Familiar Faces Smiling Back At Me And I Knew, This Would Make Them Change, The Only Thing That's Going to Bother Me, Is That You'll All Call Yourselves MY Friends, Why Can't You Look Me In The Eyes One Last Time?
A/N: Hey everyone, this is now the longest chapter of the story and it is by far the most meaningful for the story's overall message and for its themes. I don't want to say too much about it, but I will address it in the comments when I hear from you.
Thank you everyone for supporting the story this far. I have been waiting for this chapter for over a year, and so it would mean a lot to hear your thoughts in the comments below. I hope you enjoy in the same manner as last chapter, and I really do hope to hear what you all think!
Luna had fear running down her spine to the point she was completely stricken by the sight of the nursery room exploding so violently. She attempted to teleport to that part of the building so she could rush right to the site of the now fading cataclysm of energy rising to the sky, but her attempt failed as her exhausted body failed to gather enough power to carry out the action. Her recent scuffle with Chrysalis had robbed her of what little energy she did have, and now she was left as a weakened and wounded being unable to cast magic.
“Damn it!” she cursed as she forced her pained body into a gallop down the hallway. Chrysalis was still capable of escaping, but Luna would rather grant the villain a chance to escape and make sure her children were fine than secure Chrysalis and not rush to the side of her infant children.
The energy displayed had been so great that it significantly narrowed its source of origin down to a single being, and that was what worried Luna, “That had to be…”
Something had happened to Trixie while she was seemingly visiting the foals, though what would make Trixie unleash her power in such a way? What would make Trixie possibly harm the foals she seemed to care about so much?
Though sheer determination Luna managed to get to the nursery as fast as her hooves could carry Luna even as her body threatened to collapse beneath her. She was one of the first to arrive at the scene, though the others who were there did not dare approach the room: the explosion had stopped and all that was left was an inferno of red, searing flames.
Not caring about the fire, Luna leapt into the room through the doorway left open by how energy forced the door open.
Upon entering Luna noticed that there were flames curved around the cribs like mini-barriers of sorts, though all that registered in her mind was the fact that the cribs looked perfectly intact unlike the rest of the scorched room.
“Sleep Near, Hela!”
Luna leapt over some of the flames as they spread on the ground so she could place herself between the two cribs. She was physically exhausted, but a fragment of her magic had returned to her and she managed to use it to part the fire and remove her twins from the fire that had formed around them.
Each of the foals appeared fine, with Sleep Near even being asleep despite everything and Hela awake but silent as always. Luna brought them in close to her and laid them on her long back, unable to use telekinesis on them any longer.
“I’m so happy you’re okay…I…”
The fact that they were safe made Luna start crying. Someone had saved them, and for that she would be eternally grateful.
Luna left the still burning room carefully and methodically, not even minding the flames that nipped at her legs as she cautiously balanced the two infants on her back.
When she got outside she was met by Loki, who rushed to her and both used his limited magic to cool her burn wounds as well use his arms to take the children from her back, “Luna…”
Luna let herself fall down to the ground after the children were in Loki’s arms. She couldn’t bear to stand anymore, and her mind was still reeling at what just happened, “What just happened?”
Loki shook his head and sighed. He had his owns ideas, but he was going to keep them in his head for the time being. Luna was in bad enough shape that she did not need cynical yet realistic ideas about what was going on now. He could be wrong, but like Twilight he was capable of putting the pieces of the puzzle together.
“Whatever that was, it most certainly involved Trixie. None of us have that kind of power right now except her.”
Luna said nothing to this, not knowing how to rationalize what just happened. She refused to think that Trixie willingly endangered the foals, and yet she couldn’t understand what Trixie could have been doing that would result in such a thing. Had she simply lost control of her power?
Her thinking about the issue was halted by her eyes lazily coming across the door that had been blown off its hinges. The door was scorched black on the inside where it had been bombarded with magic…except for an outline that formed against it.
Luna gaped at the sight, once again shocked that night, “Is that…”
Loki moved closer to observe the door as other members of the castle began to whisper and speak, having gotten over their own initial shock. It only took Loki a moment to recognize the marking on the door.
It was an outline of a stallion, though it was hard to notice much in the way of details given its 2D nature. What it did reveal though was that there was somepony in the room with Trixie, as well as that they no longer existed given their outline splattered against the door that had been blown out and away from the room.
“She killed someone,” Loki announced not as a condemnation but rather as a statement of the facts. He had killed before, and Trixie was quite gentle compared to him and Luna, so he wouldn’t raise an issue over this if it was all that happened.
Still, Luna was not about to just accept that Trixie had done something so terrible as murder in their very own castle. She could have been defending herself for all they knew, and since Trixie was not there and had left no trace they could not ascertain the actual truth just yet, “We don’t know that!”
“It appears to be a pony…” Loki clarified, not having the same moral outrage at the idea as Luna. Now that she was back in her normal body without her mind corrupted she was the softer of the two of them on such issues, “Was there anyone she could have a grudge against?”
Luna snickered momentarily as she thought about how well they all harbored resentment, “Only about half the world,” realizing quickly this was not the time to joke about their collective issue, she quieted down and tried to think about the issue at hand. She had killed someone, so it likely was someone she truly despised, “But…”
Loki looked over the room and realized that perhaps someone else had a hand in this all. He waved a hand and used the last of his magic to quell the fires, their very presence a sign that perhaps they still had more to consider, “She doesn’t use fire…”
“So her pet Elf was here too when it happened,” Luna finished his thought, a part of her hoping that perhaps this was his doing and not Trixie’s. It would explain why there were fire barriers around the cribs if he was the one to instigate the explosion, which he perhaps had enough power to do, since he would have been able to react quickly enough to shield the foals if he instigated the issue.
One of the guards who had come to observe the incident came to his princess and bowed before her, “Princess Luna, there is another outline on the wall as well, along with fragments of a guard’s armor!”
Luna looked up to see that a second outline of a pony rested on the wall across the hallway from the nursery room. Given the position of the markings it seemed like the guard had been close to the door when the explosion happened. Had he been listening in and paid the price with his life?
Luna would mourn the loss of one of her workers if not for the fact that whomever this was allowed whoever was meeting with Trixie to cause the whole issue. If they had done their proper duty as a guard they would have removed any ill intentioned person, so their stupidity or ignorance almost made them complicit in the event and their own death.
“Well whoever he was apparently was so poor at his job that he let someone do this!” Luna growled, finding strength through her anger which thusly allowed her to rise up from the ground.
Loki approached her and shook his head, “Luna, calm down. We need to find them, and for that we need cool, collected heads.”
“I…”
Luna’s anger left her at his guidance, and thus her strength to stand faded. She fell back down and brought her head as close to her body as she could. Luna wanted to just cry and be miserable about everything they had to go through, but she had a feeling it was not over just yet.
“Right now you can barely stand and I am not much better. Let us give this the night and have your soldiers search in the meantime,” Loki suggested. If Trixie did not want to be found they would not be able to given her illusions and teleportation magic, so there was no use in either Loki or Luna pursuing her because of their exhausted bodies. They wouldn’t accomplish anything.
Luna glanced up at the babies Loki gently held in his arms, a part of her almost amused by how even now Sleep Near managed to sleep through it all. He was living up to his name.
“They are sleeping in our room.”
“Of course.”
They assigned servants to patrol everywhere they could think of up to and including the former Ursa caves and the house formerly belonging to Trixie’s mother, and after some explanations to the rest of their family they headed to bed.
Despite it all, Luna had a knot in her stomach. Something did not sit right with her, though she was not nearly as close to the truth as either Loki or Twilight.
“Oh Trixie…”
Trixie had suffered enough because of how Luna involved her in her life, and she was resolved to put an end to that. They deserved to live a happy life together after everything they had all gone through.
The night’s search yielded no results in locating either Trixie or her companion, but once he had more time to consider the issue at night Loki had come up with a better solution to the problem. He gathered to meet Luna, Thor, Celestia, Twilight, Maiev, Fandral, and the Siren Sonata who insisted on tagging along with Fandral. He was unsure what would be waiting for him in Asgard due to Thanos mentioning that he had left something there for him, so he was going to bring the strongest fighters they had when he implemented his new plan for finding Trixie.
They had gathered in the place Trixie used to train, and so Loki spoke to the others as they gathered around the field, “We should meet with the guardian Heimdall in Asgard. His nearly omniscient sight should allow us to find her easier than we might otherwise be able to.”
There were few arguments. Everyone wanted to find the missing duo so that they could all begin to relax and enjoy the freedom from Thanos they had earned.
“You are right,” Luna commented, though no-one else said much on the issue. Everyone was tight lipped because of their own personal feelings and insecurities about the issue, and it would not be until later that they shared their thoughts.
As the group began its preparations for leaving, Luna found her gaze caught by the sight of a tree she had not noticed before. Nearby her sat a cherry blossom tree with a brilliant glow to its pink petals…how long had that been there? She tried to think, but she couldn’t remember it.
How little had she been paying attention these past months as she prepared for the foals? She had not even noticed and could not even remember having a tree added to their garden. It was beautiful though, and Luna began to think about the tree.
It was supposed to symbolize something, but she was still feeling a bit tired and was unable to recall the pertinent meaning behind it.
Despite this she approached it and moved to touch one of its brilliant petals…which wilted and the entire set of pink petals lost their color and died the moment she did so.
The tree had lost its petals some time ago, but illusions and magic kept up its pretty appearance even after it lost its beauty. Luna winced at the sight of the empty tree left behind, though she decided she would get another such tree to make up for it upon her return. She was beginning to remember a bit about talking with Trixie some months back about this, but she hadn’t thought of it since as if something had kept her from doing so.
In fact, Luna began to have what seemed like a haze lift off her mind the more she thought down this path. She had originally intended to take the Aether away from Trixie, yet somehow she had stopped thinking about that and stopped worrying even despite having every reason to. Why was that?
As Luna confronted her own memories, Loki was approached by one of the people he had decided to bring along. There were more he could take, but many of the soldiers of both Jotunheim and Asgard were sapped of their strength as was Discord.
“Loki?”
He looked down to see that the former rival of the missing Alicorn was at his side, “Purple Smart—” Loki stopped himself to correct his error, “I mean Princess Twilight. You do wish to aid us, correct?”
He asked only because he did not want to involve anyone not willing, and he had little clue about how Twilight felt about her former rival nowadays. They could still be bitter enemies for all he knew, but he honestly doubted that.
Twilight nodded her head and smiled at him sadly, “Yes. I’m worried about Trixie.”
Loki looked from side to side to check if anyone was close enough to hear them. Once he was sure enough he could whisper he leaned in to speak in a hushed voice to Twilight, “I am too, and not in the same way Luna is.”
To that Twilight nodded. After what she had found in Trixie’s room she was quite concerned, even more so than she had been at first, and so she continued down the path set before her when she witnessed Trixie go berserk on Adagio.
Seeing that he had someone to aid him in this secret matter, Loki continued to whisper, “When we arrive at Asgard, I have a task I would like you to undergo.”
Twilight nodded, dedicated to the cause of helping out someone in need who she felt really needed a friend, “Anything to help.”
“Very well then,” Loki checked again to see if anyone was listening in on them, “You will depart to Jotunheim. It is a frigid world, and the inhabitants are not the most welcoming. You have the power to protect yourself from them which is why I ask this of you.”
“What will I do when I go there?”
Something had not sat right with Loki ever since the reveal of Trixie’s secret weapon in the middle of the Thanos conflict, “During the battle Trixie was in control of two Bifrosts, one of which she called on the missing King of Jotunheim, Laufey, to use.”
A lightbulb lit up in Twilight’s head as she realized that there was some meaning behind what she found in Trixie’s room, “So you think…”
Loki nodded, “Search for a similar structure on their world, as I assume it might be hidden. Do whatever you need to in order to locate it.”
“I’ll find this structure and then return to you all to help you with whatever is going on. May I ask the importance of this though?”
“If it is hidden as I suspect it could be where we need to go to find her, a refuge of sorts. It is just a thought though, and this way we can eliminate it as a place to search at the same time we handle more obvious locations,” he explained, though any further conversation he would have with Twilight was cut short by someone calling her name.
“Twilight!”
Both Twilight and Loki looked to the approaching group made up of Twilight’s friends. They all moved to hug her, which she returned with a bright smile.
“Hey girls!” she smiled before sheepishly taking note of a small purple reptile hugging her leg, “And Spike.”
Rainbow Dash looked around and rose an eyebrow at the gathering of random people in the yard, “Where are you going, Twi?”
“We’re going to go try and find Trixie. She’s gone missing and we’re worried.”
“Need a hoof? I bet we can help you in whatever you’re doing!” Rainbow enthusiastically said back, having been irritated previously at being unable to fight the big villains at the stadium. She wanted to feel like she was accomplishing something, since even Scootaloo got to tell an awesome story of how she beat up a security guard and all Rainbow had to say was that she beat some grunts who got in the way of the evacuation.
Twilight frowned as she shook her head at the others, “I’m sorry girls, where I’m going I don’t think you’ll be able to go too.”
“Awww, come on,” Rainbow Dash complained, though Rarity patted the excited Pegasus on the side before speaking to Twilight.
“It’s okay Darling, just come back soon. Everypony back in Ponyville wants to celebrate all you’ve done.”
Twilight laughed as she thought about the party her friends were going to throw her and how much in contrasted with the frigid world she was about to go to, “I don’t plan on being gone long. I hear it’s chilly there.”
Spike spoke up next, still holding onto Twilight’s leg like a child might, “Be safe, okay?”
Loki watched as Twilight gave him a warm, affectionate pat on the head as she spoke to him in the same caring tone a mother or older sister might to a young child.
“I promise.”
After everyone was sure they were ready and rested, the entire group had Heimdall call down the Bifrost for them and within moments the entire party was transported to Asgard.
The experience was slightly off-putting for those less used to it like Twilight and Celestia, though Loki ignored the former’s slight dizziness as they arrived. It was time to send her on her way to Jotunheim.
“Twilight.”
The princess shook her head free of the disorientation and prepared herself to leave, Heimdall making the necessary preparations in silence from his station that controlled the circular room’s magic.
“On it. Hopefully you guys find her first!”
As Twilight left for Jotunheim the rest of the group gathered together and found themselves relieved that the place was not crawling with minions of Thanos.
“Where is she going?” Celestia asked, partially concerned with how Twilight was splitting off from them all.
Loki waved a hand to calm her fears, though he was not entirely sure it would be completely safe. And not just because of the Frost Giants remaining there trying to kick her out, “She is running an errand for me on Jotunheim.”
That silenced Celestia, though Luna spoke up soon thereafter. Across the room, where there was normally an exit, it was sealed and a group of four people stood. Heimdall moved to join them, at which point Luna voiced her confusion.
“Wait, that’s…”
Heimdall, Lady Sif, Hogun…Volstagg…and Kael.
While surprised by Volstagg being across the room and not in Hel, Luna found herself surprised by the presence of one of the people they were searching for, “Kael!”
Kael had his back turned to them all while the four others stood two on either side of him. His body was glowing as if he was channeling magic, and the stone cold expressions on the faces of the other four made what would otherwise have been a warm welcoming off-putting and intimidating.
Something was wrong.
Kael finished whatever he was doing and turned around, revealing that he was in his full cloth and armor again. His face was impassive as he began to speak, stopping Luna mid-step as she first tried to move towards them, “Energy…power…my people are addicted to it. A dependence made manifest after our Sunwell was destroyed.”
Loki stepped forward and put an arm in front of Luna, who realized that this was not a friendly greeting. They were trapped inside the Bifrost and Heimdall was the only one who could control it, and his blank expression showed that he was not exactly “there”.
Kael laughed as he gestured to the glowing energies of the room, “Welcome to the future. A pity you are too late to stop it. No-one can stop me now!”
Realizing the betrayal both shocked and angered Luna. What was the reason behind this? What did this man think he was doing?
Luna pushed past Loki’s arm and began to charge up her energy, having regained it over the full night of sleep.
“You bastard! What is it with Elves and trying to take over this kingdom?”
Kael scoffed as he snapped his fingers once, “I have no desire to rule this land, but I do have a need for some of your resources.”
Luna would have shot a powerful beam of energy right at him, but an axe swinging by her face stopped her from finishing the attack. Her whole focus was thrown into avoiding the startling display of speed by none other than Volstagg, the man quiet as he began to hack and slash away at Luna as she did her best to avoid him.
“Thank you Volstagg.”
The others moved to help Luna and stop the rapid pursuit of the surprisingly nimble warrior, though Kael made no move to help the man doing his bidding.
“He was brought here broken, defeated, by Thanos’s soldiers while the events in Equestria unfolded. Heimdall killed the soldiers sent, something I doubt Thanos expected, leaving Volstagg here to recover in your medical chambers until now. He and the others were not quite prepared for my influence.”
Loki clenched a fist as he began to analyze the situation. He would have assisted Luna if not for something he had hidden from all the others: someone had stolen his blades at some point the night before, likely when he was distracted by the nursery incident.
“You…”
Being betrayed was something that Loki despised, though he was used to it in some ways. Having someone betray him and seize control seemingly of the minds of his loyal servants to then pit them against him? That was infuriating. To use these loyal people to attack his family?
Kael would need to be punished over the course of eternity for this.
With the quick dancing around of Luna and Volstagg it was quite hard for the others on her side to get in the way, but eventually someone managed to: Fandral swooped in and landed a boot against the side of his friend. He would do whatever he could to knock sense into the burly man, having lost him once and not wishing to go through that ever again. They were true friends, and the loss had brought Fandral to tears in a way even the death of his king was unable to.
From the sidelines Sonata stood back as the only one not trying to fight other than Loki, for she did not have much in the way of aiding them attack given her limited power, “Fandral…”
“What is your goal here, Sunstrider?” Loki growled as Fandral began to engage Volstagg in combat, the former combatant only able to avoid Volstagg’s strikes because the man’s strength and sweeping movements gave brief moments of respite when one was avoided.
Kael smirked as he gestured to the glowing inside of the Bifrost, which glowed with the energies granted to it by the Sunwell Kael had helped add in the past year, “With the power of this, mixed with the fountain of energy that is my Sunwell, I can attain the means needed to return to my world,” he laughed as he watched Volstagg land a strong punch on Fandral to send him reeling back, “But that is not all. I have kept it hidden until now, but my mind control capabilities are greatly expanded by all of the power I have been gathering as of recently.”
Volstagg moved to bring his axe down on Fandral, but a pair of beams from Celestia and Luna caused the imposing warrior to stumble to the side and miss.
“Soon everyone will quit their petty disputes and wars and be forced to an era of peace. My reach will be unlimited when this device finishes charging from the power I have poured into it, and then I will have the control and power I need to save my people,” Kael continued with ardor, though he paused to give his next words weight, “Even from themselves.”
Maiev tackled Volstagg but was pushed back by an aura of energy surrounding him, as if he was being empowered by some massive source of energy. Luna turned her attention from the implacable man to Kael and growled, “That’s enough! Where is Trixie you duplicitous bastard!?”
“Why, if I told you that I would not be very good at this evil overlord role I have been cast in, would I?” he shook his head and laughed quietly, “You will find her when you are finished with me, though that is assuming you can overcome me.”
The Elf cast a hand towards his mind controlled minion and gave a command, “Volstagg, no more holding back. Finish them.”
With a violent swing the bulkiest member of the Warriors Three knocked back Luna and Maiev both, the former able to dodge enough to then teleport out of the full damage while the latter was forced to brace herself with her weapon. She stumbled back but not too far, her armor insulating her from a good deal of the damage while the initial strike was stopped by her own weapon which was now sporting cracks and damage.
The display continued to amuse Kael, who continued to narrate as if to solely irritate them, “Normally he would be a normal warrior, but now he is empowered by my might. He could kill any of you if he landed a good enough hit. Be careful.”
From the ground Fandral began to pick himself up with the help of Sonata, though part of the way up he realized he sprained his ankle upon falling. He was the softest of the warrior troupe he was so proud to be in, and he had not expected to be so demolished in a single hit by his friend.
“Volstagg, wake up! Don’t you think your wife and children miss you?! Stop this—”
He did not finish because even while magic struck Volstagg he managed to spin around and hurl his axe at the downed Fandral. This time there was nothing Sonata could do as the axe buried itself in Fandral, who had shoved her out of the way just as Volstagg tossed the blade.
The axe caught the lean man in the chest and he coughed out a single mouthful of blood before collapsing onto his knees and then side.
Fandral died before hitting the ground.
The sight of this had an effect on Volstagg none of the attacks on him had in that he paused entirely. He froze at the sight of his friend laying there lifelessly as some woman shook the corpse and screamed.
Time stopped for Volstagg, but it didn’t for the pragmatic Maiev who seized the opportunity to run her blade across the back of his neck and sever his spine. Upon being stunned his aura had dropped just momentarily and he was left as vulnerable as anyone else without a helmet, and so Volstagg too fell within moments of seeing his friend do so.
“How unfortunate. Oh well, there are more from where he came from. Lady Sif, if you would not mind taking his place.”
Sif attacked this time, but it was Thor who intercepted her as she moved in to attack Luna. He had been unable to match the speed of the others just barely in the fight against Volstagg, but since he had a moment to prepare he was able to get in Sif’s way. His hammer clashed with her blade just as it came down towards Luna’s head, with Thor’s back pressed up against his brother’s wife.
Even empowered Sif was able to be matched by Thor, though the match up was close. Thor’s face strained as he fought to keep their weapons locked, though his opponent showed the same strain. Sif was skillful, but in a battle of sheer power that carried less weight which was why Thor was fighting to keep things as they were.
“Sif, you must wake up from this haze he has brought upon your mind! This is not you!”
Thor’s pleading fell on deaf ears as Sif finally managed to get her sword free from Mjolnir and quickly used it to cut through the lower part of Thor’s side. His armor kept her blade from chopping right through him, but its follow up strike never happened because Loki caught her arm in his hand.
He and Thor had been fighting with Sif for centuries, so neither of them felt particularly bad about Thor following up this opportunity with a swing of Mjolnir into her gut. Loki let go as Sif stumbled backwards from the might of Thor due to not wanting to be pulled along with her.
It seemed that things were finally beginning to grate on Kael’s nerves, as his voice was neutral rather than smug as he spoke up again, “They will not stop until they are dead. If you wish to defeat me, you will have to cut down your own allies.”
“No! There must be another way!” Thor cried out as he began to spin his hammer around in preparation for an attack. Sif prepared herself to defend, but when the hammer swung it flew on past her: right at her controller.
Everyone had been so busy trying to prevent the empowered soldiers from massacring them to actually try attacking their leader, though if they had it would have proven worthless.
Mjolnir flew on its intended path, but a flick of the wrist on Kael’s part and Sif teleported to be between him and the weapon. It was aimed at his face so the tall man was forced to manually lift her up and use her as a shield.
The hammer struck her in the spine and dented the armor there causing Kael to snort. He tossed her to the side and removed his energy from her, no longer having use for the wounded warrior whose spine was shattered.
Thor screamed and ran as yet another of his longtime friends fell. He had been shocked and infuriated by seeing two of them fall, but for a third to be so greatly harmed by him and then tossed aside set him off. He called his hammer back to his side while Maiev moved in and stomped on the other woman’s neck: she did not enjoy killing her allies, but these controlled warriors could kill them all and the Elf had the power to raise the dead and heal. Anything less than brutally slaughtering them to make sure they stay down was kids play and would end in them all dying. As the biggest outsider amongst them, she didn’t possess the sentimentalities that might restrain her.
Kael flicked his wrist unenthusiastically and then snapped his fingers at the charging Thor, “Hogun, show our guests why you are a part of an elite force of warriors.”
Hogun moved to intercept Thor but stopped dead in his tracks as Loki moved between them and slipped a previously hidden knife into the man’s throat. Loki was the only one in the room naturally faster than their opponents, so much speed in fact that he was able to slip the blade in-between the energy pouring outwards from the man. It poured forth at a rapid pace from every direction, but in the split second it was not coming from one inch on his neck the fatal blow found its place.
Loki was not pleased with himself, but he was done with this game. He had observed that weakness while watching the other two come up and fight and it was time to exploit it as the only person in his small army who could. He would not let this madman toy with his family and bring harm to them, and he was of the same mind as Maiev in wanting to end the suffering of those controlled as quickly as possible. They couldn’t fight both these warriors and Kael at once, of that Loki was sure, so there simply was no choice but end their lives before confronting the man who dared take control of them in the first place for who knew how long.
Kael gave a friendly pat to the shoulder of Heimdall, for Kael was no longer under threat of Thor charging him because the god of Thunder was holding Hogun as the man lay lifeless, blood streaming from his wound, “I am quite impressed you have the strength to not only defeat them, but also your own emotions. You aren’t paralyzed by guilt. Perhaps you aren’t the heroes you pretend to be…”
“I will exact every ounce of pain they felt upon you when I receive the chance, Elf!” Luna yelled, her vocal frustration matching what Loki was bottling inside to unleash when the time came.
Seeing that once again he was at threat of being attacked himself, Kael had his last fighter join the fray, “Heimdall, this is your place of guardianship. Deal with the interlopers.”
Unlike the well rounded Hogun, Heimdall managed to block Loki’s strike as he moved in to attack: Heimdall was a warrior said to be on par with the King Odin if not his better in combat, so with a boost to his abilities he was supernatural in terms of his fighting skills.
Loki knew this though, and had defeated him before with a trick up his sleeve. That was the only way to defeat a martial master after all.
Loki ignored the sword that cut into his armor’s side and into his body as he summoned forth the magic he borrowed from Luna prior to coming: he beat Heimdall by freezing him in ice before, and this time he would repeat a past success rather than come up with something new.
A howl of winter came forth as Loki encapsulated all of Heimdall’s body in ice with more and more packing on with each moment as the warrior began to slow and end his swing that would have cut Loki in half.
In physical combat, Loki now reigned supreme, though his enhanced traits came at the cost of being unable to use magic at will. As such, he and Luna formed a duo of might: physical and magical powerhouses that each could defeat foes who otherwise were undefeatable.
Unperturbed by the defeat of the last of the mind controlled Asgardians, Kael smirked as his hands glowed with magic. As they continued to glow weapons began to appear around him in the air, at which point Loki caught sight of two familiar glowing blades.
“As you see, I have many weapons in my arsenal.”
Kael had stolen the blades at some point, and Loki intended to get them back.
Illidan’s Glaives soared through the air as the magic controlling them made them move to assault Loki, while the other weapons summoned moved to attack the others in the room.
Luna found herself met with the sight of the scepter she had once stolen from Loki and which had first come from Thanos. It both swerved at her and tried to impale her as well as formed magical blasts to fire at her, though both were dodged with choice teleports on her part.
Thor found himself dodging blast after blast from Odin’s staff Gungnir, which he last fought when it was wielded by Loki in his previous reign as King of Asgard when he was using the Bifrost to destroy Jotunheim. Familiar with the weapon due to its previous owners, Thor was able to avoid it, but he had trouble doing anything about it other than avoid it because of the way it flew through the air instead of stood on the ground like a normal combatant.
The others all found themselves assaulted by other weapons seemingly stolen from Asgard’s armory and so the conflict devolved into a game of cat and mouse between Kael’s weapons and the others, since there was little that anyone other than Luna and Celestia could do to fight the things in the air.
Not dodging or running from the swinging of swords of firing of magical blasts was Sonata, who sat on the ground cradling Fandral. She had died for him, and now he had died when he took the only time he had to dodge to make sure she was clear of the attack. She had no idea that Adagio was alive still, nor that she had any regrets, so all Sonata believed herself to have was this one friend who had just died for her.
She cried into his still warm body as a flurry of common blades swarmed around her and prepared to impale her. These weapons were enchanted to attack and kill, and they would do that whether the target was mourning or not.
They moved at a more sluggish pace than perhaps they ought to, and a slower pace than the other ones racing around the room surely, which gave time for a concerned onlooker to form a barrier around Sonata.
Sonata looked up and noticed that Celestia had formed a magical barrier around her, while Thor had leapt through the air and knocked down a good few of the weapons, shattering them in the process.
This revealed that while they were animated, they were no stronger than these weapons otherwise might be. Kael couldn’t enhance them with his magic like he could people, so they could be swatted down and destroyed like any other thing.
Thor shouted this much to for everyone to hear, and so the tables turned as both Luna and Celestia moved to fire at the floating weapons with their magic. In short order the remaining weapons fell to the ground in various states of disrepair, with some even having been tricked into shooting one another and those targeting Maiev buried into the frozen statue that was Heimdall.
Now with nothing protecting him from the large group of opponents out to take his head, Kael decided to harken back to an old but useful trick, “Perhaps I underestimated you. It would be unfair to make you fight all four warriors at once, but…”
His hands glowed with magic as he brought all of the fallen warriors under his employ back to life, Heimdall even bursting out of the ice on him to rip the blades in his body out.
“Fair treatment was never shown to my people. I’m just returning the favor.”
Loki could systematically eliminate the four, but he could not do so all at once. They could kill someone or a few of the others if he did not act quickly and think outside the box, so he called out to the only person in the room other than Kael well versed in mind control.
“Sonata, can you control them?”
While grief stricken, a part of Sonata wanted to exact vengeance. She was no better than the man they were fighting and in fact was quite petty in her evilness, but she was helping this side because it suited her selfish desire of being wanted and cared about.
Kael had taken the one person who did care for her through his toying around with others, and she wanted to help make him pay.
“I don’t have much power, but I can try…” she said as she stood up and steadied herself, tears still rolling down her cheeks but determination replacing the fear she had the last time she fought someone stronger than her.
As her voice rang out the four revived warriors slowed their assault. No longer were they only having Kael impress his will upon them, now they also were having a second voice begin to influence them. The conflicting nature of this caused the hesitation, and it was what would save Loki’s team.
“Protect her at all costs! We can’t afford to be fighting them all at once!” Loki shouted, not caring if Kael heard him. The man already could tell what was foiling his mind control, and while Kael vastly overpowered Sonata the slight distraction was enough to allow an axe swing that would have cut through Celestia’s neck to instead leave a flesh wound across it, a sword that would have rushed forward and impaled Luna to instead flail through the air as its target teleported, and for Loki to take down both Hogun and Sif again before they could reach the others.
Thor batted away Volstagg’s axe as the large man moved in to attack Sonata, the difference in speed taking away from the might of Volstagg’s attack and allowing Thor to fight him like he would any other opponent of about the same power as him.
Loki tended first to Heimdall who was assaulting Luna, as he loved his brother but Thor could perhaps take a hit with his armor: Luna hadn’t repaired her armor after it was damaged in the Dark Elf invasion because she wasn’t going into combat anytime soon, and a swing from the mighty Heimdall with his powerful sword that also acted as the key to the Bifrost would quite likely kill Luna outright.
Loki grabbed the glaives that had been shot out of the air from the ground on his way to intercept Heimdall, and with the two blades he managed to catch and hold the sword Heimdall swung. This gave Luna, the intended target, time to charge up her own power and blast Heimdall back with a powerful torrent of magical energy. Celestia took part in Luna’s defense too by blasting Heimdall from the side, and it was with some sorrow that Loki finished the man by forcing both searing green blades into the stumbling man’s chest.
Volstagg’s assault ended when Sonata stopped trying to serenade him and win control of his mind and instead refocused on using her voice as a weapon. Everyone in the room grabbed their ears to keep themselves from collapsing from the sheer onslaught of pain that came from the high pitched wailing, everyone except for Loki that was, for he used the moment of Volstagg being off guard to fell him once again.
Sonata had exhausted herself and her voice because of her lack of power and so she stopped after Volstagg fell, leaving the room silent for a moment as everyone readied themselves for the next stage of the conflict.
The silence was broken by a sigh, one followed by Kael’s annoyed voice.
“Alas, sometimes one must take matters into one’s own hands.”
The mind controlled Heimdall had put Twilight a good distance from where she would end up finding what she was looking for. She had been confused when she was dumped in the middle of a barren wasteland, but through some quick thinking she managed to find where she should teleport to.
The Sunwell gave off immense power, but it had to be built upon a place of magical energy. So, Twilight figured by sensing the magic of the world’s regions she could locate it. Trixie had not been the only one who sought to improve, and Twilight had done a bit of extra work after she was defeated by Trixie in combat.
With her method of searching it only took minutes to locate the facility as Twilight teleported long distances in every which way to survey new landscapes for their relative magic levels.
Twilight found herself stunned as she looked at a replica Bifrost built on the ground of Jotunheim, not resting on a glacier like most of its civilization but actually resting upon actual earth from which it received some of its unending power.
Upon entering it Twilight was shocked by what previously was an open doorway closing right behind her.
“Trixie?” She called out as she turned from looking behind her to observing the rest of the inner structure of it.
The response she received sent more of a shiver down her spine than the frigid air of the frozen world.
“Oh Twilight…”
A wave of fire swept across the Bifrost Loki and the others were in as Kael finally entered battle himself. Loki could see that Kael was not at full strength after using so much of his power doing everything but fighting, but even despite this the man managed to muster more power than what any one of them could on their own.
“Shut up and fight, Elf!” Luna yelled at her foe, infuriated by Kael’s constant narration throughout the previous segments of the battle. She had avoided his first attack and was preparing to unleash an attack of her own on the man who dared betray and harm them.
Kael responded to her with laughter as he prepared another volley of fire to fling at them, his first having not been fast enough to catch anyone in its path, “Such fury. You remind me of the Huntress who once stalked and murdered my closest friend!”
The obviously insulted Maiev leapt at him in anger to respond to his comparison, “You had already betrayed Illidan, you insolent cur! You are lucky others killed you before I had the opportunity, Betrayer!”
With ease he blasted her aside with his fiery magic, her green armor scorched and melted as the heat from his strike repelled her own attack. He did not waste an extra second with her before he whisked Loki away from him with a twist of a hand, gravity distorting and sending Loki flying away from Kael as he moved to get close.
“A valiant effort, but even with the majority of my power flowing through the Bifrost I am still leagues above you.”
Luna fired an attack in the form of lightning straight at him, but if it had any effect on Kael it did not show. The lightning seemingly rolled right off him without actually inflicting any pain, which made Luna wonder if the man had control over more than just fire. It wasn’t as if he revealed the full extent of his abilities until now anyways, the traitorous bastard.
Thor had since closed the distance and attempted his own physical attack, though he had little more success than those before him. Kael smirked as he gracefully sidestepped a strike and then grabbed the warrior by the shoulder.
“Shocking, you missed, oh lord of Thunder.”
While not possessing muscles that could compare with the likes of Thor, Volstagg, or Heimdall, Kael was no slouch in the strength department. He spun on his heel and used his whole body’s weight to throw a powerful punch into the side of Thor’s head. Once he punched the other man Kael summoned a small fireball in hand to blast Thor in the back with, setting the man’s red cape on fire and also burning through the back of his armor.
“There could be twenty five of you and things would end the same way!” Kael boasted as he dodged a magic blast from Celestia, “Now, let us see how you fare when your world is turned upside down.”
If there was a power second to his ability to control minds, it was his ability to warp gravity. Summoned fire could hurt and melt away flesh and bone, but rendering a foe basically harmless was a powerful tool, especially when it could be applied to a room full of them.
Everything except Kael in the room lifted up into the air as gravity itself became reversed. Celestia and Sonata were unable to do much of anything as they had never really experienced this before, while Loki and Maiev were on the opposite side of the spectrum and were able to keep from flailing like imbeciles.
As Loki found himself being pushed farther and farther away from Kael he noticed something about the way the man stood, the way he spoke as if it were scripted…
“How did I not see it before…”
No-one else heard him, as the more loud Luna spoke at the same time as she continually teleported to try and counter the gradual rise and so she could fire off more energy attacks at him.
“I don’t care if you change the gravity around us, I will not let your betrayal go unanswered!” she snarled as she let loose another beam of energy straight at Kael, “Trixie loved you, you sadistic son of a bitch! We trusted you two with our future!”
Kael held out a hand lazily to the energy rushing at him and when it struck his palm it disappeared in a bright flash. The energy sponge that had introduced himself to them by stealing power shook his head at the ignorant attack, “I would recommend not feeding me more energy.”
He did not appear to be in any hurry as the others all rose to the ceiling and he began to speak again, now actually responding to Luna, “Now, did you honestly believe that I would trust the future to some…weak, half-insane horse?”
Kael’thas’s laughter set Luna even more on edge than she already had been, though she did not have any ideas other than shoving a horn through his heart to rectify the issue, and he appeared quite proficient at close ranged combat unlike her.
Fortunately for them his monologue continued, “Oh no no no. She was merely an instrument, a stepping stone to a much larger plan. It has all lead to this, and this time you will not interfere.”
With that, he dropped them and all of his opponents plummeted to the floor. Loki managed to land gracefully while Thor hit it like a sack of bricks, Maiev not doing much better but at least landing on her feet. Sonata hit the floor and rebounded over unconscious. Celestia hit the ground even harder than Thor due to her size and found her limbs all severely wounded from her own weight, but Luna averted this issue because she teleported straight at Kael and attempted to go through with her impalement plan even if it might get her ass kicked and humiliated.
Luna’s horn struck his chest but slid right off the thick armor he was wearing. She thought a moment too late to channel her magic into her horn before impaling to have a more penetrating attack, but the slight timing mistake cost her the entire attack as Kael’s arm became engulfed in flame and he uppercutted her right in the throat.
Luna felt the flames wash over her as the fire transferred from his body to hers, but she was almost amused by how it was not an instant kill shot like Thanos’s were in-practice. She had taken worse hits just a day before, so she could fight through this pain.
To avoid any follow up attack that might actually do some severe damage Luna teleported again to put distance between them, “Your attacks lack a certain punch to them!”
Kael shrugged as he ducked under an attack by Loki and caught the man’s stomach with his shoulder, then blasted him back with a strong burst of flames, “I will admit while searing, the damage of fire is not what it instantly unleashes, but what comes over time.”
The Loki blasted back was not Loki though, as Kael found out as a glaive buried itself in his back. The illusory Loki disappeared as the real one tried to bring down his second glaive into Kael’s neck, but Kael wised up and repelled him with an aura of flame.
Loki had hit close to the heart though, and had it been a lesser man it would have been a fatal blow. Instead Kael kept himself from faltering and stood up straight despite the wound. He used the flames around him to cauterize the wound and keep himself from dying outright as he prepared another spell.
“I cannot let you pass. I must stop you here and now, lest you ruin everything!”
Luna charged at him again and copied Loki’s technique by forming a set of illusory clones around her to mask which was the real one, even separating them into two groups to make it all the more confusing.
Kael fixed this by flinging a wave of fire the direction of one, scorching the illusions and the ground the stood on, and using his other hand to once again change gravity where the other group stood, revealing which one was the real one because it was the only Luna to actually lift with his attack.
This diverted his full attention however and Loki returned to strike a decisive attack on Kael, knowing quite well that anything less than lethal would be shrugged off by the strong willed Elf, but his attack never connected.
Loki gasped as his throat was caught by Kael, who had finished turning just in time to catch his opponent closing in on him. With one hand tightly gripping Loki Kael lifted him up into the air and growled angrily, his fingers constricting around Loki’s skin as his arm began to light up again so he could set Loki ablaze like Luna. Not only that, he would also drain the very life from Loki, as there was no magic in-between Kael and Loki’s life force.
What Kael did not account for was a hammer slamming into his spine just at that moment, followed by a blast of magic he could not focus on absorbing, and a thrown knife that buried right into where he had healed the wound from Loki.
Kael lost his grip on Loki as he fell to his knees and coughed out blood, “Mistress…grant me strength…”
Now freed, Loki spun and gave his foe a roundhouse kick that knocked Kael over onto the floor. Thor dropped his hammer onto Kael’s chest, effectively pinning him to the ground because it could only be lifted by those worthy of it, though this did not stop the man’s struggling.
From the ground Kael coughed up blood and spoke with as much anger and volume as one could manage with a heavy hammer pressing down on their chest, “My demise accomplishes nothing!” he coughed as he tried to force the hammer off, “The mistress will have you…you will drown in your own blood! The cosmos shall burn!”
Loki did not want to give him a chance to continue on and moved to execute his enemy, but someone speaking did give him pause.
“Please, stay your hand. Leave him be.”
It was Trixie’s voice projecting into the room as if it was coming from some indeterminate location.
“T…Trixie?” Luna asked as everyone else conscious in the room gathered around Kael’s barely conscious body. After a moment of no response Kael collapsed completely, while simultaneously a large, floating screen appeared in the middle of the room with Trixie’s face on it.
Luna looked at the screen with concern, “What’s going on?”
Trixie sighed and shook her head on the screen. Nothing else was visible or projected other than her face, making the event all the more surreal, “Like the Nightmare entity bonded with you, mother, I was bonded with this man when we were forced between worlds and dimensions…”
Trixie looked down at the unconscious Elf and sighed again, “It took a little time to realize the depth of it, but we have a link now between us that is deeper than anything one could craft by hand…”
Her forlorn expression slowly morphed into a smirk to the confusion and horror of those watching her, “And I used it. I used him like a marionette uses a puppet.”
Loki was the only one not horrified by the statement, having noticed that Kael only acted like he was being relayed orders. There was a reason he was almost never seen without Trixie, as it made keeping him in check easier when she could physically see him.
It was too confusing to be focusing on two places at once.
Trixie pointed at her fallen companion, her smirk remaining upon her face as she continued to explain, “He’s in there mentally, but he has not been calling the shots for quite some time. It seems he is used to such an arrangement after spending so long in a disturbed state of mind.”
Loki looked to Luna, who was gaping in abject terror. He was worried about this possibility ever since the night before when Trixie murdered two people. Trixie had snapped, and it seemed that she was on the edge of doing so for quite some time.
“He has been but a puppet to distract you. Is Trixie acting a little off? Oh, she must just be nervous about being around her poor crush. How about I think only about her romantic interests rather than actually confront bigger issues?” Trixie mocked, unable to keep from laughing as she did so.
Her laughing continued even as she shook her head to try and stop it, now devolving into a mad cackle, “I should have really thanked poor Twilight for giving me such a grand idea in the first place! If not for her offhanded comment, I would have likely not realized the true potential he held as a patsy!”
“You…you’re the one…”
Luna wasn’t able to finish her sentence. She was frozen by the realization that it was Trixie pulling the strings on this occasion, that everything evil or bad done was a result of her beloved student and adopted daughter.
“Yes, and you know what? I don’t even regret using him. He played the part I needed him to by acting as a decoy love interest as well as a powerful piece in this game I’ve been playing,” Trixie’s expression soured as her eyes became soft at the sight of blood seeping down in a puddle beneath Kael, “I will admit though that I pretended perhaps a little too well…”
She shook her head again, this time trying to dispel the sympathy that had cropped up, “I used his actual personality, or what I could find pieces of in his mind. And I filled in perhaps what I might like to…see in someone in-between. I couldn’t make it too easy for myself though, lest I blow through my excuse for seeming a little off.”
The screen disappeared and in its place a projection of Trixie appeared next to the crowd, though it was kneeling beside the wounded man who Trixie had used for her own purposes. She brought a corporeal hand to his still cheek as some regret formed in her face, this time talking to the unconscious man instead of the others, “I still promised you I would bring you back to your people, and I will keep that promise. I may have forcefully taken your body for my own purposes, but you didn’t fight me. Even in those moments I wasn’t there or able to control you, you didn’t act out. Sometimes you even took over from where I left off.”
She “stood up” with her projection and gave everyone gathered a sad look.
“So, I ask that you spare him because I am the one you have to blame for all of this. I have been the one manipulating events to my own ends this past year. In fact, you should thank him for saving Sleep Near and Hela when I lost control of my power. If not for his ability to absorb magic and the protective fire he used I would have killed them too as I murdered Blueblood.”
Luna was crying as she continued to hear Trixie speak, with her now being the one shaking her head as she threw herself into denial, “No, this is some kind of trick. What are you saying Trixie?”
Trixie glanced over at Loki in an icey manner, “Loki already knows it is the truth. He has for a little while,” her eyes narrowed as she continued to speak with some venom, “Why else would you send Twilight to my hidden base of operations?”
The fact that he might have known something made Luna go from denial to complete shock again. She was feeling all sorts of emotions and had no idea how to process it all.
“Loki?”
He nodded once in admission. He had figured it out during the fight, though he had hoped he was wrong. He did not know that Kael was only being used, but he had a feeling his strings were at least being pulled.
Trixie being behind it all explained why Kael didn’t just use his power all at once…Trixie had him deliberately fight them in a gradual manner to waste their time. She was up to something, and she needed time.
Not only did she need time though, she wanted them to find her on some level. She wanted them to confront her, when she could have had Kael wipe the floor with them while they were still confused. Him defeating them would give her all the time she wanted, but that would deprive her of a more personal satisfaction.
From a rational mindset, allowing them to catch her made no sense. From an insane one though with an agenda? That was more graspable.
Angered that no-one was really answering her question, Luna shifted into rage as everyone else watched her sorrowfully, “Trixie, what have you done? What is the meaning of all of this!?”
Trixie looked away from Luna, not wanting to face her, “I had Kael explain some of it to you, but if you wish to gain further insight, I would ask that you come by and see for yourself,” she flicked a hand at her adoptive father, “Loki knows where to find me.”
This time it was Luna’s sister who spoke up. Celestia had rage building inside of her ever since Trixie revealed herself, though a good portion of it was directed at herself. She hadn’t listened to Twilight’s fears the night before, before all of this went down.
So it was with this rage that she demanded forcefully, “Where is Twilight?”
Trixie paused at that, “Twilight…”
Her voice stopped…and a small laugh replaced it. A laugh that was followed by a few more chuckles. Then a few more. Then a complete cackle and fit that a hyena might be proud of.
Trixie grabbed her mouth to cover it as she continued to laugh, though it wasn’t enough to stifle her laughter as she made everyone realize the answer before she said it once again to their complete terror.
Trixie glanced over at Luna as she lowered her hand and let her laughter take off again, “I did what neither you nor Loki could, you know…”
While everyone else was occupied with Kael, a different confrontation took place.
Twilight realized upon entering the Bifrost just what it was for as the pieces all fell into line.
“You…you…” Twilight stuttered, her face twitching from fear as her bright mind figured out the plan she had just walked into, “You’re going to…all those people…”
Twilight tried to teleport out of the Bifrost and get herself as far as she could from the pony approaching her slowly from the other end of the room.
Trixie shook her head at the attempt and folded her wings in as she shifted to a form Twilight would be more comfortable with, the Unicorn body she often used, “I control this place and the reality surrounding it. No teleporting. Don’t embarrass yourself trying to run.”
Twilight stopped trying to use her magic and felt herself begin to cry. She couldn’t run away, and she knew quite well how far above her Trixie had reached.
“W-why? Why are you doing this?” Twilight questioned, hoping that perhaps if she just had another moment or two the others would all come and find her.
Trixie reached about ten steps from Twilight and stopped to sigh, “Please don’t make this harder on me, Twilight,”
Still, she decided to oblige her. She owed her that much she supposed, and it would be nice to get some practice in for the others.
Trixie shook her head again as she thought about a way to explain things from her perspective, “There are only a few ways I could think of for solving the disease of all races known as pettiness and all of our innate selfishness. I could wipe the slate clean, or…”
She summoned forth images of the Sirens, at which point she smiled sadly.
“I could study a being whose specialty was controlling others. Use what I learn to find a way to emulate that same ability myself…”
Twilight took another step back, bumping into the wall as she did so. The chilled structure made her almost yelp and she moved forward to no longer feel it. Despite the immense cold of it though it was nothing compared to the coldness she could see in Trixie’s eyes.
“You could say it was a success,” Trixie laughed nervously as she waved a hoof around the room, “And, with all the power in the world and two devices with the ability and power to spread my influence across the stars, there won’t be a black-hearted being left across the known universe.”
Twilight fought her fear and approached Trixie, the lecturing and moral part of Twilight overcoming her personal safety concerns.
“You can’t just control everyone, forcing others to do what you want is wrong!”
Trixie shook her head in amusement at the defiance shown by Twilight. Her amusement faded though as she realized something about what Twilight said.
“You’ve learned that firsthand from what I’ve read. You have so many life experiences, so many adventures I would have loved to have been a part of…” Trixie sadly responded, her tone showing regret for a life and path she would not be a part of.
Despite her sadness Trixie moved to pace around Twilight so as to avoid her fearful eyes, all the while finding herself apologizing for this, “I am so sorry. I’ve wanted to tell you all. I’ve wanted to let everyone know for so long, but I knew you all would try to stop me…”
Trixie fought the urge to cry, though she could hear the small sniffling of Twilight which was what made it all the more difficult to not cry on her own.
Now behind Twilight, Trixie continued talking as she reigned in the tears threatening to fall from her eyes, “I wasn’t even going to go through with it until I snapped…Believe me, I mean it when I say that I really wanted you as a friend…”
She stopped again a couple feet in front of Twilight. Upon stopping she sighed and hung her head, “Unfortunately, I gave up on having any long ago.”
Twilight moved to touch Trixie’s shoulder, “Please, Trixie, whatever it is…”
Trixie stopped the attempt to touch her with a hoof, “Don’t beg. Not now. I need time, and you can sabotage everything if I don’t stop you now. Believe it or not, but your power is enough to be a threat if pooled with everyone else’s.”
Trixie turned to face her former rival, the student of Princess Celestia herself, completely. Her eyes showed both regret and determination, which made Twilight recoil and stand still, “If I hadn’t lost my mind so many months ago, I would have wanted to be a part of your group of friends,” Trixie hung her head again for a moment as she thought about all that she was forsaking, “I would have wanted a normal life. Friends. Family.”
Trixie lifted her head and a glow formed around her horn as she felt the first tear fall. Twilight looked at her with as much dignity as she could muster given the situation she was in, but fear and hurt still appeared in her expression.
“I’m so sorry, Twilight…”
Twilight let out a small breath as Trixie’s horn penetrated her body and went straight through her heart.
“You’re the best friend I never had.”
Twilight dropped to the ground without another breath, leaving Trixie behind to feel the chill of the air and to listen to nothing but her own breathing.
She had come too far to be stopped now.
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You are one messed up motherf***** author...
You are indeed.
HEhehehehehehehe
NEXT CHAPTER! I WANT IT NOW!
SHIFT HAS HIT THE FAN FOLKS
Volstagg is back
kale is evil
badass hero's are mind cotrolled and dieing
trixie has lost her shit
Now lets add the cherry on top.
Ahhemm, Twilight...IS...DEAD
http://i40.tinypic.com/a589xk.jpg
Holy plot twist, Batman! I figured the Aether would be a problem, but not like this!
Sigh. I figured something like this was coming. You are too sadistic not to pull this crap on us.
Literally everything has now fallen to complete shit and nothing happy can come from this ending now.
But I just got a thought just now as I am starting to rant to you. Do not read because we are delving into head cannon spoilers here, or do I don't care anymore.
Everyone here knows about time displacement right? How if say a time traveller goes back and alters an event there timeline stays the same while the event creates another dimension based around that decision. Ie trunks in dragonball going to the past to stop goku from dying. Well maybe this chapter has brought everything back full circle to the possible dystopian future that future hela and sleep near came from to stop the dark elves from further fucking shit up. And thus our now baby twins will still grow up into the depressed jerks they are in the future excluding sleep near. And that will cause them to go back and repeat everything that has happened again in an infinite loop. Nothing getting better for everyone and one bad thing always happening. I don't know if this head cannon for this story has any merit, but just think about it.
Please tell me this is just another part of Trixie's over complicated plans!
You're a monster, and that was heartbreaking.
Bu... But I liked Trixie....
5884870 I'm messed up? What, for doing exactly what Lauren Faust did in making Luna's backstory and with how Marvel handled Loki?
This story is about Luna and Loki the same way that Thor is about Thor, and it is about Trixie in the same way that Thor was about Loki. I don't see why I'm a badguy for doing the rise and downfall of a hero like so many other people do 
I want the next chapter too, but sadly real life calls! It'll be out around the same time as every week though, so don't worry. I've been waiting for these final chapters for a long, long time. It's so nice to finally reveal that Thanos was just a pawn in a larger game!
5885170 Correction, Volstagg WAS back. Then he died. And died again
I don’t know if you missed Trixie’s whole admission of guilt thing, but it was her forcing Kael to do what he did. She was using him like a puppet. It wasn’t actually him being evil, it was Trixie.
Characters are indeed dying, but since when has that stopped them from coming back here?
Trixie lost her mind, yes. She’s been losing it for fifty plus chapters, so it’s about time to be honest!
And yes, Purple Smart is dead…if she didn’t die she’d have gone and told on Trixie, or been around to be a nuisance when the final battle of the story goes on. Neither suited Trixie’s goals, so Purple Smart had to go.
5886566 I don’t think it’s considered a plot twist when it’s been so heavily built up and hinted at for so long
A twist to me is when it’s sudden and without real build up!
At least you figured right to some degree! I bet there are some dear people who were mortified and shocked after being caught completely flat footed by the revelation that all the times I have had Trixie talk to herself were not just for funsies.
5886581 Well that’s unfair. I’m not sadistic, I just enjoy telling a good story, and in this case that means bringing everything full circle. This story began at the point both Luna and Loki had a history of villainy behind them brought about by years of neglect, having someone else be in the spotlight, and overall family failures. Now we’re ending on a note of Trixie opposing them due to a long history of trauma partially brought about by Luna.
And it’s quite pessimistic to say nothing good can come of all of this! There are all sorts of good things that can happen if you think about it. Not promising any of them will happen, but I’m a fan of bittersweet endings and I hate just bitter ones. So the question really is just how bitter and just how sweet it’ll be!
I’ve made note of how this Hela is going to be different than the last, but it should be noted that the last Hela went out of her way to have Trixie dragged to Hel and tormented too, IE her universe’s Trixie likely went down a similar if not worse path and she wanted to punish this one for that. Seeing as how Hela is just a baby at the moment it’s hard to say she’ll be exactly like her alternate self though, since we’re working more along the lines of multiverse theory.
Wait and see. You don't know all of what has yet to happen!
5887682 Well of course it is! She has a Thanatos Gambit going on right now and has for awhile, so all of these things have fallen under her plans to some degree.
And she's not done yet, best of all!
5887727 Yeah, yeah, call me a monster, but I believe I am doing the right thing for the story
And yes, I know it was heartbreaking...that's kind of the point after so much build up! I've played the long game with this plan of mine, and it has finally paid off.
Don't feel bad. There is so much more to do with the heart before this is over, good and bad!
5888022 So do I in fact, and I still do!
Me liking characters doesn't spare them any more than me disliking the characters does though!
In the end, I have a feeling you may yet still like Trixie even after it all. Just a hunch
I don't understand this chapter, it feels like Trixie's 'betrayal' is useless and seems to serve little to no purpose, I understand the Trixie was going slowly crazy due to the Aether and having too much power in one body, but she still seemed to love her family. It seems like you extended the story just for the sake of having a longer story and you just created conflict.
5888685 I don't understand your comment, so we're on the same page! Been intending for this arc since about the moment I introduced Trixie, so nice job there getting that completely wrong and assuming the worst about it
You seem to be under the misconception that defeating Thanos was supposed to be endgame. I intentionally made it seem that way because that's what the characters thought, but even then I gave hints that other things were afoot.
Want to know when I extended the story? When this was originally going to be a 10,000 word oneshot and it got too big so I split it up. Then did it again when I realized the story could bridge into the Avengers. But after that I needed to think of where I wanted it to go, and this now was the result of that over a year ago.
Accusations without merit are fun though, right?
I mean, it's not like I've been slowly and methodically breaking down Trixie's good will every step of the way for the last 54 chapters for any specific purpose or anything. Not like I wanted her to have a breakdown like her dear mentor once had. Nope! Haven't left clues and things people could look back upon and be like "Ohhhh, when she was beating Adagio half to death she was actually working out her personal demons and issues with Luna" or "Everyone in the puppet play Kael did was having their strings pulled by Trixie" or things like that.
This final arc will serve a purpose and is far from useless, but you're free to see it your way. That's up for you to decide after all. But then again you haven't wrote the script for the next few chapters and don't know what is happening beyond the initial premise of the final arc, so perhaps you should withhold judgment until you have the full and final picture.
5888832 Well here I go, making the mistake of placing down my opinion on the internet/ actually leaving a comment on a chapter. What may seem obvious to the writer might not seem as obvious to the reader, remember that. My apologies as they may be needed for any offense in my last comment. I was just feeling slightly confused while reading this chapter, I felt that the story could have wrapped up quite well in the last chapter or two if a concluding chapter was created. Feel free to insult me for giving you a comment that isn't blind praise, for you seem to beg for comments in your Author's notes. Have a good day/night good sir/ madam.
*Edit* and they weren't mention as accusations, merely my thoughts on the chapter.
5888959 My apologies for any offense as well, though all I did was respond to your accusations (which they were, whether you wish to admit that or not) about why I went and did this final arc.
I don't seek blind praise, but I don't care much for opinions born of thoughtlessness be they good or bad. If you had said something actually useful like someone mentioned how I forgot to resolve what happened to Thor in the Thanos conflict, I'm fine with that and understand I am not perfect. But this was mean spirited and I apologize for responding in a testy manner, but go ahead and think what you will and have a good night.
5889027 It is a good night when two people on the internet don't end their conversations in screaming matches.
You know up till the last few cahpters i was really enjoying this.. now i feel likes its a chore to read it. I actually had this sitting in my box since it was released but i could only just now force myself to read it.... now i really don't think i can read any more its just getting so twisted.
Again, really, REALLY late. But when you have outside responsibilities, well you do what you can do. And there was no way that I was going to leave this chapter uncommented. Well damn, things have finally all gone down even lower if that was possible, right after the world ender was taken care of. That is the universe's style, it loves to kick you when you are down. Just like Nixon. So Flash died, not that anyone really cares. In fact I think I heard a parade going across the internet. Kael finally makes sense, there were things that I though were just the way the plot went however now it all fits. The poor bastard did not have much of say in anything the whole time, well maybe except the dream scape for concealing but even then. And Loki, he could have planned something as a contingency in case his suspicions were true. He kind of dropped the ball on that one, sending Twilight did seem like a suicide mission. Overall, a serious emotional roller coaster for everyone involved. An epic fight with things just becoming ever more sad for everyone as they all go forward. Some people just don't get any breaks.
Amazing work.
5910899 It's okay, don't worry about it. I didn't manage to update today anyways, so you're still before the next chapter (which will be tomorrow)!
Of course it was possible, because it happened and has been on that path this whole time
And yeah, Blueblood came to kick Trixie while she was down and now everyone is suffering for his stupidity. Yes, Flash died, and he won't be honored or remembered in any way because of how utterly pissed Luna is that he managed to let Blueblood get near Trixie. She doesn't even know it's the same guard she always messed around with, and she despises the deceased stallion for this utter failure that has had such dire consequences.
Trixie has been pulling Kael's strings for quite some time, but as she mentioned in this chapter it wasn't 100% control because there were times she couldn't keep control of him, yet he didn't give her masquerade up. Why will be theorized next chapter, but yeah, this chapter is supposed to give people an explanation as to why Kael has been acting...off this whole time. He's there, but really just as an object tugged around by Trixie to give a false impression to everyone else.
Loki was thinking that Trixie went off the deep end, but he didn't expect Twilight to go and get herself killed and he didn't have anyone who could possibly save her. Besides, the moment she left he had his own hands full. Twilight getting herself trapped was on herself, as sad as it was.
The emotional roller coaster will not end just yet, and we have three tumultuous chapters to go still! Pain, sadness, and even warmth will come as we keep going. Good things may still come, but we will have to see how things will turn out in the end.
Some people don't get breaks though...that's what makes Loki, Luna, and Trixie who they are, and it's what has repeatedly broken them and brought them down.
5912560 Yeaaahhhh...Trixie's mom. Fun times, am I right?
And yes, Trixie trained herself mentally while comatose because she didn't have much else to do while trapped inside her head. She and Luna have a lot of parallels, don't they?
5916404 Uh...okay?
GOD DAMNIT!!!!!
THIS IS NOT COOL!!!!!
Ugh. I feel really hurt. Please story, get nicer on my heart...
OK, now the story has definitely jumped the shark with all of this double-crossing and character death.
Darn shame too. It began so well.
I'll probably force myself to finish it out of curiosity, but it's getting a downvote.