like to sit down before I go through all of this, I'm tired as it is and would rather not stand in a hallway while talking for the next hour." I don't beat around the bush and bluntly tell her I'd like to go somewhere private before we start, and she doesn't even skip a beat before nodding.

And then she does something I would have never expected, she reaches down with her wing and starts carrying me like a piece of luggage. I guess she can see how tired I am. I stare up and see her small smile and in response, I give her a mock glare, but I don't have the mental energy to argue with her.

We walk a few doors down the hallway and enter a room I've never been into before. As far as I can tell it's a breakroom of some kind, maybe for staff, it's empty right now and has some tea waiting for us already. She dumps me on a couch genially and sits down next to me while pouring us both some hot tea.

She passes me a cup as I finally relax for the first time in a few hours, I take a sip, damn it's nice to have some tea. I look over at her, she's just patiently waiting for me to speak. "Do you want a quick explanation, or all of it in detail, along with my theories and guesses?"

She seems to consider it for a few moments before answering. "You look about ready to fall asleep on this couch, so the quick version will have to do. Although I'd like you to write down everything you remember sometime later."

I nod and start explaining how this all started. "I'll make a full report later. Well, it all started with me and Blaz walking home from the park, we separated after a while, with him going to the library and me going to my apartment. A reminder that I did not bring Entropy with me, I won't be doing that again." As I say her name Entropy leaves my shadow and snuggles up with me on the couch, she tries her best to comfort me.

I don't remember seeing her when we arrived so I assume she went into my shadow as soon as we arrived at the palace. I smile and scratch her a little. "Anyway while walking home I found myself on an empty street." I stop for a moment to drink some tea Celestia gave me and enjoy the lemony taste.

"While walking I felt two sources of life magic moving quickly towards the street I was in, at the time I found it odd because they weren't just running but full-on sprinting, moving very quickly on hoof." At this point, Celestia takes out some paper and ink to write what I'm saying down as I go. "Not long after I noticed them, the two mares you saw burst out of an alleyway and started looking around the street."

"They looked distressed but I didn't think too much about it, I basically decided to ignore my paranoia for once, a bad idea. After they spotted me they ran over to me and asked for directions, I vaguely remembered the part of the city the address was for but you'll have to ask them about where they were going." She nods and notes that down.

Honestly I'm a little nervous about telling her what I did, my plan was far from well thought out. I ignore that thought and continue. "They were in a hurry and I didn't know where they were going, so I helped narrow it down as best I could. Right after that three other ponies ran out of the same alleyway the mares came out of, and once they saw us they started running at us." Celestia seems to see where this is going and slowly starts to frown a little.

I may be tired but catch it and stop my story. "Stop that, I'm fine now and upsetting you won't make me feel better about all of this." I try to take a joking tone to reassure her, but I'm tired and don't do the best job.

But my words do get her to stop frowning. "I know, but I will always worry over my little ponies. And especially my friends." She adds the second part with a small smile.

I just nod, happy that she's not frowning anymore and continue. "The two mares see the ponies and try to drag me with them saying we need to run. At this point I was very confused, and I'm not the best at making snap decisions, but in between the two options I chose to go with the mares."

Celestia keeps her concerned face and raises a brow, I see her silent question. "Those mares could have just left me as a distraction, it probably would have made it easier for them to get away. But they didn't, instead they at least tried to warn me. Taking me with them might not have been the best decision on their part, but it's better than sacrificing me."

Celestia doesn't look happy about my explanation, but I think it earned the two mares some goodwill. "So we ran, at some point the mare pegasus was slowing us down so I carried her for a while. After a while, we got away, but we were out in the open and it was going to be dark soon."

"So I led us into a decently busy cafe, and we sat inside for a while. Now this is where things get interesting and complicated." I drink more tea, all this talking is killing my voice. Celestia looks a little incredulous at the idea that this is where things get complicated and is giving me an, are you serious? Look.

"Yes, now it gets complicated." I'm still nervous about her judging me on my actions but try to not let it show. "A lot happened in there so I'll go over that in the report I'm going to make, but you know how I told you about my encounters with illusions and the ponies using them?"

In a moment Celestia goes from a little relaxed to very much focused again. "I'll take that as a yes. Well, I've noticed that the guards have started to wear more jewelry with gems in them." The only real lie I'll be telling Celestia, I don't want to lie to her but it's needed in this case.

She's still focused but nods, not confirming or denying anything. "Well I remember giving you the illusion detection spell and how interested in it you seemed, it did not take long for me to put two and two together." She again doesn't say anything, but the tiny smile she shows tells me everything I need to know.

"Anyway back to the point. The bracelets the two mares and the stallion are wearing seem to protect them from the illusion detection spell." She notes that down very quickly as I continue speaking. "Now when we were in the cafe one of the mares took their bracelet off to adjust it, right when a guard walked in."

She cuts me off at this point. "Did you think about asking the guard for help?" Her voice doesn't hold any form of negativity, just curiosity, but I'm still a little hesitant to answer her. In the end I still answered truthfully.

I nod. "My paranoia was extreme at that point, the mares were some type of ally for now but that could change if I went to a guard. And I had no idea how many ponies were looking for us, so I decided it was best to simply not be noticed and get to safety first, while not losing what little help I had."

She nods after a moment. "Maybe not the best idea, but considering your lack of training for anything like this and the situation you were in you did very well." Her tone is an odd mix of pride and sadness, but hearing that does improve my mood some.

I smile a little and nod. "When the mare took off her bracelet the guard's cuff told them an illusion was nearby, that's when I realized what the mare's bracelets did. But it caused me to panic, if the guard started looking around for an illusion the ponies following us could notice a guard investigating. So I panicked and just cast the simplest illusion spell I knew and talked about it louder than I needed to so the guard would hopefully overhear me."

She gives me a complicated look. I'm still trying to hide my expression of slight worry over being judged, I don't want to get scolded by her again right now, even if it's probably deserved. She sees through my attempts to hide my worry and gives me a reassuring look. " I don't judge you in any way for how you acted, you had no training and did the best you could, and that's ok. You did far better than pretty much any other pony would have done in your place, I'm just glad you're safe."

I can hear the kindness in her tone, honestly I'm emotionally exhausted right now, and worrying over what she'll think about my decisions isn't helping. I decide to continue this and finally get some rest, so I nod and continue. "The guard was tricked and left after seeing me, after that I asked the mares what they were doing here?"

"They panicked when they saw the guard notice an illusion, so they knew about the guard's bracelets, so they also had to know it was an extreme risk coming to Canterlot." At this point, I'm just tiredly rambling through the story. "They told me they needed help but didn't trust the guard to hear them out, so they wanted to try and talk to you hoping you'd hear them out."

She looked just as confused as I was when I heard that. "And I think they made the right call." That gets her even more confused. "You'll have to ask them to show you, but those illusions they have on are for more than hiding an identity. One of them briefly dropped the illusion and showed me their hoof."

I try my best to force my tired mind to be careful with what I say next. "It looked like a pitch black rock with holes throughout it, kind of like some types of cheese." Celestia is both concerned and thoughtful at that statement, and I'm curious if she knows about Changelings. "You have any idea what that could be?"

She shakes her head after a moment. "No, I've encountered a few things that are similar in description, but nothing that would let a pony keep walking around while afflicted. But if what you saw is true then you made the right decision bringing them to me." I smile at her praise and decide to not question her about the other similar things she's seen, I'm not opening that can of worms right now, I have enough nightmare fuel as it is thank you very much.

I nod and continue. "After some time we left. I could have brought them to the palace, but I wasn't sure we could make it that far without being found again, and I'm glad I didn't decide to come here." I can tell she doesn't like what I'm implying. "So I decided that our safest bet was to head to my apartment and have Entropy take us to you."

She seems surprised but doesn't interrupt me. "Ya, not something I'd normally ever do, but I was stressed, panicked, and tired," I say with a small smile, but then I lose it remembering what happens next. "While we were walking back to my apartment I felt another pony following us." That gets another frown from her. "And I thought that could only mean one of two things, he was either going to follow us to my home and leave to report back, or he was waiting for reinforcements to show up."

She remains silent but nods. "So I decided to take a big risk. We walked down an alley and hid behind some things in the alley, then when he came down the same alley and didn't see us he thought we had run. He drew close but saw us, luckily we were still able to ambush him."

Celestia looked far from happy, but not mad with me. Now I'm explaining in less and less detail and just want to sleep. "I used my field and probably broke his foreleg. That's why I requested the medic." I'm about to continue but am cut off and surprised when she reaches over with her wings and embraces me in a hug.

She has very fluffy and comfortable wings, and I have to force my mind to not fall asleep. Once she pulls away I give her a small thankful nod and a smile before continuing. "I tried to get him to the ground but he fought back and I had to back off a little. Luckily the pegasus mare hit him pretty hard on the head while he was distracted with me."

She keeps her reassuring and comforting look. "And then he was out cold. I had to carry him back with us and pretend he was a drunk friend to some guards on patrol who asked about him." I try to seem humorous about it but it does nothing to lighten the mood. "After we got to my apartment I had Entropy send you the note and you know the rest."

As I finally finish my story and wait as Celestia takes it all in for a moment. She moves what she wrote down to the side and looks back at me. "First, I'm happy you're ok, and if you ever need to talk about what happened please come to me." She says kindly.

I nod tiredly. "I will, thank you."

She smiles. "Good, now let's get you to a place to sleep." I raise my brow and am about to ask about what will happen to the mares and stallion. But she cuts me off. "I'll have the mares sleep in a room under constant watch, but you need sleep, so focus on that. Tomorrow we can talk about what will happen."

I try to think of a reason to disagree, but my tired mind can't think properly. Damn it, she's right, as much as I want to ask questions and get some damn answers from the mares, I do need rest. So after a moment I slowly nodded to her, "Fine, but wake me if I'm needed."

She keeps her smile. "I will, now let's find you a room." I stare at her and nod again, and a moment later I see her smile widen a little while she gets a mischievous look in her eyes. And then she picks me up off the couch and starts carrying me once again, if I wasn't so tired I'd have several things to say about being carried like this.

But I am very tired and welcome the sight of a bedroom, she drops me on the bed and I stare back at her. I see the smile and glare again, "I'll get you for this." I promise her while she just walks out of the room.

She turns back while keeping her smile. "Oh I know you will, but first get some sleep. Good night Shade." After that, she closes the door before I can speak again.

I stare at the door for a few moments, "I guess somepony is going to find grapes in their mane soon, but first, sleep." I drop onto the bed and fall asleep within minutes.

Author's Note

Thank for reading. :D

I wasn't sure if I wanted this to be a cutaway where Shade explained everything that happened, but I also didn't want Shade to recount everything in extreme detail. So I took a middle of the road approach and I think it came out ok.

Regardless I hope you enjoyed it, even if it's probably less interesting then other chapters.