Knock, knock, knock, knock.

Slowly but surely I rise out of my trance and right before I open my eyes I see the System popup.

Cantrip Formulas - After a long rest you can replace one wizard cantrip with another cantrip from the wizard spell list. Would you like to use Cantrip Formulas? “Yes.”

Gods above I forgot this existed, why hasn’t it asked me about this until now?! “Replace Control Flames with Prestidigitation.”

Spellbook configuration updated.

I roll my neck and walk over to the door. “You can go on ahead, tell the princesses I’ll be a few minutes late.” I call out loudly hoping whoever is on the other side can hear me.

I see a blue glow of magic envelope the doorknob as it turns in place and the door cracks open. “Ignis you already missed dinner, the maid said she knocked several times but got no answer from you.” Oh that’s not one of the castle staff, that’s Luna. I open the door all the way and greet her.

“Wow, so in Equestria you all just open peoples doors without a care in the world, huh? I guess I was more tired than I thought I’d be. I did take down a few monsters in the everfree, but honestly I thought I’d gotten enough rest lately. Maybe this body still can’t handle the physical exertion? It was bedridden for 20 years, after all. Anyways Luna, is your reason for stopping by urgent? I forgot to clean myself before retiring for the day and to be honest I smell like dirt and sweat.”

“We had noticed an odor but Sister warned us that apparently it is considered rude in todays age to point out that somepony stinks. Also, we are one of the sovereign rulers of this kingdom, so of course we can open your door if we feel like it.” She offers a small smirk before walking past me and inside the room. “It’s not terribly urgent, mainly we just wanted to check on your wellbeing as we couldn’t locate you in the dream realm despite reports of you being unresponsive.”

“Right, well elves don’t usually sleep. We typically go into a trance and review our memories and thoughts. We can sleep and dream, we just choose to avoid it most of the time. You were able to barge in on my memory in the form of a dream last time because I was unconscious. Anyways, would you prefer to wait here for a few minutes or do you want me to come find you when I finish bathing?”

“We can wait. The moonrise isn’t for another hour or so and we have no plans until then.” Remind me to ask about this royal We thing she does. I wasn’t gunna bring it up but I realized after yesterday that Celestia doesn’t talk like that. Poor girl’s been on the moon for 1000 years. We gotta get her caught up on modern language.

“Alright, don’t go through my backpack or I’ll- no you know what nevermind. Voco.” I summon my mage hand which grabs my backpack and follows me into the bathroom as I close the door. Luna just seems confused as she watches the spectral hand float behind me.

After a quick shower I fold up my cloak and other clothes and cast Prestidigitation a few times to clean them up. Then cast it two more times on different parts of my studded leather before donning it as well. I walk out of the bathroom and drop the backpack at the foot of the bed before looking at Luna. “So, do you have something for me?”

Luna once again looks a bit confused, “What do you mean? Tia said you wish to speak with us regarding our offer of employment. Beyond that we have nothing for you.”

For the first time since I got here it seems like the omnipotent system has made an error. I could roll insight and see if she’s lying but I don’t really think she is. Also, she has no reason to do so. I’ll just ignore it for now. “Hm, alright. Anyways, yes I did want to talk to you. I did some thinking while I was hunting in the forest and I realized that from now on I’m not really going to have a purpose in life. I mean sure I could keep hunting in the Everfree or look through the library for magical tomes, but I can’t see myself spending all my time during the days and nights doing that. I’d rather have some real work to keep me occupied and do those things in my free time.”

“Marvelous! So, you accept the position to be our attendant?” Luna responds with a bit more enthusiasm than I was expecting.

“Well, about that. We need to define exactly what the responsibilities of this job are, because I don’t really want to be on call 24/7 ready to run to your room and cater to your every need. That personally is a bit too demeaning for me. However, things like assisting you in the office or escorting you for events and expeditions I can do.”

“Hm. Essentially you would rather be something like a personal guard or assistant rather than a personal butler?”

“Exactly! Well truthfully I’m not sure if any of that is what I’d describe as my dream job, but the element bearers in Ponyville have a bit more… energy than I can put up with on a long term basis. Which means it’s either you or I try to find a business on this mountain willing to hire the giant alien that spreads out a crowd like the red sea. Doesn’t really seem like a viable option.”

“Truly? If that’s your attitude about it then we’re not sure we’d like to maintain the offer.”

Oh shit. “Woah woah, listen I mean it’s not like I hate the idea of working for you! You’re actually rather interesting and I think we get along well. I just thought you might be curious about why I chose to accept the offer.”

“Well. This is acceptable to us then. Come, let us go to the armory. We have just enough time that you should be able to be able to attend the raising of the moon fully equipped. After that we can discuss your hours of responsibility and what you will be handling during those hours.”

I follow Luna out the door and down the hallway but still voice my confusion, “Armory? I’ve already got my armor and weapon of preference. There’s no way you even have armor that can fit someone of my form, you’re all quadrupeds.”

She looks back at me but keeps walking forward as she informs me “Nay, but we do have enchanters who can take a look at what you currently have. They should be able to improve upon it for you.” Wait really? Holy shit let’s go.

“Oh, cool. By the way just wondering, why do you speak like that? I thought maybe you were just more strict than your sister and chose to speak formally at all times, but when she brought me into the castle earlier she seemed to be in the middle of some pretty official business and she was still speaking quite informally. Which makes me think it’s something unique to you.”

“Does Celestia truly speak informally even when hosting day court? We, no, I hadn’t attended her court yet and was under the assumption I had to speak to this. It’s actually much more relaxing if I can speak candidly.” I figured it was something like that, because Nightmare Moon wasn’t speaking formally with royal we’s and whatnot.

“Another question I had was about the markings on your rear. I’ve noticed damn near every single pony has a unique marking, and thought it was just something native to everyone on this plane. Then I met a zebra in the Everfree and she didn’t have such markings. So, what exactly are they?”

“These are indeed something unique to us ponies. Likely in part due to our closer connection to Harmony we’ve been blessed with these Destiny markings. Nowadays they’re apparently referred to as Cutie Marks, but they truly do identify the pony’s destiny. We’re born with no markings and at some point during adolescence we gain the mark once we’ve found our true calling in life. My sister and I got ours when we moved the sun and moon for the first time. I couldn’t tell because of your constant need of clothing, but based on your confusion I assume your species doesn’t have something similar?”

“Nah, most people are either strong-armed into following whatever talent the bloodline has specialized in for generations or they spend decades sometimes their entire lives trying to find their true calling. Honestly though, we are good at anything if you give us a year or two. Are we almost there? I didn’t realize the castle was this big.”

“Truthfully I was lost for a few minutes there, but I found the right passageway eventually. We’re just about there though, should be right around the corner.” Right, I guess this is also only her 2nd day in the castle too.
We walk into a dim room and spy a single blue unicorn eyeing up a plain short sword and right as he jerks his head and flips the lenses down onto his goggles he spots us and sets the sword down. He quickly rises off of his workbench and does a full bow, “Welcome back your majesty! You came just in time! I was just about to put on the finishing touches for this sword and then head home for the night.” He rises out of the bow and looks at me, “I assume this is the fella the other princess mentioned when y'all were in here earlier? Pass me that nasty thing you call armor and give me the rapier.”

I unstrap and remove the studded leather before laying it down on the unicorn's workbench. “I’m keeping the rapier though, to be honest I don’t want you to waste your time on it. I don’t think I’ll be using the thing for too much longer.”

“Suit yourself, why don’t you wear something sturdier than this, anyways? You look like you’ve got the build to handle heavier material and it’d definitely protect you better than this.”

“My defensive capabilities come from my reflexes and speed. The armor honestly does very little, also when I wear heavier armor I seem to lose the ability to perform the bladesong.”

“Got it, well this should be ready to pick up around lunch time tomorrow. I don’t really have time to do anything with it tonight but since it’s an order from the princess it’ll be the first and only thing I work on tomorrow morning. One last thing your majesty, I got an inventory discrepancy to report.”

I bow out of the conversation and start looking around at all the armors and shields hanging up on the wall. They must keep their weapons in a different room. While I’m looking around I listen to their conversation. “Ah, what’s gone missing this time. I swear 1000 years later and it’s the same problems.”

“No no your majesty, that’s the weird thing. We found a sword that isn’t in our inventory roster. In fact it doesn’t even have a serial number enchanted onto it like the rest of our gear. It wasn’t on yesterday's inventory check either, so it’s like it just appeared in here in the middle of the night or something. I tried to add it to our system but it won’t accept my magic at all, it’s a weird blade your majesty.”

“Well, as interesting as that is, I don't think it’s something for me to handle. I’ll leave it up to my sister and her day guard to do something with it. Maybe if tonight wasn’t so busy, but I’ve got to raise the moon and then get to work on standing up the Night Watch. Thank you for the work Emerald.”

“No problem princess! Have a good night.”

“You as well. Let’s go Ignis, it’s time to raise the moon.”

I give a casual wave to the armory worker as I follow Luna out of the room with my hands in my pocket. “Feels weird walking around without my leather on. I feel… exposed.”

Luna just rolls her eyes at me, “You’ll be fine.”

“You’re the one that said I’d be able to attend the moon raising “fully equipped”.” I give finger quotes in the air when I say fully equipped.

This time she lets out a resigned sigh, “Yes well, I forgot that many of the castle services close at the end of the day. I know it’ll take time to find ponies to fill in the new job openings but it still stings a bit. Last night I had to make my own sandwich I mean can you believe it?!”

“Wow. I cannot believe how hard your life is right now princess, you mean to tell me you had to make your own food in YOUR castle? The absolute tragedy that has befallen you my liege. Shall I prepare your midnight snack for you tonight?”

“You’re mocking me.”

“I am.”

She looks like she is absolutely done with my shit as we go through a fancy set of dark blue double doors into a bedroom. “Well Luna at least you’re living in luxury. This room is way nicer than my setup. I bet I could lay down on that bed and my feet wouldn’t hang off the edge.”

“Shall I arrange for you to sleep here then? I wouldn’t want my only knight suffering from poor sleeping conditions.”

We step out onto the balcony right as she begins that statement and straight across the courtyard I see Celestia standing on a similar balcony. I guess their rooms are parallel to each other but on the opposite side of the castle? Weird setup, I’d just put them next to each other. It seems like Celestia heard Luna though cause she’s offering us a small smile with 1 eyebrow raised inquisitively.

“That seems like the only logical answer I can find as well, your grace. It’s two birds with one stone really, it’s also the most efficient way to guard you.” I don’t know if she’s trying to fluster me or what but I refuse! I’ll just pretend to be clueless and lean into it.

“Be careful Lulu, I’d hate for rumors to spread after only 3 days back in Equestria. We wouldn’t want ponies lining up to apply for the Night Watch for all the wrong reasons now, would we?” Celestia decides to join in on the conversation with some playful advice.

Luna wasn’t flustered at my response but when she hears her sister's advice she starts to blush a bit, “Sister please!”

“Oh no, are you embarrassed at my insinuation or because I called you by your nickname in front of somepony else? Don’t worry Lulu I know you’ll run your guards with the utmost decorum and professionalism.”

“Ugh! Please stop!” Luna’s looking at the floor now with her ears pinned back. Oof that’s actually quite adorable.

“I just thought it was only fair since Sir Ignis called me Tia in front of the entire day court today. And I wonder just how he came up with that nickname, surely he didn’t come up with it on his own?”

“I truly did not mean to say it in front of him if I did indeed do that. Forgive me sister. May we please perform the ceremony now?” Luna begs.

I almost feel bad for Luna now. No scratch that, I do feel a little bad. It’s partially my fault this is happening right now.

“Alright dear sister, let's begin.”

I sit down on a bench and watch as Celestia's horn lights up, much brighter than usual, and at first nothing happens. After a few seconds though I can feel it, a powerful and dense wave of mana pulses out and I watch as the sun moves toward the horizon at an unnaturally quick speed. Once it settles over the horizon I realize my mouth is slightly open from the display so I close it shut and look at the alicorn next to me.

I watch as the light from across the courtyard dims and is slowly replaced by a bright dark blue light. This time I feel an equally dense wave of mana but the feeling that accompanies it is just a serene calmness. I feel my body relax as this cold wave of magic pours over me and the moon rises into the sky. I find myself slightly impressed at the beauty of the ritual when I feel something much more powerful.

I look over at Luna and watch as her closed eyelids squeeze shut even tighter and a bead of sweat runs down her face and the light from her horn increases to an almost blinding level of brightness. When suddenly her light blue mane turns multiple shades darker and begins to lift off of her neck and flow in the air. She opens her eyes which are glowing with pure white light and her mane morphs into something else entirely. It’s like Celestia’s mane but instead of a pastel rainbow it just likes an empty night sky.

Just when I think it’s over another wave of magic pulses out into the night and this one causes something to stir in my chest. A feeling of nostalgia creeps it way up from my chest to the back of my neck down my arms giving me goosebumps all over. “Eilistraee..” I quietly mutter as I realize the familiarity of the presence I feel.

The empty night sky suddenly becomes flooded with stars, I watch as they appear in the sky from west to east in a beautiful display. I look over to Luna and her mane which previously appeared as an empty night sky is now mirrored with little stars all over.

The stars start to shift and maneuver throughout the sky and I realize they’re forming constellations and little galaxies. I keep looking between the sky and her hair in amazement as I can make out the same constellations forming in both. After a few seconds the light from her horn dies down and her eyes return to normal and after a few more seconds her mane returns to normal light blue hair before settling in it’s original position.

Luna looks over to find me staring at her in awe and she just looks concerned and asks me, “Ignis are you okay?”

I blink my eyes rapidly and realize at some point I had shed a single tear down the left side of my face. “Yeah sorry, when you decorated your night with the stars and your mane transformed the mana and presence I felt… it was just like the Dark Maiden. I think I just wasn’t prepared for such a sudden reminder of the past. Thank you for inviting me to this, it was beautiful.”

I find myself much more embarrassed than I thought I would be and decide to be immature, I grab the railing of the balcony and fling myself over it. Falling at an alarming rate several stories down into the courtyard below. I hear both sisters yell something in alarm but when I’m about 8-10 ft away from the ground I cast feather falling and gently land on both feet. As soon as I land I start fast walking towards the gate and decide to go collect myself in the city proper.

Author's Note

Oh man am I gunna end up adding a romance tag to this story? Your guess is as good as mine cause when I started this chapter I had no intention of going the route that it went. I am legitimately confused as to how we got here. I like it though so I'm not changing it.

Next chapter will likely be the last one before we start doing some tiny time skips. I don't wanna off-screen character and relationship developments but I also don't want to write 4-7 chapters for every in world day. So, we gotta find a happy medium. My goal is start the Global Summit with in the next 2-3 chapters and that'll officially end this in-between mini-arc and kick off the next major arc of the story.

Thanks for reading!