JUN 13 Tuesday.

I and several others watch with interest while a few qualified ponies in their appropriate outfits, white for doctors and light blue for nurses, start to check over a patient who just came in with a bad laceration on a front foreleg.

Dr, Meadows stands with the six of us to one side of everything happening so we don't disrupt them. "This is a good example of my earlier point. If you have no way to help or don't know how to do so, it's best you simply stay out of the way until specifically called upon." She continues to lecture us in a calm tone as a pair while motioning to another volunteer from a different group who was helping but is now staying out of the way while more ponies come in and start casting spells on the injured pony.

They cast a familiar spell to stem the bleeding while another casts a spell at the same time to start healing the wound slightly. Over the past week, I've spent five days at the hospital and I've learned a lot already, mostly what not to do and who to talk to if anything goes wrong.

I've learned the layout of the hospital and the names of a lot of the ponies in charge of different departments and sections of the hospital. I even got to see Bristle again, he didn't even recognize me and had the same tone and body language as last time, he seems good at his job but he's also just annoying.

Beyond getting us oriented we've been shown and met several patients. This is the first time we've seen something so bloody though, and the other ponies with me look squeamish or uncomfortable about the sight, but they still handle it better than other ponies would. I just can't be fucked to care, I've spent a few weeks watching Timberwolves rip apart small animals and licking the blood off of themselves.

Combine that with the fact that I occasionally take Entropy hunting and that I've never really cared about the sight of blood, I could honestly care less. I watch with interest as a nurse cleans up the wound with a spell after the two doctors cast several spells and gain tired expressions.

The wound is healed on the outside but I'm not sure what spells were used, and considering that the nurses cast a few scanning spells and made sure to keep the leg very still, it's probably not fully healed. I quickly learned that the standard procedure for injuries changes a lot depending on several factors.

If the wound is like this one, life-threatening, then they start off by using spells to stabilize things and then take a slower approach. Things like slower, more stable, and less taxing healing spells, something to speed up the healing but not heal it in moments. It's simply not practical or advisable for most doctors to only use powerful healing spells like that.

Those spells can take a toll on the caster or could be cast wrong if the pony is tired as spells like this rapidly tire the caster. So to minimize risk, a lot of healing is not magical or done with weak healing spells. It also doesn't help that not everybody knows all the healing spells needed, much like many other professions doctors specialize.

Beyond life-threatening wounds, smaller things are done with a slower approach as well. Let's say you broke a bone? They would set it and heal it just enough to stick together before putting it in a sling and telling you to wait several weeks for it to finish healing.

A lot of lesser injuries are treated with what is called Assisted Healing, injuries that could be healed instantly but instead, they take their time to treat and let it heal like normal. The main reason is simple and I already half-explained it, if a doctor casts a lot of spells to completely heal those lesser injuries then they wouldn't have enough magic for an emergency like the one I'm currently watching.

The patient is carefully taken out of the emergency room we're in on a stretcher. "Now, we're out of time so this will be all for today, I hope to see you all tomorrow." Dr. Meadows stares at me while saying that and I ignore her stare as we're all led back into the lobby of the hospital.

I leave the lobby and start to fly home while thinking about the day so far. I've really enjoyed my time so far and learning about how everything works is proving much more interesting than I expected. Although, I am rather excited to actually start doing things, not that I'll be doing much at the start.

I'll be doing things like helping take care of long-term patents or recovering patients that have to stay for one reason or another. And maybe casting a few simple spells and changing bandages, something they have to do very often for a lot of patients.

I still don't know a lot, like the internal politics, because of fucking course that's a problem here. Turns out that mixing so many different healers from so many places causes friction or bickering. At least it doesn't seem to hamper the staff's ability to do their jobs too much.

I land and take a moment to check my mail before walking up the stairs to my apartment. On a more personal note things with all the different ponies I know are going well. I had another meeting with Cadance, a slightly awkward study session with Twilight, and my normal game nights along with a night out for dinner.

Sadly I haven't gotten to talk with Celestia much recently, this time of year is always busy for her though with the Summer Sun Celebration so near. I enter my apartment and Entropy slips from my shadow before looking up at me. "Still want to come along? It isn't getting any more interesting." I ask her while moving into the kitchen to make us some early lunch.

Over the past week, Entropy has insisted on coming with me in my shadow. She looks at me for a moment, "No, stay. Look, scary, need a friend." she insists and I just shrug at that. She's been less clingy after I started working way less and relaxing more, but she still wants to come with me every time.

I finish up our food but stop as a familiar flash of fire and life magic move into my senses as Philomena teleports into my apartment. She moves over to me with a letter in her beak and eyes up the lunch I just made. I smile at her and start making a portion for her as well. "Thank you, Philomena, and you two behave." I pet her a bit and leave them to eat while opening the letter.

Dear Shade.

Sorry it took me a while to respond, apparently the pony I assigned to check the mailroom was out sick and nopony replaced them. It took five days for them to return and find your letter, I really question the thoughts of my little ponies sometimes. Either way, two ponies now do that job and are required to check in, so it hopefully shouldn't happen again.

With that said, you're grounded for the next two months. Because, really? Another spell? We just released the last one! This one isn't even simple, you remade the ENTIRE spell. So consider this your warning, no new inventions for two or three months, magic knows Cadance needs the break as well.

On that note, you may wish to avoid my lovely niece for a bit, she's not too pleased about the news, and the last time we talked she was planning something or other. Honestly though, as a friend, please take a break. Because I will ACTUALLY ground you if you get ill while trying to heal others.

As much as I don't want to encourage this though, thank you. This spell already has the attention of several ponies and should prove to be another welcome addition to your growing list of contributions. Maybe I need to commission a window for you? You've seen those I assume? If not I'd love to show you them, my ponies put some amazing work into them.

I digress though. I hope you liked my little summer gift, it's an old tradition to do so, and I have to repay all the lovely gifts you sent me somehow. I am rather curious what you have planned? I doubt you could top an entire house though, and yes that is a challenge.

I hope you're doing well and I should have time for a meeting after the celebration at the latest.

Signed your friend, and the mare who has to worry over you, Celestia.

I just laugh after reading everything and smile fondly. It seems I don't have the luxury of working on spells then, or at least sending them to her. I fold up the letter and make a mental note to not touch any mail sent to me by Philomena, or my regular mail actually, she'd definitely try that.

I finish my lunch with two happy birds before starting to practice for a while. I take out my deck of cards and start to concentrate on manipulating space delicately. With all my practice I've gotten to the point that I can levitate and rotate six cards at once.

My increase in my control with space magic has improved in more than just amount but also quality. In the past, I could levitate things but they were a little shaky and would wobble around, now as long as I'm holding four or fewer items they are almost just as stable as my TK field.

This has opened a new possibility. My Tk field, or just field, has a hard limit of moving three individual items at once, I'm not sure why but I've found no way around it. But now I might be able to go even further with space magic and use it instead of my field.

With my improved control I can manipulate the space just enough to move items without causing it to visually show the space bending. If I try to lift really heavy things though it will show the space bending to anypony paying attention. But I still think it's worth the slight risk.

The training from using my space magic in everyday life will also help even further in my conversion and control of space magic. The added benefit is that I can start to move more than three items at a time, the idea of picking up a dozen items and controlling all of them individually to move in different ways at once is very tempting, and a little badass.

After I'm done with my practice I open my eyes to see that Philomena is gone and Entropy is preening herself after playing. "Hey Girl?" She stops and turns to me. "I need to get something, up for a trip?" She answers by flying right over to me and landing on my back and I spend a few minutes gathering what I'd need before turning back to her. "Perfect, to Ponyville please." She bobs her head and a moment later the Void greets us.

We reappear inside the noon forest and I start walking after casting an illusion over Entropy. I always walk down this familiar dirt road, I really should find a place closer to Ponyville, or I could speed up my trip? I don't hide my ability to fly in Canterlot and now that I think about it I don't see why I can't do the same here.

It's eye-catching but so is having a crow and being an outsider to this small town, and I've already shown them off to a few ponies here, once in public no less. I cast the spell after a moment of thought and both me and Entropy take to the skies in short order, from there the trip is a short one.

I don't land in the town when I arrive, just at the edge, but still, a few ponies see me and look surprised when my wings vanish. I take my time walking towards my destination and ignore any stares, but before I can get there I'm surprised to see a pink mare bouncing towards me from the opposite direction of the street.

I just smile at her and speak as she passes. "Hey Pinkie. Chocolate or vanilla?" I ask Pinkie while she takes my question in stride and answers while still moving. I wanted to try and see if I could confuse her for once, but I quickly found out how stupid that thought was.

She smiles widely. "Both silly!" She doesn't stop though and just keeps bouncing right past me. "Nice to see you, Shade! Oh! And you to, Entropy!" She says happily and moves right along without stopping at all. I watch her bounce off down the street slightly baffled at the oddly small response from the normally hyperactive, and overactive mare.

I shake my head after a moment and Entropy gives me a look. "What?" She seems just as confused and I do what I should have from the start, rule one, don't question Pinkie. I put that out of my mind for now and continued walking to a certain fashionista's shop.

I've come here to commission something special, a bundle of custom clothes for decoration, yes really. I have no idea what to get Celestia but after a lot of thought I decided something with clothes might be a good place to start, and with a few other gifts it should work well. I stand in front for a moment and take a breath before opening the door.

The inside of the shop is much more decorated than before and much more organized as well. The walls have shelves full of clothing and a few mannequins with dresses and suits on them. "Welcome to Carousel Boutique, how can I help you, Sir... Oh my! It's you!" Rarity stands behind the counter and trails off as her eyes light up.

It seems she remembers me. "Hello, I see you are doing well," I say a little awkwardly as she walks out from behind the counter very quickly.

She moves up to me with a large smile and an excited look. "Rarity Castilia Belle, at your service!" She gives me a slight bow and I'm now officially out of my comfort zone. "And you good Sir. are my mysterious benefactor. It's absolutely fabulous finally meeting you!" Her tone is oddly relaxed for how excited she looks to meet me, and she also gets a little too close for comfort as she walks right up to me.

It seems my kindness has come back to bite me in the ass, that's what I get for trying to be a little crazy and fun, no good deed goes unpunished indeed. I take a half-step back and curtly nod, "I prefer Shade. Sir. is a bit formal for me, and you are welcome. It was more a spontaneous situation than anything planned though." I try to downplay things and not make it seem like a big deal.

She smiles a bit and thankfully backs off some, she keeps her large smile though. She looks over my saddlebags critically. "Goodness. I see you've gotten a lot of use out of those, I must insist on-" And also notices Entropy, "Mmm, that. Friends of yours can behave themselves, right?" Her tone shifts a bit from happy to slightly uptight but still friendly.

I nod happy with the change in subject. "She can, but I can leave her outside if you want?" I offer and while she doesn't look like she wants to say no she doesn't say yes. This isn't the first time somepony has made a request like this so I don't really mind.

So I take the initiative to do so anyway, I let Entropy out the door and turn back to Rarity. "It's good to see this place is still open, I hope things have been going well." I know I can't run from this topic even if I want to, so I take my normal blunt approach.

She smiles brightly. "Thank you, Shade, may I call you Shade?" I already asked her to but I nod regardless. "Shade, you have my utmost thanks for your help. As ashamed as I am to admit it, you're rather large... Donation, helped me in many ways." Her tone is very positive and over-flattering.

I cut her off. "More of a tip, I really liked the saddlebags and thought I might do something... Generous." I make a joke she'd never understand, I may not enjoy having her admiration and attention but I do enjoy messing with others. "Although, I would ask you not to advertise all this, I'd prefer it not spread around." I finish with some hesitation. I probably should have been less blunt about that but that's not who I am.

She smiles again and just nods, accepting it without hesitation. "Oh don't worry, I keep my customer's business completely confidential." She reassures me and again looks at my saddlebags. "Now, would you mind if I take those for a moment? A few of those stitches look loose and I can't have my work in such condition." She asks and I do as asked after a moment.

I'm just happy with how that went and my bags don't have anything bad in them at the moment. "Thank you Shade, this won't take more than a few moments." She uses my name with a familiarity that only my friends normally use, she's really trying to make a good impression. She moves and places my saddlebags down on the counter then takes out a box with threads and needles.

She starts to remove and redo the stitch with speed and skill. "Now, you came here for something, yes? What can I do for you? A suit for the upcoming celebrations?" She suggests while continuing to work and motioning to several suits on one side of her shop.

I could use a suit eventually, my current one is made by a Griffon and doesn't fit the best in a few places. But the suits she shows are a little too loud for my liking. I shake my head after a moment, "No, I'm looking to get some custom cloth, with a pattern stitched in, a bit like that. You know a wall decoration." I point to a cloth with flowers stitched into it hung on the wall as decoration. "If that's possible."

She smiles widely again and nods enthusiastically. "Yes, I can! Everything in here is my work, I won't accept anything else. Hum, Maybe something with vines and leaves? Deep greens and reds? Or gold? These bags go well with your coat." She starts to look me over again with a critical eye and mumbles out loud.

I shake my head. "Well, it's not for me. I want something for a friend of mine." She blinks before smiling even larger, somehow.

"Ahh, of course, summer indeed." She takes out a notepad after finishing the last few stitches. "Now what is your, friend's coat like, their eye color?" She asks now going into full designer mode. "Any ideas for themes? Maybe something with their cutie mark?" She bombardes me with questions, more like demands.

I take a moment to sort my thoughts and think about my options. "White coat, purple eyes. And themes? Well, it is summer and they have a... Connection, to the Summer Sun Celebration, good memories, and all that. So maybe something along those lines? Sun-themed maybe?" I try to word it in a way that doesn't make it too obvious.

She moves quickly over to a few different colors of cloth and starts to work through them. "Oh! And I know just the thing, a Princess Celestia theme, I've never gotten to do something like that!" It seems my words inspired her as she buzzed with energy while talking quickly.

I worry for a moment as she hits a little too close to the actual truth, but it seems she's just excited. I stand there and watch as she shows me fabrics and demands answers to questions again and again. Why do I feel like this is going to take longer than I thought it would?

Author's Note

Thank for reading. :]
Current year is 995

A little visit to Ponyville and Shade being thoroughly out of his comfort zone.