JAN 2 Tuesday.

I put on my saddlebags as I finish another day volunteering at the hospital. Today was like many others with the exception of me informing the hospital I'd be going on a trip for a while.

There is basically a probationary period for the volunteer program I'm in. You just have to show up enough in the first few months and you can then tell them you'll be gone for a while without anything happening. You're likely to lose your place in the program if you just rush off, so I decided to inform them I'd be gone a full month before I actually plan to leave.

I have officially decided to go on a trip once January is over and I'm going to the Dragon Lands, or at least that's the plan. Things seem to be falling into place and when I told Mellow Meadows I'd be gone for a few weeks she just nodded and passed me the needed paperwork.

I take to the sky with Entropy after we leave a restroom next to the hospital, and we start to fly home. My plans for the next few weeks are to make some preparations for my own safety and also try to get a meeting with Celestia to inform her I'll be gone for a while without just sending a letter.

Because my only responsibility is to the hospital I'm going on a full month-long trip to the Dragon Lands. I'll get there by taking the railway to Griffonstone and flying to the isolated landmass from there over a day or two. The entire journey there will take four days by itself.

I plan to have Entropy shorten the trip back to Griffonstone so we'll get back quicker than we arrive, but my timetable is also a bit flexible so I could stay a few more days if needed. Beyond that, I have some actual goals I need to better plan out, something I'm still working on. I at least want to find out more about the Dragon language, mostly out of curiosity.

Bringing along a good amount of bits for trading isn't too hard, I just need to lighten the weight of the coins and they don't take up much space with how small they are. Food isn't a problem at all, I'll just carry seeds, and water is much the same. Which really just leaves protection.

I land on my apartment building and head inside to get out of the snow. Once I'm in my apartment I go to my workroom and get back to work on my newest project. After deciding that I wanted to take this trip my immediate thought was about how to deal with the less friendly dragons I'll encounter.

I don't think I'll be attacked outright as some ponies and Griffons trade with Dragons, but I'm not fooling myself into thinking that it won't happen. So I need a way to deal with that, and that mainly consists of a combination of training, spells, and preparation.

Like most predators Dragons probably won't try anything unless you bother them or are food. I literally couldn't find an accurate record of a Dragon eating a pony, or any race for that matter. That could just be because ponies don't like documenting such bloody things, but even then if it does happen I don't think it's a common thing for a Dragon to do.

It just makes logical sense for them to not eat other races. You gain a small amount of food and now a lot of creatures might want you dead, it's just not worth it. For myself, I plan to just make it clear to any Dragon that bothers me that I'm not worth the effort of fighting or robbing.

To do this I have two main strategies. One, flame-resistant magical shielding. Two, Spatial Cut. Let's start with the first one. Magical shielding against flames is a common enough spell that is used in several ways, the best spell of this type that I've found is for firefighter ponies.

It's made to keep out flames and keep the air breathable, mostly to get inside flaming buildings or to traverse forest fires. The spells aren't too advanced but takes a decent amount of magic, so over the past week I've been remaking the spell for both my own use and because it would be a nice spell to improve and give to firefighter ponies.

My version isn't done yet as I'm not rushing it's recreation, but it's looking to be another improved spell. It's functionally the same in effect, the original formed a small dome shield that can just about fit a single pony inside, it also moves around with the caster. It also keeps the air clean like I said and protects against both the flames and the heat itself.

My version has a shield that conforms to the body to use less magic, but that's the only large change I made. I just improved the other aspects with better runes and math. It should be done in a week or two, I'm just not sure how effective it will really be.

I'm guessing Dragon Flames are magical to some extent, especially considering that Spike can send messages in the show with his fire as a baby Dragon. So I'm not really sure if a spell like this will do all that much for my protection, but it will at least give me a second or two and that's enough to have Entropy take me far away.

If I'm in a situation where a Dragon is trying to burn me alive it's time to leave, so while the spell is probably not great it will serve its purpose. It's also just nice to have in general because fire can be a problem in any fight. Now onto what I've been doing with my space magic.

Dragons are known to be very strong and tough, along with having magic-resistant scales, with emphasis on resistance, not magic proof. Nopony is sure to what degree the scales protect against magic but the generally agreed-on idea is that the older the Dragon the tougher the scales will be and the more magically resistant.

My theory is that a dragon's magic toughens their scales and makes them more magic-resistant with time. This is why I've decided to focus my offensive efforts on my space magic and Spatial Cut in particular. Dragon scales won't be stopping me from bending reality itself to cut them in half, at least I don't think so.

In theory, a dragon's scales can defend against all magic to some degree, but that depends heavily on the type of magic being used. Something like fire magic would obviously be worse to use but another type of magic might be able to go around their scale's magical defenses more, like water magic.

I'll probably face some resistance while trying to cut through a Dragon with space magic, but if anything is getting past its defenses it's space magic. To further this goal I've stepped up my training with Spatial Cut, I was just training to cut quickly and it now only takes me around a second to form the magic structures needed and complete a cut.

But that's on a roughly pony-sized target as I had Changelings in mind when I started to train this ability more. So now I'm using some of the large empty space in Gaia's Eden to train large-scale Spatial Cuts, cuts that take both more magic and more concentration but not too much more time.

At this point, I can make around ten large cuts that would be able to at least behead or cut the wings off of a Dragon. I don't think I'll get more than ten as it is without a lot more practice, but if I'm smart I won't need more than one or two at most. And it's not like I'm going there to fight them as I want to at least try and be friendly, so for now I'm still focused on cutting speed.

Maybe that's the pony side of me? Or maybe the Human side just really wants to chill with a Dragon, it's hard to tell. Either way serious combat where someone might die is going to be the last resort, before that I'll try several things. First talking, then bargaining, then non-lethal fighting, then dismemberment, and only as a last resort will I get deadly.

Plus I find it more likely I'll just need to show some strength for them to leave me alone. I stop my work a bit abruptly when I sense someone at my door, but smile after I recognize them in my senses. A few days ago I got a letter from Avalon saying he was back and would visit me today.

I stand up as he knocks on my door and walk into my apartments main room to see Entropy already has her illusion on and is also wearing that damned hat again. Turns out she really likes clothes, how I got a bird that likes clothes in a world where most sapient beings are naked most of the time I will never know.

It is a rather cute thing to see though, not that I get much of a choice as she likes wearing it around the apartment. I even added my simple sticking spell to it with a mental rune as well, just so she wouldn't have it fall off all the time anymore. It does mean I can't see her picking up the little hat each time it falls off, I made sure to make several drawings of just that.

I walk over and open my door to see a smiling Avalon sitting there with a gift, and have to pretend to be a bit surprised at the sight as I sensed as much already. "Happy Hearth’s Warming, Shade. S-Sorry I couldn't be here." He says slightly embarrassed and in a weirdly subdued tone, I just wave it off before letting him inside and taking the gift from him.

I chuckle and look at the brightly colored wrapped gift he gave me. "No problem, I hope you had fun on your trip," I say while placing down the gift and bringing over my teapot to make us something to drink. I also noticed the satchel bag he has is the one I recently got him. "Does the satchel work ok?"

He joins me at my table and nods with a smile. "It's great, thanks I needed a, new, one." His words trail off as Entropy flies over and sits on the table. He looks confused for a moment before a small building laugh escapes his beak, "Umm, w-what?" He asks both amused and confused at the sight of Entropy.

I crack up a bit and smile at him. "Apparently my friends decided she needed a nice gift. And she literally won't let me take it off, so she has a hat now." I laugh fully as he just looks more baffled by my words. "I know right? I don't even know how they got a hat that small." I still remember my friends refusing to tell me where they got it, apparently they are the only ones allowed to buy her clothes now.

He just breaks down laughing after trying to hold it in for a few moments, while Entropy looks a bit offended at the reaction to her clearly fabulous hat. "Hat good, stop!" She demands and ruffles her feathers, which just makes us both laugh harder at her reaction.

I pet her a bit and smile while Avalon recovers. "Oh, thanks Entropy. I needed that." He says in a less level tone. I noticed that he was a bit down when he came in, not massively but it was there. "So, are you, ah, going to open your gift?" He asks without sarcasm but instead just genuine curiosity.

I smile a bit knowing damn well he'd take no for an answer and not complain, he's just like that. I bring the gift over to me and start to rip through the colorful paper before opening a simple box, inside is a bag of seeds. I raise a brow and look up to him for an explanation.

He smiles bashfully. "Well, you like plants so I got you some seeds my, f-family had. They are Redwood Tree seeds." He keeps his reserved smile when I blink in surprise. I've heard about a few shops that rarely have Redwood furniture for sale but it's not a common wood type in Equestria.

I can't remember anypony selling the seeds either, it's just not the right climate for the tree to grow naturally. There are probably a few around in farms or private gardens but they aren't an easy thing to just get. He scratches his neck after I don't say anything for a moment. "Ya, I-I know it's not really the best thing for an apartment..."

I smile widely and shake my head quickly. "No, this is amazing. If nothing else I can grow a small one in here. And it's a pretty rare plant to add to my collection. Thanks, I love it." He perks up and I place the seeds back in the box. I was being honest, it is a great addition to my collection.

Redwood Trees can get absolutely enormous and their wood is pretty decent at a few things. I already have a few simple ideas for the tree and that's not even considering the possibilities with crossbreeding it or using Guided Evolution. He smiles back, "Great! I- I'm glad you like it."

We lapse into silence for a moment as I pass him some mint tea. He looks around a little and spots the necklace I have on after a moment. "Is that a gift you got? It looks nice." He compliments it and I get the feeling he's trying to make normal small talk.

I nod and smile before broaching the topic somewhat hanging in front of us. "So, how was your trip? You said you were visiting family, are they doing well?" I ask thinking things might not have gone the best considering his earlier hesitation when mentioning them.

He pauses a bit and nods with a slightly thinned smile. "I-It was nice. Just a bit... Never mind, it's an entire mess you don't need to hear about." He dismisses it and I raise a brow a bit before tilting my ears a bit.

I give him a reassuring look. "I'm willing to listen if you want to talk about it. Family can be messy at the best of times from what I've seen, so if you need to let it out, go for it. Or don't, it's only my business if you want it to be." I don't mind listening to others' problems and giving what advice I can, plus he really does look like he wants to talk about it.

He avoids my eyes for a moment before sighing a bit. "T-Thanks, I don't have many... Friends, to ya know, listen." I keep my comforting smile and nod. "H-Honestly, it's so, small. It really shouldn't bother me after all this time, b-but it does." I bring over some snacks from a cabinet so we have something to eat while we talk.

He goes silent for a moment and looks a bit tired. Not really sad or angry, just resigned in a way. "It's my g-grandfather." He uses the Griffon word for Grandfather as ponies use grandsire and the word sire can have different meanings in Griffon. "He doesn't really approve of, t-this." He holds up his wooden limb after some hesitation.

I narrow my eyes a bit and he quickly shakes his head seeing that. "N-No, no. D-Don't get me wrong. We b-both love each other, but he's just one of those Griffons who sees it as... A different form of w-weakness." I nearly sigh in frustration, Griffons can be stubborn bastards.

Most Griffons respect personal strength and prosthetics are normally considered a sign of slight strength. To be able to overcome the loss of a limb and not let it hold you back, and working to fix the problem as best you can. But that is a general rule among Griffons and doesn't apply to all of them. "Well, that is certainly a mess. He ever say why?" I ask making sure to keep a reassuring but not pitying tone.

He shrugs a bit. "K-kind of? It's just an old belief from his grandfather. A tradition he keeps going, n-not that many others agree with him." He reassures me but I can tell at least a few do agree with his grandfather. "I-It's just, tiring when I visit. Sometimes I'm w-weak from having lost, it. Or having replaced it. I j-just don't know anymore." He admits quietly while looking down.

He takes a deep breath and looks back up at me. "It was nice to see my clutch mates and my parents though." He adds more upbeat. "They are always nice and fun to be with, t-they travel a lot though so I don't see them much. Sometimes on my deliveries, I do though." He adds after some thought.

I nod and think for a moment. "I'm not sure I can give much advice, never had a family. But, does he love you? I mean that genuinely, as a question. Do you feel loved by him?" I ask for more context hoping to understand my friend's pain a bit more.

He stops for a moment in thought. "Y-Yes, he doesn't show it a lot, but h-he does." I can tell he's being honest as he's terrible at lying. "He still does these small things for me when he doesn't think I'm looking." He says softly and smiles a bit more as we focus on the more positive parts.

I smile more at him. "Good, that's something to focus on. You have disagreements and problems, those are never easy to fix. But you're still family, and that's a great place to start." I drink some tea. "I'm not telling you what to do, you know your family more than me."

I take a long drink of tea so that it really sets in first. "So, if you haven't, maybe you should talk about how much you've struggled, it's not going to be pleasant but it might show him what you've risen above," I say trying to think of good advice in a situation where I can offer very little.

He looks thoughtful and blinks a bit before nodding slowly. "I-I don't think we ever really talked about that, a-a least not much." He admits as if just realizing it. "Thanks, Shade. For listening." I nod with a smile. Everybody has things that stare them in the face and yet they fail to see it, I'm no different.

"No problem, that's what friends are for." I pause for a moment and let the silence hang for a moment. "You want me to change the subject?" He nods slowly after a moment. "I do have some news I can share, I'm going on a trip to... Griffonstone." I say the last word slowly realizing it's not the best topic a bit too late.

He actually chuckles a small bit and seems to be doing better already. "It's ok, I-I actually love that city. It's beautiful this time of year. It might be my second favorite city, r-right behind Canterlot of course." He says smiling more and taking my words in good faith. "Decided to go back after your last trip?" He asks and moves us a bit further from the previous topic.

I nod. "Still, sorry for the bad phrasing." I apologize to him before deciding to move on quickly to the new topic. "I like it too, that tree, what a sight it must have been when it was alive. Although it's closely ranked with Feather Falls for me, it's a bit more out of the way but that city is something else."

He looks surprised. "R-Right, you went there. I've never been myself, the Wild Lands can get, n-nasty." He looks at his arm a bit and I nearly curse myself again. "So, what are you planning to do? Griffonstone can be a bit of a, well, dull city" He asks slowly after looking back up at me.

I shrug a bit. "Well, a few things. My trip is going to last a full month so I have time." He tilts his head and I smile. "I don't have a job anymore, and my other profession doesn't need me around that much. So I have plenty of time on my hooves." I summarize.

He sighs and looks wistful. "I-I wish I could do that." It's my turn to raise a brow at that and he notices. "Well, I still have my deliveries so I don't have many vacation days." I give him an even more confused look and tilt my head to the side. "W-What? I don't get many, even as a contractor." He explains.

I just laugh for a moment as he grows confused. "Avalon, you do know you have an absurd amount of bits now, right? I only worked because I had a contract, why are you still working your job?" I point out the obvious and he just sort of blanks out for a moment and stares at me.

"I. Huh. I forgot?" He shrugs a bit and looks embarrassed. "I m-mean not really but, I have my work. Although, I-I guess can do less now, couldn't I?" It seems I've pointed out another obvious thing he's missed. He looks hesitant though, "I- I'm not sure I want to just, stop though. I do like it." He seems to temper his thoughts after a moment.

I laugh more and shrug again. Having complete financial freedom is probably something he's not really adjusted to yet, I still remember haggling over prices when having more money than I could ever spend. I smirk at him, "Well, you have the room to do whatever you want. Work, don't work, sometimes work, do what makes you happy." I give him some more advice.

He looks at the desk we built his arm on. "Happy... Well, hmm, right now? I'd like to work on magic, I-If you feel like it?" He adds quickly and I chuckle before bringing out my notebook with a smile seeing that familiar look of determination in his eyes. I get the feeling he's reluctant to stop working, maybe a bad past experience?

I place it down and nod. "Just think about it, you have all the time you need. And with pleasure, let's see if we can't get you to learn a decent shield spell. Never know when you may need one." I smirk at him as we delve into our normal routine of spells and magic.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading. :]
Current year is 996. YES!!

Ok, I thought a bit of preparation for his trip and a bit of time with Avalon would be nice. I'm trying to farm it as Shade giving advice, but I think it may come off a bit strong here, might tone it down in editing.

I also took the opportunity to show a Griffon-like perspective a bit more along with fleshing out Avalon more.

Also also. Why is fleshing out a saying? It seems so normal to say but it's pretty morbid when you think about it. Just something I noticed, please excuse my random madness and have a good day.