“Quests! Filter out any quest that’s been completed with the rewards claimed or failed.”

Quests:

Spread the Good Word - Increase the influence and divine power of your Goddess.

63/25 New Followers. Quest Complete! Claim Rewards?

Oath of Vengeance - You swore an Oath to exact your revenge on Queen Chrysalis, vowing to hunt her down to the ends of the Earth.

0/1 Kill Queen Chrysalis. In Progress.

Get Home - Find out the truth about your appearance in Equestria and work with the inhabitants to return home.

You are home. Quest Complete! Claim Rewards?

It’s been over a month since the Gala and a lot has happened, but I’ll circle back to that in a minute. I’ve been putting off claiming my quest rewards because I’m honestly a bit nervous about what the reward is. What if it’s literally a one way trip back to Earth and the system is just some sick fuck that was putting me through a test? I mean at this point I probably wouldn’t take that anymore, but still ya know? I’ve also just been super busy.

The thestrals showed up a few days after the Gala and we had to get them moved into the caves under the mountain, and we were supposed to have integrated some of the changelings into the Night Guard so we could use them as the core to build around with the thestrals. That didn’t really work out though because they made me go fight my inner demons instead, so I got a bit distracted.

I am now officially the Captain of the Night Guard…well I mean that’s the level of authority I have. Lunar Knight supersede’s the Captain rank, but I’m basically just doing both jobs. We have 12 of Aurora’s changelings and 143 thestrals. Well we originally had 143 thestrals. Those fuckers still left a sour taste in my mouth so we did some extensive interviews and personality tests to sort through the bad apples, and now it’s down to 68 thestrals. Compared to the Day Guard we have roughly 1/50th of their man power, but that’s partly because the Day Guard has stations at most of the cities around the country and we’re just in the castle, for now. If we compare the current Night Guard to the Royal Guard division of the Day Guard then we’re roughly 1/3rd of their man power. Which honestly, for how quiet things are during the night, that's probably fine. For now Luna and I both agree we don’t need to expand for now.

We also interviewed and managed to hire enough ponies to mostly have the castle kitchen and armory staffed 24/7 now. The lack of blacksmiths at night would’ve definitely been a problem, so I’m glad we got that one sorted.

I’m still nailing down the details for the guard, but the drone I saved mid execution in the Changeling throne room is my current second in command. She didn’t have the best physical results and her magic isn’t much at the moment, but out of all the candidates she was the only one that had something to prove. I’ve mentioned it in the past but a lot of these ponies lack ambition, the fire in their eyes, but not Vice Captain Elytra. When we’re training and running simulations that bug is resting bitch face the entire time and is pure focus.

Turns out she might be one of the few creatures who hates Chrysalis more than me. A lot of the changelings here should hate her more than me, but much like the ponies they seem averse to things like hate and revenge. Suffice to say, we get along well, but it’s purely professional. That professionalism is actually one of the other main deciding factors. There were also a couple of bats who were also under consideration but unfortunately both of them seemed happy to serve under me in more ways than one. As flattered as I was, the girls and I agree that we aren’t looking to expand the herd at the moment.

Now that we have all of that up and running I end up being almost as busy most nights as Luna is. The guards have taken up my role at Night Court, which suspiciously got busier once I stopped standing guard, and now I spend most of the night running training, ordering supplies, writing the schedules, all of that good stuff. I still put myself on the rotation for Night Court at least twice a week just so I can have some time with Luna, and don’t get me wrong I do still pop in every so often even just to chat if I’m not scheduled that night.

Nightmare has ended up acting as my own pseudo personal guard in an interesting turn of events. We still haven’t gotten her unsealed, but the motion was approved. Twilight is currently just working on how we go about doing it. Apparently if Moonie was sealed in a statue or something right in front of us it’d be much easier, but they can’t just fire the elements at the moon. That leaves her with a lack of things to do, but she seems to enjoy hanging out with me in my office or helping me develop my magic further.

I’ve actually been stewing on the idea that maybe I should ask her to join the guard until she gets her alicorn body back. She’s still quite capable as a pegasus and she’s competent enough to lessen the load on me for training or logistics. I’ll probably bring it up to her soon if we don’t get any updates on unsealing her. In the meantime I’ve had her start giving Elytra training on leadership and risk management. If she’s going to keep her Vice Captain position she’ll need to actually take up more responsibilities, but I acknowledge that none of the guards are ready for that responsibility. Once she’s trained though I have faith she’ll do good.

All of this is in the face of a joint training exercise in a couple of months. Apparently having a yearly competition between the Day and Night guards in the capital used to be a thing, and the sisters want to bring it back. It’ll consist of a tournament open to any member that wants to participate, two different simulation battles, one during the day and one during the night, and as with any military event there will be plenty of boring training. Death by powerpoint except they don’t have powerpoint here so it’s death by word vomit.

Let’s see what else has happened during that time…we got word that the dragons have been performing some type of experimentation that allows them to perform unicorn level spellcasting. I thought they could already use magic since Tormura spoke with Celestia via telepathy at the Summit, but apparently that was her spell and he was just using it to reply. I’m apparently to blame because they got the idea that it was possible upon seeing me use magic. Which is stupid because at the Summit I only used Weave magic, so if they couldn’t use mana before they shouldn’t be able to now. Apparently they’ve found success though which is…concerning to say the least. We’re expecting some type of attack from them any day now, but there’s been no indications of when.

Dr. Sentiment is gone. I had one more appointment with him where we talked about my decision to start pursuing romantic relationships and giving up on going home, for the most part. Then we were supposed to have another appointment yesterday, but he seems to have gone missing. Strangely enough the files he had on several of the guards, including me were taken as well. Since there was no evidence of someone breaking into his office we think he might’ve turned traitor and went to the griffons or dragons with notes about our mental evaluations. Worst case scenario he either went to the changelings or… I hate to even think about this, but he might’ve been a changeling. I get sick to my stomach thinking about it. That means all of the advice he gave me could be called into question about whether it was truly in my best interest or if it was to degrade me even further mentally, for future exploitation.

That investigation has been one of my top priorities. I've been working with Shining during the morning if there’s any updates or if he wants to bounce ideas off of each other. Unfortunately the ole doctor didn’t have a family, so it makes it significantly more difficult to determine if he ever had any changes in behavior or strange habits that came about recently.

Speaking of the therapist, I guess I should mention the nightmares. The frequency has definitely decreased, but in exchange it feels like the intensity of them when they do happen is way higher. Half the time I can’t even remember what happened but I wake up drenched and my head hurts. The only thing I can remember from those dreams is a pair of glowing green eyes chanting something, but I can never remember what. The extra weird part is that whenever Luna checks on me there’s no nightmare. It always happens as soon as we let our guard down after a few days of nothing. She’s at least aware of it though and that’s a big step for me, in the past I definitely wouldn’t have said anything until it had gotten worse.

Oh, during the training and spars I was surprised to find out my swordsmanship has improved significantly since the body and soul integration that happened during the Gala. I guess part of that integration included the memories of Ignis actually being part of me, like completely. Before I could remember all of his training and swordsmanship if I thought about it, but I didn’t feel like I was actually the one who trained, if that makes sense? Now though, the sword feels like an extension of me. Similar to when I somewhat disassociated in the Colosseum and went ballistic with my sword until I fireballed that guard and snapped out of it. Even then though if I were to compare the difference in skill between me during that fight and me now it’s like a 4 out of 10 before and a 9 out of 10 now.

I don’t even really use the system for combat anymore, that’s how much it’s improved. I can get off more attacks during a 6 second window and dodge attacks more easily it feels like without the system than with it. It’s still useful against targets that far far outclass me though, like Luna. Without the system I’m lucky to land a hit once every 50 attacks or something, but with the system I can land attacks more consistently even though I’m launching less of them.

On a somewhat related note to that, I am proficient in basic magic now. Equestrian magic I mean. My suppression has become completely automatic and subconscious and I've pretty much gotten a decent grasp on a majority of what the different runes mean and do when combined with each other. I’ve also managed to increase the number of runes I can use when casting to six, which is pretty good. Right now I’m actually headed to Celestia’s personal study for a lesson. If you remember the original idea was supposed to be that I’d learn from Luna for two weeks then learn from Celestia for two weeks so she could correct anything that’s outdated or different that I learned from Luna who is still running on 1,000 year old magic.

Celestia is actually much better at teaching than Luna. Luna typically just gives me a concept and makes me figure out how to apply it on my own or will just straight up give me a task to complete that she’s never mentored me on, so I have to go find information myself. Which is definitely a more challenging way to learn and is probably beneficial in making sure I have full comprehension of a subject. It also has its problems though, like I might be able to perform the task she gave me but I fundamentally misunderstood something and did it a different way that still worked, but is worse than what I should’ve done.

Whereas Celly is more hands on. If she wants me to perform a task or cast a spell with a specific outcome she won’t just say “Make this gold plate turn into wood.” Which is what Luna does. Instead, she’ll say “Let’s dabble into transmutation for a bit, do you think all transmutations use a similar runic pattern with the tail end of each pattern differing based on the materials? Or, do you think they’d all be unique for the most part?” Then I’d go research the basic concept of transmutation, find out that all transmutation spells use the same 3 runes to start with and then the second half of the spell changes based on what the starting and ending materials are. Then she’d say, “Okay now which rune or combination of runes do you think would represent gold? How about wood? Okay if you were to take this gold plate and turn it into wood what would the full runic pattern be?”

Finally I’d give her the pattern she’d double check that it’s right and then cover how much mana should be used, which materials are dangerous because they require an exponential amount of mana compared to others, and which materials are completely incompatible and will result in a backfire. After all of that then I’d be presented with the task to turn the gold plate into wood. Luckily for me, that means her lessons help me twofold. They make me more confident in what I learned but it also helps me learn the proper steps I should be taking to learn a concept when Luna throws me into the deep end of the lake and tells me to swim.

Don’t tell Luna any of this though or she might feel bad. I do like the challenges of her style of teaching and it makes me feel more engaged, and if I was only learning from her I might’ve voiced some complaints about it. Since both sisters' learning styles complement each other though I think this works out okay.

“Knock knock!”

“What’s the point of saying knock knock when you’ve already opened the door, Ignis? Please actually knock on the door. I swear I don’t know how many times I need to tell you.” It’s become one of my stress relievers to do these mundane things that I know somewhat annoy Celestia. I’m not sure why but seeing her annoyed is somewhat therapeutic for me.

That’s another thing, ever since I had that mental breakdown on the roof over my Sending spell…Celestia has been way nicer to me. Less confrontational, more trusting, and she even smiles when we see each other now? Apparently Nightmare said something to Cadence and Celestia, but none of them will tell me what they talked about. Regardless I won’t look a gift ~~horse~~ pony in the mouth, I’m happy for the improved treatment.

“I mean, I’d consider it. But you’re never doing something in here that I’d be worried about barging in on. If it was your bedchambers or something, I’d definitely knock. I wouldn't wanna walk in on any debauchery. I think you already learned that lesson.”

“I already apologized to you and my sister, please stop bringing that up! Everytime you make me think about it I have to relive walking in on…. THAT. I’m glad you two have sorted your feelings out but if I ever witness that again I might just learn dark magic so I can forget about the entire event.” Oh man, Tia's reaction when she walked in on Luna and I having an, uhh, intimate moment is something I will never forget. Although it seems like she wants to forget it, haha.

“Alright alright, so what are we learning today?”

“First I want to go over what I asked you to research last time we spoke. What did you manage to find out about elemental magic? Were you able to cast any spells for all of the elements? I know previously we’ve only really covered fire, but it’s standard for any educated mage to be at least somewhat proficient with, at minimum, the four basic elements.”

“I was able to cast Fire Bolt, which we already knew I could. I was also able to cast Gust and Create Water, but Earth magic I’m a bit stumped on. The research I did allowed me to learn the runes for the four basic elements which are easy because they each have their own rune, but also the combination runes for Lightning, Ice, Steam, Mud, and Lava. I also was able to determine that Solar and Lunar magic also fall under elemental magic, but I was unable to find what runes are needed for that. The Earth magic though, I just don’t get it. They didn’t list any spells for Earth like they did the other spells but they described concepts like accelerating plant growth or duplicating seeds. It seemed more like plant magic than Earth magic. I was completely unable to even start figuring out the runes for either of those, I’m missing something.”

“Ah okay, let's start with your Earth magic problems. Most of the modern texts heavily neglect that element of magic because it’s commonly associated with earth ponies. Unfortunately that means most mages think that Earth magic is substandard or beneath them. I can walk you through some spells for that element or I can give you some of the older reading material for you to go through on your own. What would you prefer?”

“I’d prefer if you just went through it with me, but can we go over the Solar and Lunar magic first? Why are they considered elemental and are ponies besides you and Luna even capable of casting such magic?” I start asking these questions while I pull out my notebook and quill.

“Those are fair questions but I want you to have a firm understanding of the four core elements before we expand into the combination elements or the cosmic elements.” When she says that I just note down, “Solar and Lunar are considered Cosmic Elements, requires further research.”

“Alright then, do you want me to demonstrate what I learned for the three elements I did understand before we move onto Earth magic, or do you just want to start with the Earth magic?”

“Let’s cover the Earth magic first, I know in a practical sense that you have a firm grasp of spellcasting so if you say you casted those spells then I believe you. Typically the first Earth spell anypony learns is Earth Shift. That basic spell allows for rudimentary manipulation of the ground. You can do things like raise up a square platform or compress the soil in multiple directions in such a way that you create a deep pit under somepony. Once you learn that spell a majority of the Earth spells become much easier as they all use that spell as the base. Earth Bullet for example you’d raise a small chunk of the ground into the air and compress it down. Then you shape that compressed Earth into either a ball or a sharp object, depending on how lethal you want the spell to be.”

“If that’s the case then why do all of the modern books use plant based magic as the base for Earth magic?”

“Well the primary reason is the association Earth magic has with Earth ponies, but another reason is that most Earth based spells aren’t useful. Earth Shift and Earth Bullet for example, can both be done with just basic telekinesis. In fact, it’s more efficient to just use telekinesis to recreate the effects of those spells. With that being the case, they decided to document the spells that can’t be easily recreated and have a universal use case. Your intuition is spot on about why you can’t figure out those spells, though. Those plant spells make use of Life magic, and Life magic is much more advanced than what you’re currently ready for.”

“Why are they even in the book then? That book is meant for foundational studies, no?”

“It is! Those spells aren’t meant to be casted by the reader. They’re merely there as examples for you to get an idea about the concept of “Earth.” Now, let’s work through the runic patterns for Earth Shift.”

“Excellent progress as always, Ignis. I’m afraid we’re out of time, as I need to go lower the sun, and this is our last lesson for this period. You’ll go back to learning from my sister on Monday. It’s a shame we never had a chance to circle back to Cosmic Elemental magic, but Luna is just as knowledgeable about that subject as I am. That’s one of the few fields of magic that has not seen much change in the last 1,000 years. Will you be able to make it to dinner tonight?” Celestia ends our lesson and continues our conversation as she walks me out of the study.

“It’s Friday, of course I’ll be there. Do you have anything you want me to take to Twilight? At some point in the early morning I’m going to the old castle in the Everfree with Nightmare. I don’t mind swinging by the library if you have something you can’t send over dragon fire.” Luna and Force would both have a few words with me if I were to miss dinner on Friday, or the weekend. Friday through Sunday are the closest things I get to a night off, and I arranged it that way to align with the Night Court schedule. The result being that Luna and I both have a bit more free time on the same nights, and it’s well worth it. Even if that means more work on Monday to catch up from slacking on the weekend.

“Not this time, but why are the two of you going there?”

“A while back, like before the Summit even, I was exploring that castle and got hit with a really ominous feeling. After that two Shadow Wraiths appeared when I ventured down into the interior and attacked me. I meant to go back there at some point, but we've just been so busy I forgot about it. Nightmare is coming with me because the energy I felt was very similar to her energy the night she returned from her banishment.”

The solar alicorn gives me a concerned look as she hums in thought. “Keep me updated on that, please. I don’t think there’s been any sightings of a Wraith in centuries and you say you fought two? Why didn’t you at least bring it up at some point?”

“I was still new to Equestria at that point! I thought spooky Wraiths were just something to expect when you explore an ancient castle ruins in a haunted forest.”

“You know what? That’s fair. I just had an idea, why don’t you take Twilight with you?”

“Oh?”

“She actually wrote to me a few weeks ago asking if she could explore those same ruins for any ancient artifacts or items that were left behind. I told her there was no point, but that was mostly because I just didn’t want her to go. If you and Nightmare are with her though? She should be plenty safe.” It’s not the worst idea, I suppose. Twilight can be a little overwhelming with her questions, but she’s probably one of the more competent ponies I’ve interacted with.

“I’ll bring it up to Moonie, but I’m personally fine with it. Can you let Twilight know tonight though? I need to know if she’s okay with our 0530 arrival time. Nightmare might be less on board if we have to leave here later to accommodate your student.”

Celestia conjures up a piece of parchment and while still walking down the hallway with me writes out a full letter to the unicorn, without even looking. Now that I have a better understanding of magic I realize how impressive that is. To be able to finely control a quill with the amount of power she has, and she’s seemingly able to do it with very little effort or concentration. Insane.

The letter disappears in a puff of green flames and the ashes scatter around my head before flying out of the nearest window. “Done. She’ll probably have a response for me before dinner so I’ll just let you know then.”

“Sounds good. Thanks for the lesson, Celly.” I call out to her as we reach the point in our journey where she turns right and I continue straight.

“I told you not to call me that! It makes me feel like a vegetable!” I giggle at the fact that she associates Celly to celery, but don’t bother replying to the alicorn. We’re far enough away at this point I’d have to yell, and I don’t feel like doing that. Time to go wake up my Goddess so she can usher in her night.

Opening the door to her bedchamber I’m surprised to see Luna’s already awake and she’s standing on the balcony. She must be deep in thought because I don’t even notice her ears twitch when the door closes. After setting my Moonblade down by the bed I quietly make my way onto the balcony to join her.

Leaning down I give her a quick peck on the cheek and gently apply scritches to the top of her head. “What’s got you so deep in thought tonight? Getting performance anxiety about raising the moon?”

Luna opts to give me a hum of contentment while leaning into my hand. Eventually she does reply, though. “I’m not sure. There’s nothing in particular I just have this sinking feeling that something bad is going to happen. Have you accepted your quest rewards yet?”

“I kinda regret asking you to remind me every night, and no I have not. I just get anxious whenever I look at it.”

“I can stop reminding you if you’d prefer that. I was just doing it because you asked. From what I understand though, your system has only ever given you good things for your rewards right? I think you should just close your eyes and do it.”

“Yeah? Maybe you’re right. Claim Quest Rewards!”

Spread the Good Word - Quest Requirement exceeded.
Calculating rewards…100%

Subclass: Oath of Vengeance - The Nights’ Chosen: Due to insufficient level no subclass features have been unlocked.

Bypassing Requirements.

1st Reward:

Subclass Acquired: Oath of Vengeance - The Nights’ Chosen:

Vow of Enmity: When you take the Attack action you can choose to expend one use of your Channel Divinity to utter a vow of enmity against a creature you can see within 30ft of yourself. You have advantage on attack rolls against that creature for 1 minute. If the target drops to 0 hit points before the vow ends you can transfer the vow to a different creature within 30ft of yourself.

Lunar Blessing: Surround yourself in Her light. As long as the moon is visible in the sky you can call upon Her power and cast Moonbeam on yourself. The moonbeam follows you at all times and deals 2d10 Radiant damage to any enemy that gets within 5ft of you.

2nd Reward:

The divinity of your Goddess has increased.

3rd Reward:

+10,000 XP: 110,100/120,000 XP

Get Home - Secret Clear Condition Met.
Calculating rewards…100%

1st Reward:

Choose one reward from the following options:

• Staff of the Magi
• Cloak of Displacement
• Wand of Polymorph

2nd Reward:

Choose one reward from the following options:

• +2 Intelligence
• +1 New Feat
• Add 1 creature to your party. Once selected the choice is permanent.

Secret Clear Condition Reward:

• +1 Boon
• You may ask any one question and will receive one clear and truthful answer that attempts to answer your question in its entirety in good faith.

Woah. I’m glad time has stopped. I think I’m going to be sick. I didn’t expect these level of rewards from either of those quests.

“Select Staff of the Magi for 1st Reward.” Staff of the Magi has been added to your equipment and will not count towards your number of attuned items.

What the fuck do I pick for the 2nd reward? I could add Luna to my party, but what exactly does that do for either of us? We probably get a more clear idea of her stats and powers, but does that also give her access to the Weave? Does she get to make a character? Do I get XP for things she does? There’s so many unknowns. If I pick a new feat I can take Dual Wielder and that’ll let me wield my new Staff and my Moonblade at the same time which is pretty tempting.

I wish I could ask Luna what she would pick. “For the 2nd Reward, add Luna Concordia to my party.”

Incompatible. Please select a creature that is not a Deity.

Well shit. That means Nightmare is out too. I could add Force but we’re hardly ever doing things together that would make it beneficial for us to be in a party. I’m not sure if I trust anyone else enough to let them in on this secret. “For the 2nd Reward, select the Dual Wielder feat.”

Dual Wielder feat added to character sheet. +1 Strength: 14.

Please choose a Boon.

This is the real doozy. There’s so many good options. I feel like I have to take Boon of the Night Spirit though. At first glance it seems pretty situational because you would think you have to stay within Dim Light or Darkness to maintain your Invisibility, but that’s not true. It says you have to be in Dim Light or Darkness to activate the feature and give yourself the Invisible condition. Then it states that the condition ends immediately after taking an action, a bonus action, or a reaction. Nothing in there states that I lose the invisibility upon leaving dim light or darkness.

While I’m in Dim Light or Darkness though I am resistant to all forms of damage except Psychic and Radiant which is pretty valuable. Especially since most of my fights are at night anyways. I bet Luna and Nightmare would really appreciate it if I took the Boon of Immortality though. I stop aging on the spot and become immune to any effects that would age me, I also cannot die of old age.

I can always just choose the Boon of Immortality once I get to level 20. “Select Boon of the Night Spirit.”

Boon of the Night Spirit added to character sheet. Select an ability score to increase by 1, to a maximum of 30.

Oh I forgot about that. I could bump up Constitution to 16 and give myself some more HP or I could bump my Charisma up to 14 and improve my social skills. Both are equally good in my opinion so I’ll just flip a coin. Charisma it is. “Increase Charisma by +1.”

Charisma: 14.

You may now ask any one question and the system will attempt to answer it in its entirety.

Wait, I can't like unpause time and ask for help? This is fucking huge, but I’m completely overwhelmed. What do I ask?

How can I reliably travel between the Feywild and Equestria in a way that allows me to bring my companions? I mean that’s pretty solid right? Who was the hooded man that took my soul and brought me to Earth? Oh fuck I’m stumped.

What should I do?

Author's Note

Aaaaand we're back. I was able to go through and organize my notes and shit way faster than I originally thought.

So, let's get right back into the swing of things and kick off Season 2!

Leave your suggestion below for what Ignis should ask the system. Also, shoutout to Dude3 for helping out with the first half of the chapter. Homie went through it and gave me a decent number of things to fix. I ignored one of his fixes though cause I disagreed with it, but still appreciate the time he took to go through everything.

To everyone else, thanks for reading! <3