Roll for Friendship

by Desti

Productive Conversations

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All I see is an empty white void.

“Greetings, human.” Turning to the right I see…myself sitting in a chair wearing some pompous fancy clothing with a tea cup.

“Uh, hi, why do you look like me?” The elf holds out a hand and a small mirror appears that points towards me. Oh. I’m in my human form at the moment.

“I’m not sure why we’re able to speak to each other, but I’m glad you’re able to finally visit. We need to talk.” A chair appears opposite of the elf and I slowly approach and take a seat.

“Why are you acting like we’re two separate entities? We share the same soul, I am you and you are me.”

“That is correct, but the personality known as Lucas appears to be the dominant force for our soul now. You’ve managed to link the memories together, but we haven’t truly integrated.”

“Integrated?” I ask with a pretty confused look.

“Yes, you have my memories and your personality slightly shifted, for example you are ever so slightly more polite now. However, even though you have all the memories of all the endless hours of swordplay and training you still can’t replicate my skills. When you aren’t using this blasted dice system as a crutch your swordsmanship is pitiful. Theoretically you should have all the skills and memories from both of our lives, yet you only seem to retain the human skills. When we were finally able to meet I had originally planned on convincing you to find a way to fully integrate both persona’s into the soul, but I recently came to a different conclusion.”

I wait for him to explain his new conclusion but he just takes a sip of tea and stares at me. Glad to know the elf me prefers to make people ask for his thoughts. “I agree with your initial thoughts though. If we were fully integrated I probably wouldn’t have almost died 3 or 4 times. Why shouldn’t we do it?”

“It would be ideal if you could use all of the memories to integrate the skills I have, but I’ve come to realize our personalities should not be combined. Do you know how long it takes a typical elf to perform the highest class of magic?”

“Uhh 80 years, maybe 35 to 40 if they’re talented?”

“No. 600 to 900 years. If you decided to investigate a rumor about a legendary magic artifact, but you continually found nothing and made no progress towards verifying or finding said artifact, how long would it take you to decide it’s not worth it and move on?”

“Depends on how useful the item is, I suppose. 1 to 4 years? I can’t waste that much time on something….. I think I see what you’re getting at here.”

Ignis gives me a small smirk while also looking quite resigned. “Exactly. Your personality retains your perception of time. It is a core fundamental difference between the two of us. I cannot fathom giving up on something that interests me after only 1 year simply because I’ve made no progress on it. I’d spend 150 or 200 years on it. A majority of my kin would not like to admit it, but the average human mage would all be considered prodigies from the speed they develop skills. If our personalities were to be merged I am almost certain you would lose that advantage.”

“There’s no way that could be true though, you’re all just as if not more intelligent than us! I can see your intelligence from the memories.”

“Yes and I’ll admit I worked quite diligently once I became the prime candidate for the Dark Ladies blade. However, I hated it. I knew that once it was over I would never have to work that hard again. When we learn things or pursue goals we take our time, get sidetracked, and spend a majority of time with activities of leisure. On the other hand, you and your kind understand and have an instinctual urge to pursue something with everything you have, sacrificing meals, sleep and even your health to achieve it. You understand that you don’t have time to waste. Do you understand the implications of our situation now?”

“Yes, we’re both considered prodigies, but now we have the opportunity to find out what happens when a prodigy that contains the determination and efficiency of a human-”

“Is placed within a vessel that is essentially ageless.” Ignis finishes the thought for me.

“We already know what happens though, liches or beings like Vecna are perfect examples of this concept.”

“No, it’s fundamentally different. They spend an overwhelming percentage of their time and efforts on ways to extend their lives. Immortality and godhood is all they work towards with their ambitions. You get a 2000 year buffer before you need to worry about such things.”

“If you exist as an entity though, I’m not sure I feel comfortable with you just…. existing in this void. This seems like a fate worse than death.”

“Ah don’t concern yourself with that. Like I said before your personality was slightly altered by my presence. Up until this point it felt like I was also you. It’s hard to explain but it’s almost like we are both living and controlling this body. I’m not aware of the fact that my actions and words are not my own until you sleep, truly sleep not trance.”

“Well that doesn’t seem so bad then….”

The elf suddenly has a devious look, “Onto more casual topics, when are you going to become a real prince?”

“What do you mean? I wasn’t being serious at the summit, I just needed a way to swing the vote.”

“You know what I mean, when are you going to court the pretty princess currently acting as our blanket?”

“WHA- I don’t know what you mean. It’s completely impossible. I don’t even like her like that. All I have is admiration and respect. She returns to a completely foreign culture and kingdom after 1000 years and just jumps right back into ruling. She’s an extremely capable fighter and mage. I’m proud to serve her and happy I can call her my friend.” What a ridiculous situation, I have to get teased by a fragment of my own soul.

“Oh so you when you were completely dumbfounded the first time you saw her true state and she noticed you staring at her with an awestruck face. You jumped off the balcony in embarrassment purely because of your admiration and respect right? You definitely weren’t blushing.”

“This is fucking unbelievable, how do I wake up?” I tap my foot and pinch myself. Nothing happens so after a few seconds I continue. “She’s an immortal horse goddess who rules a country and I am a long living hairless monkey mortal. The idea of that alone is outrageous.”

“Oh please, it’s not unheard of for the deities to court and even love their Chosen.”

“I’m not her Chosen. I am simply a devout follower.”

“For now. She doesn’t even know what a Chosen is, nor has she accumulated enough Divine Power to even be called a true Goddess yet. I won’t make you continue this conversation, but we both know you can’t keep repressing and denying your crush on her. It isn’t healthy.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose, “Listen, I won’t deny that at some point my admiration evolved into something more romantically inclined. A crush is all it is though, it can be easily explained by prolonged isolation combined with trauma. Who wouldn’t develop some type of feelings for the only creature that helps them through a situation like that. I’m going to sit on it for a while, once I have more people in my life and I’m more confident in why I feel this way then I’ll consider saying something. Right now is just not a good time and I don’t want to ruin what we have going at the moment. Plus I know for a fact she doesn’t feel the same way in the slightest.”

“Fine. You at least acknowledged it. I guess that’s really all I can ask.”

“Can I wake up or go back to normal dreams now? I really want to be anywhere but here right now.”

“Sure, I do have one last request though.”

“Shoot.”

“Please take better care of OUR body from now on. This system of mana they have is quite astounding and it’s a miracle you didn’t render us completely unable to use it anymore after almost killing us.” The amount of sass this elf is giving me with his posh accent is so unbearable, I cannot believe we’re the same person.

“Yeah yeah I’ll tell the next power hungry super villian to just chill out next time so I don’t have to push our body.”

“Oh! One more thing, can you stop using that damn thunder spell on the sword?!”

“Why? It’s extremely effective in 1 on 1 matchups.”

“Yes, but what is our name? Ignis Ferrum, Fire Steel. Why do you think I was called that? Use the damn flame blade.”

3rd Person POV

“Luna, you really shouldn’t give him such treatment in front of other ponies.” Celestia goes from glancing at her sister to the medic sitting across from them in a carriage. The medic just has a soft smile as she stares at the scene.

“He’s my knight, I’ll treat him however I want. He deserves it and it broke my heart seeing him so defeated. You know how confident he normally is.”

“You just don’t want to start rumors, sister. I’m also devastated but I don’t see you giving me any reassurance.”

“Do my ears deceive me? Did the perfect princess, the avatar of the sun, just admit she’s jealous? Tia, you know I have two wings, right?”

Celestia just rises and Luna takes the opportunity to move herself and Ignis to the side allowing room for the solar alicorn to cuddle up to her sister. Once she settles in and gets comfortable, Celestia looks over to the guard that was previously healing Ignis. “Corporal, this is official treatment for the elf and I so this falls under patient confidentiality.”

The medic just giggles, “Of course, your majesty.”

Long rest completed! Exhaustion Level: 4. Movement speed: 15ft.

[Hit Points: 32/32]

[Experience: 53,000/64,000] Quest rewards available!

“Quests.”

QUEST LOG:

Quest failed, huh? Fuck that’s brutal. Thanks for the reminder I guess…. “Claim all rewards.”

+4,500 XP: 57,500/64,000. Level 9.

+2 Level 1 Spell Scrolls, +1 Level 2, 3, and 4 Spell Scrolls.

Choose any spell from the Wizard Spell List for your Spell Scroll rewards:

1st Level: Alarm and Identify.
2nd Level: Knock.
3rd Level: Counterspell.
4th Level: Dimension Door.

Ignis 1st Person POV

When I wake up the first thing I do is close my hands into fists as I attempt to stretch out my arms and yawn. I say attempt because all I successfully did was close my fists, only to find myself now squeezing something very soft. Instantly I remember where I was when I went to sleep and immediately open my eyes and lean myself in the opposite direction of my former pillow. Leaning away from the blue fur I hit my head on the interior panel of the carriage and I looked around in confusion. Why am I between Luna and the wall? Wasn’t Celestia on the other side of me? Leaning forward a bit I see Celestia laying down in the classic “loaf” position with the side of her head against Luna’s barrel and Luna's other wing is draped down over the back of her neck.

“Good night, Ignis. Did you sleep well? The guards are currently setting up camp for the night, but since both of you were sleeping so peacefully I decided to just let us stay here until both of you woke up.” I feel the wing pull away from me as she folds it up.

“Yeah it was fine. Did we get a final casualty count?”

“Straight to business then, yes. Of the 57 ponies we brought there are 9 dead, 32 injured, and 2 missing. The 2 missing are more than likely in a pod similar to the one you found me in, it’s where captives are placed in between love harvesting sessions. Shining has all the details if you want to go find him.”

As Luna finishes her sentence we hear a low groan, “Why do you two insist on speaking at a normal volume despite somepony in here trying to sleep?”

“Because sister you’re 30 minutes overdue on lowering the sun.”

The alicorn shoots up instantly, “WHAT?! Why didn’t you wake me earlier?!”

Luna just tucks her forelegs against her belly and lets out a hearty laugh, “I jest, Tia. You have 10 more minutes before sundown.”

Now I can’t help but laugh as the multi-thousand year old co-ruler of a massive nation begins to full on pout. “It isn’t funny.”

Quieting down to a giggle I offer an explanation, “I was laughing at your childish pouting, the gap moe was too powerful for me.”

“What is a gap mo-ay?” Celestia replies.

“It’s an affection born from an inconsistent behavior. I never in a million years expected to see you poke out your bottom lip and pout. It was unexpectedly adorable.”

“Adorable? Me?” She looks up at Luna causing her to laugh again, but their conversation is cut short as I try to stand up and end making a very undignified sound as I stagger and end up leaning against the wall of the carriage.

Luna immediately stands up, “Ignis! You seriously shouldn’t be moving. It’s a miracle that you can even stand right now, but don’t push it!”

Hissing in pain I don’t even respond. It feels like I just got a massive cramp, but in every muscle in my body 10 times over. Everything has gone stiff and I can’t even try to sit back down.

After a few seconds I manage to start slowly walking off the carriage, “I’m good, I’m good. I just forgot the state my body was in. I’m going to go find Shining and LT Force.”

Celestia and Luna look at each other before both of them give me a somber look. Luna ends up being the one to break the news to me. “Ignis, the Lieutenant is one of the two missing ponies.”

I always wondered what people meant when they said they felt their blood run cold, but I get it now. It’s the first time in a while that my mind is truly empty and it feels like I can’t breathe, my entire being is frozen. “Th-..... This is another joke right?”

“No, Ignis. She was last seen performing an aerial dive into a group of imposter ponies that were ganging up on a fellow guard. We believe she was paralyzed during the ensuing scuffle and was brought down into the hive.”

“Am I correct in assuming that our travel speed has been negatively impacted due to the high number of injured ponies?”

“Aye. If you were to run at full speed you could likely make it back to the colosseum in 3 maybe 3 and half hours. You’re not going to do that of course, but that’s how far we are.”

I look down at the two alicorns, “You’re right, I’m not going. Not like this. When we leave in the morning I’m going to stay here. I’ll slowly make my way towards the colosseum and get another full day of rest. After that I should be recovered enough to go back in there and get both of our guards out. From there we’ll make our way back to Equestria. It’s currently Thursday night so we should be able to return by Monday morning.”

“Absolutely not. I will not let you march into a changeling hive, that is now fully hostile by the way thanks to the new leader of the hivemind, alone. You can barely move there is no way you will be completely fine to do any of that in 48 hours. We will negotiate with Chrysalis and arrange their release, end of discussion.”

We both send a stern glare into each other's eyes. “I make myself invisible for up to 4 hours, find both of them, make all 3 of us invisible for 2 hours, and walk out with them none the wiser. It’d be a complete stealth operation.”

“They detect emotions, you stubborn ass! You’ll be emitting anger and despair to the point that the entire hive is alerted the second you walk into that colosseum.”

I close my eyes and try to remember the empty feeling I had during the fight on the surface. Right after that fireball, it was like I was completely out of my own body. Almost like a dream where I’m looking through my own eyes but I’m not in control. It was after the fire cleared and everything just hit me all at once. The screams from creatures in their last moments, the smell of the burning changelings, all the blood on my own hands. It was like everything just shut down. I remember turning to look at the rest of them and just wishing they’d run away. Some of them even started to back up, but eventually a few of them mustered up the courage to continue the fight and I remember just calmly thinking “So be it.”

My swordsmanship in the following moments was completely different than what I’ve shown before too. My body just moved exactly how I wanted it to, and I could see every movement they were making.

Trying to recreate that feeling I attempt to put myself back in that exact spot in the colosseum again with all the same sensations. One by one they hit me again, but at the very end a flash of Aurora hitting the wall and LT Force helping me bandage up after the fight with Inferno.

I feel it again. The most basic description I have is that it feels like giving up. I feel all my muscles relax and all my thoughts go silent. I slowly open my eyes again and see Luna go from the same stern glare she had moments ago to a look of confusion with the slightest hint of unease.

“I’ll be fine. If I had known all this the first time I woke up in this carriage, I might feel differently, but during that sleep I had internalized that all of today's events were in the past and couldn’t be changed. The only way I could even think of how to move on was to make a promise to myself that I would never fail so spectacularly again. But this? This can be undone, I can fix this. I’m going to fix this.” I grab the door frame to the carriage and use it to help myself slowly walk out of the carriage.

As soon as I walk out of the carriage all the chatter and commotion in the camp drops to a dull silence. I can even hear the crackles of the small campfires scattered around the encampment. Looking around I note that a majority of the guards are now looking at me. Some seem shocked, others look… impressed? “What, is something on my face?”

In response a majority of the guards start to run over and crowd around me. I just look around at all of them in shock as some begin thanking me, asking questions about how I could tell the changelings apart, apologizing for treating me so coldly, or some other form of adoration. My look of shock quickly turns into a scowl. I hear the carriage door behind me open and close as another set of hooves begin to approach me as I start to vent my frustration at this crowd. “What’s wrong with all of you?! We lost 11 ponies today and you’re all smiles and applause?”

Most of the crowd falls silent as they start to look away or at the ground. The pony behind me speaks up, “Of course not Ignis. All of us are saddened and upset about the loss of life we suffered today, but we try to celebrate their lives and rely on our friendship to maintain morale and mission readiness. We only bring our most veteran guards to events like this, so this group is especially familiar with loss. Don’t take it personally my little ponies, I’m sure we can all remember our first time out in the field.” It would appear Celestia is the one that decided to chase after me. She tends to scold me more than Luna so this isn’t a good sign.

A few of the guards closest to me reach a foreleg around and give me a pat on the back as the crowd disperses. “I came out here to find Shining, where is he?”

The familiar masculine voice of the unicorn rings out several feet away, “Over here!” I look over and find the stallion making his way towards the princess and I.

“Can we spare enough food and water to last two ponies 6 days?” I ask once he gets closer.

“Yeah? We always bring far more than we need for missions like these, but can I ask why?”

“In the morning I’m heading back towards the colosseum. I’m going to get two more days of rest and then infiltrate the hive on the 2nd night and rescue our two missing guards. Then we’re going to walk back to Canterlot.”

“Wha..?” He just sighs and looks to Celestia.

The princess also sighs, “He has a plan and while I still think it’s a bad idea, I’m willing to let him try. I came out here to give you this, Ignis.” She levitates over a small cloth pouch. “Inside are two gems. The blue one is a Sending crystal linked directly to Luna. You’ll only be able to send and receive around 3 messages before it dies, but as long as there is ambient mana it should recharge within an hour or so. The large purple gem will teleport you directly to the castle courtyard. It’s one use and will only teleport 1 creature. If you even think you’ve been detected, simply channel mana into it and get out of there. Lastly, you and I need to talk. Privately.” Yup I’m getting scolded, called it.

Shining offers me a chuckle and tells me, “Well, good luck with that. I’ll have the supplies put into your backpack and I’ll also leave you a tent and enough firewood for a few nights next to it.”

I plead with him in my head to stay, but he obviously can’t hear my thoughts and walks away. I turn and follow Celestia into the royal tent. We walk in and sit down across from each other. “Ignis, in your previous life’s culture, which gender was traditionally expected to be the protector and provider?”

“Huh? In the modern times we pretty much stopped having gender roles like that, but in the old days it was the males.”

“I see, so did your population have more males than females?”

“No it was pretty dead even, 50/50. What is this all about?”

“In Equestria the population is 70% mares. As such, mares are expected to be the protectors and providers. We’re supposed to be the decision makers, so much so that all 3 of the royalty in Equestria are alicorn mares. I had a feeling your previous culture was opposite of ours based on your behavior but I just needed to confirm it.”

“Why?”

“As you know prior to Nightmare Moon, Luna began to feel more and more ignored and forgotten. She often spoke about how it felt like nopony would listen to her. Now, although Nightmare Moon is no more, these are still feelings that she is quite vulnerable too.”

I interrupt Celestia, “So by disobeying her and telling her that I’m going to do this mission regardless of the fact that she said it isn’t up to discussion….”

“You’ve upset her a bit, yes. She knows logically that your culture is likely different, it was something we discussed previously. She also knows, logically, that you’re in a very emotional state and it would heavily weigh on you everyday until your friend was saved, but this isn’t necessarily just that. You’re her knight and she assumed that you would follow her orders, now that you seem dead set on ignoring them you’ve triggered her deepest insecurity. She’s right back to being the ignored and lesser princess. So, I’m asking you not as Princess Celestia, but as Celestia Concordia, can you please go back into the carriage and talk to her?”

I’m silent for a minute or so before I stand up and start walking out of the tent. “Thank you for telling me this, Celestia.”

I close the door behind me as I enter the carriage and see Luna laying across her seat staring at the ground with a defeated expression. “I’m sorry Luna.”

“You’re just saying that because my sister made you come back.”

“I’m not. She just talked to me about some things and even gave me some magic items to help on my journey. Our conversation, though, made me realize that if I were to leave tomorrow morning and head to that colosseum, I’d be breaking my oath. I just got so consumed by my emotions I wasn’t thinking. I not only lost to Inferno, but lost to him because of a foolish decision that could lead to an even more serious conflict. Then I fail to save 9 guards, then I fail to save Aurora, and then I wake up just to find out that one of my only friends was taken. It’s just all piling on Luna.”

“You think you’re the only one?! I come back and deal with 3 weeks of a barely active night court, find out I’m the sole reason several treaties have to be renegotiated, watch you get nearly killed, get tricked and pony napped by an insect, suffer all the same losses. At least when it came to night court and all of the initial problems in Canterlot it was okay because I had Celestia and you. I have to sit here and know that I either let you do this insanely risky plan and worry about you, my ONLY other friend by the way, everyday until you come back. Or, or! I don’t let you go and know that it’ll eat away at you for days and probably just lead to you resenting me. It’s an impossible choice for me, Ignis.”

I drop down onto my knees in front of her seat and wrap my arms around her neck. “I can’t believe how fucking selfish I’m being. I swear I’m not normally this stupid. You don’t have to make this decision, Luna. I have one compromise to offer and if you don’t want to do it just say the word and I will stay here.”

I feel two wings wrap around me, “As long as you know you’re being stupid! I’m your princess, Ignis! You’re supposed to spoil me!” She pokes me in the chest with a forehoof and it sounds like she started crying a little midway through her response, but she ends it with a laugh. “What do you propose?”

“Come with me. Celestia gave me this crystal that will teleport one creature to Canterlot. We can use that for whichever guard is the most injured and then that’ll still leave with a 3 person group. As long as it’s only 3 of us I can make us invisible for 2 hours. I can’t spread the spell out to more than 3 though until I get stronger.”

“That was an idea I had considered too, but I have no magic to mask my emotions. Once we get the captives I can just teleport us thousands of feet away from the colosseum, but I’m not sure how we’d get to them in the first place.”

“Ugh, I wish I knew the Calm Emotions spell. It’s a spell that I know exists in my world, but I never bothered to learn it.” I pull away from the hug and look at her. “Okay what if, we go together as originally planned, but you stay a couple thousand feet away from the hive. I can contact you with the Sending crystal and let you know that I’ve got both guards and I’ll grab both of them and you teleport all 3 of us to your location!”

She smiles and replies, “I would be much more comfortable with that plan. Are you confident you can maintain that emotionless state you displayed earlier?”

“Fairly confident. It’d require some type of external stimulus to take me out of that state.”

“Alright, let’s go to the tent. We need to convey the new plan to Tia and I need to get out of this carriage. I’ve been in here for far too long and it’s cramped.”

Active Quest - Saving Private Ryan: Rescue ALL the captives in the changeling hive.

Author's Note

So uh, I might have originally said in a comment that the traveling back to Canterlot arc would be very short and mostly skimmed over. Then I realized that we only really have like one more action based arc once we get back to Canterlot and then after that its going to be quite heavy on Slice of Life for several chapters. Also this was a good way to give Ignis more character development and allow for him and Luna to open up a bit more to each other.

That quest is really trying it's best to the boy killed though, haha.

Anyways sorry for literally no dice rolls this chapter, but all the conversation quotes felt like genuine conversation that didn't require rolls, so I just didn't do any. Also the story was kinda sorta hinted at to be RGRE, but figured I'd go ahead and just full on commit to being RGRE. Gives me more legitimate reasons to have characters do things and feel certain ways while still being believable.

Lastly, I officially am starting school now so the chapter release schedule is going to slow down alot from here on out. I'd expect maybe twice a week, but don't be surprised if it goes down to once a week. Because I'm starting school tomorrow it also means I'm going to bed early tonight and can't be asked to do a full on proof read for this chapter like I have the last two. I still gave it a quick skim, but I'm sure there's something I missed in there somewhere. I like releasing in this timeslot so if I decided to just proofread it tomorrow and then publish it I'd have to wait until this timeslot to publish tomorrow. And I'd rather just publish it now and edit in the fixes.

Thanks for reading! I sleep now

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