We Remember Everything

by Thunderscourge

It All Went By So Fast

With some time spent back in Asgard to attend to business matters, including the execution of the remaining dissidents who sought to harm Luna, Loki came to realize that perhaps he respected his step-daughter more upon Frigga reporting the reading selection to him. A reader and a planner both, it would seem given her efforts to go through such difficult tomes on important subjects.

After perusing the most important document among them, Loki felt he had to confront Trixie about something that might not be on her mind yet. She needed warning before her new power came back to bite her.

“You still have the Aether in you, don’t you?”

On the inner side of the front gates of Canterlot’s castle, Loki found Trixie pacing back and forth as if she was struggling with some idea. Trixie appeared surprised by his arrival, but she hid it quickly to place a smile on her face as she turned to face him.

“I do. It has granted me quite the increase in power,” Trixie boasted while forming a ball of energy in her palm, her form being that of a Blood Elf and not a pony.

Loki returned the smile, genuinely pleased that she was on her game but also worried internally that she might not grasp who that meant she was bound to face.

“I looked into that book you were reading on the Infinity Gems. Seven artifacts that hold unimaginable power…” Loki paused for the dramatic effect, “Power that, when put together, could destroy all the known realms with the unbridled energy.”

Trixie’s smile faded, though she said nothing. She waited for Loki to continue, and given that he had more to say the King continued.

Loki sighed as he brought up the topic he came to discuss, “Thanos seeks these gems. He wanted the Tesseract and he has since obtained it, along with who knows how many other gems and the gauntlet that binds them together.”

Trixie crossed her arms over the red and golden shirt she wore loosely over her chest, “Thanos. The monster who placed us in that…dreadful place.”

It was more dreadful for him, Loki would wager, since Trixie was not subjected to it nearly as long at least consciously, but he bit his tongue and added to her statement, “And who fueled my turn to villainy.”

He would do anything he could to continue placing the blame of his betrayal on the man who forced his hand. Of course Loki knew that it was his own insecurities that lead to it, but that did not prevent him from wanting to put the blame elsewhere. After all, the scepter cannot make someone do something they would not be willing to otherwise.

Trixie moved a hand to gesture towards herself above where her heart should be, “He’ll want the Aether. He’ll come and hunt me, right?”

Loki bowed his head, not pleased that he had to now deal with the purple, phantom menace not only being out to cause him harm but his new daughter as well, “Regrettfully, yes. I do not yet have a way to defeat him, especially with how powerful he has likely grown.”

Loki did not come without any piece of a plan though. While still considering the subject and a complete plan of action, that did not prevent him from coming up with some small piece of a plan.

Using a bit of borrowed magic from Luna, Loki opened up his pocket dimension that he used to store things and reached into it. After a moment of rifling around he retrieved from it an orange fabric.

Loki stretched his hand out to offer the object to Trixie, “Here.”

Trixie took it carefully in one hand and hung it from two fingers as she observed it. It was of a decent size, and it was soft to the touch. As Trixie continued to look at it Loki smiled and gestured to the object, “It is a scarf from a man I encountered in my travels,” Loki closed the pocket and sighed as he thought about all the little knick-knacks he had collected from fallen souls. Silent memorials to their ever lasting suffering, “He is forever tormented by a beast that hunts him. Each of them far more powerful than I, all I could do was watch yet another friend be lost to their own despair.”

Trixie nearly dropped the scarf when she heard of it’s origins, to which Loki laughed, “Don’t worry, I cleaned it. Now, the material is strong enough to survive the most lethal of strikes, though it remains as flexible as normal cloth. Perhaps you can study it and find some way to replicate it. That should provide you with a defensive advantage against Thanos.”

“Wearing clothing of prey to confront my predator,” Trixie smiled as she wrapped the scarf around her neck and fashioned it like a neckerchief one would wear at dinner, “Thank you.”

Loki smiled as he bowed to his newest relative, glad that she appreciated his gift, “You need not mention it.”

Silence hung between them briefly before Loki coughed to bridge into a new subject, one he was thinking Luna would be on board with.

“Now, I am busy with my duties in Asgard most of these days, but when we manage to find the time, would you like to spend the day with me? An opportunity to get to know each other better.”

Trixie smiled to him after letting out a small laugh, “I would not want to make my dear mother jealous.”

Loki gestured to his stomach while laughing back, “She has enough company with her at all times. I think she can spare to have her husband bond with his daughter.”

To that Trixie nodded her head, a content smile still remaining on her, “I look forward to it. Just us then.”

After Loki left Trixie by the gates, he set to go inside the castle absentmindedly. He had forgotten what else he had planned to do, but thought that perhaps walking would let him remember. Going inside the building reminded the King instantly though, as he realized that he was supposed to accompany Rainbow Dash on her pranking spree that day.

Loki turned to leave from a different exit to not seem silly, but on his way he ran into the robed figure of Kael’Thas. Loki was pleased to see a shirt (identical to the one Trixie was wearing outside) on Kael this time, though his pleasure of seeing the man fully dressed was curtailed by their near collision.

Kael took a knee to address Loki while the King waved for the prince to stop the pleasantries. Loki had been doing some thinking these past months, and some of that included the Elf they now had sleeping under their roofs, “I was just about to leave, but I think it is about time we had a talk.”

Kael rose back up and smiled brightly at Loki, the King finding it hard to look Kael in the eye due to his glowing eyes, “I was thinking the same thing, Lord Odinson.”

With no need to mince words, Loki lost any traces of warm emotion as he glared at the red robed man, “Back in the realm we found you, you assaulted me, Trixie, and the others with us. Because of your actions she nearly died and I was condemned to suffer in that world for what would amount to years of time in that distorted realm.”

To his credit, Kael did not appear frightened at all by Loki’s words. He actually kept smiling at the King, his words coming out in a neutral tone despite his face, “I also was the one who slew Illidan while you were separated from him. The reason you could not find him was that I assaulted him and drained his magic,” he slowed down as his words began to drip with regret, “My…old friend tried to calm me, but in my madness I could not stop.”

Loki actually found himself taking a step back in confusion with how Kael was admitting to the murder of their mutual friend, even if it was before Kael had any ability to control himself. The honesty was what bit at Loki, who was so used to lies and half-truths that having someone completely own up to something felt foreign.

While Loki remained stunned, Kael continued, “With that power I attempted to gain the power from the rest of you. You possessed little at the time, as did Maiev and that being I believe is your father, in comparison to Trixie. So I attacked her.”

Not about to let himself be caught any more flat footed, Loki resumed his offensive against the prince he did not have much faith in, “You went insane once because of your addiction to magic. How can I trust that you will not do so again?”

While still smiling and appearing polite, Kael’s tone became equal parts sardonic and playful, “Oh, I don’t know, perhaps in the same way your loved ones can have faith in you despite your own acts of evil and madness?” Loki restrained himself from striking the insolent prince who dare point out the hypocrisy in Loki’s words, “That is, with everything to point to the contrary, one can still place faith in another.”

Loki knew that he himself was not trustworthy, but that did not mean he had to trust everyone else. As a leader, he needed to be wary so as to not bring harm to his people by associating with the wrong people. Still, the honesty cut at him again.

Loki still thinking of a retort, Kael leaned to the side slightly and pointed over one of Loki’s shoulders, “And, by the way, I would hope you’ll help me when Maiev attacks me in a moment due to her building fury at hearing I—”

The words granted Loki just enough time to dodge the flurry of green that appeared from thin air and rushed past him to attack Kael, who kept his smile even as Maiev crashed into him and slammed him into the nearest wall.

“You Wretched Elf!” the warden of Illidan howled as she gripped him by the neck and pressed his face against the wall, her crescent blade aimed at Kael’s chest and heart.

The elf laughed despite his predicament, as if he was not worried at all, “It is good to see you again too, Maiev.”

Not about to step in her way just yet, Loki straightened himself out while sparing a glance at the woman, “Have you been stalking us?”

Maiev’s only response was to slam Kael’s face into the wall and follow this up with dragging her blade across his throat, something Loki instantly realized could kill the Elf outright…

Only, the blade did not even appear to break the skin. Loki narrowed his eyes and found himself amused at how the incredibly sharp blade belonging to Maiev did not leave a single mark on the Elven prince. What was this Elf made out of?

To retain the appearance of control, Loki acted as if he was not fazed by all of what was happening, “I was considering striking him myself in memory of my fallen friend. Take your time.”

Maiev took this time to begin beating Kael mercilessly into the wall, only for the prince to just keep smiling the whole time as if it did not hurt in the slightest. Maiev did not seem to grasp this fact and continued her assault on him as Loki stood by, his only action being to dismiss the guards who came to address the situation.

After thirty seconds of unrelenting assault, Maiev let go and Kael laughed as he wiped a trickle of blood from his mouth, the only sign of him taking any damage, “Are you done yet?”

Maiev let out a heavy breath, tired from her assault, but her face remained hidden behind her visor which prevented them from inspecting her expressions any further, “You make a good punching bag,” after only a second of rest Maiev prepared to attack him again, “One I hope to relentlessly destroy for the rest of our prolonged lives.”

Her strike did not hit, however, as her feet began to lift off the ground. Maiev found herself being pushed away while slowly lifting into the air at the same time, all of this seeming to amuse the Blood Elf as he continued to work his magic on her.

“Having trouble staying grounded?” Kael laughed as he dusted himself off, Maiev continuing to drift off, “It may take that long for you to break a bone, but I am afraid I can’t allow that. I have things I would rather do than deal with your depraved obsessions.”

Loki found himself amused by the display, but Maiev appeared less than pleased at having the gravity around her reversed and energy pushing her away.

“You will watch that tongue of yours, Blood Elf!”

Kael adopted a tone of fake-hurt, “For a fellow Elf, you are sounding awfully racist,” he sighed before undoing his power, the warden dropping to the floor painfully, “Now, will you calm down or do I have to demonstrate my power again, Night Elf?”

A growl and an attempt to throw a hidden knife at Kael was met with Kael tossing her across the hallway with his magic, the knife flying back at her and impaling her shoulder before her body began to lift weightlessly into the air again.

“So be it,” Kael said without any amusement, his jovial look leaving with his offer, “Lord Odinson, I believe you should tell our dear lady what has become of Illidan since.”

“You know where he is?” Maiev gasped, having been stalking Loki and the others for the singular purpose of finding a way to see Illidan again. She had yet to finish her revenge, not that she ever felt she could be rid of it. Even after slaying him once she harbored the hatred, so much so that she followed him into death itself to confront him again.

Loki nodded to the mentally ill woman who he had nothing but pity for given how pathetic her life had become, “The last time I saw him he was alive and fighting to buy me time to escape from a menace who has yet to resurface, named Thanos,” Loki paused as he remembered the fate of Volstagg, and then of his newer friend who was no less slain by Thanos or freed of that demented place, “Illidan likely perished. Left to wander that realm of tormented souls once again.”

Upside down and with no ability to defend herself, Maiev hung her head as her helmet slipped from her head and fell to the ground, revealing a light purple skinned woman with glowing eyes similar to Kael’s. Looking into those eyes Loki could see a sadness, a fire that had since died in the ferocious woman.

“Kill me then. Take my life so I can begin my hunt once again,” her eyes closed and Loki could swear he could see tears welling in them as she spoke again, now in a softer voice, “A huntress is nothing without the hunt…”

Loki crossed his arms, not about to pass judgment on her just yet despite his ability to end this threat once and for all. He desired to understand why. Then he could decide what to do with the disturbed woman, “Illidan tried to give you the chance to get over your hatred, and yet you chose the easy road. The road of pain and damnation. What drives you to continually throw yourself down this dreadful way that all of us have tread at some point?”

A sad smirk grew to replace her solemn look as she continued to hang weakly in the air, her long purple hair hanging down as her eyes opened weakly, as if she had finally just given up after her string of defeats, “I spent ten thousand years jailing Illidan. Locked away from the world, forgotten by my kind, my family…” Maiev sighed gently, a calm having come over her that neither Loki nor Kael was familiar with, “I had my fellow wardens, but it was hard to remain whole. Remain sane. Isolation can do that to the mind.”

Loki looked over to Kael, who seemed dismayed to hear Maiev’s words. They knew this much already, but each of them could feel the woman was not done yet.

With neither man speaking up, Maiev continued to speak, though she seemed to be speaking to herself as much as she was speaking to them, “At first I hated him because of how he nearly slew my brother through his reckless actions, for betraying out people…but that was not all…in that time I lost something…no, someone…because of Illidan,” she swallowed her breath as tears fell from her eyes, the warden choking on her next sentence, “I…”

Having held onto this particular piece of information for some time without revealing it to anyone, Loki felt it time to match it up with the person it pertained to.

Loki approached Miaev and gave her a close, genuine look of sorrow right in the eyes, “You lost a son.”

Those four words brought back some of the anger that so consumed Maiev, but it brought just as much grief which caused the woman to continue to choke on her words as she tried to keep herself from gushing tears, “I…I…”

Seeing that Loki appeared serious and that Maiev was visibly distraught, Kael slowly stopped his reverse of gravity on her so that she was no longer hanging upside down and hovering slightly above them. He let her down onto the floor, where the warden lay silently as tears dribbled onto the floor, Kael remarking to himself, “The wardens I met were all female though…”

Maiev laughed at that, tears still rolling from her eyes, “With such extended isolation, one’s convictions can…wander, and Illidan was easy enough to manipulate with how distraught he was while imprisoned,” Maiev rose a hand to her face to wipe the water streaming down it freely, her voice weak, “Illidan’s demon…tainted body caused our son to only…”

She paused as she brought a hand down to her stomach from her face, “To only live weeks within my womb. For…for a short period of time I thought that perhaps we could have our own life together, away from all others…” Maiev rolled her hand and arm out to her side so that it weakly lay on the floor like the rest of her, “I never even named him.”

Some of her strength and venom returned as Maiev tried to roll over and grabbed Loki’s ankle with one hand, the Night Elf growling as she tried to speak with anger only for it to segue into her depression, “How did you figure my closest held secret out?”

Loki looked down at her with pity. The woman had a reason to devote her entire existence to making Illidan pay, as right or wrong as she was. While Loki felt himself sickened that she manipulated the poor man to produce an offspring, she did not deserve the torment that came with a miscarriage caused by tainted magic, “My daughter, Hela, is the one who controls that world we all met, as well as life and death,” Loki sighed as he began to recall how he came across this information, or at least the theory, “One time I was visited by her in the world I was met with her playfully hanging off what appeared to be her personal guard.”

Maiev narrowed her eyes at Loki, not understanding what he was saying just yet, but Kael began to smile as he picked up where this was going.

Loki knelt down to help Maiev up, no longer willing to allow her to look so pathetic on the ground, “Taking into account what Illidan must have looked like before his transformation to a half-demon, her stoic guard looked very much like him even then. Perhaps not as tall or broad, but I recognized him quickly as a possible relative. Observing him more, I found that he reminded me of you.”

Her glowing eyes widened as the warrior woman found her way to her feet, “You are telling me that my son is…he’s…”

Loki held up a hand to silence her, not wanting her to get her hopes up too high, “I do not know this for certain, but perhaps in a world that allows the dead to thrive, my daughter restored him to life and he lives there with her.”

Maiev brushed Loki’s helping hand away from her and turned her back to him, “I wish to see him.”

“I sadly cannot control Hela, and as such cannot grant you an audience on a whim. You see, the Hela who drew us all together seems to be from an alternate reality similar to this one My own actual daughter has yet to be born, while due to time distortion the one we met in Niflheim was of a variable age.”

Maiev snarled as she grabbed her helmet harshly from the ground and placed it back where it belonged, her hair messily spilling down from it this time, “So what you are saying is that I will have to wait to see if this daughter of yours grows up to revive my son. Am I just to trust you?”

Loki shrugged, even if she could not see it, “I have no real reason to lie to you. You can die at any point if you wish to visit that world again, but there is no telling if you will ever cross his path. I can see what I can do about assisting you in finding your son, but first I must trust you.”

“You would help me though? After all I have done?” Maiev scoffed as she turned around to face him again, her eyes glowing behind the concealing helmet.

The King nodded to her, “I would. We all deserve a second chance. But first you must earn that aid.”

Having a new quest and purpose, Maiev quickly fell to one knee and lowered her head to the man who could help her meet her son, “What would you have me do?”

Loki thought for a moment, but with his recent conversation with Trixie still in mind he had little trouble to “There is a man named Thanos I need someone to find information on. He is the one Illidan saved me from and who most likely slew him after I left, and he is a tyrant I would like to eliminate or neutralize before he manages to get around to killing me and my family for failing to serve him.”

The huntress rose to her feet, staring Loki in the face momentarily before nodding slowly, “I can see what I can do about finding out more about this ‘Thanos’ you speak of. I will return with whatever can be gathered on him.”

Loki nodded back and held a hand in the direction of the exit, “Very well. I do not care to see you again until you bring me something useful. Something valuable. Begone.”

His new agent turned her back on him and made to leave with a brisk pace, but she topped when her name was called out by Kael.

“Maiev!” the prince yelled worriedly. She stopped her retreat, but did not turn to face him.

“I…I am sorry about your son.”

Instead of grant him a proper response, Maiev made herself invisible and disappeared completely from their view. Once again left with only one another, Kael turned to face Loki. He took time to sigh before addressing the King, this recent news weighing heavily on his conscience.

“Now, about our business,” Kael frowned as he moved a hand to touch his hip, “I do not wish to be adversarial with you. I have already pledged my loyalty to your daughter. What more do you wish from me?”

Loki smiled to Kael, thinking that perhaps he could use this time to create two agents who would redeem themselves in his eyes, “Consider this a trial period. If you continue to prove yourself trustworthy, I will see what I can do about helping you. For now though I am wary of you.”

Kael seemed amenable to that, even laughing as he continued to admit to his crimes done in insanity, “I too would be wary of anyone who killed my friend, had me stuck in constant torment for years, and even choked my daughter and nearly killed her while doing so.”

The entire hallway dropped in temperature rapidly, to which the Elf complained as he realized his clothes were not meant for dire cold situations, “Did it just get colder?”

As Kael complained about the temperature, Loki looked behind the prince to see that they were no longer alone anymore. Standing tall about ten feet behind Kael’Thas was the Illidan-looking Elf Loki had encountered before, and being carried in his arms was none other than Hela. Loki nodded to them silently as Kael turned to face the newly arrived.

Seeing Hela made Kael bow facetiously, the Elven prince not exactly a fan of the woman who long held him in a state of constant misery and madness that eventually led to him attacking a friend, “The devil herself. Why do you grace us with your presence, milady?”

Illidan’s son retrieved something from a pocket that he handed to Hela. Kael’s eyes widened at the sight of the object that Hela tossed up in the air carelessly before tossing it at a hurtling pace straight for Kael’s face. With his magic he stopped it in midair, the green orb that had previously been set to knock his teeth out instead being easy for him to swipe with his hand.

Despite having seen Illidan’s son and now knowing Loki’s claim to be true, Kael was much more interested in the orb he now held in his hand, “This…” he looked back up to the two visitors and let out an impressed whistle, “This was one of a set, you do know that right? Where are the others?”

Hela shrugged and her companion said nothing more, simply standing beside her and mimicking her shrugging gesture. Loki could not help but be amused by how Hela decided specifically to come and visit with her bodyguard in tow just after Maiev’s visit. Hela most certainly inherited his joking nature, even if hers was infinitely darker.

With their seeming reason for coming by done, Hela waved to Loki before turning to her companion and gesturing for him to pick her up again. He did so and lifted her back up, where Hela looked down to Loki with a devilish smile and then back to her hulking companion. Loki had just enough time to narrow his eyes before he saw his future daughter kiss the stoic Elf on the cheek.

Loki…was begrudgingly fine with this. His hands were clenched, and the fatherly part of him wanted to be furious, but his more rational side knew that anyone who could deal with her was as about as good as he could hope for, and the fact that it was a friend’s son helped lessen the fatherly pain.

Not seeming to have noticed any of this, Kael was still observing his green sphere, looking as if he had just been given the perfect holiday present, “Incredible…”

Not a fan of having unknown artifacts around anymore, Loki decided to address this instantly, “What is that?”

Kael held it out to show Loki with a grin, “A tool known as a Verdant Sphere to be used by a hero when vanquishing evil beings. It absorbs their soul into it, turning their being into energy to empower one’s own spells. I used to have three, but I bet the others have been stolen after my numerous...setbacks.”

Snapping out of his reverie, Kael looked to the Night Elf in the hallway with a smirk, “Tell me, is that really the son of Illidan and Maiev?”

The otherwise silent man appeared shocked that someone knew who he was, “You know of my heritage?”

Kael shook his head no but laughed regardless, “Not really until now, so thank you for confirming it.”

As Kael laughed, Hela brought her head in to nuzzle against her nameless companion’s. Seeing this tugged at Loki’s heart, causing him to avert his eyes while whispering, “Take care of her.”

Having heard Loki with his large ears, Illidan’s son gave a small nod before both he and Hela disappeared just as they came, the temperature of the area rising instantly after their departure.

With the others gone, Kael let out a severe shiver before joking, “Not the most talkative couple, are they?”

Loki smiled to him while snorting, “No. Unlike you, they seem to recognize that words are not always necessary.”

“Am I to be punished over being verbose?”

“Keep using that tongue for words only and I will have no reason to punish you.”

Kael, very similar to how Trixie would not get an innuendo off the bat, nodded slowly, “I…see?”

That was all Loki needed to feel safe that he need not lose both daughters to men in the same day, “Your lack of understanding soothes me. Now, I am leaving, do you care to join me? I am about to go prank some ponies I really ought to be making amends with.”

The offer seemed to be a good chance to get on Loki’s good side, so Kael shrugged his shoulders before relenting, “I have something planned with Trixie later, but I suppose I have some time as she readies herself.”

When Loki came to Ponyville for the first time in what felt like forever he was quickly met by Rainbow Dash, who seemed as if she had been searching for him from a cloud high in the town’s air. Once she approached him though she stopped to observe the pointy eared man with a long blonde mane and similarly long, blonde eyebrows as well as glowing eyes. A little creeped out by the glowing eyes, Rainbow hovered a few feet away from them as she addressed the matter the only way she knew how: bluntly.

“Who the heck is this guy? Is he from your world or something?”

Loki looked at Kael with a dismissive glance, “No, not in the slightest.”

Trying to be polite despite Rainbow Dash’s own lack of ability to be, Kael gave her a half bow, “I am Prince Kael’Thas, and I am here serving mistress Lulamoon currently.”

Not seeming to care if he was working with Trixie or not, Rainbow instead became focused on what Kael was wearing since it was baffling her, “Why are you wearing a dress?”

Kael shook his head, understanding her confusion but also wanting to clarify that he was not a cross-dresser, “It’s a robe, and it is traditional for magic users in my world to wear them.”

“Sure, whatever you say Kale-floss. I’m Rainbow Dash, and I’m here to prank some ponies who have it coming. You in?”

Kael knew not how to respond to that, being left speechless as Loki snickered beside him and actually spoke, “Who is on your hitlist of pranks this time?”

Rainbow laughed at his own directness, appreciating that Loki acting more like what she remembered him as and not the psychopath she fought before, “Well, Applejack has kinda screwed me over with not saving any cider for me this year and also not making that apple pie I was going to give as a gift, so she’s first,” she flapped her wings and began to head to the town’s outskirts, “Come on, she lives on this farm over here!”

The word farm made Kael cringe. Not being afraid to get dirty did not mean one liked to get dirty, and the word farm definitely implied that Kael’s clothes may not remain all that clean. That, and Kael found himself absolutely confused by how badly his name had been butchered and was also still flustered about being told he was wearing a dress.

Loki held his hands up defensively as Kael sighed, the King joking to the younger man, “Don’t give me that look. You agreed to come of your own free will.”

“What is the goal of this prank?”

Both Loki and Rainbow rolled their eyes at Kael’Thas, who appeared to be none the wiser about how these were supposed to work. He was standing directly in front of the window of the house that Rainbow and Loki were kneeling behind, causing Loki to tug him down forcefully to prevent anyone inside from seeing his highly visible red robe.

In a whispered voice, Rainbow spoke to the others while removing something from a bag she brought, “We’re gonna make Applejack’s little sister Apple Bloom think Applejack’s her mom. I got a fake diary to slip in, but I can’t do it alone. I need a distraction.”

Loki nudged Kael, “You use your magic to cause a commotion on the other side of the farm when I say so. In the meantime, I think I can add some additional flavor to this,” Loki took the book from Rainbow and held a hand out to Kael, “Lend me your magic.”

Still not getting all of this, Kael reluctantly began to channel a small amount of energy into Loki, “Fine, but now I’m going to be starving until we get back.”

With the power granted to him, Loki created an image of a baby version of Apple Bloom and a younger Applejack in a hospital room, with Applejack cradling the baby like a mother might their new baby. This done, he placed the image inside the diary and handed it back to Rainbow, who began to giggle in a hushed manner at the sight of it all.

“This is so perfect!”

Loki gestured for Kael to use his magic to cause a distraction, which ended with Kael using his gravity powers to make the farm’s pigs take flight. As they began to float up into the air across the farm, Applejack rushed out of the house to go run after them. This done, Rainbow opened the window and Loki levitated the diary across the room so that it landed in front of the groggy Apple Bloom, who had been sleeping on a couch downstairs when Applejack ran out of the house yelling.

Kael stopped raising the pigs into the air and gently let them down since their little operation was complete, at which point the three just began to listen in. After a moment the young filly yawned and noticed the book before her as Applejack began to return to the house, confused as to what just happened.

“What’s this?”

After a minute passed, the filly’s jaw was dropping, having read the contents of the diary and also having come across the picture. Shocked thoroughly, she called out across the house to her “sister”.

“Hey Appuhljack, why duz yer diary call me yer ‘baby’ and ‘little gurl?’ I mean, isn’t that what moms are suppos’ ta call their foals?” Apple Bloom asked innocently, “And why do ya have this picture of you in da doctor’s office with me as a foal?”

Applejack rushed into the room with a worried face, “Okay, one, how’d you get mah diary? Two—”

The orange farm pony stopped talking to Apple Bloom when she realized that there was a draft, and that the window was open. Outside the window was snickering, as well as the sight of a small tuft of rainbow colored hair.

Realizing what had been done, Applejack grabbed the pseudo-diary and tossed it out the window at her friend, “Rainbow! I’m gonna get you!”

Rainbow took this as her sign to leave, beating her wings and taking flight as Loki and Kael each stood up and prepared to flee.

“Haha, priceless!”

After successfully losing Applejack, who chased them perhaps a bit too far, the group found themselves in the middle of town. Ponies were whispering about the man who tried conquering Canterlot and the woman in a dress beside him, but none of the prankster trio paid them any mind.

“Who is our next target?” Loki questioned Rainbow, since it was a favor he was doing for her.

“Well, Fluttershy is busy today, and Twilight’s in Canterlot, so that leaves Pinkie Pie and Rarity—”

From behind them all, the three’s conversation was interrupted by a voice that just dripped with high society, “Bushy brows, darling!”

They turned to see Rarity smiling at Kael’Thas, who gave a weak smile back and waved to the fashion pony. Rainbow snickered as their decision was made for them, “That settles that,” she nudged Loki, “Come on. I got an idea.”

Left alone to handle the pony, Kael found himself clearing his throat, “It is…good to see you, Miss Rarity. Thank you for all the work you did for me.”

Rarity approached him and began to inspect his clothes with a proud smile, “You seem to be enjoying the dress I made for you. How are the other sets?”

His ego deflated somewhat, Kael smiled weakly at her, “Practically identical, and they are robes. Dresses are entirely different.”

Rarity rolled her eyes at his comment about the dresses, “Pffft, Darling, I make clothes for a living. I think I would know the difference.”

After a moment of further inspection, Rarity frowned as she tapped a hoof against his chest, “This dress is from a different set. I sewed slightly different patterns into each after all. What have you done with the original?”

Kael had not even noticed that there were slight differences in the different sets and instantly felt guilty, since she had spent weeks doing her best to make them to his specifications. For the right price of course, sponsored by the surprisingly lenient on money Luna, “Oh, yes. The normal shirt is currently…”

Rarity glared at him, daring him to make up an excuse.

Realizing he could not just lie straight to her face, Kael chuckled nervously while admitting the embarrassing truth, “Trixie is wearing it.”

That did not please the fashionista any, “That charlatan is wearing the clothing I made for you because…”

Kael shrugged, really hoping to move off the subject, “The details don’t matter. She just is.”

Rarity scoffed at his refusal to tell her, “Of course they matter! Is my favorite bushy browed Elf lending his clothing to our newest princess out of some romantic interest? If so, do tell! I need to prepare the wedding garments, especially if she takes your form, or if you take the form of a pony. And that’s not even getting into maternity clothing—”

To slow her down Kael cut her off and shook his head, “Now now, I assure you that the relationship is completely platonic. No need to get ahead of yourself.”

His words seemed to disappoint the romantic, “Oh well. I was wondering what you would look like with blue-silver hair, or Trixie would be like if she had such large eyebrows…”

As if she only just realized that Rainbow and Loki had left, Rarity began to look around confusedly, “Where did Rainbow and your friend go?”

“Nowhere at all!” Rainbow yelled as she rushed back to join Kael, Loki joining her shortly thereafter with a smirk on his face.

Rarity hugged her blue friend before letting out a sigh of sorrow, “Sorry Rainbow, but I must be off. I have my weekly appointment at the spa to go to. It was very nice seeing you all though,” she released herself from Rainbow and turned to face Kael’Thas, “Come by if you ever need more dresses! You look absolutely marvelous in them!”

While Rarity left them Rainbow fell over and began to laugh furiously as Loki only shook his head in amusement, a large grin on his face. Kael could only sigh as he tried to get the subject off of his clothing and onto their reason for being there.

“What did you even do?”

Rainbow calmed her laughter enough to choke out, “We changed the stuff they are going to be using on her at the spa to have…interesting effects.”

“Interesting?” Kael questioned, curious what he just distracted Rarity for.

Rainbow patted her mane and then put her hooves over her eyes, “The shampoo is now hair dye, and the cucumbers she’s gonna have on her eyes are going to have pepper on them so she starts sneezing.”

Loki chimed in next, “The materials she will use to sneeze into have been made to have a sticky adhesive on them.”

Kael found himself amused by the idea, but still tried to play the part of responsible adult as he looked over Loki and then Rainbow, “I don’t expect any better of you, but is she not your friend?”

Rainbow shrugged from her spot on the ground, “Yeah, she is, but this is to show her that when I say stop talking about making me a wedding dress, she should stop talking about it.”

“You are to be married?” Loki asked, genuinely curious. He had not pegged her down as the type to get settled down, at least not so early in her life.

Rainbow chuckled nervously, “Never said that. She’s been on this crusade to have all of her friends get married recently. Without Twilight around to keep her restrained, we all have had to deal with her.”

Looking up to see that a good deal of time had passed in the day, Kael turned to face the others with a sorrowful look, “I apologize, but I must go now. Perhaps next time I can partake in the actual pranks?”

Rainbow nodded to him, “Sure. You did good as a distraction. Bet you can pull off some real funny stuff if we help you out enough!”

Kael only hoped that next time he would not be as much of a brunt of the joke as their victims.

It was good that Kael got the day’s “fun” out of the way early as he intended, as it was time for a much more serious activity. Trixie was still pacing about the front of the castle trying to psyche herself up for this action she was not even sure she wanted to partake in.

Kael brought a hand to touch her shoulder gently, a soft smile on his face as he looked at her with concern.

“Are you ready for this?”

Trixie nodded to him, her glowing eyes nearly closing as she tried her hardest not to cry, “I…I think I am. I should see her…”

She had chosen her Elven form because she felt more in control with it for this particular event. Not looking like the pony she was about to visit meant something, even if Trixie wasn’t quite sure what it meant exactly.

“Let’s walk. I…” Trixie sighed, “I don’t have it in me to rush there...”

Kael wrapped an arm around her and gave her a momentary hug to again show support, “Of course.”

The two were silent as they left the castle and began to cross town to reach their destination. Their short travel would not go uninterrupted, however, as some yelling and screaming on one street caught both of their attentions. They followed the noise to find a mare yelling at and hitting a stallion, who was backed against a store window as she continued to wail on him with one hoof after another, even hitting him with what appeared to be a rock in one hoof. The crowd around him was laughing at the display, not seeming to care about the abuse.

Trixie looked around to try and see if there were any police officers around to handle the matter. Time was of the essence for her and she could not spare an afternoon settling all of the matters that go into this kind of thing. She was pleased to find a couple of police officers nearby, however, and they were even approaching the scene!

Trixie felt relieved that the matter was to be taken care of, at least until they walked right past the public display and across the street towards where a mare with a bruised eye was yelling back at a stallion across from her. They approached the stallion and began to arrest him, at which point Trixie felt she must step in despite her time crunch.

“What are you doing?” Trixie asked the closer officer of the two who were there.

The officer turned to see the Elven Trixie, but the tabloids had run an article concerning this new form of Trixie’s and her possible…uses of it, so he recognized her despite her shift in form, “Arresting this stallion for assault, Princess Trixie. Is there a problem?”

Trixie pointed a hand over at the other disturbance, “What about that mare over there?”

“I…” the stallion began, only to realize that saying something as stupid as ‘I think he must deserve it’ or anything or the like would sound really bad.

There was little that ceased to irritate the new princess about Canterlot city, even if it was her home. Such disgusting ponies with a similarly disgusting, toxic culture.

Trixie frowned at the lack of response, “She is abusing her poor partner too. You may either arrest both this stallion and her and do your duty, or turn your eye away from both crimes and fail your duty. Your hypocrisy is disgusting,” pausing momentarily, Trixie then asked, “So what will it be?”

The cop waved his partner over to go take care of the other incident, at which point Trixie nodded in approval, “I thought so.”

With quite the good memory and knowledge of most ponies in the town since she was in charge of looking after them nowadays, Trixie decided to create a mental checklist of who to punish in some fashion later on from across the road. She approached the group laughing at the poor stallion and leered at them all too, “You all should be ashamed of yourselves. Consider yourselves uninvited to all coming Galas.”

Silence hung on the street as Trixie and Kael continued on their way. Unlike Trixie, who was now in a sour mood after seeing ponies being hurt for no reason, Kael was actually happy since he decided to look on the bright side of the situation. She resolved a conflict that otherwise would have gone unnoticed, and helped some poor pony in need.

Exactly the kind of person who should be in charge, at least in the prince’s opinion, “I look forward to seeing you in power one day. I don’t think many will dare be so brazenly amoral then.”

“Of course I look forward to then…There are enough disgusting behaviors in this world that we do not need to add double standards to the lot.”

They continued to walk to Trixie’s former home slowly, Trixie’s mood slowly evaporating on the way. She did not want to get there in a foul mood, since the encounter she was about to go through could go in any direction. Trixie did not even really know what she wanted other than to use the Aether to stop her mother’s health problems. The Aether’s power could heal, and Trixie had read up on cure magic, so she hoped there was some way to help her mother. Despite being emotionally torn about her, Trixie did not wish her to suffer.

Once they arrived at the location, Trixie turned to Kael.

Kael, wait here for me.

He stood still, allowing Trixie to approach her old home. There were signs of somepony being home, so Trixie swallowed her pride and hatred to approach the door. After a moment of hesitation, she managed to knock on the door.

“Mother?”

No response came. Just like the last time Trixie had done this. Last time though, Trixie had been forced to come as a result of nearly dying from starvation and being homeless. This time? She was doing it on her own terms.

“Mother, I came to say I am sorry. I shouldn’t have been so callous towards you when you were reaching out to me…what you went through…”

Trixie began to cry as she knocked again, again receiving no response.

Trixie was ready to blast down the door if she needed to, since she knew her mother was declining in health, “You said you only had a month, but I looked at your medical records…” Trixie swallowed as she prepared to knock down the door, “You managed to hold on this long, which the doctors thought was amazing—”

If she was a horse she would have smelled it before with her more acute sense of smell, but as an Elf it has escaped her senses. But after standing there for a minute Trixie could smell something…

“Is that smoke?” she asked herself softly before her eyes lit up, “Oh no…”

With her magic she blasted down the door and rushed inside, Kael teleporting inside as well from worry. Trixie rushed into one room while Kael went into another, Trixie eventually finding the cause of the fire: A single match and a house full of drizzled gasoline. The fire was spreading quickly, but Trixie panicked as she searched for her biological mother.

The last room in the house, her mother’s room, was where they found her. Unmoving, and a bottle of sleeping pills beside her.