//------------------------------// // Six: Stand Up, Part One // Story: Grandfather's Coming For A Visit // by GoesKaboom //------------------------------// Loki watched as Luna knocked on the door to the tree-house. The door swung open, but Loki could not see through Luna's body. Whoever, or whatever, had opened the door was small enough to be obscured completely by the great mare's body. He caught a few snatches of conversation, but not really enough to make sense of what was going on. Then, Luna disappeared inside the house, leaving him all alone. Feeling rather foolish, Loki sat down on the ground, trying to ignore how undignified it was. He had to remember that he was no longer a prince in Asgard- what would have been considered humiliatingly common back there did not apply here, and certainly, no one was about to bring him a gilded chair so that he could sit comfortably. A few moments later, however, he noticed three different ponies, ones he'd never seen before, walking towards him. At first, given their small size, he wondered if they were dwarf versions of the ponies, but he quickly realized they were foals. There was a little yellow one, a normal pony, if a bright yellow miniature horse could be considered “normal,” a small orange pegasus, and what at first he thought was a brown unicorn. Once they got a bit closer, though, he realized that the “brown” foal was actually covered in mud and limping. The other two were trying to support her. “Ah cain't believe Diamond Tiara actually did that!” the yellow one ranted, her voice tinged by an accent Loki had never heard before. “T'aint right! She could have really hurt you! I cain't believe she actually went that far!” “Well, I knew it was only a matter of time,” the orange one huffed. “She's been getting worse lately. I just can't believe she really did it. But don't feel bad, Sweetie- she's just too much of a scaredy-pony to do something like that to somepony who might actually fight her back! You notice she's never done anything like that to Snips or Snails, right?” “Come on,” the muddy unicorn said dejectedly. “I just want to go home and have a bath, to get the mud off. Rarity is going to kill me if she finds me like this.” “Sweetie Belle, Ah don't think that's a good idea,” the yellow one interrupted. “You need ta go to the doctor! Ah think you sprained your ankle.” “Guys, look!” the orange pegasus interjected, pointing a hoof straight ahead at Loki. “That guy's an alicorn! Maybe he can help!” Loki stiffened in surprise as the three fillies approached him. They were moving carefully, but not as though they were afraid of him. They were moving slowly so that their injured friend could keep pace with them. “Can I help you?” he asked when they reached him, more curious than anything else. The three fillies had come to him without fear, with full confidence that he was harmless. No one in Asgard would have done that. Really wanting to know what was going on, he stood up. The little orange pegasus filly seemed to be the leader of the group. She stood up to her full height (which wasn't really very much) and introduced herself. “I'm Scootaloo, and these are my friends Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. Sweetie Belle fell and got hurt, we think she twisted her hoof. Can you help us, Mr. Alicorn?” “How are you an alicorn, anyway?” the yellow filly, the one apparently called Apple Bloom asked. “Ah thought there were only four alicorns.” “Apple Bloom! Don't be rude!” the muddy Sweetie Belle admonished. Loki chuckled. Back in Asgard, none of the children would have been brave enough to approach the creepy, traitorous younger prince, much less speak to him so disrespectfully. Loki found it to be a nice change, even if it was rather jarring to be addressed so presumptuously. He decided he liked the foals. “My name is Loki. I am the grandfather of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna,” he answered. Apple Bloom eyed him suspiciously. “You don't look old enough to be nopony's granddaddy,” she accused. “He's an alicorn!” Scootaloo retorted for him. “Aside from Twilight, how many alicorns do you know that aren't part of the Royal Family? And Princess Celestia is, like, a million billion years old but she looks younger than your grandma.” “Yeah, Ah guess you're right,” Apple Bloom conceded. With that out of the way, Loki turned back to the problem at hand. “Why are you so muddy? Did you fall and hurt yourself?” he asked Sweetie Belle. “Um... I guess,” the muddy filly answered. Loki didn't have to be the God of Lies to realize that she wasn't telling the truth. Clearly, her friends realized it too, since they both turned to her in exasperation. “Sweetie, ya can't lie to an alicorn!” Apple Bloom reprimanded. “Yeah! He'll lock you in a dungeon or something!” Scootaloo added. Sweetie Belle sighed. She didn't want to admit the embarrassing truth of what happened to some random pony she'd just met, let alone an alicorn who claimed to be the Princesses' grandfather! “D-diamond Tiara was teasing us about not having cutie marks yet,” Sweetie explained hesitantly. “When I tried to leave, she tripped me and I fell in the mud. I landed strangely on my hoof, and I think I might have sprained it.” Loki frowned. This Diamond Tiara sounded unpleasantly reminiscent of some of Thor's brutish friends, especially that Sif woman who constantly hung around him. Running into a ponified version of Sif was not something particularly high on his priority list, but he supposed it couldn't be helped. Besides, Sweetie Belle had said something else that caught his attention. “She was mocking you for not having a cutie mark? What is a cutie mark, and why is it so important?” Once again, the three fillies looked suspiciously at him. “How do you not know what a cutie mark is? You're an adult! And an alicorn!” Scootaloo looked offended at the very idea. “You even have yours! It's... uh...” the filly's voice trailed off as she got a good look at the stallion's mark. The snake eating its own tail seemed to unnerve her, but she gathered up her courage. “You know, it's the mark you get when you discover your special talent. All adult ponies have it.” “Ah,” Loki nodded in understanding. He had been wondering what the picture on his ass was. “Now I know what you mean- I have always called it something different.” There was no need to tell them that he'd had it for all of two days and called it “that weird picture on my ass” for those two days. “And why is it considered so shameful to not have a cutie mark?” Again, the fillies looked at him incredulously. “Because not having your cutie mark means you don't have a special talent,” Sweetie Belle finally answered. But Loki shook his head. “Just because you do not have this cutie mark does not mean you do not have any talents. And to me, at least, it seems like fixating on this one thing would be detrimental to your well-being. Let me tell the three of you a story. I have an older brother who is very skilled in battle. From the time both of us were very small, he was told what a great warrior he was, what a brilliant battle strategist he would become as an adult, and how he would bring endless glories to our homeland. It made him arrogant, and it made him stupid. Now the only thing he knows how to do with any competence whatsoever is hit things with his hammer. And it is all because he believed that useless crap about his 'special talent' being battle.” The alicorn stallion looked sternly at the fillies. “I am sure that the three of you are exponentially more intelligent than my brother. Do not be in such a hurry to find this special talent of yours. It will come in due time.” “But it's not fair!” Sweetie Belle burst out, tears welling up in her eyes. “Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon always make fun us, and they pushed me in the mud! And they'll just do it again tomorrow, and my ankle hurts!” Loki's frown deepened. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were reminding him more and more of the more unpleasant and ignorant members of Aesir society. He was beginning to like the three fillies as well- it was refreshing that they willingly approached him and talked to him so easily. For the first time in a long while, he actually felt the beginnings of an emotion other than apathy, rage, or despair stirring within his heart. It took him a while longer to realize that the feeling was, in fact, compassion. He remembered a spell taught to him as a boy, by the woman he'd called “mother.” It was a spell to heal minor injuries, and she had taught it to him after a particularly vicious dust-up between himself and Thor's friends. It was a long shot, especially considering how wonky his magic had been over the past couple of days, but he felt compelled to try. “Hold still, little one,” Loki ordered. Sweetie Belle complied, and Loki's horn began to glow with a soft green light. The mud immediately dropped off of Sweetie's body, and the glow concentrated around her hoof before dying away. Tentatively, she flexed it, and upon discovering that it was no longer hurting her, Sweetie cried out happily, nearly tackling Loki in her excitement to hug him. Startled, Loki almost drew back, but stopped himself at the last second, allowing the filly to cuddle him. It was almost... nice. “Thank you, Mr. Loki! It doesn't hurt anymore!” she said happily. Loki smiled- not his usual cold rictus, but a genuine grin. “I'm just glad it worked,” he said. Then, he turned again to all three of them. “Now, why don't you show me where I can find this Diamond Tiara? I think I need to have... words with her.” “So you see,” Luna finished her explanation of the situation to Twilight. “I am not sure why his powers do not work here in Equestria, but I think it may have something to do with the fact that he wasn't always an alicorn. I was hoping you might have some insight on that, or at least be able to help him learn to control his powers.” “But Princess!” Twilight protested. “I was always a pony! Your... grandfather... you said he's not usually a pony at all, never mind an alicorn! I don't know very much about the magic of other species on this world, let alone those from other worlds! And what you described his usual form as... I've never heard of anything like it, unless you count those 'human' things Lyra Heartstrings is obsessed with!” “I am surprised at you, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna said, a touche of disapproval in her voice. “I have never known you to turn down an intellectual challenge, and more than that, I have never known you to turn down somepony who needs help. It is quite unlike you.” Twilight looked as though she had been slapped. “That's not it at all, Princess!” she exclaimed. “I just have no idea where to start. What do I do? I barely know anything about this stallion, let alone what the problem is! I just don't think I would be able to be of any help to him.” Luna sighed. She should have foreseen this, given Twilight's perfectionist streak. “I know the prospect is daunting. But there is nopony else I can ask. Grandfather does not trust me, and he trusts Celestia even less. Worse, I think he actively dislikes her. But you, Twilight Sparkle, are a blank slate, as it were. You have the advantage of not having always been an alicorn, and the fact that Grandfather is not familiar with you. If it turns out that you cannot help, nopony will think any less of you.” “He might,” Twilight replied stubbornly. Luna shrugged. “Possibly. But he was just as skeptical as you are, so I doubt it.” Twilight was silent for a few moments, then stomped her hoof and tossed her head decisively. “Alright. Fine. I will do what I can.” “Excellent!” Luna clapped her hooves. “He's right outside. I had him wait there while I spoke with you, so as not to overwhelm you. Grandfather, there's somepony I would like you to meet,” she called out as she opened the door. “This is Princess Twilight Sparkle, who I told you about? She might be able to... help... you...” the night alicorn's voice trailed off as she realized that the area outside of Twilight's residence was devoid of a certain alicorn stallion. “Um, Princess?” Twilight offered hesitantly. “I... don't think he is here.” “Oh, buck,” Luna swore. To Be Continued