Author's Note

Cross-over With: Istaran
Story: Friendship Materia
Big thanks to Istaran for agreeing to do this cross-over, I wish him the best of luck in continuing his story.

Third Customer: Pinkie Diana Pie The Elder

"Travis has grown quite strong from what I can sense from this Soul Edge. So far of the three customers you've had, I can see I've done some good for them," The merchant said before patting Therin on the back. "Therin, I've decided that you should be allowed to offer those newest items to other Displaced. For now, you've done well, I believe you should take a break, I'll be calling on you when I need you later," the merchant smiled. Therin returnd the smile before leaving.

Therin was enjoying this job so far and it had taken him a while to get used to the weirdness that was beyond what he had witnessed in his life. Therin reached over and pulls up his new tail, the new appendage had gaining more and more feeling where he could practically move it on his own. "I need to find a way to make this thing feel more comfortable at night..." he commented.

Suddenly, Therin felt a pull on the core of his being, like the pull of a summon. Something was wrong as he didn't sense or hear it before hand. Before the salesmen could react, there was an unforeseen force pulling him across the Void.

There was a heady moment of anticipation, the brief time that felt like anything could happen or nothing at all. And then, Therin appeared in another room, briefcase in hand, prepared to do business. Utterly unprepared for the noisy explosion of confetti that immediately rained down upon him.

The businessman blinked in confusion by this strange form of summoning. He didn’t hear any sound of writing, no call of his name was spoken, not even the sound of anyone reading his contract was ushered to his ears. “Well… This is different.” He commented as he reached up to wipe the confetti from his glasses. All around him was cake frosting spread out in the form of a pentagon, the man couldn't help but chuckle at the irony of it all of how he was summoned. Upon further inspection, he saw on the far side a second circle containing a lengthy and intricate contract. It was a verbatim copy of one that existed in various places well beyond this particular Equestria, reproduced in crayon on construction paper, with copious glitter. There was no way it could possible work in the eyes of others, but in eyes of Therin based on his teachings from his boss, the salesman knew that Chaos magic was rather particular about that sort of thing.

“Welcome to Equestria!” the pink one said, her hair suddenly popping into curliness, ejecting a plated slice of cake complete with fork in a perfect trajectory for Therin to easily catch it, while she blew on a party noise maker. “Okay, now, back to business,” she said, her mood shifting just as suddenly to a more somber one, with her hair sliding back into a straight limp. “I need to buy a few things, and you’re one of the few being who travel enough to get them for me.”
Therin did catch it although more in surprise than actually predicting it.

“Business is a must, although i’m curious as to how you managed to summon me without signing my contract.” he said as he took hold of the fork to sample the cake that had been given to him.

“I did sign it though,” the pony said. “it just… wasn’t your contract until after the fact. It’s still valid though. Doing things in a creative order doesn’t invalidate contract magic.” She picked the contract up, wrecking the frosting pentagram circle in the process with her hooves, now that it didn’t matter. Flipping to the end, he could see that it was clearly signed “Pinkamena Diane Pie the elder”

There was a moment of silence as the blacksuited man continued to eat his cake. He appeared to be having some sort of mental conversation, although with whom only Therin knew. “Hmm, well Miss Pie, despite doing it different, it appears my boss approves of it. What is it that you’re looking for? It feels a little strange to not sell to another Displaced.” he commented.

“Three things, the last of which is a gift for a Displaced, if that helps any,” Pinkamena said. “I want a Fenrir motorcycle and a set of Fusion Blades. Button?”

The colt pulled a pair of screen captures from Advent Children from his saddle bags, laying them out. The first showed Cloud Strife, as a bit older and decidedly more masculine than they knew him, sitting astride a motorcycle. Its sides were fanned out, revealing a half dozen holstered swords. The second showed the same man weilding a massive blade which, if one looked closely, consisted of a half dozen separate swords snapped together.

“Interesting choice. Will you be trading something of equal value or do you have any currency with you?” Therin asked as he went to open his briefcase. He glances around the room for a place he could lay or place the requested inventory.

“Button?” Pinkamena requested once again.

This time the colt retrieved a Playstation memory card, offering it to the businessman. “One billion gil,” the colt said confidently, finally breaking his silence. The card had a palpable aura of chaos magic, barely restrained from spewing its contents out into reality at any second. “I’ll need the card back”

The man took the card then rotated so it was facing his briefcase. It opened up and started to draw the chaotic magic from its entrapment. “This is quite a unique form of payment.” He commented during the progress. Once the transfer was complete, he gave the card back to the gamer colt. He gentle closes the case as the slit revealed blinding light, he opens it back up to reveal two items, although smaller in size. Both the massive sword and the motorcycle. “Take it, but be careful as it will quickly resize back to its original dimensions.” Therin warned.

The pink mare quickly grabbed both with one hoof and stuck them in her mane, both disappearing without incident. “Thanks!”

“I thought the card was supposed to spew out a bunch of coins or something,” Button said.

“That’s probably why it didn’t,” Pinkemena said with a shrug. “Anyways… the last item might take you a bit longer. I need Cloud’s Buster Sword. But… I have to be picky here. It can’t be a fresh construct or something from any old Gaia in the multiverse. It needs to be the one left behind when he came here.” She grabbed the vile of glowing, mako infused, void energized blood and presented it as identification of just exactly who she meant. “I don’t think we can get past this interminable hiatus without it.”

“Yes and no, my fine colt friend.. But.” He began as he held out his hand, and with a flip of his wrist, he was now holding a silver gil coin. He flips it over to button. “Consider it a gift.” He said before given Pinkie his attention. “Hmm, so you want me to go to his original world? It will be a first time for me to go to a world without ponies, but I’m sure I can find it.” he said with a little bit of confidence in his voice.

Button snatched the coin out of the air with his teeth, giving it a quick check to verify its authenticity, and then slipped it into his saddle bags with a bit of a grin.

“It was left in the dressing room in the Wall Market in Sector 6 of the Midgar lower city. Basically right next to where he left that world. If you can’t arrive in that time, you’ll have to find out for yourself where it went from there,” Pinkamena explained. “That’s the gift. A familiar token of courage.”

Therin reached out and took the vile of void energy. He holds it up to his eyes as he studied it, glasses take on a gentle gleam and for a split second, Pinkie could of sworn she saw a strange gargoyle goat standing where the businessman was. “Got the universe energy signature.” he said as a portal opened up behind him. “Is there anything else you need to tell me?”

“Stay out of the way of any timetravellers? You should be fine.” Pinkie offered.

The human-disguised-demon couldn’t help but smile. “Or daleks for that matter.” He said as he turned around to go through the swirling vortex and as he stepped through, it vanished without a sound.

Getting from point A to point B was different this time for the demon salesmen since it took a while longer instead of instantly to find the correct universe that Cloud Strife had came through. Therin eventually arrived on the other side and at Midgar lower city. However, the portal had to be opened in an alleyway to prevent others from seeing the twirling warp, although a homeless man might of seen it but Therin wouldn’t know till he stepped through and allowed it to close.

“Ugh, not again…” groaned a man from behind the portal after Therin stepped through. A glance showed the man sitting in a nearby rather large pipe, eyes scrunched closed in pain as he clutched at his noisily grumbling gut, so it was entirely unclear whether he had actually witnessed the demon, or was merely experiencing yet another round of gastrointestinal agony. In any event, he was clearly making no move to intervene and there were no other potential witnesses around.

The Wall Market was a ramshackle place. In a sense it was literally too poor to afford sunlight, with the wealthy upper city of Midgar built overtop the lower city he was standing in. The buildings here all looked to be built out of leftover scrap metal slapped together, yet it was doing a brisk enough business, at least in relatively small denominations.

“The boss is going to have a field day when I tell him this..” Therin said as he tucked his blackspade tail around his suit as the businessmen was unsure of how others would react to it. After adjusting his hat, tie, and glasses, he begins to travel in the direction based on an old memory of his of this world. “Certainly is a lot different than its video game counterpart.” Therin commented mentally.

The most striking difference didn’t really come into view until he got into the Wall Market properly, and had a chance to see a bit more of the town. Past the one clothing shop in the marketplace there was a road. The nearest half was the same shaded poverty as the slums all around him. The far half was a sunny area with brick houses bleached by sun. The people there shambled a bit, managing to look even more ‘dead’ inside than the poor folk of the Midgar slums. The border between the two areas positively reeked of void energy, but noticing it brought to mind the fact that this entire place seemed suffused with the stuff. If a world could be a Displaced, this one undoubtedly was.

“Something tells me that someone might of broke through the void’s barrier..” Therin theorise as he walked through the streets. “Quite tempting to sale buy or sale, but the mission is the main priority, despite how excited I am.” he said as he kept his briefcase close.

Entering the clothing shop, he caused a little bell over the door to ring, startling the elderly man behind the counter into wakefulness. “Oh! Umm, yes… welcome. Are you looking for a gift? I’m afraid we only sell traditionally female clothing here, though… If you’re in the market, I’m not one to judge.”

“Not exactly, my good sir, but rather I’m looking for a particular sword.” Therin had to pause for a moment to think of his next words. He felt that this shop owner might tell a few innuendos if Therin chooses the wrong words.. “Did a certain spiky haired blond man leave one here?” he asked.

The man cringed at the description, instinctively bracing for trouble. “That was years ago, and… I don’t know what you heard or where, but it’s not my fault, and no this shop isn’t cursed. If you’re looking for the sword itself, the two ladies who were with him took it after he… failed to return from the dressing room.”

“One of them might be Tifa if memory serves me right..” Therin mentally thought to himself. “Do you know where they might of gone afterwards? I’m an acquaintance of Cloud Strife’s.” he said to the shop owner.

“They were mentioned on the news as being members of AVALANCHE. Seems those terrorists dropped the Sector 7 plate, wiping out the town there before… you know, the dead-eyes showed up. I’ve caught word of them from various places around the world on occasion, but just snippets in the news. If anyone knows it’d be Shinra. Oh, what now?” That last comment was in response to a massive low rumbling that seemed to permeate the area. It was much too rhythmic and consistent to be an earthquake, but too massive and omnipresent to be too many other things.

Despite the rumbling, Therin stood undisturbed, his face however betrayed it differently. “Where would Shinra be then?” he asked as he kept his voice the same. “At this point, this timeline is pretty much skewered since Cloud isn’t here..”

“The company’s main HQ is straight up. You can climb the wall, maybe? You might need some batteries to pull it off, and it won’t be easy. Might want some more casual clothes to make the trip. Or maybe you have the coin to call for a helicopter to take you up or something,” the old man speculated.

“Coin isn’t a issue nor is transportation, I have my methods. I do thank you for the help though.” Therin said as he took his hat off to bow a goodbye to the shop owner. “May you find good fortune for you or your shop, good day.” he said before turning to leave.

Upon arriving in the upper city, several things became clear. The incredibly massive high rise that was the Shinra Corp. HQ was the third most obvious thing he found, in part because it was the third biggest. Second biggest was the town-sized column of sunlight cutting through the dreary rainy sky, showing a chunk of desert town he had already seen up close, now visible in its entirety. Larger still was the gun.

It was obviously fairly recent construction, still shiny and new, yet it at least fit the aesthetic of the upper city. Power cables the size of trains ran from each of the massive city’s eight power plants, visible pulses of energy already flowing along them, which were the apparent source of the rumbling. Massive pieces were shifting position, resulting in the barrel moving small fractions of a degree, perhaps tracking some distant target.

Scaffolding built upon the side of the gun were currently the source of some disturbance, barely perceptible from this distance, but it included the occasional muzzle flare and distant report from fully automatic guns, none of which seemed to remain in operation for long.

The businessman stroked his chin in thought as he traveled through the uppercity. He kept his eyes open for anyone who could be out and about. “I best be careful as to not get caught in the timestreams since my presence isn’t part of this world.” He whispered to himself as his eyes examined the area.

Most people around the area were pointedly staying behind locked doors at the moment. The main exception was squads of uniformed soldiers rushing past in waves, heading for the scaffolding to reinforce their fallen brethren. However, the nearby HQ had an open lobby, with somewhat managing to look bored at the public information desk just inside.

“It’ll do.” Therin said as he walked toward the HQ, he adjusted his glasses once more and made sure his tail was tucked in before entering.

“Welcome to Shinra Corp,” the bored woman greeted as he approached. “You’re free to examine the exhibits if you like. If you have a meeting with someone inside, I can help you locate the correct floor.”

“I’m looking for a couple of females, or members of AVALANCHE they once claimed to be. They have a weapon I need, I was hoping Shinra would have information of their whereabouts.” Therin said.

The woman raised an eyebrow at that and started tapping a screen. “That sounds like a request for the TURKS. I can schedule a meeting with their representative if you’d like to purchase either the latest available information or an ongoing information contract.”

“Any sort of information that can help me will do as long as it helps me find them faster, regardless of the price.” Therin said confidently.

“Would you like me to send the inquiry in the meeting request? It would help them get the answer sooner, but if you prefer privacy, I understand,” she said.

“Privacy sounds best. The only people who need to know me are those who wish to do business with me.” Therin said.

The horrifically loud sound of metal rending metal came in almost definingly from outside, pausing any further conversation, though not the girl’s typing. It was followed by metal twisting equally loudly, followed by a building-shaking crash. The quake it set off was strong enough to cause some of the displays behind the information desk to break, the contents falling off hooks and shelves and in some cases breaking glass. The massive oversized sword that fell through its case in particular drew Therin’s eye. He makes his way over to the blade and kneels down to check on its condition, giving little to no regards of how the female or anyone seeing him would react or protest.

The label on the display called it “SOLDIER Buster Sword” and went on to discuss the history of SOLDIER agents who had previously wielded it in honorable service. Cloud isn’t mentioned by name, but it is mentioned to have been stolen by AVALANCHE before being recovered from Sector 6. The slight trace of void energy matching Cloud’s sample, though, suggests just who the ‘thief’ was.

“Good, this will save me a lot of time.” Therin whispered as he opened up his briefcase to place the sword in. Sure, this would spill bad business for Therin for stealing it, but who can’t say they’d even recognize Therin when he does business in this world.”I think I’ll try another time. Good day.” Therin said casually as he was making his way toward the door.

“Hey, you can’t just take that,” the information desk lady said unenthusiastically. It was clear she had no intention of doing anything about it, other than whatever she was typing on the computer.

Therin made no reply as went through the doors. “Throughout this trip, I was expecting trouble, like Sephiroth himself appearing.” Therin said jokingly in his mind.

A squad of soldiers muscled past him, ignoring him in favor of whatever was so important outside. As he got out behind him he could see why. The massive gun barrel had been slashed through, somehow, it’s incredible bulk fallen over and crushing a couple sectors of the lower city in an amazing act of collateral damage. Sensible people, of course, were moving as far away from whatever conflict involved that, but the Shinra troops were obviously anything but sensible.

Also, maybe they were needed to fight off the hordes of undead-like individuals now climbing up the remains of the barrel and trying to eat any brains they could get their maws on. At least the soldiers had helmets and guns.

Speaking of guns, a monster was visible on the horizon, about proportionate to the city-sized gun that was no longer usable, apparently on its way to do mischief here. It was seeming like a fine time to leave.

Therin made his way over somewhere where no one could see him and with a nod of his head a portal of swirling energy open up. Unfortunately for the salesmen, a poor homeless person got to witness it, Therin stepped right through knowing no one would listen to mad ramblings. It took the same amount of time as before when he arrived, in demon-disguised as a human’s opinion, it was a successful trade, even if there was nothing to give up. The bright vortex faded away as Therin returned to Pinkie Pie, he wasted no time in revealing Cloud’s most treasured weapon.

“Get ‘em, pow, pow, pow!” Pinkie said excitedly, her back to the demon and her hair fluffy once again. Button was sitting beside her, playing on a Playstation. The game looked a lot like FF7, except that the party consisted of Tifa, Aeris, and Seifer, fighting a squad of Shinra troopers atop what was left of an enormous gun barrel. Must be some kind of fan hacked remix.

Therin reached into his opened briefcase and took the floating miniature Buster Sword, he clears his throat to draw the party pony’s attention.

“Wow, that was fast,” Pinkie said, turning to greet him. “So what do you want for the sword, buster? tee hee hee.”

“I would ask what would you offer, but considering it is a weapon he starts with, I believe i’ll give it to you for free, no extra charge.” Therin said with a smile.

“Thanks! I’m sure she’ll love it. And it’ll clash perfectly with the other one,” Pinkie said, taking ownership and stashing it in her mane as well. “I’ll get it all wrapped up, and we can finally get the next arc started.”

“Especially when it’s been a year.” Therin commented as the light gleamed off of his glasses. “If there is nothing left for me to sale. I wish you and Mr. Cloud Strife the best of luck, our business has been concluded.” he said before leaving the same way he was summoned.

Pinkie took a moment to lick up the remains of the summoning circle before taking her leave with Button Mash, leaving her reflection still desperately trying to free herself from the pool.