MAR 7 Tuesday.

I slowly look through the notes on the small table in front of me that Celestia wrote out last night.

After Avalon's meeting Celestia and I talked for a while longer before I was given the promised notes about the runes used in her invisibility spell and their respective Runic context, after that I was sent on my way. I was given a nice room and sent some dinner as she knows full well that all I want is to hunker down and study these runes.

Along with my dinner was another note that asked me to modify the illusion spell I showed her yesterday, and I must say I love the idea she came up with, but I'll get to that. The new runes have proven both interesting and disappointing at the same time.

Celestia was definitely right that these runes aren't of the best quality, out of the fourteen runes given to me only two show much promise. All the other runes are so inefficient that they are practically useless for making decent spells, and I honestly don't want to use them for a spell as they'd hamper any spell made with them severely.

Those two decent runes are interesting. The first is a rune of Hiding, its context is very specific and seems to only really work with illusions, but it's good at what it does. The other rune is a rune of Perception, but again it's heavily specialized to make others ignore any small mistakes in an illusion.

At first, that felt a little like mental magic, and maybe it is to a degree, but from the Runic Context it seems to mess with the illusions based on somepony's perception, instead of altering the perception of somepony itself. It's honestly an odd rune, it's decently made though and the context is a little weird.

It's not a big thing and doesn't seem to affect the rune, the Runic Context is just worded a little oddly. As for the application of these runes? Well, the first is just plain useful for any invisibility spell while the second is nice but much more situational and not as flexible as I'd like, still all the runes bad and good alike are going into my collection.

With these runes and the ones I already have, I could probably make a decent invisibility spell, but before that, I feel I need a better rune for copying the surroundings. The ones I have don't work well for this purpose and the runes in Celestia's spell are too low quality so this spell will have to wait for a bit.

I stop my note-taking and spend a moment looking over the spell matrix I've been modifying. Celestia's instructions were pretty specific and I actually had to remake a fair bit of the spell to get it right. Normally the spell only creates one color, but with a bit of work, I've gotten it to mimic three separate textures and colors at the same time.

I look over the spell again and cast it on myself before looking at a mirror, I chuckle after seeing the effects, and cancel the spell with my will before turning to Entropy as she stretches her wings and wakes up. "Someone had fun yesterday, you tired yourself right out." Entropy had quite a bit of fun playing with Philomena.

"Friend fun." She caws before hopping over to me and chirping a bit. "Happy, awake."

I sort her words for a moment and laugh at the odd phrasing. "That works, but good morning would work much better." I encourage her but a moment later there is a knock on the door and she quickly moves into my shadow and out of sight. "It's unlocked," I call out while packing away my notes and putting on my saddlebags.

The door opens a moment later and I see Shining standing in his armor. "Morning, sleep well enough to deal with a princess?" He starts right out of the gate with a joke at my expense.

"Did you sleep well after getting those books I sent you?" I smile back as his face shifts to a slight look of uncertainty. I gave him a knowing look. "Apparently not then, I hope you enjoyed them at least. Are we heading to breakfast?" I ask while walking past him into the hallway.

He huffs after closing the door behind him and leading the way. "Yes. Where did you even find books like that? And... Yes, they were actually pretty good. Also, I've been meaning to ask about something." His face looks a bit more serious but still friendly. "The gift you sent Cadance was... Well, thank you, but it is generous, to put it lightly." His tone is torn between thankful and a little uncertain. I was expecting this honestly as it was a rather lavish gift.

I nod in understanding and try to keep a friendly mood. I don't see a reason to hide my wealth from Shining, he already knows I'm wealthy enough to give Cadance a small mountain of bits. "I made some good investments when I was younger, and they really paid off. As for the gift? It was more or less for both of you as I knew she'd share, and honestly, I had no idea what to gift her."

I smirk at him. "So, make sure she spends at least some of it on something fun and doesn't just save it, it's a gift after all." I keep my tone purely joking before becoming serious. "Also you have nothing to worry about, I have no interest in Cadance." I stare firmly to put any fears to rest quickly.

He doesn't even look surprised at the information and just gives me a deadpan stare. "Is there anything you aren't? Rich, strong, smart, and friends with both princesses." He holds a little humor but just looks exasperated. "Also, I know you don't have eyes for her." He smirks a little and I brush off his vague teasing.

I roll my eyes. "Says the stallion in a relationship with the alicorn of love. I do wonder how you got that new fancy position so quickly." I tease him in return and he looks amused at my words.

"Says you. I'll have you know I worked hard for this, and it's not as fancy as it sounds. I only command Cadance's guard and the rest are still under Captain Ash Mark." He explains and I think for a moment before remembering that night with the changelings and the guard captain.

I nod. "So, double the work and responsibility with the same pay?" He pauses for a moment before nodding with a chuckle. "Just like all good governments this one suffers from its ponies." I quote randomly as we near a familiar door and the guards salute Shining as we walk in.

I see Celestia and Cadance sitting at that table and after the door is closed I walk over to sit at the table. "Here, it took a while to make so you better pick your timing well," I say vaguely and pass a folded piece of paper over to Celestia while moving a plate and some food over to me.

Celestia smiles mischievously while both Cadance and Shining just look confused. "And what are you two up to? I smell a plot here." Cadance looks suspiciously at us both but we just smile in return. Shining sits next to her and leans on her a bit.

Shining removes his helmet before getting some food of his own. "Heh, smell a plot." That earns him a nip to the ear from Cadance. "Ow! Ahem, I meant... The plot, like a plan?" That earns him another lighter nip to the ear and he quickly decides to give up.

I just chuckle at his slip as Cadance looks at me. "Sorry about that, Shining can be very... Immature about some things. Feel free to ignore him, thoroughly." She says with some humor while Entropy leaves my shadow to join Philomena in devouring some fruit Celestia put to the side.

Shining eyed Entropy a little but seems to relax after a few moments. "It's not like he's innocent, he is almost a fifteen-year old adult." He defends himself a bit, and he's even able to duck away from another nip, only to be pushed over by a hoof and hit the floor. "Ugh."

Cadance just keeps a polite smile as I and Celestia laugh for a few moments. "On a more palatable topic, thank you Shade, I will make the effort worthwhile," Celestia says, moving us past the odd topic fully. "Did you sleep well? I don't know about you but I find I have trouble sleeping in new places." She shares a little about herself to firmly move us away from the prior topic.

I'm a little embarrassed at Shining's words, which is why I'm thankful for the change in topic. "I slept just fine. Oddly enough I have the opposite problem, I could sleep on a rock, in fact I have before." That particular event was from my past life but the point still stands.

She giggles a bit. "For somepony so intent on living a peaceful life you certainly have some odd adventures." She comments and I shake my head after a moment.

"No, it's only interesting if you remove the context, everything is mostly mundane. It's not like I do much most of the time." I downplay things as my life is boring by the standards of most others.

She raises a brow at me. "Need I remind you that you decided to fight an angry dragon out of curiosity." She looks amused at my attempt at humility.

At this point, Shining is off of the floor while he and Cadance look confused at Celestia's words. "Wait what? What do you mean fight a dragon!? When? How!?" Cadance asks surprised as she has never heard about this apparently.

I sigh and glare a little at Celestia. "You did this on purpose." I sigh even longer seeing their curious looks demanding an explanation. I finish the last of my food down with some water and answer the questions. "It's not that bad, like I said, context."

Shining looks a little jealous, but not to any large degree. "I don't know, fighting a dragon at fourteen because you were curious seems like a pretty interesting life to me. Was it a good fight?" He asks the second part more seriously but gets nipped on the ear again. "Hey! That's a valid question!"

I gain some satisfaction as that backfires on him. "It was pretty fun. But it was not nearly as extreme as you'd expect. She was a young dragon and only around twice my size, she was also pretty relaxed after getting her aggression out. I even got a few of my questions answered." I smile but don't tell them the full story.

Cadance groans a little. "Always with the vagueness, you really are the most paranoid pony I have ever met." She complains but I still refuse to tell the story as it involves a few things I would rather Shining not know about yet, like me being Veil Winter. I may trust him with parts of my life but some things are too important to share until I trust him more.

Celestia chuckles and nods in agreement. "You have no idea, but you can pester him on the train later. On that topic, the guards assigned to you have changed slightly." She passes a piece of paper over to Shining who looks curious. "Please make sure to get everything in order, we do not want a delay." Celestia is a bit more professional while saying that but keeps a calm mood.

He looks over the list with Cadance doing the same over his shoulder and nods. "This should all be easy, but I'll need to get to it now, we have a tight schedule." He agrees and puts his helmet back on.

Celestia stops him with a hoof wave before he can leave though. "Hold on, one more important thing." We all paid attention to her. "Want to see a magic trick?" She doesn't wait for an answer and casts a spell on Cadance before she can react, and a moment later Celestia starts to laugh.

I quickly follow her and even Shining struggles hard not to burst out laughing after his shock wears off. As soon as the spell connects with Cadance the illusion moves to cover her entire body, and soon enough her coat turns a pristine white. Her mane keeps its shape but the texture turns a little wavey and takes on a familiar look.

Once the spell is done a smaller version of Celestia is standing there without a cutie mark and utterly confused. "What did you do?" She asks a little uncertainty before seeing her now white hoof. "What did you do!" This time it's a demand and it takes us a few moments to calm down enough to answer.

Celestia smiles widely with a little pride. "I asked Shade to make something... Special as a parting gift." A moment later a spell is cast and a mirror-like surface appears in the air, if I wasn't still laughing I'd have shown more interest in the spell used.

Cadance glares a little as even Shining fails to contain all of his laughter. But that glare is gone when she sees the way she looks. There is a long moment of silence as she looks herself over with wide eyes before turning to me with a glare. "If this lasts more than an hour I'm filling your apartment with glitter." Her threat is surprisingly serious but that switches to a reluctant laugh after a moment. "But, I'll admit this is one to remember."

Her face proves too much for Shining as he bursts into laughter before getting a far more fierce glare from Cadance that cuts him short. "I'll see you all later!" He gives Cadance a kiss on the cheek and nods to me and Celestia before very quickly running away and leaving the room before she can retaliate.

Me and Celestia are amused at this and I taper off my laughter with a few chuckles that makes my sides hurt. "Shining!" I see Cadance get a little flustered as he runs away before she sighs and glares at us. "I'll get you back for this, both of you. Now turn it off, I would rather not look like Aunty for the day." She asks with a little embarrassment.

Celestia cancels the spell after that and I turn to Celestia after finally calming down. "Worth every bit of my work. So is there anything else I should know about this trip? Because I really don't want to find out when it's too late." I ask while moving my empty plate away to pet a full and happy Entropy that plops down in front of me.

Celestia smiles and moves a few papers over to me. "I expected you to ask something like that, this has a few things but it's not much, we simply don't have much information about the current situation there." I nod my thanks and look over the papers, it's mostly just the trade deals being discussed and a few important ponies going with us, along with a little information on the city.

Cadance seems a bit perturbed that we got one over on her, but she takes it in good humor. "Well I have paperwork to do and doing that while dealing with you two is not on my agenda. Have a good day Aunty, and remember that the train leaves at seven Shade. I do not want to turn back because you forget, one time was enough." She huffs a little before standing up and putting on her crown.

Celestia nods. "Same for me sadly, it seems you'll be on your own for a while Shade, try not to cause any trouble." She jokes a little before also standing up and moving towards the door. "I'll have a guard find you when needed so feel free to ask any of them if you need directions." She gives me a large smile and a small hug. "And please enjoy your trip."

I fight off a blush at the contact and nod my thanks after a moment. "Thanks. I sure plan to, even if it gets rocky. My last trips haven't been that quiet after all." She giggles a little and slips on her royal mask as she leaves the room with me trying not to stare at her flank as she does so.

After a moment she turns down a hallway and out of sight so I close the doors behind me and turn to a guard standing guard outside the dining room. "What's the way to the garden from here?" I'm mostly blunt and professional and the guard quickly gives me directions.

They even offered to lead the way but I turned that down and simply followed the directions, I needed to learn the layout of this place more. But as I walk the long halls they become winding and the only reason I'm able to find the gardens is because I can see them outside the windows.

As I enter the garden I walk through the hedges and wander without a destination in mind. The winding rows of hedges make the palace look like a cakewalk, but eventually, I end up in a slightly more open area. The hedges are much shorter and I'm able to actually see where I am going.

After a while, I find a nice spot that's a little more secluded, but before I can sit in the grass I spot something that makes my stomach turn a little and my body freeze. Not too far away in a smaller clearing cut off from most of the garden is an odd stone statue that doesn't fit any of the others placed in the gardens.

I quickly crush any form of panic in my body and mind for fear of causing a disturbance of any kind. A few hundred feet away sits the statue of a Draconequus frozen in time. Discord. He is one of if not the most powerful beings in this world, and arguably the closest thing to a god we see in the show.

I walk over but don't get anywhere close to him and simply sit in the grass while making sure I'm facing his back. I have no reason or want to mess with him and even while sitting one hundred feet away I feel wary at the sight of him. After a long moment, I take out my notebook and start to think through a few ideas.

I spend a while sitting there thinking and sketching out his form, it seems yet another reminder of the future pops up in my life. I sigh after a moment, "Hmm, a sleeping monster." I chuckle at the reference no being in this world would understand.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading. :D
Current year is 995

So, I remember someone wanting Shade to make a disguise, wish grated. It may have taken a while but now he has the idea of a full body illusion.