JUL 7 Friday.

I watch the green light shift inside the Life Gem as it rests in my new staff while I continue to fill it.

I've spent some time today working on my staff to improve it further and superficially embed some gems inside it. I look over the finished work with a smile while running a hoof down its length. The three-and-a-half-foot staff is now engraved with vine carvings all along its length.

It starts at the bottom with a pointed end that thickens to be one inch thick after a few inches. Then the vine carvings and exposed wood continues up uninterrupted for two feet before a few gaps expose a golden core beneath the outer wood. Another foot above that is the Life gem resting atop the staff kept in place with pikes of wood that wrap around it.

The staff itself works well and I've improved it beyond just the engravings. But before that a small thing of note, I changed the name of one of the materials used in its construction. I noticed while going over my notes that the very similar names for the two wood types were getting annoying to keep track of and make notes for.

So, I kept the name of Gold Oak for the tree that rests inside of Gaia's Eden. The other wood was called Golden Oak and was a less evolved type of wood from the Gold Oak that had the property of blocking life magic. So, both the Golden Oak tree and its wood are now named Vita Tree and Vita Wood.

It's a word for life if I remember right and it seemed to fit as well as the old name I took from the Golden Oak's Library. So to rephrase, the outer shell of the staff is made from Vita wood while the core is Gold Oak. Moving onto the improvements though I started by hollowing out a few spots in the staff.

The lower two feet of the staff has no core so I hollowed out three small spaces and embedded a few small diamonds inside the staff. The three diamonds are very small but very pure, I had to buy more jewelry to get them but that's not important. All three gems are enchanted to gather and store magic while being linked together to share the magic gathered.

The magic all then goes into two of the same enchantments, one for the staff body, and another for the Life gem. It's enchanted with a simple spell that improves durability and damage resistance, an improved version of a spell I already had. Overall it was a smaller but important addition to the staff, I also made a box to store the staff inside so it isn't just lying around.

I finish my modifications to the staff and test it by trying to cut the Vita wood. I hold a normal steel kitchen dagger in my field and try to hack and cut at the wooden staff's body. I look at it and see that a normal dagger has no effect, I should test it more later to make sure I know the limits of the protective spells, but it works and that's a good starting point.

I move over to a lengthy box made of living Iron Oak that has a perfect gap inside to fit the staff. I placed my staff inside the cloth-lined gap and closed the box before simply growing the lid of the box to its base so nopony but I could remove it without cutting open the thick wooden box.

I spend a few more minutes inside my workroom clearing my desk and organizing a few notes. Speaking of notes, a downside to renaming the Golden Oak Tree to the Vita Tree meant I had to redo all my notes and correct them, a small inconvenience but worthwhile change.

While going through my notes on my staff project I also finished organizing some notes from volunteering at the hospital. I did end up asking the nurses I normally work with about wearing my bracelet on a hindleg, which they were fine with but also made it clear I'd still need to remove it if asked. Again it doesn't solve my problems, but it at least delays them.

I placed the box on a shelf and leave my now clean workroom to get ready for my meeting later today, I'm going to be meeting Cadance once again. She went on another trip actually, a shorter one but still she wasn't here for the Summer Sun Celebration.

Despite the slightly bleak prospects of being on the receiving end of Cadance's teasing, I still smile at the memories of Celestia's birthday. The entire thing was a blast and getting to hear piano music every once in a while while working and training in Gaia's Eden is very nice.

She's genuinely very good at it and more interestingly I can't find all the music she plays. I decided to do a little reading on her hobby and it turns out that many of the songs she plays are either very old or I couldn't find any record of them at all. I think some of them are songs she's made herself.

It's, well, it's just nice to see her so happy about having a piano and getting to play it. I may not know why she stopped but I see that same smile every time she plays it so that's good, I think. She also moved the piano itself into her home and we spent a few hours talking and playing chess mixed with some songs a few days ago.

I leave my thoughts and focus on gathering the notes and items I'll need for today. Some snacks for Entropy and plenty of spare paper to write down words and phrases on. By this point, we've gone through a staggering amount of paper and ink just trying to find the words needed for the runes Runic Context.

After gathering everything up I look around for a moment before whistling. A moment later Entropy comes out of my shadow and I raise a brow, "Decided to nap with me then?" I ask as she stretches out her wings and starts to wake up. "Well, we need to get to a meeting regardless, to the palace," I say softly.

She looks up at me for a moment before we both vanish and reappear inside the palace mailroom. I turn to thank her but she's already gone back into my shadow to get some more rest. She really tired herself out playing earlier so I left her alone and left the mailroom.

I look down a bit to stare at Shining in his guard armor. "Shining, enjoy your trip? I heard Manehattan is lovely this time of year." I say with a tone full of sarcasm, I'm pretty sure that's where Celestia said they went. In truth, Manehattan is stormy this time of year and rogue weather coming in from the sea that ponies have to deal with.

He just gives me a blank stare as we walk through the palace. "I no longer have any remorse for anything Cadance will do to you." He states matter-of-factly. I raise a brow at his ominous words but he doesn't elaborate in the slightest and just smiles at me. "So how have you been? Before today that is." Again he is rather ominous.

I shrug a bit and give him a suspicious look. "Fine? Things have been going well, I've been working on a few hobbies and even started volunteering at a hospital." I throw out something to try and make small talk, I would rather he not rub in my approaching doom.

He keeps that smile but looks a bit surprised at my statement. "Really? Who would have guessed that a pony like you could be so... Gentle." He laughs a bit and for emphasis motions to my size. "Seriously, you in a nurse outfit would just be ridiculous." He laughs more at the mental image.

I huff a little but chuckle as he's not exactly wrong. "Well, I know who I'm not patching up in the future. And now I'm telling Cadance you have a fantasy of her in a nurse outfit." I say without shame as he nearly trips over his own legs as the image enters his mind.

I laugh as he pauses for a movement before shaking his head and giving me a slightly pleading look. "Please don't... Last time I bruised a hip." He pleads as I break down laughing harder. His eyes narrow a bit and show a more serious look, "Fine then, I will tell the Princess you have a crush on her."

He keeps his annoyed look as if I don't stop laughing and instead better off before giving him an amused and confused look. "Really? That's the best you could come up with? At least threaten to reveal something worse than that, that's just too simple." I explain as an attempt to tease me would just get him laughed at by Celestia.

He raises a brow and gives me a confused stare in turn. "Shade, I will literally eat my helmet if you aren't even trying." I just shrug a little noncommittal, I know what he's trying to say but it's just incorrect, and he looks tired in response. "Ok, I'm leaving this to Cadance, this is out of my league." He decides while speeding up his steps.

My face shifts to a slightly defensive look. "Why? She's just my friend." I defend myself while he looks annoyed at my reaction. I don't even know why he'd bring that up with such certainty, I've never shown anything like that, and while I do enjoy her company and looks...

I force my mind away from that as my mind tries to get a little too focused on certain parts of my friend. Shining sees me shake my head and just sighs before stopping at the door and opening it. He looks to Cadance who's sitting at a table, "He's as dense as iron, you deal with him. See you Shade, and good luck." He shoves me into the room and closes the door behind me.

I turn to Cadance as she looks both maliciously happy and confused over Shining's words. She raises a brow and I sigh, "I really don't know what he's trying to do." I say honestly. I told him she was just a friend, and Celestia was my friend.

She gains a look of realization and then before I can do anything my senses try to warn me. Turns out Shining made a good distraction as a waterfall of glitter fell from above me at a volume that was impossible to dodge. Apparently, the gremlin is awake as Entropy moves out of my shadow to dive into the pile of glitter I'm not a part of.

I turn to her while being saturated in glitter while she laughs her flank off. "Yup, Shining is officially on my list." I decide while trudging out of the glitter pile and trying to shake most of it off. Cadance just breaks down laughing like a maniac.

Entropy busies herself by literally rolling around in the pile. "PRETTY! SO MUCH!!" She goes nuts while I back away from Entropy so she won't splash any more glitter on me. I cast a spell on myself to loosen any remaining glitter while glaring a little at the still-laughing Cadance.

She finally starts to calm down and gives me a large victorious smile. "That! Is what you get for dumping a spell like that on me without ANY warning." She explains before casting her own spell over the area. In a moment all the glitter is simply gone, I give her a curious look. "No, I'm not teaching you that spell, consider it the last bit of my revenge."

I sigh and sit down at the table after removing most of the glitter myself, I do notice her spell left me covered while removing everything else. I smirk a bit at the challenge, "Then I'll just remake it and have Veil Winter release another spell." I smirk more as her smile falters a little.

She just sits for a moment. "Hmm, still not teaching it to you. But-" She casts the spell again and the remaining glitter vanishes off of me. "Compromise?" She offers and I nod in agreement, glitter sucks. Plus she deserves it, she was able to get the drop on me and that's not an easy feat. "Great, now, what was he talking about?"

I sigh knowing she was not going to let that go, I could lie but I know she won't give up that easily. "He insinuated I have a crush on Celestia, I do not," I explain with some complex but short words while watching her eyes go extremely focused.

I expect an avalanche of questions, instead, I get a very focused and collected stare while bringing over a teapot and some teacups. "Are you sure?" The question is said with a serious tone and she drops any humor. I raise a brow and am about to say yes, "I mean to say, have you really thought about it?" She insists and pours us tea.

The sudden and abrupt shift in topic and tone throws me off pretty hard. I pause a little and nod, "Yes? Look, I keep saying this, but she is just my friend." I insist in turn while trying to find out why she's so suddenly insistent on the topic, she's not even teasing me. I know she's the alicorn of love but this seems a little bit much.

She gives me a calm look and shakes her head a little. "Yes she is your friend, but do you want more? Would you want more someday?" She asks more probing questions while keeping her calm but focused tone. "What makes you so certain she doesn't feel anything for you?"

That question gives me a bit of a shock as I never even considered that to be a possibility. I blank out a bit while trying to sort out the thoughts her questions bring up. I feel pretty uncomfortable with how serious she's being about this, it's nothing like her normal joking teasing self.

But, even with me being suddenly uncomfortable, her questions are... Accurate. I never really thought about this all that much. I'll admit to myself that she is attractive, both in looks and personality, but... Things just aren't that simple. There is a long list of problems with trying to let emotions like that take root in this friendship. "I, well..." I'm speechless over the questions.

Or, did they already? I. I don't know. I turn to Cadance with a slightly lost expression and she puts a hoof on my muzzle while giving me a much more relaxed and reassuring smile. "You don't need to answer me, not in the slightest. But I think you needed to ask yourself those questions, and you weren't." She says with a kind tone.

I take a deep breath and try to sort my thoughts over a minute or two, Cadance just waits patiently for me. "I, don't know?" I answer honestly. She gave me questions that I was very uncertain about, things I haven't thought through anywhere near enough to really answer. "Why, now? This all seems very, sudden." I ask, trying to make some sense of her questions.

She smiles reassuringly. "Sorry if I went a little far there, but you needed the push. It does no good to ignore those questions, and they are just questions." She refills her tea and just looks understanding. "As for why? You are very dense." She jokes a little to try and break the tension a bit.

I ignore the slight teasing, even if it is the truth, and again try to focus. I'm not entirely blind I can see how somepony else may see me and Celestia's friendship from the outside, but this is starting to raise a few more questions in me, beyond those that Cadance asked.

These are questions, more for myself than her, she just wanted to show me that these questions should be answered. Do I like Celestia in that way? I don't think so? At least not as it is now, but could I see myself wanting that? I... Maybe? It's at this moment that Cadance whistles a little. "You ok? I really am sorry if that was too much, and it's really not my business." She asks slightly concerned as I zoned out completely.

I nod slowly and try to put their emotions and complicated questions to the side for a second. "Yes, no? Maybe. You certainly dumped this on me suddenly, thanks for that." I try to fall back on a joke to relax and not overthink these questions and panic. I look up to face her again. "What, should I do? I mean, advice for the moment because, I'm honestly a little lost on how to act." I don't often ask for advice but this is not my area of expertise, at all.

She smiles again. "Again sorry, but being blind to this would not have helped you." I actually agree with her there, both for my sake, and Celestia's being completely blind would be bad. "As for advice? Mainly, SLOW DOWN." I raise a brow at that. "I can not stress enough that you need time to think and once you've really thought about it, then you act, and not a moment sooner." She really stresses the point and gives me a serious look.

I take a deep breath and try to calm down more. I'm trying to find solutions and trying to figure out my next actions, before I even really know what I am doing. She's right, I need to think, really think about this before doing anything. She smiles wider as my face shifts to something more calm.

"Good. Now, beyond that. Nothing is going to happen, you're still friends with Aunty, and you don't need to act differently. Unless you want to." Again good advice. Celestia is a good friend, and even if I'm now considering this new... Perspective, she will remain my friend regardless, I trust her enough to know that for certain.

I nod after another moment and show her a smile. "I, I'll think about this. And, thanks, I, well, I'm not the best at things like this. Twilight and now myself, two for two." I again joke a little and it helps move the mood up from the serious thoughts and questions. "Really though, thanks, I have a lot I need to think about it seems."

She chuckles and keeps her reassuring smile. "Everypony is like that at some point, even I was. Make sure to take all the time you need, and more if necessary, and please ask me if you need advice." There are several beats of silence before she motions to my saddlebags. "Still feel like getting some work done?" She asks kindly, to which I just start to move some papers over to her.

"Ya, I do. I need something to do with my hooves, any topic that you can think of to shift to? Because I could use something to talk about." I ask bluntly now, far less invested in being serious. I see that familiar smile on her face and prepare for teasing, at least it can lighten the mood, even if it is at my expense. I sigh, "Just get it out of your system." I smile more.

She keeps her damned smile. "You sure? I know Aunty is probably not the best topic, but as her family, I have to ask." I raise a brow but nod regardless. "What did you do?" She demands with a large smile and a slight chuckle.

She's right that the topic doesn't help distract me, but I'll need to think about my feelings and relationship with Celestia so maybe being distracted is not the right step. But her question just makes me confused while keeping a lighter mood, it is humorous to see her so driven. "I, nothing? I don't think I did anything at least." I answer uncertainty.

She smiles wider. "I came back two weeks ago, and at that time Aunty had not stopped, smiling. At all really, even the staff have noticed and rumors abound about it." I feel an embarrassed blush rise up at the mention of rumors, the last rumors were very telling. I try to control my hormonal, and now emotional thoughts. "So. What, did, you, do?" She asks with a light but serious tone.

I pause for a long moment and realize she's not taking no for an answer here, I also notice she mentioned this after getting me to question my feelings to wear me down, and damn it if that didn't work. I sigh yet again, "I threw her a birthday party." Her eyes sparkle at that. "And gave her a gift she really liked," I answer with honesty but I keep it vague.

She moves a little closer to me. "That's adorable." I just glare a little at that. "And where was this birthday party at? Because I don't think you'd do it in a small apartment." She asks with some determination.

I raise a brow and pause for a beat. "I, don't remember telling you where I live."

She rolls her eyes a bit. "I'm a princess, I know how to requisition documents and building plans." Both my brows raise at that and I can't help but chuckle at her slightly crazy means. In truth, I was expecting her to know because Shining has delivered things to me before. "No changing the subject, where?" She asks again in the same amused and jokingly demanding tone.

Even with her joking and demanding tone I'm tired and full of questions I need to think about. "I own a piece of land, and before you ask it's not even in the city." I motion to Entropy as she rests on a shelf. "She takes me there and Celestia teleports. And you know what? If you can find out where it is I will personally show you around. Now can we please get to work?" I say knowing damn well there is no way she'll find Gaia's Eden.

She smiles victoriously. "Outside the city? Of course! Nopony would guess that! Deal! But I'll keep you to your word." She promises before starting to look through a few pages of paper I laid out earlier and settling down. "This is the pile of new ones, right? I don't want a repeat of last time." She asks while reading.

I nod and cringe a little, we lost an hour of work because we went through Runic Context attempts we already did before. "No, or at least I hope not. With how many we've done I wouldn't be surprise-" I cut my words off as a slight pink glow comes from the air in front of us as a small ball of light is formed.

We both stare at it for several moments. "Shade? Did- Did it just, work?" She asks, stunned at the sight before her.

I'm equally stunned and nod dumbly. "Well, I'll be damned." I laugh at the absurdity of today.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading. :]
Current year is 995

I realized the two wood types having similar names was a little annoying, and then I realized Shade would think the same thing. So it's changed now, a nice and simple solution.

So, I decided Shade needed a slight kick in the flank to actually start thinking about Celestia in any new way. I could have had him have a eureka moment, but this felt more accurate and genuine while also fitting into Cadance's personality.

Also, just to be clear. This is not Shade realizing he has feeling for Celestia, it's him realizing he needs to ask himself some questions about what he wants in the friendship and how to go about his emotions.

And to no one's surprise this will not be resolved or addressed in a few chapters, or every chapter, it will be a long haul like normal.

Ps. It's been two years, and the love is now done. Thank god.