FEB 28 Saturday.

I feel the cold water wash over me as I scrub out all the salt and sand from my coat and mane. I just got out of the ocean water and had some fun swimming around for a while. I've been going for a swim every day since I learned how to.

After I'm done I start walking back to the inn. I eat an early and hardy lunch before going to my room and sitting down at the small desk. Today I want to work on something I found at the gray market a few days ago, a small dagger made from iron enchanted to be covered in frost.

Its enchantment isn't that strong, but it has a unique property. Frost doesn't just cover the blade, it also imparts a small amount of frost into whatever you cut with it. The effect for both is weak and wouldn't do much, but I'm more interested in what runes were used to accomplish this.

I start with a spell I haven't used much before. The spell forms a copy of whatever enchantment you cast it on, this lets you study the enchantment. But it's a fairly complex spell that takes a good amount of magic to cast the spell for an extended amount of time.

After drawing out the matrix I cast the spell on the dagger and watch as a matrix forms in front of me. Along with another matrix that gathers magic, that I can ignore. I start writing down and copying everything so I don't have to keep powering the spell, it takes twenty minutes to finish. After I'm finished I let the spell dissolve and start going over what I copied.

The spell that was enchanted into this dagger is interesting, and the runes used in the spell are even more interesting. Out of the four used I recognize two of them, but the other two I don't really know that well. One I recognize as a modified rune for frost that I've come across before.

But the other is completely unknown to me. Its base structure isn't similar to any other rune I can remember off the top of my head, but I can't be sure without my other notebooks. It does share a few traits with other runes but that's not enough to know what this one could be, I'll have to research this rune more when I get back to Canterlot.

Not having anything else to work on I settle for just organizing anything I did learn and writing it all down. Once I'm done I put everything away and walk out of my room after locking the door behind me. Entropy is on my back and today I have two new places to visit.

While on a walk through the city yesterday I found the tallest building in the city. It's a large bell tower that is a little taller than the next tallest building. And after looking around I found out that they offer open visits to the top on the weekends, and I've decided to do just that.

I have Entropy merge into my shadow before I approach the bell tower. When I reach the base I see several other ponies who also seem to be here for the same reason, I join the waiting crowd of around twenty ponies. After a while, a pony comes over and opens the doors to let us inside.

I wait in a line and pay seven bits before walking up the long staircase. It's a tall building so it takes several minutes to reach the top of the tower. When I climb the last step I look out on the city in the late morning sunlight. I move out of the way of other ponies behind me before really taking in the view.

It's amazing to say the least. The brick buildings stretch out beneath me and I can see many pegasi and griffins flying around above the city. The tower I am standing on is around twenty feet across with railings around the area with four brick pillars holding up the roof and a large metal bell above us.

I walk over to a railing and look over the railing, I've never been afraid of heights so to me this is just an interesting view. I look back up and take out my sketchbook and a quill, I don't get to draw a view like this often. I spent two hours sitting up on the tower drawing the view.

When I'm done with a few good sketches I stand up and take in the view for a while longer before walking back down the stairs. I have something else I want to do today, I walk through the streets and find the right place I'm looking for. I approached New Trotten's city library.

It's nowhere near as large as Canterlot's city library but it's still a decent size and has many, many books. Most of these books are things I can find in Canterlot, but I'm guessing there will be more Griffin books to read here. When I enter the library I have to write my name down and I can't check out any books as I don't live in this city.

But I'm still able to read as much as I like for free. I start looking through bookshelves and different sections. I'm happy to see that I was right as I found a section with nothing but Griffin books, it's even organized into several smaller sections for different subjects.

I start by picking out a history book and a political book. They may seem boring but knowing about the cultures and governments that others have will always be interesting to me. I start with the history book which turns out to be less interesting than I hoped it would be.

It's about a smaller Griffin city and is more like light propaganda for the king who ruled it at the time this book was written. I move that book to the side before starting on the culture book, this turns out to be more interesting. It's an instruction book for griffin nobles on how to act and behave.

It's an older book but still seems relevant, I don't think I'll get much use out of it but I do find it interesting so I keep reading it. I learned several griffin words to not use at formal events and a few gestures and actions that can be considered rude in different situations. Once I'm done with that book I find another to read.

I came across a combat book and decided to flip through it, after a few pages I saw enough to know it won't help me and put it back. Next, I found a griffin cooking book, and this one I very much like. Finding meat recipes in pony books is hard, but in this book, I find many fish recipes with interesting ingredients.

Most meat recipes I use and know are from my last life, so finding new recipes using this world's seasonings makes me excited to try out some of these recipes. After reading through the recipes and copying several of them into my notebook I check the time.

Seeing the time I put the cooking book back and left the library. I start walking to a place I've taken a liking to, the board game cafe that I've been to a few times. I've come to enjoy the feel of the cafe and its drinks. I went there again yesterday in hopes of a relaxing game or two of chess, sadly the old griffin Phelix wasn't there and the ponies that played with me weren't that much of a challenge.

I'm hoping to see Phelix, he doesn't talk much, which I like, and provides a good opponent for a fun game. When I enter the cafe I'm happy to see Phelix sitting at a table playing a game of chess, but I'm surprised to see who's playing with him. A small hippogriff sitting with him enjoying a cookie while moving a pawn.

They are small and probably not that old. They have a light gray coat and a white mane, with very light green eyes. They seem to be having a lot of fun and won't stop talking to Phelix even though he doesn't respond much. I walk over and sit down with them while they continue their game.

Phelix looks over to me and gives a little nod while not taking his eyes off the game. The filly also sees me and her eyes seem to light up. "Hello! Who are you? What are you doing here? Are you here for games like us? What kind of snacks are you going to get? Do you like chess?" The young voice of an excited and happy filly rapid fires questions at me.

She stops as Phelix gives her a stern look. "Introduce yourself first, and say sorry for not letting him answer." He turns to me with a slightly tired look. "She's excitable." The filly looks a little admonished and has her ears slightly pinned back.

I can't see a filly like that and try to cheer her up a little. "I'm Shade, and in order. I came to play games. Yes. I want tea. And yes I enjoy chess." She looks happy at me giving her answers, and looks a little less shy.

" I'm sorry.MY name is Silvis, nice to meet you." She says the first part shyly before cheering up instantly and giving me a blinding smile. This filly is far too pure for me, I can feel my teeth rotting from it. I smile back and settle in while they play their game, I work on a few spells and some math as they play and order a cup of tea.

I finish a little work and my tea by the time they are done. Phelix looks over to me, "Here for a game then?" I nod and he starts setting up the board again, but before he can we are interrupted.

"But Grandsire, you promised we'd go to the park after this," Silvis says with a look that is a mix of sad and adorable. Phelix gives me a look that tells me he doesn't want to argue with a filly right now.

I brought my chess set with me when I traveled here. I thought I could find somewhere to play in a park but never needed to after I found this place. I don't know either of them that well, and my paranoia is shouting at me to stay quiet. But I also don't want that paranoia to stop me from having fun.

I check my bracelet and make sure there is no reaction before making up my mind and pushing my fear to the side. "I have a chess set with me, we could play there?" I offer. If I want to live my life then conquering my fear is something I need to get used to, I just need to remember to never forget my fear.

Phelix looks at me, his eyes are hard and he seems to be judging me. After a few moments and more prodding from Silvis, he sighs and nods, before standing up and placing Silvis on his back. "YAA! Park!" The filly celebrates her victory as we leave the cafe and start walking to the park.

Neither of us talks much beyond answering Silvis's questions. The small relationship I have with Phelix is simple, we both want a good challenge and a quiet game of chess. I don't know him and he doesn't know me, we are both just here for a fun game and to not have to talk.

And I'm happy with that. As much as I like how much ponies care for others, a lot of the time I just don't want others to drag me into a conversation. But I also like doing things with others from time to time, and Phelix seems to be the same.

As we walk they lead the way while I follow behind them, but something catches my eye as we walk. I look down while walking and see Entropy sitting on my shadow. I've trained her to never come out or show herself in any way unless it's important. She looks at me then moves to the side of my shadow and points behind me with a wing.

I feel my fear rise but force myself to not outwardly show anything, I just keep a steady pace. Entropy melded back into my shadow after that while my mind started running wild. Entropy showed me something was behind me but couldn't specify. Am I being followed?

I can't just turn around to check, but after looking around in front of me for a moment I see an opportunity to prove if I guessed right. Not far down the street is a restroom, something that is becoming increasingly useful to me. I walk up beside Phelix, "Hey do you mind if I use the restroom really quick?"

I ask while motioning with my head to the restroom. He looks over and then nods, we both stop and I enter while he waits outside. Once I enter I make sure no one else is inside before having Entropy leave my shadow. "Girl, am I being followed?" Entropy gives me a look and caws.

I know her enough to know that's a positive. After some quick thoughts, I formed a rough plan. "Move into the shadow of whoever is following us, then come back to me a little after."

She looks at me for a moment before melding back into my shadow a second later. Even when Entropy is in my shadow I can still feel her life magic, and if she understands me correctly then I can easily pick out whoever is following me. When I leave the restroom I feel the mass of life magic move away from me as we continue walking down the street.

If I look behind me too much, whoever's following me will notice, but if I only do it once they are unlikely to notice much. Once I feel Entropy stop moving further away from me, I turn my head to open my saddlebags with my mouth while still walking. I take out something from a pocket and at that moment I look around behind me.

I feel Entropy's life magic coming from two griffins walking together a good distance away from me. Who the fuck? I turn back while my mind starts thinking of why two griffins would be following me.

I haven't done anything, so why? I keep thinking of other possibilities as to why I'm being followed but can't see any logical reason that makes sense to me. As we walk further I feel them keep the same distance with us even after we turn a few corners.

After some thought a different idea pops into my head. These griffins are definitely following us, but I don't think they are following me, I look over to Phelix and Silvis as we near the park.

Author's Note

Thanks for reading and sleep well. :}