APR 22 Sunday.

I slowly sip my tea as Twilight continues to look around. "So, how have your studies been recently? I've mostly been improving on healing spells myself." I half lie as my work at the hospital has made me learn more about healing in general, although I am mostly just doing the same things again and again.

She sips her tea as well and tastes it for a few moments before taking another sip. "Well, The Princess has had me learning more about multi-casting. I won't be able to do it for another year or two, it's really complicated, have you tried it?" I nod as I have and can understand her complaints. "Wait, you do runic casting, that must be so annoying."

I chuckle a bit and nod again. "Maybe, but I find that runic casting can have some advantages over normal casting. As an example." I cast a spell under her teacup on the table and she fails to notice as the spell matrix is small enough to fit under the cup. She raises a brow and looks around confused as I lift my teacup and drink.

I see her horn glow and reach out and try to move her cup, only to fail. She looks further confused and tries again to the same result, "What?" She reaches out a hoof but still fails to pick it up and looks at me with a mix of curiosity and a silent demand for an explanation.

I smile and cancel the Sticking spell. "You don't need to cast a spell from a horn with runic magic, any direction is perfectly valid, even underneath something as long as there is a small gap. And for the simple spells, the size of the spell matrix can vary a lot." I pick up her teacup and show her the small round indent underneath it.

She looks a bit shocked but then gets an excited and impressed look. "You'd have to visualize the entire space underneath the cup though! And then not miss anything with the spell matrix while forming it blindly!" I pause for a moment and quickly realized that I just fucked up a little bit.

I used my magical senses to sense underneath the cup so she's right that from the outside what I did was much more impressive than you'd expect and blindly forming and placing a spell matrix is much harder. I nearly freeze a bit but recover and shake my head a little while desperately thinking of a logical explanation.

"Correct however, that's only if you have no practice." I throw it out as it's the only thing that fits well and I can come up with quickly. "Many cups have that indent, and that makes it great for pranking your friends. Let's just say I spent several hours with these cups getting that down right, and even then I still don't get it right half the time." I quickly add onto my early accurate but bullshit explanation.

I'm not lying that the form of training would work, I just never did that. She looks a bit confused and starts giggling after a moment, "You spent that long, to prank somepony?" She asks as she breaks down into some short but full laughter. "How long did it take you? Did it work?" She adds after recovering from her laughter.

I laugh as well, mostly from relief at dodging that pitfall. "Several hours, but me and a friend were also researching things at the time so I wasn't just doing that. Back to my point though, while runic casting is hard it lets you do some odd things, how about another example." I pause and simply draw a line of magic in the air.

She again looks confused at the odd display of magic as I do nothing more. "How long do you think I could hold that line of magic in the air? Well, with my capacity it's there as long as I concentrate a small bit and am near it, it's an easy endless source of dim light." I explain and give her a less impressive but still inventive idea.

She gains a look of realization and actually takes out a notebook to make a note of that. "I, I never thought about doing that. Hmm, it's not as bright as a spell, but it really would last as long as you want." She thinks for a moment and draws with her hoof creating her own line of magic in the air. "You don't even need to form it outside the body so even a novice could do it." She happily discovers something to add and writes that down as well.

I smirk and settle back into place while silently agreeing with her addition. Twilight may sometimes have trouble seeing the obvious, but she knows how to add onto things and use them in new ways. I turn to see Spike looking up at the magic lines with wide eyes. "Pretty."

Twilight gives him a soft smile and nods. "They are, do you need anything?" She asks and he shakes his head and goes back to looking at the lines, I keep mine in place with a little will so he has something to distract him. "Hey, you said you enchanted the teapot, right? How good are you at enchanting?" She changes the subject a bit.

I think before answering and taking out a small gem shard from the bag I have, both Twilight and Spike look at the gem with interest. "I brought a few in case your brother wanted a snack. But to answer you, I know how to instantly cast the spell to enchant something, but I still need to take more time with the actual spell I want to add." I think for a moment and cast three spells in slow succession.

One to enchant the gem shard to hold magic, another to gather magic, and a third to create light using the subpar Light spell I gave Twilight earlier. She looks a little impressed but not massively so, I've been a Journeypony caster for a while now so this is roughly expected for a decent spell caster of my level.

I fill the gem and move it close to her, I tap it and a small gentle blue light glow comes from the gem sliver. "Impressive, you really made it this far on self-study alone. If you had gone to The Princesses school or even another magic school when you were, a, colt... Sorry." She looks embarrassed and coughs a little.

I wave it off with a smile. "It's no problem, I grew up how I did and that's far from anyponies fault." I quickly reassure her as I honestly don't feel offended. "So how far are you along with multi-casting? I've tried a few times but I don't have the control yet, maybe in a few years though." I say and look over as Spike licks his lips and looks at the glowing gem.

I smile and give him a different sliver. "Thank you." He says happily and devours the small gem sliver with no hesitation. His teeth seem to sink into the solid gem and break it apart with ease, I wonder what his bite force is? Or maybe magic helps in breaking it apart in some way?

Twilight nods slowly but still looks a little apologetic. "I'm, not close, or far away. Keeping it all in mind just takes so much, effort! I know it's important but it takes so long as well, I did succeed but it took me nearly three minutes to do it, three!" She hams up her words a bit and I nod in agreement once again. "So, what type of healing spells have you been learning?"

I think for a moment and pull out my own notebook before flipping to a page containing some of my notes on a healing spell to help deal with inflammation, although it's a less used spell by most healers as most prefer herbal remedies for such things. "It's a bit more complicated, not overly so though, I'm hoping to get it done soon."

She looks it over curiously. "You know, I never asked, but why healing? You said you wanted to go into spellcraft right? Is this for a job or..." She trails off and I think for an appropriate response. I can't say the real reason which is my life affinity, but to be honest, I haven't given it much thought myself.

In truth, I could have moved a bit further than just the volunteer work I've been doing. I could properly shadow a nurse to try and pass the test to become a nurse, or even a doctor if I invested my time into it. I'm just not sure if that's what I want to do with my time, I mean I already do so much good with my inventions and my healing will improve more with my life affinity than any spell.

I could see what she thinks. Be honest and see where that gets me. I speak up after a beat of silence, "I'm not sure, I like healing others, but making it my job doesn't seem right. I want to make spells and I'm honestly getting closer to the point of actually being able to do it, to pick one or the other seems, extreme I guess?" I am fairly honest with her as I am having trouble deciding.

She falls into thought and also seems lost at my decision. "Oh, huh. I'm, not really sure I can help? I mean, I would love to, but." She seems uncertain and stops herself. "I don't know. I really like doing and learning magic, the spells, the research, the books, I couldn't see myself doing anything else." She gives her own view in lieu of any actual advice.

I smile and give her an understanding look. "It's fine, not like I expected you to have all the answers. What do you plan to do?" I ask curiously and she looks confused at the questions. "After learning from The Princess I mean, it's not like you'll be a student forever, so what do you want to do after that?" I repeat my question.

She goes still for a moment and just sort of zones out a bit. "I, ahhh, I'm not sure?" She eventually says with clear uncertainty in her tone. She giggles a little awkwardly, "I guess neither of us really thought it all through, huh?" I chuckle a little as well, mostly from her reaction.

Like before Twilight can miss many obvious things, but then again I never really found any records on how long Celestia keeps her personal students, for all I know they work but still remain her students their whole lives. Something to ask Celestia later, and maybe have her ask Twilight what I just did as well.

I nod and look over to see that Spike looks a little bored, our magical lines no longer holding much of his interest. I think for a moment and reach out with my field to grab a small ball and move it over to us. "This is a little something I picked up at a Griffon market in Feather Falls." I demonstrate it by throwing it and catching it as it curves and flies right back at me. "You think he's big enough?" I ask.

She looks at the ball and motions for me to pass it to her, and I do. She looks it over and tosses it before letting it come back and hit her chest, the ball only coming back with minimal force and being harmless. "Hmm, ok, thanks. Here you go Spike, just remember to be careful and don't break it." She reminds him with a bit of sternness but a smile.

He happily grabs the ball and holds it for all of two seconds before throwing it with his little arms, only managing to throw it a few feet off of the table. A second later it comes back and bumps softly against his head before falling onto the table, Twilight almost says something but is cut off by happy giggles from Spike. "Thank you Shad, Twi!" He squeals out and throws the ball again.

I chuckle at the slightly tired sigh that Twilight breathes out while Spike entertains himself by trying and failing to catch a wooden ball. Entropy keeps an eye on him as it is one of her favorite toys, but seems ok with him using it for the time being. "Ahh, foals. You can tell them it's foolish or dangerous, to them it's just fun." I voice my thoughts and laugh a little more at the cute and determined expression Spike has.

Twilight smiles a bit and nods, keeping an eye on Spike. "You wouldn't believe how hard it's been keeping him out of things, do you know how easily he can cut his way out of anywhere? We went through cradles like nuts for weeks after he started crawling around." She says and giggles while my laughter comes back even harder.

Entropy flies over and lands on the table, laying on my side opposite of the table from Spike while watching us and seemingly enjoying being a silent observer. "You think that's bad? imagine trying to deal with a bird that loves flying, any time I go outside she can just take off, not that she does but it's still something I always have to remember." I joke back and continue with the light mood.

She snorts at that and looks over to Entropy. "Maybe, but does she speak to every stranger you meet? Because Spike seems basically obsessed with meeting anypony we come across with a wave and a hello. Every, single, time." I smile at Spike as he listens in and waves, only to get hit by the ball softly as he isn't paying attention to it.

When I stop laughing from that I speak up again and admit defeat. "Fine, you got me there. Entropy may know a lot of words but she doesn't speak much, she is a clever girl though." I see Entropy's tail feathers wagging at that. "Anyway, where do you live? I'm going to guess somewhere more fancy." I tease her a bit and change the subject again.

She blushes a little and nods after a moment. "Kind of? I wouldn't call it fancy, but compared to here it- Epp, no! That came out wrong! You have a lovely home!" She quickly corrects herself and I just smile at her. "It's in the upper city, east side." She gives me a vague area and blushes a bit more in embarrassment.

I tilt my head and lean back a little, standing more straight and stretching a bit. That side of the upper city is more fancy, but not massively so. It's mostly made up of high middle-class Ponies with a good amount of wealth but nothing too extreme. "It's fine, I actually prefer this little home of mine to a lot of other places," I say honestly.

She still looks embarrassed but takes a few breaths until her blush goes down. "I can understand that, some of the Ponies I've met can't really move to better places as well." She comments and I raise a brow while she looks more embarrassed. "Oh! Sorry! I didn't mean it like that, but, well, I'm not sure what you do for work anymore." She explains and I can understand the confusion.

I think for a few moments but I can't see much of a reason to lie about my wealth, or at least having enough to get by where I am. "I actually don't have a job." Her embarrassment is covered by growing confusion. "When I was starting out at the library I didn't pay for much so I invested most of my bits, those investments went well enough, I don't really need to work," I reveal with a casual tone.

She blinks a few times and gains a look of epiphany. "Ohhh, that, explains a lot actually." She mumbles and I show a questioning expression and she looks a bit less embarrassed. "Well, you are really good at magic and study a lot, but also would need to work and do other things, it never seemed like enough time." She reasoned and I nodded as it made sense from an outside view. "Wait, why stay here then?" She adds after a second.

She doesn't have much of a reaction to me having more money than she assumed, she did grow up in a decently well-off home and has been interacting with nobles for a few years so it's not too surprising. I shrug, "I like it, it's got enough space for me and is close to the library, the park, and importantly my friends." I give my main reason, leaving out my paranoia.

She tilts her head a little. "I mean, sure? Still, I would think there are other larger places nearby." She argues a bit but drops it as I just shrug again. "Well, tell me if you move, I don't want to be sending letters to some random Pony." She adds and glances out the window behind her.

We've been talking for a while now and it's a little later. I cast a Temporis spell and see that it's almost time for a training session with Stone we agreed on last game night. I'm sure as hell not going to be late to that as he will kick my flank for it. She looks at the time as well and I look back to her a moment later.

I give her an apologetic look. "Sorry, I have something planned and need to get going soon, thanks for coming over though, we should do this again." I don't drag things out as I have no reason to and would rather just be blunt. She looks a bit disappointed but nods without complaint and picks Spike up while passing me the ball back.

She smiles as I walk her over to the door. "It's fine, and we should. Your apartment is, cozy." She gives it a compliment despite her earlier words. "Have a good day, Shade, or night." She adds as it is nearing the end of the day. Spike also makes his presence known by standing up on her back.

He waves at us again. "Bye Shad, bye birb!" I wave at both of them as they leave down the hallway before closing my door with a smile and flipping a small switch. I sigh and turn to Entropy, happy with how things went but also a bit more tired from all the talking.

Entropy looks back at me and I smile. "I think that went well, thanks for sharing by the way, you get some extra treats for that." She flaps her wings and caws happily while I move to my workroom to gather things I'll need for training. As I gather my things a few distant memories come to mind.

I had a few friends in my last life, not many but a few, and even after all this time, I miss them to a degree. It's odd to think about, they were mostly around my age and would all be nearing their forties right now. It really has been that long hasn't it? Almost time for things to kick off as well.

I'll need to start planning a few things, I have some rough ideas on paper but I'll need actual contingencies eventually. The difficulty lies in those contingencies not needing me, if they did I could die any day and it would all go up in smoke with me. So much to do and so little time.

At the moment the biggest problem and concern is the main six actually becoming the elements of harmony, without that things will get a lot more uncertain. If it does still happen then a lot of things can just be fixed by them like normal, with me and others helping with any unexpected problems.

Beyond making sure Twilight gets to Ponyville I'm not really sure there is anything I could do, and trying to fix the smaller problems before they happen is a danger in a very different way. Sure I might make things better but trying to fix a problem that doesn't even exist yet is a complicated thing.

Let's take Starlight as an example, let's assume she goes off to found her town, or did she take it over? See that's what I mean, as a start I don't even know if that town exists yet, let alone where it is. I don't even remember if it had a name, if it did it's one of the things I forgot over time.

So in trying to prevent that mess from happening, I'd need to find a town that may or may not exist. Determine how to handle a delict situation with several dozen or more Ponies, and that situation could be vastly different at this moment in time. And then somehow help with a Pony's emotional problems when I have zero skill in anything like that.

I'd be wasting valuable time while doing all of this as well, time I could be using to prepare for greater threats or inventing things to help others. To be blunt, it's better for me to not do anything, and when it becomes a problem I will help how I can from the back.

A lot of these smaller problems are like this, things that I could solve but really aren't worth it. The larger problems are a completely different thing entirely. Discord, Tirek, The Storm King, and whatever the fuck the later seasons had. Honestly, I'm doing pretty good already just by dealing with Chrysalis, and that's just the start.

It's not a guarantee, but things are going well and there is a good chance we could have Chrysalis and her hive on our side for everything to come. An ally like that is nothing to sneeze at, it means we have a lot more ways to deal with the coming problems.

Despite all these facts though I still feel a little bad, I know the troubles others will have in the future and I'm choosing to not help. Celestia's words ring true once again, no Pony can do everything themselves, it's just not how it works. All there is in the end is the need to move forward, to keep doing what I can.

I sigh again as I pack everything needed in my saddlebags and head for the door, Entropy landing on my back as I walk out into the hallway. :I wonder how Celestia is doing? Probably laughing at some poor fool silently: I chuckle a bit at the thought.

POV shift Cadance.

I look over yet another paper before softly glaring at Aunty across the dining room table, she's laughing at me silently, I know she is.

After my first attempt, I've continued to try and find where Shade and Aunty go, I still have no plans to barge in but Shade challenged me and I'm not letting him win. But after so long I've still found nothing, NOTHING. "I do not like you at the moment," I say and glare at her a little more as she sips her tea to hide her growing smile.

It doesn't make any sense! I've looked through every form of documentation that could point to a location. But I know he owns something, yet nothing. I even looked through laws on such things and even ways you could try and hide such records through loopholes.

Admittedly that did let me find and close a few of such loopholes but it still frustrates me. I sigh and pick up another page to look through for anything I might have missed. Looking at laws might have been a waste of time, the only law that even lets you live on land without documentation is unclaimed land that you settled.

There are very few locations like that, land where as long as you follow the law you don't even need to pay tax on the land for a few decades while you settle it. The downside is that it's normally highly dangerous land. The law itself is very old and only still around because some land is designated for it.

I ruled all that land out early though, it normally has monsters and all manner of things that make it deadly. You'd have to be either crazy, brave, or strong enough to take down anything dangerous there. I stop my mind for a moment as a recent memory flashes past.

He's strong enough to fight an adult Dragon and willing to spend two months in the Dragon lands. :Wait: A moment after my mind forms the connection I put down the page and look at Aunty. I also remember the report about the wolf, I should send a Letter to Shade to make sure he's well. :He didn't! DID HE?!!:

Aunty raises a brow as I stare off at the wall. "He's not in the registry, any registry," I mumble out as the idea sinks in. He would more than be able to make protections and he's paranoid enough to stay safe, he's also strong enough to deal with anything out there.

I glare at Aunty again as she smiles openly, remembering the exact words she said to me the last time I asked about this. "You never said he was. You tricked me! For months!" I shout at her and she just smiles more, I throw an apple at her but she just catches it and takes a bite.

I glare for a moment longer before slumping down. :At least I know where to look now, but how the buck am I supposed to find this place in some random forest?!!:

Author's Note

Thanks for reading. :]
Current year is 996

I was planning to just skip forward and move on, but then you just had to say you wanted more. However, I already wrote the first half of the next chapter with a time skip instead of a continuation, so what was I supposed to do?

Well, obviously I was supposed to binge-write for three hours and write the entire chapter with half the usual amount of time. So, I did that, and this was the result.

Funnily enough, this means I still have the first half of tomorrow's chapter already written, so I guess for once I know what I'll be writing about tomorrow. Does that mean I actually have a plan? YES! For exactly one hour ahead of normal.

PS. Happy holidays to you all, have a lovely day and know there is someone out there happy to see you.