>Another boring day passes by
>You roll out of bed just like you always do
>You start each day by checking your equipment
>Yup
>Still the same hand-crafted tome and hood you used to save the world
>You wish you had more than two equipment slots but that's ok
>Due to the enchantments in your gear, you're not only immune to all status ailments but the four elements heal your wounds
>Your tome allows all of your magic to pierce resistances and even imbues your physical attacks with ethereal flame
>Even fighting random monsters has lost it's appeal
>"Hey, Miss Hero! We're making breakfast if you want to stay for some food!"
"No, that's ok. I appreciate you allowing me to rest here."
>You've slept in nearly every bed in the world, you've traveled so much
>No one ever asks you for any gil
>You've never been ambushed in your sleep either
>Or approached
>Or asked
>...
>Using one of your countless utility spells, you Return to what started off as your home so many years ago
>A pillar of light sends you into the ether and recombines you at your destination
>It...
>It's the exact same as it was the day you left, at level one
>You didn't even have a spell to your name
>You had to use items to inflict elemental damage
>"Hey, git yer fannies back here! I ain't doin' these here chores alone!"
>"Everyone, cheese it!"
>Yup
>That sounds like Lemon Pepper
>She has proven herself enough that you finally submit to using her name
>...
>And Anon
>The front door of the disheveled, settled-in home bursts open
>The earnestly gleeful man is running out
>Followed by three little foals
>All of them some variation of orange or yellow
>You have fought side-by-side with him for ages
>You supported him as he killed the conceptual God of the underworld
>For only a second your eyes see the joyous grin as a murderous, manic grimace
>"Lemon Pie, the tree! Missy Pom, behind the shed! Tangerine, you're with me!"
>That's right
>Two fillies, and a colt
>How long have they been hiding her first pregnancy?
>You didn't even know they were a couple for the longest time
>You spent all of your affection-raising items on him
>The stats didn't lie
>But she must have found another way to lure him
"...whatever."
>You watch them split up
>Just in time to see Pepper burst through the door that somehow hasn't shattered
>She doesn't look like she's aged a day, despite having created a family
>That wild look in her eye
>Like a feral animal
>That's gone
>You still remember how she survived a divine lightning strike
>She couldn't move for a week and vomited blood for hours
>The one time you used one of your elixirs
>You only have fourteen left
>If you let her die...
>Would this have been you?
>"Alright, y'darn animals! I'mma gonna find you and then yer gonna help me if it's the last thing ye do!"
>The 2 Int mare starts charging around
>From where she's looking, she's never going to find them
"Hey there! Looking for me?"

>Pepper assumes her fighting stance for just a moment-surely a reflex at your voice-but leaps as soon as she sees you
>You sidestep lunching mare
>You don't want to get your hood dirty
>She lands with an audible splat
>"Hey, Sparky! Long time no see! What are you doing here?"
>The way she asks the question is innocent enough but you frown because she asked at all
"Nothing. Just thought I would check in on..."
>Anon?
>Her?
>The house?
>...
>...
>...
>You hate when you're given these choices
>You decide to go with the house
>Affection points don't really mean much anymore
"The house. You haven't destroyed my room yet, have you?"
>Pepper drags herself up, shaking all four of her legs
>You've seen her get impaled, shot, and eviscerated more times than you can count
>And you, or Anon, have healed it all up
>"Wha, of course not! I mean, Tanny likes to sleep in there... and he kinda likes that one blanket of yours a little too much..."
>She squints from the recollection
>"Buuut all of your books in there are too difficult for him. Or... well, for any of us for that matter. So we just leave them be. Why, you wanna move back in? You can help me-"
>She turns her head back toward the house and her hidden family
>"FIND THESE USELESS LAYABOUTS!"
>...
>...
>...
>Nothing's changing
>"Dangit... I thought that would work..."
>You shrug
"No... nah. I'm not ready to... call it quits yet."
>You don't want to say "retire"
>If you retire, you forfeit all of your strength
>Your skills
>And what would you gain from that?
>You get to be an aunt
>The very notion that you would go from the world saving mare of flame to some aunt is disgusting
>"Well I guess that's ok too. Dashie ain't called it quits yet either, has she?"
"Prism? No, last I saw her... I think was up in the Macelanian mountains."
>"Oh..."
>Pepper's eyes trail down
>"...she's still working in that graveyard, ain't she."
"I think so."
>A lot of lives were lost there
>Of course it wasn't your final battle
>You were ultimately fine
>Same with all of them
>But outside of you four?
>Humans, ponies, moogles, chocobos
>Hundreds died when the Pharoah's curse was summoned
>Thousands followed over the years
"She must have..."
>You don't think it's guilt that has kept her there
>Maybe it's just a calling
>You shrug it off
>You couldn't have stopped it
>None of you could
>But you did what you could
"Hey, Pepper."
>The yellow matron goes from squinting at the trio of giggling hiding spots to you
>"What's up?"
"I'm..."
>Furious that you had a family without asking if it was ok
>Happy that she's doing well
>In desperate need to talk to Anon alone
>...
>...
>...
"Happy that you're keeping the house in good shape. Keep Tanny away from that blanket."
>You can't help but smirk
"I would hate to see him grow a crush on me."
>Like father like son

>Pepper scoffs
>"Oh don't you worry, you're too old for him."
>What the, where does she get off on saying you're too o-
>"Anyway, I gotta find my-"
>She turns again to the home
>"USELESS, COWARDLY KIDS AND THAT DUMBO HUSBAND O' MINE!"
>Even Anon is joining in on the foals giggling from their hiding spots
>You genuinely don't know if they are all playing along or if they are just that stupid
>Were they really the ones you saved the world with?
>Without waiting to see their cute antics play out, you cast Return again
>Your destination is...
>Secret
>You found it inside of an old dungeon
>In it, you have found countless secrets
>Antiques
>Relics
>Items that have allowed you to craft the gear you never could have even dreamed of, while on your journey
>The post game lab, you call it
>There, you can let loose
>No matter the encounters, you can kill whatever comes your way with a spell
>Your agility is so high you hardly get hit
>Whatever does hit you certainly isn't fatal
>The only reason you didn't enchant your hood with auto-raise is simply because you want to offer them a chance at victory
>"Them" being anything
>Demons
>Aliens
>Undead
>Constructs
>So many things made eons ago, or have been dormant for thousands of years
>All of them exist to be slaughtered by you
>Everything goes up in flame
>The screams
>The faces
>The melting eyes
>The shreds of flesh remaining
>The smell
>You can't escape it
>But you don't want to escape it, do you?
>This is what power looks like
>This is how you prove your value to the world
>The others
>They're worthless now
>They're weak
>Incapable
>Unexceptional
>They're like everyone else now
>And they
>They've left you behind
>They betrayed you
>They
>You snort, your vision clearing
>All you've seen was red
>Your eyes feel so strained, it's difficult to see straight
>You're still in the lab
>Where in the lab are you, exactly?
>You don't recall ever visiting this section
>Apparently it hasn't been worth it as everything has either died by your hoof or fled
>The stench of burnt flesh clings to your coat as you calm down
>Your throat is dry
>Were you screaming?
>You must have been
>In the nondescript scenery of lab tables, gurneys, coffins and torture devices you see a set of double doors
>You approach them, mixing a concoction to restore your MP
>A poor-mare's elixir, as it only restores a portion of your max stats
>But at least it isn't the real deal
>A voice rings out in your head
>Something indescribable in tone or dialect
>But you understand the intention
>Beyond the doors is Hell
>True Hell
>To open them is to unleash infinite horror on the world
>To cast everything into eternal sin
>You pause
>Who would have ever created that thing, just to shut it away?
>...
>Could you beat whatever is behind there?
>If you couldn't
>You probably could
>If

>You get the party together again
>Like the old days
>The old days...
>Countless days spent wandering
>One long, ethereal night where you've spent not enough hours under the stars with Anon and your sisters and time ceased to exist
>The bonds you all shared
>The bond you grew with him
"...those days weren't so bad. Were they?"
>The world was in peril
>There was always a new monster or evil figure to chase
>Together, you have even changed the fate of entire continents
>Why would they want to leave that?
>You don't recall doing it but your hoof rests flat against the door
>The world was always hellish
>The things you've seen
>Fought
>Killed
>Saved
>All of it has been horrible, and has been a plague to every living soul
>And if you stop
>If you give up
>If you
>"retire"
>Then someone else will open the door
>And you will be too old, weak, and worthless to stop it
>But if you do
>...
>You can stop it
>And you can fight with him
>You only need him
>The others will fight along fine
>Or
>They'll just die
>Anon's children
>They're strong too
>If they aren't...
>Then you'll give him new ones
>Ones that will be strong enough
>Someone's giggling
>That can't be you
>Can it?
>You feel yourself drop out of the back of your head
>All the way back
>All the way down
>Until you see yourself
>An ash-ridden mare
>Ribs protruding from beneath her conflagrated coat
>Smoldering tome and jagged hood covering the entirety of her head
>The mare pushes harder on the door, giggling something to herself
>You can't even hear her
>But isn't she you?
>You try to focus on the words
>A second hoof goes to the door
>Louder giggling
"She hasn't won yet."
>You make out those words just as the door creak opens
>The second it does, incendiary light explodes out
>The mare cackles in glee as she she burns away, leaving behind a glowing red skeleton
>The hood, now infinitely lit, pulls back just enough to reveal a jagged, malformed horn
>As the skeleton screams in sheer glee, the light rushes outward
>It cleanses the entire lab in radioactive heat
>The light reaches the world
>Everything will burn
>Everything will reset
>NG+1