SEP 24 Wednesday.

Right now I'm translating a page from a Griffin history book, It's not the most interesting thing to read but it's not half bad. I've been working with Ruby Rose for over a week now and things have been going well, I've learned a lot and it's been a nice change. Although I miss working with Blaz some, it's nothing big, just a small complaint.

It's also been a week since Celestia visited me, and I think I feel a little better. Honestly, constantly wondering when she might ask me questions was a distraction for me. I'll still have to talk to her more now, but I know when it will happen in advance and that makes me less nervous about it. And her promise to let me not answer questions also helps.

And it was also nice to just have somepony to talk to about things. There are just some things I won't or can't tell my friends, and as much as that sucks at least I can talk about it to her now. And speaking of our meeting, I got a letter this morning, although it gave me quite a scare.

Apparently, Philomena got a good enough look at my apartment to teleport right inside. So I got to see a small flash of flame and then there was a phoenix standing on my table while I was eating breakfast. Beyond that I'm supposed to go to the palace on October second, so I have that to look forward to.

But for now I've just gone back to my everyday life. Learning new things, working at the library, and later today I get to be beaten by an old pony. Although I probably shouldn't call him old, I'm not scared of him popping up or anything, but I'd also like to not tempt fate. I've said it before, but honestly it's odd to go from talking to an immortal princess, and then just having to go back to normal like nothing happened.

I refocus on my work and start on a new page. It takes a few more hours to finish work and get home. And after a little time hanging out with Entropy, I leave again to head to my training. And when I do get to the room me and Stone train in he's there like always. "Hey Stone, have a good week?"

Over the time we've spent together we formed something of a friendship. I wouldn't call him a close friend, and I don't think he would either, but still a friend nonetheless. He turns to me and greets me with a nod, "Hello to you too colt, and it was fine. Although I did have to deal with some less than pleasant customers."

"Nothing out of the ordinary then. Shall we get started?" He nods and my self-imposed torture starts again. After getting through half our routine I get to rest for a moment while Stone tells me everything I did wrong and why. He mostly goes over what I need to improve and how I should do so.

And like always the training is a grueling thing for me, but I also get a little bit better. After my training and a little more of him telling me what I did wrong I'm finally free for the day. And I drag my sore body home.

time skip

SEP 25 Thursday.

I get out of bed and start making food and tea. After that, and a little healing to get rid of any soreness from yesterday, I head to my workroom. I have something I might now be able to finally finish, with some help from a princess. With this in mind I grab a pot and some Moon Glow seeds.

I go through the process of growing and collecting the petals. Once I have a good amount I take them over to my kitchen and start drying them out. Unlike the Iron wood I need to be more careful to not damage the petals while doing this. Once I'm done I take them back to the workroom and start grinding them down.

They grind down easily and turn into a light gray fine dust. I take this and start mixing it with some water. Once it's formed a paste I try drawing with it on some paper, it leaves gray streaks on the paper, but it does work. I run my magic through the paper and watch the streaks give off a strong glow.

In fact it's a little too strong and makes it hard to read. I start experimenting, adding more or less water to see what works best. After a while I get it to have a decent glow while still being able to write with it. I clean up my desk and put everything away after taking some notes.

I completed this project more for the satisfaction than anything, as I don't really need it. But hey it might be useful later you never know. I do have one other thing I wanted to make today and I want to gather some material, so I start gathering what I will need.

I grab my small saw and wood carving knife, along with my saddlebags and a few berries for Entropy. "Hey girl, I need you to take us on a trip," I call out to her while she's perched on a branch of the Iron Oak. She flies over and lands on my back, "To the forest ok?"

She caws and after a little wait I'm greeted by the cold autumn breeze. This is the other forest that we traveled to a while back as I rather not run into anymore changelings. And I'm here to do some cleanup. I want to make something, and for it I need wood, and while I could buy it I would rather gather it.

But this forest is owned by the crown, so I'm not allowed to cut down any trees, even if I can just grow them back right after I rather not as it just feels disrespectful. So I'm here to find fallen trees, which are legal to cut and use as I want, I just can't sell anything made with it without saying where it's from.

I don't walk fast as Entropy will need all her magic if I want to have her bring the wood back with us. Plus it will be interesting to see how much she can bring back with us, and if she can't then I'll just have to bring it in through the city. But I think she'll be able to do it considering she brings my things with us.

I walk slowly through the woods enjoying the crisp air and quiet day. It should only be a week or two before the snow starts to fall, not that I mind the snow, it's always had a certain charm for me. I catch myself walking down memory lane and thinking of long-gone days.

I wonder if my relatives back on Earth are doing well? I hope so, we may have never been very close but they were still family. I shake my head and chase away those dark thoughts, it can be hard some days but I'll make do. I've been alone most of my life and I'm just happy to have more friends in this life.

But despite my best efforts my mind still wanders to my past life, so I just let it while trying to keep myself positive. Like I said in my past life I was alone a lot, I had those who cared about me but not as close family. I think the closest I ever was to someone was my cousin.

He was a nice guy, and a good friend throughout much of my life. But we grew apart over time, there wasn't a dramatic falling out or anything we just grew up and talked less and less. By the time I died I hadn't seen him in over two years. Realizing that this line of thought is just ruining my day I shut it down.

How about something more positive? I have close friends in this world, maybe not many but still it's nice to have them. And I think given some time I can say the same for Celestia. But not yet, I may know her more now through our letters and conversations but it will take a while longer before I can call her a friend.

I stop as not far off the trail I was following I see a downed tree, I walk over to it and start inspecting it. It's an old Chestnut tree, it seems it fell not long ago from the soil under it sliding away in the rain. It's still alive but it is totally uprooted and won't stay that way long.

The tree's trunk is more than a foot across and several feet long. I cut off a branch with my saw and it cuts with no resistance whatsoever. I brought the medium ruby that feeds the enchantments so this will be easy to cut. I look at the tree's wood and see it's got a decent quality to it.

I start by removing one large branch that is a few inches thick and several feet long, along with a smaller branch that is only one foot long. Once I have those I start on the trunk. I cut it at the base and then cut it before the branches start at the top, this leaves me with the tree trunk. I take out my knife and start removing the bark.

But I stop as a thought occurs to me. Why don't I just decompose everything I don't need? I think about that before changing my approach. I don't have enough control to make a clean-cut shape, but I can get a rough shape that will be much easier to work with.

I start with the bark as it will be easier, and after several minutes I've removed it all. Next I start by trying to decompose away one side of the trunk until it's flat, this takes much longer than the bark. But after almost fifteen minutes and wiping away new soil I'm done.

It's not great but it's flat enough to cut down on a lot of my work. I repeat this process over the next hour, slowly shaping the log down. And when I'm done I have a good piece of wood, just one problem left, I don't think Entropy can move all this at once.

I use my saw as I want more precision, I cut the rough plank into seven cubes of wood, each is roughly a one-foot cube. I call over Entropy who's been flying around the area while I work, but to my surprise she comes back to me with a dead mouse in her beak.

Apparently she has hunting instincts, so I just sit nearby and wait as she eats the mouse. Most ponies probably wouldn't like watching this but I couldn't care less, in fact I'm happy to know that she can hunt her own food. After she's done I have her land on my back and ask her to take us home with a chunk of the wood.

It takes her more time than normal but she gets it done. We reappear inside my apartment, Entropy is a bit tired so I leave her to rest while I move the wood block into the workroom, but when I return to the main room I see that the floor has several blood stains on it. Right, she can be a messy eater.

I find a rag and clean this up before taking Entropy to my shower to clean her off. She's not happy about getting wet but still lets me wash her. Once I'm done I let her go and return to the main room, it will take a while for Entropy to regain her magic so I make both of us some tea.

I drink out of a cup and Entropy drinks out of a small bowl. Honestly I'm surprised she even drinks the tea, when I first gave it to her she tried some and just kept drinking after that. I wonder if it's some form of instinct? Or maybe she's just smart enough to know it helps her.

And that's another thing, I don't really know how smart Entropy is. She can understand me to a degree, even if she doesn't always seem to know what I'm asking. But she does understand basic and even a few more complex instructions, I'm also not sure how smart she will become.

She'll be turning one in December, so if her intellect keeps growing with age she might end up being as smart as a pony. I should ask Celestia how smart Philomena is to compare them, they may be different species but they are both magical birds and could be related considering both can teleport.

But that would be almost impossible for me to prove. After a while of Entropy resting and me meditating on the space around me we make another trip. This time I know she can move us so I grab a little, I have her move one wood block and the two branches I cut off, and after we wait a while in the forest for her to recover.

This time it takes Entropy a little less time to move us but she's more tired when we arrive. I make her an early lunch as we still have five more wood blocks to move. While she eats and rests I get to work on my project. I stack the second wood block in the workroom and start with the branches.

They are still alive so this should work, although I've never really tried to grow root from something that doesn't normally make them. But from what I remember you can grow new Chestnut trees from cuttings so this should work. I leave both branches on my desk and retrieve a pot filled with soil.

I take the large branch and stick it inside the small pot and make it grow roots, while I keep it stable and upright with my field while also grabbing my wood carving knife. I cut the large branch at the top, cutting a hole in its side a foot from the top. I take the small branch and place it in the hole before growing both branches together.

Next I have the large branch base, growing it outwards into a large wood bulb. I use my saw to cut the branch out of the pot and lay it on its side. I cut the bulb halfway, I use my saw to make it as flat as possible, then I stand it up. I back up and look at my newest creation.

It's seven feet tall and the top nears the ceiling, one foot down is the smaller branch sticking out sideways, and the bulb at its bottom has formed a stable base so it doesn't wobble around, it also has a few small twigs with leaves along the whole thing. I decompose what's left of the Chestnut in the pot and take it, and the new bird perch with me into the main room.

I set it up near the window, and as so as it's upright and in position Entropy immediately lands on the sideways branch. I smile up at her, "I'm glad you like it." I fill the pot with some more soil, and then pollinate and collect a seed from the Companion vine.

I plant the seed in the pot and place it at the bird perch base, I then grow it up and along the perch. I'm hoping the vine will be enough to keep it alive and let it maintain its natural look, I also may have to give it some life magic but it shouldn't be much if I do. Me and Entropy still need to retrieve the other blocks of wood so I enjoy some tea while waiting.

This is going to take a while.

Author's Note

Can I offer you a slice of life?

Thanks for reading. :D