"I give you the new god of Equestria, Discord!" Celestia cried with triumph, her words setting of a thunderous applause from the hundreds of ponies that the princesses had somehow managed to cram into the Canterlot courtyard. Discord gave the crowd a small wave, only to shake his head with a smirk when their applause and cheering got even louder. Yet even as the god of chaos, and now of Equestria, gazed across the faces of the crowd, he couldn't find the face he was looking for.
'Well Discord, Celestia told you that he might not be able to make it or that he wouldn't appear at all. Guess something must have come up that required his full attention,' Discord thought to himself with a sigh before he went back to drinking in all of the praise that the ponies were giving him. The god of chaos then looked to his side to see Fluttershy and her friends all cheering him on, while the princesses beamed with pride. And for a moment, Discord thought that perhaps being a god of Equestria wasn't going to be a terrible thing.
Yet if Discord had looked harder at the area around him, he would have seen that the god of thunder hadn't missed the coronation of the god of chaos. For the god of thunder was watching the full coronation from within the castle of Canterlot, gazing down at his friend and fellow divine with a proud smile on his face.
"I wish you luck in your future, Discord. You will need all of it that you can get," Thor whispered to the god before he turned away from the window and turned his attention to the two ponies that were standing beside him. "Summer. Autumn. Thank you for coming to see me off. While most of the ponies will most likely be sad to see me go, or not miss me at all, I figured that the two of you would wish to speak with me one last time."
"Do you really have to go?" Autumn Breeze asked the god of thunder. Thor nodded his head sadly and the filly did her best to hold back a sniffle.
"I am sorry that my words cause sorrow for you, but Thor is no longer needed in this land. The gods that sought to do you harm have been dealt with and there is a new god that will do a far better job than I ever could," Thor said to the small pony. He knelt down beside her and gently placed his hand on the top of her head, yet due to his size his hand covered nearly all of her head. "It is time for me to return to my own home and deal with whatever problems have arisen there. And believe me, there will be problems."
"But it won't be the same. After all, you're the god that's been looking out for the both of us, not Discord," Autumn said to Thor, who nodded his head with a smile.
"And that is why he will be a better god than me. I should have spent more time open to your entire land, not just the two of you. Perhaps if I had, a god would still be alive and certain bonds would not be strained as hard as they have been," Thor lamented. "But do not take my words for meaning that I will not miss the both of you as well. It is not everyday Thor comes across a being whose faith and prayer is so strong that it can summon me from across the cosmos. You have been a joy to be around Autumn, daughter of Summer."
"And as for you, mother of Autumn, you have been an interesting one," Thor said with a smirk to the mare, who raised her eyebrows at Thor in reply. "I have rarely seen a being that is willing to stand up to a god for any reason, yet you have stood up to several, including myself. You have the heart of a mother and the soul of a warrior. A dangerous, yet reassuring combination. I do not fear for you when I am gone. I know that you will be strong."
"You've got that right. After having dealt with you and all of the other divine, anything else life throws at me will be a walk in the park," Summer said. "And don't worry, I'll keep this little one here safe from any harm. Thor forbid that we have to call you back to deal with any of our problems. But in all seriousness though, I will miss you. I kinda got used to hearing the sound of thunder whenever something was amiss."
"Will we ever see you again?" Autumn asked Thor, turning his gaze down towards her once more. Thor smiled at the filly before he rose to his full height.
"Aye, Thor will check up on this land from time to time. And if things ever get so desperate that you need Thor to be there at once, then all ye need do is pray. And Thor will hear your prayers," Thor told the filly before smiling at both her and her mother one last time. "Though we did not get to spend that much time together, I am truly grateful that I was allowed the honor of meeting the both of you. You have given me another reason to keep up my endless fight against all who would harm the worlds."
"Goodbye, Thor," Autumn whispered.
Thor smiled at her one last time before he thrust his hammer into the air and shot out of the Canterlot castle, choosing to go through an open window instead of making an opening in the ceiling. He flew with a speed that few others could fathom, allowing him to reach his destination in a matter of moments. It was on the outskirts of a small town, the very first town that he had arrived in when he had landed in Equestria. There waiting for him was the princess of the sun. But to Thor's surprise he found Discord waiting for him as well.
"This is a surprise. I did not know that you would be joining us," Thor said to Discord after he landed next to the god and the princess. "Yet my divine eyes are showing me that already your body is starting to take on its new role as god of Equestria. You are giving off a magic similar to that of the other gods I have met."
"Yeah and my fear is that I might turn into one of them," Discord said with a smirk as Celestia stepped forward.
"Thor, do you still have it with you?" Celestia asked. Thor nodded and reached into his pouches to draw forth a divine looking mirror, one that he extended to Celestia. "Good. I see that no harm came of it. And neither Rose nor Janis tried to break out."
"Nay, both are still trapped within the mirror. However, it seems that Janis has found a way to communicate even within the clutched of that mirror," Thor sighed. "For days on end he has offered me priceless treasure and endless power to free him. I may be divine, but his irritating voice was enough to get under my skin."
"Well you will no longer need to worry about his voice anymore. I will be taking him and Rose to a place where they will never be able to harm anypony again, at least until we are certain that we can free them without them trying to wipe us all out," Celestia said. "I have spoken with the elk and the zebras and both sides have agreed that the gods will need time to cool off. After a thousand years or so of therapy, perhaps we will let them out."
"Aye, I believe that is for the best," Thor replied before he turned his gaze to Discord, who had been oddly silent during the entire time the two had been talking. "Is there something that troubles you, friend Discord? if there is, tell it to Thor so that he may aid you with what you cannot solve. This may be your last chance to ask another god for advice before you must truly begin your job."
"It's nothing like that Thor, it's just...I think I finally get it," Discord said, getting Thor and Celestia to raise their eyebrows. "I think I finally understand what you've been saying about being a god of the ponies. Once I was coronated, I was able to hear all of the prayers that were for me. And not one of them was asking for anything. All they were was thanking me for having helped them and how they looked forward to seeing what I would do. It made me all...choked up, I guess."
"Oh, so that was the reason that you weren't singing your own praises from the highest mountaintops," Celestia said with a smirk, getting Discord to laugh in reply.
"I promise you Thor that I will do my best. I will try to live up to the god and goddess that came before me. I'm not going to run away from my powers or responsibility anymore. I'm going to be a god that would make my creator seethe with rage at how I turned out. I am going to be worthy," Discord said with absolute confidence. Thor and Celestia both smiled at Discords words, before an idea came to Thor.
"Well, if thou are worried about whether or not thou will be worthy of being the god of Equestria, there is an easy way to find out," Thor said. Discord gave Thor a curious look, before Thor lifted Mjolnir and flipped it around in his hand, offering the handle to Discord. Discords eyes widened as he gazed down at the hammer, while Celestia looked from the hammer to Discord with interest. For a brief moment there was doubt in Discord's eyes and he reached out for the hammer, only for his eyes to strengthen and he drew back his hand.
"There's no need. I know I'm worthy," Discord said to Thor, who nodded with approval before he took up the handle of his hammer once more.
"Aye, now you have the confidence of a god. I am certain that you will do well aiding this world," Thor said before he placed an arm over his chest and bowed. "Discord, god of Equestria."
Thor then turned and gave Celestia a polite bow as well, one that she returned. Thor then stood up and began to spin his hammer, getting the clouds overhead to rumble with excitement. "I leave the fate of this world in the care of the both of you. And I am not worried about it in the slightest. I know that you will do far better than I ever could."
"Well, we'll try," Discord said with a smirk. Thor smiled in reply before he crouched down and prepared to launch himself into the heavens. But then to the surprise of both gods and the princesses, they all heard the sound of laughter coming from within their minds. "What's going on?"
"It is that annoyance, Janis. It seems that he has one last thing to say to Thor before I go," Thor sighed. "Speak Janis! And make it quick, for Thor has more to do today and he does not have time to waste upon one such as yourself."
"Oh I know that you will have more to worry about, god of thunder," Janis said in a sinister tone, one that caught Thor's full attention. "For I have just sensed the one that I have summoned coming towards this planet. He will be here soon and when he does, this world shall pay for thinking it could rid itself of me."
"I do not care what you have brought here, you should know that it-" Thor's words were cut off as he sensed what Janis had just sensed. And it made him afraid. Thor then dashed to Celestia and snatched the mirror out of her hoofs, glaring into the reflective surface with a fury that made the other two back away from him. "Speak you monster! What have you brought to this land?! Speak now or I shall shatter you mirror and damn you to Hel!"
"I do not know his name nor where he comes from. All I know as that he is powerful and that I made a deal with him," Janis laughed in reply. "He offered to help strike down any that would dare oppose me and aid me in finally conquering this world."
"And what did he ask for in return?! What did he want?!"
"Not much. All he said...was that he was hungry."
Discord and Celestia had never seen the color drain from Thor's face, but as the face of the god of thunder grew whiter and whiter they both knew that they never wanted to see such a thing again. Then, with a bellow of fury and fear that could have driven a mortal mad, Thor dropped the mirror and hurled himself into the sky, blasting into space with such force that both Celestia and Discord were knocked onto their rears.
'It cannot be him! It must not be him!' Thor prayed within his mind as he tore himself free of the planet's gravity and rocketed towards where he sensed the immense power coming from, a power that dwarfed his own. Yet as he got closer and closer the power became more and more familiar, until Thor flew behind Equestria's moon and found the source of the power.
His eyes rested upon a massive starcraft, one that was far more advanced than anything any race could have had. The spacecraft was spherical in nature and had numerous devices and machinery coming off of it the likes of which Thor would never have been able to figure out. But none of that is what drew Thor's full attention. What drew Thor's attention was the window made of energy on the front of the ship...and the colossal being with the purple helmet staring out from within the center of the craft.
"Odin help me," Thor prayed before he flung himself towards the ship.