Chapter Four: Promises
Revision 2.1, (6-18-2004)

Slowly Cloud walked across ground littered in scrap metal sheeting and rotting paper junk into the neighborhood that his friends called home. And what a pitiful home it was; surrounded by the borders of junk indeterminate lay loose structures fashioned out of sheet metal and iron to house the poorest of residents. To the south stood a building fashioned out of an old crane tower, with lights hanging on top to provide feeble orange illumination to the town below.

Ahead of Cloud burst several earth ponies of drab colors out of an structure more ancient and cared-for than the regular shanties in these Slumps. The walls of the place were actually solid, even insulated metal; its sides graced with real (if barred and cracked) windows; and a working, lockable door filled its front, underneath a large sign with electric lights that read, in large bold letters, the "Lucky Sevens Caf". Berett appeared in the doorway to the establishment, a wide grin cracking across his face.

"What was that for?" Cloud asked, glancing in reference to the other ponies scattering in various directions; some to their houses, others to the nearby station, and yet some more to a small crowd of lower-class residents crowded around a metalframed tower lined with television monitors displaying Rin Sha news. Cloud turned back to Berett. "You keep giving us away, and someone's going to call the authorities!"

Berett laughed heartily. "Forget the authorities! Fights happen all the time down here and them Rin Sha could care less. We got nothin' to worry about!"

"You're nuts," Cloud said, glancing around the area for any sign of approaching Rin Sha police. He would find none.

"Hey, I'm not the one who jumped down on three Rin Sha guards without tellin' anyone!"

"We had no time to discuss it back then."

"Whatever, flyer. Go on in, why dont'cha?"

Berett stepped aside, clearing the entrance for Cloud to walk inside. Cloud walked up to the doorway and disappeared into the establishment, trading in the filthy air and environment of the Slumps for the much cleaner interior of the café.

Bright lights from the caf's ceiling forced shadows into hiding as they illuminated the room with a warm, white light. Cloud cast his eyes about this place, a place he had only seen on two occasions previously. Framing the insulated walls was a combination of wooden and metal architecture giving testament to the building's age, and with it, this place maintained its hard-earned reputation of the finest dining establishment in the Seventh District Slumps, or possibly the finest diner anywhere in the Slumps outright. To the left lay a series of tables to seat about eight or nine ponies, and Biggs and Wedge were seated around one table, refreshing themselves with a quick drink. Over to the right were more tables, and Jess laying near one, mumbling to herself about specifications and instructions as she reviewed cryptic scribbles inhabiting the pages of her notebook. Ahead lay the counter, with standing room for about three customers, and a space behind which was the fountain machine for pouring drinks and the kitchen appliances for cooking meals. Behind the counter lay a doorway to the supplies room, and standing near the opposite corner lay the refrigerator, and next to this machine was a small young pony, a pink mare with orange mane. The youngster took fright as Cloud came in, and immediately dove behind the counter.

"That wasn't a very nice way to say hello, was it?" Asked a voice from behind the counter. A white mare, a pegasus with dark, almost black hair and tail appeared from the supply room in the back, and gently ushered the young pony back out into the open. She cast her blue eyes in Cloud's direction. "Cloud! Glad to see you're back, safe and --" Glancing over Cloud, she noticed the bruises and scratches Cloud suffered throughout the mission. "What happened to you!? Are you all right?"

Cloud nonchalantly walked over to a table and sat down to rest his legs. He outstretched his wings for a moment to relax, revealing a few patches of singed and missing feathers, then folded his wings back up. "It's nothing," Cloud said, with a smile. "Besides, ...they missed."

"I told you, Midnight City is no place for flying; you'd get shot."

"It'll heal," Cloud said, looking at the mare. "So, Lockheart, how did you do while we were out?"

The white pegasus, Lockheart, shrugged and sighed. "A little over a half-hour ago the power went out, so we had to get out the emergency lamps. The power came back on only about ten minutes ago, but according to the news, we weren't the only ones blacked out, the entire City was!"

"The whole City!?" Cloud asked, astonished.

Lockheart nodded. She was about to return to her regular duties, but then she noticed the young mare, still silent, hiding behind her. She turned around. "Oh, come on. You still haven't said hi to Cloud! Go on!"

The young pony peeked out from behind Lockheart and shouted out a quick, childlike "Hi, Cloud!", then ran across the room to sit with Biggs and Wedge. Lockheart smirked for a moment as Berett walked in through the caf's entrance and shut and locked the door behind him.

The young pony spotted Berett and greeted him enthusiastically. "Daddy!"

Berett spotted the young child galloping to meet him. He crouched down as the young one climbed onto his back. "Daddy said he'd be back, didn't he? Daddy missed his little Pearline!"

Berett carefully stood back up, with his daughter on his back. He scanned his eyes across the room to ensure that everyone was present, then began shouting out orders. "Okay! All's clear outside. We'll be startin' the meeting soon!" Berett produced a pair of metal dog-tags, souvenirs from a long time ago perhaps, and walked over to the refrigerator. He opened up the refrigerator door, flipped open one of the interior drawers, and flipped through the tags until he located what he was searching for: the key. He inserted it into a hidden slot, turned it a quarter circle, then removed it and shut the fridge. The machine hummed as hidden motors groaned to life, and then the refrigerator sank into a hidden compartment in the floor. As the top of the fridge sank below floor level, a metal cover-panel flipped away and fell from the wall to cover the gap in the floor. Now, where previously stood the fridge, there was a hidden passage in the wall, and a staircase winding downwards to the inner sanctum of their lair. Berett flipped a switch in the passage and a pair of lights flickered on to illuminate its wooden steps and walls decorated with various old news clippings and child's drawings. Then Berett looked back to the others and shouted out an order. "Awright, get down here!"

Jess was the first to follow, standing up and trotting over to and down into the passage. Biggs and Wedge then followed one after the other, while Lockheart set about cleaning the place up, picking up used glasses and plates to return them to the sink for cleaning. Cloud went to follow the others, but Lockheart called after him the moment he set foot inside the secret passage. "Cloud, sit down."

Cloud looked back at Lockheart, then walked over to the counter. "What is it?"

"...Would you like a drink?" Lockheart asked.

"Sure, I'll take one," Cloud answered. Lockheart nodded, then proceeded to set him up something to drink. As she gathered a glass and poured something cold into it, Cloud unshouldered his pack and set it down on the counter. Cloud opened it up to withdraw some cash. Lockheart was a friend, sure, but this was still a diner, and Cloud felt obligated to compensate her for the wares.

Cloud was about to ask Lockheart how much the drink cost when she noticed something that would more than pay for it: the flower. "Hey -- is that...?"

"Oh, this?" Cloud asked in surprise as Lockheart withdrew the red blossom from his pack.

"Yeah...," Lockheart said, mesmerized by it. She took a deep breath from its aroma and felt its soft petals. "A flower...? A real flower... Where in the Land did you find it!?"

"There was this cute pony in the upper levels," Cloud said. "She was selling flowers, and I thought I'd buy one."

"Really?" Lockheart asked, jesting. "How much did she ask for it?"

Cloud looked up at the ceiling, trying to recall that moment. The answer came to him in a moment. "...Two silver. She said two silver."

Lockheart's eyes widened in astonishment. "You've got to be kidding me! Not even artificals go for that low! Who was she?"

Cloud nodded. "I think she was unicorn."

Lockheart laughed. "You are kidding me; there's no such things as unicorns, not anymore. So where did you really find it?"

Cloud shook his head. "No, that's the truth. A pony on the upper levels sold it to me. And I think she was a unicorn."

Lockheart looked back at him in doubt, glancing at the innocent, sincere light twinkling out of Cloud's eyes. Then she shrugged. "Whatever. But imagine... a real flower... I've got to get some water for this."

Cloud took out a glass and filled it with filtered water from the sink and the flower too, before setting it down next to the sink on the rear counter. "It's so beautiful. Cloud, what do you think? Should I fill the café with flowers?"

Cloud chuckled. "Are you kidding? I don't know who the seller was, and I don't expect we'd see here again. Even if we looked!"

"Oh come on, let a girl can dream for once, why don't you?" Lockheart objected.

Cloud shut up and tended to his drink, which was a welcome relief to his rather parched throat.

Lockheart turned to Cloud again. "So, Cloud... what happened during the mission? You didn't get in another fight with Berett, did you?"

"Nah," Cloud answered, smiling. "Time was against us. We couldn't afford any arguments."

Lockheart laughed. "That's good to hear . . . I guess...."

"Well, it wasn't too easy. They spotted us while we were approaching, and figured out where we were heading. We set the bomb, then they found us. Then there was a military combat robot they sent to chase us down, they pinned down Biggs and Wedge on the first floor, so we had to fid our own way out. They called in an entire military unit to get rid of us. Then the whole complex blew just a little while after we cleared the area."

"Wow," Lockheart muttered. "I'm sure glad you're okay, after all that...."

"Oh, come on. It wasn't that tough of a job! It was only a little rushed."

Lockheart smiled and nodded. "But still -- that explosion's all over the news. It's taller than the Rin Sha HQ itself! They're saying that when it blew it caused the power grid to overload and go into emergency shutoff. The entire city went black!"

Whoa. Cloud had no idea the scope of their success would be so widespread.

"...Well, good to see you're back safely. Make sure Berett gives you your pay, all right?"

Cloud nodded. "Yeah. And then I'm out of here --"

"--Hey Cloud!" Interrupted Berett's voice from the stairway downwards. Cloud whirled around to see Berett standing there. "Come on down and join in, why don'cha!"

"Coming!" Cloud answered, to Berett's apparent relief as he turned around and headed back down. Cloud followed him into the passage and climbed down the stairs, watching his footing as he traversed the rather steep descent. The stairway twisted a half-circle to the right and then farther down, opening up into a basement room of approximately the same size and illumination as the ground level. Here on the right stood the fridge, resting on its elevating platform; Jess and her computer sat across from it while she worked away; a large-screen television prominently rested in one corner as it displayed a Rin Sha news broadcast. Spread across the floor to disguise the worn carpet lay various mats, extra mats piled up along the edges of the wall as makeshift beds. In the center of the room stood a tabl littered in scratch paper, crayons, and loose cards. Biggs and Wedge sat on adjacent sides of the table watching the news; Berett stood in one corner next to a practice dummy, and his daughter Pearline sat on a nearby bed, scribbling with crayon on various sheets of paper.

"'Bout time," said Berett as Cloud walked down into the warm, safe haven of the rebel group. "See that?" Berett pointed to the television set.

Cloud fixed his attention on the television as the visage of an expensively-suited pony spewed forth propaganda from it, the self-proclaimed #1 source of Midnight City news and information. "Wow," Cloud awed at the image of the Refractor explosion and ensuing city-wide blackout.

"They're saying that we caused over 1,000 casualties with that thing! Damn liars! They wouldn't know the truth if it hit 'em like a bolt of lightning!"

"Yeah," Jess said. "It doesn't make sense. The blackout I can believe, but the explosion? My bomb wasn't anywhere near strong enough to take out the entire facility. Biggs, we didn't make any mistakes on it, did we?"

Biggs shook his head. "No, Jess, we didn't. There couldnt've been a more perfect bomb anywhere in the world."

"What about the Refractor energy?" Cloud asked. "Could that have...?"

"I don't know," Jess lamented. "In its raw, unfiltered form, Refractor energy is volatile. I ... guess that it might be able to have amplified the explosion, maybe three, four times. But something that catastrophic? No. I don't believe so."

"Fer all we know," Berett added, "they could've blown up the Refractor themselves, just so they can pin the blame on us! It's not like they don't have the stones for it...!"

"Horrible...," Jess lamented. "The mere thought..."

"I know. So Cloud, I been meanin' to ask ya... did ya spot anyone from Stallion durin' the mission?"

"Are you kidding?" Cloud jested. "If they had called Stallion, we wouldn't have made it in, let alone set the bomb and get out!"

"Shut yer mouth!!" Berett exploded. "Don't go thinking you're so tough jus'cause you'ere once in Stallion!"

Cloud shook his head and muttered something under his breath. He had merely answered the question, and nothing more.

"What'd you jus' say?" Berett asked, trotting angrily over to Cloud.

"Nothing," Cloud answered.

"Nothing, eh?"

"I said nothing...."

"Yeah . . . you said NOTHING!" Berett threatened. "Sure you're good. Probably all them Stallions are good too. But dont'cha ever forget -- now you'ses working for us! And you're just a newbie! So don't go acting like you're so damn hot!!"

"Listen --", Cloud tried explaining. "All I did was answer a question. I haven't even asked about my money yet --"

"Get outta my sight!!" Berett yelled back in rage.

"Well, fine then! I'll leave! And I won't be coming back!" Cloud shouted back, before turning towards the stairs to leave.

"Wait, Cloud...," Jess called.

"Let him go, Jess!" Berett ordered. "If he wants to leave, we let him. Maybe he still misses the Rin Sha! What should we care?"

"Berett, will you SHUT UP!!" Cloud exclaimed back at Berett, and for once he seemed to almost intimidate the rebel leader. "Listen. I've got nothing to do with the Rin Sha or their Stallions anymore, I don't care for them. But don't get me wrong: I don't care for this group 'Snowslide', or even the fate of this Land! You wanted me for a job, and I did it! That is all. Now good-bye!"

Cloud stormed back up the hidden passage about as fast as he could while the other rebels stared in confusion, and as Berett began taking out his rage on the practice dummy, with his daughter cheering him on.

Cloud glanced around the ground floor as soon as he returned. Lockheart was nowhere to be seen; she was probably busy in the supply room. Good. Cloud walked to the caf's front door and lifted the deadbolt from its resting place. Cloud slid the bolt aside, then turned the door's latch to open it. He swung the door wide, but only got one foot outside the door when --

"So, you're really leaving?" Interrupted a slightly sad voice from behind Cloud. Aghast at being discovered at this time, Cloud whirled around and shut the door, only to meet the gaze of two dark sapphire eyes.

Lockheart.

Cloud felt ashamed. No doubt she had heard him and Berett arguing moments earlier. Cloud hung his head and sighed, finding no words to describe what he wanted to say.

Lockheart looked at Cloud. "This is it. You're really leaving?"

"This isn't worth my time anymore," Cloud said. "Or the pay."

"Stay." Lockheart insisted. "We need you. Snowslide -- no, the Land needs you. You know as much as we do, it's dying; someone's got to fight for it, or --"

"-- Then let Berett and your other friends fight for it," Cloud said, shrugging. "I don't care. I never did."

"No...," Lockheart pleaded.

Cloud turned around, opened the door again, and walked outside into the dimly-lit Slumps neighborhood.

"That's the way it's going to be, then...?" Lockheart asked. Something about the nature of this question caused Cloud to stop, just past the stairs to the café, and Cloud turned around, willing to let Lockheart offer some final, parting words.

"You're just going to walk off, and abandon an old friend?"

Ouch. A claim like that, and Cloud's feet felt firmly glued to the ground. He stumbled for words. "Lockheart...."

"And you're just going to forget about that promise we made?"

The words bound themselves around Cloud like heavy shackles and iron chains, with Lockheart holding them firmly in her grip. It was impossible to walk away now. Cloud tried to think of a response, any response, to free him from this predicament.

Lockheart looked up at the fake sky that was Midnight City's plate, with maintenance lights shining down almost like stars. "Don't you remember? Was it five, seven years ago? When you first said you'd be leaving for the City?"

Cloud found himself able to shrug, and words came to mind. "Yeah... but all the guys were leaving Nobleheim for the city back then. So?"

"So? It wasn't like that, was it?" Lockheart said. "You said you were going to join the Rin Sha Stallions. You said you'd be the best ever!"

Cloud felt truth in the words of a time long ago. "Yeah," Cloud agreed. "The best. Like the great Sephiroth...."

"Yes, the great Sephiroth," Lockheart smiled, nodding. "And we made that promise. We agreed -- you agreed, that once you were famous, and if I was ever in trouble ... that you'd come and rescue me. Don't you remember?"

Cloud shook his head. "...yeah... But that was a long time ago. I can't--"

"But you made into Stallion, right?"

"Lockheart," Cloud answered, taking a few steps back towards the café, and the imaginary restrains around him seemed to slacken. "I'm not in Stallion anymore. I was never in the papers to begin with. Hell, I'm not famous. How can I keep the promise? I can't...."

Lockheart shook her head. "You know that's not true...."

Suddenly Berett appeared in the doorway behind Lockheart. "Cloud, you still leavin'?"

"What do you care?" Cloud insinuated.

"Well...," Berett muttered, as he produced a small pouch. "Fer one thing, I ain't gonna let you leave without yer pay!" Berett tossed the pouch to Cloud. Cloud caught it, and judging by its weight, there was a fair amount of cash inside.

"Promise is a promise; one hundred gold. Plus fifty more for being such a showoff back on the train," Berett explained, with a slight smile on his face.

"Is that it?" Cloud asked, sarcasm creeping into his voice. Lockheart noticed it, and her eyes seemed to light up instantly. "This is chicken feed...."

"You got the next job lined up?" Cloud then asked. "I'll take it for 300 gold."

"Three hundred!?" Berett exclaimed in surprise. Lockheart quickly took Berett aside and pleaded with him, sparring muffled comments about needing help versus those about needed schooling. Finally, Berett gave in and shouted a counteroffer. "Two hundred gold! And not a copper more!"

Cloud hesitated to accept it. But Lockheart agreed for him. "Okay! Now come back on in, will you?"

Sheepishly, Cloud followed Lockheart and Berett back inside to discuss the plans for the rebels' next strike.

= = = = =

The next morning, Cloud awoke to the hum of a test pattern on the basement television, and muffled conversations from above. It seemed he was alone in the basement, and the last one to awaken. Berett had spent much of the night debating and planning out their next mission with Jess, such as what would be their target for the day, while Biggs had prepared their next explosive for the job; but after just waking up, Cloud couldn't bring much of the specifics of either to mind.

Cloud gathered first his thoughts, then his pack and weapon, and then began to proceed up the stairs leading to the ground floor. Cloud found his friends waiting for him, talking, asking, and answering any final questions about the mechanics of their upcoming mission.

"Morning, Cloud," Lockheart greeted as Cloud returned to the ground floor.

"What time is it?" Cloud inquired of his old friend.

"Almost noon," Lockheart answered. "Did you sleep well?"

"Of course," Cloud said. "With you around, how could I not?"

Lockheart seemed to blush in silent response.

"Okay, lissen up!" Berett ordered. "Y'all know what the plan is, right?"

Jess, Wedge, and Biggs nodded. "Sure do -- scout out the Refractor from the top and relay the info to you guys with these." Biggs pointed to a pair of headsets lying on the table. Jess took one and placed it on Biggs, and he in turn affixed the other one to Jess.

Berett looked to Cloud. Cloud's blank expression seemed to portray that he hadn't committed the objectives to memory, so Berett took a moment to explain. "Okay, flyer, today we're fixin' for the Refractor in the Fourth District. The Rin Sha've elevated their uptown security to try 'n keep us from getting up there. But honestly though, they ain't expectin' nothing bad to happen today, especially in broad daylight; that's why we're goin' for it. Once we get past the trains we shouldn't have much more trouble than we did last time. Then we get in, set the bomb like last time and then get the hell outta there before it blows."

"Yeah," Jess said. "The new bomb may not be any stronger than the last one, but we still can't afford the risk of a catastrophe like last time."

"Why the Fourth District?" Cloud asked. "Won't there be a lot of ponies in the Refractor complex? How can we sneak in if it's occupied?"

"Well, two reasons. One, it's across town from the last place. And two, Jess did some hackin'. Official Rin Sha reports say that somethin' in the Refractor went when the power grid collapsed last night, so they have to shut it down for maintenance. And there's also the upper city parks in Fourth and Fifth Districts. A perfect place to rendezvous after the mission."

"Okay, I guess that sounds simple enough, should we get going?"

"Biggs, Wedge, Jess," Berett ordered. "You guys get ready at the station for us. We'll follow up in a minute."

The three comrades nodded, and proceeded to leave the café for the station. Lockheart hit a concealed button near the end of the rear counter, and in response an electrical hum filled the room as the metal floor panel near the secret stairway flipped up and flushed with the wall as the refrigerator arose through the floor from the basement, to conceal the hidden passage. The fridge settled into position within a minute, and there was hardly any telling that the entrance to the rebel's lair was there in the first place.

Berett turned to his daughter. "Okay, little darlin', Lockheart's going to have a friend over to run this place while we're away. You stay in your room and be safe, got it? We'll be back before ya know it!"

"Okay!" Pearline nodded before running behind the counter to the supply room. Lockheart then led the way outside. Cloud followed, only to be stopped in the doorway by Berett.

"Hey Cloud, I got something else I wanna ask you," Berett began as he produced a shiny green gem and held it in view. "What is this thing?"

"Where did you find that?" Cloud asked, immediately recognizing what Berett held before him.

"Biggs found it last night in the Refractor complex an' figured it might be valuable. So what is it?"

"You're right it's valuable," Cloud answered. "That's a magic gem, one of the products of a Refractor. Gems like those contain the powers of the elements, and with them you can summon the elements to your aid."

"You mean 'magic'?" Berett asked, his eyes opened wide in awe.

Cloud sighed. "Yes . . . in other words, 'magic'."

"How do ya use them then? They seem too small for that kinda stuff...."

"Look here," Cloud said, as he drew his sword and set it down on the table. Cloud pointed to the two green gems inset into compartments on the blade. "These are mine. One of them holds the power of fire, and the other holds powers of electricity." Cloud removed one of the gems from the weapon to show Berett what a gem compartment looked like. "Most weapons these days, and even armor, these days are built with a few gem compartments like these ones, so that you won't have to rummage through your pack to find one when you need it." Cloud replaced the missing gem in his blade. "Once you have a gem or two affixed, then you can use it."

"What do ya mean, 'use' them? How?"

Cloud looked at Berett in disbelief.

"I'm clueless...." Berett admitted.

Cloud sighed. "It takes training... lots of training. The official estimate was six weeks, but Cloud felt that little trivia unnecessary. "We can work on that later. For now just hold on to it, and let's get a move on."

Cloud and Berett left through the doorway of the café, and arrived in the neighborhood of the Seventh District Slumps in time to see Lockheart talking to a deep blue earth pony.

"...Okay, Donny, we're off now."

"R-Right," the pony stuttered in response. "Have -- have a good trip, Lockheart. S-s-see you w-when you get back."

"Don't you worry, we'll be fine." Lockheart handed him a key to the door. "Take care of the place and keep the customers happy. Good luck."

Berett nodded to Lockheart as her friend, Donny, walked inside and flipped the caf's window sign around to read 'OPEN'. "Okay, let's get moving!"

The trio of rebels began galloping off towards the station. Soon they would be aboard, ready to strike again at their enemy, the Rin Sha. If all went according to plan, they would prove to the Rin Sha their ability to strike anywhere, at any time, and confirm that their previous mission was no isolated incident. Last night they started a war, and they intended to continue it.

Author's Notes:

In working on this chapter, I had felt that Cloud's threatening to leave the rebels was not presented seriously enough in the game, so when I made the second rewrite of this chapter I decided that Cloud wouldn't merely get to the front door before his old friend Lockheart stops him. Cloud gets all four hooves out the door this time and if Lockheart was even three seconds later to catch up, Cloud would have already been gone.

Another significant change I made for this chapter was to eliminate the flashback sequence of the well. Personally, I tend to dislike the use of flashback sequences in a novel to fill the reader in on past events. In a more visual medium like a film (or game) they're okay, but I've always felt them less so in a novel. Maybe it's because memories are rarely ever recalled in the exact way they originally happened, like a flashback sequence implies. It isn't important to know such visual trivia as what the scenery of five, seven years ago was, what clouds or stars were in the sky, and so on. The one important thing to know about the memory was the promise that Cloud and Lockheart made that day. Anything else about that memory is unnecessary.

Also changed was the mechanism for the secret passage. To me, the "pinball-machine-secret-button" was far too obvious for a hidden mechanism, so this time, the mechanism for revealing it is well hidden, thus more secure. Also, since an elevator or ladder is out of the question, I added a hidden staircase leading to the basement.

By now you've noticed that while some character names (like Cloud and Sephiroth) remain the same, others have been changed slightly -- or not so slightly. Yes, Berett's name is spelled that way on purpose. And as names go, I've never liked 'Tifa', so she is called something a bit more MLP-like: Lockheart, which as most of you know is Tifa's last name.

The stuttering character, Donny, is based on the lesser-known character Johnny from FF7, who was in fact an old friend of Tifa's. He appeared first in Wall Market and then later in Costa Del Sol.

I must also admit, I liked giving reference to old MLP cartoons in the form of the "bright lights" in the café.

For the next chapter, Snowslide plans to strike the Refractor in the Fourth District of the City -- but an incident on the train causes a change of plans. Which target will they select, how will they get there, and will they succeed? At least they are not betting against a Sicilian when death is on the line....

Disclaimer:
Final Fantasy 7, its original characters, and its original plot are, of course, productions of Squaresoft Inc. (now Square Enix, LLC). And My Little Pony is a trademark of Hasbro, Inc.