“So where’s Lofty?” I asked as Nightmare sat down next to me.

The mare lifted her head to look at me. “Hm? Oh. He’s packing and settle a few things before we leave. He was a little miffed when I told him I would accept another life in my womb but eventually he accepted it. Seeing as there already is a life developing I just caused it to produce twins instead, so I wouldn’t have to create a new from scratch.”

“Neat. Just remember; twins are more difficult than just one.” I turned to look at Seph trying to draw her into the conversation, only to turn right back to Nightmare as Sephiroth was downing what looked to be an entire boar. “Want some of my special coffee to help you wake up?”

“That won’t be necessary. I completely lost the need to sleep and just engage in it to roam the dream realm.”

I shrugged. “Okay, I guess you wouldn’t be able to handle it anyways.” I turned to my meal, feeling her eyes boring into my head. Check.

“What do you mean, I wouldn’t be able to? I’m a few thousand years older than you.”

And mate. I looked back at her with an apologetic smile and said, “Well it’s just that a single ounce of my coffee would kill a normal pony. I wouldn’t dream of accidentally causing your heart to explode from the sheer amount of caffeine in it.”

Nightmare looked like she was about to demand proof when Sephiroth cut her off. “Max. No tempting others to try your poison. Could you even imagine what would happen if she went on a caffeine high? I really don’t want to witness that.”

“Aw, you just had to ruin my fun, didn’t you?” I asked as my smile turned into a genuine one. “Luna always asked me to make her coffee because I made it strong enough to float a horseshoe, so I wanted to see if Nightmare would like to take my recipe to your universe for her use.”

“Coffee wasn’t really a thing when we went into timeout. So I don’t know how she will react to it.”

Nightmare pouted and spoke up again. “You know that I’m right here, do you? And I do not appreciate it that you try to patronize me. I already tasted the brew and was sorely disappointed by the lack of any effect.”

I grinned and levitated my pot from where it stood between Sol and Mun’s places over to me. “You’ll definitely notice my brew.” I poured both of us a mug and let Nightmare take one in her magic. She took a large gulp defiantly and set the mug down afterwards. I was ready to break into a fit of giggles but was stopped dead in my tracks when a full blown dominatrix outfit appeared on her.

“Oh, now that’s something I could get used to~,” I said, letting my eyes travel up and down her body, while Sephiroth erupted into a violent coughing fit.

Nightmare herself just looked mildly surprised. “ ‘Tis a very peculiar effect. Is it temporary or can I keep it?”

“As far as I can tell it’s real and won’t poof away. I have no idea how to make it do only one outfit, though. As the brew is now it’s set on random unless your clothes are damaged, then it just repairs your clothes and makes you presentable.”

The mare grinned and let her new set of clothing disappear in a flash of blue. “Very good. I suppose Lofty will enjoy it, too. So how about we talk about that recipe?”

“Nope, no talking.” I lit a finger and placed it against my temple, trying to use the spell Nightmare had yesternight. I succeeded in copying the relevant memory and pulling it from my mind, but had no idea what to do next. Suddenly I felt some kind of pressure on my magic, nothing too intrusive, but more like someone was trying to guide it for me.

I let the Force guide me (yes, I’m making that reference) and observed how to complete the spell while it was done for me. Once the spell was complete a little brown crystal ball rested in the palm of my hand.

Sephiroth’s voice drew my attention towards her. “That almost looks like a materia.” Her stare bored into Nightmare. “You based that spell on them, didn’t you? And without asking me, too.”

The alicorn smiled smugly at the woman. “You mad?”

I chuckled, stopping Light from grabbing my mug as I handed the gem over to Nightmare. “Just remember, normal ponies can’t drink it at all. Keep it for you, Seph, and your sister once she’s purified. And whoever is the god of chaos. Who is he anyways?”

Nightmare’s expression darkened. “Chetyre. He’s a changeling king and a very twisted creature. Di-” She cut herself off to look at Sephiroth, worry evident in her eyes. But she continued after a reassuring nod from the woman. “Discord never really was sane, but in a foalish and funny kind of way he managed to downright enjoy his insanity. Chetyre, though, is a sadistic psychopath whose preference in ‘fun’ amounted to what was done to Sephiroth.”

He’s the one responsible for... that? Wait, she said he’s a- My eyes widened in shock as I realized the implications, my mind racing to connect the pieces as my mood dropped into what could only be described as an emotionless rage. Through gritted teeth I said, “That bitch is more twisted than I thought, pulling something like that.”

The silver haired woman was oblivious to what I had concluded, which showed in the confused worry in her tone. “Max? What’s up? Everything alright?”

“No. Not while that thing is alive.” I turned my gaze to meet hers. “Discord never betrayed you.”

She stared at me. “What…?”

“Think on it. What power does a changeling have? What did you tell me you were immune to?”

Her face turned expressionless and her eyes were cold enough to cause a shiver up my spine. When she answered, her tone was devoid of any emotion. “They are shapeshifters… masters of illusion and I’m immune to chaos magic. I’m… immune…” Her voice faltered and she just kept staring.

Wanting to confirm the last part I turned back to Nightmare and asked, “How long ago was Sephiroth imprisoned?”

The alicorn in question did not look at me as her eyes were fixed on Sephiroth. “She was imprisoned a few days before my own exile. I realized that my sister has gone mad and tried to subdue her. That led to my own banishment.”

“How long ago was that? How many years?”

“Honestly? I don’t know. I lost track of time but every source states it were a ‘thousand years’.”

I nodded and walked around the table to sit next to Seph, pulling her into a hug. “So Celestia and her little pet used at least two hundred years to hunt Discord down and Celestia had that changeling rip his heart out once they caught up to him.”

The woman in my arms did not reciprocate the hug but her hollow voice droned on. “She said he cursed my name with his dying breath… the… the changeling took on my appearance to make the kill.”

I nodded, silently wishing I could cast curses. “They made both of you think you betrayed each other, hoping that you would stay dead.”

“You know… it’s kind of funny. I’m actually relieved at that.”

I sighed and was about to respond when an explosion of fudge came from the end of the table and a voice followed, “Well, Maxie, I hope you’re aware that we have some visitors to our little pocket of the universe! I-... Why is there a dark version of Luna sitting at the table with Rainbow Dash in her mane?”

Both of the ‘visitors’ he mentioned stared at him unmoving. “Well, they look like they’ve just seen a ghost. I take it you know these two?”

“Yes, and to them they are looking at a ghost,” I said, somehow managing to heave an exasperated sigh.

“Huh. That just made this awkward. Weird feeling for me.”

Sephiroth broke out of my embrace and rushed out without so much as a glance back. Nightmare sighed and lifted Rainbow out of her mane to hold her in her forelegs, looking at Discord after that with sorrow in her eyes. “As you have stated yourself, we are visitors from another universe. And the ‘you’ in it died believing his love betrayed him.”

“Oh, yes just make me feel guilty about showing up,” he said with a roll of his eyes. “Why don’t you go check on her, Max? I’ll show myself out.”

The alicorn then added, “She was his lover. And was tricked into believing that she was bearing his child, only to lose it due to another faked betrayal.”

“Okay, who would be so heartless as to-”

“A changeling King,” I interrupted. “In order to gain a possessed Celestia’s approval and maybe even her bed.”

Discord fell silent for a few minutes, thinking about something. Finally in a soft voice he said, “Then give her this.” His claw glowed and a crystal solidified in it. “It’ll give her some chaos magic to go with the magic she currently has.”

I was about to say something but Nightmare beat me to it. “Sephiroth has no magic. At least that is what she tried to explain to me once when I asked her about her spells.”

“Yes, she has those, but she also has magic.”

“So, her Jenova Cells made her body start producing magic without her knowing?” I asked, curious as to if Discord could actually sense them.

He gave me a look like I was stupid and said, “I don’t know how she got the magic, all I know is that she has quite a bit. Almost as if she were an alicorn herself.”

Nightmare’s eyes widened at that. “What? Why can’t I feel her magic then? And on that note, if she is this strong without using magic…” She left the sentence unfinished obviously trying to imagine the same scenario, if her paling face was any indication.

I chuckled, drawing their attention again. “You know, I kinda feel bad for your sister, Nightmare. She’ll have to face Sephiroth with not only all her powers, but with the strength of an alicorn as well.” I hastily shoved the rest of my caramel-dipped jalapenos into my mouth, swallowing before standing up and picking up Golden. “I’ll see if I can get Seph calmed down so she can give Golden her leg back. Then I’m gonna teach her how to use magic.”

The black mare wasn’t reacting, seemingly lost in her imagination while idly cuddling with Rainbow.

Shrugging I turned to the door Seph ran through and started walking until Discord appeared in front of me and placed Light Sweet on my head and the chaos crystal in my hand. “Make sure you give her that.”

“I will.” With that Discord vanished and I went on my way.

I had a bit of trouble finding her, but once I thought a little I realized she would want to continue anyways with giving Golden a hoof, literally, and turned to the medical wing. I saw Sephiroth slumped against the far wall.

Slowly walking over, I felt Light fly off and watched as she nuzzled the apathetic woman, slowly coaxing a small smile to form on her face. “Hey, little one.”

“Seph!” Light said sternly, followed by some babbling and a hoof shaking in her face.

Perplexed she just blinked and seemed a bit lost.

I chuckled as I sat down next to them and said, “I think she’s getting on to you about being sad.”

Light made a chirruping noise and went back to nuzzling Sephiroth.

A genuine smile graced her lips and she returned the gesture. “Thanks, Light.”

I smiled at the sight before pulling out the crystal and holding it where Sephiroth could see it. “A little gift from this universe’s Discord.”

Sephiroth sighed. “You told him.” Examining the crystal her expression turned doubtful. “Would this even work on me? I’m immune to chaos magic after all.”

“Nightmare was the one to tell him, I just said who killed him. This isn’t a spell or anything, it’s just chaos magic. To go with that magic reserve you’re currently sitting on.”

She groaned. “I thought you already figured out that I have no magic. My abilities are non-magical in nature.”

“Discord said he could feel your powers and a reserve of magic big enough to classify you as an alicorn in you. My guess is you somehow fought an alicorn multiple times and your cells incorporated that magic in you.” I grabbed her hand and placed the crystal in it. “I’ll want you to give some of you blood to Golden before you absorb this, just to make sure she doesn’t get any chaos magic.”

“Well of course I fought an alicorn on more than one occasion. Nightmare and I were brawling all the time, just for fun. But I don’t see how that could gain me magic. All I got from Discord using his on me was an immunity to it.” Shaking her head, she rubbed at the bridge of her nose. “Whatever made you think I would give my blood to Golden? That would very likely kill her. Human blood isn’t really compatible with that of pony’s. I’m going to share my Jenova Cells with her. There is no need for blood in that process.”

“Uh, hello!” I pointed to myself. “Golden’s mother? Who’s also a human?”

She stared at me. “I honestly didn’t think of that.” A sigh escaped her. “Sorry. But it won’t change the fact that there is no blood involved in the process.”

“Okay, getting back to the earlier topic; I don’t know how, but Discord said you had magic and now that I’m actively looking for it, it does seem like-” I let my hand forcefully meet my forehead. “Okay, that’s a bit obvious now that I think about it.”

“Let’s just assume that you’re right, which I’m not doubting by the way, what would that change? I don’t know how to use magic and I haven’t really got the time to learn it.” Sephiroth stood up, holding Light in her arms. “Let’s do this. I’m not going to do nothing if I can help a child in need.”

“Actually, you do.” I raised a hand to my temple and tapped it, watching as Sephiroth mentally facepalmed. “Besides, I saw both chaos and regular magic in your reserve and it was far larger than what Discord said it was.”

With a resounding ‘thud’ Sephiroth’s back made contact with the wall again. Incredulous eyes searched my own. “Pardon? Care to run that by me again?”

“You have chaos magic mixed in with regular magic that feels almost exactly like Nightmare’s.”

The light in her eyes wavered and for a short moment it almost looked like she would lose consciousness. She kept staring, though her gaze told me that she unable to fully process what I had said.

I shook my head and waved my hand in front of her face. “Hello, Equestria to Sephiroth. Come in Sephiroth. ....Don’t make me teleport your clothes off of you.” Instantly I realized that something was wrong, because she didn’t even blink at the last statement. “Seph?”

Had she lost consciousness after all? To test just that, I leaned forward and kissed her causing a faint full body shiver. With a complacent smile I pulled away from her and caught onto her stammering. “I-I… There i-is… a p-part of him… left within m-me?”

My smile strengthened a bit and I set Golden next to her sister, leaning in to place my forehead against Sephiroth’s as the twins nuzzled her cheeks. “Yes, there is. It’s small, but I can feel it deep in your magic.” I wrapped my arms around her, pulling all three into a hug. “The rest of the chaos magic is an imitation, but there’s a spark that is truly his.”

“Damn you, Max. You’ll make me a softy if you keep up with all this.” I heard in her voice that it wasn’t a sincere complaint. The smile on her face and the tears in her eyes helped too.

I giggled and closed my eyes. “That’s what I try to do. I tease and cajole to get others to loosen up.”

Sephiroth sighed in mock exasperation. “Gosh. You really have to stop this. I don’t know how long I can prevent myself from falling for you if you don’t.”

I sighed, cursing the fact that she didn’t want to be polyamorous. “If only I met you before Lance. Or you didn’t mind joining the both of us.”

When I didn’t receive any sort of answer, I looked at her again, only to be greeted by a wide eyed stare and a massive blush. Snapping out of whatever daze she was in, she averted her gaze and muttered under her breath. “Curses…”

“... You’re actually thinking of it aren’t you?” I teased, a small, mischievous smile on my face.

“That’s your fault. Helping me all the time and showing me that Discord never did betray me, and that I even carry something from him inside me.” She pouted and shoved me aside with her shoulder, taking a few steps towards the door, before she remembered that she came here to do something. “Let’s just focus on healing Golden.”

I shook my head, clearing it of images of Lance and I taking her at the same time. “Right, we should get to that.”

The woman stayed silent for a moment before she spoke with a strange mix of caution, embarrassment and… was that a hint of excitement? “Say… Are you still nursing them?”

“Not really, according to the book on parenting foals are supposed to start to be weaned around four months old and fully by the time they’re six months old,” I said, not really following her thinking.

Her posture sagged slightly and her tone changed to one of disappointment. “Oh. Okay. We should commence then.” She walked over to one of the beds and lowered the fillies on it. Wherever that disappointment had come from, it was completely gone when she continued. “You said you wanted to hold her in the process.”

“Ye- oh, I get why you asked now; you wanted to try to feed Golden.” I smiled and picked up Golden, using magic to expose Seph’s right breast. “Go right ahead,” I said as I handed her the filly.

Her blush returned with a vengeance and she opened her mouth, probably to shout something at me, before she closed it again when she winced. Golden did not want to wait and had made her resentment about not receiving what she wanted painfully clear by biting into the very appendage that denied her her fill. Sephiroth shook her head, sighing, and then climbed on top of the bed herself, mindful not to disturb the filly still on it in the movement. She laid her unoccupied hand down on her exposed breast and closed her eyes in concentration. It took only a few seconds and when she took it away again her breast was visibly swollen. “I don’t really know how the cells will affect the taste, but I h-” She was interrupted when Golden latched onto her nipple again and started suckling eagerly. “Okay. Seems like it doesn’t bother her.”

Light then crawled onto Sephiroth’s lap and stood on her hind legs, resting her forehooves on Seph’s chest and pawing at her clothes. I giggled and said, “Looks like she wants some as well.”

She looked apologetically at Light. “I’m sorry, little one. I’m only helping your sister.”

“Mik,” Light said as she unleashed her pouty face, complete with sniffles.

It was obvious that she hit right in a soft spot, as Sephiroth’s resistance crumbled visibly. The woman directed a pleading look in my direction, that practically screamed ‘Help’.

I immediately started to find different things around the room interesting, whistling inconspicuously and trying to hide my smile. A defeated sigh sounded from the bed, causing me to observe out of the corner of my eye when Seph exposed her other breast and filled it like she had the other. She scooped Light up with her arm and lifted her so she could reach her prize.

I smiled and sat next to her on the bed, resisting the urge to put my arm around her shoulders. “So how will we know if it’s working?”

“That’s the easiest part. I made the cells dormant, only leaving them with enough activity to filter into her body instead of being digested in her stomach. When she is done drinking I’ll give her a bit of my own life, so the cells won’t run rampant and start to obey her will. Her leg should grow back when the cells cancelled the curse. But we will know if it worked in an instant, because her eyes will become like mine.”

“Ah, I was wondering if Nightmare’s eyes were natural earlier.”

“Yeah, I shared cells with her, but we had to cleanse them. It left her with the eyes, though.”

I lifted an eyebrow. “Care to elaborate?”

Sephiroth hesitated, watching the foals in silence for a bit. “They infected her and wreaked havoc in her body. Instead of combining with her own essence, they began to forcefully change it, consume it. So we had to destroy them. We figured out at a later point that my cells attack everything if it’s not part of me in some way. So by gifting a bit of my very life when I share them, they recognize the new host as their rightful owner.”

“Huh, that’s somewhat of a brutal self defense mechanism.”

“That’s the main reason I prevented them from coming anywhere near my womb when I believed I was pregnant. There should be no danger as a child of mine would always have a part of me in them, but I wanted to play it safe, you know?”

“Yeah.” I look at her, specifically where I felt the part of Discord. Shrugging it off I said, “Well, whoever catches you heart will have a bit of a surprise.”

Confused she turned her gaze towards me. “What do you mean?”

I gave her a smile and patted her shoulder. “You’ll know eventually.”

“Don’t play that game with me, Max. If you know something, spill it, or I’ll have Nightmare dig it out of your mind.”

“Trust me, you’ll want this surprise to be unspoiled. Besides, I can’t explain how it works without saying ‘it’s the Jenova Cells, don’t question it’.”

She rolled her eyes. “If it is something my cells do than I can find out for myself. But that has to wait.” Golden had stopped drinking in that very moment and Seph handed her to me. “I can’t burp her at the moment, with only one arm.”

Before I could even lift the filly to my shoulder though she burped and giggled, mostly because of Sephiroth’s unbelieving stare. I giggled and set Golden in the other woman’s lap. “Looks like she can do it herself now.”

“Huh okay.” She shrugged and began to gently stroke through Golden’s mane. “We have to wait for Light to finish, though. She shouldn’t be in close proximity when I split off some of my life for Golden.” Just as she said that, Light let go of her nipple and settled down in her arms with a yawn, little snores rising from her. The woman deadpanned. “Okay, now it’s just getting weird.” Shaking her head, she sighed. “Nevermind. Can you take her and go over there?” She pointed to a bed two rows from hers.

Nodding, I took Light from her arms and walked over to the bed, being careful not to wake her as I sat down on the edge to watch. Satisfied, the woman lifted Golden in her arms, but paused. “One more thing Max. This whole thing will be completely painless-” She looked like she bit her own tongue to keep from adding something, before continuing. “I would never allow any harm to come to your filly.”

Without leaving me the chance to question what she left out, she closed her eyes and almost instantly began to shake as if she was in extreme agony. Shit, I hadn’t realized it would hurt her.

There weren’t any signs of something happening at all. No aura, no shiny light effect, nothing, but I certainly felt something leave Sephiroth and seeping into Golden. All considered the action itself was pretty underwhelming, for what actually happened. A mere minute later the shaking stopped. The woman looked sickly pale, sweat covering every inch of her visible skin, she was shuddering as if she was cold and panting like she had lifted a whole mountain. Opening her eyes revealed a very exhausted look. Between pants she managed to force a few words. “Take… the children-” She coughed violently. “Away.”

I walked quickly over to them and picked up Golden, making sure she couldn’t see Sephiroth as she threw up blood onto the floor. “If I’d known it would do this to you, I wouldn’t have let you do it.”

After heaving a few times she chuckled weakly. “That’s why… I didn’t tell you.”

I sighed, levitating a towel and a trash can over. “And why I’m kicking myself for not realizing it sooner. I-” I froze as I felt Golden’s right forehoof started to bend and looked down at her. I watched in fascination as the leg grew to match her left one and her eyes slowly turned to match Sephiroth’s.

“Heh. There wasn’t much of the curse left if it’s been erased this fast.”

“That’s why it would’ve taken three centuries to get bad enough to kill her,” I said, shaken out of my stupor. “Besides, the doctors cut off what they thought was all of it.”

“Ahh… yes. That… makes sense…” There was an audible strain in her voice now and it slowly decreased in volume. “I’m glad… I’ll just… just rest a bit…” She fell silent and I looked over to see that she was fast asleep, her upper body hanging limply off the side of the bed.

I sighed and shook my head, setting the trash can down near the head of the bed as I moved Seph to lay fully on the bed. I laid Light on the bed next to her and went about cleaning up the mess on the floor.

Once I was done I noticed that Golden had fallen asleep sometime during that and let her join her sister. I kissed Seph’s forehead and whispered, “I’ll let you watch them for now.”

Silently walking to the door, I turned to look back once again and said, “I truly wish you’d join Lance and I. You need someone just as long-lived as yourself at your side.” With that I opened the door and left, only to run into a wall of black fluff.

I backed up a step and saw... well, Flufflepuff if she had originally been Nightmare.

“Is Sephiroth alright? I felt something hurt her and came as fast as possible.”

I snickered and said, “I can see. Yes, Seph is alright she just gave Golden some of her life force to stabilize the Jenova Cells.”

The mare smoothed her coat with a flash of blue magic and coughed into her hoof. “Ah, well. Seems like I overreacted a bit there.” Realization flew across her face. “She shared her cells? Wow, you must be very important to her then. After what happened with me, she swore to never do that again.”

I nodded and sighed. “If only she was open to sharing me with Lance, I’d probably be back there lying next to her.”

Nightmare blinked uncomprehendingly before her mouth formed into an understanding ‘O’. “This is about her monogamous nonsense? Don’t believe that for a single second. I’ve seen some of her dreams and even when she was in the relationship with Discord I could tell that her eyes lingered on certain parts of myself for too long. I think she just uses it as an excuse to keep her distance. Just look, or rather listen.” She gestured in the direction of the bed Seph lay in and I saw that her smiling mouth was moving.

I risked a teleport and appeared just a few feet away, barely catching what she was saying, “...don’t… that spell… want… child…”

I smiled and bent down to whisper in her ear, “Next time I won’t use it then. I’ll give you what you want after your world settles a bit. You know how to call me and you know there’s no way I’ll say no.”

Her smile grew a little before her mouth moved again and I froze. I didn’t quite catch what she said but it sounded an awful lot like-... My eyes widened a bit and I stood back up, a little shocked that Nightmare was correct. I walked slowly back to the door, trying to puzzle out how I could possibly get Lance and Seph to agree to forming a sort of herd.

Speaking of the black mare. She stood where I had left her with a genuine smile on her face. “I’m a little surprised that you didn’t notice. The amount of trust she has in you greatly exceeds what she ever had in me and I’d wager, even what she had for Discord. We never knew about the Materia, after all.” Then she frowned. “Makes me wonder how the being found out about it.”

Shaken out of my thoughts I said, “It probably felt them while she had them out of her and before it became part of Celestia. Went to investigate and saw her absorb them.”

Nodding her assent she looked at me with an impish smile. “I could swear I heard you say that you would be laying next to her, if she was open to the idea. So why are you leaving?”

“Because I have too much to think about now. Besides, I’d be a bad host if I ignored you in favor of Sephiroth.” I turned to lead Nightmare down the hall towards the practice field. “Plus, I’d like to let you look over the new recruits. Make sure my captain is doing his job right.”

“That’s very considerate of you and I won’t turn down an offer like that. The last time I had the chance to do something like this was way back, before my banishment.” She paused as her eyes fell on a random guard we came by, a thestral to be precise. “I’m curious. How did thestrals come to be in this universe?”

“As far as anyone can remember, they’ve always been the fourth tribe of ponies. But personally, I’d say there’s a fifth. There’s a reason the blood banks all over Equestria always need volunteers and get broken into every once in a while.”

“You are hinting at vampirism, am I correct? I don’t know of something like it in my universe but it is a rather sturdy rumor about the thestrals.” Giggling she traced her fangs with her tongue. “And about me.”

“Here it’s all ponies. Sure, Fluttershy has to drink half a pint every week, but I know at least one unicorn in my guard who visits the nearby blood bank and comes out with some packets in a cooler. It isn’t hard to stretch that to Earth ponies or even Pegasi.”

“I, personally, think that it’s nothing to scoff at. You can’t condemn a being for its dietary needs. Oh, hey. Can I entrust you with a little secret?”

“I don’t really know why, but no one cares if another pony just so happens to stick a straw into a blood bag and starts drinking right in the middle of a town. I’ve just put it down as there actually being a fifth tribe that grew large enough to get noticed.” I turned a corner and continued, “Sure, might be better than the one I was going to tell you.”

Nightmare used her wings to lift off a bit, so that she could clap her hooves. “An exchange of secrets then. I’ll start.” She touched down again and cleared her throat. “The thestrals in my universe are actually all descended from me. And Sephiroth is the one to blame for their eyes, by the way. Before the failed attempt to share her cells with me, thestrals could only be identified by their wings.”

“That’s... not really a secret. The universe where I was born had a show and that show had fans that made lots of stories. The show revolved around Twilight and her friends showing their adventures, but with your initial appearance and then your second one for Nightmare Night with your guards, everyone got to thinking. One fan started saying that the guards were somehow related to you and that gave way to others taking it further and saying they were your children. Long story short: I already knew that.”

The mare looked downright shocked. “You could catch glimpses of an Equestria in your world? Wait that’s not important right now. How could anyone know? I did everything to ensure it would stay a secret.”

“I don’t know if we can see into other universes, but it was just a theory back there that someone took and made a story about. Then that one had several variations made, such as the thestrals actually being pegasi gifted part of your power, or you being the mother of the first and then slowly they grew in number.”

“As my descendants they do have a bit of my power in them. I never figured out why there aren’t any thestral unicorns or earth ponies, though. Even the most distant relatives always sire thestrals with wings.” She sighed and her ears lowered a little. “Seeing as that wasn’t a secret then, I don’t deserve hearing yours.”

“To you it was a secret, so I’m not going to cheat you out of mine. Sephiroth has chaos magic along with something that could pass as your magic at a glance.” I held up a hand to stop her from interrupting. “It isn’t from the crystal Discord gave her, it’s from way back when Discord was still alive in your universe and her reserve isn’t as big as Discord claimed it was. It was several times bigger.”

It took a few seconds but she seemed to reach a conclusion. “So she has magic from both, Discord and me. That sounds like her cells have not only cancelled it but made it her own.”

“Exactly what Seph and I thought. But that isn’t the secret, it’s just how I found out about the secret. You know how their child was lost, right?” I waited until she gave a nod and continued, “Well, as far as anyone can tell that child is gone, but while I was feeling around in her magic I noticed a sliver of Discord’s actual magic hidden in her.”

Nightmare stared thunderstruck. “But… for that to be possible…” She cut herself off and looked like she was going to be sick. “Oh, stars. She- she really was pregnant with his child!”

I nodded solemnly. “My thought is that the changeling’s magic did kill the child, but didn’t get rid of the body that was left behind so Seph’s cells broke it down and are waiting for another child to be created.”

“But that means she actually can have his child, still.” Nightmare stopped abruptly and turned around. “We have to tell her.”

I teleported into her path and said, “No, we can’t. Not yet.”

She halted again and huffed. “And why would that be? She has the right to know.”

“Do you want this to be on her mind distracting her while she tries to release your sister? Do you want her to spend years hiding if she asks me to actually get her pregnant? I won’t say no to her. Not since I know this.”

The mare looked like she contemplated walking right through me for a moment before sighing and resuming our original path. “Fine. But I won’t lie to her if she ever thinks of asking how she could have a part of him inside her.”

I caught up to her and matched her pace. “I wouldn’t ask you to anyways.”

After a minute or so her mood suddenly lightened again. “It is strangely befitting, if you think about it. Discord’s child will be having three full blown parents. How many foals can claim something like that?”

“None as far as I can think,” I said as I opened the door in front of us, only to duck as a recruit flew by. “Looks like someone challenged Sombra again.”

A familiar looking, unnatural black scythe slammed into the ground next to me and I felt Nightmare’s powers flare. “SOMBRA?!”

The stallion in question stuck his head in the door and asked, “Someone call my name?”

For a moment I thought that the alicorn was going to chop off his head instantly, but her weapon remained embedded into the ground, while she growled. She was forcing herself to hold still visibly and she mumbled to herself. “It’s not him. I’m not in my universe. Calm down.”

Sombra looked between me and the black alicorn, obviously confused until he realized something. “Oh, a visitor from a different universe. Well, come on out. I was just about to have the other recruits do a bit of sparring.”

A really creepy grin spread across the mare’s face. “Sparring, you say?” With no resistance whatsoever her scythe slid out of the ground and she rested it on her back. “Would you be interested in a little demonstration of a real fight to show those little wimps how it is done?”

Sombra’s eyes lit at the promise of a true test, but shook his head. “Last time I fought with an alicorn it got my soul trapped in ice for a thousand years.”

Nightmare chuckled. “I assure you, I never trapped anyone in ice.” She lifted her weapon again and brought the blade to her face, licking it mockingly. “I can taste the blood of my universe’s Sombra still on my scythe.”

He shook his head again and sighed. “I knew my lust for battle would be my end. Very well, but what about a bit of a wager?”

“I’m all ears.”

“I pride myself on my skill with a scythe and once even melted the weapons of my foes into a few. If I win, you give me yours and I let you choose one from my collection.”

“And if I win?”

“I give you my entire collection.”

The mare grinned again. “I accept. And in that case you should know that this weapon-” She nudged her scythe. “Is forged from the moon’s very shadow. And is able to cut through them due to that. Just so you don’t try to evade my blows by turning into a shadow. The other Sombra made that mistake and paid for it.”

He chuckled, opening the doors fully and turning around. “Recruits! You have a special treat tonight. A real sparring match between a god and an immortal unicorn made of shadows.”

Glancing around, I noticed that the off duty guards were also arranged around the yard from watching the previous match, almost completely filling all but the circle in the middle.

Just then the unnaturally black blade made contact with his neck gently, almost if hugging him from behind, while Nightmare whispered into his ear, barely loud enough for me to hear. “Her name is Lilith, the Black Moon.”

“Nice to make the acquaintance, I’ll be sure to use her whenever I go into battle,” Sombra said, not a trace of fear in his voice.

She chuckled. “So full of yourself. You think you’ve won already.” The blade left his neck and the alicorn trotted past him into the ring. “I have to change that.”

Sombra stepped into the ring and moved to the opposite side of Nightmare. “I made a single mistake with Celestia, I won’t do the same here.” His black scythe formed in a flash of purple and black fire, humming with energy.

Nightmare didn’t answer to that and inclined her head instead to hint a bow, readying her weapon.

In a bout of inspiration I shouted, “Bets! Place your bets here! Ten to one for Sombra, fifteen to one for Nightmare!”

Almost everyone in the yard rushed over, placing small bags of bits into two piles. I marked both with a sign each, the one designated ‘sombra’ being the smaller one.

The alicorn didn’t move a muscle, nothing about her showing any build in power. In fact there was a distinct lack of anything that usually flowed off the mare. It wasn’t even like she was not there but that literally nothing was where she stood.

Once the last guard placed his bet I said, “Okay, you may start when you’re ready.”

They both stood there motionless for a few minutes, judging each other to see what they would do. Finally, Sombra sprung into action, spinning his scythe around him as he blasted forwards. His front right hoof hit the ground in the middle of the ring and he spun, his scythe attaching somehow to his tail and slicing through the air towards Nightmare.

Without so much as a twitch her body just seemed to ‘flow’ into action, as if she never actually stood still at all. But all she did was block the incoming blow with her own scythe, the weapon not budging in the slightest. “You are wasting too much energy on unnecessary movements.”

Sombra spun the rest of the way around to face her, his scythe sliding off of hers and resting on his back. “Impressive, I thought you wouldn’t notice I’ve grown rusty with nothing but recruits to fight.” He vanished, only to appear to her right with his weapon swinging towards her stomach.

She didn’t block his attack this time, instead she deflected it and ultimately redirected his weapon into the ground. In one fluid movement her own circled around his and swung in the direction of his neck.

He ducked under the swing and slid forward, using his hind leg to kick his scythe up and over Nightmare. As he slid under her he turned over and kicked out with all four of his hooves, lifting her up into the path of his weapon.

His blow connected with a resounding ‘thud’ but he misjudged how far that would launch her, so she shot by his weapon before it could reach her. She caught herself in mid air and scratched at her chest, where his hooves had hit her. “Formidable. I did not see that coming.”

“Had a long battle with Celestia and noticed that she didn’t protect her underside,” Sombra said, letting his weapon land beside him before taking it in his forehooves. “Too bad you went straight up instead of out of the ring.”

For the first time since the battle started an emotion flashed across Nightmare’s face, namely worry. One of her hooves laid itself on her abdomen and she nodded. “What an oversight on my part.” She descended down to the ground and stuck the handle of her scythe into the ground, making it stand on its own. “I concede defeat.”

Sombra turned to me, anger on his face. “She’s pregnant?!”

I held up my hands and said, “I have no control over what she does. Besides, Murphy said there wouldn’t be any problems with her pregnancy.”

“Do not blame Max. I should never have challenged you in the first place.” She began to trot towards me, leaving her scythe behind.

He looked toward the discarded weapon, then back to Nightmare and said, “You still have to pick one from my collection, you know.” He let his scythe burst into flames again and walked towards his prize.

The mare paused in her step and looked over her shoulder. “You would have to show your collection to me if I am to chose one.”

He smiled as his magic picked up her scythe and floated it towards her. “I believe I already know which one you would pick.”

“I’m not this shallow that I would deny you your prize.” Then she shook her head and returned his smile. “But I guess you would rather earn it in a real fight.”

He nodded and trotted over. “Winning on a technicality isn’t how I’d imagine beating an alicorn, but at least my streak of three thousand wins isn’t broken.”

She took her scythe from him a second before it just ceased to exist. “I’ll be honored to be the one to break it then.” With a grin she winked. “But I’ll forge another, just to be sure.”

Sombra chuckled and stuck out his hoof. “I’ll look forward to that battle then, and do my best to not degrade further.”

Without hesitation the mare grabbed his hoof and pulled the surprised stallion into a hug. “You’re alright, Sombra. I think I like you.”

Sombra quickly shook off his surprise and returned the hug. “You are unusually fluffy,” He commented a few seconds later.

She laughed and let go of him. “I get that a lot for some reason. My fur hasn’t changed in millennia.” After breaking the hug she gained a thoughtful expression. “Now that I think about it, I wonder if crafting a scythe out of the shadow of a new moon would affect its properties. Just consider the possibilities. I have to try the shadow of an eclipse, too. Oh and a blue moon. AND a red moon.” Giggling in excitement she resumed her walk towards me.

“All those who bet on Sombra, come claim your winnings,” I called, pulling my little calculator out of my bag. I turned to Nightmare. “The pile that bet on you is yours.”

The mare just shook her head. “Distribute it under the winners. Money is something I already have in abundance.” She sat down by my side and sighed. “I can’t believe I was engaging in combat willingly. What did I even think?”

“Well, his collection is pretty sizable, plus I doubt you’ve worked off all the anger of fighting the one from your universe,” I said as I gave each guard their winnings. “It’s understandable that you would want to try to kill him when you saw him.”

“No. I should have fled instead of fight. I’m responsible for more than my own life at the moment.” Shaking her head again she let the matter drop. “Nevermind. We should check up on Sephiroth. With our intent completed, we should return to our universe.”

“Yeah. Oh, before I forget.” I summoned a blank invite and a quill. After a few seconds of writing I handed the invitation to her and said, “There, this is good for you and Lofty to each bring a guest along with your foals.”

She took it and smiled. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Just remember, it’s going to be a wedding. You might want to come with Seph when I summon her in about two weeks.” I turned back to the guards, resuming handing out winnings.

“Two weeks? Well I sure do hope that we are able to free my sister until then. I think I’ll invite her along as my guest.” A small smile graced her lips. “That would be wonderful.”

“What? No, I’m inviting her then to get her a dress, the actual wedding is three months away.”

“But why would you want me to accompany Sephiroth then?”

“So you could have a dress made as well, or to just hang out and meet Lance. I was going to have Seph meet Lance and my foals then and try to compare the time difference between our universes.”

The mare nodded. “She informed me that there could be such a diversion. But that would make it imp-” She bit her own tongue. “...improbable to know when you summon her. I won’t be around her all the time.”

“I’ll make sure to make the summon light then, so she can have time to find you.” I handed the last guard their winnings and turned to Nightmare. “Let’s go check on Seph.”

Getting to her four hooves again, she turned to the door we came through. “Yes, let us do that.”

As we walked back through the doors Sombra dismissed the recruits for breakfast and joined us.