Chapter 5: Questions

   “I got one, who is that spoiled brat?” asked Loki.

    “Our nephew, Prince Blueblood,” said Celestia.

    Loki just raised an eyebrow as if asking to elaborate.

    “He is a descendant of one of our half siblings from when our mothers were still alive,” explained Celestia.

    “Thanks Yggdrasil I am not related to that brat,” said Loki.

    “He is not that bad once you get to know him,” added Luna.

    “Our turn, you mention a dark presence invading your mind in the battle on Jotunheimr, did you discover who or what that presence was?,” asked Celestia.

    “Yes I have, it was Thanos reaching for a potential pawn for his plans, using an Infinity Gem no less, the Mind Gem to be more specific, unfortunately I was deemed the pawn,” answered Loki.

    “What is an Infinity Gem?” wandered Luna aloud.

    “Now is not your turn, I will answer that after my question,” commented Loki before asking, “So do any of you have or had lovers?”

    “WHAT!! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO ASK SUCH A QUESTION!!??” Luna screamed in the Canterlot Voice clearly embarrassed of being asked such question.

    “I will take that as a no and what is wrong with a grandmother knowing if her precious little fillies have somepony special in their lives?” spoke Loki in a motherly and teasing tone, and to get the his point across, Loki changed his form to suit his statement.

    The change was so subtle that they didn't notice at first. It was only when his voice changed to a silken, honeyed, almost sultry tone that could enthrall anyone, regardless of gender or species, that they noticed that he, now a she, was not the same as before.

    Now they are stunned, they were informed by their father that Loki was a shapeshifter but to see this ability in action almost without them realizing was awe inspiring, that demonstration his, now her, mastery of magic.

    “What's up with the silence, it's your turn to ask a question, come to think about it you asked about the Infinity Gems,” commented Loki acting coyly and using her soft, smooth and honeyed voice while she uses her right wing to cover the lower part of her face, not unlike a fan.

    “Eeeeeh..yeah,” Luna just agreed, incapable of formulating sentences at the moment.

    “Very well then,”answered Loki folding her right wing on her side on its original position.

    “The Infinity Gems or Stones are artefacts of great power that exist in the universe since the Big Bang, there are six in total each one giving power of an aspect of existence, they are the Mind Gem, allows you to control, recreate, destroy and reshape the minds of any sentient being in the cosmos, the Space Gem, allows you to be anywhere you desire to be, you are basically omnipresent, the Time Gem, allows you to manipulate and move through time at will, the Power Gem, allows you to increase your natural power indefinitely and manipulate all cosmic energy that exist, the Soul Gem, allows you to trap the soul of those that live and have lived and read their memories and feelings, the Reality Gem, allows you to reshape the fabric of reality at will in the whole universe,” concluded Loki before adding, “ those are the Infinity Gems, but no everyone can use them, you must already be powerful and have experience in controlling the energies of cosmic level and/or have untold mental discipline otherwise you will be destroyed by the Gem’s power turning against you.”

    By now the sisters have recovered from the shock and are curious about the Gems.

    “I have never heard of such artefacts before,” said Celestia.

    “Neither have I, sister,” added Luna.

    “I would be surprised if you did, very few beings in the universe knows about them and even fewer can use one of them, also they tend to stay in the universe’s main dimension, Midgard’s dimension,” explained Loki.

    “Thanks for the explanation grandfa- I mean grandmother,” thanked Celestia.

    “Could you go back at being a stallion, it's a little unsettling to see you as a mare after meeting you as a stallion and why would you change gender now?” asked Luna.

    “Because I felt like it. And that's another question but being the gracious mare that I am, I will let that one slide,” said Loki to Luna before asking, “ is there any other member of your extended family that I should be aware of?”

    “Yes there is, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, or Cadence for short but she is on a diplomatic mission and is in a relationship with the captain of the royal guard Shining Armor, who also is the brother of my star pupil, Twilight Sparkle one of the Elements of Harmony,” explained Celestia.

    “Interesting,” said Loki.

    “About something you and father mentioned before, what is Yggdrasill?” asked Celestia.

    “Yggdrasill, the world tree, is an energy field, a metaphysical structure, that supports and connects the Nine Realms. It is represented as a tree, its roots and branches permeating time and space. So even realms like Statera that aren’t located in the main branches are still connected by it,” explained Loki.

    “Now what are your domain?” asked Loki.

    The sisters looked at each other confused by their grandmother’s question, so Luna simply answered, “It's the land Equestria.”

    “No, I mean your divine domain, the sphere of influence in which your power is the strongest, basically what are you a god of?” clarified Loki.

    “I see, my domain is the Moon, the Stars, their light and dreams,” answered Luna.

    “My domain is the Sun and its light,” answered Celestia before adding, “and we don’t consider ourselves to be above other to call ourselves goddesses.”

    “I see,” said Loki with a somewhat disappointed tone.

    “What?” asked Celestia after hearing her grandmother’s tone.

    “No it is nothing, it seems neither of you realize the full extent of your powers and that both of you are demigoddesses, I know the former because your inner sigil isn’t fully develop, ponies these days call it cutie mark, such a childish name,” said Loki.

    “What?” this time it was Luna who asked.

    “Demigods in this case means to be somewhere between mortal and god, you can be born one, that is your case, or become one either with the help of an already existing god or under your own power and effort,” explained Loki paying no mind to Luna’s surprise question.

    “Actually, that makes sense and also answered a lot of questions that I had," said Celestia remembering Cadence ascension to alicornhood.

    “Being a alicorn and a god, in this case a demigod, aren’t mutually exclusive status. It’s possible to become one without becoming the other,” Loki added to her explanation causing Celestia to remember a certain unicorn unbrum king, that would explain his power.

    “What are your domains, grandmother?” asked Luna returning Celestia from her trip down memory lane.

    “Well I am god/goddess of strategies, conspiracy, plots, lies, stories, secrets, change, mischief, evil and to a extent master of the natural elements,” answered Loki.

    Loki’s was more than enough for the sisters to be on guard, Celestia more so than Luna.

    “You are a deity of evil. How can this be?” asked Celestia.

    “I am evil in the sense of adversity that constantly pushes the others to surpass themselves, or die trying, in the eyes of other I am both the narrator and the villain of their stories,” elaborated Loki.

    “I really don’t know what to think about that, we are the granddaughter of the god of adversity,” said Luna to herself.

    “One more thing before we end this conversation, the citizens of Equestria worship both of you right?” asked Loki.

    “Yes they do,” said Celestia before she sighed, no matter what she does or said her little ponies worship her and now her sister as well, to a lesser extent because it’s been over a year since she returned.

    “Once a being archieves the status of a demigod the prayers of your worshippers empowers you further and gives you additional powers besides your original ones," added Loki before getting up and walking to the entrance of the dining room.

    Reaching the entrance she opens the doors, the guards look at her and were so surprised by her change of gender that they almost fell over.

    “Do these good looking guards mind giving me a tour through the Castle?” requested Loki while acting flirtatious.

    They were unsure if they should proceed with Loki’s request, looking at Princess Celestia, she nods.

    They bow, turns around and started walking, “Please follow us your highness,” they said as Loki follows.

    As Loki left to explore the castle the sisters were left to ponder about the information they were given.

    “Sister I think we should give her a chance,” said Luna.

    “I don't know Luna it's difficult to believe in her when she is the goddess of lies” answered Celestia.

    “Goddess of lies she may be but she still our grandmother, doesn’t she deserve the benefit of the doubt?” asked Luna.

    *Sigh* “You are right if she truly wants to change and learn her lessons I will be glad to help besides she is the goddess of change as well maybe it won’t that bad,” answered Celestia.

    “Shouldn't you inform Twilight of this?” asked Luna.

    “Maybe later, we should let grandmother settle down first,” answered Celestia.

Two hours later courtyard

    It took two hours for Loki to familiarize herself with the castle and memorize all the important, to her, locations.

    It was quite amusing to see the passersby widen their eyes in surprise when they saw a “new” alicorn mare, only when they look at the crown of lies, not that they knew its name, and her cutie mark, how she disliked that childish name, did they notice that she isn’t a new alicorn but one that they have recently meet he just changed gender, she lost count of how many of them fainted.

    “Thank you for the tour, that will be all,” said Loki before adding, “both of you can return to your post.”

    “Are you sure your highness?” asked one of the guards.

    “Yes I am sure, if I need something else I will call either a guard or a servant, for now I just want to relax,” said Loki.

    As the guards left Loki laid on the shade of a tree, Twilight favorite spot before moving to Ponyville, extending her right foreleg a ripple of golden light leading to one of her many pocket dimensions used for storage appears just above her hoof, a book falls and she catches as the ripple disappears.

    Putting the book on the ground in front of her she starts to read it.