//------------------------------// // Filler - an unanticipated encounter (one) // Story: HiE - A Hollow in Equestria // by Charlie_K //------------------------------// Unfortunately it seemed that he would be denied that knowledge. Before Twilight Sparkle could even begin to inform them of what her plan was -even before he and Spike could begin their requested approach- a loud, piercing scream sounded from somewhere outside the library. A scream that had the potential to be blood-curdling, if hyperbole were to be considered valid. And it was, apparently, a scream that Twilight Sparkle saw fit to issue her own scream in response to upon hearing it. Which in turn caused Spike to jump in terror. Perhaps that knowledge wasn't as desirable as he originally thought. How valid could it be, coming from one who was easily terrified by the scream of one that wasn't even close at hand? "Oh just great! What now?" Spike asked as he tried to steady his breathing and slow his heart rate, before it managed to slam out of his chest. "I don't know, Spike," Twilight replied. She wanted to point out that whatever it was, the timing couldn't have possibly been worse. As they were being escorted out of Carousel Boutique, she'd heard Celestia say something about Rainbow Dash spending a few days in Canterlot away from the rest of them. And with Rarity still at Ponyville General in indeterminate condition at the moment, they were down by two if they were faced with a situation that warranted using the Elements of Harmony. But then she stopped herself from making just such a statement. At the moment they had no real reason to assume that the scream was a sign of genuine danger. This was Ponyville for crying out loud! If that scream had come from any one of the flower trio sisters, the odds were very good that it was a gross exaggeration of the situation; like their response when the town had been stampeded by bunnies of all things! Right. Just a gross over-exaggeration of something utterly trivial in nature, that could be addressed with five minutes of discussion. That had to be it. The odds of disasters being stacked on top of one another in such quick succession, were so statistically minute, that they didn't even bear mentioning. There was no way in the world that they could be subjected to an attack by a manticore yesterday, Rainbow Dash's mind screwing today, and then some other attack right now. It was so close to being physically impossible that it was almost laughable. "But I'm about to find out," she continued as she made her way towards the door in order to check. What she didn't mention, however, was that if it really was nothing more than a false alarm, then she was going to find out who was responsible, and then she was going to kick their ass. She was even going to go one step further than that, and make use of Applejack's patented apple bucking technique; she'd seen it in action plenty of times, she was fairly certain that she could achieve the appropriate results with her level of knowledge. Yeah. That was exactly what she was going to do to whoever was pulling her leg. That was just the kind of mood she was in right now; the kind of mood where she just simply had no tolerance for stupidity. But she never managed to get that far. As she opened the library door, prepared to seek out whoever was making all the unnecessary racket, she immediately froze in her tracks at what she saw, and screamed herself. "Ulquiorra get out here right now!" It was a scream of sheer terror. Even he could recognize that. But just what could the unicorn have seen in opening the door to the library, that he himself couldn't readily detect with his pesquisa? Therein laid the mystery. Mildly curious, he approached the doorway and stood behind her to see what she saw. He wasn't prepared to see what she saw. It was bipedal. Humanoid actually. And it was tall. Far taller than him, nearly seven feet in height, but not quiet as tall as Yammy Llargo. But whereas the vast amount of the Diez Espada's bulk was solid muscle, a significant portion of this one's bulk was fat. Three hundred pounds wasn't outside of the scope of possibilities. It looked much like a human in nature. But the number of physical deformities it possessed was enough to suggest that it wasn't a human. Black shoes and black pants were immediately recognizable, made from some material he couldn't identify, but he wanted to say denim. Red gloves of a significant length, going far up the arms, and looking to be made of leather. The stitching on the side gave the impression that if its muscles were significantly flexed, the physical strain would cause the seams to explode. The front was obstructed by an apron made of tattered black material, and literally saturated with dried blood; saturated to the point that the black barely registered as even a default color. He truly had no idea that it was possible for such a color to be so physically overwhelmed in such a manner. The head, and by extension the face, was covered in a hood made of the same blood-soaked material, obscuring any attempts at visually identifying just who or what this entity was. And it appeared as if it was there to stay, as the hood and -most likely, although he didn't understand how- the head underneath was skewered by a number of large nails. The skin, what was visible, and along with being utterly dirty, was a most unusual coloring, something of a blend between gray and lavender, covered in large scars that looked both infected, and stitched up in a most haphazard fashion. And in between those scars were many, many more large nails sticking out in every direction. And perforating the skin through the lower back were what looks like three giant-sized fish hooks. Hooks that should've left it utterly paralyzed, and unable to move about in the manner it was currently. But perhaps the most outstanding aspect of what he saw before him, was the weapon it was currently yielding, and utilizing a downward swing to effortlessly reduce an unfortunate gray earth pony to nothing more than a fine red paste, garnished by bone fragments. The wooden shaft should've been shattered by the obscene amount of weight that the head had to possess. How could it even be lifted without shattering? One side of the head was large, wide, and stuffed by many large square spikes, making it look like a giant meat tenderizer. The other side was large, much like a bearded axe, but with an overly long cutting edge, the entire front portion extremely jagged, as if it'd seen the severest of severe abuse. Huge chips were missing, with the present portions reground to look like giant saw teeth. And both sides appeared to be wrapped tightly in chains to hold it together. Just what was this thing, that was currently throwing Ponyville into chaos? And why could he not sense it with his... Wait. Now he was picking it up with his pesquisa. But it was odd. The readings were all over the map, and utterly impossible to lock down. If what he was reading was accurate, then this thing was anywhere from Diez Espada level to... to his own... This thing standing before them, swinging an obscenely large weapon around -despite the fact that the wooden shaft should've cracked apart from the strain of moving what had to be five hundred pounds of steel at the end- could quite possibly be just as strong as he was right now. As ludicrous as it sounded, that was the reading he was getting right now. He didn't know whether to regard this as being the truth, regardless of how implausible it seemed, or to simply disregard his pesquisa entirely for being utterly unreliable. "Ulquiorra, just what the FUCK is that thing!?" Twilight asked frantically, horrified at what she was seeing. The stallion hadn't even had a chance to escape before being crushed like a piece of rotten fruit, and reduced to nothing more than a greasy spot on the street. She'd been wrong about the statistical odds of this happening. Very, very wrong indeed... "At present I'm uncertain," Ulquiorra spoke in response, bringing her out of her fear-induced stupor. "Stay inside with Spike, and get to the top floor of the library. Don't come out for anything," he instructed. This wasn't a situation in which she could assist him. If she tried then she would simply get hurt, further weakening the overall situation for Equestria. "I will deal with this matter. Personally." No further words were exchanged as he stepped past Twilight Sparkle, and out into Ponyville at large. And he remained there until finally hearing the door to the library shut, and the lock clicking into place. Not that it would do much good against that... thing... should it turn its attention towards them. But it was better than just leaving the door standing wide open, and inviting trouble in. He observed the strange humanoid's movements. It went without saying that it was male, judging by the way the body moved. It was also exerting a great deal of effort in swinging its axe about, leaving him to question just why it was carrying such a cumbersome and unwieldy implement. All that weight on the head was working against it in terms of leverage. But regardless of the perceived physics on the matter, the humanoid was indeed lifting the axe up, preparing for an overheard swing down onto an unfortunate pegasus stallion who had become frozen in place through sheer terror, and was about to be reduced to a bloody mess. That simply wouldn't do. The distance between them was crossed in a flash of sonido, Ulquiorra appearing directly in front of... whatever the strange humanoid was. Without a single word exchanged, he withdrew his right hand from his pocket, and delivered am open-palmed blow to the fat gut with enough force to send it stumbling backwards, ruining the balance it'd been trying to maintain while simultaneously holding the giant axe in its hands. Why it simply didn't let go of the axe in an effort to regain its own balance, he didn't know. "Leave," Ulquiorra told the pegasus, briefly turning his attention away from the opponent to make eye contact with the pony. He could do far better without a vulnerable target directly behind it. Fortunately reason seemed to win out over terror, as the pegasus nodded, before taking off as fast as it could. And just in time too, as the axe-wielding giant was already recovering from the delivered blow. So much for the theory that this thing was as weak as the Diez Espada. That blow would've been sufficient to completely remove the lummox's head from his neck. This was going to require a trial and error approach to doing things. Spike didn't know what to say as he watched Ulquiorra step out of the library, before Twilight hastily slammed and bolted the door shut behind him. First the screams, then the erratic behavior? What exactly was happening? And perhaps more importantly, what was going to happen next? "Twilight, what's going on out there? What's happening?" he asked, almost more terrified of the unicorn's current actions, than the unknown that was more or less just beyond that door. "Ponyville's under attack, Spike, there's a monster out there killing ponies left and right with a giant axe!" Twilight explained quickly as she ran about the lower floor of the library, shutting and latching each of the windows. She had no idea if doing such would do any good, but she wasn't going to let uncertainty stop her from being thorough. "So what's the panic about? This'll take Ulquiorra, what a minute? Thirty seconds? Doesn't he pretty much have this in the bag already?" Spike asked, not seeing the logic behind Twilight's current course of action. What could possibly oppose Ulquiorra with a track record like his? Dragons, changelings, manticores... what exactly could have Twilight so worked up? "I don't know, Spike, I think this might actually be something Ulquiorra can't easily handle. He said to stay inside and get to the higher floor of the library. That really doesn't sound like the words of advice coming from somebody who's got the situation well in the palm of their hand," Twilight pointed out. She stopped to look around the main room of the library, realizing that she had secured all of the entrances and exits of the first floor. Or at least secured to the point the latches and bolts would permit; she highly doubted any physical structure could withstand the impact of that axe. With that thought in mind, she scooped Spike up in her magic. "Let's get upstairs, just in case," she told him. "Can we at least watch what's going on? I don't wanna be left in the dark again!" Spike protested as he found himself not so gently being carried up the stairs to the loft. He really wanted to see what was going to develop, after missing out on the last three incidents where Ulquiorra had been involved. Dodging -if it could really be called that- the giant axe on the downward swing was a matter of utter simplicity, and involved little more than stepping one foot to the left, and turning his body sideways just as it began to fall, leaving his opponent absolutely no time to compensate for his new position, before burying the jagged axe head into the ground. Ulquiorra's followup move was far simpler, less dramatic, and consisted of an uppercut to the chin, sending his opponent staggering back from the impact, the axe head being ripped free from the ground as a result, and dragged along the soft ground, cutting a trench in the process. A groan of pain was also earned for his efforts. Unfortunately the groan and the staggering was all that he'd earned for his efforts. Upon learning that the initial readings of his pesquisa had been inadequate, and this opponent was considerably stronger than the Diez Espada, Ulquiorra had stepped up his game. Instead of attempting to properly feel out the strength of this one through a gradual increase in the strength of his blows, he'd gone right to utilizing enough force to cripple -or potentially outright kill- the Quinto Espada. Nnoitra Gilga could brag about his hierro being the strongest of all of Hueco Mundo, all that he wanted to, but that uppercut would've still been enough to remove his head. Instead it only seemed to daze the one standing before him. And he was already recovering from the blow. This was not looking promising. It was entirely possible that he was indeed facing an opponent that was just as strong as -or, disturbing as it may be, even stronger than- he himself was in his current sealed state. There was still a number of available options to choose from if that were the case. But utilizing any of them here in Ponyville would have the unintended consequence of potentially adding to the body count. And he would rather avoid that right now if at all possible. There was a large difference between these ponies dying, and them dying for no reason. He was going to need to gather more information before coming to a conclusion. And as his opponent once again readied his cumbersome weapon for a strike -this time it appeared the meat tenderizer end was going to be used- he knew what had to be done. He met the swing, allowing his right hand to be struck this time, as he brought the weapon to a complete stop. The force of the swing was considerable, he would admit that. It was easy to see how the pony who had been struck had been turned into a bloody paste. It was nearly enough to rival his own strength, as he actually had to put some measure of effort into actually halting the swing. And even then, it had still been enough to actually dislodge him from his position, and cut two channels in the ground. They might've been short, but they were still evidence of the physical force he was up against. "Impressive," Ulquiorra commented. Before disappearing in a flash of sonido, and kicking his opponent right in the face, the toes of his foot connected right with the chin. The force of the kick was enough to send the larger of the two tumbling backwards, falling ass over teakettle, before eventually coming to a complete stop in a position that just screamed extreme discomfort. If the spinal cord wasn't severed, he would be quite surprised. With his opponent down, he glanced down at his palm. There were a number of small abrasions from where the spikes had come into contact with his skin. The fact that his hierro had been defeated, if only to a minor degree, was not overly surprising. But the fact that it had been a normal weapon that had done it, that was the truly surprising aspect; even more so was the fact that it had survived the impact, and remained intact. At the moment though it wasn't a matter of importance. The minor abrasions were already healing over, and the enemy was... ... getting back up again... Just how hard did he have to strike this thing to make it stay down? And perhaps more importantly... would he actually have to use both hands? Speaking from a purely technical standpoint, watching from the balcony didn't actually count as being outside of the library. The balcony was a part of the library's basic structure, it was just... open air in nature. It wasn't like they had walked right outside and actively put themselves in harm's way. They had simply opened the doors and... walked into an area that wasn't as structurally enclosed as other parts of the library were. Yeah. That was it. It was all a matter of technical readings and interpretations of the structure of the wording. "Oh come on! Ulquiorra should be able to pound this thing into the ground! What's he doing down there? Why isn't he trouncing it?" Her thoughts on the matter soon became irreparably interrupted by the complaints coming from Spike as he sat atop her back to get a better vantage point at looking out over the balcony railing. And she couldn't help but frown at his position on the matter. She had legitimate concerns about the safety of so many who were involved, and Spike was treating this like a spectator sport. "Spike, be serious! This is a dangerous situation we're in," Twilight scolded him. "I get that, Twi'," Spike stated in defense of himself, "but just look down there. How can Ulquiorra seriously be struggling against that thing? Is he actually playing around, or is he really having trouble? Why doesn't he just kill it already?" he asked. From all the stories he'd heard about Ulquiorra's exploits, the struggles going on down below just didn't make sense to him. How could that punch not take its head completely off the neck? "You'd think he's restrained or something. Like he can't move around in his own skin or something," Spike commented. Something inside Twilight's mind suddenly clicked at Spike's words. It was like a mystery finally being solved before her, and she hadn't even seen it happening. "Spike you're brilliant!" she stated. "Naturally," Spike replied and beamed with pride at being recognized for something. For about two seconds, before confusion washed over him. "Wait, what? What'd I say?" "It's like you said, Ulquiorra's restrained here," Twilight stated as she turned back to watch the fight unfold, and wincing at the blows that were currently being traded. "Ulquiorra has unbelievable offensive capabilities, but they're incredibly destructive in nature. You saw what his Cero could do. But he can't open up like that in Ponyville, there's too much risk of collateral damage if he does. He can't give it his all, so naturally he can't dominate the field," she explained. Suddenly it all made absolutely perfect sense. That was why Ulquiorra couldn't blast this thing with his Cero. And even utilizing his resurrection might have destructive potential, with the possibility of leveling a number of buildings around Ponyville. The risk was just too great, and he was consciously aware of that fact. That must've been why he hadn't actively utilized any of the landscape to his advantage; like slamming that ugly thing right into the nearest building, and letting it feel what it was like to land on a pile of hard stones. the force of the impact would've utterly destroyed the building in the process. "Okay then... we know the why behind it. So what do we do with it?" Spike asked, his confusion just growing by the minute. What exactly were they supposed to do anyway? Go down there and use themselves as bait so Ulquiorra could take the fight outside of town? "We get involved and level the playing field, Spike," Twilight replied with a knowing grin, as her horn started to glow. Right cross. Left cross. Right jab. Left jab. Right hook. Left hook. Liver shot. Uppercut. And finally a haymaker, sending the giant toppling to the ground like a felled tree, and falling on his back, crashing onto the giant fish hooks. Boxing wasn't a field that Ulquiorra was particularly skilled in. It was never something he ever had any need for, as he had never encountered an opponent who could withstand the assault he was capable of delivering from just strength alone. Or at least not until he had gone up against Ichigo Kurosaki. And now this thing as well. But regardless of those facts, the moves themselves were known to him on at least some rudimentary level. And so far they were serving their purpose of delivering an effective beat down. Or at least they were, until he heard the thing groaning, as it began to stand back up again. Pounding away at this opponent was like trying to tenderize beef jerky; an exercise in futility. Underneath all of that fat was a surprisingly well developed musculature that refused to fall to the mercy of his fists, and even his feet. Perhaps it was time to stop treading so lightly, and go right for the kill, by twisting its head around until he succeeded in breaking its neck. That thought, however, was quickly interrupted. He felt the disturbance before actually seeing the evidence of such, consisting of the creature being enveloped in a magenta aura. Now it was struggling and grunting, aware that it was being directly targeted. This made him keenly aware of a simple, undeniable fact that had developed. Twilight Sparkle had gotten involved in the matter. Looking back over his shoulder, he saw her standing on the balcony of the library, and looking out over the battle. "Ulquiorra! No time to explain, I can't hold onto this thing for long!" Twilight yelled to him as she struggled to maintain her concentration, and fight against the strain her field was being put under. "When I give you the signal I want you to hit it with your Cero and go all out! Understand?" Ulquiorra didn't know just what the lavender unicorn was planning. He had instructed her to stay inside and not get involved, and yet she was doing that regardless. She seemed to believe that she had some sort of plan ready to set in motion, and it involved him utilizing a Cero near the middle of Ponyville. What exactly was she planning? The incoherent protests of the creature in front of him drew his attention back to it, and he could now see that it was actually being lifted off the ground, but only by a small degree, and that degree was constantly fluctuating as the distance from the ground increased and decreased with its physical struggling. He soon began to have an idea of just what the pony was planning. In recognition of what he believed was being set into motion, he partially withdrew his zanpakutō, and split the tip of his left pointer finger open. "On your command, Twilight Sparkle," Ulquiorra replied. Even from where he stood, he could tell that the strangulated growl coming from the lavender unicorn was significant. It sounded far more appropriate for one who was exercising genuine physical strain to try and perform a difficult task, and putting on a great deal of show to demonstrate that their exertion was real. In short it was far more appropriate for show than anything else. But then again his knowledge of magic was limited, and it truly could've been a matter of significant exertion on her part, as she hurled the creature vertically into the air at what had to be a speed of several hundred feet per second, its garbled howls of protest quickly dying out as it got outside of audible range. "NOW!" As he began charging his Cero, his Gran Rey Cero to be specific, he would acknowledge that this plan of Twilight Sparkle's had a significant degree of merit to it. Skyward there were no targets that would become collateral damage, meaning he didn't have to concern himself with the wrath of Princess Celestia for exercising a measure of his real strength. There would be nothing this time to prevent him from making use of his own forbidden technique. "C'mon Ulquiorra, hurry! Gravity's gonna bring that thing back down any second!" Spike called from where he stood next to Twilight, not even paying attention to the eerie shade of violent light coming from the sphere that the Espada was powering up. "Of that fact, I'm well aware," Ulquiorra replied as he calmly raised his arm skyward. The report of the Gran Rey Cero being discharged was considerable, even by his own standards. And the resulting flash of deep violet light was of a similar nature. There were elements in its display that looked a great deal like a lightning strike had just taken place. And the degree of reiryoku that was released with its discharge... well, it was quite easy to understand why the Gran Rey Cero was forbidden within the dome of Las Noches. And just as quickly as it had come, it was over. The flash of violet light had dissipated, once again allowing for a clear view of the blue sky. And the falling remnants of the former enemy, tiny bits of charred and unidentifiable debris landing all around him. It went without saying that there was no getting back up from this one. Next to him there was a flash of light, as Twilight Sparkle materialized in his view, with Spike riding atop her back. She was currently panting and gasping for air, looking much like she had when she had run from Sweet Apple Acres to Ponyville during the changeling invasion. In short she looked like she was about to collapse where she stood. "One word," she panted, silencing him before he could even start to speak. "You say one word about us not staying in the library like we were told," she continued, "and I swear, I'm going to paint your tongue blue," she finished as she continued to pant. It was a threat that was of such a ludicrous nature, Ulquiorra really didn't know how to respond to hearing it. It was so preposterous in nature, it almost warranted laughing. Almost. "Noted," he finally stated in response. There were more important things than dominating a discussion. And he had to admit, without Twilight Sparkle's assistance in providing an opening for him to exploit, he would likely still be fighting that opponent right now. That was enough reason for him to simply let the matter rest. "Ulquiorra? Just... just what was that thing?" Spike asked as he climbed down from Twilight's back and proceeded to look around at the wreckage, some of which was still smouldering from it being hit by the Cero. "It looked like you. I mean, not exactly, but its frame was... was..." "Humanoid in nature. I'm aware," Ulquiorra replied, "however I have no idea what it was. Physically speaking, something like that shouldn't have even been able to move. I'm left as confused as you are," he explained. There were way too many questions present, and no answers available. And it was getting to be quite infuriating. Even his own patience was beginning to wear thin. "So what now?" Twilight asked as she straightened herself up somewhat, and her breathing now under better control than just a few seconds ago. "Do we look for clues that'll help Rainbow Dash? Or... do we investigate this matter, and see if there are other... whatever that was... that has to be contended with?" It was a good question. So far they'd been facing one crisis after another, in a back to back fashion. But now they were facing two crises at the same time. Rainbow Dash's mind had been compromised, and she'd been turned against her friends, believing them to be her abusers. And now, not even a full hour later, they were faced with this unforeseen development. Which one needed to be given top priority in this matter? "Zaidi ya hapo! Makafiri!" Perhaps it was a question that had already been answered for them. A quick flexing of his pesquisa was giving unfamiliar readings in the area. In the entire area actually. Dozens, no, hundreds of them. They were, for lack of a better term, surrounded. Quickly his eyes began scanning their surroundings to try and gain some visual confirmation of just what they were up against. But once he actually had visual confirmation, he didn't actually believe what he was seeing. The enemy that currently had them surrounded, and was slowly advancing on their position, appeared to be humans...