“I remember young Torch. He had quite a mean streak a few centuries ago. Surprised he’s grown up so fast and is the current Dragon Lord, though. The fact that Grogar is in the mix though…changes things. I’ll have to rethink my entire approach to this war.” Celestia idly comments. Once breakfast finished she brought Luna, Moonie, and I to the war room for this discussion. I just finished explaining everything I saw and heard on my stealth mission.

“Exactly, so I was thinking we should use these upcoming negotiations as a trap. We prop up Ember to be the next Dragon Lord, and then if Torch cancels the peace talks after we reject his offers then we just ice him right there on the spot. Ember now understands this war is pointless and has no motivation to continue it, so if we take him out and leave her in power she’ll end the war.” I don’t like how deeply Celestia seems to think after I finish my suggestion.

“That’s not what I meant by rethink. If Grogar is truly unsealed then we must take extra precaution at this meeting. I want a detachment of guards in every major city for the entire duration of the negotiations. I’m also going to request that you, Ignis, stay here for the meeting. We’re likely going to be meeting in the middle of the Badlands as a neutral ground and with us gone it will leave Equestria very vulnerable. I want you here to be able to rapidly respond to any threats.” I immediately frown at the alicorn.

“If Luna or Nightmare are going to be at the meeting then I am going to be there.”

“No, Ignis…you should stay here. Perhaps even go to Baltimare. If they do threaten a major city I think it’d be that one before any of the others.” Luna doesn’t seem to word this as a suggestion. “All four alicorns are going to be at that meeting, Ignis. They would be suicidal to try anything with all four of us there. It will be fine. I’d rather you protect our ponies here.”

I look to Nightmare with pleading eyes. “It should be fine, Ignis. I’ll contact you the instant something happens and you can teleport over instantly.”

I don’t have it in me to argue. I go off on my own all the time and refuse their requests to improve my safety. If I was back home I wouldn’t care about being a hypocrite in this situation, but this is Equestria. I’m not even supposed to be in dangerous situations to begin with. If their stallion keeps ignoring their requests and nearly gets himself killed all the time while constantly whining whenever they try to do the same, they'll probably resent me soon. Just like how a man has his pride, I guess a mare has hers as well, and they’ve made plenty of concessions on my behalf already.

I think they can see how dissatisfied I am from whatever expression is on my face because Luna leans in close. “We’ll be fine, Ignis. I promise.”

“I don’t like it. If this Grogar guy really is as dangerous and crafty as you say he is it’s even more of a reason I don’t want you there without me. But, you both indulge my selfish requests to be in harm's way, so I guess I can’t complain now. Just please be safe. Please.”

I hope I don’t regret this.

After that stressful meeting we went to sleep. Now it’s just a few minutes after sunset and I’m on my way to my old office.

Knock Knock

“Enter.” I confidently push the door open and walk in. “Sir!”

“Heyo. You seemed a bit shell shocked yesterday so I just kinda left you to let it all sink in, but now 24 hours later…how are you feeling?”

“I’m falling apart. Sure I might’ve handled a lot of your administrative workload, but sir, you did a lot of work outside of that administrative nonsense. I don't have a clue where to begin on training and….and…WE'RE AT WAR! I HELPED YOU WITH YOUR WORK…because I knew you could handle the war. I trust you with my life and the lives of my guards. But, I'm going to get us all killed. I'm so far out of depth…I feel like I'm drowning.”

Ah. “Well. Good news. I'm still focusing on the war. You don't need to worry about it at all. I'm still going to handle troop movement, defensive measures, and training. That was another reason I stopped by. I want to continue the training I was doing previously, but I wanted to clear it with you first.”

The poor drone is just buried in her forelegs. I've never seen her stressed before. “Elytra.” She lifts her head and looks at me, mildly distressed. “You can do this. I'm not dead, I'm still here, I'm still working at night. I'm not just going to abandon you. I'm here for you until you are comfortable. Now, what do you need help with?”

“I'm sorry…I'm sorry I'm letting you down…”

“Shh. You're not letting me down, Elytra. I was like this at first too, it's a lot to take it. Especially that crushing weight of responsibility, knowing you're going to be held accountable for every life under your command. Honestly I’d be more worried if you DIDN'T need any help getting settled in. I knew this wasn't going to be an overnight process, that's why I'm here to begin with. Now, let me help you and a couple weeks from now you'll be a better captain than me or Shining Armor.”

I'm actually proud of her. I was worried she'd put up a wall and keep me from helping her while trying to convince me everything is fine. Mostly because she expects more from herself than I expect from her. Almost like Twilight with Celestia, but not to the same extent. But, she immediately admitted she needed help. Knowing when you need help and actually asking for it are very rare and strong characteristics. I'm guessing she can taste my pride because she gives me this big smile with a few tears falling down her chitin while thanking me.

I spent a couple of hours helping her with some of the more specific night to night duties, and just any random questions she had. After that she went and gathered up any of the guards that weren't actively standing guard or on patrol and brought them out to the training area. All of the muttering I could hear as they approached died as soon as I came into view. Things are just as awkward and tense as I thought they'd be.

“Hey everyone. I figured it was about time I addressed my little incident a few nights ago. I also have an announcement but I'll leave that for the end. The backstory for this actually starts before the Night Guard was even reestablished, at the Global Summit.”

I went on to explain what I went through with the changelings there and Queen Chrysalis specifically. Then I talked about some of the minor episodes and night terrors I had after that experience. All of that led into what I went through after getting tricked by Chrysalis most recently. Tying it all together by explaining what was happening from my point of view during the training incident.

“So that's basically it. I feel like you all deserved a real explanation because your lives were in danger at that moment even if you didn't realize it. Also because I intend to continue that training, so if you aren't comfortable with attending this training I completely understand. If any of you want out, feel free to walk away and go back to what you were doing once I put out this last announcement. As of last night, Vice Captain Elytra is now Captain Elytra. I have officially stepped down from the position. With the war picking up steam I want all of my focus on that, and I think she's a much better leader than me anyways. She'll be deciding on a Vice Captain here in the near future so put your best foot forward if you want your name out there.”

I see a bat wing shoot up into the air and point at the thestral, acknowledging them.

“Sir, are you stepping down because of the incident? Or do you really just want to focus on fighting the dragons?”

“It definitely is a factor, but this was something that had to happen anyways. Even if it wasn't so I could focus on the war. This hasn't been announced anywhere so if I see this next part in the newspapers I'll hunt you down, alright? But I would've had to have stepped down in the near future regardless because I'm officially engaged to Luna. Future Prince Consort, I think was what she called me? Apparently some Equestrian law says government employees, including guards, cannot date or marry a princess. There's some bias concerns and nepotism problems that could pop up.”

To my surprise a lot of them seem excited and most of them start to applaud and cheer while yelling congratulatory remarks. Once they settle down I address them again.

“Thank you, thank you. I'm pretty excited about it too. Not the prince thing, I don't really give a fuck about that, but I adore the shit out of Luna, Nightmare, and Force. So I'm pretty happy we get to tie the knot. Anyways! I'm gonna start the “Raid Boss” training again, if you're not comfortable participating then cya later, have fun. Unless you're one of my Clerics. You can't leave, sorry.”

I am once again flabbergasted when not a single one of them gets up. Why the hell do these people respect me?

Apparently the lads got rusty since it's been almost an entire week since the last training. They performed almost as badly as the very first training session, and I'm still not using my Divinity at all. Just my D&D spells.

“We got started pretty late tonight so I'll end your misery after just one session. You guys gotta get back into form though, this was a pretty concerning showing. Well keep doing this every night until Tuesday. Tuesday some of you are going to be augmented to the Day Guard, so get your sleep schedules ready. You'll be deployed to a few different cities to defend while the Princesses attend negotiations with the dragons. For all we know the negotiations aren't real and they just wanna lure away the alicorns and the top guards so we're less defended from their next attack. You'll find out by the end of tomorrow night if you'll be joining the day walkers on Tuesday, or you can volunteer if you want. Wait thats not up to me. Elytra! Come do your first set of announcements as Captain! Give her some applause, ya heathens, she deserves it more than my engagement.”

They start stomping their hooves and chanting Captain as Elytra walks up looking all bashful. She's even dragging one of her forehoofs back and forth in the dirt while staring down. Once they quiet down I listen to her intently with a soft smile.

The next few days were pretty much the same. I'd mentor Elytra, train the guards, train my own magic and swordsmanship, hang out with the girls and have one or two rolls in the hay. Before I knew it…it was already Tuesday morning.

…

“Luna, can I please convince you to let me escort you?”

“No and that’s final. We can protect ourselves, I want you to protect Equestria.”

“Luna. I specifically didn’t mention Equestria in my oath. I swore my entire being, body and soul, to you. Do you understand? If, against all odds, something happens to you or Nightmare I will not recover. No matter what happens, prioritize your own safety over anything else. If they threaten Equestria and use one of our cities as a bargaining chip then trust in my strength to do what needs to be done. Both of you better make it back unharmed.” As I continue to speak I see her features soften. I think she forgets sometimes that although I blame myself and carry immense guilt for every pony I fail to protect. If it’s between her and them I will forsake all of them for her, everytime, without question. I also think she just isn’t used to having someone put so much priority on herself over others.

“I will. Moonie will be fine, too. Like she said, if something happens you will be the first to know and you’ll know within seconds of it happening.” She gives me a kiss and looks up noticing how far away Celestia and the others already are. “I have to go, it seems they aren’t going to wait for me, and I don’t want them to get too far away. Be careful, Ignis. Love you!” The alicorn takes off and I feel the pit in my stomach get bigger. Something is going to go wrong today, I can feel it.

I went through every teleportation circle in Canterlot so I could get all of the major cities stored in my memory. Now I can teleport to any of them at will with Greater Teleport. For now I’m going to stay in Baltimare since it’s the closest city to the Badlands and the Dragon Territory, so statistically speaking it’s the most likely to be targeted. I’ve also got at least one cleric in every city so I can periodically check on them with Remote Sensing. Now it’s just a waiting game.

…

I don’t have to wait long. It’s only been maybe six hours and I can see a small cluster of Elder Dragons far off in the distance. They aren’t getting closer and they’re so far away I can’t even make out what color any of them are. But, they’re there.

Luna, Nightmare, I’ve got around six or seven Elders spotted around 20 miles away from Baltimare. They aren’t approaching but they are here. Has anything significant happened at the negotiation?

It’s silent for over a minute and I’m starting to get worried when Luna finally responds.

Nothing yet. We’re slowly making progress, and things are looking good so far.

Something is wrong. She sounded stiff.

Why do you sound so stiff? Something is wrong, isn’t it? Luna don’t hold back on me, you said I’d be the first to know. What’s happening?

There’s been a couple of problems, but you don’t need to worry about it. Alert us if the dragons move closer.

Fuck I hate this. I hate this so much. I can clearly tell she’s unsettled, but the way she said that. It was almost like she was desperately telling me not to worry about it. It makes me thing that something is happening, but they have control over it. If I show up it’ll complicate things or ruin whatever plan they have, so as much as I hate it…I’m going to stay here.

…

It’s been another three or four hours and my insecurity finally got the best of me. I tried to use Remote Sensing and I tried to use Scrying. Neither of them let me spy on the meeting. Either Celestia, Torch, Grogar, or Harmony are keeping me from spying in on them. I pray it’s Celestia or Harmony though, cause if Torch or Grogar are blocking me then that means they have a higher Divine Rank.

Ignis. We’re calling it for the day and retiring to our camps. We aren’t finished though, so I want you to stay in Baltimare for tonight. Pass the word around.

……..Alright Luna. I know something is wrong because you’re terrible at hiding it, but I’m going to assume you have a really good reason. If you’re being monitored or something and actually want me to teleport in but can’t outright say it…call me by my human name.

Everything is fine, Ignis.

Needless to say, I didn’t get any sleep that night.

…

It’s around 1400 the next day when I finally get word that the negotiations are over. Around the same time that the dragons started flying away from Baltimare, Luna reached out again.

We’re back in Canterlot, Ignis. Return to my bedchamber at once please.

With a flick of my wrist I’m in a very familiar bedroom. “Can you please explain what happened?”

“Sit down Ignis.” Her tone is extremely soft but somber. She won’t even look at me. Something is seriously wrong.

“Luna, what hap-”

“I’m going to explain. Don’t interrupt me and don’t ask any questions until I’m done. Okay?” I nod and she continues. “I’ll start with the bad news and then explain why it happened.”

She opens her mouth to continue several times but just can’t seem to find the words. Finally she looks me in the eyes and drops the bombshell. “Nightmare Moon is currently in custody in the Dragon Lands, awaiting her trial scheduled to occur at some point in the next week.”

I’m not sure what expression was on my face, but it must’ve been frightening. As soon as Luna saw it she flinched backwards and snapped her gaze down to the floor. When I speak she squeezes her eyes shut. “What? There better be an extremely compelling reason for why you let this happen, Luna. Was it Celestia? Did she agree to it and there was nothing you could do? Why didn’t either of you reach out to me?”

She starts to tremble and I realize I’m making this worse, so I just stop. I try with everything I have to calm down my breathing and I gently place my hand on Luna’s head. It’s only then that Luna continues. “It all started when Grogar revealed himself…”

3rd Person POV - Negotiations in the badlands, 24 hours prior.

“Torch. Equestria will never give any kingdom one of their princesses. You are asking for two. If our peace is contingent on this condition of yours then we’re done here. Sister, let’s go pack our things.” Celestia comments with no small amount of venom in her tone.

“Now now, dear pony, let’s not be too hasty.” The gravelly deep voice is unfamiliar to any of the ponies at the meeting, but once the goat steps out of a nearby shadow and reveals himself they realize it’s Grogar.

“There’s no reason for me to not be hasty. I will not concede on this. You will not have either of my sisters.”

“First, I want you to try using your magic.” All of the alicorns look a bit concerned when he says this because it carries a certain implication with it. Sure enough when Celestia tries to channel mana through her horn all she gets is a pop with some feedback into her horn causing her to flinch.

“Anti-magic zone…this is forbidden magic. I haven’t even met somepony aware of its existence in over a millenia…”

“Is it? Well it wasn’t forbidden when I invented it so I must apologize. It has been quite some time though, so I understand if I just missed the memo. Now then, I want you to understand that currently we have no less than five Elder Dragons positioned within minutes of every major city in your kingdom. You can either give us your sister or give us the night demon. If you do not surrender one of them we will take both of them and order every dragon to lay waste to all of your populated areas. It seems you did somewhat prepare for this possibility, but your bladesinger can’t be everywhere at once and your guards don’t stand a chance. So, what will it be, Celestia?” The ibex just laughs as the three alicorns look at each other with eyes full of fear. Unable to even use magic they can’t contact Ignis.

Thankfully by some stroke of luck, Ignis happens to contract Luna and Nightmare with his Divinity. It manages to bypass the anti-magic zone, but Grogar still seemingly notices that some type of magic has occurred.

“Do not respond to that. I’m not sure what was said or how it got through, but if you respond I will be able to tell. I’ll be able to hear what you respond with as well.”

Luna speaks up and tries her best to get some type of message out. “If I don’t respond he is going to know something is wrong and teleport here. If he teleports here your dragons might raze our cities, but I can almost guarantee none of you will live long enough to know if your subordinates succeeded.”

SIlence washes over the meeting as Grogar and Torch quietly whisper to each other. Finally Torch replies. “Just tell him everything is fine. Don’t reveal any information or use any phrases that would tip him off. If we detect teleportation anywhere near here we’ll kill you before he can even register what he’s teleported into.”

At this point Luna replies to Ignis and leans over to say something to Celestia. “Ignis just mentioned there are six Elders miles away from Baltimare. It doesn’t seem like the goat is bluffing.”

Celestia still has a look of defiance in her eyes and as tensions rise over the next quiet few hours Nightmare quietly considers every option she has in this situation. Until she arrives at the only choice she can make to minimize loss.

“I will surrender myself to your kingdom.” Nightmare quietly states, making Celestia and Luna gawk at her with shock.

“Absolutely not! I will not trade lives with these barbarians!” Celestia almost screams in response as her anger flairs.

“Tia, they aren’t bluffing. If one of us doesn’t surrender they are going to kill thousands. Ignis cannot protect every city at the same time and our guards cannot handle more than one Elder at once. As much as I hate it, this is the only choice we have. Besides, it’s just a criminal trial. It’s not like they’ll kill me or something. At worst they’ll probably just banish me for another few centuries. I’ll be fine, I promise.”

Before any of them can continue to argue with her she walks over to the other side of the meeting and in a flash of light she and Grogar disappear. Torch looks at the remaining alicorns with a smug smile. "As long as none of you make an attempt to retrieve her or seek revenge, we consider this war to be under a ceasefire. If any of you interfere with her trial or make an attempt to rescue her we will immediately launch a full scale invasion. Thank you for your cooperation, ladies.”

“We didn’t know what to do and I didn’t know how to tell you so…I told you to stay in Baltimare while Celestia and I tried to come up with something. But, I think we’ve lost Ignis. The losses are far too great if we were to even attempt something.”

Ignis just stares ahead with cold, lifeless, unblinking eyes as a thick silence hangs in the air. It’s at this moment that Ignis opens the party interface and sees something that ignites a primal anger in the elf. One not seen since Discord.

Nightmare Moon:
Status: Silenced, Frightened, Restrained.

Nearly half of her hit points are gone as well. The elf is screaming at himself internally for not opening the party interface at any point yesterday, mostly because he’s used it so rarely since unlocking it. It would’ve given him a lot of information this time around though.

Without a word, Ignis turns and starts to stomp his way out of the bedroom and into the hall.

“Ignis! Wait! You can’t go! IGNIS! LUCAS!”

That finally seems to catch his attention, so he goes back into the room. Luna breathes a small sigh of relief until she watches the elf pull out a parchment and quill and starts to write something. Whatever it is, it’s a very short message, and he promptly puts it in an envelope and seals it with a wax stamp. “I’m going to have Ember send this to Nightmare with her dragon fire. Then I’m going to leave here for a few hours and none of you will contact me.”

~Somewhere inside the Dragons Lair.~

Nightmare Moon is laying on a cold steel floor inside a small cage hanging just a few feet over a massive pit of lava. Her wings are bound and there’s a magic inhibitor ring around her horn. Her hind legs are chained to the bars of the cage. There’s some scuffs and dried blood on her fur as she lays there sweating from the heat, on the verge of heat stroke. Dehydrated from how many tears she shed.

It’s then that a burst of blue flames appears in the air and a sealed envelope glides down and lands next to her in the cage. She recognizes the seal as Luna’s and quickly grasps the envelope with her forehooves to try and open it. Eventually she tears it open with her teeth and tears start to leak from her eyes again as she reads the message contained within. This time they are not tears of sadness however.

I’ll come pick you up now.

• Ignis.

Author's Note

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Joyful Kwanzaa, or uh... Enjoy your December if none of the above.

Gave some more details on the Elytra situation that I wasn't going to give initially. It was always planned I just wasn't gonna go into it like I did, was just gunna kinda mention it in passing, but I realized ignis looked like a dickhead just dropping that shit on her lap the way he did with no further explanation. So, I explained why he just left and then gave actual details on how the transition is going to work.

Oh also the next couple of chapters are about to be absolute unrestricted violence. Ignis is about to walk around with a bunch of clothing that looks like it was made from alligator. (but the scales aren't from an alligator if you catch my drift.)

NBEH

Thanks for reading! <3