“Luna, are you and your sister…. Gods?” I ask the night princess as we wander through what I now know is Whitetail Woods. We’re looking for a clearing to host the Sword Dance.

“That is,” She pauses for several seconds before sighing, “a difficult question. Our old mentor Starswirl theorized we weren’t quite Gods, but quite close. The term he used was demigod I believe. We’ve always been too uncomfortable about the prospect to look into it on our own, so after he disappeared neither of us pursued it any further.”

“I see. Have either of you ever had worshipers or official churches in your name?”

“Before my banishment, yes. Celestia had a moderately sized church actually. Since my return I’ve seen no trace of that cult however. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but now you have me curious. Should I ask her about it?”

“I don’t know, maybe? In my homeland we theorized the only thing that separated demigods and gods was their level of divinity, which was often derived from the amount of faith and reverence they received from their followers. Let me ask you a somewhat related follow-up question then. Have you ever seen two creatures share an identical mana signature?”

“Nay, not while alive anyways. I’ve met ponies that have identical mana signatures as ponies I met long, long before. How is that somewhat related?”

“Your mana signature is identical to Eilistraee’s. I was brought here the same day your banishment ended. It’s all too much to be a coincidence in my opinion. Something very strange is going on here. I see an opening over there to the left, I think that’ll do.” I point to a roughly circle shaped clearing in the canopy and we stroll over.

“Do you sing Luna?”

“W-what? I… I mean everyone sings when they’re alone right?”

I laugh a bit, “Of course of course, but Luna, the reason I ask is because neither the moonblade or myself can feel our usual connection to Her here in Equestria. We can sense something familiar in the dream world, but not out here. With your identical mana signature however, both of us agree that you might be able to stand-in for Her for this ritual. Do you remember the song you heard in my memory?”

“Yes.”

“Alright here’s my idea then, I need you to position the moon so that the clearing is flooded with moonlight like in the memory. Then, I’ll start the ritual and if we don’t hear anything after a few seconds then I was really hoping you could try singing. Especially if something in your gut tells you that you should, in fact if you get that feeling in any capacity during the ritual then I humbly request you follow it.”

“W-well it’s just us two out here right, so I supposed there’s no harm in assisting you with this.” With that she ignites her horn and I watch as the clearing is flooded with moonlight, leaving a white circle on the ground.

“If it makes you feel better, what I’m about to do causes me slight discomfort as well.” I strip off my clothing and with as much confidence as I can muster I walk fully bare into the moonlight holding 3 candles with my mage hand and my unsheathed Moonblade in my right hand.

As I cross the edge of the clearing and into the moonlight the candles suddenly become lit with a white-silvery flame. That’s a good indicator. I reach what I approximate is the center of the clearing and firmly plant the blade into the ground, tip first. Then, I set the lit candles down in a triangle formation around the candles and stand up. I stand for a few seconds with my eyes closed and feel myself washed over with a serene calming sensation.

All my uncomfortability and embarrassment wash away as I open my eyes and stare at the full moon above. This is going to work, I can feel it. Everything just feels…. Right.

I don’t even need to use the few memories I have from Ignis, the correct steps and moves are flowing into my mind. I take a deep breath in and begin to dance around the blade.

Religion.

Natural 20, +8. 28.

I know exactly what I must do and the order in which I must do it. I perform a series of skips back and forth in diagonal lines slowly forming a pentagram with the sword as the center.

Performance with Advantage.

14 and 2. 14, +4. 18.

After the first two lines are formed I hear the start of a similar, but not quite the same song as the one in my memory. I can’t afford to slip up so I only spare a single glance towards the source of the voice and I see Luna high, very high in the air. She’s transposed between the sword and the center of the moon, interestingly though she is producing no shadow anywhere. Her eyes are also producing a bright white light, I can’t see her irises at all. Once the imaginary lines of the pentagram are formed I begin to do twirls while balancing on the toes of 1 foot and I draw a circle around the points of the pentagram. Once the circle is formed I stop on the western tip of the pentagram and quickly strike a pose that causes my left leg to brush along the edge of the Moonblade drawing blood as it runs down the shining emerald.

I pivot from point to point and strike similar poses that cause each of my other 3 limbs to bleed upon the blade, before coming to a stop on the northernmost point of the pentagram. Once I come to a stop I drop to the ground on my knees and sit and on the balls of my feet. Then I lean forward and place my palms and my forehead on the ground towards the blade and quietly recite a prayer towards Her Grace. I’m controlling my mouth and could stop if I wanted to, but I’ve never heard the words coming out of my mouth before.

It’s like I’m just reciting purely on autopilot, but I’m in control. The entire time I’m praying I just have a clear image of Luna in my head. Once I finish the prayer I pull my head and hands off the ground and return to sitting on the balls of my feet. I put my palms together and interlock my fingers and watch as the pillar of moonlight narrows to only encompass me and the sword. I watch as the blood is absorbed into the sword and the swirling patterns of runes glow bright white and extend the pattern down towards the tip of the blade. I sense the ritual is at its end and open my mouth to speak the final words of the ritual.

“In Her Name.” There’s a loud and unfamiliar resonance with the words, as if 4 other people just spoke the same words out of my mouth. I recognize one of the voices is Zarra. The moonlight completely vanishes out of the clearing and I stand up with a small smile and grab the hilt of the Moonblade.

When I pull out of the ground I can’t help but stare in awe at the swirling rune pattern on the blade that is still glowing a dim white. Will this glow stay for the entire 3 months?

Before I can think any further about the sword, time freezes and I see and hear “You have succeeded in attuning to the Dark Maidens Moonblade!"

Dark Maidens Moonblade:

• +2 to hit and damage rolls.
• Finesse
• All attacks with this weapon deal an extra 1-6 Slashing Damage.
• All attacks with this weapon against dragons deal an extra 1-6 Radiant Damage.
• The Moonblade acts as a Ring of Spell Storing. The sword is sentient and has 12 Intelligence, 10 Wisdom, and 12 Charisma, in its original life the soul of this blade was a spellcaster and thus any spells stored in this blade will be treated as if the sword casted the spells, not the user.

Rolling to determine the enchantment of the newest rune added to the blade.

1d100. 48. One property from the Minor Property table of generic Special Features.

Rolling to determine the Minor Property.

1d20. 16. War Leader, The bearer can use an action to cause his or her voice to carry clearly for up to 300 feet until the end of the bearer’s next turn.
The Moonblade has reached the maximum number of enchantments. No future heirs will be able to add their own rune.

Wait what? I thought I was the 5th user? The enchantment I just rolled was the 7th not its 5th. I’ll have to ask the sword about that next time I sleep. I’m slightly disappointed with the enchantment I rolled but it definitely could’ve been worse. I’m sure I’ll find a use for being able to talk loudly.

That ring of spell storing is insane though. If I’m interpreting this correctly it’s essentially saying that depending on the spell stored it’ll use its own ability scores for the On Hit Bonus and the Spell Save DC, but in exchange for that downside it has the ability to concentrate on its own. If I prepare properly I can use two concentration spells at once!

Anyways, enough thinking I need to put my clothes on, it’s a bit nippy out here. I run over to the edge of the clearing and as I’m getting dressed Luna lands next to me. “It was just as you said, Ignis. As soon as you started dancing I felt a pull and just allowed my existence to go with the flow. It was….. A strange experience. When you bowed and prostrated yourself against the ground I could feel a connection between us and a small surge of power I’ve never felt before.”

“I bet that was divinity. After the ceremony I have some experiments we can try to see if we can recreate and perhaps even bolster that power.”

“Sounds interesting. By the way, we didn’t need to cancel court for this. We can teleport back right now and we’d still have 10 minutes to spare. Since you’re the one that resulted in this slot of free time, how do you suggest we use it in a meaningful way?”

I brandish the Moonblade with a smirk on my face as I lock eyes with her. “Well we’re already in Ponyville and it’s the dead of night. Why don’t we go monster hunting together? We’ve sparred plenty of times by now so we should use this opportunity to practice our teamwork.”

She offers a short but hearty laugh before responding, “Very well. I’ll carry you in my telekinesis and we can go fly over the Everfree. There’s actually been a few reports over the weekend of a particularly nasty specimen that’s been expanding its territory and is now concerningly close enough to Ponyville to start causing problems. Celestia was curious on how she should relocate it, but I doubt she’d be too bothered if we took care of it on our own.”

With a spark of her horn Luna is suddenly adorned in silver armor around her barrel and helmet on her head. This helmet actually allows her starry mane to flow freely instead of trapping it under the helmet like Nightmares though. She then quickly spreads her wings and I feel myself wrapped in a blue aura as she takes off into the sky.

I start to ask Luna a question but the wind is a bit too loud, and I don’t feel like yelling right now so I just enjoy the view as we fly over the Everfree for several minutes. Finally I get bored enough and yell out, “So Luna what monster are we going after? You mentioned it being nasty but didn’t give me a name.”

She doesn’t verbally respond but simply points down into a large clearing in the Everfree canopy the solid forest ground turns into a large swamp. I’m about to tell her that that doesn’t explain anything, but right as I’m about to speak I hear a ear splitting roar and look back down at the swamp and watch as one.. two… three, no, five heads emerge from the water and the huge body of this creature slowly rises before taking a loud stomp out of the water and roaring once again.

It’s a bloody hydra.

Luna begins to dive bomb the hydra with me in tow and once we’re within about 20 feet of the creature a giant scythe with a jagged blade appears next to her, grasped in her telekinesis. Right after that, time stops and I see my favorite phrase.

Roll for Initiative.

7, +5. 12.

Well that could’ve been better.

It seems like Luna has rolled highest. I’m still held in the air in her aura but she has stopped bringing me closer to the Hydra as she continues to fly straight at it. She flies into the hydra like a kamikaze pilot and rapidly spins the scythe in the air right before it slams into the hydra. Once it makes contact it cleaves straight through its leftmost neck before stopping as Luna evens out and flies in a circle around the beast. Once she’s given it a once over she begins controlling the scythe again and has it flip upside down before carving into the belly of the Hydra in an upward arc.

The hydra then sends all 4 of its heads at the lunar menace each attempting to bite her. The first two heads miss entirely as she effortlessly evades them with aerial maneuvers, but the 3rd one looks like it’s about to fully eat the alicorn. I feel my heart rate skyrocket and right before I yell out to her she surrounds herself in an orb shaped shield that keeps the hydra’s mouth from closing around her. The 4th head seems like it was expecting her to dodge and lunged at where it predicted she would be, but doesn’t seem to react to the fact that she isn’t there. It just chomps at the air and keeps its momentum before slamming into the ground face first.

That must’ve been a natural 1, there’s no other explanation. The 4th head raises up off the ground and it’s eyes are looking in different directions while its tongue is hanging out of it’s mouth and there’s a large bump on the top of the head. What the fuck is this, looney toons?

The neck that Luna cleaved through suddenly sprouts 2 heads that roar and I get the subconscious feeling that it’s my turn. “Luna, drop me!” I yell out to her.

The aura disappears from around me and as I plummet towards the hydra I pull the Moonblade over and behind my head ready to swing with both hands. If I was bladesinging this would end the song early, and technically it’s probably a lore inaccurate move, but I’m not sure if I can get enough power to swing properly with how long this sword is with all this wind if I only use 1 hand.

I get within range to start slashing into this things newest neck when I see the dice roll.

18, +5 (Dex) +3 (Proficiency) +2 (Enchanted Weapon). 28. Hit

I let out a roar of my own as I swing the blade down with all the force of my body plus gravity and it cleanly slices into the creature's scales.

1d10 (2 Handed) + 1d6 Slashing (Enchanted Weapon) + 2d6 Fall Damage + 5 (Dex) + 2 (Enchanted Weapon), I see 4 different dice roll chaotically in my vision.

(7) + (5) + (3 + 2) + 5 + 2 = 24 Slashing Damage.

My blade almost completely cuts clean through the creatures neck, but I stopped just short and now I’m dangling in the air holding onto my sword. After my body comes to a complete stop in the air I feel a slight bit of recoil as I also take the same Fall Damage as the hydra, but the damage is halved for me.

36/39 Hit Points.

I take my left hand and while still dangling from the I point my finger at the neck and call out, “FIRE BOLT!”

Disadvantage: 9 and 19. 9 + 8 = 17. Hit.

The point blank firebolt shoots out and instantly slams into the thin layer of scales and meat keeping the head attached to the body.

7 + 6 = 13 Fire Damage.

The scales seem to turn to ash and the flesh quickly melts away causing the head to fully detach from the body and as a consequence, I also plummet another 10 feet into the swamp. I swim the 5 or so feet to the shore and climb up onto the muddy soil before twisting my body and pointing my finger at the 2nd head that sprouted up at the same time as the first. “Fire Bolt!”

8, +8. 16. Hit.

The firebolt roars into the chin of the head I was aiming at and the head recoils back from the force as it lets out a yelp.

10 + 7 = 17 Fire Damage.

To everyone's shock the scales seem to droop and fall off the head in globs before the entire head itself seems to just pop splattering gore onto the hydra's body and other heads.

I quickly do some mental math and realize I did 54 damage, for every 25 damage the hydra loses a head, so my firebolt just completely exploded that head as a result. Badass. Now that I’ve done fire damage when it comes back around to the hydras turn it won’t regenerate any heads.

The creature is back down to 4 heads and if my gut is right I’d wager the thing has somewhere between 95-110 Hit Points. If we cut off all of its head though it won’t matter how much HP it has, it instantly dies if it loses all of its heads.

Luna quickly recovers from the surprise of the hydra's head exploding and charges up a powerful spell, I’ve never seen her horn shine this bright before. She fires off a small burst of magic at the moon and about 2 seconds later a giant pillar of light encompasses a large portion of the hydra's body. It’s a fucking moonbeam!

She flashes me a proud smile as the hydra roars in pain and it flails wildly as it runs out of the moonbeam with only 2 heads remaining. Both heads open their mouths and swing at Luna, but they seem to be blinded or something as both of them completely miss. Luna doesn’t even have to dodge, they just go wide. I feel the tingle in my brain letting me know it’s my turn and give a wild smile in happiness. I’m glad I remembered to use fire damage.

In an effort to not be shown up by the princess I simply hold my hand, palm up, in the air and swing it from left to right above my head. As my hand arcs from left to right 4 small balls of fire are left the path of my hand.

“Pierce, Spears of Flame. SCORCHING RAY!”

The 4 balls turn into lances of fire and from left to right start screaming towards the hydra. All 4 lances will have their own rolls to decide if they hit or miss.

8 + 8 = 16. Hit.

19 + 8 = 27. Hit.

15 + 8 = 23. Hit.

14 + 8 = 22. Hit.

One lance impacts the body of the hydra, one roars into one of the two remaining necks, the third lance hits the hydra between the eyes, and the last lance hits the chin of other remaining head.

6 + 2 = 8

4 + 5 = 9

1 + 4 = 5

3 + 6 = 9

31 Fire Damage.

The hydra clutches at the gaping wound left in its body as one of its heads explodes into a ball of fire and the other head flails in pain. I look up at Luna and call out, “It’s only polite to let my Lady have the finishing blow.”

16, +1 Deception. 17.

I finish my statement with an over exaggerated bow, but Luna just snorts and rolls her eyes easily seeing through my lie. “Yes, you surely intended to allow me the honor of slaying this foul creature. What a loyal knight I have under me.” She calls out as she barrels into the neck of the last head while actually holding her scythe with both forehooves as she severs the last head from the creature's body and reaps its soul.

She fires a beam of magic at the creature's corpse causing it to disintegrate and flies down landing next to me, “This was a wonderful idea Ignis. I must admit though, we didn’t really do much teamwork.”

I give her a small chuckle, “What do you mean Luna, you expertly dropped me onto the creature. I’d say that qualifies as teamwork. Seriously though, this creature was a bit weaker than I was expecting. I think either of us could’ve taken that on alone and we’d have been fine. We’ll need something tougher than that to truly challenge us.”

“I’m not so sure about that. It was definitely too weak to be a challenge for both our forces combined, but had you been alone I think you’d have acquired some serious wounds. Assuming you were even able to kill it.”

I hum in consideration, I know she isn’t saying this to insult me. She legitimately wants to make sure I don’t get myself killed with overconfidence. After thinking it over I realize she isn’t completely wrong, if I were to get extremely unlucky and all 5 heads were able to take a bite out of me they’d be capable of doing over double my Hit Points in 1 go. Although once I reach level 8 I think I know what path I’m going to take, and if I had been that version of myself instead of my current version. I’d have trounced this thing no problem.

Hydra Defeated! 3,900 XP divided between a party of two.

+1,950 XP. 33,950/23,000 XP.

Wow I’m really 50 XP away from level 8? That’s annoying.

“Yeah you have a point. By the time we leave for the summit I’ll be strong enough to take down two of those at the same time.”

“You truly think you can grow that much in 3 nights?”

“Oh I know I can. Let’s just head back for now though, I need to work on this oath.”

“Ah, yes. Very well.” With a flash of her horn we’re in the throne room of the castle once again. “So, do you have any ideas for your oath yet or are you really starting from scratch?”

“Well I do have an oath of sorts I remember from my previous world that I think is pretty solid. I’ll just tweak it to be more inline with my own personal wishes.”

“In that case I’ll leave you to it, you’re dismissed for the night. If I keep you around I’ll end up reading your drafts and I don’t want to ruin the surprise for myself. I’ll see you tomorrow night, Ignis.”

I offer her a small bow, “May Equestria’s dreams be peaceful and calm for you tonight, your majesty.” Before promptly making my way towards my bedroom.

Celestia had writing supplies delivered to my room a few hours ago when I woke up, so I’ll just start on my drafts there. Let’s see… now what if I word it like this… no that’s too vague. If I put this part before this line there can be no room for doubt. Now if I word this bit like this I’m implying some pretty heavy things. I’m sure if I word it like that it’ll be controversial…. I think that’s okay though. She might be a little annoyed at me for this, but I want to send a message to everyone. And, on the 1 in a billion longshot chance that I can somehow find my way home, I’ll add this small tidbit at the very end and word it in such a way that I’m free of service if this comes to pass.

I ended up spending a few hours working on the Oath and I’m quite pleased with the outcome. There is potentially some drama around one part of the oath if I leave it as is, but I need to be very clear in my purpose. It’s still a couple hours until morning so I’m going to go check in with Luna and see if there’s any applications for the Night Watch and if so can I review them.

The next 36 hours are a blur between reviewing applications, performing rehearsals, going over plans for the 3 day expedition to the land where the summit will be held. However, it’s now time. I peek out the window into the castle garden where there are around 150 ponies sitting and standing between the hedge maze and the statue displays. Surprisingly enough, there’s a bit of a pit in my stomach. I didn’t really think I’d be this nervous. I think I’m more nervous about the content and the meaning of my Oath, but hopefully Luna appreciates it?

I walk out in my full uniform, with my hood down, but since it’s daytime it just looks like the full outfit of what I was wearing the day I arrived here. I, slowly and with deliberate steps, march down the aisle between the two large groups of attendees. Celestia has been droning on about how happy she is that her sister has returned and all the great things the two will do together, and as I started slowly approaching the center stage she shifted the focus onto the historical Night Watch. As I get closer she begins detailing the intention to re-establish her sisters army and today was to introduce and anoint her personal Knight.

I climb the steps onto the stage and Luna rises and meets me in the middle of the stage. She’s wearing a silver crown with hundreds of tiny diamonds embedded in it, her petryal is larger than her normal one and also shining brightly with tiny gems. The petryal has a long black cape, with fluffy white clouds along the entire edge, running off of it that drapes down the sides of her barrel and covers her rear legs almost entirely. Each hoof is adorned with Sabatons that match her crown and petryal. Honestly right now she truly looks like a being that does not belong down here with us mortal creatures. She’s radiating an absolute presence.

I drop to one knee in front of her and present my Moonblade to her with both hands. She grabs the hilt with her forehoof and slowly lowers it down onto my left shoulder and then hovers it in the air over my head as she states, loud enough for everyone to hear, “Dost thou vow to serve me dutifully in spreading and maintaining the tenets of harmony?”

I raise my head slightly and look up into her eyes.

“No, Your Grace. I, Ghaele Ignis Ferrum of the Natsume Clan, swear upon my very soul that I will support and protect the Princess of the Night, I will bear true faith and allegiance to the very same, and I will defend against all who oppose her, be they friend or foe, I will bare my blade against this entire realm in her name. Hear ye all gathered here today, as I declare myself to exist purely as the sword and shield of Her Grace, Princess Luna Concordia, my Dark Maiden until the day I no longer exist in this realm.”

Her mouth is slightly gaping as she looks at me with shock. Once she sees my conviction her eyes become a bit glassy and she offers a small, yet bright smile. I see Celestia out of the corner of my eye staring at me with her brows furrowed. I can’t tell if it’s confusion or anger. There’s murmurs and whispers behind me and I can just barely make out one pony directly behind me whisper, “Doesn’t that mean he’d even take on Equestria for her? What if she becomes Nightmare Moon again?”

I do mean that I’d take on this entire kingdom if I have to, but I was hoping to not be misconstrued about Nightmare Moon. During one of our conversations while we were taking a break from rehearsing or sparring, the topic of my dream came up where I was about to kill Nightmare. I was explaining to Luna how I’m not sure if I could do that anymore and Luna got very close to my face and while staring straight into my eyes. She told me if she ever falls and becomes the Nightmare again, and if the elements fail or if I’m left with no choice, I absolutely must kill her. She ended up making it a direct standing order.

Anyhow, once Luna reigns in her emotions she brings the sword down softly over my right shoulder and announces, “Then arise, Ignis Ferrum. Connect your mana to mine and be reborn…”

There’s a slight pause after she says reborn and during that pause I pull the hood over my head and activate the enchantment donning my full uniform. As I stand I pull an elastic, black, cloth material from the collar of my shirt and pull it up over my neck and over my mouth and nose masking my face. There’s a small gasp in the crowd at my transformation. As soon as I finish the fluid motion and look down into her eyes she finishes her statement.

“...as my…”

Time freezes.

Quest Complete! Make Your Choice: You’ve sworn your loyalty and service to Princess Luna. Congratulations! Claim rewards? “Yes.”

• 1,050 XP. 35,000/23,000 XP. Level up! (2).

“Multiclass. Allocate two levels into…”

Time Resumes.

“...and be reborn as my Paladin!”

35,000/48,000 XP.

Ignis Ferrum: Bladesinger 6/Paladin 2.

Author's Note

Quick notes, Ghaele is one of the 4 or 5 different titles given to Noble Eladrin that have absorbed so much magic from the feywild that they now reside over a particular nartual element like Spring Rains or even an entire season like Autumn.

If you remember correctly Ignis father had hair that almost looked like the hair itself was fire. This plays into the clan name I gave them, Natsume. Natsume is appropriately Summer Dreams. It used to be just Summer, his family is quote a notable one, but when the Sword Saint of Eilistraee, Zarra, married the patriarch of the clan, they celebrated the union by incorporating an element of the Dark Maiden into the family name, switching the name from Summer to Summer Dreams.

I might/probably will explain that in one of the upcoming chapters, but i felt it was worth explaining here in the A/N.

Another piece of important news, I can now say I have definitively decided on the ending to this story. It is quite an ambitious ending, but I think we can get there. It's gunna be doozy of a ride for sure though. Now that I have the ending outlined and imagined it'll be much easier to write and guide things towards that ending with minimal plot holes and hopefully no retcons.

If you go back and find the link I posted to Ignis's character sheet in one of the very early chapters you can find some spoilers on what cantrips, fighting style, and spells I picked for the 2 Paladin levels, but if you don't want to be spoiled then don't worry it's the first thing I'm covering in the next chapter.

Here's the image I was using as a reference to describe Luna's outfit for the ceremony, just replace her mane with her starry mane

Luna's Outfit (SFW, Link is to Tales-Fables DeviantArt which I believe is the source for the image)

Like always, Thanks for reading!