DEC 13 Sunday.

I place the last notebook into my saddlebags and double-check I have everything I'll need for today.

A few notebooks and several stacks of paper have everything I'll need, and some of the work I've already done on the rune we'll be trying to make, specifically I've been sketching some designs. Out of all the runes I know I decided that the best base is probably the rune of emotion I already have so I started with that and drew a few sketches.

The actual way the rune looks doesn't do much from what I understand, but I felt it was best to base it on something that was related to emotions. Once I have everything gathered I turn to Entropy as she preens her feathers and relaxes on her perch.

I still have a little time so I sit down with some tea and think for a while. The last week has been as normal as ever, I tended to my plants, practiced my magic, and read far too many books, and even then I found a little time to plant the two new trees I bought inside Gaia's Eden, right next to my small shack.

I grew two healthy trees and then I harvested many seeds from both, before promptly cutting them down to harvest some of their wood, although I only regrew the Black Palm for now because I still need to make some type of fire shield around the Fire Blossom Tree, I would rather not burn down my garden.

Beyond my new trees, I've mostly been doing more research on prosthetics and rune creation. So I've been fairly busy with all these things, but something slightly interesting did happen, the date for the Hearth's Warming party is set for the twentieth.

I have all the gifts wrapped already, the wooden jewelry is done and I've bought a few other small things that they should like. As I think my mind inevitably shifts to who I'm meeting later today, Cadance is an interesting pony and one I've grown to like very quickly.

We've only met once but in that meeting, she was able to get past all my seclusion and even bond with me over our shared prank war. Even if I let her do all of that it still says a lot about who she is as a pony and how she approaches others, and I'm not afraid to say she could become a fast friend.

But that's all just speculation on my part, only time will tell how it goes. Also speaking of pranks I've finished my newest prank, and Cadance is the perfect accomplice to give it that extra kick. I've been running a few tests with the Spicy Red Root and it really does stain everything it touches a nice deep crimson red.

It turned out to be very easy to boil some of it down into a concentrated form that is easy to store and carry with me. Now I'm not a monster and I know Celestia can't go around looking like she violently killed somepony by bathing in their blood, so I've included a modification on a cleaning spell I've used before.

The spell doesn't necessarily clean things, it just loosens anything sticking to you and lets you wash it out easily. I've improved it to be more powerful and I even tested it on myself, this stuff really does stain you like a nightmare, but the spell works, and with it the makeshift dye comes out easily.

The only problem I have is I don't know how to get Celestia to use it, so I'm going to bribe Cadance to help me, yes bribe her, because why not? The spell I made for cleaning has a slight side effect, it can be used on your mane and fur to also remove all tangles in it as they are considered filth and the spell loosens it right out.

It makes it much easier to brush out a mane or coat, it's not massive as all it does is speed up the process but a bribe is a bribe and she might find some use for it. I stop my thoughts as I check the time, eleven-fifty, time to go. I turn to Entropy and whistle quietly.

She flies over immediately. "Time to go girl, we're headed to the palace."

She tilts her head and jumps on my back. "Friend, good."

I chuckle at her excitement. "Not this time, but maybe a new friend." I temper down her excitement a little. She stops hopping around but still looks happy to go. "Well then, ready when you are." I stand up and wait for the embrace of an endless Void.

When we arrive it's the same song and dance as always, a guard is waiting for me and I'm led to a doorway I haven't seen in a while now. Me and Celestia normally meet in her room, her office, or the gardens, it's been a long time since I was last in the comfortable meeting room we originally used.

The guard leaves me alone and I take a deep breath before opening the door, inside is just what I expected. A single table with Cadance sitting down and reading a book, I notice the title, some type of romance novel, fitting. "Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, a pleasure." I'm fully formal and give her a bow.

"Shade Evergreen, I hope you don't greet Aunty like that." I start walking over to the table but stop to give her a slightly baffled look at her words. "I'm already a little tired of hearing it so often, I can't imagine how she feels." Her tone is light and humorous, and she smiles while closing the book she was reading.

I hold strong for a moment before chuckling. "Well, I can assure you I don't, and I can guarantee that I do not envy either of you in the least. Even what I did is too much formality for me." I decided to take the same approach I did last time, be relaxed and friendly.

Her smile stays while she huffs slightly. "It can be tiring and annoying, but it is important, or so I'm told. But we're here to make a rune, aren't we? I'll admit this is not my specialty so I'll be relying on you." That's not much of a surprise, most ponies don't know much about runes, let alone how to make them. "But I cleared my day, so we have plenty of time to talk first." I really should have seen this coming, and yet somehow I didn't.

I nod after a moment. "If we have the time, sure, what about?" I ask while looking at the tea laid out on a tray, it's not made yet. "Actually, do you mind if I start?"

"By all means go ahead, although I think I can guess already." She also looks at the unmade tea but doesn't continue.

There is silence for a few moments before I give her an annoyed look and realize what she's doing. "You are going to make me ask aren't you?" She stays silent but her smile widens. :I really need to remember she also likes jokes and pranks: "Fine. What's your love life like?" I ask with my most innocent tone.

I can see her brow twitch a little but she doesn't react to my words. "I'm glad you asked." She suddenly says with a far too cheery tone. :OH shit: "Aunty said I should practice making tea, so I take any opportunity I can. Although I still have a long way to go until I can make tea like her." She promptly ignores my question and carries on. :Thank magic:

I now know I'm not winning this verbal back and forth, so I leave it be and pick up the kettle to start making the tea myself, if you can not defeat your enemy, do your best to deprive them of victory. "Oh, hmmm, thank you." Or just mildly annoy them however you can. "Anyway, enough of all that, how has your day been so far?" Her tone changes again to a relaxed but somewhat more serious tone.

Nice and blunt, this I can work with. "Just fine, I have everything we'll need prepared and can answer most questions you'll have. How are you doing on this cold day?" A matrix flashes in the air for a moment as I cast a warming spell on the teapot after adding the red tea leaves.

She watches the spell matrix but doesn't comment on it. "Well enough, I do have to be at a budgeting meeting tomorrow so please drag this out as much as you can." She jokes, maybe, actually with her tone she could actually be serious.

I decided to just nod. "Sure. But to be the adult here and actually move along, what did you want to talk about?" I joke back gently while pouring us both some tea.

"OH fine, ruin my fun. I have a lot to ask, but the first is not so simple. If you had to describe yourself in one sentence how would you?" An interesting question to start with, and something I've never been asked before.

I think about it for a few moments. "Well, I'm thirteen, I like magic and plants, I spend most of my time practicing skills or making things, and that normally results in work for Celestia with the nice side effect of helping ponies." I don't play myself up and just state what I think while including a small half-joke.

She smiles. "First name basis, how long have you been friends? She never did give a decent date." She asks innocently, this is definitely a trap, I just can’t see how.

I decided to just ignore the wording in the first part and answer her. "That's because like most friendships it happened over time. But I can say we've been meeting for around two years now." Time sure flies.

She just smiles at that. "Plants and magic. Hmm, you really are a humble pony. I wonder why? You've done so much but claim so little." She asks while tasting the tea with a smile.

I shake my head at that. "I'm really not that humble, although most might see it like that. I might be somewhat helpful, but I'm not some paragon, the truth is I'm simply a very private pony. Or to put it bluntly, I would rather the world just leave me alone, it seems to disagree." I drink some of my own tea and note that I didn't let it sit long enough.

She smiles wider. "I'm pretty sure that's just another form of humility, but moving on. I've heard Aunty talk about a pet, is she at home? I heard some... interesting but vague things, aunty likes to do that sometimes, a lot of the time actually." She admits with a very slightly annoyed look.

I've also started to notice that Celestia only told her vague things about me, and I can't help but think it was very much intentional. "Yes, she definitely does. Also, Entropy is always with me, come on out, Entropy." I move the teapot a little and Entropy shifts out of its shadow, she stands on the table and stares up at Cadance. "This is Entropy, say hello."

"Hello, pretty." I nearly laugh at Entropy's words, oh you beautiful bird. Cadance looks shocked at the sudden appearance of Entropy, to be fair a large shadow mist bird appearing from the shadows might count as an actual demon to some ponies.

There's a long moment of silence as she stares at Entropy, "Hello? ... Did, did you teach her to say that? Because if you did, I'd be truly flattered." She seems a little nervous around Entropy, not much but it's still there, yet she still finds a way to tease me slightly.

I shake my head as Entropy decides she wants to rest on top of my head and climbs right up. "Nope, Entropy is as smart as a filly and can for the most part perfectly understand what we're saying. I'm still teaching her new words though, and she prefers simple one to two-word sentences." I explain as Entropy keeps looking her over.

That shocks her even more. "Wait! Really?! Can you?!" She asks Entropy loudly with a skeptical tone.

Entropy tilts her head and stares for a moment longer before fluffing her feathers and getting more comfortable, she puts her head under her wing to sleep. "Loud, bad." Entropy learned that one not long ago, it's good to see she was paying attention, and that she apparently knows how to insult others, I've never been more proud.

This time I can't stop myself from laughing, which causes Entropy to shift to my back for a better place to nap. Seems Entropy's got me beat. "I don't think she understands tact or subtlety yet, or she just doesn't use it." I smile at Cadance's expression.

Cadance looks a little embarrassed at being called out by a bird but recovers quickly. "Well, then. She really is something, on that note, what is she?" Her curiosity breaks past any other expression on her face.

"She's a Shadow Crow, whatever that means, even after a lot of searching me and Celestia basically know nothing about her. We don't even know if there are others of her kind." I never really thought about it but Entropy might just be completely alone in that aspect, sad in a way, but I have no intention of leaving her alone.

"Oh, sorry to hear that." She addresses Entropy directly at that, she's in my good book for that alone, not many would just accept Entropy as sentient like that. "Moving on though, I wanted to ask about something I heard from Aunty recently. Did you really give her a crown? Or was that a joke? Either way, it doesn't help the rumors" She asks curiously.

She gets her answer a second later when my blush decides it is time to do what it does, displaying just how embarrassed I am. "Wait. You did? Really? OH! That's Gold!" She breaks down laughing at my embarrassed face.

"I didn't know, ok?! How was I supposed to?! What rumors?!" I try to defend myself while also trying to make my blush go away. Her continued laughter shows just how badly I did, I wait a few moments but she doesn't stop for several moments.

"Well, the staff see you often enough to notice you, and you always meet privately with Aunty, so." I can already see where she's going with this and I just bury my face in my hooves for a moment as I feel my blush deepen.

"Ugggg! I'm never living this down am I?" That just makes her start laughing again. "Fine! You can laugh all you want. But I want help with this for embarrassing myself, consider it my payment." I place a small glass jar filled with a red liquid in an attempt to distract her and hopefully gain her assistance.

She laughs a little more before finally calming down "OK! Ok, I'll stop, but I won't forget this... Now what is this?" She asks while holding the jar up to look at it.

I'm thankful she finally stopped laughing and changed the subject. "My revenge for several past incidents that befell me. It's a highly potent red dye, something that is an absolute, complete, horrible, nightmare, to wash out of your coat and mane, even with soap and a brush, it kind of works like mane dye just worse because I had no idea how strong I had to make it." I emphasize my point with a few words.

I see a far-from-innocent smile spread across her face as she stares at the small bottle. "Oooo, now this! Will be fun. So what's the plan? Because whatever it is you can count me in." She volunteers immediately.

"Well, I guess I don't need the bribe then." I try to tease her back for what she just did to me.

She raises a brow and smiles more. "Well hold on, I didn't say that. As you well know, I as a member of the nobility love bribes, now give it here." She holds out a hoof and makes yet another joke.

I chuckle and relax as my blush finally dies down. "Fine, but I'm expecting good work if you're taking payment," I say with an uptight tone while taking a few pages out of my saddlebags and passing them to her.

She takes a moment to read through them before giving me an amused look. "You made a spell just to fix your own prank. You make two spells and you're still losing, shame on you. But I fail to see how this is a bribe." I roll my eyes at that and motion for her to flip to the next page, this page has information on the spell's effects on manes and coats.

Her smile grows very large, she looks at those pieces of paper like they are made from pure gold. "Do you have a filly friend?" That question comes out of nowhere, I'm not sure what to do so I just shake my head "Oh, you poor Colt, you better hope they never find you. Well, now I'm more than in, I demand you give me permission to release it under your alias." She says with new excitement, which just confuses me further.

Sure it can help untangle manes and pelts, but there are already spells for that, I can't see a reason to disagree though. Also what the hell was that first part about? After a moment of confusion, I just gave up. "Sure? I don't really care. For now though, we've talked enough and we still have work to do, and a prank to plan." I decided to finally get us back on track for the actual reason we are here.

I enjoy the sight of her smile faltering slightly as I dump several stakes of notes and a few notebooks on the table. "I feel like that bribe wasn't enough, and you're rich, is it too late to ask for more?" She half-jokes while looking through a few of the top pages on the stakes.

I give her my biggest cheeriest smile. "Nope! Now start reading, we have a lot to do." I smile as she stops joking around and does just that. If we keep joking we'll never finish, still, for my revenge, it's all worth it.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading. :}
Current year is 993

It's my birthday tomorrow so sadly no chapter for you, enjoy your weekend. :]