DEC 5 Saturday.

I place my last book back into its proper place and start to slowly make my way out of the Canterlot library. I've spent a good amount of time over the last week preparing for my meeting with Cadance and researching the new plants I bought from the Zebra caravans, along with learning about how to make all the pieces needed for plate armor.

I'll start with the armor and work my way backwards, when I told Stone I was making my own armor he was for once very encouraging. He normally gives advice and slight encouragement but not to this degree, turns out he was just happy to see somepony willing to make their own equipment.

Apparently, he blacksmiths as a retirement hobby, one hell of a hobby if you ask me but if the way he talked about it is any indication he really enjoys it. But he only does it as a hobby and mostly makes relatively simple blades so he couldn't help with getting metal plate armor when I asked him, so I'm sticking with the wood armor idea.

Moving onto the armor itself. Once you remove the forging process of making plate armor it's actually pretty simple to make. It really is what the name implies, plate armor, it's just a bunch of simple pieces all stuck together and fitted for the pony in need.

I'll have to measure myself and it will take a while to get everything right, but with my ability to just grow wood into the right shape it should only take a week or two of concerted effort. But I have a few other things I want to work on right now so this can wait for a little while.

Moving onto the new plants I bought. I've learned a few things about most of them, but one of them has proved to be elusive. Let's start in the order I found them in.

The Black Palm Tree is very interesting for a few reasons but by far its most striking feature is its black wood. Now when I say black I don't mean dark or something like Ebony wood, I mean that the wood looks like gray charcoal. It's not completely black but it's still far darker than you'd ever expect.

Because it's a palm tree the wood is very similar to coconut wood, it's a rougher wood with small even darker threads moving up and down the tree's woodgrain. Like I've said before the wood is prized for its rarity and dark color, but also because the tree does have a magical property.

It's native environment is pretty much any desert. It takes a long time for the tree to grow properly but It can grow in basically pure sand and while they are rare as long as it has the right soil it can grow basically anywhere. This is because of the magical property.

It's not massive, but the tree can block out a large amount of cold or heat without being damaged by it. The reason it's magical is because the plant's magic strengthens the wood against temperature change to a high degree. The wood is mostly used in high-end cooking utensils and dishes because of this magical property.

I'm not sure I'll do the same but the tree still has properties that would work well for armor, if I can get it to be properly bred with Iron Oak, but we'll see. The next plant is Ash Grass, and it's the plant I wasn't able to find much information on.

It normally grows near volcanoes or places with common wildfires. This is because it needs soil rich in carbon, mostly ash and charcoal, and that's where it gets its name from. It's normally the first thing to grow out of the soil after a wildfire, much like the Spine Leaf that I have.

But that's where my information gets foggy. I know the plant has a magical property that helps with healing burns, but that's about it. I have no idea what else the plant can do or what other ways its magic is used, so I'll keep looking for more information. And finally, we have the Fire Blossom Tree, also called simply the Fire Bloom.

It's kind of funny because this tree is also related to fire and heat just like the other two plants. Let's start with the fact that this tree is rare, very rare, honestly, I have no idea how that Zebra found one or why she'd ever sell it that cheap. My best guess is she knew it was magical and was able to find its name but not much else.

Very few places have information on rare plants like this, it took me, a pony who's worked at the library for years now, days to find anything on the plant and I knew its name. That Zebra got lucky to even find this tree's name, and it would be unlikely for her to find out specific information on the tree outside of Canterlot.

Even if that information is out there it's hard to find while moving around in a caravan, but I digress. The Fire Blossom is a very rare tree for a good reason, it basically exists to start fires and burn everything around it. It's nature's chosen arsonist.

The tree is mostly normal. It's similar to birch with white bark and a thin trunk, and small light green leaves with large vibrant red flowers. But this plant also slowly converts the magic it gathers into fire affinity magic, then when the tree makes flowers it moves that gathered fire magic into those flowers.

This makes the flowers slightly glow like a candle and gives them a warm feeling when held, the problem comes right after that though. The tree will then shed its flowers in a brilliant shower of embers as the tree overloads the flowers with fire magic and drops them all over its surroundings.

This pretty much always results in a wildfire that consumes its surroundings, this burns everything but the tree itself as it's highly resistant to fire and can withstand the blaze just fine. When it's the only tree left standing it grows and drops its seeds to sow the newly cleared land.

This is why it's so rare, because no matter who you are you do not want some tree lighting the forest you live next to on fire every few years. So like any sane being you would cut that tree down and make sure it doesn't grow back, but I'm not complaining in the slightest.

The wood of this tree is just as fire-resistant as the rest of it and I wouldn't mind having that for several reasons. Mostly to prevent my new armor from burning off of me, and if I breed it with the Black Palm and The Iron Oak I have a good start to covering some of the Iron Oak's weaknesses.

I still need something to prevent damage from too much magic being channeled through it, but I can't have everything and I've already gotten much more than I hoped for. Moving on once again, the last thing I've been researching is rune creation.

Rune creating is a complex and at times vague craft that is hard to succeed at, mostly because a large amount of your success is out of your control. So let's give a little refresher.

To create a rune all you need is some form of concept, a sentence to explain that concept and a sufficient level of knowledge for that same concept. That's it, but the quality of those three things is very important.

The more accurate to reality your knowledge is, the better the rune will be. Also the better you can word the concept the better the rune will be. Let's take something like a rune for air as an example.

A normal pony might study the wind currents and how things fly, or how air helps fires burn, to gain a better understanding and knowledge of air. While I actually know what air is made from and its properties on a small scale. We can both use the same runic context but my rune will be better because of the knowledge I used.

On the other hoof, if we take the same hypothetical and say that we have the same knowledge. They might write the runic context incorrectly, maybe they use more words than needed or they use words that somewhat clash with the very concept they are making into a rune. While I use better words and meanings that complement the concept. This would also result in my rune being better.

Another thing you need to keep in mind is being factual, with either the runic context or the runic meaning you have in your mind, the closer you stick to things that are real and correct, and that you know are real and correct the better the resulting rune.

As for why it works like this or what determines if a rune will fail or succeed? No idea, yet another mystery of magic, but back to the topic at hoof. All of this is the reason I can't make a rune for any emotion, sure I know emotions but I simply don't have a deep or particularly profound understanding of them.

That will be Cadance's role, she's providing her knowledge and understanding of love in both the runic context and the runic meaning, while I will make sure the runic context and meaning line up with what we need the rune to do in a technical sense.

I leave my lengthy internal rant while walking to the front counter so I can check out two books I didn't finish reading. As I'm waiting in line I hear a polite cough and a quiet friendly voice. "Hey Shade, how are you doing?"

The voice startles me slightly, and I jump a little before turning around to see Avalon standing in line behind me with two books of his own. I smile after a moment and nod. "Avalon, I've been well. You?" I ask back politely as I pass my books to the old mare at the counter.

I don't see Avalon often but he's a nice sort and I always enjoy my time talking to him. "I'm doing good. It's been busy though, plenty of deliveries this time of year." He's a little wooden with his speech just like the last few times we've talked with each other.

We simply don't know each other well enough to fully relax, but that can be fixed with some time and effort. "Ya that seems about right, I can't imagine the number of gifts sent this time of year, must be tiring on your wings." I try to make small talk with someone I don't know that well.

He gives me a look that tells me just how on point I am. I can't help but chuckle a little at his tired expression. "That bad huh?"

He tiredly nods. "Like you wouldn't believe, so many nobles send gifts this time of year and they often have private deliveries." He says with a little annoyance in his tone. A good tip for getting someone to open up and relax a little, give them something to complain about.

With that in mind, I raise a brow while he gives his own books to the old mare. "Really? I'd have thought those would be the easy ones. Just drop in and give it to a staff member or something." I guess.

He chuckles at that like it's an absurd statement. "By Celestia I wish." It always feels odd to hear her name used like that. "They never really read the contract and just put down the recipient's name. That means I have to deliver it personally to only the recipient and can't just leave it with someone else." He explains with a slight huff while collecting his books.

I just laugh at that. "OH, that sounds like a nightmare. Having to explain to snobby nobles why they got the paperwork wrong." I laugh at the thought while he gives a small laugh of his own. Once I'm done laughing I turn to him as we slowly walk towards the library's exit. "Hey, what are you doing right now?" I change the subject as we stop outside the library.

He seems to think for a moment. "Ummm, nothing I guess? Why?" He asks with a hint of nervousness, I have no idea why though.

I smile regardless, "Well, I want lunch and I'm curious as to how you've progressed, want to come along?" I offer carefully, I very rarely reach out but this time it seems like a good idea.

My words only seem to make him more nervous and I realize what's going on, it seems I've found one of the few people more introverted than me. We haven't interacted outside the library and that one time on the train so I've never noticed before. Though I wonder why now of all times?

If I had to use my introvert powers to guess, I'd say it's because all of our last meetings were unplanned or in calm private places, as long as I don't count the train we met on. However, that does make me question why someone like him would try to meet with griffins like that?

I'm snapped out of my thoughts as he answers. "Well, ummm, maybe?" He's not massively nervous but it's still easy to notice.

I try to encourage him gently. "Oh come on, I know a good cafe near here, it'll be my treat?" I try to tempt him with promises of free food, a good tactic to tempt introverts. Who passes up free food?

There's a moment of silence while he looks uncertain before he slowly nods. "Ok..... ya, sure. Lead the way? Actually, how far is it?" He still seems unsure about it but a yes is enough for me.

I keep smiling. "Two blocks or so." That makes him more nervous.

"Um, I would prefer to fly, if that's fine with you? But we can meet up there?" He offers kindly.

It only takes me a moment to realize I just asked someone with a missing leg to walk two blocks. :Great, now I'm being an utter dickhead: I look apologizing and immediately apologize. "Sorry, I should have thought about that, that's my bad." I give him a genuine apology.

He looks slightly bashful at that. "No! No, it's not your fault, I should have asked before agreeing." He says quickly, seemingly trying to prevent me from feeling bad about it.

I regain my smile and nod. "It is, but thank you. And flying works just fine by me." I decide to show a little trust and walk a little further away from the library while he follows me a little confused.

"W-what time should we meet up then?" He asks.

I just turned back to him with a larger smile. "No need, I'll be going with you." That statement only makes the confusion on his face grow. Over the last few months I've been slowly showing more and more skill in magic to my friends, so I see no reason why I can't do the same with someone who may become a friend.

Before Avalon can ask what I mean, a complex spell matrix appears and flashes for an instant before vanishing, a few moments later I flex the now familiar muscles to spread my wings a little. I turn back to see a shocked Avalon staring at the new wings with a dumbfounded expression.

I smile at the look. "Shall we get going? Seems the snow is picking up." I politely remind him and shake him out of his shock.

For a moment I see that excited glint in his eye as he walks closer and almost pokes the wings before hearing my question and backing up slightly. "OK, sure. But, how?" He asks while continuing to stare at my wings.

Honestly, his love and excitement with magic is something I'll never get tired of. I smile as he seems to be distracted from his nervousness by interesting magic. "I'll explain while we fly. Now come on, I'll show you the way."

Author's Note

Thank for reading. :D
Current year is 993

I decide to flesh out Avalon a little more, I tried my best for him to come off as polite and friendly, but also an introvert. Tell me what you think.