Silence. Everything there was was silence. Not a single sound could be heard in the whole infirmary. Time itself seemed to hold its breath. Sephiroth just stared at her fallen comrade, no, friend. Her entire perception had narrowed down on the human on the floor but at the same time she couldn’t see clearly. A shrill sound screamed in her ears and she felt numb all over.

For a few horrifying moments she thought they succeeded in turning her to stone again but then the pain started. Like a wildfire it spread through her chest, burning its way to every corner of her soul. She lost someone again. She was powerless to do anything about it, AGAIN.

She clenched her teeth, baring them in an expression that was beyond furious in every sense of the word. Her fists shook in a feeling that was so much more than mere rage and the very air began to vibrate with promises of untold power and eternal wrath. The stone beneath her feet crumbled to dust, looking more like sand then anything else.

And then… it all just stopped.

Silver hair fell down to hide her eyes and her figure seemed to relax the tiniest bit. Slowly she took a step towards Max. He wouldn’t want her to slay them, he would be disappointed or even angry with her if she hurt them. Ignoring every other being in the room she just made her way over to the human on the floor. Step by step. A journey that seemed to stretch across two whole eternities.

When she finally managed to reach the still form of her friend she let herself fall to her knees and leaned over him to lift him in her arms. As soon as she touched him, though, he moaned, “Five more minutes, Lance.” And rolled over.

Sephiroth blinked a few times unbelievingly before she punched the man in the stomach hard enough to sink him into the floor a few inches.

He yelped in pain and curled on himself, looking around for a moment until his gaze rested on the woman kneeling beside him. “What was that for!?”

Her face was hidden behind the silver strands of her hair as she suddenly dashed forward and hugged Max. “Don’t dare to scare me like this, ever again.”

He hesitated a moment before returning the hug. “I wasn’t trying to. I did have a peaceful nap until you punched me, though.”

A shocked yelp from across the room alerted them to the presence of the mares that had barged into the room earlier. The purple alicorn was the one to voice their collective thoughts. “That’s impossible! The elements didn’t work?!”

Max sighed and said, “No, they worked alright. I can feel my magic coalescing into one pool.”

Completely ignoring his words the alicorn tried to assemble her companions again. “We must have missed girls. Get into formation, we’ll just try it again.” She seemed to be in a bit of denial and panic.

He sighed again and stood up, turning to the six mares. “I teleported myself into the line of fire, Twilight. Sephiroth wasn’t the one hit.”

Hearing her name finally snapped the alicorn out of it and she turned towards Max. “How do you know my name? And why would you do that?”

“I know who you are because I’m from an alternate Equestria. One where I married Celestia and watched her die. I protected Seph because-... because I view her as a sister. I don’t want any more of my family being hurt.”

Sephiroth’s breath hitched in her throat, but Twilight just continued without noticing. “An alternate Equestria? As in another dimension? But that is forbidden knowledge as per the decree of princess Celestia in the year 36 after Nightmare.”

“No, as in a whole new universe. Different dimensions can be accessed in the same universe with less power than an alicorn’s upper limit, but it takes immense power - such as Discord’s - to break out of a universe into what is known as The Void.”

The purple mare quizzically tilted her head. “Who is Discord?”

At this point Sephiroth decided to interject as she finally stood up off the ground. “He was the former god of chaos… and my lover.” A chorus of gasps sounded through the room, one of them not of the female kind. “He betrayed me by order of Celestia, essentially breaking me so she could imprison me.” Without giving the mares a chance to interrupt she continued. “After I was freed, I tried to pry the information of where he was out of Celestia. You can not even begin to understand how angry I was. That was when I hurt Swift Strike. The brave fool tried to attack me to defend his princess.” From the back ringed an irritated “Hey!” but Sephiroth just kept going. “When I came back to apologize to the guard and heal him, Celestia told me. She told me how the one I loved couldn’t take his guilt anymore. Because he realized that he actually loved me back.” She paused shortly. Nopony dared to interrupt her, in fact they all waited for her to finish. When she spoke again there was no life left in her voice. “He took his own life. Ending it full of grief and agony.”

Everyone was silent for a moment, absorbing what she had said. “I couldn’t do anything either,” Max finally whispered. “Th-they told me not to save them.” His back was to Sephiroth, but she knew he was crying anyways from the sheer amount of sorrow in his voice. “I sat there between them as they faded, watched the pain and light leave their eyes. Because they said it would’ve happened anyways...”

The woman looked helplessly at the form of her friend, the one who even considered her family. She wanted to help him somehow but a simple hug just seemed to be insufficient. Just when she decided to, at least, do that she was beat to it by a canary yellow blur which turned out to be the pegasus of the group which had tried to hide behind the others constantly. A soft sobbing could be heard from the mare desperately clinging to Max, accompanied by repeating whispers of “I’m so sorry.”

Max returned her hug for a moment before teleporting her back to the others. “I’ve lost something to remember them by because of your rage, Twilight. Their magics have formed something new because they mixed.” He turned his back on the mares and walked over to the nearest window, not paying attention anymore.

The small alicorn shrank back, her eyes darting around as if searching for something. When she didn’t came up with anything she let her head sink in shame. “I… I’m sorry. I couldn’t have known.” Desperately trying to rectify her actions at least a little she stated defiantly. “You shouldn’t have taken the elements head on then. Their power was not meant for you.”

Sephiroth, for her part, had followed Max to the window. She was in no way comfortable with physical contact but she managed to bring herself to rest a hand on his shoulder, hoping to show at least some kind of support. God she was horrible at this. She felt a stab of pain in her chest when he didn’t react but let her hand remain there when she turned to look at the other occupants of the room. Her voice was so full of authority when she spoke that there was no room for argument. “Begone.”

Every single pony in the room flinched but obeyed. Surprisingly it was the shy and timid canary pegasus that hesitated the longest and thus was left alone with the two humans. Even the formerly hurt guard had fled from his bed. Eventually she withered under the woman’s glare and scurried away.

After they were left alone it came to her way more easily. She just leaned forward and eclosed Max not only into a simple hug from behind, she even wrapped him in the black feathers of her wing. For the first time she noticed that he was actually smaller than her. Small enough that she could comfortably rest her chin on his head. Somehow that only caused the pain in her chest to grow. He had carried a presence with him that just prevented her from seeing this sooner. He just had seemed to be taller and way more experienced than her. But now… the difference just made her heart ache all the more.

Finally, Max reached up and put his hand on her crossed arms. “Their power was the last thing they gave me,” he whispered. “I-I thought I’d have them close to my heart for the rest of my life because I could feel both of them...”

Not really knowing what to say to that, she could only hope that the words she chose wouldn’t make everything worse. “You don’t need it. They will always be in your heart as long as you won’t forget them. As long as you remember their smiles, their tears, and even their snarls. Remember the good as much as the bad and they will never leave you. Holding onto their magic might have helped but look into your heart and tell me that they aren’t there anymore.”

“I know they’re still there. I just... I feel like I let them down some how by combining their magics.”

Slowly Sephiroth shook her head. “I don’t think so. Just think about it. They were sisters and they loved each other dearly. I think they would be ecstatic to hear that their magic became one. Something that Nightmare told me was supposed to be impossible.”

Max looked down, deep in thought. After a few more minutes, he nodded. “I suppose that’s true. I was trying to get them in the same herd, anyways.”

A small smile graced her lips. At least she hoped that what she said really did help him. Suddenly an idea crossed her mind. “Can you give me my Token back? Don’t worry just… trust me on this one, okay?”

Max pulled the token out of his pocket and held it over his shoulder.

She took it with one hand, keeping the other arm around him, and proceeded to just toss it out of the window, where it was quickly swallowed by a tiny portal into the Void. After that she used the fingers of the same hand to comb through the black mass of her wing. That continued for a little while until she seemed to have found what she searched for. With a determined pull she extricated a single, long and slender, black feather. “I don’t want that my connection to you would be a Token that everyone in the multiverse has now. I want for you to have this instead.”

Hesitantly, Max reached for the feather. He gripped it lightly in his hand as he tied it into the hair on his left side. “Thank you. F-for this and for helping me realize that I’d rather not keep Celestia and Luna from each other.”

Now that her hand was empty again she put her arm back around him. “You’re welcome, but you helped me just as much, if not more. The feather is directly bound to my life force. It will never be damaged by simple means and never age. I have to thank you too. You were there for me through my darkest hour and even jumped in the path of the very power that bound me to stone for so long. But it doesn’t stop there. I had nothing left but you just took me in as part of your family. I was so close to succumbing to my wrath and hatred and then your Token slapped into my face.”

“Heh, I can’t resist helping someone in need. And you needed someone you could count on.” Max opened his bag and pulled out a silvery dagger and a sheathe as black as a moonless night. “This is my promise to you; If you ever need someone to talk to, or just feel down, or need help, all you need to do is unsheathe this blade and I shall come to your side.” Slipping the blade into the sheathe, he handed it to Sephiroth. “This was made from the slivers of Luna’s sword, Aeanea and it will belong to you alone. It will never break because I infused it with moonlight while it was forged and if you lose it or drop it, it will find its way back to you.”

For a few moments she thought about declining the offered gift but ultimately decided against it. “I will always keep it close to me.” Silence returned while she continued to hold him. But it wouldn’t last long as another thought crossed her mind. “I don’t even know if I should call you brother or sister, seeing as you seem to change your gender like it’s nothing.”

He chuckled, “I identify as a mother now.” He sighed and pressed forward, out of Sephiroth’s embrace. “Why don’t we get out of here before they come back and blast us again?”

Chuckling the woman turned towards the door before freezing on the spot. “Oh fuck… I just realized something.”

He turned and looked at her. “Yeah?”

She gulped as if what she was about to say could be either world ending or at least changing. “If I’m your sister…” Turning her head around to look at Max he could clearly see the shock in her eyes. “Does that mean I’m an aunt now?”

Max stood there staring at her for a few minutes before doubling over in laughter. Once he calmed down a bit, he looked back at her with a smile and said, “Don’t worry, you won’t be on the list of people to call to watch over them. You will be able to meet them when you come to the wedding, though.”

Badly faking a relieved laugh she began to walk to the exit. “Yeah. Phew, dodged a bullet there. Oh the wedding. You never told me when it will be.”

“It’s in about three months since I kinda blabbed to my Equestria that I was engaged,” Max said as he followed after her, noticing that she was a bit disappointed. “I can call you every once in a while so you can play with them, if you want.”

Sephiroth didn’t slow down as she shook her head. “Nah, it’s okay. I… didn’t really present myself as a great role model so I can understand that I probably won’t be a good choice to watch over kids.”

Max floated to in front of her. “No, I actually think you’d be a great role model. The reason I said that you wouldn’t be on the list was because I thought you wouldn’t like to watch them, but if you want you can watch them while Lance and I are on our honeymoon.”

Barely restraining herself from chewing on her lower lip she averted her gaze. “Well… if you insist. But I’d rather like to meet the rest of your family sooner than later. Three months is a long time and it would be awkward if I just appear at the wedding, not knowing anyone.”

“Yeah, but then again I don’t know if all the guests will know each other. Tell ya what; I’ll summon you in two weeks’ time so you can get your dress measured and meet everyone.”

They reached the entrance hall of the castle and Sephiroth instantly turned her walk in the direction of the exit. “Two weeks? Well I have to sort some things out here but I think I could make it nevertheless.” Her gaze snapped back to Max. “Concerning this ‘dress’. I won’t wear anything frilly or-” She shuddered. “-pink.”

“I’ll make a note of that so I don’t forget it when I summon you, but it’s really up to Rarity what your dress looks like,” Max said, writing something down in his notebook. He paused and glanced at Sephiroth. “By the way, would you like it to be a bit revealing?”

Narrowing her eyes to glare at him she didn’t really pay attention as she shoved the doors of the main gate open a little too hard. “I said to you-”

Only to be promptly interrupted by a loud and distinctly male voice in front of them. “Halt! You are under arrest by order of princess Celestia!” Sephiroth was about to give the stallion a piece of her mind but as she turned to face him she couldn’t really miss the whole army standing behind him.

Frustrated, she shouted to the heavens. “OH COME ON!”

“Hold up there, Sweetie Belle, you wouldn’t want to spook them,” Max joked, chuckling a little. “besides, we can get through them without hurting any of them, remember?”

She sighed in exasperation and rubbed the bridge of her nose between two fingers. “Yeah, I know. Doesn’t mean that I’m happy to be an officially chased criminal now as it would seem.” Fastening the dagger on a strap of her coat she took a step towards what seemed to be the commanding officer. “Can you do me a favor? I have a message for Celestia. If she wants to see me imprisoned again, she will have to do it herself. I won’t fight anyone but her.”

Either the stallion was dumb or very brave because he did not back away or even flinch as Sephiroth advanced on him. “Cease this foolishness and surrender yourself peacefully. Then you can face trial before the court and receive a just punishment.”

Before anyone could react, Max appeared on the guard’s back and said, “‘A just punishment.’ Hah, where’s Celestia’s for making Discord betray her, then? I’ll tell you where: shoved up her fat plot.”

Predictably this caused a raging uproar in the ranks of the soldiers. Sephiroth shook her head and shrugged. “Don’t provoke them, Max. They are just trying to follow orders that could get them killed if I were the monster Celestia thinks I am. Maybe she even wanted them to fall before me to prove it to everypony. Let’s just leave.”

“Aw, fine.” Max floated off the guard’s back to stand next to Sephiroth.

Clapping her hands in front of herself, which actually got a few guards to flinch, she exhaled deeply before taking in a breath again. “As fun as that was we have places to be. So please deliver my message. On second thought I have another one for you. But to be delivered to the princess of the night. Say to her that when she wants to talk then she knows how to find me. That would be all. See ya next time.”

As they were leaving, Max reached over and plucked a guard’s helmet from his head and inspected it. “Huh, not using the regulation-standard polish.” He placed it backwards on the guard’s head and floated after Sephiroth again. “Someone’s going to get in trouble~.”

The guard who received the impromptu inspection just stared after them but soon the others shook themselves out of their stupor and blocked the path of the two. Countless spears pointed right at them the next moment. The woman just sighed. “I’m getting tired of this. New theory. Celestia sends her guards because she actually believed that I won’t hurt a child.”

“Like I said, Only a single tap to their foreheads and they’re down. We’ll be able to make them look like fools and us like bad asses, on top of grinding through some training.”

Sephiroth considered his words for a moment. “Technically… knocking out without doing any lasting damage won’t count as ‘hurting’. Or would it?”

“Nah. As long as you make sure they don’t land on something pointy or fall too hard, that is.”

Nodding her head a red glow encompassed her body. “Okay. We asked nicely, now we have to teach them.” And just like that they both vanished from sight.

In the blink of an eye the entirety of the guards fell, almost in synch, while Sephiroth and Max reappeared at the outer wall of the castle grounds. Grinning the woman placed a few strands of her silver hair behind her back with a wave of her hand. “Two hundred sixty five!”

Max smirked. “Three hundred thirty four.”

The woman huffed in mock agitation. “Aw shoot. And here I thought I was ahead of you.” In the next moment she blinked in confusion. “Wait. Did you say thirty four?”

“Yeah, we need to leave one to tell Celestia that all her guards were beaten in less than a second, right?”

Turning to look over the fallen battalion it didn’t take her long to spot the one guard that remained standing and even less time to realize it was the commander. When he realized that she stared at him he froze and looked like he was about to piss himself. “You’re right. Huh… didn’t think of that.” Facing the gate to the castle grounds again she just shrugged. “Well let’s get out of here.”

“You know, he should’ve had some snipers hidden away in some of the towers. Would’ve made them last a bit longer.”

Sephiroth paused with a hand on the gate. “I just thought of something. I can not walk through the city as I am now. That would cause a panic.”

“And that would help our escape. With Celestia and the Elements working to make sure no one hurts themselves, we’ll make a clean getaway. Besides, you have to tell the world you’re back somehow.” With that Max pushed the gate open, revealing Celestia standing there. “Or she could’ve emptied the streets and have been waiting for us.”

Crossing her arms in front of her chest, the woman just sighed. “What do you want, Celestia? You already know that you can not defeat me.”

Celestia opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Max. “It’s probably because I lied earlier when you were a pegasus. Just so you know, ‘Tia, I was wanting you to call BS on that.”

The alicorn shook her head. “I was not fooled for a single second. Her reaction gave her away very clearly. However that is not why I am here.” She fixated Sephiroth with a fierce look. “Leave. Go with him for all I care, but you can not be allowed to stay in this universe. You have nothing here and if you were so foolish to decide to stay here anyway, all you can expect is persecution. Face it, you are a danger to this world and all of its inhabitants. And make no mistake-” Celestia paused shortly. “-we will be able to enforce justice upon you. You may be stronger than me and my sister, but there are more. Are you really so insane that you believe you could face four alicorns and a deity of chaos at once?”

Max floated forward, putting his face right up in hers. “Give her a break! You already punished her for whatever happened back then, so why pursue her? Yes, she wants you gone, but that is just because of your actions. Other than that, she has no ill will for anybody. Don’t try it, you won’t even hit me.”

Sephiroth stayed silent so the white mare chose to continue. “I do not have to hit you. You are from another universe and as such will be expelled from this one if I destroy the anchor that is holding you here.”

That got a reaction from the woman, namely a raised eyebrow. “Wait. I thought research in the field was prohibited by you. So how could you know that this holds true?” The second eyebrow joined the first as she slowly realized something. “You… tried to destroy anything that could have been an anchor for myself. You just assumed that this was how it worked, that my presence here had to be unnatural and that I would disappear if you found something you don’t even know exists?!”

“We aren’t ‘anchored’ here. In terms of the Multiverse, where we’re sent by the one that Displaced us is our home port,” Max explained. “Trying to get rid of her won’t work, and I doubt Twilight or Cadence would want murder on their hooves.”

Not giving the princess a chance to speak, Sephiroth stepped forward and frowned. “You, Celestia, are insane. What have I ever done to you that you hate me so? I didn’t choose this existence and I never hurt a single one of your ponies. Hell, I even was friends with your own sister! Tell me Celestia!”

For a few seconds the alicorn stayed silent but then her face twisted into a grimace of hatred. “You didn’t deserve it.”

Shocked and admittedly a little confused the woman took a step back. “What?”

That was when the calm and loving facade of Celestia broke away, revealing something twisted in madness and hate. “You didn’t deserve to find love, you didn’t deserve to befriend my sister. You… didn’t deserve to live.” The colorful mane of the alicorn seemed to fade before their eyes and her whole figure shimmered like the air around it suddenly heated to a massive extent. Slowly the edges of her mane and tail caught fire, which spread like it was fueled by a highly volatile substance. And all it took to be put out was a single slap from Max that sent her through several buildings.

“Okay, time to run,” Max said calmly before taking Sephiroth’s hand and teleporting away.

Blinking to fight the disorientation that came with a teleport when you didn’t expect one, it took Sephiroth a while to notice their location. “Max… why are we on top of a mountain?”

“Because this mountain is riddled with caves that have crystals in the walls that can effectively hide an entire army’s magical signature. There should be an entrance to them around here somewhere.” Max picked up a boulder that was leaning against the cliff face, only to toss the rock away as there wasn’t a hole behind it. “Luna said that the cave was visible when construction started on Canterlot.”

“Canterlot? I know I’m a bit outdated but I never heard of a city like that. On that note-” She took a deep breath. “What the fuck happened to Celestia?!”

“Don’t know. Looks like in this universe she succeeded in her plot to overthrow her sister and make her complacent. I’m suspecting that mine and yours were taken by the same entity, but yours is more crafty than mine, so I can’t rule out that she’s just crazier than Screw Loose.”

Sephiroth stared dumbfounded at Max. “Taken? You mean as in possessed? There is something that overtook her and parades her body around like a sick trophy?!”

“Yeah.” Max paused to throw another boulder off the mountain before continuing, “I read through some of my Celestia’s diary and... well, what was written in there a thousand years ago made me believe that the Nightmare took her instead of Luna.” He stopped and looked at Sephiroth. “Not trying to insult your old friend, but that’s the only name I know the being by.”

Overwhelmed she had to sit down on a nearby stone and rested her head in her hands. “My whole life… was destroyed because of an entity that possessed Celestia. Wow. Now I can’t even hate her anymore.” She stayed silent for a little while before speaking again. “But what to do about it? I don’t know the first thing when it comes to exorcism. And I really doubt that I could convince the elements to imprison her in stone this time until I found a solution.”

Max chuckled and shook his head. “You think the Elements are a one trick pony? In my universe they sent Celestia to the sun and exorcised her. Not only that, but they canceled their own effect. No, I believe they’re sentient. Well, yours at least. I know mine are because they’re part of the ponies that wield them.”

“But if they are sentient, why did they brainwash Nightmare? How was the entity able to wield them against me? Assuming that it was the one to imprison me. Wouldn’t they be some kind of higher power to bring harmony or something? Can they be fooled so easily?” She grunted in frustration. “That doesn’t make sense!” When her own words registered in her mind she flinched and fell silent.

“I think she had them fooled up until she sent Nightmare to the moon. It would explain why they don’t work for her anymore.” Another boulder flew off the mountain. “Now all you have to do is show the current bearers that you aren’t in the wrong and that will make them suspicious of Celestia at least partially. If they fail, there’s always the fallback plan.”

“Have you seen them? The leader of their little group seemed to be this purple alicorn and if I understood it right then Celestia practically raised her. She ruled this country for a millennium and had enough time to instill all sorts of silly thoughts into her subjects. I really doubt that we can convince a single pony.” Shortly after she added. “Wait. Fallback plan?”

“Yeah. lopping off her head and sticking a wooden steak with a silver tip in her heart. It’ll make Nightmare hate you for killing her, but at least you don’t have a power mad possessed being running around in the world.” A boulder was flung from the mountain again, only to pause in mid air and slowly return. “Found the cave.”

With another grunt Sephiroth lifted herself from the stone again. “I get it. Convince the bearers or kill Celestia. I’m not sure if I could forgive myself if I had to resort to the latter.” She walked over to Max and examined the ‘entrance’. “Not that I don’t want you here, but when do you have to return? You’re on a schedule if I remember right. I wouldn’t want for you to be trapped into this other dimension in your universe.”

“I don’t know. Time doesn’t flow the same for every universe. So I could be several thousand years late for my wedding, or it could just be a few minutes since I left. Either way, I can spend another hour helping you get a house set up.”

The woman furrowed her brow. “Okay. But that would mean if I were to visit you in two weeks time in your universe then you would have to summon me. Because I have no way of knowing how much time passed. Then we can figure something out as we should know the difference in time by then.” Hesitating, she turned her gaze towards Max. “I never had to build a house so how are we going about this?”

“We could go with a single room cottage - not something someone would expect an evil ultra powerful person to live in - or we could go with a gigantic castle with traps everywhere. Or just take the entire mountain and make it fly.”

Bursting into laughter her whole body shook so hard that she actually had to steady herself with a hand on Max’s shoulder. It took her longer than she would admit later on to calm down again. “Making the mountain fly? That would be hilarious. But if I may be a little demanding I would rather go for two rooms than one.”

“I can have Discord come over and do it for you if you want, but if you just want a two room cottage I can make that happen. Do you want it to just be on the side of the mountain or deep in the caves in a glade with happy little animals?”

“I thought the sole reason we came here was to hide in the caves. So why would I want my home being on the side of the mountain?” Sceptically she raised an eyebrow. “What was that about happy little animals? Do I look some kind of druid to you?”

Max stared at her for a few seconds before snickering. “Imagine them going through the dank, dark caves expecting you to be living in a dimly lit corner only to stumble upon your cottage surrounded by grass, flowers, a few trees, maybe a shrub. And all kinds of small animals frolicking around with sunlight coming through a hole above the whole thing.”

“You know, that does sound like a nice place to live.” A thoughtful look overtook her features. “I’m not really the type for gloomy caves with hundreds of traps.”

“That’s an even better idea! Have the caves leading up to your cottage be filled with all kinds of traps and skeletons hanging off of some of them - not real ones, mind you - just to further their own expectations and then completely crush them when they get through them all.”

“No. Just no.” Sephiroth sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose between two fingers. “I’ll never get some of your humor. It would just make them more convinced that I’m deceiving them in some way.”

“Well... Actually, I can see your point. In fact, hiding your house in the caves would be suspicious as well.” Max turned and began pacing. “Maybe have it on the opposite side of the mountain in a hidden valley?”

“Doesn’t sound half bad. But would that be enough to hide my magical signature?”

“Well, we could make part of the cottage out of the crystals just to make sure-” He stopped, turning to face Sephiroth. “How do you feel about dragons?”

Confused she just answered. “Can not say anything to that. I had fun with a few of them before my imprisonment but I don’t know about the dragons nowadays.”

“Well why don’t you go see if you can find them after we’re done. See if they remember you.” He straightened a bit, then continued, “I have a good place in mind for your cottage, but it’s a bit more exposed than I’d like.” He lit his hand with a white aura.

Her eyes widened slightly. “Wait. Can you at least let me prepare for a teleport this time?”

Max nodded but kept his hand lit.

She nodded in appreciation and began to steel herself for what was to come, even going so far to close her eyes to prevent the sudden change of what her eyes perceived. “Okay, I’m good.”

The world shifted under her and her left foot fell a few inches before she caught herself. When she opened her eyes, she gaped at the scenery before her. In front of her lay a beautiful, green valley, nestled between snow-capped mountains. Several rivers flowed through it, springing from a large and crystal clear lake. Not a single fleck of civilization tainted its natural charm. If she were to describe it with three words she would call it the womb of nature. Thunderstruck she just couldn’t stop staring.

“Yeah, it’s beautiful, but there’s tons of ways in and out. Too many to watch all at once,” Max said, pointing at a few passes in the mountains.

Shaking her head to clear it she followed his pointers and nodded thoughtfully. “It would make a really nice home, though. Maybe I can settle down here someday.”

“You can settle here now if you find some of those dragon friends you mentioned. They’ll be able to help you protect this place and possibly make the ground a bit more fertile as well.”

“That could work, but I don’t know if they are still alive. Back before my imprisonment dragons used to be a very martial race. They could reach ages way past a few thousand years but there wasn’t one older than three hundred. They just kill each other too fast.”

“You could always pay some to live in the area,” Max suggested. “The crystals are supposedly tasty to dragons.”

Unsure, she swayed a bit on her feet. “I think I’d rather make some new friends than to live with mercenaries. If they stayed true to their ways then it won’t be very difficult. I just have to beat them into the ground and not kill them afterwards.”

“You ever heard of a dragon named Barbaroi?”

Sephiroth shook her head no. “Can not say I have. Why?”

“Back on my world he was part of the first generation of dragons. He’s been alive for the past... eight thousand years I believe was Holo’s estimate?” He shook his head. “Ah well, I guess he died long ago here. Anyways, let’s get started.”

“A dragon with such a high age would be extremely powerful. But as I said, more than just unlikely in this world. And even if there was one he would be known by everyone, maybe even viewed as a god among his kind.” She let her gaze wander through the valley. Suddenly she just started walking. “I think I’ve found the place where I would want my home to stand.”

Max followed, keeping pace by floating next to her. “He kinda is in my universe, but the wyrms view him as a demon and want him dead. Not really a surprise there since they want all dragons dead.”

“You trying to say to me that wyrms are not dragons themselves in your universe? Here the land dwelling dragons without wings are called wyrms.” Without any sign of haste Sephiroth walked through the valley, enjoying the sight and even the peaceful walk itself after being immobile for so very long.

“In mine dragons were created when a wyrm flew south to the badlands with his mate in search of the south pole. Both of their ‘snow flurries’ melted and when they drank from a sulfuric pool of molten rock to try to kill themselves, they gained the ability to breath fire instead of ice.”

“Huh… sounds poetic. In this universe the dragons divide into two big groups. Like I said, the ones with wings and the ones without. There are several more sub-groups but they do all identify themselves as one race.” Deep in thought she tapped her chin with a finger. “Now that I think about it. Dragons are the species with the biggest variety of subspecies in this world.”

“Not in mine. Sure they come in all sorts of colors, but there’s only one flightless dragon and one flightless wyrm. That anyone knows about. I’m gonna see about having ‘fate’ push the two of them together.”

Sephiroth shook her head and shrugged helplessly. “I can only hope that you will never try to play matchmaker with me.” The chuckle that followed was more bitter than she intended and she quickly tried to cover it up by rambling on. “Well as far as I know there are not only fire and ice breathing dragons but poison spitters, lightning breathers and even the kind that can kill you with just their voice alone. They vary in their diet too. Some eat stones, others prefer gems and others are carnivores. There were rumors about a very peculiar subspecies that is supposed to be herbivorous, but I never saw one and even in the ranks of the dragons their existence was not more than a myth.”

“You know that purple alicorn, Twilight? She raised one from an egg.” Max said conversationally.

This surprised the woman. “She did? Well that’s sad. The poor little one will be a laughingstock among his kind.”

“Not in my universe. Everyone takes him seriously. Especially after Twilight was cornered by four dragons and he literally fed them their own wings.”

“Heh yeah. That would gain him some respect. I don’t know about the one from this universe, if there even was one to begin with. A dragoness would go berserk if anyone tried to even touch her eggs. Not even the fiercest fighters dared to enter the cave of one with eggs. Actually that was part of some of their jokes.” The chuckle that escaped her this time sounded way more sincere.

Max thought for a moment before saying, “Wouldn’t put it past the Celestia here.”

Sephiroth stopped dead in her tracks. “That… would actually make a creepy amount of sense. Taking one of their eggs, even more so if it would be one from a clutch of one of their eldest, to ensure that they won’t ever try to touch equestrian territory.”

“That or...” Max trailed off, letting the implied elephant in the room have its moment in the spotlight.

A grim expression edged itself into her features. “Say… Max. Would it be possible to give this entity its own body?”

“Don’t know. It might be in this universe, but from what I could gather from my own universe it just burns away when the Elements are used on it.”

“Then we don’t use the elements on it. Wouldn’t Discord be able to pull it out of Celestia?”

Max opened his mouth to say something but closed it and put his hand on his chin. After a while, he said, “It... might be possible? I don’t know how his powers work, but if there’s a chance it can happen he’ll be able to make it happen. With a bit of help from Murphy, of course.”

With a downright evil grin she bared her teeth. “Good. Because then I can make this bastard suffer!”

“You can make yourself a big thorn in its side until then. And I happen to have a good idea of how to do that. First though, Let’s get your cottage built.”

“Let’s do that. And while we do that you can explain how I could make myself as much a pain as possible.” She continued in the direction of the lake but with much more determination in her gait as before.

“Simple. You build a small town, don’t even try to hide, and be friendly with whoever comes to investigate. It’ll make you seem like you were the victim all those years ago and infuriate Celestia. It’ll take a bit of time, but if you can find the ponies that slip through the cracks you’ll have a town in less than a year.”

“Building a whole town? Well this would be a lovely place for a little settlement but-” And suddenly the woman vanished from sight.

Max looked where she had been walking and saw a hole just big enough for Sephiroth’s slender frame to slip through. Looking down into the hole, he saw the woman laying on the floor of what seemed to be a cave. “What was that you were going to say?”

Grumbling to herself she struggled to her feet only to pause the moment she stood, slowly raising her hands in a surrendering gesture. “Erm… Max? I think I know now why there aren’t any ponies around these parts.”

“Why’s that?” He asked right before feeling the prick of a blade on the back of his neck. “Nevermind, I just found out.”

“You wouldn’t believe me when I said it to you, but… have you ever heard of rats that are bipedal? ‘Cause I certainly never heard of them before.” She backed off a little as a dozen blades of what seemed to be glaives came into view. “Oh and they have these little toothpicks too.”

“Ah, Burmecians. They’re a race in Final Fantasy nine and those are actually called glaives.”

Annoyed Sephiroth interrupted Max. “I know that they are called glaives!” Only to be interrupted herself, by a gruff female voice. “Who are you and what brings you here?! Speak quick or die!”

“Well, I’m Max and that’s Sephiroth down there. We’re in this valley because I thought it was empty and she was going to build a little house in here somewhere,” Max explained calmly.

Following an impulse Sephiroth added, “We’re kind of on the run from the ponies, because their princess went insane and tried to kill and or imprison me.”

A short silence followed before the female voice spoke again. “If you say the truth then you are welcome here. But I have to ask you to follow us peacefully so we can bring you before the king. He will decide if your statements will be believed.”

The blade on Max’s neck removed itself and a male voice spoke beside him. “Move.”

“Okay,” Max said, dropping down the hole and landing lightly on one of the glaives pointing at Sephiroth. The rat holding the weapon tried to hold it steady, but dropped it. Max stared at him with an appalled expression. “I am not fat!”

“Short advice. Never insinuate that a woman is fat, even more so if she’s pregnant.” Sephiroth crossed her arms in front of her chest, smirking at the rat that dropped his weapon.

Who in turn blinked confusedly and turned to his comrade next to him. “But isn’t that a male?”

“I identify as a woman, thank you very much. And in the universe where I’m from I am indeed pregnant,” Max said, crossing his arms and snootily raising his nose in the air.

The gruff female voice sounded again, belonging to an armored rat in the background who was clearly in charge. She hefted a long halbert on her shoulder and her hairless tail whipped around behind her. Her mail was of a crimson red, almost making her appear like she was bathed in blood. “Cut it out! Before the king decides that you can be trusted, you are our prisoners!”

Sephiroth sighed in exasperation. “What is it with this world and my constant imprisonment? Can’t I just stay free for a single day?” Despite her complaining she began to follow the rats through the tunnels, again accompanied by Max.

Author's Notes:

Moon_Fire: I was planning on keeping the magics separate, but decided that something had to happen when the Elements hit Max.

I must say, I never knew about the rat people being in a FF game. Might be because I’ve only ever played 12. Doesn’t make for a good thing since Max has played all of them