JUN 21 Monday.

I slowly flip through a page of my notebook on my day off while listening to all the celebrations going on outside of my apartment, the streets are packed with ponies all joining in on the Summer Sun Celebration.

I'm not really sure what I want to do today, but I did already send Celestia her gifts, well most of that at least. I hinted that I have something for her at Gaia's Eden and to not visit until our next meeting, I'd like to be there when she sees what I've made.

Speaking of her cabin, I've added most of what's needed so far, I even found a big enough mattress, although I got some odd looks when bringing it home. Most of the furniture is simple but functional and I used some Moon Glow Vines as light. Beyond her cabin, I also added another section to my shack.

My shack was made as a hexagon so I could add more rooms like a bee makes more honeycomb, and I did just that by adding a second room for a dedicated bedroom. It's only got a bed and desk but I honestly prefer it that way as It makes it easy to change or decorate it later.

Now, onto Celestia's other gifts. I sent her a happy birthday letter with the new grape spell and the illusion binding spell I modified, I made it a little better but stopped there. I also sent a new shipment of Blood Leaf Tea to her, and this time it's seen some improvement.

The Blood Leaf Tea is a plant I've been slowly selectively breeding for several months now and It's seen small but consistent improvement over that time. If I used rough numbers it's around eight to ten percent better at helping you regain your magic than the original, but progress in improving it is very slow.

It did get faster when I started growing it in the Everfree, but even then I have to test each generation individually and pick the best one, which can be hard because the generational increase in the magical effects is very small. Sometimes I have to drink a batch of tea for several days before I find the best one and complete another cycle.

Beyond the Blood Leaf Tea, I have updates on several other plants I've been breeding. First is Lemon Grass, it's been a less important and less worked-on project, but with how easy is it to grow and test I can do a lot in one day. But to the point, it's grown much more fragrant now.

The lemon smell is much stronger and I always add the strongest variety I have to the Razor Vine wall to hopefully push away that snake. I haven't seen it again, I've sensed a large amount of life magic moving at the edges of my senses but it never comes close so I think the Lemon Grass works, at least to some degree.

Next is all the winter crops I'm trying to make, I never did make a shield for them to stay cold and just decided to
wait for winter again. I can't grow a lot during winter anyway so why rush it? They can be bred in the winter and I'll focus on other things for now while it's still warm.

The Copper Lily. It's... Well, It's going, but like I expected this is not going to be a fast process and will take me a long while. I've been using all the gold dust that gets collected to grow them, normally I wait a few days and it builds up enough gold dust to grow a few plants at once.

But even with that and my own magic I've only gotten the flower to shrink a very small amount, but it is working. Even just the tiny amount of shrinkage in the flowers means they are already taking less life magic to grow, if I can get them small enough I can then breed them much faster and scale them up again.

Lastly is the Companion Vine. I've tried selectively breeding it, but it turned out to be very VERY stubborn. I can grow and go through generations very quickly, but the plant refuses to change in one specific way. The smaller things like how the plant looks and even crossbreeding the life magic gathering effect into other plants are all relatively easy.

But improving the life magic gathering ability itself has proven to be almost impossible to improve in the slightest, it's only very slightly improved after THOUSANDS of generations. I just gave up at some point and decided to focus on other things I think are more important.

I'm willing to grind something endlessly, but only if what I get back out is worth it, and this is not worth it right now. I stop organizing and copying my notes as an idea strikes me, it seems there is something I can do, so I stand up and get ready to leave. Where am I going? Well, somewhere interesting.

I grab my saddlebags and a few things I may need, I'm once again setting out to visit Ponyville. I did the same thing last year, although I was far less excited about it back then. This time though I can enjoy the celebration much more, and I get to check on the cast again.

Entropy sees me getting ready and emerges from some shadow to fly over to me. "Out? Friend?" She seems to be missing Philomena a bit as she's been visiting less, I think Philomena is probably at parties with Celestia, and Celestia seems to like taking Philomena with her to parties to show off a bit.

I don't really see the big deal, but that's why I'm not a diplomat and why I never will be, orders or otherwise. I smile at Entropy and pet her a little while casting an Illusion on her, "No, but we do get to go outside." I almost chuckle as she looks a little disappointed.

"Don't worry, well see them soon enough. Now come on, let's go have some fun. To Ponyville please." I ask nicely with a reassuring smile as she perks up a bit, we both vanish a fraction of a second later. She's still improving but I really need to find a new place for her to take us for training.

When we reappear it's yet again a nice slow walk in the summer weather as I walk down the dirt road, but things get interesting as I notice a cart being pulled down the road headed to Ponyville. The forest I have Entropy teleport to when traveling to Ponyville is adjacent to a road that connects Sweet Apple Acres.

It's not a direct road and it also connects to a few different roads that leave town entirely, but it's not a massive surprise when I see a familiar red stallion pulling the cart. He's going a little slower than me and after a while, I catch up with Big Mac, he seemed to be. Well, like himself.

Quiet and stoic about the world around him, but I've spent a long time around Stone and Maple to get a read on how he was feeling. He seemed happy enough, and after a moment he spotted me at his side and looked over without stopping, he glanced at me and then Entropy who was sitting on my back, and I saw a little recognition.

He stares for a moment and then his eyes soften a small bit. "Howdy." His tone has a hint of friendliness and he gives me a firm nod.

I smirk a little and nod back. "Same to you. Cart all fixed up?" The walk is still a good distance so I try to start some small talk, yes, small talk with Big Mac, I know it sounds a little stupid.

He looks me over and seems to be debating my look in some way, I'm not sure what he was looking for but after a moment he nods again. "Yup." A simple answer and one I expected, what I don't expect is for him to continue. "You visit'in?" His accent blends the words a bit but I understand him just fine.

Wow, I guess he can speak first. I make the fourth nod of our conversation and give a slow response, "Yup." He seems to wait but I don't elaborate more beyond that and just keep walking. Entropy seems curious and flies off to look around for a bit as Big Mac and I continue to walk down the road silently.

Big Mac is good company for comfortable silence and neither of us seems to want to break that silence, we just walk before eventually reaching Ponyville. As we enter the town it seems we're heading in different directions so I turn to him and nod once again before looking down a street.

He stops a little abruptly and I turn back to him as he turns to me to look me in the eyes, I raise a brow silently as he detaches from the cart a moment later and goes through the cart items for a bit. I wait and a moment later he comes up to me holding a bag in his muzzle before passing it to me. "Now we're even." He says with a subtle happy tone before holding out a hoof. "Big Macintosh."

I smile fully and shake his hoof, "Shade." There is no more need for words and I turn to walk off right after, I don't notice that he shows a very slight amount of surprise when hearing my name, but smiles a little bit before reattaching his harness and dragging the cart off.

I think that went well, he was nice enough and even paid me back for a small favor. I open the bag and look inside to see what I expected, several bright red apples, "Hmm, nice." I take one out and share it with Entropy as we walk down the street. Once I finish the apple I put the rest in my saddlebags before joining the celebrations.

Most streets are empty as all the ponies have gathered on a single large street that runs through the center of Ponyville. It also runs right past the town hall, it's basically a bustling fairground all along this street with games and so many stalls set up to celebrate the day.

I take my time and steadily walk down the street enjoying the festivities and happy atmosphere, and I stop at a few stalls to look through what's being sold. Nothing too interesting, but a small souvenir did catch my eye. A nameless older mare selling flowers and one caught my eye.

Tulips are nothing fancy but something I might as well buy, so I do just that and buy several tulip bulbs to plant later on. But as I finished my trade and continued to walk the street I saw and smelt something odd.

N.S.F.W starts here.

I smell a slightly sickly sweet scent that is something I've really tried to avoid, a mare in heat. I know this because a few other unlucky stallions on the street were in a similar situation, their members hanging low as they all look a little shy about the situation, but otherwise, they are unbothered.

I feel my blush overtake me as I feel my own sheath starts to stir as I look around to try and find a way off of this damned street quickly. But it's too busy and too many ponies are around to run off easily, in fact running off right now would just draw more attention.

I nearly run anyway when I see a mare around my age not too far away glance under me. I have no idea which mare is in heat or where they are so I don't know if she's behind me back down the street or in front. After a moment I force myself to just start walking forward and try to ignore the stares around me.

Luckily nopony seems to care all that much, the other stallions in my position are mostly older and just wave it off as they keep going about the day and continue to celebrate. A few mares around my age look at me but most adult mares also don't seem to care about me. The good news is in a mostly earth pony town they can tell how old I am despite my large size.

I'm beyond uncomfortable being eyed in such a way, but ponies just don't care, even as I walk around with my member bouncing around. I try to distract myself mentally by thinking about mathematical equations and continue to walk down the street trying to get away from that damned scent.

After a few minutes I'm able to get away from the scent and I feel my body start to calm down a little, but it's still- SMACK My blush comes back again as my cock smacks against my belly, I glance over to see a few older ponies chuckling but taking it in stride.

Once I'm far enough away my body starts to return to normal and calm down fully as I take several deep breaths and try to scrub that memory from my mind. That was... Uncomfortable and embarrassing, but at least it's over. My member is going back into my sheath and I stop at a bench to get my mind in order.

N.S.F.W ends here.

I close my eyes for a moment as I relax on the bench while nearly chucking myself, it is funny in a way, even if it can suck. The good news is nopony will even remember this, I myself have seen it plenty of times before and I also stopped caring at some point, but seeing it and experiencing it are two very different things.

"Excuse me?" My eyes snap open and I jump slightly as a quiet voice sounds from my side. "EEEPP!" This time it's a quiet squeak as I sit up straight and move my legs closer to my body to hide the fact that I'm still not fully back to normal while looking over at the source of the noise.

I look over to see a mare that's a few inches shorter than me looking back through her mane as it covers most of her face, it's Fluttershy. Just as I'm relaxing I feel my blush come back strongly as I see her eyes place in between my legs for a moment before looking away, well, I know what startled her.

I stare at her silently for a moment in newfound embarrassment and slight horror, but I force that down and try not to make things worse by staring silently. "Ahem! Sorry about... That, I... Well, today is rather busy, lots of ponies. Can I help you, Miss?" I try really hard to not make my body react again and just focus on talking while keeping myself somewhat covered.

The last time we met I wasn't paying much attention but Fluttershy looks to be around the same age as me, maybe a bit younger. If she is my age I can't really blame her for looking, she's probably dealing with the same hormone issues as me right now.

She seemed startled but my friendly greeting made her relax a little more and she moved some of her mane out of her face. I take notice of the blush she has, yup we're both in this shit show then. "Ummmm, I-I'm not sure if you remember, but I was wondering if I could... Talk about her?"

She looks up to Entropy who's just been sitting on the back of the bench for a while now. I do remember Fluttershy being really interested in Entropy the last time we met. I pretend to be confused for a moment before looking like I realized something. "Oh! it's you. I hope you've been well, it's been a long time." I think fast and try to act like I don't remember her for a moment.

She looks back at Entropy for several moments before smiling a little up at her, when she hears my question she's all embarrassed about something, probably what just happened. "W'well, I'm fine. But, ..." She petters off and looks back to Entropy.

My mind registers her question and I give her a smile while trying to keep a low and quiet tone over the busy street. "Sorry. You can, but don't touch her, she doesn't like it when others do that." She smiles wider and very quietly gets on the bench to look closely at Entropy.

"Can I... Oh. May I? Ask where you got her?" She's a little more brave when talking about Entropy and I get the feeling she wants to ignore what just happened as much as I do. Her own blush is now fading away and I'm mostly back to normal.

I'm happy to go along with the change in subject and can't see much harm in talking about Entropy. "I raised her." Fluttershy looks a little surprised at that. "Her name is Entropy, and she's somewhere around two and a half now," I answer her and preemptively answer a few questions I know she'll have. "Also, I'm Shade, nice to meet you again." I keep my tone and show her a small smile.

She keeps her smile while looking at Entropy, she also gets pretty close but not too close, and she definitely knows how to deal with animals. Entropy looks back at Fluttershy for a moment and cries, "Pretty." The same word she learned from Fluttershy a while back now.

Fluttershy's eyes light up at her words and I hear her whisper to herself. "So beautiful." After that she looks back to me as I drop my legs and try to once again relax. "Fluttershy, and same to y-you." She is still acting like... Well, Fluttershy, but she's not as nervous as before. "D-does she talk a lot?"

I nod. "Quite a bit, but only ever one or two words at a time." I take out an apple and pass it to her. "Here, you want to feed her?" I offer with a friendly tone. I should try and be friendly and nice to a main cast member, and she seems to like Entropy so this should work.

Her smile was there before but now it truly shows as she takes the apple and bites a piece off to feed Entropy. Entropy stares her down for a moment but does take the apple piece in the end. "So what brings you here? The celebration?" I guess a bit and try to start a conversation.

She keeps staring at and feeding Entropy but answers me. "Umm, maybe? I-I mean I am, but I'm also here for, other things." I raise a brow but drop the subject and let her enjoy feeding Entropy.

"Does she eat right?" She asks curiously in return.

I keep my brow raised but answer regardless. "As far as I know. I feed her a mix of fruits, seeds, vegetables, and some... Meat." I try to be extra gentle with that last part, but she nods and seems satisfied with my answer. I guess she knows enough animals to be mostly ok with that, good for her. "She's also a complete menace." I joke lightly while Entropy finishes eating and moves over to sit on top of my head. "Just like that."

I hear a quiet giggle as she stares up at my head. "It's good, most birds only play with those they trust." She shows a little of her knowledge.

I smirk fully as Entropy starts to preen my mane. "Well, she trusts me enough to drop things on my head, so I'll take your word for it. You seem to really know about birds." I comment and she shows a bashful look in return.

"I... I like animals, they are so much fun to learn about and watch." She speaks with some subtle passion. "A-also, sorry about the last time we met." :OH, your are just adorable:

I wave it off and stand back up to start walking again, I may like talking to her but I'd like to see more of the celebration and I can always meet her again. "It's fine, all water under the bridge. Anyway, have a good day Miss. Fluttershy. I hope you enjoy the rest of the celebration."

She looks a little hesitant to let me and Entropy go but raises no objections. "O-oh, ok. Thanks for letting me feed her, a-and I wish you the same." She turns to Entropy and smiles again. "You too."

Entropy looks back at her. "Good. Happy." That seems to lift Fluttershy's mood again as I give one last nod and walk away down the street, I also notice she blushes and watches my flanks a little as I leave, hormones suck. I just try and ignore it to keep my mind off of things like that.

By magic today has been something else. But that was not too bad, and I still have festivities to partake in. I smile as I walk down the busy street and find a few more things to satisfy my curiosity. Maybe I should come back here again next year? Hmmm, maybe I will, it is always so interesting if a little wild.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading. :D
Current year is 994

I realized I kind of mimicked parts of Chapter 92 in this one by accident, but I still tried to make it interesting to read after I realized that. I hope you liked it.