It’s been a little over a week since my first night, it’s currently Monday morning and I’m in the dining hall having dinner/breakfast with Celestia and Luna. “So Ignis, how have you been settling into your new position? I’ve noticed you and Luna in the training area a few different mornings now, and I’ve received no reports of mishaps during Night Court.” Celestia asks.

“Honestly yeah it’s been more fun than I thought it’d be. I’m still a bit surprised that so few ponies show up during Night Court. You’d think that ponies would realize they can get their issues seen to much faster than the busy Day Court. We did come pretty close to having 1 mishap though. I can’t believe the nerve of that unicorn that came in screaming about Nightmare Moon usurping the throne and living among us. He was about 3 seconds away from being my first “escalation of force” since I started. Switching topics though, the reason I’m here is because I think we should open up applications for the Night Watch to any current guards that would like to switch.” I respond

“Luna did mention something like that Friday morning, but I thought we had decided to wait until a solid foundation was laid by the thestrals before expanding?”

Luna chimes in now, “Yes, but Ignis seems to insist that we need more ponies now rather than later, so I invited him to the dining hall this morning to let him pitch the idea himself.”

Now I take over. “So, I firmly believe that we need at least 3 but preferably around 6 guards to switch over to the night watch now. My reasons are simple, we don’t need them to actually switch to the same sleep schedule as Luna and I. We just need a few guards to start their shift at say… 4 AM instead of 6 AM, and then one or two different guards would end their shifts at midnight instead of 8 PM. The guards that would be starting their shift early would act as liaisons between the night and day branches, right now if something happens during our shift it’s only really being reported and acted upon by you. I want more integration and communication at the bottom and middle of the chain.”

Taking a sip of water I continue, “The guards that would be ending their shifts later would act in a similar capacity. There are numerous times where we realize we need something, but the only way we can do it is if one of us stays up later than usual to wait for the shops to open. We can instead tell the 4 AM Night Guards that we need, 2 rolls of purple cloth for example, then the Night Guards that end their shift at midnight can pass us the supplies and messages from our requests. I don’t mind staying up late to go visit the shops, but your ponies aren’t exactly thrilled to see me whenever I stop by.”

“Hm, any other reasons?” Celestia asks after pondering for a few seconds. I get the feeling she’s decided to agree but is probing to see if there’s any underlying reasons I didn’t want to vocalize unless I had to.

“Those ponies would also, hopefully, spread word to the other castle staff and ponies around Canterlot that Luna is not Nightmare Moon and I’m not a pony eating monster. Also working these hours with just the two of us makes it quite hard for either of us to… make friends.”

Celestia’s face softens into a small smile as she hears the real reason why I want more guards now instead of waiting 2 or 3 more weeks for the thestrals. “Very well, I’ll have all the shift leaders put out the call for applicants during their mid-day announcements. Did either of you have any other burning topics you wished to discuss?”

“Yes, we start our journey to the edge of the badlands for the global summit on Friday. I’d like to have Ignis take his oath and be anointed with an official ceremony immediately following Day Court on Wednesday.”

“Ouch, that’s pretty short notice, but I think we can make that work. I’ll invite the element bearers right now actually.” She pauses as a parchment and quill materializes in the air and she writes a few lines before the parchment goes up in green flames and its ashes float out of the dining hall. She continues, “Will you be fully recovered from your banishment by then?”

“I should be, in fact I think I’ll likely be back to normal before I raise the moon tonight. Ignis,” I look up from my food when I hear Luna call out my name “we’ll be doing a few rehearsals tonight after court, but once those are done you can end your shift early. I’ll be in my room after that to focus on finishing my recovery.”

“Sounds good. Well, if that’s everything I’m going to retire to my room now. See you tonight Luna.”

I make my way down the halls as I march towards Luna's room. On my second shift Luna informed me I’d be taking the room next to hers as is customary for personal knights. She explained that Celestia doesn’t have any personal knights but that Shining Armor occupies the room next to hers. Another new update is that I got my armor back from the enchanter, the system actually registered it as Glamoured Studded Leather, which is just Studded Leather +1 with some illusion magic layered in.

My AC is now 18 without bladesong thanks to the new enchantments, and I use the illusion magic to make it seem like I’m not wearing any armor at all. After a few nights of light sparring Luna decided we’d move into full contact spars until one surrenders or is incapacitated. I thought she had forgotten about the whole Lulu incident but I quickly learned she was just bottling in her rage until we started the full spars. I think that first night was the most bruised I’ve ever been in either of my lives.

On the bright side though once we moved into full on fights I started actually gaining small amounts of XP every night. I was at 24,807 after my trek into the Everfree and I’m currently sitting at 32,000/23,000 XP. I’m only 2,000 XP away from level 8, but I still haven’t actually used my level up yet from hitting level 7.

The reason I’ve been holding off is two-fold, firstly since it fully restores my body and magic it’s essentially a get out of jail free card if I find myself in deep shit. Secondly, the run-in I had with those two wraiths made me realize how lacking I am in defense and healing. I’ve been bouncing around a few ideas in my head for how I can cover up these failings and I think no matter what I decide on, I’m going to have to multiclass.

I could just put the 7th level in Wizard right now, learn Banishment and see what happens when I banish myself. Theoretically the spell should send me back to the plane of existence I originated from, whether that’s Earth or the Forgotten Realms, I’m not sure. I think I’d rather just get the multiclass level dip or dips over and done with as soon as possible though.

I go into my bedroom and lay down, Luna mentioned that since she’ll almost certainly regain her full strength today I should go to sleep instead of entering a trance. I’m in no position to disobey my boss so I close my eyes and drift away.

I find myself back in the ruins of the old castle in the Everfree. Nightmare Moon is standing in front of me several feet away laughing maniacally and when I look around I don’t see Twilight anywhere. I’m confused though, the elements aren’t here either… this dream doesn’t make any sense. I look down in my right hand and see my mothers sword. My eyes widen in shock, why do I have this?

I look up and find a familiar beam of pure magic hurtling towards me, but my body dodges to the left and sprints towards Nightmare. I’m not in control right now, I’m trying to ask Luna what’s going on but I can’t speak. I’m just along for the ride now. Nightmare fires another beam of magic at me but this time I raise the moonblade and deflect the beam sideways into the far wall as I don’t even slow down.

My body jumps high into the air and begins falling towards Nightmare with his moonblade ready and now he finally speaks. “Please don’t make me do this Luna. Please.”

“The only thing you’ll be doing tonight is dying, BETRAYER!” She fire’s off 3 separate beams simultaneously. I quickly deflect two and then swing my sword directly into the beam coming straight at me. The beam splits in half and goes around me as I fall through the air pushing against the beam.

The moonblade is mere centimeters away from inflicting a grievous wound on Nightmare when I finally manage to break free and control my body. I direct the blade away from Nightmare and land on the ground. I slam my eyes closed and will everything to disappear. When I open my eyes I look around and find myself in a pure white void now, I put the moonblade in the sheath and sit down on the floor of the void.

It feels like I’m sitting in the void for hours when finally I see a door just appear and open in the air and Luna comes through. She’s taller than normal and her tail and mane are just like they were on that first night. A flowing cloud of the night sky. She glides down and lands in front of me, now she’s tall enough that her eyes are just about at the same height as my neck. “Believe it or not this is the first time I’ve entered someone's dream and they were just patiently waiting in a void for me to show up. Typically the ones that can lucid dream are acting out some fantasy.”

“Well I suspect those ponies also weren’t expecting you. I would be having a normal dream, but it was one I didn’t really enjoy and had to struggle for a few minutes to gain control of it.”

She frowns at me in concern, “I’m glad you handled your nightmare on your own, but those things usually have a deeper meaning for something going on in your life. What was the dream about?”

“I was back in the Everfree, facing down against Nightmare Moon again. This time everything was different though. Twilight and the others weren’t there, and the elements themselves also weren’t there. Nightmare Moon also wasn’t wearing her usual armor, she actually had the same mane you do right now. I was about to kill you.” I almost spit out the last sentence with a scowl on my face. Over the last week I’d like to think me and Luna are good friends now, and witnessing my own body almost decapitating her has me a bit upset.

“Ha, well that’s how you know it truly was just a dream. If it was Nightmare at full strength you alone would not be enough to kill her. Not even close. Now how about you give me that demonstration we talked about.”

I construct a large cavern around us and conjure up a Young Black Dragon. I then point with my finger and conjure up a floating hologram that displays the exact thing I see when the system shows me my character sheet. I spend the next few minutes explaining what the stats mean, what AC is, I show her all my spells and explain the differences between the different dice.

“So, now that I’ve explained all that, let me show you exactly what I see when I fight something. Fire Bolt!” I shoot off a firebolt and right before the firebolt leaves me hand I once again conjure a hologram that shows the 20 sided die roll and land in the middle of my vision.

“This is astounding.” She watches as the dice comes to a stop on 13. Then she watches as it lists out my Spellcasting Modifier (Intelligence) of +5 and proficiency bonus of +3 and the 13 turns into a 21. Time resumes and the fire bolt slams into the face of the dragon. Once it makes contact I freeze time again and show her the 2d10’s rolling. They lang on 7 and 5 and combine into the number 12 and spells out “Fire Damage” next to the number.

“Now if that first die had landed on something like 4 for example, after the +8 it would’ve been 12 and when time resumed the fire bolt would’ve missed. I was explaining what AC is earlier and I can tell you for a fact that dragon has an AC of 18. Which means any roll below a 10 would result in a miss, so I essentially have a 55% chance to hit the dragon.” I explain.

“What is my AC?”

“I’m not entirely sure now that you’re fully recovered. I can tell you that I was able to determine Nightmares AC was 24 and your AC in our spars was 22. I’d wager that your AC now is probably back up to 24, and would be 27 or higher if you were to put on the armor Nightmare was wearing.”

“Hm, so your princess is quite powerful then. Is that what you’re saying?” Luna is holding up her forehoof and staring at it like a girl stares at her hand after getting her nails done, and she has a smug smirk while she says it.

“Uh huh, yeah. You’re clearly best princess.”

“I’m aware. On a more serious note, is that truly all the power is? That is shockingly simple for how powerful it is.”

“Pretty much, yeah. By the way, I won’t have to give a speech or say anything besides my oath at the ceremony on Wednesday, yeah?”

“You say that as if the oath is a trivial matter, but you are correct that’s the only speaking you’ll have to do.”

The way she says that causes me great concern so I decide to probe further, “Wait the oath is just you saying something and then me repeating after you right?”

“What? No! Every knight writes their own unique oath. I had one knight that swore his life upon my moon instead of me. He had the spirit but he was a little confused. It doesn’t have to be anything grandiose, the only requirement is that you pledge your loyalty to me. It is strongly recommended that you include Equestria in your oath though. Ah, our time is up, it seems like you’re about to wake up. Bring paper and a quill to court tonight, I’ll have a desk prepared for you at your normal position so you can start preparing drafts.”

“Aye, see you then, Princess.”

Luna disappears and I stand there for a few seconds tapping my foot on the ground. Am I not going to wake up? I mean it’s her first time dream walking since the banishment, maybe she’s just still rusty.

“You aren’t waking up just yet, I needed to talk to you alone and made it seem like you were about to wake up to get her to leave.” I hear a somewhat older woman's voice beyond me and a hand grabs my shoulder.

I spin around to find the source of the voice is a mature elven woman with blonde hair and blue eyes. Her face has a few wrinkles here and there, but if I had to estimate her age in human years I’d say she looks to be late 50s. “Who are you? Why are you in my dream?”

“I’ve been here for a few days now actually, but every time I tried to reach out to someone there was no connection to the Dark Maiden. Tonight I was finally able to feel the connection and use it to reach you here. Can you believe how shocked I was to find out that she Herself was visiting you? I’ve never seen Her in a form like that though.”

“Wait, you’re a follower of Eilistraee?”

“A follower? No young elf, I am her blade. You are Zarra’s son, yes? You are the heir.”

I grab my head in confusion. “You’re the Moonblade? That’s why I was wielding it in my nightmare earlier. I’m sorry but that isn’t Eilistraee. Her name is Princess Luna and I am her knight. We’re not even in the forgotten realms, I’m not entirely sure we can even reach that dimension. I will admit that her mana and presence evoke the same feeling I had the last time I was in the Dark Maidens presence though.”

“Lad, I don’t know what to tell you. As far as I’m concerned that was Her Grace. Everything in me was screaming to show Her the proper reverence. Even the connection to the realm of the dreams was the exact same. I gotta say though, I was wondering if you were worthy and I was leaning towards no. You’re a bit too chaotic for my tastes, truthfully speaking, but if you are the right hand of Her Grace and act as her personal knight? Well, in that case, I’d be honored to be wielded by you every night.”

“Where even are you in the waking world? Am I gunna have to go back to Ponyville to find you?”

“I’m not sure where Ponyville is, but I’m in an armory of some kind. I was almost certain it’s in the same town as you though, I saw one of those ponies casting magic on your studded leather.”

“OH! You’re in the Canterlot armory! Are you still there now? I’ll come get you as soon as I wake up.”

“Aye, now that I’ve formed a minor connection to you through Her Grace I’ll be able to call out to you when you’re nearby.”

“Okay I’m heading there right away, see you in a few minutes!”

“I like your enthusiasm! Once we’re in the waking world I’ll only be able to communicate with you through tremors and tingles, very light sensations. So, while I am able to speak to you I just want you to know, Zarra wanted me to tell you that she’s proud of you.”

I’m caught off guard by her words and quickly take a few steps forward and wrap the personified representation of the moonblade in a tight hug, “Thank you.”

My eyes slam open, looking out the window I can tell the sun is still up but it’ll probably be night in an hour or so. I quickly get dressed and sprint out of my room towards the armory. While I’m running I repeatedly cast prestidigitation on different parts of my uniform to give it its daily cleaning. I even sprint past a sleepy looking Luna who is groggily making her way towards the dining hall. Until I startle her as I pass by anyways. Once she realizes who or what just sped past her she yells out to me, “Ignis what’s wrong?!”

“No time to explain! Just go get breakfast and I’ll meet you there. It’s good news though!” I turn the corner and continue running. Weaving around servants and guards in the hall as I run is actually a pretty decent cardio warmup. Luckily after being here for a little over a week the castle staff don’t react too negatively to my appearances anymore. I can still tell they’re a bit apprehensive but they’re at least polite and cordial now.

I finally make it to the armory only to see the door closed and locked. I bang on the door hoping someone is inside when a passing guard calls out to me, “Last pony went home like 30 minutes ago, you’ll have to come back tomorrow.”

“Oh is that so? Alright thanks.”

Deception.

18, +1. 19.

“No problem, hope you have a quiet shift Ignis.” Wow I feel bad now, I have no clue what that guard's name is. I’m happy he buys my lie and continues walking though. Once he turns the corner I double check that no one is around and start attempting to pick the lock.

Thieves Tools check.

Natural 20, +5 (Dex) +3 (Proficient with Thieves Tools). 28.

After fiddling with it for a few seconds I feel the last pin in the tumbler click into place and the pressure I’m applying to the lock gives as it rotates around and unlocks.

I close the door behind me and start walking around looking for my sword. I turn a corner and find myself in a corridor with hundreds of swords hanging from the walls and buried in shelves and scabbards. I feel a pull towards an open barrel in the back corner of the room and walk over there.

Once I get close to the barrel I see a beautiful emerald hilt poking out of the barrel, and I know right away, that’s my Moonblade. I pull the sword and scabbard from the barrel and go find the inventory sheet where I sign out the newest addition to the list and write next to my name (permanently signed out, this is my sword and it was misplaced here upon my arrival to the castle.)

I exit the armory and lock the door behind me and make my way towards the dining hall. Once I arrive I skip past all the guards eating dinner and sit down next to Luna eating her pancakes with a cup of coffee. “Luna, can you cancel court tonight? We need to go to the more peaceful forest in Ponyville. Not the one with the old castle but the more normal one.”

“Why, Ignis? I can give you the night off, I’d say don’t make a habit of it, but canceling Night Court is not a decision to be made lightly. What’s going on?”

I pull the Moonblade from the scabbard and hold it up for Luna, Celestia, and anyone nearby to see. “I found my mothers sword! The Moonblade spoke to me in my dream after you left and told me where to find it! It was the random sword that showed up in the armory inventory and no one knew where it came from. I want you to cancel court because I want to go in the forest and perform the Sword Dance to attune the blade to me. Once the ritual is complete, if I'm accepted as the heir this rune pattern on the blade will extend and my own personal rune will be added to the pattern. Each rune from each generation of my bloodline has its own enchantment in it. This sword is quite old so it already has 4 runes inlaid on the blade.”

“Ah, that’s amazing Ignis! In that case I’m happy to give you the night off. I’ll even teleport you to Ponyville again.”

“Luna, I want you to be there. Please? Normally the immediate family attends as well as one or more high ranking priestesses, but right now you’re the closest thing I have to a family. It’d mean alot to me.”

She chews on her lip as she internally struggles to decide, she wants to be there and observe the ritual, but she also feels like it’d reflect poorly to cancel Night Court within it’s first week of being back in regular session. Luckily Celestia senses her internal struggle and puts her at peace, “Lulu, I cancel court all the time for things less important than this. Go with him, if any of the nobles complain I’ll take the blame and say I ordered you to take a night off out of concern for your health. You’ve only been back for a week after all.”

Luna smiles at her sister, “Thank you, Tia. Alright my faithful probationary knight, we leave right after I raise the moon.”

Author's Note

Alright this is likely where Ignis will plateau in strength for a while. The moonblade is actually quite overpowered and once he hits level 8 he'll be in a very good spot power wise. Level 8 before the end of season 1 was not in my original plans, but I'm happy with where we are for now. I definitely need to and will slow down on the powering up from this point on though. At the rate we're going we'd be level 20 before Discord is released haha.

Thanks for reading!

EDIT: Woah! I just realized next chapter will likely put us over 50k words. I never in my life thought I'd have a story on this site even come close to that wordcount. In fact after my first story (Friendship is a Burden) I didn't even think I'd ever write another story on here.

Man what a crazy world.