APR 26 Wednesday.

I take a breath and focus my mind and magic on my task.

But as I focus on my task my mind starts to wander off. Over the past two weeks I've actually gotten bored enough to take naps, it's certainly a new experience. It's nice though, if I need to regenerate my magic I just drink some tea and take a nap, but I only do that when I actually have nothing better to do with my time.

The past two weeks have gotten me into a new flow of practice and finding things of interest to fill the rest of my time. I've spent an absurd amount of time at the library for no longer working there anymore, but I'm certainly improving my knowledge of anything I find of interest.

Beyond that I did add something new to my training, I've started to practice with other types of elemental combat spells from the spell book Celestia gifted me. So far I'm only learning a few of them and I only practice them until I am competent before moving on to the next spell.

I don't plan to specialize in all their elements and I just want to learn them and have the spells ready for whenever I may need them in the future. But right now I'm attempting something completely different and potentially dangerous, which is why I'm sitting in front of the Gold Oak trying to concentrate on my task.

I've never done much with the Gold Oak, mostly because it is a highly valuable thing that would take a lot of effort to replace and set me back literal years if destroyed. I'd need another seed, I'd need to saturate it with enough life magic, and then I'd need to constantly feed it life magic daily to grow it to the current size.

Which is why I've been hesitant to mess with it, but after getting the Life gem I feel more certain about trying new things. I know from how much life magic it takes to grow the Gold Oak that repairing any damage would also take a lot of life magic. As for how I'm planning to damage the Gold Oak when I couldn't before?

Space magic. It theoretically should bypass any physical defense because I'm bending the fabric of reality itself, at least that's what I'm going to try and achieve here. But how I'm going about this is very important, so for the last hour I've been observing the Gold Oak to find a good spot to start with.

Near the midsection of the trunk is a small branch, only a quarter inch thick and a foot long but it's small and has only a few leaves that would be lost if it is removed. I focus on my space magic and decide to test a new method of Spatial Cutting that I've been experimenting with.

I focus on forming a Spatial Plane an inch wide and thick, and a foot long. I overlap one end of the Plane with the base of the small branch and I start to pull both ends of the Plane into each other along the length of the Plane. I'm compressing the space in a length-wise manner and it's proven difficult.

The world fights me and eventually, I have to let go of my attempt letting it all shape back into place. Normally when attempting to cut something I compress space by an inch or two at most, this time I move it nearly six inches and compress the space in the middle of the foot-long Plane, and the Rebound is stronger.

The Rebound is still far less than when I bend space instead of compressing it. The piece of branch that was in the Spatial Plane falls to the ground intact along with the branch as it is successfully cut off from the Gold Oak, but I quickly notice something is wrong. The part of exposed wood beneath the bark is pouring out life magic very quickly.

In preparation for this test, I spent the last two weeks completely filling the Life gem with my own life magic and what it could absorb from sitting next to the Gold Oak. I did this because I can't control the growth of the Gold Oak so the only way to heal any damage is to have it do the healing itself.

I panic and quickly reach out and dump my life magic into the tree without hesitation and focus on watching the part of exposed wood the branch was connected to. But I watch with concern and the tree bark heals over the inch wide cut slowly, I don't know what is happening or why the tree is leaking so much life magic, but I need it to stop.

I start to pull life magic from the Life gem as I run low, but before it can drain more than a bit the cut is fully healed a minute later. It took a moment but the damage was reversed without too much difficulty and the Gold Oak stopped leaking out its life magic. I breathe a sigh of relief and take a moment to calm down and take stock of the situation.

I do notice that the branch I removed is also leaking life magic, but to a lesser degree and it seems to be slowing down and ends in a trickle a minute later. I also noticed that both the branch and the small section of wood cut from the base of the branch are entirely intact and undamaged, it seems they resisted the Rebound completely. I leave the branch for a moment and focus on making notes and theories while the experience is fresh in my mind.

The most immediate thing I ponder is the tree leaking out its life magic like it was bleeding out. The first question that comes to mind from that thought is, how does it store that life magic? I know it expels that magic in its leaves and the dense life magic field around it, but not how much is actually inside it?

The effect of the Gold Oak is much like the Golden Oak, it blocks almost all life magic that is moved through it. But nothing is perfect, and some would inevitably leak past the Gold Oak's defenses. In the past, I theorized that this is what the life magic field is, a byproduct of it not containing all that life magic perfectly.

If that is true, then just how much life magic is in there? I've been dumping my life magic into it for YEARS, the sheer amount inside it must be immense. And that's not even taking into account all the life magic it absorbs from the ground beneath it, of which I can say is a large amount.

I can feel the large magical flows down there and parts move up and are pulled into the roots of the Gold Oak and out of my ability to sense it as the roots block my senses. So how do you contain and store all of that magic without it dissipating into the world around it? Well, the main way is with a structure that can absorb and contain it in a stable form.

The life gem is such a case, but if that was true here, why would it start leaking life magic so abruptly? I think about that question for a few moments and then a thought comes to mind, a container. The Gold Oak's wood can't contain the life magic, but the bark does.

If the tree can't store that magic in a stable way where it won't dissipate, instead it can form a barrier that traps all the life magic inside itself so it simply can't leave. I take a moment to finish my notes and pick up the small section of gold Oak I cut out along with the branch before walking over to my shack.

While walking I noticed I didn't use too much life magic. I used my personal reserves or magic that I converted into life magic and around one-twentieth of the gems reserves. So it took one and a half Me's worth of life magic to heal it. I pause for a moment and decide I need to find a better way to measure amounts of life magic later.

I also think I could have used less if I tried. I just wildly dumped my life magic into the tree and I wasn't being all that accurate or controlling in my response. If I had more preparation time I could probably cut down on the magical waste to a degree, I'll have to test that at some point as well.

I place both pieces of the Gold Oak branch on my desk and start really inspecting them. First I notice that while a lot of the life magic has drained away the wood still holds a fairly large amount of life magic inside it, at least more than any other plant I've seen so far.

The bark seems to be the same mix of tree bark with large golden veins running through it. But the wood is different, inside I can clearly make out rings, and not normal tree rings. All of the rings are perfectly spaced apart and get more compact at the center until forming a solid in the branch.

Also, the rings and core are made from the same golden material as the bark and leaves. I get an idea and stick the piece I have into a bag of soil from my shelves, I then add a small Blueberry bush and add some life magic before waiting. But unlike when I use the golden dust nothing seems to happen, it just sits in the soil as the Blueberry bush grows from my life magic.

I mix things around a bit, but again nothing happens. Whatever this golden material is it's reacting differently, but why? Is it because it's solid and not dust? No, I'd still see some reaction if it was just that. I was focused and panicked at the time, but I remember all the leaves on the branch I cut off disintegrating into golden dust shortly after the branch was removed from the tree, I'm not sure that really helps here though.

I think for a while and inspect the wood more, it really looks the same as Oak wood, besides the gold of course. After some thought my best guess would be I'm missing not one, but two materials. Either the dust or the golden material in the wood has something else added to make it either stable or unstable depending on the use. It seems the wood won't degrade into life magic if I sick it in the ground, which is nice.

I start testing a few other things after that and keep that theory for later. First, I try to grow it, which doesn't work at all. In fact, the wood feels, dead. I think as soon as it lost all of that internal life magic it just died, I think the tree needs that insanely high amount of internal life magic to live at all, if that is true I suppose it makes sense that the tree is so hard to damage.

If it leaked all that life magic out it would die, so it evolved to make itself as tough as possible to endure anything that could damage it. I file away another theory and continue my testing. I move some life magic into the wood, which it seems to absorb with zero difficulty and a high efficiency.

But as soon as it is absorbed it leaks out just as quickly. I smile widely at the sight. The wood can't seem to hold any life magic, more proof of my earlier theories, but it's amazing at channeling life magic through itself. I nearly start testing with it more but stop as a timer spell I cast earlier goes off.

I cast a spell and checked the time before sighing and putting down the branch reluctantly. I have an important meeting to get to and this will have to wait for the time being. I whistle and Entropy flies over to take me home for a shower and to clean up some, once I'm clean and dry I have her take me to the palace in short order.

When I arrive I turn to pet Entropy. "Thank you, Girl, I think you can go find Philomena, just make sure to come and find me at seven, ok?" I say happily and she chirps excitedly and nods before shifting into a shadow and moving out of the room then further away towards Celestia's office.

She can talk just fine, so recently I've tried to teach her numbers and basic math. We've had some success with basic addition, but the real progress came from a clock. She seems better at memorizing the time than doing math and after a week she learned how to tell the time.

She's not perfect but I'm pretty sure Celestia is in her office as her life magic is in that rough direction and if Entropy needs help she knows how to ask for it. Teaching and playing with her more has been a good use for the new free time I now have. I shake my head and leave another mental rant as I need to get to my meeting.

Like normal a guard leads me and a few minutes later I'm closing a door behind me. I'm used to this room, the bookshelves, the round table with couches, and the Alicorn of Love that never stops teasing me. I smile in greeting and sit down with her, "Hello Cadance, I hope you've been doing well." Despite all the teasing, I do consider Cadance a friend, not a close one, but still a friend.

She smirks in turn. "Hello, Shade. I've been great, me and Shining had a nice week off, those bits you gave me got us an amazing date." She seems pretty happy and her tone is thankful, but then she gives me that smile. "And according to Aunty, you had a great birthday." She says with a slightly suggestive tone.

I give her a slight glare and succeed in trying not to blush at the tone she uses. "Really? Please tell me she didn't talk about the gifts? Because if she did I... I may need to really prank her, a lot." I technically can't stop Celestia from talking about the Life gem, but I'll admit to being a little annoyed if she did. At least it's to someone trustworthy.

She keeps her teasing smile. "Somewhat. I think she left some things out." Again the suggestive tone. "But I did learn you apparently snuck off to buy some information." I tense a little but she doesn't sound or look mad, just amused. "You really don't rest, do you? The black market? Really? Maybe we should give you another, mandatory, vacation?" She keeps her teasing tone and I raise a brow and relax again.

I do feel a little bad about not trusting Celestia, but that's the downside to my paranoia. Either way I smile a bit realizing Celestia left the more private details out, "She made the same threat, she didn't tell you how that went did she?" I ask and it's her turn to look confused. I smile wider, "My contract was up, and I quit my job weeks ago."

Her smile falters a little as she gains a thoughtful look. "She set me up! I told her that joke and she encouraged it!" I break down laughing at her outburst. "Hmm, I'll have to get her for that. So you quit huh? Can't say it's much of a surprise, you don't exactly need the pay." She takes a more level tone and I start to take out a few stacks of notes.

The notes are about the Runic Context for our rune and our thought process about why we used certain words in it. I nod, "True, but I find it... Odd. So much free time is proving a little difficult to fill. Although I'm finding ways to fill it or find new things to do." It's not a big topic for me so I will just be honest about my thoughts.

She looks curious. "Really, and what are you doing to fill that time, hmm?" I don't answer her and try not to react. "Adding more training? With how much you do I'd really hope you actually take a break for once. Aren't you our little workaholic?" She uses a baby voice and in response, I just drop a heavy stack of papers in front of her. She gives me a slightly annoyed look. "I'm not going to be able to distract you am I? Fine, where did we leave off?"

Understandably, Cadance is busy and doesn't always remember where we left off last time. "No, you will not, and we get to start actual testing now." She looks thoughtful for a moment before her face lifts and she smiles. I find an opportunity and take it, "Don't get too excited, this is going to be worse than anything else, combined."

She glares at me a bit. "What do we actually need to do then? I know we need to test the rune, but how?" She asks and I take out a very simple spell I made for just this purpose. She looks over the paper for a moment and then looks back at me. "This is it? I expected more for such an important spell."

I shake my head. "No, that spell will take a lot more effort and time. This is just to test the rune, if the rune works it will create a small light when it detects love magic, all we need to do is testing." I look over the Runic Context further and move it over to her. "All you need to do is cast the spell, and then if it works it works. If not, we start messing with the Context and see where that gets us."

She nods and reads over notes and the spell matrix. "Ok, sounds simple enough." She keeps reading and studying the spell matrix and smiles. "But while I'm doing this, let's keep talking." I get a bad feeling from that smile and she just passes me some tea.

I took it suspiciously and cut her off. "You sure? Because I rather you not mess up the spell and make this take longer than necessary." I use a slightly sarcastic tone while deciding to draw as she reads. After a moment I choose to draw the view out of the windows.

I see her from the corner of my eye as she keeps smiling. "Please, I was taught by Aunty, I can learn this spell, finish a negotiation and still find time to tease you." She boasts. "But for now, I'm curious what your party was like, did she do anything... Special?" She again uses that damned tone.

I'm not as glad to be looking in a different direction as a slight blush shows on my face from the side. "No. She did bring a cake and a few gifts." I answer vaguely.

Her eyes narrow. "You did mention that. So, what did she get you? A crown perhaps?" She smiles wider as I blush deeper at the memory of that incident. "Or maybe she got you a few pictures?" She goes a little too far on that one as I feel my body try to react to the thoughts that flash through my head.

I take a few deep breaths and give her a level look. "She helped me with a project," I admit to try and get her to shut up and move on but my words make her eyes light up a bit. "Not like that! ... Stop laughing!" I finally break and turn to face her while trying to get my blush under control and she starts to laugh.

She smiles in victory as she's able to break my calm a bit. "You don't have to sound so against it you know? She is a rather nice mare, in fact many stallions would be very jealous of you." I just glare silently for a moment before turning away and trying to tune out her laughter.

It takes me a few minutes to calm down from the rather excessive teasing and focus on drawing. And around ten minutes later she looks up and closes her eyes for a moment before her horn glows. But she frowns after a moment and I guess the result. "Time to get to work then." I start looking through the Runic Context for a few moments. "This line never sounded the best to me." I pass it over and point it out.

She looks down. "The serendipitous love of another. Hmm, maybe a shorter word?" She offers and I shrug as we start discussing shorter words for that section.

one hour later

I rub my eyes as our tenth attempt fails. I think for a moment, "Maybe more romantic words? Actually, these might work well for ideas." I move a few romance novels I recognize from the shelves. She nods and starts to flip through them with me.

another hour later

Cadance sighs with clear annoyance as the twenty-second attempt fails. "This is so stupid. Just work!" She demands the piece of paper and I'm inclined to agree as this is getting repetitive. "Ugh! Let's just... I don't know! Let's remove words that don't sound right." She makes a random vague choice.

two tired hours later

I watch with a slightly satisfied smirk as Cadance bangs her muzzle into the table. "I blame you for this." I just chuckle at that and she lasts out a long-suffering sigh and looks at the newly modified Runic Context. "That's it! I can't take more of this." She exclaims while glaring at the papers.

I nod. "Fair enough, we're almost out of time as it is. Let's just shelve it until next time." I agree with a slightly tired tone. Turns out trying to word the same damn thing differently FORTY SIX times, can make you pretty tired overall. I think for a moment before moving all the paper to the side of the table. "Chess?" I ask while talking out the board.

She shakes her head. "No, I don't need that right now, I already have a headache." I nod and instead, take out a deck of cards from my saddlebags. She raises a brow, "Ya, that will work." She smiles a bit as I start to shuffle the deck. "So." :OH shit: "You never did say where you had your little birthday party."

I sigh and give her a tired look in return.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading. :D
Current year is 995

A few things in this one. Importantly though, what do you think Shade should use as a standard from of measurement for life magic? I was thinking how much life magic it took to grow a ten foot tree, but you all might have better ideas. So go for it.