//------------------------------// // Episode 76: The Blood of Comrades // Story: Equestria Girls: Friendship Souls // by thatguyvex //------------------------------// Episode 76: The Blood of Comrades Adagio and Ember sped along the desert, heading rapidly away from the now gleaming gold Quincy fortifications and moving directly south east towards the lake, still nearly a kilometer away. Adagio could see the flashes of light and explosions indicating the fighting over there was intense, and she could feel the oppressive reiatsu of not only many Hollows, but of at least four strong Quincy. Which struck Adagio was strange, given she’d only seen three pillars of light form that direction. That meant only three Sternritter should have been over there. So who was this fourth Quincy reiatsu? It wasn’t as strong as the Sternritter, but it still felt much stronger than the other Quincy Adagio could sense. She shook her head, tossing the question aside. It didn’t really matter. All she and Ember had to do was get inside the lake as fast as possible, and fight their way past whoever got in their way. Her only real worry was for Ember, whose expression had turned darkly intense with Garble’s death. Even without her companion saying anything Adagio could tell Ember’s bloodlust had risen and she was running on anger as much as determination. This could be a problem, if Ember let her emotions get in the way of the task at hand. “Ember,” Adagio said as they were running along, “He did that to keep us alive. Don’t lose sight of that.” Ember’s eyes were like burning blood as she shot a glare back at Adagio, her voice a raspy whip. “I know! I’m not going to flip out! Just... don’t be surprised if I blast a few Quincy along the way. I got some venting to do, one way or another.” Yes, that’s what has me concerned, Adagio thought, but knew better than to press Ember on the matter. If worse came to worst, she could drag the girl along if necessary. She just hoped it wouldn’t be. ---------- Like the sweeping breath of a god the winds surrounding the area near the lake were being swept up into a constant swirl reaching ever higher speeds. These air currents weren’t affecting the forces on the ground, instead all the wind concentrated on the fierce battle taking place several hundred feet up. While Fleetfoot and Soarin were wholly engaged with keeping the larger portion of Guto’s Arrancar forces at bay and from completely slaughtering the Quincy cadets, Fleur De Lis was locked in singular combat with the Sixth Espada, and up until this point neither opponent had been able to turn the tide against the other. That had changed with the release of Vollstandig. Fleur's Vollstandig was a thing of aching beauty and elegance. Four gossamer wings of painfully bright white light spread from behind her and were meticulously layered with such detail that one could make out individual fibers within the feathers, despite the wings just being constructs of spirit particles. Two of the wings were high upon her shoulders, while the lower two spread more from her waistline, but all four were large as Fleur's own body. The shear and tightly form fitting dress that now replaced her standard uniform was similarly detailed with shimmering patterns of light within its threads of reishi, covering her form while strategically revealing just the right amounts of flesh that one would think the dress didn’t belong on a battlefield but instead a dance floor. Silver gleaming leggings and high heeled shoes covered her feet and legs, and similarly shining gloves rose up to her elbows. The halo above her head held the distinct form of a winged tiara, akin to what a valkyrie might wear if said headgear was made from glowing light rather than metal. She held no bow, now, but she didn’t need one. In this form, all the air around Fleur was her bow. With but a gesture she sent a storm of air blades cutting through the sky towards Guto, each one a large crescent of compressed wind that could cut through steel beams. The Espada charged into that storm, a conceited sneer on his avian face as he smashed one air blade after another with his Zanpaktou, yet even so some air blades got past his guard and cut his flesh. Even Guto’s Hierro was unable to fully withstand the high speed air cutters that Fleur was firing. Despite this Fleur noted that Guto didn’t look worried about his position. Well she’d just have to give him something to worry about, wouldn’t she? With a single flap of her wings she generated a pair of swirling tornadoes that launched out like massive hammers from an angry sky god. A thunderclap of noise echoed as the tornadoes impacted Guto from both sides, then proceeded to drill him into the ground, tearing up a hundred meter gouge in the sand dunes. Fleur remained in the air, standing imperiously over the crater as she watched Guto rise and brush sand off of himself. “Tough bastard...” she muttered. Guto looked up and jumped, shooting up into the air and halting once he reached her height. He was a bit bruised, and still bleeding from some of her earlier cuts, but again he had a look of unconcern mixed with mild interest on his face as he casually removed his shirt, which was tattered now, and examined it. He then sneered and tossed the garment aside, leaving his chest bare. “Congratulations, woman. You’ve managed to stall me by your lonesome for five whole minutes. Is it concern for your comrades or overconfidence in your own abilities that made you decide to fight me alone?” If there was one thing Fleur and Guto matched each other on, it was the contempt in their mutual scowls, and Fleur's was scathing as she raised a hand towards Guto, currents of air spinning around it in gathering intensity, “Does it matter? You’ll be dead long before the answer would do you any good.” The air currents around her hand changed, the air literally glowing a fierce indigo blue as Fleur snarled, “Sturmkralle Drei!” (Stormtalon Three) Her fingers and thumb bent to take on the shape of a claw as she thrust her hand out and a twisting blast of air shot out, creating a sonic boom with its force. The glowing blue blast of air took the shape of three massive talons, spinning like a drill as it flew at Guto at a slightly curving angle, like a fastpitch curveball. Guto swing his sword just in time to meet the attack, the spinning claw of air sparking against the Espada’s Zanpaktou as it drove him backwards, his feet digging against the air. Although it looked as if he might have stopped the attack from reaching his flesh, Fleur just grinned with sadistic glee and turned her hand upward, making a gesture with her index finger. “Burst,” she commanded. The claw of air sudden exploded into a spread of cutting wind fragments, cutting into Guto and leaving dozens of small lacerations across his bare chest and arms. He grunted in pain, knocked down a few dozen feet before he recovered, and his eyes flashed with anger as he thrust his sword towards the distant Fleur. She had only a second to react before multiple points of yellow light formed around Guto and then exploded into a insanely rapid barrage of Bala shots. Fleur crossed her wings in front of her, and a massive sphere of wind took shape around her, shielding her from the massive barrage of Bala reishi bullets. She couldn’t even come close to counting how many Bala were being fired, but she was certain she’d never seen an Arrancar fire so many, so quickly before. Even with her wind powers enhanced by her Vollstandig, she could feel her barrier of wind being worn through by the intense barrage of unending Balas. Hmph, this fool doesn’t realize yet who he’s messing with! The stream of Bala shots burst through the shell of wind protecting Fleur, but she was no longer inside it, or rather she had immediately flown free of the sphere as Guto’s energy bullets tore through her barrier. Pushing her speed to near its limit, flowing along on a stream of wind, she all but instantly appeared behind Guto. Air curled around her slim, shapely leg as she spun around in a powerful kick that impacted with his side. A combination of sheer strength from using Blut Arterie, and exploding air pressure from her wind powers catapulted Guto away at high speed. Yet Fleur had no trouble keeping up with his tumbling body, appearing above it and raising her hands up in a cupping gesture as she gathered a sphere of compressed wind there that she then hammered into him, driving him back into the desert like a nail. Not satisfied, she curled her lips into a leering grin as she snarled, “I will never forgive what your kind have taken from me! Now die!” The four fingers of her right hand turned into a knife shape as she drew back, her left grasping out as if holding a bow once more. A crescent of air in the shape of a giant, ornate bow took shape as an equally large arrow of churning, concentrated air and reishi took shape along her right hand. The tip of the arrow expanded to take the shape of an eagle's talon as a vortex of wind started to form above Fleur, funneling its power into her arrow. “Sturmkralle Vier!” (Stormtalon Four) Unleashing the arrow it struck nearly as fast as lightning, impacting upon where Guto had fallen and flashing for just an instant before exploding into a massive, expanding sphere of cutting, destructive wind blades. The blast was almost too large, nearly hitting the area where the cadets and Fleur's fellow Sternritter fought, but she’d made sure to hit Guto far enough away with her earlier blows that this attack wouldn’t strike her allies. She was bloodthirsty, not stupid. Looking at the rising pillar of sand and dust her attack had thrown up, she probed the area with her spiritual senses, seeking Guto’s reiatsu. She felt it a bare moment before a cloud of Balas rose from the dust, dozens of them surrounding her and hovering like small stars. She glared as the small reishi bullets started to assault her from all directions, and she threw herself into the defensive as she swung her wings and her hands, creating small but dense shields of wind to deflect the Balas. Even so the volume of them was such that several managed to strike her, causing stinging pain with each blow, but thankfully her Blut Vene was quite strong in this form. Still, the idea of her perfect skin getting bruised infuriated her to no end. It made the faint scarring remaining from Sunset’s flames feel as if they were burning anew. It only made her want to kill Guto all the more as a certain other scar also started to tingle beneath her dress. “Well, I’ll give you this much, you’re certainly vicious enough to be a Hollow,” Guto said as he rose back into the air to stand level with her. He was bleeding from quite a number of wounds now, yet his eyes remained as sharp and deadpan as ever, “I see why you felt so confident to face me by yourself. What was your name again?” This Arrancar was truly starting to stir her ire, and Fleur De Lis spat to the side in disgust, “I’d sooner introduce myself to a Soul Reaper than to a Hollow. At least they have some tiny semblance of worth, whereas your kind are nothing but pathetic monsters. I’d sully my name, speaking it in your presence.” Guto shrugged, “So be it. I prefer to remember the names of those who prove themselves capable foes, but if you find my kind so repugnant then I’ll drop the pleasantries. And since I don’t want those cadets escaping, if it's all the same to you I’ll end this duel quickly.” “Have you been paying any attention, Espada? You’re the one bleeding profusely here, not I.” “True,” Guto admitted, and raised his blade in front of him, “Your transformation is truly a splendid thing. Almost as splendid as mine.” Fleur uttered a sharp swear under her breath, gathering wind for another attack, but before she could stop him Guto’s blade gleamed with a thick golden aura as he intoned the release phrase of his Zanpaktou. ”Plunder their corpses; Conquistador! (Conqueror) A scintillating geyser of almost liquid metal-like aura erupted up from around Guto, engulfing him in a cauldron of intermixing hues of blinding gold and sickly brass. Fleur was struck to her core by a thick and gut churning spiritual pressure that drove home to her why this Hollow was one of the Espada. These creatures were simply on a different level than any other Hollow, and the fact that she could feel such a chill even while in her Vollstandig state was a testament to the power an Espada commanded. And Guto wasn’t even in the top five. His reiatsu made her skin crawl, not simply from its strength, but the simple feel of it was wrong, not at all like the pure feeling she got from the spirit energies she and her fellow Quincy wielded or even the kind the Soul Reapers used. Hollow reiatsu always felt wrong, but the Espada’s was distinctly more acute, as if she could taste something foul on the back of her tongue. As the pale, radiating aura of gold and darker metallic hues faded she could see the liquid-like energy dripping off of Guto’s new form, like a mold of molten gold pouring off of a freshly pressed statue. She immediately got the impression of the eagle warriors from Aztec culture. He possessed an eagle's head all the way down to his neck and shoulders, where dark brown feathers were dusted with golden tips, forming a large crest and sweeping down to take the form of a long feathered cloak down his humanoid torso, which remained bare chested and lean muscled with bronzed skin. The rest of his face was a stark white Hollow mask in the shape of a fierce bird of prey, his yellow eyes gleaming behind it. Rather than wings, his back sported a set of what looked almost like the turbines of a jet, if forged from conical shaped bone and sporting four large blade-like fins that swept into hook shapes on either side. His waist was clad in a feathered set of leggings and rather than any footwear, his feet had turned in avian talons. His hands were more human, though still sporting claws, and instead of a sword as his weapon now both arms were bearing large, thick gauntlets that sported a pair of huge, curved blades. He cracked his neck in his new form with an audible series of pops, and regarded Fleur De Lis with a renewed light of hunger in his eyes. “I doubt you care to know, but out of all the Espada I’m the only one who’d prefer to conquer your kind rather than merely eradicate them. Lord Tirek has sought alliance in the past, but I think he’s long abandoned that. All the better I think, since alliance is not the same as conquest. I’d like to keep your kind around, in your proper place as servants to us-” He moved with supple speed and grace, deflecting a blast of concentrated air fired by Fleur with one of his gauntlets. “I thought you were skipping the pleasantries?” Fleur snarled. “I was. I say this only to make it clear to you that by the time this is over I will have you in chains, serving me, as the first Quincy to become an Arrancar’s slave. Proof of concept to my peers. The same fate awaits any of your young cadets who survives my warrior’s attentions.” More wind gathered around Fleur in a furious tempest worthy of her Sternritter title, sharp blades of air forming around her hands as she bared her teeth at Guto. “You’ll have nothing from me, except death.” “Yours or mine? Come on then, let’s lay our cards on the table and find out who wins that gamble.” ---------- Twilight was transfixed by an icy lance of hesitation. Did she pursue the assassin, perhaps her one chance to catch whoever was responsible for the attempt on her life? Or did she ignore the fleeing assassin and focus on defeating Gilda, a foe who was by far the more immediate threat? She might be able to outrun Gilda long enough to place a tracker on the assassin, but if Gilda chose not to pursue her and instead attacked one of her comrades then Twilight wasn’t certain at all how long they’d survive. Thus far while she’d not done any real damage to Gilda, she had been holding her own, and not to overestimate herself she realized at this juncture she might be the only one among her squad who could stand up to Gilda. Her indecision was temporarily relieved when, from out of the hazy fog of battle that had been kicked up from so much sand being tossed into the air from the constant fighting, emerged several fast moving figures. Sugarcoat flashed in front of the assassin, her stout pearl colored bow already up and aiming as she fired a point blank arrow. While the assassin was fast enough to barely tilt her head aside to avoid the arrow, Lemon Zest appeared behind her and fired a criss-crossing dual set of arrows that forced the assassin to halt entirely and spin around to face the attack, pulling out a bright glowing Seele Schneider to deftly deflect Lemon Zest’s twisting arrows. Then Sour Sweet flickered into view above the assassin, her hefty crossbow braced in both hands as she fired directly down at the unknown soldat. The assassin barely jumped away from the powerful bolt, which exploded right at her feet where she’d just been standing. With a swift motion the assassin reached into her mantle and threw out a ginto tube, touching it with the tip of her Seele Schneider. The alchemic tube exploded with a flash of blinding light, and Sugarcoat and the other girls had to shield their faces against it. While Sugarcoat’s visor would normally not be affected by light, the burst was also reishi based so it likely would have momentarily overloaded the sensors. “The hell’s all that about?” Gilda asked with annoyed bemusement, “Somebody trying to poach you off me, four-eyes?” Twilight didn’t respond to the Arrancar, struggling to choose her course, but then she heard Sugarcoat shout, “Twilight, go after her! We’ll handle the Arrancar!” “But-” Twilight began to say, but Indigo Zap shoved her towards the fleeing assassin, already aiming her sparking electrical bow towards Gilda. “Move it you doofus! You can’t let her get away!” “Hey I didn’t say anyone could go anywhere!” Gilda roared, and had to swipe with her sword to block one of Indigo Zap’s blazing lightning arrows. The other girls appeared around the Arrancar, bows trained on her. Even Sunny Flare had managed to stand back up, wincing in pain from being choked earlier and singed by the proximity to Twilight’s magical witchfire, but no less determined than the other cadets. Meanwhile Cotton Barrel had dragged the two McColt girls away from the fight and was quickly trying to treat Buzzsaw’s wounds with her medical kit, profusely swearing under her breath as she did so. “Go!” Sugarcoat said firmly to Twilight while sending a streaking bolt towards Gilda, “Now!” Twilight hesitated for only a split second longer, seeing the assassin’s fleeing form nearly vanish into the dusty swirl of sand that coated the battlefield. She then grit her teeth and said, “I’ll be back as fast as I can! Please be careful!” There was no more time for words, and even as Gilda shouted something at her and tried to make a move for Twilight the Arrancar was swarmed by the other Quincy girls. Arrow shots came in at Gilda from all sides, and she growled in frustration as she was forced to defend herself rather than pursue Twilight. Rushing after the assassin, Twilight tried to shut out the sounds of fighting behind her, praying silently that her friends could hold out if only for a couple of minutes. With swift bursts of Hirenkyaku she quickly followed the fleeing assassin, keeping the soldat in clear view. With so much conflicting spiritual pressures covering the area from so many Hollows and Quincy fighting for their lives it would be all but impossible to track the assassin by her reiatsu, so Twilight had to rely on keeping her in visual range. She found she was more than just keeping up, she was quickly closing the gap! Was it the magic that was giving her this boost? She could feel the warmth of the magic welling inside her, frightful in its strength and the sparks of anger it stoked inside her, yet she could also sense the magic fusing into the spiritual energy inside her. She felt lighter with every step, and with a moment of alarm she noticed that around her feet were small magical circles, filled with complex runes. Relax, said Midnight’s voice in her head, I remember a lot more about magic than you do. I’m just using a few simple acceleration spells to enhance our Hirenkyaku. Just focus, I’ll keep helping where I can. See? I can be nice, too. J-Just warn me before you start casting random spells on us! Twilight thought back, but said no more as she had nearly caught up with her target. They were beyond the crucible of the battle itself, but Twilight could still catch a glimpse of what had been occurring while she’d been focused on Gilda. The cadets had fallen back down the dunes towards the bank of the lake, using the VTOLs parked there as both cover and additional firepower. Twilight could see that Soarin and Fleetfoot were streaking back and forth across the dunes themselves, and while Twilight couldn’t make out details she knew they’d transformed in some manner. She could see glowing wings and halos, but details eluded her as the Sternritter threw themselves into the Arrancar that had been trying to get at the cadets. There were places among the sands that were stained red with blood, and Twilight could see a few broken bodies here and there, cadets not so fortunate to fall back with their comrades. Twilight wasn’t sure how many of the bodies she saw were Quincy or Arrancar, however, so gauging casualties on either side was difficult at that point. All she could tell was that the Arrancar were being kept back by the Sternritter, and if she could get a tracer on the assassin and then return to help her friends fend off Gilda, they may well be in the clear! Now that she had the assassin within a few dozen paces, she took aim with her bow while continuing to run. She calculated her shot and sent her arrow flying, the teal bolt of witchfire cutting across the air, aiming low for the assassin’s legs.   With a sharp motion the assassin jumped to the left, narrowly avoiding the arrow, but Twilight had already predicted this and had sent several more arrows streaking after her target. For a few seconds a nerve wracking contest of speed and wit took place, Twilight’s arrows moving on shifting trajectories to try and box the assassin in, while her foe in turn moved with a series of blazingly swift flips and shifts to twist her body out of the way or use her Seele Schneider to deflect Twilight’s arrows. Twilight’s speed might have increased to be an even match for the assassin, perhaps even surpass her, but it was clear this assassin still had a vast advantage in terms of experience. There was no flaw in her defensive moves, no opening her in guard. Twilight’s shots were expertly timed and aimed, but no matter how many times her arrows got close, they never managed to actually strike her target. But they had slowed her down. The assassin had been forced to stop fleeing and turn to face Twilight, which was good enough for Twilight to finish closing the distance. The assassin readied her Seele Schneider, her stance radiating confidence as Twilight rushed her. Clearly the mysterious soldat believed she could take down Twilight easily at close range using the glowing reishi blade. Well, Twilight had a surprise for her. She’d taken the liberty of studying the composition of Seele Schneiders while she’d been working on the Hexenfaust. She knew they weren’t really swords so much as specialized beams of reishi designed to break down and absorb other spirit particles. Their resemblance to certain high-tech laser swords from a popular sci-fi series was purely coincidental. Probably. Maybe the Quincy who designed them was  a fan. Either way, Twilight had memorized the design and then added some features of her own. When she closed to within a meter of the assassin she reached to the amethyst gem that was furthest up on the Hexenfaust. Sensing her mental command the gem detached and flew to her waiting right hand, and reishi and magic combined to form a new construct, taking the shape of a deep lavender and teal streaked, narrow sword hilt. From this sprang a reishi blade, gleaming a luminous teal. With a swift swing she used this, the Hexen Schnider, to deflect the assassin’s Seele Schneider, teal blade glancing off the blue one in a burst of reishi particles. This caught the assassin entirely off guard, creating a moment of shocked hesitance. A moment Twilight took advantage off as she quickly slashed out with her Hexen Schneider, aiming for the assassin’s shoulder. She was sure she’d get a solid hit in, but at that very instant there was a gigantic burst of wind from somewhere nearby, a massive slashing dome of hurricane force wind exploding outward and almost slamming into Twilight and the assassin’s position. The air currents hit hard enough to pick Twilight and her foe off the ground and send them both tumbling, but at the last second Twilight controlled her fall enough to reorient on the assassin and thrust her sword again. The assassin saw this and spun away, Twilight’s reishi blade only catching the woman’s mantle. But it was enough for Twilight to place the tracer she’d created at the tip of the blade on the assassin’s cloak. The wind threw them a fair distance, but both landed on their feet. Twilight wasn’t certain what that dome of wind had been, but she imagined it was the result of Fleur De Lis and that Espada fighting. She could sense both of those overwhelming spirit energies nearby. Putting that aside, she focused on the assassin, who’d stood and aimed her bow at Twilight. Her Seele Schneider was now notched like an arrow, and Twilight gulped involuntarily. She’d known the Seele Schneiders were actually designed to be used as arrows, but had thought the assassin would need to absorb more reishi before using it that way. It also occurred to her that now that she was a fair distance away from her friends or any other Quincy, the assassin now had a window of opportunity to kill her without any witnesses. She wasn’t running away. She was luring me out! That realization didn’t help her much as the assassin let fly, and the Seele Schneider arrow flew at Twilight at insane speed. Can’t dodge-! Twilight’s mind raced as she tried to leap to the side, but didn’t think she’d make it in time, not at this range. “Licht Regen!” (Light Rain) Suddenly a wall of arrows, hundreds of them, cascaded down upon the Seele Schneider, knocking it from the air in a series of explosive impacts. Both Twilight and the assassin looked up in surprise as a form flew in from above, flipping in mid-air to land between Twilight and her assailant. “Really, Miss Sparkle, I’m surprised at you. You are far too bright a young lady to have fallen for such a pedestrian trap.” Twilight blinked, her voice stuttering in bafflement, “P-Principal Cinch!?” With a faint air of self-assured control Cinch adjusted her glasses with one light blue finger. She looked much as Twilight had remembered, save for the stark white Quincy uniform, sans a black mantle in place of a white one. Her hair was done in that same neat and proper bun, and her eyes still held that light of cold superiority mixed with ambition. In her left hand she held a bow formed of one straight spur melded to a perfect circle, all of it made from solid, bright reishi. Cinch cast one cool glance with half an eye toward Twilight without looking away from the assassin, “Do pick your jaw off the ground, Miss Sparkle. Its unbecoming of a student of mine to look like a bewildered fool, although given I’m no longer your or anyone else’s principle anymore makes it a somewhat moot point. Still, try to focus, will you?” Twilight shook her head, composing herself as she nodded and quickly walked up beside her former principal. She felt a mixture of uneasy emotions, seeing Cinch again. This woman had goaded Twilight into releasing dangerous magic, and was largely responsible for endangering Twilight, numerous students from both Crystal Prep and Canterlot High, not to mention putting the very stability between realities at risk. The fact that Cinch’s actions may well have been motivated by her position as a Quincy and not due to just ‘school reputation’ didn’t change anything. That said, Twilight knew she couldn’t afford to let any of that get in the way of dealing with the circumstances in front of her. Whatever she might have felt about Cinch, she was an ally right now. Wasn’t she? “How did you know I was in trouble?” Twilight asked, tensing herself to flee in case either Cinch or the assassin made a move. A flicker of annoyance crossed Cinch’s face but she didn’t hesitate to answer, “I placed monitoring devices around that lake as part of my research into its magical properties. Those clued me in to the fact you cadets were in danger. It wasn’t a difficult conclusion to arrive at that the assassin’s seeking your life would use that as an opportunity to make a move. Hence I came here as fast as I could, and a good thing I did, for if I hadn’t you’d be skewered by now, Miss Sparkle. Some gratitude would be appropriate.” “...Thank you,” Twilight said, meaning it, but still quite uneasy, “But when did you hear about the assassination attempt on me?” “Even the Strafbattalion isn’t entirely out of the loop. We do receive news of important events, like say the daughter of one of our most prominent Quincy family’s being attacked. Now are you done doubting me? Because we’re just giving our attempted murderer over here more time to plan an escape with all these asinine questions.” Cinch had a point, so Twilight just nodded again and turned her attention to the assassin. This was already taking far longer than she’d wanted it to. Her friends were stuck fighting Gilda and she had to get back to them as fast as possible! However Cinch’s words turned out to be all too accurate, for while Twilight had been questioning Cinch, the assassin had reached into her cloak to remove several more ginto tubes. Now she flung them forward, the alchemic water spreading out into the air as the assassin gestured with a hand and sent out a string of reshi particles. Upon contact with the water there was a flash of light, and a massive sheet of reshi-forged metal took shape, acting as a wall between them and the assassin. Cinch scoffed and fired her bow, sending out a wide fan of arrows that pierced through the metal sheet. But as the sheet was cut to ribbons after a few seconds, it revealed that the assassin was gone, having used the distraction to escape from view. “Oh... bugger all,” Cinch grunted, “I should have just shot her instead of answering your blasted questions!” “How could she escape so quickly?” Twilight shook her head, “She got away just as fast the last time.” “Some Quincy specialize in stealth and evasion techniques,” Cinch sniffed like she smelled something unpleasant, “This one only had a stomach for an easy fight. The moment the numbers were against her she fled. If you hadn’t distracted me-” “It's not important,” Twilight said quickly, “I can track her. I put a tracer on her mantle.” “What!? Then hurry up and follow her!” Twilight gulped. Cinch still had a very... intense way of looking that made Twilight feel somehow smaller. Taking a deep breath she shook her head, “There’s no time for that! I’ll track her down later. First I have to go back to my  friends! I left them fighting a powerful Arrancar, and they need my help!” Cinch looked at her hard for a moment before pinching the bridge of her nose and muttering, “Of course you did. Because nothing is ever simple with you, is it, Miss Sparkle? Very well, lead on.” At that moment there was a unnatural saturated golden glow that burst in the sky not far away, and Twilight felt an oppressive and sickeningly overpowering Hollow reiatsu emanating from that location. She felt nauseous at the sensation, as if the reiatsu was somehow inducing vomitous dizziness. Cinch was beside her quickly, her voice sharp as a knife and filled with the kind of cold calm that felt like a icy splash of water. “Resist it, Miss Sparkle. You’re still far too inexperienced to deal with these levels of reiatsu, but you must fortify yourself against it.” “What... is that?” Twilight swallowed, taking deep breaths and focusing on pushing the feeling of sickness away. “That is what it feels like when an Espada releases their Zanpaktou. It is not a fight you or I can interfere with, I’m afraid. Leave dealing with it to the Sternritter,” Cinch snorted, “Assuming Fleur is up to the challenge. Damn girl has always liked biting off more than she can chew. Never mind that, let’s go assist your fellow cadets before they get themselves killed.” Twilight gave a shallow nod, wiping sweat from her brow and quickly turned, rushing back across the dunes towards the beach where she’d left her friends. Cinch kept easy pace with her. Retracing her route from chasing the assassin, Twilight once more got a clear look at the bodies, broken and bloody, dotting the battlefield. She shuddered slightly, able to make out a few more details. She saw perhaps four or five bodies that might have been Quincy cadets, although some she could only tell as much from the fact a burnt, severed arm still had some traces of uniform left on it. It was small comfort that there were many more Arrancar bodies littering the area, some crushed or twisted beyond recognition, while others looked as if they’d had their blood burst from inside them, leaking from ears, mouths, noses, or dead starring eyes. Twilight shielded her mind against the sight, trying to remind herself she had to prevent her friends from suffering similar fates. From what she could see as she crested the last dune reaching the beach, the majority of the cadets were clustered around the two grounded VTOLs, no longer engaging the Arrancar. There only seemed to be a few Arrancar left, maybe eight from the dozens that had attacked, but those eight must’ve been the strongest of the lot since they seemed to be keeping Soarin and Fleetfoot fully occupied. Which meant there was no one to help Twilight’s squad against Gilda, since none of the other cadets seemed willing to step out to help. Twilight couldn’t blame them. Gilda’s reiatsu was almost as oppressive as the Espada’s, clearly the strongest among the Arrancar present besides the leader. “You do pick out the most troublesome of rivals, don’t you?” Cinch said as they both took in the scene. Fortunately all of Twilight’s friends were still standing. Well, the ones that had been when she’d left. Buzzsaw was still laying on the ground, the terrible wound in her side being stitched up by Cotton Barrel. Hacksaw was up, but looked reluctant to leave her sister’s side, crouching by Buzzsaw defensively. Meanwhile Sugarcoat and the other girls stood among a field of small craters, each of them breathing heavily and sporting a number of bleeding cuts, or in Sunny Flare’s case a clearly broken arm hanging limply. By contrast Gilda didn’t even look winded, and at best had a few scratches and minor burns, most of which had come from Twilight earlier. As Twilight and Cinch arrived Gilda turned to them, sporting a predatory half grin, “About damn time! What kept you, four eyes? And hey, you brought another pal, and a total nerd by the look of her. Ew, old too.” Cinch narrowed her eyes, then calmly glanced at Twilight, “This buffoon was giving you trouble?” “She’s strong,” was all Twilight said to that, then looked to her friends, “Are you all alright?” “Oh yes, we’re just peachy keen!” Sour Sweet said with a shaking smile, which then broke out into a deep scowl, “Do we look alright to you!? We can’t even scratch this bitc-” “Language, Miss Sweet, language,” Cinch said, cutting Sour Sweet off, but the girl just glared at Cinch and proceeded to give the former principle the finger. “Outburst aside Sour is right that we’ve been unable to injure this one,” Sugarcoat said, “And I’m certain she’s just been toying with us.” Gilda licked her lips and grinned even deeper, “Hey, points to the observant cyclops. Didn’t want purple-smart here to miss any of the juicy stuff, so I’ve been sandbagging you guys a bit until she got back. Speaking of which, now that she’s here... let’s get to the good stuff.” Gilda vanished with breakneck speed, appearing behind Indigo Zap, who didn’t even have time to turn her head before Gilda swung her blade low and with all the ease of someone removing the wing from a fly she severed both of Indigo’s legs cleanly off. It had happened so quickly that Twilight had barely had time to blink, but now that Indigo’s scream hit her ears, Twilight burst into action, flying straight for Gilda with her arrows leading the way. Gilda smiled with feral glee as she kicked the shocked and prone Indigo towards the arrows, but Sugarcoat was fast to catch the other girl and jump both of them out of the way as Twilight’s arrows streaked past and impacted with Gilda. Gilda laughed heartily even as Twilight’s arrows exploded around her. She cackled with pure, violent mirth as she rushed out of the wall of teal flames and went straight for Sour Sweet, who did manage to turn with a exclamation of, “Oh hell no!” and fired her sniper pattern crossbow at point blank range. With a single swipe Gilda batted the shot aside then slashed down with her Zanpaktou. Sour Sweet dodged back, blocking with her crossbow, and found the weapon got severed in half by the blow. Swearing profusely Sour Sweet tried to pull out a ginto tube, but Gilda grabbed the girl by the face and proceeded to ram a knee so hard to Sour’s gut that blood burst out of her mouth as she was sent flying backwards. Cinch caught the girl, then proceeded to set her down and in the same smooth motion rise and unleash a waterfall of arrows at Gilda, who was forced to rapidly dodge the deluge as the arrows blasted apart an entire swath of the beach. Twilight rushed to follow Gilda’s movements, realizing that the Arrancar was exclusively targeting her friend’s now. She saw Gilda, just a few meters ahead of Cinch’s barrage, heading for the shocked looking Lemon Zest. “Stay away from her!” Twilight shouted, bringing her Hexen Schnider to bear. Midnight, I need more speed. Please! She felt the magic rise inside her, the magical circles appearing around her legs one more and she felt herself nearly triple in speed, to the point where even her Blut Vene couldn’t fully compensate for the G-forces that were tearing at her body. But she made it in time, the teal blade of energy from her Hexen Schneider just barely managing to intercept and block Gilda’s Zanpaktou before it hit Lemon Zest’s neck. “Whoacrap!” Lemon Zest shouted, scrambling back as Twilight and Gilda pressed their blades against each other. Twilight was quickly forced back, her physical strength nowhere near Gilda’s. “L-leave my friends alone!” Twilight demanded, but Gilda just laughed in her face. “Pisses you off, doesn’t it? Seeing your comrades bleed?” Gilda’s eyes flashed with a merciless light, “Pisses me off too. Want to guess how many comrades I’ve seen bleed and die fighting you Quincy!? Payback is a bitch-” She took one hand off her Zanpaktou and aimed it towards where Cotton Barrel was still tending to Buzzsaw’s wounds. A dark, blood red sphere of Hollow energy took shape in Gilda’s palm, “-and so am I.” Twilight screamed a warning, but wasn’t able to stop the huge beam of crimson energy from firing out as Gilda sent a Cero straight for the Hoffield and two McColts. Twilight didn’t have time to do anything, and even Cinch, who had started to rush towards the endangered trio, didn’t look like she be fast enough. Twilight could see all three girls witness the oncoming beam, Cotton Barrel grabbing onto Buzzsaw but not able to lift her up in time. It was Hacksaw who acted faster, hitting the Hoffield and her sister with a full body tackle that knocked both of them several meters out of the way... but not herself. Hacksaw McColt vanished into ash under the glare of bloody Cero light, the beam taking the girl and exploding a few dozen meters away in a hefty shockwave. Twilight’s breath caught in her throat, and for a second she forgot to breath, but Gilda didn’t give her time to absorb one death before punishing Twilight with a backslash of her Zanpaktou that would have taken Twilight’s arm off if Sunny Flare hadn’t yanked her back. “Twilight! Snap out of it!” Sunny Flare shouted in Twilight's face. “But she... she just...” “Yes! I know! We’ll be next if you don’t get it together!” Sunny Flare said. Breathing hard, eyes dilated, Twilight glanced around. Sugarcoat was trying to use torn off strips of her uniform as a pair of makeshift tourniquets, tying them around the bleeding stumps of Indigo Zap’s legs, while Lemon Zest was nearby, slowly backing away, eyes wide, her bow limp at her side as the girl’s nerve seemed to start cracking. Sour Sweet was struggling to stand, blood still trailing from her mouth as she stared at her own broken crossbow, fear and desperation clouding her features as she sank back to the ground. Cotton Barrel was holding tight to Buzzsaw, who was screaming her sister’s name and trying to crawl towards the smoking crater where Hacksaw had been, her motions only opening up the wound Cotton Barrel had stitched shut, her blood staining the white sands and their white uniforms both. Only Cinch seemed composed, and furious, as she attacked Gilda with another barrage of arrows, forcing Gilda to flicker away with quick bursts of Sonido to avoid the rain of arrows. It was keeping Gilda busy for the moment, but for how long? Could Cinch even make up the difference here? Twilight only knew that Cinch wasn’t a Sternritter, and that Gilda hadn’t released the power of her Zanpaktou yet. The weight of realization crushed down on Twilight. Her friends were being maimed and killed in front of her, and if she didn’t do something right now then Gilda wasn’t going to stop until more of her comrade’s blood was spilled on Hueco Mundo’s pitiless desert sands. It wasn’t calm that came over Twilight, nor any kind of epiphany. It was just simple decision, applied by cold logic into action. Midnight, if you have more magic to give, then give it to me now. I need you to slow Gilda down. The response was both eager and carried a hint of warning, I won’t argue about getting to stretch my muscles more, just don’t come complaining to me if I take a bit more headspace to do it. I need more room to operate in here if I’m going to start slinging any spells that will affect something as strong as her. There was no hesitance as Twilight replied, Do what you have to. We have to stop Gilda. Now. She could feel the press of Midnight on her mind, and the growing, searing heat of the magic burning inside her. It reminded her of that terrible moment when she’d unleashed the magic during the Friendship Games, feeling all of that incredible yet overwhelmingly hungry power sear its way into her soul. For a second she could see it all again, that vast and unmitigated power that could so easily burn away her consciousness if she let it. But the power didn’t envelop her like a drowning woman going under the waves. Instead it just nestled its way into more of her mind with the feeling of a satisfied sigh, Midnight’s presence settling through Twilight in a manner that was not wholly uncomfortable. Midnight wasn’t taking over, it was more like she was settling over Twilight like a cloak, an aura. Twilight’s mind did a few calculations and she settled it out as being something of a seventy, thirty percentage split between her and Midnight’s personalities. She did feel a sort of bubbling desire to start pulling things apart, to revel in her magic, but it was balanced out by her overriding need to protect her remaining comrades and put an end to Gilda’s threat. She couldn’t quite see herself clearly, but Twilight had gained the flaming teal eye aura from her Midnight form, and while the horn of magic hadn’t formed yet, there were flickers of witchfire streaming from her brow in an almost horn-like shape. There were no wings, no unnecessarily revealing dress, but more small flickers of teal magic outlined the hint of raven wings, and traced around her body like a swarm of fireflies. Both Gilda and Cinch took note of this, Gilda tilting her head quizzically at the changes coming over Twilight, while Cinch gained a ghostly expression of both intrigue and just a hint of fear. With Midnight’s mind more entwined with her own Twilight had a solid idea of what magic she could and couldn't perform at the moment. She was nowhere near the reality warping level she’d been when Midnight had been fully manifested during the Friendship Games, but knowledge of various spells were burning their way into Twilight’s mind and she concentrated for a second, letting Midnight handle the details of the spellwork while she focused on what results she needed. Teleportation would’ve been useful, but it was too advanced a spell for what she and Midnight were currently capable of, otherwise she could have just teleported Gilda away. However telekinesis was a far more basic, but still powerful spell, and as Twilight narrowed her eyes at Gilda she reached out with her magic. “What the-!?” Gilda exclaimed, feeling a thick aura of teal magic wrap around her. The Arrancar struggled against the telekinetic grip, but Twilight gestured downward, and Gilda was slammed hard into the ground. Twilight poured more magic out, trying to hold Gilda in place. Gilda’s physical strength was incredible, and even as Twilight pushed upon her with crushing telekinetic force Gilda still wouldn’t go down entirely, only dropping to one knee as she pressed her sword point first into the ground to try and keep herself upright. “Piss off with this! What even is this crap!? Some kind of Quincy trick?” Gilda grunted, while Cinch laughed, bringing her bow to bear on the immobile Arrancar. “Actually this is a power far removed from anything that exists in our world. I’m surprised at you, Miss Sparkle. I didn’t think you’d ever use magic again after the... incident.” Twilight’s eye twitched, “That’s not important right now! Just shoot her while I’m still able to hold her down!” “Ah, quite right,” Cinch replied, her bow disgorging a thick barrage of arrows that flew in at Gilda, who being largely immobilized had no immediate defense as the reishi arrows slammed into her. Her Heirro served to still protect her to a degree, but arrows still punctured her in multiple places, leaving many standing out from her shoulder, arms, legs, and side. “Grrraa!” Gilda screeched, “Okay, that’s it! I’m done playing fair!” The blade of her Zanpaktou grew painfully bright with a pulsing saffron light, and Twilight knew exactly what Gilda was about to do. And she wasn’t planning on having any of it. “Rend, Bes-” Gilda began to say, but suddenly found her voice cut off as a magical symbol imprinted itself on her throat from a stream of wispy magic sent out by Twilight. Gilda’s mouth worked soundlessly for a second, shooting Twilight an uncomprehending glare.   “Silence spell,” Twilight said with a grim cast to her features, “I don’t plan to play fair either.” Fury etched itself over Gilda’s face, and she opened her mouth again, only rather than speaking this time a Cero erupted out from the girl’s throat in a deep red wave. Twilight crossed her bow and her Hexen Schneider in front of her, letting Midnight pour more magic out into a half dome barrier of teal magic. The  Cero beam impacted the magic barrier, the impact driving Twilight backwards even as the barrier held under the onslaught. The beam finished, leaving the barrier cracked but intact, however having had to shift her focus to maintaining the barrier Twilight had lost her hold on her telekinesis. Gilda moved, rushing Twilight in a series of swift, zipping motions. Cinch tried to intercept, flying above the pair and sending down a hail of arrows, but Gilda slipped through the shots and appeared behind Twilight. Her Zanpaktou flashed, and Twilight spun. If not for Midnight quickly shifting magic into boosting Twilight’s speed she’d never parried in time, and her teal reshi blade sparked off of Gilda’s Zanpaktou. But Gilda drove on harder, spinning into a punishing series of curving slashes. While matched in speed, Gilda was clearly the better melee fighter, and Twilight found herself barely holding the Arrancar back, and took several nasty cuts in the process. Twilight did have time to use this as an opening to reassert her telekinesis, gripping Gilda’s body with it and slamming the Arrancar into the ground, dragging across the sands for several dozen meters like drilling a plow through a field. She followed this up by drawing back an arrow of teal energy with her bow and infusing it with an explosive cap of magical power, making the arrow’s tip glow with a humming sphere of light as she released it. In mid-flight the arrow split into dozens of copies, the duplication spell Twilight had infused into it activating to make it multiply many times over before each arrow curved in and exploded upon Gilda. Battered, but not done, Gilda’s bloodshot eyes were filled with murderous hate as she let out a silent screech, the brand still forcing her to silence, but her whole body lit up with a writhing crimson aura as her Hollow reiatsu spiked upwards. Her strength was such that even with Twilight binding her with telekinesis Gilda was still able to force her body to move, fueled by pure fury at this point. Cinch circled around behind Gilda, but Gilda threw an arm back towards the woman and from her open palm a crackle of red energy sprang out before she fired multiple swift Bala bullets towards Cinch. While Gilda kept up this barrage, forcing Cinch to evade, the Arrancar forced her sword arm up towards Twilight, pointing the blade’s tip at her. Hollow reiatsu gathered in the sword, a swirl of red light gathering in several vortex-like lines of power. Twilight didn’t need to sense it to realize this was going to be an even larger Cero than before, using Gilda’s Zanpaktou as a focus. She could dodge, but with a cold start she realized that her friends were behind her now, Sugarcoat trying to gather the squad together and fall back, with Lemon Zest carrying Sour Sweet while Sugarcoat carried Indigo, and the rest of the girls limped alongside them. If Twilight dodged, the Cero beam would hit them instead! Do or die, Midnight. Cut the telekinesis and pour all we’ve got into the Hexen Schneider, fast! Twilight thought, and she reversed her grip on the reishi blade. Midnight said nothing, just responded with a rising tide of magic, and as the telekinesis cut off from Gilda, a blaze of teal magic flowed from Twilight and into both her bow and the Hexen Schneider. Much as the assassin had done, Twilight took the ‘hilt’ of the weapon and held it like an arrow, drawing it back upon her bow’s reishi string. Arcane energy and reishi combined together as the Hexen Schneider burned brightly, its light intermixing with the crimson flare from Gilda’s charging Cero.   Both girls fired simultaneously. Twilight’s Hexen Schneider pierced through the cascade of power from Gilda’s Cero, boring through it like a drill through rock. This cleaved the Cero into two diverging beams that split to either side of Twilight, and fortunately also to the side of her fleeing friends, who stopped to watch in awe as the severed Cero beam flowed off in two direction. One exploded in the dunes, while another burned across the surface of the lake. Meanwhile the Hexen Schneider had cut its way towards Gilda, breaking down and absorbing parts of the Cero’s reishi as it went. Her sword still pointed outward, Gilda turned it to try and guard against the attack. When the Hexen Schneider hit it, the blade turned arrow was only halted for a bare second before the Zanpaktou’s blade cracked, not quite splintering but a portion of it breaking off as the arrow drove past it and slammed into Gilda’s chest near her right collarbone. The blow drove Gilda backwards and to the ground, where she convulsed and screamed silently from the wound the Hexen Schneider tore into her. After a second the arrow’s energy was spent and the energy blade disappeared, the hilt of the weapon falling to the ground. Twitching, Gilda, wounded badly but still very much alive, rolled over and slowly rose on shaking feet, blood pouring from the deep wound that showed a hole punched clean through her. Cinch, blinking, glanced at Twilight, “Well done, Miss Sparkle. I believe cleaning up here should be a trifling matter now.” Gilda, eyes wild like an injured animal’s, shot looks between Cinch and Twilight, then looked at her damaged Zanpaktou. Rage clearly battled with the sudden realization of fear as Gilda looked around, almost as if searching for any allies nearby, but there were none to be had. As Cinch raised her bow, Gilda flinched, then vanished, using a full speed Sonido to flee. Cinch moved to follow, but Twilight, sinking to her knees in exhaustion said, “Don’t follow her.” “Whyever not?” Cinch asked, perturbed, “I don’t like leaving loose ends.” “Then see to helping my friends get to the VTOLs so we can get out of here,” Twilight said, “Everyone’s so badly hurt, and I feel so... so tired. If another Arrancar shows up...” Cinch frowned, but nodded, “A fair point. Wouldn’t do to leave you unprotected. How are you faring? You look pale.” Twilight wasn’t sure. She’d had Midnight pour everything they had into firing the Hexen Schneider. She felt dizzy, and her legs and arms were numb. The warmth of magic still filled her, but it was like a distant warmth, like the memory of a summer sun that had just set, rather than its noon heat. Twilight was trying hard just not to fall over and pass out then and there, the aches of all her injuries and tortured muscles now coming back to her in a painful flood. We’re going to need to work on your endurance, commented Midnight dryly, I could release more magic, but I don’t know what that’d do to your... our body. It's odd. Odd? Twilight frowned, whispering, ”What’s odd?” Midnight hesitated a few seconds, and Twilight sensed her alter ego’s unease. I’m not sure. When fusing magic with your Quincy powers I felt... something. Something off. Twilight frowned, thinking. Could you be more specific? No, Midnight sounded irritated, and the unease was only increasing, I don’t know what I felt. Just something off. I’ll look into it. In the meantime I suggest you focus on not tackling any opponents as strong as that Gilda was. We can’t handle another fight like that. Cinch had approached her. Twilight’s squad remained nearby, Sugarcoat calling out, “We really need to go. Twilight, can you move?” “Y-Yes!” Twilight called back, forcing herself to stand. She waved on her feet, nearly tipping over. Only Cinch’s steady hand on her shoulder kept her from falling over. Twilight looked with a mix of gratitude and awkwardness at her former principal. Cinch didn’t look particularly gentle, rather she looked at Twilight with keen interest. “Were you just talking to yourself?” Cinch asked pointedly. “...Maybe?” Twilight said, and at Cinch’s look she glanced away, “I can’t explain it right now.” Cinch looked like she was about to press further questions, but the woman suddenly spun, her bow raised. Twilight looked to where Cinch had turned, and felt her stomach drop. Standing atop the nearest dune right above them stood two Hollows. One was clearly an Arrancar, with a head of unkempt blue hair and dragon-like horns curving down from the sides of her head, while the other was a Hollow the likes of which Twilight had never seen or heard of. She seemed humanoid, but was covered in plates of bone white armor, with a face the bore a faintly aquatic predator motif to its mask. This Hollow carried a trident in one hand, and behind her feminine figure a long tail swished, bearing a fine like a scythe blade. Most notable, however, was the glowing red gem floating in her Hollow hole, right between her breasts, and the distinctive and familiar wide poof of impossibly large orange and yellow streaked hair. “Hello girls,” said Adagio, “I don’t suppose we can just pass on through and you can pretend you never saw us?” ---------- Adagio wasn’t one to put much stock in the concept of ‘higher powers’, but she had to admit there had to be some pretty high odds against her running into Twilight Sparkle again, and in yet another desperate battle between Quincy and Hollows. She wondered what the Quincy had to be thinking, sending their young cadets onto a battlefield like this, but questioning the logic of these people seemed like a waste of time. The real question was whether she and Ember could get past this group without any trouble. Her lake was right there, less than fifty meters away. The only reason she didn’t just make a break for it was because she wasn’t sure how strong the Quincy woman with the prudish bun and glasses was. If it had just been Twilight and those cadets Adagio might have paused for a quick quip, maybe enjoy the shocked expression on Twilight’s face for a second, then be on her way. But Adagio wasn’t about to drop her guard around an unknown quantity. Still, she felt confident. She and Ember had been beaten up a bit from the run in with Prim Hemline, but they were nowhere near as thrashed as this group looked. Twilight appeared about ready to collapse from exhaustion, and the other cadets were either looking to be suffering from near mortal injuries, or carrying those who were. Either way the only real danger seemed to be the woman Adagio didn’t recognize. “You must have met Gilda,” Adagio continued, sniffing the air, “Yes, I can still feel her reiatsu in the air. Did you actually manage to kill her?” “Who are you?” said the woman with the bun, her odd looking bow of a circle of reishi energy bisected by a slightly curved bow spur was aimed squarely at Adagio and Ember. Twilight looked like she was about to say something, but Adagio saw the hesitance in Twilight’s eyes. Ah, you don’t want to admit to knowing a Hollow in front of your fellow Quincy. Smart girl. Don’t complicate things more than needed, Adagio thought. “Bad news,” Ember said in response to the woman’s question, “Like my friend here said, let us pass, and you don’t have anything to worry about.” “Oh I don’t think so,” said the woman, “It's far too unusual to see a Vasto Lorde of such strange qualities, and it’s quite suspicious the way you seem so keen on getting by us. Why? There’s nothing but a lake behind us. What makes that lake so important?” The intensity of the woman’s question suggested she had an interest in that lake well beyond mere curiosity, and Adagio realized it wasn’t likely this Quincy was going to back down. Furthermore she was likely keeping the conversation going to buy time. Adagio had seen some of the Quincy Sternritter nearby, one of them battling Guto, while the other two were finishing off a small cadre of Arrancar that Adagio assumed were what was left of the force Guto had attacked the cadet’s with. She’d seen more Arrancar, likely from Guto’s horde, heading this way, but they were being slowed by cannon and missile fire from the Quincy fortifications. Either way, she wanted to get into her lake and be away form this mess before anyone else took notice of her and Ember. Rather than risk a protracted fight, Adagio had a better idea. “Ember, follow my lead and stick close,” Adagio whispered, and tensed. The Quincy woman must have sensed Adagio was about make a move because the woman’s bow gleamed brightly as she intoned, “Licht Regen!” A unfathomable amount of reishi arrows burst from her bow, but Adagio was already moving, Ember staying close to her side. She leaped up, and swung her trident in a wide arc. A small tidal wave of water smashed down from her trident, flooding the beach and catching many of the cadets, and the Quincy woman, off guard. Adagio had to spin her trident to deflect a few arrows that got close, but for a split second the flood of water she’d summoned distracted the Quincy. Adagio swooped down swiftly, pouncing upon Twilight Sparkle. “H-Hey!” Twilight gasped as Adagio's tailed wrapped around her waist and Adagio used her trident to bar the girl’s neck. “Anyone tries anything foolish, and I can’t promise what will happen to this young lady’s neck,” Adagio said, putting on a deathly cold tone. The other Quincy all stiffened, one cadet who was wearing a strange visor turning red faced with anger as she shouted, “Don’t you dare touch her!” “I’ll dare all I want,” Adagio said, pressing the shaft of her trident tighter against Twilight’s neck. As she’d suspected, Twilight was utterly drained from what was likely a recent fight with Gilda, and had no strength to resist. “But keep your distance, because if you so much as take a step or raise one of those shiny bows of yours...” She didn’t finish the sentence, letting the gurgling sound Twilight made as the trident pressed into her throat speak for itself. The Quincy were frozen, and the one with the bun narrowed her eyes to slits at Adagio and Ember, “You’re making a mistake, taking that one hostage.” Adagio shrugged, “Seems to be working so far. Ciao.” With that she made a prodigious leap towards the lake, dragging Twilight with her. Ember joined her with a swift Sonido, and while some of the Quincy cadets shouted after their friend, Twilight wasn’t able to say much of anything as Adagio dragged her into the lake’s depths.