Marvel Mares

by neorenamon

"For your arrogance and pride," announced the All-Father Odin, "I hereby banish Rainbow Thor Odindota to the realm of Equestria until such time as I believe you have learned how to be more humble and obedient!"

"But father," she pleaded.

"Be quiet!" he commanded, "and you should be grateful that your punishment is not more harsh!"

She could see Loki standing just behind him with a sneer on his face. All Rainbow wanted to do was tell her father how she went to attack the Fire Giants based on the serpent's tongue of her half-brother. How Loki convinced her that the Fire Giants were using ancient magics to hide themselves from Odin's sight and only she could smite them with the power of her enchanted hammer Mjolnir.

But of course, the All-Father would not take such accusations well, and she was surely in enough trouble as it was. She went off on this attack against Odin's will only to discover later that Loki himself betrayed her to the All-Father. But he was right about one thing: She still had her powers, her hammer and her godhood. He could have taken any of those things away from her as well.

But there was still one thing...

She unfolded her wings as if they were alien growths and asked, "But please tell me why I have this blue body with wings All-Father?!"

"To fit in better among the mortal ponies of Equestria," he said evenly, "In the Equestria Realm, the pegasus ponies manage the weather, so it would not appear so strange when you use your god-powers on the weather there as well."

"With all due respect, All-Father," said Loki, "I still truly think the punishment will only suit the crime if..."

"Be still!" he replied without looking back, "Odin determines what punishments suit what crimes and no other! You would do well to remember your place!"

"Of course," he said quickly, "Surely I would never question the All-Father's judgement in the matter of his own daughter."

"Remember my daughter," he added, "The Eyes of Odin are everywhere."

"Yes Father," she replied as she knelt before the open rainbow bridge.

"And as part of your punishment," he continued, "You shall obey the Princess Celestia as you would obey me."

Rainbow swallowed hard as she had never bowed to a mortal before, even one as powerful as Celestia.

"I shall do all I can to prove I can be humble and honorable, Lord Odin," she said as she continued to look down, "I swear this."

Without even looking, she could still see the sneer on Loki's face.

"But should I get a message from Celestia telling me of further misdeeds, the next punishment shall be much much worse!"

"I understand," she replied as she felt the rainbow bridge returning to the heavens. Her magic hammer fell from the sky to land at her feet with a great crash, so she picked it up and placed it about her neck in its rightful place. "I suppose I should become practiced with using these mortal wings," she said as she awkwardly flew off towards Canterlot.

'How can creatures fly like this?!' she asked herself, 'I can surely fly so much faster by the power of Mjolnir. Heck, I could even do better with my Asgardian hooves running on the winds.'

So she took her hammer in hoof, spun it about with her goddess strength and then threw it ahead without letting go so that it would tow the pegasus behind it at great speed. This generated a large explosion. She behind herself in time to see a rainbow ring as it expanded across the Equestrian skies. It seemed that magic worked a little different in the Equestrian Realm than it did in Asgard.

It seemed but a mere moment before she streaked over the Palace of Canterlot leaving a rainbow trail in her wake. She looked down to see Princess Celestia standing on a balcony looking up towards her. So Rainbow circled back to land before her.

"Welcome to Equestria," she said evenly, "I hope all of your entrances won't be so... flashy."

"I apologize," she said as she knelt down, "I didn't realize that I could fly so fast... with such side effects... in this new form."

"Try not to let it happen again," said the Princess as she turned, "Now follow me. It's time you started earning your keep here."

Rainbow sighed and followed. It would not be easy to be so deferential to a mortal no matter how powerful they might be.

"Since the Royal Guards handle most of the mundane problems," she said without looking back, "I expect you to take care of the larger problems of my kingdom."

"Such as?"

"Oh, there are the occasional attacks by dragons, hydras, manticores and similar monsters that need to be handled... hopefully with minimal damage to Canterlot's infrastructure."

"Ah, if I can do anything well, Thor can battle mightily!"

"Should any other Asgardians come here, then responsibility for them shall fall to you unless I specifically say otherwise."

"I... can handle that... surely."

"But the most important thing to remember is that you shall attack nopony without my permission."

"Even should I need to protect another?"

"That shall be judged on a case by case basis," she replied, "but I shall not be cutting you much slack in that regards."

"I shall... tread carefully then."

"And when you are not handling monsters, I expect you to tend me in the Canterlot Court as I tend to my daily duties."

"Of course," she said as she thought, 'I wonder what those worse punishments All-Father was talking about. This punishment surely seems bad enough to me...'

"PRINCESS!" called a Royal Guard as he rushed towards the Princess, "PRINCESS!"

"What troubles you?" she asked back calmly.

"Giant ponies made of ice approach the gates of Canterlot!" he replied, "They're several times our size!"

"Can this be?!" asked Rainbow, "Show them to me at once!" Then she glanced at Celestia before she added, "If it meets with the approval of the Princess as well..."

"We shall both go to see these monsters," she said as the Guard turned to lead them back to the walls.

As soon as Rainbow saw them, she knew what they were. "By what madness are the Frost Giant-Horses of Jötunheimr in this realm?!"

"You know them?"

"They have been mortal enemies of Asgard and it's gods for countless hundreds of years," she replied, "but they lack the magic to travel between the realms like this!" She paused to add, "Well the King of the Frost Giant-Horses may posses such power, but... surely he would be mad to use such power and risk war with Asgard!"

"Are they friendly giants?"

"No. These monsters. They're lust for war and destruction make the warriors of Asgard look tame by comparison. May I smite them before they ruin your great city?"

"Not before I try to reason with them," she replied.

Rainbow sighed as she surely knew such proceedings would not end well. She flew after the Princess as she flew to meet the Frost Giant-Horses outside the gates of Canterlot. The Guards seemed distressed that they were going out to meet them alone. The very air seemed to become colder as they drew closer, and the monsters stopped in their tracks to watch the newcomers flying closer.

"Greeting and welcome to Canterlot," announced the Princess, "What brings you so far from your own realm?"

"So the one called Rainbow Thor Odindota is here?!" asked the largest Frost Giant-Horse, "We finally meet the one who has slain so many of our kin."

"If King Laufey had not sent his army to invade the Realm of Asgard," she replied defensively, "I surely wouldn't have had to slay so many of your kin!"

"The warriors of Asgard struck against the Realm of Jötunheimr first Giant-slayer!"

"THAT IS THE MOST FOUL OF LIES!" she yelled back, "Lord Odin surely does not attack any other realm without just cause!" She took the hammer from about her neck into her hoof.

The giants responded by becoming even colder. They grew larger as icicle spikes grew out of their bodies.

"Stop this!" commanded the Princess, "There shall be no violence!"

"Are you giving sanctuary to the Giant-killer?!"

"NO!" she replied, "Lord Odin sent Rainbow Dash Odindota to me so that she may be punished!"

There was a momentary pause before the Giants began laughing their heads off. Rainbow just scowled mightily.

"Very well," he said, "We shall withdraw to the Crystal Mountains to keep tabs on Rainbow! But I promise that if you try to deceive us, we shall descend upon upon you like the wrath of a blizzard!"

"We should deal with them now!" replied Dash, "They shall surely return to..."

"You shall do nothing without my commands!" shouted Celestia with uncharacteristic force.

The Frost Giant-Horses turned and began withdrawing to the north. Rainbow knew that the region was far too warm for the likes of them to remain there very long. She was grateful for at least that much.

"That wasn't so hard, now was it?" asked the Princess as she began flying back.

"It was," muttered Rainbow under her breath.

...

Meanwhile, back in Asgard...

...

Loki watched the scene from his own personal scrying pool. He scowled as the Frost Giant-Horses walked away without bloodshed.

"Curse those fool giants," he said, "I thought sending them against Thor would be enough to make them battle to the bitter end! It would have worked if that Celestia wasn't so reasonable! I shall have to take her out of the picture before I try to humiliate my half-sister once more!"