Igneous Pie felt something. Something he hadn't felt in seven thousand years. In a Flash of white light, he vanished from his rock farm, and appeared at the edge of his boarders. Though not the boarders of his farm, rather the boarders of his very reality.
Abandoning his dull brown coat, he was now a pure white. 8 strong legs trotted on the astral ground, helping him stand a good 4 feet taller. A beautiful silver mane waved in the air. His mutton chops still present, as was his pilgrim hat... he was rather taken with them.
Already there, were his children. Not born of his flesh, but rather, his soul. He had crafted them, as gods of his realm. To watch over it, and protect it... although Discord had gone through a rebellious phase, but he grew out of that.
There were 42 entities, each representing a different aspect of his reality. They rarely appeared before the mortals. Usually playing their role as disembodied forces of nature. Although they each tended to go through phases, appearing in a physical body, to their favorite race. Usually only when they were suffering some kind of hardship, and guiding the race through it.
These "Hardships" tended to be the kind that could end a species, and not simply a rough patch. Ponykind had finally become stable enough to stand on their own.
Though Igneous was a little annoyed at the spirit of the day, for taking over a thousand years to get them to that point... and she decided to take the easy way out, by guiding the ascension of not one but two fledgling gods.
It was better then Discord, who thought he could "help" his sister by terrorizing her charges.
Igneous sighed. He loved his children... but gods were troublesome things when bored.
His adopted children were here as well, the various gods of Earth-Plane. He had taken them in after their own Elder God had discarded them... ironically because they rebelled against that entity's "Non interference" policies with mortals.
Then finally, there was Fenris and Jorgumand. His brothers, that helped him trigger the big bang that created this dimension. As a result, the three of them were bound to it, infused to it. They were the three elder gods of this small pocket universe... it really shouldn't be so exciting here.
"Hello Mother," Igneous spoke gruffly to the captured demigod.
Loki had birthed him, not of flesh, but as Igneous had done for his own children. By giving an aspect of nature form. Truthfully, Igneous' had done it more accidentally. His children were born with the big bang he caused to create this minor pocket dimension... an unexpected, but wholly grateful for, accident. Due to his lack of experience creating realities.
"My my my," The demigod child spoke with a mocking tone, looking around at all the gods. "Haven't you been busy."
Igneous rolled his eyes, "Is there something you wanted?"
"Only to speak to the god in charge... wasn't expecting that to be you."
"I allow my mortal children to grow naturally," Igneous sent a pointed look at Celestia. Who had the good grace to blush.
Gods were forces of nature, given conciousness. And the thousands of gods of Earth plane had a similar "non interference" policy to Igneous... only they took it a good deal more seriously.
It used to be, the gods of Earth, would meddle far too much... and they learned the hard way, through the deaths of their demigod children, just why that was a bad thing...
When the Elder God, of that universe... lost their Son... he made ALOT of new laws in regards to non interference, with mortals... and the gods devolved into myth and Legends. Still handling their duties, but not interacting directly with mortals.
Igneous wasn't THAT bad, as he still allowed his children to interact with the mortals. He just had rules about how far they could go... and even then, they were pretty loose rules, AKA Celestia and Discord.
"I see," Loki played with his golden bracelet. "So it's this... Princess Twilight Sparkle, I should be speaking with."
"You shall not be interacting with any creature of my domain." Igneous glared.
Loki gave a gasp of mock hurt. "You wound me, my child."
Igneous snorted, "You created me, purely to play a prank on your adoptive brother. Acknowledging you as my 'Mother', is the end of the respect you are due."
"And what do you think Odin will do, when he learns you are behind the emerging 10th Realm. You know how paranoid that man is." Loki smiled fondly at his creation. "He will assume I already have your allegiance... and act accordingly."
Igneous grunted, not wanting to admit the demigod had a point.
"Need I remind you?" Loki smiled, "My children are prophesized to help me destroy Asgard. Odin's cruelty, after receiving such happy news, is the very reason I fled. Odin started this war, and he is too arrogant and stupid, to comprehend the definition of a self fulfilling prophecy.
"He won't care you hate me. All he'll see is my spawn, destined to kill him. He will force you into the role of his enemy... and I am the only person who can save your precious mortals."
"I'd rather bargain with Hela," Igneous glared. "At least I can trust her to keep her word."
"You are a god of creation," Loki shrugged. "You embody chaos and change. You really think Odin will tolerate your nature. Have you forgotten how he stuck a bridal in your mouth, and road you like a common beast? How he chained Fenris in a dark cave... how he attempted to drown young Jorgumand, in Midgard's oceans."
"I remember you standing there, doing NOTHING!!!" Igneous snapped.
Loki clenched his fist. "What was I supposed to do!"
Igneous scoffed, "You are no more welcome, in my realm, then Odin. I want nothing to do with either of you."
"You honestly think Odin will allow that?" Loki repeated himself.
Igneous just turned, and began to walk away.
"Sleipnir!"
The Elder God gave pause. If only out of token respect for his mother.
The boy sighed, "You need to stop your mortals from finishing their Bifrost... it will do nothing but flock the other realms to you. All will be attempting to gain your allegiance... you might have grown powerful. I can feel your power, due to all the souls that inhabit your reality... but you are alone, against realms far older, and far larger... I'm... I'm sorry I couldn't help you before, please, let me make up for that now."
"Hela sent you, didn't she?" Igneous turned his head to the demigod, infused with the power of the only realm to rival Odin.
Loki smiled, "She didn't tell me it was you. But she did suggest I visit before Odin could get to this plane. I imagine that's your aunt's way of showing concern."
Igneous sighed, "I am not like you, nor Odin, I do not interfere with the affairs of the life inside me... although my children have different opinions." He looked over at a whistling Discord.
"Hela has been interfering with my dimension, for quite some time... getting my own children to accept her Avatar, into my realm... I know she has a plan for me... and I'm equally sure she is actually acting from the role of a concerned aunt... unlike other familial relations..."
Hela had been the one to save Igneous and his siblings from Odin's chains.
"You may hate me," Loki sighed, "but who do you think released the bind of Hela, in the first place?"
Igneous looked fully at his mother. The boy was the god of lies. He would say anything to get what he wanted.
"And my only condition, was she free you ungrateful brats."
Igneous eyed him closely, before turning to one of his children... The Eagle, simply known as Noble, god of honesty. Not even Loki could lie to such an entity.
Noble gave a simple nod... so... it was true...
Igneous sighed. "You may speak with Twilight, but I will not influence her choice."
A serpent, the spirit of Free Will, snickered. Before winking at his grandmother. He was always eager to tempt those away from Fate's tapestry.
The mighty dragon, Bahamut, god of fate... could only sigh. Interdimensional destinies were hard for him to plan for. He, in all honesty, hadn't been of much use since Discord brought in Hela's chosen. He had no power over entities of other dimensions, and tens of thousands had emigrated after Hela's Avatar, in both directions.
It was good for him to expand his domain. To practice with other gods interfering with his tapestry. Still, such gods of fate had to work together. When interdimensional games were played... and the various gods of choice always cheated.