JUL 29 Saturday.

I sit at the park waiting patiently for everypony else to arrive for our little get-together planned for the afternoon.

I slowly flip to another page and start to sketch out a few spell matrix pieces while getting lost in thought as I often tend to do. My last meeting with Celestia was emotional in several ways. I am happy in a way, despite the topics that came up the entire event unexpectedly helped me.

I felt a little off about talking and relaxing with her like I normally do, mostly because Cadance just had to ask me three damned questions. But despite the high emotions, or maybe because of them, I was able to relax far more than I thought by the end and I was able to focus on more than just those questions.

As for all the topics brought up? Well, I won't say much about a few of them, but the talk of Changelings and Space Magic gave me some ideas. For the Changelings I want to try and make some actual way to disable them in a fight, and that may have actually provided a new unintended use for the Love rune.

It can filter and gather love, but the gathering part is really robust in its context. So, what do you think would happen if I used it to forcibly gather love from a Changeling? I have no idea as well, but I imagine it is likely to be very painful and maybe even deadly.

It's now filed under 'maybe but no,' it wouldn't be hard to make as the idea is simple and I have the runes for it, but I need something less lethal. There are a few ways to do that, I thought a lightning spell would be my best choice, but how would that affect a Changelings chitin?

I'm not sure how resistant it could be to magic, Dragons scales are like that from what I know so it's possible they do as well in some way. So, in the end, I decided on something relatively weak and simple, sensory deprivation. It can mess with you normally but more complex senses are much more disorienting when disabled.

I keep my magical senses on continuously, and when I turn them off it does mess with me for a bit, so doing something similar for a race that is born with a magical sixth sense will most likely do the same thing to a higher degree. Either way, I thought it was a good starting place and I've spent a little of my free time working on this spell along with two others.

My main focus right now is still the love gathering project, then the new Changeling disabling spell, and finally a smaller project that I'm still not entirely sure how to go about doing it. It mainly involves Entropy, specifically the illusion spell I cast on her when we go out to do anything in public.

I want some way for her to turn on and off the illusion herself, mostly so I don't need to cast it and so she's safer from any mishaps. On a more concerning note, I know she might be having some problems with being disguised in public, but she needs to be disguised for both her and my safety.

After a lot of thought I decided the best method was to give her more control over the situation, it's not a perfect solution but I think it will help. Accomplishing all this is proving to be an interesting challenge for me due to several limitations I'm facing.

To state the obvious, the only real way I can accomplish this is with an enchanted item. But making something small enough to cast the spell continuously is by far proving the most challenging. I need to do two things, improve the old illusion spell and find the appropriate materials for the item.

The illusion spell was some of my earlier work and with all the experience and new runes I've gotten over the years I have a good amount of room for improvement. Overall the spell won't take too long, and that just leaves the item I'll be enchanting in the first place.

Getting several very small, very pure diamonds won't be hard, I'll just buy more jewelry. But in my search, I looked for metals primarily, magical metals. Much like gems some metals condense magic over time and take up a property, but these metals are a bitch and a half to work with.

Magical metals are actually a bit more common than affinity gems, but their crafting process ups the prices a lot. Many of them require lengthy or hard smithing processes depending on each individual type of magical metal, and an appropriate expert in smithing is needed to forge the metal into something useful without destroying its magical properties.

Several of these metals have high magical capacities or absorption rates, with all that said my idea should be obvious. I want to make something like a small leg clamp to put on Entropy, with enough small diamonds and the right metal I think I can pull it off even with the very small size requirements.

I fiddle around with the spell in my notebook while Entropy sits on my back. "What make?" She asks, staring at the page curiously. Her curiosity is just as strong as when she was young, it's adorable.

I pet her a little. "Just another spell, and a gift for a very special someone. Also, when they get here you can go play if you want." I hint while she just bobs happily. She knows I make gifts for Celestia so she probably thinks I'm just doing that, which is good because I really want this to be a bit of a surprise for her, every kid needs some surprise gifts.

I flip to another page and make two notes. I need to get a suit for the gala next month, best to ask Rarity sooner rather than later so it's not a rushed job. I should also order the magical metal in the next week or two, work like that can take a while even with the simple item I need, maybe the forgers guild?

The Rusted Hammers, I think? I bought copper from them and they have a good reputation. They will definitely charge a premium, but I also feel like they could keep things quiet, their reputation would be on the line after all. I make another note to visit the guild before closing my notebook and taking out my sketchbook.

This part of the park I'm in is nice and quiet. I'm sitting under an old oak tree I remember with some fondness, the same tree I unlocked my life magic at. The area is filled with lush grass and some nice shade. "Heh, Shade in the shade. Oh, by magic, I really hope none of them make that joke." I groan a little at the idea.

I stop drawing as two ponies walk into the grass field, Blaz and Maple arrive and I wave them over. The large blanket I'm sitting on has a nice woven basket full of picnic supplies in it. They walk over with Maple immediately looking at the basket, I smirk at her. "I'll tell you the same thing I told Entropy, wait," I say as Maple huffs a bit.

She lays down on the blanket with a huff and Blaz chuckles. "Well look at you, all prepared for a nice day out." He also lays down to get comfortable. "So, anypony got some last-minute guesses? I still think they're some high-ranking stallion, I just can't find out who though." That is the primary theory Blaz has had for a while now.

Maple shakes her head a bit. "No, not a guard. A noble." She shares her theory of the stallion pretending to be a guard to not draw eyes. I'll admit she could be right, but I also think Daisy would be able to see through something like that, she's a smart mare no matter how silly she sometimes acts.

I myself think several things, but I'm not one to voice a theory without much proof, and all the proof points to Daisy being honest about her stallion so far. "Either way, you doing better Colt? Because I don't want to deal with an ex if you now have one. I left my marriage for a reason." He teases me.

I just huff back. "I'm doing good, still a lot on my mind though, maybe even more in fact." I'm being honest but don't elaborate. "You're right, you did and as a special gift I invited her here today." I joke back and he grimaces a bit, "How are you doing? Still complaining about your new apprentice?"

He frowns at that but takes the jab in good humor and frowns at the mention of his new apprentice. Turns out that one annoying stallion is still around at the library, he did mellow out enough to not loudly complain before I left, but I still didn't enjoy talking to him.

He sighs. "He does the job, I guess. He is a complainer and an annoying-" I laugh a bit as he cuts himself off and doesn't swear. "He's still himself. I blame you for spoiling me. Now, you said something about volunteering? How did that end up going?" He asks curiously.

I never told any of them about my volunteering at the start because I wanted to settle in first and see how it went, I didn't want to be all that secretive as it's not something that needs to be kept secret. Then when I wanted to tell them Cadance happened, along with me working on the Love rune and sorting my emotions it was put on the back burner. Long story short being safe and a few things in my life made me put off talking about it.

I realized this last game night and I mentioned it before I left, I didn't have enough time to really talk about it though. I shrug, "Sure, but I'm too curious to talk about that now. It seems we'll have our answer sooner than, later... What? ... " I trail off after sensing two ponies approaching us from behind me.

I'd sensed them a minute before but didn't turn, when I did though I immediately noticed that I recognized the stallion with Daisy. Daisy walks up happily while me and the stallion stare each other down, both frozen in slight surprise. "Hey, I'd like to introduce my stallion friend, St-."

I cut her off and started to laugh at the luck that curses my life. "Stone Mace." I laugh harder while Stone starts to chuckle. The other three look shocked and confused. "It makes so much sense now!" I stop laughing as hard as he walks closer. "So, this is what you spend your weekends on huh?" I ask cheekily.

In response I quickly tilt my head out of the way of a water spell that goes past my head, I don't even flinch far too used to this. "Of course, you're the Colt she talks about, good choice in friends Colt. Nice to meet you two, names Stone Mace, like the uppity Colt said."

The shock seems to wear off fast for Daisy and she looks at me with a demanding stare. "Explain! Before I start revealing embarrassing stories." She demands with serious eyes while Blaz starts to laugh. "And don't think you're going unnoticed, Stone." She glares a bit while looking embarrassed about everything.

Stone's ears actually pin back a bit and he also glares at me. "Not a word about this Colt." He threatens me to ignore his reaction, not that I blame him, an angry mare can be scary.

I settle for smiling largely. "Well, you know his job right?" She nods before getting a look of slow realization. "Yup. For those not in the know, Stone here is a former guard trainer, now a retired guard and private trainer. The very same one who's been kicking my flank for... Three and a half years? Somewhere around there." I reveal to Blaz and Maple.

Maple stays silent for a moment and looks over at Stone's black mane and grey coat. "Hmm, Maple, nice to meet you. Shade is strong, not a bad job." Her blunt obversion causes Stone to raise a brow, but he takes the oddly worded compliment with a simple nod.

Blaz stops laughing and holds out a hoof to shake Stone's hoof. "I can agree with her there, he's like a brick wall. Nice to meet you, names Blazing, Blaz is fine though." He greets Stone with a little too much enthusiasm. "So, what do you normally do to him? Any good tips for getting the drop on him?" He asks and I nearly throw something at him.

Stone chuckles but thankfully shakes his head. "No can do, but I can tell you what I say to tick him off." I throw a water spell back at Stone for that, but the bastard just dodges. "Have to do better than that Colt, I still got my hearing." He advises happily before moving onto the blanket.

Daisy recovers from her shock and lets Stone lean against her side as they lie down. "So, what did you bring Maple? Because I'm hungry." Maple shakes her head a bit and turns to me. "You own a basket? It's even well made, you really are a gardener, I bet you own a trowel." Stone looks curious at her words and I just huff while taking out a few loaves of bread I made and some cheeses to eat it with.

I turned to her. "If you give him something on me, I will go into your office and scramble the entire sorting system, chart and all." I threaten back and that gets her to drop her teasing smile. I am happy for Daisy though, Stone is a good stallion and I'm happy for both of them, plus I can relax, I know Stone won't reveal anything and I have some trust in him. "So, how'd you even meet?" I start up some small talk.

Stone is the one who starts. "The library, I needed to research something to train a certain Colt." He joins in on teasing me a bit and I glare at him. "Then this mare comes up to me looking all tired and grumpy." He looks over to Daisy with a smirk.

She rolls her eyes a bit but takes it in stride, everypony else being fully relaxed and enjoying the simple food. "I just got finished interviewing several annoying ponies, I just wanted to read. So I sat at the table with the fewest ponies to relax for a little, and this gentle stallion asked if I was ok." She compliments him but he just smirks.

She looks a bit bashful and stops for a moment as Stone looks amused. "Don't you start! Anyway, I ended up talking to him a bit, and sorta ranted my frustrations to him after we started talking." That gets us a glare from her as we chuckle. An irritated Daisy is always fun to watch, not so much to be on the receiving end of though.

Stone smiles and keeps his laughter inside. "She can be very spirited when she gets worked up. But I've been yelled at by guards who can eat rocks, maybe literally. Honestly, it was adorable." Daisy looks conflicted before nipping his ear a bit in retaliation, he barely even flinched.

I just nod and as a bit of a surprise take a wine bottle out of the basket. "Well, I'm glad I brought this, also if anypony goes too hard I'm going to carry them like a sack," I say seriously while all of them just celebrate a little at the sight. I didn't bring glassware and just brought some small wooden cups, I don't want any of them to go too deep too fast.

I pass the bottle and cups off to Blaz, from what I know about him he can drink like a beast but is responsible about it. He opens the bottle and gets everypony but me a cup, they know I don't drink. "You're just a stump Colt, you don't even drink. I'd call you boring if you didn't do crazy things like train with him." He drinks his cup slowly.

I shrug and notice Maple is only very slowly sipping her cup, she does drink but only ever slowly. "Not my fault, I told you that story for a reason." Stone raises a brow and Blaz chuckles.

"Oh! Do I have a story to embellish for you, I think I might even add a mare in there." He teases me and I roll my eyes. Blaz is the type to retell stories with, twists, to the original telling he likes making shit up for fun. "First though, I want the answer to my questions, what are you volunteering for Colt?"

Maple nods while the two lovers look interested. I shrug again, "Well, not to downplay this happy meeting on this fine day with the only blemish being a certain drunk." I eye Blaz while he lifts his cup unashamed. "To summarize, I'm volunteering at a hospital. It's been, an interesting experience." I say without any fanfare.

All four look a bit surprised, but not overly so, Stone is the most affected. "Well, we've seen you reading medical books for years, it's good to see you were actually learning and not just sitting there looking smart." Blaz jokes again. Maple just nods happily while eating some bread.

"Wow, I'll be honest I expected something with spells, or plants," Daisy comments before turning to Stone. "So, does that give you any new ideas to train him? Because I think he could use a little more work with how relaxed he looks right now." I glare at them as she smiles a little too much like Cadance.

Stone smiles as well and gives me a look I never like. He's going to kick the shit out of me, by magic Daisy is on my prank list, maybe at the top. No, second, right behind Cadance. I throw another spell at Stone to try and wipe that smirk off his face, but it misses.

time skip

I walk down the evening streets with Stone as Daisy naps on his back. "Ok, she has a sweet tooth for wine, noted." Daisy ended up drinking a bit much by the end and needed to be carried home with us. Today was great, a lot of fun small talk and joking around, even with a lot of those jokes being to mess with me.

Blaz got a little drunk and called it early as he had work the next day, he wanted to sleep it all off, Maple was fine but left with Blaz to keep him out of trouble. Stone chuckles a bit, "I learned that the hard way. I got her a good wine for a date, it was certainly something." He smiles in that small way again.

I ignore the tone there. "Just make sure to take care of her, because I will come for you if you don't," I say half-jokingly. He seems to take it seriously though. I know Stone is a good guy, but Daisy is my friend and I'd go very VERY far for my friends.

He nods back firmly. "I have no intention to do so, and if I do you have full permission to do just that." He chuckles a bit and looks up into my eyes. "If you can that is, I'm still kicking your flank, Colt." We enter the lobby of my apartment building and start heading up the stairs.

I nod in turn taking his challenge in stride. "Good night, Stone. Also, make sure she gets up, she'll be blaming me if she's late and I'm not taking the fall for that." I say as we arrive in front of her apartment and he opens the door. I didn't know he had a key, but I suppose they are close enough.

"Same to you Colt, see you in a few days, and bring your armor." He opens the door and heads inside leaving me alone. Daisy probably told him I live here so no use hiding it, I enter my apartment and smile as Entropy hops off of me excitedly.

"Well, you ready for dinner?" I laugh as she starts to get vocal.

My friends are amazing, if a little crazy, but who am I to judge?

Author's Note

Thanks for reading. :}
Current year is 995

To my knowledge no one guessed who Daisy was dating. And BOY HOUDY!!! Am I happy to have made a true surprise for once. I did try to drop hints to, S for his name, an older Stallion with a guard background.

Anyway, I hope you liked it.