To the surprise of Thor, he found that neither Celestia or Luna occupied the castle when he returned to it. As he landed just beyond the castles gates, he felt the presence of neither princess. A frown crossed the god of thunders face as he realized that they were either out dealing with something related with the alter or something related with him. Neither thought lifted Thor's mood.

Ignoring the guards as he passed them, and ignoring the looks of concern they gave him, Thor figured that none of the ponies had yet to hear about the news of Shelor falling to Thor in battle. Thor closed his eyes and tried to hear if there were any prayers asking him about the battle, but when he heard none he confirmed his thoughts.

'That means that I have a small amount of time before I must deal with the consequences of my actions. Perhaps I shall check in on young Summer and Autumn,' Thor thought to himself as he pushed open the doors to the castle.

The castle was quiet, aside from the maids and butlers going about their business and cleaning up the place, and Thor took solace in the quiet. His body still ached slightly from his battle with Shelor and Discord's words about the fear the ponies would feel towards him still echoed in Thor's mind. He felt his fingers tighten around Mjolnir for comfort, wishing that his friend would give him advice like it once did.

'Nay, what's done is done. I wish it did not have to come to battle, but Shelor made his intentions clear. Sadly, I can not blame him entirely for his actions. He answered the wish of his people. He did what I chastised other gods for failing to do. Being a god that listens. Perhaps I was too headstrong. Perhaps I should have tried to talk things out more,' Thor pondered, but he locked his thoughts away as he reached the room where Autumn slept. When he heard Summer tell him to enter, he did so silently.

"How has she been?" Thor asked in a whisper, but even when Thor whispered the rumbling of thunder could still be heard.

"She's been sleeping peacefully, thank god," Summer said with a smirk at Thor, who smiled at her joke. Then Summer's face fell slightly and she looked at the little filly sleeping calmly beneath the covers. "I am worried, Thor. I am worried about what the future will hold for me and my daughter."

"There is no need to hide your true thoughts with me. I will listen to what ye have to say," Thor promised Summer.

"I am fearful that the gods wrath will continue. Not against you, but against us," Summer said in a fearful whisper. "You have made it clear when you killed Toraxo that no god can match you. But gods don't forgive. And since they cannot best you, I am afraid they will come for us. The ones favored by the god of Equestria."

"Summer, mother of Autumn, I swore that I would protect you from any threat, including that of the gods. And Thor has kept his word, has he not?" Thor asked Summer, but his words did not comfort the mare.

"But you will not be here forever. You have your own world, your own people to go back to. Eventually, we will not have the aid of the god of thunder," Summer replied and Thor knew her words rang true. "But...perhaps there is another way. Perhaps you can speak with the other gods, ask them to let go of the rage they may feel for you. Perhaps they will listen, as it is you."

"That...may be more difficult now then you believe," Thor said with slight hesitation, getting Summer to turn her full attention to the god. "I have just returned from a battle with Shelor, where I was forced to beat him into a state where he could no longer battle with me. I fear that after that, talking with the gods will not work."

"You...you struck down another god of Equis?" Summer asked with terror in her voice.

"Nay, I simply defeated him. Shelor still lives, but it will be a time before he can be a threat to any once again," Thor said with a nod, but Summer was no longer looking at him and instead was looking at her sleeping daughter. "Ye need not fear from Shelor. His battle was with me, not with you or your daughter. I can promise you that."

"Thor...may I speak freely?" Summer asked, waiting until Thor nodded before she began speaking. "You've fought two gods of this world in just as many days and you've, if what you've told me about Shelor is correct, defeated them both soundly. The rest of the world is not going to respond well to that."

"Shelor is the one who was asked to do battle with me. His own people, the dragons, wished for him to battle with me. They are the ones to blame, not I," Thor replied.

"Maybe, but the world won't take it that way," Summer replied with a shake of her head before her ears perked up, yet Thor already knew what she had heard. With a hefty sigh the god of thunder turned his head towards the doors to the room, which opened and revealed the two princesses of Canterlot, with neither of them wearing an expression of joy on their faces. "You should go talk with them. Thank you for being concerned with us, Thor. It's nice to know that a god cares."

Thor nodded to Summer before he walked towards the door, noticing the way the two princesses walked away from Thor as he got closer to them. He closed the door behind him before turning his full attention to Celestia and Luna, trying to read their faces.

Luna's face was filled with fear and concern and from the way she gazed at Thor he could tell that she seemed to be waiting for him to strike her down. It was a look he was more familiar with seeing in his youth, when he did strike down those that got on his nerves.

Celestia was more composed, but Thor had been around anger long enough to tell when someone was hiding their true emotions. Beneath her calm demeanor Thor could sense anger bubbling like lava and it was only Celestia's respect for him that Thor assumed she hadn't blown up at him. That or her fear.

"Thor, we have just received word of a battle...a collision of forces over the mountains far from here between Shelor, lord of the dragons, and you. And according to what we heard, you decimated Shelor in a storm of lightning the likes of which shook this very planet to its core," Celestia informed Thor in a calm voice, despite her body shaking slightly. "Now why I have no reason to doubt the validity of these words, I promised myself that I would wait to hear your words before I made up my mind on the matter. Please...tell me why you battled another god so soon after the death of Toraxo."

"I was not the one that started the battle, Celestia. Shelor was prayed to by the people of his nation and they prayed to him to defeat me. To stop me before I could destroy them and everything they held dear. And as he is a god of honor, he battled with me in the sky above this land. He did not win," Thor said with certainty. "He started this battle. I finished it. He still draws breath, if that is your concern."

"While I am grateful for that news, that was not my biggest concern. Thor, in the past couple of days you have bested two gods in this world! Your actions are not only causing ripples among the divine, but also among the mortals that live down below. Thor, the ponies, dragons and other beings of this world are terrified of you! And when they get wind of your besting of Shelor..."

"What would you have had me done, Celestia?" Thor asked as he turned towards Celestia, a lightning in his eyes that told both princesses that he was angry. Luna, despite being terrified of him, moved herself between her sister and Thor to protect her sister. The action lessened Thor's rage, but he still glared at Celestia while demanding an answer. "What would you have me do? Stand down and surrender? Allow him to slay me, so that your land is without a god once more?"

"No, you didn't have to do any of that, but...Thor, there had to be another way. You are the god of thunder! You are stronger than any other deity in this land! Surely you could have dealt with Shelor in a way that did not leave his broken and burned body stretched out across a mountain range! But you chose to crush him, to strike him out of the sky. There had to be a different way...maybe you could have spoke with him. Bowed your head and asked for him to let go of his rage. Maybe...talking would have worked."

Thor lowered his head and thought about Celestia's words for a moment, before he lifted it once more to reveal eyes filled with even more lightning within his eyes than before. Luna's eyes went wide as the air in the room began to electrified and small burst of lightning cracked around the ceiling.

"Aye, Celestia. I am the god of thunder. And does thou know what thunder does? Thunder roars, it shakes the land and is a warning to all those that challenge the lightning. Thunder does not cower, it does not talk and it does not bow its head. Thunder is a force that does not lose. And neither do I. Ye would do well to remember that," Thor said with that same thunder in his voice as he pointed Mjolnir towards Celestia once again.

Luna let out a gasp of horror as she backed away from the hammer, but instead of cowering Celestia simply narrowed her eyes before she placed a hoof atop Mjolnir. Luna's eyes went wide as Celestia's mane started to stand on end from the electricity, before Celestia pushed the hammer down towards the ground.

"You did not answer my question, Thor. You blustered and raged and made a terrifying noise, much like thunder, but thunder does not harm those that hear it. And neither do you," Celestia told Thor to his face, glaring right into his lightning filled eyes. "And while you have blustered, you did not answer my question. Why did you not try to talk things out with Shelor? Why did you choose to battle with him, when there was no need to?"

For a long moment Thor and Celestia stared at each other, neither of the giving an inch. Celestia's mane continued to rise as she kept her hoof on Mjolnir and thus small currents of electricity coursed through her, but her face remained stone cold as she glared at the god of thunder. Only Luna could tell that Celestia was actually terrified at the moment, but if Thor knew he didn't mention it.

"Because I am Thor, Celestia," Thor replied in a quiet voice, one that was holding back the power and thunder that could decimate the galaxy. "And Thor does not bow his head. He does not bend his knee. He does not stand aside. Thor fights, he battles and he wins. Aside from my father, Odin, and my mother, Freya, I have never bowed to any. Be them god or mortal. And I will not bow to gods that believe they are able to defeat me. That they can do as they wish at my expense. I am Thor. And I defeat all that challenge me."

"Even if the consequences of you winning would be disastrous for the mortals that you protect?" Celestia asked Thor, who did not answer. "Answer me this, Thor. What if your actions against Shelor cause the dragons to go to war with the ponies of this land? We are still weak from our war with the titans. We cannot beat them, not as weak as we are now. Would it have been worth dooming thousands to death just so you could keep your pride as a warrior?"

"If the dragons were to wage war, I would be there to prevent them from doing so," Thor said.

"That is not what I'm asking. What I am asking is would it have been worth it. To doom all those lives, just because you didn't want to lose?" Celestia asked once more in a stronger tone. Thor narrowed his eyes at her before he turned and headed towards the exit to the room. "Thor, the only reason I ask you these question is because I respect you. You are the only god aside from Faust that I have ever met that is both kind and caring. But there is a darkness to you, one that I fear may one day bring destruction down upon us."

"My promise still holds true, Celestia. I will protect you and your nation no matter what tries to bring harm to it. And Thor keeps his promises," Thor said to Celestia, who shook her head once more.

"True as that may be, you still hold that darkness. And that darkness is your pride. Your refusal to...back down. Thor, there comes a time when defeating your foe can be far more disastrous than simply refusing to fight."

"Not when you are a god, Celestia. A god never backs down."

"But a ruler that is looking out for there nation does. And you are the god of our nation. Your true concern should be keeping us safe, not striking down any that challenge you."

"Do not speak to me about royal duties. I am prince of Asgard. There will come a day when I will be king of Asgard, though I pray that day is far from now," Thor spat back at Celestia, yet his rage from earlier was gone.

"Then it is all the better that you learn now that sometimes a ruler has to put aside their own pride for the betterment of their nation. For those that look to them. That sometimes one must compromise," Celestia said to Thor, hoping that her words were getting through to him. But as Thor stared back at her, she had the feeling that he was not heeding her words.

"Your words hold wisdom within them, princess of the sun. But I am Thor. I will not be defeated. I will not break my promises. And I will protect all that call me their defender. I do not compromise. I do not need to. Continue your search for the alter. I shall continue to deal with the threats that plague this land."

Thor exited through the doors as he said this, slamming them behind him and dispelling the lightning in the air. Celestia watched him go with a shake of her head, glancing at Luna as her sister joined her side. "Do not fret sister, you did your best. But gods, even ones as kind as Thor, are still gods. And it is impossible to change the mind of a god."

"Perhaps, sister. But I pray that Thor heeds my words before either he or some other does something that causes even more pain and destruction. But if these prayers go to Thor, then I fear they will not be answered."