FEB 28 Saturday.

After realizing that those griffins might be following Phelix and Silvis instead of me I calmed down slightly. It would make more sense than random griffins following a pony that's been in this city for a little over a week. But now the question becomes why are Phelix and Silvis being followed?

I can think of a few reasons and the first is somewhat likely and less concerning than the others, the griffins following them are guards of some sort. I have no idea who Phelix and Silvis are so they could be important enough that they need guards from some form of threat.

But on the other hoof, I don't know if they are guards or a threat themselves. Phelix stops at a bench next to a play area and takes Silvis off his back to play while we sit down at the bench. While I set up our chess board I feel Entropy move back into my shadow.

I've been training her to do a few different things, after I found out she could see out of shadows I trained her to keep an eye out when she can while I'm walking around in public. It's becoming apparent that Entropy is still getting smarter, she's able to understand me a bit better now.

As I finish setting up the pieces Phelix moves the first piece as our game begins. While we play I keep track of those two griffins by feeling their life magic, they haven't moved closer and seem to be keeping their distance for now.

Keeping track of two specific sources of life magic can be hard with so many walking around. But I had them pointed out to me and have been trying my best to keep track of them while acting normal, it also helps that they are moving together and that makes it a little easier to pick them out.

I've even been able to see them a few times now, right now they are sitting on a bench a good distance away while looking busy by talking to each other and doing a decent job at watching us while they talk without drawing attention to themselves.

Now that some time has passed and neither of the griffins have done anything I'm calming down and thinking of what to do next. From what I remember seeing earlier I don't think either of those griffins had any visible weapons with them.

That again makes me think that they could be some type of guards or maybe some type of surveillance. But the thought that I'm wrong still bothers me, and now I'm wondering if I should say something. If they are just guards then saying something would make me look suspicious and could lead to me being seen as a threat.

But on the other hoof if I say nothing and something goes horribly wrong, then I could end up regretting it for the rest of my life. I think it over a few times as our first game ends with me losing, and as time ticks by I keep running it through my head again and again.

But I just can't make up my mind and keep going in circles, and after a while I keep thinking about my next potential actions. Phelix doesn't seem like the type of griffin to go down without a fight, and I think anyone who tries to mess with Silvis will have to answer to him.

He is in good shape and I can bet he has some form of weapon on his right now, he is a capable griffin and I think he can take care of himself. So is the risk of me intervening worth it? Well, it really depends on what form of intervention I take.

I could just be blunt and ask about it, but that could go wrong very easily. I could try and deal with it myself, but that carries a lot of risk and presumes that those two griffins are a threat.

So what can I do? I don't have a way to know what their intentions are, and I'll need to find out if I want to decide on anything. I could gather information? But that might be more risky than my other options. I keep trying to think of a good solution.

After a lot of thinking I decided to do something that would be risky. I can't bring myself to do nothing, but rushing into this is a very bad idea. I need more information and to get it I'll have to act, "Do you know the time?" Phelix looks at me for a moment before motioning with his talon to a clock tower nearby, that I've seen already but pretend otherwise.

I look at it a bit and look back at him. "I have something to do, will you still be here in an hour?" I try to keep my words simple but concise with a casual tone, and above all else truthful, the best lies are truths. He once again scrutinizes me for several moments, then he gives a single nod.

I nod back and stand up. I know he doesn't trust me and this probably made him a little suspicious of me. "I'll be back." I leave the chessboard as a small token of trust and stand up before walking down a park path. I find a restroom to find a quiet place, after making sure I'm alone I start modifying a spell quickly.

The silence spell that I made for foals is simple and doesn't take much to modify, it helps that I'm only making two relatively small changes. I switched the effects to keep all sound inside while letting outside sounds in, and I increased its size to form a bubble around all of me.

This leaves one more problem, this spell was made as an enchantment and not a spell to be cast on someone and I don't have the time to change that. But the spell is weak even with its size increase, and the diamond in my locket around my neck still has enough excess magic for another enchantment. I needed to install an on and off function which takes a little more time, but after fifteen minutes I'm done.

I cast the spell on myself and tested it two times with a bit, before continuing with my plan. I leave the restroom and follow the life magic of the two griffins while being careful to not accidentally enter their line of sight. I know where they are and have a good chance of sneaking up on them.

Luckily the bench they are sitting on has its back to a decently tall brick wall that separates a different area of the park. I make no noise as I walk around the park and reach the other side of the wall before moving to the area where they are sitting. I lean against the brick wall and take out my notebook to look like I'm just drawing while listening in.

I have an hour time limit and I've already used some of that so I keep my quill nearby and start waiting. After ten minutes I hear something. "What time is it?" A male voice asks.

"No idea, I think I saw a clock over there if you want to go check?" Another male voice, this one a little deeper, answers them.

The other voice sighs, "Na it's fine, this job is boring." I hear a slight chuckle from the other voice at that.

"Ya, but it's not hard, follow and watch a single griff for a few bits, easy money." After that, they go quiet again. Well, that wasn't as useful as I hoped it would be. But it does put some of my fears to rest, they are only here to watch. I can also say they probably aren't guards.

But who hired them? And why? I don't know anything about Phelix but I can assume some things from the way he acts and looks. He's old but is in good health, has a well-muscled body for his age, and a personality that says he's been some type of guard or soldier.

I stop my thoughts as I hear them speaking again. "You know I never asked, but how did you find the pony that gave us this job?" The lighter voice asks.

"Honestly? Luck. Some Fancy pancy pony in a cloak dumps a small bag of bits in front of me while I'm drinking at a bar and says there's more if I find somegriff to do this with. But hey I'm not one to ask questions about a job like this, not with pay this good." They answer back in an amused and friendly tone.

Ok, they are definitely not guards, but they are also not here to cause immediate harm. But who wanted them to do this? This just raises more questions. I wait out the rest of my time, but they just start talking about different drinks they enjoy.

After my hour is up I walk away from the brick wall and put away my cloak while canceling the spell, then I start walking back to the bench with Phelix sitting on it.

When I arrive he's not on the bench, but he was off in the play area looking at something Silvis wanted to show him, before seeing me and walking back over and sitting down with me again. He doesn't say anything and just moves the first piece on the board to start a new game. I started thinking over the whole situation again and what I should do.

Now that I know no one is in immediate danger I have to think about this in a different way. I know basically nothing about either party involved in this and I don't want to pick sides without knowing who I'm even supporting.

Phelix could be a criminal being investigated by the guard through those griffins for different crimes. Or he could be a criminal and those griffins were sent by rivals to spy on him.

On the other hoof, he could be a retired guard who is being targeted by criminals. Hell, he could even be some form of griffin noble and this is some political spying to dig up dirt on him.

There are so many ways this could be taken and I'm starting to think that maybe I shouldn't get involved at all. I keep mulling it over, Silvis eventually tires herself out and decides to take a nap on top of Phelix while we continue playing.

We complete five more games by the time the day nears its end, and I'm running out of time to make a choice. I just can't think of a good way to choose, but after a while, I realize something and make my choice. Regardless of what's going on, there is a filly here.

My next choice could get others hurt, but out of all those that are involved and could get hurt the one that should never be hurt is a filly too young to even understand that today is anything but a fun day out with her grandsire. So not seeing any truly good choice I choose the choice I think will keep her out of danger.

This is a little rash and stupid but I just can't bring myself to do nothing at all. I know those griffins are watching them for some reason, and whether it be for good or bad reasons this filly is still being caught in the middle. I have to shove down my fear and act while my mind is made up.

I take a moment to turn my head and look through my saddlebags while using that time to quickly write something on a small piece of paper inside the pocket with my field and a quill.

I keep it hidden. "Thanks for the challenge," I say as I lose our last game and start packing the pieces away. I move the piece of folded paper out of my bag with my field while keeping it out of view. I slowly move the piece of paper under the bench and fit it through a gap in the wood pieces before moving it into his talon that is resting on the bench.

When he feels in touch with his talon he doesn't outwardly react but does move his talon to hold and crumple the piece of paper in it. I act like nothing happened and just put the chess set away in my saddlebags before getting up nodding goodbye, and walking off. I have no real idea what I just did or what it may cause, but I promised myself a long time ago to live this life without regrets and I intend to do that as best I can.

As I walk away from the park an old griffin uncrumple a piece of paper in his palm and reads it. We were being followed since we left the cafe. And for a moment a look that can only be described as blinding rage moves over his face before vanishing just as quickly.

He looks down to his sleeping grand-filly and gives a very small smile before standing up and walking away from the park bench with her still on his back.

Author's Note

This whole chapter is to see how Shade would act in a more morally gray situation. I think it came out ok. Sorry if it seems a little anticlimactic.

Thanks for reading. :D