OCT 8 Monday.

I sip my tea slowly as I look down on the city far below me.

The midday sun is shining and the wind from this height is blowing pretty hard, combine that with the snow everywhere and I actually decided to wear my scarf. Entropy is sitting on my back and wearing her scarf as well, now that she can bring it with her without disrupting her illusion.

Things have been a combination of slow and fast recently, I've done little in my free time beyond train and work on my few projects. My time at the hospital has been more fast-paced though, Clear Water is now letting me cast basic healing spells without needing to ask for permission from her, as long as I explain my reasoning and scan anypony I work on both before and after I heal them.

My knowledge of spotting injuries has improved a fair amount, it's not world-changing but I can spot many things I couldn't before and it's been saving me a lot of time. Clear Water has begun giving me more complicated patients as well, still small stuff but more bloody stuff.

Her and I have gotten along well enough so far, we don't see each other outside of the hospital but I have a good amount of respect for the mare. I may not know her too well but she's hard-working and even with her blank face I can tell she cares about her job, I think, it's honestly really hard to tell with her.

She's mostly been teaching me spells to help fill in gaps and deal with more specific injuries. Things like bone fragments in deeper parts of the body and how to deal with a lot of the organs of the body. Again it's not massive but it is a lot of important things I need to learn and I'm happy to do so.

She's also not been too nosy about my life. I've asked her some about herself and have gotten some basic answers, and she's done the same thing with me. I know she grew up on the outskirts of the great plains on the edge of Equestrian territory, bordering Zebra territory. I also know she moved to Canterlot a little later in her life as a young adult.

I've told her about how I grew up and about working at the library. It's all rather simple stuff and it's clear we don't know or trust each other too much at the moment, but there is respect. She reminds me in a way of the Griffon who taught me how to speak Griffon a long time ago. I wonder how she is doing?

We have an understanding, and while we mostly focus on getting things done there is potential for us to trust each other more over time. I trust her not to press me too hard if it's not necessary, but I'm not yet sure what she would consider necessary. Still, I'm getting to know her a little and that's nice.

I finish my sketch and look down over the city of Rain River. The landscape has changed somewhat with the coming of winter, with snow now creeping down from the mountains and covering a lot of the taller land. But things are still pretty colorful due to the warmer weather here.

The continent Equestria is on is at an angle compared to what I assume is this world's equator. Then again there are some land masses that break away from any real pattern. What I do know is that this part of Equestria is a little further down on the planet and seems to be warmer as a result.

The valley isn't covered in snow, but most of the leaves have fallen away from many plants and few green ones remain, it looks more like perpetual Fall. I've come here a few times to draw and enjoy the view, but I haven't visited the city yet and that's what I want to do today. I'm taking a nice two-day trip for a break.

I found myself with nothing to do and I wouldn't mind seeing what plants a city like this would have, even in Winter they probably have a good amount stored away. I did notice that many of the plants in the city are still green, I guess they are more sheltered from the cold and enduring it just enough to not lose their leaves and color.

I pack away my book and other things before turning to Entropy as she stands up while stretching her wings. "Go? Adventure?" She asks excitedly, I've hinted at coming here a few times and she seems pretty happy to explore as well. I chuckle and nod as I adjust my saddlebags while casting a spell to form my wings.

I've decided to also bring my little air-walking artifact with me. After a lot of thought and a few letters back and forth with Celestia, we settled on the name, Wolf’s Grace. She added the grace part as I was just going to call it wolf steps, but her name fit much better and I liked it more. It seems she doesn't have the curse of a poor sense of naming anything and everything.

I smile at the memory and try something fun as I look down the cliff face. I take Wolf's Grace out and place it around my neck with my other necklace, the one Celestia gave me. There is still room for enchantments on it now that I think about it, maybe something will give me an idea?

I leave that thought alone as I hesitantly take a step right over the cliff edge, only for my hoof to land on solid air with no difficulty. It feels odd as my body screams a little at my actions, but I ignore that and take several more steps, walking out into the open air and suddenly hundreds of feet above the ground.

I feel the wind and spread my wings before jumping forward. I will my hooves to not land on any wind barriers, and so they don't. I spread my wings wide after I dive straight down for a few seconds, picking up speed along the way. I rarely fly fast and I see Entropy diving after me, keeping up easily enough.

I pull up and stop my freefall so I don't die, letting myself go into a fairly steep but less plummeting glide as I fly my way down the mountain and into the valley. I don't aim for the city but instead a road nearby, not wanting to fly into the city itself as that is not the best idea.

Most cities with a lot of Pegasi tend to let you fly in while a guard flies up to talk to you like they would at a gate, but not all of them do that. I would rather not start my day out with problems so I land well outside of the city and take the opportunity to walk a little in a new place. With the steep glide, it doesn't take me long to reach the road and land softly.

Flying around Canterlot so often hasn't made me better at flying quickly or learning tricks, but I am much better at smooth and accurate landings than before. I wait a moment and dismiss my wings as Entropy lands on my back, chirping excitedly at the dive we just did. "I'm glad you liked it, now turn your illusion on."

She does and pecks three times as she apparently wants to use her full illusion, well she knows what she wants, the clever girl. I've been looking into how to let her swap in between her two illusions without revealing herself, but that's been a bit of a bust at the moment.

Her band has basically reached its limit on enchantments, it may be mithril and diamonds but it's also very small. The fact that I've gotten two illusion spells on there is an achievement already, adding more would be a bit of a mess. Still, I'm looking into it. I could just get another band made? Or maybe it's best to just get an improved one then? Less chance of one of them being lost that way.

Looking into the forest filled with Fall colored leaves and many dead branches. Even now the forest is damp with rain and the plants around here seem well adapted to the abundance of water. The road I landed on was further down the valley than the city but I could hear the large river faintly. I start following the road and keep my eyes and senses out for any interesting plants or threats.

It's a calm walk, and it doesn't take me long to start passing some farm fields. Despite the cloudy weather, there are a few Ponies out in the fields working, harvesting what looks to be the last of their yield for the year. Most of the crops seem to be ones that grow well in water, the very large river feeding the fields through several irrigation ditches.

I walk over some planks that form a small flat bridge over one such channel for the water and see some fish swimming through it. The odd bright blue color of their scales stands out and I make a mental note that they might be interesting to add to my fish pond someday.

As I near the city wall I notice its city walls seem to be made from a mix of thick timber made from large trees and just actual trees. It seems they have grown several dozen large trees into the wall itself, or maybe they built the wall around the trees? I can't tell honestly.

The wall is large but not as impressive as others I've seen. As I get close to the main gate I notice a line as guards check you before you enter. Many smaller cities don't have as many internal resources to deal with things like smuggling, so they go with the proven method of just trying to keep such things out of the city at the gate.

I can see many Ponies, most in caravans and some within simple traveling bands. Only I seem to be traveling alone though, most likely because the wilderness around this remote area can be dangerous. I end up waiting a while, around fifteen minutes, before I'm finally at the front of the line.

I walk up to the guard and notice she has an interesting design on her armor. Sometimes guards from different cities will represent their home by modifying their armor in small but noticeable ways. These guards have taken to dyeing all the cloth padding on their armor a deep green with three stripes of sky blue.

The mare guard in front of me looks me up and down for a moment. "Reason for visit and affiliation?" The mare guard asks in a voice that shows she's done this far too many times before. I do catch another one of the shorter Pegasi guards peeking at my backside, but as always I ignore it.

"Just visiting for a day or two, probably some small scale trading as well. And no affiliation." I answer in a level and calm tone. She nods and marks it down before motioning to my saddlebags. I know what she wants and start to empty each pocket, having only brought some bits and simple things for this exact reason.

She looks over the simple items and waves me through quickly, with me putting my things away just as quickly. I don't use my field or space magic to not stand out so it still takes a minute to finish and move along. "Enjoy your stay, there are a few inns right down the main street. Have a good day sir." She says with more of a relaxed tone.

I nod and walk through the gates, one of the two large wooden doors being open enough for carts and Ponies to walk through. As I enter I look around to find a somewhat busy but calm city, most of the buildings are made from wood with thick stone foundations.

I do notice as I walk that they are far more vertical than needed, and all very sturdily built. All the buildings are also fairly high off of the ground, not having a first floor and instead having a several-foot-tall foundation of stone. I guess they don't want a flood to ruin things, they do live in a valley with a large river running through the city so it makes sense.

As I walk further into the city I see that every building has plants, the streets have many trees and bushes but the buildings have plant pots on every window and porch. Most of them are dead but a fair amount are still alive despite the cold and it gives the feeling of a city close to nature.

I quickly find a more subtle but pleasant change from cities like Canterlot, there is a large amount of life magic in this city. I feel the flows moving under the ground strongly and unlike the open fields that surround Canterlot the flows here come from the forests covering the land around the city.

I notice that the cliffs of the valley I'm in have forests on top of them, maybe some of that subterranean life magic exists there? It would partly explain why the valley plants are holding up better than other places during the winter. I walk slowly and without any destination in mind.

Eventually, I take out my cloak and put away our scarves as it starts to drizzle, which quickly becomes a downpour of abrupt and thick rain. None of the city's residents seem bothered by it and just start moving out of the street, and I notice several Pegasi in the sky working on controlling the clouds high above the city and the cloud homes.

Everywhere I walk I notice Pegasi flying about but there are also some Earth Ponies, and very few Unicorns scattered about. After a while, the street floods a little as the rain drains downhill, and just in time I finally find the place I was looking for, a market. In between several tall buildings, all raised up on a massive stone foundation, there is an alley in between them with a market sign out front.

I walk up some stone steps of the foundation and enter the twenty-foot-wide alley to see it lined with stalls and filled with Ponies. The streets did feel empty after the rain started and this seems to be one of the places they all went. The alley has several hundred large cloths hung from the building walls above us in a haphazard and seemingly random fashion, some high up and some close to the ground.

It blocks out the rain enough for me to drop my hood and for Entropy to shake herself off from being wet. Her actual form is very non-absorbent to water and she can dry quickly. The alley seems to be mostly food stalls with a few other stalls selling random things mixed in.

It's well lit with magic lights hanging all around to beat back the shadows from the location, there are many Ponies talking and eating as they seem to wait out the weather. I look around for a bit and just start to walk down the alley, glancing over the stalls selling things and eventually stopping at one with an assortment of fruit.

I see many I am familiar with, but a few stand out a fair amount. There is some type of red fruit with a very hard outside and another that has a very bright yellow color to it. The elderly mare behind the stall smiles slightly and nods. "Red Tree Nut and Shooting Star, both good for a snack." She reveals the names with a salesman-type tone. "Five for each." She declares.

The yellow fruit looks like a fuzzy orange with the same texture of skin under the fuzz. I nod and keep looking for a moment before spotting a few more baskets behind her. "What are those?" I ask at one basket that seems to have a very odd fruit inside it.

A deep black color with a good shine to its luster. There are only a few and they are about the size of my hoof, fairly large compared to the smaller eyeball-sized fruits I just got. They are very shiny and almost look to be coated in wax, they also have an odd shape. Almost like Star Fruit but with three fins instead of five.

The elderly Pegasus mare glances back and huffs, "Black Coal. Tastes horrible, the bitterest thing you can imagine, but helps with indigestion and settles the stomach. Nopony buys them though and those are getting old, so how about you buy something else and I throw them in?" She offers and I nod, not seeing no reason to decline.

I can feel that the black fruit is slightly magical, it has very slightly more life magic than most plants, but it's not by much. In the end, I just grab another one of the odd bright yellow fruits and place them all in my saddlebags after paying the mare. I move on and peel open one of the yellow fruits as I walk, Shooting Star I think she called it?

I share with Entropy as we continue shopping. The fruit is mushy inside with an odd stringiness to it, and it tastes like an odd mix between Banana and Pineapple, along with a very slight zest to it. It's not bad and I make sure to take out some of the very tiny seeds it has, they look like grains of sand, and store them for later.

I next stop at a stall that's set up a counter and some stools to sell food, offering a variety of fried vegetables and sauces to choose from. I think for a moment and considering I didn't have lunch yet I could stand to eat. I sit down on a stool and Entropy climbs to one of my shoulders to sit on it.

There is a young adult Pegasus mare moving around quickly, working with several pans over a few enchanted metal plates to cook multiple things at once. She uses her wings to boost her movement with quick flaps and hops, putting on a show of skill as she cooks.

There are two others waiting and a third eating so I wait for a bit, the mare cooking serves them and they both leave. She hops and flaps a wing gently to quickly shift down to my side of her little counter and smiles up at me as she stops just in time to be in front of me. "What can I get you? And will that be to go or to stay?" She asks while pulling out a simple menu from behind the counter.

She's smiling a little too much and looks me up and down as I quickly read the menu, she seems energetic like many Pegasi. "A stir fry and some extra potato fried up for her. And we'll eat here." I answer simply, and she takes the menu from my hooves before hopping and dashing back with her momentum, going right to cooking.

"Coming right up!" She says cheerfully as I lean back a bit. She's good at what she does, working with several hot pans and cooking utensils at once while moving around quickly. Very good control over her movements and she always seems to change her momentum and direction just when it seems she might slip or fall.

It's an entertaining show and I can say for certain I'll be leaving some kind of tip, as long as the food is as good as it smells. It's just a mix of fried vegetables with some oil and a few sauces, but it smells good and looks good. I decide to take out my sketchbook and start drawing the little stall, leaving the mare out of the drawing.

Not too long after I get a decent rough sketch finished she places a steaming bowl in front of me filled with a good amount of food. "Ten bits, and an extra five for your friend." She places a smaller bowl filled with some basic vegetables and mostly cooked potatoes.

I take out a small bag and she places a Bit Counter down, letting me drop twenty bits on it quickly. She sees the numbers and doesn't count them herself before collecting them and smiling wider. "Thank you, enjoy the food, and I have some cold sweet tea if you'd like any?" I shrug and nod because why not. "Great, that's on the house with your meal. No refills though." She says politely.

I look around as Entropy jumps down to eat her food, I grab my bowl and eat with the fork she gave me. Looking around I enjoy the relaxed mood of the alley, busy enough to feel full but calm enough to feel more like an inn or bar in atmosphere and mood.

The mare comes back and places down a wooden mug of an amber liquid. "So, what brings you to Rain River?" She doesn't have anypony else to serve and seems interested in small talk. I raise a brow and she chuckles a bit. "Not many Earth Ponies here, and I happen to know most of them." I feel like there is a story there but don't want to dig.

I shrug and don't see a reason not to have some small talk. I came to this city to relax and explore a bit, and you can't really explore without talking to a local. "Not much. Passing through for now, I thought I'd stay a night or two and head out then. It's already proving to be an interesting city." I am vague but honest with her. "Why ask?" I asked back as she seemed interested but not pushy.

She also shrugs. "Slow day, too much rain. And you got the look of somepony with a story, or maybe I'm just used to Ponies with stories to tell. This isn't the worst place to stop by, plenty of food and it's rarely anything but quiet. Just about the only thing we lack is adventure." She jokes a bit and moves back to continue cooking while talking. "What drew you here? We're pretty out of the way."

It's a little odd, but I find myself enjoying just talking to some random Pony for no reason. I may not be the most social type but even I enjoy some time outside with the unknown. "I heard it was nice, I could only come around winter sadly, maybe I'll stop by again in Spring? I hear you all do a lot of herb gathering?" I ask, not having much else to add.

I take a few more bites and drink some of the cold sweet mint tea she brought me, it goes well with my meal. She nods and motions to the spices and sauces she has. "That we do, mostly this time of year it's slow though. Everypony repairing things and bringing in the last of the harvest. I did hear about some farm higher up growing something in the snow, as odd as that sounds. What are you working on?" She glances at the sketchbook I placed down to eat.

I nearly smile at the mention of what is likely one of my frost crops, but I just keep my pride to myself. I flip the book open and show her the drawing. "Your stall was interesting, I thought it would be nice." She raises a brow and steps closer to see it properly. Smiling as she gets a good look, I place it down again when she's done. "Still needs some work. So, what's your story?" She raises a brow. "Well, I don't think many would ask that back and I'm curious," I admit.

She nods and moves over to a pan and adds some red spice to it with a chuckle. "A fair few actually do, though not that many I suppose. Not much to say, I like cooking, and a market stall is easier than a restaurant, so I picked the stall. I grew up here, I live here, and I think I'll keep living here. You?" She asks as I down more tea and Entropy finishes her meal. "Scratch that, what's their story?" She asks and points at Entropy.

I smile and think about how to say this properly. "Well, I was born in Canterlot. I was a librarian for a while, and now I do a bit more than that, mostly gardening." I be somewhat truthful, if you stretch the truth. "As for her? Got her egg from a merchant, he couldn't hatch her, I did, and she's been with me since then." I reach out and pet her a little, not needing to worry over the illusion. "You know a good inn to stay at?" I ask, having finished the last of my food.

She looks at Entropy curiously. "Huh, an odd pair. And I knew you'd have a story. A librarian and a gardener from the capital, that's definitely new. Behind you." I turn around and see a different stall against the back of a building. This one is larger and is selling drinks, probably alcoholic from the looks of it.

I turn back confused and she nods. "This is the back, circle around front and it's a proper inn. They just like serving back here during the day to keep things tidy out front. It's a bit more pricey but it's good and you are next to this cozy place." She smiles like a proper merchant and I nod my thanks before getting up. "Have a good day stranger, come back anytime." She says with a small wave of her wing.

That was interesting, if a little simple. :Great, now I'm missing all of the complex topics Celestia and I dive into, I wonder when that started?: I shake my head and flip up my hood before walking out of a side path on the alley and walking through the rain around the building.

And sure enough out front there is a sign for the Cozy Fern Inn, I actually like that name, not bad by Pony standards. I look over the front of the simple building for a moment and step onto the porch to wipe my hooves and head inside. I need a room, and I need someplace to sleep.

:I wonder if I could get a bath as well?:

Author's Note

Thanks for reading. :]
Current year is 996

I thought something of a break from normal would fit well, and I get to do more world building so obviously I'm thrilled. I think we'll spend one more chapter here before moving on, any short ideas for this visit? Something to find or do?