SEP 4 Saturday.

I slowly watch as the cold wind blows past my window as winter is almost here, the snow will start to fall soon enough.

It's been a few weeks since the Gala and things have been just fine, even with Daisy getting on my nerves a little bit with her teasing. Turns out she saw me and Twilight dancing, and then immediately started to mess with me. It's only small things like saying I have a filly friend.

I made it clear I did not like her that way, which she acknowledged, and they continued anyway, but it did make me realize something about Twilight, that's for later though. I promptly ignore Daisy after that, the only good thing is she can't tell Maple or Blaz. Beyond that, I haven't done much these past few weeks, just research and practice.

I've looked into my crazy idea and quickly noticed that a ritual is probably my best bet. Rituals are much more complicated, hard to use, and all-around less efficient, but they are much better at large things like this. Spells are more stable but they don't have the flexibility that I need, rituals do.

So, for now, I'm just going to split a little of my free time to research rituals and start working on the idea, it is going to be a long-term thing that's for sure. But moving on to today I have two separate meetings, the first with Celestia and the second with Avalon.

I've only gotten to see Celestia a few times at Gaia's Eden since the Gala, mostly just us leaving messages or a small hello as we go about our days. But now we get an actual meeting, as for Avalon? He's been busy, but during that time he actually finalized the design of his prosthetic and sent it to me.

It will need more work, but in the time since I got that letter, I've been carving out the prosthetic from some good old Oak. It's going to need testing and adjustment, which means we need to re-carve the wooden limb several times. That will give me time to teach Avalon how to make all the parts.

That's what we'll be working on later today, as he is going to be one of the few that I let into my home. Now don't get me wrong, I'm fine with having others come into my home, as long as I invite them first so I can hide all the things that I need to. For this purpose, I've moved things around a little for the day.

I moved one of my work desks into the main room near the front door, along with some wood and woodworking tools, and I locked my workroom just to be safe. After a moment of checking everything I move towards Entropy as she hops over to me. "Ready to go?" I ask her, and after a moment she flies off to grab a toy to bring with us, I put it in my saddlebags.

I smile at her actions and a few moments later we both vanish from my apartment. We could have met at Gaia's Eden, but Celestia apparently had some work still so I'm going to the palace, it's not like I mind either way, I always like talking with her regardless.

The old routine repeats as I'm led through the palace yet again. Unlike other times I actually somewhat know where we are going, I'm pretty sure we're going to Celestia's office. Honestly. The palace has a more logical layout than many would assume, at least from what I've seen of it over the years, still if nothing else it is an impressive structure.

It doesn't take long to arrive at a familiar door, I just walk inside as the guard walks away. I smile and have some abrupt thoughts as Celestia is sitting down wearing her glasses again, she does look nice in them but right now isn't the time for such thoughts. "Hey, is the paperwork any fun?" I ask cheekily.

She just looks up and smiles at me. "I'm not sure, maybe you should help me and we'll both find out." I cringe a little at the offer and she chuckles at my expression. "That's what I thought, most may not enjoy the paperwork, but it is necessary." She tilts her head and makes her glasses drop down her muzzle to look at me. "Enjoy the Gala?" And suddenly I do not like that smile anymore.

I just huff at her and take a seat on the couch as Entropy comes out of my shadow and takes the toy she brought from my saddlebags before flying off to play with Philomena. "It was nice, I even got to see a friend there. Thanks again for giving me space by the way." It was a bit mean to ask her to leave me alone when she was the one to invite me.

She keeps her smile and nods while moving a few papers around. "It's fine, I enjoyed the night regardless, and from how the night ended it really seems you did as well." I already expected her to tease me about the dance so I just rolled my eyes a bit. She seems happy for me, but switches to something more serious and calm a moment later. "You know she likes you right?" She asks bluntly.

I give her a surprised look. "Diving right into it then?" She nods again with some seriousness. "Yes, I guessed as much." I put it together after Daisy kept teasing me.

She doesn't judge in any way and just nods before asking the obvious question. "Do you like her?" She really is just going for it.

A part of me was expecting this topic, I was not expecting her to be so blunt, but she knows how to talk to me. I think for a moment and decide to be honest, she's probably just looking out for Twilight. I will be blunt in return, "No, I don't like her that way. Honestly, I don't just know her all that much, we've only met a few times." After a few days, I played the memories in my head a bit and realized more about the situation.

I look back at Celestia. "I'm not blind." I noticed Twilight's actions and fit it all together, but this is full-on confirmation of that theory.

She snorts but doesn't laugh, I think she'd like to but the topic is a little too serious for that. "Really? Could have fooled me, it took you a full dance at the Gala. Do you know how much I've had to stifle my laughter when she talks about you?" She jokes good-naturedly while being serious at the same time, somehow.

After the Gala and Daisy's words I kind of realized that Twilight probably likes me in some way, although I think that is mostly the fact that she is at that age and she has few stallions her age around. I chuckle at her and try not to bring down the mood with my uncertainty, "You must have suffered, but you have more strength than me, I wouldn't be able to breathe at that point." I try to joke back but lapse into silence for a moment, she just patiently waits with that smile.

"I'm... Not really sure what to do about it." She gives me an understanding look. "I, need to find a way to let her down, but..." She nods as I trail off.

"Love is no easy thing, for anypony involved." She moves from behind her desk and I notice that the first Copper Lily I gave her sits on her desk now. She moves over to me with a relaxed look, "I could offer you advice, but you don't look like you really want it." She holds a gentle tone now.

She's got me pinned there, I still don't know how to feel about it all. Love is far from easy, and I have no idea how to deal with Twilight's feelings. I was hoping I was reading it wrong and she was only hormonal, or just plain horny. I let out a sigh, "Yes... I... I need to think about this. Thanks, sorry I got you caught in it." She did unintentionally get placed in this mess.

She waves it off. "I think you said it best, life just goes like that sometimes." She moves some tea over to us and I take out my chess set to provide some distraction from my thoughts. "Also, if you need to talk I am always here, and Cadance for that matter." She reminds me as a reassurance before moving to the first piece of our game.

"Thanks..." It's a long lapse of silence before I try to move us past the topic, I'll need to think more for now. "In more simple news, I'm meeting Avalon later, we're finally working on a prototype. It will need much more testing, but if it works out then the spells are done at least." I give some exciting news to help change the subject.

Her face shifts from kind to happy and proud. "Yet more work, hmmm, I suppose it's worth it for my little ponies, like you." She jokes again probably to break any remaining mood from the last topic. "Seriously, it's amazing how you seem to find a problem and just eliminate it. Maybe that medal is needed." She is on a roll.

I roll my eyes again and give her a blank stare. "I will literally paint you pink from horn to hoof if you do that." I threatened without any heat or emotion.

She narrows her eyes at me and looks annoyed. "I had to cast an illusion on myself last time. Did you know that Cadance was at my door then?" She asks rhetorically and I chuckle a little at the image. "Either way, I found a few shield spells so I wouldn't recommend using that spell on me." She gloats and smiles victoriously.

I return the same type of smile. "Spell? I just got some paint. Although, I wonder if I could enchant a liquid?" I ponder as a threat and she loses her victorious expression.

Instead, she drops any real expression and just relaxes before moving a few papers and a quill over to us. "Fine, but I'm showing you how to properly do it." She demands plainly. "Also, checkmate." I look down at the board and back up at her as she uses a clear chessboard as a place to write.

I try to look annoyed but that's outweighed by my curiosity about enchanting a liquid. "You know what? Sure. But, I also have a spell I want to mess around with, and I think you'd be interested in what Twilight and I were working on at the Gala."

She looks a bit intrigued before showing a humorous smile. "Because of course, that's what you two were doing the entire time." She laughs to herself for a moment. "You two are definitely alike. Well, come on then, let's see what monstrosity you two have created." She has a relaxed and humorous expression as I take out my notes.

I smile at that. "Don't worry, we won't disappoint you. Definitely not her, I think she'd have a heart attack if she knew I was showing you this." She raises an eyebrow at the dark saying but takes it in good humor. From there things just continue on as they normally do.

time skip

I slowly comb out my mane a little before looking in the mirror again. My mane has once again gotten too long, I'll need to get it cut again, or maybe I could just make a spell for that?

My meeting with Celestia was definitely interesting, and I'm still thinking about the whole Twilight situation. It's... complicated, I know I need to either let her down or let this burn itself out, but I have no idea how to do either of those and I don't want to hurt Twilight by doing it.

I know that's probably unavoidable to some degree, but I'm not one to give up that easily. Maybe I should ask Cadance? I'm not a full-on friend with her yet, but she has earned a good amount of trust from me and I think I'm willing to ask her. Yet another thing to think about it seems.

I ponder that for a few minutes before walking back into the main room of my apartment and double-checking that everything is where it is supposed to be. It's late in the day now and the sun has set. When we were planning this meeting I told Avalon he could just come over for dinner before we do our work to simplify the timing.

I've already made some fresh bread which I immediately turned into garlic bread, something that isn't too popular in Equestria. I heard the Centaurs like it but it seems mostly ignored by ponies, I personally like it on occasion. I place the nicely toasted garlic bread on the counter to cool before checking on the salmon still in the oven.

Along with some mashed Red Root, this is going to be a good meal. As I was moving the garlic bread off of the baking sheet I heard a quiet knock on my door. "Give me a moment!" I call out before quickly flinging an illusion spell at Entropy on her perch before walking over to the door and turning off the shield around my home.

I feel the life magic on the other side and notice a small cluster normal for a pony or griffon, so with a smirk I open the door. "Avalon, I'm glad you could make it." I greet my friend as he stands there a little uncomfortably, but I ignore his worry and step back to let him inside. "Come on in, make yourself at home." I encourage them while walking back to check on the boiling Red Root.

He stands there for a moment looking before taking a slow step inside. "T-thanks, I hope I'm not interrupting anything." He apologizes like he normally does. He closes the door behind him while looking around my relatively plain apartment, before seeing the main attraction, my plants.

Entropy's perch still has a Solar Vine grown around it to slowly release light, and to see in the darkness I placed two small gems with magic lights inside the main room. I wave off his concern and move my pot off the stove top, "It's no trouble at all, I am the one who invited you to dinner. It's still baking so relax wherever you like." I start to take the Red Root out of the pot to mash it up.

He stays silent simply taking in the sights, he immediately notices Entropy's perch and the soft glow it gives off. He looks at the small garden I have and seems mesmerized for a while, but Entropy makes her presence known by flying down to a countertop and looking at him. "Hello."

He smiles a little more when he sees her. "Hi." It's a small thing but it seems to help him relax more as he moves a bag off of his back. "Whe- Can I put this somewhere?" He seems even more nervous than normal, maybe it's just being in someone else's home, regardless I keep my friendly attitude.

"Anywhere, I can always just clean up later. How was your large job, did it go well?" I ask, trying to break the ice some while adding butter and salt to the mashed Red Root. He does just that and leaves his bag next to the door before walking further inside and seemingly curious about Entropy's perch. I smile at his curiosity, "It's nice right?"

He looks back at me and nods. "The job was f-fine. Yes, it's... Beautiful, what is it?"

I'm a little proud to have someone enjoy my work. "Solar Vine, an interesting plant. It collects solar magic and releases it at night." I explain simply before moving both the garlic bread and Red Root to the table along with a few plates and utensils. "You can snack if you like, but it will be better with the salmon." Entropy is on the table being a good girl and waiting, while also eyeing the garlic bread.

His head feathers perk up and his head snaps to me as his body stays still, honestly, it's a little funny the way he looks, he looks surprised at my words. "S-Salmon? Yo-u didn't have to do that for me. We c-can eat something more... Palatable? For you?" He looks touched.

I chuckle and again wave his concern away. "No need, I was planning on eating it as well. It may sound odd, but I'm one of the rare few ponies that enjoy meat, I actually had to cut back in the past." I explain while opening the oven and let the smell waft out. "Done, should be good," I say as if to prove my point as I take it out of the oven.

He looks more shocked, but the smell of the salmon seems to kick his mind out of it. "Re-really?" I smile and nod. "Well... Thanks, it's been a while since I ate fish." He shows his first full smile and starts to really relax, it's at this point he notices the desk I set up. "Is this...?"

I nod again. "Yup, we'll be working there. But that's for later, right now we have food to eat." I place the freshly baked salmon on the table and motion him over. "Eat up," I say simply as he joins me with slightly narrowed eyes, he looks like he really wanted that fish. "Wow, it really has been a while for you hasn't it?" I joke gently at his expense.

He blushes a little in embarrassment. "Ya, I don't get it too often. Restaurants are too, busy. And..." He trails off as I plate us both some food, I raise an eyebrow and he looks more embarrassed. "I d-don't know how to, cook." He admits quietly.

I can't help but just laugh a little at that. "A courier that can't cook?" I ask back, but I keep my tone blatantly friendly so as to not hurt his ego.

He looks at the plate I gave him. "I c-can cook! Just, not meat, it keeps burning." He defends himself and I just smile back while passing him a fork.

"Then enjoy, I'd like to think I'm a good cook." With that bit of encouragement, we all dig into the food. The garlic bread is perfect and the Red Root mash was a really good side dish. We were so focused on eating we didn't say a word as we ate and in the end, we finished the entire meal, mostly thanks to two birds, one of them now in another food coma on the tabletop.

Avalon practically inhaled the salmon and looked halfway to his own food coma by the end. "Seems you enjoyed it, I'll take that as a compliment." I boast.

He smiles widely and is now much less nervous. "It was amazing, I don't think I've had fish that good before." He agrees, but I also noticed that he's occasionally been glancing at the desk I set up. He also smiles at Entropy, "I think she agrees."

I don't torment him and just stand up. "She could eat rocks and be happy. Now come on, we have work to do, and I have a gift." I see his feathers perk up in excitement and he quickly moves with me to the desk. "You can look over the tools, I need to grab it."

Before he can say anything I move over to my workroom and make sure he can't look inside before entering. Avalon seemed a little too excited to notice the part about the gift that works in my favor though. Over the past two weeks, I spent some time building the prosthetic without him knowing.

We're going to need to make a few more before we're done, but I thought it would be a nice surprise. I walk over to my desk and double-check the wooden limb, it looks plain, just smooth wood. The limb is controlled by movement spells and specialized sticking spells to keep the parts connected while allowing movement of the parts at the same time.

He can turn it all off and the limb would fall apart, but it makes swapping parts very easy. The magic comes from two small sapphires I used, they are embedded inside a compartment that can open and close with another sticking spell. It's no masterwork but it's more than enough.

One joint is at the wrist and then four more joints for each talon, all of them need adjusting. I pick it up with care before leaving my workroom and locking the door behind me. When I leave Avalon is distracted by the tools and doesn't look over to me, so I move closer before placing the prosthetic on the desk slowly. "Surprise," I say softly with a smile.

His eyes go from the tool in front of him and they focus on the limb not truly recognizing it for a moment. But it clicks quickly, "I... Tha... Wha?..." He's rendered utterly speechless for a long moment as his eyes widen and he looks shocked, he reaches out and moves his talons over the limb almost as if not believing it's real.

I just wait as his eyes start to water in the corners a bit, "Well, want to try it?" I ask just as softly as before. He looks transfixed and picks it up like it's the most fragile thing in this world. It was shaped to fit the stump on his limb and I even added a piece of cloth to make it more comfortable.

He slowly moves it into place before hesitating for a second, he gently presses the wood to his stump and the spells lock it in place. For a moment it just hangs there, but then the wooden talons twitch a slight amount, he takes a sharp breath and hesitantly moves his other arm off the prosthetic.

It doesn't fall down and he's able to clench the talons closed slowly. At this point he looks on the verge of tears, he looks up at me with a look that makes every bit of work worth it. There is no smile, but he has the most grateful look I have ever seen and I can't help but smile widely. "It seems our work has paid off, are yo-"

My words are cut off completely as he rams into my body while wrapping his arms around me in a hug. "Thank you! Thank you. Thank you." He just keeps thanking me while gripping me tightly, well the new arm definitely works for hugs.

After a moment I tap his shoulder and that seems to make him back off a bit, but unlike my expectations, he doesn't look embarrassed, just beyond happy and grateful. "I. I can never thank you enough, this... I." He's still at a loss for words and I brush off the surprise hug.

I smile gently. "I'm glad you like it. But this wasn't just me, that is your own efforts as well." I remind him before looking as he starts to play with the limb like a child on Christmas. "We still have work to do though, I need to teach you how to make that, and I can already see a few places where the wood is rubbing incorrectly." I'm happy but we do have work to do.

I move closer to him as we both stand next to the desk. He picks up a tool with a little difficulty, but he still looks to be on cloud nine. "Shade?" I turn back to him from moving around a few things. "I can never say how... How much this means to me. I... Thank you."

I keep my own smile. "You're welcome, now how about we get to work? We have a project to finish, and some testing to do." I offer him another tool and he takes it with his other hand, he looks at both his arms happily. "And thank you, it's been a pleasure working with you." He smiles even more than before and we start our work.

It's days like this, they make all the effort worth it.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading. :]
Current year is 994

Multiple happy birb, hard to write but worth it.