//------------------------------// // I Know I'm Not Supposed to But I Can't Break Away // Story: We Remember Everything // by Thunderscourge //------------------------------// A/N: Special thanks to D48, evowizard25, and lmaozorzz in particular for your more in-depth reviews last chapter, but thanks to everyone who let me know how much they enjoyed it! I hope that you continue to do so and let me know what you think about it in the comment section below! Entire days passed by inside of Canterlot’s castle where Loki lounged about, only leaving his guest room to visit Luna in her own on occasion. She continued to teach him how to harness his powers, but she had convinced him to do the same for her in her Asgardian form. After all, she had no horn to channel power through and as such it was almost like learning from scratch. Despite his overall isolation, Loki’s health and appearance were on the rise. Every day he seemed more smug and confident than the day before, a positive change compared to his nearly catatonic state when Luna found him. The guards began to patrol around Loki’s room when possible, all afraid that he may exit and subject them to some form of trickery. Luna had made him promise to stop doing that, but it did not curb their fears just as it did not remove Loki’s temptation to continue harassing that first guard he had encountered in the castle. Luna quietly recommended the guard to the city’s best shrink. On the occasion he ran into Celestia on the way to Luna’s room, Loki found himself baffled by the coy wink she would give him. What was Luna telling her sister, he wondered quite often. On the day when the disgraced prince of Asgard finally considered himself fit to be about and was done lounging, he awoke to find in his room a full set of his normal clothes, albeit shaped to the form of a pony. The helmet was missing from the equation, but Loki always could just conjure it up when he required it. As Loki looked more over the expertly crafted clothes, two tags caught his eyes. One was a tag off the side saying that this had been made at and shipped from a place named the Carousel Boutique, and one being a small card attached to it. Loki, Consider this a gift from me to say thank you for everything. You are a good friend, as well as the closest I have ever had. I am always here for you, just as I know you are here for me. The clothes were crafted by our world’s finest seamstress, so I hope you find them satisfactory. I did my best to recall their original appearance. Sincerely, Luna Loki gave a small smile to the card as he thought about it. With how things were going, maybe everything could work out in the end. Luna was not in the castle when Loki decided he would leave, so he did so quietly and without informing the servants so that they might just keep doing their duties tending to the room as if he was there. Loki found that flying in his clothes was not at all difficult, the outfit having been specifically made to accommodate his natural (equine) body quite well. However the measurements were taken, he was not quite sure, but he was impressed with the results. He was going to return to the castle ruins and peruse the many books found in its library when loud screaming distracted him from elsewhere in the forest. Young, adolescent screaming that sounded quite familiar. Loki turned and flew towards the disturbance, his face falling as he realized that young fillies apparently were not taught that dangerous woods were very bad places to hang out, “Oh you can not be serious.” It took him little time to glimpse the forms of three young horses running across a field in the forest away from a large blue, ethereal looking bear. Right as it closed in on them and got ready to swipe at the trio, a blast of blue energy sent it reeling. The three young fillies kept running for another moment until they saw that the bear was not chasing them, but rather that it had been knocked back and was not even up on its feet. Between them and it stood Loki, who was wielding the golden staff he had apparently dragged with him to Canterlot in his sleep those nights ago. Loki sent another blast into the creature’s body, the blast tearing through the clear creature and its semi-physical state. It writhed briefly before pausing to die, no more movement coming from the beast and no blood spilling from its odd form. The threat over, Loki turned to face the three irresponsible beings behind him with a scowl. “Has it not dawned on you three that these woods are not for play?” Having just seen a giant Alicorn swoop down and save them by killing an Ursa Minor, the three young fillies were awestruck by the events. The scowl and growl of his voice, however, made that being awestruck change into being a bit scared. “Uhhhhh...” they muttered in unison, not knowing what to say back to the stallion who stood before them in quite regal clothing. The awkward situation took a turn when another voice entered the fray, all four previous equines turning to face its source, “Loki, you are scaring them.” The fillies all jumped up, two of joy and one of a bit of fear, “Princess Luna!” “Princess Luna?” “Nightma’ Moon?” Nodding first to the three young ponies and then to Loki, Luna continued to walk towards the group as she gave them a reassuring smile, “Hello children. Are you all well?” The responding cheerful chirps confirmed completely that the three fillies were fit and fine. They also had the side effect of having Loki close his eyes and take in deep breaths. Panicking one moment, cheerful the next. He was quite sure these equines would be the end of him, the rest of his life be damned. So enraptured in his self-pity and aggravation at the fillies with no survival skills, Loki completely missed their conversation with Luna and the giggles that followed. He only opened his eyes and became aware that he was still in the situation when one filly poked his leg with a hoof. The filly, a Pegasus with orange fur, looked curiously up at Loki as she spoke, “Aren’t you Lothor? You fixed my scooter a couple months ago I think.” Loki nodded to Scootaloo, whom he was glad to see was not suffering from cranial injuries resulting from reckless scooter crashes, “The name is Loki, and yes we have met before,” he cast his gaze down upon the other fillies, whose attention had also been redirected to Loki, “I am afraid I do not know you two.” One filly, a white furred Unicorn, jumped up and down with a big grin on her face, “I’m Sweetie Belle, mister alicorn Lothor!” “And ah’m Apple Bloom!” the last one introduced herself, being just a regular pony with yellow fur. “It is a pleasure,” no it wasn’t, “Now may I ask where your adult supervisors are?” Sweetie Belle shrugged and chimed in, “Our families are all busy, so we decided to hang out. Do you want to hang out with us too, mister Lowkey?” While he did intend to accomplish his own laundry list of goals, Loki had a feeling in his gut that he would be spending his time with the trio. At least Luna was there to support him and prevent anything from going terribly wrong. Loki took a breath in, “If it will keep you from getting yourselves killed, then fine. Luna, how about-” A quick look around revealed that Luna was nowhere in sight. Not even at the edges of the clearing, nor in the forest beyond or the sky above. “Where in the nine realms could she have gone?” “Can we go adventuring to find her?” Sweetie Belle asked innocently, bright grin beaming right at Loki who was having none of it. “No. Too dangerous,” he reiterated as he tried to calm himself. These were children he was dealing with, and while they may not be very intelligent they were not entirely to blame for that. He could be angry with the naivete and stupidity when they grow up. Sweetie Belle’s head hung and she put on the pouting face she oft used on her sister to get her to do as the young filly wished, “Awwwww.” Loki rolled his eyes at the attempt to make him feel bad. He tried exterminating his own race in the not-too distant past. Puppydog eyes would not make him feel bad about telling a filly that her plan to go get herself killed was stupid. He had dealt with much greater issues than an upturned lip. “That will not work on me. Until Luna returns from whatever it is she just abandoned me to do, we will stay right here in this clearing.” The three fillies relented with grumbles about him being a joykill, but Loki ignored them all. He was doing what was in their best interest after all and they would defer to his judgment as an adult who just saved their lives. It did not take the Unicorn long to return to a state of cheerfulness, jumping over to Loki and looking up at him with a smile, “You can do magic right?” he nodded as his horn glowed and the scepter he held twirled around, “Show us tricks!” He was willing to show off his talents if it would distract the fillies from their suicidal tendencies. The only problem was figuring out what to do or cast that would not draw the attention of more animals, the decaying Ursa Minor nearby being an example of why that was bad. Loki quickly realized a safe trick and smiled at the three fillies, trying to put them at ease, “Okay then. Now, I am going to cast some photographic illusions. I want you to say the first thing that comes to your mind.” Loki conjured an image of Thor looking as gritty in his armor, the figure standing stall in its silver, blue and red uniform and holding his famous hammer Mjolnir. Loki imagined and smiled at the thought of how he could get these fillies to- “He looks like a hero, whatever he is!” “I really like his mane thing!” “Hero!” Loki did his absolute best to not groan at their ignorance, “You don’t know him like I know him.” So, they thought Thor looked like a hero despite his brutish appearance? How about a real hero? Loki projected before him an image of himself as he spirited away the Thor image, including in it the golden helmet he was now wearing. “He looks kinda evil.” “I can’t see his mane very well…” “Bad guy!” Now Loki felt a bit underappreciated, “I would have gone for incredibly smart and good looking,” Scootaloo nervously spoke, having realized that the guy in the projection looked a bit like Loki and not wanting to possibly anger him, “He has a scary face though.” “You have a scary face,” Loki responded childishly “No you do!” “You do times infinity.” “You do infinity times two.” Loki blinked at her last statement. An infinite number could not exactly be doubled as nothing is larger than being infinite, the number going on forever, “That is not even a thing.” A brief pause later, Loki removed the projection of his normal form and started to think about ways to talk and keep them engaged for now. What did children like? What did they not like? That second one was quite promising. “Okay, how many of you have siblings?” he asked the group, who had all taken to huddling together on a rock nearby them, the unicorn not quite fitting on with the other two but trying hard to remain in place. They all rose their hooves in the air, this action causing the Unicorn to fall off the rock as it was what was holding her there. The Pegasus clarified herself as she held her hoof up, “Sorta.” Loki nodded, glad that this was a topic they could discuss, “How many have brothers?” Only the regular pony rose a hand this time to Loki’s chagrin, “Now, has your brother ever acted like a boisterous braggart and been cast out, only to return and take what is yours?” Apple Fritter or whatever shook her head, “Uhhh, no? Big Mac isn’t mean lahk that.” Not a single annoying brother amongst the three of them? Loki groaned and rolled his eyes before trying again, “Oh for heavens sake, are any of you adopted?” The Pegasus rose a hoof as the Unicorn tackled the yellow pony off the rock and the two began to fight over the space on it. Loki ignored the scuffle on the ground as he looked to Scootaloo, “Does your foster parent love you?” She nodded her head vigorously and the largest smile Loki could imagine emerged on her face, “Of course! Rainbow Dash is the best pony around.” The name rang a bell in Loki’s mind and a previous conversation he had with Princess Luna on the subject came to mind, “I actually happen to know your foster parent I believe. Blue, fond of pranks?” The filly’s eyes lit up and the smile somehow grew, “You’ve met her? Isn’t she totally awesome?” Loki knew too little about the mare to classify her in such a way, but if it would please the filly he would relent, “Sure, let’s go with that. I do respect someone who enjoys a good prank.” From beneath the Unicorn, who had been winning the scuffle after she initiated it, came the voice of Apple Pie, “Don’t ya mean somepony?” The Asgardian prince groaned at the terminology, “Your speaking privileges are revoked.” “Revahked?” she questioned, not knowing the meaning of the word. A flash of the horn later, the filly’s mouth zipped shut and would not open even as she tried to do so. The now mute Apple Cider made Loki grin smugly, “Better.” Sweetie Belle climbed off of Apple Bloom as Scootaloo began to laugh at her friend’s predicament, “That’s like what Trixie did to Pinkie!” Loki did not like the sound of that, “Someone already did this?” The Pegasus nodded, “Yeah, a magician named Trixie who has come to Ponyville before.” Loki groaned, “Borrowing material from a servant of chaos is one thing, but treading in the footsteps of a street magician is too far,” he dispelled the magic and stuck a tongue out at Apple Blossom for some reason he could not fully understand. Since when did he stick his tongue out? “Yer mean!” she complained before turning to Sweetie Belle and knocking her over, instigating another scuffle. Once again ignoring the two warring friends, Scootaloo looked intently up at Loki from her nice perch on the rock, “So, how did you meet Rainbow? Did you guys prank somepony?” “Why yes, that has been the extent to our relationship. Tell me, has the energetic pink creature changed colors at all?” he was quite curious if the prank had been followed up on, as that was the last of that particular dye he had. He would have to brew some more and relive the times when not-so-ladylike Sif tried hunting him for altering her hair. “Yeah! Pinkie Pie became Purple Pie! You two were behind that?” Loki laughed heartily at that, “Seems like lady Dash did her part then,” after quieting his laugh, Loki had an idea concerning the filly he found less annoying than the other two, “Make sure she teaches you how to pull off a good trick. When you reach an adult age, I will teach you some of my own tricks. It will be my gift to you.” From beneath Apple Bloom came Sweetie’s voice, sounding very hopeful, “Ooh, what can I get?” Loki groaned. What did he look like? A gift horse? “I’m sure there is a saddle I could give you.” “Saddle?” the young filly questioned, although Loki was unsure if she was curious about what it was or why he would give her a saddle. To be honest, he got the idea from how her friend was currently sitting on top of her back. “Padding put on an equine’s back to allow for someone to ride it,” he clarified. Shoving Apple Blossom off of her, Sweetie Belle complained, “Why would anypony want somepony to sit on them?” Loki did see her point, there not seeming to be any bipedal creatures whatsoever in the area, and tried to come up with a solution to the problem he made, “Do you know anyone who could fit on your back?” “Ooh, I bet Spike would love to ride me! He always wants to act like a heroic knight charging into battle,” the filly was jumping up and down in delight at the thought of enacting this plan...for some reason Loki could not fathom and was trying not to wrap his brain around. Seeing Loki’s befuddled face made Scootaloo clarify her friend’s behavior, “She’s special.” Loki cast off his look of confusion and replaced it with a small frown, “So I have noticed. But then again, so are all of you. I believe I should ask why you three find near-certain death to be so entertaining.” “We’re here looking fer ahr Cutie Marks!” Apple Blossom chimed in cheerfully, glad for being able to speak again. To this, Loki could only give a flat, “What.” Sweetie Belle spoke up next in her squeaky voice, “That’s right, we’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders and we want to find out what our talents are!” “So you started with seeing if you die particularly well?” Loki snarked, not understanding their reasoning. “Well, no, we just explore a lot. You know, try everything,” Scootaloo added bashfully, realizing that maybe this was not their best plan ever. Which was saying something for the trio. “Please explain to me the significance of this mark and why you would be so reckless for it.” “A pony gets their Cutie Mark when they find out what they are good at. You know, what it’s their destiny to do!” Squeaky Belle was the one clarifying something this time, to the chagrin of Loki’s ears. Scootaloo followed up on what her friend said, “We haven’t found out what we’re good at yet, so we work together to try and find them!” In hindsight Loki realized this would explain why Luna would have a moon on her rear end while Celestia had a sun there. Neither seemed the type to just go and get tattoos, so there being a natural reason for their existence made sense to him. At least before the shenanigans regarding changing them, “That would explain all of the rear tattoos I have been seeing.” Sweetie Belle questioned, moving so she could see his side, “What’s yours?” His fully clothed form kept any from seeing his regular fur, so Loki banished it for the time being so he could humor the children. Just enough to show the area they were looking for, that is, as he quite liked his comfortable clothes. Scootaloo too looked to see his side, and her brows raised when she read what was there, “You’re good at being Princess Luna’s property?” If the mark meant what you were destined to do...Loki had not even thought to change it these past few days, he realized. He had given a matching mark to Luna though, and she had not changed it so he had stopped thinking about it… Loki found himself in quite the predicament now that he came to realize the implications of his, not-going-to-call-it-a-cutie-mark, tattoo, “She has a similar mark. Just some small fun we have been having.” That explanation did little tp stop the seeds of heresy from growing in the mind of the fillies. Sweetie Belle grew to have the grin Scootaloo held earlier on as she got real close to him and questioned, “Are you and the princess special someponies?” Scootaloo, quite the Princess Luna fan, felt her own smile returning, “Ooh, ooh, you’re dating princess Luna? That’s awesome!” Loki realized his grievous error in not shutting down this conversation before it went too far, “I believe you are mistaken. The princess known as Luna is a good friend of mine, yes, but-” “But your funny Cutie Mark makes it seem like you two are datin’,” the last one, Apple Blossom, asked. “If you aren’t special someponies, but you both really like eachother, are you both too scared to tell eachother how you feel?” Sweetie Belle questioned innocently, albeit with devilish intentions behind her words Loki was quite sure. Scootaloo decided to get onboard the ship as well, “Yeah, we could totally try to help with that!” “That worked so well last time,” Snarky Belle said as she rolled her eyes. Apple Blossom reprimanded her friends, “Girls, we agreed naht to mess with anypony’s love life, remember?” “Yeah, but this is different if they already like eachother!” Scootaloo argued, wanting this to be a thing without going back on the lesson they learned before. “Do I get a say in this?” Loki asked, quite sure the answer he would receive was no. Sweetie Belle put a hoof around Loki, earning a small groan, as she tried to sound reassuring, “It’s okay mister Lackey, we’re here to help you. Am I right, girls?” Apple Blossom started to object when Scootaloo nudged her in the side, at which point the trio yelled in unison. “Cutie Mark Crusader true matchmakers!” A fifth voice caught the attention of them all once again, “Hold yourselves, children.” They all looked to see Princess Luna touching down beside them with a smile on her face, Loki quite sure she had heard some of their rambling. She winked at her friend when she noticed his visible Cutie Mark, to which Loki quickly brought his clothes back into being there to avoid further embarrassment. Truth be told, he had not changed it back after the fillies noticed because he could not actually do so. Luna’s magic was too much for him to dispel on his own, and for some reason she had poured quite a deal of energy into this particular spell. Loki’s only compensation was that she was walking around with a ‘Property of Loki’ mark on her, so the embarrassment should be mutual. Luna turned to the children, “I have located Rarity and have cleared a path for you straight to Ponyville where she will be meeting you. There are no monsters who will be threatening you now.” Sweetie Belle’s lip turned up and she put on a face with the sole intent of guilt tripping Princess Luna, “Awww, but we wanted to-” Scootaloo shoved a hoof on her friend’s mouth, “Shhhh.” “But-” Sweetie Belle tried to object, desperately wanting to tackle this Luna/Loki thing, when Scootaloo cut her off again. “Shhhh!” Apple Bloom nodded towards the direction of Ponyville and started to head that way, her two friends following behind her. Scootaloo turned her head back as she walked behind her friends, “Bye mister Loki. Come by Ponyville sometime, okay?” Loki nodded to the group of odd beings, “Farewell children. It has been most...interesting.” Luna smirked at him as the fillies departed into the brush of the woods, “You handled them quite well I would say.” Haughtiness found its way into Loki as he tried to find a topic other than what the fillies had been suggesting moments prior, “There are only children. Stupid, ignorant children but children nonetheless. Nothing I could not handle.” Luna nodded before bluntly changing the topic, “Celestia would like our diary back.” Loki snorted derisively, “She can have it. I do not require it anymore.” “And why might that be?” Luna lifted an eyebrow, quite curious as to why Loki would give up such valuable information and opportunity for blackmail. He smiled at her, “Because I have made a spare,” the laugh that resulted from Luna gave him the impression she was actually pleased by this instead of angry he stole her diary, “You do not care for me to turn it in?” Luna shook her head, “Of course not. I have nothing to hide in that old thing. Only Tia does.” “How much do you remember from it?” Loki asked through curiosity born from reading both of their sections. Whereas Celestia’s was about her lessons learned and also the things she kept secret, Luna’s was closer to venting about Celestia’s arrogance and ignorance. The fact that Celestia never once noted her sister’s attitude despite being the same book seemed to prove Luna’s case back in the day. “Very little to be honest. I lost interest in reading Celestia’s boring style many years before my banishment.” That gave Loki a smirk, “You have missed quite a bit then I would say. Care to take a look?” Luna returned it, ever willing to listen to her sister’s dark secrets, “It would be a pleasure. I prefer reading at home, however. Care to join me?” Loki was highly anticipating Luna’s gut reaction to some of the entries, so the idea of visiting her chambers was not out of the question, “I do care to see your face when reading some of her more...in-depth tales, so I will join you. Then again it is possible that we can listen to Celestia re-enact those same stories if we put our ears to her door tonight.” Luna was uncertain what he meant by that, but she was willing to give it a try. Something else, or more specifically a certain somepony, caught Luna’s attention and Luna found herself feeling a bit hot in the face, “I have not had the chance to say it yet, but you look quite handsome in your outfit.” Loki took a bow without the smugness that accompanied it when he did it to Celestia, actually quite impressed by the finished product, “Thank you for granting me it. You have to have one great memory to remember all the details from your brief viewings of my garb.” Luna found herself sitting down as she spoke back in a soothing voice, “I tend to try my best for you, my handsome prince, although I also happen to have a great memory.” Loki would not be himself if he did not return the usual nice statement with a snarky one, “I would return the pleasantries about looking good in your clothing, but you are stark naked.” She was not about to let Loki have the last word, “I hate wearing frilly things others seem to believe fit for females, although I believe you once called me ravishing in my shapeshifted form. Do you think me attractive in this form as well?” Her attempt to catch him flat footed was a complete success. It took Loki a few moments to first contain his surprise and then come up with a clinical response that wouldn’t have her kill him, “By my regular tastes, I will admit that I do not find horses to be very attractive. That is considered bestiality in my world,” he took in a nervous breath before speaking the rest, “But, I suppose that based on your various physical traits that you are a very attractive for your kind.” Luna lent her head on Loki and rubbed it there, causing him to blush at their proximity, “Thank you, Loki.” The prince of Asgard tried desperately to find something, anything at all, to relieve him of this situation when a certain story and statue concerning Luna came to mind. “Speaking of appearances, I hear you transformed physically when you became the dreaded Nightmare Moon. Would you mind if I could see a glimpse of it?” Luna took the bait for the conversation change, leaning back now and also taking a step back. “Well, I suppose I could. Give me a moment.” As she activated her powers a dark shroud wrapped around Luna, twisting around and covering her form completely. Loki watched with much interest as the form grew and shifted before the darkness faded, revealing a much taller and lankier mare than before with a dark black fur and a lighter blue set of accessories than Luna normally wore, with the addition of a helmet. Loki actually found himself quite impressed by the finished product, much like his clothes before it. This was the form Luna had taken when she was acting out independently against her sister and land for mistreating her… It was how she wanted to look, in a way. An adept shapeshifter could take any form and she chose this one in particular, like how Loki chose to remain in the skin of an Asgardian despite his natural blue appearance with Frost Giant markings. Loki continued to inspect the mare before him, her initial menacing face melting into a more bashful one as he looked at her, “An interesting change. I must say I find this form to hold a more femme fatale look to your previous one’s more adorable appearance,” her quick grin made him clarify, “For horses, that is. It is not like I have perversions-” Using a partly unfamiliar voice, its inflection less boisterous and more calm than Luna’s regular, this pseudo-Nightmare Moon craned her long neck down to whisper in Loki’s ear, “I may not have much to compare it to, but I find your other form to be quite intriguing.” To reciprocate her effort, Loki transformed into his Asgardian form as he mumbled, “Maybe there is something to what those children were thinking.” Luna shifted forms once again, this time taking her bipedal form to match Loki’s own. Loki was relieved upon noticing she remembered to clothe it, given the incident regarding nudity the first time she did this. She leant towards him and looked intently at his pale face, “Loki?” Loki was curious what she possibly could have to say at this point, “Yes?” Luna pointed up to his raven hair, “You have a large tree branch in your hair. You must have not noticed it when you swooped down and saved the fillies.” Surprising both royal heirs was a voice yelled from the forest beyond them, “Oh come on! Kiss alr-” a rustling of brush cut it off before they could locate the source, although the squeaky voice was quite familiar to Loki now. Apparently the fillies had been spying on them...Loki found little wrong with that, given that he did it to others, but admittedly he was disappointed that she revealed herself through her anguish that they had not kissed despite their proximity. She should have remained undetected, for some less kind than him do not like being spied upon. “They are quite the interesting group,” Loki quipped glancing towards the bush he was sure the fillies were in and then back to Luna, who had not moved back any and was still very close to his face. Luna looked to where Loki had and then to his green eyes with her own pair, a grin upon her soft features as a very bold thought crossed her mind. Her blush revealed what it was to Loki before she even spoke, “You know, I would almost hate to disappoint them.” The good mood Loki had been in the past few days returned to Loki with a temptation known as Cur Non by those who spoke latin, and ‘Why not?’ to those who did not. Luna suggested the idea, but Loki was the one who leant forward to kiss her. It was returned instantly by Luna, who also snaked her arms around his back and brought him into a tight embrace. Loki was surprised when Luna twisted him a bit and dipped him, their lips still touching. “Yes!” the bush voice returned, albeit with a second voice belonging to Scootaloo joining it. When the moment ended and they pulled apart, Loki grinned at Luna whose pale face had turned a bright red, “Happy?” “Not quite. Are you still up for visiting Canterlot tonight?” “After we escort the children home, of course,” Loki gave an innocent look to Luna, “And, of course, there is always the rest of the day.” A/N: Go to the following link to watch Loki argue with little kids Loki Vs Kids on Comedy Central Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! If you did please let me know what you liked in the comment boxes below! Seriously, every bit I hear from you helps this college student get motivated both in life and in writing!