JUN 11 Thursday. I copy another page from the stack to the right of me and place it inside a growing stack to my left, I've learned in the past week that Blaz is a hooves off teacher, he mostly just gives me a section of a book to copy and double checks my work.

He's also quiet, most of the time we work in silence only speaking a few words every hour, the work itself is boring, but it's still more interesting than book sorting so I've been having a decent time.

I finish the section I'm working on and sort the copied pages before placing them in a neat stack, another thing I've learned about Blaz is he's not a very good organizer, his desk is always covered in loose pages and open books, I honestly don't know how he works like that.

I check my bracelet and see that the workday will be over in a few minutes, so I clean up my work desk and finish sorting a few papers before standing up and stretching, "I'm heading out, have a good day Blaz" he turns to me and gives a nod before going back to whatever he's working on, I leave the library and head back home.

When I arrive home I go through the daily checks before preparing to leave, I have a plan for today a haircut and a lot of shopping, my mane has grown fairly long and I need to fix that so today I'm heading to a barbershop, I take Entropy with me and grab my saddlebags before walking out into the streets.

I know where a barber is so I walk through several streets and find the right place, I can't bring Entropy inside so I just let her fly around the area and enter the barbershop.

Inside there are a few different ponies getting their manes cut or trimmed, "welcome what can I do for you?", a mare sitting behind a desk asks me.

"I'd like to get a haircut if you have a spot free?"

"Sure", after a minute I'm led to a small place to lie down and get comfortable.

After a little while a pony walks over to me with a towel and kit, "so what are you looking for today?"

"I'd like you to just cut it at my mid neck and clean it up some."

"That's all? ok then get comfortable" they wrap the towel around me and start cutting, I'm not one to get hairstyles I just want this mess out of the way and taken care of, and I rather not try doing it myself, mostly because I know I would ruin it somehow.

I go over the rest of my plans as I wait, a trip to the markets for some necessities, and three other things, first several glass jars and bottles, I need something that won't accidentally contaminate any fluids I'm working on, or melt from something being acidic.

And I need a new weapon as while I do have a dagger it's too large to conceal easily, so I want something small and easily hidable.

accessible if I need it, and finally more gems, specifically a few different cuts and types to experiment with, also restocking.

After that I want to try and practice my griffin some, it's an interesting language and I need some practice with someone who knows it, I'm hoping to find a griffin that will at least try and speak with me, one thing working in my favor is that much like griffins themselves the language is blunt.

Many words don't have any other meaning or context, it's a very literal language, you say what you mean and nothing else, this makes it a little easier to learn but also means that the language has more words to learn, I haven't tried speaking in the language but I should at least be able to understand a few words even if I can't speak back very well.

The barber finishes cutting and spends some time trimming me up, when they are done they clean out my hair and let me stand up, I'm given a small mirror to look through, my mane is now much shorter and looks better, I tie it back into a ponytail and pay them before leaving.

I walk out and not a moment later I feel Entropy land on my back, "ready girl?" and like always my response is a caw, we move through the streets and head to the market, we pass through a few streets before arriving at the edge and working our way through the stalls.

I start with my necessities and after that, I start on finding some glassware it takes me a while and go through several stalls before finding a merchant that would take a bulk order of glassware I have to haggle some and end up paying more than I probably should, but it the end I have thirty seven jars all of different sizes along with several bottles.

After that I look through a few weapon sellers before finding one that's perfect, the being at the stall is a griffin, I walk up to them and try using a griffin greeting, "hello day good?"

And I think I did a decent job, until the griffin starts laughing, "not a bad attempt, but it could definitely use some work."

I'm embarrassed but regain my dignity a little hearing their words, "sorry that's literally my first attempt, and thanks."

"Sure it's not every day I meet a pony that tries to learn our language so thanks for the laugh, now did you need anything?"

I take some time to look through their stock and after a while I find something that looks good, it's a small blade five inches long with a wood handle wrapped in cloth, one side has an edge that travels up the blade and then goes at an angle until it hits the back of the knife.

The blade is thicker than most and has a sturdy feel to it, after deciding to buy it I try again to speak griffin, "this one have, sheath?"

The griffin seems to find my attempts funny but humors me, "does this one have a sheath? Not bad for your second attempt, and a bit of advice? there are a few places on the edge of the markets where you could probably get a griffin to help you learn for the right price, and yes it does have a sheath you want that one?"

I stop my attempts, "yes I would, and thanks for the advice."

They nod to me, "thirty bits" I pay them the amount and they pass the sheath to me, I spend a moment sheathing the knife and securing it to my saddlebags before moving on, I make my way to the market's edge looking through stalls for anything that catches my interest.

I pass a few stalls and find a small pony run stall selling gems, a few of them have different cuts and I find a cloudy quartz that is cut into a pyramid, it's three inches long between corners and is heavy, after some thought I buy it, cloudy quarts may be one of the worst gems for holding magic but it could have its uses.

When I do make it to the edge of the market I check a specific spot and find just who I'm looking for, a diamond dog with gray fur, red eyes, and black hair, they are sitting on a cloth mat, and like the last times we've met they are surrounded by different gems, but unlike the other times they aren't alone.

The other diamond dog is sitting next to them and is smaller, they have the same colors with the only difference being their eye color, a deep cobalt blue, they seem related, maybe siblings or a child, I approach them and get close, "hello again, good to see you're still around."

They flash me a smile "one of my favorite customers, good to see you, uh" they pause as if realizing something, "you know we never actually introduced ourselves have we? well then nice to meet you, names Beryl."

"Names Shade nice to meet you too, who's this if you don't mind me asking?"

The smaller diamond dog looks at me with some apprehension, "she's my pup, Gravel, I'm teaching her the ropes of the trade, anyway what can I get you?"

I nod to the pup, "nice to meet you Gravel, and to answer that I have to ask, did you come here with a caravan?"

She nods, "yes there are a few dozen of us and we mostly sell gems and a few other things, why do you ask?"

"Well I'm looking for large and uncommon gems, even better if they have interesting cuts, so I'm wondering if your caravan has anything I'd be interested in."

She gains a thoughtful look and stares at me for a few moments, "yes we have things like that but they are expensive, I'm willing to take you there and introduce you to the caravan leader, but I'll need to know you can afford something like that."

I raise a brow and seeing my face she elaborates, "it's not that I don't trust you, but if I go and tell the caravan leader that we have a wealthy customer and they aren't I could get in hot water with them."

After hearing her I think for a moment before deciding, "I'll agree but I want something with your caravan's name or mark, I may trust you some but I'm not sure I trust your caravan."

"I can agree to that" she goes through a bag before passing me a piece of hard and rough paper with a symbol and name on it, The Rough Riders, "does that work for you?"

I think for a moment more, I have roughly five hundred bits on me as I knew I was shopping for gems, and even if I do get robbed I won't be anywhere near broke and I could find out who they are easily enough to inform the guards, with all this in mind I take a bag with my bits and open it next to her.

"Will this work?", I open it slightly before placing it back into my saddlebags.

Seeing the insides of the bag her eyes go wide for a moment before nodding, "definitely, we are camped right outside the city in view of the walls, look for the symbol and you should find us easily, I need to finish up here but I should be at camp in an hour or so."

I nod to her, "I'll meet you there then" I walk away as Beryl and her pup start packing up their things.

I decide to get everything I have home, after getting everything put away and sorted I eat and leave to make my way to the city edge.

As I walk through the city gates I see several caravan camps with a decent amount of other ponies and guards walking around the area, this area works like a small market in and of itself, I look around a while before finding the right camp and asking one of the members where their leader was.

They seemed to know I was coming and one of them led me to a large tent, when I enter I see Beryl and her pup talking to an older looking diamond dog, they have gray silvery fur with some fading blue color still in their hair, and they turn to me and I get a good look at their face.

There is a small scar on their cheek and their eyes are a bright light blue, "come on in" they say motioning with a paw, their voice is distinctly male and deeper than others I've met, "please have a seat."

I sat across from them at a table, "nice to meet you, I'm guessing Beryl already told you my name?"

They nod, "yes she did, nice to meet you, my name is Onyx Granite, so you're looking for gems?"

"Yes, I'm looking for odd, large, or rare gems, I should show you this first'', I pass over my card and wait for them to read it.

Onyx passes it back to me a moment later, "that answers a few questions and clears up a few problems, I'll be honest I was about to reject you for your age but this will work, I do have to ask though how do you have so many bits?"

Luckily I have an answer to things like this, "I work at the library and when you work there you get a place to stay and free meals, this left me with a decent amount of bits to invest, you know the magic lights that were invented a while back?" he nods at me.

"Well I got lucky and invested in several businesses that make and sell them with the crown's help, so when they got the contract to make the new lights."

Onyx cuts me off at this point, "you got in early and got a massive payday and are probably still making a good amount even after the rush when they first came out, that definitely explains it", he takes a moment to drink something from a cup.

"We have a decent collection but some are reserved by others so we can only sell you some things, would you like to see what we have?"

I stand up, "sure" we leave the tent and go to a few carts nearby, and with the help of a few other diamond dogs they unload a few crates and start opening them, we go through several crates as I pick out several things to buy each being placed to the side before the crate is returned to the wagons.

By the time we are done I have several gems in front of me, first another large ruby, second an eight sided diamond shaped sapphire that is four inches long, and third is five medium rubies.

The last two gems are by far the best and most expensive, a two inch cubed diamond, and a one inch cubed water gem, all this combined is a lot of bits, a lot even for me but this is still much less than what I would have to pay to somepony in the city, but it will be worth it for this.

"I'm willing to take them all, but I only have one five hundred on me right now and will need to get the rest from the bank, the Diamond is worth around that so how about I take the diamond and give you what I have before coming back with the rest?"

Onyx spends a moment being silent before answering, "I can agree to that", he holds out a paw that I shake.

"Then I'll be back in an hour or so", I pass him a bag and get back a gem, I leave heading home real quick to put away the diamond before heading to the bank, I have to fill out some paperwork saying that they are not responsible if I lose the bits, I'm able to finish the deal before dark and get home, I swear banks never change no matter the world.

After closing the deal I'm given a small crate to carry everything and spend some time talking to Onyx before leaving for home.

When I finally get home with all the new gems I let out a sigh of relief knowing nothing went wrong, I feed both me and Entropy before storing all the new gems and taking a shower, after drying myself off I spend the rest of the night sorting my things and doing some practice.

I take one last look at the softly glowing water gem I bought before heading to bed.

Author's Note

Sorry that this ended on a cliffhanger but this chapter is getting long, I may have gone overboard on this one.

Thanks for reading. :D