//------------------------------// // Episode 33: Infiltration and Initiation // Story: Equestria Girls: Friendship Souls // by thatguyvex //------------------------------// Episode 33: Infiltration and Initiation The thin fold out cot might not have been the most comfortable thing Princess Twilight Sparkle had ever slept on, but when she was in full ‘research mode’ she tended to work herself to such a state of exhaustion that she could plop down on a bed of rocks and still sleep like a proverbial log. It still felt weird to sleep like a human, however. She could never quite find a good way to situate her limbs in this form, and always woke up with the weirdest aches. Part of her wanted to conduct a longer, more in-depth study of humanity, from its diverse culture to its intriguing biology, but she knew she couldn’t stay in the human world for too long. Her duties in Equestria wouldn’t wait forever, and she was just here to ensure the portal would be safely guarded against attack from this side by any hostile beings that might try to force their way through. As always, she was just a temporary visitor to this strange land, no matter how much certain parts of her wanted to remain longer. And is it just scientific curiosity that’d make you want to stick around a bit longer? The thought hung in her half-awake mind for an uncomfortable moment, bringing with it a stray mental image of Flash Sentry. Shaking her head with a groan she forced the thought away. That was a barrel of apples she didn’t need to dive into right now, especially in light of recent revelations. She and Flash, whatever they were or weren’t, would have to be shelved until things had calmed down in this world and they had some time to sort things out. Nice excuse, Twilight. Way to dodge the issue. She frowned at herself, getting the distinct feeling that the cynical and self depricating mental remarks might be signs that the stress was starting to get to her. The sooner she got the portal sorted out, the better. Espcieally given that- “Hey you awake yet!?” “GAH!” Twilight yelled, flinging herself out of bed as a blue, grinning face appeared over her. Laying on her back on the floor, Twilight looked up at Sonata Dusk, who stood over her cot with an energized smile, fully dressed, with a knapsack slung over her back. The siren girl and her sister Aria had arrived yesterday, wanting to return to Equestria, but Twilight hadn’t had the portal ready yet to take travelers. The wards she’d built into the portal needed time to deactivate and then recharge before anyone could travel through, and Twilight wanted to perform at least one more test for safety reasons before she let actual living people cross. As such Sonata and Aria had stayed the night at the school, where Twilight had also slept in an unused office that had been given over to her as a guest room. Of course Twilight hadn’t locked the door, because who does that? Apparently people who don’t want overeager sirens appearing to hover over their sleeping cot, first thing in the morning. “S-Sonata! Don’t just sneak into my room like that!” Twilight said, slowly clambering to her feet and brushing herself off. She eyed the siren girl up and down, still freshly remembering that not so long ago this young lady had tried to hurt her and her friends. Yet even more recently Twilight had taken an even larger leap of faith in forgiving another individual who had been an enemy, and seeking to help that former foe find the road to redemption. If she could accept Starlight Glimmer as a friend, after the debacle with the time spell that could have literally destroyed the world, then Twilight could accept the sirens. Besides, Sonata didn’t seem remotely malicious, and had clearly suffered quite a bit after the death of Adagio. Just thinking about that made Twilight feel chilled to the bone. Death wasn’t something she dealt with much at all in her life as the Princess of Friendship. Sonata had taken a brutal, personal loss, yet here she was smiling away. That was either emotional strength Twilight had a hard time imagining, or a sign of something being seriously off with the siren. “Well the door wasn’t locked and you said you could take me and Aria to Equestria first thing in the morning, aaaaaaaand,” Sonata pointed at the office desk where a digital clock showed in red numbers that it was just past one o’cock AM, “It’s morning! So, um, we can go now right?” Twilight rubbed the last vestiges of sleep from her face and took a deep, deep breath, “It’s one the morning Sonata! I just went to sleep three hours ago!” “Soooooo, that’s a no?” Sonata asked, lower lip quivering, eyes shining with tears as she held up her hands clasped together before her in a pleading gesture, “But the sooner we go to Equestria the sooner I can look for a way to help Dagie! Can’t we go now? Please?” Twilight tried and failed to suppressed a groan, running fingers through her mane (she still thought of it as a mane, no matter what Sunset said about human terminology). She did some mental calculations. Chances were the wards still needed at least another hour or two to finish recharging, but that was time enough to shower and get breakfast. She’d done more on less sleep in the past, and it was hard to say no to the look on Sonata’s hopeful face. “Okay, okay! Just... just give an hour to clean up and get breakfast and I’ll see if the portal is ready.” “YES! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!” Twilight was crushed briefly by a tight and powerful Sonata-grade hug before the siren girl went rushing off, probably to wake up her sister. Twilight was left shaking her head, partially in bewilderment, and partially to get the last cobwebs of sleep out of her head. She wondered blearily if Sunset was already in Soul Society or not, and how the rest of her friends were doing? ---------- They’d gotten what sleep they could, knowing that they’d be leaving in the middle of the night, and indeed it was barely a quarter past one o’clock when Discord summoned the girls back down into the training area. The time had come to begin their infiltration of Soul Society. “Okay Chappy,” Sunset said, still feeling a tad odd talking, technically, to herself, “Ground rules while I’m gone; no overeating, no screwing around with my wardrobe, and in case of emergency...?” She left the last bit as a test question for the attention span of the artificial soul that would be wearing her human body for however long she’d be in Soul Society. Chappy, with an almost too snappy salute for it to be serious, stood at attention and said, “In case of emergency I’m to do whatever Mr. Discord tells me to!” “Right...” Sunset paused, then added, “Within reason.” “Yes ma’am! I will totally not do anything dangerous while you’re gone, but do I have permission to have some fun?” Sunset raised a critical eyebrow, “Define fun.” Chappy’s eyes shone with eager light, “I’ll be going to school in your place, right, and I was thinking some of the sports stuff looked like fun. You mind if I join a few them?” Sunset blinked at the odd request, “Huh, I don’t know how long we’ll be gone, but... I guess its okay? Look, just join one alright? I still have to use that body and go to school when we get back, so I don’t want you overloading me with a bunch of after school stuff I can’t do.” “Sure sure! No problem! I’ll totally keep it under control boss!” said Chappy with a happy chirp, and Sunset got a sinking feeling that when she got back she’d have some damage control to do, but there was nothing for it. Chappy was the only gikon she had. She’d just have to trust the artificial soul not to go too wild with her body while she was gone. With heavy steps she went down into the training area, where she found her friends already waiting for her. Sunset paused, looking them over each in turn, her eyes blinking in surprise. “Wow, what’s with the shiny new get-ups?” Rarity let out an absolutely overjoyed giggle as she hopped to the front of the group and did a quick twilr to show off her outfit, “Aren’t they just marvelous? I began work on the basic designs before we started training, but was able to finish them in between rest breaks after we got back. Some of my finest work if I do say so myself.” “Yeah, if yer lookin’ ta break in ta makin’ costumes fer superhero flicks, maybe,” Applejack muttered, face flushed red as she shifted uncomfortably, “Although I guess its pretty comfy.” “Of course darling! I designed them for ease of movement and emphasis on style. They may be combat clothes but that hardly means we can’t look good while performing the nitty gritty task of doling out...” Rarity coughed politely and made air quotes with her fingers, “butt kickings.” The outfits in question continued to hold Sunset’s attention as she looked them over, at once impressed Rarity got them together so quickly, and perhaps a tad jealous she didn’t get one. Rarity herself wore a slimming dark violet blouse tucked into tight fitting black pants with knee high black boots with small heels. Her shoulders were bare, but she wore elbow length cloth gloves, and the entire ensemble carried rose red highlights and several stylized patterns in diamond shapes done in shining blue along the edges of the blouse. Finally a long flowing cape of deep purple edged in red hung from her back, not quite covering her bare shoulders, but trailing behind her elegantly. After a moment Sunset realized that the suit was meant to combine with Rarity’s blood dress, and that together they’d make a complete outfit. Rainbow Dash was clad in what could only be called a set of body hugging leathers not unlike what a racing biker might wear, only the leather was all dyed in a deep ocean blue with white stripes patterned like lightning across her arms and legs, with shorter but heftier boots. She also wore a mantle of blue trimmed in white around her shoulders. Finally she had a pair of finger-less dark blue gloves, with steel studded knuckles, and a familiar cloud and rainbow lightning bolt pattern was etched into the back of each glove. Pinkie Pie’s outfit had the overall look of a track suit colored the same dark neon pink of Pinkie’s hair, but trimmed with gold highlights along the cuffs and sides. She wore thick white gloves and boots, and a mantel similar to Rainbow Dash’s, but colored light pink to match the girl’s skin tone, but with the color brought out more by bands of gold trimming the mantle. Balloons, a favorite image Pinkie Pie loved to have on her clothes, marked the left breast of the track suit. Fluttershy wore a set of loose, baggy pants, a long sleeved shirt, and tight fitting vest, all of which looked like silk and were in varying shades of green. The outfit reminded Sunset of certain eastern martial arts films she’d seen, where the overlapping front of the vest was tied with gold thread and the entire outfit had faintly shimmering leaf-like designs etched along the neck of the vest, along with butterfly patterns. The shoes she wore also looked silk, or at least very light and thin leather, laced up with gold thread. Finally, Applejack had one a thick, red leather jacket, on the shoulders of which were tooled in images of apples. Under the open front of the jacket she had on a tight bodysuit of black with several stylized lines of orange along the sides and legs. She had brawny looking leather gloves, with metal backings. The outfit was completed with a thick brown leather belt with a silver buckle, tall brown work boots, and Applejack’s customary stetson sitting atop her blonde head. “You all look great,” said Sunset, crossing her arms and smiling wryly, “I’m a bit envious.” “Oh I didn’t forget you, darling,” said Rarity, “While I know you’ve got your Soul Reaper look, what with all the black, I thought I’d spice it up a bit with this!” Rarity reached into the fold of her blouse and pulled out a lustrous looking silk scarf. Its color was primarily red, but somehow Rarity had dyed it so the colors shifted into natural shades of orange and vibrant yellow towards the edges, like a trail of fire. Rarity went up to Sunset and handed it over. Sunset was amazed at the smooth softness of the scarf, and while she’d never really gone in for accessories, she didn’t hesitate in putting it on, wrapping around her neck and shoulders so that its twin ends flowed behind her like flickering flames. “It’s beautiful. Thank you.” “Not merely beautiful, these outfits all serve a practical purpose,” Rarity said, grinning mischievously with her blue eyes shining. “Mister Discord shared with me the secret of imbuing bits of reishi into clothing, and a particular set of treated fibers that when imbued have two interesting effects. One, these clothes will make it so our bodies will be able to survive prolonged exposure to a spirit realm. And two, these clothes work similarly to something the Quincy use to cloak themselves from normal sight. As long as we wear these, normal people won’t be able to see us. It should make dealing with unpleasant affairs in the real world a lot simpler.” “And we totally won’t use it to sneak in free movies at the theater,” Rainbow Dash said with a devilish wink. Pinkie Pie giggled, and Sunset smacked a hand to her forehead, “Right, let’s remember ot use our powers only for good. And maybe free movies. C’mon girls, we have a schedule to keep.” As a group the approached where Sunset could see Discord, Ditzy Doo, and Clover waiting for them. Ditzy was wearing her usual black tights and orange over-shirt, her hair tied back in a ponytail, while Discord was dressed as ever, though his hat still bore the scorch marks of their sparring match from earlier. Clover was in her Soul Reaper robes, Chishiki sheathed at her side. Between them was a tall stone rectangular archway that certainly hadn’t been in the training grounds before. Sunset looked it over, then said, “Is that what’s taking us to Soul Society?” Discord nodded, “It’s what will open a simulation of a Senkaimon gateway to a designated location that Ditzy Doo and I set up long ago so we could move to and from Soul Society without having to use the official Senkaimon gate that exists for sanctioned travel between the realms. Unfortunately without a Hell Butterfly to act as a guide, you’ll be forced to travel by foot through the Dongai, a sort of parallel pathway that isn’t nearly as safe as a Senkaimon pathway.” “Hell whatnow?” Applejack blurted in confusion. “Oh, they’re spirit constructs that act something like security passes for Senkaimon gateways,” said Clover, “With one guiding you the path through the gate is smooth and easy. Without one, any Senkaimon leads right into the Dongai, which is meant to trap any stray entities trying to enter Soul Society unwanted.” “Mmm, Dongai, sounds like a kind of yummy cake or bun to me,” said Pinkie Pie, then sighed, “Only its not.” “Let me guess, its gonna be filled with things that wanna kill us?” asked Applejack. “Only one thing,” said Clover with a nervous glance at the archway, “The Cleaner. Its sort of a garbage disposal that wipes out any stray energy that wanders into the Dongai. Its a natural security system for keeping out unwanted intruders, too.” “So, um, how do we deal with it?” asked Fluttershy. “We run really, really fast,” said Ditzy Doo, earning a wide flash of a grin from Rainbow Dash. “Works for me! Let’s do this!” “So all of you are prepared?” asked Discord, with a level of gravity and seriousness that seemed to make the air grow thicker. His eyes held a severe gleam to their yellow and red depths as he looked them each in the eyes. “This is the last chance any of you have to turn back. Once your in Soul Society, there won’t be a way to leave without using their own Senkaimon, which means you would have to have succeeded in freeing Celestia and Luna and brought the coming chaos to an end, one way or another.” “Seriously dude, chill. This is no different than when we went to kick in Grand Fisher’s teeth,” said Rainbow Dash. “Yes, but... when we did that, Adagio...” Fluttershy began, and a bit of Rainbow Dash’s bravado eased up. “Y-yeah, well, we just spent a whole bunch of time and effort getting way stronger than we were then, so this time we won’t lose anybody!” the young athlete said, her magenta eyes flashing, “I won’t let any of you go down!” “As strong as we may have become, we’ll need to use caution,” said Clover, “We should try to do this as covertly as possible.” “We’ll just have to get in there and see how it goes,” said Sunset, “But one things for sure, we’re not getting anywhere worrying about it. Discord, open the portal. We’re going.” “Very well then,” Discord said, tipping his hat to them all, and turning to the stone archway. Placing one hand on the grainy, gray surface a series of reishi particles flowed up the column of stone in flickering blue lines. Sunset could both feel and hear a buzz from the archway as the gray stone swiftly turned into a solid glowing arch of blue light. Streams of that blue light then filled the center space of the archway, transforming into a shimmering set of oriental paper sliding doors. Then those doors opened, revealing blinding white light. Ditzy Doo took the lead, stretching her limbs, “Okay girls, in we go! The second we enter, follow me, and run. Don’t stop for anything!” Without another word the girls all exchanged looks and affirming nods, then followed Ditzy Doo into the door of blinding light. For a moment Sunset couldn’t see anything other than pure white, then was almost as quickly dropped into deep, gloomy darkness. She could feel solid ground beneath her feet, but it took a second for her eyes to adjust to her surroundings. She was in what looked like a narrow corridor, but where the walls were made of a churning black smoke, thicker than any fog she’d ever seen. Sunset immediately got an intense sense of wrongness from those walls of cloying dark smoke, and her nose wrinkled, even through she could smell nothing. “What are you doing!? Run!” Ditzy Doo shouted from ahead of her, and Sunset saw all of her friends also momentarily dazed by their surroundings. Then the black smoke started to close in on them, tendrils of it reaching like oily fingers towards the girls, and as one they all broke into a full on sprint. “Ew! Ew! Ew! It’s chasing us!” Rarity shouted, impressing Sunset with just how fast her friend could run in heels as she overtook even Rainbow Dash, who was top of the track team. Sunset didn’t glance behind her, but she could feel the overbearing, smothering presence of those walls of unnatural black smoke behind her and her friends, like the whole corridor was collapsing. “Is that the Cleaner?” she shouted while running, sucking in breaths of air as she went. “Nope!” said Ditzy Doo, “Those are just the borders of the Dongai! Don’t get caught by them, or you’ll lose a chunk of yourself. The path is closing behind us because if we keep a gate like this open too long then Soul Society’s intrusion detectors will sense us coming. We can’t keep this thing open long. Just keep running!” For nearly a minute the girls ran, all in a tight group, following along behind Ditzy Doo’s dashing form. Behind them the darkness of the Dongai’s black smoke walls closed in behind them, dark tendrils reaching. “Hey, this ain’t so bad,” said Rainbow Dash, cracking a slight smile as she ran, “Just like a morning job to get the blood pumping!” Abruptly Pinkie Pie’s left eye twitched, followed by a tremor that ran down her right leg, forcing her to hop for a second before resuming a normal run, but the girl’s face was now pale with worry. “Uh-oh! That’s a bad one! Pinkie Sense says run faster!” “What? Why-” Rainbow Dash began to ask, turning to look behind them, and Sunset saw the girl’s eyes shoot wide as cup coasters. Sunset glanced too, and found herself blinking, trying to sort out what she was seeing. Something was looming through the black smoke, huge and difficult to define outside of a vague, solid mass that was darker than the Dongai’s walls. Yet this huge looming mass bore one bright point of baleful yellow light in its center as it moved through the fog towards them with the speed of an oncoming freight train. “The Cleaner!” Ditzy Doo shouted, “Move it girls! Pick up the damn pace!” Sunset wasn’t sure they could go much faster than they were running without using Flash Step, which would be hard in this confined space. All they could do was push themselves harder, rushing ahead faster as the huge, deadly shape of the ‘Cleaner’ pushed through the fog behind them like a pursuing tidal wave. Sunset didn’t want to risk looking over her shoulder any more, as doing so would unavoidably slow her down, but she felt like she had a giant target between her shoulder blades as she ran, feeling the deadly thing chasing them through this dark chasm. Sunset heard a gasp behind her, and risked a glance to see that Pinkie Pie had fallen a step behind. Dark tendrils from the collapsing corridor reached out, nearly touching the girl’s mantel. Pinkie Pie, sweat beading her forehead, pumped her arms in legs in a pink blurr to pick up the pace, but it seemed like the Cleaner surged ahead as well, closing the distance. “Pinkie!” Sunset shouted, but before she could react there was light from ahead, and she saw that there was a opening of shining light right before them. The exit! It’d come up on them without warning, and Sunset couldn’t so much as slow down before she and her friends, with the Cleaner seemingly right on top of them, piled through the doorway of light... ... and found themselves falling abruptly through clear, bright sky for about two seconds before smacking in a tangle of confused limbs on top of a grassy hill. Sunset, bruised and dazed, disentangled herself from her friends and sat up, “Pinkie Pie! Are you okay!?” “Uuughh... I think I threw up a little...” muttered the young party girl as she rolled onto her stomach, alive and intact. Sunset, however, could see something, no doubt the Cleaner, had taken a chunk out of Pinkie Pie’s mantel. Not like a physical bite, but more like a part of the cloth had simply stopped existing, in an even, semi-circular chunk. Rarity saw it and sighed, “Not even two seconds here, and already I’m having to pull out spares.” She produced another mantel identical to the one Pinkie had just gotten damaged and tossed it to the other girl. Sunset blinked at Rarity, “Uh, where are you hiding all that stuff?” Rarity just returned her look with a coy one of her own, holding up and wagging a slim finger, “A lady must keep some secrets, Sunset. Now, where are we?” “Right where we’re supposed to be,” said Ditzy Doo, the only one who’d landed on her feet. She was currently not looking at the girls, but instead gazing out from the slope of the hill, and after a few seconds Sunset and her friends all stood and joined her. The hill was at the very edge of what looked to Sunset like the single largest city she’d ever seen. Her mind tried to calculate the sheer size of the seemingly endless expanse of buildings she was witnessing, but her brain just sort of gave up after a minute. She knew there were cities in the human world that got big, like Tokyo or New York, but she had a feeling she was looking at something that might dwarf even those metropolis. What was more the architecture of the city was strange and diverse. Few buildings rose more than two or three stories, but there was a clear separation of styles into various districts that, after a moment of looking, Sunset realized spread out like slices of pie from a central point. Each district carried a distinctly different style, some buildings having the curved shingled roofs of an eastern style, while others held the brick and stone of European styles. Other districts had more modern construction, like slices of suburban living from numerous time periods, while other districts still looked older and simpler, from thatch roofed hovels to simple log cabins. It was like each part of the city was designed by peoples form all across the world, representing dozens of generalized time periods. Then there was the central area from which all this sprawled. It was like an ordered nucleus to the massive city it sat at the center of. A perfectly circular district of white stone buildings with orange tiled roofs and bright streets. White towers, block shaped in nature, rose from various points around what looked to be a huge stone plateau. Within that plateau huge fortress walls were carved, with more white towers, one building flowing into another. Even from this vast distance Sunset could still see the fortress clearly, which only gave weight to its massive, mountain-like size. “Welcome to Soul Society girls,” said Ditzy Doo, pointing at the distant fortress, “And say hello to our goal, the Seireitei.” ---------- This was Adagio’s first look inside the Arancar’s fortress, Las Noches. Grogar had given her the freedom to follow Ember wherever needed to enact “his” plan to have her infiltrate the ranks of the Hollows serving Torch, and so she found herself floating along behind Ember through bright lit corridors of polished white stone with so may turn offs and side passages that Adagio soon lost complete track of where she was. The halls echoed with a strange sense of emptiness, like the dusty cold of a hospital at night, or the streets of an abandoned town. “Where is everyone?” she asked, eyes suspiciously looking around as if expecting ambush, “I thought this was where all you Arrancar stay, but this place looks empty to me.” Ember gave Adagio a knowing smirk, “This outer layer is a maze meant to slow and confuse intruders. Not a lot of us hang out around here, and unless you know the way it’d be easy to get lost. And quit doing that.” Adagio, who’d been eyeing one of the side corridors with narrow eyes, gave a small start and said, “Doing what?” “Looking at everything like you’re expecting an ambush every other minute. You need to learn to relax. Showing fear is going to make half of dad’s horde look at you like a snack, and the other half dismiss you out of hand.” With a small grumble Adagio forced herself to stop trying to see everything around her and just follow Ember with a bit more confidence, but it was hard to maintain a steady stance. Her nerves were strung tighter than those on a fine tuned piano. She was all to aware of how dangerous and tenuous her position was. She was relying solely on Ember’s word for her safety among other Hollows that would, as Ember just made clear, see no issue with devouring Adagio at the smallest sign of weakness. After several more twists and turns Ember took Adagio to a final short corridor that led to a huge rectangular opening from which poured surprisingly bright light. As Adagio moved through it she was shocked to feel warm air on her face and the sight of blue sky above her. “What is this!?” she blurted, starring around her, “Did we leave the fortress somehow?” Ember guffawed, punching Adagio’s shoulder lightly, “Geeze, quit gawking. We’re still inside Las Noches.” Adagio couldn’t believe that. There were still white sands covering the ground, as if they were standing in the middle of a huge desert, yet above them was a dome of pure blue marked by streaks of white cloud. She could see towering white walls in a vast circle stretching to her left and right, from which even more walls lurched inward like spokes from the rim of a great wheel. Cylindrical towers, some in shining gold, others deep red, stood at random intervals around the sands, some taller than some skyscrapers she’d seen in human cities. At the center of the vast dome-like space was a towering central pillar, rising up from several pagoda-like structures of carved stone. This center tower went up and up, until Adagio could see it seem to touch the sky and... “Wait, that’s a ceiling?” she asked, starring at the huge tower as it seemed to meld into the blue of the sky in such a way that she could see the seams in what she now realized was a sky, but a massive domed roof. “Yup,” said Ember with amusement clearly chiming in her voice along with her half-grin, “Lord Tirek likes to remind everyone in his fortress just what kind of pleasant world has been denied us Hollows. Or at least that’s the rumor I hear for the artificial sky. I suppose it does keep this place from being a total bore. Now c’mon, we need to head to my dad’s slice of this pie, before we draw too much attention.” “Attention?” “The outer layer is pretty much abandoned, but in here, its kind of a free for all,” Ember said, starting to walk quickly towards the right, heading for one of the inner fortress walls, “Most the small fry are too smart to mess with me, but if they smell fresh blood like you, that might overcome their common sense. So shake that tail of yours and let’s move.” Adagio did exactly that, floating along quicker to keep up with the sudden swift pace Ember set. They crossed over towards the large interior wall that spread towards the center of the dome, passing several hundred yards of flat sands where Adagio still couldn’t see anyone or anything else about beside herself and Ember. At least until the three Arrancar appeared directly in their path, almost as if they’d been waiting there for them. “Hey, is that little Ember? What’re you doing dragging some scrub Hollow from outside into Las Noches?” said the lead Arrancar, a tall, broad shouldered young man whose Hollow mask remnants consisted of a bony ridge around his head and left eye. He had dark skin and a smooth cut head of beige hair that hung just above blue eyes. Beside him the other two Arranar with him put on looks that were equal parts malicious and hungry as they looked at Adagio, one of them, a orange skinned young man with busy brown hair and blue eyes, and a skeletal jawbone covering the right side of his jawline, said “She looks pretty meaty, too. Well fed. Bet she’s gonna be a tasty one.” The third Arrancar, a shorter, squat male with gray skin and thick dark hair that covered his eyes, with a bony fringe on either side of his cheekbones, just chuckled darkly, licking his lips. All three wore the same kind of baggy white and black clothing Adagio had seen Grogar and Ember wearing, and by now she assumed it was an aesthetic that all of this race shared. They also, like Ember, each bore a sword sheathed either at their hip or across their back. Upon seeing the three, Ember sighed heavily and rolled her eyes, “Right, if it isn’t the three-stooges act of Dumbbell, Hoops, and Score. Do you guys ever get tired of being living, breathing stereotypes? Does the idea of having an original thought really scare you three that much?” The three male Arrancar exchanged looks, the lead one, Dumbbell Adagio guessed, snarled, “I don’t know, do you ever get tired of running that mouth of yours? Just because your old man is an Espada you sure like to act like you’re untouchable, Ember, but we all know Lord Tirek’s law doesn’t protect the weak.” Adagio noticed Ember’s stance shift slightly, her feet spreading a bit as her hand drew close to her sword, “Yeah, makes me wonder how you three have survived this long.” The orange skinned Arrancar, Hoops, elbowed Dumbbell, chuckling, “Dude, she’s just posturing. Let’s jump her and grab the piece of meat over there already.” Adagio found herself floating forward, emitting a loud growl from the very base of her throat, “This ‘piece of meat’ has a name, imbeciles! I am Adagio Dazzle, and the only way you’re touching me is if I’m strangling your blustering throats!” This caused all three of them to blink at her, then the male Arrancars all started to laugh uproariously. “Oh wow, man, she’s got a lot of spunk for a flying fish! Hahah!” “Heheh, I can’t take it, look at her, she’s like an angry little goldfish. What’re you gonna do, goldfish? Blow bubbles at me?” “Hey, do you think Ember sneaked her in here for a snack herself, or was she looking for another kind of fun?” Ember, teeth grinding, drew her sword with a loud metallic ring, which caused the three male Arrancar to stop laughing an all take up defensive positions, hands on their own sword hilts. “Look, boys, I don’t have time to play with you three, but if you’re going to be stupid about this, try to remember that I can take all three of you by myself,” Ember said, and Adagio felt the heated increase of pressure in the air as Ember’s reiatsu shot up. The girl’s body became wreathed in smokey red light, and her blue hair seemed to dance in a sudden wind. “Do you really want to do this dance with me?” Again the three males exchanged looks, and Dumbbell snorted, drawing his own sword, a sharp yellow aura surrounding him as his own spirit energy rose, “Whatever, Ember. You might be strong, but you’ve never fought us three on one, and much as the morsel there might try to puff herself up and bark, she’s no threat. So how about you make this easy on yourself and walk away. Your old man feeds you plenty, and you don’t need the food...” Adagio heard a hint of desperation in Dumbbell’s voice there, and the looks on the three faces of the males suddenly went from simple mindless aggression to a much deeper, painful hunger. They’re starving... Adagio realized, not exactly sympathetic per se, but knowing the feeling of hunger all too well and how it affected one’s mental state. It struck her it might have been awhile since any of these three actually ate, and it might be driving them to be more aggressive than they’d normally be. And she was basically a walking steak dinner. They wouldn’t back down, even if Ember was stronger than any of them. If Ember knew or cared about any of that she certainly didn’t show it as she pointed her blade at the three, “Last warning, boys. Out of the way, or this gets ugly.” They hesitated only for a moment, then all three drew their own swords and moved as one, with flickering speed that took Adagio by surprise. They came in at Ember from three different angles, blades slashing viciously. Ember moved like a branch bending in a storm’s wind, snapping left and right and batting aside their attacks in bursting clashes of orange sparks. The impact rang loudly in the air, and in an instant Ember counterattacked, kicking out hard with her right leg, smashing Hoops in the gut and sending him flying, while forcing Score back with a hard slash that forced him skidding back a dozen yards. Only Dumbbell hung close, slashing hard, forcing Ember to block with her free left arm. Her arm, hardened by an Arrancar’s iron skin, took the blow without taking more than a scratch, but it was still a scratch that bled as she jumped back from Dumbbell and growled. “Wrong choice, dumbass.” “What do you expect when you parade a freakin’ feast in front of us? Of course we’re gonna want to take a bite!” Dumbbell held out a hand, a destructive glow of yellow light appearing in his palm. Ember responded by lowering her head, the bone-white horns jutting forward from her head starting to glow as a crimson orb of power formed between the tips. The air grew thick with spiritual energy, then both Arrancar discharged their Cero’s simultaneously. Gold and crimson light intermingled in a destructive dance. The ground shook at the impact of the two potent blasts, but it was the red light that managed to overwhelm the gold, shards of red force blasting past to impact near Dumbbell. He crossed his arms, deflecting some of the blow, but it distracted him long enough for Ember to appear from the wall of dust thrown up by the explosion and rush in behind him. He turned, but would clearly be too slow to defend himself, and Ember’s blade chopped in. However it was intercepted by the swords of both Hoops and Score, who had recovered and rushed in to defend their comrade, parrying Ember’s attack together. Ember was forced back a step, which was enough opening for Dumbbell to turn and join his allies in unleashing a brutal and swift combination of attacks upon her, forcing the female Arrancar back even further. The air screamed with the hard clash of steel as Ember struggled to keep all three of her foes at bay, her red eyes narrow in concentration. As for the three males, they were so focused upon Ember, and so contemptuous of any threat Adagio might have posed, that they hadn’t even glanced her way since the fight started. Their mistake. Adagio had no illusions to being an honorable or fair fighter. Stabbing people in the back suited her just fine, especially if they were foolish enough to make the offer so tempting. Fast as the four battling Arrancar were, Adagio’s reflexes weren’t sub-par by any means, and having been forced to fight dozens upon dozens of Hollows in Grogar’s arena had sharpened her skills to a fine edge. She floated quickly and silently up behind the three male Arrancar, and with no hesitation tore her talons down Hoops’ back while at the same time used her tail to wrap it tightly around Score’s neck. Iron skin or not, Adagio’s physical strength had been increased by Grogar’s experiments as much as her speed, and Hoops’ back gained lines of bloody cuts from her talons. The wounds, while not crippling, were incredibly painful and Hoops screamed, dropping his sword and reaching for his torn, bloody back as he fell to the sands. Meanwhile Score made a choking sound as Adagio’s tail began to constrict like that of a snake’s around his throat. He raised his sword to try to stab at her, but Adagio gripped his arm with both of hers and while he might’ve been stronger than her pound for pound, she had leverage now and she yanked his sword arm behind his back at a painful angle. In seconds Score fell to his knees, making gurgling sounds as he tried to break past a constricted windpipe, while Hoops kept writhing on the ground. Dumbbell, abruptly losing the support of both his allies, was, well... dumbstruck, and dropped his guard. Ember took full advantage, delivering a crushing blow with her left fist into his sternum, and then with a savage strike with her sword she cut into his shoulder. The blow forced him to drop his sword and howl in pain, falling onto his back. He made to dive for his sword but Ember kicked him in the gut hard, the impact accompanied by the sound of breaking ribs. Dumbbell growled in pain, but still tried to reach his sword, grasping it, until Ember then shoved her sword into his hand, eliciting a howl of pain. “Don’t be an idiot. Even if you released your Resurreccion, I’d just release mine too,” growled Ember, withdrawing her sword and looming over Dumbbell, who held his wounded hand close to his chest, his sword forgotten. Adagio did raise an eyebrow at that comment, however. Resurreccion? What was that? Regardless, just like that, the fight seemed over. Hoops started to recover, but saw his allies were down, and upon seeing the molten anger in Ember’s eyes, he wisely remained down. Ember, keeping her sword drawn and pointed at Dumbbell, flicked a glance at Adagio, “Nice. Very nice. you’re going to fit in just fine with dad’s horde.” Dumbbell, face pained and filled with bitterness, glared between Ember and Adagio, “You going to kill us or what? This is freakin’ humiliating enough, so just get it over with quick, dammit!” Adagio, a tad surprised, glanced at Score, who she was still basically strangling. The short Arrancar was quickly losing strength, unable to even claw against her tail anymore. He’d probably be dead in another minute. Adagio vaguely wondered what happened to Hollows killed like this? Did they just fade away to nothing? A spark of hunger flared in her, seeing the helplessness of her prey. Predatory instincts rushed with heated feelings, telling her to tear and feast... but she was not a slave to instinct! She refused to be shackled by anything so base. With a growl she tossed aside the near unconscious Score, and glared at Dumbbell. She loomed over him and said, “Do you remember my name, now?” He blinked at her, seemingly confused, then slowly said, “Y-you said it was... uh... Adagio, err... right?” “Adagio Dazzle,” she said firmly, baring her fangs,”Remember the name. I am no one’s piece of meat. No one’s servant. No one’s anything! Do not forget this.” Dumbbell looked ready to argue, or say something unpleasant, but Ember’s blade resting next to his throat made him think twice and he grudgingly nodded, “I hear ya.” Adagio was not a fool. She knew these three might be trouble in the future, but she already had a plan forming in her head for dealing with that. She wasn’t some muscle headed brute he needed to always rely on force, and these three might prove useful in the future. Now that she’d shown the iron, it was time to slip on the velvet glove, so to speak. “Now, you three are near starving, aren’t you?” she asked, making her voice soften, almost sympathetic. Ember raised an eyebrow, but Adagio gave her a look that she hoped communicated ‘don’t worry, I got this’. Dumbbell and his friends exchanged confused looks, Score only just now catching his breath and Hoops wincing past the pain in his back. “Uh...yeah, that’s why we attacked. We wanted to eat you. Err, not that we’ll try that again...” “Oh, I know you boys won’t,” Adagio said, her voice turning to just enough honey to sound sweet while not losing its hard edge, “Because if you do as I say, I’ll get you something to eat.” That got exactly the reaction she expected. Suspicious but hopeful. She could see it in all three Arrancar boy’s eyes. They didn’t trust her, but they were so hungry the mere mention of the possibility of food was enough to make their mouths water. “H-how are you gonna do that? There’s no good hunting that isn’t staked out by other hordes...” Dumbbell said, voice bitter, “If you ain’t part of a horde, you’re stuck picking up scraps. What, you think Torch will let you take us to his hunting grounds? Bullshit, he’s not that nice.” “He’s right,” said Ember, “Even if you get in good with my old man, he’d never let these scrubs feed on our hunting grounds. These guys are pariahs. They don’t serve any Espada lord because no one wants them. You get a few dozen losers like this haunting Las Noches, looking to snatch up table scraps or feed on the stray Hollow that lets their guard down.” “I suspected as much,” said Adagio, licking her lips, “But not to worry, I believe I have a solution. You see, Lord Grogar, he doesn’t care what I do with the Hollows he has me fight daily. Half of them I don’t even eat. So instead I’ll bring the leftovers from my time in Grogar’s arena to our little meeting place, Ember. You can direct these... boys, there. You can eat your fill there, as long as you make yourselves useful.” “Wait, you work for Grogar?” asked Dumbbell, and Score shivered. “That guy’s is serious bad news.” Adagio shrugged, turning as if to float away, “Well, if you don’t want the food.” “No!” Dumbbell reached out for her, then gulped and held back, “I mean, uh, y-yeah, maybe we can work out a deal. Just, uh, what do you want us to do for this food?” Adagio smiled sweetly. Hook, line, sinker. “Oh, I’m sure I’ll think of something.” Afterwards, when Dumbbell, Score, and Hoops had scurried off to whatever corner of Las Noches they holed up in, Adagio let out a large breath, steadying herself. That had been an exceedingly lucky break. It was only because those three had ignored her as a non-threat that she’d been able to get in behind them and make such an effective sneak attack. Hoops hadn’t actually been that badly wounded by her talons, and Score had only been defeated due to her managing to get her tail around his neck at the right moment. Either one of them, had they been able to fight back and strike at her, may well have had the power to kill her in one or two blows. The same counted for Dumbbell, if not for the fact that Ember had been able to take advantage of his momentary surprise. Ember slapped Adagio’s back, laughing, “Damn girl, you’ve got more spine than I gave you credit for. You didn’t have to jump into that fight, you know? I mean, I had those losers, but...” she coughed, glancing away, and Adagio thought perhaps she saw a coloring of faint rose on the Arrancar’s cheeks, “Thanks for the help.” “Of course. We’re allies, are we not?” said Adagio, “Besides I couldn’t stand them ignoring me like that. I’m not one to dismiss so easily.” “I’m seeing that. You’ll make for one hell of an Arrancar once we get you there.” Ember tapped her hip and looked at Adagio curiously, “Why did you offer them that deal, though? Could of offed them and not had to deal with their guff. Be a way easier way to avoid a future headache.” Adagio managed a small, knowing smile, “Kill a barking dog and he’ll never bother you again, true. Feed a barking dog, and you gain their loyalty.” “Huh... what are you going to do with the loyalty of a trio of losers?” Adagio shrugged in response to that, “I don’t plan on being on the bottom of this totem pole forever, Ember. They might be useful in the future.” Now that the scuffle was over it seemed a good chance to ask about that strange phrase she’d heard. “Anyway, Ember, what was that word you said back there? Resurreccion?” Ember blinked, then snickered, “Right, you wouldn’t know.” She held up her sword, giving it a few flourishes, “Every Arrancar, when we evolve into what we are, end up creating a Zanpaktou as part of the evolution.” “Like the Soul Reapers have?” A sharp grimace of distaste crossed Ember’s face, “No. We call them Zanpaktou because they bear a resemblance to the Soul Reaper weapons, but ours function differently. An Arrancar’s Zanpaktou... hmm, ugh I’m no good at this technical stuff. Think of it like a well. Yeah, a well that contains the core of our power. Its like how we Hollows get stronger from consuming others, our Zanpaktou act like a big storage well for containing a huge chunk of extra power that’s added on top of our base power. We can release that power whenever we want by calling our Zanpaktou’s name. When we do that...” She made an explosive gesture with her hand and said, “Boom. Resurreccion. We transform into a more powerful state and start kicking serious ass.” “Hmm...” Adagio hummed thoughtfully, “Any drawbacks to this transformed state?” “Not really, other than it burns up power pretty quick. I mean, we can stay in that transformed state for awhile, but you’ll tire out faster than if you kept your Zanpaktou sealed.” “So why didn’t those three back there transform the moment they decided to attack? Wouldn’t that have made the fight easier for them?” Adagio asked. Ember chuckled dryly, “Because they didn’t want to die. If they released their Zanpaktou this close to my dad’s territory then half the horde would’ve felt it and interpreted it as an attack on our turf. By keeping their power down, they hoped to get me quick, snatch you, and be gone before anyone from the horde felt it. Simple gamble, and they lost.” With that the conversation petered out and they found themselves moving along the edge of the interior wall they’d been heading for. Ember led them through a gate halfway down the wall, a giant steel door that led to a causeway through the wall to the desert on the other side. Adagio frowned as she immediately noticed that this slice of the desert inside Las Noches was different than the relatively empty space she and Ember just left. Here, there were a number of massive tent cloths strung up around a single dark pillar of stone that rose about as high as the interior walls. Adagio could see fire pits glowing inside the open tent spaces, and actual clusters of Arrancar hanging out around the fires, dozens of them. Some fought and play wrestled with each other as their fellows looked on and laughed, while others seemed to drink some frothy liquid from clay mugs, the scent of alcohol so strong that Adagio could smell it from a hundred meters away. Ember and Adagio were noticed well before thy got to the tents, and more than a few Arrancar bellowed greetings to her, seemingly familiar with Ember. Adagio tried to keep her head held high, remembering what she’d been told by Ember. Indeed, more than a few of the Arrancar around these tents eyed her with hungry eyes, while many others were dangerously curious. Ember made quick waves and greetings to those that called to her, but pressed through the crowd and ignored offers to come drink or spar. She led Adagio right towards the center stone pillar from which the tents all clung to, and there Adagio could see a vast fire pit, larger than all the others, burning around what could only be described as a makeshift court cared out of stone slabs torn from the pillar to form a set of seats around the fire. A number of Arrancar sat here as well, feasting. Bits of lesser Hollows were strung out like racks of meat, and the Arrancar ate like old world barbarians with spits of roast over their fires. Presiding over this scene was a man seated on a throne carved from the black stone of the pillar. The throne was massive and made all of hard angles, with a back shaped like a pair of upturned leathery wings. The arms of the throne were carved into the shapes of snarling dragon heads, and the base like the coiled tail of the same kind of draconic beasts. The man himself was a giant, easily topping twenty feet tall, with deep sapphire blue skin pulled taut over rippling muscles that looked as if someone had bound together multiple tree trunks and decided to call them legs and arms. The man wore fine jewelry over meaty fingers, bands of gold rings and bracelets dangling precious gems. His bare feet bore gold anklets, and his massive neck a shining gold torc encrusted with gems. His chest, thick and so heavily muscled Adagio imagined cannonballs would bounce off his pecs, was clad only in a single huge white vest that matched the torn white pants he wore. A crown of black metal studded with rubies upon its three spikes rose from his head, which was topped by a wild expanse of dark blue hair. His face was as chiseled and blocky as it was menacing, with gleaming yellow eyes that stared down at Ember and Adagio as they approached. Adagio took note of the giant tattooed number five etched onto the man’s chest, right above his heart, and the cavernous Hollow hole in his stomach. The moment this monolith of a man saw Ember his craggy features broke out into a beaming grin and he bellowed, “HA! There you are daughter! Welcome back!” He literally jumped off his throne and smashed into the ground right in front of Ember and Adagio like a boulder. Ember barely had a split second to raise her hands and shout half a protest before she was scooped up like a child and pulled into a crushing bear hug. “Ugh, daaaad! Stop it! Put me down!” “Not a chance, now quit yer squirming and sit on my shoulder a spell,” said the huge man, clearly Lord Torch, the Fifth Espada, as he placed his daughter on his shoulder like someone might with a pet bird. Ember sat there on her father’s massive shoulder with an embarrassed and grudging look, arms cross over her breasts and glowering, to which Torch only grinned wider before turning his gaze towards Adagio. That gaze held the weight of mountains behind it, and Adagio suddenly felt very, very tiny. However, recalling Ember’s words, she held her chin high and met Lord Torch’s gaze with a steady one of her own. It felt like trying to stare down a volcano. She could feel the other Arrancar of Torch’s horde pressing in around her in an eager circle, like hounds scenting blood, and Adagio felt with chilling certainty that she was being measured, and if she failed to measure up then with a single snap of his fingers Torch could set his people upon her like starving wolves on a lone lamb. Everything had gone deadly silent. Even Ember didn’t make a sound, her eyes gazing steadily at Adagio with the clear expression that said ‘I got you here, the rest is up to you.’ Adagio stiffened her spine and steadied her breathing. She could do this. She had to. With a slow grumble like the rumble of a distant earthquake Torch rubbed his chin with one pair of meaty fingers and leaned forward just a tad. As he did so, his shadow falling over Adagio, she felt his spiritual pressure rise. It wasn’t like she sensed it so much as had it shoved its way past her brain like a sledgehammer made out of searing magma. She suddenly couldn’t breathe, the air was so thick with hazy, blazing hot spirit energy that crushed down on her with the force of a dropping meteor. He wasn’t touching her. This was just the sheer weight of the Fifth Espada’s spirit energy, his aura, smothering her and crushing Adagio down like the press of a hundred ton anvil. She felt like every inch of her was trying to turn to dust, her bones creaking under the unrelenting spiritual force of Torch’s reiatsu. Her lungs burned for air, and her eyes watered. For a moment it seemed like her entire essence might shatter under the weight it was being put under. And if she let it, it would. So Adagio fought back. With images of her sisters burning in her mind, she snarled fiercely and pushed back with her own spirit energy. Her Hollow reiryoku surged, like a pebble against a waterfall, but it did push back. Like a rubber band stretched taut she felt like she might snap at any second, but she knew that now that she had chosen to fight back, to falter now meant oblivion. Teeth grinding so hard she could feel her gums bleed, Adagio let out a deep throated roar and pushed as hard as she could against the reitasu trying to crush her down, and her body for a moment glowed with a flowing saffron hue. Then as abruptly as the crushing spirit force had appeared, it vanished, leaving Adagio feeling light as air, and breathing heavily as sweat poured down her face. Gasping for breath, she heard Torch let out a bellowing laugh that echoed across the horde tents, and she looked up to see him grinning, showing huge canines. “Not bad! Hah! Not bad at all! For a little Adjuchas you’ve got some spunk to you. I see my little Ember chose well for a prospective recruit.” “So does that mean I’ve passed this blasted test?” Adagio asked, feeling a tad cheeky. Torch’s grin turned positively savage as he reached behind his back, and pulled from a strap back there a dark edged battle axe with two crescent heads that he slammed down in front of him, its blade just inches form Adagio’s face. She gulped. “Don’t get cute, little one. Ain’t a lot of small fry like you that can withstand my spiritual pressure and not turn to ash from the weight of it alone. So I’m acknowledging you got potential. Potential I might want to add to my horde, if you prove yourself against the Quincy. But don’t ever forget, in my horde you’re never done proving your strength. Strength is all that matters.” “She don’t look so strong to me,” said a judging, male voice from the sidelines, and Adagio turned her head to see a young male Arrancar starring at her with unfriendly yellow eyes. He had a shock of red hair in a spiked pattern down his back, like a mowhawk, and dusky skin peppered with bits of what looked like red scales. His arms were crossed over a broad chest bound in a tight white vest, and the Zanpaktou sheathed at his hip was broad and curved; a falchion. “In fact she looks like a total weakling. Look at her, she’s sweating.” Ember issued out a sharp growl and snapped a glare towards the man, “Shut your gob, Garble. She stood up to dad’s spirit energy. She also helped take down three Arrancar that jumped us on the way here. She’s solid, and if you got a problem with that, you got a problem with me.” Garble glanced up, “Yeah, whatever. We’ll see how well she does when there’s an actual fight to be had.” Ember continued to glare but Torch pounded his axe into the ground again, “Enough. Garble’s not wrong. Your little playmate here has to show what she’s got to the whole horde. I can see the blood on her claws, and if she helped you take on a few weakling pariahs on the way here, that’s impressive, but it doesn’t count until we see her in action ourselves. Now then, what do you call yourself, tiny one?” “Adagio Dazzle,” she replied, having caught her breath and finding herself able to raise her head again. “Adagio, eh? Well then, you ready to help strike a blow against them Quincy bastards?” She took a deeper breath, forcing away her trepidation, reminding herself she had only one path forward. “I am.” “Good!” Torch bellowed again, slapping his axe over the shoulder opposite the one Ember sat on, “I’ll be looking forward ot seeing what you can do. Soon we will strike at the very heart of the Quincy. For now, I welcome you to my horde!” He gestured towards the tents with their many fire pits and the banquet of Hollows to feast upon. “So eat, drink, and rest yourself for the battle to come!” ---------- She’d done nothing but train since an hour before dawn much earlier that day. Twilight was given no special treatment or time to brush up on what the other Quincy trainees had already learned; she was just expected to keep up, or wash out. Her only consolation through the grueling hours of training was that she’d gotten word via a brief visit from Shining Armor that Lemon Zest was recovering from her injury at the Silbern’s medical ward. Quincy medicine was nothing to sneeze at and Lemon Zest was expected to return to the Academy in about a week’s time. Twilight did want to go visit, if only to apologize for what happened, but she was given no such time. Spitfire and the other trainers at the Academy, most of all Lightning Dust, set a grueling pace. Target practice consisted of live fire exercises while dealing with any number of “mock” opponents, almost all of whom had lethal force to send back at the Quincy trainees. First it was specially trained human soldiers who, while not Quincy themselves, were loyal to the Quincy cause and had access to every modern weapon available to humanity. Battling human special forces soldiers with fully automatic weapons and armored vehicles was just the Quincy Academy’s idea of a morning warm up exercise. Its main purpose was to teach speed, reflexes, and hone combat instincts, as use of Blut Vene and Hirenkyaku were essential to evade and survive gunfire. It also taught fine control of one’s Quincy reishi, ensuring arrows could be fired quickly and accurately, but most importantly with the controlled level of power needed to defeat the human targets without lethal force. Twilight still shivered at several near misses while she’d fought to keep her abilities controlled, while keeping pace with her squad. All the trainees were broken into groups of six, and Twilight wondered if it was coincidence or intent that she’d been paired with the girls she’d been placed with during the Friendship Games. Minus Lemon Zest, of course, whose place in the squad was replaced by a girl Twilight was not very familiar with. “Wow, um, Twilight wasn’t it? Hm, could you maybe try to aim a little less towards me when you’re firing your bow? I don’t want to end up like Lemon Zest, m’kay?” said Suri Polomare as she held up a finger and slightly tipped Twilight’s bow a few degrees to left. “Oh! Um, s-sorry,” Twilight said, quietly, as she and the rest of the girls were all crouched, hidden on branches in a tree as they watched a nearby field between the lines of thick trees. “Shhh!” said Indigo Zapp, finger on her lips as she glared at both Twilight and Suri, “Keep it down idiots! You’re gonna give our position away.” Suri sighed, tossing her head of purple, bunned up hair, settling back against the tree trunk. Her pink skin stood out starkly against the dark bark and the white of her Quincy uniform, and she had a perpetually irritated air. “Yeah, because you’re being soooo quiet, Zapp. The Hollows haven’t even been released from the pens yet, m’kay? The exercise doesn’t start for another five minutes.” That was the task of the afternoon, Hollow hunting. After the exercise against humans as a warm up, the Quincy were now moving to training against the Quincy’s true enemy, the Hollows. The Quincy kept pens of captured Hollows for the expressed purpose of training Academy recruits. Spitfire had briefed them on the training exercise half an hour ago. They were to enter a specified training area in the forest, and take time to find ambush points as they saw fit. Each team of trainees was to be scored on how many Hollows they killed within an hour time limit, which began once the Hollows were released into the training zone. The instructors would be observing from afar, scoring each team not only on kills, but on efficiency, teamwork, use of Quincy powers, and any number of other factors they deemed important. They also wouldn’t be interfering if any team or individual got in trouble. It was sink or swim, do or die. Real battle wouldn’t have do overs, so neither did the Quincy Academy’s intense training. Twilight gulped, sweat dotting her brow. While facing humans with guns had been frightening in its own way, she’d found that with even her less than refined high speed movement it wasn’t too hard to avoid being hit against people with regular reflexes. Granted she hadn’t hit any humans either, too afraid of a repeat of the accident with Lemon Zest, and had let her team do all the take downs against the human troops... but against Hollows? She could afford to take some risks, there, at least. Still, I wish I had more time to learn how to control my powers. I don’t want to hurt anyone. I don’t want to see anyone get hurt. She took a deep breath, trying to steady her mind. She had to tackle this calmly and with a analytical mind. If she let her emotions get the better of her... Her thoughts were broken by the distinct howl of Hollow, a haunting sound that seemed to cut across the forest like a lonely, chill wind. Twilight stirred, and the girls around her all readied their bows. Sour Sweet, a few branches down, shifted as she steadied the aim of her "bow", which looked more like a large crossbow with a long stock and a mounted scope. Her yellow skin clashed against the greenery of forest, and she kept her dark pink and teal striped head of hair tied back in a long ponytail. “Do try to not get killed anyone...” Sour Sweet said, then breathed as an aside, “...of course if you do that just means more points for me.” “We’re on a team, deary,” said Sunny Flare, smirking as she glanced sidelong at Sour Sweet, “We’re being scored as one. Try to remember that.” As she spoke the young lady gave a small flourishing twirl to her own weapons, which looked to Twilight like a pair of silver plated dart guns, although she knew from seeing them in action that they fired small, rapid fire Quincy bolts. Aside from the girls primp and proper straight, and short cut purple and light pink striped hair she had a remarkably similar look to Rainbow Dash, with the same sky blue skin and near magenta eyes. “Everyone quiet,” said Sugarcoat with narrowed eyes, her own plain, pearl white and compact bow already blazing with a blue reishi string and intense, spike shaped arrow, “They’re coming.” They all went still and quiet as blades of grass in a graveyard, for indeed the Hollows were coming. Twilight could see them through the few open areas in the treeline, like living shadows flickering through the forest gloom. Dozens, maybe hundreds. In the distance she heard the howls rise like a tide, and felt the spiking spiritual pressures as other teams of Quincy trainees started to engage the Hollows from their own hiding places. There was no specific signal among the girls, only a mutual nod between them and an understanding when it was time to fire. Twilight tried to match her timing to theirs, but was a shade behind when they all let their first volley of arrows loose. The blazing blue bolts of reishi slammed into the first Hollows that had emerged into the clearing of tall grass, and just like that the ambush was over and the battle for survival had begun.