Episode 184: Shifting Paradigms
A pallid air of disbelief still hung over Clover like some thick fogbank. Despite the clear skies and the warm day that covered the Seireitei, she felt both within and without a heavy laden air of uncertainty, as if the very reishi of the air were charged with an anxious vibration. She passed Soul Reapers on the broad, clean pathways between buildings who were, like her, moving either in a daze about their duties, or holding uneasy counsel in whispers with one another.
Word had spread that Captain Commander Scorpan had fallen in battle. Captain Celestia was to be raised as the new Captain Commander, and furthermore almost all expeditionary forces were to be recalled to the Soul Society immediately. Soul Reapers assigned to guard and watch particular cities were to remain on duty, but any units poised in either the world of the living or Hueco Mundo on any business other than the bare minimum of scouts to keep watch were already returning. In Clover’s understanding of things, this was only rarely ever done, usually when the whole of the Gotei 13 was preparing to move in force. In this instance, she sensed it had more to do with consolidating power around the Rukon Districts and Seireitei itself, to quell any potential unrest that might spring up as news of Scorpan’s passing would spread.
For her part, she had not known the Captain Commander on any personal level, but that hardly mattered. The loss was felt as keenly as any might at the sudden death of a parent or grandparent, for Captain Commander Scorpan had formed the unbreakable bedrock of the Soul Society from the very beginning. He was as a mountain under whom’s shade the whole of the Gotei 13 resided. Generations had come and gone, from the famed to the ill fated, all under the guardianship of Soul Society’s chief architect and defender. To lose Scorpan was as a ship losing its main sailing mast and rudder all at once.
Little wonder that everywhere she looked, Clover saw despondent faces, barely hiding their nervous fear. What was to come next? What was to happen to Soul Society and the Soul Reapers as a whole, without their Captain Commander?
Clover felt for Captain Celestia. Captain Commander Celestia... even the thought of the title hung heavy in Clover’s thoughts. She liked Celestia quite well, and respected the Captain of the Thirteenth Division greatly. But was Celestia truly up to filling Scorpan’s monumental shoes? And with her taking over the First Division, that left another Division without a Captain. Platinum’s Sixth remained absent a Captain, now alongside the Thirteenth. The Gotei 13 was now greatly diminished, upon the eve of them discovering that their greatest foe was neither the Hollows nor the Quincy, but the very Zero Division who had reigned over them from the beginning.
That news, concerning Zero Division, had not spread yet, and Clover was under a gag order to keep silent. Understandable. Things were shakey enough without that bombshell finishing things off, which it may well do.
And strangest of all, although she knew her duty lay in now doing all she could to better serve the Gotei 13, her Twelfth Division, and Soul Society as a whole... a part of her wanted nothing more than to go back immediately to the living world and her friends. To Sunset. She was confused and a little mortified by the feeling, face reddening as she hurried her steps until she reached the forested park where the Thirteenth Division’s headquarters was kept. Captain Celestia and Starswirl both had summoned her there, although to what purpose Clover did not know. She’d intended to return to Canterlot City to inform Sunset and the girls about Scorpan’s fate, but she could hardly ignore a summons from two Captains.
It was just that Sunset had been left in such a dreadful state when she’d left, unconscious and burned, being treated by Discord’s spirit science. Clover knew Discord was among the best suited to seeing to Sunset’s health, but there was an irrational desire to be there to look after her friend that Clover continually told herself was nothing more than normal, friendly concern.
I am being foolish, and wish Chishiki was here to tell me so, she thought, missing her Zanpaktou all the keener now for her confused feelings. Her Zanpaktou spirit could readily read her, and had always provided good advice when she felt lost. And did she ever feel lost now. Uncertain of her usefulness to those she cared for, as the battles had escalated to such heights as confronting the likes of Tirek and Zero Division.
She’d felt outclassed even trying to help a little bit against Gaia Everfree. While there was some satisfaction to be had in having helped capture that Attendant woman, Bubbles, Clover didn’t make that much of her victory there; she’d had plenty of help, after all.
Having reached the picturesque collection of low roofed buildings situated by the forest’s singular lake, Clover made at once for Captain Celestia’s offices. She was greeted by some few members of the Thirteenth Division, who were only slightly more upbeat than some of their fellow Soul Reapers, if only because of the honor inherent in their Captain being chosen as the new Captain Commander. Still, Clover would have thought they’d be more worried about no longer having a Captain themselves, but each person she passed was polite and some even smiled at her, even as they bowed respectfully as she went by.
“Ah, Third Seat Clover, thank you for coming so promptly,” Celestia said from where she was arranging several boxes of letters on her desk. Nearby, seated comfortably in front of the desk, Captain Starswirl didn’t stand but gave Clover an approving look.
“Good, you’re here, now we can get on to this business,” he said, clearing his throat and not even giving Clover a moment to bow, sit, or collect herself much at all before going on to say, “As of now, you are dismissed from the Twelfth Division.”
“P-pardon?” Clover said, utterly dumbfounded. As she floundered for thought or word, Celestia cast a reproachful look towards Starswirl as she went to sit at her desk.
“Now Captain Starswirl, you can’t just hit her with that out of the blue before explaining the situation to her at all. Be sensible.”
“Oh, but it is much simpler to get the unpleasant part over with first before one moves on to the good stuff,” Starswirl replied, a twitch of a smile on his lips, “Besides, all you really needed me here for, Celestia, was to make her dismissal official so you can do the rest.”
“Well I do expect she might need some encouragement and convincing from you,” Celestia said, turning to Clover, “But let us not talk as if you are not here, Clover. Before you are forced to ask any questions, allow me to shed light as to our purpose. I am leaving the Thirteenth Division to assume my duties as Captain Commander. As of now the Gotei 13 are in need of those capable of assuming the duties of Captain for the Sixth and Thirteenth Divisions. Lieutenant Fancy Pants has made a good account of himself of late, and also with some assistance from Starswirl’s research, even achieved Bankai. As a result he shall be assuming command of the Sixth Division as Captain. That merely leaves the Thirteenth... and I have requested you for the position as its new Captain.”
If Starswirl’s sudden dismissal from the Twelfth Division had left Clover speechless, this left her utterly breathless and more than a little dizzy. Her brain staggered to conceive of what she was hearing and she found herself sitting down in one of the other chairs before Celestia’s desk much like a suddenly dropped sack of grain.
Eventually she started to form words again.
“I... must respectfully inquire... why?” she said, once her thoughts started to march in some manner of logical order, “Why me? I am not Captain material in the least.”
Celestia’s expression was the kind of warm, receptive understanding that had left many members of the Thirteenth loyal to her. It was the look of a mother happy to correct her children about their own talents. “With respect, Clover, I do not believe you give yourself sufficient credit. Over the past few months you have acquired battle experience in excess of many of our Lieutenants. You’ve been instrumental in matters of diplomacy, cultivating friendships with those of the living world, including Quincy and even Hollows. Indeed few Soul Reapers have the variety of experiences you have, while also being a qualified substitute instructor at the Academy, which gives you plenty of qualification to run the Thirteenth Division’s affairs.”
Technically yes, Clover understood the Thirteenth Division’s purpose as a sort of “training” Division for young Soul Reapers to get practical field experience and cultivate their talents to eventually transfer to other, more specialized Divisions. Given her time at the Academy, and her varied experiences in the living world, she supposed she might be well set to take over such duties. But she still felt she lacked any real command experience, plus...
“What of my Zanpaktou?” she said, “Chishiki is still in the clutches of Starlight Glimmer, and even if I had him back, I had not achieved Bankai, which is a prerequisite for Captainship, is it not?”
“Strictly speaking that is more a tradition than a rule,” Starswirl said, shrugging, “Captains are supposed to be the strongest Soul Reapers, hence it’s preferable for them to have Bankai, what with it being the power boost it is. That said, power comes in many forms, and yours is not inconsiderable at this point. I have heard plenty from Pudding Head as to your talent and rapid development as a master of Kido, and Amore’s report as to the dreadful business at that summit with this new Coalition stated you took down a direct servant of one of the Zero Division. At this point, Bankai is a formality that can be ignored. I’ve little doubt, once you re-acquire your Zanpaktou, that you’ll achieve it in good time anyway. Fancy Pants did well enough, and quite frankly your reiatsu is stronger than his.”
“It is? But he is a Lieutenant, and I’m still Third Seat,” Clover began to say but Starswirl just snorted at her.
“Hogwash. You’ve been fighting more, and even sitting here I can sense your reiatsu is of a magnitude greater than our Lieutenants. Certainly shot past poor Meadowbrook, at any rate. Oh stop being a bother, girl. You did well enough in the Twelfth, but I never felt research was your best field. You’ll do much better running the Thirteenth, and we don’t have time to laze about arguing the matter. With Scorpan gone, the Gotei 13 need to recover a sense of purpose and at least the semblance of power. That shall be done by getting our empty Captain seats filled, and getting on about the business of dealing with whatever mischief the Hollows have planned for our magical neighbors over in Equestria.”
Celestia cleared her throat at Starswirl and spoke in a more measured, assuring tone to Clover, “I cannot force this on you, but please consider it, Clover. Starswirl speaks the truth. Whether you know it or not, you are qualified for this role, and I have every faith in you.”
“And what of your own Lieutenant, Flash Sentry?” Clover asked, mostly to buy time to just absorb this sudden and drastic change thrust upon her life.
There was a knowing, curled smile on Celestia now, a certain mischievous radiance cast upon her voice that was like unsung laughter, “He is a fine young man and I shall be sad to lose him as my Lieutenant, but I do fear he has long since set his heart upon serving another. As it happens, I think he’ll do well as a diplomatic emissary to Equestria.”
“Huh?” Clover wasn’t sure what Celestia knew that she didn’t, but it must have had something to do with Flash having gone through the portal to Equestria. Had the two talked of something before that had happened, perhaps? Celestia certainly seemed unbothered by her Lieutenant’s absence, at any rate.
“It’s nothing to be concerned with,” Celestia insisted, “At any rate, I can leave you a list of recommendations for promotion, once you’re settled in. Some of these letters are to you, to bring you up to speed on Division affairs. Assuming you will take the post?”
By all accounts she had no reason not to. It was an incredible honor to even be considered a candidate for Captaincy, let alone be hand picked by who was to become the new Captain Commander. Despite both Celestia and Starswirl’s assurances, Clover still felt as if she was a child contemplating wearing the uniform of her parents. She couldn’t even envision herself wearing the white haori jacket of a Captain, especially without Chishiki at her side.
On top of that, if she accepted this position, what was to become of her friendship with Sunset Shimmer and the girls? As Captain of the Thirteenth Division she’d be so embroiled with new duties she couldn’t imagine she could continue to act as the liaison between them and Soul Society. When would she get to see them again?
As if knowing her precise thoughts, Celestia said, “As it happens, with the recall of many of our forces back to Seireitei, there’s still an issue of maintaining a presence in Canterlot City. Given that myself and Captain Luna were given such a posting in the past, it is not out of the question that the Captain of the Thirteenth Division, once she had the Division’s affairs in order here, could not take up a similar post in Canterlot City. You see, as being Captain Commander will demand much of my time, I can no longer masquerade as a high school principal anyway. You, on the other hand, may make the transition with minimal change.”
“I was just posing as a high school student there,” Clover pointed out, but Celestia waved the worry away.
“Most of the student body know your true nature already, and as for the few among the faculty who don’t, it is no difficult matter to give you an older, slightly altered gigai that can sufficiently pose as an older sister or even mother to your student persona.”
Well, that settled that in a neat package. Clover sat back in her seat, still trying to process the enormous nature of what this change meant for her. Yet she had no rational reason to object, her dubious qualifications aside.
At long last she summoned up all of her courage and swallowed past a dry throat, “Very well then, I suppose I should ask... when am I to begin?”
“Quite immediately,” was Celestia’s smiling reply.
----------
They’d been told to expect a visit from whomever was in charge of this faction of witches whom Bon Bon, Vinyl Scratch, and Octavia were a part of, but Sunset had not at all expected to be staring at the fuzzy face of a knitted doll in the shape of a ridiculously plump dragon. The gaudy thing was done up in bright blue thread, patched over with squares of yellow and green, with disproportionately small wings that flapped lazily as the plush doll hovered in front of them.
She, her friends, and Discord were all set up in his shop front for the meeting. Ditzy was sitting things out to rest from her wounds, while Wallflower was fast asleep after the pressures of what had happened to her. The doll, meanwhile, was extending threads from it’s hand to create a square screen that hovered next to it. On said screen, some manner of energy flowed through to provide a visual of what looked like a small cemetery in the outskirts of the downtown area of the city.
There, Sunset watched a recorded scene unfold.
Wallflower had been shown wandering into the cemetery, almost as if in a daze. She went to a gravestone and stood staring at it for some time. Meanwhile Octavia and Vinyl Scratch were seen hiding nearby, keeping watch from behind several other gravestones. It was then that the air stirred with wind and Wallflower was seen to look up, mouth agape as the Dragon descended, landing full body in the cemetery and crushing several gravestones to powder in the process. Its snout was mere feet from Wallflower and it sniffed her, and said in a resonant growl.
“Your hiding is at an end. Ragnarok comes and our lord requires you, even if you are but an empty vessel.”
The last scene before the screen faded was Wallflower screaming and scrambling away, just as Vinyl and Octavia leaped out of hiding, their odd wands drawn to begin engaging the Dragon. At that point the doll retracted the threads of yarn back into it’s body and spoke in a woman’s tone that was oddly flat to Sunset’s ears, as if her voice was being masked partially as to not be identified.
“That happened while you folks were dealing with your own problems here. With some timely assistance from your... employees, the Dragon was put down, but not before causing half a city block to catch fire. We’re cleaning that mess up, and just count ourselves lucky all that spiritual pressure going around had already knocked out most witnesses.”
“Very elucidating,” Discord replied simply, “Although I find myself laden down with a number of questions.”
“Yeah let’s start with who the heck are you and why are you talking to us through a weird looking floating crochet nightmare instead of coming here in person, lady?” blurted Rainbow Dash, jabbing a finger into the pudgy gut of the yarn dragon. The doll looked at her, its button eyes actually blinking in somewhat disturbing fashion, one after another.
“Don’t be impatient. I wanted to make clear what happened first, so you had a tiny bit of context before we got on with this. For the moment you may refer to me as Miss... Three. Don’t bother asking my actual name. If I wished to provide it, I’d have come in person.”
“Okay weirdo,” Dash said with a surly shrug and went back to leaning against one of the dubiously stocked candy shelves in the storefront. Meanwhile Sunset cleared her throat and raised her left, uninjured hand.
“If you want to keep things secret, fine, but it’s not like we’re not already in the know about you witches being here. Might go a long way to help with trust if you threw us a bone or two.”
The doll turned to her, its arms squeaking as it crossed them, its big snout drooping in a frown, “The bone was having my agents bring Wallflower to you. It’s clear we’re not presently best suited to keeping an eye on her, although it might be safer in the long run to take her out of Canterlot City. You see I wasn’t sure before that the Dragons of Jormungandr’s damned Cult of Ragnarok were targeting her, but this all but confirmed it.”
“Oh, Cult of Ragnarok sounds like a wicked band name!” Pinkie Pie said, and Applejack sighed, sitting next to her on one of the inner store steps.
“Just what we need, a bunch o’ new nutjobs causin’ problems. Like we waint got ‘nough on our plate. An’ these fellers bein’ Dragons means they’re all up in the Beast Realm, where we got ta go soon anyhows?”
“Further elaboration would not go unappreciated,” Discord stated, adjusting his hat and leaning harder on his cane, “Miss Windy Whistles.”
Rainbow Dash blinked, “Wha...?”
The doll narrowed it’s eyes at Discord, “You sneaky goddamn bastard, if you knew it was me you could have spared me the trouble of sending in a Thread Proxy.”
Even the doll’s voice had changed it’s artificial tone to take on the more natural voice of Rainbow Dash’s aunt, Windy Whistles, and Dash just stared at it, mouth agape, “Aunt... Windy?”
With hunched wings the doll hovered her way and spread its arms out, “Yes, Dashie, it’s me. Rather sorry you had to find out this way, and I’d be rather grateful if you didn’t immediately blab to your father about it. I’ll tell Bow in my own good time, but I can’t do everything I please, when I please. Wing Bind has its own rules, and while I am high on the totem pole, I still answer to my fellow Top of Horns.”
Rainbow Dash’s face twitched several times, going from shocked, to disappointed, then a brooding if somewhat leached away anger as she hung her head and muttered, “Well whatever. Mom ran out on me and dad without telling us the truth, no reason to figure you’d have been honest with us either. You know what? I don’t care about whatever this is about. You go explain this crap to my friends. I’m heading downstairs and getting some training in.”
She turned and started to storm out of the room, while Windy’s voice called from the doll, “Dashie, I wasn’t trying to hurt you or Bow. I wasn’t at liberty to say anything about my new job-”
“I don’t care about that,” Rainbow said, rounding on her from the doorway, hands propped on the sides of it as a bit of electricity course over her, “I’m sure you have a whole damn hullabaloo that means you think it’s cool to keep things from me and dad, and act all cozy towards him while living a second life as a secret agent witch or whatever. Don’t. Care. He doesn’t need another person who’ll up and leave him again. Stay away from my dad!”
She slammed the door shut and it was easy enough to feel the stomps of her feet as she walked away, no doubt to go down into the training area. After an uncomfortable moment of silence, Applejack stood up and said, “I’ll go n’ keep an eye on her, make sure she don’t tear the place down.” With a look at Sunset she added, “Tell me what ya learn when y’all are done here?”
“No problem,” Sunset replied, “Look after Dash.”
Once Applejack had departed as well, the doll that was Windy Whistles proxy floated back to the center of the room, sighing. “Well, she’s got Firefly’s temper, that’s for sure.”
“I think it’s that she’s protective of her father,” Sunset said, not quite glaring or anything, but less than pleased to see her friend so upset, “And this makes it sound like you’ve been keeping things from him, same as her mother did. It’s a sore spot for Dash.”
“I was as ignorant of Firefly’s activities as Bow was back then,” Windy Whistles said, “I wasn’t a witch, let alone a high ranking one, in those days. I didn’t even get involved in Wing Bind until my previous job as a government accountant landed me a job at the U.S embassy in London.”
“Do tell,” Discord said, having largely stayed stoic during Dash’s outburst, but now leaned forward with intent.
“No, I think I’ll skip that sordid story,” Windy said, with an air of irritated revenge on Discord revealing her identity, “Besides it’s not important compared to what we’re dealing with. All you need to know about me is that nowadays I’m Top of Horns for the Patchwork’s Division. For simplicity’s sake I’ll say that’s essentially equivalent to the Captains among the Soul Reapers you’re already familiar with. Wing Bind is a secret, multinational organization that has existed for some time, born originally from a group in Britain that developed ‘magic’ from the study of spiritual energy. Back then it was solely concerned with defending Britain from supernatural threats, but has long since grown into a world spanning force. That said, we’ve never had the power or numbers to make any real splash in the larger spiritual war between the Soul Reapers, Quincy, and Hollows, and so we’ve kept out of it entirely and instead focused on what you might consider more... low key threats. But threats no less dangerous for their seemingly smaller scale nature.”
“Only I’m guessing things are no longer so small scale, if it now involves Dragons, and Jormungandr of all of them,” Discord noted, and Fluttershy cleared her throat.
“Do you know who Jormungandr is, Mister Discord?”
“I’ve certainly never met the fellow, but I know enough about the Beast Realm to know he is the High Chieftain of the Sea Tribe,” Discord said, sucking in a breath, “And in theory, the strongest of the three. The three High Chieftains that is. From what I recall, Quetzalcoatl rules the Sky Tribe, while Fenris rules the Land Tribe. But in truth, both of them know that Jormungandr is older and more potent, his Tribe only held back by the comparative numbers of the clans within the other Tribes.”
“Wowie, sounds like a serious bigwig. He was as crazy strong as those Zero Division grumps that ruined our party?” Pinkie Pie said, casting a thumb towards the roof in the far corner of the storefront, where the hole that had been blasted in the shop partially edged into this section of the building. Fortunately the interior nature of Discord’s shop, with its shifting hallways, meant that getting around still wasn’t overly difficult, but Discord had mentioned it’d be a bit before the damage was repaired.
In answer to Pinkie’s question, Discord offered an enigmatic side glance and faint shrug of his shoulders, “The Beast Realm is a mysterious place, even to the Soul Reapers. They’ve power sufficient to keep us out of their affairs, and Jormungandr being rumored the strongest of their leaders certainly suggests he is quite formidable, as I suspect any High Chieftain would be. However, I suspect that Zero Division would still pose a serious threat, even to the Beast Realm’s strongest. They remain the strongest spirit beings that I am aware of.”
“Which still means that Jormungandr and any of his upper ranked Dragons and other creatures of his Tribe are damn dangerous,” Windy said in a flat, no nonsense voice, “And you’re not kidding about that ‘mysterious’ part. For as long as Wing Bind has dealt with rogue entities from that Beast Realm, we don’t know much about them. At least nowhere near as much as we’d like. Which makes this whole business with Miss Wallflower a giant pain in the butt, given we haven’t the slightest clue why they’re after her.”
Sunset was hesitant to bring this up, as Twilight wasn’t present an could probably provide more information after having studied the artifact, but right now it stuck out in Sunset’s mind that it was awfully coincidental that Wallflower was targeted this way only a short time after Sunset had taken that Equestrian artifact from her. “Look, I don’t know if this is related, but...”
She described the Hollow attack on Wallflower and the odd magical stone that Sunset had found in her possession. Windy’s floating dragon doll rubbed its head, “Yes, we were aware of that item. I won’t lie, we wanted it for ourselves, and had been considering both bringing in Miss Wallflower and that artifact before you got to her. We’ve rounded up a few items like that from across the world. You’d be shocked just how much our world seems to get used as a dumping ground by those Equestrian folk for random, problematic artifacts they wanted to get rid of.”
“You do realize how dangerous those are, then? Especially if they were so dangerous that somepony in Equestrian felt the best way to deal with them was to toss them into another dimension?” Sunset said, feeling a moment of mild panic at the thought of crazy Equestrian artifacts in the hands of people who had no idea what to do with them.
Windy chuckled as dryly as the yarn of her doll, “We’ve been at this for centuries, Miss Shimmer. Believe you me, the research boys in the Billions Division know how to handle dangerous magic. Don’t worry, we haven’t blown the world up. Yet. Suppose the way things are going, it’d be just our luck, wouldn’t it?”
Pinkie Pie giggled, but Sunset remained hard faced, “I don’t think this is particularly funny. But we’re getting sidetracked. What’s important right now is that Wallflower is still probably being targeted, and the last thing we need is more Dragons showing up. It won’t be long before we’re going to the Beast Realm to try and cross over it to Equestria. I don’t know what this Jormungandr jerk thinks he’s up to, or what this Ragnarok business is about, and it’d be pretty dumb to assume it isn’t somehow connected to Zero Division’s actions. So what I propose we do is keep Wallflower as far out of the line of fire as possible, and when we cross the Beast Realm, we confront whoever is in authority over there to get some answers about Jormungandr. It’s on our way to Equestria, we can knock it out as an issue while passing through.”
“Hah!” Windy Whistles laughed, not with too much derision, but more just surprised, “The moxy on you. You’re just going to ‘knock it out’ with the High Chieftains of the Beast Realm, on your way to Equestria? Like it’s a damn pit stop at an Arby’s.”
“Oh I don’t like Arby’s. I’m more of a Wendy’s girl,” Sunset said, flashing an incorrigible smirk.
“Hmph, well if you think it will be that easy, don’t let me stop you,” Windy said, “But if we’re talking about keeping Miss Wallflower safe, you may as well let us have her.”
“Why?” Sunset asked, eyes narrowing.
“Look, the Dragons already know she’s here in Canterlot City, and you just pointed out you’ll be trying to go to Equestria soon. Sure, you plan to try and deal with Jormungandr on the way there, but no telling how that will actually go, and every second in between now and then, the girl is in danger. On top of that, you don’t know how that magic artifact is tied into any of this, if at all. Maybe your Quincy friend has learned something about it, maybe she hasn’t, but either way its a fair bet it’s not a mystery that’s going to resolve itself any convenient time soon before you go jetting off to the Beast Realm and Equestria.”
Wind Whistles pointed at Discord, “On top of that, your problems with the Zero Division only put Miss Wallflower in more danger. You keep her here, there’s no guarantee she won’t end up a side casualty of another attack. This shop is right at the center of a lot of attention of the less than friendly variety.”
“Well made points,” said Discord, “But even so, why should we give her over to you? How will she be safer, precisely?”
“Also let’s not forget that she isn’t here for this conversation, and I’m pretty damn sure she should be the one to decide what to do, not us,” pointed out Sunset.
Windy cleared her throat, “We won’t take her against her will, but I can give her plenty of reasons to agree to this, including a guarantee of safety and extremely good treatment while under our care. Listen, this goes against regulations a bit, but I’ll give you the location of our headquarters. Reverse London. Just like it sounds, it’s a magically created mirror image of London, existing spiritually right underneath it. It’s extremely secure, and while there she’ll enjoy the protection of a whole damn army of witches. On top of that, the Dragon’s don’t know where Reverse London is. They won’t be able to track her there.”
Something about this still irked Sunset. Perhaps it was just that she felt some responsibility towards Wallflower. She’d made the girl’s life miserable, once, and still felt like just saving her life that one time the other day didn’t really make up for it. Also Wallflower seemed wholly unprepared for dealing with any more craziness in her life, and getting shipped off to some weird witch organization that had its headquarters in a pocket dimension copy of London just sounded like it would make things worse.
“It’s a nice offer, but I’m not convinced it’s for the best,” Sunset said simply, “Besides, Wallflower has a life here in Canterlot City. We can’t just pack her off on a plane to England like it’s nothing. What about her family?”
“Near as we can tell she doesn’t have any,” Windy Whistles replied, which made Sunset blink, and caused Discord to stroke his beard.
“I feared as much,” he said, “I had already checked myself, and noted the lack of any permanent address associated with the girl. No family name. Not much of any record at all, really.”
“Then... how was she at school?” asked Sunset, and looked at Fluttershy, then Pinkie Pie, “Did you guys ever see her at school?”
Pinkie scratched her head, “Um...uhhh... nope! Sorry! Got no memory of her at all.”
Fluttershy sadly shook her head, “I don’t either. She wasn’t in any of my classes. I’m not even sure I’ve seen her until you rescued her and brought her here.”
Sunset felt a strange stillness inside her, recalling her own less than clear memory. She’d surmised she’d bullied Wallflower, but actual memory of those events... “Okay, so what are we thinking then? Could she be a rogue Soul Reaper who hijacked a gigai?”
“Oh, you’d have sensed as much by now if that were the case,” Discord said, making an off handed gesture, “And while I’ve been discreet about it, I have examined her. She’s human. Even my analysis of her on a spiritual level suggests she’s human. Except for... a certain abnormality.”
Sunset turned her head swiftly on him, lips twisted into a somewhat exasperated if bemused smile, “Just mentioning this now, are you?”
“It really wasn’t relevant until now,” Discord said, smiling back at her with an utterly disarming amount of charm, “It’s been a busy day or two for you. No point worrying you, when I wasn’t really certain as to the nature of this abnormality. I do have a theory or two, now, but I’d like to hold off on discussing the matter until Twilight can be consulted more upon the nature of that magical stone.”
“And I take it from the turn of this conversation that you won’t be handing Miss Wallflower over to us, or the artifact?” said Windy Whistles, and both Sunset and Discord spoke simultaneously.
“Hell no!”
“Most assuredly not.”
They glanced at each other, nodded, then looked back at Windy Whistles with straight stares. The doll sighed and drooped, “Fair enough. The offer shall remain open, if you change your minds. Or if Miss Wallflower decides to come to us of your own accord. You did say the decision should be her’s, did you not, Miss Shimmer? Then I would ask that you at least pass the offer along to her and give her my number. If she decides, then she’s free to join us. My unit and I shall still be in Canterlot City for a time, until we receive word of recall from headquarters.”
Sunset grimaced, but nodded, “Fine, give me the number, I’ll pass it along to her.”
But I sure won’t be encouraging her to take you up on it, she thought. It wasn’t that she thought it was an entirely terrible idea, but there was something about Windy Whistle’s manner that rubbed Sunset the wrong way. It wasn’t that she’d upset Rainbow Dash, although that certainly didn’t help. It was the all business attitude, and focus on all of this like it was... just work. Now Sunset was the last person at this point to judge a whole organization based on the attitudes of one or two of its members. Bon Bon seemed cool, and the other witches hadn’t given her much reason to distrust them. It might be that Wing Bind as a whole was on the right side of things.
But they’d also been collecting dangerous Equestrian artifacts for centuries, if Windy was to be believed, and she seemed a little too fixated on the idea of getting Wallflower and that magic stone. Just as much as the Dragons, for that matter.
Once Windy Whistles had left, Sunset sat back, all but laying down on the storefront floor with a huge exclamation of frustrated breath, “Augh! Why of all times did we have to get another faction cropping up out of the woodwork to cause problems!?”
Pinkie Pie sat next to her and patted Sunset’s head, smiling bright as lemonade, “There, there, Sunny. It’s not that big a deal. Who cares what this silly Jormunblather is up to? Probably just some dumb ‘take over the world’ nonsense. Maybe Wallflower is his random, magical Mcguffin who he needs to fulfill his dark prophecy or whatever. Doesn’t matter. We’ll just punch him really hard when we’re passing through the Beast Realm, and it won’t matter what his plans were, because he’ll be K.O’ed and we’ll be moving on to more important stuff!”
“Pinkie, your optimistic outlook is exactly what I needed to hear,” Sunset said, letting the tension drain out of her as Fluttershy also came up, and both she and Pinkie offered hands to help Sunset sit up. She groaned as her body, still quite injured, let it’s protests be known through more than a few shooting pains down her spine.
Discord and Fluttershy both looked at each other, the former saying, “If you would be so kind, Miss Fluttershy?”
“Of course,” Fluttershy said, and before Sunset could so much as raise a word of protest, her friend had laid a golden hand of ethereal light upon her shoulder, and Sunset felt the warm breeze of power from Fluttershy dull her pain. What surprised Sunset, however, was that Fluttershy had not transformed, and the hand of gold light extended from the air near her like a second limb.
“Oh, I didn’t know you could do that,” Sunset said.
“Learning to bring out only the power I need has been as important as pushing the limits of what I can do at full strength,” Fluttershy said, and Pinkie Pie nodded, flickering her own hand and letting a small tendril of pink energy curl up her finger.
“Yup! Me and Mena have been practicing a lot too, so we can do the subtle stuff.”
“Subtle stuff? Dare I inquire what that entails with your kooky power set?” Sunset asked, and Pinkie winked.
“You’ll know it when you see it.”
Discord cleared his throat, “That aside, this day has been more chaotic than even my tastes tend to prefer. I still have to oversee repairs to my shop, and get my wards properly restored. In the meantime I suggest you girls get what rest you can. Perhaps go see if Miss Dash’s feathers aren’t too ruffled by her aunt’s revelations.”
“Yeah, I’d like to make sure she’s alright,” Sunset said, “Who’s on patrol duty, though?”
“Miss Lofty and Miss Holiday have volunteered to take the younger ladies on a combined patrol this evening,” Discord replied, and Sunset considered that a moment before nodding. She wasn’t sure just how strong the two elder Bount were, but they’d probably have no issues shepherding the younger girls through any lesser Hollow encounters that might crop up.
“I’d feel better if we had at least one heavy hitter on standby,” she said, glancing at Fluttershy, “Any chance your pal Smooze wouldn’t mind helping out?”
“Oh I’m sure he’d be delighted to assist us, although I am worried he isn’t recovered enough to really be considered a ‘heavy hitter’,” Fluttershy said, “But I don’t doubt he’ll do it if I asked.”
“Just for tonight,” Sunset said, “I’d ask Gloriosa instead, but I want someone still covering Everfree, and that’s still basically her back yard. I don’t think Tirek is going to make any moves immediately, but I’ve got a feeling once news of what happened today spreads, it’ll be like blood in the water for the sharks.”
“You’re not wrong,” Discord commented, “And I would be shocked if Tirek was not already aware. We can expect something, and likely very soon.”
“Adagio will give us warning if anything weird starts happening in Las Noches, at least,” Sunset replied, “We just got to hope we’ll be given enough time to lick our wounds before it does.”
----------
“I don’t like it, boss lady,” Di Roy said, staring hard across the interior desert of Las Noches' vast insides. He stood next to Adagio atop a recently built observation platform that she had constructed near the ‘roof’, where the insanely massive fortress’ sky dome connected to the inner wall. This was was a fan-shaped platform of worked stone, high above the chambers and halls of her claimed territory. It was a plain affair, without bother of a railing, and a single door in the wall behind it that led to carved stairs that switched back and forth downward several hundred feet until it reached level with the chambers of Adagio’s territory.
The platform gave a magnificent view of much of Las Noches' interior, and a well made telescope taken from the human world was mounted on a tripod to allow for watching a great deal of the fortress expanse. From here Adagio could gaze at Torch’s holdings to the east, and see the vast sprawling tent city of his horde, encircling the giant stone obelisk he used as his throne. She could readily make out Lament’s tower to the north west, tall and lonely, and almost thought she could make out the pale dot of the man himself, sitting in his usual spot on a rocking chair set before the cabin at the top of his tower.
Lament was recovering from the power drain he’d suffered from the extraction of the Seed Grogar had planted in him. Adagio had spent time helping train him back up with multiple sparring matches. Yet Lament remained reduced. Adagio was starting to suspect it wasn’t simply a matter of the loss of the Seed. Something was much changed in him since the climatic battles at Everfree Forest. Humanity was returning to the Fourth Espada, at least all of its anxieties, fears, and attachments. He clearly disliked being called Lament any longer, and only tolerated it when needed to maintain the masquerade that he remained a loyal Espada. Alone with his children or with Adagio’s inner circle, he preferred to be called Hard Nail.
She didn’t fault him for this, but she was growing suspect of his desire to regain power. Adagio had learned much of how Hollows grew in strength. Conflict, consuming other Hollows, but also there was a potent emotional core to how strong a Hollow could grow. They needed a specific negative emotion to unify their Hollow power. Or perhaps ‘negative’ was the wrong word. She knew now for certain that ‘ambition’ was her core emotion that granted her power as a Hollow. She didn’t see such an emotion as negative, but she could see how it was not at all a truly harmonious feeling.
Clearly regret had been Lament’s source of power, even beyond the Seed. But now the man had reunited with his family, regained his memories, and desired greatly to live as much an existence of peace as possible. When they sparred, Adagio sensed none of the cold, void-like power of regret that had flowed from Lament in the past.
Indeed, in most ways, the Espada Lament was gone. Hard Nail was now in his place, an Arrancar with half of his former power, and little will to use it save in defense of his family, both adopted and otherwise. Adagio was uncertain how to reignite some manner of proper motivation to him, and in some ways doubted it would be possible without flirting with some dangerous actions. Be it anger, hatred, desperation, or any other such emotion she could think of a dozen schemes to potentially evoke them in Hard Nail, to give him a new emotion to latch onto... but some small part of her that too often thought of Sunset Shimmer found she no longer had any stomach for such manipulations.
A pity, because she sure as hell needed a few more powerhouses on her side. Hard Nail, but her estimate, still held enough power to rank among the Espada, but not the Fourth. It was only the relative quiet of Las Noches of late that had allowed this fact to remain hidden, as few wanted to give the dreaded ‘Lament’ any excuse to lop off heads. It would be problematic if anyone discovered his capacity to do so was much reduced.
But she hadn’t been relying on him as a cure all to her own troubles, anyway. He had just been a very handy card in her deck, his value now reduced, but far from absent. She still counted him as an ally, and with him others such as Roka, who’s healing abilities could not be underestimated, and Fenice who’s Fullbring had useful qualities of its own.
In her head she could readily tally her own forces and allies. Around fifty Arrancar warriors, with Gaw, Di Roy, Dumbbell, Hoops, and Score as her primary enforcers and ‘Fraccion’ to organize the lower ranked. None of the other warriors were of great note, the dregs of other hordes, but Adagio had set to whipping them into shape with a passionate fervor. Working in groups of ten, these relatively weak warriors could utilize teamwork to overcome stronger foes. On top of these Arrancar, she had twice as many Adjuchas-class Hollows in her employ, and a like number of competent lesser Hollows who exhibited enough intelligence to be of use. These were largely utilized in servant capacities, courier jobs, or scouting and spywork in Hueco Mundo’s deserts.
Through them she’d been establishing an ever growing network of contacts amid the independent holdings of Hollows outside Las Noches, which in turn, alongside the intel the incident with the Storm King had garnered her, allowed her ever more opportunities to court alliance with the Privaron Espada.
She had two of those now who agreed to ally with her, first Erebus, and now a rather wretched but still potent individual who called himself Bray. The self-styled ‘Necromancer’ occupied an exceedingly depressing stretch of Hueco Mundo so flat and featureless it had looked like a plane of glass. Yet beneath those desolate sands, Bray had built himself a so-called ‘Necropolis’, filled with emaciated Hollows that served his dour whims. Adagio was threadbare for allies, so did not balk in making the same offers to Bray as she had Erebus, sensing no small amount of hate for Tirek in the skeletal Privaron Espada. He’d agreed, on the condition Adagio reinstate his former place in the Espada and a promise of a steady supply of human souls for what he termed his ‘experiments’.
The similarity to Grogar was not lost on Adagio, but she had no issue making any number of promises. After all, if Bray died in the fighting, she wouldn’t have to worry about keeping them.
But that was all concern for the future. The present was at the moment more pressing. The thing that Di Roy had made his ominous statement about was clear to see from this high position of observation.
Activity was plentiful and visible among a number of areas of both interest and disquiet.
Guto’s self styled ‘aerie’ tower had a large fortified camp now around it, with near the whole of his forces engaged in exercises so close to Adagio’s territory that it couldn’t be seen as anything other than direct provocation. Worse, Hydia’s collection of unusually formed Arrancar and lesser classed Hollows were camped right next to Guto’s forces, aiding in the war games and making it very clear of a close alliance between the two. Indeed the fact that the combined hordes of the presently Seventh and Eight Espada’s outnumbered Adagio’s horde more than four to one was very much on display.
Yet this was not the only activity of concern. A similar flurry of movement could be seen in Catrina’s palace, where her vast force of oddly unique and near identical Hollows, the Bushwoolies, were engaged in what looked to Adagio like stockpiling supplies. Big pavilion tents were being strung up and cages of lesser Hollows and even a scattering of human souls were being stacked up like food crates. Meanwhile runners were flitting back and forth from Las Noches' central tower, and, most worryingly, the giant crevasse to the west where Chrysalis kept her lair.
Adagio knew well that Catrina and Chrysalis hated each other, so why were Catrina’s Bushwoolies going in and out of Chrysalis’ territory as if the pair were now on friendly terms?
To add to this, Chrysalis’ drones were disturbingly absent. Usually it wasn’t odd to see them going about here and there, playing whatever games they’d invented among themselves to pass time or to run errands. But there was nothing to be seen now at all, not so much as a buzz.
She’d tried contacting Thorax, but her messenger never returned, and Thorax had not been at any of his usual haunts or their pre-arranged meeting spots.
“I don’t like it either,” she said with flat displeasure to Di Roy, eye still peering through the telescope, “Something is going on behind the scenes and we’ve been left out of the loop. Not just us, but Torch and Hard Nail as well. It’s as if the fortress is preparing for a major offensive, but only those not attached to our faction.”
“You think we’re about to get hit by all the others? Maybe Lord Tirek has gotten it in his head he isn’t so keen on you gunning for his chair and has set all the rest up to wipe us out,” Di Roy said, eyeing Guto’s tower with a sour look, “I can definitely smell the bloodlust in the air, lemme tell you.”
“I don’t think so,” Adagio replied, turning the telescope towards Guto and Hydia’s combined forces, “It isn’t Tirek’s style. If he wanted us dead, he’d come do it himself. He also wouldn’t need to arrange cooperation between his Esapda. He wouldn’t want to. Best they take their own initiative. That said, I smell Grogar’s hand in this. Hydia is still obsessed with him, and Guto despises me, so Grogar could readily set them both to box us in like this. As for whatever is going on with Catrina and Chrysalis, I suspect it’s unrelated, but still concerning. Catrina is stockpiling ‘food’ in the form of lesser Hollows and human souls, and her creatures keep moving between the main tower and Chrysalis’ territory. That strikes me as preparation for a larger operation between the higher Espada. What worries me is the lack of word from Thorax. If something was wrong, he’d contact me. And our messenger didn’t come back...”
“Could be they got ganked by one of Guto or Hydia’s people,” Di Roy suggested, shrugging, “Using lesser Hollows as messengers is risky like that. You ought to send me or Gaw. Some scrub gets in our way, we’ve got the muscle now to make them regret it.”
Adagio pulled away from the telescope, considering. It was true that after consuming their portion of the Seed, Di Roy and Gaw had gotten notably stronger. Strong enough that Gilda could very well be challenged for the position of Tenth Espada, had Adagio so wished to position either of them there. As it was, she liked keeping them as her left and right hands for now, and to keep their increased strength, as well as her own, a secret.
But Di Roy was right, if she wanted to get a message through to Thorax, she’d need to send a stronger messenger, or just go herself. But she dared not leave her territory with Guto and Hydia so poised against her. If either of them attacked, she wanted to be present to put it down, hard. She was loath to risk her two most capable Fraccion, but one way or another, she needed to know what was going down and Thorax was her best in-line. She needed to know now, before things got more complicated.
“Alright,” she said at last, “I’ll write an invitation to Thorax myself, and you and Gaw will deliver it to him, if you can find him. Between the two of you if you run into any trouble you should be able to handle it, or at least escape.”
“Can do, boss lady. Hey, quick question; is that Gilda? What is she doing with that Fluttershy chick?”
Adagio blinked, then followed Di Roy’s finger where he was pointing. Indeed, it was Gilda and Fluttershy. The pair together had appeared in a flash of movement in front of Adagio’s territory, and even as she looked down from so high above, she could make out the pair looking right back up at her, Fluttershy giving an all too casual wave of friendly greeting.
----------
“I do hope you didn’t run into any problems,” Adagio told Fluttershy, serving the girl a glass of ice water freshly poured from a plastic water cooler. She was working on the idea of getting actual plumbing built into her territory which could pump water from the lake and underground sources, but for now she still had to work with what she could.
Fluttershy took the glass with a grateful smile and took a deep drink. She sat on one of the couches of Adagio’s guest room, Gilda standing in an uncomfortably stiff manner next to said couch.
“Oh, everything was fine,” Fluttershy said, “A few Arrancar gentlemen from Guto’s group tried to block my and Gilda’s path after we left the embassy, but I convinced them to let us pass without any... significant violence. Oh my, this water is delightful. The air here is so dry, you know?”
Adagio didn’t hide an amused smile of her own at hearing that. She could well imagine how such a scene had played out, and was sorry she missed it. The rule of that embassy was that there was to be no attacks on it’s soil, but the second any of the members of the Coalition stepped off of it they were fair game. However that didn’t mean any of these girls were easy game, and no doubt Guto’s men had learned that the hard way. Still, it meant Guto would know Fluttershy was here, as was Gilda. It didn’t take any great stretch of thought to know how much that’d ruffle his feathers.
“This realm has few charms,” Adagio admitted, “But it isn’t the weather you’re here to discuss, I assume?” She glanced at Gilda, wondering on just what business had brought the Tenth Espada to the Coalition’s ‘embassy’ to meet with Fluttershy. She was also dying of curiosity to know what all of this was about.
“No,” Fluttershy admitted, setting the glass of water aside, “I came here for several reasons. One, Sunset requested I bring you up to date on what’s happened in Canterlot City.”
Adagio’s unease rose like a coiled eel at the ominous tone in Fluttershy’s voice. “It hasn’t even been two full days since you girls came and made such a scene in front of all Las Noches, and now you’re saying something else has happened?”
Fluttershy gave a serene, if somewhat hapless nod, and proceeded to divulge the entirety of Zero Division’s appearance and subsequent assault upon the Coalition’s summit between Soul Society and the Quincy. Adagio listened, and somewhere in the middle of it all realized she’d poured herself a rather large glass of wine and had it mostly drained by the end of the tale, at which point wine wasn’t enough and she poured herself a glass of something harder.
“I... take it that you still don’t know what became of the Soul Reaper’s Captain Commander and this... Glory, was it?” she asked, and within her felt the sudden grip of mental vertigo as she saw the smooth glass of Fluttershy’s still visage.
The girl spoke past falls of pink hair over her unblinking eyes that shifted briefly towards Gilda, with a great deal more calculation than Adagio would have given credit to Fluttershy for being capable of. “We received word from Soul Society just before I came here. Captain Commander Scorpan... fell to Glory. Celestia has now taken the role of Captain Commander in his place.”
Adagio’s mind started going through a swift domino effect of spiraling thoughts, and suddenly some of the activity among her fellow Espada’s hordes took on a new light. While she was trying to come to a conclusion as to what this meant, Gilda let out a grunting gasp, her mouth briefly parting in a silent gape of amazement.
“No damn way! He’s dead? The most powerful Soul Reaper ever? Hah!”
Fluttershy looked at Gilda straight in the eyes, and Gilda paused, beading with sweat, and quickly set her jaw tighter, “What? Dude was a boogeyman for our kind since forever. With him gone, the Soul Reapers will think twice before coming at us. I get you’re all nicety-nice, Fluttershy, but I don’t have to act like I’m sad one of my kind’s most dangerous enemies is gone.”
“You’re not thinking through the ramifications,” Adagio cut in sharply, “If the Zero Division’s leader was able to defeat the likes of this Scorpan, then what chance does anyone have of taking them down? There’s five of these monsters, and their plan is to eventually expunge all of our souls for their scheme to restore their ancient brethren. If Tirek and Sombra all the only ones left of that same category of power, then let’s see if I remember my basic math here... five versus two counts as crap odds.”
Gilda just blinked at her like a brick wall with eyes, “But the Quincy would never work with us, and Tirek and Sombra hate each other.”
“Oh, sorry, my math was off, five versus zero, because the two won’t work together. We’re even more screwed,” Adagio shot back, downing the last of her drink and pouring more, but only for a second before she threw the glass aside and just drank from the bottle. Taking a bit of a gasp as the fiery liquid made a nice warm burn down to her stomach, she looked back at Fluttershy, “So, aside from delivering some of the worst news I’ve had since I got turned into a Hollow, why else are you here?”
She had a suspicion already, but she might as well hear it from the horse’s mouth. Fluttershy obliged her readily, having at least some small self consciousness to adjust her grass green skirt and fold her hands into her lap before continuing on in a tone seemingly designed to vibrate with a calming tenor.
“Twilight is prepared to lead a group to rescue Fleur De Lis from Guto, and I came here to ask for your help.”
Adagio leaned against her bar counter, “Figured. That’s been on Twilight’s to-do list since me and her started swapping info-”
“Wait what?” Gilda said, but Adagio waved her off.
“-Oh relax, Gilda. It’s been an equitable exchange, and I know a lot more about the Quincy’s techniques and higher ranked members than probably any other Espada now because of it. But part of the plan was always to retrieve that Fleur woman from Guto’s grasp, and you can’t argue much with that, can you Gilda? You’re no longer Guto’s warrior, but the Tenth Espada, with a very tenuous hold on your position. You haven’t even gained any Fraccion to your name.”
“S-so what!?” Gilda said, “I’ll manage on my own! You’re talking about working with our enemies against another Espada, here!”
“As if that’s somehow a shock. You already understood my connection to those girls since Everfree.”
“Yeah, but that was to help a fellow Arrancar. Now you’re talking about helping a Quincy. That’s totally different!”
Adagio sucked in a deep breath and let it out slow as she approached Gilda with pointed steps. Gilda tensed, but Adagio just handed her the bottle, not quite half empty. She spoke slowly, with controlled words, staring at Gilda with hard eyes, “Drink. Then think. Right now we stand on the precipice of a paradigm shift of truly massive proportions, Gilda. The Soul Reapers leader is dead, leaving their ranks in disarray. The Zero Division represents an incredible threat to all of us, Hollow, Soul Reaper, and Quincy alike. Our only hope of surviving their plans is in a united front of all remaining faction’s forces. Now, the Quincy hate us as much as we hate them, but what would it mean if we, Hollows, helped rescue one of their own? It would add weight to the formation of an alliance, a needed alliance. It would also weaken Guto’s position, perhaps causing warriors once loyal to him to seek a new leader. Indeed one way or another a massive battle is coming, one where no doubt Espada will fall, perhaps even Tirek himself. Who might rise in rank in the aftermath, hmm? Perhaps that title of Tenth might become much higher, by the end of it all?”
Gilda listened, and drank, eyes growing ever wider in realization with every word Adagio spoke. Polishing off the bottle, Gilda looked at the empty glass, and then threw it aside. She eyed Fluttershy, and Adagio saw Gilda’s face warm with some memory lighting her eyes, conflict stilling as Fluttershy smiled at her.
“Okay, screw it, I’m in. But mark me, Adagio, you better damn well believe if we both survive to the end of this, I’m expecting you to come through on that higher spot in the Espada.”
Adagio’s lips parted in a flash of white, “But of course. Now, Fluttershy, shall we get into the nitty gritty as to what this plan is going to entail?”
----------
Sunset was tired, but she needed to do this. The news of Scorpan’s death was still fresh in her mind, and she’d have been lying to herself if she said she wasn’t afraid. It was easy to be blasé about possibly dealing with Jormungandr, because as of yet he represented a largely mysterious and vaguely defined threat.
Glory and the Zero Division were a threat Sunset now knew all too well, and Scorpan’s death was proof positive of them playing for keeps. And with Rarity in Hell, Sunset and her friends didn’t even have the comforting synergy their friendship gave them when they all stood together. Much as she now saw herself as human, she’d never ceased to believe firmly in the tenets of friendship and harmony so vital to Equestrian thinking, and Sunset felt diminished without Rarity’s presence. She knew her other friends all felt the same, and she did her best to stoke her inner fire so she could continue to act as a pillar of strength for them. She needed to keep her eyes forward, to lead everyone through this.
It was a comfort, at least, that they could communicate with Rarity, albeit in a limited manner. Their last message from her said she was on her way to some kind of settlement in Hell, which struck Sunset as odd that such a place even had ‘settlements’, but it sounded like at least Rarity had run into some potential... friends? Rarity’s wording had been odd.
”I’ve met with some unexpected associates, but whom may prove to be useful in establishing myself in this dismal place. Oh, and Captain Blueblood is here, too.”
That was a shock as well. Blueblood had somehow snuck into Hell? Sunset was a tad... jealous? She wished she’d found a way to be by Rarity’s side as well, but she supposed she’d have to settle for that puffed up dandy. But so help her, if Blueblood screwed up and got Rarity hurt... well, he was already in Hell, so Sunset didn’t suppose she could do much worse to him, but she’d see if she could get creative.
All of that were things she needed to place neatly in the back of her mind right now, however. At this moment, she had a personal matter to attend to.
She was in the medical room where she’d woken up earlier, although it was now well into the night. Instead of laying in bed, she was situated on a comfortable meditation cushion in front of the cylinder that had contained Hokori no Hikari. The Zanpaktou was now out of that cylinder of restorative spirit energies and lay sheathed across Sunset’s lap. She sat cross legged, with her uninjured left hand laid upon the blade, while her right arm was left laying next to it in a resting position.
Sunset breathed in a steady rhythm, settling her mind and spirit, letting her soul flow into the connection between herself and her Zanpaktou.
She felt them, her twin Zanpaktou spirits. Hokori and Hikari’s energies were... disquiet. Tense. Sunset felt a brewing storm within her Zanpaktou, and knew that it was largely a reflection of the dissonance inside herself. Hokori and Hikari were her partners, and in turn pieces of herself, which meant the in order to regain her footing she needed them. Time and again her Zanpaktou spirits had hinted at the fact that there was still much she had left to master about their power, and with Zero Division no longer a theoretical and looming threat, but a very real and present danger, it was time to begin that final path to mastery.
Both of her Zanpaktou, and herself, for they were ultimately one and the same for a Soul Reaper.
With this thought in mind, she dove once more into her Inner World.