Well this is new. As soon as I fell asleep I opened my eyes to a sparkly white void. Do I just…no longer have dreams? Well, let’s give it some soft, lush grass. Next I’ll conjure a comfy little 3 bedroom fully furnished house, with a fireplace. It’s basically a carbon copy of my house as a human. Walking into my familiar bedroom I snap my fingers and expand the room to twice its current size. Then I replace the bed with a California King size bed.

Turning around to look at my desk, my eyes widen as the computer is actually on and seemingly functional. Unfortunately when I open Firefox I get a no internet error message. Typical. Walking out of the bedroom and into the second bedroom that I turned into a study I eye up the bookshelf next to the recliner. With a snap of my fingers the bookshelf is filled with every single sourcebook and adventure module for Dungeons and Dragons that I can remember. Typically the System shows me a list of spells and such whenever I level up and need to select new spells. It also shows me all of the feats when I get to pick a new one.

However it doesn’t show me things like the higher level Paladin Spells that I can only cast through the Mizzium, and it definitely doesn’t show me any Cleric spells. Now let’s pour through these books and see if any of these things mention a Hope or Chaos Domain. I’d love to see what the Channel Divinity is for both and what the Domain specific spells are. I also want to see all of the Cleric spells so I can have a decent idea of what I’d be giving ponies access to if I bestow any of them with my blessing.

Mind if I intrude?

Nightmare? Yeah sure, but why are you asking? Normally you just barge in. Not that I mind, it’s usually a pleasant surprise.

I…can’t. I was able to find your dream after searching much harder than I usually have to, and now I’m unable to enter it. I can’t even see inside of it.

How do I let you in? I’m not protecting the dream consciously.

Just will the dream to allow me in.

That’s so fucking vague, but alright I’ll give it a shot.

I make a rotating gesture with my left hand while thinking about allowing Nightmare Moon and Luna into my dream.

“Ah that’s much better. What is all of this?” Nightmare startles me as she starts talking behind me within a fraction of a second after being let in.

“This is apparently my dreamscape. It was a white void when I started, and this house is using my house back on Earth as a reference, but I’ve already changed a few things. It seems like I’ll only have normal dreams if I wish to have them. I’m a bit conflicted on that, to be honest. On one hand it saves me from those nightmares with the corpses dragging me down to die with them. But, in normal pleasant dreams I don’t have to think or do anything, it’s just autopilot. Like I’m a passenger. This feels like I’m fully awake, and I’m not even sure if I’ll feel rested when I wake up.”

“Are you sure you even need to sleep? You mentioned not needing to eat, drink, or breathe. That’s not normal for alicorns so you’re already diverged from what we consider normal. There’s a chance you don’t even require sleep.” Nightmare brings up a good point as we lounge in the soft grass outside of my dream house.

“Maybe I don’t? If so that’d be pretty nice cause it means I can spend more time with Force. It was a pain to try and maintain a consistent sleep schedule while making time for her. She should’ve just joined the Night Guard and made things easy for me.”

“Do you want to test it? Why not wake up and start getting caught up on your paperwork? You could even swing by Day Court, Celestia has been holding all of the trials and court martials for the ponies that turned violent and attacked any innocent ponies or the element bearers.”

“Yeah fuck it, why not?” Before Nightmare can even respond my eyes snap open in the waking world. I can barely see some light peeking under the curtains, so it’s definitely still daytime. I just wonder if it’s before or after noon. My instincts tell me it's around 9am, but that can’t be right. I was setting up and rearranging that dream realm for a few hours.

Next I need to figure out how I’m going to escape this cuddle pile without waking anyone up. I could use that Greater Teleport thing, but that seems a bit overkill for moving a few feet away. Oh I’ll just shrink myself down to about six inches and then climb out of bed and regrow myself.

I was verbally announcing my Alteration abilities earlier, but they don’t actually need that. I silently will myself down to the size of an insect and then alter my form to give myself two wings. Using those wings I fly out of bed and land on the ground. After that I regrow to my new normal height, which is around 6’9”, and alter my form again so that the wings are gone and my Night Court uniform is replaced with something more casual.

I decided to just go with a black hoodie with a crescent moon on the chest and some sweatpants. If I end up going to Day Court I’ll swap out the sweatpants for some black dress pants or something. The hoodie stays on though, this shit is comfy. I can’t believe my AC is 19 without any armor. The description says it stacks with any other AC Bonuses so once I get my armor back my AC is gunna be 24, without using a bladesong.

Funny enough that’s around the same AC as…Luna and Nightmare. Am I the same rank as them? I think I might be. That’s…uncomfortable.

My thoughts are interrupted as I turn the corner and run into a couple of Day Guards conversing with some civilian staff. As soon as I turn the corner I hear all of their talking instantly stop, and they all turn to stare at me in fascination. Ah shit I forgot to turn off my Divine Aura. Actually, let’s keep it on. They have to fail a Wisdom Saving Throw with a DC of 16 to be affected, so this will give me a good idea of roughly how common it is for ordinary ponies to pass that saving throw. Not like it’s harmful anyways, they just stare at me when I walk past.

I walk past a decent handful of maids and guards as I make my way towards my office and only one maid seemed unaffected, and three guards withstood the Aura. It seems like ponies are not very good at Wisdom Saves. Opening the door to my office I’m surprised to see Vice Captain Elytra seated in my chair.

As the door opens she calls out, “Who dares to enter this space without knocking? If you’re a Guard so help me- OH! SIR! Welcome back!”

“Who said you use my office and sit in my chair?” Her eyes go wide as she looks down at the paperwork on the desk and then back up to me. “I’m just fucking with you. Thanks for covering down while I was out of commission. Anything important I should be aware of? What’s the passdown?”

The changeling lets out a sigh of relief. “Nothing too major, sir. We still don’t have any updates on the Dragons but we’re fairly certain they’ll make a move any day now. Ever since the Discord incident the Night Guard has been flooded with applications to cross-branch in from the Day Guard and even a decent number of civilians want to join. Going through their files and medical records to mark off recommended or not recommended has been most of what I’m working on.”

“You’re the Vice Captain. I trust your judgement on things like that. Anyone you already made a decision on, I want you to get that paperwork updated to reflect either approved or rejected.” Now that my mind isn’t as distracted I realize something as I stare at the changeling. She’s a worshiper. “Elytra.”

Her eyes glance up from the papers on the desk and look into my own eyes. “Sir?”

“Do you know anyone else that worships me?” I get to enjoy the rare sight of a blushing changeling as she gets embarrassed within a fraction of a second.

“I’d say there’s at least 10 or 15 of us from Aurora’s hive that think of you as our Guardian.”

“Well, let me be the one to inform you that as of yesterday I am a certified Deity. My domains are Hope and Chaos, but I think Chaos is just because I killed Discord. I probably stole his domain when I absorbed his Divinity. Anyways, feel free to offer any prayers whenever you’re troubled, and don’t offer me things or sacrifice things in my name. I’ll be happy enough just to offer any aid I can provide to any of you.”

Looking at the Vice Captain while she seems stunned at the new information, I start to think about bestowing her Cleric abilities. I trust her enough, and she’s never seemed to have misused her authority and power as Vice Captain. “I can actually give a blessing to creatures that worship me, but I haven’t given it to anyone yet so I’m not sure what it actually entails. Would you like to be the first? It can only be good things, it’s a blessing and not a curse, after all.”

She gives a rapid set of nods as she continues to look up at me. I reach down with my open right hand and gently place my palm on top of her head. “You shall become the first Cleric of Hope. You will remain steadfast in the face of suffering and you will become the beacon of hope to your allies. Never giving up even in the depths of despair when it seems all is lost. That is what you are. If it is not then it’s what you shall become, these are the values you will strive to live by everyday. Rise now, Elytra.”

Her eyes snap open and flash a brilliant golden light that fades as her eyes return to normal. “Feel any different?”

She offers me a slow blink and then holds up a foreleg to look at it with confusion. “I’m not hungry anymore…” As she says this her eyes start to well up and a few tears run down the changeling's face. “Even when the hive was thriving…there was always hunger. We assumed it just wasn’t possible to not feel hungry. I feel powerful.”

Suddenly she freezes and her eyes go a bit hazy for a few seconds. “You okay?”

“I just heard your voice. You gave me a stream of information like spells and abilities. I was able to select a bunch of different spells that now seem to be ingrained into my brain. Spells I’ve never even heard of but now I know instinctively that I can cast them. I’m not sure what the difference is between Cantrips and Leveled spells, but it only let me pick a few cantrips. Then I selected around eight spells that have a Level, whatever that means. There’s also some spells that I didn’t select that are ingrained into me.”

“What are those spells? Those ones you didn’t pick.”

“Heroism, Protection from Evil and Good, Calm Emotions, Silence, Beacon of Hope, and Sending.”

Wow so she’s around 5th or 6th level. That’s impressive for an ordinary changeling that’s only received some moderate training. “What are the other spells you selected?”

“Guidance, Sacred Flame, Toll the Dead, and Mending are the cantrips, but I also know Resistance and Spare the Dying. The Leveled spells or whatever besides the ones I already told you are Bless, Cure Wounds, Guiding Bolt, Sanctuary, Shield of Faith, Blindness/Deafness, Lesser Restoration, Warding Bond, Mass Healing Word, and Spirit Guardians.”

I let out a low whistle as I mentally register everything she’s saying. “Those are some pretty good spells. Why didn’t you select Revivify?”

“You suggested that I don’t take it. You said it’s because that spell likely wouldn’t work in this realm.” Good, I wanted to make sure that she could actually hear me when I was speaking to her directly in her mind.

“And you said something about abilities as well? What are those?”

“If I cast a leveled spell on an ally they gain temporary hit points equal to twice the level of the spell plus five. What are hit points and temporary hit points?”

“Hit Points are numeric representations of someone’s life force. As an example let’s say you have 55 Hit Points and I hit you with a Fire Bolt. That’d probably bring you down to 39 Hit Points or something. If you used Cure Wounds or Mass Healing Word that will restore those Hit Points and heal the target. Temporary Hit Points on the other hand is a quick and dirty type of healing. They’ll feel like they were healed by that amount, but as it states, it’s only temporary. Once they take enough damage to eat through those Temporary Hit Points or if a certain amount of time passes they’ll feel just as injured as before. Continue?”

“So if I used Cure Wounds as a 3rd Level spell…I’d heal them for a lot of Hit Points and then also give them 11 Temporary Hit Points?”

“Exactly. What’s the other abilities?”

“I can channel your power through worship to ignite a flame of hope in those around me. My body glows with dim light that reaches out 30ft for one minute, and any creature of my choosing inside that light has resistance to all incoming damage. If a creature gains Temporary Hit Points or has Temporary Hit Points when it enters the aura I can react to them and consume those Temporary Hit Points to restore their actual Hit Points by the same amount. Allies also have advantage on death saving throws while in the light, whatever that means…”

“That means when they lose consciousness and are on the verge of death they’ll be more likely to stabilize on their own. If they become stable you can rest assured they won’t die unless they’re attacked while unconscious, so you can focus on the fight and heal them afterwards. That’s a pretty strong ability. Anything else?” I have to keep in mind that I can use those Domain spells she listed and these Domain abilities a limited number of times per day as well.

“Yes, but this one makes even less sense. If an ally takes a long rest within 90ft of me they recover two points of exhaustion instead of one, and it takes two hours of strenuous activity for that rest to be interrupted rather than one. They can also sleep in armor or in other conditions that would normally prevent them from resting or sleeping normally.”

“Wow. I wouldn’t worry too much about that one. It just means if you’re on a mission and you and your allies set up camp for the night and sleep. You’ll all feel twice as rested as normal, essentially. Alright, well thanks for the information and thank you for being a faithful believer.”

My hand is still on her head so I give her a little pet before removing my hand. “I’ll let you correct that paperwork that I asked you to work on. I’m gunna go see what’s happening in Day Court.”

“It’s a madhouse, Sir. I’d really recommend staying away.” I just take my hand and wave away her concerns. I start to leave but remember one other thing I wanted to do while I was here.

I move into the center of the office and hold out my hand with my palm facing down to the floor. A small translucent sphere appears in the palm of my hand and then rapidly expands until the entire room is inside the sphere. I’ve claimed this office as my Divine Realm. “What temperature do you want it in here? It can be as cold or hot as you want.”

She looks around in awe and then stares at me slack jawed. Oh right I’m at my most powerful in this room, so my aura is probably affecting her now. I snap my fingers and make her immune to the effect and after a slow blink she starts to speak. “It actually has been a bit cold in here lately, would it be possible if it was something more tropical? Around 78 degrees or so would be perfect.”

“Wow that’s a decent bit hotter than I’d be comfortable with, but yeah sure I can do that.” In my mind I change the temperature to 78 degrees and then wave the changeling goodbye as I exit the office. It’s interesting that she didn’t succumb to my aura when I entered the room, so that means she passed the save.

With a snap of the fingers I turn my red sweatpants into black dress pants. Can’t be dressed too casually in Celestia’s Court or she might throw me out. When I approach the back entrance to the throne room one of the guards salutes me and the other one just stares slack jawed. I offer a super informal and sloppy two finger salute as I stroll past them and into the throne room.

Imagine my surprise when I see the guard dragging a chained up thestral to the podium. Well they were doing that until I walked in. Basically every creature within the 40ft radius with the exception of the two guards standing at the bottom of the steps to the throne fail the saving throw and stare at me, awestruck. Okay this is getting old, reducing the radius to zero.

“Ah perfect timing, Ignis. I was just about to review this thestrals case and then I was very likely going to defer judgement to my sister and have her thrown back in the holding cells. Would you like to preside over this court martial?” Celestia asks me with a surprisingly friendly tone of voice. It’s still weird that she treats me better nowadays.

“Court Martial, huh? I thought this was just a civilian thestral, so I wasn’t going to say anything. If it’s a Court Martial though, that means you’re one of mine. What’s she accused of?” I ask Celestia as I casually cross the room and float over a chair as I walk. Then I turn the chair backwards and sit down right in front of the chained thestral, leaning my chest up against the backrest of the chair.

“Well the official charge is Treason, but I assume you want the actual details. The report says she led the group of ponies responsible for throwing fire bombs into a bakery occupied by two of the Element Bearers. She also participated in the throwing of the bombs but several witness testimonies have identified her as the leader and mastermind behind the ambush.” My eyebrows raise as I hear the details. That’s quite the charge.

“So Terrorism, Vandalism, Arson, Treason, and Attempted Murder times two. Alright thestral, here’s the deal. Answer all of my questions with nothing but the truth and I will not give you the death sentence.” I hear a gasp from most of the spectators and guards as I utter out the final phrase of my sentence.

“Do you guys not do the death sentence here?”

“Not for civilian trials, but for Court Martial it’s still technically a legal sentence. It hasn’t been done in centuries though. Do you truly believe these crimes warrant her death?”

“She led a plot that could’ve potentially doomed the entire planet and killed thousands of ponies. She’s lucky death is the worst thing I’m offering to her. Alright, first question. Did you come up with the plan to ambush the ponies and corner them into a building?” I ask with an even tone while trying to be as unintimidating as possible.

“No! It was some Day Guard Lieutenant, you have to believe me! She told me nopony would blame me for what happened and promised my herd would be safe…” The thestral starts to tear up as she collapses.

“Well that’s one lie already. You can’t lie to me, thestral. That was your last warning, if you lie one more time then that’ll be it. Did you not think we had a chance to win? Why would you turn against your fellow ponies and commit such a heinous act?”

“I…I didn’t care if we won or not. My plan was to prevent Discord from being defeated and when I was freed from the city I planned to bring Princess Luna with me. Me and several other thestrals planned to take advantage of your death and the chaotic state of Equestria to bring the Princess back to our original colony in the West.”

Every single pony in the room stiffens and their eyes shrink to pinpricks just a second or two after the thestral says that. It’s likely because I could not suppress the fury that had built up in my chest. I look the pony straight in the eyes, and can tell from a single glance that this mare is completely terrified right now. As are most of the civilians present. “And what exactly did you plan to do with Luna once you had her inside the colony?”

At this point I’ve activated the secondary ability of Power of Truth, which enchants a target of my choosing to only be capable of telling the truth. “Assuming her horn and wings stayed magically removed thanks to Discord we assumed that biologically she would still be an alicorn. With her horn and wings gone we planned to use her to bring about thestral alicorns so we could rise to power and become our own kingdom.”

“Ignis, DON’T! Even for the death sentence there’s still a legal process that has to happen before the execution!” I hear Celestia shout at me from atop her throne as I stand up from my chair.

I just take my left hand and run it through my ethereal hair as I try, and I really mean that I tried to hold back. Celestia has been kind to me lately, I’ve started to come around and enjoy her company as well. She’s Luna’s sister. I don't want to upset Luna by constantly being in arguments with her sister. “I’m sorry Celestia.”

“NO!”

I just point at the thestral with my right index finger and activate Hand of Death.

“Die.”

The entire throne room falls to silence as everyone just stares at the thestral mare. Some look confused and some look terrified. They’re probably waiting on some visual effect to happen or some type of indication that magic has been activated. However, that never comes. Unfortunately the only people capable of seeing the thestrals face is me, Celestia, and the two guards at the bottom of the steps to the throne. Everyone else is behind the bat pony.

So they’re incapable of watching as all of the bright red leaves her eyes as they instead turn lifeless and dull gray. The mare releases an unnatural gurgling sound as her body produces its death rattle and her legs suddenly buckle and the corpse falls forward. It lands on its face before falling to the side and laying there limp with its legs and wings sprawled out.

When I look up to Celestia on the throne I’m surprised to see that even her eyes are wide as she stares at me with a mixture of confusion and fear. “Wh…what….what did you just do?”

“I snuffed out her life. I truly am sorry, Celestia. I just…I don’t even understand how you could hold your rage back after hearing that. That’s beyond treason, that was vile and unapologetically evil. Even if it wasn’t Luna or an alicorn or someone that I know and love, if she had told me that plan for any creature, I’d have been nearly just as angry. I’d definitely still have killed her on the spot. I’ll take whatever punishment you have for me for bypassing your legal processes, but I would do it again if given the choice. I hope Harmony doesn’t reincarnate her soul. I hope she rots in the darkest and most vile pits of whatever type of afterlife you have for evil creatures in this realm.”

Thankfully, Celestia actually doesn’t even seem angry. It’s hard to tell though as she looks slightly afraid of what just happened. “Court is adjourned early for lunch. Reconvene at 1300. Guards please take that corpse to the morgue in the medical wing and the rest of you are also dismissed. Return back here at 1245.”

The guards all pop salutes and then start to move, two of them moving towards the corpse but they get very tense as they get close to me and act like they’re walking on eggshells as they slide past me to get to the body. Once everyone is gone it’s just me and Celestia in the room.

She slowly rises and spreads her wings, proceeding to glide from the throne to land next to me. “Ignis, I’m serious, okay? What did you just do?”

“I used one of the inherent abilities tied to my divinity. It’s referred to as “Hand of Death” and it only works on mortals. When I point at them they have a chance to resist the ability with their fortitude. If they succeed and resist it then nothing happens. Believe it or not it’s actually not that difficult to resist it. Even if it was me from the first day I arrived here, I would’ve had like a 30% chance to resist it. Which is pretty high for how weak I was back then.”

“I….I see. That’s honestly a terrifying ability. As for this event, I believe I’ll be able to sweep it under the rug. If I recall correctly there’s a clause in our military laws that allows for the Captain of the Guard or a Princess to personally handle an execution if the situation is deemed necessary. We’ll have to come up with something as to why it could be deemed necessary, but it shouldn’t be a problem. Just a bit of a headache. Honestly I’m quite thankful that you were here for that. I was so worried about how you would react that I was able to distract myself from my own anger. If you weren’t here…I’d probably have killed her on the spot myself.”

“Happy to take the fall for you. I just can’t believe what I heard. A plan like that is something I wouldn’t even expect to hear from some of the most evil humans on the planet, and that species was quite dark. So, to hear it from a pony of all creatures, it doesn’t even seem real. I legitimately feel sick to my stomach just imagining it…”

“Yes, despite what you and many other countries think, Equestria is not all sunshine and rainbows. By the way, are you aware that you no longer possess mana? When you first entered the room I had to disable my True Sight from how brightly you were shining. Alicorns like Luna and myself are incapable of directly storing what you call “divinity” in our bodies, so we store in our celestial objects instead. Now that I’ve seen you though, I’m beginning to wonder if that was a correct assumption.” Wow, Celestia is surprisingly chill about this whole situation.

“I guess Luna didn’t explain what we did to you? Once it was explained to me that Divinity and mana could not co-exist in one's ethereal body or mana pool, I asked what would happen if I just expelled all of my mana. That’s why I was unleashing so much mana when you and Twilight appeared, you probably thought it was another surge. Once all of the mana left my body the system unsealed Discords Divinity and then my body exploded. Once I ascended my body started to absorb Discords power and now Chaos is one of my Domains. Do you think you or Luna could wield your divinity directly if you also empty your mana pools?”

“No. Even when we aren’t storing it, if we actively use it for a prolonged period of time or if we use too much at once it can start to tear our bodies apart. Did Nightmare or Luna tell you how they revived you?”

Wait…”Now that you mention it I completely forgot I died back then. No they didn’t explain it all, Nightmare probably wanted to explain it but then she uh…well you know. Then it was never a good moment for Luna to talk about it and by the time things had calmed down she probably forgot about it. I’ll ask one of them about it the next time I see them.”

“Also how did you know that thestral wasn’t telling the truth?”

“Another one of my new abilities. It’s called the Power of Truth. I know when anyone, other than a deity of equal or greater power, deliberately lies. It’s passive and always applies to any creature I can perceive. I can also target a creature and actively use it to compel them to only tell the truth. It’s pretty neat.”

Celestia just snorts in response. “What a nonchalant way to describe such a powerful ability. Yes it’s very neat. If that’s the case would you be willing to observe the rest of the trials we have slated for today and tell me if somepony is lying?”

“Sure, got nothing else to do. Do you want me to, like, disguise myself or something? I might freak everyone out if I’m just chilling up there on the throne with you.”

The alicorn hums in thought for a few seconds. “I’ll let you decide. I have something I need to take care of before court resumes in a couple of hours. I’ll see you back here around 1245.”

With a flash of her horn Celestia is gone. That sounded kinda ominous, I wonder what she’s taking care of? Well shit what do I do for the next couple of hours? Wait, I just realized something I need to check on. Closing my eyes I use Remote Sensing to perceive my Divine Realm (my office) and sure enough Elytra is still in there. Thankfully she’s a worshiper so I can just talk to her directly.

Hey Vice Captain, I don’t know what your sleep schedule is at the moment, but if you’ve been up all night I’m ordering you to go to bed. I’ll pick up where you left off and even if I don’t it’s not more important than your health. It’ll be there in a few hours, so go to bed.

I understand. Thank you, Sir.

I watch the changeling with my remote sensing for several minutes and she’s still just sitting there.

Elytra, I can see you, you know? That office is literally my physical Domain, I can perceive everything inside it at all times.

In an instant I watch the changeling shoot up out of the chair, her entire body stiff as a board. I’m so sorry, Sir. I just wanted to finish this section of the application I was on. I’m leaving right now.

You’re not in trouble or anything, relax. I just don’t want you neglecting your health over some petty paperwork. Thanks for the good work Elytra.

I can’t help but laugh as Elytra randomly faces the window in the back of the office and salutes it. Thank you, Sir. I pray the rest of your day is peaceful and happy.

I’m not the window, Elytra. It’s just too comical. I can't even suppress my laughter over the telepathic conversation. From my point of view her back is turned to me and she’s just super seriously saluting and talking to a window. As soon as I inform her that I’m not the window she looks around and hesitantly starts to salute, but stops and turns before repeating the same motion. She can't decide which way to face.

Wow she’s so much more stiff and nervous around me now compared to before. I suppose that’s normal, but it’s kind of adorable to watch her nervously try to figure out which way to face to salute me. Don’t worry about it, Vice Captain. It’s the thought that counts. Go to bed.

With that she finally exits the office. I gotta get her to loosen up and go back to how she used to act around me. In the meantime, let’s go find Twilight. Wait, this ability says I can use any Domain spell that I can bestow upon my followers as a spell-like ability at will. That means it doesn’t use a spell slot. Sending is one of my Hope Domain spells that I bestowed to Elytra. That means I can use it at will. For my Divine Remote Communication ability they have to be within four miles of a divine site dedicated to me or a statue or painting of my likeness, but Sending is literally unrestricted.

“Sending.” Yo, Twilight, it’s Ignis, are you in the castle right now? If so, can you meet me in the throne room?

“I’m about to see my new therapist for the first time actually. Did you need something?” After she replies I just keep activating the spell so we can have a continuous conversation.

Nah, I’m just not normally awake during the day and Luna, Nightmare, and Force are all asleep so I’m kinda bored. Was gunna see if you wanted to teach me any magic lessons. I hope this therapy helps Twilight. It helped me some, so I think it’ll help you.

“I was actually wondering…if it isn’t too much trouble could you use that ability of yours to make sure my therapist isn’t a changeling? I’ve been really nervous about it.”

Yeah sure. I know where the mental health wing of Medical is, so I’ll be there in a couple of minutes.

As I start making my way over there I pull my hood up and double check to make sure my Divine Aura is disabled. Within a minute or so I’m in a familiar part of the castle. I still can’t believe something happened to Dr. Sentiment. Twilight waves at me when she spots me.

“Heyo, which office is the one you’re visiting?” She tilts her head forward and points her horn at the door right next to us. When I peak my head inside I see a dark purple colored unicorn mare sitting there flipping through a folder. Oh that’s what it means my senses are extended. I can clearly see that it’s Twilight’s medical record with some notes from Celestia about her trauma.

The doors already open, so I just knock on the wood to get her attention. She looks up from the medical record and squints at me. “Can I help you? I’m afraid I have an appointment soon, so if you need something you’ll have to try a different office.”

“Are you a changeling?”

“....What? That’s a ridiculous question.”

“Just answer it, yes or no. Are you a changeling?”

“No.” The way she dodged the question at first made me suspicious, but she isn’t lying.

“You’re good Twilight. She’s a real pony.”

Twilight gives me a sheepish grin as she scratches her cheek with her forehoof. “Thanks and sorry again, I know it’s silly to keep being paranoid of every new pony I meet like this.”

“It’s no problem, and it’s not silly. If that happened to me I’d be just as paranoid. Don’t hesitate to ask me for anything in the future. Just say my name out loud and I can contact you.” She gives me a grateful smile and turns to enter the therapist's office. Now I am once again bored.

I need a hobby.

Author's Note

I lied. I think I wanna explore some of these criminal trials and have Ignis interact with Celestia more, so I'm pushing back the Nightmare date and the start of the arc for a couple more chapters. Other than that I don't have much to say for this chapter.

It ended up being way longer than I thought it would be, I didn't even spend that much time writing it...like 3 hours? Maybe 4? Sorry for the uneventful chapter, this is mostly just Ignis breaking in his new powers so he can get used to them.

Thanks for reading! <3