“What’s a Shinra soldier doing here?” I demanded, hand on the hilt of my blade.

“Peace,” he said, holding his hands up, his one good eye locked to mine. The buffalo tensed, and I had a distinct feeling it was going to be me against all of them if a fight actually broke out. They didn’t know what Shinra was like. If they understood… “This was just a disguise. It was supposed to help me sneak onto a Shinra cargo ship out of Junon, but well… here it’s not much a disguise but it’s the only clothing I have on me. I’ll take it off if it upsets you that much.”

“A disguise?” I questioned, lowering my blade a few inches.

He nodded. “I got most of it from breaking into lockers in the port garrison, but I had to buy the last piece from a rather disreputable looking merchant in a back ally. The helmet, there. I assumed it was busted or something, but it would pass to make me look like I belonged there. But when I put it on. Well, I suddenly found myself on this world instead of Gaia, and well. I wasn’t exactly a man before this happened.”

My sword tip touched the ground. “That’s a… distressingly familiar story.”

“You must be Cloud Strife,” he said. My sword was back at his head height, which was about my waist since he was seated and I was still standing. He raised his hands placatingly again. “I was with AVALANCHE back on Gaia, joined shortly after you went missing. Aeris and Tifa had a lot of nice things to say about you. Barret… well, you know how colorful his language can be. They’ve all been wondering what happened to you.”

I was convinced he wasn’t a Shinra trooper now. I wouldn’t put it past a Turk to come up with such a well researched lie but it would be odd for them to dress in any kind of Shinra uniform. If they weren’t wearing a nice suit they’d chose something to put me at ease, not on guard. I sheathed my sword, deciding to lend him at least that much trust. “Well now you know. First hand as it were.”

“Come, have a seat. You came to talk to the buffalo didn’t you? Though we should finish our introductions. I am Nanaki,” he said. Or should I think of it as ‘she’? I had kind of gotten used to the fact that I was a woman now, but if he had just recently transformed… No. He’s a he now. I could already see Pinkie updating my shipping chart to give him a prominent spot.

“Does anyone have a blank piece of construction paper?” the pink mare inquired. “I need to start a whole new grid for Nanaki.”

I groaned a bit as Nanaki continued. “This is Chief Thunderhooves, leader of the buffalo tribe. And his daughter, Little Strongheart.”

“I am Cloud Strife, leader of the Elements of Harmony. These are two of my subordinates, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie,” I said, pointing each out. “We’re charged with protecting Equestria from all threats. Princess Celestia asked us to come look into the tensions between your people and the ponies here. I admit, I didn’t expect to be thrust into the middle of it before we even arrived at Appleloosa.”

“Please accept our sincere apologies for that. We didn’t mean to get you involved. We just wanted the tree,” Little Stoutheart said.

“That tree was a personal gift from one of my other subordinates to her family here. What do you need it for? I’m sure if you need trees we can-” I began.

“We don’t need trees!” the chief bellowed. “We need there to not be trees!”

“Chief, calm yourself, and explain the situation. She’ll listen,” Nanaki said.

“The settler ponies have overtaken the land and have planted an orchard all over it!” Little Stoutheart explained. “Because of their thoughtlessness, we can no longer run over our traditional stampeding grounds.”

“We have a long and winding stampeding trail that we have run upon for many generations,” Chief Thunderhooves added. “My father stampeded upon these grounds, and his father before him, and his father before him, and his father before him, and his father before him, and–”

“I think they get the idea, chief,” his daughter interrupted.

“Hmph. It is a sacred tradition to run the path every year. But this year, these... settler ponies, these... Appleloosans!,” he said, emphasizing the last bit with a couple of dramatic snorts.

"They planted apple trees all over it without asking our permission,” his daughter finished for him.

“Well that's not very nice. Right, Rainbow Dash?” Pinkie asked her friend.

“Hmph,” Rainbow said, looking away annoyed.

“The settlers need those apple trees to live,” I pointed out.

“So that justifies taking the buffalo’s land?” Nanaki asked, with a surprising burst of fierceness. “Don’t turn Equestria into the next Shinra.”

“Equestria’s nothing like Shinra,” I retorted. “But the settlers do have needs. So do the buffalo. We need to talk to the Appleloosans. Tomorrow, come with me to the town. I’ll insist they hear you out. But you have to hear them out as well.”

“I will listen to them, but we must have our stampede grounds cleared,” the Chief said.

With the official meeting concluded, the Elements and I sat down a ways from the buffalo. “Thoughts?” I asked them.

“It’s not fair what those ponies did to the buffalo. They were here first!” Rainbow Dash said. Though for some reason she grabbed onto my arm possessively when she did.

“You’re right, but the ponies need food as well. Maybe they could import it all by train, but that seems costly, inefficient, and a bit too much risk of something going wrong and leading to them all starving,” I said. “I’m sure they have to bring enough in by train as it is. But maybe there’s a way to arrange the trees to serve both needs. What do you think Pinkie?”

“I think I’m starving to death,” she said dramatically falling over and punctuating the scene with a loud belly grumble.

“Here,” Little Strongheart said, coming over and offering Pinkie Pie a bowl of some kind of vaguely green mush. Nanaki followed her over, offering a couple bowls of the same to Rainbow Dash and I.

I sniffed at it and frowned. “I know,” Nanaki said. “It’s not much of an offering for a predator, is it? But then humans are omnivores, we can survive on even the likes of this, right?”

I accepted the bowl and slowly tried a mouthful. It was about as awful as it smelled but I got it down. “Last time I ate this well I was wearing a uniform just like what you’ve got on,” I commented.

“I know, right?” Pinkie Pie asked, enthusiastically, apparently immune to sarcasm. She’d already finished her bowl, by shoving her face in it, and was now accepting Rainbow Dash’s offering of her own bowl.

Nanaki laughed. “Well, I got what you meant at least. And it’s nice of you to phrase it that way.”

“You don’t like our food,” Little Strongheart said, looking a bit downcast.

“It took me long enough to get used to pony food, and there are still some things I can’t even think of eating without getting queasy,” I told her. “But I’m quite happy you offered. Did you give Nanaki those feathers and such?”

“No, those are a part of my own heritage,” Nanaki said. “I come from a small tribe that lives in Cosmo Canyon. Perhaps you’ve heard of it? People used to come from all over Gaia to learn more about the planet there.”

“Really? I’m afraid I hadn’t heard of it,” I confessed. “I come from a small town called Nibelheim. No one ever went there at all, really. And then Sephiroth burned it down.”

“Oh… I’m so sorry,” Little Strongheart said.

“It’s not your fault,” I countered.

“Tifa mentioned it to me as well, when we were discussing what little we knew of Sephiroth,” Nanaki said. “We were trying to follow his trail of destruction when this happened.” He gestured toward the helmet still sitting by the fire.

“What? Sephiroth’s dead. I threw him into the lifestream myself,” I said.

“Really? Well, it seems like that wasn’t enough,” Nanaki said. “Or maybe Hojo found some way to bring him back to life or the like. Who knows what all that lunatic was up to.”

“You know of Hojo?” I inquired.

Nanaki hesitated a moment before taking off the shirt of his uniform. His features were quite chiseled, the chest of a warrior if I ever saw one. Shapely pectorals with obvious strength, washboard abs that showed he burned through every calorie he took in. While his face was scarred, a slashmark through one eye leaving him blind on one side, his chest and belly were unblemished.

Eventually I realized he was trying to show me something on his lean, shapely left arm. A tattoo: “XIII”. “I was experimented on personally by Hojo. I don’t actually know what he did to me, or if he just took samples for other projects. He only ever referred to me as ‘Red Thirteen’. He couldn’t be bothered to learn my name, much less actually tell me what he was doing.”

“He experimented on me as well,” I said. “Gave me pretty severe Mako poisoning before my friend and I could escape. Though in the end he, Zach… didn’t quite make it back to Midgar.”

Not bothering to put his shirt back on, he sat next to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. It felt so nice… fit just right. “You’ve had a rough life. But there’s always good things to look forward to, if you’re brave enough to face your challenges. That’s what grandpa used to tell me, anyways.”

“Just hold still, just like that,” Pinkie said, as she furiously scribbled, apparently trying to draw the scene. That was enough to get us to embarrassedly break apart, and Nanaki started putting his shirt back on.

“We should get some sleep… head to Appleloosa early tomorrow to talk with the ponies there. I’m really hoping we can find a compromise and settle things peacefully,” I suggested.

“And if we can’t?” Nanaki inquired.

I looked at the ground for a moment, facing the possibility in my mind. “Don’t let that happen,” I finally said.

“That’s all you have to-” he began.

“I’m here on behest of the crown. If I can at all solve this issue peacefully, I will. If the buffalo attempt to attack the ponies, I will stop them. And no one will be happy with that outcome. If you care about them, you’ll keep them from resorting to violence,” I said. “Equestria isn’t Shinra. Princess Celestia cares about the needs of other peoples as well as her own ponies. We will compromise, and find a path that works for everyone, pony and buffalo.”

“A path, huh?” Nanaki said, furrow his brow in thought a bit. “I’ll do what I can.” He stood up and looked me dead in the eye, and for the first time I could see the steel of a warrior in him. I met his eyes and neither of us flinched as we held our gaze for a minute before he finally said “I don’t want to meet you on the field of battle.” With that, he left to bed down in another corner.

“It won’t come to hurting ponies,” Little Strongheart assured. “Trees, on the other hand…”

“These things escalate very quickly, without anyone making an intentional decision to take things farther,” I countered. “Be prepared to die for your cause before you start knocking over trees. Or stealing train cars. Besides… do you really think starvation is a better way to go?” I closed my eyes and sighed. “I’m not here to threaten you into doing things our way. I’m sorry if I come off that way. I don’t want to meet you on the field of battle either. The last thing I need is to add you to the voices haunting my dreams.”

“I understand,” she said before taking her own leave.

Finally Pinkie Pie grabbed my face. She looked like she was about to explode from the breath she’d been holding waiting to get me to herself. “Did you see that look you two shared! Of course you did, at least his half, as you were staring straight into his eyes! Maybe I should have put a mirror next to his face so you could see your half too? Anyways! That was incredible. It has to be destiny! True love at first sight!”

“Um, Pinkie… I don’t think that’s what kind of look it was,” Rainbow Dash cut in. “I mean, she’s definitely never looked at me like that,” the pegasus added with a shudder.

“Of course not! You’re not her destined special somepony, just a fling she had along the way,” Pinkie Pie said carelessly.

Rainbow looked back at her and looked about to punch her in the face, then her eyes teared up. “I’m sleeping on a cloud,” she blurted out before jetting off into the sky to find her perch.

“Pinkie,” I said. “That look wasn’t true love. That was Nanaki and I informing one another that if things do come to blows between the ponies and the buffalo, they will come to blows between the two of us, and there’s a good chance one of us will die from it.”

Pinkie took a moment to internalize that message, and when she did she seemed to visibly deflate, her hair falling from its usual curls to hanging straight and flat. I finally turned from her and settled in to fall asleep. But once I did I heard her say quietly, in a voice very unlike her usual cheerful self, “I need to prepare.” Her hoofsteps were soft, but I could tell she was leaving.

We had made it most of the way across the wasteland between the buffalo's encampment and the edge of the town when we ran into the other Elements, already on their way to find us with one of the townsfolk on tow.

“Cloud! And who's that with you. Another human?!” Twilight greeted, when Nanaki and I came into view over a low rise, our height bringing us into sight before the rest of our group.

“This is Nanaki. And this is Little Braveheart. They've come to discuss with the Appleloosans why they should move the apple trees,” I introduced.

“That's funny, because my cousin Braeburn was just coming to explain why the buffalo should let the apple trees stay,” Applejack countered.

Little Strongheart and Braeburn looked interested in talking, and each said something but louder ponies spoke over them drowning them out, as Rainbow jumped in to argue the buffalo's case.

“The land is theirs! You planted the trees not knowing that. Honest mistake. Now, you just gotta move 'em, that's all,” the weathermare said.

“They busted their rumps here! An' now they're supposed ta bust their rumps again, just 'cause some buffalo won't stampede someplace else?” Applejack accused.

The two bickered for a bit longer while the two actual representatives looked helpless, unable to get a word in. Nanaki gave me an amused look. I let them talk a little longer before cutting in. “Enough!” That didn't seem to be enough to get through their focus on the argument so I tried again. “Attention!”

The four pony Element Bearers present immediately formed into a line before me, posture stiff, saluting with one hoof. There was an odd space left open for Pinkie Pie, reminding everyone she was missing.

“Hey, where is Pinkie Pie?” Twilight inquired.

“She said she had to prepare and snuck off last night,” I said. “Knowing her, there's some joke or prank she has in mind. Let's just hope it doesn't go horribly awry. Now… Little Strongheart, Braeburn. I want you to take turns explaining to each other why you want the trees moved or not moved. Then start proposing compromises. Little Strongheart, will you go first?”

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to speak, but I silenced her with a look. When Braeburn got his turn to speak, I did the same to Applejack. Both struggled to keep their peace, but managed it.

The talks went on for about half an hour before it got bogged down. Crowds were starting to gather on either side of us, buffalo closing to support Little Strongheart, while townsponies came to back up Braeburn.

“You're really not going to suggest it?” Nanaki asked me.

“Suggest what?” I asked.

“You pointed out the solution last night,” Nanaki said. He then approached the two representatives. “Little Strongheart, when your people stampede, is the herd miles wide?”

“No… of course not. We run… about ten abreast at the widest. But why…?”

“So if the path was cleared, say… twenty buffalo wide, perhaps a bit wider, with trees on either side beyond that, you would be able to stampede again, right?” Nanaki prompted.

“I suppose so,” she said hesitantly, looking back to her people to see what they thought of the idea.

“And Braeburn, if your people cleared a path like that, and moved those trees to the outside, you would still be able to feed yourselves and your… foals, was it?” Nanaki said, turning to the ponies.

“I reckon we could,” Braeburn admitted. He looked back to the others. “It’d be a fair bit of work, but I reckon we could do it. Might even make harvest a bit easier, having a path to take the apple carts in and out of the orchard.”

Both sides started murmuring, discussing the merits of the idea. It sounded perfect to me. “My idea?” I asked Nanaki when he was no longer the center of attention.

“We will compromise, and find a path that works for everyone, pony and buffalo,” he quoted with a grin. “I thought you were just waiting for them to come up with it on their own.”

“Do you think they'll go for it?” I asked, trying to judge the mood of the two sides.

“The path must follow our ancestral trail,” Chief Thunderhooves declared, his voice carrying over the din.

“Now wait an apple-picking minute,” a pony with a metal star on his vest countered just as forcefully. “That trail was terribly winding and long, and it'd take forever to move that many trees. And the path would hardly be useful to us, with it taking so long to traverse it.”

“Well your trees aren't useful to us. Remove them from our path by tomorrow, or we will stampede anyways and flatten them… and your town!” Chief demanded.

I instinctively started to reach for my sword, moving to intervene, when a collective gasp went out from pony and buffalo alike. Turning my head, I saw the reason.

Pinkie had her cannon aimed straight at Chief’s face, ready to fire. “Open your big mouth again, Chief,” she said.

“Now, Pinkie, I’m sure we can handle this more peacefully than-” Rainbow tried to cut in.

The Chief paused, daunted for a moment before he became angry instead. He opened his mouth to bellow out a warcry, and Pinkie immediately fired her cannon. A pie flew out, smashing directly into the Chief's face.

He bellowed again in rage, and the buffalo surged forward to attack. I moved to intercept, blocking a charging buffalo's horns with my sword. The other Elements moved as well, stopping them short before they could get to the more vulnerable townsfolk.

Nanaki looked torn, but held back for the moment, watching the battle closely. We were sticking to defensive maneuvers thus far, aside from the pie attack, and perhaps that kept him from committing himself to joining the buffalo's attack.

“Stop!” a voice rang out surprising everyone. It was Chief Thundeehooves. I saw a swath of the pie had been licked clean from his face, and his daughter was licking some of the pie off his hoof. “This stuff is pretty good. You made it from the apples? We will allow you to make a shorter trail… in exchange for annual tribute… of these…”

“Apple pies,” Pinkie supplied. “Want another one?”

“Perhaps just… hand it over, Pinkie?” I suggested.

“Came to see us off?” I asked Nanaki, as I approached the train station the next morning, where he stood waiting for us.

“No. Pinkie Pie bought me a ticket to Ponyville. Even promised me a welcome party. She says she wants to see how her new shipping grid plays out, whatever that means, “ he said with a shrug.

“It means she is taking an unhealthy interest in your romantic life, but at least she generally won't try to force it to go one way or the other,” I explained. “But I thought you were staying with the buffalo.”

“They're good people, but they aren't my people. If I go with you and you find a way back to Gaia, I can come along. And if you don't… it's not a bad idea for the only man in the world to stay close to the only woman in the world, regardless of whether shipping grids come into play,” he said.

I blushed but tried to keep calm. “Glad to have you along.”