AUG 1 Sunday.

I silently watch as more gold dust works its magic to speed up the growth of the Copper Lilly in front of me.

It's been yet another few weeks and things have been peaceful, so I have some plans for today. I slowly watch the plants grow and dump more gold dust inside when it's needed. My time spent with Twilight was... Well, actually pretty pleasant, if you don't count a certain interruption.

Twilight did know her stuff and certainly knew about spells and magic, but she seemed to lean more towards the study of magic itself, while I'm more focused on spell creation, and we both enjoy learning new magics in general. Overall though we have a decent amount in common and I think we both learned a few things while working together.

In the end, I actually ended up giving her the mailing address for my apartment, something I would normally not do. But she is going to be important, so even with my paranoia, I think it's best to try and maintain at least a friendly relationship, even if it never goes further than that.

But there is something more concerning about the otherwise pleasant meeting, Cadance. I have no idea why she was there, but I know her enough now to guess she's not going to let this go, and she nearly gave me a heart attack when I saw her peeking behind a bookshelf. Our next meeting will definitely be interesting if nothing else.

I watch as the last of the gold dust is used and I take a moment to use my upgraded mortar and pestle to grind the new copper flower to dust before adding it right back into the water. I put away all the tools I use for this process right after, I drop the things off under the pavilion and get to work on my plans for the day.

First I need to find Entropy, and considering the annoyed screeching coming from Celestia's home I think I can guess where she is. As I walk over I hear the noise get louder, normally this might be a concern, but I saw Philomena around a while ago so I'm pretty sure I know what I will find.

As I approach the door I see a small area where I left several pieces of wood a few days ago is now empty. When Celestia started to decorate I told her she could just leave any material requests on the message board and I'll get around to them when I can and leave the requested things here.

She's been very happy about her new home, she spent more time here in the last month than ever before, still, it's only an hour or two every few days but I'm glad she's getting away from the palace. She's proven to be pretty decent at woodwork, not amazing but she does have some skill in it.

I asked and she seems to have only ever really dabbled in the craft, I guess even someone of her age can't master everything. Still, she's decent and has already made a few small things for both of our homes, for me she made a few small shelves along with a small wooden plant pot.

As I enter I see both Entropy and Philomena fighting over a small rope toy that is normally in my apartment, I guess one of them brought it here. "Ok, time for a rest you two." I pick both up in my field and take the toy much to their annoyance. "I'll give it back later." I try to placate Entropy as she glares at me, while Philomena just flies away when I let her go and seems to content herself by preening on a perch in the room.

Entropy still looks annoyed but moves onto my back when I let her go while I place the toy in my saddlebags. "Come on Girl, we have things to do." She stops glaring after I give her a few berries as a bribe and take a look around the room. Celestia has done some decent work so far.

She mostly used Black Palm wood, so I helped her make a pair of chairs for her table. Not for her but for me and any other ponies that want to sit down and still be able to use the table, they are plain but functional. Next is an assortment of bowls and cups made from several wood types, White Oak, Normal Oak, Black Palm, Maple, and so on. This seems to be the main way she's practicing her woodworking.

I also helped her make a perch large enough for both our gremlins to rest on at the same time, and finally, she made a small chest for her room. It's not much, but considering how much time she has to work with it's a good job, and I'm curious what else she'll be working on next, and what I can help her with.

I leave her home and close the door firmly before walking to my own shack and grabbing a few small things I'll need for my trip today. I found my flask, my sketchbook, a few seeds to grow snacks, along with a few other small items. Once it's all ready I turn to Entropy. "To Ponyville please."

She looks up at me and nothing happens for a moment. I can guess what she's trying to do and roll my eyes, I pull out a little piece of fish as yet another bribe. She locks on to it immediately but I keep it away from her. "Get us there and I'll give you two more. You greedy glutton." Despite being extorted I smile as she gobbles down the fish and we vanish a few moments later.

When we reappear we're once again in a forest a good distance away from Ponyville itself. I give Entropy the rest of her bribe and take a moment to adjust my saddlebag, like most saddlebags, they have two gaps that any pegasus buyer can put their wings through.

I cast a spell and overpower it to last longer before waiting a minute as my wings fully materialized on my back. Entropy finishes her treat and looks at them before she immediately starts to fuss over my feathers again. "I know, I know, you can fix them in a moment." I pick her up in my field and put her down before putting my saddlebags back on and putting my wings through the correct gaps.

Once everything is properly secured and strapped Entropy jumps right back on me, "Stay! Bad." She demands and starts to peck and preen my wings while I have to move them any way she wants. In the end, I just sit on the forest floor and take out my sketchbook to pass the time as she works.

Autumn is now getting closer, it's still a little off, but in forests like this you can see the first tiny signs as animals find new borrow and some plants die. Along with that I see what others do not, how the flows of life magic running through the forest twist and turn, and eventually slow as winter draws closer.

The trees will have golden leaves within two or three weeks and many of the leaves will be gone not long after that. In the quiet forest where I'm sitting I face an old rotten tree trunk half standing up, several feet thick and it is long dead, but even now life grows from what remains.

A small fern grows from in along with a few mushrooms and moss has covered its base. I slowly draw it out even when Entropy finishes her work, once it's done I look over the decent sketch before stretching and standing up to get back to work.

I walk around and find a gap in the tree cover, I cast a spell on myself to cancel out most of my weight before jumping as hard as I can. I brush against a few branches but I'm easily able to break over the tree cover and get myself well into the air, I beat my wings several times to gain height as Entropy follows behind me.

When I get high enough into the air I level out and cancel the slow-falling spell on myself, I let the wind flow over me as Entropy flies next to me with a happy caw, we don't often fly together. The world looks so small from up here, so far away, it can almost make you forget all the troubles you have.

This will take a while so as I fly I let my mind wander through my endless thoughts. I've pondered many things, but a few things recently have brought up a few new thoughts. One in particular is the conversation I had with Celestia about death, it made me think more about my own death and what that could mean.

In a way, the thought of something after death can be utterly terrifying. So many take comfort in something more than just an end, but many do not think of how bad that could really be or maybe that's my paranoia talking again. An example is the classic idea of Heaven and Hell, a good place and a bad place, doesn't really matter what you call them or how you define that good and bad.

One is the fear of an endless punishment, and the other is often an endless reward, that's not how humans work though. I know myself and I know that if I had everything I could want it would never be enough, as a human I have in me not just greed, but a fundamental need for something out of my reach, something I can push myself to be better to acquire.

So, what would getting everything you want do to a human? Well, if the super-powerful and rich from my last world are any indication, they go mad. Sure, some deal with it well and live on just fine, but so many others fall in spectacular fashion and style for reasons that make little sense to others.

The reason I bring this up is a fear I now have. Tell me, I died and was reborn, who's to say that won't just happen again? And again. And again. Living one life is wild, living a second one can be both a blessing and a curse, but how many lives before it becomes nothing but a hell?

How many times can you do the same thing before it all loses all meaning? My death and rebirth also bring other questions to mind. Above all else, there is one question, how? Did some entity bring me here? Was this second life a reward of some kind? Or maybe a punishment I don't yet understand?

Depending on how things go it could be either way, if I save this world then a long life in a peaceful land is not out of possibility, I would even call it likely. But if I fail, I will have to watch this all burn, it will be a new hell. I've always thought about things like this, but that conversation has brought it back yet again.

It's not as if this is all doom and gloom either though. Sure things are undetermined, but they were in my past life and I know I can change the future. It's not easy in any way, but it CAN be done, and that's a large part of what keeps me going, that all my work is not in vain.

All that remains to be seen is if I can truly win this battle. I'm fighting fate itself and I am under no illusion she will swing back at some point. But is that in a literal or metaphysical sense? Is fate a being? Or just a concept? Why can't it be both? So many questions yet so few answers, that never changes in any life I suppose.

In a way I'm more clueless now than I was in my past life, at least on Earth there is no magic, here beings warp reality at will and that means nothing is off the table. Are gods real? Yes, that I can answer with some certainty, what I can't answer is what a god actually is.

Discord is probably close enough to count as some form of higher being, but I wonder if belief or worship plays any role in his power? Is it just that he's attuned to chaos in some way, or does he draw power from all the feelings about chaos? Yet again more questions and no answer, but unlike the other topic I may actually get answers someday.

I snap out of my thoughts and check the time since I started flying and keeping in mind my rough speed I calculate the rough distance I've traveled so far. Today is about finding a new place for Entropy to teleport to, the distance between my apartment and Gaia's Eden is just not nearly enough anymore.

Entropy needs ten round trips to tire herself out now and it's not pushing her anymore, so I need a greater distance, a much greater distance. That's why I'm flying towards the west coast of Equestria, somewhere I haven't been to before. New Trotten is on the east coast so I thought I'd go see the other side of the continent.

I'm in no rush though, I'm planning to travel far enough away where Entropy can make one round trip to drain herself, once she's used to that we'll just move further towards the west coast and eventually we'll reach it. It will be slow going, but we have time and it will be effective.

Although, unlike her past routine of two trips a day, one in the evening and another in the morning, We'll only have one trip right before we head to bed. I still need to get to Gaia's Eden so her new training will be a bit slower, but like I said we have plenty of time to work with.

The flying itself is both boring and exciting. I see many lakes, rivers, towns, and cities, I even see other ponies flying about. But all of that is second to me focusing on flying and measuring the distance, I'm using rough measurements here so I'm going to deliberately undershoot my goal.

I can easily go further if it's not enough to fully tire out Entropy, but I really don't want to overshoot it and have to backtrack until she can get us home. So over the next few hours of daylight, a cycle starts to form, I fly for a while and keep measuring the distance, sometimes I cast a slow falling spell while recasting my wings before they disappear, and sometimes I take a long rest to eat and drink while recovering my stamina.

As the sun starts to hang low and the day nears its end I reach a distance I consider to be good enough for now. I'm not really anywhere right now, even from this height I can't see any towns, just roads and forests for a long while. I need someplace at least secluded so after some looking I find a rocky hill outcropping.

It's just some smoothed rocks on a taller hill rising around a hundred feet above the ground, in its center it has a flattish area that is good enough for what I need. It will be dark soon so I land a few minutes later. The landing is a little tricky but I've gotten better at flying and I'm able to keep myself intact.

Entropy had long ago decided to rest in my shadow. As I land I stretch my back and legs, which are pretty sore from the long hours spent flying, even if it was mostly just my gliding flying can take a lot out of you. I don't bother setting up camp and just start to draw a circle in the grass with a stick.

As I'm drawing, Entropy leaves my shadow and looks at the circle before looking up at me. "Home? Dinner?" She asks a little impatiently. At this point we're both probably hungry and tired, I certainly am.

I nod a little tiredly and point to the circle. "You need to remember this place. But yes, it's time we head home and get something to eat." I don't mince my words and she seems to understand my instructions just fine, she's still getting smarter. She looks around for a few minutes while I use a map and try to calculate roughly where we actually are.

By the time Entropy hops on my back my tired mind is a little closer to my answer, but it's cut short when we both vanish from the outcropping as the sun finally sets. When we reappear in my apartment I immediately check on Entropy, she's tired but still able to stand and walk around just fine, seems I got the distance just right and she'll be able to make a round trip, lucky me.

I smile at her and place her on the countertop. "Just rest Girl, I'll make us some dinner, and you're getting extra." She perks up a bit at that but just lays there to rest as I get to work on a meal. It's nothing amazing but I'm tired and neither of us cares at this point.

Once we're done eating she just slips into a random shadow to sleep while I decide to wind down my day with something simple. I trudge down the stairs to grab any mail I got and trudge right back up, heading down here to get any mail can be annoying. I go through what I got when I get back to my apartment.

I use a spell to create light in my now-dark apartment. A single letter from Avalon stating when he'll be available for another meeting and today's newspaper. I read the letter with a smile and decided to read the paper a little afterward, not something I always do but it can be interesting.

It's mostly more of the same, fashion and politics, but the second page catches my eye. As I read I feel a sadness grow in me, and then a small ember of frustration and even a tiny bit of regret. I don't cry, but It's still far from a pleasant feeling to see this news. In the end, I let out a long sigh and tried to sort out my now chaotic thoughts.

My earlier thought echoes in my mind rings true. Fate will swing back.

Loving husband lost is Timberwolf attack!

In tragic news a loving husband, Bright McIntosh from the small town of Ponyville has lost their life on July twenty-eighth. He and his wife were near the Everfree forest when a small pack of Timberwolves attacked. The events are still largely unknown, but from a few sources we have learned that the Miss Pear Butter only survived from a magical item she had, this is yet to be confirmed though.

The specific events are still being investigated by the guard and many questions are still unanswered. We at the Canterlot Daily send our utmost condolences to the family of the deceased and will keep our readers informed of any developments.

As I stare at the page I feel bittersweet, I have saved a life, and failed to save another. And in that moment I can't help but remember an old saying from a life now past.

From defeat, victory, from victory, defeat.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading my short story. :D
Current year is 994

Fate is not so easily fought, but what's important is that you can still win, but victory always comes at a cost.

Something a little bit more somber and maybe even thoughtful.