SEP 21 Friday.

I look across the short distance in front of me and look over the message board.

I just got back from spending some time shopping and thought I'd stop by Gaia's Eden to check in, and it seems I have good timing today. I can sense Celestia inside her home, and I can hear some distant piano music, it's rather nice. But I have a few things to do before I can get to all that.

I turn to Entropy as she looks towards Celestia's home, "You can go say hi, I'll catch up." I encourage and a moment later she flies off with a caw, heading right for the building while I walk over closer to the message board. I hear the slight crunch of what little snow is on the ground from the recent snowfall.

Winter is here, and as expected it is a bit early this year, it will also be lasting longer than normal from what the newspapers are saying. You would think that would decrease the amount of Ponies that get injured and show up at the hospital, but much like humans Ponies tend to go a little stir-crazy after a while.

I guess you can only spend so long indoors with others before problems arise. Still, there is a small downturn of patients in Winter and that will give me a little more time to learn things from Clear Water. So far things have mostly remained the same on that front, with me handling less extreme cases and mostly learning spells and how to spot different things.

It's slow going but that is to be expected. I still say that I find Clear Water's personality to be odd, she really does seem desensitized to things from what I can tell, or maybe just detached. Unlike other Ponies, she doesn't flinch at any wound, something some of the older doctors still have a problem with.

They tend to flinch but get the work done all the same, she just does the work. She is also very skilled at what she does and has definitely earned the rank she holds. I've seen her look at a patient for all of five seconds and not even touch them while still seeing what the problem was.

I'll need a lot more time to actually get to know her, but she is definitely a good teacher and knows what she's doing. I'm just happy I haven't messed up and gotten yelled at yet, which is something I'm fine with but would prefer not to happen. I leave those thoughts alone for a moment and check the note on the message board.

It's just Celestia asking for some regular oak wood for her carving, something I can get done easily. I trot over to my little seed bank and find what I'm looking for easily, my sorting system making the process a quick affair. I take the seed outside and drop it before dumping some life magic into it.

It doesn't take long for me to grow a full Oak tree with plenty of wood to use, I just use Spatial Cut and separate the trunk from the top and bottom of the tree. I let the trunk fall and decompose the rest before being more accurate and decomposing the trunk into a few dozen blocks of wood.

The log falling makes a loud thump and I spot Celestia looking out a window, I just wave and start to collect all the wood blocks, sticking them together so I can carry them all at once. I place them in a neat pile for the moment and move on to the other things I need to get done at the moment.

I walk over to an unused area of Gaia's Eden, near the fish pond and further away from the river. This will give me plenty of space to work with, as a start I place down the gems I brought with me. Three medium rubies that will be making the first part of this project.

I take a moment and clear away any snow in a forty-foot circle, placing the gems down one foot outside of the large circle I just made. I spend a moment remembering what I'll need before starting to enchant the rubies into a small gem array to combine their magical power.

It takes a few moments for me to cast the spells I want to enchant into the gems and also to add the spell to make it into an array, but once I'm done I place the gems down and start to work. I enchanted the gems to make the first layer of protection I'll have around my project to grow the Mantle Bloom.

This area will have two circles and two shields. The outer most shield will keep in any heat and flames made from the modified Fire Blossom trees. I've also named this new variety of Fire Blossom Tree to simplify my notes, it's just the Fire Tree now, but that works well enough. This shield will be the outer shell of this all, inside of it will be a ring of twenty Fire Trees that will generate all the fire affinity magic I'll need.

Then I'll make a smaller circle of twenty feet in the middle where the actual Mantle Bloom will go, along with the gems and shield used to keep the lava and heat contained. I move around the shape of the outer shield and make it into a tall cylinder with a dome on top.

That will give the Fire Trees room to grow and still keep any snow or water off of it all. Once I have the shield set up and properly placed I leave the small gem array alone and take out some seeds. I plant each one in a perfect ring around the outer area and head back to grab my staff so I have extra life magic to work with.

I activate Mana Mimicry and drink some tea to boost my magical regeneration as best I can before moving to the first Fire Tree seed and growing it quickly. I make it into a ten-foot-tall tree and move on to the next, and the next. As I work I notice Celestia walking over to watch, Entropy and Philomena both riding on her back.

She keeps her distance and sits down to watch me work. An interesting difference between the Fire Blossom Tree and the Fire Tree is that the Fire Tree makes many more flames, despite them mostly looking the same otherwise. The Fire tree's flowers don't just smolder as they fall, they full-on burn like a torch. I think the increased fire affinity magic production is the main cause of that.

I feel the area heat up more as I walk around and grow more trees, each one making the enclosed space hotter and hotter. The shield will prevent it from getting too hot but that still means it can reach a livable but uncomfortable temperature. It takes me nearly fifteen minutes to grow all twenty trees and by the time I'm done, I've nearly taken half the magic from the staff and start to refill it as I walk over to Celestia with a smile. "Hello, enjoy the show?" I ask in a happy greeting.

She smiles back and stands from her lying position in the grass. "Very much so, it is always a treat to see life grow at such a fast pace. What are you working on at this time? It seems like something to do with fire? A new spell to test?" She guesses as she looks over the trees and gem array from a distance.

I look at the Fire Trees as they slowly rain down a never-ending wall of flames, they are like demented falling cherry blossoms. I shake my head a bit and start walking to return my staff, with her walking beside me. I can tell she's getting closer to that more somber mood that consumes her this time of year, but I don't mention it. "Actually I was working on the... Wait, I never told you about that, did I?" I pause with a look of realization.

She raises a brow and gives me an amused look. "You will have to be far more specific." She says with a smile and I start walking towards my seed vault after dropping off my staff. "Ahh, a new plant then? Then again I can't think of anything that needs that much fire." She guesses correctly as she knows what the seed vault has inside it.

I nod and I leave her at the entrance as she can't fit inside. "Yes and no, I found something in the Dragon Lands. Nothing to really do with Dragons so I never put it in the book or my notes." I shout out to her and explain as I walk to the back of the storage room and pick up a larger box I keep separate from all the other boxes before bringing it outside and placing it down.

I open it and inside are two larger objects wrapped in cloth along with a few smaller boxes. She raises a brow as I take out one of the cloth-covered items. "I was exploring and I felt some life magic, I was looking for plants so I followed it. And inside a literal river of lava, I found this." I unwrap the item for her to see.

Her eyes go wide with curiosity and shock as she looks over the large flower made from red and completely clear gem combined in an impossible way. She reaches out to touch it but looks to me for permission, I pass it over and she looks at it closely. "What is this? This was alive?" I nod. "How, it's a literal gem?" She says in wonder and building excitement while I unwrap the stalk of the Mantle Bloom plant I brought back.

She holds up both and takes out a few pieces of paper and a quill to write notes. I chuckle at her reaction, "I had just about the same reaction. But it was definitely alive, I was even able to grow it with life magic, and it was also growing while submerged in lava fully. Sadly it died after I took it out, it seems it can't live anywhere else."

I see her look a bit disappointed about that and wave a hoof. "Don't worry, I got seeds and they seem to be fine." I open one of the small boxes to show one of the Mantle Bloom seeds. "That's what the fire is for, those trees will make fire magic that I'll use to make the conditions needed to grow one of these here. That's the plan at least." I explain as she rapidly takes notes and even sketches out what it looks like.

I'm happy to see her more somber mood pushed to the side as she focuses on the new mystery in front of her. She smiles widely and looks like a happy filly, "This is an amazing discovery! A plant that doesn't just gather or grow near gems, but actually IS one. I've never seen anything like it before. Do you think you can actually grow one?" She asks curiously.

I'm glad to provide a distraction and nod. "Yes. The seeds are stable and with all the life magic I have available it should be possible. I even have some of the spells ready to be enchanted on some Fire Gems. They aren't done yet though, but once they are I just need a source of rock and I can try. I can't wait, the possibility alone of growing gems." I join in on her excitement as it's a prospect I also find highly interesting.

She looks over the seed but doesn't remove it from the box, almost looking afraid to break it. "Agreed, I wonder if they would work well for enchanting? Would they have some affinity to life or fire magic?" She questions out loud not really expecting an answer in return.

I shrug but make a mental note to test just that. "No idea, but I'm definitely testing that. For now, I've left everything I gathered alone, I'll test things once I have a reliable source. I also don't think the plant is common, I never asked about it directly but no Dragon mentioned anything like it and I only found this one." I activate my bracelet and flip to a page where I still have some notes on the plant.

It shows the difference between the magic flows of a normal plant and the Mantle Bloom. "Mantle Bloom? I suppose it fits, and it's a lot more... Creative than your normal naming sense." She giggles a bit and I roll my eyes, even if I agree with her. "I would also advise you to be careful, but it seems like always you have that well in hoof." Again she teases me a bit.

I see her making a rough copy of the drawing I made and take a piece of paper from her before starting to draw them out myself. She's decent at drawing but she could certainly do a lot better, "I know you're busy, but for a mare of your age you should be able to draw better." I state back rather bluntly, making a different form of joke.

She narrows her eyes at me but they hold no heat in them, I just smile back until she drops the look. "I am hoping the gems can be enchanted, they seem to be very pure and solid with no cracks. Do you have a good way to measure purity?" I ask curiously, realizing she might have some information on this subject.

I also realize the reason she might be so fascinated by this, it's very near her old profession. She blinks and looks more excited than ever as she looks over the Mantle Bloom pieces closely. "I do not have a spell as such, but just from a glance, they look pure, incredibly pure in fact. Wait, they are grown! They might actually be COMPLETELY pure!" She says with a very excited tone while looking at the Mantle Bloom stalk.

I raise a brow and she excitedly starts explaining. "All gems have some imperfections, even if they are very hard to see, or unseen. Some of the best gems in the world might have very little imperfections, but this! This might just be actually pure!" She looks beyond happy and holds the plant like it's a little foal.

I smile widely at the excitement she has over my discovery. "Well, I know who I'm giving some to when I grow them... If I grow them, I really do hope this works." I mumble that last part as I have little idea of how to grow a fucking gem plant. Celestia just smiles widely as she seems to get an idea.

She takes the pieces of Mantle Bloom and wraps them up before putting them back in the box gently. "Then it seems my expertise can be of use here." She says happily and I can already tell where she's going with this. "I assume you have more thorough notes. Do you have them on you?" She asks excitedly and with a somewhat hopeful tone.

I rarely get to see her so happy, and I could use the help. "Welcome aboard then. They are actually at my apartment, but I have nothing better to do if you have some time?" I offer, not seeing any reason we shouldn't be able to go get what we need. I see her eyes practically sparkle and in less than a second there is a flash and we are both gone.

I blink from the light and realize we're now inside my apartment, with Entropy and Philomena looking around curiously. They quickly fly off to play while Celestia stops in her enthusiastic walk over to my workroom, looking around my apartment. "Did you decorate more?" She asks while looking over the things I've added.

I flipped a switch under a pot to activate the sound shield around my apartment, while also making sure my door was locked. I just start laughing for a moment and she looks confused, "I never thought I'd see you look like an excited foal and teleport somewhere wanting to get there faster." I say as a tease and laugh harder as she actually looks a bit embarrassed.

She lets me laugh for a minute, and despite looking embarrassed she smiles while walking around my home. "Yes, I did. I thought it would be nice to have more than just some plants." I say while walking over to the door to my workroom. I spot her looking at the Prismatic Rose bush I have in a pot, she just looks happily at the sight. "Come on, we apparently have work to do." I joke again as she quickly strides over to follow me into the workroom.

She continues to look around as I move over to a shelf filled with many different gems, each one with a sticker attached to it. I grab the right gem and move it over to my desk before tapping it twice and opening the illusionary book enchanted onto it. "Wait, are all of those?" She trails off and motions to the shelf.

That particular shelf holds all of my notes and information, the upper half of the shelf has regular notebooks and loose stacks of paper with the bottom having gems enchanted with Illusionary Books. I nod, "I make most of my notes on paper and then clean them up to add to a gem." She looks over the shelf with more curiosity.

"My own personal library, plus it lets me modify and add things instead of having to remake them every time." I share my logic and go through several illusionary pages filled with plant drawings and notes before finding what we need. "There it is, everything I know about the Mantle Bloom and my plan to grow it." I move to the side so she can see it all.

I let her look over the spell matrixes and notes with attentive eyes while I grab some fresh paper to work with. "These are impressive spells." She compliments and I feel a little warm hearing that. "you said you plan to use Fire Gems to power it?" I point to a shelf that has all my affinity gems.

She looks excited still and happily moves over to start inspecting the gems. "Hmm, several interesting ones. This one in particular, I assume you plan to get it cut?" She points to the largest Fire Gem I have. I have three Fire gems, two cube-shaped ones that are one inch big and a four-inch one that is uncut.

I nod again. "Actually, I was planning to cut it myself, but I don't think I have the skill to not break it, yet." She narrows her eyes at that. "But with you here I don't need to," I add quickly, remembering the last time she thought I would break a gem. "I plan to make an array with all three to power the shield and Heating spells," I explain to move off the topic.

She looks even more pleased and picks up the uncut Fire Gem before bringing it over to the desk and sitting next to me. I try to ignore the fact we are almost flank to flank, and watch as she looks over my notes more. "I don't think that is needed." She says suddenly after a few moments.

I raise a brow and she points to the spells in my notes. "If you were using regular powerful gems it would be, but all their spells are at least fire-related. With how much those trees burn you should have enough fire magic for it to absorb. I'm pretty sure you don’t need the extra gems." I pass her a quill and paper as she seems to get lost in thought over the ideas.

I look at the gem and my notes as well. "Are you sure? I don't want to cut this close on stability or power, more is better, and with more, I can add some more safety measures." I add my own thoughts as she looks over the mostly finished spells. "The only real advantage I can see is being able to modify them in the future, that might not be worth the risk."

She shakes her head a little and makes more notes. "Maybe, but you can also use the other two for other things if you keep them. Or... Maybe. That is an Iron Gem, right?" She points to the small one-inch Iron Gem I have, and I nod. "Perfect, just link them through that instead, with its size it would do mostly the same thing as an array and still let you change things in case they go wrong."

I let that thought sink in and think it over. The Iron Gem can't hold much magic, but it can let magic pass through it at a large rate while staying stable, and as long as only the Fire Gems are gathering magic then the magic would stay pure. "I'd need to modify a linking spell for it to be safe, I don't want to lose too much fire affinity magic while transferring it." I reason as she's right but I can add to it and make it better.

She smiles more and I see her start to write out a spell matrix. "I have just the thing I believe, it's an advanced Linking spell but it would work much better than what you may have in mind." She says with an excited and focused tone, seemingly lost in our newest project together.

I can't help but smile at the situation, spending time with a friend and getting some work done. This is nice.

POV shift Cadance.

I sip some mint tea as I flip through another map while relaxing in my room. :Maybe I should thank him when this is all over? No, I think I'll tease him instead: I giggle a little and remember I also still need to get my revenge for the last prank he played on me.

Maybe I should get Auntie's help? It would also get him to prank her some more as well. I move the map to the side after making a note of another location. I find it oddly calming to work on this little project in my spare time, it gives me something so different aside from my normal work.

I still haven't found where their little getaway is, but I've been slowly narrowing it down with some logic. As a start, it needs to be large enough that his location wouldn't be spotted easily. It is also unlikely to be up high for that same reason, that's why I've been looking into valleys and forests for the most part.

I also know Entropy is the one to take him to the location, and that limits his range. I don't know her exact range but it can't be too large, maybe two hundred miles at most, probably less. I don't have a reason for that number beyond it seeming right from what little Aunty has taught me about teleportation.

I smirk knowing full well Aunty is not in the palace at the moment. I passed by her office and felt no love inside, not even the very basic love for simple things. It's still impossible to tell what type of love Aunty is giving off, but I can at least tell if it is there. Unfortunately, that makes trying to tell how she feels about Shade much more difficult.

I've tried to cut through whatever is interfering with my senses, but it seems very stubborn and I've made no progress so far. Still, I know she's not here and that means I can pester her for stories of what they were doing when she comes back. Because who else would she be with right now?

I suppose she could just be on her own, but that's just as likely as her being with him. I sigh and put away my notes and maps, for the time being, I should be getting ready for my date with Shining anyway. I really need to find Shade a good holiday gift, those bits he gave me have paid for many of my dates and have made many happy moments.

Buying for either of them is like swimming up river though, it's hard and basically pointless. How do you shop for two Ponies who are both humble and happy to get just about anything while also having everything? I shake my head and walk over to my desk, picking up and putting on my crown and other regalia.

I do wonder what those two are doing right now? Probably something far too cute. It could even be romantic. I laugh as I leave my room to find my little knight.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading. :]
Current year is 996

Here, some progress disguised as two Ponies hanging out. Or was it the other way around?

PS. You know the drill, I'll see you all Monday.