//------------------------------// // Episode 15: Brewing Storm // Story: Equestria Girls: Friendship Souls // by thatguyvex //------------------------------// Episode 15: Brewing Storm Adagio slumped in the open space between Sonata’s partially unzipped hoodie, her arms and head hanging out as she lay inert, partially so that she didn’t draw any undue attention as her sister went about order a dizzying array of different coffees, half of which weren’t even identifiable as coffee due to the amount of sugar and whipped creme involved, and a pile of pastries that filled two bags. The other reason she slumped dejectedly, unmoving, was because she still hadn’t mustered up the courage to actually talk to her sisters about how she felt. She could imagine Sunset laughing at her for her cowardice... ...No, she supposed Sunset wouldn’t laugh, would she? It felt strange, but Adagio had to admit she wasn’t as angry with the pony turned human as she used to be. Mostly she was now just angry at herself. It was fear, she knew. She was afraid to even bring up the topic of apologizing to her sisters for their current state, to ask forgiveness for bringing them to this wretched state. She wanted to, she just couldn’t work up the nerve, yet. Maybe she’d wait until she got her body back. It might be easier to talk to Aria and Sonata if she could actually do so while being eye to eye with them. Thinking of that made her wonder how much longer she had to wait to return to her real body. Not that she had any fondness for the mostly hairless monkey form, but she had to admit it beat being in a plush doll, no matter how closely the doll resembled her true, siren self. Much as she detested being human she had to admit it had a few benefits. What hair it did have she’d enjoyed styling, and while she’d never bothered with clothing as a siren, the human form seemed well suited to showing off decorative clothes. I can’t even eat in this doll body. Damn thing has never felt right. Sonata finished the order, and cheerfully called Aria over to help carry it, the other siren girl only doing so after a begrudging nod and glare. “So glad we’ve gone from food service workers to being a delivery service,” muttered Aria, “So much more dignified.” “Hey it's not so bad!” said Sonata, already pulling out a jelly filled scone and munching on it as the girls left the coffee shop, “Mmph, we get much bigger rooms out of the deal, and the work is a lot easier.” “Yeah, when we’re not putting our lives in danger,” said Aria, “I say as soon as Adagio has her body back we skip this town! We’ve started from scratch before, we can do it again.” “All of those times we’ve started in a new town we had our powers to make it all easier,” said Adagio plainly, keeping her voice down so anyone passing by wouldn’t likely take notice, “But besides that, we can’t leave town. Not until we’ve tried that mirror...” “Do you think that Twilight chick will actually let us go home?” asked Sonata, “I mean, we did kinda do a lot of horrible stuff to her and her pals. I’d still be pretty peeved if someone did all that to you and Aria.” Aria just scowled, and Adagio felt something inside her clench, and her voice grew stronger, “If I have to I’ll use Sunset’s book to write to the Princess myself, whichever one will listen.” “Pfft, what would that accomplish?” asked Aria, unimpressed. Because I’ll tell them about how all of this is my fault, and that you two shouldn't have to suffer any more for my mistakes. Even if I have to stay here, I’ll ask that my sisters can return to Equestria. I’ll beg if I have to. Adagio thought, but couldn’t bring herself to say any of it out loud, and the trek back to Discord’s shop became quietly uncomfortable. Once back at the shop the girls made for the front doors, and Adagio noticed they were just behind that odd gray cat, which was striding towards the doors as well, sinuously going up the front steps. The cat glanced back at them, its walled, yellow eyes gleaming, and Adagio thought it smiled as it swished its tail at them. “Aww, hi kitty!” said Sonata happily, going up and opening the door for the cat. “There ya go!” “Thanks,” said the cat in a breathy, squeaking male voice as it went through the door. “You’re wel...come.?” Sonata blinked, still smiling, but trailing off in confusion as she exchanged a look with an equally floored looking Aria. “Did that thing just talk?” Aria asked. “No,” said the cat cheerfully, “This is all in your heads. It's the nuthouse for all of you, surely. Heheh!” The cat laughed in a giggling cascade as it disappeared into the shop, leaving the three sirens to stare at each other. Finally Adagio sighed, saying flatly, “Equestria made so much more sense than this world.” ---------- Training was over for the day, a fair be earlier than normal, but Discord called it a reward for how hard they’d all been working that week. “You girls have been putting in the blood and sweat, it’s only fair to let you have a little extra rest,” the eccentric man had said with a twist of a smile on his face, tearing off pieces of a muffin and casually feeding it to the gray cat on his shoulder, “In fact why don’t you all take the day off tomorrow? Yes, never know when something big might be coming up around the corner, so take a day for yourselves to relax and have some fun.” Sunset glanced at the man sidelong, getting the distinct feeling he had a more specific reason for giving them a day off of training besides just wanting to reward them for hard work. She and her friends, along with the sirens, were all sitting around, picnic-style, not far from the stairs leading out of the training grounds. Coffee and pastries had been distributed and Sunset was thoroughly enjoying the combination of mocha and scone. Helped smooth over her simmering frustration over her encounter with her Zanpaktou spirit. A part of her wanted to go right back in there and pummel answers out of her she-demon self. Not that imagined that’d get her anywhere. The she-demon was strong, and likely would just kick her right back out again. “Ya doin’ alright there Sunset?” asked Applejack, wiping muffin crumbs off her shirt, “Yer lookin’ mighty intense there. “Huh? Oh, sorry, just thinking.” “Ooo, what about? Are they tasty thoughts for your juicy brainpan?” asked Pinkamena, stretching out a limb like a squid’s tentacle and snatching up a scone, hauling it back to her and tossing the pastry into her widely open mouth, where she then chewed in exaggerated motions while staring hungrily at Sunset. Nearby, Rarity shivered and gave Pinkamena a scornful look, then said to Pinkie Pie, who was seated right next to her double, “PInkie Pie, must you keep your... your pet summoned?” “What?” Pinkie Pie asked innocently, taking a big sip from a large frappuccino, “She’s hungry, and we’re hanging out, right Pinkamena?” “Mmmhmm, and aren’t I being just so well behaved? I didn’t try to eat a single one of your friends today! I think that show’s I’m growing as a person. What do you think, Rare-Rare, isn’t it nice I didn’t bite or even try to lick you at all today?” asked Pinkamena, far too sweetly, blue eyes sparkling with all the sweetness of a wolf licking its chops. “Yeah, because you were too busy trying to chomp on me,” said Rainbow Dash in a voice made from pure, distilled deadpan, “Good thing I’m too fast to let a walking dental nightmare get the better of me.” Pinkamena just giggled, “One day I will taste the rainbow.” "Not anytime soon," Rainbow said, shuddering faintly before blinking and peering at Pinkamena, "By the way, what's with the eyes?" "I use them to peep at soon-to-be snacks," Pinkamena replied with a snicker, but Rainbow Dash just waved it off. "Nah, I mean, like, why are they blue right now?" The other girls, hearing this, all leaned over to get a look at Pinkamena's face, Rarity gingerly raising a hand to her chin, "Why Rainbow Dash, you're right. Weren't they yellow before?" Pinkie Pie snaked around to get nearly nose to nose with Pinkamena, her own baby blue eyeballs seeming to near pop out as she eyed her doppelganger, "Whoa, freaky-deaky. You're eyes are like mine now, Mena, instead of being all yellow and Hollow-y." Pinkamena let out a short snort and pushed Pinkie Pie back, her eyes briefly flickering to yellow before returning to sharp blue, "Don't think about it too hard, or you'll break something in that squishy head of yours. My eyes go yellow when I'm in the mood. The mood for munchies, or screams. Or both. Mostly both." “And on that disturbing note, do we get a day off tomorrow too?” asked Aria, who was the only one of the group besides Discord who wasn’t sitting. She had her arms crossed over her chest, and was eyeing the cat on Discord’s shoulder. Sunset wondered why, until she noticed the cat actually smile and wink at Aria, who gave a start and looked away. Sunset blinked. Had she just seen that? “Hm? Oh, I suppose so,” said Discord, “You three have earned it too. By the way Miss Adagio, I have some good news for you.” The siren stuck in a small plush doll raised her head from where she’d been forlornly eyeing the bag of pastries she couldn’t eat, eyeing Discord both quizzically and with a fair hint of suspicion. Discord only smiled at the look, and continued to say, “Progress on repairing the damage to your original body has been going quite a bit smoother than even my predictions anticipated. It should be ready for your soul to be returned to it in as little as three or four more days. A week at most.” Adagio looked stunned, and was quickly snatched up into a hug by Sonata, “Did you hear that, Dagie? You’re going to be back to your big poofy haired self in no time!” “Uh, yeah, that’s... good,” Adagio said. “Aww c’mon, show some enthusiasm!” said Sonata, eyeing Adagio curiously, “Or are you starting to like the cute new cuddly body more than the old one?” “No! I want my body back. I just didn’t expect it this soon,” Adagio said, looking at Discord, expression reserved, guarded, “Is there a reason it's going so fast?” For a moment Discord’s face seemed shadowed by his green and white stripped hat, both the hat and the long bangs of his unkempt white hair obscuring his eyes as he said, “Let’s just say that there’s some interesting differences between your soul and a normal human’s that I believe has to do with the fact that you sirens, much like Miss Sunset, come from another world. Your soul is much more efficient at absorbing energy than the average human soul, I think because consuming energy is a natural part of your nature as a siren.” “But our gems were destroyed. We can’t eat magic anymore,” said Aria glumly. “I don’t know anything about that,” said Discord with a shrug, “I never examined any of you while you were still had these gems you’re so attached to. No matter your connection to those gems, or how that connection was severed, your souls still possess the basic structure and makeup that allowed you to consume energy at a rapid rate, even if the object that acted as a physical medium for that process was destroyed. Hmm... think of it like this, even if you lost the use of your mouth, you’d still technically have a stomach. It’s like that. What I’m doing with Adagio’s body is sort of like connecting a feeding tube, metaphysically speaking, to her ‘stomach’ or rather the part of her that can absorb energy. It bypasses whatever system was in place that utilized your gem, and feeds the soul directly. Understand?” Aria didn’t look like she did, and Sonata had a very clear bluescreen effect filling her eyes, while Adagio just looked thoughtful. Meanwhile Pinkamena’s own stomach growled loudly and she whined, “All these eating metaphors are making me want to nibble something warm. Any volunteers?” Pinkie Pie sighed, “Okay, might be time for you to go to bed, Mena. You’re starting to salivate too much.” There was a trail of drool slowly pooling from the corner of Pinkamena’s mouth, which she licked away and gave Pinkie Pie a challenging look, “You haven’t given me a decent meal yet. When are you going to let me sink my teeth into something meaty? All this human food barely puts a dent in my tummy’s rumblings. I need a real snack, like a big tender Hollow!” Sunset saw that Pinkie Pie was more than bit unnerved, her expression thick with unease as she said, “You’ll just have to wait and be patient until some Hollows show up, and I don’t want you going overboard when they do. Now come on, go to sleep. I’ve kept you out to have some fun hanging out, but I can’t keep it up forever.” “Tch, fine, but the next time you bring me out there’d better be something I can gorge myself on, otherwise I’m going to show you what I’m like when I get cranky,” said Pinkamena, glowing and dissolving into a fine pink mist that flowed around and into Pinkie Pie. Afterward Rarity made a disgusted face. “I’m so sorry Pinkie Pie, I just don’t know how you can stand dealing with that bore. She’s utterly lacking in any social graces.” “I kinda like her,” said Sonata, “She just likes some good food. Girl has her priorities straight, far as I’m concerned.” “Sonata, you do realize when she’s talking about eating, most the time she’s thinking about eating people, right?” asked Aria. “Really!?” Sonata’s expression looked honestly incredulous, then slowly blanched, “Okay, nevermind, that's super creepy.” “She’s not that bad,” Pinkie Pie said, looking a tad dejected, and Rainbow Dash came over to her, sitting down and giving the other girl a hard path on the shoulder. “Its cool, Pinkie, don’t sweat it. So your other half’s got a bit of a weird streak, at least you got her under control. I mean, who’d of thought you could pull off the assertive, take charge role? I think its pretty awesome the way you handle Pinkamena.” “Yeah, heheh, I’m totally handling her,” said Pinkie Pie, and while it sounded fairly confident and Pinkie Pie even managed a solid laugh, Sunset had a feeling that her friend was a lot more worried than she was letting on. “So, um, not to sour the hanging out mood with talk of work, but is anyone else wondering why there’s been so few Hollows this past week?” asked Twilight suddenly. The girl had been pretty quiet since sitting down and nursing her cup of coffee. Sunset didn’t even think Twilight liked coffee all that much, but she hadn’t said anything about it. Twilight also hadn’t touched any of the pastries. Again Sunset was reminded of the way Twilight always seemed to be tired lately, with little scrapes and bruises on her hands. “Maybe they’re just tired of getting their butts kicked by us?” said Rainbow Dash, looking over at Fluttershy, “Though it was Fluttershy that got to do the honors last time. Still jealous you sent that freaky Arranwhatever packing before the rest of us got there.” Fluttershy cringed a bit, whispering, “I didn’t really mean to. I know they just want to hurt us, but I felt sort of bad for him. He said he might die if he didn’t finish transforming, and i wasn’t sure what that meant.” Discord’s face had become serious for a moment as he reached up and scratched the gray cat on his shoulder under the chin idly, “From what you said it sounded as if that Hollow was being somehow forced through the evolutionary process, in a manner that made the whole transformation unstable. It may sound cruel, but that’s a good thing for us. Arrancar are not to be taken lightly, and that Hollow’s partially evolved state made him weak enough to make defeating him possible. Had he been a true Arrancar, even a weak one by their standards, it would have been a very different story.” “How does this Hollow evolution even work?” asked Sunset, “All we’ve seen are regular Hollows, then that Grand Fisher guy, then the half-Arrancar. Are there more kinds than that?” “Oh most definitely. Hm, let me show you,” Discord said, holding out an arm and speaking to the cat, “Give me a moment, my dear, I think this needs visual aids.” The cat meowed at him and hopped off, and Sunset noticed all three sirens looking at the cat with equal levels of trepidation. Why were they looking at the cat like that? Strange. Once the cat was off his shoulder and sitting stretched out on a nearby rock, Discord reached into his robes and pulled out a sketchpad and box of crayons. Sunset didn’t even want to ask how he kept them hidden in there and just assumed his robes were as mysterious as Pinkie Pie’s own capacity for carrying assorted knick-knacks. Drawing furiously for a minute, Discord showed them a picture of what Sunset figured had to be Hollows, if unnaturally adorable and small in comparison to the real thing. “So you already know lesser Hollows,” Discord said, pointing to the first Hollow on the list, a big eyed critter looking like a cute little bat with a skull mask, “The vast majority of the Hollow population are made up of these corrupted human souls, who seek to eat the souls of other dearly departed and even their fellow Hollows. Everything from intelligence to strength and raw spiritual power varies widely among them, with some have little to none, while others possessing much greater levels of each, depending on how strong their will was as a human and how many souls they’ve consumed. Grand Fisher is still a lesser Hollow, but one who has eaten so many souls he is at the pinnacle of this category. Now, next up...” He pointed at the next picture, which looked to Sunset like a large black thumb with a spiked collar and a white mask with a big pointy nose, and ridiculously large white booted feet, “Are the Gillians. A Gillian is formed when a Hollow reaches a certain point of power, upon which they combine with a number of other lesser Hollows to form a gigantic Hollow the size of a building. Gillians all look identical, and are usually mindless, but a rare few have a strong willed soul in control that directs the Hollow’s actions. A Gillian is powerful enough to challenge even a Soul Reaper Lieutenant, and can fire blasts of concentrated spirit energy known as Cero. Gillians usually spend their time hunting one another, devouring their fellow Gillian in a quest for every more power. Which of course leads to our next stage of evolution.” The next picture was much like the lesser Hollows, but larger, a demonic looking entity that would have been intimidating with its spear-like claws and horned mask, but the chibified features and big dopey eyes sort of ruined the effect. “This is an Adjuchas. These Hollows have personalities and full control over their mental faculties, while also having more power than a Gillian. Very few Hollows have the capacity to evolve past this point, though few ever need to as even an Adjuchas could defeat most Soul Reapers, with the exception of thirteen division Captains.” Next to the picture of the Adjuchas there was a split line, two different arrows leading to separate pictures. One was of an Adjuchas chomping down on a pile of lesser Hollows, all waving their arms in cute little terror. The other picture was of an Adjuchas tearing off its skull mask and bursting with power. “At the Adjuchas level there are two different ways for them to evolve further. One is to keep consuming Hollows, in hopes of becoming a Vasto Lorde, the most powerful classification of Hollow there is. Its rare, to the point of only one every few hundred years, for a Hollow to have the potential to become a Vasto Lorde. Such Hollows are so inconceivably strong that even a Soul Reaper Captain would be hard pressed to face one. The other method of evolution isn’t as rare, but still difficult to achieve, and that is the removal of the Hollow mask...” Discord showed the last page, depicting a Hollow, but one that looked almost entirely human, save that the chibified human-like Hollow still had a few fragments of skull bone around its head and a Hollow hole in his chest. Otherwise he was shown wearing plain white clothes and carrying a sword. “Doing this transforms the Hollow into an Arrancar. Hollows that possess a Zanpaktou, blurring the line between Hollow and Soul Reaper.” “How in tarnation does that work?” asked Applejack, throwing her hands out, “Why’d takin’ their dang masks off suddenly give ‘em a Zanpaktou and make ‘em look all human again?” Discord blinked at her, "The process isn't exactly well understood by anyone, since few have been present to study a Hollow actually going through the transformation. Remember that every Hollow was once a normal human soul. The human shape comes naturally to them, and the Hollow mask is part of the the sign of their corruption as Hollows. Removing the mask frees the spiritual body, in part, to retake its human shape. As for the Zanpaktou they have, that is more of a mystery. Their blades don't function like a Soul Reaper's Zanpaktou, which is a separate entity that grows in power alongside the Soul Reaper. An Arrancar's Zanpaktou more acts like a wellspring that absorbs the Arrancar's original Hollow form, storing it as a font of power to be released when needed." Applejack just stared at him with a face screwed up in confusion, "I don't git it." “Nevermind the details,” said Discord, “Whatever the reasons, this method is how Arrancar usually come into being. However, it sounds like now there’s an Arrancar out there that’s learned how to force the evolution onto far weaker Hollows that aren’t even at the Adjuchas stage. Bad news for us, certainly, though it seems as if the process isn’t perfect if it only managed to produce an unstable specimen like the one recently encountered.” “Yeah, Clover and me were barely able to keep up with him,” said Sunset. “Where’d Clover go off to, anyway?” asked Rainbow Dash, “She just up and vanished after coffee arrived.” Sunset shrugged, “She said she wanted to check in with Soul Society and make her update report.” “That poor dear works too hard,” said Rarity, “She really could have waited ten minutes to enjoy a break with us.” Sunset wasn’t sure that it was about working hard so much as it was about Clover wanting to make sure her superiors were kept informed of everything that happened with Sunset and her friends. There was also the possibility she was looking into the matter of Applejack’s parents, which Clover had promised to do. Sunset hoped that was the case. Applejack hadn’t said much, but the girl’s mood had hardened some since the encounter with Grand Fisher. Even just sitting there relaxing along with the rest of them there was a certain intensity to Applejack, the girl’s face a shade more steeled and mouth less ready to crack a smile. “Well, she can do what she wants, ain’t none o’ our business,” said Applejack, who then turned a look towards Rainbow Dash, “An’ while we may be gettin’ a day off, I say somebody oughta still go on patrol.” “C’mon AJ, relax,” said Rainbow Dash, stretching her arms above her head and then leaning back on them, “We can chill for a day. Aren’t Screwloose and Screwball taking care of patrols anyway?” Applejack’s voice turned sharp and harsh, “Maybe yer alright slackin’ off but not me!” “Geez, lighten up, I was just saying we’ve worked ourselves ragged all week, and the D-man’s right, we deserve a break.” Applejack stood up, suddenly, voice rising ot nearly a shout, “And when a Hollow attacks comes, slippin’ by Screwloose or Screwball’s patrolin’, what’ll ya be sayin’ then Dash? If one o’ them Hollows goes after our kin again, an someone dies, ya gonna just shrug an’ say ‘sorry, we was takin’ a break’!?” Rainbow Dash looked at Applejack in mild shock, face reddening as she looked away and said, “I didn’t mean we should totally drop our guard. We’ll keep our Detectors on hand, sure, but we could still go do something fun. You remember fun, right AJ?” A stubborn frown painted Applejack’s face and Pinkie Pie was quick to step between the two, smiling in a disarming fashion, “Okay, okay, let’s not have a repeat plot of the siren episode- eh, no offence girls,” she said to the sirens, to which Aria rolled her eyes, Adagio sighed, and Sonata just smiled. “None taken,” said Sonata. “A little taken,” said Aria. “Meh,” was all Adagio said. Applejack’s jaw tightened, but she nodded stiffly, “Yer right, Pinkie. I know it. Shouldn’t be snapping at any y’all, but... but if its all the same I’ll be patrolin’ tomorrow, alright? Y’all go have some fun, enjoy the day, but I’d just be goin’ stir crazy if I came with ya and probably be wretched company.” “Don’t worry about it,” said Sunset, “You got as much reason as anyone to feel like keeping vigilant.” “Thanks, I guess long as I know that Grand Fisher bastard is out there, I ain’t gonna be able to feel like things’re right...” They all fell into a brief, solemn quiet after that, polishing off their coffee and pastries at a slow pace. At the end of it Discord headed for the stairs, scooping up the small gray cat, which purred happily. “You girls should go on home. The shop will be closed tomorrow.” “Going somewhere?” asked Sunset curiously. “No, I’ll just be busy with some... renovations,” said Discord casually, and gave a pointed look at the sirens, “I know it may be a hassle, but perhaps the three of you could join the rest of the girls on their day off? You’ll be able to come home once night comes, but for the day I’d like to have the place to myself.” “Uhhh, okay?” said Sonata, exchanging looks with her sisters, until Pinkie Pie hopped up next to her. “Hey, it’ll be fun! We can all go see a movie, or hit up the mall, or whatever we want! Girls day out, painting the town pink!” “Or blue,” put in Sonata. “Mmm, some shopping does sound like a lovely way to pass some time,” said Rarity, “I could look for some accessories to complement my dress. Oh, and Fluttershy, you could do with something to bring out the new colors your eyes take on when you transform. I’m thinking something in gold, or perhaps purple?” “Oh, um, th-that’d be fine, I guess.” Sunset smiled contently as her friends gradually got up and they drifted towards the exit, most of them talking plans for what to do with their Saturday. From the sound of things they were going to end up doing the mall, grabbing lunch, and maybe hitting up a movie if they could find anything interesting. It almost felt like it’d be a perfectly normal way to spend part of the weekend, totally at odds with the way the last couple of weeks had been. A part of her shared Applejack’s concerns. Just because the Hollows had been quiet for a few days that didn’t mean they wouldn’t show up at any given moment to cause trouble. She remembered all too clearly how much damage just one Hollow could do, reminded of the fact every time her eyes glanced towards Adagio. We’re all stronger than we were when this started, but that doesn’t mean we can afford to relax too much. Even with the powers everyone has now, Discord has made it pretty clear that the Hollows can only get more powerful than what we’ve faced already. Could we even take on one of those Gillians, if one showed up in town? As big as a building? Of course there’d be no way of knowing until they were actually faced with such a foe, but Sunset only felt more frustrated at the thought, feeling the weight of the Zanpaktou she wore all the heavier. How was she going to get the blade’s spirit to work with her? It was clear she could only become stronger by finding a way to strengthen the bond with her Zanpaktou, but that looked difficult to do while the she-demon was so pissed at her. I really do need to think of something to call her other than ‘she-demon’. Red sounds too informal, and I think I used to own a puppy called that. Bitch Queen From Hell is a little over the top, though it sure fits my mood. Need to find a happy middle ground... She still hadn’t settled on anything by the time they’d all exited the shop, out into what was still a fairly pleasant late afternoon, touching on early evening. Pinkie Pie gave a blanket offer of a sleepover for anyone who wanted to hang out at her place, and it sounded a lot better than stewing at home to Sunset, so she was all for it. So were most the rest of the girls, including the sirens, mostly because it looked like Sonata would drag her sisters there whether they wanted to go or not. However Twilight hesitated. “I’d really like to, but I, um, have things I need to do at home. Yup, got some tests to run, and other... stuff...heh.” Sunset raised an eyebrow at Twilight’s awkward, blushing features as the girl started to make a hasty exit, and said, “Hey, Twilight wait up, I’ll walk you partway home at least. You’re the only one without powers, and you never know when a Hollow might crop up.” “Oh, that’s okay, I’ll be fine-” Twilight began, but Sunset shook her head, cutting her off. “I want to chat a bit with you anyway. Hey, girls, why don’t you all head on over to Pinkie Pie’s and I’ll catch up with you there?” “Okie dokie loki!” said Pinkie Pie, “Have a nice not-awkward chat with Twilight!” As the rest of the girls headed off for the bus stop that’d take them towards the part of the suburbs where Pinkie Pie’s home was, Sunset and Twilight began the longer walk towards the edge of town with Twilight’s family mansion. The roads were fairly quiet for a Friday evening, and the sidewalks even more clear. It was enjoyable warm, spring starting to get that heated tinge of summer edge to it. In only another month or so it’d be summer break, and Sunset wondered if that would make their lives easier or harder? No more schoolwork to focus on, but then they’d have a lot more time to train and deal with Hollows. She wondered just how far this would all go? Was patrolling for roving Hollows going to be a factor for the rest of their lives? Would they always be hunted now but the otherworldly creatures? And what of the Soul Society? Clover was training her for the time being, but Clover had also made it clear that this was all a temporary arrangement until the Soul Reaper bigwigs decided what to do about a ‘human’ having Soul Reaper powers, not to mention how they might respond to her friends developing odd powers of their own... powers that they still didn’t understand the origin of. Our lives are even more turned upside down than usual, and let’s face it, none of us are heading for a normal life at this point. Do any of the girls really understand that this might not be a short-term adventure that’ll get resolved and allow us to go back to our daily grind? We might never be able to go back to the way things were... It was a sobering thought. Sunset was sort of resolved to the idea of spending her life in a constant state of instability, dealing with one crisis or another as they came, but she hadn’t ever really had long term plans beyond ‘survive high school’. She’d had vague notions of maybe going into some kind of research job, or maybe something to do with archaeology. She somehow doubted sword skills and battling evil underworld demons were skills most colleges looked at for accepting potential undergrads. Putting aside those thoughts, she turned her attention to Twilight. The girl walked beside her with a distinctly nervous gait, eyes shifting about and often adjusting her glasses despite them not needing it. It’d been obvious that Twilight was hiding something, but Sunset was hesitant to push too hard to pry it out of her friend. First of all Twilight was a friend, and Sunset knew she ought to trust her. Whatever she didn’t want to talk about Twilight must have had good reasons for it. Still... Twilight was relatively new to the whole having friends thing, it couldn’t hurt to give her the chance to open up. Not push, per se, but just offer the opportunity to talk if she wanted to. “So, Twilight,” Sunset began, adopting as casual and openly friendly a tone as she could, “How have things been going on your end?” “Huh?” Twilight looked at her, blinking, “W-what do you mean?” “Well, you know, with the research you’ve been doing, both on me and the rest of the girls. Or anything else you might have going on. Just checking to see how you’re doing with it all,” Sunset said. A glimmer of relief crossed Twilight’s face and she settled into a more easy walk, voice lightening, “The research has been going well, actually. I’ve collected a lot of data. Heh, I know that probably doesn’t sound very exciting, as I still haven’t had time to properly analyze it all, but what I have been able to do has given me some interesting insights to the metaphysical bonds between spirit energy and the physical body. While a human body does seem to act like an inhibitor to spiritual power I think that’s just because there are specific conduits inside the body that act like valves, which by default are closed.” “Really? How can you tell?” “It's not that different than examining circulatory system. In fact I’d say that spirit energy inside the soul flows through the body in almost the exact same way blood flows through one’s veins and arteries, and just like your circulatory system there are spots where the flow is concentrated, and in some places can be restricted,” Twilight said, her mind now purely in a state of gleeful analysis, her face bright and smiling as she talked theory, “Studying our friend’s spirit energy as it flowed through their bodies during their training sessions using these new powers gave me the idea that something forced open the ‘valves’ that normally would have restricted the flow of their spirit energy, allowing these new powers to take shape. I’m not sure what it was that opened the valves, so to speak, but give the connection between the new powers and their ‘ponies up’ forms its safe to theorize that the magic of friendship has something to do with it.” “Equestrian magic,” Sunset mused, “You think having Equestrian magic, the magic that stems from the virtues of friendship, is what’s opened up their spiritual ‘valves’ and allowed these powers to form?’ “Partially. There’s still the question of what’s fueling the powers themselves. I mean, could any human access powers like this if they had the valves opened? Or is there something else inside the girls that’s fueling the powers? I don’t know yet. I need more time to study them. Then of course there’s you, Sunset, being a whole different matter with your Zanpaktou. I got some good data today when you communed with your sword, but I’ll need time to really go over it and figure out how that connection works. Maybe I’ll find a way for you to commune with the Zanpaktou more easily.” Sunset nodded enthusiastically, “I’ll take any help I can get.” Twilight was quiet for a few seconds, her smile fading slightly as she said, “You didn’t just ask that because you were curious about my research theories, were you?” With a slight gulp Sunset said, “I... heh, well, I was just seeing if there was anything you wanted to talk about. Anything that might be bothering you. You’ve seemed pretty distracted lately.” They’d reached a crosswalk, and through the sign flashed for them to cross, Twilight stopped, haling in place at the edge of the sidewalk. Sunset watched her as Twilight clasped her hands nervously in front of her, looking at the ground with the creased, tight features of someone debating something internally quite fiercely. After a minute she looked up at Sunset, an almost pleading look in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Sunset, but I can’t talk about it. Not right now. I know that’s not much of an answer, and probably not what you wanted to hear but...” Sunset shook her head, lightly touching Twilight’s shoulder with a gentle squeeze, “I know, Twilight. It’s okay. I just wanted to let you know that I’m willing to listen, if whatever’s bothering you becomes too much to handle on your own. Not just me, any of the girls would be there to listen, and help in any way they could, if you wanted them to.” With a slow, grateful nod, Twilight said in a quiet voice, “Thank you, for trusting me. I... I promise that I wouldn’t be keeping things to myself unless it was really important for me to. I don’t really want to, but I have to. For now, at least.” “That’s all I needed to hear. Come on, let’s get you home,” Sunset said, offering Twilight a comforting smile, which soon enough Twilight returned, and the two girls continued on their way. ---------- When Twilight entered the front doors of her mansion, having bid Sunset a good night well before reaching her mansion’s driveway, she was shocked to see that her mother was waiting in the entry hall to greet her. Twilight Velvet swept her daughter up in a tight hug before Twilight Sparkle had much of a chance to do more than squeak in surprise. “Ah, here’s my little girl! I hope your studies have been going well?” Fear shot through Twilight for a moment, “S-studies!?” Had Shining Armor already told her parents about her training as a Quincy!? He said he was keeping it between them and Cadence. Velvet kept hugging her tightly, laughing, “Yes, at school. You’ve been doing well at Canterlot High? The teachers are treating you fairly, despite transferring over mid-term?” “Oh, that’s what you- I mean, yes! Yes, everything has just been, uh... peachy?” Velvet looked at her critically for a brief second, then was all motherly smiles again, “I suppose its silly of me to worry. I can’t think of a time you weren’t a straight A student. You started correcting your brother’s homework when you were nine. Still, have you had any difficulty adjusting to being around so many new people?” For a second Velvet’s eyes became incredibly, harshly cold, “I know some bullies just love to pick on the new girl.” “Nope, no bullies,” Twilight said quickly, “Everyone there has been very nice to me.” Velvet finally released Twilight and took a step back, “Good. I was displeased to learn you’d been having such a hard time at Crystal Prep,” Again a strangely cold look crossed Velvet’s features, “I’ve had some discussions with Principal Cinch concerning her treatment of you. She... conveys her apologies.” Something about the way her mother said that made Twilight feel exceedingly uneasy, even scared. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts she hastily said, “I never expected an apology from Principle Cinch, but she hasn’t exactly been on my mind. I’m done with that school, and her, so, uh, let’s talk about something else. Is father home as well?” Velvet nodded, “Just so, and yes he is. He has a business partner over for dinner tonight. We’re entertaining her while she’s in town for business matters, and you’ll meet her if you’ll join us for dinner. Her name is Fleur De Lis. You should go change for dinner...” At that moment Velvet paused, looking Twilight over more carefully, and Twilight realized she still probably had some dirt on her from the training grounds at Discord’s shop. Even if she wasn’t directly training there, she was around a lot of dust and dirt there as the girls did their sparring. On top of that she was still probably a little frayed from training with Shining Armor that morning. Velvet’s eyes didn’t narrow, but they did take on a questioning light. “Have you been playing outside with your friends? Those new Canterlot High friends?” “Y-yup! Rainbow Dash is always dragging us into playing one sport or another, and you know, can’t always sit on the bench with a book in my hands. Hehehe...heh...” Why am I so utterly horrible at lying? Twilight thought nervously as she sweated under her mother’s intense gaze. Still, it seemed as if luck was smiling on her as her mother didn’t press the issue, instead just nodding and saying, “Well, at least you’re getting out more. Now go, get ready for dinner. It will be in about twenty minutes, so you have time to freshen up.” “Yes, mother,” Twilight said and hurriedly scurried away, glad to be out from under her mother’s questioning look. As she strode up the large, central stairs of the main hall and made her way through some side doors that would lead towards her room, she thought about what she now knew about her parents. It was difficult to resolve the image of her mother lovingly hugging her with the picture in her mind of the Quincy, warriors who battled Hollows with bows of light. How had her parents managed to keep this secret from her for so long? All of those ‘business trips’, were they all excuses for her parents to go about performing their duties as Quincy? Was there any truth at all to what she thought she’d known about her family? And what part do I want to play in the ‘family business’, now that I know? She didn’t feel very close to an answer. Her training with Shining Armor and Cadence had been going well, at least. Cadence was a very strict teacher, far more so than Twilight would have expected, but was never unfair. Twilight had grown up with the kindly older girl as a near nightly babysitter and looked up to Cadence. Twilight admired and respected Cadence like an older sister, and while she was embarrassed at just how lovey-dovey her brother and Cadence could be together, a part of her couldn’t be happier that Shining Armor and Cadence were an item. There were probably no two people in all the world Twilight would trust more, and under their tutelage she was learning to control the powers of a Quincy quite rapidly. Shining Armor claimed it was because she was a natural prodigy, but Twilight just assumed she had good teachers. Thus far she could summon and maintain her bow at will. Prolonged use still hurt her hands, leaving it bruised if she kept a steady rate of firing arrows for more than ten or fifteen minutes, but the strength of her arrows and her accuracy had grown steadily over the week until she could hit four out of every ten training targets... which might not sound all that good but by Twilight’s standards it was incredible! Just a few months ago she could barely hit a target with a regular bow at the Friendship Games. The more advanced Quincy techniques were still a mystery to her. There was a form of high speed movement Shining Armor and Cadence could use that looked a lot like the Soul Reaper Flash Step, though the Quincy move was called Hirenkyaku. There were techniques that involved combinations of spirit particle manipulation and alchemy, usually with a type of ‘holy water’ that was saturated with reishi to perform various tasks. She was eager to learn more about those, but apparently she needed to learn a lot more fine tuned reishi control before she could try. It was all thrilling to learn, but it also started to mount her feeling of guilt. Sooner or later she’d have to choose what to do with the power she was learning. She’d need to decide if she was going to fully join the Quincy cause, or instead focus solely on helping her friends. Do they have to be mutually exclusive? Twilight wondered. Shining Armor seemed to think it was inevitable that the Soul Reapers would turn on Sunset and the other girls, but Twilight wasn’t so certain. She’d only met Clover and, in passing, Fancy Pants. Neither had seemed like bad people. Could she really join a war against people she had no reason to even dislike, let alone hate? “You look like you’ve got a lot on your mind.” Twilight nearly tripped over herself, having not even noticed Shining Armor leaning against the wall beside the door to her room. He was wearing casual clothes, which almost seemed strange to her now that she’d gotten so used to seeing him in his white Quincy uniform during their training. “Hi Shining, I was just coming to change for dinner. Mother and father have a guest over, apparently?” she said, coming up to her door. Shining Armor gave a nod, his face schooled to a serious mask. ‘Fleur De Lis. As you’ve probably already guessed, she’s also a Quincy, and of the same rank myself, our parents, and Cadence are.” “What’s happening?” Twilight asked, “Are they... are they here because of Sunset?” “I don’t think they know about Sunset yet, otherwise they’d also have guessed your involvement. No, mom and dad are here, along with our guest, because there’s trouble brewing and we’ve been put on standby to deal with it in case said trouble falls here, on this city. Given recent events, I’d call it a safe bet. Which is why I was also going to ask you to stick around the mansion this weekend.” “But Shining, if there’s some kind of trouble coming I ought to be with my friends!” said Twilight, “I should warn them!” “Oh really? And just where will you tell them you got this intel form, Twily? Your Quincy brother?” Shining Armor asked plainly, which set Twilight to shifting back on her heels, as she really didn’t have a clear answer to those questions. “I... I don’t now. Maybe I could make up a story about inventing a machine that predicts future events?” “I don’t think your pal Sunset would actually buy that,” Shining Armor said in a flat tone, then rubbed his chin, “Rainbow Dash or Pinkie Pie, maybe, but most of your friends are too smart to fall for something that implausible sounding.” Twilight frowned deeply at him, but eventually had to nod, “I guess you’re right, that wouldn’t work. I can’t just sit here and do nothing, though! What is this impending danger anyway?” “Don’t suppose during any of your friends’ training the term ‘Gillian’ has come up?” asked Shining Armor, and Twilight gulped, nodding slowly as she recalled Discord’s brief description of the giant, powerful Hollows. Seeing her look, Shining Armor sighed gravely. “There’s a whole bunch of them being corralled together by an even stronger Hollow, and while we can’t be sure, smart money's on them intending to strike here. Hence why mother and father are here, with company.” Twilight felt her mouth go dry, “How many is a ‘whole bunch’, exactly?” “A hundred, give or take a few. Plus a lot more than that in lesser Hollows.” Twilight wondered if fainting and banging her head on her own room’s door frame would exempt her from going to dinner. Her legs suddenly felt weak and she put a hand on the wall to keep herself steady, “That many? Can you and our parents even handle that?” “Well we do have Fleur De Lis with us, and Cadence will be there to fight as well. All five of us rank among the top ten warriors among the Quincy, through Fleur is probably on the lower end of that scale. All of us have fought Gillians before and taken them down. Granted the most I ever fought at once was, uh... ten, but that’s only because it's rare for Gillians to gather in such large numbers. We’ve got this. Don’t worry so much, Twily. All I want you to do is stay here at the mansion. If you’re out in the city it’ll be that much harder to protect you.” “You’re not going to let those monsters into the city are you? You can keep them out, somehow, right?” Twilight asked, aghast at the thought of such a horde of Hollows rampaging through downtown while battling her family and friends. It was a nightmarish mental image that left her feeling cold inside. “We should be able to, yes. Quincy have methods of keeping Hollows warded off from certain locations. Why do you think we never had any crawling all over our mansion over the years? And I myself have... unique powers designed for this kind of situation.” Shining Armor reached out and ruffled her hair, “Relax. Big brother is on the job. No worries. And I’ll keep an eye out for your friends. I won’t let anything happen to them either. I just need you to promise me you’ll stay here.” “I...” Twilight hesitated, but her brother’s eyes remained sternly locked on her. She knew he wasn’t going to let this go. He was likely only thinking of her safety, but she still didn’t like the idea of hiding inside the mansion if an attack came. Not while her friends would be out there, fighting. Yet Shining Armor’s eyes were as unbending as steel, and Twilight eventually nodded her head quietly. “That’s my sis,” Shining Armor said, patting her shoulder, “I’ll see you at dinner.” As he walked away down the hall, Twilight took a moment to compose herself before going into her room, wondering if she’d done the right thing. ---------- The records archive of the Twelfth Division was a labyrinth of interlocking rooms packed full of texts, scrolls, and more esoteric methods of storing information such as tablets of stone, or strange orbs that contained visual recordings of certain events. Shelf upon shelf was piled with such items, in a set of rooms so vast and winding it’d be easy to get lost if one didn’t know where one was going. Clover, fortunately, had a fair notion of what she was looking for. The death of Applejack’s parents, eight years ago, left a fairly narrow margin of records from that time frame for her to check, and she’d spent hours already pouring over dozens of scrolls containing mission reports and project updates from that year. Unfortunately she wasn’t turning up anything useful. Sitting at one of the few tables set up among the shelves for just the kind of purpose she was using it for, Clover rubbed her eyes as she set aside yet another pile of scrolls to begin looking over. I prefer not to think this, but if there is any mention of Applejack’s mother and father, it doesn’t look like it’s in the records I have authority to access. I could try sneaking past the wards on the higher clearance materials, but there’s no way I’d succeed. Those wards were placed long ago by Kido masters far more skilled in the art than I. Hmm... it’s starting to look like my only option is to approach the Captain openly and just request if he’ll let me have access to the restricting records. Maybe if I ask really nicely? What bothered her was that there wasn’t any reason the death of Applejack’s parents should be in a restricted file. Thousands of people died every day, and while the vast majority fo those deaths were by mortal causes, there was always a small percentage that were the result of Hollow attacks. Sadly, the Soul Reapers couldn’t be everywhere across the world all at once, despite their best efforts to keep a few stationed in almost every major population center there was. Sometimes people just... slipped through the cracks. Applejack’s parents were likely such a pair, in a rare instance where a Hollow attacked, and there couldn’t be a Soul Reaper nearby to protect them. But if that were the case, where’s the report on it? Incidents like that happen, and there’d be no reason to keep it hidden. I know it’d only make Applejack mad that no Soul Reaper had been there to stop Grand Fisher, but at least I’d have something to tell her. I could give the poor girl closure. Yet there’s nothing here. That’s just... strange. “You’re quite the busy bee, Clover. I thought you’d be trying to get a little rest before returning to the world of the living.” Clover turned in her seat, seeing behind her a man in the same kind of black robed uniform of a Soul Reaper she wore, only he wore the white armband and wooden badge of a Lieutenant, with the marking of the Twelfth Division. He was fairly tall, with dusky green skin on a lanky frame. His hair was a light shade of yellow, like straw, combed back neatly and long enough to fall past his shoulders. A pair of amused brown eyes gleamed with intelligence. “Lieutenant Meadowbrook,” Clover said, standing from her seat and bowing respectfully to her superior, “What can I do for you, sir?” “Be at ease, for one,” he replied with an easy tone, “Too much formality gives me stomach cramps, hence why I transferred from the Sixth to the Twelfth. Well, that and the Sixth Division already had a Lieutenant and I wasn’t about to pass up a shot at promotion. Really, Clover, relax. If you keep your head bowed like that I’m going to be tempted to use it as a spot to set my tea.” Clover felt her face flush and quickly raised her head, “Yes, Lieutenant.” Meadowbrook scratched his head, “I can see this is going to take some work. Well, no matter. So, what are you looking for down here? Looks like you have quite the pile you’ve been working through.” “This?” Clover glanced back at the table stacked high with scrolls and books. She hadn’t actually needed to ask permission to access any of these files, as her rank as Third Seat gave her that automatically. Hence she hadn’t actually told either the Captain or Lieutenant about what she’d been doing down here. It wasn’t that she was intentionally hiding what she was looking for, it just honestly hadn’t occurred to her to bother informing her superiors about the matter yet. She didn't see any reason not to, now that the Lieutenant was here, asking. He might even be able to get her access to the more restricted files, now that she thought about it. “You see Lieutenant, its like this...” she began, quickly and concisely explaining the situation with Applejack, and how there was some mystery surrounding the exact events that occurred on the night of her parent’s death. Meadowbrook listened intently, expression contemplative with a hint of intrigued. When Clover was finished, ending off on explaining her interest in checking the restricted files, he said, “I share your curiosity, Clover. It does sound strange something that common, however tragic, wouldn’t be in records a Third Seat could access. Being as how I only transferred here recently I don’t actually know what was going on here in the Twelfth Division eight years ago, but... wasn’t that around the time of the, uh, ‘incident’ with the Twelfth Division's previous Captain?” Clover knew all too well what Meadowbrook was talking about, and immediately corrected him, “That was further back, actually, closer to ten years ago. Captain Starswirl had already taken over after his predecessor by the time Applejack’s parents were killed. I don’t think that ‘incident has anything to do with it.” “Hmm,” Meadowbrook looked intensely thoughtful, then just shrugged, “I suppose there’s no reason not to let you look at the restricted files. Keep in mind there are some you’d need the Captain’s authorization to look at, but I can get you into most of the classified reports. But just what are you expecting to find, Clover?” “I don’t know,” she admitted, “Anything that would just give Applejack some final closure on what happened to her parents. Proof that Soul Society didn’t have anything to do with it, and it really was just a turn of misfortune with encountering Grand Fisher.” “And what if you find the opposite of that?” Meadowbrook asked, leaning against the shelf, arms crossing as he tilted his head at her, “What if you find some report that indicates that Soul Society, specifically the Twelfth Division, did have some involvement with their deaths? Call me a romantic conspiracy theorist, but what if, worst case scenario, you find some top secret project that shows their deaths were Soul Society’s direct fault? Would you tell that human girl the truth, knowing it’d essentially turn her against you, maybe end whatever budding friendship you’ve got going with her and the rest of her friends, your star pupil included?” Clover just blinked at him, shaken at the very thought of what he was saying being possible. “I... I hadn’t even considered that being a possibility. I’m certain that the Twelfth Division couldn’t have really had anything to do with it. Or if we did, it had to be some kind of honest accident.” “I’m sure that’s the case, and sorry if I upset you, I was just curious if you’d even considered the possibility of the worse outcome of your investigation. Seeking the truth is a noble cause, but only if you’re prepared for what you find,” said Meadowbrook. He then let out a light chuckle, “In any case, you’ll be returning to the world of the living tomorrow, so if you’re going to get looking through those files, we’d best get you in the restricted area, eh? Let’s go, before the Captain starts wondering where both of his officers got off to. Knowing him he might assume we’re having some sordid liaison.” “Li-Lieutenant! I’d never!” Clover said in hasty protest. “Geez, injure a man’s pride much?” “Not what I meant, um... per se,” said Clover, to which Meadowbrook just laughed. “Oh, I do think I’m going to enjoy having you for a subordinate to tease at my leisure.” ---------- When Sunset woke up she knew that something wasn’t right. She had no visual evidence of this, the room was much as it’d been when she’d drifted off to sleep. Pinkie Pie’s room at her house was fairly spacious, and Sunset and the rest of the girls could manage to fit in there with a variety of cots and sleeping bags as they had several times before when they stayed the night. It’d taken a little extra work to get the sirens to fit, involving clearing out some space in the closet to add some headroom, but much like a game of human Tetris they’d managed to squeeze everyone in. The night had been fun, if perhaps a shade tense. Games were played, pizza was ordered, and a lot of relaxing, meaningless small talk between movies selected from Pinkie Pie’s personal collection; mostly comedies, unsurprisingly. The only points of oddity that stood out in Sunset’s mind had been how Adagio remained generally quiet through the whole night, and the fact that Pinkie Pie’s older sister Maud had kept checking in on them, far more so than usual. Waking up still curled up and toasty warm in her sleeping bag, Sunset raised her head, eyeing the window. Still dark, but the clock on Pinkie Pie’s bed-stand said it was just a quarter past five in the morning. Earlier than what was normal for her to wake up but that wasn’t what was bothering her. She had a uneasy feeling in her gut, and after a second she realized it was because the usual chirping of birds, something she almost always could hear as background noise coming from outside, was gone. It was entirely too quiet. Standing, still in her pajamas, Sunset picked her way gingerly over the other sleeping girls to the wall where she’d set her Zanpaktou. It was a good thing the sword wasn’t visible to normal humans otherwise she’d have had a hard time explaining having it to Pinkie Pie’s family. She’d had to hide the sheath Rarity had made inside a cloth bundle attached to her backpack, which she left for now to just pick up the Zanpaktou itself as she headed for the door. She considered waking her friends, but she’d feel silly if all she had was a vague feeling of unease and some quiet birds. Besides, they all had their Detectors close at hand, and those things would go off if a bunch of Hollows showed up. Although the half-Arrancar had had that strange charm that’d hidden his presence. She hesitated at the door for a moment, glancing back at her still sleeping friends. Before she could decide one way or the other the door opened on its own and she nearly jumped to the ceiling, only to see Maud’s stoic face staring at her in the doorway. “There’s something outside in the back yard,” Maud said plainly, her expression unchanging but Sunset got the sensation the girl was tense, “I think this is like last time. You can see them, right? You should look while I wake everyone.” Sunset had suspected that maybe Maud hadn’t taken to the memory replacement device Clover had used to alter the memories of Pinkie Pie’s family previously, and this just confirmed it. She gulped and nodded, “Good idea. If it's bad, I’ll shout. Get ready to get your parents and sisters to safety if its something bad.” Maud merely gave the smallest of nods, and brushed past Sunset to start quietly waking the girls, while Sunset headed out towards the hallway leading to the living room, which stretched from one side of the house to the other, with a wide set of windows that showed the back yard. The house had undergone partial repairs from the Hollow attack the previous week, and while the upstairs still had a hole in it that wasn’t fully fixed yet, the downstairs was more or less back to normal. Sunset went to the window and looked outside. At first she didn’t see anything. The yard looked clear all the way back to a distant treeline. Sunset frowned, then looked up, and gasped. There was a hole in the sky! It looked a lot like the portal that the half-Arrancar had opened when Fluttershy had controlled his mind and forced him to run away. It was the same mouth-like portal, with edges akin to yawning teeth, leading to a plane of blackness beyond. However this portal was massive; easily a hundred feet in length and opening a cavernous forty to fifty feet wide. To make matters worse, as she opened the window to stick her head out and get a better look at things, she noticed to the left and right, very distant, perhaps several miles off towards the other end of the suburbs, there was another of the same gaping portals opening. And if she looked the other way, towards the lights of downtown, there was yet another of the same portals, appearing like a distant black slit in the lightening sky of pre dawn. “This can’t be good,” she said, just at the very moment her Detector started to beep rapidly in warning. She didn’t even bother to check the device, because it really wasn’t needed. She could see what was coming, and it made her blood freeze. At first it was just a massive foot, pointed and curled at the tip, pure white like bone as it smashed down to the ground about a hundred yards away from the house. The foot was the size of a short bus, and was attached to a body that looked like a massively tall, seemingly armless, humanoid, shrouded entirely in a wavering cloak of pure black. Around the Hollow’s neck were pointed spikes, leading to a rounded head containing a gigantic skull mask with a long pointed nose. The huge Hollow, a Gillian, Sunset recognized from Discord’s drawings, brought out its other foot and slammed it down to the ground, its whole body slowly emerging from the portal. It opened its large, gaping maw and out from it exploded a howl that sounded as if it were made from the twisted merging of a thousand lesser Hollows. And then it looked down... straight at Sunset.