Prose Equus 27

>You lean your head against the back of a couch and let your eyes unfocus as they stare at a slowly rotating ceiling fan.
>A dull pain thrums behind your eyes as pinpricks of thought worm their way into and out of your brain.
>The after-effects of your encounter with the royal family, of your search into the Queen’s secrets and being taken to Jotunheim, still drown out everything they can.
>It got so bad that you couldn’t stay in Asgard, almost begging Heimdall to let you get away for a bit.
>Which brought you here.
“Thanks for letting me decompress here, Twilight…”
>A splash of purple in your peripheral vision talks to you. “It’s no problem, Anonymous. Though I’ve gotta say, I’ve haven’t seen you this out of it since I was a filly.”
>Visions of frozen frost giants play in your head.
“Just got a lot on my mind recently…”
>Twilight takes a seat next to you. “Is there anything I can help with?” she asks.
>A part of you wants to keep what you learned a secret, to shield her from the realities beyond Equestria.
>Another part of you speaks without thinking.

“When you have a problem you’re trying to unravel, but you reach a point where you don’t have any more leads and may even be afraid of what you might find, what do you do?”
>Twilight swallows something, her fear perhaps, and thinks about your question. Princess or not, you often forgot how young Twilight actually was. She’s putting on a brave face to be able to talk about this with you.
>”Well…” she begins. “I first ask if not knowing would be better or worse than things are now.”
>You consider the prophecy of Ragnarok
“It feels like something that I can’t ignore.”
>”In that case you may have already done the right thing.” Twilight places a reassuring hoof on your back. “A change of scenery and a new perspective can help our brains work in different ways, maybe even ones that will give us the answers we need.”
>Twilight hops off the couch and walks to the door, levitating some saddlebags onto her. “Come on. I have some errands to run and some fresh air might be good for you!”
>With no brain power to come up with a good excuse not to, you push yourself up and follow her.

>Errands with Twilight were always one of two things: either relating to research or getting food.
>Today happened to be both. Twilight carries the few bags of provisions and you carry the six boxes of research materials on the reproductive cycles of jabberwocky in the Everfree for her. It wasn’t tiring for you; your armor was heavier, and the golden apples still coursed through you.
>Thinking about the apples brought your mind back to your problems, but you thought on Twilight’s words about new perspective.
>You made an effort to try and look at the situation differently, but between the Queen, her children, the prophecy, the giants, the Norns, and yourself, it all got too jumbled up.
>You needed a different perspective on your different perspective.
“Twilight?”
>”What’s up Anonymous?” she asks, inspecting a collection of serpent eye jewels.
“I’m sure by now you’ve become something of an expert into the legends of our mutual divine friends, right?”
>Even behind her, you can see the Sparkle in the eye of Twilight. “I mean, I don’t like to brag!” she does that dorky snort thing she did when she was little. “But I HAVE brushed up here or there.”
“Can you give me a refresher course? Things have been hectic whenever I’ve been up there, and I haven’t had much time to go to the library.”
>Twilight makes the same sound children make on Hearthswarming morning and gets the attention of the entire market.

>”So, where do we even start?” Twilight wondered nearly floating her way down the road.
“Uh, the beginning?” you say following.
>”Well, everything in the myths begins with Lady Sleipnir, or Othinus as she used to be called.”
“Wait, why did the Queen have a different name?”
“Oh it wasn’t uncommon back then for rulers to take on a new name when they ascended to the throne.”
>Heh.
“What should we call you now, Your Majesty?”
>Twilight hip checks you and rolls her eyes. “ANYWAY, back when she was Othinus, daughter of Bor, the Queen traveled to Ginnugagap meaning the “gaping abyss” and slew the primeval giant Ymir from which the realm of Midgard that we live on was formed.”
“A primeval giant must have been huge, she killed one by herself?”
>”The ancient texts don’t mention anyone else…” Twilight ponders.
>You let Twilight continue.
>“Ginnugagap was said to lay between the fires of Muspelheim and the intense cold in Niffleheim, a place where the ice was melted into water and life could grow, and from that and venom from a river is where Ymir spawned.”
“Where’d the venom come from?”
>Twilight shrugs. “One of histories mysteries…until I get more research done.”
>The two of you continue to walk.
“So she killed the giant and made the world?”
>”Right, yes.” Twilight continues. “That’s what the surviving texts record. After slaying Ymir and sacrificing her eye for knowledge, Othinus ascended to the throne of Asgard and there was a period of “instability” in the cosmos.”
“…Come on, you can’t just say “instability” and refuse to elaborate.”

>”Well, it’s true.” Twilight says.
>”It’s no secret that there are tales of other cosmologies and mythologies in the world. Tartarus and Elysium, the Neighponese island guardians, the ancient Centaur deities and WHATEVER they did on Gallopfrey.”
“Something awful, I’m sure.”
>”There are as many stories about the origin of the world as there are different types of ponies out there, but the now-certifiable fact remains that one of them is true. My colleagues and I researching this can only conclude that, after the formation of the world and as the various deities of its ancient lifeforms began to manifest, that their territories and Authorities began to brush up against each other, and that those various other pantheons either faded away or, like you told me regarding the Queen’s weapons…”
“Became the victims of god-on-god violence?”
>”That’s one way to put it…”
“So Othinus makes the world, ascends the throne, becomes Sleipnir and all-powerful, chases everyone else out, what’s after that?”
>”Mostly individual stories about the gods as foretold by soothsayers, mostly fables and the like.”
“So…nothing about any grand climactic battles?”
>”Nothing worth putting any stock in, why?”
>She doesn’t know. Just as Loki said in the past, the records of Ragnarok were cleaned from the world almost entirely.
>For SOME reason or another. Whatever that could be.
>You ponder that for a bit. The Queen said the Norns were the authors of Ragnarok in their way, and that she was resisting them. If you knew why the myths of it were hidden…it may lead you to an answer.
“…Thanks Twilight. I think talking to you has helped me get a bit of perspective.”

>Twilight smiles back at you as the both of you approach the library. “I’m happy to help, Anonymous. It’s the least I could do.”
“For what?”
>”For being my friend for all these years.”
>Heh. Sweet kid…
>”Oh. There was something I wanted to ask you.”
“Ask away, Princess.”
>”It was a discrepancy in the texts and legends. You see, I was only able to find reference to five of the Queen’s children, could you give me some insight to-“
>”NO-NAME! NO-NAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAME!” the two of you hear alongside some rhythmic pounding.
>You round the corner and find Loki batting her hooves on the door of Twilight’s castle. “NO-NAME YOU COME OUT HERE THIS INSTANT OR I’LL-“
“LOKI!”
>The godling turns her head and looks to the two of you mid tantrum.
“We were out. Side.”
>Loki’s head darts between you and the castle. “But- I- You-…”
>”O-oh.” She squeaks out. “That makes sense.”
>Loki takes a deep breathe and marches over to you with a face-saving pomp in her step to change her tune. “No-name, it’s good you’re already down here. It saves us travel time.”
“Us?”
>”Yes, us. I need your assistance! We need to find a seamstress who can create for us the most astounding garments the world has ever known!”
>You and Twilight share a look between yourselves.
“I might know someone. Why do we need them?”
>”Because I have learned of a powerful magic potion in the possession of a pony who is having an ultra-high society gala in a few days’ time!”
“Okay…”
>”And you and I are going to sneak in and steal it!” Loki exclaims.
>Oh no.