//------------------------------// // Four: Short Circuited // Story: Grandfather's Coming For A Visit // by GoesKaboom //------------------------------// The next morning, Loki awoke to a knock at the door of the room he had been assigned for the duration of his stay in Equestria. Yawning, he shuffled over to the door, expecting one of the palace servants to be bringing him breakfast, which he wasn't looking forward to. It seemed like all of the breakfast foods available in this realm were made of hay. Loki did not particularly care for hay. Half-awake, Loki opened the door, expecting to see one of the palace maids standing there with his breakfast. Instead of a maid, however, the dark blue alicorn who'd introduced herself as Luna stepped inside. “Good morning, grandfather. I hope you slept well?” “Ah... yes, I did. Thank you,” the alicorn-ified God of Mischief replied. “What can I do for you?” Luna looked nervously at the floor. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all? “I was... I was wondering if you would like to go out for breakfast with me this morning,” she finally said, not looking up from her hooves. “Exhibit A informed me that you do not like hay, so maybe you'd like to be able to get something else?” she suggested nervously, hazarding a glance at Loki's expression. It looked as though it had been carved from stone. Luna's heart sank. Of course he wouldn't want to have breakfast with her, he barely knew her. And blood relation or no blood relation, nopony would want to spend time with somepony they viewed as their jailor. Luna's ears unconsciously drooped. “I apologize for bothering you, grandfather,” she said, turning to leave. “I will have one of the maids bring you a hay-free breakfast.” “Wait.” Loki's voice stopped her. “I would love to. But your sister said I was to be confined to the palace.” “I am also a princess of Equestria,” Luna replied. “As long as you are with me, it will be fine. And I know that if I was in your horseshoes I would want to go out. When I was trapped on the moon I spent the first century or so desperate for a donut.” Loki's next question died on his lips as Luna's words registered. “You were imprisoned on this realm's moon?” Even by Aesir standards, that was harsh. What could this harmless-looking, and frankly cute, mare possibly have done that warranted such treatment? And how had she survived? Being trapped on the moon should have been fatal, from what Loki knew of Asgard's moon, at least. Luna just smiled bitterly, recognizing the stallion's question. “You told Celestia and me what you did to end up here in Equestria. Let's just say that you are not the only pony to have ever felt ignored in favor of your sibling.” Loki was absolutely appalled. If he was understanding Luna's implications properly, then it would have been the sibling that she felt overlooked by who'd done such a thing. And as far as he knew, he only had two grandchildren, so that would make Celestia the one who'd trapped Luna on the moon. Even Thor hadn't done anything so absolutely barbaric as that to him, although he'd come close on occasion. “Celestia trapped you on the moon?! What kind of daughters did my son raise?! Even the Aesir wouldn't do that, and believe me, they do not hesitate to hand out brutal punishment!” “Oh no, it wasn't like that,” Luna replied, eyes widening. “I deserved it.” “You deserved to be condemned to a slow and painful death on a floating space rock? In Asgard, there is the death penalty, but at least they carry it out quickly and efficiently!” “No, you don't understand,” Luna replied. “I control Equestria's moon. Being sealed in the moon would not hurt me, it just got me out of the way until I was no longer a threat..” “Forgive me for saying so, granddaughter, but you do not look like much of a threat,” Loki said skeptically. Luna let out a bitter little laugh. “You did not see me then. You spoke of being controlled by an outside force- those Chee-tarry things. Because I was jealous of my sister, I made a bargain that in the end would have destroyed every living thing in Equestria. You said you killed around a thousand? I would have killed a billion. In order to stop that, Celestia sealed me in the moon until such a time when I could be extracted from the force I had entangled myself with.” “I... see,” Loki said. For the first time since this whole debacle began, he started to wish he had known about his granddaughters before this. While his intervention probably wouldn't have made much of a difference, Loki still wondered if things might have ended differently for the both of them. He and Luna were both were younger siblings, both overshadowed by the elder... technically they were ancestor and descendant, but maybe they could have been friends. Maybe they each could have helped prevent the other's fall to darkness. Maybe. “In that case, I would love to have breakfast with you. There is just one problem- as I understand it, you and I both are 'alicorns,' I think the term is. I am told there are only four ponies in existence that are alicorns, and all are royalty. Wouldn't this make us too conspicuous? In Asgard, the royal family would not go out among the commoners, at least, not without being in disguise.” Luna grinned. “Who said anything about not going out in disguise?” Her horn glowed briefly, and the mare’s body shimmered with a pearlescent blue light. When the light died away, a lighter blue, somewhat shorter mare was standing there. It took Loki a little longer to realize that she no longer seemed to have wings. She was now a normal, wingless unicorn. “Wings are easier to hide with magic than horns are,” Luna explained. “All you have to do is a simple disguise spell.” Loki suddenly looked embarrassed. “Ah… while if I was in my usual body a disguise spell would be quite easy, I seem to be unable to control my magic in this form. It would probably just blow something up. I haven’t had this much trouble with magic since I was a child.” “Really? Father said you were quite talented with magic.” “He is correct,” Loki replied rather arrogantly. “Unfortunately, I do not understand how to control it in this form. I do not understand what I am doing wrong.” “Are you sending the power to your horn?” Luna asked curiously. She had never heard of a unicorn, much less an alicorn, who had difficulty channeling their magic. Plenty had difficulty actually casting it properly, but sending it in the direction it needed to go should be second nature. Loki looked startled. “My… horn?” “Yes, your horn. That is how unicorns, as well as alicorns like us cast magic,” Luna explained. “I suppose you do not normally have a horn?” “That is correct,” Loki replied. “So if I channel my magic to my horn, I should be able to use it?” “Yes,” Luna answered. “Let’s try this, then,” Loki said. “How exactly did you cast your spell? In my normal form, a disguise spell would be cast by the caster thinking about what they wanted the disguise to look like, then letting their magic alter their form until they looked the way they wished to.” “That is… essentially what I did,” Luna replied. “Do you want to try?” “If I would like breakfast I suppose I will have to,” Loki said. The alicorn stallion closed his eyes, and focused the magic he could feel inside of him, mentally “poking” it along until it reached his horn. Oddly, the bony appendage felt warm and tingly, something Loki hadn’t been expecting. It felt different from the way his magic usually did; instead of feeling cold to the “touch” and vaguely slimy, this felt warm, tingly, and almost “fluffy,” if such a term could be used to describe something intangible. The stallion focused on what he wanted his glamour to look like, focused his magic more intently, and… promptly rocketed backwards across the room, propelled by the magical discharge from his horn. Loki slammed violently into the bookshelf, collapsing in a heap at the bottom as books rained down on his head. Swearing, he staggered to his feet. Luna rushed forward to help him. “Oh my goodness, are you alright?” she cried, extending out a hoof to help her grandfather up. Loki glowered, warring internally as to whether or not to snap at the mare to get out of his sight to salvage his wounded pride, or to accept the hoof offered. He was about to accept the hoof when a book bounced off his head, his eyes going cross-eyed from the impact. “LEAVE ME!” he shouted. Luna drew back, as though she had been burned. Loki grimaced; that came out a lot more hostile than he’d intended. “I apologize. I meant no offense to you, but given this turn of events… it is best that you leave me. I will stay in the castle today. Perhaps we can get this breakfast another time, when there is less of a chance that I will… have an accident. Now, go, I am sure you have other duties to attend to.” “Y-yes, of course,” Luna stammered, trying to hide exactly how hurt she felt. Not that she had really expected much, since Loki didn’t seem too pleased to be here in the first place. Still, he had tried to do something nice and had been rebuffed. “I apologize for having intruded.” Walking back to her own rooms to get some sleep, Luna could have kicked herself. Stupid, she thought. There is a reason you do not instruct anypony in magic, you always buck it up! Would you have gotten it right if someone tried to teach you to use magic that way? As she was preparing to go to bed for the day, however, another thought occurred to Luna. Maybe she wasn’t the right pony to try to teach Loki how to use alicorn magic, but there was somepony else would would be. Somepony else who had to adjust to alicorn magic after a lifetime of using a different kind of magic. Granted, unicorn magic was essentially the same as alicorn magic, except that the latter was far stronger. But when Twilight Sparkle became a princess, she had to learn how to control magical power that had suddenly increased exponentially from an already very high level. If there was anypony that would be able to explain how to use alicorn magic to Loki, it would be Equestria’s newest princess. Practically hopping out of bed, Luna rushed over to her desk. Levitating a pen in her telekinesis, she quickly wrote a letter to Twilight. Twilight Sparkle: I need your help with a top-secret project relating to Equestria’s national security. Aside from myself, you are the only pony so far to know about what I am calling Project Grandfather- even Celestia does not know about this as of yet, and it is absolutely imperative that you do not tell her, nor tell any of your friends. If all goes well, we will be able to tell them eventually , once the project is completed successfully. Luna giggled softly to herself as she wrote the paragraph. This was super exciting! Just like one of those books about spies she liked to read sometimes, or a movie. Although she really wasn’t kidding about Twilight needing to keep it a secret, even from Celestia. Somehow the younger alicorn thought that the elder wouldn’t approve. Not that it was going to stop Luna. Once again, I reiterate that you must not tell anypony, especially my sister. If it is convenient for you, please have Spike send me a reply to this message, and if it is, I will meet with you in Ponyville tomorrow at 4:00 PM. We have much to discuss. Laughing at how daring and spy-like it sounded, Luna closed the letter with one final thing: Remember, this is a matter of national security. Your discretion is of the utmost importance. Sincerely, Princess Luna Sending a burst of magic at the letter and watching it burst into flames, Luna smiled. As she got ready for bed, she felt reassured. Twilight would be able to help, and Loki would be able to learn to use his magic under the tutelage of another who hadn’t always been an alicorn. Spike was extremely excited. He had finally scrounged up enough gems (and avoided eating them long enough!) to make the gem cake of his dreams. And it was finally done! Layers and layers of succulent gemstones embedded in moist vanilla cake, all topped with a luscious buttercream frosting that Pinkie Pie had helped him make. And he was certainly ready to chow down! All of a sudden, however, he got the familiar nauseous feeling that meant a letter from one of the princesses was on its way. He turned away from his beautiful cake just in time, as he couldn’t hold it back anymore. With an almighty belch, Spike coughed up the letter. “TWILIGHT!” he hollered. “YOU HAVE A LETTER!” “There’s no need to shout, Spike, I’m right here,” Twilight said, exasperated. “Oh. Hehehe… right.” “I got a letter?” the purple alicorn asked. Spike nodded, handing the scroll over to Twilight, who took it in her telekinesis and began to read it. Her eyes widened. “Spike, I need you to take a letter and send it to Princess Luna immediately. Tell her I accept and will see her tomorrow afternoon.” Spike did so, and sent it off. “Can I eat my cake now?” he asked. “Of course,” Twilight replied. “Just make sure you clean up when you’re done, alright?” “Yeah, yeah,” Spike said, barely listening. He’d already turned his attention back to the decadent dessert that awaited him. Twilight stepped out of the kitchen, lost in thought. Luna needed her help! And it was apparently so important and secret that she couldn’t tell Princess Celestia about it. All of a sudden, the purple mare’s blood ran cold. No… it couldn’t be, could it? Luna had a secret project that Celestia couldn’t know about? What if it meant that Princess Luna was going over to the dark side again? What if the project Luna needed help with was the resurrection of Nightmare Moon? She should let Celestia know immediately! But then another thought came to her, one that chilled her more than the idea of Nightmare Moon returning. Princess Luna had said it was a matter of national security. What if there was a threat to Princess Celestia, one that would be even worse if she found out about it? “SPIKE!” Twilight called. “When you’re done with your cake I need your help- can you find me some books on stopping treasonous plots?!” To Be Continued