//------------------------------// // One: Judgment Day // Story: Grandfather's Coming For A Visit // by GoesKaboom //------------------------------// Disclaimer: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is property of Hasbro. Thor is property of Marvel Comics. No profit is being made from the production and sharing of this fanfiction. Chapter One: Judgment Day “Bring in the prisoner!” The Allfather's voice was loud, demanding, and brokered no hesitation. Thor couldn't help but internally wince.. He'd been on the receiving end of that fury before, and he hadn't done anything near as bad as Loki had. Whatever judgment Odin was about to hand down on the one he'd once called “son” was not going to be pleasant, and Thor knew that if it hadn't been for the intervention of his mother, Loki likely would have been executed already. Indeed, he shuddered to think what would happen to the one he'd once called “brother” after all. Death wasn't the only punishment that the ruler of Asgard could hand down on a prisoner, and many of them would be unpleasant enough that he or she would be begging for death after a few seconds of enduring it. The great doors to the opulent throne room opened, and Thor watched the prisoner being led in, constricted with magic-binding chains and under heavy guard. Thor could hear his mother choke back a sob- even after everything he had done, it was clear that Frigga still cared very much for her adopted son. Even he, too, had a very faint hope that somewhere, underneath the raving lunacy, some semblance of the Loki he'd grown up with was still in there somewhere. Loki, for his part, just looked incredibly bored. “Really, not that I don't enjoy these little talks... oh wait, that's right. I lied. I don't enjoy these little talks. Can you make it quick? I'd really like to return to my cell. I was counting the specks of dust, you see. I had gotten up to three thousand and twenty-two, and now I'm going to have to start all over again.” “Loki, please,” Frigga breathed, so softly that Thor, who was standing right next to her, had to strain to hear. Loki didn't give any indication that he'd heard her, except that his eyes did flicker briefly towards the woman he'd called “mother.” “You would do well to hold your tongue,” Odin growled. “The only reason you are still alive is because of Frigga's intervention.” “Mmm, yes, the guards you've assigned to my cell remind me of that daily,” Loki replied lazily, as though he really couldn't care less whether he lived or died. “Personally, I don't get the fuss. I didn't do anything that bad, really.” “You tried to take over Midgard! You killed thousands of mortals!” Thor exploded, suddenly bursting with anger towards Loki. Such nonchalance from the man who'd attempted to enslave all of humanity! “Only because your 'friends' insisted on fighting me!” Loki retorted. “I went to Midgard as a benevolent god, to free the mortals from the current drudgery. You cannot deny I would have been a better ruler than any of the halfwits they currently have governing them. I would make sure they were fed and well cared for, I would stop drafting their children to commit atrocities, and I wouldn't force the women into sexual congress with me. That's better than half of the so-called leaders they have now!” “We are not gods,” Odin boomed, scowling at Loki. “We are born, and we die, like the mortals.” “Give or take a few thousand years,” Loki replied dryly. “ENOUGH. The reason I have called you here is because I have finally decided on your punishment. Through your actions, you have shown that you are lacking in empathy, kindness, loyalty, honesty, generosity, and most of all, you lack the ability to care for anyone except for yourself. I could give examples, but I think you know what I am talking about. As such, I have decided that you will be exiled to the realm of Equestria, to live in the house of your granddaughters until such time as they decide that you have learned those traits.” Huh. That wasn't... that bad. Loki hadn't been expecting exile. He'd honestly thought he would have been executed, or at least tossed in the dungeon until he died of old age several thousand years later. But exile? It definitely wasn't the worst thing that could happen to him. Then, Odin's other statements caught up with his brain. Then, he parsed the announcement of who he would be living with. His GRANDDAUGHTERS? He chanced a look at Thor, and the expression on the larger man's face was, pardon the pun, thunderstruck. Clearly he hadn't known anything about Loki's supposed grandchildren, either. And how was that even possible? By Aesir standards, Loki was barely out of adolescence! How could he have grandchildren already? He looked back to Odin, who had a grim little smile on his face. “Surely you have't forgotten your own son? You do remember Sleipnir, don't you?” Ah, Equestria. It had been several hundred years since Sleipnir had last stopped in to see his daughters in the peaceful, candy-colored land they ruled. Unfortunately, the last time he'd come for a visit, his younger daughter had been possessed by some ancient, creeping evil that had forced the elder daughter to banish her to this realm's moon. As far as he knew, she was back now, and Celestia and Luna were sharing the throne as sisters should. They may have had different mothers, but they were royol descendants of himself, the great war horse. They were meant to rule together as the avatars of Day and Night. He would have loved to have returned to Equestria before now, but he couldn't get away from his duties as his own grandfather's war steed. In fact, the only reason he was here now was because the Allfather had requested that he visit his daughters and let them know what would be happening. Loki, the fallen prince of Asgard, and Sleipnir's own father (or to be more precise, mother) was in need of rehabilitation. Privately, Sleipnir thought that his parent was a lost cause, beyond help, but he wasn't about to disobey a direct order from the Allfather. Besides, he wasn't complaining about the chance to go to Equestria. Quite apart from seeing his daughters, he liked being able to actually demonstrate his sapience, instead of having to pretend to be a dumb beast like he did amongst most of the Aesir. Of course, he mused, as he approached Canterlot Castle, there were downsides to not having visited in several centuries: none of the palace guards recognized him. And, truthfully, he couldn't blame them for their alarmed reaction- an eight-legged war horse (or what the inhabitants of this realm would term an “Earth pony”) approaching would have scared any intelligent being. So he did what anypony in such a situation would do: he strode straight up to the palace guards and said clearly, “please tell Princesses Celestia and Luna that their father is here to speak to them.” “Um... your majesty? I am sorry to interrupt your breakfast, but there seems to be a madstallion at the palace gate,” a junior member of the Royal Guard said nervously to Princess Celestia. “Ah... he has eight legs and claims to be your father. Should I have him taken to the Royal Canterlot Psychiatric Hospital?” Celestia set her teacup down with a clatter. “Father?! No, no, please, let him in and bring him here immediately. I must wake my sister, she hasn't seen him in a millennium.” The guard nodded nervously, trying to take in the new information. He'd never even really contemplated the Princesses having parents. They had always just... been. But nonetheless, he went to lead the crazy eight-legged stallion into the Royal Breakfast Nook. Luna had not been pleased to be awoken. But once Celestia explained the situation, the Princess of the Night raced downstairs to see the stallion she hadn't seen since before her banishment, squealing like a foal on Hearth's Warming Day. Sleipnir stood in front of the table, grinning. “Luna! My, how you've grown since I last saw you! And Celestia! You're looking as lovely as ever. It warms an old stallion's heart, you know, to see his little fillies together again.” “FATHER!” Luna cried, sounding exactly like an excitable filly. “Tia said she didn't know when you'd come see us again; when I was freed from Nightmare Moon she told me that it had been four hundred years since you last came to Equestria!” “Indeed,” Sleipnir agreed. “I had not been able to get away from my duties before now. And if I'm being honest with the two of you, it is because of duty that I am here now. I must speak with the both of you in private about a family matter.” “Here is private enough,” Celestia said, her horn flaring a gold hue as she cast a privacy ward. “What do you mean, Father? A 'family matter?'” Sleipnir huffed. “How much do you know about where I come from?” “Not very much,” Luna replied. “You told us once, when we were fillies, that you come from a place where ponies don't really exist, and that the dominant species walks on two legs like Diamond Dogs, and lives for many years, like us. You told us you were very important there because you allowed their ruler to ride on your back, and that it was an honor.” “You also told us once that you were related to the two-legged leader, but you wouldn't say how,” Celestia added. “You never mentioned any of your other family,” she continued. “We both know about our mothers, but not about your family.” The eight-legged stallion frowned. He thought he had told them more than that, but he supposed it must have slipped his mind. The Norns knew he didn't like to talk about his immediate family much. “Very well. The land I come from is called Asgard, and it is the greatest of the Nine Realms. Equestria is not part of these Nine, but it is within the sight of Heimdall, the All-Seeing. That is how I knew to come here, to meet the mares who would become my wives, and your mothers. Odin, the Allfather, is my direct superior. He has two sons, one biological, one adopted. He is also... my grandfather.” Seeing the blank looks on his daughter's faces, he continued. “His second son, Loki, has great magical ability. Loki is, well, to be blunt about it... Loki is my mother.” “But how is that possible?!” Luna exclaimed. “You called this Loki 'he.' A stallion cannot be a mother!” “Well, he wasn't a stallion at the time, he was a mare, and he's not usually a pony,” Sleipnir explained. “Among his many magical talents, my mother is a shapeshifter. Unfortunately, from what I understand, after my birth he became a very warped individual- something about feeling overlooked and unappreciated, then he found out he was not Aesir, but Jotunn- the Jotnar are a different kind of two-legged being. They are also the historical enemy of the Aesir. It sent him over the edge, I suppose. Recently, he tried to take over a realm called Midgard. In the process he slaughtered over a thousand of its inhabitants.” Both Celestia and Luna looked alarmed at this news. “Why are you telling us this, Father?” Celestia finally asked. “Because Odin Allfather is sending him to live here with the two of you. Heimdall has seen the way that Equestrian society functions, and the Allfather believes it would be beneficial for my mother. Oh, do not look so worried,” Sleipnir added, catching a glimpse of the identical distraught expressions on the faces of his daughters. “Neither you nor your subjects will come to any harm. My mother may be insane, but he is not stupid. He is aware that this will be his last chance. If he squanders it, he will not be given another one, and will likely be executed. In fact, I am fairly certain the only reason he is getting this chance is because of the intervention of his own mother, my grandmother, if you will.” He paused, and took a deep breath. “I honestly do not care that much for him. He never paid much attention to me when I was a foal. In fact, I sometimes wonder if he even realized he'd given birth to me. But he still brought me into the world, and if there is anypony who can reform him, it is my daughters. If all goes according to plan, he will be arriving here in several hours' time. I suggest you get ready.” “Wait! Father! You cannot just do this to us!” Luna exclaimed. “You're dropping a murderous maniac of a not-stallion who can get pregnant on us, after not seeing us for four hundred years? Why?” The stallion sighed. “Believe me, daughter, I would not do this if I had another choice. I would rather not inflict Loki on you, at least not in his current state of mind. But the Allfather's word is law. I am just his horse, I cannot go against his wishes. However, I will try to visit you within the next few weeks to check on you, as well as on him. I will see you soon.” He hugged his daughters goodbye, then trotted out of the palace, to a field a safe distance away. A violent beam of light shone down from the heavens, enveloping the stallion and energizing him away, leaving only a complicated sigil burned into the ground. About an hour later, that same beam of light appeared again, this time dropping an enraged alicorn stallion none-to-gently into the middle of that same sigil. The alicorn was incredibly tall, even for an alicorn, and so thin that he appeared almost spindly. His coat was a dull green color, his mane, pitch black and tightly slicked down the back of his neck His tail was much the same as his mane. On his flank was an image of a serpent eating its own tail. “Damn you, Heimdall! Open the Bifrost! DO NOT LEAVE ME HERE! I would rather go back to the dungeon than stay here as a horse! Send me back to Asgard, kill me if you must, but DO NOT LEAVE ME HERE TO DIE OF HUMILIATION. Open the damned Bifrost, Heimdall!” Celestia and Luna had seen the flash from the castle and had come out to meet the stallion who was their grandmother... grandfather... whatever. What they came upon was an infuriated alicorn stallion stomping around in a circle and periodically stopping to shake his hoof and swear at the sky. The two alicorn mares looked at each other. “So, uh, any chance you want to go introduce yourself to him?” Celestia asked. “You first,” Luna replied dryly. To Be Continued