A/N: MLP:FiM is property of Hasbro.
Bleach is property of Viz Media.
Kagehime is an original Zanpakuto by Leo Archon.
Through The Eyes Of Another Pony is owned by CardsLafter.
Any song material is property of their respective owners.
---
I can't stand idly.
No, I can't move at all.
I curse the name, the one behind it all.
Chapter 24: Everything is Not What It Seems
---
The bright light lifted and Rainbow Dash could safely open her eyes again. She was surprised, however, to find herself on one of the mountain ranges rather than in the castle grounds. She no longer had Zangetsu in her grasp. Instead, the spirit of Zangetsu was standing on a slightly higher incline than her current position. His unreadable expression was only harder to read behind his tan sunglasses and his dark maroon jacket.
“Zangetsu?” questioned Rainbow Dash, “Where are we?”
“We are on the mountainside opposite of Canterlot City,” answered the old man, “It’s an appropriate spot for us to begin your Bankai training.”
“All right,” nodded Dash firmly, “Bring it on!”
Zangetsu raised his hand open to the sky. In a flurry of clangs, several objects of different shapes crashed and inserted themselves into the mountainside. Upon closer inspection, one could tell that each of these objects was actually a uniquely shaped sword. Some looked better suited for cutting while others just had decorative designs. In any case, there was no telling how many of these swords there really were. Zangetsu lowered his hand onto the closest weapon to him.
“Your test is this,” he stated in his clear, deep voice, “Among these swords you must find the real me. Then, you must use it to defeat me and make me submit.”
“I… have to cut you down?” asked Rainbow Dash. She wasn’t sure her loyalty allowed for her to fight someone she considered an ally.
“Yes, because if you don’t,” started Zangetsu as he leaped down and swung the blade in his hand at the Pegasus. She quickly avoided the lash by flying out of the way.
“I will kill you,” he finished. Uncertainty in Rainbow Dash’s eyes quickly gave way to frustrated determination as she swooped down and grabbed one of the blades out of the mountainside.
“Fine! If that’s the way you want it!” she shouted as she swung her blade against his. The sound of metal clashing with metal filled the air.
---
Applejack didn’t know how it had happened, but she had somehow landed in Whitetail Wood again. Unlike her mind realm, however, this looked more like a familiar part of the path. It looked just like the place in which the Running of the Leaves starting line had been. There was sort of an irony to how this would be the location of another beginning in her life.
“Applejack, over here!” called an older woman’s voice. The farmer pony turned around to see the two faces of the spirit of her Zanpaktou. Zabimaru looked happy, but at the same time strained like something was bothering them.
“How’d we get here?” asked Applejack in confusion.
“It’s probably because this is the ideal place for your Bankai training,” said the younger Snake as if what he said was common knowledge.
“I suppose there’s no point in beating around the bush now,” conceded the older Monkey with a sigh. She raised her arm to point behind her as Snake did the same. Applejack wasn’t sure what she was looking at until broad, wooden poles rose out of the ground and shook the earth beneath her. The bearer of Honesty decided to high tail it out of there before she got sent up too. One galloping trip later and she was outside the perimeter of nine wooden poles in what looked like three rows of three.
“Here’s how the test works,” called Monkey as she stood off to the side. She made a sideways sweeping motion with her arm. In an instant, Applejack was the startled wielder of Zabimaru’s Shikai form. She looked back at the spirit questioningly.
“Using only that sword,” continued Monkey, “You have to touch all nine of the poles at once.”
“But there’s a catch,” interrupted Snake, “That weapon you’re carrying can only bend a maximum of three times. In other words, even though its length is nearly infinite, you’ll have to work with exactly four straight lines.”
“What?” stammered the confused earth pony.
“Oh, and try not to mess up,” continued Snake, “Because there’s a repercussion or something.”
“That was my line,” muttered Monkey furiously.
“What kind of repercussion?” asked Applejack.
“If you really want to know, go ahead and fail,” said Monkey dropping her frustration for a nonchalant façade. Applejack shook her head and let the subject drop. She decided to just focus on the task given to her by her Zanpaktou.
Three bends to make four straight lines, she thought, and it has to touch all nine. How hard could that be?
“Roar, Zabimaru!” she called as she swung the blade to extend in front of her. The extensions touched all three of the center row’s poles in front of her.
Heh, she chuckled mentally, I’m already a third of the way there.
She decided to tackle the left row next. With just a force of will, she made the blade bend left at the third pole. It touched the back-left corner pole and bent a second time to come back in Applejack’s direction. The blade extended and touched all three of the left row’s poles. Applejack willed the blade to bend a third time to cross all three of the poles closest to her. Unfortunately, she ran into a problem as the weapon reached the front-right corner of the pole square.
Oh no! she realized, It’s already bent three times but it hasn’t touched the last two poles.
And despite her efforts, she couldn’t force the blade to bend a fourth time to cover up her mistake. She was stuck.
“Well, I didn’t think you’d take me up on my offer to fail,” commented Monkey. In a flash of red, Zabimaru’s Shikai left Applejack and reappeared in Monkey’s hand.
“This is the repercussion,” said the woman as she swung the blade. Applejack found herself unable to move as the spiked edge snagged her shoulder and a trace of blood started leaking out.
“Augh!” she cried, “What in tarnation was that for?!”
“This is part of the trial,” Snake reluctantly said, “If you’re not ready to control our Bankai, then you’re going to die. It’s sink or swim.”
“You can’t be brash and straightforward all the time,” stated Monkey as the blade disappeared from her hand in another flash of red, “To pass this test will require using some of that brainpower you’ve been ignoring for a large chunk of your life.”
Applejack only winced in a frustrated pain as Zabimaru’s Shikai reappeared in her grasp. Maybe if she tried for the rightmost row of poles first…
“Roar, Zabimaru!” she yelled through the pain.
---
Tall, bushy walls surrounded her every which way Scootaloo looked. It kind of looked like a maze that she was in. It was hard to tell since she was inside whatever landmark this was. A strange, swirling sound caught her ear and she turned her head to look. In the slightly more open section that she was in, a shadow silhouette rose. The figure soon brightened up and the armored unicorn spirit of Kagehime was revealed.
“Welcome to the Labyrinth Maze of Canterlot, Lady Scootaloo,” greeted Kagehime, “This is where your Bankai training shall begin.”
Huh, that’s odd, thought Scootaloo, Usually Kagehime goes a couple of rounds teasing before getting to the point. I guess this is really serious.
As soon as Scootaloo had thought this, the unicorn spirit closed her eyes and let out a long deep breath. Suddenly it seemed as if nighttime were befalling the entire area. But the darkness kept spreading. By the time it was finished, the whole place was darker than even the darkest midnight Scootaloo had ever known.
“This is the test that you must take,” stated Kagehime’s voice, “You have to navigate this dark-covered labyrinth and escape. Once I am finished speaking, none of your five senses will work. Good luck, my lady.” With that, the world became silent to Scootaloo.
She tried saying, “How am I supposed to-?” but she stopped when she realized that she couldn’t even here her own voice.
Great, now what do I do? thought the Pegasus filly, and what did she mean by none of my senses will work?
With that question in mind, she tried backing up and reaching for the wall that she was just in front of. Her hoof failed to touch anything except the ground underneath her. Even the scent of leaves was absent.
Huh? I know there was a wall back there just a second ago, she thought, Where did it go?
Frantically, Scootaloo started running in a random direction, hoping to regain her bearings. She felt no walls. She saw nothing. She heard nothing. No smells or tastes could aid her now. Even her sense of feeling lied to her.
“Help!” she mouthed, “Some pony help!” Her voice fell on deaf ears, her own deaf ears. No pony else knew where she was save for her Zanpaktou. But the Zanpaktou could only oversee the test, not interfere.
Scootaloo was lost and alone in the dark.
---
“Hup!”
I’ve always wondered what the significance to Kendo was. It was that training that involves holding a sword-like object and repeatedly swinging it up over your head and then back down.
“Hup!”
I forgot whether the idea was to do it as quickly as possible or as slowly as possible. I opted for the latter and that’s what I was doing with my unreleased Zanpaktou.
“Hup!”
Celestia had already left. Royal duty called. Rarity took the other Crusaders home. I recall seeing Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie leaving earlier too.
“And switch!”
Every so often, I swapped dominance with Shirayuki. That way, she got in training as well. Her motions were a bit more exaggerated than my own, but I assumed that was because of her longer hoof reach.
“Hup!”
Kendo felt like a unique exercise. Of course, that was assuming my understanding of the training was correct and I wasn’t making a fool of myself by forgetting a part of it. Considering my lack of Japanese studies, the possibility of being a fool was very high.
“Hup!”
I was doing this outside, by the way. Heaven forbid the day I swing around a sharp object inside the library with all those papers and books floating around. Twilight would kill me if I ever did that.
“Hup!”
Somewhere in the distance, I could sense the spiritual pressures of the three ponies that went with Luna for Bankai training. I was partially envious because I knew that Sode no Shirayuki didn’t have a Bankai. At the same time, I considered myself lucky that my training would never be as lethal as my battles.
“Hup!”
I really hoped that Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Scootaloo were okay.
“And switch!”
---
Another sword fell to pieces as she gained a new blood wound. Rainbow Dash was getting annoyed and worried. How was she supposed to find the real Zangetsu among this mess of swords?
“That’s sword number 15,” stated the old man spirit, “Pick again.”
The cyan Pegasus flew away from the man frantically looking between the scattered blades that were still embedded in the mountainside. The dripping blood from her wounds wasn’t helping her focus.
Maybe the real Zangetsu is the one that looks like it, thought Rainbow Dash. She started looking a bit more closely at the swords for one specific shape. Straight uphill, she saw one that looked like a likely candidate. She sped forward on a windy updraft and pulled the giant butcher knife free from the rocky landscape.
“This one for sure!” she yelled triumphantly. She swung it at the incoming old man. She did it! She found…
… another sword that broke upon clashing with the old man. This time she barely ducked under his swing. She almost lost a hair from her mane.
“And that’s sword number 16,” said Zangetsu.
“Horse apples,” Rainbow Dash muttered. The old man took a pause from his onslaught and stood tall above his master.
“Rainbow Dash,” he said, “Do you know why that sword crumbled?” She looked up in anger. How the hay was she supposed to know something like that?
“Each of these swords represents a part of your heart,” explained Zangetsu, “You need to find the part that was specifically meant for fighting. That sword you just used represents your heart’s frailty. Your dependence on me makes it impossible for you to rely on your own strength.”
“Wait a second,” interrupted Rainbow Dash, “Just the other day you asked if I trusted you. Today you’re saying that dependence is a weakness. That’s like being a hypocrite!”
“Trust and dependence are similar, but not the same thing,” said the old man, “If you can’t find it in your own heart to fight, then you are not ready to achieve a Bankai.” On that note, he swung his blade to the ground. The bearer of Loyalty rolled out of the way just in time and grabbed the next sword that was closest to her. She let out a short battle cry as she charged ahead.
“Rah!”
---
“Wrong again!” called Snake as he swung the extendible blade at Applejack. She grinded her teeth as she tried to endure the pain. This was the fifth cut she had received since the test had started. It was starting to take a toll on her ability to breathe.
Dag nab it! she thought, I got all but one that time.
It had seemed like simple foal’s play when she had started. Now it looked to Applejack like this trial might be next to impossible. But she wasn’t giving up that easily. She was an honest, hard worker. She wasn’t going to let a few scratches dissuade her from reaching that goal to be stronger. She almost willed Zabimaru’s Shikai into her grasp now.
“Roar, Zabimaru!” called the bearer of Honesty.
---
Blind. Blind and deaf. Blind, deaf, and mute. Blind, deaf, mute, and numb. That’s how the aspiring Cutie Mark Crusader felt now. Everywhere she looked, she only saw more darkness. Everywhere she listened, she only heard dead silence. She wasn’t even sure that she was securely on the ground because her hooves had lost all feeling. She was lost.
What do I do? thought Scootaloo, What can I do?
In spite of her blindness, she could easily picture images of her friends in her mind. Twilight and the others. Tundra. Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle.
Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow Dash, she thought picking her head back up from the depths of misery, she wouldn’t give up in the face of the odds would she? No way! She’d keep trying regardless of the situation. I can practically feel her determination trickling onto me.
A strange realization made her widen her eyes in the dark domain.
Wait a minute. I can feel her… off in the distance! I can feel her fighting spirit!
The words of some of her friends swam in her thoughts.
Is this… the spiritual energy sense? she asked mentally. The more she concentrated on the feeling, the wider it seemed to spread. Soon she was taking in the locations of all sorts of spiritual pressures. Not just Rainbow Dash, but Applejack was fighting as well. Princess Luna was waiting collectively. Scootaloo’s other friends were off in the distance, presumably Ponyville. Then, one more spiritual pressure was noticeable. This pressure felt similar to Scootaloo’s own spirit.
Kagehime, she thought, so that’s where you are. For the first time in the labyrinth of darkness, a smile started forming on Scootaloo’s face.
---
So it’s not just the looks that matter, thought Rainbow Dash, It has to be the part of my heart specifically meant to fight.
Unfortunately, this was easier to say than to put into practice. Without something descriptive to look for, she was just pulling out swords randomly from the mountainside hoping they were right. So far, this was proving neither efficient nor productive.
“That’s sword number 58,” commented Zangetsu. His attacks were increasing in frequency, making it harder for Dash to focus on finding the right blade. Even flying higher wasn’t putting any distance between her and the old man since he seemed to have limitless jumping height.
Still, Rainbow Dash managed to find a few seconds to her own thoughts. A few years ago, she had seen one of the Wonderbolts’ live speeches. In that speech, she recalled hearing Fleet Foot say something that suddenly resonated with her now.
“When you follow your dream,” the suited Pegasus had said, “You can’t just give half your heart into it. You need to put your whole heart toward achieving your goal.”
My whole heart, echoed Rainbow Dash in thought, Hey, that could mean something here.
She looked around at the scattered swords that still remained embedded in the mountain.
So far, the pieces I’ve been picking up have all fallen apart after one or two hits. That probably means that none of these swords alone will be able to make Zangetsu submit. What I need… is all of my heart.
The bearer of Loyalty landed and came to a screeching halt on a flatter part of the mountain. As Zangetsu closed the distance behind her, she lifted one hoof to her chest area.
This… is where my fighting strength is.
---
Applejack had made unlucky mistake number 13. She had the cuts to prove it… literally. A red little puddle underneath her body was starting to grow in diameter. Her breaths were getting more ragged. Every once in a while, her vision blurred over and she had to yank her head back up to avoid falling.
Nuts and shoots, she thought, I’m getting nowhere fast. What am I missing? Think, AJ. Think!
She mulled over the words her Zanpaktou spirit had said. Three bends and four straight lines had to connect nine poles. There had to be something that she just wasn’t getting.
Wait, she thought as a new light shined in her eyes, maybe…maybe it’s not what they said, but what they didn’t say. Every time, I’ve been making the sword bend at one pole or another. But I don’t remember them ever saying I had to bend the sword at a pole.
She took another look at the weapon in hoof. Then she looked at the poles and back at her sword again.
Worth a shot, she thought as she lifted Zabimaru’s Shikai for one more swing.
“Roar, Zabimaru!”
---
Scootaloo was starting to get the picture. She started scampering in the direction in which she could sense Kagehime’s spiritual pressure. For each moment that she didn’t get any closer, she assumed that she was running into a wall and had to alter her route slightly. This system of running closer and readjustments slowly but surely led her closer to her Zanpaktou’s presence.
I can do this, thought the filly, I can do this!
---
As if reaching inside herself, Rainbow Dash concentrated her spiritual focus at the space between her hoof and her chest. In a burst of bluish-white fire, a blade of a familiar shape emerged from her soul. This... was the real Zangetsu. Brimming with determination, the Pegasus turned around to face her attacker. She swung the new blade in a solid motion.
The old man's sword was sent flying to the valley below. For the first time since the training had begun, a look of concern crossed his otherwise unreadable face. For the first time, he was the one off guard.
For the first time, a streak of red splashed the sky that wasn't Rainbow Dash's blood. His caped form glided over her as he gave her one final message.
"Well done."
---
The extending blade touched all three poles on the rightmost row of poles. But it didn't stop there. It kept going a little distance before making a sharp turn. Zabimaru's Shikai touched the back center pole and the middle left pole. It extended past the square perimeter again before making another sharp turn. It passed all three of the front poles before making the third and final curve. It completely snared the diagonal. Three curves made four straight lines that touched all nine poles.
Applejack let out a strained chuckle knowing that she had done it.
"About time!" remarked Snake.
"So you finally solved it," put in Monkey.
"Yeah," breathed Applejack, "So what is the Bankai?"
"Rather than telling you," started Monkey.
"Why don't I just show you?" finished Snake. His eyes glowed red as he was surrounded in a cloud of smoke. In the blink of an eye, the smoke cleared and the little boy had been replaced with a giant, skeletal head of a serpent. It lunged forward before Applejack could react.
---
Scootaloo took a few more turns. After that, she found herself on a homeward stretch. She could run toward the spiritual pressure that she was sensing and it kept getting closer. No more tricky, untouchable walls blocked her path. She even started fluttering a little above ground level as excitement filled her.
And then, she was right on top of it.
"Gotcha!" she declared touching a hoof to the presence. As soon as she had, the veil of darkness seemed to lift. Kagehime's spirit was right in front of her and the labyrinth was left behind.
"Hey there, sweet thing," giggled Kagehime with a wink.
---
...
About a week passed. The enemy presence has been surprisingly lacking recently. I mean, if the commander-in-chief of the forces of evil stepped onto the battlefield, I would have thought that we'd be up to our ears in Hollows and other monsters. This was not the case.
That's not to say that things were quiet for all those seven days. As soon as the "Bankai trio" returned from Canterlot, Pinkie Pie already had a "welcome back" party set up. I was glad to see that some things never changed.
I asked Luna about the training that had taken place. She said it was similar to using devices that Kisuke Urahara used for Ichigo's Bankai training. However, she didn't have all of the spiritual tech that was available behind the anime so she had to improvise with an algorithm of spells. She even added in a few 'special touches' that were not used. I didn't really get it as I had never studied a day in a magical academy. Nevertheless, I could assume that something had worked. After all, there was a definitively stronger light shining in the eyes of the three ponies.
So after the long pause from the blood-spilling action, imagine my surprise when I found an envelope appear literally out of thin air. A thin, translucent veil covered the letter as it opened itself up.
Dear lucky winner,
Be prepared for a surprise at the exact center of Ponyville in about two minutes.
It's to die for.
Don't be late!
Regards,
D.
The envelope and it's contents exploded like an over-pressured glass. I had to cover my eyes with a hoof to avoid getting cut. After that, I stared into space with an eyebrow raised.
Since when does David send letters? I asked mentally.
This couldn't be a more obvious trap if he had said "P.S. This is a trap," added Shirayuki. I gave a nod agreeing with her sarcasm.
"Twilight!" I called into the walls of the library. There wasn't any response. I hoped that no sign was a good sign the same way no news is supposed to be good news. I sighed before deciding to just go. Once again, I froze the door knob when using the door. Once outside, I called forth my katana and gripped it as best I could.
"Let's go, Sode no Shirayuki," I said as I flapped my wings to travel.
---
I was not prepared for what I saw. At first glance, it just looked like the main six ponies had the same idea to come to the town center. But on closer examination, I could see a plethora of problems. Houses were misshaped, the sky was orange, and there was a giant red throne seat where the fountain was supposed to be.
That wasn't the least of my worries. Even though they looked unharmed, Twilight and the others looked a bit off. Specifically, their coats and manes looked darker in color than they were supposed to be. I hoped this wasn't what I thought it was. I gently landed before trotting forward a bit.
"Guys?" I asked carefully treading, "What's going on?"
"There's nothing wrong with us!" stated Applejack quickly as she turned to face me. Though, her own shifting eyes indicated quite the opposite of what she said.
"O...kay," I responded, "Uh, anyone else want to comment on that?"
"Stay away from my precious!" growled Rarity. It looked like she was angrily guarding... a tree stump.
"Uh, noted," I said to her, "I think there's something very wrong here."
"The only thing wrong here is you," remarked Fluttershy, "Ha!"
"What you laughing at?" snarled a faded, yet still curly-haired Pinkie Pie.
"Pfft, your problem now," dismissed Rainbow Dash as she flew off to who knew where.
"I'm almost afraid to ask, but are you okay, Twilight?" I lifted my free hoof in her direction.
"Go away," she muttered refusing to look up.
"Twilight, it's me!" I insisted, "I'm here for you as a friend."
"I have no friends," she said flatly while still avoiding eye contact. That hurt. That really hurt.
I heard a laughter nearby the throne seat as what looked like David said, "Isn't chaos a wonderful thing?"
Aw, crap. It is what I think it is, I thought to myself.
"Drop the disguise and show yourself,... Discord!" I demanded.
The man sighed, "Straight to the point as ever, eh? I almost forgot that you shared Celestia's grimness." Then, I saw a rather disgusting sight. What was a man started melting. He literally melted and reformed limbs and body parts. In a matter of one minute, the disgustingly familiar draconequus was standing in front of me.
"Good to see you again, Shirayuki," greeted Discord with a broken fanged smile, "How have you been?"
"Spare me the pleasantries, Dee Que," I said pulling the nickname from my other half's memories, "What are you doing in Ponyville?"
"Oh, what fun is there in just telling you?" he asked mockingly lifting his feet up and floating in a laid back position on thin air, "You really need to learn to lighten up, Snow Sleeve."
"I don't have time to waste on a nuisance like you," I said curtly, "Where's the real David?"
"Why are you so interested in a stick in the mud like him?" he asked slightly frowning, "I'm much more fun to play with."
"Just put my friends back to normal and let me deal with the real villain," I said with as forceful a serious tone as possible.
"You're not exactly in any position to make demands," he said while altering his posture upright. A sword appeared in his eagle claw's grip as he silently said, "Shatter, Kyoka Suigetsu."
Holding my own Zanpaktou in a horizontal stance, I quickly retorted, “Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!” Both my sword and my body adopted their whiter hues as Shirayuki gained dominance. The white ribbon on the hilt floated on a cold, unnatural wind.
“Oh, ladies!” chimed Discord snapping two phalanges on his free ‘hand’, “Would you be so kind as to entertain our guest of honor?” In five flashes of white light, the corrupted bearers of Harmony had me surrounded.
“Bastard,” muttered Shirayuki for both of my minds.
“Scatter, Senbonzakura!” yelled Rarity as the cherry blossom blades glided from her sword. For a brief moment, I closed my eyes.
Sorry, everyone, I thought, I’ll try not to hurt you too much. Discord wasn’t giving me many options. I’d have to fight my friends in order to get to him. Shirayuki raised her free hoof toward the incoming petals.
“Hado 4: Byakurai!” she declared. A shot of lightning danced between Senbonzakura’s pink blades. The electricity found its way to Rarity. I could barely hear her scream before the next pony made her move.
“Licht Regen!” A hail of reishi arrows followed the Quincy’s cry. Now I remembered why Shirayuki usually took the battles for me. Her reflexes were a lot faster.
“Tsugi-no-Mai, Hakuren!” she retorted while pointing Sode no Shirayuki’s tip toward the incoming ‘holy rain’. A blast of ice erupted from the blade and managed to keep the storm of arrows at bay.
“Koten Zanshun! I reject!” cried the next opponent. It was weird seeing Pinkie Pie angry without her straight mane but I didn’t have time to think about that. Against the incoming ‘attack shield’, Shirayuki surprised me by dropping her Zanpaktou and holding out both of her front hooves.
“Bakudo 39: Enkosen!” With this cry, an orange fan of spinning light appeared. It deflected the projectile but immediately shattered like glass. Shirayuki quickly followed up by pointing one hoof at each of the two ponies that had just attacked.
“Bakudo 9: Horin!” Twisting ropes of red and yellow light shot out from her quick incantation. The energy ropes reached around and ensnared Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie. Slamming her hooves together, Shirayuki caused the bound ponies to fling into each other. The bearers of Magic and Laughter fell to the ground in a begrudging heap.
“Don’t roar, Zabimaru!” Despite Applejack’s order, the extendible ‘snake tail’ went ahead and veered toward me anyway. Shirayuki performed a flash step maneuver to dodge the attack. Next thing I knew, I was standing right behind Applejack.
“Bakudo 61: Rikujokoro!” called the wintry alicorn. The familiar ‘six bars of light’ appeared and trapped Applejack by the waist. At least, I assumed that was the waist area. (I still didn’t know pony anatomy that well.) That left one more corrupted bearer to put out of commission.
“Raise your head, Wabisuke!” shouted the aforementioned corrupted bearer. I hoped what I was about to do didn’t hurt quite as much as the anime led me to believe.
“Bakudo 1: Sai!” yelled Shirayuki. Fluttershy’s hooves were suddenly bent by an invisible force. They snapped to behind her back, letting her hook-shaped Zanpaktou fall next to her as she crashed to the ground. She couldn’t remove the invisible force that bound her hooves despite how much she struggled and growled. Shirayuki turned her attention back to the draconequus who had grabbed a popcorn bag out of nowhere. Said draconequus nibbled the bag while letting several perfectly popped kernels go to waste.
“Discord!” yelled the alicorn of winter, “Stop hiding behind my friends and fight me like a man!”
He actually scratched his chin as if in thought before instantly replying, “Nah, not interested.” To this, Shirayuki responded by picking up her white Zanpaktou where she left it. With a flap of her wings, she soared towards Discord’s position. The master of chaos let out a fake yawn before snapping his fingers(?). A new flash of light popped and Sode no Shirayuki was quickly on the receiving end of a giant butcher knife.
“My show’s not done yet,” stated Discord with a small smirk, “Isn’t six a number of completeness?”
“Rainbow Dash, snap out of it!” pleaded Shirayuki. The seven shades-of-gray Pegasus gave no verbal response as she kept pushing Zangetsu with more force. Shirayuki had used up a lot of spiritual energy with all those Kido attacks from earlier. I knew we didn’t have much strength left. The corrupted bearer of Loyalty lifted her free hoof higher up on the dull side of her Zanpaktou.
“Getsuga Tenshou,” she whispered. Shirayuki opened her eyes wide enough to express both her and my own horror. A blast that large and that close left no time to dodge. As the blue wave started to build up, she lifted her hoof to perform the only defensive move we knew.
“Enkosen!”
The ‘heaven slicer’ exploded and made quick work of the defensive fan. Along the uneven roads of soap, Shirayuki tumbled backward head-over-hooves. When she finally came to a stop, she breathed heavily as she struggled to stand up. Something red spilled over her left eyelid. I heard a cracking noise before I watched her evergreen helmet fall to the ground in a couple of pieces. Her pale, blue hair would have been prettier to look at had I not been in so much pain.
With only my right eye to observe, I almost didn’t notice Rainbow Dash quickly reappear next to me.
“Any last words?” she finally found the nerve to speak.
“S…” my other half started, “So-me-no-Mai, Tsuki…shiro.” A pillar of ice appeared and surrounded Rainbow Dash along with the sky above her.
“Fascinating,” complimented Discord’s voice, “I didn’t know you could force your offensive ice to be nonlethal.” Despite her heavy breathing, Shirayuki was able to gasp as the draconequus appeared just two feet in front of her. He grabbed her unarmed head in his lion’s paw.
“I guess I forgot to mention this before the game began,” he chuckled, “Rule number 1: I win.”
---
A cloud of gray smoke floated above my eyes into the sky and then I saw no more.
---
A much more faded-colored alicorn fell to the ground after Discord released his grip.
“TO TARTARUS WITH YOU, MONSTER!” bellowed the Princess of the Night, “BANKAI!” Ice began to cover her body in various places. It extended her back hooves into frozen claws. Her wings expanded in size to nearly three times their wingspan. She charged her sword down toward the embodiment of chaos. Fury was predominant in her fully white eyes.
“RYUSENKA!” she roared. Upon impaling Discord, a large glacier of ice covered his form. For a moment, Luna thought that her vengeance had been gained. However, the sporadic spiritual pressure that she sensed behind her told her otherwise.
“Really, Lu Lu, you’re making this too easy,” he told her as he looked away. Red liquid burst from a large, straight line across her body. Her eyes lost their magical rage and regained their usual color.
“It can’t… be,” breathed Princess Luna as her ice wings and claws shattered into their original limbs. Her wounded form fell to the ground in a heap.
“I feel like a king!” laughed Discord truly proud of the mess he was creating, “Even David himself couldn't match me now!”
---
“Shoot to kill, Shinsou.”
Discord’s moment of triumph came to a screeching halt. A long piece of metal had actually found and pierced his untouchable heart. He turned his misconfigured head to see the culprit. His unbalanced red pupils caught sight of a shade-of-pink pony. This pony’s purple eyes had swirls instead of the usual eye color and she wore what looked like a beanie for a hat. A silly grin was plastered on her face.
“You,” whispered the master of chaos as he collapsed into a fading shadow. His effects on this world slowly lifted until there was no evidence of him existing at all. The gray ponies recovered their colors and their respective personalities.
As the pony with the screw and baseball cutie mark reeled her sword back in, a man with a young wizard’s appearance walked up beside her.
“Exactly as planned,” he stated flatly. He and the strange pony disappeared in a flash step motion.
---
I opened my eyes to a restored town center. The sky was blue, the houses were ship-shape, and the fountain was silent. But something was still bothering me.
Tundra? I thought internally, Tundra!
I couldn’t sense her mind. Usually, whenever one of us woke from a long sleep, she would be the one to have immediate dominance. But as I did a mental search, I couldn’t even sense a hushed presence. It was like she was gone completely. I began to shake in panic.
Wait! The others! I interrupted my own thoughts. I looked around a bit before seeing that they were gathered around Luna. The one called Pinkie Pie was using her healing shield.
“Oh, thank goodness. You’re awake,” said a hushed voice. I looked back to the right to see Fluttershy leaning down next to me.
“Fluttershy?” I asked, “What happened?”
“I’m not entirely sure,” she gently breathed, “There was an ambush by David, but then I sort of blacked out after that.”
There was something more complicated than that. I distinctly remembered fighting Discord. But what happened after that?
---
Ugh… my head.