Author's Notes:

Odin-Father of the Gods, giver of the runes.
Slepnir-Loki's son.
Loki-Blood brother to Odin. Mischievous, but ultimately an ally of the Gods in the original mythology, recovering Thor's hammer and usually getting on well with them. Usually.
Jotun-A giant or elemental being. Can be maleovent or benevolent.
Jormugadr-The serpent that encircles the world. Loki's son.
Nidhoggr-A serpent who torments the damned.
Aesir-A family of Gods. Tasked with maintaining the correct order of the cosmos and society.
Vanir-A family of Gods, tasked with maintaining fertility and abundance. Freya and Freyr belong to this family. Freyr is sometimes seen as cognate to the Celtic horned god as he is said to wield antlers as a weapon.
Hugin and Mugin-Odin's ravens that inform him of all that goes on in the world.
Ragnarok-When the Gods and Giants will battle each other, leading to the end of the world.

Also, I now want to write a story of Little Tia and Woona visiting Asgard.

No matter how many times she would later try to describe the experience of journeying to Asgard, Twilight never felt as if she were describing it right. There was always something missing, some shade of the experience that she felt as if she were leaving out. Maybe her language had no word for it. Maybe no language did or ever would.

Celestia and Twilight had met in the castle courtyard. A pentagram made of salt had been constructed on the old, grey stones.

"Are you ready?" Celestia had asked as Twilight had stepped into the circle. Within the pentagram, strange runes she didn't know-maybe that no mortal knew or ever could know-had been inscribed. There were other symbols too, including planetary symbols and what looked like astrological signs. A flash of insight told her that they were directional runes, pathways that would direct their soul essences across the vastness of time and space.

Celestia and Twilight both knelt their heads and crossed their horns. "I'm ready, Tia."

Celestia's horn began to glow. Twilight felt as the vibrations rushed against her own horn. Twilight channeled magic into her own horn, calling up the familiar, old teleportation spell. Energies flowed through her and her knees shook at the sheer power she felt radiating from her marefriend.

And in an instant, they were gone. All around Twilight was inky blackness, an abyss spreading out in all directions. There was no up or down or to the side, no right, no left. Only the nightlike tendrils of darkness swirling all around her. Only the assurance that Celestia was with her in the void kept her from completely panicking. Currents of deep magic soared through the void, pushing them forward.

Twilight gave in and allowed herself to be tugged. She had never felt anything like this before. Normally, when she teleported she closed her eyes, cast the spell and was immediately at her destination. She didn't know what this void was. Celestia grasped her hoof. "Twilight, can you hear me?"

Twilight inched closer to her as they floated upon the waves of blackness. "I hear you."

"Good. Don't fight it, Twilight. We will arrive in Asgard soon."

As Twilight stared ahead, she saw flashes of light in the gloom. Were they stars, she wondered. The darkness would ripple and a pinprick of light would reveal itself. Some were blue, others red or green. Small clusters of them twinkled in the midnight blanket.

"Celestia...where are we?"

"This is the space between worlds."

"What are those points of light?"

"Those are worlds, Twilight."

Twilight's jaw dropped. In the light of the worlds she made out Celestia's silhouette. The princess was holding tight to her hoof, as if afraid that letting go of her might cause her to drift away.

"How many of them are there?"

The pinpricks of light pierced through the darkness, infinite and uncountable. As the pair traveled the lights became more numerous.

"There is no number to them, Twilight. They stretch on forever."

The infinite lights glowed like jewels sewn on a jacket. Sometimes, a new one would suddenly appear while an old one faded away. Celestia paused as a red light burned out. "Farewell, old friend."

There was a deep sorrow in her voice. Twilight nuzzled her side. "Tia?"

"It was a world I knew long ago. The civilization that lived there has been gone for centuries."

A new world blazed into being, a whirling spiral of emerald light. Twilight realized that the young worlds were green and as they aged, they took on a blue color and then the oldest ones turned red. She wondered what color Equus was. After an internal debate, she decided she didn't want to know.

Celestia still answered as if she had read her thoughts. "Equus is only seven-billion years old. It's an infant."

"Where is Equus?"

Celestia gestured behind her with a wing. "You wouldn't be able to see it."

The cycle played out all around them. Old universes aging and dying and new ones rushing into being to take their place, unfolding in the furnace of creation's fires. So many questions filled her mind. What was each world like? Were the laws of physics exactly alike? What species had arisen on those other worlds? Were there other versions of herself and her friends? If Celestia knew the answers to these questions, she wasn't talking.

Twilight felt herself being pushed by the flow of energy coursing through the void, tugged along by some unseen force put into motion by the spell. Celestia stayed by her side as they glided. They were turning, heading towards another pinpoint of light. This one was a deep, crimson red. Sweat broke out on Twilight's forehead and trailed down her face at the heat from the ancient world.

"Is that Asgard?" She asked.

Celestia shook her head. "No, it isn't. Asgard is one of the realms perched atop the world tree."

"The world tree? The world tree is real?"

"It is indeed. Those are the realms where the Gods live."

"Your family."

"I belong to one such family, yes. In fact, I belong to the Jotun, but Nana Loki is blood brother to Odin so I'm only an Aesir by that relationship."

"Do you think your family will like me?"

"Remember what I said Twilight. It is very important to be upfront with my kin. Better a braggart than one too humble. Only slaves are humble and they do not put up with willing slaves."

Twilight listened carefully and wished she had a notebook to write all this down in. "So, what?"

"Just be your wonderful self."

"Neurotic and bashful?"

"Yep."

Twilight would have given her a playful swat, but her hoof only grazed against the abyss. They floated for a while in silence. Suddenly, Celestia pulled her to her side with a wing. The world they had been floating by exploded. A great ring of energy burst from it and the very air around them seemed to twist with the sheer outpouring of fire as the world collapsed outward.

Celestia sighed. "Not all worlds die peacefully. Some choose the path of war and violence until it consumes them. Some say the Gods of Asgard are violent, but it is not so. Odin chooses warriors that he might fight the powers of entropy. My kin fight only so that there will be order and peace."

Twilight's eyes widened as the last of the doomed world burned away. "What in the world was that?"

"If I had to guess? A weapon which tore apart the very substance out of which worlds are made."

"How is that possible?"

"Pray you never know."

Twilight shivered. No new world came to replace it and the place where it had been stood strangely empty. Then, as she watched, a tiny emerald spark flared to life.

Celestia flew towards it. "It will take eons, but it will grow into a new world. It will just take a while. Now, onward to Asgard!"

Twilight followed after her. Eerie, red lights sprinkled on the abyss shown down on them, casting everything in scarlet hues. "Where are we?" She asked as she slid up to Celestia.

"This is where the oldest of the worlds are." She continued flying. "We're almost in Asgard."

Twilight gasped as a rainbow of light spread out before her. The colors flowed and stretched on forever and illuminated high, leafy branches all around them. The branches were thick, wider than herself or Celestia and spread onward to where she could not tell. They landed on the rainbow. Twilight spent a few moments gazing up at the tree. A limitless number of branches grew from it, intertwining and connecting.

Down below, she heard the rush of waters, but as she stood on the bridge that was somehow connecting one enormous branch to another she found she could not see the source of the water. All she could see were branches that completely surrounded herself and Celestia.

"That is the world tree, Yggdrasil. Everything that is or ever will be is contained within its branches. Down below is the Well of Urd."

Twilight placed a hoof against the bark. "This is where Odin hung when he obtained the runes."

Celestia's hoof joined hers. "If you go farther up, you can still see the blood from the spear wound."

Twilight shivered. "I thought it was a metaphor. A tree holding all the worlds together."

"It's not a metaphor. None of the old tales are metaphors."

The shivering got worse. "I'm not sure I can do this."

"You've been dating a demi-goddess for months and you've known me for much of your life." Celestia stroked Twilight's back and the shivering abated somewhat. "There's nothing to fear. They want to meet you. Odin most of all if only to talk about magic with a fellow seeker of wisdom."

"I prayed to him once. I was nervous before an exam on the runes. Gave him a wine offering."

"See? You've already spoken."

"He didn't talk back. Well, I did feel him, in a way, but he wasn't standing in front of me."

Celestia walked around so she was looking Twilight in the eye. She lifted her face and pressed her lips to hers. Twilight melted into the kiss.

Celestia pulled away, but kept her chin lifted. "Twilight, these are my folk. They're who I come from. If you don't fear me, don't fear them."

Twilight leaned into her. "Alright."

"But if you don't want to do this, you don't have to. We can go back right now. What do you want to do?"

Twilight hesitated a few moments. "We've come this far haven't we?" She gave Celestia's muzzle a peck. "Alright. Let's go meet your family."

Leaning into each other, they trailed the rainbow bridge. It felt warm against her hooves. Twilight could still hear the whoosh of the waters flowing from somewhere at the base of the great tree. It felt cool up here, but not too cold. The air was crisp like a day in autumn. Smoke rose from one of the branches just below them. At first she thought it was on fire, but then she heard the merry ring of hammers.

Grey frosty mountains rose on either side of them. Snow blanketed the branches and Twilight shivered as the snow was kicked up by a harsh wind that splashed the frigid substance against her pasterns and onto her back. Celestia cast a spell and a bubble of warmth covered them.

The rainbow bride slanted upwards and Twilight had to adjust her balance. Grey mountains gave way to verdant planes that almost reminded her of Mustangia. The green of this grass was far brighter, far more verdant than any she had ever seen. Her hooves were cradled by the ground and the sweet scent wafting up from it made her wonder what the grass would taste like.

She thought she saw something out of the corner of her eye, but when she turned whatever it was had vanished. Tinkling laughter split the air.

Celestia motioned to a rock jutting up from the plane. "Elves, beloved. They're shy towards strangers."

Twilight closed her eyes and traced the laughter. Something was laughing in the rock. A grove of thin birch trees bent in the wind, but there was no wind. The slender trees shook their green branches as if in sport. "They live in trees and the rocks, don't they?"

"Yes. They are mischievous, but goodhearted folk."

The rainbow bridge connected the plains growing on the tree limb to another plain. Rather than grass, this was a courtyard made of stone. The rainbow bridge led from the courtyard to another part of the tree. A golden city was somehow, miraculously, seated atop one massive branch. High proud towers lifted towards the heaven and a shimmering wall of pure light ringed around it. Coming closer, Twilight saw that the wall was not composed of light. It was some sort of golden substance that flowed together. She couldn't see any bricks or cracks that would tell her how the wall had been built.

She froze at a hiss behind her. Something rose up, so tall it cast a shadow that covered her, Celestia and even the city. She whirled around and saw one writhing, scaled body curled over them. Reddish scales undulated as the creature slithered on the ground.

It's head was hooded, like a cobra. A forked tongue slinked out of its mouth as it regarded her with a look too close to a predator looking at prey. Its eyes were pools of glowing red. It looked down at her. Twilight wanted to run, scream,anything. Instead, she only stood, completely rooted to the spot. Her legs refused to obey her. Her breath was caught in her throat. Celestia snapped open a wing that separated Twilight from the serpentine creature. A low growl came from its lips. It opened its mouth and flashed rows upon rows of fangs. Greenish poison dripped down from its teeth.

It spoke, a sound like mountains crumbling. "I have a complaint against you, Twilight Sparkle."

All the hairs on the back of Twilight's neck stood up and generations of instinct told her that she was in danger and the smart thing to do would be to run. She couldn't. Her muscles were locked up and no matter how hard she tried to will them into action, she couldn't budge.

Celestia narrowed her eyes. "Tell me this complaint, Jormugandr."

The serpent stood to its full height and Twilight was no longer able to see his face, only the long, sinuous body. It hurtled downward and suddenly his face was next to Twilight's. His hot breath was sticky against her.

"Jormugandr! Cease this at once! Is this how you treat a guest?"

He rose back up and slithered to Celestia. He wrapped his tail around himself in intricate loops and knots. "She is a criminal, a thief."

"Tell me why I shouldn't cut out your tongue, slanderer."

It laughed and the world tree shook. Tremoring broke out all along Twilight's body. Her ears splayed back along her head to block out the obscene sound. Nausea filled her gut.

"One of my subjects has petitioned me about this one. A certain necklace which she took from him. The price is death, Slepnir's Daughter. Move aside so that I may enact justice."

Twilight forced herself to stop tremoring and knocked Celestia's wing aside. Celestia shot her a surprised glance. "I stole nothing. That necklace was taken from Celestia by force and the owner had no claim to it. I only corrected a wrong."

The serpent shook. "You dare speak to me that way?"

It shot towards her. Celestia summoned a shield which it slammed against. "Go tell your subject that she is under my protection and if he wants his precious necklace he can come and take it from me himself!"

The serpent slammed his body again and again against her shield. Celestia kept her face in an expression of iron, staring Jormugadr down while he howled in frustration. Twilight placed her horn to the shield and added her power to it. She wasn't sure how much it'd help, but she wasn't going to let Celestia do all the work.

Changing tactics, the great serpent turned and crashed his body against the solid orb of magic. Tiny little cracks appeared in its surface. Celestia grunted."Do you remember the wedding? Had I used my full power against Chrysalis, there wouldn't have been a city left-possibly not a continent. Here however?"

The shield vanished and streams of flames roared from the tip of Celestia's horn. The air warped and twisted around her. Twilight was sent crashing back, but so was Jormugandr. With a sickening crunch, he crashed into the bark of Yggdrasil. Flames broke out along his body and he screeched. Twilight covered her ears as the sound temporarily deafened her.

Jormungandr twisted and the flames vanished. He snarled and rocketed out, straight into an inferno that lashed outwards towards him and consumed him. He cried out in pain as whips of fire crackled and licked his flesh. Celestia's mane flared and, for a moment, Twilight saw her transformed into a being of living fire.

Twilight covered her eyes against the dazzling display as jets of flame beat against Jormungandr. The blazing fires beat him back. Jormugandr pushed himself through and struck. Celestia vanished and when she reappeared she was riding atop the serpent.

It wiggled on the ground, howling in outrage. "I'll kill you!"

"Only if you can catch me!"

She summoned a spear of flames and drove it straight into its back. Greenish blood spurted from the wound and Jormugandr broke free from her hold. Twilight cried out as a stray spark seared against her fur. The wooden floor they were standing on was burning away. Ashes and yellow sparks floated in the air.

"Twilight!" Celestia rushed towards her. Jormungadr lifted up and caught part of her side. Celestia screamed as its teeth grazed her flank. She teleported again and urged Twilight onto her back. "I'm sorry! I still find it difficult to control my magic!"

"Ho now! What is all this?"

A voice boomed over the field of combat. Twilight blinked. An eight-legged, chestnut stallion stood. His mane was the color of ripe grain. What Twilight thought was a solid wall was now open.

Celestia closed her eyes and the flames vanished, leaving a field of ash. Slepnir cast a cold look at the serpent. "I am going to assume that my daughter did not just attack you for no reason."

"She harbors a thief, Slepnir!"

Slepnir stalked over with a deliberate, dangerous slowness and then pulled Celestia into an embrace which she returned. He let her go. "Luna didn't come?"

"She says she's not ready."

"Still so much guilt with that one. So much self-inflicted pain."

"She says she'll send you a letter."

Slepnir smiled. "I'll look forward to it. Tell her I send her my love." Then he addressed Jormugandr. "If you so much as disturb a hair on my daughter's mane, I will kill you, brother or not."

They're brothers? Twilight thought. She didn't see the resemblance, but she knew there were realms where the normal rules of reality tended to break down. She must have been standing in one such realm.

A being looking like it belonged to Megan's race, but older and somehow certainly male, stepped from the opened wall. He was wearing a long, blue cloak and a grey beard hung from his face. A patch was over his right eye. He strode along, carrying a spear in his hand and his face broke into a kind grin. "Celestia, daughter of my brother's son, it has been far too long."

They exchanged a hug and Odin kissed her forehead. He regarded Twilight who was panting as she tried to recover from the battle she had witnesses. "Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight looked up and wiped away a sheen of sweat. She briefly prostrated and then stood again. "Odin Allfather...I...I don't know what to say. I'm a really big fan of your work?"

Odin chuckled and then burst into laughter. Much to Twilight's surprise he swept her in a hug. "I like this one, Celestia!" He released his hold on her. "Come, a banquet is prepared. Jormugandr, behave or I shall cast you once more into the sea or get Thor to give you a few whacks with his hammer. See if any good sense seeps in."

Jormugandr, subdued in Odin's presence, followed the mismatched group into Asgard. "A matter of law and complaint I have."

"Aye, so I've heard. Hugin and Mugin have spoken to me of this matter." He patted two giant wolves that came and nuzzled against his legs like puppies. He scratched their ears and they joined the group. "Tis a matter of law. Let us therefore ask Tyr and he shall make a ruling."

"Her blood I demand. All thieves are mine to torment."

"Nidhoggr would debate you on that. A thief is she? Hmm, I withhold judgement. That is Tyr's domain not mine."

The entire city was made of the same gold as the wall. Odin led them into a palace. Alabaster pillars held up the roof and lined the golden room. There was upraised shouting and laughter, the clash of metal and the sharp scent of iron. Twilight glanced into one room to the side. Armored men were slashing and hacking at each other and blood covered the walls and floors. Twilight quickly looked away.

Odin frowned. "Tis necessity. They train for Ragnarok, but over time, they come to enjoy it. They can not die and are free to spend eternity in the sport. Such peaceful ones as you would no doubt be disturbed by it."

"We have war in Equestria."

"Yes, I know. Those are only a fraction of my forces. Some of your ancestors also dwell here."

They passed the room where the warriors fought and into a circular, alabaster chamber. A banquet table was in the center of the room and probably hundreds were seated around it. Twilight took a seat between Celestia and Slepnir. Across from her were two of the Gods who were so beautiful she was temporarily rendered speechless.

Both had blonde hair (she believed that was the correct term), crystal blue eyes and curving, angular features. Both were thin, yet muscular. The male had a head dress of antlers and a green jacket. The female was wrapped in a white, linen robe. Twilight looked away.

The male of the pair reached out his hand. "I am Freyr. This is my sister, Freyja."

Twilight took his hand and then the hands of his sister. "It's nice to meet you."

Another being whose gender Twilight could not determine came over to them. In fact, Twilight could not get a good lock on what he looked like, as if he were constantly shifting. From what she could tell, his hair was dark (she thought). He was tall, muscular (from what she could tell) and his face was...she couldn't tell.

He (or she?) wrapped an arm around Celestia. Celestia returned the affection. "It's good to see you again, Nana."

So, he was a she.

"Blood Brother, come and sit at my right hand." Odin took his own place at the head of the table.

So, she was a he.

"As soon as I catch up with my grand daughter. How has life been treating you?"

"Everything's the same in Equestria. Peace and harmony and such. Luna's back."

"So I heard! I'm glad she's doing well. And I understand you had an encounter with that fraud Discord. Tell him if he wishes, I will show him chaos such as he has never seen."

Celestia nervously chuckled. "That, um, won't be necessary."

Loki merely motioned with his hand and the carrots jumped up and began singing while leaping. It was the polka, Twilight thought, but she was't a musicologist.

A redhaired man who had a hammer at his side frowned as he tried to catch his jumping carrot. "Ymir's Blood, Uncle! Turn them back!"

"Try to catch them, dear Thor. It's good for the reflexes."

Thor muttered something and grabbed the carrot, chomping it fiercely. Loki clenched his fist and the carrots fell still and then he went and joined Odin. For the first time, Twilight noticed the contents of the meal. Several dead, roasted pigs were the centerpiece and the Gods enthusiastically scooped the meat onto their plates. Plates of vegetables and fruits lined the table. She took an empty plate and filled it with porridge, blueberries and strawberries.

She took one bite and stopped. The sweetness of the oats was just right, the fruits so tangy and juicy it was if they had just come from the vine. She gobbled down the porridge while trying to keep some dignity, but the juices dripped down her chin. Celestia gobbled down her porridge with wild abandon while Jormungandr sulked and ate from a plate of rats.

Twilight cast a wary glance at him. Celestia didn't seem distressed. In fact, she was engrossed in a conversation with Freya about the goings on in Asgard. If Celestia wasn't distressed, then she shouldn't be distressed. Celestia, taking advantage of a lull in the conversation, whispered in her ear. "Jormungandr would not dare to spill blood in Asgard. Such a thing hasn't been done since the war between the Aesir and Vanir and he would face severe consequences."

"And outside of Asgard?"

"I will have Father, Great Uncle Odin and Thor accompany us. Nana too. Jormugandr would not go against his father."

"Also, why is Loki your nana, but Odin's blood brother?"

Celestia smirked. "Tis a long tale. While your ancestors knew of the Old Gods, they never did receive the full mythology like humans were blessed with."

Freya put down a goblet filled with wine. "Might I tell the tale, Celestia?"

"Certainly."

"It happened one day that a builder came to Asgard-a giant as it turned out-and said he'd build us a wall if he could have me, the sun and moon as payment. I would have killed him where he stood, but Freyr here convinced me not to. It was sort of our fault the wall was damaged. Well, by we I mean the Vanir. Well, if the Aesir hadn't...long story, long story. Anyway, Loki suggested that they should give him what he wanted as long as he finished in a single winter with only help from his horse. Who would have thought? Smart horse. I'd almost be convinced he was from Equus to tell the truth. We were all ready to kill Loki when the wall was nearly complete so Loki turned himself into a mare and seduced the horse. Then Slepnir was born. The wall wasn't built in time as that horse spent months with Loki."

"That's fascinating! So, how did Slepnir meet your mom, Tia?"

Celestia's eyes took on a misty quality. "Father spent millennia believing he was alone. A horse that was more than a beast of burden, that could think and speak and reason. One day, while wandering the worlds he found Equus. He explored and met a warrior-queen by the name of Faust. My mother. He left the world of the Gods and spent decades with her. He only left when we were adults."

"That's so romantic, like a storybook."

"Yes, it was."

Slepnir nibbled on a carrot. "She was a beautiful mare, your mother. Kind and faithful."

"I remember."

Slepnir raised a goblet and drank from it. "But enough reminiscing. You can drown in sorrow of what you've lost or be happy that you had the opportunity to love."

Celestia clinked her goblet. "Well said, Father."

Slepnir smiled happily. "And I have enough memories of love to last me all my days."

Jormungandr had been glaring at the others. A male, blonde like many of the others, as well powerfully built glanced up as he slithered over to him. Twilight noticed he only had one hand. "Yes, Jormungandr?"

"Tell me, Tyr, God of Law that you be, do you think it right that a thief should sit in Asgard? That a thief should be lovers with our kin?"

"I see no thief here today, Loki's Son."

A hooded woman chuckled. Twilight shuddered as the woman's hood came down and held back a scream. Half the woman's face was normal, surrounded by blue hair. The other half was a skull. "Of course. We are outcasts, Brother, even when invited to this table."

Tyr bristled. "Be at peace, Hel. Do you call me biased?"

"I call you that indeed. As if you would ever side with Jormungandr's folk!"

"I would. Many a time I have sided with dragons. Justice is blind."

"Is it? You deceived our brother in order to bind him."

Almost unconsciously, Tyr rubbed his stump where a hand should be. "Your brother was a danger to us all!"

"Perhaps. But I call a thief a thief."

She leered at Twilight and that familiar nausea churned in her gut.

"I do as well and I tell you, she is no thief." Tyr banged his goblet on the table. "Thor, do you agree with me?"

"I agree, Brother."

"And have I not sided with dragons before? Did I not make Harald give compensation to Rufus Firebreath for the theft of his hoard?"

Jormungandr nodded. "I do recall that. Which is why I thought you would side with me! Is it because I brought the case and you despise my blood?"

"It has nothing to do with that. Present the facts of your case and I will show you where you erred."

Jormugandr lifted up. "This Twilight Sparkle broke into my subject's hoard and seized a necklace by force."

Twilight sipped at her wine. "I told him it had been stolen and offered him a peaceful resolution."

Jormugandr flicked his tongue at her. "The necklace in question was given to the Dragon Lord as a spoil of war. He later sold it to his vassal Grakul. Then, this thief took it by force!"

Tyr nodded. "I remember that war. The Draconic Empire, in its mad lust for spoil, launched an unprovoked attack upon the young Equestian Empire.The necklace was taken by coercion, the international equivalent of armed robbery. You know all this. You knew it when you presented your case to me. What is your real complaint?"

Jormugandr's face twisted. "A mortal with a Jotun! A mortal thief with a Jotun! And thief she is, she took the necklace through violence-"

Tyr slammed his fist against the table. "I have made my decision. Take your bigotry out of this hall."

Jormugandr slithered towards Twilight, his eyes boring into her. "It is against nature that a member of one of the lesser races should sup with us nonetheless take one of us as a lover!"

Odin raised an eyebrow. "I have taken mortal lovers, indeed a mortal race sprang up from my seed. Do you have a complaint against me, son of my brother?"

Jormungandr whirled around to face him. "Indeed I do! Mortals were meant to serve us!"

"They are our kin not our slaves."

"They are our slaves!"

Odin rose. Jormungandr shrank back. Thor grasped his hammer. Odin gestured to Twilight. "Her magic was given to her race by our cousin Rhiannon of the Tuatha De Danaan. If you insult her, you have insulted the Gods who shaped her. Stand down, Loki's son."

Jormugandr hissed and slid away towards a corner. "If my niece insists on holding onto the necklace let her return the land her empire gained during the war."

Celestia shielded Twilight with her wing. "I would, but the Draconic Empire no longer exists. To which of its numerous successor states should I give it? In truth, the land is unsuitable for agriculture and the Dragons mined it out before they clawed it over to us."

A voluptuous blonde woman at Odin's side who was clothed in green robes laid down her wine glass. "I will have peace in this hall. Tyr has made his decision. Let us accept it and move on to other subjects."

Odin stamped his spear and wrapped an arm around her. "Well said, Frigg."

The effect in the hall was immediate silence. To Twilight the goddess's voice was as soothing as her own mother's voice, yet as stern as any reprimand she'd ever received from her. Freyr asked Thor if he'd had any good fishing trips lately. Thor launched into a tale about how he'd caught one hundred salmon with a golden net Loki had loaned him. The net had caught the fish, but been impossible to open so Thor had threatened Loki until Loki opened it.

Both Hel and Jormungadr continued to glare at Twilight, but didn't dare to say anything to her. Celestia kept her wing tightly wrapped around her.

Odin nodded to Twilight. "Tell me, Twilight Sparkle, what progress have you made in studying the deep mysteries?"

Twilight swallowed the rest of the carrot she'd been nibbling on. "I'm searching for a single mystic language to bring together all the mysteries."

Freya spoke over her goblet. "Oh? Have you looked at the Tantras? It's been so oft neglected."

"No, not yet. I've mostly been looking at correspondences between the runes and kabbalah."

Odin nodded. "Methinks the runes have much in common with kabbalah for the adept who looks deeply as you do. But Freya speaks truth. Look to the Tantras if you seek to tie it altogether. Many have tried. Mayhap you shall succeed."

"Thank you for saying so. I'll definitely give the Tantras a look." She had a feeling the Gods knew something that they weren't telling her. They wanted her to feel the thrill of discovery. She appreciated that. "Say, Allfather..." She hesitated.

"Yes, Dagda's Kin?"

"The Hanged Man in Tarot...that was you, wasn't it?"

Odin smiled. "I was very young then. A seeker like you. I sacrificed much for the knowledge I obtained, I even left a young maid weeping upon the shore."

For some reason, Freya stared into her glass, her lips turned downwards into a frown. "Later, the maid understood why it was so, why the sacrifice was made so that knowledge might banish ignorance and hold back Ragnarok."

"But was it truly just?" Odin murmured.

Frigg grasped his hand. He squeezed hers. Freya touched the golden necklace ringing her neck. "But well I know the sacrifice of necessity. For the cost of my dignity, the light of all worlds was not extinguished. We are not dissimilar, you and I."

They clinked their goblets together. "To knowledge."

"To love."

They chuckled as if sharing a private joke. Loki snapped his fingers and a harp by one of the God's sides began to play itself. The blonde man frowned. "Really, Loki, if you wanted a song..."

"A song I desire, Bragi! So, play lest I leave for this seriousness bores me."

A happy melody broke forth from the strings, a short, staccato dance. Bragi closed his eyes, listening to it. He grabbed the harp up and started to play the same tune though adding flourishes and trills, holding out some notes and slurring out others. Frigg took Odin's hand and dragged him from his chair. They held onto each other as they swayed around the room.

Thor took the hand of the woman at his side and they similarly began to dance. Celestia smiled at Twilight and they stood up, leaning into each other and swaying across the floor to the rhythm of the song.

Celestia dipped Twilight, stabilizing herself with her wings and kissed her deeply. Twilight kissed back, drinking in the taste of ale and oats still clinging to her lover's lips. She wasn't sure how long they danced and didn't notice as Hel and Jormugandr slipped out of the room.

Bragi brought the last notes of the song to a close. Twilight wondered how long they had been dancing. For the first time, she realized she hadn't been feeling the flow of time here. She and Celestia sat back down at the the table. "How long were we dancing?" She whispered into Celestia's ear.

"I don't know. Time doesn't exist here."

Twilight leaned onto Celestia's shoulder. "That's...hard to comprehend."

"The multiverse is full of wonders, my dear Twilight."

The food had been eaten and the Gods lounged in their chairs. It was Thor that first rose. "A delightful meal, Father, but their are things that must be done."

"Of course, Son. Go in peace."

"Cousin Thor, a word?"

Thor turned towards Celestia. "Yes?"

"I do not believe Jormungandr and his sister will let this go. Will you accompany us?"

"Of course."

Odin gripped his spear. "No harm shall befall you."

Slepnir nodded. "Indeed it shall not. Come, daughters."

Twilight and Celestia trailed after their escorts, through the marbled hall and the golden road that led to Asgard's wall. Loki had followed along, standing beside his blood brother. "I must apologize for my children's behavior. I didn't raise them that way, I assure you."

They hadn't taken three steps out of Asgard when skeletons erupted from the earth. Jormungandr towered over them, Hel striding atop his back. "Stand down, Allfather! The sinner's soul is mine!"

Odin charged, Thor following close by. Odin thrust and jabbed at the walking corpses, each unholy abomination falling at the touch of his spear. Thor whirled his hammer and bashed the skeletons away. Several of the skeletons gripped at his arms, but he knocked them away as he swung his hammer in a wide arc.

Twilight pawed at the ground and focused on her magic. A great, swirling blizzard jetted out from her horn, heading straight toward Jormugandr. Jormungandr weaved out of the way, but Hel was knocked off of his back. Losing control of her magic, the corpses fell away into dust.

Loki clenched his fist. "Cease this at once! This is what you get for behaving like children!"

A wave of white energy washed over them both. Hel shrieked. Well, a much smaller version of Hel. She still was half-skeleton, but she appeared to be no older than three. She stamped her feet. "I can not rule the Underworld like this! Turn me back!"

A small snake hissed and slithered on the ground. "Father! How dare you betray us?"

"You shame me, children. Apologize and I will turn you back."

The apologies came out through gritted teeth. Loki snapped his fingers and they were normal once more. Odin glanced at Twilight. "That strike meant for Jormungandr? Ice as reptiles are cold-blooded. A good battle mind you have."

Twilight bowed her head. "Thank you, Allfather."

Hel and Jormungandr slunk away, Hel throwing a backward glance at her. "All mortals come to my realm eventually."

Celestia murmured something Twilight couldn't hear that sounded like, "yes, mortals do."

"What was that?"

"Nothing, Love. Nothing at all."

Loki, Thor and Odin walked alongside them till they reached Yggdrasil. Celestia bid her kin farwell, embracing each one in turn. Then, they were off, sailing once more through the void. Celestia nudged Twilight who had fallen into silence. "So, I hope you enjoyed yourself. I'm sorry about my uncle and aunt."

Twilight snorted. "My uncle once shot the Hearth's Warming Tree." She pulled Celestia into a hug and Celestia snuggled her with her wing. "Trust me, every family has a crazy uncle. It's a universal constant. Thank you for introducing me to them. What Odin and Freya told me might push me ahead years in my research. Tantra is nearly a lost art. I'll need to do some research."

"I'm glad you liked them. I'm really glad they liked you. And they truly did like you. Now, I'd like to meet your crazy uncle."

"I'll introduce you to him next time the clan gets together."

They shared one more kiss as they waltzed in the void and headed on towards home.