NOV 6 Sunday.

I move a small gem to charge as I prepare to enchant it further.

I've been working on a few things like always, right now I'm making another illusionary book to store my ever-growing collection of information. As of now, I have three illusionary notebooks and my runic library, and the time investment in all these spells has proven more than worth it.

I instantly cast the needed spells and the small ruby is enchanted easily, advancing to Journeypony has been beyond useful. I've actually been trying to advance even more, but becoming a master in runic casting is not an easy feat. A master runic caster needs to accomplish a single main feat, casting multiple spells at once.

To give some context a master runic caster can cast multiple spells at once, but not instantly they just draw them out without using their hooves, casting multiple spells instantly is something only a grandmaster can do. The difficulty of holding more than one spell in your mind is extreme, it's multiplicative in the effort needed in fact.

This is the part I'm stuck on and will be stuck on for a long while, I need to split my focus and draw out two separate spell matrixes at the same time while not using my hooves and giving them the magic needed. I stop my thoughts abruptly as the enchantments settle into the gem properly, I'll need to copy over everything later.

I place down the gem and leave my workroom as I have something else I need to do today. I have another meeting with Avalon, and this time I'm going to ask him what he wants to do with the new prosthetic. If nothing else I'm sure as hell not attaching this to either of my names if I can get away with it.

Maybe I can get him to take the credit? He's probably not really one for fame either so I don't think that will work, but it's worth a try if nothing else. I sigh a little while making some tea to relax a bit. Beyond Avalon I also got three letters. one of them from Twilight, it was once again a long-winded letter but she accepted my invitation to meet.

Our next meeting is planned to be on November twenty-first, and by magic, my nerves are already a little on edge. Planning to tell someone you don't love them is a lot easier than actually doing it, but this is one of those cases where my stubbornness comes in useful.

When I set my mind to something it's hard to stop me, that's not always a good thing but it has its advantages. There is some good news though, as much as I'd like to deny it, the damned novels Cadance made me read have helped me think about how I'm going to do this.

There is an out-of-the-way corner of the library that is less used, it should give us some privacy and make her feel less embarrassed about this happening somewhere public. As for what I'm going to say? I'm still giving that thought, mainly I'm trying to choose if I should ease her into it and bring it up at the end, or just go for it at the start and work from there.

I'm leaning towards the second, even if it's blunt I feel like I'm just better at talking that way. On a similar note, I got a letter from Celestia, after Nightmare Night I didn't see her and her letter explained that she had a backlog of work to get through.

The rest of the letter was just her thanking me again for being with her and saying our next meeting would be delayed due to the aforementioned backlog. It was nice of her to send me a letter and ease any worries I had over not seeing her after Nightmare Night.

She hasn't stopped at Gaia's Eden though, but she did leave something for me inside my shack the day after Nightmare Night. I look over to my countertop and look at the Steel wood carving, it's a little unrefined but it's still a good carving. The small figure of an alicorn, she gave me her carving of Luna.

I'm honestly not sure why she gave it to me, or if she even intended to give it to me from the beginning, it seems like a thank you though. Either way, I love it, and I've decided to keep it in my main room. Anypony could tell it's an alicorn, but I doubt anypony would recognize that it's an unknown alicorn.

It's unpainted and the different body shape could just be waved off as whoever I bought it from not knowing how Celestia or Cadance looks like close up and carved it wrong. It can easily be confused from either of them and honestly, I want to show it off a bit as I'm proud she was able to make something like this so quickly.

I'm sure as hell not going to tell her that, but her giving me this means a lot to me. I can't help but smile into my teacup as I think of that night. It was full of ups and downs, but that's ok, I was just glad I could help her for all she's done for me. I have no idea where I'd be in life without her help and guidance.

The final bit of good news comes from the letter Cadance sent me, it's a short thank you letter. I was never around Celestia during that time before the past two years but Cadance was. So, when she sent me a thank you letter saying Celestia was doing better than normal, along with some not-so-subtle demands about what I did, I was pretty happy with myself.

I sent her back a thank you letter and told her she could pound sand, I know I'll pay for it next time we meet but it's worth it to mess with her. I stop drinking my tea and check the time, it's a little early but I wouldn't mind having a decent lunch so I grab my saddlebags and make my way to the door.

Entropy follows me like normal and merges into my shadow as I walk out and head downstairs. The snowy streets are a little busy as a snowstorm is coming soon so everypony is getting their shopping done. It's taking me too long to get there so I just cast a spell and decide to fly instead.

Seeing the snow-covered city from up here, it almost looks frozen in time. I have some time so I just enjoy flying around a little before landing, and it seems I flew longer than I should have as I arrived to see Avalon already waiting in a booth inside, even though I'm late I see him smile and wave when I walk inside.

I walk over to him and have the decency to look a little embarrassed, "Sorry, I got caught up in enjoying the sky. I hope you didn't have to wait long." I apologize for one of the few times I arrived late.

He gains a small but genuine smile. "It's fine, thanks for inviting me." I don't bring up the fact he suggested the meeting in the first place. "Sorry I-I've been so busy recently." I wave that off but before I can reassure my friend a pony walks over to take our order.

I order a full breakfast and he gets some fruit salad. "Don't worry about it, honestly I've also been busy with things myself. But to get right down to the main event." I add with a little too much excitement, just to try and get another smile out of him. "How is it holding up? This is by far our longest stress test yet." I gesture to the wooden limb and try to ask with a more gentle but still excited tone.

Normally he gets a bit withdrawn when talking about his missing limb, but recently I've seen his smile instead as he shows a little pride. "Great! Although, I-I did have to ... repair a piece ... that I broke. B-but that was easy!" He looks both excited and embarrassed while offering the limb to look it over.

One of the talon segments is a bit more crude than the others, but the connection points are correct and it seems to function just fine. "Hmm, needs a bit of detailed work. But everything seems to be working correctly, good job, your first repair already." I compliment him and he scratches the back of his head with his other arm.

"W-Well, you taught me all of this." I chuckle at his embarrassment. He's silent for a moment as we get our order, "Thank you, for... All of this." I'm about to say it's not needed but he continues before I can. "I. I never thought I'd be able to, well, do anything normally really."

He looks a bit melancholic but I've seen enough of that recently so I try to turn the mood away from this. "Normal doesn't exist." He looks a bit confused at that. "Everybody has a different normal, so normal is meaningless in a way." I try to use a little philosophy and it seems to turn his mood a bit. "Beyond that, there has been something about the spell that I wanted to talk to you about."

He looks a bit startled, "O-OH, did I mess something up? I can redo any of the math of nee-" I cut him off before he could go any further and let his mind become his worst enemy again.

"No! No, everything is just fine. I just wanted to ask what you want to do with it once we're done with the spell." I quickly explained to him, and he looked both relieved and confused by my question.

He's thoughtful for a long moment. "Do? Umm, I-I don't know? What were you thinking of doing with it?" He looks a bit blindsided. "I guess do whatever you want? I'm just happy to have, this." He gestures to his arm, he seems to have no real idea what we've invented.

I smile at his ignorance, this should be fun. I quickly cast a silencing spell to give us privacy. "Well, you've heard of Veil Winter right?" He nods. "You could do the same, release the spell so others could use it to make prosthetics," I suggest bluntly and he looks absolutely floored, his feathers jumping a little.

"Wha- But- ... We c-can? I-I means is that even possible?" I stifle some laughter as he looks both excited and thoroughly baffled. Avalon has never been a fan of Veil Winter, thankfully, but he still admires that name in some way for the skill and reputation it has.

I nod back just as enthusiastically. "Not a reason you can't, it's not even that hard honestly. But it depends on how you want to go about it." I have his undivided attention now. "You have several options-" This time he cuts me off, which he doesn't do often at all.

"W-wait, sorry. But, what about, well, you? You did more work than me, if anyone should get the credit it should be y-you." He looks surprisingly firm in his words, this might be more difficult than I thought it would be.

I give him a calm but firm look in return. "Honestly, Avalon? I do not like the idea of it. I like my peace and don't really want to deal with being known for this." I decided to be honest about this as I see no point in hiding it. "But I thought you might want to, it would certainly be a boon for you."

I can see he's a little on the fence about it but respects my decision. "A-... Are you sur-" I nod firmly. "Umm, well, w-we have time to think about it. Right?" I can tell he feels put on the spot and is not ready to answer.

I nod again with a smile. "Plenty, we still haven't worked everything out or finished our testing, so it's best we do that first. Take your time, we're certainly in no rush, and you're also quite busy right now." I try to help by giving him an excuse, that might be a little manipulative but I have secrets for a reason.

My reassurance seems to help and he calms down before nodding slowly. "Ya, ok. You, you think about it too..." He takes a long sip of his tea. "And thanks for telling me." I nod yet again and he's still smiling despite the dilemma I dropped on him. "Oh! I also have some notes on, the..."

I raise a brow as he seems to trail off for a bit, he's looking off a bit as his eyes drift to the entrance of the cafe we're in. At the entrance of the building is a mare pegasus, she looks to be around twenty, a similar age to Avalon. She also notices Avalon after a moment and gets this smirk that I don't like.

I notice Avalon's feathers pin back a bit as she looks at him. I look at him with a little concern and a bad feeling, "Someone you know?" I ask switching to speaking in the Griffon language.

He looks back at him as the mare goes to the counter to order something. "Um- W-Well, yes." He's already more nervous and switches to Griffon without realizing it, I don't like the implications. "S-She's also a courier but-" He switches back to Pony and the mare apparently walking right over to us after getting her order.

I sensed her coming but hoped she'd just go to a different booth, I was proven incorrect as she walked right up to our table with a cocky smile. "Well, if it isn't Avalon, still lugging that expensive hunk of wood around?" Her tone is not necessarily mean, more belittling than anything but it immediately makes me not like her.

She seems to be focused on Avalon so I take a moment to look her over. A light red coat with a deeper red and light blue striped mane, along with light blue eyes. She looks fairly fit but even my normally horny mind doesn't care about that right now.

Avalon is definitely uncomfortable, not really hurt by her words though. "I-It's not your business, Sweeps." His tone is not very confident but I do feel a little pride as he tries to stick up for himself. I decide to stay out of this for the moment as Avalon seems to be doing ok.

She huffs and rolls her eyes at him dismissively. "Well, maybe not but when you flaunt your success like that it is every pony's business." Again her words aren't outright insulting, but her tone makes it come off like it's Avalon's fault. "I happen to have a friend, and I know how much something like that costs."

For the first time, I see him look a little insulted, not enough to totally overcome his nervous attitude but it's still there. "H-Hey, n-no. I, I built this!" He tries to defend himself. "I didn't pay a bit f-for it." Again I feel both a little pride for him and a growing dislike of this mare. None of us are loud so at least nopony is paying attention to us, I don't think Avalon needs that right now.

The mare rolls her eyes exaggeratedly this time and has the audacity to laugh at my friend. "Ya right, next you'll tell me you invented it." She jokes and chuckles a little more. Avalon seems embarrassed at that but still keeps his cool, while the mare finally notices me. "And are you on a date? Who's this?"

I'm pretty sure that's meant to get a rise out of me and embarrass Avalon more. Avalon does look surprised and embarrassed which makes the mare smile more, but I just stare at her with a completely blank face. "No! H-He's my friend!" Avalon quickly shoots her down but by this point, she's locked into me.

She narrows her eyes at me a bit and takes a moment to really look me over, and I see her expression change over time. I still have the summoned wings on my back and I can see her eyes linger on me a little too long so I finally speak. "Miss, may I ask who you are and what you want?" I keep a bland stone cold tone.

She gives me the same cocky smile. "OH, I'm just saying hi to a fellow courier, business and all that." Her tone with me is more neutral and that does make my feelings about her worsen even more. "So, what is a stallion like you doing here?" She asks a little too friendly.

I don't plan to have this happen again so I put a stop to it quickly, but before I can Avalon does it for me. "H-He's here to talk with me, a-. And that's also not your business." :YA! Go for it!: I cheer him on internally.

She looks visibly annoyed at him butting in. "Well then, how about you show some manners and introduce us?" This mare is really starting to get on my nerves, not that I'd ever let her know that.

I interrupt them to take the heat off of Avalon. "I believe it's also proper manners to introduce yourself when asked Miss." I throw that right back into her face, which considering how her muzzle scrunches a bit she does not like.

She looks back at me with an annoyed look now. "Sweeping Wing, and for your information I'm the best courier in this city." A plain and simple brag, one that rings completely hollow to me. "Who are you huh? Because I don't even recognize you." :Is she really trying to upstage me?:

I keep my blank expressionless face and tone. "Like he said, not your business," I respond bluntly as I'm getting tired of this mare's uppity tone.

She was already looking a little mad about my lack of reaction, but my shutting her down really seems to piss her off a bit. "You-... Well ... At least I'm not friends with a defect." I see Avalon flinch a little at that and my eyes narrow hard. :Does this bitch want to eat nothing but paste for the next week?: To say that this was not the right thing to say to me is a massive understatement.

She seems satisfied that I don't talk back as she looks at Avalon's slight flinch with a little satisfaction, which angers me even more, but her mood changes a little when she turns back to me. I straighten my back and am now standing several inches taller than her while my strong build is obvious, all while I stare back silently. I just stare unblinkingly at her for several long moments. "W-Well, I."

She looks a bit nervous now, and she fucking should be. My eyes give off a very slight green glow as I sweep my magical senses widely to take in some extra information and make myself reclaim my calm. She's visibly nervous as I stare her down with a glare that is only matched by a pissed Celesta. "I believe you should leave Miss Sweeps." My tone is not just cold but freezing.

She takes a slight step back and looks at me like she wants to argue, but after a moment her survival instincts seem to win out. "I, You- ... Fine! You losers aren't worth my time." She tries to console her wounded pride but I just stare her down as she walks away while glancing back at us a few times only to see me staring back.

As soon as she's gone I drop the look and tone for one of mild concern before turning to Avalon. "You ok?" I asked gently as he looked at the doors with a mix of embarrassment and slight bewilderment.

He was silent and just watched me stare down that bitch- No, no, not right now, more important things first. I put away any anger as Avalon nods a little, "Y-Yes, I-I'm so sorry about her, she's normally not this... Persistent." He immediately tries to apologize but I quickly shake my head.

"It's not your fault, not in the slightest." I reassure him. "But, does that happen often?" I ask, trying to move away from his embarrassment and get some answers, because if this mare is messing with my friend, I will be most displeased.

He nods again and takes a few deep breaths before answering. "No, n-no. She, well, we don't talk. It's really only when we run into each other, she doesn't really like that I, well not to brag but I do more work than her." Well, that's at least some form of answer. Although he seems uncomfortable talking about it, I rethink my approach and just move past this quickly.

"Well, tell me if you ever need to talk, or need help dealing with that mare." I keep a soft tone but make my dislike known. "Well, I'm not hungry anymore, want to do something? I got the day free." I offer before taking out some bits to pay for our meal. I would like some silver lining for today.

He looks a bit surprised at my offer but quickly nods. "Y-Ya, Umm, we could go ... Flying?" He offers back uncertainty. I certainly wouldn't mind clearing my head after that, and getting some more practice is always nice. Plus I can spend some time making my friend feel a bit better.

I nod after a moment as we both stand up. "That sounds nice actually, want to race?" I challenge them in a clear attempt to distract him from all of this, but it seems to work a little as his smile comes back just a bit.

"Y-Your on!" I laugh a bit as he challenges me right back. I love having friends.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading. :}
Current year is 994

Originally I wanted to replace

:Does this bitch want to eat nothing but paste for the next week?:

With.

:Does this bitch want to die?:

But I thought that was a little much. Still it's fun to have Shade scare the shit out of someone.

You all know the drill, I'm taking the day off.