Author's Notes:

I think I waited long enough to publish this.
It's not edited and as such will, very likely, contain grammar and spelling mistakes.

Hope you still enjoy it.

A tall, bipedal figure, form hidden beneath a long black cloak strode through the beautiful gardens of canterlot castle. Under normal circumstances it would have been spotted by the guards and due to its appearance resembling only one other being that trod the grounds of Equestria in the entire history, Celestia would have been alerted of this situation immediately.

But somehow not a single guard was around as the being strode on confidently. No haste was in its steps but they were directed nonetheless. This creature knew exactly what it was looking for and where it could be found. Despite this it took its time to appreciate the beauty surrounding it, the care that obviously was put into the well-being of flora and fauna.

The sound of countless little objects hitting each other came from the folds of its cloak and the heavy looking rucksack on its back but it didn’t seem bothered in the slightest by it.

Step by step it neared its destination and a few moments later stood in front of the statue of the weeping one winged angel. Folding its arms in front of its chest the figure just remained standing for a while, examining the seemingly dead stone.
A deep, rumbling chuckle rolled off the creature.

“Greetings my friend. I see that you are in quite the sticky situation.”

The obviously male voice was filled with glee and mischief but at the same time covered in silk and sounded like its owner was used to talk customers into buying. It did not take a genius to assume that this was the very same merchant from the convention.

“But you are oh so lucky. I’ve got something for you.”

Slowly he reached into his cloak and when he withdrew his hand again he held a big, gleaming, silvery needle with a small oval shaped red gem embedded in its rear end. A grin formed on his face as he waved the needle in front of the statue.

“You know what this is, don’t you? Oh yes, you do.”

He then took the needle in his fist, hiding it from view.

“It’s a silver needle, also called a supersoft. I’m willing to let you have it but I have to ask for something in return. After all, what merchant would I be if I would just go around giving away everything.”

He then literally ripped the bowl with the crystalized tears off of the foot of the statue, seemingly counting its contents until he nodded.

“That would be enough. Always a pleasure making deals with you, Sephiroth.”

In an instant he stuffed the whole bowl into his cloak, mysteriously not losing a single gem in the process, and rammed the little needle right into where Sephiroth’s heart had been. It pierced the stone effortlessly and slowly sank into it on its own accord. Cracks began to spread from the point of impact and the merchant took this as his clue to leave.

“So. Till we meet again. Tata!”

And just like that he ceased to exist. No flash of teleportation, no interdimensional gate. He just vanished.

Meanwhile the cracks ran faster and faster through the stone, spread wider and eventually began to break apart. Small chunks of stone came loose and dropped to the ground below but instead of breaking free violently, the former statue remained unmoving till every last piece of stone had fallen off. Slowly the woman started to shake and if there were a single soul around to witness this it would have thought she was crying.
But this assumption would prove wrong just mere seconds later, because the sound of low, rumbling laughter rolled off her and when she finally removed her hands from her face a manic grin came to light, showing more teeth than could be deemed friendly. In her wide open eyes danced a whole inferno of hatred.

Strangely lacking any haste, considering that she would gladly have her revenge sooner than later, she rose from her position. Behind her flared a single enormous wing, feathers as black as the darkest night sky. A single, quietly uttered phrase escaped her lips, carrying enough hatred inside to make the white Alicorn in the throne room cower in fear for the first time in a whole millennium and confusedly looking around for the source.

“Celestia~, I’m coming after you~.”

In the afore mentioned throne room a pegasus, clad in the golden armor of the royal guard, cleared his throat to regain the attention of his princess. The action he witnessed just a few seconds prior unsettled him greatly, but he tried to hide it behind a mask of stoic determination. The white mare was not easily fooled, though. For uncounted generations nopony had seen her act so out of place, so… afraid.

“Your highness?”

She took a moment to compose herself, centuries of experience aided her to recover in an instant. Her gaze drifted to the stained glass windows that were in the general direction of the gardens, an impossible cold clawing at her heart.
Suddenly she recalled this feeling to be similar to something her subject wrote about, claiming it was the exact thing you felt if you knew your life was about to end.
Shaking her head at the impossibility of her feeling something like this, she focused her attention back towards her guard, only to blink in confusion at his expression of pure terror.

The cold in her chest seemed to expand slowly, prompting her to look down only for her eyes to widen slightly. There, sticking out of her spotless white chest and embedded in the floor a little in front of her hooves, was a gleaming and slightly curved blade. A blade she recognized at once.
But all that registered in her mind, which was frozen in fear, was that there was a concerning lack of blood, considering the blade spearing through her. Her only reaction was a surprised “Oh.”

Her ears alerted her of the presence behind her as they swiveled back to focus on what seemed to be footsteps, muffled by thick boots. A sound she never thought hearing again as there was only one creature which they could belong to. This in itself caused the cold in her chest to expand tenfold, now creeping through the entirety of her body. White ears followed the slow and measured pace but she dared not to face what she knew to be the only human in this universe.

The tall figure of Sephiroth finally entered her field of view, facing away from her and taking a position to her right, like an adviser would. Although she could not see the woman’s face she could tell that she had to be smiling in sadistic satisfaction. Hands in black leathery gloves folded behind her back, only partially covered by the single folded wing on her back.

Again Celestia’s eyes widened slightly and snapped back to her guard, who had recovered enough to take an offensive stance, spreading his wings wide in a threatening gesture.

“What have you done, you monster?!”

The white mare wanted to say something, to prevent the poor fool from rushing to his certain demise, but right then her mouth filled with a vile tasting liquid. She recognized the metallic taste of her own blood right when a small dribble of it ran out of the corner of her mouth, staining the pristine white fur on her jaw.
The urge to cough filled her throat, but her body refused to obey.
So she was unable to do anything when her loyal and righteous guard charged towards the being that hurt his princess. She could see it in his eyes.

He was ready to die for her and again the only thing that brought her was guilt.

Sephiroth lifted a single hand from behind her back and extended it towards the attacking pegasus. With a lazy wave the pony was whisked out of his path and right into the next wall, where he impacted with a loud enough crash that his scream could not be heard. If there even was one to begin with, she could not tell.

Powerless, she had to watch the events unfold without a chance to interfere. With a slight upwards twitch of the corner of her mouth, born from morbid amusement, she realized that this must have been how Sephiroth felt when she was cast in stone.

Silence settled in the large room as none of the other guards dared to attack after that. And for what felt like an eternity nopony moved. But that was about to change as Sephiroth waved her hand again, causing every guard to flinch, but nothing happened. Her voice sounded strong and unforgiving, filled with burning rage.

“Out!”

Celestia could not hold it against her little ponies that every single one of them hurried away, nearly smashing against the big golden doors of the throne room.
With another wave of the black hand the doors slammed shut and they were left alone.
After another, way too long, silence, Sephiroth finally turned around to face the white mare and the threatening scowl on her face turned into the sadistic grin Celestia had expected to see. They were nearly at eye level with each other, magenta rings meeting the predatory dragonlike turquoise.

“Greetings, Celestia. Rest assured that I have not mortally wounded you. If you don’t struggle you will survive. For the time being, at least.”

A low chuckling sound escaped Sephiroth’s lips. She extended a hand towards the alicorn’s face, scooping up a little of the blood on the tip of her finger and showing it to the princess.

“This… is the first time I hurt a pony on purpose.”

For a brief moment she fell silent while she examined the drop on her finger, conflicting emotions flickered across her face but vanished as fast as they came.
She wiped it on the pony’s chest before fixing her with a glare that spoke promises of agony and death.

“I have one simple question for you and if you answer me truthfully, I may let you live.”

Not able to control the maelstrom of emotions inside her, she began to tremble, while the air in the gigantic room cracked with raw power. Despite all this her voice was clear and cold.

“Where. Is. He?”