Chapter Eighty Five
Chapter Eighty Five
With the cure properly secured for transport back to Canterlot, the four of them made their way up from the basement to find out the answer to the question of what had brought Time Turner to the library at such a late hour of the night. All of them, Ulquiorra included, knew that it wasn't anything resembling a normal occurrence.
By the time they actually made their way up the stairs, Time Turner had already been allowed into the library, and was currently trying to catch his breath, while Twilight looked quite disturbed for reasons they hadn't yet determined.
"Wha's goin' on here?" Applejack asked, being the first one to speak up as they entered the main area of the library.
"Dinky's gone missing," Twilight stated as she turned away from Time Turner to face the others.
"Dinky? Ya mean Derpy's li'l filly?" Applejack asked.
Time Turner managed to nod before Twilight could respond. "I've been checking on Miss Ditzy periodically ever since the incident last month, especially in the evenings; just to ensure she's alright. When I popped over this night I found her quite frantic, and learned that when she went to tuck Dinky in she was nowhere to be found in the house. It's as if she simply up and disappeared!"
"And you're sure she's nowhere in the house? She didn't simply fall asleep somewhere out of the way?" Twilight asked. As a filly she'd been known to do that more than once, so it wasn't an impossibility.
"Quite certain. The three of us have looked quite literally everywhere, doing everything short of turning the house upside down in an effort to find her. Right now Sparkler is trying to keep her mother calm while I look elsewhere," Time Turner explained as best he could, trying not to become frantic. But his friends' concern was weighing heavily on his mind, making it hard to stay focused. "Hence why I came here. I saw the library's lights were still on, and hoped against hope that perhaps she found her way here for whatever reason."
Twilight shook her head in response as she faced Time Turner again. "I'm sorry, but I haven't seen Dinky all day. I don't have a clue where she might be," she stated. But then she stopped and thought, as an idea came to her. "Ulquiorra. Can you find out where Dinky might've gotten to?"
"At present time I have more pressing issues to tend to than the matter of a missing foal," Ulquiorra stated bluntly. He had come to procure the antidote for Princess Celestia, so they could get their operation back on track. That was the most pressing of matters right now, with everything else coming secondary.
"Ulquiorra," Twilight spoke in an annoyed tone, her eyes narrowed as she faced the Espada. "It'll take you, what, two minutes of effort to zero in on Dinky's location, and help put a frightened mother's fears to rest? Just do it, you bastard!" she practically yelled.
Ulquiorra knew that he could point out how it wasn't his duty to get involved with the daily goings on of various ponies, and how it was none of his concern what they got into on their own. But he also knew that taking the time to explain why he lacked any obligation to care, would take far more time than simply addressing the requested task. It would be more cost effective to simply go along with what they wanted, and be done with it.
"Very well then," he replied and activated his pesquisa. He knew what Dinky Hoove's reiatsu pattern felt like, meaning he could find her, and be done with this entirely pointless detour.
Or at least it should have been as simple as that. What he was detecting right now suggested otherwise. The annoyance brought about by this distraction from more important matters, was quickly being forced to take a back seat to curiosity.
"What? What is it?" Twilight asked. She had seen the change in his expression, slight as it might be, and instantly recognized that something was up.
"Dinky Hooves is nowhere to be found in Ponyville," he stated. "None of the foals are."
"None of them?" Spike asked in disbelief. Were they actually hearing this right? "Are you sure?"
"Positive. There's no sign of any foals being present in Ponyville at this time. Dinky Hooves, Rumble, Diamond Tiara, Featherweight, Twist, the Cake Twins, Scootaloo, Shady, Noi, Pipsqueak, Silver Spoon... every single one of them is absent," Ulquiorra stated. How long they'd been missing, he couldn't tell from here; not without an in depth investigation into each of their last known locations.
"Oh dear," Time Turner stated, shocked but uncertain of what else to say in light of this news.
Twilight's brow furrowed at hearing this news. The timing of everything was far too coincidental to be a matter of mere coincidence. It stood to reason that whatever the cause of Dinky's disappearance, it was also responsible for the disappearance of every other foal in town as well.
"Can you tell where they might've gone?" she asked.
"Not from here. Not without a full investigation of their last known locations to pick up on their trails. That would take time we don't currently have," he explained. If they all departed in one specific location, all of their reiatsu trails would follow the same path, making it stick out like a sore thumb in town. But if they departed along individual paths, they could easily find themselves running all over town trying to pick up on it.
"Alright. I'll ask the obvious question here. What do we do now?" Spike asked.
"Open the door, before Pinkie Pie comes barreling through it to get inside," Ulquiorra replied.
"Uh, say wha' now?" Applejack asked, not expecting him to say something like that.
Just as Ulquiorra had said, the door was slammed into by a pink blur, sending it flying open from the force of the impact, and startling the majority of them as it plowed into Twilight, knocking her over in the process before finally coming to a stop as it more or less sat on her chest.
"Twilight! You've gotta help, this is terrible! Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake are missing and we can't find them anywhere!" Pinkie stated, frantically talking at a rate of a mile a minute.
Twilight wheezed in response. "Can't breathe..."
"Pinkie, get off," Applejack barked, finally regaining her senses from the untimely disturbance. "We already know. Mr. Cifer alerted us jus' before ya got 'ere. It ain' jus' the twins missin' either," she stated.
"Every foal in Ponyville is missing," Spike clarified.
"What!?" Pinkie practically shrieked as she leaped off of Twilight and landed back on the floor with a deceptively light sounding thud. "What're we just standing around for then? This is an emergency!"
Just as quick as she'd appeared, Pinkie moved to rush right back off the door, taking off for who knew where. And she might have succeeded in doing so, had Twilight not been quick enough to levitate her off the floor to keep her in place.
"Pinkie. Calm down," Twilight instructed as she got back up onto her hooves in order to address her frantic friend. "We're not going to get anywhere by panicking, except in a worse off state than we were previously. We don't know where the foals are yet, so there's no sense running around without a clue as to what we're doing, or where we should look. We're going to find them, but we need to approach this situation calmly and logically," she explained, before setting the pink pony back down on her hooves again.
"Alright, alright, I'm calm," Pinkie stated, before taking a deep breath in through her nose to emphasize the fact that she wasn't panicking. "Now then... what're we gonna do!?" she asked, her voice once again returning to its frantic pitch in the process, completely undoing the notion of being calm, cool, and collected.
Before any of them could respond, however, Ulquiorra was gone in a flash, a booming echo of static left behind in his wake.
All Time Turner could do in response to all of this taking place, was just stand there and blink, dumbfounded by... well all of it. "I can't help but feel that I'm missing a great deal of vital, need to know information."
"You're not the only one," Pinkie said as she addressed him, before turning back to the others. "What was Ulqy doing here anyway? Where'd he go without even saying goodbye? And how come he wasn't wearing his jacket?" she asked.
"Ah dunno. But Ah reckon he's gone ta deal wit' bigger problems than we got here," Applejack replied. Truly if Celestia was down, she was amazed that he'd stayed for as long as he had to discuss the matter.
"Alright," Twilight stated to bring the attention in the room back to her. "We need to take stock of our current situation before we can proceed. We know the foals are missing, and we know they're far enough away that Ulquiorra can't detect them. We also know that since it's night, we're operating at a severe tactical disadvantage here. Without the sun's light, we have diminished visibility, and without the sun's warmth, the conditions are more optimal for the fog to roll in, and blanket the area, risking greater exposure to everypony that might get involved with a search and rescue mission. Add to that fact, we don't know where to even start looking for them. If we went out now, we'd just be running around, practically blind, and potentially getting lost ourselves."
"So just what can we do?" Pinkie asked. Right now she was frantic, and she needed to know what they were going to do to make everything right again. As Ponyville's party pony, she felt obligated to do something in this situation, to ensure that everyone would be alright, safe and sound, and back in a situation where they could be happy.
"Well..." Twilight paused, uncertain of how to answer. She needed time to think in order to formulate a plan. "Well... Time Turner? You go back to Ditzy, and see if you can get her calmed down. Don't tell her that Dinky's not in Ponyville, that'll just make thing worse; just tell her that we're on the case, and we'll do what we can."
"I'll do my best," Time Turner replied and nodded.
"Alright. Pinkie, what about the Cakes? Are they awake?" Twilight asked as she turned to address her friend.
Pinkie shook her head in response. "No, thankfully. They're both asleep so they don't know what's going on."
"Good. We may need your help," Twilight replied. The first order of business was to determine which parents were up, and aware of the fact that their foals were missing, in order to head off a potential town-wide panic from occurring. "Now then. Zecora, please don't take this the wrong way, but do you have any skills at tracking? Identifying signs of hoof traffic in a given area?"
Zecora nodded in response. "Tracking is indeed something that I can do, and given enough time, it is a skill I could teach it to you. Living within the forest of Everfree, knowing the signs of danger has proven invaluable to me."
"Excellent. Maybe we can pick up on their tracks where Ulquiorra couldn't," Twilight replied. Things were slowly but surely coming together, helping put her mind at slightly more ease than it had been just minutes ago.
"Wait, you're talking about going out to find them?" Spike asked. "But this could be another trap, and we could be walking right into it," he pointed out.
"What choice do we really have in the matter, Spike? Just leave every foal in Ponyville wherever they might be, regardless of how much danger they might be in?" Twilight asked him, before shaking her head in response. "I'll admit, this is highly suspicious in terms of timing, but we don't really have much choice in the matter. Even if it's a trap, we need to do something other than just standing around," she explained.
"Er, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go look after Miss Ditzy at this point," Time Turner stated and quickly excused himself. What they were talking about right now went far beyond his comfort zone.
"A'right. Ah gotta head on home now," Applejack stated and made her way to the door.
"Applejack?" Twilight asked, caught off guard by the sudden turn of events. Was... was she actually abandoning them during their hour of need?
"Sugarcube, Ah gotta make sure Apple Bloom's safe an' sound. She's family, an' family always comes first wit' us Apples," Applejack explained.
"Oh. Right, right," Twilight replied and nodded, knowing that she couldn't get between her friend and her family. The four of them would simply have to make do on their own, and hope for the best.
"That said, once Ah know fer certain, one way or another, Ah'll be makin' mah way back. If we're gonna be doin' the whole search party thing, we're gonna need some light ta see by, an' we've got some lanterns in the barn," Applejack stated. "Ya didn' really think Ah was gonna leave ya hangin', did ya?"
Twilight wasn't sure how to respond. She didn't want to insult Applejack by saying that she did indeed think that was going to happen. She knew how important family was to Applejack, and she really wouldn't blame her if she wanted to sit this out after securing the safety of Apple Bloom, since there was no way of telling if she was missing or not. But after all they'd been through the past few weeks, she didn't know just where her loyalties would lay. In the end she just opted for giving a noncommittal shake of the head.
"Hold up, I'll go with you," Spike spoke up. "We can get back a lot faster if I get the lanterns while you check on Apple Bloom," he pointed out. He just needed to grab his hammer first; because if they were walking into a trap by splitting up, whatever they ran into was going to be made to regret it.
"That's good thinking," Twilight agreed and nodded, before turning to Pinkie again. "Meanwhile I'm going to need your help in finding out which ponies are awake, and who's aware of their foals having gone missing. The last thing we need is a town-wide panic when we don't have all the details in yet," she explained.
"So first we get the details, and then we panic?" Pinkie asked.
"No! We're trying to avoid panicking at all!" Twilight stated. Panic was what they wanted to avoid; was it really so hard for Pinkie to understand that?
"Considering the circumstances surrounding our situation, I believe it best if I remain here for the duration. The sight of an unkempt zebra this late at night, may cause those afflicted an even greater and unnecessary fright," Zecora stated.
"Zecora, that's..." Twilight started to object. But she realized that explaining to Zecora just why she was wrong about her belief would take time that could be better utilized elsewhere. "Look. I don't believe that to be the case, but right now I don't have time to argue otherwise. But rest assured we're doing to be discussing this later on."
They had taken stock of the situation before them, and they knew which parts they were to play. Now it was just a matter of doing that.
"So much for it having to hurt to heal..." Luna muttered.
Getting Celestia calmed down enough to move back to her quarters after had been a chore in and of itself. She'd been more or less inconsolable after her admission of guilt to perpetrating a rather heinous crime. That was all more or less to be expected, considering just what she had been forced to experience. It had taken both her and Rainbow Dash to actually accomplish the goal of returning to Celestia's quarters with her in tow, more or less guiding/dragging the larger alicorn as if she were intoxicated to the point of being unable to walk under her own power.
But it had been done, and they'd managed to get her onto the bed, nestled down on the fresh bedding. At which point, they had gone on to secure the room against unauthorized entry at the windows and doors. Or at least as much as they could, seeing as the door's lock had been broken when Ulquiorra had forced it open with a single kick.
It had been a very expensive lock too...
However that wasn't the issue they needed to concern themselves with right now. Rather it was the change in Celestia's demeanor that had been experienced since their return to her quarters. She'd become more aggressive, irritable, and even hostile when she was approached by one of them. Her efforts at trying to bite Rainbow Dash when she'd approached in an effort to comfort her, had been the breaking point that left them on opposite sides of the room, separated by the bed as if it were a border. So long as she wasn't approached, Celestia was content to simply pace her half of the room and grunt.
"She is no closer to healing now than when she was bawling her eyes out," Luna pointed out, her irritation clearly evident, but far more restrained than that of her sister.
"Trust me, the anger goes along with it," Rainbow Dash replied as she watched Celestia's angered pacing. As she did, she was thankful that she hadn't had the opportunity to go and retrieve Tank yet. She didn't need him getting stomped on by an irritable Princess who wasn't thinking clearly at the time. "But in my case, the anger came first."
"Wonderful," Luna commented dryly, wishing dearly that Ulquiorra would get back with whatever news he had to bring with him. As it stood, there was little they could do but sit and watch. They couldn't even try to keep Celestia from hurting herself, as their efforts would just ensure that they got hurt in the process. "Dear Sister, I wish that you would-"
Luna had to cease her plea to Celestia to sit down and take a breath, as it became necessary to duck and avoid being brained with a vase that had been hurled at her, and shattering against the back wall behind her. She took it as a cue that her sister was not in the mood to listen to her.
Looking behind her at the wreckage, she saw that the remains were those of an older piece that Celestia had been quite fond of for several centuries; one of the many things they had talked about after her return to Equestria proper. Apparently her sister cared more about her shutting up, than about the vase itself.
"Alright. That does it," Rainbow Dash spoke up, the tone of her voice being evidence that she was fed up with how things had proceeded. She didn't care that Celestia was currently seething through her grit teeth, that was irrelevant to her right now. "This is getting ridiculous. I'm gonna hold her down until she calms down," she stated firmly.
"I would pay you five thousand bits on the spot if you were able to do such, and walk away unscathed," Luna commented, amused at the idea of Rainbow Dash actually undertaking such an endeavor. But she knew that if she actually attempted such, much pain would follow. "How would you intend to actually approach her and attempt doing such?" she asked.
Rainbow Dash hesitated only a moment, before giving a response. "Pick me up and throw me at her."
Luna snorted, again -improperly- amused at what Rainbow Dash had to say on the matter. Much as she was sure the tactic would have an impact, she doubted that it would be the kind of impact that they were in need of right now. There was no telling what Celestia might do to Rainbow Dash once she became airborne and headed in her direction. Although she doubted that it would be anything good.
"As much as I admire your spunk, Rainbow Dash, I am not fastballing you. Such a maneuver would be... most unwise," she explained.
"Wait, wait, wait. Hold up. You know what the fastball special is?" Rainbow Dash asked in surprise, her focus on the issue of Celestia suddenly being put on the back burner in light of this new development.
Luna nodded. "You and Spike are not the only ones experienced in comic books, my friend. As many dreams as I have overseen, it is impossible to not know about some degree of popular culture."
Rainbow Dash chuckled at hearing that. That was certainly a creative way of getting around the cost of subscriptions.
Before she could actually comment on the ingeniousness of it all, she was interrupted by a loud, firm pounding on the other side of the doors.
"Who is it?" she asked.
"The only reason I'm refraining from actually kicking open this door for the second time, is that I know you're right next to it. Now move out of the way."
No doubt about it. That was definitely Ulquiorra on the other side of the doors. Luna didn't even hesitated before moving aside, and opening the door to allow him entry.
"Did you manage to procure the antidote?" she asked without even waiting for him to actually step into the room.
"What there was to be procured," Ulquiorra replied as he stepped inside.
Luna stared in disbelief at the jar Ulquiorra was holding in his hands. "That is it? You could not have brought more?" she asked.
"We were fortunate to even be able to get this," Ulquiorra stated. "The situation has become significantly less favorable than we anticipated. Twilight Sparkle is the latest to be afflicted by the terror fog, and in the ensuing chaos of her hallucinations, everything was lost. The only reason we have this, is because she managed to literally suck it back out of the ground. Zecora doesn't even know for certain if this will be enough, or if it's even ready for being administered. The simple fact is that it's all we have."
"Oh just great," Rainbow Dash replied. She'd been counting on the antidote being available so she could finally lay her terrors to rest. But even she knew that Celestia needed it more than she did, as her well being came first, since it would mean the well being of Equestria would be following with it. "Well let's go ahead and get it in her," she stated as she unfurled her wings and flew over to where Celestia currently stood.
As she approached, however, she had underestimated just how antisocial Celestia remained, the fact forgotten by the good news that they finally had the antidote in their possession. The next thing she knew, before she'd even gotten to land, she was enveloped in Celestia's magic, and hurled across the room like she was the vase.
Had it not been for Luna immediately plucking her out of the air, and carefully setting her back down on the floor, she had little doubt that he would've wound up breaking into a lot of little pieces, just like the vase had earlier.
"You stay away from me!" Celestia angrily shrieked at them.
"Looks like she wants to play hardball," Rainbow Dash commented.
"Then we shall play accordingly. She will have no say in this matter," Luna stated as she turned to face Ulquiorra. "I will pry open her mouth, and you pour the antidote straight down her awaiting gullet!"
"That won't be necessary," Ulquiorra commented, "the matter can be resolved without resorting to such, although it will be involved. I'll need your go ahead to proceed as necessary."
Luna found herself at a loss for words at hearing Ulquiorra basically asking for her permission before proceeding with something. In most circumstances, if he believed his actions were justified, he would proceed regardless, and rationalize it later. Or he would point out that there was little that could be done to stop him from proceeding as he saw fit if he was denied the opportunity. But this... it was so unexpected, she could do little more than silently nod, and wait to see how he responded.
And as she nodded, giving Ulquiorra her consent to proceed as he deemed necessary, he carefully set the jar down on the floor, before turning to face Celestia, and slowly began walking forward.
As Ulquiorra approached, Celestia glared at him, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "You stay away from me, or so help me, I'll-"
Celestia quickly found herself cut off as Ulquiorra practically teleported in front of her, and slapped her right across the face. Her eyes went wide as the stinging burn of the hit began working its way through her face. It has all happened so suddenly, leaving her utterly stunned. Slowly, she turned her head back around to look him in the eyes again.
"You will do nothing, other than what you're told," he informed her, before roughly grabbing her by her throat, just below the jaw line.
"I have no intention of repeating myself, so listen to what I'm about to say very carefully," Ulquiorra stated firmly as he forced her to meet his gaze, ensuring he had her full attention. "Unlike Rainbow Dash, there's no time to coddle you; as a ruler, you're devoid of that luxury. You have an obligation to do whatever it takes to get well, for the sake of your kingdom, and the subjects within it. You can either drink the antidote of your own volition, or you can experience first hand what it's like to have a feeding tube shoved through your nasal cavity, and your esophagus scraped as it travels down to your stomach for the administration process. And rest assured, if the antidote winds up spilled on the floor for any reason, at any time, you will find yourself licking it up afterward."
Luna was horrified by Ulquiorra's sudden change of demeanor. Despite speaking in the same calm, monotone manner he was well known for, his voice now carried a viciousness and harshness that she'd never heard before, and truly never cared to hear again. Perhaps her sister had been right about what she'd seen from the Espada during her interrogation of him. Making it all the worse was that she had just given him permission to do as needed to Celestia in her current state.
She knew that Celestia was being unreasonable, but she never actually expected him to go so far as assaulting her. Granted, she would have become physically involved herself if it had proven necessary, but not to this extent. Or at least she didn't think so.
She moved to stop him, but she found herself intercepted by Rainbow Dash, who was standing in her way and currently shaking her head to indicate she disagreed with that course of action being carried out. And just like that, Ulquiorra released his grip, letting Celestia drop back down onto her front hooves. The entire demonstration had lasted just a few seconds, but it had been quite enough to shake her up, and force her to consider a number of unpleasant possibilities in the aftermath.
"Am I understood?" Ulquiorra asked. Celestia nervously nodded, signalling that he indeed was. Without a word he turned and approached Luna and Rainbow Dash's position to retrieve the antidote.
"Was it... was it truly necessary to slap her as you did?" Luna asked.
"Perhaps not," Ulquiorra admitted as he retrieved the jar and removed the lid. "But it happened regardless."
Luna was actually surprised to hear Ulquiorra admit that the assault against her sister might have been unwarranted. She'd expected him to attempt to justify it as being a necessity warranted by the situation, and instead she'd gotten the exact opposite.
The Espada continued to prove himself full of surprises every time she thought she had him figured out.
"Open," Ulquiorra stated -or perhaps more accurately ordered- as he approached Celestia again. She'd barely even gotten her mouth open, before he gripped her by her nose, and forced her head back as he shoved the jar against her lips.
The taste of the concoction inside the jar was gag-inducing to Celestia's taste buds as it was poured into her mouth, but she dare not follow through, for fear of Ulquiorra actually making good on his threat; she wouldn't put it past him. And with her nose being held shut so she couldn't breath, she had little option but to swallow the vile concoction, wincing as it burnt and bit like a hard alcohol, but without any of the pleasantness that went along with a good -or even a mediocre- liquor.
With the jar now emptied it was quickly discarded over his shoulder -just barely avoiding joining the fate of the vase as Rainbow Dash caught it- Ulquiorra now used his free hand to pin Celestia's mouth shut in addition to her nose, and rub firmly along her throat. Only once he heard and actually felt her swallow, did her let her go so she could breathe again as she coughed.
"Wow," Rainbow Dash commented as she set the jar down where she felt it wouldn't easily get broken. "So you were serious about doing the whole forced feeding thing."
"Correct," Ulquiorra replied. He'd only mentioned the concept to her once during one of their late-night meetings, so the fact that she still clearly remembered was... perhaps a little impressive.
Luna said nothing as she approached, moving past Ulquiorra in order to rub her sister's back with a wing as she slouched, nearly laying on the ground at this point. She was not pleased with his actions in the least, but she would at least forgive him if it proved to make Celestia better.
When Zecora saw Applejack and Spike returning, not just with a wagon full of kerosene lanterns, but also Big Macintosh in their company, she could reasonably conclude that Apple Bloom had vanished along with the other foals in town. She could see no other reason that would explain the large stallion being present -and looking just as agitated as his companions- at this time of night, considering the workload that he undertook during the day.
She wanted to speak up as they neared the library's front door; wanted to offer the Apple siblings some words of comfort to ease their worry over the absence of their youngest, but she knew that there was nothing that she could either say or do that would truly serve any use right now. The only thing that would make them feel better, was having Apple Bloom back in their loving embrace again.
It was an observation she was uncomfortably familiar with, considering the number of times she'd seen it just tonight.
To say the situation had escalated beyond the point of Twilight and Pinkie managing it would be an understatement. As it turned out, a great many family members had apparently been awake, and had become aware of their foals having gone missing in the night. And if it wasn't family members, it was residents who had been made awake from all of the commotion that had been going on, as everything around them descended into its own brand of chaos.
Despite that chaos, they had managed to restore some sense of order to the amassed mob of disturbed ponies; at least enough to get them to listen to better judgement, rather than running around like chickens with their heads cut off in a blind panic. They were still quite agitated, but at least it was more manageable.
"What happened here?" Spike asked as he, Applejack, and Big Macintosh finally got within earshot of Twilight and Pinkie again.
"A lot more ponies were aware of the situation than we thought," Twilight sighed as she turned to look at them. She wanted to ask about Apple Bloom, but she opted against it for the time being. "We've got a lot of ponies who want to participate in the search party; more than I'd expected. Do you have enough lanterns for everyone?" she asked, not even inspecting the contents of the cart beforehoof.
Applejack shook her head. "Not even," she replied. They had eight lanterns in the barn in the event of needing them, and they'd brought each and every one with them on their way back from Sweet Apple Acres. At this hour of night, she'd been expecting maybe a hoofful of ponies being awake and willing to assist in forming a search party to locate the missing foals; not like thirty or more.
"I was afraid of that," Twilight mumbled as she turned back forward to address the crowd. "Everyone. Everyone, if I could please have your attention. We don't have enough lanterns for everyone who's willing to help; I'm sorry about that. If you have a lantern or a flashlight at home, I'd suggest you go and retrieve it," she stated as she addressed those that had gathered.
"Actually that might not be necessary."
Applejack looked up at hearing the voice. She recognized that voice quite well, but she hadn't expected to be encountering it here and now.
It was Filthy Rich as he made his way toward the front of the crowd, still wearing his business attire from earlier in the day, although looking more disheveled than he usually allowed himself to be.
"It just so happens that Barnyard Bargains is having a sale on all pony-portable lighting equipment right now; one hundred percent off during times of emergency," he stated rather loudly, ensuring that everyone present could hear him. "If you'll all just follow me, we can get this search party properly equipped in short order."
Both Twilight and Applejack smiled. Filthy might be the type of pony who was very heavily motivated by economics, but that did nothing to stop him from knowing when it was time to dispense with matters of profit, and instead think about his fellow equine in times of need; such as right now.
"Ooh! Do you think that includes birthday candles?" Pinkie asked Twilight.
Twilight wanted to sigh and shake her head in response to Pinkie's question. While she supposed it could be argued that birthday candles technically counted as lighting equipment, right now just didn't strike her as the appropriate time to be getting into such details, and whether or not they applied in this context.
"Are you ready?" she asked as she turned to address Zecora in an effort to focus on something else.
Zecora nodded in response. "As ready as anyone can expect to be, Twilight. I only hope that we find the missing foals first, before the things that come out at night."
A chill ran up Twilight' spine at hearing Zecora's statement. She didn't want to admit to it, for fear of causing another panic to occur, but there really was the possibility that they might be finding bodies in their search, rather than living foals in need of rescue.
"Let's hope so," she agreed, not wanting to consider that possibility, even if they needed to. "We're going to need a miracle, though."
"You'll have to settle for an additional pair of eyes instead."
Twilight's attention returned to the present at hearing that voice, and immediately knowing who was talking to her. Turning around she -and pretty much everyone else present- observed as Ulquiorra was approaching from the air in a slow descent, before finally touching down on the ground just a few paces away from where they'd all gathered.
"Ulquiorra?" she asked in disbelief at seeing the Espada again; and especially so soon after he'd last departed. "What're you doing back here? I thought you were back in Canterlot, looking after Celestia."
"The mission parameters have now changed," Ulquiorra replied.
+++
"How long must we wait, before we know if it works?" she asked as she turned to address him.
"According to Zecora, provided the concoction was close to be finished, and provided the quantity was sufficient, we'll know within fifteen minutes," Ulquiorra replied.
"Fifteen minutes? Just wonderful," Rainbow Dash grumbled. "So that means all we can do is sit around, wait, and hope that it works?" she asked.
"Correct," Ulquiorra replied.
All Luna could do was sigh, and shake her head in response to hearing this news. This was just one more case of them being helpless, in a long and tiring string of constant helplessness, where their best simply wasn't good enough for anything at all. It had been bad enough when it was only Rainbow Dash that they couldn't help. But being unable to do anything for her own sister but sit around and wait, just hurt so much worse.
"It's for that reason, that my return to Ponyville is currently warranted," Ulquiorra continued.
"It is?" Luna asked curiously. What business could he have in Ponyville? More specifically, what was it about the wait that he believed warranted his return so soon after leaving it?
"It's gonna be fifteen minutes no matter where you go. Park your butt and wait with the rest of us," Rainbow Dash replied.
It was a statement that was factually accurate, but nonetheless, still completely stupid. Ulquiorra considered pointing that out to her, but decided against mincing words on an irrelevant matter; it would take more time than it was simply worth.
"The matter at issue is significantly more pressing than the boredom that would come from waiting for something to happen. There's a potential hostage crisis in Ponyville that needs to be tended to," he stated. Without even waiting for a response, he made his way to the doors to take his leave again.
"Hold up! What did you say?" Luna asked as she looked up, her attention now drawn away from her sister. "What do you mean a hostage crisis? What has happened?"
"All of the foals in Ponyville have gone missing, and we know nothing as to the how, the why, or the where," Ulquiorra replied as he stopped and regarded Luna over his right shoulder as he spoke.
"Wait, seriously? Even Scootaloo?" Rainbow Dash asked as she jumped to her hooves at the news, feeling her heart starting to speed up.
"All of them," Ulquiorra stated, having no time to mention who was missing individually. "Princess Celestia has been given the antidote, all we can do for her now is wait. As such, I'm now needed elsewhere, on far more pressing matters."
"And you are just telling us this now!?" Luna shouted in response, trying hard to keep calm in light of all of this, but finding it incredibly difficult. "Why was this not brought to our attention sooner!?"
"Because getting Princess Celestia the antidote so she could recover was our top priority," Ulquiorra replied, his demeanor a stark contrast to that of Luna as he spoke. "And now it isn't. Now that such has been done, other matters are free to be focused on accordingly."
Luna could feel her mouth hanging open as her mind tried to process the information. She understood that Ulquiorra was logical in how he went about conducting himself, but the thought of him prioritizing lives like that was just... just... she couldn't even get the words to coherently form in her mind. Yes, she was thankful that he had given her sister so much consideration, but the fact that he was prioritizing her over those who were so much more vulnerable was more than she could take. Suddenly everything had been horribly flipped upside down.
"So what're you just standing around and talking for? Get moving and find them already!" Rainbow Dash yelled.
"Not just yet, Rainbow Dash, we must proceed accordingly," Luna replied, slightly more restrained than her friend was currently. Although that really wasn't saying much. Out of all of them, only Ulquiorra had any semblance of calmness about his right now, but that was to be expected. "The foals going missing is not a matter of simple coincidence, is it?" she asked as she looked towards him.
"The probability of this all boiling down to nothing more than coincidence is unlikely at best. If it were a few foals that were absent, it could believably be written off as such. But with all of them missing at the same time, and with the timing of everything else being what it is, we need to conclude otherwise, and assume that they're being used as a part of some contingency plan to put us at a disadvantage," Ulquiorra explained.
Luna had a few choice words to say about this development, but she chose to keep them -and herself- restrained, as she doubted shouting any further would actually do them any good. If Ulquiorra was right, and the missing foals had actually been abducted -potentially by whatever party was responsible for everything else going on- it went without saying that they couldn't launch a counterattack until their safety had been adequately ensured. Even if they wouldn't be in the line of fire, they would still have to find them, before they could actually do anything.
"I will have a squad of royal guards dispatched immediately. The night vision of my thestrals is second to none, and you will need all the help you can get in order to find them in a timely manner," she stated.
"It would take too long for them to be assembled and instructed, never mind actually arriving," Ulquiorra pointed out. He could be to Ponyville in but a fraction of the time it would take them to do the same. "Beyond that, their presence will simply add more ponies to be exposed and afflicted by the terror fog that's already out, hampering our efforts further. My working alone is for the best in this situation," he explained, knowing that the last thing they needed was a dozen or more ponies experiencing the hallucinations of terror fog for the first time, potentially hurting themselves and others in the process.
Luna wanted to retort, but she knew full well that none would be adequate or appropriate. For better or worse, Ulquiorra was the only one present who had -so far- proven to be immune to the effects of the terror fog. Even she couldn't really claim such.
"Then I will not detain you any further. Go and find the missing foals, and ensure their safety. The last thing we need is to be giving whatever party is responsible, the opportunity to keep us over a barrel," she stated.
+++
By the time Ulquiorra had finished with his explanation of events that had transpired, the present crowd had grown considerably smaller. Those who hadn't been listening to the details of his story with rapt attention, had gone with Filthy Rich to acquire lanterns, flashlights, kerosene, and whatever else they were going to need for finding the missing foals. Despite their amazement at his arrival from the sky, there were more important matters that had to be tended to, and they were quite aware of that fact.
Those that had remained present as he explained that he'd arrived to help them out -and who weren't otherwise preoccupied with hushed whispers about his descent from the sky- had their own take on the situation; perhaps best exemplified when the initiative had been taken by none other than Ditzy, as she pounced on him, and proceeded to hug him with all of the ferocity that only a distraught mother could manage.
"Please! Please, you've got to help find my little Dinky, you've just got to!" she pleaded as she clung to him.
In contrast, Ulquiorra's response was far more calm, methodical, and deliberate as he pried himself free from Ditzy's frantic hold. It had all been done with the same ease as someone simply shrugging off a jacket they'd been wearing at the time, but the gesture had lacked any semblance of either hostility or intolerance; it was all very clinical in how he conducted himself with her, being neither supportive, nor dismissive.
"Your daughter will be found. As will all the others that are currently missing," he stated simply.
"C'mon, Ditzy, it'll be a'right," Applejack said as she came to Ulquiorra's aid and gently pulled the distraught pegasus back. "Mr. Cifer's on the case now, we'll find 'em faster than a pig can find slop," she assured her.
Twilight nodded in agreement as she faced them. "With his talents being added to our available pool, the search party can proceed much more efficiently, once the others get back with the lighting supplies we'll be needing," she added.
"Respectable. But your involvement would ultimately cause more harm than good in this matter. Where I need to go, the rest of you won't be able to follow. You coming along would only slow the progression, and simply lead to more getting lost than already are," Ulquiorra explained.
"... You already know where they are, don't you?" Twilight asked. The way he'd phrased it had been so odd, that was the only thing that really made sense to her. But that left a lot of unanswered questions, like why he was currently here and talking to them, when he could be utilizing the time needed for such in a more practical manner.
Ulquiorra gave a single nod of confirmation before speaking again. "It was discovered as soon as I returned to Ponyville to assist. Despite each of the foals taking a different route, they all eventually converge at a single point just outside of town, leading to their ultimate destination; that being three miles inside the territory of the Everfree Forest," he explained.
"The Everfree Forest!?"
It was a collective response, shared by the majority of those who were still present. And it had also been just the tip of the iceberg, as all manner of talk erupted in the immediate aftermath of the revelation, quickly reaching the point where even he couldn't focus on what everyone was saying; other than the fact that it was quickly descending into madness as panic started overtaking everyone, and shaking their resolve. The determination that they had possessed just moments ago was starting to falter.
Or at least it was among those that didn't have family involved. Those that were recognized as being parents or other caretakers remained largely unshaken, with some of them actually looking at him with disdain for being there. They likely realized the gravity of the situation, and couldn't comprehend why he wasn't acting to resolve the situation.
"A few miles of forest isn't gonna stop us!" Bonbon yelled angrily as she stomped her left hoof against the ground to emphasize her statement.
"Yeah! It's gonna take more than what lives in there to keep us away!" Thunderlane added, earning a few more voices of agreement.
"We'll go ourselves if we have to!" Ditzy added as those in agreement only grew more vocal.
"We're not afraid!"
"Family's more important!"
"For the future!"
It was a turnaround, the likes of which Ulquiorra hadn't expected to witness among these ponies. They were afraid, as was to be expected, but they were making an effort to push past that fear. They were demonstrating genuine courage right now.
It was all... impressive. Stupid, but still impressive.
"Looks like we got ourselves an army," Applejack commented, finding it necessary to speak up to be heard over the crowd as it worked itself up.
"More like an angry mob," Spike stated as he tried to figure out how they were going to calm all of these ponies down.
"I don't think I can deal with this," Pinkie added. Trying to get all of these grumpy ponies calmed down, and put a smile back on their faces, was something she wasn't confident could be done on such short notice.
"Neither of which being something that we need at this point," Ulquiorra commented, not caring who might've heard him or not. They needed a way to calm this rabble down before chaos erupted, and everyone went tearing off without a plan.
The loud boom that came from slamming both of his palms together achieved that goal just adequately. Immediately everyone shut up again, and all eyes were once again on him as they paid attention.
"Your dedication to the cause is noted. But there are other dangers present beyond the predators that make their home in the forest. The area the foals are in, is right in the middle of a dense pocket of terror fog that's miles wide in diameter," he explained to them. He'd sensed it almost as soon as he'd arrived, and regarded it as evidence of a responsible party being actively at work. Anyone who tried approaching would be putting themselves at risk of not only the Everfree Forest itself, but also whatever hallucinations the fog induced, leaving them helpless to escape. It made sense now why Princess Celestia had been attacked and disabled; just as it made sense why Twilight Sparkle had been subjected to her own hallucinations, and tricked into destroying the antidote. Whatever, and whoever, was behind all of this, didn't want the foals found, and was apparently doing whatever could be done to ensure that didn't happen.
All of this meant that he was the only one could safely approach. Once again everything came down to him being the one to actually save the day.
"If you were to approach now, you would all fall victim to the forest, leaving more lost than there are now. This matter has to be left to myself, and only myself, as I'm the only one immune to the effects of the fog. The rest of you need to remain behind where it's safe," he stated. Although it was doubtful if anywhere was truly safe at this point in time. But they didn't need to preoccupy themselves with that fact.
"Then what're you doing here, just standing around and talking? Why aren't you out there actually doing something!?" Thunderlane demanded. And before anyone could blink, the others were joining in on pressing him for answers about his presence, and his lack of action.
"For the simple reason that I sensed this gathering taking place. Lacking any other logical conclusions as to why so many would be awake, and gathered together at this time of night, the most logical conclusion was that Twilight Sparkle was forming a search party to find the missing foals. And knowing the full details, it became necessary to intervene, and prevent the situation from getting worse," he explained. He gave them a moment to let the statement sink in, so that they could understand it was their own fault that he was here, before he continued. "Stay here, leave the matter to me."
"Before ya go headin' off, ya might need this," Applejack stated as she offered up one of their procured lanterns from the barn.
"That won't be necessary. My eye sight is-" Ulquiorra started to explain, only for Applejack to cut him off.
"Yeah, yeah, Ah remember from the last time ya bragged 'bout yer night vision. Brightest day, blackest night, nothin' escapes yer sight, yadda, yadda," Applejack stated, summarizing how she remembered the conversation going the last time an offered lantern had been turned down. "Ah don' mean ta be rude, Ah'm jus' sayin. Anyway it ain't fer you, though, it's fer the foals fer when ya find 'em. Ya might be able ta see in the dark jus' fine, but they won't be; not in the Everfree Forest, an' certainly not with the fog rollin' in an' thickenin' up. If yer gonna bring 'em back, they're gonna need ta see where they're goin'," she explained.
Ulquiorra would admit that he hadn't considered that. It was so easy to forget that these ponies had a great number of physical inferiorities compared to himself. Even if they could see fairly competently out here at night, with limited illumination from the moon and stars, the same couldn't be said for inside the Everfree Forest, where thick canopies were capable of obscuring even direct sunlight. For him it was a trivial matter, but for them, it would be far more than that.
"Noted," he replied in acknowledgement. "Although I have doubts that the flame will remain lit at the speed I'll be traveling," he pointed out. He could see it being extinguished very easily once he used his sonido to reach his destination, as the air current would be moving very rapidly, and forcing its way through all the little holes that served ventilation purposes. Even a forest fire could be blown out like a candle, provided enough air current was involved.
"Then take a long a few extra matches, an' light it when ya get there," Applejack pointed out. "Ya do know how ta run one o' these, right?"
While Applejack and Ulquiorra went over the mechanics of how one of the lanterns operated, Twilight felt a tap on her wither. Turning around she saw that it was Flitter hovering behind her. Or maybe it was her sister Cloudchaser. She honestly couldn't tell the two of them apart, based on how limited her interactions were with them. The only thing she really knew about them was that they were friends with Thunderlane, and seemed to adore Rumble.
"I get that there's a lot going on here that we don't understand. But was he actually flying just a little while ago? And all without wings?" she asked.
"Um... something like that," Twilight replied hesitantly.
"Regrowth of lost limbs, and now flight without wings. That roho mlaji you are friends with, is capable of a great many things," Zecora stated.
"Wait, what now?" the pegasus twin asked at hearing Zecora's statement. "What's going on here?"
The next thing Twilight knew, she -and by extension, the others in their group- were all being besieged by a number of questions, and all pertaining to Ulquiorra.
"Well... you see... it's like this," she started, knowing that what followed next was going to be a very complicated, very awkward explanation.
The location of the missing foals might've been determined in short order, but it was more alone the lines of narrowing down their general vicinity, rather than pinpointing their exact location. Ulquiorra had tried for the latter rather than the former, but the terror fog that had blanketed the area in the Everfree Forest was serving as more than adequate interference to prevent that from happening. The amount of reiatsu that was laced in it was serving as camouflage, and effectively drowning out all the other signatures that were within it.
It was something he didn't adequately understand. Nor did he care for devoting the time that would be necessary to doing such, as there were more important tasks at hand to tend to; such as spoiling whatever plans were in store.
Despite the denseness of the fog blanketing the area, it did little to actually obstruct his vision. He could easily make out his surroundings just fine. But for all of the trees -of which there were a great many- rocks, shrubs, and other forest staples that he could see, what he couldn't see was signs of any pony; not even their hoof prints. Wherever they were, this obviously wasn't it. He was going to need to track them down the old fashioned way.
And speaking of the old fashioned way...
A cursory examination of the lantern indicated no signs of it being any worse for wear after being subjected to his sonido; not even the old green paint that was pock marked with signs of rust looked like it had been knocked loose. Following the steps Applejack had demonstrated, of raising the globe and wick, he fished one of the matches out of his pocket to light it. As long as they were, spanning the whole length from his wrist to the tips of his fingers, it was easy to understand how the ponies made use of them when they lacked fingers, and had to utilize their mouths.
With a quick swipe against the remnants of his Hollow mask, the match burst into flames, before allowing him to do the same to the exposed wick, and more or less flooding the entire area with light.
It was entirely irrelevant for him, but as Applejack had pointed out, it would give the foals something to see in this mess. Now all he had to do was actually physically track them down; a prospect easier said than done, seeing as how he was as blind as a human right now.
"Where to begin?" he asked himself as he considered which direction to go. But before he went anywhere, he glanced downward at the ground, and used the heel of his left foot to scratch an X into the soft soil to use as a marker. Should something happen, and he actually found himself getting disoriented in his mess, he would at least know where he'd started from.
Before he went even three steps past the starting point, he stopped in thought. Blind as a human, he noted. Humans often tended to overlook what was right in plain sight because they weren't actively looking for it, or were simply looking elsewhere. He couldn't sense any ponies present, but that didn't mean they weren't present. Statistically the odds of appearing within a close vicinity to them weren't in his favor, but improbable didn't mean impossible. Maybe finding them would actually be simpler than he was assuming, and all he had to do was speak up.
"Can anyone hear me?" he asked. If they were within earshot, perhaps they would hear him, and respond in turn.
And then again, perhaps not, as all he heard was silence. Not even the sounds of wildlife could be heard in this fog. That in itself suggested there was far more going on than what was immediately apparent. The sooner they were found, the better off they would all be.
"Best to not waste time on useless endeavors," he told himself. He would head east first, as it led the furthest away from Ponyville, and work his way back if nothing was found.
The sound of a twig snapping from behind him, made him halt that plan. He wasn't alone here.
As he turned around to confront who else was present with him, he immediately stopped and stared.
"This can't be possible," he stated, not believing what his eyes were seeing. And yet there was no way to actually deny just what he was seeing.
Standing there, and slowly lumbering its way forward, accompanied by a low, guttural hissing growl, was none other than the fully Hollowfied form of Ichigo Kurosaki himself.
Stats
Page generated in 0.043 seconds
Total duration
937 users online
333,150 hits today, 1,960,719 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
So he's a Green Lantern now?
So, Terror Fog + Ulquiorra = Reliving the curbstomp battle he faced at Hollow Ichigo's hands?
That does sound like the one thing that Ulquiorra might have felt the tiniest shred of fear towards, hm.
Holy shit. Either we have Ichigo in Equestria, who views Ulquirra as an enemy, or Ulquirra is now suffering a Terror Fog hallucination. Either way this situation has just gone from bad to worse
So our chiropteran-themed Espada has encountered the Viking Demon known as Vasto Lorde Kurosaki Ichigo.... welp. Time to die...
Hmm, I'd think this or Aizen would be most likely to be induced by the terror fog. Shows that the fog has some sort of limited telepathic abilities as either it would have to be someone incredibly meticulous, or it has a way of knowing a creature's deepest fear (Aizen wanted to control the Arrancar, not kill everything like Hollow Ichigo). This and sensory deprivation, specifically pesquisa (He discussed this with Rainbow) would be the biggest things that would drive him if not to fear, then uncertainty.
Eh, that's just my guess
7066764
his cero IS green....and he can make green constructs
The Terror fog affected Ulquiorra or... Was maybe Ulquiorra what created the terror fog without knowing? After all it happened after he appeared. a strange element in the world. Just a little after he released Murcielago.
Or maybe the Terror fog just tried to find the only time Ulquiorra feel fear, and try to replicate it.
Well now this is interesting, I can see this turn of events being rather fun soon.
I wonder how this will go down...since Ulqui is not really the type to feel great emotion anyway and is quite use to pain. I mean just because you can regenerate doesn't mean ripping your own eye out is any less painful. And yes I know he can feel things sometimes, just I don't see him being terrified just...very concerned and such. Nothing as intense as what the ponies have been expressing.
Then again if he does get pushed into reacting to this, that could end very very badly for everyone. A stray shot from Ulqui is like having a nuke go off in a random direction. God knows how much damage he could do if he tries to defend himself or the like.
Oh shit!
It seems that I was wrong about Ulquiorra's reishi-based physiology being immune to the fog. Well, if the Poison Joke could affect him, then so can the terror fog.
Now, time to think! How's Ulquiorra gonna undo this?
Option 1: He smacks it the fuck up until it goes away.
Option 2: He tears his own body open, and bleeds until the poison's completely out of his system.
Option 3: He lets it run its course without collapsing, like the baller he is.
So good!!!! Even tho you say it doesn't feel quite right to me it still is a damn good chapter!!!
Another enjoyable chapter. Good job.
we're going to be
forgot an 'I' in there.
Silly Arrancar, why did you think you were immune?
It was just waiting for you...
Oh, now I'm curious to see how Ulquiorra will tackle this problem.
What if this is same like when Twilight think that Zecora was Chrysalis. Ulquiorra will not tremble from the fear, he can fight back. He can kill a pony if he think that he fight with the Ichigo illusion.
It was this make sense?
7067929 I'm voting for option 3
Still love this story (though not as much as when it started), but can we please pick up the pace?
This whole "we're on the trail of the bad guy- OH NO, some unexpected BS is preventing us from making any progress- OKAY we've dealt with the BS, so now let's- OH NO, more BS" is really getting annoying, mostly because of its overuse, and the long breaks between chapters (which seems to be growing longer, might I add) are not helping this story as far as it keeping general interest. Truth be told, I was about to write this off as another dead-fic and move on.
Ok... so... still no clues and now the fog's messing with Ulqy.
Longer than LoTR... and no idea who the villain is yet.
7073369 7075321
Granted, it's taken forever to get here, even I admit that. But everyone's patience is about to pay off. Without wanting to spoil too much, we've finally reached that point in the story where everything that needed to be set up, has been set up. Now it's just a matter of the pieces falling into place as it all unfolds.
7075551
Well then, I guess a little more patience won't kill me.......
Ya know, now I'm curious as to what Twilight will tell the townsponies about Ulquiorra. Also, yup. I can totally see that as being one of Ulquiorra's fears. That moment in the show when Ichigo comes through the smoke and grabs him by the neck, and then Ulquiorra's eyes widen? Always thought that was a perfect: "Oh Shit!" moment. Looking forward to seeing just how he reacts to this.
Below are some edits for the chapter:
*did, as well being came - did, as her well being came
*I don't think can deal - I don't think can deal (delete extra space)
"Immune to terror fog my ass," although, now I'm curious how he'll respond. Will he just try to ignore Fakechigo, realising the terror fog is messing with him, or will he actually try to fight back?
I'm worried that whoever is behind this is trying to get Ulquiorra to attack the illusion and try using his Lanza del Relámpago. One that would likely catch Ponyville within its blast radius...or Canterlot if thrown far enough.
Yeah, we really don't need that to happen.
...I dunno how it happened, but it seems that I must have accidentally clicked the 'downvote' button for this story, possibly while rereading one of the older chapters.
Naturally, I corrected my mistake by putting it back to 'upvote'.
horses can only breathe through their noses, because their nasal passages only connect to their lungs. Get your facts checked m9.
7092018
Ponies have been shown breathing through their mouths in the series. Just like Ulquiorra has been shown breathing after a strenuous engagement.
7092054 What I meant is that horses can breathe through both their mouths and their noses, but can't be fed through both.
7092078
Noted. However I didn't feel like having Ulquiorra threatening Celestia with delivery of the medicine via an enema system.
7092225 why not just threaten to shove the potion up her butt? her body will absorb the potion that way...
7092254
Because I wanted to go for shocking and brutal, not unintentionally funny.
7092678 oke. but he could otherwise just threaten to jab the bottle into her bloodstream...
Phew, I started reading this fic 3 weeks ago and I'm glad I finally catch up to it.
I must say you feed us an incredible story here. At first I expected to be like most of the crossover. Lots of comedic scenes brought with the differences of their respected world, which certainly occurred, follow by adventures brought by foes from one of or both world, also occurred. But what de-marked your story from the other was when all that messed up event with Rainbow Dash started. Adding the mystery with all that psychological malevolent atmosphere was genius. I will even go further to say it's Lovecraft style.
As for who the culprit his. For a long time I had a precise idea of who it is, but since the chapter where Doctor Thrush was kill and it was refereed it can take control of other ponies, someone else came in mind.
And if it's him, then the ponies are fucked. No wonder Discord doesn't want to get involved with him. Is the most diabolical evil twisted mess up bastard I ever seen.
Ho... ly... fuck.
...Also, How did Ulquiorra's slap hurt Celestia? I thought he couldn't do anything to physically harm her due to the difference in strength, or is it a matter of her emotional instability weakening the intensity of her reiatsu to the point he can physically harm her, despite her still possessing an overwhelming amount of reiryoku?
edit:Or is it just a case of divine might bestowed upon those who find themselves in dire need of the sacred power that is 'smack a bitch'cdn.meme.am/instances/500x/60147615.jpg
7161017
Following Bleach physics, Celestia was unfocused, an vulnerable to attack.
Following closer to real world physics, Ulquiorra slapped her hard.
Holy fucking hell this is just awesome
7092018
He's saying regardless of real horses physiology the ponies IN THE SHOW can breathe through their mouth my guy this is fiction not your 4th grade bio class.
11234254
Either way, the real question is whether or not Ulquiorra was actually aware of that fact when he made the threat? Did he know that aspect of pony physiology differed from earth horse physiology? Or was he banking on there not being a difference, in order to scare Celestia by informing her he'd basically drown her if she didn't cooperate with his demands?