Ignis Ferrum - Divine Rank 4
Bladesinger 12/Paladin 2

Chosen of the Moon

Next Divine Rank at 4,000 followers: 2,400

Huh? When did I get over 2,000 followers?

Anyways, I didn’t gain any levels of exhaustion after staying up for 48 hours, but I did start to make silly mistakes in my paperwork and training. I also started to feel pretty fatigued, so I’m guessing pushing it for a third day would’ve resulted in some exhaustion finally starting to accumulate.

My second day of participating in the trials was much less eventful. Thankfully we had no Princess trafficking and enslavement plots, and no serial child murderers. I talked to Elytra and we got the Night Guard to move their training further away from the barracks. That brings us around to tonight. I just woke up and it looks like it’s a few minutes before sunset.

I’m supposed to have my date with Nightmare in a couple of hours, the latest we could schedule it before everything in town closes. I’d like to see if I can figure out why my follower count jumped so suddenly though.

2,450.

Oh. It’s still going. Looking around I find an empty bedroom which is strange. I’d have expected to see at least one of the three mares in here when I woke up. Wherever Luna is she’ll head to the dining hall once she raises the moon, so I suppose I’ll head that way.

Can you-, please he-, my math homework? My colt is-, Please give me strength.

I almost have to grasp my head as I get out of bed and have my mind assaulted with far too many voices overlapping one another in my mind. Prayers. It’s only a couple thousand though, how can there be this many? I can’t hear myself think!

“QUIET!” I inadvertently end up screaming out loud and accidentally shatter a mirror on the wall next to me.

The doors to the room burst open and two guards run in. “Sir! Is everything alright?!”

“Yeah, sorry. I just… this is going to sound weird but I had hundreds of voices speaking to me at once. It felt like my head was going to explode.”

“Could it be a rogue changeling, sir? My kind is known to have a few mind altering spells, I can perform a scan.”

“No. They were all prayers. I didn’t expect to have so many worshipers when I woke up today…”

2,600

The thestral next to the changeling lunges forward with her eyes wide. “Wait, does that mean the article I saw this morning was telling the truth?! You’re divine?!”

“Yeah, something like that. Do you know where Luna or Nightmare are?”

2,601

“Her Majesty is in a private meeting with her sister over in the Solar wing. I’m not sure where the mistress is, though.”

“Don’t call her that.”

“Oh. Yes, sir.”

“Neither of you happen to have the publication containing the article on you right now, do you?” They both shake their heads. “Alright, get back to your posts.” As I issue the command my pajama’s glow and transform into my Knight uniform. “Time to go to work I suppose.”

While I’m walking to the meeting room near Celestia’s office I think about the prayers I heard earlier. Okay, let’s filter these through so I can actually sift through the masses to find the important ones. If someone is in imminent danger and they’re requesting help that one gets second priority. The only thing higher than that is for the very unlikely event that there’s a prayer asking for help involving Luna, Nightmare, or Force being in imminent danger.

Next give me anyone with critically ill foals, siblings, or lovers. After that we’ll put the same types of things but for serious yet non-life threatening scenarios. Things like kidnapping, sexual assault, or immoblizing injuries. After that I’ll take any prayers from those asking for strength or guidance.

Once I get a temple or two established I’m going to filter that last one to only be from creatures sending the prayer from those locations. If someone wants to get access to crazy cleric powers then making them go on a pilgrimage seems like a good first step to sift out the ones who aren’t serious. If I find myself with nothing to do I’ll open up the prayers and listen to any mundane requests, but that’ll be pretty rare I think.

Now then I heard one of those hundreds of voices mention their colt earlier, let’s take a look at that one. Remote Sense. Ah, I’m not sure if I can truly help with this one. Just from my initial inspection nothing is physically wrong with the boy, but he looks rather weak and he’s laid up in a hospital bed. The father is alone in the room though, I have a few minutes to spare. I can go and provide some level of comfort at the very least. Greater Teleport.

“Wha- HUH?!” As soon as I appear the tan earth pony falls out of his chair and slams his forehead into the floor as he prostrates himself before me.

“Rise, I didn’t come here for that. Tell me what’s wrong with him.”

The pony is shivering but he does manage to stand and I can see a keen look of determination in his eyes. I get the feeling this stallion would throw hands with me right now if it meant saving this colt. I like that.

“The doctors aren’t sure. He collapsed at school last week and he only wakes up for minutes at a time. Whenever we’ve tried giving him water he acts like it’s acid or something. The doctors just told me there’s nothing they could do, but I don’t know what's wrong.”

“Rabies.” The tan pony goes pale as I say the name of the illness. Barely being able to stay conscious isn’t a symptom that illness has where I’m from but the hydrophobia and the scratch on his cheek tell me everything I need to know. “I can try something, and if it doesn’t work I have another spell I can try. If neither of those work though then I’m afraid it’s beyond me. I can heal a blade through the heart or even the head, but illnesses like this are different beasts altogether.”

Lay on Hands and Lesser Restoration both used to mention diseases specifically, but ever since the system update to 5.5 there’s nothing. If I had to make a guess I’d say they removed diseases as a status condition altogether from the new version of the game, but who knows. All I can do is try it anyway.

I rest one hand against the colt's forehead and the other on his chest and my hands begin to glow with silver light. We’ll try Lay on Hands first.

Lay on Hands, remove the disease rabies from this child of God.

The light fades and I can hear the father hold his breath as he waits for any signs of improvement. After a few tense seconds the colt opens his eyes and makes a quiet woah sound as he looks at me hovering above him. “Go get some water for him, that’ll be the true test.”

The father comes to his senses when I mention water and after nervously nodding his head he runs out of the hospital room. “I’ve never seen a doctor like you mister.”

“Well that’s because I’m not a doctor, little one. I’m an elf. How are you feeling? You’ve been through the ringer for the past week apparently, and your sire was worried sick about you.”

“I’m tired, and it feels like I’m moving through mud when I try to move around. Did you make me all better?” I give him a soft smile and a subtle nod. “Thanks mister elf. I’m glad Daddy won’t have to worry about me so much anymore.”

“You’re a good kid, you know that? Not many foals would be concerned with the impact they have on their parents lives. That means the both of you had probably had it rough, huh?”

“Yeah. Ever since Mommy went to work one day and never came back. Daddy made me go to some service and they talked about a hydra or something, and Mommy’s name was one of the ones on the big stone they showed. After that there’s a lot of nights where I can tell Daddy is sad.” I feel some cold water splash onto my hands and wonder if the father must’ve spilled some of the water. “Why are you crying mister elf?”

Ah that’s what it was. “That’s just a very tragic story, kid. I’m sorry I didn’t find the hydra sooner. If I did then…maybe…”

I hear the familiar sound of hooves on a hard floor as the father returns to the room. I glance back at him and hover the cup of water with a straw in it over to the foal. “Drink this for me.”

The colt barely manages to lean forward the half inch it takes to put the straw in his mouth but as soon as it does we watch the water level in the cup quickly get lower and lower. Instantly both me and the stallion let out a sigh of relief. After that I try to cast Cure Wounds on the kid, and his sunken cheek bones return to normal and he looks a bit healthier.

“Thank you so much! I can’t believe you actually heard my prayer! I thought for sure it wasn’t going to work, but I was desperate and then I saw that article and the way you looked in that photo and I knew you were my last Hope. I’ll never forget this for as long as I live, your holiness.”

“Ope, nope I don’t like that at all. Just sir or Ignis is fine. I only ask that you stay faithful and if you have the means to help someone else, to act on it and help them as I’ve helped you. Anyone can be a beacon of hope. If something like this comes up again don’t hesitate to ask for help in another prayer, but do try to only do so for emergencies. There’s a lot of ponies and only one of me. Also have the hospital inform the castle that there's an animal with Rabies on the loose somewhere here in Canterlot. If you know what kind it was that injured your colt be sure to include that information.”

“Of course. I really wish I had some way to actually repay you, but I’ll do my best to do as you say.”

“Good. Also your son loves you very much, but..” I speak directly into the fathers mind for the next part of my statement. “But he worries about how often he sees you sad at night. I understand wanting to shield him from the harshness of this situation until he’s older, but if that’s how you’re going to approach the situation, try to be more discreet with your grieving. I asked you to try and be a beacon for others, but you MUST be a beacon for him. If you ever need any advice or help for something that isn’t an emergency feel free to stop by Night Court and ask for me. If they refuse you for whatever reason then ask for Elytra, she is one of my most faithful and she can get you to me.”

The stallion gives me a nod with that familiar look of determination in his eyes, and I can feel at ease as I teleport away. That look tells me that everything will probably work out fine for those two. Can’t believe his mom was one of the ponies we lost to the False Hydra early on. Giving him permission to find me directly in the castle will likely be seen as preferential treatment by anyone that knows, but it's the only way I can feel any form of atonement for failing to notice that hydra before it devoured anyone.

I should’ve asked for that stallion’s name. Carved Oak. Somehow I just instinctively know his name, and even for ponies it’s a bit of a strange one. I wonder what kind of woodwork he does. Anyways, with that 30 minute detour out of the way, I assume whatever meeting Celly and Luna were having has already concluded. So, I’ll just go straight to the dining hall.

“Can we please not talk about this anymore? This is the dinner table, that conversation ended when we left the meeting.” I hear Luna complaining about whatever topic they have right now.

“I’d love to do that if it wasn’t so serious Lulu. We have to do something about these news articles! The last thing we need is another cult, and with how rapidly this one is growing we need to move now.”

“Who cares? Pretty sure Ignis appreciates the followers and who are we to tell ponies who they can and cannot worship. I’m of the opinion that we should be more concerned about the dragons. Our spy was supposed to report every week and they’re 12 hours late to report. I wouldn’t be too surprised to hear that they’ve found the guard.” Luna pauses for a second before calling out. “Glad you could join us, Ignis. I was starting to wonder if I needed to go drag you out of bed myself.”

Caught red handed I step out from behind the door and sit down at the table. Looks like it’s just Celestia and Luna in here tonight. “For what it’s worth I prefer if you didn’t outlaw my religion. I was actually thinking Luna and I should set up a joint temple. Our domains are so compatible that I’m fairly certain there wouldn’t be any problems if we shared followers.”

Luna tilts her head adorably in confusion while Celestia just furrows her brows, deep in thought. “What does the moon have to do with either Hope or Chaos?”

“You almost certainly have more than one domain, Luna. If you don’t have this domain then perhaps Nightmare has it, but I’m talking about Hopes and Dreams. Those two are so tightly bound together that I’m sure we could get away with joint followers. Normally the hardest part about having a worshiper that also follows another deity is that the follower has to live by the tenants of both for both to get the benefits. For something like Harmony and Chaos, it’d be damn near impossible for a follower to truly worship both. Hopes and Dreams though? Not a problem.”

Celestia seems surprised at the revelation but Luna has a type of smile I don’t get to see on her very often. It’s one she wears when she is exceedingly pleased about something. “Ah also can you accompany me to the orphanage we went to a while ago? I want to get this done before it’s too late, and I don’t remember where the place is.”

“That place? Why?”

“I have a theory I want to test. If it works it’ll be extremely good news.” I can tell from the inquisitive look on her face that this explanation isn’t enough to satisfy her. “If this works I will cure that filly’s deafness.”

“Shouldn’t you eat something first? You haven’t even touched a plate since you sat down.”

“I’m eating in a couple of hours, I don’t wanna spoil my appetite.”

“Ahh.” Her face dawns with realization and she nods before abruptly standing up, and leading me out of the dining hall.

“So what exactly is this plan of yours?”

“I can use domain spells and domain powers that I bestow on my followers, and I also give them access to the Cleric spell list. I want to see if my Divine Ranks will work as a justification for the System to let me use Cleric spells with the Mizzium Apparatus. If it works I can cast Regenerate on that filly. It’s a seventh level spell, so I haven’t had access to it until recently.”

“Ah so if it’s that high of a level you can likely only do it once per day.”

“Yeah, for now. Also if this works I plan on doing the same thing for a blind pony in the center of town. Performing miracles like that in public is a great way to bolster our numbers.”

Luna gives me the most judgemental side eye I’ve ever seen her give to anyone. “I’m not sure if that’s a good motivation to do something like that in front of everypony. It feels like you’re using the victim.”

“I am. They’ll be using me as well, though. You ask any blind person if they care about being used as a public demonstration and in return they get their vision back for the rest of their life. Trust me it’s not that amoral. I won’t ask for anything from those that get healed so some public exposure should be plenty fine. I won’t even make them worship us.”

After humming in thought for a few seconds she relents. “I suppose that’s valid. It still makes me feel slimy thinking about it, though.”

“If you really hate the idea then we don’t have to do it, but I promise you it’s not as bad as you're making it out to be.”

Before she can respond I realize we’ve arrived at the orphanage. After talking to the old mare we met last time she lets us in to visit the filly again. The poor thing is shaking like a leaf as she stares at the bright glowing tubes of the Mizzium as she isn’t really sure what’s going on. I pull out the Staff of the Magi since it’s a spellcasting focus and can substitute for the Material component that I don’t have.

Next I cast Guidance on myself. Now that I have 22 Intelligence my Aracana is +16 on it’s own. I get another +2 from my Divine Rank, and another +1d4 from Guidance. The worst I can possibly roll is 20. If I roll a natural 1 on the d20 then another 1 on the guidance that’d be 1+19. This is a 7th Level spell so I have to roll a 24. I just have to roll higher than a 5 and I’m guaranteed to cast the spell with no complications. Phew okay deep breathes. Please let this work, please let this work. I have access to the Cleric spell list, but I only have access to it in such a way so that I can bestow onto others. Surely that still counts as having access to it?

“Regenerate.” I hold my breath as I wait for the Arcana check to appear. If it appears then that means this works, even if the spell fails because of a bad roll. That’d still be amazing news.

Arcana Check (Mizzium DC: 24)

11 + 4 + (16 +2) = 33.

Thank me it was a good roll. My hand and the staff start to glow with an immensely bright light as the Mizzium hums and rattles much louder than it ever has before. This is the first time I’m casting a 7th Level spell with my own power, and the way the air vibrates from the density of magic is amazing. Hell, maybe magic like this really is a miracle.

The light fades and the filly is surrounded in a very dim silver aura as she looks around confused, wondering what happened. “I assume it worked then? Can you hear me, little Cursive Hoof?”

The filly makes no indication that she heard Luna. “The spell takes around two minutes to regenerate any limbs. Honestly it’s a very loose definition that I think this will cure her deafness if we consider her ear drums as a limb. If this doesn’t work though then I’m sure the Heal spell will work.”

We sit there with tension hanging in the air as the seconds pass. After a brief period of time that feels like hours the filly suddenly yelps and then screams, jumping backwards as if startled. Oh, she’s scaring herself. She probably just heard herself breathing for the first time and got startled so she involuntarily yelped which scared her even more so she screamed. It’s just one big chain reaction as the filly screams one last time before hiding under the bed.

“Cursive, it’s ok. What you heard at first was the sound of your own breathing. You can hear now.”

Her eyes widen to an extreme degree as her pupils shrink to pinpricks. Her bottom lip starts to tremble and she breaks down into tears with a big smile on her face. She’s completely overwhelmed, the poor thing. I feel my face relax as I can’t help but to give her a gentle smile. Suddenly the filly darts out from under the bed and jumps up, ramming her head into my chest at full speed.

“Oof!” It doesn’t hurt at all but I make the noise on reflex. The child is repeatedly saying thank you in broken common. Wait, how did she even understand what I said? Luna talked to her telepathically last time we were here, so maybe they use telepathy to teach deaf foals what the words sound like after they learn how to spell them?

Ah, who cares. No point in wondering about pointless details when I should just be enjoying the moment.

After maybe an hour or so of celebration and thank yous and being forced to interact with all of the foals in the place I finally manage to get out. I have to get ready for my date. Nightmare requested to specifically pick me up from my room, so that’s where I’m at. It’s been so long since I’ve been here that it’s dusty as hell. Do the maids not come in here?

Nightmare had another specific request that surprised me, but it wasn’t an unpleasant surprise. It was actually something I hadn’t even thought about doing, and now that she’s put the idea in my head I’m wondering how I didn’t try this as soon as I got these Divinity powers.

“Alter Form.”I look in the mirror as my body shrinks down to around 5’10” and my long silver hair fades away to short black hair. My soft elven face fills out a bit as my jaw becomes more defined and my shoulders get a bit broader.

Nightmare requested to go on this date with Lucas. The glimpses of my life on Earth she was able to see during my dreams and visions seemed to leave an impression on her. She also thinks that Lucas is who she got to know and understand as we grew closer, so as a result she asked if I would mind assuming that form for the date.

I actually have no problem with it, and it’s a strange feeling to finally see my old self in the mirror like this. Ah I still need to fix the eyes, Lucas didn’t have golden orbs for eyes they were just plain ole brown with normal pupils. Next is the clothes, I’ll just keep it simple and use a white button up shirt with a collar combined with black dress pants.

As I’m turning and inspecting myself to see if there’s anything I missed when I was altering my form I hear a knock at the door. Opening it I find Nightmare’s draconic eyes are at the same level as my own eyes. We’re damn near the exact same height, she’s just got me beat with the horn. Her eyes widen in surprise as a small smirk forms on her face. “Like what you see? You can take a picture if you want.”

“I just might. Don’t get me wrong I adore your normal form as well, but this form has it’s own masculine charms. Rugged is perhaps a good word to describe it? The hair on your face combined with that look in your eyes that seems more…predatory. How did you manage to not find love looking like this?”

“Oh, I had plenty of lovers with this body, but they were just flings, ya know? Nothing serious. Just meaningless physical relationships with no love. It’s really my elven form that leaves me puzzled. I have no clue how Ignis didn’t manage to get laid with the way that body looks.”

“I see. Well, are you ready to depart, my consort eternal?”

“Of course. What have you got planned for us first?”

Author's Note

NOTICE: Last chapter had a pretty substantial rewrite in it. The entire interaction between Ignis and Shining was rewritten because I completely forgot that Shining is supposed to hate Ignis. The end result is still the same but the conversation is much more argumentative with Shining being more stand-offish. You don't have to go back and reread it since the end result is the same, and he gets the badge and goes to the barracks like normal. But, figured I'd inform those of you that read last chapter before the rewrite, so in future chapters you aren't like "why is Shining being an asshole all of a sudden? He was cool last time we talked."

Secondly...Listen. I didn't really mean for that scene with the kid in the hospital to be that sad. I originally didn't even have backstories for them, but I decided it was lazy to not have backstories for the two of them. So I was like "Okay, why is it just the dad?"

"Cause the mom is out of the picture." and then the backstory just wrote itself. Sorry not sorry, at least the family was able to avoid another tragedy so shortly after the first one. Hopefully the scene with the deaf filly was able to adequately serve as eye bleach/palate cleanser.

I know some of you are enjoying these fluff chapters, but I don't want the pacing of the story to slow down much more than this. After this date (might be 2 or 3 chapters) we're going to the next arc. Even if I gotta drag some of you kicking and screaming >:(

Also I can't believe I completely missed the fact that we passed 100 chapters. If I did my math correctly A New Mystery pt. 1 was chapter 100. Insane to me that we've come so far, but still have so much more to go. I'd say we're not even 1/5th of the way through the story, which is insane to think about.

Anyways, Thanks for reading! <3