//------------------------------// // I Have To Be With You // Story: We Remember Everything // by Thunderscourge //------------------------------// A/N: Special thanks to Mutie Genic, Rispy5655, ArcaneVisions, Cadmium, Obsidian Raindrop, Ketvirtas, HaoKyruss, King Sombrony, Evowizard25, JaceArveduin, PhantomPhoenix, gakuseiakira, Drgnwolf, MoonSparkle The Vampony, Killabyte, and Sable Dawn for your comments last chapter! It is great comments like those that keep me writing at such a fast pace! Thank you, and I hope to continue hearing from you all! Chapter title now brought to you by Evanescence's "Taking Over Me" 10 to 1 nopony guesses what happens this chapter despite my subtle foreshadowing in earlier chapters! I'd love to hear what you have to think afterwards in the comments, and remember, comments are ! “Luna!” For once hearing Celestia yelling was not something to annoy Luna. Instead, while laying on her bed in an attempt to rest from her exhaustion, it was a comfort. Celestia’s voice was full of worry, the kind that came from loving another unconditionally. Luna was learning more and more about what that meant again. As Celestia pushed open Luna’s door and hurried inside with an unusual gait, Luna rolled over on her own bed to face her in the dark room, “Hello sister.” Celestia slowed down to return to a regular trot, her breath heavy as she did the simple task. Like her student, Twilight, Celestia was not the most physically fit despite being a physical goddess due to spending all day doing stationary tasks, and as such rushing from the throne room to the resident area of the castle was enough for the mare among other reasons. Still, her minor weight gain aside, Celestia had to make absolutely certain that her sister was okay. Celestia could make out Luna’s form in the darkness of the room, and with a wince noticed the damage that had been done. Luna had repaired the tears of flesh, but her fur had not miraculously returned where it had been torn. “I’ve been informed about what happened…I’m so sorry. How is Trixie faring?” As Celestia approached the bed Luna did her own part to move over to the edge to better converse with her sister. Celestia pulled the low energy Nightmare Moon Luna into a tight embrace, which was weakly returned by Luna. Luna felt too tired to cry any further, her face already damp from earlier when she spoke with Trixie, “Trixie will be fine, given time. Her wounds have been taken care of so she only needs to wake up.” Celestia had only heard of Trixie’s vicious wounds, so hearing that she might not even wake from them brought another level of pain to the equation. She could not even imagine what it would be like if it was Twilight in that position. “Do you think she will remain comatose?” Luna shook her head slowly, but a small smile found its way on to her muzzle. She had hope, despite what happened, “Given how much energy she exerted in such a short period of time, I would be surprised if she hadn’t been drained so severely.” “I heard about her feats…” Celestia pulled back from Luna to look her in the eyes, showing the pride she felt as best as she could, “She should be proud of herself when she joins us again. There are few, if any, common ponies who could claim to do such a thing.” “Once she does,” Luna repeated, her faint smile fading as memories of her own part in the tragedy came to mind. Celestia could see her sister’s pain, but she knew that Luna was strong. She could make it through this, especially if she had things to accomplish in the meantime. Luna was driven if nothing else, and Celestia would not let her sister dwell in a mission of self-induced agony. That needed to have something to take its place. The elder sat down in front of the younger, hooves comfortably spread out before her, “Luna, I know you are feeling down, and rightfully so, but there is something important we must speak about.” Luna snapped out of her pain for a moment to observe Celestia. Whatever could her sister wish to discuss of such importance? “Oh?” For the first time in what seemed like forever, Luna could see an expression on Celestia’s face that could be called embarrassment. A tinge of fear. Celestia glanced down at the floor of Luna’s bedroom before meekly looking back up to her sister, “My relations with Discord have resulted in a…development.” Celestia cleared her throat before moving her front hooves to her stomach, “Luna, I am with foal.” That one sentence winded Luna more than being struck by the Ursa Minor. Her sister was pregnant. As a result of a hush-hush affair she was having. Luna did not know whether to laugh, be happy for Celestia, or comfort her. Did Celestia mind about this development? If she did, she likely would have brought it up sooner. After thinking it over for a moment of pregnant silence, Luna smiled at her sister and then down to her stomach where either a niece or nephew was waiting to be born. Celestia’s stomach showed no great difference in size from its normal form, but Luna could only imagine how her sister might be waddling awkwardly in the coming months. “Congratulations, sister,” Luna kept herself from snickering at her mental image of a fat Celestia. How many possibilities it could raise for Discord to prank her…and at the thought of that, Luna came up with an important question, “Does Discord know?” Celestia sighed, half giving away the answer, “Has he come by to mention it to you and laugh jovially?” “No.” “Then there is your answer,” Celestia joked weakly. No she had not told him yet. Luna and the doctors Celestia had been making appointments with were the only ones who knew. Another important question was on Luna’s mind, one that made had her cross referencing Celestia’s stomach with the answer to the question, “So, how far along are you?” Celestia felt partially awkward in overtly talking about her sexual encounters with her younger sister, instead of just covertly joking about them like they normally would, “It is hard to say, I must be honest. I have not had any explicit encounters in the recent months, yet I only received any sign of this but a few weeks back. I am not sure if it is my being an Alicorn or the father being Discord that is making the timing so odd.” Luna felt herself pale at that revelation. Celestia had been pregnant for months and was not even showing. Just how long would Luna’s own pregnancy last should she decide to have a child with Loki? Luna could accept the regular timetable for carrying a child as a simple fact of life, but she could almost not bear the thought of being so vulnerable and having to be so careful for years. So much could go wrong in that time frame. “I suppose I can expect the same in the future,” Luna said through a forced laugh. Celestia nodded, sensing her sister’s apprehension, “I would think. Now, what is important about this is that I can not, for the safety of the foal, go about my regular levels of duties and stress. I will need to delegate some of my tasks to both you and Twilight, though not all of them.” Luna nodded, fully understanding. She would do anything to assure the safety of her own foal in the same situation, so she could hardly fault Celestia for wanting to take it easy in the meantime, “Whatever you need, sister.” “Thank you Luna. I hope, when the time comes, I can return the favor,” Celestia winked, purposefully causing Luna to blush underneath her black fur. Luna could appreciate her sister’s words, but given her current plan and internal timeline she had set she did not foresee it being anytime soon, “We’ll see. Thank you for the sentiment however.” The room fell silent again as neither sister could find their voice. After this silence continued on for what Celestia felt was too long, she spoke up by going back to the previous topic, “I do not know how long this will last. It has been some time since mother had you after all, and however long that pregnancy was will likely be altered now by the parentage of my own foal.” Luna could wholly sympathize with the strangeness of mixing races and hoping for it to work out, “I can only imagine—” Hooves rushing down the hallway caught Luna’s attention and she cut herself off to see what the disturbance was. Celestia too looked to see what the issue was, only for three ponies to all try barreling into the room at once. This did not work, and only the one in front managed to get through. It was a royal guard who was wheezing heavily, possibly less used to running than Celestia given the utter uselessness of their post. “Princess, these men desired to see you, saying they know you personally.” Luna looked behind the guard to see two familiar ponies. Or rather, Asgardians in the bodies of ponies. Luna shooed the guard away as two of the Warriors Three tried standing up from their positions on the ground, their heads dizzy from the collision and their bodies unused to the form they were in. “Next time Lady Frigga casts her magic on us, she first has to let us learn how to walk before sending us off. I daresay we’ve made fools of ourselves,” the pony that was Fandral noted, his well maintained mustache having carried over to his pony form. “Gentlemen,” Luna warmly greeted as the two finally managed to enter the dark room. Celestia was amused and confused both as she observed the blundering duo, unsure just of whom they might be. Now standing, Fandral took a bow to Luna, “Hello, milady, how are you this fine—what in Hel happened to your coat?” “Probably the same reason you two are here to escort me to Asgard. My apprentice fought two monsters and triumphed, but she and I were mauled in the process.” The thought of a friend of his and her apprentice being harmed brought Fandral to fury, “Those fiends! Why, I’ll—” his brain having lagged behind his mouth a moment, his tone changed completely to one of intrigue rather than anger, “She? I’ve never lain with a horse…” Volstagg gave Fandral a hard slap on the side as he chortled, “Really? Fashion me surprised!” “You’ve probably ea—” Fandral cut off his retort when he realized that horses were not carnivores, nor would they likely enjoy hearing that Volstagg has probably eaten one of them before. Luna was the one to break the awkward pause this time, “Yes, she. No, you may not sleep with her. She’s in a coma, she’s like a daughter to me, and she does not care for that sort of activity anyways.” That further humbled the lustful man-pony, with Fandral giving a sorrowful bow to excuse his words, “Oh, my sincerest apologies.” Thinking it about time she clued her sister in on the situation, Luna turned back to Celestia with a smile, “Celestia, this is Fandral, one of Asgard’s finest warriors in his regular form, and apparently their greatest pervert in any. The one over there is Volstagg, Fandral’s partner and probably the only one in existence whose stomach will outdo your own these coming months and years.” Celestia rolled her eyes at her sister’s playful jab before smiling over to the two newcomers, “It is a pleasure to meet you both. I would ask if you need anything, but it does not appear you will be staying long.” Fandral sighed, not liking the answer he was going to have to give, “That, I am afraid, we will not be doing. Though we really ought to find a good place like this to relax and take a break when our work in the Nine Realms is done, Volstagg.” “That we ought to, pervert!” “My lust cannot possibly outperform your gluttony, portly.” Luna cleared her throat to silence them, “Gentlemen, can we go pick up my apprentice and leave before this devolves into a hoof-fight?” Both of them bowed this time, with Volstagg apologizing on their behalf, “Yes, of course. Our apologies.” Luna weakly rose from her bed and stumbled over to the two boisterous stallions. It took some effort with her aching body, but she turned back to Celestia and gave her a smile. “Celestia, I will return as soon as Trixie and I are in better conditions. Then I will speak with you just how to handle this development of yours.” Celestia assumed that this race of powerful beings had similarly great medical facilities, so she let her sister go with them to assure she was taken care of, “Thank you Luna. Please rest as best as you can.” “I will. Goodnight, Tia.” With the warriors following behind her, Luna started down the hallway towards the front of the castle. She would bring them to a place in the courtyards where Heimdall could pick them up with the Bifrost and not cause any unnecessary damage with its great power. Perhaps having him recall them in one of the Judge’s gardens would be best though? As they walked, or limped in Luna’s case, along the path Luna thought it best to figure out just how they found out she needed help. “Was Lady Frigga worried?” Fandral laughed as he began to recount the true tale behind their arrival, “Well, you see, Loki first humiliated a guardsman who was standing vigilantly by the door of our dear prince. He wished to speak to the queen about your absence, thinking she might be the cause—” Volstagg, not happy that Fandral was taking all of the opportunities to talk, cut him off while bumping into him, “—But when the guard did not let him he embarrassed him well enough to get the other guard to fetch the queen. Upon speaking to her, Loki learned that you were just plain tardy, and we all waited patiently for our favorite equine to arrive.” The plural word used made Luna curious, “All?” Volstagg smiled brightly at her, “Yes, Loki, our queen, Thor, Fandral, and I. We waited patiently until one of us had the startling idea of asking Heimdall what was keeping you!” Fandral bumped his friend back with gritted teeth, not knowing any better way to fight as an equine, “Actually, Loki and I had the idea earlier, but our oafish companions had the utmost faith that you would arrive the very next moment. Or the one after that. And so we waited. When Loki grew impatient, Heimdall informed us that you were still in your land.” Fandral moved over so he could see the wounds that still left their mark on Luna, “He did not, however, tell us about your condition or that of your apprentice. Apparently his brief glimpse of you missed that little important piece of information. Might have caught you on your bad side.” Their energy was both entertaining and draining for Luna, who really just wanted to sleep now that it was all over, “Thank you both for coming…we must set up a better way of communicating than just hoping Heimdall sends messengers.” After retrieving Trixie, the four were picked up by Heimdall and brought to the Bifrost and bridge to Asgard. The sudden transportation left the already groggy Luna even more out of it, and she stumbled upon arriving. Heimdall rushed from his post to where the four arrived, having seen the damage incurred on Luna this time around and having taken note of the ragdoll apprentice she had on her back. While he came to their side, Luna lowered Trixie onto Volstagg’s back gently. “Bring her to the medical facilities you have. I will be along shortly. I just need to rest for a moment.” Volstagg and Fandral nodded, speaking in unison as they moved as fast as they could in their equine forms without disturbing Trixie, “Of course, milady.” This left Luna, who nearly crumpled onto the floor, and Heimdall, who was worried about the wounds to her body. “Your wounds…” the stoic man started, but was unable to finish. He had no idea what had happened to her, even though she was a princess who was tied to his own royalty. He felt guilty for not keeping a better eye on her. Luna spared enough energy to transform into her Asgardian form, which only required two legs to stand and thus was easier on her, “It is a long story…I am sure you can listen in on it later.” “Do you require assistance, Princess?” Luna could appreciate his sense of duty, but her own pride disallowed her from accepting it, “No, I am fine. I just needed to gather my strength. I am fine. Thank you for your concern.” She started to head towards the exit of the Bifrost’s structure, towards its bridge to Asgard. She could power through these last bits of strain just to earn a comfy bed in their infirmary. It was no difficult task for Loki to escape his room, never truly having been trapped there to begin with by anything but his own repentance. After his mother had come to tell him that Luna had finally come, but had done so in an extremely exhausted state with a comatose apprentice alongside her, Loki had wasted no time leaving the confines of his increasingly boring room. When he reached the medical center of Asgard’s castle, Loki found himself shocked to see that his mother had not even told him the entire truth. Luna’s body showed recently closed wounds where she obviously healed herself, and dried blood was visible on the extremely torn clothing she was clad in. She was resting on a table they had set aside for her, having not placed her in a healing chamber because she claimed to ‘only need sleep’ and that ‘Trixie needs them more’. Frigga still arranged for Luna to have whatever comforts, be it pillows or blankets, that she required, and so Luna was resting quite nicely while Loki arrived. “Luna!” Luna lazily looked up to him as Loki ran over to her side, not caring that he shouldn’t actually be able to be there given his house arrest, “Hey Loki. Long time no see. How are you?” Loki used the levitation magic learned from Luna to bring a chair over to himself, placing it beside her bed and taking seat in it so that he could be beside her. He did not care if he would make a scene, he just knew that Luna was hurt and that he was ready to kill whomever or whatever was responsible. Loki took one of her hands in his own and winced at how faint she was. She must have lost a lot of blood before managing to heal her wounds he assumed, “Better than you I presume. Whatever happened to you?” Luna’s eyes closed and she brought her head over to his arm, “Talk later…” He took her head with his other arm and brought her into his chest. He did not know what did this, but a part of him could not help but wonder if this was Thanos’ doing. The madman had a penchant for excessive violence, and Luna was battered as she could be. “Of course.” Loki felt Luna drift off into sleep underneath his arms in the seconds afterwards, his lover comforted by his touch. He ignored the doctors in the room whispering about his presence as he instead began to stroke Luna’s dark hair. He could not tell how long he had been doing this before someone called his name. Someone whose voice he had not heard for quite some time. “Loki.” Loki did not even spare his adoptive father Odin a look. His tending to Luna slowed, but Loki kept his focus on her, “I am not leaving.” “Good. I would have accosted you more for remaining in your room,” Odin said with a forced chuckle. Their rift still remained, and neither was exactly sure if they wanted to mend it nor how even if they did. When Loki gave no further response, Odin prepared to leave. As he did so he spoke one last time, “Next time though, please try not to break the limbs of the guards on your way out.” To this Loki did respond, even turning to look Odin in the eye. The Allfather’s one eye could see Loki’s cold and violent gaze, telling him all he needed to know about how much Loki cared. “That bald headed fool would not allow me to come, so I persuaded him otherwise. I would do it again without any hesitation or regret.” Odin left without saying anything else, breaking their eye contact and walking out. Not exactly alone, but not caring about the doctors, Loki moved his arms so he could lower his head on to Luna’s. “Luna…please be okay.” Hours later Luna jolted from her sleep. Weirdly enough, she could not remember what she had been dreaming, only knowing that it had been chilling. Looking up to see Loki leaning on top of her spirited away any sense of fear she might have had. Her prince was right there, and now that she was more collected she could tell that he had broken rules just to be with her. Despite his coldness, Luna could tell that what he felt was genuine. This convinced her to whisper into his ear softly in an attempt to stir him. “Loki?” “Hmmm?” he mumbled, not really awake but roused by her whisper. Her next words did the trick. “Marry me.” Loki shot up and looked around himself briefly as his eyes fluttered, adjusting to the darkness of the room that had fallen upon it since he had went to sleep. It was the dead of night and everyone was asleep, except them now. They were alone, giving Luna the opportunity to raise this private matter. “Okay, now you have my attention. What was that? I am afraid I have misheard you.” Luna pulled herself up, feeling some aches but not anywhere near as many as before she slept. Now at about eye level, she spoke in a voice just above a whisper, “Ask me to marry you, my dear prince.” Loki had not expected to wake to such a question, finding himself flatfooted and reeling while searching for a response, “I do not suppose I can talk you out of this course of action.” Her narrowed eyes told him all he needed to. Loki sighed as the realization dawned that no, there would be no getting out of this, “Fine. Will you marry me?” Luna groaned and rolled her eyes, “Oh come on, I know you can do better than that.” Half-asleep still, Loki tried to pull together as much of his exhausted mind as he could to make his proposal sound at least half decent. He took her closest hand with his own two, lifting it up to his mouth to kiss it gently, “Will you, Princess Luna of Equestria and the Night, marry me, Prince of Asgard and God of Mischief?” Luna brought her other hand over to place it on top of the other three, her heart fluttering at what she just managed to get him to do, “I would be honored to, my love.” After the moment they fell quiet, neither moving to do anything or actually wanting to. They both were just considering what they just agreed to, with varying levels of excitement and fear. When an unknown amount of time passed Loki spoke up again, an important question wracking his mind, “So, this leaves the question, your kingdom or my own?” It took Luna a moment to consider their political situations, and just what she would like to do with them. After remembering that she had a plan, Luna found she was able to respond rightly, “If you succeed your father and become the King of Asgard, I will join you in your court. However, if you do not become king, you will join me in Equestria. Is that fair?” Loki sighed at her bargain, seeing it as a losing bet but still fine with it, “In some ways. There is no way I will succeed my father after all that has happened, so it is not even a true wager.” “I would not be so sure. Many things can happen, after all,” Luna suggested vaguely, not revealing her hand of cards which she knew to be a set of Kings and Queens. Unconvinced, Loki still relented because he knew he couldn’t deny Luna when under his own power, “Very well then. Can I ask where this is all coming from?” That took Luna from being tactical to being emotional, her eyes tearing as she remembered just how scared she was earlier, “I nearly died. Somepony I care about nearly died. The feeling that I would live without them…” Loki pulled her into a hug before she could go on. He could not imagine living without his mother, so he could see how possibly losing Trixie could hurt Luna very emotionally. Determined to turn the mood around, Luna snorted while changing the subject, “Also, my sister is now pregnant out of wedlock with Discord. I just desire to not be put in that same place.” Loki could feel his own telltale smirk returning at the thought of how he might rib Celestia about this with Luna, “I understand.” “Speaking of which, should we discuss the topic of children?” Luna added nonchalantly, trying to play it off cooly. Too tired to care about avoiding the topic, Loki leaned back in his chair and sighed while considering it, “I only want one. I do not remember if I’ve said so before, but any more raises…complications.” Having had the same thought, Luna nodded, “Celestia and I, you and Thor…” “Precisely.” “I too only desire one, although with some reservations. My only fear is in losing my bloodline should anything happen to them. There are not many natural Alicorns after all,” Luna noted with a sad laugh. She did not even know if things were always that way, but it would make sense in some ways given how powerful they were. It was not as if she could ask her mother for the answers… Loki nodded, understanding given his royal upbringing the concept and idea of bloodlines, as well as knowing just how close to extinction the Alicorns were, “I understand. All the more reason to take care of the one we will have.” “I’m happy you are open to the subject and that we can talk about it like adults, Loki. I was worried you might scamper off at the mention of children,” Luna giggled, causing Loki to blush. His blush faded as he thought more about the whole parenting thing. Family matters brought up wounds he was not ready to confront just yet, “Part of being royalty is having an heir to pass on your bloodline to. It is expected of you.” Luna could see the pain growing on his face, “Oh Loki.” Any objection Loki could have made was stifled when Luna pulled his face into her chest, “Just rest your head. We don’t need to discuss the details right now. We have all the time in the world for that.” Once again, Loki relented and fell asleep with Luna holding him as lovingly as he had been holding her before.