//------------------------------// // Let It Go // Story: We Remember Everything // by Thunderscourge //------------------------------// A/N: Special thanks to D48, evowizard25, Drgnwolf, Navis and Ketvirtas 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! “Loki?” Situated on top of Luna’s most comfortable bed with a weathered tome in hoof, Loki cast his gaze lazily over to the exhausted mare who had just entered, “Yes?” Luna let out a tired breath before trotting over to the bed, flopping over on it with a complete lack of energy, “Remind me why I ever wished to rule this land alone.” Sensing that he would have to hear it out soon enough, Loki prompted her, “What did you do?” “Celestia tricked us into taking over her duties…” Luna crawled over on the bed so that she was laying beside her ‘friend’. Loki did little to react to this, instead just reading as she explained her day’s exploits, “Little did I know that that she had a full day of meetings and other boring matters. Who would expect the day before a ceremony to be so enervating?” Loki rolled his eyes. Had she never once thought about what being ruler would be like besides being on top of the power, social, and economic pyramid? There were many reasons why he had not before sought Agard’s throne, and having to sit through endless meetings was one of them. Alongside never truly being respected or loved, having a brother who stole the spotlight and ignorant citizens. Luna continued to complain as she brought her hooves around Loki’s body, “So much paperwork to handle. And that is not to mention our advisor had the gall to suggest bran biscuits over pastries.” Having been a ‘most favored guest’ of the castle for a few weeks now had keyed Loki in on some facts he had not previously known about Luna. One of them was her surprising sweet tooth. Whereas her sister would gorge herself on cake whenever dessert presented itself, Luna ate smaller quantities in more regular intervals. As Luna yawned, the trickster from Asgard could swear he could see a piece of popcorn between her teeth, “You should try to eat a little healthier, lest you grow fat. I would hate to see your stomach in as poor shape as the rotund Volstagg from my home.” Luna tilted her nose up in defiance, “I shall grow fat and round if and when I please. It is my body.” Loki’s eyes rolled before he could stop them, “Not everything you consume can be candy, butter covered bagels or that popped corn you seem to love.” “But popcorn is love!” Luna rubbed her head against Loki affectionately, making sure not to stab him, “Like you.” Loki put his book down and placed her head where it had been, groaning as she continued to cuddle with him, “It pleases me to know I am the equivalent of food.” “If you were a food I would eat you. I bet you would taste like apple.” He had no real way to respond to that particular rebuttal of hers. “Ignoring that.” Luna huffed and poked him in the side, “Fine, sour apple it is then.” Loki turned to face her on the bed, his horn glowing as he closed the open door of the room, “How about we forget the food and-” The very recently closed door slammed back open as a servant rushed into the room and cut Loki off in their haste. “Princess Luna, your sister Princess Celestia has been looking for you! You must begin preparations for the dress rehearsal for the ceremony tomorrow.” Loki’s face could not have been more annoyed as he looked to the pony with a snarl, the servant not seeming to even notice that they were interrupting the two, “It is common courtesy to knock first.” Realization sunk in that a cuddling session had been brought to a close, and the servant shuffled nervously in place, “I, uh-” Luna waved a hoof to dismiss the servant, the pony closing the door behind them. After this was done Luna gave her friend a serious look, “Loki, I must apologize, but I do have to go prepare.” Her words did little to convince him, “Prepare for what? Sitting around and watching your sister’s student be made your equal?” Luna snorted derisively at the last part, “Equal,” a sigh escaped her lips as her gaze went over to the corner of the room, “But I still have to tend to the matter of what I will be wearing. Celestia wishes me to wear something frilly.” Loki looked to where she was looking and found himself absolutely hating the purple-ish thing that was trying to pass off as a dress, “You put that abomination on and I will tear it off.” Luna brought a shoeless hoof to his chest and laughed, “I am quite liking the sound of that.” His eyes stayed on the ugly dress, his mind turning as he tried to think of a better suited alternative. Nothing particularly came to mind except Luna going naked, possibly with her normal decorative clothing- Loki’s eyes lit as a solution came upon him. He put a hoof to her chest as well as a smirk grew upon him, “How about instead of your normal jewelry you wear your Nightmare Moon accessories? I bet you have them and can. It may just send a message to your sister.” With a moment’s pause, Luna nodded with a brow raised, “That message being?” “That you disapprove of this event. She is your equal, yet is doing this without your approval,” Loki explained with distaste, still not very pleased with Celestia for this sleight. Luna’s lips turned up in curls, “I like the sound of this. I will have to resize some accessories, but the idea is quite sound.” Thinking back to the lanky form of Nightmare Moon posed Loki with a question he was not quite sure he had an answer to. He was having trouble remembering smaller details from their conversations because of the plague of sleep deprivation he had had, so he decided to ask anyways. “You can shapeshift, and when you take your Nightmare form you grow taller and more slender. If that’s how you like looking, why not have that be your regular appearance?” The question made Luna shrink into a ball of sorts as she brought herself closer in to Loki, “Transforming and being trapped in that state for a millenium has stunted my natural growth, as I was quite young back then,” she paused and took in a small breath before resuming, “I do enjoy appearing more like how I should be rather than how I am, but I am afraid others will be fearful of me appearing too much like Nightmare Moon.” Luna sprung out of the bed with a startling speed. Recollecting herself on her feet, Luna turned to Loki with a weak smile, “As I will not be spending hours dressing, would you care to explore the city some before we need to return?” He still had not been beyond the castle in Canterlot, having taken quite fondly to annoying those within it, so the prince found himself relenting to her wishes, “If you so please. I am just killing time as it is.” “Nightmare Moon!” Loki’s first opinions of the city’s denizens was not a fond one. Seeing a crowd flee at the first sight of Luna due to their ill-earned fear of her caused a torrent of snakes to pour on them from a nearby balcony. “Loki.” Surprised that he was about to be reprimanded by Luna of all ponies, he responded indignantly, “What?” Luna caught him off guard when she kissed him on the cheek, “Thank you.” “These snakes are not even on fire! Whoever is doing this is doing it wrong!” a voice complained from the crowd of few ponies who were not fleeing. It came from a pony in a most peculiar outfit that made Loki start observing the other clothes to be witnessed. Surely enough, the entire town was dressed in an over-the-top manner with a decor Loki had only ever witnessed at high society events on Midgard. Put simply, he hated them. He had nothing against dressing nice, but to wear clothes to show off? That was a level of petty even he would not sink to. “How ostentatious.” Luna snorted as she glanced over his specially crafted clothing, “You are one to talk.” “At least I act with a degree of class when it comes to my own set,” he commented, not exactly denying her point while also feeling as if he was above these ponies, “So, what are we even going to do here if everyone will just flee?” “More stayed until the snakes came out,” Luna joked, “But there is plenty more to Canterlot than a single block.” Loki mindlessly let himself be dragged along by Luna as she brought him around to various places, sights and things that he could care less for. She was enjoying herself, he supposed, so he tried to act interested but he honestly had much larger things on his mind than these trivial things. His attention only snapped back to his current surroundings when a pony’s shouting caught his ear. Luna too had her attention caught as they walked past a marketplace where ponies scurried about. The sound came from a light purple Pegasus mare who was turned towards an old white coated stallion in a butler’s outfit. Her faced seemed to seethe as he stood there impassively, not revealing whatever emotion was beneath his stoic face. “All I said was that I would be retiring, madame.” The semi-old mare growled at him, “You cannot leave us! Your family has served ours for generations, it is your duty!” Luna and Loki nodded to one another, both deciding to intervene in the situation and hopefully diffuse it. Luna hated seeing unnecessary conflict, especially in such a public place, whereas Loki just was not fond of seeing an old man be scolded over what sounded like nothing. The white stallion nodded to the angry mess before him, “Exactly madame, which is why I will be-” “Excuse me, is there a problem here?” The attention of both the ponies of interest looked to Princess Luna, who was standing up at her full height and trying to look imposing to the mare who seemed to be the aggressor. The mare shrunk away from the princess and began to stutter, “N-no, just disciplining our hired help, princess Luna.” Loki scoffed, “For retiring?” The mare opened her mouth to speak, only for Luna to cut her off, “I expect that you take this up with him in a more private space where you do not make a scene of yourself,” Luna glanced the the elderly butler before looking at her again, “And have it be known that he may retire if he so pleases. Nopony is anypony else’s slave, understood?” The rich witch bowed nervously, “As you command, princess.” Loki smirked at the irony. Commanding a pony to not treat someone else as if they were lower than them, and being able to do so because they are bound to obey you. Not that he minded. Royalty had their uses after all. Loki and Luna had parted ways after they had wasted some hours accomplishing not much of anything but being together. Loki had no desire to be a part of the whole practice ceremony process and had left Luna to participate, in her Nightmare Moon regalia, on her own. After all, he had an appointment to keep that night. Landing in the Everfree Forest and the entering the decrepit castle within was easy for him even in the dark, as he had long since learned his way around the land thanks to Twilight Sparkle’s maps. Inside the castle Loki approached the throne room he had previously taken up residence in and, to no surprise, his guest was there. “I have done my part. Please tell me you have done the same,” the visitor stated in a dry manner, as if they had no faith in Loki. Not fond of being insulted, the prince snarled as he looked upon them, “Of course. What could possibly stop me from doing my duty?” Queen Chrysalis of the Changelings approached him and rolled her eyes, “Oh, I don’t know, maybe an immortal soul who you have fallen for?” Loki grunted, “You mistake actions for feelings.” Chrysalis shook her head sadly, “I will admit I am disappointed in your performance. You have not even managed to bring her back to her old ways. In fact, I believe her even further from her useful form than before you started to influence her.” “She will join us, or she will fall like the rest,” Loki replied coldly, focusing on Luna’s ancient throne before him and not meeting Chrysalis’ eyes. His partner snarled, “You had best assure that. To have her oppose us would complicate matters,” her tone softened considerably as a diabolical smile crept on her face, “Although, there is another option.” Loki found himself unnerved by her shift, “Another option?” Chrysalis cackled, “Where was she during the Changeling invasion from before? This is a question many have asked I would imagine, for not only did she miss the royal wedding but also was absent all but at the very end of the conflict.” Realization dawned on Loki, “She let you take on and defeat her sister, whose reputation as an all-powerful being would be tarnished,” the idea that not all too long ago Luna had actually assisted a coup of sorts made Loki’s stomach drop, “Who you may have slain.” “Precisely. Do not let that warm muzzle distract you from the fact that this mare once tried slaying her own sister to enact a reign of terror that would have killed every being in the land. The sun is quite important, especially for those who eat plants I hear,” her tone was smug as she recalled her previous invasion of Canterlot, which would have been much harder if the powerful Princess Luna had not bowed out and let her have her way. Loki attempted to put on a smug grin of his own, “Then what have we to worry? What is set in motion cannot be stopped, so long as you do not turn your back this time, and if Luna were to be caught between her sister and I, I daresay she will choose me,” that Loki could say without any hesitation. Chrysalis nodded to him, as if she was accepting his statement, “I will leave you to handle her then.” “Wait for my signal. Then you may feed as you wish.” She rolled her eyes again and snorted, “Of course, we have been over this. I am just pleased that you have actually pulled through on your end. Ta-ta, lover boy.” With that, the Queen of the Changelings departed from the broken castle, leaving Loki alone amongst the ruins. Left to his own devices, the prince transformed into his Asgardian form. Now standing upright and with his scepter in hand, Loki felt more comfortable. Having hands and greater dexterity were things he was quite fond of, even if being a horse was not the most unfamiliar thing to him. Looking down at a hand, Loki could not help but think about the blue skin that lay beneath the illusion. He was a Frost Giant, a secret long kept from him and everyone else by his family. ‘He can’t handle the truth’ they had thought when they concealed his true heritage, never to let him know until it was too late. Well, now he knew, and it did not change a thing for him. He had slain Laufey, the King of the Frost Giants and his true father, all to prove to his chosen father that he was as worthy a son as Thor. He had tried wiping the Frost Giants from existence, as if killing them would purify himself. But again, none of it mattered like it had previously to him. Loki held the hand out before him and let loose his ice powers, a pillar of ice forming. With a simple spell Loki carved the ice to mimic his father’s form, at which point he cast an illusion on top of the physical form to create the full being. The lost prince walked around the statue and inspected it with a fallen expression, “It is interesting how much perspective I have been granted by being removed from Asgard. I need not fear disappointing you, father. Of not earning your approval.” Loki twisted his body and whipped his scepter arm out so that the weapon collided with the ice as hard as he could make it, “But then again, I never could, could I? Heavens know I tried to be that perfect prince you desired,” the ice cracked and began to crumble to the ground only for Loki to blast it with the scepter’s power and reduce it, and the illusion, to nothing, “But that time has passed. I have let you go just as you had me.” Left with the broken ice and silence, Loki spirited the scepter away and instead formed two small balls of ice in his hands, one in each hand, “It is time to see what I can do with my own fate. No more machinations by those above me,” Loki tossed one ball to the side and crushed the other in his bare, blue hand where the ice touched, “Now I carve my own path, even if I know not where it leads. I do not care what they will say, nothing will hold me back.” Loki kicked the pile of ice on the ground angrily and growled at it, fighting hard to keep his tone from being furious, “Asgard could vanish for all I care. I am never going back. I do not need you anymore, old man. You left me when I needed you the most, but no, you just left me alone with the truth. Why tell me at any point in my entire life? Why not let me find out for myself?” Casting up an image of Thor this time, Loki repeated the process of destroying the creation by bringing back his scepter, his normally pale skin turning blue as he cast his magic, “Well now I know!” Loki’s anger evaporated as he thought to what was planned, determination instead creeping in, “But the past will stay in the past, as your perfect prince is far gone. I hope you are watching when I finish this. Unable to do anything about it with the Bifrost destroyed. Watch as I become a rightful king once more.” Loki knelt down on the ground and took a hand to the pieces that had once represented his father Odin’s face, “I could have loved you no more, Father,” he choked back a sob as he dropped the face down on the ground, “I am sorry Luna, but I am not sure if I can handle that feeling once again.” It was a sunken, puffy eyed Loki who returned to Canterlot two days later. He had missed the coronation in his grief, but he honestly did not give a damn so long as it had served its purpose. What he wanted was to see Luna, whom he desired to speak with the most urgency. It being morning, Luna should have just gone to sleep given her sleeping habits. But when Loki visited their chambers he found no sleeping mare. “Luna?” Screaming out in the hallway made Loki’s eyes shoot open, anxiety pumping into his veins as he worried if things had already begun. He raced out of the room to find that guardsmen were running about aimlessly up and down the corridor. Having arrived on her balcony, Loki had not been subject to this madness and as such he required explanation. He grabbed the closest guard to him on his way out and dragged them into the room, “Guardsman, what is it?” The random stallion responded in a voice too deep to take seriously for Loki, “The princesses have gone missing!” His words were taken seriously, however, and Loki’s eyes widened, “What?” The guardsman swallowed his breath as he continued, “They have gone missing in the night! None know where they are, although we are searching-” “But how-” Loki cut himself off and shook his head, pointing a hoof to the doorway, “Never mind. Get out, you buffoon. I will find her if I have to tear down this whole castle.” The guard scurried out and Loki followed after them, closing Luna’s door and locking it with the magic seal he had recently had put in place on it. Nothing had been out of place in Luna’s room. No signs of struggle, which meant she had to have been somewhere else. The absolute fury Loki felt was something he was sure he had only felt once before. He did not know who it was who did this. He did not know where they were. But he would find them, and he would kill them. Loki crossed Chrysalis off the list of suspects because she was fond of plans like he was and would not double cross him even before the plan. After or during, possibly, but not until things were in their favor and well along. But that left him with little else to go on. “Where did they go missing?” he yelled out in the hallway, expecting some form of response from the panicked guardsmen. One stopped their useless running about to address the question, “Princess Celestia vanished outside of the room Princess Twilight was staying in, but we do not know where Princess Luna was sir!” “Well then everyone start searching where she was last seen, imbecile, and bring me to where Celestia vanished,” Loki snarled as the guardsman stood in place, as if they were expecting something, “What are you waiting for? Now!” His yell made a few of them jump up in fear, quickly running towards where they should have started their search. Loki followed behind them with just as much haste, his anger boiling at how incompetent these guards were to have let Luna go missing without a trace. Upon arriving outside Twilight’s chamber the group stopped when one guard tripped over a large stem of a plant that was extended from the floor. The stem was bristling with thorns and was darkly colored, screaming the word evil as if it was trying to draw attention to itself. Loki groaned audibly and slapped a guard across the face, “No one noticed the obviously tainted plant sprouted from the floor?” All of the guards between one another nervously, not sure how to respond to the royal guest who obviously despised them. Loki sighed as he realized he had to return to where he just had been, “Thank you all for your incompetence, you worthless guards.” Upon touching down in the Everfree Forest again, Loki instantly found his eyes drawn to the crowd of ponies gathering by the bridge outside of the castle ruins. Amongst them, however, was the only one he cared about. By the time Loki reached them they were in the nearby town. Luna had gone ahead of them with the hopes of leaving quickly, for she really did not want to spend much more time in the Everfree Forest. Despite this rush she found it a pleasant surprise when she found herself almost tackled off her feet by Loki, his hooves wrapping around her as he gripped her tightly, “You are safe.” Luna scoffed as she returned the hug, “Of course I am. Did you think some thorns would harm me?” “When I came back, both you and your sister had vanished with little trace.” “You were worried.” Loki grunted, not wanting to say he had been worried out of his mind, and instead tried to change the subject, “What set into motion this turn of events? Who was behind this?” Luna shrugged as if she did not care in the slightest, “It was an ancient plan of Discord, who had thought that plan had happened years before,” she grinned at first before realizing how intense Loki was looking, causing her face to turn into a frown, “I really worried you.” He released her and turned away, shaking his head, “I will be returning to the castle. You enjoy yourself.” “Loki, could you join us? The others intend to celebrate, and I mentioned I would join them. Only Celestia and Applejack are returning to Canterlot to prepare some festivities there, while the others are going to relax here,” noticing his lack of response, Luna pleaded softly, “Please?” Loki shook his head sorrowfully, “There is a matter I need to tend to in Canterlot now that you and your sister are accounted for,” he glanced over to her with a sad smile, “When it is over I will make it up to you.” That blank check made Luna content with him departing for the time being, “Promise?” “Trust me.” Celestia was tending to some administrative tasks related to property damaged during the panic that had resulted from her and Luna disappearing when a pony entered the throne room’s entrance to her surprise. The Princess of the Sun and day put down her work to give a warm smile to the pink Alicorn who was approaching her, “Cadance? What are you doing here?” The leader of the Crystal Empire smiled back at her as she galloped towards Celestia, embracing the elder Alicorn joyfully, “I heard that you and Luna had gone missing and I came to help. It seems I arrived a little too late.” Celestia nodded to her and returned the embrace briefly, “Thank you for your concern.” The reason for its briefness was because a guard rushed to the entrance of the throne room where Loki, wearing a horned helmet, had let himself in. Hovering beside him was a golden staff of sorts Celestia had not encountered before, but she had no time to ask him about it before the guard confronted him. “Hey, what are you doing-” was all the orange coated and blue maned guard could manage to say before Loki swung the sharp staff around and collided it with the guard’s face, knocking him off his feet and back with a vicious slash. Celestia gasped as Cadance let go of her, the elder completely shocked at what was unfolding before her, “Loki, what is the meaning of this?” Loki smirked up at her, as he brought his scepter back to where it had been, “Oh use that brain of yours. What do you think is happening?” Celestia got off of her throne and started towards the traitor, “Guards, seize him!” Loki shook his head and laughed as the guards in the room rushed towards him, easily dispatching each with blue blasts from his potent weapon, “Chrysalis, now would be a most favorable time to do your part.” Celestia stopped her charge as she witnessed Cadance transform into Queen Chrysalis for the second time in her life. She could not voice her shock before a powerful blast of magic caught her in the side and blasted her off the entire platform and into a wall. Celestia crashed into the ground and began to black out as she watched the last of the room’s guards be defeated by Loki, only for Chrysalis to hop over to her and menacingly smirk down at her, “No...not again…” “Oh, you had best believe it, Celestia,” the Queen cackled as Celestia tried and failed to rise. Chrysalis paid this effort with another powerful blast that singed the white coat Celestia had, turning the princess grey on one side. As Celestia tried to get up yet again Loki approached her with a smirk of his own, holding his scepter out to her chest, “Relax, this only takes a moment.” Canterlot was to fall that night. A/N: Been waiting to post that last bit for awhile...yes, I am evil. Have fun hypothesizing, speculating, and theorizing until I finish finals this week and can write again. I’d honestly like to hear ‘em. Here's a Loki video with a fitting song for next chapter: Loki-Break 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! I could use it in this very trying week to come...