Prose Equus 17

>Ponyville, the school of friendship.
>Inventory day.
“Magic gems.”
>”Check.”
“Ancient scrolls.”
>”Check…”
“Summoning catalysts.”
>”Check, Twilight.”
“Saint Quartz crystals.”
>Spike’s eyes go wide and he looks at you like he’d just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “Oh…were those uh…not just out for whoever needed them? Hehe.”
“Spike!”
>You trot over to him and give him scolding eyes. You knew you should have asked Glimmer for help.
“You can’t eat every gem you find laying around!”
>”B-b-but! They were so shiney and they were just sitting right there and I-…” in time, he hangs his head and his shoulders slump. “I’m sorry Twilight.”
>You sigh.
“It’s fine, I’ll just need to collect more.”
>It was only a pile of THIRTY crystals.
>Spike’s stomach rumbles up into his chest where he unleashes a gout of green flame accompanying a belch. “Heh, tasted good though!”
>You roll your eyes

>A tune plays through the castle on magical chimes, indicating someone at the front door.
>You give Spike your best princess face.
“You can make it up to me by getting the door.”
>Spike gives you an exaggerated salute and heads out of the room.
>You sigh again, but a bit more contentedly this time and check off some items on your favorite list. You aren’t exactly mad at Spike per-se. You’d rather he occasionally scarf down some magical components than some of the behavior you’ve seen out of other dragons.
>You hear the front door opening through the halls and Spike calling up to you. “Uh, Twilight! I think it’s for you!”
“Bring them in, Spike!”
>”Yeah ok-HEY!” he calls.
>You turn your attention to the door into the room as you hear someone’s metal horseshoes clinking against the floor.
“…Spike?”
>Your horn sparks with magic at the possibility of an intruder, but she enters the room in her long scarf and gold horned helmet before your spell is prepared.
>”You have the Friekugel here, right? Let me see it.”

-Loki PoV-
>”Put me down!” the lizard in your magic shouts.
“Twilight, there was a pest at your front gate. Are you aware of it? I can let my son loose if you need them cleaned up.”
>Twilight makes a strange face and hurries over, grabbing the rodent with her own magic. “Spike is my assistant and my friend! Put him down!”
>Assistant?
>FRIEND?
>Did this little mortal tame a dragon and nobody told you about it?!
>Stupid No-name! He’s supposed to tell you these things!
“Oh…”
>You swallow and try to keep your cool.
“My mistake, Asgardians hunt lizards like this for…sport, yes.”
>You drop the reptile and bow your head a bit, your helmet almost slips off.
“Please accept the apologies of the crown for this…faux pa.”
>Twilight helps her servant to his feet with a concerned look, you keep bowing.
>Buy it buy it buy it buy it buy it.
>Eventually Twilight looks to you. You can’t let yourself screw this one up or else your only into Midgard would be broken. “What…brings you here, Loki?”
>She bought it! Yes!
>You let yourself have a small smile.
“No-name tells me he returned the Friekugel here and left it with you? I’ve come to inspect it to…make sure it’s safe.”
>And get a closer look at the magics inside it, but she doesn’t need know that.
>”Is there a reason for it not to be safe?” Twilight asks.
“It’s an ancient weapon made of the bones of dragons, what would you wager?”
>When trying to string someone along, it’s best to leave vague hints at threats if they don’t follow your line of thinking. Fear is an excellent motivator.
>Twilight’s worried look returns. “…Spike, can you go get the key? I didn’t detect anything on the axe, but better safe than sorry if Loki’s here and feels it’s best.”
>”Spike” gives you a sneer and goes to comply. “Yeah, one sec.”
>Haha. Yes. It’s working.

>Twilight takes you down to her cellar where the lizard sticks a key into a vast magical lock. You hear the gears and enchanted weights pulling aside beyond the steel. The gate slides open, revealing the relic placed carefully on a simple stand beyond it.
>You admire the craftsmanship as you creep towards it. A blade of dull bone still so sharp it hurts to look at fastened to a strong metal grip, probably Adamantite like the doors to Tartarus. In the center rests a jewel, the eye through with Freikugel’s rage manifests.
“You said you examined it? What did you find?”
>”Not much, I’m afraid. The axe was empowered in the hands of Precious but when we gave it some test swings, we could only get a few sparks. 
>Your mind races at connecting these dots. Sparkle wasn’t much for aggression.
“Who tried?”
>”Me, Spike, and Rainbow Dash gave it a whack. Spike was the one who got a reaction from it.”
>The lizard crosses its arms and looks at you smugly. “Try to contain your excitement.”
“That should be easy.”

>”What I don’t understand…” Twilight begins. “Is why it effected the one holding it so intensely? Anonymous said that the Diamond Dog who had the axe was almost rabid and exhibited a level of physical power never before recorded.”
“A simple matter.”
>With your magic, you tilt the axe a bit so you catch your reflection in the sheen of its metallic segments.
“The axe imitates the one it was made from and in doing so, creates anchors of aggression that align with Freikugel himself.”
>You look to Twilight and her manservant.
“It reacted to him because he is, despite his looks, a dragon. He acts like a dragon, looks like a dragon, and has the same spiritual presence as a dragon. You mortal ponies are…essentially the opposite.”
>Twilight taps her chin, intrigued at your words, and looks at herself in the axe as well.
>”Hmm…That hypothesis is entirely dependent on old magic idol theory…”
>You nearly stumble over your scarf turning so fast.
“WHAT.”
>”Whoa! Careful now.”
>You feel your eyes narrow and a gob smacked sneer part your lips.
“What do you MEAN “theory”?”
>Twilight tilts her head. “The…theory of idolts representing objects of power resonating with that same power?”
>Your eye twitches.
>”Is…that not a theory the gods agree with?”
“Twilight Sparkle, next you’ll tell me you backwards mortals think GRAVITY is simply a theory!”
>Twilight turns her eyes away from you “Weeeeeeeeell…”
>UHG.
>You take a deep, calming breath as Mother occasionally taught you and carefully space out your words.
“I will explain this…only once…so ensure you have a way to remember.”
>A broad smile parts Twilights lips. “Can you say it in another room?”

>SOMEHOW you now found yourself standing at the front of a large lecture hall with a blackboard at your back and about a dozen other mortals sitting in the desks before you.
>A bead of sweat forms beneath your helmet and you knees slightly shake seeing as many eyes turn to you as there were now. Most often that many eyes on you heralded some form of punishment hurtling towards you, and you did not like being the focus of attention to this many.
>Damnable Midgard Princess! She tricked you!
>Twilight walks before you and presents you to her class. “Students, today I’d like to welcome a guest lecturer. I’d like you to give her your undivided attention as she…clears a few things up.”
>Your eye twitches again as all the students look to you even more expecting. Thoughts run through your mind, about how if you were any of your family that this would be easy, how they were truly divine while you were some orphan that was adopted in pretending at it.
>You push those thoughts out with a small breath for confidence and lift your head.
>Pretending to be someone you weren’t was what you were best at.

“Who in attendance here knows what an idol is?” you ask.
>One of a race you’re somewhat familiar with, a Changeling you believe, raises its hoof. “They’re representations of powerful things, right? Like how letters and words are representations of the words we use for our language.”
>That answer surprised you, you didn’t expect anyone to know the answer to that.
“Right! Very good, you get credit for not being entirely hopeless.”
>You take a few steps towards the class and float some chalk to Twilight. 
“Sparkle here tells me that you believe the study of idols to simply be a “theory”. Well I am here from on high to tell you that it is more than that, it is the very underlying mechanism of the systems of magic themselves.”
>You look to Twilight now.
“Draw for me the symbol of your monarch.”
>As Twilight agrees to do so, you turn back to the class.
“However, what IS magic?”
>All their hooves shoot up, you call on none of them.
“That was rhetorical! By Mother’s eye…”
>You glance back at Twilight who finishes drawing the sun sigil that adorned the home of the other Princesses you met. “Done! I’ve got a lot of practice. I hope I got the curvature the right number of degrees…”
>Yes…right. Back to the class.
“Magic is the art of telling a lie and having the world believe you.”

“Idol “theory” as you call it works so simply that even you mortals may grasp it. Simply put; an imitation of any subject or “idol” retains properties and attributes inherent to the source of that object.”
>You gesture to the drawing.
“Were this sigil an idol, one could use it to call upon the power of the sun, if appropriately used.”
>You see some confused faces, so you prepare another example by dragging your horn through the air and creating glowing lines in the shape of a rune that bursts into flame.
“Behold! The Rune of Logi, God of Fire. No relation. To each of you, this is simply the rune one must call forth to conjure a spark of flame, but what you do NOT know is that this rune is, in its reality, the word Logi would speak to manifest his fire!”
>The same Changeling opens her eyes wider. “I think I get it…! The magic was tether to his word and the rune is a representation of it, so it calls the same magic!”
“Once again the bug is correct! Why is she not the one teaching you?”
>Twilight shrugs but has no answer, the Changeling’s classmates giggle like the simpletons they are.
“Runes, spells, magical items, leylines, blood magic, ritual sites and altars. Every single way in which you interact with magic traces back to the study of idols. It is no mere “theory”.”

>Another, this time a gryphon, raises his talon. “What’s that make you or the princesses or Discord? I heard you guys were gods or something.”
>”Or something” he says. You let that slide.
“We are, as simply put “apex idols”, the pinnacle of how such power manifests itself in your world. The source, in some case.”
>Cases like Mother spending the last eternity killing or subjugating anyone that stood up to her and hoarding the power in Asgard. Not that you complained.
>”So if we call on you for magic power…” he continues.
“I might choose to listen, if you carry my favor.” 
>You give him a sly smile to put him in your place.
>This time Twilight speaks up. “Can you hear prayers?”
“O-of course. All gods can.”
>Not that you could. Not that you were a “god” like them.
>Another student scratches her face. “I’m a bit confused…so what are the princesses?”
>You answer her question by reaching between realms and pulling a pair of knives out, driving them into the wooden podium.

>You step forward to quell any panic from brandishing a weapon.
“These knives are mine, their name is Nyx.”
>Twilight examines them, ignoring the damage to the podium when there’s knowledge to be gained. “That’s a nice name, it almost sounds familiar…”
“It ought to. Nyx was the name of a primordial moon goddess, and a powerful one at that. She was slain, long before your tribes gathered under one banner, and formed into these blades through a process called Demiurgy.”
>The students look to each other. 
“In many young faiths, a demiurge is an artisan responsible for building the physical universe, a “creator”. The practice is adapted here, at the heights of idol magic, to permit the reforming of an idols power into a new shape. Your princesses are similar beings to what Nyx once was, before being slain.”
>”Attuned to the moon and sun…” the changeling says. “And when you make an idol of one, you empower them both.”
“Twilight why ISN’T that one teaching? She understands, at least.”
>”Wait, hang on.” The gryphon interrupts.
>”If Nyx was a moon spirit, what does that make Luna?”
>UHG.
“I SAID they were similar, yes? When Nyx was taken from the moon at the time of her death, there was a vacancy, one that your princess with the large behind filled, isn’t that right?”
>The facts dawn on him, the age of his world and how those more powerful than him interacted with it.
>”Oh.”
>Yeah. “Oh.”

>”How are idols empowered to be idols? Is it just age?” another student asks.
“Age plays a part in it, but it is more so than that, it is about belief.”
>You pocket your knives away again and continue.
“Each idol you call upon has a story tied to it that has been passed down through hundreds of years by you or your ancestors or your ancestors’ ancestors. With each telling of the story, another hears it and associates that magic with whatever the story is about, like Logi and his word of fire, until it is ingrained into your culture.”
>You turn and walk over towards Twilight.
“That is where the Friekugel comes in, Princess. Friekugel was a dragon of unmatched ferocity and power, an idol in his own right, and the axe made of his bones is a representation of it.”
>Twilight perks up. “Making his power manifest through it into whomever found it!”
“Precisely.”
>With a whip of your scarf, you exit towards the door. “Class dismissed!”

>After leaving the class, each of Twilight’s students had a question for you, some even brought graphs. 
>You trip backwards through their questions until the day passes by and Twilight sends them all home.
>Now you were tired, your throat soar, and your mind fuzzy while Twilight walked you to the edge of town.
>”I can’t believe you taught them the entire day!”
“I can’t believe you made me…I just came to see the axe…”
“Well all the students appreciate it. To think, learning from a bonafied god! It’s a once in a generation opportunity!”
>Bonafied…
>Though a thought quickly strikes your mind.
“Teachers…receive compensation, don’t they?”
>”Would you like to be paid?”
>You thrust your snout up.
“I believe it customary for a service rendered! Especially in a divine presence!”
>Twilight simply chuckles. “Well, I left my coin purse at home. But I have a story you may be interested in, one from way back when I was a filly…”
“I am listening, I suppose…”

>“It was back more years ago than I care to admit. I was a filly who, even though she didn’t know it, was about to be enrolled in Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. I was studying in the park when I thought I’d heard something from the trees.”
>You and Twilight cross over the bridge that exits the town.
>”At first I was afraid that it was a bear, from the sound of the growling. Imagine my surprise when a two-legged hairless ape stumbled out of the bushes.”
>Your attention is instantly grabbed, but you try not to make it seem like you’re desperate to know.
“No-name? Truly? THAT is how he ended up here?”
>You’d nearly convinced yourself that he literally congealed in a gutter.
>”Haha, yep! He was in rags and didn’t understand a word I said, but he looked at me like a lost animal.”
“He’s not one now?”
>Twilight chuckles. “He was young then. Well, I’ve never seen him YOUNG, younger, a young adult. He was taken in by the crown and we kept in touch as I continued my studies.”
>So No-name mysteriously appeared in Midgard, got himself associated with a young spellcaster, and began a life of smashing and slaying things for a living.
>That sounded…honestly blander than you expected.
>Also familiar.

>For No-name’s boorishness, stupidity, and poor body odor, you’d noticed the speed at which he associated himself with virtually all of Asgard. He and Baldur are attached at the hip, Mjolna and Tyr respect him, Mother relies on him for services and even Vidar didn’t gore him when you came to visit. He even learned how to work with a Diamond Dog, which he was SUPPOSED to hate. The only member of your family that hadn’t taken a shine to him was Hermod, and good luck holding him down.
>You find it impossible to ignore that the origins of the two of you were closely mirrored, yet in a few short months, No-name has become friendlier with your family than you have, despite more egregious acts of rebellion.
>You sigh and look to the ground, your mask slipping around the mortal despite your efforts. Tears would not dirty your eyes, not around her, you’re sure you’d run out by now anyway.
“He is…charismatic, I guess…”

>Twilight nods. “Yes. Anonymous was always good at making friends when he was alive down here, I like to think that it’s because he didn’t have any memory of where he came from or who he was when he came here, and that let him connect with just about everyone that he met.”
“Wait what? How?”
>Twilight stops at the edge of the forest, pondering. “He’s the tabula rasa, the blank slate that everyone sees a bit of themselves in. His personality now is the result of everpony he’s ever met.” She smiles at you. “You just have to get passed all the yelling and bravado.”
>Something past that, huh…
“Yes…well, I think I’ve had enough of Midgard for today. Until next we meet, Twilight Sparkle.”
>You turn and head into the forest so Twilight doesn’t see your scheming face.
>”Until next time, “teacher” Loki!” she calls behind you.
>Now you duck behind a tree so Twilight doesn’t see your gagging face.