OCT 23 Saturday.

I add another item to my saddlebags as I slowly make my way through the busy market streets of Canterlot.

The last week has been both busy and freeing for me. The dilemma with Twilight didn't weigh on me that heavily. It's nice to be freed from it. Not fully, I still need to actually tell Twilight, but having my choice locked in has helped. I knew I wanted to turn her down, but I now realize I was overthinking all of this a bit.

But enough about the why, let's talk about the how. Right now is not really a good time to tell Twilight, she's dealing with more tests, probably because Celestia doesn't want her to see her like she is right now. While I'm also working on this small project and making sure Celestia has all the support she can get.

That's why I sent a letter to Twilight asking to hang out again sometime in November, that gives us both time to finish things and means I can focus on doing this properly. On that note, it turns out that while romance novels aren't good relationship advice they are good for learning what absolutely not to say to a potential partner.

Although, in a not surprising twist most of the novels are obviously made for mares, even the others that aren't never really appeal to me. To circle back to what I have planned, I should mention how Celestia is doing. She's been doing ok, but with every day that passes, she looks more down.

From what Cadance told me she takes over a good amount of Celestia's duties so she has more free time, and Celestia has been using that free time. I remember her saying she was busy as an excuse for not helping with the garden, I think she just doesn't want to come.

I do not blame her for that, I've made similar excuses to get some free time or avoid things. I can guess that it hurts her to go to the castle, if she wants to make excuses I will respect them as well. Or I could just be looking into it too much, either way, she's been held up in Gaia's Eden, mostly carving her statue of Luna, but sometimes she just wanders around.

I have no idea what she's thinking about, but after asking if she wants some company, and getting a polite no, I've left her be to enjoy the silence. I also lent her my tools and all my extra Steel wood, with a promise for more if she needed it, her smile in response was all the reward I needed.

She seems, well, not obsessed, but driven to complete her little project. I'm not sure if she's simply not had time or space before, probably not actually, she could demand some space from her ponies easily. Although she might not do that, it's simply who she is, she puts her ponies above anything else, even herself.

Beyond that Celestia also gave me access to the Castle as we discussed, it will stay open until Nightmare Night so I have plenty of time to work on Luna's garden. That's why I'm walking through the market right now, I'm looking for anything I may need for later today.

I've spent the last week doing almost nothing but research and preparation for this project, the only interruptions were another meeting at my apartment with Avalon and a game night. Avalon has been testing things and taking note of anything that could be improved or fixed.

The limb still needs work, but with how busy he is this time of year we may not finish this before the new year. But back to my point before I veer even more off-topic. For Luna's courtyard garden, I have a few ideas, but one of the main ones is some type of water feature that will have Copper Lily.

It's important to both of them and it fits well, ok so veering off just a little. My Copper Lily breeding project is going well enough, it's very slow but it's working and getting faster with time. As for how to implement a water feature? I'm not really sure because it is winter.

Today's trip is less about finishing the garden and more about getting a look at the space to design and plan things out better. For now, I've been looking into plants related to the nighttime, with some limited success. One of the most common plants is the Moon Glow but I don't want to use that more.

I've learned of another flower that glows at night, the Frost Light. The problem is it's a physically far-off plant and I couldn't find anypony selling it, but I did find one other glowing plant. Star Moss only makes a very soft glow with brighter points of light mixed in, it also isn't lunar magic, I was able to buy some from a shop though.

I also found Night Poppies at that shop, they are basically the same as normal Poppies but they bloom at night, that's all they do though, they aren't magical in any way. I'm honestly a little confused as to why this type of Poppy blooms at night, maybe some form of insect pollinates it at night?

Not important right now. With these plants, I have been thinking about what I actually want to do with them. I leave my thoughts as I ascend the stairs up to my apartment, but I stop halfway as I see Daisy walking down towards me. "Hey Daisy, still moping over Maple's victory?" I tease her as a greeting while we both stop in the stairway.

She gives me an annoyed look. "I still insist you helped her." She says but smiles after a moment. "Oh, who am I kidding? She'd have won anyway. But you're still making the sweets for next time." I just smile mischievously at the accusation, it's not my fault Maple offered a truce.

"Fine, but no pie. I didn't even get any last time." I agree happily with the demand, it's mostly Daisy and I who take turns baking for game night. "Anyway, I have some stuff to do, I'll see you on Monday." I offer but she raises a brow and that stops me for a moment.

"Actually, I wanted to ask, you doing ok? You've been pretty focused this last week." I can tell she's just asking from a place of concern and curiosity.

I wave a hoof. "My other... Profession, I have some things I'm working on." A half lie, I have been working on the new crops, just not only that.

She pauses and nods after a moment. "Right! ... You know, it's odd how often I can just forget about that. Either way, have a good day and I'll be waiting for the news." She jokes a bit and walks past me to head downstairs. I shake my head a little and continue on with my day.

I walk inside my home and Entropy quickly leaves my shadow, "Long, hungry." I did have to spend a few hours looking for somepony who could sell me the Star Moss, it took a while to find as it's not a common plant, especially during winter.

I pat her a few times. "At least let me put things down, and no meat," I add as we both already ate it two times during this week. I take a pot on the countertop with the Star Moss and some Night Poppy flower seeds. I make a quick lunch of fruit salad and some sunflower seeds.

I always enjoy eating with Entropy, even if she always finishes first and tries to beg off of my plate. After we're done I head to my workroom and start to sort through everything I'll need. First and foremost, I don't plan to grow any Copper Lily's.

I do plan to add something with water, but it's winter and anything will freeze, including anything growing in that water. So instead, I bought more copper and grew five Copper Lily flowers as decoration. Beyond that, I'm bringing some colorful flowers just in case I see somewhere they might fit into this.

It takes me a while to gather everything, I also make sure to grow and harvest a good amount of seeds from the Star Moss, then I store half the Night Poppy seeds before leaving the workroom and finding Entropy. "Hey." She turns to me before flying down to stand on her back. "You remember the castle? The old one?"

She tilts her head before nodding. "Good, think you can take me there?" She again tilts her head, and after a moment we both vanish and are suspended in the Void for a while. When the light comes rushing back we are standing in front of the old front doors of the castle.

I stare up at the walls but don't linger in the snow for long. As I walk inside I move down the hallways and try my best to keep to the same path, which isn't hard as this part of the castle only has a few turns. Not long after I arrive at another set of doors, I slowly open them and see the throne room again.

Entropy mostly stayed out of the way last year, but this time she really looks around. The room looks exactly the same, not a single thing is out of place. I don't dally long though and move on quickly, but after entering the side door I stop at the first crossroads in the hallway. I could just find the garden, but I'm curious.

I don't want to dig into the past, or my friend's business, but as long as I don't touch anything I can't see much harm in it. I war with myself but the old saying about the cat holds true and I start to explore the other hallway. It winds down deeper into the earth as the hallway ends with a wide staircase.

I don't bother to mark my path when I reach the bottom and start to explore. As I walked it seemed that a lot of the castle's staff rooms and kitchens were down here, along with anything else that was needed but not seen. Old empty rooms with a few things left here or there, it's rather boring honestly. Then again I'm not really sure what I expected, this is just an old castle.

I expect that there are many more interesting things further up, but personal places like that are not mine to explore. Even if Celestia never finds out I don't want to barge into her past like that, so instead I just backtrack and make my way to my original destination.

I almost got turned around, but with how much dust was on the floor I was able to follow it back and make my way to the small courtyard after a while. The courtyard garden is only around thirty by thirty feet, not large but I do have some room to work with and I already have a few ideas for what to do.

In the year since we were last here and as expected the wild has taken back what it once owned. The grass is dead under the snow as there are no longer any trees covering it, beyond the single tree in the middle of the courtyard. The Moon Glow Vines have grown wild but have no flowers as it is the dead of winter.

A few new small saplings have grown and I started decomposing all of the plants that have tried to reclaim the area. I have a lot of work to do, and I know I'll probably have to come here the day before Nightmare Night to regrow and fix anything that breaks in the meantime, but that's easy.

I look around again and start to take out items, this is going to take a lot of work, but it will all be worth it to see that smile again.

POV shift Celestia.

I slowly move the enchanting wood carving tool and hold it steady to gently carve through the wooden piece. The feathers still don't look completely right, but they are much better than when I started two weeks ago. I lowered the tool and picked up another, he was right, this is so much easier than the Maple wood. If it wasn't so hard to make I'd ask for more, but he's busy enough as it is.

Despite the heavy thoughts of this time of year I still smile a little, that colt. Hmm, no, he's not really a colt anymore, is he? Next year is close and he'll be an adult soon enough, has it really been so long since we met? It only feels like yesterday that he was that little colt nervously standing before me.

But now, he is well on his way to being a stallion, he even looks like one now. Although, he still looks at me like a colt, all those times staring at my flank while trying not to, not that I mind really. Even many of my guards, both mares and stallions, stare at me like that from time to time, at least he tries to hide it or not stare too much. It's honestly a little flattering, and very funny to watch as he struggles with it.

Shade Evergreen, is a mystery wrapped in an enigma. I chuckle a little at that and move a few shavings of wood off of the beautiful Black Palm wood desk. But even this shows how kind he is behind all that mystery.

A pony that is kind enough to give something like this home to me, for no other reason beyond the fact he thought I could use some space. I guess that's just who he is, a pony always willing to help but never really seeking recognition for it, even if he deserves it.

That's part of the true mystery really, he absolutely does not enjoy others paying attention to him. I've seen it in small ways, but the sheer level of what he shows is something else. He's willing to invent another identity just to avoid fame, and I have no idea why.

It's one of the few things he never answers, but in an odd way, I'm ok that he has his own secrets. I have many things I can never tell him about, I see no reason my friend should not be able to do the same. Even if I'm curious, and above all else, I wonder about that one night.

The only way I can make sense of it is that he knew about Changelings, and considering he invented a specialized shield spell to defend against them he's known for a while. I could simply wave it away as him finding out about Changelings from some hiveless Changeling at some point in his life, but that's the only way I can see it and that still makes no sense.

I have seen a great many things, so I know when something bigger is at play, but any solution or answer doesn't make sense. Even more surprising is the fact that he knows his knowledge is suspect, but the fact that he's willing to never speak to me again if he needs to.

I saw the look in his eye then, he was serious about it, but he also sounded worried. In the end, though I decided to drop it, for several reasons but the most important was his intent. He's terrified of this secret, and yet he risked it to help others, that was enough for me.

But another part of me didn- ... I. I didn't want to lose my friend. I stop my work for a moment and sigh, I need some air. I stand up and leave my lovely little home to take another walk outside, the day is cool and the sky is cloudy. I know where I want to go and as I walk through the snow Philomena flies over to land on my back.

I give her a half smile. "Got tired of playing then?" I know she does not understand me, at least not like Entropy does, but Philomena is still a smart bird. She just lays down on my back as I move towards the pavilion. I lay down on the carpet and look out at the Gold Oak, I stop for a moment and giggle at the name. "He really is terrible at naming things."

Well, maybe not all the time. This place has a rather interesting name, but I feel as if it fits in some way. I take a moment to ruffle my wing feathers and move something in between them, after a moment I cancel the spells as the tea sets unsticks and unshrinks from a gap in my feathers where it was stored.

It's a small trick and the spells used are hard to master, but it's useful to store a few things on you. Plus, the focused and inquisitive face Shade makes whenever he sees it is something I'll never get tired of. He tries so hard, he even had a few theories he shared with me.

My friend, even now it feels a little odd to say that. Even in my long life, there have been so few ponies I considered a friend, and finding new ones seems to only get harder over time. Even then many of my friends were not as close to me as Shade is, who could have guessed it would be a colt of all ponies to comfort me in a way nopony else has.

I'm torn between a smile and a frown as I remember what he is doing right now. The wards around the castle's warded section aren't active, but I am still warned when somepony enters that part of the castle. It's only a basic warning and doesn't tell me who or how, but that's not the point is it?

Right now my friend is fixi- I take a deep breath as those memories come flooding back again. He is fixing something that I had visited over the past millennium, so many times I have seen its dilapidated and overgrown state. That's what made that night mean so much I suppose.

He took his time to slowly grind away at what I know is a tedious task of selectively breeding plants for a simple request. Then he silently accompanied me in a very low moment only to drain all his magic to fix up that beautiful scene. All because he thought it would help me, and now he's doing it again, I didn't even need to ask.

I feel myself start to be overwhelmed by the memories of my little sister as I think of that garden. I take some deep breaths and stare at the swaying golden leaves.

"Soon, just wait a little longer dear sister, you'll be home soon, I hope."

Author's Note

Thanks for reading. :]
Current year is 994

I decided to do an unveiling, so you'll have to wait another chapter for the garden.

Also, if anyone want's a refresher of last year the relevant Chapters are 124, and 123.

I hope you liked it even if not much happened.