OCT 13 Saturday.

I yawn as I drag myself out of bed, the early morning sun rays beaming in through the window.

I turn to see it's going to be a much clearer day today. I spent the rest of yesterday at the inn and at a few small shops nearby looking for anything that might make good gifts. It's still a while until Hearth's Warming but that doesn't mean I can't start now, and it saves me from rushing things later.

I look around the room I rented and chuckle at seeing Entropy splayed out across the other half of the bed. I rented a larger room as this happens to be the down season for visitors and didn't cost all that much more, not that cost is really an issue. I guess I just normally go with the simple option.

The inn doesn't sell food as it's really close to a market but they sure let you drink, with all the rain yesterday the inn was full and busy last night. Even a few floors up I had to cast a Silence spell and limit my senses to get any sleep. Beyond that though I spent most of yesterday just shopping and exploring a little around this lovely city.

It will be nice to have some clear weather though, it will let me see the city better. From the few locals I had some small conversations with, the rain is very common and oftentimes it rains for days on end. Flooding is also common and my guess about the building being so high up seems to have been spot on.

I was also told about a few interesting things the city has, and a few of the oddities as well. In the end, my shopping yesterday didn't find anything too interesting, mostly just some small things that are basic gifts at best. I'll have to look around a little more today.

I get out of bed with a stretch and walk over to my saddlebags on the floor. I sorted out a few things and spent some time making sure everything was fine after all the rain yesterday. The room I'm in is large and fairly fancy, but not overly so as this is still a regular inn.

The room is painted in a deep blue and comes with a large bed for multiple Ponies, along with a desk, a large table, some bed stands, and even a bathroom. Altogether it's nice, all the wooden furniture being well made and filled with carvings of plants, a common theme this city seems to have.

I walk over the mostly carpeted floors and to the large window, seeing a garden box hanging right outside of it filled with plants. I reach out and look over the plants closely while turning them in different ways, all of them are simple flowers or just plants that can survive the cold to look good.

I spend a moment cutting open the other two types of fruit I got and extracting some seeds from both before decomposing the leftover fruit. The Red Tree Nut had a spongy white flesh inside the hard shell and tasted similar to coconut, while the Black Coal fruit was just as dark on the inside, it took me a while to find some seeds from it.

That black fruit also tasted just as described, bitter as all hell, but she said it had some medical properties so I'll look into it when I get home. I finish my work as Entropy rises from the bed with many out-of-place feathers and an annoyed caw as she looks herself over. "You know, you keep sleeping with me and this keeps happening, maybe don't?" I suggest in a teasing tone.

Her feathers often misalign when she sleeps with me, and she always gets annoyed at it. She glares at me through the veil of shadows around her. "Mean, sleep close for happy." I chuckle again at her odd wording but walk over and help out by straightening several of her feathers roughly into the right place to speed up her preening. "Thank you."

I leave her alone to finish the job and start packing for the day. I don't intend to stay here another night I think, I don't need much from this city and I've already enjoyed the first day quite a bit. Plus I can't drop everything in my life and I think I can spend the rest of this weekend with some friends.

Once we are both done I take the key I got from the innkeeper and head out into the hallway and down the stairs, making sure my large hooves don't misstep on the smaller-than-normal stairs. Turns out Pegasi don't need them as large and they took that into account when building.

I head downstairs and enter a large busy room, a bar filled with Ponies drinking and talking with each other. Several passed out from drinking last night and most are nursing drinks and looking fairly hungover. :And this is why I don't drink, not worth it sometimes: I leave them all be and walk up to the bar counter.

Behind it is the elderly Pegasi Stallion who runs the place. He was nice enough last time we talked but now he looks pretty tired. "Here's the key back, thanks for the room." I am polite, while it may have been loud it was a really nice bed. He looks at my outstretched hoof and takes the key with a wry smile.

He nods and takes the key, "Sorry about the noise, end of harvest is here and everypony is off from the hard work. Going to be like this for a few days yet." he mumbles out with a tired tone. "Come back if you need a room, or I can give you some directions if you need them?" He offers with a sympathetic look.

I nod and look unbothered, as a simple Silence spell made it all fine. "It's fine. Good to know you all are celebrating. Actually, do you know anywhere I can find something interesting to buy? A shop that sells oddities, that sort of thing." I ask, I could use some help actually navigating this city.

It's so remote that there aren't really signs of directions around for visitors, you are either a local who knows the way or a Pony coming here for work most of the time. Unlike a lot of larger cities this one isn't even designed around Ponies visiting, it's made for the ones here.

The old Pony scratches at his thick chin fur that acts basically the same as a beard. "Hmm, I know a few places like that. OH! Old White, he's an enchanter who has been around for a while, his shop is an utter mess but he does good work. He's a little out of it though." He mumbles that last part quietly and I just nod as he passes me something he scribbled on.

The directions are basic and shouldn't take me long to get to. "Thanks." With that, I head outside and am greeted by the sunshine and the smell of rain from last night. The cobbled streets are still wet and I can see a good amount of stuff that was moved around by the water, several sticks and pots being left in the streets tipped over and abandoned.

I follow the directions I was given as Entropy sits on my back and looks around, watching the building and Ponies around us closely. A few Ponies take notice of her and a foal riding their dam's back waves happily, with Entropy chirping back without acting too out of the ordinary for a normal crow.

I think spending time with the crow I brought home helped her get the hang of pretending to be a regular crow. I stop in the middle of some street and see a smaller street turn off to the side in between some buildings. It's not quite an alleyway but it's pretty empty and shaded. I can sense a few Ponies in it and none of them seems like trouble so I continue to follow the directions.

As I walk down the side street I mostly see abandoned shop fronts, a few of them being open and serving a small number of Ponies. Eventually, I see an old building near the dead end of the side street. The only indication it's even open through the dusty windows is the sign hanging from the door and the fact I can feel somepony inside.

I push the door open and hear a bell chime, getting hit with the smell of old paper and dust. The inside has surprisingly clean floors, and a myriad of shelves fill the space all with seemingly random items on them. I turn to the Pony I sensed inside and see an elderly-looking Unicorn stallion.

I raise a brow as he's leaning against his small counter while sitting on a stool, his head in his hooves as he sleeps. I cough and try to get his attention but he really seems deep in his rest. I shrug a little and decide to let him sleep while I look around, I can wake him when I'm done.

I do notice that there are several decent-sized gems lying above the doorway on a platform, maybe magical protection? I was told he was an enchanter so it seems likely. Maybe that's why he's confident enough to sleep while his shop is open. I keep my steps quiet as I walk over to a side of the shop to look around.

It's fairly big inside and even after entering, I don't really get close to the sleeping Pony. Many of the shelves seem to have the most random items, everything from toys to... My thoughts blank out as I blush rather hard at the sight of one small section. I quickly look away from the toy that is very much for adult mares, the fact that the rather phallic toy is very accurate doesn't help.

I leave that part alone and distract myself with a small section of books. Most are just about magic, simple things really, there are even some beginner books I recognize. There is one that stands out, a cover made from wood and with a few small emeralds embedded into its front.

I open it to find a blank book, I can't sense any magic from it either. I guess it's just a fancy-looking book but I'll take it, it might be a good gift. I look over at another section and see some more foal toys, all of them seem enchanted in some way. Most just with tiny gems to make them move or shift about, nothing really interesting.

I do find a small blanket and read the tag it has. Blanket of snuggles. :What the fuck?: I look over the small blanket meant for foals and place a hoof on it, a moment later I flinch as it quickly wraps itself around my hoof and half of my foreleg snugly.

I peel it off of me rather easily and I lay it out in the air, noticing that there are no gems to be found. I wonder where the magic to power it is coming from? Maybe the cloth is strong enough to endure the magical strain by itself? I collect it and start looking around the small goldmine of random magical items.

I look to some of the lower shelves and find a few gems with labels, most seem to be simple things. One makes wind to help you stay cool, another makes water. They seem like large gems for such simple effects but it's not my work so who am I to judge?

I continue on and find a different pile of books, only a few and all with gems on their covers. I take one with a few amethysts on it and try to open it. Only to be met with resistance, the book won't open for me. I try the other four there and they all seem to have protection enchantments to make the book hold up better over time.

They seem like diaries and are mostly uninteresting to me after reading them a bit. I see something interesting on a high shelf and stand on my back legs to reach up. It's a small box, opening it reveals a simple music box with a few small gems. It's pretty obvious what those gems would do, make the box work, so I grab it because why not?

At this point, I've gathered several interesting things, mostly small things for gifts. I stop looking at the oddities and try to find something for myself, something that could give me ideas or something to work with. And in one corner of the shop, I find a section that has some life magic to it, although it's very faint.

There is a pile of boxes stacked together and covered in dust. And in one of the lower boxes I find a few seeds, large and with a deep red color. It's odd as the dust seems thick and this would have to have been here a long while, the seed's life magic looks to be struggling heavily to keep going by this point.

The small cardboard box with three of the eyeball-sized seeds is unmarked and unlabeled. I can't tell what the seed is like from just a glance but it seems pretty hardy for being in a dusty mildew-filled corner without dying. I don't know what this seed is, it could be fun to find out.

As I'm looking through a few other shelves I notice the old Pony stir, looking around a little before abruptly going still. He looks over at me, despite me being hidden from his sight by several shelves. He reaches under the counter and pulls out a dagger, causing me to tense and go on high alert.

I turn to Entropy and whisper. "Shadow." She doesn't even nod and just vanishes into my shadow, disappearing entirely. I don't know how he can detect me, but he does seem to notice Entropy being gone and looks around while slowly and quietly stalking closer.

Having her vanish is suspicious, but this has just escalated hard and I would rather have her safe than deal with such a small problem as her disappearing. I have no fucking idea why he's acting like this, but it could just be a misunderstanding, plus it's unlikely for a single Pony to be any sort of threat.

I can think of a dozen ways to end him in a second and he's obviously very weary from the way he's breathing hard and the fact he's trying to sneak up on me. I pretend nothing is wrong and keep shopping, moving over to stand in the middle of the aisle so he has to pick a direction to come from.

He pauses out of sight on one end and when I look at something on a lower shelf he walks over quickly, his hooves making little noise. He gets within a few feet and I get a good look at him as I turn my head and act startled by his sudden appearance.

A dull white coat with a yellow mane, deep yellow eyes staring at me with a mix of hard determination and some well-hidden fear. I drop the things I've picked out and act shocked, "Wow, ok. Look I'm sorry if you are closed-" That's as far as I get before he moves the dagger closer to my throat, but I nearly raise a brow as I notice something. The dagger is completely unsharpened, little more than a metal stick.

I am still mentally prepared to cast a spell and grab the dagger with my field at a moment's notice, even with my growing confusion. His eyes narrow, "Quiet!" He whispers aggressively. "They sent you didn't they, catching me off guard?!" The old gruff voice demands, a little nervousness mixed into his tone. I open my mouth to respond.

I'm quickly starting to realize things are going sideways, but I don't want to deal with all this. "Look I'm just shopping, I have no idea what is happening. How about we just calm down?" I continue to act a little frightened. I really don't know what the hell this is but I already don't want to deal with it.

He narrows his eyes more. "Don't play dumb with me! Talk!" He demands again and I quickly figure out something is horribly odd here. The way he's acting makes it seem like he has no idea who I am. Instead of an answer, I yank his dagger to the side, pulling it from his magic field through sheer force with my field.

He looks to the side in panic and looks ready to fight, a panicked look in his eyes. "Stop!" I demand in a deadly serious and flat. That seems to be enough to give him pause as I bring his dagger over to my side and give him an intense stare. "I am not here to harm you, and I don't appreciate being attacked. Now, please, calm down." I insist while wielding the dagger and straightening my back.

His expression is a mixture of fear and worry, but my words give him more pause and we both just stand there for a long moment. His breathing is hard and he looks more uncertain as time passes, while I remain a rock in expression and stance. "You, you aren't here to take me gems?" He asks while already taking a half step back, looking genuinely confused.

I don't answer, but I do lower the dagger down to be near the floor and not pointed at him. I stay silent as he fidgets a bit, "Look. Those peeving bastards after..." He trails off and while he's clearly looking confused I get the growing sense he might be more confused than I am.

:Fuck! Of course, I walk into a shop run by a crazy Pony, is he even ok?: I sort my thoughts as fast as I can. He thinks I'm here to do something to him. But what and why? This is already a mess and I just feel like running and calling the guards, but he looks more scared and confused than anything else.

No matter how this happened, I have to deal with it and I don't think violence will do any good. His demand earlier does give me a little concern that somepony might be trying to harm him. "Are you... Ok? What is this?" I ask back with a more calm and gentle tone, my question makes him tense even more.

He shakes his head slowly. "I- Y-you really aren't with them, are you? No, you aren't, I'd be tied up already if you were." He asks back with hesitation but seems to draw his own answer. He seems to have calmed down some so I nod slowly. "Oh, buck!" He mumbles and looks both relieved and then worried again. "Ok, I surrender, apologize, whatever. Can- Can we relax?" He asks, seeming more lucid but still off.

I think for a moment and lower the dagger I have to be near the floor. He sighs in relief and nods. "Look, I just messed up. By Celestia you're just some Pony, buck!" He berates himself a bit with some rather colorful words for a Pony. "My name is Marble White. I'm really, REALLY sorry about... That." He swallows thickly and scratches his foreleg some.

My mind runs through several possibilities before I focus a little on my necklace. There is no reaction, he's not a Changeling, it just seems I've been once again caught up in a mess. I could help him, or ask to help him, does he even need help? Is this some panic-fueled accident or something else?

I may be stubborn and I would like to help in whatever the hell this is, but I'm not even sure this is an actual problem. I sigh passing him his dagger. "Just, put that away. What was that? I don't mean to dig but, well." I am blunt and use an even more relaxed tone. No need to frighten him by acting all tough when he just seems like a scared old Pony. He takes the dagger with his magic slowly, still looking untrusting of me.

He thinks I'm some type of trouble, and that I'm hiding myself to do something to him. He sighs slowly and backs up several steps to give us more space. "It's a mess. I don't need more unknowns involved in my life. Look, I'll make you a deal. Half of whatever you buy is free, let's just forget, this." He waves around the aisle.

I can see a bribe when I'm given one, and it's clear he just wants me out of his shop and whatever the hell he's involved in. I don't think about it much and just nod slowly while picking up the items I already gathered. "Fine, but are you actually ok?" I ask again as I'm legitimately concerned for this old Pony. I follow him slowly over to the counter, watching him take slow and unstable steps.

He smiles at that, thinking he's got exactly what he wants, and looks over the items I've brought to the front. "None of this is too much. Call it two hundred for half." He doesn't look too closely and it's obvious he just wants me gone and out of this mess, and I can't help but agree with him on that.

I stare at him for a moment. "Seriously, are you ok?" He raises a brow and looks unhappy at another question. "I'm not one to pry either, but you just sort of pointed a dagger at me. Maybe only a little, but still. At least tell me you're not completely crazy before I leave." I explain, trying to at least get some basic information about the situation.

He huffs after a moment and looks annoyed. "Dreams." I raise a brow at that. "Some things are better left forgotten Colt, my dreams are one of them." He motions to the outside with a shaky hoof and a more tired face. "I ain't crazy. But the dreams... Just get going." He huffs which turns into a rough cough.

It's still odd to see a Pony act so violently, or at least threaten somepony else too quickly. But I've met those who've seen bad things before and emotions can make even a Pony act out, and this Pony looks like he's dealing with a heavy past. I decided to just get this entire thing behind me.

I'm not happy about this happening, but it was small and handled easily enough. I pay him the full four hundred and quickly gather my things. Walking out of the shop with no hesitation before he can stop me or say anything. I keep a close watch on him as I walk away down the small narrow street. I see him bring over his dagger and look at it confused before placing it away, laying his head down on the small counter to sleep again.

That's all I get before I turn down a side alley and breathe out slowly. "Come on out Girl," I say slowly while keeping my senses on high alert. She does so and activates her illusion quickly. I think for a moment and start to cast an Enchantment Revealing spell on the items I just bought.

That enchanter was involved in something and I don't want or need to be tracked in any way, not when I can prevent it. I look over the spells that come up and all of them look fine. I don't know most of them so I can't say much about what they do, but I can easily spot a Tracking spell if needed.

I feel a little bad for that old Pony, and whatever the hell he's going through. Still, I don't think I should let this ruin my day, but no more shopping, ya that seems like a good idea. I let Entropy hop onto my back again and start to head for a new destination, one of the large things I heard about and wanted to see, and maybe also a good place to calm down after that mess.

I walk out into the normal streets and make my way downhill through the city, heading to the large river that runs right through the center of the city. At least I found a few interesting things in that shop, even if the owner looked to be suffering from something.

As I near the river shore I see a few small docks along with a few large ropes that cross the expanse of the large waterway. Interestingly enough because the city is mostly Pegasi there are no bridges to cross the river, even though the river splits the city right in half.

Instead, there are barges that move Ponies from one side to another, conveying the few non-Pegasi Ponies to the other half of the city easily enough. I walk over to a dock with a few boats and one of the large ropes that cover the width of the river. It proves to be easy to buy a ticket and not long after I walk over to a decent-sized boat.

It's flat and mostly just a bunch of wood benches, but the few other Ponies inside of it seem calm and relaxed. Talking and doing various things to pass the time as they wait. I take a seat with them and not long after we start to move, I quickly notice the odd but simple way they move the boat through the river.

The large rope is hooked into a wooden pole with a ring of wood on top of it, and a latch closing to make sure the rope stays inside the loop of wood. Two Ponies take long poles of wood and use them to push into the bottom of the river, moving us along our guided path and through the water.

I heard about all of this and I thought it would be nice. As we push out into the river I look upstream to see the city in a whole new way. The light reflected off of the calm but massive stream of water, Pegasi flying everywhere above us, and the snowy mountains in the far distance.

I take out my sketchbook and start to draw the view as we slowly move along. Life has its ups and downs, its turns and twists, but at least the view is often nice.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading. :]
Current year is 996

I have no reason for adding any of what just happened, I got bored and it just sort of went this way.