SEP 18 Friday.

I land with slight difficulty on the uneven ground, once my hooves are properly on the ground I start looking around.

The field is empty with only me Entropy and a few scattered trees. It seems safe so I relax a little but make sure to feel the life magic around me at all times. I dismiss the wing spell and start to rest while drinking some tea, I'll need more magic to continue.

The castle is impressive from close up, even after all this time it still stands. Well, somewhat stands, it's not in the best condition and could use some new paint, and walls. Once I'm rested I decide to set up my camp before it gets any darker, the sun will set very soon.

I set up my tent and found a dead tree to gather wood from, I should buy a hatchet but I don't have one so I just decompose some of the dead tree to make smaller pieces. I pile them up and cast a large candle flame spell instantly to start a nice fire,

and lastly, I set up a small shield around my camp with a medium ruby, and just on time as the sun set a few minutes later.

The pastries I got weren't very filling so I decided to cook something for me and Entropy before I checked out the castle. As I start cooking I watch the forest around me, but nothing makes itself known, it's quiet except for the sounds of bugs and small animals. After a decent meal, I cast a magic light and started walking to the castle.

It's dark and I have to watch my steps, but the stone stairs are still stable. I ascend and arrive at the main door, I'm about to open it but stop myself. This is a very important place and Celestia knows that it's best to check for any defenses, I pick up a single pebble and throw it at the castle wall while feeling the area with my magic.

Hiding a magical shield is hard, but it can be done and the best way to get around that is by using some form of attack to make the shield respond. Nothing happens as the pebble hits the stone wall, I take my time and throw several more at different locations, I even throw one through an empty window.

Still nothing happens, so with plenty of caution, I slowly open the door and enter the castle. The inside is pitch black and completely quiet, it seems no pony is home. I turn to Entropy, "Keep an eye out girl." I ask while walking through the doorway into the darkness.

The weathered stone halls are empty and cold, this place has been abandoned for a long time now. I have no idea what I'm looking for, or if I'm even looking for something, but I stare at what little decoration has survived the ravages of time as I walk. A few glass windows lay half shattered with broken images warped beyond all recognition.

I try to make out what they once depicted, but it's too shattered and broken. But a theme makes itself known even through the decay of time, one blue one yellow, one for day, and the other for night. I end up finding a shattered pair of glass windows that are still somewhat intact.

The old glass still holds some color even after all this time, and what little remains of it depicts a white mare with wings and a horn. A slightly disturbing thing I notice is that most things depicting Luna are broken or gone, I wonder why? Ponies could have done it when this place was left.

Or maybe ponies that came to this place afterwards and did it, I do know that Celestia definitely didn't do it, even with whatever bad blood she had with Luna I don't think she'd ever be able to erase evidence of her sister. Honestly, this place is saddening in a very... Human way.

The decay of an old building, with no one around to tell its tale, a forgotten place made for forgotten reasons. I try to pull my mind from that all to familiar feeling of melancholy.

I simply walk around for a while, this place is just a wreck. After a while of wandering down random hallways, I come to another door and throw a piece of crumbled wall at it, but unlike last time I do feel a reaction. I feel magic move slightly to the point I throw the stone at it, I freeze for a moment but don't feel any other reaction from the barrier.

I'm not sure what the magic is, it could be something to make the doors more durable, or a full shield. Either way I rather not trigger any form of defenses Celestia could, and probably did set up over the last thousand years.

I decided to call it here and just leave before anything goes wrong, I'm not pushing my luck after the day I've had. It takes a few minutes to leave the castle, I close the ancient door behind me and leave everything as it was. Once I'm back at my camp I decide to get some sleep, I have a lot to do tomorrow.

Before I go to bed I hold two small pieces of glass, one blue and the other yellow. Yet another human thing I still do, picking up things without reason. The glass has nothing on it, it's just colored glass, but holding something from that ancient place gives me a content feeling.

time skip

SEP 19 Saturday.

I move my kettle off the last embers of my fire and enjoy some fresh tea, it's very early morning and the sun rose a few minutes ago. As I enjoy my tea I dump my magic into the ground and plants around me to drain my magic quickly, once it's all gone I start practicing my Mana Mimicry, the name I've decided on for my ability to copy the Companion Vine.

I'm met with a pleasant surprise as the rate at which my magic refills is boosted beyond what it normally is. And it's not hard to see why the Everfree is insanely dense in life magic, five or six times more than a normal forest. And that means Mana Mimicry is much more effective than normal.

I'm not sure why it's so dense but I'm not complaining about it. After regaining my magic in half the normal time it takes due to a combination of the tea and Mana Mimicry, I start packing up my camp while putting out the fire coals. It doesn't take long for the camp to be packed away safely, and after casting a single spell I'm in the air a few minutes later.

It's always a rush to be flying around and it's quickly becoming something I can never give up, it's just so freeing. As I gain height I start looking around for a good spot, I don't want to be that close to the castle for obvious reasons and I'd like somewhere as flat as possible. With that in mind, I head even deeper into the forest.

Everything is nice and calm and after a while, I find somewhere that might work, it's a very small clearing with some grass surrounded by a very thick forest. I fly closer and activate my slow-fall enchantment to slowly drop down into the small clearing.

As I touch the ground I realize almost immediately that this wouldn't work for me. The ground is less even than I thought, everything is on a decent slant and the soil has a lot of larger rocks that would be hard to remove. Deciding to find someplace else I activate the second slow-fall enchantment and jump as hard as I can.

And I can't help but chuckle and cheer a little as I launched off the ground a few dozen feet into the air, I started to flap my wings while turning off the enchantments, a quick and clean way to take off with limited space. After a while, I find a decent-sized river and start following it.

I end up finding another grassy field on the river bank, but I can see several animals drinking from the river, setting up there would attract a lot of predators and prey, and disturb the forest unnecessarily. But the ground does look flat and being near a river would be nice.

After some thought, I decided to land on the opposite side of the river from the grassy field. This time I have no clear area so as I float down I have to work my way through the thick forest canopy, but once I land fully I'm greeted by the dark forest as most light is blocked by trees.

After making sure nothing is around me I ready the gem I used to shield my camp last night, I can activate it at a moment's notice if need be. The ground here is flat and not rocky, and even better the river is adjacent to this area, I take some time to wander around and make sure the flat area is large enough for my needs.

I'm not just looking for a functional place but preferably a nice-looking location too, this place is for both my plants and a place for me to relax. And this location has a nice view, I'd have to remove the trees in the area but that's doable and as a bonus, I can watch the active watering hole animals often visit.

After checking the area for anything dangerous, I rather not make a camp in a wolf den, I find a good central location and start roughly measuring out the area with a stick. The shield I made can cover a circular area of three-hundred feet from its center in every direction, so I make sure I have some of the riverbank inside that area before drawing a circle in the dirt at the center and setting up the small shield.

"OK girl, take us-." But before I can finish she interrupts me.

"Home?" She questions while looking at the circle I'm drawing in the dirt.

I smile and scratch her neck a little. "Yes, home and back here again, so take a good look around," I say with a slight chuckle.

She looks around for several moments before we both vanish from sight, and a moment later I'm back in my apartment. I have a lot of work to do so I just grab the gem array and pack it into my saddlebags before having Entropy take us right back.

The distance between here and the previous location I would have Entropy travel to is definitely greater, so I'm not too surprised to see Entropy is tiredly sitting down on my back. "It's fine now girl, get some rest." She doesn't say anything and just melds into my shadow for some well-deserved sleep.

I place all four gems on the forest floor and activate them after a moment. I feel the rush of magic as all of the gems move large amounts of magic at once, and I watch as a very translucent shield forms in the distance through the trees. I smile as I see the shield work properly, it's nice to see my work pay off.

I need to adjust it some before doing anything else so I take some time to walk to the riverbank, it's the only place I need to make sure is inside the shield properly. It does cover the riverbank, but I'd like to also cover some of the river itself just in case I need it.

I adjust the gem array by moving it a few feet and checking again. Once I see it's in the proper position I check the last potential problem, I need to make sure no tree trunks are in the way of the shield, and two happen to be. I'll have to remove them later but for now I just mentally mark it down for later.

Next, I start on some additional security, and that's where a certain plant comes in. I walk along the perimeter of the barrier and slowly sprinkle seeds along it until I reach the riverbank, I stop for a moment as I see something both amazing and interesting, on the other side of the river I see several Timberwolves drinking water.

I drop my bag of seeds and take out my notebook to quickly note anything I observe. Unlike the show these, animals? I'll just call them that for now. They aren't made from logs that look sawed but simply masses of twigs and branches that look grown together on all sides.

Their limbs are made from larger logs but seem to bend in ways wood shouldn't be able to, that is interesting for several reasons. They don't seem to be hostile to the other animals in the same field, a few wild rabbits and non-sentient deer along with a few boars.

They also show some form of pack mentality as none of them are fighting and simply take turns drinking while others watch the tree line, which proves they are smart enough to cooperate as a group on more than just hunting. It's also interesting that they drink water, I decided to take a small moment and try to feel their life magic.

The river is around twenty feet across and very deep with steep banks on my side, as I reach across the distance and try to feel their life magic all of their heads immediately shoot up and start looking around the area. Their slightly glowing greenish-yellow eyes start to look around the field.

They can't see me because of the illusion, and I'm not sure if they felt me or something else, so I try to move my life magic close again. This time I can sense them properly, they have around double the life magic of a normal pony, and they give an odd feeling that is some type of mix in between plant and animal.

But while sensing them they start wildly looking around and start to bere their wooden jagged teeth across the river in my general direction. They seemed panicked and frightened, ok lesson learned Timberwolves can definitely sense life magic to some degree.

I decide to test something and flare out a good amount of life magic at once, the effect is immediate as all of the Timberwolves stop looking defensive and just bolt into the forest startling the other animals at the same time. I note that down immediately, that could be useful in a pinch and it brings up a few interesting questions.

I note a few things down before continuing with my work. Once all the seeds are spread across the barrier edge I start using life magic to sprout and grow them, not long after a three-foot-thick five-foot-tall wall of Razor Vine starts to grow as I walk along the edge again.

This is just an extra measure to make sure nothing unwanted gets inside if the shield fails for some reason. It takes a few breaks, which I use to practice my Mana Mimicry to refill my magic faster, after two hours I'm done with the vine wall, it should prove useful.

Once that's done I prepare myself for what I'm probably going to be spending the rest of the day working on, removing all the trees in my shielded area. I groan as I count thirty-seven thick large trees I'll need to decompose into soil, well if nothing else I'll have plenty of good soil for my plants.

I find the first tree at the center next to the gem array and start on the top leaves and branches before slowly making my way down, I feel the rain of soil as I do I make sure to not decompose the heartwood of the massive and old oak, it's good material for later so why not keep it?

It takes half an hour and all of my magic to complete a single tree, I leave the several-foot-long and one-foot thick heartwood in the pile of soil for now along with the stump. As I brush off the soil that fell on me I look around at all the trees left, this might take more than a day.

I sigh again. "Welp, nothing to do but get to work then." I started using Mana Mimicry again while moving some of the soil around in my field.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading. :D

This chapter is mostly jus important but boring context, I enjoyed writing it though.