Tales of the Norse (MLP Story) - No Posting

[Merlin's Heir]

Up in the north of the world of ponies, there is a land filled with legends and myths. At the center of this land is a large empire, the Norse Empire, ruled by King Sigurd and Queen Giana, who have a son and three daughters: Prince Njord and Princesses Svanhild, Nirmala, and Sharmila.

Prologue
"I wanna be just like Pwincess Suh-less-tee-uh when I gwow up!" young Princess Svanhild told her mother as she was tucked into bed. "Duh most powewfullest pwincess evew!" Queen Giana smiled at her daughter.
"Legend says that there is a more powerful princess than Celestia," she whispered gently as she pulled the blankets up to Svan's chin.
"But nopony could be mowe powewful than Suh-less-tee-uh!" the filly squealed.
"So you don't want to hear the story then, I suppose?" Giana inquired, raising her eyebrows and smiling.
"Stowy!" Svan squeaked. "I wanna heaw a stowy!"
"Alright then," Giana began. "Legend says that long ago, there were two alicorn ponies that built this empire and all the other empires of the north. Their names were unknown, but they had two foals - twins. Princess Valkyrie and Prince Valhalla. They both had two talents and no cutie marks, and the glow of their magic had more than one color. Valhalla could control light and shadow, and if he used them together, he could create illusions. His magic was yellow, green, and blue. He was very handsome and very amicable and strong. Valkyrie was the more powerful one. She could control fire and ice!" Svan gasped. "Yes, she could. The Two Opposites - the only elements that had true opposites - and one pony could control both! She had icy hair and flaming eyes. She wore a silver necklace and a silver crown. On the silver necklace was the Fire Jewel - one of the two most powerful gemstones in all of the world! On the silver crown was the Ice Jewel - the other powerful gemstone. Valkyrie, Valhalla, and their parents were immortal - they could live forever unless they were killed. Unfortunately, the king was killed in battle defending the empire against a legion of mythical creatures. The queen was heartbroken and took her own life in despair. The throne was left to Valkyrie, the older of the twins. But she had a will of iron, a heart of ice, and a temper of flame. She would not be a good leader. She would never be able to come to compromise with other empires; she would never forgive any wrongs; and if she lost her temper the whole world would erupt into war and chaos. But Valkyrie knew this and was no selfish or foolish. She disappeared the day before her coronation and Valhalla, who would have been the perfect king, left with her. They have never been seen since, though some ponies claim to have seen one of them standing among the clouds, looking down and guarding the empire from harm."
"Waaaaaaaooooooooow..." was all that Svan could say. "But it can't be twue. Pwincess Suh-less-tee-uh is duh most powewful pwincess evew and nopony is mowe powewfullew than hew."
"It is just a legend, but you never know," the queen smiled. "Sometimes a legend is history in the disguise of a fairytale."

[Merlin's Heir]

Written from Queen Giara's Perspective

I was brushing my mane when my daughter, Princess Svanhild, walked in. Setting the brush down gently with my magic, I looked at her in the mirror as she walked up behind me.
"What is it, Svan?" I inquired, smiling at my girl.
"Mom," she began, "how did you meet Dad?"
"Ah, yes," I replied. "As you know, I was the princess of Taj Mare-al. I met your father about two years before you were born. Our empire - Taj Mare-al, I mean - was under attack from another empire - New Ponhi - and the Norse Empire came to help us. King Sigurd, who was the prince then, and his father, the king, led their armies against the New Ponhi armies and defeated them. The king and prince stayed at the palace for a few days afterwards, and during that time, Sigurd and I got to know each other. We met again a few months later and again in another few months, and this time we fell in love. We informed our parents of our engagement and they were thrilled." I looked up at Svan and smiled. "And that's how we met." Svan smiled and then told me that she had to go do something.
I finished brushing my hair and went downstairs to the dining hall. As I was eating my breakfast, a maid brought me the mail. I glanced over the names on them quickly. King Faerund, Queen Alavi, Sew Tailor, Raspberry Truffle, Princess Valkyrie, Decora deSigne - wait... Rewind! Princess Valkyrie. Princess. Valkyrie. Princess. Valkyrie!!! The Princess had actually responded!
Every year, I sent an letter to Princess Valkyrie and Prince Valhalla, inviting them to the Norse Empire Festival, celebrating the beginning of the Norse Empire. Well, sort of sent. We didn't actually know how to communicate with the High Princess and Prince - or even if they were still out there. So we just deposited the letter on the stationary cloud right above the castle and hoped that the Prince or Princess would find it. And this year, they did! Or maybe they did every year but only decided to reply this time.
I hastily opened the letter and read it. The High Princess Valkyrie and the High Prince Valhalla were coming to the celebration! I couldn't believe it. They were actually coming! In two days! I halted in my excitement. Two days. Just two days to prepare for the first visit in thousands of years from the most powerful beings in the whole ponyverse!
I told the maid to inform all the servants and guards of the visit and then rushed off to tell my family myself. Luckily, they were all in the family room together. I burst in and stopped to catch my breath. Nirmala, sitting on the end of one of the couches, raised her eyes from her book to look at me inquiringly. Sharmila glanced at me and then resumed her babbling to King Sigurd, who instantly silenced her and waited for me to speak. Svan and Njord, in the middle of a conversation, paused and turned to wait for my announcement.
"I have some extremely exciting news for you all!" I finally exclaimed. "The most exciting news heard in the Norse Empire for thousands of years! The High Princess Valkyrie and the High Prince Valhalla will be joining us in two days for the Norse Empire Festival!" Gasps of shock were heard all around the room. Shrieks of joy and excitement ensued as they all began to ask questions at once.
Arrangements were quickly made for their accommodations. They must, of course, have the largest and best rooms in the castle. More security would be needed, so we recruited more guards and trained them all well. We contacted all the ponies that we had hired to help set up the celebrations and informed them of the extra special guests, asking them to make everything the best it could possibly be. Soon the word was out and everypony as far south as the South Colt and as far north as the North Colt knew about the special occasion. We received letters from every empire's rulers, all wanting to know if they could come for the festival. We said yes to as many as we could, the rulers of larger empires coming first - Equestria, Taj Mare-al, Saddle Arabia, Marelin, and Moscolt. Everyone was overjoyed. I didn't say it for fear it would ruin it all, but it was going to be perfect!

____________________________________________________________

It was the morning that the High Prince and Princess were to arrive. Everyone was as nervous as a cat in a doghouse. I was flitting to and fro, fretting and worrying my head off. Everyone tried to calm me down, but they were just as nervous as I was. The only thing that helped was preparing for the arrival of our other guests who would come the next day. But it still didn't take my mind completely off of Valkyrie and Valhalla's coming. I wanted everything to be perfect. I didn't want the rightful queen of this empire taking a disliking to me.
High Princess Valkyrie, the fierce and relentless. She was known as a warrior, guardian, and renegade princess. Despite her abruptly leaving right before her coronation so many thousands of years ago, she was revered and respected even more than a queen. Her approval was hard to obtain and was worth more than the approval of all the other ponies in the world!
Eventually, the dreaded and long-anticipated sound of trumpets was heard, announcing their arrival. We all hastened to the throne room and took our places on our thrones. The guard at the door called out loudly, "I give you, the High Princess Valkyrie and the High Prince Valhalla!" The thick, golden gates flew open wide at the command of the guard's magic, revealing our honored, magnificent, royal guests.

[Merlin's Heir]

Written from High Princess Valkyrie's PoV

Everyone was extremely attentive to my brother and I. When we had arrived, everyone had thanked us for coming, admired us, praised us, complimented us - practically adored us. Valhalla got on quite well, though I did not enjoy the fawning and obsequiousness. It was far too much - they were like dogs begging for their masters to tell them they were good boys or girls. In order to avoid the attentions, I claimed I was tired from our trip and a maid showed me to my room, where I was able to get all my thoughts in order. No one dared to disturb me unless necessary - which, luckily, wasn't often.
I sat by my window, staring out at the sunset. It was beautiful. The empire was thriving, peaceful, and plentiful. Everyone was merry and glad. I only wished it could stay that way. If they knew the danger they were in... Even Valhalla didn't know why I had finally decided to come to the Norse Empire Festival. Why? Because I needed to protect my empire. True, I wasn't the queen. But it was still my kingdom. I still protected it and guarded over it. Who locked the city gates when the guard forgot to? Who fought off little groups of invaders? Who had sworn to protect this empire to her dying breath?
I did.

____________________________________________________________

I walked down the crystal staircase and into the dining room. I seated myself at the head of the table, King Sigurd on my left and Valhalla on my right.
"High Princess Valkyrie," Queen Giara, sitting beside Sigurd, began.
"Just Valkyrie will do quite nicely," I interrupted. I hated the whole long title thing.
"Valkyrie," Giara began again, smiling a little awkwardly, "where have you and Valhalla been living?"
"In Asgard, our cloud-castle," I replied. "It's about 500 miles up and to the north-west of here."
"Is anyone else living there?" King Sigurd inquired.
"No, just myself and Valhalla," I answered, taking a bite of my dinner. After I had chewed and swallowed my food, it was my turn to ask a question. "Are you familiar with all the legends and myths of the Norse, Queen Giara?"
"Yes, yes I am," Giara smile. "I'm currently studying the legends about the rise of the Norse Empire." She blushed a little. "And you don't have to call me queen - your position is higher than mine." I nodded.
"Have you read about the Drefani?" I questioned. Giara thought for a moment.
"Ah, yes, the Dhark," she nodded. "The armored demons of the Rift. Is there anything you would like to know about the Drefani myths?"
"No, nothing in particular," I told her. "I was just wondering if those legends were still around. They were almost lost about 357 years ago, during King Tor's reign. That was when the empire was under attack from Marelin. Germaney had a very bad reputation back then."
"Ah, yes," Sigurd sighed. "The whole Neighzi shebang. Princess Cara, princess of Marelin, will be arriving tomorrow, in fact."
"Who else is coming?" I asked.
"Princesses Celestia and Luna of Equestria," Giara began, "King Mahesha and Queen Aditi of Taj Mare-al, Lord Hasim and Lady Aaliyah of Saddle Arabia, Princess Cara of Marelin, and Prince Aleksei of Moscolt."
"One two... three, four five.. six, seven, eight," I counted in my head. "Ten, including myself and my brother, plus the six of this family - sixteen. I hope that's enough..."
"So, how have things been going in the other empires and kingdoms while we've been... gone?" Valhalla asked.
"Pretty well," Sigurd told him. "Only one big war has happened, the rest have just been small disputes quickly resolved. Nothing going on right now. The economy is in good shape, as are the supplies and crops and whatnot. Everything is just about as perfect as it can be." He smiled, satisfied with the condition of the world.

____________________________________________________________

I trotted outside on my balcony for a breath of fresh air and some time to think. The silver crown and necklace seemed to weigh me down - not literally, but more like guilt. I knew I should tell them, but I couldn't. It would get them worried over nothing. Surely the Drefani wouldn't come, now that I was here. That was why I had come. To protect. I knew they wouldn't dare attack if I was in the city. They knew I was too powerful for them.
If only I had known what would come...

____________________________________________________________

"Princess Valkyrie?" a clear, feminine voice asked, its owner's blue head peeping through my door. I turned from the mirror, setting my brush down.
"Yes, Princess Svanhild?" I inquired. The blue princess stepped into my room.
"You can call me Svan," she told me, then continued when I nodded in response. "I was, uh, wondering, why did you, er, disappear, so long ago? And why have you come back now as opposed to any other time?" I tried not to show my reluctance to answer her questions and quickly assembled my replies.
"I left because it was the better choice for the kingdom," I answered in a level voice, "and I came back now because I was in a good mood when I received the invitation." I paused, studying her expression for a moment. "Is there anything else you'd like to know?"
"Um, no, none that I can think of right now," she informed me, opening the door to leave. I nodded and turned back to the mirror, picking up the silver brush with my magic and guiding it down through my mane.