We Remember Everything

by Thunderscourge

Just Like You

With no heed for personal safety, Luna shapeshifted into her equine form and prepared to gallop forward at full speed. Thor was the only one there that batted an eyelash at the transformation, Heimdall not at all surprised.

Thor grabbed the fur on Luna’s shoulder and gripped with his tremendous strength, “Wait!”

Luna cast her eyes back to him and snorted as the pain began to get to her. Loki’s brother was quite strong, that she now knew. Thor took her pause as an opening to explain himself, “We all knew this was going to happen to some degree, even if father’s actions were excessive-“

To break free of his grip Luna shifted back to her humanoid form, batting away the hand that once held her shoulder, “Loki is, largely, innocent and they dragged him off without even asking a question. Loki has told me of how this man can see anything he looks for,” she turned around to face the guard who had greeted them, but even her scowl did not cause his face to be anything but impassive, “So, sir Heimdall, have you not observed everything that has occurred?”

Loki had spoke of the all seeing guard of Asgard capable of seeing anything he wished and listen in on anything he desired, so long as he could focus on it. Loki would bring this fact up as an insult, as Loki had no issues sneaking by the supposedly perceptive man using his magic.

Heimdall gave a slight nod to Luna, his orange eyes growing an uneasy feeling in her because of their intensity, “I have.”

Ignoring the fear growing in her gut, Luna pushed past Thor to approach Heimdall and jab a finger into his chest, “Then you know Loki to be innocent! And yet you let him be dragged off.”

Heimdall sighed and would have looked past her if she did not meet his height, “My last experience with Loki in person ended in his attempting to turn me into an ice statue. My feelings towards him may not be the most sympathetic,” he met eye contact with Luna again, his tone still neutral and face impassive, “He will stand trial. My king is a fair man, and he will no doubt treat his own son with the respect he deserves given the circumstances Loki has found himself in.”

The mention of Loki’s circumstances revealed a greater deal of knowledge than Luna was even assuming the man had, shocking her long enough for Heimdall to speak again.

Heimdall lifted his large blade so that its tip was perpendicular and no longer resting on the ground, “I would have struck Loki down upon arriving had he been the tyrant he had been upon leaving Asgard,” the sword quickly returned to its position resting on the Bifrost, “I will admit that I was not sure what to do when I found him in another land in another form-“

Thor laughed at the thought of Loki as a horse, but Luna cut him off to narrow her eyes at Heimdall. There were certain things she did not wish for any other being to see, and to have this stranger do so made her feel invaded, “You were spying on us.”

The smallest of smiles crept upon the otherwise stoic man’s face, “Do not worry, I have long since learned when I am intruding as well as when I should use discretion,” it disappeared as he gave a respectful nod to her, “Your time with him did much to cure the darkness that had weaved its way into his heart.”

“How much have you told the others?”

“Little. I only have spoken of the incident in your capital city, as it appeared as if we should intervene. The battle shifted realms before we could think to do anything about it, as our primary method of transport is out of commission. The Allfather has not requested any updates since after my discovery of Loki’s coercion, so he remains ignorant.”

“I…” Luna swallowed her pride with a small sigh, “Thank you, soldier.”

Thor brought a hand up to Heimdall’s back and smiled to the man, “I appreciate your assistance, Heimdall. Thank you for looking after Asgard in my absence.”

Not one for physical gestures it seemed, Heimdall dryly replied, “It is my eternal duty,” he turned his attention back to Luna as she turned to head after the king, “Your frustration at the Allfather is not unfounded, but know that I have an oath to my king. Should any harm come to him, I will know, and it will be paid in kind.”

Luna cackled as she beckoned Thor to follow, calming herself down to speak, “I do not intend to cause him any great harm…just whatever will convince him not to throw Loki in jail for the rest of his life. I’m the only one who gets to tell Loki where he sleeps.”

With Thor leading them it did not take long for Luna and the prince to reach the castle that all of Asgard was centered around. Observing the beautiful landscapes and architecture were not on the forefront of Luna’s mind as they approached, her thoughts instead turned to how for all she knew Loki could be executed. Thor had admitted to knowing not about how the matter would be handled, since this was the first time Asgard was faced with such a complex case.

The building dwarfed in size the one Luna lorded over in Canterlot, with a golden feel to it and its many structures. The guards too were wearing golden armor that shined, as well as resembled in part the ornate outfit that Loki would wear on occasion with the helmet-horns. None paid mind to the two as they entered, their duty being to be there and stand at attention at all times in preparation of any threat.

The part of the building that Thor lead her to did not appear to be a dungeon or throne room, leaving Luna confused. Where had he brought them?

Thor stopped at a door and pushed it open, revealing a large and tidy room that appeared as if no soul had touched in quite some time. He entered and Luna followed, still curious about what this was.

Any ambiguity about the place was lost when Luna’s eyes found a green sheeted bed, tomes neatly placed on an army of bookcases and some placed lazily on a table that had a spare golden helmet resting on top of it. Loki’s headgear specifically.

Thor sadly looked over the room, “If my suspicions are correct, Loki’s trial will be taking place shortly. For now I suggest you wait here. I will confront father first and attempt to explain everything. He must know of Loki’s dark benefactors if he is to see reason.”

As much as she wished to be there to tell the Allfather off, Luna knew that doing so might lead to bad things for Loki given her brashness. Thor introducing the information to him may be the most appropriate solution, and then having her own experience support his could seal the deal.

“Thank you.”

Thor left without another word, not having a moment to spare given the situation. With nothing but the presence of the room left to greet her, Luna took to sifting about it as the door closed behind Thor.

The bookcase revealed many arcane tomes with languages Luna had never encountered before. She was just glad she could understand Loki’s kind, even if they were different. That was not something she had asked Loki about, but she would bet that it had something to do with how he could read all of these books. His kind seemed to be able to communicate with all others, and so maybe becoming one temporarily had granted her the ability to do the same. How else could she have spoken to Stark, Banner and the others on Earth?

Then again, she still couldn’t read any of the things marking these books. Perhaps Loki was just smart enough to decipher them? Luna enjoyed having such an intelligent man to be with when he wasn’t using it to pull off overly complicated schemes of world domination.

That thought drew her back to the situation at hand, the most recent of the many issues Loki has had to face in his life and by extension the newest of Luna’s own limitless supply.

“When will Loki and I be given a break? Has everything we’ve been through not been enough?” Luna ranted to the empty room, not actually expecting a reply.

To Loki’s credit the room was very sparse, not overcrowded with things of self-adoration as Luna might have expected with his ego. The only picture to be found was not of him alone, but rather a portrait made of both him and a figure Luna recognized as his mother.

As crazy as he had been driven to in recent days, Luna had no doubt that Loki still loved his mother. She would call him a mother’s boy if she wasn’t afraid of hurting his feelings, as while it was true he was still an egotist. An egotist who had a very soft spot for his mother and a certain shapeshifting horse, who so happened to reciprocate the feeling despite her own ways.

Luna loved her mother too, even if she was gone now. The feeling of never being able to say apologize to her was one Luna tried her best to forget, for Luna’s own error had brought about that pain.

Her sister, for the most part, seemed to have come to terms with the fact long before Luna’s return. With nearly an entire millennium to accept her mother’s passing, she was in a better place than Luna who only learned of their mother’s passing upon returning. A part of her had feared during her long exile how her mother would take it all, take Luna trying to kill Celestia, but the truth was not until after her original tenure as Nightmare Moon had ended.

Luna took a seat at Loki’s table and let out a depressed breath, “Celestia…what is happening back in Equestria? I can only fear the worst given the state it was left in,” her hands took the helmet from the table and began to play with it absently, “I pray the Changelings have been fully driven off. That Loki’s intended failure actually was one.”

Looking into the helmet reflected Luna’s own appearance to a degree, which got her interested in inspecting her body more. A quick look around the room revealed that the egotist did in fact have a mirror, in which Luna could see herself from the seat.

A tall, more so than even Loki’s large brother, and slim woman met Luna in the reflection. Her indigo hair and midnight blue garment contrasted her pale skin greatly, the princess of night not at all surprised about her paleness. After all, she did spend most her time inside and only recently began venturing out into the actual sun. Still, it reminded her of a chessboard with how the colors contrasted.

Looking over her form more, Luna still found herself a bit perturbed by how little she knew about humanoids. She had yet to inspect her body much underneath the cloth, so she was still left to wonder what the swell of a chest could do besides get in her way. She also wondered if she had her Cutie Mark, known simply as a Mark back in her day, because of how Loki mentioned his kind don’t have them. If she did not, Luna would be sure to rectify that. It would feel odd to not have it after centuries and centuries of being so attached to it.

None of this changed the fact that her humanoid form was more similar to Nightmare Moon’s frame than her original one, and the thought of that only reminded Luna about why she even needed to make that transformation in the first place. Everything in her mind was circling back to the topic at hand, and so she pondered quietly in the otherwise silent room.

“Perhaps Heimdall can lend me insight on how Equestria fares…”

A yawn cut her musing off, and brought about another line of thought.

“I must return to my old sleeping schedule. It is quite taxing to be awake at varying hours consistently,” She looked over to the green and empty bed mischievously, “This classic atmosphere is quite nice, however. Much more familiar than Midgard.”

Luna tiredly stumbled over to the bed and quickly found herself wrapping its green sheets around her, burying her face into the closest pillow and enjoying the silk feel on it.

Her own antics amused her, “If anypony had told me a year ago that I was to fall in love with a fellow former omnicidal maniac who had family issues, I would have labeled them mad.”

She found herself peacefully drifting off as she inhaled Loki’s, and only Loki’s, scent.

A short nap would not hurt things.

It took Thor quite some time to meet with his father, who sat on his throne as the room was being prepared for what would be Loki’s trial where Odin would decide his punishment.

The reason for the time it took was that he first had tried to talk to Loki directly in the dungeon in order to learn more to tell their father about Loki’s corrupters, but Thor was disallowed under the order of Odin to see him. The guards had not let him in, and Thor had decided it was not worth the effort of fighting through them to get that information. It could only make everything worse if a fight were to break out after all in what would look like a jailbreak.

The guards at the throne room apparently had been given the same orders, as they too resisted letting him in. Thor, tired of the resistance he was facing, did his best to convince them that he needed to go in. That his father needed the information he was to give. This convincing took what felt to the warrior like centuries, and after this he was let in on the condition he leave when done given the privacy of the event.

Odin noticed Thor walking across the long room towards him and held a hand up to halt him from the throne he sat upon, “Begone, Thor. You are not required for this. This is to between Loki and I.”

Thor kneeled and bowed his head, both to show respect and to bolster the chances what he was going to say would let him stay, “Father, I have important knowledge concerning Loki. I only wish to discuss it before you make any-“

The Allfather cut him off, tone beginning harshly and slowly morphing to become “You will be asked if and when any information is required from you. I thank you for your insistence, but this is not the time.”

Stepping out from the side of the throne room, previously unnoticed by Thor, was a woman in regal clothes that befit her status as Queen of Asgard, “Let us go Thor. I think we should speak outside.”

Knowing that his father had a short fuse and accepting that he would get to tell him in the near future, Thor relented, “As you wish, father.”

His mother took his arm while Thor stood up, the two turning to leave when a cacophony of boots caught their ears. Into the chamber came a whole array of guards who were all centered around a familiar figure. Loki stood in chains between them, the sight of which brought a frown to both his brother’s and mother’s face.

“Loki,” Frigga’s let out softly as the guards stopped by her and Thor, Loki having stopped his own pace to look at them.

Loki ignored Thor in favor of his only family member he did not have some level of contempt for, “Hello Mother. Have I made you proud?”

She authoritatively pleaded with him, “Please, don’t make this worse.”

Thor opened his mouth to speak, but Loki tilted his head and spoke first.

“Define worse.”

From the throne came Odin’s voice, drawing Loki’s attention to him instead, “Enough. I will speak to the prisoner alone.”

Thor and his mother continued on their way out silently, not sure what was going to happen between Loki and his previously beloved father, but both hoping that nothing too drastic would happen. They passed another guard on the way out, this one trailing behind the others and closing the door.

Inside the throne room, Loki stood before his father with his familiar smirk. He would not make this encounter easy for his father in payment for how his father failed him.

“I really don’t see what all of the fuss is about.”

Odin was not pleased with Loki’s tone, “Do you not truly feel the gravity of your crimes? Wherever you go there is war, ruin, and death.”

Despite the dark benefactors behind the effort and their influence, Loki had not had any ill intentions for the people themselves. After all, Asgard had looked after their world for millennia, “I went down to Midgard to rule the people of Earth as a benevolent god,” Loki narrowed his eyes, “Just like you.”

Odin did not take the personal jab well, “Only we do not seek to conquer them. To subjugate them to our will. We only seek to help other races and support them in their times of need.”

Loki’s mouth twisted into a sick smile, “Oh, and why not tell me about the last race who dared oppose Asgard in any manner?” he laughed, “That’s right, they were wiped out for being the savages they were. Quite the friendly bunch, aren’t we?”

Odin narrowed his one eye, “You were the one who used the Bifrost to harm Jotunheim and your people.”

Loki’s joviality quickly left him, “Oh, I apologize for ending a conflict without costing our people unnecessary lives. And you have been so kind to them since I’ve left, or so I have been told. Tell me, are they all still freezing on that desolate rock without their leader and a portion of their population? Is this not their time of need?”

Odin leaned back in his throne, “And what would you have me do? Take in the people who tried slaying me? Who have warred with our kind for centuries?”

Loki rolled his eyes, “Well, yes. That is generally what helping requires you to do, swallow your pride. But you can’t do that, can you, even if it would help a dying race?”

Odin scoffed and brought himself forward on the throne so that he was leaning towards Loki, “I think we have forgotten who is on trial here. All of this because Loki Laufeyson desires a throne.”

That made Loki grow rigid. He had not desired the throne until it had been his. Until it had been taken from him, “It is my birthright.”

“Your birthright was to die!” Odin spat venomously before calming himself, “As a child, cast out onto that frozen rock. If I had not taken you in, you would not be here now to hate me.”

First observing the guards and at the room around him, Loki gave Odin a pleading look, “If I am for the axe, then for mercy’s sake, just swing it.”

Odin did not have a response for that, so Loki continued.

“It’s not that I don’t love our little talks, it’s just...” his voice trailed off as he came to a realization.

Somewhere since the time he had learned of his true parentage, since his father had let him fall into madness alone, and since he had not tried to comfort him, Loki no longer wanted more than anything to please him. He no longer cared.

His voice was soft as he finished, “I don’t love them.”

“Frigga is the only reason you are alive, and you will never see her again. You will spend the rest of your days in the dungeon.”

For the first time in a long time, Loki had nothing smart to say. He was not able to be snarky. He was too busy dealing with the way his stomach dropped at how his father just said he would never see his mother again.

Loki could not keep the anger out of his voice, “And what of Thor? You’ll make that witless oaf king while I rot in chains for crimes not of my control?”

Odin almost took pleasure out of his response, ignoring what Loki said about control, “Thor must strive to undo the damage you have done, he will bring order to the nine realms, and then, yes, he will be king.”

The guards took Loki and dragged him out of the room, leaving only Odin and a handful of guards behind. Their conversation was over and his fate was determined.

One of the guards who remained, the one who had last passed Thor and Frigga, did not follow the crowd with Loki as they had before. Instead they approached Odin’s throne to his confusion.

The lips of the guard moved, but instead of a man’s voice a female’s voice came from it to the Allfather’s surprise, “And here I thought the beloved father Loki spoke of would have a soul.”

Odin lifted his eyebrows and began to respond, only for the guard’s image to be replaced with the woman who had been accompanying Thor earlier in the day.

He did not know what she was planning on doing, but Odin did not fear her even if she could use illusions like Loki, “Tread wisely, foreigner.”

“I will do the contrary unless you will accept your responsibility in what has transpired, Odin Allfather,” Luna took another step towards the throne as the guards in the room rushed to surround her from behind, “You are an old, feeble man unfit for the role you find yourself in.”

Still not caring if she thought herself menacing or not, Odin just sat back in his throne, “To say a ruler is unfit is to invite conflict. Ill advised, given your trespassing.”

Luna snorted and scowled at him, not caring about the many guards that circled around her, “I was speaking of your role as a father. I pity Loki for ever pouring his love and adoration into you these many years.”

Odin did not feel like being lectured by another child, so he waved his hand at his guards, “Remove her.”

They moved to do so, but she disappeared in a puff of blue smoke. They all looked around to find her, only to discover that her new location was standing over the Allfather right at his throne. In one hand was a conjured dagger made of ice, fashioned by Luna specifically to evoke the dagger used by Laufey in his own assassination attempt.

“I brought this as a backup plan. I have been told your race respects strength, so here I am demonstrating my own. Care to hear me out?”

Odin narrowed his eye and snarled, “If you harm me you will never leave this place.”

Luna took a step back and whisked the dagger away into the pocket dimension she had stored it in, “Then do not make me. You would be best to not make an enemy of me, for I am not known for my unwavering temper. What I am known for is for striking fear in those around me with my magic.”

“As if you are the worst foe I have encountered in my life, girl.”

“The name is Luna, foal, and I will be the last of your foes if you continue down this path,” “Loki left out some details about what you would jail him for. He was not the one in control, not that you cared to question him about that when he briefly mentioned it. He’s honestly too prideful to say someone else was pulling the strings.”

“Control Loki? You must not know him that well, child.”

“Oh and I suppose you do, father who neglects his child and plays favorites.”

“You act as if you hold the higher moral ground, but you do not. You come here and threaten me, the-”

Luna bringing her arm back suddenly to catch a guard that had been creeping up on her by the throat prevented Odin from finishing.

His words only seemed to amuse her, “You want a threat?” gripping the man tightly and squeezing his throat to a suffocating level, she lifted him up and into the air while turning her attention to the man instead of Odin, “Touch me again, and I will kill you.”

The few others guards who had stayed behind rushed forward to help their comrade, but they tumbled down the stairs as Luna tossed him at them. Luna was not a diplomat and was sure Celestia could handle this all a lot better, but this was what she knew. She’d bash as many heads as it took for Odin to listen to her.

Before the situation could escalate further though, a voice called from across the chamber.

“Odin.”

All eyes turned to face Frigga and Thor, who now stood in the throne room once more. Thor was looking at the pile of guards with amusement, but the fact that there was a fight breaking out in the first place had the opposite effect on him.

Odin stood up from his throne so he could see his wife better, “Frigga, would you mind helping me remove this vagrant?”

Frigga had a scowl as she spoke, “Yes, I would mind. She speaks the truth of Loki. Thor has corroborated her story, as has Heimdall who is waiting outside.”

Odin growled as he turned to Luna, “Then I shall hear this story out. Explain this matter so I can better understand.”

Luna smiled and stepped back from him to stop invading his personal space, “What we know is that Loki was tortured, blackmailed with threats against his mother’s life, and had his mind altered by some unknown group bent on controlling Earth.”

That gave the Allfather pause. He had not heard this information previously, and if two of his most trusted advisors and his son corroborated it he was more than willing to listen. As furious as hearing that Loki had nearly brought war to two realms made him, hearing that someone else made him do it was even worse for him.

Odin nodded as he sunk back onto his throne, “Go on.”

Luna was pleased to see that the Allfather’s moods and temperament varied as much as her own, that she wasn’t alone in that or in how she felt finding that Loki was coerced into his crimes, “We know not of how his controllers will retaliate, only that their ruthlessness knows no bounds and that they will no doubt try to finish the work they had Loki begin.”

She took in a breath as she looked to Frigga and Thor, then back to Odin to continue, “Loki needs to be protected, as well as punished fairly. He took matters into his own hands and did not confide the truth of the invasions until after the fact, so he remains partially responsible. But the true blame is far from his.”

Odin felt the color draining from his face as he realized that he had been in error to not question Loki further. His son’s own arrogance had assisted this, yes, but he would have been punished severely for something he had no power over it seems.

The Allfather gripped his fist tightly as he imagined the throat of whoever was behind this, “I will have my men search for these fiends, for they threaten not only one of the realms we protect but also Asgard if they can control Loki in such a matter. Loki will be put under house arrest until we have settled the matter and made sure their influence is gone. At that point I will decide how to handle the situation.”

Luna bowed politely, quite pleased with how Frigga had turned things around with the information Thor had given her along with Heimdall, “Thank you for your consideration, Allfather.”

Odin laughed at the complete shift in her attitude, noting that she was ready to slit his throat mere minutes ago and now she was gracefully bowing to him now that he had reconsidered on his Loki decision, “It takes a brave or foolish woman to confront me in such a manner. I am assuming you are the consort of Loki, so I can only also assume you are the former. I have no quarrel with you, but I would recommend a less aggressive approach in our future meetings.”

Luna could not help but feel relieved, but she hid it through arrogance, “I only wished to let you know where I stand, Allfather. Concerning this world my only loyalty lays within Loki, the son who was corrupted by the terrible fiends I have spoken of. If he steps out of line at their behest again, I will be the first to put him in his place.”

Odin nodded to the disgruntled guards in the room, “You possess impressive powers. Of what race do you hail?”

“I am an Alicorn, a rare race that has previously not had contact with your kind. We are physical gods on our world similar to how you are in comparison to your Midgardian counterparts, only my sister and I have the power to move the moon and sun with our magic. We are also our land’s rulers, given our capabilities.”

The notion that this woman before him could hold such great powers would have made the Allfather laugh if not for her brief demonstration of skill and for how she had drawn Loki’s interest, “You must be quite the sorcerer. My wife is quite adept with magic, and I am no stranger, but our land is mostly without it.”

“One third of our populace has the ability to use magic for specified tasks, and races similar to our own like the Changelings can too harness it. We are a land of great magical potential, which is why I believe we became a target for Loki’s controllers as well.”

Odin inspected Luna closer and grinned, “This is all very surprising for a race of sentient horses.”

Luna looked around to see if Frigga reacted at that at all, only to find that she and Thor had both departed likely to see Loki. That did not stop the guards from hearing though, and so she felt a little embarrassed. Would their culture mind that her original form was so different from Loki’s own?

“You can see through my transformation now?”

Odin grunted, “With some effort, yes, I can see through many illusions, having have lived thousands of years with a master illusionist and the son she taught. You do not appear to be actively keeping it, however, so I will admit I am intrigued as to how you maintain this form.”

The princess looked over herself briefly, “Upon traveling to Midgard I was placed in this form without any warning. I can transform if I please, but I find that this one is more suited for your worlds.”

“Leave it to Loki to court a horse,” Odin snorted, “Now, I have much to consider and take care of if this news you bring is true, so leave me be. Heimdall and I have much to speak of. Loki will remain in the dungeon until his punishment is reconsidered, but for now you may take residence in his former chambers.”

Luna took her leave, glad that the situation with Loki was taken care of for she had many other issues to face in the coming days and she did not want to be warring with a king over her lover’s punishment.