AUG 21 Friday.

I look at myself in the mirror and check that nothing is out of place.

My hair is tied back behind my head, I have my nice and simple new black suit on, and my new silver pocket watch on its chain in my breast pocket. It's the big day and for the first time I'm hoping to really enjoy the event, but my paranoia is still there as always.

And for the first time Entropy's coming with me, after the last changeling incident I'm not going anywhere without her. "Ready girl?" I ask as she finishes her large meal, she'll need it for how long we'll be at the gala. She looks at me and caws before landing on my back.

"Scratch." She demands of me, she's started using more words and it's getting interesting. I give into her demand and after some scratches, she merges into my shadow. Before feeding Entropy I had her deliver a package to Celestia, I know she won't get it until after this event.

The package contained a few pages on the new cleaning spell, I've been improving it for a few weeks now and it's ready to be released. The package also contains something I probably put too much work into, the puzzle prank is now finished and it is hellish.

It consists of three riddles, they are all complete bullshit, all three have nonsense answers and most are beyond stupid. And just as an extra cherry on top I removed all E's from all the writing and left them on a different piece of paper with the same placement, she's going to have to cut out the blank spaces and line them up, or fill it all in to read it smoothly.

Once she finds the stupid answers for the riddles she'll have to take the word that is the answer and count the letters in each word. Then take those numbers to finally unlock a combination lock I bought and used to lock a wooden box. And after all of that, the box contains nothing but pure glitter.

It should be a fun surprise for her when she either solves it and opens the box or throws it at a wall out of frustration. I chuckle at the mental image of Celestia full force throwing the box at a wall, that would be a sight to see. I double-check my suit again before leaving my apartment.

It's near the end of the day and I'm happy to see clear skies, I'd rather my new suit not get rained on. The streets are lively with ponies busily walking every which way, I just focus on moving through the crowds and start walking to the gala. It doesn't take me long to arrive at a well-lit and bustling gala.

Like the last two times, I show the guards my invite and walk right inside, I still don't enjoy large parties but it's hard to not get swept into the excited atmosphere. So many ponies are talking and dancing with each other, but as I enter the party proper I start feeling odd.

To be blunt I have no idea what to do, I don't know anypony here and I'm not too interested in dancing or partying. So after some thought, I did the same thing I did last year, enjoy the food. And that becomes something of a problem because Entropy loves food.

So as I approach the table I don't notice her looking at all the food from my shadow, thankfully Entropy is a smart girl and knows not to reveal herself in public, but she is a smart girl who seems to understand loopholes. I sat down at the table and started picking out a few things to add to my plate.

After I'm done I keep the plate next to my chest and after a little while I notice something, things on my plate are disappearing. I'm confused, so I look under my plate to see if anything's fallen, and in between my hind legs is Entropy enjoying a nice baked apple.

"What are you doing?" I ask her quietly as she keeps eating, she just looks up and then goes back to her food. I take a quick glance around to make sure no ponies have seen her, I seem to be in the clear but I need to solve this. I don't want to make a scene so I shift my legs a little to better hide her.

She's in an uncomfortable place, right next to my bits, but I don't do anything as she finishes the apple. "You had your food now, go back!" I quietly demand.

My response is an annoyed caw. "Bad." She retorts me, and then pecks a place that is less than fun to be pecked.

"OHh, you little!" My sudden outburst earns me a few odd looks from ponies around me. I can feel my blush all over my face, but just keep staring at my plate intently while ignoring them. Luckily Entropy goes back into my shadow after that and anypony that noticed me stopped caring after a few moments of nothing happening.

"Stay in there you gremlin," I whisper to Entropy while she continues to eye the table filled with food. I keep eating and try to ignore what just happened, not the best start to this night.

I'm distracted with trying not to act embarrassed. "Hello, do you mind if I sit here?" I hear a voice and turn to see a pony I recognize, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. :Well fuck you too fate: Apparently while I was dealing with Entropy and my embarrassment I didn't notice her approaching my table.

Tonight was already getting out of hoof, but this is just bullshit. I can't hide my surprised and slightly startled expression, so I settle for giving her a bow as quickly as possible. "Of course Princess." I don't say much but keep a respectful tone.

She smiles slightly and lies down next to me at the table. Well, I'm fucked, having Celestia talk to me tonight was already going to stand out, mixing Cadance into it will definitely start some form of rumor. Cadance gathers a few things on her own plate while talking to me, "I hope you're enjoying the gala, my aunt always makes it an interesting event."

I nod and keep my formal attitude. "I am, thank you for asking Princess, and yes Princess Celestia always makes it impressive." Does she know who I am? Did Celestia tell her anything?

She smiles but doesn't turn to me. "There's a spell around us, no pony can understand anything we say, all they hear is boring talk." I'm startled by the far less formal tone she takes me. "I just came over to meet the stallion my aunt has talked so much about."

I stare for a moment. Honestly, after getting pecked in the balls I'm not in the mood to act so formal when she clearly won't be. I decided to drop a lot of my mask and just see how this goes. "Hhhh, of course she did... Hello, I'm Shade Evergreen, nice to finally meet you Princess Mi Amore Cadenza." I really hope she doesn't mind me acting so informal from the start.

And from the smile still on her face, it seems she doesn't mind at all. "Agreed. You seemed very distracted when I walked over, you didn't even notice me for a few moments." I can hear the very slightly teasing tone she's taking with me. :By magic, what have I gotten myself into?:

"My shadow pecked me." I decide to tell her the truth, which only earns me a confused look in response. I try to keep being less formal than I normally am with ponies I don't know, I'm trying to be less guarded and more relaxed with her. She's like family to Celestia and I should at least try to get to know her instead of just staying in my bubble. "I am curious though, what did Celestia tell you about me?"

Her smile disappears as she eats something, only to return when I ask that question. "Many things, but mostly I've heard about all the things you've made. I must say you've done some impressive things for someone your age. And when she told me you were attending I thought it was a good opportunity to finally meet you."

"Well, thank you, I do try to keep busy." I'm not used to getting compliments so I mostly brush it off. "I hope she hasn't told you anything too bad about me."

"OH no, nothing like that, so far at least. Although... She did mention something about grapes." She finishes with a smile that promises something unknown. "Fake grapes. You wouldn't happen to remember the spell you used for that, do you?" She doesn't even pretend to act innocent with her intentions.

I raise a brow. "Why do you ask?"

Her smile widens. "Well, let's just say you're not the only pony who wants some.... revenge let's call it." Ok, that is not what I expected from her.

I can guess what she's hinting at, so I keep up with my far less-than-normal openness. I'm not sure if it's just because she's also a princess like Celestia, but I'm being far more loose-tongued than normal. "So.. you're also pranking her?"

Her smile doesn't falter in the slightest. "Maybe? But if I were, I certainly wouldn't tell you about my aunt's dislike for peanut brittle, strong dislike. But I also wouldn't mind knowing that spell for... let's say, research?"

I just stare for a moment before smiling back a little, seems I have an unexpected ally. "OH, really? Hmmm, well then, if I did know that spell I certainly wouldn't be able to copy it with some paper and ink." I'm honestly surprised with myself at this point, but she seems nice and I find myself relaxing much more than expected.

She doesn't skip a beat and takes some paper and a quill from somewhere hidden in her dress. "Where did you keep that?"

"It's a secret. Now, the spell if you don't mind." I just shrug after a moment and start drawing out the spell matrix while not touching the paper more than absolutely necessary.

"It doesn't work as a spell, you can only use it as an enchantment, and any small gem should work. Also if you used a decent-quality diamond you could probably get the spell to work with a very VERY small gem. You know? The gems that are easy to lose in somewhere like, oh I don't know, an office? But that's all just a hypothetical."

She laughs slightly at the suggestion. "I'll need to remember that one. But I think we should change the subject, my aunt is coming this way." She takes the things she gave me, along with the spell matrix I drew out, and I turn to see Celestia walking over to us.

Celestia is wearing the same dress as last year, and I can't help but notice how well it fits her. I shake that thought out of my head and focus as Celestia lies down on the other side of me. "I see you two have finally met. Shade, I hope you're enjoying the gala."

Celestia is also less formal than I expected, but it seems Cadance was telling the truth, no pony around us seems to care much about how informal we are talking. "It's... fine. Although it's always a little boring for me, good company helps with that though." I try to relax and ignore the fact that I'm sandwiched between two very attractive mares.

Cadance takes the opportunity to buy in. "Apparently his shadow pecked him. Can you believe that aunty?" She jokes a little at my expense.

Celestia just glances at my shadow and chuckles. "Yes, I can niece. And I'm happy to see you two getting along." She says happily.

Me and Cadance share a look but don't say anything, partners in crime it seems. After a moment I remember the gift I sent Celestia, and go to address her. "By the way, thank you for the invite, and the glitter." She smiles. "SO, as an extra thank you, I sent a gift back. It should be waiting for you by now."

I don't elaborate but she can see my smile taunting. "Well then, it seems tomorrow will be interesting. I leave you two alone for a few minutes and already you are cooperating, I guess I should be happy you two are getting along so well."

"HEY! I'll have you know that gift was only my work." I defend myself, but I also don't deny her accusation.

Celestia probably noticed but didn't say anything about it, while Cadance spoke up again. "You sent him glitter aunty?"

I interrupt. "No, she sent me a glitter pack, that exploded inside my bedroom," I answer with a deadpan tone. Cadance laughs again and I turn to Celestia, who's also chuckling a little. "Also, I have you to thank for Entropy discovering her love of glitter. She got COVERED in it, and refused to let me clean her off while flying around my apartment, spreading the glitter EVERYWHERE!"

Cadance looks confused while Celestia starts laughing for a moment, at least her getting a laugh out of this is a positive. "It seems we're once again even then. At least until I open your mysterious gift." Celestia moves a large slice of cake over to her.

I roll my eyes and turn back to Cadance. "So what's the best prank you've managed to pull on her?" I decided to use our shared interest in pranking Celestia as a starting point, I have to start somewhere after all. She smiles again, my impression of Cadance is definitely not what I expected, she's far less formal and royal acting than Celestia, but given her much younger age that makes some sense.

"Now that you mention it. There was that one time with the food dye I-" Before she can continue a fork moves over and shoves some cake in her open mouth silencing her, I turn around to see Celestia with an innocent look on her face. After Cadance eats what's in her mouth she turns back to Celestia and gives her a small glare.

"Fine, I won't tell him that one. How about that one with the chocolate cak-" She's once again cut off my Celestia trying to shove more cake in her mouth, Cadance closes her mouth after that.

Seeing Celestia's small smile and Cadance's defeated look I can't help but laugh at their antics. "I can certainly say this is more interesting than last year, is that cake any good?." Cadance just ignores my question and after a moment Celestia stands back up.

"It was a pleasure as always, Shade, but I have other guests to meet. I'll see you in a few weeks, and please Enjoy the gala." Her smile is kind as always, I think she really is just happy me and Cadance are getting along.

"I'll try but no promises, enjoy dealing with the nobles." I joke as she walks away from us and starts to mingle with other important-looking ponies. And once again my eye is drawn to her flank, but like last time I shove that thought away. :I really need someone to hit me when I start thinking like that:

I take a bite of some cake to distract myself from those thoughts. "So what do you think of her dress?" I cough a little from the question Cadance asks me.

"I-I'm sorry, what?" I ask back confused.

She gives me a far too vicious smile. "Anypony can tell you where staring. So what do you think?"

I'm stunned for a few moments before my mind restarts. It's at this point that I realize Cadance is the alicorn of love, and it's not a stretch to say attraction is counted as some form of love. When I find my voice Cadance is still calmly eating, "Well, it is a nice and... impressively made dress."

I try to deflect her question but from the look she's giving me she sees right through that. "Oh, really. In what way?" At this point I'm sweating some, this suit is suddenly a little tight.

"The... color? And well-made stitches?" At this point my blush is starting to show again. It's also now clear that she's fucking with me right now.

"The stitches? ... They are well made. Anyway, I'm going to help my aunty." I breathe out a sigh of relief at that, but it seems I celebrated too soon. "Also, you forgot to mention she has a nice flank. Enjoy the gala!" She laughs while walking away from my stunned and flustered expression.

It's at times like this I remember an old saying, even gods fear the power of love. I groan and just bury my blush for a moment. :Remind me to never mess with her, she'll kill me from embarrassment. By magic I'm thankful she put up that spell: After I calm down enough to not blush at her words I put down my plate of unwanted food.

:Maybe it's time I head home?: But before I can even finish that thought I'm once again interrupted. "What were you talking about with-" I'm once again startled out of my skin and quickly turn to see... Twilight Sparkle standing behind me. :If I ever meet fate I'm hitting her with the biggest stick I can find: I curse fate in my mind while regaining my composure.

I haven't seen Twilight in a long time now, a year? Maybe more? I'm not sure. She looks different now, less like a filly and more like a teen. The last time we met she was only a tiny bit shorter than me, but she's grown taller since then. But so have I, and now I'm a few inches taller than her.

Her question registers in my mind after a moment. I'm sure as hell not telling her what we're talking about, ESPECIALLY that last part. She goes silent and stares at me for a little bit. "Wait, don't I know you? Hm, Slate? right?" she guesses while studying my face.

I'm a little amused at her calling me by the wrong name, and that helps me relax a little bit. "Shade, we've met a few times now. But it's been a long while since then." I keep a calm but friendly tone, I rather not make a bad impression after so long.

She seems to think for a moment before having a look of realization dawns on her face. "You're the one with that field... thingy! And you work at the library! " Her voice comes out quickly and with a hint of excitement.

I'm not sure whether to be flattered she remembers me, or a little insulted that that is what she remembers about me. In her defense, she's only met me a few times. "That is an.. Interesting way to describe me, but yes that's correct."

After I point it out she has the decency to look a little embarrassed. "Sorry, those are just the things that come to mind. I'm Twilight, I'm the princess's student." She quickly shakes off that embarrassment and shows a little pride, not a lot, just a little.

I'm not sure if she introduces herself like that out of pride or simply because ponies might better recognize her that way, maybe both?

I nod to her. "Congratulations, it must be interesting to have the Princess as a teacher. And I think we also talked with the princess last year." I attempted small talk with somepony my age for the first time in a very long time while trying to change the subject from what I talked about with the princesses.

I start eating again so I don't have to talk as much. "OH YA! We talked about rituals. Yes, the princess is an amazing teacher, she even gives so many interesting things to research." I watch as she sits down with me and starts listing off a few things she's learning.

She's surprisingly open, then again, one of the few things she knows about me is that I'm also a magic nerd. So I just eat while she rattles off on different subjects, some of them are interesting and something I might even want to look into later. "I even got an assignment to help The Veil Winter!"

I do a double-take hearing that. I know Celestia gave her that assignment, but she said that with far too much excitement for my liking. I decided to speak up for the first time in a while, "The inventor?" I play somewhat ignorant on the topic.

"Yup! no pony knows who they are. BUT! They've invented so many spells in such a short time, and I get to help them!" She's kind of fangirling right now. I can't tell if her excitement comes from working with a spell inventor or Veil Winter in specific, either way this has to be the oddest conversation I've ever been in.

She talking about me, to ME, and I can't say anything. "It's definitely interesting, but what's the big deal?" I don't even have to fake my curiosity with this question. There is far more than one inventor making spells, sure I make them faster and maybe a little better, but that's about it.

She looks a little taken aback, and maybe even a little offended. "BIG DEAL!?" She nearly shouts a little before quieting down again. "They've made so many spells so quickly. You work at the library right?" Her high energy is honestly a little much for me after having to deal with Cadance.

Still I keep my inner thoughts in check and nod to answer her. "You know the copy spell?" I nod again. "They made that spell, and the light spell everypony uses, and th-" I watch silently as she lists EVERY SINGLE thing I've invented. :OK, it's official, I'm uncomfortable now:

I just keep silently nodding as she talks for a while. "And that's just what they've made in TWO YEARS! Imagine what they'll make in the next five years!"

I'm silent as she finally slows down some. "Well, I do have to admit that's impressive for only two years." Honestly, I have no idea what to say beyond that. So I just try to bring up a different topic. "Are there other inventors you know making interesting spells?" I'm genuinely curious because I don't keep track of things like that.

That only seems to half work. "Yes! Recently I've been reading about a pony trying to make a spell to bend metal." That actually sounds pretty interesting. "They haven't released anything yet. But they've been able to bend needles. Imagine what ponies could do if they made the spell able to bend bigger things? A single pony could forge something in half the time!"

She starts nerding out again, and so am I a little as my mind works through how a spell like that could work. "Really? Ha, that would be useful. Even just the spell as it is could be used in making jewelry, or depending on how it works it could help with engravings. Does the spell just bend metal or does it move it also?" The more I think about the spell the more my interest grows.

She smiles a little as we dive down a rabbit hole of weird spells that interest us. And I find myself enjoying the conversation, even with the rocky start. It's nice to talk to somepony who's as much of a nerd for magic as I am.

As I'm talking to Twilight I never notice Celestia glancing at us from time to time with a small smile.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading. :]

I consider the weakest part of this story to be the dialog, so I tired to make it more interesting, and play it less safe overall. I have no idea if I did that right, so any feedback is appreciated.

Also, two more things. I imagine Cadence as formal to those she doesn't know, but very much inform to those she does, Shade being a special case as Celestia is already close to him.

And finally. My brain likes the fact this chapter is exactly 4k.