MAR 21 Wednesday.

I watch as the fish eat what is left of my last test subject. I will admit I feel slightly bad about accidentally blending and killing a fair few insects, but I don't really have an alternative here. I leave the fish alone and start to look around for something to do to pass the time. Celestia didn't mention when she'd arrive at Gaia's Eden so I've just spent my time practicing and experimenting a little.

I've mostly been practicing with my Spatial Strings, trying my best to grow them longer and faster. I'm admittedly pretty excited today, and nervous as well. I really want to test this out so I can start practicing teleporting around, to finally have the ability would be absolutely amazing.

I am pretty sure by this point that nothing will happen to me when I move through a Spatial String, I just need to take proper precautions and not be stupid about it. Then again that's asking a lot from me, I tend to do stupid things when I'm excited and impatient.

After a little thinking I walk over to the pavilions and lay down on one of the carpets I added a while back. I lay there for a moment and simply enjoy the sounds of the forest around me along with the gentle wind of today. It's a nice sunny day and things have gone well so far, even with the reminder of this meeting waiting in the back of my head.

I spent my morning at the hospital and had little to actually do, it was a slow day, so in the end, I just ended up asking some medical questions to a nurse who was working with me. My knowledge of medicine and healing, both practical and the theory has continued to grow with my studying and volunteering.

As I lay down in thought I start to meditate, to focus more on the world around me. I focus on my space magic and try to remember an interesting experience I had a few years ago when I first unlocked my space affinity. At the time I heavily over-exerted my magic and expanded my senses to an absurd degree.

For a very brief moment, I thought I felt the world turning, or maybe just it moving through space? It was hard to make anything out at the time and I don't really remember it all that well. The details get fuzzy at that point and even when doing it my senses were so overstretched I could barely make out any detail at all.

It was something I never tried again after that, my control and conversion ratio was simply never good enough to try anything like that without harming myself. I really got lucky about that and I'm honestly surprised I didn't get more injured from the entire fiasco.

I could try it again now? My control and the amount of space magic I can use is far superior to back then. Maybe not today though, I have a mare to deal with and I need to focus on that. So to continue to pass the time I take out my deck of cards and start to practice my control over my space magic.

I keep my eyes closed as I shuffle the deck, trying to keep one specific card's position in mind as I attempt to pull off a magic trick. This one is very simple and just involves me keeping a card where it needs to be so I can have it end up on top of the deck when I'm done, the tricky part is making sure nopony else notices me doing it.

It's a classic trick, pick a card any card and I will shuffle it around only to have it end up on top once again. I've learned a few smaller tricks so far, things like how to splay out a deck evenly and how to move cards around without others noticing. It's proven to be both a fun and effective way to train my control.

After a while of practicing and occasionally failing, I feel space start to shift around a dozen feet away from me, right next to the pavilion. I pay more attention than I normally would and try to feel out what is happening as Celestia teleports to my location.

I watch as a bubble of seemingly stable space seems to stretch to this location from some far-off direction, the space around the stable bubble being heavily stretched. A moment later it snaps back to wherever it came from and I can tell it's not as violent as when I do it, maybe magic is being used to prevent Rebound? Something to ask about at some point.

I open my eyes but keep practicing there is a flash of light, and a second later I blink to see Celestia standing there. She looks the same as always, wearing only the necklace I gave her and having Philomena sitting on her back. I smile, excited to see her, "Celestia, It's good to see you again." I greet her happily and bring out my teapot.

She glances around for a moment and we both watch as Philomena excitedly flies off to join Entropy in the branches of the Vita Tree. She raises a brow for a moment while watching me shuffle cards and make tea at the same time, she holds it in for a moment but eventually lets out a few giggles. "Shade, It's good to see you as well. Why?" She greets me with a mix of humor and curiosity.

I smile more when hearing her voice, it is really nice to see her again. "Magic tricks, the non-magical type, are complicated and require precision, they are a great way to train both control and movement. How have you been by the way?" I explain before putting the cards down in a neat pile and taking out two teacups from my saddlebags. I then take off my saddlebags and put them to the side to be more comfortable.

She gives me a gentle smile, but something is, off. I can't tell what but a few of the hairs on the back of my neck stand up as she lays down across from me on the carpet and looks me over with focused eyes. "I have been well, and things have been going well too. I even got those two nobles to agree to split the land." I nod, having seen something similar in the newspaper not long ago.

I pass her a cup of apple-flavored Blood Leaf Tea and she takes it. "Now, Shade. Read this." She gets my attention and takes out a rolled-up scroll from under her wing before silently passing it to me. At this point I'm a little more concerned, she's acting a bit odd and her short-worded demand is out of place.

I hold the scroll for a moment and raise a brow. "If this is about my letter-" I start but she shakes her head immediately. I'm now a bit concerned as her eyes show some worry in them and a little sadness.

She chuckles a little despite the look in her eyes. "Somewhat, despite your rather lacking letter this is something else, now please." I'm a little worried at how gentle yet insistent she's being, but her eyes show just how much she needs me to read the scroll. I take a moment to undo a binding on the scroll and unravel it.

To The Sun Princess, from Dragon Lord Torch.

:Oh... Fuck!: I glance up for a moment but Celestia stays silent as I quickly go back to reading.

It's been years since I've sent a letter, or maybe more than that? I'm writing to thank you for sending me such an interesting Pony. I haven't laughed this much in decades, he even brought some good stories to share! He fit right in with my Dragons!

Even down to the bloodshed and fighting he acted more like a Dragon than many Dragons, Imagine that! He even offered to share my stories with your Ponies. I like him, he's fun, send him back whenever you want. Just make sure he keeps his fighting in check, I don't need a dead Dragon because they didn't know better than to leave him alone.

I stare at the somewhat uneven writing on the rough paper scroll. I have many thoughts in my mind, the main one being, what the FUCK! He can talk with Celestia? since when? Actually, if she set up the same letter system as she does with Spike it would be very easy to communicate, well shit.

I also find it a little funny how blunt and honest Torch is in his writing, it fits him. It is also interesting to see his view of me from a different angle, but right now my main concern is Celestia. Who is now staring at me with a concerned yet demanding look. "Shade, what did he mean by bloodshed? And are, you, OK?" She demands gently as I pass the scroll back.

I think for a moment and take a notebook out of my saddlebags, this notebook contains everything I found out about the Dragons in an edited and sorted format. I place the book next to me and sigh a bit, "Well, I... It's complicated. I AM fine! I got a little hurt but it healed within a few days." Her eyes focus more and she almost looks like she'll say something but stays silent.

I push away any lingering fear or worry as this is my friend, and I have nothing to worry about, even if my mind disagrees sometimes. "It really is complicated. The Dragon Lands aren't safe, and this incident is messy." I give some excuses while trying to think of how to explain properly.

She stares at me for a long moment and drinks some tea. "I am relieved to know you are ok." She drops some of her seriousness for a moment but it's clear she's going to want to know what happened. "I know the Dragon lands are dangerous, and I'm not mad, but I want to know what happened." She gives me an understanding look but again makes it clear I'm not getting out of this, while also keeping her gentle tone.

I smile a little despite the unexcepted turn, happy she's being understanding with me, but also a little confused about why she's being so gentle. "Well, first we need context." I stop on a page that describes Dragon society in more detail along with how they view things like violence. "This notebook is everything I learned, not the raw notes but an edited version for you," I explain and pass it to her.

She takes the notebook and starts reading through a page. "To explain, you probably know that Dragons can hold grudges, right?" She nods but shows a little amount of impatience at me not getting to the point, while I try to rapidly think about how to explain in a delicate manner, before giving up. "Ok, no more beating around the bush." I drop my attempt at explaining slowly as this is not working for me.

She snorts and nods before closing the notebook, not having read much. "Agreed. Shade?" I look up at her. "Are you ok? And I mean more than just physically? Death can be a rather, heavy thing." Her tone drops all seriousness and I see my friend legitimately concerned over me. I raise a brow at the mention of death and nearly chuckle after a moment.

She sees my eyes going wide and me holding in a little amusement and reacts with more concern. "I am serious Shade, something like this... I know you see things differently, but-" I hold up a hoof to cut her off. She looks really confused at my reaction and I nearly laugh again. "What? Shade?" She asks, sounding even more confused.

I shake my head. "Ok, so his letter probably came off wrong." She looks at the letter again. "I didn't kill anyone, I did get into a fight and it got bloody, but that's it," I say in a more relaxed tone now understanding her perspective. "I was trying to explain why I had to cut a Dragons tail off." I decided to drop the largest pieces of information so I could get them out quickly.

Her face quickly shifts from confusion and worry to relief and shock. She lets out a breath and seems to slump a little, relaxing fully while closing her eyes. "You thought I killed someone? I mean, Torch wasn't exactly clear." I give her the benefit of the doubt.

She nods slowly, looking a little ashamed. "He was rather vague, and your short letter also didn't help. I thought a fight could have gone wrong, or simply too far." She looks like she just got a weight lifted off of her. "If that really was the case I thought it best to let you settle in before asking." I feel a little warmth at her thoughtfulness. Her eyes snap open abruptly and she looks at me. "Wait? What do you mean cut off a Dragons tail?" She asks with a new wave of concern.

I nod slowly and pick up the notebook again, happy that we quickly moved past that. "Like I said, it's complicated. To be blunt and to the point though." I take up a lighter tone and try to improve the mood from the odd situation we're in. I Guess her reaction and demanding concern were more about my mental health than physical.

I drink some tea. "So, I was at one of the markets in the Dragon Lands, I was trading and got caught up in the middle of two Dragons who didn't like each other." I start to explain and as I do so Celestia changes her stance, she still looks concerned but also less gentle and more ready to chastise me.

"I was just trading, I got what I wanted and just needed to close the deal so I could leave. Then the Dragon that was bothering the Dragon I was trading with, took the item I was trading with, and they stole from me. I took offense to being stolen from, they took offense to me wanting it back." I give a short and vague recount so we can move past this topic quickly.

She interrupts me at this point. "I never went myself, but I believe that there are guards of some sort, yes?" She asks the obvious question and I nod. "Did you not think to get their attention?" She does sound a little judgmental, but I can't blame her as I did do something similar in the past.

I pick up the notebook and pass it back to her. "Didn't need to, the guards noticed soon enough I was just stalling for time so the Dragon, his name is Obsidian. I just needed to keep him talking." She nods with some approval while continuing to read the section on how Dragons react to insults. "And it worked, a guard came over and Obsidian was forced to give me my things and leave, also being stood up by a Pony in full view of everyone." I hint at the main problem.

She looks up from the notebook after reading a little. "And considering that this section is about the dangers of slighting a Dragon, I assume this, Obsidian, didn't leave it at that." I nearly raise a brow as she says his name with some slight disdain, I just nod in agreement.

"Yes, and while the Dragon guards keep peace at the market, anything outside of that is very much different." I think I see a hint of anger on her face for a brief moment, but it's quickly gone. "Because he couldn't find out where I was camping, he just sat at the market waiting for me, and avoiding him wasn't really an option." I continue.

She gives me a look saying the opposite. "You very much could have. The incident might not be your fault, but you could have just walked away." She sounds a little annoyed, and I don't entirely blame her. I flip through a few more pages of the notebook and land on the section about violence.

"Sadly not really." I disagree and point to the notebook so she can read. "Dragons aren't like that, simply letting it go is not something he would do. Me being seen as weak is a much bigger danger, it would show that more Dragons could do the same, and they very much would try." I am very honest and blunt with the unfortunate truth.

She still looks like she disagrees but sighs after a moment and starts reading through the section. "It's also worse with Obsidian, if I didn't go to him there is a large chance he would try to find me eventually or take it out on others if he failed to find me. I took no pleasure in it, but it did need to end and it needed to end quickly." I finish my little speech and we are both silent for a moment.

Celestia continues to read for a minute before putting the notebook down, she stands up and picks me up with her magic, she closes the gap between us and gives me a hug. It's a long hug and she lets go after nearly a minute, "Why do you put yourself in danger? You stupid, stallion." She chastises me in a soft voice before separating from me and laying back down in the same spot as before, I try not to enjoy the hug too much.

I thinly smirk seeing her look more relaxed but also tired and sad. "To answer your earlier question, I had to get a little serious in the fight. You've seen me cut things, and after... Removing his tail, I got him to surrender." She again looks a bit sad but also looks a little understanding. "I was able to heal it back on, so no permanent injuries for either of us." She actually smiles a little hearing that and looks surprised.

She drinks her tea and reads more of the notebook, flipping through a few pages. "You do work for the crown, and me. So, you are going to make a full report, names, incidents, and actions." She states after seemingly picking herself up from the slightly hard reality I dropped on our conversation. "Now, what else did you learn on your trip?" She asks and just drops the topic entirely.

I nod without argument, this may come up again but at least she understands and accepts my reasoning for what I did. "I can have it done and sent to you by tomorrow. And, I know it seems frankly messed up, but thanks for understanding." I say after some hesitation, she's always been understanding and I can't just say nothing.

She smiles at me softly and nods. "I may not agree, but it's clear you didn't act recklessly, at least not completely. And you did it because you thought you needed to, just please remember that violence doesn't solve as much as it seems to." She keeps her understanding tone and gives some advice as she normally does.

I nod seriously. "I know, and I would have been nicer if I thought it would work. I will add that I did antagonize Obsidian, mostly to buy time, but also to not look weak. Probably an oversight on my part." I be honest and admit my fault as I intend to add it to the report I'll be making and don't want to seem like I'm hiding it.

She again nods and I fully drop the topic. "Well, I'm not sure how much you know about Dragons. I did hear a few interesting tales about you though." I add with some slight teasing, trying my best to lift us up from the lower mood. "Did you really throw a Dragon through a rock for trying to breathe fire on you?" I ask abruptly.

She pauses while taking a sip of tea and gives me a slightly embarrassed look. "Yes, it was a, complicated incident." I smile but don't comment on her similar use of words to me. She flips through pages of the notebook with clear curiosity and some amazement. "Did you translate their language?" She asks, sounding genuinely impressed.

I tilt my ear and half nod. "Yes and no, I just transcribed it. If you flip a few pages I got the written language as well, but that's not everything I got on the language." she quickly does so and stares at it with focus. "I made a powerful but simple magical shield with a gem array, I traded it with an Elder Dragon, a very old one named Larimar. For nearly three weeks I spent every day learning everything I could from her." I remember Larimar and the sort of time we spent together.

Celestia starts to smile and our moods take an upturn as she gives me an impressed look. "This is extensive." She flips to the back where I included a chapter list. "You got all of this?" I nod as she looks genuinely excited about all the new knowledge. "From eating habits all the way to, burial rites." She flips to the chapter in curiosity as I'm reminded of an important topic I need to talk to her about.

"That reminds me, this notebook has several things I won't be including in a public release." She stops reading and looks up at me with a surprised but even more excited expression. I roll my eyes, "Yes, I'm publishing it, we'll need to find a good way to do that. That's not entirely important though, flip to the section on greed." I take a more serious tone.

Her eyes focus and a moment later she finds the right chapter and starts reading, she looks back after a minute with a slightly confused look. "Spike," I say simply, her face falls into very slight worry as she starts rereading the section again. "I remember how he was born, and while it could just be Twilight's magic, if it isn't." I trail off and she puts it together immediately.

She stays calm and simply nods. "Possibly, Twilight's magic is powerful. I'll look into it but I'm not sure how real this may be, I have never paid too much attention to the Dragon Lands but I do not remember anything like this." She shows her wisdom and shares a few doubts.

I don't argue as that is something I knew I was unlikely to fully convince her on, even though I'm not sure if Spike's birth had anything to do with greed growth. "Good, if you flip a few more pages it has everything I was able to get on raising Dragons, although that's not much. There is another important theory I have on a Dragons diet." She flips a few pages and continues to read.

After reading that she just puts the notebook under her wing and it vanishes. She notices me watching and smirks, once again holding it over me. "Keep that book safe, maybe in a vault, there is a lot in there that probably shouldn't be well known," I advise her seriously. "Also, keep your tricks, I have my own."

A moment after I say that my teacup vanishes from view as I drop it in mid-air, a moment later I catch it again as it falls down from above us. It only took a moment to move it through a Spatial String and there is barely any distortion as it happens so fast. She jumps a little and I chuckle. "Got you," I say with some smugness.

She gains a massive smile. "Of course, you'd learn to teleport things while on vacation. If this can even count as a vacation. Congratulations, you are now in the same realm as Starswirl. You did it!" She beams with pride and looks over the teacup, taking it from my grasp. "How did you do it?" She asks excitedly.

The mood has now recovered fully from earlier and I feel some pride at her praise. "It's not really teleportation. I'm moving the teacup through a tunnel of compressed space to shorten the distance." She just raises a brow, "I know, that doesn't really make sense. It works about the same though, and before you ask, no I didn't try to teleport yet." I add knowing full well she'd remember my promise.

She just chuckles a little. "Good, I wouldn't want to ground you again." I can't tell if she's serious or not, but I'm sure as hell not testing that. "What is the range like? Is it dangerous in any way? Because I would very much like to know before we try it." She asks excitedly and takes out some paper to make her own notes.

I smile and once again remember just how similar we are. "The magic is based heavily on my will, so as long as I actively try not to die, I shouldn't, I hope." I joke a little and chuckle a moment later, she just gives me a concerned look. "Sorry, I spent weeks with Dragon humor, it can get morbid." I quickly stop and explain.

She sighs once again. "Because why wouldn't it? You really do have a talent for getting to know other races, maybe you would make a good diplomat." She teases me and I give her a deadpan look in return as she giggles. "Well, go on then, you held back for weeks and I'm curious. Take things slow though, we have time." She reminds me happily.

I stand up and stretch a bit while grinning like a fool. "With pleasure."

Author's Note

Thank you for reading. :]
Current year is 996

I'm not sure I did this perfectly, it's ok but it somehow feels a little off. I think it's decent though, tell me what you think. Also, this will probably be continued, it depends on how you all feel about it.

I think Celestia misreading this a bit works well enough, it felt like we needed something like that to be added to their friendship, even if it's quickly cleared up.