NOV 15 Sunday.

I watch as snowflakes fall outside the window while I draw the snow-covered city out my window. I see a pegasus fly past the building in the snow and smile as I recognize a weather pony at work.

This is a small snowstorm that's been planned and carefully controlled to not disrupt ponies going about their days. I sip some warm tea and close my sketchbook, yet another week of snow and ice for the city. I always liked the snow, but only ever at a distance, snow doesn't feel nice, even with a coat of fur.

I take my tea with me while walking over to my workroom, on one of my desks is a new project I've been working on slowly for the past week. A half-finished, intricately carved wooden bracelet is sitting surrounded by several small woodworking tools.

Last week I decided on a good gift for Maple, a simple wooden bracelet with a weak warming spell on it. The spell itself was just one I found in a book and improved slightly, while the wood is Iron Oak. The bracelet will hold a small emerald in its center that will power the enchantment.

The wood itself is carved to hold a small gem and also has a twisting pattern that resembles roots, it still needs work but should be done in time. I plan to make similar Jewelry for Daisy and Blaz as well, a necklace for Daisy, and a cufflink for Blaz, they will also be enchanted to help with the cold.

This is just a more personal gift, I still plan to get them some other gifts but this is something I've enjoyed doing and something I think they'll like. I put away my sketchbook and check the time, six in the afternoon, it's time for my meeting with Celestia. And I'm a little nervous about my plan, because after a good amount of thought I decided to trust in Celestia and show her Gaia's Eden.

At first, I was on the fence about it, but I realized that this wasn't me showing some random pony my hidden home, but a trusted friend. I was thinking about this like it would lead to more and more ponies invading this private space, but it's just a single friend.

That and I truly believe having somewhere to get away from the palace could do her some good, even if it's only every once in a while. Now that I'm telling her a new problem arises, how to tell her without making her too mad at me for being reckless or stupid, probably both.

I know I was as safe as I could be, but she'll still worry, it's just who she is, I just hope I can explain before getting lectured too. I finish my tea and make sure my saddlebags have everything I may need before calling over Entropy. "Time to go girl!" I call out, she flies out from the main room and lands on me with excitement.

"Friend." I chuckle at her excitement, using another new word, one she's come to use in reference to Philomena. Which is something I find adorable as all hell.

"Yes, we'll see friends. Now let's go." The slight unintentional humor helps me relax some as we both shift into the Void. Like always it only lasts a moment before we appear inside of the mailroom with a guard waiting on the other side of the door, a few short minutes later I'm in front of Celestia's bedroom doors.

We don't meet in her room as often, but it's nice to be in a relatively private area for this meeting. I open the doors and inside Celestia is sitting at a table, she smiles as she sees me and motions me inside. "Shade, it's good to see you." Her greeting is simple and much more upbeat than our last meeting.

I feel like her tone has a slight undertone of something else, although what that tone means I'm not quite sure. Still, she seems to be doing much better than before and is mostly back to her normal self. "Celestia, same to you. Nice day for a meeting, although the snow is a little much, maybe the weather ponies are competing today?" I joke slightly.

She keeps her smile as Entropy flies off to join Philomena on her perch. "Maybe, but if that's the case they can clean it up by hoof. How have you been?" Her tone is joking and then slightly concerned, I can guess her concern is probably from our last meeting.

I give her a smile and try to reassure her. "I should be the one asking that. I'm doing just fine, a little better than normal in fact." I keep a happy tone while sitting down at the table. "Are you doing ok? Our last meeting was... emotional to say the least." I try to be gentle with my words.

She keeps her smile and nods. "I'm doing much better, that time of year is always a little, rough. Thank you again for the help, it really does mean a lot to me." She's thankful and even draws my eye to a pair of familiar books sitting on a shelf. "And thank you for the gift, they're beautifully done."

I smile. "I'm glad you like them, and they are horribly drawn, and that's what makes them so great, imperfections and all." She smiles back. "Also, I'll get you for that note, although I appreciate you cleaning up." I joke and see her show a large smile that somehow looks completely innocent.

"No problem, being a good guest is just proper. Also, the note? Why would you need revenge for something like that?" I may not be a social butterfly but even I can see that trap, and I'm sure as hell not walking into it.

"Moving right past that, I have something to show you that's very important." I see her face shift in an instant and realize I should word that better. "To me, it's important to me. And it's nothing bad... well actually it could be, I guess it depends on how you see it." I quickly try to correct myself.

Her face relaxes at that and she chuckles. "Good to hear, you had me worried for a moment, shame on you. So what did you want to show me."

Despite our friendship I still have worries, but I've learned to temper those worries with logic and trust. "Well, we'll need Entropy for that. Before that though, is there any reason we can't disappear from here for the rest of our meeting?" I ask while looking over at Entropy.

She's fighting over a rope toy with Philomena at the moment. "Not that I know of, and anything that does come up others can handle it. So where are we going?" She's curious and I can't help but smile mischievously.

"That's for me to know and for you to find out." I tease her slightly, and then I shift into a somewhat more serious and business tone. "But before we do that I have something I wanted your opinion on." She keeps her curious look. "We both know the problem we're facing with my project."

"Lack of usable runes." She answers immediately. "I don't suppose you found one?"

I shake my head. "Sadly, no. But I do have an idea, although it might be more problematic. We need a rune with a useful context that will work well for this spell, something I don't think we'll be finding any time soon. So why not make one?"

She doesn't outright reject the idea and also shifts into a more business-oriented attitude. "Possible, but I'm not sure that's something you can make, no offense."

I smile and nod. "None taken, I may know what the rune needs to do, but I'm not an expert on any emotion, but we know somepony who is." That gets her interest.

It doesn't take her more than a moment to see where I'm going with this idea. "Cadance, the alicorn of love." She drinks some tea and seems to think it over more. "She does have a great understanding of love, and her being an alicorn could help in some ways with rune creation, although I'm not sure about that second part."

I nod. "From what we know about Changelings they can get the most out of love than any other emotion, so if we are to collect any emotion it should probably be love. We both know making runes isn't an easy process, but I can't think of a better idea as we slowly search for a workable rune."

She smiles and nods, still with a business look. "It's not a bad idea, I'll have to ask if Cadance is interested. She knows more about love than even me and it's best we ask her before making any plans." I notice that she words that part as a small lesson, always the teacher.

"Agreed, I'm not sure if you want me or somepony else working on it with her, but either way let me know if you need my help." I drop any business attitude I have and stand up. "Now, can you promise to hear me out completely?" I ask with a slightly nervous tone. I can't avoid the topic forever so might as well dive in head first.

She gives me another curious look and a serious nod. "Always." I feel my nervousness fade slightly at the reassuring and firm tone.

"Thank you, I'll explain everything when we get there. But first, Entropy!" I call out to the bird as she preens her feathers from her epic battle with Philomena, which me and Celestia have been ignoring. She hears me and flies right over before landing on my back, I smile and pet her before turning back to Celestia. "This will feel, well, probably a little odd."

She raises a brow at that. "The Void, it's an odd thing to experience. My only advice is don't move too much."

She keeps her confused look and also looks a little concerned. "Why? What happens if I do?"

I smile. "I have no idea, never tried it myself, I just thought it was good advice." She gives me a deadpan look in response, I keep my smile and look at Entropy again. "All three of us, to Gaia's Eden." I originally thought to keep the name a secret, but if she does know what it means I can just claim ignorance like I did with Entropy's name.

Entropy's ability to teleport is still growing and at this point, it takes three round trips to Gaia's Eden to fully drain her. She'll probably be tired from bringing Celestia with us, but she should be fine after some rest. After my words, there are a few seconds of silence before everything goes black.

When we reappeared I looked back to see a tired but otherwise fine Entropy laying on my back. I turn back to Celestia and see she has a slightly far-off look as she just stands there silently thinking about something, I'm about to ask if she's fine but she cuts me off. "Is... Is it like that every time?" I raise a brow and nod. "I don't think I've felt something like that before, it was so... silent and empty." She seems a little thrown off by the experience.

"Did you feel something I missed?" I guess with some excitement in my voice.

That question seems to snap her out of her thoughts as she starts to really look around the area, we're standing near the shack in a snow-covered field. "Sorry to disappoint you, but no. It's just as you described, but hearing about it and experiencing it are two very different things. Where are we?"

I'm a little disappointed at her answer, and feel my nerves rise again at her question. "That's the part I need to explain, let's get inside first, I would rather not explain in the cold out here." She continues to look around as we walk the short distance to the shack.

I'm glad I made the building tall enough to fit her, even if it will be a little cramped. Once we're inside I use the kettle I left here to make some tea while Celestia looks around the shack, more specifically she's looking at the wood. "You grew a house?" She guesses with some amusement.

I smile. "Yes, good eye. It was a lot less work than building one, only took me a few hours and if anything breaks I can just grow it back." I lay down on the floor with two tea cups and invited her to do the same with a motion of my hoof. "So to answer the burning question of where we are I'm going to have to explain a few things, so please bear with me."

She smiles and offers another reassuring look. "Take all the time you need."

"Well, a while back I started to feel a little restless. Nothing bad, I just felt like I wanted to do more than my normal day-to-day toil." I get an understanding look from her, but she doesn't interrupt me. "Now I didn't want to do something drastic and upend my life, but I wanted to do something new, so I went looking."

"This place is the result of me wanting to do something new. Now this next part will bring up questions, so before I mention this I want to stress that I'm fine and that we're safe here." I once again get a look of both confusion and mild concern.

I hesitate for another second. "We are currently very deep inside the Everfree forest." I see slight concern turn into shock and worry, but before she can speak up I cut her off. "Please, let me explain properly," I ask quickly with a little desperation.

After a moment she nods. "Thank you, I appreciate it." I take a deep breath to ready myself and calm my nerves. I started to explain the exact steps and plans I used to find and build my camp. All the while she stays silent and lets me properly finish with my explanation.

Her face goes from concerned to surprisingly more relaxed. Once I'm done I take another deep breath and she finally speaks. "I won't say I'm happy you decided to take such a risk, but I'm glad you took your safety seriously and that you had a decent plan. But, I will be checking in on you from time to time from now on." That part is not a suggestion or request. "After all somepony has to keep an eye on your... bold choices." I'm surprised at the joking tone she ended with, and the playful verbal jab.

I see an opportunity to lighten the mood a little more and take it. "Yes, I'm aware that I'm stupid, good thing you're here to keep me in check." I joke back, which gets a small chuckle from her. "And you are more than welcome here, even if it's just for some time away from the place. I could even build you a house if you like?" I offer with a smile.

Despite the slight serious attitude she had before she smiled again. "I wouldn't put it like that, and as for the house? Maybe. But for now, I have more questions." She's remarkably accepting and ok with the situation at hoof, much more than I expected.

My smile grows as she seems to fully relax again. "I'm more than willing to answer any questions. But I do want to ask, why? We both know this was a risky move even with the measures I took, so why accept it so easily?" I'm not trying to dig myself a grave, but I'm curious.

She gives me a knowing and understanding look. "I'd be less accepting if it was when we first met, but you've grown since then, and as much as I'd prefer you to stay safe I know you can take care of yourself, the last incident with the Changelings proved that."

"That, and I know the folly that comes with youth, trying to stop you from falling and stifling you won't help you be who you are, it will only cause you to act more rashly in the future, so instead I'll just be here when you need help to get back up again." I'm once again reminded of the understanding and kindness Celestia shows so often.

I'm silent for a moment as I process that. Seems I have underestimated just how much she believes in me. I settle for a simple nod of thanks after a moment. "Never knew you had such confidence in me, thank you." I keep myself completely serious before switching back to a joking tone. "And I'll make sure to disappoint you on all accounts," I say with a cheery tone.

That gets an actual laugh from her. "Seriously though, thank you. It does mean a lot that you respect my choices, even if they're as dumb as rocks." I joke again and get another small laugh. "Now you have questions to ask and a curious mind to sate?"

She gives me another reassuring look and a smile. "I will always respect your choices, even the bad ones, but if you ever need help I expect to be asked, understood?" She's very serious with that second part so I nod my agreement immediately. "Good. Now, first question. Did you find what you wanted? Was this risk of yours worth it to you?" There is no judgment in her tone, only curiosity, and I can't help but smile wider, of course, this would be her first question.

A quick memory of the massive snake flashes through my mind. "Yes, I think it was. And this place is more interesting than I ever thought possible, the Everfree may be dangerous but it contains an endless wealth of mysteries to discover. And as a bonus, I find myself very thankful to have somewhere that is truly my own." I answer honestly and let a little excitement show in my tone.

She keeps her smile. "Good, I'm happy you found what you needed. Now then, I have more questions and would like to look around, and because you gave me quite a scare I think I'm entitled to a tour." I smile at that.

I take her request in stride, and with a large smile, I stand up. "It would be my pleasure. You' are lucky Miss Princess, it's near the end of the day, and if we are lucky we can go see the Timberwolves." I joke in an exaggerated tone of voice.

She smiles but gains a slightly concerned look again. "Timberwolves?" I smile wider and nod as I lead her outside again.

Author's Note

Thank for reading. :D
Current year is 993