They emerged in the Everfree forest, near the city limits. All around them the trees shone with health and a few little critters scurried away from the unexpected presences. Sephiroth tried to make out which direction they would have to go, spotting the high city walls in close proximity. Despite that, she hesitated. “We won’t be getting into the city without being attacked.”

Kat smirked a little. “Well, we have two choices. One, we go in disguised as tourists. Or two, we go in guns blazing. Your world, your choice.”

“Well, the first time we managed to sneak into the city with disguises. But I only have access to one by myself. And it’s known to Celestia and the guards by now.” She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “I don’t want to hurt anyone, but I’m able to knock out the ordinary guard without hurting them. We have no choice but to fight our way to the castle, as it seems.”

“Not necessarily.” Kat pulled out a strange looking badge from her jacket that had a green hourglass like symbol on it. “I use this when I try to blend in with the local population. I bet I can use it on you to give you a different Equestrian form, allowing us to get through without much hassle. Your choice if you want to use it, of course.”

Sephiroth examined the badge and nodded. “I’d like to prevent as much fighting as possible. But I don’t think another pony-form would work. This world has emblazoned me with a mark, which is also known to Celestia.”

“Then let’s see if we can use something different. Now hold still.” She placed the badge on Sephiroth’s chest. “Now, since it’s coded to go directly to an equine form, I’ll have to modify it.” She pulled out that strange device again and pointed it at the badge, whirring loudly. “Alright, it should give you a griffin disguise. Should. And you’ll have both wings… hopefully. Tap the center and try it out.”

She frowned down at the badge. “I have to ask something first. My body contains certain cells, called Jenova cells. They tend to adapt to any kind of force directly afflicting me and neutralize it. Would that be a problem? It takes some time and seems to exclude some things, but I haven’t figured out how exactly they decide that.”

Kat smirked a little. “That’s what makes this pesky little device great. Your cells are fully merged into the new form. It’s a full body transformation from the DNA out. Don’t worry about anything affecting it, you’ll be fine… probably.”

Lifting an eyebrow she fixed Kat with a glare. “You know that your constant mentioning of how I would be alight probably doesn’t instill confidence?” She shook her head with a sigh. “Nevermind.” Without further ado she tapped the badge which flashed a blindingly bright green. “Gah! Why the fuck does everything have to flash right in my eyes every time!” Momentarily blinded she tried to lift a hand to rub at her eyes only to faceplant on the ground, not expecting to upset her balance through the action. Exasperated she grumbled, “I’ve got the strangest feeling of deja-vu right now.” Remembering that a griffin was supposed to be quadrupedal, she rose onto four limbs, blinking the dots from her vision. When she spotted Kat, she actually had to look up to meet her eyes. “So I take it that it worked?”

In front of Kat stood a jet black griffin with the front half more looking like from a crow than an eagle. Her talons were the grey of polished steel and her cat like, teal eyes seemed to glow, which, combined with her unnaturally black feathers, made them look like a predator was looking out of the shadows all the time. On her back were, indeed, two large black wings, neatly folded to her sides at the moment. “How do I look?”

“Like a griffon,” Kat answered succinctly. “And now for my turn.” She ripped the badge off of Sephiroth’s chest, yet the transformation held. “Ah, good. I was hoping that part still worked. Now,” she used the device on the badge again before activating it herself. After another burst of light, a golden furred earth pony with light blonde mane and tail was standing in her place. “Wow has it been awhile since I’ve done this. Pony form is so not good for war.”

“Good. Now we just have to-” Sephiroth paused and blinked. “Wait, war?” She turned her gaze into a full on inquisitive stare. “What war?”

“Nothing to concern yourself with,” Kat said quickly. “Let’s get to work.”

The griffins face told Kat that she didn’t believe for a single second that she shouldn’t concern herself with it, but decided against pressing the issue, for now. Instead she began to head towards the city, stumbling a few times, but managed not to fall. “Damn, didn’t think that it would be so different to move around as a griffin.”

“I’ve been told it’s almost like walking on your hands and knees, if that helps at all,” Kat shrugged.

Sephiroth shook her head. “That’s not the problem. I learned how to walk as a pony. But this is different, similar but different. It’s like my whole center of balance is off, which it probably is compared to a pony’s. My back half seems just… way lighter than when I was a pegasus.”

“Hmm, odd. I wouldn’t really know as I’ve never been a griffon. I kinda got used to being an earth pony. It just fits me, I guess.”

The griffin looked at the pony next to her out of the corner of her eye. “Now the reasoning behind that I want to hear.”

“I got used to it, you can say. A few years ago I got stuck in a universe where I was turned into an earth pony. Got stuck there for about five years, so… it’s just a part of me now. Even when I got restored to human, certain parts of me are still equine. A horrible part is that I still experience heats.”

Shuddering at the thought Sephiroth kept going. “That’s a horrifying thought. Not so much the being stuck as a pony, but the heats. Heard that they can be quite bothering.”

“More like distracting,” Kat groaned. “It’s hard being a proper leader when your troops are all looking like they want to jump you.”

That got a flinch out of the griffin. “Ouch. But I don’t understand why they would carry over to your human form.” She hesitated for a moment. “You said that you can’t conceive but the heat is an integral part of the reproductive cycle.”

“It’s hormone based. My lack of womb and ovaries doesn’t stop it, unfortunately. And they carry over because that human form you saw before is not my original form. That form is dead.”

Sephiroth froze on the spot, they were near the edge of the forest and would be in viewing distance from the guards soon. “Wait, dead?”

“When I was turned into a pony, I couldn’t turn back,” Kat said with no emotion in her voice. “Now… I’m basically a pony turned human. Not the other way around.”

“And I thought I had it rough…” Shaking her head in disbelief she began walking again, letting the matter drop because they wouldn’t be alone for much longer.

“You should probably come up with a name for your form,” Kat told her. “My name is already strange enough to be pony based.”

“I already thought of one. But if I’m being honest I don’t know if it could cause problems. It’s the name of the founder of a race in this world that is viewed as vermins by ponies.”

“A name is a name,” Kat shrugged. “If they don’t like it, they can shove it up their culs. They should be glad they can live in a world where they have the luxury of making fun of other races.”

“I wouldn’t call persecution and extermination fun. Celestia attempted to wipe their race off the face of this world.” Sephiroth’s face darkened for a moment before she relaxed her expression to a simple frown again already seeing that the guards had spotted them.

“Just act natural around them,” Kat advised. “As long as you look like you’re where you belong, ponies will leave you alone.”

Before the griffin could answer one of the guards, a pegasus, came over to them. “Halt! State your name and business in this city.”

She just inclined her head a little to hint at a greeting, her tone gruff and slightly agitated as she spoke. “Name’s Freya Crescent and my business does not concern you. And for that you should be thankful.” She dangerously narrowed her eyes at the guard, who was completely unphased, almost looking like he expected her to act this way.

“Now Freya,” Kat said in a faux british accent, “The poor boy is just doing his job. You needn’t snap at him.”

Keeping his stoic expression the guard nodded in Kat’s direction. “Indeed. The city is on high alert as of now. So I can’t let you pass without knowing your business. And name, too.” He hinted because the earth mare hadn’t stated her name.

“I’m Kat and we’re just stopping to see the capitol. We’re on a world tour you see, just going around and seeing all the sights and wonders of the world. I can assure you that us tourists will cause no trouble.”

The guard nodded again. “Please wait here for a moment. I’ll see about getting you through.” With that he turned around and headed for a door in the side of the gate.

Sephiroth on her part smiled slightly. “Ha. Knew I could pull off the giffin better than a pony. Max made me smile and laugh for my disguise. That was awkward as tartarus.”

“Max doesn’t have the same thought process as I do. I’m trained in this sort of stuff. It’s basic infiltration skills you learn from the army.”

Her smile turned into a frown but she chose not to pry. Also the guard was returning so she kept silent, opting to stare the pegasus down. Not being bothered by the griffin at all, the guard came to a stop in front of them, holding two pieces of paper out to them. “These are your tourist passes. Keep them at you the whole time you’re spending in the city. If you are caught without them you will be arrested.”

“Understood, sir. And thank you,” Kat gave him a thankful smile before taking the pass in her mouth.

Sephiroth snatched her own pass from the guard, almost ripping it apart in the movement. “Yeah. Thanks for doing your bloody job, wimp.” Then she strode past the pegasus without giving him a second glance.

The guard just rolled his eyes and actually gave the mare a little smile. “Traveling with a griffin? For added security, if I had to guess. They are not the friendliest of creatures.”

“She’s actually quite nice, you just have to get past the rough exterior. All it takes is some time and patience.” Kat started after “Freya”, catching up to her in only a few seconds. “That went very well.”

The black female chuckled quietly while she walked past the gate and onto the main road. “I wonder if I can get my cells to implement the giffin form. It feels way more natural than being a pony. Even if it’s a bit strange having two wings.”

“I’ve been told it’s due to griffons not being too far off from humans. But I just prefer the way I am. Sentimentalities and all. Does help connect with the troops, though. They feel better about a fellow pony leading them instead of a creature that could, and often will, eat them.”

“Ye~ah… never going to eat pony flesh. But I get what you are saying. Now to get past the castle gates. If it’s closed to the public still then we won’t get in with tourist passes.” She looked around, her frown deepening. “I have a bad feeling. There are too few ponies around for this time of the day and do you notice something about those that are?”

What Sephiroth was hinting at was that the ponies were moving around way to slow, with lowered heads and a slumped posture. When one actually looked at them their eyes seemed distant and glazed over as if they didn’t sleep for days.

“They look like they haven’t gotten a good night sleep in a long time,” Kat noted. “You’re right, definitely not a good feeling. Watch out for anything else suspicious, I don’t like what’s going on.”

“I don’t really get it. I was here just yesterday and they seemed alright then. I actually almost got-” She flinched hard and sped up her pace, head slightly ducked. “Nevermind.”

Kat quickly sped up to keep with her partner. “Hey, no secrets between us. If you know something, then spill.”

Clenching her beak she just kept going. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“But if it’ll help with what we’re doing, then I have to know. Without all the intel, a soldier can’t do her job effectively.”

Sephiroth felt her wings ruffle in agitation. “How would it help to know that I almost got raped before actually being raped hours later?” She huffed annoyed and had a hard time keeping herself from breaking into a sprint.

Kat blinked. “Oh… well then don’t say it like that! I thought you knew something about what was going on!”

This time she actually flared her wings and was about to shout back, but then she just deflated before straightening her posture and soldiering on in the direction of the castle walls, which could be seen by now.

Kat sighed. “I’m sorry. These are stressful times and I’ve been snapping a little more often than I should.”

The griffin answered with a sigh of her own. “Just let it drop. It seems I dragged you out of something important, so thanks for staying and trying to help.” She managed to reduce her pace to a simple walk again and quickly looked around to see if her little scene caused any suspicion by the ponies around them, but they all seemed to preoccupied with themselves to notice anything.

“It’s what I do,” Kat said with a twinge of sad pride. “I do my best to bring happiness to others. Any way I can.”

“I get the feeling that I should, but I won’t pry into your personal issues. Sometimes it just makes things worse if anyone just wants to put their noses where they don’t belong. But if you ever need a little brawl, even if I can not offer much of a fight at the moment, you’re welcome to come over, anytime.” They were nearing the castle walls, the gate in their path obviously closed.

“You’re not the one I need to brawl,” Kat muttered darkly. “The one I do, I’m going to destroy them.” She shook those thoughts from herself and looked to the gate. “Think we can get in?”

“I meant a friendly brawl. Who you are going to kill is your own business.” Sephiroth frowned in thought, her eyes scanning the wall as far as it was visible. “I don’t think we will make it inside without drawing attention. Maybe this is as far as we gonna get with our disguises. And I’d rather fight in my own body.”

“Well, let’s try something first.” Kat walked up to the gate and knocked. “Hello~! Anypony home?!”

A flat stare overtook the griffin’s features. “Seriously?”

For a few minutes nothing happened, but then the gate opened slightly, just enough for a guardsmare to look out with a very unamused expression on her face. “The castle is closed to the public. So leave.”

“Aw come on!” Kat whined, going back to her accent. “We’ve traveled for months to see the great castle! Just a little tour? Pleeeease?”

The guard scrunched up her snout. “I told you the castle is closed! This is not up for debate!” With a huff she slammed the gate closed. From behind it a muffled exclamation of, “Tourists!” could be heard.

Sephiroth deadpanned at the back of Kat’s head. “Did you really believe that this would work?”

“No, but I got a good look past the gate,” Kat smirked. She moved her hoof across the ground, opening a portal. The view inside was in off the way corner of the castle grounds. “Always have a backup plan.”

Blinking the griffin looked at the portal, then faceclawed. “Okay. Got it. Do not underestimate the infiltrator. Noted.”

“Don’t underestimate the soldier,” Kat corrected. “Allons-y.” She dropped in.

After the earth pony had entered the portal a grin spread over her beak. “I think it will be great to really fight her one day.” Not hesitating any longer she followed Kat through the portal, her face carefully neutral once again.

The portal closed behind them, Kat looking around. “It doesn’t look like they’re scanning the air, so maybe if we fly above them, we can get through the castle.”

“That would be great if there wasn’t a little problem. I’ve never flown as a griffin and neither as a pony. I can fly in my human form, even with just one wing, but doing that out of the blue could prove difficult.” As if to support her statement she opened her wings and gave them a few test flaps, briefly lifting off the ground but wobbling dangerously in the air, before touching down again.

“Hmm, any suggestions then?”

“Well if they won’t see us anyways, then you could just transform me back to my human self. I can fly almost soundlessly.” Sephiroth suggested while tipping a talon on the underside of her beak.

“Sure, I suppose.” Kat reached back and put her hoof into her pocket and pulling out the badge again. When she looked at Sephiroth’s expression, she tilted her head. “What?”

The griffin was staring dumbfounded. “Did you just… pull that out of you flank? Literally?!”

“Oh, your ponies don’t have pockets here? Is it really that uncommon?”

“That’s normal for ponies where you come from?” Sephiroth shook her head with a claw over her beak. “No. Ponies need to use actual tailored saddlebags here, but I saw some wearing their bit bags around their necks putting them up in their mane to hide them.”

“Well, I have pockets. Anyways!” She placed the badge back on Sephiroth’s chest and tapped it. The green flash went off again, returning her to original form. Kat took back the badge and replaced it into her pocket. “I’ll stay this way for now, just in case.”

The woman stretched a little and let out a satisfied sigh. “For some reason I’m inclined to say something like ‘Home sweet home’.” Closing her eyes she breathed deeply. When she exhaled again a single enormous, black wing flared out of nowhere on her back. Opening her eyes again she looked down upon the earth pony. “I’m all set.”

“Ooh, pretty. Let’s get flying then.” Kat started to float, looking expectantly at Sephiroth.

Nodding, Sephiroth flapped her wing once, lifting off the ground with barely a sound, staying aloft without the need to flap again for a long while. “I don’t know where we have to go exactly. The castle was rebuild after my imprisonment so I don’t know where Nightmare’s quarters would be now.”

“Hmm….” Kat closed her eyes. Staying silent for a moment as they flew along. She reopened them. “She’s in the tallest tower.”

Lifting an eyebrow at that, the woman deadpanned. “Really? Woah, clichee. Well at least we know where to go now. Lead the way then.”

“It didn’t feel like she was imprisoned. I didn’t sense any guards or anything up there. And she felt oddly serene. At least that’s how she feels to my gravity sense.”

Sephiroth chewed on her lip. “I just hope that doesn’t mean she is under the full control of Celestia, again. If there is no need for guards. Either that or we are heading into a trap.”

“Well if it is a trap, then we do what I always do.” Kat smirked at Sephiroth’s questioning glance. “We spring the trap.”

The woman rolled her eyes. “Why am I not surprised?” Then she joined in with a smirk of her own. “Let’s do this.”

Side by side they flew into the castle, staying hidden from the patrols because none of the guards seemed to think to look up even once. But it didn’t take long for an uneasy feeling to settle into Sephiroth’s stomach. When they had passed another patrol she chanced a whisper to Kat. “This is too easy. Not even a casual glance at the ceiling.”

“It’s a scientific fact that very few people look up when searching for threats. The same usually goes for ponies. Just hope our luck keeps up.”

She nodded to show that she understood and ascended when they entered a hall, where the ceiling was a bit higher than in the hallways. “I swear, I would get lost in here in an instant.”

“That’s how I felt when I first moved into this place way back when,” Kat said fondly.

Looking to the pony flying beside her she lifted an eyebrow. “You recognize the place? Huh, that’s odd. I was in the old castle quite often but the layout changed completely.” She would have said more but couldn’t when she spotted... something bursting out off the wall and rushing towards them. Confident that Kat could handle herself she just gave a warning shout before dodging out of the way of what looked like an oversized wooden stick with a blue tip.

“What the… is-is that a pool stick? Seriously?! Who attacks someone with a billiard cue!? In what way is that a good weapon?!”

Sephiroth stayed afloat and looked around hastily. “You know what that is? Nevermind.” In the next moment a huge boulder just dropped out of the ceiling as if it were liquid right over Kat’s head.

Kat yelped, jumping out of the way and skidding on her stomach. “Oi! Watch it, what you are!”

A deep chuckle echoed through the hall and the woman’s eyes widened in realization. “That’s chaos magic!” With one fluid motion she drew her sword out of nowhere, her eyes darting around. “Go and leave him to me.”

“Are you sure? Chaos magic is, by nature, unpredictable,” Kat said with a hint of worry.

Slicing through a spike that randomly rose out of the ground below her she cast a determined glare towards Kat. “He can not use his magic directly on me. We talked about this. Go to Nightmare.”

Kat seemed to waver for a moment, but nodded and raced off down the hall. “You’d better not die on me!” she called before disappearing into the castle.

Dodging another dropping boulder she began the smirk. “You got the wrong woman on the wrong day.” She proceeded to blast every further attempt to hurt her into pieces while trying to locate her opponent. It took her only a few moments to find him and dashed forwards to end the fight as quickly as possible but as she got a good look of him she froze, staring in wide eyed disbelief.

The creature slowly clapped his upper limbs together as she was greeted by an impossibly familiar - one fanged - grin. “Look who we got here.” Seeing the look of shock on the face of the woman his grin grew in size, while his mismatched yellow eyes narrowed with mirth. He took a step towards Sephiroth and she instinctively backed away.

Slowly shaking her head at the ridiculousness of the situation she whispered. “You… you can’t be here.”

Chuckling his unmistakeable chuckle the creature advanced further. “Said who?”

Letting her blade sink she allowed the one being to come closer, which she thought she would never see again. “D-discord…?” She didn’t know how she was supposed to feel. Her head kept telling her that this couldn’t be the draconequus she knew, and that even if he was it that she should ensure his death for what he had done. She couldn’t move, couldn’t belief, but at the same time her heart ached, begged for it to be true. “But I thought…”

Again he just chuckled, coming to a stop right in front of her. He was one of the few beings that she actually had to look up to, to meet his eyes. “Me and death just don’t go along so well. Don’t you think? Probably would have been funny to mess with him, though.” He reached out with his lion paw and cupped her cheek with it. “Now what’s with the long face? I thought I told you to smile more.”

That was the moment when her heart decided that her head had nothing to do with this decision and kicked it into silence. A tear escaped her eye and soaked into the fur of his paw when she slowly began to smile. Her sword dropped, vanishing the moment it lost contact with her palm and she forcefully hugged the one she loved, crying in joy.

The draconequus on his part stroked her silver hair and chuckled again. “Now this is better.” Then he inhaled deeply and hummed as if enjoying the finest of wines. “Much better.”

Sephiroth didn’t care what he meant and just proceeded to bury her face in the fur of his chest when she suddenly felt a talon under her chin, that lifted her gaze to his mirthful eyes. She would demand answers later and just rejoice in the fact that he was alive, that she was able to look into those crazy eyes of his as they suddenly flashed green and everything went dark.

Kat came rounding the corner, having come back from the tower. “Seph? Sephy? I got Nightmare freed, but we need to get out of here now!” She spotted her, causing the mare to smile. “Oh there you are. I was a little worried that chaos user got you.”

Sephiroth smiled almost serenely and turned to face Kat. “That’s great. Just one more little thing to do then.” She whirled around and began to walk in the direction they originally came from.

“Uh, yeah, as in getting out of here!” Kat called, keeping back, but also following slightly. “And the way we came probably won’t be the best bet, don’t ya think?”

Without facing the earth pony Sephiroth just kept going, shrugging nonchalantly. “Maybe not. But you know what?” Then the woman stopped and laid her hands on her hips, still not turning around. “You helped me a lot and I want to thank you in some way.”

“Oh no, you don’t have to do that,” Kat waved off. “Now let’s get going before the guards show up.”

A deep chuckle came from behind a pillar to their right and a being escaped from behind it which was even taller than Celestia. It had a shiny chitinous skin, with holes going through it’s legs, every one of them filled with what looked like a swirling mass of chaotic green. On its back were four long and slender insectoid wings and his grin showed way more fangs than should fit into its jaw. A long crooked horn rose from its forehead, longer than any alicorn’s and his green, serpentine eyes shone with power. “I wouldn’t want those little dainties to barge in and ruin everything.”

Sephiroth’s smile just widened at the sight of this creature and she walked over to him. “Let me introduce you to the god of chaos.”

“A changeling king,” Kat awed. “A rare species to the Equestrias. I’ve never actually seen one… and now I regret not cleaning the changeling blood off my jacket.”

The changeling just chuckled. “That’s nothing to fret about. As I heard you are from another universe so it isn’t the blood of one of mine.” He shook his head, grinning all the while and sat down beside Sephiroth. “But I must agree with my little Angel. You should be properly rewarded.” His gaze traveled to the woman. “Do it.”

Nodding, Sephiroth walked over to Kat and took her head in her hands, proceeding to kiss her deeply before she could react in any way. Kat’s eyes widened, completely shocked by the suddenness and unable to do anything.

When she broke the kiss she lifted her mouth to one of Kat’s ears. “Your contract is complete.” And withdrew from the pony with green glowing eyes and a creepy grin on her face.

“Wait, no-” Kat disappeared through a swirling, red portal, which succinctly closed after her.

Sephiroth just chuckled and turned around to return to her king, pleased to see the approving smile on his face. “Very good. Now come with me, my little Angel. We are going to have a lot of fun.” And with the uproarious laughter of the changeling they disappeared into the castle.