Another few hours passed by with the most interesting thing to happen was that Sephiroth began to twitch occasionally. That became a recurring thing, so much so that I was actually surprised when it suddenly stopped again. Only to be even more surprised when she stiffened, her face turning into a frown. “There better not be anyone laying on top of me.”

Against my better judgement I said, “You pulled me onto the bed when Nightmare and I set you down. I must say, this is the most awkward situation I have ever been in.”

Expecting to become very intimate with the next wall, I braced myself but nothing happened. I felt the arms around me let go of me. “I give you this one chance to just get up and we will forget about it.”

I pushed off of her and sat on the edge of the bed. “I realized that I’d been controlled, at least slightly, ever since Celestia died. The Nightmare tried to jump to you when I found it.”

“That’s all nice and good - don’t get me wrong, I’m really relieved that I was right - but…” Sephiroth groaned and rubbed at her temples. “What happened? I’m feeling like I had a few rounds too many in a meat grinder, that somehow managed to shred my soul to pieces. Seriously, I’m hurting all over and feel way more sore than should be physically possible.”

“That would have to do with what your Celestia did to you.” I placed a hand on her shoulder, my face showing nothing but concern and shame. “She used me to torture you and-...”

Her eyes shot open and she flinched away from my touch. “I… I remember.” Turning her head away she lapsed into silence.

“I... Nightmare and I went into your memories when you collapsed and left you with the knowledge that I made doubly sure that you wouldn’t become pregnant.” I sat there for the next few minutes, waiting for a response before sighing. “You know... Even though I couldn’t control myself fully, I tried to make sure it was enjoyable for you.”

Silver hair shifted when she let her head sink, before she answered in a way that showed how much she despised herself for what she was about to say. “It was…” One of her hands wandered on its own until it came to rest on her abdomen.

“Please, don’t blame yourself for enjoying something everyone does. Yes, you can resent me for being short sighted enough to let it happen, but you aren't at all to blame.”

Sephiroth stayed silent, again, but luckily not for too long. “I wasn’t strong enough… but I will be.” She turned her back on me and curled up slightly. “Twice now… I thought I’d be pregnant… only to lose my child. And both times… it turns out that I never was carrying a life.” A sniffle alerted me that she was crying. “Why does that hurt more than anything else?”

"Because you want to be a mother. You hate that you're being deceived, but wish that it was true. To you, the act itself isn't what brings you joy, it’s what can result from it."

“Maybe… I don’t know…” She breathed deeply, trying to calm herself. “I can’t deny that I enjoy the act itself, too. But I just don’t know if I can bring myself to trust anyone so fully anymore, that I could entrust myself to them. The thought of being touched alone is enough to make me uncomfortable…”

I set my hand on her shoulder again, waiting for her to pull away. When she didn't I said, "See? You want to trust others, you're just hurt because of Discord and me. You're hurting because he betrayed you and you don't want that to happen again.

"I know I only reinforced that with what I did, but please... don't let this define you. Don't let what happened scare you into submission." I hesitated a moment before I pulled her closer, setting her head in my lap. "I'll be here no matter what to help you and I'll try my hardest to make sure I won't hurt you again."

She seemed to struggle with something, her eyes betraying the conflict behind them before the ghost of what I guessed was determination flickered in them. The hesitation was palpable but there was the fire in them, which I realized I had missed sorely. Her voice was barely a whisper but what she said couldn’t have hit me any harder if she had shouted it. “Prove it.”

I gaped at her for a moment before I found my voice again. "E-excuse me?" It was then that I realized what I said could be taken as. "No. I hadn't meant- I-" I sighed, knowing that she was serious. "Is this really what you want to do? Nightmare might come in with the being that had been in me at any time."

She averted her gaze and managed the faintest blush I had ever seen. “Seal the room?”

I shook my head. "Have to keep it open so Sol and Mun can tell me about emergencies. But I could hang a sock or something on the doorknob. That might deter Nightmare. I could have a guard stand outside with orders not to let anyone in until we're done as well."

Sighing she closed her eyes, her tone dejected. “I understand that you don’t want to do this… you can stop making excuses.”

"It's not that I don't want to. I'm... relieved that you still trust me enough to ask. I just want to make sure you actually want this." I pulled her chin up, making her look me in the eye. "I won't do this unless you want to. So, do you want to have sex with me?"

She had to force herself visibly to not look or shy away from me, but she succeeded. "I..." The conflict behind her eyes had turned into a full blown war, making it almost impossible for her to answer my question. I remained silent, giving her all the time she would need. My only action being to smile reassuringly, trying to convey with my eyes that I would accept her decision, regardless of which one she was going to make. It didn't take her nearly as long as I would have expected before she made up her mind. But there were hesitation and fear still evident in her voice, even if she tried her hardest to hide them. "Yes."

I nodded, pulling a guard from his patrol passing by the door and using an illusion to tell him to make sure no one disturbed us. I gave her a chaste kiss and said, "You want to be the one giving or receiving?"

A vibrant blush grew on her cheeks as she seemed to recall something, causing me to wonder what it would be, if it made her that flustered. I really wasn’t that surprised when she almost choked on her next word. “R-receive.” It made sense, if I thought about it. She wasn’t just a random roll in the hay, but needed me, not only to make her feel good, but safe.

I nodded once more, lighting my hand as I bent down for another kiss. I let the spell slowly take effect, laying down next to Sephiroth. I could feel the spell work as I kissed her, making my face rougher, my hands less slender, my chest broader and less pronounced.

She didn’t return the kiss and stiffened again but she did not withdraw either. This wouldn’t be easy. I had to coax her into reacting somehow, without making her uncomfortable on top of that.

I brushed some of her hair behind her ear and looked into her eyes. I let my eyes talk for me, pleading for her to help me. Without waiting for a response I bent my head down and gave her a soft kiss, pushing my arms under her back as I rolled on top.

Agonizingly slow I felt her relaxing beneath me while she closed her eyes and let herself melt into the kiss. Sadly her lessening tenseness made me notice that she was shivering.

I pulled my head over to her ear and whispered, "It's okay, you have nothing to fear." I kissed her cheek and moved down to her neck, laying a trail across and up to her other cheek. "If you want to stop, we will. We don't have to farther than this."

She had shivered again when my lips had made contact with her neck, but an approving hum told me that it was for a different reason this time. I waited for her answer, which came in the form of her slowly shaking her head no and a whisper. “Don’t stop.”

As my lips met hers again I felt her lips part, inviting my tongue to enter. Our tongues danced around each other, but it wasn’t hard to tell that she was hesitating, still. Her frustrated whine told me that she was trying, but she had to struggle with her fears. Contemplating my situation, I decided that I had to take the risk of moving things along, to placate her apprehension.

I lit my hands and slowed the effect of the teleportation of our clothes so it looked like they were slowly turning into motes of light. I felt her gasp and shudder as her boots were the first to dissolve followed by the backs of our shirts and pants, the motes tingling as they passed through us.

She focused intensely on the spectacle, maybe to distract herself from the fact that we were naked now, or just because she enjoyed the sight. I couldn’t tell. Once the clothes were folded on a nearby chair I moved my hands from her back, massaging her sides and hips. At first I was rewarded with an appreciative hum, followed by her relaxing finally. When she shifted to make herself comfortable she unknowingly rubbed against my phallus, drawing my own appreciative hum and letting me finally start to harden. Unfortunately the sensation caused her to freeze and I had to bite back a frustrated groan, only to gasp in surprise when she deliberately began to squirm beneath me, rubbing on my dick all the more.

I hummed again and deepened the kiss, wrapping an arm around her head as I moved a leg between hers. I was surprised again when she wrapped her arms around me in response, pulling me down to fully rest on her. Before I could do anything with my leg though, she clamped her own down on it, locking it in place at a safe distance. Her heart thumped so fast and hard in her chest that it felt like it was trying to beat me away.

I broke the kiss and said, “Please, just let go of your fears for a little. I know I broke your trust once, but I will do everything in my power to make sure it doesn’t happen again.” I opened my eyes and gave her a reassuring look as I whispered, “You’ve trusted me this far, please... trust me a bit further.”

Her eyes were fixated on mine while she wore a conflicted expression. After a moment she closed them and breathed deeply. Her blush, which I realized was present since the beginning, grew more intense and I felt the pressure on my leg fade away.

I gave her a small smile and a kiss before leaving a trail of kisses and nibbles down her neck, stopping when I came to the valley between her perky C-cups. Moving my hands up, I lightly grazed the sides of her breasts, letting my hands rest and knead her just barely touching them as I laid another line of nibbles up her right breast to her nipple.

A muffled noise, that sounded way too similar to a moan to be mistaken as any other, escaped her and she shuddered slightly. Taking that as approval, I wrapped my lips around her nipple and let the tip of my tongue play with it as my left hand moved up slightly, almost completely on her breast now. Her breath hitched in her throat and one of her hands found its way to the back of my head, letting her fingers glide through my hair in the process.

Hmmm, I wonder what would happen... I thought before sucking on her nipple, drawing the entire thing into my mouth, almost grinning when a sharp gasp rang through my room, which devolved into a moan. I wasn’t bothered too much about her fingers that had tightened their grip around the back of my skull, but couldn’t prevent a groan when I felt her pressing against me in reflex, squeezing my dick between us.

In retaliation, I moved my mouth to her left breast, laying another line straight to her other nipple and sucking it into my mouth to lick and nibble while my right hand took its place, tickling and lightly pinching the one abandoned by my mouth.

Another sweet moan escaped her, while her legs tightened around the one I had between them again, but instead of holding it in place she fidgeted around it, almost as if she tried to rub them together. That obviously caused her to squeeze and rub at the sensitive pole of flesh I currently called my own.

I chuckled and moved my other leg between hers, slowly wriggling it in until she let her legs relax and spread because of my movement. I smirked and gave her breasts one last kiss each, trailing a line down to her navel and below. Her hand stayed on the back of my head and followed my movement, never once even hinting at stopping me. She trembled slightly but this time I could tell it was out of excitement. A glance at her eyes showed that they had glazed over with lust and she bit her lower lip in anticipation. I didn’t keep her waiting any longer and let her guide me towards her honeypot, licking once and drawing another shiver from her before diving in tongue first.

A lustful scream made it obvious that she didn’t expect me just diving in and that she certainly was not against it, too. She tensed shortly, only to go slack again and gasp for air to replace what was forced out of her lungs by my ministrations.

Grinning again I quickly noticed that I was becoming kind of addicted to making her scream. For a moment I tried to imagine myself as the one who was driven to scream like that and felt my member twitch strongly. Shrugging off the thought I withdrew from her moist depth, causing her to whine in need, only to dive in again, being rewarded with another scream. Yep, definitely growing addicted.

Showing a little bit of mercy, or maybe being utterly cruel depending on the point of view, I slowed down and gently traced her folds with the tip of my tongue, only to flatten it after I finished a round and digging it between her outer lips, slowly dragging it upwards until I felt her clit throbbing against the muscle, which I then proceeded to suckle softly. She tensed at that and moaned deeply. It went not unnoticed that her sounds were growing more urgent, but I decided to try something first. I sucked one of her puffy lips into my mouth and very carefully bit into it. What came out of her mouth at that sounded strangely like a cough, so I let go off again, fearing that I hurt her.

She greedily sucked in a large amount of air and then stared at me, not in agitation but in puzzlement. “C-could-” She needed to pause to breathe. “-you do… that again?”

Complying I lowered to her slit again and sucked on her other lip this time before very carefully biting into it. Prepared for the sensation this time she moaned loud enough to almost classify as a scream. Somehow I got the impression that the cough during the first time resulted out of her trying to moan and gasp simultaneously. I had to admit, though, that her continuous sounds of pleasure began to drive me crazy and made me aware that my dick was so hard it actually hurt.

With one last nibble drawing another moan from her I slid back up her, stopping once my mouth met hers again as I used my hand to line up. I let her feel my length grind against her opening, coating it with her juices before I let the head come to a stop just barely parting her folds.

She moaned into the kiss, not complaining about tasting herself on me and embraced me firmly. I broke the kiss and hesitated. “Seph. Are you really sure you want this? It’s not too late to-” She silenced me with her lips, having leaned up to reach me. Pulling me down with her again she enclosed my thighs with her legs exerting just enough pressure to answer my question.

I pushed forward into her slowly, pausing when my hips met hers and pulling out a few seconds later, leaving just my head inside her. A lustful groan accompanied me on the way in and a breathless whine on the way out. She had closed her eyes in bliss and tried to pull me in again impatiently. I complied a bit forcefully, making her break our kiss to scream in pleasure, and settled into a steady rhythm. After a few more thrusts she began to help my movements with her legs, pulling up to meet me halfway, but somehow growing more quiet. Maybe she had to concentrate on her own movements too much?

I appreciated, that she seemed eager to be more active and it made me happy, but something just seemed to miss without her enticing noises. Nevertheless I let her continue for a little while before I pinned her hip against the bed, pressing in as deep as I could in the process. I nibbled on her ear slightly and then whispered into it. “I’m glad that you want to make this easier for me, but this is not about me, it’s about you.” Not leaving her enough time to answer I withdrew slowly, deliberately tilting my thighs so that my tip would drag across the upper part of her inner walls. Her eyes widened and she trembled beneath me. In unadulterated amusement I noticed that I never had heard a stammering moan until this very moment. When I reached the entrance of her tunnel I rammed inside all the way to the hilt, coaxing another of those screams out of her.

Admittedly it had been a gamble, asserting my dominance, but one that paid off obviously as I drew scream after scream. Every single one being more delighted than its predecessor.

I heard a vase or something break out in the hall and realized I had forgotten to soundproof the room. Oh well, whoever it is won’t get past the guard.... Unless they don’t try to and go for him instead.

Sephiroth, for her part, seemed too lost in pleasure to notice. Her lust filled eyes locked into a half-lidded state, her expression showing nothing but utter bliss. She screamed unrestrained and I felt her clenching around my dick occasionally. Seemed that she was close and I was almost there as well.

I gave her a few more thrusts before I let my hand fall to her clit, grazing it a few times and finally pinching it lightly between my fingers, twisting it slightly. She cried out in ecstasy, her back lifting off the sheets and her whole body locking in that position, while her inner walls did their very best to milk me dry.

I tried my hardest to weather the pleasure her orgasm was giving me, but failed and groaned before muffling her to moans with a tongue-filled kiss as my dick spurted into her depths. She eagerly reciprocated the kiss, her moans dropping in pitch and turning into a deep hum as I continued to fill her up.

I broke the kiss and lit my hand once I stopped, only to have it grabbed by another, the action causing me to lose focus and thus interrupting my spell. I lifted an eyebrow in confusion and looked down to meet Sephiroth’s just as confused gaze. She was staring at her hand that was holding mine, frowning in deep thought.

“What’s wrong?” I asked as I raised my left hand, only to stop when her other hand came up to close around it.

She didn’t seem to notice and consequently blinked in surprise when she took her gaze away from her one hand only to see the other. Shaking her head, she let go off both of them and averted her eyes, staying silent.

I gave her a wary look before lighting my hand again, preparing the spells again. I hesitated shortly and saw her arm twitch, but it stayed on the bed, not interrupting me again. Letting the spells cast I saw her shudder and pulled out of her, laying down next to her and letting the transformation go.

She shifted and wordlessly nestled up against my side, her head resting on my shoulder and her eyes closed. Everything was quiet until we heard a female voice cry out from the hallway in pleasure.

“.... Yeah, I kinda forgot to put a sound barrier up,” I said sheepishly. All that got me, though, was a deep sigh. “At least it isn’t....” I trailed off as one of the two ponies bumped the door open somehow, revealing Nightmare as the one that had screamed and was still moaning as the guard pounded into her. “I had to tempt fate, didn’t I?” I asked as I pushed the door closed with my magic.

Sephiroth groaned exasperated and buried her face in the bed next to my shoulder. I could practically see the urge in her mind to slam her head against the next wall, repeatedly.

We lay there in silence for the next few minutes, Seph almost falling asleep by the time I worked up the nerve to ask, “What was that? When you grabbed my hands?”

She blinked and shook her head in an attempt to clear it. When she finally processed what I had said, she averted her gaze, again. I was about to ask her again when she began to speak. “I think it was a reflex. Nothing to worry about…” She wasn’t telling the whole truth, that much was obvious.

I rested a hand on her head, slowly petting her. “It’s about before, isn’t it? You want a child and didn’t want me to use the spells.”

“No.” Hesitating for a second she sighed. “Well, yes but no. What I mean is that my body noticed the target of your spell and…” She closed her eyes again before continuing in a quiet whisper. “My body went through the experience of losing two children, even if it wasn’t true. At least I think that that’s the reason for me developing a protective reflex. I’m just glad I didn’t punch you through a wall this time.”

“If anything you’d just punch me into a wall, assuming you blindsided me like you did when you grabbed my hand.” My hand slowed to a stop and I gave her forehead a kiss. “I’m glad you didn’t, but I’m also a little disappointed that you let me cast them.”

Sorrow edged itself on her face. “I have no real choice in that matter. There are fights waiting for me back in my universe. It would just be irresponsible to attempt to carry a child through them.”

I gave an amused snort. “Don’t I know it. I have to hold myself back when I hear news of an attack.”

“Then you should know better than to be disappointed by my decision.” Sephiroth remained silent for a few moments. “And even if your relationship with Lance is an open one, I don’t think it would be wise to impregnate others.”

“I know that. I was disappointed because you didn’t put up more of a fight.” I put on my best mischievous smile and tapped her head, getting her to turn to face me. “And I did notice that you didn’t say anything about not wanting to carry one of my children.”

Her face managed an instant change to bright red and all of her attempts at a rebuttal were turned into an incomprehensible stuttering.

I giggled a bit and said, “Okay, that’s the last time I’ll tease you. For this visit, at least.” Sighing at the knock on the door I lit my hand and formed a self-sustaining illusion on the door itself that said, ‘DON’T DISTURB’ in large friendly letters.

Sephiroth grumbled in agitation and buried her face in the bed again, though she did not make an attempt to turn away or separating herself from me.

“You want to invite Nightmare in so she can get cleaned up as well?” I asked after a few minutes of silence and received a light punch to my shoulder.

Even though her voice was muffled by the bed I could clearly hear the agitation in it. “Do whatever you fucking want. Just give me a blanket so I don’t have to deal with being seen naked.”

“So... no on getting you in the tub with me and Nightmare?”

“NO! Not with Nightmare!”

“Okay,” I laughed, changing the illusion to orders for the guard to lead Nightmare to a guest bedroom. “There, now it’ll just be you and me.”

“You’re enjoying this way too much for my liking. And didn’t you say you wouldn’t tease me anymore for this visit?”

“You made it way too easy that time, I couldn’t help myself. Besides-” I flipped her onto her back and rolled on top of her to give her a kiss. “I don’t like to waste water when I can just join someone.”

She returned the kiss but scowled afterwards. “Nightmare might’ve been my best friend once, but that does not mean I would like to share a bath with her, at least not while naked.” Pausing for a moment, she averted her gaze before adding. “But I wouldn’t mind sharing with you.”

“I’ll have an omelet smothered with onions, ketchup, mustard, and cherry sauce with bacon, toast, and some chocolate milk,” I said as I sat down at the table. Seph and I had met Nightmare in the hall on the way to the dining room - which I admit I had trouble finding until Sephiroth had asked why I didn’t just teleport us there - and said she had some information about the being that had controlled me.

Sephiroth had turned a sickly shade of green at my order and politely declined to have something for herself while Nightmare seemed to ignore everything that wasn’t related to her findings. “The most important news would be the worst, too. I had the chance to examine the being almost entirely and there are several facts that lead up to the bad news. One, the being is completely incapable of feeling anything without a host. No heat, no scent, no pain, no nothing. With the sole exception being magic. So it is impossible to torture it as it is.”

“Two, the being seems to be drawn to the biggest reserve of magic. Which leads me to believe that it would always try to possess the most powerful around before turning to the next target that is the closest in strength, if that fails. Three, while capable of possessing animals with lower brain functions it can not stay in one. And believe me, the results were messy. That caused me to question why this would be the case and that leads us to fact number four. Enhancing the intelligence of a mere animal enabled the being to stay in its host and possess it entirely. Taking over and transforming, or rather warping, its host to something monstrous. And now the fact that will make clear the bad news.” The black mare paused, probably to add a dramatic effect or something. “Five. Removing the hosts soul and mind showed that the being can not be merged with a body that lacks a soul of its own with normal means. The being will just flow through the body as if it was an inanimate object, and even attempts to force it to merge with the body were futile.”

Sephiroth was the first to answer to that. “Essentially you say that it won’t be possible to give it its own body without sacrificing another life.”

“Damn it. Wait, did you try simple binding spells or advanced ones? Did you try using Dark Magic to bind it as well?”

Nightmare looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “I can assure you that I tried everything short of reincarnation. But that would defeat the purpose. At least if you don’t want to torture an innocent child, that is.”

I chuckled darkly. “Oh, I can wait as long as necessary.”

The look on the alicorn’s face turned dark. “It seems you do not understand. Reincarnation would completely erase everything about the being itself, cleansing its soul, and plant it into a willing womb to be truly reborn. That’s why I said it would defeat the purpose.”

My expression turned into a childish scowl as I thought over what options remained. I didn’t like it, but reincarnating it would be just like destroying it anyways. I sighed. “Fine, let’s see about reincarnating it. Just so you know, though, I’m not carrying twins a second time.”

Nightmare lifted a hoof to her chin in obvious thought. “Well, there certainly will be a mare in your world that wished for a foal of her own, but does not want to include a male, or artificially created male parts, in the process.”

For some reason I turned to look at Sephiroth. “Wonder who that could be?”

The silver haired woman paled when she noticed my gaze and slammed her hands down on the table. “NO!”

The sound of laughter brought my attention back to the black mare. “Actually I was talking about some lesbian mare, but you certainly got her good.”

I glanced between them, confused as I was actually asking her. “I wasn’t trying to imply her, just ask if she knew who you had in mind.” My eyes widened and I got a devious look on my face as I turned completely to Nightmare. “You know, if you aren’t pregnant from earlier, you could be a mother anyways.”

To my complete bafflement she actually seemed to consider it. “That doesn’t sound half bad. I don’t know how it is in this universe but we alicorns can’t get pregnant by normal means in ours.” A fang filled grin stretched across her face. “A little ‘nightmare’ all of my own, if you want to call it that. I agree.”

“.... Yeah, here alicorns are just another race of ponies. Meaning that there’s a chance you could be pregnant if you didn’t use protection.”

“Well even if alicorns in this universe could get pregnant that doesn’t include me, as I’m from another universe where it isn’t possible. And I didn’t mean that it is impossible for us to have children. We can get mares of the other races pregnant but we ourselves are incapable of being impregnated. Our metabolism absorbs the sperm too fast for it to even breach into our womb.” Chuckling she added. “And believe me when I say that I even tried a healthy dose of dragon once only to come out of it without bearing a child.”

Just then, we heard a voice say, “My ‘eat their own words’ sense led me here. Hey Max, did anyone say something was impossible around here?”

I gave Nightmare a shit-eating grin as I said, “Why yes, someone did, Murphy. Why don’t you show us why everypony says ‘improbable’ instead of ‘impossible’ in this universe?”

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow at this. “What kind of name is ‘Murphy’?” She tapped a finger on her chin and looked up as if searching for the answer. “Does sound familiar, though.”

The black alicorn’s eyes examined the newcomer, before she smiled. “I see. That would be me and I wouldn’t mind in the slightest if you proved me wrong.” She glanced sideways at Max. “But I would have to take that guard with me. I don’t want the child to grow up without his father.”

I shrugged. “As long as he agrees and doesn’t already have a herd.” I looked through my memories of the guards, trying to find a match for the stallion.

“Ah, yes. That would be troublesome.” Returning her attention to the thestral she smiled apologetically. “It pains me to have to ask you to refrain from pursuing your domain’s will. But if the father can not accompany me than it would not be fair to punish the child for my lapse in wording.”

“Ah! I know who that was, Lofty Libram. He’s a new recruit and hasn’t broken from the ‘abstinence is part of the guards’ rules’ mindset, so he won’t have a herd.”

Nightmare chuckled. “He didn’t seem all that ‘abstinent’ to me. Could you call for him? I despise keeping a fellow immortal from doing his job.”

Murphy glided over to the table, sitting in the chair next to Sephiroth. “Dont’ worry, I just go wherever my powers take me. I’m never in a rush to get somewhere.” He paused for a moment before continuing, “There, just made whatever you said actually possible.”

I turned to Seph and said, “You seriously don’t remember Murphy’s Law?”

The silver haired woman shrugged. “No. Is that a problem?”

A frown settled on the alicorn’s face, staring disapprovingly at Murphy. “I understand that you are just following your domain, but couldn’t you have waited a few minutes until I actually know if the sire wants to accompany me?” She sighed. “Now I have to quell a probable new life, taking away its chance to develop, if he does not want to leave this universe.”

I snorted in amusement as Silver set my dinner down in front of me. Taking my first bite I said, “I highly doubt that. He’s never had a marefriend, always ran from suitors, and even turned down a night with Spitfire. If he wasn’t a private and a total noob I’d have made him captain of the guard just so I could order him to fuck me.”

“I do not know of this ‘Spitfire’ but that he never had a mate surprises me. That only makes me want him more, such raw talent. So could you please send for him? I have to inform him about him being a father in the near future and that I’ll be carrying twins.”

I lit my hand with a scrying spell to search the castle for him, only to find him in Sombra’s office being laughed at. Keeping a finger lit with the scrying spell, I cast a voice throwing spell on my pinkie and said in a terse, stiff voice, “Sombra, please send Private Libram to the dining room.”

I watched their reactions and laughed, having ended my second spell. Even through the scrying spell I could see Sombra’s eyes light up with mischief as he instantly sobered up, going as far as to wish the ‘unlucky’ stallion luck. “Oh, this is going to be hilarious!”

While I was busy with my little stunt, Nightmare had decided to take a seat across from Murphy and was merrily chatting with him. Sephiroth had just vanished.

I sighed and called up another scrying spell with her as the focus, finding her on top of one of the castle’s towers, looking into the distance with a thoughtful expression on her face. Deciding to leave her be for the moment, I turned my attention back to the conversation between the two immortals.

“-And I said, ‘so? that ship’s going to sink as soon as it hits something.’ True enough, only five seconds later it hit the iceberg I was sitting on and was on its way to the bottom of the ocean,” Murphy said with a chuckle. “That was the last time I ever used an iceberg as a perch.”

Nightmare joined in his chuckling. “My, your adventures do make for a few entertaining stories.”

“You should hear about the time I launched him off a balcony with a dresser,” I quipped, much to Murphy’s embarrassment. “He sometimes forgets that his Law works on him as well.”

That actually got the alicorn to break into uproarious laughter, shaking her enough to fall out of her chair.

“Yeah, I do. Just like I’ve forgotten most of my adventures over the years,” The thestral sighed. “It’s tough sometimes being over twenty thousand years old.”

Hearing his words quickly brought a stop to Nightmare’s laughter and she looked at him sympathetically. “I can not claim nearly as many years but I can imagine. Albeit it could be argued that a thousand years on the moon, without anything around to pass my time, could be felt as much longer.” She shook her head and stood up again. “It’s not healthy for our kind to dwell too much on such things. Sometimes I wonder if forgetting would be a blessing.” Out of habit she lifted her gaze to the ceiling. “My stars contain every single moment in history in them, from a banged up knee, all the way up to the rise and fall of entire empires. They literally don’t allow me to forget.”

“Trust me, it’s better to remember. I’ve had to help set in motion so many disasters that I can’t count how many I’ve killed just by following my powers, and that’s just what I can remember.”

A melancholy look overtook the black mare’s features. “Ah yes. There are always downsides to being the avatar of a domain. Monsters and barbaric creatures have selected mine as their home and I can do nothing to prevent them from slaughtering innocents.” She returned her gaze towards Murphy. “But that is who we are. We can’t change anything about it.”

Murphy shook his head. “I understand that, it’s the fact that I forget their names, their faces... The only one I remember clearly is Night Scrolls.”

Situating herself across from him again, she made herself comfortable. “Now that is a story that practically begs to be told.”

“Well, there’s not much to it. Night was the last bearer of the Mantle of Bad Luck and fell on some himself in the form of a rusted fork that was somehow cursed. I happened to have found him before he died and he just shoved all his power onto me. I think we talked a bit before that, but I can’t remember that part.”

Just then someone knocked on the door, faint enough that Nightmare and I were the only two to hear it. I turned towards the door and said, “Enter, there is something I’d like to talk to you about.”

Nightmare was about to further her conversation when I said that and decided to stay silent, straightening her posture to regal perfection.

Obviously frightened further, Lofty was shaking as he walked over to stand on the opposite side of the table from Nightmare and I. I stared at him, trying to make sure I wouldn’t have a trace of humor in my voice. As I stared, I noticed that he had on the Day Guard’s armor and said, “Return that armor to the quartermaster once we’re done here, you won’t be needing it again.”

“Yes, G-Grandmother,” he replied, not hiding the shame in his voice.

“Good. I believe you wanted to ask him something, Nightmare?”

The black mare nodded, her face a mask of completely neutral serenity. “That would be correct.” She fixed the guard with her stare, making him gulp nervously. “I do not need to remind you of your deeds and we have called you here so you can face the consequences of them.” The light seemed to flee from her very presence, the only things unaffected being Max and Murphy. “Are you ready to atone for your actions?”

He gulped again, silently nodding in agreement.

“In this case, we can offer you a deal to lessen your punishment. You will, as Grandmother Max stated already, be expelled from the guard and exiled to another universe. The monitoring of your predicament will fall to me and you will have to answer to my calls for little cucumber slices with chocolate.” The guard blinked confusedly but seemed to decide that he must have heard wrong. Nightmare just continued. “You are obliged to massage our swollen fetlocks and hooves if we desire.” He stopped to shake due to confusion overriding his fear. “And finally you are to share our bed and care for our child.”

And just like that the light flooded into the room again but all the poor guard could do was stand and stare. His bluntness betrayed just how utterly confused he was, as he stated flatly, “What?”

Nightmare had the decency to look a little ashamed of herself, but smiled nonetheless. “I’m pregnant with your foal and I’d like you to accompany me back to my universe, so that we can raise it together, if you would have me.”

Lofty glanced at me and I gave him an apologetic smile. “I couldn’t help but play a little prank on you by making you think you were in trouble,” I said, motioning for him to sit in the chair next to Murphy. “You won’t actually be expelled from the guard, just given a retirement if you go with her. If you don’t and Murphy is wrong about the pregnancy, you’ll just be moved to the night guard.”

The black alicorn nodded and waited patiently for his answer.

“Um- well, I-I-I-... uh...” he glanced at the stallion sitting next to him, becoming suspicious for some reason. “How certain are you that she’s pregnant?”

“As certain as if you laid with a normal mare in heat,” Murphy replied coolly.

Nightmare clapped her hooves in amusement. “What a thought. Me being a normal mare in heat. I think I like it.”

Lofty gave a single chuckle before fainting, his horn getting stuck in the table.

“I think he likes that as well,” I said with a giggle, placing another forkful into my mouth. Only to almost spit it out again when a sudden feeling of wrongness crashed into me. Confused I tried to zone in on its origin and my eyes widened when I noticed that it came from the same roof that I found Sephiroth on.

Without warning I teleported to the roof, right behind Sephiroth. Looking down a her, I noticed that she held an unnaturally black sphere that sucked in all light around it. Not wanting to scare her I let one of the tiles beneath me crack as I set a hand on her shoulder.

She didn’t acknowledge my presence at first just turning the orb this way and that, before she enclosed it in her fist and spoke, “You saw it.”

I knelt down beside her and said, “You showed it to me in your memories. I don’t know if it was by choice or if your unconscious mind decided that it could trust me.”

The feeling faded away and when she opened her fist again the sphere was gone. “I wanted to show it to you now, but I didn’t know that I already had done so. It’s a burden I have to bear. When I found out about it I tried to get rid of it, but I’m certain you felt what happens when it is outside of my body.”

I shivered. “I-it felt like one of my fillies was in danger.”

“Huh… you really care about your daughters then. Not that I ever thought you wouldn’t, but it surprises me that it didn’t feel like all of them were in danger.”

I let my hand slip around her back, pulling her into a one-armed hug. “I care about all of my family, not just my daughters.”

Mun shot up onto the roof then, landing lightly on the edge as he said, “Golden, Light and Lucky went through the portal. Sol is over there trying to get them back.”

“Tell her that they will be in trouble for not telling anyone and not being in bed.” Mun nodded and fell off the edge, flying off to check on Rainbow, no doubt. I sighed and shook my head. “Now comes the hard part.”

Ignoring my last statement Sephiroth just stared at the palm of her hand, which was currently covered in her signature black gloves.

I turned back to Sephiroth, lighting my hand to scry for that tub of ice cream I had dropped. Surprisingly it was on a small table near where Sephiroth had came into my universe and was still cold when I teleported it to me with two spoons. I placed one in Sephiroth’s hand and set the tub in her lap. “Come on, I can’t eat a whole pint by myself.”

She shook her head, but smiled nonetheless. “I’m not really a fan of sweet stuff. But it won’t hurt to make an exception.” Scooping up a spoonful, she placed it into her mouth and cringed. “Mint… I hate mint.”

“A simple transformation spell, then. What kind would you like?”

“Chocolate and caramel would be nice.”

I nodded and lit my hand, making the ice cream turn a marbled white with streaks of golden brown running through it and lumps of chocolate. “There, it’s not exactly perfect, but it’s as close as I can get to it being turtle truffle.”

Instead of answering she just sampled another spoonful and nodded in satisfaction. I could not miss the thoughtful look on her face though, even if she obviously tried to hide it and seemed to stall for time.

“It’s a shame this universe doesn’t have an equivalent to Baskin Robin’s. Their ice cream was almost as good as homemade.”

The woman sighed and didn’t go for more. “Say, Max… when we first met you showed me a picture of your family.”

“That was just Lance and my fillies. Kat wasn’t in it because she wasn’t there.” I sighed and let my head rest on her shoulder. “She needs help finding happiness, but is too stubborn to accept any.”

“I noticed… She was the one who rescued me from Celestia, so I’m kind of in her debt. But she destroyed Everfree City… killing I don’t know how many innocents.” Sephiroth sighed again. “I don’t know what drove her to do that, but I woke up completely soaked in blood. In hindsight it probably was my own. She had already left and any attempts to summon her again were met with little success.” She shook her head one more time. “But that is not why I mentioned the picture.”

“Why’s that then?”

“One of your fillies is missing a leg.”

I deadpanned at her. “Oh really? I didn’t notice.”

She shot me an apologetic smile. “I didn’t mean it that way. What I was trying to say… I may be able to fix that.”

“As long as you make sure the Cells won’t harm Golden. I was planning on having Sol create a prosthetic once Golden was a year old, but actually giving her her leg back?” I raised my head and looked at her. “Someone’s turning into a doting aunt.”

Raising an eyebrow she looked at me with confusion clearly evident on her face. “How did you know I was going to propose that?” She groaned. “Nevermind. Are you sure you want me to do this? It will get her her leg back and just like me she could be able to create her own wings. I don’t know how being your child affected her mortality, but after receiving my cells she will be immortal without a doubt.”

“Light Sweet is the one that’s immortal, Golden isn’t. She’ll live for three hundred years without Jenova Cells, but...” I hesitated. I knew it was true anyways, I’d seen it every time I looked at her with my Number Vision. “The curse wasn’t fully removed and she’ll fight it for however long she wants to.”

“The curse won’t be a problem anymore. I told you that my cells can adapt to anything and cancel its effects. They just need enough time to do so. That’s why it wouldn’t work to just give you all some to protect you against curses. You would be dead by the time they could have adapted. But for Golden, it will work.”

I let that sink in. Not having to eventually tell her that she would be consumed by a curse before she could die of old age... Not having to comfort Light and... explain how we were immortal while her twin sister was not. I nodded. “Then at dusk, right after breakfast. We’ll go to the medical wing to do it properly. If she gains wings through this, so be it.”

Sephiroth nodded too. “Okay. But even if she grows wings, she won’t become an actual alicorn. It could lead to her being the only immortal without domain. At least I assume that all immortals in this universe have one.”

“Wyrms and dragons live as long as they want to, so they technically are immortals. I believe I heard an old wyrm legend once that the ice in the north and the south are actually slumbering giant wyrms piled on top of one another.”

“Interesting. Then that won’t be a problem.” She paused shortly. “Oh and one more thing. When I share my cells they kind of look really sinister and dangerous. Just so you know and won’t interfere.”

“I know, I’ve seen the movie. I’ll probably have to hold Golden to make sure nothing goes wrong,” I said, pulling the tub a bit closer so I could get my own spoonful.

The woman tilted her head in confusion. “What movie?”

“Advent Children. Some whackjob claimed he was Sephiroth reincarnated and took a bunch of children from a town and put his Jenova cells into a pool for them to drink, then later during a fight with Cloud he absorbed a head and became Sephiroth somehow. I don’t really remember the details since I only watched it once.”

Sephiroth shot to her feet and roared. “HE DID WHAT?! Is he insane?! The cells would corrupt the children!”

“They were corrupt anyways since the planet was... dying I think it was?” I shook my head. “They followed him willingly since he said that they would be stronger and would be able to fight off the disease the planet created because humans were tapping into its lifeforce.” My eyes widened as I suddenly remembered more. “Wait, no. The planet had tried to destroy the Jenova Cells, that’s what the disease was and the kids had the cells before Kadaj gave them more.”

Blinking a few times, she calmed down again and sighed. “Somehow I really wish I could remember.”

“I wish you could as well. I’d like to hear some of what your life was like back on earth.” I stood then, dusting off the seat of my pants. “But we should probably get to bed. It’s almost midday.”

The woman turned away and crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Sure, why not? But I don’t exactly have a room.”

I put my arm around her shoulders and gave her a slightly devious grin. “Well, you could join Nightmare. Or me, but my bed’s going to be a bit crowded.”

I felt her shudder at the mental image I certainly gave her right then and she asked carefully, “Crowded with what?”

I leaned closer to her ear, making her shudder again in dread at my answer and whispered, “Fillies.”

She remained silent for a bit, then smiled. “Your bed it is then.”

With that I teleported both of us to my room to give my three troublemakers a scolding.