Ka-Thunk Ka-Thunk

My head is pounding as I slowly open my eyes to the sound of the train moving along the tracks. What the fuck happened last night? The last thing I remember is flying back to the castle… did I blackout? Wait, why am I on a train?! I was supposed to get breakfast in the dining hall then go to Ponyville with… “Luna.” Sitting up midway through my panic I realize Luna is lounging across from me in our private suite.

“Oh look who slept through breakfast. I must say it was quite amusing to watch you stumble into my room and declare that we need to talk with such a serious expression, only to fall face first onto my bed completely passed out. I talked to Force and she informed me it was just 1 bottle shared between the two of you, so I’ve noted that you can’t handle alcohol. Good thing we didn’t wait until the gala to find out.”

“UGH! Luna, I got unlucky! As soon as I took my first sip I was forced to roll a dice to see if I would get drunk and I rolled horrendously. That’s so anno-” I’m interrupted by a gnarly hangover as I clutch my head in pain.

“So, what did you want to talk about last night that made you so serious?” Luna asks while giving me a look of amused curiosity.

“Let’s kick that can down the road for now. It was a lot easier to bring up that topic while under the influence, but now I’m sober and this hangover is making it ten times worse. Did I already miss our stop in Ponyville?”

“Nay, the train only departed from Canterlot maybe ten minutes ago. We’ve still got another hour and a half.” She ignites her horn and a few seconds later a pony comes through the door with a glass of orange juice. “Thank you.”

The drink floats over to me and I grab it out of the air. “Why are we taking the train anyways? Flying or teleporting would’ve been more convenient.”

“I haven’t gotten a chance to ride one of these yet, they didn’t exist before my banishment. This seemed like a good opportunity to see how I feel about them, so far I’m impressed. It’s not as fast as flying if you consider it as 1 trip versus 1 trip, but if you think about how many flying carriages it would take to bring the same amount of ponies and luggage… it’s not even a competition at that point. This invention is marvelous.”

I take a deep chug of the OJ before pressing the cold glass against my forehead. “They know we’re visiting today right?”

“Hm? Yes, Generosity knows we’re stopping by.”

“Of course she knows, I’m saying did you tell anyone else? The local officials will likely shit themselves if you or your sister shows up unannounced. Surprise visits never go well.”

“Oh surely you jest. If it were Tia I could see that happening, but I doubt we’ll receive any such reception. The most we’ll get is somepony screaming that Nightmare Moon has returned as they run off to alert the town…. I guess that could still be problematic. I see what you mean now.”

I just give her a deadpan stare. “Am I getting anything made as well? Or is it just expected for me to wear my uniform?”

“Awh, you ruined the surprise.” She flashes an adorable pouting face for a second. “Yes you’ll be having something made as well. Apparently she’s turning this endeavor into a fashion show. She’s already mostly finished dresses for the other elements, and she’s designed something for both of us but she didn’t want to finalize everything without having our measurements.”

“Is it bad that I’m slightly terrified to see what she’s made for me? She’s only seen 1 outfit to use as a base for my entire species' fashion. What are the odds I end up in some weird outfit…”

“Oh please, if it’s bad we can just request changes or reject it all together. Now, pay attention. I'm going to cover our plan once we’re done here in Ponyville.” Luna conjures up a pseudo hologram map of the world. Directly in the center is Canterlot. “Once we finish up here we’re going to take the train again and ride West, through Whitetail Woods, until we reach the end of the line. From there the trains only go North or South, but we need to continue West so we’ll be on hoof from there. This entire mass of land after we get off the train is the Undiscovered West so who knows what we’ll run into there. From there all I was told is to follow the mountain peaks until we see the North Luna Ocean. At that point we should see a cave and that’ll be where the thestrals have been hibernating.”

“North Luna Ocean? You’ve had an entire ocean named after you and ponies still didn’t know who you are? Luna, don’t take this the wrong way, but are ponies just kinda…. dumb?”

“No! They’re simply uneducated. Cutie marks drastically reduce the need for generalized basic education, we only mandate that foals take 6 years of broad generic education. After that they can go to a trade school, university, or just follow their cutie mark and naturally find success. During those 6 years apparently history is not one of the prioritized subjects.”

“That’s a mistake, those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it. Sorry, we got off topic. You’re not expecting any problems or hostility from the thestrals right?” I decided to ask the important question.

“We’re not actually sure if they’ve sworn loyalty to Nightmare Moon or me. They were my thestrals before the corruption, but they did swear loyalty to her after the corruption. So technically speaking, their oath to Nightmare is the most recent one. I’ve been speaking with their leaders in their dreams though, and I think we should be fine. I told you yesterday, didn't I? I don’t expect you to use your blade a single time this entire trip.”

I let the conversation die as Luna goes back to her reading material. Now that we know Nightmare is still alive and active it actually makes me severely uneasy to hear that they have an oath with her. Hopefully Luna's feeling is correct, though. I wonder if I should try being more friendly with the element bearers? If they’re seen as heroes to Equestria then it would be good for Luna's image to be friends with them, and they seem reliable.

Let’s make a mental note, a lot of things have happened over the past couple weeks. I need to keep track of my threads.

1. Callisid is still MIA. Likely got dismissed in the chaos at the colosseum, need to resummon him. Twilight likely has magical supplies for this.
2. I need to communicate to Celestia my thoughts about the memorial statue. I sincerely think Cursive Hoof and her parents are the ones who should be depicted.
3. Need to transcribe all the spell scrolls into my spellbook.
4. See if I can make contact with the ancient elf in the Moonblade, I will likely need to perform some ritual with Luna to fix the damage I caused.
5. Circling back to number 1 that needs to be top priority. I can send him to the dragon lands and have him inform me on their plans.
6. Lastly…. I swear I’m forgetting something. Eh, probably not important.

“Ignis are you coming? We’ve been at the station for over 5 minutes and the conductor needs to leave or he’ll fall behind schedule.” Luna grabs my attention as she pokes her head into the suite.

“Oh sorry, guess I got a little lost in my thoughts.”

I follow Luna off the train and look around. Honestly I think I would’ve preferred to live here over Canterlot. It’s a shame that Luna is tied to the castle, although maybe a vacation home? I should see how much real estate costs in this world and figure out if I can afford it. My inner rambling is interrupted by Luna. “Has anypony told you that something seems different about you?”

“No? I mean I’ve only talked to you, your sister, Cadence, and Force. None of them mentioned anything like that.”

“Right before you performed that new spell that lets you zip around and attack multiple creatures, and every moment since then, your presence feels…. what’s a good descriptor here? Heavier. Even ponies that aren’t as attuned to mana can feel when you’ve entered a room. Did your “level up” have any significant meaning other than new spells?”

“Oh yeah, all of my offensive based cantrips like Fire Bolt or Booming Blade gained more power. Fire Bolt in particular is quite potent now. Other than that though, no nothing really significant.”

“Interesting. I’ll likely ask for a demonstration once we depart from here. You’ll need to work on learning to suppress your presence now, though. It’s something you’ll now need to do passively at all times, or you’ll unsettle anypony that can feel mana. I’ll suppress it for you for now, but it’ll likely be the first thing you work on when you are able to return to training your mana.”

“I assume this is something you and your sister do?” She gives me a nod as we continue to walk. “Can I feel your unsuppressed aura?”

“Ha! No, not in the middle of a populated town, Ignis. If you were worried about any panic or unpleasant situations before, it’d be much worse if I did that here. I can simulate what your presence currently does though, I assume you wanted to see what it feels like so you’d know how seriously to treat the suppression training.”

“Something like tha-” I’m interrupted as it feels like someone places a heavy hand on my shoulder. A shiver creeps up my neck and I feel my instincts telling me to turn around. Turning around I just see a floating dark purple orb enshrouded in Luna’s magic.

“That’s what you would’ve been doing to everypony here in Ponyville. Although my simulation at the end of the night is still my mana, so it was likely a bit more sinister than yours. Yours just feels like I should be on alert and my instincts point my eyes toward your location.” The orb disappears into nothingness.

“Got it. Yeah that’s surprisingly annoying. Nothing like that happens in my world as we get more powerful. You’d have to be something like an Archmage or a dragon to have an aura strong enough to command attention from a room when you enter. I’m guessing it’s because no one is even aware mana exists and the mana is what causes the presence?”

“Correct. There was a mage in the long forgotten past that used to mentor me and Tia, he speculated that the presence was due to the increase in density of the mana. Anypony can increase how large their mana pool is, but increasing the density of your mana pool is something that can only be done by ponies that have increased the size of their pool to its limit. It’s not intuitive either, it took years for that same mentor to grasp the concept and apply it to his stagnated magic.”

“If that’s the case then why has it happened to me? Surely just that level up can’t be the cause, maybe if it was level 17 or 20, but not 11?”

“It’s likely due to Nightmare Moon bolstering your connection to the moon combined with the level up. One of those on its own likely pushed your mana pool to its limit, but when added onto by the other your body had no choice but to condense the mana. On the bright side, this means your mana channels shouldn’t take as long to fully recover. I’d even go so far as to say you might be cleared to train by the time we get back.” She gives me a smile as she drops the good news on me. “Now, let’s go greet Generosity.” We arrive at some frilly building that seems to have a carousel design towards the top of it. As we enter through the front door a bell chimes off.

“Terribly sorry, darling, but I’m afraid we’re closed today. I’ve got to focus on my last minute touch ups and finalize these designs before they go down the catwalk tonight.” A familiar voice calls out from another room.

I’m about to speak up and inform the unicorn who we are when Luna beats me to the punch. “I believe I have an appointment. It should be under, “Princess Luna.” I’ve brought Ignis with me as well.”

The unicorn suddenly slides across the floor as she runs into the room. Around her neck is a tape measure and she’s holding several pieces of fabric in the air. She drops into a formal bow and speaks. “Apologies, your highness, I lost track of time and didn’t realize it was already time for your appointment.”

“Rise Generosity, you are a hero to this kingdom and a savior of myself. You do not need to bow to anypony. Feel free to call me Luna or just Princess is fine. Plus, if we keep up with formalities it’ll take hours to finish this dress.”

Rarity rises and offers a smile to Luna. “Oh of course Princess, but only if you also agree to call me Rarity. You’re the first pony to address me by my element and frankly it makes me uncomfortable.” She looks over at me and glances up and down my form. Right now my enchanted armor is currently appearing as my standard uniform for when I’m on duty. I have my hood down and mask off though. It really is a bit too intimidating to just walk around like that. After giving me a once over she circles behind me and gives me a full inspection, I won’t lie it has me a bit flustered. “This is the first time I’ve had a chance to really look at your uniform in detail from up close. This design really is something else, especially the inside of your cowl.” As she mentions it she grasps the hood in her magic and lifts it up onto my head. Inspecting the inside of the hood she clicks her tongue. “Tch, to waste something so intricate and beautiful on the inside of the cowl is a crime against fashion. Honestly I have half a mind to incorporate it into your tuxedo, but the thing is I cannot figure out how this projection is being done. It’s not static every time you move your head or turn the night sky shifts in the same way. As if the illusion is just a…. scrying spell pointed into the night sky.”

Luna has a look I don’t see on her face very often, smug. “That is exactly what it is, Rarity. I placed a permanent scrying anchor in space and connected it to the illusionary enchantment. The reason it’s on the inside is because it isn’t meant for everypony else to see it. He and he alone can look at my night from anywhere at any time. It’s for him and him alone. I forbid you from using the same enchantment for his gala attire.”

Wow when she says it like that it almost feels like an intimate gesture. I can tell both of them can see I’m somewhat embarrassed right now. Pulling the hood even further, obscuring my face, I look around the inside. This is only for me, I should treasure it a bit more.

Rarity giggles at my reaction before responding to Luna's command. “Something like that is beyond my ability anyways, Princess. It seems I’ll have to throw out his entire design too, I was not expecting such a drastic change in his hair and eye colors since the last time I saw him.”

“Ah, that is an oversight on my part. I failed to mention it when we were discus-” Luna is speaking but I decide to interrupt her.

“Let’s continue the design as if my hair is still silver. My intuition tells me it won’t stay like this forever and to be quite honest I’ll just bleach the fucker if it refuses to turn back. If it hasn’t returned to silver by the night of the Gala we can just use an illusion for it. My eyes on the other hand… they will likely look like this for the foreseeable future.” I could cast Protection from Good and Evil, but even if it works what is that going to do to my Feat? Would I just lose my Devil Sight? Also it’d likely sever my true connection to the moon. Although secretly… I don’t hate the look. If teenager Lucas could see me right now he’d be freaking out. It’s the perfect amount of edginess.

“Darling, the eyes are a big problem too. If it’s just the eyes I can still use the design, but the colors will need to change for sure. Let’s go get measurements for both of you and you can review the designs on paper while I work.”

Ah I’m hoping I can avoid getting measured. “Rarity, just so you know I refuse to go to the Gala unarmored. You can just show me whatever design you have and I’ll shift the illusion enchantment to match your design. You can just tweak and adjust it on the fly.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize you had full control over the illusion. I assumed it was just an on and off thing. I’d still like your measurements anyways though, it’ll make any future orders for you much easier.” Seems she intends on getting these measurements. I won’t hold it against her though, she likely doesn’t understand why I’m apprehensive or embarrassed to take off my outer garments. Since most of these ponies are always naked.

“I agree, Ignis. Honestly I know you keep your uniform clean through magic, but if you were to disable the enchantment completely it’d be obvious how tattered the clothing is. You really need other clothes to change into, if not just to have something to wear when your uniform is being repaired.” Luna agreeing with Rarity seals my fate.

“How much of my clothing do I need to remove for you to take the measurements?” I ask Rarity as she frantically looks around for the papers containing the designs.

“Oh you don’t have to remove anything if you’re shy about it. I can just slide your clothing around to expose the parts I need to measure as I get around to them. I admit it would speed the process up though. Really whatever you’re willing to part with would be helpful.”

Oh so I don’t need to get naked at least. That’s good. I probably would’ve refused anyway, but that’s nice. I’m wearing somewhat tight underwear that goes down to the middle of my thigh, and honestly if I’m wearing that it won’t feel too different from being in a bathing suit. Definitely less embarrassing than the short shorts I was forced to wear for track.

Stripping down I take a moment to actually look at myself. I’ve been cleaning myself and my uniform with magic since I got here so I haven’t actually taken off these clothes like ever I think. For a body that was supposedly bedridden for two decades I’m surprisingly toned. I don’t look like a bodybuilder by any means, I only have 13 strength after all, but I look like someone that does intense calisthenics everyday. Abs are defined and toned, pecs are respectable, even my arms don’t look too bad. The arms are definitely the biggest weak point though, if I was wearing a short sleeved t-shirt you would not think I had any strength.

Looking up I find Rarity and Luna both looking away. One of them is looking at the floor and the other one is glancing at the ceiling. “Why are the two of you more embarrassed than me when I’m the one that didn’t even want to do this to begin with?!”

Luna looks me in the eyes with a flustered look. “I will admit I was a bit curious what you looked like underneath all of that cloth, but I didn’t expect the feeling it would invoke. We’re so used to seeing you clothed that looking at you like this almost feels… forbidden. It feels like we shouldn’t look.”

Insight Check.

16 + 6 = 22.

Something seems off, she’s definitely hiding something. She looked away for a brief instant when mentioning that she didn’t expect how it made her feel. Why would she lie about that though, moreso how could she have known this is what her reaction would be? I woke up wearing my uniform but I was thoroughly bandaged under the uniform so I must’ve been stripped. Did she do that herself? I wouldn’t even particularly mind if it was something to do with my health, and it doesn’t seem like something she would go out of her way to cover up. It has to be something else but what? There’s no way she’s stripped me in my sleep…. right? No, that's crazy she wouldn’t do that. I’ll just make a note to ask her about this later.

“What she said.” Rarity quietly gives her eloquent explanation as she continues to look away. With a quick cough the unicorn shakes her head and looks at me as the small blush disappears from her face. “I apologize for my failure to maintain professionalism. Here are the designs for both of you, let me know what you think while I get these measurements.” She floats over a couple pieces of paper to both of us. Does she want me to provide feedback for Luna’s dress as well and vice versa for Luna to provide feedback for my tuxedo? I could understand why Luna would need to review both designs but why do I get to review both?

Rarity notices my confusion as she uses her magic to hold my arms out flat as she measures my shoulders and arm length. “The reason you’re both reviewing both designs is because they are intended to be a set. Ignis’ tux will compliment the Princesses dress.” Ah so that’s why.

Well, let’s look at my tux first. The base color is dark blue and along the bottom edge of the jacket, all the way around, there’s a mural that at first looks like waves of an ocean, but colored solid silver all throughout. Looking at it a bit closer though I realize these aren’t waves, they're outlines that create several small silhouettes. The design is just big enough that I can tell these are silhouettes of elves. They’re all perfectly recreated from my memories, the first ones starting at the front are my childhood friends and they’re all positioned as if they’re running from the front of the jacket to the back.

Continuing around the bottom edge the next silhouettes are Callisid and my personal attendant that looked after me when my parents were busy when I was extremely young. For Callisid a line of solid silver comes out from the bottom and then narrows to a pinpoint before exploding back out into the shape of a bat. The attendant is standing straight with both of her arms held up in the air as the outline of a toddler sits in her grasp. Reaching the center of the back of the jacket the final outlines are recreating a scene that flashed in my mind back in the changeling hive right before I lost my shit. Mother and Father are facing forward and instead of the small child me, the current me is outlined in between them. I’m holding the Moonblade and pointing its tip straight up as a thin silver line shoots up the back of the jacket before expanding into Luna’s cutie mark in the center of my back, between my shoulders.

If the silhouettes have no detailing to be clear, it’s just blobs of solid silver that are creating outlines, but these are just big enough that it’s clear to me what each outline is. If they had been even an inch bigger it’d be tacky, but they’re just small enough that from a medium distance it just looks like small intricate silver patterns along the bottom edge of the jacket. The rest of the jacket is just plain dark dark blue. I thought there’d be a few stars here and there but picturing it with the silver design at the bottom and adding stars makes it a bit too much. The lapels are black and the inner shirt is a white button up. Each button is a different phase of the moon.

“It’s perfect Rarity. Luna, did you help her with these outlines? You must’ve they’re too accurate otherwise.”

“I did. Between patrolling the dream realm and doing some light paperwork there wasn’t much else I could do from your hospital room. I ended up passing letters back and forth with Rarity and when I mentioned your homeland she pitched the idea. All I did was send her some sketches for the outlines.”

My measurements are done by now so I start putting my clothes and armor back on while looking at Luna's dress. It starts off with a very light see through black material that puffs up and around the back of her neck. Once it reaches her body it turns into a solid black, no longer see through. That covers up her chest fluff and covers her entire barrel. The black see through material returns in the form of tight sleeves that cover roughly 1/3rd of her forelegs. Starting right above her wings another fabric appears and fans out, dropping down over the rear half of her barrel and covering her cutie mark and her rear legs, this fabric is what classifies this as a dress. It’s a puffier wavy fabric that is the same shade of dark dark blue as my tux. Embedded all along the edges of this wavy fabric is a massive silver fire that seems to be moving up the fabric and forward towards the center.

There’s little stars drawn on the silver fire and above the design it states “Silver fire design will actually be thousands of tiny diamonds that make the fire design glitter and reflect light like a real fire.”

I really don’t have anything to say about Luna’s dress either. If you can really make that effect with the diamonds it’ll be beautiful. What makes these two a set though? The colors match but that’s all I see.”

Rarity gives me a look of disappointment before looking at Luna with a questioning gaze. Finally she turns back to me and answers. “The centerpiece of your tux is right here in the middle of your back, it’s Luna’s cutie mark. Now look at the silver fire on her dress. Are you really not getting it?”

“It’s a reference to your name, Ignis. You have my symbol on your back and I have your symbol on mine. The fire represents Ignis.” Luna decides to help me out.

I form an O shape with my mouth. “Oh wow yeah I guess I am a little slow. Won’t something like this make people think we’re in a relationship though? The symbolism almost feels like a claim or a marking of territory.”

Luna rolls her eyes. “Oh ponies will always interpret things to whatever suits their narrative. Besides….maybe it’s not a bad thing if that misinterpretation helps prevent more Lieutenant Forces from showing up.”

Before I can follow up on that train of thought the bell at the front door rings again and the voices of the other element bearers can be heard. “Oh perfect timing I can start actually making the Princesses dress while they all try on their own!”

Rarity walks out of the room to go greet her friends and I look at Luna. “Do we really need to stay here and do the fashion show with all of them? Honestly her designs are good enough I think we can just trust her to finalize your dress and we can just head out of here?”

“Oh nonsense! The element bearers seem like nice ponies and I want to get to know them. Come, let’s go greet them as well.” She stands up and begins to walk out.

Ugh, I thought they wouldn’t be here until much later, closer to the actual fashion show. I don’t have the patience or the social battery to hang out with all 6 of them for several hours. Oh I can ask Twilight if she has the materials I need to re-summon Callisid! I can use his resummoning as an excuse to bail out of here for a few hours, perfect.

Author's Note

This took way longer than I wanted it to. I legitimately had to rewrite the beginning of the chapter probably like 4 times. This is the first time I've actually spent time multiple days in a row on 1 chapter. Because of this I'm worried that between paragraphs it'll feel like whiplash and you're like "why is it talking about this now, it didn't even finish its thought on this?"

If there's any of that just let me know, but I did speed read through most of this and I think it's ok for the most part.

Is it just me or is it starting to feel like Luna x Ignis ship has already sailed but Luna is the only one who knows they're in a relationship? It'd be funny if like 100 chapters from now Ignis is just like "Wait, I just realized how similar the way we act is to a herd. Are we in a herd?" and Luna being like "You idiot, we've been in a herd for months!"

I don't have it in me to do that though. I hate situations that are caused purely because two parties just refuse to communicate so writing something like that isn't possible for me. Cause I'd probably hate writing it as much as I hate seeing it.

Anyways, we'll probably wrap up the fashion show next chapter and start moving towards the thestral reveal! Thanks for reading!