MAR 12 Sunday.

I copy another document by casting a Copy spell and spend a few moments organizing a few documents while she continues to speak.

She watches me cast spells with interest, probably because Runic Casting is uncommon even among ponies, let alone other races. And that's for just a Novice, a Journeypony Runic Caster is even more uncommon. "The founder of my family was an explorer, and something of an... Eccentric."

I don't react and just keep listening. "His name was Everfalls Calix, he originated from the Wild Lands, and without getting into too many specifics, he got involved in a war." She has to pause as someone passes her some paperwork of her own. "He ended up on the losing side of that conflict."

"He and what remained of his people lost their city entirely from the conflict and they had to run away. The journey was, problematic. To leave the territory they had to move through a neighboring city's territory and they took offense, to the point of gathering or destroying any form of forageable supplies from Calix's path." She watches my reaction while saying that.

I nod after some thought and motion for her to continue, my utter lack of reaction seems to make her even more interested in me. I know Viridis probably told her what she knew about me, and honestly being studied and watched like this is unpleasant for me, but I keep all of those emotions in a corner of my mind for now.

As for the story? It seems pretty standard to me, this is a classic Human tactic for war that's been tried and tested countless times. "They also suffered from occasional attacks, bandits, monsters, or just the wildlife, all standing in his way. But in the end, he led his group to relative safety." This is starting to sound like some classic propaganda.

I decided to at least give lip service to her story. "He certainly sounds like a capable leader, I also remember hearing of him a bit. He founded the city right?" I literally have never heard of this guy, but I vaguely remember at least that much, not that I tried very hard to learn all that much about this city's past.

She passes a few papers to Viridis to work on. "Yes. While he eventually found some safety atop the Great Plateau." That I believe is what they call the plateau that Feather Falls presides within. "But, his enemies preferred him to not rebuild elsewhere and pursued him not long after." Again that sounds suspiciously vague.

"At the time Calix was building a fort on the plateau edge, and soon after it was built he was put under siege. Nowhere to retreat to, and all negotiation utterly failed." This is sounding more like an adult children's story, with enough context to make it believable without talking about the other side of the proverbial coin.

"But something odd started to happen. Calix had a pet crow, one they say he himself raised from birth, it's said he often used it to carry messages to his scouts while on his long exodus. But more curiously, his companion started to act oddly. It was seen circling the cliff for hours with seemingly no reason."

This is at least entertaining enough to keep my attention and ignore any looks from others at the table as the king keeps glancing at Entropy from time to time. "It would fly along the cliff and out of sight night after night before returning in the morning. And one day Calix grew concerned for his loyal companion and insisted on following them despite the danger of his persistent enemies."

I watch as Entropy seems to grow a little too bored, so I feed her a treat to bribe her to bear with the situation along with crumpling a ball of paper for her to play with. Auran looks interested as Entropy starts to try and crush the paper more with her talons.

"So, in the dead of night, he flew off without telling anygriff about his plans. He flew along the cliff and eventually followed his companion to a small cave under a massive waterfall in the seemingly endless cliffside. He followed inside deeper only to find a massive expanse of darkness that seemed to have no end, and his companion resting in a nest made from stone."

I nearly raise a brow at that because it implies something interesting, after a moment of thought I just decide to ask. "That implies that this entire cavern was enclosed at one point in time? I find that rather hard to believe, no offense." I voice a little of my thoughts and show my doubts to see her reaction.

She keeps a friendly but neutral face like always and nods. "Yes, I suppose it does. But it is the truth, once this place was fully encased in stone. The city is only six hundred years old after all and this place would have been found much earlier if it was so easily spotted." I can see the reason there, still. "It's not as if Canterlot's palace is any less impressive of a feat, in fact, I'd say they make a good parallel." Again she makes a fair point trying to sway me a little to accept it.

I just nod after that and she continues. "The stone nest was odd as it was mentioned by Calix but never really elaborated on, and no Griff has even found out what he meant by it. From here things get more uncertain. The story goes that after this Calix explored enough to get an idea, he prepared and in a single night somehow moved all his Griffons here and their things into the cavern. His enemies thought he'd fled and left to pursue him." That one just doesn't make sense, I can't really think of a realistic way to do that.

"From there he decided to just stay at the strategic location. At first, they supplied the community by digging a bigger entrance and selling metal. As for your question? Well, it depends." Finally, I get an actual fucking answer to my question, I hope at least.

"Crows are called royal birds because Calix outlawed hunting them and considered them a symbol of the city, and later in life he considered them a symbol of the god's favor." I honestly don't know much about the beliefs of this city so don't comment on that. "Over time they became a sign of fortune to the city itself and were considered guides for those destined for greatness."

Adding religion into this complicates things, but could also work in my favor if the king believes such things, or if he's against it I'll have to find out. "Even further along they were integral for passing messages during wars and other crises along with a few other incidents that ended in our favor, and now they are a symbol of the crown itself to some extent."

I finish a pile of work and have nothing left to work on for the moment, so I move Entropy over to me and start carefully petting her to not disrupt the illusion. "I doubt he'd try and force you outright, but how well a crow is trained is often considered a sign of their master's respective skill." She hints bluntly at the fact that Entropy is very well trained from an outside perspective.

I silently nod my thanks and continue my work as more paper is added to the table in front of me. Auran offered some advice, but I think I won't be getting much else out of her as she stands up a while later and joins some other conversation after she's called to the other end of the table.

As I'm left alone I let my mind think my plans through. Her words were vague and in no way a guarantee, not much of a surprise for a politician. As for the king? I do have some worries, but I doubt things will escalate too much, or I at least find it very unlikely.

From the fact that the king has glanced my way a few times throughout the meeting I know he's curious at a minimum. What worries me is his intentions, no matter what the situation. I am of a lower standing than him, and a big part of my being at the party is making a favorable impression on him.

There are a few ways I could go about this though. I know he likes crows his own pet crow looks healthy and well-trained, and considering the story I was told, fictional or otherwise, I think he raised the crow himself. I mostly think this as the crow seems to actually relax around him.

It's something you get a feel for, I know how Entropy acts with others and she doesn't fully trust anyone but me, not even Celestia, sure she'll let them pet her but there is a line in the sand. Back to the king though, this gives me an angle I can use to talk to him.

As I think and work I keep an eye on the meeting and listen in a little. Most things go right over my head, no matter how smart I am I am not educated to negotiate deals like this. What I do understand is mostly just things that will always be argued over, who pays what and why someone else should pay it instead.

After a while things mostly blend together and while a few Griffons seem curious about me they focus on the meeting and let me work in relative peace, thank magic for that. Time seems to speed up as I lose myself in my work and by the time the table in front of me is empty things are done for now.

It's clear this will not be the only meeting, we barely got through a single trade deal so far. I do find the opportunity to leave the room before most others as I no longer need to translate or copy anything. I soon regret this as I'm one of the first few out of the meeting room.

I walk right out into a full party with music and everything, and for a few short moments, me and Entropy are in a far too big spotlight.

I quickly move the FUCK out of the way and move towards a wall of the room. Still, I draw eyes anywhere I am, it seems that a crow well-behaved enough to relax in a busy party is pretty interesting, and Entropy seems just fine with the attention. After a while, some well-dressed Griffon even tries to approach me, probably to talk, but that's cut off as their eyes shift a bit and they turn away quickly to talk to someone else.

Apparently, the king did decide I was interesting, as he slowly made his way over to me while talking to Ponies and Griffons along the way. I could run away? But I was pai- Wait no, I'm not even getting paid for this. I was bribed with favors of an uncertain nature to talk to him, that really doesn't sound any better does it?

In the end, I just snack on a few things with Entropy and wait for the inevitable. When the old Griffon king finally arrives near, I and others around me greet him with a half bow. I just bow my head and neck while placing a hoof on my chest, he doesn't speak to me immediately but does after talking to a few others.

He walks over and eyes Entropy a bit. "Your Highness, it is a pleasure to meet you." I greet them formally as he fully turns to me and looks me in the eye for a few moments.

He nods slightly. "To you as well, I don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting before? You are a scribe, yes?" His tone is odd. It's jovial, but not weak or informal in any way. He gives off the feel of a wise and competent leader that you can just relax around.

I immediately choose to force myself to not relax and keep things very formal. I nod in return, "Yes Your Majesty, I am one of the translation scribes, Shade Evergreen, it's an honor. And no, sadly I have not had the pleasure of meeting you before." I keep a formal and praising tone while keeping eye contact.

He gives me a smile and his own crow sits on his back like Entropy does with me, although his crow has a string on it and looks a tad bit uncomfortable with the large crowd. "Oh, where are my manners? This is Phoso, my companion. I see we share that in common." I can see he wants to know things and just decides to give that information away without a fight.

"A pleasure and I suppose so. This is Shadow, or Little Shadow, she has a few names she likes. She's been my companion since she was hatched by me." I reveal some basic things and make it sound uninteresting.

He smiles a little wider. "Really? It seems we have more in common than I first thought, I myself raised Phoso." Ok, not a bad start, I think that at least works in my favor. "So, what were you and my niece talking about? You both seemed rather talkative, an accomplishment when it comes to my dear niece." He digs more and I can tell he knows something is up.

I'm already tired of using any form of formality, it's just so annoying. "She was kind enough to tell me the tale of the city's founding, it was certainly interesting and informative," I say neutrally and spend a moment shifting as Entropy looks over at the other crow with curiosity and a healthy dose of wariness.

I do notice that many, MANY eyes are currently on us and I'm trying my best to keep myself calm and collected. The king chuckles a small bit, "Yes, she is rather fond of that tale, she can be... Blunt while telling it, however. It is rather good to see a responsible owner, many do not take the responsibility seriously." I feel as if he's joking at the expense of other nobles here.

I don't nod and just say something noncommittal. "I suppose so. And from you, Your Majesty, that is high praise." It honestly is, I'm not even that good at crow raising, I just have a very smart crow. "You yourself probably know more than me, I've just done my best so far." I show some humility.

He chuckles good-naturedly. "No need to be humble now. Shadow here seems as calm as the wind, even with so many around her. I am rather curious how you trained her." A not-so-subtle request for me to change the subject back to me and my little friend.

I again decided to downplay things. "I myself am not entirely sure, to be honest. I grew up and raised her in Canterlot, it is a very active city and she seems to have simply adapted well. Beyond that, simply teaching her with treats and punishments." This is not even a lie as that is what I did.

He nods. "Hmm, exposure to a large and busy city? I'll admit I never thought to really try that. I myself use the same method of punishment and reward, although I find it doesn't always work well with some crows. Some simply seem too, curious, to train well." He comments and even with his formal tone, I can see he's enjoying the topic.

Well, I should at least try to do the job I was asked to do. "I agree Your Majesty, Shadow here can still be rather... Mischievous when at home. I have gotten her to do a few small tricks though, with some great difficulty." I nearly chuckled at the memory of Entropy teleporting around to catch treats.

To my surprise, the off-handed comment gets his undivided interest. "Really? Have you ever tried to get her to speak on command? I myself have but it's proven very difficult to consistently achieve. I once heard Phoso speak a word I tried to teach her for a week straight, only for her to never say it again, even after years." He chuckles a bit and I spend a moment in thought.

In the past I did know of a decent method to do just that, he probably already knows about it but it's worth a try and this is going well. "Hmm, somewhat yes." My answer seems to surprise him. "She won't speak on command, but I found it helped when I gave her an example."

He looks thoroughly intrigued so I look around the food table for an example. After a few moments, I pick up a grape and hold it out to Entropy. "What is this?" I ask and I know she's smart enough to get the meaning of what I want her to do without raising suspicion.

I know this is risky but I trust my companion and this meeting is going really well so far. Entropy looks over the fruit inspecting it and even bites it a bit. "Grape." She says with a little fake difficulty. I smile at her acting and let her eat the grape off of my hoof as the king looks both impressed and very interested in the little display.

I speak before he can. "I guess she's excited today, that rarely works so well." I downplay things hard with my tone. "That particular word took weeks, and even after a few years she only knows a few words. Funnily enough, I've had the same problem as His Majesty, she once said sky, and never again." I smile a bit and keep my tone reserved.

The king beams a bit at Entropy and moves closer to get a good look at her, I'm almost concerned he'll try and pet her but he doesn't. "Good show! You really must have some skill in training." He boasts a bit. "What is the method you used for this? I have tried to show them things before but it's never quite worked." He predictably digs more.

"I think it helps that Shadow is very food-oriented, it's rather hard to keep her away from a meal. I started with two types of treats, one she likes more and another less so but will still eat. I speak the word and give an example while trying to encourage her, if she succeeds she gets the preferred treat, and if not she gets the other." I pull something right out of my ass and try to pass it off as legitimate.

He looks happy and satisfied with my answer, or at least enough to not ask about it more than that. "A bit of a novel method, thank you for sharing Mr. Evergreen." He seems to think for a moment. "I will be at a gathering soon for owners such as ourselves, would you be so kind as to attend with me?" He asks and I'm now fucked.

I can't turn him down after he worded it like that, an offer from the king is something you don't just turn down. I really do not want to do this but fuck it, I'm already this deep in no turning back now. "It would be a pleasure, Your Majesty." I agreed after a moment.

He smiles wider and looks pleased again. "Very good to hear. I'll send somegriff with details, but I must attend to the other guests. I wish you a good night, please enjoy the festivities." He excuses himself simply and I honestly can't tell if he's being malicious in some way, his mask is simply too good.

"Of course Your Majesty, and to you as well." I finally relax a little as he walks away from me after that and I move even further into a corner of the cavern. But even after moving out of the way a few pairs of eyes linger on me and I know I'll have visitors soon enough.

I decided to at least eat before dealing with them. I sigh, reviewing all my thoughts and memories of that conversation. :I really REALLY hate politics. Wait, do I need a suit for that party? Fucckkkk!:

Author's Note

Thank you for reading. :D
Current year is 995

Ok, so, I think I have the rest of this trip planed out, at least a bit. Four more chapters at the worst, hopefully not five.

Ps, I had an odd moment while making up the back story for the whole crow thing. I hit a bit of a wall and started to complain to myself that I'm not a story teller. Then I realized that I am, it's been an odd day.