The Origin Of Sleipnir

~ Loki's Plan ~

. . .

"By Valhalla's glory - He is almost finished!" Volstagg stated in both surprise and impression. He, as well as most other Asgardians, had not believed the mason, against all odds, would be able to complete his task in time. Now it seemed he would be proven wrong.

"I told you so; That stallion is gonna cause Asgard more loss than gain," Fandral agreed and leaned in over the polished railing of the balcony. They had both watched the mason work in the distance every morning since he started, and while it first was for the sake of a good laugh, the wall that now stood taller each day, was no longer amusing. It was actually more the opposite.

"If he keeps up a pace like this, the wall will be finished by the first day of spring," Sif said and crossed her arms, the light of the sunrise reflecting in her breastplate.

"You might as well pay up now," Fandral said and held a hand out for the already irritable Volstagg. By the first days of the mason's work, the two had arranged a bet with each other - A bet Fandral now seemed to win against all odds.

"Trust in your judgement you said?" Thor spoke lowly to his brother, who stood thoughtfully leaned up against one of the columns in the room.

The trickster had been clever enought to stay a few steps behind Sif and the worriers three, to avoid getting tangled in anything. After all, he was the one who had stated the stallion couldn't make much of a difference, which had turned out to be terribly wrong. He was yet to accept a failure, however.

"It was a minor miscalculation, I must admit, but nothing is lost yet. The wall is still not finished," Loki said and rubbed his chin thoughtfully, his mind spinning while he tried to think of a solution that would save his skin.

"The council is depending on you to fix this, Loki," Thor announced although his brother was well aware of the burden he had been handed by the council. "The first day of spring is right around the corner, so you better come up with something fast."

Loki was just about to fire off a comment about how difficult it was for him to think with his brother breathing him in the neck, but was distracted when Volstagg and Fandral started arguing more loudly over their gamble.

"I am not paying you anything until that wall is completely finished!" Volstagg stubbornly exclaimed.

"Oh please. It is practically finished already," Fandral said with a small chuckle, finding his victory pretty much within reach. "That horse has been working all day every day ever since the project started - No sign of slowing down. What could possibly stop it now?"

"It is like a worrier," Hugon added and gave his breastplate a couple hits with his fist. "Strong and determined. Committed to its work,"

"Even the most strong-willed worrier can be shot down," Sif stated seriously, only to receive a look of contempt from Volstagg.

"We can't kill the horse! What won't the mason think?!" he exclaimed in shock, but Fandral just shook his head.

"No, the problem is the distance. None of our arrows can reach that far, and getting closer would be at the risk of being seen," he said, which only made the contempt in Volstagg's expression get even worse.

For a moment, Loki's mind was racing before a realization suddenly hit him. "An arrow," he whispered when an idea clicked inside his head.

The look on his face was far too familiar for Thor to look through. "I know that look. What are you thinking?" the elder Asgardian questioned, but Loki was already too caught up in his plans to answer and ended up just pacing out the room without further explanation.

"Loki!" Thor yelled as he hastily ran after his little brother, having Sif and the worriers three follow his example.

Outside the golden castle, Thor caught his brother by the shoulder and forced him to stop. The self-assure expression he was met by was both assuring and worrying at the same time. After all, Loki's plans had a tendency to be a slight bit twisted, but even the God of Thunder had to admit they were often very effective.

"Brother stop," Thor demanded and brought his brother to turn just enough to look him in the eyes. "What do you have in mind to do?" the Asgardian asked in slight concern, somewhat feeling the need to lower his voice a little.

Despite the skepticism that shined through Thor's expression, Loki didn't seem to be the least bit shaken by his brother's doubt. "Now, it won't be much of a surprise if I tell you, will it?" he simply said with a small smirk before walking out of Thor's hold and continuing ahead with determined steps, this time without the rest of the group in his wake.

"What is he going to do?" Sif asked Thor when she reached his side, but Thor just shook his head.

"I have no idea," the broad-shouldered Odinson said.

Fandral couldn't help but laugh shortly. "If it is Loki's plan, it is most likely something bonkers!" the worrier assured.

The statement did not make things any better for Thor, exactly because he knew how truthful it was. And since Loki didn't care to let him in on this mad plan of his, the Asgardian decided to take matter in his own hands.

"Come on. We better keep an eye on him," Thor said and turned on his heal, quickly pacing down Bifrost with the rest of the group just behind him.

. . .

Heimdall's golden eyes stared straight ahead, so much more going on behind them than would ever be spoken.

"Do you see him?" Thor asked as he joined Heimdall's side, although the question was rather ridiculous directed towards a man with the ability to see just about everything.

Heimdall was silent for a bit. He did not move an inch, but then spoke with the same calm and deep voice as always, a word Thor had not even considered a possible answer. "She…"

His correction of pronounce had both Thor and the rest of the gang frown in confusion.

"Excuse me?" Thor managed to get out, making Heimdall slowly direct his marvelous stare at him.

"Your brother is currently in disguise as a horse - A mare," Heimdall then explained. This only made Thor's frown form more wrinkles on his forehead.

"He turned into a horse?" Hugon asked.

"A female one even! That was new~," Fandral couldn't help but chuckle, finding Loki's plan quit amusing even though he didn't understand the purpose of it yet.

"Of all the things he could have turned into to get rid of that stallion, this is possibly the most stupid," Sif huffed with a shake of her head.

"I don't get it either. Why turn into a horse?" Volstagg questioned and rubbed his long beard.

They all directed their gaze back towards Heimdall when the all-seeing guardian spoke up once more. "To seduce the stallion and distract him from his duties," Heimdall explained and slowly turned to face the group, "To leave the mason alone with the task of finishing the wall," he said, the certainty in his voice leaving no doubt that he spoke the truth.

"Son of a-," Fandral began, but was cut off by a triumphing cheer from Volstagg.

"I knew it! I told you I knew something was gonna prevent you from winning that bet!" the giant man laughed and gave his fellow worrier a nudge on the shoulder in return for mistaking his triumph earlier that day.

"Alright, alright, so Loki is getting rid of the horse. That is not to say the mason can't still finish the wall himself," Fandral said certainly in a slight bit of annoyance, refusing to admit his defeat just yet.

. . .

"Son of a bitch!" Fandral spoke in disbelief when another piece of the grant wall fell appart and splintered to smithereens, leaving yet another leak in what had been meant to be Asgard's greatest shield.

"There certainly wasn't much defense over that wall, huh?" Sif stated, retrieving her sword back into the holder by her waist.

The mason who in his anger over his missing horse had revealed himself to be a Frost Giant send to fool the Asgardians, now heavily collapsed by Thor's feet after his head had been brutally ripped off by the impact of the Odinson's mighty hammer.

"That is just… So gross," Hogun said with a shake of his head. Volstagg agreed with a nod of his head, but covered his own mouth when the smell made him nauseous.

"Damned creatures," Thor huffed with a shake of his head. "Just when you think they may not invade our realm again, they do exactly that," he said disappointed while watching the leaking body by his feet with contempt.

"You always have to resort to violence, don't you, brother?"

The sound of the familiar voice made everyone turn their heads, only to have their eyes meet with Loki's. The smile on his face was nothing less but triumphing, which was well earned since his plan had worked out perfectly.

"Loki!" Thor exclaimed with a smile on his face and rushed up to greet his brother.

"Now, look who decided to join the party," Sif said with a slight teasing tone. Even she had to admit that Loki's plan had been quit clever.

Giving his brother an acknowledging nudge on the shoulder, Thor couldn't help but chuckle when Loki winched a little from the impact. "That I must give you brother, disguising yourself as a mare and seducing Svadilfari - What a brilliant idea!" Thor spoke victoriously and locked his strong arm around Loki's shoulder. The strong man unwillingly squeezed the slender God against his torso, as Loki had to push a hand against his brother's breastplate to avoid getting crushed.

"A small act of delusion, really. Nothing special," Loki modestly assured, just managing to break free of Thor's iron hold. The act of being locked in place an embraced that way was not exactly pleasant after having dealt with an untiring stallion for the entire day.

"Small act? You've been out there for hours! And that is with a wild stallion on your back even!" Volstagg said rather impressed.

The big man's phrase made Loki's lips zip into a thin line. "On my what?" he asked a little out of place, as if he didn't understand the worrier's metaphor.

"On your back; As in he must have followed you all day," Volstagg repeated with a small frown, but as soon as Loki seemed to catch the intentions of the phrase, the confusion immediately vanished.

"Ow. Yes. Yes, that has been… Tiring. I am indeed a little exhausted, and judged by this little… 'Incident', I can only assume you must be as well," Loki said and nodded towards the headless Frost Giant. The sight of the blood still violently running from the dead body made an uncomfortable lump form in his throat, forcing him to swollow hard.

"So right you are brother. There shall be a feast this evening to celebrate our preventing of another attack on Asgard!" Thor agreed and patted his brother's back, making him unwillingly hunch over once more. With a tight hold on Loki's shoulder, Thor proudly headed back towards the golden castle with the others in triumph.

. . .