MAY 10 Monday.

I give the pony in front of me a glance while reading through a few documents that were just passed to me. "Hmm, you sure about this Ms. Cream?" I ask the old mare.

She's one of the oldest librarians and she's worked here for a long long time, she even stayed a little past when she could have retired. But the form she gave me will make us start the process to fill her now empty position and let her retire next week. "Yes dear, I've stayed long enough." Her tone is soft and low while she shows a small smile.

Today is my first day actually handling ponies and their problems, not big things, just simple paperwork and asking a few simple questions. But it seems the world once again made things interesting and I ended up processing the retirement paperwork for one of the oldest working employees.

I nod respectfully at her words and fill out the paperwork before standing up and shuffling through several neatly organized file cabinets. I find the right records and paperwork before returning to my desk and giving them to her. "Sign these please, and I hope you have a good retirement Ms. Cream." I show some more respect to the old mare.

"With pleasure dear, thank you. You too Daisy, it seems like only yesterday you came here with Willow." The old mare starts to talk and reminisce with Daisy for a bit as our workday winds down. Well, it's technically already over, but we both stayed to help Ms. Cream and get her set up.

I turn to them and get their attention. "I'm heading out, see you later." Daisy nods and starts talking with Ms. Cream again and I leave the office to walk home. Thankfully there is no rain today, a small miracle considering it's been raining for almost two weeks now.

Daisy has been very happy this past week, turns out her date went very well and they will probably do it again. But no matter how much I and Blaz ask or pester her Daisy refuses to tell us who it is. I don't really care too much about the who or what though. It's not my business, but it is good teasing material so I'll keep asking.

I smile at the thought and take off my saddlebags while Entropy flies over to me. "Love. Food?" She tries to bribe me with love, it works well as I grow several large Juniper berries, but I stop when Philomena flashes into the room with some quickly fading flames.

I raise a brow as she doesn't have a letter, it seems she wants to visit again, I smile and decide to have a little fun. When Philomena lands next to Entropy on the countertop. "Food?" I say suddenly and they both snap their heads to me, I silently grow a lot of large Juniper berries before picking them and filling a large bowl as they watch my every move intently.

I place it down on the floor away from anything else. "Go nuts." I laugh as they both dive off the counter, Entropy hits her mark and literally dives headfirst into the bowl before trying to grab berries with her wings and beak while Philomena squawks and gobbles up all the berries falling out of the bowl while also trying to get inside.

I'll have to clean up the mess, but getting to watch a bird of shadow and fire fight and squabble over berries is worth it. I leave them alone and let them sort it out while walking into my workroom, I have work to do, specifically I have a prank to plan.

A few days ago I was organizing my ever-expanding library of runes, which is now written in an illusionary book inside a small ruby. I still keep my notebook copies, but this much more organized and neat version is something I do not regret spending time on.

I activate my bracelet's illusionary book and move through a few pages before finding the notes I took on the new rune. This color-changing rune has a runic context that makes it useful, it's specialized to work best with illusions. With this rune, I can rapidly shift the color of an illusion once, or I could make an illusion change color rapidly. This is something I could do before, but this new rune makes that process much smoother and magically efficient.

I move the bracelet's illusionary book next to the illusionary book containing my runic library before casting a spell. I see a magical line manifest before connecting the red end to my bracelet and the green end to the small ruby, a moment later the empty illusionary page from the ruby becomes an exact copy of the illusionary page on my bracelet. The illusionary page copying spell was a good time investment too.

This rune is still being used with an illusion as it doesn't actually change the color of an object, but I can have a very simple illusion cover an object and change that illusion's color. So my plan is simple, make a spell to make Celestia and Cadance look ridiculous, but that's still a little vague.

I could do many different things with a spell like this but they all would take time to make, so I'm going to build a more complex but versatile base spell that will let me quickly modify it into many different forms of the same spell, it should save me a massive amount of time having to rework the spell. I find the bending illusion and moving illusion runes along with the new illusion color rune and get started on the spell.

The base spell needs to be flexible and versatile so it takes a long time to add so much math that will support and speed up the modification process in the future. Three hours later the base spell is finished, I spend a few more minutes writing down the blank base spell matrix before modifying the spell again so it has some effect.

Once the spell is adjusted I spend a moment looking it over and double checking things before casting it on a spare Steel wood cube I have. Within a moment the grayish wood turns a blindingly bright hot pink color. I chuckle at the sight, "This will be perfect!" I laugh for a moment.

I pick up the cube and see my hoof sink very slightly below the illusion, it's not perfect but it works well enough. Before I can test more things I stop and look over as Entropy comes into the room with a piece of paper in her beak. I raise a brow and look at the piece of paper, "Where did you get this?" I ask her while unfolding the sheet of paper.

She tilts her head. "Friend." I give her a confused look but see Celestia's writing on the piece of paper.

Shade. There is something I need your help with, come to the palace.

I feel my fear and worry rise as my mind starts to run wild with possibilities. The note is not neat and looks to be written quickly, but I don't have time to think about that anymore. I stand up and rush out of my workroom, I grab my saddlebags and double check my daggers before turning to Entropy. "The palace, now," I added some worry to my tone and a moment later we're gone from my apartment.

When I arrive in the mail room Entropy enters my shadow and there is a guard standing right outside the door waiting for me. "Sir." A quick acknowledgment and a quick turn as they immediately start walking away as I follow right behind. I notice that several guards are moving around quickly, but the staff seems unbothered.

Everything seems calm, but much like any undercurrent the surface always looks calm. I'm led to Celestia's office and I don't bother with even waiting and head right inside immediately. Inside I see Celestia is not alone, an older unicorn mare is also there giving her several papers. "They should be fine but a few have lost a decent amount of blood so it will take a few hours to know for sure." The mare's tone is calm but her words spike my worry even higher.

When I close the door both glance at me but keep concentrating on their conversation. "Thank you, captain. You're dismissed, but please tell me when they wake up." Celestia's words make me recognize the older mare. The current captain of Celestia's guard, Ash Mark.

She's been the captain for a decade or so now and as far as I know, does a good job. She has an ash-colored coat with a white mane and some light red eyes. She gives Celestia a quick bow before turning around and walking towards the door, as she passes me she nods a single time to me and leaves without another word.

Once she's gone Celestia looks up from her paperwork but stops when seeing the clear worry on my face. "Everything is fine! Well, no actually it's not, but it's under control and you can relax." I feel some of the tension leave my body when hearing that. She smiles a little apologetically. "Sorry about that, I didn't have much time to write that note. Things were hectic."

I sigh and take a few deep breaths. "Celestia, next time, add that to the letter! Even just a bit saying don't panic would have been nice! ... I don't want gray hair this young." I complain and joke a little to relieve some of my tension, but neither of us laughs.

I take another deep breath and just move on. "All right, what happened? And what do you need help with?" I get right down to business not wanting to drag this out and give my mind more time to widely theories about the situation.

She looks a little more serious. "You remember what I told you about the hiveless group of Changelings we contacted?" I nod. :Changelings again?: "Well, over the past few months we've built a slightly better reputation with them, it's not much but we started to trade more." I have a bad feeling.

"After a lot of negotiation, we agreed to offer help if they were attacked by others for dealing with us, it only extended to Canterlot and it was supposed to be a small concession not a guarantee of blanket protection from anything, the agreement even specifically said we'd only help with a dozen guards."

She starts on her paperwork again as she continues talking. "The negotiators and myself saw it as unlikely that anything could happen, but something did." I can see the mistake a mile away.

I nod sadly seeing where this is going. "They were attacked weren't they?" She nods back. "Probably the more desperate side of the war then. I remember Cricket said they collected some form of food tax... So... Oh, they stopped paying that tax when they got your protection didn't they?" I guess quickly.

She stops doing her work and looks up at me with a raised brow. "Yes, actually... After a misunderstanding, they took it as us protecting them fully, or something close enough to that, and were attacked by Queen Cascadia. We're not sure if it was only because they stopped paying that sorry excuse for a tax, but they did attack the hiveless group when they refused to pay them with food." She moves her work to the side giving me her full attention.

"We're still not sure why the hiveless group thought our offer was so wide-reaching, but their insistence on only verbal agreements has made things more difficult. Luckily, or unluckily, they attacked while a shipment of emotional food was being delivered to them by us, the guards watching them also noticed quickly and in the end, no one died. But there was still some fighting and several injuries." Her tone has a slight edge to it as I have many different thoughts moving through my head.

I'm not too surprised something like this happened, misunderstandings are inevitable and the two warring hives were eventually going to notice that ponies had discovered them and were starting to interfere. As for Queen Cascadia, she's probably in a bad position right now, she's losing this war and now ponies have invented a new way to get food.

Hiveless Changelings will see that as a great opportunity. They could stay in hiding and get taxed by both the Equestrian crown and the hives, sometimes both of the hives at once, or they could just pay regular tax and not have to be involved in a war they have no stakes in.

Throw in the fact that the hives tax comes in the form of the food you need to live and that we offered them some form of protection and it's hardly a surprise this group agreed to work with us after only a few months. So when the group of hiveless Changelings were told they would be protected by the crown they saw no need to pay tax to the hives as they didn't provide anything in return.

But I'm still missing a few pieces here. For one I have no idea why Queen Cascadia decided to attack and abandon all relations with the hiveless group. Burning a bridge like that over something that could be resolved with negotiation or threats makes little sense, then again she is said to be literally bat shit insane.

She not only lost any ability to collect tax from this group but even attacked the guard, even if that was a decision made in the heat of combat it was a bad move. From her perspective, it could unite the crown and Queen Chrysalis's hive. Another thing that remains unanswered is why they are wasting so many troops that are probably needed elsewhere on a small hiveless group.

I leave my thoughts as Celestia pokes me with a hoof, I realize I've been lost in thought for a few minutes now and she's walked over to me in that time. "Sorry, I'm thinking over everything," I answer and decide to lie down on her couch.

She smiles a little and joins me. "It's fine, this is your first time dealing with something like this, it... It can be a lot to take in. But I am curious what you think about this." She hesitates for a moment but keeps a steady tone that makes me feel that the situation is in fact under control.

I nod and spend a few moments voicing my internal thought process and the reasons I believe this could have happened. Celestia is silent for a moment and looks a little surprised as I finish explaining, "I can't figure out that last part though, it just seems like such an overreaction."

Celestia's slight shock wears off and she gives me an impressed look. "You never cease to amaze me, who knew your paranoia could be so useful? But your thoughts on the matter are largely correct. And to answer the question, I can think of two main reasons. First, there could simply be no logical reason." She answers with a slight smile and slips into her teacher's side.

I stop and call myself an idiot internally, it's obvious that is an option. I'm reminded of a saying and can't help but voice it. "No plan survives first contact with the enemy." Once I say it she nods thoughtfully.

"An interesting saying, but accurate. Where did you learn that one?" I hear no suspicion in her tone, only curiosity, but her words still make me tense slightly. :Shit:

I think fast and just throw something out. "Some journal I think? I'm not really sure actually. I could try and find it?" I don't actually know where that quote is from so I'm not lying, just omitting some things yet again.

She shakes her head after a moment and passes me some tea. "No, we have more important things to do. But to finish my point, the second reason is that other hiveless Changelings may follow the lead of the hiveless Changelings we're trading with, something we actually hoped for." It clicks in my head and I really feel like hitting myself now.

"A single group not paying taxes is a problem, and when others see them paying less they'll want to do the same, and a few dozen not paying tax..." I trail off, letting her voice the rest of her answer.

"Would be a much larger problem. Hmm, I might ask you for advice on this more often, but to get to the reason you are here." I perk up and lock eyes with her. "I wanted to make sure you understood the need to stay out of this." Her tone is more firm, but not unkind. "I know you can take care of yourself, but all the same I would rather you not need to." She smiles again at the end.

I nod back firmly. "Trust me, I feel the same way. After three run-ins I'm fine watching from a distance, a far distance in fact."

Her smile widens before she passes me a piece of paper with a spell matrix on it, it's a copy of the emotional shield. "We have a small problem. This war will only get more dangerous and we'll inevitably need to be involved more, and one part of that is imprisoning more Changelings." Her tone is level and calm at that and I nod my understanding.

"I would rather they simply live peacefully but I'm not willing to risk my ponies on such things. The shield has been an amazing help, but as we imprison more and more we need an ever-increasing amount of gems and jewelry to equip the staff and guards that tend to prisoners. So my guard captain asked me to request your help with an idea she had." She passes me another piece of paper with a few lines on it.

The idea is simple. Make a shield that keeps emotions form entering or exiting, they also want it to cover a large area if possible. I raise a brow and look back up at her, "I can do this, a week or two at most. But why this?" I ask curiously.

She drinks some tea and answers bluntly. "Changelings can sense emotions, and some of the more trained ones are proving to be very good at manipulation, a dangerous combination. Also, we are currently using the small shields at all times and that could lead to failure points, so the guard captain would rather use a large gem that can be easily monitored and watched along with the small shields."

I nod with a smile. "I can see the idea there, backups are always good, and the guard captain seems like the paranoid sort, I like her already." I joke a little and drain the last of my tea. "Anything else?"

She shakes her head and chuckles. "No, and again sorry for worrying you." We both turn to a knock on the door. "But for now I must cut this short, thank you again for helping with this and coming so quickly." She gives me a quick farewell and we both stand up.

She's busy and still dealing with all of this so I just nod and keep it short. "No problem, I'll give it to you as soon as I can."

She gives me one last smile. "Good to hear, maybe I should get you a medal after this? You have helped quite a bit." She teases me one last time and I just give her my best mischievous smile in return. I cast a tiny spell under her chest out of her sight and watched as her chest and forelegs are turned pure bright pink.

I struggle to hold back my laughter and speak. "And, haha, may--maybe you should cast an illusion before anypony walks in. Entropy!" She leaves my shadow a moment later. "Home now!" I turned back to her. "Have a good night!" A moment later I vanish from the room, the last sight I see is Celestia looking at her bright pink foreleg with wide eyes.

As soon as I'm back in my apartment I just break down laughing.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading. :]
Current year is 994

Not too much in this one, but something at least.