FEB 21 Saturday.

I started double-checking my things to make sure I didn't miss anything I may need on my trip.

My cloak, my small dagger, some berry seeds, my flask, and a bag with a good amount of bits for shopping and expenses. I can go to a bank in New Trotten to get more if need be, but that will cut into my time. And finally, my newly enchanted saddlebags that I will carry my things in.

I pack everything I just stated, and a few other small things I might need before checking the time. It's very early and the sun won't be up for a while yet. I gently wake Entropy up with a shake, she opens her eyes and looks at me, "Sorry to wake you girl but we need to go. You can keep sleeping in my shadow."

She gives me a small caw and melds into my shadow, I put on my saddlebags and leave into the dark streets. My train will arrive just after dawn and the train station is a decent walk away. I take out my cloak and put it on as a light rain starts falling around me.

After some time walking, I approached the train station, I saw a pair of guards walking down the street in the opposite direction as me. "Sir, can I speak to you for a moment?" As I'm passing the guards one of them stops me with a question. I've seen them patrolling more than normal and rather not cause a scene before my trip even starts.

I lower my hood and look at both of them. "Sure, what do you need?" I remain calm and respectful as I look at them.

I see the other guard relax a little at my friendly answer. One of them moves a piece of paper over to me, "We've been looking for information on this pony, do you recognize them?"

I move closer and look at the picture properly for a few moments. It's a unicorn drawn without color, I decide to answer honestly. "Nope, I don't recognize them. Do you mind if I ask why you're looking for them?"

The guard nods and puts away the piece of paper. "Thank you for your time. And they are a suspect we are looking for, if you see them please contact a guard. Have a good day sir." After that, they both continue their patrol down the street. I guess that partly answers my question.

I wonder what they did to get the guards so riled up? Well if the guards are looking for information and not the pony themself then I can at least guess they aren't in the city anymore. I move those thoughts to the side as I arrive at the train station and enter the building.

My train won't arrive for a while longer so I just sit down at a bench near a light, I take out the sketchbook I brought with me and spend some time drawing in it. After a while I see sunlight start streaming in through the windows as Celestia raises the sun once again.

My train arrives several minutes later. I stand up and find my ticket before moving over to a desk, a few other ponies doing the same. This early train still has other passengers and more will come before we depart, I have to wait for a few other ponies to go first but a short while later I'm moving to my train.

I enter and walk along it until I find a section with several private compartments to sit in. These are on a first come first serve basis, I pick one in the middle and open it before getting comfortable inside. I sit down and have Entropy leave my shadow before casting an illusion spell on her.

Just to be safe I dump almost all of my magic into the spell so it should last for the entire train ride. I take out the only reading book I brought with me, a text on medical knowledge. I brought it because it's a long read and will give me something to do on the train ride.

As I settle in for the ride through the window I see ponies start to fill the train, and hear them moving around outside my compartment through the thin walls. After a while, I need to use the bathroom and leave Entropy to watch over my things while I'm gone. After some wondering I find a bathroom and do my business before heading back to my compartment.

As I walk back I remind myself of the two new rules I'm following while on this trip. One, don't use my field in front of others. Canterlot is mostly unicorns so not many question odd bits of magic, but others that are less used to that, will be more likely to ask about it, and I rather not deal with that so unless I'm alone I won't use my field.

The other is smaller. I'll be calling Entropy, Shadow whenever others I don't know ask about her. It's a small thing but it's for the best that I don't stand out more than I already do.

As I enter the train section that I'm in I hear raised voices not far away. I don't pay it much mind as I get closer to my compartment, when I do get there I see a compartment door several doors down open, a Griffin is pushed out and I can now hear the voices clearly.

I can now tell that the voices are speaking in Griffin, I see another Griffin come near the open door and throw a satchel to the Griffin on the floor, some of its contents scattering on the floor. "Stay out of our compartment, you're not welcome" The other Griffin looks back while grabbing their satchel.

"That's not what you said earlier, at the train station you said I was welcome to sit with you all." The voice that answers back is surprisingly calm about the whole situation and sounds more tired than angry or annoyed.

The other Griffin also with a male voice seems to get angrier at their response. "I won't have a soft beak like you sitting with us. now STAY OUT!!" They slam the compartment door shut after that.

Two things both shock and piss me off about what I just saw happen. Soft beak is an insult used by Griffins and it's basically like calling someone a weak bitch, which in and of itself is uncalled for in a public space even if most beings around you can't understand what you're saying.

The other reason that this is making me angry is I'm pretty sure I know why they called the other Griffin this Griffin that. The Griffin that was thrown out is now standing upright and is picking up the things that fell out of their satchel when it was thrown. And it's easy for me to see that they are missing a limb.

Their left forelimb stops abruptly halfway down and has a scar at its end. Insulting someone with a disability is a great way to make me fucking angry, it's something I can't stand.

One of my best and only friends in my past life was treated like this for missing a leg. He would never get angry over stuff like this, so I would for him. And I've had to tell off more than one asshole for things like this, and that part of me is still very much there.

It's one of the few things that can and will make me violent. I steam in that anger for a moment before deciding to focus on something of more importance in this situation. With my mind made up I start walking over to the Griffin.

I reach out a hoof and pick up a small bag that fell on the floor several feet away from them before walking up to them. They turn to me as I approach them, "Here this fell out." I hold it out for them with a calm face and relaxed posture.

They look at me for a moment before reaching out and taking the small bag that makes clinking noises as it moves. "Thank you." They say in a voice that has a less-than-happy undertone, not that I blame them for using that tone after what just happened.

I nod to him. "I heard what happened. Do you need a place to sit, my compartment is still half empty?" I make the offer while motioning behind me.

They stare me up and down for several moments and seem to be thinking it over for a while, I wait patiently as they decide. After a few more moments they give me a slow and reserved nod, "Sure that would be nice, thanks again."

I give him a small smile. "No problem." I turn around and walk back over to my compartment before opening the door. The compartment has two benches on either side with a small table in the middle, I sit with my things and Entropy on the left side.

The Griffin enters behind me, they look around the compartment for a moment, they spot Entropy before closing the door behind them and sitting on the opposite side from me. I don't ask them anything about what happened and just go back to reading my book. We sit in silence for several minutes before they speak.

They clear their throat and I drop my book and look at them. "If you don't mind me asking, why did you help me?" They ask this in a cautious tone. I can see their eyes flicker to where their limb should be for a moment.

I decided to give him a direct answer as most Griffins seem to prefer that. "I heard and understood what happened and there is no situation where what they did was ok. So I decided to lend some help." I say all of this in perfect Griffin to prove my point.

They look stunned for a moment before looking embarrassed about the situation. "Sorry you had to hear that." They respond in a quieter voice.

"You have nothing to apologize for, they do. Even if you started that situation, which I doubt you did, they shouldn't have resorted to insults or force." I say this in a tone of voice that shows that I meant what I said without any room for argument.

He once again seemed a little stunned at my statement. He goes quiet for a few more moments, "Thank you, again. My name is Avalon, it's nice to meet you." They try to not so subtly change the subject. I take a moment to get a good look at him.

He mainly has brown feathers with a few light red ones mixed in. His eyes are a light rose red, with the feathers around his head being a deeper red than his other feathers. After looking him over and decided to just let the subject go and introduce myself.

"My name is Shade, nice to meet you too. and like I said it's no problem, and if you need help just ask." I offer while putting back the medical book in my saddlebag and taking out my sketchbook.

They nod and look over to Entropy who's decided to demand scratches from me. I reach down and give her what she wants, "What's their name?" Avalon asks while looking at Entropy.

I lie without a second thought, "Her name is Shadow, she's nice. Just don't touch her, she doesn't like when others do that." He nods and keeps looking Entropy over for a few moments.

"Would you mind if I draw her?" he asks with a slightly nervous tone. I don't mind at all and give him a nod while starting to draw in my sketchbook. Avalon takes out his own book to draw in and holds it in his lap while holding a quill in his talons. I decided to do the same as him and continue to work on a drawing of Entropy I haven't finished yet.

We spend the next two hours in almost complete silence while we both draw. When he stops I do the same and look up to him, "Would you like to compare?" I ask in a friendly tone while smiling at him. He looks a little uncomfortable and I'm about to apologize to him for overstepping my bounds when he holds the open book out to me.

I gently take it and pass him my sketchbook while looking at his drawing. I'm a little blown away by what I see, despite only drawing for two hours, his drawing has an amazing amount of detail to it and is beautifully done. I have to stop myself from turning a page to see what else he's made and just pass the book back to him.

"That is very well done for how much time you had, are you an artist for a living?" He looks bashful at my compliments and gives me back my sketchbook.

"T-thanks, it's not really the best. And no I'm not an artist just a courier. Yours is well done, and." He seems to catch himself and stops.

"And what? If you're offering some advice I would be glad to have it, not many have the kind of skill you have." He's almost blushing when I say that and stays silent again, I just patiently wait for him to respond. I've meant every word I've said to him, drawing with one limb would be hard enough but to have that kind of skill while having one limb is just impressive.

"W-well since you asked. You should use a different kind of quill, the one you use is not the best for small details." I listen intently as he starts to talk about different things I can do to improve my drawings, he gets more and more passionate as he goes. And I settle in for a long drawing lesson with a smile on my face.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading, and have a good day.