Episode 116: Family Reforged
Episode 116: Family Reforged
Di Roy, Ember, and Roka strode through the Soul Reaper’s field lab, a handful of the Twelfth Division’s researchers lying unconscious in their wake. Well, mostly unconscious. Ember had one unfortunate researcher held up by the throat, their legs kicking a foot off the ground as the enraged Arrancar girl glared into the Soul Reaper’s terrified eyes.
“Where did he hide it!?” Ember demanded, “Where’d you’re stupid, bush-faced Captain hide my Zanpaktou!?”
Di Roy coughed loudly, putting a hand on Ember’s shoulder, “Easy there. Dude can’t breathe, let alone talk, the way you’re choking him out. Also, I’m pretty sure Adagio wanted us to keep corpses to a bare minimum.”
Ember literally growled at him, eyes flaring as she shot a sharp look at Di Roy, who released her shoulder and held up his hand defensively. Ember blew out a heated snort and lessened her grip on the researcher, who gasped in lungfuls of air.
“Hurry up, Soul Reaper,” she said, “If you want to live, that is.”
Coughing, the Soul Reaper made a weak gesture towards the largest of the white, canvas bubble-shaped tents, after which point Ember leg go of him, and before he even finished falling she rammed her fist into the researcher’s gut, causing him to collapse in a sputtering pile. She started marching towards the tent in question, while Di Roy followed while running a hand through his hair in an exasperated manner, giving the Soul Reaper an awkward smile, “Sorry buddy, but consider yourself lucky. Girl’s mad enough for murder.”
Roka briefly checked to make sure the researcher wasn’t critically injured, before lightly conking the Soul Reaper over the back of the head with a chopping motion, then followed Di Roy and Ember into the tent. The interior was filled with various lab equipment, arranged along the circular sides of the tent. In the center was a large computer terminal and several examination tables, one of which contained a smaller version of the ring-like apparatus that had held Ember outside. Suspended in that ring was Ember’s Zanpaktou, the blade slowly spinning in the air.
Ember moved towards it, but Roka appeared in front of her and held out an arm, “Wait. Let me examine it first, to ensure there’s no last second surprises waiting for us.”
Ember was all but vibrating with the need to go grab her Zanpakuto, but Roka’s calm voice and practical desire to check for any defenses Starswirl may have put in place around the blade kept her from ignoring Roka. She nodded and stepped back, “Fine, but make it quick.”
“I’ll be as fast as I can,” Roka promised, and stepped towards the table with the Zanpaktou on it. One of the spider legs sprouting from the back of her Resurreccion form moved forward, and extended several nearly invisible threads from the leg that floated towards the table. The threads entered the table and the apparatus around Ember’s Zanpaktou, their small near molecule-thin size allowing them to probe the structure of the objects in question.
A moment passed and Roka’s eyes twitched wide, “Oh my.”
“What?” Di Roy asked, “That was a really unsettling kind of ‘oh my’, Roka. If it’s trapped, at least tell me it’s not toxic gas, or giant killer hornets.”
Ember gave him a look with a raised eyebrow, while Roka calmly stated, “I can safely say it isn’t either of those things.”
“Oh, good,” Di Roy said.
“It’s a bomb,” Roka stated, just as a red light snapped out from above and shrouded the apparatus and Ember’s Zanpaktou. A section of the table popped open like a trap door and a metal and glass canister rose up, with a small view-screen attached to it that popped on. Displayed on the screen was a small, cartoonish version of Captain Starswirl with a large head and tiny body, who grinned.
“Hello any lucky individuals who have decided to steal valuable research materials from my field lab! Your gall has impressed me, and I reward you with my patented Anti-Theft Reishi Explosive Device. But fear not, for I am a fair man, and if you can solve my riddle then you’ll disarm the bomb. See? I’m such a nice person, aren’t I? Now, you only have three minutes, so let’s get to it, shall we? Here is your riddle; If a Quincy fires an arrow into my center, it shall not touch me, but if a Soul Reaper slashes me across my center, they shall hit twice. What am I?”
“Are you goddamn kidding me?” Di Roy said as a three minute countdown timer began ticking off seconds while the canister started beeping with a distressingly chipper beeping tone. “Who the hell plants a bomb in their own freakin’ laboratory!? Even Grogar’s not that theatrical!”
“Screw it!” Ember said, stomping forward, “I can take whatever blast that piss-ant little bomb can throw at me. I’m taking my Zanpaktou now!”
“Wait,” Roka said, looking at both of them sharply, “This is the Captain of the Twelfth Division we’re dealing with, even if indirectly. He would not have put an explosive here if he wasn’t confident of it’s lethal potential.”
“How the hell can you be so calm, Roka!?” Di Roy said, “We’re not figuring out some dumb riddle in two minutes. We’re either stuck guessing, or getting the heck out of here before that thing blows.”
Roka’s face remained stoic, but there was a spark in her eyes as she said, “I just happen to like riddles, and think I know the answer. I suggest both you and Ember fall back, however, just in case I’m wrong.”
“Yeah, because I want to go back home and tell your father ‘sorry, I ran away while your daughter got herself blown up by a crazy Soul Reaper trap’. Sorry, but I prefer exploding as opposed to what your old man would do to me,” Di Roy said, and then planted the shield shaped arm guard on his left arm in the ground as he stood between Roka and the bomb, “Besides, if this thing goes off, I’m taking the brunt of the blast for you.”
Ember ran a hand through her hair in frustration, planting herself next to Di Roy and giving Roka a pointed look, “If you’re going to answer the stupid riddle, better do it now. If it doesn’t work, I’m going to help this idiot shield you.”
Roka looked at the pair with worried but grateful eyes, and took a deep breath, “Here’s hoping I’m right then.”
She cleared her throat and spoke up, “The answer is; A Hollow hole.”
The countdown continued for a moment, then halted as the terminal issued a clamor of bells and the Starswirl chibi clapped his hands together, “Ah, very cleverly done! An arrow would pass through the center of the hole and out the other side, but a Soul Reaper’s sword slash across the hole hits the flesh on both ends. Well, my clever thief, I am a man of my word, so the bomb is disarmed. That said, I do put tracking devices on all my specimens, so I’ll be coming to retrieve my stolen property someday, but enjoy your victory for now.”
Ember spat as the terminal shut down, “Stolen property my ass! That’s my sword. If I ever see that geezer again I’m kicking his teeth in. Putting a tracking device on my sword. Or in me. Ugh, why are eggheads always so damn creepy?”
She went to her Zanpaktou, and after a moment of hesitation, fearing the possibility of a second trap, she gripped the blade and removed it from the apparatus on the table. When nothing exploded or any other alarms sounded, Ember let out a breath she’d been holding and cradled her sword for a moment, eyes closed. Di Roy and Roka watched her, Di Roy eventually saying, “You alright there, Embs?”
Ember burst out with a snort, “Don’t call me ‘Embs’. And I’m fine, just...”
Her eyes looked around the lab, and for a moment their luster flattened with a mixture of haunted memory, and seething anger. She shook her head and turned to the tent’s exit, “Let’s just get out of here.”
The trio exited the tent, and Di Roy cracked his neck, shouldering his large sharktooth sword, “Figure boss lady and Gaw will head back to Las Noches once they sense us getting out of here. Roka, you want to do the honors of making the Garganta?”
Roka was looking off to the north, her eyes tinted with worry, and Di Roy had the presence of mind to say, “I’m sure your dad’s fine. Nothing can take down the Lament, right?”
“Yes...” Roka said, “He won’t fall. I just have a feeling that things may be changing soon, for all of us.”
“The heck that’s supposed to mean?” Ember asked, but Roka just shook her head and turned to open a Garganta portal, raising a hand and letting slip enough of her reiatsu to start opening the dark tear in reality that would lead back to Hueco Mundo and Las Noches.
A flicker of motion behind her caught all three Arrancar by surprise as, in a blink of motion, a Soul Reaper appeared behind Roka. It was a Lieutenant Posey, having sensed the attack at the lab and having just arrived to see all of the fallen researchers. Not knowing the situation, and only assuming these were enemies who’d attacked the lab, Posey let the chain-blade of Kyoki spin to a deadly howl as she launched her ambush. Against three Arrancar, two of which were clearly still in Resurreccion form, she believed her only chance was to strike with the element of surprise.
Roka saw the blade coming for her neck, but didn’t have time to react against the Lieutenant’s speed.
However just before the blade could strike home, a massive form smashed down to the ground next to the group, and a curved blade of bone white color slashed down and intercepted Kyoki. The incredibly sharp, spinning teeth of Kyoki cut deep into the blade of bone, but it still forced Posey to leap back as a second such blade slashed down and almost struck her dead on. She narrowly avoided the deadly blow, and now looked up at a fourth Arrancar, this one a towering, saurian form.
Gaw let out a fierce bellow at the Soul Reaper, while Di Roy sputtered, “Holy crap! Nice save!”
Roka, visibly shaken, said, “Yes, thank you Gaw. That would have been... unpleasant.”
“And hey, bonus for us,” said Ember, grinning with fresh bloodlust at a new target, “Looks like the Soul Reapers sent us a going away present. A Lieutenant too stupid to let an enemy who was busy going home to just leave in peace.”
Lieutenant Posey didn’t flinch at the four Arrancar now facing her, Gaw growling deeply while Ember and Di Roy raised their swords. Only Roka remained in a non-combat stance, maintaining the Garganta.
“You attacked us, Hollows,” Lieutenant Posey said, “And as a member of the Eleventh Division, and Lieutenant to Captain Hurricane, I couldn’t just let you leave after hurting my fellow Soul Reapers.”
“Also, she’s not alone.”
The new voice, serene as a still lake, belonged to Fluttershy, who was striding with confident and smooth steps through the field lab with a soft and soothing aura emanating from her. Her Fullbring was active and shining bright, a number of translucent golden hands spreading from the halo at her back to touch the numerous fallen Soul Reapers, whereupon Fluttershy’s reiatsu helped heal their wounds.
While Gaw didn’t take her eyes off of Posey, and Ember shot a confused but still glaring look towards Fluttershy, Di Roy looked at Fluttershy with wide eyed recognition.
“Hey, it’s you, the crazy third-eye girl!” Di Roy blurted, “When did you get all the extra arms?”
Fluttershy paused, blinking at him momentarily before recognition also flashed into her eyes, and she actually smiled, “Oh, Mr. Shark. It’s been a long time, hasn’t it? You’re looking healthy. How have you been?”
“Geeze, don’t talk like we’re old pals. When you used your weird mind powers on me, it really didn’t make life easy on me, you know!” Di Roy said, then ended up shrugging, “Then again, guess I was trying to kill you at the time, so fair’s fair. So, you here for round two?”
“Not at all,” Flutteshy said, turning her gaze to Posey, “I came to stop an unnecessary fight.”
Lieutenant Posey stiffened, a portion of her hair falling across her face as she pointedly looked away from Fluttershy, “But mother, it’s my duty as a Soul Reaper to slay and purify Hollows wherever I can.”
“I understand that, but these Hollows were leaving. What sense is there in attacking them, if they had no further intent to fight?” Fluttershy asked.
“Hold up, ‘mother’!?” Di Roy said, looking between the pair as if finally noticing just how similar Fluttershy and Posey appeared. “Uhhhh... do I even want to ask?”
“Who cares?” Ember said, her face red and sporting a freshly popped vein, “Either get out of our way, or fight, I don’t care which! I’m going home. Whether that happens with or without a few extra corpses on the ground, I really don’t care right now!”
Gaw muttered under her breath to Di Roy, “Di Roy, remind me, which ones Adagio say we not supposed to kill?”
“Technically all of them,” Di Roy muttered back, “But if chain-saw chick takes another swing at us, I think boss lady will forgive us if we murdalize in self-defense.”
Gaw grunted, “Murdalize not word. You make that up.”
“Says the chick who still can’t form complete sentences. How do you know it’s not a word? Could be a totally legitimate word in the dictionary and everything,” Di Roy defended.
“Dictionary?” Gaw said, licking her lips, “More made up words.”
Fluttershy chuckled lightly, and looked at Posey with kind eyes, “Do you really feel that fighting right now serves a valuable purpose, Posey? Right now there’s still battles taking place elsewhere. Should you start another, when there are people here who still need your protection?”
Tension filled Posey for a few moments, before she finally lowered her Zanpaktou and looked at the ground, “I don’t know. Letting Hollows live goes against everything a Soul Reaper is trained for, and one of these ones is the Arrancar Captain Starswirl was using in his work. I shouldn’t just let them go, should I? I don’t know what to do. I feel like I’m failing father if I don’t do something.”
“I know, Posey, but right now further fighting isn’t the something you should be doing,” Fluttershy said, “Instead, help me tend the wounded, and let these folks go with their friend they’ve just rescued. You can’t be faulted for seeing to the well being of your comrades rather than pursuing further bloodshed.”
“But... Captain Starswirl needs that prisoner for the research on the portal,” Posey said, but Fluttershy’s continued calming stare seemed to quiet her uncertainty, “Is it really okay to just let them go?”
“There’s always other ways to achieve a goal, but trust me, a little kindness can go a long way, no matter whom it’s extended to. We’ll find another way to get through the portal,” Fluttershy said, and Posey finally relented, lowering Kyoki and causing the Zanpaktou’s spinning saw-teeth to cease moving.
“Okay then...um...” she said, coughing shyly before she managed to go on with a bit more confidence and somewhat awkward command in her tone, “Arrancar, I’m allowing you to return to the depths of Hueco Mundo. Don’t take this kindness lightly, or I might still let Kyoki loose to carve you to pieces!”
Ember just rolled her eyes, “Whatever. I could take you any day, strawberry head.”
“Hey, ease up,” Di Roy said, “Let’s not look a gift escape in the mouth. Many thanks, uh... whatever your name was.”
“Fluttershy.”
“Right, Fluttershy. Hard to keep track of all you human types,” Di Roy said, “Now, c’mon ladies and Gaw. Sooner we’re back in Las Noches, the bett...er...?”
His trailing off was due to a rather noticeable and sudden shaking in the earth. It was faint at first, but the rumbling and shaking grew in intensity by magnitudes in a matter of seconds, even shaking the towering Gaw off her feet. All present could feel something below them. Not just a growing, powerful spiritual pressure, but the buzz of another energy... magic.
“What’s happening?” Lieutenant Posey said, and several of the other Soul Reaper researchers who were gradually regaining consciousness started to ask the same.
Fluttershy, her face now a mask of concentration, focused her senses downward. She could barely feel it amid the still swiftly rising sensation of magic and now distinctly Hollow reiatsu from down below, but she could also feel Sunset Shimmer’s spiritual pressure.
“Something must have gone wrong,” Fluttershy said, “Everyone! Get away from the lakebed!”
However, her warning came a little too late, as the ground started to crack apart beneath their feet, and then blasted upward in an explosive shower of dirt and rock as something massive began to rise up from the depths below Camp Everfree.
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Twilight’s immediate response to the words Sapphire Shores had declared with such conviction was to blurt out, “That’s ridiculous. In what way would my death ensure Sombra’s continued survival?”
“His Majesty-” Sapphire Shore said with a pointed tone, her face of cultured beauty hardened by a look of promised death, “-will be slain as a result of your presence. I don’t know if it’s because you do the deed yourself or if there’s another reason, only that your existence in his life is the requiem that heralds our King’s death. It is a song I shall do all I can to cut short.”
Twilight’s mind tried to crunch that particular calculation, and it didn’t compute. She shook her head in bafflement, although she didn’t lower her bow or her guard for an instant. Sapphire Shores was exuding a ludicrously potent reiatsu, sharpened with such killing intent it rather surprised Twilight that the woman was even talking to her, rather than immediately resuming her attack. Perhaps it was because Starswirl was here? Wounded he may have been, but that didn’t at all dilute Starswilr’s presence, his own reiatsu remaining as condensed and powerful as ever as he looked between Twilight and Sapphire with shrewd eyes.
“Since you plan to kill me, do you mind at least explaining how you even got to this conclusion?” Twilight asked, “Do you have some kind of prophetic ability? Is that your Schrift?”
There was no doubt or hesitation in Sapphire’s expression, body language, or voice, but she did take a moment’s pause to consider Twilight’s question before saying, “It won’t make a difference if you understand the notes of this dance, but since I have taken upon myself to take you off the stage permanently, I can see how you might feel as if you’re owed an explanation as to why. So be it, consider it a courteous gift to you, child, that I’ll give you this much comfort. My Schrift is not prophetic, it’s the Quintessence. I can see into the true nature of reishi and see the weave of their beautiful dance. This has the side effect that I can see how this dance of reishi between objects or individuals can affect future events. Say, which man and woman would produce the most potent offspring in terms of spiritual potential, or which steps in the dance of battle is most likely to result in a victorious serenade. These predictions are not absolutes, but they are quite accurate. However, on rare occasions, I will see a flow of reishi interaction so unbelievably powerful that it becomes a song whose notes are effectively inevitable. This has only happened a handful of times, but each time it has happened, the song I witnessed was following its course to its final crescendo. I was only able to alter such a song once before, and that was only by killing one of the individuals involved in the event prior to the predicted result.”
Sapphire’s words hit Twilight’s brain like a giant sledgehammer made out of causality equations. She had so many questions! Sapphire likely misinterpreted the look of dumbfounded shock on Twilight’s face, as she nodded sadly, “It’s unfortunate, but true, your death is unavoidable, if I wish to preserve His Majesty’s life.”
“No, um, I’m just... really trying to grasp how you think your power works versus what it more likely is in terms of it’s logical breakdown,” Twilight said, adjusting her glasses, “So you’re telling me you’ve been putting me through so much stress, injured my dog, and endangered the lives of my friends all because you don’t understand how causality works!?”
“...Excuse me?” Sapphire Shores blurted, while off to the side, Starswirl let out a dry chortle.
“I do believe young Miss Sparkle is exasperated that you’ve apparently constructed an assassination plot based solely upon a misunderstanding of your own ability, which you assume constitutes an absolute relation between predictive results and temporal reality, but I’ll allow her to explain your error. I’d hate to step on her toes.”
“Thank you, Captain Starswirl, but honestly there’s not much to explain,” Twilight said, turning a flustered and frustrated gaze towards the indignant looking Sapphire Shores, “These predictions of yours are based on the interactions of spirit particles, you said. But you’ve admitted to most of them not having one hundred percent accuracy, save for rare instances, and even one of those you altered. Even the most advanced predictive models are just that; predictions. You already know that they’re alterable.”
“Yes, by killing one of the people involved-” Sapphire began, but Twilight waved her hand to cut the woman off.
“So you assume that’s the only way to alter the event? It never occurred to you that by proving even your ‘absolute’ predictions as alterable, you essentially proved that potentially any event could alter them? So let me ask you this, the moment you got this vision or whatever you want to call it of Sombra’s death as a result of his association with me why didn’t you immediately tell him about it?”
“Because that wouldn’t have changed what I saw,” Sapphire Shores said, “Not enough. Even if you and His Majesty had been aware of the danger, the dance of your reishi would have remained in place. As long as you are a part of His Majesty’s life, you will also be his undoing. I take no pleasure in the fact, but the only way to ensure that doesn’t happen is if you’re no longer alive to have any influence upon His Majesty.”
“Unless my death is what causes his own,” Twilight countered, “What if your assassinating me is part of your own prediction?”
“No, I can tell when the dance of reishi is affected by the disappearance of a person’s reishi in their life,” Sapphire replied, perhaps a bit too swiftly, “In the interactions I witnessed between you and His Majesty, your reishi’s were entwined up until the moment his vanishes, which means you would be very much alive. Hence, the only way to prevent His Majesty’s death is to ensure you die first.”
“Wait, you just said that Sombra’s reishi vanishes in your prediction, correct?” asked Twilight, “Yet does that actually equate to death in every instance?”
That seemed to give Sapphire pause, if only briefly before she shook her head and snorted, “It must. There’s no other reason a person’s reishi would disappear completely. You’re just trying to confuse me, child, but you won’t blind me with your inane questions. Even if there was some small chance I’ve misread the notes of the song I hear, it’s still much safer to just kill you than take the risk with His Majesty’s life.”
“And you’re no longer trying to hide what you’re doing,” Twilight noted, “Why go through so many attempts to hide your identity before, if you were willing to go this far now?”
“I know His Majesty favors you,” Sapphire said, with a hint of acid in her voice, “I wanted to spare him the pain of knowing it was due to my Schrift that I saw how you’d be responsible for his death. He’d blame himself for your loss. I couldn’t stand to see that. Better that he think you killed in some lesser power grab among the Quincy, something out of his control. It wasn’t hard to find power hungry idiots who thought they’d benefit from your death weakening your family and allow others to rise in turn.”
“So the first attempt on my life was one of these accomplices,” Twilight surmised, “The attack had always seemed sloppy to me, in retrospect. Even the attack on me during the battle at Las Noches didn’t feel like I was facing someone on your level...”
“No,” Sapphire Shores admitted,”This is the first, and last, time you and I shall face each other. It was that idiot wife of Filthy Rich who jumped the gun and tried to kill you first. The second attempt was a fellow Sternritter, but that bitch, Cinch, intervened and saved you. No more. I’m finishing this matter myself, and face whatever punishment His Majesty sees fit for me after it’s done!”
There was a hard light of fanatic conviction in Sapphire Shore’s eyes that told Twilight that there was no convincing the Sternritter to reconsider her present course. As far as Twilight was concerned Sapphire likely had seen something between her and Sombra that might indicate a future in which she somehow was responsible for his death, but the assumption that Twilight’s own death was the only way to prevent that future was an erroneous one. While she couldn’t claim to fully grasp how the Quintessence Schrift worked, from the way Sapphire Shores described it, it wasn’t that far off from some theories in science that stated if one knew the precise disposition of all molecules in a given interaction it was entirely possible to accurately predict the actions of those molecules. In Sapphire’s case, by being able to see and understand the interactions of spirit particles between people and objects, she could see all likely outcomes of those interactions.
But if the Quintessence also let her alter the nature of reishi, shouldn’t she be able to alter those interactions as well? But the woman seemed beyond being reasoned with. Twilight could feel the murderous intentions flowing off of Sapphire Shores like a cold, clammy pressure on her skin. Worse, Sapphire’s reiatsu was keenly potent to a degree that instantly told Twilight that she was out of her league, even more so than in facing Captain Starswirl. The information Twilight had read on the Sternritter that Sombra had made available to her suggested Sapphire Shores stood on a level of ability comparable to her father, who as far as she knew was among Sombra’s most trusted and powerful servants.
There were only two factors preventing Twilight from considering fleeing for her life.
One was Starswirl’s presence, and clear willingness to fight alongside her. While wounded, the Captain of the Twelfth Division remained a powerful foe, or in this case, ally. If Twilight could buy him time to activate his Bankai again, then it’s ability may well turn the tide against the Quintessence.
The other reason Twilight was confident enough to not run away was that she’d anticipated from before coming back to Canterlot City that the assassins seeking her life would make a move now, while she was away from Sombra’s watchful gaze. She’d already set her own plan in motion, it was just a question of whether or not the pieces she put into play would be fast enough to make a difference.
“Alright,” she said to Sapphire Shores, “Since you won’t listen to reason, you really aren’t giving me any choice. I’m not letting you kill me just because you fear a future that hasn’t happened yet. You may be the Quintessence, who can see the flow of reishi and what futures it might bring, but I’m the Variable. I’ll change any number of futures where either I or Sombra die! So come at me, if you’re that blinded by fear. Either way, this ends today.”
A brief touch of an impressed smirk touched Sapphire’s lips, “At least you’re no coward, girl. I can almost see what His Majesty finds engaging about you. Unfortunate that you have to die, so that he may live.”
Sapphire Shores raised her bow, the crescent shaped bow of glittering silver liquid reishi filling with even brighter points of light as Twilight felt the other Sternritter’s reiatsu burst forth. Twilight responded in kind, although her own reiatsu couldn’t match the storm of silver light engulfing Sapphire Shores. They were both Sternritter, but there was still vast difference in their overall power.
Yet Twilight didn’t falter, and when Sapphire Shores opened fire with streaking arrows of liquid silver, Twilight met them with a blazing fusillade of her own magically charged, teal arrows of witchfire.
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With power surging through her veins, lighting up every inch of her body, Applejack should have felt like she was on top of the world. Her blood was singing in her veins with a vibration of righteous power that she could hear pulsing through her with every heartbeat. The large, drill-like lance in her hand gleamed with power, and her spiritual awareness of her own reiatsu had never been sharper.
And yet she knew the task ahead of her was a monumental one. Even now, with her power at a new height, she had to focus to keep up with her parent’s movements. Hard Nail in his released Resurreccion form, and Sweet Cider with her Zanpaktou’s true Shikai freed were both moving at speeds that Applejack couldn’t even quantify, clashing across the valley at such a rate that it appeared less like a duel between two opponents and more like a battle between two armies. Still, Applejack found she could follow her parent’s motions, tracking the individual movements and maneuvers of their blades. Her father was fighting like a beast unchained, dark reiatsu flowing from his body in black streaks as his blade carved the air. Her mother was showing more deft, defensive moves, wielding both her Zanpaktou and Fullbring blades with precision that would have been unimaginable for swords that size, even with two hands let alone one.
Behind Applejack, Fenice stood watching the fight with a horrified fascination, far less able to tell what was happening, and all too keenly aware of her own lack of power to control the outcome of this battle. Applejack offered her a reassuring nod.
“Ya done yer part. I’ll take it from here.”
“You say that, and I believe you, but... seriously, what’s your plan, because father isn’t going to just stop as long as there’s an opponent in front of him.”
“Don’t suppose ya know if he’s got any weaknesses?” Applejack asked, and Fenice’s expression fell.
“Not that I’ve ever seen.”
“Oh well, guess it’s down ta a’ old fashioned smackdown ‘till he runs outta juice,” Applejack said, hefting her lance and bracing her legs. All across her back and legs, the nearly invisible ports now opened, glowing bright gold with the built up of spirit energy that would soon release in bursting jets of power. There was almost no part of her armor now that couldn’t produce these jets, giving Applejack a massive boost in her speed and maneuverability compared to before.
“Do you really think you can beat him with raw strength?” Fenice asked, incredulousness filling her voice, “Even with your Fullbring completed, that...”
“I ain’t that thick headed,” Applejack said with fresh resolve painting her face as she aimed her lance in the direction of her parent’s fight, “I know I can’t match pa, blow fer blow. Ain’t plannin’ to. But if I can throw him off balance, draw his attention, might give ma the openin’ she needs.”
The golden jets of power in her armor reached a peak, light shining from within, and Applejack activated them all at once. A massive blast of power emitted from the ports, propelling Applejack forward at a speed that would have made Rainbow Dash proud. It wasn’t quite as fast as the godly speeds Applejack knew her friend boasted of nowadays, but the direct thrusting power of her new armor could still propel her much quicker than before. The two portions of her lance started to spin, the tip portion to the right and the larger back portion to the left, creating an conflicting field of energies around the lance that Applejack knew would only boost it’s striking power. And, much like her armor, the drill lance had ports along its length that opened up and started to fire jets of golden energy, causing the drill bits to spin even faster with spirals of gold light.
She’d aimed her charge straight at her father, but angled her lance to aim at one of his legs. As she expected, he felt her attack coming, turning his wolf skull mask towards her as she closed in. He flipped upwards at the last moment, allowing Applejack’s drill to impact the ground where he’d been standing. The built up energy inside the drill released, shattering the earth and unleashing a spiraling torrent of gold energy and air pressure that ripped asunder a wide swath of the valley in front of Applejack.
Having anticipated that her father would dodge, however, Applejack used the momentum of the blast to fling herself backwards and flip through the air herself, kicking out with both legs. More ports opened up across her legs and feet, buzzing with power as twin beams of searing energy blasted out at Hard Nail.
He caught them on his blade, the dark Zanpaktou splitting the beams around it in a wild storm of energy that rained craters down around him. Applejack saw him raise a clawed hand towards her, preparing to charge a Cero, but at that moment Sweet Cider appeared at his side with a Flash Step, slicing towards him with both of her own gigantic swords. Hard Nail had to halt his Cero to spin around to block the attack, and due to his awkward angle, while he did get his blade up in time to block, he was actually sent flying backwards to smash into the ground and skid for some distance before coming to a stop.
Applejack landed on the ground next to Sweet Cider, who looked at her daughter with an appreciative and impressed look lighting up her cherry red features.
“Yer Fullbring is quite the sight now, hayseed. Packs a’ wallop, too.”
Applejack returned her mother’s smile with her own bright flash of teeth, “What can I say, I take after my ma.”
A soft breath escaped Sweet Cider, along with a brief wetness in her eyes that she swiftly rubbed away. She looked towards Hard Nail, who had stood back up by now, little to no damage apparent on his body. “Guess there’ ain’t time fer waterworks yet. Not ‘till we sort yer pa out. Ya ready to do this, Applejack?”
She could only nod, turning to face her father alongside her mother. As if in response to the sight of the two women arrayed before him, wife and daughter both, the Fourth Espada briefly paused, his hand tightening around the hilt of his Zanpaktou. A ragged breathing issued from behind the featureless wolf skull mask he wore, and amid the black pits of the mask’s eyes she could almost, for just an instant, see her father’s true eyes shine through. But then darkness clouded those eyes once more and the Fourth Espada, Lament, emitted an earth shaking howl as a fresh wave of dark, miasma-like reiatsu poured from his body and rose in a dense pillar into the sky. Applejack felt her father’s bone crushing spiritual pressure press down on her soul, and could taste the oily despair of it, the long, festering pain her father had been in for all those years.
Rather than choke on that feeling, rather than let that overwhelming reiatsu of regret crush her to her knees, Applejack stood resolute. Her own body burst with a radiant aura of gold, pushing back against her father’s reiatsu. Even so, she could only just barely hold against it, at least until a second wave of reiatsu pushed out as well. Her mother’s body was, like Applejack’s, wreathed in gold light as she let her spiritual pressure pour forth. Mother and daughter looked to each other, then at the man they both wished to save.
They charged, two gold lights against a sea of dark.
With a howl, Lament lowered his head, aiming the sharp twin horns pointing from his wolf mask at the oncoming Soul Reaper and human girl. In the drowning depths of his mind, Hard Nail struggled against his own body and mind, but to the instincts of the Hollow that drenched his thoughts it could only recognize threats to destroy.
Pitch black energy pooled between the tips of the horns like the singularity of a collapsed star.
Sweet Cider pulled her right hand with Kizuna in it back, while keeping her left hand with Hearthstone low and to the left. Brilliant energy flowed out of Kizuna in preparation to strike.
Applejack gripped her lance with both hands, her left one holding the side handle on the revolver-like back housing, while her right gripped the trigger. Small tubes of gold snaked out and connected to ports on the back of both Applejack’s hands, pulses of gold light charging into the lance as the drill shaped tip opened up in three equal sections to reveal a thick gun barrel underneath, while the back portion of the drill started to spin up to powerful speeds.
Lament vanished behind a gigantic blast of oily dark energy, a black Cero without a name, yet easily rivaling and even surpassing the space-warping potency of a Gran Rey Cero. In the distance, Fenice had wisely used the time Applejack joining the fight had bought to move away from the valley, although she couldn’t bring herself to leave entirely, and she was left watching in grim awe at the power of her father and the bravery of the two charging headlong into that power.
At the same moment Lament fired, Sweet Cider swung Kizuna forward, it’s gold light expanding in a blazing arc. Inside her mind, she felt her Zanpaktou’s spirit, and recalled what Kizuna had told her just moment’s earlier before Applejack had joined the battle.
”With your Fullbring no longer messing with my head, I finally tell you the name of this attack.”
“The name? Didn’t think your power had any names. We’re not much for fancy techniques.”
“Oh, it’s got a name, and there’s nothing fancy about it, Sweet Cider. You're a Captain, you ought to remember the basics... that a Zanpaktou’s attacks are far more powerful when the name is known. So don’t hesitate. Shout it out, loud as you can, the battle cry of your Zanpaktou.”
As her blade crashed forward with all the weight of a falling moon, Sweet Cider stared through the darkness ahead and bellowed out for the first time the name of the technique she’d been using for so long.
”Chi Tanzo-Ha!” (Blood Forged Wave)
A radiant crescent of gold power burst forth, tall as a tidal wave. And it wasn’t alone. Beside Sweet Cider, Applejack’s Fullbring had spun itself to a golden blur, while the revealed barrel within the drill tip flared with scintillating light.
Applejack also shouted a name. Unlike the names she and Rainbow Dash had been coming up with for fun for their attacks up until now, the completion of her Fullbring brought with it an innate knowledge of its new abilities, as well as the Fullbring’s name. It was that name she cried, joining her voice with her mother’s.
“Honest Heart Raiment!”
A blinding sphere of wild gold energy half a dozen meters wide fired from the barrel with a concussive blast of force. The sphere’s power joined with the gold wave of her mother’s technique, forming a pulsing core to the wave of energy as it collided headlong with the black Cero fired by Lament. The ground heaved and the sky shook with the titanic clash of dark and gold energies, and even though Fenice had made a point of getting a solid distance away of several kilometres, she could feel her bones rattle with the shockwaves of the clash.
Even distant battles around Camp Everfree paused as few could ignore the towering wall of darkness and gold light splashing miles into the sky, and then exploding with incredible force.
At ground zero both Applejack and Sweet Cider were thrown back by the backblast of explosive force. Sweet Cider’s potent reiatsu kept her insulated, but even she felt her muscles tear and bones bend from the raw explosive force of her and her daughter’s energies colliding with her husband’s Cero. Applejack had it rougher, smashed backwards through the ground, with her gold armor scuffing and cracking in a few places, although her Fullbring held up remarkably well considering the force of the blast.
Digging her lance into the ground, she halted herself and kept herself upright, while her mother landed next to her and used Hearthstone to shield her further from the wind force of the dissipating blast.
“Ugh... pa’s got a’ lot o’ power ta toss around,” Applejack said, “Ain’t sure how we’re gonna get close ta him.”
“He ain’t fightin’ on nothin’ but instinct,” Sweet Cider said, “We can use that, hayseed. Just listen’ up.”
Her mother leaned down, and briefly explained the idea to Applejack, who listened intently without taking her eyes off of where she sensed her father to be. The explosion had finalized the ruination of the valley, leaving Applejack’s heart aching at the sight of the barren, burned rock and dirt where once a verdant valley had been. Sweet Cider just barely had time to explain the bare bones of her plan before the murderous intent of Lament’s reiatsu flared, and she quickly raised her blades.
“Here he comes. Ya know what ta do, Applejack.”
“Yup! Ya can count on me, ma!”
Their words were barely past their lips before a streaking shadow slipped past them, Lament appearing behind the two with his sword already cleaving a black arc towards Applejack’s back. She wasn’t fast enough to do more than twist with the blow, her gold armor shedding a shower of sparks as Lament’s Zanpaktou cut through it along Applejack’s right shoulder blade. The armor reduced what might have been a fatal blow to a painful laceration, but it still left Applejack wincing in pain as she spun around and kicked back, leaping into the air.
Sweet Cider came down with both Hearthstone and Kizuna, jets of energy firing out of Hearthstone as both swords slammed down towards Lament. His form blurred away from the blows, then he instantly came back at Sweet Cider with his sword carving a path towards her throat. She bent backwards from the air rending strike, her cheek lashed open by the cut meant for her throat, and she reversed her grip on Hearthstone. The blade spun like a drill in a fashion not unlike what Applejack’s lance did, and she slammed it into Lament’s gut. His Hierro absorbed some of the blow, but his stomach was distended inward, with a blast of air pressure exploding from his back as Lament was thrust backwards. His clawed feet ground through the dirt, keeping him stable as he howled and raised his left hand. Beads of darkness formed around the tips of his claws, compacted black Balas that fired out rapidly at Sweet Cider. She crossed her massive blades in front of her like a pair of tower shields. The black bullets slammed into the blades with raging force, exploding in spheres of dark energy. Some were deflected away to rip apart the ground elsewhere, pockmarking the already devastated valley with more craters, but Sweet Cider withstood the assault, keeping Lament’s attention on her while Applejack remained in the air and prepared her next move.
Dozens upon dozens of ports opened up all over her armor, and throwing her limbs out, she let out a rough shout as she fired beams of gold energy from those ports. They weren’t aimed directly at her father, but rather exploded around Lament in a chaotic storm. This kicked up a large cloud of dust and dirt, and Applejack wasn’t finished. Flying around in a swift circle to build up momentum, she held her lance in front of her and then dove towards the ground, digging the lance into the valley floor. The jets from her back and legs intensified as she flew circles around her parents, ploughing through the dirt with her lance and throwing up even thicker clouds of dust.
Lament let out a feral growl and swung his sword out several times, creating pressure waves of air that started to clear the obscuring dust that Applejack’s actions were creating, but he couldn’t do that for more than a moment before Sweet Cider pressed him with a swift series of spinning sword slashes that forced him to go on the defensive.
Applejack, now flying to one side of the dust cloud where she could feel her mother driving Lament, drew in a deep breath and replayed in her head what her mother had told her.
”Our spiritual pressures are pretty similar in how they feel, hayseed. Don’t think yer pa would be able ta tell the difference like he is now. If we can blind him fer a second, like that trick ya pulled during our fight back in Soul Society, then we can get him ta mistake which one o’ us is which. Figure if we do that at the right moment...”
The right moment. Applejack gripped her lance with both hands and started to spin up the drill portions of it with all the power she could muster. She dug deep into her reserves of strength and pushed her spiritual pressure as high as she could. She had to make it feel at least somewhat close to what her mother was capable of, if only for an instant. This battle couldn’t drag on for too much longer, and both she and Sweet Cider knew it. Her mother had used up a lot of power already, and even if her Fullbring was freshly completed, Applejack knew it wouldn’t stand against her father in his current state for very long.
In short, this fight had to be ended as fast as possible, and the best way to do that was to create an opening for Sweet Cider to hit Lament at full power, without him being able to mitigate the damage by dodging, blocking, or countering.
That, and hope that her father would survive.
Applejack was surrounded by a golden wind of reiatsu as her lance’s drill bits revved up to a feverish pitch, jets of energy spinning so fast from them that they looked like solid discs within the core of the lance. The ground was cracking beneath her feet even without her moving, and Applejack felt like her body was trying to tear itself apart with the amount of energy she was building up.
Funny, that it was only meant to be the distraction in this case.
She sensed her mother and father within the dust cloud nearing her location, Sweet Cider keeping the pressure on her attacks to force Lament closer to Applejack. Then, with a swift Flash Step, Sweet Cider moved to stand next to Applejack. For a moment, the pair let their spiritual pressure’s overlap, so that they’d appear to nearly be one and the same. At that instant, Applejack thrust her lance forward, and with a raw blast of power from the ports on her back, she rocketed forward at her father. The wind force alone broke apart the dust cloud, but that was fine, since at this point Lament was forced to turn and face Applejack, likely thinking that it was Sweet Cider coming at him for another attack.
Black energy wreathed his Zanpaktou as he swung it down upon Applejack’s spinning lance. She felt her body tremble at the power of her father’s blow, and grit her teeth and poured forth even more energy from the rocket jets from her armor and lance, pressing as hard as she could to try and break her father’s guard. For a moment the lance held steady, and she even saw her father’s shrouded eyes gaze at her with a look almost like recognition. Then Lament howled and reached out with his other hand, griping Applejack’s lance. His shear strength halted the spinning drill portion dead, scouring away some of his Hierro hardened skin, but otherwise inflicting little damage.
Applejack wasn’t done, though, activating the barrel beneath the drill, which opened up just enough to let her fire a point blank blast that for a second engulfed Lament in a golden burst of light.
The explosive light faded a moment later to reveal an only slightly scorched Lament, who lowered his horns towards Applejack and started to gather dark energy between them. But by then, his focus was so much on what was in front of him, he’d lost track of Sweet Cider.
She appeared right next to him from a blazingly quick Flash Step, already swinging Kizuna in an overhand slash aimed to shatter his wolf mask. It was only Lament’s own supreme speed that let him swing his left arm up to block while simultaneously throwing Applejack by her own lance and smashing the girl into the ground. His arm caught Kizuna, but the blade bit deeply into his pale flesh, cutting into muscle, then bone. Finishing her swing, Sweet Cider managed to sever the arm entirely, and even cut a ragged gash along her husband’s chest with the blow. Both the stump of his left arm, sheared above the elbow, and the gash on his chest didn’t bleed, only seeped dark, wet ash.
Lament didn’t even hesitate for a split second, thrusting his Zanpaktou in a flash towards Sweet Cider. While she was overextended with Kizuna, fortunately she’d kept Hearthstone back, just in case, and was able to get the thick Fullbring blade between her and the incoming strike. However, Lament’s sword pierced through Hearthstone with a sickening cracking noise, and the tip of his blade punctured Sweet Cider’s gut.
Coughing, Applejack shouted for her mother, pushing herself to her feet and thrusting her lance towards her father’s back.
Lament withdrew his sword from Sweet Cider and swung it back, black reiatsu coating the blade as he knocked the lance out of Applejack’s hands. Applejack gasped as her father’s foot lashed out and slammed into her chest, cracking her gold armor and blasting a burst of spit and blood from her mouth. Not relenting, despite the painful blow, Applejack gripped her father’s leg and with jets of energy assisting her motions, she spun around with him and body slammed him into the ground. He didn’t weight all that much, so the maneuver itself was easy, but it didn’t so much as faze lament as he wrenched his foot free and in a blur of Sonido gripped Applejack’s face and proceeded to slam her right back into the ground as well.
Her head burst with pain and noise, Applejack becoming dazed as she coughed and rolled onto her back. Suddenly she saw her father looming over her, a dark shadow with the edge of his black blade catching the sunlight in a deadly gleam. His sword was aimed right at her heart, and it would only take him an eye-blink to ram it home. Yet time seemed to have halted as Applejack looked up at her father, right into the dark pits of his eyes, and she said in a forgiving voice, tears in her eyes, “I’m sorry pa...”
Snapping her arms up, she gripped his Zanpaktou with all of her might, letting it’s edge cut through the armored palms of her hands as she ignited every port along her arms to fire powerful jets of energy to hold her father’s blade in place. Her eyes, shining with tears, held her father’s gaze as she shouted with all her might, “But I ain’t lettin’ ya stay in darkness, even if it kills me!”
Even with all of her might placed into holding Lament’s Zanpaktou still, it still inched closer to her heart. The jets of energy firing from her arms were melting the ground around her, but Applejack doggedly pressed on, never once letting her gaze waver from that of her father’s. Just as the tip of his blade started to pierce the armor plating just above her heart, she didn’t look away or flinch. Instead she just spoke what was in her heart, even as she felt her father’s sword sink ever closer to piercing it.
“Pa, I know yer lost in all that pain ya carried fer so long. But yer a’ man who loves his family, more n’ anythin’ else. Whether it was the family ya lost, or the new family ya made, that part o’ ya never went away. An’ we’re both here, yer old family, an’ yer new one, waitin’ fer ya... I love ya, pa, so come back to yer family, both o’ them!”
And if only for a second, he halted. The darkness in his eyes cleared, just briefly, showing his true eyes beneath, swimming with tears himself. His voice came forth in a distorted, choking manner.
“Hay...seed...”
His eyes started to fade back into darkness once more, Lament giving forth a shrill howl as he appeared to fight with himself, the blade that was mere inches from Applejack's heart shaking in his grip.
Then from the side came Sweet Cider like a shining meteor, Kizuna swinging from blow in an two-handed, uppercut slash that exploded with searing light as Sweet Cider’s voice rang like a golden bell.
”Chi Tanzo-Ha!” Sweet Cider shouted, blood pouring from her mouth and her gut wound.
Applejack’s vision filled with light like the sun itself had been dropped upon the battlefield. Her ears were overwhelmed and deafened by the thunderous noise of what sounded like a thousand howling winds combined. Before her, illuminated as little more than a shadow against a field of gold, she saw her father take the full brunt of a golden wave of crescent shaped energy that erupted from her mother’s Zanpaktou and soared into the sky.
The rising crescent wave of light split the overcast sky in half, tearing the clouds asunder and leaving nothing by blue sky above, pierced by that single gold wave of energy.
Moments passed between Applejack’s heartbeats that pounded in her ears as she stared up into the blue sky. Lament had been carried straight up by the blast of the Chi Tenzo-Ha, like a leaf caught in a tumultuous hurricane wind. Sweet Cider stood there, blade still raised high from her strike, blood coating her lips and chin as her once powerful body trembled with the effort of the energy she’d released, her spiritual energy now all but exhausted.
“M...ma!” Applejack sputtered, struggling to her feet. She stumbled to her mother’s side just as Sweet Cider sagged, and Applejack caught her mother, supporting Sweet Cider on her shoulder.
“I’m alright,” Sweet Cider said, grimacing, but also managing a small smile, “Looks worse than it is.”
“Ya got stabbed through the gut, ma! Don’t try an’ act all tough!” Applejack said, glancing to where she could see Hearthstone laying on the ground, a hole still punctured through it.
“Yeah, yer pa got in a’ good hit... but this ain’t gonna kill me. Might lay me out fer awhile, but I’ll be right as rain... ugh... after seein’ Zecora an’ her Division fer a bit o’ patch work,” Sweet Cider said, and looked up into the sky, “More importantly, here’s hopin’ that did love tap was ‘nough ta rattle yer pa back ta whatever counts as normal fer him now.”
Applejack looked up as well, and felt a spark of shock as she saw the form of her father falling back down to the Earth. He landed hard on the ground not more than ten meters away, and a mere second later there was the loud clatter as two different halves of his wolf mask, now severed in half, fell to either side of him.
“Pa!” Applejack cried, taking a step forward, but Sweet Cider gripped her daughter’s shoulder, halting her.
Applejack looked between her mother and father, and gulping, waited. She didn’t have to wait long, as her father stirred. His hands grasped at the ground, and Applejack saw now that they were no longer clawed. There was a whistling noise, and in confusion she looked up again, and saw her father’s Zanpaktou spin down and stick into the ground a few paces from her father’s side. It was no longer black, but was back in its initial form, long and curved, but also gleaming a brighter, steel color.
The tension inside Applejack remained wound tightly, but cried for release as she watched her father slowly sit up, swaying like a man waking up from a groggy sleep. He had just the one hand, now, to prop himself up. With the wolf mask gone, his face was back to normal, his eyes soft, if confused, and even apprehensive as he looked at the stump of his left arm, and the now two large gashes covering his torso. His eyes slowly moved to his Zanpaktou, then to the two women standing across from him. Recognition, shame, regret, and lastly... hope, all intermixed in those eyes of the man who had once lost everyone, only now to see all he had lost staring at him from across a barren, broken battlefield.
“I...” he said, then quieted, glancing away for a moment before looking specifically at Applejack, “I heard you. In the dark, I heard...”
Applejack choked for a moment before managing to get her own voice out past the lump forming in her throat, and not bothering to hold back the tears touching her cheeks, “Welcome back, pa.”
He tried to stand, but found his legs wobbling beneath him and he sagged back to the ground. He let out a ragged, weak laugh, keeping himself propped up with his one arm as he looked around the utterly ruined valley, which was no little more than a crater strewn, barren wasteland.
“Guess you girls had ta knock me around pretty hard ta get me thinking straight again,” he said, wincing as he looked down at himself, then up at Sweet Cider, “Dang, hun, this reminds me of that time just after our honeymoon when Granny was out of the house-”
Sweet Cider’s already red face managed a bright pink blush as she growled, “Hard Nail, not in front o’ Applejack! God almighty, yer such a hardheaded idjit o’ a man!”
Despite the heat in her words, her voice grew choked as well, her own eyes shedding their own wet streams of relief, “Ya... idjit man...”
Hard Nail closed his eyes and nodded slowly, “Yer not wrong. I am an idiot.”
“Father!”
Eyes turned towards the voice as Fenice appeared in a blink of green Fullbring light, her sword held lightly to the side as she rushed up to kneel in front of Hard Nail, her free hand shaking as she raised it towards him. Hard Nail clasped that hand with his own, turning his voice to a reassuring lilt, “It’s okay, daughter. I’m alright.”
“You don’t look alright!” Fenice said, holding his hand tightly, “I thought we were going to lose you! What would I even say to everyone if that happened!?”
It was clear she too was trying to hold back tears, and Hard Nail pulled her close, surprising Fenice as he used his one arm to wrap her in a hug, something that he, as Lament, had never actually done. Hard Nail whispered to her as he patted her back, “You did good, daughter. Disobeyed me, but I’ll let it slide, because without you, I might have hurt my family even more.”
“Father... so, are you, um, still you?” Fenice asked. He looked at her, then at Sweet Cider and Applejack. He motioned for Fenice to help him stand, which she did by looping his arm around her shoulders and rising with him.
“I’m still your father,” he told Fenice, “Still father to all my children back home in Las Noches. But... I’m also no longer Lament. I’ve got nothing left to lament. I got both my families, now. What man could have more to be grateful for than me?”
Sweet Cider smiled, although it was a weak one, with blood still marking her lips as she had Applejack help her stand as well.
“Hard Nail,” she said, “Am I right n’ thinkin’ that yer gonna head back ta Hueco Mundo?”
Applejack glanced at her mother, then back at her father as he nodded, his expression somber, but also somehow clear as the now blue sky above.
“That’s right, Sweet Cider. Got things that need taking care of there, still. But don’t fret none, hun. We’ll figure somethin’ out. Ya got a lot of new kids to meet.”
“Tch, ‘cause ya went on an adoption spree without even consultin’ me,” Sweet Cider said, but her smile was widening, “I’ll look forward ta meetin’ ‘em all.”
Tired laughs were shared between the two battered adults, while Fenice and Applejack looked at each other. Slowly, both girls smiled at each other, not needing words between them, since both were sharing the same sentiments. They were family now, come what may.
Then, like a bolt of dark lightning, a voice dropped upon the otherwise peaceful scene.
“A touching sight indeed.”
Applejack froze as a chilling reiatsu akin to a bog-like miasma washed over her, familiar as the voice was. She turned with shaking eyes of fear and anger, as did the eyes of her family as they looked towards the speaker, who now stood a dozen paces away. His hands were calmly folded behind his back, as if he’d been standing there for awhile, although in truth he’d only just arrived, freshly free to roam about and pursue his plans with Celestia out of the way.
“Unfortunately,” Grogar said, smiling like a fleshless skull, “I’ll have to cut this family reunion short.”
As I anticipated I wasn't able to get to Rarity's fight this time around, but hopefully the conclusion of the Apple family battle was satisfying enough to make up for that. Meanwhile, Twilight switches out one powerful opponent for another as, drained from her fight with Starswirl, she's going up against one of the Quincy's most powerful Sternritter. Does she have a plan? She's Twilight Sparkle, of course she has a plan. And while all that's happening, Camp Everfree is about to have a whole new problem to deal with. The girls never can catch a break, but that's life as the protagonists for you.
And because I'm uttersly shameless and don't mind admitting to it, Sweet Cider's last Chi Tanzo-Ha was pretty much meant to be a direct reference to one of Ichigo's Getsuga Tenshou's, specifically when he used it against Ginjo, and casually split the clouds apart with it:
Anyway, next time I promise to get to the conclusion of Rarity's fight, so look forward to that, folks. In the meantime feel free to leave any and all comments, questions, or critiques you may have for me, I'm thankful for all of them. 'Till next time!
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He plans far
Oh cripes, Twilight how you gonna get outta this doozy?
So far, this has been a clusterf
ck made out of other clusterf
cks.
memestatic1.fjcdn.com/comments/You+forgot+who+was+the+big+manipulator+in+this+story+_244c1f952ce171de459652ee1ee2562e.jpg
After every moment of catharsis, emotional or informational, you throw another, even more dire situation at the characters. This is peak Shonen, folks.
GOD DAMN YOU GROGAR! You never miss a chance to ruin something beautiful, do you?
I can only think of two things he might be after here:
And everyone who can stop him is either not here anymore, wounded/drained passed the point where they can beat him or not at all interested in events at this part of the camp. BASTARD!
Gotta admit, seeing Twilight poke Sapphire's faulty logic full of holes was really funny. Her plan probably involves Filthy and Soarin in some way, or perhaps she's set off some kind of ward/alarm that will alert her family to the fact that the Assassin's are here? Can't wait to see how she turns this around.
Shit, with all the apples save Sunset's human self hurt this is going to suck.
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Good news, for those savvy in anime tropes, Grogar has just triggered several Death Flags.
He showed off his final form.
He's ticked off more than half the main cast on all sides.
He is running cocky off his newest untested powerup.
The last iteration of which overloaded and exploded, requiring assistance to remove safely.
He's fighting alone. (see above entry for why this is important)
And most importantly:
He just found out sensitive intel that will break the plot if he's allowed to live.
Welp, you gave conclusión to the apple family matter, and ow is going to get fucked again XD.
This has been such an amazing arc. I applaud you, good sir.
Sapphire Shores: Is the the kind of person who thinks essential oils can cure cancer cause she read the summary on a medical paper that shows a potential connection.
Herd Nail: Casually tells dirty jokes in front of his kids finding their embarrassed reactions funnier then the actual joke.
Grogar: WHY WONT YOU DIE ALREADY????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Seems completely accurate to me
I'm so glad there wasn't any fight between Posey and Roka's group. Thanks heavens for Fluttershy.
Anyone else thinks that besides ensuring Sombra's survival, Sapphire is somewhat jelous of his and Twilight's relationship, companionship, agreement? Not sure how to call it.
And one of the most heartwarming moments in the story interrupted by the participent of the title for the Biggest Jackass of the Decade.
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Thought he might be aware of the dangers the replica siren gem. There's possibility that he's on Camp Everefree more on his own will than Tirek's istructions. I like to believe he's scared that the gem will blow up, and just went there in some attemps to prevent that. But more likely it's just l find the idea of terrified Grogar funny.
the thing is arrancars are clomps of souls put together with the most powerful being the mind. that means to let one arrancar go is to let many more souls suffer.
I recommend Folx - the best torrent app for Mac. You can easy download cartoon torrent files
Fuck you grogar.
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Indeed
Somebody smash his face in already