NOV 30 Friday.

I glance over the wrapped package and make sure it's ready to be moved safely.

It might be a little overkill to have put them in a nice wooden box I made, but I think this is something of a gift and I always did like some presentation. Inside this Steel wood box are two Mantle Bloom seeds, both wrapped in fabric just to make sure nothing breaks as I move them around.

After successfully growing the Mantle Bloom I didn't do too much with it. I grew it tall enough to stick out of the lava by a foot and had it grow more seeds. I harvested two dozen by draining my staff's stored life magic and basically left the plant alone after that.

Now that I have more seeds I'm fine with experimenting and as a start, I'm trying to learn the magical flows of the Mantle Bloom. I never got to do it before and the plant has a very high magical cost, just growing a small four-foot stalk and some seeds took nearly twelve times my magic capacity.

Beyond that I was able to confirm you can in fact enchant the gem seeds, I enchanted a gem seed to make a small magical light through, so I at least know for certain now. Although I'm not sure how to tell how good they actually are as gems. Which is why today is going to be interesting, to say the least. I have a double meeting at the palace and it starts with Shining.

Cadance sent me a letter a few days ago saying Shining wouldn't mind a spar but that she might not be able to stop in and chat with me as she normally does. So I decided to check with Celestia and it turned out to be a great bout of timing. I can meet them both today, it will be nice to see my friends.

Speaking of friends Daisy apparently decided this week to focus heavily on something and said she'd meet us afterwards. I asked about it and all she said was that she was going to be very focused on shopping for the holidays and also getting a small backlog of work done so she could relax more. I decided that I could talk to her in a week or two so I didn't disrupt her plans.

I place the small but heavy box inside my saddlebags and stand up from my desk, spending a moment making sure all my armor is properly packed away in my saddlebags as well. It will be nice to spar with Shining again and better yet I don't need to endure Cadance's teasing attempts this time.

That mare really is good at teasing me, I wonder if that's part of the reason we became friends? Her teasing me and me getting her back in any small way I can. It's all in good fun though and neither of us ever takes it too far, which can be kind of hard for me honestly.

Being formerly human gives me a plethora of insults and jabs that a Pony would find to be grossly over-the-top and downright insulting. I shake my head and leave those thoughts to the side for now, standing up and making my way out into the main room where Entropy is practicing as she often does. "Come on Girl, we need to get going," I tell her as I walk over.

She looks at me and chirps a bit, letting her concentration slip and letting the shadow mist disappear quickly. She doesn't say anything and just jumps on my back before teleporting us away in a moment. I feel the void and a thought occurs to me, I might be nearing the point of actually trying this form of teleportation myself.

It's still far from a guarantee but with all my training and practice with my short teleports my control over space magic has continued to improve more and more. It's still probably a little way out though, I really don't want to risk that and I have the time so no need to rush things.

As I reappear inside the mailroom I quickly get my bearings as Entropy sinks into my shadow. She stayed up fairly late last night practicing and is probably still tired, maybe I should give her something of a bedtime? Not a hard limit but just something to make sure she sleeps well enough to be healthy.

I let her get some rest and head out of the room, and like last time there is no guard waiting outside to guide me, but that's on purpose this time. After my last visit here I told Celestia she didn't need to send a guard to guide me unless it was important or somewhere I'd have trouble finding.

I need to learn the layout of this place more and there is no better way to do that than to get a little lost. I won't be getting lost today though, I've been to the training area more than enough to know how to get there. So with steady steps, I start to make my way through the palace.

I'm still a little early but that means I have time to practice before Shining shows up, if he didn't also arrive early. Sometimes he's done that, apparently, he really doesn't like being late to things, I think that's just part of being a guard though. I get the usual looks from the staff and guards but I'm not concerned about that in the least.

The Ponies working at the palace have kept their muzzles shut for several years now and I don't think that's changing anytime soon. Sure they gossip a hell of a lot between each other, but they follow the law and say nothing when outside of the palace.

As I walk through the large and opulent hallways I chuckle a little. I've asked Celestia before and she was pretty insistent that she didn't design this place to look so fancy. From the way she said it a lot of her Ponies just got very... Enthusiastic when building this place.

That and the fact that all the extensions added to the palace over time have only been made with better and better materials makes this place one fancy house. Ironically I think Celestia prefers her little cabin in the woods back at Gaia's Eden, something I can sympathize with.

As I near the training ground there are more guards around and smaller hallways, less visibility of who's around me. I can sense them fine but color is still my biggest problem, something I still have no idea how I could begin to get around. Maybe it's just not possible at all? Actually, Celestia might be able to because her ability is partly about light, something to ask about later.

As I pass through a junction in the hallway I sense a Pony without armor glance down a hallway and spot me from the side. I ignore it and keep moving as I have the practice to get to, but second guess that as the Pony starts moving over to the junction after I pass through it. They stop at the junction and look down the hallway I'm in to continue and stare at me.

I sigh a little as it seems like yet another Pony deciding to check me out a little too closely. They may be a stallion but I've gotten many looks from both sides alike and it's not even the first time something like this has happened. I decided to glance back at them just to see who it was and stop dead in my stride.

I was expecting some guard out of their armor looking back, maybe a slight bit embarrassed they were caught staring so much. Instead, I look down the hallway and widen my eyes as I see an all-too-familiar stallion. A black mane and a deep gray coat, the yellow eyes staring back in curious confusion.

:FUCK! WHY ARE YOU HERE?!!: I feel my internal panic rise sharply and have to force it down as I can't panic in a hallway where anypony could stumble across this quickly developing mess and start asking more questions. I turn fully and no matter how much I wish it were untrue, Stone Mace stares back at me with a confused and somewhat surprised expression.

He looks to have cleaned himself up for this visit. He often keeps his chin fur a little long but he's cut it back and also seems to have thoroughly combed out his mane and coat. He even has a nice metal bracelet, I remember him wearing bracelets a few times and I think Daisy mentioned he likes doing it when on dates.

He starts to walk over as I stand stunned and panicked, but outwardly still and unexpressive. This is already a fucking mess, but maybe not too bad. How does shit like this keep happening? Am I truly fucking cursed or some shit? No, those thoughts won't help, FOCUS!

Stone is a former guard and honestly, he might have heard about me in the palace before, the fact he hasn't is fairly surprising. He's also a friend I trust, maybe not fully but certainly more than many others I know. I take a deep breath as he walks up to me with a raised brow. "Shade?" He asks confusedly and looks me over. "What are yo-"

I cut him off and ignore the use of my name as I quickly make a quick plan to get us out of this hallway before others see us here, I don't need him seen with me. "Not here, come on," I say with a firm and serious tone before turning on the spot and walking off quickly. He still looks confused but quickly falls into line behind me, acting like the guard he once was.

I try to stay calm and collected as we quickly walk over to the training room Shining and I use and walk inside. Shining is thankfully not there when we arrive, there goes my luck again. While walking I'm able to calm down a bit more, focusing on how to explain this shit and not drag him into it.

He is honestly one of the best Ponies to run into in this situation, I can't imagine what I would do if I ran into Twilight. This is still a problem though, especially because it's yet ANOTHER of my friends that have stumbled into my secrets. I sigh and turn to him while he looks around, I open my muzzle but he cuts me off with a hoof. "How much can you say? I don't need somepony breathing down your neck for saying something you shouldn't." He asks with a surprisingly understanding tone.

I pause at that and even with the stress and lingering panic I chuckle a small bit. Stone was a guard, he knows when some things are above his pay grade or are things he really shouldn't know about. And he's definitely smart enough to know I kept this a secret for a reason.

I nod and take off my saddlebags, placing them to the side. "Well, first off. Sorry I never brought this up, all I can really say in my defense is I thought I had some good reasons." I start off with an apologetic tone as I did lie to him in several ways, at least he seems to be taking it well.

He looks at me for a brief moment and nods, seemingly accepting the situation immediately, I raise a brow at him and he smirks back. "Shade, I trained guards for three decades, I know a lot more than I probably should. And have more than one contract I can never talk about." He says with some humor in his tone, laughing a little harder than I expected. I do notice he's acting far more formal than normal, but then again we are in the palace.

I feel some relief from his words, even if this was somewhat expected it is nice to see him so unfazed. "You said you think you did it for a good reason?" I nod slowly, and he nods back in approval. "Then I could care less, it's not my business. But, you said something about answers?" He trails off with a hinting look, leaving me a way out.

I tilt my head a bit. He really is taking it in good humor, I mean he's probably spending a lot of time with Daisy shopping so it makes sense. "Look, I have something to do, and I'll explain more another day, for now, let's... Let's just say I have a friend in the guard. Sorry if that's vague." I decided to be blunt and not go into much detail at the moment as I would rather not do that while at the palace.

Sure I have silence spells and everything else, but I would feel safer talking about this somewhere less open. That and Chrysalis still has a messenger Changeling in the palace that I haven't met yet, I don't want them getting any ideas about me. Stone nods a little and keeps his good mood. "Fair enough Shade, I'll get going, we'll meet up later."

It's a pretty blunt goodbye, but with Shining arriving soon I would rather not deal with explaining even more things without some time to think it all over and calm down more. I am thankful he's willing to give me the time and space I need, this may be a fucked situation but he's a good friend.

I also feel like this will all be easier to explain when we are somewhere more comfortable. "Sure, I'll see you like usual, and thanks for waiting. Actually, why are you here? I thought you retired? Or is this more of a social visit?" I ask curiously as the thought of why he's here once again crosses my mind.

He nods a little. "Yes, that's about right. An old guard I worked with is also retiring, so I thought I'd come in and see how they are doing. And before you ask how I've trained at least half of these guards, they couldn't keep me out if they tried." He says with a chuckle as he moves to the door and nods one last time. "See you around, Shade."

I nod back silently in thought. He was definitely more formal than normal but I've never really seen him in a formal place like the palace, and he's a guard so he's probably just acting the part. On top of that, his old friend might be a higher rank so there might be some type of respect there. I sigh as he closes the door and I watch him walk away in my senses.

I relax more and take a few deep breaths. The good news is I can probably just head over to Daisy's when we find time and talk to them both, it might be intruding a bit but considering the circumstances I think they will settle for answers. Although, Daisy will probably just be happy to get more gossip.

I also know he is likely to be there, they were both there earlier today and left together. They probably split up so Daisy could shop and Stone could say hi to an old colleague. I sit there for several minutes lost in thought as I sense another Pony nearing the room.

I know Shining enough to tell it's him and I start taking out my armor pieces one by one and putting them on as he enters the training room. I turn to him with a smile. "Hey, took you long enough, I nearly had to start without you." I make a jab to distract myself a bit. At least I can beat on Shining to settle my nerves and get my mind nice and focused for later, by magic I really need to talk with Celestia about all of this, she'd give some good advice.

Shining smiles back and huffs while wearing his full armor. "Oh, who would you even practice with? Yourself?" I raise a brow and he looks a little more uncertain. "If you tell me you have a way to actually fight yourself, I want in." He decides and moves over to the weapon rack to pick out his normal shield and short sword.

I chuckle and shake my head, relaxing more in the presence of something familiar. "I don't... Well, I don't right now." He gives me a curious look. "I could definitely make something like that, actually that might be nice to have," I mumble and further distract myself with thoughts on how I could go about doing that.

I twist my body to the side a little as Shining throws a weak water spell at me. "No spacing out, I came for a good flank kicking and I'm not having you making spells in my free time." He demands and double-checks his armor before we start. "Speaking of that, anything new you're working on?"

I take a moment to get my chest plate on and double-check the placement of it, like all times I practice with Shining I only bring my practice armor, the same armor I use with Stone. "Mostly plants at the moment. A few new frost crops, and many other things that will remain unnamed." I am blatantly vague but also honest.

He chuckles knowingly. "Always the paranoid Pony. I'd say it's bad for you but considering the whole... War situation, and the Gala two years ago..." I nod in agreement and try not to let the topic drag my mood down more. "But that's why we practice, or at least why I do. I don't think this even counts as a warm-up to you." He gives me a surprise compliment.

I shake my head and place my helmet on. "It may not be good practice for magic, but my skill with a blade could still use a lot of work. Stone still regularly kicks my flank with nothing but a wooden short sword, the same as yours." I softly laugh at the memory of last week's training and try not to let other more recent thoughts get me down. "Be glad I don't train like him, he's just unfair."

Shining laughs as well while tossing over a wooden greatsword and a dagger to me before moving over to the dirt floor. "I would say I don't envy you, but I do. Seriously, your luck is just utterly ridiculous. Now enough talking, I want to get some actual training in." He puts on his helmet and readies his weapons.

I smile from under my helmet and bring my weapons into position after catching them. "You don't need to tell me twice, but fair warning, I need to get out some emotions and you're going to feel it." I smile more as his face shifts from excited to slightly concerned. "Too late to run now."

time skip

I hold in my laughter and just take deep breaths as I look at the broken wooden dagger I used earlier. I glance over at Shining as he lies on the floor breathing heavily. "I, should, have, taken my chances, and just ran." He says between heavy breaths.

I chuckle despite myself and move over to help him stand back up, noting a few scratches on my armor as I take my helmet off. "Well, look on the bright side. We once again broke a few wooden weapons and somepony is going to be annoyed replacing them, is there paperwork for that? I hope so." I say in a slightly mocking tone.

Shining seems a bit more tired today and with my added motivation of wanting to calm the hell down, I really got into it. It ended up being a little one-sided at the beginning but finished up in a decent match, one I ended up winning. And I do feel a little more calm about everything now.

It's still a problem but one I know can be dealt with and one that isn't all too bad. I ignore the line of thought for the moment as Shining stands up with a little help. "Buck, you really did go hard. By Celestia what got you so riled up?" I cringe a bit at the name use and he laughs tiredly. "Oh, Celestia, HA!"

I glare at him a little but just sigh once again. "Just go get a shower before I have your mare complaining to me about dirt in your coat. I don't need her pranking me more." He looks down and sees he's got a lot of dirt on his underbelly. He looks me over for a moment and sniffs the air.

I raise a brow and he smiles back. "Want to join me then? I don't think your mare would care for you arriving all dirty either." I feel myself blush a bit and glare harder at him while taking off my armor piece by piece. He's not wrong though, I may be wearing full plate armor but plenty of dirt still slipped through and I could use a wash.

I could just use a Cleaning spell but it's still two hours until I need to meet Celestia and a shower to calm down even more sounds nice to me. I shake my head and try to get rid of my blush, "I'll just head home for a shower. I could use some lunch too." I add the second thought and see my shadow shift as Entropy pops out looking at me expectantly. "And it seems I'm not alone in that."

Shining nods with a smirk and moves over to the door. "Ya, go eat and get pretty for your date. I'll see you next time, Shade." I just give him a deadpan glare as he walks off with a large smile and closes the door behind him. I take a moment to finish packing away my armor and turn to Entropy.

She knows what I want and hops onto my back without a word. A second later I am standing back in my apartment, I quickly check and notice that Daisy still isn't home. I turn to Entropy and smile, "I'll wash up first, how about you go practice?" She happily chirps and flies off while I drop my saddlebags and head to my bathroom for a nice warm shower.

I take my time in the shower and scrub myself thoroughly with some soap and warm water, mostly so I don't smell. A cleaning spell may get rid of everything, but it doesn't stop things from smelling again shortly after. By the time I'm done, I dry myself and walk out into my main room with a much more calm mind.

I'm not sure what it is, but a shower always seems to help me clear my head. I start walking over to the kitchen to start on lunch but stop as I notice two Ponies walking down the apartment building hallway together. Normally I wouldn't be able to tell, but with them being together I can easily pick out that it's Daisy and Stone.

I sigh after a moment and walk over to my apartment door. It's some decent timing and I can ask them to set up a time to talk soon, at least that means I don't have to spend more time feeling all uncertain about things. A plan can really make it all feel more stable, even if it's a bad plan.

I open my door and try to be upbeat as I look down the hallway and see Daisy and Stone walking my way with several bags. I nod as they walk close and give them a small smile, "Hey Shade! Trying to get a peek at our gifts? Well too bad, no peeking." Daisy greets me with a happy tone.

I chuckle despite my odd mood and shake my head. "No, I just have something I wanted to talk to you about. And I owe Stone a few answers after earlier, you have a few hours free soon?" I try to be casual but some of my uncertainty and slight nervousness seeps into my tone.

Daisy notices it and immediately nods without hesitation. "Sure, tomorrow works, I need to do some shopping later in the day but we can talk in the morning?" She offers kindly, and she seems to know this is going to be a little more serious than normal. "Wait, what happened today?" She asks after a second and turns to Stone.

I also turn to Stone and notice he seems to be far less formal now, more like his normal self. Stone gives me an odd look and raises a brow. "Colt? I've been with her all day, did you see us in the market or something?" I feel my body freeze and my thoughts move to a standstill.

His tone, even with his blunt nature, he sounds so genuinely... Confused. Like he has no idea what I'm talking about. I feel concern for him well in me and open my muzzle to ask him something, but it dies in my throat. I really looked him over for a second.

He looks normal, his fur slightly messy, his mane a little longer than needed. And his chin fur is in a slightly longer state than before. His appearance from earlier flashes in my mind, his mane was cut shorter, and his chin fur trimmed down. I feel my stomach drop as a cold sense of realization hits me.

I look down almost frantically and notice he has no bracelet, in fact, he's not wearing anything at all.

That wasn't Stone.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading. :}
Current year is 996

So, someone gave the idea of Shade running into stone at the palace, and I thought it fit really well. Another person pointed out Shade's reasons for telling his friends he was Veil Winter where a little weak, and suggested something with the changelings as motivation.

I promptly realized half way through writing this that those ideas worked really well together. This should be interesting to write.

Also, thank you all for the lovely suggestions, and the welcome advice. :D